Notts skipper smashed a career-best 124 to keep team’s hopes of reaching the knockout phase of the Royal London One-Day Cup alive

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2018
ScorecardSteven Mullaney smashed a career-best 124 to keep Nottinghamshire’s hopes of reaching the knockout phase of the Royal London One-Day Cup alive following a 31-run win over Durham at Emirates Riverside.The Outlaws’ skipper was the difference between the two sides as he guided his team out of trouble at 73 for 5 to a competitive total of 255, with a balance of quick running and power hitting towards the end of the innings.Durham lost their composure in their chase, losing wickets at vital times to succumb to the defeat. The result gives Notts a real chance of securing a quarter-final berth at the least ahead of their final match against Derbyshire.The visitors were inserted by Durham skipper Tom Latham, and Mark Wood got his side off to the perfect start clean bowling Riki Wessels off the first ball of the innings. Alex Hales struggled to get going in his innings and was caught looking to break the shackles by Michael Richardson. The introduction of Gareth Harte paid dividends as Moores knicked off behind for 23, while Matt Dixon had Samit Patel caught at fine leg.Despite Durham’s inroads, the presence of Ross Taylor was a threat. He was looking in good touch at the crease, but then played on to a Harte delivery to put the home side in the ascendancy. Mullaney and Chris Nash were able to stabilise the innings by knocking the ball around the ground. The duo were steady in their approach, putting on a fifty partnership in 92 deliveries.Ryan Pringle ended the partnership with a turning delivery to dismiss Nash lbw for 40, while Billy Root followed cheaply. However, Mullaney remained composed at the crease to notch his fifty before upping the ante towards the end of the innings. Dixon felt the brunt of his onslaught as he powered his way towards three figures.The Notts skipper reached the milestone off 111 deliveries, including seven fours and three sixes. Mullaney pushed on in the final over to reach his highest List A score, hitting Dixon for three-straight sixes before he was caught by Richardson for 124. Dixon ended with figures of 2-88 – the most expensive List A statistics recorded by a Durham bowler.The home side’s reply began poorly as Cameron Steel edged behind to hand Jake Ball his 100th List A wicket. Graham Clark and Richardson built a steady partnership, putting on 50 off 80 deliveries. Samit Patel dropped Clark off his own bowling, but returned in the following over to dismiss the opener for 36.Latham arrived at the crease with an attacking intent. He found found the rope four times and also scored a six, but was then out tamely to Nash for 28. Will Smith joined Richardson in the middle and the duo picked up from where they left off in their last outing, reaching their fifty partnership at a brisk pace.However, Durham lost quick wickets to stifle their momentum as Richardson, Poynter Smith and Harte were dismissed as the pressure started to build. The tail were left with a huge task as the required rate soared, and the visitors were able to hold their composure to secure the win.

The New South Wales captain wants the banned duo to play a role in helping his team atone for several lost years

