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Only three Velocity batters reached single digits as Goswami and Gayakwad took 2 for 13

Sreshth Shah05-Nov-2020Less than 24 hours after beating Supernovas in the opening match of the 2020 Women’s T20 Challenge, Velocity collapsed dramatically to be bowled out for 47 in the second game, against Trailblazers. In response, Trailblazers chased it down in the eighth over to collect two points in their first game of the tournament.Trailblazers bowling performance was led by England left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, who is also the world’s No. 1 T20I bowler, taking 4 for 9 in 3.1 overs. Fast bowler Jhulan Goswami and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad finished with 2 for 13 each while Deepti Sharma’s offbreak earned her one wicket for just eight runs from her four overs.Velocity, who now have a negative net run rate, will await the result of the final league game between Trailblazers and Supernovas to see if they qualify into the final. They would hope Supernovas lose to Trailblazers, but if they win, the finalists will be decided on net run rate.ALSO READ – Sophie Ecclestone interview: ‘Mandhana is a really good captain’The legend trumps the prodigyShafali Verma and Danny Wyatt opened the batting for Velocity after their captain Mithali Raj chose to bat, but the Indian teenager was out in the third over trying to play a late cut off Goswami. The experienced bowler bowled a stump-to-stump line and Verma paid the price of not playing to her strength – of hitting in the V – and had to go back for 13 as her off stump was rattled.Goswami would return for her third over in the powerplay and get Wyatt out, who failed to clear mid-off to a full ball.Ecclestone shows her classWhile Goswami got two wickets from one end, Ecclestone took three from the other in her first spell by also attacking the stumps. After the innings, Ecclestone said she wanted to keep the “stumps in play”, and that was evident in the wickets she earned. Her first was Raj, who was trapped lbw for 1 in the fourth over, and Veda Krishnamurthy was bowled for a first-ball duck next delivery.Ecclestone was given a third over in the powerplay, and the decision from Smriti Mandhana paid off when Ecclestone clattered Sushma Verma’s stumps with a ball that skid in. At the end of six overs, Velocity were reeling at 22 for 5.She would eventually return for a fourth over later in the innings, and took the last Velocity wicket too, finishing with 15 dot balls in her 19-ball spell.Rajeshwari Gayakwad is congratulated by her team-mates•BCCI

Velocity capitulatePoor starts are part of the game when facing bowlers like Goswami and Ecclestone, but the Velocity were also guilty of giving wickets away. Sune Luus played Gayakwad with hard hands, and popped the ball straight back to the bowler. Sushree Pradhan swiped across the line to a straight ball only to be trapped lbw by the same bowler. Shikha Pandey was run out trying to pinch a single when there wasn’t one. And Ekta Bisht, when eight wickets were down, looked to hammer Sharma for a six, only to hit it back to the bowler, who took a sharp catch.Velocity were bowled out in the 16th over, in an innings that had only three fours and one six, with eight batters returning single-digit performances.Dottin makes quick work of chaseDespite Mandhana’s dismissal for 6 after a slow start in the fourth over of the chase, the other Trailblazers opener, Deandra Dottin batted aggressively. With No. 3 Richa Ghosh for company, she went up and over at times, and then slog-swept the spinners to crack 29 in 28 balls, with three fours. The only six in the Trailblazers innings was by the 17-year-old Ghosh, who slogged one across the line to hit the winning runs in the eighth over and finish unbeaten on 13.

The pair resisted for 42.4 overs, after Pujara and Pant had lifted India with a century partnership

Vishal Dikshit10-Jan-2021A bruised and battered India line-up couldn’t run between the wickets for more than a session. They had a player with a fractured thumb waiting to bat next. They were without their original captain and best batsman. They copped one blow after another off short-pitched bowling, against one of the best bowling attacks. And yet, against all odds, India produced one of the most dramatic displays of patient batting and exemplary fighting spirit to pull off a draw that hardly anyone saw coming when the fifth day started.Related

