Northants take maximum bonus points before teams shake hands

ECB Reporters' Network11-Apr-2021Rob Keogh’s resolute century saw hosts Northants through to maximum batting points as their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Kent petered out into a draw on the final day at Wantage Road.The middle-order stalwart batted a shade over six hours to make 124, including 12 fours, and record his 10th first-class hundred for the county, one more than both current coach David Ripley and former skipper Alex Wakely.Keogh’s effort ensured Northants raised their fifth batting point off the final ball of the 110th over before they were finally dismissed for 434, 21 in arrears of Kent’s first-innings total of 455. Harry Podmore proved the pick of the visitors’ attack with 4 for 77.Related

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England man Zak Crawley was left unbeaten on 19 as Kent reached 42 for 1 in their second innings before the weather closed in.The combination of a slow pitch and 50-odd overs lost to the weather meant the final day was always likely to be about accumulating bonus points and so it proved. Kent signalled they had settled for a draw by leaving veteran Darren Stevens out of the bowling attack despite the new ball being just two overs old, protecting the 44-year-old allrounder’s limbs for more promising match situations.Adam Rossington showed early intent with two fours in an over off Matthew Milnes, this despite appearing troubled by a finger injury sustained when keeping wicket at the back end of the Kent innings. The partnership reached 85 before Grant Stewart bowled Rossington for 35 with a beauty which beat the outside of the bat.Keogh moved sedately to his hundred in 302 minutes, meaning Northants still needed 28 from four overs to make maximum batting points. A game within a game ensued during which both Keogh and Tom Taylor broke their bats, but a crashed four through the covers by the former and a scrambled bye off the last ball of the 110th got the job done.Podmore ended Keogh’s vigil caught at midwicket, before claiming the scalps of Gareth Berg and Ben Sanderson with successive balls.Daniel Bell-Drummond’s hope for time in the middle didn’t materialise when Sanderson pinned him in front for the second time in the match. Snow sent the players to an early tea and returned soon afterwards before a draw was agreed.

Sussex fall to 48-run defeat despite valiant effort in fourth innings

ECB Reporters' Network25-Apr-2021 Yorkshire 150 (Garton 3-25) and 305 (Ballance 74, Lyth 66, Carson 5-85) beat Sussex 221 (Haines 86, Patterson 4-26) and 186 (Bess 6-53) by 48 runsYorkshire took just 70 minutes to take the four remaining Sussex wickets and complete their second successive LV= Insurance County Championship win of the season at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.England offspinner Dom Bess took the final wicket to finish with figures of 6 for 53 as Yorkshire won by 48 runs. They collected 19 points against Sussex’s four. It was always an unlikely run chase for Sussex but they – and in particular their captain Ben Brown – made a fight of it.”It was a fantastic win, particularly from where we were on the first day,” Andrew Gale, Yorkshire’s first team coach, said. “We didn’t do ourselves justice in the first innings but we showed great character and resilience after that. We won by a decent margin in the end and I’m really proud of them.Related

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“The batting is an issue at the moment but to still be winning games is very pleasing. But we have got to start to put big first-innings scores on the board.”Sussex started the fourth day on 136 for 6, requiring a further 99 runs for victory, with Brown unbeaten on 26 and new batter Ollie Robinson yet to face a ball following George Garton’s dismissal from the final delivery of the previous day.Yorkshire opened up with Steven Patterson from the Cromwell Road End and Bess from the Sea End, and with the second ball of the 59th over – the seventh of the morning – they broke through with the wicket of Robinson. The batter pushed forward to a delivery from Patterson which nipped back and caught him in front of his off stump. Robinson’s 17-ball stay had yielded just six runs.Yorkshire knew they were through to the Sussex tail but Brown and Jack Carson, the offspinner who impressed with a five-for in Yorkshire’s second innings, defied them with a stand of 35. Carson got a thick edge for four off Patterson and repeated the trick when the bowler was replaced by Jordan Thompson.Brown, meanwhile, provided the best stroke of the morning when he drove a full-length delivery from Thompson through the covers for four.But the intervention of England Test captain Joe Root with the ball ended the eighth-wicket stand just when Sussex hopes were beginning to rise again. Root replaced Bess and with his third delivery he made the second breakthrough of the morning as Carson edged to Adam Lyth at first slip for 18, leaving Sussex 180 for 8 and still 55 shy of victory.Sussex lost their ninth in the next over when Thompson plucked out Brown’s middle stump. The Sussex captain had batted for two hours and 21 minutes and faced 111 balls for his 46.And it was all over in the next over when Bess, who had just been hit over mid-on for four by Henry Crocombe, had the batter caught by the leaping David Willey at short midwicket.”It was disappointing to lose but we played some good cricket and came out of this game with a lot of pride,” Brown said. “We were up against a seriously good Yorkshire side with a number of international players and for our young team it was nip and tuck all the way.”Tom Haines looked good again and Jack Carson went toe to toe with the England offspinner Dom Bess. We could have got more runs in the first innings but a few things didn’t go our way.”

