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Rob Keogh’s 9 for 52 – one of the best performances in Northants history – and Ben Duckett’s 185 from 159 balls put Northamptonshire in complete control after day two against Glamorgan at Wantage Road

ECB Reporters Network01-Sep-2016
ScorecardRob Keogh will be signing more autographs after his eye-catching feat•Getty Images

Rob Keogh’s 9 for 52 and Ben Duckett’s 185 from 159 balls put Northamptonshire in complete control after day two against Glamorgan at Wantage Road. The home side declared their second innings 305 for 7 leaving Glamorgan 451 to win and they survived three overs to the close without score.The day turned remarkably after Rob Keogh’s morning spell – his 9 for 52 was the sixth-best return in Northamptonshire’s history – helped bowl Glamorgan out for just 124 in the morning session.”Three-for was my best before so it wasn’t expected but it’s spinning, we saw their young bowler spin a couple and we were saying if he can get wickets, we must have a chance too,” Keogh said. “It’s been coming out really nicely this year, I’ve been bowling pretty well but I haven’t had much luck but together it came together.”With the ball spitting out of rough outside the right handers’ off stump from the Wilson End, it appeared the game would move on very quickly after Glamorgan lasted only one session on the second day. But Duckett was seemingly playing on a different wicket as Northants looked to build on a first-innings lead of 145.He slapped seven fours and two sixes – the second a graceful lofted drive off Owen Morgan – to race to fifty in just 30 balls. His second fifty was more sedate but a glorious extra-cover drive off Michael Hogan and a steered pull against Tim van der Gugten, raised a century in 81 balls and then past a thousand Championship runs for the summer for the first time – the first Northants batsman to achieve the feat since Stephen Peters in 2010.Duckett went on to post his third best first-class score. Taking three consecutive boundaries from Graham Wagg – bowling his left-arm spin – with sweeps either side of deep midwicket. But trying to loft van der Gugten down the ground, he found Michael Hogan at mid-on. His season strike-rate (from all the cricket he has played) stands at 99.42It ended the second fabulous performance of the day after Keogh’s exploits in the first session. His return was the seventh instance of a nine-wicket innings haul for Northants and the best figures for the county against Glamorgan.Finding significant help outside the right-handers’ off stump from the Wilson End – from where Kiran Carlson took four of his 5 for 28 on day one – Keogh floated Glamorgan to destruction. Genuine dismissals were mixed in with poor strokes as the visitors found no way to overcome the off spinner.Keogh struck in the fourth over of the morning with Nick Selman sharply held at short leg by Saif Zaib. Will Bragg followed lbw to Keogh’s arm ball. David Lloyd tried to be positive and use his feet but found a sharply turning ball beat his off drive.Then followed two naive sweeps from out of the rough by Anuerin Donald and Carlson – both caught by Chad Barrett at backward square-leg. Graham Wagg advanced to both his deliveries – the second of which he wasn’t to the pitch off and gloved a catch to short leg.At that stage, Keogh had 6 for 25. But any dreams of just the second 10-wicket haul for Northamptonshire were dashed as Graeme White found turn into the left-handed Jacques Rudolph, whose composed innings of 37 came to an end with a catch at leg slip. But Keogh cleaned up the tail to complete a nine-for and put Northants firmly in control of the match.

ESPNcricinfo looks at all the talking points about scheduling, non-availability of players, and more which are yet to be addressed with less than two weeks to go for the domestic season

