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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.

LSG’s bowlers led a remarkable comeback after Prithvi Shaw ran away to 61 off 34 balls

Sidharth Monga07-Apr-20224:18

Did Rishabh Pant err in not bowling his spinners enough?

The Lucknow Super Giants spinners stifled Delhi Capitals, and their death bowlers maintained the chokehold to restrict them to the third-lowest 20-over total for the loss of three wickets or fewer in the IPL: 149. With dew around, it became an easy target to chase, but even LSG stumbled in the end and finished the chase only in the last over despite a 52-ball 80 from Quinton de Kock.It was a remarkable comeback from LSG after Prithvi Shaw ran away to 61 off 34 balls. However, the other Capitals batters – David Warner and Rishabh pant among them – couldn’t manage even a run a ball between them. It wasn’t for the want of trying: they all tried to hit out, but Ravi Bishnoi, K Gowtham and Krunal Pandya tied them down before Jason Holder and Avesh Khan finished off with just 19 runs in the last three overs, the second-lowest aggregate for an IPL side who had top-six batters at the wicket.

Capitals fined for slow over rate

Delhi Capitals have been fined for maintaining a slow over rate during the match against Lucknow Super Giants on Thursday. Since it was the team’s first offence of the season under the IPL’s code of conduct, captain Rishabh Pant was fined INR 12 lakhs.

Between them the LSG spinners bowled 10 overs for 57 runs and took all three wickets to fall. Gowtham also bowled the first maiden Pant has faced in the IPL.Shaw welcomes back Warner
This was a homecoming of sorts for Warner to the team he made his IPL debut for. Shaw was there to make him feel at home, giving him a right-hand impression of the batter he used to be before he began to set himself up for the long innings. The LSG fast bowlers tried to bowl hard lengths at Shaw, but kept getting cut or pulled. He alone scored 47 in the powerplay, letting Warner ease his way back in.Against the spinners Shaw remained aggressive and effective, going over cover with ease and punishing any error in length. In the eighth over, he stepped out to Gowtham to hit him for a straight six before going over cover for four.Prithvi Shaw hits Jason Holder over midwicket for a six•BCCI

Shaw gone, choke on
Gowtham responded by moving round the wicket and pushing one across Shaw. Shaw saw a third boundary in a row and went for the cut, but the angle and some extra bounce defeated him to take the top edge.Capitals then made a curious move to promote Rovman Powell to No. 3. Before today, Powell had struck at 150 against pace and 116 against spin. He was now being exposed to spin on a surface with grip.Bishnoi and Gowtham now sucked the life out of the innings. Warner went cutting a wide ball, which kept getting away from him, and managed just a top edge, the third time he has got out to Bishnoi in six balls. A desperate Powell saw a full ball and went for the slog, but it turned out to be the wrong’un, which took out off stump. Gowtham then proceeded to cramp Pant and bowl a maiden.When Sarfaraz Khan reverse-swept the last ball of the 11th over, it was the first boundary by a batter not named Shaw.Pant’s struggles
More than Warner or Powell, Pant’s struggle was stark. He managed just eight off the first 19 balls he faced, surviving a run-out chance in the process. It was with the last ball of the 15th over that he finally broke free, lofting a Bishnoi wrong’un over extra-cover. When Andrew Tye offered him a full-toss and two slot balls in the 16th, Pant finally went past a run a ball with a four and two sixes. Sarfaraz got stuck into Avesh in the 17th over, making it 130 for 3 and raising hopes for Capitals.Holder’s mix of cutters and yorkers, though, completely shut Pant and Sarfaraz out. He bowled the 18th and the 20th, but conceded no boundary. Avesh made a stellar comeback in the 19th, conceding just the one four. This 36-ball 39 was Pant’s third-slowest innings of 30 balls or more. To make matters worse, the bowlers were wiping the ball with a towel every ball, an ominous sign if you have only managed a low total.Rovman Powell is bowled by Ravi Bishnoi’s googly•BCCI

