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Kent 367 for 5 (Crawley 108, Kuhn 72, Robinson 59*) v Warwickshire
It’s often said – and it’s often said correctly – that these early season Championship games provide little value in the production of Test cricketers.All too often such matches are defined by the seam-friendly surfaces on which they are played and dominated by medium-paced bowlers who exploit those conditions. It can be entertaining, certainly, but it doesn’t bear much comparison with conditions prevalent in Test cricket.But on a fine, straw-coloured surface a young batsman from Kent and a young bowler from Warwickshire not only fought out an enjoyable battle for control of this game, but provided encouragement for the future of England’s Test team.On the day, the battle was won by Zak Crawley. In producing the second first-class century of his career, the 21-year-old provided notice of both his ability and strength of mind in helping his side to a strong position in the match.The first thing you notice about Crawley is his height. Standing at six foot, six inches he clearly has the reach to smother deliveries others cannot and a pleasing ability to deal – usually dismissively – with the short ball. But it is, perhaps, the straightness of his play and judgement over which balls to leave which marks him out as slightly unusual in the day and age of the dasher.He can play, elegantly, off front and back foot and has both a range of stroke and patience that bode well for his future. Those who know him at Kent talk of his ambition and, while it is premature of talk of an England call-up, James Taylor, watching on in his role as an England selector, can only have been impressed.While the figures hardly suggest it, Henry Brookes was almost as encouraging. Aged just 19 and playing the seventh first-class game of his career, he was the quickest of Warwickshire’s attack and, in generating swing and bounce, underlined the huge hopes his club have of him.Given just a little fortune, he would have dismissed Crawley for 46. The ball he produced, demanding a stroke and leaving the batsman late, was pretty much perfect. But Dom Sibley, at second slip, was unable to cling on to a tough, low chance which may not quite have reached him. It may yet prove to be a pivotal moment in the game. Sibley also dropped Darren Stevens, on 14, in the dying moments of the day.That moment apart, the only other time Crawley appeared troubled was as he neared his century. The nerves clearly began to tell as the milestone approach and it wasn’t a complete surprise when, shortly after reaching it (from 165 balls with 17 fours), he was caught behind off the inside edge as Jeetan Patel gained just a little turn to take advantage of an uncharacteristic gate between bat and pad.There were half-centuries, too, from Heino Kuhn and Ollie Robinson. While Kuhn’s was no surprise – he has played international cricket, after all – 20-year-old Robinson lost little by comparison. This was easily his best innings at this level to date and, in timing the ball sweetly, he suggested he could enjoy a long career at this level.Warwickshire may feel they could have bowled tighter. While their bowlers beat the edge on several occasions – once the first new ball went out of shape and was replaced by one that swung, anyway – there were a few too many release deliveries to build any meaningful pressure.There were moments when they seemed to get it all together – not least in a spell when they claimed three for 35 in mid-afternoon – but a stand of 119 for the fifth-wicket between Kuhn and Robinson ensured that Kent could look back on their decision to bat first – something of a rarity at this time of year – with satisfaction.Earlier Sean Dickson poked one to gully, Matt Renshaw was drawn into driving one that left him sharply – Craig Miles’ first Championship wicket for his new team – and Daniel Bell-Drummond edged one that left him slightly. Kent wore black armbands throughout the day in honour of Bell-Drummond’s older brother, Paul, who died on Wednesday after an illness.With Warwickshire suffering from something of an injury epidemic, they recalled Tom Milnes, a seamer they had released in 2015. Milnes subsequently joined Derbyshire but was also released by them in 2017. He had trials at a few counties in 2018 – and played a few games for Sussex seconds – but is now with Warwickshire on a match-by-match basis.He may win more opportunities in the coming weeks. Chris Woakes will play a one-day game for the seconds next week, but is not expected to play any first-class cricket ahead of the World Cup, while Olly Stone has just been cleared to start his rehabilitation after sustaining a stress fracture and is not expected to be available until mid-season. Aaron Thomason, who would have played here but for a pectoral injury, is out for between four to six weeks, with Liam Norwell out for roughly the same amount of time.There were some familiar faces at Edgbaston, too. With a book – The Greatest Season, by Pat Murphy – being launched to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Warwickshire’s treble-winning season, several of that team’s players were gathered to mark the occasion and hold a Q&A session with supporters. Those involved included the likes of Dermot Reeve, Gladstone Small and Asif Din. Ashley Giles, at the time a junior member of the Warwickshire staff, but now the director of England’s men’s teams, came along to sit quietly at the back and listen.

