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Chris Gayle marked his return to Taunton with a typically flamboyant innings as Somerset won a T20 Blast game for the first time this season

ECB Reporters Network03-Jun-2016
ScorecardChris Gayle launched Somerset’s chase•Getty Images

Chris Gayle marked his return to Taunton with a typically flamboyant innings as Somerset won a T20 Blast game for the first time this season.After missing out at Hove, against Sussex on Wednesday, Gayle struck 49 off 23 balls, to leave Essex nursing a seven wicket defeat – their second of the season.Gayle, who lit up the west country last year with 328 runs in his three T20 games, was at it again as Somerset chased down 179 inside 18 overs. He struck five fours and four sixes in a 23-ball knock that laid the foundation for a comfortable Somerset win.Having invited Essex to bat, Somerset made an encouraging start when Jesse Ryder edged a rising delivery from Craig Overton to wicket keeper Ryan Davies.Dan Lawrence made 22 before Max Waller held on to a sharp chance at backward point at 54 for 2 and Ravi Bopara followed at 67 for 3, caught on the long-off boundary by Mahela Jayawardene for 8.Having been pegged back between overs six and 11, Essex re-established themselves thanks to a 24-run stand between Tom Westley and Ryan Ten Doeschate and 74, for the fifth wicket, between the free-hitting ten Doeschate and Ashar Zaidi.The former was eventually caught by Waller, on the cover boundary, off the bowling of Jamie Overton at 165 for 6 before Zaidi departed off the next ball, caught at deep backward square for 31 off just 17 balls.Essex finally reached 178 for 7 off their 20 overs with Lewis Gregory the pick of the Somerset bowlers with 2 for 25 off four overs.Somerset made a surprisingly modest start with a dozen runs coming from the first two overs. However, after Gayle chipped Matt Quinn over midwicket for four, in the third over, the West Indian star began to play with a familiar freedom.He struck two fours and three sixes off David Masters’ second over and a six off Quinn that carried well over 100 yards, into the car park.Sadly, for the 7000 Somerset supporters who had enjoyed the experience, Gayle eventually chipped a half volley to Lawrence off Wahab Riaz, at 75 for 1 in the seventh over.With Gayle departed, captain Jim Allenby and Peter Trego took up the challenge and progressed well, adding 47 for the second wicket before the latter was caught on the long-on boundary for 34.Jayawardene scored 6 before Masters found a way through his normally impeccable defence, at 129 for 3, and with Essex sensing an opportunity, Somerset started to show genuine signs of batting nerves.However, Gregory changed the game in the 15th over with two fours and a six off Masters who finished with the unfortunate figures of 1 for 54 off four overs. In the end, an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 52 saw Somerset home with 13 balls to spare.

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.

Mohammad Amir’s dismissal of Misbah-ul-Haq was the exclamation point of a game that swung both ways, mainly due to these former Pakistan team-mates

Mohammad Isam22-Nov-2015Cliched T20 speak tells you that one ball can turn a match on its head, but Mohammad Amir’s deadly yorker to remove Misbah-ul-Haq only gave the opening BPL fixture a better finish. That delivery in the 19th over was the exclamation point of a game that swung both ways, mainly due to these former Pakistan team-mates.Misbah ended up with the biggest impact through a 39-ball 61 that was both patient and attacking. The innings reconstructed Rangpur’s chase of 188 after they had fallen to 23 for 4 in the fifth over. Misbah added 64 for the fifth wicket with Al-Amin, then a fast-paced 80 with Thisara Perera but when Amir removed both off consecutive deliveries, even Misbah thought it was over.”I think he won in that moment,” Misbah said. “He bowled a really good yorker, I was set and I missed that. This is what people are here to watch. Amir bowled well with the new ball. He had good pace and variations. In the 19th over he would have won the game for his team. Good to see him bowling like [he did today].”Amir started off with a maiden before taking the first two wickets – Lendl Simmons caught at mid-off and Soumya Sarkar dubiously given out leg-before – off consecutive deliveries in his second over. He was hard to get away, especially when he kept zooming in the full ball.Chittagong Vikings captain Tamim Iqbal, who felt that his team were 10-20 runs short and suffered through Asif Ahmed’s two dropped catches, was delighted to see Amir bowl with such verve.”He bowled brilliantly,” Tamim said. “I was looking forward to seeing him bowl. I am sure he will get better and better each day. He was playing a game like this after a long time. I think he was a bit nervous but it will get better for him. He has been taking wickets back in Pakistan. He was playing T20s after a long time.”Misbah said that he always knew that, with Thisara and Sammy waiting in the wings, Rangpur had a chance despite falling behind halfway through their chase.”We just wanted to play 20 overs, and that’s what I was telling Al-Amin,” Misbah said. “He was playing well at that time. We had Thisara and Sammy in the end, so we knew what capabilities they have when it comes to hitting the ball.”Even if we needed 80 runs in five overs, we were confident. Here 15 runs an over is chaseable when you have set batsmen. Once you have that big over, you have to keep in mind which bowler has how many overs left. If we can plan that, we can win games.”

