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Only Sydney Thunder have had worse luck, losing 19 in a row in the Big Bash’s early years

The Report by Daniel Brettig12-Jan-2020Jonathan Wells and Matthew Short set up Adelaide Strikers for a commanding victory over the winless and aimless Melbourne Renegades at Adelaide Oval to allow the hosts to keep pace with the top teams in the Big Bash League, while pushing the visitors closer to a summary elimination from the tournament.With the finals series expanded to five teams this summer, the Renegades are still a mathematical chance of qualifying, but their current streak of nine consecutive losses after winning last year’s title is now the second-worst after Sydney Thunder’s 19 in a row in the competition’s early years.After a rapid start, the Strikers were in danger of losing their way before Wells and Short piled on 80 in 52 balls to ensure they set a target well beyond the reach of the Renegades. Peter Siddle, Rashid Khan and Travis Head all claimed multiple victims as the Strikers held all their catches.Strikers’ early powerOn a pristine Sunday afternoon, Head took little time choosing to bat on the same surface that had allowed Rashid to claim a hat-trick against the Sydney Sixers. With it expected to slow down and spin, the Renegades named three spinners and used two in tandem with the new ball, but Phil Salt and Jake Weatherald were still able to get away to a flying start, finding the boundary with enough frequency to rush the Strikers to 50 inside five overs.Even with the departures of Salt and Weatherald, both trying to force the pace perhaps a fraction too much, the hosts were still able to post 59 from the Powerplay, enough of a start to allow a rest through the middle overs, even as the Renegades bounded back into the contest with a couple of wickets. Head and Harry Nielsen, into the team in place of the absent Alex Carey, fell to Cameron Boyce and Samit Patel respectively, leaving the need for a middle order recovery.All’s well that ends with WellsFortunately for the Strikers, they have long possessed a strong middle order insurance policy in the form of the slightly built Wells, who has made it a signature to ensure that his team will be able to at least reach 150 on most occasions, even if the earlier overs have not been kind to him. Summoning the help of Short, Wells calmly allowed the run rate to drop from its early innings heights of beyond 10 an over to less than seven with six overs remaining, before launching a final assault.As demonstrated by Glenn Maxwell elsewhere, this taking of a little extra “set-up” time to weigh up the pace, bounce and spin of a surface can result in spectacular results, and so it was to prove at Adelaide Oval. Returns of 10, 10, 10 and 11 from overs 15, 16, 17 and 18 were followed by a gluttonish 18 and 17 from the 19th and 20th, as the Renegades saw their target balloon from a likely 150 to 174. Short’s 41 from 28 balls featured a trio of sixes, while Wells lasted until the penultimate ball of the innings for a priceless 58 from 38.They miss, you hitA chase of 174 against Rashid and company would have been difficult for a confident side, let alone the winless Renegades. And the early exchanges of the pursuit were to follow as expected. Marcus Harris, for a long time a curiously ineffective Twenty20 batsman, lifted Head for one boundary over cover, but was bowled when he tried to do it again. Siddle amiably greeted his Victoria squad mate Sam Harper with a friendly pat, but next over nailed a yorker to pluck out the opener’s middle stump.As Webster and a scratchy Shaun Marsh sought to build some sort of chasing platform, the Strikers did not lose patience, and the calling of the strategic time out for the end of the ninth over brought a re-affirmation that, even though Michael Neser’s first over went for an unsightly 19, the hosts needed to keep targeting the stumps of an anxious and unsuccessful opponent. As if on cue, Head’s second ball of the 10th over was well flighted and dipped enough of Marsh to have him yorking himself as he tried to raise the rate. Three bowled out of three, and the Strikers were on their way.No Webster, no RenegadesA strong, intelligent innings by Beau Webster was to go completely to waste as the combination of Strikers pressure, Renegades anxiety and a slowing pitch all conspired to see a dramatically swift end to a game that had, for some of its distance, had some pretensions towards an actual contest. That was largely due to Webster, and even when he was partnered by Mohammad Nabi the visitors still had a chance, albeit mathematical.However the poise of Rashid, Siddle and Head, plus a staunch fielding display from the Strikers that saw every catch taken, meant that the remainder of the Renegades innings melted away as if they were late for the plane home to Melbourne. In all, the final seven wickets went down for 24 in five overs as the Strikers’ adoring Adelaide Oval crowd – this time comprising 28,188 spectators – continued having fun.The Strikers, then, got the win they needed to keep in touch with the top of the table, and the Renegades stretched their streak to nine.

