Middlesex found some batting backbone after a woeful start to the season to ensure Glamorgan were made to work hard in their search of a first victory at Lord’s since 1954

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's17-Apr-2010
ScorecardAndrew Strauss couldn’t believe it when he fell to Jamie Dalrymple•PA Photos

Middlesex found some batting backbone after a woeful start to the season to ensure Glamorgan were made to work hard in their search of a first victory at Lord’s since 1954. Dawid Malan ended six runs away from a hundred, but the loss of Andrew Strauss in the final hour of the day was a major blow with the England captain having looked set for a hundred after adding 143 for the third wicket to raise hopes of chasing 375.Strauss hadn’t faced a ball by the time Middlesex lost their first two wickets and was understandably cautious in his approach before advancing to a 98-ball half century. He rarely looked like getting out until his rash attempt at a slog-sweep against Jamie Dalrymple (who bowled in both cap and sunglasses). There was the occasional play-and-miss – this is April, after all – especially from the Pavilion End where there was extra bounce for the seamers, but after an uncertain start against Worcestershire Strauss is back to the day job.A three-day finish looked on the cards when Glamorgan made inroads with the new ball on a surface that has offered something throughout. The impact of not being able to use the heavy roller once a match has begun is certainly being felt in the early stages of the season as life isn’t squeezed out of the surfaces. It shows up those whose techniques are not up to scratch.Scott Newman’s horror start to his Middlesex career continued when he was pinned lbw by James Harris for a duck, his fourth single-figure score in a row. It was a lovely piece of bowling from Harris, who appeared unhindered by the leg injury which restricted him to seven overs in the first innings, as he slanted the ball across the left hander before bring one back. Newman, though, was all over the place.Sam Robson didn’t last long before he edged low to second slip against some outswing from David Harrison to bag a pair and leave the score 1 for 2. But slowly Strauss and Malan weathered the toughest period and as the shine disappeared and the sun continued to blaze down conditions started to ease.Malan was the more aggressive to begin with, while Strauss was content to play watchfully and showed good judgement outside off stump. Malan’s fifty came off 94 balls with nine boundaries and Strauss then kick-started his effort by twice stepping down the pitch to loft Dean Cosker straight down the ground.When Strauss fell, Malan became the senior partner and his earlier hard work paid off as he was able to cash in one some loose deliveries. He didn’t managed a hundred last year, but has begun this campaign in promising form after top-scoring in the defeat to Worcestershire last week.Adam London had a tough start to his innings when he was crashed in the helmet by a Harrison bouncer and survived a huge appeal for a slip catch that was ruled a bump ball. However, he couldn’t survive the day when he pushed forward to Cosker in the penultimate over and edged to slip.Glamorgan were given some extra breathing space by stubborn lower-order resistance when it appeared their second innings would end in a hurry. Mark Wallace had produced his second useful innings of the match when he was caught behind off Gareth Berg’s second ball of the day and three balls later Mark Cosgrove, who retired hurt with concussion yesterday, edged a good delivery to second slip without adding to his 17.However, Cosker resisted impressively against the frontline pacemen and added 54 for the ninth-wicket with Harrison. Periods of defence were punctuated with fine off-side drives and it required spin to break the partnership when Harrison clubbed Shaun Udal to mid-on. Cosker was then left stranded one short of only his second half century in 164 first-class matches when Huw Waters pushed a gentle catch back to Tim Murtagh.

Andrew Strauss used his return to the scene of his Ashes-winning triumph last summer to rediscover his batting form for Middlesex in their London derby against Surrey.

18-May-2010
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Mark Ramprakash was the mainstay of Surrey’s first innings with a superb 223•Getty Images

