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Former allrounder also believes India won’t miss Pujara given the impact of people like Jaiswal with the bat and Bumrah with the ball

Yash Jha08-Oct-2024What would India’s last two Test tours of Australia look like without Cheteshwar Pujara? The man who copped blow after blow, batted hours on end, and made Australia’s bowlers sick of the sight of him is no longer part of India’s set-up. But as far as former Australia allrounder Shane Watson is concerned, India’s newer-looking Test side, with its dynamic batting options, will continue to make life difficult for Australia when they make the trip for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year.”I don’t see it [India’s batting dynamic] changing a lot,” Watson said on the sidelines of the launch of the International Masters League in Mumbai on Tuesday. “The thing when you talk about Pujara, for example, is he just doesn’t make a mistake. Whereas you’ve seen so many of these incredible batters for India – top-order batters, someone like [Yashasvi] Jaiswal, he’s scored runs very quickly, but he hasn’t made a mistake.”Pujara tallied 792 runs – and, more vitally, faced 2186 deliveries – in 15 innings across the two tours in 2018-19 and 2020-21, as India did in back-to-back visits what they had never done before: win a Test series in Australia. Although Jaiswal would appear to be from a very different school of batting – as evidenced by a strike rate of 71.67 after 11 Tests, and fifties at better than a run-a-ball in both innings of India’s most recent Test – Watson reckons the 22-year-old’s ability to bat long will challenge the Australian bowling attack.Related

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“He hasn’t really given the opposition a chance to be able to get him out,” Watson said. “I think if those type of batters come out to Australia and play aggressively – just put the bad balls away and put pressure on the Aussie bowlers – then they can still have the same effect, and they keep the game moving as well.”Watson clubbed Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant as the Indian batters who could pose serious threats to Australia over the course of the five-match series, which begins in Perth from November 22.”For me, with the calibre of batters that India have got and the skill they’ve got, there’s no reason why they can’t combine that: putting pressure on bowlers, score quickly, but also not make mistakes, which we’ve seen those Indian batters, in particular Jaiswal [do],” Watson said. “And we’ve seen Rishabh Pant come in and do it as well – take the game on, but also don’t give the opposition many opportunities to get them out.”Pant has 624 runs to his name from 12 Test innings in Australia – while maintaining a strike rate of 72.13 – and Watson, unsurprisingly, picked Pant and Jasprit Bumrah as the two players Australia need to be most wary of.Eoin Morgan, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Jonty Rhodes, Romesh Kaluwitharana and Shane Watson at the launch of the International Masters League•PTI

“He’s [Pant] obviously got great memories from his last tour that he had from a batting perspective in Australia,” Watson said. “That innings he played at the Gabba was something very special. So knowing that he’s come through his challenges in the last couple of years to be able to come back as an even better player than what he left off, I think he’s going to have a big series.”Also, Bumrah is someone who in Australian conditions – well, in all conditions really – he’s so good. [With] his ability to be able to just take wickets and get batters out, he’s going to be very effective in Australia as well. So those two guys, if they have big series, they can really provide Australia some big challenges.”Bumrah has 32 wickets at 21.25 from seven Tests in Australia. He missed the last Test of the 2020-21 series due to an injury, but will head into his third tour of Australia as the mainstay of India’s bowling attack even as they await the return of Mohammed Shami from a long injury layoff.

“Murphy is an exciting young bowler. He is not Nathan Lyon, but Nathan Lyon is not Shane Warne either”

Matt Roller24-Jul-2023Tom Moody believes that Australia must select Todd Murphy for the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Kia Oval, and that he should replace Cameron Green in the side.Australia went into the fourth Test at Emirates Old Trafford with three frontline seamers and two allrounders in Green and Mitchell Marsh, opting not to select a specialist spinner for the first time in more than a decade.They conceded 592 in just 107.4 overs as England looked to force a result before rain wiped out the majority of the fourth and the entirety of the fifth day. Moody, who played 84 times for his country and has enjoyed an extensive coaching career, believes that Australia must pick Murphy, the 22-year-old offspinner, to restore balance to their attack.Related

