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Fast bowler proves fitness after taking 8 for 122 across two warm-up games

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2020West Indies have officially added fast bowler Shannon Gabriel to their squad for the Test series against England. Gabriel had been part of the reserve personnel on tour but has proved his fitness and comes into the 15 vying for contention at the Ageas Bowl next week.Gabriel underwent ankle surgery last year and has not played a first-class game since September, but he claimed figures of 8 for 122 across West Indies’ two warm-up games in Manchester.”I am delighted that we are able to add Shannon to the Test squad,” CWI lead selector Roger Harper said. “He has shown that he is fit and ready, he will add experience, firepower and potency to the bowling unit.”The addition of Gabriel to the full squad means West Indies will be able to call upon the same attack that helped them to a 2-1 series win over England in the Caribbean last year – although there have been concerns over the fitness of captain Jason Holder, who has been suffering from an ankle niggle and only bowled five overs so far on tour.

“You have to give a guy a chance to play a couple of games and then if he hasn’t proved his worth, you can make changes”

Mohammad Isam in Hamilton04-Mar-2019Another new-look pace attack, another big total conceded. This has been the case for Bangladesh in Test cricket, especially when they have travelled outside the subcontinent over the past three years.Since March 2016, they have been to South Africa, the West Indies and New Zealand, and in each of those countries, they have given up a 400-plus total, with their rookie fast bowlers getting battered to all parts of the ground.Taskin Ahmed, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Subashis Roy had a terrible time in New Zealand in 2017. Bangladesh then went to South Africa and, even with Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain available, there was very little improvement. Abu Jayed did decently in the West Indies in 2018 but he got very little support. Meanwhile, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach and Jason Holder just kept blowing the Bangladesh batsmen away.0:50

By The Numbers: New Zealand scale the 700-run mountain

In much the same way this Sunday, the Trent Boult-Tim Southee-Neil Wagner combination bowled New Zealand to victory, while Jayed, Ebadot Hossain and Khaled Ahmed conceded 369 runs in 87 overs for one solitary wicket. Bangladesh’s inability to keep the runs down or take wickets meant New Zealand had little to worry about as they piled on 715 for 6, their highest-ever Test score.Despite that, fast-bowing coach Courtney Walsh has backed his young bowlers, saying the only way they will get better is by playing more matches together.”If you’re going to invest in them, and train them in the right conditions – they would have to improve as well – I’d like to see them play a couple of Test matches together,” Walsh said. “Five or ten. Not as individuals, but as a group. But we can rotate them as well, play a couple together, where they get a good feel, a good understanding of what’s happening. Especially in conditions away from home. In Bangladesh, sometimes, none might play or one might play, but when you’re away from home, they need to play.Courtney Walsh oversees Bangladesh’s training session•Getty Images

“So it’ll be nice for them to get a good run so they get a good feel of what’s happening, and you can then judge to see how much they have learnt. We invested in Ebadot. If you remember, two years ago, he came as a developmental player. And that investment has sort of worked in terms of how he made his Test debut here. That’s a good sign. If we can get that to continue, for him to play a couple of Test matches, and to keep improving.”Walsh repeated that those picking squads and XIs have to be careful with bowlers like Jayed, Khaled and Ebadot, and not throw them under the bus after a failure. “I think the decision-makers have to be patient. It’s something I have always advocated for. You have to give a guy a chance to play a couple of games and then if he hasn’t proved his worth, you can make changes.”If you’re going to play one Test match here and one Test match there, you’re never going to get a chance to learn the trade or improve your game. One Test match or two Test matches are not good enough. Obviously, when we’re in Bangladesh, we know it’s more spin-friendly, so when you’re overseas you want to get a good run. Last tour, we had new fast bowlers. This one, the same thing. South Africa, the same thing. There’s no continuity and consistency. We have to look at three-four guys that we think can make it, especially for overseas, and invest in them.”As a sign of how Jayed, Ebadot and Khaled were already showing progress, Walsh pointed to events from Bangladesh’s post-match team talk. “During the review meeting, they accepted where things went wrong and where it went well. Once the players admit and accept the discussions, to me it is a big plus. We look at where they did well, and where they need to improve, and that’s my responsibility.”Bangladesh and their fast bowlers have a few more days of self-reflection before the second Test begins on March 8.

