James Vince and Mark Stoneman produced valuable fifties to build on England’s hard-earned advantage at Christchurch

The Report by Andrew Miller01-Apr-2018England 307 (Bairstow 101, Wood 52, Southee 6-62, Boult 4-87) and 202 for 3 (Vince 76, Stoneman 60) lead New Zealand 278 (Watling 85, Broad 6-54) by 231 runs

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAt the Gabba in November, James Vince and Mark Stoneman began a long and arduous winter as a pair of question marks in England’s Test-match top three. At Christchurch in April, the pair came good in a vital century partnership for England’s second wicket – good enough, that is, to set their side up for what may yet turn out to be a series-levelling victory against New Zealand, if not quite good enough to assuage the lingering doubts about their futures at the highest level.For the record, Vince made 76, and Stoneman a career-best 60 – a pair of crucial, balm-applying performances that helped to turn a slender 29-run first-innings lead into an overall advantage of 231 on the third day at Hagley Oval, with seven wickets in hand.By stumps, Joe Root and Dawid Malan – himself in a lean run of form – had added 37 for the fourth wicket with few alarms beyond a mix-up between the wickets, as the Barmy Army went through their full repertoire at a sleepy and autumnal venue, where the overnight changing of the clocks had lent a decidedly end-of-season feel to the contest.And if, in two days’ time, England do manage to secure their first overseas win in 13 attempts, they will owe a major debt to a 123-run stand for the second wicket between Vince and Stoneman, who showcased from the outset the sort of fluency and resolve that the selectors have long believed was within their capability.They came together in the ninth over, following another troubling failure for Alastair Cook, and were not separated until the 47th, by which stage the shine had long gone from the new ball and New Zealand’s over-reliance on the brilliance of Tim Southee and Trent Boult was beginning to be felt.Both men began their innings knowing that further Test chances could not be guaranteed, especially after such a winter of underachievement from England’s red-ball outfit. And Vince in particular – recalled for this Test having sat out in Auckland – seemed determined to go out on his own terms. He lashed his second delivery from Boult for a typically glorious cover-drive, the sort of flash of beauty that has earned him selectorial forgiveness in spite of his very average average.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Vince added two more off-side boundaries in his first seven deliveries (one of them a bit chancy, if truth be told), to establish the parameters of his innings. And his commitment to calculated aggression served him well in a typically attractive performance studded with ten boundaries, arguably the best of which was a trademark creaming through the covers, shortly before tea, to bring up the third half-century of his Test career.At the other end, Stoneman took a more attritional route to the top – at least in the early part of his innings – as he drew the sting of New Zealand’s new ball before cashing in with a quartet of rifled boundaries through the covers. He played his strokes with less flourish than Vince, maybe, but no less authority, as he bided his time on each occasion and made sure he punished the loose delivery.But then, on 35, the composure of Stoneman’s innings seemed to dissipate after he was struck on the shoulder by a Neil Wagner lifter and given out caught behind. He successfully reviewed the decision, but seemed unable thereafter to shake off the shadow of impending doom, as he developed a death wish to balls outside the off stump, particularly against the medium pace of Colin de Grandhomme.Twice in the space of three balls, he edged de Grandhomme into the slips from round the wicket – the first looped safely away to the boundary but the second, an open-faced steer, went into Ross Taylor’s right hand at first slip and straight out again. Two overs later, Stoneman brought up his fifty with another chancy slap over the cordon, off Southee, and was dropped for a second time off de Grandhomme when Southee himself, now at first slip with Taylor off the field, tipped a flying edge over the bar.In the end, it took a brilliant spring-loaded leap from BJ Watling to bring Stoneman’s innings to an end, but the manner of his departure had been sadly telegraphed for several overs before his demise.And the same, cruelly, could also be said of Vince, who had not played with such fluency since that fateful 83 on the first day of the Ashes in Brisbane. That effort eventually ended with a “what if?” run-out, but today’s provided a more familiar ending. Another ball in the channel, this time from Boult, and a cramped drive straight into the hands of first slip. He’s not the first batsman whose greatest strength is also his greatest weakness – David Gower, for one, endured a career of stick for getting out so often on the drive. But Gower also averaged 44.25 to Vince’s 24.90.Still, at least England’s Nos. 2 and 3 produced scores that enhanced their reputations. The same unfortunately could not be said of Cook, England’s leading Test run-scorer, whose dismissal for 14 took his tally for the tour to a dismal 23 runs in four innings, at an average of 5.75 that is, by a distance, his worst return in any completed Test series.Stuart Broad finished with a six-wicket haul•Associated Press

