Worcestershire have signed Nathan Lyon, the Australia offspinner, as a replacement overseas player to cover for John Hastings during the Champions Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2017Worcestershire have signed Nathan Lyon, the Australia offspinner, as a replacement overseas player to cover for John Hastings during the Champions Trophy.Lyon, who is Australia’s most successful finger-spinner with 247 wickets from 67 Tests, will also provide a frontline spin option in the absence of Moeen Ali who will be with England.”If you look at top international bowlers who are available while the Champions Trophy is going on – plus those with West Indies and Afghanistan – you don’t seem to see many who are available,” Steve Rhodes, the Worcestershire director of cricket, said.”Nathan has never played county cricket and I really try to get overseas players who are looking for a challenge and are hungry to succeed. He is a great competitor and to get someone like Nathan is really important for Worcestershire.”Rhodes also sees Lyon playing an important role with Worcestershire’s young spinners. “Nathan is also a very committed dressing room man and our young spinners like George Rhodes and Ben Twohig will have the opportunities to pick his brains over that period. That will be fantastic for them and a big boost to those two players.”

A Jonathan Trott century has earned Warwickshire an outside chance of victory in the bottom of the table battle at Taunton

George Dobell at Taunton21-May-2017
ScorecardA Jonathan Trott century has earned Warwickshire an outside chance of victory in the bottom of the table battle at Taunton.Trott made 175 – the 20th score of 150 or more in his first-class career – to help Warwickshire to their highest first-innings score of the season. It was his second century of the Championship campaign and his third of the first-class season.Grant Thornton, a debutant seamer recently signed on a three-month contract, then claimed wickets with his eighth and 23rd deliveries in first-class cricket to build pressure on Somerset. Realistically, they require 264 to avert the follow-on and make the game safe on the final day.Perhaps, had Trott been caught at gully before he had added to his overnight 50, Somerset may have taken control of the match. But the chance, an outside edge from a Craig Overton delivery, was put down by Peter Trego and Trott added 146 for the fifth-wicket with Tim Ambrose – Warwickshire’s highest Championship stand of the season – to steer Warwickshire into the ascendancy.Somerset had worked hard for that chance. Trott had gone scoreless for the first 20 minutes of the third day and survived a sustained appeal for a catch down the leg side. He was also fortunate to escape a top-edged slog-sweep off Jack Leach when he had 55 that flew just over the head of Marcus Trescothick at slip.From then on, however, he began to take control. Leach, who conceded only three boundaries in his first 20 overs, was taken for five fours in seven balls at one stage while Trott hit three sixes – he admitted he couldn’t recall hitting more in a first-class innings – including a slog-sweep off Roelof van der Merwe to bring up his century and a thundering drive into the Sir Ian Botham Stand off Jamie Overton. Having suffered three ducks in the Championship this season, he was determined to take advantage of his start. It was the 42nd first-class century of his career and he passed 17,000 first-class runs in its latter stages.Jonathan Trott has kept Warwickshire hoping•Getty Images

