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The former England batsman will be the first non-Indian to speak at the lecture, a decision that has caused a lot of disagreement within the BCCI administration

Sidharth Monga18-May-2018Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen is set to become the first non-Indian cricketer to deliver the BCCI’s annual MAK Pataudi lecture, a decision that has resulted in dissatisfaction among the board’s office bearers.The previous five speakers at the lecture have been former Indian cricketers: Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Farokh Engineer.The BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhury criticised Saba Karim, the BCCIs general manager of cricket operations, for the development.”This last email on the trail by GM (Cricket Operations) and expression of happiness on it had left me wondering whether the Memorial Lecture was indeed MAK Pataudi Memorial Lecture or Sir Len Hutton Lecture or for that matter Sir Frank Woolley lecture,” Choudhury wrote.The long discussions – which ESPNcricinfo has seen – between Karim, the BCCI office bearers and the Committee of Administrators, which was appointed by the Supreme Court to oversee the functioning of the board, to choose the speaker had begun on May 10.Karim’s original shortlist of “former Test cricketers of stature who are currently involved as either commentators, coaches or administrators” had four names: Pietersen, Kumar Sangakkara, Sourav Ganguly and Nasser Hussain.The CoA had unanimously picked Sangakkara, but Choudhury expressed reservations over that choice. According to Choudhury, he and Karim had discussions in Bengaluru on the sidelines of the India selection meeting on May 8, when he had suggested the names of former India cricketers Nari Contractor, Chandu Borde, Erapalli Prasanna or Abbas Ali Baig to give the Pataudi lecture.”These cricketers have even the distinction of having played alongside Tiger Pataudi and if any of them agrees it could provide the much needed perspective on how cricket has evolved from those years of challenge,” Choudhury wrote. “As I understand Tiger Memorial Lecture is not an elocution contest and reasonable communication skills are all that we should look for. It is meant to bring to the fore the evolution of the game, what it meant to play for the country in the old days, the hardships of the time, challenges of the future, and the like. If that be the case, certainly once every few years an iconic cricketer of yore should find a place as the keynote speaker in the Memorial Lecture.”Vinod Rai, the chairman of the CoA, said Choudhury’s objection was a “non-issue” and instructed Karim to come back with other suggestions only if Sangakkara was unavailable. On May 14, Karim informed the others that Sangakkara was not available, and that Pietersen had agreed to deliver the lecture.The choice of Pietersen, and the lack of communication during the process, angered Choudhury, who then objected to the whole process: why the shortlist did not have his suggestions, why there was so much preference for non-Indians, why the speaker’s relevance to Pataudi was not explained, and why no authorisation was sought before speaking to Pietersen once Sangakkara was not available.A source in the BCCI, however, said the Pataudi lecture was never meant to be restricted to Indians. “Our endeavour was not to disregard or disrespect anybody but to raise the profile of the lecture,” the official said. “We wanted to get someone who is a global voice, who has a wider appeal, who is a friend of Indian cricket, who has experienced Indian cricket and can talk about it to the rest of the world.”The names given were in order of preference. We couldn’t go for Sourav because the last time his name came up there were objections that he was an administrator, and once Sangakkara was not available, the next logical choice was Pietersen. This is all a case of internal miscommunication, and not an attempt to exclude or disregard anybody.”

Pat Cummins has earned a recall to Test cricket soon after picking eight wickets on his Sheffield Shield return after nearly six years

