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Technology conspired against Michael Hussey in the first innings at the MCG. He wasn’t finished yet

Daniel Brettig01-Jan-2012By indulging in a spot of impromptu primal scream therapy following his Boxing Day dismissal in Melbourne, Michael Hussey betrayed the frustrations of a dire run of scores. Having yelled to the heavens for a little more good fortune as he marched off the field, Hussey duly received it in the second innings, making a pivotal 89 with the help of a dropped catch and an edge behind that was not detected by the umpires.That performance, in a partnership of great value with Ricky Ponting, shored up Hussey’s place in Australia’s immediate plans, after a sequence of innings in which he had been getting out at all the wrong times. As perplexing for Hussey were the ways in which technology had conspired against him. In Hobart he was lbw first ball on referral, then at the MCG he was given out for another golden duck without having recourse to refer due to India’s reluctance to employ the DRS.”I said something like ‘give us a break’,” Hussey said of his scream. “I just felt like I’d been preparing so well, I felt really good in my mind, I felt like I’d been hitting the ball really well in the last couple of months but I hadn’t felt like I’d got any reward for the hard work that I’d been putting in. I was almost just yelling at the cricket gods really to give me a break here, you know? I probably got a bit of a break in the second innings so it’s amazing how the game works.”The DRS shall remain a point of conjecture throughout the series, and Hussey maintained Australia’s support of it, while offering some reservations about the veracity of ball-tracking technology.”I’m a fan of the DRS just to give the umpires a helping hand there for one, but also just because we want to get more correct decisions in the match,” he said. “I do still think that the technology can be improved, I’m not 100% convinced that there’s complete accuracy with the tracking system of the ball. Which is, I believe, one of the reasons the Indians don’t want to use it and that’s fair enough.”I’d have to say that I think the umpires did an outstanding job. They’ve got to make a decision within a split second on what they see and they don’t have the benefit of doing the slow-mo replays, having the technology to make their decision. Generally speaking, the umpires down in Melbourne did a great job.”As fortunate as Hussey was at times in the second innings, he also made his own luck by pursuing runs purposefully and aggressively from a position where Australia might easily have been bowled out for their third score of less than 100 within 12 months. Hussey’s first 20 balls, the subject of a dressing room placard urging focus at the start of an innings, reaped 23 runs, and India’s grip on the second innings slackened greatly thereafter.”I didn’t come out with any pre-conceived idea,” Hussey said. “I felt in really good touch in my own mind … it’s just a case of being able to get away with a bit of a start. I was lucky enough to get a ball on my pads to start with and just by getting away early it can sometimes give you that confidence and impetus to continue playing positively.”They were attacking obviously, because they had us in a lot of trouble. That opened up scoring opportunities for us and enabled Ricky and I to get a little partnership together and quite a positive one. It was really tough. I think Ishant Sharma was bowling up around 150km/h and it’s what Test cricket is all about.”From that base Australia built up to one of the team’s most satisfying Test victories of 2011, causing Hussey’s duties as leader of the team chant to be played out with particular gusto in the middle of the MCG some hours after the win was completed.”A very, very satisfying innings and partnership with Ricky,” Hussey said. “There’s no greater feeling to come in with your team under pressure and to be able to get a partnership to where your team can win the match. When you do go on and win the match you can sit back and after that game and really remember such great feelings. That’s where you get your respect from your peers, just going out and doing the business in a real pressure situation. Just a fantastic win by the boys.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the Group B game between India and West Indies in Chennai

The Preview by Sidharth Monga19-Mar-2011

Match Facts

March 20, Chennai

Start time 1430 hours (0900 GMT)Chennai will provide Harbhajan Singh with the best conditions to pick up wickets•Getty Images

