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On a day when he paired with Tim Southee to ensure New Zealand’s domination, Trent Boult said better pitches would help solve the problem of making Test cricket appealing

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-20170:37

‘Take a lot of pride in my batting’ – Boult

New Zealand fast bowler Trent Boult is of the opinion that the introduction of four-day Test cricket is not necessary to make the format more appealing. Instead, Boult asked for better pitches that would create a more even contest between bat and ball and make the games more attractive to watch.The inaugural four-day Test will be played between South Africa and Zimbabwe on Boxing Day, with the ICC approving its trial to run through until the 2019 World Cup. At the time of approving the trial, in October, ICC chief executive David Richardson had pointed out that four-day Tests would be helpful for lower-ranked Test nations and the new teams, Ireland and Afghanistan. Cricket Australia chairman David Peever had said the trial was “very sensible” with fans eager to see results in the format.Getty Images

“I love Test cricket, so I’d love to see it stay as it always has,” Boult was quoted as saying by . “In terms of shortening it to let it become more aggressive, I don’t think there’s any need. There’s other formats for that sort of thing. You want to have an even competition or contest between bat and ball. There’s some good wickets going around at the moment and the balls aren’t moving, so that’s what I’d love to see [a contest] – I wouldn’t want it any shorter to encourage aggression.”Boult was speaking after a day of “good fun” against West Indies in Hamilton. Boult and his new-ball partner Tim Southee, added 61 crucial runs for the last wicket, and then combined to take four wickets between them, with each also executing a spectacular catch. Boult’s stunner came when he dived to his left to hold on to a return catch offered by Shimron Hetmyer. By stumps, West Indies were still trailing by 158 runs with only two wickets in hand, having already conceded a 0-1 lead in the two-Test series.When asked if West Indies had not shown enough application with the bat, as they slumped to 215 for 8, Boult said it had not been easy to take wickets.”I can’t talk on behalf of their batsmen but I can tell you for free that they are probably not very happy with being eight down. That’s Test cricket – you can put pressure on the best players in the world and they can fail. From our point of view, we are just trying to be as accurate as we can, build enough pressure.”Boult’s 61-run partnership with Southee came at a brisk clip, with the pair scoring close to 7.5 an over. Boult was particularly aggressive, hitting five fours and two sixes in his 37 not out off 27 balls.”Believe it or not, I take a lot of pride in my batting. Any contribution, not just from myself but the lower order, is very pivotal,” Boult said. “In terms of the game the first innings is the one where we want to go big and get as many on the board as we can. A combination of runs as well as keeping their bowlers and fielders out there. As a bowler you know when the tail comes out and gets a few away, hits a few boundaries, it can become very frustrating.”

The fast bowling duo was added after Dale Steyn picked up a heel injury that ruled him out of the series

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2018South Africa have added the fast bowling duo of Duanne Olivier and uncapped 21-year-old Lungi Ngidi to their squad for the second Test against India later this week. The changes came into place after Dale Steyn picked up a heel injury in the Cape Town Test that ruled him out of the series.Olivier has played five Tests – all of them in 2017 – and Ngidi made his international debut in a T20I against Sri Lanka last year but is yet to play the other two formats at the international stage.Olivier last played Tests in September-October against Bangladesh when he took five wickets in four innings before representing Knights in T20 and one-day cricket. He had made his Test debut against Sri Lanka a year ago in Johannesburg where he took five wickets in the match but has not been able to establish himself as a regular member of the side against strong competition. He also struggled with a knee injury this season, which kept him out of some domestic games.Ngidi, on the other hand, has played three T20Is in which he has collected six wickets with an impressive economy rate of 5.50. He played all those matches against Sri Lanka last year in January, and took 4 for 19 in Johannesburg. He was part of the ODI squad but withdrew with an abdominal muscle injury. He was then part of the South African A side that toured England where he suffered a back injury. It took Ngidi four months to recover and he has only played one first-class match since comeback and took nine wickets for 83 in the game, signaling his readiness for more game-time.Since then he has featured in domestic matches for Titans that featured his best T20 figures of 4 for 14 against Warriors in the Ram Slam T20 Challenge.Both Olivier and Ngidi are currently playing in the domestic one-day cup and will
compete with allrounders Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo for one spot in the final XI, with conditions on the Highveld set to suit an attack of four seamers. However, with India’s bowlers challenging South Africa, they may opt to include a seventh specialist batsman in the XI and all of Olivier, Ngidi, Morris or Phehlukwayo could be benched.The second Test starts on January 13 in Centurion.Squad for second Test: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wk), AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Duanne Olivier, Lungi Ngidi

