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New Zealand’s inability to bowl out Australia during the Trans-Tasman series has placed the spotlight on their highly regarded pacemen Trent Boult and Tim Southee

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch25-Feb-2016At the start of this summer, New Zealand had two bowlers inside the top ten in the Test rankings: Trent Boult and Tim Southee. Australia had one, Mitchell Johnson, and unbeknownst to them he was about to retire. But the inability of New Zealand’s attack to take 20 wickets in any of the five Tests between the teams this season was a major factor in Australia’s domination and retention, twice, of the Trans-Tasman Trophy.Perhaps the most surprising thing was that in their home conditions in Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand’s attack, led by Southee and Boult, struggled to find anywhere near as much swing as Australia’s fast men. The conditions played a part – Steven Smith won the toss and sent New Zealand in on green pitches in both matches – but Australia also proved capable of finding reverse swing later in the Tests.The final wicket tally for the five Tests home and away makes for lopsided reading. Josh Hazlewood topped the wickets with 22 at 32.63, Nathan Lyon was second with 20 at 27.75, and Boult was third with 18 victims at the inflated average of 42.11. No other New Zealander took more than 10 wickets across the five Tests and only Neil Wagner and Mitchell Santner, who each played only one Test, averaged under 40.Southee’s tally was especially disappointing. He finished the summer with nine wickets against Australia at 62.77, and rarely looked seriously threatening. Although Southee took 13 wickets at 16.30 in the two home Tests against Sri Lanka that came between the two Trans-Tasman contests, outgoing captain Brendon McCullum said after the loss in Christchurch that Southee could soon face competition for his place.”It’s probably not my question to answer any more. He is a strong leader in the group but Tim’s got some challenges in the next little while,” McCullum said. “There’s other guys coming through who are performing very well, Matt Henry in particular, and it’s going to push Tim to make sure he’s operating at his best which we saw for a good 12 to 18 months. He’s got some challenges but I still believe he’s a strong leader in the group and he’s just got to smooth out some of his rough edges.”One man who did himself plenty of favours at Hagley Oval was Wagner, who collected match figures of 7 for 166 and was tireless in enacting the team plan of repeated short-pitched bowling to a packed leg-side field. It was a desperate tactic used because the New Zealanders were failing to swing the ball, but Wagner’s willingness to bowl long, hard spells will make him an attractive option for the selectors going forward.”The beauty of Neil is that he makes things happen,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. “Even on benign surfaces, where we play the majority of our cricket, he does generate wicket-taking opportunities. I think he got 6 for 70 in the first innings once he decided to bowl 25 overs of bumpers and there are not many people around the world who can do that.”I have been fortunate enough to work with Neil for a long time, so I know he’s a gutsy performer. But I thought the skill he showed, that’s a really a difficult thing to do, to get the ball between chest and head consistently and I thought his ability to keep them in that area and keep challenging was world-class and certainly kept us in the match.”Should the selectors decide to grant more opportunities to Wagner and Henry in New Zealand’s upcoming Test campaigns, it could mean something of a changing of the guard, with the attack having been based around Southee and Boult for some time. Hesson conceded that choosing New Zealand’s attack would not necessarily be as straightforward as it had at times in recent years.”I think there will be [tough selections],” Hesson said. “Tim and Trent for two years have been exceptional for us but we have different guys in the squad who do different things. We have alluded to Neil. He brings a different option. Dougie Bracewell is a bit different, as is Matt Henry, so within those five we have got, we should be able to get a pretty good attack in all conditions around the world.”New Zealand finished the five Tests against Australia this summer with four losses and one draw, but Hesson said he felt that the battle had been somewhat closer than that scoreline suggested.”In Australia we felt we were pretty close in Adelaide,” Hesson said. “I think over here, to be fair, we weren’t close in the end result but certainly felt that if things had been a little different then we might have been able to put a bit more pressure on them.”

