Santiago Gimenez has made history by becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in an Eredivisie away game at Ajax.
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Jack Leach began the season with a remodelled action and doubts about his effectiveness. He finished it with 50 Championship wickets as he bowled Somerset to safety
George Dobell at Taunton28-Sep-20171:11
ECB officer explains ‘below average’ Taunton pitch rating
Of course it was spin that sealed Somerset’s victory. And of course it was Jack Leach who took the final wicket.Less than a year after his career was threatened by suggestion that his action was not legal, Leach clinched his fourth five-wicket haul of the campaign to secure his side’s third victory in the final four games of the season. As a result, he passed 50 wickets in the season and Somerset avoided relegation. Matt Maynard, Somerset’s departing director of cricket, said he “couldn’t make sense” of the decision not to take him to the Ashes.Leach wouldn’t see many pitches like this in Australia, of course. Pitches where spinners open the bowling in three of the four innings and take all 10 wickets in the fourth innings. Somerset have made a point of preparing such surfaces in the last couple of years and, in Leach and Dom Bess, they have two bowlers well equipped to take advantage.The Somerset players took a lap of honour at the end of the game. It wasn’t so much a sign that they were content with their low position in the table; more a reflection of their relief in retaining their decade-long stay in Division One (no side in the land will have been in the top division so long when the 2018 starts) and gratitude to their 2000 supporters. Cricket still matters in Taunton.This pitch was marked “below average” by the Cricket Liaison Officer (CLO), Wayne Noon, as it showed signs of “excessive turn” from the start. Crucially he could not see any uneven bounce on days one or two. As a result there will be no points deduction and Somerset’s place in Division One is assured.That isn’t quite the get out of jail free card it might appear. The ECB regulations state that, should a pitch be marked “below average” twice within a 12-month period in the same competition, penalties can be applied. While Somerset have not had another such mark this season, they will, Noon said “have to be very mindful” of their surfaces in 2018.There is a slight caveat to all this. Phil Whitticase, a senior CLO, will arrive in Taunton on Friday and conduct a further investigation into the pitch. He will, as part of that investigation, speak to the umpires and the groundsman and it remains theoretically possible that he will increase the penalty. He could also decrease it.But it would be a major surprise – and an astounding own goal from the ECB – if they should, for the second season in succession, alter the table after the campaign has finished and change the relegation positions. But, not so long ago, it seemed impossible that a hotel magnate with comic hair would become US president; life is full of surprises and not all of them are good.Adam Voges, the Middlesex captain, was frank in his assessment of the pitch. “We knew we’d get a spinning wicket,” he said. “And I’ve no problem with teams preparing pitches to suit their strengths.”But we were surprised by how much disturbance there was before a ball was bowled. There was excessive spin from ball one. There were rake marks at both ends. There should be a line and whether that line was crossed is the match-referee’s decision.”He remains more upset by the two-point deduction for a slow over rate following the crossbow incident at The Oval last month. He feels his team were assured by officials at the time that the nature of the incident would be taken into account and no penalty levelled.”It was such an extraordinary circumstance,” he said. “We had every intention to rectify our over rate and were assured at the time that it wouldn’t be an issue. Whether there is anything that can be done now is up to the administrators.”Voges admitted, though, that to leave themselves in a position where they were hurt by such moments was a reflection of their disappointing cricket over the course of the season. Champions in 2016, they end 2017 with rumours of deep dressing-room discontent. They still look a very strong side on paper, though, and might reflect in time that they have simply been