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Delmi Tucker and Chloe Tryon made battling half-centuries to ensure the home side had to work hard

Tristan Lavalette17-Feb-2024Australia’s versatile and talented attack overcame a resolute South Africa mustering belated fight to complete a comprehensive Test victory at the WACA late on day three.Having been pushed in tight T20I and ODI series victories, Australia’s experience in red-ball cricket came to the fore as they clinched the inaugural multi-series between the teams 12-4.Australia’s attack were made to work against gritty batting on a surface that flattened out as the match wore on, but their bowling depth shone with six bowlers taking wickets in South Africa’s second innings of 215.Related

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Captain Alyssa Healy was forced to unfurl her deep attack with eight bowlers used, including allrounder Annabel Sutherland who finished with five wickets for the match to go along with her historic double century.Debutant Delmi Tucker and Chloe Tryon helped stretch the match longer than expected with maiden Test half-centuries as South Africa salvaged some respectability after a torrid initiation into Test cricket against Australia.Tucker, Tryon and debutant Tazmin Brits faced more than 100 deliveries each as South Africa lasted 97.2 overs in a considerable improvement on their meek first innings of 31.2 overs.After being routed for 76 on day one, their lowest ever Test score, South Africa had been in danger of humiliatingly losing within two days when they crashed to 13 for 3.South Africa resumed their second innings at 67 for 3 with Brits and Tucker hoping to continue their rearguard after defying Australia late on day two with a half-century stand.In warm conditions, Brits looked tentative as Australia’s seamers targeted a dangerous length outside off-stump. Darcie Brown’s extra pace proved a handful and she was unlucky not to take a wicket when Brits edged just in front of second slip.She also had Tucker top-edging over wicketkeeper Healy, but the batters settled on a sun-baked surface offering little movement. They put away rare loose deliveries and were untroubled by short deliveries coming off the wicket relatively slowly compared to earlier in the match.Tucker had a couple of anxious moments as she neared her half-century, including miss-hitting a pull shot off Ellyse Perry that narrowly was out of reach of Alana King running back from square leg.Chloe Tryon brought up an excellent fifty•Getty Images

But Tucker regained her composure and notched her half-century on the very next delivery. Healy resisted using her three frontline spinners and she was rewarded with her faith in the seamers when Perry ended the 96-run partnership after Brits edged low to second slip where replays confirmed that Phoebe Litchfield had her fingers under the ball.But Australia were again made to wait as Tryon showcased a mix of power and finesse to continually hit through the off-side as Healy finally reverted to spin.It almost paid off immediately when Sophie Molineux, playing her first international since late 2021, had Tryon inside edging onto her pad only for Healy to drop a tough chance moments before lunch.Ashleigh Gardner and King, who received warm applause on her home ground when she entered the attack in the 42nd over of the day’s play, bowled well in tandem after lunch and found turn and bounce. They shackled Tryon with four fielders around the bat as runs crawled to a halt.The pressure built on Tucker, who was undone by extra bounce as she chipped a return catch that was well taken by Gardner. She trudged off in disappointment, but earned a strong ovation from the crowd after making 64 off 180 balls in four hours at the crease.King was denied a first wicket of the match when Mooney dropped a straightforward catch at slip to reprieve Tryon, who capitalised to notch her half-century soon after.But an Australia victory was always just a matter of time as Sutherland capped a memorable match by clean bowling Tryon with hometown hero King claiming the final wicket to punctuate Test cricket’s return to the WACA.

