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Worcestershire have signed Matt Henry, the New Zealand fast bowler, for the first half of the 2016 season

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2016Worcestershire have signed Matt Henry, the New Zealand fast bowler, for the first half of the 2016 season. Henry will fill the overseas role from April until the end of June, when South Africa’s Kyle Abbott is due to arrive.Henry’s combination of pace and swing ought to be potent in English conditions, as Worcestershire look to secure yet another promotion back to Division One of the Championship. Last season, Jack Shantry, Jack Leach and Charlie Morris took more than 150 wickets between them but there was little seam-bowling support and Saeed Ajmal, back with a remodelled action, was unable to replicate his previous success.Henry caught the eye of Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, when New Zealand played a tour match at New Road in 2015, with the 24-year-old taking 5 for 129 in a 15-run win.”Worcestershire have had strong links with New Zealand cricket going back to when Glenn Turner played for them for many seasons and more recently with Colin Munro and Mitchell McClenaghan and I am looking forward to playing for them,” Henry said.”They showed their quality in the tour game when pushing New Zealand all the way last summer and clearly have an exciting crop of young players who came so close to staying in Division One of the County Championship.”I hope I can play my part in getting them off to a good start in trying to regain that Division One spot – as well as having another successful run in the NatWest T20 Blast – and experiencing county cricket will be good for my all-round development as a player.”Henry has played three Tests, 20 ODIs and four T20s for his country. His most impressive performances have come in the 50-over format where, despite the competition for places in New Zealand’s seam attack, he has taken 41 wickets at 21.60 – including 13 in three matches during the recently completed series against Sri Lanka – and also played in the 2015 World Cup semi-final and final.In first-class cricket, he has taken 100 wickets in 26 appearances – the majority for Canterbury – at an average of 27.05. Henry also won an IPL contract in 2014 but has yet to play for his team, Chennai Super Kings.Rhodes said: “Matt Henry is a fine young bowler who has represented New Zealand in all formats. He also was trusted with both a World Cup semi-final and a final spot and his bowling early season will be huge asset to the Club. I am delighted he will lead our attack and join our current crop of terrific young seam bowlers.”

Led by Stuart Broad, England kept the pressure on a fragile South Africa batting line-up to leave the opening Test fascinatingly poised after two days in Durban

The Report by Andrew McGlashan27-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLed by Stuart Broad, England kept the pressure on a fragile South Africa batting line-up to leave the opening Test fascinatingly poised after two days in Durban. Broad’s three wickets, including the kingpins of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, coupled with a valuable scalp for Moeen Ali left South Africa 137 for 4 in reply to England’s hard-fought 303From 247 for 5, England would have envisaged more than what they ended with but Morne Morkel blew a hole in the much-vaunted lower-order strength with three wickets in six balls. A last-wicket stand of 36, with Broad finishing unbeaten on 32, ensured the innings did not completely crumble and the contest was even again when Broad extracted two wickets in his first spell to leave South Africa 14 for 2.Broad later returned to find the edge of a threatening de Villiers, ending a third-wicket stand of 86 with Dean Elgar, and Faf du Plessis paid for an ugly swipe against Moeen. Elgar glued South Africa together with an unbeaten 67, although he would have been lbw on 58 had England reviewed an lbw shout from Ben Stokes, and Temba Bavuma held firm during the closing moments of a day where 11 overs were lost despite an early start.Leading the attack in the absence of James Anderson, it took Broad just two deliveries to make his first mark on the innings when, starting around the wicket in a clear piece of pre-series planning, he angled a delivery back into Stiaan van Zyl, who misjudged the line horribly and had his off stump smashed.The out-of-form Amla was given a working over and fell to arguably the third chance he gave in a difficult 24-ball stay. Evidence suggested that he offered a very thin edge off Broad on 1, which was not given or reviewed, and then he provided a clear chance on 2 when he nicked Chris Woakes but Jonny Bairstow grassed the chance diving in front of first slip. However, Broad produced a beautiful legcutter to nick the edge again and this time Bairstow snaffled a regulation chance.The early wickets meant the ball was still hard when de Villiers entered at No. 4 and he survived a close call on 11 when a leading edge against Steven Finn was ruled not to have carried to Stokes in the gully. Stokes dived forward for the catch and after initially claiming it indicated his uncertainty; the soft signal from the on-field umpires was not out and, as so often in such circumstances, it was not overruled on the TV evidence.De Villiers played himself in either side of tea and there were signs of him starting to dominate when he lofted Moeen straight for six. However, he was outfoxed by a cunning piece of bowling by Broad who rolled his fingers across another legcutter, which moved just enough to find the outside edge.Dean Elgar steadied South Africa in their reply•Getty Images

