All posts by n8rngtd.top

Somerset left out two promising young bowlers and took a pounding against Brendon Taylor at Taunton as Nottinghamshire took command

Andrew Miller at Taunton14-Jun-2015
ScorecardBrendon Taylor made 152 to steers Notts’ day•Getty Images

For much of the afternoon at Taunton, Lewis Gregory, Somerset’s highly rated 23-year-old seam bowler, cut a bemused figure in the Twenty20 dug-out at midwicket. Out in the middle, his elders and – in the opinion of his coach, Matthew Maynard – betters, were chugging through the motions on a track so placid it might as well have been a cliché.It was No County for Old Men at the County Ground. Alfonso Thomas, in his 39th year, was the pick of a toiling attack with 4 for 57, three of which came after Nottinghamshire, powered by a brilliant, chanceless 152 from Brendan Taylor, had rocketed past 300; Tim Groenewald, the youngest of Somerset’s six bowlers at the age of 31, was flogged for 84 runs in 18 overs.Gregory claimed he no idea why he was not playing in this fixture. Maynard later confirmed he was paying the price for a profligate display up at Durham last week, where did admittedly leak runs in bowler-friendly conditions.”You can only learn from playing,” Maynard said, somewhat confusingly, “but also you need to take time out to reflect on what you have to do to put it right for the next time.”While Gregory reflected, so too did his 21-year-old team-mate Jamie Overton, both of whom looked considerably sharper than any of Somerset’s preferred options while being put through their paces in a lunchtime net on the outfield.Jamie’s motivation for putting in the sort of performance that Somerset so desperately need would presumably have been at an all-time high this week, seeing as his twin brother, rival, and greatest source of inspiration, Craig, has just been called up to the England squad. Instead, he is being sent to play for the seconds in two Twenty20 games this week, because Maynard feels his team is no position to gamble on such youthful impetuosity.”That’s what we did up at Durham and it cost us,” he said. “We didn’t have that experience to control the game when it was needed. There will be plenty of opportunities for all the youngsters but I am still trying to find out what my best five seam bowlers are, and that’s developing more and more which is great.”Somerset’s best moment of the day was, in fairness to their veterans’ policy, produced by the most senior professional on parade – and it brought to an end the day’s outstanding innings. Taylor had just crashed his 20th four of the day to reach his 150 from 199 balls when Marcus Trescothick, 40 this Christmas, pulled off an outstanding one-handed pluck at a solitary wide slip, low to his left and fractionally behind him, to cling onto Taylor’s first false stroke of the day.According to some reports, Taylor had been earning 30p a run before, at the age of 29, ending his brilliant but all-too-brief career as Zimbabwe captain on a high note at the World Cup. That’ll be an invoice for £45.60 waiting in Lisa Pursehouse’s in-box on Monday morning then.It was a brilliant display from a batsman in the prime of his form. He added 82 for the first wicket with Steven Mullaney, who set the early tempo with 42 from 60 balls and was visibly aghast to be bowled neck and crop by Abdur Rehman as he reached forward but down the wrong line. It was clear from the ease of the wicket and the pace of the outfield that he had foregone the chance for a monster.Frighteningly for Somerset, they weren’t even up against a full-strength Nottinghamshire team. What Alex Hales would have made of the chance to bat first on this track and against this attack can only be the stuff of speculation, and if he hadn’t come off, then James Taylor surely would.Instead, after Greg Smith had come and gone cheaply, shouldering arms to Thomas for 11, it was left to Michael Lumb to provide Taylor with company, as he marked his first red-ball innings since last September with 73 from 133 balls, including 12 fours and sharing in a third-wicket stand of 155 that, for as long as it lasted, looked certain to take Nottinghamshire closer to 450 than 400.Thomas can take the credit for reining them in – he was even on a hat-trick when Samit Patel fell lbw first ball – but little else went Somerset’s way on a sobering day. A generation that, for five almost-glorious years, could justifiably claim to be the second-best team in the country are now, simply, second-best. Now, what about that youth policy?

