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His two wickets in the 35th over took the fight out of the West Indies batting pack

Aishwarya Kumar in Port-of-Spain12-Aug-20191:24

Virat wanted to badly score a century – Bhuvneshwar

Five minutes was all it took for Bhuvneshwar Kumar to flip the game in India’s favour.Thirty-fifth over. Nicholas Pooran, the form batsman, made it look like West Indies had the game in their pocket. They needed 92 in 12 overs, perfectly doable.The ball was on the shorter side, probably a bit slower than Pooran expected, and it was pulled to leg, where Virat Kohli was positioned at deep midwicket. Gone. Two balls later came the catch of the match. Before fans or even the Indian players realised what had happened, Bhuvneshwar, in his follow through, had plucked the ball out of thin air after a Roston Chase leading edge, flying diagonally to his left and landing on his arms.The score: 179 for 6, after the over had started with 178 for 4.”My catch, I just took it!” he said with a laugh at the press conference. It was too fast for him to even process what was happening. He’d taken a similar catch in the second T20I in Lauderhill, but this one was different.”I wasn’t thinking much about the result. We knew if we could get one or two wickets then we would be back in the game. When I came to bowl, all I was thinking was I have to bowl economically and I feel that wickets are the by-product of bowling tight.”Bhuvneshwar’s four wickets might have helped India reach the finish line, but there were two other performances that stood out for the team: the innings from Kohli and Shreyas Iyer.Kohli’s century (120 in 125 balls) was his first in 11 innings. The knock also took him past Sourav Ganguly’s tally of 11,363 runs, making him the eighth highest run-getter in ODIs.”From Virat’s expression you could see that he badly wanted to score a 100, not because he was out of form, but because he was getting out in the 70s and 80s and he always looking to score big runs,” Bhuvneshwar said. “The wicket wasn’t easy and it wasn’t easy to score runs as the ball got older. We know how good he is a player.”Iyer’s performance was overshadowed by Kohli’s, but he was as impressive, with a sensible 71 from 68 balls. For Bhuvneshwar, “I think it was a crucial partnership with Virat. He was hitting singles and he was hitting boundaries as well. I think he played with maturity.”

The West Indies fast bowler enjoyed great success by manipulating the angles to make sure the Bangladesh batsmen had to play (and nick) at everything

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2018A searing string of 12 balls was all Kemar Roach required to make a light work of the Bangladesh batting line-up in North Sound. He picked up five wickets, the opposition crumbled to 43 all out, and all this happened while the fast bowler was battling hamstring trouble.If his maiden over up front was a cue to what was to follow, his fifth gave a glimpse of what the visitors will have to deal with in the coming days. Roach knocked out Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan, allowing none of them to score any runs and sent Bangladesh on their way to the lowest total in the last 44 years of Test cricket.”Obviously it felt good. It came pretty rapid,” Roach said, describing his eighth five-wicket haul. “It was a bit surprising. Obviously to go out there and perform for West Indies is the main goal. To do that today and put West Indies in a good position – I’m happy with that.”I’ve been doing a lot of work with my bowling coach Corey Collymore. I think he’s done a great job with me when he came on board. My rhythm today was fantastic; the ball came out just the way I wanted to. Yeah, got five wickets in a quick span of time; I’m happy with that.”While the bounce at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium, where West Indies have played only five Tests before Wednesday, aided his raw pace, it was Roach’s deft use of angles that made him so threatening. He went round the wicket against Bangladesh’s left-handers to make sure they couldn’t leave too many deliveries – Tamim Iqbal and Shakib fell to balls that came in and went away off the seam – and attacked right-handers from wide of the crease – Mahmudullah was caught behind off an outswinger that pitched on middle, trapped him in the crease and snatched the outside edge.”Yeah, it’s [the conditions in North Sound] different,” Roach said. “I haven’t played much here, but I’ve been talking to one of the guys – Alzarri Joseph – he’s from here. He told me that the wicket’s always a good batting wicket, but what’s important is to bowl in good areas if you want to get some rewards, so today was just that for me.””I try to use the angles as much as possible. I tried to bring in all three aspects of dismissals into play: lbw, bowled, and caught. I just wanted to be as consistent as possible, make a batsman play as much as possible and, obviously play on the mistake.”Roach’s fiery burst, however, wasn’t without a scare for the hosts. Into his fourth over, a hamstring niggle had him in visible discomfort. After completing his five-for, and only marginally missing a hat-trick, he left the field with figures of 5-1-8-5.”I felt like something’s there in my hamstring,” Roach said. “It’s started to get worse as I went on; just tweaked it a little bit while running in. It’s a little heavy, the outfield, it feels heavy on the legs. It’s [the injury] not so serious so far. I pulled out of the innings to get some treatment from Dave [physio], I think he did a fantastic job. It’s quite early but I’m feeling pretty good about bowling in the second innings again.”Besides, Roach is hoping for a long rest now that West Indies are batting and have already made 201 runs. “The plan is bat once, to get 450-500 runs on the board, I think it’s going to be tough for the Bangladeshis to get. Once we bat and score that much, it’ll be fine to fine to win this Test match.”