Spinner will discuss prospect of touring Sri Lanka with England camp while in South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2020Moeen Ali says he wants to play Test cricket again and he is prepared to fight for a place in the England side.Moeen, who decided to take a break from Test cricket after being dropped following the first Ashes Test in August, also revealed he had hoped he would be dropped during that series and that he had considered quitting the long format cricket entirely.Having subsequently lost the Test portion of his ECB central contract, Moeen missed England’s 1-0 series defeat in New Zealand and their 3-1 victory over South Africa, which culminated in last week’s 191-run victory at the Wanderers.He has since joined England’s limited-overs squads in South Africa ahead of their ODI series starting in Cape Town on Tuesday, which will be followed by three T20Is.Moeen confirmed that he would speak with Chris Silverwood, England’s head coach, and Test captain Joe Root while in South Africa about whether to make himself available for next month’s two-Test tour of Sri Lanka.”I don’t want anyone to think I don’t love playing for England because playing for your country is the greatest thing a cricketer can do,” Moeen told Sky Sports. “Even in the warm-up games here, I was thinking ‘I have missed this’, which is exactly the feeling I want.”I didn’t feel as valued as much as I felt I should have been, and there were times when I thought I was going to quit playing Test matches, but I spoke to Rooty and he felt I was still a big part of this team.”Ultimately it is about if I feel I am ready to play again. I don’t want people to feel I am picking and choosing. I know I have to make sure I am fresh and mentally ready to go out and perform.”I know even if I decide to go to Sri Lanka I might not get in straight away but I am going to fight for my place. I thought [off-spinner Dom] Bess bowled really well in South Africa but it was almost like, ‘yeah, I could to that, I can still do that’. The ECB has been really supportive of me. I want to come back a better player and be a part of the whole journey.”Moeen’s axing from the England Test side came after he posted scores of 0 and 4 and took three wickets for 172 runs over Australia’s two innings at Edgbaston.”I had to get myself up for the Ashes and I remember bowling thinking, ‘I do not want to be here’. It is the worst possible place a cricketer can be,” he said. “It definitely affected me. I can see when I look back that my body language was horrendous throughout the game.”There was almost nothing happening for me. It was almost like there was no interest. It was such a big game and the harder I tried the worse I got. It was so bad.”I was expecting not to play [the next Test at Lord’s] and I was actually hoping I was going to get dropped so I could take that opportunity to step away for a bit. Being on the road for four or five years, I thought ‘I can’t do this anymore’. For me to perform for England, I needed to take this break now.”Moeen reiterated that his decision to take a break from Test cricket was based on being “burnt out” after England’s successful World Cup campaign and years of touring and he said he felt the pressure of increased scrutiny over his form.”It becomes daunting, you are almost afraid to play any shot and you get caught in between,” Moeen said. “I have to be stronger personally, I know that. I can’t blame everyone. But it does show the noise can really affect you.”Social media is one of the hardest things about playing for England. I’ve never really cared what people say about me but in the last year or so I started to read quite a bit and that really affected me. I got sucked in, I think a lot of players do.”During his break from the Test arena, Moeen has been playing franchise cricket and he joined the England Lions camp as a mentor ahead of their current tour of Australia.Moeen has a contract with Multan Sultans to play in the Pakistan Super League, the latter stages of which clash with the first Test against Sri Lanka.Bess played the second and third Tests in South Africa, claiming a maiden five-wicket haul in the format at Port Elizabeth. He will join England Lions in Australia this week and is expected to be called up for the Sri Lanka tour. The question of who joins him is likely to depend heavily on Jack Leach’s ability to recover from a long bout of illness – and the decision over whether Moeen is ready to return.

