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Ravi Bopara warmed up for England’s two-match Twenty20 series against Australia later this week, and the NatWest series to follow, with 130 against Lancashire at Old Trafford, his highest List A county score since June 2008

26-Aug-2013Essex 297 for 4 (Bopara 130, Smith 78) beat Lancashire 227 (Smith 97, Phillips 5-42) by 70 runs
ScorecardRavi Bopara found his best form ahead of England’s limited-overs matches against Australia•Getty Images

Lancashire and Essex both failed to reach the Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-finals after Essex won a high-scoring contest by 70 runs at Old Trafford, underpinned by a superb 130 by England’s Ravi Bopara ahead of the one-day series against Australia.Tom Smith hit an excellent 84-ball 97 but the home side’s task was too stiff. Tim Phillips nipped in with 5 for 42 from 7.4 overs with his niggardly left-arm slows as Lancashire lost their last eight wickets for 41 runs, slipping from 186 for 2.Bopara warmed up for England’s two-match Twenty20 series against Australia later this week, and the NatWest series to follow, with his highest List A county score since June 2008, including nine fours and three sixes in 102 balls.After James Foster elected to bat, Bopara and Greg Smith ensured an impressive recovery from the early loss of India international Gautam Gambhir as they shared 159 inside 23 overs for the second wicket.Bopara hit Ashes-winning left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan, who was playing in the fifth Test at the Oval 24 hours earlier, for six over long-on in the 18th over before hitting off-spinner Steven Croft straight down the ground for his second maximum. He later hit his third off Kabir Ali over square-leg, taking 22 off the former England man in the 36th over.After Kerrigan had Smith stumped for 78 off 77 balls, Bopara shared 61 in 5.1 overs for the fourth wicket with Ryan ten Doeschate before he top-edged Kyle Hogg to short third-man in the search for quick runs. Ten Doeschate also hit three sixes in 46 not out off 23 balls, helping to take 76 runs off the last six overs.Smith and Stephen Moore gave Lancashire a good platform with an opening stand of 79 in 11 overs for the first wicket, and despite Reece Topley getting Moore caught at long-leg and bowling Ashwell Prince inside four overs, Lancashire had
wickets in hand.An accumulative partnership of 95 inside 15 overs for the third wicket between Smith and Paul Horton kept Lancashire in the hunt. But when Smith was bowled by Topley to leave the score at 186 for 3 after 29 overs, things started to go downhill quickly.Phillips had Horton, Croft, Karl Brown, Arron Lilley and Kerrigan all caught playing expansively. Horton was brilliantly caught by a diving Bopara running towards the sight-screen from long-on to start the run of wickets and add further lustre to his magnificent day.

The full text of the letter Sreesanth submitted to the BCCI’s disciplinary committee earlier this week

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2013″The police have mentally and physically harassed me and obtained signed statements”•Associated Press