Daniel Brettig11-Mar-20171:39

‘Lot more consistent now’ – Cummins

Australia’s intent to fight the Border-Gavaskar series to the finish has been made clear by the calculated gamble of selecting Pat Cummins to replace the injured Mitchell Starc for the last two Tests in India.Most of the focus on Cummins has been about ensuring he is fit to be considered for next summer’s home Ashes series, but a head-turning display for New South Wales on his Sheffield Shield return at the SCG this week has encouraged Trevor Hohns’ selection panel to call-up the fast man ahead of that more conservative schedule. Provided he acclimatises quickly he is every chance of being slotted straight into the team for the third Test in Ranchi.Starc had picked up a stress fracture in his right foot during the second Test in Bengaluru, and his exit has opened a path for Cummins to return to the Test squad for the first time since his memorable debut against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2011.That week Cummins bowled with high pace and precision to earn man of the match honours at the age of 18, also striking the winning runs to help the Australians secure a tense, two-wicket victory over the Proteas to level the series. He has returned older and wiser but once more at a juncture of high significance for the national team.Cummins took eight wickets on his return to Sheffield Shield this week, nearly six years after his last first-class appearance in the 2011 Sheffield Shield final. Figures of 4 for 57 and 4 for 47 in the Blues’ eight-wicket win over South Australia helped convince the newly reappointed selection panel that his ability to make an impact with speed and movement made him the ideal substitute for the explosive Starc.0:51

Quic Facts – Cummins back after missing 64 Tests

“In selecting Pat, we were looking for a strike bowling replacement option,” Hohns said. “Pat has impressed in his return to cricket this summer with consistent performances in his ODI, Twenty20 International and Big Bash matches. He has also had a very good Sheffield Shield return for New South Wales, after six years off, where he made a notable Shield best 4-57 in the first innings, before bettering those figures in the second innings with 4-47 in his man-of-the-match performance.”A raft of foot, side and back injuries in the wake of the 2011 Wanderers Test match caused Cricket Australia to take a longer view of Cummins, holding him out of Sheffield Shield and Test cricket while making use of him in the ODI and Twenty20 teams. His only first-class matches between 2011 and this year were for Australia A.Late last year, Australia’s captain Steven Smith was quizzed on whether it was feasible that he could be working with Cummins during the India Tests. While saying such a scenario was “possible”, Smith reserved judgment by saying “he’s obviously got to play some Shield cricket first and see how he goes”. One Shield match, and an unexpected chance to push India all the way on the current tour, have turned possibility into reality.

While Mohammad Shahid and Muktar Ali earned their maiden call-up for the remaining two T20Is, Taskin Ahmed was called-in as a replacement for the injured Mushfiqur Rahim

Mohammad Isam17-Jan-2016Bangladesh have included domestic batting sensation Mosaddek Hossain and pace bowlers Mohammad Shahid and Muktar Ali in their 14-man squad for the third and fourth T20s against Zimbabwe, in Khulna.While Shuvagata Hom, Al-Amin Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman were rested for the last two games, Mushfiqur Rahim was ruled out after picking up a hamstring injury during Sunday’s 42-run win. Taskin Ahmed, the pacer who last played for Bangladesh in June 2015, was named as his replacement.”Mushfiqur has strained his right hamstring while batting,” said Bayjedul Islam Khan, the team physio. “He will undergo a scan in Dhaka tomorrow (Monday). Usually it takes two to three weeks to recover from such injuries. However, we will be able to assess his condition better after receiving the scan report.”Meanwhile, the call-ups are a first for Mosaddek and Muktar in the Bangladesh set-up, while Shahid has also been picked in the T20 squad for the first time; he has already played five Tests for Bangladesh. Shahid and Mosaddek had been training with the Bangladesh team in Khulna since January 9 while Muktar joined a couple of days ago.Mosaddek became a known figure after hitting three double-hundreds in first-class cricket last year. Muktar is a utility all-round cricketer who predominantly bowls medium-pace. Mosaddek, Shahid and Muktar all played in the recently-concluded BPL, with Shahid the most successful performer among the three.The Bangladesh team management has been using the T20 series against Zimbabwe to try out new combinations for the upcoming Asia Cup T20 and World T20, in February and March.Bangladesh squad for the third and fourth T20s: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Arafat Sunny, Nurul Hasan, Mohammad Shahid, Abu Hider, Mosaddek Hossain, Muktar Ali, Taskin Ahmed

