Scorecard

The Sri Lankans’ Test preparations suffered another severe wobble when their top order collapsed for the second time in the tour match against Queensland. After folding to 5 for 45 in the first innings, the visitors were in more trouble at 4 for 55 as they tried to overhaul the 85-run deficit created by Andy Bichel’s muscular century.Ashley Noffke continued his fine match when he raced through the openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu before Michael Vandort and Thilan Samaraweera added to the tourists’ pain. They finished the day at 4 for 62, still 23 runs behind, and will rely on Mahela Jayawardene (22) and Chamara Silva (2) to ease the headaches of a side already missing Kumar Sangakkara with injury.Jayasuriya began the tour with a century on a flat surface in Adelaide, but he has struggled with the pitch’s pop at Allan Border Field and managed only three runs for the game. Noffke, who captured five victims on Friday, forced him to fend a lifting ball to Clinton Perren and he departed to similar dismissals on both occasions.The exit of Atapattu, who was lbw to Noffke for 7, was less of a concern as he has performed strongly in both games, but Michael Vandort missed an opportunity for a meaningful contribution when he went for 26 to an excellent legside take from Chris Hartley. At least the Sri Lankans have an idea of what they will face at the Gabba from Thursday after dueling with a high-quality attack.Shaun Tait’s elbow injury means Mitchell Johnson is a virtual certainty for the first Test even though he has struggled for wickets in this match. He took one on Friday and was again out-bowled by Noffke, who had 2 for 8 off six overs in his opening spell. Bichel chipped in late to dispose of Samaraweera and complete a satisfying day of personal achievement.Bichel smashed seven sixes, the most in a first-class innings for Queensland, and 11 fours as he led the Bulls from the early-morning trouble of 4 for 60 to relative comfort. Entering at No. 6 in a bowler-heavy line-up, Bichel started the day cautiously but expanded his repertoire as he got comfortable and reached three figures shortly before tea.”I was a bit lucky today, I got away with a few things, but it worked for me,” Bichel said. “I’m feeling quite comfortable with the bat in my hand and I hope that continues.”The rescue mission of 125 from 168 deliveries ended when he top edged a sweep off Malinga Bandara, who suffered the most bruises from Bichel. Taking advantage of a dropped chance at mid-off on 18 and a run-out escape, Bichel hit freely and rushed to 99 with two sixes in a Bandara over before flicking a single to midwicket for his century.A couple of mistakes in the field did not help the bowlers, who were unable to shut down a pesky lower order despite regular movement off the pitch. Farveez Maharoof was the most successful with 3 for 72 while Bandara picked up 2 for 89 and Jayasuriya claimed the final two wickets as Queensland were dismissed for 285. Maharoof was unlucky, forcing numerous plays and misses, and eventually gained a reward when he had Hartley caught behind for 8 after Noffke had fallen for 34.Bichel and Noffke, who lost a ball with a six over mid-on, combined for an 80-run stand before Johnson and Bichel added 94 in quick time to pass the Sri Lankans’ first-innings total of 210. Johnson may have struggled for impact with the ball over the opening two days but he contributed a lively half-century to complement the work of Bichel.Maharoof, who was pleased with his return, said there was a lot of work to do on the final day. “Whoever gets in just has to bat on,” he said. “You can’t do that much on this wicket, the only thing you can concentrate on is playing down the line and occupying the crease. The first day the pitch was a bit spongy, but it’s dried out a bit and it’s taking off from a length.”