De Kock aces the chase
With Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav in the side and with Lalit Yadav becoming effective with part-time spin, Capitals still had an attack to fight in defence of the small total, but the wet ball tipped the scales in LSG’s favour.Mustafizur Rahman and Lalit kept things tight for the first four overs, but the floodgates opened when Anrich Nortje bowled for the first time in an IPL match in India. The fifth over was full of half-volleys, which de Kock dispatched for three fours, before pulling a short ball for a six.The target was so low that it took a string of tight overs to take the asking rate past 8.5 an over, but just one beamer from Nortje that went for a six in the 14th over for it to come crashing down to 7.5. Another beamer in the 16th sent Nortje off, and de Kock hit Kuldeep for two fours. When he finally fell, de Kock had left his side seven an over to get in the last four overs.Krunal, Badoni calm the nerves
Fourteen balls without a boundary, bowled by Mustafizur and Shardul Thakur, created nerves for LSG, making it 17 required off 10 balls. Krunal and Deepak Hooda tried their best to find the boundary, but the defensive bowling remained top-class. Eventually, though, Krunal picked a slower one and lofted it back over Mustafizur’s head, and then picked three straight braces to leave just five to get in the last over. They still needed Ayush Badoni to come out and hit a boundary when it came down to five off four.

The three-Test series might also be reduced to two keeping the players’ requirements in mind

Mohammad Isam22-Nov-2020Cricket West Indies president Ricky Skerritt has given Bangladesh hope that they will be touring the country in January 2021 with the “best available” West Indies team, also hinting that the three-Test series might be reduced to two keeping the players’ requirements in mind.According to the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, the tour was slotted for January 2021 featuring three Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is, with the Tests part of the World Test Championship. By the time this month ends, Bangladesh will be among the few Full Member teams to have not played international cricket since March.ALSO READ: ICC confirms altered points system for World Test Championship“There has been an option to reduce from three to two Tests but it is not finalised yet,” Skerritt told the Dhaka-based . “It will be finalised within the next few days. The problem is [that] we have to look at it from all perspectives, that of Covid-19, scheduling and cost. These days, the pressures that Covid has brought to world cricket are significant in terms of revenue. We want to come to Bangladesh because we respect the relationship and the bilateral agreements that we have.”I just want to assure you that we will always send the best available team to any tour that we undertake, including Bangladesh. We believe a tour to Bangladesh is always a challenging tour because it is an environment that’s very different to our own conditions. But we have always done well in Bangladesh. Our players enjoy playing against Bangladesh. At the moment we are fairly evenly matched and it is always a good series between West Indies and Bangladesh. We are doing everything we can to participate in tours abroad and at home. The Covid-19 pandemic is making it extremely difficult to implement our plans.”On Wednesday, the BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said in a press briefing that CWI had requested one fewer Test due to the length of the bio-bubble in Bangladesh.”It is not final yet. The West Indies cricket board has requested us, as staying inside bio-bubble for a long time is tough for players,” Chowdhury had said. “They requested to consider if it is possible to shorten the duration of the series. In that case, one of the options is to reduce one Test match. We are still discussing the issues, nothing is finalised yet.”Skerritt also said they want to ensure that the BCB followed the recognised worldwide health protocols – that the West Indies team had experienced in England – after they became the first international cricket team to tour during the pandemic.”We want to be sure that the protocols established in Bangladesh meet the requirement that we have established so far in the various tours we have been on,” Skerritt said. “There are case studies to benchmark from. This is not going to be the first overseas tour. As you know, we did the first overseas tour to England.”Certain standards were set, certain learnings were achieved, and I think once Bangladesh can meet those standards, I don’t think there’s going to be any major problem. We just have to verify in our own way that the situation will be safe for all concerned.”The BCB has so far held one domestic tournament, the President’s Cup, in which they managed to keep three teams in a bio-bubble, allowing them only to commute between the hotel and the Shere Bangla National Stadium. From Tuesday, they will be hosting the five-team Bangabandhu T20 Cup, which will also have a BCB-sponsored bio-bubble.

