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From leading wicket-taker in Sri Lanka to unused bowler, spinner experiences England highs and lows

Andrew Miller06-Feb-2019Jack Leach admits that his experience of spin-friendly conditions on last year’s England Lions tour of the Caribbean had led him to believe he would play a bigger role in the Test series against West Indies.On a tour that has confounded pre-series expectations – with England proving ill-prepared to compete with a pumped-up West Indies pace attack on spicy pitches – Leach has gone from being the joint-leading wicket-taker in a series whitewash in Sri Lanka before Christmas, to drinks waiter in the Caribbean.Leach had claimed 18 wickets at 21.38 in Sri Lanka in November – including his maiden five-wicket haul in Pallekele, and the whitewash-sealing wicket of Suranga Lakmal in the final match in Colombo – as England arrested a run of 10 overseas defeats in their previous 13 Tests by claiming an impressive 3-0 victory.But his return to the sidelines has coincided with England’s reversion to type in Barbados and Antigua, where they were thrashed by 381 runs and ten wickets respectively to extend a record of just one series win in the Caribbean in 51 years.”I’m four Tests into my career and it’s been two extremes,” Leach said. “That’s been interesting to experience, the highs and lows, and how more experienced players go about dealing with that. It’s about dusting yourself down to go again. That would be the main thing I have experienced.”It’s been about helping the guys and learning as much as I can, working on my game to keep improving,” he added. “The results haven’t been good but I have been excited with what I have done with my own game. I don’t feel I have wasted time, I feel like I have made improvements, definitely. I have found I’ve been down after the defeats even though I’m not playing and that’s a real positive thing.”With one Test remaining in the series, the scoreline of this latest tour is panning out much the same as Leach’s last trip to the Caribbean, a 3-0 defeat against West Indies A with the Lions last winter.However, the method of England’s dismemberment has been markedly different. The Lions repeatedly succumbed to West Indian spinners 12 months ago, not least the slow left-armer Jomel Warrican, who claimed 11 wickets on a turning pitch in Antigua but – like Leach – has been an unused squad member throughout this year’s Test series.Jack Leach juggles during a training session•Associated Press

The experience of that Lions trip almost certainly informed England’s selection for the first Test in Barbados, where Leach was the unlucky spinner to miss out as both Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid were chosen instead. Rashid went on to bowl just nine overs in England’s second innings, as it became clear that they had badly misread the conditions, and he was dropped in favour of Stuart Broad for Antigua.All of which has left Leach on the outside looking in, especially after Moeen bounced back from a grim display in the first Test with a half-century and three economical wickets in the second. The chances of him earning a berth in St Lucia seem remote.”I’m ready to go but I was so impressed with Mo in Antigua,” Leach said. “We have a good relationship and his last game he bowled a serious spell and scored some runs – that showed great character after his game in Barbados. So for me he’s doing a great job and I’m learning a lot from him.”With my role I have to be patient and know when I am going to be involved or not,” he added. “I came here last year on the A tour and it ragged square, so I came here thinking I’d be more involved. It just shows they can prepare whatever wickets they want here, I guess, and these two games I wouldn’t have expected to play.”Leach admits that his situation on the England tour is not dissimilar to that of his Somerset team-mate, Dom Bess, in the County Championship. Bess showed great resolve in his maiden Test series against Pakistan last year – earning his selection after Leach broke his thumb early in the season – but, with English conditions rarely favouring one spinner in a side, let alone two, he has since admitted he may need to move counties to enhance his prospects of remaining in England contention.”It’s a difficult situation,” Leach said. “I felt for Dom last year, from playing Test cricket, we were suddenly both in the second team. Then I was first team in the Championship and he was 12th man a lot. It’s very difficult.”The thing with Dom is he’s young and spinners develop later. He can go away and play, and that could be good for his cricket, or he could stay and try to get past me as No.1 spinner, which could also push him further. There is that healthy competition, we help each other but know we’re both going for one spot at times.”With the Antigua wicket reportedly under scrutiny from the ICC following the three-day finish to the second Test, Leach recognised a similar refrain to the one he and his Somerset team-mates have been hearing for several seasons now, given the uniquely spin-friendly conditions that prevail at Taunton.”We look at spinning pitches negatively but, if it’s seaming around, we’re not too bothered,” he said. “That needs to be addressed, how they mark pitches. We need to challenge people to be better at cricket rather than complain about pitches.”I think the surface at Antigua, we’d have not come up against it in county cricket – that might not be possible. I don’t know if that comes from the top, but I think it’s a big thing.”There’s also very few times where you spend 150 overs in the field and it’s a batting paradise … then you’re looking to spin them out on the final day. So as much as I think spinning pitches are important, I think playing on flat ones is too.””You can’t do things you haven’t practised before. For me, we need players to experience different surfaces. It’s important to change attitudes. That would strengthen our international teams in years to come.”

