England coach declares Jonny Bairstow No.3 experiment is ‘over’

George Dobell13-Feb-2019England’s top-order struggles could make it very difficult for Ben Foakes to win a Test recall, Trevor Bayliss believes.While England have attempted, at various times, to mould Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow into a Test No. 3, the team management have now accepted that all of them belong in the middle-order. As a result, there seems to be no room for Foakes who made a Test century in Galle in November and was later named man of the series.So, while England’s hunt for a settled top three continues, Bayliss said they had decided not to weaken a strength and to stick with their middle-order – from No. 4 to No. 8 – and not try to adapt them. That means their Ashes line-up – injuries notwithstanding – is likely to see Root at No. 4, Jos Buttler at No. 5, Ben Stokes at No. 6, Bairstow at No. 7 and keeping wicket and Moeen at No. 8.”We’ve known for a while what our best four to eight is,” he said. “But we make no apologies for trying to fit our best eight batters into a team. That meant trying to find a No. 3 out of those guys. Obviously it hasn’t worked for one or two reasons but four through to eight has been successful in the past and we’ve gone back to that.”Yes, that means the experiment of batting Jonny at No. 3 is over. And yes, that is unfortunately bad news for Foakes.”While Bayliss believed Foakes could force his way into consideration as a specialist batsman – by the time the last Ashes series ended in Australia, Foakes was considered first batting reserve, ahead of Gary Ballance – he would also keep pressure upon Bairstow for the gloves. For now, though, it seems it has been decided there is no place in the side for both of them.”Foakes is obviously a very good keeper,” Bayliss said, “but I think we’ve also discovered someone who can put pressure on that middle order from a batting point of view.”Although Bayliss accepted the struggles of England’s top three were “well documented” he insisted all of them retained a decent chance of playing in the Ashes. Not only are they “the incumbents”, in Bayliss’ words, but it would require county batsmen to score heavily to displace them.”The struggles of the top three is well documented,” he said. “They’ve all shown what they can do but it’s about doing it more regularly. Those three guys are incumbents in those positions, I suppose. If they come out and score as heavily as they have done in the last few years in county cricket, then it might be difficult to look past them.”That definitely includes [Keaton] Jennings. He’s made two Test hundreds and has been one of the heaviest scorers in county cricket. If he comes out and scores a lot of runs in the early matches of the season and no-one else does, then there might not be a decision to make.”We’ve seen what he’s capable of but at the moment he’s lacking some confidence. It’s not easy when everyone is talking about your position and he’s coming to terms with that as well.”Hopefully there are some names out there who can score heavily in the county season to give us a choice to make.”Among those names could be Jason Roy, though he will be in IPL and World Cup action for much of the time, as well as Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope and James Vince. The chances of a recall for Ian Bell seem more remote.Jason Roy shapes for the slog sweep•Getty Images

“Roy could be a Test player, yes,” Bayliss said. “He’s one of the names that’s been spoken about [by the selectors] over the last six to nine months. James Vince is another one. Ian Bell not as many times.”There’s a couple of names who’ve done well in county cricket over a number of years that have been spoken about. If those two guys come out and score runs they’ll be in the mix as well.”The younger guys, too, are starting to put their names up in lights. There were a couple on the Lions tour: Pope, who’s obviously played before, and Duckett have done well.”With county cricket failing to produce the top-order batsmen required for the Test game, Bayliss also became the latest to question the domestic schedule. He suggested it may make sense to start the Championship season a little later.”In early season it is very difficult to produce flatter wickets,” he said. “So it’s not easy for batsmen.”It doesn’t necessarily help the good fast bowlers or the spinners playing on softer, greener wickets, either.”Maybe you should play some one-day games in the first few weeks of the season just to put the start of the four-day competition back. One day wickets are normally flat and they use a kookaburra ball in that format.”England took the day off on Wednesday. The limited-overs squad fly to Barbados on Thursday, while most of the Test squad will go home.