James Vince is hoping a move to the top of the order for Hampshire in the County Championship will earn him a recall to the England side for the Ashes.After a stop-start Test career spanning 13 matches in three years and which has stalled again following one outing against New Zealand in Christchurch a year ago, Vince has spotted an opportunity and is going for it following discussions with England captain Joe Root and national selector Ed Smith about his best chances of breaking back into the team this summer.”We spoke a couple of weeks ago and I asked the question, ‘what’s my best way of getting back into the side?’ and the feedback I got really was they prefer moving people down the order rather than up the order, so by opening the batting here, I give myself the best chance of putting my name forward,” Vince said.”If I open here and a spot becomes available at No. 4, I get the feeling they’re more comfortable moving someone down the order… than batting five here and a spot becomes available at the top of the order, so that’s how i’m going to approach it.”With a big summer coming up, I think there’s a few places that aren’t necessarily nailed down in that side so it’s another positive of opening the batting here and giving myself the best opportunity in probably what’s seen as the toughest time to bat, so if I can come through this first half of the year with some good form and some runs to my name, then we’ll see what happens.”Hampshire captain James Vince at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton•PA Photos

Vince was initially given seven Tests, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2016, to prove himself in that arena, but an average of 19.27 and a failure to reach fifty meant he had to wait more than a year for his next opportunity. It came in the form of five Ashes Tests in Australia, where he scored two half-centuries – including a fluent 83 in the first Test at Brisbane that ended in a run-out – but he still had not cemented his place and that solitary Test in New Zealand was his last, at least until his new plan comes to fruition.”There’s been a few ups and downs,” Vince said of the three years since making his Test debut. “Certain elements I’m happy with how it’s gone, some stuff obviously I would like to do differently, but I guess I’m just trying to not have regrets but try and do everything possible to make sure I’m a better cricketer going forward.”I just turned 28 so a few years left in me yet, I hope, and I’m just trying to use the first half of this summer especially to find good form, be consistent, do everything within my control to push my case for England. I’m trying to keep it pretty simple, learn from stuff that’s gone and try and be better moving forward.”Vince’s response to his Test axing included an unbeaten 201 at Somerset last May but he remained on the outer as far as England were concerned. Selection is all about form – and timing – however, and, with England far from settled on their opening combination for the Ashes amid a lean run of form for Keaton Jennings, indecisive flirtations with Joe Denly as an opener and No.3 and Rory Burns coming under pressure to make more runs, Vince is among a host of batsmen keen to catch the eye of selectors early in this County Championship season.Having spent his time for club and country batting in the upper middle order, Vince opened in Hampshire’s pre-season game against Sussex this week and retired on 70 not out, a small but encouraging step in his transition.Hampshire will be especially keen for Vince’s experiment to pay dividends, given that they have been deprived of the services of his nominal opening partner, the Sri Lanka batsman, Dimuth Karunaratne.The club announced in February they had signed Karunaratne as their overseas player for the first half of the season, taking in County Championship and Royal London Cup games. That was shortly after he captained his side to a historic 2-0 Test series win over South Africa.However, Sri Lanka’s selectors asked Karunaratne to stay at home through April to play the provincial one-day tournament with a view to possibly handing him the one-day captaincy for the World Cup.Despite ongoing negotiations, Hampshire are operating on the assumption that Karunaratne will be unavailable and are seeking the services of another overseas player with the hope of securing someone for the first Championship match against Essex, starting on April 5.”Hopefully in the next few days we should have something set in place,” Vince said. “I know there’s various options out there and we’re exploring a couple of them at the minute and hopefully by the end of the week we’ve got someone named. I’m fairly confident we’ll have someone here for the start of the season.”

