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A magnificent century from Sean Ervine helped Hampshire to a comprehensive 53-run win over Leicestershire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at the Rose Bowl

31-Jul-2011Hampshire 273 for 3 beat Leicestershire 220 for 9 by 53 runs
ScorecardA magnificent century from Sean Ervine helped Hampshire to a comprehensive 53-run win over Leicestershire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at the Rose Bowl.The Zimbabwean reached the landmark off 94 balls before going on to record a total of 136 as his side amassed 273 for 3 from their 40 overs. Leicestershire were unable to get anywhere near in their reply, with rising star Danny Briggs taking three wickets, despite a smart 72 from England Lions captain James Taylor.Hampshire got off to an average start, with James Vince falling to Alex Wyatt for just 4 to leave the hosts 21 for 1 in the fourth over. Fellow opener Jimmy Adams and Ervine then combined well, matching some clean hitting with intelligent running to advance Hampshire to 80, before Adams (38) became the second wicket to fall, caught at point by Taylor off Wyatt.That brought the experienced Neil McKenzie to the crease, who belied his reputation as a patient accumulator by blasting a quickfire unbeaten 72 from just 68 balls, containing seven boundaries.At the other end, Ervine – whose partnership with McKenzie had reached a mammoth 163 runs – advanced quickly to his hundred, surviving two dropped catches before finally falling to Wayne White for 136 off just 106 balls, blasting 14 fours and three sixes in his impressive innings, to leave Hampshire 243 for 3 in the 36th over.Liam Dawson was the next man in, and he and McKenzie carried the home side to
an intimidating 273 off their allotted 40 overs.Leicestershire’s reply got off to a sluggish start, with opener Josh Cobb bowled by Chris Wood for just eight. Will Jefferson was next to go just an over later, run out for four thanks to a direct hit from Adams to leave the Foxes 19 for 2.Leicestershire already looked incapable of keeping up with the run-rate, and found themselves three wickets down when Jacques du Toit (24) was dismissed thanks to a stunning catch in the deep from Dawson off the bowling of Dimitri Mascarenhas.That brought England hopeful Taylor and veteran wicketkeeper Paul Nixon together, and the pair combined to drag the visitors back into the tie, combining in a partnership of 108, until Taylor (72) and Nixon both fell in quick succession to reduce the visitors to 172 for 5, and still 102 runs
short with just eight overs remaining.The Leicester tail gallantly swung for the boundary, but spin twins Briggs and Imran Tahir combined to snatch three late wickets between them, before Wood knocked over Nathan Buck to leave Leicestershire on 200 for 9. Hampshire then strangled the game totally, eventually easing home to a comfortable victory.

Cricket Canada and Abu Dhabi Based Etihad Airways have announced a deal where Etihad will become an official event partner and national program sponsor with the board

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2010Cricket Canada and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways have announced a deal where Etihad will become an official event partner and national program sponsor with the board.”This partnership will remove cost barriers for our youth to access high quality academies worldwide,” Cricket Canada president Ranjit Saini said. “Additionally our teams will be within reach of premier cricket destinations where we can play against high quality opposition and receive high performance coaching.”The partnership helps us to remove the financial obstacles created by geographic challenges. We can now move our teams around the world more frequently and at a reduced cost. We can more readily explore the growing options to bring quality international and domestic fixtures to Canada and it gives us the opportunity to extend the reach of our high performance program while strengthening our international board relationships…a win-win situation for us.”While we should commend the achievements made in the past few years by our High Performance program to take us as far as we’ve come, we are under-resourced for a nation of our size and cricket population. This program ensures [players] will be able to further hone their skills in the time between youth programs and when they reach the senior men’s team. “Through the deal, Etihad will provide Cricket Canada with round-trip airfare for Canada’s elite development players to academies and coaching programs around the world as well as provide a significant capital contribution towards bringing high performance teams to Canada.The agreement with Etihad is the third major partnership announced by Cricket Canada this quarter. Earlier in November Cricket Canada inked deals with Mercury Communications Group and clothing giant Reebok. Canada will carry the Etihad name at the upcoming Caribbean T20 tournament in January.

