Category Uncategorized

Nazmul Hassan alleged that Rhodes did not push the players hard during a pre-World Cup preparation camp in Leicester, and was not involved in strategic matters

Mohammad Isam24-Jul-2019Nazmul Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, has come down heavily on Steve Rhodes’ one-year tenure as coach of the national team. Hassan alleged that Rhodes did not seem serious enough about winning as a coach, did not push the players hard during a pre-World Cup preparation camp in Leicester, and was not involved in strategic matters. Rhodes did not respond to ESPNcricinfo when contacted about these allegations.Rhodes was appointed Bangladesh coach in June 2018, with his contract set to run until next year’s T20 World Cup. However, the BCB and Rhodes parted ways earlier this month, following the team’s eighth-place finish at the 2019 World Cup in England.Hassan said that the players had told him they did not get to speak to Rhodes, and that he did not address team strategies.”We arranged for a practice camp before the World Cup, but nobody came. There was a cultural mismatch. He assumed that every player will practice on their own, but since our players heard it was optional, no one turned up. So there was no use making all that arrangement spending so much money.””I saw the changes [in the style of coaching] when I was in Dubai for the Asia Cup final. We saw that things have changed. We waited. The players have told me continuously – after the New Zealand tour and also during the World Cup – that they don’t get to speak to the coach.”He only lands in the team meeting on the day before the game. He doesn’t talk about strategy. He is just there. This is what the players have told me. I am telling you after listening to everyone. I never had a direct interaction. But from what I have seen, I felt that he doesn’t match with us.”Hassan believed that a five-day break for the team during their World Cup campaign -in the eight-day gap between their matches against Afghanistan and India – affected the concentration of the players, even though the team had been given a break to freshen up. He claimed that players had gone to Europe and expressed his surprise that nobody had informed him or the board directors Akram Khan (present with the World Cup squad as cricket operations chairman) and Khaled Mahmud (team manager) of the break. However, the players had been informed of the break by the team management, led by Mahmud. and none of them visited Europe.”There was a five-day holiday before the India game,” Hassan said. “There’s a difference between giving rest and a break. Everyone had left, so it broke their concentration. Maybe it is fine in their culture, but we feel that it doesn’t match with our culture.”Ahead of matches against two tough opponents, how does it feel to know that your players have gone to Europe? It is not acceptable. I don’t care what anyone is saying. I don’t think it was the right decision. You can give rest for two or three days. Their eyes and face should have said that they were thinking about the World Cup, the next two games. They haven’t matured as cricketers to come back from this type of break.””The biggest surprise was that I didn’t know that the team was on holiday. It hasn’t happened before. This was definitely a lapse but I am not singling out anyone. We had Akram [Khan] and [Khaled Mahmud] Sujon who were there but they also didn’t know. They heard about it after the break was given, so how did it benefit us?”Hassan claimed that captain Mashrafe Mortaza and wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim were added to the squad on the morning of the team’s last game against Pakistan, despite them carrying injuries.”The night before the Pakistan game, I was with the players till 11.30pm. Mushfiq, with his hand in a sling, was telling me that he couldn’t move his hand,” Hassan said. “He was not in the squad. Mashrafe didn’t practice the day before, and neither did he attend strategy meetings. He was also out of that game. These are just two examples.”We had fixed the squad in the presence of the coach and everyone. But the next day we saw another team playing the game. These things haven’t happened in the past. This is definitely a problem. We have decided that it won’t work like this. We are not saying he is not good but the way the team was running, it was totally different from our thinking.”

Pakistan finally broke the back of Northamptonshire’s resistance as Shadab Khan completed a 10-wicket haul and Mohammad Abbas also impressed

