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If the role of a county cricket club is to win trophies and produce players for England, Yorkshire are doing an excellent job

George Dobell at Trent Bridge12-Sep-2014
ScorecardYorkshire get into their victory huddle•PA PhotosIf the role of a county cricket club is to win trophies and produce players for England, Yorkshire are doing an excellent job.A club that was, in the words of its chairman, 48 hours from going out of business a few years ago has now lifted the 32nd County Championship title in its history. No club has as many.And they have done it while providing several players for England – five of this team have played Test cricket for England in the last 12 months – and while developing a production line of talent that will serve club and country for years to come.On the final day of this match, their hero was Ryan Sidebottom. He claimed four wickets for six runs in 7.2 overs to complete the 26th five-wicket haul of his first-class career and end Nottinghamshire’s resistance. Bowling a tight line and nipping the ball away off the seam, he produced beauties to account for both Chris Read and Luke Fletcher and, when James Taylor, left in a desperate position, slashed to cover, the match and the title were Yorkshire’s. Victory was wrapped up by 11.36am.”Pride” is a word that occurs often in conversations with those associated with Yorkshire. Pride in the club’s history, pride in the club’s values, pride in the club’s role. Cricket still matters in Yorkshire. And Yorkshire cricket matters most of all.That explains the spirit and unity which has seen this squad through the dark days. The spirit and unity that gave the team strength when they gained only one win in their first five Championship games of the season. The spirit and unity that saw them overcome the England withdrawals and the crushing defeat at Lord’s when an inspired Chris Rogers led Middlesex to a miraculous victory.The captain and coaches will, quite rightly, gain many of the plaudits for this victory. Certainly Yorkshire’s record since Jason Gillespie arrived is exceptional: the club have lost three Championship games in three years. The director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, has made some shrewd signings and remains largely responsible for the development of the batsmen, and Andrew Gale remains a calm and selfless leader.But the skills and spirit that have led to this title are generated long before players reach the first team. When you have coaches like Ian Dews, steeped in Yorkshire cricket, in the academy and others likes Richard Dawson and Kevin Sharp (now with Worcestershire) working below the first team, players graduate to the first-class game knowing what is expected of them and prepared technically and temperamentally.This, truly, was a victory not just for the team but for the entire club.It was telling that, of the 19 men who represented Yorkshire in the Championship this season, only five were not born or brought up in the county. Two of the team that lifted this trophy are the sons of former Yorkshire and England players. It brings a unity of purpose and understanding to the dressing room. It brings shared values and a sense of pride in representing this team that, on the tough days, just might make all the difference.Certainly, they were at their best when they were challenged. In these last few weeks, they have won five games out of six and four games in succession. When confronted by their closest rivals – Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire – they responded with innings victories. Such has been their dominance this season that five of their eight victories came by innings margins, another by nine wickets and two more by 220 runs or more. They have proved themselves, by a distance, the best side in the land.And there is more to come. In Alex Lees and Adam Lyth they have an opening pair who have contributed, on average, 76 runs per stand and both have realistic England aspirations. They have a legspinning allrounder in Adil Rashid who continues to press for international opportunities and, just below the surface, the likes of Matt Fisher, a young seamer who could not break into the side this season, but who has a wonderfully bright future. Throughout the club, from first team to academy to youth teams, talent is burgeoning.It was a shame, therefore, that their captain was not able to share in the moment of triumph. The exact nature of Gale’s misdemeanour remains, at the time of writing, unclear but it does seem odd that ECB, who have failed to make any specific comment or condemnation of the shameful booing of Moeen Ali at Edgbaston, appear so keen to flex their muscles here.But such a controversy should not overshadow Yorkshire’s success. Nothing should deflect the credit that the likes of Jack Brooks, who has taken 64 Championship wickets, or Lyth, who has scored 1,428 Championship runs, deserve. Nothing should deflect from that fact that, for the second year in succession, a club has won the Championship not through its expensive imports, but through its home-grown talent.Yorkshire have endured many setbacks over the years. They have suffered internal conflict, economic catastrophe and such bitter infighting. Until today, no club in the land had gone so long since they last won a trophy.But, on the pitch at least, they are delivering. Yorkshire cricket is strong again. And for that, all England should be grateful.

