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About Sunil Narine, lead selector Desmond Haynes says, “it seemed that he was not interested”

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-20222:05

Haynes: Pooran had a chat with Narine and it seemed he was not interested

The West Indies selection panel has “decided to move on” as far as Andre Russell’s inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad is concerned, chief selector Desmond Haynes has said. Russell and Sunil Narine, currently playing for Trinbago Knight Riders in the CPL, were both left out of the 15-member squad that saw the return of Evin Lewis.Haynes said they decided to pick someone “in form” instead of Russell, who last played a T20I in the T20 World Cup last year.”We had a meeting with Andre Russell earlier in the year,” Haynes told Ian Bishop in an interview on the sidelines of Wednesday’s CPL game between Jamaica Tallawahs and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. “We’re still not convinced yet, he’s not performing as well as we would like to see him in the competition. I think in the situation with Andre Russell, we’ve just decided to move on, and look for someone who’s in form, and doing well in the T20 format.”Related

• 'I know this was coming' – Russell responds to Simmons on non-availability for West Indies

• Evin Lewis returns to West Indies squad for T20 World Cup; Russell, Narine left out

• Russell, Narine join Abu Dhabi Knight Riders for ILT20

In a press conference later, Haynes said he wasn’t sure if Narine, who hasn’t featured in a T20I for West Indies in over three years, wanted to play after the conversations captain Nicholas Pooran was having with him.”I did not get any notice from Narine regarding his availability to play. There were conversations that the captain was having with Narine, and from all reports, it seemed that he was not interested.”Yes, again, the captain told me he’s reached out to Narine, but I’m not too sure he wants to play.”Narine has been a consistent performer in the CPL and won the Player-of-the-Match award on Wednesday night, hours after the squad was announced, for his all-round performance of 26 off 20 and 2 for 9 from two overs against Guyana Amazon Warriors. He has been batting in the Knight Riders middle order this CPL and has picked six wickets in 20 overs so far at a frugal economy rate of 4.25. Last season, he picked up 12 wickets at a staggering economy rate of 4.37.In the same game on Wednesday, Russell picked 3 for 16 and bowled eight dots in his 17 balls. He hasn’t been among the runs this season, but he had scored much better in the inaugural 6ixty which preceded the ongoing CPL. Russell was the second-highest run-scorer in the 6ixty with 137 runs from five innings, striking at 192.95 with 15 sixes.Russell and Narine have been playing in T20 leagues around the world for many years and were signed by Abu Dhabi Knight Riders for UAE’s ILT20 which will be played early next year. Before the CPL, they played the Hundred in England. While Narine was the top wicket-taker for Oval Invincibles with 11 wickets from six games, Russell scored 148 runs for runners-up Manchester Originals, striking at 168.18 with 12 sixes. He also picked four wickets but leaked at 10.64 runs an over.Even though Russell was among the platinum picks for the BBL overseas draft, he went unpicked eventually possibly because of availability issues as the BBL will clash with the ILT20 and SA20 in South Africa.

Debutant produces key innings as Jamie Porter’s four-for goes vain amid bad weather