Like turning to the person next to you at a wedding and remarking ‘these things only end in divorce or death’ it seems untimely to predict Warwickshire’s fate this season

George Dobell at Edgbaston15-Apr-2017
ScorecardLike turning to the person next to you at a wedding and remarking ‘these things only end in divorce or death’ it seems untimely to predict Warwickshire’s fate this season.But, as they failed to secure a batting bonus point for the second game in succession and then conceded what may well prove to be a match-defining first innings deficit for the second game in succession, it was hard not to look at them as a vulture sizes up a sickly wildebeest. Suffice to say, they have earned themselves the tag of relegation favourites.Yes, it is mid-April. Yes, there’s a lot of cricket to play and yes, they may salvage something from this game with some better second-innings batting and some rain. But, going into this match, they had won one and lost four of their previous eight Championship matches and they look overly reliant upon a few key performers – notably Keith Barker and Jonathan Trott at this time of year – who are not gaining the support they might expect from colleagues.It is a talented team, certainly, but it is a team in decline, a team with holes and a team lacking the spark of youth in its bowling in particular. And in a tough division where 25% of the sides will be relegated this season, those are weaknesses that will have those vultures licking their lips.There are birds coming home to roost at Edgbaston. The failure to develop players in the quantity or quality required of a big club is one key factor – Chris Woakes is the last capped player at the club to emerge through the youth system and he made his debut a decade ago – but so is the failure to retain and recruit.Last year’s fall-out with Varun Chopra, which looks more damaging by the week, might be compared to the failure to retain Moeen Ali a decade or so earlier, while the decision to spend relatively heavily on a bowler – Olly Stone – who had just sustained what may well prove to be a career-defining injury is puzzling. Ashley Giles has returned to the club to find half his squad look like the cast of and half the cast of .Given time – and that might be an issue at a club that has become accustomed to success; Dougie Brown was sacked last year despite securing the Royal London Cup – Giles is the ideal man to sort things out. But he has an enormous job on his hands. It’s not just about improving the scouting from the leagues, the schools and surrounding non-first-class counties. It’s not just about improving the development process so that talent is better exploited and encouraged. And it’s not just about intelligent recruitment from other counties.Most of all, it’s about changing the culture of a club that can, at times, be held back by a hubris that fools itself into thinking it doesn’t need to change. Really, for a club this size to field a team containing one or two home-grown players (Ian Bell and Sam Hain) is a crushing indictment of the failure of their development system irrespective of the absence of Woakes at the IPL.They don’t have to look far to see how these things can work. The Yorkshire side here, despite missing four Yorkshire-born Test players (Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ryan Sidebottom and Liam Plunkett) through injury or ECB policy, still contains eight home-grown players. While Yorkshire’s catchment area contains more cricket clubs than Warwickshire’s, their ability to produce England players while continuing to challenge in trophies is a testament to a club that, in cricketing terms at least, has been exemplary in recent times.The emergence of Ben Coad, who bowled Chris Wright early on the second morning to claim his second five-for in two Championship games this season, is just the latest example.Yorkshire might feel they lacked just a bit of ruthlessness here. Having allowed (maybe ‘allowed’ is the wrong word; Barker batted very well for his second half-century in successive games) Warwickshire’s final three wickets to add more than 100 runs, they perhaps failed to gain the first innings total they might have done.Several times it appeared they had the opportunity to put this game beyond Warwickshire with an overwhelming lead, but several times they lost wickets to shots they may consider a bit loose. Alex Lees, for example, faced 24 deliveries before he scored and 30 before striking his first boundary. But, having done the hard work, he attempted a series of lavish drives and then prodded, without foot movement, at one outside off stump and edged to the cordon.Peter Handscomb’s dismissal was more of a surprise. He looked terrific in making 75. After a testing beginning against Barker – his habit of playing as far back as a batsman can play without standing behind the keeper negated the swing – he feasted against the support bowling and a tiring Barker. It came as some surprise when Wright, belatedly given a second spell, induced an inside edge as Handscomb aimed a somewhat footless drive at one that swung in a little.While Gary Ballance, shaping to play to leg, edged one outside off stump, Jack Leaning was brilliantly caught at short-leg off the glove by a diving Hain and Adam Lyth was earlier caught down the leg side as he attempted to glance a short one, Yorkshire were – as so often – grateful to their middle-order.Tim Bresnan and Adil Rashid both punished a tiring attack in the final session, taking the lead beyond 100 and giving their side hope of at least three and perhaps four batting bonus points.Barker, on whose broad shoulders so much rests for Warwickshire, eventually defeated Bresnan with a characteristic inswinger with the second new ball – umpire Nigel Cowley adjudged that, although Bresnan had hit the ball, it had brushed his pad first; replays suggested it was an outstanding bit of umpiring – but with Rashid, Andrew Hodd and David Willey still to account for, Yorkshire will have realistic hopes of extending their lead on day three.Warwickshire didn’t bowl badly by any means. Just as they didn’t bat especially badly. They just found they lacked the pace to gather as much from the pitch as Yorkshire’s bowlers and the consistency to build much pressure. They have the talent, the experience and the time to turn things around, but if they are expecting any easy games this year, they are in for a rude awakening. This division is relentless and tough and stacked with talented players of ambition. And that’s just the way it should be.

