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“Never faced a situation like this,” says Sri Lanka captain after losing three members of six-man attack

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Dec-2020Sri Lanka were in such a good situation in the early stages of the first Test they could even have dominated had multiple injuries not hit. This, at least, was the view of Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne, whose dressing room was decimated by injury through the course of the four days at Centurion.Sri Lanka made 396 in the first innings – their highest ever score in South Africa – but lost Dhananjaya de Silva to a thigh strain during what was arguably their most fluent innings of the Test. In subsequent days Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara withdrew from the attack due to injuries, meaning Karunaratne had only three good bowling options remaining.Despite the good first-innings total, they went on to lose by an innings and 45 runs, after South Africa racked up a total of 621 against a substantially depleted attack.”I’ve never faced a situation like this and maybe no one has, where in one match you lose three bowlers,” Karunaratne said. “When we started we had a balanced attack, with bowlers I could use for various roles. But in the first innings we lost that. We had been in a position where we could have even dominated the game. We had been in worse situations than this on our last tour to South Africa when we won those games. Losing this [game] by an innings is a huge disappointment.”We had scored the most we’d ever scored [in South Africa] in the first innings. We knew after making that total that it’s going to get harder to bat on later in the game as well. If our bowlers had stayed fit we would have been able to do something. Our batsmen did a good job in this match.”Karunaratne was unwilling to be too severe on the second-innings batting effort either. Sri Lanka conceded a first-innings lead of 225, but aside from the absence of de Silva, they also had to contend with a niggle that Dinesh Chandimal picked up, as well as Rajitha and Kumara’s inability to do anything but hobble between the wickets. Wanindu Hasaranga was also struggling to run after injuring his thigh diving on the ball on day three.Related

• Depleted bowling line up an opportunity for new names, says Karunaratne

• Mark Boucher: Kagiso Rabada not a guaranteed starter in Johannesburg

• Wiaan Mulder, Lutho Sipamla impress as South Africa bowlers seal innings win

• South Africa savour victory over Sri Lanka like one of their best

• Could have pulled some of our quicks out of LPL – Arthur

Karunaratne suggested that Sri Lanka’s collapse to 180 all out in the second innings was at least partly due to injuries having wiped out their prospects of victory.”We were 200 runs behind and if we’d chased that down and set a target, we still wouldn’t have had any bowlers to defend it,” he said. “We had two wicket-taking bowlers, and once their spells finish, the next bowlers we had available are myself, Kusal Mendis and Dasun Shanaka.”We have three wicketkeepers in the XI, so we don’t have a lot of part-time bowlers. I think that must have been in the batsmen’s minds in the second innings, because no matter how well we set up a target, it’s still not going to be easy. And when batsmen can’t run, that makes it tough because then you can only score with fours or sixes. Sticking around for two and a half days on this wicket would have been tough. It was still seaming and the bounce was inconsistent.”Sri Lanka hope to have senior seamer Suranga Lakmal back for the second Test, but he is battling against time to recover from a hamstring niggle by Sunday. Chandimal is also doubtful with what seemed to be groin problem sustained while batting. Top-order batsman Oshada Fernando is expected to be fit for the second game, however. Sri Lanka also have fast bowlers Dushmantha Chameera and Asitha Fernando in reserve, while Vishwa Fernando got through the first Test unscathed – the only frontline quick to do so.”We’re not sure about Suranga’s fitness. We hope he’ll be fit, but we’ll have to watch a few more days. Chandimal’s injury also needs to be observed. We don’t know yet whether he’ll be able to play, but I suspect he’ll be able to. We’ll need to replace Dhananjaya de Silva. The big loss going to Wanderers is that we don’t have our best attack anymore. We’ll do what we can with the players we have left.”In the dressing room, it’s not easy to handle this kind of situation. As a captain I need to work out how to keep my head up and keep the players together. There’s a lot of disappointment because we arrived on this tour with a lot of hopes. We’d been in a positive mindset. But the series isn’t over yet. I’m sure the replacement players will do well in the second Test.”

