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A round-up of the fourth day’s action at ICC World Cricket League Division Five in Jersey

Peter Della Penna in Jersey 25-May-2016Guernsey left-arm spinner Max Ellis teamed with Thomas Kirk at first slip for four dismissals on the way to bowling out Nigeria for 99, setting up a ten-wicket win at St Saviour on Tuesday. Kirk also claimed another catch at slip for medium pacer Luke Nussbaumer to take five grabs in a stellar individual fielding effort. All ten wickets for Nigeria were either bowled, lbw or caught between first slip and gully as they lasted just 34 overs after choosing to bat first on a sunny and cloud-free morning.It could’ve been even worse for Nigeria with No. 3 batsman Salako Abdulazeez put down on nought by wicketkeeper Jason Martin, diving to his left across Kirk to spill a one-handed effort in the third over off Newey. Abdulazeez wound up making 20, one of three players to reach double-figures while three deliveries down the leg side that went to the boundary for five wides were part of Guernsey’s 22 extras conceded, joint second-highest score of the innings behind opener Joshua Ayannaike’s 26.Ellis entered in the 18th over and struck with his fourth ball, clipping the edge of Leke Oyede for 3 and continued to rip out the middle and lower order to finish with figures of 4 for 9 in nine overs including five maidens. It followed on from Nussbaumer’s incisive spell that wiped out the top order and resulted in 3 for 13 off four overs.Matthew Stokes and GH Smit began cautiously in pursuit of the target, especially after both were dropped in the slips on 9 and 1 respectively inside the first six overs off opening bowlers Okpe Issac and Chimezie Onwuzulike. They were going at barely above three an over through the first 12 before Stokes started to come out of his shell with a pair of sweeps to the square leg boundary against spinner Sesan Adedeji in an 11-run over to take the score to 48 after 13.Smit cracked three boundaries in the 16th and Stokes did the same in the 18th to take the score to 98. A sliced two past gully five balls into the 19th by Smit ended proceedings ahead of the scheduled lunch interval as Smit finished on 38 with six fours while Stokes walked off unbeaten on 48 with eight boundaries. Stokes has 126 runs so far in three innings at this tournament and has been dismissed just once.Hosts Jersey defeated Tanzania by 85 runs at St Clement behind an unbeaten century and two wickets from left-arm spinning allrounder Ben Stevens. Jersey captain Peter Gough opted to bat first at the toss and struck 47 in an 87-run opening stand with Nat Watkins before making way for Stevens in the 18th over. Stevens teamed with Cornelis Bodenstein and later Corey Bisson for a pair of half-century stands on the way to making 103 not out off 88 balls.The left-hander brought up his first fifty off 61 balls – with his fourth boundary in the 42nd over – then accelerated dramatically to club 51 off his next 27 deliveries, with only four dot balls in that stretch. On 93 at the start of the final over, Stevens struck his third six and then followed it with a two to bring up three figures as Jersey ended on 273 for 5.Tanzania posted their highest score of the tournament so far in reply, batting out all 50 overs to end on 188 for 8, but scoring at three per over through the first 35 overs they were never a serious chance of overhauling the target especially once star allrounder Kassim Nassoro fell to Ben Kynman for a top score of 42 to make it 106 for 5.Stand-in captain Shaheed Dhanani, deputizing for the omitted Hamisi Abdallah, also made 42 before being bowled by Charles Perchard, one of two wickets for the medium pacer in the final over of the match.At St Martin, Oman cantered to victory over Vanuatu by nine wickets with 9.2 overs to spare. Zeeshan Maqsood followed up his half-century against Jersey on Monday with an unbeaten 130 off 138 balls to spearhead the chase of Vanuatu’s respectable total of 204 for 7 after the Pacific islanders opted to bat first.Vanuatu did themselves no favours in the field though, dropping Maqsood twice in the slips in the opening three overs off Nalin Nipiko and Callum Blake before the allrounder had reached 15. They entered the day already behind the eight ball with leading pace bowler Patrick Matautaava ruled out with a left quadriceps injury and things got worse later on when Nipiko, who took the new ball in Matautaava’s place, walked off halfway through the innings with a left groin injury. Both Matautaava and Nipiko remain in doubt for Vanuatu’s final two fixtures against Tanzania and Nigeria.Earlier, Nipiko made a valiant unbeaten 93 off 108 balls, but Vanuatu struggled to maintain momentum – their best partnership was 44 runs for the fifth and eighth wickets – with Oman’s attack taking wickets at regular intervals at the opposite end. Rajeshkumar Ranpura took 2 for 37 to lead the attack with Munis Ansari having a rest day following his career-best 5 for 27 against Jersey.Tuesday’s results moved Guernsey to 3-0 and they’ll take on 2-1 Jersey on Wednesday at St Martin in a pivotal showdown that could determine promotion berths for Division Four a day ahead of the end of the group stage. Wins by Guernsey and Oman, who face Tanzania at St Saviour, would clinch promotion to Division Four for both sides.A Jersey victory over Guernsey though could leave the door open for a three-way tie between the three sides at 4-1 if Guernsey goes on to defeat Oman on the last day of group play paired with a Jersey win over Nigeria. In such a scenario, the tiebreaker to decide the two teams promoted would be decided by net run rate. After three rounds of play, Guernsey holds a +0.141 advantage over Oman and a +1.099 advantage over Jersey. Vanuatu and Tanzania sit at 0-3 and have already been eliminated from contention for promotion while Nigeria at 1-2 is also a threat of being relegated.

