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Josh Tongue included in England Ashes squad

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Selectors name 16-man group including seven pace options for first two Tests

Vithushan Ehantharajah03-Jun-2023England have announced an unchanged squad for the first two men’s Ashes Tests. The 16-man party, which includes Worcestershire seamer Josh Tongue who was drafted in as bowling cover for the one-off Test against Ireland currently taking place at Lord’s, will report to Birmingham ahead of the Edgbaston Test starting on June 16.The announcement comes as no surprise, particularly with James Anderson (groin) and Ollie Robinson (ankle) progressing well in their respective recoveries from injury. The pair have been bowling at Lord’s, where England were pushing for a three-day victory over Ireland having registered a 352-run first-innings leads following a mammoth 524 for 4 declared.Both are likely to return to the XI for the first Test against Australia, along with Mark Wood who missed the Ireland Test to spend time with his second child born last week. Chris Woakes has also been retained, giving Ben Stokes seven pace-bowling options to pick from.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The majority of the group are due to head to Loch Lomond in Scotland next week as part of a team-bonding trip ahead of the five-match series with Australia. A number of players are heading up at the start of the week before a more official gathering at the weekend. While essentially a golf trip, the getaway is geared towards giving the players more time together, building on a successful week reestablishing the connections and frame of mind that has been a huge part of life under Brendon McCullum and Stokes.They will be in situ for the first Test the following Monday, before their first training session at Edgbaston on Tuesday, June 13.England men’s Ashes Test squad: Ben Stokes (capt), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

England ride the switchback as T20 cricket comes out of mothballs

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Hasty World Cup prep begins as England embark on first white-ball campaign since March

Alan Gardner29-Aug-2023

Big picture: Back to the 20-over format

Roll up, roll up! We’ve had rollercoaster men’s and women’s Ashes, the Hundred has enjoyed its month in the spotlight… but there’s still room in the sardine can for a bilateral white-ball series or three! Astute followers of the game will be aware that New Zealand arrived in the country a few days ago, but the rest of you are forgiven if you missed it between 100-ball shenanigans and World Cup squad headlines.The tour begins with four – yes, four – T20Is, starting at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday, before four – yes, four – ODIs that will set England on the runway towards their 50-over World Cup defence. As such, the T20Is provide more of an opportunity to test the hosts’ depth, ahead of another global event in the US and Caribbean next year – although plans to blood a trio of young pace bowlers have already taken a turn after injuries ruled out John Turner and Josh Tongue.Gus Atkinson, one of the breakout stars of the season and a man capable of bowling 95mph/152kph, should, however, win an England debut over the next few days. Atkinson helped Oval Invincibles to the Hundred title at the weekend, having caught Jos Buttler’s eye during a head-to-head contest earlier in the campaign, and the Surrey man has shot up the pecking order to the extent that he is also in the provisional World Cup squad – despite having only played two List A games in his career.There should also be chances for the likes of Rehan Ahmed, Luke Wood and Will Jacks, while Jonny Bairstow is set to play his first T20I in over a year, having missed England’s victorious T20 World Cup campaign in Australia. Bairstow may be the immediate beneficiary of Alex Hales’ recent retirement, having only opened sporadically over the course of his international T20 career.Gus Atkinson is expected to make his England debut against New Zealand•Getty Images

Such is the sense of dislocation around the schedule, England haven’t actually played a limited-overs international since mid-March, when their world champion status was knocked by a 3-0 T20I defeat in Bangladesh. But Buttler, coming in off the back of a tournament-leading run haul in the Hundred, and Matthew Mott now have an intensive programme with which to fine-tune preparations for the subcontinent.As it happens, the tournament opener on October 5 will pit England against, yes, New Zealand, in a rematch of the 2019 final (with Player of the Match at Lord’s, Ben Stokes, back out of retirement, although he won’t be involved in the T20Is). Tim Southee, New Zealand’s T20I captain, acknowledged that all roads currently lead to Ahmedabad, and there is plenty for the tourists to get straightened out over while in England.They arrived on the back of a 2-1 win in the UAE with an experimental side – but saw a remarkable record of 39 games without defeat against non-Test nations ended in the second match of the series. The squad to face England will be significantly stronger, however, with several already in rhythm after plying their trade in the Hundred.For New Zealand’s World Cup hopes, the most-important element of this tour might be how Kane Williamson goes in his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury. Williamson is not expected to be involved against England, while Trent Boult will only play the ODIs as he returns to the fold after opting out of a central contract last year – but after several months in which the global T20 franchise circuit has dominated conversations, a different narrative is starting to build.Kyle Jamieson made his comeback to international cricket in the UAE last week•Emirates Cricket Board

Form guide

England LLLWW
New Zealand WLWWW

In the spotlight: Harry Brook and Kyle Jamieson

Jos Buttler last week described Harry Brook as unfortunate to miss out on selection for the World Cup, sentiments which he repeated before the game at Chester-le-Street. Brook is a T20 World Cup winner who averages 62.15 with a strike rate of 91.76 in Tests – and therefore perfectly suited to the 50-over game – but Stokes’ return has nixed his hopes of being in India (at least for now). Having responded to his omission by scoring the fastest century in the short history of the Hundred, off 41 balls, he will doubtless be keen to nudge the selectors again.Kyle Jamieson suffered a back injury on New Zealand’s tour of England in 2022 that subsequently ruled him out of action for much of the next 14 months. His phenomenal start to life as a Test cricketer led to a US$2.5m IPL deal in 2021, although life has not always run smoothly as he attempted to juggle his workload across formats. Jamieson has only featured eight ODIs and 11 T20Is for New Zealand but played his first cricket since February in the UAE and could yet be a key weapon at the 50-over World Cup, with his imposing height and ability as a lower-order hitter.