Honoured Sirs,I am beholden to the BCCI for granting me an opportunity to submit this explanation highlighting the whole truth regarding the issue involved and engaging the attention of the BCCI.Cricket is my pride and passion. I have given my entire life to it and in return cricket had given me whatever I have in life: name, game, admiration and recognition. In fact my commitment in life is entirely to cricket. There is no life to me without cricket.I adore it like anything and worship it as my own mother. It will therefore be impossible for a son to sully the image of one’s own mother. Even a mild indication or suggestion like that will send shudders through my spine. I love the game so much and I am prepared to put in my entire life into it.I had to undergo six surgeries on my left big toe & right toe. I have been training hard to make it back. Lot of other injuries too but I never stopped. All I ever want is to play again and win matches for my country and injuries which did not deter me any manner from playing cricket spiritedly and with the same fervour. Though I was in crutches for a considerable number of months I forced me to be present in the play ground on the advice of my well wishers. Even at that time my performance was not in any way affected. After 10 months later due to back injury when I resumed to play in the very First International I was declared the “Man of Match” award.With the commitment and devotion I had and with the blessings of God I became a proud member of the Indian Team which won the World Cup and I may not be misunderstood as blowing my own trumpet if I am permitted to describe in brief my career in cricket.I have played a number of international games and was part of the Indian National Team, which won the inaugural T-20 World Cup, 2007 and the I.C.C World Cup in 2011. My commitment to the cricket and my reputation as one of the Fast Bowlers in the world cannot be doubted by anybody. Even in the enquiry report this has been acknowledged. To cut short a cricket life like that solely on the basis of unreliable media reports, suspicions, generalizations, statement by accused etc will be too distressing to bear for me. I am accused of conceding 14 runs for a paltry sum of Rs 10 lakhs, which is a preposterous suggestion as far as the remuneration of a First Class cricketer in the country is well known to everybody.Till date I have not done anything wrong or improper to bring the name of cricket down in any manner whatever. I cannot think of any reason why I should be charged with a false and fantastic allegation of aligning with the bookies. Nothing of the kind has ever happened and will not ever happen in my cricket life.As regards the charges I respectfully beg to submit that all of them as has been conceded in the report itself are based on media reports and not any concrete and reliable evidence. Fortunately the enquiry officer himself has recorded that his report is made in breach of all principles of natural justice in that before submitting the report no opportunity was given to me or to any others to know what is being put up against me or shown which materials are going to be relied on. It is respectfully pointed out the BCCI is an august body enjoying status and held as a “State” or “other authority” under the Constitution of India and therefore, all its actions must be fair and free of bias and consistent with principles of fairness and natural justice. The enquiry report itself proceeds on the basis that the aforesaid principles could not be fully complied with for the reasons stated above.As regards the charges, I respectfully beg to submit as follows:i. Fixing — There is absolutely no reliable material even to find out a charge of fixing against me. What is relied upon is the alleged conversation between my friend Shri Jiju Janardhanan a fellow cricketer and some others. Shri Jiju Janardhanan is very much familiar with my mannerism and habit in the cricket field as he knows me from the age of 18. It is not uncommon to use a towel in afternoon matches particularly in a place like Mohali in the month of April-May. Enough photographs are there to show that in many of the earlier matches I played, white colour towel had been used by me. In fact even other well known cricketers use white towel as a matter of habit. Even in the very same match towels were used by other players. Apart from sheer coincidence nothing culpable can be attributed to me by reason of using a towel. The allegation that in the first over no towel was used cannot be correct.ii. What is alleged as warming up against me is not really warming up but a manner of play which I did in other plays also.iii. As regards conceding of 14 runs I may respectfully point out that there was no guarantee that the Captain will ask me to bowl in a particular over and if so, depending on the field, the pitch, batsman etc. the bowler will have to bowl. It may be stated here that my bowling is considered pace bowling estimated at an average of 135 km per hour and there is no guarantee for a bowler regarding the runs he is likely to concede unless deliberately either a no ball or wide is bowled. Conceding runs therefore, cannot be manipulated as alleged. There is no allegation that in the concerned second over any wide or no ball was bowled.iv. As regards seeking, accepting, offering or agreeing to accept any bribe there is no trace of evidence pointing out to any such incident at all.v. There had been no failure or refusal on my part to perform my abilities in the Matches as all the balls bowled by me will show that I have done my best in bowling that day also.vi. The charges of soliciting, inducing, enticing, instructing etc under Article 2.1.4 cannot be even indicated against me as there is no trace of evidence.vii. As regards Article 2.2.3 my explanation supra will answer and no knowledge of any bet can be attributed to me at all by any acceptable evidence.viii. No gift and payment has ever been recovered by me and no evidence is available even with the police of any acceptance.ix. Since there is no breach of conduct in violation of the BCCI rules there is no need on my part to disclose to the BCCI any such events.x. It is alleged that Rs 5.5 lakhs has been recovered from bookie Abhishek Shukla based on information provided by me and Jiju Janardhanan. While I do not know what Shri Janardhanan said, I have not given any such information. If it has been so recorded it is false and forcibly obtained. The further allegation that the telephonic conversation between me and Jiju Janardhanan referred to sum of Rs 10 lakhs is false. No inference can be drawn that just for Rs 10 lakhs I will be throwing away a brilliant cricket career forgetting my duties to my country and the game of cricket.xi. All the expenses made by me in Jaipur have been spent from my money as will be seen from the statement of accounts maintained by my bank. This has been referred by me in my application in a Delhi Court, which had accepted it. Every pie that has been spent is my own money. The allegation that in JW Marriot Hotel in Chandigarh, an unidentified girl was seen late night is false. It is common knowledge that number of girls stay in that hotel and the girl was not seen with me but was photographed in the passage of the hotel. It will be unfortunate to connect ladies who are seen in the passages with me or my friend, even without enquiry into who that lady was. The allegation is based entirely on tendentious media reports which cannot be taken into account in destroying a successful cricketer’s career.xii. There is no confusion recorded by me willingly to the police. The police have mentally and physically harassed me and obtained signed statements. Annexure-1 may be referred to in this regard. The conclusion arrived at by the Commissioner of Enquiry that I have committed offences in Para 9, it is submitted is based on conjectures, guesses, inferences, and inadmissible police reports. The police have not intercepted any conversation between me and any others in support of the wild and fantastic charges levelled against me which has put me into manifest injustice and prejudice as I had no opportunity to refute them. Before relying on that police reports, the Commissioner who conducted the enquiry has also not put them to me to ascertain my version. That is the reason why the Commissioner himself has recorded in the report in Para 13.

