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But Hurricanes are yet to re-sign Tim David; Melbourne Stars, meanwhile, bag Liam Hatcher

Alex Malcolm31-Jan-2025Australia Test allrounder Beau Webster has returned to BBL champions Hobart Hurricanes on a three-year deal, having not played for his home state’s team since 2017.Webster, 31, played five matches for Hurricanes in 2016-17, but has spent the past eight seasons in Melbourne: he was there for four seasons with Renegades, before another four with Stars.But having played his entire domestic career for his home state Tasmania, Webster will return to play for Hurricanes in the BBL over the next three seasons.Related

• Marsh and David set to re-sign as BBL, WBBL contracting embargo ends

• Swepson moves to Melbourne Stars on deadline day

• Melbourne Renegades sign Doggett, Jewell set to follow

• Owen earns SA20 deal on the back of BBL heroics

• Renegades sign Jason Behrendorff in first BBL free agency move

“I am pumped to return to Hobart next summer for the BBL, and get the opportunity to play on a packed Ninja Stadium in front of our fans, my friends and family,” Webster said.”Vaughany [Jeff Vaughan] and Nelly [Nathan Ellis] have got the group playing a really good brand of cricket, and to see them win a championship makes me hungry to bring another one to ‘Canes fans next season.”Webster signing is an interesting move by Hurricanes given they already have seam-bowling allrounders in Mitchell Owen and Chris Jordan in the top seven of their title-winning team. Despite Webster’s outstanding first-class record, he hasn’t been as dominant in T20 cricket.He has failed to strike at more than 132 in any of his last seven BBL seasons, and it will be interesting to see how he slips into Hurricanes’ high-tempo batting unit. But Hurricanes general manager Salliann Beams was pleased to bring Webster back to Hobart.”We have seen over the past 18 months just how special of a player Beau is, and to have him re-join the Hurricanes is something that will make all Tasmanians proud to hear,” Beams said. “Beau’s skill set in the short form of the game is up there with some of the best in the country, and he can take the game away from the opposition with the bat while also providing another wicket-taking option with the ball.”His leadership will also be a vital aspect of his role at the Hurricanes, and he is great mates with the players we already have on our list, which means he will fit into what we are trying to build seamlessly.”

Stars hopeful about David, and sign Hatcher

Hurricanes are still yet to re-sign title-winning power hitter Tim David, but they are hopeful of keeping him after a successful season. But Stars are still hoping of landing him as a free agent.Meanwhile, Stars have signed New South Wales fast bowler Liam Hatcher on a two-year deal after he spent the past two seasons with Sydney Thunder. Hatcher began his BBL at Stars in 2020, playing 17 matches over two seasons before moving to Thunder in 2023. But he played just four games in his first season in 2023-24, and did not feature at all in Thunder’s run to the final in 2024-25.

Fast bowler is understood to have made considerable progress in his recovery after an ankle surgery

Shashank Kishore09-Aug-2024India fast bowler Mohammed Shami has made considerable progress in his recovery from an ankle injury that has sidelined him from cricket since the ODI World Cup last November. The hope is that he will be ready to play India’s home season, which begins with a Test series against Bangladesh in September.The selectors have been apprised of Shami’s progress and a decision on whether he should play at least one of the Duleep Trophy matches, beginning on September 5 in Anantapur, to prove his fitness will be taken soon.Shami is currently in his final stages of rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Last month, he had resumed bowling for the first time since his surgery and is understood to have slowly built up his bowling workload after being pain free.Related

• Saha looks to wipe slate clean with Bengal: 'I want to help in any capacity possible'

• Rahul, Pant, Suryakumar, Gill set to play Duleep Trophy

• Embracing the unorthodox – South Asian teams are now fast-bowling powerhouses

• What is the road ahead for Jadeja, Shami, Hardik and Rahul?