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“I know that they would’ve had their various reasons behind not playing Murphy, whether that was based around the fact that there was the weather that was potentially on the horizon, but that’s no guarantee,” Moody told ESPNcricinfo. “That would have looked pretty stupid if it had backfired.”To me, the attack did look like it lacked balance. Murphy is an exciting young bowler. He is not Nathan Lyon, but Nathan Lyon is not Shane Warne either. Murphy needs to create his own path and have his own journey; he has started that already and he has started pretty successfully.”I’d be surprised if he doesn’t come into the side just to create that balance, but also give the team better combinations for Pat Cummins to lean towards. In that fourth Test match, it was almost like he was looking around the field for options – and he was nearly looking in the mirror all the time.”Australia planned to use Travis Head as their main spinner in Manchester, but he bowled seven wicketless overs, which cost 52 runs. “That highlights the challenge of Test cricket,” Moody said. “You need to be a specialist at your craft, and you need complementary specialists in your attack.”He suggested that Australia should leave Green out of their side in order to fit Murphy in. “I think playing the two allrounders is a luxury, and to me, at this stage, Mitch Marsh is the one that looks like he can influence the game, which he’s already done since he’s returned with confidence.”There’s no question Cameron Green has got remarkable upside, but the here-and-now selection is Mitch Marsh. There are very few players in the history of the game that haven’t had setbacks, or been left out of sides for team combinations or form or whatever it might be. If anything, it’s probably something that might do him [Green] the world of good.”Moody expects Australia’s selectors to keep faith in David Warner, having retained him for the fourth Test. “The way I look at it, them deciding to play him at Old Trafford was nearly committing to him for the series,” he said. “If they were going to make a change, that was the moment to make it, but they clearly felt that he’d done enough.”And Moody believes that winning an away Ashes series for the first time since 2001 by avoiding defeat at The Oval would be “a huge achievement” for Australia. “The way that England have been playing Test cricket has been nothing short of outstanding to watch. They have set new standards, which is something to be admired and respected.Moody wants Australia to win the Ashes 3-1•Getty Images

“So to get a stranglehold so early in the series was credit to Pat Cummins and his team. To win away from home is difficult anywhere in the world, but probably the two hardest places are India and England. After the way the game petered out at Old Trafford, I would imagine their mindset would be making sure that they put the final nail in the coffin and try to win 3-1.”Moody was speaking at Lord’s as Desert Vipers – the ILT20 franchise for whom he works as director of cricket – launched a sustainability initiative which included a full-scale audit into their carbon footprint during the league’s inaugural season in the UAE earlier this year.Vipers called on other T20 franchises to follow suit in order to mitigate the negative impact that short-form leagues have on the environment, particularly with regard to long-haul flights. “Hopefully Desert Vipers have a unique opportunity to be trailblazers for other sporting teams,” Moody said.”When you see significant events happen globally around the impact of heat or flood, that’s when it’s an eye-opener. Missing a day’s play because it’s wet is insignificant compared to seeing whole communities impacted by devastating floods, for example, which we’re seeing constantly both in Australia and globally.”

How ESPNcricinfo recorded a remarkable assault on Worcestershire’s bowlers

ESPNcricinfo staff06-May-2022Ben Stokes marked his first first-class innings since being appointed England captain with a breathtaking innings of 161 from 88 balls for Durham against Worcestershire at New Road, including five sixes in an over, and 17 all told – a new record for county cricket. Here’s how ESPNcricinfo recorded his return to action.98.6

Gibbon to Stokes, FOUR, full face of the bat, punched clean through the covers to open Stokes’ account101.2

Leach to Stokes, FOUR, round the wicket, outside off, and bludgeoned hard and straight, almost through Leach’s outstretched right hand as Stokes heaves through the length ball107.1

Barnard to Stokes, SIX, that’s just dismissively huge! A stand-and-deliver swing through the line, pinging out of the screws high over wide long-on107.2

Barnard to Stokes, FOUR, back of a length, on the pads, flicked up and over square leg108.1

Finch to Stokes, SIX, a stride to meet the length ball outside off, and monstered high over long-off! I think he’s got his eye in now…109.1

Barnard to Stokes, SIX, leg-sided, and that’s flat and violent, picked up with murderous power off the pads, clean through wide long-on!111.2

Barnard to Stokes, FOUR, outside off, and panned through the covers, not until that winning stroke at Headingley, a full unleashing of the levers through the wide line111.3