Nick Winter, who showed an ability to swing the Dukes ball, impressed for South Australia with three wickets as Victoria ended the second day still 131 runs behind

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2018
Getty Images

Cameron White led Victoria’s reply but the young left-arm paceman Nick Winter impressed for South Australia on day two of the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval. Peter Handscomb, in Australia’s squad for the tour to South Africa, was dismissed for a duck.Victoria made a strong start against the South Australia bowlers as Marcus Harris and Travis Dean added 114 for the first wicket in response to SA’s total of 379 either side of the lunch interval.However Winter, who showed an ability to swing the Dukes ball, persisted and was rewarded with the first three wickets of the innings. These included Handscomb, dragging a full delivery onto his stumps after it swung back just enough to beat the middle of the bat.Eamonn Vines helped White steady the innings before he was pinned lbw by Tom Cooper’s part-time offspin, and Matthew Short fell to Joe Mennie before stumps were taken, with Victoria still 131 runs in deficit.

Nepal nearly claimed a fourth final-over win, but excellent death bowling by UAE gave them a seven-run win and a Group A spot in the World Cup Qualifiers

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Windhoek15-Feb-20182:13

Delighted to get across the finish line – Dougie Brown

The Cardiac Kids from Nepal nearly claimed a fourth final-over win, driven by captain Paras Khadka’s second List A ton, but Ashfaq Ahmed’s first-innings 114 proved decisive as UAE held on for a seven-run win to claim the WCL Division Two title at the Wanderers Sports Club.For Ashfaq, it was his maiden List A ton, following in the footsteps of Rameez Shahzad who achieved the same feat last month against Scotland, as UAE continue to lessen their dependency on Shaiman Anwar for match-winning totals.Ashfaq and Rohan Mustafa dominated the opening passage of play, after UAE chose to bat first, putting on a 109-run stand in 24 overs that set up a commanding total. Ashfaq eventually fell to Sandeep Lamichhane in the 43rd over, before Rameez made an unbeaten 41 off 46 balls, and Shaiman offered a quick burst with 40 off 24, including an exquisite extra cover drive for six.Nepal got off to their best start of the tournament in reply, as Gyanendra Malla and Dilip Nath put on 38 for the first wicket, before Nath was bowled by Rohan Mustafa, attempting an ungainly slog. Two balls later, Malla fell to a carbon copy of his dismissal from a day earlier, caught lacing a pull to short midwicket off the medium pacer Amir Hayat, who ended with four wickets.1:58

We showed a lot of character – Khadka

Khadka and Dipendra Airee added 73 for the third wicket, though it was aided by some sloppy keeping from Ghulam Shabber, who dropped Airee twice and also fluffed a regulation stumping chance off Khadka on 22, when the Nepal captain charged at legspinner Imran Haider and was beaten by a googly.Haider eventually claimed Airee for 35, and for a while, it appeared as though the missed chance of Khadka would result in another final-over finish. Even though he continued to lose partners, Khadka chanced his hand with some streaky shots, as the ball continued to evade fielders. However, Khadka made plenty of sweet contact as well, cracking eight sixes in his innings.With 34 needed off three overs, and Khadka on 89, UAE’s bowlers rose to the occasion with spectacular death bowling. Whether it was Mohammad Naveed’s medium pace in the 48th, or Mustafa’s offspin in the 49th, UAE’s bowlers restricted Khadka with pinpoint accuracy on a yorker length, as Nepal entered the final over needing 28. Two singles off the first two balls clinched victory mathematically for UAE, before Khadka struck a six off the fourth ball to bring up his ton off 100 balls. He clattered two more, over extra cover and long-off, to eclipse Ashfaq by four runs as the tournament’s leading scorer with 241 runs.Ashfaq was named Man of the Match for his century. The Player-of-the-Tournament award was claimed by Lamichhane, whose 17 scalps tied him with Oman’s Bilal Khan for most wickets, although Lamichhane’s tailend contributions with the bat, holding up one end in a pair of match-winning last-wicket stands, were arguably just as valuable. Mustafa was his nearest competitor for the award, finishing third with 13 wickets while also scoring 183 runs – eighth in the aggregate.The win for UAE means they join Group A at the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, where they’ll be alongside West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands and Papua New Guinea. As the WCL Division Two runner-up, Nepal go into Group B with Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Scotland and Hong Kong.

