Somerset – with Nick Compton back near to his resolute best – avoided what would have been a devastating defeat on the eve of their FLt20 quarter-final against Surrey

David Lloyd at Taunton05-Aug-2013
ScorecardNick Compton made a battling, unbeaten half-century to help secure a draw for Somerset•Getty Images

One team made almost all the running in this match but at least Somerset – with Nick Compton back near to his resolute best – avoided what would have been a devastating defeat on the eve of their FLt20 quarter-final against Surrey.A brief but spectacular downpour ended the contest two and half hours early but Nottinghamshire’s enthusiasm had already been blunted by Compton’s excellent unbeaten 70.Even given the hosts’ vulnerability in Championship cricket, it was asking an awful lot of Nottinghamshire to force a win after the loss of 108 overs to bad weather earlier in the match. And with Andre Adams off the field because of a hamstring injury, their only real hope was another Somerset implosion.There were not many spectators at the County Ground on Monday but it is safe to assume that a majority of those present feared the worst, from a home perspective, when their team was made to follow on 190 runs behind.Steve Kirby, out to the morning’s second ball, could not be blamed for the perilous position. But, somehow, the No. 10’s dismissal – prodding a catch to silly point after pushing forward at spinner Samit Patel and then thumping his bat into the ground with real fury – seemed to sum up Somerset’s despair.A draw, earning just six points after Sunday’s victory for bottom of the table Derbyshire and with eighth-placed Surrey now having a game in hand, was nothing to celebrate. But a defeat might have done irreparable damage to morale with five matches remaining.Thanks principally to Compton, but with some valuable help from Marcus Trescothick, Chris Jones and James Hildreth, Notts were never given much more than a sniff of a victory that would have strengthened their challenge to move away from the lower reaches of the table.And when a storm of tropical, if not near biblical, proportions broke with 38 overs remaining, Somerset’s mission was looking manageable. The two teams took tea but they might just as well have taken straight to their cars.”It was a match saved and it’s better than losing,” Compton said, once hands had been shaken on the draw. “It was nice to show a rearguard action after our first innings, when we simply didn’t get enough runs. When you are trying to stay in the first division you need to get big first-innings scores.”Notts’ 378 looked a bit over par while Somerset’s 188 had been horribly short of competitive – several of the home batsmen, Compton included, having gifted their wickets.”I think speaking specifically for myself that was one of the worst shots I have played in a long time,” admitted Compton, who has had to pick himself up from the crushing, and unexpected, disappointment of being omitted from England’s Ashes plans. “I think our concentration was a lot better in the second innings.”Somerset’s future in Division One remains far from certain. And the same is true of Compton’s career at Taunton, the opener having so far declined to sign a new contract. He said he is likely to reach a decision in the next couple of weeks while stressing the importance of remaining in the top tier.”It’s very important to stay in the first division,” Compton said. “I’ve made it known I’m very keen to get back into the England fold. All of us here want to be playing first division cricket. It’s a first division club, that’s why I came here [from Middlesex in 2010], and days like today, with people showing fight and sticking their hands up, is what it’s going to take to stay up.”I’m not sure about my future. I’ve had my head down focusing on my career and I want to make sure the England selectors don’t forget me. So my mind hasn’t really been on it but I will make a decision in the next couple of weeks or so.”Compton’s county can only hope he decides to stay. It will take more than hope, though, to keep them in Division One.

Greg Smith’s first County Championship century for Essex guided the visitors into a strong position on the opening day against Gloucestershire at Bristol.

