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Home side fall away between showers despite promising platform

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2022Southern Vipers 75 for 3 (Wyatt 36*) beat Central Sparks 163 for 7 (E Jones 39, Scholfield 2-20) by seven wickets (DLS method)Southern Vipers defeated Central Sparks by seven wickets on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern in a heavily rain-affected Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy opener at Portland Road. After frequent interruptions by the weather, Vipers chased down a revised DLS target of 70 in ten overs as they reached 75 for 3 with just two balls to spare.On a relentlessly damp afternoon in Birmingham, calculators were to the fore as both innings were truncated by heavy showers.Sparks batted first and closed on 163 for 7 from 36 overs – an innings of two halves after they reached 103 for 3 from 24 before a two-hour rain break. They resumed with 12 more overs to have a thrash but added just 60 more against disciplined bowling led by Georgia Elwiss (8-0-29-1).Chasing an initial target of 176 from 36, Vipers were 24 for 1 when rain returned. That trimmed the target to 70 from ten and Danni Wyatt paced the chase to perfection with an unbeaten 36 from 24 balls.Put in, Sparks, depleted by the absence of Emily Arlott, still recovering from Covid, and recent England debutant Issy Wong, were given a solid platform by openers Eve Jones and Davina Perrin who added 65 in 17 overs. Fifteen-year-old Perrin, a Staffordshire product, impressed for 22 from 48 balls before lifting Charlotte Taylor to mid-on.Paige Schofield soon had Thea Brookes caught behind before Jones’s promising innings of 39 ended in wasteful fashion when Ami Campbell called for a second run and Jones’ desperate dive for home narrowly failed. Three balls later the rain arrived and, after the resumption, Vipers bowled accurately to deny Sparks the boundaries they needed to beef up their total. #Vipers’ reply suffered an early blow when Georgia Adams was trapped lbw by the third ball of the innings, from Grace Potts. Wyatt was quickly into her stride, striking three boundaries despite the wet outfield before rain returned at 24 for 1 after three.The final chapter of a complex plot saw Vipers resume at 5.20pm needing another 46 from seven overs. Wyatt and Maia Boucher added a measured 62 from 47 balls and though Boucher fell lbw to Sarah Glenn in the penultimate over, Vipers needed just five from the last, from Hannah Baker.A handsome straight four from 17-year-old Freya Kemp from the second ball relieved the pressure. Kemp was bowled by the next but Elwiss settled the match by lifting her first ball for a huge six.

Pressure on Oxford and Cambridge to agree to T20 double-header or lose historic fixture

George Dobell14-May-2021Marylebone Cricket Club has been asked to “step in” to find an “equitable solution” to a disagreement about gender parity in university cricket.While the men’s Varsity Match – the game between Oxford and Cambridge universities – has been played on the main square at Lord’s for nearly 200 years, the women’s match has never progressed beyond the Nursery Ground. For many years, including 2021, it has not even made it that far.Now a former Oxford University captain has written to key figures at MCC and requested they intervene to correct the situation.Vanessa Picker, who was captain between 2017-20 and has founded the #StumpOutSexism campaign, contacted the MCC CEO, President and President-elect (Guy Lavender, Kumar Sangakkara and Clare Connor respectively) suggesting that “denying the women’s Blues access to Lord’s, while allowing our male counterparts to maintain exclusive access, reinforces damaging narratives about the inferiority of female cricketers.”She went on to say: “In 2021, I strongly believe that the universities and the MCC should be taking steps to support men and women equally.”Picker’s campaign actually stems back two-and-a-half years. But despite making numerous requests to the authorities at Oxford and Cambridge, correspondence seen by ESPNcricinfo shows that she has struggled to obtain the equal standards for which she has been aiming. For that reason, she has asked MCC to intervene to help persuade the universities to treat the men’s and women’s games equally.While Lavender has declined the request for 2021 – he only received it on May 12 and the Varsity match is scheduled for May 23 – he did say MCC would be “very happy to accommodate a men’s and women’s T20 double header on the same day next year.”Lavender pointed out that MCC were using the match on May 23 as a “test event” in a bid to approve a license ahead of the New Zealand Test at the start of June, and suggested the dispute was “primarily a matter for [the] respective universities”.Related

