A not-quite-safe-yet West Ham travel to a relegation threatened Swansea on Saturday afternoon in a good ol’ classic Premier League relegation six-pointer.
Both sides are in desperate need of points and neither can arguably afford to lose, but which way will it go?
Our writers have had their say below…
James Beavis
Swansea are a funny team at the moment but they are strong at home having beaten Arsenal and Liverpool at the Liberty Stadium already in 2018.
Carlos Carvalhal’s men will know that they need the three points against West Ham though and will have to attack from the off, and that could give the likes of Marko Arnautovic, Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini plenty of space to counter and run in behind the Swansea defence.
Like it did at Huddersfield in January, that attacking threat from the visitors should see them take the three points to move them a step closer to survival.
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John McGinley
Swansea have won their last six games at home in all competitions, including shocks against Liverpool and Arsenal, so there’s no reason to think they won’t have enough to take care of David Moyes’ side in this classic relegation ‘six-pointer’.
With just one win in their last six in all competitions, which includes three defeats in their last three away from home, West Ham are again in a bit of a slump.
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Whatever happens, discontented Hammers fans will find out all about the fight left in David Moyes’ team.
Christy Malyan
Draw. Swansea will be desperate to bounce back after unexpectedly capitulating against Brighton last weekend and Carlos Carvalhal restored the feel-good factor at the Liberty Stadium with a routine win over Sheffield Wednesday in midweek.
The Welsh outfit need points more than the Hammers do, but West Ham boast better quality and if the scores are level leading into the final half hour, both managers will likely take the draw without complaint.
Whenever a manager leaves a football club before the start of the season, it always raises questions about the state and the integrity of said club.
Welshman Tony Pulis left Crystal Palace in August less than 48 hours before the 2014-15 Premier League season began. Questions began to be asked about the state of Crystal Palace football club. The reason Pulis left was due to the failure of Crystal Palace’s attempts to land transfer targets during the summer.
Then began the turmoil. Not only did Palace lose their first two Premier League games of the season, but their new manager search was under fire as well. Malky Mackay had been the favourite to take over at Selhurst Park but as that all went pear shaped after allegations were revealed of him sending sexist, racist and homophobic texts. Those allegations also involved Iain Moody, who resigned from his role of director of sport from Crystal Palace.
After all these setbacks, who ended up being Pulis’ replacement? Neil Warnock, back for a second spell with the club after previously taking charge between 2007 and 2010 before the club went into administration. The day after he was appointed, he brought Wilfred Zaha back to the club on loan from Manchester United, who became a key component in his first game in charge against Newcastle.
In this game at St James’ Park, Palace took the lead twice thanks to a Dwight Gayle goal after 29 seconds and a Jason Puncheon volley later on, but then they had to rely on a Zaha equaliser in stoppage time to finish the game 3-3. The point earned in this game was Palace’s first point of the new season and showed a new kind of fight to stay in this league under Warnock.
Palace were able to create a high number of chances, despite only having 36% possession throughout the game and were strong at finishing when the chances occurred as well. From the 12 shots they had, seven of them were on target, a greater improvement compared to their first two games of the season against Arsenal and West Ham.
However, Palace were still quite aggressive with play and lost possession often and this is an issue Warnock will need to address.
Warnock has attempted to address this issue with the signing of Kevin Doyle and James McArthur on transfer deadline day. The immediate impact of Zaha as well shows Warnock knows what Palace need for the fight to stay in the Premier League.
Warnock’s first home game in charge in the Premier League will come this weekend against Burnley. Hopefully he will have established a playing style he would like to play with this Palace squad, which has more than enough to stay in the Premier League.
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Crystal Palace is still one of the favourites to be relegated from the Premier League this season but I think Warnock is the right man to lead them towards survival.
You’d have thought it’d be quite the task to render a fans’ player of the season as something of a forgotten man, but such has been the hullaballoo that has encapsulated Tottenham Hotspur since the summer, Scott Parker seems to be just that.
Be it managerial change, tactical upheaval or the evolving face of the first XI, it’s felt at times this season that there’s been so much going on at White Hart Lane, that Parker’s absence through injury has been somewhat overlooked.
But with the news that the ex-West Ham man is potentially less than two weeks away from full fitness, Andre Villas-Boas’ side are set to receive a real shot in the arm and a huge boost ahead of the congested festive fixture list.
