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James Harris and Steven Finn, two seam bowlers who have laboured so long under the burden of “promise”, combined to haul Middlesex into the ascendancy on a day of hard graft at Lord’s

Andrew Miller03-May-2015
ScorecardJames Harris and Steven Finn, two seam bowlers who have laboured so long under the burden of “promise”, combined to haul Middlesex into the ascendancy on a day of hard graft at Lord’s.After Sam Robson’s first-day 178 had hinted at the sort of toil that might be in prospect on a typically unforgiving surface, Middlesex’s challenge was compounded after two balls of Durham’s reply when Tim Murtagh, their Ireland seamer, limped out of the attack with an injury to his left hamstring.But in his absence, Harris led the line with aplomb, claiming two of the first three wickets to fall, before Finn, with his penultimate ball of a frustrating 14-over workload, extracted some extra lift outside off stump to bowl Callum McLeod off his arm for 13.With James Franklin removing Scott Borthwick for 26 to claim his first wicket in Middlesex colours, Durham were indebted to a composed unbeaten 61 from their South Africa-born opener, Keaton Jennings, son of Ray, who was joined at the close by the nightwatchman, Chris Rushworth.At 157 for 4 overnight, Durham are one good partnership from restoring a measure of parity to the contest, but they failed to capitalise on some of the best batting conditions of the match so far. They regularly shipping wickets when well set, with all four dismissed batsmen making between 13 and 26. Geoffrey Boycott would have a fit, if he wasn’t pre-occupied with an even more slipshod effort in Barbados.To a degree, Durham missed their opportunity with the ball as well. After overnight rain had caused a 50-minute delay, their seamers briefly thrived in the damp morning conditions and capitalised on the void in Middlesex’s batting left by the late extraction of Robson on the first evening.John Hastings, their one-Test Australian allrounder, produced a bullish spell to extract both overnight batsmen for the addition of 12 runs. First to go was Franklin, who was trapped on the crease from round the wicket as Hastings shaped the ball back down the slope to pluck out his middle stump for 18. Then Harris had a loose waft outside off, and snicked a simple chance through to Phil Mustard behind the stumps for 9.But from the relative nadir of 341 for 6, Middlesex consolidated through the efforts of Simpson and Neil Dexter, who took their partnership to 58 before – with the sun breaking through after lunch and batting looking comparatively effortless – Dexter was late onto a Hastings bouncer and picked out Usman Arshad on the fine leg boundary for 33.But Simpson ground on, reaching his half-century from 89 balls with nine fours, and adding 41 for the eighth wicket with Rayner, who made 16 before Rushworth rapped him on the pad to claim his second victim of the innings.In a prelude to his efforts with the ball, Murtagh came and went in a hurry as he got himself into a tangle against the legspin of Scott Borthwick and was bowled on the heave for 11. And then, with only the No.11, Steven Finn, for company, Simpson took one chance too many against the persevering Hastings, and flapped an attempted glide to mid-off.Durham’s reply seemed solid from the outset, with Stoneman making the early running in his opening stand with Jennings, with two fours including a well-timed on-drive against Harris. But the bowler had his revenge when Stoneman pushed too firmly outside off and edged a simple catch at a comfortable height to Ollie Rayner at second slip. It was due reward for Middlesex’s perseverance. After their triumph at Taunton, they are enjoying their cricket at the moment.

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has confirmed that captain Michael Clarke will play Wednesday’s warm-up match against the UAE in Melbourne, barring any mishaps at training before that