Alex Winter at Wantage Road07-May-2018
ScorecardPakistan will head to Ireland for the first Test of their tour with a hard-fought win behind them after finally seeing off a game Northamptonshire on the fourth-afternoon at Wantage Road with a simple chase of 133.As tour matches go, this was a very worthwhile exercise for both sides and a template for preparation before a Test tour. Only on the final afternoon when Pakistan’s chase became a formality did the game lose intensity. Therefore, Shadab Khan’s 10 for 157 in the match, Asad Shafiq’s unbeaten 186, and Haris Sohail’s two half-centuries was solid form to take to Malahide.Whether conditions in Ireland in any way resemble this slow wicket under unbroken sunshine on Friday is another matter and Pakistan showed vulnerability for the brief time the ball did swing at the start of their first innings and had Shafiq been caught on 13, Northants may have run them closer.But Pakistan travel over the Irish Sea with success and some selection decisions made clearer. Shadab is surely now worthy of inclusion even if the wicket turns out as emerald green as the Pakistan caps. The way he bamboozled Northants on the first afternoon was an indication of what a good legspinner can do and Ireland’s batsman have little pedigree playing legspin either.It is also a huge threat to tailenders and Shadab duly took the final two wickets of the Northants second innings, Brett Hutton and Gareth Wade lbw, to complete a maiden 10-wicket match haul.Far less of a threat was Mohammad Amir. After taking 1 for 45 against Kent, he was somewhat wayward here and lacked the zip that has produced 95 wickets in 30 Tests – he went wicketless in 27 overs. Perhaps he was saving himself for William Porterfield and Co.It was the far-less heralded Mohammad Abbas that opened Pakistan’s route to victory. Abbas, fairly short for a fast bowler but skiddy and likely to be effective in conditions that could prevail in Malahide, has played in Pakistan’s last five Tests after making his debut in the West Indies a year ago. Having been unlucky not to take a wicket in the first innings, regularly beating the bat, he took two with the old ball on the fourth morning, breaking through in the 14th over of the day.Full deliveries slid into Rob Newton and Steven Crook to win lbw decisions before extracting two of Rob Keogh’s stumps when the new ball was taken. Newton’s wicket was key. After making a battling century on the third afternoon, he needed to lead Northants well after lunch to try and save the game. But he could only add 16 to his overnight score before being beaten by one that kept low – the first of five morning wickets for 61 runs.It left a simple target and the chance for Azhar Ali to find some form after 15 against Kent and just 9 in the first innings here. But trying to take a leg-bye running from the non-striker’s end he collided mid-pitch with his opening partner Imam-ul-Haq and was beaten by Ricardo Vasconcelos’ throw. That the nephew of Inzamam was involved in a comedy run-out was not lost on the Twitterati.So it was left to Imam and Haris to continue their earlier form, which they did with the most fluent run-scoring of the game to reach their target in 27 overs. Haris resumed in good touch from his first-innings 79 and steered a boundary through backward point off Hutton, flicked another through square leg off Wade and drove the same bowler fluently through extra-cover en route to a 66-ball half-century, his second of the game.Imam, who could be set for a Test debut in Malahide after playing in both tour matches with Sami Aslam left out here, was the only Pakistan batsman to make a significant score against Kent and here warmed to his task having scratched around for 11 from 60 balls in the first innings. He slammed Rob Keogh’s offspin back over his head for his first boundary, passed fifty in 72 balls before pulling the winning boundary to send Pakistan to Dublin with victory.

John Hampshire, the former Yorkshire captain and England batsman who went on to become an international umpire, has died at the age of 76