Team news: England test bench, NZ welcome big guns

England’s intention for this series had been to blood their next tier of white-ball quicks, ahead of next year’s defence of their T20 World Cup title, but two of those uncapped prospects, John Turner and Josh Tongue, have already been withdrawn through injury, with Brydon Carse and the old-stager Chris Jordan slotting in in their stead. The third of that trio of new boys, Atkinson, is sure to play at some stage as England seek to fast-track his international experience ahead of his prospective World Cup call-up, although having featured in Oval Invincibles’ victory in the men’s Hundred final on Sunday night, his involvement may yet be deferred. On the batting side, Brook is the squad’s cause celebre, although Ben Duckett and Jacks have plenty of incentive to impress as well, with Buttler having admitted last week that nothing is yet set in stone for the World Cup.England: 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Chris Jordan/Brydon Carse, 10 Luke Wood, 11 Gus AtkinsonMatthew Mott and Jos Buttler were reunited after a long break in the white-ball schedule•Getty Images

New Zealand’s squad is assembling Avengers-style from myriad corners of the cricketing universe. A scratch squad contested a brace of warm-up games against Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, but now a host of Hundred combatants are returning to the fray – among them Southee, Daryl Mitchell and Adam Milne, who provided three touches of Kiwi class in an otherwise dead-rubber clash between Birmingham Phoenix and London Spirit last week. In a rather more high-profile outing, Devon Conway and Finn Allen formed a potent alliance for Southern Brave in Saturday’s Eliminator at The Oval, and will slot back in at the top of the NZ order, after Tim Seifert and Chad Bowes stood in against UAE. Jamieson made his comeback in that series after a long-standing back injury, and will continue his progress over the coming games. Jimmy Neesham, a hero of the Hundred final for Oval Invincibles, is heading home for the birth of his child.New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway (wk), 2 Finn Allen, 3 Mark Chapman/Tim Seifert, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Rachin Ravindra/Cole McConchie, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Tim Southee (capt), 10 Lockie Ferguson/Adam Milne, 11 Ish Sodhi

Pitch and conditions

Chester-le-Street last hosted a T20 international in 2017, and is not known as a batter-friendly venue – in this year’s Vitality Blast, it was the third-lowest scoring of the major grounds, with runs coming at 8.27 an over. There is a chance of some rain to freshen conditions further on Wednesday, although the forecast for the evening is clear.

Stats and trivia

  • New Zealand have won eight and lost 14 of their previous 22 completed T20Is against England, including a tie in Auckland in November 2019 that Chris Jordan duly sealed in the Super Over, to claim a 3-2 series win in the two teams’ most recent bilateral outing.
  • Since then, England and New Zealand have played twice more, at consecutive T20 World Cups. At the former event in 2021, Daryl Mitchell propelled his side to the final where they fell short against Australia; then, 12 months later, England exacted revenge in the group stage, en route to their victory in the final.
  • New Zealand’s four-match series is set to match their previous tally of T20I fixtures against England in England. They’ve won one and lost two of their previous three completed matches in 2008, 2013 and 2015, with a two-ball wash-out at The Oval in 2013 completing the set.

Quotes

“I don’t think he has a point to prove. We all know what a fantastic player he is. He’s unfortunate to miss out on selection at this stage. We’ve said it for a long time in English white-ball cricket we’ve got a lot of depth and talent, and young players coming through pushing [for selection] has been a hallmark of the team. It’s natural that good players miss out.”
“Any cricket now in the lead-up to the World Cup is good cricket. For the guys that go on to that tournament, you’re playing against quality white-ball opposition. I know it’s a different format but I think any cricket leading into the World Cup is good cricket.”

Dillon Pennington roars back for Worcestershire as 18 wickets fall at Oakham

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Leicestershire’s bright start undermined by dramatic afternoon collapse