International cricket returned to the North West of Ireland for the first time in eleven years on Thursday but the hosts were unable to deliver the result, or performance, the locals had waited for so long to see

Ryan Bailey18-Jun-2015
ScorecardMatthew Cross, seen here for Nottinghamshire, brought Scotland home•PA Photos

International cricket returned to the North West of Ireland for the first time in eleven years on Thursday but the hosts were unable to deliver the result, or performance, the locals had waited for so long to see. Cricket is like a second religion in this part of the world but fans left the picturesque ground in Bready feeling underwhelmed having watched a Scottish side dismantle Ireland with worrying ease.If John Bracewell – the new Ireland head coach – wasn’t fully aware of the task that lies ahead, this will have served as a revealing exercise as those given the opportunity to stake a claim were unable to grasp it. With the core of their side unavailable due to county commitments, Ireland lacked coherence – with both bat and ball – and save for a promising debut performance from David Rankin, the younger brother of Boyd, on his home ground, there were very little positives to take.For their part, this was the perfect start to a busy, and important, six weeks in the shortest format for Scotland as they strolled to a six-wicket victory with plenty to spare. A disciplined bowling performance laid the foundations for a convincing, and clinical, win which will give Grant Bradburn and his players great heart heading into the remainder of this three-game series, which has been designed as a warm-up for the forthcoming World T20 Qualifiers.Matthew Cross scored a fluent half-century, including eleven boundaries, to underpin a leisurely run chase after Scotland’s bowlers had operated with great discipline and control. Tyrone Kane, another Irish debutant, took three wickets in his first over of international cricket but Scotland had done all the hard work to ensure there was to be no late blip.In the space of six balls, Kane showed his team-mates how to bowl on a slow surface. Far too often, Max Sorensen, Craig Young and Graeme McCarter bowled short and wide, allowing Cross to free his arms and reduce the rate with each passing boundary. With Tim Murtagh recently retiring from T20, Ireland’s options with the ball are becoming increasingly threadbare. How Bracewell would dearly love to have another Rankin at his disposal.Richie Berrington and Craig Wallace combined to take the sting out of any Irish fightback with a destructive partnership of 56, from just 32 balls, to see their side over the line.The game was preceded by a minute’s silence as a mark of respect for the six Irish students who tragically lost their lives in Berkeley, California on Tuesday and Ireland’s performance was similarly subdued.Kevin O’Brien had little hesitation in batting first but a much-changed Ireland top-order was suffocated as regular wickets checked the hosts’ progress. Once again, the gulf between domestic and international cricket was demonstrated. Stuart Poynter, the young Durham wicket-keeper batsman, has yet to provide convincing evidence to suggest he’s worthy of the attention while his older brother, Andrew, played a rash shot early in his innings.They will have a shot at redemption when the sides return on Friday evening but the arrival of George Dockrell and Andrew Balbirnie is a reminder that those hoping to impress have limited time to do so.

R Ashwin has said that India’s previous tour of Australia in 2014-15 was a “coming of age” series for him as a spinner