India captain MS Dhoni called Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 82 an “incredible innings” after he had helped his team into the World T20 semi-finals with a six-wicket win over Australia

Shashank Kishore in Mohali27-Mar-20163:10

‘Tremendous effort by Kohli’ – Dhoni

Videos of MS Dhoni losing his composure at a press conference after India’s win over Bangladesh caught many by surprise. However on Sunday, the lighter side of the captain resurfaced as he doffed his hat to Virat Kohli for converting a daunting chase at the halfway mark into a canter.Kohli, not for the first time, expertly steered India home, the hallmark of his unbeaten 51-ball 82 being his supreme fitness and ability to find the boundaries at will; he hit nine fours and two sixes in all. Equally creditable was the manner in which he overcame pockets of frustration after struggling to pick up twos when Yuvraj Singh twisted his ankle. For a while, India’s momentum stalled, only for Kohli to tee off in style in Dhoni’s company.”I think it was an incredible innings,” Dhoni said. “The fact is this wasn’t an easy wicket to bat on. Back-of-length deliveries were difficult to get away, especially against the spinners. The good thing was I don’t think they bowled too many spinners. Also, in between, he [Kohli] was hampered when he had the partnership with Yuvraj and they couldn’t convert those one-and-a-half runs to twos. Maybe because of that, to some extent, we had to chase maybe one run per over more than what we would have liked.”It was tremendous batting effort from him, superb batting. Especially the areas where you want to score runs, where you want to play big shots. I think more often than not, it is about selection of shots and execution of shots. I feel overall, Virat was very good not just with his strokeplay but also in the running between the wickets – you take minimum risk if you can run fast.”Dhoni downplayed his role in their partnership, suggesting Kohli’s aggressive running resulting in Steven Smith altering his field, only to see the ball pierce gaps at will. “I’m not somebody like Virat who can hit it over cover, square leg or third man. I know my areas, and if it’s there I like to clear the boundary. That’s what my strength has been,” he said. “In the middle overs it’s all about running between the wickets. If you can take the double, that puts pressure on the fielders. And it pushes the captain to bring the fielder up slowly, and then you look to clear the infield.”It’s not often that Dhoni, one of the fastest runners between the wickets in the modern day, is left panting. But the sprinter in Kohli surfaced soon after Yuvraj’s dismissal as he pinched six twos, including four off the 16th over at a time when the match was still in the balance with India needing 47. Dhoni’s contribution was 18 in the unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 67.Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni ran hard during an unbroken, 67-run stand that sealed victory•AFP

