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WA had been 6 for 89 before the lower order hauled them to a total which proved just enough

AAP11-Mar-2022Australian pace bowler Jhye Richardson played a crucial role with the bat but suffered a hamstring injury when bowling as Western Australia beat New South Wales in the one-day final.Star WA batter Shaun Marsh (knee sprain) was also injured in Friday’s match at Melbourne’s Junction Oval as they triumphed by 18 runs, collecting their 15th domestic one-day title.In a see-sawing game highlighted by Hilton Cartwright’s astonishing and crucial outfield catch, WA made 9 for 225 from their 50 overs before NSW were dismissed for 207 in 46.3 overs.Richardson top-scored with 44, leading WA’s rearguard fightback after they had slumped to 6 for 89. An over after bowling Baxter Holt for a duck, Richardson pulled up awkwardly in his delivery stride and had to leave the field injured with NSW on 6 for 117.Richardson took five wickets in the second Ashes Test win at Adelaide Oval, but then went out of the side because of soreness and was left out of the Pakistan tour squad.No. 3 Moises Henriques had paced the NSW innings with 43 from 75 balls when he belted spinner D’Arcy Short to long-on. Cartwright was horizontal when he took an all-time classic diving catch, leaving NSW 8 for 204. It proved the match-winning moment – Henriques and Ben Dwarshuis, who was unbeaten on 31, had put on 36 for the eighth wicket and NSW appeared to be heading to a win. Adam Zampa and Tanveer Sangha were then dismissed for ducks to end the match.WA quick Andrew Tye, who was on a hat-trick, took 4 for 30 and was named player of the match, while Aaron Hardie snared 3 for 41.Matthew Kelly and Jason Behrendorff put on 52, a WA record for the 10th wicket in one-dayers, and that proved the difference. Kelly made 27 not out and Behrendorff hit two sixes off Hayden Kerr in the last over of the innings for his unbeaten 24.While WA’s score was well short of par on a wicket that did not appear to be playing too many tricks, it proved enough to thwart NSW.Marsh gave WA an injury scare at 2 for 70 when he turned back quickly after attempting a quick single. He had a sharp pain in his left leg and dropped to the ground in pain. Marsh needed medical attention for several minutes before resuming his innings.But two runs later, Adam Zampa bowled him for 29, ending his 61-run stand with Cameron Bancroft. Zampa bowled captain Ashton Turner with his next delivery for a duck and Cartwright survived the hat-trick ball.Matthew Gilkes dropped a sitter off Kelly when he had only made 2. Gilkes then caught Richardson in the deep to give Daniel Sams his third wicket and it was given out, despite the fielder appearing to touch the boundary rope with his foot.

Every time Kyle Jarvis produces a high-class display for Lancashire, Zimbabwe wonder what might have been – and even what still could be

George Dobell at Old Trafford28-Aug-2017
Kyle Jarvis still shows flashes of world class form•Getty Images

But for the political situation in Zimbabwe, Kyle Jarvis might right now be established as one of the world’s leading seam bowlers.He had claimed two five-wicket hauls in his first eight Tests, after all, and aged just 24, should have had a long international career ahead of him.Alas, for international cricket at least, he tired of the poor pay and political wrangling inherent with Zimbabwe cricket in those years. Instead he threw-in his lot with Lancashire as a Kolpak registration. The possibility of qualifying for England was mentioned, too.While an England call-up looks unlikely – he will be 31 before he qualifies – rumours connecting him with a return to Zimbabwe have surfaced in recent times. Zimbabwe Cricket is now in better hands off the pitch and Heath Streak, the coach, has admitted the departure of Jarvis and Brendan Taylor (to Nottinghamshire) was a “massive loss.””I’m hoping Zimbabwe Cricket can entice them back into the fold,” he said. “Kyle has been one of the most consistent county bowlers for a number of years.”Certainly in this form Jarvis would be an asset to most teams. Bowling (in the afternoon, at least) a tight line and gaining just enough lateral movement to threaten both edges of the bat, he claimed his second successive six-wicket haul in Championship cricket and sustained Lancashire’s outside hopes of snatching the County Championship title.If that sounds unlikely – they went into this match 41 points behind Essex – it is worth remembering they play the leaders next week. A resounding victory in this game and that might narrow the gap considerably.That they are in a great position to push for a win here was largely due to Jarvis and the equally impressive Ryan McLaren, who again captained in place of Steven Croft, who has dropped himself in favour of Jos Buttler. After an underwhelming first couple of spells (his first nine wickeletless overs cost 38 runs) – he described them as “terrible” – from the James Anderson End, Jarvis switched to the Brian Statham End and almost immediately settled into a better rhythm. He claimed four wickets in 20 balls and six in the afternoon session as he exploited a slightly two-paced surface with remorseless accuracy and just enough seam movement to find the edge.Andy Umeed’s typically stubborn innings was ended when he tried to guide one to third man but was undone by extra bounce, before Tim Ambrose was caught down the leg side (the only fortunate dismissal in the haul) and Keith Barker was punished for trying to flick a straight one. Matt Lamb was bowled by one that nipped off the seam before Jarvis returned to clean-up the tail. Jarvis did not think it relevant, but 12 of the 13 wickets to fall went to deliveries bowled from the Statham End which seemed, from afar, to offer just a bit more seam assistance.Jonathan Trott makes a disconsolate exit•Getty Images

