All posts by n8rngtd.top

Jadhav is set to return to action for the first time since suffering a hamstring tear on the opening day of IPL 2018

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2018Kedar Jadhav is set to return to action for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury on the opening day of IPL 2018. Jadhav has been included in the India B squad for the ongoing Quadrangular series also involving Australia A, South Africa A and India A.Jadhav replaces Ricky Bhui in the India B squad. There is a change in India A’s squad as well, with Ambati Rayudu coming in to replace Siddhesh Lad. Lad and Bhui have been released to allow them to play for India Red and India Blue respectively in the Duleep Trophy.Jadhav was a regular in India’s ODI team until suffering a grade 2 hamstring tear while batting for Chennai Super Kings against Mumbai Indians on April 7. The injury ruled him out of the remainder of the IPL season, and also left him out of contention for India’s tours of Ireland and England.Rayudu was originally part of India’s ODI squad for the England tour, but was left out after failing a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Having last played for India as part of a second-string team that toured Zimbabwe in 2016, Rayudu had forced his way back with a prolific IPL season in which he scored 602 runs at an average of 43.00 and a strike rate of 149.75.August 25, GMT 1506 The story had earlier said Jadhav would play for India A and Rayudu for India B. The error has been rectified.

Sam Robson. Remember him on the list of former England openers? He has just made his first century of the season

ECB Reporters Network18-Sep-20181:55

Yorkshire edge towards safety

ScorecardSam Robson’s first century of the season saw Middlesex get the better of the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match with Derbyshire at Lord’s.The former England opener ended a run drought with 134 – becoming Middlesex’s first century maker since May 6.Max Holden (96 not out) was also closing in on a first century in Middlesex colours as the hosts finished an enthralling day at 350 for 8, only the second time this season they have realised a fourth batting point.But late in the day veteran seamer Tony Palladino (4-66) bowled the visitors back into contention with a spell of 4- for 3 in 15 balls.Given Middlesex’s struggles with the bat this season it was no surprise to see them stuck in under cloudy skies for the sixth time in seven red-ball games at HQ this season.Understandably then it was a nervy start – 20 balls and the odd play and miss passed before the first run clicked up on the board.Robson broke the shackles with two fours in an over off Palladino – the second boundary appearing to lift a season-load of weight from his shoulders as thereafter he settled down to play with increasing assurance.At the other end, left-hander Nick Gubbins found life more of a struggle, a spate of cameos having left him short of confidence.Nevertheless, the pair compiled only their third half-century opening stand of the season, reaching 64 before Hardus Viljoen made the breakthrough trapping Gubbins lbw.Sam Robson eases one through the covers•Getty Images

It would be the visitors’ only wicket of the morning session as Robson moved smoothly to 50 off 83 balls with nine boundaries, ably supported by Stevie Eskinazi who had the honour of receiving his county cap at the start of the lunch interval.There would be no 50 to accompany the honour, the South African-born wicketkeeper/batsman falling for 35, lbw to spinner Matthew Critchley.Skipper Dawid Malan was next to go, a skittish innings of 16 ending when he aimed an ill-advised hook at Viljoen, the ball arrowing its way to the safe hands of Luis Reece at long-leg.His dismissal more often than not this season would have heralded a collapse, but youngster Holden came in and looked composed from his first ball and as a result he and Robson regained the initiative.Robson’s hundred arrived courtesy of a single to mid-on in the last over before tea, the applause from the Middlesex faithful seeing him raise his bat in delight and relief in equal measure.The pair played with increasing authority at the start of the final session, raising the 250 – a figure reached only once previously in the first innings by the Lord’s tenants this season.The century stand came at almost a run a minute and Holden’s 50 arrived shortly afterwards complete with six boundaries.The dizzy heights of 300 were in sight when Palladino new ball in hand changed the complexion of the day. A devastating spell began when he found the edge of Robson’s bat ending an otherwise chanceless innings and a stand of 132. Tail-up Palladino struck again with his next ball, new man Robbie White get a thinner edge to Gary Wilson at first slip.James Harris survived the hat-trick ball only to depart in Palladino’s next over, trapped on the back foot.The hosts had subsided from 298-3 to 304-6 but Palladino wasn’t finished yet, getting another lbw shout upheld to remove Martin Andersson.
With the ball now doing plenty Holden was given a life when Wilson shelled a chance at first slip off Lockie Ferguson.That scare survived, Middlesex briefly steadied the ship until James Fuller, having just hit Ferguson for six top-edged the next ball down to Critchley at third man.Ethan Bamber though helped raise the 350 and kept alive hopes of a Holden century in the morning.

