Ben Duckett continued his prolific form as Northamptonshire reignited their Royal London Cup campaign with a 23-run victory against Worcestershire at New Road

ECB Reporters Network27-Jul-2016
ScorecardBen Duckett made more important runs at New Road•Getty Images

Ben Duckett continued his prolific form as Northamptonshire reignited their Royal London Cup campaign with a 23-run victory against Worcestershire at New Road. An eye-catching knock of 86 from 75 balls took the 21-year-old’s nine-day tally to 631 from seven innings for his county and England Lions but it was a close-run thing as Tom Kohler-Cadmore’s first List A century kept the home side in contention for their 320 target.It was not until the 45th over that left-arm spinner Graeme White landed the knockout blows in three balls. The dangerous Ross Whitley was caught on the long-on boundary for 22 and Kohler-Cadmore was effectively yorked for 119 after hitting 11 fours and a six from 126 balls.Duckett, fresh from his undefeated scores of 163 and 220 on international duty, returned to county action on Tuesday by making 46 in a defeat by Warwickshire at Edgbaston and then moved 35 miles down the road to lead Northants to an imposing 319 for 7.On a damp morning, skipper Alex Wakeley may have feared the worst on losing the toss for the seventh time in seven matches in the 50-over competition, but Duckett and Adam Rossington, who played equally well for 87, corrected an early wobble. Their partnership of 99 in 16 overs gave the innings shape and substance before the big hitters, Steven Crook (52 not out) and Rory Kleinveldt smashed 76 in nine overs.The late charge, which ended in the last over when Kleinveldt holed out to deep square leg after hitting two sixes and four fours, meant that for Worcestershire to win they would have to surpass their chasing record in List A cricket.They made a bold attempt. After a bright 43 by Daryl Mitchell, Kohler-Cadmore and Tom Fell broke the back of the target in a relatively trouble-free partnership of 125 in 18 overs. Northants were in need of inspiration when Richard Gleeson broke through by bowling Fell for 54, a well-crafted, unflustered innings with only four boundaries from 50 deliveries.Wickets then began to fall. White, who finished with 3 for 59, held a straightforward return catch from Alexei Kervezee and Brett D’Olveira played on to Kleinveldt. Whiteley rattled the pavilion roof with one of his two sixes but momentum was lost with White’s double intervention and the challenge petered out with the last three wickets in five balls giving Gleeson 5 for 47, his best in professional cricket.The match began 10 minutes late because of rain and Northants lost a wicket in the Joe Leach’s first over when Josh Cobb angled a catch to D’Oliveira at point. Rob Keogh and Wakely later went in quick succession and Worcestershire miss an opportunity when Jack Shantry was unable to hold a low, one-handed chance from Duckett. The batsman was then on 33 and the cost quickly multiplied until he finished with one six and 12 fours when mistiming a pull off Leach.

South Australia fast bowler Joe Mennie has expressed his surprise for being named in Australia’s ODI squad to tour South Africa later this month

