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Late cluster of wickets dents fightback, after Latham and Williamson build slender lead

Andrew Miller25-Jun-2022Close New Zealand 329 (Mitchell 109, Blundell 55, Leach 5-100) and 168 for 6 (Latham 76, Williamson 48) lead England 360 (Bairstow 162, Overton 97) by 137 runsIt’s a question that teams over the world will be asking themselves at this early juncture of the Bazball revolution. What’s the best means to fight England’s current mood? Someone at some stage will come at them head-on – maybe as soon as next Friday, when India rock up at Edgbaston for their postponed fifth Test, and then we’ll have a bunfight and a half. But for the time being at Headingley, it’s over to a familiar pairing, yet again, to do the needful to give New Zealand a puncher’s chance.Sure enough, by the close of another engrossing day at Headingley, it was Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell back in harness for their team, unbeaten at the close of a rain-interrupted final hour on 4 and 5 respectively, having now taken their total partnership runs for the series to a towering 618 in six innings. But not for the first time, New Zealand’s key pairing arrived to an innings in the throes of crisis, after an untimely rain break had triggered a middle-innings meltdown that has given England every reason to believe a 3-0 clean sweep is there for the taking.From the relative security of 125 for 1 at tea, a lead of 94, New Zealand limped to 168 for 5 at stumps, as England finished the day with the ball as they had begun it with the bat – with a rowdy home crowd revelling in every microscopic detail of the play, and with Jonny Bairstow once again the orchestrator, this time in a literal sense, as Ben Stokes used Yorkshire’s favourite son as the conduit for the fans’ affections, as the bowlers found themselves running into a wall of noise.It’s not all about vibes, though. There was some solid tactical nous on display from Stokes in particular, not least in a series of exemplary bowling changes that hastened New Zealand’s slide from security to renewed jeopardy. From the moment that Jamie Overton dislodged the well-set Tom Latham with his first ball after tea, Stokes swarmed onto the offensive with attacking fields and targeted match-ups, particularly the use of Matt Potts to lure Kane Williamson outside off for the third innings out of four, and the re-introduction of Jack Leach to target Henry Nicholls’ woeful record against left-arm spin.There was some fortune in England’s approach too – notably for Joe Root, whose one-off over had only come about because of the impending rain shower that interrupted it halfway through. His first ball back after a 15-minute delay was perfectly pitched outside Devon Conway’s off stump, and Ollie Pope at short leg stooped with outstanding reactions to scoop up the inside-edge in his left hand, and prise another vital opening.It was a cathartic wicket for Root, too, who had gone into the tea break believing he had dropped a game-changing clanger. After the high-octane frolics of England’s own innings, New Zealand’s response had been one of commendable self-absorption, as their senior pairing of Latham and Williamson made light of the early loss of Will Young for 8 to grind out a second-wicket stand of 97, their first significant alliance of the series.The policy of both men was to block out all the vibes. In the series to date, neither man had made a higher score than Williamson’s 31 in the first innings of this match, and Williamson’s struggles with a long-term elbow problem had been compounded by the Covid diagnosis that caused him to miss the Trent Bridge Test. And so both men set themselves for the long haul, in an old-school passage of play that challenged England to stay patient.Jamie Overton celebrates with Ben Stokes after dismissing Tom Latham•Getty Images