Daniel Brettig26-Jun-2018Improved talent development was at the forefront of Peter Nevill’s mind as he was formally unveiled as the New South Wales captain, and he wants the banned duo of Steven Smith and David Warner to play a role in helping Australia’s largest cricket state atone for several lost years now in evidence at international level.On the current limited-overs tour of England, the only Blues player in the squad is Nathan Lyon. While Smith, Warner, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins were all unavailable through suspension or injury, the trend was even starker for Australia A squads named to tour India – Kurtis Patterson the only NSW contracted cricketer included.This breakdown in the talent conveyor belt for the nation’s most populous state played a part in costing Trent Johnston his job as coach. His replacement Phil Jaques has been working with Nevill and the rest of the senior players to drive home their need to develop the younger members of a contract list that has been shorn of the likes of Ed Cowan and Doug Bollinger by retirement and the unfulfilled talent of Nic Maddinson relocating to Victoria.”NSW has been accustomed to success over the years and we’re very determined to bring that back,” Nevill said in Sydney. “A big focus for us moving forward is we’ve got some good senior players around the place and we’re making sure we get knowledge transferred and bring on our younger players and get them up-skilled as quick as we can to be ready to perform well when they get their chance at first-class cricket.”[We want Smith and Warner to help] as much as they’re available to do. Having that kind of knowledge around the place as well is only going to help up-skill some of these young guys and also some of our more experienced guys, you can always learn by talking about the game with people who know the game inside out, and those two definitely fit in that category.”We’ve been lucky the big three quicks have been around doing their rehab stuff, and were involved in our planning day as well. So Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins – having that calibre of people around and being able to share what they’ve experienced over their career so far, its invaluable knowledge that people learn a lot from hearing.”Rather than initiating formal involvement for Smith and Warner, Nevill wanted to encourage the pair to spend time with players on one-on-one basis over coffee. “It doesn’t have to be on a formal basis,” he said. “If they’re around and they want to have a coffee with people. Some of the best learning experiences for me are quite informal experiences, just sitting around and having a coffee or something like that.”They’re going to have a lot of things in their schedules, they’re busy people, but the more we can have them around, the better. I would certainly not be against them playing any games for us, I’d love to have them around all the time and hopefully we can have them at some point this season to play for us. If that’s the Shield final then we’ll have to make sure we make that.”As for a series of photos taken of Smith in repose in New York this week and then published with inflammatory headlines in the News Corp tabloids on Tuesday, Nevill said he was eager to ensure his predecessor was in a healthy mental space. “That’s obviously disappointing,” he said. “First and foremost Steve’s a lovely human being, he’s a friend of mine and I care about him a lot. You wouldn’t want to see that happening to anybody really. But that’s the thing, what’s been great is seeing his friends and his team-mates rally around him and really want to make sure he’s doing ok personally.”Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins shared their gleanings from Australia’s pre-tour camp in Brisbane with the NSW squad, including the key principles and benchmarks of the national team coach Justin Langer. In a departure from the previous regime, these are understood to have focused almost exclusively on standards of behaviour and said very little about performance, with the logic being that good people in a good environment will perform at their best.Nevill was tellingly dropped from the Australian Test team in late 2016, at a time when Matthew Wade’s more openly hostile approach to opponents was preferred amid euphemistic talk about “energy” and “presence”. A little less than two years later, Cricket Australia is in the midst of dual cultural reviews, and while Nevill said he wanted individuals to find their own way to be at their best, there is little doubt he prefers a different tack, and will follow it as he strives to return to the international arena.”People will go about performing at their optimal level in different ways,” Nevill said. “Some people thrive off getting in a bit of a verbal contest, some people don’t, but a lot of the reasons that people do that is to get themselves into that optimal space and I’m comfortable with people doing whatever they need to do to be in their optimal space. We want to be winning games of cricket, that’s the focus for me, and whichever way you go about doing that consistently I think is a good way to go about doing it.”I’d love to play Test cricket again, so a good goal for me is to get on the Ashes tour at the end of this season, they’ll take two keepers to England, so if I can put the numbers on the board that I did before the last Ashes tour to England [in 2015] then hopefully I can get on that tour.”

The rugby side will be led by All Blacks captain Kieran Read while Brendon McCullum and Stephen Fleming will be among the cricketers on show