“I also do not have access to any of the arrested persons including the arrested players and therefore, I am not able to question them on the allegations against them or give them a chance to explain their conduct. Even though I have no means to complete the process of natural justice, my hand is being forced to complete the report within 15 days in view of the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”

The report and the materials relied upon do not even come anywhere near broad probabilities in arriving at conclusions against me. In fact they are only guess work based on exaggerated media reports which were never put to me, or their veracity tested in any manner. It will be unduly harsh and unfair to end a person’s cricket career and deprived him of his life and livelihood solely based on media reports which will not be touched by a Court of Law. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is a high powered body, which is expected to act fair, avoiding arbitrariness and without infracting any person’s fundamental rights. I am put to very serious prejudice by not being given an opportunity to controvert the contents of a report before or at the time when it is prepared. It will be indeed hard on me to draw conclusions on such a report, the maker of which himself concedes it is incomplete, to put an end to my career as a cricketer and to cast indelible stigma forever. It is my reputation that will be adversely affected, which cannot be repaired at a later stage. I therefore, request the Board to desist from making conclusion on such imperfect, incomplete and unjust report.xiii. There was no conduct on my part that will fall within the category of any offence.I am therefore, constrained to deny all the charges put to me by the Board as wholly unsustainable, not even prima-facie established and I reiterate there is no violation of any of the quoted codes referred to in the notice under reply.I therefore, emphatically deny all the charges subject to my reservation and restriction to give a full picture since the entire matter is pending trial before a criminal court. Suffice to say that the enquiry officer has not relied upon any material which will bear legal scrutiny even in a court of law. He has relied on media reports, statements of top police officers, newspaper clippings etc. none of which the apex court has held, will be evidence in a court of law, or in any enquiry leading to adverse consequences.On such materials since I have already suffered ignominy of suspension from play from 15th May, 2013 till date, no further action like suspension etc. is warranted on the facts and circumstances unfolded before the BCCI. Whatever I had given in the statement marked as Annexure-1 represents the truth. Under the threat of arrest of my close relatives a statement was forcibly taken in the manner directed by the police. That cannot form the basis or material for presentation before a body like BCCI consisting of eminent persons well-versed in law. The principles of natural justice, fairness and transparent procedure are applicable to proceedings before the BCCI and since the enquiry officer himself has conceded that in view of the Supreme Court direction he did not comply in full with those principles, that may be particularly noticed.Since the matter is subjudice I crave permission not to elaborate. However, it will not be out of place to mention that the court in which a charge against me and others was laid, the court on the 10th of September, 2013 expressed an opinion that not even any proved direct connection had been found on the materials presented before the court to any cricketers with the crime. The court has also observed there are missing links in the investigation. Prima facie therefore, as such present advised I take the liberty to point out that none of the charges levelled against me will hold-water.However, considering the fact that the courts do take long time to ultimately adjudicate the issue, on such unsustainable charges if I am forbidden from entry in the cricket field which has become part of my life and is my life itself it will be a travesty of justice. I am determined to bring greater glory to the country by putting in my best in cricket again and will feel extremely distressed if I am prevented from participating in that game solely on the ground of some cooked up and false charges which cannot even be prima facie sustained at all by any material evidence. Such an action I crave leave to point out will amount to cutting short my cricket life forever without strong and sound reasons and will be violative of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. This I bring to the notice of a high power body like the BCCI, shall not be permitted to happen.I therefore, humbly request that the BCCI may be pleased to declare that I have the necessary permission to play in national as well as International cricket despite the pendency of certain proceedings initiated against me without any supporting materials.I shall be extremely grateful to the BCCI if it is pleased to consider the matter in the above perspective and graciously grant me the permission requested for.Thanking you,Yours obediently,
(S. Sreesanth)11..9..2013

Craig Meschede’s maiden hundred rescued Glamorgan against Surrey in a match which will live long in the all-rounder’s memory

Press Association21-Apr-2015
ScorecardCraig Meschede maiden hundred edged Glamorgan beyond the follow on•Getty Images

