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Ali Evans, Gavin Main, Adrian Neill, Chris McBridge and Oliver Hairs – all part of recent series against New Zealand – have been left out

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-2022Allrounder Brandon McMullen has earned a maiden call-up to the Scotland side for the T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia next month. Brad Wheal and Josh Davey, the pace-bowling duo who weren’t part of the white-ball series against New Zealand in July, have been called back into the 15-member squad to be led by Richie Berrington.Pace bowlers Ali Evans, Gavin Main and Adrian Neill, and batters Chris McBridge and Oliver Hairs – who were all part of that home series – have been left out.According to a Cricket Scotland release, McMullen has been called up on the back of his impressive performances at the Regional series and A team matches with both bat and ball. Wheal, meanwhile, finished fifth on the top wicket-takers’ table at this season’s Vitality Blast with 22 wickets in 13 matches playing for champions Hampshire, after which he also played in the Hundred.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Davey, who represented Somerset across formats this summer, finished with 15 wickets in 11 matches in the Blast. He also topped the wickets charts for Scotland in the T20 World Cup last year, finishing with nine wickets in five games, including 4 for 18 against PNG.The squad includes the experience of Berrington, George Munsey, Matt Cross and Calum MacLeod in the batting department, while the bowling line-up also features Mark Watt, Safyann Sharif and Hamza Tahir. Cross has been named vice-captain of the side.The release also mentioned that “forty players were considered for selection” after analysing the performances at men’s T20 Blitz cricket at Ayr and Clydesdale.Related

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“It was good to see other younger players put performances in under pressure, and I have no doubt their opportunities will come in the not-too-distant future,” head coach Shane Burger said. “We have selected 15 that we believe will make the desired impact we are looking for. For those players who are not going to the World Cup, we look forward to seeing them challenging for international honours in years to come.”The squad has a blend of youth and experience alongside locally based players and County representatives. The balance of the team and chemistry is crucial to contributing to performances at the World Cup. We believe we have a good mix of the above and have selected players that are in form and can perform under pressure.”The only T20Is Scotland have played since last year’s T20 World Cup – where they finished winless in Group Two after qualifying for the Super 12s – are the two matches against New Zealand in July. They are scheduled to play warm-up games against Netherlands and UAE ahead of their first-round matches in the upcoming tournament, where they are placed alongside West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe in Group B.Scotland will take on West Indies in their opening match in Hobart on October 17.Scotland squad: Richard Berrington (capt), George Munsey, Michael Leask, Brad Wheal, Chris Sole, Chris Greaves, Safyaan Sharif, Josh Davey, Matthew Cross (wk), Calum MacLeod, Hamza Tahir, Mark Watt, Brandon McMullen, Michael Jones, Craig Wallace

Adelaide Strikers batsman Jake Lehmann had not faced a delivery in the entire BBL but hit a six off his first ball to win the match for his stuttering team against a desperate Hobart Hurricanes

The Report by Tristan Lavalette13-Jan-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsOne-ball hero: Jake Lehmann hit a six when the Adelaide Strikers needed four•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

