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The India head coach lauds the players for fighting back from tricky situations, and plays down talks of this being a redemption for him

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2024India beat South Africa by seven runs to lift the T20 World Cup 2024 in Barbados, thus ending their 11-year wait for an ICC trophy. But their outgoing head coach Rahul Dravid believes it will not take the team this long for their next title.”We have fantastic talent in Indian cricket right now,” Dravid said after the final. “The energy and confidence the players have is at another level. We were aiming for an ICC trophy for a long time and I am sure the team will carry this confidence forward and will win a lot of trophies in the next four, five, six years because the ability and talent this bunch has… they lack nothing.”There was a moment when we were feeling that we were working really hard and playing good cricket as well but we were not able to cross that hurdle. But after today I am very hopeful that these boys will take it forward and win a lot of trophies.”Related

• Dravid: 'Ro, thank you for making that call and asking me to continue'

• Good luck finding another Rahul Dravid

• Rohit Sharma: This is my greatest achievement, I wanted it badly

• Rohit: It's not what we did today, it is what we have done for three-four years

• Gambhir interviews for India head coach position

Dravid took over from Ravi Shastri in November 2021. His initial term was for two years, which was then extended till T20 World Cup 2024. Under him, last year, India made it to the finals of the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup, but the trophy eluded them. Until Saturday, the last ICC title they had won was the Champions Trophy in 2013.When asked about India’s preparation for the T20 World Cup, Dravid said, “Honestly, this is a journey of two years. This is not a journey from just this T20 World Cup. When I think about the construction of this team, the kind of skills we wanted, the players we wanted, those discussions started in September [November] 2021.”So it’s two years of work. This is not a work of just this World Cup. I think it culminated in this World Cup. The disappointment in Australia [at the 2022 T20 World Cup] and then the one-day World Cup – there’s so much that has gone into it. This feels like a journey of not just one month, it feels like a journey of two years. What we’ve tried to build, what we have tried to create, it feels like it has all come together here on a beautiful afternoon in Barbados.”Dravid lauded his players and their fighting spirit, which was on display during the final. At one point, South Africa needed just 30 from as many balls with six wickets in hand, but India kept the applied pressure and squeezed a narrow win.”I’m not usually short of words but I have felt really short of words over the last few hours,” he said. “I just could not be more proud of this team. The way we’ve had to fight in difficult situations and even today, I think it was a great testament to the fight in the team. Losing three wickets in the first six [overs], to be in the kind of position we were in with 30 balls to go. But the boys just kept fighting, they kept believing, and I think it’s just a great credit to them.Rahul Dravid gets a champion’s farewell•Getty Images

“As part of the coaching staff, I feel really grateful because we’re getting to enjoy these moments because of what they have done in a pressure situation. This is lovely to be a part of a dressing room like this and I think it’s a memory of a lifetime for me. So I’m really thankful and grateful to the team and everyone in the support staff who has made this possible.”As a player, Dravid never won a World Cup. Under his captaincy, India were knocked out of the 2007 ODI World Cup in the first round. That tournament was also held in the West Indies but Dravid is not seeing the latest victory as a redemption.”There is no redemption. I’m not one of those guys who think about redemption and those kind of things. As a player, I was not lucky enough to win a trophy. But I tried my best, I gave my best whenever I played and it wasn’t to be, and that happens, it’s part of sport. There are a lot of other players I know who have not been able to win a trophy. I was lucky to be given the opportunity to coach a team and I was lucky that this bunch of boys made it possible for me to win this trophy.”It’s a nice feeling, but it’s not like I’m aiming for some redemption. It’s just a job that I was doing. I’ve loved doing this job. I have loved working with Rohit [Sharma] and this team. It’s been a great journey and I really enjoyed it.”Earlier this year, Dravid had communicated to the BCCI his decision not to seek another tenure. That means he ends his coaching stint on a high but he is not looking to create “any legacy”.”I just feel glad that we gave it the best we could and it’s not just me,” he said. “I think I’d like to really acknowledge the support staff that I’ve worked with. I think I’ve been lucky to have been working with exceptionally hard-working professionals, an intelligent bunch of coaches, and other support staff who have made it possible for us to create a fantastic environment, led by Rohit. I am glad that with a bit of luck, it resulted in this trophy.”When asked what he would miss the most about Rohit, Dravid replied, “I will miss him as a person. Forget the cricket and captaincy and everything, but what really has impressed me is the kind of person he is, the kind of respect he has shown towards me, the kind of care and commitment he has had for the team, the kind of energy he has had to spend, and he’s never backed down from it.”So for me, it’s the person that I will remember the most. He’ll be a great captain, he’ll be a great player and he will score runs and win trophies, but I think it’s who he is as a person that I will be most fond of.”Going forward, India will be without Rohit and Virat Kohli as well in T20Is as both players have announced their retirements from the format. According to BCCI president Roger Binny, it will take “two to three years” for the team to fill that void.”A lot of cricketers are coming through the IPL but it is going to take some time to bridge the gap,” Binny said after the final. “They have contributed so much. It’s going to take time. We will probably see in the next two-three years, the team coming back into its own without them.”Meanwhile, the BCCI has started its search for the next coach, with Gautam Gambhir on top of its wishlist. But Binny did not divulge much about it.”Nothing concrete has come yet. Gautam Gambhir has a lot of experience. He has worked with teams. He played Test matches, ODIs, T20s. Let’s see.”

