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Ben Mike half-century keeps home side waiting but points are secured shortly after tea

ECB Reporters Network08-May-2022Glamorgan wrapped up a six-wicket victory on the final day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Leicestershire in Cardiff.Leicestershire resumed their second innings with three wickets in hand and just 41 runs in front. An excellent half-century from Ben Mike and 29 runs from stand-in captain Callum Parkinson took that lead to 149 before the final wicket fell.Glamorgan got off to a flying start in their pursuit of the victory target thanks to a brisk innings from David Lloyd but three wickets from Parkinson slowed their progress. While Parkinson was a consistent threat the Glamorgan batters chased down the required runs in 40.4 overs with Sam Northeast undefeated on 40.Leicestershire will be hugely disappointed to have given away such a strong position on day one and will need to work on their ill-disciplined bowling that saw them bowl 25 no-balls and concede 82 extras in the match.With the wicket of Harry Swindells falling to the last ball of day three Leicestershire were in urgent need of a partnership to give them any chance of setting Glamorgan a challenging target. That is exactly what they got from Mike and Parkinson.Mike narrowly missed out on a maiden first-class hundred in Leicestershire’s last match against Middlesex, with the final wicket falling with him stranded on 99 not out. In this match he carried on that good form as he made a counterattacking 64 to give his team a target that was potentially defendable.Leicestershire had looked frazzled during the last session of day three, and Glamorgan were in complete control. That was not the case on the morning of the fourth day as Mike and Parkinson put on an eighth-wicket stand worth 88.Mike’s enterprising innings was ended in the first over with the second new ball when an attempted pull shot and got a top edge off Michael Hogan that had serious hang time. Chris Cooke took the catch after waiting patiently underneath the skier.It was debutant Andy Gorvin who was given the new ball at the other end and he claimed the first wicket of his career when he had Chris Wright trapped lbw for 3. The innings was wrapped up when Hogan bowled Beuran Hendricks with Leicestershire 266 all out to set a victory target of 150.Lloyd was in no mood to hang around when the chase got underway as he raced to 36 from just 32 balls. He was bowled attempting to sweep, the first of three Glamorgan batters to fall playing that shot off Parkinson.Northeast and Kiran Carlson shared a match-defining partnership in Glamorgan’s first innings and they combined again in a stand worth 35 that got their team within touching distance of the target. Carlson was dismissed by Scott Steel but Northeast saw his side home.Glamorgan finished with 23 points from this match with Leicestershire claiming five bonus points.

Bangladesh have five quicks to pick from in their 16-man squad for the forthcoming tri-nation series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe

Mohammad Isam14-Jan-2018Bangladesh will keep backing a three-man pace attack in the tri-nation series at home despite their recent poor form, according to their ODI captain Mashrafe Mortaza.The hosts have five pace bowlers to pick from in their 16-man squad, which also contains three frontline spinners. The cold conditions in Dhaka over the last two weeks, however, suggest that seam and swing are more likely than spin. There is also the chance that dew could negate the effectiveness of Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Sunzamul Islam.Mashrafe said the fast bowlers had to be backed because of how they had delivered since the 2015 World Cup. And with another World Cup coming up in 18 months, he said, persisting with a pace-heavy attack made more sense to him.”We have hardly played too many games since 2015 with less than three pace bowlers,” Mashrafe said. “They have helped us win games and have also been cause of some losses too. There can be a bad patch, but it is important to have faith in the pace bowlers, especially with a World Cup in England coming up.”In the current squad, Mashrafe and Mustafizur Rahman are the first choices with Rubel Hossain, Abul Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin vying for the third seamer’s slot. If the pitch and conditions demand a very pace-heavy attack, Bangladesh could play four seamers, and Shakib as the lone spinner.The pace bowlers have to bounce back from an underwhelming tour of South Africa. Rubel returned the best figures there, having taken a seven scalps at an average of 53.14. Mashrafe, Mustafizur and Saifuddin took only five wickets in all, while Taskin Ahmed took two wickets across all formats. He was then dropped from the ODI squad.Mashrafe, who went wicketless in the ODI series in South Africa, was the only pace bowler who bounced back well in the BPL, bagging a tally of 15 wickets.”There is always pressure when you are playing for your country,” he said. “It is a good thing, because the best performance comes out in a pressure situation. But I think many of our players have played under more intense pressure. We didn’t get what we wanted from our last tour but I am hopeful that we will be able to execute better this time.”