James Foster’s late heroics carried Essex to a barely credible tie in a rain-affected Royal London Cup match.

ECB Reporters Network12-Jun-2016
ScorecardJames Foster’s late hitting kept Essex afloat (file photo)•Getty Images

James Foster’s late heroics carried Essex to a barely credible tie in a rain-affected Royal London Cup match.Essex had looked dead and buried when the ninth wicket fell with four overs remaining and 38 runs required. They still required 26 off the last two and 16 off the last, but with Foster seeing the ball like a football they clawed their way to a share of a thrilling contest.Wicketkeeper Alex Barrow gave Essex hope when he let past four byes from the first ball of the final over. Foster hit a four off the second ball and, after two dot balls, thumped a massive six over cow corner from the fifth ball. Then Foster and Matt Quinn scampered a bye to the wicketkeeper off the last ball as the rain returned.Foster finished with an unbeaten 75 off 50 balls, including eight fours and three sixes. He scored all the runs in a last-wicket stand of 37.Under Duckworth-Lewis calculations, Essex had been set a target of 177 – two runs less than Somerset had posted – in a match reduced first to 47 overs and then to 29 because of the weather.It initially looked as if Somerset’s Adam Hose was going to be the match-winner. The 23-year-old, who has yet to make a first-class appearance for Somerset, hit 77 off 83 balls, with 10 fours, to beat his previous List A best by 31 runs.Hose shared a third-wicket stand of 141 in exactly 20 overs with his captain Jim Allenby after Essex put the visitors in.When Essex batted, the heart was ripped out of their batting by a hostile opening spell by Tim Groenewald, who took three for 30, aided by Lewis Gregory, who snapped up two wickets in two balls and finished with four for 23.Just three overs were possible in the morning before rain stopped play, the fielders departing straight after David Masters claimed the prized scalp of Johannes Myburgh, caught at wide mid-off low down by Ravi Bopara for 7.When they resumed nearly three hours later, Peter Trego lasted just five balls on his 35th birthday before he got a massive edge to Masters and was caught at third man by Graham Napier.Hose and Allenby steadied the Somerset ship and then accelerated mid-innings. Hose grew in confidence the longer he batted and went past his previous highest List A score of 46 with a cut for four off Ryan ten Doeschate. He reached his half-century from 62 balls with a push through midwicket off Matt Quinn.Soon after, Allenby reached a 40-ball fifty when a single into the offside off ten Doeschate also brought up the century partnership in 15.4 overs. Later, he chipped Napier over Dan Lawrence’s head on the midwicket boundary for six as Somerset piled on the runs.Allenby fell on 68 when Bopara ran round at cow corner to take the catch sprawling on the ground 10 yards inside the boundary. The captain had batted, in all, for 52 balls and hit five fours and two sixes. Hose departed five runs later when he clipped Napier to Nick Browne at deep midwicket.James Hildreth had almost perished the ball before when Quinn dropped him at long-on. But Napier claimed a second wicket in the over when he bowled Hildreth before Bopara had Lewis Gregory chasing a wide delivery to be caught behind.Somerset lost six wickets while adding 22 late runs with Bopara mopping up with two in the final over for personal figures of 3 for 49. Jesse Ryder took a fine running catch on the midwicket boundary to dismiss Jamie Overton and substitute fielder Callum Taylor accounted for the other Overton, Craig, off a skier.Essex’s reply got off to a terrible start when Browne scooped the ball straight back into Groenewald’s hands in the first over.The South African then claimed wickets in each of his next two overs, having Ryder caught at second slip by Allenby and Tom Westley spooning a catch to Jamie Overton at mid-on.In the next over Lewis Gregory gained lbw decisions against Lawrence and ten Doeschate in successive balls to reduce Essex to 36 for 5.Bopara and Ashar Zaidi doubled the score in eight overs without ever being in control, before Zaidi was caught behind at the second attempt by Alex Barrow. Bopara didn’t last much longer, holing out tamely to Gregory at mid-on for 19.Foster, however, served notice of his fighting spirit when he lofted Jamie Overton over midwicket for successive sixes before reaching a 33-ball fifty. Napier had helped Foster put on 48 for the eighth wicket in 5.3 overs before misjudging a ball from Gregory to Craig Overton at mid-on.Masters gave Gregory his fourth wicket by squirting a catch to silly mid-on, but it did nothing to dampen Foster’s late pyrotechnics.