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With 97 overs to survive in the day and eight wickets in hand, India scraped through under immense pressure led by the partnership between Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin that lasted 42.4 overs for 62 runs, to keep the series level on 1-1.Even though Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara had set up India’s fight early in the day with a century stand that even gave the team a chance of a win initially, the highest praise will be kept for Vihari and Ashwin for the character they showed. The two came together against the second new ball when there were more than 40 overs left in the day, an under-pressure Vihari had already hurt his hamstring, and Ashwin was welcomed by a barrage of short balls that dented his body.The two made the Australia bowlers toil under sun with a blockathon to draw some frustrations from the hosts towards the end of the day. Nathan Lyon bowled 46 relentless overs, Pat Cummins pounded the pitch throughout the day and Josh Hazlewood found reverse swing, but only to see an unfazed batting pair that defended almost everything that came their way. Unable to run, Vihari finished unbeaten on 23 off 161 after batting for just under three hours, and Ashwin’s vigil saw him score 39 runs for his 128-ball stay. Australia will also rue the four catches they dropped on the day, three of them by captain Tim Paine that included two off Pant and one off Vihari at the end of the day, and one by substitute fielder Sean Abbott, off Ashwin.Job done: R Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari walk off•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Given Australia’s full-strength attack, it all looked lost for India when Ashwin joined Vihari in the 89th over with more than a session left to survive. But their determined approach wasn’t deterred either by the challenging task at hand, the opposition, the injuries, or the chatter around the stumps. Initially Ashwin was at the receiving end of hostile bowling when Cummins started the last session with bouncers, a strategy also used by Hazlewood. Ashwin took blows on his arms, shoulders, chest and abdomen, and was even given out caught behind the second ball after tea before replays showed there was no glove or bat. Ashwin was also lucky his edges fell safe and when he attacked a short ball with a rare pull on 15, Abbott dropped him at square leg. The immediate respite Ashwin received was when Lyon replaced Hazlewood at the other end.Unable to change strike, both Ashwin and Vihari put a prize on their wicket like never before against accurate bowling towards the stumps that made them play almost everything with as many as five fielders around the bat at times.Eventually, Cummins was also replaced in the attack but Mitchell Starc couldn’t sustain the same kind of pressure and Ashwin started to collect boundaries off Lyon. When 24 overs were remaining, Ashwin had reached 24 with four fours, but Vihari was still on 6 off 82 balls as the duo played out six maidens in a row.With more than 40 overs under his belt, Lyon started the final hour and now both batsmen started to collect runs a bit more freely. Vihari reached double-figures with two fours in an over off Cummins only to be dropped two overs later off Starc around the wicket by Paine, who leaped to his right and got a glove for the outside edge but couldn’t hold on. Five more maidens followed in a row that saw some edges fall short, some land wide, and as everything went India’s way, the two teams shook hands with an over to spare.R Ashwin had plenty of pressure to absorb on day five at the SCG•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

It was the third-longest sixth-wicket stand for India in the fourth innings, and the first time since 1979 that India had batted for over 132 overs in the fourth innings of a Test.That Ashwin and Vihari could think of salvaging a draw was down to the 148-run partnership between Pujara and Pant, after Ajinkya Rahane was caught at short leg for Lyon’s first wicket of the match. Pant was promoted to No. 5, perhaps to counterattack, and he started it with an assault against Lyon in his scintillating knock of 97.Pant’s domination of the bowlers and the partnership with Pujara was so impactful that Australia had to change their bowlers regularly and Pujara marched on with his natural game while also picking up boundaries. Pant started slow though, crawling to 5 off 33, as India were 102 for 3 in the first session when he joined Pujara. He cashed in after getting a life on 3, when he edged Lyon behind but Paine put him down. Pant, already batting with an injured elbow, also took a few blows on his body from Cummins on the thumb and once on the helmet, before he tore into Lyon.With mid-on in the circle, he danced down and lofted the spinner for a four and a six off successive deliveries, before collecting two more fours in the next over to overtake Pujara. Lyon changed ends soon but that didn’t stop Pant. On 37, he charged down even with a long-on and long-off in place for two consecutive sixes in the V down the ground.Lyon would have had Pant on 56 too for an outside edge when Pant poked outside off, but Paine put him down again. Pant also unleashed a few punchy drives and pulls off the fast bowlers, and went after Lyon again after lunch with audacious hitting down the ground to race into the nineties. But Lyon pitched one wide of Pant when he stepped out for another heave and the batsman got a leading edge to a diving backward point.Pujara, meanwhile, reached his 27th Test fifty and crossed 6000 runs in the format, almost replicating Pant with three successive fours off Cummins once the second new ball was taken. He used his feet often against Lyon to either get to the pitch of the ball or cut off the back foot, and saw through Hazlewood’s spell of reverse swing carefully until the fast bowler got the new ball and got one to hold its line to rattle Pujara’s stumps for 77.It was still Pujara’s longest stay on the pitch in the fourth innings of a Test, and with the kind of role it played in an exhilarating day of Test cricket to save India the match, it was a fitting tribute for Rahul Dravid’s 48th birthday.