Dour morning progress sets tempo as Yorkshire are made to pay for first-day errors

Paul Edwards28-May-2021
“The test of a first-rate intelligence,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald, “is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” It may just be possible that one or two Yorkshire supporters who watched the second day of this Roses match now have a better idea what that peerless chronicler of the Jazz Age was on about.They will, of course, have loathed the fact that Lancashire consolidated their already strong position in this game, courtesy of Keaton Jennings’ first century in red-ball cricket since the Galle Test in 2018 and Luke Wells’ maiden first-class fifty for his new county. At the same time there was a gloriously eventless quality about Jennings and Wells’ 175-run partnership for the second wicket that even White Rose diehards might have appreciated. At least, they might have observed tartly, there were no damn-fool cut shots inside the first five overs, no Monty Python run-outs, no scoreboards from Hammer movies.Instead of that ungodly stuff, balls were left alone or they were defended stoutly or they were nudged for singles as 57 runs were scored in the 31 overs of the morning session. Even Arthur “Ticker” Mitchell might have approved although that redoubtably miserable old bugger would have torn his heart out on the square at Park Avenue rather than admit as much.The tempo of the contest was perfectly fitting for a contest still wreathed in tradition.Until three wickets fell in the space of four overs deep in the afternoon session, the cricket was delightfully serene as Jennings and Wells laid the foundations of Lancashire’s dominance in over 66 overs of pure concentration and hard-learned technique. Within reason Lancashire’s batsmen were content to give Yorkshire’s fresh bowlers the first hour or two of play, secure in the knowledge that the final session would belong to their team if they could keep wickets in hand.The two left-handers, both of whom are 6ft 4ins tall and take up their stances with their backsides jutting toward square leg, had a clear idea of the balls that required their attention and those that did not. After an hour’s batting Lancashire had scored 30 runs in 16 overs but there was no doubt which side was the happier. Patterson even tried to get the ball changed but the umpires had none of it. Later in the morning, Dom Bess held the ball between his index finger and thumb as though trying to distort its shape with the power of his will. Nothing worked. Yorkshire bowled decently in the morning session but they did not disturb theof two batsmen who knew their roles better than any of Patterson’s specialist batsmen had known theirs.When Jennings is out of form, his malfunctions look severe enough to end his career; when he bats as he did yesterday, he appears as well-organised, albeit unconventional, as most batsmen in the domestic game. It will not have bothered him a jot that Lancashire scored two fewer runs in four more overs than Yorkshire had managed in the first session of the game. That statistic was of little account when set beside the wicket count from the two mornings, 7-0 – or, indeed, the bonus point score at the end of the day: Lancashire: 6, Yorkshire: 1.Related