A lack of practice games for India ahead of the World T20, which starts on November 9, is the reason why a full-strength squad has been named for an A team series

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2018All 15 members of the India’s women’s World T20 squad have been named in an India A squad that will face Australia A in a three-match series later this month. The games have been scheduled in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex, and India A will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur with Smriti Mandhana as her deputy.

Schedule

• 1st T20 – October 22, BKC Mumbai

• 2nd T20 – October 24, BKC Mumbai

• 3rd T20 – October 26, BKC Mumbai

A lack of practice games for India ahead of the World T20, which starts on November 9, is the reason why a full-strength squad has been named for an A team series. India were originally scheduled to play T20Is against West Indies later this month but with that series recently cancelled, these games against Australia A are their final chance of playing competitive cricket before leaving for the Caribbean. The players are already in Mumbai, participating in a 10-day camp as a build-up to the global event.India A squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Mithali Raj, Jemimah Rodrigues, Veda Krishnamurthy, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Anuja Patil, Ekta Bisht, D Hemalatha, Mansi Joshi, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy

The allrounder aggravated a recurring back injury during the warm-up match against India in Guyana, and left the field after bowling just five balls

Melinda Farrell in Guyana08-Nov-2018England’s senior allrounder Katherine Brunt broke down while bowling her first competitive over since aggravating a recurring back injury, leaving her almost certain to miss England’s opening match of the Women’s World T20. Brunt will be assessed on Thursday and England are desperately hoping the injury won’t rule her out for the entire tournament.Brunt was brought into the attack in the eighth over of England’s final warm-up match against India at Providence Stadium but was able to complete just five deliveries before leaving the field in obvious discomfort.The 33-year-old has been dogged by back problems in recent years but the current issue is a recurrence of the injury she sustained during the Women’s Big Bash League last year. Brunt has been in an uphill race to recover ahead of the World T20 since aggravating her back in September. And while England had only tentative hopes she would be fit for their opening match against Sri Lanka on Saturday they were prepared to give her every chance to prove her fitness.But, bowling off a shortened run-up, Brunt was clearly struggling before she walked off, and while head coach Mark Robinson said he wouldn’t rule her out of the tournament before she was assessed tomorrow, Brunt’s own frustrated and emotional demeanour spoke volumes.”It didn’t look great at that point, did it?” Robinson said. “She hasn’t been able to take any part in the competition so far, she’s been practising, and today was a game to get her up and running. She’s on a reduced run-up. It’s hard for us, she’s an important player.”Two of the players that bat in our top five in the summer are out. We’ve prepared for that as well, something we have to take on the chin, back the other players.”I think it was a bit of a shock in there as well, from her point of work. She’s an emotional girl anyway. She put a lot into trying to get out today and she played, and suddenly she feels like she’s going into spasms as such. And you’ve got NZ watching, you’ve got the press with the cameraman, everything going on, a lot of emotion, so that’s where we need to take stock and see where we are.”England’s plans without Brunt centre around two of three debutants in the squad who are hardly like-for-like replacements for the seaming allrounder. Linsey Smith is a left-arm spinner – although she has bowled seam in the past – while Sophia Dunkley is a middle-order batsman who bowls part-time legspin. Smith has been particularly impressive in the warm-up fixtures and appears to be the most likely replacement for Brunt against Sri Lanka in Saint Lucia.”You can’t replace Katherine because she bats and bowls,” Robinson said. “We haven’t got a genuine allrounder who can do that role so we’re going to have to pick either a bowler or we have to pick a batter. So we’re going to have to go in with four bowlers and your Nat [Sciver] and Heather [Knight] and if Dunks [Sophia Dunkley] is playing and Dani Wyatt to fill in, or we go five specialist bowlers and we play six batsmen and that’s your dilemma. We planned that she might not make it but we had to give her every chance.”England finished 11 runs short of India’s total in the final warm-up for both sides before the tournament begins on Friday. Harmanpreet Kaur was in imperious form for India, smiting 62 off 32 deliveries in setting England 145 for victory. But despite a sprightly half-century from Dani Wyatt, England struggled to get India’s spinners away.”We’ve had three games over here since July,” Robinson said. “Tonight was really, really good. We played West Indies in front of 4000 people, that was really good as well. South Africa was a quite convincing win. Tonight was a great learner for us. Their spinners outbowled us. They bowled into the wicket and protected the short boundary.”We bowled all length and got hit, gave the batter a chance to hit over somebody’s head, which you can’t do in these conditions. It shows here that if you bowl back of a length as a spinner, with leg side back, it’s old-fashioned women’s cricket, it’s hard to clear the boundary.”