The Big Picture

No wonder India play so much cricket without seeming to overly mind it. When MS Dhoni walks out for the toss for this game, it will have been more than a week since they last played in the World Cup. The off days for the Indian team, however, have been days of plenty of buzz and activity for the Indian cricketing public and media. Dhoni has suddenly gone from being Midas to moron for getting Ashish Nehra to bowl the final over; Yusuf Pathan is no longer a good choice to bat in batting Powerplay; heated meetings between selectors, board secretary and captain have been reported and denied ; the moon’s proximity to the earth has had its say; the next coach has become a topic of discussion; UDRS blunders and Sachin Tendulkar’s impending 100th hundred have been overshadowed; everything that can be debated, even those that cannot be, have been debated.If you have been watching news channels in India, or reading news publications, doom is not too far. Which is why the players have been asked to stay far away. Which is why it is a good thing that they are back on the field where they can sort out their team combination for the knockouts, and there are issues bothering them. Piyush Chawla’s inclusion in the XV, always a bit inexplicable, has so far been exposed as a mistake, a gamble gone wrong, which reduces India’s options if they feel that either of Munaf Patel or Nehra is out of form.And Virat Kohli – this will sound harsh on a young man in the form of his life – has hurt the team balance a bit, forcing Suresh Raina out, who is more suited at the slog end and is a pretty canny part-time offspinner. For this game, though, India might not have to make a choice, for Virender Sehwag is down with an allergic reaction to a painkiller injection.India’s opponents are now assured of a place in the knockouts, but the game is just as big for them. Bangladesh are the only Test team West Indies have beaten in an ODI since June 28, 2009, which hurts them bad. Also painful will be how they didn’t trust themselves to play normal cricket and finish a middling chase against England after the explosive start by Chris Gayle. They will dearly love to end that unflattering streak, and in the process finish at No. 2 in Group B, thus avoiding the best two sides from Group A in the quarter-final.If it provides some comfort, the previous major team West Indies beat was India, in Jamaica, through aggressive bowling. They will rate their chances because they are up against a side that is under pressure, no matter how much it avoids the media and the public. A side that will have done really well if it plays uninhibited, free-flowing cricket. West Indies might think the iron is hot.Chennai is certainly hot, and its spinner-friendly track and reverse-friendly square have provided the two matches of the tournament so far. The World Cup will want to bid it a fitting farewell before it moves to the flatter, more predictable surfaces.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
India LWWTW
West Indies LWWWL

Watch out for…

Chris Gayle has to be hurting. In a chase of 244, he left his side at 58 for 1 in the seventh over, but the rest still managed to fall 18 short. Will he go back to reining himself in and playing through the innings? Will he decide to make Sunday his day and his day alone, and go swinging?Sides have decided the best way to beat India, at least when they are on the field, is to play Harbhajan Singh out and not give him wickets. Hence an economy-rate of 4.41, but only five wickets. At times it works for India, producing more wicket-taking opportunities for the other bowlers that the batsmen feel compelled to attack. In this World Cup, it has worked for the batsmen. Chennai, though, will be Harbhajan’s best chance of taking wickets: a turning pitch, and a fair sprinkling of left-hand batsmen.

Team news

R Ashwin, through all indicators, seems to the be the man India want the world to see as little of as possible before the big matches. Is a match that determines whether they face New Zealand or Sri Lanka in the quarter-final big enough?Sehwag is a big doubt. “Viru has got an allergic reaction in his right knee, so we will take that call either in the evening or on the morning of the game,” Dhoni said.India (probable): 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 & 11 two out of Ashish Nehra, R Ashwin and Munaf PatelLeaving Shivnarine Chanderpaul was a brave move on paper, but it did backfire on West Indies when they missed one batsman who would take the responsibility and anchor the chase on a difficult track. Do they bring him back? If they do, that will mean dropping either one of the specialist batsmen or one out of Andre Russell and Devendra Bishoo, both of whom had a superb game against England. Right now, Ramnaresh Sarwan seems to be the most disposable member of the XI that lost to England.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Devon Smith, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan/Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Darren Sammy (capt.), 7 Devon Thomas (wk), 8 Andre Russell, 9 Sulieman Benn, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Devendra Bishoo.

Expect another baked turner with a hard square that should facilitate reverse-swing. For those looking for respite from the Chennai heat, the following is not good news. Chance of precipitation on Sunday: 0%.