The two seamers shared six wickets between them before Australia women chased down a revised D/L target of 92

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2018
Megan Schutt celebrates a wicket with team-mates•AFP

Three-wicket hauls from seamers Megan Schutt and Nicola Carey dismissed Pakistan women for 95 and put Australia women 1-0 up after a rain-hit clash in Kuala Lumpur.Schutt strangled Pakistan from the beginning, after they opted to bat, with a flurry of maidens and two wickets in her opening spell of 5-3-13-2, accounting for opener Ayesha Zafar and No. 3 Muneeba Ali. Nahida Khan, the other opener, and captain Javeria Khan added 28 for the third wicket before Carey and 19-year-old debutant Georgia Wareham sliced through the rest of the batting line-up. Sophie Molineux, Australia’s other debutant, also impressed, with extraordinary figures of 7-2-9-1, with her left-arm spin.A long rain break after 26 overs in Pakistan’s innings – when they were 76 for 6 – reduced the match to 41 overs a side. But they lasted only 11.2 overs after that, to be dismissed for 95. Apart from Nahida and Javeria, Sana Mir was the only other Pakistan player to reach double figures. Mir remained not out on 21 off 60 balls even as wickets tumbled around her. Carey finished with career-best figures of 3 for 19 from seven overs.Chasing a revised target of 92, Australia began steadily, with openers Alyssa Healy and Nicole Bolton putting on 40 in seven overs. But Mir induced a wobble with her offspin, as Australia went from 40 for 0 to 91 for 5, losing three of those five wickets to Mir. Beth Mooney soon drove through the covers for a four and sealed the chase in 22.2 overs.

Mohammad Hafeez will not be penalised for remarks he made against the ICC’s procedure regarding suspect bowling actions

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jun-2018Mohammad Hafeez will not face any penalty over his outburst in the media against the ICC’s process of reviewing suspect actions.The Pakistan allrounder was given the opportunity to clarify his comments to a three-member PCB disciplinary committee and he said: “”My intention was not to criticise ICC protocols nor did I mention any respected cricket board in my interview. The interview was all about my suggestions to improve the [bowling action test] standards and to remove doubts from the minds of cricket fans. Unfortunately, my comments were misinterpreted and used out of context.”The committee, which included Director Cricket Operations Haroon Rasheed, Media Director Amjad Hussain and General Manager Salman Naseer, accepted his explanation and declared the matter resolved.Hafeez, 37, had questioned the ICC’s methods of finding bowlers with suspect actions last month after he was reported for one, then banned and was finally cleared to bowl again. Having been through such scrutiny for a third time in his career, Hafeez suggested the relative power of cricket boards came into the picture and wondered how umpires could spot the tiniest errors in a bowler’s delivery.He told that the results of his testing in Loughborough showed that he flexed his elbow only a couple of degrees over the acceptable limit of 15. “So I have my doubts about this calling system. This is suspicious, why are match referees or on-field umpires not able to see those flexing up to 35, but me with 16 degrees.”The PCB had initially taken no interest in the remarks, but were moved to action once the ICC took notice of them.

