All posts by n8rngtd.top

Sight of Olly Stone limping off midway through an over with a hamstring injury piles on gloom for Notts

David Hopps06-May-2023You would need to be a confirmed anti-monarchist to turn up at Trent Bridge on a wretched day like this: the coronation of King Charles III pointedly shunned in favour of a bedraggled County Championship match that appeared likely to be rained off by lunchtime only to totter back into life when least expected.Threats to the realm these spectators, dotted around largely deserted stands in rebellious little groups, with every chance there were crumpled paperbacks of Milton’s in their knapsacks, concealed below a slice of republican quiche. Fortunate, some would say, not to be bundled off into white vans.Trent Bridge officially did everything by the book, of course. They sang the national anthem when Queen Elizabeth II died and, as history took its course, they sang God Save the King to mark the succession, both teams with chests thrust out with pride. County clubs have vied loyally in the past week to promote their link with royalty, however tenuous. Nottinghamshire’s prize possession is a photo of Prince Philip bowling in the nets in 1949, one royal who really did have an affinity with the game.That goodwill fleetingly appeared to be reciprocated when Charles formally promised to be a “brave advocate of those in need” shortly before the exchange of swords. Well, somebody has to try to save the Championship, and a newly-crowned king, with an insatiable appetite for tradition, is in as good a position as anyone.What cricket there was saw Lancashire extend their overnight lead of 63 to 184 with the second-wicket pair, George Balderson and Josh Bohannon, both closing in on hundreds during an ominously warmish morning of thickening cloud only to perish five hours later. When the umpires did lead the teams off at lunchtime, like a couple of malcontents anticipating the rain before it had actually happened, Lancashire’s head coach, Glen Chapple, leant over the balcony, arms quizzically outstretched. The implication was that every ball, every minute, was vital.Be careful what you wish for, however. At five past five, the players trooped out under glowering skies for another 21 balls, which was long enough for Balderson to be caught at first slip for 91, driving at Olly Stone. They then all trooped in, only to troop back out again almost immediately. This time Lyndon James had Bohannon caught at second slip for 92 before they about-turned once more. The least they deserved for all this marching around was a full military band, but the only accompaniment was the tuning up off a hover cover.Dane Vilas fell in a third slice of floodlit play as Lancashire, all told, lost three wickets for 24 in 10.3 overs. Nottinghamshire’s bowling, assisted by spicier conditions, had been much better than before lunch, although the sight of Stone limping off midway through an over with a hamstring injury brought more despondency for a fast bowler whose career has been haunted by injury.By then, the crowd had dwindled to next to nothing, a few dissidents perhaps who were looking for an excuse to avoid a street party or a celebratory fete. But those final overs might have been enough to keep the match alive. If Lancashire, who are still without a win, are serious about challenging for the Championship, they will need to manufacture a declaration in late morning.Bohannon is an eye-catching player, especially his penchant for an off-side drive, which has a touch of the cavalier about it. Two such assaults against Luke Fletcher took him to his half-century, but Balderson, who is opening because of an injury to the captain, Keaton Jennings, kept pace.Balderson is a compact and pragmatic left-hander capable of strong forearm thrusts, more pikeman than cavalry. Despite a first-class average of only 24, barely half that of Bohannon, he has looked difficult to dislodge and, at 22, has time on his side. At Westminster Abbey’s crowning moment, he brought up the 150 stand by flaying a wide half-volley from Stone to the cover boundary. “Nicely balanced,” somebody murmured appreciatively, which at that precise second was not what the Archbishop of Canterbury was thinking about the crown.Surprisingly there was also a full programme of cricket on Elizabeth’s Coronation Day 70 years ago. The Australians were on tour and stayed in London after the Lord’s Test for a Coronation meal at Haymarket House before travelling to Hove to face Sussex the following day. An autographed copy of the menu was auctioned recently but nobody bought it. That’s what creeping republicanism does for you.England recovered the Ashes that year, winning the final Test after the first four Tests were drawn. Four successive draws in the era of Bazball? This ropey weather would have to continue deep into July for a repeat of that.

