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Brendan Taylor has called upon his side’s senior players, particularly the batsmen, to “front up” and shoulder the responsibility in the final two matches of the series against India

Liam Brickhill in Bulawayo31-Jul-2013Brendan Taylor has called upon his side’s senior players, particularly the batsmen, to “front up” and shoulder the responsibility in the final two matches of the series against India. Though their fielding has hardly been flawless, in all three games so far Zimbabwe’s batting, as a unit, has been the major disappointment.”We’re not trying to complicate things,” Taylor said before a nets session in Bulawayo. “We don’t want to dwell on things too much. We don’t want to put the players under too much pressure, but the fact is that we do need to turn up and put in better results.”Our bowlers haven’t done much wrong. They’ve been in good form and if we’d held our catches they would have had a lot more reward. They’ve been doing the right things. I think the batters need to back them up a little better, and certainly in the field we could be sharper.”Taylor himself hasn’t been blameless in Zimbabwe’s poor showing. With just 35 runs in three innings, he hasn’t given his team the runs they need. As Zimbabwe’s premier batsman and a vital cog in the middle order, totals are built around him and chases rely on his input.Taylor may fancy his chances of finding some form at Queens Sports Club, where he’s second only to Grant Flower in terms of runs scored. In 23 innings at the ground, Taylor has 799 runs at an average of 38.04 with a century and six fifties.”It has always been a very good batting surface and it has been harsh on the bowlers,” Taylor agreed, “but during the winter period, the morning session is crucial and bowlers have to try and capitalise then. You have to be batting at your best to get through that. I don’t want to take anything for granted, but if you do give yourself a good opportunity and give yourself a bit of time out there it certainly does get easier and you can certainly reap the rewards.”Time in the middle isn’t something any of Zimbabwe’s batsmen have had too much of recently. The team spent 10 weeks in a training camp to prepare for India’s visit, with a three-day game against Australia A their only serious match practice. Lack of fixtures is, of course, a perennial problem for Zimbabwe, and Taylor suggested that the current series and visits from Pakistan and Sri Lanka later this year represented vital opportunities for exposure and experience.”That’s something we’ve been crying out for for a long time and fortunately we’ve got India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in a three-four month period, so that’s fantastic,” he said. “But we need to be touring more, we need to be playing a lot more.”We can’t ask for a better period than the one we have right now and we need to make sure that we turn up as individuals and as a team because the world’s watching, and we need to show the world that we’re a good enough side – and we are. But it’s time for individuals to step up. The senior players, the most experienced players, need to front up and make it happen.Despite the 3-0 scoreline, Taylor insisted that getting his troops motivated for the final two matches wouldn’t be a problem. “We know we’re up against a good side and we probably are expected to lose, but we know if we play our best cricket we can win.”We should have won the second one-dayer and we let that slip. We’re very lucky to have the job that we have, so motivation is not an issue. The guys are still working hard and trying to cover all bases pretty well. Tomorrow is just a new day and we’ll be up for it more than ever.”

Despite an unimpressive performance by the top order, leading to Pakistan finishing the opening day nine wickets down, batsman Azhar Ali felt his side was in a reasonably good position

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2013Despite an unimpressive performance by the top order, leading to Pakistan finishing the opening day nine wickets down, batsman Azhar Ali felt his side was in a reasonably good position. Zimbabwe’s bowlers held control in the opening session, reducing Pakistan to 27 for 3, before Azhar and captain Misbah-ul-Haq saved their side from further embarrassment with a stand of 93 for the fourth wicket.Azhar top-scored with 78 and it was a typical workmanlike innings from him, coming off 185 balls. He admitted though that Pakistan should have respected the conditions better in the morning session, as the seamers managed movement and awkward bounce. A ninth-wicket stand of 67 between Saeed Ajmal and Junaid Khan took Pakistan close to the 250-mark.”It was a hardworking innings on a slow track,” Azhar said. “I had to work hard for my runs because they bowled in the good areas. And I think we ended up in a reasonably good position.”With some moisture on the pitch, we had a plan to get through to lunch. But we lost three early wickets which didn’t help. We could have done a bit better.”Pakistan batted positively after lunch as the pitch started to settle. Azhar, who batted cautiously as he approached his fifty, said that Misbah’s calming influence was helpful. After Misbah fell against the run of play, the responsibility grew on Azhar. He looked set for his fifth Test century but fell chasing a wide, away-swinging delivery from Shingi Masakadza and edged to slip. Azhar didn’t hide his annoyance, swinging his bat at thin air as he walked off with Pakistan at 182 for 8 with an hour left in the final session.”I was looking for some runs and they tried to bowl away from me,” Azhar said. “I should have kept my cool a little to get the hundred. It would have been nice to get another hundred. “Since his debut in 2010, Azhar has played 15 of his 28 Tests (including the ongoing Test) in venues outside the subcontinent and the UAE. He credited coach Dav Whatmore for helping him adjust to conditions where batsmen are challenged.”The coach has really helped me with my technique, especially with teaching me how to handle things in different places we play in,” Azhar said. “In international cricket, you have to improve day by day, you have to come up with new plans and you have to keep thinking.”Having described the pitch as “slow” on day one, with the seamers collecting seven wickets, Azhar expects the pitch to take more turn as the game goes on, bringing Ajmal and Abdur Rehman into play.