Mohammad Amir has said he is “terribly lucky” to be back in the Test set-up, having served a jail sentence and a five-year suspension from the ICC for the 2010 spot-fixing case

Umar Farooq18-Jun-20161:02

Quick Facts – Amir set to play Tests again

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has said he is “terribly lucky” to be back in the Test set-up, having served a jail sentence in the UK and a five-year suspension from the ICC for his role in the 2010 spot-fixing case. Coincidentally, Amir is set to resume his Test career next month at Lord’s – the scene of the fixing scandal.Ahead of the Pakistan team’s departure for England on Saturday, Amir also said he had “unfinished business” and sought a fresh start to help Pakistan win the four-Test series.”To be honest I never thought about my comeback and I feel terribly lucky to be back to play Test cricket again,” Amir told ESPNcricinfo. “I was all excited for Test cricket because that is where my career was held back and I still can’t believe that this is happening. You call it a coincidence or whatever, but to me it is a blessing that I am starting right from where I stopped in 2010. That tour was marred by the controversy and that left me with unfinished business. My only aim is to be the best bowler of the series, get Pakistan to win the series, and sign off with fresh memories.”Amir was successfully reintegrated into Pakistan’s limited-overs team this year, but he has not played a Test since 2010. The fast bowler conceded he hasn’t forgotten the past, but he hoped to overcome it and put his name on the Lord’s honours board again.Amir, only 18 then, was the youngest player to find a place on the honours board when he claimed 6 for 84 on his first tour to England in 2010. He was Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker in the four-Test series with 19 at an average of 18.36, and ultimately shared the Player-of-the-Series award with England batsman Jonathan Trott. He and Mohammad Asif were then convicted after deliberately bowling no-balls at Lord’s.”I might have registered my comeback months ago, but Test cricket is the actual cricket, and playing it again is what I was looking forward to, and this is my real comeback,” Amir said. “I won’t say that I have forgotten my past, as my memory still holds those ugly moments from 2010, but I want to perform well. I want to get my name on the honours board at Lord’s once again to win back the love and support in England. I am looking at this tour positively as I want to supersede my past with a better future.”Amir’s reintegration had met internal opposition, with ODI captain Azhar Ali and former captain Mohammad Hafeez choosing to stay away from Pakistan’s training camp in December, before the New Zealand tour. The side has moved on since, and Amir said he was “stronger than before”, having learnt his lesson.”As a bowler I always try to be different every day and want to come hard to take a step towards improvement,” he said. “You will see a different Amir this time in England as a bowler, as a person with new refreshing thoughts. See I have gone through a lot of tough times, which actually taught me a lot of good lessons, and now I am much stronger than before. With every passing day I am getting mature, and maturity comes with time and experience. I got enough in my life to stand strong and look for a positive future ahead.”Mohammad Amir unleashed a scorching spell during his 3 for 18 against India at the Asia Cup in Mirpur•AFP

