Australia surrendered five wickets between lunch and tea to hand England a 169-run win that put them 1-0 up in the Investec series

The Report by David Hopps11-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThere are many ways to lose a Test and Australia have lost this one in a manner that will cause them much disquiet. They would have had to make history to chase down 412 in Cardiff. Instead they made an unholy mess of things, surrendering five top-order wickets in 12 overs from the stroke of lunch to make a thumping England victory in the first Investec Test inevitable.That victory came in the 17th over of the final session: the margin 169 runs, the forecast of rain until mid-afternoon on the final day an irrelevance. The pace bowlers were having a rest in anticipation of a second new ball that was not needed and Joe Root, Man of the Match for his decisive first-innings hundred, even nipped in with a couple of wickets and the final catch.A defiant, clean-hitting half-century by Mitchell Johnson, with the ball soft, the pitch napping and the pressure lifted by the prospect of certain defeat, provided some window dressing, but by the time he fell at slip for 77 from 94 balls, he had provided apt commentary on Australia’s middle-order failings as England went 1-0 up in the series. The favourites beaten at the first attempt: we have a series on our hands.Australia initially put up determined resistance in challenging batting conditions. No side had ever successfully achieved such a fourth-innings target in an Ashes contest, but Australia made a solid start before the departure of David Warner, the second wicket to fall, in the final over before lunch, rallied England’s spirits. Things were never the same again.There were doubts before the series that England’s attack had the capacity to dismiss Australia twice. But in Cardiff they have made much more disciplined and resourceful use of a slow, dry and occasionally inconsistent surface. Stuart Broad and James Anderson have been rejuvenated by another Ashes skirmish, Mark Wood has bowled straight and purposefully, Ben Stokes has raised his reliability levels and Moeen Ali, although not finding the turn uncovered by his Australian opposite number, Nathan Lyon, has nevertheless had the guile to spirit five good wickets in the match.The loss of Warner, for 52, abruptly changed the outlook at the end of a morning session when Australia, at 97 for 1, had done their utmost to insist that in an Ashes Test there was no such thing as a done deal. Moeen ran a ball into Warner’s pads, he was bemused as he edged back when he might have gone forward, missed the ball by a notable distance and the umpire’s decision fell to England.Joe Root claimed two lower-order wickets and the winning catch•Getty Images

