Category Uncategorized

The fast bowler is keen to keep himself in action ahead of facing England and will likely combine white and red-ball cricket

Andrew McGlashan28-Aug-2025

Josh Hazlewood will likely have a mixture of white and red-ball cricket ahead of the Ashes•Getty Images

Josh Hazlewood is expecting to play a Sheffield Shield match in the lead-up to the Ashes in November as he prepares to counter an “unbelievable” England batting line-up, which he believes will be strongest they will have brought to Australia during his career.Hazlewood recently played five out of the six white-ball matches against South Africa having sat out the T20I series against West Indies following the Tests while Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have not featured in the last few weeks. Hazlewood won’t be in action on the field in September but wants to keep getting miles in the legs ahead of the first Test in Perth rather than having extended downtime.”It felt like over the last 12 months, the best way for me to go about it is just keep on ticking over, keep playing, not having too long off bowling,” Hazlewood said at an event to promote Play Cricket week. “I find…getting back to that intensity and volume is quite tough for me. So if I can just keep staying up there, match intensity as long as I can, then that’s sort of the best way for me to go about it.”Related

• Harry Brook is going to the Ashes with a clear mind, but how will he fare there?

• Green set to bowl in Shield cricket

• Australia's next opener? Weatherald enjoying cricket 'like I did as a kid'

• Mark Wood targets Durham return in build-up to Ashes

Hazlewood, who played four Tests during the 2023 Ashes, is expecting a tough challenge from the England batting line-up. At times in the recent India series they showed a more nuanced approach rather an all-out attack, before falling to six-run defeat at The Oval. A 7 for 66 collapse triggered by a stroke from Harry Brook promoted significant debate after a spectacular hundred.Brook, currently the No. 2-ranked Test batter behind Joe Root, will be on his first Test tour of Australia and in nine T20Is in the country in 2022 had a top score of 20. His first-class experience is limited to one England Lions outing in 2021 and how he adjusts to conditions will be key to the team’s prospects. So, too, the performance of Root who has yet to score a Test century in Australia where he averages 35.68 from 14 matches.Josh Hazlewood expects Harry Brook to play without any baggage in Australia•AFP/Getty Images

“England has obviously been quite flat wickets recently, the last few years, and it’s been a really dry summer as well, so they are probably starting to get tired and spin now,” Hazlewood said. “I think [Brook] will adapt. He’s a good player. He’s at the top of the rankings for a reason, and he’ll be a tough challenge.”When [Root] first came out, it was a little bit of a different attack. It was probably [Mitchell] Johnson and [Ryan] Harris and [Peter] Siddle. Gaz [Nathan Lyon] has been around a long time now, so he was probably there, but we sort of just jumped on the back of that”I think a fresh face like Harry Brook might find it easier. There’s no baggage behind him and he can just come out and play with freedom as he does. Joe’s probably in the form of his life as well. So they’re an unbelievable batting line, to be honest. The top seven have done really well…so it’s a challenge.”Asked whether it will be strongest batting up England have sent to Australia in recent times, Hazlewood said: “Yeah, definitely.”Australia have a three-match T20I series against New Zealand in early October then India visit for ODIs and T20Is ahead of the Ashes. It remains to be seen how Hazlewood’s schedule will be juggled to allow him a red-ball outing – the fourth round of Sheffield Shield matches starting on November 10, when New South Wales play Victoria at the SCG, may be too close to the start of the series – but he is keen to have the opportunity to replicate long-form intensity.Last season Hazlewood played one game for New South Wales ahead of the India Test series, and though he went wicketless across 24 overs against Queensland he was Australia’s best bowler early in the opening Test in Perth before his series was disrupted by injury. This winter, however, he was able to play all four Tests against South Africa and West Indies, albeit the workload on bowler-friendly Caribbean surfaces was not extreme.”The Test [only] guys will play more than one [Shield game]. They’ll probably play two or three, but everyone’s on different programs,” he said. “I used it last year and I’ve sort of found that it’s very beneficial. Time on the field, multiple spells in a day, it’s sort of hard to replicate it at training. So, to get that before a Test series is pretty pivotal, I think.”