A round-up of the final of the World Cricket League Division 8 tournament in Kuwait

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2010Kuwait‘s bowlers, led by Saud Qamar, crowned their consistent domination of opposition batsmen in emphatic style, skittling Germany out for 163 to set up a comfortable six-wicket victory in the final of the World Cricket League Division Eight. Both sides had already qualified for Division Seven by reaching the final.Opting to bat first, Germany achieved what no other side in the tournament had managed, playing out Kuwait’s prolific new-ball pair of Mohammad Murad and Saad Khalid without losing a wicket. Milan Fernando continued his good form, and was supported by Andre Leslie in an opening stand of 49.However, after having weathered the pacers, the introduction of spin proved to be Germany’s undoing as Fernando fell to slow left-arm bowler Azmatullah Nazeer for a brisk 32. That was the opening Kuwait needed, and Qamar capitalised with his offspinners, catching Germany captain Asif Khan and Leslie off his own bowling. From 76 for 1, Germany had slipped to 87 for 3.Qamar and Nazeer continued to strike, and Germany crawled to 120 for 7 after 40 overs. Rana-Javed Iqbal, the fast bowler, ensured Germany played out the remaining overs, adding 36 with Shakeel Hassan for the eighth wicket. His unbeaten 25 guided Germany to 163. Qamar finished with 5 for 28.Kuwait’s bowlers had hardly allowed their batting to be pushed in the tournament, and the highest they had chased was 76 against Suriname. Irfan Bhatti was in no mood to be pushed today though, hammering five fours and two sixes in his 39 off 25 deliveries. He fell soon to legspinner Kashif Haider, but by then Kuwait had raced to 58 in 6.4 overs.Qamar, coming in at No. 3, dropped anchor while opener Abid Chaudhry carried on from where Bhatti had left. Chaudhry’s dismissal with the score on 94 triggered a mini-collapse, as Haider accounted for Kuwait captain Hisham Mirza and wicketkeeper Mohammad Akhudzada cheaply. However, Qamar found an able ally in Saad, who made up for a rare wicketless display with a breezy knock. The duo added an unbroken 56 runs as Kuwait eased to victory with more than 100 balls to spare.

Hosts ended Day 2 with a 185-run first-innings lead, with Jayasuriya bagging 5 for 102 for visitors

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2024In their only tour match ahead of their three-match Test series in England, Sri Lanka face a fight to save the game after conceding a heavy first-innings deficit to an inexperienced Lions team in Worcester.Sri Lanka were bowled out for 139 in just 43.5 overs on Wednesday, with no batter reaching 30 and Gloucestershire’s Zaman Akhter taking 5 for 32, the second five-wicket haul of his first-class career. Lions took a six-run lead heading into the second day after losing four wickets on the first evening, three of them to Prabath Jayasuriya’s left-arm spin.But by the time rain brought the second day to an early finish, Lions had secured a first-innings lead of 185. Hamza Shaikh, the 18-year-old Warwickshire batter on first-class debut, made 91 from No. 4, sharing a 104-run stand for the seventh wicket with Kasey Aldridge, the Somerset allrounder, who himself made 78.Related

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Jayasuriya finished with 5 for 102 from his 31.2 overs, with Kasun Rajitha taking 2 for 51 from 19. But Lahiru Kumara, who has not played a competitive match since June, was expensive, leaking 92 runs from his 18 overs and dismissing only tailender Ajeet Singh Dale.Lions are fielding an under-strength side, with two first-class debutants in Shaikh and Farhan Ahmed, whose elder brother Rehan has played in all three formats for England. The ECB have only pulled one player – Josh Hull, who has made two appearances for Manchester Originals – out of the Hundred, which features most of the country’s best young players.Sri Lanka have not played a Test since their tour to Bangladesh earlier this year, which ended at the start of April, and most of their squad have not played any first-class cricket since the domestic four-day tournament finished in early May. Vishwa Fernando, who is not playing against Lions, took 12 wickets in two appearances for Yorkshire in June.Sri Lanka’s 18-man squad will travel from Worcester to Manchester after the tour game ahead of the first of three Tests against England, which starts on Wednesday at Emirates Old Trafford. They will be joined in Manchester by former England batter Ian Bell, who has been recruited as a batting coach for the series to provide local knowledge.