After his tentative displays in the first three innings of the series, Cook seemed determined to make his presence felt this time out. His footwork was more confident as he latched on a brace of short balls from Southee to pick up his first boundaries of the series, but from his very next delivery, he was trapped in no-man’s land by his nemesis Boult, who nipped a length ball off his outside edge to claim his wicket for the ninth time in Tests. Cook trudged off for 14 with a huge amount to ponder before England’s next Test engagement, against Pakistan in May.Cook might have anticipated being called on to bat earlier in the day, but for a combative morning’s work from New Zealand’s lower order. Stuart Broad eventually wrapped up the innings for 278 with figures of 6 for 54, but not before Southee had posted his first Test half-century since 2014 and Wagner and Boult had reduced the deficit to 29 in an enterprising 39-run stand for the tenth wicket.After resuming on 192 for 6, Southee signalled New Zealand’s intent by pulling the fourth ball of the morning over wide long-on for the 64th six of his Test career, drawing him level with AB de Villiers for the most by any active player, and it took the arrival of the second new ball for England to regain a measure of control, as Watling was uprooted for 85 by the ball of the innings, a full-length outswinger from James Anderson that bent from leg to off to smash the stumps. Watling had been denied his seventh Test century, but having hauled his team off the canvas at 36 for 5, he had more than played his part.Ish Sodhi edged to the keeper to give Broad his first five-wicket haul since the Johannesburg Test against South Africa in January 2016. And when Anderson ended Southee’s fun, plucking out his middle stump three balls after he had reached his fifty, England were looking at a substantial lead.Boult and Wagner, however, had other ideas. Wagner, pinned on the helmet by a fierce Broad lifter early in his stay, slapped Anderson out of the attack with a 13-run over, including an impulsive hook over fine leg for six, while Boult – as idiosyncratic as Courtney Walsh in his pomp – ducked and dived at the crease, and occasionally connected with power. He rattled along to 16 from 22 balls before top-edging Broad to fine leg to ensure, for the second innings in the match, that all ten wickets were shared by just the opening bowlers.

The fast bowler has admitted he has not been at his best so far on the South Africa tour, and hopes for a bit of grass on the pitches in Cape Town and Johannesburg