While Tottenham’s season has had more than a touch of the stop-start’s about it, Parker’s has term has of course so far, been rendered non-existent. The 32-year-old headed off after his superb debut season in N17 to the European Championship’s in Poland and Ukraine, already nursing a relatively delicate Achilles problem.
Following a fortnight of running his body into the ground for Roy Hodgson’s side, the problem had unsurprisingly failed to heal. While no one is ever going to criticize Parker for heading into Euro 2012 in the knowledge he may well have faced injury trouble ahead, the decision to delay surgery well into August certainly raised a few eyebrows.
Of course, the outlook for the Tottenham Hotspur midfield in August looked an awful lot different from the stuttering engine room that supporters have witnessed in recent weeks. The talk before the term began, was whether Parker would indeed even get into Andre Villas-Boas’ side. The school of thought was that with the emerging Sandro ready to step up to the plate in North London, and a glitzy replacement for Luka Modric in the form of say, a Joao Moutinho, there may not be any immediate need for Parker in midfield.
Needless to say, things haven’t quite turned out that way.
The mercurial Mousa Dembele’s arrival into the Spurs midfield has looked a superb acquisition – when he’s played, that is. The Belgian’s hip injury has left Spurs looking woefully exposed in central midfield. The midfield pairing of Sandro and Tom Huddlestone has predictably lacked much in the way of creativity, something that Parker himself may not have been likely to help with.
Yet that’s not all they’ve lacked, either. For all the technical qualities and tactical intelligence that Andre Villas-Boas has looked to build his team around, one attribute he can’t look to implement in Spurs’ shiny new Enfield training HQ, is that of leadership. Tottenham have felt as if they’ve lacked that sprinkling of grit, steel and determination that, even though it was hardly in abundance, they boasted last season.
Ledley King wasn’t the most vocal of captains, but he was a born leader by example. He retired during the summer. Rafael van der Vaart wasn’t a player who ever led Tottenham out of the tunnel in the Premier League, but he was a winner, a man who never shied away from a battle. He’s now plying his trade for Hamburg.
With Michael Dawson relegated to the bench for much of this term and Scott Parker sidelined through injury, that’s left only William Gallas as any form of leader within this Spurs side – and while he’s a decent organizer of a defense (when he’s in form, that is), he doesn’t feel like a natural captain.
Spurs are crying out for a leader or a figurehead to help find their form and drag this developing side back up into form ahead of the New Year’s fixture list. In football, as in every other walk of life, timing is everything. Enter Scott Parker.
Would the fielding of Parker helped prevent the late goals conceded against the likes of West Brom, Norwich and Manchester City? It’s difficult to say either way, but you can’t help but feel he could have helped prevent the air of inevitability that lingered around all three of those fixtures.
As well as the classic Parker trait of putting the body on the line and the last ditch tackles to save his team, most importantly, he gets the basics right. Be it the simple pass under pressure or the clearance out the box when danger’s looming, Parker’s decision making is second to none. Tottenham’s on the other hand, has often been suspect at best this season. In terms of defending a lead especially, Scott Parker is a superb asset to have in your side.
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The England man’s return to the fore will come just after the return of Dembele’s, a man who Parker is technically now in competition for one of Villas-Boas’ two holding roles. Of course, Sandro’s superb displays this season would suggest that when fit, both the Brazilian and Dembele are sure starters. But it doesn’t have to be as clear-cut as that.
Given the monumental effort Sandro has put in for Spurs this season, at some point, AVB is going to have to give him something resembling a rest. But even then, while fans have witnessed first-hand the effects of playing a set of intrinsically defensive midfielders in the holding pair, Sandro’s attacking instincts are an underrated commodity.
Giving him a shot at the Dembele role besides Parker might seem unorthodox, but it could free up their influential Belgian to play higher up the pitch. Something of a wild card, yes, but it merely represents another option to Villas-Boas – something he’s not had many of since the season began.
But however you frame it, Scott Parker’s return to fitness represents a massive boost to this Tottenham Hotspur side. Supporters have underestimated the impact the Englishman could have once before, when quiet moans of disagreement were uttered upon his arrival in N17. He finished the term as player of the year. Don’t be surprised to see him produce a similar response this year.