Happy with the batting and bowling, West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin asked his team to improve their fielding ahead of the second Test in St Lucia

Mohammad Isam09-Sep-2014Happy with the batting and bowling, West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin asked his team to improve their fielding ahead of the second Test in St Lucia. West Indies won the first Test by ten wickets, with more than two sessions to go, but five dropped catches soured the bonhomie at Arnos Vale.The win was put together by Kraigg Brathwaite’s maiden double-hundred, Suleiman Benn’s five-wicket haul and a late burst by Kemar Roach, who took four wickets in the second innings. But Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored his third Test century, was the biggest beneficiary of West Indies’ fielding lapses.He got four lives – Chris Gayle dropping him at first slip on 10, Darren Bravo dropping him at gully on 25, Gayle again dropping him on 71 and finally Jerome Taylor dropping a sitter at mid-on when he was on 115.Kirk Edwards also put down a simple chance offered by Mahmudullah on the fourth day when the batsman skied the ball straight to cover.”It [the dropped catches] is a cause for concern,” Ramdin said. “It is very important we work on those areas. Our slip catching has hampered us in the past and in St Lucia we definitely need to hold all our chances.”I think our team is in a good place. Our batsmen are getting runs and our bowlers are getting wickets. We hope the pitch at St Lucia will be a lot greener than the one we have had here.”Ramdin commended Bangladesh for their fightback in the second innings and said that the 130-run partnership between Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah had taken the game away from West Indies a little, helped along by their poor slip-catching.”I think after the first innings, they came back and batted well in the second innings. They applied themselves. It was going to be hard following on, our bowlers had a good run in the first innings,” Ramdin said. “It was a good pitch, I would say, went better as the game went along.”Mushfiqur Rahim came in and batted really well with Mahmudullah. I think that was the partnership that took it away a little from us. But we bowled in some good areas and created chances. We didn’t take our slip catching as well as we wanted to.”Ramdin praised Kemar Roach’s four-wicket haul on the final day but he was profuse while talking about Kraigg Brathwaite who made his maiden Test double-hundred to help set up West Indies’ first innings.”Roach bowled exceptionally well on a flat pitch, and he was backed up by the bowlers as well,” Ramdin said. “Brathwaite is definitely going from strength to strength and is displaying immense maturity. We hope he can continue on to bigger and better things. [Shivnarine] Chanderpaul also batted well to support Brathwaite.”Brathwaite, adjudged man of the match, was understated when talking about his own performance, calling it a result of training harder to play against spin.”It was a difficult pitch but I worked hard and it brought me success,” Brathwaite said. “I got a lot better against spin bowling and I have been working on some things with the bowling machine, but I still have a long way to go. Every time I go out I try to get as much as possible. Next game I will come back and work hard for the team.”

New Zealand Women’s high performance squad for 2014-15 includes 16-year-old wicketkeeper Natasha van Tilburg

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2014NZ Women high performance squad 2014-15

Suzie Bates (capt), Kate Broadmore, Nicola Browne, Sam Curtis, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Georgia Guy, Holly Huddleston, Hayley Jensen, Felicity Leydon-Davis, Frances Mackay, Sara McGlashan, Morna Nielsen, Katie Perkins, Rachel Priest, Hannah Rowe, Sian Ruck, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu, Natasha van Tilburg

New Zealand Women’s high performance squad for 2014-15 includes 16-year-old wicketkeeper Natasha van Tilburg. The squad of 20 will get “specialist coaching support, individual strength and conditioning programmes, mental-skills training and athlete life services”, a New Zealand Cricket release stated.”These players are likely to play big roles for the White Ferns over the next few years and we’ll be providing the necessary resources to support their ongoing development as much as possible,” NZC’s head of cricket, Lindsay Crocker, said in the release.”With the emergence of the ICC Women’s Championship, the women’s game has gone to an exciting new level. Through the newly established role of high performance manager and the 10 women’s contracts, we’re taking a number of steps to increase our strength and depth and create a viable succession plan. We hope to see the benefits at events such as the 2017 ICC World Cup and beyond.”The team got a new coach in July, when former Auckland cricketer Hamish Barton was appointed in the role.