Amir also felt that his case would be an example for other players, and called for a life ban if anyone is found guilty of fixing.”This fixing in cricket should not be allowed and anyone caught should be banned for life,” he said. “If anyone still hasn’t learned a lesson from our cases, then he will be the biggest fool. Whatever happened with us and the way our careers went down, I think this is the biggest example for everyone. Imagine what we could have achieved in those lost years. I had missed five of the best years of my life and if I was still playing, everyone would know where I would have been standing right now.”If this [corruption] is still happening it is really alarming and there is a serious problem in the dignity of the player. I think the player must alone be blamed and nobody can help this. Neither the home board, nor the ICC nor the parents can help if the player doesn’t want to be honest. I think players themselves have to be honest. I fully back what [Alastair] Cook has said the other day, that fixers should be banned for life.”Although England captain Alastair Cook and fast bowler Stuart Broad expressed no concerns about facing Amir, who had served the punishment handed down to him, again, the Pakistan fast bowler was wary of sledging and hostility from the crowd. During the side’s tour to New Zealand earlier in the year, Amir was taunted by the Westpac Stadium announcer Mark McLeod, who had played a cash register sound effect during one of the bowler’s spells on his comeback. Pakistan’s team management had also claimed there was a spectator who flashed money and jewellery at their players during the first ODI in Wellington.”I always believe that as a professional you have to be ready for any kind of situation,” Amir said. “The crowd sometimes gets nasty but you are a professional only if you handle all kinds of situations wisely. In the ground the crowd shouts wherever you go, but as a professional it’s my duty to focus on the game and if you are not doing it, you are not into cricket. So naturally when I am on the ground, my utmost focus is on cricket and this is what I will be doing in England as well. Sledging is a part of game and it isn’t new in cricket and I have this in my mind. But I don’t want to lose my focus; I would rather think about my performance. With a positive frame of mind, such negative things will be irrelevant.”Amir has shown sparkling form since his return to cricket. He picked up 14 wickets in nine games in the Bangladesh Premier League at an average and economy rate of 12.64 and 5.56. He followed that with seven wickets in seven matches in the inaugural Pakistan Super League, including a hat-trick. Amir then took five wickets in two ODIs and 11 wickets in as many T20 internationals in 2016, including a sensational 3 for 18 against India at the Asia Cup in February.There have been a few questions about Amir’s fitness for the longest format, but he stated that he was ready for Tests. “The recent training camp in Kakul enhanced my fitness level,” he said. “I had never experienced such an intense training session and I really enjoyed that. I can clearly see a big difference in my fitness level after finishing the camp. I am completely ready for this form of the game and I have always been in love with five-day cricket. I am desperately waiting for it.”

Individual hundreds from Travis Head and Jack Leaning and a partnership of 274 – a List A record for the county – helped Yorkshire complete a fourth consecutive win in the Royal London Cup

ECB Reporters Network24-Jul-2016
ScorecardTravis Head smashed 175 in his fourth innings for Yorkshire (file photo)•BCCI

Individual hundreds from Travis Head and Jack Leaning and a partnership of 274 – a List A record for the county – helped Yorkshire complete a third consecutive win in the Royal London Cup, keeping the Vikings firmly on course to reach the quarter-finals of this season’s competition.Head hit 175 off 139 balls while Leaning finished unbeaten on 131 off 110 as Yorkshire recorded their highest List A total against another first-class county, beating the 352 for 6 made against Nottinghamshire in Scarborough in 2001. Their highest total, 411 for 4, was made against Devon in 2004.Leaning, whose century was his second in List A cricket, said it had been a pleasure to bat with Head, in only his fourth match for Yorkshire, describing the 21-year-old as “a huge talent who will play a big part for Australia in the future”.”It was also good to keep up our current form. Wins always breed confidence, and we can take this into a busy period of games,” Leaning added.Having been asked to bowl first, Leicestershire might have thought fortune was going to favour them after Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth, who scored centuries in his two previous List A games, was run out for just 2 following a mix-up with partner Alex Lees.Lees himself was stumped for 32 off the bowling of Foxes offspinner Rob Sayer, coming down the wicket and missing with an ugly heave across the line, but 51 for 2 was as good as it got for Leicestershire. On a flat track Head looked in fine touch from the start, while Leaning hit the third ball he faced, from Sayer, high over long-off for six.Head brought up his half-century from a relatively sedate 60 balls, but accelerated thereafter, reaching his hundred off 99 deliveries. He might have been dismissed on 116, when he lofted a delivery from Mark Cosgrove to long-off, but although Sayer held the ball one-handed above his head, he did so in the act of stepping over the boundary and was forced to throw the ball back inside the rope.Leaning also had an escape, a more straightforward chance dropped by Robson at deep midwicket off Sayer when he was on 83, and the pair had eclipsed Yorkshire’s previous List A record partnership of 242, between Martyn Moxon and Ashley Metcalfe against Warwickshire in 1990, by the time Head passed 150 and Leaning his hundred.Head eventually top-edged a simple catch behind the wicket to be dismissed for 175 – remarkably, still 25 short of his best List A score of 200, made for South Australia last October – but Leaning finished unbeaten as Yorkshire continued to pile on the runs.Leicestershire’s reply began poorly, when captain Mark Pettini was bowled by a superb in-swinging delivery from David Willey, and though Angus Robson could consider himself unlucky to glove an attempted hook at Tim Bresnan and be caught by the wicketkeeper down the leg side, Kevin O’Brien can only have been disappointed with the shot that saw him give midwicket a simple catch.Cosgrove was caught off a leading edge, and though Lewis Hill played well in going to 50, the rest of the Leicestershire batsmen had no answer to the spin of Azeem Rafiq and Adil Rashid.