392-run stand with New Zealand’s Will Young denies Somerset before rain

ECB Reporters Network22-Apr-2024Joe Clarke and Will Young were denied the chance of a 400 partnership when heavy rain washed out most of the final day of Nottinghamshire’s Vitality County Championship First Division match with Somerset at Taunton.Only nine overs were possible at the start of the morning session, which began with the visitors 418 for 2 in their second innings, leading by 157 runs.Having already broken a Notts record for a third-wicket stand, which had stood since 1903, Clarke and Young added 22 runs, taking the total to 440 before the rain set in at 11.40am with their partnership extended to 392.No further play was possible before umpires Russell Warren and David Millns abandoned the game at the conclusion of a 1pm lunch period. Clarke was left unbeaten on 213 and Young on 174 as Somerset took 15 points from the draw and Notts ten.The early finish also deprived the pair of a chance to break the Notts record stand for any wicket, the unbroken opening stand of 406 put together by Darren Bicknell and Guy Welton against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 2000.Related

• Clarke, Young compile 370 unbroken runs to turn tables on Somerset

• Overton's late hitting drives Somerset into dominant position

• Overton signals return from back surgery as Somerset bowl Notts out

“We have to improve as a side because we have been putting ourselves in positions we don’t want to be in,” Clarke said. “We need to be in control and pushing to win games, so although it was good to get points from this one, we know as a group we have to be better.”This was Clarke’s third hundred of the season and he sits one run behind Warwickshire captain Alex Davies at the top of the run-scoring charts in Division One. “The partnership with Will was outstanding,” Clarke said. “We fed off each other well and kept each other going.”It was the first game this year with the Duke ball, but that made no difference to how I approached my innings. As always, I just tried to keep things simple and cash in on the confidence I am feeling with the bat at the moment.”Will Young just oozes class. He had not had many days in the country before we travelled down to play here after a long flight from New Zealand, so to fit back into the team so seamlessly was amazing.”Lewis Gregory, Somerset’s captain, said: “I would like to see pitches here offer a lot more to the bowlers than that one did. It flattened out much quicker than expected, but it’s not an exact science and that can happen here. Three draws is a solid start to the season for us. We have played some really good cricket and now need to build on it with a win.”

Opener revealed he was emotional after reaching his century having felt some pressure in the lead-up

AAP28-Dec-2022David Warner believes his gutsy MCG double century, coming in his 100th Test, was probably the best knock of his glittering career.Warner produced a stunning turnaround against South Africa on Tuesday, ending an-almost three-year century drought by smashing 200 in oppressive conditions.The 36-year-old opener retired hurt after reaching his milestone, suffering heat stress and full-body cramps, and was assisted from the field by medical staff.Related

• Langeveldt: Rabada not 'on song', needs to improve his control

• Warner joins elite club after scoring double century in his 100th Test

• Warner is back, just as he said he would be

• Cameron Green out of Sydney Test but defies fracture finger with fifty

Warner returned to bat on Wednesday, but lasted just one ball after being bowled by South Africa quick Anrich Nortje, but reflected on his extraordinary innings before play on day three.”I was going through that [his best knocks] the other day with a couple of the journos and that definitely is up there now,” Warner told . “To go out there, a lot of pressure, I don’t generally feel the pressure, I don’t get nervous.”But walking out here and telling my friends, ‘I’m going out to play the way I want to, looking to score and have intent’, and to deliver that in a Boxing Day Test which is the pinnacle as a kid…to go out and execute that emphatically was awesome.”Warner had been under immense pressure entering the final Test of the year, after averaging just 20.61 from 10 matches in 2022. The decline in Warner’s red-ball form had been so sharp he had failed to pass 50 since the third Test against Pakistan in Lahore in March. Warner has hinted about retiring from Tests in the near future but is desperate to tour India and England. He has never won a Test series in either country.”When your back’s against the wall, you can only look to move forward, that’s how I’ve always been,” he said. “It was emotional, it was hard out there, it was draining.”The build-up, the articles…but to come out here and just back myself and look to score, have that intent, which was probably missing from the last 12 months. It was a magical moment and so proud to do it in front of my family and friends.”Warner was the 10th player to score a century in his 100th Test and only the second Australian, after Ricky Ponting smashed twin centuries in 2006.Steven Smith, who was himself battling flu, subbed in for a weary Warner during the post-play press conference on Tuesday.He was confident the opener’s 25th Test century was not a one-off, believing the innings can set Warner up for success in blockbuster tours of India and England next year.”He’s doing pretty well and played exceptionally well [on Tuesday],” Smith said. “I don’t see any reason why he can’t continue playing. Fingers crossed he can keep playing well, and he can play for as long as he likes, I’m assuming.”