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Aug-2018The reputation of some of New Zealand’s most well-known cricketers will be on the line in January when they take on a side comprising current and former All Blacks, led by captain Kieran Read, in a charity T20 match in Christchurch.Billed as the Black Clash, the game will take place on January 25 at Hagley Oval with funds raised for the benevolent funds of the rugby and cricket player associations. The idea was put together by former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming who will act as player-coach of Team Cricket with Brendon McCullum among the names also set to feature.Kyle Mills, the former New Zealand pace bowler, will also be involved along with Grant Elliott, who announced his retirement from all forms of cricket last week, and Luke Ronchi. There could be an interesting tussle to see who has the services of Jeff Wilson, the former dual international who played both rugby and cricket for New Zealand.Team Rugby will be coached by Sir Graham Henry and is expected to include Richie McCaw as well as Beauden and Jordie Barrett and Israel Dagg who were excellent cricketers before opting for the rugby career route. As a schoolboy fast bowler, Dagg impressed the Australians during a net session in Napier in 2005.Read, meanwhile, played age-group cricket for Northern Districts in a team that featured Daniel Flynn, Anton Devcich, and BJ Watling but admitted there would be a few nerves ahead of his comeback”I’m going to be a bit nervous, to be honest,” he told Stuff.co.nz “You lose your hand-eye [co-ordination] pretty quick in this game. I’ll have to get out and hit a few balls to get my eye back in.”The event is based around South Africa’s Nelson Mandela Legacy Cup where the Springboks, the South African Rugby team, take on the Proteas, the national cricket team.”I thought if we had the opportunity with a brand as big as the All Blacks, it would pique my interest,” Fleming told the . “There is almost a bit of romanticism around this one, bringing a game to Christchurch in its rebuild.”We’re putting our reputations on the line here,” he added. “We know just how good the likes of Kieran and his rugby mates are at cricket. They’re exceptional athletes and many of them could have been international cricketers had they chosen another path. So we’re on high alert, that’s for sure.”

Woakes marked his England Test recall with 57 off 23 balls to revive a stuttering Birmingham innings

ECB Reporters Network05-Aug-2018
ScorecardChris Woakes celebrated his call-up to the England squad for the second Test against India by making a match-winning career-best 57 from 23 balls for Birmingham Bears as they beat Northamptonshire by 17 runs at Wantage Road.After winning the toss, the Bears’ innings stuttered along until Woakes struck six fours and four sixes in a cameo that steered the visitors to 187 for 7. Josh Cobb made a career-best 103 from 62 balls in reply but found no support as Northants slumped to their ninth defeat in ten matches.The Bears innings was initially hard work as only 38 came from the Powerplay for the loss of Ed Pollock and Adam Hose before Ian Bell continued his excellent form. He flicked the day’s first boundary through midwicket, swatted four more past mid-on and lifted Richard Gleeson elegantly over cover.Hose, having edged a boundary from Nathan Buck over the wicketkeeper’s head, tried to scoop the same bowler over short-fine leg and was caught at the wicket. Pollock fell for just 1, skying a pull stroke to mid-on where Seekkuge Prasanna took a solid catch.Bell swung Ben Sanderson over mid-off and gracefully went in-to-out to lift Prasanna wide of extra-cover but he and Sam Hain, who added 64 for the third wicket, fell within three balls. Bell drove Buck straight to extra-cover for 43 after Hain, who lifted a low-full toss from Sanderson over long-off for the innings’ first six, holed out to long-on off Prasanna.At 128 for 5 after 16 overs, the innings was listing but Woakes ensured the Bears had plenty to defend. He survived a tough dropped chance on 12 as Gleeson couldn’t hold on running around from long-off and the miss proved costly.He pulled the Gleeson for four through cover point and midwicket before top-edging a six as 16 came from the 17th over. Prasanna was swung over long-on for six more and Woakes found two more sixes in the final over that brought 17 as the Bears finished with a flourish, scoring 59 runs in 24 balls.Northants also found the going tough in the Powerplay as Ben Duckett was superbly yorked by Olly Stone for 2 and with only 45 runs scored, the required rate was quickly into double figures.Cobb was struck a blow to the head by a Stone bumper but warmed to his work with a punch off Woakes past mid-off and then through midwicket before driving Aaron Thomason down the ground for four and pulling a slower ball out of the ground over deep-square leg. He put a ball through a similar region for his second six and flicked Thomason wide of short-fine leg for four, passing fifty in 35 balls.But it was a lone chase as Ricardo Vasconcelos made 18 before driving Grant Elliott to long-off where Thomason took an excellent catch running to his right, Alex Wakely holed out to deep square for 3 and Steven Crook, Charlie Thurston and Prasanna only made single-figure scores.Cobb was left to chase the target himself and he went down on one knee to put another ball out of the ground and swung Woakes over long-on for six more.With 64 needed from 24 balls Cobb heaved Thomason out of the ground over midwicket and past short-third man for four to leave 42 required from 18. He drove Stone for four and charged back for a second off Woakes to reach his first T20 hundred in 58 balls and become the fourth T20 centurion for Northants.But Stone’s final over only cost seven and with 27 needed from the last over, Cobb ran himself out coming back for a second run and a wonderful innings was consigned to a losing cause.