The legspinner will make his first first-class appearance since 2019 if selected against Victoria

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2022Adam Zampa is in line to make his first Sheffield Shield appearance since 2019 and have a chance to push a claim for a spot on the Test tour of India after being named in New South Wales’ squad to face Victoria in Melbourne.Zampa has not played first-class cricket since moving back to New South Wales two years ago but a window has opened up for him to feature in one game before the Shield breaks for the BBL.There is a chance that he will be considered as a left-field option for the Test series in India during February and March, although he will only have the one game to showcase his long-form skills.”My dream is still to play Test cricket,” Zampa told before the third ODI against England in Melbourne last week. “I feel like my game’s evolved over the last few years, it’s just about the workload and seeing how my body will cope. I’d love to throw my hat in the ring [for the India tour].”Zampa’s overall first-class record is modest with 105 wickets at 48.26 from 38 matches, the last of which came for South Australia against Western Australia in late 2019. He made his first-class debut for New South Wales in 2012, taking five wickets in the match against Queensland.Mitchell Swepson has been Australia’s legspinner on their last two overseas tours to Pakistan and Sri Lanka, so far taking 10 wickets at 45.80 in four outings.”It’s rare that Adam is available for Sheffield Shield, given his taxing white ball schedule but he has this week free and has always maintained his desire to play red-ball cricket,” New South Wales’ head of male cricket Michael Klinger said. “For us to be able to bring in a player of his calibre and experience is a welcome one.”Offspinner Todd Murphy and left-armer Ashton Agar, who both played for the Prime Minister’s XI against West Indies in Canberra, are also in the frame. Agar would have played the Tests in Sri Lanka if he had not suffered a side strain

Veteran allrounder becomes first Englishman to 250 wickets and 5000 runs in T20

ECB Reporters' Network18-Jun-2021Veteran allrounder Samit Patel took the starring role as Nottinghamshire Outlaws beat Derbyshire by two runs to go second in the North Group after a Vitality Blast match shortened by rain to 15 overs a side.The 36-year-old hit three sixes and six fours in an unbeaten 62 – his first half-century in the format for three years in his 110th consecutive appearance – and in taking 2 for 14 from three overs of his left-arm spin entered the record books as the first English player to complete the double of 250 wickets and 5000 runs in Twenty20 cricket.Luis Reece hit 56 from 26 balls and Leus Du Plooy an unbeaten 58 including a six off the last ball but Derbyshire fell two runs short of their target of 153.Ben Duckett supported Patel with 38 off 25 balls as the Outlaws totalled 152 for 6, the wickets shared equally between seamers Logan van Beek and George Scrimshaw.Asked to bat first, the Outlaws lost top-scorers Alex Hales and Joe Clarke in the opening over, Hales leg before for a duck after van Beek’s opening delivery was called wide, Clarke well caught by Billy Godleman on the run from mid-off.Debutant Sol Budinger confidently cut his first ball for four off Conor McKerr but was dropped at mid-off in the same over and miscued van Beek to be caught by the wicketkeeper in the next.The Outlaws were restricted to 40 for 3 from a 4.3 over Powerplay before Scrimshaw removed Tom Moores. Duckett pulled Reece for the first six of the night but fell when Scrimshaw found some extra bounce and had him caught at backward point. Scrimshaw claimed his third wicket as Mullaney holed out to midwicket but Patel lifted Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Matt Critchley’s legspin over the rope in a 23-ball half-century and did the same to McKerr.Derbyshire were 19 without loss after an untidy first over by spinner Matt Carter. They were checked by Jake Ball taking wickets with his first two balls as Harry Came looped to deep gully and Godleman hit straight to mid-off but Reece hit Luke Fletcher for 18 and there were sixes for both Reece and du Plooy in Ball’s second over as Derbyshire posted 61 for 2 in the powerplay.Reece fell when he picked out Hales on the long-on boundary before Patel took his place in the record books by pinning Critchley leg before as the left-arm spinner teamed up with skipper Mullaney in stemming the flow of runs, Patel bowling Hudson-Prentice, before holding a tricky catch as Carter dismissed Brooke Guest.du Plooy hit three sixes to take the Falcons close but ultimately not close enough.

