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Shafiq, Misbah give Pakistan control

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Pakistan retained the advantage in the Hamilton Test with their batsmen edging out a testing battle against the New Zealand bowlers on a placid surface more deserving of a one-sided contest

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya07-Jan-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq batted patiently and put Pakistan ahead•Getty Images

Pakistan retained the advantage in the Hamilton Test with their batsmen edging out a testing battle against the New Zealand bowlers on a placid surface more deserving of a one-sided contest. Middle-order batsmen Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq batted patiently to rebuild Pakistan’s reply to 275, which had lost track in the session before tea against a determined spell from the seamers. The pair provided stability to the innings and set the platform for a lead with an unbeaten 128-run stand that has eased the burden on the inexperienced line-up to follow.The bowling was unthreatening, the conditions even more so with the virtual absence of swing and movement. Such a situation lent itself to a waiting game, one that New Zealand appeared to have an upper hand in after Taufeeq Umar and Younis Khan brought about their own downfall post lunch. Misbah and Shafiq played their own waiting game, assured that the pitch would have little role to play in their dismissals and aware that a bad ball wasn’t too far away with New Zealand rotating their bowlers. Both were opportunistic, Shafiq more so than Misbah, helping offset any extended period of quiet with the occasional boundary and taking their team closer to the first-innings target.Shafiq found the boundaries with ease on a quick outfield, clipping and driving the seamers through midwicket and fine leg and using his feet well against spin. He charged out to Daniel Vettori to loft him over mid-on, rocked on the back foot to punch Kane Williamson through the covers and stepped out to part-timer Martin Guptill to smote him over midwicket. Too often did the seamers bowl on his pads – his fifty was brought up with a tickle to fine leg – but he also scored through off, driving through point and cover.Misbah’s intention was to occupy the crease and he did that well with his solidity in defence and not feeling compelled to force the pace with a fluent partner at the other end. He’s been Pakistan’s in-form batsman in Tests with three half-centuries in four innings against South Africa, and a century in the warm-up match prior to this. His first major expansive shot, quite inexplicably, came towards the end of the day; a slog-sweep for six off Williamson. He then went a notch higher, reverse-sweeping the same bowler successive boundaries to reach his half-century just two overs before stumps. For the bulk, Misbah ceded floor to Shafiq and secured one end for Pakistan.The pair built on the efforts of the Pakistan seamers, who brought about an early conclusion to New Zealand’s innings on the second morning, and Taufeeq. Tim Southee and Williamson had set up frustrated Pakistan with a fighting stand to save New Zealand the embarrassment of being bowled out for under 200 on a track full of runs. But their resistance ended this morning when Pakistan’s seamers made up for the lack of purchase from the pitch by ruffling the batsmen up with short deliveries.When the time came to defend 275, New Zealand’s bowlers were guilty of doling out freebies on the pads, Chris Martin particularly, and Taufeeq duly dispatched them. Martin was struck for three boundaries in an over, through midwicket, square leg and mid-on, while Brent Arnel paid for dropping too short, slashed and pulled to the ropes.Post lunch, however, New Zealand bowled better. Lengths were rethought and both Martin and Arnel targeted the good-length area, and angled the ball in by bowling round the wicket to the left-hander. Taufeeq, who had dealt in boundaries, became more restrained and didn’t help himself when he struggled to middle the ball when opportunities came his way. He lost a solid partner in Azhar Ali not too long after lunch, and that gave New Zealand an opening.Taufeeq fought through his frustration by reaching his first half-century since 2003 by guiding Arnel to the third-man boundary, while at the other end Younis injected some urgency to the innings. Like Taufeeq had done before lunch, Younis went after Martin, opening the face to square-drive him thrice for fours and flicking him to the fine-leg boundary.But just when it seemed Pakistan were emerging out of a difficult phase, they put themselves back into one. Taufeeq played a loose flick straight to midwicket, and Younis closed the face too early to spoon a catch back to the bowler. It was Arnel who dismissed the pair, leaving it to the captain Misbah and Shafiq to rebuild.