India captain MS Dhoni said he had guessed correctly that the final delivery from Dwayne Bravo would be a slower ball but his execution of the shot let him down

Peter Della Penna in Florida28-Aug-20163:37

Happy with how we bowled in last eight overs – Dhoni

India captain MS Dhoni said he had guessed correctly that the final delivery from Dwayne Bravo would be a slower ball but his execution of the shot let him down. With two runs needed off one ball, Dhoni was caught at short third man and West Indies won the first T20 international by the narrowest of margins.Dhoni said his team should be commended for their valiant chase in the highest-scoring T20 game ever. “I feel there were plenty of positives in this game because the way we chased down 245 runs, apart from the last ball,” he said after the match. “I felt we were totally in the game. Even the last ball, the thinking was right, the execution was wrong.”A cat-and-mouse game that had been developing over the course of the final six balls reached a new level as Bravo engaged in several discussions, stalling for several minutes ahead of the last ball, with two required by Dhoni to secure what would have been a record chase. Even though Dhoni said he knew what was going to be sent down, he praised Bravo’s skills in such a pressure moment.”When it comes to Bravo, I feel in the current scenario he’s among the best when it comes to the death bowling,” Dhoni said. “The amount of experience that he has really counts so you always know if he’s bowling it’s tough. What then becomes important is how we’re executing.”You have to really guess what he’s looking to bowl and according to that you play your shots. So if you guess the bowler well and execute well, you’ll end up winning. Rather than thinking who is bowling, what’s important is to think what his strength is and where he’ll look to pitch the next delivery.”Despite India conceding the third highest total in a T20I, Dhoni praised his bowlers for their effort to reel West Indies back in after Johnson Charles and Evin Lewis added 126 for the first wicket in 9.3 overs. By the end of the 11th over – a 32-run sequence in which Lewis struck the first five legal deliveries from Stuart Binny for six before mis-hitting a full toss – West Indies were 164 for 1.Dhoni said he thought West Indies were on track for 270 or more before R Ashwin started to shift momentum with a four-run 12th over, bowling with the breeze at his back.The wind from the pavilion end helped the spinners throughout the rest of the innings, and Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja conceded just 18 runs in the 12th, 14th and 16th overs. India’s pace bowlers also began nailing their yorkers and the result was just 40 runs off the final four overs to keep West Indies to 245.MS Dhoni said his bowlers did well to pull West Indies back to 245, after they had looked like getting 270•BCCI

