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Power-hitter turns down other offers to stay at the Hurricanes just days after becoming Australia’s biggest IPL earner at the mega auction

Alex Malcolm15-Feb-2022Rising star Tim David has remained loyal to Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL, signing a two-year contract extension despite lucrative offers from rival clubs.The Singapore-born Australian, who has played T20I cricket for Singapore but is eligible to play for Australia, is one of the hottest properties in T20 cricket at the moment after he was bought at the IPL auction on Sunday for AUD 1.53 million by Mumbai Indians. David is currently playing for the Multan Sultans in the PSL and has committed to joining Lancashire for the Vitality T20 Blast later this year.David has recommitted to the BBL club that gave him an opportunity in 2020 after he battled for a regular spot in Perth Scorchers line-up in the previous three seasons.ESPNcricinfo understands David had attracted significant interest from other clubs including one offer of a lucrative multi-year deal to move away from Hobart. But David was pleased to remain with the Hurricanes.Related

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“I’m really happy to be extending my time with the Hurricanes,” David said. “I’m thankful to the opportunity they gave me two years ago to be part of this team. The Hurricanes have been an important part of my growth as a player. I believe we have some great talent in this squad and I’m confident that if we play our best cricket we are capable of winning the BBL.”Cricket Tasmania’s general manager of high performance, Simon Insley, said securing David for a further two years was vital for the club, particularly while they search for a new head coach after Adam Griffith stood down at the end of the 2021-22 BBL season.”Despite the fact that we were disappointed with how our season ended this year, we truly believe in the core group of players that we have at the Hurricanes,” Insley said.”Keeping this group will assist us in attracting a reputable candidate to the head coach role.”Tim has had a meteoric rise over the past two seasons that is a testament to his hard work, we are delighted to have him on board for BBL 12 and BBL 13.”David joins Nathan Ellis, Ben McDermott, Joel Paris, D’Arcy Short and Matthew Wade as Hurricanes who are locked in for next season.

De Grandhomme says New Zealand will back themselves to chase down such a score

Firdose Moonda27-Feb-2022South Africa will be looking for at least 60 more runs, but would be more comfortable with 90 more from their last five batting pairs as they seek to set New Zealand a target in excess of 300 to win the second Test.On a pitch that remains good for batting, Rassie van der Dussen, South Africa’s top-scorer in the second innings so far, said the visitors are “reasonably happy” with their progress, but want to continue to put pressure on New Zealand’s attack.”We’re looking at anything around 270 or 280 plus,” he said. “If we can emulate what we did in the first innings with our tailenders and get to the 300 mark, mentally that would be a good mark for us. Hopefully we can start well tomorrow (Monday) and get through their first spells. Their bodies will be sore. To bowl 40 overs in three days is a lot.”New Zealand’s frontline attack of Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Neil Wagner have sent down 46, 48, 38 and 43 overs respectively, but have not shown any signs of fatigue yet. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite. Wagner sent down a nine-over spell late on the third day laced with short balls and removed both van der Dussen and Temba Bavuma to leave South Africa at 114 for 5 at one stage.”When I made my first-class debut 14 years ago, we were in the same team,” van der Dussen said of Wagner. “I knew what his plans were, it’s quite straightforward. We know him, we know what he does. He has a big tank, he keeps running in. Sometimes you have to say to a guy well done.”Despite having a clear idea of the threat Wagner posed, van der Dussen explained of their plan to take him and the rest of the attack on to extend the lead quickly.”We went out looking to play on the front foot. We looked to put pressure on them,” he said. “But they’ve got world class bowlers in terms of discipline. They don’t give you much. I went out a bit more streaky than I usually play. I knew I had to try and put some pressure on them to build the lead and I ran out of luck.”Colin de Grandhomme made a career-best 120 not out•AFP/Getty Images

