Zimbabwe have chosen an A team full of first-choice picks to play against Pakistan A in Bulawayo from Sunday in an effort to help them prepare for the Tests against Sri Lanka, which begin on October 29

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2016Zimbabwe have chosen an A team full of first-choice picks to play against Pakistan A in Bulawayo from Sunday in an effort to help them prepare for the Tests against Sri Lanka, which begin on October 29.Out of the 24 men picked to play two four-day matches only three have yet to play international cricket – batsman Tarisai Musakanda and seamers Carl Mumba and Victor Nyauchi – and 16 had been involved in Zimbabwe’s most recent Tests, against New Zealand in July and August.The A series also presents opportunity for Brian Vitori, the 26-year old fast bowler, to end a three-month streak without competitive cricket. It has been a lot longer since he played for Zimbabwe; his last match was in January 2016. But he is part of the 12-member squad to play the first four-day game against Pakistan A at Queens Sports Club. He has Donald Tiripano, Chris Mpofu and Michael Chinouya as seam-bowling partners. With a host of part-time spinners available, only one specialist has been picked – Graeme Cremer, the Zimbabwe captain.The second game – scheduled for October 15 – could feature Elton Chigumbura who had been left out of senior team when they played New Zealand in July. Also in the mix is medium-pacer Njabulo Ncube, who had come back from a three-year break from first-class cricket in July 2016. He had also been in the squad for the Tests against New Zealand but did not play.Tendai Chatara and Tinashe Panyangara, who were unable to play in that New Zealand series as a result of ankle and back injuries respectively, were not among the 24 men named to take on Pakistan A.Squad for First unofficial Test: Tino Mawoyo, Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Ervine, Peter Moor, Sikandar Raza, Malcolm Waller, Richmond Mutumbami, Graeme Cremer, Michael Chinouya, Donald Tiripano, Chris Mpofu, Brian VitoriSquad for second unofficial Test: Brian Chari, Chamu Chibhabha, Tarisai Musakanda, Sean Williams, Prince Masvaure, Elton Chigumbura, Regis Chakabva, John Nyumbu, Victor Nyauchi, Carl Mumba, Njabulo Ncube, Taurai Muzarabani

Coming back from a rest, the 24-year-old fast bowler provided some of Pakistan’s brightest spots in a tightly-fought Sharjah Test against West Indies

Umar Farooq in Sharjah31-Oct-2016Pakistan’s decision to rest Mohammad Amir in Abu Dhabi had been met with mixed reactions. The critics said a break might hamper the 24-year-old fast bowler’s rhythm. But there was also the argument that he was playing international cricket for the first time in five years and had already stacked up 202.3 overs on a long tour of England and 45 more during Pakistan’s first day-night Test in Dubai.Perhaps considering UAE Tests are decided by the batsmen and spinners’ contributions, and with two important series coming up – against New Zealand in November and Australia in December – the Pakistan selectors decided to give Amir some time off. The move seems to have worked.In Sharjah, on the second day of the third Test against West Indies, Amir looked like a man refreshed, picking up two wickets on a slow pitch and also pulling off a spectacular catch to dismiss Darren Bravo. Until that moment, when he ran back from cover, dived after the ball and got hold of it while horizontal with the ground, Amir had not had a single Test catch to his name.

Kraigg Brathwaite on…

What West Indies must do on day three: “We are in a good position. It is key for me and Jason [Holder] to start fresh and build a big partnership, then look to build a really big lead. The aim for me is to really build a big lead. If Jason and I can spend time at the wicket, rotate the strike, hopefully we can get as big a lead as possible.”
On the pitch: “It isn’t spinning sharply at the moment. [But] the pitch is cracking up a bit, and later tomorrow it will probably crack some more and get some spin. If we can go on and get the lead, then build on that, that will be very good for us.”
On his 83-run fifth-wicket stand with Roston Chase, after West Indies were 68 for 4: “Me and Chase went to school together, so we have a good relationship. I said to him to play as straight as possible. Obviously the pitch is low, so it is key we hit straight down the ground, then rotate the strike, and after that we had a good partnership.”