Broad, though, needed some wicket-taking assistance to chip away at South Africa. Woakes and Finn both bowled excellent spells – Woakes’ pace was eye-catching as he nudged 90mph – but it was Moeen who nipped in when du Plessis, perhaps carrying the residual baggage from India, came down the pitch and missed a swipe across the line. For a moment it appeared Bairstow had missed a stumping chance, but the ball grazed the bail with just enough force to dislodge it although there was the curious sight of a bowled dismissal being referred to the third umpire.As batsmen struggled to play the defining innings, Elgar stood firm. Much like Nick Compton for England he left well outside off, making the bowlers come straighter to him which allowed runs into the leg side, his dominant scoring area. His fifty came from 93 deliveries, brought up with a rare moment of freedom as he followed de Villiers’ lead by depositing Moeen over the boundary, but despite the sun being out conditions did not swing in favour of the batsmen.When England resumed on 179 for 4 following the late dismissal of James Taylor on the opening evening, Stokes was quick out of the blocks before top edging a pull off Morkel from a delivery that was not short enough for the stroke. The new-ball brought an increase in the tempo, firstly as Compton and Bairstow enjoyed the extra hardness of the ball to take their stand to 51 and then when Morkel changed the complexion of the morning.Compton under-edged a pull – a rare occasion in his 236-ball stay where he had not been fully committed to a stroke – then Moeen edged a ball angled across him and Woakes was pinned lbw by a delivery which would have clipped leg stump. With Dale Steyn a little down on pace, and a suggestion he was struggling with an injury, it was a vital interjection from Morkel at a time when Amla would have been pondering how to juggle his three-man pace attack.Bairstow ducked into a short delivery from Morkel and a short while later was well caught at second slip for 41 as he tried to be aggressive against Kyle Abbott – his third score in the 40s in England’s recent overseas Tests – but Broad played smartly. Finn showed a straight bat before missing a full delivery from Steyn who claimed his 50th scalp against England and moved ahead of Curtly Ambrose with 406 wickets in the all-time list.

Adam Hollioake, the former England allrounder has said that most of the England cricket kit used by his late brother, Ben, and stolen from his parents’ home in Perth, has now been recovered

David Hopps19-Apr-2012Adam Hollioake, the former England allrounder has said that most of the England cricket kit used by his late brother, Ben, and stolen from his parents’ home in Perth, has now been recovered.”A person has been arrested and a search warrant issued to potentially retrieve remaining kit,” Hollioake suggested on Twitter.The success of the Western Australia police in recovering the stolen kit from a house in Applecross, in Perth’s suburbs, has been hailed as an example of cricket’s virtual community working together on social media for the general good.According to Hollioake, the kit was recovered in several stages. The collection, which includes England shirts, sweaters, bats and helmets, is treasured by the family since his death ten years ago when his sports car spun out of control and hit a wall in south Perth.”Kit turning up by the hour – probably 75% of it back now,” he tweeted. “No doubt in my mind that you guys instigated us getting it back.”On a positive note I know my bro would be happy everyone was talking about him again. He loved the spotlight. He probably arranged the theft himself from heaven.”

Daniel Vettori who led New Zealand in the 2011 World Cup, has been named the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore for IPL 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Apr-2011Daniel Vettori who led New Zealand in the 2011 World Cup, has been named the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore for IPL 2011. Vettori, who was in the Delhi Daredevils line-up for the first three seasons, takes over from Anil Kumble, who has retired from the game, but will mentor the Bangalore team this year. Ray Jennings will continue to be the side’s coach.”Vettori is a hugely respected professional not only within his team but among his international peers as well,” Kumble was quoted in the team’s website. “His unique ability to get players to perform as a unit and deliver more than just the sum of their parts, as he has done time and again with New Zealand, will be a big asset to any team.”Jennings echoed Kumble’s views on Vettori’s leadership, and also touched upon his bowling abilities. “Vettori is probably the best spinner in the world at the moment and brings in tremendous skills that will be extremely useful on the Indian pitches,” Jennings said. “We hope that he will inspire the young Royal Challengers as much with his performance as with his leadership skills in the upcoming season.”Bangalore had a disastrous 2008 season, when they finished seventh in a field of eight teams, but fared much better in the next two editions of the IPL. They were losing finalists in 2009, and finished third in the 2010 edition. They also qualified for the first two editions of the Champions League, but failed to win the event on either occasion.”We are very excited for the upcoming season,” Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore franchise, said. “Vettori is a highly experienced and respected leader and we hope to ride to the pinnacle of success this IPL under his leadership.”Meanwhile, Deccan Chargers have announced that Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara will lead their side in the IPL. Sangakkara swaps the leadership role with former Australia wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist who has taken over as the Kings XI Punjab captain. Australia batsman Cameron White will be Sangakkara’s deputy, while Darren Lehman will continue to coach the Hyderabad-based franchise.