Surrey went down tamely in the end, their optimistic plan to take 10 Warwickshire wickets in less time that it took to concede 281 runs falling a long way short

Jon Culley at Edgbaston20-Sep-2013
ScorecardEngland allrounder hit an unbeaten 79 to help Warwickshire to victory•PA Photos

Surrey went down tamely in the end, their optimistic plan to take 10 Warwickshire wickets in less time that it took to concede 281 runs falling a long way short as Ateeq Javid and Chris Woakes built a magnificent partnership that saw the home side’s requirement met with more than 25 overs to spare of the final day.Javid, a neat right-handed batsman of only 21 years who has come into his own in the second half of the season, played superbly, applying himself with considerable patience and diligence on the third evening, with his side 19 for 2, and again as the final day unfolded and Surrey momentarily glimpsed a chance when they removed Laurie Evans and Rikki Clarke in the morning session.Evans threw his wicket away by chasing a wide long-hop from Stuart Meaker and Clarke deflected a drive on to his own stumps, at which point Warwickshire were still 155 from their target, a point at which another wicket or two might have had them looking at their long tail and getting jittery.But Javid never wobbled for a moment, and once Woakes was settled and timing his shots confidently the scoreboard was seldom static and Surrey’s morale steadily weakened. The pitch offered nothing that the spinners, Gareth Batty and Zafar Ansari, could use to much effect, and the threat posed by the quicker men was never more than fleeting. Chris Tremlett, who has ended doubts over his future by signing a one-year extension to his contract, did not look like a bowler champing at the bit, even with an Ashes squad due to be announced.Thus ended a grim year, the second in a row, for Surrey, who reached the final of the FLt20 but saw little else for their investment in a squad that has, at different times, seen Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen and Hashim Amla pulling on a Surrey sweater.The departure through injury in May of South Africa captain Smith, who had been hired to bring order and purpose to a dressing room still feeling the pain left by the Tom Maynard tragedy, was a severe blow, effectively requiring the plans for the season to be redrawn. Within a few weeks came the sacking of team director, Chris Adams, but Alec Stewart, the executive director who has been in temporary charge since then, offered no excuses.”We did not look like a relegation squad on paper but we don’t play on paper,” he said. “If you look at the lack of batting points, the lack of times we haven’t bowled sides out – the win column says one and if you only win one game you are going to finish near the bottom.”Losing Graeme Smith was a blow. You don’t want to lose your leader, no side would want to lose their captain, no one would want to lose someone of the calibre of Graeme Smith. He had only been there three games or so but had a huge impact, not just as a batsman — we knew he was a fine player, a fine leader – it was the impact he had on the dressing room.”But that’s not an excuse. We lost him. Other sides lose players, other sides lose their captain for a while. We have not played well enough. You can’t stand here and defend something you can’t defend.”We needed to have played better. It was not a question of one person not being here. Collectively the performances were not good enough, which is why we are sat rock bottom.”Stewart accepted that there would be some supporters of other teams who would revel in Surrey’s demise, burdened as they are with the label of county cricket’s fat cats. He questioned whether it was entirely fair but took it is as inevitable.”There are plenty of people out there who will be pleased to see us go down,” he said. “We are looked upon as a big club, we have been tagged as this cheque-book county. But people forget there is a salary cap.”There is expectation of Surrey but who brings that expectation? Is it from within Surrey, or from outside of Surrey because it is a Test match ground, because it is London, because as a club it makes a lot of money, with the Test match revenues, the T20 revenues and the way they market the club? That’s maybe a reason. There is the history as well.”You have to look at the here and now and the immediate future, and the future is to make sure we have good people, who can improve as individuals, and good people at the top who can help nurture those younger players through.”For us now it is about how you plan for one to five years, so that you don’t come up and go down again, and stay strong for a length of time.”I don’t want to stay in Division Two for longer than one year but when you do get promoted you want to make sure the foundations are there so that you can stay in the first division and then challenge at the top end rather than trying to survive at the bottom end.”Permanent replacements for Adams and first-team coach Ian Salisbury will be announced in the coming weeks, Stewart said. “We are getting closer, but there was never any rush. Stuart Barnes in the head coach role has been outstanding, with his work ethic and his attention to detail, and David Thorpe, our team analyst who has been involved with our academy, has stepped up well.”They have done all they can, the players have done all they can in their work ethic. That has not been transferred to the middle, with bat and ball.”The future, meanwhile, looks brighter for Warwickshire. Failing to defend their title has been a disappointment, but an understandable one given terrible luck with injuries, a headache that has not yet lifted after Jamie Atkinson broke a thumb, giving them another problem over who keeps wicket.Yet Javid and Woakes, both former players with the inner-city Aston Manor club, have given them the chance to finish their season in the top three for the third year running, should they condemn another team to relegation with a win at Derby next week.

