Tag Futebol

Runs throughout the top-order for Durham as they rack up imposing first-day total

David Hopps05-May-2022Just as people who come to Worcester to watch cricket routinely extol the magnificence of the cathedral, but barely notice the spire of St Andrew’s further along the skyline, so Sean Dickson knew that he would be overshadowed the moment Ben Stokes came to the crease. But Stokes’ first innings since being appointed England captain, and only his third Championship innings for Durham in four years, was put on hold until the second day as Durham piled up 339 for 3 and the plaudits were Dickson’s as he registered his third Championship hundred of the season.Stokes is batting at No.6 here which in many ways sounds a little low but it is eminently logical. It is least disruptive to a very strong Durham top-order – he replaced Ben Raine, who normally comes in around eight – and he will get into the rhythm of batting four-down as he intends to do for England.”He is just nestling in to his England role I think,” Dickson said, “and it is a good opportunity for others to make runs before the man himself comes in. He has such an aura about him. He brings such a great energy into the squad.”It is one of the oddities of cricket that a game can be suspended with a batter on 99 – which is a bit like wandering off for a cup of tea before taking a six-foot putt on the 18th, or attempting to convert a penalty kick. Dickson has been required to do it twice this season and, on both occasions, has survived unscarred.Nobody wants to leave the field, one short of a century, concentration shelved for the next 20 minutes, while the cherished tones of Dave Bradley, on the Worcester PA system, turns attention to the virtues of the Playfair Cricket Annual, on sale now in the club shop, and the array of cakes in the Ladies’ Pavilion.”I think it’s some maturity showing through,” he said. “I think in the past I would have panicked and thought ‘I want to get it before tea’ but there is so much time left in the game. What difference is me going into tea on 99 or 100 in terms of the game? There is no difference. Just go into tea, get my protein shake in, and be more ready for that extra run than I was beforehand.”Back on guard shortly afterwards, the attractions of Playfair presumably overlooked, Joe Leach set him two backward points, offered him an over of balls outside off stump and almost had him caught at cover, the ball falling agonisingly short of Adam Finch. Ed Barnard seemed more accommodating as Dickson lay back to cut him to the boundary in the next over but only for a moment. Barnard then dismissed him for 104, edging a back-of-a-length delivery that left him a shade to first slip.This was Dickson’s third hundred of the season, the previous coming against two of Division Two’s weaker counties, Leicestershire at Chester-le-Street (the scene of his first nervous 99 at tea), and Sussex at Hove. It is fair to say that he will have sterner challenges ahead because this was a benevolent pitch and Worcestershire’s attack has had better days, but he appears to be as settled in this opener’s role as at any time in his red-ball career. The crowd behind the arm gave him out on 57 when they burst into prolonged applause for an imagined catch at the wicket off Leach, but the umpire remained unmoved, and some of them sighed slightly before returning to their conversations.Related

• New England captain Ben Stokes calls for team of 'selfless cricketers' to revive Test fortunes

• Ben Stokes carries wisdom of experience into ultimate England honour

• Tom Alsop, Ali Orr give Sussex the edge against Middlesex

• Rishi Patel, Hassan Azad star for Leicestershire before late Glamorgan fightback