Barnard to Stokes, (no ball) FOUR, two in two balls, back of a length from round the wicket, and dispatched through midwicket with a powerful swing112.1

Finch to Stokes, SIX, kneels into a lofted drive, inside-out, and high and mighty over extra cover!Ben Stokes made a 47-ball fifty … and then cut loose•Getty Images

113.2

Leach to Stokes, FOUR, too much width, walloped with a free swing of the blade through the covers115.4

Leach to Stokes, SIX, sits back in the crease, picks up the not-terribly-short length, and piledrives it over long-on once more!116.1

Baker to Stokes, SIX, blasted back over the bowler’s head, clearing the front dog and it clangs off the seating!116.2

Baker to Stokes, SIX, round the wicket, into Stokes’ arc on the pads, and hoisted over deep midwicket!116.3

Baker to Stokes, SIX, improvises as Baker fires it in flatter outside off, and launches down the ground over long-off116.4

Baker to Stokes, SIX, pongoed over the ropes once more… now this is getting interesting…116.5

Baker to Stokes, SIX, leans back, and battered violently over long-on, and Stokes reaches his hundred, though that’s not the story of this over…116.6

Baker to Stokes, FOUR, round the wicket… hacked down the ground… but it’s only a four! It travelled hard and flat, but Stokes thumps his pad in annoyance!117.5

Leach to Stokes, SIX, pirouettes into a pull, down the track, almost pulling himself off his feet in the process! Another six, through midwicket117.6

Leach to Stokes, SIX, splatted over wide long-on, a fuller length into the pads, and deposited with disdain! Seven sixes and a four in eight balls!119.5

Leach to Stokes, SIX, banged in short, and Stokes swings into another lusty pull! It’s a brave effort on the edge of the rope at square leg, but the ball plops into the pile of covers behind the rope!119.6

Leach to Stokes, SIX, mashed high and hard down the ground! A golf swing through the line, and bouncing back off the sightscreen!121.1

Gibbon to Stokes, SIX, bludgeoned off a good length, across the line and high over deep midwicket! One more to equal Symonds’ sixes record122.1

Barnard to Stokes, FOUR, gallops down the track, another dismissive battering through the covers, and Stokes is a blow away from 150 before lunch!123.1

Gibbon to Stokes, SIX, smashes the first ball back over the bowler’s head! Sixteen sixes equals the record held by Symonds and Napier, and brings up his 150.124.6

D’Oliveira to Stokes, SIX, massive! Unfurls the levers, out of the blockhole, high over the bowler’s head, and that’s the record! 17 sixes in a county innings!126.5

D’Oliveira to Stokes, OUT, another massive hack to the leg side, but this time he can’t connect perfectly, and the fun is over! A stunning display from England’s new captain ends with a well-judged take from Haynes, two metres in from the ropeBA Stokes c Haynes b D’Oliveira 161 (126m 88b 8×4 17×6) SR: 182.95

Ben McDermott’s outstanding 58-ball 91 goes in vain as Hobart Hurricanes lose by ten runs

Saurabh Somani04-Jan-2021A brilliant innings at the top of the Melbourne Stars order from Marcus Stoinis was matched by an equally astonishing effort from Ben McDermott, but Stoinis’ 55-ball 97* did the job for the Stars in a high-scoring victory over the Hobart Hurricanes.Stoinis batted through the innings for his near-century, while McDermott looked set to also bat through and take the Hurricanes to a barnstorming victory, until he was out for 91 off 58 with six balls to go in the chase. McDermott’s innings ended only because of a superlative catch by Andre Fletcher on the boundary, his second such effort of the evening. Fletcher’s defying of gravity while flying to his right and left was as crucial to securing victory for the Stars as Stoinis’ innings.Related