Either side of a stop-start hour in which the focus of the Delhi Test shifted to the quality of the city’s air, India extended their dominance over Sri Lanka with bat and ball

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy03-Dec-20172:11

Chopra: ‘Kohli’s hunger for runs is insatiable’

Either side of a stop-start hour in which the focus of the Delhi Test shifted to the quality of the city’s air, India extended their dominance over Sri Lanka with bat and ball. Virat Kohli brought up his sixth double-hundred and carried on to post his highest Test score, and, following a declaration in bizarre circumstances at 536 for 7, India’s bowlers took over, reducing Sri Lanka to 131 for 3 in their reply. An unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 56 between Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal raised Sri Lanka’s morale towards the end of the day, but they still ended it trailing by 405 runs.Sri Lanka’s fielders came out wearing face masks after lunch, and play was twice held up in smoggy conditions, with the air pollution in the vicinity of the Feroz Shah Kotla going up to “very unhealthy” levels. The two fast bowlers, Lahiru Gamage and Suranga Lakmal, went off the field midway through their overs, and eventually, with Sri Lanka struggling to put 11 players on the park, Kohli declared, signalling pointedly that his team was happy to bowl in these conditions.When Sri Lanka began their innings, it was their offspinning allrounder Dilruwan Perera rather than Sadeera Samarawickrama – who had been off the field since being struck on the helmet at short leg on day one – who walked out to open alongside Dimuth Karunaratne.India’s fast bowlers, with a total of 536 behind them, charged in at full tilt in the half hour that remained before tea, and blasted out two wickets. Karunaratne fell to the first ball of the innings, done in by Mohammed Shami, who angled one into the left-hander from around the wicket, hit the pitch hard on a shortish length, and got it to seam away from him. Forced to play by the angle, he feathered an edge through to the keeper.Then Ishant Sharma, going wide of the crease, did the No. 3 Dhananjaya de Silva for length. Shuffling across the crease, and neither coming forward nor going back, he jabbed uncertainly at the ball, playing well outside the line, and was struck on the back leg in front of the stumps.In the first four overs after tea, India dropped two catches at second slip. First, it was Shikhar Dhawan moving in front of Cheteshwar Pujara at first slip, shelling a chest-high chance when Dilruwan drove away from his body at Shami. Then it was Kohli, falling to his left when Mathews poked uncertainly at an Ishant delivery that straightened in the corridor.Dilruwan, who had looked fairly comfortable since his reprieve, timing his cover drives particularly well, then fell at the end of a 61-run stand with Mathews, sent on his way after India successfully reviewed a not-out lbw decision from Nigel Llong. A straighter one from Ravindra Jadeja struck him in line when he stepped out of the crease, and ball-tracking suggested the ball would have hit the stumps. Dilruwan, however, could have survived had he stretched out a little further; it turned out that the ball had struck his pad 2.99m from the stumps – at 3m, ball-tracking cannot reverse the umpire’s decision.Mathews looked extremely shaky in the early part of his innings, camping deep in his crease and poking away from his body on numerous occasions. In an effort to bowl fuller at him, however, the fast bowlers occasionally overpitched, and he put those balls away, a straight drive off Ishant particularly eye-catching. Slowly, he grew in confidence, enough to greet R Ashwin’s belated introduction – he came on in the 28th over – by hitting him for successive sixes to bring up his fifty.In fading light, Mathews and Chandimal survived a testing period before stumps, against Shami’s reverse-swing and the accuracy of Jadeja and Ashwin. With a few overs under his belt, Ashwin began looking particularly dangerous, finding the right pace for this pitch and threatening both edges from over and around the wicket. Bad light brought the examination to a halt three minutes from time, but it will begin all over again when Sri Lanka resume their innings.India began the day’s play on 371 for 4, and Sri Lanka, having picked up two quick wickets late on day one, may have harboured some hope of clawing their way back into the Test match. If they did, Kohli and Rohit Sharma quelled it with a fifth-wicket partnership of 135. It came to an end off what was to be the second-last ball before lunch, when Rohit fell for 65, bottom-edging a square-cut to the keeper off Lakshan Sandakan.India lost two more wickets after lunch. Gamage got one with the first ball after the first pollution break, R Ashwin reaching out at a wide one without moving his feet and steering it to gully – it wasn’t the first time he had been dismissed in this manner in the recent past.Then, in the midst of all the breaks in play, Sri Lanka finally found a way past Kohli. It was Sandakan’s fourth wicket, another good ball amidst an otherwise inconsistent mix, and another reminder of the talent that Sri Lanka will need to nurture with care. Kohli went back to a flat one bowled from left-arm around, perhaps playing the trajectory rather than the length. It skidded on – slow-motion replays indicated it may have been a flipper – and rapped him on the back pad, in front of the stumps. Kohli reviewed, but the ball didn’t have far to travel, and ball-tracking suggested it would have hit a good chunk of leg stump.If the 87 runs Kohli scored on Sunday didn’t come with quite the same ease as his first 156 on Saturday, it had little to do with Sri Lanka’s bowling, which remained unthreatening and inconsistent. Kohli, instead, had to fight his own body, which was beginning to show the toll taken by scoring three successive Test hundreds. A stiff back slowed him down between wickets, and brought India’s physio onto the field, but Kohli just kept batting.Sri Lanka persisted with spin for the first six overs of the morning, hoping for Sandakan to conjure up a wicket or two, but neither he nor Dilruwan made any impact on the pair in the middle. Rohit, on 6 overnight, took no time settling in, and launched Sandakan over long-off in the fourth over of the day before picking up two more fours in the next two overs.On came the second new ball, and Kohli clipped Lakmal’s first ball to the midwicket boundary. It turned out to be the first of six fours – the pick of them a Rohit pull off Gamage, hit just wide of mid-on – in six overs from which Lakmal and Gamage conceded 32. Kohli soon swept past the 200 mark, getting there with a pulled double off Lakmal, after which Rohit reached his fifty with a straight six off Dilruwan.