The England fast bowler had words with Kumar Dharmasena after a review was unsuccessful on umpire’s call

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2018James Anderson has picked up one demerit point and been fined 15% of his match fee for dissent, after getting into an argument with on-field umpire Kumar Dharmasena over an lbw appeal against Virat Kohli that was turned down.The incident happened in the 29th over of India’s innings at The Oval, when Kohli – then on 16 – was struck on the pads. Dharmasena gave it not out, and England went for the review, only for Kohli to be saved by umpire’s call on impact.At the end of the over, Anderson snatched his cap and jumper from Dharmasena and then spoke to him in “an aggressive manner”, which invited the sanctions from match referee Andy Pycroft. Anderson admitted to the offence and accepted the sanctions, so there was no need for a formal hearing.This was Anderson’s first offence since the ICC’s revised Code of Conduct was introduced in September 2016.Kohli was eventually out to Ben Stokes for 49, and India ended the second day of the fifth Test on a precarious 174 for 6, still trailing England’s first-innings’ 332 by 158 runs.England already have a series-winning 3-1 lead, but Kohli has been the standout batsman from either side, having exorcised the demons of the 2014 tour that brought him only 134 runs in 10 innings. This time, his exchanges with Anderson have been particularly in the spotlight all series, since Anderson had the better of Kohli in 2014. While Kohli has gone on to score 593 runs in nine innings so far, Anderson is yet to dismiss him in the series.

Mandeep had represented Kings XI from 2011 to 2014 before moving to RCB in 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2018Kings XI Punjab have opted for a straight trade in IPL 2019’s first trading window, by bringing back batsman Mandeep Singh in place of Australia allounder Marcus Stoinis. While the return of Mandeep, who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last season, was confirmed, Stoinis’ trade was agreed to by the franchises with the formalities in process.Mandeep, a regular for Punjab in domestic tournaments, had represented Kings XI from 2011 to 2014 before moving to RCB in 2015. He was bought by RCB again in the 2018 auction, for INR 1.40 crore (approx USD 218,000 then). Stoinis, too, had been lapped up by RCB but Kings XI used the Right-To-Match card and retained him for INR 6.20 crore (USD 970,000 then). Mandeep played 40 T20s for RCB, scoring 597 runs at an average of 22.11 and a strike rate of 128.94. For Kings XI, Mandeep had scored 763 runs in 41 matches at a similar average of 21.19 and a lower strike rate of 120.72. He had also represented Kolkata Knight Riders in 2010 and batted only twice with scores of 4 and 0.Stoinis had 19 appearances for Kings XI from 2016 to 2018, to score 262 runs at a strike rate of 126 and take 13 wickets with an economy rate of 9.52.Less than two weeks ago, RCB had let go off South Africa wicketkeeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock in an all-money trade with Mumbai Indians.The IPL has two main trading windows with the first one starting immediately at the end of the season stretching to a month before the auction and the second one from after the auction till the start of the tournament. Since 2018, the IPL also introduced a mid-tournament window for franchises to trade uncapped players and players who had not played more than two matches.With the last date for retentions and release being November 15, franchises are busy working out their plans for the new season before they make fresh buys at the auction, which is expected to take place around mid-December. A purse of INR 3 crore will be available for the franchises in addition to the balance left after last year’s auction.

