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Graeme Smith has successfully completed his first competitive outing since May, turning out for his franchise, Cobras, in a warm-up match against Indian side Madhya Pradesh at Newlands

Firdose Moonda02-Oct-2013Graeme Smith has successfully completed his first competitive outing since May, turning out for his franchise, Cobras, in a warm-up match against Indian side Madhya Pradesh at Newlands. Although the South African Test captain scored just two runs, he fielded in the slips and reported a clean bill of health after 21 weeks out of the game, which bodes well for the upcoming series against Pakistan.Earlier this year, Smith had to cut short his stint at Surrey due to the recurrence of an ankle problem and returned to Cape Town for surgery. Doctors discovered the condition was actually a fracture of the heel bone. Smith was operated on and had two pins inserted. He was on crutches for eight weeks before he could begin any physical activity.He has had a multi-disciplinary team of experts around him including a personal trainer, biokineticist and physiotherapist, and has made steady progress. Smith’s rehabilitation has included running on an anti-gravity treadmill and, more recently, regular cricket activity.”He has been working really hard with us in the nets,” Cobras coach Paul Adams told ESPNcricinfo. “And he has made good progress. He looks ready to go.” Smith, with the South African side, will depart for Dubai on Friday evening for a series of two Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s against Pakistan.”As things stands now, Graeme is on track to play,” Mohammad Moosajee, the team manager who is also a medical doctor, said. “We are happy with the progress he has made so far. We have approached every week with a plan in place to get him to ready for the series. Ideally you always want more time, but he has worked well. We have been careful to monitor him at every step, so we don’t overload him.”The Tests series is South Africa’s first since they whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 at home in February and will be an important assessment of their grip on the No. 1 ranking because of the conditions. This will be South Africa’s first series in subcontinent conditions since earning the Test mace and they are expecting a time as tough as England, who were also No. 1 when they went to the UAE early 2012 but were blanked 0-3 by Pakistan.South Africa also have a proud record to uphold. They have not lost a Test series on the road in seven years, since they were beaten in Sri Lanka in 2006. Smith has led them throughout that time and has previously said he looks forward to extending that run in the future.His return to the crease will be welcome news for South Africa’s Test ambitions, and it will also bolster their ODI campaign after a forgettable time at both the Champions Trophy and in Sri Lanka. Smith was ruled out of both series with the same injury concern and South Africa did not fare well at all. They were booted out of the Champions Trophy at semi-final stage by England and crashed to a 4-1 defeat in Sri Lanka. Although he is not captain in that format, he will partner Hashim Amla at the top of the order to add stability and experience in what is still a developing unit.

The similarities between Ollie Rayner and Jim Laker are not, at first glance, obvious but on the ground that England’s greatest offspinner called home for many years, Rayner produced a more than passable impression.

George Dobell at The Oval05-Sep-2013
ScorecardOllie Rayner ran through Surrey for a second time•PA Photos