28-Aug-2013
ScorecardGreg Smith, seen here at Friend Life t20 Finals Day, struck his first century of the season•Getty Images

Greg Smith’s first County Championship century for Essex guided the visitors into a strong position on the opening day against Gloucestershire at Bristol.Smith, the 30-year-old South African, hit an unbeaten 149 as his side ran up 333 for 7 after losing the toss. Owais Shah contributed 34 and Ben Foakes 32, while Will Gidman and David Payne claimed two wickets apiece.Former Derbyshire batsman Smith was dropped on 19 by Michael Klinger at third slip off Payne and went on to face 274 balls, hitting 17 fours and a six.With the skies overcast, Gloucestershire skipper Klinger elected to field first and saw his seamers bowl without much luck in the morning session. Gidman went past the bat on a number of occasions, but did have the satisfaction of bowling India Test player Gautam Gambhir off an inside edge for a duck with the total on 9.It was 46 for 2 in the 15th over when Jaik Mickleburgh, on 26, was well caught by wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick, having got an inside edge to a delivery from Graeme McCarter, who had received a late call into Gloucestershire’s team when Liam Norwell withdrew because of a groin injury.Smith survived his second chance on 41 when Gidman failed to hold a tough one-handed catch at gully off Craig Miles and went on to a half-century off 98 balls, with four fours, having spent 21 deliveries on 48.Shah looked in confident form as the pair added 80 either side of lunch. But with the score on 126 he played down the wrong line to Miles and was pinned lbw, having hit seven fours in a fluent 72-ball knock. Ryan ten Doeschate helped Smith add a further 45 in nine overs, contributing 24 to the stand, before edging Benny Howell to Roderick attempting to drive.Smith moved relentlessly towards his ton and reached it with a sweet cover-driven four off McCarter, having faced 207 balls and extended his boundary count to 10 fours and a six. In his second season with Essex, Smith’s previous best Championship score for the county was 42 against Hampshire last season. He played with increasing sureness and began to cut loose after reaching three figures.Gloucestershire took the new ball in the 81st over with Essex 259 for 4 and Gidman struck with it as Foakes edged to Chris Dent in the slips. Foakes had ridden his luck at times, facing 84 balls and striking four fours in a stand of 94 with Smith. James Foster looked more assured, but on 26 edged Payne up in the air and Klinger took the catch running back from gully. Graham Napier fell to what proved the last ball of the day, caught by Dent off Payne for 10.

The PCB has announced a domestic calendar in which the two first-class tournaments willbe conducted simultaneously, with the same structure applying for the List A tournaments

Umar Farooq02-Oct-2013

Pakistan’s domestic season 2013-14

• Quaid-e-Azam Trophy: October 23, 2013-January 28, 2014, 14 teams, two groups, 61 matches

• One-day Cup for Regions: October 28, 2013 – January 1, 2014, 14 teams, two groups, 45 matches

• President’s Trophy (first-class): October 23, 2013 – February 11, 2014, 11 teams, 1 group, 56 matches

• President’s Cup (one-day): October 28, 2013 – February 4, 2014, 11 teams, 1 group, 56 matches

• Inter-region three-day Under-19: October 26 – December 9, 23 teams, 4 groups, 58 matches

• Inter-region one-day U-19: October 30-December 13, 23 teams, 4 groups, 58 matches

• National T20 tournament: November 20-November 29, 17 teams, 4 groups, 35 matches

• T20 tournament for departments: February 18, 2014 – February 24, 2014, 11 teams, 2 groups, 28 matches

• Patron’s Trophy Grade-II: March 1, 2014 – March 31, 2014, 24 teams, 4 groups, 63 matches

