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Greg Chappell has turned down an approach from the Pakistan board to coach the national team

Osman Samiuddin10-Feb-2010Greg Chappell has turned down an approach from the Pakistan board to coach the national team. Chappell’s name had been floating around Pakistan cricket’s corridors of power as a possible alternative to Intikhab Alam, the incumbent, whose position is currently in limbo following Pakistan’s tour to Australia where they failed to win a single match.Chappell, a former Australian captain, coached India for two tumultuous years between 2005 and 2007. He is now working with Cricket Australia, a role which he is reluctant to leave and he confirmed that an approach had been made. “Wasim Bari [chief operating officer, PCB] rang me yesterday,” Chappell told Cricinfo. “I was honoured and flattered by the approach but I have declined the invitation.”I have no ambition to coach at the international level again and I am committed to my role with CA as Head Coach at the Centre of Excellence and Chairman of our National Youth Selection Panel.”The approach does at least confirm that the PCB is actively looking for a replacement for Intikhab, an issue over which there is considerable confusion still. Ijaz Butt, chairman PCB, told a TV channel a few days ago that Pakistan would have no problems in looking outside for a coach.It was then announced that Intikhab would not be accompanying Pakistan to Dubai where they take on England in two T20Is on February 19 and 20. Aaqib Javed, the assistant coach, is not travelling with the side either. Instead, Ijaz Ahmed, coach of the Pakistan Under-19 side that finished runners-up at the recent World Cup, will be with the team as a batting and fielding coach; he is already in the UAE with the Pakistan ‘A’ side.Bari played down the move, saying it wasn’t unusual for a coach to not travel with the side, especially on such a short tour. He refused to say definitively whether Intikhab, in his third stint as coach with the senior team, was being removed and also denied that contact had been made with Chappell.Cricinfo understands that the board, perhaps surprisingly, has yet to make any contact with Intikhab over the decision to not send him to Dubai, or over his future beyond that, a lack of communication those close to Intikhab say has disappointed him. Intikhab was appointed by the board in October 2008, as a replacement for Geoff Lawson, on a two-year contract. At the time the board was keen to go for a local option. He was at the helm as Pakistan won the ICC World Twenty20 in June last year, but has also seen Pakistan go through all of last year having failed to win a single ODI or Test series.He is due to appear before a board inquiry committee, headed by Bari, on February 13 to explain the reasons behind Pakistan’s performance in Australia. His tour report has already been handed in. The board insists that any final decision on the future of the coach, a new captain and any other appointments, will only be taken once the committee has presented its findings

Stand-in Superchargers captain Matthew Short expects “a lot of energy” from new head coach

Matt Roller25-Jul-2024Andrew Flintoff is “raring to go” for his first head coach role and will be “at his happiest” when his Northern Superchargers play Trent Rockets on Friday night. That is according to Kyle Hogg, Flintoff’s assistant at the Superchargers and his right-hand man ever since they met as teenagers making their way at Lancashire.”I was around Lancs as a 16-year-old playing in the second team, and he’d have been 19 or 20,” Hogg told ESPNcricinfo. “I don’t want to say he took me under his wing – but he probably did, really. He looked after me in the dressing room and we’ve been close friends for about 25 years, which is scary. He’s never changed one bit from the first day I met him to today.”Related

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Hogg, who has worked as a pathway coach at Lancashire and is an assistant coach at the Thunder women’s team, was asked late last year if he would be interested in working with Flintoff in the Hundred. They have recently worked together on the BBC series and Hogg did not need much convincing: “Any time he comes calling, you’ve never turning him down.”Flintoff has been working in England’s white-ball set-up as an assistant coach and has been mentioned as a potential successor to Matthew Mott. But Hogg played those links down, saying: “He’s been in TV for the last 15 years. This is his first time in cricket, so I guess it’s, see how he finds it. What happens in the future, who knows?”But at the moment, he loves being part of cricket again… He went from being a cricketer to, every time you switch a TV on, he was doing something different. But he’s never changed once. He’s got his core group of friends who have always been there, forever. He’s had a tough few years, and it’s great to see him back in a cricket environment.”Matthew Short will deputise as Superchargers captain•PA Images via Getty Images