Lord's could host IPL matches

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The MCC has confirmed it has explored possibility of joining a consortium bidding to buy an IPL franchise

Cricinfo staff25-Feb-2010The MCC has confirmed it explored the possibility of joining a consortium bidding to buy an IPL franchise, and said matches could be held at Lord’s if the MCC succeeds in buying a team.”It’s a logical conclusion that if the MCC were involved with an IPL side, to have that side playing at Lord’s would be extremely exciting,” Keith Bradshaw, the MCC chief executive, told .There are two new franchises, which will be revealed on March 7, up for grabs with 12 Indian cities in the running. Bidding starts from a base price of US$225m, more than four times the US$50m base price that the original eight franchises were auctioned for in 2008. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, previously announced that “a very famous football club in the UK is very interested in bidding” but that has so far proved little more than speculation.It would be a major boon for the MCC, and Bradshaw travelled alongside Anthony Wreford, a trustee of the club, to India for a weekend of talks with consortium members and IPL officials. Discussions also included the ongoing partnership with the IPL to promote the MCC Spirit of Cricket campaign in the tournament.”MCC has a proud history, is respectful of the game’s traditions and always mindful of its role as guardian of the laws and spirit of cricket,” said Bradshaw. “We would not pursue a path that we believed was contrary to the best interests of the sport or to the future health of Test match cricket.”Undeniably, the game is changing. MCC, as an innovative, independent cricket club, wants to be at the heart of that change. Playing cricket is something that we have quite a bit of experience in – we compete in over 450 matches every year around the world and currently have a men’s team in the UAE and a women’s team in Trinidad & Tobago.”The concept of MCC involvement in the IPL is something I believe is worthy of thorough investigation, and something that we’ll take to our committee for their deliberation.”

Topley topples Somerset as Surrey secure home quarter-final

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Clash of table-toppers ends in one-sided win after Will Jacks’ half-century drives hosts

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay13-Jul-2025Surrey 201 for 6 (Jacks 57) beat Somerset 134 (Topley 3-20) by 67 runsSurrey booked a home tie in the Vitality Blast knockout stages as they thrashed Somerset by 67 runs in the battle of the South Group’s top two at the Kia Oval.Reece Topley (3 for 20) led the charge for wickets, while Jamie Overton, Sam Curran and Adam Zampa all got two apiece as Somerset collapsed from 73 for 2 to 134 all out in pursuit of 202 to win, Tom Kohler-Cadmore top-scoring with 38.Earlier, Will Jacks made 57 in 37 balls with four sixes to provide the backbone of Surrey’s 201 for 6. Migael Pretorius was the pick of the visitors’ attack with 1 for 28.Jacks lofted the second ball of the match from England spinner Jack Leach into the crowd. Pace too got the treatment early on as Ryan Patel sent one from Riley Meredith over the ropes and Jacks planted the last ball of the over into the crowd at cow corner as 61 came from the powerplay.Leach broke the stand a run later, luring Patel down the pitch to be stumped, but another six helped Jacks to 50 in only 30 balls as he and Jason Roy kept up the pressure with a second-wicket stand of 49.Jacks’ departure lbw to Lewis Goldsworthy sparked a slump, the all-rounder then castling Surrey skipper Sam Curran first ball.Roy thumped another huge six and looked to be moving into overdrive, but when he under-clubbed another from Leach and found the hands of Tom Abell in the deep, Surrey were 127 for 4.Dan Lawrence threatened to pick up from his century two days earlier with two sixes in a breezy 16-ball 32, but it needed a last-over six into the sightscreen from Chris Jordan to set Somerset 202.That target looked larger 15 balls into the chase when Topley splayed Tom Lammonby’s stumps with 13 on the board, but five fours from Jordan’s first over, four of them from the bat of Kohler-Cadmore put the Cidermen on the charge.A collector’s item followed as Ben Foakes dropped Kohler-Cadmore on 20 from an attempted ramp off Topley.In search of a momentum shift, skipper Sam Curran brought himself on and struck immediately, Will Smeed slapping the first delivery straight to cover.A tight following over from Overton lifted the rate over 11, but Kohler-Cadmore’s response was to spank one from Zampa into the JM Finn Stand for six. The Australian legspinner’s revenge was swift as three balls later Kohler-Cadmore skied a top edge into the gloves of Foakes.And top-edges were catching with Abell following suit from the bowling of Overton, Lawrence the catcher on this occasion.As the rate soared, Overton caught and bowled Tim Dixon and while skipper Lewis Gregory sent one from Sam Curran high into the seats, he perished trying to repeat the feat and Somerset collapsed.