A round-up of the action from the first round of matches in the 2009-10 Vijay Hazare Trophy

Cricinfo staff10-Feb-2010

South Zone

Hyderabad launched their Vijay Hazare campaign with victory after prevailing over Andhra by two wickets in a tense low-scoring fixture at the MRF Pachyappas Ground in Chennai. Hyderabad’s decision to field reaped immediate dividends when the opening bowlers reduced Andhra to a dismal 14 for 3. Despite steadying hands from the middle order, the innings seemed to have run out of gas at 104 for 6 in the 38th over. Duvvarapu Shivkumar changed the complexion of the innings with a belligerent 67 off 41 balls to take his side past 200. Syed Sahabuddin struck early to have Hyderabad stuttering at 8 for 2, before Ravi Teja and Anirudh Singh calmed the nerves with half centuries. That was when Shivkumar got into the act for the second time in the day. In partnership with Donnapaneni Kalyankrishna, he wrecked the middle order as 128 for 2 became 175 for 8. However, Amol Shinde and Alfred Absolem ensured that their side crossed the line in the penultimate over.Tamil Nadu overwhelmed Kerala by eight wickets with 84 balls remaining at the Central Polytechnic India Pistons Ground in Chennai. Asked to bat by the hosts, Kerala got off to a sluggish start before C Ganapathy struck to dismiss both openers. The middle order was unsuccessful in lifting the run-rate despite getting starts, which played into the hands of seamers L Balaji and Yo Mahesh. R Ashwin ensured that the innings never got into gear, and Kerala was eventually bowled out for 189. The visitors needed an inspired performance from their top bowler, Sreesanth, but the India seamer failed to impress. Arun Karthik and Abhinav Mukund grabbed the opportunity, scoring a ton and a fifty respectively to ensure that their side got a bonus point. Arun was at his punishing best, smashing eight fours and four sixes in his unbeaten 98-ball 106.Karnataka barn-stormed Goa in a high-scoring affair at the IIT- Chemplast Ground in Chennai, chasing down 287 with consummate ease. Goa’s innings was propped up by aggressive fifties from S Sriram and Saurabh Bandekar, with Ajay Ratra and Shadab Jakati also contributing substantially. In the middle of the mayhem, left-armer KP Appanna managed to pick a five-for. Karnataka’s chase was put on course by Robin Uthappa and Ganesh Satish who added 51 in 43 balls. Uthappa fell after reaching a quick fifty, but there was no let-up in the momentum as Manish Pandey smote the Goa attack to all corners of the ground in a murderous 95 off 69 balls. He missed his hundred closely, falling after raising 173 runs in 137 balls with Satish, who duly completed his hundred. Khesmal Waivankar picked 2 for 48, but it was not enough to deny Karnataka the bonus point and earn Goa the ignominy of a negative point.

North Zone

A spate of run outs towards the closing stages and some nerveless death bowling from Haryana handed Punjab defeat by the narrowest of margins at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak. The tone for a low-scoring scrap was set early in the piece by Love Ablish who struck two crippling blows, even as runs proved hard to come by. Seamer Jaskaran Singh and legspinner Rahul Sharma complemented his efforts and struck regularly to blight Haryana’s progress, and had it not been for a patient 76 from opener Rahul Dewan, they would have struggled to reach three-figures. Punjab’s reply got off to a similar start, with Sanjay Budhwar striking twice in his first spell. Ravi Inder Singh and Mandeep Singh combined to produce the only 50-plus stand of the day, and at 84 for 2 in the 25th over, Haryana had few backers. That’s when offspinner Ajit Chandila got into the act with a decisive double strike that set the cat among the pigeons. Vishwas Bhalla and Bipul Sharma seemed to have put the chase back on track before all hell broke loose. Chandila struck again, sending Bipul back before Jaskaran and Rahul were run out in quick succession. Bhalla found a calm partner in Gony and the pair added 20 runs to take their side two runs away from victory, but that’s as close as they got.A strong allround performance from Rajat Bhatia was the cornerstone of Delhi’s easy win over Jammu and Kashmir at the Cricket Academy in Sirsa. Imraj Thakur, R Bisati and Pervez Rassol made light of the early loss of a wicket to launch the J&K innings well, before Bhatia and Puneet Mehra intervened. Wickets fell at regular intervals, Bhatia accounting for three of them, to ensure that J&K did not reach 250, as three batsmen fell in the forties. No such problems for Shikhar Dhawan who gave the chase a rapid start, despite failures from Unmukt Chand and Virat Kohli. After Dhawan’s dismissal, Mithun Manhas and Bhatia joined in the fun to ensure an easy win for their side. Manhas fell for 70, but Bhatia saw it through with an unbeaten 59.Himachal Pradesh cantered to a six-wicket win against Services in their opening match at the Tata Energy Research Institute Oval in Gurgaon. Services’ innings came unstuck after a steady start, when Jitender Mehta struck in the sixth over. Sumit Singh and Tahir Khan struck 30s, but could not accelerate as wickets fell at regular intervals. Sarandeep Singh kept things tight in the middle overs, before Yashpal Singh and Mumtaz Qadir injected the much-needed momentum in the only passage of play that Services dominated. Both made fifties to take the score to 213 in the allotted 47 overs. Himachal’s openers put their side on course for a win with a 98-run stand. Hemant Dogra reached a fifty, while Sangram Singh missed by six runs. Paras Dogra and VA Indulkar gave the finishing touches to the chase that went past the target in the 43rd over.