For Latham in particular, the policy seemed to be paying off as he eased along to a 70-ball half-century, with a notable willingness to wait for the ball to come to him, as evidenced by the first five of his 12 fours, all punched compactly off the full length. But, having seemingly ridden out his struggles to that round-the-wicket line from the seamers, back came the arch-exponent Broad with ten minutes to go until tea. Snick went the edge, but splat went the catch at first slip, as Root banged the turf in frustration.It was a bad miss, but thanks to Overton’s pinpoint first ball after tea, it cost England just six runs. And, suddenly fuelled by adrenalin, having earlier missed out by just three runs on a debut Test century, Overton fired in a savage bouncer to the new man, Conway, who wore it on the badge and needed a lengthy time-out for both a concussion protocol and a repaired helmet. Overton didn’t add another wicket in a fiery spell from round the wicket, but the signs were promising as began to settle into his primary role.Williamson was a silent witness to all of this – content to bide his time as he used this early part of his innings as an extended net. His first nine runs came from a leisurely 43 balls, with a solitary flick for four through square leg, though he picked up his pace in the second hour of the session, not least thanks to a wayward first spell from Stokes, who had been a notable absentee from England’s attack in the first innings, and looked short of a gallop as he was picked off for six fours in his first four overs.But just when it seemed that an innings of substance was inevitable, Williamson fell victim in that post-rain-delay mini-session to the indefatigable Potts. After an excellent but under-rewarded spell of 1 for 34 in 26 first-over innings, Potts had already doubled his tally by inducing Young’s drive to third slip. Now, his aggressive full length and ability to bang movement out of even the most reluctant of balls landed New Zealand’s biggest fish. As at Lord’s, Williamson was lured by the back-of-a-length delivery just outside his eye line, and flung his head back in dismay as he followed the movement to feather an edge to Bairstow, standing in as keeper after Ben Foakes sat out the day with a stiff back.The thrill of England’s evening chase mirrored another free-wheeling morning from their batters, who completed a remarkable comeback from the depths of 55 for 6 by adding a further 96 runs in 18 overs to finish on 360 all out. The one crushing disappointing for another rapt Headingley crowd, however, was the failure of Overton to push on from his overnight 89, and become the first England player – and only the 11th in Test history – to make a century on debut from No. 8 or lower.All the positive mental attitude in the world could not quite prepare Overton for the scenario he faced this morning, after what must surely have been a fretful night’s sleep, and with history winking at him with every delivery. Despite the best endeavours of his partner Bairstow, who kept the strike rotating to offer him every chance to find his fluency, Overton’s resumption was a comparatively tentative affair, and one that was ultimately ended – three runs shy of nirvana – by New Zealand’s most constant menace, Trent Boult.After throwing his hands through one cathartic square drive for his first boundary of the day, Overton chanced his arm once too often as Boult followed up with one of his classically tight-lined outswingers. A thin edge flew low to Daryl Mitchell at first slip, and as he turned to trudge back to the dressing-room, Bairstow sprinted up behind him to put an arm around his shoulder. No matter what those three runs may have meant personally, his contribution to a desperate team situation had already been invaluable.Bairstow himself added 32 more runs to his overnight 130, but was content to play second fiddle to both Overton and Broad, who emerged – one day after his 36th birthday – in a mood for mayhem after suffering pad-rash for the entirety of that record-breaking seventh-wicket stand of 241. He belted a quickfire 42 from 36 balls, with six fours and two sixes, all of them courtesy of his trademark front-leg-clearing style, before Tim Southee ended the fun with a fine bail-trimmer.Bairstow followed soon afterwards, caught at long-off sprawling Boult, having earlier reached his 150 from 144 balls, the second-fastest in England’s Test history. Southee duly wrapped up England’s innings after Jack Leach had picked off two more boundaries, but both Bairstow and Leach were back in harness far sooner than might have been anticipated – the former standing up to the latter, as Leach was handed the new ball in a two-over experiment before lunch. It was the first time a spinner had taken the new ball in England since Graeme Swann at Lord’s in 2009, and though it was not an immediate success, it was another sign of Stokes’ fertile mind. He’s willing to think as well as tonk in his new incarnation as England’s vibesman-in-chief. And on his watch, England are a team transformed.