The match has been rescheduled twice in the last 48 hours, mainly due to some technical problems with one of the light towers. It will now start at 12.30pm local time

The Preview by Mohammad Isam16-Dec-2018

Big Picture

With both Bangladesh and West Indies looking to get their preparations into gear for next year’s World Cup, one wonders what context a T20I series holds for them and the fans. What will they do with these three matches?Yet for West Indies, the T20Is offer some hope on an otherwise difficult tour. They need to take full advantage of their favoured format to find some sort of form in Bangladesh. The visitors have won only one match so far, the second ODI in Dhaka, having been trounced 2-0 in the Test series, and 2-1 in the ODIs. Shai Hope has been their stand-out performer but the other batsmen have been below par. Among the bowlers, Oshane Thomas looked fiery at times but he was, shockingly, “rested” from the third ODI.For Bangladesh, the series is important for players like Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mohammad Saifuddin, among others. It is becoming far more important for these players – apart from the experienced ones like Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah – to have match-winning performances. If not as big a role as the senior quartet, they should look to make telling contributions, at least.The match has been rescheduled twice in the last 48 hours, mainly due to technical problems with one of the light towers. It will now start at 12.30pm local time, but a forecast of rain could end up playing a bigger role in the selection of the XI.

Form guide

Bangladesh WWLLL (last five T20Is, most recent first)
West Indies LLLLLALSO READ: Bangladesh’s need for cooler heads and a better top order

In the spotlight

Liton Das did well against West Indies in the previous T20I series between the two sides, but throwing away his wicket after a good start is becoming an issue. His tendency to hit boundaries in the first few overs has often been followed by a sudden dismissal with a cross-batted shot.Shai Hope‘s ODI form is one of the few things West Indies can rely on as they head into this series. He may not be the most aggressive batsman but Hope’s tenacity means that West Indies have some stability at the crease, even as they would want the other batsmen to forge partnerships.

Team news

Rubel Hossain and Nazmul Islam will be in consideration, but only if Bangladesh want to leave out one genuine batsman. Shakib also received a foot injury during nets, and received treatment for it.Bangladesh: (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Liton Das, 3 Soumya Sarkar, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 6 Mohammad Mithun, 7 Mahmudullah, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Mohammad Saifuddin, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Mustafizur RahmanEvin Lewis will slot into the opening position while allrounder Sherfane Rutherford also offers a batting option. Kesrick Williams, who has returned to the T20I squad, could be a handy bowler, having done well in the Bangladesh Premier League.West Indies (probable): 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Shai Hope, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Shimron Hetmyer 5 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 6 Nicholas Pooran, 7 Carlos Brathwaite (capt), 8 Fabian Allen, 9 Keemo Paul, 10 Khary Pierre, 11 Oshane Thomas

Pitch and conditions

The track will likely be batting friendly, although there could be some early help for spinners. A drizzle is forecast, so the toss may be crucial, too.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies have won only two out of their 12 T20Is this year, while Bangladesh have won four out of their 13 games.
• Denesh Ramdin is the only player in the West Indies squad with more than 50 T20I appearances.

Quotes

“They keep surprising me by coming up with some great performances. Now we have got some continuity with regards to winning series, so wonderful news for Bangladesh.”
Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes
“[West Indies] just need to know the method of winning more consistently.”
West Indies assistant coach Mushtaq Ahmed

Tim Paine, meanwhile, said he enjoys watching Kohli play, and felt he ‘brings out the competitive spirit in a lot of people, which is great’