Kimber scores 63 in four-wicket, DLS victory but other results don’t go Foxes’ way

ECB Reporters Network12-Aug-2021Leicestershire Foxes missed out on a Royal London Cup knockout spot despite a Louis Kimber-inspired four-run DLS victory over Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Wantage Road.The Foxes needed to win and hope for two of Surrey, Somerset and Yorkshire to lose but in spite of holding up their end of the bargain they fell a point shy in Group 1.Kimber struck 63, his second List A fifty, with Rishi Patel, Arron Lilley and Rehan Ahmed helping the Foxes to 271.Rain meant the Steelbacks needed 266 from 48 over, but Rob Keogh’s 52 wasn’t enough as they fell agonisingly short – with Will Davis, Gavin Griffiths and Ben Mike all taking two wickets apiece.The Foxes won the toss and hared out the gate as Patel aggressively blasted 41 off 33 balls, including a pick up six over midwicket.He and opening partner Harry Swindles were both bounced out by Ben Sanderson – the former plinking to extra cover to hand the fast bowler his 50th List A wicket and the latter wonderfully caught by a diving Saif Zaib at deep square leg.Like Patel, Lilley showed that an attacking spirit was the best way to make runs – the all-rounder striking 46 off 37 deliveries for his third consecutive highest format score.Partnerships were extinguished just as they started to flourish – eight of the stands producing between 20 and 50 runs – with Lewis Hill losing the top of his off-stump to Sanderson, Lilley stumped and George Rhodes leg before to Simon Kerrigan.Mike tamely chipped to midwicket and Ed Barnes was plumb in front to Zaib but Kimber provided the paste with a 53-ball half-century. He was squared up and bowled by a crafty Kerrigan delivery, while 16-year-old Ahmed marshalled the tail with a promising unbeaten 40 before Zaib bowled both Griffiths and Davis – the spinner ending with personal best figures of 3 for 37.The Steelbacks raced to 45 in 7.5 overs before rain helped slow up a wicket which was already friendly to the spin bowlers.Emilio Gay collected 42 of the first 53 runs, including eight boundaries, before he was lbw to George Rhodes and Ricardo Vasconcelos followed soon after when he slashed to point.A third wicket in 10 balls, Ben Curran chopping on, came as the hosts stalled – with a nine overs gap between boundaries highlighting the Foxes’ containment.Luke Procter and Keogh were pragmatic, if rarely pretty, in their 89-run stand. The latter reached his half-century off 56 balls before swatting to midwicket but the former fell short when he hammered straight to point for 48 – both falling to Mike.Zaib tried to take control with 42 from 41, which included a towering maximum over square, but swung a full toss straight to deep midwicket with 37 still needed from 25 balls.James Sales had put on 63 with Zaib and picked out exactly the same fielder, as did Kerrigan.It meant 25 were needed from the last 11 balls, but despite Sanderson’s big-hitting, Jack White was run out to drag the Foxes over the line.

Batsman’s actions “could have derailed World Cup campaign” says England captain

Andrew Miller27-May-2020Eoin Morgan has dealt a potentially fatal blow to Alex Hales’ hopes of an England recall, after making it clear he has not yet been forgiven for putting last summer’s World Cup campaign at risk with the timing of his drugs ban.Hales, 31, was jettisoned from England’s plans on the eve of the World Cup in May last year, after The Guardian revealed that he had failed two tests for recreational drugs, the second of which had triggered a 21-day ban.And despite a recent interview in which Hales insisted he had matured as a character, as well as last week’s endorsement from Chris Woakes, who said the team would welcome him back if he had learnt his lessons, the England captain’s latest pronouncement on the subject could sound the death knell for any lingering comeback hopes.ALSO READ: Hales ‘should be allowed a second chance’ – WoakesSpeaking ahead of a Chance to Shine event, Morgan reiterated the “huge breakdown in trust” that had led to the squad’s decision to jettison a player who had contributed six centuries and more than 2000 runs to England’s rise from ignominy at the 2015 World Cup to pre-tournament favourites in 2019.Furthermore, he warned that it could be “detrimental” to re-introduce Hales to the national set-up, in spite of his impressive recent performances, which include a haul of 815 runs at 42.89 for Sydney Thunder and Karachi Kings in this winter’s BBL and PSL, more runs on the T20 circuit than any other batsman.”Alex is in a unique position, probably a position that nobody else has found themselves in before,” said Morgan. “On the cusp of a World Cup, the huge breakdown in trust between him and the players was extremely dramatic, given the circumstances surrounding the four years [between World Cups] and the build-up, and the way that things unfolded.”It’s obviously not about performance with Alex,” Morgan added. “Alex is a fantastic player. That’s never been discussed whether he’s good enough to be in the squad or not.”Playing cricket for England is about on- and off-the-field values that we adhere to, or do our best to adhere to, and Alex showed complete disregard for them.”If he can build them up that for as long as he can, then hopefully an opportunity will present itself down the line. But I think, given that it could have derailed a World Cup campaign, it might take some more time, yes.”ALSO READ: Is it now or never for Hales to come in from the cold?England are due in the coming days to name an extended training squad as they prepare to get back to action following the Covid-19 outbreak. And the extraordinary circumstances – in particular, the likely need for concurrent red- and white-ball squads – seemed to have raised Hales’ hopes of a recall, particularly after Morgan, in a previous interview, had hinted that the “door was still open”.Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan on their way to training•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