The similarities between Ollie Rayner and Jim Laker are not, at first glance, obvious but on the ground that England’s greatest offspinner called home for many years, Rayner produced a more than passable impression.Rayner, gaining sharp turn and steepling bounce from the sort of pitch spinners dream about, bowled his side to a three-day win over Middlesex’s local rivals Surrey with the sort of figures that bear comparison with Laker’s unparalleled 19 for 90 at Old Trafford in 1956.Rayner’s career-record until now has had something of a journeyman quality to it. A valuable contributor, he has tended to provide more of a supporting than starring role. Before this game, he had taken five five-wicket hauls in a 74 match first-class career and 25 wickets in 10 games this season.But here, following his 8 for 46 in the first innings, Rayner claimed 7 for 72 in the second. Those match figures – 15 for 118 – are the best by a Middlesex bowler since 1955 – when Fred Titmus claimed 15 for 95 against Somerset at Bath – and the seventh best in the first-class history of the club. Rayner also claimed three catches in the match off the bowling of his colleagues, meaning he had a hand in 18 of the 20 Surrey wickets to fall in the match.While the victory sustains Middlesex’s outside hopes of winning the title – more realistically, it sets them up for an admirable top-three finish – the result leaves Surrey bottom of Division One and with four wins in 29 games since they were promoted at the end of 2011.That it took Middlesex so long to achieve victory – the game was deep inside the extra half-hour when the final wicket fell – was largely due to Hashim Amla. The South African batsman produced a masterclass in temperament and technique to negate the pitch and the bowling for more than three-and-a-half hours. He was beaten often, sometimes by deliveries that leaped from a length and passed above his shoulder, and survived a couple of false strokes, but demonstrated the coolest of heads and the softest of hands. Rayner, quite reasonably, rated it “one of the best innings” he had ever seen.Surrey’s batting was much improved in their second innings. Demonstrating an application that was absent on the second day, they simply found that the damage they had already incurred was too deep to repair. Arun Harinath, coming to the crease on the back of a return of 1, 0, 1, 0, 1 in his last five Championship innings, added 44 for the first wicket with the impressive Rory Burns, while Steve Davies helped Amla add 86 for the fifth wicket.Amla’s value to Surrey was demonstrated most clearly when he was out. It precipitated a decline that saw four wickets fall for five runs before Jade Dernbach thrashed a quick 22 to delay the inevitable.It all left Alec Stewart, Surrey’s temporary director of cricket, bristling with indignation. Justifying the pitch – he credited the groundsman with an “outstanding” performance – Stewart insisted that “draws are no good to us; we have to win our home games.” But preparing such a surface, and the resultant importance of winning the toss, was a huge gamble. In this instance, it backfired.”Our performance over the first two days was not good enough,” Stewart said. “Unfortunately, in the first innings, there was no application. There was very little thought process. If you don’t apply yourself, you get punished. Once you go into the second innings 150 behind, you have to play out of your skin to go close.”The way we went about our second innings was much better. It showed that, if you were prepared to bat time, you could bat on that surface.”Stewart refuted the suggestion that, even if Amla had helped Surrey to victory – and a target of 385 was as distant as the moon on this pitch – that it would only have papered over the cracks at Surrey. Insisting that picking youth for youth’s sake would solve nothing, Stewart said he would “pick the sides to give Surrey the best chance of staying up.”But whether seeing the likes of Amla, Vikram Solanki and Zander de Bruyn help avoid relegation progresses this club any more than seeing younger, homegrown players learn from the experience of being relegated is debateable. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that, three months after former director of cricket Chris Adams was sacked because, in part, of the lack of direction his squad seemed to have and the mature age-profile of his teams, that Surrey are making the same errors. To be fair to Stewart, he inherited the squad and a lowly position. Surrey were sixth when he took over.”We’ll probably have to win two of our last three now,” Stewart said. “When you’ve won four out of 29 in the first division, it’s a big, big ask.”Still, this was a match that belonged to Rayner. It speaks volumes for his innate modesty that, moments after the game, he credited Middlesex’s batsmen as the architects of victory. And it is true that, after a couple of poor games, they performed admirably in tough conditions.Dawid Malan, without a Championship half-century this season until Tuesday, now has two, while Chris Rogers followed up his excellent batting with a wonderful piece of anticipation to dismiss Amla – sensing the batsman shaping to glance on the leg side, he pounced to his left from leg slip – and timed a brave declaration to perfection. With rain forecast for Friday, Middlesex did not want to risk the game going into a final day.”We haven’t batted awfully well of late,” Rayner said. “But our batters put Surrey under a lot of scoreboard pressure, so it was a top effort from them.”I went three games without a wicket at the start of the season, so it’s nice to contribute. The pitch has helped me out a lot. Some balls were passing at head height. I hope it shows the Lord’s groundsman, Mike Hunt, what we can do if we have a spinning wicket.”Meanwhile Surrey announced the release of Jon Lewis. The 38-year-old seamer joined the club at the start of 2012 after the best part of two decades with Gloucestershire. A regular in white ball cricket, Lewis has barely featured in the first-class team this season but is currently seeking opportunities to continue his career at another county.By off-loading Lewis and, perhaps, one or two other players – the likes of Zander de Bruyn, who is out of contract, and Gary Keedy, who is not – from their payroll, Surrey could be making room within their salary allocation for new recruits. But on the evidence of recent times, simply signing new names is not the answer.

Michael Clarke has been ruled out of Australia’s opening Champions Trophy match against England on Saturday and vice-captain George Bailey will lead the side in his absence

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jun-2013Michael Clarke has been ruled out of Australia’s opening Champions Trophy match against England on Saturday and vice-captain George Bailey will lead the side in his absence. Clarke’s involvement in the rest of the tournament also remains uncertain as he continues to battle a long-standing back problem that kept him from playing either of the two warm-up matches against West Indies and India.”Michael is making steady progress in his recovery from the recent lower back injury but is yet to return to training,” Alex Kountouris, the team physio, said on Friday morning. “He will remain in London over the coming days to continue his rehabilitation and will not be available for the first match against England on Saturday. How he responds to the ongoing treatment will determine his availability for the match against New Zealand next Wednesday.”The situation is also a concern for the Australians just over a month from the first Test of the Ashes, for although Clarke has had the back problem since he was a teenager it appears to have affected him more over the past few months than in the past. He missed Australia’s most recent Test, the loss to India in Delhi, and it was the first time he has been forced to sit out of a Test due to his back trouble.Michael Clarke’s back remains a worry for Australia•Getty Images