ESPNcricinfo presents the preview of the second ODI between Sri Lanka and South Africa in Colombo

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo22-Jul-2013

Match facts

Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Start time 1430 local (0900 GMT)AB de Villiers would want a much better South Africa performance•AFP

Big picture

After Saturday’s 180-run opening loss, South Africa captain AB de Villiers said his side would not spend time dissecting their performance, but would instead attempt to forget the match ever happened. With so many of their best players unavailable, perhaps that is not so bad a ploy. If South Africa’s touring party did not seem outmatched in these conditions when they landed, they certainly do now. It will take a great deal of belief and a little luck to overcome an opponent, who has their measure in skill and technical proficiency.The batsmen will reason they simply had a poor outing, and could not make their risks pay off with such a large total to chase, but foremost among the visitors’ woes must be their bowling at the death. The last 12 overs of Sri Lanka’s innings not only cost 137, but the South Africa attack also seemed incapable of adhering to any semblance of a plan. Yorkers were missed, often by a distance, and the fast men reverted to a puzzling Plan B of digging the ball in short, despite Kumar Sangakkara having clobbered plenty to the square-leg boundary throughout his innings.Before the match de Villiers spoke of the potential he saw in Chris Morris and Rory Kleinveldt, but with all his fast bowlers available for the second game, experience may mark the route to success.South Africa’s fielding was also uncharacteristically poor, with a straightforward chance at slip going down early in the innings, before a slew of ground-fielding errors surrendered free runs. Colombo’s sticky heat was blamed for the visitors’ general raggedness, but in 2013, an unfamiliar climate hardly serves as an adequate excuse for top-level sportsmen. South Africa are capable of being the best fielding side in the world on their day, and de Villiers will hope they have adapted to the heat after a week on the island.Sri Lanka are not without their own troubles, and for many spectators, Lahiru Thirimanne’s unease at the crease even as Sangakkara unleashed mayhem at the other end, epitomised the gulf in class between Sri Lanka’s senior players and its youngsters. Thirimanne is batting out of position and lacks the power to perform the finishing role, but he and Dinesh Chandimal must take quickly to the roles they have been assigned, because it is unlikely they will bat in the top order as long as the veterans still take guard.

Form guide

(most recent first, last five completed matches)
Sri Lanka: WLLWW
South Africa: LLTWL

Players to watch

Rangana Herath has not always been a part of Sri Lanka’s limited-overs plans in the last two years, but he struck thrice for 25 runs in the first match and has asserted himself as his team’s best option in ODIs as well as Tests, in the last five months. He has a good record against South Africa, and with Sri Lanka opting for only one frontline slow-bowling option, he needs his spells to be impactful ones.Morne Morkel had been in doubt for the first match, but took two wickets for 32 from ten overs, while his quick-bowling colleagues traveled at almost seven and nine an over. De Villiers bowled Morkel out in the 44th over, but may hold him back for the final melee on Tuesday, and perhaps Morkel can provide some respite at the death for South Africa.

Pitch and conditions

Unseasonal rain continues to douse Colombo, and South Africa’s training session on the eve of the match was interrupted by a downpour. More rain is expected early afternoon on Tuesday, but should clear off in time to allow a match, if only a curtailed one. The pitch is the same strip that saw just under 82 overs on Saturday, and is likely to play slower, particularly as the evening wears on.

