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Australian batsman was due to captain his new county in first-class and one-day cricket

Andrew McGlashan23-Apr-2020Under normal circumstances, Peter Handscomb would have just finished leading Middlesex in their second County Championship fixture of the season against Glamorgan. Instead, the closest he has come to his new team is phone calls from the other side of the world with the sport in lockdown due to the coronavirus.Unlike some of his Australian team-mates whose one-year county deals have been scuppered by pandemic, Handscomb had signed a two-year contract to captain Middlesex in first-class and one-day cricket so his deal has not been torn up, but when he is able to lead the side out for the first time remains very uncertain as the ECB prepares to meet to map out what the 2020 season might look like.ALSO READ: Gillespie in limbo as travel bans leave county coaches grounded“I’ve been talking to Middlesex each week and the players to get an understanding of how they’re feeling during this time and what they are doing to keep themselves busy, not getting stuck in a rut too much,” Handscomb said. “In terms of the contract, it’s on hold. I’ve got next year as well but this year we are just playing it by ear.”We had a lot of conversations during the Australian summer and I was quite lucky to meet a few of the Middlesex boys who were out in Melbourne and Sydney playing local cricket. So I got a good feel for the club and an understanding of how the boys want to play their cricket. We have a good idea of the direction we want to go in to make Middlesex as strong as possible.”It’s a shame to not be able to go over there and play. Australians love going over to England play county cricket because it’s a way of developing ourselves and making us better and understanding difference conditions. There’s obviously a bigger picture at play here, the health and safety of the world essentially is much more important. So we’ll see how we go.”For Handscomb, the Victoria captain, this was going to be – and could still be – a very significant role as he takes on the leadership of a county across two formats. While an overseas player’s job is first and foremost to win matches for his county, and the significance of the position is elevated as captain, there are also the potential gains on a personal level to consider.Handscomb has been pushed back onto the fringes of the Australia set-up having made a strong claim for the World Cup squad last year only to miss out due to the batting squeeze created by David Warner and Steven Smith returning. He did make a late appearance in the tournament, summoned as injury cover ahead of the semi-final against England, where he was quickly slotted in at No. 4 only to be skittled by Chris Woakes for 4 as Australia slumped to 14 for 3.ALSO READ: What is happening at Cricket Australia?That was his last appearance in Australia colours, although he was part of the one-day squad which toured India earlier this year without getting a game as Marnus Labuschagne slotted into the middle order. His last Test match was in January 2019 against India at the SCG so across both formats he would have looked for a strong county season to help restate his credentials after averaging a disappointing 26.69 in the Sheffield Shield during the recently curtailed season.”There’s always going to be someone that feels hard done by with any selection. I’m not the first bloke to miss out on a squad and won’t be the last,” he said. “I try and push past that and look at what I can do now with Victoria or Middlesex if we get a chance this winter. I’ve been dropped a few times now from the Australian team and there’s no point feeling down.”

From Alan Wells’ disappointment at The Oval to another replacement for Keaton Jennings

Andrew Miller30-Jan-2019At the age of 32 years and 321 days, Joe Denly is set to join a select band of England cricketers to have made their Test debut after their 30th birthday. ESPNcricinfo recalls the fate of the last seven men to have earned such late recognition.Mark Stoneman (30 and 52 days) v West Indies, Edgbaston 2017
Pop quiz in the year 2029. Name the two thirty-something England batsmen who made their debuts in consecutive Test series against West Indies, having replaced Keaton Jennings at the top of the order. Denly, like Stoneman, has been made to wait for his opportunity after an impressive weight of runs in county cricket. Stoneman played a walk-on role on debut, falling early to a Kemar Roach snorter as England wrapped up an innings victory at Edgbaston inside three days. And that rather set the tone for his 11-match stint in the side. He often looked the part at the top of the order – more so than most of Alastair Cook’s fellow openers – but rarely managed to turn his stoical starts into substantial finishes. A blow to the helmet from Josh Hazlewood during that winter’s Perth Test seemed to mark the beginning of the end as his composure ebbed thereafter.Mark Stoneman was bowled by Shadab Khan for 9•Getty Images