On Thursday, Kountouris conceded that the abbreviated nature of the Champions Trophy meant Clarke’s participation in any part of it was uncertain and it could also depend on whether the Australians move past the group stage.”We are just trying to get him right,” Kountouris said. “He has had this before so we know how it plays out and we know the treatment that he needs to get him right. But being such a short tournament we’re racing against time to get him fit.”We certainly won’t be taking any risks. It is a really important time of the year for us, that goes without saying. This is an important tournament too so we’ll get him up for whatever games we can and won’t take any stupid risks. Firstly he needs to be pain free, which he’s not at the moment.”Then we need to put him through a series of tests, get him running and batting and get him doing things he’d normally do. We need him training at full intensity before we get him on the park.”News of Clarke’s injury has compounded Australia’s far from perfect preparation to this event. They were bowled out for just 65 in their warm-up game against India and David Warner, one of their opening batsmen, has been dismissed for 0 in both warm-up games.But Bailey reacted to the news phlegmatically. “It’s a great opportunity for us to prove a lot of people wrong,” he said.”Honestly, I reckon all sides believe they can win the tournament. In terms of a cricket spectacle, that must be really exciting for the fans around the globe knowing that your country is in with a real shot at winning the title.”Our best is still as good as anyone else or any other teams in the world. If we play our best cricket, I’ve got no doubt we can win the tournament and we probably will win the tournament.”There’s no doubt it’s a blow. We’d love to have Pup with us as a batsman and as our captain. But it is what it is, and we have to deal with the fact that we don’t have him for tomorrow. The challenge is there and the opportunity is there for the rest of us to step up, and I know it will be a great boost to the side to know that we can win without him.”Story updated at 0700 GMT to confirm that Clarke had been ruled out and at 1400 to add Bailey’s reaction

Matt Prior has increasingly been hailed as England’s ultimate team man, but for once he is celebrating an individual achievement. Prior has been named as England’s cricketer of the year

David Hopps13-May-2013Matt Prior has increasingly been hailed as England’s ultimate team man, but for once he is celebrating an individual achievement. Prior has been named as England’s cricketer of the year and received his award at a celebratory dinner in the Long Room at Lord’s.It was fitting that a player who symbolises the importance of the common cause should look slightly guilty about receiving the award. “It was fantastic when I found out, a huge honour to be singled out as player of the year,” he said. “But I feel slightly uncomfortable with it because individual accolades are not really the reason I play. I want this team to win. I get much more out of the group winning a Test or series.”Prior, the first wicketkeeper to win the award, judged by members of the England cricket media, likes the idea that it is in some way recognition of his team ethic.”I hope so although I’ve not really given it much thought. What I would say is anytime I go out to play an innings the first thing I need to do is to get into the best position to win or save a game, or think what do I need to do to get the scoreboard in the right place, rather than how many runs do I need to average 50 – I can’t just perform like that.”There have been times in the past where people have said you need to look after that bit, or get more not-outs, I just can do it. I’m not saying I’m the ultimate team player; it’s just the way I play sport – to win. That’s where I get the enjoyment from.”There were many persuasive reasons to vote for Prior as England’s player of the year. The most emotional justification arose from memories of his defiant hundred in Auckland to save the third Test against New Zealand and salvage a drawn series.But there were broader reasons, too. There was the knowledge that he is the only England batsman apart from the captain, Alastair Cook, to average more than 50 in Tests in the past two years. There was the recognition that his wicketkeeping has improved by leaps and bounds – sometimes quite literally – under the tuition of a former England wicketkeeper Bruce French.Mostly, though, it was his reputation as England’s heartbeat that won him the accolade ahead of other deserving claimants such as Alastair Cook, for the remorseless run scoring that turned the India Test series, and James Anderson, skilful and indefatigable, a fast bowler at his peak as he proved that he could bowl in the most discouraging circumstances.

Hat-trick for Brunt

• Katherine Brunt was named as England Women’s Cricketer of the Year. Brunt won the award for a third time following a year in which she proved to be England’s most consistent bowler, picking up 12 wickets in the Women’s World Cup campaign in India.

• Ben Foakes, the Essex and England U-19 wicketkeeper-batsman, won the England Development Programme Cricketer of the Year award. Foakes was England’s leading run-scorer at the U-19 World Cup in Australia last summer, toured India with the Performance Programme squad last winter and Australia with England Lions.

• The Disability Cricketer of the Year was Matthew Dean from England’s Visually Impaired squad. Dean, from Welling in Kent, was the team’s leading run scorer in last winter’s T20 World Cup for the Blind in India, contributing 490 runs at an average of more than 80.