Stats and trivia

• Legspinner Bishoo took three wickets on his debut in Chennai. Twenty three years ago, a legspinner in a similar mould, took 16 wickets on his Test debut, again in Chennai. West Indies then were at the receiving end of Narendra Hirwani.
• Everybody knows Sachin Tendulkar is one short of reaching 100 international hundreds, but he is also just 47 short of 18,000 ODI runs.
• The World Cup head-to-head between the teams is tied at three and three.

Quotes

“It is a big learning curve and hopefully we won’t repeat the same mistakes that have happened so far. We are human beings, we are always supposed to commit mistakes. Hopefully the interval between two will be long.”

Shane Warne has angrily rejected the tactics of Ricky Ponting for Nathan Hauritz on the final day of the second Test via a short blast on Twitter

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2010Shane Warne has angrily rejected the tactics of Ricky Ponting for Nathan Hauritz on the final day of the second Test via a short blast on Twitter. As Hauritz was hit for 22 from his opening two overs, Warne backed up the struggling offspinner.”How the hell can hauritz bowl to this field??” Warne tweeted. “Feeling for hauritz , terrible!! What are these tactics? Sorry Ricky but what are you doing.”At times Hauritz had a field with a deep point, long-on and long-off, while also having a slip, short-leg and leg slip. In his first over Hauritz went for 12, with Cheteshwar Pujara off-driving two boundaries, and there was a cover drive to the boundary from M Vijay in the second.”With the wicket up and down and spinning big, tactics and backing bowler [are] crucial,” an earlier tweet said. “Pressure on Ponting and Australian bowlers.”Ponting and Hauritz have had differences of opinion over how he should bowl during the series and the offspinner has struggled for impact. In the first Test he returned 3 for 161 and in the opening innings of this match managed 2 for 153.

The New Zealand captain retained the Player-of-the-Year award and the Winsor Cup for first-class bowling, and also won the Walter Hadlee trophy for being the best ODI bowler

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Sep-2010

Winners at NZC awards 09-10

• Player of the Year – Daniel Vettori

• Walter Hadlee Trophy – Best batting in ODIs – Brendon McCullum

• Walter Hadlee Trophy – Best bowling in ODIs – Daniel Vettori

• JR Reid Best All Rounder Trophy – Brendon McCullum

• Redpath Cup – Best batting in first-class cricket – Ross Taylor

• Winsor Cup – Best bowling in first class-cricket – Daniel Vettori

• Domestic Player of the Year – men – Michael Bates

• Domestic Player of the Year – women – Nicola Browne

• The Phyl Blackler Cup – Best bowling in women’s cricket – Nicola Browne

• The Ruth Martin Cup – Best batting in women’s cricket – Suzie Bates

• Young Player of the Year – Matthew Rowe

• The Bert Sutcliffe Medal – for outstanding services to cricket – Martin Horton

• Sir Jack Newman Award – outstanding junior cricket administrator – John Grocott