ECB Reporters Network15-Apr-2024Essex 530 for 7 dec (Critchley 151*, Elgar 120, Cox 67) and 257 for 4 dec (Cox 116*) drew with Kent 413 (Compton 165, Bell-Drummond 135, Critchley 5-105) and 164 for 7 (Jaydn Denly 41*, Porter 4-20)A combination of Kent’s 18-year-old debutant Jaydn Denly and bad weather scuppered Essex’s hopes of recording back-to-back County Championship wins.The all-rounder joined forces with uncle Joe in a sixth-wicket stand that took 16 overs and contributed 51 runs after Kent had been on the ropes at 65 for 5.Jaydn Denly stood firm for 128 balls on a rain-interrupted final day at Chelmsford, finishing on 41 not out in Kent’s 164 for 7, Jamie Porter taking 4 for 20.Essex had declared for the second time in the match on their overnight 257 for 4, with Jordan Cox unbeaten on 116 after his fireworks of the previous evening.That set Kent 375 to win, initially from 76 overs, then 64 after the morning session was abandoned following another downpour.Kent’s batters donned black armbands to mark the death of their former England spinner Derek Underwood at the age of 78.Essex’s quest got off to a flying start in Porter’s second over when Tawanda Muyeye edged an inswinger to the wicketkeeper and the seamer then had Ben Compton lbw for six.Simon Harmer dropped Jack Leaning first ball but made amends when Daniel Bell-Drummond went to sweep and was lbw for 18.Leaning soon lost his off-stump to Shane Snater before Harry Finch was lbw to Matt Critchley, his sixth wicket in the match.That saw Joe Denly, who twice advanced down the wicket and hit Harmer over long leg for six, joined in the middle by his nephew.The younger Denly rode his luck early on against Harmer and Critchley before rocking on to the back foot to ease the latter through the covers for his first four.When their partnership reached 50, from 88 balls, there was an equal split in contributions, but almost immediately Porter had Joe Denly whipping the ball off his legs and into the hands of Feroze Khushi at bat-pad.Wes Agar drove Porter to Snater to become the seventh wicket to fall.

Alex Griffiths fifty, three wickets each for Nicole Harvey, Piepa Cleary keep Storm in the hunt

ECB Reporters Network02-Jul-2023Marie Kelly led by example as top-of-the-table Blaze beat Western Storm by five runs at Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium to extend their unbeaten run to six matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.She made up for losing the toss by top-scoring with 54, while Michaela Kirk contributed 40 and Sophie Munro and Teresa Graves posted 41 apiece in adding 74 for the seventh wicket as Blaze recovered from 149 for 6 in the 33rd over to raise 245.Nicole Harvey took 3 for 32 in the middle overs and new signing Piepa Cleary returned figures of 3 for 42 on her debut to keep Storm in the hunt. But the inspirational Kelly then ran out opener Emma Corney and claimed the key wicket of Sophie Luff to dent Storm’s run chase.Alex Griffiths posted a superb 67 and Fran Wilson weighed in with 43, but Blaze bowled and fielded with impressive discipline to restrict Storm to 240 for 7 and return to winning ways following defeat to Southern Vipers in last month’s Charlotte Edwards Cup final.Without England bowlers Lauren Filer and Dani Gibson, who were away on Ashes duty, Storm put their trust in a previously untested new ball pairing of Academy product Mollie Robbins and Cleary, the Western Australia right armer signed just 48 hours earlier to bolster a depleted seam attack.Although wayward and a touch expensive, the inexperienced Robbins engineered an early breakthrough, Sarah Bryce driving loosely to point with the score on 17, while Cleary, in her first competitive outing since February, shed any initial ring rust to have Georgie Boyce held at silly mid-off in a new-ball burst of 1 for 17 from five overs.Unperturbed by events at the other end, Blaze skipper Kelly set her stall out to bat through, going