Hits 48 and picks up four wickets as Afghanistan make ideal start to World Cup Super League campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2021Rashid Khan top-scored with 48 off 40 balls from No. 9 before ripping out Ireland’s middle order with four cheap wickets to seal a 3-0 clean sweep for Afghanistan and provide them with the ideal start to their World Cup Super League campaign.Ireland had been well-placed in their chase of 267, with Paul Stirling’s fourth hundred in his last six ODI innings driving their reply. After he was bowled with 14 overs remaining, they struggled to score as Afghanistan’s spinners turned the screws, and eventually fell 36 runs short.Afghanistan lost four wickets inside 12 overs after being asked to bat first, with Craig Young removing each of the top three in the powerplay and Andy McBrine having Hashmatullah Shahidi caught in the gully. Captain Asghar Afghan led the rebuilding efforts with Mohammad Nabi for company, but they found run-scoring difficult as McBrine and Simi Singh bowled tightly in tandem through the middle overs.Singh trapped Nabi lbw and had Afghan caught at deep midwicket. Then, Najibullah Zadran was caught at slip via the glove when reverse-sweeping – giving part-timer Harry Tector his first international wicket – as Afghanistan were in some trouble at 163 for 7. But in a typically inventive innings of 40, which included three sixes, Rashid ensured they reached a competitive score, before last-wicket pair Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Naveen-ul-Haq took 22 from the final 11 balls to drag them up to 266.James McCollum opened the batting in Ireland’s reply after being picked ahead of Kevin O’Brien, who had struggled for runs throughout this tour, but was given out lbw early on after being struck in front by Mujeeb. He opted not to review the decision, but replays indicated it would have gone on to hit leg stump.But by that stage Stirling was up and running, having swung Naveen over midwicket in the fifth over and cracked him for five fours in his first four overs. He then slapped Nabi for two sixes in the eighth and brought up a 38-ball half-century by repeating the trick off Mujeeb, but lost an important partner in captain Andy Balbirnie, who was caught behind via a thin edge when sweeping in the 10th.Paul Stirling celebrates a second successive century against Afghanistan•Abu Dhabi Cricket

Stirling continued to force the pace in a 61-run stand with Tector, surviving on review after being given out lbw against Nabi, but Rashid struck a telling blow in his first over when he bowled Tector with a wicked googly. Stirling’s scoring rate slowed significantly as he approached his ton, attempting to play Rashid out, but he brought up the landmark off his 101st ball in the 28th over. It was his 12th hundred in ODI, taking him clear off William Porterfield’s previous Ireland record.But Rashid continued to chip away, removing Curtis Campher for 12 to leave Ireland four down. Stirling found another useful partner in Lorcan Tucker, who cracked Mujeeb for two fours, but after Stirling was bowled for 118 via a thin edge, the innings quickly faded away.Rashid bowled Tucker with another googly to snare his third, before Mark Adair and Singh were both run out and Young became the third Irishman bowled by a Rashid googly to leave them nine down. Naveen trapped McBrine lbw to complete the win.The result gives Afghanistan 30 points in the nascent World Cup Super League table, while for Ireland it has significantly damaged their chances of automatic qualification. They had won the third ODI of their series in England last summer and hoped to repeat the trick on Tuesday, but their failure to do so leaves them with 10 points after six games and needing several upsets if they are to avoid the qualifying tournament.

Opener carries his bat to keep floundering innings afloat before yorker barrage derails Hong Kong in thriller