Shashank Kishore10-Aug-2016The announcement of BCCI’s upcoming season, which includes a record 13 home Tests, with much fanfare in June exuded a sense of optimism in their planning. That the Duleep Trophy, shelved in 2015-16 owing to a busy international calendar, was set to be reintroduced in a new avatar in the pink-ball format, spelt out their intention to adapt to the winds of change. The idea of playing the Ranji Trophy at neutral venues to prevent home teams from tampering with pitches to suit their strengths was seen as a move to negate the unfair advantage.Three months on, the BCCI is yet to make any headway into the domestic schedule. While they have cited the ongoing legal battles with the Lodha Committee for the delay in announcement of the fixtures, it can’t be used as an excuse to draw public sympathy. ESPNcricinfo looks at all the talking points yet to be addressed with less than two weeks to go for the domestic season.Unavailability of top players for Duleep TrophyA majority of the 17-man Test squad in the West Indies is likely to be joined by MS Dhoni, the limited-overs captain, and a few others for the two T20Is against West Indies in Florida on August 27 and 28. The next rung of players, many of whom were a part of the national side for the limited-overs series in Zimbabwe in June, will be in Australia with the India A squad for the quadrangular one-day series followed by two four-day matches. That leaves the selectors with a very limited pool to choose from, which means the tournament, originally billed as the curtain raiser for India’s upcoming Test season, will lose its significance even before a ball has been bowled.Duleep Trophy formatThere is no clarity on whether it will be a three or four-team affair. Originally scheduled to involve four sides, the BCCI may have no option but to whittle it down to three teams because of non-availability of big names and the A tour of Australia. There is also confusion over allotment of venues for the tournament. Scheduled to be played across three venues, the BCCI has reportedly zeroed in on Greater Noida, although an official or final decision is yet to be made.Duleep Trophy with pink ball or red ball?During the BCCI’s inaugural conclave, which involved all its stakeholders in June, president Anurag Thakur stated emphatically that the feedback from top players would be considered before continuing their pink-ball trial. With the top players set to miss the tournament, there is now a question mark over that experiment. Furthermore, India won’t be hosting a day-night Test against New Zealand as things stand, with the board announcing all games to be played during the series starting at 9.30am. The board is said to have received mixed responses from players who featured in the league final conducted by the Cricket Association of Bengal.Ranji Trophy scheduleThe proposal of the cricket committee to play all Ranji Trophy matches at neutral venues have been ratified, but everything else surrounding the competition has been left hanging. The schedule, normally announced in June-July, is yet to be unveiled. There is also confusion over how the tournament will be played out.A hectic T20 schedule from January culminating with the World T20 at home in April forced the board to schedule the limited-overs tournaments – the Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-overs) and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (T20) immediately after the group stages of the Ranji Trophy in 2015-16. It remains to be seen if the BCCI will adopt the conventional method of playing the first-class tournament followed by the limited-overs matches this season, given the Indian team is expected to play just a handful of T20s at home.New teamsThe Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh, which was an Associate member of the BCCI, was given Full Member status after a Special General Meeting in February this year, paving the way for their Ranji Trophy debut in the 2016-17 season. As things stand, they are slated for an entry into Group C, which will consist of 10 teams. What of Bihar, which has received full membership following a directive from the Supreme Court? While the Bihar Cricket Association is eligible to vote in the board elections and also feature in the domestic tournament, clarity from the BCCI on the matter is still awaited.

Luke Ronchi and Martin Guptill combined to give the New Zealand team management a selection headache sooner than they would have anticipated