India are 1-0 up, but their playing XI has more more changes than Australia’s, who will field Boland instead of the injured Hazlewood
Andrew McGlashan05-Dec-20242:05
Finch: India look a lot better with Rohit at No. 5
Big picture: Huge test for Australia
Was Perth a case of a very fine team having a bad few days and another playing as well as they possibly could, or the signs of a very fine team that has peaked and is now on the slide against one good enough to take advantage? Perhaps it’s somewhere between all that. The next few days in Adelaide should give us a clearer idea of how this Test series will unfold.Another win for India and Australia would need a comeback only seen once before in Test history: the 1936-37 Australia side, led by Don Bradman, is the only one to come from 2-0 down to win a five-match series. Although without rain in Manchester last year, England may well have etched their name alongside them. Should Australia prevail with the pink ball in Adelaide, as they have every time at this ground, then 1-1 with three to play sets up a tantalising prospect for what follows.Related
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It seems odd to say for the side 1-0 up after a 295-run victory, but there are a few moving parts for India. They were bowled out for 36 in their previous day-night Test in Adelaide (although that record collapse came in the day time) while their last floodlit Test came in 2022. Even for a player as experienced as KL Rahul, who spoke in some detail about the challenges of facing the pink ball, it will be a first.Then there’s the return of captain Rohit Sharma and fellow top-order batter Shubman Gill, meaning a rejig of the batting, along with a debate around whether there will be any changes to the bowling attack. Rohit confirmed that Rahul will continue to open alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, while he will bat “somewhere in the middle”. It was noted with some surprise by Nathan Lyon that 850-plus Test wickets – between R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – sat on the bench last week. But India are selecting from a position of strength.Australia have issues of their own from the loss of Josh Hazlewood to a side injury (Scott Boland is a handy replacement), concerns over the productivity of the batting and uncertainty over how much of a bowling workload Mitchell Marsh can manage even though there is an expectation he will take the ball in Adelaide.There has been no baby-out-with-the-bathwater reaction from Australia to what happened in Perth – which in itself has annoyed some people – although if they can’t turn things around in Adelaide that philosophy will surely be tested. There has been surprise within the squad at the strength of reaction to the opening loss, but that emphasises the expectations of the team on home soil and a record that, overall, is incredibly successful. However, make no mistake, this is a vital Test for them.
Form guide
Australia LWWLW India WLLLW5:13
Cummins on pink-ball Tests: ‘Not a huge shift from red-ball cricket’
In the spotlight: Pat Cummins and Rohit Sharma
Pat Cummins had a very managed build-up to the opening Test and came into the series without a four-day game under his belt, instead playing a domestic one-dayer and two ODIs. He is experienced enough to know what works for him – and the preparation was done in close coordination with coaches – but he didn’t have a huge impact in Perth, even when Australia bowled India out for 150 on the first day. There is significant credit in the bank for Cummins, but in the absence of Hazlewood, this is a Test where the Australia captain will need to be at his best. “Was reasonably happy with how I bowled, felt like it came out alright,” Cummins said. “Overall pretty happy with the rhythm.”There will also be plenty of focus on his opposite number. Rohit Sharma is back having missed the first Test for the birth of his second child and with him came an interesting batting debate which has seen the captain take a decision for team. Rahul and Jaiswal, who combined so successfully in the second innings in Perth with a record stand of 201, will stay at the top. There are rumblings about Rohit’s form, too, with a top score of 52 in his last ten innings, while Jasprit Bumrah impressive marshalling the side in Perth has added another strand. Rohit’s highest Test score in Australia, an unbeaten 63 at the MCG in 2018-19, came at No. 6.