Brydon Coverdale05-Sep-2016Six weeks ago, Joe Mennie was happily flying under the radar, much as he has for the past few years. A call-up for Australia A was exciting, but his attitude remained the same. “I’m not one for putting myself out there massively,” Mennie told ESPNcricinfo at the time. “I’m at the stage where not a lot of people, unless you really know cricket, know my name. I’m not too dissatisfied with that.”But that desire sat at odds with his other goal: to play for Australia. Now, that is about to become a reality for Mennie, who has been named in Australia’s ODI squad to tour South Africa later this month. His name will not only be known, but will be emblazoned on the back of an Australia shirt. It is a scenario that is yet to sink in for Mennie.”I was very shocked actually,” Mennie told reporters in Adelaide on Monday. “I got the call from [national selector] Rod Marsh and I didn’t know what to say, there was a bit of silence on both ends from us. It was something I didn’t see coming and something I’m very happy with and looking forward to.”Mennie is one of three uncapped fast bowlers picked in the ODI squad, along with his South Australia team-mate Daniel Worrall and Victoria’s Chris Tremain. All three having been performing well for Australia A over the past few weeks in Queensland, and with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood rested for the South Africa tour, space opened up for some fresh faces.Perhaps the most surprising thing for Mennie is that his chance has arrived in one-day cricket, which has not been his strongest format. Last summer in the Matador Cup, Mennie picked up seven wickets at 50.85 and conceded more than five an over, while he topped the wickets tally in the Sheffield Shield. However, he believes the call-up has come at the best possible time.”The body is feeling good, the ball is coming out the best it ever has, so from that point of view I’m hitting my straps pretty well and probably you’d say the form of my career,” Mennie said. “The last couple of years I’ve hit my straps and found my game. I was really happy to get the opportunity to represent Australia A and then to get the call-up for the one-day tournament coming up is very pleasing.”Although Mennie does not possess the sheer pace preferred by Australia’s selectors – he tends to operate around the 130kph mark – his consistency and accuracy have been key features of his game over the past few seasons. At least his record in South Africa is encouraging, if brief: five wickets at 14.60 for the Perth Scorchers during the 2012 Champions League T20.Stepping up to international cricket will be a different challenge for Mennie, who will find himself competing with Worrall, Tremain, John Hastings and Scott Boland for the positions as specialist fast men during the South African trip.”That’s the next test for me, going over and putting what I do well into practice in that next level,” Mennie said. “That’s where a lot of people come undone. That’s the next challenge for me. It’s about me performing and doing what I do.”

Fast bowler Kesrick Williams has been called into the West Indies T20 squad for the three-match series against Pakistan beginning on September 23 in Dubai as a replacement for allrounder Andre Russell

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2016Fast bowler Kesrick Williams has been called into the West Indies T20 squad for the three-match series against Pakistan beginning on September 23 in Dubai as a replacement for allrounder Andre Russell. According to a release sent out by the West Indies Cricket Board, Russell “asked to withdraw from the series to attend to a personal matter”.

West Indies T20 squad

Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Jason Holder, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton, Kesrick Williams
In: Kesrick Williams
Out: Andre Russell

Despite playing just nine first-class games and six List A matches in his career, the last of which came in 2014, Williams emerged as a consistent threat in this year’s Caribbean Premier League, playing for the champions Jamaica Tallawahs. Williams, 26, was a bargain after being drafted in the 13th round for a price of just $5000 before going on to finish third overall with 17 wickets in the competition behind only Sohail Tanvir and Dwayne Bravo.Russell was set to face a Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) on September 19 and 20 for allegedly missing three tests but it is not known if this is the reason for his decision to withdraw from the Pakistan series.Russell, 28, has been a leading player in the T20 format in recent times. He played a crucial role in West Indies winning the 2016 World T20 title in March and April, and is a key performer in domestic leagues around the world. Russell was part of winning campaigns for Sydney Thunder in the 2015-16 Big Bash League, for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League in February, and Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL in August.

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy Group C matches played on October 28, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2016D Siva Kumar took his sixth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket to help Andhra gain a 150-run first-innings lead over Haryana at the Wankhede Stadium. Having bowled Haryana out for 103, Andhra lost three second-innings wickets in extending their lead to 245, with Hanuma Vihari and KR Sreekanth putting on 61 for the third wicket before the latter fell an over from stumps.Resuming on 217 for 6 in their first innings, Andhra lost their last four wickets in just 10.3 overs, for the addition of 36 runs, as the legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal finished with figures of 5 for 81. Haryana’s response lasted only 45.3 overs, with only the debutant opener Virender Dahiya and No. 6 Shubham Rohilla passing 20 as Siva Kumar ran through their line-up.Kerala chipped away at Chhattisgarh‘s line-up to move towards a narrow first-innings lead in Jamshedpur. Replying to Kerala’s 207, Chhattisgarh went to stumps 179 for 9, having scored their runs at less than two an over as spinners Karaparambil Monish, Jalaj Saxena and Iqbal Abdulla ended the day with combined figures of 63-19-110-8.Five Chhattisgarh batsmen got to 20, but none of them carried on as far as 40, with Sumit Ruikar, batting on 21 at stumps, key to their chances of taking the lead. Earlier in the day, Ruikar had taken Kerala’s last two wickets with his left-arm spin to finish with figures of 5 for 50. Kerala, resuming on 194 for 8, only managed to add 13 to their total.Overnight centurion Rahul Singh stretched his score to 182 as Services posted 477 in their first innings against Jammu & Kashmir. Parvez Rasool chipped away at the wickets to finish with figures of 48.5-11-117-5, his eighth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket and his second of the season, as Services added 190 to their overnight total of 287 for 3. Rahul was seventh out for a 276-ball 182, with 21 fours, before the last three wickets added 54 between them. In reply, J&K were 96 for 1, with Shubham Khajuria batting on 34 and Ian Dev Singh on 30.Tripura moved towards a useful first-innings lead as Goa, replying to 283, went to stumps 220 for 8 in Bhubaneswar. Opener Swapnil Asnodkar scored 57 and added 71 for the third wicket with Snehal Kauthankar to move Goa to a strong 137 for 2 before Tripura struck back with six wickets for 83 runs to hold a clear edge at stumps. Left-arm spinner Gurinder Singh was Tripura’s most successful bowler with figures of 3 for 40, while seamers Manisankar Murasingh and Bunti Roy took two wickets each.