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Dubai30-Oct-2019Oman 134 for 7 (Jatinder 67*, Rana 2-26) beat Hong Kong 122 for 9 (McKechnie 44, Bilal 4-23, Fayyaz 2-17, Khawar 2-23) by 12 runs
It felt like déjà vu. Just as they had 24 hours earlier against Namibia, the Oman batting order was in the midst of imploding spectacularly with a series of self-inflicted wounds. But after being involved in a pair of run outs, Jatinder Singh held his nerve to carry his bat through the Oman innings, including adding 50 off the last three overs with Naseem Khushi, to give his side a fighting chance. Bilal Khan’s yorker spree then left Hong Kong’s chase in tatters at 18 for 5 before he came back with one more late wicket to secure a dramatic 12-run win for Oman and their second straight trip to the men’s T20 World Cup. It also ended Hong Kong’s bid to reach the opening round in Australia for the third successive time.Jatinder’s topsy-turvy innings began in ugly fashion. After he lost his opening partner Khawar Ali in the third over driving away from his body for an edge behind to 17-year-old medium pacer Nasrulla Rana, Jatinder sold out Aqib Ilyas, changing his mind on a single to mid-off in the fourth. Nizakat Khan pounced with a direct hit to beat Aqib’s dive back. One over later, captain Zeeshan Maqsood was stuck halfway down the wicket miscommunicating with Jatinder on a run to cover and Kinchit Shah fielded to turn and fire another direct hit at the non-striker’s end.Three more wickets fell in consecutive overs opposite Jatinder in the seventh through the ninth to put him under heavy pressure. Mohammad Nadeem skied a slog off Aizaz Khan to backward point, Suraj Kumar edged a quicker ball from Ehsan Khan’s offspin to the keeper and Mehran Khan copped a rough lbw decision from legspinner Mohammad Ghazanfar when replays showed an inside edge on to his pad.But from 42 for 6 after nine overs, Jatinder and Aamir Kaleem ground their way through the next eight overs to stretch the innings out and keep Hong Kong’s spinners at bay. Jatinder finally felt comfortable enough to expand his repertoire in the 15th, switch-hitting Ghazanfar over the off side for a boundary before playing the shot again successfully for four more off Ehsan in the 16th. By the time the stand ended – when Kaleem mistimed a scoop to short fine-leg – the pair had doubled Oman’s score.Kaleem’s innings might look ugly on the scorecard, making just 17 off 30 balls, but he soaked up enough time to free up the big-hitting Naseem Khushi to go full throttle at the death. Playing as a specialist bat at No. 9 in a team packed with allrounders, Khushi whacked 26 off his last eight balls. He got off the mark second ball bashing Rana over square leg for six, and then drove him over extra cover for four.ALSO READ: Munsey sweeps UAE away to clinch berth for ScotlandAt the opposite end, Jatinder switch-hit Kyle Christie for six to bring up a 41-ball fifty, then continued to switch-hit throughout the final three overs for three more boundaries. One more six off the final ball by Khushi took Oman to 134 for 7 in a furious half-century stand to end the innings.Bilal Khan accepts the Man of the Match award after his 4 for 30•Peter Della Penna

Oman’s bowling unit took the momentum given to them by Jatinder and Khushi into the start of the chase behind Bilal’s blistering burst. Much of Hong Kong’s hopes hinged on batting star Nizakat but Bilal wiped him out second ball with a full inswinger that defeated his drive to knock back off stump. Oman caught a break in the second over when Kinchit flicked Fayyaz Butt off his pads straight to short fine leg for the second wicket.But there was nothing lucky about Bilal’s sustained barrage in the third over. An inswinging yorker cleaned up Aizaz Khan for 5 before another inswinging yorker pinged Waqas Barkat in line with leg stump to make it 13 for 4. Fayyaz then bounced out Simandeep Singh, caught by Bilal at short fine leg to make it 18 for 5.Captain Maqsood elected to keep one over back from Bilal and Hong Kong seized on the opening to rebuild their innings. Scott McKechnie and Haroon Arshad added 52 for the sixth wicket and, at the halfway stage, Hong Kong looked solid at 62 for 5, needing a very manageable 73 off the last 10 overs.Khawar’s all-round skills came to the fore to disrupt Hong Kong’s valiant fightback, clipping the outside edge of Haroon playing away from his body for a catch to wicketkeeper Kumar in the 12th. Ehsan tried to guide Khawar to third man but picked out a delivery that was far too full and tight to the stumps, resulting in a drag on for 9 in the 14th to make it 82 for 7. McKechnie’s vigil finally ended for 44 in the 17th through another yorker, this time from Nadeem’s medium pace, to trap him in front.Bilal’s fourth victim, third clean bowled, was Rana by – you guessed it – a yorker to wrap up one of the finest fast-bowling spells of the tournament. Bilal effectively clinched the match as the last pair was left needing 24 off the last nine. They could only manage 11 as Oman outlasted their Asian rivals in Dubai’s first televised thriller of the tournament. Oman now take on Scotland in the fifth-place match at ICC Academy on Thursday for seeding purposes in Australia.

