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Home side begin final day needing 33 runs with two wickets remaining

David Hopps13-May-2023Durham 227 and 213 for 8 (Jones 56, Lees 38, Fisher 4-56, Thompson 3-40) require 33 runs to beat Yorkshire 254 and 218 (Raine 4-36, Potts 4-61)Yorkshire have not won a Championship match for 17 matches. The 18th is in abeyance after they claimed the extra half-hour, but failed to force victory against the leaders Durham at Chester-le-Street. Durham begin the final day needing 33 runs with two wickets remaining. A riveting match remains in the balance.This sounds appallingly like hindsight, but Yorkshire would have been better leaving the last two wickets until the morning when the weather is overcast and the ball might swing. Their impatience to finish the job was understandable, but their seam attack (or at least those seamers the skipper Shan Masood entirely trusted) was weary, the sun was shining (no, really, it was) and their impetus was already on the wane.Durham added another 18 in nine overs as Ben Raine and Matthew Potts resisted gamely. Durham need a win to stay top of Division Two and their supporters talk proudly of a side in good shape; Yorkshire need a win to help them block out the perpetual grumbling from the outer and convince themselves that promotion is a realisable objective. Both sides have been a credit to Division Two.To add to the uncertainty, Brydon Carse will walk out at No.11, if needed, after having scans on a “trunk injury” that restricted him to only five overs in Yorkshire’s second innings. The results of those are not yet known. Carse, fully fit, would be a danger. Carse, severely restricted, might be impotent. Nobody really knows.Matthew Fisher, who holds four wickets overnight, said: “We chucked everything at them, we just needed one to roll. As much as it’s stressful and you’re knackered, we know that we need to go again in the morning. I didn’t really want the extra half hour because it would have been nice to get off and freshen up.”Durham’s target was 246, a tall order that had sizeable chips removed from it during a new-ball assault by Alex Lees who made 38 from 37 balls, driving in carefree fashion as Fisher and Jordan Thompson began timidly and inaccurately as if a long run without success had crept into their consciousness. A failed to attempt to change the ball after 3.5 overs summed up their state of mind as there was little swing to be had.Masood dealt with the situation shrewdly, withdrawing Fisher from the attack after two overs, giving him time to reflect and reintroducing him at the Lumley Castle End. If the ball was not swinging, there was soon further confirmation that it would occasionally keep low as Fisher seamed one through Lees’ gaping gap.Lees dealt with, Durham abruptly slowed as Michael Jones took the long view. Scott Borthwick clipped Thompson to short midwicket, but Jones gradually expanded his range, Mickey Edwards looked too leaky for such a tight match on a surface where accuracy was essential and, at 126 for 2, Durham were edging the match as a series of borderline lbw shouts did not fall Yorkshire’s way.Then came a random moment to shift the emphasis. Bess’ career has stalled at Yorkshire, not helped by the county’s appetite for internecine strife. Runs have eluded him and his bowling average is in the mid-40s. Unsurprisingly, he had struggled to hide his disfavour as several lbw decisions did not fall his way. Then he was clunked on the knee when Graham Clark pulled Matthew Revis fiercely into the ground and limped off with four overs to his name, returning later to sound effect.Masood was forced to return to Hill, who was carrying an onerous responsibility on his slender frame. It immediately paid dividends as David Bedingham was held by Jonny Bairstow, an excellent one-handed scoop as the ball died in front of him.Fisher’s return came with a sense that the game could be turned. So it was as he took wickets in three successive overs: Ollie Robinson’s flashing drive flying to first slip, Jones falling lbw by virtue of the totting-up procedure, and Bas de Leede joining the growing list of bowlers to chop on.If there was ever a time for Jordan Thompson to live up to his somewhat optimistic nickname of “the man who makes things happen” it had arrived and he added two in two as Graham Clark also dragged on and Axar Patel, who had tormented Yorkshire in the first innings with some last-man tomfoolery, losing his magic upon his promotion to No.9 and immediately falling lbw.Bess deserves credit for returning later, ice and painkillers applied, and maintaining an excellent holding operation against admittedly obsessive Durham defending. Against tiring bowlers, in bright sunshine, Durham might have been better giving it a go. But they will ridicule that notion if they steal the game in the morning. A new ball is only 10 overs away and they will surely want to wrap things up by then.Yorkshire had been evenly placed at the start of the day – their closure at 91 for 3 giving them a lead of 118. With Malan and Bairstow at the crease – a rare Championship alliance between two England internationals – they had a chance to kill the game. Just as it seemed they might, Ben Raine dismissed both in successive overs courtesy of excellent catches by Ollie Robinson.Ollie Robinson is quite an upgrade for Durham, released by Kent because the presence of Sam Billings and Jordan Cox meant limited opportunities. He sprang a long way to his left when Malan chased a wide one and then even further to his right when Bairstow edged an attempted drive. Both had scrapped for around two-and-a-half hours, but the first half-century of the match was still awaited.That fell to Hill, who continued an excellent all-round match with 51 from 52 balls until Potts had him caught at second slip with a wide outswinger on the stroke of lunch. A more graceful player than when he first appeared in the side, he made light of the introduction of spin, in the shape of Patel, and played Potts in an assured fashion as anybody.Whatever the outcome, Yorkshire could recognise his growing importance by immediately capping him. They can’t afford it, but then they can’t afford to turn the lights on.