Board president Ganguly reasons allrounder in contention for home ODI series against South Africa

Nagraj Gollapudi06-Mar-2020The BCCI has told the Saurahstra Cricket Association (SCA) that it cannot permit the latter’s request to release Ravindra Jadeja for the Ranji Trophy final next week because the allrounder is in “contention” to be selected for the three-match ODI series against South Africa, which will be played between March 12 to 18. The Ranji Trophy final will, meanwhile, take place in Jadeja’s home town Rajkot between March 9 to 13.The SCA request was sent immediately after Saurashtra beat Gujarat in the semifinals on March 4, the fifth day of the match. The request, which was signed by former Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah, the SCA president, was sent to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.”It is a proud moment for us. So we just sent a request,” Shah told ESPNcricinfo. “It is an important match for us. It is the final.”Ganguly replied promptly. “I congratulate you and the Saurashtra Cricket Association for reaching the final,” Ganguly is understood to have said his response over the e-mail. “Ravindra Jadeja only can be released if he is not part of the Indian team of upcoming series. And currently there are players from both Bengal and Saurashtra who are in contention for selection to the Indian team. The priority will be always given to Indian team.”This is not the first occasion when the SCA had requested players to be released for Ranji Trophy duties. In 2013, too, Saurashtra had made the Ranji final, and were playing against Mumbai, but that match clashed with India’s home ODI series against England. The Ranji final was scheduled from January 26, while the final game of the five-match ODI series was being played in Dharamshala on January 27. Two Saurashtra players – Cheteshwar Pujara and Jadeja – were part of the Indian squad. The SCA had put in a special request to release both, but the BCCI turned down that request even as Jadeja played the final ODI and Pujara sat on the bench.Shah said Ganguly was “very right” and the SCA wanted to just put in the request because of the importance of the occasion. But Shah pointed out that the BCCI ought to pay attention to keeping a free window for the Ranji finals, so that if the Indian players were free they could participate.”If you want domestic cricket popular you need big players to feature in the match. We have requested in the past, too, saying if the player is resting on the bench then he should be released.”Earlier Shah had told the that the BCCI should consider not playing any international cricket during Ranji Trophy. “Will BCCI keep an international match during IPL? No, because it gives money. Ranji Trophy can only be popularised if star players play at least in the finals. Don’t keep any international cricket during finals, have a proper window.”Like Jadeja, Mohammed Shami is also expected to be a part of the India ODI squad – he suffered an external injury in the last Test in New Zealand – and will not be a part of the Bengal line-up, but Test specialists Pujara (Saurashtra) and Wriddhiman Saha (Bengal) are available for selection.

ECB announces “overwhelming support” for new competition, with only Surrey understood to have voted against

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2019The ECB has won support from 17 of the 18 first-class counties for its new competition, The Hundred, which is due to be launched next year. The counties were asked to formally approve the playing conditions endorsed by the ECB in November, with only Surrey understood to have voted against.The new format will see 100-ball innings for each team, with a change of ends every 10 balls and bowlers allowed to deliver five or 10 consecutively out of a maximum of 20. The ECB has also confirmed the inclusion of strategic timeouts of up to two-and-a-half minutes for the bowling side, and a 25-ball Powerplay at the start of each innings.The ECB’s chief executive, Tom Harrison, last month spoke about the importance of the new competition in helping to grow a new audience for English cricket.”This is a significant step, with overwhelming support for The Hundred,” Harrison said on Thursday. “Over the last three years we have worked closely with the whole game to create an important opportunity for the whole game.”This new competition has already helped to secure vital new partnerships and substantial broadcast revenues and it will help us to meet the ambitions of our game-wide strategy for 2020-24 – “Inspiring Generations”. The Hundred will help cricket to reach more people.”We remain totally committed to the existing, popular forms of cricket and will be committing significant funds and focus to all levels of the game, protecting and nurturing the core whilst reaching out to a wider audience.”The ECB will now move on to confirming the details of the eight new, city-based teams for The Hundred, followed by a planned player draft in the autumn. “You will now see an acceleration in the progress of The Hundred and a series of significant building blocks over the coming months,” said Sanjay Patel, the competition’s managing director.

