Gregory plays aggressor during 98-run stand as Middlesex let winning positions slip

Matt Roller11-Apr-2021A nerveless, unbroken stand of 98 in 19 overs between George Bartlett and Lewis Gregory took Somerset to an improbable win at Lord’s, as they chased down their target of 285 with four wickets to spare.Victory had appeared unthinkable, both when they fell to 89 for 9 in their first innings and when Middlesex had compiled a lead of 254 with seven second-innings wickets in hand, but two spirited fightbacks – with Jack Leach at the centre on both occasions – set up an attainable target under cloud cover and floodlights on the third afternoon. Tom Abell’s fluent half-century laid the foundation before bad light and drizzle brought an early close, and once he had found his rhythm again under blue skies on the final morning, Somerset became favourites for the first time in the match.

Cricket to pay respect to Prince Philip

Play in the County Championship next Saturday will pause between 2.50pm and 4.10pm, to coincide with the funeral of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. The ECB has also recommended that play in recreational cricket stops between 3pm and 4pm, enabling players to observe the one minute’s silence at 3pm.

Then, a twist. Ethan Bamber took two wickets in 13 balls – Abell edging behind, Steven Davies trapped lbw by an in-ducker – to peg the chase back, and when Tim Murtagh induced the thinnest of edges from Craig Overton on the stroke of lunch as the clouds began to roll in, it seemed that the chase would prove too steep even for Somerset’s long batting line-up.But Gregory, fresh from a first-innings five-for, strode out after the interval and realised after poking defensively at his second ball, which jagged past his outside edge, that there was nothing to be gained from hanging in while Murtagh was nibbling it around. Instead, he used his considerable limited-overs experience to thrash 62 not out off 72 balls, dominating the seventh-wicket stand alongside the more reserved Bartlett. Gregory crashed Bamber through the covers to level the scores just as the drizzle returned, then clipped him behind square on the leg side to draw a guttural roar from the Somerset balcony.Bartlett has prevailed in tough situations before in his Somerset career, most memorably in another successful chase at Edgbaston two summers ago, but this innings – which spanned nearly four hours – was one of his best. It was not always pretty – plenty of his runs came through third man – but his support role in partnership with Gregory was vital. He was particularly strong cutting and pulling against the change bowlers, and vindicated the decision to pick him ahead of Eddie Byrom.Defeat would have left Somerset stuck in the red, following the rollover of their eight-point pitch penalty into the 2021 season, but instead they will head into their local derby against Gloucestershire on Thursday feeling bullish. “We tried not to read too much into it [the points deduction],” Abell said afterwards, “but this has done our confidence the world of good.”We speak about it quite often: it’s one thing being good as front-runners, but it’s another thing when your backs are against the wall, coming from behind in games and still getting results. The mindset was really positive, with the way we’d got ourselves back into the game. We let ourselves down in the first innings – I don’t think that was a true reflection of the wicket or how good we are as players – and we wanted to put that right.”Related

• Rob Keogh hundred sees Northamptonshire to safety in high-scoring draw with Kent

• Jack Leach discipline, Tom Abell dash keep Somerset in the hunt

• McManus stumping controversy overshadows Hants win

Abell’s own innings in the cold had set things up overnight, in a 79-run stand with Tom Banton for the second wicket, and with Gregory finishing things off with his counterpunch after lunch, all three of Somerset’s Covid contingent made significant contributions despite their abbreviated pre-season following three weeks in solitary confinement. “When we were in the field yesterday and it was freezing cold, I said to Lewis, ‘It could be worse – at least we’re not in hotel isolation in Karachi’,” Abell said. “We’re so happy to be back playing for Somerset – it’s very special to be back with the group, and to get the first win is even sweeter.”For Middlesex, this was a chastening loss. Stuart Law had dished out some hard truths in the dressing room on Saturday night, but all five of their bowlers conceded more than three runs an over across the third innings and struggled to keep a lid on the scoring rate. Leach’s success in the holding role served to highlight the lack of a spinner in the Middlesex attack – though Thilan Wallawawita might well have played if he had been fit – and Stevie Eskinazi, the stand-in captain, was not proactive enough on the final day, particular when Gregory was seizing the initiative after lunch. He will be relieved to hear that Peter Handscomb should be out of quarantine in time to lead the side in the Surrey fixture on April 22.Since Law took over at the start of the 2019 season, Middlesex’s five first-class wins have all been relatively comfortable – four by 78 runs or more, and one by five wickets. Their title win in 2016 featured close wins at Taunton and in the decider against Yorkshire at Lord’s, and they prevailed in a number of tight games in the two difficult seasons that followed, but on this week’s evidence, that killer instinct seems to have deserted them.