Sport’s failings laid bare in 317-page document, including 44 recommendations to improve equity

Andrew Miller26-Jun-2023The leadership of the ECB has issued an unreserved apology to “anyone who has ever been excluded from cricket or made to feel like they don’t belong”, and has promised to “use this moment to reset cricket”, in the wake of the hard-hitting findings of the long-awaited Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report, published on Tuesday.The 317-page report, titled “Holding Up A Mirror To Cricket”, features evidence from more than 4000 people, including players, coaches, administrators and fans, and drills deep into the sport’s historical structural inequalities – with special emphasis on its post-colonial heritage – to reveal a pattern of deep-rooted discrimination within the game, in particular on grounds of race, class and gender.The commission was established in March 2021, in response to the murder of George Floyd in police custody in the USA and the Black Lives Matter movement, which prompted numerous claims of institutional racism within English cricket, not least Azeem Rafiq’s revelations about his treatment at Yorkshire, which culminated in his emotional testimony before a Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select commitee in November that year.”For many involved in the sport (including the ECB) the revelations and recommendations of this report will make for uncomfortable reading,” Cindy Butts, the commission’s chair, writes in her foreword to the report. And while she commends the current ECB management for being “brave enough” to open up the sport to such forensic independent scrutiny, she also adds that previous initiatives – not least the ECB’s “Clean Bowl Racism” campaign, launched in 1999 – had done little to address the “sirens of concern”.A total of 44 recommendations have been outlined in the report, the first of which is the ECB’s public apology for its previous failures – as issued by Richard Thompson, the chair – which is described by the commissioners as an “essential first step … to help to rebuild trust and signal a clear future direction”.”On behalf of the ECB and wider leadership of the game, I apologise unreservedly to anyone who has ever been excluded from cricket or made to feel like they don’t belong,” Thompson said in a statement. “Cricket should be a game for everyone, and we know that this has not always been the case. Powerful conclusions within the report also highlight that for too long women and Black people were neglected. We are truly sorry for this.The ICEC commissioners (L-R): Michelle Moore, Sir Brendan Barber, Cindy Butts (chair), Dr Michael Collins and Zafar Ansari•ICEC