Smith was appointed in an interim capacity in mid-December

Firdose Moonda17-Apr-2020Graeme Smith has been appointed South Africa’s director of cricket for a two-year period ending on March 31, 2022.Smith was appointed in an interim capacity in December last year, during a time of crisis at Cricket South Africa, and was due to take a break to commentate on the IPL. With that tournament now postponed indefinitely, he has been confirmed in the role.ALSO READ: Smith confirms de Kock won’t be South Africa’s Test captainSmith had initially applied for the post in November last year, but withdrew his interest citing a lack of confidence in the administration. He was re-engaged when CSA underwent an overhaul, which saw CEO Thabang Moroe suspended and Dr Jacques Faul appointed in an acting capacity (a status quo that remains as Moroe’s disciplinary hearing has yet to conclude. Smith has also maintained a distant relationship with the board that has come under severe criticism from the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) and sponsors for their role in CSA’s collapse. While a boardroom clean-out has yet to happen and some of Smith’s reservations remain, his experience of working with CSA staff and his growing interest in developing the game convinced him to commit to a long-term contract.”If I told you I had 100% certainty (over things) I would be lying to you. There have been so many doubts over the last period, it’s impossible to be certain,” Smith said during a video conference on Friday. “But, operationally I have got to know the staff, I have seen a lot of hard-working people that care deeply about the game. Over the three months, I have become invested in the position and started to care about the responsibility to the game, sorting it out, getting us back to the top of performance and the business of the game. It created that feeling for myself that I want to get stuck in and try and make a difference.”Smith has overseen South Africa’s worst home summer since readmission, in which the national team won only one of the five series they played under a new coaching staff, replaced captain Faf du Plessis and cast the selection net wide. The dip in performances – South Africa have not won a Test series in a year – raised serious questions about the talent pool and Smith acknowledged he was taken aback by how much work needs to be done on the field.”Initially it surprised me how much coaching had to take place at a national level,” he said. “I feel our players need access to really smart coaches and smart people to develop their games and their thinking around playing at the highest level. For us on a national level, really trying to understand who the players we have to work with are, how do we get them better and what do we need to do to get back on top.”To that end, South Africa developed a winter training program, which has been put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has enforced a five-week lockdown in the country. However, 47 players have been identified to form part of a high-performance programme and they have been sent fitness regimes to maintain even during the lockdown. Smith is in communication with all those players and has opened up a communication channel that had been blocked off under the previous administration.”It’s been about building relationships we needed to strengthen, with SACA and player pools,” Smith said. We’ve had open two-way discussions and players are feeling a lot more settled and comfortable to express themselves.”While players have received one level of reassurance with communications, they also have another financially. Faul confirmed that both players and staff do not face an immediate pay cut threat, like some of their international counterparts. With the international home season over before the pandemic hit, “we haven’t lost income that would trigger pay cuts,” Faul said.However, the long-term forecast may not be as positive, with Faul admitting there is likely to be less money available in the future, as the full impact of the coronavirus becomes known. Further, CSA’s sponsorship deal with Standard Bank ends at the end of this month and they have yet to announce a replacement and their broadcast rights deal with pay-television provider comes to an end next year. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, insiders were predicting that a new deal could be worth around 33% less, given South Africa’s flailing form. Given the contracting economy, Faul expected a tough road ahead and said CSA would continue to monitor the changing situation.

England opener ready to return, but technique still needs some grooving after six months off

