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The BCCI has cracked down on suspect bowling actions by instructing domestic umpires to waste no time in reporting bowlers believed to be chucking

Cricinfo staff08-Nov-2009The Indian board (BCCI) has cracked down on suspect bowling actions by instructing domestic umpires to waste no time in reporting bowlers believed to be chucking. Those whose actions are believed to be suspect have been reported and will be no-balled without a warning, the BCCI has stated.A list of 32 bowlers with suspect actions was compiled by an advisory group, which subsequently sent the named players for rehabilitation to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. From the list of 32, the BCCI has reported that 12 bowling actions ranged from between 0-15 degrees as accepted by the ICC, while the other 20 bent their arms at a flexion limit of more than 15 degrees. The list has been sent to match referees, umpires, coaches and affiliated regional boards across India.”During the pre-match meeting the match referee will only convey the warning and the outcome as per action replay if any bowler from the circulated list plays and bowls with suspect action,” Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said. “Since the warning is already conveyed to the captain during the pre-match meetings by match referee, there is no need for an umpire to give any further warning to such bowlers on field of play.”If the bowler with suspect action plays and if in the opinion of the umpires he bowls with suspect action they can immediately call and stop him from bowling as per the law. He should not be allowed to bowl during the match. This action should be clearly communicated by match referees to team officials.”During the first round of action in this season’s Ranji Trophy season, three bowlers have had their actions under scrutiny. Two Baroda bowlers were called for chucking in two days while a day later Kulamani Parida, the veteran Railways spinner, was stopped from bowling during a game. Delhi’s offspinner Yogesh Nagar was also no-balled for a suspect action on Friday.The BCCI released a list of eleven bowlers reported for chucking during the junior and senior Twenty20 competitions, before the Ranji season. They are: Gujarat’s Mohnish Parmar (whose action was subsequently cleared by the BCCI) and Amit Singh, the Under-19 Maharashtra bowler Sagar Sawant, Uttar Pradesh’s Mohammad Norman, Rohan Thapa from Baroda, Delhi’s Nagar, Sayed Zaki of Orissa, Punjab’s Ankur Jund, Vobhor Bisen from Vidarbha, Tripura’s Debabhakt Jamta and Arlen Konwar from Assam.

Ricky Ponting could miss his first Test in five years after Australia’s physio confirmed Ponting’s elbow injury has left him in doubt for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan

Brydon Coverdale at the WACA18-Dec-2009Ricky Ponting could miss his first Test in five years after Australia’s physio confirmed Ponting’s elbow injury has left him in doubt for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan. Ponting was struck just above the left elbow by a delivery from Kemar Roach in the first innings at the WACA and scans revealed a tendon injury, although there was no bone damage.The Australians did not want Ponting to bat in the second innings, to give him extra recovery time, but when they stumbled to 7 for 125 he came to the crease. However, Ponting had not taken any painkillers and was clearly hampered by the problem, and he survived for only six balls before fending a short delivery to bat-pad.Although he did not make the injury worse during his second innings, Ponting is still no certainty to play at the MCG in eight days. The team physio Alex Kountouris said Ponting was better on Friday than he was the previous day but he remained a day-by-day proposition for the time being.”He is in doubt for Melbourne,” Kountouris said. “His arm has been quite sore. We were really worrying about this game first, which was why we were trying to avoid him batting today and see if we can get him to recover a little bit more and see how he pulls up tomorrow. He’s better today than he was yesterday, which is a good thing, but we’re not sure how he’s going to go by Melbourne.”Ponting batted on for 40 minutes in the first innings after taking the blow, before he retired hurt. He later said that he could have stayed at the crease but “wouldn’t have been able to hit the ball off the square”, and he didn’t look much better in the second innings.Kountouris said the injury was unusual but Damien Martyn had once missed a Test due to a similar problem. Although the injury could potentially turn into a long-term issue for Ponting, Kountouris was not expecting that to be the case.”It can be, of course, it’s in the tendon so that’s a possibility but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he said. “I think it will settle down with time.”It’s almost like when you get meat and bash it with a mallet to soften it down. That’s what’s happened, the fibres have been squashed and have been disrupted in the tendon so now every time he uses that muscle, he can get little tearing of the muscle fibres.”Ponting has not missed a Test since October 2004, when he was ruled out due to injury from the first three Tests on the tour of India and Adam Gilchrist stepped in as captain. As the vice-captain, Michael Clarke would be the man in line to take over should Ponting not recover for Boxing Day.