Sunil Narine struck 69 off 34 balls to push the score to 205 for 5 and then Shakib Al Hasan took 4 for 8 to topple Rajshahi Kings

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Dec-2017Sunil Narine’s bat chips off at the bottom as he meets a full toss outside off•Getty Images

Dhaka Dynamites blew away Rajshahi Kings by 99 runs to confirm their place in the BPL playoffs. The result also means that Rajshahi has to win their last game and wait for other results to go their way to remain in the tournament.Dhaka rode on fifties from Joe Denly and Sunil Narine to pile up 205 for 5 in 20 overs. The pair added 129 runs for the opening stand with Narine top-scoring with 69 off 34 balls, an innings which included four fours and six sixes. Denly was more sedate, making 53 off 54 balls.Newcomer Qazi Onik, who took a four-wicket haul on his BPL debut in the previous game, was hammered for 52 from his four overs, taking two wickets.Then it was Shakib Al Hasan’s turn to delight the Mirpur crowd, as he took the big wickets of Lendl Simmons, Mushfiqur Rahim, Luke Wright and Samit Patel to finish with figures of 4 for 8. Mosaddek Hossain (2 for 9) and Shadman Islam (2 for 3) took two wickets each. Out of the four Rajshahi batsmen who got to double-figures, Patel’s 28 was the top score.

PSL chairman Najam Sethi has announced that the final of the second edition of the league will be held in Lahore in March 2017

Umar Farooq20-Oct-2016The final of the 2017 Pakistan Super League will be held in Lahore, according to PSL chairman Najam Sethi, who made the announcement during the player draft in Dubai on Wednesday. The remaining matches in the tournament will be played in the UAE in February and March 2017 as scheduled.ESPNcricinfo had reported in August that the PCB had asked the Punjab government to initiate a process to stage the match in Lahore, which will likely be played on March 9. The Punjab government has reportedly given the PCB permission to host the match and has alerted security agencies to take necessary measures.”The second edition of the PSL, with five teams in the competition, will be more successful and the final will be held in Lahore,” Sethi, who is also the head of the PCB executive committee, said. “International players know what we can do; most of them are ready to come to Pakistan and play. We have signed players with a condition that if their team reaches the final, they will have to go to Lahore and they have all agreed.”It will be a fly-in, fly-out plan and the government has promised to give full security to the players. We are convinced that the final will happen in Lahore.”On Wednesday, 414 players were placed in the draft for the second edition. The five franchises signed on 17 new players between them, including former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and England’s limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan. McCullum went to Lahore Qalandar, while Morgan was signed by Peshawar Zalmi.Earlier this year, the PCB bought four bulletproof buses as part of its effort to provide the “best possible arrangements” in terms of security for players visiting the country.
The PCB relies heavily on the government for security arrangements for visiting teams and the bulletproof buses, first proposed during the chairmanship of Zaka Ashraf in 2012 and sanctioned last year, were bought as an additional safety measure for teams travelling within the city.Pakistan has been untenable as an international venue ever since terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009. Zimbabwe became the first Full-Member nation to visit Pakistan since that incident, but the ICC refused to send its match officials for the series in May 2015.Pakistan then appointed their own match officials, and hoped the Zimbabwe series would serve as a stepping stone to revive international cricket in the country. That ambition, however, suffered a setback when a suicide attack took place near the Gaddafi Stadium during the second ODI. Zimbabwe played the third and final ODI two days later and completed the tour, but the PCB failed to convince any other side to visit the country since.

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Lord's09-Aug-2015
ScorecardDawid Malan helped build Middlesex’s lead•Getty Images