• Fans Choice for Outstanding Individual Performance – Brendon McCullum

Daniel Vettori has won three of New Zealand Cricket’s major awards for the 2009-10 season: he retained the Player-of-the-Year award and the Winsor Cup for first-class bowling, and also won the Walter Hadlee trophy for being the best ODI bowler.”Daniel is and has been a consistently excellent performer for New Zealand over a long period and his fourth National Bank Player-of-the-Year award is a reflection of his hard work and dedication,” NZC chief executive, Justin Vaughan, said. “He has been a force in all forms of the game, and you just have to look at the ICC rankings for confirmation with Daniel ranked as the top ODI bowler, second ranked Test allrounder and fourth highest Twenty20 wicket-taker.”Vettori won the accolade of New Zealand’s top cricketer for the fourth time in six years. During the period of adjudication, he scored 742 runs in Tests at an average of 49.46, 398 at 30.60 in ODIs and 120 Twenty20 runs at 24. He also took 32 Test wickets at 36.75 each, 27 ODI wickets at 20.29 and 10 wickets at 22.80 in Twenty20 internationals.Vettori apart, Brendon McCullum also picked up a couple of awards – the Walter Hadlee Trophy for best ODI batting, because his performances in the UAE helped New Zealand achieve their first away series win against Pakistan, and the John Reid Best Allrounder Trophy for his batting and wicketkeeping. During the period under consideration, McCullum made three centuries and took 55 catches in all forms of the game.Ross Taylor claimed the Redpath Cup for his batting performances in first-class cricket. In 2009-10, he scored 1078 in 11 matches at an average of 53.90 and also set a national record for fastest century by scoring one off 81 balls against Australia.The awards for best bowler and batsman in New Zealand women’s cricket, the Phyl Blacker Cup and the Ruth Martin Cup, went to Nicola Browne and Suzie Bates. Browne took 16 Twenty20 and nine one-day international wickets and was the Player of the Women’s World Twenty20. Bates scored 185 runs in ODIs and 230 in Twenty20s. She was the Player of the Series on the recent tour of England.Browne was also the women’s domestic Player of the Year, top scoring in both List A and Twenty20 domestic games with 474 and 150 runs for Northern Spirit. She also took 16 one-day and five Twenty20 wickets.Auckland’s Michael Bates was the domestic Player of the Year in the men’s category, taking 37 wickets in the Plunket Shield, 14 in one-dayers, and 15 in the HRV Cup.

Freya Kemp set to bat at No. 5 at Edgbaston in allrounder’s absence

Valkerie Baynes10-May-2024Nat Sciver-Brunt will miss England’s opening T20I against Pakistan at Edgbaston on Saturday after undergoing a “minor medical procedure”, her captain Heather Knight has revealed on the eve of the match.Knight said the absence of allrounder Sciver-Brunt opened the door for left-hander Freya Kemp to bat at No. 5. Allrounder Kemp is in England’s T20I squad purely as a batter as she continues her return from a back problem.”Nat Sciver-Brunt is unavailable tomorrow,” Knight told reporters on Friday. “She’ll be available for the next game. She’s had a minor medical procedure, so this game tomorrow comes a little bit too soon for her.”We obviously played those three T20s in New Zealand without her as well and without a few other players, so that gave us an opportunity to find out about a few people and add to our depth a little bit. There’s some good young allrounders coming through. Dani Gibson has been impressive, particularly with the ball at the back end. Freya Kemp is obviously a massive clean ball-striker and a left-hander which we don’t have a lot of in England, and when she’s back bowling as well, she’ll become a real asset.”There’s some really good talent coming through. It is just about guiding those younger players and keeping them on the right track to fulfil the potential that they have.”Related

• Nat Sciver-Brunt reveals she missed Pakistan T20I for egg-freezing procedure

• Powerplay: Scotland, Sri Lanka World Cup bound

• Fit-again Sarah Glenn ready for Pakistan after concussion lay-off

• No surprises in Nida Dar-led Pakistan side for white-ball tour of England

• Dunkley, Beaumont 'still in conversation' for T20 World Cup despite Pakistan omission

Maia Bouchier enjoyed a breakthrough tour of New Zealand in March, making the most of her opportunities at the top of the order amid the late arrivals of Danni Wyatt and Sciver-Brunt from the WPL as England won the T20I series 4-1.That tour was an important stepping stone in England’s build-up to the T20 Women’s World Cup in Bangladesh in October, as is this visit by Pakistan and the upcoming home series against New Zealand in June and July.”In New Zealand I felt like our T20 game evolved a little bit,” Knight said. “We played on pitches that were slightly more tricky in the powerplay, slightly bigger boundaries, and we had to play a slightly different game. That was really good for us. It probably added a few more tools in our bag and made us be a bit smarter with how we attacked, and how we put pressure back on the bowlers. There was a lot more hitting into pockets, hitting twos, it was harder to hit sixes out there.”I feel like that’s evolved us a lot as a side and evolved our method a little bit. That’s going to be the same in Bangladesh, it’s conditions that we haven’t played a huge amount of cricket in as a squad, so it’s about having as many skills in our cricket toolbox to try and call upon when we need them, and building settled positions. As a bowling unit as well, having different people to bowl in different positions and giving opportunities as and when there is the chance to do that.”Heather Knight during a practice session in Birmingham•PA Images via Getty Images