Australia’s wicketkeeper Brad Haddin may have played his last Test match after being formally advised by the national selectors that they will retain Peter Nevill as gloveman for the third Ashes Test in Birmingham.Haddin was informed of Nevill’s ascension to first-choice by the selection chairman Rod Marsh and the coach Darren Lehmann during the Australians’ tour match in Derby. Nevill and Haddin both played in that match, but Haddin took part as a batsman only while the younger man kept wicket for Derbyshire’s sole innings.It is a hard call on Haddin after he made himself unavailable for the Lord’s Test when his ill daughter Mia was admitted to a London hospital, but demonstrates the resolve of Marsh and Lehmann to continue regenerating the national team. Given his chance in difficult circumstances, Nevill shone with seven catches and a fluent 45 with the bat, while also showing the ideal temperament for Test matches.The captain Michael Clarke is not a selector, but said he was consulted by Marsh and Lehmann before the decision was made. Clarke and Haddin have formed a fruitful professional union over the past four years, with Haddin serving as vice-captain for much of that time. Nevertheless, Clarke said he supported the decision to retain Nevill.”Rod and Boof came and spoke to me and told me what they were thinking,” Clarke said. “It’s obviously a lot harder for me because I have that attachment to Hadds, I’ve grown up playing cricket with him, we’ve spent a lot of time together and I love the fact that he’s still here working hard. If an opportunity comes he’ll grab it with both hands.”On the other hand, Nev made the most of his opportunity in the second Test, I thought he batted really well and I thought he kept exceptionally well. So it’s a tough one when you sit in the middle, but that’s the way the selectors have gone and I respect their decision.”The case for choosing Nevill ahead of Haddin was a strong one. Since his near-mythical displays in the 2013-14 Ashes series, Haddin’s returns had been depreciating, and he was a notable struggler during the Cardiff Test. A critical drop of Joe Root on the first morning of the series was to be compounded by a pair of low scores, and a rash shot to be dismissed in the second innings as Australia sank to a 169-run defeat.Even so, there is room for Haddin to be viewed sympathetically, most pointedly for the fact this is the second time he has found himself out of the team for personal reasons then not chosen by the selectors when he then became available once more. In 2012, Haddin left a West Indies tour to be with Mia and his wife Karina, but then waited another year before returning to the team as the selection panel – at the time including Clarke – preferred the younger Matthew Wade for 10 Tests.There is also the fact that as an exceptional vice-captain, Haddin never had the chance to lead Australia in a Test match, though he quite easily could have after Clarke was ruled out of the remainder of last summer’s Border-Gavaskar series due to a hamstring torn in the Adelaide match. Instead the selectors went with the youthful option of elevating Steven Smith, a decision Haddin supported as one of the 26-year-old’s chief mentors.This time around, Haddin is also in the position of being close to the man who has stepped in front of him. Nevill has been his back-up for New South Wales and Australia, and the pair have a strong relationship. The team have taken the decision well, though there is plenty of sympathy for Haddin’s predicament as a senior player nearing the end. The retired Ryan Harris and the dropped Shane Watson have also found themselves out of the team on this tour as the XI is refreshed even in the midst of an Ashes series.For now, Haddin is taking his new role as Nevill’s back-up with equanimity, but he is yet to decide on what shape his future will take. He is also believed to have knocked back the Sydney Sixers coaching job. “He still wants to play that’s for sure and he has a great relationship with Nev,” Clarke said. “So I think he sees his role over the last couple of days leading up to this Test to hep Nev as much as possible and they are really good friends so there’s certainly no lack of respect there.”Hadds will certainly wish Nev all the best and hope he does well, and if there’s an injury or there’s another opportunity then I’ll know he be ready. I can’t be any more complimentary for what he’s done for the Australian team, the New South Wales team as a player.”He’s a great man Hadds, he’s been an awesome vice captain, I’ve really loved having him as vice captain and he’s performed exceptionally well. He’s done himself and his family really proud in the way that he’s represented Australia and New South Wales and I hope he keeps playing.”

Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, has been given a break by Middlesex amid a form slump that has not seen him pass fifty since the one-day series against New Zealand.He will miss three Royal London Cup matches and the Championship match against Sussex in a bid to recharge his batteries before the limited-overs matches against Australia which begin with the one-off T20 at Cardiff on August 31.In 15 innings since he made 113 in the fourth ODI at Trent Bridge – marshalling an England record run-chase alongside Joe Root – he has a top score of 48 and has made five ducks. His only substantial innings was a century for Middlesex 2nd XI.”Eoin has been on the go since October 2014 and is in need of a rest,” Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s managing director, said. “He has been working his socks off away from matches trying to find the form he wants and it has so far not brought the results he is looking for.”We believe a week or two away from cricket will allow him to recharge and to play the cricket he wants for the remainder of the season.”Morgan had been named England captain for the World Cup just weeks before the team left for Australia following the sacking of Alastair Cook after the one-day series in Sri Lanka last December.He endured a poor campaign during England’s early exit from the tournament – making 90 runs in five innings – and there was a suggestion he would be removed as captain, but he was given a vote of confidence by the new director of England cricket, Andrew Strauss, as soon as Strauss took the role in May.He responded with an outstanding series against New Zealand where he scored 322 runs at 64.40 with a strike-rate of 124.80 as England bounced back to win 3-2.In Morgan’s absence, James Franklin will take on the captaincy of the Middlesex one-day side.

The Delhi Police special cell has moved Delhi High Court to appeal against a trial court’s order that let off all those accused by Delhi Police in the spot-fixing case of 2013. On July 25, the trial court had acquitted all 42 chargesheeted, including the three Rajasthan Royals cricketers Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan, on the basis of lack of evidence.On Wednesday evening, Delhi Police challenged the trial court order on grounds that it had “failed” to properly appreciate the evidence before it, the reported. The cell in its appeal has also said the trial court should not have discharged all accused at the stage of framing of charges, and should have considered all evidence after a proper trial.The court had dismissed the case saying there was no prime facie case under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the law under which Delhi Police sought sentences against those accused. Betting is not legal in India, which meant there was no prima facie victim even if the spot-fixing charges were proved, which basically means there is no provision in the Indian legal system to deal with fixing.Delhi Police tried to get around it by filing the case under MCOCA, but the court said there was not enough evidence for charges to be framed under that act, a special law passed by the Maharashtra state government to tackle organised crime syndicates and terrorism which contains far stricter provisions relating to bail and admissibility of confessions compared to the Indian Penal Code.The court’s order had no bearing on the BCCI’s sanctions on the three players. Sreesanth and Chavan remained banned for life. “Any disciplinary proceeding or decision taken by the BCCI is independent to any criminal proceeding and has no bearing,” the BCCI had said in response to the trial court’s order. “The decisions of the BCCI, based on its independent disciplinary action, shall remain unaltered.”

Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have been backed to give England the spin resources they need to challenge Pakistan, with the bowling partnership set to have a new nickname.Moeen claimed 3 for 41 from 22 overs during a hot day’s work in Sharjah as England completed their first two-day match against Pakistan A. Rashid, who is closing in on a Test debut, was wicketless but conceded under three runs an over during 20 overs as the spinners were given a lengthy outing by Alastair Cook.Mark Wood, who claimed one of the two wickets to fall to the pace bowlers, believes the pairing can flourish in tandem – a role they had during the one-day series against Australia last month – and a recent film night for the squad has inspired a moniker for them.”‘Tweedledee and Tweedledum’ are going to be perfect together in these conditions,” Wood said. “We watched [the film] last night, and there was a midfield partnership of ‘Tweedledee and Tweedledum’ – so I think they’re going to get that nickname now.”The spinners showed today they’re going to be vital. Moeen Ali, I thought, assessed the conditions really well and bowled a great pace. Then Adil Rashid, if chances had been taken off him, I think he’s proved he’s a wicket-taking bowler.”I thought they were excellent. I think, if we need to break a partnership, those two are going to be vital.”The 90 overs in the field reinforced what England will face when the Test starts next week in Abu Dhabi. The catching was far from faultless, with two chances doing down and another missed in the slips, and Wood is well aware that every opportunity will have to be grabbed when it really matters.”If we’d taken our half-chances, I think it would have been a brilliant day – but it’s still been a good one,” he said. “That’s how we we’re going to win the series, by taking those half-chances.”Wood also conceded that England are going to have to adapt their gameplan from the often gung-ho approach which paid dividends during home series against New Zealand and Australia. Large totals will have to be ground out then wickets chiselled away in Tests that are likely to move at a very different pace.”We found out it’s pretty hot here and you have to dig in and that patient cricket is going to do the business here,” he said. “I tried a few different things, tried to be aggressive at times but I have to be patient at times as well. We got used, during the summer, to playing this attacking brand of cricket – where we’ve been trying to blast teams out. That aggressive style is what we want to play at home [but this] is totally different.”One key element to England’s attack will be trying to get the ball to reverse swing once the small window of opportunity with the new ball has passed and Wood was pleased to see a hint of movement as the day wore on in Sharjah.”The ball reversed a little bit which is key for us. It’s going to be vital during the series that we get the ball moving off the straight – and we managed to do that today.”