Andrew Miller04-Jun-2020Rory Burns returned to the nets for the first time in six months on Monday, confident that the ankle that he injured during football practice in South Africa has fully recovered, but admitting that his time out of the Test team had come at a frustrating moment in his career.Burns, who turns 30 in August, seemed to have established himself as Alastair Cook’s heir at the top of England’s batting order in 2019, with a maiden Test century in the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, and a further 101 in New Zealand in November.However, his run in the side came to an abrupt halt when he sustained ligament damage during a seemingly innocuous tackle from Joe Root, as England practised at Newlands ahead of the second Test. Having made 84 in the second innings of England’s series-opening defeat at Centurion, Burns returned home for surgery as Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley played key roles in England’s three subsequent wins.ALSO READ: Bio-secure venues can withstand Covid second wave – Elworthy“It was obviously frustrating,” Burns told Sky Sports’ Cricket Show. “It was my first injury of any note in my career, and to pick it up at a time where you feel like you’re developing and moving along in the right direction quite nicely was frustrating.”The turn wasn’t bad before it though, so we’ll always remember that,” he joked, referencing an impressive piece of footwork that was caught on camera moments before the injury. “But yeah, it was obviously frustrating, but it’s nice to be back now, with a bat in my hand, and almost getting back to it.”The ankle’s strong,” he added. “I’d have been able to start the county season if that had gone ahead on time, so that was a big positive, but instead it’s been another couple of months that I’ve been able to ease it back, and that’s probably helped a little bit.”With his unusual batting stance, which involves glancing over his right shoulder to ensure his alignment at the crease prior to delivery, Burns admits that his technique has more “moving parts” than some, which made his initial return to the nets a bit of a struggle.But, he added, his decision in the wake of his injury, to jot down his thoughts about where he was at as a batsman, had helped him to pick up where he had left off with the England team.”There are a lot of moving parts, but it’s more of a rhythm thing,” he said. “It’s about feeling how those movements go in. The idiosyncrasies probably didn’t quite click into gear to start with, but I tried to leave myself fresh going into that first net on Monday.”I didn’t try and think about it too much. When I got injured in South Africa, I wrote down all the things I though I’ve been doing well, what I’d enjoyed about my batting, in terms of feelings. So I had little read of them on Tuesday, and luckily it’s got a little bit better on Wednesday and Thursday.”ALSO READ: Bravo, Hetmyer, Paul turn down call-ups for England tourSo far, Burns’ work at the Kia Oval has been limited to one-on-one sessions – principally with Graham Thorpe, the England batting coach – which he said had not felt too different to his usual training regime. The players are due to resume “cluster” training in the coming days, when the bowlers have built up their workloads, and Burns is hopeful he’ll be ready for action by then.”A couple of hits down the line, I’ve remembered how to pick the bat up which is quite nice, and it’s good to be back,” he said. “I had a set of ten throwdowns, the day before we got locked down, but the last time [I batted properly] would have been January 1, six months ago.”England know they will be in for a stiff test when the West Indies series begins, not least from the battery of fast bowlers who played a central role in their side’s 2-1 series win in the Caribbean last year.Shannon Gabriel is missing on this occasion, as he recovers from injury, but Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas and Alzarri Joseph have been joined by the former Under-19 World Cup winner, Chemar Holder, who claimed 36 wickets in West Indies’ domestic competition this year.”The last time we played each other they won, so they’re no slouches,” Burns said. “Their bowling attack caused us a lot of problems, they are very skilful and they’ve got some pace, certainly. I remember walking around the pitch in the first Test and seeing [Gabriel and Thomas] bowling, and I thought, oof, this will be quite tasty. It’s going to be a stiff test, no matter what comes.”The biggest difference between county cricket and international cricket is the intensity of the game,” he added. “Everything just ramps up, especially the consistent pace of bowlers, and you have to make yourself sharp by overtraining on speed and short balls, areas where you are going to get targeted by the opposition.”England are due to assemble at the Ageas Bowl in late June ahead of the first Test on July 8. However, Burns said that, after some initial concerns about playing cricket during the Covid-19 outbreak, he was confident that the ECB’s provisions would ensure the players’ safety throughout the series.”There were some hypothetical scenarios about what it might that look like, what risk factors there were,” he said. “But the messaging that we’ve had has put our minds at ease about the situations that we might find ourselves in.”The explanations we’ve had are really positive, and I think a lot of the guys just looking forward to playing some cricket.”

The tournament is scheduled to start on August 8, but the government has pushed back the August 1 reopening of the country’s main airport

Madushka Balasuriya02-Jul-2020Sri Lanka Cricket is hopeful the Lanka Premier League will go ahead as scheduled in August, despite the Sri Lankan government pushing back the August 1 reopening of the country’s main airport in Katunayake.Sri Lanka’s sports ministry last week gave a go-ahead for the tournament, which has been scheduled from August 8 to 22. The date had been scheduled taking into account that Sri Lanka would be opening its borders for foreign arrivals on August 1.”We’re hoping to speak to His Excellency [president Gotabaya Rajapaksa] and see if we can come to a decision,” SLC CEO Ashley de Silva told ESPNcricinfo. “Sri Lanka has done very well in containing the coronavirus as opposed to other countries in the region, and as such we have had a lot of interest from foreign players in taking part in the tournament.”The LPL will see five teams taking part, with SLC still accepting tenders regarding franchise ownerships. Players will be selected through an auction process similar to the one popularised by the Indian Premier League, with each team allowed a maximum of six foreign players in a squad and four in the playing XI.The tournament will be played in either double or single round-robin format, followed by semi-finals and final.The length of the tournament meanwhile hinges not only on Sri Lanka opening its borders but also on whether SLC is able to come to an agreement with the BCCI over a tour of Sri Lanka, also in August. If the BCCI agrees, the tour would likely take place following the LPL, which in turn would shorten the tournament, explained de Silva.”At the moment we’re looking at 23 games, but if India agrees to play then it will most probably come down to 13.”An inbound India tour would be a significant boon to SLCs finances, which has been hit by the postponement of tours by England earlier this year, and most recently by Bangladesh, who were set to tour Sri Lanka in July but pulled out citing a lack of match preparedness owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.In terms of health and safety measures, any tour or tournament will see a significant reduction in crowds, with SLC planning to allow only up to 20% of stadium capacity, though the finer details are still to be ironed out.