India will face a predominantly young and inexperienced Cricket Australia XI in their first tour game to be played at the Gliderol Stadium, Adelaide on November 24 and 25

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2014India will face a predominantly young and inexperienced Cricket Australia XI in their first tour game to be played at the Gliderol Stadium, Adelaide on November 24 and 25. Gurinder Sandhu, the 21-year-old New South Wales fast bowler, has been named in the squad led by Ashton Turner, Sandhu’s teammate from the Under-19 World Cup in 2012.The match is the first of two two-day games India are scheduled to play before the start of the four-Test series. The second tour game will be played at the Adelaide Oval on November 28 and 29.”Gurinder Sandhu is a highly-regarded fast bowler who has performed consistently well at domestic level and underage international level,” Greg Chappell, the Cricket Australia talent manager, said. ” He was very impressive in the two four-day matches against South Africa A in August this year and we expect that he will perform well against this high-quality team.”India is a strong international team so it will be a great experience for this CA XI, which includes some of the most exciting young cricketers in the country,” he said.India will arrive in Australia on November 21. The first Test will be played in Brisbane from December 4.CA XI squad: Ashton Turner (capt), Ryan Carters, Alex Gregory, Sam Grimwade, Sebastian Gotch, Josh Lalor, David Moody, Jonte Pattison, Gurinder Sandhu, Matthew Short, Kelvin Smith, Nick Stevens.

After New Zealand drew the Test series in the UAE, coach Mike Hesson said there was a “lot of satisfaction” in playing well across different conditions

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2014New Zealand have been undefeated over their last five Test series. This year, they had clung to a 1-0 lead over India with a stunning show of defiance in Wellington, trumped hosts West Indies 2-1 for their first series win away from home against a Full Member in 12 years, and capped it off by coming from behind to draw with Pakistan, a team they have tended to struggle against.Mike Hesson, the head coach, was pleased with how his team has adapted to the challenges they have faced in the past 15 months. “There’s a lot of satisfaction from the group and how we’ve got about it in different conditions,” he said. “Obviously we’ve been able to create history in West Indies and to win a Test over here, where historically we really struggle – ’96 was a really good tour for the Black Caps over here, but other than that we’ve got a history of losing pretty badly over here.”So to be able to bounce back from 0-1 gave the team a lot of satisfaction.”Though they were thoroughly outplayed in the first Test in Abu Dhabi, New Zealand had “showed the initial improvement in Dubai”, according to Hesson.Brendon McCullum and the rest of the line-up made a conscious effort to upset Pakistan’s spinners Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar, who have been critical to Pakistan’s dominance in the UAE this season, and Hesson said that contributed greatly to the team coming back from 0-1 down to square the series.”It is very difficult to survive when you have four guys around the bat, and often the only way to change that is to be pretty proactive,” he said. “I think there’s no doubt we probably took that to extremes at times and some of the strokeplay was astounding, really, and that allowed us to play with no guys around the bat and push a lot of singles.”With the limited-overs series coming up, Hesson is hopeful that his batsmen can continue to be the play-makers.”Top-order runs,” he said. “I think if you’re able to set the game up with top-order runs over here, then you allow your power to come later on and put the cream on. They are a side that keeps attacking throughout the innings so if our top-order players are able to set that platform then that gives us a chance to set good scores. And I think also with the ball, that ability to keep taking wickets [is key].”The first of two T20s is set for Thursday, and the five-ODI series begins on Monday.

