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It was tale of two centuries at the National Stadium in Karachi with Karachi Whites opener Shahzaib Hasan’s 171 trumping Islamabad opener Shan Masood’s 136

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jan-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Shahzaib Hasan drilled 18 fours and seven sixes during his 171 off 117 balls•PCB

It was tale of two centuries at the National Stadium in Karachi with Karachi Whites opener Shahzaib Hasan’s 171 trumping Islamabad opener Shan Masood’s 136. In a 680-run match, Anwar Ali, who last played for Pakistan in March 2016, also made an impact, sealing Karachi Whites’ place in the final with career-best List A returns of 5 for 49.After being sent in, Karachi Whites lost Arsalan Bashir to seamer
Shehzad Azam in the third over, but Shahzaib and captain Akbar-ur-Rehman lifted their side with a 162-run stand in 27.1 overs. By the time Akbar departed in the 31st over, Shazaib was into the 120s. He pressed onto his 150 off 106 balls, then fell in the 40th over for 171 off 117 balls, including 18 fours and seven sixes.Saad Ali (61), Anwar Ali (45), and Tariq Harron (31*) followed up with late blows as Karachi Whites got their total up to 375.Anwar then sparkled with the ball, slicing through Islamabad’s middle and lower order. At 235 for 3 in the 36th over, Islamabad were in the hunt, but they lost their last seven wickets for just 70 runs. The collapse came after Masood was the architect of a pair of strong stands with Abid Ali and Faizan Riaz, 99 and 91 respectively. Masood went onto hit 136 off 116 balls before he was the fifth Islamabad batsman to be dismissed.

Two-time World Cup winner joins Andy Flower as part of the backroom staff

ESPNcricinfo staff18-May-2021Daren Sammy has stepped down from his role as St Lucia Zouks captain to become the franchise’s “T20 cricket consultant and brand ambassador” for the 2021 CPL season.Sammy led the Zouks – who had previously reached the play-offs once in seven seasons – to the final last year, after they finished third in the league phase and then bowled Guyana Amazon Warriors out for 55 in the semi-finals.Sammy himself faced 51 balls and bowled only three overs across his 12 appearances, and with his playing role increasingly limited, he will now join Andy Flower’s coaching staff instead.Sammy, a two-time T20 World champion, is yet to confirm his retirement from all cricket, but has not played since the 2020 CPL final, and is now head coach at his PSL franchise, Peshawar Zalmi.”It’s been an absolute pleasure to have led and been a part of the St Lucia Zouks from its inception,” Sammy said in a CPL media release. “Even though some may say good things must come to an end it will not be in this instance: St Lucia Zouks and I will always be a team.”But since venturing into coaching, I realise I have a new passion that can allow me to still contribute and play a part in taking the franchise forward on its quest to winning a CPL title and developing future stars.”Flower, who called Sammy an “icon of West Indies white-ball cricket” and “the heartbeat of St Lucia Zouks,” said: “He’s decided to step away from playing after an amazing career both with the West Indies, where he led the side to two T20 World Cups, but also as a really inspirational leader, full of integrity, for the island. We want to continue our partnership with Daren coming in as part ambassador, part coach, part mentor alongside me.”The Zouks also announced the retention of seven players from their 2020 squad ahead of the upcoming season, which starts on August 28 in St Kitts: Andre Fletcher, Kesrick Williams, Rahkeem Cornwall, Roston Chase, Obed McCoy, Mark Deyal and Javelle Glen.

A career-best 73 from Worcestershire nightwatchman Ed Barnard scuppered Derbyshire;s hopes of a first Championship home win since 2014

ECB Reporters Network23-Jun-2016
ScorecardEd Barnard’s nightwatchman stint saw off Derbyshire•Getty Images

