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The Preview by Sidharth Monga18-Jan-2017

Match facts

Thursday, January 19, 2017
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)

Big picture

With so much cricket happening these days, you don’t get to savour incredible performances for long. Two days later, you are again staring at the prospect of a gruelling ODI. They are gruelling on the players because so much is packed into those 100 overs. Teams are mentally stronger than they used to be, and hardly carry negative momentum from defeats, but England have got to wonder after Pune what more they need to do. They scored 350, had India at 63 for 4, and didn’t really bowl awfully, but still lost with 11 balls to spare.India will enjoy that England might be worried now. Remember Virat Kohli’s statement after Pune? He said he told Kedar Jadhav that England would panic if India reached 150 for 4. Part of England will be doubting themselves, but another part will be telling them that the kind of chase India put up is not as repeatable as England’s performance in the first innings. England had almost everybody performing for them; India relied on individual brilliance, that too batsmen stretching themselves. Kohli had to play a game he doesn’t like: take risks early by stepping out and premeditating. England will tell themselves they at least made India play low-percentage cricket.Both sides will have identified areas of improvement. India will want more from the other batsmen. England wanted to start their final surge around 36th over, but Hardik Pandya bowled a good spell, taking the wicket of Jos Buttler, and India conceded just 40 in the next seven overs. Both batting units will be looking to iron out these kinks, and bowlers will have to find new ways to stay in the game.

Form guide

India WWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England LWLWL

In the spotlight

Since last February, in the 14 limited-overs matches that he has played, R Ashwin has not been called upon to complete his allotment on eight occasions, including in Pune where he went for 63 runs in eight overs, his economy rate of 7.88 his worst when he has bowled five overs or more. Ashwin had decided to bowl defensively, and never veered off that plan. These are important matches: at a time when finger spinners are generally struggling to stay relevant in limited-overs cricket, Ashwin has to figure out what he wants to do to buck the trend. India need wickets in the middle order, and Ashwin took the place of a man who took five wickets in the last ODI India played. Of course the pitch was different when Amit Mishra took five, but generally wrist spinners are more effective in current limited-overs cricket. It will be interesting to see how Ashwin approaches the rest of the series. Does he still look to just contain or go for wickets proactively?This might be the era of wrist spinners in limited-overs cricket, but India’s turnaround began when they took 26 runs off Adil Rashid‘s first three overs. It was just the time England needed magic from their legspinner, their highest wicket-taker by some distance in 2016, and also second-highest overall. Rashid had a bad night, which can raise self-doubt after a disappointing Test series. How well Rashid bounces back could determine if England come back into the series.After conceding 0 for 63 in Pune, will R Ashwin still look to just contain or go for wickets proactively?•Associated Press

Team news

India generally aren’t fickle with their batsmen. All four who failed should retain their spots. It’s with the ball that India will debate whether Amit Mishra should replace Ashwin.India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli (capt.), 4 MS Dhoni (wk), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin/ Amit Mishra, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Jasprit BumrahDid England play one spinner too many considering the flat pitch and the psychological hold the India batsmen have on them after the Test series? Should they go for the tall Liam Plunkett instead of Rashid? The answer will be in whether Rashid feels confident of bouncing back. England (probable): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 Joe Root, 4 Jos Buttler (wk), 5 Eoin Morgan (capt.), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid/Liam Plunkett, 11 Jake Ball

Pitch and conditions

Another high-scoring match will not be a surprise, considering the small boundaries at the Barabati Stadium. There was a thin layer of grass on the pitch on the eve of the match; there are chances it could be trimmed further. Dew could be a factor too, and the toss could play a decisive role.

Stats and trivia

• India have achieved three of the seven successful chases of 350 or more.
• Kohli has scored centuries in six of India’s nine successful chases of 300 or more since his debut.
• Ben Stokes’ 33-ball fifty in Pune was the fastest by an England batsman against India.
• In the last match in Cuttack, the venue for the next ODI, India scored 363 against Sri Lanka.