Paul Edwards19-Jul-2023One can understand bowlers flinching a little at the prospect of playing cricket in a town where pies are not so much a speciality as an obsession. Oakham is only ten miles away from Melton Mowbray, after all, and spectators at this game who were tempted by the aroma from Piglets’ Pantry would have found steak and ale, chicken gammon and leek, and chicken balti, all stuffed under a thick crust that mocked thoughts of healthy eating. As things turned out, however, it was the bowlers who gorged themselves, almost all of them feeding greedily on a pitch that rewarded the ancient disciplines.It was a day on which even top-order, top-dollar cricketers could return to the pavilion after being dismissed and think themselves poorly used. They had played blameless forward defensive strokes to deliveries that required such careful treatment only to find the ball spitting away and taking the edge or jagging back and plucking out a stump. Seen in that context, Worcestershire’s opening stand of 48 between Jake Libby and Gareth Roderick and their last-wicket partnership of 33 between Adam Finch and Dillon Pennington were major contributions. Between those alliances Azhar Ali’s 34 was the innings of the day and his side’s total of 178 was somewhere near par. When Leicestershire batted, they could make little of Finch, Pennington and Matthew Waite and were eight down for 88 at the close. Unless we have rain, it seems clear there will be no cricket here on Saturday.And days such as this seem to concentrate spectators’ attention. Aware that every run matters greatly, they devote themselves to the particular intensity of a brief match, especially so, perhaps, when it takes place in a part of the kingdom that few people seem to know well and on a day when the world’s gaze is elsewhere. For Oakham is deep England; rich, dark-earthed farming country in Rutland, a county that many people outside its borders would struggle to locate. The locals sink their pints of Everards in The Wheatsheaf and the All Saints’ campanologists rang on throughout Tuesday evening, quite oblivious to the fact of their drowning out Stephen Hough’s performance at the Proms.Even the names of the ends at the Doncaster Close ground seem to have been forgotten since 1935 when the cracks of Kent were the first to visit this ground and were beaten by ten wickets. “Sports Hall” and “Nursery” insist some modernists but given a rich choice, we settled for “Allotment” and “All Saints” because they reminded us of timeless nourishment of one sort or another. Drought-stressed leaves fell from trees, which was ironic given the rain that Oakham’s head groundsman, Richard Dexter, has had to cope with when preparing the pitch for this match.The first hour’s play was all watchfulness. The Leicestershire bowlers stuck to their lines, and Worcestershire’s openers responded with little more than occasional pushes into gaps. Then Tom Scriven came on from the Allotment End and sprayed his first delivery down the leg side. Four wides. Then there was a delivery miles outside off before Scriven’s sixth ball surprised Libby with its accuracy and tempted him to nibble a catch to Peter Handscomb behind the stumps. It is so often the way. As though obeying some secret lore, a spinner bowled the over before lunch but Callum Parkinson made no breakthrough and Worcestershire came in prosperously placed with 74 for 1 on the board.Ah, but grievous penury lay in wait for them. Wiaan Mulder’s second ball after the resumption swung away from Roderick who snicked it to Handscomb. Mulder’s next delivery compelled a defensive shot from Jack Haynes, who also edged to the keeper. In the following over a straight one from Wright had Adam Hose leg before for 5 and the visitors had lost three wickets for five runs in ten balls.Respectability, threadbare as it was, was achieved through the efforts of Azhar, who continued to play the ball as little as possible and late when he did so. While three batsmen, Brett D’Oliveira, Waite and Joe Leach, all fell to slip catches by Ackermann, Azhar accumulated runs as if doing so in a gradual fashion pleased him somehow. He had made 34 in 153 minutes before his first misjudgement, a grope at a ball from Matt Salisbury, was his last. Mulder dived to his right from first slip to take the catch.Other games were taking place and some notice was taken of them. News came through that Stuart Broad had dismissed Usman Khawaja at Old Trafford and folk recalled that Broad had taken his first Championship wicket at Oakham, his old school, in 2005, dismissing Somerset’s Mike Burns in the first innings of the game and then repeating the trick in the second dig. No doubt the boyish joy was as great in Manchester as it was on this field some 18 summers and a thousand years ago.There was plenty of delight in the evening session here but it brought little comfort to the locals. A blameless Rishi Patel nicked Pennington to Roderick in the fourth over of the innings but half of the eight home batters to be dismissed were bowled, either by balls that straightened or by ones that jagged back. Mulder looked relatively comfortable in making 21 before becoming Leach’s only victim and he can look back on his day with some pride. And if Leicestershire supporters need a little encouragement to take into tomorrow, it was provided by Rehan Ahmed, who ended the day unbeaten on 25 off 39 balls and batted as if he wondered what the fuss was about.

McKerr mops up Lancashire resistance as Surrey march on

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Division One leaders need less than two session to take the nine wickets they needed