Brydon Coverdale09-Feb-2015Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has confirmed that captain Michael Clarke will play Wednesday’s warm-up match against the UAE in Melbourne, barring any mishaps at training before that. However, Clarke still appears a long-shot to take part in the World Cup opener against England on Saturday, and is instead more likely to return on his deadline date of February 21 against Bangladesh.Clarke’s comeback from hamstring surgery in December has been a slow burn, and although he showed encouraging signs by batting in Sydney grade cricket last weekend then batting and bowling against a Bangladesh XI in Brisbane last week, it would be a push to rush him in against England. Lehmann said one of the remaining areas of improvement for Clarke was being 100% in the field.”Michael, if he gets through training tomorrow, hopefully he’ll play the trial game on Wednesday,” Lehmann said on on Monday night. “So that’s a pleasing thing for us. He’s trained the house down … now it’s a case of getting up to speed with the fielding and away he goes from there.”Less than a week before their first World Cup match, Australia have more than just Clarke to worry about. Allrounder James Faulkner has no chance of playing at the start of the tournament after suffering a side strain during the tri-series final against England in Perth, but he remains in the squad and the Australians are hopeful he will play some part later in the tournament.”He’ll have a bat tomorrow in the nets,” Lehmann said of Faulkner. “So he’s going okay. He won’t play the first game.”It means Australia will likely have only 13 players available for selection for the England game at the MCG, with Xavier Doherty and one of Pat Cummins or Josh Hazlewood the probables to sit out. Players such as Moises Henriques and Shaun Marsh, who took part in the tri-series, could yet be called into the squad if the injury worries worsen, but for now Australia will stick with their existing group.”Everyone has them … you just have to cope with it and deal with it,” Lehmann said of the injuries. “We have some good depth. We have good players who have missed out, so that’s a good sign. If we have some injuries and we have to replace them, so be it. But at the moment they’re all ticking along nicely.”Lehmann was part of Australia’s World Cup triumphs in 1999 and 2003, but did not play in Australia’s previous home World Cup in 1992. However, he has asked players from that tournament, including Geoff Marsh and Ian Healy, to speak to the squad about the pressures of taking on the world in front of home crowds.”Just enjoy the whole eight weeks,” Lehmann said of the advice. “We want to play the best cricket we possibly can and win as many games as we can, but at the end of the day we don’t look much further than the England game, then we move to the Bangladesh game, and then New Zealand and see what happens from there. But we’ll enjoy the packed houses and the crowd support”We’ll change the way we play, depending on where we play and who we play. At the moment our focus is the MCG, hopefully 90,000 people there watching us and supporting us. We’ll worry about playing England first and move from there – that’s the way you have to go through the World Cup. You can’t look too far ahead.”

As most of the continent's 'Big Five' leagues reach their respective halfway points, Goal picks out the most impressive performers in all competitions

Getty ImagesGK: Alisson

Alisson may have made a couple of errors since joining Liverpool during the summer but the Brazilian has had a massive impact on Merseyside.

His excellent distribution has added a new dimension to the Reds' play, as so spectacularly underlined by his role in the first penalty won in the rout of Arsenal on Saturday.

Alisson has also exhibited a helpful habit of making big saves at big times – it was his ast-minute save against Napoli that saw the Reds through to the last 16 of the Champions League. 

So, while Jan Oblak, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Tomas Vaclik and Samir Handanvoic have all been excellent for their respective sides, none of them have kept more clean sheets than Alisson (14), who also boasts a better save percentage (80.77) than all of his rivals for the No.1 jersey.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesRB: Joao Cancelo

Inter's loss has proven Juventus' considerable gain, with Joao Cancelo now excelling in Turin after spending last season in Milan on loan from Valencia.

The Nerazzurri were unable to make the Portuguese's stay at San Siro permanent due to Financial Fair Play restrictions, so the Bianconeri swooped, paying €40.4 million for a player who has made Massimiliano Allegri's defence even stronger.

Compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo is understandably drawing more attention but the versatile Cancelo has been consistently excellent for Juve, offering an outlet down the right flank.

GettyCB: Virgil van Dijk

Andy Robertson has admitted that he has grown tried of talking about the brilliance of Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk.

Just like everyone else, the left-back is running out of things to say about the Dutch giant, who has transformed the Reds' defence and, as a consequence, the team's fortunes since arriving at Anfield for record-breaking £75m during the 2018 January transfer window.