Centuries from Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper put South Australia in a dominant position as they ended the second day of their day-night Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia with a lead of 203

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2016
ScorecardTom Cooper headlined South Australia’s day of dominance with a rapid century•Getty Images

Callum Ferguson marked his 100th first-class match with a century to help South Australia establish a first-innings lead of 203 on the second day of their day-night Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at the WACA.Ferguson was left with the unenviable task of pulling South Australia out of a spot, after they had been reduced to 2 for 16 at stumps on the opening day. South Australia ended the day on 8 for 474, after Western Australia had declared on 9 for 271, courtesy a half-century from Shaun Marsh, who returned from a hamstring injury. While Ferguson took the team close to the 200-mark, it was Tom Cooper who helped them surge ahead, scoring a century of his own and putting on 198 for the seventh wicket with wicketkeeper Alex Carey to frustrate Western Australia.Ferguson collected his runs at 79.52 per 100 balls, while Cooper was even more severe, striking at 89.61 as South Australia slammed 458 runs in 93 overs on the day. Ferguson added 60 more for the third wicket with overnight partner and nightwatchman Joe Mennie, who struck 32. Ferguson was then joined by South Australia captain Travis Head, and the duo added 122 for the fourth wicket at nearly a run a ball. Ferguson was dismissed by left-arm paceman Jason Behrendorff, who had rocked the visiting team late on the opening day. He had faced 127 balls for his 101 and struck 18 fours. Head fell three overs later for a 61-ball 66, 52 of which came through fours.Cooper started off by adding 55 for the sixth wicket with Jake Lehmann. After Lehmann’s dismissal for 29 – his strike rate of 59.18 was the lowest among all South Australia batsmen to record double figures – Cooper and Carey took charge and punished the home team’s bowlers for 38.5 overs, going at nearly five an over during their stand. The carnage ended with Cooper’s dismissal, bowled by Agar, for 138 off 154 balls, a knock that featured 10 fours and a six. Carey was dismissed by the same bowler, caught behind in his next over, for a more sedate 121-ball 79. A rare slow passage followed thereafter, with Kane Richardson and Chadd Sayers adding 12 unbeaten runs off 26 balls for the ninth wicket, before stumps were drawn.Benrendorff was the most successful bowler, with 3 for 70, and also the most economical of the main Western Australia bowlers. Marsh and Agar took two wickets each, but were both expensive, as was David Moody, the right-arm pacer, who accounted for Head.