It seemed an almost unfair task. Adelaide Strikers batsman Jake Lehmann had not faced a delivery in the entire BBL but needed to hit a four off his first ball to win the match for his stuttering team against a desperate Hobart Hurricanes. Astonishingly, Lehmann, the son of Australia coach Darren Lehmann, calmly lofted the ball over mid-off and over the rope to rescue the Strikers much to the delight of a frenzied Adelaide Oval near-capacity crowd.As knockouts tantalisingly loom, the Strikers are in prime position to finish atop the BBL ladder for the second straight season. The six-wicket victory propelled them to the top and they are almost a lock to host a semi-final. Conversely, the slumping Hurricanes are struggling to stay afloat in the finals race.Chasing an apparently mediocre 144, the Strikers, sans an injured Mahela Jayawardene, appeared to be coasting but were stymied by a disciplined Hurricanes attack in the middle overs. Knowing the importance of the result, the Strikers batted cautiously in a bid to chase down the target without too many undue risks. Out of nowhere, the game tightened with the Strikers needing 34 runs off the last three overs. But with just two wickets down, they had Tim Ludeman well set on 50 and the ever reliable Brad Hodge showcasing his coolness.Hodge and Ludeman calmly made their match-winning move in the 18th over, bludgeoning 18 runs off Cameron Boyce to essentially put the result beyond doubt. Or so we all thought. Hodge was bowled by a piercing Shaun Tait yorker in the penultimate over to ensure there would be a grandstand finish. Needing 10 runs off the final over, Strikers batsman Alex Ross scored a couple of twos to bridge the gap. But the game once again flipped when Ross was brilliantly caught by a diving Jon Wells at the wide long-on boundary, bringing the equation to five off two.Highly impressive paceman Simon Milenko, who was a late replacement for Darren Sammy, bowled accurately off the penultimate delivery and ensured Ludeman could only score a single.
Milenko appeared to be his team’s surprise match-winner, until Lehmann stole the show with an astonishing last-ball six, much to the relief of the Strikers who appeared set for an unfathomable choke.The gripping ending looked highly unlikely earlier in the day when the Hurricanes were bowled out for 143, losing six wickets for 23 runs in a horrific late collapse. They scored at a brisk rate for much of the innings but lost wickets at regular intervals to stymie their momentum before crumbling to the wizardry of Adil Rashid. The legspinner was trumpeted pre-match as the “player of the Big Bash” by Damien Fleming on the television commentary, and Rashid lived up to the billing with a mesmerising performance.Rashid finished with highly impressive figures of 2 for 16 from four overs to become the tournament’s leading wicket-taker. Tapping into his bag of tricks, Rashid duped Jonathan Wells with a trademark googly and then trapped danger man Daniel Christian in front. Rashid backed up a vibrant Strikers attack fuelled by debutant Greg West’s exuberance. The left-armer bowled with hostility marked by an array of short deliveries and finished with 2 for 24 from four overs. West was not overawed by the occasion, notably exchanging in a verbal stoush with Hurricanes batsman Michael Hill.But West backed up the bravado by claiming his first wicket with the scalp of the out-of-form Ben Dunk for just 8. Part of Australia’s T20 team last summer, Dunk may have played himself out of contention for a World T20 berth. West capped off a memorable debut by dismissing his nemesis Hill, who loomed as a potential match-winner having struck a brutal 21-ball 32.It was a disappointing effort for the revamped Hurricanes, who reshuffled their top order in a desperate bid to turn around their sagging form. The Hurricanes separated explosive openers Dunk and Tim Paine, due to an underwhelming opening partnership this tournament.Regular No. 3 Kumar Sangakkara swapped positions with Dunk but it was merely one struggling player replacing another. Sangakkara averaged a paltry 14 coming into the match, and the promotion failed to turn around his fortunes. He lasted just five deliveries, deceived by Michael Neser’s slower ball and spooning a catch to short cover. Just when a partnership between Paine and Hill looked ominous, Paine was run-out attempting an ambitious second run.It started a collapse of eight for 51, one that ultimately doomed the Hurricanes despite their admirable resolve.

Board official Dr Vince Adams is irked that ex-CEO is in line to get US $300,000 but players are still owed match fees