“He needs to pay me for running all his runs,” Dhoni joked, when asked about completing runs that wouldn’t have been possible most times. “I’ve said in the middle overs if you’re a good runner that really takes the pressure of you. I’m not somebody who is great. I play unorthodox cricket, push it in the middle, and run one or two. If it is in your area, hit it for six. It is very simple.”Every team has fielders who are not the quickest. There are those who are quick but don’t have a strong shoulder. There are only a few, with us we have Ravindra Jadeja who can field anywhere and everywhere, we have a Virat Kohli who can do that. But not every team has four or five fielders who can field at important places. That’s where you find them and when it goes there I’ll try to push him for that extra run. And if you do that, it puts a lot of pressure on the bowlers.”There was a point in India’s chase where it seemed like they had hit a road block. Yuvraj, who walked in at No. 5, hurt his ankle and had to be attended to by the physio. After that, India missed at least three opportunities to pick a second run, raising question marks over his fitness. While Yuvraj soldiered on to make an 18-ball 21, the discomfort while running between the wickets was evident.Dhoni wasn’t sure about the extent of Yuvraj’s injury but mentioned the need to have a replacement ready should they need one going into the semi-final, against West Indies on Thursday. “We have to look at Yuvraj’s injury,” he said. “Especially tomorrow morning or close to 24 hours you will get a good opinion about what kind of injury it is.”We would definitely like to keep a replacement ready, like you see how Bhuvneshwar [Kumar] is travelling with us. So that he is in touch with cricket, and travelling with us. So that he’s in that mental space where if he has to play immediately, he’s ready to perform. So we’ll definitely call for a replacement if the physio says it’s really bad, we’ll take it forward from there.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the ODI between Scotland and Australia

The preview by Alex Winter02-Sep-2013

Match facts

September 3, Edinburgh
Start time 1045 (0945 GMT)Matthew Wade faces an important time to secure his credentials as Australia’s No. 1 in ODIs•Getty Images

Big Picture

Scotland haven’t been able to develop a compelling case for more top level cricket, as Ireland have, and as such, their appearances against the big boys of world cricket don’t carry the same “point-to-prove” status. So there should be no ramifications for labelling this fixture an Australian warm-up for the NatWest series against England.Australia need to regain credibility in ODIs. They were roundly written off for the Champions Trophy, thumped by England in their opening match and never realistically threatened the semi-finals. A 3-0 Ashes defeat will have done nothing for their confidence but Ashes losers have recently found solace in the one-dayers that follow. A confidence-boosting defeat of the Scots will gee Australia up nicely.So will a longer memory. In February Australia shrugged off a West Indies side high on their World T20 success which, before last week’s win in the Twenty20 at the Ageas Bowl, was their previous taste of any victory. They can certainly play in their home conditions; a factor which will shorten their odds for the 2015 World Cup. And unless something quite remarkable happens, they should cast Scotland aside.That said, Pakistan were given a scare north of the border back in May and when Scotland can select their first XI, they are a useful side – currently lying joint third in the World Cricket League Championship with two games in hand on second-placed Netherlands. Their posse of county cricketers return for this match although captain Kyle Coetzer is ruled out with a wrist injury.Coezter could also miss the three World Cricket League Championship matches against Ireland which follow this fixture; crucial matches in Scotland’s quest to qualify for the 2015 World Cup. So you could say, Scotland are treating the Australians as practise opponents too.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)Scotland WWLLL
Australia LLWWW

Players to watch

Without Coezter, a huge hole is left in the Scotland batting line-up but a player who can take up the slack is Matt Machan. At 22, Machan could be a Scottish international for some time and hinted at what he could become with 114 against Kenya in June. His recent form for Sussex is also healthy with two half-centuries in the final two Yorkshire Bank 40 matches – form which saw him called up to the four-day side last week.Matthew Wade was billed – predictably – as the new Adam Gilchrist when he first appeared and when he took the gloves in the Test side, looked set in as Australia’s No. 1 wicketkeeper. But Brad Haddin wasn’t seen off and he confirmed his status as Australia’s best gloveman in the Ashes. Haddin also has his sights set on the 2015 World Cup, so Wade needs performances to deter the selectors from going back to the tried and tested.