Spinner available for two Championship games as well as remainder of Vitality Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Aug-2019South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj will return for Yorkshire’s next two Championship matches, as well as a spell in the Vitality Blast, having enjoyed success during his initial three-match spell in July.Maharaj will be available to play against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough later this month, and for the trip to Taunton beginning on September 10. He is set to make his Blast debut in the Roses match at Old Trafford next Friday, and could feature in seven fixtures; Yorkshire have been without the services of an overseas player since Nicholas Pooran completed a three-game spell last week.The slow left-armer claimed 20 Championship wickets at 19.95 in his first stint with the club, as well as adding a couple of fifties with the bat. Confirmation of his return comes after Adil Rashid was ruled out for an unknown period by his ongoing shoulder problem.”When I first arrived, I felt very welcomed by all the club officials and my fellow team-mates,” Maharaj said. “I managed to settle in really well on the cricketing front and I’m just glad that the opportunity has been afforded to me to be able to come back for the two four-day games and maybe a few T20s as well.”I’ve always wanted to play T20 cricket around the world, as regularly as I can and as often as I can. It’s my first T20 gig outside of South Africa so I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully, I can have an impact and that the team can get through to finals day.”I would love to make this a regular feature with Yorkshire cricket. Being a pro cricketer, I’d love to ply my trade all over the world. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Yorkshire so it will be a pleasure to come back as much as possible.”I was really pleased to be able to contribute in two victories out of three; I would have loved to made it a third. Hopefully over the two remaining fixtures I can get another couple of victories and help put the team in a good position to win the Championship.”The spin-bowling department has been an issue for Yorkshire all season, with Somerset’s Dom Bess having been signed on loan spells for both Championship and T20 cricket. Bess, who has played four Blast games, is set to return to Somerset before the next round of the Championhip, while legspinner Josh Poysden was recently ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a fractured skull in training.Yorkshire’s first-team coach Andrew Gale said of Maharaj: “He made a great impact in the three weeks he was with us. He’s a classy spin bowler and he contributed greatly to our wins over Surrey and Somerset.”He fitted in well with the dressing room and also contributed well with the bat down the order. We look forward to having him back with us next week and we hope he can continue to perform well for us at North Marine Road and Taunton too.”

The Major Associations set to contract 16 players each overall, one more than last season

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2018Former New Zealand opener Jesse Ryder has found no takers among the six Major Associations in round one of contract distribution.The associations announced their first list of contracted players for the 2018-19 season on Friday, part of a two-step contracting process in domestic cricket. They will contract 16 players each overall, one up from last season.As per the rules, the associations are allowed to contract between ten and 15 players in round one, and will fill up their quota of 16 on June 30. Whether 33-year-old Ryder finds a new cricketing home then remains to be seen. For now, it seems like his team from the last three seasons, Central Districts, has moved on. quoted Central Districts chief executive Pete De Wet as saying: “Jesse began his professional career for us way back in 2002-03, when he was a promising youngster himself at just 18. Later, after nine seasons representing the Wellington Firebirds and two seasons with the Otago Volts, we were delighted when his career came full circle in 2015-16 when we welcomed Jesse back.”It was a very difficult decision not to offer Jesse a new contract, as we have appreciated his contribution to the team for the past three summers. However, ultimately, we have considered the balance of our squad and have elected to take a long-range view.”Ryder was one of only six batsmen to score over 600 runs last season in the first-class Plunket Shield. In seven matches for Central Districts, the eventual champions, Ryder scored 640 at 71.11 with two hundreds and three fifties. The highlight of his season was twin centuries from No. 5 in Nelson, to set up a 256-run drubbing of Auckland.Here is the full list of players handed contracts in round one.Auckland: Jamie Brown, Craig Cachopa, Mark Chapman, Danru Ferns, Michael Guptill-Bunce, Ben Horne, Ben Lister, Matt McEwan, Robbie O’Donnell, Glenn Phillips, Sean Solia, Will SomervilleCanterbury: Chad Bowes, Blake Coburn, Leo Carter, Andrew Ellis, Cameron Fletcher, Andrew Hazeldine, Kyle Jamieson, Ken McClure, Cole McConchie, Stephen Murdoch, Ed Nuttall, Henry Shipley, Will Williams, Theo van WoerkomCentral Districts: Doug Bracewell, Tom Bruce, Josh Clarkson, Dane Cleaver, Greg Hay, Christian Leopard, Willem Ludick, Ryan McCone, Ajaz Patel, Seth Rance, Bevan Small, Ben Smith, Blair Tickner, Ben Wheeler, Will YoungNorthern Districts: James Baker, Peter Bocock, Dean Brownlie, Henry Cooper, Anton Devcich, Daniel Flynn, Zak Gibson, Brett Hampton, Nick Kelly, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Bharat Popli, Brett Randell, Tim Seifert, Joe WalkerOtago: Matt Bacon, Warren Barnes, Neil Broom, Mark Craig, Jacob Duffy, Josh Finnie, Shawn Hicks, Anaru Kitchen, Michael Rae, Mitch Renwick, Michael Rippon, Hamish Rutherford, Nathan Smith, Brad WilsonWellington: Hamish Bennett, Tom Blundell, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Lauchie Johns, Iain McPeake, James Neesham, Ollie Newton, Malcolm Nofal, Jeetan Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Ben Sears, Logan van Beek, Luke Woodcock, Peter Younghusband