Prior to India’s departure for the tour of Sri Lanka in July, chief selector Ajit Agarkar had confirmed Shami had “started to bowl” and the first Test against Bangladesh starting on September 19 in Chennai “was always the goal” for his comeback.”We more or less know who the guys are, there are some injuries at the moment and hope they will be back up,” Agarkar had said. “Shami has started to bowl which is a good sign. September 19 is the first Test and that was always the goal. I don’t know if that is his timeline for recovery, will have to ask the guys at the NCA about that.”There are so many Tests coming. We will need some depth. Bumrah, Shami, and Siraj have been around for a while, these are the obvious ones. But there will be some conversation around it. Got a lot of first-class cricket coming up so we can build guys up like that.”Mohammed Shami was the highest wicket-taker in the 2023 ODI World Cup•AFP/Getty Images

Late last month in Kolkata, Shami had expressed hope of playing for Bengal first before returning to the national team, while he took part informally in a few motivational and fitness sessions for the state players.Even if Shami misses some or all of India’s home Tests – two against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand – he still has enough time to build his bowling rhythm for the tour of Australia, for which the team will depart shortly after the third Test against New Zealand ends on November 5. There is the Ranji Trophy beginning in October, following the BCCI’s decision to split the first-class competition into two halves to prevent matches being affected by weather disruptions, especially during winter in north India. India’s A team will also play two first-class games in Australia from October 31, giving Shami plenty of opportunities should he need them.The ankle injury, which came to light soon after the 2023 ODI World Cup, was initially believed to be not so severe. Shami had been included in India’s Test squad for the two-match series in South Africa in December-January subject to fitness. He was subsequently withdrawn from the tour.Shami went back to the NCA in the hope of recovering for the home Tests against England in February-March, but was advised surgery after he experienced continuous swelling on his right ankle, forcing him to miss the series and IPL 2024 for Gujarat Titans.Shami was a key player in India’s run to the final of the ODI World Cup, taking 24 wickets in just seven games at an average of 10.70 and strike rate of 12.20.

“We, as CSA, literally killed the careers of these two gentlemen”

Firdose Moonda03-Aug-2021Cricket South Africa is to blame for the decline in the coaching careers of Geoffrey Toyana and Paul Adams, who were both on the radar to take over the national team in 2017, but missed out in favour of Ottis Gibson. Former CSA CEO Thabang Moroe, speaking at the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings, detailed how Toyana and Adams were overlooked and held CSA’s administration responsible for their fate, saying the pair should have been involved at international level.”It is testament to how we, as administrators, have behaved over the years. This is how people of colour have kept missing opportunities that could have been afforded to them by us,” Moroe said. “We, as CSA, literally killed the careers of these two gentlemen. These are the inequalities that are glaringly there if you look at the landscape of South African cricket.”Moroe, who served as CSA’s vice-president from 2016 to 2018, revealed how the board agreed that after Russell Domingo, who was South Africa’s first head coach of colour from 2013 to 2017, South Africa would have another head coach of colour. A sub-committee on the board, the cricket committee, earmarked Toyana and Adams as candidates to succeed Domingo.Related

• Adams: I was nicknamed 'brown s*** when I was playing'

• Ashwell Prince: 'It was a lonely place'

• Telemachus: SA cricket was controlled by a clique of white players

• Bosman: When you are black, you have no chance

• Boucher to respond to SJN allegations

“When Russell’s tenure ended, CSA’s cricket committee identified two coaches we would need to look at to replace Russell as the coach of the national team. Those were Geoffrey Toyana and Paul Adams. They were the two most successful coaches in the country,” Moroe said. “It was a no-brainer that either both would be hired, with one as an assistant, or one would definitely be made coach. At board level, we discussed the cricket committee’s paper and the one thing the board agreed on was that we would hire a black coach.”An adhoc committee, which did include Moroe, was instated to advertise, shortlist and interview candidates and make a recommendation on Domingo’s replacement. “During that period, even at board level, we were talking about how Geoffrey Toyana was head and shoulders above other coaches, purely because of his performances,” Moroe said. “When the chairperson of the adhoc committee announced that they preferred Ottis Gibson to be the coach, it came as a surprise to us because we were talking about the short period the coach would have before the next World Cup and how we wanted a coach that was familiar with all our players in the system, with the South African environment and somebody who was going to be able to hit the ground running. Choosing somebody who didn’t even live in this country came as a surprise given all these things we had listed as concerns.”It also raised questions specifically about Toyana, who was the first black African coach in the franchise system. He had overseen the Lions to four trophies in as many seasons and was considered the frontrunner to succeed Domingo.”Some board members, including myself, asked where Geoffrey Toyana’s shortcomings were because we were all sure Geoffrey would be the coach,” Moroe said. “The chairperson of the adhoc committee then told us they were not happy with how he articulated himself and they were not happy with his presentation skills. That was concerning feedback because we were not hiring him to do presentations or public speaking. We wanted somebody who knew how to coach the crop of players we had at the time and somebody who could give us good results. Although we were going through the formal process, we all felt Geoffrey was the guy, only to be told he would not be the guy.”Although unhappy, the board accepted the recommendation to appoint Gibson but, “we said we should ensure Paul Adams or Geoffrey Toyana becomes the assistant,” Moroe said. “The majority felt Geoffrey should be the one we push for with Paul Adams coming in as a spin-bowling coach.”Moroe was tasked with welcoming Gibson into the country and informing him about the board’s decision on the assistant coach position, which Gibson did not support. “Immediately Ottis Gibson raised concerns and one of the concerns he raised was that we were specifically hiring him to win the World Cup and if we wanted him to win the World Cup, we needed to give him leeway to choose his support staff,” Moroe said. “He felt he can only win the World Cup with a support staff that believed in him which, we felt, was a fair point.”According to Moroe, Gibson wanted to hire someone, whose name Moroe could not recall, who was demanding a salary higher than Gibson’s. CSA refused. Then, Gibson asked for Dale Benkenstein, but CSA refused again. “Benkenstein was a high school cricket coach at the time and did not have the necessary qualifications to be coaching in the national team, let alone being assistant coach,” Moroe said.Thabang Moroe: We, as CSA, literally killed the careers of Geoffrey Toyana and Paul Adams•Getty Images