Quotes

“As a batsman I wouldn’t complain if both teams are getting runs. We try to put a great show for the crowd.”
“He’s probably one of the first revolutionary players for England and that probably shows in the group, in the way the people look to him, the way he’s taking his career forward and the way he champions guys to play.”

ESPNcricinfo’s wrap of the fourth day’s play between Victoria and Western Australia in Alice Springs

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2017
Scorecard File photo – James Pattinson finished with match figures of 6 for 93•Getty Images

Victoria will have the chance to win a third consecutive Sheffield Shield title after winning through to the final thanks to their victory over Western Australia in Alice Springs.The Warriors began the final day on 7 for 238, hoping to build a defendable lead, but managed to add only 20 to their total for the loss of their last three wickets. James Pattinson finished with 5 for 58, his first five-wicket haul in a first-class match since December 2015.That left Victoria chasing 83 and they did it comfortably, losing only two wickets along the way. Opener Marcus Harris top scored with 43 and Marcus Stoinis, who is about to join Australia’s Test squad in India, finished unbeaten on 25.The result means Victoria are guaranteed a place in the Shield final, although their opponent is yet to be decided. Depending on results in the final round of matches, any of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia or even Western Australia could yet make the decider.

Mark Arthur has warned that Yorkshire could lose their ability to host major matches if they are unable to finance a partial redevelopment of their Headingley home “within weeks”

George Dobell20-Mar-2017Mark Arthur has warned that Yorkshire could lose their ability to host major matches if they are unable to finance a partial redevelopment of their Headingley home “within weeks.”Arthur, Yorkshire’s chief executive, says the situation is so critical that not only could the club lose its right to host four World Cup matches in 2019, but they would be unable to apply to host any Test cricket after that date and might even risk their chances of hosting games in the new-team T20 competition which is anticipated to start in 2020.Yorkshire’s predicament comes months after the ECB announced that Durham would no longer be considered eligible to host Tests due to financial problems. That leaves the prospect that Lancashire’s Old Trafford ground, in Manchester, could be the only ground north of Nottingham Test eligible to stage Test cricket from the start of the 2020 season.It would also appear to raise the possibility, if less likely, of arch-rivals Lancashire hosting the closest team to Yorkshire in the new T20 competition.The problem centres on the stand at Headingley shared with the rugby club. Built in the 1930s, it was partially condemned in 2015 due to corrosion with the hope it would be rebuilt in time for the 2019 season. The club were hoping to increase capacity from around 17,000 to 20,000 with the addition of the new stand. As things stand, capacity at Headingley is reduced to around 14,000.But attempts to raise the £17m required for the latest stage in the redevelopment (it is expected to cost £38m in all) have so far been thwarted. The biggest jolt came when Leeds City Council suddenly announced that they were not prepared to provide a grant of £4m for the project as previously hoped.”Ever since the grant was withdrawn, we’ve been working with Leeds City Council and Leeds Rugby, and other entities, trying to find a way of funding the new stand,” Arthur said.”At this moment in time, we haven’t got a formula to put to our members. What we can’t go to them with is a half-baked proposal. If the board does come to a resolution at some stage in the near future, which means that we can recommend a financial proposal to the members, then we would call an extraordinary general meeting to go through the numbers.”Yorkshire are close to £25m in debt, with around £20m of that sum owed to trusts set-up by ECB chairman Colin Graves. They had hoped that the prospect of major matches from 2020 onwards would help them repay such debts, but without a new stand their future is fraught with uncertainty.”Gordon Hollins, the chief operating officer of the ECB, has confirmed to us in writing that Headingley does not comply with the International Facilities Policy,” Arthur said. “Therefore, once the current staging agreement ends in 2019, we will not be considered for Test Matches.”This has to be resolved in the very near future or we will have run out of time to complete the stand by the start of the 2019 season. While the Ashes Test is secure, the four World Cup matches in 2019 are not.”The need to have a new stand has recently taken on greater importance with the introduction of a new T20 city based competition from the year 2020. The host cities will be selected on the basis of facilities and catchment. It will be akin to hosting four additional one-day internationals per year and will bring further incremental income to those host grounds and cities.”Not only is the clock ticking from a financial point of view, the ECB will be allocating international matches from 2020 to 2023 later this year as well as the new city based T20 host contracts.””We need to reach an agreement with all parties in the next few weeks. We will be solvent, but we will not be able to solve our long-term debt so quickly.”The allocation of major matches from 2020 until 2023 is already long overdue. That has led to concerns around the counties over their ability to plan for a future which looks set to contain fewer Tests.