• Blazers, brawls, and tunnels under Lord's – an MCC soap opera

• Women's Varsity match set for full Lord's debut after universities reach agreement

• Gender equality campaigners call on Lord's to cancel men's Varsity fixture

• MCC told to 'move with the times' as row erupts over Rachael Heyhoe-Flint memorial

The complication there is that the university cricket clubs have shown little inclination to make such an accommodation. The men’s game on May 23 is a 50-over-a-side affair and they appear reluctant to swap that for a T20 fixture instead even if that enables their female colleagues to enjoy the same experiences. MCC have made it clear they cannot offer an extra day in an already congested fixture list.Behind the scenes, however, it is likely MCC will apply considerable pressure to the universities. Connor, the club’s first female president, is sure to be sympathetic to Picker’s cause, and the club’s executive is already sensitive to what they feel is an out-dated reputation towards gender equality.Even in recent days, the club has been in the news after some members – including Robert Griffiths QC, a former chairman of Lord’s development committee – expressed their antipathy towards a permanent memorial to Rachael Heyhoe Flint.The club will not want the Varsity fixture to become a symbol of regressive views. As a result, there seems every chance that, unless the universities agree to the move, they will lose the fixture at Lord’s entirely.

Northants, the one-time leaders, are in freefall, but by maintaining their unbeaten home record, Durham strengthened their hold on fourth place in the NatWest Blast North Group with two of their remaining three games also at home

ECB Reporters Network15-Jul-2016
ScorecardChris Rushworth makes a mess of Richard Levi’s stumps•Getty Images

The scrap for qualifying places in the NatWest T20 Blast North Group hotted up further as one-time leaders Northamptonshire lost by six wickets to Durham at Chester-le-Street.By maintaining their unbeaten home record, Durham strengthened their hold on fourth place with two of their remaining three games also at home.But they turned a stroll into a scramble as they replied to 149 for 5 with an opening stand of 77 inside ten overs, then slipped to 89 for 4 with Ben Stokes falling for one.Both he and Mark Stoneman were lbw trying to sweep Sri Lankan leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna, who also had Phil Mustard caught off a towering straight drive to finish with three for 24.Both teams were on 100 after 14 overs, but whereas Ben Duckett was unable to accelerate in his unbeaten 48 off 42 balls, Keaton Jennings continued his excellent season by seeing Durham home with nine balls to spare.He cut Rory Kleinveldt for six in making 36 not out off 24 balls and shared an unbroken stand of 64 with Michael Richardson.That over from Kleinveldt, the 16th, included two wides and cost 15, one fewer than the ninth, bowled by Steven Crook.
Bowling round the wicket to the left-handers, he began with a wide and conceded four leg byes with another leg-side ball before Mustard hit him for four and six over mid-wicket.It was also a poor night for the competition’s leading dot ball bowler, Richard Gleeson, who finished the match with a no-ball followed by a wide which flew down the leg side to the boundary.Stoneman beat his season’s previous best T20 score of 25 by making 40, as did Mustard.Despite Josh Cobb hitting 68 off 51 balls, Durham kept a tight rein on the visitors after putting them in.
Going in at 14 for 2, Duckett shared a stand of 95 with Cobb. But he lacked the firepower to take his side to a winning total.Chris Rushworth knocked out Richard Levi’s off stump with the first ball of the match and in the fourth over Adam Rossington went down the track to Mark Wood, only to sky a comfortable catch for Mustard.Wood, whose four overs cost only 19, almost had a second wicket when Cobb, on 16, narrowly cleared mid-off.
Cobb lifted Scott Borthwick over long-on for six then a lofted straight drive off Jennings gave him his fifth four and took him to 50 off 40 balls before driving Ryan Pringle for a straight six.Cobb departed in the 16th over when he tried to scythe Jennings through off side and played on, then Crook went down the pitch to a slower ball and was stumped.Kleinveldt scored 23 of the 35 runs which came off the last four overs, including a huge six over the sightscreen off Jennings, before he was caught by Wood at long leg off the last ball.

