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Rest of India extended their advantage on the second day, amassing 668, to leave Mumbai with a mammoth task in their pursuit of gaining a potentially decisive a first-innings lead

The Bulletin by Abhishek Purohit02-Oct-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Parthiv Patel’s 13th first-class century pushed Rest of India beyond 650•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rest of India extended their advantage on the second day, leaving Mumbai with the mammoth task of having to surpass 668 to gain a potentially decisive first-innings lead. Though Dhawal Kulkarni struck with three early wickets, Parthiv Patel’s hundred and half-centuries from Virat Kohli and R Ashwin ensured the day belonged to Rest of India.There was hope early in the morning for Mumbai, after seamer Kulkarni dismissed Abhinav Mukund, S Badrinath and captain Yuvraj Singh in quick succession. Both seamers Kulkarni and Usman Malvi got some away movement outside the off stump.Kulkarni bowled a nagging length and had the left-handers in trouble with the angle from round the wicket. He got Mukund, who had looked a bit tentative, to edge an away-going delivery to gully in the ninth over of the day. Badrinath, meanwhile, had been pushed onto the back foot by the away movement. Four overs later, Kulkarni bowled Badrinath, six short of a hundred, as he played from the crease to a delivery that came in with the angle. Much was expected from Yuvraj, but he didn’t last long. In his next over, Kulkarni took out his middle stump with a fuller one from round the wicket; Yuvraj playing all around it from the crease. Rest of India, on 353 for 1 at one stage, were suddenly 367 for 4.But Kohli and Parthiv ensured the advantage didn’t slip, adding 158 for the fifth wicket at close to five runs an over. Kohli stuck mostly to the Sunil Gavaskar school of batting. Anything outside off was left alone with a monk’s discipline, and when the bowler pitched it straight or drifted onto his pads, he took full toll, driving gracefully and powerfully in the arc between extra cover and mid wicket.One over from Abhishek Nayar, about an hour before lunch, typified Kohli’s approach. The first ball was full, close to off stump, and was straight driven for four in a flash. The next four balls, wide outside off, were left alone. When Nayar pitched the last delivery fuller and closer to the stumps, he was hammered through extra cover. However, like Shikhar Dhawan on the first day, Kohli missed out on a hundred when in total control, hitting a Ramesh Powar long hop straight to midwicket on 90.If Kohli dominated against the seamers, Parthiv was all footwork against the spinners, welcoming Powar with consecutive boundaries. He went over the infield when they flighted the ball, rocked back to play the cut and pull when they dropped it short, and was quick to use his feet on most occasions. Fifteen of his 18 fours came against the spinners. One of them to the midwicket boundary off Iqbal Abdulla brought up his 13th first-class century.After Kohli fell, Parthiv and Ashwin compounded Mumbai’s misery with the fourth century-plus stand of the innings at almost a run-a-ball. Ashwin played with all the assurance of a batsman averaging in the late-30s in first-class cricket. He lofted and cut the spinners, and pulled the seamers for boundaries. He mixed the powerful shots with some deft late cuts and guides, getting to his seventh first-class half-century with one such steer to third man.Kulkarni returned to take two late wickets to finish with his seventh first-class five-wicket haul. But he sorely lacked support from the other bowlers, and had Ajit Agarkar been able to bowl (he didn’t take the field today because of dehydration), maybe the story could have been different for Mumbai.Their openers began well though, facing ten overs without any fuss. Mumbai will need a gargantuan batting effort to make anything out of this match.

Pakistan batter suffered an injury while trying to save a boundary off the second ball of the match