When Dawid Malan returned from a 10-week lay-off after breaking a bone in his hand while fielding on the first day of the season, Middlesex head coach Richard Scott had one “simple” request upon his return: “Look, go big.” Truth be told, it did not need to be said, least of all to Malan – a player worthy of the selectors’ eye who at times has been guilty of wanting “it” too much.In the context of this relatively low scoring encounter, on a Lord’s surface that started in favour of the spinners and looks set to finish at the mercy of the spinners, Malan has produced two commendable knocks in both situations against a Sussex attack that have offered little respite.His first innings 93 showed his capacity to rebuild – something he has developed – while his century today (a second of the season), off 172 balls and featuring seven fours, showcased his match-awareness. He has now scored a century against Sussex in the Championship, NatWest Blasdt and Royal London Cup this season.Sitting unbeaten on 118 – with a season average of over 100 – he has helped Middlesex to a lead of 260 by ensuring his side had batted the day out. There is some rain around tomorrow morning which might force Middlesex to declare, but there is also the very real possibility that Sussex whittle out the remaining two wickets for not many to establish themselves as favourites.That the game finds itself at this juncture is down to the fact that neither team has let the game slide. In the grand scheme of things, Middlesex have set out to do what they wanted: to bat out the whole day and establish a lead in excess of 250, ebbing away the Sussex morale in the process. But it was an objective that the visitors did everything in their power to prevent.In the first two sessions, each time Middlesex looked to put daylight between them and Sussex, skipper Ed Joyce and his bowlers landed telling blows to keep them in check.Sam Robson continued his pro-active approach from last night to move to 77 at an impressive strike-rate of 73.33, before he nicked the left-arm spinner Ashar Zaidi behind, before the Sussex man changed ends and took out Nick Compton’s leg stump.Then Steve Magoffin, after getting Nick Gubbins caught behind – the ball seemingly coming off the opener’s sleeve – registered his 500th first class wicket when a fine delivery drew James Franklin forward and left him, to Joyce at first slip.Perhaps the moment that best highlighted the fight from Sussex came in the dregs of the middle session. With Malan and John Simpson taking the Middlesex towards a lead of 150 with a partnership of 78 from the dismissal of Franklin, Joyce turned to Ollie Robinson from the Pavilion End. But, instead of the seam-bowling allrounder marking his full run-up, Robinson took five paces back, at an angle, and turned for what would be the first of 31 deliveries of off-spin delivered today.At the time, there was an element of confusion. While he has bowled off-spin previously this season, the game was still in the balance and the move to a bit-part spinner, when Zaidi had excelled from that very end and Luke Wells was causing discomfort with his leg spin, seemed odd. However, come stumps, it had earned him three wickets.It is a bit more than a party trick: Robinson had spent most of his childhood as an off-break bowler, only turning to pace “in the last four or five years”. While he mostly works on his seam bowling – a necessity given the number of injuries Sussex have in that department – he does take time to practice spin, including this morning when he became aware that it may be required as the day drew on.Malan felt that Robinson turned the ball more than anyone today. “Some say you never lose it,” joked the bowling allrounder/part-time off-spinner at close, while also wondering if he had missed a trick by not continuing with it as a full-time pursuit. He has had to take on a great deal of the fast bowling workloads as one of the few still fit. “To be honest, my shins are absolutely killing me!”His first wicket was probably the best of the lot, drifting the ball perfectly onto a length that drew Simpson forward: the ball then turning down the slope and catching the left-hander’s edge for a routine catch to Joyce at first slip. The second, from over the wicket this time, saw James Harris work the ball around the corner to Chris Nash at leg-slip for a most unwanted pair. And it would be Robinson who would bring the day to a close, returning after five overs of pace with the new ball to trap Toby Roland-Jones lbw, thus ending a 77-run partnership.Roland-Jones cut a disgruntled figure, remaining still at the crease, even as the bails had been the removed, shocked by the decision that came his way. There was little sympathy from the Sussex fielders, who believed they had cut Malan off on 93 for the second time in this match when he attempted a dab sweep off Zaidi.The fielders populated the middle of the pitch in appeal and premature celebration, believing there was some bat through to Ben Brown, who had an excellent day behind the stumps in testing conditions.