A career-best 73 from nightwatchman Ed Barnard helped Worcestershire save the Division Two match against Derbyshire at the 3aaa County Ground, Derby.Barnard and fellow former England Under-19 team mate Joe Clarke, who made 63, shared a third wicket stand of 146 to rescue the visitors after Brett D’Oliveira had gone in the first over of the day.Will Davis removed them both but Alexei Kervezee made 41, and Tom Kohler-Cadmore 48 in 40 overs as Worcestershire closed on 294 for 6 , denying Derbyshire a first home Championship win since the end of the 2014 season.The day had started so well for Derbyshire with Tony Palladino striking with the sixth ball of the morning when D’Oliveira played across the line and was lbw without a run added.But that was the last success until 13 overs into the afternoon session as Barnard and Clarke played with impressive judgement and maturity to raise Worcestershire’s hopes of saving the game.Derbyshire used seven bowlers but could not break the concentration of the two 20-year-old’s whose approach and application was an example to some of the senior batsmen.Barnard completed the second first-class 50 of his career before lunch and the pair had been together for nearly 44 overs when Derbyshire finally broke the stand.Will Davis was rewarded for an aggressive spell from the Racecourse End when he tempted Clarke into a mistimed pull which ended in the hands of midwicket and Barnard’s admirable innings ended when he was succoured into taking on another short ball.If Alexei Kervezee had been taken down the legside off Davis on 13, Worcestershire would have been 188 for 5 but it was another 25 overs before Derbyshire broke the fifth wicket stand.The second new ball was always likely to be Derbyshire’s last chance and Ben Cotton broke through when Kervezee tried to play the ball off his hip and this time Tom Poynton made no mistake.The light was murky enough for the floodlights to be switched on but Kohler-Cadmore dug in and although he edged a big drive at Chesney Hughes with seven overs left, Ross Whiteley faced 59 balls to finally close the door on his former team.Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman said: “I’m really proud, other than the first couple of hours on the opening day it was a very flat and slow wicket so for us to have taken 16 wickets having made them follow-on and bowled 120 overs plus on the trot is an exceptional effort.”We’ve played a lot of four day cricket this year where we’ve been either fighting to stay in the game or losing the game so to be playing on the last day and to be in charge and dominating definitely gives us a lot of confidence going into the game against Kent.”

The allrounder is working her way back at international level but has an outstanding record in the 50-over format

Andrew McGlashan01-Apr-2021Meg Lanning expects Ellyse Perry to play a more significant role in the ODI series against New Zealand than she did in the T20Is, but also stressed the importance of building a varied attack around the young pace bowlers who are coming through.On her return to international cricket after the hamstring injury which ended her T20 World Cup last year, Perry batted at No. 6 and bowled just one over in the two completed matches. Her innings in Hamilton alongside Ash Gardner was a useful contribution to the partnership that got Australia over the line, but it has been her limited role with the ball that has sparked debate.”She’s played a massive role for us particularly in ODIs over the last five years and has an exceptional record,” Lanning said. “I dare say she will play a bigger role, there’s more overs to bowl as well. She’ll get her chance throughout the series.”People who can bat long periods of time and make those match-winning contributions are extremely important to have in your side. Ellyse has shown over a long period of time that she can do that so she’ll play a really big role for us.”Related

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Her bowling returns in the WBBL and WNCL were underwhelming and in the latter competition she was working on some tweaks to her run-up which have taken time to settle. She took a wicket in the one over handed to her in Napier but significantly was not given the last of the match when New Zealand needed nine to win.On the studio coverage prior to the final match, Mel Jones suggested that in a shortened game Perry could be surplus to requirements. Ultimately she was picked in the XI, becoming the most capped T20I player in the process, but it highlighted that the next phase of Perry’s career could require an evolution, especially in the shortest format.”The interesting one for me is…there’s a bit of weather around and if the overs get reduced a bit I’m looking at this team line-up and I actually think it’s Ellyse Perry that’s coming out,” Jones said on . “She’s batting at six, normally you average seven or eight deliveries if it’s reduced, and if they aren’t going to use her with the ball who do you bring in.”It’s just that anomaly where her bowling hasn’t quite hit the straps yet so Meg isn’t turning to her as a first choice.”The allrounder has made tweaks to her run-up in recent months•Getty Images