Lancashire have pulled off a double Kolpak deal which sees Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dane Vilas shore up the batting ranks at Old Trafford

David Hopps27-Jan-2017Lancashire have become the latest county to raid South African cricket by signing Dane Vilas, the wicketkeeper-batsman, in a double Kolpak swoop which has also seen them shore up their batting strength by signing the veteran West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul.Vilas flew 600 miles to Johannesburg from Port Elizabeth as a late substitute in a Test against England at the start of 2016. Roughly a year later, at 31, he will fly around 5,000 miles to Manchester on a two-year Kolpak deal which realistically will bring his brief South Africa career to an end.He is the seventh South African player to take that option as expectations grow that Brexit might bring an end to the arrangement which exists under EU employment law.Kyle Abbott (Hampshire), Hardus Viljoen (Derbyshire), Simon Harmer (Essex), Rilee Rossouw (Hampshire) and David Wiese and Stiaan van Zyl (Sussex) have also signed Kolpak deals, although opening batsmen Dean Elgar and Stephen Cook have stayed loyal to South Africa by signing overseas player deals with Somerset and Durham respectively.Not many 42-year-olds would win a county cricket deal, even in a winter when Kolpak signings have again flooded into the game, but Chanderpaul retains an appetite for batting and has a pragmatic, safety-conscious style which might have been designed to offset the passage of time.Any burst of regional pride which met Glen Chapple’s progress through the ranks to become Lancashire’s head coach earlier this month will be tempered, for a while at least, by the decision to stock up with overseas reinforcements in an attempt to safeguard their future in Division One of the County Championship.Lancashire only became sure of safety on the final day of the season when results went their way after they had suffered a heavy defeat against Warwickshire.*Reeling from the enforced retirement of Tom Smith, they will plead that they have also had to contend with the loss in recent seasons of two further South African batsmen, Alviro Petersen and Ashwell Prince. Luis Reece has also been allowed to join Derbyshire.Their batting is likely to be further compromised by the loss of one of their homegrown products, Haseeb Hameed, to England for the second half of the summer. Hameed is the first England opening batsman produced by Lancashire since Michael Atherton but it is possible that, after only 23 first-class matches, any further benefits accrued at county level will be strictly limited.Ashley Giles, Lancashire’s former director of cricket, supervised a successful progression from the Old Trafford academy before returning to Warwickshire to take up a similar role. Four players made their first-class debut in 2016. Liam Livingstone and Rob Jones both went on to hit maiden first-class centuries, with Livingstone earning England Lions selection. The legspinner Matthew Parkinson took a five-for on debut against Warwickshire and England Under-19 fast bowler Saqib Mahmood made his first-class debut against Hampshire as well as breaking into the NatWest Blast side.Lancashire were at pains to point out that 19 players in the squad have come through the system. The Old Trafford academy, recently audited by the ECB, was ranked second, only to Durham, for producing young homegrown players who went on to make appearances for the club in the Championship in 2016.”This evidences the club’s ongoing commitment to developing young players to go on and play for England,” a Lancashire media release stated.Chanderpaul renews acquaintances with Lancashire after a spell at the county in 2010. Only Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis have played more Tests than Chanderpaul, who joins Lancashire on a one-year contract.Chapple said: “He knows what it takes to be successful and there is no doubt that he will have a positive effect on our squad. The talented squad at Lancashire is very young and Shivnarine will bring a healthy level of experience to help guide them.”Whilst Shivnarine will undoubtedly have an important role to play on the field, his role off the field will be of huge importance to our young players. He’s one of the most experienced international cricketers in the history of the game and it will be a fantastic opportunity for our players to learn from him, in all aspects of the game.”Vilas can be expected to make more of an impact in the limited-overs formats, with Chanderpaul unlikely to figure often in T20.Chapple said: “Signing a player of Dane’s undoubted calibre and experience is a great boost. His aggressive batting style will see him as an important part of our T20 and one-day sides in 2017, as well as in four-day cricket.”*January 27, 1600GMT: This story was corrected to amend Lancashire’s result

Kent inflicted upon Glamorgan their second heaviest post-war defeat in the championship – a woeful display by the home side that will surely bring an inquest