Clare Connor to head Women’s Cricket Committee as ICC announce age group World Cup for women

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Mar-2019The UAE will host the men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers in 2019, while Scotland will host the women’s edition, the ICC has confirmed.The ICC has also announced plans for an age group Women’s World Cup and a Women’s Cricket Committee, to be headed by former England captain Clare Connor.Qualifying for the 2020 men’s T20 World Cup will be staged from October 11 to November 3, 2019, the fourth time the event will be held in the UAE after the gulf nation played host three consecutive times in 2010, 2012 and 2013.At 24 days, this year’s qualifier is also by far the longest edition of the tournament, especially compared to the 2010 edition in which the two finalists, Ireland and Afghanistan, each played six matches in five days, including two matches on the last day for the tournament final. After criticism by then Ireland coach Phil Simmons, more rest days have been factored in with each successive tournament.The 2019 edition will have 14 teams competing, with each team expected to play six round-robin matches over the first two weeks before the playoff rounds. It will also mark the first time that Full Member nations will be a part of the qualifier. Zimbabwe and Ireland were the lowest ranked Full Members on the ICC’s T20I rankings table at the December 31, 2018 cutoff date.They will be joined by four other teams who played in the opening round of the last T20 World Cup in India – Scotland, Netherlands, Oman and Hong Kong – as well as eight other teams who advance from regional qualifiers taking place between March and August.The women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier will be held in Scotland from August 31 to September 7 this year. It is the second straight time that a European site has hosted following Netherlands in 2018. The women’s qualifier will be an eight-team event with the hosts joined by the two lowest-ranked finishers from the 2018 Women’s T20 World Cup – Ireland and Bangladesh – along with Thailand, the winner of the Asia regional qualifier in February, and four other winners of regional qualifiers to be played between May and June.The ICC did not confirm whether the women’s age group World Cup would be U-19 level in line with the men’s U-19 World Cup or whether it could be a lower cutoff such as U-17 for women. However, the ICC has stated its intention to form the tournament during the current commercial cycle, which would mean before 2023.The Women’s Cricket Committee, chaired by Connor, will have 11 members in all. They will be tasked with driving female participation growth, female fan growth and promoting leadership opportunities for female administrators, as well as creating competition pathways for women.

Despite the on-message response to their meeting with the Australia squad in Dubai there remains many questions about the banned pair’s return

Daniel Brettig18-Mar-2019″It’s like we didn’t really leave,” gushed David Warner.”It’s almost like we never left, so everything is on the right track,” enthused Steven Smith.”It’s like two brothers coming back home,” intoned Justin Langer.Taking at face value Cricket Australia’s video news release, conveyed by jovial on-camera dialogue between the team media manager to the two banned batsmen and their coach in Dubai, there seemed little need for Warner and Smith to be involved in a “reintegration process” at all.Yet the “nothing’s changed, nothing to see here” bonhomie of all this achieved little in trying to mask the obvious fact that there remains plenty of work to be done to return Warner and Smith to the national team, not least in ensuring that the two former leaders are able to resume in very different roles than those they left behind at the time of the Newlands scandal.For a start, Warner and Smith return not as commanders, but as subordinates to the national captains Aaron Finch, Tim Paine, and Langer as head coach. In the case of Smith, there will be no option of leadership roles for another 12 months; in the case of Warner, never again in his international career.ALSO READ: Smith, Warner welcomed back to Australia set-up with ‘open arms’Some former captains return to the ranks more smoothly than others – Ricky Ponting’s final two seasons after surrendering the leadership to Michael Clarke come to mind as one decent example of getting it right, and Shane Warne was able to function as a bowler separate from the Australian team’s leadership in the years after he was sacked as vice-captain. David Gower’s ill-fated time as a foot soldier under Graham Gooch for England in the early 1990s stands as a high profile instance of getting it wrong.Setting of good examples while acceding to team plans will be vital here, as will the sense among the rest of the team that Warner and Smith make their returns as unconditional supporters of the regime that has followed the collapse of their own, shared as it was with the former coach Darren Lehmann. They will doubtless be sources of advice at times, given vast experience, but should at first be careful to provide it only when asked.Reports that the Australian ODI squad was given the opportunity to ask Warner and Smith any questions they may have had recalled the awkwardness of Wayne Phillips, Graeme Wood and Murray Bennett fronting fellow members of Allan Border’s 1985 Ashes squad after they had changed their minds regarding participation in that year’s South African rebel tour. But whatever was said in that enclosed environment will be less important than how Warner and Smith play out their actions over ensuing weeks, months and years.There were some unsettling moments during the bans that suggested Smith in particular was not quite clear on where he now stood. The timing of a press conference and Fox Cricket interview to coincide with the launching of an overwrought phone commercial was clumsy at best and a major distraction for the Test team at worst, while the pronouncements of his manager about Smith’s plan to play in the World Cup, disregarding his own uncertain fitness and decidedly underwhelming returns in his previous 10 ODIs, sounded something like entitlement.Following his initial difficulties in eliciting the sort of sympathy Smith won from a tearful return home press conference in April last year, Warner has at least managed to keep quiet and score runs wherever he has been permitted to play – 443 at 34.07 and a strike rate of 120.70 across the Caribbean and Bangladesh Premier Leagues, plus a surfeit of runs at club level. He is, however, coming from a lot further back. Even on the day his ban was announced there seemed little question of Smith coming back, but rather more of Warner after he was isolated as the epicentre of both Australia’s ball tampering and the team’s poor behavioural reputation around the world.A related issue is that Warner and Smith, by their very presence, will invite questions about an issue that CA contained last year without ever quite resolving. Undoubtedly they will be asked about how long the ball tampering had been going on for, and with who’s knowledge. Unquestionably the world’s media, particularly that voracious English tabloids, will seek further opportunities to probe the issue – environments as controlled as the Dubai video news release will be nigh on impossible to come by during the World Cup and the Ashes.Winning, of course, will help to write fresh history rather than inviting questions about older events, but here too lies a challenge. Having played precious little top level cricket in the past 12 months, and now recovering from elbow injuries of varying severity, Warner and Smith must demonstrate their quality has not been diminished by the time away. To some it has seemed tantamount to blasphemy to query whether or not Smith in particular, his elbow only recently removed from a brace, will be an automatic selection for the World Cup. Yet no less clear-eyed an observer than Ricky Ponting, soon to assist Langer at the World Cup, has suggested just that ahead of their IPL duties.Fielding will be one major question mark, given the elbow problems they have faced. In India, fast, agile and alert fielding was emblematic of the work Langer and the assistant Brad Haddin have put into ensuring Australia will return to their former reputation for predatory defending. Ashton Turner’s explosive batting obscured the fact that he could not go to the outfield due to his own problematic shoulder, so it will be a poser for all to see how many more sub-par fielders Langer and Finch can accommodate.The Australian team get into a joyous huddle after victory•Getty Images