Craig Meschede’s maiden hundred rescued Glamorgan against Surrey in a match which will live long in the all-rounder’s memory.Meschede might have wondered whether the spotlight would ever be his after being farmed out on loan by Somerset, the move happening after fellow all-rounder Jim Allenby had made a winter switch across the Severn Bridge in the opposite direction.But in the space of three days Meschede has gone a long way to proving the wisdom of his season-long move and winning the affections of Glamorgan supporters into the bargain.On Sunday, he grabbed the headlines by ruining Kevin Pietersen’s attempt to impress the England selectors by having his fellow South African native caught at slip for only 19.The 23-year-old was back with the bat on Tuesday with Glamorgan in dire straits at 293 for 7 in this Division Two contest, still needing 121 to save the follow-on after Surrey’s massive 563 for 7 declared, and far exceeding his previous career-best 62 to make an unbeaten 101.”It means the world to me,” he said. “I have been longing for this moment for my whole professional career and finally it has happened, so it is really special for me. It’s just nice to finally get a big score under my name and kind of have some belief in myself, knowing that I can do it. That’s the main thing.”If you score runs, hopefully you can go up the order, but I am also a bowler and I have got to take that aspect in my game as well.”His 130-ball innings, which featured 16 fours and a six, guided a relieved Glamorgan to 419, although there was late anxiety when the supporting Dean Cosker was ninth man out with the hosts two runs short of their target of 414.Preventing the follow-on appeared a tall order yet, in tandem with Cosker, Meschede frustrated a Surrey attack who had hitherto provided variation and penetration and shared the wickets around on a batsman-friendly surface.Meschede revealed a full range of shots either side of the wicket but kept his best for a sweetly-timed straight drive off the economical Gareth Batty which belonged to a top-order batsman, let alone an aspiring all-rounder batting at No. 9.Two games into his new career he already has a place in the Glamorgan annals, his partnership of 119 with Cosker eclipsing the club’s previous ninth-wicket best of 88 against Surrey between Robert Croft and David Harrison at Swansea in 2006.Meschede was still five runs short of a century when Cosker departed but Andy Carter hit a single and he then struck a legside boundary before moving to three figures with his first false shot of the day, an uppish pull which just cleared the retreating fielder at midwicket.Glamorgan’s innings appeared to have turned earlier on a remarkable run out after they had just passed the 200 mark with Colin Ingram, the South African one-day international batsman, posting a first fifty for his new county.Ingram had lost his morning partner Will Bragg, bowled around his legs by Matt Dunn for 37, but the Kolpak signing and Chris Cooke were motoring along against the soft ball. But then Cooke pushed the ball firmly through the covers and it was only the enthusiasm of Zafar Ansari which prevented it going all the way to the boundary.Cooke set off for a third run but he soon realised he was in danger and to his horror he was stranded by Ansari’s direct hit from fully 70 yards. The bizarre dismissal had the effect of unsettling Ingram and he soon fell for 56 when striking Tom Curran to cover.Mark Wallace and Graham Wagg set about repairing the damage against the new ball with an entertaining post-lunch partnership which had reached 55 when the latter was bowled playing back attempting to cut Batty.Last week Wallace became the first specialist wicket-keeper in Glamorgan history to reach 10,000 runs and once again he illustrated that losing the captaincy to Jacques Rudolph at the end of last season has had no effect on his commitment to the cause.Wallace played diligently to reach his half-century from 87 balls but, after Batty had punished David Lloyd’s ill-judged sweep, Curran took his edge while he was defending and removed him for 51.At that stage Surrey must have felt they would be enforcing the follow-on at some point after tea, but Meschede and Cosker had other ideas to set up what could yet be an intriguing final day.

After a sterling IPL, Ashish Nehra has expressed his disappointment at not being considered for national selection for the last four years