“It was a combined decision between me and the team management to take a rest and that’s fine,” Amir said. “A bowler can be rested from time to time; even Wahab [Riaz] was rested [in Abu Dhabi] and those who replaced us, Rahat Ali and Sohail Khan, did well. We are just developing our combination. I have been playing for a year now and I think fast bowlers should rest whenever there is a chance.”Because you never know, I or Wahab can be injured at any time. It can happen in cricket and you can’t do anything about that. So when you have a strong bench you can rotate the bowlers you have and give the others some chances as well. Our next tours, New Zealand and Australia, are lengthy so all of us need to be match-ready in case you need someone as cover for an unexpected injury.”Since Amir regained the eligibility to play for Pakistan after his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal in 2010, he has claimed 17 Test wickets at an average of 39.41. Those statistics, however, may have to be taken with a pinch of salt considering he had several catches dropped off his bowling in England. While he has not lost any pace, constantly hitting the low- to mid-140s, the swing he was known for is not quite there.”Playing Test cricket after five years is not very easy and I started with a tough England tour. It takes time to regain your rhythm,” Amir said. “But I feel I am getting there and getting my rhythm back gradually. I did face some problems with fitness earlier, which was expected. After five years of being idle, it’s very tough for a fast bowler to immediately be back at his best. It can’t be done overnight, you need to keep on performing. I still have a long career ahead of me and I am working hard to get where I was before skills-wise.”The swing was missing in England but now I have started developing the shape. And I have mostly been playing T20 cricket since coming back, where I bowl with a different arm-action. I was also going wide of the crease earlier but now I have minimised it and worked on my arm-action and its working my way.”Amir was looking forward to doing well in the two Tests in New Zealand – he is part of a 16-man squad that was announced on Monday – and then three more in Australia, including a day-night Test in Brisbane; Pakistan have yet to name a squad for that series.”Going to New Zealand and Australia and performing there, in those conditions, it gives you immense confidence. I have been to both countries earlier and the pitches there help fast bowlers. With the exposure of playing on tracks like these in UAE, you definitely get a lot of confidence to do well there.”Amir was happiest talking about his catch, though, which helped Pakistan get on top of West Indies. “We actually train to develop these kinds of skills with our fielding coach; it is quite a regular thing. That wicket of Bravo was very important as he was the batsman we wanted to get as soon as possible. We created the opportunity and I made the effort to get him out. So it worked well.”Then, with the wickets of Jermaine Blackwood for 23 and Roston Chase for 50, Amir also helped contain West Indies’ fightback as Pakistan ended the second day with a 37-run lead. They still have four more first-innings wickets to take though.

It is unlcear yet if Hardik Pandya will be available for the ODI series against England starting January 15

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Nov-2016Allrounder Hardik Pandya has been ruled out for at least six weeks after sustaining a hairline fracture on his right shoulder. Pandya was released from the Test squad two days ago after being struck on the shoulder in a net session during the Mohali Test. It is unlcear yet if he will be available for the ODI series against England starting from January 15. No replacement was named by the BCCI.Pandya was with the Indian Test squad for the first time in his career, after impressing the selectors with his pace and limited-overs form. He was the only uncapped player in the squad by the time he picked up the injury, with fellow newcomers Jayant Yadav and Karun Nair both making debuts in the series.Pandya came into the Test squad through his performances on India A’s tour of Australia earlier this year – where he impressed MSK Prasad, India’s chairman of selectors – that got him picked for the ODIs against New Zealand in October. Pandya picked up four wickets in as many games against New Zealand and was seen as a useful option with the new ball, at least in white-ball cricket. His selection for Tests was seen as a left-field pick, but Prasad had said Pandya was included as much for his seam bowling as his aggressive batting down the order.