“I’ve certainly spoken to Alex, and certainly see an avenue for him to coming back to playing cricket,” Morgan said. “But like in life and in any sport, I think when there’s a breakdown of trust, the only healer in that is time.”And it’s only been 12-13 months since the incident, which could have cost us four years of hard work. Time is a great healer. So we will continue to assess things moving forward, as we’ve spoken to Alex about.””When we speak about trust, trust is a complete feeling,” Morgan added. “And it’s demonstrated by things that you said you’re going to do, and you follow through with that.”And for each and every player in our group, that timeline will be different, but we will continue to ask every player good honest questions, how they feel about the situation and will it be detrimental having Alex back into the squad, and what that will look like moving forward.”Though Morgan has intimated in recent interviews that he will assess his position at the end of the second of two back-to-back T20 World Cups, in India in 2021-22, he insisted that his ambition was undimmed by the recent down-time, and arguably enhanced after undergoing a “complete mental refresh” during lockdown.And while Hales’ realistic hopes of an England recall may hinge on his captain calling it a day, it is also clear that Morgan – who espoused the values of “courage”, “respect” and “unity” in the build-up to the World Cup – has one eye on the team’s legacy, not least their defence of the World Cup in 2023, and strongly doubts whether Hales has any place in their long-term plans.”I think teams in the past wouldn’t have been strong enough to make decisions like we did pre-World Cup, and then continue to stand by them post-World Cup,” he said. “And I think that says a lot about the group.”They feel as if they’re completely a part of something, that they can take ownership of that, because they’ve seen the work that they’ve put in and they’ve seen results. So, they also have seen instances where players coming back into groups has the ability to take a lot of energy away, and have an impact on a lot of other players.”

Charlotte Edwards, Rory Burns focus on defending titles

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2019Surrey’s 2018 County Championship triumph was 16 years in the making, but the club have capped their celebrations by lifting the Lord’s Taverners ECB Trophy, while Hampshire’s women have marked their remarkable rise from Division Three to one-day champions in just three years by accepting the Lady Taverners ECB Trophy.Both teams received their trophies at a presentation at the House of Lords on Tuesday.Surrey captain Rory Burns, whose team won the County Championship for the first time since 2002 on the back of a year which saw them enjoy a spell of nine consecutive victories, said the club were under no illusions about how difficult it would be to claim back-to-back honours.”It’s been an unbelievable year and I can’t speak highly enough of the hard work and dedication from the players, backroom staff and everyone connected with the club that was needed to win the trophy – it was a real team effort,” Burns said.Surrey, 2018 County champions, with the Lord’s Taverners ECB Trophy•Lord’s Taverners

“The club has waited a long time to lift this trophy again and it was a very proud moment for all of us. We needed to win games from different positions which showed a lot of character and we are fully aware of the hard work ahead as we look to defend the title.”Hampshire claimed their first women’s one-day championship after a campaign in which they won six of their seven games, having been in Division Three as recently as 2015. Charlotte Edwards, the 2018 captain and now Director of Cricket, was similarly focused on the task ahead.”It’s been a fantastic day for the players and staff and caps a great year,” Edwards said. “Winning the trophy was a great achievement and it was the culmination of many years of hard work by a lot of people. It’s a fantastic feeling looking back on 2018, but we’re also relishing the opportunity to defend the trophy in the year ahead.”Women’s one-day champions Hampshire with the Lady Taverners ECB Trophy•Lord’s Taverners

