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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.

The rain-interrupted semi-final between Services and Mumbai will go into its sixth day on Monday. Services trail Mumbai by 291 runs with seven wickets in hand

The Report by Sharda Ugra in Delhi20-Jan-2013
ScorecardThe Services Ranji Trophy team may not be familiar with a World War I ditty called . They would be well aware though that the road to the Ranji Trophy final is equally distant, with the semi-final having turned into a first-innings shootout against Mumbai. At stumps, in pursuit of Mumbai’s total of 454 for 8, Services were 164 for 3 with captain Soumya Swain batting on 64 and Yashpal Singh on 43. Their unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 92 has given Services the most alluring of sniffs at pulling off, for the second match in a row, one of the biggest upsets in Ranji Trophy history.This rain-interrupted and wet-pitch dominated match will now go into its sixth day on Monday to allow both teams to complete their first innings. Services need 291 runs more to get past Mumbai’s first innings score total, and Mumbai need seven wickets.On Sunday, the entire morning session was again lost due to the effects of the hailstorm and unexpected showers of two nights ago. The covers over the match pitch had been blown away and the track had to face the brunt of a downpour in the early hours of Saturday morning. Then, even after being baked in golden winter sunshine all of Saturday, there was more waiting to be done on Sunday morning. Thanks to early morning cloud cover and poor light, the moisture on the track had not dried up enough to get play started on time.Mumbai had made its intentions clear when play finally began at 12.10 pm. Facing the first ball of the day, Agarkar spanked a four off Shadab Nazar over midwicket and then, in Nishan Singh’s next over, hit the bowler for a six down the ground. Seventy-two overs had been scheduled for the day and the Mumbai batsmen didn’t want to use up too many of them. Thanks to a late dash from Dhawal Kulkarni, Mumbai crossed 450 scoring 74 runs in nine overs before the declaration came 41 minutes into the second session.Services tried to mix up their bowlers and spread the field, but Mumbai were on the move. Kulkarni scored 20 off 12 balls, playing straight but hitting long. His innings included a six and a four off left-arm spinner Avishek Sinha, who was brought on in the fourth over after Nishan Singh went for 13 runs. The change made no difference to Mumbai and Sinha was hit for 23 off three overs in the morning.Mumbai stamped their presence all over the match when they reduced Services to 22 for 2 in the 14th over. Mumbai’s attack against Services was led by Dhawal Kulkarni, who used length and pace to cramp their openers and dry up the runs. At one stage, Services went 46 balls without scoring as Kulkarni gave Pratik Desai a working over, bowling a line that turned him square, produced two lbw appeals and then hit him on the leg. After ten overs of scratching around by the Services openers, Kulkarni had Nakul Verma trapped leg before, trying to work one onto the onside. The introduction of the left-arm spin of Ankeet Chavan at the other end ended Desai’s laborious 73 minutes at the crease, the latter yorking himself and Services sliding to 22 for 2.It took two 50-plus partnerships for the third and fourth wickets to give the Services batting its oxygen. Swain was involved in both, first with Anshul Gupta (for 50 runs) and then with Yashpal Singh.After scoring an unbeaten 118 against Himachal Pradesh in the second match of the season, Swain had largely struggled. His highest score between that match and the semi-final was 33. In Palam today, however, he was like all left-hand batsmen – stylish in strife, batting with a fluid grace and timing. Barring a few anxious end overs, as the light began to drop and the slowness of the clock began to wear his concentration down, Swain endured. An edge off Ajit Agarkar’s bowling fell short of Wasim Jaffer at second slip and Shardul Thakur beat him several times.Yashpal was just the hardy companion Swain needed, as the two men were watched by their team-mates sitting in the plastic chairs around the boundary. A man stood near the scorer, shouting out totals and scores.The odds, however, are still against a Services upset. After a first day in which they lost six first-innings wickets for 169, Mumbai have played like the much stronger team they are reputed to be. A seventh-wicket partnership of 246 runs between captain Agarkar and Aditya Tare took Mumbai to more than respectability. On day five, they were able to press the pedal half-way to maximum.The weather tomorrow promises to be good, the track has dried up and the sixth day’s play is suddenly full of possibilities.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formed a task force to advise the board on how to improve domestic cricket in Pakistan