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The two opposing openers’ efforts mirrored each other. Both began slowly, and then exploded in a cascade of boundaries in the second half of their innings. Both were the lynchpins of their teams’ totals, outscoring all the rest combined. Their pace was the tone-setter for their teams, too, with both sides going sedately at the start and clattering boundaries at the finish.Stoinis moved from 32 off 31 to 97 off 55, hitting 65 runs in the last ten overs from just 24 balls after having gone at just about a run-a-ball before that. McDermott’s acceleration was equally stark: he was on just 26 off 28 after eight overs, and went on to smash 65 off his next 30 balls.A wobbly start for the StarsIt began with a frenetic first over from the pacy Riley Meredith. The first and third balls went to the boundary off outside and inside edges, the second ball was a yorker that almost had Fletcher falling over, and the batsman was given out caught behind off the fourth legal ball. He was driving away from body and the ball was an outswinger that curved away, but on replays it appeared more bat hitting ground than ball.The Hurricanes’ bowlers, led by Meredith, chipped away and the Stars were 49 for 3 in the eighth over, the in-form captain Glenn Maxwell the last wicket to fall at that stage.Stoinis takes chargeThe first ball Stoinis faced was in the second over, and he disdainfully slog-swept Johan Botha for six, hitting it so well that the ball had to be replaced. The wickets at the top and tight bowling early on meant he became more watchful than aggressive, but that was only till he was well set. Stoinis’ step-up was remarkable for how smoothly it was done. He brought out the big shots, punishing seam and spin with an equal hand.The Stars were well served by successive partnerships for the fourth and fifth wickets. Nicholas Pooran joined Stoinis to add 60 runs in six overs, jump-starting the innings after the sedate start. Hilton Cartwright then ensured the momentum wasn’t lost with a sparkling cameo of 36 off 24 balls, taking the lead in a 56-run stand that came off just 5.3 overs.The Hurricanes might have entertained hopes of finishing well when Nathan Ellis got Cartwright and Seb Gotch off successive balls to end the penultimate over, but Stoinis finished with a flourish, hitting four boundaries in the final over as Scott Boland conceded 18.Stoinis had begun the final over needing 21 to get to a century, and his clean hitting almost took him there.He’s got the moves – Andre Fletcher pulled off two gravity-defying catches that were match turning•Getty Images

No Bash Boost for the HurricanesThe Hurricanes looked to follow the template the Stars had set, relying on a conservative start and wickets in hand to aim for a big finish. However, they were even more sedate than the Stars had been with fewer wickets lost. They couldn’t get the Bash Boost point either, being 60 for 1 in ten overs: the Stars had been 63 for 3.McDermott turns on the heatMcDermott hadn’t been exactly fluent at the start, a lot of his forcing shots not finding either the middle or the gaps, or both. The floodgates burst in the 12th over, bowled by Cartwright, which yielded 17 runs. In Colin Ingram, McDermott had a partner who could score quickly at the other end and the steeply climbing asking rate – it was over 12 after 11 overs – meant both had to hit out. They did, and started connecting sweetly too. The stand was broken by the first of Fletcher’s superman efforts. Ingram had carved the ball powerfully over extra cover, and Fletcher ran in a bit too hard but then adjusted and pivoted to dive to his right, horizontal to the ground, to pluck the ball.McDermott still threatened to take the game away, while captain Peter Handscomb also began with a rush of boundaries, until Fletcher’s second effort ended McDermott’s stay. He had thumped a full toss over cover and this time Fletcher ran to his left and dived full length, once again emerging with the ball clutched in his hands.McDermott fell on the last ball of the 19th over, and without him, 21 off the last over was too much to get for the Hurricanes.

Spitfires make it six wins from seven games in thrilling four-wicket victory with just one ball to spare