Shahidi's 'brave' Afghanistan side ready for all challenges ahead of Sri Lanka Test

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Afghanistan captain says they will miss Rashid but pips the trio of young spinners to grab their opportunity

Andrew Fidel Fernando01-Feb-2024Sri Lanka’s men have one player with more than 100 Tests to his name, another with 88, a third with 76, and another with 51. All Afghanistan have ever played are seven Tests, and are likely to field debutants on Friday. It doesn’t sound like much of a contest, but if there’s one team that can spring surprises seemingly out of nowhere, Afghanistan might be it.”If it comes to experience, their team is more experienced than ours,” captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said on the eve of his team’s first-ever Test against Sri Lanka. “They have a lot of guys who have played Test cricket for more than ten years. I will still not say we are not good enough. We are brave, and we are ready for every kind of challenge.”Not just brave, but in the recent past, on roughly equal footing with Sri Lanka, in ODIs at least. Afghanistan won two of the five completed ODIs these teams have played in Sri Lanka since 2022. And then, in the World Cup came the kicker – a seven-wicket thrashing in Pune, which helped push Sri Lanka out of contention for the Champions Trophy in 2025, a tournament Afghanistan have qualified for.Related

  • Chandimal lauds Afghanistan seamers' discipline

  • Afghanistan name uncapped Noor, Zia, Ishaq and Naveed for one-off Test against Sri Lanka

  • It's a mismatch on paper, but Afghanistan's batters can take the fight to Sri Lanka

“Of course, we can win against Sri Lanka,” Shahidi said. “I’m not going to sit here and think negatively about my team. As a nation, we are strong people, and as a cricket nation, we showed everyone recently at the World Cup what we could do. In Tests also, we have good, talented guys. Everyone in the dressing room should be thinking about how to win in Sri Lanka. We’re not just here to play.”Afghanistan do have a major gap to fill, however, with Rashid Khan still recovering from back surgery. He is by far the highest wicket-taker in Tests for Afghanistan, with 34 wickets at 22.35. Shahidi thinks his team has the spin base covered, however.”Rashid is the best bowler and we will miss him until he comes to the team. But we have more spinners in the team. We have three more guys who are in the 15. We have Zia-ur-Rehman, Zahir Khan, and Qais Ahmad. They’re also good for the future of Afghanistan. They are hard workers. I hope these three who will get a chance tomorrow will do well for us.”At this stage of their Test journey, Afghanistan also have a lopsidedness to their attack. Where spinners have taken 78 of their wickets at an average of 30.21, seamers have claimed only 24, at an average of 37.04. This is where, for Shahidi, the greatest improvements can be made.”If we play [and get] more opportunities we will know more about the game. In the last game we were struggling with the fast-bowling department. If we want to be a good Test nation we need to have fast bowlers. This tour we have guys who can bowl quick. We brought them here with us and hopefully, they play well in this game. We are trying our best to improve on that. This is a good opportunity.”

Low on expectations, high on preparation – Netherlands and UAE look to put on a show

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“All the pressure is on Sri Lanka and Namibia, having played in the Super 12s last year,” says Colin Ackermann

Firdose Moonda15-Oct-2022One squad has only one player who has been part of a World Cup before; the other carries 12 survivors from a disappointing campaign – three losses from three matches – that took place just a year ago. But neither UAE nor Netherlands are really feeling the heat ahead of the first round of matches at the men’s T20 World Cup.”All the pressure is on Sri Lanka and Namibia in our group, having played in the Super 12s last year,” Colin Ackermann, the Netherlands batter, said ahead of their opener against UAE in Geelong.Related

  • 2021 to 2022 – How much have the teams changed

  • Edwards, Dutchman from Melbourne, is coming home

  • Kirsten, Christian added to Netherlands' coaching staff

While the expectations on both Netherlands and UAE might be low, preparation has been high, specifically when it comes to understanding Australian conditions.Netherlands packed their pre-tournament time with warm-up matches in Adelaide and Brisbane. They also brought in World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten and former Australia allrounder Dan Christian to their coaching staff to ready them for the challenges ahead.”I feel like our preparation this year is much better than last year,” Ackermann said. “And with Gary, he brings with him a wealth of experience, having coached some of the best teams in the world. He has also coached here in Australia with Hobart Hurricanes, so he brings a bit of experience of different grounds.”He is a fantastic batting coach, he understands the game extremely well, and the pressure points. He has worked closely with our batters, working on different options against certain types of bowlers, so he has made a big impact in a short space of time.”UAE have also been in Australia for some time, and spent it getting familiar with conditions that are markedly different to home.”With the wickets here, we know what to expect. There’s a bit more bounce in the tracks compared to back home,” Chirag Suri, UAE’s opening batter, said. “And dimensions of the grounds are different. Certain grounds are bigger in certain areas, it’s not the same circular grounds we get back home, so it’s good that we came earlier. We are in sync with conditions.”The last time UAE appeared at a major tournament was in Australia seven years ago for the 2015 ODI World Cup. No one from that squad has made the trip this time, and neither has their regular grey kit, which has been swapped out for a strip that reflects what the Emirates Cricket Board called “the beautiful winter” of their region. With dark blue bottoms and tops that brighten from blue through purple to magenta on top, they mimic a sunset (or a sunrise) and hope the new outfits will also translate to good results.Ahmed Raza is the only UAE player with any World Cup experience•Getty Images