Phillip Hughes, the 21-year-old opener, is back for his sixth Test after
Simon Katich failed a fitness test on his injured right elbow

Peter English at the SCG02-Jan-2010Phillip Hughes, the 21-year-old opener, is back for his sixth Test after
Simon Katich failed a fitness test on his injured right elbow. Katich was
struck during the opening game against Pakistan by Mohammad Aamer and was
given until the final morning to prove he was right, but the New South
Wales captain was unable to recover in time.”Simon Katich batted for 20 minutes in the indoor nets today,” the
physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said. “Simon was still very sore this
morning after the net. It was decided he should be replaced.”Katich, 34, was limited in his range of shots and will miss his first game
since returning from a three-year break in 2008. He was the team’s leading
run-scorer in 2009 with 1,111 and had developed a strong combination with
Shane Watson, who replaced Hughes during the Ashes tour.Despite Katich’s strong form, it’s a difficult time to miss a game with
Waston in great form in his past seven Tests and Hughes desperate to make
a lasting impressing following his stumbles in England. Hughes struggled
with the short ball during the Ashes and was roughed up by Andrew Flintoff
in his two Tests, so will be keen to show he has recovered his touch.In his second Test in South Africa he scored centuries in both innings to
confirm his promise and the selectors will be pleased to see him in the
side to inject some youth ahead of next year’s Ashes. It will be Hughes’
first Test in Australia and he will play on his home ground, although the
decision was so late it will be a rush for his family and friends to get
here from the northern New South Wales town of Macksville.

The Indian government has distanced itself from the results of the IPL auction, where none of the 11 Pakistan players up for sale attracted any bid

Cricinfo staff21-Jan-2010The Indian government has distanced itself from the results of the IPL auction, where none of the 11 Pakistan players up for sale attracted any bid. Insisting that the IPL was an independent commercial enterprise, India’s sports minister MS Gill told reporters: “IPL is not only a cricket league but it is also a commercial enterprise and the government of India and the sports ministry has nothing to do with them.”Gill’s statement was a reaction to claims of “discriminatory treatment” made by his counterpart Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, the Pakistan sports minister. “I have phoned the sports minister of India and recorded a protest over the unjust and discriminatory treatment meted out to the Pakistani cricketers,” Jakhrani told . “It is indeed a matter of disrespect of Pakistani heroes, who are the champions of Twenty20 World Cup.”Pakistani ministries of sports, interior and foreign affairs had given political and security clearance to Pakistani players in time to play.”SM Krishna, India’s foreign minister, echoed Gill’s comment. “Government has nothing to do with IPL, on selection of players and various exercises that are connected with it. So, Pakistan will have to draw a line between where Government of India is connected and where Government of India is an actor,” he said.”Seventeen Pakistani cricketers were issued requisite Indian visas at very short notice in December 2009 and January 2010 to participate in IPL 2010,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. “Two visas were issued in Islamabad, three in Wellington and 12 in Sydney, where the concerned Pakistani cricketers had applied while touring New Zealand and Australia, respectively. Based on a request from the Pakistan Cricket Board to High Commission of India in Islamabad, the MEA facilitated necessary clearances from other ministries. The participation or absence of Pakistani cricketers in a commercial event of the nature of IPL is, thus, a matter not within the purview of the government.Eleven Pakistan players – several of whom have expressed outrage at not being picked – were shortlisted for the IPL auction in Mumbai. Pakistan’s players had received NOCs from the PCB to participate in the tournament after the Pakistan government’s various ministries had cleared them to tour India. However, the uncertainty over the strained relations between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008 appears to have prompted franchises to wield restraint at the auction.