That wicket must have been a particular relief for Moeen, who had been given an early outing by Cook, but whose two overs cost 22, including a six over midwicket by Warner, as he failed to settle. Lyon had taken four wickets on the previous day on a responsive surface and Moeen was bearing heavy expectations. It was a good call by the captain to take another look as the morning session ticked away.Chris Rogers had been the first wicket to fall, his sequence of Test fifties ending at seven, and a share of the record. Broad capped a probing new-ball spell by dismissing him for 10 as he angled one into him from around the wicket and a defensive push flew low to Ian Bell at second slip. Rogers stood his ground, to England’s discomfort, before TV replays confirmed the catch was clean.Warner had begun to settle in ominously before his dismissal and England had already jettisoned one review against him when a ball from Broad had actually flicked the top of Warner’s pad. Broad also sensed another lbw when Warner was 15, his brain not entirely computing the presence of a big inside nick. There could be no more liberties with only one review remaining and Broad curbed his ambitions, holding his hands to a reddening face like a teenager suddenly realising on the last bus home that they had left their mobile phone in the lavatory.England could be satisfied with the standards they achieved, and could point at numerous examples in the morning session when fortune did not quite fall their way. Broad and Anderson combined in an insistent opening salvo, passing the bat regularly.There was not the same swing available as there had been earlier in the match but England wisely pulled back their lengths slightly, in the expectation that a dry and variable surface would come to their aid.Five Australia wickets for 25 in 12 overs was an emphatic turnaround. Seven balls into the session, Smith was gone, steering a wide ball to Bell at second slip, the second time in the match he had been out for 33. It was a reward for the plan England have followed all Test against Smith, bowling at fifth or sixth stump, calculating that a batsman who walks so far across his crease to cover his stumps by the time the batsman delivers will not be best placed to put a bit more mileage in.Clarke will be equally disappointed by his departure. He was searching for a delivery from Broad that he could only drive to backward point. Broad has now dismissed him 10 times in Tests: once it reaches double figures, one can assume that a pattern is probably developing. Broad, stirred by England’s rush of wickets, three of them his, beckoned for the crowd to get involved. The old football staple of “You’re not singing any more” wafted towards the banks of Australia supporters, the ultimate criticism, of course, when delivered in the Land of Song.Voges, in common with Rogers, has a traditional English approach about him. He was not about to try to knock England’s bowlers off their lengths, certainly not in only his third Test at the age of 35. He made only a single before edging Wood off the back foot, a reward for the bowler’s excellent line.From 106 for 5, Haddin’s glowering aggression was not about to stem the tide. His failure to catch Root, on 0, on the first day would be a turning point in the Test that he would just have to learn to live with. Wood bounced him twice; Haddin got off the mark with a streaky pull which barely cleared the stumps and then grimaced as he was struck in the groin.It was the seemingly futile resistance of an old soldier and it was ended not by Wood but by Moeen, who tossed up his first delivery for Haddin’s ugly heave to be excellently caught, second attempt, by Cook at short midwicket, a productive position on this slow surface, where Smith had also come to grief against Moeen in the first innings.England had only to add a favourite toy to the pram to make their afternoon complete. Wood sprang into his gymnastics run, a straight, full ball exposed Shane Watson’s front-foot plant and, as Watson reviewed the decision without avail, it gave everybody time to update that damning statistic: that is 29 lbw dismissals in 109 Test innings (14 in 35 against England) and while he remains in the side it is a fair assumption that the figure will keep on rising.The final session saw Johnson hit straight and often as England suddenly looked as weary as the pitch. But Root popped in for an encore. Lyth alertly held Starc at slip after Cook’s parry from gully, Lyth again held the catch as Johnson fell more conventionally and then, as if he could do no wrong, Root wandered off into the deep to hold the winning catch.

ECB/PA29-Jul-2015
ScorecardBenny Howell helped Gloucestershire to a remarkable victory•Getty Images

Jack Taylor and Benny Howell blasted 69 off the last four overs to give Gloucestershire an amazing six-wicket Royal London Cup win over Derbyshire at Bristol.Hamish Rutherford and Wayne Madsen had profited from a poor home display fielding to score centuries as Derbyshire ran up 274 for five from 48 overs after losing the toss.Rutherford equalled his career-best List A score of 110, while Madsen finished unbeaten on 106.Heavy showers meant Gloucestershire faced a twice revised target of, first, 284 from 48 overs and then 204 from 35. They finished on 205 for 4 in a bizarre finish.Taylor looked to have been caught off the final ball of the game with a six needed but, as Derbyshire celebrated, square-leg umpire Alex Wharf signalled a no-ball for too many fielders on the leg side.A single was taken which, with two extras for the no-ball, left three required. Howell smashed the last delivery straight for four to spark wild scenes of celebration.Derbyshire’s innings had got off to a poor start when Billy Godleman was caught at point off David Payne off the seventh ball of the match.Wes Durston and Madsen then added 55 without looking entirely comfortable before Durston, on 25, miscued a pull shot off Craig Miles to Tom Smith at deep square.Kieran Noema-Barnett was unlucky not to cement Gloucestershire’s position as he first had Madsen dropped on seven by Howell at mid-on and then Rutherford, on 46, spilled by Payne at backward point.The hosts were made to pay heavily for their generosity. Some sloppy ground fielding followed and by the time rain intervened, Derbyshire were 198 for 2 from 42 overs.The resumption saw Rutherford reach his hundred off 127 balls, with nine fours and a six, before falling with the total on 240, caught low down at extra cover by Michael Klinger off James Fuller.The partnership of 182 with Madsen beat the previous best List A stand for Derbyshire against Gloucestershire, 165 by John Morris and Geoff Miller at Gloucester in 1984.Madsen followed his partner to three figures, having faced 97 balls, with nine fours and a six, his second fifty coming off just 24 deliveries.Gloucestershire’s hopes of reaching their revised target suffered a double blow in the eighth over, which began with Chris Dent hitting 4,6,4 off Ben Cotton.
The seamer responded by bowling Dent for 31 and then claimed the prize wicket of Michael Klinger, who got an inside edge onto his stumps.Geraint Jones was run out for 27 responding to a call from a quick single from Gareth Roderick, who was never able to maintain the required rate.A second rain interruption to the Gloucestershire innings at 136 for 3 left the home side needing 68 off four overs, and the outcome looked beyond doubt.But when Roderick was run out for 54, slipping, Taylor came in to hoist legspinner Matt Critchley for three sixes in an over to set up an incredible finale.

