All posts by n8rngtd.top

Homegrown James takes career-best figures as defending champions lose by an innings and 30 runs

David Hopps09-May-2021Essex’s Championship defence is running aground. In Somerset and Yorkshire, the two counties most fancied to raise a challenge, anticipation will be growing that this could be their year. They now have one win in five and their second defeat of the season – by an innings and 30 runs against Nottinghamshire – will demand an urgent assessment of why their season is going awry.Even the convenience of a third day lost to heavy rain did not allow Essex to give the slightest indication that they might save the game. They trailed by 95 at the start of play, with seven wickets remaining, and would have needed to bat until tea or thereabouts. Instead, they capitulated on the stroke of one o’clock. With half their group games spent they lie second bottom and need a quick response.Dismissed for 99 on a Trent Bridge greentop in the first innings, they lost their last seven wickets for 38. Faced again by encouraging bowling conditions (how could it be otherwise after Saturday’s deluge?), their last six second-innings wickets fell for 29. There is a lot of onus on their top four to fire and, in this game, Tom Westley and Dan Lawrence failed in both innings.Related

• Luke Fletcher bags six wickets as Essex are bowled out for 99

• Alastair Cook may rue lean Trent Bridge harvest as Steven Mullaney makes hay

• Ben Sanderson, Gareth Berg share 19 wickets as Northamptonshire thrash Sussex

How quickly perceptions can change. Little more than week ago, Nottinghamshire were easy to depict as the county that had tried and failed to buy their way out of decline. But they won at the 31st time of asking, shouldering aside Derbyshire by an innings, and have followed that up by thrashing the champions by an innings.They now top Group One and, although they are surely the Katy Perry of the Championship – “You’re hot then you’re cold, you’re yes then you’re no, you’re in then you’re out, you’re up then you’re down” – they might just surprise everyone for qualifying for the top group with a top-two finish.They even had a homegrown player at the heart of their victory. Lyndon James, a willowy allrounder with close-cropped fair hair, followed up a maiden first-class 50 in Notts’ first-innings with career-best bowling figures of 4 for 51, and 6 for 54 in the match. A product of Caythorpe in the Notts Premier League, he will help lift the reputation of a Notts academy that has often invited criticism in recent seasons.With bat and ball, James looked to be a thoughtful cricketer, and indeed had a season as Notts’ 2nd XI captain. He glided to the crease and swung the ball at the high end of medium pace. Notts have not been entirely sure how to get him into the side, but it is in the middle order where he gives them a better balance, allowing them to pick a spinner as well as lighten the bowling load on the captain, Steven Mullaney.The most striking attribute about Notts’ bowling performance, though, was not the individual but the collective. Their consistency never gave Essex an outlet, and the other batter who did resist for any length of time, Paul Walter, was rendered almost strokeless as his 30 encompassed 106 balls.It soon became apparent that after the deluge, and on a warmer but still cloudy morning, the bowlers would still prosper. Nevertheless, Notts needed early proof of that in the wickets column and Fletcher, who took a couple of overs to find his range, provided it by having Nick Browne caught at the wicket with one that left him.Browne, with two half-centuries in the match, scored 43% of Essex’s runs off the bat. With his departure, the dam had been breached. Four wickets fell for nine runs in 25 balls, three of them to James.He began with a double wicket maiden. Ryan ten Doeschate, who invites an lbw, fell to a big inducker and Adam Wheater was bowled through the gate, driving, second ball, hardly the show of resolve that Essex needed. Walter’s obduracy was then ended by a fast catch to his left, at second slip, by Ben Duckett.James had enjoyed a rewarding Championship debut against Essex in 2018 and now he had visions of his first five-wicket haul, only for Haseeb Hameed to drop Peter Siddle at third slip.When Siddle was ninth out, the second new ball was due and Stuart Broad was meaningfully hanging around the stumps as if he quite fancied bowling with it. Mullaney, astutely, allowed James two more overs to get his maiden five-for, but it was not to be and back-slaps at the end of his spell did not dissuade him from a frustrated grimace and scuff of the turf.