“This report makes clear that historic structures and systems have failed to prevent discrimination, and highlights the pain and exclusion this has caused. I am determined that this wake-up call for cricket in England and Wales should not be wasted. We will use this moment to demonstrate that it is a game for all and we have a duty to put this right for current and future generations.”In an open letter to Butts, Thompson went on to thank the commission’s five-person secretariat – which also includes the England cricketer-turned-barrister Zafar Ansari – for their “rigour” and for holding up an “unfiltered mirror to all cricket in England and Wales”.”I am determined that this wake-up call for cricket … must not be wasted,” Thompson added. “We will use this moment to reset cricket. This cannot and will not be a quick fix – we must take the time to put in place meaningful structural reforms. As your report rightly points out, cricket has been here before. This time our response will be different. Our response must be wide-ranging and long-term.”The next step of the ECB’s response will be a three-month period of consideration, with the ICEC’s 44 recommendations – many of which are multi-faceted and contain sub-recommendations – due to be discussed at both the professional and recreational levels of the game.This consultation process will be led by Clare Connor, the ECB’s deputy chief executive, with the support of a sub-group of the ECB board including Baroness Zahida Manzoor, Pete Ackerley, Ebony Rainford-Brent, Sir Ron Kalifa, Richard Thompson and Richard Gould.The ECB acknowledged in its statement that some reforms can be “implemented swiftly”, and that others are achievable under the current framework of cricket but will require “time and investment over the coming months and years”.Others, however – perhaps most significantly the call for women’s cricketers to achieve equal pay at domestic level by 2029 and at international level by 2030 – will require “fundamental, longer-term changes to cricket in England and Wales, and its funding model”.The report also recommends the establishment of a new independent regulatory body, in light of persistent criticism of the sport’s existing disciplinary processes – such as those raised at the select committee hearings, and at the subsequent Cricket Discipline Commission hearing into Yorkshire’s dressing-room culture, the sanctions for which are due to be revealed later on Tuesday.”The ECB’s dual roles of promoter and regulator have the potential to give rise to conflicts of interest,” the report states. “The phrase ‘marking your own homework’ was often used in evidence to us.”Separately, Marylebone Cricket Club – for centuries the most powerful body in world cricket and still considered, through the grandeur of Lord’s, to be the game’s spiritual home – comes in for significant criticism.The report recommends that the venue’s hosting of annual fixtures between Eton and Harrow, and Oxford and Cambridge, should be ended after 2023, and replaced with a national finals’ days for state school Under-15 competitions for boys and girls, and a similar event for men’s and women’s university teams. The commission also expressed “alarm” that the England’s women had never yet played a Test at Lord’s, adding: “The ‘home of cricket’ is still a home principally for men.”Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, reiterated that work was already underway to make English cricket more inclusive, including an increase in funding for the African-Caribbean Engagement Programme for young Black cricketers and increased provision of cricket in state schools, and was grateful for the report’s assessment that “green shoots of progress” are already visible. However, he also acknowledged that the governing body “needs to go further and faster in our efforts”.”Making cricket more inclusive and reflective of the communities it serves is my number one priority,” Gould said. “This cannot and will not be a quick fix. We are committed to taking the time to work with everyone in the sport, and especially with leaders of cricket’s clubs and institutions, to put in place reforms that are wide-ranging, long-term and meaningful. We should view this as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to restore trust in the game we love.”

Major blow to competition as marquee player withdraws citing undisclosed injury

Matt Roller31-Jul-2023The Hundred has lost its most high-profile male overseas player on the eve of the tournament, with Rashid Khan pulling out of a planned three-match stint with Trent Rockets.Rashid has been playing for MI New York in Major League Cricket, taking 3 for 9 in the inaugural final against Seattle Orcas in Dallas on Sunday night, but has officially withdrawn due to an unspecified “injury”.He was due to play for Rockets on the Hundred’s opening night against Southern Brave at Trent Bridge, playing three games before being replaced by New Zealand’s Ish Sodhi. Imad Wasim, the Pakistan allrounder, will deputise for the first three games.”I’m really disappointed to have to withdraw from The Hundred through injury,” Rashid said. “It’s been great to play in the competition the first two years, Trent Rockets is a great team, and I hope to be back again next year.”Rashid missed two ODIs for Afghanistan against Sri Lanka earlier this year with a back injury that he conceded was “still to be fully recovered” in a recent interview with ESPNcricinfo. He will instead have a brief opportunity to rest before playing a series against Pakistan heading into the Asia Cup and World Cup.Rashid’s 11th-hour withdrawal compounds the Hundred’s existential crisis, casting further doubt on the competition’s ability to attract the biggest names in world cricket. He was retained by Rockets on a top-bracket £125,000 contract and would have earned a pro-rata salary for his three appearances.The Hundred’s viability has been undermined by the inaugural season of MLC, where overseas players were paid up to $175,000 for a minimum of five matches across two-and-a-half weeks. While the competitions do not clash directly, most of the world’s best T20 players have opted to play in the United States instead of England. Earlier this month, Surrey’s Sunil Narine opted out of a proposed trans-Atlantic dash to take part in the Vitality Blast Finals Day, preferring instead to focus on his MLC contract with LA Knight Riders.Related

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There has been speculation in the media throughout this year that the ECB – under new leadership, with Richard Gould and Richard Thompson joining as chief executive and chairman in the last 12 months – will scrap or significantly alter the Hundred after this season.The ECB insist publicly that the competition will continue as planned, at least until the end of their existing broadcast deal with Sky Sports which runs up to the end of the 2028 season. But the dearth of star names involved this season will lead to further uncomfortable questions over the next month.The tournament is due to run from August 1-27, and will be staged in a standalone window for the first time this summer, not clashing with any England men’s or women’s fixtures.Several England men’s players will rest after the conclusion of the Ashes, while Lauren Bell and Sophia Dunkley will both miss their teams’ first two games as part of their workload management during a busy year.