The England fast bowler will be playing in the IPL for the first time

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-2018England fast bowler Liam Plunkett will replace the injured Kagiso Rabada in the Delhi Daredevils squad for the 2018 season of the IPL. Plunkett entry takes the number of England players in the IPL to 11, with Jofra Archer – who is qualifying to play for England – the 12th.Rabada, who was Player of the Test series against Australia for taking 23 wickets, was sidelined by a back-stress reaction and was expected to be out of action for three months. He is expected to make a comeback for South Africa’s tour of Sri Lanka in July.Plunkett, 33, had a base price of INR 2 crore (USD 308,000 approx) at the 2018 player auction in January, where he went unsold. Daredevils bought him at that price, having paid INR 4.2 crore (USD 647,000 approx) for Rabada at the auction.This will be Plunkett’s first appearance at the IPL, with England players increasingly attractive after the ECB changed its stance towards the competition, despite the overlap with the county season. Plunkett is unlikely to be involved in England’s Test squad against Pakistan next month, so could theoretically stay with Daredevils for the whole of the tournament.His absence might raise an eyebrow or two in Yorkshire, however. Plunkett injured a hamstring while on duty for England in Australia and New Zealand over the winter and was not expected to be fit for Yorkshire’s Championship opener next week – although the demands of bowling four T20 overs are different to spending four days on the field.Plunkett recently indicated that he wanted to continue playing first-class cricket – rather than pursue a white-ball contract like Yorkshire and England team-mate Adil Rashid – but a spell in the IPL is likely to be both financially and professionally rewarding for a bowler who has become a key part of England’s limited-overs sides.Yorkshire were happy for Plunkett to appear in the Bangladesh Premier League last year and will benefit from a slice of his IPL deal, but the situation for counties is far from ideal. The club’s director of cricket of cricket, Martyn Moxon, is set to chair a meeting between county coaches next week to discuss the issue of players’ involvement in global T20 leagues.”It’s another example of us being between a rock and a hard place,” Moxon told the . “Surrey have had the same thing with Tom Curran [signed this week by Kolkata Knight Riders as a replacement for Mitchell Starc].”What do you do, stop a player going and earning a shed-load of money and have him disappointed around the dressing room for not allowing him to go, etc? It’s a lose-lose really for the counties, and it’s one of the items that we’ll be discussing on Tuesday because, as counties, we feel powerless at the moment.”

Ireland were made to follow on in Malahide, Mohammad Abbas and Shadab Khan sharing seven wickets, before reaching 64 without loss second time around

The Report by Alan Gardner13-May-20185:07

#PoliteEnquiries: Is Abbas the new Asif?

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThere had been pleasantries aplenty, as well as much good will for Ireland as they joined Test cricket’s exclusive club. Now came the hard reality. Responding to Pakistan’s declaration shortly before lunch on the third day, Ireland stuttered and stumbled to 7 for 4, the dream of their Test debut threatening to become a nightmare.From there, they arguably recovered pretty well, but a first-innings score of 130 was still penurious enough for Pakistan to enforce the follow on for the first time in 16 years and seven opportunities. Having waited until the age of 39 to make his Test debut, Ed Joyce might not have minded the chance to bat again. He received a marginal lbw call to be first man out in Ireland’s initial effort but played with greater freedom second time around in an unbroken opening stand.

‘Drugged up’ Wilson plays through pain

Gary Wilson batted with the aid of a painkilling injection after suffering a possible broken arm in the nets before play on the third day of Ireland’s maiden Test. Wilson did not field during the morning and instead went to hospital for an X-ray.
Then, with Ireland in trouble in their first innings, he came out at at 61 for 7 and helped add another 69 runs for the last three wickets.
“I went for an X-ray and there might be a little crack in it. It’s unconfirmed at the minute,” he said afterwards. “It was pretty sore. The adrenalin kicked in and I didn’t want to miss the chance to bat in a Test match. They just drugged me up and I got out there.”
Despite being bowled out 180 runs behind, Wilson said the second-innings response was encouraging for Ireland. “We can take a huge amount of confidence. Whenever you’re asked to follow on and you go 60 for none at the close, that shows big balls.”

