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Legendary legspin coach Terry Jenner will travel to Zimbabwe later this month to conduct clinics with some of the country’s up-and-coming bowlers

Cricinfo staff19-Jan-2010Legendary legspin coach Terry Jenner will travel to Zimbabwe later this month to conduct clinics with some of the country’s up-and-coming bowlers.”We are expecting Terry Jenner on January 26 to hold coaching courses with our spinners,” Ozias Bvute, Zimbabwe cricket’s chief executive, said. “This is part of our programme to improve the standard of cricket in the country.”The appearance of Jenner will help Zimbabwe’s aim of showing the wider world that the rows which blighted it over the past decade are a thing of the past. He follows in the footsteps of former England bowler Mike Hendrick who visited at the end of last year.

Star seamer leaves Southampton after four fruitful seasons, and heads for club he originally signed for in 2020

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2025Mohammad Abbas, the Pakistan seamer, has swapped Hampshire for Nottinghamshire, where he will be available for six fixtures in the forthcoming Rothesay County Championship.Abbas, who has claimed 758 first-class wickets at an average of 20.66, will begin his stint in May, following the conclusion of Fergus O’Neill’s month-long spell with the side. He will then return to the club in September for the closing stages of the County Championship season.Abbas joins fellow seamer O’Neill and South Africa international Kyle Verreynne in agreeing terms as an overseas player for the upcoming red-ball campaign, with Conor McKerr (three-year contract) and Daniel Sams (Blast) having also joined the club ahead of the new season.He had originally agreed to join Nottinghamshire for the 2020 season, before his stint was curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic. He subsequently starred for Hampshire, claiming 180 wickets at 19.07 across four summers, with successive 50-wicket seasons in 2022 and 2023.In a statement, Hampshire explained that they had released Abbas due to a need to “rebalance their squad”, with James Vince’s retirement from first-class cricket meaning they are exploring options for an overseas batter.”Mohammad has consistently been one of the top performers in the County Championship and has unfailingly produced his very best for Hampshire time and time again,” Giles White, the men’s director of cricket said. “His character will be sorely missed in the dressing room and on the pitch, and everyone at the Club wishes him the very best in his career.Abbas’s first-class form earned him a recall to the Pakistan Test side against South Africa this winter. In total, Abbas has 101 international wickets in 30 matches across formats, while his domestic record also includes 79 wickets for Leicestershire between 2018 and 2019.”Trent Bridge is a special place to play cricket, so it will be great to call the ground home this summer – especially after not being able to come over and play for Notts five years ago,” Abbas said.”I’ve really enjoyed my time in the English game, and the squad at Notts is in an exciting place. There’s a good blend of young talent and senior players who’ve been around for a while and know their game really well, and I’m looking forward to contributing in any way that I can to their success.”Nottinghamshire’s head coach Peter Moores said: “Players of Mo’s experience and track record don’t come around all that often, so we’re really excited about what he can bring to us this summer.”His control and his ability to find a way of getting wickets on any sort of surface make him extremely valuable; he’s certainly been a tough opponent for us to face over the years.”We’ve already got an exciting group of bowlers at our disposal for the summer, and the addition of Mo’s craft and subtlety will add a different style of bowling to the rest of our attack.”

Scorchers had reached 30 for 2 after 6.5 overs when umpires stopped play to inspect the pitch, with the fixture abandoned soon afterwards.