ECB Reporters Network25-Aug-2024Title favourites Surrey took less than two sessions on day four to bowl out Lancashire for 177 at the Kia Oval to complete an impressive innings-and-63-run victory.Conor McKerr polished off Lancashire’s tail to finish with 4 for 27 while Dan Worrall and Jordan Clark picked up three wickets apiece as long-time Division One leaders Surrey, champions in 2022 and 2023, made it seven wins from ten Vitality County Championship matches this season. It is another big step for Surrey towards a third title in a row.Matty Hurst, Lancashire’s highly rated 20-year-old wicketkeeper-batter, tried hard to hold up Surrey by adding a fine 64 to a first-innings 46 in what is only his 12th first-class appearance but there was never any real doubt about the eventual result as wickets fell regularlyLancashire resumed still 214 runs adrift on 26 for 1 from 11.1 overs, after a rain-hit third day had seemingly given them a chance of escaping with a draw, but lost their last nine wickets for 151 runs as Surrey’s five-man pace attack proved too hot for them to handle for the second time in the game.Worrall, the Championship’s leading wicket-taker with 40 at an average of only 15.55 runs apiece, made the initial breakthroughs by dismissing Lancashire captain Keaton Jennings for 13 and 16-year-old debutant Rocky Flintoff in successive balls in the fifth full over of the morning.First, coming from around the wicket to left-hander Jennings, he swung one back into the former England Test opener who offered no shot and saw the ball thud into the top of his off stump. And another fine piece of bowling by Worrall immediately inflicted a first ball duck on young Flintoff, the son of former England captain Andrew who had batted so promisingly for 32 on day one as Lancashire’s youngest first-class cricketer.Pushing forward to an outswinger that also bounced perhaps more than he expected, Flintoff edged to keeper Ben Foakes who took an excellent diving catch in front of first slip.That left Lancashire 33 for 3 and they soon declined further to 82 for 5 as Josh Bohannon chopped a short, rising ball from Clark into his stumps to go for 29 and George Balderson edged a returning Worrall to second slip on four.Hurst, however, was then joined by Venkatesh Iyer in a sixth-wicket stand of 36 that at least took Lancashire through to lunch, with Iyer even having the temerity to flip Worrall over the short leg-side boundary for six. Yet it took only two balls after the interval for Surrey to break the stand, with Iyer nibbling at Clark outside off stump and thin-edging through to Foakes.Tom Hartley also offered some lower resistance, battling through a testing spell from Sam Curran in which he was beaten several times before hitting Will Jacks’ off spin over long-on for six.Hurst, though, was disgusted with himself for clipping the first ball of McKerr’s second spell – an innocuous loosener – straight into Ryan Patel’s hands at midwicket after a defiant 116-ball stay featuring seven fours. And the end was nigh when McKerr took two more wickets in his eighth over, Tom Aspinwall lofting a full toss straight to mid off and Josh Boyden losing his off stump to depart for a second-ball duck.Hartley was last man out, for 22, fending McKerr to Patel at short leg just after 3pm. Worrall finished with 3 for 34 while Clark took his own season’s Championship wicket tally to 32 with his 3 for 43.

'Be brave': Australia consider mid-match flexibility to batting order

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Travis Head revealed that the visitors are considering a batting order than changes from innings to innings with a match

AAP27-Jan-20251:52

Smith: Konstas can bat conventionally too, he’s got ‘all the tools’

Australia will consider taking the drastic step of changing its batting order mid-Test match to combat its selection dilemma at the top for the Sri Lanka series.Travis Head and Sam Konstas arrived in Galle seemingly locked in a battle to partner veteran opener Usman Khawaja for the first of two matches beginning on January 29.Teenage swashbuckler Konstas is the incumbent and helped seal Australia’s first series win over India in a decade with valuable contributions across his first two Test matches.Related

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Australia’s middle-order aggressor on home soil, Head averaged 55.75 runs as David Warner’s injury replacement during the final two and a half Tests on the last subcontinent to India in 2023.”I don’t know where I’m going to bat at this stage,” Head said ahead of Monday’s main training session for the first Test. “We’ll see how that wicket plays out over the next couple of days.”But Head revealed Australia had been discussing the prospect of shifting its batting order mid-game if pitch conditions called for flexibility.Questions remain as to how much spin will be on offer from day one in the Test matches, with the pitch playing very differently in Galle across Australia’s last two visits in 2022 and 2016.Travis Head has dominated in the middle order at home, but the subcontinent has been a different story•Getty Images

Head is more experienced in Asia than Konstas, who is embarking on his first subcontinent Test tour, but has not always been able to make the best of turning wickets. He said when it came to the opener debate, Australia may be able to have its cake and eat it too.”It’s been a topic of conversation for the last little bit in this team on whether the Australian first innings, second innings, why doesn’t the order change?” Head said. “Why can’t we be flexible? What moves? How can we be brave? That hasn’t played out as such yet. Is this the tour to do it? We’ll wait and see.”The current Australian team has often changed its batting order mid-game to deploy a nightwatchman, usually Nathan Lyon, but a premeditated mid-game switch would be unprecedented. But in the era of Konstas reverse-ramp shots and booming support for Test cricket, Head feels the time is ripe for change.”The game is evolving, so why not continue to see where we can make jumps and leaps and where can we get an advantage?” he said. “If that’s using people in different positions, it’s not traditionally done a hell of a lot … [but] this team’s experienced enough and in a great position where players will be open to that if needed to be.”

Head averaged 7.66 at his usual No. 5 spot across Australia’s last visit to Sri Lanka – the worst figures for any bilateral series of his 54-match Test career. His subcontinent form was so dire that Head found himself dropped for the start of the 2023 India series, despite shining against the West Indies and South Africa in the previous home summer.Head returns to Sri Lanka ready to play with his trademark positive intent regardless of his position in the order, admitting the last tour to Sri Lanka was one to forget.”I wasn’t pleased with the way that tour went,” he said. “I did go through a bit of a transition here and in Pakistan last time, tried to play a bit more traditionally.”That [2023] Indian series was one which could have gone one way or the other. I don’t play well and I probably never see a subcontinent tour again. Or I go out there and do what I’ve been doing the last couple of years and go out there a little bit more relaxed.”So I’ll draw on that. I feel comfortable wherever I need to be to win the Test. I ain’t bothered where I bat anymore. I haven’t been for a while.”

Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani served conflict-of-interest notice over IPL rights

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The BCCI ethics officer has given her until September 2 to respond

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Aug-2022Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani has been asked by the BCCI ethics officer Vineet Saran to respond to a conflict-of-interest complaint filed against her.The complaint was made by former Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) member Sanjeev Gupta, who raised the issue that Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai franchise in the IPL, is also a director at Reliance Industries (RIL), whose subsidiary Viacom 18 bought broadcast rights for the IPL from 2023 to 2027 for a sum of INR 23,758 crore (US$ 3 billion approx).Viacom 18 secured the digital rights to stream the IPL in India, and also the media rights (both TV and digital) for Australia and New Zealand, the UK, and South Africa, at the e-auction* conducted by the BCCI in June.According to Gupta, Ambani’s positions as a team owner in the IPL and as a director in the company that owns the subsidiary that has acquired IPL broadcast rights, represents a conflict of interest.”It is submitted that RIL website states that Viacom 18 is a subsidiary company of RIL,” Mr. Gupta wrote in his complaint about the alleged conflict of interest, according to PTI.Saran, a former Supreme Court judge, has given Ambani until September 2 to file a written response to the complaint.”You are hereby informed that a complaint has been received by the Ethics Officer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India under rule 39(b) of the rules and regulations of BCCI, regarding certain acts, allegedly constituting ‘conflict of interest’ on your part,” Saran wrote in his notice to Ambani. “You are directed to file your written response to the accompanying complaint on or before 2-9-2022.”Gupta, the person who filed the complaint, has a history of raising conflict-of-interest issues in Indian cricket. In the past, he has filed such complaints against Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni and BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla among others.*ESPNcricinfo and Disney Star are part of the Walt Disney Company. Disney Star was also part of the e-auction and acquired the IPL TV rights for India from 2023 to 2027

Shami and Bumrah demolish England to make it six out of six for India

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Rohit Sharma’s 87 was pivotal to India scoring 229 on a tricky surface, a total they defended with aplomb

Valkerie Baynes29-Oct-20231:46

Pujara pleased to see Rohit bring out the sweep

Mohammed Shami ripped the heart out of England as India defended a modest total in Lucknow to maintain their unbeaten World Cup run and condemn their opponents’ campaign even further.Shami claimed 2 for 4 from three overs inside the first powerplay in a breathtaking spell and Jasprit Bumrah 2 for 17 from five as England lurched to 40 for 4 after 10 overs chasing 230 for just their second win of the tournament. Shami claimed two more and Bumrah one to ensure that wasn’t to be as none of England’s batters passed Liam Livingstone’s 27 and India romped to a 100-run victory with 15.1 overs to spare.Related

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David Willey’s fierce, wide-eyed celebration upon removing Virat Kohli for a nine-ball duck hinted at the menace England were expected to bring but have sorely missed in this tournament. It was matched by Dawid Malan’s steely gaze which followed the ball over deep midwicket as he clubbed Mohammed Siraj for six to get off the mark after Willey, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid had helped restrict India to 229 for 8, Rohit Sharma’s 87 in tricky batting conditions leading the way for the hosts.But then Bumrah beat Malan’s outside edge with one that shaped away and, two balls later, got his man via an attempted cut which Malan chopped straight onto his stumps. Bumrah made it two wickets in two balls when he had Joe Root tripping over himself and rapped on the front pad as England stumbled to 30 for 2 after five overs and the batting woes which had plagued them looked set to continue.Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami combined to take 7 for 54•Associated Press

Bumrah amd Shami were outstanding through the later half of the first powerplay, the former’s maiden in the seventh over followed immediately by a wicket maiden for Shami, who squared up Ben Stokes with two excellent balls that beat unconvincing attempts to defend and then lured the batter to attack a fuller ball that splattered the stumps.Jonny Bairstow survived on 13 when Kohli failed to pull down a difficult chance at slip but Shami resumed where he’d left off in his previous over with a second wicket in as many deliveries as Bairstow dragged one on that nipped in from the perfect length just outside off stump.England needed something big from Jos Buttler, their besieged captain, who had managed just 95 runs from the first five games, including a highest score of 43 in the opening match against New Zealand. But Kuldeep Yadav ensured Buttler’s lean run continued with a gem of a delivery that turned ferociously from outside off and crashed into the top of middle and off to send him on his way for just 10 and leave England reeling at 52 for 5.Shami returned for a second spell in the 24th over and struck first ball to remove Moeen Ali, inviting the drive and finding an edge which sailed through to KL Rahul behind the stumps. Shami’s dismissal of Adil Rashid, bowled through the gate, left India with just one wicket to get and Bumrah obliged with a superb yorker that struck the base of Mark Wood’s middle stump.After winning the toss and asking India to bat on a two-paced pitch, England started well, restricting their opponents to 35 for 2 in the opening powerplay.Willey began with a maiden in the first over of the match but then his second went for 18, including two sixes by Rohit over midwicket and down the ground to put England’s bowlers under pressure early. However, Woakes – back after being dropped for England’s defeat to South Africa in the previous game and with only two wickets from his side’s sole win of the campaign against Bangladesh heading into this match – got one to nip back, beat Shubman Gill’s drive, and clatter into middle and off stumps. That brought Kohli to the crease but his mistimed drive at Willey was comfortably taken by Stokes at mid-off to leave India shellshocked at 27 for 2 in the seventh over.Jos Buttler was done in by Kuldeep Yadav’s sharp spin•Associated Press