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Both Jennings and Wells showed greater intent on the resumption but their acceleration also seemed carefully controlled. Yorkshire took the new ball with the score on 214 for 1 and the next ten overs were the most eventful of the day. Jennings reached his century when he cover-drove Thompson to the boundary and he celebrated the occasion with three more fine fours in the first four balls of Coad’s next over. However, he then pushed defensively at the next delivery but merely edged a catch to Tom Kohler-Cadmore at first slip and departed for 114. Four balls later Kohler-Cadmore’s safe hands were again put to good use when Wells tried and failed to take his bat away from a ball bowled by Jordan Thompson.The fact that he had played a vital part in Lancashire’s dominance clearly did not console Wells. Although, like Jennings, he acknowledged the applause that came from all corners of Old Trafford he was clearly disappointed to have got out when a century was beginning to beckon. Such an approach will endear him to his coaches. There was some mystification in Hove when Wells was released by Sussex last September but seemingly little hesitation in Lancashire about signing him. The fact that he bats first-wicket-down suggests the regard in which he is held.The rest of the day was a trifle anti-climactic although the scorers will not agree. Thompson continued to strive mightily in Yorkshire’s cause, for he knows no other faith and no other way of playing his cricket. He was presented with Liam Livingstone’s wicket and later took that of Luke Wood to finish with 3 for 64.But the main entertainment of the evening was provided by Josh Bohannon and Dane Vilas, both of whom hit Bess for straight sixes. Bohannon’s effort was a monster which smacked against the window of Lancashire’s official scorer, Chris Rimmer, alarming this calmest of men and even perturbing Garry Morgan, his fine assistant, who is a Sheffielder and more used to such dramas. For his part, Bohannon opted to bat for Saturday morning once Vilas had skied Coad to Kohler-Cadmore and departed for 45. The Boltonian ended the day unbeaten on 47 and no doubt has plans to traumatise more Yorkshiremen tomorrow.

Dawid Malan added to ODI squad after MRI scans reveal small calf tear

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2021Jos Buttler has been ruled out of the rest of England’s white-ball series with Sri Lanka. Buttler sustained a calf tear in Wednesday’s first T20I and will now return home to commence his rehabilitation.Buttler, England’s vice-captain and wicketkeeper, scored an unbeaten 68 opening the batting in the first T20I. According to the ECB, he “felt tightness and discomfort” at the end of the game and was sent for an MRI scan on Thursday morning, which revealed a small tear. He sat out the second T20I, which England won by five wickets.England had already suggested they may use the Sri Lanka T20Is to experiment, with Jonny Bairstow moving up to open in Buttler’s absence – although he made a three-ball duck as England initially struggled in their chase of 112. Liam Livingstone, whose unbeaten 29 helped secure victory, regularly opens in T20 cricket and could also deputise.Related

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Dawid Malan, the No. 1-ranked T20I batter, has been added to the ODI squad, with Bairstow and Sam Billings in contention to take the gloves in the 50-over format. Billings scored his maiden ODI hundred last summer and would have been vying for a middle-order berth, regardless of Buttler’s availability.”In terms of ODIs I had a really good summer last year and averaged 83 in that format so I would be pretty disappointed if I didn’t get a gig but this team is a very hard one to get into to,” he said.England have already secured the T20I series ahead Saturday’s third match, at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. The teams will then play three ODIs, at Chester-le-Street, The Oval and Bristol.

Flat track at New Road means final-day shock seems out of the question for visitors

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2021Worcestershire 415 for 8 (Mitchell 113, Barnard 98*, Haynes 65) lead Warwickshire 395 (Malan 141, Sibley 80, Rhodes 60, Sodhi 6-89) by 20 runsWarwickshire are on the brink of sealing a top two spot in Group 1 of the LV= Insurance County Championship despite encountering prolonged Worcestershire resistance in the New Road derby.Daryl Mitchell’s century and an unbeaten 98 from Ed Barnard eked out a 20 run lead for the home side in reply to Warwickshire’s 395 and they still have two wickets in hand.But the Bears will seal a spot amongst the six teams who will fight it out for the Championship crown in September if they avoid defeat on what is still a flat pitch in a game where only 18 wickets have so far fallen.Mitchell’s ton was the 39th of his career while Barnard fully justified his promotion into the top six.Worcestershire resumed on 152 for 2 and Haynes soon brought up a half-century from 110 balls with six fours in his first senior innings since a five week lay-off with an ankle problem.The 100 stand with Mitchell occupied 264 balls and the veteran opener completed his hundred with a single off Will Rhodes.It came from 228 balls with 10 boundaries and Mitchell has moved into the top six of Worcestershire’s all-time century-makers.Matt Lamb made the first breakthrough of the day when Jack Haynes (65) was caught off a leading edge at extra cover to end a stand of 130 with Mitchell.Mitchell’s fine knock ended 11 runs later on 113 when he played forward to Liam Norwell and was lbw.Warwickshire continued to chip away and captain Will Rhodes struck in successive overs as Brett D’Oliveira (18) was caught behind and Ben Cox (1) checked his shot and offered a return catch.Worcestershire Club Captain, Joe Leach, produced some aggressive batting and collected three boundaries in an over from Rhodes.He made a quickfire 34 before he was caught down the legside off Rob Yates.Barnard, promoted after impressive early season form, batted responsibly and swept Yates for four to bring up the 300.Ish Sodhi (13) picked out deep mid wicket off Lamb but Barnard completed a 122-ball fifty with his fifth four.Adam Finch helped him add a further unbroken 91 for the ninth wicket. Barnard needed three from the final over to reach his hundred but was content to take a single off the second ball. He hit eight fours in his 195-ball knock.