“It was a bit challenging…felt like I was bowling three or four different balls at times”

Alex Malcolm21-Jan-2021Perth Scorchers quick Andrew Tye credits Western Australia and Scorchers bowling Matt Mason as the architect behind an action change that has helped him a yard of pace this season.Tye, 34, has raised eyebrows as the speed gun has regularly clocked 140kph-plus during his spells for Australia in the T20I series against India and he has even broken the 150kph-mark during the BBL for Scorchers.Despite losing his domestic contract with Western Australia last summer, Tye was given the opportunity to train with their squad last winter as he prepared for Australia’s limited-overs tour of England and the IPL.It allowed Tye to work one-on-one with Mason, who has been a key figure in helping Cameron Green and Jason Behrendorff remodel their actions to avoid further back problems.With Tye, who was coming off elbow surgery last year, Mason challenged him to find an extra yard of pace through a tweak to his load up to create a wider and faster arm arc that would make his stock ball quicker and his well-known slower balls more effective.Related

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“He suggested something to me with my action to try and generate a bit more pace and a bit more lag in my arm,” Tye said.”I said to him, ‘mate, I’m nearly 34 what I am going to change my action for? If it goes pear-shaped I’ll be ruined.’ But I trusted him and gave it a crack. As it turns out it’s worked pretty well. I’m happy with it, he’s happy with it and hopefully, we can continue with it.”It was a bit challenging at times. I felt really weird at times doing it. With all these different actions, you try and figure out what you want to do and then try to make it feel best for you. It was weird. I felt like I was bowling three or four different balls at times. Because of the slight change, I did have a pretty bad rib injury. Just some bruising from it. But now it’s all good, I’ve adjusted to it and I’m loving it.”Tye had the chance to groove his remodelled load-up while spending months overseas as essentially as a net bowler. He didn’t play a single game on Australia’s tour of England, then went to the IPL and played just one game for the Rajasthan Royals although he has been retained by the Royals for the 2021 tournament.All the work paid dividends when Tye was called up to the Australia T20I squad for the India series in December when Kane Richardson withdrew for family reasons.It opened the door for him to return to international cricket for the first time in two years. He was expensive on his comeback as Hardik Pandya ripped the series away from Australia, but he was outstanding in game three to help Australia to a consolation win, claiming 1 for 31 in four overs including 10 dot balls and the key wicket of Virat Kohli for 85.Tye was thankful to Mason for encouraging him to make some bold changes.”He’s just awesome in the way he’s challenging guys to get better,” Tye said. “Not stick with what they’ve done and always looking to improve.”A lot of bowlers, they’ll probably look to learn things more in terms of delivery types rather than look to improve their action because of the risks that can come with it. But if it’s done in a safe way and at the appropriate time, when we could have had seven months without cricket, at the time we were doing it.”I was all for it. Gave it a crack knowing that if it didn’t work, I’ve always got what I had to go back too but I don’t think I’ll be going back any time soon.”Tye is now hopeful he can win a place in Australia’s T20I squad to tour to New Zealand after the BBL concludes.”I’d love to be on the plane to New Zealand,” he said. “Whether that happens or not we’ll see.”

The pair batted together for 36 overs across sessions and added 123 for the seventh wicket.

Varun Shetty16-Jan-2021For the second innings in a row, India found resistance from their last recognised batting pair to deny Australia a strong push for a win. On this occasion, it was debutant Washington Sundar and fast bowler Shardul Thakur batting together for 36 overs, across sessions, and making maiden Test fifties to help India post 336 after they were reduced to 6 for 186 just after lunch. They added 123 for the seventh wicket.Australia still finished the day with a handy lead and two full days left, but the rain forecast for the last two days is sure to play on their minds as they seek a 2-1 scoreline for the series, the only one that guarantees the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for them.But until David Warner’s brief counter-punch at the end of the day, the hosts had looked tired and subdued after what had been a brilliant start. Having started off bowling short to India’s overnight batsmen, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, Australia quickly adjusted to a fuller length in the opening hour. Rahane nearly fell to two of those fuller ones, looking to drive Mitchell Starc through cover and finding the gap between third slip and gully on both occasions.Pujara looked the more comfortable batsman through that period, latching onto anything marginally short for runs through point, but it was him Australia broke first. Once again, it took a good length delivery that slanted in and straightened to catch the thin edge of an angled bat. Josh Hazlewood, who was by far Australia’s best bowler on the day, made it five out of seven for such dismissals in the series for Pujara. It was the first of five that Hazlewood would take in the day.Starc managed to get Rahane in the slips eventually, with a fielder placed exactly where the previous two edges had gone, and India’s captain attempting the same flowy drive outside off again. With a lead of above 200 at that point, Australia had Mayank Agarwal and Rishabh Pant standing in the way of the lower order.Agarwal’s return to the team at No. 5 – the first time he’s ever batted there in first-class cricket – was a much more sedate affair than his trials against the new ball earlier in the series. With the prospect of Starc swinging it into him all but out of the picture, he was more assured about leaving deliveries outside off. It also helped that the majority of the early part of his innings consisted of either Cameron Green or Nathan Lyon bowling at him while he picked up runs and confidence going into lunch.Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar added 133 runs for the seventh wicket•AFP via Getty Images