News from around the grounds after the first round of Bob Willis Trophy fixtures

Matt Roller06-Aug-2020When counties first started to make live fixed-camera footage of their Championship matches available on their websites several years ago, few around the grounds expected much would come of it.But demand among fans has been huge over recent years, and when the ECB finalised the terms of its new broadcast deal for 2020-24, several counties were delighted to hear that their wish for the strict restrictions previously imposed on them would be lifted.As a result, multi-camera streams were on offer to the public for eight of the nine first-round Bob Willis Trophy fixtures, with Lancashire keeping theirs for members only. The majority are synced up to BBC radio commentary, though Middlesex will hire separate broadcasters for their feed next week with some advertisements between overs. Surrey’s partnership with Facebook has been beneficial, with the club attracting around 200,000 viewers a day and streaming over 13,000 hours of coverage. A major change this year has been the fact that streams no longer have to appear ‘unlisted’ on YouTube, meaning they are now accessible from club’s profile pages and in search results. Somerset realised how much traffic they were missing out on when a pre-season friendly against Cardiff MCCU (which fell outside the terms of the broadcast deal) attracted thousands of views via search results, with Pakistani fans keen to watch Azhar Ali bat live.”We ticked over 250,000 playbacks over the four days this week,” said Ben Warren, Somerset’s digital executive. “On day three we had 125,000 playbacks and views – we’ve never had that many for a day of red-ball cricket before. We’re still learning on the job – this isn’t quite live broadcasting, but we’ve got the two analyst cams, three fixed cameras around the ground, a slow-mo and a manned camera. It’s a massive jump into a different world.”In particular, Warren is hopeful that if Babar Azam is able to fulfil his T20 Blast contract, the club will see a flood of views similar to the one that forced him to upgrade the server capacity on their website last year. “If he does come, it’s a massive opportunity for us with audiences,” he said.***To lose one Overton may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both would look like carelessness. So after Jamie’s departure to Surrey on a three-year contract was confirmed last week, it was a major boost for Somerset when twin Craig committed his future to the club on Thursday.The pair shared 14 Glamorgan wickets in a convincing win this week, during which Craig had kept his cards close to his chest about his future at the club. “We’re still in negotiations,” he said. “It’s quite a tricky time.” But despite offers from elsewhere, he has signed a three-year deal which will keep him at the club until 2023.Jamie is currently set to stay at Somerset until the end of the season, but admitted he is approaching cricket on a “game-to-game basis” and did not rule out moving to Surrey on loan before his new deal starts.Overton went on loan to Northants in order to get playing time last season•Getty Images

“It’s probably taken me six or seven months to finally decide,” he said. “At times I feel like I’m a little bit down the pecking order here. Going out on loan [to Northants] last year didn’t really help. I want to be playing cricket.”I’m getting to an age where if I don’t play for England in the next three years, then I’m probably not going to, and that’s really what I want to do. I’ve got to be playing week in, week out to prove that I can do it at that level.”***Every team that finished in the bottom five of Division Two last year won their opening game this week, with dramatic run chases pulled off by Derbyshire, who chased 365 against Notts with all of one ball remaining, and Leicestershire, who overhauled their target of 150 in 17 overs with eight balls to spare.Head coach Paul Nixon was understandably delighted, but could not resist a sly dig. “Lancashire didn’t want to come to the Fischer County Ground, and that gave us a little more steel,” he said. “We were disappointed not to play at Grace Road after all the work by so many people put into making our ground ready.”In truth, it was hardly a surprise that Lancashire were reluctant to travel to a city that had been subject to a local lockdown for three weeks – though it will be intriguing to see if they still expect Nottinghamshire to come to Emirates Old Trafford on August 15, after stricter measures were imposed in Greater Manchester last week.***On top of their primary aim, a handful of Ireland players went into their ODI series against England with the prospect of a T20 Blast contract at the back of their minds. As a result of their rise to Test status, Irish players cannot play as locals in county cricket this year, with Paul Stirling already signed up to appear for Northamptonshire in the Blast on an overseas deal.Curtis Campher leaps into his delivery stride•Getty Images