Peter Della Penna12-Jul-2022Dr Vince Adams, a member of the the USA Cricket Committee appointed in August 2020, has leveled scathing criticism at the board for its handling of recent financial and governance issues, including prioritising a payment of US $300,000 to ex-CEO Iain Higgins ahead of money owed to the national team players. Adams has fired off a series of emails in recent days, copies of which have been obtained by ESPNcricinfo, in which he has labeled the transition from the expelled USA Cricket Association to USA Cricket in 2018 as a “humungous [sic] mistake”.”It is a grave disappointment to those of us who spent over two years replacing USACA with USAC,” Adams wrote in an email on July 7 to USA Cricket operations director Richard Done in which the rest of the board of directors are also copied. “Even with so much less resources, USACA’s problems never came close to this dishonorable and unprincipled behavior of USAC’s leadership. The sad truth is that several members of the board and senior officials feel the same, but some would rather stay quiet, selfishly compromising themselves for small perks.”Adams, 72, is a former Guyana opening batter who made his first-class debut as a 19-year-old in 1969 in a side captained by Joe Solomon that also featured Alvin Kallicharran. He only played five first-class matches though, after injuries from a car accident derailed his career. He migrated to America a short time later and became an engineer, eventually obtaining a doctorate from the University of Tennessee. He has spent the last two decades as a senior government employee in Ohio working for the United States Department of Energy and is highly respected in the US Cricket community.Prior to being on the Cricket Committee of USAC, Adams was appointed by the ICC in 2016 to be a part of a “sustainable foundation” advisory group tasked with helping to streamline American cricket governance following USACA’s suspension in 2015. When USACA was expelled by the ICC in 2017, the sustainable advisory group’s chief task was to write the constitution for the new governing body that would take over.Adams’ email message comes after a lengthy thread in which Srini Salver, a former USA batter who currently serves as the male athlete rep on the board, sent a string of emails starting on June 30 questioning why a number of USA players are still yet to receive match fees despite competing in eight home ODIs in Texas played as part of ICC Cricket World Cup League Two from May 28 through June 15. Adams – who is a member of the cricket committee along with Salver, former USA men’s captain Sushil Nadkarni, former USA women’s player Nadia Gruny and former New Zealand international Jeff Crowe – then fired off the first wave of criticism at USA Cricket for their inactivity toward rectifying the player payments.”The habitual non-payment of players has been a major sore point for the [Cricket Committee], and we directed that it must be of the highest priority to ensure that players get their monies on time and must not be treated any way differently to USAC’s staff in this regard. We also directed all trips, matches, tournaments, etc., incurring these expenses, must not receive prior approval without the guaranteed available funds to cover these expenses. I recognise that this may be out of your control, but it is more than obvious that the CC’s decisions mean nothing!”Besides what appears to be the continued disparate treatment suffered by the players, this is a very basic principle of financial management, even in running cake-shop operations. So the clearly continued demonstration of incompetence and uncaring attitude towards the players by USAC’s management, are not only shocking, but also embarrassing and outright wrong!”The payment issues are the latest in a series of disputes over the handling of USA player central contracts. Not long after securing ODI status in April 2019, USA’s players became the highest paid in the Associate world that summer. USA Cricket touted in a press release that their highest central contract was in excess of $90,000. But by the summer of 2020, USA Cricket slashed every player’s salary by at least half, putting everyone on a flat $1800 per month pay rate citing the lack of matches and tight finances during the Covid-19 pandemic. USA’s international fixtures resumed in September 2021 and yet their players’ pay has not been restored to pre-pandemic levels.One email response from Salver, on July 7 following the message from Adams, highlights the $300,000 payment which the USA Cricket board has approved for Higgins, even though some USA players are yet to be paid their tour fees. This further enrages Adams, who then sends another email just hours later, saying that while a CEO should be paid what he has earned “whether it is $1 or $1 million”, he took issue with the process by which the payment was approved, and that it was prioritised over outstanding player fees.”The blatant pooh poohing of our own constitution is also a blatant disregard of the IRS 501C3 laws,” Adams writes, which relates to USA Cricket’s status as a non-profit corporation that allows it to be exempt from paying federal income tax. “It’s time for the IRS to be informed of the innumerable questions surrounding USAC’s failure to follow the rule of law, its conflict of interests, and dysfunctionality.”It obviously also demands that it is time for the public and the cricketing community to be made aware of these worrisome misgivings that affect them, so that they could hold the USAC board members accountable for their actions, especially now at these elections. It’s a burning shame that all of the guardrails we put in place to make USAC a model operation representative of the greatest country, are so brazenly being torn down by this board.”

A round up of Ranji Trophy Group A matches on November 17, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Arun Karthik is at the crease for Assam, with the side 95 runs away from a third win in six games•PTI