Meanwhile Pakistan are coming off the back of a disappointing tour by West Indies, who won their T20I series 4-1 and swept the ODIs 3-0. But Knight said there would be no complacency in her side as a result.”They’ve had some good results as well in New Zealand, they won that series away, which is a really good result for them,” Knight said of a Pakistan side captained by Nida Dar since last year, taking over from Bismah Maroof who recently retired from international cricket.”They’ve also got a new captain and a few retirements in their team and that quite often I think brings energy and reinvigorates the team, so we’re certainly not underestimating them at all. They’ve obviously got a few gaps to fill, so it’d be interesting who they bring in and what young talent they potentially bring in. It’ll be a good challenge for us.”The match in Birmingham is the first of three T20Is between the sides, with games in Northampton and Leeds to follow ahead of a three-match ODI series.

England opener says he took inspiration from team-mate Dawid Malan to score a match-winning century

Mohammad Isam03-Mar-2023A set plan to tackle the spinners with sweeps and reverse sweeps in addition to overlooking the “smoke” around his batting form allowed Jason Roy to make 132 off 124 balls in a series-winning effort in the second ODI against Bangladesh.Roy’s ton was big enough to end the hosts’ proud home record of seven unbeaten ODI series wins in seven years. Bangladesh were bundled out for 194 in pursuit of 327, and it was Roy’s innings that mainly put them out of the contest.Roy got four boundaries with reverse hits off the left-arm spinners, apart from playing the conventional sweep to milk the slow bowlers.”It was a plan [to sweep and reverse sweep] with the amount of turn,” Roy said. “To go over point was the safest option for me. I tried to go over cover a couple of times, it was just too slow and too much spin. I tried to put that to bed quickly. Once Shakib [Al Hasan] gets that undercutter, I should have hit it to the sightscreen, but I tried to sweep him [and got out]. It was a slightly poor decision but apart from that, I think you had to keep your boundary options very simple. You can hit it wherever you want when you get a lot of runs. Out there, [hitting the sweeps and reverse sweeps] was one of the only boundary options for me today.”Roy said that the Dhaka pitch played to the batters’ advantage. It was slow, but the spin was to a consistent degree, which allowed for easier strokeplay compared to the first ODI where the pitch offered uneven bounce.”I only faced four balls the other day, it was clearly a lot easier today,” he said. “But there was a bit more spin, but it was consistent. The other day it was slightly inconsistent bounce as well as turn. It was far lower scoring whereas today there was slow bounce. I think the boys showed a high amount of skill to give us that total.”Roy spoke about the relief of getting runs on this Bangladesh tour, particularly after getting out early in the first game.”Every single time [scoring a hundred] means the world. I worked hard to right my wrongs from the first match. I made a silly mistake then, and I was hungry to make some runs. There are some hundreds in the past when you get to 40, and you feel really free-flowing when you get to the hundred. Every boundary was a scrap. I built a great partnership with Jos [Buttler]. We ticked over nicely.”Every place poses completely different skillsets. None more so somewhere like here. I have scored runs in India. As far as skillset for batsmen, to score runs in these sort of conditions is as rewarding as it can get. I am very happy to score. The amount we scored today on that wicket in a series-defining match was awesome.”Roy said that he took a leaf out of Dawid Malan’s book from the first ODI when the left-hander struck his fourth ODI hundred. It saved England from defeat essentially, as Malan mastered the conditions to take the visitors home.”I have realised that very quickly once I stuck that one up in the air in the first game,” Roy said. “The way Malan went about his innings, I quickly realised to switch on, put my head in and bat some time.”It was just time at the crease. I can score a lot of runs if I batted that amount of time. As simple as that. I reduced the risk in boundary options. The one I got out to, was the highest risk for a boundary option I took. I got out stupidly.”