Benkenstein was later brought on as a batting coach, and split those with his responsibilities at Hilton College. Gibson, meanwhile, went on to ask for “one-on-ones with all professional coaches in the country so that he could choose who he felt was the guy who could take over as assistant,” Moroe said.”He met with all the coaches in the franchise system, had one-on-ones with them, watched them coaching their teams and some during live games and he had come to a conclusion in terms of who he felt was suited to be assistant coach. He said he would prefer Malibongwe Maketa to be his assistant. That surprised me. At the time we had Paul Adams and Geoffrey Toyana and Malibongwe had only been a franchise coach for one season. He hadn’t really been tested in the system to say he has got what it takes. He hadn’t built [up] enough track record. I told Ottis of my concerns but supported his decision.”Maketa, who was the Warriors coach at the time, went on to work as Gibson’s assistant coach but lost his job when Gibson was fired after the 2019 World Cup. Maketa is now the South Africa A coach. At the time of Maketa’s appointment, Toyana and Adams continued as franchise coaches, but not for much longer.”If you look at Geoffrey Toyana and Paul Adams’ careers, immediately after the announcements were made of appointing Ottis and his support staff, they somehow started having misunderstandings with their own players in their franchise teams, started fighting with their own boards and then they were not coaching in franchise cricket.”Toyana was moved sideways at the Lions after 2017-18 season and then replaced by Enoch Nkwe. His most recent work was as assistant coach for the Titans. Last year in a radio interview, former CSA president Chris Nenzani said Toyana being overlooked for the national job was “unfortunate.” Moroe said it was “just wrong,” for Nenzani to say that when he was in charge of the board at the time. “We had an opportunity as a board to do what we knew was right at the time,” he said.Adams lost his job at the Cobras to Ashwell Prince and has since been appointed head coach of Border, who will play in the second division of the restructured domestic scene. Adams has also given testimony at the SJN, in which he spoke about being nicknamed, “brown s***” by his team-mates, while Toyana is due to appear at the hearings later this week.Moroe moved on from vice-president of the board to CSA CEO, and it was under him that Gibson was dismissed and Nkwe made interim team director. When Moroe was suspended for misconduct, CSA underwent an administrative overhaul and Nkwe was replaced by Mark Boucher. Nkwe is now Boucher’s assistant, while Moroe was sacked last August after being found guilty.

ECB chief executive will give evidence on May 5

George Dobell01-May-2020Tom Harrison has been called to appear in front of the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee of the House of Commons as part of an inquiry into the impact of Covid-19 on sport in the UK.Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, will appear before Members of Parliament on Tuesday, May 5. The session will be conducted online and will also feature testimony from Rick Parry, chairman of the English Football League, and Bill Sweeney, chief executive of the Rugby Football Union.ALSO READ: UK government hands ECB lead on viability of ‘bio-secure’ sportThe executive will be asked to assess how their sports have been hit by the lockdown imposed in March and discuss their strategies for the future. The impact of Covid-19 on grassroots sport and participation will also be considered. Dame Katherine Grainger, chair of UK Sport, and Tim Hollingsworth, chief executive of Sport England, will also give evidence.The inquiry was launched in April to examine the effect of social and financial measures both in the immediate and long term on a range of areas including within the DCMS sector. The inquiry will consider the effectiveness of what is being done in the longer term by the government and what further support might be needed.Harrison has previously admitted that losing the whole summer will cost cricket in England and Wales at least £300 million, and told Sky Sports yesterday following the postponement of the Hundred that “the thought of returning to a scenario where we have crowds watching live cricket in this country this summer is not something that is realistic in the context of the public health crisis that we’re going through”.It emerged last week that the ECB had been asked by the DCMS to facilitate sports’ investigation into the viability of staging games behind closed doors. Harrison revealed there had been regular contact between executives running various sports in an attempt to share knowledge and expedite a return to at least some sort of live sport.Harrison endured an uncomfortable few hours in front of the Committee in October as he was grilled about the ECB’s strategy to increase the popularity of the game. The enquiry, which included scrutiny on the Hundred’s budget and the role of free-to-air television in growing the sport, was shelved in November after a general election was called.