Sharma’s crucial unbeaten 39 from 22 balls from No. 6 pulls Storm through nail-biting run chase

Matt Roller at Hove01-Sep-2019Heather Knight paid credit to her Western Storm side’s batting depth after Deepti Sharma’s crucial unbeaten 39 from 22 balls from No. 6 lifted them over the line in a nail-biting run chase against Southern Vipers at Hove.Sharma came in with Storm needing 70 off 7.3 overs after prolific openers Smriti Mandhana and Rachel Priest had fallen early, but struck seven boundaries in her cameo in the middle to support Knight – who made 78 not out – as they chased down their target with an over to spare.”We’ve had people throughout the order play brilliantly throughout the competition,” Knight said. “Fran Wilson and Sophie Luff have been outstanding for us this year, and Deepti has had some really good cameos, even though she hasn’t had to bat too much.”I’m really delighted with how we’ve gone. The two at the top [Mandhana and Priest] obviously have a job to try and score quickly and sometimes that doesn’t pay off so we’ve got the middle order to patch that up if that does happen.”Also read: Knight leads Storm to title with unbeaten 78 against VipersVipers captain Tammy Beaumont suggested that while her side’s middle order had chipped in throughout the tournament, the difference in batting depth was ultimately the difference between the sides.”Yeah definitely, you look at them – they’ve got seven international players, and we’re kind of lacking that a little bit in our team,” she said.”Full credit to the girls, they’ve all stepped up at different times. Amanda Wellington has played some gems of innings for us at five or six, and so have Fi Morris and Paige Scholfield, so that’s just the way it is. But yeah, of course – having someone of the class of Deepti is maybe a little bit of a difference there.”The contrast with the Vipers – who were 134 for 1 after 14 overs, but lost six wickets for 38 runs in the final six overs – was clear, and Knight paid credit to her side’s decision to sign a full quota of overseas players that would be available for Finals Day, which contrasted with the other two sides.”Trevor Griffin has been amazing, putting the squad together,” she said. “No-one works harder as a coach than him in the early summer going to see players play in county cricket, and stuff like that, and assembling the best squad we could.”We made the decision to go with an overseas [player] that was going to be available for the final, because obviously we lost Smriti last year. It was sad to let Stafanie [Taylor] go but obviously she wasn’t available for today, and Deepti’s been outstanding for us, and obviously we had that little bit of extra depth which was nice.”With Danni Wyatt, who was confirmed as player of the tournament after the final, striking the ball cleanly, the Vipers had been set for a total far in advance of the 172 they ended up with, and Knight credited her seamers with dragging things back in their favour.”I thought they were on for 200-plus at one point, the way Tammy and Danni were going there in the middle,” Knight said. “It was a really good track, really hard to defend or stop the flow of runs when players were going like that.”We bowled outstandingly – Freya [Davies] and Anya [Shrubsole] in particular pulled it back nicely, managed to pick up a few wickets and I thought 170 was going to be really tough to chase, but we knew it was probably within our grasp.”We’ve chased some really good totals over the past couple of years, and we’ve somehow found a way to win a lot this season in tricky situations, so to do that, with the belief we’ve had, we knew that if one batter was there at the end we were in with a good chance. [I’m] delighted it was me, and happy to pick up the trophy.”

Although former members of both the USA Cricket Association and the American Cricket Federation were vying for the director’s post, they received very little support from the voters

