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A half-century from Ben Dunk took Adelaide Strikers to victory over his old team Hobart Hurricanes and kept their hopes alive in the BBL

The report by Alex Malcolm06-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBen Dunk batted through the innings in a chase of 162•Getty Images

A serene Ben Dunk half-century helped Adelaide Strikers to a comprehensive win over Hobart Hurricanes and kept them in finals contention.Dunk barely got out of first gear during an effortless 79 not out from 49 balls in sweltering conditions to control a run chase of 162 that wobbled momentarily. Brad Hodge was once again sublime in the middle overs but his dismissal was quickly followed by both Kieron Pollard’s and Jono Dean’s before Chris Jordan helped Dunk see Strikers home with 10 balls to spare.The target would have been far fewer if it wasn’t for a brilliant salvage job from the unheralded Hurricanes duo of Beau Webster and Jonathan Wells. They were brought together at 5 for 30 and produced fine half-centuries each to raise the total to defendable levels. But the damage done early by Jordan, Billy Stanlake and Travis Head with the ball proved too difficult to overcome.Trade wins
The off-season trade of Ben Dunk and Hamish Kingston raised a number of eyebrows and Dunk’s performance against his old side only added to the intrigue. He made just 31 in his first meeting against Hobart last Monday and D’Arcy Short, recruited as Dunk’s replacement, dominated in the Hurricanes’ successful chase.Dunk enjoyed the re-match, becoming the second-leading run-scorer in the BBL while Kingston and Short managed just four runs between them, not to mention leaking a combined 1 for 50 from five overs. Dunk was player of the tournament in the 2013 BBL and said post-match that he was probably playing better now than he did three seasons ago, when he was subsequently picked to play for Australia in three T20 internationals.The Adelaide Strikers fans have taken to Ben Dunk quite quickly•Cricket Australia

Webster’s record
Beau Webster had never batted in a BBL match prior to this game. The 23-year-old Tasmanian has three first-class centuries but had played just one T20 game, also against the Strikers, earlier this week, when he did not bat. On Friday, he walked out to bat with half the side back in the pavilion and one ball short of 14 overs still left.Webster finished unbeaten on 67 off 43 balls, the highest score by a No. 7 in BBL history. He played second fiddle during an 89-run stand with Wells, who played exceptionally well for his 55. Webster accelerated after Wells’ exit reaching 50 in just 36 balls. He showed admirable fitness, running twos late in the innings despite suffering in the stifling heat.Stanlake’s statement
Billy Stanlake has only played seven T20s but his stocks have risen with every outing. He bowled magnificently again picking up the crucial wickets of Kumar Sangakkara and Dan Christian in consecutive balls to leave Hurricanes reeling. The 22-year-old now has six wickets for the tournament at an average of 17.83 and economy rate of 6.97. His height and pace have troubled batsmen consistently and his captain Brad Hodge has backed him to play for Australia at some stage soon.

Steven Smith will stay at No. 3 in the absence of Usman Khawaja, opening up a place in the middle order for the day-night match in Adelaide