Captain says random encounter during spa break reinforced faith in team’s tactics

Andrew Miller27-Jun-2023Ben Stokes says that a random encounter with a non-cricket fan during a spa break between Tests has brought home to him just how important and engaging this Ashes series is proving to be, and has vowed to continue to push for victory at all costs in this week’s second Test at Lord’s.Australia’s thrilling two-wicket win at Edgbaston in the series opener had left Stokes admitting to being “emotionally beat up” after the contest, a statement that seemed at odds with his previous insistence that England under his leadership are not a “results-driven team”.And, with only one side in Ashes history having previously come back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 – Don Bradman’s team in 1936-37 – the Lord’s Test might ordinarily feel like a match that England dare not lose.Stokes, however, insisted that he and his players are utterly unfazed by the prospect of bouncing back to square the series 1-1, and said that the public’s enthusiastic response to the team’s “Bazball” tactics will only embolden him for the rest of the campaign.”I think Baz has now just come to terms that it’s a thing now,” Stokes said at Lord’s, acknowledging that the Bazball buzzword is here to stay, despite his coach’s previous protestations.”We got a nice little break, and there’s been lots of people come up to me and saying how enthralled they were with last week,” he added, after a trip to Seaham Hall in Durham, where he is an ambassador. “They obviously wanted us to win but they just loved every minute of it.Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum will maintain their positive approach to England’s tactics•PA Images via Getty Images

“I had a conversation in a men’s changing-room at a spa about the game, which was a bit awkward. He said, ‘are you the cricketer or do you just look like him?’ and I was like ‘it is me’.”He just said that ‘I went down to the pub after work and I don’t even follow cricket, but I was just going to go down for a quick few’ and he ended up having a few more, and just said he was just transfixed on the game.”So when you hear stuff like that, it obviously makes you feel good about what we’re doing as bringing a new fanbase to the game, and it’s reaching people that it might never have reached before, so that’s what we’re about.”The onus on opening the game up to a wider audience feels all the more important following the overnight publication of the long-awaited ICEC report into the sport’s structural inequalities.Stokes opened his press conference with a pre-prepared statement on the matter, and later added: “We’re all about growing the game and just making it bigger than what it is right now, and I think we’ve managed to achieve that quite well.”England’s plans for the Lord’s Test suffered a pair of set-backs on Tuesday morning, with Moeen Ali deemed unfit for selection after his finger injury at Edgbaston, and Mark Wood omitted in favour of Josh Tongue, with Stokes admitting that Wood needed longer to be ready to play a full part in the third Test at Headingley.Related

• England 'wanted to pick Wood' but settle for Tongue in all-seam attack

• Switch Hit: Sparks fly as Lord's awaits

• Pope and the curious case of his second-innings struggles

• No smoke without fire: Robinson embraces Ashes target man status

• Ben Stokes: 'The game I love should be enjoyed without discrimination'

However, Stokes insisted that the selection issues had done nothing to dent the overriding feeling of optimism within the squad, adding that Zak Crawley had addressed the team huddle on Monday with an “unbelievable speech” that referenced an ancient Chinese story about a farmer, his horse, a broken leg and an invading army.”It was basically about ‘we’ll see’, one thing happens and might not mean it’s the end of the end of the world,” Stokes said. “You don’t know why things happen, if it’s for a good reason or not, it’s just one of those things to deal with. The team we’ve picked, I’m very confident we can walk away from here with a win. Rather than worry about things that I don’t have, I’d rather be confident in the things I do have.”I don’t want to get misheard when I say we aren’t a results-driven team,” Stokes added. “As I said last week, losing sucks. We always want to win every game we play, but if we don’t come away with the win at the end, then let’s move onto the next game and let’s keep going.”

Samson is one of two keepers named in the squad alongside Ishan Kishan

Shashank Kishore23-Jun-2023Sanju Samson has earned a recall to India’s ODI squad for the three-match series in the Caribbean in July. With KL Rahul still in rehab for a thigh injury and Rishabh Pant in recovery after surviving a car crash in December, Samson is one of two wicketkeepers in the 17-member squad alongside Ishan Kishan.Related

• Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma earn maiden call up to India T20I squad

• Shastri wants two left-handers in India's top six for the ODI World Cup

• Yashasvi Jaiswal: 'I just want to go out and express myself'