An opening stand of 189 inflicted Glamorgan’s fifth defeat in five Royal London Cup games this season and put Essex back into contention to move through to the knockout stage

ECB Reporters Network30-May-2018
ScorecardVarun Chopra and Adam Wheater put on a swashbuckling stand of 189 to inflict Glamorgan’s fifth defeat in five Royal London Cup games this season and put Essex back into contention to move through to the knockout stage.Until Wheater was stumped for 88 off 99 balls, it had looked like a race to see who would reach their century first. However, Chopra was left stranded on 98 when Essex passed the target of 201 with 18 and a half overs to spare.Chopra’s 84-ball innings, with nine fours and four sixes, took his season’s tally to 445 runs from five innings.Essex’s victory was set up by some accurate and parsimonious bowling, led by Jamie Porter, and supported by Matt Coles’s 3 for 41 in his first one-day outing since moving from Kent.Porter, who had been rested for the last three games, bowled his 10 overs straight through to record best List A figures of 4 for 27.By reaching their target so quickly, Essex improved their run-rate significantly, which could prove crucial if they win their remaining group matches against Sussex on Sunday and Kent next Wednesday and qualification goes to the wire.For Glamorgan, Chris Cooke marked his 32nd birthday with sixes off successive balls in a 75-ball 59, and shared a 64-run seventh-wicket stand in 12 overs with Andrew Salter that lifted the general lethargy surrounding the Glamorgan innings.Glamorgan, put in on a blameless wicket posted just 34 from the first 10 overs for the loss of their openers. Nick Selman epitomised the delusory pace with 10 from 22 balls before he nicked Porter low to Chopra at first slip. Aneurin Donald had already gone to the first ball he faced, edging a straight one behind in Porter’s second over.Ingram should have followed when he had 4 to another edge off Porter, but Chopra dived to his left, getting both hands to the ball but unable to hang on.However, the first time Porter went around the wicket he ended Ingram’s sequence of five successive one-day centuries against Essex. The left-hander was pinned on his crease as the ball slanted in, and he was out for 13.David Lloyd did not last long, driving Wagner forcefully square to cover point where Simon Harmer took a spectacular catch. Connor Brown, who had managed four fours in a debut 31, departed to a one-handed catch by Adam Wheater in front of first slip to give Porter his fourth wicket.Cooke and Wagg put on 42 for the sixth wicket in 16 overs before Wagg played all around one from Ravi Bopara and was bowled. Andrew Salter helped Cooke increase the rate and lifted Wagner over mid-on to put up Glamorgan’s 150 as late as the 43rd over.Salter hammered a second six over cow corner to dent Coles’s otherwise parsimonious figures, but when he went for another next ball, he was caught on the boundary. He had hit 43 from 47 balls, and shared in a 64-run stand with Cooke in 12 overs.Cooke passed fifty from 72 balls with a six flicked off his legs during the most expensive over of the innings which cost 17 runs. Bopara thought he had Cooke, on 59, caught off a head-high no-ball by Cook, but the South African swung at the next ball and Bopara took the return catch above his head.Coles wrapped up the innings with wickets in successive balls for figures of 3 for 41.Chopra showed the Essex intent. Ruaidhru Smith was twice deposited over the leg-side boundary ropes for six in his first two overs.With Wheater finding the gaps, the opening pair had 50 on the board inside eight overs, 100 up in the 16th. The wicketkeeper was first to his personal fifty from his 55th ball.Chopra’s half-century came from 45 balls and contained five fours and those two sixes.When he was 63, Wheater had a reprieve as a lofted drive flew through van der Gugten’s hands at midwicket. The 150 partnership came up in 26 overs before Chopra clouted Salter for a straight six, and then helped himself to four and another six in successive balls off the spinner.