Van der Dussen was eventually caught on the pull and Bavuma was out driving. B both dismissals looked avoidable, but South Africa saw a positive in the way the pair got out.”What we saw in this last session is that the ball sat up a bit on the short length,” van der Dussen said. “If the wicket gets two paced, it becomes really tricky. Temba also went out in a way that he doesn’t often go out and the ball just stuck a bit in the wicket. That will be a good signs for us. If it goes sideways and then stops a little, it does get tricky to score runs. Not always that tricky to survive but tricky to score runs.”South Africa’s run-rate has remained below three an over throughout the match but New Zealand have not had the same issue. They batted at close to four runs an over, thanks largely to Colin de Grandhomme’s carefree career-best 120, which came off 158 balls.De Grandhomme’s approach is as obvious as they come – “see the ball, hit the ball,” he said – and he was confident about New Zealand’s ability to chase something in the upper 200s. “I think if they get 270 we will be back ourselves to get it,” de Grandhomme said. “It might get slower and lower but it’s still a good pitch.”South Africa are hoping for exactly that: a surface that will deteriorate enough to bring the only spinner across both teams, Keshav Maharaj, into the game. Maharaj was a surprise pick at a venue where specialist spinners are often benched and took 1 for 46 in the first innings but van der Dussen hopes he will have a bigger role to play on the final day.”The wicket is a lot drier than it was in the first Test. That’s why we need to get to that 300 mark and then hope it deteriorates late tomorrow and going into day five,” he said. “We’ve got to give Keshav a chance to get into the game, our seamers to run in with short bursts of energy and hopefully the wicket will deteriorate a little bit for us.”While van der Dussen’s focus was on the role Maharaj could play, South Africa will also lean heavily on their new-ball pair of Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, who are the joint-leading wicket-takers in Tests this year. Rabada took his 11th career five-for in the first innings and van der Dussen believes if he has more success, South Africa can level the series.”He plays a huge role. He is a guy that doesn’t miss his lines and lengths a lot and he asks a lot of questions.” He said. “He knows what he can do and what he can’t do, and as a bowler there aren’t many things he can’t do. He swings the ball both ways, he has a good bouncer, a good yorker. The bowlers, the team look up to him.”I know it’s sometimes a big weight for him to carry on his shoulders, but he takes that responsibility. That’s what makes him so good. He knows when he bowls well, we play well; when he takes wickets, we win. It’s not nice to face him in the nets, so I can’t imagine it’s nice to face him in the middle. He’s going to be very important in the fourth innings. If he get’s it right, it will go a long way for us to win the Test.”

Re-engaging with players, appointing a new coach, and refreshing the BBL are on Henderson’s agenda

Alex Malcolm17-Feb-2022New Cricket Australia chairman Lachlan Henderson got on the front foot on his first day at the wheel, stressing the need for the CA board to re-engage with Australia’s players as well as refreshing the BBL, while also appointing a new men’s coach and a new ethics commissioner in the first few months of his tenure.There are some wounds to heal between the CA board and the administration and the men’s team and former players, in particular, following the resignation of coach Justin Langer after the Ashes. That came hot on the heels of Tim Paine’s resignation as Australia’s Test captain prior to the start of the Ashes. CA and the board were widely criticised for the way the two issues were handled from a governance perspective.Related

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“I think our former players, both recent former players and more distant former players, have all earned the right to an opinion about what happens in the game,” Henderson said. “And I’ll be doing a lot of listening in my first few weeks and months in the role and that’ll include talking to our past players.”My communication style will be to be open, transparent, hopefully consistent. I work in health care. We’ve negotiated a pandemic in the last two years. That’s required a fair amount of resilience. So within the bounds of the confidentiality of boards, I hope that there’s a really open and transparent way forward.”Henderson was appointed unanimously by the board on Thursday after an interview process with a select group of candidates. He became the fourth CA chairman in four years and the third in five months, taking over from interim chairman Richard Freudenstein, who took on the role following the resignation of Nick Hockley.Henderson comes to the job with a glittering resume in both his profession as chief executive of Epworth HealthCare and cricket governance, where he has been WACA director and chairman and a CA director since 2018 after moving from Perth to Melbourne. He also played junior cricket for Western Australia and first grade cricket for University Cricket Club in Perth.He pointed to better communication and stronger relationships with the current playing groups without compromising good governance.”I think we do need to re-engage with our players,” Henderson said. “That’s been incredibly difficult. They’ve been mostly operating out of bio-secure bubbles. But, as a new chair of the board, I’d like to think that we re-engage with our cricketers, both males and females. And also my role is to also talk to cricketers at all levels, from grassroots right through to the elite players.”Henderson acknowledged that the process surrounding Langer’s resignation did need reviewing after the way it played out.”It got messy in terms of things playing out in the media,” he said. “But the board’s role was to receive recommendations from management. We made our decision based on that. With any significant decision like that boards should reflect on that process that was involved. It is unfortunate that a bit of that played out in the media, and we will reflect on whether that should have been accelerated through the summer.”Henderson, who was chairman of the WACA when Langer was WA and Perth Scorchers coach, confirmed he had reached out to the former coach and spoken to him via text. He hoped to have a conversation with him in the coming weeks. He also said that he was keen for an appointment of a new men’s coach, or coaches, “sooner rather than later” but acknowledged that the appointment process was in the hands of CEO Nick Hockley and Head of national teams Ben Oliver.He revealed that CA’s board has a new cricket strategy for 2022, which involved reviewing and refreshing the BBL. The BBL has struggled through back-to-back Covid-ravaged seasons, and while TV ratings have remained strong, there are concerns around the product and the competition as a whole, particularly with a new TV rights deal to be negotiated in 2024.One major challenge for Lachlan Henderson is juggling his CEO role at Epworth HealthCare with the travel demands as CA chairman•Getty Images