Follow all the action from the IPL 2019 auction, as it happens

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2018

Coming together at 60 for 4, the duo added an unbeaten 212 to push New Zealand’s lead to 198

The Report by Danyal Rasool06-Dec-2018Stumps Where Kane Williamson began the morning simply trying to keep his side afloat, he will put his feet up this evening pondering the best way to press home an advantage that now decidedly belongs to his side in Abu Dhabi. A superlative second-innings century, his first in Asia in the second dig, took New Zealand within two runs of a 200-run lead. His partnership with Henry Nicholls, who looked unsettled in the morning, but is no longer jittery – had exceeded 200 by stumps as the visitors flipped over the advantage that had eluded them for the best part of three days. It took a Herculean partnership, unbeaten over 80 overs, and just a handful of balls away from being the longest-ever in the UAE.It is somewhat crazy to recall the situation this game was in just over 24 hours ago. A few minutes before tea on the third day, Pakistan stood – invincibly, purportedly – at 286 for 3, with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq having brought up the 200-run stand, and pushing their side into the lead. But from thereon, they repeated the same mistakes that led to their downfall at this very venue in the first match of the series, even ending up eerily with exactly the same 74-run lead. The failure to press home a first-innings advantage for the second time in three Tests appeared then as if it might be costly, and Williamson and Nicholls saw to it that it is.Short of the most dramatic of collapses tomorrow morning, Pakistan will either hang on to a draw or succumb as they have done multiple times in the past on the final day. It is a damning indictment for a side that should have come out the other end with a 3-0 whitewash.There isn’t much to say about Williamson that won’t sound like an understatement. So good has the New Zealand skipper been over a number of years, it is a travesty he doesn’t get the attention leading lights such as Virat Kohli, Steven Smith and Joe Root do. Today, he was at his free-flowing best, the footwork impeccable, the drives mesmeric, and the composure hypnotic. The transfer of weight between the front and back foot never once let him down, and was especially evident when he was in his 90s.A cover drive off either foot to Hasan Ali took him first to 98, and then his 19th Test hundred. New Zealand have never lost a Test in which their talismanic captain has reached three figures in the second innings, and with the 28-year-old unbeaten on 139 at stumps, that looks unlikely to change tomorrow.Nicholls at the other end will have seen his stocks skyrocket this series. Every time he has been among the runs, they have come in the second innings with his side behind in the game, and fighting to stay alive. All three second innings have produced half-centuries, and just as the one in the first Test proved priceless, this one could achieve similarly gratifying results. It is a testament to a good player how they come through when their side is struggling, and by that yardstick, Nicholls cuts a very impressive figure, given the baptism of fire he was put through when he first came in. Standing ten runs from a Test match hundred, few batsmen will have deserved a ton more based on performances over a full series.In the final session, Pakistan surprisingly refused to take the new ball, persisting with the old one for 104 overs. It didn’t seem close to producing the results Pakistan looked for, but Sarfraz opted to stick with it for the spin it was generating. Frustratingly for him, though, New Zealand were more than a match for it, and the final session, one drop of Williamson aside, was perhaps the most controlled for the visitors. Moreover, Sarfraz continued to use Yasir Shah and Bilal Asif for much of the final two sessions, deciding against turning to Mohammad Hafeez but for one over before tea, and overlooking Haris Sohail altogether.Their catching is something Pakistan will reflect on. Yasir might have had a memorable day, breaking Clarrie Grimmett’s record for the fastest to 200 Test wickets early on with the lbw dismissal of William Somerville, but more importantly, he dropped two sharp chances Williamson provided. The first one was perhaps the easier challenge, coming at quick but not impossible speed at square leg when the right-hander was on 80. Nicholls, too, was reprieved once at short leg, and with the sort of commitment this pair showed, they weren’t in need of a helping hand from the opposition.The most curious passage of play, though, had come in the morning while Taylor was at the crease, entertaining and baffling in equal measure. His dash to get off the strike against Yasir was understandable – no batsman has fallen victim to Yasir more often, but he attacked Shaheen Afridi at the other end the way a pinch-hitter might. On a day when a Williamson-Taylor partnership might have caused the greatest damage to Pakistan, New Zealand’s most prolific scorer was on a devil-may-care mission for a cameo instead. It never amounted to more than that, though, with a well-laid plan by Pakistan seeing him find the deep-square-leg fielder, for a 14-ball 22.Tragically for Pakistan, the pair that followed had a more solemn approach to the task at hand. Nicholls and Williamson put on a masterclass for the ages and effectively batted Pakistan out of a game they controlled for over three days. There is a lot Pakistan could learn from them about how to press home an advantage when you have it, but the time for learning has long passed. Abu Dhabi 2018 looks set to have Part 2 after all.