“I didn’t bowl well at all in the morning,” Jarvis admitted later. “I bowled terribly. I had no rhythm. There were some tough words at lunch. But then it came out really nicely.”When I came to England, I thought I was a swing bowler. But I’m not, really. My skill is to move the ball of the seam and, as my lines and my lengths improve, so my average is coming down. I can be a bit wayward when the ball swings.”While he did not deny he had been approached by Zimbabwe, his answers to questions on the subject may ease the minds of the Lancashire management. And, perhaps, diminish their enthusiasm (now confirmed by the club) for recruiting Steven Finn, who is out of contract at Middlesex at the end of the season, but likely to demand a hefty price-tag if he is to move.”It’s flattering to be linked with international cricket,” Jarvis said. “And it is tough being away from home and family.”But I’m contracted at Lancashire until the end of 2018 and playing for them is my only focus. I’m just thinking about the next game. I’d love to win the Championship with Lancashire. There’s no reason we can’t push for the title.”Qualifying for England has always been at the back of my mind. I came over to do that. But whether they’ll want a 31-year-old bowler I don’t know.”They may not. But with 29 first-class wickets at a cost of 19.41 apiece this season (and 148 at 28.03 since his Lancashire debut at the end of 2013) it is not impossible the club may consider him as an overseas player even if he did decide to return to Zimbabwe.Only a stand of 76 for the ninth-wicket between Olly Stone (who was preferred ahead of Boyd Rankin, who subsequently returned home due to illness) and Jeetan Patel – both of whom survived dropped catches – helped Warwickshire gain a single bonus point. That meant no respite for Ian Bell, in his first game since returning to the ranks, and no chance to build on their victory against Middlesex as Warwickshire seek to avoid relegation. There is some help for bowlers in this surface, but 200 may well prove to be 150 or so below par.Bell actually looked in decent touch in making 14 but, lured into a drive at one outside off stump, edged to Jos Buttler in the slips.How relevant might it be that Buttler found himself in the slips? It can his hopes of winning an Ashes tour place as Jonny Bairstow’s wicketkeeping substitute little good and surely suggests his only hope of selection is as a specialist batsman. But a man averaging 10.25 in the season – albeit it across a sample-size of just four innings at this stage – isn’t in much of a position to stake a claim as a batsman. Still, with five games to play and positions still up for grabs, he still has some time.So, perhaps, does Bell. Nobody has ever really claimed the middle-order place he vacated when he was dropped by England at the end of 2015 and it remains just about possible that, if he ended the season well, he could yet win a recall. Nobody should doubt his good intentions: failing in his dream job of captain of the club he has loved all his life has hurt deeply and he seems to remain a man coming to terms with his life after international cricket. He has not failed for a lack of effort.There are, though, some signs of hope for Warwickshire. The return of Stone, playing his first first-class match since May 2016 after sustaining a career-threatening injury, offers them a young bowler of sharp pace – he produced a fine, full ball to take Dane Vilas’ middle stump and looked the most hostile bowler on show despite the sluggish surface – while the introduction of batsmen Dominic Sibley and Adam Hose has replenished a squad that had grown a little stale for lack of turnover. It will, barring a miracle, come too late to save them from relegation but their success, and the club’s qualification for T20 Finals Day, suggests the first few bricks in the rebuilding operation have been laid.Haseeb Hameed was also unable to push his claim for Ashes selection when he edged one that may have left him a touch, while Alex Davies was unfortunate to receive a beauty that bounced and left him. With Stephen Parry surviving a torrid spell from Stone before stumps, Lancashire will resume on day two well-placed to establish a match-defining position.