Having been traumatised by Rangana Herath in the Tests, Australia will fall back on their impressive ODI form in a bid to wriggle out some breathing space in Sri Lanka

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo20-Aug-2016

Match facts

August 21, 2016
Start time 2.30pm local (0900GMT)

Big Picture

If ODIs and Tests occurred in parallel universes, Australia might be the pre-series favourites. They have been generally good in this format this year, defeating India 4-1 at home, and winning four out of seven completed matches in the Caribbean to claim that tri-series – though there was a series loss in New Zealand. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have been uniformly terrible – their top order has been unsteady and a toothless attack has gummed its way around the planet. In the field, Sri Lanka have sometimes seemed more interested with dating the ball than collecting it; they’ve approached it tentatively, caressed it lovingly towards the boundary, then escorted it gallantly to the rope.But Tests and ODIs are played in the selfsame universe, so the business of picking a favourite becomes more difficult. On the one hand, some of Australia’s batsmen have been so traumatised in the Tests, they are likely to struggle with spin in ODIs as well. Yet, on the other hand, it is Rangana Herath who had them breaking out in cold sweats in the dressing room, and they will not have to face him in the shorter formats.Where Sri Lanka may have a minor edge is in the confidence of a dynamic top order. Every batsman in the likely top seven has a broad range of strokes, and the batting has rarely been weak in home one-day series. But the bowling is short of experience. Seekkuge Prasanna, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan and Amila Aponso have played fewer than 100 ODIs between them.Australia will also know that while Sri Lanka cannot field their best player of the Test series, their own spearhead is now moving in to what has so far been his preferred format. Mitchell Starc has taken 98 wickets at 19.79 in ODIs. He is capable of defining this series.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia: WWLWL
Sri Lanka: LLLTW
If Mitchell Starc gets two wickets in the first ODI, he will be the fastest bowler ever to 100 wickets•Associated Press

In the spotlight

When Tillakaratne Dilshan last played limited-overs cricket for Sri Lanka, he was the warhorse dragging a meek top order forward. He now enters a side that has experienced significant regeneration, and has a sense of fresh excitement about it. Less than three months out from his 40th birthday, Dilshan may now wish to impress on the selectors that he remains integral to this side. That is – if he himself wishes to continue for some time.Steven Smith appears to have taken the series whitewash harder than most, admitting that he finished the Test series with many regrets, and with dismissals playing over and over in his mind. But Herath’s absence in the ODIs might benefit him most of all – he had been out to Herath five times in the Tests. Rarely does a tour go by without a major contribution from Smith, and his one-day form in the Caribbean was excellent. He hit a tournament-high 264 runs at an average of 52.80.

Teams news

Sri Lanka will probably push Dhananjaya de Silva into the lower middle order to round out their top seven. But on the even of the match, Angelo Mathews admitted the attack was proving a “selection headache”. One of either Amila Aponso or Lakshan Sandakan may get a debut however.Sri Lanka(possible): 1. Kusal Perera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Milinda Siriwardana, 8 Dilruwan Perera, 9 Amila Aponso/Lakshan Sandakan, 10 Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan PradeepThere is a little uncertainty in the top of the order, given there are four openers in the squad. With the Khettarama track expected to take turn, two spinners may play, with Josh Hazlewood perhaps sitting out.Australia(possible): 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shaun Marsh/Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 Matthew Wade (wk), 7 James Faulkner, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

Mathews said the pitch looked “quite dry again”, and it almost always turns at Khettarama – particularly in the second innings of a match. There is a chance of showers, around dusk.

Stats and trivia

• If Mitchell Starc gets two wickets in the first ODI, he will be the fastest bowler ever to 100 wickets. He has played 51 matches so far. Saqlain Mushtaq – the current record-holder – achieved the milestone in 53 games.
• Of the 22 completed ODIs between these two teams, in Sri Lanka, the hosts have won 13 matches and lost nine.

Quotes

“To win a series against a number one team – especially against Australia – meant a lot to us. The confidence levels turned around after that Pallekele match. The confidence levels are pretty high now and we hope to continue that in the one-day format as well.”

Odisha denied by umpiring gaffe, Hyderabad and Rajasthan keep all-win records

Shashank Kishore15-Nov-2021A hat-trick, a four-over return without giving up a run, a controversial boundary call that rescued the defending champions and scintillating performances from IPL stars were among the many highlights from the group stages of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India’s domestic T20 competition.As the caravan moves to New Delhi for the knockouts, amid worsening air quality that has left the local administration contemplating a lockdown, here’s a quick look at those made it and those who missed out.