Peter Della Penna06-Aug-2018The people have spoken and they want change as USA Cricket announced its election results this weekend. Although former members of both the USA Cricket Association and the American Cricket Federation were vying for the director’s post in the country’s new governing body, they received very little support from the voters, signalling the end of an era in American cricket administration.Avinash Gaje from New Jersey, Suraj Viswanathan from northern California and Venu Pisike from Atlanta claimed the three individual director slots. Voting was open to the more than 5000 registered members, with USA cricket approximating a turnout of 46 percent. The results reflected concentrations of the largest voting blocs, highlighting the success or failure to get players to register in their respective territories.Gaje received the most votes – 584 – out of all the candidates in the election and will get a three-year term as a result. He is president of the New Jersey Softball Cricket League, from which 15 full clubs and more than 200 members had registered to vote. That is second only to the Midwest Cricket Conference in Chicago, which had 25 clubs and just short of 400 individuals register, but none of its members ran in the election.Viswanathan claimed 557 votes and will be in office for two years, according to the staggered term limits put in place in the new USA Cricket constitution. Pisike had 548 votes and will serve for one year before going up for re-election.Brian Walters, from Austin, Texas, was the most high profile candidate in the individual director category. A former member of the Gladstone Dainty-led USACA board, he suffered from voter apathy in his region with just two clubs registering to vote in the Houston Cricket League.John Aaron, the former USACA executive secretary who went on to serve on the board of the ACF, also had the same problem. He ran in the club director category and touted endorsements from high profile names including former West Indies great Clive Lloyd, but lacked support on the ground. Only three clubs in his league, the New York Metropolitan & District Cricket Association, registered to vote.That meant Ajith Bhaskar, from the Commonwealth Cricket League of New York, enjoyed victory, snaring 66 of the 120 votes from registered clubs – defined as a team with at least 12 players registered. Bhaskar will serve a two-year term as club director.Atul Rai, the former USACA president who led the governing body from 2001-2003, finished in a dead-heat with former USA captain Sushil Nadkarni, who was taking part in the election for the first time. Both men were part of a four-man race for the post of league director and received 12 votes each, with the voters asked to rank candidates from first to last. A run-off election will take place from August 5 to August 12 to break the tie. In case there is a tie again, a coin toss will decide the winner.In the elite female athlete category, Nadia Gruny beat Erica Rendler by taking 16 of the 23 votes and will serve a two-year term on the board. Usman Shuja ran uncontested in the elite male athlete category and will serve a one-year term.When the run-off election between Rai and Nadkarni is decided, the final members of the board – three independent directors – will be announced by the nominating and governance committee. The full 10-member board should be finalised by the time USA hosts the 2020 World T20 Regional Americas Qualifier in September.

New Zealand aim to cap off their successful tour of Ireland with a win against Bangladesh, even while their opponents eye their first win against New Zealand away from home

The Preview by Mohammad Isam23-May-2017

Match facts

Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Start time 10.45 local (0945 GMT)1:17

‘Good to get back into ODI cricket’ – Henry

Big Picture

New Zealand, on account of winning their first three games of the tri-series, have already won the tournament but will look to keep their perfect record in Ireland intact as they play their last game against Bangladesh. In the context of the tournament, the game is a dead rubber, but both teams will look to finish strongly before they move to England for the Champions Trophy.New Zealand have some of their IPL stars back, having already made their presence felt in the last game against Ireland where Corey Anderson, Matt Henry and Adam Milne all took part in dismantling Ireland by 190 runs. Tom Latham, Luke Ronchi, Ross Taylor and Colin Munro are also in form, having made runs during this tri-series.Jeetan Patel’s addition to their squad means that looking ahead to the Champions Trophy from this point, New Zealand will have an additional spin option. Patel has taken 10 wickets at an average of 35.30 for Warwickshire in the Royal London One-Day Cup.Bangladesh will want to get one back at New Zealand, having lost to them in all four ODIs they’ve played since December last year. The two sides also meet in the final group match in the Champions Trophy, and a win would certainly boost their morale.Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar have shown good form but Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan are yet to play a significant innings in Ireland. Mahmudullah and Mosaddek Hossain would also have to find a way to get more runs in the slog overs.Bangladesh’s bowling too must prove, especially going into the Champions Trophy, that it doesn’t entirely rely on Mustafizur Rahman for the wickets and Shakib Al Hasan for control. Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain, Sunzamul Islam and Mehedi Hasan all have to find a way to deal with a higher-ranked opposition in these conditions.Soumya Sarkar has struck 61 and 87 not out in the tournament, scoring his first fifty in nearly two years•Sportsfile via Getty Images

Form guide

New Zealand WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh WLLWL

In the spotlight

Colin Munro blazed 44 off 15 balls against Ireland in their last game, finding his groove with his slogs and switch-hits quite quickly. New Zealand didn’t pick him for the Champions Trophy, which means Munro has another chance to make his exclusion look silly.After being without an ODI fifty for nearly two years, Soumya Sarkar now has scores of 61 and 87 not out in the tri-series. It bodes well for the left-hand opener who has been an iffy selection in ODIs since last year. Another big score would get him best prepared for the Champions Trophy.