India have again struck down the latest attempt to bring more consistency to the implementation of the DRS

Nagraj Gollapudi31-Jan-2013India have again struck down the latest attempt to bring more consistency to the implementation of the DRS by threatening to pull out of any tour in which the host country insisted on using the technology.At the ICC executive meeting in Dubai the ECB, represented by chairman Giles Clarke, was the only board that spoke in favour of a policy change where the approval of the host country would be enough to implement the DRS. N Srinivasan, the BCCI chief, shot down the proposal and ESPNcricinfo understands that the remaining boards did not make a stand.Srinivasan’s concerns are understood to still centre on a belief that the technology could be easily manipulated and is unreliable. It has been learnt that he made the claim that India would pull out of bilateral series if a system was in place where the home side could insist on the DRS.Though the DRS issue was not even listed on the agenda, or in the post-meeting press release dispatched, it was discussed at length in the wake of a renewed push during the ICC chief executives committee (CEC) meeting last month, for universal implementation of the referral system. At that meeting, held on December 4, every member with the exception of India had backed a change in the DRS implementation policy.The existing playing conditions require the approval of both countries on DRS during a bilateral series, but the CEC suggested a change in policy that would see the home board having the right to choose the use of the DRS regardless of what the opposition wanted. The CEC recommended that the issue should be resolved via a vote during the executive board meeting.In the end there was no vote as most of 13-man strong board (10 Full Members plus three Associates) failed to stand up to Srinivasan. Only Clarke, who supported the CEC recommendation, felt it warranted a discussion this week again.This is not the first time the BCCI has opposed the rest of the members on the DRS. At the ICC’s last annual conference in Kuala Lumpur, the CEC had passed the resolution to make the DRS mandatory for all events. The move was then passed to the executive board which had to ratify the decision. But despite the push from the CECs, the head of the Full Member boards refrained from putting the issue to vote.

Zaheer Khan has responded to Brad Haddin’s comments on India’s mental make-up by asking the Australian wicketkeeper to mind his own game, which according to him is fragile

Sidharth Monga in Perth10-Jan-2012It has taken two Tests, but it has begun. Perhaps it’s got to do with the time the cricketers got off their cricketing routines. India and Australia have resumed their verbal sparring. It began with Brad Haddin saying on a radio show that India are mentally fragile, and that when put under pressure, they “turn on each other”. Zaheer Khan has responded by telling Haddin to mind his own game, which according to him is fragile.Suppressing his laughter, Zaheer said, “Brad Haddin should focus on his keeping. That looks really fragile to me. He needs to start moving.” Zaheer was alluding to the three catches Haddin dropped in the first two Tests. Zaheer went a step further. He said that Haddin seemed to be the designated big mouth of the Australian team.Zaheer was asked if the two teams were now breaking the sort of unwritten pact of mutual respect they have been following, especially keeping in mind the bitterness on India’s last tour here. “I think by the sound of it Haddin has been appointed for that in the Australian team,” Zaheer said of the possible mind games coming from the Australian camp.Zaheer was also asked if Haddin was lucky to be in the Australian side after the ordinary show in the first two Tests. “He is doing all the talk,” Zaheer said. “So he is definitely playing his role.”Peter Siddle chose to steer clear of the controversy, but was forced to say a line or two when almost all the questions in his press conference revolved around Zaheer and Haddin. “[It is] just a lead-up to the Test,” Siddle said. “The pressure that we have been building as bowling partnerships, and a bowling unit is what has been working for us, that’s what is putting the pressure on. Whether you call it intimidation, whether it’s just good team bowling, whatever you think, but that’s what Bradley was getting at. The pressure we have been building without bowling.”Siddle said he had no idea why Haddin said what he said, and that he has not spoken to Haddin about it. Siddle, though, said there was no designated big mouth in the side. “There is no appointment,” he said. “These things come out. Zaheer is saying he should concentrate on his keeping. I wouldn’t like to see how good a tip Zaheer can give him on his keeping. I don’t think it’s his place to say that either. Just a part of the game. Zaheer is going all right at the moment, so he likes to say those things.”I think we are all nice and friendly guys in the field. We are all nice to our opposition. That’s how we play our cricket. That’s obviously it. Brad’s a very competitive cricketer. He does like to play it hard and fair. Me and Jimmy [James Pattinson] like to bowl our bouncers, stuff like that.”