But Hazlewood was back at it in the afternoon session, pecking away in the corridor until Agarwal had a swipe away from the body to find the slips after he’d made 38. Six overs later, Pant failed to steer Hazlewood past Green at gully, and his 23 became his first sub-25 score in 11 innings in Australia.Australia were 183 ahead with just under two full sessions left in the day but would soon find the game swiftly being taken away. Thakur, in particular, came out in the swashbuckling manner that characterises his batting down the order in limited-overs cricket. He opened his scoring by hooking Pat Cummins for six and drilling him past his boot a couple of balls later.It would evolve into a more sedate, mature innings from a man who plays those often in Ranji cricket. Alongside him, Sundar looked compact and organised, qualities that had stood out as he broke into senior cricket as a top-order batsman.Australia went back to being shorter by the middle of the day, and both Thakur and Sundar copped a few on their hands as they looked to navigate that phase. But every now and again, they managed to find boundaries off their pads, and gradually string a few together to put pressure on Australia.By the peak of their stand, they were driving with authority, and treating Nathan Lyon with disdain as Tim Paine counted down to the new ball. Except, eight boundaries came within the first 11 overs of that new ball. The partnership went from parody to serious stuff swiftly, with moments that will string along to the many iconic ones India have produced over the course of the series.Josh Hazlewood mopped up the tail to finish with a five-for•Getty Images

Front and centre from Sunday’s collection will be Thakur stepping out and clubbing Lyon over long-on to bring up his fifty, and Sundar picking the same spot with a no-look slog-sweep.So flustered were Australia, that even after separating the pair, it took nine overs to bowl out the rest of India. Perhaps nothing told the story of poor strategy as much as Australia bowling bouncers at T Natarajan, a man averaging 2 in first-class cricket, in an attempt to set him up for the yorker (he blocked those with ease). Along the way, Paine had also dropped a half-chance high to his right that would have ended Sundar’s innings earlier, and added two more contentious DRS reviews to his infamous list.Hazlewood was the only bowler who seemed to stick to the plan that worked best on this wicket – which is, to be on the fuller side of a good length – that seems to be easier to score on the shorter the length. He completed his ninth five-wicket haul by picking up the last two wickets before Warner and Harris took Australia to stumps 21 for no loss, 54 ahead with a tricky two days to come.

The plan is to try more players before a packed two-year calendar, India’s T20I captain explains

Annesha Ghosh05-Mar-2021Harmanpreet Kaur has stressed that senior allrounder Shikha Pandey, who was left out of the squads for the upcoming South Africa series, had been rested, and “not dropped”. The rationale behind the omission, she explained, was to give opportunities to other players with a view to settling on team combinations in both limited-overs formats ahead of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, when three major tournaments are on the women’s calendar.”I know it was a very tough call, but sometimes you need to give chance to other players. She’s not dropped; we are just giving rest to a few players and we just want to try other players,” Kaur, the India T20I captain, said at a press conference on Friday. “I know we are playing after a long time and we wanted to go with the same combination. But, at the same time, when you haven’t played too much cricket, sometimes you need to take some chances and try to give a chance to other players.”Separate 17-member squads have been picked for the five ODIs and three T20Is, and ESPNcricinfo understands that both Kaur and ODI captain Mithali Raj, along with head coach WV Raman, were part of the selection meeting. Six uncapped players were picked across the two squads but Pandey and Taniya Bhatia, the wicketkeeper, were the prominent names missing from the two lists, along with those of Veda Krishnamurthy, Ekta Bisht and Anuja Patil. With India not having played any international cricket since the T20 World Cup final in March last year and a 50-over ODI World Cup and the Commonwealth Games scheduled for 2022, followed by a T20 World Cup in 2023, Kaur said the new-look squads could aid the selectors figure the best combinations.Related