Shane Warne was critical of Australia’s selectors for the decision to recall Tim Paine, but former gloveman Ian Healy said that Paine “won’t let Australia down”

Adam Collins17-Nov-2017In response to a trio of shock Ashes selections from Australia, former legspinner Shane Warne has declared that England are in prime position heading into the first Test, which starts from November 23 at the Gabba. Australia picked Tim Paine, Shaun Marsh and Cameron Bancroft in a 13-member squad for the first two Tests, leaving out Matthew Wade, Matt Renshaw and Glenn Maxwell.”Australia looks confused,” Warne said at the ‘s season launch in Sydney. “They’re picking wicketkeepers [Paine] that aren’t even keeping for their state. To me, I think England are in a better situation going into that first Test than Australia are.”Despite the loss of Steven Finn to injury and Ben Stokes’ unavailability before they had even boarded the plane, England are “going along just nicely”, according to Warne. The most important thing for the visitors, Warne believes, is a change in English attitudes from the seven successful Ashes campaigns he played in from 1993 to 2007.”They don’t fear Australia anymore,” he said. “[They] haven’t for a long time and hence that’s why they can beat Australia.”Discussing the Test selection with ESPNcricinfo, former captain Mark Taylor praised Trevor Hohns’ panel for making a “really tough decision” by dropping a badly out of form Renshaw.”They have come out and said that an Ashes series isn’t the place to find form and that’s probably a fair point,” he said. “They have been saying for a while that they wanted to pick guys who were in form at the start of the series and Cameron Bancroft has been.”Taylor’s then vice-captain and now television colleague, Ian Healy, was equally supportive of the decision to leave out the 21-year-old after ten Tests, in which he averages nearly 37. That was before Renshaw endured a horror run in the three recent Sheffield Shield rounds, tallying 70 runs for Queensland in six innings and never making it past 20.”The Australian cricket team is not a club side, it is a representative side,” Healy told ESPNcricinfo. “You need to earn your spot to get in and stay in it. He hasn’t coped well this summer.”The former wicketkeeper has also backed the decision to leave out Matthew Wade in favour of Paine, who had not so much as kept for his state, Tasmania, in the domestic season so far.”He [Paine] is very consistent, his technique is good so he should be able to cope with the pressure of being catapulted into this Ashes series,” Healy said.Healy also backed Paine’s glovework, saying it is comparable to Peter Nevill, the man he beat for the Test nod: “He will do the job and he won’t let Australia down.”Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

Turning to the decision to give Shaun Marsh a middle-order reprieve, Taylor argued the call was justified on the basis of Marsh’s time as an opener. Marsh had lost his Cricket Australia contract, following the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in March, where he scored 151 runs in eight innings in India at an average of 18.87.”Someone with Shaun Marsh’s experience at the top of the order coming in at six could be handy if and when England take a second new ball,” he said. “That’s why I think he’s been given the spot.”Casting an eye to England’s own batting line-up, another former captain, Ian Chappell, praised both Joe Root and Mark Stoneman. The latter, he thinks, is ripe for Ashes runs. Stoneman has shown good form in the tour matches, with fifty-plus scores in each of his four innings so far, including a century in the ongoing match against the Cricket Australia XI in Townsville.”Stoneman is a very good player,” Chappell said. “It won’t surprise me if he makes more runs in the series than Alastair Cook. He is a good player and I can’t believe England have taken so long to pick him as an opener when they have had so many false starts since Andrew Strauss’ retirement.”He advocated both Steven Smith and Root going up the order to No. 3 in this series – in classic Chappell style. “You are better off coming in at one-for-shit rather than two-for-shit,” he said. “That would be my approach. But neither of them wants to.”Chappell’s forecast for the series is that it will come down to pace. Specifically, whether Australia can consistently field a fit Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins combination.”In Australia if you are struggling for wickets you can always resort to a bit of short-pitched stuff and that is more easily done with genuine pace,” Chappell said. “England has a good attack but I am just not sure how they will go if the Kookaburra isn’t doing much. It is the extra pace of Starc and Cummins that I am basing Australia’s superiority on. If one or the other were to be injured, that would change the dynamics quite a bit.”Rounding out the contributions of the former Australian captains was the man who led the whitewash four years ago, Michael Clarke, who is watching for David Warner.”Warner is a key [player],” he said. “I know he’s changed his attitude and approach and softened since, as Davey says, he’s married Candice and had kids. But I think his attitude is the key to Australia’s intent. When he walks out and bats with that intent, he always has success.”