“It’s a nice change. We are colourful now for the first time. We’ve got a fresh kit and a fresh team, and we’re looking for fresh performances,” Suri said. “There’s not one person in this team who has played a World Cup for UAE before [except Ahmed Raza, who was at the 2014 T20 World Cup]. It’s a completely new team, so the results could be completely different as well.”Like Netherlands in 2021, UAE lost all three matches the last time they played a T20 World Cup, in 2014. The only match they have won at a global ICC event was incidentally against Netherlands, at the 1996 ODI World Cup. It’s a record they hope to improve on as the spotlight grows on their 20-over game.The UAE will host the inaugural ILT20 tournament in January 2023, and while it will be headlined by a large international contingent, there are also aims to grow the local game.The T20 World Cup presents an ideal shop window for the UAE players to show what they can do.”Obviously the league coming is a big bonus for the players. It’s a huge platform for us to showcase our talent. We are producing a lot of good young players and to have this sort of platform, at that age, to rub shoulders with the best in the world, they’ll get to learn so much,” Suri said. “I think the guys are going to really enjoy it and good performances here will put us in good stead going into January.”

Australia lose 6 for 19 as McCoy, Walsh give West Indies 1-0 lead

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Marsh’s all-round brilliance, Hazlewood’s thrifty spell in vain for visitors in St Lucia

Andrew McGlashan09-Jul-2021West Indies fought back to secure an extraordinary victory in the opening match against Australia having been behind the game for large periods. The visitors contrived to lose their last six wickets for 19 runs against Obed McCoy and Hayden Walsh Jr having needed less than five over in the second half of the chase.McCoy, who was impressive in the recent series against South Africa, confounded Australia’s lower order with his slower-ball variations while Walsh Jr marked his recalled with the key wicket of top-scorer Mitchell Marsh who looked to have put Australia on track with a maiden T20I fifty.In the end it was another maiden T20I half-century, from Andre Russell, which finished on the winning side as his 51 off 28 balls transformed the West Indies innings after they had laboured against an inspired opening burst from Josh Hazlewood who conceded just three runs in his first three overs.Australia surged out of the blocks in the chase with 70 on the board at the end of the powerplay and the loss of three wickets in the same period seemed a reasonable price to pay to be so far ahead of the required run rate. The decisive collapse began when Ben McDermott missed a booming drive against Walsh Jr’s googly and the rest of Australia’s innings did not make much sense. A small crowd of fully vaccinated supporters were left jumping for joy.Hazlewood’s powerplay perfection
There was one spot up for grabs among Australia’s four specialist bowlers and it went to Hazlewood for just the 10th T20I in a career that started in 2013. He could not have put in a better display to advance his claims for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad. With his second ball he had Evin Lewis taken at mid-on and then he tied down Chris Gayle with a maiden in his second over. That pressure told when Gayle got a top edge to point in Hazlewood’s third over, by the end of which he had the astonishing figures of 3-1-3-2 – including 17 dot balls – as West Indies limped along in the fielding restrictions with Lendl Simmons 19 off 23 balls in the first six overs. Hazlewood would return for the final over of the innings where he adjusted his length to end the thunderous display of Russell and, if it hadn’t been for Dwayne Bravo sending the last ball for six, he could have finished with Australia’s most economical four-over display.