Alzarri Joseph was the Player of the Match, his four wickets helping West Indies bowl Ireland out for 180

The Report by Varun Shetty07-Jan-2020Evin Lewis fell agonisingly short of a hundred, but his immaculate unbeaten 99, which followed Alzarri Joseph’s feisty four-for, helped a dominant West Indies brush Ireland aside in the first ODI in Bridgetown. Batting on 93 with three required for a win, the opener managed to slice one wide of third man for two runs. That left a straightforward equation – a six to win the match as well as get his hundred. Lewis managed to smoke the length ball that followed, but it landed a few metres short of the extra-cover boundary and left him on 99 as West Indies took a 1-0 lead.Lewis’ innings was nearly chanceless. He began solidly, offering a vertical bat as much as possible on a good batting surface that showed glimpses of being slow every now and again. The only chance he offered, a chip against Mark Adair in the ninth over, was put down by Kevin O’Brien lunging low at mid-off. Either side of that ball, Lewis bludgeoned short pitched bowling from the medium-pacer.That early plan to put away horizontal-bat shots was a theme throughout for Lewis, whose other highlights were blistering drives through extra cover, and nonchalant lofts over mid-off against the spinners. Occasionally he brought out the sweep – such as when he brought up his fifty – and, in a short chase, he anchored the innings without compromising on his scoring rate.In his company, all batsmen made starts without building on them. Brandon King struggled in a 71-run partnership as Ireland cramped him for room, Shimron Hetmyer lasted eight balls before top-edging a slog sweep, and Nicholas Pooran played one of the shots of the match – a glorious straight hit that slammed the edge of the roof – before finding backward point with a cut. Roston Chase, West Indies’ new ODI floater, brought calm after a middle-order wobble and took West Indies to within three runs of victory before falling.Shai Hope had begun in similarly pristine fashion to Lewis, but Adair had his revenge after being hit for two fours, hurrying him with a short ball that he sliced high in the midwicket region where William Porterfield took a diving catch running backwards.That wicket was something of an extension of the first innings, when Joseph and Sheldon Cottrell made effective use of a bouncy pitch that was on the slower side.Ireland’s top three pulled and hooked well against the new ball as West Indies kept their lengths on the shorter side. The extra time because of the surface’s slow pace helped in that regard, but as the lacquer progressively went out, horizontal-bat shots became tougher. Paul Stirling was at his flowing best, piercing the off side early on, and got great connection on his pull shot against Joseph in his first over, but he couldn’t keep it down. At midwicket, Pollard took an easy catch.Andy Balbirinie, who had won the toss in his first match as ODI captain, played three pristine shots within minutes of coming in – one a drive through the covers, one watchful pull caressed to fine leg, and a gorgeous hook for six. But Pollard’s gamble with the offspin of Chase inside the Powerplay worked immediately. Balbrinie reached out, first ball of the tenth over, and got a thin edge as the ball held its line. Hope held onto the first of his four catches behind the stumps.The free-flowing nature of the innings stopped there. Debutant allrounder Gareth Delaney, who was picked to open ahead of James McCollum, was next to fall, getting an inside edge trying to pull Joseph’s back-of-a-length delivery after a sustained period of dot balls, and moments after a mix-up had nearly ended Porterfield’s innings at the non-strikers end.In his next over, Joseph pinned Kevin O’Brien deep in the crease trying to flick a full ball, and Cottrell returned shortly after to find Porterfield’s outside edge with a short delivery outside off that he appeared too eager to cut. Ireland were 80 for 5 at that point, and slipped to 88 for 6 when Simi Singh was strangled down leg side.Twenty-three-year-old wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker, who played ahead of Gary Wilson, then dug in with Mark Adair for just over 13 overs. They weren’t extravagant in putting up the only half-century stand of the innings, but at just over four an over, they didn’t open up the danger of a complete slowdown. But two balls after the drinks break, Adair jumped down the track to a length ball from Hayden Walsh that was delivered from well behind the crease and ended up being beaten in flight completely. Joseph got another one to kick up from the surface in his last over to account for Tucker, and might have had a fifth wicket if Barry McCarthy hadn’t had the option to overturn an lbw decision using DRS.There was one final bit of resistance from the lower order, with McCarthy and Boyd Rankin adding 30 for the last wicket. But they could only stretch the score to 180, which didn’t prove nearly enough as the hosts won with a third of their overs to spare.

