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AB de Villiers has been on 15 international tours but his next one, the upcoming series in New Zealand, is his first as captain

Firdose Moonda10-Feb-2012AB de Villiers has been on 15 international tours but his next one, the upcoming series in New Zealand, may as well be his first. Not only does it take him to a country he has never toured before but it is his opening overseas assignment as captain of South Africa’s limited-overs sides.Since taking over the leadership role last June, de Villiers has had just one opportunity to actually lead. January’s five-match rubber against Sri Lanka was his first in charge. South Africa won the series 3-2 but it was manner of results rather than the results themselves that got de Villiers noticed.Under him, nothing stood still. Not the No. 4 position in the batting order, which was rotated between him, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis, not the regular pattern of bowling changes, not the scoring rate. South Africa seemed to have more life, they played with a different intent and although they lost the last two matches in the series, they did not appear to stop having fun. De Villiers said the trip to New Zealand is a chance for the good times to keep rolling.”We are young side and we have a lot to prove. We are going to try and get a bit of a team spirit going over there,” he said in Johannesburg, ahead of the team’s departure for Auckland. “It’s tough to get a team spirit going when you are at home, things are a bit disjointed, but on tour there’s nothing else to do but be with your team-mates. We’re going to have a good time over there.”Since making his ODI debut in 2005, de Villiers has been all about fun on the field. As the years have gone on, he has also developed a more thoughtful side to his game and it’s the combination of the surreal and the serious that saw him progress to the captaincy. de Villiers is a deeply passionate and proud man. As a result, losing is always failing to him and the collective is always more important than the individual. Travelling to New Zealand will test all these values, adding to what will already make the series compelling.New Zealand knocked South Africa out of the last World Cup and they have also had a successful summer, winning a Test in Australia and mauling Zimbabwe. Like South Africa, they are building towards something and their blend of youth and experience seems to be at its optimum. In their backyard, where South Africa have not been since 2004, de Villiers said any opposition will have to be wary. “They are a very clever team, they think on their feet,” he said. “But hopefully, we’ll be the smarter team in the series.”The tour is the first of three overseas outings for South Africa this year and will be used as the springboard for what is being billed as the contest of 2012, in England. “We understand that this tour is important for our tour to England. This will be a very competitive series. This is a big tour in terms of what we want to achieve as a Test side,” coach Gary Kirsten said. Should South Africa whitewash New Zealand in their three-Test series, they will take over the No. 1 ranking. If they don’t, they will have another chance in England.Before they even look that far, they have three Twenty20 internationals and three ODIs to contest. The former will be crucial to their plans to win an ICC Trophy for the first time since 1998, at the World T20. South Africa play 11 T20s before that competition, including five against Zimbabwe, and Kirsten said the New Zealand series will allow them to start strategising.”The T20 team is a very young team, so there will be a lot of energy,” he said. One of the newest members of that side is opening batsman Richard Levi, who replaces Graeme Smith. Levi has been setting fireworks off in the domestic twenty-over competition for the last two seasons and Kirsten said he hopes that will translate on to the international stage. “We would be very excited if we could have a batsman in our top six that is consistently explosive. Let’s remember that the pinch-hitters haven’t come off in the shorter format of the game so if he comes off and becomes a superstar for South Africa cricket we will all be very happy.”Levi, Marchant de Lange and recalled all-rounder Justin Ontong are three names de Villiers says are “exciting to be going to the World T20 with,” and he hopes to integrate them into the side as quickly as possible. The trio are entering the set-up at a welcoming time, with a creative captain who will demand nothing but their best.In addition to the expectations on his team, de Villiers also has high hopes for himself. He wants to use the trip to develop and enforce his own style. “I thought the boys responded well to my leadership but I am not there yet, I’ve got a lot to learn.”His education will come on a maiden voyage to New Zealand and as captain. At his departure press conference, de Villiers looked and sounded as excited and nervous as a teenager about to attend his first high-school ball. By the sounds of it, a ball of a different kind is in order in New Zealand.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, who will be playing his second World Cup, has said he is looking forward to playing a huge role as opener and help Sri Lanka win another World Cup