Team news: One change for Australia, rejig for India
Boland comes in for the injured Hazlewood as Australia’s one change. It will be Boland’s first home Test in two years having not been needed at all last season. He has taken seven wickets at 13.71 in two day-nighters.Australia: 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Nathan McSweeney, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott BolandThe positions of Rahul and Jaiswal are set. Rohit will bat in the middle, but where? Gill is expected to slot back in at No. 3. Virat Kohli is at No. 4. So Rohit could be in at No. 5 ahead of Rishabh Pant. Washington Sundar’s batting could again see him preferred over Ashwin despite the latter’s good record in Adelaide. Allrounder Nitesh Kumar Reddy is expected to retain his place.India (possible): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma (capt), 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Nitesh Kumar Reddy, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj7:56
KL Rahul: ‘Focus is on winning each session and not worry about whole game’
Pitch and conditions: Chance of thunderstorm on day one
Damien Hough, the Adelaide Oval groundsman, is now very attuned to producing surfaces for day-night Test cricket. This season, he has also made one for a pink-ball Sheffield Shield game and the Test strip will have the same amount of grass – 6mm – left on. “Whether it’s a red ball or a pink one, we’re trying to replicate the Shield and the Test preparation… very similar preparations,” Hough said. “The Shield pitch showed if you didn’t get a new ball under lights, and you had a couple of set batters in, you’re able to see through some night-time cricket.” Lyon, meanwhile, said he expected the surface to take turn.There are showers and thunderstorms forecast for the opening day, which appear likely to interrupt play and could stretch into the second day as well, but after that the weather is fine so there should be plenty of time for a result.
Stats and trivia
Australia have won all seven day-night Tests in Adelaide. The closest margin was three wickets in the first of them against New Zealand in 2015-16.
Bumrah needs one wicket to become the first bowler to reach 50 in Tests this year.
If Virat Kohli scores another Adelaide hundred he would become the first overseas batter to have four at the ground.
Quotes
“Any Test there’s pressure, when you are down there’s that little bit more, especially when you are home. But we’ve been in similar situations, whether it’s World Cups or other series where you are in a kind of must-win situation – we aren’t quite there yet. But everyone has a lot of personal pride, professional pride, so there’s pressure on you any time you play from that, let alone the scoreboard being down 1-0.”
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
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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.”
Matt Parkinson makes debut as England’s first concussion replacement
Andrew Miller02-Jun-2022Jack Leach was withdrawn from the first LV= Insurance Test against New Zealand at Lord’s and is a doubt for next week’s second Test at Trent Bridge, after suffering concussion symptoms following a heavy fall in the outfield.Concussion protocols allow for a player to be substituted out of the game so long as the man coming in is a like-for-like replacement. England opted for Matt Parkinson, who arrived at Lord’s from Manchester an hour before the close on the first day and can play a full part in the game.Dom Bess and Moeen Ali, who retired from Test cricket last year but has signalled his willingness to consider a return, were among the other potential call-ups that Parkinson beat to make it to the XI and play his first-ever Test match. The 25-year-old Lancashire legspinner has 126 wickets from 37 first-class games.Leach, who was playing in his first home Test match since the Ashes in 2019, suffered the injury in the sixth over of the match, as he chased a Devon Conway drive to the backward-point boundary.As Leach dived, successfully dragging the ball back from the edge of the rope, he landed heavily on his head, and appeared to injure his neck in the process. New Zealand’s medical team were the first on the scene, and attended to him for several minutes before he was able to walk from the field of play back to the pavilion.However, after subsequent examination from the ECB medical team, the decision was taken to withdraw him from the match. “Jack Leach has symptoms of concussion following his head injury whilst fielding,” read an ECB statement. “As per concussion guidelines, he has been withdrawn from this Test.”In a subsequent statement, the ECB confirmed that he would be out of action for the next seven days at least in line with protocols, meaning his participation in the Trent Bridge Test, which gets underway on June 10, is in doubt.Parkinson will make his Test debut as a concussion replacement•Getty Images
“He’s a tough character,” Matthew Potts, England’s debutant, said. “It was a freak thing that can happen. The first thing he said was, ‘I’m fine – I saved the four though!’ That is testament to his character. He’s a tough lad. We said we are going to really hunt the ball down in the field and put in a good fielding display, which we did.”Brendon McCullum, England’s new Test coach, had made a point of asking players to keep chasing every ball before this Test. “Brendon said one basic thing for his mindset is: you chase every ball to the boundary as hard as you can until it’s at the boundary edge,” Stuart Broad said on Tuesday. “That is just a mindset of positivity, all the time – that you are going to give everything to this game.”Parkinson, who has played nine games for England across the white-ball formats, has been a regular member of touring squads over the last two years and believed he was close to making his Test debut in the Caribbean. He has taken 24 wickets at 25.95 in the County Championship this season, the most of any spinner in the country.”I’m sure he has had an interesting drive down,” Potts said. “Receiving that call, I’m sure there will have been a wave of emotions. He can collect his thoughts tonight and approach tomorrow with a clear head rather than coming in very flustered from a freak scenario.”He becomes the second Test cricketer to make a debut as a concussion replacement after Zimbabwe’s Brian Mudzinganyama, who replaced Kevin Kasuza against Sri Lanka in early 2020.