Daniel Brettig in Cape Town18-Mar-2018A “patchy” Josh Hazlewood has admitted he needs to improve with the new ball against South Africa, ahead of Test matches in Cape Town and Johannesburg likely to offer more conventional assistance for fast bowlers after the reverse-swing-oriented conditions of Durban and Port Elizabeth.The Australians reconvene on Monday to train at Newlands after four days off, knowing they need to produce more runs from the top order while also finding a way past the irrepressible AB de Villiers. By Hazlewood’s estimate, Steven Smith’s team had played at “less than 50%” of its capacity in the second Test, meaning there is plenty of room for the necessary upside in the third.Hazlewood identified new-ball spells as an area in which the tourists must lift. His best display early in an innings was arguably on day four at St George’s Park, where the Australians had only 100 runs to defend but Hazlewood homed in on Aiden Markram, having him dropped by Mitchell Marsh at first slip then held by Smith at second either side of lunch.”With the new ball [I have been] a little bit patchy I think,” Hazlewood said. “Durban probably wasn’t a great new-ball wicket. Obviously a lot of wickets were taken once it started reversing and the ball was a bit older and probably [Port Elizabeth] as well to a degree. It’s definitely something we can work on, we haven’t seen a heap of conventional swing. Might have been different if we’d bowled first in the Test just gone. But there might be a little bit more in Cape Town or Jo’burg, so working on that.”The Ashes I felt like I bowled really well the whole way through and sometimes you’re just lucky if you get the nicks or you don’t. I think we had a lot of plays and misses in the first innings and on any other day they might have nicked them and it’s a different story. You’ve got to take the results out of it sometimes and focus on what you’re doing.”The suspension of Kagiso Rabada for two Tests – with an appeal pending – robs South Africa of their best reverse-swing exponent, opening the possibility of a Newlands surface similar to that prepared for January’s Test match against India, where Vernon Philander’s medium-paced seamers proved exceptionally challenging. On that sort of pitch, Hazlewood’s accuracy and bounce will come further into play, with the new ball in particular.”I haven’t played a Test match in Cape Town so I’m a bit unsure. It’s been different I think for a few different games,” he said. “They might leave some grass on it for Vernon who is pretty good down there most of the time. Depends on what we find. Anything with a bit of grass is always good. You don’t come across it very often in Test cricket so would be good.”We’re pretty used to it [flat pitches] being from Australia. All summer was pretty tough work. I think we do it pretty well and we work as a group on those sort of wickets. Big Mitch [Mitchell Starc] is actually a very good flat-wicket bowler. He seems to take big wickets on those sort of tracks and Patty [Pat Cummins] has got a great bouncer and then good pace so I think we’re a pretty well-rounded group so we can tailor our skillsets to different wickets.”I pretty much try and build pressure from my end and dot it up and force the mistake that way. I think Gaz [Nathan Lyon] is probably a bit the same. If it’s not spinning a great deal, he did a great job at the WACA I remember during the summer, and just built that pressure and create the wickets that way.”Against de Villiers, Hazlewood reasoned that the touring bowlers had offered too much latitude early in his innings, allowing for a fast start, and once the former Proteas captain became set he was exceedingly difficult to pin down. “We’ll have another meeting on their whole team, but yeah, him in particular,” Hazlewood said. “We’ve obviously struggled a bit so far.”He’s just gotten off the mark and got to that 20 or 30 runs quite easily and we’ve probably gifted that to him a little bit. Probably just starting better against him and treating him like any other player really and bowl good balls more often than not. We’ve come up against good players in other series and guys who have got mountains of runs. Virat [Kohli] in Australia was one early on in my career and they’re only human so hopefully he’s scored all of his runs so far.”I guess you’ve got to put his shot selection out of your head and just concentrate on what you’re doing and where you’re bowling. If he plays a good shot off a good ball then fair enough, but you don’t want him hitting your bad balls. You want to be putting it in the right areas, more often than not. You try and get it out of your head as quickly as you can and you realise where he actually played the shot from and it’s not a terrible ball. So just keep putting it there and hopefully something is going to happen.”One area in which Hazlewood is now better placed to make something happen is in terms of his pace, which rose appreciably during the Ashes summer, off the back of some extra gym work, which was made possible by a side strain suffered in Bangladesh. Duly prevented from bowling, Hazlewood instead added strength, and has at times been able to push up to as fast as 148kph.”I think through this winter just gone I didn’t play a lot of cricket. It was probably a blessing in disguise,” he said. “I did my side in Bangladesh and got that extra 8-10 weeks of time in the gym in conditioning and strength and a bit more power. And I think that’s just translated onto the field through the summer first of all and hopefully continue it here which I think I have.”I think the winters before I played a lot of cricket and we’d had some big Test tours in winter and some one-day tours and I hadn’t had that period of time where you could get in the gym and get that weight back on and get stronger and fitter. There’s pros and cons for both I think.”As for Smith’s mediocre batting run so far in the series, Hazlewood said bowling in the nets to the captain had not become any less testing for the Australian bowlers. “He’s hard to get out as usual, so I think it’s only around the corner. When you average 63 it’s a matter of time until the runs start to come,” Hazlewood said. “He probably just needs to relax and go back to what works for him and I’m sure he’ll be fine.”He knows it’s early on in the series, it’s 1-1 and we got close to them we thought in the last Test and played below 50% of what we can play. He knows there’s room for improvement if we play at our best then hopefully we come away with the wins.”

