NatWest T20 Blast champions Birmingham Bears are guaranteed a quarter-final place in this year’s competition after beating closest rivals Worcestershire Rapids by five wickets in front of a sell-out crowd at New Road

ECB/PA10-Jul-2015
ScorecardRikki Clarke’s unbeaten half-century helped Birmingham overcome a poor start to their chase•Getty Images

NatWest T20 Blast champions Birmingham Bears are guaranteed a quarter-final place in this year’s competition after beating closest rivals Worcestershire Rapids by five wickets in front of a sell-out crowd at New Road.The North Group leaders opened up a four-point gap when old hand Rikki Clarke kept cool in making an unbeaten 52 from 43 balls as the Bears made it five wins in a row.Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Brett D’Oliveira made half-centuries in taking the Rapids to 160 for 5 and the Bears overcome a chaotic start to complete a successful run chase with three balls to spare after a quick-fire 22 not out by Ateeq Javid.It was an earlier partnership of 68 in nine overs by Clarke and Laurie Evans which restored order before the latter was caught at long-on off Saeed Ajmal.In the closing stages wicketkeeper Ben Cox intermittently employed the tactic of discarding his gloves and taking up a sort of long stop position, but it made no odds as the Rapids suffered a blow in their bid for a quarter-final spot.

Insights

Birmingham are the first county to qualify for the quarter-finals this season and within this victory there was evidence to why they are deservedly so. With 30 balls remaining in their run-chase they were still 57 short of the target – a less successful team may have panicked, but there was no sense of that as four consecutive double-digit overs saw Birmingham to victory with three balls remaining.

Their innings had been a tale of two exciting academy-developed prospects and two contrasting phases.Kohler-Cadmore registered his third half-century in the competition and D’Olviera, from the third generation of a famous cricketing family, reached an explosive 50 from 29 balls, his highest score in all formats for the first-team.Yet for all this enterprise, the Rapids were tied down for more than half of the innings as Warwickshire’s three spinners conceded only 71 runs – and three boundaries, all by Kohler-Cadmore – in the space of 11 overs.On a sluggish surface, which was used for two previous T20 games, Worcestershire were only able to break out of the shackles when D’Oliveira hit four sixes as pace bowlers Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Recordo Gordon were carted for 56 off the last four overs.When D’Oliveira hoisted the last ball of the inning over long off, the 23-year-old allrounder was undefeated with 56 from 30 deliveries, having more than doubled his previous best in the competition.Worcestershire made a poor start when captain Daryl Mitchell came down from a mid-week double century in the County Championship to a first-ball duck when he steered rather than smashed a short ball from Rikki Clarke to backward point.Richard Oliver was bowled for 10, aiming to slog wrist spinner Josh Poysden’s opening delivery, and Colin Munro was smartly stumped by Tim Ambrose off Jeetan Patel.Kohler-Cadmore managed to shut out problems at the opposite end by taking five boundaries in the power play and the former Malvern College batsman was up to 66 from 51 balls when he holed out to deep midwicket off Poysden.In contrast Warwickshire’s top order lurched into trouble. Brendon McCullum hit two sixes but the New Zealand captain’s dismissal, bowled by Joe Leach for 15, sparked off a slump to 48 for 4, one of the wickets falling to D’Oliveira.

Nottinghamshire have declined a request from the Barmy Army to allow their trumpeter, Billy Cooper, to play at the fourth Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge

George Dobell04-Aug-2015Nottinghamshire have declined a request from the Barmy Army to allow their trumpeter, Billy Cooper, to play at the fourth Investec Ashes Test at Trent Bridge.Keen to recreate the atmosphere at Edgbaston – where some Australia players seemed rattled by a crowd rated the loudest Alastair Cook could remember – the Barmy Army wrote to the club asking them to reconsider their long-held ban on musical instruments inside the ground.The club held firm, however, reminding the Barmy Army that Lord’s also do not welcome musical instruments and that there would be no change of policy.”It’s disappointing,” Paul Burnham, the co-founder of the Barmy Army told ESPNcricinfo. “We know how much the players value our support and we thought the atmosphere created at Edgbaston was wonderful.”The players often talk about the support the crowd give them as being like an extra man and we’re sorry we won’t be able to provide that at Trent Bridge.”Billy Cooper – Billy The Trumpet as he is called in Barmy Army circles – attended every day of the Edgbaston Test. On the third day, 500 supporters who had purchased their tickets through the Barmy Army sat together in the middle of the Eric Hollies stand at Edgbaston and provided the foundations for some unusually loud singing and chanting described as “awesome” by Stuart Broad on Tuesday.”What people sometimes don’t understand,” Burnham said, “is that Billy orchestrates a lot of the singing. People will still do it if he’s not there. But it will be in pockets of 10 or 20 here and there. It will be chaotic and less helpful for the side and less fun for the spectators.”But we respect Nottinghamshire’s views and we respect the ground rules. We’re still be there and we’ll still be supporting the side. We’ll keep asking them to reconsider, but we will continue to respect that it is their decision.”While the noise is not to everyone’s taste – and Nottinghamshire’s more traditional atmosphere has often scored very highly in spectator rating surveys – the England team continue to value it.Ahead of the first Ashes Test of 2013, Andy Flower – the England coach at the time – pleaded with Nottinghamshire to change their stance. They refused to do so then and refuse to do so now.

It was quite fitting that, with England sealing a Test match victory with two days to spare, Middlesex and Sussex took the opportunity to fashion what is set to be a thrilling climax at Lord’s to fill the spare time

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Lord's08-Aug-2015
ScorecardMichael Yardy: grittily hanging on til the end•Getty Images

It was quite fitting that, with England sealing a Test match victory with two days to spare, Middlesex and Sussex took the opportunity to fashion what is set to be a thrilling climax at Lord’s to fill the spare time. Not only are there international class combatants on both sides, but the match is being played out on a pitch that, two days in, has benefitted neither one side nor the other.The morning’s play hinted that the surfaced had flattened, only for a middle-order collapse instigated by Ravi Patel and a gritty retaliation from Michael Yardy to display the rate at which this pitch is changing.Matt Machan got the day going with a straight drive off Tim Murtagh: the ball booming off his bat to wake up any who thought this might be a tranquil start. Machan would continue to disturb the peace as the aggressor in a valuable 134-run partnership with opener Luke Wells, who had begun the day 14 ahead of the Scotland international.While Luke Wells used all his opening tricks to push gaps and wait for the bad ball, Machan was happy to force the issue, overtaking Wells with some controlled slashes on the front and back-foot and, most notably, fetching Ollie Rayner from outside off-stump and planting him over long-on for one of two sixes against the off-spinner. Even the usually economical Murtagh found himself nursing some expensive figures in the first session, as Machan took 37 off the 29 deliveries he faced from the seamer. By the time Wells had reached his fifty, Machan was already on 81, as Middlesex started to look a big ragged. Unfortunately, for the Sussex number three, that would be where his innings ended as Patel’s left-arm orthodox spin instigated the start of some payback.Just when it looked like the visitors were to make it through the first session unscathed, Patel coaxed a drive out of Machan and spun the ball up the slope, through bat and pad, to disturb the stumps, just seven minutes before lunch. A minute after the interval – five balls on the scorer’s watch – he produced an arm-ball that took the outside edge of Wells’ bat to skipper James Franklin at first slip.As a spinner who primarily enjoys success (and opportunities) with the white ball, Patel’s ability to build pressure, along with his appreciation that he will be attacked, allowed him to bowl 17 overs in a row from the Pavilion End. That he only found out he would be playing for Middlesex in this fixture the day before, while preparing to take on Surrey at Colchester for his loan side Essex, gives an indication at just how difficult it is to fluster this 24-year-old.It was an execution of the above skills that enabled him to snare Chris Nash. And, while the fielders backed him up well, it was a surprise when Nash miscued to Toby Roland-Jones, running back from mid-on. Three overs beforehand, Nash had effortlessly come down the pitch and flicked Patel over mid-wicket for four and a similar result looked on the cards when he began a second jaunt down the pitch this time. It was not to be and Nash departed for a breezy 22.His wicket was the first of three to fall in a collapse across 10.1overs that saw just 17 runs scored. Luke Wright was next to fall, taking 22 balls to get off the mark and then, in an attempt to pull his 26th, played Murtagh onto his stumps. Ben Brown then found Ollie Rayner at cover to give Patel his fourth wicket of the innings, before Yardy steadied the ship and set a course for a lead. By the time his innings had finished – 70 off 148 balls, his highest score of the season – he had dragged his side to a lead of 62.Last month, Yardy has announced that he will retire at the end of the season and his indifferent form this season suggests it was the right decision. But his knack of getting the Middlesex seamers to bowl where he wanted, coupled with his rotation of the strike, particularly with Ashar Zaidi and Ollie Robinson, was the work of an experienced pro.When the Sussex innings came to a close, with three batting points secured, the first innings lead stood at a handy 66. By close, Sam Robson – with the help of six runs shared evenly between Nick Gubbins and extras – ensured the deficit had been cut to 19.Robson worked six boundaries in his 41, which included an effortless back-cut for four to the last ball of the day, before he turned around and walked off to the pavilion, with Gubbins not far behind him. It was the usually more expansive of the two, Gubbins, who decided to leave his attacking shots for the morning, though he did receive a nasty blow on the knuckles of his top hand from a sharp ball delivered by Chris Liddle.That delivery, along with a few grubbers that had batsmen bent over double trying to keep out, suggests that there is a good chance we will see both sides bat tomorrow. This match has more than a whiff of a domestic classic.