While a few franchises have suggested retaining five players, others favoured utilising the right-to-match cards

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Nov-2017Less than three months before the next IPL player auction, there is no consensus among the franchises on the number of players that can be retained in a squad. At a crucial meeting between the BCCI and the franchise owners on Tuesday in Mumbai, many owners were split between retaining as many as five players or none, but most favoured utilising the right-to-match (RTM) card option at the auction. It was also decided that the player auction will take place in India in the last week of January.Tuesday’s meeting was attended by owners, including Shah Rukh Khan and Jay Mehta (Kolkata Knight Riders), Akash Ambani (Mumbai Indians), Ness Wadia and Mohit Burman (Kings XI Punjab) and Manoj Badale (Rajasthan Royals).The meeting was called by the BCCI at the behest of the Committee of Administrators, which wanted to apprise the owners of the discussions that took place during the IPL Governing Council meeting on October 24. Last month the IPL Governing Council heard a presentation by Hemang Amin, the IPL’s chief operating officer, on various important topics including the number of retentions, the purse available for the auction and the RTM card. Amin’s presentation was based on his meeting with all eight franchises.While the Governing Council was in favour of allowing teams to retain three players, the owners of the two richest franchises, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, argued in favour of retaining a maximum of five and four players respectively on Tuesday. ESPNcricinfo understands Mumbai wanted to retain five players and use two RTMs at the player auction, and were backed by Super Kings, who are back in the IPL after a two-year suspension and had suggested retaining four players with one RTM at the auction.However, Knight Riders proposed no retentions and sought five RTMs at the auction. Two franchises – Kings XI and Rajasthan Royals, the latter being the second franchise to return having served a two-year suspension – informed the BCCI that they wanted to build their teams from the scratch and did not want any retentions or RTMs. Meanwhile, Sunrisers and Royal Challengers were happy with three retentions and two RTMs.It is also understood that in the case of both Super Kings and Royals, they can only retain players from their 2015 squads. It comes as no surprise that both Mumbai and Super Kings, who have won the IPL multiple times, were in favour of retaining the maximum players in their attempts to keep their core group intact. Both teams included established match-winners who have been with the franchises for a long time.Mumbai will be keen to retain players like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and probably Kieron Pollard, along with Krunal Pandya and Harbhajan Singh. Super Kings, on the other hand, would want to retain MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina and possibly the overseas duo of Faf du Plessis and Brendon McCullum.According to an IPL official, Knight Riders, Royals and Kings XI Punjab suggested the salary cap could be hiked to INR 70-80 crore per team, up from INR 63 crore at the auction in 2017, while the other franchises left that decision to the IPL governing council. The official also said the formula previously used to calculate the salary of a retained player would remain the same. This means that, based on the number of retentions, a retained player would get a percentage of the actual purse.Among the other decisions at the meeting, the IPL has allowed Kings XI to play three of their home matches outside Chandigarh as long as the remaining four home games are played at their home base in Mohali.A final decision is yet to be taken on Royals’ home base of Jaipur, which is affiliated to the Rajasthan Cricket Association that was suspended by the BCCI in 2014 after Lalit Modi became its president. However, with Modi calling time on his tenure as an administrator recently, the BCCI will decide on the status of the RCA’s suspension at its special general meeting on December 9. It is understood that Royals have told the IPL they want to play in Jaipur.According to the IPL official, final decisions on all the matters are likely to be taken at the next Governing Council meeting, which will then have to be approved by the COA. “There was, to a large extent, a consensus between the franchises on many issues. All of them want the league to grow bigger. Soon, we will deliberate on the suggestions given today and take a final decision,” the official said.