Amid all the backslapping and brotherhood talk in Dubai, Langer also admitted that both Warner and Smith needed time to re-adjust to higher playing demands during the IPL. “It’s like when you have a pre-season you can be Hawaiian Ironman fit, but you get sore when you start playing your first game of cricket,” he said. “For them it’ll just be getting back into the rhythm of high class cricket and I’m sure they’ll get plenty out of that.”One of the more revealing things Langer has said since becoming coach last May tumbled forth at the end of the rousing ODI series victory over India when asked about Usman Khawaja.ALSO READ: Meet Australia’s unlikely ODI heroes“I daresay there’s no way that 10-12 months ago, Usman Khawaja would have two hundreds and a 90 and still be fresh as a daisy in the field,” Langer said. “I remember I was sitting in my driveway at home, probably a few days after I got appointed coach and he was one of the first people I spoke to. He wanted to know where he was at with white-ball cricket.”I just said, ‘the reality is I don’t want you to get fit to tick a box or to please me, or Pat Howard, or Queensland Cricket or Cricket Australia. Do it so you can run harder between the wickets and field better, because we know you’re talented.’ He scores hundreds, and we’ve talked about having batsmen who can score hundreds in our top four. So he was rewarded for it, and he’s paying us back in spades at the moment.”Khawaja’s efforts, as much as anyone else’s, provide the perfect example of how Smith and Warner need to find the best ways to fit into the team and perform, rather than the other way round. There are others too: Adam Zampa developing a better leg-break, Nathan Lyon’s “bowl ugly” mantra, and Pat Cummins adjusting his once-in-a-generation bowling skill to become the ODI force the team needs.Another instance from the recent past that also bears thinking about is the seamless way in which George Bailey slipped from stand-in captain to drinks waiter during the 2015 World Cup once Clarke was fit enough to resume. Bailey has recalled, with much mirth, that in celebrations of that win he inadvertently broke the trophy. Team-mates who saw how he served the team either as leader or a reserve were happy to accept the momentary lapse given the extent of his selflessness beforehand. Beyond the Dubai platitudes, Warner and Smith must aim for similar standing.