He played a total of 29 Tests and also represented the country in hockey at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2023Brian Booth, the former Australia Test captain, has died at the age of 89.A middle-order batter and a part-time offspinner, Booth played a total of 29 Tests, scoring 1773 runs and taking three wickets. He also represented Australia in hockey at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics before he earned his Test cap on the 1961 Ashes tour as a 27-year-old. In an interview with The Cricket Monthly in 2013, Booth had said that “he was fortunate to be able to play two sports.”He waited for 16 months to play a Test at home, and when the time arrived, he notched up 112 and 19 not out against England in Brisbane in December, 1962. He followed it up with a second hundred in the next Test in Melbourne.He is best remembered for his two hundreds against South Africa – 169 in the first Test in Brisbane and 102 not out in the fifth Test in Sydney.In 1965, on the tour of the Caribbean, Booth scored a century against high-quality pacers such as Charlie Griffith and Wes Hall, and shared a 220-run stand with Bob Cowper (143) for the third wicket in a drawn match in Trinidad. He had mentioned in the same interview that “Charlie Griffith and Wes Hall were the fastest pair I faced. They were always pretty fiery and they let us have it in ’65 in the West Indies.” He went on to add that to make a hundred against West Indies “gave me immense satisfaction.””Brian was immensely respected and admired throughout the cricketing community and beyond and we extend our deepest condolences to his wife Judy and their family and friends,” Nick Hockley, CA CEO, said.”Less than 50 players have captained the Australian men’s Test team and Brian’s name is included on a list that features many of the game’s greats. He has had an extraordinary life and will be sadly missed. His contribution to cricket continues to be an inspiration and will always be remembered.”Representing New South Wales at the domestic level, he scored a total of 5577 runs in 93 first-class matches, including 11 hundreds.Lee Germon, Cricket NSW CEO, said: “Brian’s record on the playing field and as a leader are well documented and the fact he was able to captain Australia and NSW in cricket, as well as play hockey for Australia at a home Olympics, shows just how special he was as an athlete.”But that is just a part of who Brian was and it was his respectful, courteous and friendly manner off the field that will endure in the memories of all that he came into contact with.”Booth is survived by his wife Judy and four daughters.

