Tom Maynard’s battling innings helps Surrey close in on saving the follow-on at The Oval

David Lloyd at The Oval17-May-2012
ScorecardTom Maynard’s unbeaten 63 has given Surrey a chance to save the follow-on•Associated Press

It would have been a bit cheeky of bowlers to start complaining about flat pitches and short boundaries after having things pretty much their own way for a month or so. But, in any event, there was still enough joy for them here to make life more than bearable following yesterday’s tough stint at the office.Stuart Meaker and Jon Lewis hinted at the possibility of a keener contest between bat and ball by picking up two quick wickets apiece during the morning session as Somerset stumbled slightly from an all-powerful overnight 441 for 5 to 474 for 9.And, several hours later and more relevant in terms of how this match might pan out, George Dockrell and Vernon Philander combined splendidly for a short period after tea to give Somerset a clear, though not decisive, advantage at the halfway stage.So far, the visitors can feel proud of their efforts in south London. Despite missing Marcus Trescothick and Jos Buttler from the top order they have secured Somerset’s highest total at The Oval.Then, with an even more depleted attack – the absentees include Steve Kirby, Alfonso Thomas, Gemaal Hussain and Adam Dibble – they did sufficient damage to leave Surrey fretting about the follow-on mark, which is still 77 runs away with only six wickets in hand.Surrey supporters can comfort themselves with the thought that their team almost pulled off a sensational victory at Worcester in the last round of matches after being made to have another go with the bat. But it is hardly a recommended recipe for success.Although they will expect to achieve more startling successes as their careers develop, Somerset’s 18-year-old twins – Jamie and Craig Overton – summed up the visitors’ battling qualities, first with bat and then with ball.The brothers are almost neck and neck, achievement-wise. Both played in the North Devon League at the age of 13, both represented England Under-19s last winter and both appeared in last weekend’s CB40 match against Durham. But while Craig is notching up his third Championship game here, Jamie is on first-class debut – and it was he who did more to catch the eye today.Walking out at No 11 to join No 10 Craig, Jamie punched gloves with his brother (something the Bedser twins, Alec and Eric, probably never felt compelled to do in all their years of playing together at The Oval). And then he started punching balls to the boundary.Having bowled with much more discipline than the day before, Surrey must have expected to part these young pups in the blink of an eye. But while Craig was ruffled by Meaker’s short ball attack, he survived sufficiently well for Jamie to race to 34 from 35 deliveries with the help of several cracking cuts and drives.Even better was to come for a boy who is first and foremost a bowler. Asked to share the new ball with Philander, Jamie yorked Jacques Rudolph – a man with 43 Test appearances behind him – with his fifth delivery at this level.The fairytale had to turn a little sour before too long, and so it did when Overton J reprieved Steve Davies on the mid-wicket boundary. Worried about tumbling over the rope, he knocked the ball up but pushed it behind the line, rather than in front, to deny spinner Dockrell a valuable success.Davies had already made 74, mind you, and the wicketkeeper-opener went on to compile his first century of the season before departing. A fine knock it was too, regularly punctuated with fierce cuts and beautifully timed clips and drives through the leg-side.While Davies and Zander de Bruyn were adding 122 for the third wicket, Surrey looked likely to match Somerset’s total. But the script changed significantly in the space of 18 balls straight after tea.Philander, switching ends following an expensive and largely unimpressive first spell, rediscovered his radar to locate De Bruyn’s outside edge and pin Rory Hamilton-Brown lbw as the home captain moved across his stumps. Dockrell had already made one bounce sufficiently to hit Davies on the glove and present a catch to short leg – and the hosts were grateful indeed when Tom Maynard’s mature unbeaten innings of 63 kept them out of further trouble.