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced a domestic calendar in which two first-class tournaments – the Quaid-e-Azam trophy and the President’s Trophy – will run simultaneously. The two List A events, like the first-class tournaments, will also be held concurrently. The Super Eight T20 Cup has been scrapped to make way for an 11-team departmental Twenty20 cup. The calendar has been chalked out to make the season financially cost-effective, and regional and department tournaments being played at the same time will allow more young players to feature for the regional teams. In previous years, players from various departments would feature in regional teams, making it difficult for other players to break into the side.The structure of domestic cricket in Pakistan has been inconsistent and revamps have occurred every two years over the last decade. However, this year, the tournament formats have been retained and the schedule adopted to accommodate simultaneous first-class and List A tournaments. The Quaid-e-Azam trophy, the country’s premier first-class tournament will have 14 regional teams, while the President’s Trophy will have 11 departmental teams playing a round-robin league phase. The first round of both tournaments begin on October 23 and the regional and department teams will play a round of one-day matches on October 28.
Apart from the senior circuit, the PCB has scheduled inter-regional Under-19 three-day and one-day tournaments between October 26 to December 13. A 10-day National T20 Cup will be played between 17 teams from November 20 to 29, sandwiched between Pakistan’s international series against South Africa and Sri Lanka.One season of domestic cricket costs the PCB approximately Rs 300 million ($2.8m). With the board going through a financial crunch, it plans to reduce the cost by switching to locally made Grays cricket balls, instead of the imported Kookaburra. The department teams, who are expected to bear their own logistical costs and the costs of the ball refused to sustain the Kookaburra idea and the move is likely to help save nearly Rs 10 million. The decision to use Kookaburra balls was taken last year as the board tried to introduce international standards on the domestic cricket circuit.”We believe the season will bring a more prosperous result to our cricket,” Shakeel Sheikh, the head of PCB’s cricket committee, told ESPNcricinfo. “There is a desperate need to unearth the talent from regional nurseries, but for some reason the cycle of getting the quality young cricketers is not working as it should be. We want change and want to have more young legs in the field that will eventually replace players at the department level. Having all tournaments at the same time prevents departmental players from featuring in regional teams.”ESPNcricinfo understands that there are approximately 220 players recruited by the departments. Around 28 of those players will be on national duty during the domestic season; from the main pool, about 65-70 players age between 30 to 40 years while 67 players does not qualify for national selection due to poor fitness and performance.”This is the reason we want to induct a plan to blood youngsters in the pipeline and replace ageing players,” said Sheikh. “We want to encourage the player at the regional level and want to extend the pool of quality players and give them ample opportunity at the domestic level, and create a sense of security for their place.”Former skipper Rashid Latif, the sports head of the department team, Port Qasim Authority (PQA), supported the idea of hosting tournaments simultaneously. “It will be easier for the departments to assemble their teams for these tournaments and will save time and money,” Latif said. “Previously, there used to be a gap of a month or more between one-day and first-class tournaments, which made things difficult for departments. Regions have always been a nursery to produce new talent and hopefully we’ll see new good players coming up this season.”

Ned Eckersley hit a superb 118 as Leicestershire fought hard to avoid defeat against Surrey following Kevin Pietersen’s epic 355 not out in the Second Division match at the Kia Oval

Press Association12-May-2015
ScorecardNed Eckersley ensured a strong Leicestershire retort•Getty Images