Rory Kleinveldt took his fifth five-wicket haul of the season on another incredibly frustrating day at Wantage Road where Glamorgan reached 166 for 6

ECB/PA15-Sep-2015
ScorecardRory Kleinveldt made regular inroads when the weather allowed•Getty Images

Rory Kleinveldt took his fifth five-wicket haul of the season on another incredibly frustrating day at Wantage Road where Glamorgan reached 166 for 6 at stumps having faced just 37 overs in their first innings by the half-way point in the match.Rain again dominated the day with no play possible in the morning session and three spells where 32, 33 and 36 balls were sent down to add to the 35 delivered on day one. At least 14.2 overs were available after tea and Kleinveldt continued to use favourable conditions superbly well to take his tally of County Championship wickets for the season to 55. But David Lloyd counterattacked with a first-class best 64 not out.Kleinveldt took the only wicket to fall in what play there was on the first day and quickly add two more. He got two to nip off the seam: one away to the left-handed Colin Ingram who edged to first slip; the second through bat and pad of right-hander Aneurin Donald to take out middle stump.Chris Cooke, having never settled, was pinned on the crease and plumb lbw for 7. Rain took the players off immediately but the ball after the restart, Graham Wagg pushed firmly forward and edged low to gully where Josh Cobb got down to take a sharp chance and complete Kleinveldt’s five-wicket haul.The match may have lost context with so much time lost due to the weather but 84 for 5 still represented a sticky spot for Glamorgan. They also suffered the loss of their captain Mark Wallace. He gritted out for 27 from 52 balls, with a pleasant back-foot drive for four one of few bright spots on another otherwise dull grey day. But attempting a sharp single, he immediately pulled up and had to be helped off the field, hobbling with an injury to his left calf. Wallace has played 230 consecutive County Championship matches stretching back to 2001 – his run may come to an end next week.Better news for Glamorgan came through Lloyd, who like Kleinveldt was also grateful for lighter clouds as he made a third Championship half-century of the season. Driving confidently, he struck two perfect strokes through the covers and went to fifty with a press to deep point in 49 balls and nine boundaries.But Lloyd should have been taken on 45, driving in the air to short cover. Rob Newton shelled the low chance that would also have given a maiden Championship wicket to Richard Gleeson, the 27-year-old right-arm seamer who made his first-class debut against Australia last month.

Bangladesh became a tighter unit after they were pushed into a corner due to injury problems, according to their coach Shane Jurgensen

Mohammad Isam in Colombo13-Mar-2013Bangladesh became a tighter unit after they were pushed into a corner due to injury problems, and this helped them perform well in the memorable draw in Galle, according to their coach Shane Jurgensen. Their first-innings score of 638 – Bangladesh’s highest in Test cricket – will be a source of motivation leading up to the second Test in Colombo, which begins on Saturday.”All the issues and injuries in our team actually made us stronger as a group and more determined,” Jurgensen said. “It was led very well by the captain and vice-captain. When we were batting, we made sure we sat together. There wasn’t much of a crowd in Galle so the boys had to support those in the middle from the dressing room.”Jurgensen had observed the players since he had first been appointed bowling coach in late 2011, and noticed they easily lost confidence. As a result, he began his stint as full-time coach by insisting on dealing with them as adults and as international players. “After I had first arrived, we lost both series against West Indies and Pakistan,” he said. “With the inconsistent success, I thought maybe their confidence got knocked around very easily.”I have an individual approach with them, and then a bigger focus on the team. I trusted the boys and I have the belief in them. They have got the potential and skill and I am just trying to give them the confidence and give them the respect as international cricketers, treat them like adults.”Bangladesh’s recent experience with head coaches hasn’t been ideal. Stuart Law resigned in March last year, before Richard Pybus quit the job in October. Jurgensen was given the responsibility just for the West Indies series and now has been given the job on a year’s contract.He had little time to put in place specific plans, but believed that talking to players individually and in groups has helped the team regain focus in Test cricket. “Leading into the Test match, we sat down as a whole group in Matara, and then a batting and bowling group. We have done it in the past, but every time we do that in groups, we make it even more specific to your own team. The boys just executed it really well.”Similar preparations are afoot ahead of the second Test, but this time Bangladesh will have to make changes according to the conditions at the R Premadasa Stadium, which is different from Galle. “We will take the confidence of the batting into this Test match,” Jurgensen said. “At the same time, we need to assess the condition. On initial inspection, it looks different to Galle.”Essentially we need to do exactly what we did the last time. We have to go through the same process.”