Sidharth Monga in Perth18-Dec-20182:50

Did not have any problem with my dismissal – Kohli

The mutually-agreed-upon line in this series seems to be drawn at swearing, and despite all the hype around the chatter between the two teams, the two captains are happy with each other’s behaviour. Since the third day, which featured Virat Kohli’s displeasure at the contentious low catch that dismissed him and his banter with Tim Paine later in the day, the clamour for the next exchange has reached a fever pitch, ending with the host broadcaster advertising a clip of Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja having an animated discussion as a sign of all not being well within the Indian camp.Jasprit Bumrah had said after the third day’s play that India were surprised that the soft signal, in the case of the low catch to dismiss Kohli, was out, but Kohli seemed to have gotten over it by the end of the match. “I don’t think I showed any displeasure at the dismissal at all,” Kohli said. “A call was made on the field, and that’s it. It was done. Australia played better cricket than us, and they deserved to win.”Kohli’s reading of the banter was plain: “As long as there is no swearing, the line doesn’t get crossed. That’s it.”In one of the exchanges, when the umpires tried to restrain him and Kohli, Paine was heard telling the umpires it was just conversation, and that there was nothing wrong with that. Paine reiterated that, and seemed to agree with Kohli that as long as nobody swore or got personal, it was fine. “That is the main part. I don’t think the amount of it matters, it’s the nature of it and the language,” Paine said. “What is said is important, not how much.”A lot was said, or possibly observed, because everybody is on the lookout. Kohli told Paine he was staring at 2-0 if he messed up when batting in the second innings. He also allegedly told Paine he was the best player in the world, and Paine just a stand-in captain, a claim denied to ESPNcricinfo by Indian team management. In retort, Kohli was reminded he was batting last, “big head”. M Vijay was asked how could he possibly like Kohli “as a bloke”. A lot of it went on, but neither side has reported any personal abuse on the field.”I don’t think we did touch to be honest,” Paine said of the near chest-bump. “It got pretty close. But it is what it is. It was a highly competitive Test match from both teams. There’s a lot on the line, and both teams desperately want to win, and sometimes that stuff happens.”When Paine was dismissed on the fourth afternoon, he turned back to look as he walked back, but he clarified there had been no send-off. “I actually had spoken about a crack to KL Rahul about two minutes before I got out, so he said did that came off it,” Paine said. “Nothing, not a send-off.”Things heated up between Virat Kohli and Tim Paine in the first session•Getty Images

Paine dismissed the idea that it might be annoying to play against Kohli, who loves, and sometimes goes looking for, a confrontation. “Not to me, I love it,” Paine said. “I enjoy watching him, I always have. I think he brings out the competitive spirit in a lot of people, which is great, and I’m sure it was great to watch.”One of the underlying threads of the chatter is the medium through which it has reached homes. The scrutiny from the cameras and the stump mics seems unparalleled. The invasiveness can sometimes affect how players behave, and also play. Kohli said there was no threat of that happening to him.”As long as there is no swearing out there on the field and there is no personal attacks, the line doesn’t get crossed,” Kohli said. “There is banter going on. Even at Adelaide there was banter here and there… it’s Test cricket at the end of the day, it has to be competitive. You can’t say that people aren’t going to try and get you out in any way possible at all.”With the stump mics and cameras and all these things, honestly when the bowler is bowling you aren’t thinking whether the stump mic is on or the camera is on or not. And when you are facing that ball, literally there is no one in the stadium apart from you and that ball. So, these things are totally irrelevant, and you are actually not aware of them when you are on the field. It’s never bothered me, it’s never been something that’s of importance to me to be honest. For me it’s irrelevant.”For all the talk of banter, this is perhaps the best-natured Australia-India series Kohli has been a part of. “Nothing compared to 2014 to be honest,” Kohli said. “But look, it stays on the field whatever happens. In competitive spirit it stays on the field, I am not going to go into details but to be honest it’s not of importance for me to speak on and it’s something that’s done. We are looking forward to Melbourne now.”Whatever happens, at the end of the series, there will be a beer or 35 shared between the sides at the end of the series. At least there will be an invite from the Australian side. “Tonight ? No,” Paine said, when asked if the custom was to invite the opposition for beers after every Test. “We definitely will after the series. That’s always been the thing that has happened, and will always be the case.”