Joyce and his partner William Porterfield benefited from dropped catches, Mohammad Amir the bowler on both occasions. Joyce was reprieved on 0, from Amir’s third ball, when Sarfraz Ahmed could only get half a glove on a low edge, while Porterfield had 2 to his name when a much simpler chance popped out of Azhar Ali’s grasp at third slip.Amir promptly left the field at the end of that over, seemingly in some discomfort rather than out of pique. He then pulled up after bowling two balls of a fourth over – having sent down 10 in the first innings – shortly before the close, leaving Pakistan with a couple of unforeseen issues to contemplate overnight.Pakistan’s total of 310 for 9 declared covered up more than it revealed. Faheem Ashraf took his maiden Test innings to within sight of a century but was dropped three times along the way, hinting at Irish frustration. Following the loss of the first day to rain, and the subsequent lowering of the follow-on target to 150, Sarfraz Ahmed then spied an opportunity to see how the Pakistan bowlers could exploit a seaming, albeit slow-ish, surface.The answer was emphatic, as the Mohammads Abbas and Amir removed Ireland’s top three in the space of 37 balls before lunch. It took a sturdy knock of 40 from Kevin O’Brien and an even gutsier display from Gary Wilson, batting at No. 9 after suffering a blow to his right elbow before the start of play, to lift Ireland from ignominy and, eventually, to three figures in their first Test innings.While Ireland had unquestionably done a decent job with the new ball on Saturday, Pakistan’s opening pair tore in with added subcontinental sizzle. Abbas was fortunate that Richard Illingworth raised his finger after pitching the ball just outside leg before hitting Joyce on the pads, but there was no issue about the decisions to send back Andy Balbirnie and Niall O’Brien. With Porterfield losing his off stump to Amir, Irish eyes were wincing.Paul Stirling was the first to take up his cudgel in response, although his attempt to smear Ashraf back down the ground in the bowler’s first over in Tests was ill-conceived. He added 29 with Kevin O’Brien, who took the score on to 61 – still 100 from avoiding the follow on – in the company of Stuart Thompson, before Shadab Khan’s legspin accounted for two in an over.Ed Joyce helped Ireland make a solid start to their second innings•AFP

It was 73 for 8 when Kevin O’Brien slapped the returning Amir to cover but Wilson, grimacing throughout but refusing to give his wicket away, was then joined by the willing Boyd Rankin as the ninth-wicket pair compiled the highest stand of the innings. Abbas returned to claim his fourth and Shadab finished things off but Wilson’s unbeaten 33 was symbolic of Irish resolve – a foundation which Joyce and Porterfield built on doughtily during the evening sunshine.Pakistan had resumed their innings in a more comfortable position than looked likely after being reduced to 159 for 6, but Ireland did not take long to break through with the second new ball – though Shadab was perhaps unlucky to be given out lbw to a delivery from Tim Murtagh that looked to be missing leg stump.Ireland then saw a third chance to dismiss Ashraf go begging: Andy McBrine, on as a substitute for Wilson and fielding in the slips, could not hold a thick edge when the allrounder had 72. He helped push Pakistan past 300 but there was to be no debut hundred as an excellent ball from Thompson, kicking and curving across the left-hander, took Ashraf on the glove and gave Niall O’Brien a chance he could not put down.Sarfraz called his men in soon after, denying Murtagh the chance of his five-for. The Malahide Test has not wanted for milestones but Ireland’s batsmen must produce something significant if they are to deprive Pakistan of the thing that matters most: victory.

Afghanistan will need a lot more cricket against established Test teams’ A sides if this promotion to Test is to work, their coach Phil Simmons feels

