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The Redbacks’ top order was destroyed by likely Test bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood after the NSW and Australia captain Steve Smith closed the Blues’ faltering first innings shortly before the scheduled close

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2015
ScorecardDavid Warner was playing after over seven weeks•Getty Images

Tactical declarations and new-ball bowling under lights will be prevalent during the Adelaide day/night Test if a seesaw day one of the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia is anything to go by.The Redbacks’ top order was destroyed by likely Test bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood after the NSW and Australia captain Steve Smith closed the Blues’ faltering first innings shortly before the scheduled close.Starc and Hazlewood had the new pink ball bending around corners on a muggy evening, accounting for Kelvin Smith, Callum Ferguson and Mark Cosgrove within the first three overs.The Blues had squandered a strong start after Smith chose to bat in natural light, watched by a small crowd notable for its many key broadcasting and cricket operations observers testing out Adelaide ahead of next month’s historic five-day fixture.After Ed Cowan squandered a start, Smith and the fit-again David Warner combined for the sort of stand they may need to make a habit of to keep a young Australian side afloat this summer. Warner managed the pain of a still healing thumb well enough in his 77, while Smith mixed watchful defence with the odd fidgety flourish.SA’s pacemen gave way to spin and medium-pace as the pink ball grew soft, and the Warner-Smith stand was broken by the spin of SA captain Travis Head, who claimed the wickets of both senior men plus Nic Maddinson in an impish display.Joe Mennie followed up sturdily, as the NSW middle order struggled to find any momentum against tight bowling and ring fields. Ultimately Smith preferred to declare before stumps rather than letting a meandering innings play out, a decision that would be richly rewarded.Twelve wickets and 265 runs illustrated that the day/night format will be a test of patience but also a game of fortune, as the new ball at night is likely to be the 21st century equivalent of being caught batting on an uncovered wicket.

Pace bowler Kamrul Islam Rabbi is the only newcomer in the 14-member Bangladesh squad for the first two ODIs against Zimbabwe on November 7 and 9, in Mirpur

Mohammad Isam01-Nov-20151:40

Isam: Rabbi is a future prospect

Pace bowler Kamrul Islam Rabbi is the only uncapped player in the 14-member Bangladesh squad for the first two ODIs against Zimbabwe on November 7 and 9, in Mirpur. Mashrafe Mortaza will captain the side after recovering from the after effects of dengue fever last month. Shakib Al Hasan was also available for the full series against Zimbabwe, though his wife is expecting their first child this month.Al-Amin Hossain, meanwhile, made a comeback after nearly a year. He last played an ODI last November, and though he was picked in the World Cup squad this year, he was sent home midway through the tournament for breaking a team curfew.

Bangladesh ODI squad changes

IN: Al-Amin Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi
OUT: Anamul Haque, Rubel Hossain

Rabbi has been developing into a steady performer in domestic cricket for the last seven years. Besides becoming the captain of the Barisal Division’s first-class team last season, he has also been a regular with the Bangladesh A team, and bowled well for Victoria Sporting Club in the List A Dhaka Premier League last season, taking 15 wickets at an average of 25.33 from 11 matches.During the recent short tour of South Africa with the A team, both Al-Amin and Rabbi were the standout performers. Al-Amin claimed figures of 5 for 45 against Northerns while Rabbi took four wickets against Gauteng.There was, however, no place for Anamul Haque and Rubel Hossain, who were part of Bangladesh’s last ODI squad, against South Africa in July. Anamul had not played a game during that series but he was in the 18-man preliminary squad that was announced in late October, while Rubel has not recovered from his calf muscle injury suffered during Bangladesh A’s tour to India in September.Squad for the first two ODIs: Mashrafe Mortaza(capt), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Jubair Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy Group B games on November 15, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Shardul Thakur put in another strong performance for Mumbai•PTI