“Don’t worry – I’ve got this,” quick tells her captain before staying true to her word

ECB Reporters Network10-Aug-2023Shabnim Ismail bowled Welsh Fire to a sensational victory with a hat-trick in the last three balls of the match to secure a three-run Women’s Hundred win over Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston.Ismail’s ice-cool display prevented the home side scoring any of the four runs they needed to win from the last three balls, the South Africa international finishing with 3 for 31 as Phoenix, chasing 138, ended on 134 for 4 to suffer a heartbreaking defeat.Tammy Beaumont’s stylish 59 from 40 balls lifted Fire to 137 for 7 but Phoenix looked in command of the chase as Tess Flintoff, with 55 off 45, and Amy Jones, who was unbeaten on 48 off 34, adding 93 in 67 balls.But Ismail’s brilliant hat-trick leaves the Birmingham side with a lot of work to do to climb into the qualification race after a staccato first half of the campaign has brought two defeats and two washouts.Phoenix chose to bowl but took 48 balls to break through as openers Beaumont and Hayley Matthews added 72 before the latter cut Hannah Baker to point.Beaumont batted imperiously, dancing down the track to lift a gorgeous straight six off Katie Levick on the way to a 36-ball half-century. As well as the six, the captain struck nine fours but perished in pursuit of a tenth which she lifted Flintoff to deep mid-wicket, where Erin Burns took a fine catch stooping low to her right.As Phoenix began to reel in the scoring rate, Laura Harris fell lbw, reverse-sweeping Emily Arlott. Sophia Dunkley (25 off 19 balls) stoked the Fire again with six over mid-wicket off Arlott but Phoenix built pressure and caught well in the closing sets.Needing to pull off the sixth-biggest chase in Women’s Hundred history, Phoenix were positively launched by Sophie Devine’s 29 from 19 balls. Her charge was ended by Alex Griffiths’ first ball, a perfect, inswinging yorker, but Jones was fluent from the moment she reached the crease.Flintoff and Jones took their side into the last 20 balls with 27 needed but boundaries were few and Griffiths bowled beautifully to start tilting the pressure back on the home side. It came down to nine needed from the last five balls, delivered by Ismail.A glorious cover-driven four for Flintoff brought it down to four from three, but Ismail bowled the opener next ball, had Burns caught at short third and then bowled Issy Wong to seal the most memorable of wins.”I was aiming to go yorker length and just try to bowl dot balls,” Ismail said. “The yorkers didn’t really come out today but it always does damage to take wickets so it worked out well.”I had been in that position before so it was just a case of staying calm. There were no nerves from me, as I was previously in a situation like that. I didn’t want my nerves to get the better of me. I had to stay calm and I even told the captain to just stay calm. I said to her, ‘we’re going to win this game, don’t worry – I’ve got this’.”

Opener’s first professional century holds together innings as Foxes get home by two wickets