South Africa’s anxious wait for an update on Dale Steyn’s injured right shoulder continues, but the fast bowler has seen a specialist in Cape Town since his early return from the IPL. In two weeks, the Proteas will meet for a pre-World Cup camp, and the selectors have until May 23 to name a potential replacement – if Steyn is not fully fit by then.”As it stands, we are aware that Dale Steyn has seen the shoulder specialist since he got back from India,” National Selection Panel convener Linda Zondi told ESPNcricinfo. “But at the moment we’re just waiting for our medical team to keep us updated in terms of his progress. He’s still due to meet up with the team for camp on the 12th, and as the selection panel, we’ll be guided by the medical team, and then we’ll take it from there.”Zondi said the coach Ottis Gibson will be part of the decision making as well. “Ottis is also a specialist from the bowling point of view, so he will definitely take Dale for a run in the nets to see how he’s doing with his shoulder and how far he might have to go. We still have enough time before the 23rd of May to decide whether we need to change the team or not. But for now that’s where we are.”Steyn, 35, played two matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore before his right shoulder – which has previously been seriously injured – flared up. He had already been named in South Africa’s World Cup squad, and had been expected to lead the attack alongside Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, with Anrich Nortje as back-up.Nortje is himself recovering from injury and told ESPNcricinfo that he bowled six overs in a match against the touring Afghanistan Academy team last week and that he is “still busy with rehab and building and getting closer to bowling fitness. Really happy with how things have gone but still have a bit of work to do”.Ngidi, who has been recovering from a Grade II muscle strain in his side, also got some overs in his legs against the touring Afghanistan side. JP Duminy’s rehabilitation from shoulder surgery continues, and he has returned to competitive action with the Cape Cobras at the tail end of the CSA T20 Challenge. Definitive news on Steyn, however, is yet to emerge, and in the meantime CSA have potential replacements on stand-by – though they don’t want to say exactly who just yet.

In deciding on the readiness of young players to compete at the highest level, it is often said “if they’re good enough, they’re old enough”. Seldom though do you hear people opining that “if he’s good enough, he’s young enough”. In the 41-year-old Gareth Batty and the 37-year-old Rikki Clarke, Surrey quite definitely possess two of the more mature players on the circuit; yet they are both very much young enough.With this match drifting listlessly to what already seemed an inevitable high-scoring draw, Surrey’s gnarled old pros, longer in the tooth than your average walrus, broke the game open with a pair of interventions after tea.On Monday, it was Darren Stevens assuming the role of Yoda. This time, with Kent cruising comfortably at 227 for 2 on a placid pitch offering nothing to the bowlers since before lunch on day one, it was Batty to whom Rory Burns turned, much as Princess Leia did to Obi Wan Kenobi.Batty was, it seemed, Surrey’s “last hope”. The pitch was offering little by way of turn, but Batty summoned his most seductive Jedi mind tricks in assuring first Heino Kuhn and then Ollie Robinson the very next delivery that “these are the balls you are looking to edge”. Two arm balls, albeit with a little more bounce than either batsman was expecting, assisted by two very sharp Ben Foakes catches had suddenly thrown this somnolent, soporific match wide open.Wiaan “agent” Mulder came in to face the hat-trick ball but knew “the truth was out there”, just on a length outside off stump and spoiled the fun with the middle of a stoutly defensive bat.What Mulder didn’t see coming was the leaping left hand of Will Jacks at gully who dived impossibly far to snatch the ball an inch off the ground to an audible collective gasp from this now thoroughly engaged crowd. Jacks repeated the trick in the first over of a new spell from Clarke to remove Alex Blake, and when Stevens, who had survived two mighty close shouts for lbw off Clarke was finally put out of his misery by umpire Graham Lloyd, Kent had lost five wickets for 33 runs.All the while, Sean Dickson, who scored 318 the last time Kent played a first-class fixture at Beckenham, was looking on aghast from the other end. Just three hours earlier he and Zak Crawley had been busy compiling an untroubled, and often attractive opening stand of 128.Crawley really does look the real deal. Against a seam attack of Morne Morkel, Clarke, Sam Curran and the distinctly brisk Conor Mckerr, he appeared to have all the time in the world. Granted, there was little happening off the pitch, and neither did it swing, much to the surprise of the odd luminary in the commentary box, but there are few more testing attacks than Surrey’s and it came as a surprise when he was spectacularly castled by Clarke for 63, pushing out at a ball he should have been defending and losing his middle and off stumps in the process.Just as Clarke had sprung that first surprise, it was down to Batty to deliver the second when he too removed the middle stump, this time of Daniel Bell-Drummond who was attempting to run the ball down through third man. It was both too close to him and way too full. An ugly drag back ensued. Those Jedi mind tricks again. Frustration, disappointment and unfulfillment again from a player who has promised so much for years, at least since that terrific hundred against the touring Australians in 2015.The second new ball was taken as soon as it was available. Curran immediately accounted for Dickson, getting him caught strangled down the leg side to end an unspectacular but highly efficient innings from the opener in rather unfortunate circumstances. The last two wickets soon followed, the final one to another quite brilliant catch from Jacks at short leg to give Morkel his only wicket. Surrey’s catching had been exemplary, even spectacular on occasion.One bad session had produced eight wickets for just 91 runs. What at one time looked like a possible first-innings lead had resulted in a deficit of 145 runs. It is frequently the challenge for promoted sides to maintain intensity across the full duration of a match in this highly competitive top tier. Kent’s squad in large part lack Division One experience. Experience, though, is something Surrey have in abundance, and Batty and Clarke were quite simply the difference. Young enough? You bet.