Dougie Brown has emerged as a front-runner for the Netherlands coaching role

George Dobell and David Hopps28-Dec-2016Dougie Brown has emerged as a front-runner for the Netherlands coaching role.Brown, the former England and Scotland all-rounder, was sacked as Warwickshire’s director of cricket at the end of the 2016 season despite the club lifting the Royal London One-Day Cup.After protracted discussions with Lancashire over compensation, Ashley Giles returned to Warwickshire in the role.Andy Moles, who has previously coached New Zealand, Afghanistan, Scotland, Kenya and Hong Kong, is also believed to be under consideration by Netherlands.While Chris Adams has enjoyed coaching success with the Netherlands – they won WCL Div 2 and the World T20 qualifier (shared with Scotland) in 2015 – he is understood to be reluctant to relocate to Holland.Adams will be in-charge for a tour to the United Arab Emirates in January in which the Netherlands will contest the Desert Twenty20I tournament, also involving Ireland, Scotland, UAE, Oman, Namibia and Hong Kong. They will then travel to Hong Kong for matches in the Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League.He assumed the role of interim coach when Anton Roux stood down from the position in August this year to work with the Otago Volts. Roux worked with Netherlands cricket for three years from 2013 and was part of memorable wins, including the ones over England in the 2009 and in World T20 2014.Nottinghamshire, meanwhile, have also begun searching for a replacement for Wayne Noon as their assistant coach. Karl Krikken and Ben Smith are understood to be among those under consideration.

Ireland were once the leading Associate team but their results over the last two years have been poor. They return to the UAE – a place of happy memories – hopeful of success

Peter Della Penna in Abu Dhabi14-Jan-20172:28

UAE conditions not foreign to us – Dockrell

Once the undisputed leaders of the Associate world, Ireland arrive in the UAE for the Desert T20 challenge playing more like paupers than princes over the last two years in Twenty20 cricket. Entering the tournament as the lowest-seeded side in part due to their winless performance at the 2016 World T20, Ireland are hoping that a return to the site of some of their most memorable Associate triumphs will spark a return to form.”The UAE has always been a nice place for us,” Ireland left-arm spinner George Dockrell told ESPNcricinfo at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on the eve of their first match against Afghanistan. “We’ve won a lot of competitions out here and we’ve played so much cricket, which always helps that we do know the grounds, and we know the conditions and the cricket that’s played here.”Ireland lost their first match of the 2012 World T20 Qualifier to Namibia in Dubai before going on to win ten straight games – including four playoff matches in three days – on their way to the tournament title and a spot at the World T20 in Sri Lanka. They came back to the UAE the following year and went undefeated, beating Afghanistan in the final for the second time, to clinch another place at the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh.Those twin titles were part of a streak of 21 straight wins at the World T20 Qualifier that was finally undone by Papua New Guinea in Belfast in 2015. Since then Ireland have struggled in the format, with that loss to PNG beginning a run of eight losses in their last 11 T20Is.”As a team, we know that our performances haven’t been where they should be in the past,” Dockrell said. “That’s not something that’s going over our heads. We know that we’ve been underperforming in the past and it’s something that we’re trying to address and it’s not through a lack of effort from the guys.”In the search for answers, the squad has gone through a shake-up, one which Dockrell is acutely aware of. Despite being one of Ireland’s most experienced players, the 24-year-old was dropped ahead of their shock loss to Oman at the World T20 in India. In the eight home ODIs that Ireland had this summer against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan, he made the starting XI just once – offspinner Andy McBrine became coach John Bracewell’s preferred slow-bowling specialist – and was also left out for the home T20I series against Hong Kong.George Dockrell’s recent form has taken a dip, much like Ireland’s results, and he hopes to improve both•Getty Images/Sportsfile