Shahbaz Nadeem scored 177 before also striking with the ball, as Nagaland ended day three 750 runs behind

Himanshu Agrawal14-Mar-2022After two days of resolute batting, Jharkhand continued to pile the misery on a hapless Nagaland attack, finally folding for a massive 880 on the third day in Kolkata. Shahbaz Nadeem, who was on 123 overnight, finished on 177, while No. 11 Rahul Shukla remained unbeaten on 85, as the final-wicket stand yielded 191.While it was almost surprising to see Jharkhand continue to bat after they had ended day two at 769, Nadeem and Shukla’s intentions of getting quick runs was clear after a quiet first six overs of the day. Nadeem cracked three consecutive fours off Chopise Hopongkyu, and Shukla wasn’t to be left behind either. He quickly found boundaries off Raja Swarnkar before launching Shirkant Mundhe for six to get to his second first-class fifty.The partnership was past hundred by that time, and the pair resumed their attack after the drinks break, with Shukla smashing another four sixes – he hit six in total – as Nagaland ended up bowling more than 200 overs.Their reply with the bat wasn’t convincing either. Ashish Kumar cleaned up opener Sedezhalie Rupero for 8 in the fifth over of Nagaland’s innings before Shukla joined the action on the field by running Rupero’s partner Yugandhar Singh out for 9. Anukul Roy soon after had the captain Rongsen Jonathan caught for another single-digit score, as Nagaland stood at 43 for 3 at one stage.There was a brief fight with a 56-run fourth-wicket partnership between Mundhe and Chetan Bist, but Nadeem hit back with the ball after earlier frustrating Nagaland with the bat. He had Mundhe caught for 39, as the next man in Hokaito Zhimomi was forced to retire hurt on 5 for what seemed like a hand injury, meaning Nagaland were effectively five down.They ended the day a massive 750 runs behind, and with two full days of the game remaining, stare at a huge defeat unless something miraculous happens to rescue them.

From 182 for 8, the India captain dragged his team to 274 limiting England’s lead to just 13 at Edgbaston

Sidharth Monga02-Aug-2018Virat Kohli was booed by the Edgbaston crowd when he walked out to bat during an England surge, but by the time he was done – 149 out of 220 scored while he was at the wicket; the next-best score was 26 – the crowd stood up as one to applaud one of the great ugly-but-beautiful innings. Not just the crowd, the England team were perfect hosts for the second day in a row: after the run-out and soft dismissals when they batted, they dropped three catches – two of those Kohli’s – and then looked clueless when the India captain turned it on with the tail. Just like on day one, Kohli was waiting to accept the gifts, this time turning what at one stage looked like a 150-run deficit into just 13.A standout feature of Kohli’s innings was his manipulation of the strike towards the end of the innings. He faced 3.1 times the deliveries faced by Nos 9, 10 and 11, comfortably the best effort by anyone who has batted 100 balls with the tail since 2001. In the process, he scored 92 of the 105 runs added by the last three wickets. And all of this was after weathering a spell from his great nemesis James Anderson; there were only two scoring shots – both off edges – in 43 balls and a dropped catch when the batsman was only 21.Poor fielding aside, it was a glorious day of Test cricket on which Kohli should at least be nice and write an apology to Sam Curran for stealing his thunder. India had got off to an excellent start, putting on their first fifty-run opening stand in England in 18 innings, when the 20-year-old Curran struck with beautiful left-arm swing. M Vijay was caught plumb in front, but when he was not given, the youngster had the gumption to insist on a review. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan then put on a manual on how not to play swing bowling: 50 for 0 became 59 for 3, and every ball seemed to be doing something.The relief for India was lunch, but even before that Kohli survived by the skin of his teeth with a thick edge not carrying to gully and also hurting Jos Buttler’s finger. Things went crazy when play resumed. Anderson was after Kohli. Ben Stokes after everyone else. There was intense scrutiny on the Indian batsmen’s technique and resolve. Ajinkya Rahane and Dinesh Karthik failed. India were 100 for 5; could have been 100 for 7. But in successive balls, Dawid Malan at second slip and Alastair Cook at first slip dropped Kohli and Hardik Pandya. England are better than only India and Bangladesh when it comes to slip catching currently and here, with their bowlers creating more chances than India’s, their cordon was being badly exposed.2:04

Where does Kohli’s 149 rank among his best innings?