The sheen of bowling Railways out for only 217 was taken off, if only slightly, as Mumbai lost two wickets in the final 19 balls of play. Opener Jay Bista, on first-class debut, was taken out by Anureet Singh for 2 and the nightwatchman Dhawal Kulkarni was bowled for a duck to leave the hosts at 4 for 2 at Wankhede stadium.Prior to those few minutes though, everything went well for Mumbai. Their fast bowler Shardul Thakur produced another impressive performance: he took 4 for 38 in 19 overs and his wickets were of the top-six batsmen. More often than not, that indicates a poor start from the opposition and it was. Railways, having chosen to bat, found themselves at 16 for 3 in the seventh over and 48 for 4 in the 14th before Arindam Ghosh and SS Mishra, playing competitive cricket for the first time in his career, put on 85 runs.Shardul provided the strike Mumbai wanted, having Mishra caught behind for 46. Ghosh was ninth man out for 65, to left-arm spinner Vishal Dabholkar, and Railways ended their innings on 217. Kulkarni updated his portfolio with a couple of wickets as well.
ScorecardA sturdy top-order performance from Uttar Pradesh left Tamil Nadu ruing their decision to bowl in Kanpur. The 19-year old opener Almas Shaukat, who had begun his first-class career with a century in October, was dismissed only 12 runs short of another one. He had played the anchor role quite well – lasting 203 balls, with 11 fours and a six. Upon that foundation, Umang Sharma laid his 73 off 148 balls and then the Uttar Pradesh captain Suresh Raina, ran the point home with a half-century of his own. He was unbeaten on 52. But Tamil Nadu will hope that their increased discipline as the day wore on – they took three of their four wickets in the final 22 overs of play – continues into the second day.
ScorecardHe had missed out on a century twice this season, but Kedar Devdhar took centre stage in Vadodara and made it big with 186 off only 249 balls to stamp Baroda’s dominance over Madhya Pradesh. He hit as many as 28 fours and a six to lead an opening stand of a whopping 245 off 352 balls to leave Punjab wilting by the time stumps were called, because they had opted to bowl.Runs leaked from both ends as Aditya Waghmode helped himself to 96 off 184 balls, with 14 fours and a six. Devdhar was on the cusp of lasting a full day’s play, but with the safety of stumps only minutes away, he was dismissed by seamer Deepak Bansal. Hardik Pandya was batting on 42, and Baroda will expect him to extend their advantage.Gurkeerat Singh, who spent a day with the Indian Test side in Bangalore as their 17th man before being released to play in the Ranji Trophy – took a wicket. As did Yuvraj Singh. Punjab captain Harbhajan Singh is yet to get on the board having bowled 16 overs.
ScorecardHalf-centuries from Manpreet Juneja and Rujul Bhatt drove Gujarat to 252 for 6 on the first day of their Ranji clash against Madhya Pradesh in Surat. Gujara, opting to bat, lost their opener Smit Patel early, but handy contributions from the rest of the top order pushed the score above 100. Puneet Datey and Jalaj Saxena, who took a record 16 wickets in the previous round, helped MP claw their way back into the game with regular strikes, but Bhatt put up two fifty-plus stands to help the hosts seize the initiative. First, he added 73 for the fifth wicket with Juneja, who made 61, before combining with Axar Patel for a sixth-wicket stand which yielded 62 runs. Bhatt batted patiently for his 51 off 142 balls, stroking just two fours, but was dismissed towards the end of the day by Jalaj.

Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, has said that Bangladesh’s two-Test series against Zimbabwe, scheduled originally for January 2016, will be shelved to keep the team’s focus on T20Is

Mohammad Isam21-Dec-2015Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, has said that Bangladesh’s two-Test series against Zimbabwe, scheduled originally for January 2016, will be shelved to keep the team’s focus on T20Is. Hassan did not mention when the series will be now be held, but said the period after the World T20 was in discussion.”It is necessary for us to prepare for the Asia Cup T20 and the World T20 which are two important tournaments,” he said. “Many of our T20 players aren’t in the T20 squad so if we play Test cricket at that time, they won’t be able to prepare.” The BCB, however, is yet to announce any international or domestic T20 tournament between the end of the BPL and the start of the Asia Cup, which they will host.The two-Test series was part of Zimbabwe’s full tour to Bangladesh, but after Australia postponed their Test series in October, the BCB forwarded the limited-overs matches from the Zimbabwe series to November. Bangladesh won the ODI series 3-0, and the two teams shared the two-match T20I series 1-1.Back in August, the BCB had already cut one Test from this series to prepare for the World T20. In October, the two Tests scheduled for January were forwarded to November, but a week later, the BCB changed the format of the series to include just ODIs and T20Is.