And it seems that at least one man has done enough to interest counties, with Leicestershire understood to be considering breakout star Curtis Campher as a possible replacement if Janneman Malan is unable to join for the Blast. Andy Balbirnie’s nerveless hundred in the third ODI may also have earned him a suitor.***There was general bemusement at New Road when Dieter Klein, Leicestershire’s left-arm seamer, decided to throw the ball back at Lancashire’s Rob Jones in his follow-through despite the fact the batsman had not left his crease. Jones was struck on the left boot and hobbled off towards square leg, with the umpires awarding Lancashire five penalty runs for his troubles, judging Klein’s throw to have been in an “inappropriate and dangerous manner”. Klein is likely to escape any major sanction, but will have three points added to his disciplinary record. If he makes two more similar breaches in the next two years, he will incur an automatic suspension.***Flats overlooking county grounds have always been premium real estate for diehard cricket fans, but especially so in the world of behind-closed-doors games. At The Oval, Middlesex’s centurion Nick Gubbins acknowledged the handful of supporters sat on the balcony of an adjacent flat when reaching his landmark, while Somerset tweeted that a fan in the retirement flats at deep midwicket had told the umpires to “get on with it” during a rain delay at Taunton.***England’s white-ball players are set to return to county action this week, with Yorkshire confirming that Jonny Bairstow will take the gloves in their next two games as he looks to push his case for a Test recall.There have been some concerns about bowlers’ fitness to play red-ball cricket after focusing on limited-overs skills for several weeks, with Warwickshire asking Henry Brookes to play for his club Knowle and Dorridge last weekend after his return from the Ageas Bowl bubble. Steven Finn, meanwhile, was deemed surplus to requirements for Middlesex’s first game of the season, instead taking 1 for 31 from his seven overs for Hampstead.

Guyana’s batting woes continue on slow, used surface

The Report by Peter Della Penna28-Aug-2020In another bareknuckle, knock-down, drag-out grind on a difficult batting wicket at Queen’s Park Oval, the de facto tournament hosts outlasted the Amazon Warriors as Trinbago Knight Riders made it five for five with a seven-wicket win on Thursday night. The five-time tournament runners-up Amazon Warriors continued their batting woes after being sent in, losing three wickets in the first 16 balls as Sikandar Raza and player-of-the-match Khary Pierre repeatedly hit the stumps to expose some loose techniques.Facing a modest target, the Knight Riders completed their fourth successful chase with a measured approach after an early scare from Imran Tahir. Darren Bravo survived a hat-trick ball from the leggie and went on to finish unbeaten on 26 off 28 balls, taking a measured approach to secure the two points that create further separation between the Knight Riders and the rest of the CPL field.King turning into pauperLast year’s leading run-scorer at the CPL, Brandon King parlayed his 496 runs into debuts in the West Indies ODI and T20I squads. Based on his current form, he looks unlikely to be in either squad when limited-overs international cricket resumes for them. The opener continued his dreadful form in Trinidad by falling for 6 at the end of the second over, failing to adequately cover his stumps when prodding forward to defend against Raza as the ball spun past the edge to graze off stump. King now has just 46 runs in six innings in CPL 2020 and has yet to make it out of the Powerplay.Oui oui PierreKing’s wicket opened the floodgates for Pierre to burrow even deeper into the Amazon Warriors’ batting order. One ball later, Pierre began the third by ripping one from over the wicket that beat Chandrapaul Hemraj through the gate playing back in defence. Pierre then made it three wickets in five balls for the Knight Riders bowling unit when he drew Nicholas Pooran forward with a lovely flighted ball that ripped past an attempted drive and crashed into leg stump to make it 12 for 3 after just 16 balls.Shining Knights in the fieldTim Seifert then got in on the act with a bit of brilliance, charging from behind the stumps. With Kieron Pollard bowling medium pace to Ross Taylor, the New Zealand batsman tried to dab a tight single to short third man, but Seifert anticipated the shot and sprinted forward to deny a single. Shimron Hetmyer wanted no part of a run after seeing Seifert spring into gear, and as Taylor turned back to try to make his ground, the wicketkeeper scooped and fired from close range to rattle the stumps making it 44 for 4 in the eighth.Tion Webster then tried to one-up Seifert a short time later in the 13th. Pierre induced a slog from Rutherford targeting the cow-corner rope, but Webster tracked back and caught it before flicking in the air as he was falling over the rope. He had enough energy under the ball to keep it airborne before re-establishing himself back in the field of play to complete the catch. Efforts like Webster’s may now be standard fare in T20 cricket, but both he and Seifert showed no mercy in pulling off sensational efforts with a high degree of difficulty to keep the Amazon Warriors deflated as they struggled to get past the 100 mark once again.Tahir nearly pulls a magic trick out of the bagMystery spin has been the name of the game throughout CPL 2020 and Imran Tahir was the last line of defence on the night for the Amazon Warriors. He nearly turned the match on its head in the sixth over of the chase. Just when it looked like there may be a rare wicketless Powerplay, Tahir came up with a googly-legbreak one-two punch to temporarily leave the Knight Riders top order stunned on the ropes.Lendl Simmons fell to the former delivery. After Simmons had cracked him for six in his previous over, Tahir tossed up a similar delivery to entice the batsman into another slog, but this time it spun in to beat the shot and hit the stumps. Colin Munro arrived at No. 3 but was out first ball as Tahir floated up another full delivery to encourage a big shot, only for it to turn in and beat Munro through the gate.At 34 for 2, and with low targets proving tricky to chase at times in this tournament, Tahir looked like he had dragged Amazon Warriors back into the game. But the decision to leave out the most economical bowler in the tournament at the toss, left-arm spinner Ashmead Nedd, may be one that captain Chris Green regretted.Green ended with 1 for 15 in his four overs after having Webster caught at long-on, but he turned to the medium-pace-heavy bowling attack the rest of the way and they were unable to dislodge Bravo or Seifert, who calmly added 63 in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand to end the match with 10 balls to spare.