Michael Clarke is wary of New Zealand’s bowling attack and aggressive batsmen as he makes his first tour with his new Twenty20 side

Cricinfo staff24-Feb-2010Michael Clarke is wary of New Zealand’s bowling attack and aggressive batsmen as he makes his first tour with his new Twenty20 side. Clarke has won his three matches in charge since Ricky Ponting retired and the Australians signed off with an eight-wicket thrashing of West Indies in Sydney on Tuesday.Shane Bond, the fast bowler, wants to give Australia their biggest test of the summer and Clarke is expecting a tough assignment. “They’ve got a good attack,” Clarke said in Sydney before departing for New Zealand. “They’ve got some good strikers of the ball, Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum, and they’ve got a great captain, Dan Vettori, so we have to be at our best.”The World Twenty20 starts at the end of April and Australia have overhauled their team since they were knocked out at the first stage during the 2009 event in England. Clarke and Cameron White are in charge and Clarke is not getting carried away by the team’s strong start against Pakistan and West Indies.”I feel we’re a long way from where I’d like us to be, but I certainly believe we’re improving, we’ve got a good squad,” Clarke said. The series begins on Friday in Wellington and finishes in Christchurch on Sunday.”It’s really important that we look forward to our first tour as a T20 team and try and continue our success,” he said. “They are our last two games leading up to the World Cup, so I think it’s really important to continue to build that momentum going into the World Cup.”

Corrie van Zyl, the South Africa coach, believes that there is enough mental strength in his team to not be intimidated by the prospects of a turning track for the second Test in Kolkata

N Hunter10-Feb-2010Corrie van Zyl, victorious in his first Test as South Africa’s coach, has said that his team will not be intimidated by a probable turning track at Eden Gardens because the visitors are now mentally much stronger than they were on their last visit in 2008.Two years ago Dale Steyn had broken the back of India’s batting with a powerful burst of fast bowling in Ahmedabad to put South Africa one up going into the final Test in Kanpur a week later. India opted for a turning pitch at Green Park, which Steyn called a “bunsen burner”, won the Test and levelled the series.This time, though, Graeme Smith is leading a unit that is not just consumed by the possibility of beating India in India but is confident of doing so. That, van Zyl points out, is the difference between this squad and the previous ones. “Mentally, the South African team is better prepared,” van Zyl, who was appointed the interim coach after Mickey Arthur resigned, said.”It is still going to be a challenge to deal with turning wickets or whatever the wicket is,” he said. The South African think-tank has already assumed the Indians will opt for a pitch that play to their strengths. “India have more control over the conditions,” Smith had said yesterday after the innings win in Nagpur.van Zyl echoed his captain’s sentiments today. “I won’t say it would be a minefield, but I do expect something that will help the Indian team.”But the South African coach said they would not be in a hurry to change their gameplans, especially after they worked so well in Nagpur. Speaking about the aggressive bowling lines adopted by Steyn, Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell, van Zyl said it was a conscious decision. “It would be part of our gameplan going forward. We need to make sure as a bowling unit we start operating together and we don’t work as individuals. That makes you a lot more effective.”Still there was an individual effort that stood out and that came from Paul Harris. The left-arm spinner had been targeted going into the series but produced a concerted effort of bowling to strict lines and lengths that clamped the movement of the specialist Indian batsmen, especially in the crucial second innings.”Just the fact that he bowled so many overs, and his economy rate, shows he was really effective,” van Zyl pointed out. Importantly Harris knows exactly what his role is within the bowling unit. He said that the decision to enforce the follow-on became viable only because Harris kept an end tight and delivered marathon spells on the fourth afternoon.Asked whether the leg-stump line against Sachin Tendulkar was deliberate, considering the batsman’s past vulnerability to such a ploy, van Zyl indirectly confirmed it. “The line of the attack is determined by the amount of the turn on offer and the line where it turns from. And we had to assess where it was more difficult to score against.”van Zyl has been part of the South African coaching set-up for the better half of the last decade and worked closely with various coaches, including Arthur. His previous assignment, before moving into the present job, was to deal with the emerging talent at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria. A fast bowler during his playing days, van Zyl said the most striking aspect about Smith’s squad was its “professionalism”.”I was telling the team and the team management that I was pleasantly surprised by the level of professionalism,” van Zyl said. According to van Zyl the main reason for the superior mental strength the players possess now could be the structure Arthur worked hard to create. “Credit must be given to Mickey and what he put in the place. That does make my introduction a lot easier.”Both Smith and van Zyl have no illusions about that the second Test, which begins on February 14, being just another hurdle that can be easily crossed. “If the first Test was a challenge then the second Test is a bigger challenge,” van Zyl said.Smith said an extra day’s break would be welcome given the amount of preparation that went into the Nagpur Test. “The guys need a few days’ rest to regain the mental energy more than anything else. This [first Test win] has taken a lot out of the guys,” he said. But he is not losing any sleep yet. “There is enough in the group now and we have beaten India enough number of times. I don’t think anything will surprise us going into Kolkata.”