Leicestershire’s opening batsman Angus Robson found value in a bedraggled day at Grace Road with his seventh half-century of the season

ECB/PA01-Sep-2015
ScorecardAngus Robson fund benefit in a rain-affected day•Getty Images

Leicestershire opener Angus Robson scored his seventh half-century of the season on a rain-shortened first day of the championship match against Gloucestershire at Grace Road.Heavy overnight rain left the outfield unfit for play until 12.40pm, after an early lunch had been taken.Will Tavare, captaining Gloucestershire in the absence of Michael Klinger, who has returned to Australia – though Klinger has confirmed he will return for his county’s Royal London Cup semi-final against Yorkshire at Headingley this Sunday – decided to field first after the winning the toss, but opening bowlers James Fuller and David Payne found less response from a greenish pitch than they must have hoped for.
Robson and Ned Eckersley were able to score at a steady four an over until after 11 overs rain forced another break.The loss of the morning session had seen 16 overs taken from the day’s allocation of 96, and another heavy shower caused another 32 to be lost before it was possible to resume. Gloucestershire’s seamers bowled with more accuracy on the resumption, but Liam Norwell, coming down the hill from the Bennett End, was fortunate to pick up the wicket of Eckersley, who turned a leg-side long hop straight into the hands of Kieran Noema-Barnett at square leg.Robson, batting with patience and discipline, went to his 50 off 119 balls, but the persevering Norwell found the edge of his bat with an out-swinger on 61, and Gareth Roderick held a straightforward catch behind the stumps.”We’ve had a pretty good day, we would have taken that score at the start,” said Robson.”If you were prepared to hang in there you could get your rewards. I knew it was important to cut out some of my attacking shots, and I did that – the key was to leave as much as possible.”It was frustrating to get out so close to the close, I wanted to go and convert to three figures, but we’ve turned a corner in the last month or so and if we bat well tomorrow we’ll be ahead of the game.”Tavare said choosing to field first had not been straightforward. “In many ways it would have been a good toss to lose, as it certainly wasn’t an easy decision to put them in. Angus Robson batted well for them in a difficult period but I’m not too disappointed and we’ll be looking for early wickets tomorrow,” he said..

Alastair Cook produced the longest innings in England’s Test history, and the third-longest of all time, to stamp his authority on the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, and lay down a marker for his team’s expectations in the next two Tests