Despite the acceleration, Warwickshire missed out on full batting bonus points. Requiring eight runs off the final over of the 110-over qualifying period, they fell five short despite Rikki Clarke’s aggressive 50 (from 53 balls). Still, this was the first time this season they had recorded even four batting bonus points in an innings and represented a step in the right direction after a poor start to the season.Warwickshire lost their last five wickets for 22 in an attempt to up the pace. Van der Merwe finished with three wickets and probably gained a little more turn than Leach, but Jamie Overton remained the pick of the bowlers. Gaining movement in the air and off the surface, he generally maintained a good, probing length.The value of Trott’s innings soon become apparent as Somerset subsided to 86 for four against an attack containing two Championship debutants. Tom Abell’s grim run of form – he has now scored 10 runs in five Championship innings this season and starting to worry those who feared the captaincy was offered to him prematurely – continued as he defended a delivery from Jeetan Patel only to see it dribble back off his bat and knock off the bails, before Steve Davies (34 runs in five innings) turned one off his hips only to find Sam Hain, at short-leg, able to cling on to a very sharp chance.That was Thornton’s second wicket. Bowling at an odd angle amid a whirl of arms, he represents an awkward proposition for batsmen who have not seen him before and appeared to surprise James Hildreth with a full ball that found the batsmen crease-bound and perhaps playing slightly across a straight one. Dean Elgar, beaten by a couple that left him sharply, was leg before to one that didn’t swing.Had Leach, the nightwatchman, been taken at slip – as he might have been as he twice edged Patel agonisingly close to the cordon – Somerset would have been in deep trouble. But Trescothick, not for the first time, ensured some stability. Resuming on the final day nine runs short of reaching 50 for the 186th time in first-class cricket, he passed 25,000 first-class runs late on the third evening and, aged 41, remains the wicket that opposition most value in this Somerset side. He knows he has work ahead of him on the final day and he will relish it.”I’ve been sweating on that record for a couple of weeks,” he said afterwards “I knew I needed to reach 29. I remember my first run: it was 1993 and I made 1 and 3 in a game against Lancashire. I reckon my first run was down to third man. And I’ve scored a fair few more down there over the years.”Earlier in the day he pulled off an outstanding catch to dismiss Ambrose. Seeing the batsman shape for a delicate sweep, he ran from slip to leg slip and dived full length to cling on to a well-anticipated chance.”There is no chance I will be still be playing at 41,” 36-year-old Trott said later. “That’s just silly!”It’s great that Marcus is still playing county cricket and setting an example to the young players in his dressing room and opposition teams. His will be a huge wicket for us tomorrow.”Meanwhile it is understood that interviews for the role of chief executive at Somerset have begun. ESPNcricinfo understands that, of the 125 applicants, Jason Ratcliffe, Charlie Hodgson and Jez Curwin are among the short-listed candidates. Hodgson is the commercial director at Surrey, while Curwin fulfils a similar role at Somerset. Ratcliffe was a player at Warwickshire and Surrey before moving to the PCA where he spent 14 years, latterly as deputy chief executive.

Having pushed India hard in the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals and come agonisingly close to a win in the 2016 World T20, can Bangladesh complete the job in their maiden ICC tournament semi-final?

The Preview by Sidharth Monga14-Jun-20172:35

Tait: India’s batting could be too strong for Bangladesh

Match facts

June 15, 2017
Start time 1030 local (0930 GMT)

Big picture

This is the thing about international cricket today. With so much of it being played by so few teams, no lost opportunity is the end of the world. The kind of heartbreaking defeat Bangladesh endured against India in the World T20 last year had the potential of setting teams behind by years. In the year before that, Bangladesh went toe to toe with India for 30 overs in the World Cup quarter-final before losing their way, thanks in part to an umpiring blunder. Such setbacks in the history of Bangladesh cricket have been followed by disastrous months, but now Bangladesh are refusing to go away, having not lost any of their upwards momentum. For the third year in a row, they stand in India’s way.Bangladesh, though, should know that they are now too old in international cricket to be satisfied with one big win in one tournament. Except that the second big win will have to come against a side that has become extremely familiar with big-match atmosphere. India let other sides drive themselves into a frenzy in these big matches, and themselves concentrate on maintaining little disciplines.If Bangladesh are going to win the semi-final, it is not likely to happen on the back of mistakes from India, who are in their sixth semi-final in the last seven ICC tournaments. They will have to find a way to build on what they did with the ball in the first 30 overs in Melbourne.With R Ashwin’s return to the XI, India will feel they have found the missing link, especially with pitches getting slower at the end of the tournament. Against South Africa, India’s quicks showed they could bowl to a plan for long enough. The one weakness is the middle and lower middle order, but the top three haven’t exposed them at all in this tournament. Almost every time Bangladesh have beaten India, or come close to beating India, it is thanks to their bowlers, who have the worst average this tournament and the third-worst economy rate.