Durham, who expected to be pushing hard for promotion, have had a slow start to the season, but they could be in business here. Two weeks ago, Worcestershire racked up 491 against Sussex and went on to win by an innings. The moisture content of this pitch is reportedly identical, as is the grass cut. And heavy cloud cover is forecast for late on the second afternoon, about the time Worcestershire can expect to be batting. They have had some tough bowling days and will probably feel they are due a bit of swing.Dickson, like St Andrew’s Spire, was worthy of attention. The church itself was demolished in the 1940s, to be replaced by a shopping centre which has become the modern religion, although perhaps not for much longer to judge by the day’s economic forecasts.Dickson’s county career hit an uncertain phase when he joined Durham on loan from Kent (with a full contract promised) and only made one Championship half-century in his first eight matches, but he has always possessed a limited-overs threat and he is embedded in the Championship opening spot this season.His century had been backed up from all parts by the close. Keegan Petersen bagged a stylish half-century before becoming a first victim for the debutant Ben Gibbon, a sturdy left-arm seamer from Cheshire who showed up well, and Scott Borthwick and David Bedingham had forced home Durham’s advantage by the close.Stokes sat, pads on, until the close, but the grand entrance of the man Dickson referred to as “the king” never happened. As gentle evening sunshine flooded upon this most pastoral of setting, and the cathedral changed to an inviting hue of Ecclestical Bronze (a Farrow & Ball colour if ever there was one) he might have felt that this was his final relaxation before the fray begins.

The former players, after whom the trophy is named, feel Prithvi Shaw is playing ‘too many’ shots at the start

Varun Shetty15-Dec-20203:21

Gavaskar: India could bring in KL Rahul for MCG Test in Kohli, Rohit’s absence

Shubman Gill has got both Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border’s backing to open alongside Mayank Agarwal during India’s Test series against Australia. Previewing the series named after them, the first men to 10,000 Test runs discussed Gill’s and Prithvi Shaw’s prospects of sealing a place in the Indian line-up, with a consensus that Shaw’s aggressive style was currently going against him.”I think Shubman Gill should open with Mayank for the first Test match because he’s shown good form,” Gavaskar said. “Allan Border was there for the games [practice games], [and] was very impressed with what he saw from Shubman Gill. So I would imagine that he should open with Mayank Agarwal for the first Test.”Should Gill be picked, he would be making a Test debut and displacing Shaw, who was the incumbent opener alongside Mayank Agarwal in India’s last Test series in New Zealand. In the two warm-up games, Gill’s scores – 0, 29, 43, 65 – got progressively better while Shaw had a more patchy run with scores of 0, 19, 40, and 3. Shaw has had a torrid run of form coming into this tour including in IPL 2020, with his duck in the first practice game being his fourth in his last seven innings across formats.”I’ve been in Sydney the last couple of days, watching the Indian team against Australia A. Gee, I was impressed with Gill,” said Border. “I really think he’s got something about him, his technique. I know he’s young so he can play a few rash shots here and there, but he looks a seriously good player, this kid. He would be my pick out of the guys I saw.”I know you guys [rate] Shaw but it seems to me like he plays a shot-a-ball. Against the new ball, it looks good on flat tracks, but in Australia, you’ve got to be a little bit more watchful about your shot selection. He just seems a bit loose outside the off stump for me. If I’m the Indian selector, I’m looking very close at young Gill.”ALSO READ: Pick your India XI for first TestShaw has currently played in four Tests since his debut in October 2018, and averages 55.83. He has, however, appeared low on confidence since cricket resumed this year and Gavaskar suggested he needed to work on his defence.”I do agree with AB [Allan Border] on that,” Gavaskar said. “I think he’s got to spend a little more time assessing his batting. Because as an opening batsman, you’ve got to give yourself time to see what the pitch is doing, see what the bowlers are doing. And trying to bat the way he’s batting at the moment is not going to make him a consistent player. Yes, he’s going to make runs once in a while – [but] he’s got to tighten up his defence. I agree with AB that he plays far too many shots at the start of the innings.”As far as India’s other opener is concerned, Agarwal looks set to hold onto his spot, earned on the back of a strong debut during India’s successful last tour of Australia. Agarwal had a stellar IPL season earlier this year, and after a couple of unconverted starts in the ODI series, made a fifty in the last practice match.”My player to watch from India will be Agarwal, because he came to Australia for the last couple of Test matches two years ago and he actually showed the way,” Gavaskar said. “Because till then India had not got a start. But he batted brilliantly, he actually showed how to tackle Nathan Lyon because he was stepping down the pitch, hitting him straight. The freshness of youth, you could say.”Since then, he’s only become better. He’s gone from strength to strength. Look at the season he had last year, where he scored a double hundred against South Africa. He got back-to-back double hundreds if I’m not mistaken [two double-centuries in three matches]. So he’s the guy I really am looking forward to in this series.”On another much vaunted topic – the Indian wicketkeeper debate – Gavaskar said he expected India to pick Rishabh Pant over Wriddhiman Saha through this series. Pant has been India’s preferred option in overseas Tests, even when Saha has previously been available, and Gavaskar said that and a couple of other factors would work in his favour. Not least his blistering hundred against Australia A in the second practice game.”It’s going to be a tough one for the selection committee because Rishabh played in all the four Test matches during India’s [last] tour and he also got a hundred. And he seemed to have got under the skin of some of the Australian players with his chirping behind the stumps,” Gavaskar said. “So I guess the team would probably look to have him. And of course, when you’ve just come off a hundred, a few days earlier, you would be the choice I think.”The popular opinion on who the better wicketkeeper is has long been skewed in Saha’s direction, and the experienced wicketkeeper was brought straight back into the Indian team during when he returned from a long injury lay-off last year. That was, however, during India’s home season, where his skill against spinners is considered vastly superior. When India went to New Zealand, Pant was back in the team.”When you’re playing on pitches where the wicketkeeper has to stand up to the stumps, where the ball turns around a bit, that’s when you tend to take your best wicketkeeper – in which case, Wriddhiman Saha would be the obvious choice,” Gavaskar said. “But here, because India will be having pacers, you can stand behind. You get that much more time, about 15 yards behind the stumps. My feeling is they’ll go for that.”Also, because at the top of the order the Indians are a little bit shaky, they won’t know who to go with. […] So with the uncertainty, they’d like to strengthen their batting and I think Rishabh Pant will play. But I hope he plays at six because then that will allow you to pick five bowlers to get 20 wickets.”