“The first step in the Big Bash renewal is the strategy,” Henderson said. “The actual structure of the Big Bash and any changes like that are not on our agenda at the moment. We will look at what’s the best for cricket.”It’s a really important product for our states and their financial capacity as well and obviously for our players, we’ll be engaging with them as well. It’s not about a complete overhaul. We have a great product. But we’re doing it to renew and refresh the BBL.”There’ll be a consideration around the length of the season, also the duration of the season. I think they’ll all really be important considerations as we look at the Big Bash and we’ll consult widely with those involved in the product, our states, our players, our partners, our broadcast partners, and we’ll work out what’s the best way forward.”Henderson noted that CA had a A$ 40 million bio-security cost from the last two seasons that it needs to recoup from a financial perspective, as well as a decline in participation at grass-roots levels because of Covid-10 that needed to be addressed.His other major focus in the first few months of his tenure would be to appoint a CA ethics commissioner, which is one of the final recommendations of the 2018 Ethics Center review yet to be implemented. “I’ll be making that appointment in the weeks ahead after we review all the candidates that are available.”One major challenge for Henderson is juggling his difficult CEO role at Epworth HealthCare with the travel demands as CA chairman. He will not be going to Pakistan with the Test team, although Hockley will be. He will attempt to travel with the men’s and women’s teams later in the year.

Allrounder has been laid low with a bad back since October last year, and will turn out as a specialist batter for Surrey next week

Matt Roller30-Mar-20221:14

What Were You Thinking – Sam Curran

When Sam Curran felt pain in his back after Chennai Super Kings’ defeat to Rajasthan Royals in October, he expected it would be nothing to worry about. Six months later, he is looking out on The Oval on a brisk spring morning reflecting on the most frustrating period of his fledgling career.An initial scan discovered an injury bad enough to rule him out of the T20 World Cup before a second scan confirmed the worst: he had suffered a stress fracture of the lower back, his first serious injury, and would miss the Ashes as well. He had hoped to make his return in the IPL but was advised against entering his name in the auction and instead finds himself with “itchy feet” ahead of Surrey’s County Championship opener against Warwickshire at Edgbaston next week, where he is expected to play as a specialist batter.Related