Imam-ul-Haq’s century goes in vain as Adam Zampa leads disciplined bowling attack to tie Pakistan down

Tristan Lavalette29-Mar-2022Travis Head smashed a 72-ball 101 and capped his ODI return with two wickets to lead a short-handed Australia to an impressive 88-run victory over Pakistan in the series-opener in Lahore.Chasing 314, Pakistan rued a slow start and struggled against Australia’s spinners in dewy conditions under lights to be bowled out for 225 in the 46th over in what was a return to the format for Australia and Pakistan since July.Australia had only 13 players to choose from, and handed debuts to legspinner Mitchell Swepson and quick Nathan Ellis. Pakistan had fresh faces, too, with 34-year-old legspinner Zahid Mahmood and young quick Mohammad Wasim making their ODI debuts.Despite missing their first choice pace attack, along with Ashton Agar, who tested positive for Covid-19 on the morning of the game, a disciplined Australia tied down Pakistan in the middle overs through Swepson and Adam Zampa in a rare occurrence of the tourists playing two frontline spinners. Swepson claimed the key wicket of captain Babar Azam for 57, while Zampa tore through the lower-order to finish with 4 for 38 from his ten overs.Pakistan’s chase was held together by Imam-ul-Haq, who averaged 74.6 in the Test series, with the opener hitting 103 off 96 as he accelerated towards his century after a sedate start. But he fell to a cracking yorker from Ellis in a terrific maiden ODI wicket as Australia’s unbeaten tour of Pakistan continued.Imam and Babar paid the price for a cautious 96-run second-wicket partnership, off 118 balls, where they appeared to be in cruise control only for the run rate to keep increasing.Adam Zampa bagged four wickets in the match•Associated Press

In the first ODI in Lahore since 2015, which was Babar’s debut, the Pakistan skipper became the second-quickest after Hashim Amla to reach 4000 ODI runs and he achieved the milestone in style with a boundary off Swepson amid fans chanting his name while waving their lighted smartphones.Eyeing the long haul, Babar knocked the ball around and hit the odd boundary through masterful precision. After a gorgeous square drive off Swepson, he survived a shout for lbw with the decision upheld much to the chagrin of skipper Aaron Finch, continuing Australia’s poor use of DRS from the Test series.But Swepson, finding a groove he lacked during his Test initiation, would not be denied with a first ODI wicket when he trapped Babar lbw in the next over with a full legbreak that was unsuccessfully reviewed.With the ball skidding on the surface, Head’s terrific match continued with a handy spell mid-innings, and his nagging offbreaks accounted for Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed. It capped a commanding performance for Head, who played his first ODI since November 2018.After being sent in, Australia appeared on course for a big total through Head’s pyrotechnics at the top, only to be pegged back by Pakistan’s spinners before Cameron Green gave them a late spark with an unbeaten 40 off 30 balls.Having struggled during Australia’s historic Test series victory, averaging just 22.67, Head was in sparkling form from the get-go as he dominated a Pakistan attack desperately missing the speed and skill of spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, who was rested after a heavy workload during the Test series.Imam-ul-Haq played cautiously for the most part•Associated Press

It was Head’s second ODI century – both have been against Pakistan – and he showcased his liking for the top of the order to boost his average as opener to 45.69 from 13 matches, which is well above his overall mark of 36.He dominated a 110-run opening stand with Finch and may have heightened the pressure on the struggling Australia captain’s long-term place at the top. Having laboured through the Australian summer with a knee injury, Finch once again lacked fluency in his first ODI since December 2020 to make an unconvincing 23 off 36.No. 3 Ben McDermott, however, made his case with a calm 55 off 70 until he needlessly ran himself out after a misfield. The BBL MVP has struggled in ODIs and T20Is but mostly played sensibly in his maiden ODI half-century.It was a tale of two halves for Australia in their batting innings, as they scored around seven runs an over in the first half only to be tied down in the second, with Zahid producing sharp turn while left-arm orthodox Khushdil Shah bowled an excellent spell at the back-end.Their total appeared par for the course but it proved more than enough as Head completed his comeback in style to lead Australia to their tenth straight ODI win over Pakistan.