Sidharth Monga in Bengaluru15-Jun-20182:06

‘Afghanistan will learn what it takes to beat the best’ – Simmons

Afghanistan will need a lot more cricket against established Test teams’ A sides if this promotion to Test is to work, their coach Phil Simmons and India captain Ajinkya Rahane feel. Having finished the Test inside two days, Rahane was complimentary of the potential of Afghanistan’s bowling attack – “they can do damage to any team” – but he said the batsmen needed work even if it came through simulating Test situations in the nets.”I think with us there has to be a lot more A team cricket played against big countries by some players – players just below 18 – in England, India, Bangladesh, Australia,” Simmons said. “I think that’s the best way for us to close this gap.”Simmons hoped his side would get to play tour games against Test sides that come to India, as has been promised by the BCCI secretary.Rahane said they need not wait for the matches to come their way, and that’s because they have bowlers in their ranks who can give them good practice. “Definitely, four-day games and Tests will help them a lot,” Rahane said. “Practising with red ball regularly, creating those match situations, because they have got some good bowlers, they will learn from that. It’s not [always] about in the match, but creating those situations in practice also and thinking and visualising that as batsmen how they are going to play against each opponent. Test is about creating those situations even if you are batting in the nets. It’s all in the mind, and skill-wise technically, every layer is similar. If they get mentally tough and find their technique, it will be good.”Simmons isn’t the one to hide behind the enormity of the occasion. He said he can grant his side the benefit of nerves in the first session, but the way they lost was disappointing. He hadn’t had a meeting when he spoke at the press conference but there would be some explaining to do for some of the shots played. The same he said for the spinners: “I don’t think they by no means happy with how they performed.”Simmons always knew it was going to be tough. Now his team experienced it first-hand. However, he has seen this team learn a lot, and expected them to get to it. “Their learning curve is huge,” Simmons said. “I do believe they want to succeed, they want to be good at it and they work very hard and we now know that we have to work five times as hard as we did in the last four games. I believe that they will get there.”

Phil Simmons, the Afghanistan coach, was pleased with the side’s preparation but stressed on channeling white-ball temperament in Test cricket

Shashank Kishore in Bengaluru13-Jun-20182:34

Rashid will come out as the best spinner in this Test – Simmons

Asghar Stanikzai was asked about “nerves” as he arrived for his first official press conference as Test captain. “I’m hearing this for the first time,” he shot back, setting the tone for the next 15 minutes during which he and coach Phil Simmons talked all things Test cricket and the build-up to their inaugural Test.It was in Bengaluru seven years ago that Simmons truly left his imprint as a coach, when Ireland upset England at the 2011 World Cup. Now, he returns to the venue of that famous triumph in charge of another side, who he just helped qualify for the 2019 World Cup two months ago.Having witnessed the turmoil West Indies went through towards the end of his career, Simmons is aware of the immediate challenge to channel Afghanistan’s white-ball temperament to the longest format.”I was with Ireland for a long time, but they haven’t produced the amount of youngsters in the last four-five years like Afghanistan have,” he said. “The batting is a little bit less but the bowling, you will see a young fast bowler in this Test match hopefully. It shows that they have young talent coming up. And exciting prospects for the future.”Preparation wise, Afghanistan picked two vastly different squads for the T20Is against Bangladesh and their inaugural Test. Only Stanikzai, Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman featured in their 3-0 T20I whitewash of Bangladesh in Dehrarun earlier this month. This decision of allowing players time to prepare for the Test by monitoring their training schedules was a conscious one.”Our preparation has been good. We still had 12-13 players training with red ball,” Simmons said. “Fortunately the three fast bowlers (Wafadar, Sayed Shirzad and Yamin Ahmadzai) were not in T20I squad and they have been concentrating on Test preparation. The two senior spinners Nabi and Rashid am sure will be able to adjust themselves.”Afghanistan are under no illusion about how the pitch will behave and expect India’s three spinners to come hard at them. Having two wristspinners themselves – Rashid and Zahir Khan – along with Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s variations should help cope to an extent.Afghanistan’s players attend the BCCI awards ceremony•BCCI