Simon Jones took the wickets of Eion Morgan and Adam Voges with consecutive balls as Glamorgan won their rain-affected Yorkshire Bank 40 Group C match against Middlesex by 11 runs in Cardiff

14-Aug-2013
ScorecardSimon Jones showed some of his old spark to claim two key wickets•Getty Images

Simon Jones took the wickets of Eoin Morgan and Adam Voges with consecutive balls as Glamorgan won their rain-affected Yorkshire Bank 40 Group C match against Middlesex by 11 runs in Cardiff.It was their second win in three games – they beat Somerset on Monday – as they moved up to second place in the group, level on points with leaders Somerset with a game in hand.Glamorgan lost the toss and made 153 for 9 in a match reduced to 25 overs per side, but Middlesex, who will struggle to now make the semi-finals, could only make 142 for nine despite skipper Neil Dexter scoring 54 from 52 balls.Glamorgan made a fortuitous start when Gareth Rees top-edged Steven Finn for six in the first over but Finn got his revenge having Mark Wallace caught at point while at the other end James Harris delivered a tight three overs as the home side reached 31 for 1 after seven overs.That became 38 for 3 after Toby Roland-Jones struck twice to remove Chris Cooke and skipper Marcus North. Jim Allenby’s arrival saw some impetus injected into the Glamorgan innings as he took a four and a six off consecutive balls from Dexter, before Paul Stirling’s part-time offspin claimed two wickets.Allenby holed out on the midwicket boundary before Murray Goodwin top-edged a sweep to short fine leg as the Welsh county found themselves 85 for 5. Harris made that 89 for six as Rees was bowled making 32 from 53 balls.Some much-needed impetus to the Glamorgan innings came with 14 coming off an Ollie Raynor over including a Ben Wright six over long off and 18 from an over from Harris.The start of the batting power play saw Wright holing out to Finn ending a 43-run partnership with Wagg, who helped Glamorgan take 21 runs from the final three overs.Middlesex struggled at the start of their reply. Allenby bowled Dawid Malan with the fifth ball of the Middlesex innings and a good Michael Hogan over saw Joe Denly edge behind to leave Middlesex 14 for 2 at the end of the fourth. Allenby struck again in the seventh over as Paul Stirling drove him straight to mid-off to Middlesex 30 for 3.And Jones turned the game right in Glamorgan’s favour with two wickets in consecutive balls to leave Middlesex 32 for five in the eighth over. He got the prize wicket of Morgan with his third ball helped by a good catch by Cooke diving forward at cover and followed that up by trapping Voges lbw.But Middlesex recovered through John Simpson and Dexter who put on 59 in nine overs until the impressive Simpson was snaffled at mid-wicket off Dean Cosker, who took three wickets from 11 balls as the Panthers found themselves 138 for 8.Dexter, with the only half century in the match, got it down to 20 required from the final over but he holed out to the second ball of the final over.

Ireland will host a Test nation for the first time in an international Twenty20 when Bangladesh arrive for a three-match series. The matches on July 18, 20, starting at 5pm, and 21, at 4pm, will all be played at Stormont in Belfast.

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2012Ireland will host a Test nation for the first time in an international Twenty20 when Bangladesh arrive for a three-match series. The matches on July 18 and 20, starting at 5pm, and 21, at 4pm, will all be played at Stormont in Belfast.Ireland are stepping up their preparations for the World T20 in Sri Lanka in September and their coach Phil Simmons is keen to play more T20, believing his squad can find success in the shortest format.”We have a number of players ideally suited to the short form of the game,” Simmons said. “There are still a few slots up for grabs and it’s an ideal opportunity for the players to make a case for themselves to be included in the World T20 squad.”Kevin O’Brien struck the winning runs in Ireland’s victory over Bangladesh at the 2009 World T20 in England and is hoping for more success in this series. “We’re currently ninth in the world rankings and a series win would help us in our quest to get extra points to get up the ICC Rankings,” O’Brien said. “We’ve just beaten Afghanistan and we’ll be looking to keep that winning momentum going. I’m sure the Irish public will flock to what is always a great evening out.”Cricket Ireland have promised to lay on an extravaganza of entertainment and ticket holders for the abandoned ODI against Australia can gain free entry to one match of the series.