Andrew Strauss used his return to the scene of his Ashes-winning triumph last summer to rediscover his batting form for Middlesex in their London derby against Surrey.Strauss finished the second day of the County Championship Division Two
clash on 54 not out after earlier watching former England batsman Mark
Ramprakash turn an overnight century into a superb 223 as Surrey totalled 490. With Scott Newman also hitting an unbeaten 79 in his first match against his
former county, Middlesex reached 148 for 0 in reply by the close.England captain Strauss certainly needed some runs in his last county
appearance before the start next week of the two-Test series against
Bangladesh.
In 11 previous Championship innings for Middlesex this season, Strauss had made
only 262 runs at an average of 23.81, with just one half-century. In three
further Clydesdale Bank 40 one-day innings, he had managed only another 60 runs
with a top score of 26.Strauss, who missed the short winter tour to Bangladesh in order to rest, also
had to watch from afar as Paul Collingwood and the England Twenty20 team became
world champions with their magnificent victory against Australia in the
Caribbean on Sunday.He would not have wanted to link up again with England without some significant
runs behind him and it was his good fortune to find himself batting on a true
Oval surface.Ramprakash’s innings, too, showed Strauss just what was possible as the 40-year
old moved on majestically from his overnight 125. It was Ramprakash’s 11th double-ton for Surrey, putting him just one behind Sir
Jack Hobbs’ county record of 12. Hobbs, though, made 144 centuries for Surrey;
this was Ramprakash’s 57th three-figure score for the county.In addition, Ramprakash moved into joint fifth position in the all-time list of
first-class double-century makers when he thrashed a short ball from Dawid Malan
through the covers for four. He now has sixteen in his career, putting him level
with Hobbs, CB Fry and Graeme Hick.Gary Wilson hit 10 fours in an excellent 62, dominating the strike and the
scoring in an 88-run stand with Ramprakash for Surrey’s seventh wicket, before
he was stumped giving Malan the charge.Ramprakash was eventually ninth out, hitting high to long on, after facing 395
balls and striking a six and 26 fours in a 564-minute stay at the crease.Surrey also announced during the day that Younis Khan, the former Pakistan
batsman, will be joining the club until mid-July and could be in the country in
time to play in Friday’s Clydesdale Bank 40 fixture against Glamorgan in
Cardiff.Surrey professional cricket manager Chris Adams said: “I am confident that
bringing a world class player such as Younus Khan to Surrey will have a very
positive effect on the side.”As well as benefiting from the weight of runs we hope he will bring, we have
a number of young batsman who will doubtless benefit greatly from being able to
train and play alongside him.”Brian Lara, however, will not be joining Surrey for the Friends Provident T20
following talks between the club and the great West Indian, and Indian
leg-spinner Piyush Chawla – Surrey’s original overseas signing for this season –
has been refused permission to play county cricket by the BCCI.

For the third Test in a row, a comfortable margin of victory masked a match in which Bangladesh forced England to graft for their rewards, but the events of the final day were typical of the gulf that still exists in the mindsets of the two nations