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2023Melbourne Renegades’ Big Bash League clash with Perth Scorchers has been abandoned after 6.5 overs because of safety concerns over a water-damaged pitch.The ground staff in Geelong worked feverishly on Sunday to dry the pitch after heavy rain crept under the covers overnight. Renegades captain Nic Maddinson declared the pitch still “absolutely drenched” at the toss and sent the Scorchers in to bat.Scorchers had reached 30 for 2 after 6.5 overs when umpires stopped play to inspect the pitch, with the fixture abandoned soon afterwards.In a statement, Cricket Australia said: “CA will conduct a thorough review into the extremely frustrating circumstances that have resulted in the game being abandoned and a huge disappointment for fans and players.”The decision to abandon the game came after concerns from batters over inconsistent bounce and extravagant seam movement, in particular from the Scorchers’ Josh Inglis. At the time, Aaron Hardie was unbeaten on 20 off 23, while Inglis was not out on 3 off 7.”That last delivery we saw behave quite uncharacteristically and in our minds we thought it behaved dangerously so that was the reason for coming off,” umpire Ben Treloar told .”When we initially started we saw the pitch, we had a good look at it, [but] until you start playing on it sometimes these things don’t present themselves. After the first few overs we were quite hopeful it was going to be okay but then it started to go south and that last one was enough for us to consider it dangerous.”Ashton Turner, Perth Scorchers’ captain, said there were doubts over the surface before the game began but it was worth trying to get a game played.”Start of the day we knew there were some doubts over the wicket but credit to both teams, we made a fair go of it,” he said. “We had enough evidence to call the game off and think the umpires made a really difficult decision, but probably the right decision”There were definitely question marks over the nature of the wicket but think we needed to try and make something happen. Fortunately no one got hurt and the playing conditions say that no one has to get hurt to call it off which I think is common sense.”He added that officials perhaps needed to look for ways that a game could still carry on when a situation such as this develops.”Think we need some flexibility with the playing conditions,” he said. “I’ve heard ideas floated about whether we can play from one end, no doubt there is a way that we could get a game of cricket but we need some flexibility with the playing conditions to allow that.”Renegades veteran Aaron Finch told the broadcast that deliveries had taken “big divots” out of the surface.”Josh Inglis said it felt dangerous when he was batting,” Finch said. “It’s just bouncing ridiculously. If that’s bouncing on line with someone’s body or their head, then that could [cause] some real issues.”It’s hard to say [if it’s too dangerous] when nobody’s been hit but you don’t want to wait for somebody to get seriously injured.”In a statement, Melbourne Renegades said: “On Sunday morning, the club was made aware that the GMHBA Stadium pitch sustained some water damage during Saturday’s heavy rain. Kardinia Park Stadium Trust undertook work throughout the day to improve the condition of the wicket and match officials deemed the surface safe to commence play.Renegades general manager James Rosengarten added: “Our first thoughts are with our fans – the loyal supporters we have across Geelong and Victoria. We are incredibly disappointed in tonight’s events.”We had an important match against the Scorchers and our fans have a right to feel incredibly let down. It should have been a great night of cricket and we will discuss the outcomes of that in the days ahead. The club will ensure that all general public ticket purchasers are refunded”

Four Sri Lanka batters hit quick 30s to overcome Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 45-ball 84

Sreshth Shah03-Sep-20222:55

Maharoof: ‘Gunathilaka proved a lot of people wrong’

Last Saturday, Sri Lanka were all out for 105 against Afghanistan. Just seven days later, though, the very same batters put in a strong all-round performance – this time batting second, out of choice – to thwart Afghanistan’s challenge and complete a four-wicket win in the first match of the Super 4 round of the 2022 Asia Cup.Even though the highest individual score for Sri Lanka was 36, many of their batters chipped in, pulling their weight with a target of 176 in front of them. Kusal Mendis provided the early assault, Pathum Nissanka showed his many gears, Danushka Gunathilaka helped them shift the momentum, and as the game entered the death overs, Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Wanindu Hasaranga mauled the Afghanistan bowling to help the competition’s official hosts win with five balls to spare.However, it wasn’t all about the Sri Lanka batters. Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s special innings of 84 off 45 balls meant Afghanistan were eyeing 200 at one stage, but the Sri Lanka bowlers restricted them to a much-lower total.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Maheesh Theekshana conceded just eight runs off his two overs at the death, Hasaranga went for only 23 in his four overs, and left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka took 2 for 37. Overall, it was the highest successful T20I chase in Sharjah and, more importantly, gave Sri Lanka two points on the Super 4 table.For Afghanistan, it was a first T20I loss after posting a 170-plus total. They will now have to recover quickly, otherwise a slide is a realistic possibility with fixtures against India and Pakistan to follow. Rashid Khan went for 39, no other batter apart from Gurbaz looked fluent, and the 2022 Asia Cup suddenly seems very wide open.The Gurbaz show
It was an early reprieve for Gurbaz that kickstarted the Afghanistan innings’ lift-off. After hitting his first six of the day in the third over, Gurbaz tried to repeat the same on the next ball but ended up hitting it to long-off where Gunathilaka took the catch but stepped on the boundary skirting in the process.Gurbaz’s eight off five balls soon became 50 off 22 as he continued finding boundaries, preferring the region between long-on and deep midwicket most. With Hazratullah Zazai struggling to a 16-ball 12 before being bowled by Madushanka, and Ibrahim Zadran, the No. 3, slow off the blocks, it was Gurbaz’s attacking shots that brought up the team fifty in 6.1 overs.Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit four fours and six sixes in his 45-ball 84•Getty Images