Sa'adi Thawfeeq10-Feb-2011Tillakaratne Dilshan, who will be playing his second World Cup, has said he is looking forward to playing a huge role as opener and help Sri Lanka win another world title. Dilshan made his tournament debut in 2007 but managed just one half-century, scoring 217 runs in nine innings.”Everything is going well at the moment for us and we are looking forward to the World Cup,” Dilshan said. “Whenever I get a chance I want to get a start and capitalize on that and get big runs. I am going to give 100% for the team and am looking forward to the games.”Former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga had said that Sri Lanka’s middle order was a concern ahead of the World Cup but Dilshan felt the middle order was coming through very well. “We are getting guys like Angelo [Mathews] coming through in the last year or so. Chamara [Kapugedera], Chamara Silva and Thilan [Samaraweera) are there too. At the moment everything is falling in line for us and we are looking forward to the tournament.”Dilshan, who started his international career in the middle order, felt his move up the order had transformed his career. “I batted at No. 7 from 1999 to 2008. I felt I could do more at the top of the order and I volunteered to open. I had a chat with Mahela [Jayawardene] and he said, ‘okay you first play in the domestic season and let’s see’. I got the Man of the Series in the domestic tournament and from there my game totally changed. The last two or three years have been my best in both Test and one-day cricket,” Dilshan said.Dilshan said that Sri Lanka’s consistency in the ODI format leading up to the World Cup, would hold them in good stead for the tournament.”If you take the last 15 months, we have played 27 ODIs and lost only six. Now, that’s quite a good record. We are very consistent and it’s a very good sign as well.”Dilshan, one of Sri Lanka’s best fielders, said fielding would play a key role in the tournament. “We’ve had good fielding sides right throughout. We are doing a lot of practice with our fielding coach Ruwan Kalpage. We are training in some new fielding methods and the results can be seen in how we have done in the last couple of matches.”Sri Lanka play two warm-up games against Netherlands and West Indies. They open their World Cup campaign against Canada in Hambantota on February 20.

Cricinfo previews the two Twenty20 Internationals between Pakistan and England in Dubai

Sahil Dutta and Liam Brickhill18-Feb-2010

Match facts

February 19 and 20 2010
Start time 1800 (1400 GMT)Umar Akmal has the bold approach to perfectly suit the Twenty20 generation•Getty Images

Big Picture

While the tentacles of Twenty20 cricket wrap ever more firmly around the world game, Pakistan meet England in a hastily arranged two-match series that will show just where the two sides lie ahead of the World Twenty20 which starts at the end of April in the Caribbean.Coming off the back of success in the 50-over series against South Africa, there are flickering signs that England’s new gung-ho approach to the shorter format can bear fruit. Yet there is a lingering suspicion that, while their batting has depth, it lacks the match-winning class of someone like Yuvraj Singh in this format. However, Kevin Pietersen possesses an ability that can inspire and frustrate in equal measure and in Eoin Morgan they have one of the brightest prospects in limited-overs cricket.It’s their bowling that looks more vulnerable, lacking decisive pace for the slower wickets in Dubai. You feel Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, Tim Bresnan and Luke Wright may lack the variety and bite to threaten a free-hitting Pakistan team. It’s the spinners, however, who have proved crucial in Twenty20 cricket and Graeme Swann is one of the best in the business.For their part, Pakistan desperately need a positive result from these games after their drubbing in Australia. With the World Twenty20 just over two months away, the repercussions of the disastrous Australian tour are still being felt. Kamran Akmal, vice-captain in Australia, has been dropped, and his comments to the press ahead of the Hobart Test are being investigated by a board evaluation committee.They are also currently without a chief selector, Iqbal Qasim having stood down, and travelled to Dubai without Coach Intikhab Alam, who has been summoned instead to answer questions over the rout in Australia. Their captain, Shahid Afridi, is in the midst of a two-match ban for ball tampering, and significant changes have been made to the squad which toured Australia.Obviously, there is a great deal of work to do if Pakistan are to successfully defend their World Twenty20 title in the West Indies, and though their form in this format has been good in recent times, these games provide a vital chance to build stability and find some confidence ahead of the tournament. Much will depend on how quickly the squad can get past the squabbles which arose in Australia, and gel as a unit.