Glamorgan have signed Craig Meschede from Somerset on a permanent deal after he was released from his contract at Taunton

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2016Glamorgan have signed Craig Meschede from Somerset on a permanent deal after he was released from his contract at Taunton.He has signed a three-year deal and will report for pre-season training this week.An allrounder and product of the Somerset academy, Meschede spent the 2015 season on loan at Glamorgan and quickly becoming an integral member of the side in all formats.He joined Glamorgan in a swop deal with Jim Allenby, who immediately joined Somerset on a three-year deal, with no suggestion at the time that Meschede’s move to South Wales would become permanent.He hit his maiden century against Surrey at Cardiff, followed up with another against Northamptonshire at the SWALEC Stadium and his displays of clean-hitting prompted his elevation to open the batting during NatWest T20 Blast games.Glamorgan chief executive Hugh Morris was keen to recruit Meschede on a permanent basis and concluded negotiation with the Somerset management team on Monday.”Craig played an important role in our team last season and although we were keen to keep him, any deal relied on Somerset’s sanction as he had a year to run on his contract,” said Morris.”We’re delighted to have got the deal over the line and believe that we’ve signed a player who adds a lot to the side and also has the potential to develop further.”Meschede, 24, has taken 92 wickets in 45 first class matches while maintaining a batting average of 24.29.Meschede said: “This has been a tough decision as Somerset has been a massive part of my life. I’d like to thank Somerset for the last eight years. It has been an absolute honour and pleasure to represent the club.”Glamorgan is the best opportunity for my cricket at this stage in my career. I really enjoyed my time at the club last year so I look forward to returning on a full-time basis.”

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final matches on February 4, 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2016
ScorecardJ Syed Mohammad struck his second first-class century to put Assam on top in their quarter-final against Punjab•PTI

Sixteen wickets fell on the second day in Valsad, at the end of which Assam gained a significant foothold on a semi-final spot in the Ranji Trophy.J Syed Mohammad scored 121 batting at No. 7 to put up a total of 323 following which seamers Krishna Das and Arup Das routed Punjab for 137. Assam’s batsmen pushed their first-innings lead of 186 to 209, but had a lot of trouble doing so thanks to left-arm seamer Barinder Sran’s 3 for 11. Besides Sran, Punjab had only one other performance of note: Mayank Sidhana, who struck nearly 60 % of their first-innings total – 80 off 131 balls with 10 fours – and remained unbeaten while eight of his team-mates crumbled for single digits.Punjab had fallen to 13 for 4 in the fifth over as Arup (3 for 41) and Krishna (3 for 54) ran amok. Mandeep Singh and Gurkeerat Singh bagged a couple of ducks, leaving Sidhana and Uday Kaul to resurrect the innings. They put on 73 runs together before part-timer Pallavkumar Das broke through and the Punjab tail crumbled soon after.Assam had began the day with two wickets standing in their first innings and Mohammed converted his overnight 50 into his second first-class hundred. With him in charge, the final two wickets hung on for over 21.3 overs and amassed 100 runs, a crucial development considering the Punjab collapse that followed.
ScorecardSaurashtra took firm control of their Ranji quarter-final against Vidarbha, as centuries from Sheldon Jackson and Sagar Jogiyani drove the team to an innings lead of 224 in Vizianagaram.Saurashtra, who began the day at 70 for 1, were dealt two early blows, losing both Cheteshwar Pujara and Arpit Vasavada in the space of three overs. However, Jackson and Jogiyani led a counterattack, batting together for more than 50 overs to put up 206 runs. Jogiyani struck 17 fours and two sixes during his 130 – his eighth first-class ton, while Jackson’s 122 off 175 featured 13 fours and six sixes. Their efforts lifted Saurashtra to 375. Umesh Yadav was the pick of Vidarbha’s bowlers, taking 5 for 81, while Aditya Sarwate picked up 4 for 63.Vidarbha were 17 for 0 in their second innings when stumps were called.
ScorecardAfter having pitched in with 33 off 37 balls to push Mumbai past 400, Iqbal Abdulla dismantled the Jharkhand middle order with three wickets to cement his side’s control in Mysore. Abdulla hit four fours and one six during his cameo as Mumbai added 113 to their overnight score. Left-arm spinner Shabaz Nadeem finished with figures of 5 for 140.In response, Jharkhand’s opening pair of Shiv Gautam and Anand Singh began steadily before the slide began. The 46-run partnership came to an end when pacer Shardul Thakur had Gautam caught by Suryakumar for 18. Anand followed soon after, for 39. Akhil Herwadkar, who struck his fourth first-class century on Wednesday backed it up with three scalps of his own. Abdulla, meanwhile, accounted for Ishank Jaggi (14), Kumar Deobrat (15), and Rahul Shukla (8); debutant wicketkeeper Sufian Shaikh playing a part in two of those dismissals. Jharkhand crawled to 150 for 8 when stumps were drawn.