Daniel Brettig at the WACA17-Nov-2015Australia captain Steven Smith will stay at No. 3 in the batting order in the absence of the injured Usman Khawaja, opening up a spot in the middle order for the day-night match in Adelaide.The squad for Adelaide will be named on Wednesday, and Smith’s pronouncement makes it likely that the selectors will opt for a middle-order option. While Shaun Marsh is favourite for the role, George Bailey is among the leading run-makers in the Sheffield Shield this summer and would add useful knowhow to a young team, while Glenn Maxwell is highly regarded if enigmatic, and made 98 and 38 in the Sheffield Shield match between Victoria and Western Australia at the MCG.”It depends who comes in but I think I’ll probably bump myself up to No. 3 with Usman being out,” Smith said. “I’ll keep that spot warm for him until he comes back.”Australia have other selection queries following the retirement of Mitchell Johnson, the indifferent form of Mitchell Marsh, and the heavy workloads endured by Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood in Perth. James Pattinson, James Faulkner and Moises Henriques have all been mentioned as possible inclusions.Smith stated his dissatisfaction with the Kookaburra balls used in this match, with an extraordinary 11 replacement balls required across the Test outside the usual allocation. However he expressed optimism that the pink ball would hold up well in Adelaide under conditions carefully concocted to support it.”It’s just up to the powers above me to sort that out with Kookaburra,” Smith said of the red ball. “It was a little bit disappointing the way we had to change so many balls throughout this Test match. I think it wastes a lot of time and it’s always different as a batter or a bowler to change the ball continually, to get in a rhythm. So hopefully they can resolve those issues.”We played the Shield game with the pink ball in Adelaide a couple of weeks ago and the ball stayed together pretty well. I think there was eight millimetres of grass on that wicket and it’s likely to be a pretty similar wicket for the Test match next week. Hopefully saying that the ball stays in shape the same way it did a couple of weeks ago.”As for the WACA pitch, which hosted the fourth highest scoring Test ever played in Australia, Smith said he was disappointed by its lack of life, but equally had no intention of handing too straightforward a chase to New Zealand on the final afternoon. The final target of 321 in 48 overs was never realistic, even before rain arrived.”It would have been nice to get about 360 off about 65-70 overs,” he said. “It was obviously pretty hard, I thought they bowled really well. As we saw there at the back end, the wicket was still extremely good so I didn’t want to give them much of a sniff. The two guys out there at the end, we’ve struggled to get them out this Test match. Well, Kane in both Test matches.”Traditionally the wicket out here has had a lot more pace and bounce. Going into the game that’s what the groundsman indicated it was likely to be like. It didn’t turn out that way unfortunately. I was a bit disappointed with the way the wicket played. It was really tough to take wickets. So I don’t think there was much more we could do.”

This is a hard-fought game between two excellent sides. The prospect of a fourth day in glorious conditions at Hove should inspire excitement. If it does not, it is no reflection on the players.

Tim Wigmore at Hove03-May-2013
ScorecardLuke Wells fell just short of a century on a day where the match went nowhere•Getty Images

Warwickshire’s coach Dougie Brown has pinned the blame firmly on the Hove pitch for a hard-fought game which seems to be heading inexorably towards stalemate.”For people who maybe don’t quite understand the game, they’re probably wondering why we’re bleating on about the pitch and stuff but in fairness is that a first-class pitch?” Brpwn asked “I would doubt it to be honest. We always thought the pitch would at some stage deteriorate. That might be at some time next month.””It just killed the game completely. There’s nothing in there for anybody, batters included. Speaking to our batters it’s actually almost impossible to get the ball off the square. How you’re ever going to get a result on surfaces like this I just do not know, particularly when you use a heavy roller as well and deaden it even further.”I just feel sorry for the people who’ve come to watch two very, very strong sides playing. What’s happened is the conditions haven’t really allowed for entertaining cricket.”It’d be a bit like, in football terms, going out to watch some of the best teams playing and playing on grass that was a foot long. You can’t apply your skills like you could do on any normal occasion so that’s been disappointing. I don’t know about docking points or whatever, that’s not for me to say.”And it was hard to argue with Brown’s assessment at the end of another day that, despite the high calibre of players on display, seldom rose above the turgid. It was just as well that the beer festival brought over 20 different ales – more than the 17 wickets to fall so far – to enjoy.The only bowler to rise above the conditions was Boyd Rankin. While Chris Wright displayed perseverance, and Chris Woakes parsimony, Rankin was comfortably the most threatening of Warwickshire’s quick bowlers and deserved more than the three wickets he snared.During one over in the morning session, he might have had a hat-trick. Luke Wells was denied a century by a yorker that made a wreckage of the stumps he protects with such care; Matt Prior was beaten for pace and could have fallen lbw first ball; and Ed Joyce was dropped by Tim Ambrose from a legside bouncer.Rankin retired from Ireland duty last year and has declared his ambition to try and pursue a Test career with England. That must be considered very unlikely – he is nearly 29 and has a bad record with injuries (he was here returning from ten weeks out with a stress reaction in his foot) – but when he bowls with the hostility and searing bounce he showed here, it doesn’t seem inconceivable that England could show interest in Rankin as a reserve, tall impact quick bowler, behind Steven Finn and Chris Tremlett.Brown certainly thinks it is possible: “Obviously going out to Australia, the conditions out there would suit him immensely. He’s a big tall lad – 6ft 8in – he bowls very fast, he bowls aggressively and when he’s on form there’s very few bounce bowlers in world cricket better than him.”Rankin can do subtlety too, varying his angle by switching between over and around the wicket and using his yorker as an occasional weapon of destruction, as Wells could attest to.After his early morning spell, it fell to Matt Prior to awaken spectators from their happy slumbers in the deckchairs. Three crunching drives off four Wright deliveries oozed purpose, but Wright soon had Prior caught by his friend and onetime Sussex colleague Tim Ambrose to a ball that moved late. And, to judge by the quality with which Ben Brown cut the ball in his unbeaten 82, another Sussex wicket keeper could one day also interest the ECB.For now, their attentions are better turned to the merits of reinstating the heavy roller – a measure designed to mimic Test match conditions but one that risks undermining the pleasures of picturesque county grounds like Hove.