Danyal Rasool19-Feb-2025Pakistan’s Champions Trophy title defence got off to an inauspicious start, as Fakhar Zaman was forced off the field after two deliveries of their opening game against New Zealand in Karachi.New Zealand opener Will Young drove Shaheen Afridi through the covers to beat the infield, with Zaman setting off in pursuit. He cut it off before palming the ball to Babar Azam to throw it back to the keeper, but immediately appeared to feel discomfort in his lower back or side. He signalled that he needed to be replaced, and went off the field with the physio, though he walked unaided back to the dressing room.”Fakhar Zaman is being assessed and examined for a muscular sprain and further updates will be provided in due course,” the PCB said in a statement shortly after.Fakhar came back on the field after spending a little more than two hours off it, which prevented him from opening Pakistan’s chase of 321. Saud Shakeel opened with Babar Azar and Fakhar only came in at the fall of Mohammed Rizwan in the tenth over. He had been deprived of any batting time with the fielding restrictions in place, when his reputation for power hitting could have come in handy for Pakistan.Almost from the outset, though, it was apparent he would be unable to make that sort of contribution. He was unsteady on his feet and visibly struggling with running between the wickets. On more than one occasion, he slumped to his knees between overs, with the team doctor and physio coming on with painkillers. While he attempted to play the attacking strokes the match situation required with the asking rate ever-rising, it was something of a tortured knock. He managed 24 off 41 before he tried to sweep Michael Bracewell – a shot he a deployed throughout the innings – only to miss completely and see his stumps shattered.Pakistan had been hampered by an injury to Saim Ayub in similar circumstances, one that ultimately kept him out of the Champions Trophy. In a Test against South Africa, he set off in pursuit of a ball to the boundary and ended up twisting his ankle. It resulted in a fracture that will keep him out until at least the middle of March. Fakhar, who until then wasn’t part of Pakistan’s ODI plans, came back into the side as Ayub’s replacement, and made an impressive return, scoring 84 off 69 and 41 off 28 in his first two matches back in the side.Pakistan did, however, get a fitness-related boost before the game with Haris Rauf fit enough to start. He had pulled up with a side strain in the opening game of the triangular series these two sides took part in over the last fortnight along with South Africa. That day had also seen a New Zealand player struck down with injury, when Rachin Ravindra lost the trajectory of a hit while fielding at the boundary, which ended up hitting him flush on the forehead. He needed stitches, and though he trained yesterday and New Zealand have said that he showed no signs of delayed concussion, he did not play against Pakistan. He was seen running drinks to New Zealand’s batters, though.The game marked the return of ICC tournament cricket to Pakistan after 1996, with huge crowds building up outside the National Stadium in Karachi in the hours before the start. The opening ceremony was attended by Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari and had an air force fly-past parade after the toss, which Pakistan won and asked New Zealand to bat.

Pakistan, who had already wrapped up the series, were restricted to 137 in their 20 overs

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2023Amelia Kerr shone with both bat and ball, while Suzie Bates chipped in with a half-century, as New Zealand took the third women’s T20I against Pakistan by six runs via DLS method.Pakistan, having been inserted to bat, began with a steady opening partnership of 64 inside ten overs. But Kerr provided the breakthrough to dismiss Muneeba Ali, as New Zealand wrested the advantage, and Pakistan proceeded to lose 4 for 31. Sidra Ameen, with 43, was Pakistan’s top scorer, while their captain Nida Dar also contributed a handy 25. But regular strikes from Kerr (3 for 11) and Eden Carson (2 for 20) meant the visitors were restricted to just 137 for 5.New Zealand, having already lost the series, began the chase well, as Bates provided a strong foundation. While her opening partner Bernadine Bezuidenhout fell cheaply for 4, Bates blazed her way to an unbeaten 51 off just 42 balls, stroking five fours. Bates also had able support from Kerr, who smashed a 31-ball 35, as the pair added 63 for the second wicket.Kerr eventually fell in the tenth over, before rain in Queenstown brought the game to a premature end after only 15 overs of the New Zealand innings, with the hosts six runs ahead according to DLS.

Long-serving batter regarded as among the best of his generation not to win an England cap

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2022James Hildreth, the long-serving Somerset batter, has announced that he will retire from professional cricket at the end of the season, almost 20 years after making his debut for the club.Regarded by some as the best batter of his generation not to have represented England, Hildreth amassed more than 17,000 first-class runs for Somerset, putting him third on the county’s all-time list behind Harold Gimblett and Marcus Trescothick. He currently averages 40.98, with 47 first-class hundreds, but the closest he came to being capped was a handful of Lions appearances more than a decade ago.He is Somerset’s leading run-scorer in T20 cricket, with 3906, and also tallied more than 6000 runs in List A games. Hildreth hit the winning runs when Somerset won the 2005 Twenty20 Cup, aged 20, and then did the same at Lord’s 14 years on to secure the Royal London Cup.Related