Former batsman will join cricket operations department, while the former left-arm spinner is going to be a senior selector
Mohammad Isam13-Feb-2021Shahriar Nafees and Abdur Razzak have announced their retirements from all forms of cricket, making public their decisions after being employed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Razzak, the 38-year-old former left-arm spinner, has been appointed as a senior selector alongside chief selector Minhajul Abedin and Habibul Bashar, while 35-year-old Nafees, a top-order batsman, has taken up a position in the board’s cricket operations department.A reception was organised to honour the two cricketers at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Saturday, during the lunch interval on the third day of the Dhaka Test against West Indies, where they were presented with crests by the BCB and the players’ association.”It is only natural that someone else will take my place because everything comes to an end. I would like to thank my childhood coaches Sarwar Imran and Nazmul Abedeen Fahim. I met them when I was 13 years old, and they changed my life,” Razzak said, while Nafees recalled the time when he was ten years old and would be taken for training by his parents: “They supported me so I must thank them. I would like to thank my wife and kids, my in-laws, as well my first coach Wahidul Gani.”Related
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Razzak was the first Bangladesh player to pick up 200 ODI wickets, and also holds the record (joint with Mohammad Ashraful) for the fastest half-century by a Bangladeshi in ODIs – off 21 balls. Among players from his country, Razzak also has the second-most ODI five-wicket hauls and the most wickets in a bilateral ODI series.Over the years, Razzah has been a domestic giant, with 137 first-class appearances. He has taken 634 wickets in those games, including 41 five-fors. He is also the first Bangladeshi bowler to bag 600 first-class wickets and has won nine domestic first-class titles with Khulna Division and South Zone. After a four-year hiatus, Razzak made an international comeback at the age of 35 when he played the Dhaka Test against Sri Lanka in 2018, which turned out to be his last international outing.Nafees will always be best remembered for his 138 against an Australian Test attack that had Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Jason Gillespie, Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill. The sight of a strokeful left-handed opener taking on some of the best bowlers the world, who had just conquered South Africa, was a breath of fresh air for Bangladesh. Nafees’ dominance of Warne, in particular, where he hit the legspinner for ten fours in a couple of sessions, remains an iconic image in Bangladesh cricket.Nafees had a strong 2006 thereafter, finishing with 1000-plus ODI runs, including three centuries. Later in the year, he became Bangladesh’s first T20I captain, but that remained his only appearance in the then-new format. After a low-scoring 2007 World Cup, Nafees lost his place in the team and in mid-2008, he joined the now-defunct Indian Cricket League. The BCB banned the Bangladeshi players for ten years for taking part in the tournament, but they were relieved less than a year later, and returned to the fold.Nafees would return to the Bangladesh team during a Test against India in early 2010, and went on to play 23 more times for his country, including at the 2011 World Cup, before his last international outing against Zimbabwe in 2013.Nafees finished the 2019-20 first-class season with a century and two fifties, having been one of the top run-getters in the seven seasons following his last Test match. During the 2015-16 season, he crossed 1000 runs for the first time in first-class cricket, with three centuries and a 62.05 average. He is also Bangladesh’s first batsman to hit a T20 century, when he made an unbeaten 102 for Khulna Royal Bengals in the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League.