Assam drew with defending champions Karnataka, beat former back-to-back winners Rajasthan by an innings, toppled Haryana at home in Lahli and are now on the cusp of beating Delhi. Ninety-five runs separate the newly-promoted team from registering their third win in six matches and consolidate their place at the top half of the Ranji Trophy points table in Group B. They still have seven wickets in hand, with opener Rahul Hazarika and KB Arun Karthik are at the crease in the final innings in Guwahati.Much of their position has been down to the bowlers who dismissed Delhi for totals under 200 both times. Spinners Amit Verma and J Syed Mohammad took six wickets between them. Unmukt Chand made 44 yesterday and that remained the top-score of the innings. Pulkit Narang tried to delay the inevitable with 26 off 133 balls and remained not out even as Delhi were all out for 172.
ScorecardHaryana crumpled to 216 all out in their first innings, which well short of Odisha’s 529 for 6 declared and were made to follow-on in Lahli. Seamers Basant Mohanty and Suryakant Pradhan picked up three wickets each whilst the only substantial resistance came from opener Nitin Saini and his 51 off 146 balls.Haryana, resuming on 38 for 0, were bundled out soon after tea. Although there wasn’t a startling collapse, none of the batsmen could put up a substantial score. Besides Saini, Jayant Yadav made 46 but the remaining eight batsmen could not push past 30. A definite problem when there is a batsman among the opposition who made 255. Natraj Behera, the Odisha captain, appears all but certain to have helped his team to their second win of the season.
ScorecardAditya Sarwate struck a combative fifty from No. 8 and then nipped out four wickets to keep Vidarbha’s hopes of an outright win. The match had been petering towards a draw with Rajasthan on 150 for 2 when he, Akshay Wakhare and Ravi Jangid orchestrated a collapse. Seven wickets fell for 69 runs and Rajasthan ended the day on 226 for 9, leading by 195 with one day left to play in Nagpur.Ashok Menaria and Vineet Saxena had picked up a half-century each during a 110-run partnership for the third wicket, but as soon as it was broken, Rajasthan’s stability was lost. Jangid provided those vital wickets, having both men caught by Wasim Jaffer for 76 and 54 runs respectively. That opening was enough for Sarwate who got rid of Rajat Bhatia for 3 and then ran through the tail to finish the day on 4 for 58.
ScorecardMaharashtra made a solid reply to Bengal, who had declared overnight at 528 for 8, with Rahul Tripathi’s third first-class century. He was unbeaten on 116 at stumps in Pune with Ankit Bawne on 59 not out keeping him good company. The hosts had put on 296 runs on the board, but were still 232 runs behind.An early wicket is not what teams going in to bat after conceding 500 runs want, but Maharashtra had to contend with opener Harshad Khadiwale falling for only 5. But his partner Swapnil Gugale made 35 off 68 balls after which Sangram Atitkar breezed to 69 off 118 balls as Maharashtra recovered nicely and gave themselves an outside chance of taking a first-innings lead.

John Mooney followed up a late cameo with two wickets as Ireland held off USA for a 46-run win at Stormont

Peter Della Penna in Belfast12-Jul-2015Ireland 146 for 6 (Balbirnie 44) beat USA 100 (Mooney 2-17, Cusack 2-19, Thompson 2-20) by 46 runs

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:46

‘We want to be the best fielding side in the tournament’ – Balbirnie

John Mooney followed up a late cameo with two wickets as Ireland held off USA for a 46-run win at Stormont. USA fielded superbly through the first 18 overs to hold Ireland to 117 for 5 but came unstuck with the arrival of Mooney in the 19th as he clipped an unbeaten 20 off seven balls, taking Ireland to safety with a final total of 146 for 6 that was more than enough against USA’s brittle middle order that mustered only 100 in 16.3 overs.USA put Ireland into bat at the toss and tied the hosts down in the power play with Hammad Shahid striking the first blow on his very first ball, beating Paul Stirling with a full and straight ball for 8. Shahid pouched Niall O’ Brien’s catch at mid on off Jasdeep Singh nine balls later to make it 22 for 2. Ireland managed 39 for 2 at the end of the Powerplay.With both openers gone, Timil Patel burrowed into the middle order and produced a fantastic spell of legspin to finish with 3 for 13 in four overs. William Porterfield was trapped in front missing a reverse sweep for 10 before Timil induced Kevin O’Brien to mistime one to mid off for 23. Gary Wilson checked his shot to a flighted ball only for Fahad Babar to take an easy catch at cover to make it 92 for 5 one ball into the 16th.Timil should have had Andy Balbirnie for 13 as well but a mistimed shot to cover burst through Babar’s lunging effort. Balbirnie had another life on 23 when he flicked Adil Bhatti low to captain Muhammad Ghous at midwicket who spilled the chance. Balbirnie made the most of the extra lives, finishing with 44 off 34 balls in a man-of-the-match effort as he teamed with Stuart Thompson and Mooney to add 54 off Ireland’s last 29 balls.USA also contributed four of their five no balls in the innings during this stretch as they lost focus at a critical time. Balbirnie seized on a no ball by Shahid to start off the 17th, smacking the ensuing free hit to sweeper cover where a misfield by Bhatti allowed a boundary. He then scooped Shahid over fine leg the next ball for another four.When Balbirnie fell to Shahid courtesy of a circus catch at short third man by Babar, Mooney accelerated brilliantly, pulling the medium pacer through square leg for four and lofting him over long on for six. Singh started off the final over with a pair of yorkers but then tried bouncing Mooney, who was ready to ramp him over the keeper. Mooney scooped Singh over fine leg for another boundary, and Thompson clattered another back over Singh’s head to take the wind out of USA’s sails at the interval.USA’s chase didn’t begin well as Akeem Dodson, after top-scoring with 39 against Nepal, was out first ball to Alex Cusack after failing to evade a short ball. USA had lost both their openers one ball into the fifth over when Babar flicked Thompson straight to Craig Young at short fine leg.USA substituted out the middle order pair of Shiva Vashishat and Mrunal Patel from the loss to Nepal in favour of debutant Alex Amsterdam and Nicholas Standford but the pair of New York batsmen did not fare much better. Amsterdam survived a tough spell against Young only to give away his wicket for 16, swatting Mooney to Young at mid on. Standford fell for 19 to end the ninth with the score reading 61 for 4.USA still had slim hopes when 74 runs were required off 54 balls, but the chase spiralled out of control as they lost four wickets in eight balls. Karan Ganesh gave Mooney his second wicket in the 11th before mayhem was unleashed in the 12th.Japen Patel was the first run-out victim after his call from the non-striker’s end for a run was ignored by Bhatti and both batsmen wound up at the same end. Bhatti was beaten for pace by Thompson three balls later for 17 before Ireland made it two in two when Timil was runout on his first ball after Ghous didn’t respond to a call for an easy second run.Kevin O’Brien pinned Singh on the crease in the 16th over before Cusack ended the match by getting Ghous to hole out to Niall at long on.