Abdul Samad and Shahrukh Khan also score tons for their respective teams; Pujara out for a four-ball duck as Saurashtra struggle

Saurabh Somani19-Feb-2022Hanuma Vihari followed up a first-innings half-century with a second-innings 106, as Hyderabad put themselves in a strong position to gain an outright victory over Chandigarh on the third day of the first round of matches in the Ranji Trophy 2021-22.The day also saw aggressive centuries from two men who have made headlines for their short-form batting more, with Abdul Samad hitting 103 off 78 balls for Jammu and Kashmir against Pondicherry, and M Shahrukh Khan smashing 194 off 148 balls for Tamil Nadu against Delhi.Vihari, who was selected in India’s Test squad for the series against Sri Lanka, had been Hyderabad’s top-scorer in the first innings too, with 59 runs even though every single batter made it to double figures to drive the total to 347 all out. In contrast, Chandigarh had Manan Vohra playing a lone hand with 110 in a total of 216 in an Elite Group B match at the Vikas Cricket Ground in Cuttack.In Hyderabad’s second innings, Vihari hit his 22nd first-class century, as Hyderabad declared on 269 for 8, setting Chandigarh an unlikely 401 for victory. Tilak Varma shared in a 130-run stand for the third with Vihari, before he was out for 63. Chandigarh had already lost two wickets in the eight overs and were 21 for 2 at stumps.In the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati, Tamil Nadu held the advantage against Delhi in an Elite Group H match, thanks to Shahrukh’s swashbuckling innings, the standout century in a game that had Yash Dhull hitting a hundred on debut to rescue Delhi from 7 for 2, then Lalit Yadav’s maiden first-class century that swelled to 177 as he took Delhi from 253 for 7 to 452 all out. B Indrajith also hit 117, but it was Shahrukh’s 194 that stole the show. With only a day left, a draw seems most likely but Shahrukh has ensured Tamil Nadu will get first-innings lead points, a prospect that seemed unlikely when they were 162 for 5.In an Elite Group C match in Chennai’s SSN College of Engineering ground, Jammu and Kashmir were on the brink of victory against Pondicherry.Qamran Iqbal fell on his overnight score of 96, but Samad’s whirlwind century drove J&K to a first-innings lead as they were bowled out for 426 in reply to Pondicherry’s 343. Parvez Rasool’s spin then had Pondicherry tumbling to 113 for 9 at stumps, a lead of only 30 runs.File photo: Cheteshwar Pujara walks back•Shailesh Bhatnagar

In Ahmedabad, Cheteshwar Pujara was out for a four-ball duck as defending champions Saurashtra were made to follow on against Mumbai in an Elite Group D match.Overnight 18 without loss, Saurashtra were bowled out for 220 after Mumbai had piled on 544 for 7 declared. Pujara came in at No.4, and was lbw to Mohit Avasthi shortly after. Sheldon Jackson’s 61 was Saurashtra’s highest score in the first innings, but they put up a better show when following on, with openers Harvik Desai and Snell Patel having shared a 105-run stand that is still unbroken. Even so, given their massive deficit in the first innings, Saurashtra are trailing by a sizeable 219 runs.Three games finished on the third day, with Kerala beating Meghalaya by an innings and 166 runs in an Elite Group A match, Chattisgarh defeating Jharkhand by eight wickets in an Elite Group H match, and Manipur victorious by an innings and 25 runs against Arunachal Pradesh in a Plate Group match.Playing his first first-class match since his ban in 2013 for spot-fixing, S Sreesanth didn’t have a good outing for Kerala, although his team overwhelmed Meghalaya.In the first innings, Meghalaya were bowled out for just 148, with Eden Apple Tom taking 4 for 41 on debut. Sreesanth took the wickets of the No.9 and No.11 batters, returning 2 for 40 in 11.5 overs. Centuries by P Rahul, Rohan Kunnumal and Vatshal Govind then propelled Kerala to 505 for 9 declared, before they bowled out Meghalaya for 191. Sreesanth went wicket-less, giving up 57 runs in nine overs.