Team news

Sri Lanka are unlikely to make any changes, with most of their team having fired. Having not been required with the bat on Saturday, Jehan Mubarak will likely get another game.Sri Lanka (probable): 1. Upul Tharanga, 2. Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3. Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4. Mahela Jayawardene, 5. Lahiru Thirimanne, 6. Dinesh Chandimal (capt), 7. Jehan Mubarak, 8. Thisara Perera, 9. Rangana Herath, 10. Lasith Malinga, 11. Shaminda ErangaHashim Amla has not been fully cleared of neck spasms, but de Villiers was hopeful he would play, while Lonwabo Tsotsobe is said to be fully fit. Chris Morris will likely make way for Tsotsobe, while Colin Ingram may make room atop the order for Amla. Both frontline spinners are also likely to get another game.South Africa (probable): 1. Hashim Amla, 2. Alviro Petersen. 3. JP Duminy, 4. AB de Villiers (capt & wk), 5. Faf du Plessis, 6. David Miller, 7. Robin Peterson, 8. Ryan McLaren, 9. Aaron Phangiso, 10. Morne Morkel, 11. Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Stats and trivia

• Rangana Herath, set to play his 50th ODI, is two short of 50 wickets
• South Africa have now lost their last 10 ODIs against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka – a dry spell that stretches all the way back to 1993
  

  Quotes

  “We’re certainly not the best fielding team in the world yet. I’d like us to be and we’ve got the potential, but it’s frustrating to see us field like we did in the first match. The heat is not an excuse, but it was something new to the guys. In this game they will know what to expect.”
  “I was successful as a captain in the last match , but you can’t judge a captain by just one game. There are more matches to come.”

India captain MS Dhoni has said Irfan Pathan showing signs form during the first ODI against Sri Lanka was a big advantage for his team, and would help lend balance to the XI

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2012India captain MS Dhoni has said Irfan Pathan showing signs of form during the first ODI against Sri Lanka was a big advantage for his team, and would help lend balance to the XI.”One good positive was Irfan Pathan doing well,” Dhoni said after the match. “Without [Ravindra] Jadeja or Yuvraj [Singh], it is difficult to make the side balanced in both departments, so this was important.”Irfan, whose patchy form with the ball has seen him in and out of the team recently, was a last-minute addition to the squad for the Sri Lanka tour, after Vinay Kumar was ruled out with injury last week. Here, opening the bowling with Zaheer Khan, he got the ball to swing both ways and struck with his second ball, getting rid of Tillakaratne Dilshan lbw. At the end of his first spell, his figures read 6-1-20-1, and India already had a firm grip on the scoring rate.India’s bowling in the end overs, however, Dhoni said, still needed to be better. “It was a good learning experience for the younger bowlers. Zak [Zaheer] was good. [But] The death bowling for us needs to improve.”In the chase of 315, Sri Lanka had come into the final 10 overs needing 112 runs, before centurion Kumar Sangakkara and No. 8 Thisara Perera – with 44 off 28 balls – knocked off quick runs to give Sri Lanka hope. Though Sri Lanka eventually fell 21 short, they had scored just over 100 runs in 11 overs, after being 191 for 6 in 39th.Leaving it too late in the chase, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said, was his team’s mistake. “We’ve got some big-hitters at the end, but we left too much for them to do. Too many mistakes, against a quality side like India.”It was important for us to set up a platform and [so] Sanga [Sangakkara] was trying to build an innings. [But] We never had momentum going into the last 10 overs. We’ll try to refocus and come back strong.”Earlier, Dhoni had won a rare toss and, he said, he was pleased to do so since the conditions were against Sri Lanka in the chase. “This was one game where I felt the toss would be crucial,” he said. “In the second innings, there was variable bounce and it was a little difficult to bat on.”

The 2011-12 Ranji Trophy Super League, India’s premier first-class domestic competition, will begin on November 3, the tours, programmes and fixtures committee of the BCCI has announced