The Report by Andrew Miller16-Oct-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlastair Cook produced the longest innings in England’s Test history, and the third-longest of all time, to stamp his authority on the first Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, and lay down a marker for his team’s expectations in the next two Tests.By the time he was finally dismissed, top-edging a sweep to square leg off the offspin of Shoaib Malik in the final 40 minutes of the fourth day’s play, Cook had rumbled his way along to a monumental innings of 263 – his third Test double-century and second only to his 294 against India at Edgbaston in 2011.In all he batted for 836 minutes, four minutes shy of 14 solid hours. The innings may have finished some way shy of Hanif Mohammad’s 970-minute epic for Pakistan against West Indies in 1957-58, but it remains streets ahead of all other English contenders in Asian conditions – so often considered the final frontier for Western teams.For Cook, however, these conditions are his home from home. Eight of his 28 Test hundreds have been recorded in Asia, equal to Jacques Kallis, whose runs-record of 2058 he also overhauled shortly before his dismissal. Mike Gatting’s 207 at Madras in 1984-85 is now a distant second-best among English scores in overseas Tests against subcontinental opposition.These are conditions that have boiled the brains of lesser mortals. More expansive batsmen than Cook have been confronted with surfaces such as these, with so little life to be extracted that they sap the spirit of anyone who dares to show enterprise. But with the refusal to buckle that he showcased on debut in Nagpur in 2006, throughout his Ashes tour de force in 2010-11, and even, though his stats could not match his determination, during the dog days of his leadership of the one-day team last season, he vowed he would not, could not be beaten, and forced every prevailing circumstance to bend to his superior will.The match situation is now utterly moribund – by the close England, on 569 for 8, led Pakistan’s first-innings 523 for 8 declared by 46 runs with two wickets still in hand. The one real opportunity for this to be a grandstand finish had been for England to bat once, bat huge, and hope that Pakistan collapsed in a heap on the final day.It was always a fanciful prospect, but it gave Cook licence to bat, bat and bat some more. Not that he really needed any further invitation, of course. Not since Cook’s own Essex mentor, Graham Gooch, made 333 against India at Lord’s in 1990 has an England batsman notched up a triple-century, and until his late-evening aberration, few would have bet against him doing so.Cook’s Edgbaston epic was the most recent innings to threaten that landmark, and his obvious desolation at missing out on that occasion spoke volumes for his appetite. He knows he may never get a better opportunity, with the pitch and the match situation entirely in favour of his obduracy, and his self-admonishment at giving it away again with an uncharacteristically meek lap was plain. The fact that Malik may well have bowled a no-ball that went uncalled by umpire Paul Reiffel will only add to his heartache.Alastair Cook leaves the field after a spending more than 800 minutes compiling 263•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

But all things are relative when you have scored 263 to turn a grim team situation into a triumph of run-harvesting. Pakistan have been kept out in the 38-degree heat for 196.3 overs already, longer than they have had to endure for three complete decades, while the toils of Zulfiqar Babar summed up their day. He eventually claimed his first wicket of the innings after 68.5 deliveries, when Jos Buttler had a dart and chipped a loose catch into the covers.By then, Malik had struck twice to end the long, long wait for a spin bowler to claim a scalp in this match – 1,021 balls all told if you include an ad-hoc over of offspin from Ben Stokes – with Stokes the first to succumb, as he was lured down the track to be bowled past the outside edge. He fell for a sparky 57 from 87 balls, one of a number of encouraging cameos that, the conditions notwithstanding, augur well for the remainder of the series.Cook did not have everything his own way in the course of his innings and, after surviving one chance off Zulfiqar at deep square leg on 147 on the third afternoon, he needed a second clear slice of good fortune to make it through the first half-hour.Once again Wahab Riaz transcended the conditions with another admirably wholehearted spell of quick bowling – his later spell of reverse swing, which accounted for Jonny Bairstow with the second new-ball looming and gave Stokes the most torrid of welcomes, was as fast and threatening as anything the game has yet seen. But on 173, Cook inside-edged through to Sarfraz Ahmed, the wicketkeeper, who fumbled the opportunity low to his right.As if pre-ordained, Friday prayers allowed Cook an extended break of an hour at lunch in which to freshen up and change his clothes – not that he seemed to exude a single bead of sweat all day. However, upon the resumption, Cook endured probably the closest thing to a sketchy half-hour as he has produced all match.With Rahat Ali’s left-armers disrupting his rhythmic prodding defence, Cook edged one chance inches short of the keeper, before unfurling a pair of reverse-sweeps against the toiling Zulfiqar that were as close as he came all innings to anything resembling improvisation.
The loss of his batting partner, Joe Root, perhaps helped to refocus Cook’s mind. Root, England’s batsman of the year, eventually chased a wide one from Rahat to depart, furiously, for 85 from 143 balls, having seemed firmly on course for his ninth Test hundred in only his 33rd Test.Root’s eye for a scoring opportunity was quite unlike anything witnessed from any of the other England batsmen on show. From the outset, he unfurled a repertoire of strokes including cuts, sweeps, reverse-sweeps and open-faced drives, not to mention a rare uppercut over the cordon as Wahab’s effort ball was impudently dispatched.Pakistan’s late scalps were due reward for their toil but Cook’s magnificence transcended all other factors – the heat, the pitch, the opposition. The final day offers a chance for England to turn the screw on a fifth-day pitch, with Adil Rashid, not out alongside Stuart Broad at the close, doubtless itching to atone for his first-innings drubbing. But the life in this match departed with the England captain. He has been the heart and soul of his team, and this contest.