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“It’s been a long winter,” he reflected, speaking to ESPNcricinfo at Surrey’s pre-season press day. “I’d never really experienced an injury before and missing out on what I have has been pretty hard. They’re probably the two biggest series or tournaments as a player: a World Cup for your country and an Ashes series down under.”The first couple of months I couldn’t really do much training because of the back. I just had to rest. I managed a few holidays – I went to Mexico with my girlfriend – and it was just about trying to get away from the game. I hadn’t really had a chance to reflect on the last six years since leaving school, so it’s been very nice. These last two months or so, I’ve had very itchy feet, wanting to get going again. It’s weird to think the first game’s a week away – especially when the weather’s freezing.”Curran had planned to put himself in the mix for February’s IPL mega auction, but discussions with the ECB’s medical staff did not go as he would have liked. Instead, he has been covering the early stages of the tournament as a pundit on ESPNcricinfo’s video show T20 Time Out, and keeping a keen eye on Chennai’s progress after two years with the franchise.”I’m gutted not to be there,” he admitted. “It’s a frustration watching from home. I wanted to go [into the auction] but I didn’t in the end – which was probably the best decision. Looking back, IPL probably came a little bit too soon.”I could have probably rolled the dice and said ‘let’s go’. I’m back bowling in the nets now, so if you work it out, I could probably have been bowling out there. But I’m still quite young, so I didn’t want to overdo it with the match intensity and big crowds out there and risk another injury from coming back too early.”At the time, I was really frustrated that I didn’t go into the auction, but looking back at how the last couple of months have gone – I haven’t been part of Surrey’s winter for a long time, so it has been nice to be part of it again. I definitely want to go back [to the IPL] at some stage because you learn so much about your T20 game there: it’s a tournament when you live and breathe cricket. You go down for breakfast every day and you’re sitting with superstars, sitting down and chatting about the game.”Curran has been England’s forgotten man over the winter. Jofra Archer has understandably been highlighted as the main absentee, but Curran’s left-arm angle, lower-order hitting and versatility would have come in useful at most junctures; he had hoped to be one of the few players to appear in the T20 World Cup, the Ashes and the recent series in the Caribbean.”I definitely want to go back [to the IPL] at some stage because you learn so much about your T20 game there”•BCCI

Instead, he has had to contend with watching from home, exchanging messages with downcast team-mates and feeling frustrated at his lack of control over the team’s fortunes. Now, his focus is on winning back his place for the first Test series of the summer against New Zealand in June, with October’s T20 World Cup in Australia the stand-out feature of a packed schedule for 2022.”Not being in the squad and watching it [last year’s T20 World Cup] was hard,” he said, “because we were two weeks away from it and then I got injured. That was hard to take. It’s one of those things – it was s*** timing but you live and learn.”I’ve had a good training block at Surrey to groove lots of different things. When you play so many different games across white-ball and red-ball cricket, different things can creep into your game. It was about understanding my batting a bit better, and there’s some areas in my bowling action I’d wanted to work on, so I’m sure people may see a few minor changes when I come back.”England stuff is always in my mind but for now, it’s about starting these first six Championship games, trying to put in performances for myself and for Surrey. The Test matches in June are my initial goal and the end goal is probably the World Cup. Having missed last year’s, I’m quite eager to get into one and see what it’s like and experience that in Australia. I just want to get back on the pitch, stay fit and, hopefully, have a really good season.”

Ajaz Patel claims three to secure 115-run lead on first innings at Chelmsford

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2022New Zealanders 362 for 9 dec (Henry 65, Mitchell 58, Fletcher 50*) and 0 for 0 lead County Select XI 247 (James 52, Patel 3-32) by 115 runsNew Zealand’s bowlers enjoyed a successful workout on the second day of their four-day warm-up against a County Select XI at Chelmsford, dismissing their opponents for 247 inside 75 overs. The wickets were shared among all six frontline bowlers on display, with the day’s best figures belonging to the spinner Ajaz Patel, whose 3 for 32 capped a fine all-round showing, following a feisty morning innings of 36 not out from 30 balls from No. 11.That effort, alongside Cam Fletcher’s unbeaten 50, allowed New Zealand to declare on 362 for 9 after 10 overs in the morning session, following Matt Henry’s overnight retirement. And there was time for one over in their second innings, just before the close, successfully negotiated by Tom Latham off Liam Patterson-White.This time last year, Dom Sibley’s crease occupation was in the process of becoming so all-consuming, he was virtually strokeless by the time of his England omission in mid-summer. And while a recall may be some way off yet, he at least showed in a brisk cameo of 27 from 33 balls that the 2022 version is significantly freer-flowing.Each of Sibley’s five fours came in a wayward opening spell off Kyle Jamieson – three off the pads and two through the off-side, one a touch streakily as he chased the width through the cordon. But before he could press on, Henry at the other end capped a miserly opening burst with the opening wicket of the innings, courtesy of a sharp diving take from Will Young at second slip to intercept a thick outside edge.At the other end, Ben Compton carried on in the same unhurried manner that has carried him to 878 Championship runs in the season so far. This match’s lack of first-class status meant his hopes of reaching 1000 before the end of May had already been dashed, but in grinding along to 31 in his first 75 balls he seemed dead-set on making his time in the middle count just as much.But then, after Blair Tickner had leaked back-to-back boundaries in his first over to kick Compton’s innings into second gear, he responded one ball later with the perfect line and length to kiss his outside edge. Fletcher stooped low behind the stumps to send Compton on his way for 39.Tom Haines, fresh from a tidy innings of 41 in New Zealand’s last warm-up against Sussex earlier in the week, then set about compounding Jamieson’s tricky day’s work with a further flurry of boundaries in his second spell. But after leaking 56 runs in his first 10 overs, Jamieson needed just four balls with Nick Gubbins in his sights before zeroing in on his pads from round the wicket and extracting a plumb lbw decision.Ryan Patel was then caught at long-on for 11 off his namesake Ajaz, who dislodged Haines for 42 soon afterwards, as Tom Blundell – now behind the stumps – grabbed a thick edge at the second attempt. Jamieson then added his second lbw of the day, this time thumping Michael Burgess’s pads from over the wicket, and when Patel bagged his third – Patterson-White flicking uppishly to midwicket – the County XI were losing momentum at 181 for 7.Colin de Grandhomme struck in the second over of his second spell, as Jack Blatherwick snicked an outswinger through to Blundell, but in an echo of New Zealand’s own innings, they was held up by the ninth-wicket pairing of Lyndon James and Jamie Porter, who thrashed six fours – each of them up and over the off-side – in a free-wheeling 31 from 35 balls, before he gave himself room once too often and lost his off stump to Tickner. By then, James had inside-edged a drive off Jacob Duffy to fall for a well-compiled 52.