Group A

Defending champions Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, led by the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad, both made the cut on the back of four wins in five matches. However, Maharashtra have to play the pre-quarterfinal despite finishing with a better net run rate than TN because head-to-head is the first criterion for teams tied on points. When the two sides met, TN comfortably defended 167 despite Gaikwad’s 30-ball half-century.Maharashtra won’t have Gaikwad’s services from here on, as he is part of India’s T20I team for the New Zealand series. TN, who endured a massive slice of luck en route in the group stage, won’t have any such worries, having a full squad to choose from.In what proved to be a turning point, a final-over umpiring gaffe resulted in Odisha being denied a boundary. M Ashwin’s feet were in contact with the rope even as he went beyond the line to push the ball back in – and Odisha lost the match by one run. Punjab were the closest among the other sides to qualification, but eventually lost out after going down to TN.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Group B

Bengal stole the top spot from high-flying Karnataka in the final group game, but both sides made it through to the knockouts without any hiccups. Both sides will be missing key players because of either India A or national duties. Bengal will be without Abhimanyu Easwaran and Wriddhiman Saha, while Karnataka will be without Mayank Agarwal, K. Gowtham, Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna.Shreevats Goswami, controversially left out of the group stages, has an opportunity to make amends as he returns for the knockouts. Goswami was left out due to Saha’s availability, despite being among the top three run-getters in the tournament for the side in three of the last five seasons.Mumbai was the nearly-side from this group, having finished with three wins in five matches. Although captain Ajinkya Rahane top-scored with 286 runs in five games at a strike rate of 133, including four half-centuries, they couldn’t capitalise. Prithvi Shaw’s poor form – 107 runs in five innings, 83 of which came in their final game against Baroda after being knocked out – didn’t help matters either.Deepak Hooda’s move to Rajasthan has paid big dividends•BCCI

Group C

Rajasthan were the undisputed leaders, maintaining an all-win record to blaze into the knockouts, even as Himachal staved off competition from Andhra and Jharkhand to squeeze into the knockouts as the second side from the group.Much of Rajasthan’s running was done by their new signing Deepak Hooda, alongside established hand Mahipal Lomror. Hooda, who moved from Baroda after a spat with Krunal Pandya last year, top-scored with 291 runs in five games, including an unbeaten 39-ball 75 after walking into bat at 10 for 2 to help beat Jharkhand. More than the four half-centuries he struck, his strike rate of 175 stood out. Ravi Bishnoi, the legspinner, impressed with the ball, picking up eight wickets in five games.Himachal, meanwhile, were propped up by Rishi Dhawan, who finished the group stages with 14 wickets, third-best. This included his career-best figures of 6 for 23 that helped pip Jammu & Kashmir in a thriller after his 26-ball 45* had set the game up in the first place.

Group D

Gujarat topped the pool with four wins in five games, on the back of clinical batting performances, led by Priyank Panchal. However, their designated captain won’t be available for the knockouts because of India A commitments, along with Arzan Nagwaswalla, the left-arm fast bowler who picked up seven wickets. Piyush Chawla, who featured in just one game at IPL 2021, proved why he isn’t a spent force yet. He picked up five wickets in as many games and was economical, conceding at just 6.42 per over.The Sanju Samson-led Kerala took the second spot, after overcoming stiff competition from Madhya Pradesh. Both sides managed three wins, but Kerala pipped them on head-to-head, in the team’s final league engagement, making light work of a 172-chase courtesy stroke-filled half-centuries from Samson and Sachin Baby. Meanwhile Venkatesh Iyer, who made it to the India’s T20I side on the back of a breakout IPL season, managed just one half-century at the top of the order in five outings for MP.Akshay Karnewar was devastating in the Plate Group•Prakash Parsekar

Group E

They named two captains and two squads prior to departure, the kind of confusion and chaos not new to Hyderabad cricket. But on the field, they managed to turn a corner, winning all five games to make the quarterfinals. Tanmay Agarwal, the captain, is currently the tournament’s highest run-getter with 302 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 150, while left-arm seamer CV Milind leads the wicket charts with 16 scalps, including a best of 5 for 8 that helped defend 147 against Uttar Pradesh.Saurashtra were the second qualifiers from the group, with four wins in five games. While Jaydev Unadkat led the wicket charts, Sheldon Jackson, who returned to his home state after a stint with Puducherry at the end of the 2020-21 season, left his imprint with the bat, top scoring with 221 runs in five matches. Their only loss was in a last-over thriller against Hyderabad, where Unadkat joined Prerak Mankad at 67 for 6 and then put on a near century stand to set up a defence of 173. Hyderabad won by two wickets with three balls to spare. Hanuma Vihari, who returned to home like Jackson, from Andhra, had underwhelming returns, 57 of his 94 runs coming in one innings alone.