England’s team to play Ireland in Dublin next week will contain several of the next generation making an impression in the county game, including up to six debutants

Alan Gardner28-Apr-20151:24

‘A peek into England’s future’

England’s post-World Cup renewal will begin against Ireland in Dublin next week with a team containing several of the next generation making an impression in the county game. There could be as many as six ODI debutants in the side, to be captained by James Taylor, including Kent’s explosive wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings, Somerset allrounder Lewis Gregory and Surrey’s Cambridge graduate Zafar Ansari.The other uncapped players are David Willey, the Northamptonshire allrounder and son of former England batsman Peter Willey, Hampshire’s stylish top-order batsman James Vince and Surrey’s Jason Roy, who made his T20 international debut last summer.

Three rising stars

Sam Billings (Kent) is another among a number of England wicketkeepers with destructive batting potential, not just Jos Buttler but the somewhat maligned Jonny Bairstow, too. Made England’s provisional squad for the 2015 World Cup when Craig Kieswetter withdraw with eye problems.
David Willey (Northants) was dubbed, tongue in cheek, as “the Northants Botham” by his captain Alex Wakely after an inspirational display in the T20 final in 2013. He hits hard and bowls brisk left-arm. Has even received an occasional nod of approval from his father, the taciturn former England allrounder turned umpire Peter Willey.
Lewis Gregory (Somerset) finished the 2014 season as one of the most improved players in county cricket. A former captain of England U-19s, he graduated through Devon age-group teams, primarily as a batsman.
David Hopps

There is also a return for Tim Bresnan, who has not played for England in any format since the 2014 World T20, while Alex Hales, recently critical of his handling by the team management, will have the chance to reassert himself as one of the country’s most exciting limited-overs talents.Although England have only named an XI to travel to Dublin, it is expected that several non-playing members of the Test squad will be added after the final match begins in Barbados on Friday. Jonny Bairstow, who last played an ODI in 2012, has already been named while Adil Rashid and Mark Wood are also candidates.After England’s humiliating World Cup, when they were knocked out during the group stage, changes were a certainty – though the proximity of the fixture to England’s tour of the Caribbean, where the third Test will conclude three days before the Ireland game, has also significantly affected the make-up of the side.Only three of the World Cup 15 are included – Taylor, Alex Hales and Steven Finn – although nine members of that group are currently in the West Indies. Eoin Morgan, who was given the ODI captaincy after Alastair Cook’s removal weeks before the tournament, is at the IPL along with Ravi Bopara, while Chris Woakes is injured.Taylor only broke into England’s one-day side on the tour of Sri Lanka that preceded the World Cup, having made a compelling case at domestic level, but his leadership qualities have been noted at Nottinghamshire, where he captains the limited-overs sides, and with the Lions.”To be given the opportunity to lead your country is a huge honour,” he said. “There are still some very experienced and talented cricketers in that team who I’d have been delighted to have as my captain, so it is a privilege and one I’m going to relish. It’s going to be brilliant leading an England team in a one-day international. We know it will be a tough game against Ireland and this match provides a great chance for us all to show we can play a huge role in limited-overs cricket in years to come.”Sam Billings netting with England Lions in Benoni last winter•Gallo Images