Sussex batsman joins coach Jason Gillespie in signing with the Adelaide Strikers for the upcoming BBL season

Alex Malcolm10-Sep-2019Adelaide Strikers have signed Sussex opener Phil Salt for the upcoming BBL season.Salt, 23, joins Rashid Khan as the Strikers’ overseas players after South African Colin Ingram left the team at the end of last season.The right-handed opener has had an outstanding T20 Blast season for Sussex under the guidance of Jason Gillespie, the coach at Sussex and Strikers. He has scored 406 runs in 13 innings, including four half-centuries, at a phenomenal strike rate of 161.11.Salt has been playing alongside Strikers keeper Alex Carey at Sussex this year and has also played with Rashid.The Strikers’ top-order batting struggled big time last season after being the cornerstone of their title win in BBL 07, and Gillespie was delighted to add a dynamic right-hander to compliment the bevy of left-handers in the top order. “We are incredibly excited to have signed Phil who has showed real signs of promise and has performed well for the Sharks in the Blast,” Gillespie said.”He’s beyond excited to get started, obviously we have Carey over here in England and Phil has been chatting to him non-stop about how it’s going to work, when he can come out to Adelaide and meet everyone and get stuck in.”Salt has experience playing premier cricket in Adelaide with Adelaide University in 2017-18. He played nine matches across the summer while doing a stint at the Darren Lehmann Academy.”I had a stint in Adelaide playing for Adelaide University and loved it, I made some really good friends who I’m looking forward to seeing again,” he said. “I love working with Dizz (Gillespie), Rash and Alex, it’s so key when you’re trying to build a great environment to have guys who you know are going to put 100% in at all times and give everything they’ve got to the cause.”I’ve worked really well with Dizz over the course of my career so far and hope that we can be even more successful here at the Strikers.”The Strikers have also signed South Australia wicketkeeper Harry Nielsen to the roster. Nielsen played last season in Carey’s absence and will likely be required again when the Australia ODI side tours India for a week in January midway through the BBL.

