New Zealand have just three Test wins against the top eight nations in the last five years, and Richard Hadlee doesn’t think that record will improve unless the side gets to play more five-day matches

Siddarth Ravindran in Bangalore17-Aug-2013New Zealand have just three Test wins against the top eight nations in the last five years, and Richard Hadlee, their former allrounder, doesn’t think that record will improve unless the side gets to play more five-day matches. During those years New Zealand have had just one away series with more than two Tests, something which Hadlee thinks is affecting their progress.”Our Test cricket is of great concern right now. We are rated, I think, at No 9 [New Zealand are No 8] which is our lowest ever ranking in Test cricket.” Hadlee said in Bangalore. “What doesn’t help us is when we travel overseas to play Test series, we invariably get a one-off Test or two-match Test series… Unless we get more Test cricket at home and away, particularly away, we are not going to get any better. Particularly the specialist Test players who want to play but are denied that opportunity.”Hadlee said the perception in other countries that New Zealand are not box-office material was hurting the team. “It appears our value to other countries is not significant enough to keep us long enough in their country to make decent money. I think there should be some commitment to honour future tour programmes.”What heartened Hadlee about New Zealand’s Test prospects was the crop of emerging quick bowlers in the country. “Very inexperienced, very young. [Trent] Boult can swing it both ways, [Tim] Southee is really coming on, [Neil] Wagner is a good trier and there are a couple of good seamers in the background. Give us five years, I think we will be knocking over sides quite regularly, provided we score enough runs.”New Zealand have recently overhauled their selection process with former Australia coach John Buchanan and former Australia lawn bowls administrator Kim Littlejohn moving out. Earlier this week former New Zealand opener Bruce Edgar was named the country’s general manager of national selection. “It’s nice to get some of our former cricketers back on the block,” said Hadlee, who was on the panel that interviewed Edgar. “Stephen Boock, who was a left-arm spinner, is the president of New Zealand Cricket. So, that’s good. You will find on the board, one or two former players who want to be involved. When you’ve got cricket people involved, you can make cricket decisions.”Hadlee was in Bangalore, the venue where he broke the record for most Test wickets in 1988, on an invite from the Karnataka State Cricket Association as part of its platinum jubilee celebrations.Over a nearly hour-long chat with journalists Hadlee reminisced about his career, and gave his views on many of the challenges facing the game today, including the problem of fixing. Rahul Dravid, in an interview to ESPNcricinfo earlier this month, had called for fixing to be made a criminal offence, but Hadlee proposed a different solution.”It’s a shame that it goes on and it has to be stamped out very quickly and people have to be made examples of and clearly banned, even take it a step further, even have their records erased for life in the game,” Hadlee said. “I think the most severe penalty that can happen – even more than going to jail – is to have your record erased from the game.”

Mitchell Johnson has rattled England’s top order whenever rain has allowed during this one-day series, but he has admitted that regularly pushing the speedgun over 90mph has taken even him by surprise.

Andrew McGlashan13-Sep-2013Mitchell Johnson has rattled England’s top order whenever rain has allowed during this one-day series, but he has admitted that regularly pushing the speedgun over 90mph has taken even him by surprise.Johnson’s new-ball spell in the rain-ruined third match at Edgbaston had Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott hopping around and it followed an eye-catching display in Manchester where Trott gloved a short delivery behind and another delivery zipped through almost decapitating wicketkeeper Matthew Wade.Although he is trying not to get sucked into talk of a Test comeback in the return Ashes he hopes his performances with the white ball will leave England’s batsmen “wary” of him as he continues his quest to intimidate.”Consistently my pace is definitely up there,” he said. “I think the bounce that I’m getting is probably the key. That’s something I remember from when I first started playing cricket for Queensland, getting extra bounce brought me a lot of wickets. Being consistent with that pace, it was a bit of a surprise for me as it wasn’t something I was actually working on, but because I’m strong and fit that’s where the pace has come from. It was a surprise, but I’m happy with it for sure.”I have that confidence and belief in my bowling,” he added. “Whoever I’m up against I’m confident I can get them out and intimidate them, that’s what I’ll be doing here and in every game going forward. That’s how I bowl and will continue to bowl. Hopefully they are wary of me. I just have to keep being aggressive and keep it simple, that’s it.”At Edgbaston, Johnson beat Pietersen for pace to have him caught at square-leg pulling and gave Trott, who has battled against the short ball during the latter half of the season, a tough working over. Trott saved himself with a review when he was given lbw to a ball that pitched outside leg, then Australia used up their review on one that was just clipping the bails. To cap a tough innings, Trott was struck in the grille as he tried to pull.”I bowled a couple of cross-seamers and it seemed to skid through nicely but when you can get those guys out with the short ball it can be very intimidating and the short ball is part of my armoury,” Johnson said. “As a fast bowler, when I’ve been at my best being aggressive I bowl that armpit ball or to the throat of the batsman, and then I try to use the ball swinging, getting it up there for the lbws or bowleds or catches behind, I try to keep it as simple as I can.”Johnson remains a figure of fun for the English crowds but has learned to embrace his pantomime villain status which dates back to his nightmares in the 2009 Ashes when his game fell apart at Lord’s. After firstly struggling to accept the vocals from the fans – which extended to the 2010-11 Ashes in Johnson’s own backyard and finished in a first-ball duck at Sydney to chants of “he bowls to the left, he bowls to the right” – he now finds himself humming the tunes in his head.”It’s pretty catchy,” he said with a grin. “I didn’t like it when I first came over. I didn’t expect it. I’d been in some pretty good form throughout 2009 and I didn’t really expect to cop as much flak as I did. Now, it doesn’t bother me. It’s all part of the game, I know what to expect over here now. Wherever I am now in the world I know what to expect. I just take it on board and move on with it.”I think I’m always going to cop it over here now. As soon as I bowl a wide I get it but it’s all part of the game and I’ve learnt to live with it and enjoy it.”Having been through the rough times more than once, Johnson is also aware of how quickly fortunes can change having felt hard done by to not make the cut for the recent Ashes. Although the injuries to James Pattinson and, particularly, Mitchell Starc have opened up a clear route back into the Test team for Brisbane in November he knows that his impressive performances here will count for nothing if his form falls away over the next few months.”I know my action is watched a lot at the moment, so as soon as something isn’t quite right it gets picked up and could backfire on you,” he said. “It was disappointing to find out I wasn’t in the squad because I thought I’d been performing, coming back from the injury. Watching the first ball of an Ashes series was quite hard, but then I got over it and knew I had to keep working hard.”I feel like I’ve been performing and now I have to perform at the right times. I want to play Test cricket, that’s my No. 1. Hopefully I get the chance to play against England and win an Ashes series.”