The Superchargers are light on players, so much so that their strength and conditioning coach took part in Wednesday’s practice match against the South Asian Cricket Academy. Harry Brook and Ben Stokes are with England’s Test squad, Mitchell Santner is at Major League Cricket and Reece Topley will miss at least a week with a finger injury. Matthew Potts will, at least, be made available by England.*Brook is due to captain but Matthew Short, the Australian opener, will deputise for two games after leaving MLC early. “The Superchargers showed some faith in me, retaining me for this year, and I thought, ‘al lright, I’ll commit to these guys 100 percent,” Short told ESPNcricinfo on Thursday, barely 24 hours after flying into the UK from Dallas. “It’s a bloody fun tournament.”Short had sorted his retention for 2024 before Flintoff’s appointment but said he is excited to work with him. “He’s been great: he’s probably even more excited than the players at the moment. He loves to be on this side of the fence here at Headingley. I’m sure everyone is going to get around Freddie and help him out. We love having him around.”At the T20 World Cup, where he was a travelling reserve, Short asked England’s players about Flintoff’s characteristics. “From what I’ve heard, he’s a bit of the modern-day coach now, especially in white-ball cricket. It feels like he’s got a lot of fun and a lot of energy to bring. He’s going to be nice and relaxed, and I’m sure it’s going to be a really nice environment.”Their main discussions so far have been “around the whereabouts of all the players,” Short said, laughing. “How we want to play as a team is pretty hard to work out in a couple of days, so we’re going to have to learn on the go in that regard. The guys have played enough cricket to know what to do and know what they’re doing personally.”Flintoff and Hogg were long-time Lancashire team-mates•Getty Images

Hogg spent 14 seasons playing for Lancashire’s first team and admitted it felt strange to be in the home dressing at Headingley, the home ground of their fierce rivals Yorkshire. “It is probably hard to get your head around it,” he said. “But we’ve come in and felt like this is our home, which is really good. We want this to be our fortress.”[Flintoff] would have played here a lot more than I have over the years. He said even playing for England, sometimes you’d get a bit of grief being a Lancastrian which is part and parcel of it. But as everybody knows with Fred, anything he does, he does it 110%. He’s more excited than probably anybody: he is raring to go.”Cricket is what he loves, that’s the bottom line. He loves the preparation and everything that goes with it, and tomorrow night, when we get going, he’ll be at his happiest… he’ll be the same as he is in all walks of life. He’ll want the lads to give it everything, [just like] how he played his cricket. He’ll be there for all the players, and he’ll want them to enjoy it.”July 26, 1600 GMT – This story was updated to reflect Nicholas Pooran’s arrival in Leeds

England piled up 364 before Topley ripped through Bangladesh’s top order to set up a comfortable win

Alan Gardner10-Oct-2023
Defending champions England produced an emphatic response to defeat in their opening World Cup match, crushing Bangladesh by 137 runs in Dharamsala to get their tournament up and running. A total of 364 for 9 was underpinned by Dawid Malan’s maiden World Cup hundred – and fourth this calendar year – before the returning Reece Topley ripped through the top order as Bangladesh faltered in the foothills of what would have been a record chase.Asked to make the running at the picturesque HPCA Stadium, backdropped by the Himalayas, England showed an appetite for the climb. Malan and Jonny Bairstow set off at a steady canter in recording their first century stand as openers, before the former was joined by Joe Root in a clockwork-smooth partnership of 151 in 19.3 overs to give England a formidable platform going into the latter stages – at which point they stumbled against Bangladesh’s death-bowling smarts, Shoriful Islam and Mahedi Hasan claiming regular wickets.Related

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But despite an England slide of 7 for 68 from the final 10.3 overs, Bangladesh were still left with an asking rate of more than seven an over – and a target well in excess of their highest total batting second in ODIs. The challenge swiftly became steeper still, as Topley struck with his fourth, fifth and 16th balls, leaving Bangladesh tottering on 26 for 3, a scoreline that soon became 49 for 4 as Chris Woakes recovered from an expensive start.Although Litton Das, who began the chase by striking Woakes for three consecutive fours, and Mushfiqur Rahim produced half-centuries, their partnership of 72 at close to a run a ball only succeeded in adding some respectability to the scorecard. Woakes ended Litton’s hopes of a hundred when his offcutter grazed the outside edge through to Buttler, and when Mushfiqur steered a Topley bouncer to deep third, the Bangladesh innings had become a quest to limit the damage on net run rate.