The batsman was struck by a throwdown before the first ODI and was still struggling with concussion days later

Daniel Brettig21-Sep-2020Australia’s coach Justin Langer has revealed that Steven Smith was effectively ruled out of the entire ODI series against England from the moment it became clear he would not be fit for the opening match due to concussion symptoms.During an enthralling three-match series in which Australia won the opening game, lost the second after a hectic collapse and then rebounded from an equally hopeless position to claim the decider, Smith’s possible availability was discussed around each match, even to the point that Langer said before the third he was only one strong net session away from returning. However, Smith was then visibly ill at training in trying to prove his fitness before the final game and was ruled out.Langer gave a somewhat different account of events from the vantage point of the end of the series as he begins the first of two fortnight-long stints of hotel quarantine, the first at Adelaide Oval’s new hotel and then in Perth once he returns to his home town.ALSO READ: Australians in the IPL: ESPNcricinfo’s one-stop guide“We saw how unwell he looked, doing his very best to get up,” Langer said. “No one in the world loves playing cricket and batting more than Steve Smith does. So, I said to him after he didn’t play the first game, it’s very likely that will rule you out from the whole series, mate. Because we had to play three games in five to six days. It wasn’t a surprise to me.”The protocols are there for a reason. We’ve been really fair with those protocols and been consistent with them. It’s unfortunate it’s been Steve Smith the last couple of times and we’re really hopeful he gets back up and running in the IPL. We expect him to come back and play great cricket. He’s a great cricketer and he loves playing. We talk to him every day.”Steven Smith was struck on the side of the helmet by a throwdown during net practice at Old Trafford•Getty Images

Smith still needs to pass the last handful of concussion protocols being jointly monitored by Cricket Australia and his IPL club Rajasthan Royals in the UAE, where he is club captain alongside the coach Andrew McDonald, who also serves as Langer’s senior assistant. The Royals’ first match is to take place against Chennai Super Kings in Sharjah on Tuesday night.”We keep in touch with the players but also with Ricky Ponting and Simon Katich, Andrew McDonald of course, there are a number of Australian coaches over there who we stay in touch with,” Langer said. “We’ll keep a close eye on the guys…we’ve been away for five weeks after the guys, the sacrifices they are making are huge. I know they get paid well but the sacrifices to their families and the game of cricket are huge.”I admire and respect for them for that. You look at a David Warner or Steve Smith or a Josh Hazlewood or Pat Cummins, they had their quarantine before they left for England, they go straight into the IPL, they play that competition and they come back for two weeks, strict quarantine back in Australia, and then we start a summer against India which is one our biggest rivalries in world cricket today.ALSO READ: Tour takeaways: Warner’s new nemesis, Carey’s comeback and quality quicks“These guys are under huge pressure and that’s why we have to care for them and look after them and make sure they’re going okay. If they need to chop out [and see their families], as I said, they’ll have our 100 percent support to do that.”Australia’s victory in the final match of the tour, after a couple of frustratingly lost opportunities in both the T20I and ODI series, allowed all concerned to fly out of the UK, whether into the IPL or quarantine in Adelaide, with a happier perspective on all that had gone before than if the trip had ended in a defeat.”It was brilliant. Everything considered, the whole tour to England was an incredible success, after four months of no cricket, the way our guys played in the T20s where we were so close, and then to beat England, who are the best one-day team in the world, 2-1 on their soil was very satisfying,” Langer said.”The wicket in the last game was very different to the first two games, which was nice to be tested on different surfaces. For our guys to go away with victory, it’s amazing the fine line, it’s more fun winning than losing, the smiles on our faces leaving the country after everything that had gone into it was a credit to everyone involved.”