Jon Lewis (30 and 280 days) v Sri Lanka, Trent Bridge 2006
A stalwart for Gloucestershire, Lewis’s skilful swing bowling worked wonders on the county circuit, but was arguably half-a-yard too slow for sustained success at international level – although he did enjoy an unforgettable first day out in England colours, in their maiden T20 against Australia in 2005. Given the then-coach Duncan Fletcher’s obsession with 90mph bowlers, his selection for a Test debut against Sri Lanka on one of the driest surfaces of the following summer was a surprise, but he started well enough, bowling Michael Vandort with his third ball of the match. England’s thumping defeat at the hands of Muttiah Muralitharan, however, condemned him to membership of the one-cap wonders’ club.Shaun Udal (36 and 239 days)
One of the many talented wicketkeepers of the 1990s and 2000s who had the leviathan Alec Stewart blocking their way to regular recognition. But Hegg’s opening eventually came on the 1998-99 Ashes tour, when even the workaholic “Gaffer” conceded that he had too much on his plate. As captain and keeper of another English sinking ship, Stewart decided to ditch the gloves and revert to opening the batting – and it turned out to be a masterstroke. He led the line with his first and only century on Australian soil, before England, in a finale for the ages, clawed their way to a 12-run win in a gut-busting four-hour final session of the match. Hegg did the needful, claiming four catches in the match all told, but after retaining his place in Sydney, that was the end of that.Steve James drives on his way to 36•Getty Images

Steve James (30 and 284 days) v South Africa, Lord’s 1998
A titan of Glamorgan cricket, for whom he scored a career-best 309 not out against Sussex at Colwyn Bay, James was one of those players of the 1990s who seemed destined for endless mentions in dispatches rather than an actual England call-up. But then, in 1998, he was finally given his chance following a thumb injury to Mark Butcher. He dashed from a rain-delayed Championship match against Leicestershire in Cardiff to the England dressing room at Lord’s, and duly opened the innings alongside his former Cambridge University batting partner, Mike Atherton. Sadly, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock proved an awkward welcoming committee. And though he did get a second chance against Sri Lanka later that summer, Muralitharan bagged him in both innings en route to his historic 16-wicket haul.Alan Wells (33 and 326 days) v West Indies, The Oval 1995
Like James, but with added layers of frustration, Wells was one of county cricket’s outstanding performers in the late 1980s and early ’90s, precisely the period in which English cricket was crying out for consistent displays. It still beggars belief how, in the summer of 1989, when England ended up using 29 different players against Australia, his season’s efforts for Sussex – 1629 runs at 52.54 – didn’t earn him a maiden cap. Instead, in exasperation, he threw his lot in with Mike Gatting’s rebel tour, and that might have been it but for a late, late call-up in the final Test of the 1995 summer. With the series against West Indies locked at 2-2, the stage was set, especially in those days when a command performance at The Oval would almost certainly guarantee a winter tour … but nothing quite went to plan. A first-ball duck off Curtly Ambrose meant there would be no invitation for that winter’s official trip of South Africa.