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.

England are in the unusual position of entering an ODI match against Australia as favourites. But their upsurge owes much to a common adversary

Melinda Farrell at Edgbaston09-Jun-2017So far, Australia’s Champions Trophy campaign has run about as smoothly as a three-wheeled cart on gravel.The players are in the middle of a fractious employment dispute with Cricket Australia, with David Warner going so far as to question CA’s desire for a successful campaign, and they could effectively be unemployed in three weeks’ time. To top it off, they haven’t played a single full match in this tournament.And now they find themselves in the position where they must beat England; tournament favourites, already secure of a semi-final berth, playing at home and on a ground that has brought success and joyful memories.It has clearly been a frustrating tournament for Australia, providing a challenge for Steven Smith to keep his players focussed on the elements they can control. But while he is adamant the MoU discussions haven’t clouded the team’s preparations, it can’t be helpful to have the topic raised at every media appearance and dominate their social media landscape. Nor can it be easy to forget the more literal clouds that have doused their first two matches.But Smith hopes the tribulations and the knockout pressure of this match will bring out the best in his players and see them emerge as cornered kangaroos, if you will.”Obviously, a must-win match for us,” said Smith, speaking at Edgbaston. “Yeah, it usually does bring out the best of the Australia cricket team in big tournaments. So let’s hope this is the case tomorrow.”It’s not ideal we haven’t got through a full fixture yet, but we can’t control the weather. We can only control what we’re doing, and we’ve prepared really well in the nets.”The guys are looking forward to tomorrow. It’s essentially a quarter-final for us, so we’re ready to come up against a good England outfit.”Steven Smith and his team have spent much of the tournament watching from the sidelines•Getty Images

While Australia’s batsmen have struggled to find either time or many runs in the middle, Smith can at least take encouragement from the improvement shown by Mitchell Starc. After a wicketless innings in his first match back from a foot injury, Starc was menacing at The Oval, taking 4 for 29 as he tore through the Bangladesh tail.A new pitch has been prepared at Edgbaston and, while there has been much anticipation to see Australia’s four quickest bowlers in the same side for the first time, John Hastings has strong claims for inclusion. He was in the team selected for the eventual washout against New Zealand at Edgbaston, in which he took two wickets.”I’m sure he’ll be talked about, particularly as there’s a new wicket,” said Smith. “He’s a guy that bowls that little bit slower and can hit the seam and generate, or get, whatever’s in the wicket.”Being a fresh wicket, there could be a little bit there, and he’ll certainly come into contention, I’m sure.”It must almost be a relief for Smith to ponder selections and contemplate how the pitch might play. It the midst of the nagging MoU uncertainty, those thoughts provide a slice of cricket normality and, once they walk onto the Edgbaston field, it will become clear whether the obstacles have been a distraction or a means of galvanizing the players.”I think the players have been really united through everything that’s going on with the MoU back home,” said Smith. “So the guys are in a good place. There hasn’t been that much talk about it as a team.””I said at the start before we got here, this is an ICC tournament. It only comes around every four years, the Champions Trophy, and it’s the second-biggest tournament after the World Cup.”So we’ve got to be focused on that. It’s a very sort of cut-throat tournament with only three pool matches. So you’ve got to be switched on for each and every one of those, albeit we’re only going to be getting through one potentially.”I made sure that coming over here, that we’re completely focused on this tournament and getting the job done at hand.”