USA brush aside PNG to notch second win while Namibia overpower Canada

Peter Della Penna in Windhoek23-Apr-2019Left-arm swing bowler Bilal Khan bagged four wickets on one of his favourite hunting grounds at Wanderers before Jatinder Singh’s half-century paced a simple chase. Oman thus continued their undefeated run at WCL Division 2 with a seven-wicket win over Hong Kong. Oman are now in the driver’s seat for one of the four ODI status berths up for grabs in the tournament, and can be the first team to clinch it with a win over Namibia on Wednesday.Man of the Match Bilal struck a massive blow in the third over, claiming the tournament’s leading scorer Anshy Rath for just 3, caught in the slips by Jatinder. Hong Kong’s innings finally started to stabilise around Babar Hayat and Tanwir Afzal, who added 62 for the fifth wicket to take them to 109 for 4 by the 32nd, but Bilal’s intervention broke the stand with Tanwir dismissed for 32.Hayat carried on to top-score with 56, but was the third of legspinning allrounder Khawar Ali’s victims, leaving Hong Kong 149 for 7. Bilal was then brought back to wipe out the tail in the 48th over. A run out of last recognised batsman Scott McKechnie for 26 was followed by wickets on back-to-back balls for Bilal, which finished Hong Kong off for 176 with two overs unused.Oman faced little pressure in the chase, with the Hong Kong bowling unit lacking any spark as Jatinder and Khawar coasted through a 79-run opening stand in the first 21 overs. Khawar was run-out for 28 to break the stand, but Jatinder compiled 49 runs in tandem with Aqib Ilyas before both fell in quick succession to the spin duo of Kinchit Shah and Jhatavedh Subramanyan. Captain Zeeshan Maqsood and Mohammad Nadeem knocked off the remaining 43 runs without much fuss. Nadeem ended unbeaten on 31, and has yet to be dismissed in the tournament.The last time these two teams met in one-day cricket was in 2011 at WCL Division 3 in Hong Kong, when Papua New Guinea sent USA in to bat under a heavy cloud cover and bowled them out for 44. It took eight years, but USA finally exacted a heavy dose of revenge. The new-ball exploits of Ali Khan and an incisive spell of left-arm spin by Karima Gore decimated the PNG middle order.Monank Patel drives over mid-off•Peter Della Penna

On a ground where chasing targets has traditionally been best after the pitch flattens out in the afternoon sun, PNG chose to bat first at the toss and paid the price as Ali Khan produced another hostile spell of fast bowling to take three wickets in the Powerplay, giving him a tournament-best 12 wickets after three matches. It began with a brute of a delivery to Tony Ura, who edged to Steven Taylor at second slip, before a pair of inswingers trapped Sese Bau and Assad Vala leg before to leave PNG 19 for 3.Gore arrived in the 24th but attacked the stumps from ball one. His first three wickets were lbw decisions. Chad Soper and Lega Siaka prodded down the wrong line to arm balls before Jason Kila was late on a sweep. Damien Ravu was bowled by Gore for the final wicket as the innings lasted just 39.3 overs.Monank Patel and Xavier Marshall batted ten overs before lunch to take USA to 49 for no loss. PNG extended a streak of three maidens with two more to start after the break, but Monank and Marshall exploded shortly thereafter, scoring 79 off the next 43 balls to end the match. Monank took Siaka’s part-time spin apart in the 19th, driving three sixes in a 22-run frame, and was named Man of the Match.Stephan Baard’s 90 at the top of the order was bookended by an unbeaten 65 from Craig Williams as Namibia bounced back from their final-over loss to USA to notch a 98-run win over Canada. Namibia moves to 2-1 with the win while Canada remains the only winless team in the tournament at 0-3, as their hopes of reclaiming ODI status hang by a thread.Baard and Jean Bredenkamp added 73 for the second wicket to steady the innings after the loss of JP Kotze in the Powerplay for just 6. Bredenkamp eventually fell to left-arm spinner Saad bin Zafar, who along with Nikhil Dutta took two wickets each to slow down Namibia in the middle stage of the innings.But Williams produced half-century stands with Baard and JJ Smit to keep Namibia on course for a well-above par total at United’s sluggish outfield. Smit clubbed three sixes in his 35 off 23 balls to dominate a 51-run stand with Williams before falling in the 49th over to Romesh Eranga.Canada’s batting struggles in Namibia continued as six of the top seven got starts but none passed Rodrigo Thomas’ 28. Dilon Heyliger wound up top-scoring from No. 10 with an unbeaten 29 to save Canada from taking an even bigger hit to their net run rate.