Dockrell was picked for the ODI tour to South Africa in September, but went wicketless in the defeats to Australia and South Africa. He is back in the T20 squad for this tour, but faces competition from fellow spinners McBrine and Jacob Mulder, who made his debut in that Hong Kong match at Bready. Once an automatic selection, Dockrell has been working hard on his game to regain his status as Ireland’s first-choice spinner and says the competition within the squad is something that will hopefully bring out the best in everyone’s game.”It’s always good to have competition in the squad and in the team,” Dockrell said. “It’s good that we now have the option in the squad of having a left-arm spinner, a right-armer in Andy and Jacob as well, a legspinner. We didn’t have that depth a number of years ago. We have guys who are home, the likes of Peter Chase and Tim Murtagh, who aren’t playing but would be able to step in and do a great role if they were required.”You have to look at ways that maybe you’re deficient, or ways that you can get better to keep fighting for that spot in the team, so I think it’s definitely a good thing for Irish cricket that we’re developing that depth in the bowlers and in the batters too, so that we don’t just have a squad of 12 or 13 to pick from, that you know there’s seven other guys to pick from, whether there’s an injury or drop in form. It just pushes you on to keep improving.”After the conclusion of the ODI tour to South Africa in September, Dockrell travelled to Brisbane, where he has been playing club cricket in the local grade competition to keep himself sharp during the Irish winter. He also got the chance to train with Queensland’s first-class side and Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League.”It’s been fantastic, having the opportunity to go over to Brisbane to play some club cricket and train with Queensland and Brisbane Heat,” Dockrell said. “Obviously Dan Vettori is the coach there as well so he’s a great guy to draw a bit of knowledge from and talk to about a few things. Even just being in that environment and bowling to the likes of Chris Lynn and Brendon McCullum, it’s something that’s always going to make you better.”For now, though, Dockrell’s focus is on trying to help Ireland get back on the right track, beginning with Group A’s primetime showdown against Afghanistan on day one of the tournament in Abu Dhabi.”We’ll be playing Afghanistan in a couple of months, but other than that there won’t be a huge amount of T20 cricket until maybe the T20 Qualifiers, which have yet to be announced so for us it’s a great competition, a great chance to put things right where we’ve been deficient in the last couple years.””We played Afghanistan during the summer and it was four really contested games. It’ll be great cricket from both teams, so I suppose for this competition it’ll be great to start with a win and that’s what we’ll be thinking before we go into that game.”

The Supreme Court, in a significant reprieve to BCCI and state office-bearers, has allowed them to serve separate nine-year terms at central and state level

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Jan-20171:58

Ugra: Attorney general’s intervention a sign of government backing BCCI

The Supreme Court, in a significant reprieve to BCCI and state office-bearers, has allowed them to serve separate nine-year terms at central and state level, permitting a total of 18 years in cricket administration. The clarification on Friday contradicted the Lodha Committee’s interpretation of the court’s order on January 2, when the committee said an office-bearer would be ineligible to continue if he had served nine years in total, whether at BCCI or state level or combined.The confusion over tenure arose after the court modified its January 2 order, which had originally said: “A person shall be disqualified from being an Office-Bearer if he or she has been an Office-Bearer of the BCCI for a cumulative period of 9 years.” On January 3, the court modified that to: “Has been an Office-Bearer of the BCCI or a State Association for a cumulative period of 9 years.”The original Lodha Committee recommendation regarding eligibility, which was passed by the Supreme Court on July 18 last year, had made it possible for an individual to serve nine years each at both BCCI and state level. A BCCI office-bearer’s cooling-off period could have been a three-year term at their state association, after which they could once again contest an election for a BCCI position. And if they won the BCCI post, the ensuing three-year term would serve as their cooling-off period from holding office at state level. An individual could therefore have spent 18 years in Indian cricket administration between the BCCI and his state association.Such a scenario was possible once again after the Supreme Court clarified the uncertainty that arose following the order on January 2 and 3, and reverted the terms of tenure to the original recommendation of the Lodha Committee.The purge of the existing BCCI and state leadership may not be as severe as previously thought•PTI