The pitch was two-paced – there was the occasional low bounce – but Gurbaz rallied on to take Afghanistan to 70 for 1 by the eighth over. But no boundary in the next four overs brought Sri Lanka back into the game. Gurbaz, though, dragged the momentum back in Afghanistan’s favour by finding sixes off Dasun Shanaka and Chamika Karunaratne in back-to-back overs, and Ibrahim joined in with a few lusty blows of his own down the ground.The Sri Lankan squeeze
Karunaratne’s 21-run 14th over meant Afghanistan entered the final six overs needing only 68 more to reach 200; with nine wickets in hand, that was a real possibility. But Hasaranga gave away only six in the 15th over, and Gurbaz was caught at deep midwicket in the next while trying to take Asitha Fernando on. Theekshana’s 17th and 19th overs went for a total of eight runs, and Ibrahim fell to Madushanka, for a 38-ball 40, in the 18th.Najibullah Zadran did smack 17 in ten balls, but his dismissal, along with the quick wickets of Mohammad Nabi and Rashid in the last two overs, meant Afghanistan could add only 12 off the last 12 balls, and only 43 off the last 36.Sri Lanka’s openers put on 62
Nissanka struggled early against Fazalhaq Farooqi – their wrecker-in-chief in the previous outing – but Mendis was not afraid to take on Afghanistan’s two main spinners. His region of choice was the square boundary on the leg side against both Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid, as he creamed a slog sweep over deep midwicket off the former in the fourth over and hit two sixes off the latter in the sixth, which went for 17.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Only once before had Rashid conceded 17 or more runs in his opening over in T20Is, and with Sri Lanka at 57 for no loss after the powerplay, the base was set for the middle order to take the chase forward.Mendis fell for a 19-ball 36 just after the powerplay ended, mistiming a pull off Naveen-ul-Haq to deep midwicket, which brought the spotlight on Nissanka. Nissanka looked like the anchor around whom the others would hit out, but he fell in the ninth over, for 35 off 28, when trying to chase a Mujeeb half-tracker.The middle order steps up
With both openers out in quick succession and two new batters at the crease, Afghanistan had their tails up. Gunathilaka and Charith Asalanka were watchful initially, and that saw the required run rate creep up to 9.88 after 11 overs. But Gunathilaka then attacked Mohammad Nabi, and Sri Lanka took 14 and 11 from his two overs, the 12th and 14th of the innings respectively. That ensured the required run rate stayed under ten even though Shanaka and Asalanka fell attempting big hits.2:54

What went wrong for Rashid Khan?