Australia international scores third ton of the season as Sussex bowlers continue to be repelled

ECB Reporters Network29-May-2019Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne scored his third hundred of the season as Glamorgan continued their impressive fightback on a rain-shortened day of their Specsavers County Championship division two match against Sussex.Just 21 overs were possible on the third day at Hove before rain arrived with Glamorgan 218 for 1 in their second innings – still 16 behind – with Labuschagne 131 not out.Labuschagne, who made his Test debut for Australia last October, has already made 121 against Northamptonshire and 137 against Gloucestershire during his stint as Glamorgan’s overseas player and the 24-year-old hasn’t offered a chance here on a pitch which has flattened out since 15 wickets fell on the first day.Opener Nick Selman, who carried his bat in the first innings, has so far helped Labuschagne add 218 with the Glamorgan record for the second wicket against Sussex of 238, set in 1962 by Alan Jones and Tony Lewis at Hastings, now in their sights.They resumed on 137 for 1 with Labuschagne quickly adding the 23 runs needed to lodge his seventh first-class hundred, which he reached with a leg glance to the boundary off Chris Jordan. Labuschagne hit two boundaries in an over off four different bowlers and always looked to play positively.Sussex skipper Ben Brown rung the changes, using six bowlers in the 80 minutes of play before the rain arrived but neither batsman looked troubled by either the four seamers or two spinners he employed.While Labuschagne played with more freedom, Selman was happy to accumulate patiently as the partnership grew. When they came off he had faced 174 balls for his 64 with eight fours while Labuschagne has hit 22 boundaries from 190 deliveries so far. They added 81 runs in 21 overs before going off.The rain intensified during the afternoon and after two inspections umpires Paul Baldwin and David Millns abandoned play for the day at 5pm. Glamorgan still trail by 16 runs but will fancy their chances of avoiding defeat now with a day to go and maintaining their unbeaten start to the Championship campaign.

The former New Zealand captain was proud of the way Kane Williamson’s men handled the Lord’s heartbreak

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-2019Brendon McCullum knows what it is to lose a World Cup final. In 2015, under McCullum’s captaincy, New Zealand enjoyed a bumper run to the final, only to lose to Australia by seven wickets at the MCG. Four years later, New Zealand reached another World Cup final, this time at Lord’s, and tied the game. The manic Super Over, the first in World Cups, ended in a tie as well, and England eventually won the title on boundary count.McCullum’s side had turned a rugby-mad country into a cricket-loving nation in 2015. Williamson’s men have created similar impact now, and McCullum believes they will move on from the Lord’s heartbreak.”That’s the thing and it’s going to be so difficult for those guys,” McCullum told . “I was lucky enough to have a beer with them in the changing room and they were pretty broken, that’s for sure.”They were also really proud of what they did and how well they played. Over the coming months and years, whilst it’s still raw now, they’ll understand just how magnificent that spectacle was. And for it to happen on the biggest of stages, to have played the hand that they played in that match is absolutely amazing.”McCullum looked back on the MCG final in 2015 and called it “a missed opportunity”, but said he was pleased with the way how the team dealt with the result then and even now.”Yes, it would’ve been lovely to have been a World Cup champion, but I’ve always said the game doesn’t define you but it’s the person and character you are,” McCullum said. “I was so pleased with how our team handled that loss, also the success throughout that tournament.
It’s a bit different [but] I thought they’ve handled themselves magnificently in the aftermath of that result [at Lord’s].”A bizarre play in the last over of England’s chase turned the final decisively. When Ben Stokes dived at the striker’s end to complete a second run, he inadvertently deflected a throw from outfielder Martin Guptill to the third-man boundary. England were awarded six runs, and there were questions raised on the call made by the umpires at the time. McCullum, though, chose not to dwell on that play which had worked against New Zealand.”I guess if you look at the rules, it may not have been the right call but it’s just luck, that’s how it works,” he said. “There’s nothing to say that if Ben Stokes was facing the last ball and he needed four off that rather than two, he wouldn’t have struck that low full-toss out of the ground.”I just don’t think you can focus on those things. It’s bitterly disappointing they didn’t work out for us but we had our elements of luck throughout that World Cup too, which gave us a chance. Unfortunately on the day it didn’t fall our way. I certainly don’t blame anyone.”