Brendon McCullum did not mention “match-fixing” in a statement relating to an approach made to him by Chris Cairns, according to John Rhodes, the Australasian head of the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU)

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2015Brendon McCullum did not mention “match-fixing” in a statement relating to an approach made to him by Chris Cairns, according to John Rhodes, the Australasian head of the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU).Cairns, who is on trial at Southwark Crown Court in London and denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice, was claimed to have discussed spot-fixing during a meeting with McCullum in a Kolkata hotel room in 2008.However, according to Rhodes, to whom McCullum admitted the approach three years later following an ICC anti-corruption briefing, the New Zealand captain’s statement in February 2011 mentioned a “business proposition” but did not include an explicit reference to match-fixing.Orlando Pownall, QC, Cairns’ defence lawyer, read extracts from McCullum’s statement to the court: “We had a general conversation and then after about half an hour he [Cairns] asked me if I knew anything about spread betting. I told him that I didn’t. I initially thought he was taking the piss.”Cairns then started to explain using a pen and paper: “He was telling me you can make a great deal of money. He told me you could make between US$80,000 to US$250,000 a day. He told me that he had never done it on an international match.”Pownall put it to Rhodes that the conversation between McCullum and Cairns concerned betting, not an approach for McCullum to underperform in a particular match.Rhodes responded: “The inference is in the statement. It is clear to me that an approach is being made by Mr Cairns to Mr McCullum.””To fix matches or to underperform?” asked Pownall.”Yes,” said Rhodes.”Where does it say that?” Pownall continued, to which Rhodes replied: “It doesn’t.”When asked why he had not requested McCullum clarify what he meant, Rhodes stated he was not “in a position to put words” into his mouth.The ACSU, Pownall suggested, had done “nothing” in response to McCullum’s statement, although Rhodes said that, as an unsanctioned tournament, the Indian Cricket League (ICL) was beyond the jurisdiction of the ICC.The allegations, Pownall suggested, were “potentially momentous”. However, Rhodes argued that without corroboration from any other source they remained unsubstantiated.Rhodes added that he had “no reason” to believe McCullum had not been telling the truth. However, he said that as a field officer, his job was simply to collect information – it was up to his superiors to investigate his findings.Rhodes recalled that McCullum had met him in Nagpur, along with his then-captain, Daniel Vettori, whom Rhodes stated did not contribute to the meeting and had been attending to provide support for McCullum.However, under cross-examination, Rhodes was shown a statement made by Vettori in February 2014, in which he said he had asked Cairns to buy him a diamond ring with the money he was owed for undertaking a promotional tour for an Indian toothpaste company after the Champions Trophy in 2011.Asked why his evidence had omitted this detail, Rhodes said that he did not recall Vettori’s comment. “What I am saying is that if Mr Vettori is saying to me that he said that to me in Nagpur, then I will accept that.”Rhodes told the court that he had not made any notes of that conversation, adding that he had lost his diary for 2011. He also admitted that he had not made a note of McCullum’s request that New Zealand Cricket should not be told he was making a statement.Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the current chairman of the ACSU, also gave evidence. He denied that Cairns had been made a scapegoat to deflect media criticism into his unit’s lack of success in tackling corruption.”Corners were cut, normal action was left to one side with a view to achieving the scalp of Chris Cairns,” Pownall suggested.Flanagan replied, “absolutely not”, adding: “If scalp turns out to be an appropriate description, I think it is an absolute tragedy.”The trial continues.