Form guide (last 5 T20Is, most recent first)

Pakistan LWWWWEngland LWLWL

Watch out for

Umar Akmal, still not yet 20, is a precocious talent whose rapidly-rising stock has already given an indication of his importance to the future of Pakistan’s batting. Possessed with aggression, fearlessness, and good technique, he has constructed significant innings in all three formats, and it is hard to believe he has only been playing international cricket for less than eight months. Akmal was the leading run-scorer in the one-day series whitewash in Australia, with 187 runs at 37.40, including two half-centuries. He was last man out as Pakistan choked in the solitary Twenty20 of that series, but the last time he played at Dubai’s International Cricket Stadium he made a match-winning 56 not out against New Zealand on a difficult pitch.If England’s new-found flair for limited-over batting could be attributed to a single factor, Eoin Morgan is probably it. Known for dexterous flicks and reverse sweeps, it’s his crisp hitting and uncluttered approach that has impressed most in his short England career. On the slower pitches in Dubai, his ability to find the boundary will be crucial for an England side that has a history of choking against good spin bowlers. His most dominating performances have come while setting a total but England may also need him to deliver in a run chase if they are to overcome the World Champions.

Team news

Pakistan are a side in turmoil. In addition to the dropping of Kamran Akmal and Intikhab Alam’s absence on this tour, Shahid Afridi is serving a two-match ban for the ‘ball-biting’ incident during the fifth ODI in Perth, which will keep him out of the first match. With Mohammad Asif still banned from entering the UAE, and uncertainty over Mohammad Aamer’s recovery from the groin injury that ruled him out of the last three ODIs and the Twenty20 in Australia, one of either Yasir Arafat, Wahab Riaz or Mohammad Talha could play.Pakistan: (probable) 1 Imran Nazir, 2 Imran Farhat, 3 Umar Akmal, 4 Shoaib Malik (capt), 5 Khalid Latif/Shahid Afridi, 6 Fawad Alam, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Abdul Razzaq, 9 Yasir Arafat, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Saeed AjmalHaving watched Joe Denly falter again against the Lions, England would have been tempted to test Craig Kieswetter at the top of the order, after he completed a four-year qualification period on Tuesday. Yet it would be too much of a snub to the selected squad and captain Paul Collingwood confirmed he was backing Denly to come good with Jonathan Trott in the opening berth. With James Anderson resting his knee in Lancashire England’s pace bowling will be led by Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom but Graeme Swann will remain their linchpin.England: (probable) 1 Jonathan Trott, 2 Joe Denly, 3 Kevin Pietersen, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Luke Wright, 7 Matt Prior (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Graeme Swann, 11 Ryan Sidebottom.

Pitch and conditions

With both of these games day-night fixtures the players will at least avoid competing in the desert city at its hottest. Nevertheless we can expect shirt-soaking temperatures and a dry surface unlikely to offer much interest to the fast bowlers.

Stats and Trivia

• Paul Collingwood has a perfectly inconsistent record as Twenty20 captain, winning eight and losing eight from 16 completed matches in charge.
• Pakistan have an unblemished record in Twenty20s at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, having beaten Australia and New Zealand at the venue last year. Afridi, who will miss the first game against England, was Player of the Series against new Zealand.
• England and Pakistan have only played each other twice in Twenty20s, with both games played in England. Pakistan overcame England at Bristol in 2006, but England pulled one back in the midst of Pakistan’s successful run at the World Twenty20 last year, racking up an impressive 185 for 5 at The Oval to progress to the Super Eights.

Quotes

“It’s an opportunity to utilise the time before the World Twenty20. We have two matches against England and they are a good side. We have in our team some youngsters who are very talented and they are getting their opportunity. I’m hoping and I’m sure they will do well.””Pakistan are a very strong Twenty20 side and we’re going to have to be right on our game to beat them. It might be a good time to play them, but you never quite know what you’re going to get on the day so I think we’ve just got to concentrate on our own game and see what we get on the day.”
England captain Paul Collingwood tries his best to avoid the ‘mercurial’ cliché.