Daniel Brettig at Kensington Oval10-Apr-2012Surprise rippled around the Kensington Oval when the West Indies captain Darren Sammy, not Fidel Edwards, took the ball alongside Kemar Roach to begin the third morning. That surprise turned to admiration in the space of 10 overs of the shrewdest fast medium from Sammy, which returned the figures of 2 for 14 and set the hosts on the path to a commanding position with two days remaining.Not the fastest bowler, nor the most prominent exponent of swing, Sammy instead relies on unrelenting accuracy and subtle use of angles at the crease for his wickets. Ed Cowan was asked to play at only one of his first eight deliveries, but the ninth was delivered from closer to the stumps and on a line the opener could only nibble at for an edge behind. David Warner fell in similar fashion, pushing firmly at a ball of precise line and “in between” length and offering a catch to Darren Bravo in the slips. Shane Watson, also, could easily have been given out lbw to Sammy, who said his team had planned well.”I think the batsmen really underestimate me,” Sammy said. “They get through the quick men and see me and say ‘ah he’s not so quick’. But what I rely on is accuracy: frustrate them, frustrate them, take the ball away from them, then get a little closer, just in that little channel to play or leave. That’s what I did today and what I’ve been doing throughout my career, just putting the ball on one spot.”Warner is new to Test cricket. So is Cowan, and Watto [Watson] has just come back after not playing Test cricket for the last Australian summer. We all knew what to expect from [Michael] Hussey as we saw today, they call him Mr Cricket, he always gets Australia out from crucial positions. We stuck to our plans.”We noticed [Michael] Clarke and [Ricky] Ponting love the ball closer to them … we had our plans for bowling to them. Last night we didn’t execute properly but the plan to Warner and Cowan was to be a little fuller with the ball slanting across, and once we did that we got the results. So we did plan well for their batsmen and bowlers – we were prepared for this series.”Sammy’s decision to take the ball straight away on the third morning was also driven by the pragmatism that has characterised his captaincy. By keeping the runs tight at one end, he allowed Edwards or Roach to attack from the other, while also leaving them fresher if the visitors did not lose early wickets.”We had the two quick men, and it could have been a longer day,” Sammy said. “We don’t want both of them going at full steam, then we’ve got to make a change to myself and then the spinner, so the plan was to rotate the two early in the morning and see how it goes, and it worked well for us. [Economy] was considered as well, because they were going at four plus an over and you needed someone to pull it back.”I understand my job in the team and I just go out there and do it. Everyone will have their opinions but as a unit going forward, I know I’m a crucial member in this bowling unit. If you look at Fidel and Roach they go at around four an over in Test cricket, Bishoo goes at three and I go at two. So my contribution is crucial in the team set-up and I go out and try to do that every day.”Having top scored for his side on a third consecutive day of struggle, Clarke admitted his batsmen would need to learn to adjust their attitude and expectations to adapt to Caribbean conditions, which are slower and more awkward than they seem to have catered for. As in the tour match at the Three Ws Oval, the tourists found batting a struggle.”I think we, as a batting group, need to accept it’s going to take a long time to score runs,” Clarke said. “It’s a lot different to Australia where you can go out there and cream the ball and hit plenty of boundaries. As we’ve seen today, once the wicket does get a little bit up and down you have to be willing to bat for long periods.”Though Watson’s involvement in run-outs has become an unhappy pattern, Clarke denied it was a matter that the vice-captain needed to address as a matter of urgency, saying the run-out of Ponting was unfortunate. “It’s something we’d prefer not to talk about,” Clarke said. “It is a part of the game and it is unfortunate, you never mean to run anybody out. It was a big wicket, losing Ricky, but it’s no one’s fault. It’s a part of the game, you’ve just got to try your best not to have it in any form of the game. It’s hard enough for all the batters, especially chasing a total like that.”Every player’s different, everybody runs at different speeds and sees the game in a different light. I don’t think [Watson needs to look at it], it’s just unfortunate it happened today and that it was a good player in Punter [Ponting] who’s had a really good summer and is in pretty good nick. His runs would’ve been handy out there in the first innings but what it means is, he’s going to get a second chance.”