ECB Reporters Network04-Aug-2019Adam Milne was the star with bat and ball as South Group leaders Kent Spitfires made it six wins from seven games in the Vitality Blast with a thrilling four-wicket victory, with just one ball to spare, in a tense, low-scoring contest against Hampshire at Beckenham.When Heino Kuhn hit a Kyle Abbott full toss straight to extra cover from the first ball of the final over, with Kent needing 10 runs to overhaul Hampshire’s 135 all out, it seemed as if the visitors were favourites to complete a fourth successive win of their own and a third in four days.But New Zealand fast bowler Milne, who had earlier taken 3 for 21 to help to restrict Hampshire’s total to manageable proportions on a sluggish surface, strode in to loft his first ball for two to the leg side, strike his second ball over extra cover for four and then complete another two for a drive to long on.Adding to the drama was the sight of non-striker Grant Stewart pulling a hamstring as he raced back for two and dived for the crease at the bowler’s end, and then having to be helped from the field in clear distress.But, with only two runs now being required off the last two balls, and Milne crucially retaining the strike due to Stewart’s bravery, he top-edged a pull at Abbott’s penultimate delivery over short third man for another four to finish on 12 not out from only four balls faced.As a mark of how hard stroke play was, Kuhn top-scored for Kent with a well-judged 41 from 33 balls while James Vince’s 44 for Hampshire took him 47 balls, with only two fours.Milne was one of four Kent bowlers to record outstanding figures, which offset their fifth bowler going for a total of 56 runs from four overs. He helped to reduce Hampshire to 29 for 3 early on and also claimed two late wickets while Hardus Viljeon took 3 for 15, Stewart 2 for 23 and Mohammad Nabi 1 for 17 in his four skilful overs of off spin.Kent’s reply began with five quality boundaries from Daniel Bell-Drummond but he skied the last ball of the third over to depart for 21 and Ollie Robinson was smartly stumped for five by Lewis McManus when he drove over a near-yorker from off spinner Brad Taylor.Taylor then brilliantly ran out Zak Crawley for 22, hitting the bowler’s stumps on the turn after sprinting across the pitch to field when Kuhn turned down a short single into the legside off his own bowling and Crawley could not regain his ground.Nabi made 14 before carving Abbott to deep cover in the 15th over, and Kuhn and Alex Blake added 32 before the left-handed Blake, on 18 and having pulled Liam Dawson for six, lofted Chris Wood to long on from the first ball of the 19th over. But Kuhn, and particularly Milne, were equal to an equation of 17 runs being needed from the last 11 balls when Blake fell.After Hampshire had been asked to bat first, Rilee Rossouw hit the first two balls of the third over, from left arm seamer Fred Klaassen, for leg side sixes but saw Aneurin Donald sky to mid off later in the over to go for 7. Then, in the next over, Rossouw himself mishit to mid off when Viljeon replaced Milne.Sam Northeast’s latest return to bat on his native Kentish soil was not a happy one, as he edged the pacy Milne to keeper Robinson on one, and Dawson struggled for fluency in partnership with Vince as Hampshire’s fourth-wicket pair could only add 33 in seven overs before Dawson pulled Stewart straight to deep square leg to go for 12.At the halfway mark Hampshire were 58 for 3, and – despite sixes from Chris Morris off Klaassen and Stewart – they continued to find Kent’s bowlers difficult to attack.Morris fell to Stewart for 17, caught at long on, but then came an extraordinary 15th over in which Klaassen bowled two high full tosses – the second of which meant he was withdrawn from the attack. A first free hit had only cost Kent a single but now a second free hit, with Bell-Drummond employing his own medium pace to complete the over after himself starting with a no ball full toss, being struck for six over deep mid wicket by James Fuller.Fuller also clubbed Bell-Drummond for four and, in all, 24 runs came from a nine-ball over and, suddenly, with five overs remaining, Hampshire had 110 on the board.Milne and Nabi, however, restored order after Viljeon had removed Fuller for 17, caught upper-cutting to third man, with Nabi’s off spin accounting for McManus and Milne bowling both Taylor and Vince, who was ninth out.In the end, Hampshire could not bat through their 20 overs, with Wood skying to long on off Viljeon with four balls of the innings remaining unused.

The former India captain says there are “better options than Raina”, and wants Dhoni to bat more aggressively

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2018The Indian team management may be grappling with questions over their ideal No. 4 in ODIs, but Sourav Ganguly has picked “KL Rahul, eyes closed.” The former India captain felt playing Rahul in that position that would ease the pressure on MS Dhoni, who he pointed out was “struggling” and needed to start “hitting” at No. 6.Virat Kohli the India captain, admitted that an unsettled middle order was one of the concerns for the side as they prepare for next year’s World Cup. Ganguly believed the team management “isn’t looking after their best batsmen properly” and isn’t sending out the right message with the constant chopping and changing.”Your top four have to be the best players; you have to persist with them. Go and speak to KL Rahul and say I’ll give you 15 games, just go and play,” Ganguly told . “India need a No. 4. MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik are very good at five, six and seven. But a top class player has to be at four.”Ganguly was making a case for that batsman being Ajinkya Rahane or Rahul, who was left out of the series-deciding final ODI in Headingley. Rahul, who started the tour with a scintillating century in the Manchester T20I, managed only 9 not out and 0 in the first two ODIs.”Two of your best batsmen aren’t being looked after properly,” Ganguly said. “I’m not saying it’s deliberate, maybe it’s a mistake, maybe you look at it differently from the other side. From this side, I feel those two have to play at four, else it’s too much of pressure on Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli. In South Africa, you won, Kohli got three hundreds in six games. If Kohli doesn’t get a hundred, you will find it difficult to win matches.”Getty Images