The board are conscious of the amount of time some players will spend away from home in the World Cup and Ashes

Daniel Brettig02-Feb-2019In the wake of Will Pucovski’s early exit from the Australian squad to better deal with his mental health issues, the Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts has revealed that the governing body will seek to extend the amount of time the families and partners of players and support staff can spend with the team during the long-haul World Cup and Ashes tour of England this year.Speaking the morning after Pucovski chose to leave the Australian squad to return home to the support network he has established after taking time out from the game for mental health reasons earlier this summer, Roberts said that CA was looking at ways of establishing more of a “home base” for the touring teams, particularly players and staff likely to be needed for both the ICC tournament and the five Tests against England to follow.The World Cup squad is set to depart for England in mid-May, with players and staff involved in both assignments not set to return home until late September following the fifth Test at The Oval, entailing a trip of more than four months. Roberts said that it was important for CA to find ways to allow the players and staff to find some semblance of normality and family connection over this long period away from home, beyond the period of about two and a half weeks in which partners and family are usually offered financial support to travel with the team.”If you look at this winter we’ll have some players who are competing in the World Cup and then the Ashes – they’ll be over there for more than four months,” Roberts told . “So we’re actually having discussions now about what can we do to establish a bit of a sense of a home base in the UK for those players and our support staff who are there for such a long time.”How can we get their families in perhaps more than we might have in previous times, because that’s going to be a really exciting period, having a World Cup and an Ashes back to back in England, it’s a once in a lifetime experience for a player or a member of our support team, but at the same time we’ve got to help manage through that process, so it’s something we’re actually talking about now.”Addressing Pucovski’s situation, Roberts said that CA needed to be conversant with the fact that similar episodes are only going to become more prevalent in sport and life in general. “Mental health and wellbeing challenges are more prevalent right across society now aren’t they and it is a rollercoaster that people suffering mental health issues are riding,” he said. “Will’s handling that really maturely and we’ve got a lot of support around him in the form of the team doctor, the sports psych with the men’s team…I’m really proud of the network we’ve now got in place.”I spoke with Will yesterday morning and he was in good spirits in that conversation but it’s really important that he and we acknowledge how he can manage those challenging times. Good on him for identifying that he was experiencing more challenges and that it would be helpful not playing in this Test now, more helpful to move away from this environment and prepare him for getting back on the field in other forms of the game in coming weeks.”Roberts also pointed to the amount of investment committed to player welfare and development under the terms of the MoU struck with the Australian Cricketers Association in 2017. “We’ve invested about AUD13 million over five years in professional development and wellbeing for players,” he said.”It’s just so important to help players manage their wellbeing and also to have something outside their cricket so in those down times, all cricketers experience the bad times as well as the good, it’s really important they’ve got something to think about to occupy their minds outside their cricket.”Australia’s coach Justin Langer, meanwhile, denied that the process of picking Pucovski so soon after he returned to the game, exposing him to the hype of international cricket and then choosing not to select him for either of the two Tests in Brisbane and Canberra, had contributed to the decision to return home early.”I don’t think that [hype then non-selection] has anything to do with it. He and I have had a lot of really good conversations,” Langer told . “There’s a lot of hype, but that’s the Australian cricket team. I’ve been fascinated by the scrutiny coming into the job, I’ve been in this business for 25 years and I’m feeling it.”I can only imagine how some of the young guys are feeling about all the scrutiny. That’s just part of the business we’re in I think it would be great experience for him to have stepped into the jungle for a couple of weeks and see what it’s like, and I’m sure in the future he’s a good young player and he’ll get another chance.””In one way it’s sad, in other ways it’s great courage for a young man. There’s a lot of talk about mental health and he’s been fantastic. He’s been with the group in the last couple of weeks, he’s a sensational young bloke, love watching him bat, he’s a gun fielder, works really hard, but he’s obviously wanting to get on top of it and he’s gone home for a few days and he’s got some Shield cricket coming up and looking forward to seeing him healthy and well. He deserves it, because he’s such a good young bloke.”

Kumar Sangakkara, a member of the MCC World Cricket committee, said there’s “a real opportunity to cement” the future of the format

Nagraj Gollapudi09-Mar-2019Test cricket is dying? Think again. The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) announced on Saturday that an overwhelming 86% of fans prefer watching the five-day matches compared to the limited-overs versions, many of them saying Test cricket was the “ultimate” form.The longstanding custodians of the game wanted to assess the popularity of the longest format against the limited-over versions and put out a survey. Here are its major findings.

MCC World Cricket committee members

Mike Gatting (chairman), Suzie Bates, Ian Bishop, Kumar Dharmasena, Sourav Ganguly, Shakib Al Hasan, Rod Marsh, Tim May, Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting, Ramiz Raja, Kumar Sangakkara, John Stephenson, Vintcent Van der Bijl and Shane Warne.

What was the MCC survey about?