Ireland, who performed conspicuously better than England in Australia and New Zealand, may infer more second-class treatment at the selection of such an experimental side but, after the grim showing in 50-over cricket over the winter, England’s fans should find plenty to be enthusiastic about among the group.Ansari, who opens the batting for Surrey in Championship cricket, bowls slow left-arm and could fulfil the spinner’s role – although it is understood England plan to play Rashid. Billings, who scored 458 runs at an average of more than 100 and a strike rate of 154.20 in last season’s 50-over Royal London Cup, will compete with Bairstow for the gloves, but either could still play as a specialist batsman.Left-arm seamer Willey has been tipped for an England call-up since starring on T20 Finals Day in 2013, when he scored 60 from 27 balls and then took a hat-trick to help Northamptonshire to an unexpected triumph, before injury affected his progress last year.Finn and Bresnan – who has begun the season in good form for Yorkshire after making a change to his action – will lead an otherwise inexperienced attack. Boyd Rankin’s good form for Warwickshire has been offset by the need for an injection on a back problem, while Nottinghamshire left-armer Harry Gurney is also injured.England’s national selector, James Whitaker, said: “We are expecting a very competitive match against a talented Ireland side and this fixture gives us a great opportunity to look at players who have performed well in county cricket and for the Lions. We are starting to identify players we believe can make a real impact in limited overs cricket in the next four years as we build towards the World Cup in 2019 and these players have a huge opportunity to stake a claim for further opportunities this summer.”James Taylor has played with many of these players with England and England Lions and his experiences leading Notts make him an ideal captain to lead a young and dynamic side with Eoin Morgan currently in India at the IPL.”We will add a number of players to the squad once the side for the final Test against West Indies has been selected.”England squad: James Taylor (capt), Zafar Ansari, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Sam Billings (wk), Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn, Lewis Gregory, Alex Hales, Jason Roy, James Vince, David Willey

Former England batsman Mal Loye has been appointed head coach of the BCB’s High Performance for two years

Mohammad Isam25-May-2015Former England batsman Mal Loye has been appointed head coach of the BCB’s High Performance (HP) for two years. The first programme for 22 players will begin in June and will run till the end of September of this year.Loye, who played seven ODIs for England in 2007, ended his first-class career in 2011. Having previously coached at the Wellingborough School in Northamptonshire, Loye is likely to arrive in Bangladesh in the next few days. He will work under the National Cricket Academy’s new director of coaching Paul Terry, who was appointed earlier this month by the BCB.The HP chief Mahbubul Anam, also a BCB vice-president, made the announcement during the programme’s launch in Mirpur on Monday. He also announced the 22-member High Performance squad, which includes four international players Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Mithun, Jubair Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.The HP was in function between 2003 and 2007 but faded away in the subsequent years due to change of leadership in the BCB. The programme has been touted to be a bridge between the national team and emerging cricketers. The main aim is to ensure the best prepared players in international cricket, which Stuart Karpinnen, the HP’s general manager, said was a realistic goal.Mahbubul said that the board will set aside US$1 million as operational budget for the HP programme and also informed that there will be a number of consultants from home and abroad who will work at the HP in the near future. He added that the HP will coordinate constantly with the national team’s coaching staff.”The HP committee will include the cricket operations committee chairman and game development committee chairman. The programme will go hand in hand with the national team because it will be important for players falling back in the national team and for players who are looking to graduate into the national team,” Mahbubul said.He assured that the uncertain nature of Bangladesh’s domestic cricket will not affect the HP’s main function. “This is unfortunate that we have an unfixed domestic structure. We definitely need to fix it, and that is one of the top priorities of the board, to have a definitive schedule of tournaments so that we can plan everything better.”The HP programme runs in the off-season. It starts from June and ends in September. During these four months, the HP runs uninterrupted,” he said.They have also planned to keep the specialisation programmes flexible in tune with the domestic competitions, he said. “The elite programme for the fast bowlers, which has to run beyond the programme for eight months, is flexible and will be slotted in when there is no domestic cricket.”Knowing that the domestic calendar shifts, the coaches have to discuss with Paul to do short programmes. Eight weeks won’t be at a stretch, so that we utilise those periods when there is no cricket in the cricket season. We have decided to remain flexible taking into account of unscheduled tournaments,” he said.Karpinnen said they hoped that a majority of national players would have worked with the HP programme in 6-12 months while within two years, the programme is likely to prepare at least two cricketers vying for positions in the national team.Apart from the programme for the 22 players in the main HP programme, there will be six other specialist programmes, called elite programmes, for incumbent national players of the three formats and elite programmes for fast bowling, batting, spin bowling, fielding and wicketkeeping. These camps will run throughout the year for a few weeks at a time.Sarwar Imran (fast bowling), Zafrul Ehsan (batting), Wahidul Gani (spin bowling) and Golam Mortuza (wicketkeeping) have been appointed as coaches to work under Terry and Loye. The coaching staff will include Brett Harrop as rehabilitation manager, physiotherapist, strength and condition coordinator and performance analyst.Terry said that the new head coach Loye will be working directly with the players while Terry himself will coordinate with Loye and the rest of the local coaching staff.”I will be working closely with him and all the other coaches to set up the programme,” Terry said. “Mal’s responsibility will be to run that programme. My role will be to assist him and in the planning. I think the local coaches will be the most important here. We need to work closely with them.”High Performance squad: Rony Talukdar, Litton Das, Shadman Islam, Tasamul Haque, Mahmudul Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mossadek Hossain, Mohammad Mithun, Taibur Rahman, Jubair Hossain, Saqlain Sajib, Nihaduzzaman, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Subashis Roy, Mehedi Hasan, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Dewan Sabbir, Nurul Hasan, Jabid Hossain, Irfan Sukkur.