Gaurav Kalra and Arun Venugopal16-Jul-20154:56

I will soon start winning games abroad – Ashwin

R Ashwin has said that India’s previous tour of Australia in 2014-15 was a “coming of age” series for him as a spinner. Although Ashwin’s 12 wickets in the three Tests he played in the four-match series cost him 48.66 runs apiece, he told ESPNcricinfo in Chennai that he was satisifed with how he bowled in conditions that provided little assistance to spinners.”To say it [performance overseas] will get better by the time I’m done, is not how I look at this game,” Ashwin said. “I think I came of age when I played in Australia this time. More than anything else, I think I created a lot of wicket-taking opportunities and put a lot of pressure on the batsman.”To bowl 30 overs in a day in Australia is a really commendable effort for a spinner in my knowledge. Over the last year, my bowling has come a long way. If you asked me, would you take 25 wickets more or how you are bowling right now, I would say I will take how I am bowling right now because I know the wickets are round the corner.”Since his Test debut in 2011, Ashwin’s record in the sub-continent has been far superior to his performances overseas. While he has 100 wickets from 16 Tests in Asia at an average of 23.87, his returns of 24 wickets in nine games outside Asia at 56.58 is considerably less impressive. Ashwin isn’t too perturbed by the numbers, insisting that consistently good bowling on foreign surfaces will translate into better figures eventually.”I might end up getting six wickets in Australia one day and I might say that is where I wanted to be,” he said. “I played a Test match in South Africa and played a couple in England. If I play a test in India, I might end up picking five wickets immediately but it might happen in the third or fourth test in England or South Africa. It hasn’t happened but might happen soon.”Ashwin said he wanted to take more responsibility for the team’s performance overseas. He spoke of the period after the Wanderers Test in 2013 where he went wicketless in South Africa’s second innings as one that was necessary for his development.”Maybe that is what was needed for me to become a better bowler. I firmly believe that was fate because until then I had played 18 Test matches without a lot of bad games.”I hadn’t gone wicketless in any game before that except once in Sydney [in 2012]. Immediately after that, I got dropped for a Test match. So when these things happen, I don’t look back at it and say I was unlucky. I keep telling everybody, including my wife, that take the harder option because you never have to question yourself later on.”When you go abroad, if everybody plays [their] role to perfection, the role of a spinner is much easier. Having said that, I should take greater responsibility on myself. I want to emulate a lot of things that the past greats have done. I’d be happier if I had won more games for India.”Ashwin was described as “priceless” by India’s new Test captain Virat Kohli after the recent Test in Bangladesh where he claimed 5 for 87 in the first-innings of a rain-affected game. Ashwin was equally appreciative of Kohli, saying there were parallels in their approach to the game.”Whichever team I’ve turned up for, I’ve always wanted to contribute and be the prime performer. To a degree, Virat is very similar and I love that character of his because we both go about our business in a very different manner.”He is very aggressive, upfront and on the face. I don’t quite do that but I still want to take the centrestage. If he is the batsman doing it for India, I want to be the bowler that does it for India. The one driving factor that is common to us is that we want to keep improving and we don’t want to sit on laurels. I really admire that aspect of his which I don’t think is very common.”Ashwin was philosophical, and even fatalistic, while speaking of his flair for leadership. Asked if he would like to captain the national side in the future he said, “If you would have asked me two or three years ago, I would have said yes like any vibrant youngster. There are a lot of occupational hazards. I wouldn’t say that’s a priority because it is not in my hands. Somebody has to identify something in me to hand over such a big responsibility. I led Tamil Nadu when I was 20. That really put me on the map when it came to playing for India.”I was really confident of myself as a leader but I think that leadership is something that needs to be identified and I need to be entrusted with it. As of now, I’m only getting better as a player and a person every day. If it has to happen, it will happen. I think it is a matter of fate.”Ashwin’s next assignment will be India’s forthcoming series in Sri Lanka in August. He doesn’t expect the pitches to be as spin-friendly as many do but on the back of encouraging recent form, he isn’t too concerned.”The wickets are much truer and have something for the fast bowlers. It is not easy but we have to go there and acclimatise and play some good cricket as Sri Lanka is going to be a very tricky destination.”The way I bowled in Bangladesh is where I would like to be all through my career, however long I continue to play. If I can replicate what I did in Bangladesh, it should not matter a great deal.”

Faf du Plessis, South Africa’s T20 captain, has said that he is excited by the prospect of AB de Villiers keeping and opening the innings in the shortest format

Firdose Moonda13-Aug-20153:22

We’ll stick with AB at the top – Du Plessis

Can he? Can’t he? Will he? Won’t he? Should he? Shouldn’t he? Does he want to? Doesn’t he want to? Does it even matter what he wants?AB de Villiers and his wicketkeeping gloves are back for another season. A quick refresher: De Villiers will keep wickets and open the batting for the T20 side from now until next year’s World T20. He will not captain the T20 side. He will not keep wickets or open the batting in the one-day side, which he will also captain. He will not keep wickets, captain nor open the batting in the Test side. Got it?About five years back, de Villiers stoically refused to keep because he wanted to be the best batsmen in the world. He then heroically accepted the gloves in shorter formats when Mark Boucher was dropped, and later also in Tests when Boucher’s career ended. De Villiers also took on the captaincy in the shorter formats, which eventually became too much to handle when coupled with the responsibility of keeping.De Villiers can do anything on a sports field, and there was a time when it was thought he could do everything as well. But those things are different. Anything can be done in isolation, everything has to be done all at once and sometimes, even some who can do anything, cannot do everything. Both de Villiers and South Africa learnt that the hard way.A chronic back issue means de Villiers cannot both keep and be the pivot of the batting line-up in all formats, so there has had to be a compromise. Besides captaining, de Villiers will do it all in the format which gives South Africa their next opportunity to win a major trophy, something they will do anything to get.”Deciding to put AB at the top was a conscious change we made leading up to the World T20,” Faf du Plessis, who will captain in the T20s explained. That makes sense because, as du Plessis said, “the best time to bat is in those first couple of overs and you want to give your most explosive, best players a crack at getting in early and scoring runs.”The decision to have de Villiers keep was unexpected, and came as a result of Quinton de Kock being dropped. It also required some convincing. “That’s the benefit of being best friends with someone – you can tweak things a little more,” du Plessis joked. “To be honest, keeping wicket is something he does’t really want to do; it’s not on his priority list and it does affect him on his back.”But having de Villiers keep “solves a lot of problems for us,” du Plessis said, because it means he can slot in to replace de Kock without South Africa changing the rest of the line-up. They can have de Villiers as the new de Kock with Amla at the top, and have made room for an extra player in the middle order. That’s the way they are going to go about this T20 series and probably, at the World T20.