When Ganguly was asked why India didn’t have a settled look a year on from the World Cup, he said: “Because they don’t give enough opportunities. KL Rahul got a magnificent hundred in Manchester. In the other two T20Is, he was out to one brilliant catch in Bristol. He was not out in Nottingham, missed out at Lord’s and then he’s dropped. You won’t be able to produce players like that.”According to Ganguly, the No. 4 debate isn’t the only worry for India. He also felt a “struggling MS Dhoni” needed to be told to play more aggressively, while they need to move on from Suresh Raina, who had returned to ODI cricket after nearly three years. Raina top-scored with 46 in India’s loss in the Lord’s ODI, but had little else to show for in the remaining two matches, looking completely out of depth, both against spin and the short ball.”I think there are better players around, with all due respect he’s [Raina] played for long periods of time, got runs in ODIs, but not much overseas. But you need to move on,” Ganguly said. “If Dhoni’s got to play, he has to get into positions where he has to keep hitting. If he has 24-25 overs to play, you’ve got to build an innings and he’s struggling at the moment.”He may turn it around, you don’t know what’s in store for great players – he’s been a great player for India in the shorter formats – but at the present moment he’s not been turning it around and it’s been that way for a year, year-and-a-half or probably more. So they need a good player at four and five, and then if they think MS Dhoni is the way forward, him at six and Pandya at seven.”

After scoring his maiden T20 century to help Delhi Daredevils record their biggest win in the IPL, Sanju Samson was very pleased he was able to do “something special”

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2017Sanju Samson came into Indian cricket with the reputation that he could become the next big thing. He was 16 when he made his T20 debut for Kerala, and in little over a year, was part of an IPL franchise. The teenager’s temperament stood out, to the point that he made a half-century batting at No. 3 in only his second game for Rajasthan Royals. Eventually though, the surprise factor faded, and the pressure got to him. Two middling IPL seasons followed in 2015 and 2016 but, on Tuesday, he took a step towards putting those memories behind him with a maiden T20 hundred that set up Delhi Daredevils’ biggest ever win.”I am very happy about this day. It’s one of the special days of my life,” Samson said at the post-match press conference. “Every cricketer here in India, his dream is to play for Indian team, which is the world’s best cricket team. So if you want to get into it, you have to be something special, you have to do something special. So I’m happy that I played one innings but there’s a long way to go.”He was bought by the Daredevils in 2016, and despite playing all 14 matches that year, he was dismissed for less than 20 seven times and finished with an unimpressive strike-rate of 112. Now, after his team had begun the new season by losing a game they should have won, Samson walked out to bat in the second over and was 35 off 19 balls with six fours by the end of the Powerplay. Then after seeing off the Rising Pune Supergiant spinners, Imran Tahir, the No. 1-ranked bowler in limited-overs cricket, among them, he made 41 off 16 balls to help push the total to 205. There were times in the past when quality bowling would force Samson into choosing the wrong shot, but he was able to keep that weakness in check and later praised the Daredevils support staff for backing him.”I think Rahul Dravid, Zubin Bharucha, Paddy Upton and each member of the team who has supported me throughout,” Samson told . “Last IPL season was not a great season for me, but they supported me throughout and I dedicate this knock to them.”I was 17 when I was with the Rajasthan Royals and since then I have been working with Dravid and feel very blessed to be learning under his guidance. Not too many people get this chance and I feel I am extremely lucky to have him around and guide me.”This success came on the back of a disappointing first-class season for Samson. Besides the lack of runs – he averaged 30.36 from 11 innings for Kerala – he was pulled up for disciplinary issues by the state association. It was alleged that he had left the team in the middle of a match, after being dismissed for a duck, and did not return until 8 or 9 pm. This led to an in-house inquiry and a KCA panel let Samson off with a warning. On Tuesday night, he said lows like that helped shape the person he was.”You need to have bad times to learn what life is about, I think. If you keep on achieving success, I think, you do not learn. If you do mistakes in cricket, or if you do mistakes in life, you learn from it and you become a better person. I think my past has helped me become a better cricketer and a better human being.”