A round-up of the Ranji Trophy Group C matches on December 31, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Dec-2014
ScorecardFile photo: Rishi Dhawan picked up 5 for 53 to break through Assam•ESPNcricinfoTripura and Goa played out a draw in Agartala, though Tripura were the happier of the two teams, as a 14-run lead in the first-innings gave them three crucial points. Goa, who began their second innings at an overnight score 123 for 5, tried to force an outright win, as a 99-run partnership between Deepraj Gaonkar (74) and Amit Yadav (50) pushed the team to 238 for 9, after which they declared. It meant Tripura needed 225 for victory, but with only 31 overs left in the day, a favourable result for either team was unlikely. Bishal Ghosh (47) and Udiyan Bose (41) shared in an 89-run opening stand, as Tripura made 113 for 1 before the match ended.
ScorecardAssam resisted for almost 80 overs on the final day, but a five-wicket haul from Rishi Dhawan helped Himachal Pradesh complete an innings and 133-run win in Guwahati. After being asked to follow on, Assam lost four early wickets to stumble to 28 for 4, but Tarjinder Singh, coming in at No.6, batted for nearly five hours to score an unbeaten 90.Tarjinder stroked 13 fours during his knock, but was hard-pressed to find solid support at the other end, as only three other batsmen reached double-digit scores and Assam were eventually bundled out for 198. Dhawan claimed 5 for 53, while Ankush Bedi and Vikramjeet Malik snared two wickets apiece.
ScorecardSaurabh Tiwary scored his first century of the season, as Jharkhand batted out the whole day against Kerala in Dhanbad to secure a draw, though Kerala had already secured first-innings points. Starting the day at 68 for 1, Jharkhand lost Virat Singh early, but Tiwary put up big stands with Shahbaz Nadeem (71), Ishank Jaggi (51) and Kumar Deobrat (39) for the third, fourth and fifth wickets to lift the team to 337 for 5. Tiwary remained unbeaten on 125, with five fours and four sixes, helping Jharkhand make 337 for 5.
ScorecardA fifty from Services captain Yashpal Singh ensured the team secured a draw against Hyderabad in Uppal. With Hyderabad already having gained a 32-run lead, Services had fallen further behind by slumping to 75 for 4 on the penultimate day. However, Yashpal (60) put up 50-plus stands with Devender Lochab and Saurabh Kumar, before Abhishek Sakuja chipped in with 46 down at No.10, to propel Services to 285. Akash Bhandari took five wickets, taking his match tally to nine, but leaked 109 runs from his 40 overs. Services’ efforts meant that Hyderabad needed 254 to win, but with only 14 overs remaining, a draw was the only possible outcome. The hosts were 52 for 1 when the match ended.

St Vincent and Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has accused WICB president Dave Cameron for “dishonouring” the agreement that the players who abandoned the India tour in October would not be victimised