Fourth appearance for cricket at DCMS hearing in as many months

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2022The Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) has been called to give evidence next week to the parliamentary select committee looking into allegations of institutional racism in English cricket.The session, which is due to take place on Tuesday, comes in the wake of Azeem Rafiq’s emotional testimony to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee in November, in which he laid bare his experiences as a Yorkshire player between 2008 and 2017, and claimed that, ultimately, “he had lost his career to racism”.In the course of that evidence, Rafiq also pointed the finger at the PCA, accusing them of being “incredibly inept”, and adding that their response to his claims of suicidal feelings – later expressed in an interview with ESPNcricinfo – had been an exercise in “box-ticking”.”The PCA kept telling me when the report comes out, they would support me,” Rafiq told the hearing. “Once it did, they said we have no powers, we can just push the ECB. An organisation that should have been there for me and supported me left me to fight on my own.”The PCA is set to be represented by James Harris, the current Glamorgan allrounder who is also the union’s chair, alongside Anuj Dal, the vice-chair, Julian Metherell, the non-executive chair, and Rob Lynch, the chief executive. It will be the fourth time that representatives of English cricket, including the recreational game, will have appeared before the DCMS committee in as many months.Last month’s appearance by county chairman was notable for the controversial claim, voiced by Middlesex’s chairman Mike O’Farrell, that Black people are more interested in football than cricket, and that Asian players put more focus on education than sport when they reach Academy level.Related

• Tom Harrison denies he is 'clinging on for grim death' as ECB chief executive

• Middlesex chairman criticised after claiming football 'is more attractive' to Black people

• Colin Graves told by MP: 'Put up or shut up', amid row over influence at Yorkshire

• English cricket must 'clean up its act' on racism, concludes DCMS report

• When faultlines are too exposed, there's no easy way to rebuild after an earthquake

O’Farrell’s comments were widely condemned for perpetuating stereotypes, including by Rafiq and Ebony Rainford-Brent, the former England cricketer and founder of the African-Caribbean Engagement (ACE) Programme, which helps to address the 75% decline in participation in the Black community.The situation at Yorkshire has escalated since the last DCMS hearing, amid allegations from Robin Smith, the former club chairman, that November’s appointment of Lord Kamlesh Patel as chair was unconstitutional. Following the cancellation this week of the club’s EGM, Lord Patel hit back, stating that Yorkshire’s bid to overturn its suspension from major-match status was at the mercy of individuals who believe the club is being “sacrificed on the altar of Black Lives Matter”.Addressing the issue on Friday during a press briefing at Lord’s, Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, said: “We had a board meeting on Tuesday and a delegation came down from Yorkshire to give us a very comprehensive presentation on the progress that Lord Patel and his team have made in the very short time that they have been in charge of YCCC.”The only reflection I would have on the stuff overnight – and believe it or not I haven’t spent a lot of time looking at it because there’s been a few other things going on – but I would just reflect on a broader note that any suggestion that there is not a problem with racism in Yorkshire is a cause for great concern.”

“A lot of people say Tasmania is a bit like a mini NZ, so I’m looking forward to getting over there”

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2022New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham is set for his Big Bash League (BBL) debut after having signed with Hobart Hurricanes as a replacement player for Pakistan allrounder Faheem Ashraf who is set to be part of Pakistan’s Test series against England and New Zealand.In September earlier this year, Neesham had turned down a New Zealand central contract, committing to various T20 tournaments. Like Neesham, Trent Boult had also stepped away from his national contract to play T20 tournaments around the world, with Martin Guptill recently joining them as a T20 freelancer. A day after being released from his New Zealand contract, Guptill was announced as a replacement player for Melbourne Renegades in the upcoming BBL season. Boult (Melbourne Stars) and Colin de Grandhomme (Adelaide Strikers), who had recently retired from international cricket to pursue T20 opportunities, will also be in action in the BBL.Neesham brings with him rich T20 experience, having already played in the IPL and CPL, and recent form. He has struck at almost 185 at the death (between overs 17 and 20) in T20 cricket this year.Related

• New era at Hobart Hurricanes as they chase an elusive title

• Guptill joins Renegades in BBL following release from NZ contract

• de Grandhomme retires from international cricket

“I’m really excited to be involved with the Big Bash for the first time this year,” Neesham said.”I’ve heard great things about the Hurricanes set up, and the list this year looks incredibly strong, so to be able to play even a small part in what I hope will be a successful tournament for the franchise is a really great opportunity for me.”A lot of people say Tasmania is a bit like a mini New Zealand, so I’m looking forward to getting over there, meeting the guys, and playing the role that is asked of me for the team.”The BBL, which will run from December 13 to February 4, will clash with the Super Smash, New Zealand domestic T20 competition, and the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL).