Prior looked mildly stunned. “You look back on the year and look at the amount of quality in the dressing room,” he said. “Jimmy Anderson’s performance in India: for a seam bowler to perform like he did was phenomenal – that’s worth a player of the year award. Cooky: the way he led from the front in India. There are a number of guys who have put in huge performances. They’ve obviously just pulled a name out of the hat, so I’m hugely honoured but it could have been a number of guys.”But it was much more than a name out of a hat. magazine did not just stop at describing Prior as England’s “heartbeat”. In this month’s issue, they hailed him as the team’s moral compass, the protector of their spirit, a dressing room confidant, and a tactician and cheerleader – as vice-captain, he offers a more instinctive, noisier flavour to Cook’s reflective and conservative approach.He was also the player who phoned Kevin Pietersen, when the extent of his stand-off with the England dressing room became known – ignoring the political niceties at the time and relying instead on a faith in the team ethic and a few home truths. He is embarrassed that his call has passed into English cricket folklore – after all, he just picked up the phone and said what he thought – but, not to put too fine a point on it, it cut the crap and English cricket was all the better for it.His continued omission from England’s one-day side, and memories of his sudden dropping from England’s Test side in 2008, have taught him not to overreact to the plaudits that now, more than ever, will come his way.”Not playing ODIs certainly keeps you fresh,” he said. “I’ve said before that it’s a bit of a catch-22, the whole matter of playing one-day cricket or not. From a positive point of view it gives me these windows of opportunity to fully prepare for each Test series. Not just from a physical point of view, but also mentally being able to switch off.”Also you can prepare completely on each team you are up against. That certainly allows me to go into each Test series at 100%, giving it everything until the last ball then duck out again and have a few weeks riding a bicycle.”These days, he gets equal satisfaction from wicketkeeping and batting. If his hundred in Auckland is understandably his sharpest batting memory of the year, his catch, standing up to Jonathan Trott, to dismiss New Zealand’s captain, Brendon McCullum, in the same Test was also a source of great satisfaction, proof of how much his game has advanced.”It was only two or three weeks beforehand that I had been working with Frenchy away from everyone, having arguments about whether we should do it this way or whether that way will help you. Frenchy got his way, which I hate to admit, and suddenly I got that catch. When you do the work, put that extra time to gain one, two, three percent and you see it work in the middle it’s hugely fulfilling.”There has been a lot of stuff said. It’s a fickle world, if I punch one on Thursday I’ll be rubbish again. Everyone else can say their bits, I’ll just concentrate on catching as many balls as I can and keep working hard. In years to come, when hopefully I’ve played a few more years and caught a few more catches we can see where I sit.”He loves Lord’s, where this summer gets underway against New Zealand on Thursday, and can smile now at the dressing room window he accidentally smashed two years ago as he fumed over being run out in a Test against Sri Lanka as England chased quick runs for a declaration on the final day.”I love this ground: home of cricket, to drive in and get your little spot next to the window. They’ve safeguarded it: double-glazed, smash-proof, it’s all good. I’m allowed back in that corner. It feels like coming home.”

A stand of 83 with captain Dasun Shanaka decided the game after Australia struggled in both powerplays

Tristan Lavalette20-Feb-2022Kusal Mendis rediscovered his sublime touch as Sri Lanka’s misfiring batting order belatedly emerged from Australia’s stranglehold with a consolation five-wicket victory at the MCG to avoid a series whitewash.Chasing 155 in the fifth and final match, Sri Lanka were wobbling at 71 for 4 after all-too familiar sloppy dismissals before Mendis combined with skipper Dasun Shanaka in a match-winning 83-run partnership to provide the visitors with a confidence boost in Australian conditions ahead of a looming T20 World Cup.It was a deserved victory for Sri Lanka, who have tried hard in the series only to rue inconsistency as they snapped an eight match T20I losing streak in Australia. Australia’s attempts at a first 5-0 T20I series victory were thwarted in their final match of the home summer.With a 5.10pm local start, two hours earlier than usual, the family friendlier time slot reeled in 17,556 fans – compared to 13,000 who attended the MCG on Friday – in the highest attendance of the series.Mendis and Shanaka star for Sri Lanka in chaseEven though they lost in-form Pathum Nissanka and debutant Kamil Mishara early, Sri Lanka were all guns blazing and it paid dividends as they smashed their best powerplay of the series yielding 54 runs.Charith Asalanka started sublimely until a ham-fisted execution of a premediated scoop against Ashton Agar’s first delivery ended a promising knock. It put the pressure on opener Mendis, who was up to the task as he notched his first T20I half-century since September 2019. He found support through Shanaka who impressively targeted star spinner Adam Zampa down the ground.It came down to the last over with Sri Lanka favoured needing nine runs and Shanaka effectively sealed the result with a huge six over deep square leg. He fell next ball with Sri Lanka needing one run with two balls left but Chamika Karunaratne held his nerve to ensure the tourists tasted victory.A firing Mendis noticeably strengthens Sri Lanka’s batting and looms as their key batter at the T20 World Cup. The 27-year-old missed the opening two matches due to Covid-19 having returned from a lengthy suspension for a Covid breach during Sri Lanka’s tour of the UK in the middle of last year.As he showed here, Mendis is more than capable of conjuring match-winning knocks under pressure.Chameera relishes Australian conditions It was a complete performance for Sri Lanka, whose attack has mostly impressed and numerously put Australia under pressure during the series.They did so again in the finale, even without star allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga and quick Binura Fernando, to leave Australia in trouble at 55 for 3 at the halfway mark. Bowling at sharp speeds of 90mph/145kph, Dushmantha Chameera conjured menacing bounce, which accounted for in-form Josh Inglis who gloved a venomous short ball before it cannoned into his helmet.It was a fiery Chameera’s best performance of an encouraging series, which yielded seven wickets, as he relished quicker Australian conditions in a sign of what could be ahead later in the year. Sri Lanka should feel like they can inflict damage at the T20 World Cup with an attack well equipped for Australian conditions.Finch and McDermott fail at the topAustralia have experimented with their batting this series, but the trialling of spinning allrounder Agar as a pinch-hitting opener ended after two matches.Skipper Aaron Finch returned to the top but his form drought continued when he fell for 8 in his sixth single digit score in the last eight T20I matches. Fellow opener Ben McDermott too failed and has fallen away since a half-century in the opening match in a disappointment for the recently minted BBL MVP.He made just 3 from 13 before falling meekly and has not made a strong enough claim for a permanent spot in a line-up missing T20 World Cup winners David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Steve Smith.Fringe batter Inglis had staked his claims and started fast with fluent strokes through his favoured mid-off area. However, the No. 3 fell on 23 leading to a middle-order collapse where Australia slumped to 82 for 5.But Matthew Wade, who hadn’t been needed much this series, showcased his growing prowess at finishing an innings with an unbeaten 43 off 27 balls to lift Australia to a total that proved not quite enough.