However, Afghanistan’s back broke when Rajapaksa hammered Naveen for 4, 4, 6 in an 18-run 16th over. The first boundary was hit past point, the next one was straighter through deep extra cover, and the best of the lot – the six – was hammered over the bowler’s head. Rajapaksa was dropped off the final ball of that over, and with the Afghan shoulders drooping in unison as a reaction, it seemed like the match was already in Sri Lanka’s pocket.Rashid then got into a chat with Gunathilaka after the batter reverse-swept him for four, forcing Rajapaksa to intervene and keep matters under control. Even though Rashid won that battle with Gunathilaka’s wicket for a 20-ball 33, Sri Lanka needed only 25 from 20 balls at that stage.Hasaranga smacked three fours off the first six balls he faced, and even though Rajapaksa fell for a 14-ball 31 trying for a glory shot when the target was two runs away, celebrations began among the Sri Lanka fans well before the winning runs were hit.

He replaces WV Raman, coming back after his last stint had ended in an acrimonious fallout with Mithali Raj

ESPNcricinfo staff13-May-2021Ramesh Powar has returned as the India Women coach, after his first stint ended in acrimony in late 2018 amid a fallout with Mithali Raj.Powar was replaced by WV Raman, and will now take over from the incumbent. While Raman’s coaching tenure began in December 2018, the Indian team has been largely inactive for almost two years, including the time period after which the Covid-19 pandemic struck.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Under Raman, India reached the final of the T20 World Cup in 2020, losing to Australia on March 8. With the pandemic striking worldwide almost immediately after, the team didn’t play another international match until their home series against South Africa Women that began on March 7 earlier this year. South Africa won the ODIs 4-1, and the T20Is 2-1. Raman’s position had come in for scrutiny following the losses to South Africa, and those reversals, ESPNcricinfo understands, prompted the selection panel led by Neetu David to ask the BCCI for a rethink on the support staff. BCCI secretary Jay Shah is believed to have spoken to at least one member of the selection committee before the Indian board put out an advertisement, on April 13, inviting applications for the head coach’s job – for a term of two years, with the job including overseeing the senior team as well as the India A and Under-19 teams.Powar was then selected by the Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising Madan Lal, RP Singh and Sulakshana Naik, who interviewed a number of candidates for the post which saw 35 applications. Besides Powar and Raman – who re-applied – the others in the fray were Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Ajay Ratra, Mamtha Maben, Devika Palshikar, former chair of selectors Hemlatha Kala, and former assistant coach Suman Sharma.Related

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ESPNcricinfo understands Powar is expected to meet with the five-member selection panel, led by Neetu David, on a virtual platform this week to pick the squad for India’s upcoming tour of the UK, which kicks off with a one-off Test on June 16 in Bristol.Powar had first been appointed as coach in July 2018 in an interim capacity, and his contract was then extended to cover the 2018 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean. While India reached the semi-finals of the event, its aftermath had Raj and Powar trading accusations, with Raj saying she felt “deflated, depressed and let down” by the actions of Powar during the tournament, and Powar countering that Raj had “threatened to retire” mid-tournament if she wasn’t given the opener’s slot.The controversy meant Powar’s contract was not renewed, even though senior players Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana had both written to the BCCI urging them to continue with him.Powar then worked at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and with the India A sides, before taking over as the coach of Mumbai men’s team in February 2021. Under his charge, Mumbai turned their fortunes around to romp to the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-overs domestic competition) title after a forgettable Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign in which they won only one of their five games.In his playing career, Powar played two Tests and 31 ODIs for India from 2004 to 2007, taking a total of 40 international wickets. His domestic career spanned from 1999-00 to 2015, as an offspinning allrounder of considerable skill. He took 470 first-class wickets (average 31.31) while also scoring 4245 first-class runs (average 26.53) in 148 games. He played 113 List A matches, taking 142 wickets and hitting 1082 runs. Powar played 28 T20 games, including in the IPL for Kings XI Punjab and Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

The proposal is a way of defying the ICC’s prohibition of bilateral tournaments comprising any more than three teams