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2017
John Hampshire, the former Yorkshire captain and England batsman who went on to become an international umpire, has died at the age of 76 after a long illness.Hampshire, who scored a century on his Test debut, against West Indies at Lord’s in 1969, played eight Tests and three ODIs for England, but will be best remembered as an integral member of the great Yorkshire side that dominated the County Championship in the 1960s.In a 23-year career that included spells with Derbyshire, Tasmania and, briefly, Leicestershire, Hampshire scored a total of 28,059 first-class runs at 34.55, including 43 hundreds – the vast majority of those coming during his 456 appearances for Yorkshire.He debuted for the club as a 20-year-old in 1961 and won the County Championship on five separate occasions, holding his own in a team packed with club legends including Geoff Boycott, Ray Illingworth, Fred Trueman and his first captain, Brian Close. An upright front-foot driver with a strong leg-side game, he was one of the most handsome batsmen of his time.”Initially Yorkshire might have been a difficult dressing room to feel at home in, but Brian Close was a tremendous captain,” Hampshire told ESPNcricinfo in one of his final interviews earlier this year.”He integrated everyone. Most of the guys, they wanted to do well because they wanted the side to do well. And they wanted other players to do well. There were some terrific rows, but they were cricket rows. They weren’t personal vendettas or anything like that. Closey was the ringleader a lot of the time, but as soon as they were finished it was, “Right, come on, we’ll have a drink.”Hampshire, like many in that side, could be an intimidating figure on first meeting, but once respect was won, hidden behind a serious exterior was a warm and self-deprecating humour.Just a year after the end of his playing career in 1984, he became a first-class umpire, and stood for the first time in a Test match at Old Trafford during the 1989 Ashes.Later that year, he and John Holder were invited by Pakistan’s captain, Imran Khan, to stand as neutral umpires during Pakistan’s home series against India, a move that helped pave the way for that to become the standard across all international matches. In total, Hampshire stood in 21 matches up until 2002, and finally retired from the county circuit in 2005.Andy Flower, coach of England Lions, was a prominent figure in the Zimbabwe side that was coached by Hampshire upon their entry to Test cricket in the early 1990s and maintained the friendship from that point.”He was very passionate about Zimbabwe cricket,” Flower told ESPNcricinfo. “He grew to love the country, and its cricket, and he was a very important part of our early years. He gave us a really good grounding in the basics of the game, which served us very well.”I last saw him at Lord’s during the summer. He was there as a guest of the ECB, and we had a couple of great chats during the day. Even though he was unwell, he was always such a strong and generous guy, so he’d still be smiling and giggling at himself.”It was always the right balance with John, between playing hard on the field, and relaxing and chatting off it. When he was coach and I was captain, he would often sit me down with Scotch or a good wine – he fancied himself as a connoisseur – and we’d talk about the game for hours.”In March 2016, Hampshire stepped up to the role of Yorkshire president, an appointment he described as being “the icing on the cake” of his career. To some extent, it was a final show of brotherhood by Yorkshire because his county career at Headingley had ended in disillusionment. In 1978, Hampshire famously was instrumental in a batting go-slow at Northampton in protest at a six-hour century by Geoffrey Boycott. It cost his side a bonus point and Boycott the captaincy. Hampshire replaced him but only for two seasons, before he departed for a simpler life at Derbyshire.”From a very humble beginning, getting trains, trams and buses to Headingley to practice in the winter in hope of getting a game for Yorkshire Seconds, to being president. I think it’s quite an achievement,” he said.”John epitomised everything that’s good about Yorkshire County Cricket Club,” said Steve Denison, Yorkshire’s chairman. “Brave, talented and with a heart of gold, he captained Yorkshire, scored a century at Lord’s on his Test debut and became a highly respected umpire after hanging up his playing whites.”Loved by players and members alike, John capped his wonderful life in Yorkshire cricket as our club president last year. On behalf of everyone involved with and connected to the Club, I would like to extend our most sincere condolences to John’s wife Alison and two sons Ian and Paul. He will be sorely missed by all at Headingley.”

Former Sri Lanka cricketer and SLC president Ian Pieris died on Friday at the age of 82 after a long illness

Sa'adi Thawfeeq02-Jan-2016Former Sri Lanka cricketer and SLC president Ian Pieris died on Friday at the age of 82 after a long illness. His funeral took place in Colombo on Saturday.Pieris served as the president of the SLC on two occasions. His first term, in 1989, lasted just four months and the second, in 1990, for one year.In his first term, Pieris did not see eye to eye with the board’s executive committee on the need to follow the instructions of the sports minister Nanda Mathew, and subsequently resigned on principle. During his second term, Pieris, along with the secretary S Skandakumar, did a lot of ground work to get international tours started to Sri Lanka.Pieris also had a distinguished cricket career playing as a top-order batsman for S. Thomas’ College, Mt Lavinia, and as a right-arm opening bowler for Singhalese Sports Clumb, Cambridge University and All-Ceylon (as the national team was then known).While at school, Pieris made his international debut when he was picked to play against Lindsay Hassett’s Australia team in 1953. Pieris later joined SSC, but one of his ambitions was to play on the hallowed turf at Lord’s.During his three-year stint at Cambridge University from 1956, Pieris teamed up with the likes of Bob Barber and Roger Prideaux, who later went on to play for England, and Ian McLachlan, who played for Australia.Pieris’ best contribution for his country was as a batsman at No. 11, when he scored 46 not out in an entertaining last-wicket partnership of 110 in 53 minutes with Neil Chanmugam in an unofficial Test against West Indies at the P Sara Oval in March 1967. Recalling that innings, Pieris had said: “I was angry with the captain, the selectors and with everybody because I was sent to bat at no. 11. I felt that there were many who were sent before me. I was so angry I thought to myself that I am going to show these chaps that I can bat. Fortunately for me, Neil also stuck there. That’s how I scored 46 not out, fueled in cold fury.”Apart from cricket, Pieris also played golf and tennis, but was forced to stay away from active sports in 2003 because of a back problem which continued to plague him till his death.