Dane Vilas fifty, Graham Onions five-for give Lancs a good lead in Sedbergh

Paul Edwards02-Jul-2019
For many devoted followers of cricket the big parade has not taken place at Sedbergh these last three days. Affairs at Edgbaston and Chester-le-Street have commanded attention, filled airwaves and ensured there are no spare seats in press boxes. Empires are being challenged in the World Cup – and perhaps replaced. Yet for other, equally enthusiastic supporters of the game there has been nothing else worth watching but the contest in this fell-ringed theatre. International cricket passes them by until the morning papers arrive on the breakfast tables of their hotels. So do posturing politicians; so would minor wars.And then, at just before a quarter to twelve on this third day, a 36-year-old fast bowler bent down and felt his calf. Suddenly two worlds were joined in mild frenzy. James Anderson, England’s best bowler, was injured. Phones rang. Texts bleeped. Where the hell was Sedbergh anyway? When do the Ashes start? Above all, how was Jimmy? Tell us, quickly, tell us NOW!On the field Graham Onions caused some spectators to speculate for the umpteenth time as to how many Test Matches he might have played had his career not coincided with that of Anderson, of whom he is a great admirer. The former Durham seamer took four wickets in 31 balls against his old mates to finish with 5 for 93. It is Onions’ 30th haul of five or more wickets in first-class cricket. Two of the wickets were caught behind but Ned Eckersley and Nathan Rimmington were pinned lbw on the back foot, the later for a well-struck 53. Lancashire took a 56-run lead into lunch.News emerged of Anderson, who had only bowled eight balls in the morning. Two further attempts to complete run-ups had been abandoned and Sam Byrne, the Lancashire physio, had come out to meet him on the steps of the Knowles Pavilion, a building which has no doubt seen its share of tears over the decades. Burnley’s finest had suffered tightness in his right calf. He would not bowl again in the game but might bat. He will be assessed. The ECB’s bulletin would have to satisfy the frantic text-senders. Good luck with that.Yet perhaps it was curiously fitting that Anderson should suffer the injury at a school whose motto is (Stern Nurse of Men). Anderson has been known to be a trifle grim, even in moments of triumph, and he was certainly in need of nursing. Moreover, the motto of his own school, St Theodore’s in Burnley, : (For the Faith of our Ancestors) is absolutely bugger all use when you’ve gone in the fetlock.Almost immediately Lancashire’s blazered supporters, who have gathered in two temporary stands at the Powell End, had even more pressing pains with which to deal. Chris Rushworth found the channel on or outside off stump in his first over. Keaton Jennings edged the first ball of the innings to Ned Eckersley; Haseeb Hameed, the fourth to Cameron Bancroft at slip. Lancashire 0 for 2.Alex Davies was joined by Liam Livingstone, who immediately batted with his characteristic contempt for half measures. If he defended, the drawbridge was pulled up; if he attacked, the kitchen sink, washing machine and waste-bin were thrown at the ball. Six boundaries followed, some of them reminiscent of Kevin Pietersen. Livingstone flicked Brydon Carse through midwicket and drove Nathan Rimmington through mid-off. A major innings beckoned, one which might define the match and transcend the pitch’s variable bounce. But the first time Livingstone could not decide between the fish or meat course he edged Raine to Bancroft and departed for 36. By then Davies had gone too, caught on the boundary when miscuing Rimmington. And in the over after Livingstone’s dismissal, Rob Jones was beaten by Liam Trevaskis’s throw from the boundary and run out for five. Lancashire were 59 for 5 and their lead was 115.But if Anderson is a competitor whose galaxy of skills is underpinned by a fierce professionalism, so is his county captain. Some skippers change the bowling; Dane Vilas changes the team he leads. He will not ask any young players to go into the trenches if he has not led him there and faced the bullets, too. Cricketers like Jones and Josh Bohannon could not have a better leader in seasons when they are coming to understand how tough – and how glorious – the life of professional cricketer can be.Steven Croft, for whom this season has been a lovely late renaissance, is hewn from similar rock. He joined Vilas in an 87-run partnership which may be seen as the most important of the match. If Durham’s seamers overpitched, Vilas malleted them through midwicket; if they pitched it short Croft hooked them on his way to 35. Home supporters decided that a tub of Howgill Fellside Ice Cream might be in order; it is glorious stuff. In the small hospitality area a drink or two was taken. Sedbergh staff looked at the field they knew so well and marvelled anew. It is only love.Then Croft received a ball from Rimmington which pitched on off stump and stayed there. The former skipper had no hope at all but dropped his bat and then kicked it. Durham’s fielders celebrated but some may have recognised that Lancashire’s lead was already 202 and the visitors will have to get those runs. Bohannon made a useful 23 and Saqib Mahmood was unbeaten on 11 at the close when Vilas had 74 runs against his name. The skipper had taken blows to the arm and hand but was still there. Unvanquished as ever.Suddenly memories of Anderson’s injury began to fade a little but the evening news bulletins were now mad with hunger for news. They will be less ravenous tomorrow when the big parade will be at Chester-le-Street. But at Sedbergh we will watch the last day of a great game. The people up here, and maybe the cricketers, too, deserve something to cherish.