ECB Reporters Network15-Aug-2023Sol Budinger’s maiden century in any format of senior cricket led Leicestershire Foxes to a fifth victory in six matches and within touching distance of a place in the knock-out stages of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup after a two-wicket win over Essex at Kibworth.The 23-year-old left-hander – coincidentally born in Colchester although brought up in Australia – hammered 10 fours and six sixes in a 74-ball 102 as this club ground in the southeast of Leicestershire hosted the county’s first XI for the first time, lifting his aggregate in this year’s 50-over competition to 365 at an average of 60.83.His efforts were backed up by Peter Handscomb (69) and Wiaan Mulder (36), which gave Leicestershire, chasing 251, enough to withstand some late scares to win with nine balls to spare. Left-arm spinner Aron Nijjar was the best of the Essex bowlers, finishing with three for 34 from 10 overs.On a good pitch, teenagers Charlie Allison (85) and Noah Thain (75 not out) both made their highest scores in senior cricket as Essex totalled 250 for eight after opting to bat first, the two 18-year-olds putting on 105 in 18 overs for the sixth wicket.Allison – younger brother of seamer Ben – had shared a 75-run partnership with Australian all-rounder Beau Webster (35) for the fourth wicket. Chris Wright, Josh Hull and Tom Scriven took two wickets each for the Foxes.This followed a rocky start that saw Essex 20 for three inside the first eight overs as Wright dismissed Robin Das, was caught at midwicket, and Luc Benkenstein, taken at point, off mistimed shots before Tom Westley was run out by Scriven’s direct hit after chancing a risky single to mid-on.Webster and Allison’s 19-over stand began the Essex fightback before the recovery effort was checked just past the halfway point when Scriven, who conceded only 19 runs in his first seven overs, removed Webster and Simon Harmer with consecutive deliveries.Allison grew in confidence, completing a 70-ball half-century – his second in the competition – by driving Colin Ackermann’s off-spin down the ground for the first of his three sixes, going on to pull Mulder into the netting fence protecting neighbouring houses to pass his previous best of 70 against Middlesex four days ago, and lofting a third maximum over long-on as Scriven’s figures began to suffer.He must have been backing himself to post a maiden hundred with five overs remaining but, having been put down at long-off on 83, was bowled by Mulder, stepping across the stumps to play a scoop but missing.Thain and William Buttleman maintained the momentum. Thain went to his maiden fifty off 56 balls and Buttleman’s 22 off 15 helped add 49 in the final five overs before he holed out to long-on as Hull picked off him and Jamal Richards in the last over to lift his wickets tally in his debut season in the competition to 12.Leicestershire’s batting has been a revelation in this competition and they began their reply with the positive approach that has been their hallmark, racing to 67 for two in the first 10 overs. They lost Rishi Patel, caught behind, and skipper Lewis Hill, bowled not offering a shot, as Aaron Beard struck twice in three balls in his fourth over but Budinger set the tone again, crashing three sixes and six fours in a 31-ball half-century, his fourth in five innings.Budinger, who moved to Leicestershire from Nottinghamshire after finishing last season on loan at Grace Road, had a reputation for explosive but short-lived innings in all forms of cricket yet this competition has seen him turn a corner, which his innings here seemed to encapsulate.Doubtless, with Handscomb offering advice, he showed he can be patient as Webster, Harmer and Westley combined in a tight 10 overs.But after Harmer uncharacteristically dropped one in his arc, which he pulled for his fourth six, Budinger went after the medium pace of Thain with immediate success. His fifth six took him past his previous highest score – 89 against Gloucestershire for Nottinghamshire last summer – before his sixth propelled him to 99, followed after a moment’s hesitation by a single off a misfield. He was celebrating even before he completed the run, earning a hug from Handscomb for good measure.His downfall came shortly after the halfway drinks break when he sent one straight up in the air from 19-year-old seamer Richards – one of four teenagers in a decidedly youthful Essex team. Ackermann soon followed, leg before playing back to Nijjar’s accurate left-arm spin, at which point Leicestershire needed 87 from 141 balls.Harmer bowled Handscomb for a 94-ball 69, Nijjar dismissed Mulder caught behind and Tom Scriven leg before, and Roman Walker holed out off Webster to keep Essex in the hunt. But Wright was able to hit Webster through the covers for four to avoid any further wobbles.

Once the prolific Daniel Hughes was dismissed New South Wales’ chase fell away

AAP29-Sep-2023Victoria 298 for 7 (Harper 96, Harris 50, Kerr 3-57) beat New South Wales 239 (Hughes 69, Davies 41, Sutherland 3-39) by 59 runsVictoria remained unbeaten in the domestic one-day competition after a comfortable 59-run win over New South Wales.NSW’s chase never got going at the Junction Oval in Melbourne on Friday and they were all out for 239 in the 47th over as Victoria backed up their win over Tasmania at the same venue in the opening game of the campaign.Allrounder Will Sutherland enjoyed his best day out with the ball since suffering a stress fracture in his back in March. Sutherland, who appeared to be an outside chance of an Ashes call-up before being injured, took the final wicket of the match to finish with figures of 3 for 39.Related