It was Yorkshire who faced criticism if their decision to collude with Hampshire and engineer a run-chase ended up having a decisive effect on the relegation battle. It was Gale who absolved all, his third hundred of the season setting up a five-wicket vi

Alan Gardner at the Ageas Bowl17-Sep-2015Yorkshire 97 for 4 dec and 305 for 5 (Gale 125, Leaning 76) beat Hampshire 400 for 9 dec (Dawson 140) and forfeit by five wickets
ScorecardAndrew Gale followed his 98 at Lord’s with a matchwinning hundred at the Ageas Bowl•Getty Images

It was Andrew Gale who looked James Vince in the eye, took his outstretched hand and said “Game on”. It was Yorkshire who faced criticism if their decision to collude with Hampshire and engineer a run-chase ended up having a decisive effect on the relegation battle. It was Gale who absolved all, his third hundred of the season setting up a five-wicket victory on the final afternoon.Crouched over his bat like a blacksmith at his anvil, Gale sweated and grafted and, above all, accumulated runs. Vince had offered Yorkshire the chance to chase 304 in 96 overs, hoping to trade the possibility of a further seven points for 16 for the win. Gale, keen to prove that the champions have not checked out of the 2015 season early, did most of the hard work himself to end Hampshire’s four-match unbeaten run and leave them clinging to their Division One status.In doing so, Yorkshire strode past Sussex’s Division One points record of 257, achieved in 2003, and left themselves one more match in which to eclipse the ten victories achieved previously by Sussex, Surrey, Lancashire and Durham.