Woakes, bowling his sixth over on the trot, struck again when he had Shreyas Iyer simply taken by Wood at mid-on to make it 40 for 3 and England thought it was 51 for 4 before Rohit managed to overturn his lbw dismissal at the hands of Wood, when ball tracking suggested it was missing leg stump, and his subsequent four through deep backward point was met by a thunderous roar from the home crowd.Rohit brought up his fifty, smearing Wood just wide of mid-on and running two, then lifted the next ball effortlessly beyond deep backward square leg for six before dancing down the pitch to Moeen Ali and lofting him over mid-off for four in what shaped up as a crucial innings for India.But then Willey returned to the attack and immediately broke a 91-run stand for the fourth wicket when Rahul advanced and sent the ball to Bairstow at mid-on. Rohit became over-excited, picking Rashid’s googly and holing out to deep midwicket where Liam Livingstone ran in from the boundary’s edge to take a strong sliding catch, jamming his knee hard into the turf and leaving a massive divot.England conceded their first extras in the 40th over when Suryakumar Yadav shaped to reverse-sweep Moeen, but the ball evaded the bat as well as Buttler and dribbled away for four byes. Ravindra Jadeja was quick to review his lbw dismissal to Rashid in the next over, but the decision was upheld on umpire’s call when ball-tracking showed the ball clipping the top of leg stump and England could claim the upper hand in the contest.From there Surayakumar took it upon himself to keep India’s innings afloat. He moved to 48 and took his team past the 200-mark with a sublime flick for six over fine leg off Wood. No sooner had Bumrah driven Wood through the on side for four and he was put down by Moeen at long-off but then Surayakumar picked out Woakes at deep point to give Willey his third wicket and fall one run shy of his half-century.Only Bumrah – run out for 16 on the last ball of the innings – joined Rohit, Surayakumar and Rahul in double figures as India ended up shy of the total they would have wanted, even with their foes so out of touch. But thanks to his work with Shami through England’s innings, it proved to be plenty.

Dan Mousley and Danny Briggs put Lancashire in a spin

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Birmingham maintain winning start as bumper Bank Holiday crowd sees lopsided contest

ECB Reporters Network29-May-2023Birmingham 99 for three (Davies 51*, Yates 30) beat Lancashire Lightning 98 (Briggs 4-15, Mousley 4-13) by seven wicketsBirmingham Bears extended their 100 per cent start to the Vitality Blast and ended Lancashire Lightning’s with a commanding seven-wicket victory in front of a sun-soaked 11,243 crowd at Edgbaston.After choosing to bat, Lightning tumbled all out for 98 after losing their last seven wickets for 36 runs in 35 balls. They were spun to destruction as Danny Briggs took four for 15, Dan Mousley three for 13 and Jake Lintott two for 24. Only Steven Croft (22, 13 balls) passed 20 for the visitors.Lightning desperately needed to strike early when the Bears replied but openers Alex Davies (51 not out, 39 balls – his maiden Blast fifty for the Bears) and Rob Yates (30, 24 balls) added an untroubled 50 by the seventh over to set up a victory stroll. The Bears reached 99 for three with 34 balls to spare.”We didn’t really sense that this was going to be a game for the slow bowlers but we talk about being adaptable because so much depends on who can adapt quickest,” Mousley said. “Maxy got the early wicket and then we thought, ‘okay. it’s going to offer a bit of assistance to the spinners’ and we took advantage of that.”I love bowling and playing away in the ILT20 last winter I just learned as much as I could by bowling to some of the best players in the world. It made me realise that I am actually okay at it and I have brought that confidence back here.”With Phil Salt ruled out by a back spasm, Josh Bohannon came into the Lightning side to open the batting but perished fourth ball, bowled through a mow at Glenn Maxwell. Luke Wells, scorer of a match-winning 66 against Derbyshire Falcons on this ground nine days earlier, fell in the next over to a superb return catch, clutched centimetres from the ground, by Mousley.Croft bashed 18 from four balls from Henry Brookes to get the innings going momentarily but the bowler gained his revenge when he was waiting at square leg to accept a catch when Croft lifted a sweep at Mousley. That was 62 for three and from that point the Lightning fell in a heap in the face of fine spin bowling backed up by brilliant fielding.Mousley switched ends to bowl the dangerous Liam Livingstone first ball back. Chris Benjamin took a stinging slip catch to prevent Colin de Grandhomme damaging his former team. Mousley made a steepling catch at long off from Daryl Mitchell look simple and Rob Yates took a blinder at extra cover to oust Luke Wood.Wood was the second of Briggs’ four victims as he plucked off the tail with three wickets in four balls and Lightning committed the heinous T20 crime of leaving 31 balls unused.Faced with such a meagre target. Yates allowed himself the Blast luxury of a leave, first ball, and the Bears openers killed the game dead with a stand 50 of in 39 balls. Yates top-edged a sweep at Matt Parkinson to short fine leg and Maxwell’s home debut knock yielded only two from three balls before he missed an attempt to carve Hartley through the off side, but it was already game over.Sam Hain reached the crease facing one of the less exerting equations he has faced over the years – 37 needed from 74 balls with eight wickets in hand. He was soon bowled by Wells’ third ball but Davies advanced smoothly to his 16th Blast half-century and the captain eased his side home to the jubilation of most in the big crowd, though you got the feeling a fair few of them would have swapped the cakewalk for a more gripping contest in perfect Bank Holiday weather.With three wins from four, Lancashire’s head coach, Glen Chapple, was philosophical. “We lost three wickets to very good catches and throw in a bit of bad luck and before you know it you’re six down. We’re not going to dwell on it, we’re just going to crack on.”