Gloucestershire have signed Cameron Bancroft, the Western Australia wicketkeeper-batsman, for the first two months of the English season

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2016Gloucestershire have signed Cameron Bancroft, the Western Australia wicketkeeper-batsman, for the first two months of the English season.Bancroft, who made his Australia debut in the final T20 against India in Sydney this month, comes with the recommendation of Western Australia team-mate Michael Klinger for who Bancroft will stand in for during the opening part the season.His signing makes it a trio of Western Australia players at Gloucestershire alongside Klinger and pace bowler Andrew Tye. Bancroft will be available for five Championship matches before Klinger returns towards the end of May.Bancroft, who was named in Australia’s Test squad for the cancelled tour of Bangladesh last year, scored 896 runs in the 2014-15 Sheffield Shield season and followed that with 224 runs in the two-match series for Australia A against India A.Richard Dawson, the Gloucestershire head coach, said: “Maxy [Michael Klinger] has given him really good reviews – he said he’s very fit, hard-working and is committed to trying to improve and kick on”His attitude and the fact that he is 23 means he is a really good fit for our changing room which is also important.”He will bolster our batting during that period and he also gives us cover with the gloves if required. I talked to him this week and his hunger to come over and have a crack at county cricket really impressed me. He wants to come and learn and improve his game and that was massive for me.”