Those reprieves resulted in a 48-run stand, which Curran ended with a searing yorker moments before tea. Soon after that, Malan dropped Kohli again, this time on 51. Still, Anderson got rid of Ashwin with India only 169 for 7 and trailing by 118.The spotlight shifted to Kohli again. Until now he had played a responsible Test innings, swallowing his ego to come out alive from his battle with Anderson. Now that he was batting with the tail, he had nothing to lose. Now he was free to display his repertoire of shots. No sooner than Kohli opened up a little did England beat the retreat. A catcher came out to midwicket. A sweeper slowly went out. All of a sudden, England were not actively looking for Kohli’s wicket. If it comes, great; if it doesn’t, let’s take the tail out.But that plan rarely works against Kohli. He has, time and again, made a mockery of restrictive fields in one-day cricket. His mental strength, physical fitness and temperament are beyond doubt and he uses all of them to put the entire opposition under pressure. He stole singles from under the fielders’ noses, Root fumbling three times when the ball came his way as a clear winner emerged in the contest between the two captains. Kohli was outdoing Root with the bat, in the field, and with ideas when on the field. He also made boundary-riders look obsolete and had no trouble keeping the ball down when England went short at him, which was always likely on a slow pitch.England had to finally go to Adil Rashid with Kohli on 96. Kohli took a single third ball, and Rashid got Ishant with the next. The No. 10 was lbw to a wrong ‘un but he could have overturned that decision had he gone for a review. Nevertheless, he played with commitment that some of his batting mates could learn from. He defended resolutely and even used DRS to save himself twice.Now Kohli was on 97, India 70 behind, and there was only No. 11 for company. Umesh Yadav played out the last two balls, and Kohli took his game a notch higher. A square cut brought up the hundred. He jumped for joy, kissed his wedding band, saluted the dressing room and possibly also pleaded his team-mates to help him out. The odd ball still kept beating him – these instances increased as he began to play more shots – but England just weren’t bowling to get him out.Finally Rashid got him on the square cut with India just 13 behind. To rub it in for England, in the 3.4 overs possible before stumps, R Ashwin, India’s best new-ball bowler in the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, produced an action replay of the jaffa to dismiss Cook in the first innings: drifting in, pitching on middle and off, and then turning past the slightly closed face of the bat to knock the top of off stump. As the players walked back, Kohli allowed himself another fist pump. Nobody was booing him now.

Opening batter Mayank Agarwal has been added to India’s squad

Nagraj Gollapudi02-Feb-2022India have been dealt a severe blow four days ahead of their ODI series against West Indies with seven members of their camp, including four players, testing positive for Covid-19. The players are Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad and the reserve fast bowler Navdeep Saini.The other three are members of the support staff: fielding coach T Dilip, security liaison officer B Lokesh and sports massage therapist Rajeev Kumar.While announcing the development in a media release late on Wednesday, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said the selectors had added opening batter Mayank Agarwal to the ODI squad.Related

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The BCCI said that all positive results emerged after the India squad had undergone three RT-PCR tests upon landing in Ahmedabad on January 31. Dhawan and Saini returned positive tests after the first round of testing on January 31. Dilip and Lokesh also tested positive on the same day. Gaikwad, who had cleared the January 31 test, returned a positive test the next day, while Iyer and Rajeev returned positive tests on Wednesday during the third round of testing.The India squad started to arrive in Ahmedabad at the end of last week while West Indies landed early on February 2. Both teams are staying at the same hotel, but on separate floors. As per the BCCI’s guidelines both India and West Indies have to serve a minimum of three days’ quarantine in their hotel rooms before breaking out for training. India were scheduled to start training from Thursday while West Indies from second half on February 4.All members of the Indian contingent, the BCCI said, had been asked to take a PCR test before they travelled to Ahmedabad. All the seven members who tested positive will now isolate in Ahmedabad. As per the guidelines issued by Indian government, any person testing positive needs to isolate for minimum of seven days.The ODI series is set to be played behind closed doors, with India currently experiencing a third wave of the pandemic. India recorded over 160,000 fresh cases on Tuesday, with the state of Gujarat, where Ahmedabad is located, reporting over 8000 of them.Dhawan, Iyer and Gaikwad will now most likely miss the three-match ODI series, which will be played on February 6, 8 and 11. But the three batters will aim to be back for the T20I leg of the series. The T20Is will be played in Kolkata on February 16, 18 and 20.Vice-captain KL Rahul has not yet joined the India squad and is set to miss the first ODI in order to attend his sister’s wedding. This means India will have only five batters from the original squad to choose from for the first ODI: captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant and allrounder Deepak Hooda. Agarwal is likely to arrive in Ahmedabad on Thursday, which means he could slot into the XI for the first ODI, immediately after completing his three-day quarantine.