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said that an expert medical panel had advised him rest with the aim of getting fit for the South Africa tour in December, after a scan showed multiple leg injuries

Sa'adi Thawfeeq25-Oct-20162:37

‘We are all behind Herath’ – Mathews

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews has said he pulled out of the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe because an MRI scan revealed several injuries to his leg. He said the decision was taken to help him recover in time for the tour of South Africa in December.”I had about one-and-a-half months to recover and I was preparing myself to be ready for the Zimbabwe tour,” Mathews, who had torn his calf during the ODIs against Australia in August and September, said. “Unfortunately there has been a setback.”We did an MRI scan, which revealed that I had multiple injuries on the same leg. I had to pull out after the expert medical panel advised me and [told] SLC not to send me to Zimbabwe because it might jeopardise my chances of playing in South Africa. We are planning to take a closer look at why this is happening. The doctors have advised rest, and the recovery can be earlier than that or more; we will have to play it by ear.”Mathews had been named in the original squad for Zimbabwe, but was ruled out last week. He is expected to be out of action for three weeks and is doubtful for the tri-series in Zimbabwe, also involving West Indies, that follows the Tests.Rangana Herath was appointed captain for the Tests in Zimbabwe, while batsman Upul Tharanga took Mathews’ place in the squad.Sri Lanka have a depleted team for Zimbabwe. Vice-captain Dinesh Chandimal, and fast bowlers Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep and Dushmantha Chameera were also ruled out due to injuries. The pace attack in Zimbabwe will be led by Suranga Lakmal.Chandimal was unavailable for the Tests due to a thumb injury for which he underwent surgery in September, but was hopeful of playing the tri-series, which starts from November 14.Herath, who will be only the second bowler to lead Sri Lanka in Tests, said the team was confident of a good performance in Zimbabwe after a 3-0 series sweep of Australia at home in August.”If you take our performance in the recent Test series against Australia, the confidence we gained from the 3-0 win will be very beneficial to us,” Herath said before the team’s departure. “The team’s confidence levels are very high after that victory. The team that I have I am confident can perform well in Zimbabwe.”SLC president Thilanga Sumathipala blamed the spate of injuries on poor player management and said the board will address the issue of workloads.Suranga Lakmal’s workload is worrisome, says SLC president•AFP