Gaurav Kalra01-Jun-2015After a sterling IPL, where he claimed 22 wickets to finish fourth in the wicket-takers list, Ashish Nehra has expressed his disappointment at not being considered for national selection for the last four years. Nehra’s last match for India was the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan, but despite being a regular on the domestic circuit he hasn’t been considered for either ODIs or T20 internationals.”I don’t speak to media too much but last three-four years have been really harsh,” Nehra told ESPNcricinfo in an exclusive interview in Delhi. “India has tried out a lot of bowlers in T20 and one-day cricket which are the formats I was still playing and I was the highest wicket-taker between 2008 and 2011 by far. In fact, I was in the top three in the whole world.”Till now, I don’t know what exactly happened and nobody ever told me. Whenever I played with the current lot – I am not saying they are not good, I am giving an example – be it in the Challenger Trophy or the Deodhar Trophy, I have been at par with them or better than them at times. They have tried 20 or 25 bowlers but not Ashish Nehra. I don’t know where I went wrong.”Nehra was the standout performer for Chennai Super Kings this season, winning three man-of-the-match awards, and in fact was the top Indian fast bowler in the tournament. He missed only one out of CSK’s 17 games and bowled 62 of the possible 64 overs over the course of the season. Nehra also emphasised that he was called upon to bowl in the most difficult phases of the game – in the powerplay overs and in the death overs – underlining his utility to the team.”It is not like I am bowling the easier overs in the middle,” he said. “I am still doing the toughest job and that gives me a good kick. Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey are there who have played for the Indian team but at the same time I get the satisfaction of bowling the tough overs under the Indian captain. I still miss the India cap when I go to sleep. People were saying I will go to the World Cup after the Champions League but I was not even in the 30 probables. Even after the IPL, in ten days people will forget me.”While 36-year-old Nehra’s performances in the IPL earned him a lot of praise from both observers and fellow cricketers, he was more sanguine about the returns, saying there is greater “recognition” if there is more to show for in the wickets column.”IPL is the kind of format where sometimes you’re bowling well but you don’t pick wickets. People don’t notice unfortunately in this country,” he explained. “I’m the same Ashish Nehra. The way I bowled in 2009, 2010 and 2011, I have been bowling the same way in the last three years. I was trying my best. This year I have picked more wickets. So, people do recognise you more. I got a good team like CSK in the last two years. It does make a difference.”One of the enduring themes over Nehra’s career has been recurring injuries. As a result, his Test career has been limited to merely 17 matches, the last of which came in 2004 against Pakistan at Rawalpindi. Nehra, who was only 25 at the time, says that not returning to the longest format of the game will remain a “regret.””I do miss playing Test cricket,” he said. “I could have played a lot more. I don’t want to give a number. A bowler like me shouldn’t have ended his test career at the age of 25. In 2008-09, Dhoni and (Gary) Kirsten (then India coach) wanted me to play Test cricket. When I look back, I regret not saying yes. I should have worked harder because I was only 30 then.”While a Test recall is no longer viable, Nehra is hopeful that after his IPL success, he may reappear on the radar of the national selectors for the shorter formats. When asked if Harbhajan Singh’s call up for the one-off Test in Bangladesh makes him believe players of his generation can make a case again, Nehra said all he was keen to see was a consistency in approach while selecting Indian teams.”I have always felt that I am good enough to play for India,” he said. “I still am good enough. It is a thought process, not because Harbhajan is back that I should be picked. I believe that whoever performs should be picked. It is not about the age. If I am doing well at 36 and the other guy is 26 and as good as me, you should go with him. You should not pick someone just because he is 20; not just with me but with everybody.”

South Africa Under-19s registered an easy seven-wicket win against Bangladesh in the third ODI in Pietermaritzburg on the back of a solid 89 from Liam Smith

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSouth Africa Under-19s registered an easy seven-wicket win – their first victory of the series – against Bangladesh in the third ODI in Pietermaritzburg on the back of a solid 89 from Liam Smith.After being put in to bat, Bangladesh started slowly before Said Hassan was run-out in the fourth over. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals as Bangladesh quickly collapsed to 66 for 5 in the 23rd over. However, a 42-run sixth-wicket stand between Zakir Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin(25) consolidated for Bangladesh. Another clump of wickets fell following Hasan’s dismissal and Bangladesh slumped to 123 for 9 before Mosabbek Hossain’s 29 took them to 165. Offspinner Dean Foxcroft picked up 3 for 31, while pacers Wiaan Mulder and Conor McKerr took two wickets each.Chasing a modest total, South Africa lost Rivaldo Moonsamy in the second over. Foxcroft and Smith resurrected the innings with a solid 58-run stand which was again followed by two wickets in quick succession. However, Mulder (39) and 18-year-old Smith added an unbeaten 93 to complete a convincing win with 73 balls to spare. Smith struck 13 fours and a six and was named Player of the Match.”It’s a bit of a relief really to finally get a win,” Smith said. “We’ve been working really hard building up to this series and I think we were all disappointed with ourselves for not being able to execute our game plans the way we wanted. This is exactly what we needed going forward with four games still to go.”

B Aparajith and Vijay Shankar are looking forward to the prospect of working with India A coach Rahul Dravid and picking up various inputs