England captain admits she’d have featured in WPL ‘in an ideal world’ but focus is NZ series

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2024Heather Knight says she has no regrets about pulling out of the WPL and missing Royal Challengers Bangalore’s trophy-winning campaign, as she prepares to lead her side in the first of five T20Is against New Zealand in Dunedin on Tuesday.Knight, 33, withdrew from the tournament, which concluded with RCB’s victory over Delhi Capitals on Sunday, when it became clear that the schedule would impinge on her ability to lead England in the T20I leg of the New Zealand tour, which forms a key part of the team’s preparations for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year.Her place in the RCB squad was taken by South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk, who featured just once in the campaign, while seamer Lauren Bell also withdrew from the UP Warriorz squad to focus on her England preparations.A core of England’s established T20I players – including Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt, Alice Capsey and Sophie Ecclestone – chose to stay on in India and will link up with the T20I squad ahead of the fourth and fifth matches later this month. As England captain, however, Knight said she was clear where her priorities lay.”I was always going to come [to New Zealand], so that was quite an easy decision for me,” she said. “As captain, I wanted to be here and I want to be around the team for the build-up, and those three games.”The ideal world would have been to leave the WPL a little early, but that wasn’t an option to do so, because of the rules about replacement players. We wanted to have someone available for the whole competition. Those are the choices that players have to make now, it can be quite tricky, but I think it’s really important that it’s made on an individual level.”Given the timezone difference, Knight said she hadn’t watched the final, in which RCB hunted down Delhi’s target of 114 to win by eight wickets with three balls to spare, but had watched the highlights that morning, and had been kept abreast of the celebrations, not least through her England team-mate Kate Cross, who was an unused squad member.Related

• England players in a dilemma as WPL clashes with NZ T20Is

• ECB 'explored every option' to avoid WPL clash with NZ tour

• Nat Sciver-Brunt: 'I'd be lying if I said money wasn't a factor'

• Kerr, Devine unavailable for opening T20I against England

“I was getting a few messages, from Kate who’s there and obviously some of the overseas [players] as well. I was really pleased for them that they managed to win, after quite a tough year last year. I guess I could have been there, but I’m not really thinking about that. I’m super happy to be here. Obviously the right thing for me, and for the team, was for me to be here.”Despite the scheduling clash, Knight insisted that England would benefit from the split priorities, both from the WPL contingent’s exposure to subcontinental conditions ahead of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September, and from the extra competition for places that will arise in their absence for the first three T20Is.”The right thing for me was to be here, but I still think we’re going to get a really good benefit as an England team,” Knight said. “Alice Capsey playing in a big final yesterday, that’d be a really good experience for her, and hopefully England will benefit down the road, with a World Cup coming up in Bangladesh.”It’s a tricky one. It’s getting a little bit tougher for players to make these decisions because they have so many different options now. In an ideal world, you’d have windows [in the schedule]. There is a little window, but a day in between [games] isn’t realistic, obviously, to fly across the world and play.”But I’m quite an optimistic person, I’m looking at the positives that we’ve got. We’ve got a huge opportunity for some of our younger players to play a really good role [in New Zealand], and by making the choice around the first three T20s to have a different squad, the girls at the WPL have a little bit of a chance to take a few days off as well, and get used to New Zealand and get the flight out of their legs.”It’s not an ideal situation, but I think there’s some really good positives that will hopefully benefit the England team moving forward.”In terms of the challenge awaiting England in Dunedin, Knight admitted that the damp weather meant that the conditions could be similar to early-season England, but expected a good wicket with a bit in it for batters and bowlers alike.”It’s been nice to get acclimatised,” she said. “The weather’s made us feel quite home to be honest, it’s a little bit cold and miserable out there now. But the main thing is just adapting to being on grass again, and getting really clear on our mindset about how we’re going to play tomorrow. We’re obviously excited to get going. It’s been a long build-up.”