Team news

New Zealand included Matt Henry, Adam Milne and Corey Anderson in the XI in their last game, and they are unlikely to make any changes after their 190-run win against Ireland.New Zealand: (probable) 1 Luke Ronchi (wk), 2 Tom Latham (capt), 3 Neil Broom, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Corey Anderson, 6 Mitchell Santner, 7 Colin Munro, 8 Adam Milne, 9 Scott Kuggeleijn, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Matt HenryTaskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam and Subashis Roy are options available as replacements for Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain. Imrul Kayes and Nasir Hossain, too, are up for selection if the team management wants to give their batsmen a break.Bangladesh: (probable) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Sunzamul Islam, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Pitch and conditions

It promises to be a clear day in Dublin with no rain. The side batting first has averaged around 227 in the last five ODIs at the venue, though Bangladesh’s 257 for 9 wasn’t safe in the last game here, also against New Zealand. So bowling first may be the better choice for the side that wins the toss.

Stats and trivia

• In 16 attempts, Bangladesh have never defeated New Zealand in an ODI outside home
• In New Zealand-Bangladesh ODIs, Ross Taylor has the most runs (663) and most centuries (2)
• Shakib Al Hasan has a chance to lead the wicket-takers’ list in New Zealand-Bangladesh ODIs, as he is now tied with Kyle Mills on 33 wickets. The next highest among active players is Rubel Hossain’s 19 wickets

Quotes

“Hopefully we can finish off strong. They boys have had a lot of success. It is the last game, so hopefully we can sign off with another good win.”

Mahela Jayawardene has praised the character shown by England’s young batsmen after they pulled off the second-highest successful run chase in T20 internationals

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-20163:26

Jayawardene: It was something special

Mahela Jayawardene has praised the character shown by England’s young batsmen after they pulled off the second-highest successful run chase in T20 internationals. Led by Joe Root’s 83 from 44 balls, England achieved a target of 230 to beat South Africa with two balls to spare in Mumbai and Jayawardene, who has been working with the team as a batting consultant, called it a “special” performance.Jayawardene, who was part of the Sri Lanka side that won the previous World T20 in 2014, has now concluded his part-time role with England and joined ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day analysis line-up, and he played down his part in their success.”To be honest, I haven’t done much,” he said. “When you work with a talented group of players, and when they do something like that, everyone thinks you had a huge role to play… but I’ve really enjoyed working with the England boys, they’re a young team with not much experience in international T20s but they want to play a brand of cricket which they have been playing for 12 months and they are still finding their way.”It was a great win last night, I really enjoyed it. In the dressing room it was nervous moments at points and at the halfway mark obviously everyone was disappointed. But they showed a lot of character to regroup and go out and the way they played was something special.”A former Sri Lanka captain, Jayawardene retired from international cricket for good after last year’s World Cup and first worked with England on their tour of the UAE before returning for the World T20. His relationship with the coach, Trevor Bayliss, goes back to their time together with Sri Lanka and Jayawardene credited the Australian with helping to change England’s approach.While chasing down 230 requires a capacity for powerful ball-striking, Jayawardene identified the “smartness” of Root and the captain, Eoin Morgan, as a key factor, as well as a degree of freedom and flexibility that has allowed the rest of the top six – openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales, as well as Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler – to flourish.”This is something that they have developed since Trevor Bayliss has taken over, they have put a lot of emphasis on white-ball cricket, not just T20 but one-day cricket as well,” Jayawardene said. “They’ve managed to get a group of young cricketers, looking towards the next 50-over World Cup as well. It’s not just power hitting, the way Joe batted in that middle period and the way Buttler controlled a tough situation when they lost Morgan. They’re still finding ways of doing things, they definitely have the power if they need to use it but [they are] trying to be much more structured going about things.”They have given licence to Jason because that’s the way he bats, Alex Hales still hasn’t really found his rhythm but he showed something yesterday. They can use Stokes anywhere because the flexibility is there, he plays pace and spin well. What they have got is the smartness of Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, who’s got the experience of playing in the subcontinent, in that middle. Jos Buttler has been in great form as well, so they’ve got six batsmen who can change a game and they do bat deep as well, so they’ve got the freedom to go out and express themselves.”While acknowledging there would be challenges ahead if England were to progress, Jayawardene was impressed by the players’ willingness to improve. Chief among them is Root, described by Morgan as “the most complete batsmen we’ve ever had”. Despite having played just 14 T20I innings – and 39 in the shortest format overall – he has become central to their World T20 plans and Jayawardene was impressed by his attitude to batting, calling him a “very skillful cricketer and a very bright cricketer as well”.”He wants to learn new things and to evolve as a cricketer,” Jayawardene said. “What you have to understand is that Joe hasn’t played that much T20 cricket, he hasn’t had that much experience of playing in the subcontinent, he’s still finding his way.”So for him to go out in a tough situation – probably the situation dictated the way he had to play, started slowly but to keep up with the run rate he had to be innovative. But he just kept his cool, made sure the guys around him do a bit of work as well, so when you look at the bigger concept, he’s the guy that England would want to do that kind of role for them in this tournament.”Jayawardene added: “[He is a] good all-round cricketer, there are about four-five young good players in this tournament that everyone is going to look out for and he is one of them.”