The tall paceman has already taken 13 wickets in just three innings at the start of the Plunket Shield

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2020Kyle Jamieson’s impressive start to the New Zealand season continued as he claimed a hat-trick on the second day of the Plunket Shield match against Central Districts.Jamieson, who took match figures of 8 for 45 in the opening round against Otago, removed Tom Bruce, Dane Cleaver and Brad Schmulian for his hat-trick in the 27th over. The Auckland quick finished with figures of 5 for 41.The hat-trick delivery to Schmulian was a booming inswinger which came back sharply to take off stump as the batsman shouldered arms.”I said to mid-off and mid-on, I’m just going to bowl a big [inswinger] and try to make him play,” Jamieson said. “When you are on a hat-trick you have to try and go pole-hunting a little bit, it managed to come back a wee bit and the rest got swept up in the emotion of it. Pretty cool moment.” Jamieson has been working on adding the inswinger to his armoury over the last couple of seasons and has started to use it with greater regularity at the start of this summer. He has also tried to attack the crease more in his delivery stride having watched the Australia and New Zealand bowlers when he was first called into the Test squad as a replacement late last year on the tour of Australia.”It’s been a couple of years work,” he said. “Did a little bit last winter and continued it this winter. I got a couple out of the hand last week which settled the nerves in terms of bowling it in a game, it’s nice to be able to offer a couple variations to keep the batter guessing.”My first impressions of watching all the guys run, both the Aussies and the Kiwis, was just how much they attacked the crease and I thought there’s probably a little room to move for me in that area. I did a little work in the nets in Sydney and then brought it back, it’s about finding ways to keep improving and adding bits to your game. It helped me at the back end of last season and just trying to take it forward into this one.”Jamieson made an immediate mark on international cricket when he debuted against India in February, taking nine wickets in his first two Tests including 5 for 45 in Christchurch. He is now looking in fine form ahead of New Zealand’s home international season, which begins against West Indies late next month before a visit by Pakistan, boosted by a winter of fitness work with the cancellation of cricket due to Covid-19.”I’m very comfortable with where my game’s at at the moment, the things I’ve been working on and how I’ve been feeling in the middle more importantly. I certainly feel in the best shape I ever have going into a season.”

The hosts secured their very first ODI series clean sweep over a fellow Full Member in Stormont

The Report by Liam Brickhill07-Jul-2019James McCollum’s second fifty of the series, and a nuggety 49 from captain William Porterfield, took Ireland to an historic six-wicket win over Zimbabwe in Stormont. Following on from his fifty in Ireland’s series-sealing win on Thursday, McCollum set up Ireland’s pursuit of Zimbabwe’s 190 with 54 at the top of the order. Porterfield’s knock pushed Ireland closer to victory, and an unbeaten 35 from Kevin O’Brien secured their very first ODI series clean sweep over a fellow Full Member.With swing on offer with the new ball, McCollum didn’t have it all his own way early in his knock and was given a particularly thorough working over by Kyle Jarvis, playing and missing at three outswingers in a row. But Zimbabwe couldn’t make any inroads, despite several near misses and one clear chance that came their way. In the second over of Ireland’s chase, Tendai Chatara drew a false shot from Paul Stirling, a leading edge presenting Sean Williams with a tough high chance running back from cover, but it was spilled and Ireland cruised through the Powerplay at better than five an over.Having scored six consecutive fifty-plus ODI scores, Stirling was in sight of a seventh when he edged an attempted cut off Chatara to fall for 32. Zimbabwe snaffled a second wicket just before the first drinks break, Andy Balbirnie top edging a sweep off Williams before he could get going, but after the interval McCollum and Porterfield continued to find the boundary whenever one was needed to ease pressure.Porterfield nudged his way past 4,000 ODI runs during a 43-run third wicket stand that steadied Ireland and took the score beyond 100 in the 23rd over. At the other end, McCollum raised his fifty with a handsome drive through cover off Solomon Mire, but then fell against the run of play in Mire’s next over, driving a long half volley uppishly into the covers, where Ryan Burl dived to his right to hold the catch.By then, Ireland needed only 81 more runs from the better part of 25 overs, and Porterfield steadily whittled away at the target alongside Kevin O’Brien. So effective in the last match, today Zimbabwe’s spinners struggled to pin Ireland’s middle order down, with Porterfield putting the sweep to particularly good use against Sikandar Raza’s offspin.It was Ryan Burl’s part-time legspin that finally got the better of Porterfield, however, as he was beaten by sharp turn and bowled for 49 in the 37th over, with Ireland needing just 32. O’Brien administered the last rites, batting a little within himself but still allowing for the odd moment of flair.”We set out to win the series and obviously to win it 3-0 is pretty good,” Porterfield said after the game. “Starting back in May, quite a few cricketers have come in. It’s really pleasing that the lads are coming in and making contributions. There’s depth in that pool of players and the confidence is right up there.”It was one of Ireland’s veterans who set the match up. Once again utilising the conditions expertly, Tim Murtagh picked up 3 for 39 to lead the attack. He found the outside edge of Burl’s bat in the third over of the morning, the left-hander having been promoted to open, and then snapped up the vital wicket of Brendan Taylor for the second time in the series. With Craig Ervine dragging a pull at Mark Adair onto his own stumps, Zimbabwe were three down early and the slide began in earnest.They were tottering at 88 for 6, but Richmond Mutumbami joined a settled Williams at the crease to steady things somewhat with a 43-run stand. Boyd Rankin’s pace and bounce snapped the partnership, Mutumbami wafting flat-footed outside off to be caught behind, but after him Jarvis also showed a little stickability to chaperone Williams to his second fifty of the tour.Williams’ desperately unlucky dismissal for 67 – run out at the non-striker’s end as Adair palmed a firm drive from Jarvis back onto the stumps – completely opened up Zimbabwe’s tail. Jarvis attempted to push things on with a couple of lusty blows, but two overs later Zimbabwe were all out for their lowest total of the tour.”I’m obviously getting on a bit now, but still enjoying my cricket,” Murtagh said after being named Player of the Series for his nine wickets. “And these boys keep me young. I’m enjoying it. They’re good kids. They’re desperate to learn. Mark’s last over in the last game was really special. Shane [Getkate] looks like he’s been playing for years.””We haven’t played our best cricket,” admitted Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza. “Ireland have showed us up and really put us under the pump. We need to make better decisions under pressure. That’s what Ireland have done, every time they’re on top, they haven’t let us come back.”