The numbers speak for themselves, though, with Premier League leaders Liverpool having only conceded eight goals in 20 matches this season primarily due to Van Dijk's aerial prowess, fantastic reading of the game and organisational skills.

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Getty ImagesCB: Kalidou Koulibaly

Kalidou Koulibaly has reportedly just signed a contract extension that makes him the highest-paid player at Napoli and there is no player more deserving of that status at the San Paolo.

The Senegalese centre-half has once again been immense at the back for the Partenopei, the foundation on which their game pursuit of Juventus has been built, and his dismissal against Inter does nothing to change that.

Indeed, watching Koulibaly win everything that is thrown at him in the air, week in, week out, it's easy to understand why Manchester United allegedly bid €100m for his services last summer – and why Aurelio De Laurentiis turned it down.

As he underlined with his response to the incessant racial abuse he received at San Siro, Koulibaly is as inspirational a character off the field as he is on it.

Ten-man Bayern Munich suffered a second-straight upset as they were beaten by Lazio in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

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Quiet night for striker KaneBayern lose 1-0 to Lazio in RomeUpamecano sees red & concedes penaltyGettyTELL ME MORE

After being overpowered and outclassed by Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend, Kane and his team-mates had another frustrating evening when they paid a visit to Rome to face Maurizio Sarri's team on Wednesday night.

They found themselves up against a well-structured Lazio team that gave very little away. Bayern were simply not creative enough for all their possession as Kane, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane and Joshua Kimmich all failed to test goalkeeper Ivan Provedel. The wasteful German giants were eventually punished when Ciro Immobile lashed home from the penalty spot in the second half.

Lazio were the only team to have a shot on target – they managed four – in the entire game and should have taken the lead when Gustav Isaksen was sent through on goal and unleashed a shot from close range, but Manuel Neuer did well to block it and send it out for a corner.

The Italian team sat deep and defended well, keeping Thomas Tuchel's team at arm's length as they went in search of a way through their well-structured hosts. The visitors turned to long balls as Dayot Upamecano smashed it out wide for Thomas Muller to send into the box, where Kane was able to meet with a header that went well over the bar.

It was Lazio who brought some excitement in the 67th minute when they were given a penalty and Upamecano was sent off. Immobile picked up the ball in a dangerous area and drove through but could not get his shot away. It fell to Isaksen, but he missed the target and, as he shot, Upamecano came lunging in and the referee pointed to the spot. The Frenchman was dismissed for the foul and Immobile stepped up to smash in the winner.

AdvertisementGettyTHE MVP

Lazio striker Immobile had a fairly quiet game overall, as it was team-mates Isaksen and Luis Alberto who acted as more direct threats. But the Italian forward played a crucial role in the match's decisive moment, holding off the Bayern defence in a counterattack before it fell to Isaksen for Upamecano to give away the penalty. Immobile then did his duty by converting the spot-kick.

GettyTHE BIG LOSER

Bayern centre-back Upamecano will go down as the main culprit in his team's defeat. His late challenge saw his studs come down on the leg of Isaksen just as the attacker missed the target with a shot. Conceding a penalty and seeing his team go down to 10 men was a significant blow alone, but it gave Lazio the chance to take the lead.

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WHAT COMES NEXT?

After falling five points behind shock leaders Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern will hope to prevent the gap at the top of the Bundesliga from growing when they take on Bochum this weekend. They also take on RB Leipzig and Freiburg in the German top flight before hosting Lazio for the second leg.

Jack Grealish suffered more injury agony as he was forced off in the first half of Manchester City's FA Cup tie with Luton.

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Grealish forced off at LutonOnly lasted 38 minutes into comeback Winger hurt his groin in CopenhagenWHAT HAPPENED?

The England winger appeared to pull a muscle and had to be substituted in the 38th minute of the 5th round tie at Kenilworth Road. Grealish was visibly upset after going off and covered his face with his jacket. It was his first match back after being forced off early in City's Champions League clash with Copenhagen two weeks ago.