India captain MS Dhoni has said Virat Kohli’s ability to rotate strike is the key to converting starts into big scores in pressure situations after India’s six-wicket win over Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-2016India captain MS Dhoni has said Virat Kohli’s ability to rotate strike is the key to converting starts into big scores in pressure situations after Kohli’s unbeaten 55 off 37 balls took India to a six-wicket win over Pakistan at Eden Gardens on Saturday.Kohli arrived in the third over with the score on 14 for 1 and had only faced two deliveries by the time India fell to 23 for 3 in the fifth over in pursuit of Pakistan’s 118, but Dhoni said Kohli thrived in such situations by not depending on boundaries to get himself and the team out of trouble. Up until the ninth over, Kohli had only struck one boundary but had taken nine singles in his first 13 deliveries in partnership with Yuvraj Singh to add the first 31 runs in a 61-run stand that took India within striking distance of victory. In all, Kohli scored off 28 of his 37 deliveries, including 19 singles.”It’s very simple. What an innings is all about is how you convert it, when you’re under pressure,” Dhoni said after the win. “There are a few ways to handle pressure. At times we have seen, in Test cricket, or ODI and T20 format, when there is a lot of pressure, often they go for the big shot. It seems at that point of time that that’s the best option, but when you’re under a lot of pressure, the best way to deal with it is to take a single, go to the other end, because that calms you down, and at the same time you have that positive intent because you’re looking for that single. And you know your areas.”Everybody knows what their strength is – for some it’s a flick, for some it’s the cut. So if it’s in your area, you have to play your shot. If not, try to take a single, go to the other end. And if you see his batting, that’s what he really does. And where he has an edge over the others is, you have to push hard. That’s why he loves batting with individuals who can run hard with him. Because running hard is the easiest way to score runs. You hit it in the middle, between long-on and deep midwicket, if you have two good runners, you can convert that one into two, or one-and-a-half runs into two, and that puts a lot of pressure on the bowler and the fielders.”The other ingredient to success that Dhoni attributed to Kohli is his “hunger to perform”. Dhoni said Kohli’s preparation habits enabled him to consistently score runs rather than going through dips in form.”He takes everything as a challenge,” Dhoni said. “He wants to improve, he wants to contribute in each and every game, and that’s what it’s all about, because he wants to contribute, he wants to score runs, he prepares well, he takes care of his fitness. He knows, he understands now, in different wickets how he’s supposed to bat and score runs. And we all know, once he gets going, once he gets a start, he always converts it into a big innings, which I feel is one of the most important things for any youngster coming into the game.”MS Dhoni attributes Kohli’s ability to thrive under pressure to his eagerness for taking singles•IDI/Getty Images

Kohli’s success helped shield the problems faced by other batsmen on the day, in particular Suresh Raina who was out first ball to Mohammad Sami. The left-hander has struggled recently, scoring 1 in two of his previous three T20I innings. However, Dhoni deflected questions about Raina’s form and said the team still had confidence in him.”People don’t score runs in one or two games, that question will be asked,” Dhoni said. “If Shikhar doesn’t score in one more game that question will be asked, why not Jinks to open and Shikhar left out. I feel it is important to back players and at the same time, if you see there are too many people who need to bat at that No. 3 slot.”If you compare the stats, especially when it’s happening in India, you’ll see there are lot of individuals who should bat at three, but Virat gets an edge, and in the same way I think [Raina] deserves that No. 4 position more than anyone else, and it’s important to back him. Yes, there might be tactical changes when he won’t get that slot, but overall I think he’s the best option.”Dhoni also gave credit to his spinners for exploiting conditions after winning the toss and inserting Pakistan to bat first. The India captain said the amount of time the pitch spent covered due to rain throughout of the day was a strong factor in his decision-making, though he was surprised at the amount of turn so early in the match. At the same time, he also explained his reasoning for not bowling out R Ashwin despite the trouble caused by Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja early in the match.”Initially we never thought it would turn so much. Reading the wicket, I thought there was a bit of moisture because they had watered the wicket yesterday and I don’t think they got enough sun today. The last time when I saw the wicket was before the start of the game, and then it was quite damp. And even when you roll the wicket, the top surface may look a bit good, but it’s more a cosmetic thing, because underneath there was a lot of moisture.”I feel it was because of the moisture that the spinners were getting a lot of turn. Even the ones that were bowling it quite hard, if you hit the seam you can turn the ball, and that’s what Jadeja and Ashwin did. The Pakistan batsmen, they are good players of spin bowling, and later on I felt, there was a chance, if I had given it to Ashwin they could have gone after him. I’m not saying he can’t deal with it, but I went for the safer option.”While Dhoni said he is proud of India’s historic unbeaten record against Pakistan in World Cups and World T20s, he said it’s not something they take for granted.”There is also a reality that one day we will lose – whether it is today or in ten years or 20 years or 50 years. There is no such thing that you will always keep winning. Also, our team has evolved a lot, and somehow in ICC events our performances have been good of late, whether it’s the last Champions Trophy or the World Cup. We have given pretty good performances, so that also plays a role. I feel we have played good cricket, and that’s the reason.”