The former Australian batsman will no longer continue as a selector after his contract ends in August because of his increasing involvement in TV commentary

Daniel Brettig14-May-2018Australian cricket will soon rid itself of a major conflict of interest after Mark Waugh chose to step down as a national selector in order to commentate full-time for the pay-TV provider Fox Sports.Officially Waugh is still slated to be the selector on duty when the limited-overs team travels to England in June for a series also to be broadcast on Fox, but he will have moved on by the time the next home summer begins.Waugh, who has been a selector since May 2014, will be part of Cricket Australia’s new host broadcaster, with Fox Sports (part-owned by News Corporation) having paid the lion’s share of the A$1 billion television-rights fee sought. In return for the cash, CA has hidden two of three international formats – ODIs and Twenty20s – behind a paywall for the first time in Australian history.For the past year, Waugh has been officially designated CA’s T20 selector in addition to being on the panel to choose teams across all formats, despite concurrently commentating for the Ten Network on its successful coverage of the Big Bash League (BBL). Ten’s loss of the rights to the BBL, alongside Nine’s forfeiture of the rights to international cricket for the first time in 40 years, has led to a feeding frenzy for commentary positions at Fox and also Seven, which will show Test matches and some BBL games on free-to-air television as part of a sub-licensing deal.Alongside the CA board director Mark Taylor while he was also commentating for Nine, Waugh’s has been the most obvious conflict on Australian television screens over the past four seasons, making for numerous awkward moments – not that Ten minded the recurring source of conversation starters. Shaun Graf, Cricket Victoria’s operations manager, said what many were thinking after Waugh offered a thinly veiled criticism of Glenn Maxwell on one broadcast by saying of D’Arcy Short: “Haven’t seen him play a reverse sweep, have we in six games? I think some of the other batsmen around the country, take note.””I know he puts himself into a little bit of a conflict of interest by being a commentator as well, [but] I don’t think that’s the forum to discuss anything like that,” Graf told SEN Radio last summer. “Maybe ‘Junior’ should concentrate on his special comments but not maybe talk as much in relation to the selection side of things.”The Olympic hockey player and respected coach Ric Charlesworth, a state cricketer for western Australia in the 1970s and ’80s, raised the issue of Waugh’s conflict in a 2016 book. Charlesworth is a mentor to the new Australian coach Justin Langer. “Another boundary that seems to have been crossed in cricket is that of selection,” Charlesworth wrote in .”One of the Australian selectors, Mark Waugh, appears on television as an expert commentator and gives opinions on form and performance… this appears an extraordinary conflict of interest. Many of the traditional boundaries are being crossed and there is increasing pressure for coaches and players to ‘come out’ of the game during the contest and sponsors, broadcasters and producers drive this behaviour.”Given to following his instincts rather than relying overly on numbers, Waugh made a mark upon the final squad-selection he has been involved in, choosing Nic Maddinson for the T20 leg of the England tour even though the former state captain had been left out of the New South Wales contract list for next season.Waugh’s signature with Fox Sports joins those of Isa Guha, Mel Jones, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Hussey and Michael Vaughan. Seven, meanwhile, have signed Ricky Ponting. Nine’s long-time commentator Bill Lawry has declined approaches from the two networks.