Another defeat would put Afghanistan on brink of elimination, while victory for Australia would set them up beautifully for a semi-final spot

Deivarayan Muthu22-Jun-20241:09

Maxwell: Hopefully a few mental scars from the double century

Match details

Afghanistan vs Australia
Kingstown, 8.30pm local time

Big Picture: All eyes on Glenn Maxwell

The last time Australia faced Afghanistan, history was made. A cramping Glenn Maxwell was writhing in pain – he could barely walk, let alone run – but pulled off a miracle in Mumbai. They were struggling at 91 for 7 in pursuit of 293, but Maxwell’s epic double-hundred put Australia back on track for another world title and left Afghanistan on the brink of elimination.Maxwell then endured a difficult IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, where he even took a break. He started the T20 World Cup with a duck against Oman and then laboured to 28 off 25 balls against England. He was bowled cheaply by a ripper from Mark Watt in the chase against Scotland, but in the chase against Bangladesh, he showed signs of his best, though he faced only six balls in a rain-hit fixture. He swatted legspinner Rishad Hossain over long-on and crunched Mustafizur Rahman through the covers. Maxwell finished with 14 off six balls at a strike rate of 233.33. Australia will hope that Maxwell, the spin-hitter, can produce an even bigger impact against Rashid Khan and co. on a Kingstown pitch that has been conducive to spin.Related

• Human rights question hangs over success story of Afghanistan's men

• Australia's World Cup mojo on full display in bid for triple crown

• ESPNcricinfo Awards 2023 Men's ODI batting winner: Glenn Maxwell vs the world

Though Maxwell is yet to hit full tilt, Australia’s middle order (between Nos. 4-7) has struck at 168.09, the best among all 20 teams in this T20 World Cup. In contrast, Afghanistan’s middle order has struck at less than 100 – the lowest among all Full-Member teams in this tournament. Adam Zampa and potentially Ashton Agar could make life even more difficult for the Afghanistan middle-order batters in Kingstown.This game will be played in the backdrop of some tension between the two boards. Cricket Australia has refused to play Afghanistan in bilateral series in the recent past because of political reasons. Australia’s decision to pull out of multiple bilateral series against Afghanistan has met fierce condemnation, including a threat from Rashid Khan to pull out of the BBL. Afghanistan’s players will be out to prove a point about their standing in the global game when they take Australia on in a third World Cup game in three years.

Form guide

Afghanistan LLWWW
Australia WWWWW1:44

Rashid Khan: Middle-order batting needs to improve

In the spotlight: Naveen-ul-Haq and Tim David

Naveen-ul-Haq has taken some pasting in the Caribbean leg of the T20 World Cup, but he is Afghanistan’s best bet to counter Australia’s power-packed line-up at the death. He can bowl yorkers from a slingy action and has several slower variations, including the knuckle ball, tailor-made for the low bounce in St Vincent. Naveen has a chance to add to those variations by working with Dwayne Bravo at Afghanistan and Texas Super Kings in the upcoming MLC.Naveen, though, will have to be wary of Tim David, who has taken him for 50 off 38 balls in T20 cricket being dismissed. David also has a good head-to-head record against Rashid – 62 off 45 balls with just two dismissals – and has been working on his own spin bowling though Australia haven’t needed his secondary skill in the T20 World Cup proper. If David doesn’t get you, Marcus Stoinis will. If Stoinis doesn’t get you, Maxwell will.

Team news: Will Australia bring back Agar?

Hazratullah Zazai fell cheaply against India, but Afghanistan will likely give him another go.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Hazratullah Zazai, 3 Ibrahim Zadran, 4 Gulbadin Naib, 5 Azmatullah Omarzai, 6 Najibullah Zadran, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, 10 Noor Ahmad, 11 Fazalhaq FarooqiConsidering the slow, turning tracks in Kingstown and Afghanistan’s right-hand heavy line-up, Australia might bring back left-arm fingerspinner Agar, instead of one of the three frontline quicks, and pair him up with Zampa and Maxwell.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Josh Hazlewood/Ashton Agar, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions: Spin to win

Spinners have thrived in Kingstown, picking up 22 wickets at an economy rate of 5.64 in six innings this tournament. Expect more of the same when two of the world’s best T20 wristspinners Rashid and Zampa will be in action on Saturday night. Chances of rain are low on Saturday evening.

Stats and trivia: Farooqi dominates powerplay

• Agar has dismissed Nabi twice in ten balls while conceding just four runs in T20 cricket. He is one wicket away from becoming the second Australia spinner, after Zampa, to 50 T20I wickets.
• Farooqi has bagged 15 wickets in this T20 World Cup at an economy rate of 5.45. Eight of those 15 wickets have come in the powerplay, the most by a bowler during this phase in the tournament.
• Travis Head, David and Stoinis have hit 129 sixes among them in T20 cricket this year.