East Zone

It proved to be a close-fought encounter at the Ravenshaw College Ground in Cuttack, as Tripura narrowly beat Bengal by two wickets in a low-scorer. Put in to bat, Bengal never really consolidated as both the seamers and spinners reaped dividends regularly. Opener Shreevats Goswami’s 67-ball 36 proved to be the highest in a limp total of 162. Tripura openers Wilkin Mota and Kaushik Aphale looked to have given them the perfect start during the reply, with a stand of 65. But Bengal’s seamers hit back well, led by Sayan Mondal’s 3 for 25 and two wickets apiece from Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Ashok Dinda. Tushar Saha, coming in at No. 9, hit a steady unbeaten 30-ball 19 to take nervous Tripura home with 10 balls to spare.Right-arm seamer Rahul Shukla was the main architect of Jharkhand‘s convincing win over Assam at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack. His five-for ensured Assam were bowled out for a paltry 117, a target that Jharkhand overhauled in the 24th over for the loss of two wickets. Shukla never let Assam settle down after they were invited to bat, taking out four of the top six batsmen. Varun Aaron gave him good support with 3 for 39. Abu Nechim hit a valiant 32 lower down but it was never going to be enough for the Ranji quarter-finalists.

West Zone

Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai made an impressive start to their campaign with a 108-run thumping of Baroda at the Sardar Patel Stadium C Ground. Leading the way was Sushant Marathe, with a classy 108, comprising 11 fours. He figured in two big partnerships, with fellow opener Ajinkya Rahane (66) and captain Wasim Jaffer (78). Abhishek Nayar blasted 49 off 22 balls to lift Mumbai to 328. With Dhawal Kulkarni removing openers Kedar Devdhar and Pinal Shah early in the reply, the going would always be uphill for Baroda. Though Rakesh Solanki shone with a 127-ball 94, including 10 boundaries, Mumbai held the upper hand to bowl Baroda out with seven balls to go.Captain Harshad Khadiwale led from the front with a quickfire fifty as Maharashtra eked out an eight-run win against Gujarat at the Sardar Patel Stadium B Ground. Put in, Khadiwale and fellow opener Rohit Motwani (48) made a strong start, putting on 106 by the 18th over. Khadiwale was in fine touch, hitting seven fours and a six during his 57-ball 66. Key contributions down the order finally saw them end on 286 for 7. The match was evenly poised throughout the chase, thanks to Gujarat’s solid beginning and Bhavik Thaker’s fluent 56 at No. 5. But the task of getting 14 off the last seven deliveries proved too difficult for the eighth-wicket pair of Jayesh Makla and Siddharth Trivedi.

Central Zone

A stupendous spell of legspin from Piyush Chawla handed Uttar Pradesh a 28-run win against Railways at the Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground in Indore. Asked to bat first, UP never got going despite a host of starts for the top-order batsmen. Tanmay Srivastava top-scored with 52, and Ashish Yadav scored 46, but four other batsmen were guilty of not pushing on after entering the 20s. Defending a score of 239, the strong UP attack got into the act through Praveen Kumar who prised out Faiz Fazal and V Cheluvaraj for ducks. TP Singh and Sanjay Bangar got the chase on track before Chawla began to wreak havoc. He got Singh to give him a return catch, and then castled Bangar to bring his side back into the match. Marripuri Suresh did not last long, nicking Chawla behind to set the cat among the pigeons. Yere Goud and Dhiran Salvi looked to repair the innings, but Chawla had plans for both of them, as Railways slumped to lose their last seven wickets for 110 runs.A well-rounded team performance from Vidharba ambushed Rajasthan by 63 runs at the Emerald High School Ground in Indore. Pankaj Singh’s hostile spell of seam bowling gave Rajasthan the early momentum, with Amit Paunikar falling in the first over. After a steadying hand from Akshay Kolhar, Ravi Jangid and Ranjit Paradkar gave impetus to the innings with sparkling half-centuries. Pankaj snared four wickets in an economical spell, but Gaurav Upadhyaya smashed four sixes and ensured that the innings ended with a flourish. Despite Rashmi Parida’s steady 61 and a frantic 54 off 56 balls from Robin Bist, Rajasthan were never in the hunt and were eventually bowled out in the penultimate over. Umesh Yadav and Shrikant Wagh shared five wickets to take the bowling honours.