Kalea Moore takes 3 for 4 to restrict Western Storm before tight chase in Bristol

ECB Reporters Network01-Jun-2022Alice Davidson-Richards held her nerve to usher South East Stars to a hard-fought three-wicket win over Western Storm in a thrilling Charlotte Edwards Cup contest at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol.Chasing a modest target of 110, Stars squeezed home with three balls to spare thanks, in large part, to a pugnacious innings of 35 from 25 balls from Davidson-Richards, who mustered five boundaries to help the visitors recover from 76 for 6 in the 16th over.Bryony Smith contributed a useful 24 at the top of the order, but spinners Sophia Smale and Claire Nicholas claimed 2 for 18 and 1 for 19 respectively to ensure Stars did not have things all their own way.Intent upon maintaining pressure on Group B leaders Central Sparks, Stars staged an impressive bowling performance, Kalea Moore producing a startling burst of three wickets for two runs in eight balls to put the skids under Storm, who came up short on 109 for 8 after being put in.Related

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The teenage offspinner was backed up by England international Freya Davies, who bowled superbly with the new ball and at the death to finish with figures of 2 for 17, while legspinner Danielle Gregory kept things tight in a disciplined spell of 1 for 17 from three overs.Only Georgia Hennessy, who made 27, and the experienced Fran Wilson, who contributed 33 not out from 30 balls, enjoyed any success with the bat as Storm struggled to build momentum in an innings that yielded a mere eight boundaries. Heather Knight, the England captain, was absent through illness.Just as they did when defeating Storm by seven wickets at Beckenham last month, Stars elected to field and immediately applied pressure, new-ball bowlers Davies and Alexa Stonehouse adhering to the tenets of line and length to nullify a powerplay that yielded just 24 runs and featured a meagre three boundaries.Eager to impress against former team-mates, Davies struck in the first over, inducing Fi Morris to nick behind without scoring, and she might have had a second wicket when spilling a tough return catch off Hennessy, who was afforded a life on nine in the fifth over.Taking the pace off paid dividends on a characteristically slow Bristol pitch, Smith and Gregory frustrating the second wicket pair of Hennessy and Sophie Luff, who were forced into taking risks against the spinners in an attempt to provide the innings with much-needed impetus.Dropped on 10 by Capsey at square leg in the previous over, talismanic Storm captain Luff succumbed to Gregory’s legbreaks in the ninth, next over, skying a catch to Davidson-Richards at long-on and departing for 13 with the score on 33.Understanding the importance of finding the gaps and running hard, Wilson called Hennessy through for a second run, only for the opener to be run out by Phoebe Franklin’s throw from deep mid-wicket as Storm slipped to 46 for 3. Hennessy had scored a battling 27 from 31 balls with three boundaries and her departure sparked a mini-collapse during the crucial middle overs.Kalea Moore took three wickets for four runs•Getty Images