Having had a full week to reflect on her remarkable bowling feats in the third ODI against England, allrounder Ellyse Perry was as humble as she had been while receiving the Player of Match award in front of her team-mates and – very humbled – rivals two Sunday evenings ago in Canterbury.Perhaps it was the fact she was still surrounded by her fellow Australian players on the team bus as they made the journey to Taunton for the Ashes Test starting on Thursday, perhaps there was something in the fact it sounded like she had just been awoken from a nap when she picked up the phone. But a modest, understated, team-first attitude seems simply to be Perry’s style.”I think it did come out of the blue, to be honest,” Perry said of her career-best 7 for 22 which routed England, bowled out for 75, and sealed a 3-0 ODI series victory, worth six Ashes points. It was also the the best ODI bowling performance ever by an Australian woman.Ellyse Perry picked 7 for 22, the best by an Australian woman in ODIs•Getty Images

She credited Australia bowling coach Ben Sawyer, who is also head coach of Perry’s WBBL side Sydney Sixers, with helping her – and, of course, her fellow bowlers – since he joined the national team last September.”I’ve been really fortunate to work with Ben Sawyer for a number of years now and we just always try to keep developing and progressing things as a bowling unit,” Perry said. “For whatever reason the other day it was just my day and it went my way and I guess you have those days every now and then when you play. It was just one of those ones that I can’t really explain but it was nice.”Perry had another one of those days the last time Australia played England in a Test. Her unbeaten 213 in the drawn match at North Sydney Oval in November 2017, is the third-highest in a Test innings by any woman.An elite athlete, Perry takes a keen interest in many sports, having gone to watch Roger Federer play Kei Nishikori and Novak Djokovic against David Goffin in the Wimbledon quarter-finals and kept tabs on the FIFA Women’s World Cup, having made 18 appearances for Australia’s national team, the Matildas, in her previous career as a football player.”It feels like a long, long time ago now but I certainly, like anyone else, absolutely love the Matildas and enjoy following their progress and how they’re going,” Perry said. “But personally I think football feels like a whole other career ago, I guess. With England making it to the semi-finals there was a lot of buzz over here. It was really big news and I kept a bit of an eye on it.”But back to cricket, and the team. Perry, who has played all of her seven career Tests against England, expects the hosts to come out firing, given they must win the match to keep alive any hope of wrenching the Ashes from Australia.”The situation has set up a really exciting Test match because I know as a team we’re really eager to play an exciting, enjoyable brand of cricket to watch and part of that is trying to push for a result and be successful in the Test match,” Perry said. “England are in a position now where they need to win the Test match, so from that point of view, it means there’s going to be some really great cricket played.”England are an incredibly capable side with a number of very, very good players. I know they’ve been disappointed with how they’ve performed in the series so far but I think we’re all incredibly wary of them and what they’re capable of doing and given the pressure that they’re under to be aggressive and play well and win this match coming up it’s going to be a really good fight for us.”