Rahul Tripathi ran up a 52-ball 93 to power Rising Pune Supergiant to their sixth win in seven games and move to third spot in the league

The Report by Akshay Gopalakrishnan03-May-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:21

Tait: Bowlers’ discipline won the game for Pune

Rahul Tripathi ran up a 52-ball 93 to power Rising Pune Supergiant to their sixth win in seven games and move to third spot in the league. Despite wickets falling at the other end, Tripathi produced a full-blooded onslaught – hitting 78 runs in boundaries – and ensured Rising Pune had only a little to do towards the end.The chase of 156 got a bit harder with the loss of Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni, and then Tripathi himself with six needed. But Daniel Christian’s flat six over deep midwicket off Colin de Grandhomme sealed victory with four balls to spare, consigning Kolkata Knight Riders to only their second defeat in six home games this season.The result was set up by Rising Pune’s bowlers, led by Jaydev Unadkat’s 2 for 28, who took pace off the ball on a two-paced surface to keep Knight Riders to 155 for 8. Struggling at 55 for 4 in the tenth over, the hosts needed a counter-attacking partnership from Colin de Grandhomme and Manish Pandey to breathe life into the innings, before Suryakumar Yadav gave them a late lift with an unbeaten 16-ball 30.Variable bounce, a stifled start
Sunil Narine had pinched quick runs at the top of the order in previous games, but he was up against Jaydev Unadkat, who had gone at just 7.8 an over in the Powerplay this season.Unadkat got the ball to nip around both ways and Narine struggled to connect with the first five balls. When he finally made contact, it was to an offcutter that didn’t come on. Narine missed his timing and skewed a return catch; Rising Pune had begun with a maiden for the first time in the IPL.Shortly after, Sheldon Jackson stepped on his stumps after moving too far back against offspinner Washington Sundar. But Gautam Gambhir dealt with the variable pace and lack of room by shifting around his crease to make space for shots. Back-to-back fours off Ben Stokes and a four and six off Sundar gave Gambhir 20 runs off six balls, but he holed out to deep midwicket in the pursuit for more. Knight Riders were 41 for 3 – their second-worst Powerplay score this season.De Grandhomme and Pandey fight back
Colin de Grandhomme had two ducks and a 1 in three out of four innings this IPL. If there ever was a time that KKR needed him to find form, this was it – 59 for 4 after 10 overs. And he did, along with Manish Pandey. Pandey hit three successive fours in the 11th over from Shardul Thakur, and de Grandhomme matched that tally with consecutive sixes in the next from Imran Tahir. Knight Riders scored 44 runs between overs 11 and 14.Dot and out
Pandey’s dismissal to a slower ball from Daniel Christian barely slowed de Grandhomme down. So fluent was he that until Unadkat came on to bowl the 17th over, not one of the 17 balls de Grandhomme had faced had been a dot. Unadkat then sent down an offcutter to beat de Grandhomme, who played too early. The next ball was a slower one as well and de Grandhomme closed the face of his bat to pop a leading edge to backward point.Unadkat’s changes in pace had fetched him figures of 3-1-7-2; only four balls had been scored off. However, a sure-footed Suryakumar Yadav lay in wait during the 19th over. Three successive slower balls were swatted for 14 runs, before Nathan Coulter-Nile completed the assault with a mow over cow corner. The 21-run over gave KKR the late surge they were looking for.Fastest fifty, fastest start
While Rising Pune’s bowlers had taken pace off the ball, KKR’s hit the pitch hard. Umesh Yadav had Ajinkya Rahane caught behind with one that nipped in, and Chris Woakes claimed Steven Smith’s off stump with a similar ball. At the other end though, Tripathi had gathered steam.He benefitted from pace on the ball and also from errors in length, moving forward to drive fuller balls as confidently as he moved back to pull the short ones. Coulter-Nile went for 19 runs in his second over, and Umesh and Woakes also suffered as Rising Pune stormed to their fastest fifty in the IPL, off 26 balls.When Coulter-Nile came back to bowl three overs later, Tripathi took him for 15 more. At the end of the Powerplay, Rising Pune had 74 – 33 more than KKR had managed. Tripathi then scooped Narine fine to raise the fastest fifty by a Rising Pune batsman, off 23 balls; at that point, 50 of his 53 runs had come in boundaries.Woakes got Manoj Tiwary to play on against one that ripped back in off the seam, but Tripathi continued to find the boundary to offset the losses. Kuldeep Yadav was bludgeoned for three successive sixes, each struck with a steady head, in the 13th over. That brought the required rate under four. Tripathi’s seventh six – a slog sweep over square leg – took him into the nineties. He finally perished on 93 – the substitute Rovman Powell flinging himself to his right at midwicket to catch a stunner – but he left Rising Pune with only six to get off eight balls.

