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Williams enters top ten in allrounders’ rankings, Nissanka gets into top ten among batters

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2022Wanindu Hasaranga has regained the top spot among T20I bowlers, replacing Rashid Khan, after a successful T20 World Cup, where he picked up 15 wickets in eight matches.Hasaranga picked up three-wicket hauls three times in the tournament. His 3 for 8 against UAE and 3 for 28 against Netherlands ensured Sri Lanka turned their first-round campaign around after an opening loss to Namibia to enter the Super 12s. He then picked up 3 for 13 against Afghanistan in the Super 12s.

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The last time Hasaranga was at the top of the bowling rankings was in November 2021; he finished the last calendar year as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the format.The Zimbabwe duo of Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza made gains among T20I allrounders. While Raza switched places with Moeen Ali – now sixth – to move to No. 4, and Williams entered the top ten in ninth place.While Williams has 395 runs along with ten wickets this year, Raza has had a memorable 2022 across formats for Zimbabwe, and with 735 runs, he is currently the third-highest run-getter in the world in T20Is. Raza has also picked up 25 wickets in T20Is this year, including 4 for 8 against Netherlands in a World Cup qualifier game. He got 3 for 19 against West Indies in the first round at the World Cup, before a haul of 3 for 25 helped Zimbabwe edge past Pakistan in the Super 12s.In other key movements across tables, Adil Rashid moved up to No. 8 among T20I bowlers, and Pathum Nissanka moved up to be the tenth-ranked batter after 214 runs – including two half-centuries – at the World Cup.

England batter shows vital signs before Glenn Phillips seals win in Bristol with 38 balls to spare

David Hopps22-Jun-2021Zak Crawley is registering 175/107. If that is his blood pressure it is Stage 2 Hypertension and probably summed up his stage of health during recent Test series. Fortunately, it is not a matter of Systolic and Diastolic readings, but runs scored divided by balls faced in the Vitality Blast. It suggests that he is slowly returning to health again.Not that his 43 from 29 balls, as welcome as it was to him and England, made much difference to the greater scheme of things. Kent’s second defeat of the season could hardly have been more emphatic as Gloucestershire trounced them by eight wickets with 38 balls to spare at Bristol. By dint of that, Gloucestershire move into the South Group’s top four at roughly the mid-point of the group stages.Since Crawley made 267 against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl in August last year, and heard many good judges, that great stylist Ted Dexter among them, purring in approval, he has followed up with five single-figure scores in six. He failed against India and New Zealand in common with many, but he could be forgiven slight confusion when a small trigger movement – nothing much more than a twitch – was attracting more attention than the horrors going on elsewhere.Endless T20 is not the sort of preparation for resuming a Test career against India at Trent Bridge in early August, but he must gain sustenance where he can. He has been part of a strong Kent top order that has taken them to the top of the South Group – despite this defeat – and his strike rate of 163 per hundred balls has been highly respectable.Against Gloucestershire, he stood stock still, braced to attack. Dan Worrall, Gloucestershire’s Australian overseas pace bowler, felt the force of that as the third and fourth balls in the first over were deposited over midwicket. The first was straight and planted for four with care; the second, a little wider, invited conviction and flew over the ropes.He was fortunate not be caught on the offside off David Payne on 35, the ball falling safe between two fielders, but, on 43, a slog-sweep against the slow left-armer Tom Smith fell to Worrall at deep square.Without their captain, Sam Billings, now back on England duty, Kent were not at their most zestful. Joe Denly and Jack Leaning fell at short extra – at least Denly hit his crisply – and Alex Blake, aiming legside, drew a good running catch over his shoulder by Jack Taylor. Darren Stevens should have been caught at deep cover by Chris Dent, who perhaps had the sun in his eyes, only for Dent to take a much harder chance, stretching to his right, off Worrall, 11 balls from the end.Only some late defiance from Jordan Cox provided the illusion of a vaguely competitive total.Gloucestershire’s satisfaction was tempered by an ankle injury to Ian Cockbain, who retired hurt on 30, but such a comfortable victory has done wonders for their run rate.Miles Hammond began their chase in ideal fashion, striking the first two balls over cover for four and then the first two of the fourth, from Grant Stewart, for six over square leg. With 55 banked from 4.4, he attempted a charging pull against Matt Milnes and skied a comfortable chance: his 33 was his best return in the tournament.Chris Dent’s 21 off the final over of the powerplay left Stewart contemplating two overs for 38. At 75 for 1, and the required rate only five an over, Kent’s challenge subsided. Glenn Phillips (41 not out from 25 balls) rounded things off with a switch-hit six against Denly.