Hales plays anchor in two crucial partnerships after England’s disciplined bowling performance had kept India to a below-par score

The Report by Varun Shetty06-Jul-2018England swept and swept, first unsuccessfully, then inefficiently, and then decisively enough to outdo India’s spinners and pull the duel their way in a tight finish, where Alex Hales punished Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s lapse in lengths to help them level the series.Hales’ unbeaten 58 was built during two crucial partnerships. The first one in Eoin Morgan’s company, which began at 44 for 3 after England’s top three, much like India’s top order earlier, couldn’t get them going in pursuit of a conservative, if not below-par target. Once again, it was the two Yadavs who had put England in such a position: Umesh was true to his new-found specialisation of getting wickets in the Powerplay, rattling through the opening stand. Jason Roy was out stabbing at a furious indipper, while Jos Buttler, having been reprieved by Kohli at mid-off, handed the same man a catch two balls later.Joe Root came in ahead of Hales, at his customary No. 3 position, but that move to give him time up front to settle down didn’t pay off. Once again, it was a wrong’un that accounted for him; this time, it was Yuzvendra Chahal’s and it spun into him and under his sweep to crash into the stumps.Alex Hales’ unbeaten 58 not out steered England to victory•Getty Images

There was more sweeping, and more sweep-induced lbw calls and at one point, it seemed like England’s Merlyn bowling-machine exercise hadn’t changed a lot for them. Morgan in particular was caught flailing about, trying to sweep it on either side of the wicket. He was fortuitous, though, as was Hales, who survived both an lbw appeal and the ensuing review against Kuldeep.Then, Hales started making contact on the cross-batted hits. Hales found big sixes on either side of long-on with his slog-sweeps as Morgan struggled further, eventually falling to a Hardik Pandya bouncer.This brought Jonny Bairstow, and England’s second and ultimately decisive partnership, with Hales as the anchor. Bairstow made 28 of the 36 they put up in four overs. Crucially, he took Kuldeep for two sixes in his penultimate over, leaving both captain Kohli and the bowler visibly frustrated. Kuldeep’s lengths and paces were largely defensive after that, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar couldn’t defend 12 in the last over. It was hard enough without the six and four off the first two balls from Hales, the Man of the Match half-centurion who had been considered the starting point of England’s meek surrender in the last match.Earlier, Morgan had elected to bat and England’s seamers were disciplined in hitting the deck on the shorter side of a good length, a strategy that – in combination with a good mix of varying natural speeds – took the boundaries almost completely out of the equation for an in-form top-three. With hardly anything to drive, India managed only three boundaries in the Powerplay.Fans stormed into the field after Shikhar Dhawan’s catch to dismiss Eoin Morgan•Getty Images

But the plan to play four seamers at the expense of Moeen Ali was truly vindicated by the fact that they had dismissed the top three inside the Powerplay. Jake Ball, on debut, followed up a miserly first over by trapping Rohit Sharma under a steep short ball. His sliced pull, trying to make room down the leg side, was matched in technique – or the loss of it – by KL Rahul a few overs later. India’s No. 3, looking to slash Liam Plunkett over cover, lost his middle stump.In the middle of these wickets was the strange case of Shikhar Dhawan who, while trying to switch his bat to his right hand halfway through a run while seemingly trying to avoid obstructing a Jason Roy throw from point at the non-striker, ended up losing his grip entirely. A tumbling bat’s first contact with the ground was outside the crease and he was caught short by Morgan who had initially forgotten to appeal as he despaired at a fluffed gather.At 22 for 3, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina, batting in almost alien positions for them in this format, were largely kept to running between the wickets too. If the spinner was the release they were waiting for, Adil Rashid proved to be a downer. Rashid floated his deliveries up, rather than pushing them through as he had done in the previous match, and forced both batsmen to manufacture power on a slow track. The result was a 57-run stand that came at under eight an over. Raina was the more fluent batsman, peaking with a hook shot that went several rows behind at deep square leg, and generally scoring at a good strike rate before he was stumped. Kohli top-scored with 47, but his 38-ball knock provided little by way of momentum.That came from MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya, who left it late to pummel Ball’s last over – the only one in which not a single ball was of optimal length – for 22. It wasn’t to be the difference.