Athapaththu, 34, has been coy about her future over the last several months

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Jul-2024Having hinted for several months that she may be close to an international retirement, Chamari Athapaththu confirmed following Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup victory in Dambulla, that she aims to be around for her national team until next year’s ODI World Cup at least.Athapaththu, 34, has been coy about her future over the last several months. She is Sri Lanka’s captain and almost indisputably their best player. However, she had posted on social media that a series in South Africa in April would be her “last duty” with the national team but subsequently refused to expand on that post.Related

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“Hopefully I’ll still play till the next 50-over World Cup,” Athapaththu told the host broadcaster when asked if she would promise her fans they’ll see her play for a long time in Sri Lanka colours. The dates for next year’s World Cup have not yet been confirmed, but India will host the tournament.This means that Athapaththu will be around for the next two global events – this year’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, set to be played in October, and the ODI version next year.Athapaththu was once again instrumental to her team’s success at the Asia Cup. Not only did she hit 61 off 43 in the final as Sri Lanka chased down 168, she was also by a huge distance the top run-scorer in the tournament, having hit 304 in five innings, at a strike rate of 147. The next-best was India’s Shafali Verma, with 200 runs at a strike rate of 141.

Mumbai did the simple things right to get to within two wins of a sixth title, while LSG lost the Eliminator for the second season running

Alagappan Muthu24-May-20231:30

Manjrekar: Bowlers like Madhwal are gold dust

Look out, Ahmedabad. Mumbai Indians are coming. The five-time champions put on a clinic to rout Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday night and march into Qualifier 2. They are now two wins away from lifting a trophy they might soon trademark.Akash Madhwal was the star of the show, picking up the joint-best figures by an Indian in IPL history – 5 for 5 in 3.3 overs. He might have taken more but Super Giants kept running themselves out in ridiculous ways. One was the result of a collision, it ended their best batter’s stay at the crease, Marcus Stoinis gone for 40 off 27. Another had both players at the same end.Super Giants fell from 74 for 3 to 101 all out in a chase of 183.

Mumbai’s boundary bash

Mumbai do the little things right. They saw the opposition opening the bowling with spin and exploited the fact that only two men are allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan hit four fours in the first three overs – all just placed into gaps behind point and past fine leg because they knew that would be enough. These were the conditions that were supposed to stop the biggest hitters in the IPL. But they didn’t. Mumbai cruised to 98 for 2, the third-highest 10-over score in Chennai this year. They hit 15 boundaries in this period.2:08

Moody: ‘Naveen has three versions of the slower offcutter’

Naveen intervenes

Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav were not just clearing the boundary, they were spraying the second tier. This season, a few teams have experimented with three openers in their line-up. They come into play when there’s an early wicket. They stay in the hut when there isn’t. Mumbai are one of these teams and it helped them keep a very healthy tempo. They were on course to clear 200.That’s when Naveen-ul-Haq came on and did the simple thing right. At Chepauk, everybody needs to take pace off. Including the fast bowlers. After getting bashed for a first-ball six in the 11th over, he slipped in a legcutter to Suryakumar and had him caught on the straight boundary, and two balls later, an offcutter gripped in the pitch and bowled Green through the gate.Naveen, the Afghanistan quick, celebrated each of his four wickets by putting his fingers in ears, perhaps a response to the hate he’s received on social media for his part in the blow-up with Virat Kohli earlier in the tournament.1:19

Manjrekar: ‘Brilliant move to have Wadhera come in as Impact sub’

The impact of the Impact Sub

Mumbai had gone in a batter light in their bat-first XI. The logic was that if they needed the guy, they would sub him in for someone who was already dismissed.Which is exactly what happened. Nehal Wadhera walked in as Suryakumar’s substitute to face the last 21 balls of the innings.If they hadn’t needed him, they might have brought in an extra spinner to help defend whatever total they got. Mumbai kept both options open. It’s a fun way to use the Impact Sub. It’s not formulaic.Wadhera played a massive role. He came in at a time when Mumbai had managed only 30 runs in the previous 4.2 overs. And he smashed 23 off 12, including two fours and a six in the final over.