The opening batsman struck a career-best double hundred as East Zone took a 165-run lead after conceding 546

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2018A high-scoring draw in Rajshahi, between Central Zone and East Zone, closed out this season’s Bangladesh Cricket League. Liton Das and Abdul Mazid struck double centuries while Shadman Islam, Afif Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin made hundreds.Batting first, Central Zone posted 546 with Mazid making 205 off 246 balls with 22 fours and eight sixes. Shadman’s 112 off 157 balls contained 11 fours and three sixes. Sohag Gazi took 5 for 188.Liton then scripted 274 off 293 balls, hitting 35 fours and two sixes. He added 148 runs for the third wicket with Tasamul Haque and a 298-run fourth-wicket stand with Afif who made 142 off 227 runs with 15 fours and five sixes.From 546 for 6, East Zone took the lead and then extended it to 165 thanks to Saifuddin, who made his maiden first-class hundred. Central Zone made 196 for 5 in 38 overs before play was called off. Marshall Ayub and Shuvagata Hom struck fifties while Abu Jayed took three wickets.

Duanne Olivier roused Derbyshire’s spirits after their Royal London Cup trouncing in the East Midlands derby

ECB Reporters Network09-Jun-2018
ScorecardDerbyshire hold a 79-run lead after 18 wickets fell on day one of their Specsavers County Championship Division Two match against Durham at Emirates Riverside.Duanne Olivier produced a fine performance with the ball to bowl the home side out for 96. The 26-year-old claimed figures of 5-20 to put Derbyshire on the front foot. Durham responded as Chris Rushworth, Nathan Rimmington, Josh Coughlin and Matt Salisbury all claimed two wickets apiece, but they could not stop the visitors edging day one, ending the final session 175 for 8.Olivier said of his first Derbyshire five-wicket haul: “I was very excited that I contributed towards the team. Obviously the wicket was a bit bowler friendly, but we put ourselves in a good position to win the game. We could see there was a lot of grass on the wicket. So the key was just to keep it as a simple as possible and bowl it in the right areas. That’s what happened for us.”Other wickets before were good grafting wickets. I think as a bowling unit over the course of the previous games we put in the hard work. In this game it’s paid off. An 80-run lead is like a 150-200-run lead on this wicket.”The home side were inserted in overcast conditions and the Derbyshire seamers were able to capitalise. Olivier made the initial breakthrough as he removed stand-in skipper Cameron Steel for one. Tom Latham did not last long at the other end as fell lbw to Hardus Viljoen, while Michael Jones and Will Smith were next to depart, leaving the north-east outfit 26-4.Graham Clark and Gareth Harte offered resistance to guide their side past fifty, but both batsmen fell just before the lunch as Alfie Gleadall claimed his maiden first-class wicket to remove Harte, with Tony Palladino dismissing Clark for 19. Derbyshire’s onslaught continued after the break as Olivier returned to the attack. The South African notched his five-wicket haul, sending Ryan Davies, Rimmington and Salisbury back to the pavilion. Viljoen ended the Durham innings by bowling Coughlin, ending with figures of 3-20.Rushworth struck back immediately for the home side, bowling Billy Godleman for two. However, Ben Slater and Wayne Madsen settled into a rhythm and saw the shine off the new ball to make inroads into the home side’s total. Slater was looking composed, but then played a loose hook shot off Rimmington and was caught behind by Davies.Salisbury got into the action after the tea break from the Finchale End. He notched his first wicket for Durham as he broke through Alex Hughes’ defences to bowl the batsman for four. Rushworth managed to find enough movement off the wicket to pin Madsen in front of his stumps for 36.Matt Critchley looked in good touch at the crease and Durham spurned a glorious opportunity when he was dropped on 24 by Latham. Salisbury was the unfortunate bowler, but Latham atoned for his error by snagging Callum Brodrick two balls later at second slip. The New Zealander was alert in the slip cordon once again to dismiss Daryn Smith as Rimmington notched his second scalp.Josh Coughlin claimed his County Championship wicket as he stopped Critchley’s progress for 38. He did not have long to wait for his second as a full delivery was too good for Viljoen. Palladino added important runs late in the day in a partnership with Gleadall to take the visitors’ lead to 79 at the close.