Rory Hamilton-Brown’s 101 lead Surrey to a huge victory over Somerset as Surrey began the defence of their title

05-May-2012
ScorecardRory Hamilton-Brown’s hundred came off 87 balls and included 11 fours and two sixes•PA Photos

Surrey, the Clydesdale Bank 40 defending champions, opened their account with a convincing 105-run victory over Somerset in a replay of last season’s final. Led by captain Rory Hamilton-Brown, who set the tone with 101 off 89 balls, Surrey posted a daunting 295 for 6 before Stuart Meaker, Zafar Ansari and Gareth Batty, who each took three wickets, combined to dismiss Somerset for 190.With Vernon Philander resting a sore back, Alfonso Thomas on IPL duty and Steve Kirby ruled out with a thigh injury, Somerset’s attack contained four bowlers aged 20 or under, including 18-year old debutant Jamie Overton. That didn’t deter Somerset from bowling, having won the toss, but the Surrey openers took full advantage, laying the foundation for a sizeable total by racking up 163 in 23 overs.Hamilton-Brown was dropped at short mid-wicket on 13 and Steven Davies survived a caught-and-bowled chance on 39, off Craig Meschede. In the 15th over, Hamilton-Brown launched George Dockrell over long-on for six. In the next, he simultaneously brought up his half-century, off 53 balls, and the hundred stand.Davies posted a 45-ball half-century and Hamilton-Brown clubbed a second maximum off Dockrell. But the re-introduction of Peter Trego produced the wicket of Davies, who was bowled around his legs for 72.Hamilton-Brown moved to his second hundred in one-day cricket, from 87 deliveries, only to fall, moments later, to a catch on the straight boundary. Jason Roy was lbw attempting to reverse sweep Max Waller to make it 193 for 3 but then Tom Maynard and Zander de Bruyn flayed 63 in just eight overs.In reply, Somerset suffered the early setback of losing Craig Kieswetter, beaten for pace by Meaker, and Trego, who was caught and bowled by Jon Lewis. Nick Compton and James Hildreth combined for 48 in six overs before Hildreth danced down the wicket to Batty’s second ball to be stumped for 21.Compton moved to a 48-ball fifty in the 18th over before drilling a catch back to Ansari in the next. The 20-year-old slow left-armer struck again, when Arul Suppiah chopped on, and with Jos Buttler, attempting a reverse sweep, going caught behind off Batty for 29, the writing was on the wall.Meschede went for 20, seeking to lift Batty over long-off for a second successive six, before Waller was bowled around his legs by Ansari. Meaker then returned to dismiss Lewis Gregory and Dockrell and seal a thumping victory for Surrey.

Ireland resume their quest to qualify for the 2015 World Cup next month with two World Cricket League ODIs against Afghanistan.

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jun-2012Ireland resume their quest to qualify for the 2015 World Cup next month with two World Cricket League ODIs against Afghanistan. It is their first series since securing a place at the World T20 with victory in the qualifying event in the UAE.Stuart Thompson, a 20-year-old allrounder, has been added to the squad for the two matches on July 3 and 5 at Clontarf. Thompson has been rewarded for his form for Ireland A, scoring 93 in helping his side to a record chase against Gloucestershire second XI and making 71 against Scotland A.”Stuart’s been very impressive this season and has a sound technique which will stand him in good stead at the higher level,” Ireland coach Phil Simmons said of Thompson’s inclusion. “He’s also bowled pretty well at times and gives the squad plenty of options.”These are two vital games – two wins would put us in a fantastic position to qualify but we’re well aware of just how dangerous Afghanistan can be. We’ve had some tremendous tussles with them over the past few years.”Ireland currently lie joint top of the World Cricket League Championship with five wins from their first six games. Afghanistan are joint fifth with three wins from six games. The top two from the Championship automatically qualify for the 2015 World Cup.Ireland also play an Intercontinental cup match against Afghanistan from July 9 to 12 at Rathmines, where Kevin O’Brien will captain a much-changed squad.Fixtures
Ireland v Afghanistan, World Cricket League Championship, Clontarf, July 3 and 5Squad
William Porterfield (capt), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Ed Joyce, John Mooney, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Paul Stirling, Max Sorensen, Stuart Thompson, Andrew White, Gary WilsonFixtures
Ireland v Afghanistan, InterContinental Cup, Rathmines, July 9-12Squad
Kevin O’Brien (capt), John Anderson, Andrew Balbirnie, Alex Cusack, Trent Johnston, Rory McCann, John Mooney, Paul Stirling, Max Sorensen, Stuart Thompson, Albert Van der Merwe, Andrew White, Ben Wylie