A magnificently enterprising 191-run eighth wicket partnership between Adam Wheater and Matt Coles kept Lancashire waiting until mid-afternoon for victory

Paul Edwards at Southport31-Aug-2013
ScorecardAdam Wheater scored his first Championship hundred for Hampshire•Getty Images

Rather like Charles II, Hampshire’s batsmen took an unconscionable time a-dying on the last day of this game and rarely has a death been so entertaining. The 550 spectators who took advantage of the free admission on Saturday morning and trooped into the Trafalgar Road ground can scarcely have imagined that they would get such good value for their money.The main cause of the fans’ pleasure – and the 6,500 who attended this game over four days were not slow to applaud both sides – was a magnificently enterprising 191-run eighth wicket partnership between Adam Wheater and Matt Coles. This pair defied Lancashire’s seven-man attack until an hour into the afternoon session when Wheater pushed forward to Simon Kerrigan and was caught by Gareth Cross for 140.By then Hampshire’s wicketkeeper-batsman, whose signing had so perturbed the supporters of former gloveman Michael Bates, had helped Coles break the eighth-wicket record for matches between these counties. He had also caused a number of spectators to revise their plans for Saturday afternoon as they opted to stay at the cricket in preference to trips to Tesco or journeys to the planet Ikea. You could see their point. Talk about something for nothing.Until Wheater departed there was still some hope of a really spectacular switch of fortunes in a game which Lancashire had dominated for three days. He and Coles had put the hammer down on an attack which was lacking Lancashire skipper Glen Chapple over the course of a morning session in which 38 overs yielded 145 runs. Wheater reached his hundred in 182 balls having hit 19 fours, many of them being the shots of a pedigree batsman; a few moments later Coles’s comparative restraint had helped him stroke a 101-ball fifty.After the game Chapple talked about his team failing to keep their eye on the ball on Saturday and you could see his point: it’s tough to keep a cricket ball in view when it is disappearing so rapidly in all directions. None of the Lancashire bowlers performed dreadfully but by the same token none of them looked like taking a wicket apart from Kerrigan who apparently had Coles caught off the glove when he was 15 only for Neil Bainton to turn down the appeal.Ultimately Coles departed two balls after Wheater when his rather uncharacteristic cross-batted swipe at Luis Reece resulted in the loss of his middle stump when he had made 68. Even then, though, the vaudeville was not over for Lancashire could not celebrate the win that takes them 33 points clear of Northamptonshire at the top of the Division Two table until James Tomlinson and 16-year-old debutant Brad Taylor had added 53 runs for the last wicket in a mere seven overs.Only when Taylor was stumped off Kerrigan for 20 could Chapple’s players savour their win and by then there must have been a measure of anti-climax moderating their joy. If Lancashire bowl as anaemically and inaccurately in Division One, there are a few tough days ahead of them next summer.Kerrigan, however, will not be worrying too much about that; he took seven wickets in this match and seemed to have got something of his old feel and rhythm back when he bowled on Saturday. Life must seem sweeter and less fraught to him than it did at The Oval just seven days ago.At the conclusion of the game Hampshire’s top order batsmen were surely regretting the spinelessness which had seen them start the fourth day on 133 for 7 with, we all thought, little for which to play. For their part, Lancashire’s players will have been pleased, relieved and dissatisfied in equal measure.But neither team’s feelings nor their desire to get home on a busy Saturday prevented them thanking the Southport and Birkdale club for staging this match with such professionalism and panache. If all outgrounds did things as well as this, counties might visit them more frequently and the Test grounds might be rather emptier than they are already when four-day games attract a couple of hundred paying customers who rattle around mighty stands like midgets lost in a labyrinth.