ECB/PA12-Sep-2015
ScorecardMatt Coles helped to inflict one of Glamorgan’s heaviest defeats [file picture]•Getty Images

Kent inflicted upon Glamorgan their second heaviest post-war defeat, by a runs margin, in the championship.They wasted little time taking the remaining eight Glamorgan wickets, unaffected by showers that removed more than half the morning session on the final day.The 316-run defeat was a reflection of Kent’s superiority in all departments, and there will surely be an inquest on Glamorgan’s woeful performance over the four days.Although captain Jacques Rudolph was absent on paternity leave, they should certainly have scored more than the 444 runs they managed in both innings ,and apart from Colin Ingram and James Kettleborough in the second innings, there was little or no application from the others .One could sympathise with the young opening batsman Jeremy Lawlor, who recorded a pair on his championship debut, especially as he had to open the batting even though he has batted at No.4 for the second eleven for most of the summer.The club might also argue that they only have 15 full time professionals on the staff, and there has been a heavy workload on the quicker bowlers, but they need to sign some players if they not to become perennial under-achievers in Division Two.Kent meanwhile, produced a thoroughly professional performance that belied their position in the division, with none performing better than their two veterans Rob Key and Darren Stevens.It was Stevens who began the collapse in Glamorgan’s second innings when he produced a spell of 4 for 10 in 17 deliveries.Kettleborough was his first victim when he was bowled for 56 – his best score for Glamorgan – before Chris Cooke, Aneurin Donald and Gramam Wagg were dismissed in quick succession.Stevens also claimed his 60th victim of the season, his best return in the championship, and with his 699 championship runs, continues to be an integral part of the Kent team.Key, since returning to opening the batting from No 3, has scored over 500 runs at an average of 75.00 and here he played two faultless innings and compiled an aggregate of 252 runs.Ingram’s first century in the championship came from 174 balls to supplement the three centuries and a fifty he scored in the Royal London Cup. He was given useful support by Andrew Salter at the end of the innings, but when it all ended Glamorgan had gone down to their fourth championship defeat of the season.

India made up for all the time lost to rain on the first two days by reducing Sri Lanka to 47 for 6, but the hosts negated India’s advantage by adding 154 with their last four wickets and taking India’s first three wickets for seven runs

The Report by Sidharth Monga30-Aug-2015
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIshant Sharma claimed his seventh Test five-for•AFP