“That’s something we will stick with even though the conditions may say otherwise. In Durban, with a bit more grass, your cricket brain tells you you should keep AB back because the ball will move around a little bit and there is potential for him getting out early but it’s not about this, its about the bigger picture. He needs to get used to batting in that new role,” du Plessis said. “We’ve got Hash back to slot in at the top there and I think that’s a good combination.; they complement each other really well.”Where does that leave the other opening-batsman-gloveman South Africa picked for these matches, Morne van Wyk?”Morne is our back-up keeper,” du Plessis said. Despite scoring a century the last time he played a T20 international and being a like-for-like replacement for de Kock, van Wyk will likely carry drinks in T20 cricket because it appears South Africa do not see him as a World T20 candidate. “It’s important to give AB some opportunity at the top. He is a fantastic player but he is also human and he wants to get practice in the new role. If Morne does not keep it makes it quite tough for him to make the team at the moment.”Van Wyk may get a chance to play in de Kock’s place in the ODIs next week, when de Villiers will return to the middle order and as captain.”The only format we will see AB keeping in is T20 cricket – one-day cricket is just too much for him from a captaincy point of view,” du Plessis said. “He likes being next to the bowlers and controlling the game. If he was keeping, he is too far away.”Also, his body is quite important, we need AB to play for as long as possible so in saying that, Test cricket and one-day cricket, it’s going to be tough for him to keep. It would be great if he could but to get longevity out of AB its important that he doesn’t. It’s nice because we’ve got possibilities there for the T20s and it will only be something until the World Cup, not after that.”After all that, you may think du Plessis’ main concern for his best friend would be how he will keep himself from getting confused about what he can, can’t, should or shouldn’t want to do but all du Plessis wishes is that de Villiers gets some good sleep.”He has got his baby with him on tour so now it’s just about making sure he gets some sleep – that’s quite important for us.”

Gloucestershire claimed their first limited-overs trophy in more than a decade after tightening like a vice during the last third of Surrey’s innings to suffocate the run chase and triumph in a thrilling finish

The Report by Alan Gardner at Lord's19-Sep-2015
ScorecardJack Taylor was Man of the Match after scoring 35 of 26 balls and taking three wickets•Getty Images