Paul Grayson has been confirmed as Essex coach until the end of the season after the club’s general committee overwhelmingly resisted a recommendation from new cricket chairman chairman Ronnie Irani to remove him

David Hopps18-Aug-2015Paul Grayson, Essex’s beleaguered coach, has been confirmed in the role until the end of the season as the club’s general committee has overwhelmingly resisted a recommendation from the new cricket chairman Ronnie Irani to remove him immediately from the post.The debate about Grayson’s future could hardly have been more disruptively timed, coming only a few days before Essex’s NatWest quarter-final against Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston which was duly lost in one of their most disappointing displays of the season.The committee, clearly wary of a repeat, voted in Chelmsford on Monday to delay their decision on Grayson’s future, even as Essex travelled to their final Royal London Cup group match against Sussex at Hove, another season-defining match in which victory would ensure them of a home quarter-final.Grayson has supervised consistently excellent displays in limited-overs cricket since taking charge in 2008 with Essex second only to Hampshire in the number of victories in one-day cricket in that time. But while Hampshire have gone on to win trophies, Essex have repeatedly faltered in the final stages, encouraging Irani to press for change soon after being elected to the role last month.It is the timing of the recommendation that has brought most unease, although in some ways that was unavoidable. Grayson was anxious to determine his future before the end of the season after the decision of the former cricket committee chairman, Graham Saville, to step down after 27 years in the role naturally introduced a period of reassessment within the county.Grayson, it is interesting to note, is one year into an official three-year plan in which it was made clear that the priority was to secure a one-day trophy and reshape a young Championship side based on home grown players. That commitment has been followed to the letter with a whole host of debutants given an opportunity to prove their worth for a county that lacks the pace bowling depth to sustain a serious challenge.Irani sounded more ambitious, stating upon taking office: ” We need to try to get into division one of the County Championship. We’ve fallen short of that for quite a few years now. We have to change and we have to improve massively.”We have an immensely talented group of individuals and it is fair to say that at this moment in time we have underachieved in the last seven or eight years.”We are still talented and it is great to see young players coming through like Nick Browne, Tom Westley and Jamie Porter. We have to make sure we keep doing that, while getting Essex back to the level that we were in years gone by, knocking on doors and trying to win trophies.”At this moment in time Paul is the head coach and we have to respect that position until the cricket committee decide on anything different.”Quite how much Grayson can be blamed for a prolonged failure to reach Division One of the Championship is a question worth asking. As a coach, as opposed to a director of cricket, his powers have remained limited, much against the trend in the county game and Essex’s budget is considerably lower.Essex still have one of the most traditional structures in county cricket with the outgong cricket chairman Saville, a former England U19 coach, and captain, James Foster, having had most influence on the big cricketing decisions. That way of doing things is unlikely to change.

The MI franchise in the CSA T20 league is the first to announce its list of signings before the auction

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2022MI Cape Town – Mumbai Indians’ franchise in the upcoming CSA T20 league – have announced Rashid Khan, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada and Dewald Brevis as their five signings ahead of the player auction.As per the league’s rules, each of the six franchises will get to pre-sign five players – three overseas, one South Africa international player and one uncapped South African player – prior to the auction, and MI Cape Town are the first team to announce their list of players.”I’m excited as we begin our journey in building MI Cape Town,” Akash Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Jio, the owners of MI Cape Town, said. “With our direct player signings, we have taken the first step towards building the MI philosophy – having a strong core around which the team will be planned. I am glad to welcome Rashid, Kagiso, Liam, Sam, to the #OneFamily and happy to have Dewald continue with us on this new journey.”On Wednesday, the CSA league had announced that it had signed over 30 marquee players and that each squad could have 17 players on their roster.While no other team has announced signings yet, it has been confirmed that Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, David Miller, Eoin Morgan, Jason Holder, Jason Roy and many others will participate in the league. While Livingstone and Buttler will earn $US500,000 each, Moeen will take home $400,000, du Plessis 350,000 and the likes of Rabada, de Kock, Miller, Morgan and Curran will get $300,000 each.So far 11 England names have signed up for the league – the largest overseas representation – followed by 10 from Sri Lanka. As expected, there are no Pakistani names in the list.The CSA release on Wednesday also said the auction would take place “in the next few weeks” before the league begins in January 2023. All six franchises of the league have been bought by groups that own teams in the IPL and the league is likely to allow four overseas players in the playing XI with no requirements for transformation as of now.