Quotes

“I think there are a few players who are very early in their international careers and they will learn from it. And World Cup is always the biggest stage when you’re playing against the biggest team as well.”

“Yeah, it was nice to get out there and hit a couple, but I’ve said it pretty consistently. I felt pretty good throughout the whole tournament.”

Dhruv Shorey’s run-a-ball hundred in vain for Vidarbha

Shashank Kishore18-Jan-2025
In a high-scoring contest that produced over 650 runs and two superb hundreds from R Smaran and Dhruv Shorey, it was a 42-ball 79 from Abhinav Manohar that made the difference as Karnataka edged Vidarbha in a thriller to clinch the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Vadodara.That it became a thriller was down to Harsh Dubey’s 63 off 30 balls after Karun Nair’s dream run in the tournament ended. Nair was dismissed for only the second time in eight innings in the tournament when Prasidh Krishna knocked him over for 27. Nair finished with a chart-topping 779 runs at an eye-popping average of 389.50.Dubey built on Shorey’s third successive century, by hitting a 25-ball half-century lower down the order, to bring the equation down to 37 off 12 balls. In the end, Dubey ran out of partners and was the last man dismissed when he heaved left-arm seamer Abhilash Shetty to deep midwicket as Karnataka sealed victory to break a five-year trophy drought.The game was fought on an even keel for most parts. Karnataka, who were put in to bat, lost the in-form Devdutt Padikkal in the sixth over, before KV Aneesh and Mayank Agarwal steadied the innings.Seamer Nachiket Bhute then struck twice in two overs to remove both batters; Agarwal fell for 32 to finish the tournament as the second-highest run-getter with 651 runs. At 67 for 3, Karnataka needed a rescue act, and two relatively inexperienced players stepped up.Smaran and KL Shrijith, both of whom are in their first full seasons, put together 160 for the fourth wicket. The pair slowly built a platform before picking up pace. They took 26 off the 27th and 28th overs as Karnataka went on the offensive. Shrijith was superb in his footwork against spin, quickly bringing up a half-cegntury off 54 balls, Smaran followed suit in the same over when he brought his off 47 balls with an exquisite pull in front of square off the nippy Yash Thakur.Shrijith’s dismissal in the 38th over brought Manohar out to the middle, and he enhanced his reputation of being a finisher with some pristine hitting, not once giving the impression that he was slogging. On 24 off 25 at the end of the 44th over, Manohar began the surge by hitting Bhute for a sequence of 4, 4, 6 to begin the 45th.When Bhute bowled length into the pitch, Manohar used the angle to pick a boundary behind point. When Bhute bowled a wide yorker, he scythed it to the deep-cover fence, and when he missed a yorker, Manohar stayed deep inside the crease and shovelled it to clear long-off.Thakur bore the brunt of Manohar’s fury in the following over when he was picked away for two fours in the 46th, and three back-to-back fours in the 48th, as the wheels started to come off Vidarbha’s attack. The last seven overs fetched Karnataka 83 as they got the perfect finish.Vidarbha started the chase briskly but lost the centurion of the previous game, Yash Rathod, for 22 when he got a leading edge to Padikkal at slip. Nair and Shorey were then involved in a half-century stand to lift Vidarbha’s hopes.Nair was particularly sparkling in his short stay, punching and pulling Prasidh Krishna through covers and midwicket, and then going after legspinner Shreyas Gopal at the first sign of spin being introduced. But he fell for 27 off 31 balls when he failed to cover the line of a Prasidh inducker that kept slightly low.Vidarbha then chugged along with Jitesh Sharma giving Shorey company in a half-century stand before holing out to long-on. That wicket not only galvanised Karnataka but also freed up Vidarbha to go for broke, like Dubey did. With some support, he may have yet been able to pull off a heist, but it wasn’t to be.