Take a wicket, lose a review
After Simmons’s difficult stay was ended by an outside edge in Marsh’s first over, West Indies’ problems were compounded by the run out of stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran – leading for the first time with Kieron Pollard injured – although there was a curious element about the dismissal. Mitchell Starc appeal for lbw against Shimron Hetmyer, which was turned down, but Pooran couldn’t get back into his crease at the non-striker’s end as Josh Philippe proved very alert to the chance. However, before the run out had been completed Aaron Finch had called for a review for the initial lbw shout so, after Pooran had been shown to be clearly out, they had to check for the lbw which was missing leg stump so Australia lost their review.A Russell special
West Indies needed something to turn their innings around and provide a target to bowl at. Russell was given a life on 5, dropped at midwicket by Moises Henriques, and delivered with his maiden T20I half-century, a display of awesome power off 26 balls, which included five sixes over various massiveness around the ground. Having reached 6 off 9 deliveries, he started to unleash with consecutive sixes off Ashton Agar, the first requiring a replacement ball as it exited the ground, then he added back-to-back sixes against Starc in the 17th over as the left-armer missed his mark attempting for wide yorkers. Another mighty blow in the penultimate over, again off the expensive Starc, brought up the fifty.Hectic powerplay
Fabian Allen and McCoy both struck with their first deliveries in Australia’s chase – Finch driving Allen to cover and Philippe clubbing McCoy to mid-on – but boundaries flowed at the same time. Matthew Wade raced to 33 off 14 balls which included putting Fidel Edwards out of the ground and sending Russell for consecutive sixes but fell at the end of the over when he carelessly found deep point. Henriques began his innings by pulling his first two deliveries from McCoy and the job was half done for Australia by the end of the fielding restrictions. Then the wheels came off.How did that happen?
Henriques continued the tone of Australia hitting the ball in the air to fielders when he drove to point, but Marsh worked his way to a composed half-century and with batting still to come, it should have been well in hand. Walsh Jr’s first over back in the side had cost ten but he returned in the 11th to remove McDermott which exposed the lower order. He then firmly opened the door for West Indies when Marsh drove a return catch and it left Australia needing Dan Christian to guide a chase home on his recall after a four-year gap. Agar did not stay for long, McCoy grabbing a brilliant low caught and bowled, then Christian lofted Walsh Jr to long-on which meant it was over to the bowlers to try and stop the panic. They couldn’t do it with McCoy claiming the last two wickets in the space of three deliveries which gives him 13 scalps in his last five matches.

Sheffield Shield round-up: Centuries for Daniel Hughes, Cameron Green and Seb Gotch

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A round-up from the latest round of Sheffield Shield matches as teams jostle for a place in the final

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Feb-2020
ScorecardDaniel Hughes struck his first Sheffield Shield hundred of the season and Matthew Gilkes made an eye-catching maiden first-class fifty, but New South Wales suffered a late wobble against South Australia. From 4 for 272, they lost 3 for 21 as Chadd Sayers made inroads with the second new ball including the scalp of Gilkes who was caught in the gully 17 short of a century having hit nine fours and three sixes.Hughes dominated the first part of the day with a controlled hundred to give New South Wales a solid base as they looked to bounce back from their defeat against Victoria. Joe Mennie chipped away for South Australia, including a brace of terrific deliveries to bowl Daniel Solway and Jason Sangha, then added Hughes shortly after he brought up three figures when the opener skewed a back-foot drive to gully.Cameron Green drills one down the ground•Getty Images

ScorecardCameron Green made his third hundred of the season as Western Australia overcame a tricky start to enjoy a solid day against Tasmania in Hobart. Green, the promising allrounder who is currently unable to bowl due to a back injury, and Josh Philippe added 121 for the fifth wicket to turn an uncertain position into one from where they will expect to take control of the match against a brittle Tasmania batting line-up.Tasmania had made early inroads after opting to bowl first with Sam Rainbird finding the edge of Cameron Bancroft and Shaun Marsh in the space of three deliveries as the new ball nibbled. Gabe Bell then had Jake Carder flashing another edge to Tim Paine to leave Western Australia 3 for 43. Sam Whiteman started to steady things alongside Green before he became a maiden first-class wicket for Jake Doran with just the fifth delivery he had bowled in the format.Seb Gotch walks off after his second Shield hundred•Getty Images

Seb Gotch struck his second consecutive hundred as Victoria staged a superb fightback on the opening day against Queensland at the Gabba. Gotch, whose maiden ton came against New South Wales last week, reached three figures with a ramp to third man – a shot that also brought him two sixes – as the light faded with the final two wickets having so far added 85.Victoria had stuttered to 5 for 100 with Xavier Bartlett and Cameron Gannon worked through the top order before Matt Short began the fightback alongside Gotch. Short was with two shy of his second first-class hundred when he was pinned lbw by Bartlett having hit 68 off his 98 runs in boundaries. Bartlett would go to claim his first five-wicket haul when he removed Chris Tremain.