From nowhere, Essex are a team on the charge, moving from the foot of South Group to second in the space of a week

Will Macpherson12-Jun-2015
ScorecardShaun Tait was in the wickets for Essex•Getty Images

Essex have the look of a team on the charge. Half of their eight T20 Blast group fixtures have passed and, while their first five yielded three defeats, a trio of wins have come in the last eight days – a clinical, calculated disposal of Surrey, Thursday’s choking of Gloucestershire, and now, the most convincing of the lot, a start-to-finish demolition by the seaside.Sussex, as mightily disappointing as they may have been, were dispatched with 20 balls to spare with a ruthless aloofness. Those eight days have seen Essex travel seven places north, from bottom to second in the South Group.Skipper Ryan ten Doeschate was not required to bat or bowl, yet quietly played a blinder. Conditions were curious; Hove’s has been a notably worrisome square of late and this track, which was also used for Sussex’s Championship defeat to Hampshire earlier in the week, looked one to set a score on.

Insights

Ryan ten Doeschate’s canny manipulation of his all-seam attack meant Sussex’s batsmen never settled. Masters and Bopara each bowled three-over spells from the Cromwell Road End, but otherwise it was all change. The pace of Tait and Topley was preserved by one-over bursts while Bopara, whose action is rather less taxing on the body, sped through his overs – another factor in not allowing the batsman to settle – and was particularly difficult to get away; his four overs – including the last of the innings – didn’t leak a single boundary. – Will Macpherson

But the weather was all funk: humid but not hot, mizzly, murky and muggy and the Dutchman elected to bowl. The sight of swing from the first ball of the match, from Reece Topley, will have left him feeling pangs of vindication, which will have steadily grown as his fine evening wore on.As Topley and co reduced Sussex to 140 for 9 – the 20 balls Essex didn’t use in hauling this down tells you how sub-par it was – ten Doeschate made no fewer than 14 bowling changes, while not calling on the services of Jesse Ryder, Tom Westley or himself.The attack was balanced and tough to get away. No Sussex batsman, even the slipperiest of the stylists, Mahela Jayawardene, who was run out off the last ball of the innings chasing a 54th run, ever looked in.Reece Topley and Shaun Tait provide an aggressive, pacey left-right-goodnight combination; David Masters and Graham Napier sauntered in and served up guile and experience; while Ravi Bopara, whose run-up seemed to get slower and shorter but delivery cannier and more mysterious with every ball, once more proved both unhittable and a wicket-taking threat.The loud speaker and in-house DJ are a crucial part of the limited-overs experience these days. At Hove, dodgy tunes are as ubiquitous as the sight of a man dressed as a Shark doing silly things between innings (catching high balls this time).This season, for the first time, however, Sussex batsmen walk to the crease to the sounds of their own, personally selected songs. There are some curious choices; openers and old-hands Luke Wright and Chris Nash proudly parade to “YMCA” and it didn’t get any better with tracks from Tinie Tempah and Jason Derulo featuring among the younger members of the squad.The performances when they reached the crease were no prettier. Nash and Wright started breezily enough, with Topley’s third and sixth deliveries sent to the fence through mid-off and at backward point, and Wright welcoming Napier with a trio of fours in the match’s third over.But when both fell in the space of ten balls – Wright slashing Topley to point and Nash mistiming a pull, an innings long procession was triggered, with just Jayawardena standing firm. The Sri Lankan’s timing was not right and wickets and Essex intelligence starved him of the strike – he faced just 41 of the 91 deliveries he was at the crease.He still managed to tick along, scooping and dabbing classily behind square and once gloriously flicking Tait over fine-leg following a punch down the ground.The dismissals were universally soft. Jayawardena must have despaired as Craig Cachopa was deceived, and bowled, by one from Bopara that may have stayed low; Machan skied Napier to mid-on; Ben Brown slapped to cover as Sussex’s horrible stall was confirmed. Inevitably, the tail were no better.Essex didn’t make it look nearly as difficult to time the ball. Jesse Ryder gave some early customary timber and, when he departed, Mark Pettini – who starred on Thursday against Gloucestershire – and in-form Tom Westley refused to panic.Pettini was fluent from the off, but Westley struggled early, showing patience and calm, before freeing the arms when in. His first two singles – of his seventh and 12th legal deliveries – were agonising scuffs clear of legside fielders and he had just two just of 14 before motoring, driving beautifully straight and through the covers. Eventually both fell, Wright taking a brilliant catch at point to dismiss Westley off Yardy, and Pettini finding extra cover off Chris Liddle.The performance of Tymal Mills will give both sides plenty to ponder. Ryder sent his first ball over square leg and out of the ground, literally, and his third was into the stands at point. But he came back impressively, castling the Kiwi with a slower delivery with his fourth.Plays and misses were rife as his spell went on, while impressive pace, and variations thereof, as well as the sight of him setting his own field and celebrating with aggression, were also pleasing. Frustrating, however, were the wides – six in all – and that continuing tendency to spray it around. Plenty, then, of the reasons Sussex signed him. Plenty, too, of the reasons Essex let him go.