Allrounder has not played a T20 since August 2018 and keen to rest ahead of busy home summer

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2020Chris Woakes has withdrawn from the upcoming IPL season in order to stay fresh ahead of England’s home Test summer.Woakes, a 150 lakh (£160,000) signing for the Delhi Capitals at December’s auction, has not played a T20 since August 2018, and last played a T20I for England in November 2015. ESPNcricinfo understands in his communication with the franchise Woakes informed the Capitals that he was pulling out due to family reasons. No further details could be ascertained.Head coach Ricky Ponting had singled him out as a player who “could go for big money” ahead of the auction, but Delhi were the only team to register a bid for him.ALSO READ: IPL 2020 – full squadsWoakes had a mixed record in his previous two IPL seasons. In 2017, he took 17 wickets for Kolkata Knight Riders with an economy rate of 8.77, but in 2018 played only five games for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and conceded 10.36 runs per over.Woakes has been ever-present in England’s Test squads this winter, playing one Test against both New Zealand and South Africa, and is one of only four frontline seam options in their squad in Sri Lanka.England play six home Tests next summer, starting with a series against West Indies which begins on June 4. The three players in the squad to play Sri Lanka who also have IPL deals – Ben Stokes, Sam Curran and Jos Buttler – will join their franchises days before the start of the tournament, and will have only a few days off after it before linking up with the England squad ahead of the first Test against West Indies.Despite having Ponting’s backing, Woakes was not guaranteed to make Delhi’s playing XI. He was one of eight overseas players in the squad alongside Jason Roy, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamichhane, Kagiso Rabada and Shimron Hetmyer, with only four permitted per game.It is unclear whether Rabada will be fit for the start of the tournament, after he was ruled out of South Africa’s ODI series against Australia and India with a groin injury.

Captain Sammy too plays his part with a 29-ball 40 in a crucial 89-run partnership

Peter Della Penna01-Mar-2019How the game played out

Liam Dawson’s crunching straight drive for four off the final ball from Mohammad Sami ended a thrilling contest in Dubai; Peshawar Zalmi chased down 176 to beat Islamabad United by four wickets.With four needed of the final delivery, Dawson’s boundary allowed him to complete a 35-ball half-century after Darren Sammy, who played an equally key role, was run out off the penultimate delivery, trying to steal a bye.Dawson and Sammy rescued Zalmi with an 89-run sixth-wicket stand after they were struggling at 84 for 5 in the 12th over of the chase. The pair dragged it down to 14 off the final over and took four off the first three balls, including Dawson’s survival of a missed run out chance taking a bye off the third ball. Then, Sammy swatted a full toss for six to drag the equation down to four off two balls before Dawson sealed the victory.It meant Cameron Delport’s first innings 71 was in vain for United. PSL’s leading wicket-taker Hasan Ali was once again a major factor, having Delport caught by Dawson on the extra cover boundary in the 17th over of the United innings. It sparked a sharp slide in which United last their last seven wickets for 29 runs across the last 23 balls.Turning points

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.

Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman, has said that Bangladesh’s proposed visit to Pakistan was a chance to change external perceptions over security concerns

Umar Farooq19-Dec-2011Zaka Ashraf, the PCB chairman, has said security for Bangladesh’s scheduled tour of Pakistan in April 2012 will have to be of “the highest standards” as all eyes will be on Pakistan. Ashraf said that Bangladesh’s proposed visit was a chance to change external perceptions over security concerns which have prevented international cricket in Pakistan since the Sri Lanka team was attacked in March 2009.”A successful tour by Bangladesh to Pakistan would mean a new beginning for international cricket in Pakistan,” Ashraf said in Lahore. “Obviously, this would be watched closely by other member countries and we have to demonstrate that security arrangements are of the highest standards. I think it is of paramount importance that we present foolproof security plans to the visiting Bangladesh security team and implement them.” The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will conduct a security inspection of Pakistan next month as a precursor to the tour.According to Ashraf, the PCB had not finalised an itinerary for the tour but the goal was to make other teams consider visiting Pakistan. “We were in talks for the last one-and-a-half months with Bangladesh and finally we have been able to convince a team to visit us. We haven’t proposed any itinerary but the aim is to host them for two or three matches to ease the security concerns that would help us to change the world’s perception.”The agreement with Bangladesh is a major breakthrough. It’s like breaking the ice. Let them visit us and it will increase the scope of inviting more teams.”The PCB will now start making preparations for briefing the BCB’s security team regarding arrangements that will be put in place and will also request the Pakistan government to present security plans to the team. “We have to show them the security plans and if they still have any concerns then we will settle them with their input to give them the required comfort to ensure that the tour goes ahead.””We enjoy cordial relations with our brotherly nation Bangladesh and I thank the BCB again for their support to Pakistan.”

Michael Hogan bowled Western Australia into a commanding position on a rain-affected third day at the Gabba, where Queensland followed on after being bundled out for 150

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2010
ScorecardMichael Hogan bowled Western Australia into a commanding position on a rain-affected third day at the Gabba, where Queensland followed on after being bundled out for 150. In their second innings, the Bulls were 1 for 23 with Ryan Broad on 18 and Craig Philipson on 1, still trailing by 158 runs and hoping for more of the wet weather that has hampered the clash to save them from defeat.They began the morning at 1 for 72, with a realistic chance of taking the lead, but early strikes to Hogan and Brett Dorey changed that. Wade Townsend top scored with 47 but the Bulls lost 7 for 48 before lunch, in a session that was disrupted by rain, and the bad weather continued for most of the day, with play unable to restart for five hours.Hogan finished with 4 for 53, and was well supported by Dorey (3 for 39) and Ryan Duffield, who collected 3 for 40 and then had Townsend trapped lbw 4 for early in Queensland’s second innings. Michael Beer flew to Perth on Sunday to join Australia’s Test squad and was replaced in the Western Australia side by Aaron Heal, who wasn’t needed as the fast men did all the damage.