Form guide

Bangladesh WLWWL (completed matches, most recent first)
India WLWLW

In the spotlight

Mustafizur Rahman made a sensational debut against India, but is going through his first ordinary tournament. He has taken one wicket in 138 balls while conceding 130 runs. Bangladesh will hope this is not a case of mystery on the wane. They will also need to create enough pressure from the other end so that batsmen can’t just sit back and knock Mustafizur around.One of the ways to survive for bowlers in modern limited-overs cricket is to be unusual. If Bangladesh’s unusual Mustafizur has been having problems, India’s Jasprit Bumrah has also had a mini dip. His response in the match against South Africa was excellent, but before that match he had gone at 6.88 an over for five wickets at 60.6 in his last five ODIs. India will hope he repeats what he did against South Africa: bowl to a plan and with discipline when the ball is new, and pick up wickets when it is old.

Team news

Bangladesh played four fast bowlers against New Zealand. The decision for them is whether they want the offspin of Mehedi Hasa. Imrul Kayes might struggle to make it back to the XI.Bangladesh (possible) 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Taskin Ahmed, 9 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Mustafizur RahmanUmesh Yadav has a decent record against Bangladesh, but it is unlikely India will tinker with the combination that won against South Africa.India (possible) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 R Ashwin, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch and conditions

The pitch for the semi-final has not been used recently; unless it changes drastically over the game, these sides should not have any real preference for batting or bowling first. The weather seems to have finally settled in Birmingham, and we shouldn’t have any interruptions.

Stats and trivia

• Since the last World Cup, Bangladesh have had a better ODI record against the top-eight sides than India. Both have won 11 matches each, but Bangladesh have lost 10 to India’s 13.
• In 30 overs of the first Powerplay – first ten overs – in this tournament, India have lost only one wicket.
• India bowlers’ economy rate of 4.33 in the first Powerplay was the best in the league stages; Bangladesh’s 5.60 was the worst.
• Mustafizur has got Rohit Sharma three times in 39 balls for 38 runs.

Quotes

“It’s no surprise any more to anyone that they are really playing well. They’ve really improved their cricket, and it’s a credit to their set-up and the kind of players they have now who are taking more responsibility. They are a very dangerous side on their day, and everyone realises that.”
“I know that on our day, we can do anything.”

Jason Gillespie takes over following the exit of former New Zealand offspinner Dipak Patel

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jul-2017Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie has been appointed interim coach of Papua New Guinea (PNG). He takes over from former New Zealand offspinner Dipak Patel.Gillespie will be taking the PNG job part-time due to his commitments with the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League. With the Australia A tour to South Africa cancelled due to the ongoing pay dispute between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association, Gillespie, who is also the head coach of the A side, is now free to join the PNG squad in Port Moresby later this month. Gillespie’s coaching experience also includes time with English county Yorkshire.”I’m really excited about it, as much to have another cricketing experience with another team and another country,” Gillespie told . “It broadens my experiences and broadens my learning and hopefully it will hold me in good stead going forward.”Gillespie will be taking over at a busy time for the team, which is set to play a series of matches in Australia against the Australian Indigenous team and Queensland XI, before hosting Scotland for two matches in October as part of their push for 2019 World Cup qualification.”I’m just excited to see how these guys go about their work. I’ve heard a lot of very good things,” Gillespie said. “Papua New Guinea played against Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi in the preseason and I spoke to a few of my friends at Yorkshire and they said the PNG guys were fantastic.”Patel, who was appointed in August 2014, had left the post after he and the PNG board reportedly could not agree on the terms for an extended contract.

Kesrick Williams and debutant Odean Smith struck regularly in an innings that saw Knight Riders fall from 109 for 2 to 147 all out

Peter Della Penna10-Aug-2017
Kesrick Williams’ early strikes put the brakes on the Knight Riders’ innings•Getty Images