Ellyse Perry was satisfied after Australia’s win over New Zealand in a warm-up match in Southampton, but outlined some clear areas that needed improvement before the Women’s World Cup begins later this month

Daniel Brettig15-Jun-2017Allrounder Ellyse Perry has declared Australia’s women need to find the right tempo with the bat in the closing overs of their innings, in order to finish off in the sort of manner that will enable them to lift the World Cup next month.Batting at No. 3 in the absence of the rested captain Meg Lanning, Perry struck a century in a warm-up win over New Zealand at Southampton on Wednesday, but was concerned by how the lower order fell away when a total of more than 300 looked there for the taking.”It was really great to put on those partnerships with Bolts [Nicole Bolton] at the start and then Elyse Villani as well,” Perry said. “It was just disappointing for me personally but also the lower order, we just fell off again. We were set up to score over 300 and we didn’t get there. That’s something to work on but it was nice to get that time in the middle.”In the next couple days it’ll be a real focus for us in training, just making the right decisions on balls to hit and where to score our runs. We don’t have the right tempo at the moment, we’re either going for big shots or defending, I think there needs to be a little more in between where we pick gaps and not letting bowlers settle and putting pressure on ourselves.”After Megan Schutt pinned Suzie Bates lbw with her very first ball of New Zealand’s reply, three wickets for wristspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington and breakthroughs for Perry helped Australia close out the match. They won by a comfortable 46 runs in a game where both sides could use all 15 members of their squads. Overall, Perry felt that it was a step in the right direction toward the level of polish required in the tournament proper.”Everyone got a good chance out in the middle, which is probably what we’ve needed after a really good prep back home and not as much official games,” Perry said. “A bit of rust, but that’s ok, we’ve got a bit of time before the first proper match.”There were lots of positives with both bat and ball but probably just lacking that polish, probably bowled too many four-balls, and a few loose shots and not really finishing our innings off, which was quite disappointing, but they’re solid opposition and it was good to play some good cricket in patches.”The Australians have a morning gym session on Thursday followed by an afternoon off, ahead of another internal practice match on Friday. They have further practice matches against South Africa and Pakistan before a tournament opener against the West Indies at Taunton on June 26.

An extraordinary day’s cricket saw 21 wickets fall and Leicestershire, having declined to enforce the follow-on, close with a lead of 313 with four wickets remaining in their second innings

ECB Reporters Network09-May-2016
ScorecardBen Sanderson gave Northamptonshire a boost•Getty Images