Plate Group

Two-time Ranji winners Vidarbha proved no match for the rest of the pack, as they emerged runaway winners from this group. Meghalaya and Tripura fought hard to post four wins in five games, but couldn’t close out games against Vidarbha.Vidarbha’s Akshay Karnewar, the ambidextrous spinner, broke the record for the most economical figures in T20 cricket when he produced a return of 4-4-0-2 against Manipur. He became the first player to bowl four maidens in four overs in men’s T20 cricket, bettering Pakistan pacer Mohammad Irfan’s returns of 4-3-1-2 in CPL 2018. A day later, Karnewar claimed a hat-trick against Sikkim returning figures of 4-1-5-4.

Pholetsi Moseki, CSA’s acting CEO, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Sunday’s fixtures had been postponed due to Covid-19 fears

Firdose Moonda19-Dec-2021The final round of matches in the CSA four-day franchise series, South Africa’s premier domestic competition, have been postponed and will be rescheduled in 2022.Pholetsi Moseki, CSA’s acting CEO, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Sunday’s four fixtures had been postponed as a safeguarding measure in light of rising Covid-19 cases in the country over the past few weeks. “Ultimately these games being played outside a bio-secure environment made it difficult for us to continue with them,” he said.This is the third group of matches that have been pushed back after Division 2 fixtures between December 2 and 5, and between December 16 and 19 were also postponed.So far this season, domestic cricket has not been played in a bio-secure bubble environment but ESPNcricinfo understands this will change for the one-day and T20 competitions. Last summer, both white-ball tournaments took place under bio-secure conditions.South Africa is currently in a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which accompanied the discovery of the Omicron variant last month. Cases peaked at over 26000 earlier in the week but are now on the decline. The country remains at alert Level 1 of 5, with the least stringent restrictions since the start of the pandemic.

Batsman may become ‘batter’ under terms being discussed by tournament organisers

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Apr-2021Wickets could be referred to as “outs” in the Hundred under proposed terms being discussed by the ECB to make cricket more accessible to the new audience the tournament is hoping to attract.The inaugural Hundred – postponed from last year – starts with a women’s match between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals at the Kia Oval on July 21 with the corresponding men’s fixture the following day at the same ground.The new competition introduces a number of playing innovations, not least the 100-ball innings, and organisers have said discussions over the terminology to be used in the tournament was prompted by focus group data suggesting cricket’s traditional language can prove a “barrier” to potential fans.Related

• Is it possible to enjoy the County Championship and the IPL together? They're so similar, no?

• The Hundred – full 2021 squad lists

• The Hundred to launch with women's fixture on July 21

• Ellyse Perry joins Birmingham Phoenix for the Hundred

• Sarah Taylor signs up for playing comeback in the Hundred with Welsh Fire

“The Hundred is designed to make cricket accessible to everyone, and research shows that the language of the game can sometimes be a barrier,” a Hundred spokesperson said.”Along with our broadcast partners, we want The Hundred to open cricket up to more people, as well as entertaining existing fans, so we’re discussing the clearest ways of explaining the game, but nothing’s been finalised.”News of the possible switch from the term wickets to “outs” sparked widespread discussion and some criticism on social media.It could be argued that if the Hundred is designed to attract new supporters and participants to cricket, then a move away from traditional terminology is effectively steering them away from a key aspect of the sport. On the other hand, getting people into cricket before fostering their enjoyment of other existing formats is seen as better than not attracting newcomers at all.It is also argued the fact that the term wicket can be used to describe a dismissal, the stumps and bails and even the pitch can be confusing to people not familiar with cricket. “Outs” is regarded as descriptive without being too distant from current terminology because it says what happens when the batter is dismissed.Another change being considered, and less likely to spark controversy, is using the word “batter” rather than batsman in both the men’s and women’s competitions. Anecdotally, many women playing and watching the game, have long supported the use of the gender neutral term batter.