In the opening 50-minutes, Surrey were 31 for 5. The rest of the day? 303 for 2. What happened, you ask? Kumar Sangakkara. Again

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Chelmsford26-May-2017
ScorecardIn the opening 50-minutes, Surrey were 31 for 5. The rest of the day? 303 for 2. What happened, you ask? Kumar Sangakkara. Again. The Sri Lankan, who just last week said he was giving up the game because, ultimately, he is worried success might go to his head, registered his 61st first-class hundred. If it hasn’t now, when will it?This was a fifth hundred in a row, a third in eight days and, without doubt, one of his best for Surrey. He sleeps tonight on his highest score for the club.No other batsman in Surrey’s history has gone five on the bounce. Only seven others have done so in first-class cricket, with Sangakkara the fifth to pull it off in the County Championship. CB Fry, Mike Procter and Don Bradman went on to six. Sangakkara would be no slouch even in such distinguished company.As ever with the 39-year-old, he was playing a different game to the rest. Even Essex seamer Matt Quinn, who had taken Surrey’s top order to the cleaners with 3 for 13 in his opening three overs, was thrown by the mere presence of the man, losing his line with a few down the leg side early on.It was in Sam Curran, a man 20-years his junior, that Sangakkara found adequate support. Their partnership had a festival feel as they put on 191 – a new Surrey record against Essex for the sixth wicket.Sangakkara was the headline act: fans on both sides of the fence cheering appreciatively with each classic stroke they’ve seen time and time again (the century, from 174 balls, was brought up with an on drive that you’d like to take out for a nice seafood dinner). But Curran was more than happy to make the side-stage his own. Those present will have left Chelmsford having learned more about Sam than Kumar.Sam had learned a bit too from the last time he was close to a maiden century. This impressive innings ended on 90 when he skipped down the track and tried to send Simon Harmer out of the ground for a second time. Dip, turn and James Foster behind the stumps for his first Championship start saw him stumped. His walk off was slow, but nowhere near as slow as his departure on 96 against Lancashire last year. Then, he was emotional as he got back to the changing room. Today, he laughed.ESPNcricinfo