Australia’s coach Justin Langer has declared James Pattinson and Usman Khawaja certain starters for the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston, while also consigning Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle to a three-way duel for the final pace bowling spot on a dry-looking pitch and with an unpromising weather forecast.The tourists pushed their main training session forward to Monday with its sunny skies, ahead of an expected stream of showers over the rest of the week, including once the Test begins on Thursday. Khawaja proved his recovery from a hamstring strain through a series of running drills, and spent quality time in the nets against Pattinson, who Langer effectively cleared for a first Test match since 2016 and a first Ashes match since he suffered a side strain midway through the 2013 Lord’s Test.”Usman Khawaja will definitely be in, he’s fit, ready to go, he’s playing well,” Langer said. “He’s a seasoned pro for us, he averages 40-odd in Test cricket, his hammy’s good, he’s running well, he’s passed all the fitness tests so he’s ready to go. He’ll bat No. 3.”ALSO READ: Head softens approach for Ashes questNumerous selection debates remain to be had, although Cameron Bancroft looks highly likely to return alongside David Warner at the top of the batting order, followed by Khawaja, Steven Smith, Travis Head and Matthew Wade. Mitchell Marsh is a contender also, particularly if the pitch continues to get a chance to dry further – something of an open question given that it may well spend much of the next two days under the covers.”Like in all these selections, there’s literally a case for 17 blokes to play,” Langer said. “The opening partnership’s going to be really tough, between Cameron and Marcus Harris, really hard. They’ve both got a really strong case, and then the fast bowling spots. There’s probably three to be fair, Starcy, Peter Siddle and Josh Hazlewood, for one spot.”It was very similar to the World Cup semi-final as well, we got here, it was the same, the grass, but it wasn’t green grass. But we still saw some life in it in that we came unstuck in the semi-final. The wicket doesn’t surprise me, that’s more what I was expecting here.James Pattinson steams in during Australia’s net session•Getty Images

“Because the grass is so brown, there’s no green grass on it, and it’s rock hard and quite dry underneath, I don’t think [wet weather] will make much difference. I’m not a horticulturalist, but I don’t see how that’s going to get green. It might just be a bit of sweating and stuff, but I don’t think it’ll make a difference because of the colour of the grass. Probably the groundsman would give you a better answer than me.”Pattinson’s return not only to the squad but to a position where his selection was all but confirmed three days before the first ball is clearly a source of great enjoyment for the Australian team’s planners, having guided him through numerous injuries and then radical back surgery in New Zealand in late 2017. He forms a key part of an attack that will be shuffled according to the character of the pitches and weather the tourists encounter, much as they did during the World Cup.”Just a very, very good bowler,” Langer said of Pattinson. “I’m sure Painey will work out ways of using him, it’s just nice to see him back, it’s a great story isn’t it, coming back from where he was as a young bowler, the back surgeries, to more than likely being selected for this Test match, it’s a great story.”They won’t be rotated as such, like in the World Cup we’ll pick the best three or four for every game we play. Lord’s is very different to here, Old Trafford’s going to be different. We won’t rotate them per se, but we’ll just pick the best three, probably not four, but three for every game. It won’t be for different opposition, certainly different conditions.”As for Bancroft, whose work at short leg was lauded by Steve Waugh, the tenacious qualities he had shown in battling back to a place in the squad, and more than likely the team, are of the sort that Langer wants to see in every member of the squad.”Whichever ones we pick, that’s what you want from everyone, so it’s not just him,” he said. “I think Matthew Wade’s fought his way back into selection because of that tenacity to keep getting better and he’s knocked so hard on the door. You see it, if Steve Smith averages 60 it shows a bit of tenacity, David Warner’s the same. You want it from all of the players, not just him.”