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2011The 2011-12 Ranji Trophy Super League, India’s premier first-class domestic competition, will begin on November 3, the tours, programmes and fixtures committee of the BCCI has announced. The tournament’s league stage will end on December 24, with the knock-out rounds slated between January 2 and 23, 2012. The second-tier of the Ranji Trophy, the Plate division, will run parallel to the Super League, with the winners of the semi-finals qualifying for the knock-out stages of the main event.The Indian domestic season kicks off on September 1, with the Raj Singh Dungapur Trophy for corporates. The eight-day, 50-overs tournament will be played in Vishakhapatnam, Chennai and Bangalore. Reigning Ranji champions Rajasthan will take on Rest of India in the Irani Cup match from October 1 in Jaipur, which will be followed by the one-day Challenger Trophy in Nagpur from October 10.The Duleep Trophy will be on from January 27, followed by the Vijay Hazare Trophy – the inter-state one-day competition – from February 20 to March 12. The zonal one-day competition, the Deodhar Trophy will begin on March 16.The inter-state Twenty20 knock-out competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy scheduled between March 23 and 27, will round-off the season. Qualifiers for the knock-outs will be held in September-October this year.

Ranji Trophy groups:

Super League, Group A: Rajasthan, Karnataka, Mumbai, Railways, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Saurashtra, Orissa
Super League, Group B: Baroda, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, Bengal, Madhya Pradesh
Plate, Group A: Andhra Pradesh, Services, Kerala, Vidarbha, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura
Plate, Group B: Maharashtra, Goa, Hyderabad, Jharkhand, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir

Gareth Cross smashed a six off the penultimate ball to give Lancashire Lightning a dramatic Friends Provident t20 victory over Warwickshire Bears at Old Trafford

20-Jun-2010

ScorecardTom Smith anchored Lancashire’s chase with a calm half century•Getty Images

Gareth Cross smashed a six off the penultimate ball to give Lancashire Lightning a dramatic Friends Provident t20 victory over Warwickshire Bears at Old Trafford.Despite a half-century from Tom Smith Lancashire still needed 12 from seven balls chasing the visitors’ 126 for six when the wicketkeeper strode to the middle. He despatched the first delivery for four and after Keith Barker conceded just two off the first four balls of the final over, Cross sent the second ball he faced sailing over the boundary to wrap up a five-wicket win and condemn the Bears to only their second North Division defeat.Lightning had struggled to chase totals during defeats to Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and although Imran Tahir claimed three for 18 they were always up with the rate. Paul Horton (23) shook off a blow to the chin from Neil Carter to smash a six and a four in three balls off Chris Woakes in the second over.He and Smith worked the spinners well and put on 48 before Horton was bowled trying to sweep Tahir in the spinner’s first over. The leg-spinner then struck with the last ball of his next two overs as Stephen Moore was stumped by Tim Ambrose for three and Steven Croft holed out to Darren Maddy for five.But Smith kept his head with his fifth score over 40 in seven matches. He and Simon Katich took Lancashire to the verge of victory before the Australian holed out to Maddy for 17 at the end of the 18th over with 14 still needed.But when Smith was trapped lbw by Carter off the last ball of the following over Lancashire were 115 for five and needed Cross’ last-ditch heroics to see them over the line. Only Jim Troughton had any significant impact with the bat for the Bears making an unbeaten 42 off 34 balls.Having decided to bat they were put under pressure with some tight bowling from Nathan McCullum and Smith – restricting them to just 12 runs off the first three overs. Sajid Mahmood then struck with the second ball of the fourth over and Katich took the first of three catches as Jonathan Trott went for just four.Carter and Maddy tried to up the rate, with Maddy hitting McCullum for the only six of the innings. But spin proved the undoing of the pair as Stephen Parry first bowled Carter for 20 in his first over and then Simon Kerrigan struck twice in two balls.The 21-year-old got Maddy with his second ball thanks to a great full-length diving catch by Katich at backward point. He then trapped Varun Chopra lbw first ball as Warwickshire slumped to 63 for 4. Croft continued an impressive display in the field for Lancashire as he took a tough catch to dismiss Rikki Clarke off Glen Chapple. And Katich claimed the last of his victims to get Ambrose off the first ball of the final over, leaving Mahmood with 2 for 27.