Khawaja, Hughes, Smith and Ahmed failed collectively as Gloucestershire rounded up Australia A for 111 in their second innings, before a strong batting performance left them sniffing at an unlikely win

Daniel Brettig in Bristol22-Jun-2013
ScorecardPhil Hughes, after being promoted to open, managed only 11 runs•PA Photos

Driving to Bristol for a round of pre-Ashes preparatory talks with a strong overnight score in their minds, Australia’s coach Mickey Arthur and the team performance manager Pat Howard could have been forgiven for expecting more encouraging developments on their arrival. Instead the sunshine and good cheer of day one was to be replaced by far grimmer stuff – and not just because the weather in Bristol had turned from balmy to a chill wind and grey sky.Having rounded up the remainder of the Gloucestershire first innings for the addition of only 18 more runs, Australia A folded quite heedlessly for 111 in the second innings after declining to enforce the follow-on. This offered the hosts an unexpected window into the match, one left well and truly open by a stumps score of 162 for 3 in pursuit of 321.Arthur and Howard have a few issues in front of them, but the form of the batsmen to join the Ashes squad in Taunton on Monday is a mounting one. As far as Ashes preparations were concerned, this was a far from satisfactory day. Usman Khawaja and Phillip Hughes were unable to register scores of any note, while the likely first reserve batsman Steve Smith edged the seaming ball to be out for a duck. The trio had been promoted to Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the batting order in an effort to give them some quality batting time, but none was to be had by anyone.Even Nic Maddinson, so impudent during his first-day 181, was cut down to size, flicking a catch down the leg side to depart first ball. Maddinson was one of four wickets for Will Gidman, who capitalised on the more generous allocation of swing and seam provided by overcast skies and a pitch freshened by overnight moisture.Gloucestershire were also aided by a pair of run-outs, each a direct hit from James Fuller, who roamed the deep and caught, first Khawaja and then Jordan Silk, short of their ground. Such charity from the visitors will not have pleased the bowlers, who soon found themselves defending a smaller advantage than had seemed possible when Smith chose to have another bat.So poor was Australia A’s innings in fact that the top score went to Matthew Wade with 28, his runs scored either side of a painful blow to the groin that forced the wicketkeeper to his haunches for several minutes. Ashton Agar was next best with 27, demonstrating, albeit briefly, that his languid athletic talent is not limited to slow left-arm spin. Nonetheless, a scoreboard reading 88 for 8 and then concluding on “Nelson” does not bode well for numerologists nor Australian Ashes optimists.To be in the field again within 35.1 overs of dismissing Gloucestershire the first time did not appear to agree with several of the Australia A bowlers, who with few exceptions had been much sharper when the day began. Ryan Harris induced an outside edge from Gidman in the first over of the morning, before Fawad Ahmed offered evidence of his legspin’s bite by having Benny Howell pouched at slip, then fizzing his next ball past Tom Smith’s outside edge.Neither Harris nor Ahmed would be quite so compelling in the afternoon, which also provided a lesson for Chadd Sayers, the South Australian seam and swing operative. Having nipped out two wickets in his first over of the day to claim the handsome figures of 5 for 24, Sayers looked considerably short of rhythm and accuracy when he returned. He did improve later on and added the wickets of Chris Dent and Dan Housego, but Gloucestershire were by then growing in confidence.They reached the close with Gareth Roderick accompanied by Dan Christian, who appeared intent on getting the better of his countrymen while sprinting to 40 from 42 balls in the final hour. He took a particular liking to the spin of Ahmed, taking 35 runs from the 31 balls he faced. As they pondered whether to expand the size of the Ashes squad by one or two on Sunday, that was yet another reason for Arthur and Howard’s brows to furrow.