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Hildreth will turn 38 next month, and has only managed 256 runs at 25.60 in this year’s County Championship. He was not involved at all in Somerset’s Blast campaign.”It feels like the right time to start a new chapter in my life and I’m excited about what the future holds,” Hildreth said. “I left school at 18 and have spent the last 20 years with the club. It’s been my life and I’ve loved every minute of it.”The club and cricket as a whole has given myself and my family so much over the last 20 years, and I’ve got nothing but fondness and love for the club and that will continue for the rest of my life. I’m looking forward to being a Somerset supporter and to coming down to watch the guys with my family and my children.”The thing I’ll miss most is the pride that you feel when you pull on that shirt to represent the club and the whole of the south west. The Somerset members and supporters have been incredible to me. They’ve always been so supportive, and I’ve always felt that, whether that’s walking through town or being out on the pitch. I’d like to thank them for their support over the years, and hopefully I’ve managed to bring a little bit of enjoyment into their lives with what I’ve done on the pitch.”Hildreth, who was awarded his county cap in 2007 and a testimonial year in 2017, has made 715 appearances for Somerset – more than any other player – and was a central figure as the club regularly pushed for their first Championship pennant during the 2010s, five times finishing as runners-up.Somerset’s director of cricket, Andy Hurry, said: “James Hildreth will go down in history as one of the best players ever to represent this club. His stats speak for themselves, but his contribution to Somerset cricket has been so much more than that.”During his time at the club he has proved himself to be the model professional and he is the perfect role model for any aspiring player. The way that he has conducted himself both on and off the field has been exemplary, and as such he has become one of the most respected players within the domestic game over the last 20 years.”His name will forever be synonymous with Somerset County Cricket Club, and everyone associated with SCCC wishes James and his family well in their future endeavours. On behalf of everyone at the cub both now and in the past, thank you for so many incredible memories.”Somerset’s head coach, Jason Kerr, recalled two of Hildreth’s “outstanding” innings for the club – a 53-ball T20 hundred against Glamorgan in 2012, and his century on one leg during the final game of the 2016 Championship – while Gordon Hollins, the chief executive, described him as one of the finest batters of his era and a “mainstay of the success that this club has achieved over the last 20 years”.Kerr added: “I guess all good things have to come to an end, but James has had an outstanding career and I’m sure that we’ll see a deserving outpouring of best wishes and superlatives for him over the next few weeks. There’s no doubt he’ll be missed, first and foremost as a person, but obviously also as a cricketer. Players of Hildy’s calibre are few and far between.”

His century stand with Mayers keeps Sri Lanka’s bowlers at bay on unresponsive deck