BCCI treasurer Ravi Savant is the first board official to speak out against MS Dhoni’s possible conflict of interest, saying the India captain should immediately disassociate himself from the sports management company

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2013The new BCCI treasurer Ravi Savant is the first board official to speak out against MS Dhoni’s possible conflict of interest, saying the India captain should immediately disassociate himself from the sports management company that manages him and a few other India players.”Dhoni should immediately disassociate himself from the management firm while he is captain,” Savant told NDTV. “Dhoni should be given a notice for conflict of interest if this was not part of his contract earlier.”The new BCCI secretary Sanjay Patil, however, said the board was not going to act immediately. “Whatever Mr Savant has said is his personal opinion and the board has nothing to do with it,” he said. “The board has no intention to send any letter to either Dhoni or any other cricketer with the Champions Trophy going on. There was no discussion on this issue at the working committee meeting.”On Monday, the BCCI stand-in chief Jagmohan Dalmiya said the board would look into the issue involving Dhoni and Rhiti Sports Management Pvt Ltd, but only after the ongoing Champions Trophy in England.”I don’t want to disturb the team during the Champions Trophy. I gain nothing by doing that,” Dalmiya had following the BCCI’s emergent working committee meeting in Delhi. “We have taken note of the issue. We are looking into it but we are not going to hound someone.”The issue centres around Dhoni’s involvement with Rhiti Sports Management Pvt Ltd, the company that manages his commercial interests and those of some other India players such as Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja, and looks after Chennai Super Kings’ marketing. Dhoni had owned 15% stake in the company for a little over one month earlier this year, meaning that, at least on paper, he was India captain with a say in the selection of players managed by the company he co-owned, and a possible share in the profits that their endorsements yielded.According to a statement issued by Rhiti Sports, the shares issued to Dhoni were bought back the following month, and the transaction was only to clear some of the company’s dues. “As on date, MSD holds no shareholding in Rhiti Sports Management (P) Ltd. However, it is made clear that shareholding was allotted to MSD on 22.03.2013 only to secure certain old outstandings which were due for more than one year,” the statement, signed by Rhiti Sports’ chairman and managing director Arun Pandey, said. “Further, the payments were cleared in April 2013 and the shareholding was transferred back to promoter of the company on 26.04.2013.”1445 GMT This story has been updated to include the quote from BCCI treasurer Ravi Savant

A potential side injury to Lancashire captain Glen Chapple added to another difficult day for the champions, as Warwickshire reached 289 for 4

Jon Culley at Edgbaston16-May-2012
ScorecardVarun Chopra made his second hundred of the season•PA Photos