Legspinner took 1 for 47 on debut at Lord’s as Leach’s concussion replacement

Matt Roller05-Jun-2022Matt Parkinson has been retained in England’s 14-man squad for the second Test against New Zealand, starting at Trent Bridge on Friday, with Jack Leach a doubt after suffering a concussion in the first session of the first Test at Lord’s.Parkinson took 1 for 47 from his 15.3 overs in New Zealand’s second innings after driving down to London from Manchester at short notice on Thursday as a concussion replacement for Leach, who had landed awkwardly while diving over the boundary rope in the sixth over of the match.Leach stayed with the squad at Lord’s this week but is not expected to return to training before Thursday – the day before the second Test – in line with the ECB’s return-to-play guidelines after concussions. He has suffered concussion at least twice before in his professional career and is a major doubt, though he has been included in the squad.As a result, Parkinson has been added to an otherwise-unchanged squad, which sees Harry Brook and Craig Overton retained after missing out on selection in the first Test.Related

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Parkinson’s figures were unremarkable at Lord’s but his contribution was underlined by Ajaz Patel’s match return of 0 for 22 from two overs in conditions that were not conducive to spin bowling. Parkinson did not bowl a maiden but conceded a respectable 3.03 runs per over and had Tim Southee caught at slip with a trademark full, flighted legbreak.”The way that Parky’s Test career has gone, following the team round every tour and not getting an opportunity, that pretty much sums up how he was going to get his chance: Leachy gets concussion and he finds himself driving down to play,” Ben Stokes, England’s captain, said. “But when it came to bringing Parky on, his role as the legspinner is to come on and change the game, not to hold the game.”I said, ‘just get the field that you’re comfortable with and look to take wickets with every ball that you bowl’. Yesterday, bringing him on at the end was because I just felt that Tim [Southee] hits quick bowling really well and that’s Parky’s niche: he knows how to bowl at people when they’re trying to come hard, because of his T20 bowling.”It was just a great opportunity to get him into the game and it was good to see him get his first Test wicket as well. He’s a really popular guy among the group. He’s been on a lot of tours with us, we all know him really well, and everybody was very excited to see him play – albeit in unfortunate circumstances.”The ECB said on Monday that Brook and Parkinson would both be made available for T20 fixtures at the start of the week: Brook for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire on Monday night, Parkinson for Lancashire against Leicestershire on Tuesday.England squad for second Test: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes (wk), Matthew Potts, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Jack Leach, Matt Parkinson, Craig Overton, Harry Brook

Like winning a hat the day after losing your head, Worcestershire’s discovery of a potent overseas bowler has come too late to save their Division One status

George Dobell at New Road22-Sep-2015
ScorecardTom Fell responded with the bat after Shannon Gabriel’s five-wicket haul•Getty Images