Zimbabwe captain says he wanted to send a message to his batters that the pitch was still good

Mohammad Isam10-Jul-2021Captain Brendan Taylor hopes his swashbuckling 92 inspires the rest of his Zimbabwe teammates to salvage a draw on the fifth day against Bangladesh. Taylor struck 16 fours in his 73-ball bonanza but got out with roughly ten overs to spare on the fourth day. The home side also lost the stonewalling Takudzwanashe Kaitano shortly afterwards, leaving them on 140 for 3, and a day to keep Bangladesh at bay.The way Taylor batted put the visitors on the backfoot for much of the evening session. He drilled cover drive after cover drive, drove the spinners with ease, looking at times like he was batting in a different league than the batter at the other end.Related

• Zimbabwe lose rampant Taylor as Bangladesh sight victory

• Najmul Hossain Shanto admits Bangladesh in 'good position' but bowlers 'have their work cut out'

He said that the strokeful innings was intuitive, as he was trying to preempt the Bangladesh bowlers’ plans on a pitch he considered to be almost dead for the bowlers.”There was no real intent to play with that amount of aggression, but playing instinctively paid off for me,” Taylor said. “I thought that at the end of day four, the wicket will start getting tired. Instead of just sitting around, I wanted to be a little proactive, and try to send a message to the guys that the wicket is still playing okay. Hopefully I have done that.”I got out at the wrong time, and I felt that I left so many runs out there. It is hurting me at the moment, but there are guys that I have a lot of faith in, as well. It is frustrating (to miss out on the hundred) when you are going that well. You want to kick on (and score the hundred) obviously. From the team’s perspective, it was crucial that I stayed out there for a longer period.”Taylor said that the rest of the Zimbabwe batters are capable of putting up a good fight on the fifth day and that the overnight batters Dion Myers and nightwatchman Donald Tiripano must stave off the first hour as a first priority.”We want to start the first hour well. Hopefully we don’t lose a wicket. We have guys who are technically sound and solid. Unfortunately we lost Kaitano in the end there. He has been a pillar for us. But there are guys there who can really front up, which will be the chat tomorrow. There’s no better time to save a game for your country,” he said.Zimbabwe’s bowlers got punished in Bangladesh’s second innings. Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto struck centuries as the home side could take only one wicket, giving away the 476-run lead. But Taylor said that he was happy with how the bowlers worked hard in this Test.”The attitude has always been good, particularly with the ball as well. The wicket was pretty dead, and the batsmen were going pretty hard at the ball. They were not giving many chances. All I asked my bowlers, was to keep fronting up. They are young guys with great attitude and a lot of commitment. We had to work hard.”Taylor said that Bangladesh’s experience as a Test side showed as they dominated any time they got set in the middle. “They have shown that they are an experienced side. They have dominated, and when they get in, they make it count. We have certainly learned a lot from how they have gone about their business,” he said.

William Somerville claimed six wickets for New South Wales but Joe Burns, Peter Forrest and Chris Hartley resisted effectively for Queensland

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile photo – William Somerville took out six Queensland batsmen•Getty Images

William Somerville claimed six wickets for New South Wales but Joe Burns, Peter Forrest and Chris Hartley resisted effectively for Queensland on the penultimate day of the Sheffield Shield match at the SCG.Forrest and Burns added 140 for the first wicket for the Bulls before they were separated by Somerville, who is gaining his opportunity as the spin spearhead for NSW due to the selection of both Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon to tour India.Burns went on to a century, and Hartley’s typically dogged innings ensured that the visitors’ first innings would linger on into day four of the match even as Somerville worked his way through the rest of the batting order, showing good discipline and variation on a wearing pitch.The Blues’ other spin bowler, the teenager Arjun Nair, was very economical while also picking up the wicket of Michael Neser.