Wicketkeeper puts county over country after change to ECB eligibility rules
Andrew Miller09-Oct-2019Stuart Poynter has effectively called time on his international career with Ireland after committing to Durham in a new two-year deal.Poynter, Durham’s wicketkeeper and captain during this season’s Vitality Blast campaign, was forced to choose between club and country following a change to the ECB’s eligibility rules in September, in the wake of Ireland’s promotion to a Full Test Nation in 2017.Prior to that change, all Ireland players – along with other passport-holders from EU member countries – had been permitted to play as homegrown players in county cricket. Now they would have to register as overseas players, which Poynter has chosen not to do.Born in Hammersmith, London, Poynter has previously spoken out about his disappointment at the change of ruling, telling The Telegraph “it is a strange scenario when you are born British and have entitlement to work as a local in your own country.”Poynter’s decision was perhaps made easier by the disappointment he suffered earlier this year when he was dropped by Ireland following a run of poor form. He made 15 runs in four ODI innings in their series against Afghanistan in Dehradun and followed that with scores of 0 and 1 in the one-off Test that followed against the same opponents.He was omitted in favour of Gary Wilson for the subsequent tri-series against West Indies and Bangladesh on home soil, and Wilson – who left Derbyshire last year to play full time in Ireland’s domestic competition – then kept his place for their maiden Test against England at Lord’s in July.Richard Holdsworth, Performance Director at Cricket Ireland, thanked Poynter for his services to Irish cricket.”He has certainly been one of a cohort of players who has been part of the rapid climb of Irish cricket over the last decade from Associate Member to Full Member with Test match status, and I’m pleased for Stuart personally that he played in a Test match before he finished with international duties,” Holdsworth said in a statement issued by Cricket Ireland.”We wish Stuart and his family well with the next phase in their lives and hope that we see him regularly supporting the Irish team as we ourselves move into the next phase of our development.”Poynter’s decision comes a month after his Ireland team-mate, Paul Stirling, chose the alternative route, and ended his 10-year association with Middlesex to further his international aspirations.Stirling’s Middlesex team-mate, Tim Murtagh, is the other county-based Ireland player who has yet to confirm his decision. At the age of 38, Murtagh is nearing the end of his career either way, but remains a formidable performer, as shown by his haul of 5 for 13 on the first morning of the Lord’s Test, when England were bowled out for 85.With a highest score of 36 in 21 ODI appearances, Poynter never quite showed his best form in his Ireland career, although he did enjoy one notable moment in a T20 against the Netherlands in February, when he struck a last-ball six to seal a one-wicket win.However, at the age of 28, he could also have anticipated plenty more opportunities in international cricket, given that Wilson turns 34 in the new year, and that Ireland’s long-term keeper, Niall O’Brien, retired last year.The announcement of his two-year deal with Durham comes as the club offered the same extension to two other players: Liam Trevaskis, who has cemented his status as the club’s first-choice spinner across formats, and Jack Burnham, who served a year-long suspension for recreational drug use in 2018, but recorded four Championship half-centuries on his return to the team this summer.
Shakib and Nazmul finish with 5 for 47 off eight overs as Bangladesh break five-match T20 losing streak to level series
The Report by Mohammad Isam04-Aug-2018 Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAFP
Another Bangladesh comeback, another major contribution from their senior players. Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal powered the visitors to a 12-run win against West Indies to bring them back level in the T20I series. Towards the end of the West Indies chase, Mustafizur Rahman and Nazmul Islam took three wickets each, but the win was set up by Tamim, who top-scored with a quickfire 44-ball 74, while Shakib complemented his half-century with figures of 2 for 19 from four overs.Shakib and Tamim added 90 runs for the fourth wicket. Tamim’s innings had his best strike-rate in a 50-plus knock, while Shakib reached his first T20I fifty in more than two years, spanning 17 innings. West Indies will rue losing four early wickets in a chase of 172.Despite the loss of Evin Lewis, whose lean patch has now spanned four successive innings, West Indies had got off the blocks rapidly. Andre Russell clattered Rubel Hossain for a four through point, and two sixes – over deep midwicket and cover point – in a 16-run third over. He followed it up with another monster hit over midwicket, this one dumped outside of the Lauderhill ground. But, later in the same over, after another four, Mustafizur had him top-edging a short ball to wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim.
Abu Hider gets demerit point for foul language
Bangladesh fast bowler Abu Hider has picked up one demerit point and been fined 20% of his match fee for “using inappropriate language” during the second T20I against West Indies. Hider was in breach of Article 2.1.4 of the ICC Code of Conduct, and accepted the sanction, meaning there was no need for any formal hearing According to an ICC release: “The incident happened in the 14th over of the Windies’ run-chase, when Abu Hider ignored an earlier warning by the on-field umpires by again using inappropriate language after Rovman Powell had hit him for a six.”