Daniel Brettig24-Dec-2019A four-nation limited-overs tournament comprising India, England, Australia and one other invited nation has been proposed by the BCCI in part as a way of defying the ICC’s prohibition of non-ICC tournaments (apart from the Asia Cup) comprising any more than three teams in current and future Members Participation Agreements (MPA). The Super Series – as announced by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly over the weekend – is proposed to be rotated annually between the boards of cricket’s three major financial powers, starting 2021, and span two weeks.As players and officials around the world reacted to the Super Series proposal, Ganguly toned down his language by telling the that “nothing is confirmed yet” and “nothing is concrete”.However, ESPNcricinfo has learned that, as was the case in the lead-up to the Big Three breakaway move by the BCCI, ECB and Cricket Australia in 2014, a central issue is the terms under which India will be prepared to sign the MPA. Back then, the issue was primarily a larger slice of ICC tournament revenue for the BCCI, and the resultant reshaping of the global scene saw millions of dollars pushed back India’s way, a scenario that remained even after many of the reforms were rolled back after 2015.Nevertheless, Ganguly stated even before he was formally installed as BCCI president that one of his agenda items would be to increase India’s share of global cricket revenue, an uncannily similar ticket on which N Srinivasan vaulted to the top of world cricket’s hierarchy before he was sidelined as a result of the IPL corruption scandal. Srinivasan is now back in circulation as a senior figure behind many of the recent machinations.This time around, the four-nation bilateral series concept has risen in direct opposition to the idea floated by the ICC’s chief executive Manu Sawhney of two “Champions Trophy-style” ODI events in the next tournament cycle to begin in 2023. This would be geared at providing a global event in each calendar year and thereby allow greater and more consistent flows of ICC revenue to nations other than India, England and Australia, all of whom are increasingly reliant on this central funding for their operations.Linked to this is the intention for the MPA to limit the types of tournaments that member boards can stage, in order to raise the value of ICC broadcast rights as the global governing body would be the only source of events that collected all of the game’s most attractive teams and players at once for international tournaments.At the same time, this would serve to raise bilateral revenue for all nations via league structures for Test matches and ODIs that require all nations to at least maintain some pretence of playing each other an equitable amount, rather than the rich nations simply playing off against one another every year or two. Asked recently whether there was any danger of India, England or Australia not signing the MPA as a result of their reservations about an extra ICC event, CA chairman Earl Eddings had said he hoped such a scenario could be avoided.”We’re a long way off – this is post 2023 so we’ve got a number of years to work through it, but you can’t do one thing without the other,” he told ESPNcricinfo earlier this month. “To be able to work on your Future Tours Programme, you need to know where that fits in with an ICC schedule, so you can’t just look at an ICC schedule in isolation, just as you can’t look at a bilateral or Future Tours Programme in isolation.”There has been some anxiety among member nations about the direction of the ICC, pushing aggressively for an increase in global events revenue, since Sawhney took over from David Richardson at the end of this year’s ODI World Cup in England, and Eddings and chief executive Kevin Roberts recently met with Sawhney in Melbourne to discuss the issues of the moment. Eddings and Roberts are due to travel to India to meet Ganguly and the new BCCI administration in Mumbai in January around Australia’s first of three ODIs against India.The ECB confirmed its leaders recently met Ganguly and other BCCI office bearers, during which time the concept of the four-nation event was discussed. “We meet regularly with other leaders from the major cricketing nations to share learnings and discuss topics that impact our sport,” the ECB said in a statement. “A four-nation tournament was raised at a meeting with the BCCI in December and we are open to discussions with other ICC members to see if this concept can develop.”CA has been tight-lipped about the proposal, with some conjecture as to how much of it has yet been shared with the governing body by the BCCI. Australia’s coach Justin Langer admitted that the tightness of the current schedule made any attempts to slot in extra tournaments extremely problematic.”We all understand the schedule in world cricket is really tight,” Langer said. “So I am sure there will be lots of negotiation and there are people, that’s their role to negotiate and get that right. But we all know it is a tight schedule.”Struggles for other ICC member nations have been underlined by the fact that New Zealand’s board has returned a financial loss each of the past three years, while Ireland have recently been forced to cancel a host of matches due to a lack of funds. This after the leaders of the Big Three proposals of 2014 had promised to make all nations better off.