victim to a league which relegates a quarter of its participants a season. Over-reaction would probably be an error.”You look at the season as a whole and it’s obviously been disappointing,” Voges said. “It’s not just the last week or the last month.”It took less than two hours to wrap-up victory on the final day. Leach and his fellow left-arm spinner, Roelof van der Merwe, utilised the conditions expertly with the latter finishing with career-best figures. Leach, in particular, bowled beautifully with his subtle and wonderfully disguised changes of pace causing many of the problems. And, for all the talk about this pitch, it wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow in Asia. England really don’t play spin very well.Marcus Trescothick salutes the crowd after Somerset secured Division One status•Getty Images
Leach may yet feature in the Ashes. He can expect to be named in the Lions party that will train in Perth as the Test series is played and, should anything befall Moeen Ali, could well be called into the Test squad if required.”I’d prefer to see him there instead of Mason Crane,” Maynard said. “Crane can’t get into the Hampshire side all the time. I can’t understand it. If he gets called into the team he won’t know anyone there. They’ve missed a trick in not picking him”One thing is sure: for Leach to recover from the low he was in only a few months ago is testament to impressive resilience. To re-model an action without missing a game and then emerge as a better, more skilful, more mature bowler bodes well for his future.He had, he admits, some “dark moments” on the Lions tour of the UAE last winter. There were times, as he tried to bowl with his new action, when he feared he might never recapture the bite and consistency of previous days. Just nine months later, he is back to winning games for his side and pushing for an England spot.”I’ve shown good resilience,” he said. “Something like that can’t be fixed overnight and, from a mental perspective more than technical, there were some dark moments on that tour. I wanted to make a really good impression but it was hard.”Now I look back on it as part of the journey. I think I’m probably a better bowler now. I can bowl a bit quicker and I’ve learned a lot. About myself and my action. At the start of the season I wasn’t sure if I could keep doing this, so to have finished with more than 50 wickets…. Yes, I’m proud of how I’ve reacted to the challenges. It was tough.”Leach was one of eight academy products in this Somerset side. Well, academy or equivalent. They didn’t have academies when Marcus Trescothick was growing up. Hell, they didn’t even have the Quantocks. But it means that Maynard’s successor – and it still seems likely that Andy Hurry will be named as such next week with Jason Kerr as his deputy – inherits strong foundations ahead of next season.”I’d love to have stayed and seen the project through,” Maynard said. “We did have discussions about me doing the head coach role, but decided there could be friction if I didn’t agree with the new director of cricket. So a settlement was agreed and we part very amicably. The club have handled it well.”The club have undergone quite a transition under Maynard. The over-reliance upon imports has improved and the trust in home-grown youth has improved. And it was his idea that Trescothick, at slip, should field on his knees to the spinners in certain circumstances. “When the ball is dying, we felt he could get that bit lower,” he explained. It wasn’t, perhaps, a perfect stay but the club went within an ace of winning that elusive first Championship title a year ago. Memories in cricket have never been shorter.It transpires the review of the club structure was led by James Taylor, the England batsman who retired through illness at the start of last season, who felt it was necessary to employ a head coach and director of cricket. Maynard, who described cricket as his passion, will now consider more “backseat” roles such as batting consultancy positions. He is unlikely to be without offers for long.So, Somerset will play in Division One in 2018. And that means Trescothick could yet fulfil that Championship-winning dream. If he does, it would be a success popular far beyond the borders of the county.
Callum Wilson will pull out of the England squad for their upcoming matches after sustaining an injury, Newcastle coach Eddie Howe says.