An extraordinary day’s cricket saw 21 wickets fall and Leicestershire, having declined to enforce the follow-on, close with a lead of 313 with four wickets remaining in their second innings.Captain Mark Cosgrove’s decision not to ask the visitors to bat again surprised many after the Leicestershire seamers occupied only 46.3 overs in dismissing Northants for 151. But Cosgrove felt the pitch – quick, with some nip in it for the seamers, but no minefield – might deteriorate sufficiently to make batting last a difficult prospect, however small the target.”With the pitch nipping around, and the occasional ball starting to keep low, making it tough to bat last, I felt it was more valuable to have the runs on the board,” said Cosgrove. “We’re 300 ahead, which is a good position to be in, hopefully we can get another hundred and get bowling at them again. The pitch isn’t a minefield, but if you keep putting the ball in the right area you’ll get enough chances to win the game.”Northants opener Jake Libby  said they were not surprised not to be batting again.”We thought we’d be back in the field, because of the amount of time left in the game and I guess their theory is the wicket is going to go a bit up and down.”There’s always going to be enough in the pitch to keep the bowlers interested, but there’s pace too, the ball comes on to the bat nicely, so you can get your runs too. We feel we’ve clawed our way back into the game, and if we can take their last four wickets quickly tomorrow, anything is possible.”Northants had begun the day well, picking up Leicestershire’s five remaining first innings wickets for just 21 runs, with Olly Stone and Ben Sanderson benefitting from bowling line and length, something the visitors signally failed to do on the first day of the game.Leicestershire’s bowlers picked up where their opponents left off, taking three wickets before lunch. Ben Duckett went leg before to Ben Raine, hit in front by a delivery that swung back in to the in-form left hander. Alex Wakely never looked comfortable before losing his off stump to the same bowler, but Libby had been batting well when he was unluckily caught down the leg side on 32 by wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien in Wayne White’s first over.The afternoon session was a procession. Northants quickly lost Josh Cobb who, having looked in good form, threw the bat at a wide delivery from Clint McKay and edged a catch behind. Richard Levi had struggled to 19, made from 61 balls, when he too fell to a wide delivery, edging Neil Dexter’s loosener to O’Brien.Dexter’s relatively gentle medium pace continued to prove effective as two balls later, Steven Crook pushed hard-handed at a straight delivery and edged to gully. Rory Kleinveldt also came and went  in short order, edging a Dexter out-swinger to first slip.Stone was bowled by a White delivery which stayed low, and Azharullah and Sanderson also fell to the allrounder, the former caught at first slip, the latter leg before.Leicestershire’s second innings batting proved equally fragile. Horton may have been a touch unfortunate to be given leg before to Kleinveldt, the ball striking the pad well above the knee roll, but Dexter was comprehensively bowled by Stone.Sanderson, formerly of Yorkshire before a four-year spell out of the first-class game, then picked up three quick wickets, including that of Cosgrove leg before with a delivery which stayed low, before O’Brien and Aadil Ali took the lead past 300 with a stand of 53 for the sixth wicket.Even then there was to be drama, with Ali edging the last ball of the day from Sanderson to wicketkeeper Adam Rossington.

Derbyshire were able to begin planning for next season when their relegation to Division Two was confirmed on the stroke of noon

Jon Culley at Derby26-Sep-2013
ScorecardKeith Barker collected six wickets in the match as Warwickshire confirmed Derbyshire’s relegation•Getty Images