Win takes India C to the final, where they will play India B, who had won their game against India A too

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2019Shubman Gill made his List A best of 143, Mayank Agarwal extended his form by scoring 120, Suryakumar Yadav provided belated Diwali fireworks with a 29-ball 72 not out, and Jalaj Saxena also recorded personal best figures of 7 for 41, all of it adding up to India C crushing India A by 232 runs to qualify for the Deodhar Trophy final in Ranchi.In a batting template very similar to India B’s against India A on Thursday, India C started cautiously but picked up pace along the way, with Gill and Agarwal putting together 226 for the first wicket in 38.3 overs. Agarwal was the more aggressive of the two early on, but Gill caught up, hitting ten fours and six sixes to Agarwal’s 15 fours and a six.Their stand set the tone for more fireworks. Once Agarwal and No. 3 Priyam Garg fell, Yadav walked in and immediately brought in a touch of the unorthodox, by scooping, paddling and sweeping his way to a half-century in a jiffy. The last three overs alone went for 61 as he shellacked nine fours and four sixes, including a sequence of 4, 6, 6, 4 off Siddarth Kaul to finish the innings, after 4, 4, 6 and 4 against Jaydev Unadkat in the previous over. Unadkat was the most expensive bowler, conceding 82 off ten wicketless overs. R Ashwin was the only one to concede at less than six per over, with figures of 10-1-57-1, taking Gill’s wicket.India A needed a win to stay in contention but were rocked early when they lost Vishnu Vinod and Abhishek Raman in the first two overs. After getting his Bengal mate Raman with one that swung away to get a leading edge to point, Ishan Porel had captain Hanuma Vihari nicking behind a bouncer for a duck to leave them tottering at 17 for 3. The only semblance of a partnership came in the form of Devdutt Padikkal and Bhargav Merai’s 57-run stand, before the innings unravelled again, with Saxena deceiving Merai in flight to castle him for 30.That was the start of a joyride for Saxena, in which he exhibited tremendous control and guile even as India A seemed to be in implosion mode, playing one rash shot after another to fold without a fight. Saxena scythed through the lower order in no time as it took India C only 29.5 overs to complete the formalities.The next game is between India B and India C on Saturday, but with both teams having qualified for the final – on Monday – that will only serve to provide the players a bit more time in the middle and a chance to rack up good numbers.

Australia’s captain led from the front before England’s top order was rattled in a hostile final session to tilt the opening Test the home side’s way

The Report by Andrew Miller25-Nov-2017England 302 and 2 for 33 lead Australia 328 (Smith 141*, Marsh 51) by seven runs