Anthony McGrath used all the experience gained over a 17-year career as he guided Yorkshire through a perfectly time, but very tense, run chase

Les Smith at Scarborough31-Aug-2012
ScorecardAnthony McGrath used all his experience in Yorkshire’s chase•Getty Images

Anthony McGrath used all the experience gained over a 17-year career as he guided Yorkshire through a perfectly time, but very tense, run chase to keep them firmly in the mix for County Championship promotion. After the near-miss on Friends Life t20 Finals Day last week this win with two overs to spare was a hugely significant moment – the way their season is remembered could well have hinged on it.McGrath has been through a lot with Yorkshire; trophies (including a Championship title), relegation, upheaval and rebuilding and has amassed well over 14,000 first-class runs. In 2003 he played Test matches against Zimbabwe and South Africa but there was a thought last year that time was catching up with him. This season he has moved down the batting order to provide ballast to a relatively inexperienced middle order and it was his position at No. 6 that proved so vital on this occasion.When Phil Jaques fell for a well-compiled 79 there were still 109 runs needed for victory and although the lower order had depth it was fair to say that if McGrath had followed him the game would have been up for Yorkshire.He finished unbeaten on 76, having offered one life, on 53, when Anthony Ireland put down a return chance. But the main concern for McGrath was running out of partners as Gloucestershire kept chipping away. He started unobtrusively but as time passed he began to accumulate, being especially strong on the leg side off both front and back foot.Adil Rashid unleashed one sumptuous extra cover drive but was caught behind shortly afterwards. That, though, only brought in Azeem Rafiq whose stature has grown immensely during a season where he captained for a period in the t20. McGrath was full of praise for his young team-mate: “We kept the run rate in check pretty well throughout, and then Azeem came in and we decided he was going to play a few shots and try to get the target down to the teens, which he did really well”.When Rafiq was dismissed for 24 Yorkshire required just two more and one delivery later McGrath finished the job with 16 balls to spare when he cut Liam Nowell to the boundary.Top-scorer Jaques led the plaudits for McGrath. “He just oozed experience, oozed class, didn’t look fussed at any point,” he said. “He’s invaluable for our team, great for our changing room, and he showed his class today.”When play resumed on the final morning after two washed out days Yorkshire had the options of attempting to bat through the day for a draw and the additional bonus points it would bring, or of coming to an arrangement with Gloucestershire to set a target and going for the much more lucrative win.Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale negotiated a target of 310 in 84 overs with his Gloucestershire counterpart, a total which to many observers seemed generous. As it turned out it made for a compelling day’s cricket, once the shenanigans of the first 25 minutes were over with 10 overs of lobs to Rob Nicol and Benny Howell, and led to a climax which had the crowd gripped. Ironically, the Yorkshire supporters who booed and slow handclapped during this passage of play were also among those cheering at the end.The way in which Joe Root and Adam Lyth set about launching the chase gave no hint of the anxieties which were to emerge later in the day. Both played with composure and some style, Root in particular impressing with his play through the off side. When, ten minutes before lunch, Lyth was out for 40, falling to an ugly hoik to mid-on off Ireland, it came as a surprise. So too did Root’s dismissal when he holed out to square leg off Norwell for 43.At lunch Jaques was eight not out, and in the afternoon session he built confidently on the start the openers had provided. However, three middle-order wickets fell at the other end, and doubts began to creep into the minds of the crowd. Gale never got going and was held at slip off Jack Taylor’s offspin during an impressive spell of 2 for 38 off 18 overs. Taylor’s second victim, Gary Ballance, swiped the fourth ball after tea straight to cover for 5, and later Andy Hodd was lbw to Will Gidman but through it all McGrath held steady.The 19 points Yorkshire took from this match mean that they leapfrog Hampshire into second place. With Kent also winning at Grace Road the last two rounds of matches look tasty. On the face of it, Yorkshire have the easiest run-in of the top four, and in two weeks’ time today’s events may appear to have been crucial.