The BCB’s disciplinary committee is awaiting a report on the incident, which is said to have taken place during a National Cricket League game last week

Mohammad Isam28-Dec-2017Bangladesh batsman Sabbir Rahman faces possible punishment after he reportedly assaulted a fan during a first-class match in Rajshahi last week. The incident is said to have taken place on the second day of Rajshahi Division’s National Cricket League game against Dhaka Metropolis.According to reports, after a supporter made a noise directed at Sabbir during one of the innings breaks, Sabbir took permission from the on-field umpires to leave the ground and then went behind the sight screen to physically abuse the young boy, who had apparently been brought into the playing area by an acquaintance of Sabbir’s.The incident was supposedly first seen by the reserve umpire who reported it to the match referee, who in turn reported it to the BCB’s cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan, who then forwarded it to the board’s disciplinary committee. This was as per procedure, since Sabbir is being investigated for a level-4 offence. According to sources, Sabbir was also quite “aggressive” with match referee Showkatur Rahman, when he called him in on the third day of the game to investigate the incident.Sheikh Sohel, vice-chairman of the disciplinary committee, said that Sabbir would be subjected to heavy punishment if found guilty. In the case of level-4 offences, penalties include multiple-match bans in addition to a fine of Tk 5 lakh (US$6,000 approx).Sohel told the newspaper: “The moment I get the report, we will call him. But after seeing the report if we feel we don’t need to talk to him, we will quickly mete out the punishment.”Sabbir has faced disciplinary action a number of times in the past, the most severe case of which was in 2016 when the BCB fined him Tk 12 lakh (US$14,000 approx) for “serious off-field disciplinary breaches” during the Bangladesh Premier League.

Amid the disappointment of having lost a Test, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson felt the team had the skill to compete but has asked his team-mates to apply them for much longer durations

Sidharth Monga in Kanpur26-Sep-20162:49

‘Santner and Ronchi the highlights for us’ – Williamson

Amid the disappointment of having lost a Test, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson felt the team had the skill to compete but has asked his team-mates to apply them for much longer durations. There were times when New Zealand had India under pressure, the batsmen combating unfamiliar conditions, but such is the dominance of India’s spinners in their own conditions that New Zealand still lost by a whopping 197 runs. Williamson identified the breaks in concentration as something that could be improved despite the short turnover involved while playing three back-to-back Tests.”On the scorecard it looks like a biggish defeat, but there were a couple of moments that I would reflect on as where the game turned slightly more in their favour,” he said. “The back end of our first innings with the bat and certainly when we bowled in the second innings there was probably a three-hour period where we didn’t bowl very well and they got away from us. It’s a combination of us not quite being at our best at certain times, and they played very well.”New Zealand lost the toss in Kanpur but had competed with India evenly for the first six sessions. They had five wickets in hand and a first-innings lead was only 63 runs away when they collapsed from 255 for 5 to 262 all out. India ended up with a 56-run advantage – which is as good as 150 in these conditions – and it showed in how demoralised the New Zealand bowlers were in the second innings, and how freely the India batsmen were able to score.”Obviously, whenever you lose it’s disappointing,” Williamson said, “but credit certainly has to go to India. They’re a good side, particularly in their home conditions and they showed that again. In saying that, there are certainly positives for us to take from this Test into the next one. The way Mitch Santner played, and Luke Ronchi, coming back into the side [making 38 and 80] were a couple of highlights. As a unit we want to be able to apply that pressure for longer, which isn’t always easy in this part of the world against a side like India. But it’s certainly a challenge for us moving forward.”New Zealand have three days left for the next Test in Kolkata. They would need to recover physically, and then figure out ways to be better, both individually and as a team.”The first thing is the guys need to recover well,” Williamson said. “There were a lot of good things to come out of this game, and for a number of players it is their first time batting in these sort of conditions. There will be a lot of lessons learnt, reflecting on those and looking to apply the skills that worked for a period of time for a lot longer. That’s certainly what the Indian players do, it is very important.”[R] Ashwin and [Ravindra] Jadeja are both very good bowlers but there were a lot of positives for us,” Williamson said. “Guys who hadn’t played here before spent some valuable time in the middle and made some valuable contributions. Mitch Santner for one and Luke Ronchi another who certainly showed they had the skill-sets to perform well in these conditions. I do think it’s applying ourselves for longer.”As he had said in the lead-up to the Kanpur Test, Williamson pointed out how his team could learn from India. “It is a challenge against a very good attack but they [the New Zealand players] have got the skill-sets, and it’s being able to stick to it for a lot longer. That is the same with the ball for our young spin attack, who are extremely talented. Being over here in these hot conditions, being able to remain focussed for a long period because you know if you put the ball in the area for long enough, you’ll get your rewards. That’s what the Indian team showed us.”One of the reasons for Williamson hoping New Zealand could put up a better fight as the series wore on was Santner, who became the first player from his country to aggregate more than 100 runs and five wickets in a Test since 2011.”He played outstandingly well,” Williamson said. “It’s his first time in this part of the world playing Test cricket, and it was a great step in the right direction for his game. We all know he has got the talent with bat and ball and in the field. To apply himself like he did and bowl a number of overs and be successful was very good against good players of spin. It was a huge positive for us. He’ll look forward to the next one, and I’m sure he’s learnt a lot from this experience.”Martin Guptill, on the other hand, had an underwhelming Test with 21 in the first innings and a duck in the second. Williamson didn’t say if Guptill’s position was in threat yet. “This game has just finished so we get to sit down and talk about whatever the team may be for the next one and what balance will go in with. In the first innings, he got off to a good start and was perhaps a bit unfortunate in the second innings, but he has certainly shown his class in the white-ball format and we are backing him to show that in the red-ball [format]. He is working hard at his game and looking to improve. It isn’t the easiest of places to play sometimes. We’ll sit down in the next day or two and look at the side we might go with.”