James Tomlinson’s four wickets helped Hampshire skittle Leicestershire and make them follow-on at the Ageas Bowl

11-Apr-2013
ScorecardJames Tomlinson caused havoc with the ball•Getty Images

James Tomlinson took four quick wickets as Leicestershire were forced to follow-on on day two against Hampshire.Left-arm pace bowler Tomlinson exploited the swinging bowling conditions with great skill as Leicestershire were bowled out for 143 in response to Hampshire’s first innings total of 454 for 7 declared. They will therefore begin day three 311 runs behind their hosts.Leicestershire openers Michael Thornely and Niall O’Brien had to bat out the last two overs of the day without scoring when following on but the damage had already been done. Tomlinson made the ball move both ways to finish with 4 for 23 while another left-armer, Chris Wood took 3 for 30 as Leicestershire collapsed from 31 without loss.Earlier Hampshire had resumed on 286 for 4 and had little difficulty in adding a further 168 in 39 overs for the loss of Sean Ervine, James Vince and Wood. Ervine departed at 308, bowled by Matthew Hoggard, but Vince was in imperious form, reaching his century with his 17th boundary off Shiv Thakor as Hampshire built a formidable total.Vince and newcomer Adam Wheater added 104 for the sixth wicket in 29 overs before Vince lofted debut-making pace bowler Ollie Freckingham into the deep where Thakor held the catch. Vince faced 236 balls for his 148 and struck 21 boundaries, but even then the punishment was not over.Wheater, signed in the close season from Essex, blasted a rapid unbeaten 56 and Wood took advantage of a demoralised attack to make a swift 28 before being bowled by Jigar Naik to prompt the declaration.Thornely and O’Brien gave no hint of the tribulations to come with an opening stand of 31 but when Wood had O’Brien caught at first slip by Ervine, the batting was processional.Tomlinson’s first victim was Thornely, followed in rapid succession by Ned Eckersley and Josh Cobb to make inexperienced Leicestershire 64 for 4, a position from which they never recovered. Only captain Ramnaresh Sarwan hung around long enough to make an impression, hitting five fours in his top score of 25 before he was bowled by Ervine.At 118 for 9 Leicestershire looked doomed but then last pair Hoggard and Alex Wyatt attempted to bring some respectability to the score with an aggressive stand of 25 before Tomlinson returned to claim his fourth wicket when Hoggard drove to third slip.Hampshire fielders surrounded the Leicestershire openers when the follow-on was enforced but they survived to the close.

Will Smeed offers sound support as visitors bounce back from thumping less than a fortnight ago