Glamorgan have appointed Robert Croft, one of the most iconic figures in cricket in Wales, as their new head coach

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2016Glamorgan have appointed Robert Croft, one of the most iconic figures in cricket in Wales, as their new head coach.Croft, 45, has signed a rolling contract after emerging as the preferred candidate following a recruitment process led by Hugh Morris, Glamorgan’s chief executive and director of cricket.Glamorgan’s interest, at least as an inital shortlist, also stretched to such potential candidates as Ottis Gibson, the England bowling coach, but they have entrusted their coaching future closer to home to one of the proudest, and occasionally abrasive, figures in Welsh cricket history.”Robert was the outstanding candidate in the recruitment process and his record of achievement as a Glamorgan player and an international cricketer further enhanced the impression that he made when he laid out his coaching vision,” Morris said.”His long association with the club, his knowledge of the squad and his vision for the future were the most significant elements of his interview and we are very pleased that he has accepted this opportunity.”There was significant interest in the role from a broad spectrum of coaching talent and while rival candidates had their merits, we concluded that Robert was the best man for the job.”Croft, who is currently with the England team in South Africa in his capacity as a consultant spin bowling coach, will return to Cardiff next week to oversee pre-season preparations having spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach.He worked alongside Toby Radford, whose involvement with the county ended at the end of last season.Croft made his Glamorgan debut in 1989 and went on to take 1,117 first-class wickets in a career punctuated by Championship success in 1997 – one of three in the county’s history – a Sunday League crown and 71 appearances for England in Tests and One-Day Internationals.”Glamorgan has been my home club for 28 years as a player and a coach and it was a very special moment when I was offered the chance to lead this group of players,” Croft said.”I’m under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge that we will face but I have taken it on knowing that there is a collective desire to drive things forwards.”The hard work starts now and I¹ll be looking to meet with the players and the back room team to firm up our plans as soon as I return to the UK.”Efforts have been made in recent weeks to strengthen a thin first-team squad with Harry Podmore taken on loan from Middlesex to bolster pace bowling ranks during college absences and Timm van der Gugten, the Netherlands’ Australian-born seamer, also signed on a three-year contract.Glamorgan now dances to the tune of its successul 1990s side, with Morris doubling up as chief executive and director of cricket, Croft now in the lead coach role and Steve Watkin, the former indefatigable seamer, retained as assistant coach.A decision has been postponed as to whether an additional assistant is required to fill Croft’s previous position.

Australia A needed only one session of the third day to wrap up an 80-run victory against Zimbabwe Select XI, after setting them a target of 241 to win

The Report by Firdose Moonda20-Jul-2013

Scorecard File photo – Fawad Ahmed’s 4 for 23 hastened Zimbabwe Select XI’s defeat on the third day•Associated Press

Australia A needed only one session of the third day to wrap up an 80-run victory against Zimbabwe Select XI, after setting them a target of 241 to win. At 51 for 4 overnight, it was merely a matter of time for Australia A, and Pakistani-born legspinner Fawad Ahmed was the man who sped up the clock.He made a loud claim for a call-up to Australia’s Ashes squad as he ended the match with eight wickets, although the national selectors may need some information on the pitch he achieved these figures on. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo on Friday, Zimbabwe’s captain, Brendan Taylor, confirmed he was concerned about the surface, which was dry, slow and taking plenty of turn.That will not detract from the inadequacies of their batsmen. Hamilton Masakadza was the only one to record a half-century in the match, and his defiance was the only thing that kept Australia A at bay for a short while. Masakadza shared a 67-run fifth-wicket stand with nightwatchman Kyle Jarvis, who once again showed why he could bat higher up if needed.He made a confident 34 and when he was dismissed, Zimbabwe folded. They lost their last five wickets for 38 runs, in another lower-order collapse which exposed their weakness against spin, which was laid so bare on their March tour of West Indies. Ahmed cleaned up the tail and David Warner took the final wicket; his notable contribution of the match.Warner scored 17 runs in both innings in an attempt to show his readiness to rejoin the Ashes squad, and will need to make a greater impression in South Africa. Australia A will play South Africa A in two four-day matches starting next Wednesday, although the wintry conditions could make for similarly interesting surfaces.For Zimbabwe, a five-ODI series against India beckons, and they have plenty to think about. The form of their bowlers – Jarvis, Elton Chigumbura, Tendai Chatara and Natsai M’shangwe, will be pleasing to new coach Andy Waller, but batting concerns continue to worry them.Neither opener, Vusi Sibanda and Sikandar Raza, showed the right temperament and technique against Australia A’s pace attack, and with Taylor misfiring, the middle order looks fragile. Masakadza will need to score many more runs, and inspire the same from the rest, if they hope to put on a decent show in the coming months.