Madhwal stands tall

Madhwal went to Mumbai for INR 20 lakh. Money extremely well spent.He wasn’t part of Plan A. An entire month had gone by before he played his first game, and there he went for 37 runs in three overs. Two of them were at the death.Madhwal has bowled 129 balls this season. Fifty-one of them have been in overs 17 to 20. A rookie has been bowling 40% of his deliveries in the hardest phase of a T20 game while maintaining an economy rate of 7.5. Only one fast bowler has done better (min 18 deliveries) and he belonged to the opposition – Mohsin Khan.Madhwal’s biggest impact in this game, though, came in the middle overs when he picked up two wickets in two balls, including an absolute peach from around the wicket, angling into the left-handed Nicholas Pooran and nipping away off the pitch to have him caught behind.Seventeen dots in 21 balls and five wickets for five runs. Nobody had done this much damage in the entire history of IPL playoff matches. Most teams wouldn’t be able to recover from losing bowlers of the class of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer.Mumbai aren’t most teams.

Gladiators hold the psychological edge having beaten Kings three times this season, including in the first Qualifier

Madushka Balasuriya22-Dec-2021

Big picture

So, after 20 group-stage matches, an Eliminator and two Qualifiers, we’ve finally arrived at the culmination of this year’s Lanka Premier League. And it’s once again those two, Galle Gladiators and Jaffna Kings, vying for top spot, in a repeat of last year’s final.En route, Kings have pretty much trounced every team they’ve played, while Gladiators have been less polished, but are crucially the only team to have beaten Kings – three times all up, including in the first Qualifier.Suffice to say, there might be a slight psychological edge in Gladiators’ favour going into this final, but if you’re the Kings you got to be feeling that the law of averages is about to come down hard in your favour.So, if there are any clues as to how this match might go, a brief analysis of their three encounters might help.The first was game one itself, the tournament curtain raiser. On a fresh pitch, Gladiators utilised the best of the batting conditions to put up what was deemed at the time a par score of 164, before their spinners throttled the Kings batters.Kings would proceed to overcome this early setback by their batters going on a tear; over their next few games, they would maul Kandy Warriors for 181 in 14 overs and then Colombo Stars for 207 in 18 overs in rain-truncated affairs. At other times, they simply bundled teams out for below par totals and hared to the finish. Gladiators in the meantime never quite reached the dominance they had in that first match, losing a couple of games, while even the wins were close-run affairs.So, when the two sides met for a second time, in game 19, while both had qualified for the playoffs, there was only one team in the ascendency. And at the halfway stage of that game with Gladiators limping to 129 for 8, that statement still held true. However, Kings would quite preposterously stall in the chase; the batters that had laid waste in games past seemed to have lost all their bearings, as Kings fell short by 20 runs.That game though had a caveat; while the top six were still their primary options, there was still a fair bit of rotation, with Wanindu Hasaranga in particular a big miss. The pitch too was unpleasant for the batters.There were no such excuses for their last meeting, though, in the first Qualifier. With a place in the final on the line, and away from the spin-havens of Colombo, Gladiators’ top order at long last clicked into place. Kusal Mendis to be fair had been doing the business throughout the tournament, but this time he was joined by Danushka Gunathilaka as the opening pair laid the platform for an imposing 188.The bowlers, particularly the slingy Nuwan Thushara, then ran roughshod over the Kings batters, with only Rahmanullah Gurbaz showing any fight. And so, for the third time in as many matches against Gladiators, Kings’ batters failed to turn up.Yet, as we head into the final, it’s hard to look back at these games as anything other than blips; Kings have been by far the most impressive side this LPL, in the field, and with bat and ball. They will rightly head in as favourites, but against Gladiators, a side that has shown they have the weapons to hurt them, they have been found conspicuously wanting time and again. As they say, something’s gotta give.