Usman Khawaja's day as he and Alex Carey lead Australia fightback

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Duo share unbroken sixth-wicket stand worth 91 after wobbly start for tourists on day two

Matt Roller17-Jun-2023Usman Khawaja walked up the dressing-room stairs unbeaten for the second straight evening at Edgbaston, 122 runs better off than he had been the night before. England hoped four overs would be enough to dislodge Khawaja on Friday, declaring in time for a crack at him with the new ball; 24 hours later, he had proved himself immovable.Khawaja was the nearly man of Australian cricket for much of his career, playing 93 times for his country before his 34th birthday without ever feeling like a permanent fixture in the side. His technique and temperament were called into question, and after three years out of international cricket, it seemed he had served his time.But in the Birmingham sunshine, Khawaja cut Ben Stokes for four and raced down the pitch to celebrate his seventh Test hundred since his recall 18 months ago. Since the start of 2023, he has scored hundreds in Australia, India and now, for the first time in his career, England.On a slow, dry pitch, Khawaja and Australia scored at a different tempo to the one England had set on the first day. They scored at barely two-thirds of the rate of England’s first innings, yet with Khawaja’s innings – littered with crisp pulls and handsome drives – ensured that they trailed by only 82 at stumps.It took Australia 24 balls to add to their overnight 14 for 0, absorbing more maidens in the first three overs of the day than England had done in their entire first innings. Khawaja pulled and flicked Stuart Broad and James Anderson for boundaries – he pulled and flicked his way through the day – but it was Broad who brought the morning to life.The first ball of his sixth over was a wide inswinger dangled outside off stump, but David Warner took the bait. He threw his hands at the ball, then his head back: his back leg collapsed as he shaped to thump Broad through the covers, and a thick inside edge deflected the ball into the top of his leg stump.It was the 15th time that Broad had dismissed Warner, but he celebrated as though it was the first, racing away towards the Hollies Stand with his fists clenched so hard that the veins in his neck throbbed. As Marnus Labuschagne asked a policeman to move from his perch next to the sightscreen, Broad sensed something was brewing.Raising his hand and whirling his finger, he geed up the crowd at the top of his mark. Coming from wide on the crease, he angled an outswinger into him, and Labuschagne could not resist driving away from his body. Jonny Bairstow tumbled low to his right, taking the catch one-handed, and Australia were 29 for 2.The hat-trick ball flew harmlessly past Steven Smith’s thigh pad as he shouldered arms with a flourish, and Smith dug in resolutely against whatever Ben Stokes threw at him – including an over of gentle medium pace from Harry Brook inside the first hour. And so, Stokes took matters into his own hands, bringing himself on for only his second over in a match since mid-February, and his first since early April.His first delivery was a front-foot no-ball, perhaps striving to prove his fitness despite a chronic knee issue, but the last ball of his second over skidded into Smith’s pad. Marais Erasmus eventually gave Smith out after Stokes pleaded for the decision, and the DRS could not save him: ball-tracking predicted the ball would have hit the top of the stumps.Travis Head joined Khawaja and counter-punched either side of lunch in characteristic manner. He survived a short-ball barrage after the interval and both left-handers took on Moeen Ali, who bowled as well as could be hoped for a man who came out of Test retirement last week. Moeen started to leak runs, but Stokes stubbornly refused to take him off, or to push the field back.Khawaja took 106 balls to reach his half-century, while Head got there in 60, cutting an out-of-sorts Ollie Robinson away behind square. He didn’t score another run, skipping down the pitch and miscuing Moeen to short midwicket; Moeen pointed to Stokes at mid-off as he turned away in celebration.Moeen should have had two wickets in three balls, beating Cameron Green as he charged out of his crease. Instead, an unsighted Bairstow missed the stumping chance and Green added 72 with Khawaja for the fifth wicket in a stand that spanned the tea interval.The best ball of the day accounted for Green on 38, as Moeen flighted an offbreak wide outside off. It drifted away a touch, then spun back sharply from a good length to beat Green – lunging forwards as though stepping on an insect – on the inside edge and peg back his leg stump.Yet England failed to take another wicket, Khawaja and Alex Carey adding an unbroken 91 for the sixth wicket. Carey had a life on 26, prodding forwards to Joe Root only for Bairstow to put the chance down, an edge past Root at slip off Moeen brought him to 50. Khawaja, too, enjoyed a reprieve. Broad took the second new ball and found some nip off the seam to knock off stump back.But the third umpire noticed that Broad had overstepped, and he survived until the close once again. The crowd had started to filter out by the time he walked off with a beaming smile, at the end of a day that will be remembered as Usman Khawaja’s.