Team news

Coetzer’s absence leaves Scotland searching for another opening batsman. Hamish Gardiner, Australian-born to a Scottish mother, is set to take Coezter’s place and make his international debut. Neil Carter is also unavailable due to work commitments. Preston Mommsen takes over the captaincy from Coezter.Scotland (possible) 1 Hamish Gardiner, 2 Freddie Coleman, 3 Richie Berrington, 4 Matt Machan, 5 Preston Mommsen (capt), 6 David Murphy (wkt), 7 Rob Taylor, 8 Majid Haq, 9 Gordon Goudie, 10 Iain Wardlaw, 11 Gordon DrummondAustralia’s squad is trimmed to 15 for the ODIs with David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Steven Smith leaving the tour. Warner’s absence means Shane Watson is likely to open the batting and creates an issue at No. 3. Shaun Marsh could play or perhaps Wade will be given another chance up the order. Michael Clarke could probably use an innings having not played for a week and it’s a good chance to have another look at Fawad Ahmed.Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Michael Clarke (capt), 5 George Bailey, 6 Adam Voges, 7 Matthew Wade (wkt), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Fawad Ahmed, 11 Clint McKay

Pitch and conditions

The ODI which survived the weather against Pakistan produced a low-scoring match with wickets tumbling early in both innings. That was the last major match to be played on this ground. No rain is forecast and conditions should be warm and sunny.

Stats and trivia

• Scotland’s cricketers arguably created the finest piece of Scottish sporting history with victory of Australia in 1882.
• The only time Australia have visited Scotland for an ODI was in 2009 when they triumphed by 189 runs.
• In addition the sides met at both the 1999 and 2007 World Cups with both fixtures somewhat one-sided with six wicket and 203-run victories.

Quotes

“They are still a relatively new unit, with some pretty young players, and they don’t know each other 100%, so this is probably a good time to be taking them on.”
“We will do a little bit of homework on Scotland. We certainly won’t be coming in blind – that’s when trouble can occur.”

Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh put together Essex’s first opening century partnership of the season against Leicestershire at Chelmsford to finish on 161 without loss

01-Aug-2012
ScorecardTom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh put together Essex’s first century opening partnership of the season as they reached the close of a rain-affected opening day in their Division Two match against Leicestershire at Chelmsford on 161 without loss.Only 57 overs were possible, with the afternoon session limited to 8.3 overs. Mickleburgh, appearing in only his third Championship match of the season, was first to his half-century, reaching that landmark with an on-driven six at the expense of left-arm spinner Claude Henderson.In the bowler’s next over, Westley swept the ball to the square-leg boundary rope to take the total into three figures, and soon after collected a single that took his own contribution to 50.At that stage, he had faced 126 deliveries and struck half-a-dozen boundaries but he was a little fortunate immediately afterwards when an attempted pull fell just short of diving wicket-keeper Paul Dixey.Westley once again showed his liking for the Leicestershire attack having recorded 81 – his highest Championship score of the season thus far – when the teams met earlier in the campaign at Grace Road.With another 39 overs lost to the weather, Essex have now lost 1,576 overs in the County Championship so far this season. Twelve days have been completely washed out.

County Championship cricket will be played using a pink ball under floodlights for the first time

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2011County Championship cricket will be played using a pink ball under floodlights for the first time after the ECB approached Kent and Glamorgan with a proposal to stage their final match of the season under trial conditions.Both teams have agreed on the proposal for the match at Canterbury on September 12 and the hours of play will be 2pm until 9pm – the floodlights will be turned on at 5.30pm but can be used earlier if needed – while players will wear white clothing. This particular match has been selected because neither side is in the Division Two promotion race.This is the latest stage in the trials to determine whether Test match cricket could be played in day/night conditions. There have already been various trials, including the annual MCC verses Champion County match which has been staged in Abu Dhabi for the last two seasons and also in Pakistan and West Indian domestic tournaments. They have also been used in county second XI cricket and university matches, while Cricket Australia will trial twilight matches during this season’s Sheffield Shield.Both ICC and MCC, who have led the way in the process, believe floodlit Test cricket can become a reality soon although one of the major sticking points has been the colour of the ball. Tests have suggested pink is the best version but there remain concerns over batting during twilight periods.The other factor that needs to be considered is the impact of dew, with can make the second innings of day/night one-day internationals very difficult, and that was an issue mentioned by Dave Richardson during the ICC’s cricket committee meeting in May.”The venue still needs to have decent lights, somewhere like Lord’s, Sydney or Abu Dhabi. You also need to play it at a venue, and time of year, where dew isn’t going to come in a seven o’clock,” he said. “You can have the best ball in the world but it would be unfair in those conditions.”With the English season drawing to a close in mid-September dew could well be a factor that Glamorgan and Kent have to deal with so it will give an indication of the potential impact.