Mark Ramprakash continued his fine pre-season form, but was out-scored by Arun Harinath in Surrey’s easy win against UAE

Mark Pennell in Abu Dhabi24-Mar-2010
Mark Ramprakash appears to have taken a shine to the pitch at the Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, so much so that he has yet to create an average for himself. Ramprakash took his personal run tally at the stadium to 314 in three innings on Wednesday evening during Surrey’s routine win over the shell-shocked amateur players of the UAE national side, who were saved further punishment when Ramprakash retired hurt with a stiff calf.By then, Surrey were well on the way toward victory at 151 for one after another Ramprakash virtuoso display of 83 from 70 balls, 52 of which came in boundaries. Those runs went in the scorebook alongside his 127 not out against the UAE here this time last year and the unbeaten 104 when he faced the Emerging Cape Cobras on Monday night.Yet for once, Ramprakash was out-scored, and memorably so as left-handed Surrey academy product Arun Harinath posted a run-a-ball hundred in only his second innings on tour. The sixth four of Harinath’s stay took him to his century and the team to victory with 5.4 overs and seven wickets in hand.Earlier in the evening the hosts, who are coached by former Sussex and Derbyshire all-rounder Colin Wells, made a dismal start to the game. Batting first under the lights having won the toss, they were 14 for 2 inside four overs. In Jade Dernbach’s second over opener Amjad Ali lost his off stump then Arshad Ali played late to go leg-before to the same bowler.Stuart Meaker made it 40 for 3 by having Indika Sampath caught at the wicket, but to their credit UAE put up a spirited rally with a fourth-wicket stand of 81 between stylish top-scorer Saqib Ali and rather more dogged Abdul Rehman.Saqib, a warehouseman for a medical supply firm, stroked eight fours in his 78-ball stay for 61 and it needed a stunning catch in one-glove by Ireland keeper Gary Wilson, diving wide to his right, to send the right-hander packing.Shadeep Silva and Fayyaz Ahmed kept the board just about ticking, each with run-a-ball scores of 28, but nothing they did seemed to enliven Rehman’s scoring rate as he finally closed in on a 78-ball 50 in the final over of UAE’s innings.

Jamaica made hard work of their Digicel-sponsored Jamaica Cricket Festival fifty-over contest against Canada, losing six wickets before labouring past the paltry target of 149 in the 29th over

Cricinfo staff09-Apr-2010Jamaica made hard work of their Digicel-sponsored Jamaica Cricket Festival fifty-over contest against Canada, losing six wickets before labouring past the paltry target of 149 in the 29th over.Despite having a below-par score to defend, Canada made a contest out of the encounter and showed their intentions from the very first delivery in the Jamaican response, getting rid of opener Danza Hyatt who was caught in the slips by Harvir Baidwan off the bowling of Henry Osinde.The Canadians were at it again minutes later when Donovan Pagon was sent on his way, caught by Rizwan Cheema off Khurram Chohan, to leave the Jamaicans precariously poised at 3 for 2.Things looked even worse for the locals when Carlton Baugh and captain Tamar Lambert, who went for a first-ball duck, were sent packing with the score on 64. Opener Brenton Parchment was the saviour for the hosts with a responsible, unbeaten knock of 72 achieved at a run-a-ball, with ten fours. Hard-hitting lower-order batsman Andre Russell hastened the finish, crashing four boundaries in a rapid 19.Earlier in the day, David Bernard had Canada in trouble early, as the top three fell for single-figure scores. Captain Ashish Bagai stemmed the rot with a 64-ball 53, and he got some support from Usman Limbada and Sunil Dhaniram, before Odean Brown ran through the lower order. He finished with 4 for 33, as Canada folded for 148 in 41 overs.