PCA chairman Daryl Mitchell believes the proposed new T20 competition in England is likely to dilute the quality of domestic 50-over cricket and provide “another kick” to its future

George Dobell17-Feb-2017The proposed new T20 competition in England is likely to dilute the quality of domestic 50-over cricket and provide “another kick” to its future, according to new PCA chairman, Daryl Mitchell.While Mitchell, the Worcestershire top-order batsman who was recently elected to the PCA role, regards the launch of the eight-team T20 competition, scheduled for 2020, as “inevitable” he has reservations about several aspects of it and promised to work hard to ensure the interests of all 400 PCA members are protected.”The new T20 competition looks like a great opportunity for the 90 to 100 lads selected to play in it,” Mitchell told ESPNcricinfo. “But the role of the PCA is to look out for the other 300 players, too.”The plan at the moment is to play the 50-over competition during the window when the new T20 competition will be on. But if you take the best 100 white-ball players out of the tournament it is pretty inevitable there will be a dilution in quality.”We’re told players not in action in the new T20 competition may be made available to their counties, but 50-over cricket is probably already the format given the least priority by the players – something that is reflected in the prize money – and this will be another kick for it.”Our role will be to ensure the money we’re told will come into the sport trickles down for the benefit of everyone.”Mitchell’s personal views would appear to conflict quite sharply with the ECB’s approach in several areas. He believes a partial return to free-to-air broadcasting is essential if the game is to reach a new audience, he preferred the idea of a two-division solution (with promotion and relegation) in the T20 debate, and he argues for a need to increase the wages of young players.He accepts, however, that the ECB has “an incredibly difficult job” in trying to “look after so many stakeholders” and that his role is to communicate not his own views but those of his membership. “It’s about feeding back the views of the collective,” he said.”One of the challenging parts of the job is the need to balance the long-term health of the game with the short-term benefits to our current member. We have to remember that, if we don’t look after the game, we might not have any future members.”We appreciate that the ECB are trying to ensure the health of the game in the long-term and we appreciate we’re one of many stakeholders. We know we have to balance our aspirations with the aspirations of everyone else and I’m looking forward to working with the ECB to that end.”But he believes the players may have been “a bit naïve” in their enthusiasm for the new T20 competition and that reality has “hit home in recent times”.”As a Worcestershire player, we really look forward to the T20 competition as it provides us with a chance to play in front of packed houses and on big grounds,” he said. “As things stand, we go into that competition each year with a chance of winning it. To have that taken away from us is a bit of a blow.”When the new competition was first talked about, I think everyone thought they were about to become millionaires. Now people are realising that only about a quarter of us will play. We’re going to need quite a lot of info from the ECB.”From a personal point of view, I liked the two-division idea and, from a personal point of view, I think we need to get some cricket back on free to air. I think the ECB recognise that, too, and they are very clear about trying to raise the profile of the game.”Responding to the ECB’s reported attempt to change the mechanism by which the domestic salary cap is calculated, Mitchell suggested his attention was more on players at the lower end of the salary spectrum.”The salary cap isn’t relevant to many clubs,” Mitchell said. “I’m more worried up upping the minimum salaries. There are players in county cricket earning around £15,000 a year, which I don’t think reflects the skill and dedication required to be a professional athlete.”I’m told that nothing is decided about the salary cap yet, but I think our main priority will be making sure some of the money coming into the game filters down to the lower ends.”