India captain provided the star turn with the ball, and his captaincy, as his team defended 137

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-20244:05

Takeaways – Suryakumar the captiain as funky as the batter

It was 30 needed off 30 balls again and India still pulled it off and like at the T20 World Cup final a month ago, Suryakumar Yadav was one of their heroes. Only this time he did it as bowler of the 20th over, where he defended five runs by picking up two wickets.Sri Lanka’s batting has been extremely brittle in this T20I series. They collapsed three times in three games – 9 for 30, then 7 for 31 and finally 7 for 22. Tuesday’s debacle would hurt particularly badly because they lost two wickets to Rinku Singh in the 19th over. He had only ever bowled 60 deliveries in his entire T20 career, which began way back in 2014. And two more wickets fell with the captain taking the ball. He’d only bowled twice in the last five years across first-class, List A and T20 cricket.Suryakumar’s inventiveness as captain – trusting two brand new bowlers to bowl the last two overs – pushed the game into a Super Over, where he hit the winning runs. At the presentation, he said he fully believed the win was possible even though India had only 137 on the board.”More than the last over, I feel when we were around 30 for 4 and 48 for 5, how the boys showed character in the middle and took the game away from them, I felt 140 was par score on that track and the way they batted. When we were going in during our fielding sessions, I told them I had seen such kinds of games. I think if we put our heart in for one, one-and-a-half hours we can pull it off.”All three games offered spin-friendly conditions which Suryakumar might have factored into his calculations because his bowling the 20th over was far from the plan.”It was fun,” Riyan Parag said, “And that’s why actually we didn’t feel the nerves. We planned it in such a fun way, it was very spontaneous, Rinku bowling the 19th over. I was pretty sure Siraj was going to bowl the last over but then Surya just came on to bowl and got it to a Super Over. So I think everyone was pretty chill. We were having fun. That’s one of our motto as well. We are being ruthless but we have fun and enjoy the game and that’s why we were able to pull this off today.”The specialist bowlers did their job too. Washington Sundar took two wickets in two balls in the 17th over, dismissing the Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka and their premier allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga to create chaos in the chase. Then he fronted up for the Super Over and took two wickets in two balls there as well.”I guess all work I’ve done, and a lot of blessings from God definitely helped me,” Washington said. “I just wanted to try and stay calm and just focus on what I’m supposed to do and very grateful to Surya especially to throw the ball to me in that [Super Over] situation.”We did a bit of homework against their batsmen. Obviously, there was a little bit of purchase in the wicket as well, so I didn’t really have to do too much. I just had to hit the right lengths often. The rest was there.”Suryakumar’s willingness to try unorthodox things was on show even in previous games, when he turned to Parag’s part-time spin to bowl in the death overs in previous games. Parag is actually India’s second most used bowler of the series (9.2 overs), behind only Ravi Bishnoi (12 overs). He was particularly pleased with the way his legbreaks are coming out.”I’ve been working on it,” Parag said. “Its taken some time. I’ve tried it out in domestic games. I had a few net sessions prior to the tournament and it was coming out pretty well. I just expressed myself. Surya said just go for it. I bowled it with a free hand and it turned out pretty well.”Parag’s plan in the third T20I, where he bowled four overs for 27 runs was simple. “It’s always easy to get carried away when its turning so much so the goal and the ideology behind todays’ bowling was to keep it stump to stump, get a lot of revs behind the ball and the wicket was helping so I didn’t really have to do much. I just had to hit the right areas. And then Rinku and Surya at the end [laughs]”