Mark Footitt took 10 wickets in a match for the first time in what could be his farewell Derbyshire appearance, but Mark Cosgrove’s century for Leicestershire reduced the chances of a victory to take with him

ECB/PA24-Sep-2015
ScorecardMark Footitt joined the England squad in the summer [file picture]•Getty Images

Mark Cosgrove scored his second century of the season against Derbyshire to raise Leicestershire’s chances of completing a championship double over their local rivals in the Division Two match at Derby.The Foxes skipper followed his hundred at Grace Road last month with an unbeaten 126, his highest score of the season, after the visitors had been in trouble at 55 for 3 and shared a fourth wicket stand of 144 with Aadil Ali who made 62Mark Footitt, who could be playing his last game for Derbyshire, was again the pick of the home attack, taking three more wickets to claim 10 in a match for the first time in his career but at the close Leicestershire were 284 in front on 307 for 7.The first part of the day had belonged to Derbyshire with Ben Cotton scoring a career-best 43, adding 65 in 14 overs with Tom Millns to give their side a slender 23 run lead before Footitt plunged the visitors into trouble with two wickets in three overs.Cotton defeated Ned Eckersley’s defence push to leave the batsmen with the worrying statistic of having been bowled in 14 of his 33 first-class innings this season and when Footitt had Dan Redfern caught at second slip and Angus Robson edged behind, Leicestershire were only 32 runs ahead.Another wicket at that stage would have left them in danger of losing in three days but Cosgrove has a good record at Derby, having scored a career best 233 for Glamorgan on this ground in 2006, and after a cautious start, he began to put his team back in the contest.Ali again showed impressive judgement and temperament to help his captain restore the balance, pulling Wes Durston over the long on boundary after Cosgrove had driven the off-spinner for six.Cosgrove drove Millns for four to take the stand past 100 and the intensity of the cricket led to the umpires speaking to both captains after an exchange between Cosgrove and Cotton just before tea.Perhaps that disturbed Ali’s concentration because he was lbw to the final ball of the session from Durston and when Niall O’Brien fell to Footitt without scoring, Derbyshire sensed another opening.But Cosgrove, who completed 1,000 championship runs for the season, was the key and he reached his fourth hundred and his third in eight innings when he drove a Durston full toss for his 18th four.Lewis Hill helped him add 61 in 15 overs and with Ben Raine chipping in with 27, Derbyshire have a lot to do to avoid going through a season without a home championship win for the first time since 2005.”After the morning session when we didn’t play our best cricket, the back end of the day was ours in the end but it’s probably 60-40 so there’s no real lead at the moment,” Cosgrove said.”It was an important partnership between me and Aadil because at that stage of the game we needed to dig in and bat time and knock it around. Aadil has been fantastic for us this year and it’s really good to see the young kids come through.”Cotton believes Derbyshire are still in with a good chance of finishing with a victory. “The sun’s been on the pitch for three days and it’s starting to flatten out a little bit so once you get through the new ball there’s not a great deal there although I thought we clawed it back in the last session.”It’s not one of those games that’s just going to fizzle out and we are going to try and be aggressive and take it all the way.”