The Report by Sidharth Monga in Delhi18-Sep-2016
Scorecard1:21

‘My game plan is to get off strike’ – Ronchi

In the second innings of their warm-up match against Mumbai, Luke Ronchi and Martin Guptill combined to give the New Zealand team management a selection headache sooner than they would have anticipated. While Guptill followed his first-innings failure with a duck, Ronchi scored a blistering century on a last-day pitch that had begun to misbehave.It would be a dramatic move if a batsman who has opened only three times in first-class cricket replaced an opener in whom New Zealand have invested, but if there ever was a time and a place to do so, this might be it. Guptill averages 29.59 in Tests, which drops to 20.68 in Asia. He may be sensational in limited-overs cricket, but Tests and spin have not been his best friends. Concurrently, there is no better place than Asia for a non-opener to think about converting. It is often the best time to bat, before the ball begins to turn, reverse swing or gets too soft to travel.Ronchi got his crack at a top-order spot in the second innings, much like his previous three forays playing for Western Australia before he moved to New Zealand. Mumbai declared immediately after Siddhesh Lad’s century – the third of their innings. Then, out walked Ronchi alongside Guptill, the only specialist batsman who did not get a long hit in the first innings. With it being the third day of the game, the flat pitch had dried out and was offering turn and variable bounce, enough for Mumbai to open with the left-arm spin of Vishal Dabholkar.But Guptill can’t blame the pitch for his dismissal. In Dabholkar’s first over, the batsman edged a half-volley, seemingly playing inside the line of the ball and giving the slip fielder an easy catch. Ronchi looked in much better control, and displayed more scoring options against spin and the slow nature of the pitch. He swept with authority, drove the quicks with power, found gaps repeatedly and was difficult to pin down at one end for the pressure to build.”My game plan is to get off strike,” Ronchi said after the match. “If the field is in, I go over the top. [A] couple over the top, then a few gaps, and get off strike. That’s the way I go about it. If it works, fantastic. Doesn’t work all the time, but the best way to bat sometimes is to be at the other end. If you can get yourself off strike, it is a good thing.”Even if New Zealand were to stay conservative and don’t open with Ronchi, he might be quite useful in the middle order. Almost all of his 107 runs came in the company of bowlers. The New Zealanders used the final day of the game to give chances to those who didn’t get them in the first innings. Guptill and Henry Nicholls were the only specialist batsmen repeated before they had no choice but to send others in. Ronchi put on 23, 64 and 47 runs with Mitchell Santner, Doug Bracewell and Trent Boult respectively. Batting with the tail could prove crucial on raging turners; Ravindra Jadeja frequently gave India the match-tilting runs from around 120 for 6 in the series against South Africa.Asked if he might have staked a claim for the opening position, Ronchi said: “Maybe, but it’s just the position I was given in the second innings – to go out and open. [I] just wanted to sort of have a hit and do as best as I possibly could. If it comes up I certainly won’t say no, but you never know what Hess [Mike Hesson] and Kane [Williamson] are thinking. So I will just go about my business and do the best I can for my team whenever given the chance, I guess.”I have no idea [what role they have in mind for me]. It’s up to them. Whatever they say, I will try to do my best. If given a chance, that is. If I am not playing, I am not playing. If I am playing and batting at 11, I am more than happy. Whatever role they ask me to perform, I certainly won’t say no.”If New Zealand do want Ronchi in, Nicholls may in danger of going out. He scored 1 in the second innings, but was undone by a ball that jumped out of the rough. If Nicholls does play the first Test in Kanpur, as a middle-order batsman, he would have to face one of the most difficult spin environments without any prior experience. Going into that with 30 runs from two innings would not make him feel good.This is when just one warm-up match on such a tough tour becomes unfair. A batsman needs time out in the middle to develop the methods and confidence to play spin. As another example, Santner jumped out of the crease to try to get to the pitch of a ball, and was stumped off Lad. He bats in the lower order for New Zealand and his runs could be very crucial. If selected for the Test, and having failed against a part-timer in a practice match, will he have the confidence to run at R Ashwin or Jadeja?The odd misbehaving delivery aside, New Zealand batted relatively comfortably through the rest of the day. They were bowled out for 235 in the fourth of the mandatory 15 overs in the last hour of play, but Mumbai did not take up the chase of 96 in nine overs.

Bangladesh thought they had enjoyed a moment of fortune when Chris Woakes pulled a big full toss to midwicket, but the TV umpire denied them

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2016Chris Woakes battled his way through to a vital 46 on the second afternoon in Mirpur to give England a priceless first-innings lead. However, he might have been dismissed half an hour before his eventual departure, after being given a controversial reprieve off a waist-high full toss.Facing up to the legspin of Sabbir Rahman, Woakes had made 38 when he pulled fiercely across the line and straight into the hands of midwicket, and began walking off the field.However, the umpires opted to check the height of the delivery before upholding the decision, and after assessing several replays, the third umpire Chris Gaffaney ruled that the ball had been above waist-height and therefore a no-ball was called.Law 42.6.2, relating to bowling of high-pitched full toss, in the ICC playing conditions states: “Any delivery, which passes or would have passed on the full above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease is deemed unfair, whether or not it is likely to inflict physical injury on the striker.”This playing condition supersedes the MCC Law, 42.6(b) which makes a distinction between the pace of delivery. “(i) Any delivery, other than a slow paced one, which passes or would have passed on the full above waist height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease is to be deemed dangerous and unfair, whether or not it is likely to inflict physical injury on the striker.”(ii) A slow delivery which passes or would have passed on the full above shoulder height of the striker standing upright at the popping crease is to be deemed dangerous and unfair, whether or not it is likely to inflict physical injury on the striker.”This, however, was an extremely marginal decision. The ball had looped high above Woakes’ eyeline and was clearly dipping sharply when the batsman made contact several feet in front of his crease. In fact, subsequent HawkEye replays showed that the ball was hitting for the base of the stumps.What is more, Sabbir had opened his spell with two further full-tosses, the first of which was much higher than the wicket-taking delivery, neither of which was called for no-ball. The incident was reminiscent of Rohit Sharma’s reprieve against Bangladesh in the World Cup quarter-final at Melbourne last year, on that occasion for a delivery that was clearly below waist-height.Not even Woakes’ own family felt that his recall was justified. “Have to say, I wouldn’t have given no ball for that one,” said his brother, David, on Twitter. “But the others in Sabbir 1st over were. Keep going boys, great effort.”England were eventually bowled out for 244, a lead of 24.