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“I hope after this tournament (series against South Africa), we’ll be able to set our combination because the next two-three years we have a lot of cricket coming up,” she said. “And that’s the reason they [the selectors] are just giving chances to a few other players.”When asked about the likely bearing India’s near-year-long inactive spell could have on their performance – Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and West Indies have all got opportunities to play during the pandemic – Kaur said India were hoping to capitalise on the game time against South Africa.”Yes, you’re right. It’s been a long break for us, but sometimes things are not under your control. We are getting some cricket now, so we’ll make sure to make good use of it,” Kaur, who is set to make her 100th ODI appearance in the series opener on March 7, said. “I will be very excited [going into the series opener], first of all because we are playing after a long time and then my 100th ODI. Both things will give a lot of energy to play and I hope I’ll do better.”

T20I and ODI vice-captain acknowledges his role is that of a bowling allrounder

Umar Farooq21-Mar-2021After recovering from his groin injury, Shadab Khan – the Pakistan limited-overs vice-captain – has set his focus on reviving his bowling form as his primary objective. As for his batting, he wants to mould that part of his game as per the team’s demands, clear in his head that his role in the team is of a “bowling allrounder.”His bowling form has taken a hit for a few seasons now, but Shadab believes it was the pain from the injury that was having an adverse effect on him. In his first two years of international cricket that began in 2017, Shadab averaged 18.59, with an economy rate of 6.84 and 44 wickets in T20Is, but thereafter his last nine wickets – since October 2019 when Sri Lanka toured Pakistan – have come at an average of 42.33 and an economy rate of 8.46.”There were injuries, but now I am fully fit and putting a lot of hard work with the ball and I am expecting to get a better result,” Shadab said. “I still haven’t moved away from my role as a bowling allrounder. Bowling is crucial as I started my career in 2017 with the Champions Trophy, and my bowling was the highlight there. I am very much focused to have it back. Batting is a plus point and if my team is demanding something from me as a batsman, then it’s a good skill to have.”I know I wasn’t up to the mark and haven’t done well with the ball lately that is mainly because of the groin injury. My bowling action takes a lot of energy and causes pain and was directly affecting it. Batting is different and it wasn’t affected by my injury, so it gave an impression that I am into batting only. But I still see myself as a bowling allrounder. I have evolved with the bat, but there were mistakes identified this year as I was struggling in the PSL. Misbah-ul-Haq (head coach) and Younis Khan (batting coach) are working in the nets to rectify that.”He had missed the home white-ball series against Zimbabwe late last year when he first complained about his groin injury but had recovered in time for the New Zealand tour. The problem, however, got worse during a tour game in Christchurch, but he was cleared to lead Pakistan in the T20Is after Babar Azam picked up a finger injury. Shadab was later ruled out of the Test series and remained with the squad for his rehabilitation. He returned to the field during PSL 2021 but averaged 56.50 with the ball in four games taking only two wickets for 8.69 runs per over.Shadab Khan’s batting has been impressive in the last 12 months in T20s•PCB

His batting, meanwhile, turned heads, with a strike rate of 144.73 in T20s in the last 12 months, across the PSL, the National T20 Cup, and the T20Is against England and New Zealand. But the allrounder wants to get back to his old way with the ball. He is preparing for the South Africa series with a training camp currently undergoing at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. Pakistan do not have a spin-bowling coach but Shadab said Waqar Younis is good enough to work with his bowling. In the camp, he is understood to have bowled spells that are longer than four overs to regain confidence.”His primary job is to pick up wickets and win games for Pakistan,” Waqar said. “He is our premier cricketer and with the ball in hand, he can do wonders for the team. With the bat, it’s a bonus and we do consider him as an allrounder with bowling as his main role.”Unfortunately, he has been struggling with the injury but he is a fighter and gives his all for the country, even when he is in pain. Because of the pain, his bowling was not in control. But I am making him bowl a little longer in the nets to get his method right and he is getting his rhythm back. I am hopeful he will do the job for Pakistan.”With Shadab’s fluctuating returns, the selectors couldn’t resist looking for other options. In his absence last year, Pakistan got in legspinners Usman Qadir and Zahid Mahmood in the side along with left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz. Shadab has, however, remained the side’s vice-captain and acknowledges that nobody’s spot in the starting XI is guaranteed.”I know there is big competition around me which I see as a healthy one for the team,” Shadab said. “It’s not my team, it’s Pakistan, and if the team is winning with me or another player that is eventually what we all want for the country. The team right now has become so rich that we have back-ups for every position. It’s a good sign for a good team in the world. Such competition is useful. It puts a bit of pressure on every player, but that anyway is always there when you play international cricket.”And there should be pressure all the time. It keeps you alive and you enjoy playing in it. The sense of competition is important as well. Like how good Usman is doing in his career since he got in and look at Zahid’s debut. And Nawaz is picking up his chances well. So I know that we all know that whoever performs will remain in the team.”