Mandhana signs for Hobart Hurricanes in WBBL 2018-19

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Harmanpreet Kaur has extended her deal with Sydney Thunder and will return for her third successive season in the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2018India opener Smriti Mandhana will turn out for Hobart Hurricanes in the fourth season of the Women’s Big Bash League, having previously played for Brisbane Heat in season two. Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur has extended her deal with Sydney Thunder and will return for her third successive season in the tournament.While Mandhana had a lukewarm 2016-17 season in the Big Bash League with just 89 runs in 10 innings for Heat, she is known for her explosive batting at the top of the order and finished as the third highest run-scorer in the recently concluded World T20 with 178 runs in five innings. Her 55-ball 83 against Australia handed the eventual champions their only defeat in the tournament.Mandhana said she was looking forward to her stint with the new team. “I’ve heard from many players that the Hurricanes group is a great squad to be around and I can’t wait to get to Tasmania for the matches,” Mandhana said. Hurricanes’ coach Salliann Briggs said that she was delighted with the new signing. “Mandhana is a proven performer on the world stage, we saw that just last week with her knock against the Aussies,” she said. “I can’t wait to see her in purple, she’s an exciting addition not only for us but for the whole competition.”Harmanpreet and Mandhana also played in England’s Kia Super League this year, where Mandhana topped the batting charts with 421 runs in nine innings at 60.14 average. They were also the captains of the two teams at the first-ever women’s IPL exhibition match played earlier this year, where Harmanpreet’s Supernovas beat Mandhana’s Trailblazers at the Wankhede Stadium.

Silverwood set to take England bowling role

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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.

Hampshire strike twice after declaration

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Nottinghamshire were facing a battle to avoid defeat in their Specsavers County Championship match against Hampshire at Trent Bridge

ECB Reporters Network15-Aug-2016
ScorecardTom Alsop made his highest first-class score as Hampshire took charge (file photo)•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire were facing a battle to avoid defeat in their Specsavers County Championship match against Hampshire at Trent Bridge. Left to score a nominal 468 to win, from a minimum of 118 overs, Notts reached stumps on 42 for 2 on the third day.Hampshire, who went into this round of matches four points behind Nottinghamshire at the bottom of the Division One table, had batted until after tea before declaring on 393 for 7. Jimmy Adams scored 99, Tom Alsop hit 93 and there were half-centuries also for Ryan McLaren and Liam Dawson.Andy Carter, the former Notts seamer who took four wickets in the first innings, then struck with his first delivery of the second, having Jake Libby taken at square leg for 9. Hampshire made another inroad in the final over of the day as Will Smith held a juggling slip catch off Mason Crane to send back Riki Wessels for 11.Mick Newell, Notts director of cricket, said: “We need the five points we’d get for securing a draw, so we need to show some application tomorrow. Somebody has got to bat a lot of balls and that is going to be crucial. We felt that they would bat for a long time and they did, so they’ve given us less time to bat. We hoped to survive that session one wicket down but to lose two is disappointing.”Earlier, Adams and Alsop had few alarms in extending their second-wicket partnership to 160 before being separated just before lunch. Adams, whose career-best score of 262 not out came at Trent Bridge in 2006, moved on to 99 but then feathered an attempted pull off Jake Ball through to Chris Read – giving the England seamer his 100th first-class wicket.Dawson led a charmed life as he arrived in the middle. He was bowled by the first ball he faced but was reprieved by a cry of “no-ball”, was then dropped at midwicket and almost chopped on to his stumps, all from the bowling of Imran Tahir.Alsop had brought up his 50 from 122 balls during his stand with Adams and advanced to his career-best score before falling in the first hour of the middle session.Tahir, who has played for both these sides during spells with five different English counties, picked up two wickets in quick succession. Alsop went lbw and then Adam Wheater drilled a caught-and-bowled straight back to the South Africa international.With Dawson and Ryan McLaren then adding 80 for the fifth wicket, Notts were delighted to make a further strike in the final over of the afternoon session. Dawson had brought up his second fifty of the match from 85 balls but was bowled by Samit Patel for 69. The spinner made it two wickets in two balls as Lewis McManus edged his first ball into the hands of Steven Mullaney at slip.Gareth Berg survived the hat-trick delivery and moved on to 17 before nicking Tahir behind. But McLaren launched three enormous sixes over the midwicket ropes and was unbeaten on 71 when the declaration came.A successful run chase would be Nottinghamshire’s highest of all-time, surpassing the 461 they achieved against Worcestershire in 2001. More realistically, with 426 still needed, they will have to bat well to secure a draw and avoid dropping below their opponents at the foot of the table.

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