The Edgbaston pitch has been reported to the ECB over its indifferent bounce following the Specsavers County Championship match between Warwickshire and Somerset

ECB Reporters Network11-May-2016
ScorecardBowlers held sway at Edgbaston before the weather closed in•Getty Images

The Edgbaston pitch has been reported to the ECB over its indifferent bounce following the Specsavers County Championship match between Warwickshire and Somerset which ended in a draw when the final day was washed out.Eighteen wickets fell on the second day, after which rain prevented any further play, with numerous batsmen hit around the body and the surface was reported by the umpires to ECB liaison officer Tony Pigott. His findings will now be considered by an ECB disciplinary commission.”It was not the type of pitch we wanted,” admitted Warwickshire director of cricket Dougie Brown. “There were cracks but was it dangerous? No.”We all know here that Gary Barwell is the best groundsman in the country by a mile. He was preparing this pitch 14/16 days ahead, as always, and when he started it was in snow and ice. Then the weather flipped on its head and suddenly it was very hot, so the drying process was accelerated by the weather.”When the cricket liaison officer said the pitch had been reported we were incredibly surprised.”While Warwickshire await the commission’s findings, they will also wait to see whether captain Ian Bell’s injured hamstring will heal in time for him to play against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on Sunday.Somerset, meanwhile, were left deeply frustrated. With Warwickshire on four without loss in pursuit of their target at the end of the second day, the visitors fancied their chances, only for heavy cloud and mist to take up residence over Birmingham for 48 hours.”It was very disappointing,” said captain Chris Rogers. “On a wicket that was getting harder to bat on, we felt 320 was definitely a winning total.”There were a few concerns about the pitch. The groundsman didn’t quite get it the way he wanted to, though I think had a similar-looking wicket for their first game that didn’t play anywhere near as badly.”I have played on some excellent wickets here so this was different, but fortunately there were no real incidents.”Despite the frustration of not being able to press home a victory, Rogers was pleased with his side’s performance. Having spent most of their first three drawn games on the back foot, this time they held the initiative.”The innings from Tom Abell and Peter Trego were outstanding,” he said. “They really gave us momentum and, particularly when you are playing a good side, if a couple of guys step up and lead from the front, it carries through the rest of the team.”I think we bowled really well, pitched the ball up and challenged the batsmen and got our rewards. Everyone who got the ball in their hand did a really good job.”

A decision on whether November’s Adelaide Test between Australia and South Africa will be played as a day-night fixture will be made public by Wednesday, June 8.

Firdose Moonda06-Jun-2016A decision on whether November’s Adelaide Test between Australia and South Africa will be played as a day-night fixture will be made public by Wednesday, June 8. Tony Irish, CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association, told ESPNcricinfo the player body is “still dealing with the issue”, and will have a “final decision one way or the other within the next two days”.South Africa’s players initially rejected the idea of a pink-ball Test but have been in negotiations with Cricket Australia (CA), and the Australian board said last week that it was “hopeful” of the match taking place under lights. On Friday, Australia’s reported that the South African players had changed their mind during the Indian Premier League.Talk out of the South African camp in the last few weeks has suggested otherwise. AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada had all voiced their objection to a day-night Test, citing the lack of practice with the pink ball. Even though CA offered South Africa a warm-up match under lights, Philander said the players would need to have “experimented on the domestic front” and “tested the pink ball properly”, before agreeing to play a Test with it. He said it would take “a few games” before they felt comfortable.The other major reason for South Africa’s stance was that they are chasing a Test revival after slipping from No.1 to No.6 in the ICC rankings last season and do not want to risk missing out on a rise up the rankings because of unfamiliarity with the pink ball. “The players’ strong desire to play this as a normal Test match is testament to how much they actually care about the series,” Irish said in April. Irish also stressed that the players’ views should be treated with importance and pointed out that both South African and Australian players had concerns.Australia have already played one day-night Test, the inaugural match against New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval in November last year. Then, CA had provided New Zealand with a million-dollar financial incentive to compete in the match. It is not known if the Australian board has offered the South African players a similar sum but with the declining rand, any amount may prove difficult to turn down.