Virender Sehwag, who is yet to fully recover after undergoing surgery on his shoulder, has made it to 17-man India squad for the Test series in England, but will miss the first two weeks of the tour to give him time to recuperate further

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2011Virender Sehwag, who is yet to fully recover after undergoing surgery on his shoulder, has made it to 17-man India squad for the Test series in England, but will miss the first two weeks of the tour to give him time to recuperate further.Sachin Tendulkar returned to the squad after skipping the West Indies tour to rest, while Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth made comebacks from injury breaks. Yuvraj Singh, who missed the West Indies tour with a chest infection, also forced his way back into the Test plans following his excellent performance in the World Cup. M Vijay and Virat Kohli, who have so far failed to impress in the West Indies Tests, were dropped, while Suresh Raina’s strong show in the same series helped him retain his place.Abhinav Mukund, who made a dogged 48 in Barbados on Friday, will travel to England as the reserve opener. Wriddhiman Saha was included as the back-up wicketkeeper, edging out Parthiv Patel. Cheteshwar Pujara is yet to recover from the knee injury he picked up in the IPL, and misses out once again.Munaf Patel made the squad despite missing the first two West Indies Tests with fitness issues. Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar, who have been among the wickets in the Caribbean, round off the pace attack, while Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra make up the spin department.The tour begins with a three-day warm-up match on July 15, with the first Test starting on July 21 at Lord’s.The squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Gautam Gambhir (vice-capt), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Abhinav Mukund, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar

Middlesex took just 77 minutes to complete victory over Surrey by an innings and 44 runs on the third day at Lord’s despite dogged resistance from Chris Tremlett who produced an unbeaten half century

31-Jul-2010

ScorecardMiddlesex took just 77 minutes to complete victory over Surrey by an innings and 44 runs on the third day at Lord’s despite dogged resistance from Chris Tremlett who produced an unbeaten half century.It meant the hosts took maximum points from a County Championship fixture for the first time in 28 games and inflicted their first defeat by an innings over their historic rivals since 1995 with only one victory in the intervening time, in 2004.Surrey, in contrast, took a solitary point from the match after two of their three bowling bonus points were deducted for a slow over-rate. The last time they were so trounced by Middlesex, an EGM at The Oval called for wholesale manageme changes, though the petitioners were not immediately successful.Surrey cricket manager Chris Adams said: “We’ve just got to take this on the chin and re-group”. He also revealed fitness doubts over Andre Nel, Surrey’s spearhead bowler, for the rest of the season. At least the few Surrey fans who turned up had something to cheer in the performance of Tremlett, whose undefeated 53 required only 42 balls and was his first fifty since joining the county this year.The England fast bowler had made six fifties in his Hampshire days but none was quite as exotic as this. After Surrey resumed 146 behind at 110 for 6, Tremlett arrived at the crease when Gareth Batty was magnificently caught by Josh Davey who, diving to his right, held on to a full-blooded drive one-handed at short extra cover.This gave Tim Murtagh his one wicket in the innings off the day’s 13th ball but Tremlett was immediately dropped off the next by Owais Shah at third slip. Escaping before he had scored, he dominated a stand of 67 runs in 62 balls before Stewart Walters, swinging at a wide one, attempted one Twenty20 shot too many.Caught behind, Walters went for 43 to Pedro Collins who had been brought back into the attack after punishment to Toby Roland-Jones. The inexperienced youngster was given just one over before being wisely withdrawn when it was smashed for 12 runs. He had done the real damage yesterday evening with his maiden five-wicket haul and finished with 5 for 41.Shaun Udal, greeted by Tremlett with a six off his fifth ball, removed Jade Dernbach after another 29 came in 21 balls and then Collins ended the innings next over.