“It’s designed for Marnus and Smith,” says veteran seamer of latest action tweak

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Apr-2023Stuart Broad, bopping around Lord’s in Nottinghamshire stash. Stuart Broad posting candid shots of a ground he’s playing at for the 29th time in his career to his Instagram story. Stuart Broad, commuting in from Wimbledon, on the underground for the first two days of this fixture with Middlesex, and probably again on Sunday after driving in on Saturday, given it’s the London Marathon. He’ll take a view in the morning.For those that lament county cricket’s loss of quaintness, Broad has spent the last three days embodying the modern oddities it still harbours. And he made a clear distinction that, whatever tweeness remains in this thing we all care for, imperfections and all, it does not need to be dismissed as irreverent whimsy. Everything that happened counted, everything that happened mattered.With 4 for 68, the veteran England seamer led Nottinghamshire to a 90-run first-innings lead which swelled to 248 by stumps. Through 22 overs, the 36-year-old stepped up his tapering for an international schedule of six Tests across seven weeks – two of them back here at Lord’s – with an Ashes series in full view for one of its recurring main characters.Having picked up Pieter Malan with the final ball on Friday, Broad’s gutting of a spluttering Middlesex engine room contained nuggets of things to come. Most notably an outswinger brought about by technical changes workshopped with Notts bowling coach Kevin Shine – primarily through holding his bowling hand higher to allow smoother flow into release.Last week’s uprooting of Cameron Bancroft’s off stump was exactly this, leaving Broad encouraged at its development. It is a developing weapon in his armoury with other, higher-profile Australians in its sights.”It’s designed, to be honest, for Marnus [Labuschagne] and [Steve] Smith,” Broad said. “It’s the reason I wanted to change something, to try and bring their outside edge in more.”My stock delivery will always be wobble seam trying to nip back on off stump, because I think that’s the most dangerous ball. But to those guys, I think dragging them across with away swing is important. So this action tweak is pretty much designed at those two, and it was good to see it really swinging away today.”Bar a yorker to Luke Hollman that swung into the left-hander to trap him lbw, the delivery was mostly a prop, dragging the odd right-hander outside off stump with a 2023 Dukes ball far better than 2022’s. “It couldn’t be any worse, to be honest,” Broad said.At present, he is down for two more Championship matches before the Ireland Test at the start of June. Notts have the next round off, before hosting Lancashire and Essex at Trent Bridge. James Anderson, currently toiling on a flat one against Somerset, messaged Broad on Saturday with an early request for a green seamer. Alas, for all Broad’s pull, that decision rests in someone else’s hands. But the aims of doing right for Notts and himself – and England – run parallel over the next month.”Four feels like a good number,” Broad said, “to try and make a good impact for Notts but also to get workloads where I want them to be. I wanted to backload quite a few overs in this period because of the Ashes.”No bowler’s going to play six games in seven weeks. I want to be able to have that workload to fall back on that if I miss two weeks Test cricket, say, or three weeks, when I get my chance I’m good to go.”The aim for the next 24 hours is to beat the rain before beating Middlesex. What looked an apocalyptic Sunday forecast seems to have dropped down a few grades in the last few hours, enough for Broad to focus on helping Notts to a second win in as many games. If, as expected, there is no play before 1pm, one imagines the visitors’ second innings won’t go beyond the 50.5 overs managed in the final half of day three.That they needed 82 overs to dismiss Middlesex in the first innings won’t bother them too much, particularly given that effort, at this juncture, is an anomaly. This was was the first time Middlesex have managed a batting point in five attempts, brought up by a full-blooded pull shot from their skipper. The bad news was Toby Roland-Jones’ boundary was more about desperation than fulfilling side quests as the hosts were nine down.A strong start of 111 for 2 was wasted when the final eight fell for just 163. The worst of it was a middle-order collapse of four for 51, as much instigated by Broad as batters wandering into traps loaded with obvious bait.Stephen Eskinazi and Max Holden, Broad’s second and third, were the most culpable, partly because of telegraphed tweaks in the field. Matt Mongomery asked skipper Steven Mullaney (stood at mid-off) if he had the right angle around the corner like a van driver being guided into a parking spot by a pedestrian. Haseeb Hameed almost brought out the spirit level when adopting a carpenter’s level of accuracy to ensure he was equidistant between the catchers at square leg and midwicket,Broad’s observation from years of bowling from the Pavilion End was how often the ball travels in the air through leg slip, which now seems to be a problem area for Eskinazi. The dismissal of Holden, as it happens, was the work of Ben Duckett, who recalled Holden’s penchant for an aerial flick in that region from their days together at Northamptonshire.Yet again, Ryan Higgins was responsible for instilling some credibility, though at least this time he could build upon Mark Stoneman’s 76, the end of which – lbw to Hutton – brought the allrounder to the crease. Higgins was unperturbed by the short stuff and clinical with anything full, and crunched a pull shot well in front of square on the legside for a sixth boundary to take him to a third half-century in five innings. An attempted late cut off the very next ball from Lyndon James saw him take out his own off stump.That “favour” was returned with interest when Higgins took out James’ leg stump at about 6.30pm, bowling the right-hander around his legs and drawing more enthusiasm from those remaining in the stands. It was a very necessary inroad, ending the most productive partnership of Nottinghamshire’s second innings on 45.By then, at 133 for 6, Nottinghamshire’s lead of 223 was spilling over into daunting for the hosts, particularly with Joe Clarke settling into a groove. The early loss of Duckett for 170 less than he managed in the first innings was a mini-victory and no less than Ethan Bamber deserved for a quality set of 14 overs for his 2 for 26.Likewise, Hollman’s legspinner through Ben Slater and the lbw of Clarke after he had registered his first half-century of the season, were moments of worthwhile retaliation from Middlesex.More will be required on Sunday, however much play the weather allows. To lose this match for three defeats from three would already be catastrophic for Middlesex’s Division One survival hopes. Rain would be their saviour.