I held all the aces – Gale

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale conceded his team had played “some poor cricket” since winning the Championship but was pleased to stop the rot with a match-winning hundred at the Ageas Bowl. Gale fell for 125 with 40 runs needed, having lifted Yorkshire from a perilous 37 for 3 in partnership with Jack Leaning.
“I was disappointed not to see it through as I got the lion’s share of the runs,” Gale said. “I’ve felt in good form and was disappointed not to get a hundred last week.
“Since we won the Championship we have played some poor cricket so I think we needed one or two guys to stand up today, and that is what me and Jack Leaning did.
Gale agreed a run chase before the start of play with opposite number James Vince and admitted he held the stronger hand in negotiations. After securing a five-wicket win, Yorkshire were presented with the Championship trophy for the second time – and they will receive it again at Headingley next week – but Gale was not complaining after being prevented from doing by the ECB in 2014.
“I didn’t have to do a great deal of negotiating because I held all the cards. I did put my poker glasses on though. They wanted us to chase 320-330 and we wanted to chase 280. So we met somewhere in the middle. We both wanted a game of cricket.
“It’s a bit weird picking up the trophy three times, the lads were saying ‘do we have to spray the champagne and stuff again’ but I said ‘look lads enjoy every minute of it because I was in a situation last year where I couldn’t even pick it up’.”

It had been assumed that the fizz had gone out of Yorkshire as soon as the champagne was uncorked at Lord’s last week. Instead, it was Hampshire who went flat after taking three early wickets, excitement at the possibility of a victory that would lift them up to the coat tails of Somerset and Sussex slowly replaced by a creeping realisation that defeat leaves them a long road from safety.They are not mathematically down but require a handsome victory away to Nottinghamshire in the final round, as well as one of the two teams above them to receive a thorough slippering. Their best hope may lie in the fact Yorkshire, chasing an 11th win, host third-bottom Sussex – who have a 16-point advantage on Hampshire – next week.Vince would have been hoping that fortune favoured the brave; instead it largely favoured Gale. He was thumped on the pads by Fidel Edwards, slinging the ball down amid a blur of jewellery from round the wicket, and edged Ryan McLaren short of slip but the crucial moment came with Gale on 35, facing Ryan Stevenson. Squeezing down on a full delivery that tailed away outside off, a thick edge flew towards Liam Dawson, Hampshire’s first-innings centurion, at second slip only for the chance to go down.That would have left Yorkshire 101 for 4 shortly after lunch. Instead, Gale and Jack Leaning extended a partnership that had begun at 37 for 3 until it was virtually decisive. Leaning, who had not passed 50 in the Championship since June, gave barely a chance until he was finally undone by Edwards with the score on 227. Gale fell with 40 required, a third wicket for the fiery West Indian, but by then the hurly-burly was done, the battle lost and won.Gale had previously suggested that Yorkshire would be open to discussions about securing a result in this severely rain-affected match, with only 150 overs possible in the preceding three days. Unbeaten until last week, Yorkshire placed a not-insignificant amount of pride on the line, too. They have only lost four times in the Championship under Jason Gillespie, in almost four seasons, and never consecutively. The last time Yorkshire were beaten twice on the trot was in May 2011, a season that led to relegation.As the Hampshire members settled into their seats in the Ingleby-Mackenzie and Warne stands, perhaps expecting the contents of the day’s packed lunch to be on a par with the cricket for excitement, news began to filter around the ground. Instead of Yorkshire batting out the day while Hampshire chased a couple of bowling bonus points to go with five for the draw, a fourth-innings chase was afoot.Far from conniving at the expense of Sussex and Somerset, this seemed a legitimate attempt to achieve a result – and one the umpires and ECB official present judged to be fair. In the absence of any declaration bowling, contrivance was minimal; and given Hampshire had taken control during what play was possible, you might even say there was something sporting about the agreement.Vince’s gamble looked an inspired one as Yorkshire’s top three were removed inside a dozen overs. Adam Lyth gave the cavalry horn a brief parp by striking the first ball for four but Edwards, revving his engine down in front of the pavilion, soon parted the Yorkshire openers by swinging the ball into Alex Lees, a wickedly low bounce taking it into the stumps via the toe of the bat.A moment of individual brilliance in the field then strengthened the impression that the force was with Hampshire in their attempts to emulate the great relegation escapes of 2008 and 2010. Lyth tucked Edwards off his legs and immediately set off, only for Jimmy Adams to glide across from midwicket, pick up right-handed, transfer to his left and hit one-and-a-half stumps with the batsman a couple of inches short. Gary Ballance was then caught down the leg side, before Gale and Leaning set about launching the counterattack.Gale missed out on lifting the Championship trophy last year but now he has held it aloft twice within a week. This time it was for the Sky cameras and he will get to do it again at Headingley in the final round. It is safe to assume it is an obligation he will not tire of for a while.

