Matthew Wade and Kane Richardson could also tour Sri Lanka despite not getting deals

Alex Malcolm08-Apr-2022Chairman of selectors George Bailey insisted fast bowler Jhye Richardson remains a key part of Australia’s plans across all three formats and could even tour Sri Lanka in June despite being dropped off the central contract list.Richardson was the most notable omission from the 20-man list having returned to Test cricket last summer for the first time since early 2019. He took 5 for 42 in his last Test bowling innings in Adelaide against England to help Australia to victory on the final day.But he was rested from the following Test in Melbourne due to shin soreness and did not get back for the rest of the series due to Scott Boland’s remarkable emergence.Richardson played the last two of Australia’s five T20Is against Sri Lanka in February but was not considered for the Pakistan tour in order to remain at home and play with Western Australia. He then injured his hamstring in the Marsh Cup final and missed the Sheffield Shield decider.Bailey said Richardson was unfortunate but the selectors still see him as a key part of Australia’s plans over the next 12 months.”There’s always someone who just misses,” Bailey said. “Absolutely, you could say he was unfortunate to miss. “We like his skill set across all three formats. And [we’re] just looking forward to his availability increasing and continuing to build his resilience and an ability to play a lot more cricket over the next 12 months.”Bailey added Matthew Wade and Kane Richardson fell into a similar category, especially with a T20 World Cup later this year.”They’re all guys that we fully expect will play for Australia in the near future,” Bailey said. “In all likelihood, they’ll all be picked probably in our next touring party. Wadey is still our first-choice wicketkeeper in our T20 team and [there’s] a big build-up coming up to that World Cup. And a little bit the same with Kane with that T20 World Cup coming up as well.”Josh Inglis kept in Australia’s one-off T20I against Pakistan in Lahore with Wade not selected to tour Pakistan given there was only one T20I and he is not part of Australia’s ODI plans moving forward.Josh Inglis has started his T20I career impressively•Getty Images

Inglis was given a contract ahead of Wade as he is now the reserve wicketkeeper in all three formats, backing up Alex Carey in the Test and ODI side. Bailey said the decision to contract Inglis was as much about the future as it was about the here and now.”Josh has obviously done really well in the opportunities that he’s had,” Bailey said. “He’s clearly our keeper-in-waiting I guess behind Alex in the Test and one-day formats. And he’s the keeper-in-waiting behind Wadey in the T20 format. He’s going to be a huge part of every tour that we go on. We’re investing as much in the future with him as we are looking at what’s happened in the past 12 months.”Bailey was hopeful Australia will be able to send a near full-strength side in all formats on their next tour of Sri Lanka in June and July after David Warner, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Glenn Maxwell, Steven Smith and Mitchell Marsh all missed the white-ball portion of the recent tour of Pakistan for a variety of reasons. Warner, Cummins, and Hazlewood were given time off ahead of the IPL having also missed some or all of the T20I series against Sri Lanka. Marsh picked up an injury ahead of the ODIs in Pakistan which ruled him out of the series while Smith left the tour early to manage an elbow problem.Australia are set to play three T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests in Sri Lanka with the first T20I starting June 7. The qualifying portion of the IPL finishes on May 22 and the final is to be held on May 29, but Bailey does not anticipate there will be a need to rest players from large chunks of the tour.”Not necessarily,” Bailey said. “It’ll just be a case-by-case basis. The one thing we don’t know is how much each player is going to play over there, how far each franchise is going to get into the tournament. If players don’t get that far in the tournament, there’s every opportunity for them to maybe get a little bit of a freshen up physically and a small break at home.”Fingers crossed, the Sri Lanka tour will be the start of getting back to a little bit of flexibility in terms of getting guys in individually as opposed to having to fly in on charters and do quarantines and things like that.”I don’t know if that’s the case but certainly hoping that’s where we’re heading. So we’ll just work through that. But certainly, the guys that play all formats, as we’ve seen, it’s a big tour so the guys that are in the mix to play the three T20s, the five ODIs, and the two Tests…and the Tests will be the priority for that series.”