India made up for all the time lost to rain on the first two days by reducing Sri Lanka to 47 for 6 and injuring Dhammika Prasad, Sri Lanka’s strike bowler on this pitch, but the hosts negated India’s advantage by adding 154 with their last four wickets and taking India’s first three wickets for seven runs. With India effectively 132 for 3 and the last pair of specialist batsmen already at the wicket, this was anybody’s game now.Fifteen wickets fell for 242 runs in 65.1 overs on a frenetic day where fortunes swung wildly. Yet again Prasad produced a wicket in the first over of the innings, and Cheteshwar Pujara, who carried his bat through in the first dig, became the only man to follow such a feat with a duck in the same Test. At lunch Sri Lanka would have drawn heart from the drizzle that didn’t cost the Test any time, but the heavy downpour at 4.40pm would have brought India relief, who yet again ran the risk of collapsing meekly after having watched runs from the Sri Lankan lower order.It might not result in a win, but if anything, this turnaround from Sri Lanka was even more remarkable than in Galle. Back then they had umpiring decisions and all the luck going their way; here they copped three rough decisions when batting. Upul Tharanga was given out off a no-ball even though the TV umpire had a look at the replays, Dinesh Chandimal – counterattacking his way to 23 off 27 – was given out lbw to a ball that hit him bail high and was on its way up, and Tharindu Kaushal was given out lbw off an inside edge.Debutant Kusal Perera, who ironically benefited from sloppy slip fielding from India, and Rangana Herath batted smartly in adding 79, the third-highest seventh-wicket partnership in Tests from under a score of 50. Against calculated risks from the lower order, tiring bowlers missed their rhythm. Coming back to bat with an injured hand, Prasad played around with the mind of Ishant Sharma, who had earlier starred with a rare five-for, and scored 27 off 23 to take Sri Lanka past 200.Not being able to bowl tails out and slips catching have been India’s twin tormentors in Test cricket of late, and they could do worse than to look at how they bowled in the first session of the day. The pitch didn’t allow crazy seam movement or variable bounce. India just put the ball in areas when uncertain batsmen edge it. Sri Lanka’s top order was uncertain.A certain degree of uncertainty could be expected of a rejigged batting order in the first Test since Kumar Sangakkara’s retirement. Tharanga came out to open on his comeback, Dimuth Karunaratane moved down, Chandimal moved up, and Perera batted at No. 7. This raw batting line-up could have done with some luck, which it turned out they didn’t have, but it didn’t seem like that in the first over after they had taken India’s last two wickets for an addition of 20 to their overnight total.Ishant Sharma, who had played dangerously with the crease when he batted for three balls in the morning, continued to do so. He might have been hitting out under team instructions, but more importantly, Ishant failed to stay in the crease with the first two balls he bowled. It looked like one of those bad days when everything goes against you when he produced Tharanga’s edge in the first over, but saw KL Rahul drop it diving in front of first slip. Rahul and slips would go on to gain more and telling mentions.Redemption nearly did not come for Ishant and Rahul. Tharanga, prone to offering these opportunities outside off, did so soon enough, and Rahul took a good low catch, but Ishant was asked to wait before he celebrated. Replays didn’t show any part of his foot behind the line, but mysteriously Tharanga was asked to keep walking. Umesh Yadav soon got rid of Kaushal Silva with the short ball again. Chandimal attacked attractively, but he fell to Stuart Binny, who on the second day had fallen to an outswinger that pitched and seamed back in to hit him on the back thigh. Binny repeated the dose to Chandimal, but replays showed the ball was likely to sail over the stumps.Ishant came back to deal Sri Lanka telling blows either side of the lunch break. With his first ball back, he had Angelo Mathews poking at one that held its line outside off. With his second ball after the break, Ishant asked a similar question of Lahiru Thirimanne, and the batsman responded with another edge. In between the two dismissals, Karunaratne played a loose drive to a wide half-volley from Binny.Having taken both those catches, Rahul – like Ishant – was on his way to turning his day around. But with Perera on 9, Sri Lanka 63 for 6 and Prasad retired hurt, Rahul dropped a simple offering off the bowling of Yadav. This wasn’t going to be Rahul’s last mistake.With Sanath Jayasuriya watching, the man he resembles at the wicket, Perera, went on to launch a calculated assault. In Herath, Perera found a determined ally. Perera hit nine fours in his 56-ball 55, Herath was more sedate, but the two had taken the sting out of India’s bowling by the time Perera fell top-edging a trademark Jayasuriya pull to cow corner. There was resistance from Kaushal, who scored 16 but stayed in the middle for 11 overs, but after benefiting from dodgy lbws in the first innings of the first Test, he was at the receiving end this time.One short of what could have been his second Test fifty, Herath was snapped up by Ishant just after tea with a ball just outside off and holding its line. Still, when Prasad began to run away from the stumps, India began to follow him and let Sri Lanka add more. With ball in right hand and heavy bandage on left, Prasad didn’t follow anybody. He produced the perfect ball to get rid of a man who had played 290 balls without getting dismissed. It pitched short of a length, on middle, squared the batsman up, and hit off.Rahul couldn’t draw any such comfort from having been done in by an unplayable delivery. For the second time in the Test he premeditated a leave without covering his stumps, and had the top of off pinged. Only this time the bowler was Nuwan Pradeep, who went on to repeat the Ajinkya Rahane dismissal with a ball moving in after pitching.