Afghanistan spinner back at Lord’s for fourth consecutive T20 campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2022Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the Afghanistan spinner, has re-signed for Middlesex to appear in this year’s Vitality Blast.Mujeeb, a regular in franchise leagues around the world, will be turning out for the London club for his fourth consecutive season. He is expected to be available for the Blast’s entire group stage, as well as the knockouts, should Middlesex qualify.Related

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“I am very pleased to be returning to Middlesex, as the club is like family to me,” he said. “I’m very happy there and hopefully we can do well this season.”Middlesex finished second from bottom in their 2021 Blast campaign, and after a difficult season across all formats parted company with head coach, Stuart Law. They have since appointed Alan Coleman as head of men’s performance, and former England seamer Richard Johnson as first-team coach.Success in the T20 format has been fleeting for Middlesex, with just two quarter-final appearances since they won the old Twenty20 Cup in 2008. They last reached the knockout stages in 2019, Mujeeb’s first season at the club.Middlesex have already recruited Peter Handscomb, the Australian batter who captains the side in first-class cricket, and Pakistan quick Shaheen Shah Afridi as overseas players for 2022.”We are delighted once again to be able to extend Mujeeb’s association with Middlesex Cricket,” Coleman said. “Not only is he a truly world-class cricketer, but he is a fantastic role model and inspiration for many young people in London and around the world.”As an individual he offers a huge amount in our changing room, having played T20 cricket successfully across the globe in the world’s largest competitions. The knowledge and experience he shares with our young players is invaluable and they absolutely love working with him.”Under our newly appointed first-team coach, Richard Johnson, we are really looking forward to making big progress in all competitions this year, and to have someone of the calibre of Mujeeb in our squad at the forefront of our T20 ambitions again is a really exciting prospect.”We can’t wait to see him back in a Middlesex shirt this summer.”

Jason Behrendorff finished with 14 wickets for the match – the ninth-best match figures in Sheffield Shield history – as Western Australia won by an innings against Victoria

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Jason Behrendorff finished with match figures of 14 for 89•Getty Images

Jason Behrendorff finished with 14 for 89, the ninth-best match figures in Sheffield Shield history, as Western Australia wrapped up an innings victory over Victoria inside two days at the WACA. Behrendorff added five second-innings wickets to his nine from the first innings as Victoria were tumbled out for 130, losing by an innings and 38 runs.Behrendorff was just the second man in the post-war era to collect as many as 14 wickets in a Sheffield Shield game – Terry Alderman was the other, having picked up 14 for 87 in a match against New South Wales in 1981, also at the WACA. It completed a remarkable comeback match for Behrendorff, who was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left fibula in early December.The second morning began with Western Australia at 4 for 178, and while they were able to add only 107 to their overnight total it was more than enough to ensure they did not have to bat again. Behrendorff began Victoria’s second innings by scything through Travis Dean, Marcus Harris and Marcus Stoinis within his first four overs.Aaron Finch provided some resistance with an unbeaten 65, but the rest of the Victorians struggled, with 17-year-old Cameron Green picking up 3 for 20. Behrendorff returned to claim the final two wickets of the game, to finish with 5 for 52 to add to his 9 for 37 from the first innings, which were the fifth-best innings figures in Shield history.