Babar Azam offers no excuses after his side loses to Zimbabwe, while Shoaib Malik asks for an international white-ball coach

Umar Farooq23-Apr-2021Pakistan’s struggles with middle order were laid bare in Harare on Friday as the team slumped to a 19-run defeat, with Zimbabwe bowling them out for 99. Wobbles in the middle order had been a worry for much of Pakistan’s tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe, but the side had, by and large, escaped paying for it until now. Pakistan captain Babar Azam was sufficiently alarmed by Pakistan’s showing with the bat to warn solutions had to be found swiftly, with time running out before this year’s T20 World Cup.”It’s a very painful performance,” Azam said. “In South Africa, we had chased down 200; similarly here, we should have won this game comfortably. But unfortunately, we played poor cricket and continued to struggle in the middle order. Today, it was not just the middle order but our batsmen right through couldn’t perform the way we expect them to. It was a collective collapse and we lost as a group. But credit to Zimbabwe who came back so strongly today.”Zimbabwe beat Pakistan for the first time in T20I cricket in their 16th attempt, registering their first T20I win at home since 2016. The three-match series is currently level at 1-1, with the final game being played on Sunday.Pakistan have tried Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, and Haider Ali in the middle order since the South Africa tour, but none of them has had the desired impact. With the top order doing much of the scoring of late, opportunities to put the middle order to the test had been few and far between, though it was notable they had struggled whenever put under pressure.Azam refused to make excuses for the defeat. “The wicket was similar to the other day but it was suitable [for batters] and that is not an excuse anyway. As a professional, you adapt to every condition but I think we as openers didn’t give a good start from the top and then our middle order was struggling to step up. The World T20 is closing in and we have to sort this out as soon as possible. The next game we will come back and make a good combination.”With the middle order under scrutiny, Shoaib Malik is one of the prospects for the slot but has not played for Pakistan since the England tour last year. His name has often been floated in the media as a possible answer to Pakistan’s woes, but the selectors have so far opted against picking him. That Malik would like to make a return is well known, with the veteran playing in T20 leagues across the world during this time. After Pakistan’s defeat, the normally reserved 39-year-old took to Twitter to express his opinion.”Unacquainted decision makers need to take a step back; Babar and chief selector need to call the shots,” Malik tweeted. “In my opinion, we need an international white ball coach who understands cricket inside out & grooms our captain whilst giving clarity to our players for coming time. When your management relies on likes & dislikes especially when your cricket is just in surviving mode, then what else do expect as a nation? On top of that, when you don’t let your captain take decisions this is bound to happen.”There has been no official reaction from the PCB to Malik’s tweets yet, but as the fallout from Pakistan’s defeat grows, there are signs a man who made his debut in 1999 may yet be relevant to them in 2021.

Martin Andersson nips out three as home side lose six wickets for seven runs

Matt Roller20-May-2021Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s managing director, said this week that there was “no vaccination” that could cure his side’s early-season struggles in the Championship, but his seamers provided a shot in the arm in a frenetic 42 minutes before the tea interval on the first day at The Oval: Surrey’s openers had put on 135, but a collapse of six wickets for seven runs left their batting line-up feeling sore.It had not been easy going for Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman in the morning session. Burns survived three lbw shouts early on against Tim Murtagh – including two off the first two balls of the day, and one in the ninth over that Hawk-Eye confirmed should have been given out – and Stoneman played several false shots against Blake Cullen, but as both passed 50 early in the afternoon, Peter Handscomb’s decision to bowl first looked increasingly ill-judged.Related