“In those big moments, it could be a wicket that wins you the game or loses the game”

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2022Sam Curran has indicated that the consequences involved in a World Cup match would likely see England take a different approach to Matthew Wade’s apparent obstruction of Mark Wood during the first T20I in Perth.When Wade got a top edge against Wood in the 17th over, with Australia needing 39 off 22 balls, he blocked the fast bowler’s attempt to reach the catch with an out-stretched arm in what appeared to be a clear case of obstructing the field. However, England captain Jos Buttler, who said he had not been watching Wade, declined to appeal, later saying it was early days on a long tour.Buttler, himself, intimated that he would probably consider a different approach in a match with more riding on it and Curran was of a similar view.Related

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“Maybe in a World Cup game…it might have been a bit different,” Curran told reporters in Canberra, the venue for the second and third T20Is. “It’s a great little bit of niggle starting a series against Australia, there’s always that competitive edge.”When you play a game versus Australia and at a World Cup for instance, your competitive edge will be out there and there will be wanting to win at all costs. In the moment, you’d hope they take it upstairs and the best decision is made because Woody bowled a nice ball there and he probably deserved a wicket and he’s kind of got a little bit in the way”Probably the right thing in the end was what Jos said, we’ll be here for a long time…it’s a bit of fun, but maybe it’ll be a bit different further down the line.”Curran also suggested that there may be scope for such decisions not requiring an actual appeal from the players, with the umpires just able to make a ruling.”As players, you’re watching the ball go up and we’re looking at that rather than maybe the actual movements of the players involved,” he said. “Maybe that’s the easiest way, just go straight to the third umpire, it’s probably tough for the umpires in the field because they’re probably watching the ball as well.”Hopefully it doesn’t happen too often, [but] in those big moments, it could be a wicket that wins you the game or loses the game as well so maybe that’s the best way.”Overall, though, neither side appeared to be taking the incident especially seriously with Mitchell Marsh also making light of it.”Would I appeal? If it was ‘Wadey’, yes I would. Anyone else? Probably not,” he said.In the end, Wade was dismissed in the final over of Australia’s chase, and England won the first T20I by eight runs.

Board hope successful Lions tour can act as precursors to full international series in 2022-23

George Dobell and Matt Roller28-Feb-2020The PCB is hopeful that an England Lions squad will tour Pakistan next winter.ESPNcricinfo understands that the PCB’s managing director Wasim Khan has engaged in discussions with the ECB, with the hope that a successful Lions tour can act as a precursor to a full international tour down the line. England last toured Pakistan in 2005-06, while the most recent ‘A’ tour there was in 1995-96.Pakistan has hosted several international games in the last five years, having spent almost ten years playing ‘home’ games in the UAE. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have both toured in the 2019-20 season, including the first three Tests played in the country since the terror attacks in Lahore in 2009.Last month, the MCC led a tour to the country, while English players have regularly travelled to the country to play in the Pakistan Super League. In 2017, Dawid Malan, Chris Jordan and Samit Patel all travelled to Lahore for the competition’s final – the first PSL game to be hosted in Pakistan – while as many as 15 England-qualified players are involved this season, with all games being played in Pakistan.Last week, Clare Connor, the ECB’s director of women’s cricket, attended Multan Sultans’ home fixture against Peshawar Zalmi during a stop-over en route to the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, and tweeted her thanks for “a wonderful welcome and an incredible first experience of the PSL”.Asked after a Multan Sultans game if he thought England would tour Pakistan soon, Moeen Ali said: “I hope so, inshallah. It’s something that I’m sure they’re talking about. I know other countries are also talking about coming, so hopefully, in the future. It’s great that English players are here… it shows that the guys are keen to come and play here.”England Lions played Pakistan A in the UAE in 2018-19•Getty Images

England’s next scheduled tour to Pakistan is in 2022-23, which will comprise three Tests and five ODIs. The Lions have played recent series against Pakistan A (recently rebranded as Pakistan Shaheens) in 2015-16 and 2018-19, with all games being held in the UAE.An ECB spokesperson said: “We welcome the fact that international cricket is beginning to return to Pakistan. Recently, we made a preliminary fact-finding visit at the invitation of the Pakistan Cricket Board along with Cricket Australia and Cricket Ireland. For us this was a first step in assessing the viability of future tours to Pakistan.”All future tour schedules will be announced in due course.”