Fellow analyst Elyse Villani added: “Not sure how many times Ellyse Perry’s name would have been up in terms of potentially not playing so it’s not something Australia have really had to deal with before.”As it was, rain prevented a chance of seeing whether Perry would have an impact on a 13-over game, but the three-match ODI series takes her back to the format where she is ranked the No. 1 allrounder and holds a batting average of 52.10 – she has not batted lower than No. 4 in an ODI since 2014 – and where bowling-wise there could be a chance to settle into a spell.”Ideally if you are an option in all three phases of the game then that allows you to bowl more overs,” Lanning said of Perry’s T20 role. “That’s something we’ve spoken with Ellyse about, think she’s been working really hard on her bowling and consistency coming back from a serious injury…but ultimately for me it just comes down to match-ups and the game situation in terms of who I go to. She’s definitely there as an option.”The fast bowling side of things is the area at the moment where we’ve got a couple of new players in Tayla [Vlaeminck] and Darcie [Brown]. It’s been really exciting to see. Ellyse still has a really big role to play for us but the more variety we can have that will play a big role for us moving forward. So it’s been great to see those young players take the game by scruff of the neck and really be aggressive.”Ellyse is extremely competitive…she works extremely hard on her game and I’m sure she’d love to be batting higher and bowling more overs. She’s doing everything she can to get herself into that position. It’s been great to have her back, she’s very experienced and hope to see the best of her in the one-day series.”

Mohammed Shami’s five-for negates India collapse to Lungi Ngidi on full day of cricket

Sidharth Monga28-Dec-20212:47

Cullinan: Shami’s bowling reminded me of Pollock

Stumps With the whole second day lost to rain, Centurion practically made up for the time lost with the most wickets it has produced in a day of Test cricket, 18. India lost their last seven wickets in 69 balls, which is not usually considered ideal, but it was just the result they needed as it suggested the pitch had significantly more life in it than on day one. Mohammed Shami then led India’s bowling – missing Jasprit Bumrah for 49 overs because of an ankle injury – with his second first-innings five-for in Test cricket to give India a lead of 130.India now held all the keys to dominance in the Test, provided no further weather interruptions in the remaining two days. Things looked similar at the end of day one, but the washed-out second day left them needing an innings win or a transformed pitch if they were to force a result. The Centurion pitch, which usually gets quicker after the first day, responded with both pace and uneven bounce for the new ball.What resulted was the second-quickest collapse in Test cricket (where fall-of-wicket information is available) in terms of number of balls, when the first four wickets of a team had batted 90 overs or more. India’s first new ball looked just as lethal with four wickets falling in the first 13 overs before the pitch settled down enough for South Africa to recover from 32 for 4 to end up with 197.Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi caused the havoc early doors, hitting the pitch hard and drawing the inconsistent bounce. Ngidi ended with his second six-wicket bag in Centurion. Once the overnight batters, KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane fell, both to extra bounce, the approach of the rest of the batters suggested they felt safe with what they had on the board in practically a four-day Test. They probably fancied bowling out there instead of taking time out of the Test by merely surviving. There was good reason for it: after just 60 false response in the first 90 overs of the Test, 28 came about in the next 15.3 overs. India took 55 runs in those overs, and unleashed their attack.As early as the first over, Bumrah produced an unplayable delivery to send back captain Dean Elgar: a full ball that shaped in and then nipped away just enough after pitching to take the edge. In the half hour that India had before lunch, they looked to swing the ball, but didn’t find much. They came back a mean machine: repeatedly bowling the fullest length that can’t be driven, mixing in the odd lifter into the ribs.Mohammed Shami celebrates the wicket of Temba Bavuma•AFP via Getty Images