Victoria captain Peter Handscomb said their quicks are unable to build up bowling loads due to quarantine restrictions

Daniel Brettig09-Oct-2020Exacting quarantine restrictions on Victoria’s Sheffield Shield squad in Adelaide has forced the reduction of the number of games they play in the initial rounds to just two – as opposed to four matches for some other states – as the limited training allowed has impacted the bowling workloads available to the state’s fast men.*In flying from locked-down Melbourne to the far freer environment of Adelaide, Victoria’s players were limited to a daily training session in groups no bigger than four, meaning it will be impossible for all of their pace bowlers to build up their bowling loads to the level usually required ahead of a schedule of four-day matches.Victoria’s first match was meant to be against New South Wales from October 22, two days after the squad had been released from quarantine, but their opening fixture will now be against Tasmania from October 30 before playing Queensland from November 8. The tentative fixture against New South Wales from November 17 will now take place after the BBL.A knock-on impact for the second round of matches starting on October 19 is that New South Wales will now start their campaign against Western Australia with Queensland missing the round.Cricket Australia is yet to release fixtures for the remaining rounds of the Shield to be played after the Big Bash League, which is set to begin in early December.ALSO READ: Dumped Usman Khawaja praises selection process“We are getting a lot of information on whether our fast bowlers are getting the loads they need to be ready for those games straight out of quarantine,” Victoria’s captain Peter Handscomb said. “It’s something I have flagged … the last thing we want is one of our bowlers to get injured in that first game after being underdone. In terms of batters we could probably come out and do it, but the bowlers are going to have a pretty tough time of it, especially considering we have quite a young bowling attack.”They are going to need a bit more time on their feet after quarantine. We’re being guided by the science and what Cricket Australia are giving us. But it is tough on our bowlers. We’ll need to find out relatively soon so we know what we are doing.”Handscomb described some of the permutations of training sessions. “We have a three-hour window, and a one-hour window with each section, in the gym, the indoor nets them to the outdoor nets. Then it’s back on the bus, back to the hotel and back in to our rooms,” he said. “We have tried to get a bowler and a batter in each group with a coach and then another bowler or batter, depending on the numbers.”We had word about five days before we came over it would be like that, and that’s this year, things change, and we just have to keep doing what is required of us to get the season over. We’re OK with it, we’re cracking on and trying to be as prepared as can.”*October 12, 4.00pm AEST: This story was updated with confirmation of fixture changes

Fifteen others from a training camp held in BKSP are symptomatic

Mohammad Isam21-Oct-2020Three Bangladesh Under-19 cricketers have tested positive for Covid-19, while 15 others from a training camp held in BKSP are symptomatic, according to the BCB’s game development manager AEM Kawser. The training camp was being held to help the team prepare for the Under-19 Asia Cup, originally scheduled to be held in the UAE next month. The camp has now been closed and could be held again only next month after further tests.”According to our protocol, we have to isolate everyone who has come into contact with the symptomatic person,” Kawser told the Dhaka-based . “There were a few symptomatic cases so we had to isolate their room-mates, as well as those they did nets with. Our medical team told us that there are three who were found to be positive. We cannot reveal the names, but we have isolated them and those who came in contact with them.”Kawser said that since the Under-19 Asia Cup has been postponed, they are not in a hurry to restart the camp.”We are not running the camp since the Asia Cup has been postponed. In addition there is a bit of risk now, so we have closed the camp and will only start the camp when things improve in November,” he said.The camp had begun on October 1, featuring the 28 cricketers who were selected in the preliminary squad for the U-19 Asia Cup.