A minor mishap limited his training but Smith is excited about where his batting is ahead of the Tests

AAP27-Nov-2022Steven Smith says the technical change that unlocked his “ultimate” batting set-up is made for Test cricket, with only a self-inflicted hip injury slowing him down in Perth.Feeling as good as he did during his prime, Smith had limited involvement at an optional training session on Sunday before Wednesday’s first Test against West Indies.The 33-year-old hit a nerve using his pso-rite, a u-shaped device designed for athletes to help loosen the psoas muscles that run from the lumbar spine to the groin.”It was just me being just silly to be honest,” Smith said. “I was hitting myself in the psoas, trying to loosen that up and I got a little low and I hit a little nerve or something. My hip is a little bit grumbly…but all will be fine.”Related

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Beyond that though, Smith is hopeful of settling in for his most prolific summer in years.His technical shift has been a year in the making, after believing he had got his hands right last summer before working on his feet recently.In last month’s ODIs against England, Smith was notably much stiller with his distinctive back-and-across movement gone.The change came after Smith made a point to return his technique to where it was in 2014-15, when he averaged 128.16 against India.In turn, it has prompted Smith to agree with a Greg Chappell column where the former captain said Smith’s changes could make him better than ever.”The reason for the changes in long-form cricket, I felt as if I was getting a bit too front-on on the back foot,” Smith said. “If you’re too front on you can follow the ball if it nips away from you. Or you’re not getting into positions that are where I wanted to be to leave the ball as well.”Where I’ve got to right now is the ultimate for me. I feel like I don’t have to work as hard to access the offside with my body and my hands. I can just play with a nice flow.”The other marker for Smith is in his pull shot. Chappell had suggested Smith’s issues had come after he was floored by Jofra Archer in the 2019 Ashes, with bowlers such as he and Neil Wagner able to follow Smith’s movements.But with his changes, Smith feels as if he has opened up his options on the back foot and is better placed to handle any bouncer barrage.”I was still quite front on [when hit by Archer] and I was only being able to help [pull shots] on their way behind square,” Smith said. “Whereas using power in front of square is something I’ve probably done a bit better throughout my career.”I think when I hit that first pull shot [against England] in Adelaide through midwicket it was kind of like, ‘wow, I’ve actually got my bottom hand back’. And then being in that position where I’m more side-on with short stuff. I feel like I was able to get out of the way of one that Olly Stone bowled really easily.”

Wicketkeeper-batsman will lead South Africa in T20Is in Pakistan without many first-choice players in the mix

Firdose Moonda09-Feb-2021Heinrich Klaasen will play competitive cricket for the first time after a two-month recovery from Covid-19, when he captains South Africa in the T20I series against Pakistan. Klaasen, who is leading the team in the absence of Quinton de Kock, tested positive for the virus on December 3, during South Africa’s white-ball series against England.At the time of the positive result, Klaasen was part of a bio-secure team environment and had played in the first two T20Is. He was withdrawn from the third T20I and required to isolate. And so began a long and solitary period of rehabilitation.Related

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“The first 16 or 17 days I couldn’t really do much. I was very ill,” Klaasen, who did not require hospitalisation, said in Lahore on Tuesday, two days ahead of the first of three T20Is. “The problem came with the fact that I could not start exercising. Or I could start exercising again, but I could not run 20-30 metres, or do anything for two or three minutes without my heart rate going up too high.”As a result, Klaasen was unable to follow CSA’s return-to-play plan and had to proceed at a slower pace. “There are protocols that one has to follow to be able to rebuild your workload but I could not stick to that programme,” he explained. “It is a very simple programme where you exercise for 10-15 minutes a day and (do exercises) like walking 200 metres. It took me a long time to just get my heart rate under control so that I could exercise at least a little bit without getting past the phase where it is too dangerous.”The physical challenge was not the only hurdle Klaasen had to overcome. In an Instagram post he shared three weeks ago, Klaasen cautioned his followers to understand that Covid-19 “is real” and that “the mind takes you to deep and dark places in times like this”. He was unable to take any part in domestic cricket, including the four-day and one-day competitions, and the frustration of working his way back took its toll. “It was mentally very difficult to just have to sit at home for two months. I could do nothing. Later I had a weekend in the bush where I could get away from it all and get a fresh head before we had to come here.”At the end of January, Klaasen visited the Lions Sands Game Reserve in the Kruger National Park at the same time as the tropical storm Eloise struck. The game reserve was battered by heavy rainfall and high winds and parts of it were flooded and forced to close to visitors but Klaasen’s stay was unaffected. He even managed to get in his exercise while on the trip, determined to be ready for the Pakistan series. “For the last three weeks, I have been able to train really hard with Mandla (Mashimbyi, the Titans coach) at the Titans. I’m on course, I’m fit and I’m safe and I can play cricket again.”Of course, Klaasen cannot say for sure what he expects his form to be like after last playing a match in December, but he was confident from sessions in the nets that he has been striking the ball well. “It’s been a different kind of season for me. I’ve played four games which has been frustrating so it’s difficult to tell you what my form is like. We’ll see after these games,” he said. “I am hitting the ball really nicely at the Titans just to get some rhythm.”The squad for the T20Is is without the likes of de Kock, Kagiso Rabada, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen and Lungi Ngidi. All of them returned home with the Test side as part of South Africa’s plan to prepare for the three-Test series against Australia, which has now been indefinitely postponed – it was too late to change their plans and keep some of the Test squad in Pakistan. They have retained head coach Mark Boucher and assistant coach Enoch Nkwe, who have been joined by South Africa A coach Malibongwe Maketa and Dolphins franchise coach Imran Khan. Charl Langeveldt and Justin Ontong, the bowling and fielding coach respectively, have also gone home.While the T20I squad is quite clearly not made up entirely of first-choice players, Klaasen was bullish about their status and their intentions for the three-match series. “We are by no means a second-string T20 squad and we are looking to win,” he said. “South Africa has got loads of talent, which people sometimes don’t see because we only have six franchises.”That will change as of next summer, when domestic cricket in South Africa is revamped to a 15-team provincial structure.