He insists that the final won’t be about Muzumdar vs Pandit and wants the spotlight to be firmly on the players

Shashank Kishore21-Jun-2022The Mumbai team haven’t had lengthy meetings. There have been no long messages or speeches either. Players have been left to prepare the way they want to and figure out what works best for them and what doesn’t. This doesn’t mean the players have been left to fend for themselves. It’s just a way to make players more responsible for their own actions.Amol Muzumdar, the man guiding them, has seen it all during a two-decade-long first-class career. Even as a player, he invariably played the role of a mentor towards the end of his career, especially once he left Mumbai to play for Assam and Andhra. He has also been involved with Netherlands, South Africa and in the IPL with Rajasthan Royals. Much of his coaching philosophy is born from his varied experiences in cricket.Muzumdar is clear this is not about him. He has won the Ranji Trophy as a captain and has been part of several title-winning teams. His opposite number, Chandrakant Pandit, has had a tremendous track record as coach, plotting title wins with Mumbai and Vidarbha in the past. Now, he is looking to shepherd Madhya Pradesh to their first title.Muzumdar and Pandit are old friends and team-mates. The mutual respect is evident, but the competitive streak hasn’t been lost. Muzumdar is mindful of not wanting to make this Mumbai vs Pandit or Muzumdar vs Pandit, as tempting as it may be to hype up the match along those lines.”It’s all about the players,” he stated firmly on the eve of the match. “Of course, every team has its own engine room, but at the same time the main focus has to be the players. He [Pandit] is a proven customer. This is my first season [as coach]; his must be the umpteenth season. I wouldn’t like to compare. He has been there, done that.”Muzumdar spelt out his priorities clearly the day he was appointed head coach in June 2021. “Getting back on track in red-ball cricket” was written in bold. Through the course of a Covid-shortened season, the focus was on building a core group of young players who could serve Mumbai cricket for many years to come. And so far, the signs are promising.This will be Mumbai’s first appearance in a Ranji final since 2016-17•Special Arrangement

“When I took up this job, all the entire association asked about was getting back in red-ball cricket,” he said. “That was our main focus. Coming so far, we’ve slightly tried to achieve that. Credit to the boys, they’re on track. Red-ball cricket was a concern for everyone from Mumbai. Looking at the last five-six years, even you guys [journalists] must have thought so.”But the guys have done splendidly well. The focus was on how to get gen-next hooked on to deliver in Ranji Trophy. With this kind of performance, we’re pushing towards it. I am certain these guys would serve Mumbai for a long time.”Yashasvi Jaiswal has only featured in three first-class games but has already racked up three hundreds. Prithvi Shaw’s talent has never been in question; he remains the “leader of the pack” even if his temperament for long-form cricket and technical adjustments remain focus areas.Suved Parkar missed out on a chance to represent India at the Under-19 World Cup two years ago but comes into the final with a reputation of being a marathon batter, much like Muzumdar. Then there’s Armaan Jaffer, a prolific age-group run-getter who has finally brought all that promise to the first-class level with a maiden century in the semi-finals.Sarfaraz Khan’s form has been pandemic-proof; he leads this shortened season’s run-charts by a mile with 803 runs in seven innings, including three hundreds. He is 297 runs ahead of Rajat Patidar, his nearest competitor in the final. This hunger for big runs in the dressing room augurs well for the future. Muzumdar underlines the culture and “processes” – that boring cliche – for helping bring about a change in mindset that first-class cricket is as important as the IPL.”I personally believe it is about the process and culture you have in the dressing room and automatically players will buy into that,” he said. “We’ve tried to do that, almost all of the [players] have bought into the future. Yes, IPL is a culture where people go in and play but they shouldn’t forget their roots, which is domestic cricket.”