Form guide

(Most recent results first)
Jaffna Kings: WLLWW
Galle Gladiators: WWWLL
Avishka Fernando took Jaffa Kings into the final with a fine century•Ishara S.Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight

It would be easy to pinpoint the likes of Avishka Fernando, who just plundered the first century of the LPL, or Kusal Mendis who lies second in the run-scoring charts. However, the shift to Hambantota for the playoffs and final, where the pitches have so far been truer, it’s safe to assume that both sides’ batters will continue to have the best of proceedings. This game, therefore, is likely to be decided by the respective bowling units.In Maheesh Theekshana and Jayden Seales, Kings have two bowlers who are among the top five wicket-takers in the tournament. Theekshana is tied at the top with 15, while Seales is one back on 14. Theekshana has been one of Kings’ trump cards, frequently providing breakthroughs in the powerplay, while Seales’ changes in pace have made him a difficult proposition for a lot of batters, especially on the sluggish Colombo pitches.Seales didn’t play in the first Qualifier but starred with 3 for 24 in the second. It’s hard to see him missing out on the final. Theekshana, meanwhile, will have a vital role to play in curbing the likes of Mendis and Gunathilaka at the top of the innings.As for Gladiators, their bowlers haven’t really lit up the tournament per se, though as a collective they have managed to get by. But in Nuwan Thushara they have a genuine, if inconsistent, match-winner. He’s picked up 11 wickets this tournament, but five came in their last game against the Kings. Yes, the comparisons to Lasith Malinga are inevitable, even if he’s got quite a way to before reaching that exalted level, but still, a bowler with low slingy action, a good slower ball, and able to surprise even set batters, is invaluable in this format.And then of course there’s Mohammad Amir, the jewel, the spearhead, who has been made to toil for much of the tournament on surfaces completely unhelpful to his skill set. Yet he’s picked up at least a wicket each game, while his economy rate of 7.29 has remained respectable. While the batters might have the better of it in Hambantota, it will also make Amir more of a threat.

Team news

Don’t expect to see too much by way of change. Ashan Randika got himself a game last time, but it’s likely the Kings will opt to bring back Ashen Bandara, due to his excellence in the field as much as his useful lower order hitting. There’s also the fitness of Gurbaz that could be of concern, after he looked to have strained his hamstring in the last game. Upul Tharanga is in with a shout of replacing him.Jaffna Kings (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz/Upul Tharanga, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Tom Kohler-Cadmore, 4 Ashen Bandara, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Thisara Perera, 7 Chaturanga de Silva, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Jayden Seales, 10 Suranga Lakmal, 11 Maheesh TheekshanaThe Gladiators will likely feel remiss to change a winning combination, so barring injuries expect the same team to take the field as last time out. Noor Ahmad will miss out though, after he was selected to join up with Afghanistan for the Under-19 Asia Cup.Galle Gladiators (probable): 1 Kusal Mendis, 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Anwar Ali, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa(c), 6 Samit Patel, 7 Sahan Arachchige, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Pulina Tharanga, 10 Nuwan Thushara, 11 Mohammad Amir

Pitch and conditions

We’ve only had three games in Hambantota so far, and each has held very few demons for the batters. There has been bounce for bowlers willing to hit the deck, with the odd ball moving off the seam, but for the most part the ball has come on to the bat.

Quotes

“We won our last game, and everyone is in a good frame of mind. We are not putting a lot of pressure on ourselves. If we perform our roles, we can emerge victorious. Our shortcomings against Galle were that we failed to push the singles and twos, along with hitting the boundaries. We saw that happening in our last game (against Dambulla Giants) though. So what we discussed, we executed in the middle, and that’s why we won.”
“It’s like playing a series against a normal national side, we played three games and won three out of three. The boys are pretty much confident. As we have beaten them thrice it’s a matter of another game. We can’t underestimate them because we know how good they are, and they are the reigning champions. The preparations have been good, and we are looking forward to playing another match.”