Shane Watson’s greater experience of England and his capacity to bowl some of the kinds of spells Ryan Harris might have delivered for Australia appears set to squeeze him into the first Test team ahead of Mitchell Marsh

Daniel Brettig in Cardiff06-Jul-2015Shane Watson’s greater experience of England and his capacity to bowl some of the kinds of spells Ryan Harris might have delivered for Australia appears set to squeeze him into the first Test team ahead of Mitchell Marsh, as part of a bowling attack the assistant coach Craig McDermott still calls the best in the world.While the younger Marsh has turned plenty of heads with his bold batting on tour, the Australian team’s decision-makers still feel Watson offers more security as a bowler. Without Harris, the control Watson can offer with miserly spells and swing of both conventional and reverse varieties will be even more highly valued.McDermott, on his first Ashes tour since leaving the 1993 trip early due to a life-threatening twisted bowel, said that while Marsh’s bowling was improving, Watson still had something of an edge. “With the fourth seamer only bowling 10-15 overs tops depending on how they’re bowling and how the other guys are going, his control is excellent,” McDermott said. “He’s a lot more experienced and has been around for a long time so you’d expect his control and everything else to be better.”Mitch is still developing. He’s got some pace back; the No. 1 thing we were chasing for from him was to get some speed up. Him obviously being nervous with his injuries throughout the summer in Australia and wanting to stay on the paddock made him back off a little bit I think. Now he’s our No. 1 man over the 2km time trial and all that sort of stuff he’s got his fitness back, he’s lost some weight and he’s got his pace back up.”He’s actually swinging the ball nicely now, he bowled a lot better in the second innings in Essex than the first innings and also Canterbury. So considering he hasn’t had a lot of four-day cricket bowling it’s a work in progress but he’s coming on nicely.”Shane Watson appears in line to pip Mitchell Marsh for a place in the first Test•Getty Images