Arun Venugopal02-Jul-20154:29

Rohan Gavaskar: Dravid is the complete package as coach

Vijay Shankar and B Aparajith have fond recollections of the TNCA first division league final in June 2012. Not only did they finish on the winning side, Vijay CC, but they also got to play alongside Rahul Dravid, who was called up to lend more muscle to an already formidable batting unit three months after his retirement from international cricket.Both youngsters hung on to every word Dravid had to offer then. Three years on, Aparajith and Vijay Shankar are just as excited about the prospect of interacting with Dravid, who is now coach of the India A side. Dravid’s first assignment will be the two four-day games against Australia A in Chennai later this month, and the two Tamil Nadu players are part of the 15-man India A squad.Aparajith said he was eager to hear Dravid’s appraisal of his game so far. “I still don’t know what to expect though,” Aparajith told ESPNcricinfo. “I am going to be open and listen to what he has got to say. Anything small from him is going to be a big thing for me.”Aparajith, however, felt there might not be enough time to run the technical nitty-gritty of his batting by Dravid. “It’s going to be match-based, so I am not sure how much (any conversation on) technical correction is possible. Maybe close to the tournament, I will discuss with him things that are on the top of my head at that point. I am not predetermining anything now.”Shankar, along with Aparajith, has established himself as a player of considerable potential recently. He was a key part of a young Tamil Nadu side that made the Ranji Trophy final last season. Shankar racked up 577 runs at an average of 57.70, including scores of 111, 82 and 91 in the quarter-final and semi-final.Evidently elated at his selection, he is looking forward to take in Dravid’s input on every aspect of the game. “I didn’t know how to react. It’s a very big thing,” Shankar said of his selection.”Last time when I met him (Dravid), I was asking him about converting starts. I would just love to work with him. Whenever we go there and practice I am sure he’s going to give some input and I am just keen on noting it down. I hope there will be enough practice sessions so that he will have time to see how we are batting.”Both Shankar and Aparajith were happy that the matches were played in their hometown, but refused to attribute too much importance to it.In contrast to Shankar, Aparajith had a lean run in the Ranji Trophy, with his 553 runs coming at an average of 29.10. Aparajith admitted there wasn’t a specific pattern to his game last year, but that he had put in “extra hard work” to sort out what he regarded as problem areas.”It’s a fresh start for us, a season opener of sorts,” Aparajith said. “I have analysed what I need to do. There is no specific area (of improvement). The reason why I failed last season could be because of a thought-process mistake. Nothing to do with my skill alone, [except] maybe in one or two games.”Every game I need to set pattern for long innings. Last season, I didn’t find the pattern or rhythm. Once I make it a habit, I will be more consistent.”Shankar, for his part, spoke about taking his batting to the next level. “I have been batting well in the recent past. But whenever I get a start, I get out for 80 or 90,” he said.”I just want to make sure when I get a start, I want to make it really big. Definitely, I look at it (the selection) as one more step towards the senior team. Whenever we go out and play, we put ourselves under some pressure. But last year, I just wanted to enjoy myself. Obviously pressure is going to be there, but I look at this series as an opportunity to gain enjoyment and good experience.”

Jason Roy smashed an unbeaten 122 off 64 balls, in front of a more than 20,000 at the Kia Oval, to keep alive Surrey’s hopes of reaching the NatWest Blast quarter-finals and oust Somerset in the process

ECB/PA17-Jul-2015
ScorecardJason Roy is back in form – and Surrey are feeling the benefit•Getty Images

Jason Roy smashed an unbeaten 122 off 64 balls, in front of a near sell-out crowd of more than 20,000 at the Kia Oval, to condemn Somerset to their fourth successive defeat in the NatWest T20 Blast and keep alive Surrey’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.Roy took centre stage as the hosts racked up 208 for one after winning the toss, and the 24-year-old’s spectacular second hundred in this format included six sixes and eight fours.Such was the savagery of Roy’s onslaught that it overshadowed Rory Burns’s unbeaten 46 off 33 balls in an unbroken second-wicket partnership of 124 in eleven overs.Somerset could only manage 170 for seven off their 20 overs in reply, with James Hildreth contributing 51 from 43 deliveries, as Surrey won by 38 runs.Kumar Sangakkara also helped to set the tone for Surrey by joining forces with Roy in an opening stand of 84 in nine overs. Other than when Roy, on 18, was dropped by Jamie Overton on the straight boundary, the Surrey openers raced along without undue risk.Sangakkara brought the fifty up for Surrey in the sixth over, with a pulled four off Alfonso Thomas. The Sri Lankan survived a difficult chance at extra cover, on 28, off Lewis Gregory, though not before being caught at mid-on off a delivery that was no-balled for being above waist height.

Insights

T20, perhaps more than other format, is about momentum. If a team has been winning then those pivotal moments upon which matches swing are seized and won. Mumbai Indians won the IPL having lost five of their first six matches this season, Surrey had just one win in their first seven matches this season but now having won four of their last five they are peaking at just the right time and could well make it through to the quarter-finals. An in-form Jason Roy would be a huge asset.