A different fielder was involved each time, and the missed chances contributed to the match ending in a close finish

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jan-201910.1 Williamson to Gunathilaka, no run, dropped! Williamson, nearly! Short and wide and filthy. Gunathilaka slashes it straight at Nicholls who tumbles and grasses it at point33.5 Boult to Malinga, 1 run, dropped by Colin Munro at deep square leg well directed bouncer, Malinga was trying to get out of the way while swatting it. Sends it in the air to square leg. Munro is running in and gets to the ball comfortably, but incredibly enough – spills it. New Zealand have just gone slightly ragged since that DRS failure, with Thisara taking charge post that.34.5 Henry to Malinga, 1 run, dropped! Boult running to his right from mid-off can’t hang on as he slides in the mid-on area. He got there and will be disappointed he didn’t take it. Length ball at middle stump, backs away and swings at it. Top edge, doesn’t go too high. Just enough for Boult to have time39.2 Boult to NLTC Perera, SIX, dropped! Williamson at long-off lets it through and it’s six! Highest score for Perera too. That was the match for New Zealand. Full ball at off stump, drills it off the low part of the bat so there isn’t elevation on this. Williamson gets under it and times his jump well too at head height. But can’t get his fingers behind it42.2 Neesham to Sandakan, 1 run, wide of gully. Taylor leaping to his right, one-handed. Oh he’s got a finger on it. But that was difficult. Short outside off and he cut hard at that43.3 Southee to NLTC Perera, 1 run, dropped! Guptill runs in from long-off and puts down a simple one. Looks like he’s damaged his finger too. Runs off immediately. Or is he just embarrassed? Low full toss dipping away outside off. Swings across the line, get s a top edge. Ground made, catch dropped. Same old story.

England dropped at least 14 chances against West Indies and the head coach also admitted they are no nearer knowing their best top order

George Dobell10-Sep-2017England won’t win the Ashes unless their catching improves, according to coach Trevor Bayliss. He described his side’s efforts as “terrible” during the Investec Test series against West Indies and suggested a lack of concentration could be to blame.England dropped at least 14 chances in the three-Test series. While some of those chances were far from straightforward, there were several that were “quite easy” according to Bayliss. Alastair Cook, at first slip, was responsible for three of the drops, while Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad also missed chances they would normally have taken.While England still proved strong enough to defeat an inexperienced West Indies side (who dropped around 10 chances of their own) 2-1, Bayliss knows the Australian side will not be so forgiving.”The catching has been terrible, especially in the last couple of Tests,” Bayliss said. “We’re not going to go there [Australia] and win anything dropping that many.”We were catching quite well up until the last three Tests and some of the catches we dropped we were quite easy. Dropping easy catches is usually down to concentration.”Ahead of the last Ashes series in England in 2015, Bayliss inspired a sharp improvement in England’s catching. Taking them through some notoriously tough training sessions on a pre-series trip to Spain, it resulted in some outstanding catches – such as Ben Stokes’ remarkable effort at Trent Bridge – during the series.But Bayliss insisted there had been no let-up in the intensity of England’s training and dismissed the suggestion that poor backdrops could be any excuse.”We focus on it all the time,” he said. “It matters all the time, not just in important series. That is the disappointing thing.”It is not from a lack of practice. We are doing a little bit of technique work with some guys which sometimes can take a little bit of time to get a hold of.”You work hard at it and they do it well for a while and then we go through a period where we drop a few and that seems to buck them up a bit. Some of the grounds in this last series haven’t been the greatest viewing grounds but still they are professional players and they should be grabbing hold of some of those they’ve dropped.”Bayliss also admitted he was still not sure of the batting order for the Ashes. While he favours Joe Root returning to No. 3 in the line-up – Root prefers the No. 4 position – he also accepted there was a “big question” over whether the three new faces in the top five had “done enough” to retain their spots.Alastair Cook spilled an early chance offered by Kraigg Brathwaite•Getty Images