Marlon Samuels lasted three balls: he edged the first one for four, struck a high six off the next ball, and facing Shakib in the next over, clubbed him to deep midwicket, where Liton Das dived forward to complete the catch. Rubel had Denesh Ramdin lbw in the eighth over, in the midst of a 33-ball boundary drought.Andre Fletcher’s six over midwicket in the 10th over broke the shackles, and it was four overs later that the late-overs slogging really began. Rovman Powell hammered Abu Hider for two sixes in an over when Fletcher was dropped at deep midwicket on 36. Fletcher fell in the next over, having just struck his second six, having made 43 off 38 balls and added 58 for the fifth wicket with Powell.Liton then produced a superb catch at the wide long-on boundary, evading an oncoming Soumya Sarkar, and completing a running catch along the boundary rope. Shakib capped off the over by conceding only three runs to end with 2 for 19 from four superb overs.Rubel followed it up with another over that didn’t have any boundaries. He could have finished the over with a wicket had Shakib not dropped Powell on 37. Powell fell in the next over though, caught behind attempting a pull, after a 34-ball 43.Earlier, Ashley Nurse once again struck early for West Indies, sending back Liton and Mushfiqur inside four overs. Liton, who was promoted from No. 3 to open the innings, lasted only five balls before sending a low catch to Carlos Brathwaite at mid-off. Mushfiqur, who was also promoted, fell trying an awkward reverse sweep to point.Sarkar had another wretched stay, this time taking up 18 balls to make 14. He struck a six and a four, but looked out of tune against pace. He has now scored only 82 runs in Bangladesh’s last 10 T20Is.Tamim, though, looked for runs despite the three early wickets. Apart from his first six, a low screamer over extra cover off Samuel Badree, he collected three fours through tickles down the leg-side and one edge to the left of wicketkeeper Ramdin.Shakib took over from Tamim from the 10th over, in which he struck Keemo Paul over the off-side field twice for fours, before launching Kesrick Williams for three fours in the 13th over. He blasted one over cover while the other two came via powerful pull shots. His first six also came off Paul, struck over point and just over a jumping Nurse.Tamim, who was dropped on 47 by Rovman Powell, ended his innings in a blaze. Against Russell in the 16th over, he struck three sixes – twice over midwicket and one dead straight — and a four, before falling off the final ball of the over.West Indies pulled things back considerably as Bangladesh, despite a settled Shakib and a usually big-hitting Mahmudullah at the crease, added just 33 runs in the remaining four overs.
Daryl Mitchell and Brett D’Oliveira ended a lean start to the County Championship season with centuries on a day of personal milestones as Worcestershire took charge of the Division Two match against Derbyshire
ECB Reporters Network21-May-2017
ScorecardDaryl Mitchell and Brett D’Oliveira ended a lean start to the County Championship season with centuries on a day of personal milestones as Worcestershire took charge of the Division Two match against Derbyshire at Derby.The opening pair put on 243 in 54 overs with Mitchell, who made 120, completing 10,000 first-class runs for Worcestershire when he got to 87. D’Oliveira scored 150 from 232 balls as the visitors closed day three on 323 for 3, a lead of 48 over Derbyshire, who needed a ninth-wicket stand of 45 between Tony Palladino and Tom Taylor to get to 275. Worcestershire skipper Joe Leach took 4 for 50 from 23 overs.Palladino and Taylor held up Worcestershire for 20 overs in the morning to steer Derbyshire to a second batting point that had looked unlikely when Leach struck twice in consecutive overs.Daryn Smit edged low to Mitchell at second slip and after Jeevan Mendis had driven Nathan Lyon for six and swept the Australian offspinner for two fours, he loosely clipped Leach to deep square leg. But Worcestershire’s hopes of wrapping up the innings were dashed by the tail until Ed Barnard came on at the City end and had Taylor caught behind to give Ben Cox his 200th first-class catch.Palladino was lbw to a full-length ball to leave Worcestershire with a potentially tricky 20 minutes of batting before lunch but there were few alarms as the openers closed in on Derbyshire’s total.D’Oliveira drove and cut Taylor for four fours in five balls but he should have been caught on 42 at square leg by Ben Slater off Shiv Thakor who was comfortably the pick of Derbyshire’s attack.Mitchell reached his landmark by driving Mendis through the covers for three just before tea, his 25th first-class century coming off 128 balls, before D’Oliveira completed his first in all cricket since last May from 160 balls.The stand was finally broken by Thakor who had Mitchell lbw playing across the line and Leach hit two sixes in the penultimate over before D’Oliveira finally fell with his side still in with a chance of forcing a win on the last day.