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Ravi Bopara and Mohammad Amir bowled typically miserly four-over spells to keep alive Essex’s outside chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of NatWest T20 Blast
ECB Reporters Network11-Aug-2017Adam Wheater got the Essex innings off to a fast start•Getty Images
Ravi Bopara and Mohammad Amir bowled typically miserly four-over spells, conceding just 24 and 25 runs respectively, to keep alive Essex’s outside chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of NatWest T20 Blast.Essex’s fourth win of the season moved them off the foot of the South Group, but they require wins from their final three games to stand any hope of a quarter-final spot. Bopara and Amir, who both claimed two wickets each, were well supported in the parsimonious stakes by Dan Lawrence and Simon Harmer as Middlesex were pulled up nine runs short in their pursuit of 173.Legspinner Nathan Sowter blasted a hole in the middle of the Essex innings with career-best T20 figures of 4 for 23, but Adam Wheater’s 21-ball 43 laid the foundations for the home win.Essex, put in, raced past 50 in the fifth over but lost Varun Chopra when he chipped at catchable height to James Franklin at midwicket. Wheater maintained his sharp upturn in form and lofted Ryan Higgins for two sixes in an over to long leg. But he departed when he tried to chop Sowter’s first ball to third man and was bowled.Dan Lawrence tried to lift Sowter over long leg for six but was comfortably caught by Tim Southee, and Ashar Zaidi then received a reprieve first ball when he pulled Sowter to midwicket where Tim Helm dropped the chance. It was not too costly as Zaidi attempted the same against Higgins and was caught by a tumbling Stevie Eskinazi.Bopara thumped Paul Stirling for six over the press-box stand and into the river behind but, after contributing 27 from 25 balls, he was caught on the long-leg boundary by Franklin. Sowter added a fourth wicket in the same over when he had James Foster lbw first ball attempting to sweep.Ryan ten Doeschate fell to a running catch on the cover boundary by George Scott, having made 25 and Simon Harmer followed, giving Southee another catch at long leg. Amir was run out from the last ball, leaving Paul Walter on a pugnacious 20 not out.Middlesex lost Stirling in the second over of their reply when the Irishman holed out in deep midwicket where substitute fielder Callum Taylor claimed the steepler. That brought in Eskinazi to join John Simpson and the pair hit five boundaries off seven balls against Matt Dixon and Paul Walter.But the return of Amir ended the second-wicket fun when Eskinazi chopped him straight to Taylor at point. Simpson didn’t stay much longer, misjudging Lawrence’s first ball and going lbw for 30 from 19 balls. Lawrence’s first over, the last in the Powerplay went for just two and stalled Middlesex’s early charge.Middlesex reached the halfway point on 79 for 3 and, though Eoin Morgan survived a drop by Taylor on 21. His fourth-wicket partnership with George Scott reached 56 when Morgan miscued sufficiently high to wide mid-on that Bopara had time to race back and take a memorable caught and bowled.Lawrence’s impressive figures were ruined when Scott clubbed his final ball for six over long off to leave the off-spinner with one for 29 from his four overs. But Amir came back and conceded just two runs from third to leave Middlesex needing 10 an over from the last five. It rose to 47 needed from the last four overs.Franklin was caught at deep midwicket by Harmer off Bopara and Scott bowled by Zaidi for a 36-ball 34 after an ungainly swish. A faster ball from Amir accounted for Southee to leave Middlesex needing 26 from the final over with three wickets left. Higgins hit a six off Walter’s penultimate ball, but with 12 required from the last ball the result was not in doubt.
Despite landing in New Zealand before some 50-over team-mates, Stokes won’t feature in the remaining T20s and is unlikely for the opening ODI too. The England coach wants to ensure the allrounder is back “up to speed” first
Adam Collins14-Feb-2018It is not quite Brisbane in November on the opening day of an Ashes series, but Ben Stokes’ antipodean tour is finally likely to kick off. He will, however, have to wait his turn with the second ODI against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui shaping as his earliest return.That’s the message from Trevor Bayliss, speaking after his allrounder received the green light to travel south after fronting court to plead not guilty on Tuesday. Despite landing in the country a couple of days before his 50-over colleagues, Stokes won’t return to the side for their remaining T20s and it is highly improbable he’ll be in the XI for the opening ODI.”He hasn’t played for a while so it is not as if we can bring him straight back for these T20s,” Bayliss said in Wellington, the morning after England’s latest short-form defeat.England’s opening ODI is in Hamilton on February 25, but Bayliss will be waiting until he has seen evidence with his own eyes that Stokes is ready. “I’d have to say it’s unlikely,” he said of Stokes’ participation in that particular ODI. “It’s just up and in the air. We’ll have to wait