Dawid Malan says team have “hell of a lot to play for” in remaining group games

Matt Roller31-Oct-2023England have arrived in Ahmedabad knowing that they must win at least one of their next three games – not only to restore pride but to ensure that they are spared the ignominy of missing the cut for the next global men’s 50-over event in 2025. Failing to mount a challenge for the World Cup is one thing; failing to qualify for the Champions Trophy would be quite another.The England set-up were blindsided when the ICC confirmed on Sunday that a change in the qualification process had been ratified – but not announced publicly – in November 2021. Pakistan, the hosts, will be joined by the other seven highest finishers at the World Cup, with England dead last after five defeats in six matches.There has been significant institutional change at the ECB in the two years since, with a new chief executive, chair and managing director in place. But realistically, after a seven-year era of unprecedented white-ball success since 2015, the prospect of finishing outside the top eight would not have registered with England’s management.Related

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• Australia talking points: Starc, middle-order tempo and allrounders

England play Australia on Saturday before fixtures against Netherlands and Pakistan on November 8 and 11 respectively, and the Netherlands game in Pune already looks like a potential qualification decider. The Dutch have a proud history against England, beating them in the 2009 and 2014 World T20s, and will be desperate to turn them over once more.It is not lost on England’s players that they need to finish this World Cup strongly – even if, with 11 out of 15 squad members aged 30-plus, many of them will not be involved in two years’ time. “People’s jobs are being scrutinised and players’ careers are being scrutinised,” Dawid Malan said on Tuesday. “We have a hell of a lot to play for in the last three.”The last thing you want – if the decision gets made to move on from players – is that we haven’t done well enough to give other players the opportunity in future to play in big tournaments. That’s what you play the game for: you want to be in the Champions Trophy and the World Cup, things like that.”Dawid Malan is England’s leading run-scorer at the World Cup•Getty Images

England are not mathematically out of the World Cup, but their players are realistic about their semi-final prospects. “It’s definitely not going to be a situation where we just go through the motions because we’re potentially out of this World Cup,” Malan said. “We have a lot at stake and a lot of pride for England to be in that Champions Trophy in two years’ time.”Malan told the BBC that, at 36, he is “pretty sure I’ll be done” as an England player before the 2025 Champions Trophy. “It feels a long way away,” he said. “Two years feels a long way away. I am playing as well as I’ve played, but whether that decision is mine or someone else’s, we’ll find out.”Criticism of England has grown with every defeat and Malan found himself playing down various perceived issues: he denied that central contracts had been a major distraction, said that it was “fair” for Eoin Morgan to lay into their underperformance, and suggested it was up to the players to take the heat off head coach Matthew Mott.Malan is England’s leading run-scorer at this tournament with 236 at 39.33, 140 of which came in their only win, against Bangladesh in Dharamshala. “I feel like I am playing well, but just finding ways of getting out,” he said. “We just can’t get anything going with the bat and get a score on the board. I can’t put my finger on it.”He also confirmed recent reports that he will not play in the County Championship for Yorkshire next year. “I’ll probably try and play as much white-ball cricket as I can for the rest of my career,” Malan said. “It’s prioritising spending a bit more time at home because my winters are so busy with internationals or franchise tournaments.”

“Workload management and the core strength in the body are going to be the key – but do not overbowl him”

ESPNcricinfo staff16-May-20234:28

Bishop: My heart goes out to Archer, but he will have to be carefully managed

Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the English summer, including the Ashes, after the ECB confirmed a recurrence of the stress fracture in his right elbow.Concerns about Archer’s fitness were raised earlier this month when he flew home early from his IPL stint with Mumbai Indians, having already taken time out of the tournament to visit a specialist in Belgium. Prior to his comeback for England in South Africa earlier this year, he had not played for the country in almost two years, following a succession of elbow and back problems.And now, it has been confirmed that he will miss out on the entirety of this summer’s Ashes campaign, which begins at Edgbaston on June 16, and concludes six weeks later at the Kia Oval. England still harbour hopes, however, that he could yet be fit to help defend their 50-over World Cup title, when the tournament begins in India in October.Related