A round-up of Ranji Trophy Group A matches on October 31, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo – Rajat Bhatia top-scored with 99 in Rajasthan’s reply•BCCI

Rajat Bhatia’s 99 helped Rajasthan respond spiritedly against Karnataka in Jaipur, as an interesting battle for the first-innings lead looms.Rajasthan didn’t get off to a good start, as the visitors’ seamers reduced them to 48 for 4. But, Bhatia, coming in at No.5, added 76 with Puneet Yadav before raising 60 runs with Dishant Yagnik. The home side’s prospects of securing the first-innings lead were looking decent before Bhatia was trapped lbw by Vinay Kumar one short of his 15th first-class hundred with less than two overs left in the day.In the morning, Karnataka lasted only four overs and added a mere 11 runs to their overnight score of 270. Left-arm seamer Aniket Choudhary finished with five wickets.
ScorecardBengal’s seamers, led by debutant Mukesh Kumar, had Haryana in trouble after their own lower-order had made vital contributions to take the total past 300 in Rohtak.Haryana went from 52 for 1 to 88 for 5, with Mukesh making breakthroughs, including that of captain Virender Sehwag for 28. Haryana eventually crumbled to 120 for 8 before debutant Rohit Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal raised an unbroken 66-run stand to keep their fight alive.Bengal, resuming on 257 for 8, were helped by a 78-run association between Pragyan Ojha and Ashok Dinda, who smashed 45 off 51 balls. Ojha was the last man out after completing his maiden first-class fifty. Seamer Sachin Rana picked up five wickets.
ScorecardVidarbha gained the upper hand in Nagpur after reducing Maharashtra to 144 for 6, the visitors still behind by 188 runs.Maharashtra began well through openers Swapnil Gugale and Harshad Khadiwale, but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They slipped from 112 for 3 to 112 for 5, losing captain Rohit Motwani and Ankit Bawne in the space of two overs. Maharashtra then lost their sixth wicket with less than four overs to go for stumps when Rahul Tripathi was caught behind off Shrikant Wagh.
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Vidarbha had resumed the day on 227 for 4, but lost its last six wickets for 105 runs. Their only significant partnership of the day came through Ravi Jangid and Aditya Sarwate (33), who raised 52 runs for the seventh wicket.
ScorecardDelhi continued to make slow progress in Bhubaneswar, scoring at less than 2.2 runs an over.Resuming on 99 for 1, captain Gautam Gambhir was bowled by seamer Suryakant Pradhan in the sixth over of the day. The visitors’ most productive partnership came through Milind Kumar and Vaibhav Rawal who added 67 runs for the fourth wicket.Delhi then slid from 212 for 4 to 230 for 7, with Pradhan, who finished with four wickets, doing the bulk of the damage.

A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy Group C matches on November 16, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Saurabh Tiwary hammered 13 fours and a six for his 94•Getty Images