While Australia’s order of preference for pace bowlers has been shaken up considerably by Harris’ exit, it remains likely that Peter Siddle will miss out on a place in the team unless the selectors plump for the unlikely option of choosing four fast men in addition to Watson. At the very least, Siddle’s quality bowling in Canterbury, Chelmsford and the Cardiff nets is keeping Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Johnson on their toes.”It’s disappointing for him but we’ve got to find someone else to do the job he does and I’m sure four of the guys we’ve got are quite capable of doing that,” McDermott said. “Peter Siddle’s bowled very well in the last couple of games, the other guys are getting back into their work, and Jono’s bowling quicker here than he has for a while I think and swinging the ball nicely. So those four frontline guys are all in the mix and if we don’t play four it’ll be a tough selection call.”Everyone who’s been through the World Cup and to the IPL in particular took a bit of time to get back into their work. Jono’s arm path has got a bit better over here, a bit higher and he’s got his seam in a better position, and he’s just got a real spring in his step at the minute, so that’s good for us and hopefully not good for the Poms.”Starcy and Josh basically had two and a half weeks off from game time, so just took a little bit of time to get back into their rhythm and bowling. They both bowled very well in the second innings in Essex, so we’re pretty happy with their preparation, and Sidds bowled well in both games and his pace got better as well.”Two of the vagaries of English conditions are the swing extractable from the Dukes ball and the smaller dimensions of the grounds, meaning runs can accrue quickly if bowlers get too greedy in their search for a “glory ball”. McDermott espoused the virtues of balance, and did not mind the thought of a new, more aggressive England going out searching for deliveries bowled in the fourth stump channel.”We’ve got to bowl our good lines and lengths which we did in Australia in the last series, and we stuck to our game plan,” he said. “You don’t want to attack too much, but you need still to attack. Our game with our bowling and fielding is to be attacking and aggressive, that’s the Australian way and the only way we know how to play.”The boys this morning were swinging the ball a lot. So it’s making sure you don’t get too greedy and using the crease to get your lines correct and make the batsmen play. If we do get a lot of swing we can use the crease to maximise that, and that’s pretty important for our attack and certainly Sidds is one who uses the crease well. The other guys do as well, but he uses it as good as anyone.”We’ve got a bowling attack that suits pretty much every facet of cricket, whether it’s a reverse wicket or a wicket that turns with seven left-handers is good for Lyono, and obviously if the wicket’s got green grass on it and goes through a bit, even if it’s a bit slower, the wicket’s still going to seam if it’s got some grass on it. Our attack is really well placed for whatever we get dished up.”

Gerrie Snyman’s 62 off 35 balls propelled Namibia to a seven-wicket win with 7.1 overs to spare after their bowlers had dismissed USA for a paltry 113

The report by Peter Della Penna in Belfast13-Jul-2015USA struggled to 113 for 8, having wasted another good start from the top order, before they were knocked out by a Gerrie Snyman onslaught. His 62 off 35 balls propelled Namibia to a seven-wicket win with 7.1 overs to spare at Stormont.That frenetic pace proved useful considering the rain theat. The start was delayed by an hour, and Namibia began their chase amid a drizzle. But Snyman and his opening partner Stephen Baard rocketed to 63 for 0 in the Powerplay, ensuring they were well ahead on Duckworth-Lewis in the event the match had to be called after five overs.USA did themselves no favours with their no-ball issues rearing back up. Snyman caught off one when he was only 7. Things got progressively worse. Japen Patel dropped Snyman when the batsman was on 21; the ball tipped over for six. When the opportunity to redeem himself came, Japen misjudged another catch at deep point to give Baard a life on 15.Snyman made the most of his chances, repeatedly smashing the bowlers over mid-on and brought up his fifty in 28 balls. Muhammad Ghous, the USA captain, became so desperate to curtail Snyman that at one point he put six fielders on the leg side before the on-field umpires warned him that it would result in a no-ball.Snyman was eventually caught at long-on off Alex Amsterdam to conclude a 97-run opening stand in 10 overs. The only other wickets to fall came courtesy legspinner Timil Patel. An inside edge from Baard dribbled onto his stumps, while Raymond van Schoor was caught at deep midwicket. Sarel Burger ended the game four balls later with a flick to midwicket, giving Namibia’s net run rate a significant boost in the event of a tiebreaker at the end of the group stage.USA have lost three out of three games now. Today, six of their batsmen fell for single-figures. Only Akeem Dodson with 49 off 41 balls could hold Namibia off. He capitalised on their strategy of bowling short. Four of his eight boundaries came off pull shots and he dominated a 35-run stand with Timothy Surujbally, before Surujbally ran himself out for 3.USA’s innings started to unravel when left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz was introduced in the eighth over. He nabbed Nicholas Standford leg before as the batsman defended down the wrong line. Then Dodson gave it away looking for a glory shot over long-off and was caught by Craig Williams.Dodson’s wicket sparked a collapse – four wickets for 16 runs. Adil Bhatti was foxed by a slower ball from Burger and was pinned in front. Then Namibia’s sharp fielding produced two run-outs. Scholtz’s throw from deep midwicket beat Japen’s dive at the non-striker’s end as he was looking for a second. Ghous called for a suicidal run and third man on the circle found him short by five yards.Amsterdam was the eighth wicket to fall, top edging a pull for 18. Timil and Jasdeep Singh batted out the remaining nine balls to finish unbeaten on 8 and 7 respectively.