After losing the three matches of their opening five least badly affected by the weather, the last thing Lancashire need is to lose their captain, talisman and lead bowler, all three of which descriptions apply to Glen Chapple.At the end of an opening day demanding the selfless commitment to the cause that has become his speciality, Chapple left the field early complaining of discomfort in his left side. “He’s had a bit of pain and he has had it iced but you never know with these things,” the Lancashire coach, Peter Moores, said. “He could wake up in the morning and it won’t be there or he’ll be stiff as a board. We’re hoping it’s nothing serious. Sides are a nightmare for bowlers. If it’s a bad one it could be six or seven weeks.”Lancashire are not short of seam bowlers. Although Tom Smith is currently sidelined, Kyle Hogg and Saj Mahmood offer experienced back-up and the arrival of Ajmal Shahzad from Yorkshire has provided Moores with an unexpected asset. The immediate problem, though, is Chapple’s fitness for the remainder of this match. Neither Hogg nor Mahmood is playing, Lancashire having chosen to play with two spinners. Shahzad could face an early test of his stamina as much as his discipline.Moores can rightly claim ‘so far, so good’ with regard to the latter. The England fast bowler’s move across the Pennines came amid accusations that he did not follow team orders playing for Yorkshire, suggesting that whoever decided they could benefit from his undoubted talent might face a challenge in making it work in their favour.”I take people as I find them and he has been great so far,” Moores said. “He is a high-energy bloke who wants to get stuck in and play some cricket. He has settled in really well, the lads have enjoyed having him around. You’ve seen him today, he has run in hard and chucked himself around in the field. He has always been that sort of cricketer and hopefully it is a good move for him and a good move for us.”You have all sorts of different players in a team but he has the energy and enthusiasm you want in a fast bowler. What has been impressive both here and at Hove last week on his debut is that he has run in hard, put a lot of balls in the right areas and asked a lot of questions. He deserved his wicket and on another day could have had more.”Shahzad was impressive enough, bowling the out-of-form Warwickshire captain, Jim Troughton, for the latest in a sequence of low scores, and having Varun Chopra dropped on 51, which was a costly mistake by Stephen Moore at second slip given that the opener more than doubled that score. And Moore was right to contend that, on a flat wicket, to have kept the home side to below three runs per over was a good effort.But there was no escaping the conclusion that two of the three sessions were won by Warwickshire and the last one was no worse than shared. Chopra and Ian Westwood both played exceptionally well against the new ball, judiciously leaving such threatening deliveries as they could safely avoid, and punishing the bad ones efficiently. Chopra, making his second century of the season, was especially good on the eye when he could cut or drive.Their partnership of 168 is the biggest opening partnership in Division One so far and Warwickshire’s biggest since they put on 202 together against Somerset at Edgbaston last July, when Westwood made a century. He looked set for another one this time and cursed himself when he missed out, pushing at a ball outside off stump from Luke Procter and edging to first slip.Chopra completed his, after a couple of handsome boundaries in the 90s, from 218 balls, but he too would have wished for a more glorious ending. On 113, having perhaps begun to feel that Lancashire’s two spinners were starting to tie him down, he went after Simon Kerrigan with an ungainly heave and was caught at midwicket.Kerrigan was Lancashire’s matchwinner at Edgbaston last season, taking 5 for 7 in the second innings, he and Gary Keedy sharing eight wickets for nine runs as Warwickshire were bowled out for 97, handing Lancashire a victory that ultimately decided the title. If Chapple’s injury is serious, they will have important work to do again.For the moment, though. Warwickshire will fancy themselves for revenge at the double, having beaten Lancashire at Liverpool impressively last month. Their early season form, comprising three wins from four matches, has established them as favourites to take Lancashire’s crown. The loss of Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott to England, moreover, is balanced by the return in this match of Chris Woakes, fit again after his ankle injury.Warwickshire slipped from 224 for 1 to 246 for 4 during Lancashire’s best phase of the day. Kerrigan had Will Porterfield caught at slip before Chopra holed out, and then, when the second new ball was taken, Shahzad bowled Troughton. But late runs for Darren Maddy and Tim Ambrose kept the momentum with Warwickshire.

Ajmal Shahzad accepts that this season’s battle for England fast-bowling places will be as tough as it has been for years, but believes he showed enough glimpses of his talent and tenacity during a long winter odyssey to keep himself firmly in the selecto