England fast bowler to undergo rehabilitation on calf muscle that he first hurt during a County Championship game in early July

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2019England pace spearhead James Anderson has been ruled out of the Lord’s Test against Australia which starts on August 14, after having suffered calf trouble in the first match at Edgbaston. Anderson left the field on day one after sending down four overs and he did not bowl again in the match although he did bat – with obvious discomfort – in both England’s innings.Anderson has since had an MRI scan, which confirmed an injury which needs addressing. He will now undergo rehabilitation, working with the medical teams of England and his county Lancashire.Also read: Joe Root defends James Anderson selection after injury undermines England attackAnderson’s problems were with the same muscle that he had torn while bowling for Lancashire in the County Championship in early July. He had passed a number of fitness tests in the lead-up to the Edgbaston game, but then found tightness in his calf during the match and went off. His absence was felt by England, who went down by 251 runs to Australia, despite having them at 122 for 8 in their first innings.After Lord’s, there are three more Tests to be played in the Ashes. England will hope he will be fit in time for the Leeds Test, which begins on August 22, although a more realistic return might be for the fourth Test, at Old Trafford in early September. He will be assessed on an ongoing basis for the same.Jofra Archer is the leading contender to replace Anderson, although he has had injury issues himself and will play a three-day 2nd XI game for Sussex this week to try and prove his fitness after carrying a side injury through the World Cup.Speaking after defeat at Edgbaston, Joe Root described Anderson’s injury as a “freak thing” and defended his inclusion in the XI. “It was a group decision in terms of the selection of him,” Root said. “He passed all the fitness tests. and it’s just one of those freak things that can happen in in cricket. It’s disappointing, but we’ve got to try and respond to that and make sure that we get things exactly how we want them at Lord’s.”

Priest 89, Heather Knight half-century lead Storm to 77-run thrashing of Stars

ECB Reporters Network25-Aug-2019Rachel Priest gave a masterclass in power hitting as Western Storm maintained their 100% record in the 2019 Kia Super League with a 77-run thrashing of Surrey Stars at Guildford.The New Zealand international blazed 89 in just 55 balls with six sixes and ten fours as Storm put up 171 for 4. Stars never threatened to chase it down with Sonia Odedra returning figures of 4 for 25 to hustle them out for 94.It means victory over Yorkshire Diamonds on Wednesday will see Storm head for Finals Day with a perfect 10/10 record in the group stages.For the Stars, this was a sixth defeat in a row in what has become a wretched campaign.Priest had her radar set from over one, hitting Dane van Niekerk into the crowd. Eva Gray got similar treatment, though the New Zealand would have had her heart in her mouth after one lbw shout from Marizanne Kapp which was turned down by umpire Sue Redfearn.Smriti Mandhana was superbly stumped by Sarah Taylor off van Niekerk, but Priest continued on with her relentless assault. Three more maximums and six fours carried her to 50 in just 33 balls with Storm skipper Heather Knight content to play second fiddle.Stars didn’t help their cause, Amy Gordon dropping Priest at deep mid-on on 76 before shelling another chance, this time to dismiss Knight when she had 22, Laura Marsh the unlucky bowler on both occasions.A century looked certain for Priest, but she fell 11 short, pulling a short one from van Niekerk to Natalie Sciver on the midwicket fence. The stand with Knight had realised 97 in 65 balls.Knight took charge, moving to her own half-century with a six and five fours. And though she fell to Marsh in the last over, 171 for 4 was another imposing score.The Stars made the worst possible start in pursuit of the target, Lizelle Lee falling to Freya Davies for one to continue her poor run in the campaign. Van Niekerk soon followed, hitting one huge six before nicking Deepti Sharma into the gloves of Priest.The rate required was soon beyond ten, but with Davies and Sharma bowling with superb accuracy, the Stars went six overs without finding the fence. Successive fours from Taylor ended the famine, but still the scoreboard pressure mounted. Taylor’s shot back over the head of Anya Shrubsole was a joy to watch, but England’s 2017 World Cup star extracted swift revenge when the Stars’ wicketkeeper fell later in the over to a catch by Knight at extra cover.Knight accounted for Bryony Smith and Sciver and Kapp fell in successive balls to Odedra, the latter having her stumps spread-eagled.There would be no hat-trick, but there was a third wicket for Odedra when Marsh was stumped for just a single. And she struck again later in the over as Gray found the hands of Sophie Luff. Naomi Dattani joined in the fun by mopping up the tail on a sorry afternoon for the Stars.