Yorkshire will sense that a third consecutive County Championship title is well within their compass after climbing to third place with a victory that drew on tried and trusted ingredients

Jon Culley at Headingley06-Aug-2016
ScorecardJack Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom were back in harness for Yorkshire, and it showed•Getty Images

Yorkshire will sense that a third consecutive County Championship title is well within their compass after climbing to third place with a victory that drew on tried and trusted ingredients. It puts them within striking distance of the two teams ahead of them, both of whom have played a match more and both of whom must still face Yorkshire for a second time.There were no headline-grabbing innings, and never were there likely to be on a bone-dry pitch that was a challenge from day one, but the reuniting of what has been their most consistently effective bowling attack seemed to bring with it a fresh injection of self-belief. Ryan Sidebottom and Jack Brooks were back in tandem for the first time in more than three months, spurring each other on to excessively celebrated successes; Steven Patterson backed them up with his metronomic miserliness and Adil Rashid hoovered up the left-overs by bamboozling the tail.It was a contest of narrow margins and important moments, none more so than the stunning catch at third slip pulled off by Jack Leaning to remove Tim Ambrose, breaking a partnership with Jonathan Trott that had added 91 runs and seemed perhaps to be tilting the balance in Warwickshire’s favour.That gave Sidebottom a second wicket in the innings and a fifth in his comeback match. Shortly afterwards, Brooks, who himself has been off the scene lately with hip and thigh injuries, accounted for Trott for the second time in the match, again caught and bowled off a leading edge, which is certainly not a regular mode of dismissal for the former England batsman. It gave Brooks, who had dismissed Varun Chopra and Ian Bell in the same over earlier, his fifth in the match too.Rikki Clarke perished leg before to Patterson, one of several decisions in which Warwickshire felt they were unlucky, and then it was over to Rashid, who picked off Keith Barker, Jeetan Patel and Chris Wright in consecutive overs before finally winkling out a gutsily resistant Sam Hain, who batted essentially with one arm for more than two hours before Adam Lyth snared him at slip with a joyous whoop.Earlier, Hain had been lucky to escape serious injury when he tripped over the rope after a vain attempt to deny Andy Hodd a
boundary, crashing into the concrete wall of the Western Stand. He sat up but remained motionless for some minutes before being helped off the field, clearly in some pain after his left shoulder had borne the brunt of the impact.Warwickshire later revealed that Hain had felt the shoulder dislocate with the impact and return to its socket as he rolled over. He is scheduled to have a scan on Monday to determine if there is any other damage.Andrew Gale, the Yorkshire captain, felt the return of Sidebottom and Brooks was the key to recharging their title challenge.”Ultimately that’s the attack that won us the Championship last year,” he said. “They are the guys that perform well at Headingley, where Jack Brooks and Siddy have outstanding records and it made a massive difference having those two back. Having Ryan back is like a new signing.”And when we get into positions like that with the opposition five or six down, we turn to Adil Rashid and he is just so ruthless in the way he cleans the tail up. We call him the Hoover, the Dyson.”There are not many tailenders who can pick his googly and this was a pitch which turned a lot more than usual for Headingley, so it was perfect for him.”It’s a massive result. If we are to be up there again at the end of the season we need to win our home games and this puts us right back in the mix, breathing down Middlesex’s necks.”All this was made possible by Yorkshire fulfilling Sidebottom’s assessment of what was required to post a competitive total, adding 72 runs to their overnight 78 for 5 thanks largely to Alex Lees, whose 70 was an outstanding effort in the circumstances.None of his partners could stay with him long. Rashid cracked a couple of nice-looking boundaries off Clarke but fell to a catch at short leg as the tireless Jeetan Patel took the first of his three wickets on the day.Tim Bresnan was caught at mid-on, miscuing an attempted slog-sweep, then Hodd followed one from Wright to be caught behind. There was no shifting Lees, who had been patient in picking off the bad balls, until he went after a wide ball from Wright to give Ambrose another catch. Sidebottom soon followed as Patel claimed his sixth wicket of the match, but 150 had swelled the target to something that was always going to be testing.”It is tough to fall 50 runs short and it is frustrating that we lost a game we could have won if we had performed better at key moments,” Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Dougie Brown, said.”But credit to Yorkshire. They played very well and it just came down to needing two or three runs more from each partnership, that’s how close it was.””It was a brave effort by Sam, who was clearly in a lot of pain and hampered in some of the shots he was not able to play but he stuck at it and tried to make a difference.”