The heavy workload required of England-qualified seamers is compromising their ability to bowl at high pace, according to Kevin Shine.Shine, the ECB’s lead fast bowling coach, has defended his record of developing and protecting fast bowlers and suggested that any lack of pace in the England attack when compared with the quickest bowlers from other nations is due almost entirely to the draining schedule with which they are confronted.While England’s two leading seamers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, have both enjoyed outstanding years in Test cricket and are currently rated No. 2 and No. 4 respectively in the ICC’s rankings, there have been times – such as at Lord’s or in Abu Dhabi – when they have been confronted by flat wickets which have negated their skills. At such times, the relative lack of pace in England’s attack has been shown up by the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Wahab Riaz.But, according to Shine, England’s bowlers enter the professional game capable of bowling as fast as those from any other nation, but are forced to bowl within themselves due to their schedule.

‘Scaffolding’ vital for fast bowlers – Pont

Not everyone is convinced by the ECB’s fast bowling programme at Loughborough. Ian Pont, the independent fast-bowling coach who has worked with Dale Steyn and Shoaib Akhtar among others, believes the ECB fails to understand the basic tenets of fast bowling and that it is this failure – not workload management – that continues to hinder progress.
In particular, Pont suggested that there are familiar defining characteristics in the best fast bowlers and that, at present, the ECB do not fully understand how to recognise or coach them.
“We fully understand there are not 1000 ways to throw a javelin, swim, cycle a bike, row a boat or throw a punch yet we seem to have an aberration when it comes to teaching how to bowl fast and straight,” Pont told ESPNcricinfo. “And that’s purely because structures are not taught.
“One of the greatest discoveries in the modern era is that you can improve your speed and control by altering key parts of your bowling position at the crease. But the difficulty for many coaches has been the challenge of what to help alter and the drill that goes with the positive tweaks.
“There is confusion over a bowler’s style, which is unique to them, and their structure, which is common to all. And it is this structure that is the main thing to focus in on.
“By working on the fast bowling skeleton correctly you can make a difference. Understanding how to do that is what makes a coach worth his weight in gold. Managing a fast bowler’s workload isn’t what makes him bowl fast in the first place. Creating ‘scaffolding’ so he can do that is what’s vital.”

“It is a workload thing,” Shine told ESPNcricinfo. “When you see bowlers come in to the game they are fresh, they are firing and eventually time takes its toll.”Our bowlers bowl an awful lot. Our bowlers bowl more than any other bowlers in the world.”We know from the testing we do and the speeds we get, that we can compete [with other nations] at high pace. But to sustain that is really tough, so we work a lot on our skills, knowing that we have fall backs if the pace falls off a bit. We look at seam positions, we work on reverse swing and wobble seam. We have got pace, but doing it day-in, day-out is very, very tough.”They are probably capable of short spells of getting up to that 90mph mark, but once again there is a huge cost of doing that day in and day out. Our bowlers carry injuries. They bowl in pain at times. And that’s part and parcel of the fast bowler’s job.”The long-term figures support Shine’s stance. No bowler, either spinner or seamer, has bowled as many overs across the three international formats as Anderson since the start of 2012 or 2013, at which point Broad moves to second on the list. And while Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has bowled the most since the start of 2014, Broad and Anderson remain the two busiest seamers.The stats are especially stark when it comes to comparing workloads in Test cricket. Since the start of 2012, for example, Anderson has bowled 1821.4 overs across 47 Tests. Dale Steyn, by contrast, has bowled 1081.3 overs across 31 Tests and Mitchell Johnson 854.1 across 25 Tests.Shine also insists that the ECB coaches at the centre at excellence at Loughborough deserve credit for the return to form of Steven Finn and the sustained performance of Broad and Anderson. While the ECB has been accused of meddling in the actions of several bowlers and, as a consequence, diminishing their performance, Shine says that quite the opposite is the case.”It was Loughborough that suggested that Jimmy Anderson, who had been through a re-model, went back to being natural,” Shine said. “At 18, Broad was in a dangerous position. We put the information to him and he decided to make some changes. And with Finn, we knew when he shortened his run that there were issues with that and we’ve been able to help return him to better form.Steven Finn made a successful comeback to Test cricket after two years struggling with his action•Getty Images