Ned Eckersley hit a superb 118 as Leicestershire fought hard to avoid defeat against Surrey following Kevin Pietersen’s epic 355 not out in the Second Division match at the Kia Oval.Pietersen did not field before lunch, or for much of the day’s last session, because he needed ice treatment on a slight calf strain, but he fielded throughout the afternoon session with Alec Stewart, Surrey’s director of cricket, confirming that Pietersen “felt let down” by Strauss’s comments at Lord’s earlier in the day.His remarkable innings meant an eventual Surrey total of 557 and a 265-run first innings lead, but by stumps on day three Leicestershire had worked hard to get themselves 45 runs in front at 310 for 5 in their second innings.Eckersley struck a six and 17 fours in a fluent and attractive knock, dominating a second wicket stand of 161 with Angus Robson, who made 55 from 110 balls before becoming the first of three scalps for Zafar Ansari’s left-arm spin.Ansari and Gareth Batty, the Surrey spinners, chipped away at Leicestershire after Eckersley’s tenth first-class hundred ended when he was beaten by Ansari’s turn and edged to Jason Roy at slip.Offspinner Batty then snared Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove, who also survived a stumping chance off Ansari on 14 but was caught at short leg by Rory Burns for 44 as he tried to flick away a ball to leg from a couple of paces down the pitch.Leicestershire were still five runs short of making Surrey bat again when Neil Pinner, with whom Cosgrove had added 42, was leg-before to Ansari for 24 after resisting for 74 balls.Niall O’Brien and Ben Raine battled hard until the close, however, seeing off the second new ball too as they added an unbroken 50 for the sixth wicket.Earlier, Pietersen had been left just two runs short of Bobby Abel’s 116-year-old record for the highest individual innings by a Surrey player, set against Somerset at the Oval in 1899, when last man Matt Dunn’s brave resistance finally came to an end 4.5 overs into the third day.Dunn, though scoring only five in 104 minutes, had stayed with Pietersen while a remarkable 139 runs were added for Surrey’s final wicket. Pietersen’s historic knock contained 15 sixes and 36 fours and occupied 396 balls.It was the sixth highest score ever made in the County Championship and the seventh highest first-class innings made in England. It was also the highest first-class innings against Leicestershire, eclipsing Yorkshire legend George Hirst’s 341 in 1905.All eyes were on Pietersen, 326 not out overnight, when Surrey resumed on 528 for 9 in reply to Leicestershire’s 292, especially as the resumption of his innings coincided with the announcement at Lord’s, by newly-installed England director of cricket Andrew Strauss, that an international recall for Pietersen was “not in the short-term interests of the England team”.Twenty-nine runs were added to Surrey’s overnight total, and all of them by Pietersen. There was a flipped four to fine leg, from a ball pitching outside off stump, a five when he tipped and ran for a short single to keep the strike and a run-out attempt ricocheted off the stumps to the boundary, a six slammed high over long off against Raine’s fast-medium, and then a four launched over mid off to go to his 350.When Dunn popped up a catch to short square leg off a lifting ball from Raine, every Leicestershire player ran to congratulate Pietersen on his magnificent seven-and-a-half hour innings. Pietersen, with 467 runs from five innings, now averages 233.50 in championship cricket this season.Leicestershire’s second innings began badly, with first innings century-make Lewis Hill leg-before to Dunn for a duck to the fifth ball of the opening over, but Eckersley and Robson both impressed in the big partnership which followed.

Australia opening batsman Chris Rogers has been formally ruled out of the second Test against the West Indies at Sabina Park.

Daniel Brettig in Kingston10-Jun-2015Australia opening batsman Chris Rogers has been formally ruled out of the second Test against the West Indies at Sabina Park as he continues to battle what is now a more stubborn case of a concussion than had been expected.Rogers was a peripheral figure at Australia’s main training session before the match on Tuesday and team doctor Peter Brukner said Rogers was yet to return to 100% fitness following a blow to the helmet from Dominican net bowler Anderson Burton leading into the first Test in Roseau.”Chris has improved but he is still not 100 percent so we are restricting his training. Therefore he is unavailable for selection for the second Test,” Brukner said. “While most concussions resolve within a week there is a significant number who remain symptomatic and require a longer period of recovery. Unfortunately Chris is in this category.”We will continue to monitor his progress and hopefully it will not be too long before he is back to full training.”Brukner’s diagnosis means a decision on how to balance the squad’s various batting resources will be deferred until the weeks leading into the Ashes campaign in England, with Shaun Marsh to get a second audition at the top of the order and last week’s debut centurion Adam Voges set to maintain his berth at No. 5.The chances of twin spin through Nathan Lyon and Fawad Ahmed appear slim, as the Sabina Park pitch has grass comparable to that seen in Dominica. The practice wickets are also on the sporting side, allowing the Australian pace brigade of Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle to hurry up several of their batting counterparts in the nets.While the vegetation will likely be shaved back before Thursday’s first ball, only the barest of surfaces would dissuade Australia from their recently successful three quicks, one spinner and Shane Watson policy.