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn the course of what is rapidly developing into a supernatural Test career, Steven Smith has surpassed himself time and time again. But in the course of 57 Tests and 21 centuries, it is hard to believe that he has compiled a more brilliant and vital innings than his unbeaten 141 in the first Test of the 2017-18 Ashes.On Smith’s dogged and indomitable watch, Australia seized hold of a rapidly freefalling first innings, and dot by dot, nudge by nudge, turned what had at one stage looked like being a 100-run deficit into a vital lead of 26.And then, as if ignited by their skipper’s deeds, Australia’s bowlers tore into England’s top order in a gory final hour. Josh Hazlewood ripped out two prize wickets, including Alastair Cook for his second failure of the match, before Mitchell Starc clanged England’s captain, Joe Root, a savage blow on the helmet. Root and Mark Stoneman limped to the close on 2 for 33, a lead of 7, but in the course of 16 high-octane overs, the legend of the Gabbatoir had burst back to prominence in no uncertain terms.It was a sensational day’s cricket, glacially slow at times – particularly during a morning session in which Smith added just 17 runs to his overnight 64 – but never less than utterly absorbing, thanks to a match situation in which two wholly committed teams have surged and slipped like a pair of boat-race crews hurtling under Hammersmith Bridge.But, by the close of day three, it was abundantly clear which team had pulled ahead by a length. Hard though England toiled in the field, not least in the build-up to the second new ball, when Jake Ball and Chris Woakes – backed up by funky leg-side fields – set themselves to slow the run-rate to a crawl, their efforts were as nothing compared to the pace and fury that Australia’s seamers were able to generate on a surface that is appreciably quicker now than it had been on a sluggish first day.From the outset of England’s second innings, it was clear that Starc and Hazlewood were generating a touch more heat than their English counterparts. However, Cook was still taken completely by surprise in Hazlewood’s second over, when he fizzed down a pinpoint bouncer that the former skipper could only flap off his eyebrows to fine leg, where Starc had only moments earlier been changing his boots and now dived forward to scoop up a stadium-igniting catch.In came James Vince, England’s hero of the first innings, who moments earlier had been pictured shadow-batting in the dressing room. He got off the mark with a neat clip off his pads, but could go no further than that, as Hazlewood zeroed in on his outside edge, for Smith to snaffle a flying edge at second slip.And before Root had had a chance to settle, it was Starc’s turn to leave his mark on the innings – or more specifically the peak of Root’s helmet, as he smashed a stunning bouncer flush into the corner of the visor and sent his ear-guard flying in the process. Australia’s fielders showed instant concern for the England captain, and the team doctor rushed out to give him a standing count, but with Mark Stoneman showing his mettle once again, England managed to reach the close with their hopes more intact than the fury of the session might have suggested.And yet, England will have regrouped at the close of play wondering how they were not firmly in control of this contest. The simple answer is that Smith refused to let them take control, although there were also some crucial questions flying around about the fitness of James Anderson, whose withdrawal from the attack after just three overs of the second new ball undermined England’s hopes of a quick kill, after he and Stuart Broad had struck twice in as many overs to reduce Australia to 209 for 7.To focus on England’s tactics in that particular instance, however, would do a disservice to the immense levels of skill and determination shown by Smith in particular, but Pat Cummins too – whose innings of 42 from 120 balls helped add 66 vital runs for the eighth wicket, as Australia put crease occupation ahead of forward momentum in a bid to endure by whatever means necessary.Smith had resumed his innings knowing full well how vital his continued presence would be, given that England’s own innings had featured three half-centuries but nothing more substantial than Vince’s 83. And, having converted 20 of his previous 41 fifties into three figures, he was in the right frame of mind to go on again and give Australia the best possible chance of extending their proud unbeaten run at the Gabba.In total, he needed a hefty 261 balls to bring up his hundred, which he finally achieved with a crunching drive through the covers off Broad, one of the few occasions when he allowed his natural ability to over-ride his defensive mindset. His moments of alarm could be counted on one hand – on 69, he was caught unawares by a perfectly directed throat-ball from Ball, but the spliced opportunity plopped short of the slips. But beyond that, Smith was happy to duck the short balls and get firmly into line against the straight ones, and bide his time in a manner that few players of the modern era are willing to do.Shaun Marsh rather proved that point in the manner of his dismissal. He had been Smith’s partner when Australia resumed on 4 for 165, and though he marked his return to the Test team with a hard-fought fifty, he was eventually done in by a canny piece of bowling from Broad. Lured onto the front foot by an apparent wide half-volley, Marsh failed to clock that Broad had rolled his fingers down the seam, and Anderson collected a dolly of a lofted drive, as the ball skidded off the splice to mid-off.Tim Paine, who had made his Australia debut alongside Smith against Pakistan at Lord’s in 2010, came out to join Smith for his first Test innings for seven years. And though he looked solid for a while, he had no answer to the ball of the day from Anderson. Armed with the new ball, as well as the knowledge that he needed to make it count, Anderson produced a snorter that angled into the right-hander, nipped away, and kissed the edge for Bairstow to collect a fine one-handed catch behind the stumps.Starc started his innings with eye-popping intent, slamming his second ball, from Broad, clean over long-off for six – to induce a wry grin and a shrug from the bowler. Two balls later, however, Broad had his revenge, hauling his length back just an inch or two to collect another attempted drive in his follow through. At 7 for 209, Australia were on the ropes.But then came Anderson’s apparent injury – a clutch of his side midway through his third over with the new ball, and a guarded chat with his captain. Though he initially remained on the field, he was delivered a tablet by England’s 12th man before lunch, and departed into the dressing room for further treatment in the afternoon. And without his incisive attack-leading, England’s remaining bowlers went flat at precisely the moment that a moment of magic was required. That it was left to Root himself to end the innings, courtesy of Cook’s leg-side catch off Lyon, was an indictment of a fielding performance that finally ran out of steam. Australia’s bowlers, by contrast, haven’t looked fresher all match.