• Stanlake's Derbyshire spell cut short by back stress fracture

• Lancashire openers weather opening before rain takes charge

• Applause will be remembered fondly as Bristol welcomes spectators back

Middlesex’s season has been brutal, with five defeats in six leaving them lingering near the bottom of Group Two and with any realistic hope of playing Division One cricket in September long gone. Their luck has been out, losing the toss in each of those defeats, but they have been repeatedly undone by poor sessions and need a win imminently to lift morale.Their first-innings batting performance on Friday will determine whether or not it arrives this weekend, but their efforts with the old ball in mid-afternoon were a good starting point. Surrey’s openers fell in successive overs, though neither looked happy about their dismissals: Stoneman was caught behind off Cullen – though replays showed it had hit his pad, not his bat – and Ethan Bamber trapped Burns lbw an over later, with ball-tracking suggesting it would only just have trimmed the off bail. When Sky bring the bells and whistles along with their cameras, there is nowhere for umpires to hide.Burns’ innings was his ninth of the season, and his seventh score between 36 and 80. The first two months of the English summer tend to bring feast or famine for openers meaning Burns’ record is unusual. He is averaging a round 50.00 in spite of some bizarre dismissals and decisions that have gone against him, and yet the lack of a nerve-settling hundred and the presence of James Bracey as a spare batter means he goes into next month’s Test series under scrutiny, ahead of a potentially career-defining year. “The big score will come for him: you can’t get hundreds without getting to fifty first,” Stoneman wisely noted.Hashim Amla and Ollie Pope had barely begun to think about rebuilding the innings when Martin Andersson came back into the attack after two scattergun overs in the morning session, from which point Surrey lost four wickets in 14 balls. Pope’s dismissal for an 11-ball duck meant that his average in first-class games at The Oval dipped below 100, but New Zealand’s bowlers may well have watched with interest while quarantining at the Ageas Bowl.Pope has been taking an off-stump guard this season, and explained the logic simply enough after his hundred against Hampshire three weeks ago: “I was trying to help myself leave those fifth-stump balls and if they wanted to go straight and bowl at the stumps, that’s one of my strengths.” It seems like a sensible plan, but the drawback is that it leaves him vulnerable to the nip-backer early on in his innings, as Andersson demonstrated by nibbling one in off the seam to trap him on the knee roll.Ben Foakes, two weeks out from his first Test on home soil, fell four balls later without scoring, flirting at a ball that held its line in the off-stump channel, while Jamie Smith offered a low catch to Robbie White at slip off Tom Helm and Andersson pinned Jordan Clark lbw for his third in eight balls. Rain swept across south London during the tea interval, and standing water on the covers meant the day was abandoned at 5.30pm – though most of the 3500-strong crowd had gone home long before. Amla, not out overnight, was Surrey’s last remaining hope.Andersson – once dubbed the “Swedish Flintoff” thanks to his Scandinavian heritage – managed 154 runs and eight wickets in his first six appearances of the season but has been backed to the hilt by Stuart Law, the club’s head coach, and nipped the ball at decent pace in his second spell. Their four wicket-takers were all academy products, which will give supporters some reassurance that the prolonged period of transition since their title win in 2016 has been worthwhile.Fraser, a Liverpool supporter, spoke candidly in an in-house interview this week and paraphrased Jürgen Klopp’s verdict on the club’s mid-season wobble in the Premier League: “Confidence is a delicate flower that can easily be trodden on – it’s something that can disappear very quickly and takes some time to build up.” Middlesex’s fightback with the ball meant there was hope of a late blossom.