Andrew Miller at Lord's31-May-2010For the third Test in a row, a comfortable margin of victory masked a match in which Bangladesh forced England to graft for their rewards, but the events of the final day were typical of the gulf that still exists in the mindsets of the two nations. While England believed that they’d come good in the end, and ultimately galloped to their goal at a rate of five an over, Bangladesh knew deep down that another disappointment awaited, and the final margin spoke of a familiarly demoralised surrender.”The facts will be that we won by eight wickets, but we had to work very hard for our win,” said England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, who sealed the result with a final-day 82. “In some ways we’ve got to give credit to the way the Bangladeshi batsmen played – in the first innings and the second they held us up with some stubborn resistance and some pretty good strokeplay. We’ll be better for this game and the five days we’ve had, but we’re obviously looking to set our standards higher than we achieved in this game.”At times in the game, Bangladesh had the measure of their opponents, and more. When conditions were at their best for batting, in bright sunshine on the second afternoon and again on the fourth day when Tamim Iqbal was blazing through the follow-on, they spanked along to 493 runs in 135 overs, for the loss of five wickets. However, when the sun disappeared – into the clouds on the third and fifth days, and over the horizon when the new ball was taken on the fourth evening – they mustered figures of 15 for 171 in 68.2.”They are definitely getting closer because more of their batsmen have the belief they can get decent scores,” said Strauss. “But, like most sides, if you keep chipping away and pressurising them, eventually you will see a collapse of some sort, and on both day three and five when the conditions suited us, we were able to take wickets quite frequently.””It’s a bit frustrating but we know that we are improving,” said Bangladesh’s captain, Shakib Al Hasan. “When it was overcast the ball was doing a bit, but we didn’t apply ourselves for long periods of time, and that cost us the game. We thought we’d have a good chance to draw if we batted more than 50 overs, but then I got out, and our tailenders couldn’t get enough runs. It’s always frustrating when you lose, but we can take so many positives out of this game. There are so many negative things as well, and we need to learn from them and improve.”After lighting up Lord’s with a thrilling hundred on Sunday, Tamim claimed to have been inspired by some scathing remarks from Geoffrey Boycott, who had argued on Test Match Special that Bangladesh’s attack was not worthy of Minor Counties cricket. It was a charge he repeated, with some justification, as England amassed 160 runs in a single session to wrap up the result, and afterwards Shakib admitted that his bowlers were struggling to compete on equal terms.”We know we will win some games if we win sessions, day by day, but we need to improve our bowling, especially in these conditions,” he said. “At home we can depend on our spinners, but here we have to depend on our fast bowlers, so they need to learn quickly. As far as our batting is concerned, that was our best game against England, but we didn’t bowl in the right areas, and that was the main problem. Any team that scores 700-plus in a match makes it difficult for us to win.”The extent to which the conditions dictated terms doesn’t exactly bode well for Bangladesh’s prospects ahead of the Old Trafford Test, where the weather tends towards the damper side of mild, and where the pitch promises to be hard and fast. But England themselves should be equally concerned by the ramifications. They can’t expect such prodigious assistance from the heavens in Perth and Adelaide this winter, and the question of whether to go in with four bowlers or five is one that will remain a hot topic for the remainder of this summer.”It was hard work for our bowlers,” admitted Strauss. “We probably didn’t hit our straps in the first innings, though we got better as the game went on and the pitch got flatter, and that was encouraging. We’ve always said we’ll judge whether we need four bowlers or five depending on the conditions we’re likely to encounter. We probably felt on this wicket there’d be more in it than there was, early season, but we’ll keep looking on a case-by-case basis.”One factor that should not be overlooked was the unusually subdued performance from Graeme Swann, England’s Player of the Year and the No. 2-ranked bowler in the world. He went wicketless for the first time since the Headingley Test during last summer’s Ashes, and has never before returned a barren analysis in a Test in which England have claimed 20 wickets.”You’ve always got to judge your attack that on the conditions you’re likely to encounter,” Strauss said. “Sometimes you want four extra bowlers when a partnership develops but you can’t have them. But I think what the bowlers did well was that they stuck at their task very well. At times they had to change their plans and dig it in short, while Graeme Swann didn’t have a huge role to play because there was no turn at all. On most wickets he’s going to be more threatening than on this one.”On the subject of Tamim, who has now helped himself to 395 runs in three Tests against England, at a remarkable strike-rate of 83.33, Strauss was cautiously appreciative. “He’s a dangerous player because he hits length balls straight and very hard, and he goes after the short balls as well,” he said. “Some of the orthodox fields you might employ are rendered slightly redundant at times, but there’s no secret to bowling well at any player. If you’re hitting the top of off as often as possible he’s going to struggle, especially with the ball nipping around.”With that in mind, Strauss was grateful for the influence of Steven Finn, who marked his home Test debut with Man of the Match figures of 9 for 187, and had all of the Bangladesh batsmen flinching at the accuracy he generated from his 6’7” frame. “There wasn’t a lot there for our bowlers, and the lines and lengths he hit were encouraging,” said Strauss. “He’s obviously got some great attributes, his height and a pretty clean action, and early in your career it’s fantastic to get wickets and show you belong at this level, which he has done.”

Lancashire have finally received the green light from the government for its redevelopment plan to secure Test cricket at Old Trafford

Cricinfo staff23-Jun-2010Lancashire have received the green light from the government for its redevelopment plan to secure international cricket at Old Trafford.The plan, which is in conjunction with a Tesco development near the ground, is necessary after the ECB declared that Old Trafford would not retain its international status unless the facilities were improved.Old Trafford hosted the England Test against Bangladesh earlier this month and unveiled its new conference centre, The Point, to mixed reviews in that game.The real goal for the county is to host a 2013 Ashes fixture and to do that building work would have to begin shortly after the 2010 season ends. The decision by the government office for the North West not to refer the £32m scheme to a full inquiry has made that possible.”Government Office North West has backed the council’s recognition of the important role the club plays in supporting Trafford’s economy – especially through hosting international matches like the Ashes,” said Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes.”And this decision backs the partnership’s plans to deliver a much-needed new retail offering, hundreds of local jobs, and millions of pounds in regeneration to this part of the borough. With construction work now set to progress, I would personally like to thank everyone who has backed our proposals. We have been overwhelmed by the level of support and encouragement we have received.”

Ravi Bopara showed his worth as a limited-overs player with a starring performance in a 124-run win for the England Lions over West Indies A at New Road

Cricinfo staff04-Jul-2010
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Ravi Bopara sent a firm message to the England selectors with a big hundred against West Indies A•Getty Images