“I felt the way the boys performed overall was very good,” Dhoni said. “I was very happy how we brought the opposition down when it came to the last eight overs. That really matters because that is something where we have struggled quite consistently but it was a good exposure to our bowlers and they finished up well to restrict them to 245.”Dhoni also praised the batting efforts of KL Rahul, who struck his maiden T20I century in just his fourth match. Rahul ended 110 not out off 51 balls, having missed the fastest T20I ton by two deliveries, taking 46 balls to reach three figures.”He has been very consistent,” Dhoni said. “I feel that is a strength of Rahul also, compact player but at the same time unorthodox shots. He plays all over the ground, over covers, mid off, mid on. So a complete cricketer. Of course there’s a long way to go for him but the way he has played in the last six months, it’s very encouraging to see him bat.”As for the experience of playing in Florida in front of a heavily partisan Indian diaspora, Dhoni joked that “even if we’re playing in Bermuda Triangle, they’ll be there”. He also praised the efforts put in by the groundstaff at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill.”The facility is as good as anywhere else,” Dhoni said. “The ground itself is up to international standard. You can’t score 500 runs on a bad wicket, so fantastic wicket. The practice wickets were fantastic. When it comes to the stadium, it’s not a big stadium. The moment I say stadium I mean the number of fans it can house. I think it’s close to 15,000. So overall looking at everything as a complete package, I think it was fantastic. We had fun.”When it comes to the Indian fans, it’s a pleasure playing in front of them. They follow us everywhere wherever we are playing. So it’s a first time we are playing in the USA but not to forget we have a big Indian community out here so thanks to them for coming and watching the game.”

Wayne Parnell has been ruled out of the remainder of the one-day series against Australia with a rib injury.

Firdose Moonda05-Oct-2016Wayne Parnell has been ruled out of the remainder of the one-day series against Australia with a rib injury.He will be sidelined for up to a month after sustaining the injury in the second ODI in Johannesburg after what team manager Mohammed Moosajee called a “high impact landing” while fielding.South Africa have not added anyone to the squad in Parnell’s place but already have two other allrounders at their disposal. Andile Phehlukwayo, who make his debut against Ireland and has played all three matches against Australia, appears to be the frontrunner to establish himself in that position while Dwaine Pretorius, who was included in Parnell’s absence at Kingsmead, is also available.Parnell is the second South African allrounder to require time off after Chris Morris was ruled out for two months with a knee injury. Parnell’s niggle means he is unlikely to feature in the first half of the domestic first-class competition, which kicked off on Wednesday but could target the T20 tournament, which begins mid-November for a comeback.

A round-up of the first day’s play from the opening round of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2016

Group B

Two wickets each from medium-pacer Navdeep Saini and left-arm spinners Manan Sharma and Varun Sood gave Delhi the upper hand in their first-round match as they restricted Assam to 132 for 6 on the first day in Vadodara.Only two Assam batsmen scored more than 30 – opener Rahul Hazarika struck 37, while Tarjinder Singh was unbeaten at stumps on 31. Assam suffered due to a lack of partnerships, and crumbled from a promising 62 for 1 in the 35th over to 65 for 4 in the 40th with Sood and Saini doing most of the damage during this period.A four-for from captain Varun Aaron helped Jharkhand bowl Maharashtra out for 210 in Delhi. In reply, Jharkhand finished the day at 33 for 2, having lost their openers to seamer Anupam Sanklecha.Aaron, along with medium-pacer Ajay Yadav, cut through Maharashtra’s top order leaving them at 31 for 3 in the 13th over. Kedar Jadhav (59) and Ankit Bawne (78) rallied through a 102-run partnership for the fourth wicket. After Jadhav was dismissed, Bawne stitched another half-century stand with Ravi Tripathi, but Maharashtra lost their last six wickets for only 22 runs. Aaron finished with 4 for 47, while seamer Ashish Kumar had 3 for 32, including the wicket of Bawne.Sanklecha then had Ishan Kishan caught behind in the second over, before dismissing Shiv Gautam in the eighth over. Saurabh Tiwary was unbeaten on 9.Biplab Samantray’s 53 not out held Odisha‘s shaky first innings together against Vidarbha in Visakhapatnam. Odisha finished the day on 134 for 6 in 70 overs with No. 8 Deepak Behera keeping Samantray company.The first breakthrough for Vidarbha, after Odisha chose to bat, came through spin. Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate dismissed Ranjit Singh before Shrikant Wagh and Akshay Wakhare struck three times in the space of six overs to leave Odisha at 49 for 4 in the 24th over. Samantray and Subhranshu Senapati added 59 for the fifth wicket but a couple of late dismissals left Odisha on the back foot.Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah’s unbeaten 120 helped the side recover from 30 for 3 to 269 for 5 at stumps against Rajasthan in Vizianagaram. Shah was ably supported by Sheldon Jackson, who scored 76 and shared in a 119-run partnership for the fourth wicket.The pair came together in the 10th over of the match, after Rajasthan’s seamers Pankaj Singh, Nathu Singh and Aniket Choudhary had struck early. Both batsmen scored at a brisk rate. Jackson’s 76 came off 95 balls and included 10 fours and two sixes, while Shah scored 120 off 141 balls with 23 fours.Once Jackson fell, Shah kept Saurashtra steady with a 79-run partnership Samarth Vyas and steered the side past 250 in the company of Chirag Jani who was unbeaten on 13.