Australia and India were culpable in collusion “contrary to the spirit of cricket” in the 2008 Sydney Test “racism” incident, according to ICC appeals commissioner John Hansen, who heard the case in January 2008

Daniel Brettig07-Apr-2011Australia and India were culpable in collusion “contrary to the spirit of cricket” in the 2008 Sydney Test “racism” incident, according to ICC appeals commissioner and New Zealand justice John Hansen, who heard the case at Adelaide’s Federal Court building in January 2008. Hansen has been quoted by former ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed in his memoirs describing what he called “behind the scenes” discussions by the two boards in the incident that involved Australian allrounder Andrew Symonds and Indian offspinner Harbhajan Singh.Speed gives the affair his own legal-minded reading in , released in Australia this week, including private correspondence sent to him by Hansen in the aftermath.Hansen went as far as to say that both boards contravened the spirit of the game, in eerie echo of Indian captain Anil Kumble’s comments after the final day of the Sydney Test that started it all.”Although both boards would deny it, BCCI and CA were having discussions behind the scenes to resolve matters,” Hansen wrote. “Indeed, they presented me with an agreed statement of facts and a consent order that they expected me to rubber-stamp. In my view the consequences of such a course of action would have been disastrous for cricket.”In any event, their actions undermined the independence of the Code of Conduct Commissioner, were unbecoming, and in my view, contrary to the spirit of cricket … Given [that] the procedure arises from a voluntary code with input and agreement of all member associations, I consider the behaviour was improper … having agreed to it, they ought to have confidence in it and respect it.”When contacted, a CA official said: “We are not about to trawl over old ground or make any further comment on the matter other than to say that CA did not at any stage agree to any lesser charge and, on the contrary, ensured that the agreed set of facts was noted in order to ensure the judge could independently assess that matter in accordance with appropriate judicial procedures.”The BCCI said that the contents of Speed’s books had no bearing on the board. “In any case he has been a critic of the Indian board in the past, too,” an official said.Harbhajan was found guilty of racist abuse of Symonds – now his Mumbai Indians team-mate in the IPL – during the Sydney Test and handed a three-Test ban by match referee Mike Procter. The charge was leveled by the on-field umpires, Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson, on a complaint from Ricky Ponting, Australia’s captain that Harbhajan had called Symonds a monkey. Harbhajan’s appeal was heard three weeks later by Hansen, who found the racism charge to be not proven. Harbhajan was instead charged with a Level 2.8 offence – abuse and insult not amounting to racism – to which he pleaded guilty and was fined 50 per cent of his match fees.Reiterating his mortification that Harbhajan escaped a ban due to a colossal bungle by ICC legal counsel, who failed to lodge all the Indian spinner’s past offences with Hansen, Speed nonetheless cites the meddling of CA and the BCCI as a highly unsavoury element of the saga.”The process had been put in place precisely to manage the conduct of players and officials but the Australia and India Boards seemed happy enough to try to ignore it when it suited their ends,” Speed wrote.”Cricket Australia had faced a difficult decision. A major plank of their business was at risk. India exerted enormous pressure. CA sought a solution that would preserve their relationship with India and ultimately achieved it, protecting the ongoing tour as well.”Hansen’s rebuke also hits hard at the BCCI. It was a graphic example of the power of India over the modern game and the willingness of its administrators to use their financial muscle when national pride is at stake.”Speed also insists that the decision to remove Bucknor from umpiring duties for the remainder of the series, following his poor match in Sydney, had been made independently of any Indian pressure.”Much has since been written about this decision, and the general consensus is that I reacted to pressure from India to remove Bucknor. To that I can say one word: No,” he wrote.”My rationale was simple pragmatism. In the days after the Test, I received one call from India, from former BCCI president Inderjit Singh Bindra, who asked me to stand down Bucknor in the interests of the game and relations between the two countries and the ICC.”It was quite a short discussion and a very well-reasoned argument. There were no threats, no histrionics, no drama and no pressure. I assured Bindra that I would think about it. I then spoke to James Sutherland and asked for CA’s view. He advised that CA did not have a view either way: if I thought it was necessary to stand him down, they could live with that. Conversely, if he umpired in Perth, they would raise no objection.”If Benson had been scheduled to umpire in Perth, he would have been stood down too.”In Speed’s eyes, the whole episode might have played out differently had Procter, the match referee, pursued a harder line when he had the chance during the first Test of the series in Melbourne, when Yuvraj Singh was charged with dissent after lingering at the crease.”I was at that match and was shocked by Procter’s finding,” Speed wrote. “I met him in Melbourne and pointed out the provisions of the Code, specifically drafted by (ICC general manager Dave) Richardson to aid referees that stated it was an offence to hang around after being dismissed, whether as a show of dissent or disappointment. Procter had forgotten about this part of the Code.”This incident had been a chance to draw a line in the sand in the first match of what was almost certain to be a tense series, and to show the players of both sides that dissent would not be tolerated.”The chance had been missed, the line of what was acceptable and what was not had been blurred, and with high stakes on offer, as is inevitable in a series between two leading and well-matched sides, it was hardly what was needed at that point in time.”