Graeme Welch has resigned as Derbyshire’s elite performance director just hours before the start of the NatWest T20 Blast match against Leicestershire

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2016Graeme Welch has resigned as Derbyshire’s elite performance director just hours before the start of the NatWest T20 Blast match against Leicestershire.Derbyshire are currently second from bottom in Division Two of the County Championship – the position they finished in 2015 – with two defeats and five draws, the most recent result being a 10-wicket loss to Sussex at Hove. In the early stages of the Blast they have won one and lost one.”I have decided to resign as elite performance director. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at the club and learned so much,” Welch, who was appointed in January 2014, said in a brief statement. “I would particularly like to thank the chairman and board for their support over the last few years and I wish them all the best for the future.”The chairman, Chris Grant, said: “Over the last two and a half years, we have seen a number of players develop under Graeme’s guidance. We have also seen a clear increase in the levels of professionalism and work ethic within the club.”Whilst on-field results have been disappointing, Graeme leaves the club with stronger foundations in place. The board would like to thank Graeme for his contribution and we wish him every success in the future.”The club said elite performance coach John Sadler will take charge of coaching affairs supported by four-day captain Billy Godleman and limited-overs captain Wes Durston.

Rubel Hossain, the Bangladesh fast bowler, will not be playing in the second Test against Pakistan due to a side strain. Abul Hasan will be his like-for-like replacement

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2015Rubel Hossain, the Bangladesh fast bowler, will not be playing in the second Test against Pakistan due to a side strain. Abul Hasan will be his like-for-like replacement.Rubel looked to be in some discomfort while bowling during the fourth day of the Khulna Test. A scan confirmed he has a Grade 1 left-side strain.”It takes about three to four weeks to recover from such injuries. Rubel will begin his rehab in the next couple of days,” said Bangladesh physio Bayjedul Islam.Abul has not played a Test in more than two years though he had played the first ODI against Pakistan in place of the suspended Mashrafe Mortaza. In the interim, he took a four-wicket haul in a first-class match for East Zone.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Super Eights game between New Zealand and West Indies in Pallekele

The Preview by Sidharth Monga30-Sep-2012

Match facts

October 1, 2012
Start time 1530 (1000 GMT)Only one out of Ross Taylor and Darren Sammy will be smiling on Monday evening, and there’s a good chance that smile might be wiped off by the end of the night•West Indies Cricket

Big Picture

New Zealand players may have had a gastro problem or three, but surely they and West Indies have received the best of Sri Lankan hospitality? For, on Monday, they’ll hope like hell that the hosts beat England.New Zealand have no points so far, and their only entry point is if they beat West Indies and England lose too, to force a three-way tie at two points. If that happens, New Zealand will stand a good chance of making it to the semi-finals: their net run-rate of -0.268 is already better than West Indies’ -0.621, and not too worse than England’s -0.115. If it all goes to plan for New Zealand, their own net run-rate will improve, and England’s will take a beating, bridging that gap.Theoretically West Indies can be a part of a three-way tie even if they lose, but their poor net run-rate after the thrashing from Sri Lanka means it does them no good. In theory, West Indies too will have two avenues if they beat New Zealand: an England defeat later will give them a clear passage, while it will be a three-way tie with England and Sri Lanka should England win. Again, though, West Indies’ net run-rate is likely to keep them third-best should the hosts lose.So, for both the sides, the endeavour will be to win without worrying too much about the net run-rate and hope Sri Lanka keep up their good form later in the day. However, if only the second match is rained out, it will be bad news for New Zealand and good for West Indies. Neither of them can afford a whole washed-out day. If only the first game is washed out, New Zealand go out, and West Indies will again hope for a Sri Lanka win.