Boyd Rankin is expected to renew his allegiances with Ireland once, as expected, he is omitted from England’s tour party to South Africa

David Hopps03-Nov-2015Boyd Rankin is poised to rejoin Ireland in time for next year’s World Twenty20 in India.He held discussions with Ireland’s coach John Bracewell about making a return early last season but asked to delay his decision. But England overlooked him last summer and he has not been included in any winter tour parties at any level, with a place in the squad to tour South Africa also regarded as highly unlikely.The has reported that Rankin is expected to meet Cricket Ireland officials in the next fortnight, presumably soon after England’s squad for South Africa is announced – with his name absent. The return of Rankin would be a major fillip for Ireland whose pace bowling is their weakest suit.England have been resistant to Rankin’s switch back to Ireland, concerned about their limited pace bowling resources, and repeatedly holding out vague hopes of further international calls, but, at 31, he now regards them as unlikely.Under current regulations, which were amended last year, a player can return to their Associate country after a two-year gap since playing for a Full Member. Rankin’s last England was an ODI against Australia on January 17, 2014.He switched his loyalties to England in 2013, whereupon he played seven ODIs, two T20Is and a solitary Test against Australia in Sydney when he was part of a Land of the Giants pace attack that England wrongly imagined would present a formidable Ashes challenge.His England career has been an unsettled one. He questioned whether he should stay in the game after making a nervous Test debut in Sydney at the tail end of England’s 2014-15 whitewash in Australia when he twice left the field with cramp on the opening day. He was to play only two more ODIs in his England career. It was not all nerves, however: on returning to England, he discovered he had suffered a shoulder cartilage injury in fielding practice two days before the Test.John Bracewell identified one his priorities as bringing Rankin back into the fold when he succeeded Phil Simmons as Ireland coach earlier this year.The temptation of regular Ireland cricket included a World Twenty20 in India next year and, further ahead, the prospect of a potential Test against England at Lord’s in 2019.Bracewell said at the time that he planned to meet Rankin and his director of cricket at Warwickshire, Dougie Brown, adding: “I am going to sit down with every Irish player currently in the English game, and with their coaches, and work out what is in the interest of both parties.”

New Zealand’s coach Mike Hesson has equated the Blacktown Oval pitch with “day four in Abu Dhabi” and defended his team’s insistence that the strip was unsafe for play after the Cricket Australia XI ran up a tally of 1 for 503