Kohli’s men go 1-0 up after hosts fold for 120, chasing 272, in the last hour

Varun Shetty16-Aug-20216:25

Harmison: England openers have reached an all-time low

Another overseas Test, another flourish from India’s lower order. Jasprit Bumrah’s day began as a batter in a hostile environment; by the end of the day, he and Mohammed Shami had turned the pressure around on England so swiftly and clinically that the hosts, who were in control of the game coming into the last day, folded in the final hour as India went 1-0 up in the series.India were 154 ahead when the day began, with Rishabh Pant and the bowlers left to contend with the second new ball. For the first half an hour, everything went according to plan for England. Their relentless, disciplined attack at India on Sunday evening had set them up to go all guns blazing.Pant has foiled a plan or two this year, including on England’s tour of India in February, and he was priority number one. They got him early, when he nicked behind on the forward defensive. India were 167 ahead then, with three wickets in hand.It was a big gamble they had taken on the first day to play four fast bowlers, bringing a pure bowler in Ishant Sharma to replace the injured Shardul Thakur while they had allrounders R Ashwin and Axar Patel on the bench. Given that reality, England couldn’t have imagined what came next – a dogged resistance that took victory out of the picture, and ended on India’s terms 104 runs later, ten minutes after lunch, when they declared after Shami and Bumrah had added 89 runs for the ninth wicket. England never recovered.Related

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In the post-mortem, they’ll identify their bowling to India’s tail – particularly Bumrah – as the phase where everything went awry. Mark Wood, who had gone off with a shoulder injury on Sunday, didn’t start the day on the field; he did, however, come back in, although not at full fitness, for a burst of short-pitched bowling. That seemed to be the plan from the other end as well, as England attacked India’s lower order with intimidating bowling, ostensibly for the treatment they had dished out to James Anderson at the end of England’s first innings.The execution was good enough, but Bumrah and Shami weathered a storm that turned out in the end to be a major distraction for England from the job at hand. Bumrah, usually a genteel figure on the field, argued and battled on, wearing a few blows on the body. One of them hit him on the helmet and pinged in third man’s direction, only for him to hold his hand up and deny a single, with two balls remaining in Wood’s over. The clear message was that he was ready to take what he had previously dished out.It was a message England didn’t heed as bouncer after bouncer was delivered at the pair, to the point of the bowlers tiring out of sheer frustration, and eventually being unable to breach the defenses of Bumrah and Shami. When England attacked the stumps, they both picked off boundaries, and soon enough Shami was past fifty, bringing out his favoured heaves over midwicket against Moeen Ali.India finished that opening session, having gone at more than four an over, and the possibility of a win was now distant for England.3:23

Why were India’s quicks more effective than England’s on day five?