South Africa come into the Newlands Test looking to complete a whitewash in the three-match series while Sri Lanka would be looking to clinch a consolation win in Johannesburg

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Jan-2017

Match facts

January 12-16, 2017
Start time 1000 local (0800 GMT)

Big Picture

There was always the expectation the series would become incrementally tougher for Sri Lanka. In Port Elizabeth, there was supposed to be a low, slow pitch, but it was not nearly low or slow enough. At Newlands, instead of defusing seam movement on a greener-than-usual deck, Sri Lanka flailed their way to a defeat so enormous there is really no point recalling the exact margin. Now they have arrived at the Wanderers, where locals say, balls jump mischievously off lengths and do mocking high-speed orbits of South Asian batsmen, before seeking out the shoulder of their bats and leaping gaily into the gully fielder’s embrace.On the eve of this Test, Faf du Plessis spoke of ensuring there is no complacency in his outfit, throwing words like “ruthless” and “dominant” around. This is all very nice, but Sri Lanka could have done with a little South African overconfidence to charge them up. Something like: “Instead of going to nets after the second Test, we’ve been practicing our bum-patting in anticipation of how much of it we’ll have to do over the next few days,” might have worked nicely.The hosts’ major talking points ahead of this Test have not exactly been about the cricket they have played this series. Instead, they prepare to wish a happy hundredth to their bearded, presently-not-in-form, wrist-meister Hashim Amla. They are also dealing with the onset of the ‘Kolpakalypse’, which in this Test, takes the form of having to replace Kyle Abbott, who went to Hampshire to be able to pay for groceries.If the surface is as savage as folks are suggesting (seriously, this pitch had apparently once kidnapped an entire top order and held them to ransom), Sri Lanka’s major chance of victory may lie in rolling South Africa over cheaply, twice. That is not a totally outlandish proposition, given the heartening spells Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara have bowled. But, okay, it is almost an outlandish one.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa WWLWW

Sri Lanka LLWWW
Sri Lanka would hope Lahiru Kumara can repeat his performance from the Newlands Test if they are to trouble South Africa•AFP

In the spotlight

While Hashim Amla’s lean trot has stretched for slightly longer, Temba Bavuma has been having a quietly modest series of his own, with scores of 3, 8, 10 and 0. He is clearly a player of quality, as his hundred against England and the 74 in Hobart lay out. But 16 matches into his Test career now, he will want to begin making a charge on that average, which presently sits at 31.42Perhaps Sri Lanka fans owe a debt of gratitude to the kid who hit Lahiru Kumara on the head. Kumara had played hockey in his youth but was admitted to hospital one day after being struck by a stray stick. By the time he got home, his parents had thrown his hockey gear away and he was forced to switch to cricket, where he almost immediately proved himself a special talent. Possessing a mean bouncer, he could be a strike weapon for Sri Lanka on this pitch.

Teams news

Wayne Parnell will take Kyle Abbott’s place in the XI, and South Africa may also consider playing four quicks, to the exclusion of Keshav Maharaj.South Africa (possible): 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Stephen Cook, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 JP Duminy, 5 Faf du Plessis (capt.), 6 Temba Bavuma, 7 Quinton de Kock (wk), 8 Vernon Philander, 9 Wayne Parnell, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Kagiso RabadaSri Lanka will likely keep the same XI. There is an outside chance Dushmantha Chameera will replace Nuwan Pradeep, but that’s only if Chameera has regained his rhythm, which was off in Port Elizabeth.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kaushal Silva, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt.), 6 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 7 Upul Tharanga, 8 Rangana Herath, 9 Lahiru Kumara, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Nuwan Pradeep

Pitch and conditions

There is a dusting of green on the Wanderers surface, which suggests it will hold together nicely through the five days, and prevent Rangana Herath from becoming a major threat. There is a chance of rain on Friday and Saturday, but the forecast is good for the remaining days.

Stats and trivia

• Rangana Herath needs six wickets in order to surpass Daniel Vettori’s career tally of 362 and become the most successful left-arm spinner in Test history.
• Hashim Amla’s average against Sri Lanka is 33.46 – his worst against any opponent save for Zimbabwe, whom he has only played one innings against.
• The last time Sri Lanka played at the Wanderers, in 2002, they lost by an innings and 64 runs.