quietly about the business of accumulating runs, while the more aggressive Kathryn Bryce cashed in whenever she was afforded width, plundering three boundaries to give the innings impetus and help advance the score to 73 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.Having put on 41 for the third wicket with her captain, Bryce was caught at the wicket for 20 in the act of cutting Chloe Skelton’s off breaks as Storm struck a telling blow. But the visitors continued to hold sway, aided and abetted by a lucky break when Cleary put down a presentable chance at mid-off to gift Kirk a life on 19, much to the chagrin of Skelton.Kelly combined clever placement and hard running, especially against spin, to keep the scoreboard moving. Her reward was a chanceless 50. Yet just as she was threatening to take the game away from Storm, she came unstuck, top-edging a pull shot and holing out to short fine leg, Harvey terminating a progressive fourth-wicket alliance of 42 in the 26th over.Having been cruising at 130 for 3, Blaze slumped to 149 for 6 in the face of an incisive spell from Harvey, who claimed three wickets in 15 balls with her leg breaks to fundamentally alter the balance of power. Nadine de Klerk was bowled and fellow South African Kirk pinned lbw in the act of sweeping as the middle order miss-fired.Storm sensed an opportunity to shut the innings down and there followed eight overs in which Blaze failed to register a single boundary as Graves and Munro battled to repair the damage. Demonstrating sound temperament and determination, the seventh-wicket pair eventually prevailed as a see-saw innings swayed back in the visitors’ favour.These two both contributed 41 from 50 balls to put the innings back on track before falling to the returning Cleary, who proved particularly effective at the death alongside Alex Griffiths, who removed Ella Claridge and Lucy Higham to finish with 2 for 25 from 5.5 overs.Having learned from the first innings, Griffiths and Corney embraced a low-risk strategy to provide Storm’s reply with solid foundations, the openers proving adept at putting the bad ball away while scoring predominantly in singles to post 69 in 17.4 overs.Their partnership was broken in bizarre fashion, Griffiths striking the ball back down the track and bowler Kelly diverting it onto the stumps with the unfortunate Corney out of her ground. Run out for 29 from 40 balls, Corney had nevertheless helped set things up, heading back to the dressing room with Storm requiring a further 177 runs at 5.47 an over.But Blaze do not boast an unbeaten record in this format without good reason, and the ubiquitous Kelly further undermined the chase when bowling the influential Luff for eight with the score on 91 in the 24th over.Storm were heavily dependent upon Griffiths and new batter Fran Wilson, who were aware of the need to accelerate from 99 for 2 at the halfway stage. Sure enough, Wilson quickly caressed three off-side boundaries at the expense of Kathryn Bryce and Kelly to set the scoreboard moving again, and Griffiths went to her first 50 of the summer via 97 balls as the third-wicket pair injected crucial momentum into their batting.Griffiths had advanced to 67 from 118 balls with eight fours and the partnership was worth 59 when the Welsh all-rounder chanced her arm once too often and holed out to Kirk in the deep off the bowling of Graves with the score on 150 in the 33rd over. Hesitation then proved fatal for Niamh Holland, run out for eight, as Blaze brought further pressure to bear on the home side.Wilson moved to within seven runs of a half-century before attempting to hook Graves and top-edging a catch behind, at which point Storm were 176-5, still 70 short of victory with the cream of their batting back in the pavilion.Storm refused to give in, Nat Wraith striking 20 before falling to Graves and Sophia Smale making a spirited 24 as the home side took it to the very last over.