Keegan Petersen responded with an error immediately as soon as India changed the lengths. Still looking for the drive, he was well away from the pitch of the ball, which seamed back to take the inside edge and knock over his stumps. When Aiden Markram had his off stump pegged back by one that held its line, it wasn’t the first unplayable ball he was facing. This was an interrogation of the highest order.After Bumrah twisted his ankle and walked off in the 11th over, Mohammed Siraj cleverly checked Rassie van der Dussen out on the drive with two sucker balls. One edge fell short of second slip, and the second went straight to gully, a dismissal that should leave the batter disappointed.As the ball began to grow softer, it began to misbehave less, allowing Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock to build a partnership. They applied themselves well, and took toll every time India overpitched. They added 72 for the fourth wicket, the only stand of 50 or more, but this is where India’s decision to play five bowlers came in handy. The duo saw off R Ashwin’s first spell and also a Shami spell, but Shardul Thakur came back to have de Kock play on the first ball of a new spell. This was just before tea, Bumrah had come back on the field, but there were still close to two hours to go before he could bowl again.It was hard work post tea too with the ball not doing much. This is when Shami put in a spell of 4-0-19-2 to take out both Bavuma and No. 7 Wiaan Mulder. They both looked comfortable at the wicket, Bavuma even reached his half-century, but they both made errors against the impeccable accuracy of Shami. Mulder played a loose drive to a half-volley, and Bavuma defended a wide one outside the line of his head.Rabada and debutant Marco Jansen now added 37 for the eighth wicket, managing to make it look easy, but again Thakur produced the breakthrough just before Shami and Bumrah came back on. He had Jansen playing inside the line of what looked like a straight ball. Shami had Rabada for his five-for, his 200th wicket. He is the only Indian among the 11 with 200 or more with a strike-rate of under 50. Bumrah finished things off with the wicket of Keshav Maharaj, caught at fly slip.In the half hour possible before stumps, Jansen managed to get the wicket of Mayank Agarwal, with India ending the day effectively at 146 for 1. At the end of day three on such a pitch, you back yourself to win, but there is some forecast for rain on day five, which will make for an interesting watch on India’s declaration should they get themselves into a position to do so.

Batting for Change, a cause put together by the Sydney Sixers’ Ryan Carters and the LBW Trust, is an effort to further the cause of education for women and has grown with the BBL over the last four seasons

Daniel Brettig20-Dec-2016While many of the BBL’s watchers this season draw interest from online betting shenanigans, there is also a way of spending money on the tournament that will go in a rather different direction.Season six of the tournament is also season four of Batting for Change, a cause put together by the Sydney Sixers’ Ryan Carters and the LBW Trust in an effort to further the cause of education for women around the world. Put simply, BBL watchers have the chance to pledge money to the charity via its website, with a set amount pledged for every ball struck over the rope by the Sixers.As the BBL has grown, so too has Carters’ enterprise, from raising $30,000 to fund the building of classrooms in Nepal in 2013-14 to a far loftier target this year – $150,000 to support projects in India, Sri Lanka and, for the first time, Kenya. This year Carters has been joined by a bevy of other ambassadors – Moises Henriques, Steve O’Keefe, Nic Maddinson, Alyssa Healy, Kurtis Patterson and Ed Cowan.”It’s interesting, they’ve both grown together,” Carters said of the two ventures. “There’s a reason the BBL has become so popular in Australia and it’s because Cricket Australia and Ten have done a wonderful job designing and managing the tournament. The standard of cricket itself is going up every year and the spectators love to see high quality clashes played out in the T20 format.”The WBBL has added a new dimension and expanded the fanbase again, and from Batting for Change’s point of view we offer a fun way to engage with the BBL, and as more people are watching matches live and on their TV screens, more people are signing up to become a donor, follow along and enjoy the thrill of seeing a six smashed out of the stadium and also knowing that’s another $1-2,000 that’s going to women’s education.”The Kenyan project marks a particular progression for Carters, as it not only supports education but branches further into social activism – namely the fight against female genital mutilation and child marriage in Kenya. “It is a really amazing story,” Carters said. “A woman called Kekenya Ntaiya, who grew up in a Maasai village called Enoosaen in Kenya. She was set to follow the traditional path, engaged to be married at the age of five.”But she struck up this horrible bargain with her father where she agreed to undergo female genital mutilation as long as she could stay in school until the end of high school. That was very unusual for girls to attain even that much education, but her father kept his word, she was allowed to finish high school, and then she was allowed to go on and complete university and ended up going all the way to a PhD in the US. With her newfound knowledge and networks she started her own foundation to educate girls from her own village.”Where we come in is that Batting for Change and the LBW Trust are providing the first ever tertiary education scholarships for women from this village. So for the girls who’ve gone through Kekenya’s school for girls and now completed high school, the first of them are ready to start university in 2018 at the University of Nairobi, so we’re excited about launching that.”Carters, who has pursued interests far more diverse than cricket throughout his life, hopes that this latest project can lead to others of a similar, transformational nature. “There are tricky decisions like geographically what do you want to support,” he said, “because there are worthy projects all around the cricket world and we’ve looked at a number of them.”But Kekenya really stood out because it’s such a moving story from the founder, and we know that as well as supporting women’s education, by doing so we’re also preventing female genital mutilation and child marriage. It’s about education but also preventing a harmful and oppressive practice. I think we do stand for social progress, above all with the focus on women’s education, which is a huge step forward in many parts of the cricket-playing world.”In that sense it’s already a very progressive vision for change to encourage women’s education. With Kekenya, the policy for girls to go to her school is that the parents must agree that the child will not be genitally mutilated or married before they finish high school. That further helps extend the social progress and the search for women to have the same rights as men.”When the Sixers meet the Sydney Thunder in the BBL opener on Tuesday night, they will compete to hoist the Batting for Change Cup. In doing so they will hope the symbolism can lead to further progress, via the pledges of the many thousands watching at home or in the stands.