Sussex launched the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition with a five-wicket victory
over Worcestershire in a successful return to New Road where they won the old
Pro40 League at the end of last season

25-Apr-2010
ScorecardSussex launched the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition with a five-wicket victory
over Worcestershire in a successful return to New Road where they won the old
Pro40 League at the end of last season.James Kirtley removed three top-order batsmen in an over as the home side
struggled to make 144 for 9 and Sussex edged home by five wickets despite a
similar burst by Chris Whelan.The Worcestershire paceman dismissed Matt Prior, Joe Gatting and Murray Goodwin
in the space of five balls but the in-form Robin Martin-Jenkins, unbeaten with
35, and Andy Hood (16 not out) finished the job with 16.5 overs to spare.New Road revisited actually delivered a better scoreline than last September
when Sussex lost by 49 runs and had to wait 35 minutes before they were declared
40-over champions following Somerset’s defeat by Durham. Two much-changed teams re-convened for the first weekend of county cricket’s newest sponsorship.With Michael Yardy and Luke Wright away with England, preparing for the ICC
World T20 in the Caribbean, acting captain Goodwin made the right call by giving
his seamers the chance to take control in helpful early-season conditions.It took a brilliant catch by Joe Gatting, low to his left at short mid-wicket,
to remove Vikram Solanki in Chad Keegan’s fourth over after Worcestershire’s
captain had hit three fours in a confident start.The real breakthrough for Sussex came with the more contentious of two
leg-before decisions by umpire Mark Benson. Television replays suggested that
Phil Jaques inside edged the ball on to his pad but the Australian was given out
for 22. One wicket for Kirtley led to two more in the next five balls. Alexei Kervezee
was trapped on the crease and Ben Smith carved a catch to Martin-Jenkins at
third man.From this point it was mostly toil for Worcestershire. Moeen Ali reined back
after hitting an early six off Martin-Jenkins and was badly dropped by Keegan at
mid-off in batting through 26 overs for 38. Ben Scott, with 22, was the main contributor as the tail scrambled what runs they could against Kirtley, who finished with four for 30, and Rana Naved. The entire innings included only 13 fours and a six.Sussex had 13 boundaries on the board in 14 overs but they were made to pay a
price. Having taken three fours in Jack Shantry’s opening over, Chris Nash (33)
eventually nicked the left-arm seamer to slip and Michael Thornely holed out to
mid-wicket off the Zimbabwean-born James Cameron.Prior (37) hit two sixes before a loose shot to mid-off set up Whelan’s clutch
of wickets, with Goodwin taken at backward point and Gatting at second slip.