Loyalty of majority of members during Covid to be commemorated at Oval

George Dobell11-May-2021Surrey have confirmed that a former club member attempted to take them to the small claims court for the value of their 2020 season membership.With the Covid pandemic forcing the first-class counties to play behind closed doors last year, various schemes were put in place to compensate members. Surrey, for example, contacted their members to offer an opportunity to apply for a 25 percent refund, while junior membership was rolled into 2022. If they didn’t apply, the club retained the full amount. The club also said they were prepared to offer full refunds to members in need if they contacted them directly.Anyone accepting a full refund, however, had to accept relinquishing their membership rights. And that included priority access to international tickets. The member who threatened legal action is understood to have been told they could have a full refund, but would also be refunded for the eight Test tickets they had bought.The legal action came to nothing and the club say the former member would be welcome to re-join the club.In a gesture of gratitude towards supporters, the names of all members of the club in 2020 will be recorded on the walls of Surrey’s new development at One Oval Square. Membership numbers are currently 13,500 – the highest in the club’s modern history – while their chief executive, Richard Gould, has described the redeveloped ground as offering “the best members’ facilities in world cricket”.Related

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Kent, too, admit that one person resigned their membership in protest though they insist there was no need to do so. Again, they were prepared to offer full refunds upon request due to financial hardship but were, in the words of their chief executive, Simon Storey, “overwhelmed” by the support received from their membership.”We are incredibly grateful for the support of our members,” Storey told ESPNcricinfo. “Through their generosity, we were able to retain £300,000 last year. At a time when we declared losses of £217,000 you can see how vital that was.”Kent, like Surrey, are seeking to repay those members by allowing them priority access when spectators are allowed back into the ground in the coming days. Kent host Glamorgan at Canterbury from May 20 with the government allowing just 25 percent capacity as part of the Covid protocols. The match is predicted to be over-subscribed with those who allowed the club to keep their 2020 membership given priority.

Young spinner shows vital all-round ability to withstand Northants onslaught

Matt Roller27-May-2021The sight of fans at Hove for the first time in 20 months had done little to distract from a familiar story for Sussex when their top order succumbed to Ben Sanderson for the third time this month: they slid to 67 for 7 at lunch after opting to bat in the sunshine, and lost an eighth wicket two balls into the afternoon session. One returning punter put in his order at Greig’s Café during the interval by asking for “a cup of tea, please – and do you know anyone who can bat?”As luck would have it, the catering staff managed to pull some strings. Jack Carson and Henry Crocombe, Sussex’s No. 9 and 10 with a combined age of 39, are part of the Covid generation whose first-class careers had been played entirely behind closed doors, with both making debuts in the Bob Willis Trophy last summer. Sussex’s members had turned up just to make sure they existed in the third dimension, rather than being hermetically sealed in the club’s online streaming service; a 99-run stand provided confirmation that they were indeed flesh and bones, and ensured a first-innings total that kept them in the game.Crocombe, a tall right-arm seamer who removed Ben Curran with the new ball, played with a wristy flourish and was dropped twice as he chanced his arm, but it was Carson who looked like he had the potential to become a genuine allrounder. A 20-year-old offspinner from County Armagh, Carson first came to Sussex’s attention eight years ago when Kyle McCallan, the former Ireland international, rang Ed Joyce to recommend a young batter at Waringstown CC in Belfast, whom he insisted was “pretty special”.”It’s pretty hazy, but I think I said to the club that there was a young kid who wanted to have a look at playing for them, though spin was his secondary thing,” Joyce, Sussex’s captain at the time, recalls. “I didn’t realise he was going to go over to England and go to school there but he’s clearly done really well.” Thanks to a sports scholarship at Hurstpierpoint College, Carson moved across the Irish Sea permanently for sixth form, and opportunities for the academy and the seconds were increasingly regular.”We knew he could bowl a bit of offspin but he got his opportunity in the second team because he was scoring hundreds in the academy,” James Kirtley, the club’s T20 head coach and Ian Salisbury’s assistant in other formats, explains. “And since then, Sals has worked his magic – and Sals really is a wizard. It’s a wonderful partnership and double-act.”Related