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Mar-2021Nkrumah Bonner blunted the Sri Lanka seamers all day, defused the spin of Lasith Embuldeniya, and batted out 274 balls, as he provided the spine to West Indies’ tenacious resistance on day five. He was unbeaten at the close on 113, with only three West Indies wickets having fallen, thanks to excellent supporting innings from Kyle Mayers, Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder.Sri Lanka’s bowlers were doughty and disciplined through long, difficult periods, but the Antigua surface had not deteriorated substantially enough to make them menacing. Only towards the very end of the day did Embuldeniya get deliveries to turn and bounce drastically. The seamers still got a little movement off the deck, but the pitch had slowed, and even the balls that did beat the bat generally died before they reached the wicketkeeper. Only Vishwa Fernando, who claimed two wickets in the innings and bowled the most aggressive lengths, went at more than three an over. Embuldeniya claimed the two other wickets to fall.Despite their heroics chasing 395 in Chattogram last month, at no point did West Indies attempt the target of 375 here. This must have been at least partly because the pitch had slowed to such an extent that rapid run-scoring was difficult. When Dimuth Karunaratne decided that no result was possible and called off the rest of the match, West Indies had 236 for four. Mayers was the only other batsman to pass fifty, but Brathwaite had batted out 124 balls in the innings.Bonner’s maiden Test century was a feat of self-denial. Early in the day, Bonner had collected a couple of streaky boundaries (a top edge over the keeper, and an edge through vacant third slip) but largely, he settled into a slow, unambitious rhythm, leaving the balls wide of the stumps, defending plenty, and picking up singles, generally square of the wicket. It wasn’t until the 16th over of the day that he struck his first intentional boundary, drilling a Dushmantha Chameera full toss straight of midwicket. He got to his half-century just before the lunch break, and then took his sweet time getting back into run-scoring mode after the break. During that period he was given out caught behind off Embuldeniya, but Bonner reviewed immediately and was shown not to have edged that delivery.His progress through the rest of the day was measured and steady, but confident. He once slog swept Embuldeniya for six, and later in the wicketless middle session that he shared with Mayers, hit the spinner again for two legside fours in three balls. These were brief moments of excitement in an otherwise obstinate innings. There was one nervy moment in the 90s, when he was struck on the pad by Vishwa Fernando and Sri Lanka reviewed that decision. The ball, though, was shown to only be grazing the top of the stumps, and because it was deemed an “umpire’s call” the original decision stood.Bonner reached his century with a four through point midway through the third session, off the 243rd ball he faced. This was only Bonner’s third first-class ton in 134 innings, and yet, his Test career has begun in spectacular fashion – this hundred following a Player-of-the-series winning, tour of Bangladesh, where he scored a 86 and 90.Mayers, the only other batsman to pass 50 in this inning, was more adventurous than Bonner without being especially attacking himself. Untroubled by the strong lbw review Sri Lanka raised against him (a review that was ultimately unsuccessful), he creamed Lakmal through the covers, struck Embuldeniya past slip, and had soon settled inot a diet of singles alongside Bonner. He got to his 50 off his 109th delivery and was out soon after tea, when he edged Embuldeniya to slip. He and Bonner had batted out the middle session without a dismissal, and put on 105 together.Sri Lanka struck twice in relatively quick succession after tea, with Vishwa bowling Jermaine Blackwood for 4, but with six wickets still to get, West Indies always seemed likely to play out the draw. Jason Holder batted out 48 balls to ensure there were no further incidents.
Although several of Sri Lanka’s bowlers were miserly, Lakmal deserves an especial mention for his accuracy through out the match. In this innings, he delivered 25 overs, and conceded only 33, bowling 10 maidens. In the first innings, his 25 overs had brought him 5 for 47.

Joe Denly top-scored with 74 but England were lacking a defining contribution on a sedate day at Mount Maunganui

The Report by Alan Gardner20-Nov-2019England’s Test team came to New Zealand seeking a fresh start after the angst and drama of the Bayliss era. There are few more tranquil locales in which the longest format can unfold and, on a sedate opening to life as a Test venue at Mount Maunganui, a succession of English batsmen gave notice that they were prepared to adhere to the traditional disciplines favoured by the new head coach, Chris Silverwood.While England’s innings was perhaps lacking in definitive statements, there were encouraging signs aplenty from a revamped top order. In keeping with the team’s new mantra, Rory Burns and Joe Denly both compiled watchful half-centuries, from 135 and 136 balls respectively, while Dom Sibley, the debutant opener, was party to a 52-run opening stand as England made a useful start in benign conditions.That none was able to go on will give New Zealand satisfaction after a day of manful toil from their four seamers. Pre-match suggestions were that this pitch would be accommodating to batsmen and it looks as the Bay of Plenty will live up to its name; Kane Williamson is foremost among the home XI unlikely to miss out given similar opportunity.