India and Sri Lanka are set to play a three-match T20 series, prior to the Asia Cup, as both teams look ahead to the World T20

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2016India and Sri Lanka are set to play a three-match T20 series, prior to the Asia Cup, as both teams look ahead to the World T20.The tour begins in Pune on Feburary 9, then the teams head to Delhi to play the second match on February 12 and the final T20 will take place in Visakhapatnam on February 14. These matches will be the first time the two sides face each other in the shortest format since the final of the 2014 World Twenty20, which Sri Lanka won in April 2014.The Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, which acquired Test status in November 2015, will host only its third international match, and only its second T20I.

Fawad Ahmed pull off a stunning piece of fielding during Australia A’s tight win over Gloucestershire, but his bowling did not make a huge statement

Daniel Brettig in Bristol23-Jun-2013
ScorecardFawad Ahmed had a difficult match with the ball•Associated Press

Fawad Ahmed provided the single most thrilling moment of Australia A’s tighter-than-it-should-have-been victory over Gloucestershire when he clasped a blinding catch at mid-on to account for a stubborn Gareth Roderick. Unfortunately for Ahmed, it was also the most telling contribution he made to the last match before Australia’s selectors decided whether or not to add him to the Ashes squad that assembles in Taunton on Monday.Match figures of 31.2-9-100-1 for Ahmed told a story almost as barren as the tourists’ second innings fade for 111, against a Division Two team that their captain Michael Klinger conceded was still learning how to play “hard first-class cricket”. There were mitigating factors against the success of legspin in the match, cold temperatures keeping hands cold and an icy wind testing Ahmed’s command of length and pace.Ashton Agar’s left-arm spin fared rather better, though their relative tallies of overs suggested the 19-year-old was not being quite so closely observed by the selectors John Inverarity, Rod Marsh and Mickey Arthur. Ahmed’s best was eye-catching, several leg breaks fizzing past groping bats and some googlies misread as comprehensively by Matthew Wade as they were by the Gloucestershire batsmen.But a tally of two wickets from as many matches on the Australia A tour is the first significant reverse Ahmed has suffered since making his state debut for Victoria last summer and quickly factoring into the calculations of selectors, administrators, marketeers and ultimately Federal politicians, who passed legislation to expedite his application for citizenship last week.Questions about Ahmed’s readiness for an Ashes promotion were chief among those raised by the first long-form match played by an Australian team in England this year. Steve Smith, the stand-in captain while Brad Haddin rested, could thank his pace bowling triumvirate of Ryan Harris, Jackson Bird and the fast-rising Chadd Sayers for ensuring the tour would conclude with three victories out of three, but the tourists were placed under considerable pressure before getting there.On the second evening Dan Christian had taken the initiative well away from the bowlers, inflicting particular punishment on Ahmed. He would only add another six runs to his overnight total before the persisting Harris coaxed an outside edge behind, but after Benny Howell was pinned lbw first ball, a series of partnerships down the order had Gloucestershire creeping alarmingly close to their target, Ahmed’s catch notwithstanding.The last pair of Liam Norwell and Tom Smith had scrounged 36 together by the time Sayers claimed a deserved eighth wicket for the match, granting Wade his fifth catch among 23 byes, the morning session extended by an extra half hour for the taking of the final wicket proving a nervous 30 minutes for a team that had seemed in such command on the first day, declaring after a mere 58 overs then rounding up five early wickets.From there they had to fight the match out. Gloucestershire’s ability to fight toe-to-toe with a conglomerate of Australia’s best young players plus a sprinkling of Ashes tourists provided some disquieting evidence to back up the observation of the former England captain Andrew Strauss about what his side had witnessed down under in 2010-11.”We were surprised at the quality of some of the state sides,” Strauss told the . “Australia used to have a conveyor belt of talent but it was noticeable they were a long way behind where they had been four years previously.”On the evidence of this match there is still a lot of catching up to do, for Ahmed and Australia.