“We have not managed our players properly for the last three years,” Sumathipala said. “We have good cricketers who have come in from Under-19, U-23 and club level, but once they reach the top level they can’t sustain their physical condition because they have been badly managed.”Mathews is a world-class allrounder and there is so much demand and so much of pressure on his body that it’s not easy for a person like him to be without an injury unless he has a proper scientific approach.”Mathews had the highest number of match days in the past 18 months. At this level a player simply cannot go on. He has to pull out and take a genuine break for the body to recover. We don’t have enough recovery time.”Sumathipala said the possibility of Lakmal going on the South Africa tour without a proper break highlighted how important workload management was for players, particularly bowlers.”You have to make an assessment of the player and then based on the assessment you make a permanent study of the player, which you call player management,” Sumathipala said. “If there is a fast bowler who has bowled 100 overs, there should be a study saying that after 18-20 overs you have to stand him down and pull him out of the game to let him recover physically, which we don’t do. We never had proper player management.”Someone like Suranga Lakmal is being excessively used. Our most important tour is definitely to South Africa. Can we go on this tour without Lakmal being given a break?”Sumathipala said SLC was studying players during matches and practice sessions and would give them a programme to follow. He also said poor practice facilities resulted in injuries to fast bowlers.”We don’t have a single strip in this country with the impact pads on the bowlers’ run-up,” Sumathipala said. “The indoor nets have normal concrete run-ups and the bowlers go and land their foot at such speed and with so much weight of the body every day. This is one way they get injured. We have to change all the run-ups and have impact pads on them.”Sri Lanka’s first Test against Zimbabwe will be played in Harare from October 29, while the second match is scheduled to start from November 6. The two teams last played a Test in May 2004 in Bulawayo.

Virat Kohli said that England’s decision to stonewall in the second innings played into India’s hands after they secured a 246-run victory in Visakhapatnam

Alagappan Muthu21-Nov-20161:53

We knew England would crumble – Kohli

Virat Kohli on…

India’s first-innings performance: “First innings is quite important in India. In Rajkot too, the general feeling was that England played better cricket than us. But once you put a total on the board, if there is nothing in the wicket, even then you feel pressure of the big runs.
“The more runs you make initially then those runs come handy because you have a bigger target and more overs against the opposition batsmen. So in the start if you can get 100-150 runs extra then you get advantage of that in the second innings for sure.”
Juggling captaincy and being a key batsman: “It’s a difficult thing to detach yourself from being captain when you go out there to bat especially when you are playing five batters. The responsibility obviously increases much more. But it also makes me not hit the ball in the air which I probably prefer in Test cricket. Honestly I don’t feel the need to do that because I believe in my abilities to play on the ground and still score at a healthy rate. So I don’t need to try any fancy things.
“I also feel the more you stay on the wicket, the more time you spend, things start getting easier. That’s the whole plan to actually go out there and see whats happening, understand the bowlers, not necessarily have your plans of attacking bowlers but to understand how the situation is playing out. Stay calm on the wicket, try to spend as much time on the wicket. Instinctive players obviously get runs when they spend time on the wicket. I think I am one of them
It [captaincy] does take a toll on you but right now i am pretty fine. Maybe in three-four years’ time I can analyse how much load I am feeling but at the moment it’s coming along nicely so I am pretty OK with it.”