Despite entering series under an injury cloud, Windies captain claims 6 for 42 to roll England for 204

The Report by Matt Roller09-Jul-2020West Indies captain Jason Holder took a career-best haul of 6 for 42 to roll England for 204 at the Ageas Bowl, before their top order saw them through to the close one wicket down.Holder came into this series with an injury cloud over his head, having bowled only five overs across West Indies’ two intra-squad warm-up games while nursing an ankle complaint. He admitted that he felt “a little sore, a little stiff” after play on the second day, but that pain will be lessened thanks to the knowledge that he has put his team into the driving seat in this series.Holder had no hesitation in answering “discipline” when asked at the toss what he was looking for from his bowlers, and followed that message himself after Kemar Roach had set the tone. Shannon Gabriel was given license to attack, snaring another three wickets to add to that of Dom Sibley on the first day, and while Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Dom Bess offered some resistance with the bat, England’s total of 204 looked a little light after a dogged start from West Indies.While it would prove to be Holder’s day, it was Gabriel who made the early breakthroughs after Rory Burns and Joe Denly had come through the first half hour. Denly was the first to go, his stumps splattered as a vicious nip-backer burst through a hefty gap between bat and pad and crashed into the top of off. Then, after hanging the ball outside Burns’ off stump from round the wicket, Gabriel fired one in full at his pads, striking him in front of leg stump. Richard Kettleborough concluded it was missing leg stump, but Holder disagreed and was vindicated by a successful review.In his second spell of the day, Holder started by teasing Zak Crawley with a series of outswingers, nibbling away and probing on a length in the channel outside his off stump. After Crawley’s streaky boundary through the slips ruined a maiden from his eighth over, Holder decided the time was right to bring one in at the start of his ninth, finding a hint of seam movement from wide on the crease which Crawley played around. Again, Kettleborough said no; again, Holder was convinced, and was proved right. Ollie Pope started with a pair of boundaries off him, but was soon back in the hutch after fencing at an away-nibbler, which Shane Dowrich gobbled up behind the stumps.Buttler and Stokes led a counter-attack, putting on the only stand of 50 or more in the innings, but Stokes rode his luck. Before lunch he had miscued a hook shot to long leg, where Roach shelled a difficult chance after making his ground, and after looking to impose himself in the afternoon, Stokes chipped a low catch to Shamarh Brooks, who put down a sitter at short cover. Buttler looked a million dollars from the moment he arrived at the crease, with a back-foot punch through the covers the pick of his shots, but both fell in the space of two Holder overs.First, having sensed Stokes using his feet, Holder pushed the ball fuller, first beating the bat and then drawing a faint edge through to Dowrich. The pair’s battle had been built up before this Test, with Holder suggesting he might not have been given the credit he deserved; there can be little doubt that he will be today. Buttler feathered his own edge behind which Dowrich took sharply, before Jofra Archer was trapped on the pad for a third overturned lbw. Mark Wood provided Holder with his sixth, driving loosely and edging to gully, before James Anderson’s stumps were rattled by Gabriel after some late resistance from Bess for the 10th wicket.In reply, England bowled with good pace but failed to make as many breakthroughs as they would have hoped. Anderson was the most threatening bowler. Three times he wrapped John Campbell on the pad and had him given lbw; on the first two occasions, Richard Illingworth’s decision was overturned as the ball had pitched outside the leg stump, but on the third, the on-field call was upheld.Wood and Archer, playing alongside one another for the first time in Test cricket, both bowled with real pace. Wood regularly broke the 90mph/145kph barrier and even hit 95mph/153kph but drew few false shots, as Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope – batting at No. 3, having come in below Shamarh Brooks in the warm-up fixtures – managed to dig in until the close.It was easy to wonder whether Stuart Broad, tweeting his thoughts on the game from his hotel room balcony, might have made an impact in conditions that seemed perfectly suited to him.There was widespread frustration at another couple of stoppages for bad light, as the clouds rolled in and brought play to an early close for the second night in a row, but thankfully the forecast is set fair for the rest of the Test.