He has been given a two-year contract by the Odisha Cricket Association

PTI14-Jul-2021Former Test opener and domestic veteran Wasim Jaffer was on Wednesday named chief coach of the Odisha senior side for the upcoming domestic season.”He [Jaffer] will be the head coach. He has been given a two-year contract,” Subrata Behera, Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) CEO told PTI.The decision was taken following a meeting of OCA’s Cricket Advisory Committee as Jaffer would replace former state captain Rashmi Parida, who was at the helm for two seasons.Related

• BCCI postpones Ranji Trophy start date to January 5 in revised domestic calendar

• Ranji Trophy returns as BCCI announces full 2021-22 season

• Indian cricketers wait for upswing after lost year

• Jaffer denies reported 'communal' allegations

• Sheldon Jackson set to return to Saurashtra

“Besides development of cricket across all age-groups, he [Jaffer] will also be a part of coaches development programme across the state,” OCA secretary Sanjay Behera said in a statement.This will be Jaffer’s second stint as the head coach of any state team. Following his retirement in March 2020, Jaffer, who is the leading run-scorer in Ranji Trophy, had coached Uttarakhand but he later resigned following a fall-out with the association.Jaffer, who played 31 Tests and two ODIs, is also the batting coach of the Punjab Kings in the IPL.The Mumbai stalwart later played for Vidarbha towards the end of his illustrious career winning back-to-back Ranji Trophy and the Irani Cup.Odisha had last reached the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals in the 2019-20 season when they lost out to Bengal after a draw.The camp for the senior team is slated to begin from July 25, subject to the state government’s approval keeping in mind the Covid-19 guidelines.The BCCI announced the return of the Ranji Trophy recently, to be played from November 16, 2021 to February 19, 2022.

de Grandhomme and Finn Allen also didn’t find a place

Shashank Kishore09-Aug-2021Mark Chapman, who represented Hong Kong at the T20 World Cup in 2014 and 2016, has been named in New Zealand’s 15-member squad for the 2021 edition to be played in the UAE and Oman this October-November.There was no place for Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme and Finn Allen. But Todd Astle, the 34-year-old legspinner and all of four T20Is old, was picked along with two other spinners in the squad – legspinner Ish Sodhi and left-arm spinning allrounder Mitchell Santner – for surfaces that will most likely aid turn.Fast bowler Adam Milne was named as a standby who will travel with the squad, but will be called upon only as an injury replacement.The same squad will also tour India later this year for three T20Is.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The squad features four frontline fast bowlers – Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson. Barring Southee, the other three would have had considerable training and match time at the IPL leading into the World Cup.Boult is part of the Mumbai Indians attack, while Jamieson and Ferguson are key fast bowlers for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders, respectively. Like the faster men, Williamson and Jimmy Neesham, too, will head from the IPL into the World Cup, where New Zealand are yet to make a final.Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips are the two wicketkeeping options. New Zealand can also call upon a third, Devon Conway, if required. Conway’s inclusion in the squad is a possible sign that the finger injury he sustained while batting for Southern Brave in the Hundred earlier this month, isn’t very serious. The Wellington batter enjoyed a prolific maiden season as an international cricketer, one that culminated with New Zealand beating India to be crowned the inaugural World Test Champions.Among the absentees, Taylor, a veteran of 102 T20Is, last featured in a T20I in November last year and de Grandhomme, meanwhile, hasn’t featured in a T20I for close to 17 months, having last played India in January 2020. Allen, the highest run-scorer in the Super Smash last season, also missed out. Allen smashed 512 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 193 for tournament winners Wellington Firebirds. Those performances earned him a T20I debut against Bangladesh in March. He also earned a maiden IPL call-up on the back of a breakout season, picked by Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers.New Zealand are placed in Group 2 alongside India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and two qualifiers at the T20 World Cup. After that, they will fly out to India for a T20I series followed by two Tests. NZC will announce the Test squad after a month or so.Squad for T20 World Cup and India T20Is: Kane Williamson (capt), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Adam Milne (injury cover)

Teams head for Lord’s on Monday all-square after rain wrecks intriguing final day