Jon Culley12-May-2010Durham 218 and 88 for 4 v Nottinghamshire 559 for 8 dec
Scorecard
Chris Read worked his side into a very dominant position•PA Photos

Nottinghamshire’s emphatically successful start to the Championship season is likely to be extended to a fourth win in four matches after Durham, the defending champions, suffered one of their poorest days in recent memory, conceding a first-innings lead of 341 after a breathtaking Ally Brown-inspired fightback by the home side and then slipping to 88 for 4 at the close.Durham, champions for the last two seasons, are unbeaten in 23 matches since the 2008 campaign, but unless rain plays a major part on the final day it is hard to see them preserving the record for one more game.Brown proved again that age need not be a barrier to effectiveness on the cricket field. The former Surrey batsman, who turned 40 in February, stunned Durham with a savage 134 off only 121 balls as he and Chris Read, the home captain, led Nottinghamshire from 226 for 6 to a tea-time declaration on 559 for 8.It was a spectacular turnaround in which Durham’s current troubles were painfully exposed. With four bowlers ruled out by injury, they are obliged to play both Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett when neither can be considered fully fit, while Dale Benkenstein is playing but cannot bowl because of a dodgy knee.Harmison and Plunkett both conceded more than one hundred runs, as did Chris Rushworth, although the Sunderland-born seamer at least claimed his first Championship wickets. Harmison threatened at times and was unlucky not to have some success in the first hour but looked tired and frustrated as the afternoon turned into one of unbroken carnage.And while Durham can plead extenuating circumstances, there was no pretending that the way in which Brown, Read and Paul Franks batted them out of the game was not massively impressive, suggesting that it will be a good side that denied Nottinghamshire their title aspirations.Yet it had appeared at first that Nottinghamshire were no more comfortable with a lively pitch than Durham had been in labouring to 218 in their first innings.The first ball of the day did not augur well. Mark Wagh, who has been looking as though he is beginning to tame his more impetuous tendencies, reverted to type by driving airily at Rushworth’s loosener, which flew off the edge to Michael di Venuto at second slip.Rushworth does not look out of place at this level, despite his elevation from club cricket, and the opening 40 minutes earned him three wickets as he brought one back to trap Samit Patel leg before and had Mullaney edging also to second slip.Harmison should have had Mullaney had his brother, Ben, clung on to a chance at third slip and Nottinghamshire, just eight runs in front, seemed sure to scrape together only a modest advantage.But when Read joined Brown in the middle the tone of the innings changed dramatically as Nottinghamshire demonstrated the depth of their batting.Brown went on the counter-attack with exhilarating gusto. He and Read are both bold, aggressive hitters and having accelerated the total to 333 for 6 at lunch, they added another 130 before Brown’s blitz ended, Phil Mustard plucking an uppercut out of the air above his head to give Plunkett revenge of sorts, having been hit for six by Brown the previous ball.The former England one-day batsman, the first of whose 46 career hundreds was made against Nottinghamshire for Surrey in 1992, had hit 17 fours and three sixes. He also passed 1,000 career runs in first-class matches against Durham at an average of 59.35. He has 1,000 runs or more against seven counties now and centuries against all of them bar Surrey.The partnership with Read, who survived a painful blow on the right hand from Rushworth on 73 and was caught off a no-ball on 87, realised 237 runs in 42 overs. Read’s unbeaten 124 was his 17th first-class hundred and took him beyond 10,000 career runs.Durham wilted, almost as if the weight of statistics was too much as Brown and Read pulled and drove with mounting confidence and authority. None of Durham’s bowlers could restrict them and for the novices – Rushworth and Ben Stokes – it was an uncomfortable experience from which there was no hiding place.Yet it did not end there. Franks pitched in with 64 off 45 balls as Harmison’s body language began to give away his frustration. His 28 overs cost 123 as Durham acquired another unwanted stat by conceding more than 500 first-innings runs in back-to-back games for the first time since 1992, their debut season.Read declared at tea, 341 in front, after the afternoon session had yeilded 226 runs, but Durham’s troubles were not over. Darren Pattinson produced a fine delivery to have di Venuto caught at second slip, Steven Mullaney made Will Smith pay for fishing outside off stump, Franks found some extra bounce that Benkenstein could only fend to second slip and Charlie Shreck had Kyle Coetzer leg before. They have it all to do on the final day.