The dismissal of Jason Roy, given out for obstructing the field, changed the course of a game that England appeared to have won and saw South Africa level the IT20 series at 1-1 with one to play.

The Report by George Dobell23-Jun-2017

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAB de Villiers smashed 46 off 20 before his bowlers tripped up England in the final overs•Getty Images

The dismissal of Jason Roy, given out for obstructing the field, changed the course of a game that England appeared to have won and saw South Africa level the T20 series at 1-1 with one to play.Roy, with his first 50 in 11 international innings, appeared to have put England on course for a series-clinching victory as he added 110 in 70 balls with Jonny Bairstow for England’s second wicket. But when Bairstow lofted to mid-on and Roy was given out a few deliveries later, South Africa’s seamers – enjoying a track offering pace and bounce – turned the screw in expert fashion amid failing light and mounting excitement.The result was uncertain until the final delivery after Liam Dawson hit the penultimate ball for four. Had it travelled another six inches, it would have left England requiring just two to win from the final ball. As it was, Dawson was required to hit another four (or three to ensure a Super Over) and was unable to make contact with his heave.While the decision to give Roy out – made after consultation with the TV umpire – was booed by a partisan, passionate crowd, it wasn’t especially controversial. Having been sent back by Livingstone, Roy turned to regain his ground and, in doing so, ran across the pitch so he was in between the fielder – Andile Phehlukwayo, at point – and the stumps. The throw subsequently hit Roy on the boot. The TV umpire, Tim Robinson, could have made no other decision. It was, however, the first such dismissal in international T20 cricket.”It was probably a 50-50 call. You could see both sides of it,” England’s captain, Eoin Morgan, said. “Everyone in the changing room thought it could go either way so it’s not massively controversial. You can see why the umpires gave him out. Jason obviously looked at the fielder but after that he ran in a straight line so that’s why it was a 50-50 call. They were certainly entitled to appeal and the spirit of the game is open to interpretation.’We were going really well for much of the chase but we lost a wicket at a crucial moment and nobody was able to take it up after that. We didn’t deserve to win because we didn’t capitalise on the start we had.”It was not, perhaps, the result the sell-out crowd wanted. But it was the sort of dramatic finish the occasion – the return of men’s international cricket to Taunton for the first time since the 1999 World Cup – warranted. Cheered on by 12,420, (the Somerset chairman reckoned the club could have sold out this game, only England men’s second international here and their first since the 1983 World Cup, four times over) the only thing an excellent venue lacked was floodlights. They are to be installed in the coming months, but they would have been very handy towards the end of this match.It seemed a mightily unlikely result as Roy and Bairstow took control. While Roy was not, at first, at his most fluent, such was his conviction, that the runs flowed. He took four fours off Morne Morkel’s second over – two of them edges that could have gone anywhere – gradually settled and registered his second T20I half-century with a straight-driven six into the Ian Botham stand off the left-arm wristspin of Tabraiz Shamsi.Bairstow lost little by comparison. He has waited a long time for his opportunity in England’s limited-overs teams and the evidence of the last couple of weeks suggests he is determined to take it.Having equalled his career-best T20I score in the first match of this series, he made another 47 here and produced a couple of shots – a cover-driven four off something approaching a yorker from Morkel and a pull for six off the same bowler – that were especially memorable.But when he chipped a full, inswinging delivery from the excellent Chris Morris to mid-on, it initiated a collapse that saw England lose five wickets for 42 runs in the next six overs. It was Morris, bowling with sharp pace, who most unsettled the England batsman with Liam Livingstone, one of two debutants, finding the step up in class tough to negotiate (he hit one boundary in 18 balls and was run out from the fourth ball of the final over). On 7, he also survived a caught behind appeal from Morris’ final delivery – an attempted pull that saw the ball flick the bat and his shoulder – that replays suggested should have been given out.Phehlukwayo, who bowled a nerveless final over from which 12 were required, claimed the key wicket of Jos Buttler – the returning hero undone by a fine yorker – while Morgan thumped a full toss to mid-on from the skiddy pace of Dane Paterson.Earlier Tom Curran took three wickets on debut as South Africa were restricted to what appeared to be an under-par 174 for 8.
After claiming a wicket with his second ball in international cricket – Reeza Hendricks bottom-edging an attempted pull on to his stumps – Curran returned to bowl the last couple of overs from the Somerset Pavilion End and impressed with his control and variations. He claimed two more wickets in that spell, with Morris mishitting a slower-ball to long-on and Phehlukwayo bowled first delivery by a searing yorker.
Generating surprising pace – as high as 88mph – he did more than enough to suggest he had a future at this level.Liam Plunkett was the quickest of the seamers, though. Hitting 90 mph at times, he claimed two wickets with his slower ball – Mangaliso Mosehle gloving a pull and David Miller edging an attempted force – while Farhaan Berhardien’s promising innings was ended by a Chris Jordan yorker.It wasn’t a flawless performance in the field from England, though. Jordan, normally so reliable, dropped Berhardien on 11 at mid-off – the ferocity of the drive forcing the ball through his hands and on to his jaw – while Livingstone on the deep midwicket boundary dropped a more straightforward chance offered by Morris on 11. England also conceded five wides, four of them by Jordan, who also – most uncharacteristically – allowed a ball to elude his grasp at mid-off and scurry away for four. They were to prove costly mistakes.South Africa were grateful to a far more convincing batting performance from AB de Villiers, in particular, and JJ Smuts. Relishing the extra pace of the surface, de Villiers rushed to 46 in 20 deliveries with a swept six off Dawson and a driven one off Plunkett the highlights, before he appeared to lose his grip on the bat as he attempted to drive David Willey and instead skied a catch to mid-off.Smuts, hitting the ball unusually hard, also made an accomplished 45 but the final total of 174 seemed to be around 25 under par on a fine batting surface. South Africa’s pace and England’s errors, however, meant the sides meet in Cardiff on Sunday with the series all to play for.