Derbyshire were able to begin planning for next season when their relegation to Division Two was confirmed on the stroke of noon. Tony Palladino, in pain from a blow on the finger inflicted by the Warwickshire bowler Boyd Rankin, signalled to his last-wicket partner, Mark Footitt, that he could not continue.His retirement hurt confirmed Derbyshire’s dismissal for 103 in the first innings, which meant that even were they to somehow bring about the most unlikely of victories, from 288 behind, they would not have enough points to overtake Nottinghamshire or Somerset, irrespective of the result at Trent Bridge.Shivnarine Chanderpaul made 52, preserving the stand with Tom Poynton for the sixth wicket, unbroken overnight, for 55 minutes before he was leg-before to Keith Barker, against whom he had hit nine of his 10 boundaries, appearing to tuck his bat behind his pad a little.The first innings subsided in a little over six overs after that. In the circumstances, even with professional self-respect at stake, it was hardly a surprise that their motivation for the follow-on was not as it might have been.It didn’t help that they were facing a quartet of Warwickshire pace bowlers – including one just named in England’s winter tour plans, two who should have been and one who believes he may one day earn a call up – who were themselves fully committed, with the possibility still alive that they might finish third in the Championship table.Derbyshire’s fate was sealed when Palladino wandered off, examining the ring finger on his left hand that was later confirmed as broken. By 2.50pm, bowled out for 120 in 29.1 overs second time around, they had lost the match.Jeetan Patel claimed the last two wickets in the only seven balls he bowled in the match, applying the coup de grace by bowling Poynton and Tim Groenewald to end some brief late resistance, but it was the skill of the seamers in helpful conditions that set the sides so far apart.Barker finished with 1 for 19 to go with his 5 for 55 in the first innings, raising the left-armer’s tally of wickets for the season to 46 despite missing five matches through injury. His omission from any level of England’s winter programme is as puzzling as that of his team-mate Chris Woakes, who added 3 for 36 to his classy unbeaten 152 with the bat.There were two wickets for Boyd Rankin, who will be with England in Australia and gave evidence of the pace and bounce he will be eager to unleash from November onwards, and one for the other member of the pace quartet, Maurice Chambers, who went to the West Indies with England Lions in 2011 and hopes to reinvigorate his international career.Chambers, who has spent the last month on loan at Edgbaston after being released by Essex, will be offered the chance to follow Varun Chopra and Chris Wright in making the move from Chelmsford permanent, Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Dougie Brown, confirmed. “He has come in and taken 14 or 15 wickets in three or four games and is somebody ready made to play first-team cricket and would be an outstanding addition,” Brown said.”Hopefully the evidence we have of turning guys’ careers around – Wright and maybe Chopra being two examples – to the extent of knocking on England doors, will be something he sees as quite enticing.”Wayne Madsen, the Derbyshire captain, would be another player coveted by Division One clubs were he not under contract for another two years. Relegation was a bittersweet experience for him, given that he walked back to the pavilion for the final time as the leading run scorer in the division, with 1221 runs.”It has been the best season I have had personally and to get relegated at the same time is a tough pill to swallow,” he said.”Compared with the first 10 games we played, by the last six we have competed a lot better, but it was too little too late. At the start of the season, we felt three games would be enough to keep us up, but we lost too many games, missing out on the points for draws and the bonus points we might have accumulated.”We gave the senior players who were left out of the side in the second half of the season a good chance to get the runs and take the wickets and while there will always be times for every player where they find things a bit difficult, with us it was just too many at the same time.”We found there were patches in games where we let out guard down a little bit and would have bad sessions that cost us games. In Division Two you can sometimes get away with it and get back into a game but Division One sides don’t let you off.”Relegation will prompt interest in head coach Karl Krikken’s future, too, but Derbyshire’s chairman, Chris Grant, said the 44-year-old former academy director is safe.”Krik is on a long-term contract,” Grant said. “We will have a meeting on the 17th October when we will reflect on the season but I see Karl being part of this club in the long-term.”We have a long way to travel to become a sustainable first division county and if we keep chopping and changing in terms of direction we’re not going to make any progress, so we have to hold our nerve, go back to Division Two, take some lessons from Division One and rebuild.”But I’m certain Karl will be here, and the coaching staff, with my support.”

Virat Kohli, the India batsman, has been named the ODI Cricketer of the Year at the ICC awards function in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2012Virat Kohli, the India batsman, has been named the ODI Cricketer of the Year at the ICC awards function in Colombo. He was picked ahead of MS Dhoni, Lasith Malinga and Kumar Sangakkara.During the period under consideration, Kohli played 31 ODIs and scored 1733 runs at an average of 66.65, including eight hundreds and six half-centuries. His highest score was 183, against Pakistan in the Asia Cup.”I think I have tried to keep things as simple as possible and it’s worked for me on the field,” Kohli said. “This year has been a learning curve along the way from the seniors in the team. It’s been an all-round effort and I’m very happy to have won this award.”It’s always nice to be recognised by the ICC, it’s a great feeling, and it’s the first time I’ve won one of these awards.”In a year in which Kohli was named India’s one-day vice-captain, following a solid tour to Australia, his best innings came in must-win games for India. In Hobart, with India needing to chase down Sri Lanka’s target of 321 in 40 overs to stay alive in the Commonwealth Bank Series, Kohli delivered with 133 not out of 86 balls. His unbroken 120-run stand with Suresh Raina came at 13.09 runs an over, and got India home in 36.4 overs. Three matches later, he put in a similar performance during his 183 in the Asia Cup against Pakistan – there India were chasing 330, and his knock came off 148 balls as India won with over two overs to spare. In that period, Kohli scored four centuries and one fifty in five innings.