Offspinner battles through injury to finish with 14 in the match

ECB Reporters Network11-Aug-2020Simon Harmer spun his way to match figures of 14 for 131 as county champions Essex beat Surrey by 169 runs to maintain their perfect start to the Bob Willis Trophy.Offspinner Harmer had taken 6 for 67 in the first innings, before producing his well-worn fourth-innings trick by steamrolling Surrey with 8 for 64. Harmer had been on course for the first 10-wicket haul in county cricket since Ottis Gibson for Durham in 2007, but Aaron Beard took two late poles to deny him history.Incredibly, Harmer, who bowled unchanged from his River End on day four, is playing through an abductor strain, which medical staff had recommended would rule him out for up to six weeks.With 20 wickets in two matches this season, he continues his quest to be the country’s leading red-ball wicket-taker for a second successive season – and already has a six-wicket lead over his nearest challenger.Essex, who have now won their last ten first-class matches at Chelmsford, jump to the top of the South Group table, while heavily depleted Surrey remain the only winless side in the conference.”The wicket at Chelmsford always suits me,” Harmer laughed. “Professional cricket is about performance and failures and when it is your day you have to make the best of it because I don’t know what will happen next week at Hove.”When the wicket is turning, I’m going to cash in as much as I can and that’s what I did today. I knew they would be under pressure. I am very happy with the way the ball is coming out at the moment but cricket is a funny game so you can’t take anything for granted, but touch wood may the form continue.”When I got to six wickets the boys started talking about how if I pulled my finger out then I might have been able to get all 10. Those things don’t happen very often in cricket but I’ll take that catch and an eight-for any day.”Harmer had started his haul with the last ball of the third day, when Mark Stoneman was leg-before to one which didn’t turn – with Surrey requiring an unlikely 310 to win from the final day.It took his 23 morning deliveries to breakthrough Scott Borthwick’s defences as the once-capped England Test player attempted a forward defence only to see the ball spin off his outside edge and into Adam Wheater’s gloves.Surrey weren’t going to roll over and hand Harmer and Essex the wickets they required, with Ryan Patel and Will Jacks providing a blocking rearguard.Patel, in particular, seemed immovable as he grappled to hold onto his wicket, showing intense concentration to see out 97 balls. But the 22-year-old lapsed for a moment to sky a pulled short to Jamie Porter at midwicket while attempting to cash in on a shorter delivery from Harmer.Jacks saw out 93 balls with his laser focus, while also putting on a 51-run stand with Jamie Smith – as the pair held Essex up for 20 overs.But having refuelled over lunch, Harmer took his next two wickets in three balls. Jacks, who had batted beautifully scored 70 in the first innings, attempted to go back and work to leg side only to be pinned – that brought up Harmer’s 10 wickets in the match. Two balls later, Evans, on loan from Sussex, skipped down the track, missed the ball and was stumped by Wheater.Rikki Clarke twice used his feet to strike Harmer for two boundaries down the ground but departed for 14 from 27 balls when Varun Chopra held on to a simple catch at short leg.Wicketkeeper-batsman Smith once again showed why he is so highly rated at The Oval with a two-hour vigil. The 20-year-old scored 45 in 89 balls but departed at the hands of Harmer – although not through his bowling. Smith edged Beard to second slip, where Harmer swooped low to pull off a stunning catch, which ended his own shot at immortality.Harmer returned to his first skill again in the next over as Gus Atkinson, who had hit him for six, ran past a straight one to be bowled.
Beard saw off James Taylor, caught at cover, for a seven-ball duck before Harmer wrapped up the victory at 3.35pm when Amar Virdi slapped to mid-off.