• Pujara dropped; Jaiswal and Gaikwad in India's Test squad for West Indies

• Six players who could debut for India in the next WTC cycle

Ruturaj Gaikwad, whose only ODI so far came against South Africa in October last year, is also part of the squad along with the uncapped Mukesh Kumar. Most of the regulars in the frame for the ODI World Cup have been included in the Rohit Sharma-led squad. Hardik Pandya is the vice-captain.With Mohammed Shami rested, Mohammed Siraj is expected to spearhead a pace attack that also includes Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur, Mukesh and Umran Malik apart from the allrounder Hardik.Suryakumar Yadav, who occupied one of the middle order slots during the home ODIs against Australia in March, has been retained. Playing in the absence of Shreyas Iyer, who was out with a back injury, Suryakumar finished the series with three first-ball ducks, but bounced back with prolific returns in the IPL for Mumbai Indians.Washington Sundar, who was also part of the Australia series, has been left out, with Ravindra Jadeja and Axar preferred as the spin-bowling allrounders. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are the two frontline spinners.Samson will have an opportunity to add to his 11 ODI caps if the team management wants to play a keeper-batter suited to the middle order; Kishan typically bats higher up the order. Samson has so far scored 330 ODI runs in 10 innings at an average of 66.00, with two half-centuries. One of them came in a match-winning chase against West Indies in Port-of-Spain last year. Samson can also play as a specialist batter even if Kishan is picked as keeper.India ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-capt), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.

Surrey fast bowler clocked at 95mph in Hundred appearance against Jos Buttler’s Manchester Originals

Matt Roller10-Aug-2023Gus Atkinson, the Surrey fast bowler, is in contention to win his first call-up to an England squad and could make his international debut in the four-match T20I series against New Zealand which starts later this month.Atkinson, 25, has been on England’s radar this summer and was clocked at 95mph/153kph in the Hundred on Wednesday night, bowling for Oval Invincibles in their 94-run win against Manchester Originals. It was the first time Atkinson had bowled to Jos Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, in a competitive match.He was scooped for six by Buttler early on and later bowled him a beamer that had him ducking for cover. But Atkinson beat Buttler for pace with a 94mph, hard-length ball off the subsequent free hit, and then beat him twice more with an offcutter and an 87mph bouncer.Atkinson finished with figures of 2 for 24 from his 19 balls, and Buttler was seen having a long conversation with Azhar Mahmood, Invincibles’ bowling coach, after the game. Mahmood has worked closely with Atkinson at Surrey over the last two years, as well as in franchise cricket at Islamabad United and Desert Vipers.He has bowled with good pace throughout the summer, and Invincibles’ batters collectively decided to stop facing Atkinson in the nets after he struck Will Jacks on the elbow last week. Jacks was sent for a scan – which cleared him of any lasting damage – ahead of their tie against Welsh Fire on Sunday night.Atkinson took 13 wickets at 29.15 as Surrey reached the semi-finals of the T20 Blast, conceding 8.77 runs per over, and has taken combined figures of 6 for 72 in 54 balls across his first three appearances of the Hundred season.England are expected to be missing at least two of their high-pace options for their T20I series against New Zealand, which takes place from August 30 to September 5, with Jofra Archer (elbow) and Olly Stone (hamstring) unlikely to be fit.They will play seven ODIs in September – four against New Zealand, three against Ireland – before flying to India for their official World Cup warm-up fixtures immediately after their final game against Ireland. With four games in seven days and a major tournament looming, they are likely to rotate their bowlers through the T20I series.Even if Atkinson misses out on selection for the upcoming squads, he is highly likely to tour the Caribbean in December. England are due to play three ODIs and five T20Is against West Indies and will rest most of their first-choice seamers after the World Cup.England are expected to name white-ball squads for the home summer next week. New Zealand have already announced their touring squads for both the T20I and ODI series.

If picked up by a franchise, it would be his first appearance in the tournament since 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2023Mitchell Starc will put himself up for a return to the IPL next year, viewing it as ideal preparation for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA in June.If picked up by a franchise, it would be Starc’s first appearance in the tournament since 2015 – overall he has made 27 appearances in two seasons for Royal Challengers Bangalore.In 2018, he was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders before withdrawing through injury and on other occasions has considered a return before opting to prioritise time at home amid a hectic multi-format schedule for Australia.Related