Dismissal of Joe Root the highlight of final day, as Yorkshire dig deep to secure draw

Paul Edwards15-May-2022
Rather like Britt in , world-class sportspeople compete with themselves. Victories matter, of course; trophies matter, too; and yes, money matters, for they all know there must come a life after sport. But overarching all these things there is a private battle, one that is not always acknowledged, to satisfy a personal demand for excellence, even if one’s performance already soars far above one’s contemporaries. This afternoon, in a drawn Roses match at Headingley, James Anderson revealed something of the fires that drive him on, even at the age of 39, when most cricketers are merely talking about their careers or telling others how to do it.In team games it is impossible to satisfy those personal demands if one is not selected. However, for most sportspeople the diminution in one’s contribution to the collective effort is obvious some time before the axe falls. Anderson, though, clearly believes he was nowhere near that chastening realisation when he was recently omitted from the England party to tour West Indies, and this match against Yorkshire has given him opportunities to prove his point to Joe Root, the man who was at least complicit in the decision to leave him at home.The last such opportunity arrived shortly after lunch on this last day of a match Lancashire dominated. Despite Root’s very fine 147 in Yorkshire’s first innings, the home side had been made to follow on 187 runs behind and their second effort had begun badly. Just as he had been in the first innings, Adam Lyth was leg before to an in-ducker from Tom Bailey; the only difference this time was that Lyth was playing a shot of sorts.The hour’s cricket that followed was intense. Bailey and Anderson strove to make the breakthroughs their team needed but were resisted by George Hill and Dawid Malan. Runs were, for the moment, secondary to survival on a day when Yorkshire effectively needed to bat out the best part of three sessions if they were to avoid defeat. About twenty minutes before lunch Vilas made a double change and the tension slackened slightly. Yorkshire ended the first session on 39 for one after 17 overs; it felt like an achievement.It was also temporary. Anderson returned to the attack from the Howard Stand End immediately after lunch and beat Malan twice in four balls. The fifth brought the batter forward and induced the edge to Phil Salt – or so Mark Saggers adjudged. Malan’s plainly dissenting opinion was of no consequence. Anderson celebrated with his colleagues and then went back to his mark to bowl at the former captain of England.That private-public duel lasted ten balls. The first was well defended, the fifth beat Root all ends up and the ninth was skilfully guided without risk to the third man boundary. The tenth was as quick as the others, which is to say around 80mph. It kept a little low but crucially it nipped back though a gate that was closed all too late. It crashed into the middle and off stumps and flattened them.Anderson held his right arm aloft, leapt in triumph and then clenched his fists at his side in a manner that brings delight to the Barmy Army. Revenge? I think not. Point made? Oh, certainly. For there was a momentary glance towards the departing Root. There were, so far as we could gather, no words. But then Anderson’s bowling possesses eloquence beyond language. Watch him closely again, in the flesh if you can, and see for yourself. He has been among the glories of our sporting age.The remainder of Anderson’s second six-over spell of the day was similarly accurate but threatening deliveries were well defended by Hill and Harry Brook. England’s finest bowler came off with figures of 12-6-11-2. They are par for that particular course. They may even have satisfied him.Lancashire made only one more breakthrough in the afternoon session, Hill falling to a short ball once again, when his very limp pull shot to a ball from Luke Wood merely edged a catch to Salt. Anderson returned for three overs before tea and had Harry Brook dropped on 30 by Wood at square leg. It proved a vital miss. Shortly after tea, Brook reached his seventh half-century in eight first-class innings this season. In the evening session he watched from the other end as Harry Duke was brilliantly caught by Luke Wells at slip and Dom Bess was snaffled by Jennings at short leg. Both these wickets were taken by Matt Parkinson, for whom this was an excellent all-round match.But Brook is quite clearly a young batsman of high calibre. When the draw was agreed with seven overs left to be bowled, he was unbeaten on 82 and his aggregate for the season is currently 758 at an average of 151.6. But what one notices is the time he has in which to play his shots and the ease with which he does so. There is, surely, every chance that he will play his first Test against New Zealand. James Anderson, meanwhile, will be playing his 170th. The England cap will be back where it belongs.