Titled the ‘MCC Test Cricket survey’, the idea behind the research was to test the popularity and relevance of the longer format among fans, and whether they had the time and inclination to follow the oldest format of the game.

What were the results?

The survey was carried out across 100 countries with over 13,000 fans participating. “Overwhelmingly, Test cricket came out as the format that interests fans the most, regardless of country supported or age,” the MCC said in a release. The results allowed the MCC to conclude that there was a “positive future” for Test cricket based on the review of the survey.One of the most striking findings of the survey was that an average of 86% of the responders said Test cricket remained their “preferred” format followed by ODIs, T20Is and domestic T20s in that order. “Responders to the MCC Test cricket survey still consider the Test format to be the pinnacle of cricket and the favourite format of cricket to attend, follow and watch, with respondents describing the game as the “ultimate” form of cricket,” the MCC said.That finding may raise eyebrows considering global cricket administrators, including the ICC, have acknowledged T20 cricket is the vehicle that is driving the growth of the game.

Have there been other such surveys?

Yes, the ICC conducted one last year, which said cricket had more than a billion fans globally, and close to 70% (of 19,000-plus people between ages 16-69) supported Test cricket.Recently, Dave Richardson, the ICC’s outgoing chief executive who also sits on the MCC World Cricket committee, stressed that Test cricket was not dying, but merely striving for relevance, which would be sorted once the World Test Championship kicks off in July.

Other key findings in the survey

The MCC said over half of the respondents wanted to watch Test cricket regularly but would still like some improvements:

• Addressing the cost and availability of tickets to enable more fans to attend
• Increasing access to Test cricket on free-to-air TV
• Including half-day tickets to encourage families to attend

Any reactions to the MCC survey?

Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka captain who has been on the MCC World Cricket committee since 2012, said that he was not entirely surprised by the results. He pointed out that series triumphs by India in Australia, Sri Lanka in South Africa and West Indies surprising England at home in the past few months have allowed Test cricket not only to enjoy an “incredible” year but also injected enthusiasm among fans for the longer format.”There’s a real opportunity – and responsibility – for us all to cement the future of our superb longer form,” Sangakkara said.Former England captain Mike Gatting, who is chairman of the MCC World Cricket committee, said that administrators ought to listen to the fans’ concerns in order to stave off the imposing challenge that T20 leagues and forthcoming tournaments like The Hundred pose. He also pointed out that there was a lot of demand for day-night Tests, especially in Asia, and the administrators needed to capitalise on that.”Virat [Kohli] has expressed his commitment to maintaining the position of Test cricket at the top of the sport, while off the back of South Africa’s one-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka Faf [du Plessis] insisted such matches demonstrate Test cricket is still the number one format,” Gatting said.”When you have high-profile leaders like Virat and Faf being part of hugely exciting series, it shows what Test cricket can be. It is easy to see why the format is viewed as the pinnacle of our sport and we want to see it future-proofed and that could include looking at more day-night Tests, which we can see there is a big demand for, especially in Asia.”

Ireland’s last-wicket pair of George Dockrell and Tim Murtagh put together 87 to keep them in the contest after Afghan bowlers run riot

The Report by Shashank Kishore15-Mar-2019Afghanistan were utterly dominant for large parts of the opening day of the one-off Test against Ireland in Dehradun. So much so that a snooze for 25 overs in the second session didn’t cost them much.They let Ireland recover from 69 for 8 to 172, with 37-year old Tim Murtagh becoming the second-oldest No. 11 to score a Test fifty; only South Africa’s Pat Symcox was older when he scored a half-century. The last-wicket pair of Murtagh and George Dockrell added 87 together to frustrate Afghanistan and give their bowlers some leeway, though not much.Afghanistan shelved their firebrand approach to batting, which they displayed during a nervy Test debut nine months ago. Mohammad Shahzad kept lunging forward and defending, pottering to 6 off 35 deliveries as Ireland opened with pace and spin in trying to adopt the very methods that brought Afghanistan much success earlier in the day.But where Afghanistan’s spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Waqar Salamkheil got the ball to bite and zip off the pitch, Ireland were much more traditional, relying on the batsmen to make mistakes. The turn they extracted was slow and Shahzad adjusted nicely. Even then, the odd ball that was dropped short or bowled full was either cut, lofted over mid-on or paddled fine.In the second hour of the final session, Ireland finally managed to induce a mistake as Shahzad stepped out and drilled one back down the pitch. It needed outstanding reflexes from offspinner James Cameron-Dow to move low to his left and pouch the catch to send the danger man back on 40. Cameron-Dow had earlier taken the first wicket when he trapped debutant Ihsanullah Janat with an arm-ball for 7.Tim Murtagh raises his bat after reaching fifty•AFP

Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah ensured there were no further hiccups as Afghanistan closed the day on 90 for 2, trailing Ireland by only 82.As such, Ireland are not entirely out of it, and will be in business if they can strike early on Saturday. That they are in a slightly better position than looked likely after the first session where they were reduced to 69 for 7 was because of their lower-order defiance.William Porterfield called right, but all the batting unit had to show in the first couple of hours was Paul Stirling’s aggressive 26 at the top, 24 off which came off fours, three of them in a single over off Yamin Ahmadzai, Afghanistan’s best fast bowler on the day with returns of 3 for 41. Ireland raced to 37 without loss in the ninth over, and at that stage Afghanistan were struggling, not having bowled a single maiden over.The impressive Ahmadzai, who took the new ball, finally struck when he had Stirling after Afghanistan had strung together 20 dots. He bowled one that nibbled away to take the edge through to the keeper. Exactly six balls later, Porterfield was done in by drift, squared up by one that spun away sharply to be lbw off Nabi.Andy Balbirne walked in at No. 3 and looked every bit a nervous wreck looking for his first Test runs. The debut against Pakistan was far from memorable as he had bagged a pair. Here, he managed just four off a thick outside edge before being done in by Ahmadzai’s nipbacker that sent the off-stump cartwheeling. Spin soon took over.Rashid’s Test inception was forgettable. He was walloped for three fours in his first over by Shikhar Dhawan, and then smacked for two fours and a six off his fourth. Then, he kept over-bowling the googly, dropped short, and failed to have any control over the red ball like he does with the white ball. Here, he was on the money straightaway, picking up two wickets – James McCollum with a googly and Stuart Poynter with a dipping full toss that struck the batsman on the toe – off the first three deliveries.At that stage, Ireland were in danger of being bowled out before lunch. But with Dockrell in the middle, they hobbled to 69 for 7 at the break, and after that Murtagh and Dockrell made sure to turn some of the tide Ireland’s way.In the third ODI earlier on tour, Ireland scripted a remarkable turnaround to level the series, which went on to end 2-2. On that occasion, Dockrell had added 143 for the fifth wicket in a match-turning stand with Balbirnie. Here, with only the No. 11 for company, he batted with plenty of calm and tremendous application to negate Afghanistan’s spin threat.Dockrell wasn’t concerned about farming strike, happy to give Murtagh the strike whenever singles were available – quite easily, because Afghanistan had gone on the defensive. Murtagh, who has solid experience of playing on trickier surfaces at Surrey, repaid that faith. His solidity and strokeplay belied his batting position, and his use of the crease and swift footwork to move forward or rock back to cut the spinners stood out.What started off as a partnership with Dockrell looking the more accomplished batsman soon turned into a stand among equals. Murtagh’s expert reading of the spinners by picking lengths early was a practical lesson his mates in the dressing room would have done well to take note of.Murtagh remained unbeaten at the end, looking good for much more, when Dockrell became Ahmadzai’s third and final wicket of the day.

The latest round-up of how the Australians are performing in the IPL and county cricket as the World Cup and Australia A tours edge closer