Matthew Boyce’s unbeaten century rescued Leicestershire on day one at Grace Road against Yorkshire

Paul Edwards at Grace Road27-Jul-2012
ScorecardMatthew Boyce brought Leicestershire back from a tough position with an unbeaten hundred•PA Photos

There has always been a tinge of Greek drama about Yorkshire cricket: mighty challenges, great achievements and one or two flawed heroes have been the stuff of the county’s history for a century and more. Relegation last September, although no sort of tragedy, was still a grievous blow, prompting recriminations and revenge.Wednesday’s victory over Worcestershire in the quarter-final of the Friends Life t20 occasioned much joy, but one suspects that it will not satisfy the diehards in the broad acres: for all that an appearance at Cardiff may bring glitz and the promise of wealth, one feels that nothing less than promotion back to Division One will begin to expiate the stain on the house of Hutton and Sutcliffe.So it might be thought that a visit to Grace Road was just what the motivational coach ordered for Andrew Gale’s boys. After all, Leicestershire are at the bottom of Division Two and have won only one four-day game this season, and that was against Glamorgan back in freezing April. A win here would eat into Derbyshire’s 25-point lead at the top of the table and encourage Yorkshire supporters that their team will break free from the pack in the final seven weeks of the season.But Matt Boyce’s century proved just how tough things might be for Gale’s men over the next month or so. Boyce, who had already scored one championship hundred against Yorkshire this season, made a patient 106 not out off 224 balls to restore his side’s fortunes after the loss of early wickets. His 13 boundaries were underpinned by a solid defence and a steely temperament. Yorkshire were probably still the happier by the close, for this is a flat, easy-paced wicket; all the same, they had been made to fight in a way they might not have anticipated at lunch.For at the first interval things were going rather well for the visitors. Despite losing the toss on a wicket where a score of 350 would be considered barely par for a flat course, Gale’s bowlers had claimed four wickets, two of them taken by the excellent Steve Patterson, whose opening eight-over spell accounted for Greg Smith and Ned Eckersley, lbw victims both, as they played across the line.The key wicket was comfortably the most bizarre, Ramnaresh Sarwan being bowled by a full length ball from Steve Harmison, whose initial five-over spell cost 28 runs, 13 of them in wides and no-balls. Sarwan, one might assume, was startled by a straight one. At times, Harmison’s struggle was painful to watch and his final figures of 2 for 69 give no proper indication of his vain battle to find anything like a decent line. Occasionally it seemed that the umpires were a tad generous to him. All the same, the departure of Sarwan left Leicestershire on 59 for 3, and when Michael Thornely followed a wide one from Moin Ashraf on the stroke of lunch and was caught by Bairstow for a hitherto patient 31, the home side were in some trouble.On the evidence of the afternoon session, however, Leicestershire will be nobody’s easy pickings. Their resistance was led by Boyce and Shiv Thakor, who added 68 for the fifth wicket in 23 overs. Boyce is an established county cricketer who has fought a number of rearguards, but Thakor was making his first championship appearance of the season and the third of his brief career. So it was impressive to see the technical excellence displayed by the 18-year-old, his calmness at the crease, his precision of execution and placement. Thakor’s first mistake was his last, a drive off Ashraf going straight to Gale to short extra cover. Nonetheless, his 76-ball 35 had put down something of a marker.Boyce, though, ploughed on in determined fashion. Dropped on 26 when Adam Lyth spilled a regulation slip catch, he reached his fifty with a steer through the slips off Anthony McGrath. He was also dropped by Jonny Bairstow on 94 off Patterson, who finished with 3 for 54 and was the pick of the Yorkshire attack. Along the way, Boyce was helped by Wayne White in a stand of 60 for the sixth wicket and by Claude Henderson in an eighth-wicket partnership of 50. His shot to bring up his hundred, a rifle of a straight drive off Harmison brought together two men whose late July days could hardly have been more contrasting.