“Ah you know,” he began, “last year I was on 96 against Lancs and I got out defending. So this time I thought, well, it’s almost risk and reward, so you know… Obviously I’m gutted but, hey, what can you do?”A rush of blood to the head – let’s face it, he’s 19 – should not detract from a truly remarkable passage of play that he and Sangakkara embarked upon. The pair went into lunch at 67 for 5, with Curran nursing a bruised hand, yet returned to put on 147 in the afternoon session.While Sangakkara did what Sangakkara does, Curran emerged unscathed from a hostile tussle with Neil Wagner to unfurl some sumptuous shots of his own: through wide mid-on and the covers primarily, before he hit Ravi Bopara into the pavilion at square leg for his first six. It is worth remembering that as he came through at Surrey, Sam Curran’s batting was talked about more than his bowling. Today explained why.The frustration for Essex didn’t stop with him. Stuart Meaker (43*), masquerading as a No. 9, came in and hit his highest score in three seasons with such gusto that he shocked Sangakkara into a few shots of rage: twice he charged Wagner and thumped him down the ground. The morning’s carnage seemed a long way awayRory Burns, leading Surrey after an injured toe kept Gareth Batty out of the playing XI, opted for a toss, won it and then saw his side lose five wickets in no time. Mark Stoneman, Scott Borthwick (Surrey’s only other centurions this season) and Burns himself fell to Quinn bounding in from the River End. All were undone by deliveries that went across them and bounced more than expected in Quinn’s opening three overs, which saw him pass 100 first-class wickets. Not too shabby spread across 50 innings for Essex, Auckland and New Zealand A.Then Jamie Porter got involved from the Hays Close End, undoing Dom Sibley with a cracker that took the top of off and coercing Ben Foakes into playing onto his own stumps. Given the disarray Sam Curran walked into, his innings seems all the more remarkable.

Mitchell Johnson defended 11 in the final over – four off the last ball – as Mumbai Indians won their third IPL title. Here are the reactions from their players and team management after the game

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-20170:39

We knew we could pull it off – Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar
“Amazing, simply amazing! At the break time, we got together and discussed few things. Mahela gave us a nice speech, which was needed. I can’t repeat it here. We needed to think right and when you do that, performance follows. We believed we could pull it off and that’s what Rohit and the team members did.”I always believe in the motto: once a champion, always a champion. Malinga is known for yorkers. He’s delivered for us for 10 years. I was sure he’d deliver tonight. He’s not had the kind of season we’re used to, but we knew he’s one guy who could change the game.”Mitchell Johnson
“It was well set up in the last couple of overs. We needed to get Smith off strike and get him out. He gave himself room. I was trying to get him to hit towards the leg side, the bigger side of the field. It was a good shot but not good enough at the end.”I wasn’t thinking too much, just wanted to be clear with my plan: bowl full at the stumps and get the guys hit leg side. Smithy, off side isn’t his strength, fortunate the shot went to hand. You play the game for these pressure situations. I told Bumrah that it helped me that he hit me for six off that second last ball. I felt like I was more clear then.”Mahela Jayawardene, Mumbai Indians coach
“The guys showed a lot of character, especially the senior guys who kept calm. It was a marathon. It’s not about how you start but about how you finish. In a big game, considering the wicket might play slow, we felt we had a senior group of bowlers who could handle pressure. That was the reason for batting first. In the final, there’s 20 runs for nerves. Their nerves showed.”Jasprit Bumrah
“The ball was reversing a bit, we needed a wicket at that time [in the 17th over]. We kept on fighting from the first over. To get Mahi wicket was crucial, he can be dangerous in these situations.”After the first innings, we wanted to fight. We were short of runs. The bowling effort was brilliant. We were backing each other at the end. We knew we had the experience. Fourth time lucky. I was a youngster in 2013, I was sitting on the bench then. To play with the guys and win with them is a brilliant feeling.”Rohit Sharma
“To be able to defend like that, it was a great effort. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Whenever you’re defending a total like that, the first thing you need is to believe. I told the boys, the last game we played against KKR, the way we defended that, got them all out for 105, so why not here?”The pitch was assisting the bowlers so it was about exploiting those conditions. If everything happens together, it’s good, if it doesn’t, it feels bad. I had confidence in the bowlers who were going to bowl the last three overs. They’ve done the job for their respective countries, franchises. It was all about giving that freedom to them. Let them do what they want to, they’re the masters. I told them you do what you want, tell me what you’re planning, I’ll set the field accordingly.”Ambati Rayudu
“I couldn’t contribute with the bat, but the catch [of Steven Smith] will remain with me.”Mitchell McClenaghan
“I couldn’t sit still. I went up and down the stairs 15 times. Bumrah, I don’t know if Indian cricket realises how good this guy is going to be. Superstar.”Krunal Pandya
“When wickets were falling at the other end, I wanted to play till 20 overs because I was the only batsman left.”Kieron Pollard
“We’ve been playing team cricket. We haven’t had individual brilliance this season. The way Krunal batted to keep us in the game was fantastic.”Shane Bond, Mumbai’s bowling coach
“It was exciting, heart-wrenching all at the same time. We spoke about leaders stepping up in the field yesterday. When the pressure came on, all of them stood up. Jasprit, at 23, he continues to step up. Great to work with him, he stood up on the biggest stage.”Parthiv Patel
“I thought before the innings started, having played for Sunrisers, we could defend 150. I passed it on to the guys. They [Rising Pune] took the game too deep anyway because it was difficult to score runs at the end. We played very good cricket right through the tournament under pressure, the catch which Rayudu took turned the game around.”Nitish Rana
“We’re here because of the bowlers. This is a great experience, I hope to carry this on to the Ranji Trophy season. To win a second IPL title in three seasons, it can’t get bigger than this.”Lendl Simmons
“Runs on the board is runs on the board. Scoreboard pressure puts pressure on the batting team. The plan was to not give them boundaries. We have a lot of match winners in our team, they delivered.”