While he gave a strong hint that Mark Stoneman (who averaged 30 against West Indies) would be opening in Brisbane in November, the future of Dawid Malan (38.50) and, in particular, Tom Westley (17.75), is less clear. Gary Ballance, Haseeb Hameed and Alex Hales may also come into the selectors’ thoughts in the coming days.”That’s the big question: whether the three guys we have been speaking about all summer have done enough,” Bayliss said. “I am sure they would have loved as much as we would for them to come out and make a couple of hundreds and then there’ nothing to talk about.”Are they good enough for long enough? Are they tough enough especially for an ashes series. We will be discussing other players that we have had in the team over the last 12-18 months. But it will be hard to go past these three guys.”Stoneman does look like a tough cricketer at the top of the order. His game is in good order and nothing much phases him. He’s calm around the changing room, he has a good knowledge of the game and what works for him. He copped a couple of good ones during this series but he didn’t let it worry him. He just came out and made some runs in some difficult circumstances.”Malan missed out early and there was a bit of pressure on him. But he made a couple of 60s since, so he is very much in the running. And Westley, against South Africa, well, there weren’t too many more difficult situations than that.”I would always have Root at No. 3. He is by far our best player and personally I believe that is where your best player should be. I think he will end up at No. 3 at some stage in the future.”He has done well at four and he feels comfortable at four. If that’s where your best player feels comfortable and is scoring runs at number four then that’s the other side of the argument: why change? So whether it’s a three or a four, we still have to find someone who can do the job.”

It feels like the business end of the season and from the point of view of Yorkshire supporters, accustomed as they have become to leading from the front, sixth place in the Division One table, 25 points behind the leaders, cannot look especially promisin

Jon Culley at Headingley04-Aug-2016
ScorecardKeith Barker finished the day with 4 for 55•Getty Images