England’s women struck an early psychological blow ahead of Sunday’s tri-series final at Chelmsford, by easing to an seven-wicket victory

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-20182:13

Knight delighted with impressive England win ahead of final

England 130 for 3 (Taylor 51, Sciver 38*) beat New Zealand 129 (Devine 52, Shrubsole 3-16) by seven wickets
ScorecardEngland’s women struck an early psychological blow ahead of Sunday’s tri-series final at Chelmsford, by easing to an seven-wicket victory over their fellow finalists, New Zealand, in a low-key dress rehearsal at Bristol.Much like the England-Belgium World Cup fixture taking place at the same time as this match, there was rather less at stake than might have been anticipated beforehand, thanks to New Zealand’s earlier dispatching of South Africa, a result that confirmed the identity of the finalists.And in a further parallel with Kaliningrad, both sides rang the changes with a view to broadening the squad’s experience, but it was a familiar set of names who put the seal on England’s win.Anya Shrubsole starred with the ball, grabbing the key early wicket of Suzie Bates for a duck, en route to figures of 3 for 16. But Sarah Taylor and Nat Sciver broke the back of a sub-par target of 130 with a third-wicket stand of 81, before Heather Knight joined Sciver to wrap up the match with 4.1 overs to spare.Taylor, who dropped an early catch off the pacey left-armer Katie George, resumed normal service with yet another leg-side stumping, this time off Sciver, before easing to a 35-ball half-century, with seven fours. She had scarcely a moment of alarm until she herself was stumped off a fine googly from Amelia Kerr, a crafty piece of bowling that earned the teenager an appreciative clap from the outgoing batsman.New Zealand’s only real hope had come early in the chase when Jess Watkin struck twice in her first seven balls to extract both openers, Danni Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont, to similar inside-out drives to mid-off.But ultimately New Zealand paid the price for a lop-sided innings in which Sophie Devine, the opener, was also the last out, for a battling 52 from 45 balls. Beyond her, however, only Amy Satterthwaite offered much long-term resistance with 37 from 26, but she was trapped by a full-length inswinger to become a richly deserved maiden wicket for George.Thereafter England’s spinners, Sophie Ecclestone and Danni Hazell, ripped through the lower order. Ecclestone suffered a scare in the field as she twisted her ankle after throwing the ball in from the outfield, but she returned to the fray after a brief break for treatment.

CSA officals’ meetings with the Global T20 owners in Dubai and Mumbai haven’t produced concrete results, with the owners saying their statuses have still not been clarified