The Supreme Court also put off finalising the committee of administrators (COA) to supervise the BCCI to January 24. The court had asked amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium and senior legal counsel Anil Divan to nominate people for the COA, which they did by submitting nine names in a sealed envelope on Friday. The court asked the parties not to disclose the names, and pointed out a nine-member panel was “too big”.Upon studying the names, the court asked Subramanium if any of the candidates were over the age of 70, because the Lodha Committee had recommended that BCCI and state office-bearers should be under 70. Subramanium said a few names were over 70 and that the reasons for their inclusion were also listed.On January 2, the court had dismantled the existing power structure of the BCCI by removing the board’s president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke for impeding the implementation of the Lodha Committee’s recommendations. The court said the board would be supervised by a committee of administrators until new office-bearers were elected once the BCCI implemented the recommendations. The court had directed the COA to supervise the administration of the BCCI through its chief executive Rahul Johri.The COA’s other key function was to ensure that the Lodha Committee’s recommendations passed by the court order on July 18, 2016, were implemented by the BCCI and state associations.Last week RM Lodha, the former chief justice of India and chairman of the Lodha Committee, said the COA would issue a fresh set of guidelines for the BCCI and state associations to adopt the new constitution in accordance with the recommendations. “There has to be [fresh timelines], but that will be done by the administrators. We said we don’t have that much of time, and that there has to be layers of administrators,” Lodha said. “The changes will happen. We will be there to supervise and guide the administrators.”The Lodha Committee was formed in January 2015 to determine appropriate punishments for some of the officials involved in the 2013 IPL corruption scandal, and also to propose changes to streamline the BCCI, reform its functioning, prevent sporting fraud and conflict of interest.In January 2016, the committee released its report, which recommended an exhaustive overhaul of the BCCI’s governance and administrative structures. On July 18, the Supreme Court of India approved the majority of the recommendations and directed the Lodha Committee to supervise the BCCI’s implementations of the same. However, despite the Lodha Committee laying out timelines and other directives, the board did not cooperate because it said that its state associations objected to the recommendations. This impasse eventually led to the Supreme Court removing Thakur and Shirke from office on January 2, 2017.

A round-up of the final day’s matches in the 2016-17 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Inter Zonal competition