Litton Das will be Shakib’s deputy as the allrounder takes over from Mominul Haque

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-2022Shakib Al Hasan will take the reins for Bangladesh in Test cricket once again, being confirmed as captain on Thursday. He takes over from Mominul Haque, who had resigned as captain on May 31 after leading the side since October 2019. Litton Das has been named Shakib’s deputy.”What I have discussed – or, what we have discussed – and learnt is that he [Shakib] is available to play,” BCB president Nazmul Hassan said on Thursday. “After the series against West Indies, we have a series against Zimbabwe. Shakib is uncertain for that series, and it’s unclear how long Shakib will remain the captain for.”I had three names. The people responsible for [selecting the captain] had their discussions and gave me three names – one of them would be the captain and one of the others would be the vice-captain. If Shakib had refused the captaincy, we would have turned to the other two.Related

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• Shakib: 'We are physically fit, but mentally behind'

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• The Shakib saga: All you wanted to know (or didn't)

“We wanted to appoint both the new captain and the vice-captain. And after the preliminary discussions, we decided to have Shakib Al Hasan as the captain and Litton Das as the vice-captain.”Results did not go Bangladesh’s way a lot during Mominul’s tenure: in all Bangladesh won just three Tests under him, losing 12 and drawing two. Also, Mominul’s own batting form fell away – he has 162 runs in six Tests so far in 2022, averaging 16.20 – as a result of the pressures of captaincy, and that was one of the primary reasons for him giving up the job. “When you play well, even if the team doesn’t win, you are still in a position to motivate them. I felt that captaining a side is tough when I am not scoring and team is not winning,” he said at the time of announcing his resignation.Shakib, 35, has had numerous stints as Bangladesh’s Test captain, first leading the side in a game against West Indies in 2009. He captained for six more matches in the first half of 2010, and again in August 2011 against Zimbabwe, before falling out of favour with the then BCB chief Mustafa Kamal. He took over the Test captaincy once again in December 2017, replacing Mushfiqur Rahim. He held the role for nearly two years, till he was handed a one-year ban from all cricket in 2019 for failing to report a bookie’s approach.Incidentally, Shakib’s future in Test cricket has been a topic of discussion in recent months, with the allrounder going back and forth on his commitment to red-ball cricket. In February, Shakib had reportedly asked the BCB for some time off from Test cricket, but was nonetheless selected in the squad for the tour of South Africa.Shakib, though, suggested that he was “jaded”, and requested a break from international cricket, which the BCB eventually granted him. But then board president Nazmul Hassan publicly questioned Shakib’s commitment to his country and, following another round of meetings between the allrounder and the BCB boss, Shakib was included in the squad for South Africa. In the end, though, he did miss the Tests due to illness in his family.In the Test series assignment that followed, at home against Sri Lanka, Shakib finished as the highest wicket-taker for the hosts. The visitors, though, won the series 1-0.Hassan further confirmed that former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer and former Australia batter Stuart Law will join the Under-19 coaching team.”Our Under-19 [men’s] coaching staff will have Stuart Law and Wasim Jaffer,” Hassan said. “Stuart Law will be the head coach and Wasim Jaffer will be BCB’s batting consultant. We can use them in various capacities.”

Nottinghamshire are in no rush to sign up another overseas player when James Pattinson returns to Australia after Saturday’s Royal London One-Day Cup final