Umar Farooq14-Dec-2011The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formed a task force to advise the board on how to improve domestic cricket in Pakistan. The team will study and review the existing structure of domestic cricket, consider its weaknesses and strengths and will make recommendations within two months. The recommendations of the team, though, will not be binding on the PCB.The team is made up of familiar names in Pakistan administration: former Pakistan captains Javed Miandad, Intikhab Alam, Zaheer Abbas and Moin Khan, and former players Sarfraz Nawaz, Iqbal Qasim, Imtiaz Ahmed and Zakir Khan, who is director of domestic cricket in Pakistan. Alam, who has been both a coach and manager of the national side and is now both the director of international cricket for the PCB and director of academies, will be chairman of the task team. Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, was also approached to be a part of the team but declined because of other commitments.Some of the members of the team have questioned why it has only been given a recommendatory role.Nawaz said the team members would use their experience to determine why Pakistan’s domestic cricket was not producing more world-class cricketers. “The board want our input and we are ready to use the best of our experience to give them that. It is their responsibility to either implement it or not,” Nawaz told ESPNcricinfo.”There is definitely some problem with our existing domestic structure that is hampering the quality of our players. We have to sit down and discuss it right from the start. All the members of the team have rich experience of playing the game. Most of the members have played ample first-class cricket in different eras and understand the structure. I think the quality is missing and that is why we are not producing world-class cricketers. So we have to sit and pen down the differences in the structure of domestic cricket over the years and look for flaws that need to be fixed to get back the quality we had on our circuit.”The structure of domestic cricket in Pakistan has seen several changes over the last six decades. The period from 2001 to now has been the most inconsistent, with changes made every two years. The present structure starts with the inter-district Under-19 tournament, then has the inter-district senior championship followed by the National Under-19 event. After that there is the Patron’s Trophy grade II and then the country’s premier first-class event the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The format of QEA has remained intact from last season, with 22 first-class teams – both regional and departmental outfits – competing in a two-league structure. The one-day tournament is the next event, followed by the Pentangular Cup: a first-class tournament among provincial teams and sometimes featuring a combination of provincial teams and top teams from QEA – again an inconsistent format. The season ends with the Twenty20 Cup played among all the 13 regional teams.Nawaz said the returns the board were getting from domestic cricket were not equivalent to their spendings. “The PCB has invested a huge amount in domestic cricket but the output isn’t a quality one,” he said. “Most of our current players aren’t in the same class as Wasim [Akram], Javed [Miandad] or Waqar [Younis]; they end up playing a maximum of two years of international cricket. We want to produce players who can play international cricket for at least five to ten years on their own abilities.”We will be studying the structures of most of the successful playing nations and will come up with feasible and the best recommendations for domestic cricket. After that it is the PCB’s responsibility to take up our suggestions and implement them.”Iqbal Qasim, who is now head of sports for the National Bank of Pakistan, also said there were faults in Pakistan’s domestic cricket. “It’s a good sign that the board have at least realised there are flaws and the system requires evaluation,” Qasim told ESPNcricinfo. “Every member in the body has huge experience of domestic cricket and I hope the team can come up with the best recommendations that are helpful for Pakistan.”

Andrew McDonald made a terrific comeback from a broken hand, only to pick up a calf strain as Victoria took the advantage on the opening day against South Australia in Adelaide

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Dec-2010
ScorecardAndrew McDonald picked up 3 for 1, and a calf injury•Getty Images

Andrew McDonald made a terrific comeback from a broken hand, only to pick up a calf strain as Victoria took the advantage on the opening day against South Australia in Adelaide. McDonald picked up 3 for 1 as the Redbacks were knocked over for 168, and by the close of play Victoria were within sight of first-innings points.The Bushrangers went to stumps on 3 for 141, with Aaron Finch on 25 and Cameron White on 38, with McDonald set to bat with a runner after his injury struck. He had skittled the middle order of the home team with three wickets, all caught by David Hussey in the slips, before the calf problem ended his spell after 21 deliveries.It was an eventful return for McDonald, who had missed nearly a month after his outstanding start to the summer was cut short when he broke his hand. John Hastings chipped in with 4 for 37, including the last two wickets as South Australia struggled having chosen to bat on a pitch usually renowned for runs.Callum Ferguson did his Test hopes no help by making a second-ball duck, one of the men who edged McDonald, and Tom Cooper (53) was the only man to post a half-century. In reply, Rob Quiney (42) and Michael Hill, who made 34, gave Victoria a solid start before Ben Edmondson picked up two wickets, including David Hussey for a golden duck.