South Africa’s stand-in captain enjoyed success at Lord’s earlier this season for Somerset, but leading his country there will be a whole new challenge for him

Firdose Moonda at Lord's05-Jul-2017While we’ve been spending our time at ESPNcricinfo headquarters translating some of the most common Afrikaans cricket terms into English, it seems there may be a bigger task. Dean Elgar, South Africa’s stand-in captain, is looking for the meaning of another word; a word that he knows explains something about him which he can’t quite explain himself.”If you take me off the field, I am quite a reserved and quiet guy, and if I get to know the person, I can be a clown. But once I cross the line, you can see it in my batting, I’m a bit tougher and more nuggety, as everyone has been calling it. I still don’t know what that word means.”It means spending several seasons racking up runs on the domestic scene even when the national top-order was so clogged the chances of a promotion were slim. It means scoring over 1000 runs in a season, still being overlooked for higher honours and keeping going. It means brushing off a pair on Test debut and scoring a series-winning century on your first away tour in the absence of the senior core who cushioned your arrival. It means watching Alviro Petersen struggle and retire; Stiaan van Zyl struggle and get dropped; Stephen Cook struggle then spark and then struggle again to find himself sidelined and accepting the responsibility that comes with having to stabilise the side because of that.It means being Dean Elgar in the only way he knows how and at Lord’s over the next five days, it is how the whole South African team will be.Elgar’s XI will begin South Africa’s quest to continue a proud run on the road in the last 11 years, dented only by their defeat to India in 2015. Since then they have won in Australia and New Zealand but this will be the real test of whether they have retained their away-from-home advantage, because they are underdogs and Elgar likes it that way.”We tend to play better when we are up against it,” Elgar said. “Everyone gets along and tours well. When you are away from home, that’s the only family you have.”Dean Elgar will fulfill a family ambition at Lord’s•AFP