Bumrah and Shami remained the protagonists in India’s script, nabbing Rory Burns and Dom Sibley for ducks in the first two overs to seize complete control of the match. Haseeb Hameed and Joe Root had to face four bowlers in 15 overs before Ishant – India’s hero the last time they won at Lord’s – was introduced. Ishant struck immediately, catching Hameed deep in the crease with an inducker. Jonny Bairstow didn’t look nearly as assured as he had in the first innings during his brief stay, and Ishant trapped him in front as well – with an assist from DRS – to pin England down to 67 for 4 at tea.And so, once again, England’s fortunes seemed directly dependent on how deep Joe Root would go in the game. Coming back after tea, the England captain knew he had to bat through a majority of the remaining 38 overs. But once again, Bumrah was around to foil his plans.Root only lasted until the third ball after tea, stabbing one to Virat Kohli at first slip, leaving England’s flamboyant line-up of batters – Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran – with a steep task.A majority of the work India put in to remove the trio might have ended in the 27th over, but Kohli dropped Buttler off Bumrah, creating another plot in the thread that would threaten India until the final hour.Mohammed Siraj, however, showed up, prickly and persistent as ever, to account for all three of them. Buttler and Ali hung around for close to 16 overs before Siraj had got the latter edging behind on the angle; next ball, he inflicted a king pair on Curran.With just the bowlers to come in, India’s chirp turned into raucous chatter. Ollie Robinson had to take most of it – staring, encircling, unrelenting pressure between balls from the moment he came in. During his brief stay alongside Buttler, it seemed to stir him on. He got more and more resolute, in congruence with Buttler, and soon enough the sun had come out over Lord’s. Their vigil took England into the final ten overs of the 60 they had been asked to bat. And then they ran into Bumrah again.Bumrah went around the wicket to Robinson, and sent two bouncers past his left shoulder, before slipping in an offcutter to flummox England’s No. 9. It pitched just in line with the stumps, caught Robinson on the back leg in front of the wicket, and returned three reds when India reviewed it.The clock had begun ticking as soon as it happened. Siraj replaced Ishant, and Buttler’s nerves showed immediately as he fenced one in the channel to Pant. Anderson received a similar welcome to Robinson, but he would not be worried with any short-pitched bowling; Siraj went full, and knocked his off stump in the same over to seal the win for India.Purposeful, tactical bowling – which England had done for the most part as they came from behind in this Test – finished them off.

“We’ll certainly miss her, but we have a number of fast bowling options,” says Australia captain

Andrew McGlashan18-Aug-2021Australia will look to make use of their burgeoning group of pace bowlers over the upcoming matches against India with the possibility of putting their fastest ever collective of quicks together for the Test at the WACA.The experienced Megan Schutt, who has been locked in with the new ball over the last four years, won’t be part of the series for personal seasons but Australia still have formidable resources at their disposal including the potential of young quicks Tayla Vlaeminck and Darcie Brown being teamed up for the first time.Related

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The pace bowling, which captain Meg Lanning has previously pinpointed as a point of difference in the Australia side, has been reinforced with the inclusion of uncapped pair of Stella Campbell and Maitlan Brown, the latter who was previously in the squad against New Zealand last year before being injured in the WBBL. Allrounder Annabel Sutherland, who can also bowl in excess of 120kph, is available again and there will also be interest in whether Ellyse Perry’s bowling can return to its previous effectiveness.”There’s no doubt that Megan not being there does leave a bit of a hole. We’ve got used to having her around so much and she’s such a consistent player,” Lanning said. “We’ll certainly miss her, but we have a number of fast bowling options and we have been working on building that depth for a while now.”Bringing Stella into the mix is really exciting, she brings some genuine pace and bounce, and we have Darcie Brown. Put that with Tayla, Ellyse and Annabel Sutherland and we feel like we have some really good options.”However, while there may be a temptation to take on India with a barrage of pace if the Test remains in Perth – Covid-19 is threatening to play havoc with schedules – Lanning still sees a key role for the spinners with Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham likely to get the chance to fill the shoes of the injured Jess Jonassen.”[Playing a lot of pace is] certainly something we can look at,” Lanning said. “We have good depth in both spin and pace now which is really important and that is an advantage of the bigger squad. Generally, at the WACA, pace is the preferred option but I still think spin can play a really important role, so we’ll have to get the balance right. Certainly, [the quicks] are some great options and all of them bring something slightly different which is crucial. You need that variety.”On the prospect of 19-year-old Campbell making a Test debut at the WACA, national selector Shawn Flegler said: “Her height and bounce and now her pace is something that’s really exciting. Think if we get to play the Test at the WACA, it is an exciting prospect with Darcie and Tayla as well, that’s three pretty genuinely quick fast bowlers.”Vlaeminck played Australia’s previous Test, against England in the 2019 Ashes, but an injury-interrupted career has so far limited her to 20 appearances across formats in three years. Lanning cautioned that it was about being able to have her available for the biggest matches which include next year’s ODI World Cup.”She has been very unlucky with injuries so far and you just want her to have a really good run at it,” Lanning said. “She is certainly in our plans to become a really important bowler for us, she has some attributes which are really unique and challenge batters from different perspectives.”The important thing for Tayla is, she has the potential to play for many years and it’s getting the balance right in making sure she is ready for key games and getting that experience into her. She doesn’t need to peak too early, it’s about getting her ready for the right time and getting a good base into her. I’ve been really impressed with the work ethic she’s put in.”A quick future: Maitlan Brown, Tayla Vlaeminck, Stella Campbell and Darcie Brown•Getty Images