Australia’s batsmen had the workout they wanted, and they were backed up by their bowlers to complete an easy win over Nepal

The Report by George Binoy in Townsville13-Aug-2012
Australia’s batsmen had the workout they wanted, with Cameron Bancroft and Kurtis Patterson spending time in the middle and playing substantial innings to achieve the first 200-plus total of the Under-19 World Cup at the Tony Ireland Stadium. The target of 295 was always out of Nepal’s reach but their chances of batting 50 overs were shattered by fast bowler Harry Conway, whose early hat-trick precipitated a collapse in 23.5 overs.Though Nepal had a torrid first game, they were constantly cheered by a surprisingly large number of their fans. They came early, wearing purple shirts and carrying flags, sitting on the grass banks and in the grandstand. They were approximately about 75 of them, outnumbering and out-cheering the Aussies.Nepal’s captain Prithu Baskota won the toss and, given how poorly England and India had fared after getting sent in, asked Australia to bat. They celebrated an early wicket, when an aggressive Jimmy Peirson drove Krishna Karki to mid-off. The next breakthrough, however, was a long time coming.Bancroft, who made 2 in the first game against England, did not try to over attack and just knocked the unthreatening bowling into gaps. He could have been dismissed on 15, though, had the fielder hit the stumps direct. Bancroft received four overthrows instead.Patterson, who was contracted by New South Wales in July, did attack more than Bancroft. Their run-rate was around four an over at the 25-over mark and with plenty of wickets in hand, Australia were poised for a surge in the second half of their innings. Patterson was lucky to survive a stumping opportunity on 42, when he came out of his crease and was beaten down the leg side, but wicketkeeper Subash Khakurel did not collect cleanly.Patterson went on to reach his half-century before Bancroft did: off 62 balls to Bancroft’s 93. Australia took the batting Powerplay in the 34th over and scored 44 runs off its first 3.2 overs. Patterson cleared the big boundaries at long-on and square leg and looked set for a century in quick time. On 86, however, he tried to slog-sweep but was bowled by one that kept extremely low from the left-arm spinner Bhuvan Karki.Bancroft had also picked up speed, and reached his hundred off 129 balls, his fourth century in Under-19 internationals. He hit medium-pacer Avinash Karn over the midwicket and straight boundary, and was aiming to clear midwicket again but his pull was intercepted by Sagar Pun, who, moving to his right, caught a ball that was travelling quickly, and held on to it as he hit the turf hard.Australia lost a few more wickets as they tried to get as many as they could and finished on 294 for 7.Nepal had made 11 for 0 before Conway, who did not play against England, began to batter the right-handers’ off stump. Three times in a row he pitched full and straight and all three times he was on target, while the batsmen played down the long line.
Nepal lost wickets quickly after that and slumped to 82 all out. The offspinner Ashton Turner, who had taken 3 for 30 against England, had another good day, picking up 4 for 28 to take an early lead in the race for most wickets.

Northamptonshire have begun to plan for next season by signing the Surrey allrounder Matthew Spriegel on a two-year contract

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2012Northamptonshire have begun to plan for next season by signing the Surrey allrounder Matthew Spriegel on a two-year contract. The 25-year-old, who helped Surrey win the CB40 Trophy last season, will add depth and experience to one of the weakest one-day sides in the country.Spriegel has a batting average of 38.86 in List A cricket and has taken 40 wickets in 61 matches with his offspin. He played in every game of Surrey’s successful CB40 campaign in 2011 and hit the winning runs in the Lord’s final.With Northamptonshire winning just two limited-overs games in 2012 – once in the FLt20 and once in the CB40 – Spriegel has been brought in to improve their fortunes. He also has three first-class hundreds to his name since making his Surrey debut in 2008 but made just two Championship appearances this season.”We are delighted that Matthew had decided to join Northants, as he is exactly the type of multi-dimensional cricketer we have been looking to attract to the club,” Northamptonshire coach, David Ripley, said. “Matthew has shown a real hunger to improve himself in all formats and will give us some excellent options with both bat and ball in the short and longer form of the game.”David Smith, Northamptonshire’s chief executive, said: “It is no secret that our white-ball cricket performances over the last 18 months have fallen below both the club and supporter’s expectations and I am sure Matthew will assist us in our efforts to re-establish a competitive team in this form of the game. He was an integral part of the Surrey’s Clydesdale Bank 40 winning team at Lords in 2011, so brings trophy-winning experience to the club.”

Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, will receive an award from the PCB following the World Twenty20, for being the ‘No. 1 bowler in the world’, board chief Zaka Ashraf has said

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-2012Saeed Ajmal, the Pakistan offspinner, will receive an award from the PCB following the World Twenty20, for being the ‘No. 1 bowler in the world’, board chief Zaka Ashraf has said. The announcement comes in the wake of Ajmal not being on ICC’s shortlist for Test Player of the Year.”Saeed Ajmal, we still say you’re the No. 1 bowler in the world and the PCB recognises you, and whether someone gives you the prize, that is immaterial, we don’t care,” Ashraf said. “We congratulate you and when you come back home [after the World T20] we will give you a prize for being the No. 1 bowler in the world. The PCB is with you.”Ajmal was on the longlist for the ICC award, which will be announced at a function in Colombo on September 15, but did not make the shortlist that included South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander, Australia’s Michael Clarke and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara. Subsequently, the PCB had lodged a protest with the ICC regarding his omission, but the ICC had said it could not revise the list as it had been put together by an independent jury. That prompted talk of a possible boycott of the awards function by Pakistan.While the boycott wasn’t a certainty, Ashraf said, he was hoping for a last-minute revision. “There is some error, I think the ICC should try to rectify it. At least his name should have been on the shortlist,” Ashraf said. “I’m still hopeful the ICC will make a positive move by trying to rectify it.”The PCB hasn’t decided as yet to boycott [the awards ceremony], that will be an extreme step. But we are under extreme pressure. There have been demonstrations in Pakistan, people have come out in support of Saeed Ajmal; there was a big demonstration held in front of the PCB office. We’ve conveyed that to the ICC. It has [even] been taken up in the parliament in Pakistan, there’s a big debate going on.”Ajmal had taken 72 Test wickets between August 4, 2011, and August 6, 2012, (the qualifying period for the award). He climbed to No. 3 in the Test bowlers’ rankings and, last week, took the No. 1 spot in the ODI rankings.

Rod Bransgrove is to stand down as chief executive of Hampshire as
well as the plc and events operations at West End, from December 1.