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge26-Jun-2017
ScorecardJames Pattinson claimed three wickets for no runs to wreck Kent’s top-order•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire are in no rush to sign up another overseas player when James Pattinson returns to Australia after Saturday’s Royal London One-Day Cup final.The 27-year-old fast bowler has given the Division Two leaders outstanding service, with 12 wickets in his nine one-day matches and 31 to date in five appearances in the Championship, having reached that total by taking three wickets in eight balls to begin the dismantling of Kent’s first innings here, after which Nottinghamshire came through a testing first floodlit passage of the match in what they will feel is pretty good shape.Had Pattinson not missed four Championship matches during the Champions Trophy, when he was frustrated not to play in any of Australia’s fixtures, he could be past 50 first-class wickets for the season already, which is why Nottinghamshire will keep his place in the side vacant for as long as possible in the hope of seeing him again before the summer is out.Pattinson is in the squad for Australia’s tour of Bangladesh at the end of August but until the contract dispute between the players and Cricket Australia is settled, it cannot be taken for granted that the tour will go ahead. The current contracts expire on Friday.Were Nottinghamshire to have Pattinson back when the Championship run-in begins on August 28, they could confidently expect to have the firepower to bring a successful conclusion to their promotion bid, irrespective of whether Stuart Broad and Jake Ball are required by England.”Happily we’ve got a bit of time on our side,” Mick Newell, the county’s director of cricket said. “After this match, we just have the Championship match against Derbyshire between now and August 28 and there is the option to play Dan Christian or Ish Sodhi in that one. So we can wait and see how things unfold with James before we decide whether to look at anyone else.”Kent were probably fortunate to lose only three wickets to Pattinson as Nottinghamshire’s attack, missing Broad because of the heel injury that threatens his participation in Saturday’s one-day final, proved as effective with the pink ball as they have been with the red.He bowled just as impressively in his second spell as his first, bowling full and straight and fast, getting inswing and outswing, and another burst of wickets always seemed likely. As it was, after seeing Will Gidman escape twice in the same over, dropped by Steven Mullaney in the slips and then almost snapped up by Chris Read, he had to be content with three.Only Daniel Bell-Drummond came between Kent and a still-more painful indictment of their decision to bat first on a greenish pitch, carrying his bat for 84. At 23 years old, he continues to grow in stature, steadfast where others at times were betrayed by impatience or misjudgement.At 6 for 3, Sam Billings – dropping in for half this match between T20 and England Lions assignments – decided to counter-attack aggressively, taking on both Pattinson and Ball with some success. It was a major blow for Kent, then, that a loose drive against Luke Fletcher saw his assault ended earlier than it should have been.Darren Stevens also paid the price for taking liberties with Fletcher. Gidman, having survived against Pattinson while in single figures, helped Bell-Drummond add 55 before being yorked by Harry Gurney but the prospects for a Bell-Drummond century and a Kent batting point receded rapidly as Mullaney, something of a partnership-breaker with his skilful medium pace, took three wickets in the space of 13 deliveries. Mitch Claydon, not unusually, did not hang around long enough to delay the second interval.Thus Nottinghamshire had maximum bowling points, as they have in all their nine matches so far. Yet the achievement was double-edged this time, perhaps, in that it required their batsmen to step into the unknown, facing the pink ball under lights.Kent didn’t threaten them much at first. Matt Coles offered too much width and Stevens, who took the new ball ahead of the debutant New Zealand quick Adam Milne, was fairly easily kept out, with little forewarning of the edge to third slip that saw Jake Libby depart at the end of the 14th over.They were now at the difficult stage, when the floodlights were not quite in charge, for which they had practised in a mock-up last Friday evening without gaining much confidence.Kent’s tails were up briefly as Brendan Taylor and Samit Patel, both in form – Patel with back-to-back double hundreds – went cheaply, although the balls that did for them would probably have succeeded in any light and with any colour. Taylor was caught behind trying to fend off a snorter from Milne and Patel lost his off stump to a lovely ball from Coles that swung late, much to the relief of Joe Denly, who had dropped him at gully second ball off Milne.Nottinghamshire’s confidence, then, will have been much bolstered by emerging from the remaining hour and a half with no more setbacks, particularly given that Mullaney, dropped on 50 off a hard chance to gully off Stevens, had to contend with an upset stomach as well as a hostile Milne. He and Alex Hales have added 83.

A round-up of the action from day 3 of the Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and Queensland at Perth

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Jonathan Wells led Western Australia’s chase as he finished not out on 85•Getty Images

Queensland lost their advantage of a first innings lead after Simon Mackin’s six wickets – his best first-class bowling figures – saw them fold for 138 and set Western Australia a target of 227 to chase. In reply, Western Australia put on 2 for 170 before stumps, putting them 57 runs away from a come-from-behind victory.Mackin combined with David Moody (2-16) and Hilton Cartwright (2-38) to dismiss Queensland within 41 overs of the day that they had begun on 0 for 3. Openers Matt Renshaw and Joe Burns were both out within the day’s first five overs as Queensland fell to 3 for 34 before a 60-run partnership between Usman Khawaja – who scored 157 in the first innings – and Sam Heazlett (29) took them to 94. Queensland then lost their last seven wickets for 44 runs as Mackin tore through the middle and lower order to dismiss them for 138.Chasing 227, Western Australia started strong with opener Cameron Bancroft (23) putting on 58 runs for the first wicket with Jonathan Wells. Bancroft fell in the 21st over and followed by Michael Klinger in the 22nd. But Wells scored an unbeaten 85, and combined with the returning Adam Voges (51*) to add 111 runs in an unbroken stand that took Western Australia close to an improbable victory.