Captain draws on England’s women’s side, who won a home World Cup in 2017, to show the effect it could have

George Dobell at The Oval29-May-2019Eoin Morgan believes the World Cup in England can inspire “every young kid in this country” to take up cricket.While Morgan, the England captain, accepted that the impact of the tournament will be greater if his team “go a long way” in it, he believes that simply hosting the event for the first time since 1999 will capture the public imagination and attract a new generation of supporters. And he drew on the example of England’s women’s side, who won a home World Cup in 2017, to show the effect a successful side could have.”The World Cup alone raises the profile of the game,” Morgan said. “And provides a platform for every young kid in this country to have a hero or inspiration to pick up a ball or a bat.ALSO READ: The importance of Moeen and Rashid to England“The impact of this World Cup is not as big an impact unless we go a long way, but it will have an impact on everybody. We got knocked out of the ’99 World Cup early, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.”The impact of that [women’s] World Cup two years ago was amazing. The women’s game is thriving. It would mean a huge amount for us to win it. I couldn’t imagine what it would do.”While much live coverage of the tournament remains, in England and Wales at least, behind a paywall, the ECB hopes that the publicity generated by it will overflow into the mainstream media and create a similar level of excitement as experienced during the football World Cup last year.In a reflection of the efforts being made to capture the public imagination, Morgan and all the other World Cup captains have been invited to meet Queen Elizabeth II at a reception at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening, while an opening party will take place along the Mall in London.The England squad also welcomed Gareth Southgate, the manager of the England football side, into their dressing rooms in recent times to share his experience of reaching the semi-finals of last year’s World Cup in Russia. And while Morgan recognised the similar challenges facing sides who had struggled in previous tournaments, he did hint that the expectations of the teams were quite different.Adil Rashid bowls to Eoin Morgan in the nets•Associated Press

“Yes, we did a session with Gareth,” Morgan said. “And it was brilliant. He talked about his journey with the team in and around the World Cup and its build-up and how they built bigger expectations and came together more as a group.”I think everybody who has been involved with our team over the last four years recognised that they are where we were two years ago and we started exactly where they did. We recognised what had happened in the past, tried to do things differently and moved forward.”Gareth did brilliantly. They got to the semi-final and everybody said it was great. But we got knocked out of the Champions Trophy semi-final and everyone said we were crap.”Morgan, clearly, was joking on that point. However, he was not seeking to play down the expectation upon his team. Having gone into previous tournaments considered no-hopers, he relished the fact his England team are ranked No. 1 in the world and seen by many as favourites for the trophy.”The level of expectation and favourite tags is there for a reason,” he said. “Over the last two years, our form at home, in particular, has been outstanding. That’s the reason the expectation is there.”In a lot of the World Cups I’ve played in – or in which a couple of the guys in the changing room have played in – we’ve gone in with very little expectation and not done that well. I’d pick this position over any other.”There’s a lot of belief within the room. The transformation of the team has been brilliant. We’re very confident within our own game.”

Australia’s captain, Meg Lanning, will miss the Women’s Ashes series this year after having surgery on her right shoulder

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Aug-2017Australia’s captain, Meg Lanning, will miss the Women’s Ashes series this year after having surgery on her right shoulder.Lanning is expected to be sidelined for six to eight months and her absence will be a major blow to an Australia side seeking to retain the Ashes at home in a series of three ODIs, one Test and three T20Is in October and November.”Meg has been managing a right shoulder injury and following the recent World Cup, it became apparent that she would require surgery,” Australia’s team physio, Kate Mahony, said.”Meg underwent surgery earlier this week and we expect that she will require a long rehabilitation period of six to eight months, ruling her out of the upcoming Ashes series. We will continue to monitor her progress, with return to play timelines to become clearer once she has commenced rehabilitation.”Lanning was the second-leading run-scorer from either side in the 2015 Ashes, and was the only player from either team to score a century in the series.”Whilst it’s very disappointing to be unavailable for the Ashes, I’m looking forward to getting stuck into my rehabilitation and returning to cricket as soon as possible,” Lanning said.”It’s an incredibly special occasion for any cricketer to be a part of and I wish the team all the best as they set out to retain the Ashes.”Australia’s selectors will name a replacement captain in the coming weeks.