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2017
ScorecardVirat Singh delivered East Zone the title with his unbeaten 58•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Virat Singh and Ishank Jaggi zoomed to half-centuries as East Zone chased down 150 in just 13.4 overs against West Zone to clinch an eight-wicket win and the 2016-17 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Inter Zonal title. East Zone ended their tournament with a spotless record, winning all four of their matches to finish with 16 points, four ahead of second-placed Central Zone.The duo’s efforts came after right-arm pacer Pritam Das snared 2 for 25 to restrict West Zone to 149 for 5 after they were asked to bat at the Wankhede Stadium.Jaggi walked out with East Zone having made a blistering start to the chase through an opening stand of 61 in just 5.2 overs. Shardul Thakur ended the burst when he had Karthik caught behind for a 14-ball 24. Virat and Jaggi then slammed 80 runs off just 44 balls to shut the doors on a West Zone fightback. Jaggi took over as the dominant partner, scoring 56 of them himself, off 30 balls and with the help of three fours and six sixes.Thakur returned to take out Jaggi in the 13th over, but East Zone were only nine short of the target. They required only six more balls to close out the game, with captain Manoj Tiwary hitting two quick boundaries, while Virat stayed not out on 58 off 34 balls, having struck five fours and three sixes.Thakur took two wickets, but was expensive, giving away 31 runs in three overs, as were all of West Zone’s six remaining bowlers, who ended wicketless.When West Zone batted, Sheldon Jackson tried to hold the innings together with a half-century, but West Zone lost frequent wickets and made slow progress. Deppak Hooda helped Jackson add 40 for the third wicket to lift them from 36 for 2, but their stand came at only a run a ball. When Jackson fell at the start of the 15th over, caught off the left-arm spin of Pragyan Ojha, West Zone only had 92 on the board. That they got to 149 was down to Rujul Bhatt, who struck an unbeaten 36 off 20 balls.East Zone’s bowlers shared the wickets around, with Pritam Das returning 2 for 25, while Suryakant Pradhan, Sayan Ghosh and Ojha took a wicket apiece.
ScorecardFile photo – Harpreet Singh’s 92 made the difference for Central Zone in a tense chase•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In the second match of the day, Central Zone scraped through by two wickets in a high-scoring clash against South Zone.After being inserted, South Zone rode on solid contributions from their middle order to post 181 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs. Harpreet Singh led Central Zone’s reply with a career-best 92 off 51 balls that included 10 fours and four sixes.After Vishnu Vinod set the tone for South Zone’s innings with a 15-ball 31 at the top, the trio of Dinesh Karthik (35), captain Vijay Shankar (40) and Pavan Deshpande (33 not out) formed the bulwark of the innings. Their efforts ensured South Zone finished with a strong total in spite of late strikes.Ankit Rajpoot, Aniket Choudhary and Karn Sharma took two wickets each, although Rajpoot was the most economical, giving away just 28 in four overs.Central Zone lost Naman Ojha in the second ball of the chase, before Harpreet and Amandeep Khare steadied them with a 67-run second-wicket stand. Following Khare’s dismissal for 39, the onus fell on Harpreet as none of the other batsmen made an impression. Harpreet nearly saw the team through, and though he fell at the start of the final over, Amit Mishra and Rajpoot fought nerves to knock off the remaining four runs.South Zone used six bowlers, all of whom were among the wickets, but Rahil Shah and Swaroop Kumar impressed the most with returns of 2 for 20 and 1 for 20 respectively.

Carlos Brathwaite has said he has learnt to deal with the expectations that have arisen since the World T20 triumph

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Mar-2017Carlos Brathwaite. Remember the name?By the time West Indies’ upcoming T20I series against Pakistan is done, it will be a year since that evening in Kolkata, when Brathwaite slammed four sixes in the final over to snatch the World T20 title from England. Since then he has been named T20I captain, and the expectations have hardly died down. Brathwaite said he had learnt how to deal with that pressure.”Family and friends have been sticking close, but the pressure has increased from outside. But it’s just a matter of understanding it won’t happen every day,” Brathwaite said, on the eve of the first of four T20Is against Pakistan. “You’ll fail more times than you perform, I think I’ve come to grips with that. I’ve begun to level my own expectations, which probably were more than the expectations of others.”Pakistan’s tour of West Indies, which has three ODIs and three Tests after the T20Is, begins less than six months since the two teams met in the UAE. In that series, West Indies were swept 6-0 in the limited-overs formats, and could not put together a win till the final game on tour, a dead-rubber Test in Sharjah. But Twenty20 is West Indies’ best format, and Brathwaite is confident they have the right combination of youth and experience to challenge Pakistan in home conditions.”Not having Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Andre Russell and still being able to put together the team we’ve selected is massive for any international team. One thing we’ve always been able to boast of is power hitters, and we have four or five one after the other. And we have that perfect mix of experience and youth as well.”We have Rovman Powell; Jonathan Carter just came into the fold … Then there’s the elder statesmen, though he’s only 28 [29], Kieron Pollard, he’s a T20 veteran. We have Marlon Samuels and Lendl Simmons, who’ve been touring all over the world and playing with success. So take that blend of youth and experience and as well as powerful hitters coming on at the backend of the T20 innings, capitalising on the last 10 overs anywhere in the world against any team in the world [and you know we can challenge any team].”One thing he is counting on, Brathwaite said, is having some of his players offer inside information on the Pakistan team, after their time at the Pakistan Super League; Pollard, Samuels, Sunil Narine and Samuel Badree featured in the PSL, which ended earlier this month.”In the series in the UAE, Imad Wasim obviously had some homework done, because he played in the Caribbean Premier League,” Brathwaite said. “So hopefully our guys can bring back their homework and assess their learnings in PSL, and use it hopefully as well as Imad did against us in the UAE. We’ll see if it translates onto the field.”