Gloucestershire claimed their first limited-overs trophy in more than a decade after tightening like a vice during the last third of Surrey’s innings to suffocate the run chase and triumph in a thrilling finish. After losing their talisman, captain Michael Klinger, to the third ball of the match and then being cleaned up for 220 by Jade Dernbach’s hat-trick, this was a remarkable triumph from a Gloucestershire side who refused to give in against seemingly mighty opposition.When Kumar Sangakkara and Rory Burns were compiling a century stand for the third wicket, there was little to trouble Surrey, but spinners Jack Taylor and Tom Smith sparked a dramatic comeback as the shadows lengthened at Lord’s. Only Sam Curran, the youngest player on the pitch in only his seventh List A innings, seemed to possess the required nerve but his poise cruelly deserted him at the end.It came down to seven runs being required off the final over with two wickets standing, after James Burke was run out from the final ball of the penultimate over as Curran tried to steal a single to mid-on. But Curran fell to the next delivery, attempting to hit David Payne over long-on and picking out the fielder.Dernbach, whose 6 for 35 were the third-best figures in a Lord’s final, could only watch from the other end as Gareth Batty then pulled the ball to deep square leg without adding to the total to confirm Gloucestershire’s victory with three deliveries remaining.Fittingly it was Taylor who took the catch. The offspinner, who finished with 3 for 43, also struck a vital 35 from 26 balls in Gloucestershire’s innings to be named Man of the Match.At 143 for 2, Surrey looked as if they would ease to victory, only for Taylor and Smith to turn the screw. The asking rate hovered around a run a ball throughout the last ten overs but wickets fell regularly: Gary Wilson caught at midwicket, Azhar Mahmood stumped, Tom Curran lbw attempting a reverse-sweep – to a ball that may well have missed leg stump.Gloucestershire, playing their first Lord’s final in over a decade, came into the match as underdogs and many feared what would become of them if Klinger failed. Those fears were sharpened when Klinger was dismissed for a duck in Dernbach’s opening over and Gloucestershire required a dogged fifty from another veteran in Geraint Jones, playing in his final match before retirement, to drag them towards respectability.It was hardly an imposing total against a Surrey batting order that has been rampant in this competition, their top three of Jason Roy, Steven Davies and Sangakkara behind only Klinger in the run-scoring list. James Fuller’s hugely impressive opening spell accounted for Roy and Davies but Sangakkara did not offer a chance until mis-hitting a Taylor full toss to mid-on with 78 still needed.On a slow pitch and with what seemed like a majority of the crowd urging them on, Gloucestershire kept themselves in the contest by strangling the scoring. The required rate rose from less than five at the start of the 35th over, before Sangakkara’s dismissal, to more than six as Taylor and Smith wheeled away.It should have been a day to savour for Dernbach – recently described by his captain as “the most complete seamer in England in one-day cricket” – as he became the third man to a hat-trick in a Lord’s final, emulating James Averis and Ken Higgs. After the darkness of 2012, when the death of Tom Maynard had a devastating effect on Dernbach and several of his team-mates, this would have been a cathartic victory.Dernbach’s final wicket came courtesy of an extremely poor umpiring decision but the yorker to clean up Jones after he had reached a 64-ball fifty was a brutally effective piece of death bowling. Craig Miles then inside-edged a drive through to Wilson before umpire Rob Bailey gave last man Payne out lbw after he was hit on the body ducking into a full toss – though replays suggested the ball was missing leg stump by some distance.The 40-year-old Mahmood, only in the side as a seasoned replacement for the injured Zafar Ansari and playing his first List A game in over a year, returned immaculate figures of 2 for 28 from ten overs as Surrey took charge. Gloucestershire only managed one fifty partnership and might have struggled to get past 200 but for the efforts of No. 9 Taylor, which included consecutive leg-side sixes off Tom Curran in the 45th over.Surrey had batted first in every one of their previous Royal London Cup matches this season, winning eight out of nine but this time Batty decided to chase. Maybe it was a psychological ploy: get Klinger in and have a go at him early. The sun was shining and the skies were clear in north London, which is not often the case this late in the season, but still Batty chose to insert on winning the toss. Klinger, the leading run-scorer in the competition and the man many felt was Gloucestershire’s best – even – chance of winning, was offered centre stage.A Lord’s final was once a prime opportunity to persuade the England selectors of a player’s case. Klinger, into his 36th year, still hopes to catch Australia’s attention but this was not to be his moment: attempting to impose himself against Dernbach, he was caught behind forcing a cut. The time it took for Nick Cook’s finger to go up was enough for Gloucestershire hearts to sink into their boots.Surrey had carried out their hit while barely getting their hands dirty; Gloucestershire sensed the wall at their backs already. It seemed like a mortal blow.Victory would be all the sweeter for the manner in which it came but the recovery was slow. Gareth Roderick and Chris Dent put on 40 for the second wicket, the latter dropped when Sam Curran grassed a catch off his own bowling.Dent was on 13 at the time but looked in good touch, only to drill Dernbach straight to mid-off for 22 off 20. Hamish Marshall, one of only two Gloucestershire players with international experience, was next to fall, stumped off a leg-side wide from Batty. His first ball had disappeared down to fine leg for five wides but, an over later, Marshall walked past a similarly errant delivery, beaten by some turn, and Wilson completed a smart bit of work.Mahmood then reeled off ten overs of wicket-to-wicket thriftiness, only slightly blemished when Jones clouted a slower ball beyond the ropes. Benny Howell was bowled through the gate and Roderick played on but Tom Smith combined with Jones to add 52 for the sixth wicket. Taylor then added further impetus but, with 250 still a possibility, he carved a Dernbach full toss to backward point.Gloucestershire needed early wickets and Fuller, bowling in the high 80s mph and making use of a short leg, provided hope by removing both openers inside 12 overs. Roy toe-ended an aggressive swipe to cover while Davies seemed beaten for pace by one that reared back into him and could only play on. Gloucestershire believed but it was much, later until everyone else did.