Quotes

“For me it’s about being ruthless and trying to make sure that we’re moving into a space as a team where we start to dominate. That’s something we’ve spoken a lot about, and if you don’t do it now in the third Test then you’re just creeping back into old habits.”
“He is very raw. He bowled extremely well. He can give you a few loose balls as well but he is very aggressive and we need players like that. We have Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal who can hold one end together, so we can attack a little bit more with Lahiru.”

Joe Root is “ready to captain England” according to Alastair Cook but the current skipper will take time to assess his future after the India series is finished

George Dobell12-Dec-20160:38

‘Root is a clued-on guy’ – Cook

Joe Root is “ready to captain England” according to Alastair Cook. While Cook maintained that his views on continuing as captain “have not changed” – he has long said that he will continue on a series by series basis and make a firm decision only after consulting the managing director of the England team, Andrew Strauss – he did hint he was asking himself “some questions” over his future.”I think Joe Root is ready to captain England,” Cook said following England’s innings-and-36-run defeat in Mumbai which handed India the series. “He is ready because he is a clued-up guy and he has the respect of everyone in the changing room.”You never know until you actually experience it and everything that comes with the England captaincy. You are thrown in at the deep end and you kind of sink or swim. Nothing can prepare you for it. He has not got much captaincy experience but that does not mean everything.”While it is true that Root, the current vice-captain, has little captaincy experience – he has been captain for just four first-class games – that could equally be used as a reason to elevate him sooner rather than later.England play two Test series in the English summer of 2017 – one against South Africa and one against West Indies – and, if there is any doubt over whether Cook will continue as captain until the Ashes at the end of the year, there is bound to be a temptation to provide Root with the maximum amount of experience possible and make the change before the South Africa series.There is already much required of him, though. He is, arguably, England’s key batsman in all three formats and, in the next few weeks, he will become a father for the first time. With the demands of England schedule, it may be that Cook and Strauss are reluctant to overload him.Either way, Cook has some time to reflect on his position. As he is no longer a member of the England limited-overs teams, he has no international commitments until July after the Chennai Test finishes next week and while he has sounded increasingly jaded with some aspects of life on the road in recent weeks, he retains great pride in the leadership role.”The comments I made at start of series have not changed,” Cook said. “It sticks true to end of this series. I will sit down with Straussy at the end of the year like we have made the pact to do to talk honestly and openly about stuff. My position has not changed and wouldn’t have done had we won this game or lost this game.”Of course you have questions. Naturally you look at stuff. Clearly it is a hard place to tour, certainly with the balance of our squad in terms of where our strengths lie, the sub-continent is going to be a harder place to tour than somewhere like South Africa.”But being captain of England is a huge honour, a huge privilege. You are at the forefront of the team and it comes onto your shoulders when you win or lose. In the heat of the battle you make those decisions. You go to bed at night and you have to live with making good or bad decisions. As a bloke to be asked to lead your country is a huge honour personally.”

Angelo Mathews (personal grounds), Nuwan Pradeep and Danushka Gunathilaka (injury) will be flying back to Sri Lanka ahead of the third T20

Andrew Fidel Fernando23-Jan-2017Angelo Mathews will be one of three players returning to Sri Lanka after the second T20 international in South Africa, with Nuwan Pradeep and Danushka Gunathilaka also flying home due to injury.Mathews’ return was a prior arrangement based on “personal grounds”, a Sri Lanka Cricket release said, though he had also suffered a hamstring injury during his match-winning 54 not out on Sunday. He is not expected to be available for any of the five-match one-day series.Pradeep, meanwhile, injured his hand in the opening T20, and Gunathilaka has been laid low by a back complaint. Both are ruled out the rest of the tour. Vice captain Dinesh Chandimal will lead the side in Mathews’ stead.The triple blow is a significant for Sri Lanka’s chances in the limited-overs series – all three players have featured in Sri Lanka’s ODI sides, and Mathews especially, provides balance to the XI in his all-round role.The three-wicket win on Sunday was Sri Lanka’s first victory of the tour. The third T20 international is scheduled for January 25, and five ODIs are to follow.The injuries to Gunathilaka and Pradeep may also affect availability for the forthcoming T20 tour of Australia. Sri Lanka are expected to name their ODI squad for the South Africa series on Tuesday or Wednesday.