The Delhi Daredevils batsmen did not recognise the troubles a slow pitch in Mohali would pose and were bowled out for 67

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Apr-2017The Delhi Daredevils batsmen were at a loss for ideas out on the field in Mohali and their mentor Rahul Dravid was at a loss for words in the press conference. His team was bowled out for 67 – their lowest total in IPL – and Kings XI Punjab beat them with 10 wickets and 73 balls to spare.”Really disappointing… I don’t know… there’s not much to say,” Dravid said amid long pauses, perhaps recalling how his team struggled endlessly on a pitch that was slower than normal. “We were really poor and we didn’t bat particularly intelligently on that kind of wicket. We didn’t assess the conditions well enough and we didn’t give ourselves a chance.Sandeep Sharma, on the other hand, did realise the opportunity that lay underfoot. He concentrated on bowling a tight line and hitting a good length, demanding the batsmen play on the up. Those shots had been so very easy in the Mohali of two days ago, when the match took place under lights. But now a dry surface, baking under the afternoon sun, the ball kept stopping on the batsman.”Normally you see Sandeep swings the ball a lot but I think he quickly figured the wicket was slightly on the slower side and so he bowled wicket to wicket and hit the right lengths,” Dravid said. “I think the key for him really was the length. That sort of forced our batsmen to play some shots and we hit the ball in the air a lot which was not a wise thing to do so much on a slow wicket.”Daredevils came to Mohali with a four-match losing streak and desperately wanted to break it. “It was going to be a defining week for us,” Dravid said. “It hasn’t started particularly well. Hopefully we can go to Delhi and turn it around.”To do so, they might need to sort out the kinks in their batting line-up. Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair and Rishabh Pant make up the top five and they have only ten international caps between them.Dravid, however, had a counter to that criticism. “But they’ve been playing the IPL for a while now,” he said. “Most of them have shown glimpses of good performances in this tournament and in the past as well. So really its going to be up to us and then themselves to lift ourselves up after this and really go out and try and play good cricket and not think too far ahead, try and focus on the next game and put in, definitely, a much better performance.”The other talking point was the out-of-form Karun Nair assuming captaincy of the team with Zaheer Khan injured.”Obviously last year’s vice-captain JP [Duminy] isn’t here and Quinton [de Kock] isn’t here as well, so we had decided that Karun would be the person who would take over the captaincy and we stuck with that,” Dravid said. “There are times when people are going to run out of form. Whether you’re the captain or vice-captain sometimes you run out of form. It happens. That’s not a reflection on his captaincy. Still he’s led junior teams and he’s led quite well. Nothing much he can do when you don’t put enough runs on the board.”

On the day of the summer solstice, the reigning county champions have their first victory of summer. Yorkshire were not defeated so much as eviscerated