Our guide to Sunday’s main player draft for the new competition’s first season

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2019What is it?The Hundred is the ECB’s new 100-ball tournament, which will be played in July-August 2020. It will be played by eight new teams, based in seven different cities (there are two London teams).Who are the new teams?Birmingham Phoenix (Edgbaston)
London Spirit (Lord’s)
Manchester Originals (Old Trafford)
Northern Superchargers (Leeds)
Oval Invincibles (The Oval)
Southern Brave (Ageas Bowl)
Trent Rockets (Trent Bridge)
Welsh Fire (Cardiff)Who’s making the picks?All the teams are owned by the ECB, so unlike in plenty of other leagues there will be no owners on the draft tables. Picks will be made by head coaches, but with plenty of behind-the-scenes inputs from the rest of their staff and their analysts.The head coaches are as follows:Birmingham Phoenix – Andrew McDonald
London Spirit – Shane Warne
Manchester Originals – Simon Katich
Northern Superchargers – Darren Lehmann
Oval Invincibles – Tom Moody
Southern Brave – Mahela Jayawardene
Trent Rockets – Stephen Fleming
Welsh Fire – Gary KirstenDo they have any players already?Yes. Each of the men’s sides has picked one England player. Teams could choose one Test-contracted player from their ‘catchment area’, meaning Northern Superchargers faced the choice between Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, and Joe Root (they went for Stokes), while those players left over were allocated to a team without a Test player.Joe Root of Trent Rockets, one of the eight new teams that competing in The Hundred•Getty Images

Each team then picked two ‘local icons’, each of whom spent the 2019 season at a county in the new team’s catchment area. They were able to negotiate a salary with their new team, and ESPNcricinfo understands that some players were convinced to take lower salaries due to the security of being picked up before the main draft.That means that the majority of England’s one-day players have been picked already, though a handful – Joe Denly, Sam Billings, and Mark Wood, for example – will be available in the draft.How does the draft work?After a random draw, the order of picks for the first round was decided, with Stephen Fleming’s Trent Rockets set to pick the first player. The order of picks will then be reversed for the second round, and so on. Where a local icon has been picked, the team will skip that turn in the draft.Each team has 100 seconds to make their pick in each round. Salaries are pre-decided, and depend on how early a player is picked. First and second-round picks will earn £125,000 each, while round 13 or 14 picks earn £30,000.What about overseas players?As revealed by ESPNcricinfo, some 240 overseas players have registered for the draft, and with the exception of India’s white-ball stars and AB de Villiers, most of the big names are available.Each team will be permitted three overseas players, in both their squad and their XI.Can they sign anyone after the draft?Yes – each team will also be able to make a ‘wildcard’ pick after the conclusion of next season’s Vitality Blast, who will receive a £30,000 contract.What happens next season?Teams will be able to retain up to ten players in their squad for the 2021 edition of the tournament, and will mutually agree the salary band with the relevant player.What about the women’s competition?There’s no draft for the women’s competition, with players instead negotiating deals directly with head coaches. Each team has already signed two England-contracted players, and has until the end of May 2020 to complete their squad.When is the draft?The draft starts at 7pm local time in Sky’s London studios, and ESPNcricinfo will bring you live coverage throughout the evening to see who ends up where.