Tammy Beaumont anchored England’s run-chase with 78 from 79 balls to secure a 3-0 series lead against Sri Lanka in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2016
ScorecardTammy Beaumont made 78 from 79 balls•Getty Images

Tammy Beaumont anchored England’s run-chase with 78 from 79 balls to secure a 3-0 series lead against Sri Lanka in Colombo, with the fourth and final ODI to come at the same venue on Thursday.Despite losing the toss and being asked to field first, England seized control of the contest from the outset, pinning Sri Lanka down to a run-rate of three an over with a disciplined bowling performance in which their three spinners, Laura Marsh, Alex Hartley and Danielle Hazell, each picked up two wickets apiece.Sri Lanka’s innings never really gathered any momentum. Nipuni Hansika, the opening batsman, top-scored with 29 from 66 balls, but she was the second wicket to fall, bowled by Hazell in the 21st over, and England never relinquished their stranglehold. The hosts were all out for 161 with two balls of their innings left unused, having lost their last eight wickets for 82.In reply, England lost Lauren Winfield and Danni Wyatt in the space of six deliveries to slip to 60 for 2, but a fourth-wicket stand of 67 between Beaumont and Fran Wilson (30) carried the team to the brink of victory.Both players fell in the space of two runs to take the gloss off the win – Wilson was caught behind off Chamari Atapattu before Beaumont became Sugandika Kumari’s only wicket of the innings with six runs still required. But Georgia Elwiss and Amy Jones wrapped up the win with 20.3 overs left unused.

Anamul Haque has been called up on the eve of the Khulna Test as cover for the injured Tamim Iqbal

Mohammad Isam20-Nov-2012Batsman Anamul Haque has been called up on the eve of the Khulna Test as cover for an injured Tamim Iqbal. It is still unclear whether the uncapped Haque will make his Test debut as Tamim tries to recover from a sore elbow.Tamim hurt a tendon in his left elbow while batting in the first innings of the Mirpur Test against West Indies. He batted only against spin in the nets on Monday, and will undergo a fitness test to determine his availability for the second Test. “Tamim sustained a muscle tendon injury during the first Test on his left elbow. He will do a fitness test later today or early tomorrow (Wednesday) morning,” the team’s physio Vibhav Singh was quoted as saying in a board release.ESPNcricinfo has learned the opener Nazimuddin will likely replace opener Junaid Siddique for the second Test, so Tamim’s injury has caused some concern for the team management which is not keen on drafting in an extra bowler in the XI in the event Tamim misses out.