Alex Malcolm23-Apr-2019Who’s in form and who’s notSteven Smith has bounced back to form after a bizarre week with back-to-back half-centuries in the IPL. He was dropped by Rajasthan Royals last week for scoring too slowly before being recalled and made captain for the remainder of the season. Against Mumbai Indians on Saturday he was Player of the Match after crafting a classy 59 not out from 48 balls to guide his side home chasing 162. On Monday against Delhi Capitals he made 50 from 32 balls in a 130-run stand with Ajinkya Rahane, although it was in a losing cause.The debate surrounding whether David Warner should open the batting in the World Cup has almost become redundant. He is tearing the IPL apart at the top of the order for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He made his fourth consecutive half-century on Sunday and he has passed 50 in seven of his nine IPL innings so far to be the tournament’s leading scorer by some margin, striking at 148.56.Marcus Stoinis has done some good things for Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last two wins. He made 17 off 8 balls and took 1 for 32 against Kolkata Knight Riders. His late hitting was impressive but it was the three dots he bowled to the rampaging Andre Russell in the 19th over that were just as important in helping RCB to a vital win. He bowled well again against CSK on Sunday, conceding only 20 runs from three overs including just five runs in a crucial 15th over that left MS Dhoni with too much to do. Earlier he took an excellent catch at slip to remove Shane Watson. But he did face five dot balls in making 14 off 13 with the bat.Glenn Maxwell’s first three 50-over outings for Lancashire have yielded scores of 35, 21 and 22. He fell victim to Victoria team-mate James Pattinson trying to move around the crease and hit him over the off side in a cracking game against Nottinghamshire. Maxwell has bowled well in the last two high-scoring games, being used in the Powerplay and conceding only a run-and-a-ball and taking key wickets.Jason Behrendorff has not played in Mumbai’s last two games as they have shuffled their line-up.Chris Lynn, who is not in the World Cup or Australia A squads, made a third half-century for the tournament but it was his slowest, from 45 balls, as his Knight Riders were beaten into submission by Warner’s Sunrisers.James Pattinson bowls•Getty Images

#AsheswatchThe County Championship season gave way to the Royal London One-Day Cup this week and although 50-over white-ball form may not carry as much weight towards Ashes selection there were some noteworthy performances for Australia’s selectors to ponder.James Pattinson raised eyebrows in his first game of the season for Nottinghamshire. In a game where more than 800 runs were scored at Trent Bridge he took 5 for 61 in 10 overs with 30 dot balls, including the prized scalp of Maxwell. But he only bowled five overs in the win over Derbyshire two days later.Cameron Bancroft made a statement with two brilliant unbeaten centuries for Durham to deliver two wins in three days. Batting in an unfamiliar position at No.4 he made 151 not out from 130 balls against Northamptonshire, taking the long handle to West Indies skipper Jason Holder, before adding 118 not out from 117 balls against Leicestershire to control a chase of 234.Matt Renshaw made his first List A century on Sunday for Kent in a loss to Sussex, having missed out in his previous two innings last week. Batting at No.3 he struck four sixes and nine fours, two of which came off England international Chris Jordan, in scoring 109 from 111 balls.Marnus Labuschagne struggled in the three 50-over matches for Glamorgan last week. He managed just 19 runs in three innings. But he took 3 for 46 against Somerset and 1 for 45 against Hampshire with the ball.Peter Siddle took 2 for 27 for Essex in a win against Labuschagne’s Glamorgan. But he was expensive in his second game last week taking 3 for 71 in 10 overs as Middlesex racked up a winning total of 366 at Chelmsford.Daniel Worrall made a successful start for Gloucestershire taking 2 for 22 from four overs in a huge win over Surrey and 2 for 30 in six overs in a loss to Middlesex.Did you see?Ashton Turner has had a disastrous start to his IPL career for Rajasthan Royals. He has become the first player in T20 history to register five ducks in a row after he was dismissed for three consecutive first-ball ducks in the IPL. He replaced Smith against Kings XI but came out to bat in a brutal situation needing 53 runs off 22 balls and understandably holed out first ball. In his second game against Mumbai, he walked out with 15 runs needed from 14 balls. That equation became 9 off 12 when by the time he faced his first ball but Jasprit Bumrah trapped him plumb in front. Against Delhi Capitals, he took strike with 21 balls remaining with a licence to go after a great platform had been set but he chipped his first ball to cover. Turner’s last five T20 innings read 0, 0, 0, 0 and 0 dating back to the end of the BBL season. However, he did make that stunning 84 not out from 43 balls in Australia’s ODI miracle at Mohali in the middle of that sequence.Injury listMoises Henriques hadn’t played a game in this year’s IPL but was due to get his first against the Royals last week only to injure his ankle in the warm-up. His injury looks likely to have ended his tournament before it even started. However, there is good news on Smith’s elbow with the new Royals captain declaring he is only “two weeks away” from being able to throw properly again.Performance of the weekThere were lots of runs plundered by Australians in India and England, but it was hard to go past Pattinson’s performance. Nottinghamshire and Lancashire made 823 runs in 100 overs at Trent Bridge. Three players made centuries including former South Africa international Dane Vilas who made 166 from 100 balls in the chase for Lancashire. Not only was Pattinson incredibly economical in the run-feast, his five wickets included Maxwell and Vilas to help Nottinghamshire ice the game.