Howell stars for Gloucestershire with bat and ball, but visitors are out-muscled

ECB Reporters Network17-Jun-2022Somerset 184 for 6 (Gregory 60, Rossouw 54) beat Gloucestershire 177 for 8 (Higgins 43, Howell 42, Siddle 3-30) by seven runs Rapid half-centuries from Rilee Rossouw and Lewis Gregory paved the way for Somerset to clinch a Vitality Blast double over arch-rivals Gloucestershire with a seven-run win at a packed Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.On a sweltering evening, the hosts recovered from a slow start to run up 184 for six, Rossouw smacking 54 off 45 balls, with three sixes and five fours, while Gregory hammered 60 from 36 deliveries, clearing the ropes five times.Mohammad Amir (two for 25) and Benny Howell (two for 31) were the pick of the bowlers for Gloucestershire, who made a promising start in reply, but were eventually restricted to 177 for eight.Ryan Higgins hit 43 and Howell 42, but the visitors lost their way in mid-innings. Peter Siddle claimed three for 30 and Roelof van der Merwe one for 31All the talk before the game was about 200 being a par score on a white-looking pitch. But it gripped slightly to give the bowlers on both sides hope.Somerset soon found that to their cost as Will Smeed swung at the first two deliveries of the game from Amir without making contact and edged the third to slip.The Pakistan left-arm seamer went on to complete a wicket-maiden and far from making a fast start, the home side were becalmed on four for one at the end of the third over.Tom Banton and Rossouw than upped the pace, only for Banton to fall for 23 in the sixth over, bowled by Glenn Phillips, which ended with Somerset 43 for two.Tom Abell offered a tame caught and bowled to Howell, who bowled with typically clever variation of pace, line and length.Tom Lammonby fell to an ugly shot off Zak Chappell and at the halfway point of their innings his side had posted only 69 for four.Rossouw cut loose with two sixes and a four off Higgins in going to a 33-ball fifty. But when he fell to Howell in the 13th over, Somerset needed a hero.They found one in Gregory, fresh from a confidence-boosting LV= Insurance County Championship century against Surrey. The all-rounder cleared the ropes off Tom Smith, Chappell, Howell and Matt Taylor, whose 19th over cost 23, to boost what was looking a below-par score.The highlight of Gloucestershire’s fielding was stunning one-handed boundary catch by Miles Hammond to dismiss Ben Green.Hammond soon signalled his side’s intentions with the bat, hoisting the first ball of their reply from Siddle over mid-wicket for six.Somerset appeared to have learned little about the left-handed opener’s relish for scoring in that area from the reverse fixture eight days earlier and soon he was finding it again for another six off Gregory.Ultimately, it proved Hammond’s downfall as, on 19, he miscued a catch to wicketkeeper Banton off Jack Brooks. But by then Gloucestershire had raced to 33 off 3.1 overs.At the end of the six-over powerplay, the visitors had 51 for one on the board and looked well-placed.But Somerset then applied the sort of mid-innings squeeze their opponents have been so effective at over the years, spinners van der Merwe and Goldsworthy sharing six overs for just 42 runs.James Bracey (30), Glenn Phillips, Ian Cockbain and Jack Taylor all fell between the eighth and 13th over, the last of them to a one-handed boundary catch by Rossouw at long-on that rivalled Hammond’s take.Higgins and Howell briefly raised Gloucestershire hopes, the latter hitting sixes off successive balls from Green, before Siddle’s experience saw him effectively close out the match by taking three wickets in the 19th over.

“We had the choice of taking a risk and sending him in [to open], but I was not okay with it”

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-20221:54

Hardik Pandya: ‘I always fancy my chances no matter the situation ‘

When India began their chase of 109 in the first T20I against Ireland in Malahide, they sent out Deepak Hooda, rather than the regular opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, to start their innings alongside Ishan Kishan. It seemed at the time to be a tactical decision, with the freer-scoring Hooda preferred in a game shortened by rain to 12 overs a side. It emerged later, however, that Gaikwad didn’t bat because he had picked up a calf niggle.”Rutu had a niggle in his calf,” India captain Hardik Pandya said in his post-match press conference. “We had the choice of taking a risk and sending him in [to open], but I was not okay with it. A player’s well-being is more important, and [I thought] we’ll be able to manage what happens in the match.”It was quite simple after that, there wasn’t much of a decision to make; whatever our [batting-order] numbers were, we all went up one spot, and it wasn’t a big headache. We wanted to make sure we weren’t taking any chances with Rutu.”The chance to open proved a good opportunity for Hooda to showcase his skills, having been on the bench through the entirety of the recently concluded five-match T20I series against South Africa. Hooda top-scored for India with an unbeaten 47 off 29 balls as they romped to a seven-wicket win with 16 balls to spare.Hooda wasn’t the only unused player from the South Africa series to get a chance here. Umran Malik received his first India cap, an event that generated considerable buzz between the toss and the delayed start of the game. As it turned out, however, he only got to bowl one over in the shortened game, and gave away a four and a six to Ireland’s top-scorer Harry Tector.It was too brief an appearance to draw any conclusions from, and Hardik had words of encouragement for the fast bowler.”When you play for India for the first time, and the journey he has taken, it’s important to give such a bowler and such a talent time,” he said. “Whether it was a good day or a bad day is irrelevant. For him, just to play for India is itself a very big thing, and that is something which I’m very happy for, [irrespective] of how the result went, good or bad, it’s okay.”It’s part and parcel of the game, but at the same point of time, from here he’ll only get better, the more matches he plays, and it’s a big thing for him to play for India, for anyone to play for India. I want to let him enjoy this moment because it doesn’t come every time. A debut happens only once.”Hardik had a generous word for Tector too, and even revealed that he’d given him one of his bats, when asked if the Ireland No. 4’s unbeaten 64 off 33 balls hinted at a future in the IPL.”He played some fantastic shots, and obviously, he’s 22, I’ve given him a bat as well, so maybe he can score some more sixes and maybe get an IPL contract, and I wish him luck,” Hardik said. “Just look after him well, give him the right guidance. It’s not always about cricket; it’s about understanding your whole lifestyle and what is at stake. If you can manage that, I’m sure he’s going to be around – not just in IPL, in all the leagues in the world.”