Worcestershire go into the final day of this championship match against Gloucestershire with a great chance of securing their fourth victory in seven games

George Dobell at New Road31-May-2010
ScorecardWhen Worcestershire finished bottom of division one of the Championship last season, few could have thought they would mount a promotion challenge this season. It wasn’t just that they didn’t win a first-class game in 2009. It was that several of their leading players – Kabir Ali, Stephen Moore, Steve Davies and Gareth Batty – chose to leave New Road and that their director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, was obliged to cut £300,000 from the cricket budget to make ends meet. 2010 was, as a consequence, expected to be about finding consolation in defeat and loking for the green shoots of recovery as a new side developed.Yet they go into the final day of this championship match against Gloucestershire with a great chance of securing their fourth victory in seven games. And, if they are to do so, they will rise to second position in the table. That’s a remarkable achievement. With so much of the team departing last year and little budget to replace them, Rhodes was instead obliged to rely on a few experienced signings – the likes of Alan Richardson and Ben Scott – and a host of young talent.All have served him well. Richarson, who bowled beautifully on the third day here without due reward, has a creditable 31 Championship wickets at just 22.83 apiece, while Scott remains one of the best keepers on the circuit and an underrated batsman. But it’s the young talent that has been particularly productive. 23-year-old Richard Jones has led the way with the ball, while 20-year-old Alexei Kervezee and 22-year-old Moeen Ali have led the way with the bat. If the club can keep hold of them – and their success will alert a number of willing suitors – they should form the basis of a decent side for years to come.Certainly they’ve earned a strong position here. After carving out an imposing first innings lead, they made deep inroads into Gloucestershire’s somewhat fragile batting line-up before Chris Taylor and James Franklin resisted for the last 15 overs. Poor weather may be Worcestershire’s greatest foe on the last day here. The forecast is not wholly encouraging.Perhaps Gloucestershire were a little unfortunate. They were convinced they had Moeen Ali caught behind in the first over of the day, bowled by Jon Lewis, but the umpire disagreed. Had the decision gone the visitors’ way, Worcestershire would have been 229 for 7 and contemplating a small first innings advantage. As it was Moeen went on to record the second century of his first-class season (from 135 balls with 15 fours) and the fourth of his career. His innings helped Worcestershire add 167 for their final four wickets and establish a lead of 143. In the context of this low scoring match, it was a substantial advantage.Very nicely he batted, too. Though he never looked secure just outside off stump – a weakness that will have to be rectified if he is to progress to a higher level – he produced some delightful strokes when the ball was in his area; the lofted drives off the left-arm spin of Vikram Banerjee and some punched drives off the seamers were especially pleasing.Even more impressive, however, was the batting of Ben Scott. Dropped from the Middlesex side due to concerns over his batting, Scott is beginning to make a strong case for a recall. After an innings of 98 in the previous match, against Sussex, he here compiled his third half-century of the season to help his side to a fourth bonus point. Particularly good on the pull, Scott also drove strongly and produced two impudent reverse sweeps for four off the luckless Banerjee.Though Moeen eventually drove to short mid-on and Scott played around a straight one, Matt Mason then weighed-in with a jolly 18-ball cameo. Using his height and strength, he clobbered three sixes as the last wicket added 36 to take the game further out of Gloucestershire’s reach. It must have been particularly galling for Banerjee, who saw Jack Shantry reprieved twice by Jonathan Batty: first when the keeper dropped a chance off Shantry’s first ball and soon afterwards when he spurned a stumping.In reply, Gloucestershire soon lost Steve Snell, edging a loose drive, before Chris Dent was caught behind as he attempted an oddly violent pull. Generally, however, their batsmen showed more application than in the first innings. Batty and Hamish Marshall were compact, with the former unleashing some pleasing cuts and the latter driving fluently. Both paid the price, however, for prodding outside off stump, while Alex Gidman’s departure, caught off the glove as he tried to leave one, illustrated that the pitch still offered assistance to the seamers.In normal circumstances, Gloucestershire might hold out hopes that they can extend their lead of 46 into something challenging. Without Steve Kirby, however, who will undergo a scan on his sore back in the next day or so, they surely lack the firepower to take advantage. This game is Worcestershire’s to lose.