Like winning a hat the day after losing your head, Worcestershire’s discovery of a potent overseas bowler has come too late to save their Division One status.Shannon Gabriel, the West Indies fast bowler playing only his second game for the club, generated unusually sharp pace on an unusually green surface to claim the third five-wicket haul of his career in bowling Middlesex out for 98 runs in just 34 overs. Six of their batsmen were dismissed for ducks on the way to their lowest first-innings score of the season.But Worcestershire were assured of relegation before this game. Despite the emergence of a group of highly-promising young players – eight of their XI in this match developed through the club’s system – they have been unable to take advantage of promising conditions in several games and have lost 10 of the 15 they have completed to this stage.But how different it might have been had they had the services of a top-quality overseas player. While nobody at the club – well, nobody in the club management; the supporters are quite different – has a bad word to say about Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan spinner who played eight Championship games earlier in the season, the fact is that he is a shadow of the bowler he used to be.Let us not be drawn into the debate about the rights and wrongs of the ICC’s clampdown on bowling actions: like discussions on capital punishment, fox-hunting and Kevin Pietersen, it only leads to arguments. But since Ajmal was obliged to remodel his action, he is unable to generate the pace or spin he once could. Whereas he claimed 63 wickets for Worcestershire at 16.47 in 2014 – albeit in Division Two of the Championship – this year he has managed just 16 at 55.62. It may well have been the difference between relegation and survival.To make matters worse, Sachithra Senanayake, the Sri Lanka spinner who played five matches earlier in the year and also suffered a similar fate to Ajmal, could only manage nine wickets at 42.33 during his stay.It has left Worcestershire unable to press home their advantage at crucial times. Such as the match against Sussex where, set 247 to win, they reached 57 without loss before collapsing to defeat. Or the match when Durham recovered from 102 for 9 to score 198 and eventually win by six wickets. Or the match against Nottinghamshire when they collapsed twice, first from 207 for 3 to 283 all out and then from 172 for 2 to 210 all out. In eight of the first 11 matches, Worcestershire held a first-innings lead, but were rarely able to sustain their advantage.While it is true that it would be unfair to expect overseas bowlers such as Ajmal or Senanayake to stiffen the batting, had Worcestershire had an alternative choice, the targets may have been lower or the batting stronger. In retrospect, their signing was a risk.But it was an understandable risk. Worcestershire do not have the budget to compete with many of their rivals in the market for players, so they are obliged to take chances or select players who may be unfashionable for various reasons. Sometimes, as with Damien Wright and Shakib Al Hasan, that has worked well; this year it has backfired.And whatever criticism supporters may want to aim at Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, there can be no faulting his effort. Rhodes and his fellow coaches – Elliott Wilson, Matt Mason and Kevin Sharp – will be running coaching sessions throughout the winter from as early as 7am in the hope of finding, and nurturing, the next generation of players.Recent evidence would suggest they are doing it very well. In Joe Clarke, a 19-year-old with a calm head, they have one of the finest young batsmen the club has produced in the last couple of decades – Rhodes rates him the best home-grown batsman since Steven Davies – while the allrounder Ed Barnard is not so far behind. In Tom Fell, Joe Leach and Charlie Morris they have three more fine, young players who should enjoy long futures with the club.One player not yet secured on a long-term deal is Ben Cox. The 23-year-old keeper has enjoyed a season of impressive progress and here took a couple of outstanding catches; not least an effort diving far to his left to dismiss James Franklin. But perhaps unsettled by the development of Clarke, who also wants to keep wicket, or perhaps increasingly aware of his worth in the open market, he has yet to agree a new deal. As things stand, he is out of contract in 12 months.”Relegation has been a tough pill to swallow,” Rhodes told ESPNcricinfo, “but not as hard to swallow as it has been previously.”Often, we went into games with a side containing one international player. And often, we were up against four, five or even six international players. At crucial times, that tends to show.”But we have a host of talented youngsters. We have signed most of them up on long-term contracts and, the way we are going, I would say that in three years we should be doing very well and there can be no excuses.”By “very well” Rhodes means having a team capable of staying in the top division for a sustained period – they have experienced five promotions and five relegations in the last 12 years – and challenging in white-ball cricket. For a club with obvious financial constraints – their cricket budget is about half of Surrey’s, for example – it is a worthy ambition.Such has been Rhodes’ success with young players that he will join Andy Flower – a spectator at New Road on the first day of this game – as an England Lions coach this winter and admits he is a much-improved coach.”I’ve massively changed as a coach,” Rhodes said. “You can do so much damage as a coach and I fear that, over the years, there have been some players I’ve just left confused. But in the last few years, I have tried to simplify things. I’m not going to let our rivals know exactly how we do things, but we have the best crop of young players we have had here for many years. Some of them have international careers in front of them.”Worcestershire took advantage of winning an important toss here. After the first session was lost to rain, they exploited conditions very well with Gabriel, in particular, gaining steep bounce from only just short of a good length. After Sam Robson, for whom batting looks an exhausting, unnatural business at present, edged one that reared on him to the slips, Dawid Malan was beaten for pace and lost his middle stump next ball. It was Malan’s third duck in succession; a span that has occupied just five deliveries.While Neil Dexter survived the hat-trick ball – he played and missed at it – he and Franklin soon perished to outside edges, before Nick Compton’s defiance was ended when he was drawn into poking at one outside off stump. Gabriel then returned and, in a wonderfully quick spell, completed his five-wicket haul by trapping Ollie Rayner on the crease, ending James Harris’ miserable innings with a fenced edge and having Toby Roland-Jones caught hooking.Perhaps Middlesex will reflect that a few of their batsmen could have left the ball more often. But in these conditions and against bowling of this pace, batting looked a treacherous proposition. Their lead over Nottinghamshire in the race for second place – 12 at the start of the day – had been cut to nine by stumps.In reply Brett D’Oliveira, cutting especially well and looking admirably solid, and Fell posted an unbroken 66-run stand for the second wicket to take Worcestershire to within 19 runs of Middlesex’s first-innings total. It is too late to save them from the drop, but it does promise much better times in the years ahead.