Andrew Miller20-Apr-2011Ajmal Shahzad accepts that this season’s battle for England fast-bowling places will be as tough as it has been for years, but believes he showed enough glimpses of his talent and tenacity during a long winter odyssey to keep himself firmly in the selector’s thoughts ahead of the Sri Lanka series in May.Shahzad was a key squad member throughout England’s Ashes and World Cup campaigns. Although he did not play in the Tests in Australia, he pressed hard for selection throughout, and subsequently featured in seven of England’s 14 ODIs, before a hamstring injury led to his omission for the team’s crucial World Cup victory over West Indies. Surrey’s Jade Dernbach replaced him in the 15-man party as the team went on to be beaten by ten wickets in the quarter-finals by Sri Lanka.At the moment of victory in Chennai, after England had grafted their way back into the contest to beat West Indies by 18 runs and secure their progression to the last eight, Shahzad’s face was a picture of mixed emotions, as he rose in the dressing room to celebrate with his team-mates, all the while knowing that he was heading for the next plane home.”I was absolutely gutted,” he told ESPNcricinfo during adidas’s launch of the new England ODI kit. “I was so happy to be picked for England, so the disappointing thing for me was when I did get my chance, I got a little niggle. And I don’t know if it was the pressure of the situation or the nervous anxiety, or whatever, but it’s really disappointing, because that is the time I wanted to impress and show what I can do. I hope I’ve shown a little of what I’m capable of doing, but I feel as if there’s plenty more to show, and if I ever get given the chance again, I want to stay injury free, fingers crossed.”He is on the mend now, with a return to action anticipated for Yorkshire’s CB40 match against the Netherlands on Sunday, but Shahzad’s the first to admit he has some ground to make up. The trio of quick bowlers who finished the Ashes campaign – James Anderson, Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan – are set to be joined in the selection mix by Stuart Broad and Steven Finn, who has started the season impressively with Middlesex, while the likes of Warwickshire’s Chris Woakes and the fit-again Graham Onions have also made strong cases in the early weeks of the season.”It’s going to be very difficult,” he conceded. “There are plenty bowlers vying for spots – not only guys in the set-up, but people in the county circuit who want to put their name in the hat. Then it’s up to the selectors to pick me or not pick me. But the selectors know what I can do. I want to go back [to Yorkshire] and help the boys out, show that I’ve got all the skill levels, show a good level of consistency, and show I’m a very competent batsman as well. If I get a few runs as well, you never know.”Ajmal Shahzad wants to stay injury-free to build on his winter’s efforts•adidas

Even though he may be required to bide his time for a recall, there’s little doubt that Shahzad made some important strides in his career this winter. By his own admission, he needs to work on his consistency, both in terms of fitness and performance, but taken in isolation, there were few better illustrations of his talent that the three wicket-taking deliveries he produced in England’s shock defeat to Bangladesh at Chittagong.Three off-stump snorters to Raqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Naeem Islam resulted in two bowleds and a caught-behind, as Shahzad’s ability to reverse-swing the old ball paid spectacular dividends before Bangladesh’s tailenders regrouped to secure a thrilling two-wicket win. “At the time, they were probably three of the best balls I’ve bowled,” he said. “They’d have got the best batsmen out on their day in any place in the world.”That’s what I’m capable of doing. I’ve got a natural inswinger, and when the ball’s reversing I get it to go away, and it becomes a very difficult delivery to play, and it showed that,” he added. “Looking back in hindsight, I wished I had a few more overs to bowl to get the boys a few more wickets, because it was disappointing to lose that game and make it difficult for ourselves in the quarter-finals, but it was nice to show what I was capable of doing.”Shahzad’s other telling blow of the winter came with the bat, when he strode to the crease at No. 11 in the tense closing stages of England’s epic showdown with India in Bangalore, and helped to salvage a tie by belting his first ball of the tournament, from Munaf Patel, over long-on for six. The blow transformed England’s target, from 11 from four balls to five from three, and it was left to Graeme Swann to level the scores with the last shot of the match.”Swanny said you can have a ball to have a look, then we need to do something,” Shahzad recalled.” But for me, walking out, I said to myself, these are the moments when heroes are made, if you want to show people what you’re capable of doing, this is your chance.”I’d watched Munaf bowl for a little bit before that, and I knew he was either going to bowl me a yorker or a legcutter slower-ball, so I’d got myself ready for that, and knowing that mid-on and mid-off were quite wide, I thought right, just hit it dead straight and as hard as possible, and I know I’ve got the power to back that up, so I can do this. He happened to miss his length and I happened to hit it, pleasantly!”Since England’s return home, much has been made of the gruelling nature of their five-month itinerary, but as a man who still had to clock up the air-miles even though he wasn’t a regular member of the starting XI, Shahzad insisted that the team had never been under any illusions about the magnitude of the task.”It was a little bit tough, but bearing in mind we knew what was in store for us, we planned for that and got ours mind focussed around it,” he said. “There were probably too many one-dayers, you might say, with a World Cup straight after, but the lads knew what was in store. Our 15-man squad got bigger and bigger as it went along, and we had a bit of a rotation system as well, so the management managed it as best they could.”Looking back on it, we did what we wanted to do, and we came back with the Ashes. We wanted to win the World Cup as well, but that was always going to be difficult in the subcontinent against subcontinent teams who are very good at one-day cricket. And right now I feel a part of the squad, although I don’t yet feel I’ve established myself, which I want to do and need to do for a prosperous career for England.”Ajmal Shahzad was launching the new One Day International England Cricket Kit, supplied by England kit sponsor adidas, at the JJB Sports Store in Enfield yesterday. Purchase your ODI shirt in-store at any JJB or online at jjbsports.com