Callum Jackson answered Kent’s emergency call for a wicketkeeper in Cardiff. He travelled from Kent on Tuesday night to deputise for Adam Rouse who has a broken finger which needs an operation

ECB Reporters Network22-Jun-2016
ScorecardAneurin Donald made runs during a dreary final day•Getty Images

Callum Jackson, who was released by Sussex last year because of financial cutbacks, answered Kent’s emergency call for a wicketkeeper in Cardiff. He travelled from Kent on Tuesday night to deputise for Adam Rouse who has a broken finger which needs an operation.There was little prospect of a result to the game once 104.1 overs had been lost during the first two days, with both teams content with bonus points, although Glamorgan, despite their 12 points, remain at the bottom of Division 2.Had the weather not intervened, there could have been an interesting final day, with Kent chasing a target on a pitch that favoured the seamers.Callum Jackson•ECB

Glamorgan resumed on 22 for 0 on the final morning, but added only seven runs before Jacques Rudolph again failed, pulling a short delivery from Mitchell Claydon to the fielder stationed on the long leg boundary. Mark Wallace, another senior batsman in need of runs, mixed caution with aggression to add 52 with Will Bragg- before Bragg was bowled by Matt Coles for 22. Wallace went on to score 52 with seven fours, until he touched one to Jackson.Callum Jackson•ECB

Chris Cooke quickly followed, leg before playing across a delivery from Claydon, who then dismissed David Lloyd three balls later with the combined efforts of three fielders; the batsman edged the ball to fourth slip who diverted to third slip and eventually to Tom Latham at second slip who held on to spare his colleagues’ blushes.Aneurin Donald and Graham Wagg then averted a total collapse by adding 80 for the sixth wicket, with Donald, scoring an attractive 67- his third championship fifty of the season- from 68 balls with nine boundaries. Wagg went on to score his second fifty of the game, exceed 500 runs for the third successive season, being particularly severe on James Tredwell’s off spin whom he struck for 22 in one over.He was undefeated on 64, and now needs only 42 more runs to become Glamorgan’s leading run scorer in the championship this season .Both teams shook hands at 4.55pm when Glamorgan declared at 279 for 6- a lead of 348.Rudolph was pleased by his team’s overall performance- especially the two seamers Michael Hogan and Timm Van Der Gugten- and felt that” had we not lost so much time because of the weather, we could have won the game. But we are on an upward curve, and we are not far away from that championship win.”Kent captain Sam Northeast said that “after two weeks of white ball cricket, we found it tough to adjust, and we were not clinical enough after reducing them to 137 for 6 in the first innings but I was happy as they progressed from then on”.

James Anderson could be ruled out of the remainder of the Investec Ashes after being forced off the field at Edgbaston with an apparent side strain

George Dobell30-Jul-2015James Anderson could be ruled out of the remainder of the Investec Ashes after being forced off the field at Edgbaston with an apparent side strain.Anderson, England’s record wicket taker, was two balls into his ninth over when he clutched his side after delivery. While he bowled one more ball, he then pulled up in his run-up and left the field. His over was completed by Joe Root.The ECB released a statement on Twitter confirming that Anderson had a “tight side” and would be “assessed overnight”. That means he will be sent for a scan with any firm decision about his future involvement delayed until the results are known. The fourth Test begins at Trent Bridge next Thursday.”I’ve heard nothing yet,” said Steven Finn, who was England’s best bowler on the day with five wickets. “Obviously pulling up halfway through an over for someone like Jimmy, he wouldn’t go off if it wasn’t hurting.”He’s a huge player for us. He is the leader of our attack. He sets the tone with everything he does. Jimmy loves bowling at Trent Bridge, everyone knows that. If he was to miss it, it would be a big loss, but we don’t know yet.”The injury took the gloss off an otherwise wonderful day for England. While they are strong favourites to take a 2-1 lead, the loss of Anderson would be a major blow. Anderson has a superb record at Trent Bridge: he has taken 53 wickets in eight Tests on the ground at an average of 19.24. He claimed a 10-wicket haul in the last Ashes Test there in 2013 – one of two 10-wicket hauls he has at the venue – and has taken six five-wicket hauls there.If Anderson is unavailable, as looks likely, England will probably look to Mark Wood to take his place, though Mark Footitt and Chris Woakes may also be considered.England, meanwhile, only have eyes for tomorrow’s third day, when Australia will resume with a lead of 23 and three wickets in hand.”The game is most definitely still not won yet,” said Finn. “They’ve got guys to come in who can bat, there will still be pressure on tomorrow and we have to do a professional job.”