AdvertisementGetty THE BIGGER PICTURE

Grealish can't catch a break this season and has badly struggled to repeat his displays of the last campaign, when he was pivotal to City winning the treble. He missed a month at the start of the campaign with a knee injury and then had his house burgled in December. He has also being usurped in the team for most matches by Jeremy Doku.

DID YOU KNOW?

Grealish was warned by Guardiola the day before the game at Luton that he needed to make the most of the minutes he got and had to return to form sharpish. The coach told reporters: "I cannot give three or four games for them to get their rhythm, they have to [find] the rhythm if playing 90 or 20 minutes. At a high level, the team doesn’t wait."

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GettyWHAT NEXT?

Grealish looks certain to miss the Manchester derby against United on Sunday and will be a doubt for City's Champions League last-16 second leg against Copenhagen.

Ricky Ponting is the first international player to join the newly formed Caribbean Premier League, which begins July 29

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Mar-2013Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has announced his participation in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), becoming the first international player to be involved in the newly formed T20 league. The CPL is scheduled to begin July 29, and will run till August 26. It will involve six franchise countries: Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.So far there are six confirmed West Indian players for the tournament: Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine, and West Indies captain Darren Sammy. As of now, no decision has been made as to which franchise Ponting will be associated with. This is now Ponting’s fourth international T20 team, as he is already a part of the Mumbai Indians in the IPL, Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League, and Surrey in English county cricket.The CPL will contract a total of 90 players, with each franchise team selecting 15 players. Just like the IPL, there are quotas regarding players playing under a certain age, and how many international players a team can field at one time. Each team can field a maximum of four international players, and must have at least four players under the age of 23, with the rest of the squad comprising of local regional players.”The West Indies has always been one of my favourite cricket destinations,” Ponting said. “The mix of entertainment and cricket is the perfect recipe for West Indian cricket fans, as well as the rest of the world. The format and concept is fantastic, and I am sure it will be a huge success right from the start.”Ponting announced his international retirement last year and has since plied his trade in Sheffield Shield, and in the Big Bash League for Hobart Hurricanes. He was picked up by the Mumbai Indians during the IPL auction held in February, and is expected to captain the squad this season.

The offspinner Nathan Lyon is the bolter in Australia’s 15-man squad for the Test series in Sri Lanka, which also includes the incumbent spinner Michael Beer