Centuries from Oli Westbury and George Bartlett put England Under-19s in control on the opening day of their Youth Test against Sri Lanka Under-19s

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2016
ScorecardOli Westbury celebrates his hundred•Getty Images

Centuries from Oli Westbury and George Bartlett put England Under-19s in control on the opening day of their Youth Test against Sri Lanka Under-19s. Westbury batted all day to reach the close unbeaten on 157, as the Sri Lanka attack was made to toil.Two late strikes did redress the balance slightly, after Westbury and Bartlett had put on 231 for the third wicket. Lahiru Kumara picked up his second wicket when he removed Bartlett for 131, off just 152 balls, and Jehan Daniel then bowled Joshua Dell to leave England on 327 for 4, before Ollie Pope accompanied Westbury to stumps.Bartlett, who was dropped twice in his innings, was one of ten new caps in England’s four-day side. “Today has been surreal, playing cricket for your country is what you dream,” he said.”Me and Wes fought hard early on and as the ball got a bit older the boundaries came a bit easier and it became easier to build on our partnership. It’s a shame I couldn’t build an even bigger score off the back of that hundred – it felt like we have built a great platform for the team to go on and get a great score.”Kumara had struck early, dismissing England captain Max Holden with the score on 20, and Shammu Ashan got rid of George Hankins, caught at short leg for 28 from the final ball before lunch, after a 65-run stand.Westbury and Bartlett then combined for most of the afternoon and evening to give a new-look England side an excellent platform. Westbury’s hundred was more watchful, coming off 172 balls, while Bartlett took 127 deliveries in reaching three figures.

Islam picked three wickets while Hassan struck 125 to anchor the chase

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Mar-2021Saif Hassan played a captain’s innings to power Bangladesh Emerging Team to a six-wicket win against Ireland Wolves in the third one-dayer in Chattogram.Hassan struck 120 off 125 balls, hitting eleven fours and five sixes, as he first played the enforcer and then anchored the 261-run chase.Saif added 52 for the second wicket with Mahmudul Hasan, before putting on 68 for the fourth wicket with Towhid Hridoy.Hridoy later added 69 for the unbroken fifth wicket stand with Shamim Hossain. Hridoy was unbeaten on 43 off 44 balls while Shamim, hero for the home side in the second game, blasted 44 off 25 balls, with seven fours and a six.Gareth Delany took two wickets while Peter Chase and Ruhan Pretorius took one each.Earlier, Ireland posted 260 for 7 in 50 overs with Lorcan Tucker making an unbeaten 82 off 52 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes. Meanwhile, Curtis Campher and James McCollum got out in their forties.Paceman Mukidul Islam took 3 for 53 while Sumon Khan and Hridoy took one wicket each.The match started at 11:00am, two hours after the schedule start, after a covid test on one of the local members of the visiting team’s support staff, tested positive for covid-19.According to the BCB, the support staff had tested positive on Monday, after which further tests were conducted on the suspected person and close contacts.However, the test results of all those individuals returned negative on Tuesday morning. Both teams had agreed to delay the match based on the results of those tests.