A dozen wickets fell on the opening day at a bright and breezy Lord’s where Leicestershire’s captain Matthew Hoggard revelled on centre stage with a first-class exhibition of good old-fashioned swing bowling

09-Aug-2010

ScorecardMatthew Hoggard picked up 6 for 63 to keep Middlesex to 219 in their first innings•PA Photos

A dozen wickets fell on the opening day at a bright and breezy Lord’s where Leicestershire’s captain and principal bowler Matthew Hoggard revelled on centre stage with a first-class exhibition of good old-fashioned swing bowling. After electing to bat first, Middlesex played an array of poor strokes to be shot out inside two sessions for 219, after which Leicestershire recovered from a sticky start to reach 105 for 2 in the 30 overs through to stumps – a
deficit of 114 going into the second day.Fresh from taking his career wickets tally past 700 against Derbyshire at Grace Road last week, 33-year-old Hoggard excelled to claim three more wickets before lunch. The former Yorkshire and England star switched to the Pavilion End after the interval to complete his season’s best return of 6 for 63 in 20 overs as Middlesex were hurried out by tea.Bowling full and straight, Hoggard made the most of late movement through the air and some profligate batting by a Middlesex top-order who seem to have forgotten the art of allowing seemingly innocuous deliveries to go by. Hoggard’s rout started as early as the fifth over when Scott Newman felt for one outside off stump to be caught behind to make it 14 for 1.Eight runs later and Hoggard bagged two more in as many deliveries as Owais Shah went leg before then, to the next delivery, Dawid Malan hung the bat out to a near wide and steered it to gully where Greg Smith took a tumbling catch.Nadeem Malik also got the ball to swing and enticed John Simpson to follow one and edge to Tom New then Toby Roland-Jones obligingly spooned an in-ducker straight into the hands of the man at square leg.Home skipper Neil Dexter, who was dropped at slip on 42, steadied his ship by contributing 47 to a fifth-wicket stand of 98 with Gareth Berg, which ended when Dexter’s prod against Hoggard was snaffled by Jacques du Toit at slip. Having just posted his 83-ball half-century, Berg (53) played outside the line of a Claude Henderson arm-ball to be pinned lbw, then Shaun Udal’s airy drive ballooned to point to give Hoggard his fifth victim.Josh Davey was caught at third slip leaving 10th-wicket partners Tim Murtagh and Pedro Collins to see the home side past 200 for their sole batting bonus point with an entertaining stand of 58 in 10 overs. They achieved the milestone in no little style, by clubbing 22 in one over from
Malik, but Collins was bowled through the gate by Jigar Naik, leaving Murtagh unbeaten on a breezy 41-ball 50 that included four fours and three sixes.Leicestershire started their reply at 4.15pm and were soon in trouble themselves as Matthew Boyce went leg before to a Collins yorker. Collins then dipped one back in to Du Toit who played late and across his left pad to become another leg before victim.Collins bowled too short thereafter and, having seen off the new ball, Leicestershire fought back with a third-wicket stand between Smith and James Taylor that took them through to the close without further alarm. Smith crafted the most convincing innings of the day to reach 64 while Taylor played second fiddle with an equally composed 32.

Mitchell Starc also dismissed Marcus Harris for 26 while Peter Handscomb and Campbell Kellaway made half-centuries

Alex Malcolm20-Oct-2024Sean Abbott put his name in the queue of back-up Test quicks with an outstanding spell while Mitchell Starc won a key battle over Marcus Harris that could shape Australia’s side as New South Wales took the ascendency against Victoria on the opening day at the MCG.In front of a lively Sunday crowd of around 1800, Abbott took four wickets and arguably deserved more on the back of some high-quality sustained fast bowling across the day, including an incredible spell after tea that yielded 3 for 0 in 15 balls and the swung the momentum NSW’s way.Related