A 190-run partnership between Saurabh Tiwary and Anand Singh lifted Jharkhand to an innings lead against Tripura in Agartala. Starting the day at 42 for 1, Tiwary and Anand batted together for 58 overs, powering the team to 296 for 3 by stumps. Tiwary stroked 13 fours and a six for his 94, while Anand’s 91 featured 16 fours. Both batsmen were denied tons as Manisankar Murasingh bowled the pair in quick succession, but Ishank Jaggi ensured there was no momentum was lost, scoring 51 and putting up 68 with Kumar Deobrat.
ScorecardHyderabad’s openers Tanmay Agarwal and Akshath Reddy made a firm reply to Services’ first-innings score of 353, put up an unbroken partnership of 143 by stumps on day two in Delhi. Services, who began the day at 244 for 3, lost their overnight batsmen Yashpal Singh and Soumik Chatterjee early on. Once Chatterjee fell for 156, his highest first-class score, Services lower middle order folded, as the team lost their last seven wickets for just 104 runs. Medium-pacer Ravi Kiran was Hyderabad’s best bowler, taking 4 for 65. Hyderabad began their innings positively, as Agarwal and Reddy batted together for 55 overs to keep the team’s hopes of first-innings points alive. Agarwal played the more patient foil, scoring 47 off 171 balls with five fours, while Reddy’s 89 featured 16 fours.
ScorecardKerala took firm control of their Ranji clash against Goa in Porvorim, amassing a first-innings total of 441 before removing two Goa batsmen by the end of day two. Kerala were driven ahead by a 129-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Robert Fernandez and Fabid Ahmed, who both made centuries. While Fernandez was patient for his 109 off 261 deliveries, Fabid scored at a brisker pace, blasting eight fours and seven sixes to make a 122-ball 106. Goa began their reply positively, with the openers Sagun Kamat and Amogh Sunil Desai putting up a 59-run stand. However, the hosts were dealt a double blow towards the end of the day as both Kamat and Snehal Kauthankar were dismissed.
ScorecardRobin Bist’s second century of the season, coupled with fifties from Nikhil Gangta and Rishi Dhawan, helped Himachal Pradesh to 551 against Saurashtra in Rajkot. Himachal were already well-placed at 310 for 3 when the day began, and despite losing their overnight centurion Prashant Chopra for 187 early on, Gangta (77) and Bist (101) kept the runs flowing by combining for a 120-run association. After Gangta fell, Bist added a further 69 runs with Dhawan, who stroked 55. Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of Saurashtra’s bowlers, collecting 4 for 69. Saurashtra were 21 for 0 when stumps were called.

Mark Footitt believes he is ready to make up for lost time when the Boxing Day Test against South Africa gets underway at Durban in just under a fortnight’s time

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2015Mark Footitt believes he is ready to make up for lost time when the Boxing Day Test against South Africa gets underway in Durban in just under a fortnight’s time, with Surrey’s newest recruit itching to make his Test debut despite turning 30 last month.Regardless of what happens this winter, Footitt will be starting a significant new chapter of his career at The Oval next season, when he makes his debut for newly-promoted Surrey, having moved on from the club where he rebuilt his career, Derbyshire, at the end of the summer.However, with 158 wickets at 21.57 in the space of two seasons for Derbyshire, Footitt’s 90mph pace and awkward left-arm line has attracted interest from England’s head coach, Trevor Bayliss, ever since he began his tenure ahead of the Ashes last summer.The ferocity of the onslaught that England endured from that other rapid left-armer, Mitchell Johnson, during the 2013-14 Ashes is a significant reason why Footitt’s rare abilities are set to be called upon.However, speaking to reporters at Potchefstroom, where England are warming up ahead of their opening tour match against a South Africa Invitational XI on Tuesday, he downplayed such comparisons.”It’s nice to be compared to bowlers like that. But I’m just me really and I’ll go out and do what I do best.”It is the lessons he gleaned at his original county, Nottinghamshire, that could stand him in the best stead in South Africa. Prior to his release in the 2010 season, and before he underwent an operation in 2012 to remove a disc in his back that could have ended his career, Footitt watched his fellow Nottinghamshire left-armer, Ryan Sidebottom, lead the line for England at the age of 29, having been overlooked for six years since his one-off Test cap against Pakistan in 2001.”I was at Notts when Ryan was there and playing for England so back then it was very much trying to learn from him and speaking to him,” Footitt told”I still speak to him sometimes nowadays,” he added. “I have taken a lot from him playing one Test match and then coming back at a later age and doing well. It gives you that belief that whatever age you are you’ve still got a chance of playing international cricket.”I think you just have to enjoy every day,” he added. “It took a long time for me to get here but things happen and people develop at different ages and I seem to have developed a bit better in the past two or three years.”I think it’s just getting to a certain age and learning your game. When I was younger I was very raw, very pacy but didn’t have much accuracy. But hard work has got me to where I am today. It’s just an exciting time to be here really.”Footitt’s call-up this winter was no great surprise given the traditional importance of fast bowling on tours of South Africa. However, he knows he is in a prime position to be fast-tracked to a debut following the injuries to Mark Wood and Steven Finn that thwarted their selections for the tour, and the surprise omission of Yorkshire’s Liam Plunkett.”I think I’m 100% ready,” he said. “I’ve had a good two or three years in county cricket and after stepping into the nets with the [England] lads I know my game and I know I’m as ready as I can be.”Footitt’s first involvement with the senior squad came on the pre-Ashes bonding trip to Spain – Bayliss’s first involvement with his new team – but his first taste of dressing-room action came in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge, when he was called into the squad and watched from a prime position as Stuart Broad routed Australia on the first morning of the match.”My first day of the Ashes was brilliant with Broady taking eight-fer and bowling Australia out for 60,” he said. “It gives you a great hunger in wanting to be involved and wanting to play for England. Being in that squad and being around the guys was brilliant. It just gave you the hunger to get your foot in that door.”