He accepted breaching seven counts of the anti-corruption codes of SLC, the Emirates Cricket Board and the CPL

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2024The ICC has banned West Indies batter Devon Thomas from all cricket for five years. Thomas accepted breaching seven counts of the anti-corruption codes of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).Thomas had been suspended for corruption in May 2023 when he was slapped seven charges, which included “contriving to fix” matches. The period of ineligibility is backdated to 23 May 2023, when he was provisionally suspended. Thomas accepted breaching the same seven charges of which four were from the SLC anti-corruption code, one from the ECB code, and two from the CPL code.Calling the five-year ban a “period of ineligibility,” an ICC release stated the “the last 18 months of the period of ineligibility would be suspended.”Back in 2023 the ICC had stated the charges against Thomas were with regard to his conduct while playing in the LPL, Abu Dhabi T20 and the CPL. The most serious charge against him – of attempting to fix a match – was from the 2021 LPL in which he played just one game for Kandy Warriors.The four charges under the SLC anti-corruption code were of “contriving or being party to an agreement to fix or attempt to fix, contrive or influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspects of matches”, “failing to disclose […] full details of an approach” to the ACU, “failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate” in an ACU investigation, and “obstructing or delaying” the investigation by “concealing, tampering with or destroying any documentation or other information”.The single charge he faced under the ECB code was for failing to disclose details of an approach made to indulge in corrupt conduct during the 2021 edition of Abu Dhabi T10, when he was a part of the Pune Devils team.The remaining two charges were from the 2022 and 2021 editions of the CPL when he represented St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and Barbados Royals. One of the charges was, again, failing to disclose an approach. The second charge is about failing to report the “receipt of any gift, payment, hospitality or benefit (a) that he knew or should have known was made in order to procure a breach of the CPL Code, or (b) could have brought the player or the game of cricket into disrepute”.”Having played both international and professional domestic/franchise cricket, Devon attended numerous anti-corruption education sessions,” Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager – Integrity Unit, was quoted as saying in the release. “He therefore knew what his obligations were under the Anti-Corruption Codes but failed to meet these obligations across three different franchise leagues.”This ban is apt and should send a strong message to players and corrupters that attempts to corrupt our sport will be dealt with firmly.”Thomas, 34, is primarily a white-ball player having represented West Indies in 21 ODIs and 12 T20Is, from 2009 to 2022, apart from his lone Test in Australia in December 2022. He laat played domestic cricket for Leeward Islands in March 2023.

England captain not fussed about follow-on tactic gone wrong, says knee will be fine for Ashes in June

Andrew Miller28-Feb-2023Ben Stokes, England’s captain, insisted that his team’s pride at playing a part in one of the most gripping Test matches of all time outweighed their disappointment at the final result, after their run of six Test wins in a row came to an end with an incredible one-run loss against New Zealand in Wellington.A packed crowd at the Basin Reserve had been invited in for free by Cricket New Zealand in expectation of a gripping finale, and the two teams did not disappoint. In a thrillingly fluctuating final day, England lost four quick wickets in the first hour before settling into a seemingly match-turning sixth-wicket stand between Stokes himself and Joe Root, only for Neil Wagner’s short-ball approach to break the game open in a scintillating finale.”It’s right up there,” Stokes said. “Going down to the last day, being in the situation of that last half an hour … it’s everything you wish for. Even though we came out on the wrong side of it, you can’t help but feel blessed that we’ve managed to be a part of that incredible game.”It’s disappointing to not win, obviously. But we look at the bigger picture of what everyone’s enjoyed and seen here today. It’s probably bigger than the disappointment at the moment.”One of Stokes’ stated aims since taking over the England captaincy has been to max out on entertainment, and risk losing games in order to win them. That policy has paid handsome dividends over the past year, most especially in Pakistan before Christmas when England’s attacking instincts broke open the series, most memorably in the first Test at Rawalpindi.”That’s obviously a huge objective of ours,” he added. “I don’t want people to get mixed up, [because] that doesn’t mean that we’re not fussed if we don’t win or lose. Obviously, we always want to win. It’s very disappointing to lose, but you can’t help but be excited that we’ve been a part of a game like that.”Related