Danyal Rasool at Cape Town04-Jan-2019For the second time in as many Tests, Pakistan found their celebrations cut short by the third umpire after thinking they had made a crucial breakthrough.In almost identical fashion to Dean Elgar’s overturned dismissal in Centurion, which prompted such a fierce reaction from Mickey Arthur, Azhar Ali was once again the slip fielder in the spotlight as he stooped to gather Temba Bavuma’s outside edge.At Centurion, Bruce Oxenford had consulted with his on-field colleague S Ravi and deemed Azhar to have taken a clean catch as he gave a soft signal of ‘out’, and he did so once more here in Cape Town.This time, however, Ravi was the man in the third umpire’s chair, and after much deliberation, he decided that Azhar had failed to get his fingers fully underneath the ball. The decision was overturned, much to the crowd’s delight and Mickey Arthur’s chagrin.Arthur, Grant Flower and Sarfraz Ahmed had all said after Centurion they thought the incorrect decision had been made, with Arthur storming into the third umpire’s office to protest, earning himself a sanction and a demerit point.Here, however, he managed to restrain himself to his chair, though the frustration was evident on his face once more.Compare and contrast for yourself with ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary on the two incidents:8.5 Shaheen Shah Afridi to Elgar, no run, length, outside off, and draws the outside edge! It’s been taken by Azhar Ali, but they want to check this. The soft signal from the umpires is OUT! Superb ball, pitched in that length that drew him forward, took the outside of the bat as he poked at it, and flew low to Azhar’s right at first slip. He went low and gathered it, and seems to have done enough! He was confident immediately after completing the catch, and Elgar was also looking to walk to the change rooms immediately afterwards. I think the TV umpire will rule this in favour of the fielding side…OH NO? NOT OUT! That was close!43.3 Mohammad Abbas to Bavuma, no run, drags him out, locates the edge… and first slip snags a low catch! Or does he? Bavuma is going to hang around and wait for any hint of doubt. The soft signal from Bruce Oxenford is out, though this is a helluva tough one to call either way… Does the ball touch the grass as Azhar attempts to scoop it up? The third umpire, S Ravi, decides it does! So the decision is overturned and Bavuma gets a lifeAt Centurion, Elgar’s dismissal would have reduced South Africa to 16 for 2, chasing an awkward 149. At Cape Town, Bavuma’s wicket would have been Pakistan’s second in as many overs, and left them five-down and still 21 runs in arrears.

Renshaw is set to be available for two Championship fixtures and the whole of the Royal London Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2019Kent have signed Matt Renshaw, the Australia opener, for the first weeks of the 2019 season. Renshaw is set to be available for two Championship fixtures and the whole of the Royal London Cup.The arrival of 22-year-old Renshaw, who has played 11 Tests for his country, will help cover for the loss of Joe Denly and Sam Billings, two senior players who will be away at the IPL as Kent make their return to Division One after almost 10 years.Renshaw is set to play in Championship games against Somerset – where he had a successful spell in 2018 – and Warwickshire, before the start of the 50-over competition, with the group stage running until May 7.”Matt is a young talent who is very hungry for success,” Kent’s director of cricket, Paul Downton, said. “He has the ability to strengthen our batting line-up, which will be key at the beginning of the season with both Sam and Joe away playing in the IPL. We look forward to welcoming Matt into the squad.”Renshaw was included in Australia’s squad to face Sri Lanka in January and could feature in the Ashes party to tour England later in the summer. His last Test appearance came in South Africa last year, when he was called up in the wake of ball-tampering scandal.