You cannot beat experience. Although 22-year-old James Harris tried to stand alone on centre stage, it was two thirty-somethings, Brendan Nash and Darren Stevens, who ended up sharing the honours by scoring unbeaten centuries

David Lloyd at Canterbury19-Jul-2012
ScorecardDarren Stevens played a stand-and-deliver innings•Getty Images

You cannot beat experience. Well, not always at any rate. And although 22-year-old James Harris tried with all his might to stand alone on centre stage, it was two thirty-somethings, Brendan Nash and Darren Stevens, who ended up sharing the honours by scoring unbeaten centuries to mastermind a spectacular Kent fightback.Harris still deserved plenty of praise for an encouraging performance that, at its peak, saw the young fast bowler boasting figures of 4 for 33 from 12 overs – a burst that gave Glamorgan real hope of following Tuesday’s win against Northants with a commanding start to this game.But, by close of play, even he looked battle-worn as century-makers Nash and Stevens took their well deserved applause for innings of contrasting style but equal worth. Their unbroken stand of exactly 200, in 46 overs, left Kent in command and ready to push for a victory that would underpin their promotion challenge. For both batsmen, this was a second championship hundred of the season. And by joining forces so effectively they not only lifted the hosts away from the early difficulty of 110 for 4 but also quashed at least some of Glamorgan’s enthusiasm.Harris, who missed the first half of the campaign while recovering from a groin operation, produced a beauty with the new ball to remove Rob Key and then needed something a little less menacing to find the edge of Ben Harmison’s bat.But it was two wickets in two balls from Harris soon after an hour’s stoppage for rain that really threatened Kent- and left Glamorgan believing they could quickly follow Tuesday’s first win of the season with a second four-day success. Sam Northeast’s attractive half-century ended when he played across the line while Mike Powell – up against the county who bade him farewell after last summer – snicked fatally to fall for a painful golden duck.Enter 36-year-old Stevens to face the hat-trick delivery. He blunted that threat with a forward defensive but, within minutes, boundaries were flying off his bat. Three came off Huw Waters, three more flowed in quick succession when John Glover took up the attack and for a time it looked as though Stevens would reach three figures before Nash – even though Nash had a 30-run start.Nash is not the sort of batsman to be easily ruffled by a friend or foe, however. The 34-year-old former West Indies Test batsman carried on in his unhurried way, punishing the bad ball when it came and happy to admire Stevens’ stand and deliver style at the other end.In fact, having rushed to 50 from 42 balls, Stevens slowed a touch while Nash accelerated – duly completing his century from 158 deliveries with 14 fours and celebrating the landmark with a rocking-the-cradle salute to his new-born son. As for Stevens, there was a rare scare on 92 when he almost ran himself out. But the hundred arrived, safely enough, from 125 balls with 18 fours and, like Nash, he looked hungry for more at the close.During the course of his innings, Stevens passed 10,000 first-class runs. On top of that, the power of his hitting damaged Marcus North – who needed ice treatment on his left ankle after stopping a shell of a drive at short extra cover – and almost removed umpire David Millns, who was struck, but not harmed, by a fierce pull while standing at square leg.For Glamorgan – who also had Waters off the field at one stage with a stomach upset – some good news was needed. It came at tea with the announcement that head coach Matthew Mott is staying with the county, despite having been interviewed for the head coach job at New Zealand.