Gloucestershire collapse to 13 for 4 in reply to hosts’ 237

ECB Reporters Network22-Aug-2020George Bartlett’s fourth first-class century transformed Somerset’s fortunes on a dramatic opening day of the Bob Willis Trophy match against Gloucestershire at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.The 22-year-old former England Under-19 batsman ended unbeaten on 100 as his side were bowled out for 237, having been 89 for 5 and 176 for 9 after losing the toss.Bartlett’s valiant innings occupied 143 balls and featured 17 fours. David Payne claimed 4 for 44 and Ryan Higgins 4 for 72, but a last-wicket stand of 61 between Bartlett and Jack Brooks frustrated the bowlers.By the close, Gloucestershire had slumped to 13 for 4, Chris Dent and Graeme van Buuren falling to Craig Overton, and Ben Charlesworth and nightwatchman Josh Shaw to Josh Davey in the first seven overs.The start of the day had seen Somerset plunge into trouble after visiting skipper Dent had elected to field, with threatening clouds gathering.Left-arm seamer Payne, fresh from eight wickets in the previous game against Glamorgan, bowled Eddie Byrom for a duck with a fine delivery at the start of the third over.With the total on 29, Somerset captain Tom Abell edged Shaw through to wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick, departing for 10, and at the end of a morning session interrupted for 40 minutes by a heavy shower, Somerset were 42 for 2.Higgins grabbed an important scalp soon after the interval, pinning James Hildreth lbw for 13 and it was 57 for four when opener Tom Lammonby was well caught low at third slip by Tom Lace off the same bowler, having made 24.Gloucestershire looked to be taking a firm grip when Steve Davies was caught down the leg-side by Roderick off Payne for 16 in the 35th over.But Bartlett looked in better form than his team-mates from the outset and by tea he had moved confidently to 43, off 89 balls, looking particularly strong off the back-foot through the off-side.Craig Overton provided support as batting began to look more comfortable under clearing skies and had contributed 32 to a stand of 75 when leg-before to Higgins with the total on 164 in the final session.A clatter of wickets followed, Roelof van der Merwe edging Payne to George Hankins at second slip, Jamie Overton caught behind aiming a mighty swing off the same bowler and Davey taken at first slip by Dent off Higgins, having been dropped by Hankins the previous ball.At 176 for 9, Somerset, whose top order batting had been fragile in previous games, looked in danger of ending their innings without a bonus point.But Bartlett, whose half-century had occupied 109 balls, began to cut loose and found a reliable partner in Brooks, not for the first time providing valuable runs at number 11.They should have been parted with the score on 195 when Hankins spilled another chance at second slip offered by Brooks off Matt Taylor.Gloucestershire’s fielding let them down as another chance offered by Brooks went begging and four overthrows contributed to the last-wicket stand.Bartlett continued to punish anything short through the covers and point. A richly-deserved hundred was reached with a single to third-man off Taylor and the young batsman leapt to punch the air in celebration.Brooks was caught at mid-off for 24 off the next delivery, but momentum was with Somerset and Craig Overton was quick to build on it by trapping Dent lbw for five in the third over of Gloucestershire’s reply.Charlesworth edged to second slip, van Buuren was caught behind and Shaw fell leg-before as the fiery Overton and accurate Davey threatened with virtually every ball.

Governing body admits protocol has ‘failed its stress test’ as it seeks to balance player safeguarding and public disclosure