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“It has been a frustrating and upsetting period for Jofra Archer,” Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket said. “He was making good progress until a recurrence of the elbow injury, which kept him out for an extended period previously. We wish him the best of luck with his recovery. I’m sure we will see Jofra back to his best and winning games for England, whatever the format. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.”At the moment, all cricket’s been too much for his body to cope with and we need to get past that,” Key added. “I do think you see these times when someone like Jofra, he’s like a Formula One car almost, and he goes through the period he’s been through which has been really tough and then you think you’re getting to the point where he can come back and be able to play, and there’s another setback.”But you just hope that down the line he will overcome this, that body will get robust enough to be able to deal with the rigours of everything. And I wouldn’t sit here now and rule anything out. And as you then get through and start solving this problem for Jofra, then you can start making those decisions. But I don’t see the point in doing that at the moment.”Archer played five games for Mumbai this season, bowling his full quota in each game, picking up a couple of wickets and conceding 9.5 runs per over. Key defended the decision to let him play in the IPL, saying he wouldn’t have changed anything in the way Archer’s return has been managed.”When something like this happens, you look at every single thing,” Key said. “You look at the whole thing we had in place right before Christmas, when we had everything mapped out for how we wanted him back to get ready to play in the Ashes and the World Cup. When you get to this point and he can’t do it, you start to look at that.”But the fact is, he’s not been able to bowl more than four overs without feeling any sort of pain. Regardless of the way that we’ve gone, whether it has been right or wrong, I don’t think I’d change anything because you’re getting to the point where he’s actually had an issue that we need to just solve now.”We’re going to look at every single thing we’ve done. Everything we’ve done has been what we thought was the right thing for the player first, not actually for anyone else. Just what was the best way for him to have the best career he could possibly have. And that’s not worked out.”Key remains confident that Archer will return to England colours, despite this latest setback now meaning that he will have missed the last three English summers. He’s played four ODIs and three T20Is in 2023 and though he played his last Test for England in February 2021 Key hasn’t ruled Test cricket in the future.”People like Pat Cummins missed a lot of cricket at the early stage of his career. Now Australia have seen the benefit – he’s been able to put season after season together. I’m hoping at some point Jofra, who deserves a bit of luck to be honest, because the poor lad, who is pretty distraught with what’s happened, you just hope that luck turns for him at some point.”The one thing I’ll say about Jofra. You sometimes read and you sometimes get the feeling that people think he’s going to go down a white-ball road, that he’s not interested in Test cricket, that there are other things on his mind that come first. That’s absolutely not the case. He is desperate to play all forms of cricket. He’s desperate to play Test cricket as well. And I hope that he gets the chance to do that.”It’s going to be a fairly taxing road to go down to get this fixed and get this sorted, but I’m sure we’ll see him back at some point.”A return to red-ball cricket is not, however, what Ian Bishop thinks Archer needs. Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s podcast” a little while before Archer was officially ruled out, Bishop looked back to the Ashes of 2019 – the only time Archer has played the marquee series – when he bowled 156 overs across four Tests. With James Anderson out after the first Test and Chris Woakes, the third quick, not bowling too much, Stuart Broad had the second-largest workload among the England quicks in those four Tests, bowling 130.3 overs.”There was a period when Jofra was overbowled. I sat there watching it, and I’m thinking: what madness is this, that you are going to give this guy over after over,” Bishop said. “You almost – I’m sorry to use this statement, I don’t know how else to say it – you are killing the goose that lays the golden egg for you.”It [Jofra’s] is a good action. I wake up in the morning – and I’ve said this to ESPNcricinfo before – if I hear Jofra Archer’s bowling, I snap out of my sleep, because I love the athleticism of the run-up, the high action, it’s poetry in motion. But once he got overbowled and sustained from stress workload, those little injuries, it’s always going to be hard no matter how good the action is.”Any fast bowler is, with all these formats that we have now, going to pick it [injuries] up somewhere along the line,” Bishop said. “So workload management – as much as we hate it – and strengthening the core strength in the body is going to be the key. But do not overbowl them.”I personally feel that I would not allow Jofra to think about red-ball cricket, at least for a while in the next couple of seasons. It’s too much.”

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.

The 33-year old Punjab allrounder played three ODIs for India in 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2023Gurkeerat Singh Mann, the 33-year old Punjab allrounder, has announced his retirement from international and Indian cricket. He played three ODIs for India in 2016 and was an IPL champion with Gujarat Titans six years later.Gurkeerat’s talents as an offspinner and a quick-scoring batter were first noticed in 2011, when he was part of the Punjab Under-22 side that won the CK Nayudu Trophy. Steady performances from there on took him towards an India call-up. By 2015, he was making the ‘A’ team and played a crucial part in winning a tri-series final against Australia A. Gurkeerat took that form and confidence into that season’s Ranji Trophy and when he scored a double-hundred and followed that up with a nine-wicket haul, his step up was complete.Gurkeerat was picked in India’s Test squad for the home series against South Africa in November – but he did not play – and at the start of 2016, he toured Australia with India’s limited-overs squad and made his ODI debut in Melbourne.