Brendon McCullum will play for Middlesex for roughly half of the NatWest Blast in 2016 as they have outdone Warwickshire in the chase for his signature

David Hopps23-Dec-2015Brendon McCullum will play for Middlesex for part of next summer’s NatWest T20 Blast and the Royal London One-Day Cup. McCullum, who this week announced his retirement from international cricket, will be available to play for Middlesex from the moment his commitments at the Indian Premier League finish through to June 25.During this period Middlesex CCC are scheduled to play seven NatWest T20 Blast and four Royal London One-Day Cup matches. Middlesex are also hopeful that McCullum will be able to return to the UK if they qualify for the knockout stages of either of these tournaments.McCullum’s decision to join Middlesex represents a blow for Warwickshire who had hoped to follow-up his brief but successful stay in 2015 – including a record 158 in 64 balls against Derbyshire at Edgbaston.Middlesex are delighted by the signing, even for only half of the T20 season, of a player they hailed as “one of the most respected and dynamic cricketers in the modern game.”Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s managing director of cricket, said: “Signing a player of Brendon’s undoubted quality is a huge coup for the club. He is one of the most respected, capable and dangerous cricketers in world cricket and will create a great deal of excitement around the club. When he walks out to bat everybody stops what they are doing to watch.””Brendon’s involvement highlights Middlesex’s commitment to white ball cricket and we are all looking forward to working with him both on and off the field. His presence will ensure that Thursday evenings at Lord’s will be ‘must see’ events.”McCullum became one of the most popular opposition players in England for many years last summer when his aggressive batting and captaincy was at the heart of arguably the most crowd-pleasing New Zealand side ever seen in the country.Middlesex were somewhat overshadowed by their neighbours across the river, Surrey, as the NatWest Blast attracted record crowds in 2015 and they have failed to make an impact in the competition despite the presence in their ranks for much of the season of England’s one-day captain Eoin Morgan.But London has still led the growth of T20 cricket in England and they will hope that McCullum will help provide the impetus they need. They have also signed James Fuller from Gloucestershire to stiffen their bowling ranks.

Michael Clarke has admitted his relinquishment of selection duties before the Ashes allowed him to grow closer to other players in the Australian team