Tim Wigmore at Lord's21-Jun-2017
ScorecardOn the day of the summer solstice, the reigning county champions have their first victory of summer. Yorkshire were not defeated so much as eviscerated and did not even have the small solace of an early return home, thanks to a sponsors’ dinner.For Middlesex this was vindication for the depth of their squad. The club has taken great delight in this week’s inclusion, for England Lions or the senior team, of Nick Gubbins, Dawid Malan and Tom Helm. Thrashing Yorkshire while short of these players is testament to their sturdiness. And it hinted at a growing trend: how leading Division One counties are stockpiling talent in a manner reminiscent of Premier League football clubs.Middlesex’s second-choice bowling attack when everyone is available – Helm or Murtagh, James Harris, James Fuller and Harry Podmore, alongside the left-arm spinner Ravi Patel – is formidable. Their batting depth is equally impressive: this victory was secured in spite of three of their normal top five being absent – Adam Voges as well as Gubbins and Malan – not even mentioning Eoin Morgan, who seems unlikely to ever play first-class cricket again for the county.Max Holden, a 19-year-old opener on loan at Northants, scored a high-class Championship century at Chester-le-Street earlier this month too. So it is no exaggeration to say that, at full strength, Middlesex’s second-choice XI would be better than many – perhaps even most – Division Two counties.Two months ago, Middlesex were denied a victory against Essex at Lord’s by a combination of a cautious decision not to enforce the follow-on and fourth-day showers. James Franklin considered it a “no-brainer” to decide differently after Steve Finn’s 500th first-class wicket secured a 238-run first-innings lead. There was the threat of showers on the final day; there was also a palpable sense of uncertainty in Yorkshire’s batting line-up to exploit.And there was, in Tim Murtagh, a bowler just shy of 250 wickets at the ground. The unthreatening shuffle in was familiar; so was pace of the sort that would seldom alarm a motorway speed camera. But so was the late wobble, the relentless harassing of the off stump and unerring accuracy. Murtagh’s exemplary opening spell amounted to 2 for 2 in six overs, accounting for Adam Lyth to a ball angled across him, and then Harry Brook, who reacted to the worst ball Murtagh bowled by slashing it behind. And when Toby Roland-Jones promptly dismissed Alex Lees prodding to second slip, Yorkshire were suddenly 16 for 3.Brook’s dismissal meant that, 37 minutes after he walked off 69 not out at the termination of Yorkshire’s first innings, Gary Ballance returned to bat in their second. Ballance vigils have been the cornerstone of Yorkshire’s season; this time, though, he had only been at the crease an hour before feathering the second ball after lunch, a sharp delivery from Roland-Jones, which angled across him and kept low, behind. And, with that, Ballance’s Championship average in 2017 plunged to a mere 101.87. As stupendous as the figure is, it does not reflect well on Yorkshire’s team-mates that Ballance has contributed 24.6% of the team’s runs this season.In the last round at Taunton, Ballance’s team-mates supplied only two half-centuries in the match between them. Here, they did not contribute a single one – and nor, after Peter Handscomb succumbed cutting Finn to Nick Compton at point, did they really threaten to. Ollie Rayner whisked in with four wickets, aided by some distinctly obliging batting, and the victory was sealed a little after tea, when Ryan Sidebottom bottom-edged an attempted reverse sweep onto his toe to short leg. Somehow, it rather summed Yorkshire’s limp batting display up.”To be bowled out twice like we have is poor,” said Andrew Gale, Yorkshire’s coach. “We had a long chat and some strong words about the batting at Taunton and some more strong words in this game. We expect a response.”We changed things up slightly by leaving Jack Leaning out, and there’s lads in the second team banging on the door. We’ll have to see where that takes us.” Selecting Tom Kohler-Cadmore, the new recruit from Worcestershire, is an increasingly attractive option.Franklin could reflect not only on a terrific team display but also on more assistance from a Lord’s wicket that has not always been Middlesex’s friend.”There’s been a conscious decision to leave more grass on it. Visually it looks different,” he said. “After day one, Sam came in after scoring 150 not out and said it was a tricky wicket, and all the boys laughed at him. He was right. When bowlers got it in the right areas it was a tough wicket to bat on. Our bowlers asked serious questions of their batsmen.”And so, while Middlesex’s wickets in the game were shared among six bowlers, none of whom claimed more than five wickets, Yorkshire were inordinately dependent on just two batsmen – Ballance and Handscomb – to make their runs.The return of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow next week, as well as probably Tim Bresnan, will provide a welcome palliative. But without substantive improvements in the top order – above all Lyth and Alex Lees, who are averaging only 26.13 between them in the Championship – Yorkshire’s problems threaten to be reoccurring, especially if Ballance’s gluttony is rewarded by an England recall.