Walton, Howell and Shamim make crucial batting contributions in 186 chase

Mohammad Isam12-Feb-2022How the match played outWill Jacks powered Chattogram Challengers to the BPL playoffs, getting the winning runs with a six over wide long-on in the final over against Sylhet Sunrisers. Chattogram won by four wickets, leaving the last playoffs place to be decided after the last game of the league phase between Khulna Tigers and Comilla Victorians.The 23-year old Jacks, who made an unbeaten 92 off 57 balls, not only dominated the Sylhet bowling attack but ensured that he put together important partnerships and stayed till the end of the steep 186-run chase.Jacks’ main partnership was with Chadwick Walton: 69 for the third wicket. He added 35 runs for the fourth wicket with Benny Howell, and another 28 with Shamim Hossain to get Sylhet within touching distance.Sylhet finish their BPL campaign with only one win, with their only other point coming from an abandoned game. As they have done for most of the tournament, they couldn’t defend a big total.Big hit
Sylhet captain Ravi Bopara made his highest score in this season’s BPL, top-scoring with 44 off 21 balls, including two sixes over long-on, one over midwicket and one flicked over long leg. He added 80 runs for the fifth wicket with Mosaddek Hossain. Earlier, Lendl Simmons made 42, his first significant contribution since his century against Minister Group Dhaka.Mrittunjoy Chowdhury continued to shine with the ball for Chattogram, picking up three wickets. He removed Mizanur Rahman, Simmons and Anamul Haque as Sylhet were reduced to 102 for four in the 13th over.Jacks hardly let Sylhet off the hook in the chase, helping Chattogram add 60 runs in the powerplay. He struck three of his sixes over the leg side during this period, and then kept finding the gaps for his eight fours. Jacks was proficient all around the dial, whether down the ground, through the covers or with his bunts into the leg side, and he also struck three fours through backward point. His fourth six was the winning hit.Big miss
Sylhet’s Mizanur Rahman would rue missing out on whatever little opportunities he got during this season’s BPL, after he got out for his second duck in as many innings this season. Mizanur was the highest scorer in the Dhaka Premier League in 2021 with 418 runs at an average of 52.25. His BPL record isn’t too good, though, and this has probably stopped the national selectors from considering him for the senior side.