New Zealand have a big task with 219 runs adrift and Daryl Mitchell batting with the tail

Mohammad Isam01-Dec-2023Taijul Islam led the Bangladesh spinners to put them on the verge of beating New Zealand in the Sylhet Test with three more wickets to take and an entire day left for it. New Zealand finished the day on 113 for 7, needing another 219 runs to win in their pursuit of 332, with an unbeaten Daryl Mitchell batting with the tail. It was the accuracy of the spinners on and around the off stump that caused huge trouble for New Zealand’s batters. Taijul picked up four wickets while Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nayeem Hasan took one each.Taijul played the enforcer in Shakib Al Hasan’s absence, removing Kane Williamson twice in the game, while also taking the wickets of Devon Conway, Tom Blundell and Kyle Jamieson in the second innings. Mehidy and Nayeem were the perfect foil, attacking the right-hand batters at the stumps and often using sharp turn to force close catches and lbw shouts. But it was the lone fast bowler Shoriful Islam who brought Bangladesh the early reward.Shoriful had Tom Latham edging his pitched-up delivery that moved away slightly and Nurul Hasan dived low to his left to remove the opener for a duck. Williamson, who had scored his 29th Test hundred in the first innings, was going to be key to New Zealand’s approach on the fourth day.He lasted 24 balls as Taijul beat his inside edge on the forward prod, trapping him lbw for 11. Williamson took the review at the last moment, but he started walking towards the dressing room as soon as he saw the first replay on the big screen. Mehidy got into the act three overs later in his second spell, as Henry Nicholls top-edged a sweep to Nayeem for 2.Taijul got New Zealand into further trouble when Devon Conway jabbed him to short leg off his pad and Shahadat Hossain completed a simple catch. Tom Blundell looked in trouble from the onset and didn’t last too long either, edging the ball behind when he played one towards the leg side and the ball took his outside edge. Nurul Hasan took the catch this time, a tricky one given that the batter had turned his body towards midwicket too.The collapse continued in the 35th over when Nayeem trapped Glenn Philips lbw for 12. The right-handed batter played back to a delivery that turned sharply back to his front leg, and Bangladesh got the wicket through a review. Kyle Jamieson became the third lbw victim when Taijul trapped him in front for 9.Mehidy had earlier helped Bangladesh to a total of 338 with his fifth Test fifty. Although Bangladesh’s day began with their captain Najmul Hossain Shanto getting caught down the leg side when his opposite number Tim Southee removed him in the second over of the day, with Shanto adding just one run to his overnight score of 104. Ish Sodhi trapped Shahadat lbw for 18, before Mehidy survived the first of several chances.Shortly after the first-hour mark, Nicholls dived in from mid-off but one of the replay angles showed that the ball had touched the ground before Nicholls grabbed it. Mitchell dropped Mushfiqur Rahim at slip shortly afterwards too, also off Ajaz Patel, but the bowler removed Mushfiqur next ball when the batter lunged forward, only to be hit on his front pad and fall for 67, a knock that had seven fours.Mitchell later dropped Nurul, again at slip, but the bowler Philips struck in his next over, getting the batter caught and bowled for 10 as Bangladesh inched towards a 300-run lead. They got it just before the lunch break, but Nayeem fell in the second over after the break. Sodhi’s googly did the trick to have him caught at short leg before Taijul gave Nicholls a simple catch at mid-on in the next over. Ajaz added a fourth to his name with Shoriful’s wicket as Bangladesh set up a stiff target.

Former England batter left head scout role at ECB in June

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2022James Taylor has been appointed batting coach at Leicestershire, his first role in professional cricket after losing his job at the ECB in June.Taylor, 32, was forced to retire from the game six years ago after he was diagnosed with a rare heart condition, and joined the ECB as a selector in 2018 after short-term coaching roles with Northamptonshire and in the England pathway.He spent three years working alongside Ed Smith and another year as head scout after Smith’s national selector role was axed in 2021.Taylor spent four seasons playing for Leicestershire before moving to Nottinghamshire, winning the Friends Life T20 in 2011, and will now work under his former captain Paul Nixon, who has been the club’s head coach since late 2017.”I’m delighted to be back with Leicestershire,” Taylor said. “I’ve got so many fond memories here and I can’t wait to add to those.”A real passion of mine is helping people and coaching is something where I can do that. I’ve got a wide range of different experiences and hopefully some of that knowledge can transfer to the players.”There are some hugely talented players here at Leicestershire, and I can’t think of a better place to come and work to try and make a difference. I want to help take the club forward in any way I can.”Related

• James Taylor, from the heart

• James Taylor appointed full-time England selector

• Taylor: 'I'll get used to my new life eventually'

• ECB announces departure of James Taylor from head scout role

Leicestershire had a disastrous red-ball season in 2022, picking up the County Championship’s wooden spoon after a winless campaign, but reached the knockout stages of the Royal London Cup and would have progressed to the quarter-finals of the T20 Blast but for a points deduction.They announced a significant squad clear-out last month, with allrounder Ben Mike joining Yorkshire and the following seven players all released at the end of the season: Hassan Azad, Sam Bates, Nat Bowley, Alex Evans, Gavin Griffiths, George Rhodes and Abi Sakande.Sol Budinger has been brought in from Notts, while the club are expected to announce the signing of Matt Salisbury, the Durham seamer, in the coming weeks.Claude Henderson, Taylor’s team-mate during the 2011 T20 triumph, was appointed director of cricket on a permanent basis last week after filling the role on an interim basis this season.