Shane Watson may opening the batting in the first Test in Chennai with Ed Cowan after national selector John Inverarity revealed significant concerns about David Warner’s recovery from a fractured thumb five days before the first Test

Daniel Brettig17-Feb-2013Shane Watson may opening the batting in the first Test in Chennai with Ed Cowan after the national selector John Inverarity revealed significant concerns about David Warner’s recovery from a fractured thumb five days before the first Test.Warner is yet to face anything more demanding than throw-downs since his arrival in India, following a broken thumb inflicted by Mitchell Johnson in the WACA ground nets that kept him out of the ODIs against the West Indies. The captain, Michael Clarke has trained freely enough in the latter stages of his recovery from a hamstring strain and is not in any doubt, but Warner’s thumb must improve over the next few days to ensure he is fit for the first Test.

Watson thinks he will bat at No. 4

Shane Watson believes he will resume his Test career at No. 4 if David Warner is passed fit for the Chennai Test. Though he opened the batting with Ed Cowan in the Australians’ final warm-up Watson said he was expecting to return to the middle order. “Initially in the first Test, it depends on whether Dave Warner will be fit and, obviously we’ve got our fingers crossed, that he’ll be fit to play,” Watson said. “If he’s fit, then I’m not sure, I think I’ll bat at 4, but the selectors and Michael and the coach haven’t really mentioned either way where I’m going to bat. I certainly like to open the batting, there’s no doubt about that it’s a lot of fun to be opening the batting in any conditions really. But I’ve got the game plan and I’ve played a lot in India recently to hopefully have some success at No. 4 if that’s the case.”

“David’s thumb has improved in the last couple of days, he wasn’t fit enough to play in this game, he had some throw-downs yesterday with a cricket ball, and we’re hoping his fitness improves a great deal in the next couple of days so he comes into contention,” Inverarity told . “We won’t make a decision on that until a few days out from the Test.”There is some concern with David because he hasn’t been able to practice, but Michael had an hour’s batting in the nets yesterday and he played beautifully, so I’d say there are very few concerns around Michael because of his experience and the fact he was able to practice.”The injury-enforced absence of Warner would be a major blow to the tourists but, at the same time, a temporary way around the vexing issue of where Watson should bat on his return to the Test side as a non-bowling member of the team.Numerous influential voices, including those of Ian Chappell and Brett Lee, have been raised in recent days to argue that Cowan should be dropped to make way for Watson. But Clarke and the rest of the selectors have valued Cowan’s steady hand at the top, and Matthew Hayden has been one advocate of the left-hander’s retention despite a run of scores that have been handy rather than outstanding.Glenn Maxwells’s prospects of a Test match debut in Chennai also rose when Inverarity hinted strongly at the use of three fast bowlers, one spinner and a slow bowling allrounder. As the Australians struggled to dismiss India A in their warmup match, Inverarity said the tourists were still leaning towards a heavy reliance on pace despite the surface at Chennai’s Chidambaram Stadium appearing likely to spin sharply.”The wicket for the Test match is already prepared. We could’ve played on it today, we could have played on it yesterday or the day before,” Inverarity said. “There is not one blade of grass, so you’d suggest it is a wicket for spinners. But with our Australian team I think the strength lies more with the pace bowlers than with the spinners.”We’ve got the option of playing two pace bowlers and two spinners, but it’d more likely that we’d go in with three pace bowlers and one spinner, plus some spin support. I don’t think it’s clouded. We know what we’re going to do. The Indian players, of course, are very good players of spin. Yesterday, our spinners didn’t bowl well and the Indian batsmen took heavy toll of them, but we’re fairly clear in regards what we’re going to do in terms of spin bowling in the first Test match.”Maxwell was left out of the team to play in the tourists’ final preparatory fixture, but has been groomed for a role in India for more than a month, since he was 12th man in the third Test against Sri Lanka at the SCG. While his offspin has shown signs of improvement across the ODIs against Sri Lanka and the West Indies, Maxwell’s batting has been less convincing as a Test match proposition.Steve Smith is the other notional option as a middle order batsman and spin bowler, though his leg breaks were treated harshly in the tour opener.