Sri Lanka A reached 290 for 8 on the first day of the second unofficial test against South Africa A in Durban

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Dimuth Karunaratne fell short of a century by 17 runs•Manoj Ridimahaliyadda

Sri Lanka A lost eight wickets for 290 runs, led by opening left-hand batsman and captain Dimuth Karunaratne, who made 83, after the first day. Seamer Ryan Mclaren took three middle-order wickets to push the visitors into trouble but a seventh-wicket partnership of 71 runs took them to relative comfort before two more wickets fell by the close.After inserting Sri Lanka to bat, South Africa claimed their first wicket of Dilruwan Perera in the tenth over. Kunaratne, however, hung around to build stands with other top-order batsmen before he became the fifth wicket to fall in the 49th over with the score on 173, falling 17 short of a century.Chamara Silva, who lost his place in the national squad after Sri Lanka’s tour of UAE in November last year, could not make an impact, getting out to offspinner Simon Harmer. A half-century by No. 7 Sachithra Serasinghe, and his partnership for the seventh wicket with Kosala Kulasekara, took Sri Lanka to 276.Ryan Mclaren, who played his last international game for South Africa in 2010, was the top wicket-taker, with three for 32 in 20 overs. Harmer and Pumelela Matshikwe took two wickets each, while seamer Wayne Parnell claimed the opening wicket of the innings.

Misbah-ul-Haq, the captain who has brought discipline back to Pakistan cricket, was not about to forego a perfect opportunity for an attritional day

The Report by David Hopps18-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWickets late in the day got England back into the match•Getty Images

Smart stats

• The 114-run stand between Mohammad Hafeez and Taufeeq Umar is the sixth century opening stand for Pakistan against England and their first against England since 1996.

• This is only the sixth time that both openers have scored over fifty in an innings for Pakistan against England. The previous occasion was the forfeited Oval Test in 2006.

• Hafeez scored his seventh half-century in Tests. The 88 is his second-highest score against England after the 95 in the forfeited Oval Test in 2006.

• Taufeeq’s half-century is his 13th in Tests overall and his third fifty-plus score in his last four innings. Since his comeback in 2010, Taufeeq has scored 1026 runs at an average of 44.60 with three centuries.

• Misbah-ul-Haq became the sixth Pakistan batsman to score over 1000 runs as captain. His average of 74.07 is comfortably the highest on the list followed by Saleem Malik’s 52.35.

• Misbah also became the 28th Pakistan batsman to reach the 2000-run landmark in Tests. His average of 46.47 puts him fifth on the list of Pakistan batsmen with 2000-plus runs.

• England have won only two Tests in the subcontinent after conceding a first-innings lead. Both the wins have come against Pakistan, in Lahore (1961) and Karachi (2000).