Bangladesh get over-rate fine

Bangladesh have been fined 5% of their match fee for being one over behind the required over rate against England, after taking into account time allowances. As per the regulations, teams are fined 5% for every over they are found to be short. Shakib Al Hasan accepted the sanction, levied by match referee Javagal Srinath, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
Bangladesh also bowled with only four fielders outside the 30-yard circle to finish England’s innings, in keeping with the new regulations on in-game penalties.

The margin of victory was a comfort to England, whose standing and confidence had taken a dent following their thumping in Ahmedabad. Again they were inserted after losing the toss, but this time the top order more than produced the goods – if not with the overt aggression Jos Buttler had spoken of after defeat to New Zealand, then via a cold-blooded certainty in their methods.No one in the current XI does cold-blooded certainty better than Malan, whose imperious form has seen him go from spare part to first pick in a matter of months. His fourth ball, from Mustafizur Rahman, was stroked through extra cover for four and he proceeded to unload his full repertoire of pulls, flicks and slog-sweeps during the course of his 107-ball stay, which was a masterclass in acceleration.Bangladesh thought he should have been given out caught behind in single-figures, only for DRS to confirm Ahsan Raza’s on-field call after a Mustafizur bouncer flicked his shoulder on the way through. That was as close as Bangladesh came to taking a wicket in the opening powerplay, as Malan responded by driving for four and then swinging his first six over deep backward square; two overs later, Mustafizur was pulled into the crowd at deep midwicket and flipped down the ground in another crisp one-two as England’s tempo began to increase, leaving them well placed on 61 for 0 after ten.Reece Topley was too hot to handle for the Bangladesh top-order batters•Getty Images

As Malan moved to a 39-ball fifty, with 40 of his runs coming in boundaries, Bairstow was able to play a little more circumspectly. Nevertheless, he marked his 100th ODI appearance with a first half-century in the format since July 2022, before having his leg stump shivered by Shakib Al Hasan to give Bangladesh a much-needed breakthrough.There was no respite, however, with Shakib the only bowler to exert any control. Root was quickly into his groove, ending a five-over spell without a boundary by ramping Mustafizur for six over fine leg and then reverse-paddling Shakib for four. At the other end, Malan continued to bear down on three figures – for the sixth time in 23 ODI appearances – bringing up the landmark with a push into the covers off Shakib. In doing so, he became the oldest Englishman to score a World Cup hundred.In the next over, Malan crashed Mehidy Hasan Miraz for a sequence of 4, 6, 6, 4, before Root notched his second consecutive fifty of the tournament, from 44 balls, as England looked to turn the screw. Root surpassed Graham Gooch as his country’s leading run-scorer in World Cups, before another pull, off Taskin Ahmed, brought Malan his fifth six. But thoughts he might eclipse another England record – Andrew Strauss’ innings of 158 at Bengaluru – were ended when Mahedi was rewarded for tossing the ball up.With England cruising through the middle powerplay, scoring at 7.9 runs per over, it seemed as if they were on course to post the second 400-plus score of the tournament – and Malan’s dismissal only brought Buttler to the crease, in the mood for carnage. The captain never found his timing during a frenetic 20 off 10, however, and his dismissal to Shoriful, dragging a wide knuckleball on to his stumps, in the 40th over set the stage for a belated Bangladesh fightback with the ball.Shoriful’s variations did for Root – caught behind heaving at another knuckleball – and Liam Livingstone, who lost his off stump to a cutter. Harry Brook, Sam Curran and Adil Rashid all fell to Mahedi as an otherwise dominant innings ended with a bout of ungainly thrashing.Bangladesh had chalked up a win chasing against Afghanistan in their first game on this ground, but this was a completely different beast. Topley, making his World Cup debut after replacing Moeen Ali in the XI, shredded their chances by having Tanzid Hasan edge to second slip and Najmul Hossain Shanto taken at backward point from consecutive balls, before producing a peach of a delivery to skelp Shakib’s off bail and effectively end the game as a contest. Bangladesh eventually battled through to the 49th over, as England’s bowlers got a thorough workout – such was their level of comfort, there was barely any need to worry about the state of the outfield as the World Cup-holders avoided being tripped up again.