Daniel Brettig04-Oct-2013Michael Clarke has admitted his relinquishment of selection duties before the Ashes allowed him to grow closer to other players in the Australian team. He also acknowledged the cultural concerns raised by Michael Hussey before his retirement were among “a lot of things” not up to standard in the team leading into this year’s dire results in India and England.Hussey stated that Clarke’s dual role as captain and selector had affected the Australian dressing room during his final two summers as part of the team, causing players to “keep their heads down” whenever their leader passed through. For his part, Clarke said the selection role had deprived him of time to spend with the rest of the team, as long meetings and phone hookups sapped his schedule and mental energy.”You’d have to talk to the other guys about how they felt, but personally I think standing down as a selector has been one of the best things I’ve done since taking over the captaincy,” Clarke said. “It is a full-time job and they deserve a lot of credit for the work that goes in to being a selector, but giving that time back to me has allowed me to give it back to the team, spending time with the boys whether it be longer at training or off the field.”Instead of selection meetings and being on the phone for hours, I’m having coffee, lunch, breakfast with my team-mates now and trying to help all of us. They’re giving me their time as well to help me become a better player and a better captain. I have more time for them, definitely.”As early as the 2012 West Indies tour, Hussey had become uneasy about the direction the team was taking, despite a sequence of strong results including a 4-0 Test series win at home over India, and the subsequent 2-0 result in the Caribbean. Hussey revealed in his autobiography, , that he had met with the former coach Mickey Arthur to express his concerns formally. Clarke said Hussey did not raise them directly with him, but did not deny there had been problems.”I was conscious of a lot of things that were going on round that group that weren’t of a standard that was acceptable, in my opinion, of representing your country and being part of a team that wants to get back to No. 1 in the world, hence what happened in India,” Clarke said. “In regards to guys just looking after themselves, that’s probably a question for the other guys. For me personally, I’ve been very fortunate the teams I’ve played with at a young age, even starting with NSW, I was always shown and educated that you can’t always have good days in this game.”You’re going to have some tough times and you have to enjoy the success of other players, and when the team wins, that’s got to feel just as good as you making a hundred – I was brought up that way. I can’t answer that on behalf of the other guys, but there was obviously a lot of things going on over a period of time that I didn’t think were good enough.”I think the media and the public got to see the frustration and the consequences of that. But I can guarantee that has changed now, I think Darren Lehmann’s done a wonderful job since he came in, the feeling in the group is outstanding and the boys are all heading in the same direction.”Arthur’s successor, Lehmann, said he had instituted team rules and regulations to ensure standards were met and players were considerate of each other. “That’s Mike’s view and he’s one of the greats of the game. But I haven’t seen that in the time that I’ve been there, and we’re trying to go very much in that team direction,” he said. “We have some team rules and regulations they have to follow, if they don’t adhere to them then there’s always trouble from the coach. Occasionally I get grumpy but not most of the time.”It’s strange to say this, we lost the Ashes but it was one of the best tours I’ve been on. For getting to know the players and the way they gelled as a group on and off the field and with the staff, it was a really good tour.”

Nick Selman, the Glamorgan opener, carried his bat for a maiden Championship century, as Glamorgan battled to stay in contention against Northamptonshire at Swansea

ECB Reporters Network05-Aug-2016
ScorecardLaurie Evans pressed Northants’ advantage in the second innings•PA Photos

Nick Selman, the Glamorgan opener, carried his bat for a maiden Championship century, as Glamorgan battled to stay in contention against Northamptonshire at Swansea. However, by the close, the visitors were strongly placed to push for their first Championship win of the season, as they closed with a lead of 315 with three wickets still in hand.Selman’s battling effort, which lasted 302 minutes and included 15 fours from 208 balls, meant he became the first Glamorgan batsman to carry his bat since the Australian Matthew Elliott achieved the feat against Hampshire in Cardiff in 2004.Although he received some support from the lower order, with Andrew Salter, Ruaidhri Smith and Owen Morgan all falling in the twenties, six of Glamorgan’s batsmen were dismissed in single figures as Northants’ seam attack, led by Mohammad Azharullah and Ben Sanderson, thrived in the conditions.Azharullah was their most impressive bowler with 3 for 58, as Northants’ seamers observed the virtue of bowling a full length on a pitch that does give them some assistance. However, had Selman not been dropped by Rory Kleinveldt from an easy caught and bowled chance from the first ball of the day, the damage would have been even greater.As it was, Northants secured a first-innings lead of 85, and were once again rattled by the teenaged debutant, Lukas Carey, who dismissed both openers early in the innings. Ben Duckett failed for the second time in the game when he drove loosely outside the off stump, and he was quickly followed by Rob Newton who edged to second slip.

Laurie Evans remained steadfast however, and passed fifty for the second time in the game in adding 75 with David Murphy, who was eventually lbw to Carey. The 19-year-old then claimed his fourth wicket when Saif Zaib edged to the wicketkeeper, before Northants lost two wickets in successive balls to Tim van der Gugten.After striking 32 from 17 balls, Kleinveldt holed out on the extra cover boundary then Evans, who scored 73 with eight fours, was visibly annoyed with himsef when he pulled a short ball to the fielder on the square leg boundary. Graeme White and Sean Terry added some useful runs towards the end of the day as Northants closed on 230 for 7.