Firdose Moonda13-Aug-2018Cricket South Africa’s board will be asked to reconsider its equity deal with SuperSport for a new T20 league after meetings between officials and T20 Global League franchise owners last week. The owners collectively reserved their rights to teams and want the 49% share SuperSport currently holds to be handed over to them. The four CSA representatives who met with the owners – CEO Thabang Moroe, acting COO Naasei Appiah and board members Louis von Zeuner and Iqbal Khan – told owners they will revert to them in 10 days, after consulting with the board.This follows four days of heated meetings in Dubai and Mumbai in which CSA was asked to clarify the owners’ statuses, something one owner told ESPNcricinfo CSA failed to do. “They did not have any answers for us,” Hiren Bhanu, owner of the Pretoria Mavericks said. “But they did tell us that the deal with SuperSport is not finalised, has not been signed and no terms are agreed.”Bhanu intends to seek an interdict against CSA to stop any new league from going ahead, while other owners are also considering legal action. In June, three other owners – the Durban Qalandars, the Bloemfontein City Blazers and the Nelson Mandela Bay Stars – said they would take CSA to court but haven’t followed up on that threat yet. The owners do not merely want CSA to return their deposits of USD 250,000 and for CSA to cover expenses they incurred in setting up the league, some of which amount to millions of dollars, but are demanding a stake in the league, even though CSA has changed the competition’s format and ownership model.Later on Monday evening, Kausar Rana Resources, the owners of the Qalandars franchise, sent out a statement claiming that they had neither asked for nor received any refund of their deposit.”We wish to reiterate and clarify our position that KRR has not requested, at any stage, for our deposit to be refunded. Since no request was made by us for the refund, none was received,” the statement said, quoting Qalandars CEO Sameen Rana. “As a primary stakeholder and owner of a franchise that has made a huge investment in the South African league, we are totally committed towards participating in CSA’s T20 event.”(I)n view of this commitment, our deposit is still with CSA and we expect them to respect and acknowledge all our rights, but should CSA renege on the signed agreements, then we will reserve all our rights.”Qalandars met with the CSA delegation in Dubai and we, once again, impressed upon them our position in the most clearest of terms. We are unequivocal that in any future event, our rights must be respected and that Qalandars must be a participating team in the T20 league.”In June, nine months after the postponement of the inaugural edition of the GLT20, CSA announced it had entered into a deal with private broadcaster SuperSport for a new T20 league, to replace the GLT20. SuperSport also holds the broadcast rights for all cricket played in South Africa and all South Africa’s series abroad. The owners of the GLT20 teams have separately said they regarded CSA’s actions with SuperSport as going behind the owners’ backs to sell a property which the owners already have a claim on.The only detail of that new league was revealed at the end of last month when Moroe announced the board had approved a six-team format, two fewer than the original GLT20, and that venues would have to bid for a team. The original GLT20 owners were not part of the new league, though CSA obliquely mentioned they may consider their involvement at a later stage.That explanation has never placated the owners , who consider themselves to have a stake in a T20 league – of any name – played in South Africa, which is what they are willing to fight CSA over. Seven of the eight owners – all except the Cape Town Knight Riders who excused themselves from the meetings last week – want first option to buy into a new league, given their involvement in the previous one.A ninth party, Osman Osman, the minority-shareholder owner of the Mavericks, has brought separate legal action against CSA demanding an explanation of why it offered him R 400,000 (USD 28,128) as a “gesture of goodwill”. Effectively, Osman Osman wants to force CSA into a position from which it will have to disclose its legal obligations to all owners involved in the botched GLT20.When asked for comment, a CSA spokesperson said the organisation would not make any media statements until the CEO meets with the board. “Unfortunately there will be no comment from CSA regarding these matters as the Chief Executive has not met with the board. Once he has, CSA will assess what the feedback is from them and communicate through our media channels.”GMT 1740 The story was updated to include the Durban Qalandars statement.

While looking to shore up his bowling and find a place in Australia’s squad for their upcoming tour of the UAE, he also wants to work on his batting skills and be able to slot in anywhere in the order

Sruthi Ravindranath25-Aug-2018Ashton Agar wants to be as good as he can at everything. He wants to be adaptable, to be able to pad up at any time for his side, and be the floater who can go bang from the first ball.Agar introduced himself to the world in 2013 as a 19-year-old left-arm spinner who smacked a 98 on Test debut, while batting at No. 11, on an Ashes tour. His career didn’t quite take off from there as expected. He has played only 26 international games so far, and has only become a limited-overs regular in recent times.Agar found a place in the ODI side that toured England in June, as one of two main spinners along with Nathan Lyon. While the series was catastrophic for an Australia side that was well below full strength, Agar was one of the few players who came out of it with something to smile about. While the rest of the batting order floundered, Agar, at No. 7, was Australia’s second-highest scorer in the first two ODIs, slamming quick forties in both games. And in a series where England made the highest ODI total of all time, he was one of only three Australian bowlers to concede less than six runs an over.On Saturday, in the match against South Africa A in Bengaluru, Agar walked in with five balls left in the innings, with Australia A 304 for 5. He faced just four balls, and hit one four and two sixes to finish on 17 not out. Later, he was instrumental in repelling a spirited South Africa A chase, taking 1 for 36 in his ten overs.In his side’s defeat to India A on Thursday, Agar top-scored with a 40-ball 34 after coming in at 76 for 5. He went after Mohammed Siraj, who had been the Australians’ chief tormentor, hitting five fours off him.”I think it’s important for me to come in and go from ball one like today,” Agar said after the win against South Africa A. “I love batting just as much as I love bowling, and I’m trying to be as good as I can in everything.”In the final of the Trans-Tasman T20I tri-series against New Zealand earlier this year, Australia pushed Agar up to No. 3, but the promotion did not work as planned, and he was out stumped for 2. He was brought up to No. 5 in the fourth ODI against England in the ill-fated series in June, and he made a 15-ball 19 in the midst of another middle-order collapse.”When I was with Middlesex [playing the Vitality Blast] last month, I was working in the nets on six-hitting, and to come in and try and finish an innings,” Agar said, when asked if he sees himself capable of batting anywhere in the order. “For me it’s really important for my batting to be adaptable so I can be used in any situation.”Agar made a Test comeback after four years in the two Tests in Bangladesh last year as a second frontline spinner behind Nathan Lyon. He picked up seven wickets at an average of 23.14, but perhaps the highlight of his tour was his unbeaten 41 in the first Test, which helped Australia claw back from 124 for 7 to an eventual first-innings total of 217.With Australia’s full tour of the UAE, to play Pakistan, approaching, Agar is back in the reckoning as a spin option – as an allrounder with a decent amount of experience, both with the Test side and Australia A, in Asia.”Personally, it’s a big series for me to try and push my case to go to the UAE. To be honest, I haven’t thought much about UAE,” Agar said. “It’s worked nicely for me that way the last couple of years. I think just to bowl well in these conditions and try and formulate some good plans against good players of spin will be important if I do get picked.”