Misbah-ul-Haq, the captain who has brought discipline back to Pakistan cricket, was not about to forego a perfect opportunity for an attritional day. There was a Test to be won and he was determined to win it slowly. The stadium was virtually empty and he seemed of a mind to empty it further. He might prove to be a wise old bird.Misbah is a batsman to slow a heartbeat. He is also a captain to calm a nation. His drip-feed innings enabled Pakistan to negotiate the second new ball, but it did not quite make the match safe. He had plodded to 52 in nearly three-and-a-quarter hours when Graeme Swann won an lbw decision, via the review system, in the penultimate over of the day. It was appropriate that his final shot was a studious defensive push.His departure filled England with fresh resolve. They immediately grabbed another wicket in the final over, James Anderson’s late swing proving too much for Abdur Rehman. Pakistan’s lead at the close was 96, but in such favourable batting conditions England could be satisfied at taking seven wickets in the day.Only once in the past 20 years have England won a completed Test after making less than 200 in the first innings of a match. They bowled with great discipline in the last two sessions and stifled Pakistan, but Saeed Ajmal’s career-best 7 for 55 has left them with a monumental task.Misbah’s main ally was Mohammad Hafeez, who has played only two Test innings against England and has narrowly missed a hundred on each occasion. The first time, at The Oval in 2006, Pakistan refused to play in protest of ball-tampering allegations and England won by a forfeit. There were times when another Pakistan forfeit seemed to be England’s only chance of getting out of this one.Hafeez’s 88 spanned four hours. He had a century for the taking when he swept in ungainly fashion at a floated delivery from Graeme Swann and was struck on the boot. He opted for the DRS in the belief that he might have got outside the line, but umpire Bruce Oxenford’s decision was narrowly upheld.Swann’s two wickets provided a necessary lift. His personal battle with Ajmal is expected to be one of the decisive duels of the series and Ajmal’s seven wickets, perhaps five of them gifted by England’s batsmen, invited excessive expectations on a sedate pitch. He was in his 14th over when Hafeez fell and his previous over had disappeared for 13, including a slog-sweep for six by the same batsman.England’s challenge in the first session rested with Stuart Broad. Taufeeq might have been run out on 38 when Ian Bell, from square leg and with one stump to aim at, narrowly missed. Instead, Broad struck 21 overs into the second day when Taufeeq was bowled by an excellent delivery from around the wicket that held its line to strike off stump.Broad’s emotions had swirled quite differently the previous ball. Hafeez, on 52, mishooked a bouncer towards short midwicket where Chris Tremlett made ponderous progress, dived and dropped it. Broad flashed one of his Draco Malfoy looks and it was a wonder that Tremlett did not turn to stone. Perhaps Broad imagined that he already had.There was much of Malfoy in Broad’s morning. There normally is. Andrew Strauss is a captain who has learned to resist Broad’s glowers whenever he wants an appeal referred to the third umpire. In his second over of the morning, he nipped one back to strike Hafeez on the pad, but Strauss resisted his overtures and the television replay proved him right.Ten minutes from lunch, Broad nipped one back to Younis Khan, still on nought, and pressed Strauss to refer the lbw appeal. The captain smiled benignly. The replay showed the ball was too high. As one observer has memorably observed, Broad indulges in L’Oréal appeals – because he is worth it. Broad’s second wicket, Azhar Ali, came earlier in the same over, a hint of away movement enough to find the outside edge.Dubai was a world away from the first Test of the last series between these sides: Trent Bridge 2010, where the ball hooped around for England’s swing bowlers and Pakistan were hustled out in no time for 182 and 80 on their way to a 354-run defeat.England have nine players remaining from that Test, Ian Bell and Chris Tremlett being the only additions; Pakistan have nine missing, all bar Umar Gul and Azhar. The restructuring of Pakistan’s Test side has gone far beyond the replacement of the three players jailed for spot-fixing. Salman Butt’s Pakistan has been virtually scrubbed from memory.England had a bonus shortly before tea, when Jonathan Trott cut one back sharply to have Younis lbw, so adding him to Jahurul Islam, of Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka’s Tharanga Paranavitana as one of his three Test victims.They only collected one wicket with the second new ball, Jimmy Anderson having Asad Shafiq caught at the wicket, when they needed to turn the match. Misbah nudged here, nurdled there and pulled a few faces. The scoring-rate fell from 3.5 runs per over in the morning to barely two in the final session. But England got him in the end and will believe this Test is not over yet.

The PCB has said that it will respond to the recommendations and suggestions made by the ICC’s Pakistan Task Team (PTT) within ten days

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2011The PCB has said that it will respond to the recommendations and suggestions made by the ICC’s Pakistan Task Team (PTT) within ten days.”We are observing each and every recommendation in microscopic detail and we will write a detailed response with our observations to the ICC in ten days’ time,” PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed said.The PTT had presented a 38-page report during the ICC’s annual conference, listing 63 far-reaching recommendations that it believed would strengthen cricket in Pakistan. The report has also called, in strong terms, for a resumption of cricket ties with India, recognising it to be a key component of the fabric of Pakistan’s cricket.The PCB is reportedly unhappy with some of the suggestions in the report, particularly on selection and contract issues. They are also clear that the recommendations are merely guidelines, and they are not obliged to implement them.”These are recommendations and not obligatory directives,” a senior board official said. “They are not meant to be mandatory. These recommendations are just an observation by the task team. It is assumed that by adopting them, the system will improve but it is completely up to the board to comprehend what actually is feasible to adopt and what is not.”A member of the PCB governing council pointed out that the task team had not visited Pakistan even once to check ground realities while compiling the report. “What is also disappointing is that the task force has given no roadmap for the revival of international cricket in Pakistan,” another board official said.Former captain Javed Miandad was also critical of some of the guidelines. “Making recommendations or suggestions regarding the quality of cricket balls we use in our domestic circuit or our selection process are issues that should not be of concern to the task force,” he said. “These are purely internal matters of the PCB.”