Sam Dalling23-Jun-2021Something old, something new for Somerset, James Hildreth and Will Smeed combining to ease their side to victory in south London. Sweet revenge, for their thumping at Surrey’s hands less than a fortnight ago, the tables turned by a second-wicket partnership worth 103 in just 63 balls.Hildreth scored the winning runs at this ground when Somerset won their only T20 crown back in 2005 and tonight marked his 200th appearance – all of them for Somerset – with a typically classy unbeaten 72. To paraphrase his pre-tournament words, you seemingly can teach an old dog new tricks: promoted to open the batting as a stop-gap, Hildreth now has 169 runs at a strike-rate touching 150.He played with freedom, intent on celebrating his landmark with a waltz at every ball. Following several early wafts that threatened nothing but air, Gus Atkinson was pulled and then cut away to get Hildreth going. He never looked back, a free-hit following a Jordan Clark beamer was swatted into the Peter May Stand, while he picked up seven boundaries in his favoured spots behind square either side of the wicket.And with Hildreth, some 16 years his junior, was Smeed. He made 42 before a leading edge gave Dan Moriarty a rare-wicket maiden in this format. It meant the pair fell agonisingly one shy of Peter Trego and Corey Anderson’s record stand in this fixture for Somerset: one suspects they will care little.There are many fine judges in the West Country who believe Smeed is technically the best player Greg Kennis and his Academy staff have ever produced. It is very early days but there is plenty to suggest they are onto something. Beaten for pace several times by Jamie Overton, making a rare appearance with the ball in a powerplay, Smeed responded by flicking his former team-mate over the ground’s longest boundary. He later treated Jade Dernbach with disdain, taking 16 from three balls, including back-to-back sixes. If Smeed is not careful, that flick over square-leg will rapidly become a trademark.On a night of milestones, Lewis Goldsworthy became Gareth Batty’s 150th T20 wicket, the veteran celebrating with his usual roar. But any suggestion of a Somerset wobble was quickly dispelled by Tom Lammonby, who reverse-swept his first two balls for four. Such has been Lammonby’s lack of touch, this was his first Blast outing of the summer. He played tonight only because of Tom Abell’s hamstring injury but finished with a confidence boosting unbeaten 23 from 15 balls. Fittingly, Hildreth stroked the winning boundary.Earlier, Surrey’s innings had once more been built around the supreme talent of Will Jacks. He has lit up the Blast since the start of last season, any sense that he was flying under the radar extinguished by his savage attack on Middlesex’s at Lord’s in the opening round.And with top-order partner Jason Roy on England duty, Jacks all of a sudden was burdened by responsibility. Not that it showed. Boundaries came in flurries, Jack Leach – making his T20 bow a day after his 30th birthday – taking early tap. A deposit into the Micky Stewart Pavilion delighted the members who have only recently reclaimed their previous spot: it has been a makeshift dressing room for 15 months. And when Jacks cut away supremely to end the third over, there was little doubt that he was ‘on’ tonight.But while runs flowed freely from one end, Craig Overton was miserly at the other. Overton has a swagger about him these days that is backed up by returns. His three powerplay overs cost a mere 12 runs.Leach had in the meantime picked up a maiden T20 wicket, although he owes Ben Green a drink for it: Jamie Smith mistimed a slog-sweep that got far more height than distance, Green taking a superb catch diving forward over his shoulder having started at mid-on.At that point Surrey were under pressure. Or it least it seemed that way, only for Jacks to first stroke a pair of fours, before flicking and pulling consecutive Josh Davey deliveries for six. The first took Jacks to a half-century of sixes in just the 50th game of his fledgling T20 career: a remarkable 32% of his runs have come that way.Fifty was in vogue, with Jacks’ partnership with Laurie Evans suddenly worth that many from only 30 balls. But then Evans comically ran himself out. He saw a reverse-sweep fall just short of Leach at point, but had set off for a run in the meantime that Jacks had no interest in. Jamie Overton threatened fireworks, but drilled one to Lewis Gregory at cover.Rory Burns brought up Surrey’s hundred with the reverse-sweep that had drawn so much attention during England’s ill-fated tour of India but the runs had dried up. Much rested on Jack, but having raced to 50 off 28, even he found runs hard to come by on a used pitch against Somerset’s spin trio of Leach, Goldsworthy and Max Waller. Just 15 runs came from his next 14 balls and frustration lingered in the air. As did Jacks’ very next shot, Waller taking the catch at long-off to give Leach 3 for 28. Easy game, T20.Clark teased Lammonby to hit Craig Overton for six late on, with Moriarty hoicking Davey for a similar result in the final over. That allowed Surrey to set 147 to win. It proved well short.There was plenty of symmetry about the way both teams started their innings: an early wicket followed by a fruitful powerplay. But whereas Surrey men tumbled regularly, Somerset stood firm. And there is symmetry in results too: this is the fifth consecutive summer these teams have taken two points off each other.Following a slow start, Somerset have won their last two. Surrey, on the other hand, began like a steam train but are now in model railway mode, their momentum checked by first the rain and then international call-ups.

The pair added an unbroken 113-run stand to help the hosts recover from Jamieson’s blows

Karthik Krishnaswamy25-Nov-20213:03

Jaffer: Shreyas Iyer has taken ‘opportunity with both hands’ after ‘hard grind in first-class cricket’

Shreyas Iyer scored a debut half-century full of calculated aggression against spin and put on an unbroken 113 for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja to lift India out of a tricky situation midway through day one and put them in control of the Kanpur Test.At stumps, India were 258 for 4 with Iyer batting on 75, his last scoring shot of the day a muscular six over midwicket off Will Somerville, which convinced New Zealand to go off for bad light rather than bowl more spin to complete the 90-over requirement for the day. Jadeja, meanwhile, had just reached his 17th half-century in Test cricket.That India played only five specialist batters, despite missing Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, was down in part to the confidence they must have had in their replacements – another of whom, Shubman Gill, stroked a smooth 52 earlier in the day – but also the faith they had in Jadeja’s batting ability.

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Having come in at 145 for 4, Jadeja showed all the hallmarks of the batter he has become over the last three years or so – clear-headed, precise in his shot selection, and unendingly patient outside off stump – as he batted through a wicketless final session in Iyer’s company.He needed to be all that, because this wasn’t an easy surface to bat on. The bounce was inconsistent, and the odd ball turned and jumped disconcertingly. Both new balls swung too, and the old one reversed just enough for the quicks to have something to work with through the day.And it was the quicks who took all four wickets, with Kyle Jamieson leading the way with 3 for 47 and showing exactly why he was preferred over Neil Wagner. Tim Southee went off the field midway through his 11th over to undergo treatment on his right groin muscle, but came back later on and bowled with all his usual guile, though clearly looking less than 100% fit while doing so. Before that he also took the key wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara.New Zealand went in with three spinners, and while none of them bowled badly, they ended up wicketless after bowling a combined 52 overs, and while Somerville’s gangly, accurate offspin was economical, the left-arm spin of Ajaz Patel and Rachin Ravindra proved expensive. Much of this had to do with the way Gill and Iyer went after them.Gill took 29 off 28 balls against Ajaz – who could have dismissed him in his very first over had he reviewed a not-out lbw decision from Virender Sharma – punishing marginal errors in length or trajectory with brilliant footwork, both out of the crease and deep into it. A straight-bat back-foot punch off Ajaz, against the turn and to the right of midwicket, was a candidate for shot of the day.4:47