Jamaica Tallawahs consigned hosts Trinbago Knight Riders to their first loss in CPL 2017 with a four-wicket win at Queen’s Park Oval. Knight Riders stormed out of the gates courtesy blistering cameos from Sunil Narine, Brendon McCullum and Colin Munro to reach 101 for 2 in eight overs, but could only manage 147 from there. Tallawahs rode a strong start from Lendl Simmons before Kumar Sangakkara’s steady 47 overcame a late wobble. Victory was achieved with four balls to spare.Williams’ slow burnKesrick Williams’ variations denied Knight Riders a turbocharge in the second half of their innings. Williams came into bowl in the third over. He cramped Brendon McCullum for room with his first legal delivery. He then followed that up with a wide slower ball that resulted in McCullum lobbing a gentle catch to mid-off.Off the first ball of his next over, he had Narine miscuing one to midwicket. Three deliveries later, Williams nearly had a hat-trick of slower-ball wickets when Munro, on 11, dragged one off his legs to Jonathan Foo at backward square leg. The opportunity was fluffed. He came back at the death to pick up a third wicket – with another slower ball – as Javon Searles top-edged a slog to Imad Wasim at cover. His figures of 3 for 26 also earned him the Man of the Match award.Six and outWith Knight Riders losing momentum at 124 for 5 in 14 overs, Dwayne Bravo, the captain, needed someone to stick around. Shadab Khan, who showed his capability in the previous game – he made an unbeaten 30 in a tense chase – started with a six, but was consumed by a rush of blood when an ungainly heave resulted in his dismissal.Third time’s a charm for debutant Odean SmithTallawahs opted for the pace of debutant Odean Smith, instead of Garey Mathurin. He should’ve had a wicket off his second ball, but for a missed opportunity by Kumar Sangakkara that gave Darren Bravo a reprieve on 19. Sangakkara muffed another chance off Smith in the 11th over when Denesh Ramdin gloved a pull down the leg side.Persistence paid off, though, as Smith eventually nabbed Ramdin when he miscued a flick to Shakib Al Hasan at midwicket. Smith’s return at the death was impressive too. He rattled the stumps twice with full and straight deliveries to knock over the tail, denying desperately needed lower order runs to finish with 3 for 20.No, NarineSunil Narine took two wickets, but a third, negated by a no-ball, drew greater attention. Sangakkara was on 21, with Tallawahs racing to 44 without loss in five overs, when he slogged one against the turn. Ramdin ran behind the skier and completed a tough catch at square leg. The joy subsided as Narine had overstepped. Simmons punished the free hit to raise the half-century in just 4.3 overs.Captain coolAfter Shadab had Lendl Simmons bowled off his pads for a 17-ball 38 in the sixth over, Narine removed Andre McCarthy and Rovman Powell to cause a flutter in the Tallawahs camp. But Simmons’ early charge allowed Sangakkara to drop anchor at the other end.Given a second chance off the Narine no ball, Sangakkara played risk-free cricket. The equation was down to a run a ball by the time Sangakkara was dismissed by Dwayne Bravo in the 17th over. Foo then arrived and clipped 19 off 11 to help knock off the rest of the runs required.

Henry Nicholls, Jeet Raval solid in second innings but New Zealand A face fight for survival on final day

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2017Henry Nicholls’ half-century kept New Zealand’s fight alive•Getty Images

New Zealand A were faced with a fight for survival after Ankit Bawne’s unbeaten 162 helped India A extend their lead to 236 on the third day of the second unofficial Test in Vijayawada. When bad light forced early stumps for the third day running, Jeet Raval and Henry Nicholls had added 85 unbroken for the second wicket as New Zealand A whittled out 104 of those.Raval, who was off to his fourth successive start on tour, was unbeaten on 41, while Nicholls, the captain, followed up three single-digit scores with an unbeaten half-century. The only wicket-taker in the second innings for India A was left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.Shortly after lunch, India A lost their last five wickets for 61 to be bowled out for 447. Resuming on 360 for 4, a bulk of the scoring was done by Bawne, who added 46 to finish 162 not out. The lower order – from No. 7 to No. 11 – could add just 28 between them. Parthiv Patel, who could add just nine to his overnight 56, was the third highest scorer of the innings, behind Bawne and Shreyas Iyer, who made 82 on Sunday.Ish Sodhi, the legspinner, was rewarded with three wickets after wheeling away for 25 overs, while Colin Munro, the allrounder who contributed a half-century in the first innings, Seth Rance and Scott Kuggleign, the medium pacers, had two wickets apiece.

Sri Lanka have lost nine ODIs in a row. Pakistan have won eight of their last nine. Is there any way for Sri Lanka to keep the series alive?