Christian Leopard’s single-handed show of a 61-ball hundred went in vain as New Zealand Under-19s lost to Pakistan Under-19s by 31 runs in Dubai

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChristian Leopard’s single-handed show of a 61-ball hundred went in vain as New Zealand Under-19s lost to Pakistan Under-19s by 31 runs in Dubai. New Zealand were 206 for 7 in their chase of 280 before Leopard fell for 116 and they eventually ran out of batsmen, to be bowled out for 248. Pakistan, with their second straight win, jumped from the bottom of the table to finish on top as all three teams – including Australia – have two wins each from four matches and Pakistan edged ahead on net run rate.New Zealand’s chase was rocked early by legspinner Hasan Mohsin who struck thrice in his first two overs to reduce the score to 11 for 3. No. 3 Finn Allen stalled a middle-order collapse with Josh Clarkson and Aniket Parikh but a double-blow from Saif Ali dented them further to 67 for 5 in the 14th over. It was a solo Leopard chase from there. He started with three sixes within seven balls in the beginning and brought up his fifty off 27 balls by smashing Arsal Sheikh for two sixes and two fours in the 22nd over.He brought the required run rate down from over six per over to under 4.50 per over when he got out in 34th over after clobbering 12 fours and seven sixes, and No. 10 Felix Murray gave a late surge with three fours and a six but Shadab Khan finished things off in the 46th over. Mohsin finished with 3 for 25.Earlier, Pakistan were asked to bat and were led until the 26th over by captain and opener Gauhar Hafeez’s 58. Two wickets from Murray brought them down to 110 for 4 before Shadab Khan (48) and Saif Badar (99*) took them towards 200 and Badar’s 73-ball knock with five fours and six sixes charged them to 279 for 9 with only one more double-digit scores from the last five batsmen. Pakistan scored 58 runs in the last five overs.

Jackson Bird completed the first five-wicket haul of his Test career on the fourth day at Hagley Oval; he thought the opportunity might never come