Called upon in the 13th over and deployed from the Ashley Down Road end, Moore single-handedly dismantled the middle order, striking with her third ball to bowl hard-hitting Danielle Gibson for 6 before making a mess of Nat Wraith’s stumps and having Katie George held at mid-off as the home side lurched to 57 for 6 in the 15th.Thereafter, Wilson and Alex Griffiths were at least able to score at a run a ball to stage a partial recovery in a seventh wicket alliance of 31 in 4.1 overs. Griffiths offered a return catch to Capsey in the penultimate over and went for 16, while Niamh Holland was bowled by Davies, leaving Wilson undefeated on 33.Determined to make a fight of it, Storm reduced the visitors to 43 for 4 inside nine overs. Claire Nicholas induced Aylish Cranstone to hit to mid-off and then held a catch at backward square off the bowling of Smale to remove Sophia Dunkley, while Smith, having harvested a quartet of fours in making 24 from 28 balls, holed put to Gibson at long-off in the act of driving. Smale struck again in her next over to account for Capsey, at which point the game was in the balance.Requiring 58 runs off 10 overs with six wickets in hand, Stars were in need of a steadying influence. Instead, Franklin lost her off stump to George to further sow seeds of doubt.Moore and Davidson-Richards then staged a restorative stand of 21 in 4.2 overs to help calm any nerves, only for the former to be run out for 13 by Hennessy just when she was beginning to find fluency. When Davidson-Richards was run out by Wilson in the 18th over, Stars still needed 15 runs from 16 balls.Meeting the demands of the day in fine style, Stonehouse and Kira Chathli plundered 11 runs off the penultimate over, sent down by Gibson, to take the heat out of the situation.

Eskinazi misses out on deal as Gleeson, Mousley, Mike among signings

Matt Roller07-Jul-2022Michael Hogan, the 41-year-old Australian-born seamer, will play in the Hundred this year after he was signed by defending men’s champions Southern Brave as a wildcard on Thursday morning.Hogan announced in December that this would be his final season as a professional cricketer before his retirement but has impressed in the Blast for Glamorgan this season, taking 20 wickets in 11 appearances while bowling in the powerplay and at the death. Brave have an all-star squad which may limit Hogan’s opportunities but their wildcard pick last year, Jake Lintott, ended the season as their leading wicket-taker as they won the inaugural tournament.James Fuller, the Hampshire allrounder, has also been signed as a partial replacement, initially for Quinton de Kock who will miss the first game of the tournament on South Africa duty. He is then expected to replace Finn Allen for the rest of the season, who is set to be named in New Zealand’s squad for their away series against West Indies.Related

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Hogan is the most eye-catching signing from Thursday’s wildcard draft. Picks are due to be announced later today but ESPNcricinfo can reveal them in full.Richard Gleeson, who was picked by England for their T20I series against India after a remarkable season in the Blast for Lancashire, was signed by Manchester Originals, who used their ‘right-to-match’ card to pick him after he withdrew from the tournament last year through injury.Birmingham Phoenix signed Dan Mousley, the Warwickshire allrounder who bats in the middle order, while Welsh Fire picked George Scrimshaw, the tall Derbyshire seamer who has been called up by England Lions for their series against South Africa next week. Jamie Smith, the Surrey keeper-batter, will play for London Spirit.Ben Mike, the Leicestershire allrounder, has been picked up by Trent Rockets. Oval Invincibles signed Jack Haynes, the Worcestershire batter, as middle-order cover, and Northern Superchargers brought back Durham’s Ben Raine, who played four games for them last season after he was signed in the wildcard draft.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

As revealed on Wednesday evening, Superchargers have also signed Michael Pepper, the Essex batter, as a replacement for Luke Wright, who has pulled out of the tournament to fulfil his coaching commitments with New Zealand.Stephen Eskinazi, Middlesex’s T20 captain, is the highest-profile player who has been overlooked, though may yet win a deal as a replacement before the tournament starts on August 3.Each wildcard pick will be paid £30,000, rounding off the selection process for 2022 other than any further replacement signings due to injury or international call-ups.