Form guide

New Zealand LLLWW (completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies LWLWW

Watch out for

Ross Taylor finds himself under pressure not just for his lack of runs, but also his tinkering of the batting order. Monday will provide him one last chance of not only redeeming himself in this tournament, but to get a measure of retribution after a highly disappointing tour of the Caribbean earlier this year.Darren Sammy hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the West Indies fans with his selections either. At the heart of West Indies’ problems has been a glut of bits-and-pieces allrounders, and not enough specialist bowlers. That was one of the reasons they lost after making 191 against Australia. It didn’t help that even those three specialist bowlers against Sri Lanka didn’t include Samuel Badree, who helped set up the win against England with four overs for just 20 runs. Sammy’s captaincy, and his place in the side, are under scrutiny at best of times. Only a qualification to the semi-finals will be able to silence those voices, that too temporarily.

Team news

New Zealand will be hoping for a return to wellness for Jacob Oram, in whose absence Doug Bracewell played against England, and played little part in the match while the contest was alive. Oram spent whole of Saturday unwell and throwing up throughout the day, and New Zealand are hoping it’s a “24-hour thing”. It’s unlikely New Zealand will look at any other changes.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Rob Nicol, 3 Brendon McCullum (wk), 4 Ross Taylor (capt), 5 James Franklin, 6 Kane Williamson, 7 Jacob Oram/Doug Bracewell, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Kyle Mills.For West Indies, Badree should come back, not least because New Zealand are not the best players of spin. The question is, will he replace a specialist bowler or one of the many allrounders?West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles, 3 Marlon Samuels, 4 Dwayne Bravo, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Darren Sammy (capt), 7 Andre Russell/Fidel Edwards, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Sunil Narine, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Samuel Badree.

Pitch and conditions

On Saturday, Pallekele finally showed signs of assistance to spin, with a drier track. The rain has stayed away so far, and hopefully it will for one more day.

Stats and trivia

• When Chris Gayle fell for 2 against Sri Lanka, he had scored fewer than 50 for the first time in five efforts. That is a record he shares with Brendon McCullum.
• Kieron Pollard has never won been Man of the Match in his 28 T20Is.
  

  Quotes

  “I’d rather see Brendon McCullum at the top. I don’t think he is quite assured of how he wants to play the game coming in at No. 3, because if New Zealand lose a wicket, he has to play a slightly different game. Perhaps get Ross Taylor in at No. 3, and give him more time to bat.”
  “It’s a must-win for us now. The good thing for us is that we are playing New Zealand. We just played them in the Caribbean, we have a pretty good idea of what this side is made up of.”

It has been a disappointing season for both these sides, who began as co-favourites for the Championship but will be happy enough now to steer clear of relegation