It feels like the business end of the season and from the point of view of Yorkshire supporters, accustomed as they have become to leading from the front, sixth place in the Division One table, 25 points behind the leaders, cannot look especially promising.Yet Yorkshire themselves still think a third consecutive title is within their compass, reasoning that a game in hand on all those ahead of them, bar Durham, is a significant point in their favour. Four wins in their final seven matches, they reason, should be enough.It seems a tall order. They could do with one of those wins being against their current opponents, given their relative points tally. A victory for Warwickshire would mean that Yorkshire have two teams beyond the reach of their game in hand. They are unbeaten in eight four-day matches against Ian Bell’s team and three of their four wins have been by an innings, but there is no prospect of such an outcome this time.It was just as well that Warwickshire, having had Yorkshire on the brink of a cheap dismissal at 204 for 9, have not been able to prise out the last wicket. Another 48 have been added so far, largely thanks to the enterprise of Steve Patterson and his eager accomplice, Ryan Sidebottom.Warwickshire wanted to bat first and were denied when Andrew Gale won the toss but if this was an advantage Yorkshire did not make the most of it. The pitch is not without challenges but there were a few easy dismissals, and some solid starts not built upon.Travis Head, Yorkshire’s overseas player for the remainder of the season, played nicely and his half-century on Championship debut suggested he can be the all-round asset Jason Gillespie has backed him to become, yet even his innings ended disappointingly.Having despatched Warwickshire’s best bowler with some authority for two fours in three deliveries, the first hit with power through extra cover to complete his fifty off 78 balls, he cut the next ball straight to gully.It was the second of four wickets for Keith Barker, the reliable left-armer, who edged ahead of Kyle Jarvis as the leading Division One wicket-taker with 41 dismissals. A feathered edge accounted for Gale, Jack Leaning pushed forward to one slanted across him and was taken at second slip and Jack Brooks, looking to cut, was bowled off the bottom edge.Leaning’s demise was a little tame, too, although in the context of his season his 42 was at least a step in the right direction. The 22-year-old batsman was one of the driving forces of Yorkshire’s 2015 title win, hitting three hundreds and three other fifties and falling just short of a thousand runs in the season, yet he has struggled this year by comparison.His 51 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in April remains his highest score in 14 innings in the Championship, although he has shown some form against the white ball, including an unbeaten 131 – with five sixes – against Leicestershire in the Royal London One-Day Cup and 64 off 29 balls – again with five sixes – against Northants in the NatWest T20 Blast.”Jack’s gone through a period where he has not scored the runs he would have liked but he is a quality cricketer,” Gillespie, Yorkshire’s coach, said. “He’s disappointed today because he did all the hard work and felt he could have gone on to make a really big score but he has great determination and hopefully this augurs well for a strong finish to the season.”Tim Bresnan was another who may reflect ruefully on the way his innings ended, having survived some difficult moments against Jeetan Patel, who bowled 27 overs unchanged and is already getting some turn. Soon after the dismissal of Leaning had ended a partnership of 60 that had seemed to be putting Yorkshire back on track, an airy clip off his legs off Oliver Hannon-Dalby had Bresnan caught at deep square leg.Hannon-Dalby, back in the side for spinner Josh Poysden with Chris Wright replacing the injured Boyd Rankin, took two wickets against his former county, including the key one of Adam Lyth, a double centurion in his last red-ball innings, with a peach of a ball that moved away late.As Yorkshire teetered at nine-down, Warwickshire looked cock-a-hoop, yet walked off the field frustrated. “We need to get the momentum back but I still think we are slightly ahead of the game,” Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Dougie Brown, concluded.”I don’t think we let it get away from us. Patterson and Sidebottom are good players and they batted very well. Patto’s slightly unorthodox but what he does he does very well. Yes, 200 all out would have been better but 250 for 9 is not the end of the world.”Sidebottom is back in the side for the first time since April, having recovered from an ankle injury and with Jack Brooks returning from a torn quad muscle the Yorkshire attack has the look of the one that has proved so effective in the last couple of years. If Yorkshire are to pull off those four wins, they might hold the key.

Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez has been banned from bowling for 12 months after his action was found to be illegal a second time since November 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jul-20153:26

‘Pakistan’s team combination will suffer’

Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months after his action was found to be illegal for a second time since November 2014. He will be able to have his action reassessed by the ICC only after this period is completed.Hafeez, 34, had undergone testing at an ICC-accredited lab in Chennai on July 6, after his action was reported following the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle in June. The tests revealed Hafeez’s action exceeded the permitted 15-degree limit.”As this report has constituted the player’s second report within a two-year period, the first of which led to a suspension, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period,” the ICC said. “Hafeez is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of an independent assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a reassessment of his bowling action.”

Hafeez’s troubles

• November 2014 – Reported for a suspect action after Abu Dhabi Test v New Zealand

• December 2014 – Suspended from bowling in international cricket

• December 2014 – Tests reveal flex of elbow was as far as 31 degrees

• January 2015 – Fails unofficial retest

• April 2015 – Passes an official retest and is cleared to bowl again

• June 2015 – Reported again after the Galle Test v Sri Lanka

• July 2015 – Banned for 12 months

Hafeez had been reported for a suspect action after the Abu Dhabi Test against New Zealand in November last year, and in December his action was found to be illegal following tests at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees.He underwent remedial work at a biomechanics lab in Chennai, but failed an unofficial test on his action on January 3. Later that month the PCB requested the ICC to retest Hafeez’s action in February in Brisbane, so that he could bowl at the World Cup if cleared, but he was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury. Hafeez was finally cleared to bowl again in international cricket on April 21, after more tests on his action in Chennai.After he was reported following the Galle match, Hafeez bowled in the second Test in Colombo, where he took one wicket before travelling to Chennai to have his action tested. He missed the third Test in Pallekele as a result, but returned to play the first two ODIs in Sri Lanka, taking 4 for 41 and 2 for 61.