The 3D sequels aren’t over yet. Among the clarifications India’s chief selector MSK Prasad made on Sunday were a couple related to World Cup selections. Prasad stressed the decision to leave out Ambati Rayudu did not have any bias. He also explained why Rishabh Pant and Mayank Agarwal had been picked as replacements for the injured Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay Shankar respectively, and admitted the choices may have seemed “confusing” to people.The Rayudu riddle
The World Cup final hangover may be wearing off but Indian cricket’s obsession with a discarded No. 4 is not. When India’s World Cup squad was announced in April, Rayudu had been left out in favour of Vijay Shankar, with Prasad saying the latter brought “three dimensions” to the side. A day after the announcement, Rayudu in a not-so-cryptic tweet said: “Just ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the World Cup.” It was followed by a winking and a smiling emoji. On Sunday, while announcing India’s squads for the West Indies tour, Prasad said he had “really enjoyed” that tweet. “Frankly speaking, it was a lovely tweet, I really enjoyed it. Seriously. It was a very timely one, very sarcastic. it was fantastic one. I don’t know how it struck him.”He also addressed the “emotional” side of Rayudu’s decision to retire from all forms of cricket earlier this month. Although he had been marked as India’s No. 4 by Virat Kohli last year, the selectors didn’t pick him to go to England even after Vijay Shankar was injured and the team needed replacements. Prasad insisted there was no bias in that decision, and added that his committee had backed Rayudu previously.”First of all, how much emotions have gone through anybody, the same emotions also have gone through the selection committee,” Prasad said on Sunday. “When we pick any player and he does well, we feel so happy for him. Similarly, when someone, out of emotions, goes out in this way, selection committee members also feel for it.”But, having said that, with regard to the decision that was taken, it was devoid of any bias or any favouritism. From the beginning, I have been telling why we have picked Vijay Shankar, why we have picked Rishabh Pant or Mayank Agarwal. Somewhere, it is definitely related to Rayudu’s case also. There’s no second thought, there’s nothing against that.”I will give you a small example on Rayudu. When Rayudu was picked on the basis of the 2017-18 T20 performance, we picked him in the one-day side, there was a lot of criticism but we had some thoughts about him. Subsequently, when he failed a fitness test, this selection committee backed him and we put him through a fitness programme for a month, and we ensured that he comes back fit and comes into the side. Once he came into the side we backed him, but due to certain permutations and combinations of the side, we couldn’t pick him. That doesn’t make this selection committee or me, in person, biased.”I hope you will understand that there was a certain programme that was set to see that Rayudu should come into the side. There’s nothing that we did against any particular person. So how much Rayudu is emotional, we are also emotional. We as ex-cricketers also feel for him. That’s it, that’s what I can say.”Getty Images

Picking Pant for Dhawan, Agarwal for Vijay Shankar
When an inexperienced middle-order batsman replaced an injured opener, and then an uncapped opener took an injured allrounder’s place in India’s World Cup squad, it “baffled” several fans and experts, including Sunil Gavaskar. After the side’s semi-final loss to New Zealand, Gavaskar said a batsman like Rayudu should have been in the squad, since he was among the standbys, and could have handled the crisis of being 24 for 4 in a semi-final better.”It is not the selection committee’s decision. It is the team management which has been asking these things,” Gavaskar had said. “We are not saying you are wrong but at the moment what we are seeing didn’t work out, so we need to know.”Prasad addressed these issues on Sunday, clarifying that Pant and Agarwal had been picked on requests made by the team management.”When Shikhar Dhawan got injured, we had a third opener in KL Rahul. At that juncture, after those two-three matches, we didn’t have a left-hander at the top,” Prasad explained. “Since KL Rahul was going to open, the team management requested for a left-hander and we had no choice other than Pant. We were very clear about that. We know what he is capable of. That’s the reason why we had to bring in a left-hander, which actually confused many people thinking why a middle-order batsman has been picked for an opener.”When Vijay Shankar was injured, again a middle-order player was injured, and an opener was brought in. In a game against England, when KL Rahul was trying for a catch, he had a big fall on the boundary line and he didn’t field for the rest of the innings. There was a medical emergency at that stage whether he will be continuing or not. There was so much of a worry factor. At that juncture, a written communication was given to us that we need a back-up opener.”We looked at some of the openers. Some were not in form, the others were injured. That is why we went for Mayank Agarwal. So that is very clear, no confusion on this. I’m sure by the end of the day all these speculations will be clear.”

Afghanistan allrounder Mohammad Nabi has informed the Afghanistan Cricket Board of his decision to retire from Test cricket after the ongoing one-off game in Bangladesh.Nazim Zar Abdur Rahim Zai, the team manager, made a statement at the end of the second day’s play in Chattogram saying that Nabi, 34, would continue to play white-ball cricket, but wants younger players to take his place in the longest format.”Though this is very early for Nabi to stop playing Test matches, this being his third Test match, he will resign from Test matches and this is his last Test,” the team manager said. “I hope he plays well. He bowled well today. He told me that newcomers will join Tests, though he will continue in ODI and T20Is for Afghanistan.”Nabi has been one of Afghanistan’s most influential cricketers right from the time they started playing international cricket, or even in the period when they were coming up the ranks to where they are now.He has been a popular pick and a consistent representative for Afghanistan in the worldwide T20 circuit. Including the IPL and the Big Bash League, Nabi has played in most major domestic T20 leagues for several years, apart from also playing almost every game for Afghanistan.Most recently, Nabi had made a strong impression in the Vitality Blast for Kent, taking eight wickets and scoring 147 runs.