A round-up of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2011-12 semi-finals

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2012Mumbai are in the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, after they decimated Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla. The semi-final was a one-sided affair, with Mumbai’s batting stars firing to take their team to 295 for 5 before Delhi collapsed for 155 in 45 overs. All of Mumbai’s big-name batsmen contributed with the bat: Ajinkya Rahane scored 42 at the top of the order to give the team a steady start, Wasim Jaffer anchored the innings with his 92 off 110, and Abhishek Nayar’s explosive 72, which came off just 41 balls and included eight fours and two sixes, took the total from a competitive one to an imposing one.Delhi were hurt early by medium-pacer Kshemal Waingankar, who finished with remarkable figures of 8-3-15-2. They slipped to 57 for 5 and never recovered. Anup Revandkar took three wickets, and the spinners finished the job, to make it a 140-run trouncing.

An unbeaten 53 from Wriddhiman Saha helped Bengal beat Punjab by three wickets in a low-scoring match at the Model Sports Complex in Delhi, and join Mumbai in the final. Saha’s innings was the key one in a tense, seesawing chase of 206. Bengal looked solid at 86 for 2 but two Rajwinder Singh strikes later they were 98 for 4, which became 111 for 5 when Bipul Sharma dismissed Laxmi Ratan Shukla. Saha forged a 41-run stand with Debabrata Das to swing it back Bengal’s way but Punjab kept fighting and took two more wickets before Saha was joined by Shami Ahmed, who smashed 22 off seven balls to bring the match to a quick end.Punjab had been in big trouble early in their innings when Bengal’s medium-pacers reduced them to 34 for 5. Mandeep Singh and Bipul Sharma scored half-centuries, and shared a 104-run stand, to start the recovery. Harbhajan Singh chipped in with 39 to help take the score past 200, but it was not enough.

The final will be played on March 12, at the Kotla.

Getting results on the board is the need of the hour for Netherlands, says their captain Peter Borren