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2011The offspinner Nathan Lyon is the bolter in Australia’s 15-man squad for the Test series in Sri Lanka, which also includes the incumbent spinner Michael Beer. The pair will fight for the slow-bowling position for the first Test in Galle, after the selectors sprung another surprise by omitting the allrounder Steven Smith.The uncapped fast bowlers, Trent Copeland and James Pattinson, also made the cut, while Ben Hilfenhaus missed out following a disappointing Ashes campaign. As expected, Ryan Harris was named after recovering from injury, and he looms as a key part of a pace attack whose most experienced members are Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle.The selectors found room for both Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja, who are likely to battle for the No. 6 position. However, the major surprise came in the spin department, where Jason Krejza’s poor Australia A tour to Zimbabwe cost him a certain call-up, and resulted in the selectors naming two men without Cricket Australia contracts.Beer played the final Ashes Test in Sydney and although he only took one wicket, the selectors were encouraged by the way he bowled. The more remarkable selection was that of the South Australian Lyon, 23, who has played only four first-class matches and was not part of Australia A’s four-day squad in Zimbabwe.”Michael Beer retains his position in the squad following his debut in Sydney during the fifth Ashes Test where he bowled well, without much luck,” the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said. “It will be an important tour for Michael on grounds where we expect spin to play a major role.”The squad also sees the inclusion of Nathan Lyon, a talented young spinner who impressed all last season and bowled extremely well on Australia A’s tour of Zimbabwe. Nathan may be a surprise selection, but he impressed all who have seen him in the last year and bowled beautifully during the one-day component of the A squad’s recent tour where he was named player of the series.”He is a young man with immense potential and we feel he will take this opportunity should he get the chance to play in Sri Lanka. Steven Smith is unlucky to have missed selection in this squad. We continue to see him as player of the future for Australia in all forms of the game but at this stage we do not feel he has cemented his position as a batsman in the top six or as a legspin bowler.”We feel he needs to continue to develop as a genuine allrounder in the shorter forms of the game and play more long-form cricket for New South Wales to push again for Test selection.Hilditch also said Krejza, who was preferred to Beer for a central contract this year, had fallen out of contention due to his poor results in Zimbabwe. He took six wickets at 41.33 in the two first-class games in Zimbabwe but struggled severely during a two-day tour match in which he took 0 for 96 from 19 overs, while Beer grabbed a six-wicket haul.”The intention of the national selection panel was to take Jason Krejza to Sri Lanka provided he proved he was bowling at his best,” Hilditch said. “He has had very limited opportunities in Sheffield Shield cricket so the Zimbabwe tour was very important for him. Unfortunately Jason did not bowl as well as we, or I am sure he, would have liked during this tour and therefore he has not been rewarded with selection.”There is also inexperience in the pace group, although Johnson, Siddle and Harris are the front-runners to play in the first Test. But they will feel the pressure from Copeland, 25, who has been an outstanding performer for New South Wales since his first-class debut early last year, and the 21-year old Pattinson from Victoria.”Trent has earned his position with some fine performances for New South Wales and has bowled very well on the Australia A tour,” Hilditch said. “James is a young fast bowler with the potential to play an important role for Australia in all three forms of the game and we look forward to watching his further development during this tour.”Ben Hilfenhaus did not have as good an Ashes series as he would have liked and we feel he needs to get back to his best, swinging the ball late and hitting the bat hard. We are sure he will do this and he will be very much in contention for selection on the upcoming tour to South Africa. Doug Bollinger has been left out of the Test squad. The NSP feels he needs to improve his ability to bowl spells at full intensity and maintain it over the course of a match, particularly in these days of back-to-back Tests.”The batting was a little more clear cut, given the axing of Simon Katich from the contract list. Phillip Hughes will open with Shane Watson and the Western Australia batsman Shaun Marsh will push for his first baggy green.”Shaun Marsh comes into the Australian Test squad and has been in our minds for some time as a player who could have a real impact at international level in all forms of the game,” Hilditch said. “Injury impacted at critical times last year however he has worked hard and is in our view ready to seize this opportunity.”Test squad: Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, Trent Copeland, James Pattinson, Nathan Lyon, Michael Beer

The short boundaries in Indore proved to be bad masters for Rajasthan Royals

The Bulletin by Sidharth Monga15-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Shane Warne is bowled by fellow Victorian Brad Hodge•AFPThe short boundaries in Indore proved to be bad masters for Rajasthan Royals. The small playing field seemed to be playing on their minds as batsman after batsman in the middle order perished to reckless strokes. Brad Hodge was at the receiving end of those gifts, ending up with a career-best 4 for 13, but it was perhaps a tight first spell from Sreesanth – three overs for 15 runs and the wickets of Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane – that set the desperation in. Kochi chased the paltry 98 in style, giving their net run-rate a boost too.Coming into the game, both the teams had an outside chance of making it to the play-offs, but Rajasthan didn’t seem too optimistic on that front. They knew the remoteness of the outside chance, and took the opportunity to make six changes to their side. Rajasthan now stand knocked out, and Kochi, with 12 points from 13 games, need to win their last game and need Kolkata and Punjab to lose theirs.None of Rajasthan’s experiments worked. RP Singh and Sreesanth offered no freebies. Faiz Fazal was caught plumb in front by a full toss before Sreesanth got Dravid with a nice outswinger. Rahane followed up a flick from wide outside off to mid-on with a shuffle too far across, making it 26 for 3 in 5.2 overs.Rajasthan didn’t look to rebuild; they knew they would need a substantial total here. Ashok Menaria began with a six off Sreesanth, Shane Watson with three off debutant left-arm spinner P Prashanth. At 56 for 3 after eight, it seemed like Rajasthan were on their way back, but Watson played all around a full delivery from Prasanth Parameswaran.Now began the Hodge show. He kept tossing the ball up, the Rajasthan batsmen kept trying to hit the ball into the jungles of Madhya Pradesh. All of Hodge’s four victims thought they could hit him for sixes; they could not have been more wrong. Pinal Shah managed to go as far as long-on, Jacob Oram failed to even get a touch, Shane Warne dragged one slog-sweep on, and Menaria found long-off. When Menaria fell, Rajasthan had slumped to 89 for 9 in the 16th over, and they were not going to get many more.Brendon McCullum came out obsessed with improving his team’s net run-rate, charging at Shaun Tait first ball. Tait didn’t do himself any favours, bowling two no-balls in the first over. One of them – when he cut the side crease – had bowled McCullum. After hitting Tait for a four and six in the first over, McCullum proceeded to treat Oram as a club bowler, nonchalantly flicking him for three straight sixes. When MCullum fell for a 12-ball 29, it was important for Kochi to keep scoring fast. Hodge and Parthiv Patel didn’t disappoint, ending the chase in 7.2 overs. It was the second-biggest win in terms of balls remaining in IPLs and the fourth-biggest in all Twenty20 matches.