Jonny Bairstow hit a ferocious 80 and Joe Root added a watchful 62 as lowly
Yorkshire clinched a six-wicket win against bottom side Worcestershire at
Headingley in their final Clydesdale Bank League Group A match

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Jonny Bairstow hit a ferocious 80 and Joe Root added a watchful 62 as lowly
Yorkshire clinched a six-wicket win against bottom side Worcestershire at
Headingley in their final Clydesdale Bank League Group A match.Bairstow plundered his runs from 67 deliveries, with six fours and four sixes,
as Yorkshire chased down their target of 231 with 11 balls to spare. The wicketkeeper-batsman has notched a century and two half-centuries in his last three matches in the competition, and he and Root took the game away from Worcestershire with a rousing third-wicket partnership of 122 in 19 overs.They came together at 51 for two after Joe Sayers, captaining Yorkshire for the
first time in a limited-overs match, and Adam Lyth, had both fallen to paceman
Nick Harrison.Root was perfectly happy to play the supporting role while Bairstow launched
himself into a series of stunning shots, thrashing Gareth Andrew high over
mid-wicket for six and taking a six and two fours off consecutive balls from
Harrison in an over which cost 17.A cheeky reverse sweep by Root went for four before Bairstow cracked Moeen Ali
for a mighty six over mid-on and drove with great power a boundary off leg-spin
debutant Brett D’Oliveira, the grandson of Basil and son of Damian. Another four and six for Bairstow off Aneesh Kapil put Yorkshire well ahead of the asking rate, but Bairstow perished when he sliced the same bowler to D’Oliveira at backward point.Root continued to look solid until he became D’Oliveira’s maiden victim, caught
at slip by Daryl Mitchell for 62 from 77 balls with three fours.Yorkshire also had a debutant in 18-year-old left-hander Alex Lees, and he got
off the mark second ball by driving D’Oliveira to the ropes, before leaving Gary
Ballance to end the match with a six off Jack Shantry.Put in to bat, Worcestershire were given a fine start by Moeen and Jack Manuel
with a 56-run stand in nine overs, but they sagged in the middle and were guided
to a respectable total by skipper Mitchell.He finished unbeaten on 81 from 80 deliveries with eight fours – three of them
in the final over from Moin Ashraf. Sayers made some inspired bowling changes with three different bowlers each claiming a wicket in the first over of spells.Ajmal Shahzad, returning from an ankle injury, and Oliver Hannon-Dalby, were
given the new ball but Moeen and Manuel shared three boundaries in
Hannon-Dalby’s initial over and runs continued to come so freely that 53 were on
the board from 40 balls, Moeen hitting five fours and Manuel four.The breakthrough was made when Ashraf came on and had Moeen cutting his second
ball into Bairstow’s gloves for 26, and Manuel soon followed for 32, caught on
the cover boundary by Root off Steven Patterson.Left-arm spinner David Wainwright also enjoyed a second-ball success as James
Cameron lofted a catch to Hannon-Dalby at mid-off, and in the following over the
first ball of a new spell by Hannon-Dalby pinned Alexei Kervezee lbw.Mitchell and Kapil helped Worcestershire recover from 90 for four and although
Kapil struck Root for a flat six over mid-wicket the off-spinner bowled tidily
in tandem with Wainwright who enticed Kapil into sweeping a catch to Shahzad to
end a 57-run.Andrew drove Shahzad to long-on where he was well caught low down by Lyth to
leave Worcestershire on 170 for six in the 34th over, but Ben Scott gave
valuable support to Mitchell in the closing overs, the seventh-wicket pair
putting on an unbroken 60.

The West Indies Cricket Board has announced the complete list of all approved cricket within its jurisdiction, with a view to protect the integrity of cricket in the region

Cricinfo staff07-Aug-2010The West Indies Cricket Board has announced the complete list of all approved cricket within its jurisdiction, with a view to protect the integrity of cricket in the region.”The WICB takes very seriously it’s responsibility in overseeing cricket in the West Indies and as such we are making public the list of approved cricket so that there can be no doubt by any stakeholder as to what matches or events are approved by the WICB,” the board’s chief executive Ernest Hilaire said. “There is a complete list of not only approved cricket but what is deemed ‘pre-approved cricket’ and we have worked closely with all the territorial boards to put together a thorough listing for all stakeholders to be with.”As the custodian of cricket in this part of the world, the WICB – like other boards around the world – must be proactive and exercise diligence in protecting the integrity of the game and one way to do this is to ensure that all the information pertaining to the approval of cricket is widely available.”Applications for approval of a cricket match or event – outside of what is detailed in the List of Approved and Pre-approved cricket – must be made in writing to the WICB at least 30 days prior to the start of the event.”We certainly expect that there will be applications forthcoming and we look forward to working with all those who have the best interest of West Indies cricket at heart in an effort to improve the quality of the game in the region,” Hilaire said.The approvals, effective from August 1, are in accordance with applicable ICC regulations.