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And while the English rank and file did their level best, there was disappointment for the captain, Joe Root, who was only able to muster 2 from a laboured 22-ball stay. A typically punchy fifty from his deputy, Ben Stokes, ensured England would retain hope of building a match-defining position on day two.Recent white-ball encounters between these two sides have been marked by their explosive potential, but Test rhythms quickly asserted themselves at the Bay Oval. Colin de Grandhomme’s medium pace applied an effective tourniquet as England were kept to a scoring rate well below three an over, and only while Stokes was at the crease and flexing his tattooed biceps during the evening session did pulses go much above resting rate.Having lost two wickets in quick succession shortly before tea, Stokes and Denly took some time to retrench before swelling their fourth-wicket stand to 83. Denly reached his fourth fifty in as many Tests with a crisp cover drive off Trent Boult, then began to open up as he attacked the under-utilised spin of Mitchell Santner, lofting over extra cover and then depositing a straight-driven six down the ground.His previous Test innings, opening the batting at The Oval in September, saw Denly fall six runs short of a maiden hundred; he did not get that close this time, but may again rue a chance missed after falling to the second new ball for 74, fencing at Tim Southee as he angled a delivery in from wide of the crease.While New Zealand were admirably persistent, their bowlers’ efforts were undermined by several notable lapses in the field – the most glaring of which came a few overs before the close, as Stokes was gifted a life having thrashed Boult for fours down the ground, through midwicket and then cover. The next delivery found his outside edge, only to burst through Ross Taylor’s hands at slip and disappear for a fourth consecutive boundary.New Zealand might also have removed Burns before he had established himself, failing to review for caught behind after a half-hearted appeal in the fifth over. Burns put that behind him to help see off the new ball and take England to a promising position at 113 for 1, despite rarely looking fluent. However, Root was unable to take advantage of coming in with the shine long gone, taking 21 balls to get off the mark and then falling tamely to Neil Wagner’s next delivery, steering an edge to second slip.Wagner pounded the pitch manfully, engaging in an entertaining tussle with Denly and striking Burns a blow on the helmet that seemed to contribute to the opener losing his composure. Twice Denly pulled Wagner for two fours in an over, but in between times the bowler had the better of things, seeing edges fall short of gully and slip.Burns also edged Southee between first and second slip on 37, with Taylor and Tom Latham unmoving, and then survived a marginal lbw appeal on umpire’s call when New Zealand did turn to the DRS. He went to his fifty in Boult’s following over, clipping off his legs for a sixth boundary, before finally succumbing to de Grandhomme via a thin edge to the keeper.It was also de Grandhomme who made New Zealand’s initial breakthrough, a teasing away-nibbler finding Sibley’s outside edge after the new man had compiled 22 from 63 balls in his maiden outing. If it was a regulation dismissal for an opener, drawn into an off-stump push and well held by Taylor at first slip, Sibley had at least made New Zealand work hard for it, leaving the ball well and giving England an ideal start after Root had won the toss and chosen to bat.Having come into the game with a reputation for obduracy, Sibley promptly clipped his first ball in Test cricket to the midwicket boundary; but he was soon living up to his billing, absorbing another 22 deliveries before producing his second scoring shot.The Burns-Sibley axis soon settled into an unhurried groove, in keeping with the relaxed atmosphere on the grass banks for those fans attending Bay Oval’s Test debut. Both captains took the view that the pitch would be good for run-scoring, despite a greenish tinge, and that was borne out. Burns had an escape on 10, HotSpot confirming a thin outside edge to a regulation Boult outswinger, while Sibley was forced to dive for his ground to complete a quick single but otherwise the openers were untroubled, as New Zealand found some gentle swing but little pace from a docile surface.

Prithvi Shaw’s fluid attacking style and Umesh Yadav’s fitness are attributes that India will find useful down under, says India captain

Alagappan Muthu in Hyderabad14-Oct-20181:59

At 18, none of us were even 10 percent of the player Prithvi is – Kohli

The series against West Indies is done now. Six days of cricket yielding a 2-0 result that takes India to a record-equaling ten successive series wins at home. The focus now shifts to Australia and it looks quite likely that the 18-year old opener Prithvi Shaw and the fast bowler who rarely plays overseas –
Umesh Yadav – are a part of the plan.Virat Kohli wants to make India’s bowling their strength. And he wouldn’t mind a batting line-up that can take it to Mitchell Starc and company when the Tests begin in Adelaide. He felt Umesh gave India the pace a bowling attack needs to be effective in those conditions and Shaw…well here are the exact words from the India captain: “I don’t think any of us were even 10 percent of what he is at 18-19.””The guy has grabbed his chance beautifully. He looks like someone that can get you off to the kind of start that you require, especially to make the first mark in any series that you play. So from that point of view it’s great to have a guy who’s so fearless. And he’s not reckless. He’s very confident about his game. You might feel like he’s going to nick off one now. But he hardly nicks the ball. That we saw in England as well when he was batting in the nets. He was really attacking but in control throughout which is a very rare quality against the new ball. To play so many shots and be in control of all of them is a great sign.”Praise for Umesh, who became only the third fast bowler to pick up a ten-wicket haul at home, flowed just as freely. “It’s good to have all guys confident and raring to go because four Tests in Australia can be brutal because the ball doesn’t do much like England. You have to come in and run in all day, bowl in the right areas, with pace. So I think from that point of view, Umesh is right up there to be featuring in Australia because he’s got the pace. He’s got the fitness levels to run in all day to pick us wickets at crucial times and he gets good bounce as well.”Not many people realise but he’s a very very talented bowler. He can bowl you unplayable deliveries every now and then. He’ll bowl a ball which you feel like you couldn’t have done anything else apart from getting out. It’s just that he’s gaining more confidence about his own game, especially in Test cricket, I think he’s come a long way and he understands his bowling really well.”It’s a great sign, as I said, to have four guys bowling so well who can pick up wickets. That’s something we want to keep as a consistent part of our team. Obviously the batting is something that we’re learning from the last tour we want to improve on collectively. But bowling is something we need to keep as a major strength in order for us to feel like we have a chance to win a series when we travel away from home.”The two top-scorers from the series for India were aged 18 and 20 and Kohli took that as a positive as well. “We were looking at the youngsters playing with a lot of freedom. Prithvi was outstanding. Rishabh was really fearless. Areas that they need to work on, they’ll obviously be spoken to in that regard. Overall both those guys are really good, solidifying their place in the team and understanding how to play at this level. I know the conditions might not be as challenging as they might get in future. But in Test cricket the first and most important thing is confidence and understanding that you can score runs in Test level. I think from that point of view we’re very happy that they’ve taken their chances so well. Getting Man of the Series [like Prithvi Shaw] in the first series regardless of where we play or how you play, its an outstanding achievement.”