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.

Archie Vaughan – son of Michael – takes first senior wicket before Andy Umeed leads cruise home

ECB Reporters Network07-Aug-2024Andy Umeed struck a commanding, clinical 63 as Somerset made short work of Northamptonshire Steelbacks, chasing down 156 to win this Metro Bank One Day Cup clash at Wantage Road with 148 balls to spare.Umeed faced 66 balls, blasting six fours and two sixes and combined with George Thomas (28) to get Somerset’s run chase off to a rapid start, the pair racing to 50 off just 31 balls in a blaze of boundaries. While Umeed fell with just 21 needed for victory, James Rew and Sean Dickson saw them home by seven wickets.In a match reduced to 49 overs a side due to rain, Saif Zaib cut a lone figure with 57 as Northamptonshire were bundled out for 155 inside 38 overs. Josh Davey claimed two early wickets before Zaib rebuilt, finding support from Ricardo Vasconcelos (29) and Lewis McManus (20).But hopes the Steelbacks might post more than 200 were soon dashed as the lower order collapsed, the last four wickets falling for seven runs in four overs, all seven Somerset bowlers taking at least one wicket. Somerset’s victory will give them extra confidence heading into next month’s Vitality Blast T20 quarter final between these two sides.Somerset made a crucial early breakthrough to remove their nemesis Prithvi Shaw, who plundered 244 off their attack in last season’s corresponding fixture. Shaw started positively, taking two boundaries off the opening over before he was caught behind off Alfie Ogborne.Davey then struck in consecutive overs, spearing one back in to clean bowl former Somerset teammate George Bartlett before James Sales played inside the line of a straight ball which hit the top of off-stump to leave Northamptonshire 33 for three at the end of the powerplay.Vasconcelos pulled Ogborne for two boundaries and helped take Northamptonshire past 50. But after sweeping a wide ball from Archie Vaughan for four, he attempted the same shot to a straight one and was was adjudged lbw, giving the offspinner his first senior wicket.Archie Vaughan – pictured being presented with his Somerset cap – took his first senior wicket•Getty Images

Zaib and McManus rebuilt, putting on 46 in 10.2 overs. Zaib smashed Vaughan down the ground for six and pulled Thomas from outside off-stump for another maximum. McManus too cleared the ropes when he dispatched Vaughan over long-on.But the break for drinks brought two quick wickets as first McManus had his off stump uprooted and next over Gus Miller was bowled by a Jack Leach delivery which straightened.Zaib duly scooped Leach for four to bring up his half-century off 62 deliveries, but that was where Northamptonshire’s celebrations ended as their lower order imploded.Zaib was first to go, caught in the deep when he attempted to muscle Lewis Goldsworthy over long-off for six. Michael Finan was bowled when he heaved at one from Riley Meredith and missed, Ben Sanderson chipped a return catch back to Goldsworthy, and Freddie Heldreich was caught behind off Ogborne. Justin Broad provided some late resistance, finishing 19 not out.In the run chase, Thomas took on Sanderson, who unusually failed to hit his trademark metronomic form. Thomas drove fluently and punched Sanderson through midwicket and flicked him over midwicket for six.Umeed meanwhile was unfurling textbook cover drives off Finan and played some attacking shots in the air, carving a Sanderson free hit behind square for four and flicking the same bowler over deep square leg for six.Thomas’ downfall came courtesy of an excellent diving catch from Vasconcelos at short midwicket off Broad, but next batter Goldsworthy (20) was soon into his stride. He got off the mark by cover driving Finan for four and leant into a wide delivery from Broad to square drive him to the ropes.Broad picked up his second wicket though when he pinned Goldsworthy in front lbw with Somerset 88 for 2.Umeed meanwhile was motoring, pulling Sales nonchalantly for four to bring up his half-century and clubbing Heldreich over deep midwicket for a huge six. He was ultimately unable to see his side over the line, edging a catch behind off Sales, leaving Rew and Dickson to wrap up the win.