Despite a flurry of late wickets, Maharashtra Cricket Association snuck home by two wickets against Kerala Cricket Association in Chennai, taking the 2011 Buchi Babu title

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Despite a flurry of late wickets, Maharashtra Cricket Association snuck home by two wickets against Kerala Cricket Association in Chennai, taking the 2011 Buchi Babu title.Choosing to bat in the two-day match, Kerala scored 319, driven by steady half-centuries from their openers, Abhishek Hedge and VA Jagadeesh. The pair put on 165, before Domnic Joseph claimed Maharashtra’s first breakthrough, Hedge caught on 74. Jagadeesh carried his side past the 200-run mark, before falling to the left-arm spin of Ajinkya Joshi two short of his century. The rest of the line-up failed to build on the solid start, none of them going past 46 as Kerala were bowled out in the 89th over. Left-armer Samad Fallah and legspinner Chirag Khurana were the pick of the Maharashtra bowlers, taking six wickets between them.Maharashtra’s top order were solid in reply, each of the top six getting into double figures. Their openers, Harshad Khadiwale and Khurana, put on a century stand, which was followed by four other steady stands. However, left-arm spinner Sreejith struck every time a partnership threatened to take the game away from Kerala, finishing with a five-for. With six wickets in hand and only 20 to get, Maharashtra looked set to ease to a win. But then, four wickets fell for seven runs, setting up a nail-biting finish.

Nottinghamshire’s chances of winning a Championship title that they were once indisputable frontrunners for took a further blow as the Manchester weather inspired to restrict play to just 27 overs on the second day at Old Trafford

The Bulletin by Sahil Dutta14-Sep-2010

ScorecardPaul Franks helped Nottinghamshire start well but they will struggle to force a result at Old Trafford•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire’s chances of winning a Championship title that they were once indisputable frontrunners for took a further blow as the Manchester weather inspired to restrict play to just 27 overs on the second day at Old Trafford.Having desperately hoped for sun to dry the pools of water that had developed on the outfield through the early part of the day, the Nottinghamshire batsmen were left cursing their good fortune as the bright sun that allowed play to start ended up forcing the players off again when it reflected off the media straight into the batmen’s eyes late in the afternoon.The setting sun has always been a problem at Old Trafford and the issue is being remedied next season by rotating the pitch 90 degrees, but after leaden skies and persistent rain had prevented play in a crucial game for 30 hours it was a farcical spectacle to see the players forced off for 25 minutes with the field bathed in perfect sunshine.Nottinghamshire may well feel that fate has conspired against them but they tried to make the most of the 27 overs of play possible. With Yorkshire making good progress against Kent and Somerset moving to top of the table after dismissing Durham for 286, Nottinghamshire needed to move quickly.Alex Hales and Paul Franks set an ideal tone by adding 31 off the first four overs of the day and the pair brought up the 50 stand off 49 deliveries with Hales in particular punishing some loose offerings from Sajid Mahmood.While the openers were enjoying themselves there was the lurking worry that conditions may be too benign for the bowlers to force a result later on. Gary Keedy managed to extract significant turn when he was introduced in the 10th over, but Nottinghamshire’s only spin option is Samit Patel.Keedy troubled both batsmen before removing Hales with a ball that spun sharply from around the wicket and took the edge as the batsman tried to defend. Franks was out three overs later, edging Tom Smith behind and with his dismissal Nottinghamshire shut-up shop. Just 10 runs were added in 9.2 overs either side of the sun stoppage as Mark Wagh and Adam Voges studiously blocked all that came their wayIt leaves Nottinghamshire with an almost impossible calculation of trying to race quickly to 300, to pick up three batting bonus points, before hoping Patel’s part-time left-arm spin can produce a miracle.