A disciplined performance in the field and an explosive 35 off 19 balls from Brad Hodge helped Kochi Tuskers overcome Kolkata Knight Riders in the last match at the Nehru stadium

The Bulletin by Firdose Moonda05-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEoin Morgan opened up late, but Kochi’s bowlers held their nerve to finish on the winning side•AFP

A disciplined performance in the field and an explosive 35 off 19 balls from Brad Hodge helped Kochi Tuskers overcome Kolkata Knight Riders in the last match at the Nehru Stadium this IPL season.Hodge’s last over blitz, in which he took 21 runs off countryman Brett Lee, proved to be the difference between the two sides, as Kochi defended 156 by 17 runs. In the chase, RP Singh and Sreesanth failed to get the same kind of movement that Brett Lee extracted early in the Kochi innings. Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgan didn’t have to take many risks early on as there were many poor deliveries that were smacked to the boundary. In the first three overs, the bulk of the short and wide ones came from RP Singh.R Vinay Kumar and Prasanth Parameswaran pulled back the chase before it raged out of control with a selection of back of a length deliveries that proved difficult to get away. Although they kept the boundaries down, they didn’t trouble the batsmen much and failed to get a breakthrough until after the halfway stage, when Kolkata were well set. Kallis was the senior partner and easily outscored Morgan in that phase. Seven times in the first ten overs Kallis stole the strike at the end of the over.Just as Kallis looked as though he had grown roots, Raiphi Gomez rattled Kolkata with a double strike in his second over. He bowled Kallis with a legcutter and had Gautam Gambhir caught in the covers off consecutive balls, which left Morgan to assume the senior role. Manoj Tiwary could not last long, and Yusuf Pathan was expected to counterattack, but he and Morgan were frustrated by Gomez’s variations and Parameswaran’s accurate fuller deliveries. Sreesanth let the noose loosen, giving Morgan back-to-back boundaries but Vinay Kumar was on hand to tighten it. Confusions between Morgan and Yusuf mounted in Vinay’s last over, and Morgan was run out when both batsmen ended up at the wicketkeeper’s end.It brought Brett Lee to the crease, in poetic justice for the last over he bowled, which went for 21. There were 25 to get off the last over of Kolkata’s innings. Lee was run-out and the task proved too steep.Kochi’s innings was anchored by a third-wicket partnership between Mahela Jayawardene and Michael Klinger before being given momentum at the death by Hodge. It didn’t look as though Kochi would get over the 150-run mark, especially after the way things started. Lee’s first over was a whole bag of peaches. He got impressive away movement and started the innings with a maiden.Some success seemed inevitable after the start Kolkata got and it came from Jaidev Unadkat, although he hardly deserved it. He banged one in, too short and too wide outside off that Brendon McCullum chased and his fine edge nestled in Kallis’ hands at slip.Parthiv Patel came in at No. 3 and opened his account with two stunning boundaries. He looked energetic and confident in his strokeplay and dealt with Unadkat’s bouncer and the introduction of spin, in the form of Iqbal Abdulla, with relative ease. Surprisingly, it was the short ball that undid him, when he charged down the track and miscued a pull shot to midwicket.The stage was set for Jayawardene to play an innings of authority and, with Klinger at the other end, he did exactly that. They played creative cricket, managing a boundary off five of the seven overs they were together for and pushed each other to take singles before Klinger holed out. When Abdulla got the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja for eight, Kochi were being pegged back and some impetus was needed.The floodgates were opened with Jayawardene’s six over long leg at the start of the 17th over and Kochi put on 54 runs in the final four overs, with Hodge’s fireworks yielding almost half of those.