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties ahead of the 2020 season

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2019Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties during the off-season as preparations are made for the 2020 seasonDerbyshireIN: Michael Cohen (EU passport), Tom Wood (unattached, 50 overs)
OUT: Alfie Gleadall (both released), Hamidullah Qadri (Kent), James Taylor (Surrey), Daryn Smith (retired)
OVERSEAS: Ben McDermott (Aus, May-Aug), Sean Abbott (Aus, April-July)DurhamIN: Paul Coughlin (Notts), Farhaan Behardien (Kolpak), David Bedingham (UK ancestral visa)
OUT: Will Smith (retired), Ryan Pringle, George Harding (both released)
OVERSEAS: Cameron Bancroft (Aus)EssexIN:
OUT: Ravi Bopara (Sussex), Matt Coles (released)
OVERSEAS: Peter Siddle (Aus), Adam Zampa (Aus, T20), Moises Henriques (Aus, T20)GlamorganIN:
OUT: Jeremy Lawlor, Kazi Szymanski (both released)
OVERSEAS: Marnus Labuschagne (Aus)GloucestershireIN: Jerome Taylor (Kolpak), Josh Shaw (Yorkshire), George Scott (Middlesex)
OUT: Will Tavare, Chris Liddle, Michael Klinger (all retired)
OVERSEAS: Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind, April-May)*, Qais Ahmad (Afg, May-September)HampshireIN:
OUT: Gareth Berg (Northamptonshire)
OVERSEAS: Nathan Lyon (Aus)*, Shaheen Afridi (Pak, T20)KentIN: Tim Groenewald (Somerset), Hamidullah Qadri (Derbyshire), Jack Leaning (Yorkshire)
OUT: Mitch Claydon (Sussex), Adam Riley (retired)
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Nabi (Afg, T20), Matt Henry (NZ, Apr-May)*LancashireIN: Luke Wood (Nottinghamshire)
OUT: Haseeb Hameed (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: James Faulkner (Aus, T20), Glenn Maxwell (Aus, T20), BJ Watling (NZ, Apr-Jul)LeicestershireIN: George Rhodes (Worcestershire)
OUT: Aadil Ali, Neil Dexter, Ateeq Javid (all released)
OVERSEAS: Janneman Malan (SA, Apr-Jul)MiddlesexIN: Miguel Cummins (Kolpak)
OUT: Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), George Scott (Gloucestershire), Ollie Rayner (retired), Paul Stirling (released), Tom Barber (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Peter Handscomb (Aus, CC and 50), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Afg, T20), Mitchell Marsh (Aus, T20)NorthamptonshireIN: Gareth Berg (Hampshire), Brandon Glover (Netherlands)
OUT:
OVERSEAS: Faheem Ashraf (Pak, April-July), Kieron Pollard (WI, T20), Paul Stirling (Ire, T20)NottinghamshireIN: Haseeb Hameed (Lancashire), Peter Trego (Somerset), Tom Barber (Middlesex)
OUT: Luke Wood (Lancashire), Nick Kimber (Surrey), Jake Libby (Worcestershire), Paul Coughlin (Durham)
OVERSEAS: Mohammad Abbas (Pak, April-July), Dan Christian (Aus, T20)SomersetIN: Vernon Philander (Kolpak)
OUT: Tim Groenewald (Kent), Marcus Trescothick (retired), Tim Rouse, Paul van Meekeren (all released), Peter Trego (Nottinghamshire)
OVERSEAS: Babar Azam (Pak, May-July), Corey Anderson (NZ, T20), Matthew Wade (Aus, Apr-May)*SurreyIN: Reece Topley (Sussex), Nick Kimber (Nottinghamshire), James Taylor (Derbyshire), Hashim Amla (Kolpak)
OUT: Arun Harinath, Freddie van den Bergh (both released), Stuart Meaker (Sussex)
OVERSEAS: Michael Neser (Aus, April-Jun)*, Shadab Khan (Pak, T20), D’Arcy Short (Aus, T20)SussexIN: Mitch Claydon (Kent), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Tom Clark (youth), Stuart Meaker (Surrey)
OUT: Michael Burgess (Warwickshire), Abi Sakande (released), Reece Topley (Surrey)
OVERSEAS: Travis Head (Aus), Rashid Khan (Afg, T20)WarwickshireIN: Michael Burgess (Sussex)
OUT: Alex Mellor, George Panayi (both released)
OVERSEAS: Jeetan Patel (NZ), Chris Green (Aus, T20)WorcestershireIN: Jake Libby (Nottinghamshire)
OUT: George Rhodes (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS: Hamish Rutherford (NZ), Ashton Turner (Aus, T20)YorkshireIN: Dawid Malan (Middlesex)
OUT: Jack Leaning (Kent), Josh Shaw (Gloucestershire), Karl Carver, Bilal Anjam, Matthew Taylor (all released)
OVERSEAS: Nicholas Pooran (WI, T20), Keshav Maharaj (SA, April), R Ashwin (Ind, May-Sept)*denotes deal cancelled