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• 'No better game in the world than Test cricket'

Besides being only the second one-run win in Test history, after West Indies’ victory over Australia at Adelaide in 1992-93, this was the fourth time that a side has won a Test match despite being asked to follow-on – and like the most recent occasion, the Kolkata Test in 2000-01, the turning point of the match was arguably Stokes’ decision to enforce the follow-on, after New Zealand had been bowled out for 210 on the third morning.The man himself, however, had no regrets about his call, even though New Zealand’s second innings of 483 – built around a doughty century from the Player of the Match Kane Williamson – meant that his bowlers spent more than 215 consecutive overs in the field.”Imagine captaining in hindsight?” he said. “That’s nothing that I would ever do.”It was always our game to lose once we enforced the follow-on,” he added. “But the logic behind it was that our opening bowlers have ripped through their top-order for three innings in a row. We knew that New Zealand had to pretty much play the perfect game to put us in a situation like this.”In England’s home summer, Stokes’ men had chased consecutive targets of 277, 299 and 296 against New Zealand, followed by a hefty 358 against India, and so despite their tough grind in the field, Stokes insisted that the target this time around, 258, had not left his team daunted.Winning after following on in Tests•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Batting in the last innings, chasing 250 is something that we were never worried about,” he said. “But give huge credit to New Zealand, not only to the way that they played in the second innings, but also the way that they bowled and managed to get very early wickets with not too many runs on the board.”So in terms of looking back and making my decision around the follow-on, No, I don’t regret it. Other teams are allowed to play better than us and New Zealand have played better than us this week.”England’s next Test assignment is the one-off four-day Test against Ireland – starting June 1 – followed by the Ashes and while they are bound to head into the series with confidence after four wins in five this winter, one area of concern is Stokes’ own fitness. His troublesome left knee was causing him visible pain, both during a curtailed two-over spell in the second innings, and for long periods of his own second innings, a dogged 33 from 116 balls that ended with an off-balance pull against a Wagner short ball.Before the series begins in June, Stokes is due to play a season of IPL with Chennai Super Kings – which he may leave early to prep for the Ashes – but he said he had no plans to withdraw at this stage, instead hoping that the less intense workload of T20 cricket would give him more time to get it right off the field.Ben Stokes batted within himself while managing a knee issue•Getty Images

“I’m not sure exactly,” he said, when asked how his knee was feeling. “There’s maybe three or four months before we get to the Ashes and we’ve worked incredibly hard with our physios and medics to get everything right strength-wise.”But it’s been very difficult out here, especially once the Tests have started, because the games came thick and fast. But it’s a good opportunity out in India to get myself into a position that I feel like I don’t have to worry about my knee anymore.”I’m not going to lie. It is very frustrating knowing that I’ve got something holding me back in terms of my body. It’s been around for a while. It is frustrating, but we’re doing everything we possibly can to allow me to fulfil that fourth-seamer role, like I was able to do two or three years ago. Hopefully, come the Ashes, I don’t have to worry about it.”

Pacer has not bowled since the T20 World Cup due to a hip issue; no replacement called up

Firdose Moonda21-Dec-2021Anrich Nortje has been ruled out of South Africa’s upcoming three-Test series against India due to a “persistent” hip injury. Nortje has not bowled since the Men’s T20 World Cup in November, and is still struggling with the niggle and does not have sufficient bowling loads under his belt to be cleared to play. CSA’s chief medical officer Dr Shuaib Manjra told ESPNcricinfo that Nortje is undergoing rehabilitation and is aiming to be ready for the ODIs against India in mid-January.Nortje’s absence is a massive blow to South Africa – he is their leading bowler in Tests this year. Nortje has taken 25 wickets from five Tests at 20.76, six ahead of his nearest team-mate, Keshav Maharaj.No replacement will be called up to the squad, which includes seven other seamers. The door is now open for Duanne Olivier to make a comeback after his return from the Kolpak system, which ended with Britain’s exit from the European Union. Olivier is the leading wicket-taker in the domestic first-class competition with 28 wickets at 11.14.Olivier is likely to bowl alongside Kagiso Rabada and one of Lungi Ngidi, who has not played competitively in five months, uncapped left-armer Marco Jansen. Other options include Beuran Hendricks, who has one Test to his name, and Glenton Stuurman and Sisanda Magala, both of whom are uncapped.South Africa’s squad has begun its final preparations for the series that starts on Boxing Day, and so far has come through all Covid-19 tests successfully.