Visitors fall apart in chase after Moeen and Willey had earlier helped England to 246

Hemant Brar14-Jul-2022 146 (Hardik 29, Jadeja 29, Topley 6-24) by 100 runsReece Topley picked up 6 for 24, the best figures for England in men’s ODIs, as the hosts thumped India by 100 runs in the second ODI at Lord’s and levelled the three-match series 1-1.After being put in, England were themselves all out for 246 in 49 overs, with Yuzvendra Chahal picking up 4 for 47. Even getting as far as that was only possible thanks to a 62-run seventh-wicket stand between Moeen Ali and David Willey.It looked like an innocuous total at the innings break but India were in for a shock. Topley and Willey found the movement and extra bounce to reduce India to 31 for 4 in the 12th over. The recovery never really came, and their long tail – Mohammed Shami came out at No. 8 – didn’t help their cause either. In the end, they were bundled out for 146 in 38.5 overs.Earlier in the day, Jasprit Bumrah and Shami bowled a testing spell with the new ball, making use of the early moisture in the surface to trouble Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow.Jason Roy looked the more tentative of the two England openers, getting beaten consistently on both inside and outside edge. But if the luck was with the Indian bowlers in the first ODI, where loose drives fetched edges and edges found fielders, England were the fortunate side on Thursday.After beating the outside edge of both openers multiple times, Shami found the inside edge of Roy’s bat in the fifth over. But the ball missed the stumps and went for four. In Shami’s next over, Bairstow threw his bat at a length ball, got an outside edge, and picked up four through the just-vacated second slip area.Moeen Ali’s defiance helped England stop the flow of wickets in the middle overs•PA Photos/Getty Images

In the first ten overs, the England batters played 22 false shots, the same as they did in that period in the first ODI. At The Oval those resulted in five wickets; here they brought India just one wicket.That one wicket was of Roy, who managed to survive against Bumrah and Shami but fell to a half-volley from Hardik Pandya. He attempted a flick but the bat rotated in his hand, resulting in a simple chance at deep-backward square leg.Jonny Bairstow, though, had started looking dangerous and had moved to 38 off 37 balls when he went for a slog sweep against Chahal, only to miss it completely with the ball clattering into the leg stump.Soon after, Chahal lobbed one to Joe Root who too failed to connect the sweep and was trapped lbw. In the next over, Shami castled Jos Buttler with a full delivery to make it 87 for 4.Ben Stokes tried to take on Chahal, hitting four reverse sweeps in a row, two of them fetching him fours. However, it was the same shot against the same bowler that resulted in his dismissal, lbw for 21.Virat Kohli walks back after nicking behind outside off•AFP via Getty Images

Liam Livingstone and Moeen joined hands at 102 for 5 and added 46 off 45 balls. Moeen was playing more of an anchor’s role, while Livingstone was his usual attacking self and was involved in a mini-battle with Hardik, who bowled him three consecutive short balls. Livingstone sent the first one into the stands beyond deep-backward square leg. The next one was well outside off and Livingstone pulled it to the deep-midwicket boundary for four. But Hardik had his man with the third one. This time, Livingstone skipped down the track but ended up miscuing the pull straight into the lap of substitute fielder Shreyas Iyer at deep square leg.The next five overs, from the 30th to 34th, produced just 13 runs and also featured Praisdh Krishna dropping Willey off Hardik. Willey was on 1 at that point and would go on to score 41.To make Prasidh’s day worse, Moeen and Willey hit him for a six each a few overs later. Moeen was now looking to open up. In the 41st over, he pulled Bumrah for his second six but Chahal cut short his innings on 47, as the left-hander miscued a slog to deep square leg.That left Willey with the tail. He did hit Bumrah for a six on the first ball of the 47th over but when he tried the same later in the over, Bumrah slipped in a slower one and had him caught at long-on. England lost their final two wickets in the next two overs.It wasn’t a big target but India’s chase never got going. Rohit was imperious in the first ODI but here he looked like a cat on a hot tin roof and was lbw to Topley for a ten-ball duck as the ball nipped back just enough with the slope.It took India 4.3 overs for their first run off the bat, though they collected five leg-byes before that. Virat Kohli then eased the nerves somewhat with three straight-driven fours off Topley, two of those on successive balls.But Shikhar Dhawan looked as uncomfortable as Rohit and was eventually caught down the leg side off Topley for 9 off 26 balls. India sent Rishabh Pant at No. 4 but before he could open his account, he chipped a full toss from Brydon Carse to mid-on. In the next over, Willey got Kohli to nick one behind to dent them further.Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik had just started the rebuilding process when Topley struck again, with Suryakumar chopping one onto his stumps. Hardik and Ravindra Jadeja took the side past 100 before Hardik top-edged a pull against Moeen to deep midwicket.Jadeja and Shami added 39 for the seventh wicket but that only delayed the inevitable. Towards the end, Topley bowled Chahal for his maiden five-wicket haul and wrapped up the game three balls later.