Essex suffered a second defeat in the space of 24 hours as they went down by 44 runs in their T20 Blast match against Surrey at Chelmsford.

ECB/PA16-May-2015
ScorecardSteven Davies made his second fifty in two days•Getty Images

Essex suffered a second defeat in the space of 24 hours as they went down by 44 runs in their T20 Blast match against Surrey at Chelmsford.After the visitors posted 205 for 5, Essex, who lost to Hampshire on Friday, never seriously threatened to deny Surrey their first success in the competition.After losing Jason Roy in the opening over, Surrey seized the initiative with a series of punishing strokes from Steven Davies and Kumar Sangakkara. They put on 80 from only seven overs, with 27 coming from a seven-ball over sent down by left-arm seamer Reece Topley.

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Chelmsford is traditionally a high-scoring ground and although they cannot afford to be chasing 200-plus every week it was Essex’s batting that was the most concerning aspect of their defeat. The scoreboard put pressure on their top order but to be two wickets down within three overs of their run-chase for the second successive match was concerning. Indeed, Essex’s first two matches have been opener Nick Browne’s first, while Daniel Lawrence, replacing the injured Jesse Ryder, was playing his first T20 match against Surrey. The return of Ryder, along with Mark Pettini and Tom Westley, cannot come soon enough.

It included two successive sixes from Sangakkara who went on to clear the ropes for a third time before he was to provide Topley with his only success. Sangakkara’s 38 arrived from 21 balls but even he was upstaged by Davies who completed a half-century from just 23 deliveries before he was out for 53 two balls later.Davies was caught at long-on by Graham Napier and although the tempo slackened following the departure of the second-wicket pair, Surrey still breezed along in excess of six an over. Gary Wilson contributed 41 from 34 deliveries with the help of five fours and a six while Zafar Ansari collected an unbeaten 31 from 21 balls.Essex’s hopes of laying a solid foundation disappeared in the second over of their innings when paceman Matt Dunn struck twice. First he persuaded Nick Browne to put up a simple catch to James Burke in the covers before breaching the defence of 17-year-old Dan Lawrence.Greg Smith and Kishen Velani did their best to retrieve the situation with a partnership of 70 but they were never able to get near the required rate.It took them 10 overs to gather those runs before the arrival of Tom Curran saw both dismissed in the same over. First he bowled Velani for 22, before rattling the stumps of Smith to end an innings that brought him 44 form 35 balls.With Graham Napier and James Foster going cheaply, Essex’s last hopes rested squarely on the shoulders of Ryan ten Doeschate. Briefly the Dutchman threatened to keep his side on course for what would have been an astonishing triumph as he plundered his runs in rapid fashion. The fireworks were ended by Burke who had ten Doeschate caught by Gareth Batty and, with his departure, Surrey were left breathing a huge sigh of relief and able to coast to a comfortable triumph.Curran wrapped up the innings by getting rid of Shaun Tait and Topley in the final over to finish with 4 for 35.