Legspinner twists ankle and is released from squad ahead of Ireland ODIs

David Charlesworth at the Ageas Bowl21-Jul-2020Team Moeen 325 for 9 (Bairstow 127, Moeen 85, Rashid 4-65) beat Team Morgan 225 (Duckett 68, Moeen 3-40) by 100 runsJonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali starred as England’s two World Cup winners outshone the rookies in the first intra-squad match at the Ageas Bowl ahead of the one-day international series against Ireland.The pair may have been overlooked from the Test set-up but they proved their enduring white-ball class, Bairstow first of all muscling his way to 127 from 88 balls, a boundary-laden innings with 16 fours and seven sixes.His departure paved the way for Moeen, who was on a run-a-ball 19 before celebrating being named Eoin Morgan’s deputy for the Royal London series on Tuesday with a barnstorming 85 from only 45 deliveries.Neither Sam Hain nor Liam Livingstone were able to make substantial contributions despite batting twice for Team Moeen against Team Morgan, who were beaten in this 40-over affair by 100 runs in the bio-secure bubble.England’s preparations were marred when Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, sprained his ankle on the eve of the warm-up match. Subsequent scans revealed he would not be able to take any part in the Ireland ODIs, and he has been released from the team’s bio-secure bubble.The result was a peripheral matter given the circumstances which also saw Tom Banton bat for both sides, making just three runs in his two innings, while Paul Collingwood, acting as head coach for the Ireland series with Chris Silverwood on Test duty, fielded at backward point for a spell as a result of a few minor niggles in the camp.Among the non-regulars, Ben Duckett did the most to enhance his cause for a first ODI appearance in four years next Thursday as he struck 68 from 65 balls before succumbing to Moeen, who capped a pleasing day with 3 for 40.After Banton clipped tamely to midwicket to hand David Willey his first wicket in an England jersey since being omitted from the World Cup squad, Bairstow was initially watchful as he took 10 balls to get off the mark.ALSO READ: Moeen Ali named England vice-captain for Ireland ODIsHe steadily accelerated thereafter with some crisp front and back foot pulls while the handbrake was well and truly off by the time he crunched the wayward Saqib Mahmood for four consecutive fours.Hain departed for nine first time around, bowled by a straight one from Liam Dawson, while Livingstone was lbw after playing across the line to Rashid, who came in for some heavy punishment from Bairstow’s slog sweeps.Bairstow, content to deal largely in boundaries, brought up a supreme 75-ball ton before clipping a low full toss from Willey to midwicket, whereafter Moeen picked up the baton in a terrific knock.There were seven fours and six sixes in Moeen’s innings, in which he took 66 from his final 26 balls, only to fall 15 short of following Bairstow to three figures after slicing good friend Adil Rashid to short third man.Rashid took four wickets but leaked 65 runs in his seven overs, and while Mahmood and Richard Gleeson each took a scalp, they conceded 76 and 57 from eight and seven overs respectively.After conceding 325 for 9, Morgan’s side were left with a mountain to climb but Duckett, who told the PA news agency he had lost around 10kg during lockdown, responded with aplomb after Reece Topley had Phil Salt caught behind in the first over of the chase.Duckett cut and pulled authoritatively while he used the reverse sweep off Moeen to excellent effect, only to sweep the spinner to deep backward square-leg.Morgan cleared the boundary rope three times in an enterprising 33 off 24 balls but a thick edge then looped to third man – and with the England captain’s departure went any real chance his side of overhauling their target.Topley, Tom Helm and Henry Brookes all took two wickets apiece while Moeen gained revenge over Rashid, who thumped the spinner to long-off to signal an end to proceedings as Team Morgan were all out for 225.England’s training group – reduced to 23 players following Parkinson’s withdrawal – will have a second internal practice match on Friday before a final squad is announced next week.