Ties still required for MCC members despite anticipated 40-degree heat

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2022The ECB have altered the County Championship’s playing conditions for the opening day of this week’s fixtures in anticipation of the hottest day on record in the UK, with forecast temperatures of up to 41C (106F).Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire both confirmed on Monday that they would make use of the changes and cut the length of each session by half an hour in order to avoid the extreme temperatures expected on Tuesday evening.Other counties will consider making use of the ECB’s provisions, which will see the scheduled close of play brought forward to 4.30pm local time, but both teams must agree to the optional change.Related

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“The hours of play on Tuesday may be shortened to 3 x 90-minute sessions, a reduction of 30 minutes in each session,” the ECB told the counties. “Lunch and tea intervals will be of the usual length meaning that the scheduled close of play would be 1630, thus avoiding the heat that is predicted at the end of the day.”The time not played on Tuesday as a consequence will be caught up by adding 30 minutes to each of Days 2, 3 and 4 with sessions of 2¼, 2¼, 2 hours. Please note that the playing conditions regarding making up of time/time carried forward are not altered and will be applied as normal.”Gloucestershire said they had made the decision “in unison” with their opponents Hampshire “in the interest of spectator and player welfare, to allow everyone in attendance to avoid the extreme heat that is expected towards the end of the day.”Northants said in a statement that tickets for the first day of their fixture against Lancashire would also be valid for the second, and reminded fans “of the importance of staying hydrated and taking appropriate action to protect themselves from the sun”.MCC members will still need to wear ties at Lord’s•Ben Radford/Getty Images

Middlesex confirmed they would not shift the timings of their game against Sussex, though the MCC have loosened the pavilion dress code by removing the stipulation that members must wear a jacket – though they still need to wear ties and formal trousers.”The players are happy to just get on with normal playing hours,” Richard Johnson, Middlesex’s coach, said. “Most of them have been abroad and played in this sort of weather before so are happy to just keep it regulation.”Mickey Arthur, Derbyshire’s coach, said: “There’s an England Lions tour to Sri Lanka next year. If you think this is hot, wait until you see what Sri Lanka’s going to dish up for you. Our boys have to be able to handle the conditions. Hopefully we’ll win the toss and bat, but you never know.”The women’s ODI between England and South Africa on Monday included additional drinks breaks, while the ECB are not anticipating any changes to the playing conditions for Tuesday’s men’s ODI between the same teams.

Ashen Bandara impressed for SLC Blues but their total never looked like being enough