George Dobell08-Aug-2021Joe Root says England were confident they could have “created nine chances” on the final day at Trent Bridge had rain not intervened.India had nine wickets in hand going into that final day, requiring another 157 runs to win, and there is no doubt they were favourites. But rain forced a complete washout, meaning the first LV= Insurance Test was drawn.But while Root, who was named Player of the Match after making a half-century in the first innings and a century in the second, accepted India were “in the driving seat”, he felt that the pressure of the situation could have played in England’s favour.India were twice bowled out for under 200 in the fourth innings of Tests on their tour of England in 2018. At Edgbaston, where they were set 194, they succumbed to a 31-run defeat, while at Southampton, where they were set 245, they fell 60 short.”At one stage it looked like we could have potentially had 40 overs and I think in that period, it felt like we would have been able to create nine chances on the surface like that,” Root said. “I’d be lying if I wasn’t to say that India weren’t in the driving seat going into today, but we know on a wicket like that, a couple of wickets in a cluster and of course that game can turn on its head.”With the pressures of batting on a fifth-day wicket, things could very quickly have fallen in our favour and we certainly believed that we’d have been able to create nine more chances.”If we’d have been good enough in the field and taken those then we could have been sat here one-nil up, but unfortunately the weather has won. In many ways, the weather’s robbed us all of a fantastic final day of Test cricket, which is a slight shame.”James Anderson is likely to play at Lord’s after his workload was reduced by the final-day rain•AFP/Getty Images

It was intriguing to hear Root use the word “if” in connection to taking chances in the field. England dropped three catches in India’s first innings as well as missing four run-out opportunities to sustain an increasingly modest record in the field. While accepting that such errors were costing England, Root felt the secret to improvement was “calm and belief”.”We certainly put the practice in,” Root said. “We catch a lot of balls in practice. It’s about trying to have an element of calm and trust and belief in your own ability. That can be hard in pressure situations. As a player, you just need to make sure you’re not panicking. You need to remind yourself that you’re doing all the hard yards and making sure that, when the next opportunity comes around, you’re giving yourself the best chance.”Fielding at slip it is such a mental thing. If you can find a way of staying relaxed and trusting your technique, then you’re certainly in a better place to take the next opportunity.”Root was reluctant to discuss selection ahead of the second Test and suggested that Covid protocols could render it tricky to bring in players ahead of Thursday’s start at Lord’s. But Ollie Pope, who is close to full fitness after recovering from a quad strain, could well win a recall, with Dan Lawrence and Zak Crawley both sitting uneasily in the side. Haseeb Hameed could also push for selection.As for players outside the current squad, there is a case for recalling Moeen Ali as a spin bowling all-rounder. England didn’t play a spinner at Trent Bridge but they could include Moeen, who has made five Test centuries and claimed almost 200 wickets, to help balance the side. Chris Woakes, who has an outstanding record at Lord’s, is unlikely to be considered as he recovers from a heel injury but is expected to be available for the third Test in Leeds.Related

• Chris Silverwood tells England batters around Joe Root to 'step up'

• Root ton, Bumrah five-wicket haul set up intriguing final day

• Jasprit Bumrah-led pace attack leaves India on strong footing

• Joe Root has shouldered his burden magnificently

• Virat Kohli: 'Certainly felt like we were on top in the game'

With England’s seamers having enjoyed a relatively light workload – there were only 14 overs bowled in India’s second innings – there are no obvious reasons to rest and rotate ahead of the Lord’s match, so it seems James Anderson and Stuart Broad will retain their places. It was noticeable, however, that Root often preferred Ollie Robinson to Broad at key moments and he subsequently hailed his new seamer’s performance as “brilliant”.”I thought Ollie bowled extremely well,” Root said. “He’s got a unique set of attributes. He has a very high release point and he makes things happen. He makes the ball nip around and his accuracy in this game was exceptional. He managed to do a brilliant job. He showed what he is very capable of doing at this level. In two Tests he has shown everyone how skilful he is.”With none of his colleagues having managed a score higher than 32, however, Root accepted there was “a lot to work on” ahead of the next game.”After our first innings, we were well below par,” he said. “250 on there would have been par. There’s a lot to work on. We know there are areas we need to be better: we need to take our chances in the field and we need to make big first-innings runs.”Both sides travel to London on Monday and are expected to train at Lord’s on Tuesday.