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge14-Jul-2011
Scorecard
It has been a disappointing season for both these sides, who began as co-favourites for the Championship but will be happy enough now to steer clear of relegation. The safety of mid-table seems an attractive proposition, which may explain why a match that had notable highlights in the shape of three high-quality centuries ended in a very tame draw.There could have been an interesting finish. When Somerset’s lead, 91 overnight, reached 250, there were around 50 overs left in the match and Marcus Trescothick might have pulled out and invited Nottinghamshire to have a go. But if temptation did show itself, it was only to be passed up. He invited the home side instead to bowl his team out.Thanks largely to Andre Adams and Samit Patel, whose left-arm spin took four wickets, Notts took up the invitation successfully. But by the time they did so only 34 overs remained and the target of 321 was purely academic. There was little reluctance to shake hands and go home when five o’clock arrived.Appropriately enough, the significant innings of a forgettable day was a forgettable hundred from Nick Compton, whose growing penchant is for solid, dependable displays unadorned with flights of fancy, which is forgivable given that he still struggles to recapture the productive form of his early Middlesex days.It would not have been his grandfather’s idea of fun but it is getting the job done. This season, bolstered considerably by his epic nine-hour unbeaten 254 against Durham at The Riverside, threatens to be his best since 2003, when his first full season at Middlesex yielded 1315 first-class runs, including six centuries.He ground out 115 here over six and a half hours before a splendid diving catch by Riki Wessels at short extra cover gave Steven Mullaney his wicket. He struck 14 boundaries but probably turned down as many, preferring not to take the risk.There was good support for him, first from Chris Jones, a 20-year-old Devonian who has played first-class matches for Durham University but was batting for the first time in the Championship. He appeared against Lancashire last season as a nominated replacement for Craig Kieswetter but did not bat or bowl.He earned his call-up for this match after hitting 149 for Somerset 2nds last week and showed sound technique in a tidy 55 and had just despatched Patel through the covers for his 10th boundary when the left-armer found a little extra bounce to have him caught at slip.James Hildreth, whose first-innings 137 had been one of the highlights, hit 39 in rapid time before slicing Luke Fletcher to backward point. Kieswetter, who had shared a 290-run partnership with Hildreth in scoring 164 in the first innings, fell for 21 this time, one of two leg-before victims in the space of three overs for Adams, whose dismissal of Peter Trego at 361 for 6 might have prompted the declaration had Trescothick been interested.Instead, the Somerset skipper allowed the tailenders to swing the bat, which the seam bowler Adam Dibble did with some success on his first-class debut, crashing 39 not out off only 35 balls, including a four and two sixes in the same over off Mullaney. The others were picked off by Patel, who finished with 4 for 70.Stuart Broad’s bowling was again a mixed bag as he sought to regain his form ahead of the opening Test against India. He found a couple of snorters for Kieswetter but nine overs on the day yielded no wickets, although they did take his contribution to the two innings to 53.4 overs, which is the largest number he has sent down in a single match, curiously enough. Given that he has been bowling with his left heel padded and his right ankle strapped, this might seem an odd preparation.Notts faced 15 overs in the end, during which Wessels was caught behind and Alex Hales followed his brilliant 184 with a rather more ordinary 18 before giving a return catch to Arul Suppiah.But it was all fairly meaningless and Mick Newell, the Notts director of cricket, signalled his satisfaction with the outcome by declining the chance to criticise Trescothick’s caution. His side, after all, had lost four times in a row before this match.”We will take 11 points for the draw,” he said. “It was important that we stopped losing and got some batting points on the board.”

Greg Chappell could go back to the future after being given an interview for the newly-created job on Australia’s national selection panel

Peter English16-Aug-2010Greg Chappell could go back to the future after being given an interview for the newly-created job on Australia’s national selection panel. Chappell, a former Test captain, was one of the men who installed Allan Border as leader in 1984, but he stood down in 1987-88 after becoming upset with the game’s administration structure.He is currently the head coach at the Centre of Excellence and his place on Cricket Australia’s list has been confirmed to Cricinfo. While the new full-time role comes with a spot on the selection panel, it also includes being a national talent manager and working with the states. Chappell does part of that already in his post at the Academy and as the Australia A coach.Andrew Hilditch, David Boon, Merv Hughes and Jamie Cox are the incumbents on the panel that will undergo a mild restructure. Over the past two years the Test team has dropped from first to fourth on the rankings, and could go to fifth if England, who currently lead 2-0, cleansweep Pakistan in their four-match series.The selection quartet works on a part-time basis, but Hilditch is not applying for the vacant job and said the redesign would not change his duties as chairman. “I look forward to having a full-time selector in the sense there are a lot of issues with workload management and our roster system and making sure we’re covering all the cricket,” Hilditch said earlier this month.”[The new appointment] will have a role on the panel like any other selector, but a very important role in talent management and managing the state talent managers. It’s a pretty big role straight away – a massive role. I think it’s a big development for Australian cricket and I’m very excited.”Chappell, 62, is due to be interviewed this week. He was appointed at the Centre of Excellence in 2008, a year after he finished an eventful term as India’s coach.