Brendon McCullum backs calculated revelry as England ease into Test preparations

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Head coach keen to keep the good times rolling to keep format attractive

Vithushan Ehantharajah09-Feb-2023In another era – heck, even this time last year – an England men’s Test coach announcing that organising is “not one of my fortés” would be a major red flag. Yet as Brendon McCullum volunteered that fault on the first-floor decking of the team’s Novotel Hotel base in Hamilton, the admission was understandable.McCullum was talking about his role as tour guide for the last two weeks. He has taken his merry band of red-ball cricketers on a few excursions, notably a jaunt to Arrowtown – a watered-down Queenstown – where they stayed at a golf course to indulge their favourite pastime. “It’s been busy – a lot of demands on me.” Despite being lauded for his social skills and positivity, he does not back his party-planning skills.Then again, maybe he should know better. After all, we are in McCullum’s manor. Particularly here in Hamilton which is 45 minutes from his home, just outside the town of Matamata. He moved here with his family in 2016, as much for the peace and quiet as relocation to manage his horse-racing business, Vermair. As it happens, he will have representation in the Group 1 Herbie Dyke Stakes on Saturday – originally down as the final day of this warm-up match against a New Zealand XI – at the Te Rapa racecourse just up the road. His horse, Defibrillate, is currently third-favourite. “It might be the favourite after the boys get on it,” McCullum joked.No whip has been cracked in his nine months as Test whisperer, and nine wins out of 10 suggest no need for a change of tack. Even Wednesday’s day-night out with the bat came and went without England testing themselves under lights – the reason for the 2pm starts was to replicate the conditions they will encounter in next Thursday’s pink-ball opener in Mount Maunganui. So what, McCullum shrugged.”The ball’s going to swing and it’s going to be difficult under lights. Do you want to expose yourself to that? Do you not? Does it matter? We’ll find out I suppose.”Related

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Since arriving at the end of January, there have been four days of training in Mount Maunganui, and three more available to those that want them at the start of next week. That is unless Cyclone Gabrielle comes good on her promise to hammer the North Island with as much as 300mm of rain in 24 hours from Monday morning, according to the MetService.And yet, for all the sense of distraction, there is a calculated method to the revelry.There have never been more options for the modern player, as evidenced by over 60 Englishmen spending their winter in various franchise competitions across the world. Beyond the promised riches comes guaranteed good times off the field. And, truth be told, less stress.The honour of representing England in Test cricket has and will sustain for generations, but it is only since McCullum and Ben Stokes landed together at the start of last summer, almost by coincidence, that the worry and emotional toil has been reduced.Factor in a cluttered fixture list and you can see why the management team might feel compelled to offer a little extra, be it perks or simply time to retune to Test cricket’s wavelength.”There’s so many options these days that Test cricket you’ve got to make enjoyable, not just on the field but off the field too,” McCullum said. “Try and get those guys to know when they board the plane to head overseas, or jump into the car to head down to Lord’s, or whatever it is to join up with the team, they know they’re going to have a great time. The results will hopefully follow.”You can’t guarantee that, but what you can do is ensure you put some money in the bank when it comes to experiences and relationships. I think for too long, I always felt when playing anyway, that everything was based around the cricket and sometimes you forgot to enjoy yourself. It’s not until the back-end of your career you go ‘aw, I can actually have a good time now’. That’s when you really enjoy it and somehow you end up becoming better as well. So that’s the theory, we’ll see how it works out, but it’s worth a crack.”Harry Brook slammed a rapid 97 on the opening day of England’s warm-up•Getty Images

Often the beating heart of the franchises he turned out for, McCullum understands how the best of those environments can have nourishing qualities. So far, mimicking those surroundings at cricket’s most unforgiving level has been a winner.”I think the back-end of my career was most enjoyable because of the freedom you generated, you were a bit more comfortable. You realise you can enjoy yourself a bit more, can invest some more time with your team-mates and management and you end up with more stuff in your life. The results seem to work out okay and you have more fun. Franchise cricket is not all fun, but the teams that have that sort of mentality, I think they are enjoyable experiences as well.”You could argue harnessing that attitude has been most impactful part of McCullum’s tenure so far. He even dipped into his Kolkata Knight Riders’ contacts to sort England out with accommodation at the glitzy Ritz Carlton hotel in Abu Dhabi on their camp prior to the Pakistan series. They went onto win 3-0. Coincidence? Almost certainly, though the players did note the restricted movement throughout the month Pakistan was made much easier the VIP treatment in Abu Dhabi, ranging from boat parties, gigs and rubbing shoulders with celebrities at the Grand Prix.In turn, there is an appreciation from the playing group that, once a series begins, the fun stops. To a point, anyway. On the first day of their warm-up in Hamilton, England’s score of 465 in 69.2 overs echoed their 506-run opening day in Rawalpindi in December, and topped up the attacking vim cultivated with the bat.Questions over the long-term sustainability of England’s approach may never truly go away, especially with an Ashes to come this summer, and India away at the start of 2024. McCullum, for now, is pleased it all seems a little more natural, and anticipates further evolution.”I don’t think we have reached the limit and I think it’s still pretty new for us how we’re playing. The majority of the time it’s authentic. I think sometimes we have to force it a little bit, so we just need to make sure that does become as consistently authentic as it possibly can.”But I think the skill level of the guys is phenomenal. I’m not sure they’ve reached where they want to get to in their own careers yet, which is pretty exciting from our point of view. We’ve just got to keep them bound together and encouraged to try and be the best version of themselves.”

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