and see how he is travelling, with the practice. We have got to get him up to speed and hopefully during this one-day series we can get him back into the team.”Before Christmas, Stokes – who has not played for England since September – participated in six white-ball fixtures in the domestic New Zealand competition, but that is not going to make much difference on this visit. Bayliss instead will make a “judgement call” on the 26-year-old’s outdoor net form; he has been restricted to indoor training only over the last six weeks.”It’ll just be something we have to keep an eye on as the practice days go,” he said. “In the past, he’s been out with injuries and coming back sooner than we think. That’s the type of character he is and it doesn’t take him long at all to get back up to speed.”The reality is that Stokes is never surplus to requirements, even after the ODI side thrashed Australia in Australia 4-1 in January. “One of the biggest things we’ve missed over the summer has been the combinations we’ve been able to play,” Bayliss said. “Especially in the one-dayers and T20s. We’ve been able to have six bowlers [before], which gives the captain plenty of different options. We’ve been down to just the five bowlers.”Of course, the frustration remains that the incident has so dominated this tour. Bayliss freely admits he was “sick of it from the first day” nearly five months ago. But the latest legal development – especially that Stokes will be initially available for Test duty in March – means that plans could be getting back on track for the England management.”He’s looking forward to getting back doing what he does best and I’m looking forward to catching up with him,” Bayliss said. As far as the playing group is concerned, the coach says Stokes will be welcomed back warmly. “Don’t forget he wasn’t the only one who was out that night. There were a few others. They all can’t wait for him to come back. He’s a very popular member of the squad, one of the leaders of the squad and there won’t be any problems whatsoever.”As for Stokes’ state of mind in the lead up to his more substantial days in court, Bayliss believes this series is the best possible distraction. “There have been players in the past who’ve had off-field issues and been able to put that aside and concentrate on cricket,” he said of the “relief” Stokes will experience in playing again. “I’ve got a feeling he will be one of the guys who can put it aside and perform.”
Tightness in right quad forces allrounder out; Tom Curran brought into England squad as replacement
George Dobell04-Jun-2018England allrounder Chris Woakes has been ruled out of the Scotland ODI with tightness in his right quad. Surrey’s Tom Curran comes into the squad in his place.Woakes, who left the field towards the end of Pakistan’s second innings at Headingley, will be assessed during the week to judge whether he will be fit for the start of the series against Australia on the June 13.Woakes was recalled to the Test side in Leeds having been left out of the opening Test at Lord’s when England preferred Mark Wood. He claimed 3 for 55 in the first innings and then removed Sarfraz Ahmed in the second before reporting discomfort.Tom Curran, whose brother Sam made his Test debut at Headingley, was already part of the squad for the Australia series. Woakes is the second player to be withdrawn from the Scotland match after Ben Stokes picked up a hamstring strain. Stokes will also be reassessed later in the week in order to ascertain when he may be fit to return. The England management have already confirmed he will miss the first part of the Australia series.
The two group winners will immediately qualify for a home draw in semi-finals. The team finishing second in each group will receive a home draw in the play-offs and play against the team finishing third in the opposite group. The play-off winners will play away in the semi-finals. Semi-final ties will be determined by a free draw.
Meanwhile, Joe Root will be among the England players returning to county action later this week as attention turns to the shorter
formats of the game. Root, England’s Test captain, is available for Yorkshire’s home game against Northamptonshire on Thursday; a match that could yet decide which teams qualify for the knock-out stages.Other players from England’s Test squad available for Royal London Cup fixtures this week are Dom Bess (Somerset), Mark Wood (Durham), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Middlesex) and Sam Curran (Surrey). Malan has also been made available to play for Middlesex in their County Championship match against Leicestershire starting on June 20.Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler have been rested ahead of the ODIs, while England are yet to make a decision on the county availability of James Anderson and Stuart Broad ahead of the start of the Test series against India in August. They have, however, confirmed that neither will be available for the next round of County Championship matches which starts on Saturday.But Alastair Cook is available for Essex’s Championship game against Lancashire and Moeen Ali will play for Worcestershire’s final Royal London game before joining up with England’s limited-overs squad.