George Dobell23-May-2015Graeme Fowler, the former England batsman, has stepped down from his position as head coach at Durham MCCU – a role in which he has helped forge the career of six England players including Andrew Strauss – as a result of changes introduced by the MCC.Fowler, 58, who played 21 Tests and 26 ODIs for England, founded the centre of excellence scheme at Durham University in September 1996. It proved so successful that the ECB soon set up five more centres in other university towns or cities based on his model.It was recently calculated that just over 22% of England-qualified players currently in the county game had come through one of the schemes, with Durham providing 60 county players, six county captains, six England players including two women and Strauss, the newly appointed director of England cricket who played 100 Tests for his country – 50 as captain.But Fowler is concerned that changes demanded by the MCC – the funders of the scheme – will compromise its effectiveness and has made the decision to stand down after 19 years in the role.”Recently the MCC have proposed changes to the direction of the centres away from being purely about excellence into a more broad base which includes more emphasis on a community based programme,” Fowler said in a statement released by Durham University, who officially employed him.”Taking into account the evolution of the role of senior cricket coach, I have decided to step down after 19 years in post. This has been a very hard decision to reach.”While the MCC admitted they are not providing any more money in return for the increased expectations they have for the schemes – they currently provide £92,000 to each of the six centres – they insist there is no threat to the production of first-class players.”There is no change in our intention to produce excellent first-class cricketers,” an MCC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s more that we want to enhance the scheme.”We want each of the six centres to become community hubs in line with our intention to increase participation figures, so we are looking for the MCC University players to volunteer for coaching sessions and we want to offer more opportunities for women cricketers.”We don’t see it as changing the scheme so much as bolstering it. We appreciate the colossal contribution Graeme has made over many years and we are sorry to see him leave.”While the MCCU scheme receives no direct funding from the ECB, its impact on domestic cricket over the last few years has been enormous. By allowing talented young players to continue their education while also pursuing their dream of playing professional cricket, it has prevented a situation where they have necessarily felt the need to choose between the two and means that players gain the qualifications and skills required for a life beyond cricket.It thereby helps avoid some of the pitfalls that a previous generation of county players all too often suffered and helps players graduate into county teams with a little more maturity and life experience.As Strauss put it: “It was at Durham University that I went through the transition of being a recreational cricketer to one who had the ambition to play the game for a living.”After announcing the news, Fowler’s Twitter timeline was quickly filled with warm tributes from players – including Andrew Flintoff, Tim Murtagh, Luke Sutton, Lee Daggett, Michael Brown, Will Smith and Warren Hegg – thanking him for the huge contribution his advice and coaching had made on their careers and their lives off the field.Flintoff’s were typical. “You’ve finally graduated from Durham Uni!” he wrote in a series of messages. “You must be so proud of your time at Durham. Great to see all the messages of thanks from people you’ve helped over the years.”Possibly the roughest I’ve ever been on a cricket field after a night at your house.”

A letter to the ICC written by Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, has claimed that three top and regular IPL players received illegal payments – in cash and kind – from an Indian business house

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-2015The ICC has confirmed receiving from Lalit Modi a letter that claimed that three top and regular IPL players received illegal payments – in cash and in kind – from an Indian business house. The former IPL chairman made the allegation in June 2013. The ICC has said it passed on the letter, as per procedure, to the ACSU, which in turn forwarded it to the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit. It was not clear whether the investigation had been completed, and whether the said players had been cleared of the charges.Curiously, this letter was not revealed by Modi, who has been on a contentious-document-sharing spree on Twitter ever since top politicians in the country came under fire for helping him out with travel documents. Instead, this was a tweet sent to Modi by a user with the handle @shyamswami158. This was also the first tweet from the account, posting an image of the letter and asking the question, “Whadya hav to say about this @LalitKModi ? Wat was @ICC response ….. This is shocking!!!!” Modi’s response to the tweet from @shyamswami158 was: “Ask @Icc @Bcci @Ipl why ask me. This is highly confidential. You should not be tweeting this”.The account @shyamswami158 does not exist any more, but the ICC has removed any doubts around the authenticity of the letter. “The ICC confirms that Mr Modi’s confidential e-mail, which was received in June 2013, and which has recently been published on Twitter, was provided to the ACSU at the time,” an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “The ACSU handled that information in accordance with its standard operating procedures, which included sharing it with the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit.”It is understood that in the e-mail sent to the BCCI’s anti-corruption unit, the ICC ACSU chief YP Singh told Ravi Sawani that the investigations would be carried out by the ICC ACSU because the three players were internationals.In the said letter, addressed to ICC CEO Dave Richardson, Modi claimed he had barred the said businessman from bidding for IPL teams because he was a “big punter and also book maker”. Modi accused one of the players had been given flats in Delhi’s Vasant Vihar and Noida, another a sea-facing apartment in Mumbai’s Bandra, and the third was paid in cash. The illegal payments, Modi alleged, were worth Rs 20 crores each.