Managing all players, but especially the fast bowlers, over what is scheduled to be the busiest ever season, and in what could yet require extensive bubbles, is front and centre of the planning.”We’ve communicated to the players that this winter has been about preparing themselves to be right for the next 12-18 months,” Flegler said. “We’ll certainly look at that pace-bowling group, they are on the younger side a few of them, and we’ve been really conscious of that and have been trying to bring those players into the squad to give them a little bit of experience.”We are looking at how we manage those bowlers, it’s a multi-format series so plenty of overs to be bowled and we need to make sure we have our best bowlers available for the World Cup final in April.”

Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal has been added to India’s squad as his replacement

Nagraj Gollapudi and Shashank Kishore13-Dec-2021Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the Test leg of India’s tour of South Africa with an injury to his left hamstring. The Gujarat opener Priyank Panchal has been drafted into the squad as his replacement.ESPNcricinfo has learned that Rohit suffered the injury during a net session before the India squad entered quarantine in Mumbai, from where they are scheduled to travel to South Africa this week.For Rohit, this is the second major tour affected by injury in the last 12 months. He only featured in the third and fourth Tests of India’s 2020-21 tour of Australia, missing the first two Tests due to a hamstring injury picked up during IPL 2020.Related

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Rohit’s absence will be a blow to India’s preparations given he has been their highest Test run-getter in 2021, and one of only two batters – Rishabh Pant being the other – with a 40-plus average from 10 or more innings. Since moving to the top of the order during the home series against South Africa in 2019, Rohit has scored 1462 runs in 16 Tests at an average of 58.48, with five centuries including, most recently, a Player-of-the-Match-winning 127 in India’s win at The Oval in September.KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are the other openers in India’s Test squad apart from the uncapped Panchal.Rohit had also been named vice-captain of the Test squad, apart from taking over as full-time captain in the white-ball formats.It remains to be seen if India will hand the vice-captaincy back to the out-of-form Ajinkya Rahane, or name a new deputy to Virat Kohli. It is learned that the selectors are deliberating over Rohit’s availability for the three ODIs that follow the Test series. A decision is likely to be taken this week.Priyank Panchal captained India A in two of their three recent four-day games in South Africa•Cricket South Africa

This isn’t Panchal’s maiden call-up to the Test squad. Earlier this year he was part of an extended India squad that took on England in four Tests at home. Panchal, who is 31 and leads Gujarat in domestic cricket, was among the reserve openers for that series alongside Abhimanyu Easwaran.While Panchal is a relative unknown to the wider public, he has been one of the regulars for India A over the last few years. A veteran of 100 first-class matches, Panchal was most-recently part of India A’s shadow tour of South Africa, where he captained the team in two of the three four-day games in Bloemfontein. He made scores of 96, 24 and 0 in his three innings on tour.Panchal’s stocks rose significantly since his breakout Ranji Trophy season in 2016-17, where he topped the run charts with 1310 runs in 17 innings at an average of 87.33. His first-class highest, an unbeaten 314, came against Punjab that season. Those runs were part of a historic run for Gujarat, who clinched their maiden Ranji Trophy title. Following Parthiv Patel’s retirement last year, Panchal took over the Gujarat captaincy.

Half-centuries from both batters ensured they had enough on the board for Rashid Khan to work his magic

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2022Hashmatullah Shahidi produced a match-winning half-century on debut as Afghanistan ODI captain. His knock, worth 73 runs in 94 balls, rescued a faltering innings, and once there was a total of 222 for 8 on the board, their stellar bowling attack, led by Rashid Khan, put the squeeze on Netherlands and beat them by 36 runs.In conditions where hardly any batter from either side scored at more than run a ball, Afghanistan needed the expertise of their newly-appointed leader. Shahidi, batting at No. 4, struck four fours and two sixes as he shepherded the innings all the way through to the 50th over. He had the experienced Rahmat Shah for support, the right-hand batter scoring 70 off 102 balls. Only one of the other Afghanistan batters was able to push their score past 20, as Brandon Glover (9-0-43-3) and Fred Klaassen (10-1-39-2) kept things in check.Netherlands’ hopes of chasing the total down rested mostly on opener Scott Edwards. He scored 68 off 82 balls, with eight fours, but his dismissal – bowled by Mujeeb Ur Rahman – created the opening that Afghanistan needed to take control. Netherlands fell from 121 for 3 to 186 all out as Rashid (3-31), the fifth bowler into the attack, took care of business.