India’s preparation for their tour of South Africa continues unimpeded

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur26-Nov-2017When the Nagpur Test began, an unfamiliar sight greeted followers of Indian cricket. As Ishant Sharma began running up to bowl the first ball, Cheteshwar Pujara stood at first slip. Pujara’s last stint in the slips came in 2012-13; since then he’s usually fielded in the outfield to the fast bowlers and at short leg or silly point to the spinners.Pujara marked his return to the slips with an excellent catch to send back Sadeera Samarawickrama, diving forward and to his left to complete a low grab. On Sunday he hinted that he is likely to continue at first slip when India go to South Africa in January to begin a long sequence of away tours.”Most probably,” he said, at the end of the third day’s play. “Going forward I think, especially in overseas conditions, all the batsmen should be ready to field in the slips, where we’ll have at least three slips and a gully throughout the day. So we are trying to have all the batsmen who can field at the slips whenever needed.”We’ll take a call about my slip fielding once we reach there, but most likely I might be there at first slip. I’ve been doing close-in fielding for the Indian team for quite some time. For spinners I’ve been fielding at gully. Slip fielding is something I’ve done in the past even for Saurashtra. I enjoy fielding at slips, so going forward, if I’m fielding at first slip I’ll definitely enjoy and try and take many catches.”Another difference in Pujara’s game, right through this series, has been his eagerness to push for quick singles. Troubled by knee injuries early in his career, Pujara has never been the quickest runner, but during the course of his 143 in Nagpur – and also his half-century in the first Test in Kolkata – he has been noticeably keen on pinching quick singles for himself and his partners, and there were plenty of twos and threes as well, particularly during his partnership of 183 with Virat Kohli, one of the fleetest athletes in the team.”See, since last one-and-a-half, two years, I’ve been working on my fitness,” Pujara said. “Luckily there haven’t been any injuries, and injuries are something I’ve gone through and that is in the past. Now I’m fully fit and that is the reason I’m able to take all the quick singles and even doubles.”Even my recoveries are much better now, because of my fitness. When it comes to batting I don’t think there’s anything I’ve changed, but fitness has helped me a lot, and when it comes to recovery and playing Test cricket, especially, if you want to be there on the field for all five days, you need to have a lot of stamina and your fitness has to be on the top.”Pujara spent 362 balls at the crease in Nagpur; on a pitch that he felt was “on the slower side”, he scored his runs at a strike-rate of just under 40. He felt the pitch, on day three, had begun to show signs of wear, and that Sri Lanka would be in for a difficult time in their second innings.”Kolkata was a different wicket altogether, where there was a lot of assistance for the fast bowlers, especially in the first innings. Coming back to this wicket, I think it was difficult to score runs, because this wicket was on the slower side, so it wasn’t very easy to get boundaries. So we had to rotate the strike, and in between, whenever we got some opportunities, we tried to play some shots.”But overall I think it was a tough pitch where, as a batsman, you might not get out, but at the same time it was difficult to score runs. I think, going forward in this game, the ball has started turning, so we’re hoping that on day four our spinners will come into play, and at the same time there’s variable bounce for the fast bowlers, so Ishant and Umesh [Yadav] also will come into play.”Cheteshwar Pujara walks off to a standing ovation•BCCI

Despite the slowness of the pitch, Virat Kohli still managed to score 213 at a strike rate of close to 80. Pujara put this down to his form and confidence.”He’s the kind of player who performs well in all the formats of the game, and the way he started off – if there was any other batsman, I don’t think someone else could have started the same way. I think it’s his confidence and the way he’s batting recently in the last 2-3 years. The way he was timing the ball – if there was any other batsman it was a bit difficult to score with such a strike rate.”Pujara will head to South Africa with runs behind him, but perhaps not a whole lot of preparation in South African conditions. With India playing six limited-overs games against Sri Lanka after this, they will arrive in South Africa with only enough time for one two-day warm-up game before the first Test. Pujara, who is not part of India’s limited-overs squads, hoped the Test specialists would be able to land in South Africa early.”See, as far as practice games are concerned, I’m not someone who should be commenting,” he said. “It also depends on the schedule, and the way BCCI plans its tours. But going there little bit early – maybe say about a week or 10 days early – and then practising on those pitches is important.”But at the same time it also depends on the way the Indian team is playing in other formats. So if there are some matches scheduled before we either go to South Africa or England, then you can’t help it. As an individual you need to be prepared, and even if we are in India, we need to try and replicate the wickets which might be there in South Africa or England, and try and practise here.”If Saurashtra qualify for the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, Pujara could get some match practice before heading to South Africa, but having been there twice before with the Test team, he felt he had gleaned enough knowledge of the conditions.”I’ve been there in 2010 and again in 2013, so that experience will definitely help me,” he said. “Apart from that, as soon as this Test series gets over – it also depends on whether Saurashtra qualifies for the Ranji quarterfinals – but at the same time I think we’ll have enough time – especially the players who are part of the Test team – because the first Test starts on [January 5].”Before that there is plenty of time to prepare. Personally, county experience and playing in South Africa in the past will definitely help me, because I have improved my technique, especially playing in overseas conditions. Overall I’m very confident with the kind of form I’m going through.”Ajinkya Rahane, meanwhile, has been going through a lean patch of late, particularly in home conditions, and on Sunday was out for 2, slicing Dilruwan Perera to point. Pujara said there was no reason to worry about Rahane’s form.”I think Ajinkya Rahane is someone who is a class player,” he said. “This is the time where he’s not scoring some runs, but he’s someone who will be back in form very soon. His work ethics are remarkable, and I’m very sure that, going forward, he’s just one innings away, where the moment he gets a big score, he will be back in form and he’ll be quite a useful player for the Indian team.”