Daniel Brettig in Sydney30-Oct-20152:16

Pitch unsuitable for first-class cricket – Hesson

New Zealand’s coach Mike Hesson has equated the Blacktown Oval pitch with “day four in Abu Dhabi” and defended his team’s insistence that the strip was unsafe for play after the Cricket Australia XI ran up a tally of 1 for 503.The tourists are now set to fly to Brisbane on Saturday after being left thoroughly frustrated with the preparation afforded to them in Sydney over the past two days. Hesson was not shy in criticising the conditions but said New Zealand would not be retaliating when Australia cross the Tasman Sea for a return series next year.”I’d describe it as a jigsaw with half the pieces missing,” Hesson said of the pitch. “Similar to about a day four in Abu Dhabi. They’re unable to grow any grass here at this time of the year so it was basically like rolled mud with a little topping on it.”As it dried, it baked and bits started falling out of it. It was going to last for a period of time, but when the second new ball came on last night, once you start taking hunks out of the surface, that’s when it becomes unsuitable. We’ve just had two days here and haven’t gained a lot out of it from a preparation point of view other than time on our feet, which is always useful.”Asked to respond to those who might be cynical about a match abandoned after such a lopsided first innings in favour of batsmen, Hesson said it was necessary to look beyond the scoreboard. “I think you probably need to look at the game and see what unfolded,” he said. “And speak to Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill”The pitch wasn’t up to first-class standard. Take nothing away from Aaron [Finch] and [Ryan] Carters, they played well early on but it certainly deteriorated after that.”We also had feedback that the surface here was not going to be anything like what we were going to face in Brisbane. So I think playing a three-day, first-class game is fine, we came into it with the best of intentions and unfortunately they haven’t been able to grow any grass on the wicket.”As for the fact that New Zealand have been forced to field first in their past two tour games on pitches bearing absolutely no resemblance to the strip expected in Brisbane, Hesson said no one in the tour party had travelled to Australia looking for an easy ride.”You don’t turn up to any countries expecting favours,” he said. “We batted a day in Canberra and got 370 for 2 and that served some value but I think the last couple of days, we realised this wasn’t up to first-class standard. We will be right once we get to Brisbane … and train on wickets that will be relatively similar to the surface.”

Rangpur Riders picked up their second win of the tournament after trouncing Dhaka Dynamites by 69 runs

The Report by Mohammad Isam25-Nov-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShakib Al Hasan derailed Dhaka’s chase with four wickets•BCB

Rangpur Riders picked up their second win of the tournament after trouncing Dhaka Dynamites by 69 runs. Lendl Simmons started well with the bat but it was the bowling of Shakib Al Hasan, Thisara Perera and Arafat Sunny that didn’t let Dhaka stay in the contest for too long.Dhaka were chasing what has been a par target for the first game of the day, but they fell to pieces quickly. Shakib ran past Shamsur Rahman’s defensive prod with an arm ball in the third over before Nasir Jamshed slog-swept into Soumya Sarkar’s lap two balls later.Mosaddek Hossain and Kumar Sangakkara tried to resurrect the chase but the former fell to a rank leg-stump half-volley from Sunny, who also accounted for Sangakkara’s wicket in the 11th over, after he had made 29 off 28 balls. Sunny finished his four overs early, taking 2 for 15.

Al-Amin, Shahid fined

Al-Amin Hossain and Mohammad Shahid have been fined Tk 40,000 (US$517) and Tk 30,000 (US$388) respectively for their altercation during Tuesday night’s BPL match between Barisal Bulls and Sylhet Superstars.
They were charged under 2.2.7 of the code of conduct, which relates to, “inappropriate and deliberate physical contact with a player… in the course of play during a match”.
The two got into an altercation after Shahid had clean bowled Al-Amin to end the Barisal innings and had to be separated by the umpires and Sylhet captain Mushfiqur Rahim. Both players admitted the offence.

Thisara removed Ryan ten Doeschate and Abul Hasan in consecutive overs, caught at cover and deep midwicket respectively. Shakib’s third wicket was Farhad Reza in his third over and he got Nasir Hossain in his last to end with four wickets for just 16 runs. Thisara took three wickets, to go with a fast 27 in Rangpur’s innings.Rangpur should have been closer to the 200 mark but fell short due to a late collapse. They were 122 for 2 in the 14th over when Mohammad Mithun was given out leg-before to Abul for 34 off 22 balls, with three fours and two sixes. They then slipped to 150 for 6 in the 18th over, losing Darren Sammy, Thisara and Al-Amin during this time.Shakib struck three boundaries in the last two overs to take their score to something respectable. When Thisara was hammering his two fours and as many sixes, Rangpur looked to be going towards a bigger score, but he fell to Mustafizur Rahman in the 17th over, having previously been dropped at mid-off by Shamsur.Simmons and Mithun made the early running with a 56-run second-wicket stand. Simmons made his maiden BPL fifty, hitting five fours and three sixes, twice over long-on and once over square leg, before giving a tame a catch to cover off Mosharraf Hossain.