Birmingham boosted their hopes of qualifying for the NatWest T20 Blast knockout stages with a 30-run win over Leicestershire at Grace Road

ECB Reporters Network26-Jul-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Sam Hain’s half-century provided the platform for Birmingham•Getty Images

Birmingham boosted their hopes of qualifying for the NatWest T20 Blast knockout stages with a 30-run win over Leicestershire at Grace Road.Sam Hain struck 57 off 35 balls as the Bears recovered from a shaky start to post 187 for 7 after they were stuck in. Boyd Rankin and Aaron Thomason then each took three wickets and Jeetan Patel was at his economical best to restrict the Foxes to 157 for eight.The win moved Birmingham level on eight points with Leicestershire, who slipped to their second consecutive defeat, in the North Group.Young opener Ed Pollock, who had hit 66 off 40 balls on debut against Derbyshire in the previous game, was stumped by Luke Ronchi for 5 from a clever piece of bowling by left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson. Then Ian Bell, having lofted one straight four, tried to repeat the shot against Clint Mckay and skied high to Tom Wells at mid-off.But having been struggling on 23 for 2 off four overs, Hain and Will Porterfield took 29 off the last two overs of the Powerplay, with the latter hitting the offspin of Colin Ackermann for two sixes.Hain was fortunate to survive on 21, when Gavin Griffiths dropped a straightforward caught-and-bowled opportunity, and it was to prove an expensive miss by the Foxes.Porterfield was also caught by Wells, at long-on off Parkinson, having added 63 with Hain off just 39 balls, but Hain went on to a half-century from just 28 deliveries. His presence enabled Colin de Grandhomme and Grant Elliott to hit out to good, if brief, effect.Mat Pillans, expensive in his early overs, came back well to pick up the wickets of Thomason and then Hain, but Keith Barker and Alex Mellor compiled an unbroken partnership of 43 for the eighth wicket to ensure the visitors went into the break having maintained the initiative.On a flat pitch, a run-rate of 9.3 looked attainable, and 32 came off Keith Barker’s opening two overs. But Leicestershire’s top order found Rankin harder to get away, and Cameron Delport could not clear mid-on.Mark Cosgrove looked in wonderful touch before wastefully carving Thomason’s gentle medium-pace to Birmingham captain Bell at extra cover to go for 22. Patel bowled Ackermann and the writing was on the wall when Thomason bowled Ronchi for 27.Wells and Pillans added 53 for the seventh wicket, but it was a case of steering the Foxes’ score towards respectability as Patel conceded just 17 from his four overs.