Pakistan Under-19s won a tight game against South Africa Under-19s by two wickets in the last over to take the three-match one-day series 2-1

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2012
ScorecardPakistan Under-19s won a tight game against South Africa Under-19s by two wickets in the last over to take the three-match one-day series 2-1. Pakistan needed 22 off the last two overs when they lost their seventh wicket but Ehsan Adil smashed three sixes off 11 deliveries to bring up victory off the third ball of the final over. The chase had unravelled after a solid opening stand had been backed up by a 130-run second-wicket partnership between Babar Azam and Umar Waheed. The duo had lifted the score to 190 after 38 overs, leaving Pakistan with 75 to get off 72 with nine wickets intact. But the fall of Azam to Lizaad Williams led to a clutch of wickets falling. Prenelan Subrayen jolted Pakistan with strikes in successive overs. Waheed’s departure with the score on 231 further dented the chase but Adil’s cameo ensured that when he fell on the last ball of the 49th over, Pakistan needed only six off six.South Africa’s total had earlier been built on the back of Quinton de Kock’s 133 off 135 deliveries. But South Africa were unable to build on an opening partnership of 147 between de Kock and Murray Koetzee. They added only 117 in the 20.4 overs after the openers were separated.

West Indies legspinner Devendra Bishoo has won the ICC Emerging Player of the Year award

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2011West Indies legspinner Devendra Bishoo has been named the Emerging Player of the Year for 2011 at the ICC Awards ceremony in London. He had competition from his team-mate Darren Bravo and the Pakistan pair of Wahab Riaz and Azhar Ali.Bishoo, 25, played five Tests in the voting period – August 11, 2010 to August 3, 2011 – and took 21 wickets at an average of 35.42. He also picked up 19 wickets at 21.57 each in 11 ODIs.”I could not believe it when I was nominated for the ICC Emerging Player of the Year but to win it feels great,” Bishoo said. “I would like to dedicate the award to my father. He played a great role in my life and encouraged me to play cricket. After he died I made a promise to always give my best and reach for the top.”I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me along the way and also a special ‘thank you’ to the fans who have supported me. I hope I can continue to represent the West Indies with pride and improve my bowling and keep taking as many international wickets as I can. I’d like to thank the support staff and my team-mates of the West Indies and Guyana for all the support and guidance.””It has been a challenging start to my international career so far but it has been an enjoyable start. The highlights so far have been playing in the World Cup, playing my first Test match on home soil, and playing against India. I have learned a lot in a short space of time and want to continue learning.”Previous winners of the Emerging Player Award are Irfan Pathan (2004), Kevin Pietersen (2005), Ian Bell (2006), Shaun Tait (2007), Ajantha Mendis (2008), Peter Siddle (2009) and Steven Finn (2010).