The viewing figures for last month’s T20 Finals Day at Edgbaston were 10 per cent down on the previous lowest recorded in 2013, and 498,000 worse than the highest recorded in 2005

Freddie Wilde10-Sep-2015This season’s NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day registered the day’s worst UK broadcast viewership since the competition began in 2003. Coming just a fortnight before county chiefs are expected to confirm ECB proposals that will preserve the existing structure of the competition, this news will intensify opposition to doing so.According to the Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARB), Finals Day at Edgbaston on August 29 attracted an overall average audience of 388,000 on Sky Sports – 159,000 for the semi-finals and 229,000 for the final programme between Lancashire and Northamptonshire. The figure is 10 per cent down on the previous lowest Finals Day in 2013, and 498,000 worse than the highest recorded in 2005.When approached to comment the ECB was keen to point out that individual-day viewing figures are highly susceptible to rival attractions – such as in this instance: Mo Farah winning 5,000 metres gold at the World Athletics Championships, the third week of the Premier League football season and the launch episode of X Factor – and should be interpreted with caution. But in this case the figures are representative of a broader trend that has seen the past two seasons of the T20 Blast record the lowest average viewing figures as a whole in the competition’s 13-year history.Although aggregate attendances for this season’s event totalled a record 827,654, a rise of 17 per cent on 2014 and Finals Day itself attracted a record attendance of 24,357, the competition’s television appeal appears to be at best stagnating and at worst declining.ESPNcricinfo

The 2015 season saw 37 matches broadcast and a slight rise in average audience of 140,216, almost 3000 higher than 2014 but the two figures are considerably lower than the average across all 13 seasons and significantly lower than audiences recorded in the early seasons of the competition. Indeed, the average viewership of this season’s final has been bettered by group-stage matches on 15 occasions in the past.The ECB has reportedly tried to persuade its member counties to vote through a city-based T20 competition this season, thought to be favoured by broadcasters. But after facing considerable opposition to the idea the counties are likely to confirm ECB proposals for the existing structure to be preserved, albeit shifted to a block period in the school summer holidays. Historically TV viewership has been at its peak when the tournament has been played in a block rather than spread out across the summer as it has been in the past two seasons.The current structure, adopted in 2014, was formulated on the back of an extensive survey of existing cricket fans which showed fans preferred regular Friday night scheduling of matches (which became known as “appointment to view”) so that they could plan and budget for attendance. While this has increased the number of people watching live at the grounds it appears to have had a detrimental effect on television audiences.The ECB was keen to reiterate the record attendances this season and boasted of a growing digital audience, with its T20 Blast-related video views exceeding 3.5 million. A spokesperson for the ECB reaffirmed the board’s partnership with Sky, welcoming the quality and breadth of their coverage. Sky Sports meanwhile did not reject BARB’s figures when approached for comment but pointed to a growing digital audience not included in BARB’s data.Given that the Big Bash League in Australia is now broadcast on free-to-air channel Network Ten, comparisons with the T20 Blast, broadcast on a subscription channel, would be unfair. However, it should be noted that before moving to Network Ten the BBL spent two seasons on Fox Sports where it broke Australian subscription records, registering average audiences of 282,000 and 233,000 in a country with a population roughly a third the size of the UK.The impressive viewing figures on Fox improved Cricket Australia’s chances of getting the BBL on to free-to-air television, which was achieved in 2013 when Network Ten signed a five-year deal worth $100 million.

Queensland had the better of a sluggish pitch at Blacktown Oval to defeat Victoria in an attritional, low scoring Matador Cup match

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2015
ScorecardPeter Forrest’s 71-ball 57 formed the base for Queensland’s winning total of 209•Getty Images

Queensland had the better of a sluggish pitch at Blacktown Oval to defeat Victoria in an attritional, low scoring Matador Cup match.The Bushrangers captain Matthew Wade sent the Bulls in to bat in western Sydney and would have been content when the Queenslanders were only able to cobble a tally of 209 all out.However, a Bulls bowling collective led with typical thrift by the former captain James Hopes was able to corral the Bushrangers so successfully that only Wade was able to score his runs at anything like the rate required without giving his wicket away cheaply.James Pattinson also hinted at his immense batting ability in the most productive partnership of the innings, but it was too little, too late after the Bushrangers had slid to 7 for 79.The Bulls owed much to their stand-in captain Peter Forrest, who played with admirable composure for his 57 from 71 balls, pulling together much of Queensland’s score with the help of a restrained Nathan Reardon.At the time of his dismissal the Bushrangers would have felt happy with their work, but as it turned out the Queenslanders had already made one more run than Wade’s men would manage.