England will have to change the balance of their ODI side due to Ben Stokes’ injury, with Jonny Bairstow favoured to come in as an extra batsman

George Dobell20-Jun-2016Like your health and the brake cables in your car, there are some things you appreciate more in their absence. So it is with Ben Stokes. While Stokes has yet to nail his limited-overs international career – his statistics are modest and his last four deliveries were hit for six – you can perhaps best judge his value to the England side by the difficulty they have in trying to replace him.Without Stokes, absent from the Royal London ODI series as he recovers from knee surgery, it is desperately hard for England to balance their side. They face the choice of either playing just five bowlers, with Joe Root in reserve, or weakening their batting in order to squeeze in the extra bowler should one of the five experience injury or an off day.What they have confirmed is that Jos Buttler will keep wicket and Eoin Morgan will bat at No. 4. While they open the batting with Moeen Ali, who has two ODI centuries in the top order, it seems likely they will stick with the opening pair of Alex Hales and Jason Roy who have set the tone for so much of the improvement in recent times.And while they bat Moeen, David Willey or Chris Woakes at No. 6 and make room for five other bowlers, it seems more likely that they will make use of Jonny Bairstow’s outstanding form, bat him in the top six and go with just the five bowlers. Bairstow is, therefore, set to be the beneficiary of Stokes’ absence.In normal circumstances, you might expect England to include two spinners. But given the wet weather the Nottingham area has experienced in recent days – the groundsman reckons the pitch has had four hours of sunshine since June 10 – there is a strong case for playing four seamers and just one spinner. Whether that is Moeen – at No. 10, the highest rated ODI bowler in this series – or Adil Rashid is debatable: Moeen has the better economy rate (4.91 compared to Rashid’s 5.89) but Rashid the marginally better strike-rate (45.10 compared to 46.20).Their batting averages hardly separate them, either. Moeen’s 27.61 looks better than Rashid’s 24.50, but if you include only innings made by Moeen at No. 7 – his likely position – his average drops to just 19.10. He remains more likely to play, alongside Steven Finn, Willey, Woakes and Chris Jordan, but it is not a straightforward decision.The balance issue is rendered more difficult by the form of the captain. Morgan has now gone 18 international innings without a half-century – a run that extends back to November and the first ODI of the series against Pakistan – and, in the South Africa ODI series, averaged only 12.80. He enjoyed a strong English season in 2015, scoring a century and seven half-centuries in 11 successive ODI innings, but given he averaged just 18.00 in the World Cup, he needs a good series here to prevent the doubts over his position gathering. On form, it is hard to justify him batting above either Buttler or Bairstow.In such circumstances, there might have been a case for recalling Samit Patel or Ravi Bopara to bat in the top six and offer some extra overs. But it seems their time has gone. Right or wrong, it could be seen as a retrograde step.England are, after all, only a year into their brave new world. While results have been patchy – they have lost their last three ODIs and are rated below fifth-placed Sri Lanka in the ICC rankings – they have identified a group of players they hope will take them into the Champions Trophy (which, it might be noted, would have been ruined by rain had it been held this year) next year and the World Cup in 2019. England, currently No. 6, could go ahead of Sri Lanka in the ODI rankings if they win this series by a margin of two games or more.”Ben leaves a huge hole,” Morgan said. “He is a key member of our side. It’d be the same thing if the likes of Moeen Ali went down. Having Moeen batting at possibly six or seven is a luxury when he’s a frontline spin bowler.”We’re still at the beginning of building hopefully what will be a successful campaign in the 2019 World Cup. It’s important for us not only to stick with the same group of players in order to grow their experience but also to find some consistency in our performances.”We’re 12 months down the road and we have built a lot of confidence. There’s a bit more expectation on us as a side and it’s important to relish that expectation. The Champions Trophy is this time next year and the World Cup is two years later so as the home side we’re looking to put in performances so that people don’t see us as outsiders.”Wet weather in Nottingham interrupted preparations for the first ODI•PA Photos

Whatever the final selection, we can expect England to continue the same bold cricket that has characterised their performances over the last 12 months. While it is hard to believe the Trent Bridge pitch will have pace and firmness of recent tracks here – Nottinghamshire scored 445 and 415 in consecutive 50-over innings at the start of this month; their opponents replied with 425 and 379 respectively – it still seems reasonable to expect England to respond to every challenge by attacking more.”We’re trying to change the mentality,” Morgan said. “The mentality was, that if you’re getting beaten around the park, you might try and bowl tight and move things around. But actually trying to get the batsman out is still a priority.”It’s the same with the batting. If we’re three down and you get bowled a half-volley, you still have to hit it. It’s part and parcel of changing the mindset of the side.”I went straight from the one-day series and played a lot of county cricket last summer and the way England played had set the agenda about the brand of aggressive cricket we were playing. Everybody seemed to relate to it. A lot of the younger guys were loving it. It is very important to connect with county cricket because we can sometimes become detached and that is not good for anybody.”Everywhere you look around the counties, the limited-overs game is being played with more belief and confidence than at any time in memory. Emboldened by events in the last 12 months – the revolution of the New Zealand ODI series, the progress of the World T20, the McCullum-isation of English cricket – players have bought into the more positive method demonstrated by Morgan and co. The mentality of English cricket changed. Whatever the results, they have become a vastly more entertaining side to watch.