• Royals trade Padikkal for Super Giants' Avesh in straight swap

• Abbott earns World Cup berth, Australia confident over fitness concerns

However, next year is comparatively light for Australia with only the T20 World Cup scheduled between a tour of New Zealand in March and white-ball series against Afghanistan, Ireland and England from late August.”Look it’s been eight years. I’m definitely going back in [next] year,” Starc told the about his IPL ambitions. “Amongst other things, it’s a great lead-up to the T20 World Cup.”So a good opportunity to see if anyone’s interested in the IPL, then lead into the T20 World Cup. And it’s somewhat of a quiet winter next year…in comparison to this winter, so I think a perfect opportunity to put my name in.”One of the major reasons Starc has previously sidelined the IPL is his desire to ensure he is fully available for Test cricket. While not putting a timeline on how long his career will go, he would like to reach a century of appearances in the format. Glenn McGrath is the only fast bowler to achieve that milestone for Australia.Starc currently sits on 82 Tests and if he features in all of Australia’s upcoming fixtures on the Future Tours Programme, his 100th game would come up during the 2025-26 Ashes.”Not just get to 100, I’d like to be good enough to be picked for 100 Tests,” he said. “And then the big one obviously in a couple of weeks is the World Cup, which in India just goes to another level.”And then you look at the one-day format, it’s sort of four years in between World Cups, so where do I see myself in that mix? But I’ve got to get to the end of this World Cup first.”But we’ve got some superstars coming through. You’ve got your Jhye Richardsons, your Sean Abbotts, your Spencer Johnsons. You’ve got plenty of young guys coming through. [Lance] Morris is going to be a gun.”I try not to look too far ahead with anything. Obviously, we want to do well in the World Cup. Then we’ve got five Test matches here in Australia and then I haven’t actually played a Test in New Zealand, so hopefully I’m on that tour and look forward to that challenge as well.”

Worcestershire openers put on 97 after being inserted, Jake Libby notching 1000 runs for summer

ECB Reporters Network19-Sep-2023Jake Libby completed 1000 first-class runs for the second time in three seasons as Worcestershire made an encouraging start to their top-two LV=Insurance County Championship encounter with leaders Durham on a truncated day at New Road.The opener brought up his personal milestone with a single off Durham’s new signing, Sri Lanka seamer Vishwa Fernando.Libby and Gareth Roderick put on 97 when finally got underway at 3.45pm with a possible 36 overs remaining. Conditions had looked ideal for bowling after Durham captain Scott Borthwick won the toss. But his bowlers did not find the right length on a consistent basis and Roderick had time to complete a half-century before he was dismissed by Bas de Leede shortly before bad light halted play.The morning excitement in the city revolved around the discovery of an unexploded wartime shell that closed part of the centre.Durham had already assured themselves of promotion, after Leicestershire failed to collect any batting bonus points in last week’s defeat at Sussex, and required a maximum of five more points to clinch the Division Two title.Nearest rivals Worcestershire began the game 21 points ahead of third-placed Leicestershire who had leapfrogged Sussex following the south-coast club’s points deduction.The home side were unchanged but Durham handed a debut to Vishwa, with Brydon Carse and Matthew Potts on England duty.Roderick and Libby adopted a positive approach against Ben Raine and Fernando. The first 10 overs yielded 41 runs via a mixture of boundaries and the occasional play and miss, particularly against 51-wicket Raine. But the new ball attack struggled to find a consistent line and length and Libby produced two of the shots of a truncated session with back-foot cover drives for four at the expense of Fernando and Paul Coughlin.Libby had fortune on his side when on 43 as replays showed he was short of his ground from Paul Coughlin’s direct hit after turning de Leede to cover.Roderick drove de Leede for his eighth boundary to complete a 73-ball half-century but he was comprehensively bowled by his next delivery after working to leg with 97 on the board. Libby just had time to complete his personal run milestone before the players were taken off.

He got to the milestone on his 35th birthday in India’s World Cup match against South Africa at Eden Gardens

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-20231:29

‘Ridiculous!’ – Anil Kumble marvels at Virat Kohli’s ODI numbers

Virat Kohli has equalled Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 49 ODI hundreds, getting to the landmark on his 35th birthday in India’s World Cup match against South Africa in Kolkata.”Every opportunity to play for India is big one for me. To be able to do that on my birthday, in front of the whole crowd, it’s stuff of dreams, something that as a child you wish had happened,” Kohli said after his record-equalling innings. “I am very grateful to God that I have been blessed with these kinds of moments, so much love from the fans as well and just continue to help the team in any way possible.”Kohli reached the record-equalling hundred off 119 balls, getting to the milestone in the 49th over of India’s innings by punching Kagiso Rabada to cover for a single in front of a near-capacity crowd at Eden Gardens. While Tendulkar scored his 49th century in his 451st ODI innings, Kohli got there in just his 277th innings in his 289th match. He finished unbeaten on 101 off 121 balls, having steered India to a total of 326.