Bangladesh have made six changes to their squad for the first Test against England at Chittagong, starting on October 20, with the batsman Sabbir Rahman a notable inclusion

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong16-Oct-2016Bangladesh have made six changes to their squad for the first Test against England at Chittagong, starting on October 20, with the batsman Sabbir Rahman a notable inclusion following his performances in the ODI series earlier this month.Rahman, who has played 29 ODIs and 26 T20Is but has yet to make his Test debut, made 49 from 46 in the third ODI at Chittagong, having been fined 20 percent of his match fee for his run-in with England’s stand-in captain, Jos Buttler, in the previous match in Dhaka.He is one of four uncapped players in the 14-man squad, alongside the former Under-19 captain, Mehedi Hasan, and Kamrul Islam Rabbi – a right-arm seamer – and Nurul Hasan, a wicketkeeper-batsman.The seamer, Shafiul Islam, and the offspinner, Shuvagata Hom, complete the revamped squad.Those who have been excluded from Bangladesh’s last Test squad, for the home series against South Africa in July 2015, are Nasir Hossain, Jubair Hossain, Rubel Hossain, while Liton Das, Mohammad Shahid and Mustafizur Rahman are all sidelined through injury.Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that they considered the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury pitch and England’s batting line-up when picking the specialist bowlers.”We have taken two pace bowlers taking into account that Chittagong offers a flat pitch,” Minhajul said. “We retained Shuvagata to tackle England’s left-handed batsmen. We also took [Mehedi Hasan] Miraz as a specialist offspinner as we believe he has much to offer since his performance at the U19 level. We have taken [Kamrul Islam] Rabbi because he has done well in first-class tournaments. He has ability to bowl fast with the old ball.”Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha, who is also part of the revamped selection committee, was excited by inclusions of Sabbir and Nurul.”We will try to fit in Sabbir in the XI. Having a lot of options is a good headache to have. [Nurul Hasan] Sohan is one of the best wicketkeepers in the country,” he said.Bangladesh’s Test squad Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal (vice-capt), Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan , Mahmudullah, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Mehedi Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Nurul Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Shuvagata Hom.

Ahead of the Mumbai Test, Moeen Ali has hinted that he would like to have a settled position in the England batting order

George Dobell in Mumbai06-Dec-20161:33

Dobell: England have a puncher’s chance

Moeen Ali really isn’t the sort to roar for his inclusion in a team or storm into the coach’s room demanding explanations.When asked earlier in the tour whether it was an arm ball that had earned a wicket, he answered, “Nah, just one that didn’t spin”. When he found himself praising the number of maidens he had bowled, he added “I don’t do that very often”.When asked to describe his dismissals in Mohali he uses the word “crap” and when asked whether he and Adil Rashid can replicate the success of England’s spinners in 2012 (when Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar took 19 wickets between them) he responds by laughing out loud. Indeed, when asked whether Rashid’s improved performance with the ball could put his own position under pressure, he agreed: “It’s just a matter of time.”He is as modest and unassuming as international sportsmen come. He will never have a nickname like “The Big Show” (even if he does have more international centuries than Glenn Maxwell).So perhaps it is relevant that, very gently, very politely, even a little bit apologetically, he has suggested he might like to have a settled batting position.Moeen has batted everywhere from No. 1 to No. 9 in the Test team. He has opened the batting and the bowling. He has been pushed down the order to accommodate others and then promoted to cover for their failures. He has been asked to thrash for quick runs, block for draws, see off the new ball and shepherd the tail. His versatility is, no doubt, his greatest asset, but it might also be a bit of a curse. It is hardly a surprise that he has looked confused at times.”Close in the future,” he said, reiterating the point that he is not demanding anything, just expressing an aspiration, “I’d like to have a position I can try to nail down.”Almost immediately, he corrects himself.”Obviously, I don’t mind. I just get on with it. Whatever they tell me.”But then the elaboration hints at his frustration a little more.”I was down to bat five from Bangladesh onwards,” he said. “But form or balance of the side meant I was pushed up to four and then three in the last innings. I don’t have a clue where I’m batting here yet. I’ll probably find out tomorrow.”Perhaps the most revealing aspect of the conversation occurs when he is asked if his modesty, his humility, his “niceness” counts against him at times. He smiles.”Probably, yes,” he said. “I’ve been told sometimes that’s not a good thing. Once my dad pulled me out of a club game when I was told I was batting seven. He said ‘No, you’re not, you’re not batting seven’.”I was about 13 and I made the first team, and they told me I was batting seven. He said, ‘No, you’re not playing … let’s go’. But since then I’ve just got on with it.”Moeen Ali made scores of 16 and 5 batting at No. 4 and No. 3 in Mohali•Associated Press