Leigh Kasperek takes five wickets to finish campaign on a high at Grace Road
ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jul-2018New Zealand 224 for 6 (Devine 117*) beat England 219 (Jones 78, Beaumont 53, Kasperek 5-39) by four wickets
ScorecardA brilliant century from Sophie Devine secured New Zealand a consolation victory in the third and final ODI at Grace Road, as England were outgunned in a low-scoring contest, after a five-wicket haul from the spinner Leigh Kasperek had derailed their ambitions of a clean sweep.Devine made light of the early loss of her new opening partner, Jess Watkin, as well as a steady drip of mid-innings wickets, to steer her side to a four-wicket victory with 117 not out from 116 balls, sealing the deal with a massive six over square leg. Alongside her at the end of an intermittently anxious chase was the 17-year-old Amelia Kerr, whose mature 12 not out completed a memorable campaign that of course had earlier included a world-record 232 not out against Ireland.After winning the toss and batting first, England might have had ambitions of 300-plus while Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones were in harness. The pair compiled their second century stand of the summer, inside the first 20 overs, as New Zealand’s seamers were once again neutered as they ploughed a wide line and relied on errors that did not materialise.Pace off the ball, however, would prove to be a different challenge for England, and having reached 104 for no loss, they proceeded to lose all ten of their wickets for a further 115, with no-one outside of the openers managing more than Danni Wyatt’s 18 from 22 balls.The wrecker of the innings was Kasperek, who had Beaumont caught behind, somewhat carelessly, on the reverse sweep for 53, before adding the scalp of Lauren Winfield for 5 soon afterwards. Winfield, back in the side as Sarah Taylor took a break, holed out to deep midwicket where Maddy Green took a fine low catch.Jones, looking good for her elusive maiden ODI hundred, once again gave her innings away when she charged at Watkin to be stumped for 78, while Hayley Jensen produced a superb spell of full-length inswingers, bowling Heather Knight with a slower ball.Nat Sciver was then unluckily run out at the non-striker’s end, as Kasperek brushed her fingers on a straight drive from Wyatt, and England’s usual turbo-charged finish petered out. Kasperek deservedly bagged the final two wickets to complete her maiden five-wicket haul.In reply, Katherine Brunt pinned Watkin lbw for a duck in her first over to lift England’s spirits, but Devine was not to be put off her game. She rattled along at more than a run a ball to break the back of the chase in partnership with the steadfast Green, who rather surprisingly galloped down the track straight after the drinks break to be bowled for 23 from 52 balls.Suzie Bates, lurking down the order for a change, came and went cheaply for once, as Laura Marsh bowled her for 1. But Devine eased past her fifty from 54 balls, then brought up her hundred from 101 with a drive back past the bowler.England’s spinners lacked their usual impact, but even with Ecclestone off the boil, her team weren’t quite finished. When Brunt returned to bowl Amy Satterthwaite for 25 and overtake Jenny Gunn as England’s leading wicket-taker in ODIs, there was a chance of a late twist. However, Katey Martin provided sturdy support until she ran herself out for 23, and thereafter Devine would not be denied.
Eddie Howe admitted he "nearly swerved off the road" when he found out Newcastle United had been drawn against Manchester City in the FA Cup.