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While his classical action and hard-spun offbreaks have caught the eye since last summer – in Rory Burns, Zak Crawley and Joe Root, he has dismissed three of England’s top four – Carson’s returns with the bat had been a disappointment, with a top score of 21 in his first 17 innings. Here, he was dropped early on, but an organised half-century which featured several compact back-foot punches through point for four dragged Sussex towards respectability and hinted at his potential to balance the side at No. 7 in years to come.A first ovation from his home crowd – which included a recuperating Jofra Archer – made things even sweeter. “I’ve definitely been frustrated with how I’ve batted before today,” he admitted. “Fans have just seen scorecards or live streams so having a crowd in was a great chance to show people in the flesh that I’m here to hang around with the bat.” Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take his team-mates long to suggest he only turns up when fans are in. “That line was pretty swift when I came off – if that’s my lucky charm, so be it.”Carson has made clear that his ultimate ambition is to play Test cricket for England, even if Joyce holds out some hope that he may one day be an Ireland player. Kirtley suggests that a Lions call-up might not be too far away: “His skills are very good for a 20-year-old and I’m sure he will be recognised at an international level shortly, and rightfully. He’s a very fine young prospect.”Ben Sanderson foiled Sussex’s top order – again•Getty Images

But his innings meant that the real star of the day had slipped – perhaps characteristically – under the radar. When Carson steered to third slip shortly before tea, it meant Sanderson had completed his third five-for in as many innings against Sussex, following his 10-wicket haul in the demolition job at Wantage Road. A late developer who had taken a solitary Championship wicket when Northants offered him a trial aged 26, Sanderson has been the image of consistency over the last five seasons and a first-class average of 20.47 demonstrates his skill with the new ball in particular.”They’d rather go to Lord’s than watch Northants for four days,” Sanderson grumbled to last year when asked why he thought England’s selectors had never been in touch despite his record, and while his age (32) and lack of pace mean international honours are unlikely to arrive, there are no county batters who relish the prospect of facing him early on.Defying clear blue skies, Sanderson was devastating against Sussex’s string of left-handers, coming round the wicket from the Cromwell Road End to angle the ball into the bat and then nip it away off the seam. Stiaan van Zyl and Travis Head, the two overseas players, both edged into the cordon, while Aaron Thomason was trapped lbw offering no shot and George Garton was smashed on the knee roll. Gareth Berg, Wayne Parnell and Tom Taylor shared the other five between them, benefitting from both the variable bounce on offer and some injudicious shot selection.A wicket apiece for Sussex’s young seamers and one late in the day for Carson – Rob Keogh, clipping a low catch to short midwicket – pegged Northants back, but they have an opportunity to secure a significant first-innings lead in the morning. Victory this week may be enough to nudge them ahead of Yorkshire and into second place in Group Three; after their promotion-that-wasn’t in 2019, qualification for Division One would be another impressive feat.

Her multiple positions attracted scrutiny under PCB’s new ethics code

ESPNcricinfo staff19-May-2021Urooj Mumtaz has left her position as PCB’s head of women’s cricket, with the board set to begin their search for a replacement. Mumtaz had not been engaged in the role full-time, with the former cricketer holding multiple positions, including that of the chief selector of the women’s team apart from having a place in PCB’s cricket committee. She was also a commentator at the Pakistan Super League.The multiple roles that Mumtaz held began to come under increasing scrutiny, especially with the board’s new ethics code looking to clamp down on any potential conflicts of interest. The code had effectively ended Misbah-ul-Haq’s triple role as head coach and chief selector of the men’s side as well as coach of Islamabad United, while Wasim Akram’s dual role as member of the PCB cricket committee as well as president of the Karachi Kings franchise also drew to a close.Mumtaz, who held the role since September 2019, said her time as interim head coach had been “an absolute pleasure”.”Being a former player and captain of the national women’s team, I am extremely passionate about the women’s game and have served the role with utmost dedication with an aim to positively impact and drive a change in women’s cricket in the country,” she was quoted as saying in a PCB media release.”Overall, Pakistan women’s cricket has made significant strides in the right direction and I look forward to work in unison with the upcoming head of women’s cricket, in my role as a chief selector, to further enhance and uplift the sport. I will continue to inspire and encourage more sport participation, whereby increasing our player pool and providing opportunities at the international and domestic level to deserving cricketers.”The PCB said in a statement her replacement would undergo a robust recruitment process, but no date was set for when a replacement would be announced.