“Fast bowling is a very individual thing. One size doesn’t fit all. We don’t try to change bowlers, but if we see a bowler who is likely to get hurt or who wants to add some pace, we will put that information to them and to suggest changes. It is always up to the bowler.”I’m pretty sure that, in the last six or seven years, I’ve not recommended any major changes to any bowlers.”They were words supported by Middlesex seamer James Harris. Harris was widely reported as having criticised Loughborough last summer, but insists now that his words were misrepresented.”It’s true that I went to Loughborough in an attempt to find some extra pace,” Harris told ESPNcricinfo. “But it was very much my choice to do it.”I changed my action in search of that pace and, to some extent, I found it. But it came at a cost and I concluded that whatever benefits I made weren’t worth the loss of wrist position and movement that I suffered as a consequence.”It was reported as if I was slagging off the ECB, but really I was just saying that I had tried something and it hadn’t worked. The whole process was consensual.”Among the fast bowlers currently working at Loughborough are Jamie Overton, Tymal Mills and, intriguingly, Stuart Meaker. Meaker featured in only three Championship games for Surrey last season, but remains the fastest England-qualified bowler measured at the ECB’s centre of excellence. In recent weeks, he has been timed within 1mph of his top speed.

A 185 run 3rd wicket stand between captain Sitanshu Kotak and PJ Bhattlaid a solid platform for Saurashtra as they progressed to 285/5 from90 overs at stumps on the opening day of their Super League matchagainst Haryana at Rohtak today.After Saurashtra won the toss and chose to bat, openers Vasanth Kumarand Merchant fell cheaply. Kotak and Bhatt then came together in anassociation that lasted three and a quarter hours. Kotak’s 83 came off177 balls with 11 fours. Bhatt followed up scores of 61 and 88 in alosing cause against Tamil Nadu last week with 110 (158 balls, 17fours, 1 six). Although Haryana’s bowlers toiled for the better partof the day they pulled back 3 wickets for 47 runs towards the latterpart as V Jain and P Thakur finished with two wickets each.

Nottinghamshire drew their high-scoring Division Two county championshipmatch against Sussex at Hove on the strength of fine centuries by JasonGallian and John Morris. They had been set to score 407 runs to win andbatted throughout the day for 379-8 and ended their chase only when UsmanAfzaal (54) was dismissed – leaving Paul Reiffel and Andrew Harris to playout the last 5.4 overs.
After openers Guy Welton and Darren Bicknell were out with 59 runs scored, Gallian and Morris enjoyed a magnificent 222 runs third-wicket partnership in 52 overs before the latter was caught off James Kirtley for 115: his century included a six and sixteen fours.Gallian was out five overs for 120, which equalled his highest innings for Nottinghamshire. When Umer Rashid bowled himmiddle-stump he had batted 281minutes with 16 boundaries. The bowler who took a season’s best 4-93 alsohad Peter Johnson caught and bowled David Millns before he had scored. ChrisRead followed by skying Jason Lewry to mid-off and Reiffel joined Afzaalwith their team 65 runs short of victory in the final 11 overs.After they had added 32 runs in six overs Afzaal was bowled by Lewry. Harris, whose first innings 31 had helped the visitors avoid the follow-on, kept his nerve again to frustrate Sussex. Such a comparatively close finish had seemedunlikely when Kirtley dismissed Welton with the fourth ball of the day.