Ravi Bopara missed out on selection for England’s forthcoming one-day internationals against Bangladesh, but showed his worth as a limited-overs player with a starring performance in a 124-run win for the England Lions over West Indies A at New Road. Entering with his side in deep trouble at 14 for 3 in the 4th over, Bopara rallied the lower middle order on his way to 168 from 140 balls as the Lions were bowled out for 345 in the final over.Bopara then returned with the ball in West Indies A’s chase, breaking a threatening 95-run stand for the 4th wicket between Darren Bravo and Kevin Stoute, both of whom had passed fifty. He added the wickets of Chadwick Walton and Andre Russell to finish with 4 for 43 as West Indies A were bowled out for 221 in 40 overs.Bopara’s efforts with the bat were superbly backed up by Peter Trego, who also put in a strong allround performance. Trego slammed 73 from just 55 balls as he and Bopara swung the momentum back for the Lions in a 159-run stand that was compiled at more than nine runs an over. Trego then bettered Bopara’s bowling figures as he picked up wickets at regular intervals, castling Anthony Martin to claim his fifth scalp and wrap up the game.That wicket sealed a remarkable counterattack, led by the two allrounders, after West Indies’ opening bowlers, Gavin Tonge and Lionel Baker, had run through the Lions’ experienced top order to reduce them to 14 for 3 within the first four overs.Tonge had Andrew Gale and Jonathan Trott caught behind in the very first over of the game before Baker also found the edge of Ian Bell’s bat in his second over. Bopara and Steve Davies steadied the innings with a 68-run partnership, and after Davies was removed by Russell swashbuckling innings from Darren Stevens and Trego kept up the momentum.It appeared that Bravo and Stoute might inspire a similar fightback when they rescued West Indies from a shaky 57 for 3 with a pair of enterprising half-centuries. But once they were dismissed, both bowled by Bopara, the innings quickly unravelled.”It wasn’t the best of starts for us but I wanted to come out and play my natural game regardless of the score and it worked well today,” said Bopara. “It’s always nice to score runs and to do it when you’ve got selectors watching is obviously pleasing and hopefully if I carry on playing like this it will lead to a place in the full England squad again.”I think we’ve played good cricket so far in this series and it’s great to have made the final, we want to carry on playing smart cricket and we will be confident that we can win on Thursday.”

Netherlands secured their first one-day international victory against a Full Member nation as Wesley Barresi hit a match-winning 65 off 43 balls against Bangladesh in Glasgow

Cricinfo staff20-Jul-2010Netherlands 200 for 4 (Szwarczynski 67, Barresi 65*) beat Bangladesh 199 for 7 (Kayes 53, Borren 3-29) by six wickets
ScorecardNetherlands secured their first one-day international victory against a Full Member nation as Wesley Barresi hit a match-winning 65 off 43 balls against Bangladesh in Glasgow after the game was reduced to 30 overs per side. Barresi, playing just his seventh ODI, added 96 with Bas Zuiderent and the pair batted superbly to steady a run chase that had threatened to fall apart after Eric Szwarczynski’s 67.The victory also means Netherlands will join Ireland and Kenya on the main ICC rankings table having gained the required victory against a Full Member while holding an overall win ratio of 60%. It was a disappointing end to the tour for Bangladesh, who had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Ireland and had their match against Scotland washed out, having hoped to dominate their Associate opposition.Szwarczynski batted confidently, with his runs coming from 54 deliveries, and he dominated an opening stand of 61 with Alex Kervezee but, when he was lbw to Shakib Al Hasan, Netherlands were 104 for 4 and still needed 96 from 15 overs. However, Barresi and Zuiderent paced the chase so impressively that there were seven balls to spare when Barresi guided the winning boundary to third man off Shafiul Islam.Barresi stuck 11 boundaries while Zuiderent played the anchor role during the match-winning stand and his lone boundary was a six to open his account off Shakib. Bangladesh, though, didn’t help their own cause with some poor fielding, including an horrendous drop by Mahmudullah to give Szwarczynski a life when he had 29.Imrul Kayes had earlier top-scored for Bangladesh with a solid 53, but Peter Borren’s three wickets proved crucial in keeping the Test nation to a chaseable total. They were also boosted by the early departure of Tamim Iqbal who was caught behind off Mudassar Bukhari for 2 in the second over.However, Junaid Siddique managed a fair impression of his colleague as he raced to 31 off 19 balls to kick-start the innings before he, too, fell to Bukhari from a top-edged pull. But Siddique’s rapid innings had given Bangladesh time to regroup as Kayes and Jahurul formed a solid partnership. Runs continued to come at a decent pace until Jahurul fell in the 18th over, lofting to long-on, to begin a mini-collapse as three wickets fell for seven, including Kayes for 53.Shakib struggled to find any momentum as he took 20 balls over 15, but Mahmudullah and captain Mashrafe Mortaza ensured the innings didn’t fade away. They added 33 in five overs for the seventh wicket. Once again, though, it was Bangladesh’s bowling and fielding which cost them the match.