England quick claims early wickets to help Notts defend modest first-innings score

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge11-Apr-2019Somerset 74 for 3 (Abell 22*, Broad 2-12) trail Nottinghamshire 263 (Nash 58, Wood 52; Gregory 6-68) by 189 runs
The bookies give each of these sides a similar chance of dethroning Surrey as county champions, on which basis you would expect this to be a close contest. Yet Somerset have beaten Nottinghamshire in each of their last six meetings in the Championship, often by handsome margins. What odds they extend the streak here?On the balance of the opening day, they may have their work cut out. Nottinghamshire fell short of the kind of first-innings score they would consider to be par on this ground, even in April, yet Somerset were relieved to be only three down overnight, having lost both openers in a terrific opening spell by Stuart Broad. It promises to be a good contest.Broad’s availability for Nottinghamshire this year could extend deep into their Championship programme provided he stays fit, which gives him an opportunity to contribute in a more sustained way than circumstances have permitted so far in his 11 years at Trent Bridge, during which time five matches is the most for which he has been available in a single summer.At almost 33, he may be running out of ambitions, but to exceed his previous best tally of 19 wickets in a season might be one, and a fitting one in his testimonial year. He does not lack for either enthusiasm or effort, while both Azhar Ali and Marcus Trescothick, leg before and caught behind respectively as he charged in from the pavilion end, will testify that his skills remain venomously intact.After James Hildreth perished trying to steal a legside boundary off Luke Fletcher’s first ball, leaving them 36 for three, Somerset were relieved to reach the close with no more damage done.All day it was an engaging battle between bat and ball. The boundary on the Fox Road side is short and the outfield quick, yet Somerset made the right choice in foregoing the toss and opting to bowl first. Indeed, they were rewarded in the second over of the match when Ben Duckett, with more than 400 runs to his name already, played back to a full delivery from Jack Brooks and was gone without scoring. The pitch had the colour of a sporting one and so it proved to be.Lewis Gregory, whose eight wickets were an important factor in Somerset’s win over Kent at Taunton in the opening round, arrived with confidence high and bowled superbly, finishing with 6 for 68, his best figures since 2015. Nottinghamshire know him well – too well, they might say. Against no county has he taken more first-class wickets – 32 in 10 matches so far. Yet they were unable to deny him another good day in their company.He had a bit of luck – or perhaps not – when Chris Nash took an ill-advised liberty just before lunch, the batter pulling to Jack Leach at midwicket, but dispatched Joe Clarke, Steven Mullaney and Samit Patel with three terrific deliveries. Clarke, after the 112 and 97 not out that made for such an impressive Nottinghamshire debut last week, made only two this time before Gregory found some late movement and drew the nick, Steve Davies collecting the catch low to his right.Nash had been hitting freely, keen to profit from the quick outfield, and maybe Gregory sensed a cheap wicket. You sense that the former Sussex batsman, whose first season here was wrecked by a shoulder injury sustained in midsummer, will make his mark. More of a worry for Nottinghamshire is Patel.The former England batsman had a poor time of it in 2018, his worst season in statistical terms since 2012. He made two double centuries in June 2017 but does not have a first-class hundred since and has not really gone close. Gregory had a jaffa for him here, sending two stumps flying in opposite directions, for which you could hardly blame him. But the longer the wait for a score goes on the more you fear for his confidence.He was not the only frustrated figure among the home batsmen. Fifty partnerships for the second, fourth and sixth wickets failed to go any further, two of them broken by Gregory. Craig Overton denied Tom Moores an individual half-century as Trescothick just about clung on to a catch at second slip.The left-arm seamer Luke Wood, recalled from his loan at Northamptonshire after Paul Coughlin was ruled out with an injured finger, did complete his – an assured innings containing 11 fours – but would have been thwarted too had George Bartlett not put down a straightforward catch at midwicket.”It’s a weird pitch, really,” Nottinghamshire’s Nash said. “It kind of goes to sleep for a bit and then there is a ball in it.”Gregory bowled brilliantly, but I was annoyed with myself. We just needed to get through to lunch and if me and Samit had been able to build afterwards we could have been looking at 320. So I felt I let the lads down a bit there.”