Ivo Tennant29-Oct-2012Rod Bransgrove is to stand down as chief executive of Hampshire as
well as the plc and events operations at West End, from December 1.Although he intends to spend more time out of the country in winter,
he will continue as chairman of the Rose Bowl group and is looking to fulfil his final ambition at the ground in 2019, the staging of an Ashes Test match. He has slain the financial obstacles. Now for the ECB.As Bransgrove points out, West End is the one Test ground in the country yet to be awarded an Ashes Test. Lobbying has already begun. By 2019, this resilient and articulate businessman will be almost 70 – but not as old, he is quick to add, as the members of the Rolling Stones, whom he would like to see perform on the ground he has financed heavily ever since Hampshire’s move from run-down Northlands Road in 2001.Last year, when the inaugural Test was staged at West End,
Bransgrove’s personal investment was thought to be £6.5m. Now, this
sum is “well in excess of £10m”. He does not anticipate a return in
the near future and has not drawn a salary in his 12 years as chief
executive. “It has been said that I am in this for the money,” he said. “Maybe that has now been retracted.”The business has been very much a part of me and it will be very
difficult to wrestle me away from it entirely. I’ll always have an
opinion, which I hope my successor, David Mann, will listen to, but I
don’t expect to have to work as hard as I have done over the past 12
years. I am not an old 62, but it is an ambition of mine not to have
to work full-time.”My energy levels have not deteriorated and I am hungry for more
success, but it has never been a secret that the company needed more
funding and we can move forward with confidence now that Eastleigh
Borough Council has provided that. It is great to look out of the
window and see the hotel being constructed on the ground.” The Council’s investment is £45m.Fund-raising, as opposed to the staging of international cricket, has
been Bransgrove’s biggest achievement, he reckons. He could have added
that – but for his own personal investment, drawn from the capital he
acquired through the flotation of Shire Pharmaceuticals which
specialised in hormone replacement therapy – Hampshire would never have
moved grounds. The spin-off for him, other than the development of a
significant and attractive international venue, has been the
friendships of cricketers such as Sir Ian Botham, Shane Warne, Robin
Smith and the journeymen. Even, he might add in his sardonic way, the
journalists.The downside has been differences of opinion with the ECB. “I have
felt once or twice we have been overlooked in the international arena,
but then there have been the trophies we have won. Our policy of
mixing talented young players with experienced old ones definitely
works well and what I want to do now is to watch them perform
throughout the day without my having other concerns.”A typical day, he revealed, starts off “when I am at my grumpiest”
with personal correspondence at home (he is a non-executive director
of other companies) followed by the 16-mile drive to the ground from
his home on the edge of the Test Valley. He will remain there until 7p.m. and will often be involved in a business function in the evening,
drinking, by preference, Montrachet rather than Chablis. “Probably my
life has been dedicated to my business interests.”As he prepares to build a house for himself and his family in the
Caribbean – “not Mustique” – he will hand over to Mann, who is no
relation to the former England captain, George Mann, or indeed his
buccaneering son Simon, but a 48 year-old village cricketer and
finance director who lives in Southampton. The idea now is that West
End will become a hub for the local community as well as a venue for
cricket, concerts and other sports.Whatever is taking place, you can bet that Bransgrove, even in his
dotage, will be keeping a paternal eye on events. “Combining the roles
of chairman and chief executive is not great governance, but the
company is now on a reasonably stable footing. I don’t want to take on
any other position in the game. This has been a massive passion – but
a bit of a pain at times.”

A nation keen to spend Saturday on the couch had to find other things to do as day two of the first Test between Australia and South Africa was washed out in Brisbane

The Report by Daniel Brettig10-Nov-2012South Africa 2 for 255 v Australia
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe rain did not allow any play at the Gabba•Getty Images

A nation keen to spend Saturday on the couch had to find other things to do as day two of the first Test between Australia and South Africa was washed out in Brisbane.Play was formally called off at 4pm local time after a final inspection by the umpires Billy Bowden and Asad Rauf took place with drizzle still falling at the Gabba.Having lost the services of JP Duminy due to a freak Achilles injury during a warm-down exercise on the first evening, South Africa have now lost a day on which they had hoped to press home the advantage won by reaching 2 for 255 on the opening day.It is the first time a full day’s play has been lost to rain in a Brisbane Test since the final day of the 1983 Test between Australia and Pakistan was washed out. The last day’s play in a Test match to be completely washed out in Australia was Boxing Day in 1998, when Australia and England met at the MCG.The rain arrived on Friday evening and barely abated throughout Saturday, leaving the Australian players to sign autographs for those fans who still ventured to the ground.South Africa’s squad returned to their hotel soon after an early lunch was taken, and were ultimately to remain there.

India’s injury problems continue with the seamer R Vinay Kumar ruled out of the Twenty20s against England due to a strained right calf muscle

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Dec-2012India’s injury problems continue with the seamer Vinay Kumar being ruled out of the Twenty20s against England due to a strained right calf muscle. He has been replaced by fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun, his Karnataka team-mate.Vinay is the third India player to pull out of the two-match series, starting on Thursday, due to injury. The middle-order batsman Manoj Tiwary was withdrawn due to a side strain, before the seamer L Balaji was ruled unfit due to a stress injury to his right big toe. Vinay, who was brought in as Balaji’s replacement, will be out of action for two weeks.Mithun has played four Tests and five ODIs for India, his most recent appearance coming against West Indies in an ODI in Chennai late last year. He has taken eight wickets in four Ranji Trophy matches this season.