The two familiar Somerset figures who batted for the bulk of the day at Trent Bridge had plenty on their mind

David Hopps at Trent Bridge24-Sep-2018
ScorecardThe two familiar Somerset figures who batted for the bulk of the day at Trent Bridge had plenty on their mind. James Hildreth’s spritely hundred was a response to England rejection whereas Marcus Trescothick has once again felt the love and loyalty from his beloved Somerset and is musing on whether this time it should go unrequited.The West Country has become used to an England side without Hildreth; with every year his chances of winning recognition lessen. He might only be two years older than Joe Denly, summoned for the tour of Sri Lanka at 32, and he might have a superior first-class average, but it is opening batsmen – or theoretical opening batsmen – that England need.But a Somerset side without Trescothick? The apple orchards would drop their produce in sorrow, Wells Cathedral’s 14th century clock would run backwards in the hope of reversing time and hikers would sit at the top of Glastonbury Tor and feel that the walk back down was more than they could be bothered with. Surely, as long as another contract is on offer, it is unthinkable?Trescothick, now 42, does have a one-year contract on the table, issued as automatically as a space in the car park, but reports that he has signed it have been premature. With the end of the season will come his decision and all of Somerset hopes for “yes”. But a pair in his last match against Surrey at Taunton, inflicted by the latest county to end Somerset’s dreams of a first Championship title, was hardly designed to sharpen his appetite.An assured half-century on a benign pitch against a Nottinghamshire side fading to the finishing line will have provided some reassurance that he has more to give. It promised to give Somerset much the better of the opening day, but Harry Gurney hit back well with 5 for 66 (Hildreth, Lewis Gregory and Steve Davies all mopped up after tea) as Notts chased the five bonus points that, even allowing for Lancashire heroics in Southampton, would ensure them of Division One survival.Trescothick surpassed Harold Gimblett’s record of most Somerset first-class centuries last season, but has still to pass his runs. His team ethic runs too deep, though, to stay on if he feels the next generation can do better.A demanding season has yielded only one Championship century, against Lancashire, and even then it came with a broken foot as he approached the landmark. He did well to battle back from that, and looked unruffled enough in making 71 from 141 balls, all his 11 boundaries stroked through the off side, but he was visibly frustrated by his dismissal in mid-afternoon as his balance was awry and an inviting drive offered up by Gurney, at the start of a new spell, flew to extra cover where Ben Duckett held a low catch to his right.Hildreth, dropped at slip by Steven Mullaney off the offspinner Matt Carter on 30, passed 1000 first-class runs this year on 48 and stayed on to make 137 from 203 balls, stronger through the off side, and nimble enough on his feet to pick off Carter – who is slower than most spinners on the county circuit – pretty much as he pleased. A square cut against Luke Fletcher brought up another hundred that will lie at the bottom of the ECB In Tray. Gurney finally silenced an innings of burgeoning ambition from around the wicket as he pushed loosely at one outside off stump. He probably felt he had earned such liberties by then.It was a strange Trent Bridge day: little sign of movement off the pitch or in the air and an offspinner wheeling away by lunch. Carter had played more of his Championship matches on the ground of his opponents (three) than he had in Nottingham (this was his first), but he did have one wicket to mark this strange phenomenon – Tom Abell pushing forward to be caught at first slip.There was a Nottinghamshire connection for Somerset’s opener, Tom Banton, who was playing his second Championship match. His innings soon ended when he fell lbw to Luke Wood, but that a gentle thud on the pad on a sedate pitch was a gentler way to go than that experienced by his father, Colin Banton, in the last of his seven first-class matches for Nottinghamshire in his only season in 1995, as Allan Donald struck him on the forearm during a particularly fiery spell on a Trent Bridge green top and he retired hurt before he had scored.