Where runs had flowed and wickets tumbled on the first day, the cricket was played at a slower pace on the second at University Oval, but was no less intense

The Report by George Binoy10-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsBJ Watling claimed his 100th dismissal and was part of all four wickets New Zealand took•AFP

Where runs had flowed and wickets tumbled as a result of New Zealand’s assertive batting approach on the first day, the cricket was played at a slower pace on the second at University Oval, but was no less intense. The change in tempo was brought about by a battle of patience between New Zealand’s attack, which moved the ball in both directions from accurate lines and lengths, and two Sri Lankan top-order batsmen determined to cut out risk. At stumps, Brendom McCullum’s team had edged ahead on the day, consolidating their advantage in the match.Sri Lanka lost Kusal Mendis, playing his second Test, and the debutant Udara Jayasundera early to inexperience in alien conditions, but their relatively older hands Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal – both playing their 24th Tests – had kept New Zealand wicketless in the second session. Their partnership spanned 48.5 overs but produced only 122 runs, because for large swathes of time they were given extremely few hittable balls. Sri Lanka had only 17 fours in the day – New Zealand had that many in their first 23 overs – and though Chandimal finished unbeaten on 83, the fall of Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews in the final session left the lower order with a lot to do.That Karunaratne got as far as 84 was because of a little luck and a lot of skill in the morning. In the first over of the innings, he left his bat raised while ducking a bouncer from Trent Boult, the ball pinging off the periscope over the wicketkeeper’s head. In the third, he edged consecutive outswingers but crucially played with soft hands so the catches did not carry to first slip.Mendis, however, did not use soft hands and a delivery from Boult slanted away from the right-hander and took the edge through to BJ Watling, who collected his 100th dismissal and the first of four catches in the innings.Tim Southee tested Karunaratne with two consecutive yorkers that hooped into the left-hander and homed in on his boot. Karunaratne inside-edged the first on to his pad, and blocked out the second confidently. Jayasundera also got a similar delivery as his first ball in Test cricket and survived.Jayasundera scored his first run by tucking Boult off his pads, but did not make another. He had watched Karunaratne slash a wide ball from Neil Wagner over the slips for four, but when he reached out to cut, he only managed a toe end to Watling.
Boult’s first spell read 6-2-16-1 and Southee’s 5-1-6-0. That pressure was maintained by Doug Bracewell, who conceded only five runs in four overs before lunch.The scoring stayed slow after the break, the difference being the growing assuredness of Sri Lanka’s batsmen. Runs came via compact punches, dabs and crisp flicks off the pads – nothing extravagant. Karunaratne played the pull confidently, getting on top of the bounce and rolling his wrists to keep the ball down. With the ball not doing much for the seamers, McCullum brought on Mitchell Santner in the 30th over and the left-arm spinner was economical as well, conceding only 12 runs in his first ten overs. Sri Lanka made only 24 runs in the first hour after lunch.After 80 deliveries of restraint, Chandimal attacked, charging Santner and aiming a heave down the ground. The outside edge flew over slip. Two balls later he cut Santner for his first boundary. Karunaratne began to score more freely towards tea, thumping consecutive half-volleys from Wagner to the long-on and straight boundaries, and glancing a rare poor ball from Bracewell off his pads as well. The slight loosening of New Zealand’s purse strings was reward for diligent batting.Wagner was the weak link in the New Zealand attack, and in the first hour of the final session his economy was touching five an over while the innings run rate was around two. He bowled too full and was driven often by Karunaratne and Chandimal through the off side and down the ground. With his seamers ineffective despite the ball showing a tendency to reverse – Boult’s pace was down between 125-130kph – McCullum gave it to Santner.The wicket came against the run of play, when Karunaratne went back to cut a rather cut-able ball but edged it to Watling. Sri Lanka were still trailing by 280 but their captain took only two runs off that deficit: Angelo Mathews was caught down the leg side off Southee, the not-out decision on the field overturned by the faintest of Hot-Spots.Chandimal had got to his 50 off 143 deliveries with three boundaries, but he was less conservative in the final session, striking six more fours after raising his half-century. For company, he had the last specialist batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage, whose hard but airborne drive had been put down by Kane Williamson at short cover.Sri Lanka were 234 runs behind with six wickets in hand at the end of the day, and they will have to face the danger of a ball that is only an over old on the third morning.