Virat Kohli has said England’s decision to stonewall in the second innings played into India’s hands after they secured a 246-run victory in Visakhapatnam.Set 405 on a wearing pitch with considerable variation in bounce, Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed dug in for 50.2 overs to put on 75 for the opening stand. It was high-class defensive batting from two batsmen with the technique to pull off such a difficult skill but Kohli felt that, in bowler-friendly conditions, not having the “intent” to score was not the way to go.”We thought they would come out with more intent, to be honest,” Kohli said. “And to see them approach that they had obviously gave us assurance that once we get a couple of wickets, it will crumble pretty quickly because there wasn’t much intent from the batsmen.”India were able to break the opening stand late on the fourth day, an R Ashwin grubber pinning Hameed lbw and then, with what became the final ball of the day, Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Cook.”It was a test of our patience,” Kohli said. “We knew that they are going to try and annoy us by playing like this and hope that we lose that our cool, bowl with different plans and do too many things, which we did not. We maintained a similar field throughout.”It’s just that in the last over, the suggestion came from [Cheteshwar] Pujara that we could try probably a different field, have two more on the leg side and make him really defend well in the last six balls. Put a bit of doubt in his head, and it worked.”He tried to play in front of his pad, not close to the body. That’s it, little margins can give you the game. I think that was a crucial breakthrough we needed and end of day’s play as well, so the new batsman did not get to face any more deliveries. He knew first thing in the morning, four more balls to go in the over and he’s straightaway under pressure. As a batsman, I know that for a fact. It was a pretty crucial dismissal that for us and it really set the tone for us today.”As well as England had played to get to 87 for 2 in 59.2 overs, they lost their remaining eight wickets for only 71 runs and were bundled out 20 minutes after lunch on the fifth day.Kohli himself made 167 in the first innings, when the pitch was at its best to bat on, but topped it up with 81 off 109 balls in the second innings when the ball began to misbehave quite frequently. He credited his success to a conscious decision not to go into a shell.”That was the plan. To have intent. It is only if you have intent that you will be able to play the ball accordingly because you are looking to play with the bat. If you don’t have intent, and you are looking to control the ball, and if it does something, then you are in no position to control it. So the edges fly off and you are not in position.”If you are looking for runs, you defend well because your head is on the ball as well. So that was the idea to get runs as the pitch gets tougher to bat on, show intent and keep getting runs in between, extend the lead so the opposition feels the heat of those 30-40 runs. It is a pretty basic thing to do, to be honest, and if you don’t have intent in the fourth innings, it is tough to play out four and a half sessions.”Cook, for his part, defended England’s tactics saying there were times that players need to adapt and play against their natural way.”We set our stall out pretty clearly that from the start of the innings that we wanted to take it as deep as possible,” he said. “We saw in one game, South Africa played 140-odd overs. If we got to play 150-odd overs then we could have saved the game.”Often in those circumstances, you just say, ‘well I’ll just play and we’ll see where we end up at.’ We made a conscious effort to play that way. Everyone bought into it. It’s not some people’s natural way of playing. But you say, ‘play your natural way and suddenly you’re four down then lower order start digging in and you think, ‘why didn’t we start that right at the beginning of the game’.”So we made a very clear policy. Of course, when it does not work you feel you could have been more positive. Get the men out around the bat. You make a decision as a captain or as a leadership group. Everyone bought into it and we came up a bit short.”

BCCI CEO Rahul Johri has offered the ECB assurances of the limited-overs series against India going ahead as planned, after it emerged that ECB president Giles Clarke had emailed Johri about the same after apparently receiving calls from Ajay Shirke