Notts were put in trouble after another top order collapse left Chris Read having to rebuild the innings

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge18-Jul-2012
ScorecardNottinghamshire do not care much for flat pitches that lead to dull draws. Their winning philosophy involves surfaces prepared with a more than even chance of a result, one way or another, the reasoning being that to chalk up enough victories to win the County Championship you have to risk the odd defeat.Not that they lose too many on their Trent Bridge pitches, even when they have been five wickets down before lunch on the opening day. Recoveries engineered by their under-appreciated captain, Chris Read, are as common as top-order collapses. There is another under way in this match.The signing of quality recruits such as Michael Lumb and James Taylor was supposed to bring stability to the batting, or at least limit the frequency of mishaps, but the pitch prepared for this match was revealed to have variable bounce as well as surface grass and Read must have feared it would be another day for his well-honed experience as soon as Surrey’s latest captain, Zander de Bruyn, won the toss and chose to field.De Bruyn was leading the side here, in the continuing absence, on indefinite compassionate leave, of Rory Hamilton-Brown, after the previous stand-in, Gareth Batty, was left out in favour of an extra seamer, which is an indication of how Surrey assessed the conditions.There was no Chris Tremlett, recovering from back surgery, who played against Lancashire in a four-day match last week but was rested from this one, nor Jade Dernbach, who is still missing with the side strain that forced him out of England’s one-day series against Australia.But the seam quartet that was wheeled out – with Tim Linley and Chris Jordan added – took the first five wickets for 84 in 23 overs nonetheless, although it might be argued that they could have done so at a smaller cost, given that only Jordan conceded runs at fewer than four an over, giving the Nottinghamshire batsmen width to play with on both sides of the wicket.They were helped by the vagaries of the bounce. Lumb’s dismissal leg before owed something to the ball keeping low, Taylor edged one that climbed on him more than he foresaw and Alex Hales, trying to defend on the back foot to Jon Lewis, misread the ball sufficiently to inside edge it on to the ground and into his stumps.In between, Samit Patel played a poor leg-side shot that had him caught behind off a thin edge as Nottinghamshire slipped from 35 without loss after five overs to 59 for 4 in the space of 11 more overs.This followed an extraordinary opening in which Hales and Riki Wessels, who had shared an opening stand of 89 in 9.4 overs in a CB40 match against Hampshire on Tuesday evening, seemed intent on continuing in that vein, Wessels taking three fours in Lewis’s first over before Hales took two more boundaries as Linley opened at the other end. Not surprisingly, this bold approach ran into trouble as Wessels, having rushed to 23 off 23 balls, edged Linley to first slip.Taylor’s dismissal ushered in Read to join Voges and what followed was the familiar story. Voges was missed on 5 without further addition to the score, which was a significant moment given that this Nottinghamshire side has a lengthy tail, but thereafter the pair took their chances without risking too much and added 34 in five overs up to lunch without further scares.In the afternoon, they had to negotiate two stoppages for rain before the last one proved terminal — limiting play to 42 overs – but maintained their concentration admirably and the partnership so far is worth 94 runs, which could prove invaluable if this match is a low scoring one.They have rattled along, in keeping with the pace of the innings overall, scoring their runs off 108 balls. Read has 49 from 63 balls with eight fours. The Notts skipper clocked up 11,000 first-class runs for the county during the match against Middlesex at Uxbridge last week. He has compiled 63 first-class half-centuries in 225 matches for the county, turning 19 of them into centuries, and more often than not it has been in circumstances similar to these.