India A add 205 for last five wickets to open up a sizable lead to give hosts chance of a series-levelling win

The Report by Varun Shetty in Alur10-Sep-2018Andhra Cricket Association

India A batted Australia A into a corner on the third day of the second unofficial Test in Alur. They lead of 159 came on the back of KS Bharat’s 106, and his various partnerships with the lower order that meant India made 205 for the last five wickets, finishing eventually with 505 in reply to Australia’s 346. Bharat’s century was India’s first of the series, and the innings was at its peak during his eight-wicket stand of 113 with Kuldeep Yadav, who batted 112 balls for his 52.The pair were in full control after they’d both been dropped off part-time legspinner Marnus Labuschagne when the lead was slim. Kuldeep then begun dominating the stand, looking calm and assured as Australia switched their bowlers around constantly. While the innings was studded with boundaries, it was an aggressive one in approach, with the footwork sorted the whole way through against pace and spin.It gave Bharat the license to play the boundary strokes at the other end and he picked up 12 fours and a six during his forage. Bharat’s most productive strokes were the hook and the cover drive, both of which were a consequence of Australia’s struggle to hold up a constant strategy. The seamers, particularly Brendan Doggett, were all over the place against Bharat and on a slow pitch, he cashed in on their offerings.Against spin, he was more content playing with a straight bat, often in defence, and rarely got out of the crease to manufacture shots. There wasn’t much need for it in any case, with Australia’s spread out fields offering many easy run-scoring avenues.This was also the case when Shubman Gill had got going in the first session. Gill, the overnight batsman alongside India A captain Shreyas Iyer, had a much easier start to the day than should have been, considering the that the same bowlers – Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Swepson – had troubled them in the last 30 minutes on Sunday. The pair had even come out to overcast, cold conditions, which offered the Australian bowlers more than they had got on a blazing Sunday.But they were barely troubled, with Swepson struggling to land the ball from around the wicket. Many full tosses down leg side were put away, including one that was ramped by Iyer over the long leg boundary, and when he did finally start landing the ball, the umpires deemed that he was bowling a negative line and penalised him. Marsh did end up slanting one in to beat Iyer and hit his stumps, but Australia’s day would be filled with more such peculiar moments.In front of a considerably bigger home crowd than had watched during the weekend, the Australians came apart slowly, with fumbles and extras, and were even penalised for having three fielders behind the popping crease on the leg side at one point.The start of that decline began with Gill’s exquisite wrists that aided his flowing drives, but were especially impressive as he got on the back foot to manipulate the square field on the off side. Australia operated with one slip all day, and Gill used that open side of the field to full effect.But the 19-year-old batsman didn’t capitalise on his fluid start, and was bowled playing inside the line of a Chris Remain delivery with India still 46 behind and a fragile lower order exposed. K Gowtham undid the pressure though – as Bharat endured an anxious start – and his confident batting brought India five runs away from parity. By then, Bharat settled in and shepherded the lower order.Australia were given only three overs of seam bowling to play as they came out to play the last hour, and the relentless intensity of India’s spinners produced wickets off stark variety. Kurtis Patterson got into his shell and was bowled leaving an arm ball from Gowtham. At the other end, Renshaw’s attacking strategy produced a pictureesque straight six against Nadeem, but some sweeps later, he top-edged one to a diving Deepak Chahar at short fine leg.

The PCB said ICC rules prevented the player from being named until the chemical report was confirmed by the government’s anti-doping agency

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2018A prominent Pakistani cricketer has tested positive for a prohibited substance. This was confirmed by the PCB on Twitter when it said ICC rules prevented the player from being named until the chemical report was confirmed by the government’s anti-doping agency.
While the dope test has come back positive, the report from the laboratory that tested the player’s blood sample has yet to be confirmed by Pakistan’s anti-doping department. The PCB is awaiting the results of that test, saying it would be available in the next day or so. The test is understood to have taken place during the recent domestic 50-over tournament in Faisalabad.Depending on the nature of the prohibited substance, the player could face up to a two-year ban. The last Pakistan international to suffer that fate was Raza Hasan, who tested positive for cocaine in 2015, and was banned till 2017. In the last few years, Pakistan spinners Yasir Shah and Abdur Rehman were also banned for minor doping offences, each serving three-month bans.