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2017Ajay Shirke, who was removed as BCCI secretary by the Supreme Court of India, had expressed “concerns” to ECB president Giles Clarke over the BCCI’s ability to host the limited-overs series against England, despite no longer holding office in the Indian board. That was the claim made by Clarke in an email to BCCI CEO Rahul Johri, in an email seen by ESPNcricinfo.On January 6, four days after the court ordered Shirke and BCCI president Anurag Thakur to give up their posts with immediate effect, Clarke wrote to Johri about a conversation he had with Shirke. In the email Clarke did not indicate when he received the calls from Shirke, but he refers to him as not being secretary any longer. Both Clarke and Shirke, when contacted, chose not to comment on any communication.Johri, in reply, has offered the ECB assurances of the limited-overs series against India going ahead as planned.”I have received calls from Mr Shirke who I understand is no longer the Honorary Secretary of BCCI,” Clarke wrote. “Can you please confirm to me that the England team will continue to be looked after by the BCCI in the usual fashion, with proper security, player daily allowance payments, hotel bills covered and the like, with transport organised at all times.”Obviously it is entirely a matter for BCCI where matches are played, but please advise soonest that the schedule will be adhered to, or any changes.”Johri replied the same day and assured the ECB that the series would go ahead as planned and that the England squad had “arrived and settled well”.”The BCCI has announced the teams for the warm-up matches, the ODIs and the T20 matches, the ticket sales for which have kicked off with the first game sold out, as of last week,” Johri wrote.The venue of the first ODI between India and England on January 15 is incidentally Pune, where Shirke was president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) for more than nine years. Apart from losing his post as BCCI secretary, Shirke was also unable to continue as MCA president after the court order on January 2 because his term had exceeded the Lodha Committee’s nine-year cap on tenure for BCCI and state office bearers.MCA officials confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that tickets had been sold out nearly three weeks before the match.Johri also told Clarke that the remaining five venues had confirmed hosting the matches. His email stated the BCCI was in control of the situation and that he would oversee the process.”The other venues have shown similar uptake in anticipation of an exciting contest between our teams. As you must have followed, the Supreme Court has delivered their verdict early this week, and we are expected to work with the court-appointed administrators, who will be appointed by the 19th of this month and till such time, we are making every effort to ensure that the matches live up to the expectations of all our stakeholders, including ECB.”We have been in touch with all the hosting centres and they have expressed confidence that the games will be managed successfully, just like always, and as on date, we do not anticipate any form of disruption to the series. Rest assured, I will personally monitor the series as it unfolds and will keep you posted on the progress.”In another email on January 7, Johri asked Clarke to divulge what Shirke had “communicated” in his “calls” in order for BCCI to “assuage any other concerns” the ECB may have.Clarke replied: “His concern was the BCCI and relevant association having funds and expertise to manage security and safety of our players, and transport, allowances, all usual issues for a tour.”In the email chain, ECB chairman Colin Graves also acknowledged Johri’s assurances.Clarke declined to comment on the exchange when contacted. “I am not going to make any comment,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I don’t even know what this is.”Shirke would not confirm whether he had made the call to Clarke and did not comment on the email exchange either. “I have no comments to offer,” he told ESPNcricinfo. Shirke said that people with “obvious malicious and vested” interests were trying to suggest that he was trying to scupper the Pune ODI.”I have got messages from some people in the media that we are obstructing the match [from taking place],” he said. “This is a record opportunity for MCA: my gate collection is INR 6.2 crore and my in-stadia sales is INR 2.2 [crore]. So we have got a total collection of about INR 8.5 crore.”With regard to funds for the associations hosting the matches, on December 7 the court had approved a maximum of INR 25 lakh for each state hosting the three ODIs and three T20Is. The court had rejected the BCCI’s request to release INR 3.79 crore as advance for the limited-overs series.On January 7, Shirke along with other longstanding office bearers of the BCCI and state associations who were removed by the court order on January 2, had an informal meeting in Bangalore to discuss their next step. That meeting had been called by former BCCI president N Srinivasan and included about 24 state associations.The Lodha Committee was formed in January 2015 to determine appropriate punishments for some of the officials involved in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, and also to propose changes to streamline the BCCI, reform its functioning, prevent sporting fraud and conflict of interest.In January 2016, the committee released its report, which recommended an exhaustive overhaul of the BCCI’s governance and administrative structures. On July 18, the Supreme Court of India approved the majority of the recommendations and directed the Lodha Committee to supervise the BCCI’s implementations of the same. However, despite the Lodha Committee laying out timelines and other directives, the board did not cooperate because it said that its state associations objected to the recommendations. This impasse eventually led to the Supreme Court removing Thakur and Shirke from office on January 2, 2017.

David Boon, Matthew Hayden and Betty Wilson will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Monday