Shakib, who is currently playing for Amazon Warriors in the CPL, has been left out from the 17-man squad

Mohammad Isam21-Sep-2022The BCB will not pull Shakib Al Hasan from his CPL contract, as he was omitted from Bangladesh’s 17-man squad for the upcoming two-match T20I series against UAE in Dubai.Nurul Hasan, who is returning to the squad after a finger surgery having missed a chunk of the Zimbabwe tour and the Asia Cup, will lead in Shakib’s place.Shakib is playing for the Amazon Warriors as a replacement for Tabraiz Shamsi though he hasn’t made an appearance this season.The Bangladesh squad is mostly made up of the T20 World Cup-bound players. However, to make up for Shakib’s absence, the selectors have included three of the four standby players, such as legspinner Rishad Hossain, who gets a maiden senior call-up. He has taken six wickets in 14 T20s, but is often used only as a net bowler at home. He recently performed this duty during the Asia Cup in UAE.There’s also a return for Soumya Sarkar, who played the last of his 66 T20Is against Australia at home last year. Left-arm quick Shoriful Islam was also included in the squad.Bangladesh depart for Dubai on Thursday, to play the two T20Is as well as take part in some training sessions. The tour was hastily organised last week when they failed to hold practice sessions in Dhaka due to heavy rain. Bangladesh are set to return on September 28, and then leave for New Zealand, to play the T20I tri-series next month, a few days later.Bangladesh squad: Nurul Hasan (capt), Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Litton Das, Yasir Ali, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Rishad Hossain

The team begins it’s World Cup campaign on January 13, with a game against Afghanistan

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2017Pakistan have selected a 15-member squad for the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand which begins in January 2018. The squad, which also includes five reserve players, will be captained by Hasan Khan. A left-arm spin bowler, Hasan was one of Pakistan’s brightest young prospects in last year’s Pakistan Super League, playing for Quetta Gladiators.Before the World Cup, the team will play a three-match ODI series against Australia, with the games to be played on December 27, 29, and 31. After that, they will also play two ODIs against New Zealand in January – on the 3rd and 5th. The squad was selected by the PCB’s junior selection committee, headed by Basit Ali, and will depart for Australia on December 21. Their World Cup campaign begins on January 13 with a game against Afghanistan.Squad: Mohsin Khan, Imran Shah, Zaid Alam, Rohail Nazir (wk), Muhammad Taha, Emmad Alam, Ali Zaryab, Saad Khan, Hassan Khan (capt), Musa Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Munir Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Muhammad Ali, Suleiman Shafqat
Reserve players: Muhammad Junaid, Haider Ali, Muhammad Ilyas, Azam Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed

The left-arm quick recently opted out of an NZC central contract to pursue a career playing in T20 leagues around the world

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2017Mitchell McClenaghan has signed up with the Sydney Thunder ahead of the 2017-18 Big Bash League. The left-arm quick, who has played 48 ODIs and 28 T20Is for New Zealand, recently opted out of his NZC central contract in a bid to pursue a career playing in T20 leagues around the world.McClenaghan was part of Mumbai Indians’ title-winning squad in the 2017 season of the Indian Premier League, and followed that up by playing for St Lucia Stars in the Caribbean Premier League. He is also set to play for Durban Qalandars in the newly launched T20 Global League in South Africa shortly before he joins his Thunder team-mates in the BBL.It was while playing in the CPL that McClenaghan decided to sign for the Thunder, he told .”I spent some time at the St Lucia Stars with Shane Watson and got to know his outlook on the game and hear his passion for Sydney Thunder and the organisation,” McClenaghan said. “I’ve admired watching his career and seeing how it’s progressed. I enjoyed playing alongside him in St Lucia and I think I’ll learn a lot from him during my time with Thunder.”I grew up in Australia and watched a lot of Aussie cricket and to have the opportunity to play in the Big Bash is something I’m really looking forward to. The Big Bash is a fantastic spectacle, the atmosphere is amazing and skill levels are incredible.”McClenaghan joins a bowling group that includes quicks Pat Cummins, Clint McKay and Gurinder Sandhu as well as the legspinner Fawad Ahmed. Michael Hussey, the Thunder’s director of cricket, said signing another frontline bowler had been “top priority” ahead of the 2017-18 season.”I’m looking forward to seeing Mitch in action for Thunder, he’s a bowler with experience playing in high pressured games at both domestic and international level,” Hussey said. “We’ve been monitoring his situation with New Zealand Cricket and are pleased to be able to bring him to the Big Bash for the summer.”