Sangakkara was stumped off Max Waller for 31, after which Roy, who faced just 32 balls for his fifty, slammed his foot on the accelerator by launching Jim Allenby over long off for six.The 14th over of Surrey’s innings proved to be eventful with Burns swinging Allenby over wide long on for a maximum, Roy taking full advantage of a free hit and Jamie Overton spilling another catch in the deep, this time to the relief of Burns.Roy went to a 56-ball hundred with his fourth six, straight down the ground off Overton and, just for good measure, swung two of the last three balls of the Surrey innings into the crowd at mid wicket.Somerset’s reply got off to the worst start possible when Johann Myburgh, attempting to profit from a mis-field at mid-off, was run out by Sam Curran without scoring.Zafar Ansari, at extra cover, then parried at fierce shot from Allenby to cling on at the second attempt before Peter Trego, having just thumped a straight six, was caught at short fine leg for 26.If they did not know it before, Ansari confirmed it was not to be Somerset’s night by running in fully 40 yards from the mid wicket boundary to pull off an astonishing one-handed catch to see the back of Tom Cooper for 29.Like Trego, Luke Ronchi (21 off 13 balls) threatened briefly to defy the odds by swinging both Azhar Mahmood and Tom Curran over long on for sixes, but when the New Zealand international holed-out to long off the visitors’ already slim chances went with him.

Declarations by both sides set up a potentially exciting finish, but bad light forced an early close with Gloucestershire, chasing 302 to win, still 90 runs short with five wickets

ECB/PA04-Sep-2015
ScorecardChris Dent gave Gloucestershire a handy start to their chase•Getty Images

Declarations by both sides set up a potentially exciting finish, but bad light forced an early close with Gloucestershire, chasing 302 to win, still 90 runs short with five wickets and just under nine overs of their match against Leicestershire at Grace Road remaining.Resuming on the final day with their first innings on 249 for 8, Gloucestershire captain Will Tavare called his batsmen in as soon as the follow-on had been saved, with the visitors still 146 runs adrift of Leicestershire’s first innings score.With the Leicestershire batsmen looking to score quickly, Tavare’s bowlers then took four wickets before lunch. Liam Norwell had Ned Eckersley caught off a top edge, a fine effort from David Payne running back from midwicket, and Angus Robson caught behind with a delivery that bounced and left him.Mark Cosgrove hit a swift 21 before trying to hit Benny Howell over midwicket and being given leg before, and Aadil Ali, looking to drive, gave Kieran Noema-Barnett a straightforward return catch.Wickets continued to tumble after lunch, with Niall O’Brien, Wayne White, Ben Raine and Clint McKay all falling cheaply, but Dan Redfern hit his highest score of an injury-hit season, allowing Cosgrove to declare in turn.Tavare and Chris Dent gave Gloucestershire the ideal start, compiling an opening partnership of 108 at over four an over, but left-arm seamer Rob Taylor picked up Dent caught and bowled off a leading edge.Tavare gloved an attempted hook at Ben Raine behind the wicket to Niall O’Brien behind the stumps, but Peter Handscomb and Neema-Barnett had added 40 for the sixth wicket to reignite the chase when the light became unplayable.

Fifties from Jiwanjot Singh and Mandeep Singh frustrated Mumbai, but the hosts managed to pick up four key scalps in their pursuit to victory

The Report by Amol Karhadkar in Mumbai10-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Jiwanjot Singh scored an important 91, was run out towards the end of the day•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

All the facets of an intense day of first-class cricket were on display on the penultimate day of Mumbai’s Ranji encounter against Punjab.
The quality of the game may not have been the best, but the manner in which both sides applied themselves, that too in scorching heat, deserved to be complimented.It was such an intense day that after Punjab made 244 for 4 in their second innings, still 171 runs behind to avoid an innings defeat, neither side was completely satisfied. While Mumbai captain Aditya Tare felt “one more wicket” would have made it a perfect day for them, Punjab coach Arun Sharma thought the visitors lost “two wickets too many” in the last session.Once Tare, after helping his team’s lead cross the 400-run mark, declared the innings, Punjab knew they had to bat out almost for two days to avoid the ignominy of an innings defeat.As an element of surprise, and taking a cue from Ankeet Chavan’s second innings nine-wicket haul against the same opponents at the same venue three years ago, Mumbai started the innings with Harmeet Singh’s left-arm spin along with Shardul Thakur’s raw pace. While Harmeet could not provide the breakthrough, a wicket did eventually come from the other end.Manan Vohra was adjudged caught behind down the leg side while attempting a flick off Thakur in the fifth over of the innings. While the bowler along with Mumbai’s slip cordon went up immediately after the ball had rested in Tare’s gloves, the batsman was taken aback with the decision of umpire K Srinivasan and made his displeasure known.Vohra’s wicket brought together Jiwanjot Singh and Uday Kaul. With the wicket hardly asking any questions of them, the duo – considered to be Punjab’s stayers – did not really appear to be in trouble. While they kept the scoreboard moving before the break, Balwinder Singh Sandhu and Harmeet pulled things back after the break.The first six overs of the second session saw just two runs being added. The tightness of the bowlers eventually forced a mistake from Kaul in the next over. Kaul’s defensive prod off Harmeet resulted in an inside edge to Shrideep Mangela at forward short leg.The rest of the session then belonged to Jiwanjot and Mandeep Singh, both of whom batted with discipline. Thakur, who had headed to the dressing room after feeling discomfort in his right leg in his fifth over, returned to bowl another spell, but none of the batsmen played a false stroke. Mandeep was fortunate for having seen two false strokes in a Harmeet over – a heave against the spin and an extravagant drive – dropping in no man’s land. Barring that rush of blood, the duo saw out the session with little discomfort.After doing the hard work in the first two sessions, it was up to both the batsmen to capitalise in the last session and reduce the deficit going into the last day. Instead, Jiwanjot threw his wicket away just after entering the 90s in the manner of a run out. After flicking Thakur through midwicket, Jiwanjot called Mandeep for a second run. Jiwanjot was a tad slow to turn back and Harmeet got such a perfect throw in from the deep that Tare only had to whip the bails in time. Even a desperate dive from the batsman was not enough to save his wicket.Half an hour later, Mumbai got the bonus wicket of Yuvraj Singh. The Punjab captain got off the blocks quickly with a flick off Dhawal Kulkarni but he tried a paddled sweep off part-time offie Akhil Herwadkar, only to bottom-edge the ball on to the stumps.Mandeep and Himanshu Chawla then looked in no trouble with the old ball as Mumbai hurried the over rate to use the new ball as early as possible on the last morning.