Nottinghamshire went for an overseas batsman to replace a bowler and Cheteshwar Pujara showed his class with a century

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge26-May-2017Nottinghamshire 357 for 5 (Lumb 117, Pujara 112) v Gloucestershire
ScorecardNottinghamshire’s decision to replace an in-form Test bowler with a batsman after James Pattinson’s call-up to Australia’s Champions Trophy squad might have been assessed as a gamble, but after Cheteshwar Pujara distinguished his home debut for the county with a century on a day when Michael Lumb also reached three figures it would seem slightly absurd to suggest anything of the sort.Pattinson’s 20 wickets were a key factor in Nottinghamshire starting the season with three straight wins, although Pujara, of course, is not just any batsman. With an average of 51.32 in 48 Test matches for India his quality is not in doubt and even after a 2016-17 season that comprised 13 Tests his appetite for more cricket is plainly as sharp as ever. Given that those 13 Tests yielded four centuries and eight half-centuries and four series victories you would expect nothing less.Overlooked by the IPL franchises for the third consecutive year, the vacancy at Trent Bridge has come at just the right time. After previous stints with Derbyshire and Yorkshire in county cricket, where he found the challenge of cricket in English conditions much to his liking, he needed little persuasion to take up the offer.He would have seen it as an opportunity, too, to reacquaint himself with how it feels to make runs in England ahead of next summer’s international series here, especially after enduring a relatively lean time on India’s last visit, in 2014.Pujara did make a second-innings 55 in the drawn opening Test at Trent Bridge that summer, which will have added a little something to the attraction of a run of games here and, in the warmest conditions of the summer so far against a weakened Gloucestershire attack, he looked at home almost from the outset, stroking five boundaries from the first 26 deliveries he faced, including two in a row off the left-armer Matt Taylor down the ground and through mid-on that were exquisitely timed.Gloucestershire actually bowled commendably well in the morning session, when they had surprised more than a few in the crowd by opting to bowl under a clear sky in already building heat. They are without Liam Norwell and David Payne through injury, depriving them of both their leading wicket-takers, yet a return of three wickets for 122 made it an even contest at that stage.Steven Mullaney rather threw his wicket away, clipping straight into the hands of midwicket after making 35 in what appeared to be one-day mode, but both Jake Libby and Samit Patel could console themselves with having succumbed to a good ball. Pujara was tested at times, too, with Gloucestershire twice convinced they had him caught behind.There was some grass on the pitch and word from the home dressing room – from Luke Fletcher, at least – was that the Nottinghamshire attack might have fancied it, too, even after the energy-sapping two days and a half they spent in the field in Cardiff last week.Yet as the sun reached its highest point in the sky and the sweet aroma of sun cream filled the air on the well populated upper deck of the Radcliffe Road stand it did begin to feel increasingly like the day full of runs that had been anticipated.The pivotal moment, perhaps, came shortly after lunch when Will Tavaré, at point, dropped a ludicrously straightforward catch from an undisputedly awful shot from Lumb off Craig Miles when the batsman had made only 12 and looked decidedly scratchy.Had it stuck Nottinghamshire would have been 151 for 4. It did not, though, Tavaré watching the ball into his hands but forgetting to close his fingers around it. And how Lumb made him pay.He and Pujara added 185 before the fourth wicket did fall, the latter caught behind somewhat tamely off a defensive push. Out for 2 on his county debut in Cardiff, he had put himself well in the black with 14 boundaries, pretty much all of them hit flat along the floor.Lumb went on to complete a century of his own, pulling Miles behind square for his 17th boundary, his first hundred for a year in four-day cricket and one he celebrated in much the same fashion as he did against Warwickshire last May, when his hundred ended a century drought in first class games spanning 32 months.He was caught at point after adding three more boundaries, rewarding Miles for his perseverance with the new ball in trying to tempt a loose shot.Nottinghamshire already look to have ensured that their unbeaten run continues. If they can now take 20 wickets in these conditions without Pattinson they will feel they made the right decision.