Durham snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in today’s Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street

14-Aug-2011
Durham snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in today’s Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street.After a week in which they lost to Hampshire in the Friends Life t20 quarter-finals and in the County Championship, Durham were bowled out for 192 by Leicestershire and then saw their opponents romp to 72 without loss in reply.But spinners Ian Blackwell and Gareth Breese then picked up six wickets between them as the visitors were dismissed for 155 to hand Durham a 37-run victory. Leicestershire batted a man short because Australian allrounder Andrew McDonald suffered a knee injury after bowling five overs for 18 runs.With James Taylor, like Durham pair Ben Stokes and Scott Borthwick, on England Lions duty, Leicestershire were short of batting.Durham kept alive their hopes of a semi-final place despite a below-par batting performance. They were all out with 17 balls unused and were indebted to left-handed opener Mark Stoneman making 73 in his first one-day appearance of the season.On his comeback from injury, Leicestershire captain Matthew Hoggard took 2 for 26. He persuaded Paul Collingwood to sky a catch to mid-off after making seven, while Blackwell miscued to cover after hitting three sixes in making 43 off 40 balls. Going in at 66 for 4, Blackwell gave the innings impetus with two sixes over mid-wicket in an over from offspinner Jigar Naik.In reply, Leicestershire looked like coasting to victory until their opening stand of 72 ended in the 13th over when Josh Cobb sliced Callum Thorp to backward point to depart for 37. It was the first of four catches for Collingwood, who held the other three at slip off the spinners.Even at 117 for 2 the visitors were clear favourites, but two wickets fell on that total as Blackwell and Breese both bowled wicket maidens. It was left-armer Blackwell who ended Jacques du Toit’s innings of 56 off 65 balls to finish with 2 for 15 in his eight overs.Breese’s second wicket came when Wayne White, having hit 12 runs off the first five balls of an over, reverse swept the last one straight to backward point. Breese also took the last two wickets to finish with 4 for 21.

Kevin Pietersen is unlikely to spend much time in the Surrey dressing room but faces the prospect of some serious ribbing after falling to a team-mate

ESPNcricinfo staff11-May-2011Kevin Pietersen is unlikely to spend much time in the Surrey dressing room this summer, but faces the prospect of some serious ribbing after falling to a team-mate who was playing for Cambridge MCCU during his comeback match at Fenner’s. To add further spark to Pietersen’s dismissal the bowler who had him caught at slip, Zafar Ansari, is a left-arm spinner.Ansari, 19, is on the Surrey staff and highly rated by the coaching team but on this occasion was playing against the county for his university team. He had one previous first-class wicket to his name so Pietersen was a notable second scalp when he fell shortly after lunch.Pietersen, who was playing his first match since leaving the World Cup with a hernia in March, came to the crease in the 16th over. Unsurprisingly after a lengthy lay-off his innings had scratchy moments but he also struck two straight sixes until he was well caught by Chris Park.Ansari went on to claim an impressive 5 for 33 before Pietersen, captaining what is effectively a Surrey second XI, declared at 234 for 9.After a second innings in this game Pietersen will have a County Championship match against Essex at Whitgift School next to week to increase his preparation ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the end of the month. If Pietersen feels he needs extra batting, and the ECB release him to play, Surrey have a CB40 match against Scotland in Edinburgh on Sunday and another against Hampshire on May 22.

The DDCA was warned twice from different sources that the Kotla pitch needed a lot of attention before the fifth ODI