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando17-Oct-2017

Big Picture

It didn’t seem so long ago that Pakistan were considered a modest ODI outfit playing an outdated form of the game. Their batting was too slow, their bowlers not penetrative enough, and their fielding conformed to stereotype. Now, suddenly, having beaten the world, they have begun to play like world-beaters. It is the newer players that have injected this fresh energy: the likes of Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan and Fakhar Zaman who have shaken things up. On Monday, Babar and Shadab, 23 and 19-years-old respectively, heaved their side to a win in a match they should have comfortably lost.The opposing camp can only look on with envy. There, despite the many changes over the last year, there have been no signs of reinvigoration. The nine-match losing streak is their worst in 30 years, their bowlers rarely take wickets, and even when they do – as on Monday – the batsmen fail to score the runs. What’s worse is that so many players who began their careers with promise have begun to flounder in this format. Dinesh Chandimal was once an outstanding limited-overs prospect, now he can barely hold a place in the XI. Milinda Siriwardana and Thisara Perera too – dazzling talents once, but inconsistent performers of late.Having won eight of their last nine ODIs now, Pakistan have begun to acquire an aura of indomitability. Having reduced them to 101 for 6 and still failed, Sri Lanka must be wondering what they have to do to win a match. That, in the middle of a series, SLC is trying to convince individual players to agree to play the third T20 is Lahore, is perhaps also drawing focus from the series at hand.Whatever the case, Pakistan now have the chance to lock down this series. Sri Lanka must reach for a special performance to break their abysmal streak.

Form guide

Sri Lanka LLLLL(completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan WWWWW

In the spotlight

It’s time to talk about Kusal Mendis. It has been 12 international knocks now since he last reached fifty. In ODIs alone, he has not made 40 in his ten most-recent completed innings. There is no pattern to his dismissals, which suggests his slump is largely a matter of confidence. But having for so long been Sri Lanka’s beacon while team-mates regularly collapsed around him, Mendis desperately needs runs in the series to stave off contenders for his position. Asela Gunaratne, Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews and Danushka Gunathilaka all await a return to the XI, after all.Thirty-three ODIs in, Babar Azam has seven ODI tons and six fifties. He is faster out of the gate than the likes of Virat Kohli – the challenge for Azam now is to maintain that intensity. Among his strengths is that Azam seems to have an innate understanding how to pace a big ODI innings – when to see a tough bowler out, and when to hit out. These are qualities that batsman often do not develop until they are experienced. With three more potential innings against what has been a poor Sri Lanka attack this year, Azam will aim to swell what is already an impressive average of 57.20.

Team news

Pakistan are likely to field the same XI, giving Ahmed Shehzad another run despite scores of 0 and 8 so far.Pakistan (probable): 1 Ahmed Shehzad, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), 7 Imad Wasim, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Rumman Raees, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Junaid KhanFollowing scores of 0 and 3, Milinda Siriwardana’s place in the XI may be under the microscope. The team management may persevere with Siriwardana, but if they drop him, Chamara Kapugedara is likeliest to enter the XI.Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Niroshan Dickwella, (wk), 2 Upul Tharanga (capt), 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Lahiru Thirimanne, 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Milinda Siriwardana, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Akila Dananjaya, 9 Jeffrey Vandersay, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Lahiru Gamage

Pitch and conditions

Yet another hot, humid outing awaits the players in Abu Dhabi. The stadium is not typically a high-scoring venue, with 300 having been breached on only three occasions.

Stats and trivia

• Babar Azam is the fastest batsman to seven ODI centuries, doing it eight innings quicker than the next-best batsman
• Pakistan have won both previous bilateral series against Sri Lanka in the UAE. They beat Sri Lanka 4-1 in 2011, and 3-2 in 2013
• Niroshan Dickwella needs 87 more runs to complete 1000 in ODIs. If he does it in the next innings – his 26th – he will be the fastest Sri Lanka batsman to the milestone, beating Roy Dias, who got there in 27

Quotes

“The batters need to get their act together. The skill is there, but they need to get their act together.”
Sri Lanka batting coach Hashan Tillakaratne