Punjab’s Shubman Gill, who was the top scorer in the Youth ODI series in England earlier this year, has been named as Shaw’s deputy

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-20171:20

Archive – Who is Prithvi Shaw?

Mumbai batsman Prithvi Shaw will lead India at the Under-19 World Cup to be held in New Zealand from January 13. Punjab’s Shubman Gill, who was the top scorer in the Youth ODI series in England earlier this year at an average of 92.66, has been named as Shaw’s deputy. The 15-member squad also includes Haryana’s Himanshu Rana and Assam’s Riyan Parag along with five stand-by players, all of whom are set to participate in a preparatory camp in Bengaluru from December 8 to 22.Seven of the 15 players in the squad have experience of playing Ranji Trophy. Shaw, who is Mumbai’s second-highest scorer this season with 521 runs at 57.88, and Bengal’s Ishan Porel, who has bagged 10 wickets in two matches have been permitted to play for their respective sides in the quarter-finals starting December 7, and will join the camp on December 12.India have won the Under-19 title thrice, a record they hold together with Australia. They made the final of the previous edition in Bangladesh but lost to West Indies by five wickets.Squad: Prithvi Shaw (capt), Shubman Gill (vice-capt), Manjot Kalra, Himanshu Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Aryan Juyal, Harvik Desai, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ishan Porel, Arshdeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Shiva Singh, Pankaj YadavStandby players: Om Bhosle, Rahul Chahar, Ninad Rathva, Urvil Patel, Aditya Thakare

Stalwart and debutant, friends since school, take hosts from precarious position to 44-run lead

Valkerie Baynes28-Jun-2022Centuries for Test debutant Alice Davidson-Richards and stalwart Nat Sciver turned England’s innings around and put the hosts back in control of their contest with South Africa in Taunton.Friends since their school days at Epsom College, where they played cricket, hockey and netball together, the two rescued their side from a precarious position at 121 for 5 with a record sixth-wicket partnership for England Women in Test cricket. Worth 207 runs, it was also their joint second-highest stand for any wicket and it took the side to 328 for 6, a lead of 44 runs.At the age of 28 and making her first England appearance since she played six white-ball games in 2018, Davidson-Richards became the second England player after WG Grace to score a century and take a wicket on Test debut after she had Nadine de Klerk caught behind on the first day.She was resolute in supporting Sciver to her fifty, brought up with a lovely drive for four through mid-off. Davidson-Richards had nine runs from 45 balls before driving Nonkululeko Mlaba through the covers for her first four.By tea she had struck four more boundaries and of the 17 she had scored by the close, the best was arguably her delicious cover drive off de Klerk to move to 75, holding her pose and shaking her bat in in approval as the ball sped to the rope. That was before her gloriously timed punch in front of point to bring up her century before she was met with the warmest of hugs from Sciver.When Sciver had raised her century a little earlier with a scampered single off Marizanne Kapp, Davidson-Richards celebrated just as enthusiastically as her team-mate, pumping her fist and jumping into the air as Sciver removed her helmet, raised her bat and acknowledged the applause from the stands.It was Sciver’s maiden Test hundred in her eighth match and continued a rich run of form that played a key role in her side finishing runners-up at the World Cup in April, where she scored unbeaten centuries against Australia in England’s opening match and again in the final.It also came in the midst of a tense match situation. After England had reduced South Africa to 45 for 4 on the opening morning, Kapp’s brilliant 150 carried them to a respectable total of 284 by the close. In reply, England began brightly, their new opening pairing of Tammy Beaumont and Emma Lamb, another of England’s four Test debutants, putting on a 65-run stand as the South African bowlers struggled to hit the right lengths.But then Anneke Bosch trapped Beaumont lbw playing round one that swung away late and struck her on the toe in line with middle and leg stump and followed up with the wicket of Lamb for an accomplished 38 with a gem of a delivery that nipped back in off the seam and through the gate to uproot off-stump.Kapp should have had Heather Knight’s wicket shortly before lunch, but wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta dived across first slip and Sune Luus, poised for a catch that looked sure to be hers, spilled the ball in the confusion.As it happened, Knight fell without adding to her score of 8 on the first ball after the break, caught short of her ground despite a desperate full-length dive after Sciver had turned a de Klerk delivery towards square leg and called for a single. The slightest of hesitations mid-run from both of them proved crucial as Tumi Sekhukhune fired the ball to Jafta, who removed the bails at the striker’s end.Bosch then claimed her third wicket when she invited Sophia Dunkley to drive with a fuller ball just outside off stump, finding the edge which sailed to Andrie Steyn at slip.In the next over, Mlaba bowled Amy Jones for duck with an excellent ball tossed up on middle stump and straightening as Jones chopped onto her stumps and England looked to be in serious trouble still 163 runs behind.But from there Sciver and Davidson-Richards set about their task with great class, Sciver unbeaten on 119 when, off the last ball of the day, Davidson-Richards sent a straightforward catch to Lizelle Lee at backward point off Sekhukhune.