Andrew Miller01-May-2019The ECB is set to review the balance between player safeguarding and public disclosure in its policy regarding the use of recreational drugs, after conceding that the existing protocol has “failed its stress test” amid the fall-out from Alex Hales’ banishment from the England World Cup squad.On Monday, Hales’ management team accused the ECB of placing player welfare “low on their list of priorities”, after the board allegedly reneged on a commitment to uphold his selection in England’s preliminary squad for the World Cup, in spite of the news breaking that he was serving a 21-day ban for a second failed drugs test.Privately, however, the ECB has come to the conclusion that their existing policy, formulated in conjunction with the Professional Cricketers’ Association, in fact puts too much emphasis on welfare, and leaves too little room for manoeuvre when the sport is confronted with the sort of high-profile case that is currently dominating the news agenda.At the nub of the issue is the policy’s existing focus on player confidentiality, a well-meaning attempt – in the wake of the death of Tom Maynard in 2012 – to protect the vulnerabilities of those who may be struggling with addiction, rather than risk exacerbating their problems through public exposure.However, the provisions of this protocol have left the ECB exposed to accusations of a cover-up, given that Hales’ situation would not have been made public at all but for the story emerging on The Guardian and ESPNcricinfo on Friday afternoon.In fact, at the point of his second failed test, and the imposition of the 21-day ban, only Tom Harrison, the chief executive, and Ashley Giles, the managing director, were allowed to be made aware – the levels of secrecy surrounding his case were such that even England’s head coach, Trevor Bayliss, had to learn of the situation through the media. ​A PCA spokesman told ESPNcricinfo that the provisions of the policy were constantly under review, and that they had been amended twice since their adoption in 2013, most recently in March this year, to allow PCA welfare officers to become involved in any given case at the point of the first failed test.However, the embarrassment for the ECB was heightened on Tuesday when their official website was found to be stating that a player’s name could be made public after a second failed test. That has since been put down to human error, and amended, but not before adding to the perception of a governing body that is struggling to stay in control of the story.Either way, sympathy for Hales – both at board level and among his team-mates – is in short supply, after a weekend training camp in Cardiff at which Hales reportedly missed his opportunity to apologise to the wider squad for actions which have undermined their preparations leading into England’s most significant campaign in recent memory.To date, his only public comments on the matter have been made through his management company, and the consensus within the camp would appear to be that Hales has exhausted the England squad’s patience.He is still serving a four-match suspended ban for his part in the brawl outside the Bristol nightclub in September 2017 that led to the arrest and subsequent trial of Ben Stokes – but unlike Stokes, who has attracted rave reviews from Bayliss for his commitment to training since being acquitted of affray in August last year, Hales’ latest misjudgement seems to reveal a player with little inclination to learn from his mistakes.It is understood that Hales’ ban will elapse ahead of Nottinghamshire’s Royal London Cup clash with Durham at Grantham on Friday, the same day that his team-mates play Ireland in the first ODI of the summer in Dublin. An assessment of his mental readiness is expected to be taken by Notts’ head coach, Peter Moores, after the player himself was said to be left “devastated” by his England axing.

Clyde Cumberbatch officiated in 12 Tests and 26 ODIs from 1981 to 1997 before serving as the chairman of West Indies umpires training and examination committee for 12 years

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2018Clyde Cumberbatch, who officiated in 12 Tests and 26 ODIs from 1981 to 1997, has died aged 81, in Port-of-Spain.After his umpiring career Cumberbatch worked as the chairman of West Indies umpires training and examination committee for 12 years. After he stepped down from the committee in June 2017, he was bestowed with an honorary life membership.Peter Nero, who had replaced Cumberbatch in the committee, paid tribute to his predecessor. “I sent a message to my mother this morning and I told her I had just lost my umpiring father,” Nero told . “Mr Clyde Cumberbatch has been all the superlatives that you can think about to me since I first met him around 17 or 18 years ago – friend, mentor, coach, supporter, well wisher.”

The captain Callum Ferguson led South Australia to their first win of this Matador Cup campaign, scoring an unbeaten 73 as the Redbacks gained a bonus point against New South Wales

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2016
ScorecardAlex Carey’s 43 helped South Australia to a strong start•Getty Images

The captain Callum Ferguson led South Australia to their first win of this Matador Cup campaign, scoring an unbeaten 73 as the Redbacks gained a bonus point against New South Wales. Chasing 209 for victory after New South Wales were bowled out for 208, South Australia reached their target with ease in the 40th over.While Ferguson was named Man of the Match, plenty of attention was on the South Australia batsman Tom Cooper, who the previous day had appeared at the inquest into the death of Phillip Hughes. Cooper scored a valuable 47 in the South Australia chase before becoming one of three wickets claimed by Doug Bollinger, who had also appeared at the inquest.But the Redbacks were always on target for victory after a brisk 72-run opening stand between Alex Carey (43) and Jake Weatherald (37). The primary question became whether South Australia would gain a bonus point by winning inside 40 overs, a goal which they achieved with four balls to spare.New South Wales had been bowled out in the 49th over, having never really gained any significant momentum during their innings. Ed Cowan top scored with 50 and Nic Maddinson made 36, but their 77-run second-wicket stand was the only fifty partnership of the innings.South Australia’s inexperienced bowling line-up kept the Blues in check, with fast bowler Wes Agar collecting 3 for 38 from nine overs, medium pacer Cameron Valente 3 for 40 from 9.3, and left-arm spinner Tom Andrews 2 for 49 from nine. The offspinner Michael Cormack was thrown in the deep end on debut, asked to bowl the first over of the game, and finished with 1 for 42 from 10 overs.