Australia could consider playing three frontline spinners to try and close the margin to 3-2

Andrew McGlashan08-Aug-2021

Big Picture

It’s been a weird T20 series: 120 feels like a batting side has reached the stars, Australia have barely been able to lay a bat on the brilliant Mustafizur Rahman, a debutant has taken a hat-trick and there’s been a 30-run over with five sixes amid a lot of prodding and poking.Bangladesh have achieved what they set out to do – beat Australia – and the confidence gained from winning can never be discounted, but the true value of these performances may not be known until the T20 World Cup. Before then they face New Zealand at home and it will be very interesting to see the types of surfaces produced.Whether pitches were 100 is nearly defendable – Bangladesh were probably one breakthrough away from going 4-0 up – is good T20 is a decent debate, although the challenges of preparing surfaces for this series in terms of the weather and tight Covid protocols should be acknowledged. No one wants roads all the time, and the occasional low-scoring scrap is enjoyable, but when cutters are jumping off a length and batters have little confidence they can play their strokes it’s perhaps tilted a little too far the other way.For Australia this will likely be their last T20 before they select their World Cup squad. Mitchell Marsh will emerge as one of the standout performers, the bowling attack has held up very well and Dan Christian’s onslaught in the fourth match was a statement. But it’s difficult to say they will head home having really answered the pre-tour questions. Justin Langer will hope to have the absent players back – a lot rests on their shoulders.Related

• Bangladesh register historic series win against Australia

• Stats – Australia's fifth successive series defeat in T20Is

• Christian, bowlers help Australia pull one back

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
Bangladesh LWWWL
Australia WLLLWL

In the spotlight

This has been a tough series for batters to prosper, but Soumya Sarkar has had a particularly difficult time at the top of the order with scores of 2, 0, 2 and 8. Josh Hazlewood has caused him problems and taken his wicket twice. He had scored three half-centuries in the previous two series against New Zealand and Zimbabwe but may have now given the selectors something to ponder.Through these twin tours it has felt that Matthew Wade is locked in to be Australia’s keeper at the World Cup. He started this series in the middle order – based on his likely position in that tournament – then went back to the top with returns of 13, 4, 1 and 2. If you include the matches in West Indies his highest score is 33 in nine T20 innings and his average now sits under 20. There will be mitigation given for the conditions in Bangladesh, but coupled with the debate over where the keeper bats it remains one of Australia’s unanswered questions.

Team news

Bangladesh have been unchanged throughout the series. Will they make it five games in row or now that the whitewash is off the table have a look a few other players?Bangladesh (possible) 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Shakib Al Hasan, 4 Mahedi Hasan, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Shamim Hossain, 8 Nurul Hasan (wk), 9 Nasum Ahmed, 10 Mushtifzur Rahman, 11 Shoriful IslamAustralia have tried various combinations throughout the series. The only players not to get a game are quicks Jason Behrendorff and Wes Agar, who don’t appear in contention for the World Cup, and the injured Riley Meredith. Hazlewood has played the first four games so there is a chance he will be rested. It could also be an opportunity for Australia to try three frontline spinners.Australia (possible) 1 Matthew Wade (capt & wk), 2 Ben McDermott, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Moises Henriques, 5 Alex Carey, 6 Ashton Turner, 7 Dan Christian, 8 Ashton Agar, 9 Andrew Tye, 10 Mitchell Swepson, 11 Josh Hazlewood/Mitchell Starc

Pitch and conditions

“They don’t compare to anything I’ve faced in my career. These are as difficult conditions as I’ve seen for T20 cricket – 120 is like 190,” Christian said after the fourth game. It would be a surprise if anything changed for the last match.

Stats and trivia

• With a scoring rate of 5.86, this is the slowest T20I series of at least three matches in history
• Christian’s 39 off 15 balls was the second-fastest 30+ score by an Australia batter in T20Is
• No team has gone unchanged through a T20 series of more than three matches

Quotes

“As a batting unit I think we need to be a bit more cautious and a bit more sensible.”
“I might be a little bit biased here, but certainly something that I think could work for us as well. Fingers crossed that might eventuate but we’ll have to wait and see.”