Elite Group A league matches washed out by rain in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2019-20 have been rescheduled, with similar changes expected for rain-affected Group B games.ESPNcricinfo has confirmed that the Group A league phase, played in Bengaluru, will now run until October 16. It was originally scheduled to end on October 13, with the knockouts – also in Bengaluru – starting from October 20.Overall, 17 of the 30 matches scheduled over the first three days ended with no result, with this year’s tournament being severely affected by rain, particularly in Bengaluru and Vadodara, the venues for Groups A and B. Under the new points system, the top five teams across both groups combined will qualify for the quarter-finals, leaving teams to feel the pinch of lost game time. Group C matches have been held as scheduled in Jaipur, where the weather has stayed clear. Plate Group matches in Dehradun have also had to deal with some rain and it is likely these, too, will be rescheduled.”We are working on the rescheduling and it should be done soon,” BCCI general manager Saba Karim told ESPNcricinfo. “We want to have as many matches as possible. Three of the groups were affected, A, B and D due to unseasonal rains, so we’re looking at how to accommodate those. The matches in Jaipur have gone on smoothly.”The new group A schedule, which ESPNcricinfo has seen, will have matches on October 2 and 8. These days had been previously designated as rest days, under the old schedule, with no games across the competition. This move has accounted for all six matches that were washed out without a ball being bowled: Mumbai v Saurashtra, Andhra v Chhattisgarh, Hyderabad v Karnataka, Mumbai v Jharkhand, Hyderabad v Goa and Kerala v Chhattisgarh.Matches in Group A will be held on 12 of the 19 days between September 28 and October 16, with room for further readjustments if needed. It is likely that a similar format will be followed for Group B, whose league games were also originally scheduled to end on October 13. The weather conditions and forecast in Vadodara are poorer than they are in Bengaluru though, so the possibility of some rain-affected results despite rescheduling remains.ESPNcricinfo understands there was a meeting between the team managers of Group A in Bengaluru with BCCI officials on Thursday evening, where the rescheduling was discussed, though all teams were not in favour of it. But, with the BCCI taking a decision, the new schedule was finalised by Friday mid-morning.The tournament began on September 24, and over the first three days, there wasn’t a single completed Group B match in Vadodara. All matches scheduled on September 24 and 26 were abandoned without a ball bowled, while three matches played on September 25 began but were later abandoned.In Bengaluru, six matches were washed out on the first two days. The first match of the group took place on September 26, when Karnataka took on Jharkhand. It was also the league’s first match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the sub-air drainage system makes it possible for the ground to withstand heavy rainfall and still get a full game in. The other two games in Bengaluru were also completed, though they were truncated.Dehradun has had one no-result each on both days that play had been scheduled.

There were big-name omissions, surprise picks and several bumper paydays for local players as the draft for the Hundred took place in London. Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan legspinner, was the first name selected in what is a ground-breaking exercise in British sport, while Chris Gayle and Lasith Malinga were among the top-bracket overseas stars to be overlooked in the opening round.With England Test players and a pair of ‘local icons’ already selected earlier this month, the eight teams each had to fill 12 more spots in their squads for next year’s inaugural competition. The format allowed 100 seconds for the team management to settle on their choices, with the Trent Rockets kicking things off by taking Rashid.West Indies allrounder Andre Russell was second out of the hat, selected by Southern Brave, followed by Aaron Finch going to the Northern Superchargers and Mitchell Starc to Welsh Fire. Australia players were popular – the Future Tours Programme leaves them available for the whole of the Hundred – with Steven Smith, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and D’Arcy Short all among those taken at £125,000 (USD161,000).ALSO READ: The Hundred draft – as it happened“It’s going to be exciting to be in the first ever hundred-ball comp,” Smith told Sky via a satellite link. “I’m looking forward to joining the Welsh Fire, Jonny [Bairstow] and Starcy and the boys there – it looks a good squad that they’ve picked up so far so I’m looking forward to it.”There were also eye-catching deals for domestic players, with Liam Livingstone picked up in the first round by Birmingham Phoenix – more than doubling his earnings after setting a £60,000 (USD78,000) reserve price – while the Manchester Originals went down the local route by taking Dane Vilas, Lancashire’s captain, for £125,000.The second round, with contracts pegged at £100,000 (USD129,000), saw young English batsmen Phil Salt and Tom Abell make their way north to Manchester, while World Cup winner Liam Dawson was signed to play at his local ground, the Ageas Bowl, for Southern Brave. England wicketkeeper Sam Billings was picked up by the Oval Invincibles and experienced allrounder Ravi Bopara went to Birmingham Phoenix.With overseas players unable to be purchased at below their base price, there were several notable omissions – perhaps influenced in part by availability. Alongside Gayle and Malinga, South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada was overlooked in the £125,000 bracket, while the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Trent Boult missed out on the £100,000 slots.Shakib had been touted as a popular pick but Bangladesh’s programme of Tests against Sri Lanka and New Zealand in July and August next year rendered his availability uncertain; similarly, Babar Azam had entered with a £75,000 price tag after a finishing as the leading run-scorer in this year’s Blast, but is likely to be involved in Pakistan’s Test series against England.”Coming here I was confident that I would get picked up,” Russell said. “Not sure which team but I was confident. If I didn’t get picked up then I’d be surprised. But I’d understand that because you’ve got a lot of good players all around the world and they’re all here in the draft to be picked. With the likes of Chris Gayle, Bravo, Malinga and those guys that didn’t get picked up, I would have that feeling right now like them.”The draft took place in Sky’s west London complex, using a bespoke studio featuring eight three-man pods from which the teams could make their deliberations. The head coaches were all in attendance, accompanied in most cases by an assistant and the team’s analyst, with the early rounds concluded relatively quickly – few picks took anywhere near 100 seconds as the top targets were snapped up.The Hundred main draft picks•Getty Images

Darren Lehmann, head coach of the Northern Superchargers, was pleased to have got his top three picks – Finch, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Chris Lynn – while Shane Warne, his counterpart at London Spirit, said there had been a few “surprises” but he was happy with how things had panned out.”To have [Mark] Wood and [Mohammad] Amir as opening bowlers, the spin of Mason Crane, [Roelof] van der Merwe and Maxwell is pretty good, gives a lot of variety and we’ve got some guys that can bash it – and I think the Hundred is going to be about bashing it,” Warne said.With 96 picks to be made and 571 names in the draft, there were bound to be more losers than winners on the night. England quick Olly Stone missed out, having set a reserve price of £50,000 (USD65,000), as did former internationals such as Samit Patel, Steven Finn, Ian Bell and Morne Morkel, who was available as a domestic player via his Kolpak deal with Surrey.Other noteworthy picks included Essex’s Blast-winning pair of Simon Harmer and Ryan ten Doeschate going to Welsh Fire, where they will be joined by Liam Plunkett and Ravi Rampaul (but no Welsh players). Birmingham signed New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi – although his availability could also be in question – while Afghanistan allrounder Mohammad Nabi went to London Spirit. West Indies allrounder Fabian Allen won a deal at the Invincibles, and New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner heads to Manchester.There were some early trends that stood out. Southern Brave looked to stock up on pace, adding Russell, Tymal Mills and George Garton to the previously selected pair of Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan. Several teams picked along local lines – Trent Rockets going for Nottinghamshire pedigree in Steven Mullaney, Luke Fletcher, Matt Carter and Tom Moores, while the Superchargers added Durham bowlers Brydon Carse and Nathan Rimmington. Birmingham Phoenix left their choice of wicketkeeper until the final round, before picking up two in Riki Wessels and Chris Cooke.Manchester Originals, meanwhile, set their focus on the longer term, adding Salt, Abell, Joe Clarke, Ed Pollock and Ed Byrom to ‘local icons’ Matt Parkinson and Saqib Mahmood – all of whom are 25 or under. Under the rules for the competition, up to 10 players will be allowed to be retained for the second season in 2021.”I really like the fact that the teams are planning for the future a lot. You look at our side, you’ve got a lot of guys that are in their young 20s,” said Jos Buttler, who was allocated to Manchester before the draft. “It’s fantastic to see all the coaches and staff look at it in that way rather than just the here and now.”You look at Saqib [Mahmood] and [Matt] Parkinson they could be Manchester Originals players for the next 10 years.”