Steve Patterson’s decision at the toss leads to long day in the field for the home side

Paul Edwards11-Jul-2021Lancashire 273 for 2 (Jennings 132, Davies 84) vs YorkshireNothing upstages a Roses match. Ask a good few Yorkshiremen of more mature years where they were on the afternoon when England won the World Cup in 1966 and they will inform you they were in enemy territory watching their side make 50 for 3 against Lancashire at Old Trafford. “It bloody rained,” they might add, “but then it’s Manchester.” They might omit to tell you that one of the dismissed batsmen was G Boycott (c Worsley b Lever 0) although they will probably include in their recollection the fact that Yorkshire won the match by 12 runs, Ray Illingworth taking 5 for 33.Now, though, it is the vivid present and on a cloudy Leeds afternoon Steve Patterson is trying to make the breakthrough his team desperately need. Brian Close led Yorkshire to the first of a hat-trick of Championships 55 years ago and winning the title would not mean a scruple less to Patterson than it did to the “old bald blighter”, as Alan Gibson called him. But things are not going well. Having decided just before the toss to bowl instead of bat – his decision was apparently prompted by the overhead conditions rather than James Anderson’s presence in Lancashire’s team – Patterson is watching Alex Davies and Keaton Jennings share a stand of 163 for the first wicket. The ground is heavy with incipience and for many Yorkshire supporters it takes the form of anxiety as they worry whether this will be the first season since 2011 in which their side will lose both Roses games. Then Jordan Thompson, who is rapidly becoming a White Rose standard-bearer, brings one back off the seam to Davies, who is lbw for a fine 84. “Maybe this changes things,” think the crowd. “Maybe.”Or maybe not. Yorkshire took only one more wicket on this opening day of the game. The triumph was claimed by Thompson who accepted a chipped return catch off Jennings but by then the opener had become the 13th Lancashire batsman to score two first-class centuries against Yorkshire in the same season and had joined a list that includes Archie MacLaren, Cyril Washbrook and Mike Atherton. But let us resist the lure of the past. Jennings’ 132 had included four fours in seven deliveries from Dom Leech, whose short spell with the second new ball was something of a punishment. The Lancashire opener hit 15 fours and a six in his 335-minute innings, almost every one of the boundaries being scored on the off side in the mighty segment than stretches from third man to straight down the ground. By the close Lancashire were 273 for 2 and the decision to bowl looked like a foolish impulse. Lancashire would have batted although it was a close call. The verdict of hindsight is one of the travails of captaincy. Patterson probably knows it. So did Close, not that he would ever admit so much.Related

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But this was also a fine day for Davies, a player who ‘gets’ professional county cricket and has done so from his first day in the job. Davies made his debut, two days short of his 17th birthday, almost a decade ago in a 40-over match against Glamorgan at Colwyn Bay. He conceded no byes as the home side piled up 328 for 4; in addition he chivvied his bowlers to greater effort at every opportunity. Standing next to him at slip, the 25-year-old Tom Smith enquired as the debutant’s age and suddenly felt rather ancient.Davies’s initials are A L and so it has been “Al” since his first few weeks in Lancashire’s dressing room, a place in which he belonged almost at once. He is the combative bantam-weight at Emirates Old Trafford; he bats like a man unvisited by regrets and on days like this he has nothing to repent. Davies’ punched cover-drives and thumps through midwicket proclaimed his simple philosophy of life quite as eloquently as anything he might say, not that he is reluctant to express opinions on the game. Before the last Roses match he said that Yorkshire “are not the team they used to be” and he will have no doubt regarded Lancashire’s innings victory in May as a thumping vindication of his judgement. Now, with his side in the seven and six seats once again, Davies is no doubt savouring the possibility of inflicting another hammering on Yorkshire.It is close of play and nearly eight hours since Patterson won his ninth toss in ten Championship games this season. In the first hour of play Yorkshire’s new-ball pairing, Ben Coad and Leech were a trifle unlucky, details that may appear in a coach’s notebook but not in the scorecards that will still be studied when another 55 years have passed. Let us hope they are studied anyway. For the moment there is only this moment. Chants can already be heard coming from The Headingley Taps and not even Emmott Robinson would fool himself they concern cricket. The air is thick with the unfenced emotional intensity of another sport.