“You prepare for what you expect. We expected Jadeja, Ashwin, Kuldeep,” Simmons said. “We have had our own Kuldeep in young Zahir. We have bowlers of similar ilk and they have been bowling at the batsmen. My feeling is that I can’t tell you how to prepare for a particular player. When you practice it against a spinner you learn how to play him. So we have put that in front of them and I think they have worked hard enough to be put out there.”Simmons cracked up when asked about “grass on the surface” for this Test. “When I played with them (Afghanistan) in Ireland, it was a little more greener than this and it still turned,” he said. “I think our bowlers are experienced enough to turn on that. It looks a lot darker today than it did two days ago, so I think by the time tomorrow (Thursday) comes it will be dry enough to spin on it.”The surface aside, it was also inevitable Simmons was going to be asked about Stanikzai’s remarks of Afghanistan’s spinners being better than India’s. My captain knows what he is talking about,” Simmons laughed with Stanikzai also grinning beside him. “When you look at it, all spinners in this contest will be excellent.”We know that right now, Rashid is the most difficult spinner to play around. He has not played Test cricket. We have to look and see what happens. but his professionalism will help him to adjust and am sure he will come out well.”Afghanistan have trained in India regularly since making Greater Noida their home base last year. Access to different training wickets and modern facilities has been maximised so much that Simmons downplayed the prospect of being undercooked. He stressed more on the temperament needed to succeed and hoped the team had learnt from experience.”The mental part comes from the way you train, how long you bat and how long you bowl and train in the nets,” Simmons said. “That’s the only way you prepare mentally because when you get out there then you understand what it takes. They have played four-day cricket so they have a fair idea…the good thing about it is that they learn quickly.”The press conference was lit up further when Simmons was asked about Virat Kohli’s unavailability. His answer elicited laughter among those in attendance.”I think there will always be a bit of disappointment in the players not to be on the same field as Virat, but at the same time we look at it as win the Test match and beat India, we don’t beat Virat,” he said. “So we are disappointed he is not playing, but little bit happy that we are not going to bowl to him all the time. We are happy to be here and playing India, Virat is not India.”

Alex Davies led the recovery for Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford as he finished the second day of their crucial Specsavers County Championship match against Hampshire unbeaten on 78

ECB Reporters Network26-Jun-20181:34

Surrey hit with five-run penalty

ScorecardAlex Davies led the recovery for Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford as he finished the second day of their crucial Specsavers County Championship match against Hampshire unbeaten on 78.Replying to Hampshire’s first-innings 451, Lancashire closed on 140 for 3 as Davies posted his highest score of the Division One season so far, surpassing a previous best of 71. However, Hampshire, boosted by a Rilee Rossouw century, will still be the happier at the halfway stage of a clash between two struggling teams. A couple of early wickets during the third morning will really see them in the driving seat.With club captain Liam Livingstone on England Lions duty and veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul missing for compassionate reasons, Lancashire’s batting order has suffered a huge dent. Hampshire, meanwhile, are without South African pace bowler Dale Steyn as they have decided to rest him prior to their Royal London Cup final against Kent at Lord’s on Saturday.The Lancashire innings got off to a familiar start as they lost an early wicket. England opener Keaton Jennings gloved Gareth Berg behind for 4 to leave his side 7 for 1 before tea.Haseeb Hameed’s off-stump was sent cartwheeling by Fidel Edwards as he departed for 13 early in the evening. Hameed’s poor run of form continues having now been out three times in a row offering no shot, and he averages just 7.00 in his seventh appearance this summer.Rob Jones followed for just a single, as he too had his off stump uprooted by Kyle Abbott as the score slipped to 70 for 3 in the 25th over.Despite the loss of wickets, wicketkeeper-batsman Davies remained positive by playing some crunching shots all around the ground. The 23-year-old reached a mature fifty off 87 balls with 10 fours. Dane Vilas – the stand-in captain for Livingstone – supported Davies and will aim to continue their unbroken 70-run alliance deep into the third morning.Earlier, Rossouw crafted his 19th first-class class century as he finished the Hampshire first innings unbeaten on 120 off 189 balls.They resumed the second day on 302 for 6, with Rossouw and Ollie Rayner unbeaten. But Rayner failed to trouble the scorers as Graham Onions had him trapped in front for a 24-ball duck.That gave Onions his second five-wicket haul of the season after taking 6 for 55 at Trent Bridge against Nottinghamshire in mid-May. However, the hosts couldn’t capitalise on the early wicket as they toiled in heightened Manchester temperatures.A 67-ball 49 from Berg ensured Lancashire’s bowlers felt the burn as the lead grew. Abbott and Edwards hung around with Rossouw, adding 61 for the last two wickets.

Reactions from current and former players after a sensational, see-sawing Test at Edgbaston

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-20181:45

A brilliant advert for Test cricket – Root

It’s lovely. It’s the favourite format for me. It’s the best format in cricket. We absolutely love playing Test cricket. People watching it as well should love it equally. They understand the game and there’s nothing better than testing yourself over five days against top quality opposition and I’m sure every player playing Test cricket will vouch for that as well.
Anyone who says it’s dead can just come and watch it on repeat.
I have dreamt of this growing up. Playing Test cricket, in front of these big crowds, with all these players I’ve seen growing up. Stokesy, Jimmy, Broady, I’m just trying to learn a bit every day.