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Peter Handscomb and Campbell Kellaway made fighting half-centuries in challenging conditions that favoured the seamers.Harris was unable to kick on after batting the entire first session for 26. Starc bowled impressively in the morning but went unrewarded despite finding swing and extra bounce while operating at high pace. Harris fought hard and played reasonably well without being able to score freely. Shortly before lunch, Starc pinned Harris on the underside of his left arm to leave a large egg-shaped bruise.The left-armer returned after the break to first beat Harris on the inside edge and nearly bowl him, before picking him up caught down the leg side. Harris bemoaned his misfortune but Starc’s extra pace and bounce meant he was not in control of the leg glance.NSW did not claim another wicket for the next 34 overs as Kellaway and Handscomb shared a century stand against some excellent bowling. Abbott and Starc in particular beat the bat regularly. Abbott had a number of half-shouts turned down while Starc broke Handscomb’s bat with a searing delivery that climbed from a length and cracked the splice of his blade.Kellaway and Handscomb defended against that duo and then expanded against Nathan Lyon. Kellaway launched him for a huge six over wide long-on while Handscomb played him with typical class.Jackson Bird broke the stand after tea, finding the outside edge with a superb off-cutter to dismiss Kellaway for 55 from 160 deliveries.Abbott then returned to wreak havoc. Handscomb, on 64, attempted a drive at a fuller length, but Abbott managed to get the ball to straighten a touch and Steven Smith held the edge at second slip.In Abbott’s next over he removed Sam Harper in similar fashion. Abbott went wide of the crease and dragged his length back as Harper shuffled forward. Again the ball straightened off the seam and caught the edge with Nic Maddinson claiming the chance sharply at third slip. Abbott should have had another two balls later but Maddinson grassed an easier catch that went straight to him off Will Sutherland’s outside edge.It cost nothing as Abbott nicked off Sutherland again to the safe gloves of Josh Phillippe. When Lyon had Sam Elliott caught at short leg, Victoria had slumped from 164 for 2 to 185 for 7.”I thought we bowled pretty well,” Abbott said after play. “But equally, I think the Vic boys batted very well on that wicket.”It felt a bit frustrating at times. We went past the bat a lot. It was just nice to get some reward late in the day after some hard toil all day.”Tom Rogers took 37 balls to get off the mark while watching three of his team-mates fall at the other end. But he and Fergus O’Neill mounted a rearguard against the second new ball with a 58-run stand before O’Neill fell late in the day for 28. Jack Nisbet picked up a second when he had Todd Murphy caught behind in the shadows of stumps.Handscomb was pleased with Victoria’s score given how much pace and seam movement there was in the surface and how well New South Wales bowled.”They bowled beautifully,” Handscomb said. “They’re always going to be there or thereabouts, and not really give you any loose balls.”We just kept telling each other just to try and fight and keep getting through. Because it’s tough for us out there but it’s also going to be tougher for the next bloke coming in.”I think it’s a really good day for us today. We’re really happy with that situation. I think when you get sent in here day one where, if we can get somewhere between 180 to 220, we tend to feel like we’re still in the game.”

Saini, Swepson also sign contracts as County Championship returns

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2023Dan Moriarty has joined Yorkshire on loan for four County Championship games, after struggling for opportunities at Surrey.Moriarty, 24, is one of the most promising young spinners in English cricket but has found himself playing second-team cricket this summer. Surrey have relied heavily on their seamers in the Championship and have picked allrounder Will Jacks and Cameron Steel ahead of their specialists.Yorkshire have brought Moriarty in for their next four Championship fixtures, including Sunday’s home game against Gloucestershire, and their managing director Darren Gough said he was “a brilliant addition”.Gough added: “With Yorkshire’s focus shortly turning to Championship cricket again, alongside the busy Blast schedule, it was important to add another addition to our bowling resources.”Related

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It remains to be seen if he will play straightaway, though Yorkshire’s main spinner, Dom Bess, has struggled this season, taking 12 wickets at 51.33 in five appearances.Moriarty has only played two Championship games in the last 18 months, but Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, said he could still play a role in the title run-in later this season.”This is a really good opportunity for Dan to play a number of first-class games over the next month or so,” Stewart said. “Hopefully he’ll put in some really good performances which will prepare him well should he get selected in the Championship run-in during September.”Elsewhere, Glamorgan have brought in Mitchell Swepson, the Australian legspinner, as overseas cover for his Queensland team-mate Michael Neser, who is with Australia’s Ashes squad. He is set to make his debut against Sussex on Sunday.Worcestershire also announced an overseas signing on Friday morning, but their four-match arrangement with Navdeep Saini will be limited by his inclusion in India’s Test squad to play West Indies next month. He is expected to play against Derbyshire on Sunday before leaving for the Caribbean.