Gaffe at select committee hearing is proof of cricket’s “endemic problem”, says Azeem Rafiq

Andrew Miller25-Jan-2022The chairman of Middlesex County Cricket Club has been accused of reinforcing racial stereotypes, after telling MPs at a Parliamentary hearing in Westminster that the club’s lack of diversity is partly attributable to Black people preferring football, and Asians putting more focus on education.Addressing the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee, Mike O’Farrell attracted widespread condemnation for his attempt to defend Middlesex’s poor record in bringing ethnic minority players through to its senior ranks – including from Azeem Rafiq, whose allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire had triggered the parliamentary inquest, and who stated that O’Farrell’s remarks were further proof of the sport’s “endemic problem”.”The football and rugby world becomes much more attractive to the Afro-Caribbean community,” O’Farrell said, in a bid to explain why – despite claiming that 57 percent of Middlesex’s youth-team participants come from diverse backgrounds – the current first-team squad has just two British Asian representatives out of 25, and no Black players.Despite strong diversity at age-group level, Middlesex has a poor record in bringing Black and Asian players through to the senior squad•Getty Images

“And in terms of the South Asian community, there is a moment where we’re finding that they do not want necessarily to commit the same time that is necessary to go the next step because they prefer, not always saying they do it, they sometimes prefer to go into other educational fields,” O’Farrell added. “Then cricket becomes secondary, and part of that is because it’s a rather more time-consuming sport than some others.”Responding on Twitter, Rafiq wrote: “Painful listen and just shows how far removed from reality these people are. This has just confirmed what an endemic problem the game has. I actually can’t believe what I am listening to.”Ebony Rainford-Brent, the former England player-turned-commentator – who founded the ACE (African Caribbean Engagement) Programme in 2020 to help reinvigorate cricket in the Black British community – was similarly critical of O’Farrell’s comments.”Honestly these outdated views in the game are exactly why we are in this position,” Rainford-Brent wrote. “Unfortunately the decision-makers hold onto these myths. ‘The Black community only like football, and Asian community only interested in education’ Seriously the game deserves better.”Related

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The remarks came on the same day that the ECB announced a partnership with Kick It Out, football’s anti-discrimination organisation, alongside a full review of dressing-room culture in all men’s and women’s professional teams, at both domestic and international level. This will be led by Clare Connor, the ECB’s director of women’s cricket, with a report due in September.O’Farrell later issued an apology for his comments, insisting that the “misunderstanding” was down to a “lack of clarity and context in the answers I provided”.”For the purposes of clarification, I was aiming to make the point that as a game, cricket has failed a generation of young cricketers, in systematically failing to provide them with the same opportunities that other sports and sectors so successfully provide,” O’Farrell said.”Cricket has to take responsibility for these failings and must learn that until we make the game an attractive proposition for youngsters of all backgrounds to continue through the pathway into the professional game, much like other sports and sectors are doing, the game won’t make the progress it needs to.”A commitment to “remove barriers in talent pathways”, such as those that seem to exist at Middlesex, was one of the five key points in the ECB Action Plan that emerged in the wake of their last appearance before the DCMS committee in November.A number of factors have contributed to the lack of minority representation in the professional game, including a tendency among youth-team coaches towards conformity; a lack of feedback to talented youngsters from marginalised backgrounds, and the prohibitive cost of equipment – including bats and helmets – that impedes the game’s reach in poorer communities.Addressing such issues in November, Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, said: “That decision-making point between talented youngsters and becoming professionals around the country is a worrying statistic for us. There may be structural and cultural barriers in place that we need to remove. We just need to accelerate the work that’s going on here, but I don’t think we have all the answers yet.”