He reached the landmark during the first ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare

Mohammad Isam05-Aug-2022Tamim Iqbal became the first Bangladesh batter to reach 8000 runs in ODIs, and overall the ninth opener to breach the landmark. He reached the milestone during Bangladesh’s first ODI against Zimbabwe when he moved to 57 with a late cut wide of short third man off Sikandar Raza in the 24th over.Tamim, who notched up his 54th ODI fifty, is on a hot streak both as captain and opening batter. He was named Player-of-the-Series against West Indies last month, leading his side to a 3-0 sweep of the ODI series. He was the leading run-scorer in the three ODIs scoring 117 runs at an average of 58.50.Related

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Tamim has led Bangladesh to six out of seven ODI series wins since he started his permanent captaincy reign in January 2021.Having started his career in 2007, Tamim is inarguably Bangladesh’s greatest opener across formats. He is the second highest run-getter in Tests behind Mushfiqur Rahim, who narrowly beat Tamim to become the first Bangladesh batter to reach 5000 runs in the longest format of the game. Tamim, however, is the first to 5000, 6000, 7000 and 8000 ODI runs for Bangladesh.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The last 1000 runs took Tamim only 23 innings – two years, due to the lack of ODIs in Bangladesh’s schedule of late – and included two centuries. Interestingly, out of the nine openers who have made 8,000 runs, six of them are left-handers, Tamim being the latest one.Tamim gave Bangladesh an excellent start in the first ODI against Zimbabwe stitching 119 runs for the opening wicket alongside Litton Das. He fell to Raza for 62.

Kirby had a long county career in England with several sides and won the County Championship with Yorkshire

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Sep-2022Zimbabwe have roped in Steve Kirby as their new bowling coach. He is expected to join the side ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia next month.Kirby, 44, had a long county career in England as a fast bowler with an experience of 348 games across formats: 167 first-class, 104 List A and 77 T20 matches. He then took on coaching there and last served as the bowling coach at Somerset, one of the sides he played for.Kirby also worked with current Zimbabwe head coach Dave Houghton at Derbyshire.”I’ve got aspirations to be the very best coach that I can be, and international cricket is something that I really want to be involved with,” Kirby was quoted as saying in a Zimbabwe Cricket statement. “I’ve worked really well with Dave Houghton previously when we were at Derbyshire and when this position presented itself, I felt that I couldn’t turn it down.”The scale of the role is hugely exciting because I won’t just be working with the national XI, but I’ll also be involved with the whole pathway structure across the country.”Kirby won the County Championship with Yorkshire and also represented Gloucestershire, Leicestershire and MCC. During his stint with Gloucestershire, Kirby was also penalised for ball tampering – he was given a suspended ban for deliberately rolling the ball across the car park during a game against Glamorgan after he had gone to retrieve it.”We are delighted to confirm Steve as our Bowling Coach for the senior men’s team,” ZC director of cricket Hamilton Masakadza said. “He has done incredibly well as a player and coach in county cricket over the years and, as we seek to continue strengthening all facets of our game and improving our performances at the highest level, we count ourselves privileged and fortunate to have him as part of our technical set-up.”Overall, he took 572 first-class wickets at 28.74, 142 in List A at 27.90, and another 83 in T20s with an economy rate of 7.56.Zimbabwe will play in the opening round of the T20 World Cup along with Ireland, West Indies and Scotland in Group B. Their tournament will begin on October 17 against Ireland in Hobart after playing warm-up games against Sri Lanka and Namibia in Melbourne.