Pakistan end day three with a lead of 124 after West Indies had nudged ahead by 36 in the first innings

Danyal Rasool14-Aug-2021Stumps The weather was as variable as the momentum swings, and as the last few chapters of this Test unfold, you sense there are still a few plot twists in it. Pakistan still have half their side left, including – crucially – captain Babar Azam on 54 as they try and stretch out a relatively vulnerable 124-run lead beyond the capacity of the hosts in what should be an engrossing fourth innings chase.On either side of a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay, West Indies bowlers’ were characteristically patient and as consistent as they’ve been all Test, but will need one final effort to ensure their batters have a target within their reach.

ICC reprimands Jayden Seales

Jayden Seals has copped one demerit point for using inappropriate language against Hasan Ali during the Sabina Park Test.

The incident occurred in the 70th over of the Pakistan innings, when Seales dismissed Hasan and celebrated in a manner that could have potentially provoked the batter.

ICC match referee Richie Richardson handed out the sanction and Seales, for whom this was a first offence in a 24-month period, accepted it.

The day began in bright, cheery sunshine, and Shaheen Afridi certainly made hay. He allowed just two more runs to the West Indies batters before cleaning up the final two wickets, the lead a slender 36. The prodigious inswing he found was much better directed than anything he had managed the previous day. Jomel Warrican had his stumps knocked back first, before – on just the 16th ball of the day – Joshua Da Silva was trapped dead in front. Thus, part one of Pakistan’s plan had been executed to perfection.West Indies then struck early themselves after the changeover, getting rid of the struggling Imran Butt for nought as he pushed his pad out at one that was crashing into middle stump. Thereafter, though, Abid Ali and Azhar Ali settled down, seeing off the pace bowlers without much trouble. Abid looked to take the attack to Warrican early on, too, dancing down the pitch to deposit the left-arm spinner’s fourth ball for the first six of the match; it was the shot that erased Pakistan’s deficit.Azhar was more circumspect – and less convincing – through the early part of his innings. West Indies tested his footwork and his judgment, operating steadily on a fifth-stump line and beating the outside edge on a number of occasions. When Kemar Roach finally induced the edge, Jason Holder put him down at second slip. Azhar followed it up with two aggressive boundaries either side of the wicket off Warrican as the shackles began to come off.Jayden Seales struck twice after lunch•AFP/Getty Images