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2017Two of Australia’s finest modern top-order batsmen, Matthew Hayden and David Boon, and legendary women’s allrounder Betty Wilson will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame on Monday.Boon played 107 Tests from 1984 to 1996 and scored 7422 runs at 43.65, mostly as an opener and No.3 of tremendous fight, and he also featured in 181 one-day internationals. Since retirement, he served as an administrator with Cricket Tasmania and as a national selector, and in 2011 took up a position as an ICC match referee.”David Boon was a key figure in the rise of the Australia side under Allan Border that went from easy-beats to winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup in India and Pakistan in 1987 and then the best Test side in the world,” Peter King, the Hall of Fame chairman, said.”He was player of the match in the 1987 World Cup final against England and was a reassuring presence either as opener or number three with more than 13,000 international runs across more than a decade at the highest level.”He played a crucial role in putting Tasmania cricket on the map and did much the same for English county side Durham, where he ended his career in 1999 with a tally of more than 23,000 first-class runs, plus more than 10,000 runs in List A cricket. He epitomises the tough-as-teak Australian cricketer and his induction into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is thoroughly merited.”Hayden played 103 Tests from 1994 to 2009 and, with 8625 runs at 50.73, sits fifth on Australia’s list of all-time Test run scorers. An opener who combined patience with an ability to bully the bowlers, Hayden plundered 380 against Zimbabwe at the WACA in 2003, which was the highest Test score by any player until surpassed by Brian Lara’s 400 the following year.”Matthew Hayden featured prominently in the Australia squads that went unbeaten to win successive ICC Cricket World Cups in 2003 and 2007,” King said, “and his role as an intimidating opening batsman and outstanding slip fielder mark him out as one of the greatest players this country has ever produced.”Wilson, who was sometimes known as the “female Bradman”, will be the second women’s cricketer in the Hall of Fame, after 2014 inductee Belinda Clark. Wilson, who died in 2010 at the age of 88, averaged 57.46 in Test cricket during the 1940s and 1950s, and took 68 wickets at the remarkable average of 11.80.She was the first player of either gender to score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test, doing so against England in Melbourne in 1958; two years later Alan Davidson became the first man to match the feat. In that same Test, Wilson also became the first woman to take a Test hat-trick.”Betty Wilson was a woman ahead of her time, thanks to her brilliant all-round skills as a batter and off-spinner,” King said. “It was cricket’s misfortune that she only played 11 Tests – due in part to World War II, but also because her career spanned a period when far fewer women’s cricket matches were played than in the modern era.”It is fantastic that Betty can take her rightful place in the pantheon of great cricketers produced by this country through her induction to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and it is an honour that is wholly justified.”Boon, Hayden and Wilson will officially be inducted at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Monday evening, where the Betty Wilson Young Player of the Year Award will for the first time form part of the ceremony. This year’s group takes the number of Hall of Fame inductees to 46 since its inception in 1996.Hall of Fame inductees Warwick Armstrong, Richie Benaud, John Blackham, David Boon, Allan Border, Sir Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alan Davidson, George Giffen, Adam Gilchrist, Clarrie Grimmett, Wally Grout, Neil Harvey, Lindsay Hassett, Matthew Hayden, Ian Healy, Clem Hill, Bill Lawry, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Charles Macartney, Rod Marsh, Stan McCabe, Glenn McGrath, Graham McKenzie, Keith Miller, Arthur Morris, Monty Noble, Bill O’Reilly, Bill Ponsford, Jack Ryder, Bob Simpson, Fred Spofforth, Mark Taylor, Jeff Thomson, Hugh Trumble, Victor Trumper, Charlie Turner, Doug Walters, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Betty Wilson, Bill Woodfull.

The ECB could be about to lose one of the key architects of their new T20 competition more than two years before it is launched

George Dobell20-Feb-2017The ECB could be about to lose one of the key architects of their new T20 competition more than two years before it is launched.ESPNcricinfo understands that Gordon Hollins, the ECB’s chief operating officer, has been shortlisted for the role of chief executive at MCC. Derek Brewer, the current MCC chief executive, has already announced his intention to retire at the start of 2018.Hollins has been with the ECB since 2007. In that time, he has performed the role of Head of Venue Partnerships (2007-2012), Managing Director – Professional Game (2012-14) and, since 2014, the COO role which gives him responsibility for professional and recreational cricket in England and Wales.In those roles, he has been heavily involved in the major match allocation process as well as the Morgan Report (2011-12), which saw the revival of 50-over cricket, the re-scheduling of T20 cricket on an ‘appointment to view’ basis and recommended a cut to the County Championship programme. Before joining the ECB, he was commercial director at Durham CCC.Often acting as the bridge between the ECB executive and the counties, it was noticeable that the relationship between them deteriorated sharply during a period when Hollins was absent due to ill health. Now fully recovered, he has been heavily involved in thrashing out something approaching an agreement between the ECB executive and the counties over the introduction of the new T20 competition in 2020.With his experience across the game and his relationships with those in power at the ECB, the attraction of Hollins to MCC is not surprising. Concerned at the prospect of losing one of the two Tests they currently host most years, MCC seem increasingly keen on being at the forefront of the new domestic T20 competition.Others favoured for the MCC role are understood to be John Stephenson, who is currently head of cricket at the MCC, and Guy Lavender, who is currently chief executive at Somerset CCC.