Nagraj Gollapudi25-Dec-2014Joining the chorus of opposition against the dropping of Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy from the ODI series in South Africa, St Vincent and Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has accused WICB president Dave Cameron for “dishonouring” the agreement that the players who abandoned the India tour in October would not be victimised.According to Gonsalves he had organised a meeting as CARICOM representative to resolve the impasse arising out of West Indies’ premature termination of the India tour. In addition to Cameron and himself, that meeting, held at the Hyatt Hotel in Trinidad on October 23, was attended by Bravo, West Indies Test captain Denesh Ramdin, Ralph Thorne, the players’ legal counsel, West Indies Players Association president Wavell Hinds, and WIPA lawyer.In a sternly worded two-paged letter sent on December 23, Gonsalves said Cameron had agreed that teams for the South Africa tour would be picked on “merit”. Yet last week the West Indies selection panel, chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, appointed inexperienced 23-year-old fast bowler Jason Holder as the captain for the ODI side, indicating it was time to appoint a young leader.”The meeting arrived at several conclusions or agreements. One of these was the solemn undertaking by the WICB, through you, that none of the “India 14″ would be victimised or discriminated against because of the tour’s premature termination,” Gonsalves said. “Specifically, you agreed that the election of the teams (Test, One-day, T-20) for the imminent tour of South Africa would be done on the merit from the available pool of player, including “the India 14”.”Your solemn undertaking was honoured by the WICB in the selection of the test team for South Africa. But it is evident to all objective observers that the WICB has dishonoured the undertaking in respect of the recently-announced touring party for the ODI series in South Africa.”Although Lloyd explained the reasons to pick Holder, he did not specify why exactly Bravo, Pollard and Sammy were dropped. On Wednesday, without explaining any reasons, the WICB issued a media release stating Sammy had been included as the 15th member of the ODI squad for the South Africa series. Nor has Cameron or any of the WICB executive made any public comments.According to Gonsalves, relieving Bravo from ODI captaincy and sacking him as a player amounted to “travesty of justice” and was unjust especially since it came so close to the World Cup. “The peremptory removal of Mr. Bravo from the captaincy of the One-Day team and the non-selection of Messrs Pollard, Sammy and Bravo himself, all members of the “India 14”, to that team reeks of village vengeance, discrimination, and victimisation. It is inconceivable, that on the cusp of the World Cup, such a decision of folly could have been made or embraced. Since the decision glaringly lacks cricketing merit, reasonable persons are left to conclude that there is more in “the mortar beside the pestle”.Gonsalves also said that the WICB could not hide behind the “fig leaf excuse” that the decision to drop the players was taken by the selectors. “At the end of the day, you and the WICB are responsible for this farce which is injurious to West Indies cricket.”It is not too late for you and the WICB to correct the egregious error in respect of Messrs Bravo, Pollard and Sammy. I urge that you initiate steps to effect a reasonable corrective. The days of men riding horses with cork hats across plantations, are, metaphorically, over. The WICB must stop functioning as a virtual private club and be responsible and responsive to the people of the region.”

Joyraz Sheik’s century lit up the final day of the first Youth Test between Bangladesh Under-19s and Sri Lanka Under-19s that ended in a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Joyraz Sheik’s 100 not out had 11 fours•WICBJoyraz Sheik’s century lit up the final day of the first Youth Test between Bangladesh Under-19s and Sri Lanka Under-19s that ended in a draw. The visitors led by 73 runs at the end of the third and final day in Dambulla.Opting to bat first, the home side were bowled out for 216 runs on the second morning. Salindu Ushan top-scored with 77 off 254 balls with nine fours, but the rest of the batsmen didn’t make much after getting set – four of them fell in the 20s.Left-arm spinner Nihaduzzaman took five wickets while offspinner Mehedy Hasan picked up three wickets.The visitors reached 78 for 2 at the end of a truncated second day, which was affected by rain. Shadman Islam started quickly off the blocks with his 69-ball 56 with 11 boundaries. Afterwards, Sheik added 66 runs for the fourth wicket with Hasan, who made 41.Sheik made 100 off 167 balls with 11 fours. For Sri Lanka, offspinner Nishan Peiris took four wickets while chinaman bowler Ravindu Tillakaratne took two wickets.

Somerset have signed Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistani left-arm seamer, for this seasons NatWest T20 Blast. He helped Hampshire to Finals Day in 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2015Somerset have signed Sohail Tanvir, the Pakistani left-arm seamer, for this seasons NatWest T20 Blast. He helped Hampshire to Finals Day in 2013.Tanvir, 30, held the world record for the best figures in a T20 with 6 for 14 in the IPL until Arul Suppiah bettered him in 2011. He has represented Pakistan in all formats, with 36 wickets at 28.52 in 42 T20s, including appearances at every edition of the World T20.”Sohail is a quality top order bowler and a dangerous lower order batsman,” Somerset director of cricket Matt Maynard said. “There is no doubt that he will be an extremely useful addition to the squad for the NatWest T20 Blast this year.Maynard’s choice of Tanvir was influenced by a caching stint in the Caribbean Pemier League: “He is an experienced international cricketer who will provide us with something a little bit different. I worked with him at St Lucia Zouks and he was our star performer so I am looking forward to teaming up with him again.”After several strong years in the shortest format Somerset disappointed in 2014, failing to qualify for the knockout stage for the first time since 2008.