Bangladesh are unlikely to make many changes to their squad for the solitary Test against India, which starts from June 10 in Fatullah

Mohammad Isam31-May-2015Bangladesh are unlikely to make many changes to their squad for the solitary Test against India, which starts from June 10 in Fatullah. The national selectors, who met on Sunday to discuss the final names from the 23-member preliminary squad, are expected to submit the 14-member squad to the Bangladesh Cricket Board by June 3 and an official announcement could be made in a couple of days after that.The preliminary squad has been training since the end of the Bangladesh Cricket League first-class matches, on May 27. The selectors were concerned about injuries to Tamim Iqbal (knee), Mushfiqur Rahim (finger), Rubel Hossain (side), Shakib Al Hasan (shin bone) and Shafiul Islam (hand) but the players have reportedly recovered after resting during the last round of the BCL”We are definitely going to select from 23 fit players,” chief selector Faruque Ahmed said. “Mushfiqur batted an extra hour on Saturday after everyone had completed training so he looks fine. So does Tamim, Rubel and Shafiul.”Apart from injury concerns, the two Tests against Pakistan threw up a few performance-related questions. Shuvagata Hom took five wickets and scored 71 runs in the Tests against Pakistan but a nine-wicket haul for Central Zone against North Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League could keep him in the squad, despite an undefined role in the playing XI.Soumya Sarkar had made just 70 runs in the Test series but had scored a scintillating unbeaten 127 against Pakistan in the preceding ODI series. If there was some concern about his position in team as the No 7 batsman, a knock of 127, which helped South Zone become BCL champions, will work in his favour. Mahmudullah too had made just 119 runs in the two Tests but again, his century in the BCL would push the case for his retention. Mahmudullah did well enough in the only first-class match before the Test in June, scoring a first-class hundred for Central Zone.Jubair Hossain, Litton Das and Abul Hasan – who were in Bangladesh’s Test squad against Pakistan but didn’t play any of the matches – will also be discussed and at least two of the players seem uncertain of a place in the team. Jubair hasn’t played a game since appearing for BCB XI in a practice match against Pakistan in mid-April while the return of Shafiul Islam in the preliminary squad means that either he or Abul could be picked for the India Test. Abul, however, took six wickets for East Zone recently while Shafiul’s last competitive match was in February, after which he suffered a hand injury.”I cannot talk about who we are considering. Shuvagata certainly has a good chance. He took nine wickets in the first-class match. Jubair is a concern since he hasn’t played for a while so let us see what happens,” said Faruque.Litton meanwhile struck 38 and 74 for East Zone and could be kept in the squad against India as the selection committee has shown a willingness to continue with the combination. Rony Talukdar was in the ODI squad against Pakistan without playing a game while Nasir Hossain has been out of the Test squad since the West Indies series in September 2014. The latter hasn’t impressed with the bat in domestic cricket.Sabbir Rahman could be an interesting choice in the Test team as he has improved his batting in international cricket in leaps and bounds since his selection last year. However, he has been deemed a limited-overs specialist by the selectors.Bangladesh’s probable squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Shuvagata Hom, Mohammad Shahid, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Abul Hasan/Shafiul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Litton Das.

Pakistan have been given back the review they lost due to an umpiring oversight on the first day of the second Test at the P Sara Oval in Colombo

Umar Farooq and Andrew Fidel Fernando26-Jun-2015Pakistan have been given back the review they lost due to an umpiring oversight on the first day of the second Test at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. The review – which was used to refer an unsuccessful appeal against Kaushal Silva – was restored to Pakistan at the start of the second day, leaving them with the full quota of two reviews.The rare decision to compensate a team for suffering an umpiring error was made because suboptimal use of the DRS had cost Pakistan the wicket of Silva in Sri Lanka’s first innings of the second Test.Umpire S Ravi had given Silva not out – after which Pakistan reviewed the decision – off the bowling of left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar on the fourth ball of the 19th over of Sri Lanka’s innings. The players were ostensibly appealing for a bat-pad catch to slip, and that seemed to be what the on-field umpire had prompted the third umpire Paul Reiffel to review. But though Silva appeared not to edge the ball, replays showed him to be an lbw candidate.Reiffel did not check for an lbw at the time, however, and Ravi was not instructed to change his decision. Replays and projections showed that Silva had been hit in line with the stumps, that the ball would have gone on to strike middle-and-leg stump, and that the point of impact on the pad was less than three metres from the stumps. This meant the not-out decision could have been overturned had Reiffel checked for an lbw dismissal.Section 3.3(f) of the ICC’s Test match playing conditions state: As the clause does not suggest umpires must check for all possible modes of dismissal for a review, Reiffel’s mistake seemed an error of judgement, rather than a failure to follow protocol. He may have overlooked the possibility of an lbw dismissal during his consultation.The Pakistan coach Waqar Younis went to Chris Broad, the match referee, to seek an explanation for the decision. ESPNcricinfo learned Broad and Reiffel apologised for the oversight, and it was reluctantly accepted by the team because nothing could be done after play carried on.

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.