Billy Godleman is standing in as captain of Derbyshire, winning cricket matches, scoring runs and enjoying life again

Tim Wigmore at Canterbury09-Jun-2015
ScorecardBilly Godleman, shown here applauded off by Cheteshwar Pujara [file picture]•PA Photos

There was an understated satisfaction to Billy Godleman as, a little sheepishly, he raised his bat leaving the field. Derbyshire’s captain had engineered a remarkable turnaround in the match. Resolute and undefeated until the end, he had underpinned Derbyshire’s successful chase of 232.Just twelve months ago, Godleman’s very future as a professional cricketer was uncertain. He had not scored a first-class century since 2012. In mid-summer he was marooned in Derbyshire’s second team, a precarious existence for a 25-year-old who was out of contract in the winter.When Godleman was recalled for Derbyshire’s final six Championship games, he returned “100% playing for my career,” as he reflects. “There were times when I was very concerned about what would lie ahead in the future and whether it was actually going to be in the professional game.”No one would have envisaged such struggles when, as an 18-year-old opening batsman, Godleman scored 842 runs at 38.27 in 2007; that remains both his highest first-class aggregate and average in a campaign.”I was reasonably successful straight away from a young age. Then when I started not to do very well I didn’t quite know how to deal with that,” he admits. “I also realised that I wasn’t quite as good as I thought I was when I was 18, 19, 20.”Twice he suffered the pain of being released, by Middlesex in 2009 and again by Essex in 2012. Nine matches for Derbyshire in 2013 brought a miserable average of 17.18. When 2014 began equally badly, Godleman faced “accepting I wasn’t at the level that I thought I was. And then working out a method of dealing with disappointment and looking at every experience as an opportunity to learn something.”Of one thing Godleman was certain: he was not ready to abandon the game. With Derbyshire faring miserably, Graeme Welch sounded Godleman out. “You’ve got our full support, go and show us what you can do,” he was told.And then something seemed to click. At The Kia Oval last September, Godleman finally scored a century – and it was a match-winning one to boot. After his recall, Derbyshire won five of their last games. He earned a new one-year contract. After an encouraging start to the season and an injury to Wayne Madsen, Godleman was even entrusted with the captaincy, quite a turn-up for a man with a somewhat chequered past.It has evidently sat easily with him. Last week Godleman saved Derbyshire from defeat with an unbeaten 64 of 228 balls against Gloucestershire. Here, once again, Godleman’s defence was unbreachable in the fourth innings.Adhesiveness is integral to Godleman’s game. He knew that trying to mimic Chesney Hughes or Tillakaratne Dilshan when they were smiting Kent’s attack would be fool’s gold. Yet, as he showed with a series of rasping cuts and neat pushes through mid-on, he has also expanded his repertoire. Five half centuries at an average of 62.14 so far in 2015 are testament to that.”Previously he used to be a survivor, trying just to get through, and now he’s starting to develop the game to actually influence the play and put the bowler under more pressure and look to be more assertive,” says Neil Burns, who has worked extensively with Godleman.When Essex released Godleman, Burns devised a 60-month programme to turn his game around. “He’s had lots of ups and downs but the great thing about Billy is he’s prepared to look inside himself and do the tough learning.”Here Godleman’s assiduousness was rewarded with Derbyshire’s first victory at Canterbury since 1999; quite the reversal after Kent had cruised to 63-1 in their second innings, a lead of 182, before lunch on day two.Even a bumper crowd of school children on the third day would have done little for Kent’s mood. Darren Stevens was immediately whisked away to Maidstone, to play for the second XI, hoping to find some semblance of form after 16 runs in his last six first-class innings. On the evidence of this game, in which Kent hemorrhaged 20 wickets for just 317 runs, perhaps some of his teammates here should join him.