Firdose Moonda in Delhi26-Feb-2011Of all the things Peter Borren, the Netherlands captain, has had to catch recently, a tape recorder probably wasn’t one of them. When one such device was casually flung across the table he was seated at, moments before his press conference in Delhi began, his eyes widened, a solid red blush crept over his face and he spoke before he could think. “Oh s**t, that caught me by surprise,” he said, with a nervous laugh.The journalists giggled with him, the tape recorder tosser apologised with a small raise of his hand, perhaps a little embarrassed for having done something so casual and the press conference began. Most people spoke to Borren like he was an old friend, catching up on social concerns, like whether people recognise the Dutch cricketers when they walk around street (No, they don’t and according to Borren they may not even recognise Sachin Tendulkar) and the soccer craze in Europe.It’s these more personal interactions that make the Associates so valuable in major tournaments. They remind most that there are cricketers beyond the Dhonis, Muralitharans, Kallises and Pontings, who are considered ultra-human some of the time. There are cricketers who juggle a full-time job, a family and their passion for playing the sport and when they get picked for the national side, their balancing act only becomes more delicate. Their challenges are completely different to those of the full-member teams, who have the luxury of only thinking about the game, and that’s what makes them so interesting.”We are not a fully professional outfit but we have a core group of guys who live and work in Holland,” Borren said. “It can be a disadvantage that we don’t work together all the time but given the sacrifices that the guys make to be out here, with some of them working 40-hour weeks and having families, it’s a strength as well. We’ve given up a lot to be here so we are quite tight as a unit.”Even though the Dutch Cricket Association has 16 players on incremental contracts, the team only actually works together for a few months of the year. Coach Peter Drinnen said the players spent the past seven weeks preparing for this tournament and they usually get that much time together in a regular year before some head off to the English domestic limited-overs competition, the CB40, and others return to their day jobs. He describes their preparation as a “rollercoaster” which they hop and off in their attempt to develop the sport.Despite their intermittent training schedule, Drinnen finds no problem keeping the team’s eyes on the ball when it matters. “It’s not difficult at all to motivate them. It’s more of a management thing for me, especially time management. They’ve got families and loved ones to see and so I have to help them to get the best out of their training. Motivation is not a problem because this is a big environment.”The Dutch certainly thrive off performing on the big stage, and they showed that against England in their World Cup opener, where they posted a competitive 292 for 6. Although England won comfortably in the end, the fight in the minnows was there for all to see and it is set to continue as the tournament goes on.”We are here to cause surprises and if people think that’s it a surprise that we competed, that’s not good enough for us. We’re here to get results on the board,” Borren said.West Indies are the next team they face and, judging by the decline that team has found themselves in, it should be almost an even contest. “We’ve had time to reflect on what was a reasonably good performance against England and we are looking forward to the game.” They may be being a bit harsh on themselves to call their previous showing only “reasonable” but it reflects their seriousness to keep improving and give a respectable account of themselves at this tournament. “The other night we may not have got it quite right with the ball,” Drinnen said.After watching the match between South Africa and the West Indies, Drinnen said Netherlands “will consider” using more spinners. Offspinner Tom Cooper and left-arm spinner Peieter Seelaar played against England and they have another offspinner, Adeel Raja, waiting in the wings. Borren would also like to a few others contributing with the bat. Ryan ten Doeschate’s century was the major contribution to their score against England and Borren said the rest of team can learn from “how he paced it and took advantage of the Powerplay.”It’s this type of fine tuning that they want to get right that shows that the Dutch are sincere about their ambition to keep improving, not only for themselves but to increase the popularity of cricket in their home country. “The better we do, the more awareness there is about the sport.” So focused are they on growing the game that they don’t even seem too bothered by whether or not their performances will change the ICC’s mind about the number of teams in the next World Cup. “2015 is still four years away and we have a job to do here,” Borren said.

He believes the ECB in particular is still wearing their blinkers and that is important that England, at the grassroots level, embraces the opportunity to participate in international Twenty20 leagues with an eye on the next generation of players

Jamie Alter16-Feb-2010Cricket is historically slow at grasping the nettle but few countries have been able to resist the buzz of lucrative Twenty20 tournaments, and former England captain Michael Vaughan believes the format can only be good for Test cricket and, specifically, English cricket. While other cricket boards have embraced the lucrative Champions League Twenty20, the ECB has been keen to keep a lid on the excitement and is apparently in no mood to change its domestic calendar to accommodate the tournament this September.Vaughan, in Bangalore as part of the England Under-18 set-up, reiterated his view that embracing such Twenty20 tournaments could only be beneficial to English cricket.”I think the game’s moved. In a positive sense, it has gone forward. Test-match cricket is still the ultimate game, and the lads coming up all want to play for England in the Test arena,” he told Cricinfo. “But they realise that Twenty20 plays a big part in the county and international setup and of course with all the leagues coming up. They’ll all first and foremost want to play for England but they will be aware of the big leagues being set up and we need to find the right balance. We need to embrace Twenty20.”If you’re good enough to play one format you’re generally good enough to play all three, and players will want to develop their skills in all three, and that can only be good for English cricket. If you’re talking about back in county cricket, where players are already established, then yes, playing in Twenty20 tournaments gives the players much to gain from.”Vaughan recently criticised the ECB for its “arrogant” stance against the BCCI and its role in promoting the Champions League, writing in the that county players must play in such tournaments “to earn a few quid and get a massive buzz from playing in big grounds in front of decent crowds, something they never experience at home”.He believes the ECB in particular is still wearing blinkers and that is important that England, at the grassroots level, embraces the opportunity to participate in international Twenty20 leagues with an eye on the next generation of players. “It can only be good and you’ve got to start at an early stage,” he said. “Look at the lads touring here for this short trip. They need exposure, as do the players in county cricket, and nowadays that comes largely through Twenty20.”Twenty20 is positive because Test cricket needs to be looked at. We need good teams playing each other and playing attractive, aggressive cricket. The product has to be good. If we can produce a more exciting kind of Test cricket where you hit the ball harder and score faster that’s going to be more entertaining to watch, so in the long run Test cricket will gain from what Twenty20 has brought.”As a former international, Vaughan’s role with the U-18 squad is that of batting consultant, but his responsibilities also include sharing his experiences with the youngsters. More than just the technical aspects of the game, he hoped such visits to India would enhance the players’ minds and views and prepare them for the future.”I’ve played a number of Tests in the subcontinent, more over in Sri Lanka, and a lot of one-dayers, so I know how to talk to the lads,” he said. “It’s all about adapting to the conditions – the heat, the humidity, especially, and the pitches. Experiences like this – being away from home for two weeks for the first time – allows you get used to a different kind of lifestyle, food, and surfaces. Importantly they get to play a lot of spinners, with their varieties. Hopefully they can develop as players and as people and that’s good for them and for English cricket. We need that.”