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Dec-2009Among the several alerts, official and otherwise, raised about the condition of the Kotla pitch is one from the very highest level: An ICC team inspecting the stadium in connection with the 2011 World Cup passed a scathing indictment of the pitch and said “a considerable improvement of the pitch block” would be required to “make the pitch more acceptable” for Sunday’s game.The chief executive of the ICC Haroon Lorgat, speaking in New Delhi on Monday, did not comment on whether this report would have any bearing on the investigation of Sunday’s fiasco but said it would be taken into consideration.”There is an ODI at this venue on 27th December 2009 and considerable improvement of the pitch block will be required by then to make the pitch provided more acceptable” said the report, a copy of which is with Cricinfo. The inspection was carried out on November 4, three days after third ODI of the India-Australia series.That game, and earlier games during the Champions League Twenty20 where batsmen struggled to counter the low and slow nature of the various pitches on the square, was noted in the November report. “During the Champions League and the India vs Australia ODI series, it was well documented that the performance and condition of the pitches at the stadium were a cause of concern for the players,” the report said.The problem with the Kotla pitch – which has already been relaid four times in the last five years under four different curators – stems from the decision, taken immediately after the second IPL was shifted to South Africa, to relay the entire square. During the Champions League Daljit Singh, till Sunday the head of the BCCI’s grounds and wickets committee, said it would take about a year for the re-laid pitches to get seasoned. That point of view seems to have been overlooked with the Indian board deciding to stage at Kotla first the Australia ODI and, within two months, the game against Sri Lanka.The ICC’s inspectors, though, were never in doubt about the quality of the surface and their report offered some prescriptions for the longer term. “The pitch block was reconstructed recently and it is clear to see that there are some important issues with the present condition of the pitch surface that it is essential to address prior to CWC 2011.”As a remedial measure it suggested that the surface level across the entire square needed to be “readjusted in several areas” to help in growing the grass. The DDCA ground authorities, working with Daljit, had been experimenting with the grass, which resulted in the tufts of green spread across the pitch on which Sri Lanka batted.There has been much talk of differences between local and centralized pitch officials and this was clear to the ICC inspection team. “It was apparent when speaking with the local officials that they are reluctant to openly discuss the problems they are having with the pitch and that they are to some extent in variance with the BCCI Pitch Consultant (Daljit Singh) regarding how they are to move forward to resolve the problems with this surface.”According to the ICC team the DDCA were adamant on replanting the pitches with local grass, which they felt would take care of the problem. But that idea was fraught with dangers. “To simply replant without this major renovation of the surface would be a major miscalculation, and would result in inadequate pitches at a later date,” the report said.”The dead and the decaying grass and roots left in the soil profile will break down into organic matter and will contribute to the dilution of the clay content of the soil and contribute to the pitches produced in the future being slow in pace, spongy in texture, and would tend to generate slow and inconsistent bounce from the pitches in the future.”

Ex-Somerset legend says concerns were raised about conditions that ‘reduced game to a farce’

Matt Roller23-Jul-2025Lord Ian Botham, Durham’s honorary president, has slammed his former club Somerset for preparing an “appalling” pitch after 35 wickets fell in five sessions in the County Championship fixture between the two sides.Botham, the legendary England allrounder, spent most of his professional career with Somerset and was a key part of the club’s one-day success in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He later joined Worcestershire and then Durham, and became the latter’s honorary president last year after serving a seven-year term as chairman.He accused his old county of reducing the Championship “to a farce” on Wednesday night after their five-wicket win over Durham by preparing a bright-green pitch on which 22 wickets fell to spinners. Jason Kerr, Somerset’s head coach, described the pitch as “an incredible surface” and said the volume of wickets owed to the quality of his bowlers.”As an ex-Somerset player, I find this appalling,” Botham wrote on X, alongside pictures of the pitch, which were taken before a ball was bowled. “Durham raised serious concerns the day before the game started… change is needed… both Somerset and Durham have high quality batsmen… Somerset do not need to do this… reduces the game to a farce.”Related

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Botham said that the pitch underlined why England have largely opted to ignore county averages in selection in recent years. “These are not first-class cricket conditions in midsummer,” he wrote. “I am not surprised that Rob [Key] and Ben [Stokes] unfortunately have to disregard county performance in assessing players for Test quality appearances.”He also said that the pitch undermined Somerset’s opposition to a proposed cut in the number of Championship fixtures per team from 14 to 12, which Durham support: “At a time when County Cricket is under pressure for relevance as a breeding ground for International Players and Somerset members have apparently voted for the status quo, the club produces this pitch.”Kerr, the Somerset coach, told the ECB Reporters Network: “There has been a lot of noise surrounding the pitch, but I thought it was an incredible surface. You can’t see 400 runs scored in a day, as happened yesterday, and then complain about the wicket.”We have to find a way of getting results here and, because there has been so much cricket at the ground this year, we had to prepare a used pitch. Craig [Overton] and Jack [Leach] exploited any help in it because they are top quality bowlers.”Somerset’s pitches have often attracted opprobrium. They were docked 12 points for the 2021 Championship season after preparing a pitch marked “poor” for their 2019 title decider against Essex, were warned after a two-day finish against Lancashire in 2018, and in 2017 were branded “a disgrace” by Angus Fraser after a relegation shoot-out against Middlesex.