Cape Cobras offspinner Sybrand Engelbrecht has been cleared to resume bowling with immediate effect following a nod from an independent assessment

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2016Cape Cobras offspinner Sybrand Engelbrecht has been cleared to resume bowling with immediate effect following a nod from an independent assessment. Engelbrecht ‘s bowling action was found within the parameters contained in the CSA Regulations for the Review of Bowlers Reported with Suspected Illegal Bowling Actions, after it was re-assessed on January 12.Cricket South Africa also announced that the ban on Dolphins offspinner Prenelan Subrayen, who also had his bowling action re-assessed on the same date, stands as it is, after his action was deemed illegal.Subrayen, 22, can’t bowl in any matches organised under CSA’s purview until his action is re-assessed and found to be within the permissible parameters. Both spinners were tested at CSA’s Powerade Centre of Excellence in Pretoria.Engelbrecht was pulled up during a Ram Slam T20 game between Cobras and Dolphins last month. He was picked as a specialist batsman by Cobras while the result of his assessment was still under process.Meanwhile, Subrayen hasn’t featured in any domestic fixture in South Africa since being suspended for an illegal action in November.

The BCCI has decided to submit to the Supreme Court a consolidated response to the Lodha Committee’s recommendations, based on its members’ views

Arun Venugopal19-Feb-2016The SGM convened by the BCCI to discuss the Lodha Committee’s recommendations played out on predictable lines, with the board deciding to submit a consolidated response based on its members’ views. The BCCI has entrusted its secretary Anurag Thakur with filing an affidavit pointing to the “anomalies and difficulties” in implementing the recommendations. While the BCCI did not elaborate on these anomalies in its press release, it is understood that they pertain to certain recommendations such as bringing the BCCI under the Right To Information act, the one-state, one vote rule and the age cap for office bearers.The head of a state association, who was present at the SGM, suggested that the discussion was fairly open-ended. “There are ten different people standing up with ten different things. Each state association has its own problem,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “In the meeting each state committee gave their report to the BCCI so the BCCI is going to take a collective view and file an appropriate response. The grievances or points pointed out by the various state associations will be brought to the notice of the Supreme Court.”While he ruled out the possibility of member units fighting their own legal battle, a top BCCI official said nothing stopped a state association from doing so if it wished. An official of the Cricket Club of India, which according to the Lodha report has “no cause” to be treated as a Full Member, admitted to mulling legal action. “Our contributions to the BCCI over the years have been significant,” he said. “We will present our arguments to the Supreme Court.”There also appeared to be a lack of clarity on when the affidavit would be submitted. IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said it could be done before March 3, the deadline given by the Supreme Court, but BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur hinted that it was unlikely to be done by then.The other point of discussion was the governance and financial restructuring of the ICC following the ICC board and committee meetings earlier this month. It is learnt that some members were not too pleased with BCCI president Shashank Manohar’s proposal of a new revenue-sharing arrangement that could see the board lose a significant chunk of its revenue.”If there is monetary loss to the BCCI then people want to take a look at the suggestion”, the state association head said. “It was just a suggestion made [by Manohar] so the president and the secretary have to take a look at those contracts. It’s a step-by-step process. In one meeting there are 40 people sitting. So nothing can’t be decided soon. Slowly the path will come.”There was similar ambiguity over the reworking of the Future Tours Programme from 2016 to 2023 in order to “ensure equitable distribution of the matches.” While no official was available for comment on the matter, it is understood to be a suggestion put forth by Manohar to ensure that the smaller boards’ teams don’t suffer from a few powerful member boards firming up mutually convenient schedules.