Kyle Abbott takes two wickets for Hampshire on overcast day on south coast

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay22-Jul-2025Nottinghamshire 241 for 5 (McCann 79, Haynes 70*) vs Hampshire Nottinghamshire batters Jack Haynes and Freddie McCann continued to score runs against Hampshire in the 2025 Rothesay County Championship on an even first day at Utilita Bowl.Haynes and McCann both collected centuries in the reverse fixture at Trent Bridge in May, before each picking up half-centuries on the south coast.Haynes ended the day unbeaten on 70, after McCann was dismissed for 79 – one of two scalps for Kyle Abbott, with Eddie Jack also picking up a couple of wickets.Nottinghamshire ended the day on 241 for five, with neither side able to complain too much about their position in the match.Haseeb Hameed called incorrectly at the toss and was inserted on a very green looking pitch, with plenty of threatening clouds overhead.The Nottinghamshire captain was the only victim in a truncated nine overs before rain came down – which lumped 30 overs off the day. The highly-talented Jack got Hameed chasing a wide delivery which seamed even further away to edge behind.Hampshire’s slip fielding which had blighted them at Trent Bridge returned for another two dollies put down in the cordon.Tilak Varma unsuccessfully juggled to spill Ben Slater, while Joe Weatherley gave McCann a life from first slip.While Slater didn’t make the most of the drop – he scored just two more runs before he was bowled by a Abbott beauty that kissed the top of off – McCann did.The 20-year-old’s season has been plagued by unfulfilled starts save for his 79 against Durham and the 138 against Hampshire.He weathered the early Kookaburra ball movement, which Kyle Abbott had on a string, and was backed up by Jack and Sonny Baker.McCann rebuilt from 31 for two with Joe Clarke and Haynes – putting on 74 and 43 – in a non-flashy, but effective manner.He dominated square of the wicket in a 65-ball half-century, his sixth in first-class cricket.Clarke and Haynes were happier to take risks with their shot-making in the partnerships as runs became easier as the day progressed and the ball softened.Hampshire bypassed that with a plan, which worked to see off Clarke and McCann.It revolved around slightly shorter pitch bowling and a fly gully – aiming to capitalise on the amount of balls being hit square on the offside.Clarke couldn’t keep down a cut shot to pick up the odd field placing, while McCann stuck his bat up like a periscope to unusually guide to the man.Kyle Verreynne returned for the first time since becoming a world champion, having helped South Africa to the ICC World Test Championship.He was punchy in his quick-fire 42 before Jack drew a false pull, which was wonderfully caught by the sprawling James Fuller at deep square. Jack picked up a deserved second to end his first home Championship day two for 57.Haynes passed his fifty in a blink and you’d miss it 54 balls before slowing towards the close, with Lyndon James now for company.Bad light prematurely knocked off another 23 balls from the day’s play.