New Zealand will be without Adam Milne for the rest of their World Cup campaign after the fast bowler suffered a heel injury in the quarter-final win over West Indies

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland22-Mar-20151:51

Conditions will determine Milne’s replacement – McCullum

Matt Henry faces the prospect of being parachuted from outside the New Zealand squad into the World Cup semi-final against South Africa after fellow fast bowler Adam Milne was ruled out of remainder of the tournament with a heel injury.Milne, 22, underwent an MRI scan on Sunday after experiencing discomfort in his left heel. Mike Hesson said the problem had been an issue for two weeks but was manageable until after the quarter-final against West Indies. The amount of swelling will not allow him to play in the final week of the tournament, with New Zealand hoping to secure a first World Cup semi-final win at the seventh attempt and progress to Melbourne.Henry joined up with New Zealand on Sunday when they arrived in Auckland, trained the day before the semi-final and was given ICC approval as a replacement late on Monday afternoon.He was considered unlucky to miss out on the original squad after impressing in New Zealand’s win over Pakistan in the UAE before Christmas. He has 21 wickets at 15.42 from eight ODI appearances and will provide competition for McClenaghan and Kyle Mills to replace Milne with the feeling growing on the eve of the semi-final that he was already the favourite.Brendon McCullum said the team “did not have to roll out the same game plan” they have used during the tournament but added it had served them well which hinted at Henry standing a good chance of being a like-for-like replacement for Milne.”We probably need to have another look at the wicket tomorrow, look at the overhead conditions, as well, and try and factor all those things in,” McCullum said. “But I think you’ve seen the way we’ve operated with Adam in that third seamer role has worked quite well for us coming in after our two opening bowlers swinging the ball; the role that he’s been able to play has been very good.”A factor in Henry’s favour is that he has been playing regular cricket, albeit the red-ball version, in the Plunket Shield while the reserves in the New Zealand have been left with endless net sessions to keep themselves sharp. Since featuring in two matches against Sri Lanka in January, when acting as cover for Mills, Henry has taken 20 wickets in five matches for Canterbury including six in the most recent outing against Central Districts in Nelson. However, his numbers in the one-day Ford Trophy are far less compelling: three wickets in five matches at an economy rate of 7.29.McClenaghan is the only player outside the first-choice XI to have appeared in the tournament, when he replaced Milne for the game against Bangladesh, but he had a poor outing as he conceded 68 runs off eight overs. Mills, meanwhile, does not provide the pace that came from Milne although the experience of 170 ODIs cannot be discounted in a World Cup semi-final.Despite the scenario having emerged of New Zealand needing to make a change for a knockout match, McCullum stood by the decision to make as few alterations as possible during the group stage even once the team had comfortably qualified.”I think seven from seven is a testament to the strategy that we’ve rolled out,” he said. “We’re very confident in every member of the squad that we have here, and if Matt gets brought into the squad officially, then we’re obviously confident in him, as well. We talked before the tournament, as well, about the guys that sat on the periphery of the squad and how they were unlucky to obviously miss out initially.”Matt is one of those guys who now if he does get brought in, then he has the opportunity to come out there and perform, and we’ll back him immensely, just as the guys who have been sitting on the sidelines.”Milne played in six out of New Zealand’s seven matches and although he only took five wickets, at a cost of 39.80, his extra pace provided a valuable contrast with the rest of the seam attack. The absence of his fielding should not be discounted, either, after he repeatedly showed his athleticism in the outfield during the tournament, especially with the catches he took against England and Afghanistan. McCullum confirmed Milne would remain with the squad during the semi-final.”Adam has been outstanding for us in that third seamer role throughout the tournament,” he said. “It’s really disappointing for Adam but he’ll remain part of the squad, which is good, because he’s a good team man, as well, good fellow to have around.”It is not the first time Milne’s body has let him down. At the start of the New Zealand season he was ruled out of the series against South Africa with an elbow injury which followed an abdominal muscle strain against India last year. Back in early 2013 he missed a one-day series in South Africa due to an Achilles problem.