New Zealand’s stand-in captain Ross Taylor felt conceding a 100 plus lead hurt his team’s chances of trying to level the series in Kolkata

Sidharth Monga in Kolkata03-Oct-20162:41

‘We were beaten by a better team’ – Taylor

If it is not your day, it is likely it won’t be your evening either. On the first day of the Kolkata Test, New Zealand woke up to the news that Kane Williamson’s illness had not subsided, and that he was not going to play. Some fans might have thought a new captain might at least win the toss. The new captain, Ross Taylor, thought he had, but reality struck immediately. Match referee David Boon told him Virat Kohli had. “It was a commemorative coin,” Taylor said suggesting he didn’t quite get the “head” and “tail” on the coin right. “Thought I’d won it. Then Boonie said Kohli had won.”For a while it did seem like a good toss to lose as the bowlers picked up early wickets, but once the Indian lower order took them across 300, it was always going to be a losing battle for New Zealand. The toss here didn’t play that big a part, though. Taylor agreed. “[Would have been] nice to bat first but don’t think that would’ve had made too much difference,” Taylor said. “They put us under pressure at times, and we weren’t able to sustain it with the bat.”India’s first-innings score gave them a 112-run lead, which meant New Zealand couldn’t afford to attack for too long even when they had India down at 43 for 4 and 106 for 6 in the second innings. “I’d hark back to being 100 runs behind in that first innings,” Taylor said when asked of a third straight failure to run through India’s tail. “In hindsight it would have been nice to score a few more runs and if India were 3 for 40 and their lead wasn’t as much. Any time you are playing catch up from that far behind, there is a lot of what-ifs.”We could go through every session. At the end of the day we were beaten by a better side. Our pacemen were definitely positive and even the way [Mitchell] Santner and Jeets [Jeetan Patel] bowled. Jeets coming in, wasn’t easy [for him] after only being in the country for a day and a half. To bowl as well as he did in that first innings and score some valuable runs, [without which] we could have been even further behind the eight ball. Yes we are disappointed, we’ve got to take the positives and hopefully we can play better in the next match.”One of the positives was their bowling, which improved from Kanpur. “The bowlers fought throughout and that’s something we can take to Indore,” Taylor said. “It was pretty hot and humid out there. I liked the way they kept trucking in asking for the ball and the hostility they bowled with sometimes. We’re seen as a friendly team and still are, but as a fast bowler you need a bit of mongrel. So for Henners [Matt Henry], who hasn’t played for a while, to come and get six wickets on that wicket was good. We’re still fizzing to go for Indore, hopefully we can play some fear-free cricket to put India under pressure.”Taylor rued not being competitive for long enough. “Winning key moments was important,” Taylor said. “The way Saha came out in both innings when the game was in balance, those two fifties put us on the back foot. Rohit’s innings was outstanding but full credit to our bowlers running in. A similar wicket would be good and hopefully Kane can win the toss.”There was at least that bit of good news for New Zealand. Williamson came to Eden Gardens on the fourth day, and has shown signs he might be ready for the Indore Test, which begins on Saturday. “Anytime you have your skipper and best player out it is disappointing,” Taylor said, “but there has been times when Kane hasn’t played one-day internationals and this probably isn’t going to be the last time, with injuries; the team has to step up.”We can’t rely on Kane all the time. It was good to see him walking about [today]. I’m sure he’ll be a bit lethargic over the next couple of days; it’s still pretty tiring losing a few kilos and being stuck inside. But there are positive signs he’ll be ready for the next match, and it will obviously be good for the team to have our skipper back.”Losing a few kilos is not just Williamson’s concern. He might have been down with fever, but the others have never played Test cricket in such heat and humidity. These are some of the earliest Tests in an India season. The summer temperatures have hardly started to go down. It has taken a toll on New Zealand, which can partly explain some of their failures to get the tail out.”Definitely up with hottest test series I’ve been part of,” Taylor said. “A lot of their bowlers and batsmen were tired too. Pretty hot and humid. [In an] ideal world, [we would] send players [early] and get exposure. Comes down to funding but lucky some players come into IPL who mix and mingle with the stars of today to get knowledge.”Kohli says it’s cooler in Indore so I’m happy.”

Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi brought about a collapse in which Sri Lanka A lost nine wickets for 80 runs, paving the way for New Zealand A’s eight-wicket victory at Hagley Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo – George Worker top scored for New Zealand A with 83•AFP

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and legspinner Ish Sodhi brought about a collapse in which Sri Lanka A lost nine wickets for 80 runs, paving the way for New Zealand A’s eight-wicket victory at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.Having chosen to bowl, New Zealand A faced some resistance from the visitors’ top order. Opener Danushka Gunathilaka made 57 and added 95 for the second wicket with Kithuruwan Vithanage, who top scored for Sri Lanka A with 59. The slide began once Gunathilaka was lbw to Sodhi, who also dismissed Vithanage four overs later.From 134 for 1, Sri Lanka A slipped to 202 for 5, and collapsed in a heap after that, losing their last five wickets for 12 runs. Santner cut through the middle order, and the visitors were dismissed for 214 in 45.3 overs.New Zealand A were never in trouble during the chase. Hamish Rutherford scored 43 off 35 balls out of an opening stand of 52 with Michael Pollard to provide early momentum, and then Pollard, who made 59, put on 117 with George Worker for the second wicket. Shehan Jayasuriya dismissed both the openers but Worker remained unbeaten on 83 to finish the chase with 63 balls to spare.

Rangpur Riders returned to semi-final contention, riding on Shamsur Rahman’s sixth half-century in this season of the BPL

The Report by Mohammad Isam11-Feb-2013
ScorecardShamsur Rahman hit his sixth half-century of the season as he moved to the top of the runs chart•Bangladesh Cricket Board

Rangpur Riders returned to contention, riding on Shamsur Rahman’s sixth half-century in this season of the BPL. They beat a weakened Duronto Rajshahi by 19 runs, and replaced them in fourth place on net run-rate.Without Tamim Iqbal (rested after being advised by BCB) and Chamara Kapugedera (also rested according to team owner Mushfiqur Rahman Mohon), chasing nine runs an over was always going to be difficult. Though the decision to give Tamim a break can be justified considering the BCB request, it was bizarre to drop Kapugedera, who had been captain of the side, at such a crucial stage of the tournament.As a result they hardly had a go at the 180-run target, losing their top-half in the sixth over before Mukhtar Ali and Ziaur Rahman hit some big ones to keep some interest towards the end. They added 71 runs for the sixth wicket, but both fell in the 14th over to Abdur Razzak. Ziaur was unlucky to be run-out at the non-striker’s end when Mukhtar’s drive struck Razzak’s boot and hit the stumps. Next ball, Mukhtar edged on to the stumps to end all Rajshahi hopes.The Riders’ bowlers gave little away but during the Mukhtar-Ziaur partnership, newcomer Saju Dutta and Danza Hyatt looked helpless. Kevin O’Brien took three wickets while Razzak and Dutta took two.Shamsur’s 51 helped him take over as the highest run-getter with 418 runs. He continued to give the Riders a brisk start at the top, hitting seven boundaries in his 36-ball knock, and forging important partnerships.He shared a fast 88-run stand for the first wicket with Junaid Siddique before falling in the 13th over to a catch at long-on off Mukhtar. The pace of the Riders’ innings stuttered in the second half as they couldn’t force the pace and lost wickets.Mukhtar chipped in with three wickets, perhaps inspired by being made the captain for the game. But in a side increasingly mired in off-field trouble, he failed to inspire the rest. Abul Hasan, brought back into the side in place of Ben Edmondson, gave away 20 runs in his only over while Isuru Udana, Monir Hossain and Taijul Islam all leaked runs as Riders put up a total which proved too tall for Rajshahi.