Madushka Balasuriya15-Aug-2022An unbeaten 56 from Kusal Mendis anchored a relatively straightforward chase as SLC Reds secured a seven-wicket victory over SLC Blues to win the SLC Invitational T20 League.The tournament was organised at the eleventh hour, as the economic crisis enveloping Sri Lanka had forced the postponement of the Lanka Premier League. The idea was to allow fringe players to catch the eye of selectors ahead of the Asia Cup, and for those already in the national fold to cement their places.And for Reds, it was the national team stalwarts that produced the goods on the big occasion.Chasing down a modest target of 137, Reds barely broke a sweat, stitching partnerships together with ease, with Reds skipper Mendis a mainstay in each of them. The first was a 49-run opening stand with Lasith Croospulle, followed by partnerships of 19, 33 and 36, with Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Kamindu Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga respectively.It was Hasaranga’s 14-ball 24-run cameo in the end that brought proceedings to a brisk close, as he walloped four boundaries in his brief stint, two of which came in what turned out to be the final over of the game.Praveen Jayawickrama was the pick of an otherwise ineffective Blues attack, picking up figures of 2 for 34.Credit, however, must go to Mendis, who blunted the rest of the attack with timely boundaries and was then content to turn over the strike, with scoreboard pressure a non-issue. His 56 came off 45 deliveries, and included four boundaries and a six. It was a mature knock, and one slightly more circumspect than his blistering 86 in the previous match – also against Blues.It meant that Reds would remain in control of proceedings for nearly the entirety of the game, with their bowlers having earlier put in a solid performance to throttle Blues’ batters.Maheesh Theekshana and the in-form Asitha Fernando picked up two wickets each, while Dunith Wellalage and Lahiru Madushanka grabbed one apiece. It was Theekshana who proved to be the proverbial battering ram, once again striking inside the powerplay in what is fast becoming his forte.He struck off the last ball of his second over, the third of the game, trapping Lahiru Samarakoon lbw, before completing a sensational return catch at the start of his next over to dismiss a dangerous-looking Sadeera Samarawickrama. This put him on a hat-trick, but while that feat was not meant to be he saw to it that his side started off on the front foot – an advantage they would scarcely look like surrendering as the match wore on.Matheesha Pathirana and, surprisingly, Hasaranga went wicketless, though the latter was miserly, giving away 24 in his four overs. Indeed, all the bowlers employed by Reds proved largely economical, with only Pathirana on the expensive side going for 20 runs in his two overs.For Blues it was Lahiru Udara, the wicketkeeper-batter opening the innings, skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Ashen Bandara – not for the first time this tournament – at No. 5, who managed to put up any sort of resistance, scoring 37, 25 and 40 respectively.Udara put on a 39-run stand with Dhananjaya following the early losses of Samarakoon and Samarawickrama. The partnership was just beginning to look threatening, with Dhananjaya in particular starting to find the boundaries, when he was stumped off Dunith Wellalage.Blues’ worries were compounded when Udara fell shortly after, but Bandara took over, tacking together a 42-run partnership with Janith Liyanage. Liyanage would account for just 12 of those runs, as Bandara took charge, striking four boundaries in his 30-ball effort.Bandara, the spritely 23-year-old, would remain unbeaten, striking a boundary in each of the final three overs of the innings, but a lack of support at the other end meant only one outcome was ever likely.

Freya Davies and Amelia Kerr chip away to set up straightforward run chase

ECB Reporters Network24-Aug-2022Freya Davies and Amelia Kerr starred with the ball as London Spirit broke their duck at the fourth attempt in this year’s Hundred with an emphatic eight-wicket victory over still-winless Welsh Fire.England quick Davies struck twice in two balls on her way to figures of 3 for 25, while New Zealand legspinner Kerr took the crucial wickets of Sarah Bryce and Nicola Carey in a miserly spell of 2 for 14 to restrict Fire to a below-par 119.Australian legend Beth Mooney made light of the chase, finishing unbeaten on 61 after sharing an opening stand of 66 with pinch-hitter Danielle Gibson as Spirit got home with 14 balls to spare.Having failed to chase down a score in their three previous matches Fire understandably chose to bat on winning the toss, but their innings followed a familiar pattern.Bryce, promoted to fill the shoes of Hayley Matthews, who had departed to the Caribbean Premier League, gave early impetus, latching onto some short pitch bowling from Spirit to score boundaries either side of the wicket and despatching a full toss from the otherwise impressive Kerr over the ropes for the only six off the innings.Freya Davies removed Tammy Beaumont and Annabel Sutherland off successive deliveries•ECB/Getty Images

Skipper Tammy Beaumont too flourished briefly in an opening stand of 46 before missing a straight one from Davies which flattened her middle stump. Davies then made it two in two with a peach of an inswinger which castled Annabel Sutherland.Spinners Grace Scrivens and Kerr tightened Spirit’s grip by attacking the stumps and pressure told when Bryce lofted the latter to long-on to end an enterprising knock. Thereafter only Carey broke the shackles, taking three fours off one set from Gibson, but Kerr returned to have her stumped by Mooney.Their total of 119 looked light and Gibson, opening for the first time in the tournament, set about the chase with relish with some brutal hitting, including hoisting Carey for a glorious straight six.Related

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An ugly tennis shot to a short ball from Sutherland looked to have ended the fun on 24, but Fire’s luck was out as a no-ball was called. Gibson celebrated the reprieve by thrashing one from Alex Hartley to the long-off boundary to raise the 50 stand.Mooney had played second fiddle to this juncture, but joined in the fun with a lofted drive over cover, before a cut shot bisected two fielders to the fence at third. By the time a repeat of the tennis shot proved Gibson’s undoing, Spirit had 66 on the board and needed just a run a ball.Sophie Luff, who might have been run out for nought, didn’t stay long, but Mooney reached 50 with her ninth four as the hosts cantered home.