Roach, however, had the last laugh in the last over before lunch, bringing one back in sharply to breach Azhar’s defence and crash into his leg stump. It heralded West Indies’ best passage of the day, with Jayden Seales welcoming in the post-lunch session with a sumptuous double-strike. Abid, who was set up by slightly short deliveries in the first innings, was presented another short one with the first ball of Seales’ spell. The extra bounce which the teenager’s pace extracted from the surface saw the opener slash straight to second slip, and Holder made no mistake this time.Three balls later, Fawad Alam fell to an outside edge after lacklustre footwork, and West Indies threatened to blow the Test wide open. Pakistan were now in the perilous position of having lost four wickets with the lead at just 29, and it was left to Mohammad Rizwan and Azam, arguably Pakistan’s two best performers over the past year, to take the sting out of the hosts’ momentum.Over the next hour or so, they did just that under blackening skies, the runs trickling along gradually. With an increasing amount of sideways movement for the pacers, it was anything but easy, and the 56 runs they managed before the heavens opened may yet be the difference between success and failure.Two-and-a-half-hours later, though, and under clear blue skies, Holder drew Rizwan into a forward defensive push with seam movement producing the edge; West Indies once more appeared to be sniffing at the lower order.Faheem Ashraf, though has shown he isn’t a pushover with the bat, and while he possesses the flair he showcased on the first day, the steel was on full display this evening. Scoring just 12 runs in 79 deliveries, he happily played second fiddle to Azam, who brought up a high-quality half-century before the day was done.West Indies may yet rue a dropped slip catch early into Ashraf’s innings – Jermaine Blackwood was the culprit – but Pakistan will be reassured by the relative solidity of the pair at the crease. As the light deteriorated and the umpires brought out the light metre after every over, the duo shut up shop completely, and did not look especially susceptible doing so.West Indies took the last five Pakistan wickets for 31 runs on day one. The home side will need a similarly explosive performance tomorrow morning to give themselves the best chance of a manageable chase. The weather would be relatively clear, but the outcome of this tantalising Test remains anything but that.

Desire is still there to remain a multi-format player, Buttler says

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2022Jos Buttler says he remains committed to playing Test cricket, despite a disappointing Ashes campaign and mounting pressure on England players and management.Australia took an unassailable 3-0 series lead with comprehensive victories in Brisbane, Adelaide and – most emphatically – inside two and a half days in Melbourne, but Buttler insisted England had plenty to play for to avoid a 5-0 sweep. Personally, he spoke of his desire to remain a multi-format player despite his Test form struggling to match his stellar limited-overs record and the demands of travelling for extended periods with a young family.”It’s certainly my ambition,” Buttler said from Sydney, where England are preparing for the fourth Test, starting on Wednesday (Tuesday night UK time). “I don’t think I’d have put as much into it as I have done if it wasn’t.Related

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• Quinton de Kock announces sudden retirement from Tests

• Graham Thorpe: England batters given 'wake-up call' by Ashes mauling

“I have fantastic family support – they’re very supportive of me and my career, and make a lot of sacrifices for that. That’s one thing that gives you a lot of motivation and drive to try to make it all worth it. It’s certainly maintained my drive and ambition to try and play.”Asked if he hoped to be part of England’s squad due to play three Tests in the Caribbean in March, Buttler said: “Yes, I hope so.”During an Ashes campaign in which England’s highest team total has been 297, Buttler is averaging 19.20. In 56 Tests, he averages 32.53 with just two centuries.Buttler faced 207 balls for 26 in a spirited rearguard on the last day of the second Test in Adelaide, having come in on a pair, but he holed out to deep midwicket off Nathan Lyon on the stroke of tea in England’s first innings at the MCG. He took a brilliant catch to dismiss Marcus Harris in Adelaide but made costly drops in the same match.”In hindsight, just before a tea break is obviously a poor time to get out, but I wanted to be attacking and positive in that innings,” Buttler said of his dismissal to Lyon in Melbourne. “Mid-on and mid-off were up. I saw that as an opportunity to score, I didn’t execute that. That’s all it is.”It’s a very lonely place dropping a catch,” he added. “It’s one of the worst feelings in cricket, letting down your mates. It doesn’t just hurt you, it hurts the whole team. You’ve certainly got to be able to be very strong with your character to try to come through that. Especially when you’re wicketkeeping, there’s nowhere to hide.”Buttler’s comments came after South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock’s shock decision to retire from Test cricket at the age of 29.”That’s Quinton’s own personal situation, but as a fan of cricket and a huge fan of his, I’m disappointed that he’s at that stage,” said 31-year-old Buttler. “I love watching him bat, keep wicket and play Test cricket. The world of cricket will miss him in that format. But I guess commend him for making a decision that’s right for him.”Buttler said the entire England team were hurting, given their defeats by nine wickets in Brisbane, 275 runs in Adelaide and an innings and 14 runs in Melbourne. England have now lost 18 of their last 23 Tests in Australia, including 12 of the last 13.”There’s an overriding sense of disappointment and frustration with the situation we’ve found ourselves in,” Buttler said. “We’ve not competed or played the cricket we wanted to at the start of the tour. We’re not gelling as a group and individually playing well enough to compete with Australia. We certainly don’t want to be a team to lose 5-0.”