While the floating role is a frustration, Moeen enjoys the approach of this England side. He appreciates the encouragement to attack and the lack of consequences when it backfires. He enjoyed the opportunity for a few days away from the tour, too – something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago – and admits he “never thought about cricket once over three days chilling out in Dubai”.He certainly hasn’t been beating himself up for the way he was dismissed in Mohali (caught at fine leg and mid-on). He doesn’t feel he has to be less attacking, he just has to attack better.”I naturally play in quite a positive way anyway,” he said. “I just need to try to go back to how I batted in the first Test and try to replicate that. Sometimes it can go a bit too positive. We want to be positive, but in the right manner.”I felt all right in Mohali. I know it was a crap way to get out, but it was just the execution in both innings. I’m not too down about it. In the second innings, I was going to go over the top. I just wanted to send one of the guys back on to the boundary, but I didn’t execute it well.”His praise for Rashid is as warm as it genuine. Recognising both the contribution of England’s spin consultant, Saqlain Mushtaq, and the benefits of playing more regularly, Moeen even started to make a case for Rashid’s inclusion ahead of his own.”He’s a quality spinner,” Moeen said. “He’s obviously bowling really well, and I’m really happy for him. He deserves it and I think his confidence is going to grow, the more he plays.”Saqlain has been brilliant for both of us – the confidence he gives us both – and Adil’s confidence has definitely grown as a bowler.”The three back-to-back games were good for him, because he’s got into a rhythm, and now he just comes out, doesn’t think about it too much and lands it on a spot pretty much straightaway.”They’ve played him quite well, but he’s picking up wickets. He’s bowling really, really well. Is he snapping at my heels? Yes. It’s just a matter of time, really.”For most cricketers such a situation might create some unease. But Moeen, speaking after meeting a group of young female athletes from under-privileged families in his role as an ambassador for the British Asian Trust, has a refreshing sense of perspective over such matters.”Pressure to me is people who can’t afford food or who are struggling to live,” he says. “This is just a game of cricket. I’ll give it my best shot. But if I don’t play well, I don’t play well. There’s no point not sleeping at night over it.”These under-privileged people… it puts everything in perspective, doesn’t it? This is just a game of cricket. You give your best, but that’s all you can do. Pressure is to survive in certain areas. There’s more to life than bat and ball.”

England made a shaky start to the second day, but got to a sizeable first-innings total courtesy a century stand for the eighth wicket between Adil Rashid and the debutant Liam Dawson

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy17-Dec-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:53