Wasim Jaffer: Always watch out for the full ball while facing Kyle Jamieson

Iyer, meanwhile, began nervily, getting off the mark in Test cricket with a miscued lofted hit that just cleared mid-off running back, and only scoring 17 off 55 before tea. He came out with clear intent to attack the spinners after the break, though, and where Gill’s footwork was marked by how nimbly he moved forward or back, Iyer’s in this phase was all about going sideways. Usually, this was to enable him to make room and play the square cut or late cut – even if it meant exposing all three stumps – or to go inside-out over the covers.This was breathtaking, edge-of-the-seat stuff, and the debutant batting allrounder Ravindra – whom Kane Williamson was possibly forced to overuse at the start of the third session thanks to Southee’s injury – went for 26 in a four-over spell after tea. When Iyer reached his half-century with a straight-driven single off Southee, he had scored his last 33 runs off just 39 balls.By then, India were 199 for 4, and looking far more secure than they had done only around an hour before.A 61-run second-wicket stand between Gill and Pujara had moved India to a solid 82 for 1 at lunch, before Jamieson struck in the first over of the new session. Gill was slow getting forward to defend a nip-backer, and played onto his stumps. Having swung the new ball in both directions in his first spell and nicked off Mayank Agarwal in his fourth over, Jamieson was now showing he could also hit an uneven pitch hard and get the older ball to deviate off it.Jamieson then caused Pujara discomfort with the short ball, first bruising his right index finger with one that lifted unexpectedly and hit him on the glove, and then packing the leg-side field and hammering the middle of the pitch, causing him to duck and weave uncomfortably, never sure at what pace or height the ball would arrive.Williamson took Jamieson off after a spell of only four overs, but if it seemed premature, the change worked immediately, with Southee getting one to hold its line in the corridor after having got his previous three balls to shape into the stumps. Forced into playing, Pujara sent a thin edge through to the keeper.Ajinkya Rahane, short on runs over the last two years and captaining India in the absence of Virat Kohli, then made a fluent, technically accomplished 35 full of crisp back-foot punches through the off side. That shot was a safe one on this pitch because Rahane played it with a vertical bat, but the square cut with the horizontal bat wasn’t quite as foolproof, as he discovered while chopping Jamieson onto his stumps when the ball kept a touch low.

After an impressive opening victory, Mohammad Hafeez wanted the Lahore Lions to keep up the good form

Umar Farooq02-Dec-2012An experienced and explosive batting order and a strong bowling line-up have made Lahore Lions one of the favourites in the domestic Faysal Bank T-20 Cup, and they showed how dangerous they are in their opening match, comfortably beating Karachi Zebras by seven wickets. Their captain Mohammad Hafeez wanted his side to build on the impressive beginning.”It’s just a start but obviously the onus is on us, as a side filled with international players, to win the crown,” Hafeez said at the post-match press conference. “There is a sense of responsibility in the boys and that they want to live up to the billing of being a star side. All of them are focused on winning the national championship.”Hafeez, who was appointed the Pakistan T20 captain in May this year, wasn’t considered for the leadership role by Lions in the 14-team regional Twenty20 tournament. However, minutes before the Lions’ first match against Karachi Zebras at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the original captain Mohammad Yousuf passed on the role to him. “I didn’t want to lead the side but it was Yousuf himself who insisted on me taking up the role otherwise I wanted to play as a regular player. I respect his decision and stepped in his role to do the job but still I am carrying on the same strategy as we planned to execute before the match.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Hafeez withdrew from his usual side, the Faisalabad Wolves, after differences with the city association over selection issues. He has been playing for Faisalabad Wolves in the domestic Twenty20 competition since 2005 but this year Hafeez, now a Lahore resident, chose to represent Lions. “Sargodha and Faisalabad are my own cities and it’s tough to play against them but I wanted a change, that’s why I’m playing for Lahore. Playing against Faisalabad is obviously a tough one, but on various instances, we have been playing against (each other) and sometimes in one team in domestic level. This is something similar and I am enjoying playing for Lahore.”Hafeez, who has opened for Pakistan in most of his T20 matches, surprisingly batted at No. 3 for Lions in the opening game against Karachi Zebras. He said there wasn’t any plan to move him to No. 3 in the national team. “I didn’t want to disturb the combination as both Nasir (Jamshed) and Ahmed (Shehzad) have been doing well for long. But it’s just a temporary move only for the event and nothing to do with my national team spot. I don’t know about the India series, that is something need to be discussed later. But at the moment this event is serving as a useful practice ahead of the India tour.”