Imalka Mendis and Anushka Sanjeewani have been left out from the squad that played India last month

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Oct-2018Sri Lanka have named a largely unchanged side to the one that lost at home to India last month. They made just two changes to the 15-member squad for November’s Women’s World T20 in the Caribbean.Oshadi Ranasinghe and Inoshi Fernando, who were out of the initial squad to face India only to be included midway through the series, have been retained. Ranasinghe picked up four wickets across the final two games in that series and scored a brisk 22 in the final T20I, while offspinner Fernando picked up three wickets in the same game.Imalka Mendis, who was named in the squad to face India but failed to play a game, made way, as did batsman Anushka Sanjeewani. The team will be led by Chamari Atapattu, whose century in the final ODI against India had given Sri Lanka their first win over their neighbours in over five years.Sri Lanka begin their campaign with warm-up games against New Zealand and Ireland on November 5 and 8 respectively, before facing England on November 10 in their tournament opener.Full squad: Chamari Atapattu (Captain), Yasoda Mendis, Shashikala Siriwardene, Eshani Lokusuriyage, Hasini Perera, Ama Kanchana, Rebeca Vandort, Dilani Manodara, Nilakshi De Silva, Sripali Weerakkody, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Kavisha Dilhari, Oshadhi Ranasinghe, Inoshi Fernando. Standby list: Imalka Mendis, Anushka Sanjeewani, Nipuni Hansika, Harshitha Madavi, Inoka Ranaweera

Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel has been added to the New Zealand ODI squad along with George Worker and Lockie Ferguson

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2018Corey Anderson has been ruled out of the one-day series against Pakistan while legspinner Todd Astle is doubtful as injuries trouble New Zealand in the UAE.Anderson is heading home with a heel problem which kept him out of the final T20I and Astle has picked up a knee “irritation” and is certainly out of the first ODI, with his participation in the rest of the series in doubt. Astle is also part of the Test squad for the three-match series.Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, who made his T20I debut in Abu Dhabi, has been added to the one-day squad to cover for Astle. Batsman George Worker and fast bowler Lockie Ferguson have also been added to the group to fill the vacant spots left when the squad was originally selected.

New Zealand ODI squad

Kane Williamson, Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, George Worker

“Todd’s made good progress over the past couple of days and with his involvement in both the ODI and Test squads; we’re keen to give him every chance to be right,” said New Zealand coach Gary Stead. “It does present another opportunity for Ajaz. He’s impressed us during the UAE tour so far and we have full confidence he can do a job for this team in the 50-over format.”For Anderson there will be frustration that his return to the ODI set-up for the first time since the 2017 Champions Trophy has been aborted. He has endured a lengthy recovery from back problems and recently announced he would be focusing purely on white-ball cricket ahead of the World Cup. He had started to increase his bowling workloads during the New Zealand A series in the UAE last month but wasn’t used with the ball in the T20Is.His next chance for an ODI return will now be the series against Sri Lanka which starts on January 3.Trent Boult and Matt Henry also come into the squad for the one-day series having not been part of the T20Is meaning New Zealand have a strong selection of pace bowlers.Worker, who made his ODI debut in 2015 but has only played seven matches, will be vying for the berth at the top of order created by Martin Guptill’s absence.