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch23-Feb-20162:47

‘I was a little bit nervous in Wellington’ – Bird

Jackson Bird completed the first five-wicket haul of his Test career on the fourth day at Hagley Oval, but he thought the opportunity might never come. Before this series, Bird had last played Test cricket on the 2013 Ashes tour of England and since then had been hampered by injuries, most notably to his back but also affecting his neck and shoulder.It looked as though Bird’s career tally of Tests might never move beyond three, including the one in which he was Man of the Match against Sri Lanka in Sydney in 2012-13. However, a combination of injuries to other fast men, including Mitchell Starc, and a summer of steady form for Tasmania brought Bird back into the mix for this tour, and he has repaid the selectors for their faith.Bird struggled on the first day in Wellington, where he leaked 0 for 52 from his ten overs, but he improved as that match wore on, and picked up one wicket in the second innings and two in the first innings in Christchurch. But it was his 5 for 59 in New Zealand’s second innings – all taken on day four – that kept Australia in the match by limiting their target to 201.”It was nice to take a few wickets when the team needed it after lunch but I feel like I’ve been pretty inconsistent with how I’ve bowled in this series, which is disappointing,” Bird said. “It was nice to get a few wickets today and to put us in a pretty good position to win the game tomorrow and win the series.”I was a little bit nervous on day one [in Wellington]. I don’t usually get nervous for cricket so that was something different and nerves probably did get to me on day one. It was a green wicket and we were expected to knock them over quite early, so there was a little bit more expectation on the bowling group and I would probably put it down to being a little bit nervous.”If Bird was nervous it was understandable. At 29, and with a tour of Sri Lanka the next item on Australia’s Test agenda – where spin will be more of a weapon and Starc and others could be fit and ready for selection – he had to make something of this tour. Bird said after his time away from the game with injury, he thought his Test career might have been over.”I had probably a year out of the game where my back was pretty sore the whole time so I thought, there’s a lot of good bowlers in Australia that probably overtook me,” he said. “I’ve been lucky I guess with a few guys getting injured to make this tour, but I never really lost confidence in my own ability and being able to play well at Test cricket.”But I lost confidence in my body and I didn’t know when I was going to get injured again, so sometimes it’s pretty hard going into a game when you are fit and in the back of your mind you think your body could go any minute. So I think trying to get over that and get that out of my head, which I managed to do after playing a few games back to back, that was probably the hardest thing.”New Zealand allrounder Corey Anderson, who made 40 as part of a fighting 102-run partnership, was the first of Bird’s victims when he played on shortly before the new ball was taken. Anderson said Bird had gained just enough movement to be difficult on a Hagley Oval surface that wasn’t offering much.”It was one of those things, that sometimes when you do too much with it, you don’t get the wickets,” Anderson said. “I thought he bowled really well. He just nibbled it enough to cause a bit of havoc and then obviously the new ball as well. He bowled well, and well done for a five-for.”Anderson and Williamson kept New Zealand in the match by batting through the first session unscathed, and some lower-order fight from Matt Henry (66) and BJ Watling (46) ensured a target of 201 for the Australians.”We could’ve rolled over and scratched our bellies, but we showed a bit of fight,” Anderson said. “Me and Kane dug in until lunch and then Henners and BJ batted outstandingly to put a reasonable total on the board, something to at least fight against. It would have been nice to get a couple more poles at the end of the day but we’ve just got to come back fighting in the morning.”New Zealand’s bowlers struggled to find much swing or seam movement late on the fourth day and Neil Wagner’s sustained short-pitched attack – he was no-balled once for a third bouncer in an over – with a heavy leg-side field looked like their major plan. However, if there is some cloud cover on the fifth morning New Zealand will hope to exploit it, with Australia still needing a further 131.”Any total that you’re going to have to chase in the fourth innings is always going to be a tough total, regardless of what it is,” Anderson said. “It would have been nice to get a couple more poles this evening, but it’s not to be. Hopefully in the morning we can go bang, bang and then potentially run through them.”

Captain Suzie Bates continued her excellent form, stroking her third fifty-plus score in four matches, to help New Zealand Women wrap up the series against Australia Women

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Suzie Bates hit seven fours during her 53-ball 54•ICC/Solaris Images

Captain Suzie Bates continued her excellent form, stroking her third fifty-plus score in four matches, to help New Zealand Women wrap up the series against Australia Women in Wellington.After bowling four overs for 30 runs, Bates added 59 for the first wicket with Rachael Priest to lay the foundation for the chase of 117. Meg Lanning produced a double-strike in the tenth over to remove Priest and Sara McGlashan. Bates and Amy Satterthwaite, however, ate into the target with a brisk 47-run partnership for the third wicket. Both batsmen were dismissed as New Zealand faced some late hiccups, but the chase was completed with five wickets and three balls to spare.The win, however, was set up by Morna Nielsen and offspinner Leigh Kasperek, who had picked up three wickets in the previous game. Nielsen accounted for both openers inside three overs before Kasperek sliced through the middle order. Nielsen and Kasperek boasted combined figures of 8-0-38-5. Ellyse Perry, though, rallied Australia with her third T20I fifty, which included three fours and two sixes. She took Australia to 116 with an unbeaten 55, but it was not enough to keep the series alive.The third and final T20, which has been reduced to a dead rubber, will be played at New Plymouth on Friday.