Dawid Malan and Nick Gubbins both made excellent hundreds as Middlesex squeezed past Sussex by three runs in a thriller at Hove to maintain their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Royal London Cup.

ECB/PA03-Aug-2015
ScorecardDawid Malan was one of three century-makers in a high-scoring contest•Getty Images

Dawid Malan and Nick Gubbins both made excellent hundreds as Middlesex squeezed past Sussex by three runs in a thriller at Hove to maintain their hopes of reaching the knockout stages of the Royal London Cup.Gubbins’ maiden List A century, and Malan’s fifth one-day hundred helped Middlesex to 367 for 6, their highest ever one-day total.Two rain delays interrupted Sussex’s progress and left them needing 309 off 40 overs at nearly eight runs an over. They were kept in the hunt by a superb 112 from Australian George Bailey, his first sizeable contribution since he joined Sussex in June to play one-day cricket.Bailey went from 50 to his century in just 27 deliveries and was on strike when Sussex started the final over needing 17.Bailey took eight off the first three balls from James Harris but was then run out turning for a second by Andrew Balbirnie’s throw from deep square leg, having faced 76 balls and hit nine fours and three sixes.The task of hitting the last ball for six to win proved beyond last man Chris Liddle as Sussex finished on 305 for 9.They had been given a solid start by Chris Nash and Luke Wright, who put on 74 before Harris took a running catch in the covers to remove Nash for 40 in Neil Dexter’s first over.Wright reached his 21st one-day half-century off just 36 balls and had begun to accelerate when the backpedalling Dexter superbly caught him just inside the rope at long-on for 72 from 53 balls, with a six and 11 fours.It was a commendable effort by the home side, and in particular Bailey, but a fourth defeat in Group B has ended their chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals.Home skipper Ed Joyce put the visitors in on a pitch used last Thursday under overcast skies and at the end of the first Powerplay Middlesex were a modest 43 for 1, having lost Nick Compton leg before wicket to Ollie Robinson’s late inswing.But Malan and Gubbins gradually wrested control and took full toll of some wayward bowling. Joyce used seven bowlers in the end but only Robinson, who finished with 2 for 61, bowled with any sort of control.At the peak of their stand, the second wicket pair thrashed 109 in 10 overs from the 29th-39th, taking advantage of a flat pitch and short boundaries as Sussex’s bowlers struggled to stem the flow.Gubbins reached his hundred from 93 balls in style with a six over midwicket and Malan followed him shortly afterwards, from 100 deliveries.The stand was worth 268, the second-highest in Middlesex’s one-day history, when Malan was bowled hitting across the line at Mike Yardy, having hit 13 fours and three sixes in his 131 off 115 balls.Gubbins’ fine knock of 141 ended when he holed out to long-on in the 42nd over, having faced 113 balls and struck nine fours and seven sixes. The suffering did not end there for the hosts as John Simpson flayed 50 off 25 balls, with five fours and two sixes.Although Middlesex lost wickets at the end in the pursuit of more runs, it was still the second-highest score Sussex had conceded in List A cricket.