21-year-old Robin Das announces himself with 69 off 33 as de Lange injury compounds Gloucestershire’s misery

ECB Reporters Network30-May-2023Essex 196 for 7 (Das 69, Khushi 34, Westley 31*) beat Gloucestershire 195 for 7 (Charlesworth 52, Dent 33) by three wicketsRobin Das continued his incredible breakthrough week with his maiden Vitality Blast half-century as Essex belatedly began their campaign with a six-wicket victory over Gloucestershire.Das, the 21-year-old batter, struck a century on his first-class debut against Ireland on Friday before crashing a stylish 69 to help Essex towards a daunting 196 target.That huge Gloucestershire score was in large part down to Ben Charlesworth’s brutal 19-ball fifty, the quickest for the county in T20s.But Das, together with fellow homegrown batter Feroze Khushi’s 34 off 12 balls and Tom Westley’s street-wise 31 not out guided Essex to victory with five balls to spare.”There is a lot of scope for things to go better but I guess I’ve had worse weeks,” Das said. “I am really happy with how the week has gone and hopefully can keep the ball rolling and keep the momentum going.”It is very pleasing to contribute with Feroze. I have played with him since club cricket at the age of 13 or 14. It is nice to play with those players you grew up with and shows a really strength to our club; players coming through the pathways and into the first team.”Related

• Yorkshire break nine-month winless run by sneaking past Notts

• Somerset emerge from paywall and showers as South Group's top dogs

• Hales shows calm after the storm to see off Durham

• Willey wills Northants to comeback victory at third attempt

• Taylor holds his nerve as Gloucestershire clinch first win of season

Essex and Gloucestershire hadn’t bowled a ball at each other at the Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford since 2016, following an incredible run of five consecutive washouts. Essex had also delayed the start of their Blast season due to the Ireland clash.Former Eagles Grant Roelofson and Chris Dent got Gloucestershire off to a strong start in the powerplay – 61 for 1 – but the former feathering an edge behind saw them stall.Miles Hammond and Dent fell in the following two overs, with Ollie Price bowled soon after, leaving the visitors on 80 for 4 just past the halfway point. But after an unspectacular start, where he was dropped on 13 and had 20 off his first 13 balls, Charlesworth went into hyperdrive.He took Matt Critchley for two consecutive sixes on the leg side before tearing into Sam Cook. Two fours through mid-on were followed by two maximums over deep square – one on the back foot, the other flicked off the front – to take him to his half-century.Next ball, Cook had the last laugh by finding his edge. James Bracey heaved his first ball for six – which made it 47 runs in 12 balls for Gloucestershire – but next ball he picked out long off, with Jack Taylor coming and going in the same Daniel Sams over.If Essex thought the onslaught had ended with Charlesworth, Marchant de Lange got their necks craning again by helping himself to 18 off the penultimate over – including a run of four, six, six.Danny Lamb, who arrived on a short-term loan from Lancashire before the match, crashed a four and a six off the last over to take Gloucestershire to an imposing 195 for 7.Fast bowler de Lange had Adam Rossington caught at deep midwicket with his third ball but pulled out of his delivery stride before bowling another ball before walking out of proceedings.Khushi had already pinged de Lange back over his head before repeating the trick twice off Tom Smith’s spin. But he fell to a stunning catch at short third as Essex blasted 72 for 2 in the powerplay.