Chopra: Lack of spin, reverse swing hampered India

England made a shaky start to the second day, but got to a sizeable first-innings total courtesy a century stand for the eighth wicket between Adil Rashid and the debutant Liam Dawson. The two came together at 321 for 7, after India had taken three wickets for 37 runs at the start of play, and scored half-centuries that reiterated the depth of England’s batting and lifted their score to 477. Only once – Australia in 2010 – has a team scored more than 450 batting first and lost a Test in India.India began confidently in reply, reaching 60 for 0 at stumps, their only real moment of discomfort in 20 overs occurring when KL Rahul, jumping back to slash Stuart Broad, jarred some part of his leg, causing him to hobble between wickets for a short while thereafter. The runs came at a steady clip, and the openers picked up five fours between them, in their contrasting styles: mostly off the front foot for the tall, languid Rahul, and mostly off the back foot for Parthiv Patel, who opened because M Vijay had hurt his shoulder while diving to stop the ball at point during the second session.Playing his first Test, Dawson only bowled one over of left-arm spin. By then, though, he had already made a significant impact, finishing unbeaten on 66, the highest score by an England debutant batting at No. 8.Dawson and Rashid had begun cautiously before lunch, scoring the first 31 runs of their partnership in 15.2 overs. Dawson had been the dominant partner, shrugging off a nasty welcome to Test cricket – an Ishant Sharma bouncer that followed him as he tried to sway and clattered the badge of his helmet – and moving to 27 with three fours: a flick off Umesh Yadav, a square-cut off R Ashwin, and a cover drive, against the turn, off an Amit Mishra googly. Rashid, in that time, had made 8 off 55 balls.The roles were reversed somewhat after lunch, as Rashid unshackled his wrists, stepping out to Mishra to whip him through the leg side – on one occasion over the infield to bring up England’s 400 – and driving Ravindra Jadeja for two inside-out boundaries in one over: the first through the covers, the second past point’s right hand. He overtook Dawson, reaching his half-century first, before edging an attempted slice off Umesh to the keeper.Stuart Broad was run-out after tea, caught short of the crease at the keeper’s end by a flat throw from Rahul at third man following a mix-up with Dawson. Jake Ball, who hit two big sixes off R Ashwin in one over, was last man out, bowled trying to cut a Mishra googly.India’s bowlers were impressive at the start of play, with a ball that was only 4.4 overs old. Ashwin struck in the first over of the day, drawing Ben Stokes forward and getting him to reach out at a dipping and sharply spinning offbreak to get him caught behind. Then Ishant, defying the age of the ball, began getting it to reverse, producing a series of awkward induckers against Jos Buttler, two of which led to loud lbw shouts. The first one was turned down – and India reviewed unwisely, the ball clearly striking pad outside off stump – and the second, off a full, straight ball, was so plumb, Buttler’s head falling over as he missed a flick, that the batsman barely thought of reviewing.Moeen Ali now held the key to England’s hopes of a big total, but he wasn’t looking like a man batting on 120 overnight. This had a lot to do with India’s method of attack against him. They hadn’t tested him with the short ball on day one, puzzlingly, but now they did. He played two uppish pulls against Ishant that dropped short of fielders in the deep, and an attempt to flick the ball against Umesh resulted in a blow to the chest.Umesh’s next ball was another bouncer, which struck Moeen on the armpit as he looked to ride the bounce and keep it down. Perhaps the lack of success with two attempts at defence caused Moeen to change his mind and revert to the pull. Umesh bounced him once more, and this time the ball carried nicely to Ravindra Jadeja, who was a few yards in from the backward square leg boundary, placed with the miscontrolled hook in mind.

A wrap of the Central Zone match between Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha at the Inter-State Regional T20 tournament held in Jaipur on February 6, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2017Puneet Datey took four wickets while Sohraab Dhaliwal picked up another three to help Madhya Pradesh complete their fifth straight win of the tournament, defeating Vidarbha by eight runs in Jaipur.Chasing 136, Vidarbha lost regular wickets. Ganesh Satish (35) and Ambati Rayudu (30) were the only two to reach 30 while seven other batsmen fell for single-digit scores. At 72 for 3 in the 13th over, Vidarbha could have pushed for the win but with four wickets falling for the next 18 runs – two each to Datey and Dhaliwal – MP regained any lost momentum. Rayudu was eighth out with Vidarbha 25 away from their target and with that went Vidarbha’s search for a win as they folded at the start of the 20th over.Having chosen to bat, MP scored their lowest first-innings total of the tournament. They were kept in check by Lalit Yadav, who took three wickets and only conceded 19 in his four overs. Lalit dismissed both openers, reducing MP to 19 for 2 before a 93-run third wicket partnership between Harpreet Singh (53 off 46 balls) and Parth Sahani (40* off 34) took them past the 100-run mark. Harpreet fell soon after but Sahani carried on to push MP to finish at 135 for 5.