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The seamer’s inclusion is the only change from the West Indies women squad that had been named for the home series against Sri Lanka
ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2018West Indies women have picked seamer Tremayne Smartt as a like-for-like replacement for the injured Shakera Selman, for the upcoming limited-overs tour of New Zealand. Smartt hasn’t played international cricket since West Indies’ tour of India in 2016. Her inclusion is the only change from the squad that had been named for the home series against Sri Lanka.Cricket West Indies (CWI) chairman Courtney Browne said continuing the momentum from the series win against Sri Lanka would be crucial in the lead-up to the side’s World T20 defence in November.”We will be hosting the ICC Women’s World T20 event later this year and as defending champions we will want to put on a good show in front of home supporters and win again,” Browne said. “This tour will help us assess where we are and tighten up on those areas that need close attention.”The squad will come together in Barbados for a preparatory camp before travelling to New Zealand where they will have another camp. The three-match ODI series will get underway on March 4, followed by five T20Is.West Indies women squad: Stafanie Taylor (capt), Anisa Mohammed (vice-capt), Merissa Aguilleira, Britney Cooper, Reniece Boyce, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Kycia Knight, Kyshona Knight, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Akeira Peters, Tremayne Smart
The silly and the sublime came together in Lahore for a riveting finish as Peshawar Zalmi booked their place in the second qualifier and increased their chances of becoming back-to-back champions
The Report by Alagappan Muthu20-Mar-2018
Rahat Ali took four wickets in the eliminator•PCB/PSL
In a nutshellThe silly and the sublime came together in Lahore for a riveting finish as Peshawar Zalmi booked their place in the second qualifier and increased their chances of becoming back-to-back champions.But with 24 to defend off the last over, the result should have been straightforward, right?Wrong.Liam Dawson, the left-arm spinner, was pressed to action with all the other frontliners having bowled out. Anwar Ali took strike and managed an unseemly top-edge that beat Darren Sammy, who has been carrying a knee injury for almost half the tournament and just could not run after the ball.Then came three massive sixes.Anwar strode down the track, unleashed every last bit of his power, made the ball disappear over long-on and long-off, and had the defending champions scrambling.Quetta suddenly needed only three runs off the last ball. A last ball which ended up as a full toss. A last ball which Anwar walloped straight to long-on. A last ball which was dropped by Umaid Asif. A last ball which, somehow, someway, ended in joy for Peshawar as the fielder recovered in time to instigate a run-out. For the third season in a row, a play-off match between these two teams ended with a one-run win.Where the game was wonConsidering how it all turned out, there is an argument to be made that even fate cannot deny Hasan Ali, that irrepressible fast-bowling force. He took a wicket off his very first ball of the match, a pearler that straightened after pitching to claim Asad Shafiq’s outside edge through to slip’s waiting hands. Then, he gave away only two runs in the 18th over, outsmarting Thisara Perera with slower balls and outclassing Anwar by hitting the deck.PCB/PSL
The execution was top-notch but for a 24-year old to have such clarity of thought in such a high-pressure situation is unreal. Hasan knew that change of pace had a higher probability of success against a big-hitter. But when the strike turned and he was faced with a new batsman, who would have no idea that this pitch was offering extra bounce, he cranked it back up. There were three wild swings. None of them connected.That Hasan had enough runs to work his magic was due to Dawson. So nearly the villain in the dying moments, he was actually the only batsman who played with any measure of control against a Quetta bowling attack that was consistently threatening. While many of his team-mates kept premeditating shots and walking back to the pavilion, he simply responded to what came his way. So good were his instincts that, on 19, he kept out a grubber that seemed destined to hit the stumps. So pristine was his timing that he struck a wide yorker – after making room room down leg – to the third man boundary.Dawson’s 62 off 35 balls was exactly the tonic an innings floundering at 86 for 5 sorely needed.Who (almost) won itChases of 158 on a true pitch had no business being anything but one-sided, and Quetta had done ever so well to earn the mantle of favourites. They compensated for the loss of Shane Watson and Kevin Pietersen, who chose not to come to Pakistan, with a splendid display on the field. Left-arm seamer Rahat Ali took 4 for 16 – nearly his best ever performance in a T20 game – but by around the penultimate over of the match, he would have felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Nawaz would be just as disgruntled. They had put on a partnership of 63 off only 45 balls. But moments after a long and animated chat in the middle of the pitch, the pinch hitter top-edged to third man and the captain top-edged to the wicketkeeper. They had been in harmony all night; Sarfraz even protected Nawaz after his first over leaked nine runs and bringing him back when the field restrictions were lifted, helping the left-arm spinner finish with an economy rate of 5.2. So perhaps it wasn’t all that surprising that they were dismissed in the space of two balls, giving 19-year old Sameen Gul and the Peshawar team the momentum they needed to seal the gameWhere they standQuetta would have hoped to make their third final in a row, but those hopes have been dashed. Peshawar will have to deal with the pressure of another knockout match in Lahore, against Karachi Kings, on Wednesday.