Logan van Beek, who played for Netherlands in the 2014 World T20, produced the best performance of a young career to spearhead Canterbury’s 304-run victory against Otago

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2015
Peter Fulton made 155 off 144 balls in Canterbury’s second innings•Getty Images

Allrounder Logan van Beek, who played for Netherlands in the 2014 World T20, produced the best performance of a young career to spearhead Canterbury’s 304-run victory against Otago in Christchurch. Van Beek scored his maiden first-class hundred to rescue Canterbury’s first innings and then took career-best match figures of 8 for 70 – six in the final innings – to bowl out Otago on the fourth day.Having lost the toss, Canterbury were in deep trouble when 20-year old fast bowler Jack Hunter, playing his second first-class game, dismissed both openers for ducks in the first over of the match. Hunter, who finished with figures of 4 for 47, along with Michael Rae and Sam Wells, cut through the line-up and reduced the hosts to 130 for 8.Van Beek, the grandson of former West Indies and New Zealand Test cricketer Sammy Guillen, rallied the lower order during an aggressive hundred from No. 9. He made an unbeaten 111 off 125 balls, adding 59 for the ninth wicket and 104 for the tenth, before Canterbury were dismissed for 293.”It was one of those situations where the team was in trouble, I’ve been in that situation a lot of times before and I’d get 20, 30 or get [out] early and we’d just fall over,” van Beek told stuff.co.nz. “We went five runs at a time and next thing you know I was on 40. When Will came out it was five runs at a time. I threw a bit of caution to the wind and next thing I know I’m on 90.”I’ve had a few coaches and players ask why did I take the single the first ball. I thought Will was playing it so well. I was quite relaxed, I thought if it’s going to happen it’s going to happen,” van Beek said of his decision to not farm the strike. “He took this big flay at a short and wide one. My heart just went …. (gasps). He looked at me and kind of winked.”I’ve been in the gym preparing my body. I had a goal to be ready for the first game of the season, I ticked that off. All the hard work’s paid off.”Otago began the second day on 5 for 0 but the wickets column quickly filled up. Only three batsmen made it past single figures, with No. 8 Nick Beard top scoring with 22, as the visitors were routed for 91 in 36.3 overs. New-ball bowlers Ryan McCone and Will Williams took three wickets apiece, while van Beek had figures of 2 for 13, to give Canterbury a lead of 202.Their top order did not fail a second time. Openers Leo Carter and Ronnie Hira made half-centuries, and though they fell in quick succession to leave the score 134 for 2, Peter Fulton and Ken McClure built on that platform. At stumps on the second day, Fulton was 97, McClure 47, and Canterbury were 272 for 2. They declared on 350 for 2 on the third day with Fulton unbeaten on 155 off 144 balls, having hit five sixes, and McClure on 66 not out.Chasing a target of 553, Otago opener Brad Wilson held up one end, but wickets fell at the other. After two half-century stands for the first three wickets, and Sean Eathorne retiring hurt, Otago began to lose batsmen regularly. They slipped from 159 for 2 to 213 for 6 by stumps on the third day, with van Beek picking up three wickets. Losing Wilson for 100 just before stumps was a severe blow to Otago.Though there was rain on the fourth day, Canterbury needed only 12.4 overs to wrap up the victory. Van Beek took the last three wickets to finish with a career-best innings haul of 6 for 57. Otago were dismissed for 248 in 97.1 overs.