Australia vice-captain David Warner said his side’s 142-run loss in the second ODI at Johannesburg could be traced to a poor start in each innings

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Oct-2016Australia vice-captain David Warner said his side’s 142-run loss in the second ODI at Johannesburg could be traced to a poor start in each innings. Warner said Australia found it hard to recover in the field after South Africa finished the first 10 overs at 66 for 0, setting up a platform for an imposing 361 for 6 which was more than enough for the hosts to defend.”We didn’t start well,” Warner said after the game. “We always talk about trying to start well with the bat and the ball in the first 10. We lacked that a bit today and I think our energy and intent was probably lacking. But look when a team puts 360 on the board, it’s always going to be a tough chase. You have to start positive and try not to lose too many wickets in the first 10. It’s unfortunate today but we’ve got another chance to come back and show up again in Durban.”Australia’s debutant new-ball combo of Chris Tremain and Joe Mennie took the brunt of the punishment from Rilee Rossouw and Faf du Plessis, who produced his sixth ODI ton. Tremain and Mennie took a combined 1 for 160 in 20 overs, with Mennie’s 0 for 82 the worst return for an Australian bowler on ODI debut.However, Warner noted that the Johannesburg pitch is never an easy place for bowlers, noting Mennie didn’t have it as bad as Mick Lewis, who conceded figures of 0 for 113 in the famous 438 chase by South Africa on the same ground 10 years earlier. He also said Mitchell Starc’s absence was not an excuse for a lackluster bowling performance and that the young attack will hopefully learn from the experience.”You’ve got to play the cards that you’re dealt and at the moment we’ve got two young guys making their debut. We do have a young attack but they’ve done everything they can to be here and be in this position to play for the country. It’s going to be a learning experience for them especially today.”They have to go back and reflect on what they can do better, especially in the first 10. With Starcy and them out, it is what it is. We have to deal with it and we can only control what we can at the moment and that’s with the guys that we have.”As for Australia’s reply, Warner said the team needed to find a better balance between attacking in the first 10 overs and remaining patient enough to wait for scoring opportunities that open up over the course of the innings. While South Africa ended their Powerplay blemish free, Australia were 54 for 2 after 10 and lost George Bailey one over later, setting them back to a position they could not dig out of.Warner singled himself out for poor shot selection despite making Australia’s second-best score in the match and said Australia needed to produce bigger scores in the manner of du Plessis on Saturday and Quinton de Kock from the first ODI if they want to make a comeback in the series.”We have to get hungry and we have to be hungry,” Warner said. “We are that on our day. Obviously it hasn’t been our day the last couple of games but we have to keep having that positive mindset and go big. We’ve seen the wickets. They’re very very good wickets and if you get in… today I played probably a poor shot. I’ve had a couple of soft dismissals. A few of the guys got caught down the leg side.”

Former England batting coach will continue to work with Middlesex through 2022 summer

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2022Mark Ramprakash will work alongside Middlesex’s batters this summer after the club extended his consultancy.Ramprakash, who began his playing career at Middlesex before moving south of the river to Surrey, was England’s batting coach between 2014 and 2019. He subsequently took up a role a director of cricket at Harrow, which he has combined with media work, before being brought in by Middlesex over the winter.”Since Ramps joined us at the start of our winter training programme, the impact he’s had has been incredible,” Middlesex’s head of men’s performance cricket, Alan Coleman, said. “He has brought an energy to our sessions that not only engages the players but constantly challenges them to improve.Related

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“I share Ramps’ view that you don’t want to waste a single session and that getting in the nets isn’t simply about hitting balls. He raises the intensity, puts the players under pressure in scenario-based sessions, where every ball counts and every shot matters.”He has engaged the group, who are showing plenty of signs of responding well to his methods, and in Ramps we have a coach that completely gets what we’re trying to achieve as a playing group and coaching team and cares deeply about the club.”I’m thrilled that he has committed himself to the group for the rest of this season, and I can’t wait to see what we can collectively achieve with him as an important part of the coaching unit.”Ramprakash scored more than 35,000 first-class runs in his career, including 114 centuries, although he was viewed as an unfulfilled talent after averaging 27.32 across 52 Tests for England.He spent a period as Middlesex’s batting coach after retiring from playing in 2012, and returns with the club seeking to improve fortunes after a difficult 2021 that saw Angus Fraser, the long-serving director of cricket, moved sideways into a new role and Stuart Law sacked as head coach. Coleman now heads a new coaching structure, with Richard Johnson – a former Middlesex team-mate of Ramprakash – appointed as first-team coach last month.In particular, Ramprakash will look to raise batting standards among a top order that has struggled to regularly post big scores in Championship cricket, with Middlesex losing eight out of 14 red-ball fixtures last season.