Dani Gregory takes three wickets to derail Sunrisers in run chase

ECB Reporters Network14-Jul-2024The South East Stars coasted to a 44-run win over the Sunrisers in the Rachel Heyhoe Flint Trophy at Beckenham on Sunday.The Stars were bowled out for 258, after an innings dominated by a record-breaking 148-run partnership between Bryony Smith, who made 84, and Alice Davidson-Richards, who hit 70. Jodi Grewcock took 3 for 43, while Mady Villiers, Grace Scrivens and Eva Gray claimed two wickets apiece.The visitors had looked well set on 88 for 1, but once Jo Gardner was out for 39 they subsided to 214 all out with Dani Gregory taking 3 for 47 and Smith 2 for 31. Alice Macleod was the top scorer with 44.The hosts chose to bat under heavy skies but suffered a double blow when Villiers took two wickets in three balls. Phoebe Franklin was caught for five at deep mid-wicket by Florence Miller, before Paige Scholfield was lbw for a second-ball duck.The Stars responded with a their highest ever List A third-wicket stand, a watchful, patient partnership between two senior players. Smith was dropped on 13 and 73, but played a low-risk innings, until she brought up her 50 by smashing Villiers back over her head for six.Davidson-Richards reached the same landmark by smearing a full toss from Gray over cow corner but she was caught by Gardner at long-on off Grewcock. The same combination saw off Emma Jones for 2, before Smith was stumped off Grewcock by Amara Carr.Aylish Cranstone was then run out by Flo Miller for 21, but Ryana MacDonald-Gay injected some urgency into the innings with 37, 20 of which came from a single over before Scrivens had her caught by Grewcock. Eva Gray then took two wickets in three balls, yorking Kalea Moore for 4 and trapping Dani Gregory lbw for a second-ball duck.Dani Gregory took three wickets to derail Sunrisers•Getty Images for Surrey CCC

Chloe Hill was stranded on 21 not out when Tilly Corteen-Coleman swiped Scrivens to Villiers, with one ball of the innings remaining.The Sunrisers lost Scrivens early on, when Franklin got her for 11, caught by Jones on the boundary, but they hit back with a stand worth 75 between Macleod and Gardner that ate up 19 overs until Gregory bowled the former with a ball that spun back and hit middle. Up until that point the visitors had looked slight favourites but a cluster of wickets left them struggling to cope with the run rate.Jones struck in the first over after the drinks break when Grewcock pulled her to Scholfield at midwicket and Moore then bowled Villiers for 1. Smith claimed the key wicket of Gardner for 39 from 74 balls and then got Amu Surenkumar for 11, both lbw.Gregory then struck twice in successive overs. Miller tried to sweep her and was caught by MacDonald-Gay for 11, before Carr lofted her to Aylish Cranstone 20.Brilliant work by Moore saw Sophie Munro out for 12 and although the Stars were denied a bonus point win was sealed when the last-wicket duo of Gray and Kate Coppack took the score past 206, the result was secured when MacDonald-Gay cleaned up the latter for five.The result sees the Stars leapfrog their opponents in the table and the competition now pauses for the Hundred.

She played a Test match for Australia against England at the Junction Oval in Melbourne in February 1958

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Apr-2023Faith Thomas, the first Indigenous woman to play for Australia in any sport, has died aged 90.ESPNcricinfo has been granted permission to use Aunty Faith Thomas’ name and image.Thomas, a fast bowler, played a Test match for Australia against England at Junction Oval in Melbourne in February 1958.Related

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Thomas was a survivor of the Stolen Generations policy, and was raised at Colebrook Home in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges, where she played cricket on dirt roads using homemade bats and a rock if there was no ball as a child. She got a chance to study nursing at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, which is where she got into hockey and cricket.