South Africa, who could barely push their scoring rate above two-an-over, closed with a lead of 191 and four wickets in hand

The Report by Andrew McGlashan11-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:59

Moonda: Elgar has bedded in as senior opener

Could New Zealand’s twin-spin attack prove a masterstroke? It may yet depend on the Dunedin weather, with rain forecast for the final day of this nip-and-tuck Test, but late wickets under leaden skies set up what could be a wonderful final day. South Africa, who could barely push their scoring rate above two-an-over, closed with a lead of 191 and four wickets in hand.The shape of the day – a grey, chilly day that demanded deep resolve from players and spectators alike – changed deep in the final session. After Jeetan Patel removed Dean Elgar, 11 short of becoming the sixth South Africa batsman to make two hundreds in a Test, he cleaned up his bunny, Quinton de Kock, with a beauty (the tally of four successes in four innings not escaping Patel as he celebrated). Between Patel’s brace, Temba Bavuma also departed, the ball rolling back off his defensive shot to dislodge the off bail – success for Mitchell Santner who had been ignored for almost 60 overs.New Zealand’s strong end to the day came after being deprived the services of Trent Boult who did not appear after tea due to a sore hip. The second new ball initially went to the two spinners due to poor light, then the immense Neil Wagner – who has had a vast workload – wound himself up for another burst. Boult won’t be able to bowl for the first 90 minutes on the final morning and with a tight turnaround of three days to Wellington his prognosis will be a very significant factor.By close, when the light finally did close in with eight overs remaining, Faf du Plessis suddenly loomed as a crucial figure, unbeaten on 56 from 155 balls with the bowlers for company to try and push the lead over 250. The success for Patel and Santner will encourage him as Keshav Maharaj, who took five wickets in the first, could be a crucial weapon in defending a target alongside his pace trio.For most of the day it was about Elgar – given out caught behind 73 but saved by the DRS – as he took his time at the crease in the match to almost 13 hours before skipping down the pitch to Patel and finding deep mid-off. However, New Zealand had their chances to remove him earlier and put the heat on South Africa with more time to play with.On 35, James Neesham found his outside edge from round the wicket but BJ Watling could not gather the chance low to his left. It was the second time in the match that Watling had given an Elgar a life; in the first innings he was spilled down the leg side on 36. Then, on 48, a drive was drilled through the hands of substitute fielder Colin de Grandhomme at cover as Elgar went to his fifty from 144 balls.Coupled with poor use of the DRS, missing a chance to review against Duminy when he would have been lbw on 20 but using it when he got an inside edge, and dropping the same batsman on 6, it had been a messy first half of the day for New Zealand. However, as events later showed, South Africa’s scoring rate meant they were never out of touch and at risk if wickets fell in a flurry.South Africa resumed just five ahead and Hashim Amla departed early, flicking Wagner to the leg-side trap at midwicket to continue his poor time in New Zealand. Wagner returned after lunch to pin Duminy for a scratchy 39. At that stage South Africa’s lead was only 80. Duminy should have gone early when Boult, in the midst of a luckless opening spell, found the edge but Tom Latham, deputising for Ross Taylor at first slip, missed a regulation chance.For most of the first two sessions Williamson put the onus on Wagner, Boult (with potentially damaging results) and Patel – the latter bowling a 28-over spell – not using Santner until the 65th over. The left-arm spinner created an opportunity first ball when Elgar flicked firmly into Latham at short leg, but the ball ballooned in front of midwicket. Elgar then played a rare attacking stroke, advancing down the pitch to loft Santner straight, but the ball spinning into him created uncertainty and an outside edge fell just short of slip where Neesham and come up from his stance too quickly.Du Plessis was in no rush to try and escalate the scoring rate against accurate bowling. Late in the day he moved to his half-century off 142 balls with a hint of more aggression, with a brace of boundaries off Wagner, but it was South Africa who were the relieved players when the day ended. Du Plessis will have walked off knowing that his side have not been allowed to dictate terms in this match. Please, don’t rain.