Not this time, though. In attendance at Lord’s will be the families of several of the South African players including Elgar’s. His father and his old school coach will be in attendance, after promising Elgar years ago that if he ever played a Test at Lord’s they would be there. “They saw something in me a little bit more than what I saw when I was nine years old. They said if it happens one day [play at Lord’s] then they were going to come and watch.”Getting to this venue has long been an Elgar-family aim and now that he is here, he admitted it has lived up to expectation. “Everything about Lord’s seems to want you to do better. You hear all the folklore when you’re growing up and you watch it on TV, and it always looks so nice. Once you reach the big arena all those memories come flooding back, and you have your first opportunity to play here and try do well here. It’s an enhanced feeling when you get here, an emotion to try and do well,” he saidElgar won’t just be trying to bat well, he will also want to captain well and for that to happen, he needs to ensure the sense of occasion does not overawe him. “As a captain you have to look at it as another game of cricket. You can’t let the occasion get the better of you. You’ve got to think about the team first and venue later,” he said. “You can sit on the balcony after the day’s play and admire what’s happened or play the play back in your head. But you can’t let the venue overwhelm you.”No-one can say what kind of captain Elgar will make because he has only done it seven times before at first-class level so Lord’s will be the template for his leadership style. Though Elgar will hand the armband back to du Plessis for the second Test if all goes according to plan, he still hopes to remain part of the brains trust as he evolves from purely a player to a figure in a position of some power.”I can contribute more within the team environment and will maybe be thinking a little bit less about myself and more about the team,” Elgar said. “That sometimes happens in international cricket — you do tend to just worry about your own game and not have to make the tough calls, which is sometimes a blessing or a curse. But leadership is about making those tough calls.”One of them may be on team selection as South Africa decide whether they will veer from the usual seven specialist batsmen and settle for six in order to play a second allrounder in Chris Morris. On a green-tinged pitch, Morris may get the nod and things could be tough for batsmen but Elgar has already defied that. He scored a century when Somerset played Middlesex earlier this season, a stint that formed the core of his preparation for this series.”I loved it. It was a very good three months for me at Somerset,” he said. “It was solely for me to come over was to give myself the opportunity do well in this Test series and gain experience in foreign conditions and try and play a lot of cricket as possible.”In that time, he has already raised his bat at Lord’s. If he does again will take him from nuggety to noteworthy in an instant.

Lancashire have offered Steven Finn a lucrative, long-term deal in an attempt to lure him away from Lord’s

George Dobell12-Aug-2017Lancashire have offered Steven Finn a lucrative, long-term deal in an attempt to lure him away from Lord’s.Finn made his debut for Middlesex as a 16-year-old in 2005, the youngest man to do so since Fred Titmus in 1949. He is out of contract with the club at the end of the year, though, and has so far not signed the new deal offered him by Middlesex.Finn’s attraction to Lancashire is obvious. The sort of fast bowler who relishes a heavy workload and has a relatively good injury record, he appears to have dipped behind a few others in the England pecking order – he hasn’t played a Test since October 2016 or an ODI since May – so could be expected to be available for county action for most of the season. He also has a good record in all formats of the game and is bowling well enough that he was called into the England squad as cover when Mark Wood was injured.He might also feel that moving from Lord’s – where the pitches tend to offer bowlers very little – might provide more opportunities to impress. Aged 28, he should have several good years ahead of him.Finn currently has an ECB central contract, but it not certain to see it renewed in the next round of deals which kick-in from October.”There have been approaches for Steven,” Middlesex’s director of cricket, Angus Fraser, told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ve been in negotiations and he’s asked for a bit more time. But he’s a Middlesex boy and we very much want him to say.”Lancashire’s leading seamer this season has been their overseas player, Ryan McLaren, and they may be concerned that Kyle Jarvis could be persuaded to return to international cricket with Zimbabwe.