Gujarat Cricket Association XI eased to an innings victory over Kenya at the Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi

Cricinfo staff15-Aug-2010
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Gujarat Cricket Association XI eased to an innings victory over Kenya at the Gymkhana Club Ground in Nairobi. Gujarat’s victory centered around a ten-wicket match haul from offspinner Mohnish Parmar and four centuries from their batsmen.After opting to field, Parmar helped Gujarat skittle out the hosts for 221. Collins Obuya top scored with 78 but in vain. Gujarat’s batsmen responded in ruthless fashion with opener Jay Desai making 129, Pratharesh Parmar scoring an unbeaten double-century, captain Niraj Patel starring with 171 and Bhargav Merai cashing in with an unbeaten 109. Gujarat amassed 704 before declaring and leaving Kenya with a mammoth task.Collins Obuya bettered his first-innings effort with a century and was supported this time by his brother David, who chipped in with 57. But Kenya ended up losing their last seven wickets for 55 runs, Mohnish Parmar grabbing 5 for 74, to complete a winless tour for the hosts.

Harry Gurney claimed career-best figures of 5 for 24 as the Leicestershire Foxes closed their Clydesdale Bank 40 campaign with a 14-run victory over Hampshire Hawks at Grace Road – their first win at home in the competition since the opening match of the

04-Sep-2010
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Harry Gurney claimed career-best figures of 5 for 24 as the Leicestershire Foxes closed their Clydesdale Bank 40 campaign with a 14-run victory over Hampshire Hawks at Grace Road – their first win at home in the competition since the opening match of the season.James Benning and Jacques Du Toit laid foundations for the Foxes’ win by posting a season’s best opening stand of 114 as Leicestershire totalled a challenging 241 for 3. Both batsmen hit half-centuries and despite an excellent innings of 62 from James Vince, Hampshire’s victory hopes were shattered by 23-year-old left-arm seamer Gurney, who took four wickets for three runs in nine balls as the Hawks slumped to 227 for nine.Hampshire’s cause was not helped either when seam bowler Chris Wood limped off injured after being struck on the foot by a hard-hit straight drive by Benning in his third over. With no Dominic Cork in the side, it left Hampshire’s attack short on firepower and the Foxes batsmen cashed in.They were given the perfect start as Benning reached his half-century off 50 balls while Du Toit went to 50 off 69 balls. The two of them picked up plenty of boundaries, with a straight six by Benning off Liam Dawson bringing up the hundred in the 18th over.But Benning was brilliantly stumped by Michael Bates having made 62 off 58 balls, with six fours and a six, out of the opening partnership of 114 in 20 overs. Du Toit top-scored with 84 off 109 balls before skying a catch to the long-on boundary off the bowling of Benny Howell and Hampshire’s only other success was James Taylor, who was caught off Sean Ervine for 34.Josh Cobb hit a brisk 43 off 27 balls to boost Leicestershire’s total and it was then left to the home attack to take centre stage. Gurney was the star, claiming the wicket of opener Phil Hughes with a superb delivery in his first over and then clinching victory for the Foxes with a sensational nine-ball spell that brought him the four wickets at the end of the innings.Vince top-scored with 62 before being brilliantly stumped by Tom New off Matthew Hoggard but from 202 for four, the Hawks slumped to 227 for 9 in the final five overs.

Matabeleland Tuskers earned their second win in the Metbank Pro40, edging past Southern Rocks by five runs in a thrilling encounter at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2010

ScorecardMatabeleland Tuskers earned their second win in the Metbank Pro40, edging past Southern Rocks by five runs in a thrilling encounter at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.Mbekezeli Mabuza was the hero for the for Matabeleland Tuskers, starring with bat and ball to help his side over the line. He made an unbeaten 46 before delivering the crucial last over which sealed the win by restricting Southern Rocks to just four when 10 was needed for victory.Mabuza had earlier on shared century stand with wicketkeeper Adam Wheater, who again top scored with 69, to help Matabeleland Tuskers recover from a 79 for 5 in the 18th over to reach 218.Wheater got the bulk of his runs with the slog sweep and raced to his fifty from 52 deliveries, smashing three fours before becoming one of left-arm-seamer Tendai Chisoro’s four victims. Mabuza found another partner in Bradley Staddon and the two shared in a seventh-wicket stand of 36 as Mabuza finished unbeaten on 46 from 66 balls with Staddon contributing a breezy 20 off 11.In their chase Southern Rocks failed to capitalise on an ideal start from their openers Tendai Chitongo (73) and Steve Marillier (55) who put on 102 runs for the first wicket before left-arm-spinner Williams induced Marillier to hole out in the deep.Offspinner John Nyumbu picked up three quick wickets to peg back the visitors and Mabuza reduced them to 189 for 6 with four wickets but Southern Rocks were still in hunt by the final over before Mabuza sealed the win.