On a day of fast moving developments, Andhra, recovering from adisappointing first innings effort of 195, reduced Karnataka to 90/4by stumps in a South Zone Ranji Trophy clash at Belgaum on Wednesday.It was only the second first-class tie at the Union Gymkhana Groundhere, the first which took place thirty years ago between the sameopponents ended in an innings victory for the hosts.On this occasion Andhra skipper Amit Pathak beat his Karnatakacounterpart J Arun Kumar, making his debut as skipper, over the tossand elected to take first strike. There were only two partnerships ofsubstance in the entire innings as the Karnataka bowlers never letslip their ascendancy over the proceedings. Openers Pathak and LNPReddy added 42 for the first wicket before both were removed insuccessive overs by speedster Mansur Ali Khan.Spinners Anand Yalvigi and Santosh Vadiaraj then combined to vanquishthe middle order. Teenager Venugopala Rao had been the bulwark of theinnings but when he was bowled by Vadiaraj for 42, it left Andhra in apickle at 126/7. Sahabudin and Watekar added 45 for the eighth wicketto lend a tone of respectability to the total before the two openingbowlers, Ganesh and Khan returned to close out the innings for 195 inthe 62nd over. Both Vadiaraj and Khan scalped three wickets each.Back on the field with the new ball in his hand, Sahabuddin slicedthrough the Karnataka top order with a damaging spell. After takingout Mithun Beerala for 10, he bided his time for a while beforedismissing skipper Arun Kumar and Sujith Somasunder – the latter for aduck – in successive overs. Without the reassuring presence of VijayBharadwaj – away in Faridabad for the Board President XI’s clash withZimbabwe – Barrington Rowland and Thilak Naidu strove to restore thehost team’s dominance. Their rally was nipped shortly before stumpswhen Vatekar took a return catch to send back Rowland and ensure anintriguing second day’s play on Thursday.

Guru Nanak College Ground, Chennai was the venue for the South Zone Ranji TrophyOne Day Tournament match between Kerala and Hyderabad. Kerala who had scoredback to back wins against Goa and Andhra Pradesh were hopeful of an upsetvictory against Hyderabad. Mohammad Ghouse dashed all Kerala hopes with awhirlwind knock of 20 in just 8 balls including three consecutive sixes and thenbowling an economical spell of 10-2-29-1.On a crisp Friday morning, Hyderabad won the toss and elected to bat. The grassyoutfield had more to it than what met the eye. Grass was uneven and the outfieldbumpy and to add to the misery the Kerala fielders found it painful divingaround. Hyderabad amassed 272/7 in their 50 overs. Thanks to the useful knocksby Daniel Manohar (60), Vanka Pratap (55) and D Vinay Kumar an unbeaten 53. ForKerala Ananthapadmanabhan picked up 3/45. The 48th over of the innings bowled bySreekumar Nair produced 28 runs as Mohammad Ghouse swung three sixes in a rowover the midwicket fence. Tinu Yohannan who bowled the 49th over, sent Ghouse’soff stump cartwheeling of a no ball, which summed up Kerala’s day.Clear blue skies, brilliant sunshine and a stiff breeze that swayed the treesthat stood all around the ground, was just picture perfect for a cricket match.Kerala batsmen strolled into the middle with absolutely no idea of making amatch of it. The pitch also made things worse with an uneven bounce. At onepoint, Kerala were batting as if to save a four day match, defending the ballswith dour determination. Opener MP Sorab who has had a reasonable run with thebat in this tournament again got a start and made 44 in 85 balls. KChandrashekhara tried his best with an innings of 55 in 62 balls. The reliablecaptain Sunil Oasis disappointed as he tried to steer an arm ball from Indiareject Venkatpathy Raju and was bowled for 24 (33 balls). Sreekumar Nair hithard to make 16 in 10 balls, but all was over for Kerala in the 48th over whenthe innings folded for 208. Raju had an afternoon out with no effort at all tofinish with 3/32. Hyderabad took two points while Kerala took none.