Jack Leaning and Andrew Hodd have made limited impact in Andrew Gale’s first season as coach but they stirred themselves as Yorkshire cast uncomfortable glances towards the foot of the table

ECB Reporters Network06-Sep-2017Jack Leaning produced an invaluable half-century•Getty Images

Jack Leaning and Andrew Hodd posted important half-centuries either side of tea as Yorkshire had the better of day two of their Specsavers County Championship clash with Middlesex at Headingley.After day one was washed out, this was the first day’s play of a fixture between the teams who have shared the Division One title for the last three years.But, with four matches to play including this, they find themselves looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone.Yorkshire closed on 317 for seven from 98 overs, recovering from 116 for four as Leaning posted 85 from 142 balls and wicketkeeper Hodd 51 from 90, sharing 114 for the fifth wicket inside 30 overs.Bad light meant six overs at the end of the day meant six overs were lost.Middlesex captain James Franklin opted for an uncontested toss this morning before Steven Finn claimed the only wicket of the opening session when he had Australian Shaun Marsh lbw playing around one for 22, leaving the score at 39 for one in the 19th over.Adam Lyth impressed for 40, battling hard before expanding – in a similar way to Leaning and Hodd did later in the day.James Harris bowled six maidens on the trot to start his spell having replaced Finn from the Kirkstall Lane End before he got Lyth caught behind with a beauty shortly after lunch.That was the first of three wickets to fall in the first eleven overs of the afternoon as the score fell to 116 for four in the 44th.Yorkshire captain Gary Ballance marked his first bat for the county since the reverse fixture at Lord’s in late June (England commitments and a fractured finger) by edging behind for 12 as he played expansively outside off.Alex Lees (27) was then trapped lbw by Franklin’s left-arm seamers.Yorkshire were in danger of undoing their early good work against a tidy visiting attack, who could have created more pressure with tighter lines.But Leaning and Hodd eased those concerns during their fifth-wicket alliance, which started cautiously before expanding on a pitch with plenty of pace and carry.Leaning drove nicely on the way to his second successive Championship fifty – his third in all this season – off 58 balls.Hodd whipped Harris straight of mid-on for four to mark the shot of the day on the way to his third of the campaign.A first batting bonus point had been secured in the final over of the afternoon before their century stand was recorded just after tea.Hodd reached 50 off 87 balls before edging Franklin behind as the score fell to 230 for five in the 74th.A second batting point for 250 came on the cusp of the second new ball.Tim Murtagh lifted Middlesex spirits by bowling Leaning as he played to leg and trapped Adil Rashid lbw with successive deliveries at the end of the 85th over, leaving the score at 270 for seven.But the visitors could not prevent Yorkshire from reaching 300 for the first time in nine completed Championship innings.Tim Bresnan and Liam Plunkett shared an unbroken 47 for the eighth wicket, reaching 26 and 34 not out.

Chris Silverwood, Essex’s head coach, is set to be appointed as the successor to Ottis Gibson as England’s bowling coach

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2017Chris Silverwood, Essex’s head coach, is set to be appointed as the successor to Ottis Gibson as England’s bowling coach. According to reports, Silverwood will take up the role full time from January, with Shane Bond already in place as bowling consultant for the Ashes.Silverwood has enjoyed two successful years in charge at Chelmsford, leading the club to their first Championship title in 25 years this summer. He joined Essex under Paul Grayson as bowling coach in 2010, having previously had a short player-coach stint with Mashonaland Eagles in Zimbabwe.He has international experience as a player, winning six Test and seven ODI caps in the 1990s and early 2000s. Having come through with Yorkshire, he went on to join Middlesex in the latter part of his career.Gibson left last month to take the head coach’s role with South Africa after a second successful spell overseeing England’s bowlers. Silverwood was one of a number of those linked with the England role and he was given permission by Essex to join up with the national squad in Bristol for an ODI against West Indies.In the wake of Essex’s surprise Championship title – they were only promoted last year, having won Division Two – Silverwood declined to talk about the possibility of leaving for England, preferring to celebrate county success. He was subsequently named as one of the Lions coaches for the trip to Australia in November.Bond is only due to work with England until the end of the second Test, in Adelaide, but Silverwood is not expected to take up his new role until after the Ashes, starting with the limited-overs series. The tour of Australia will then be followed by a trip to New Zealand.Essex will feel the loss, after Silverwood turned the team around from a period of underachievement in the second tier. His assistant, fellow Yorkshireman Anthony McGrath, is likely to take charge in the short term and might be considered favourite to be appointed full time.