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Seamer claims seven second-innings wickets and 11 for the match in dramatic win over Glamorgan

ECB Reporters Network15-May-2022Durham 311 (Stokes 82, Petersen 78) and 249 (Borthwick 90, Lees 61, Neser 4-57) beat Glamorgan 365 (Root 88, Neser 62, Carlson 53, Northeast 51, Potts 4-61, Raine 4-61) and 137 (Potts 7-40) by 58 runsMatthew Potts enhanced his England credentials by claiming career-best figures to inspire Durham to a dramatic 58-run victory over Glamorgan on the final day of their LV= Insurance County Championship Division Two clash at the Riverside.Potts was in breathtaking form and took five wickets on final day, having previously claimed two in the evening session of day three, ending the innings with 7 for 40 and match figures of 11 for 101. Glamorgan were to rue a collapse from 65 for 2 to 137 all out in pursuit of their victory target that began when Marnus Labuschange was out from the penultimate ball of day three.Once Potts made inroads in the early overs of the final morning, the momentum as truly with the home side. The England hopeful blew away their resistance that should surely put him on the path to be included in team-mate Ben Stokes’ first squad as captain. More importantly for Durham, it ended a run of five matches without a win in the County Championship to propel them up into third place in Division Two.Durham required a fast start to put the pressure on the visitors. Potts answered the call for his team, producing a vicious bouncer that caught the glove of Kiran Carlson. Carlson was not thrilled with the decision, but Alex Wharf raised the finger. Potts then prised out Sam Northeast, who had looked comfortable at the crease. Scott Borthwick initially spilled the catch, but managed to clamp his legs together to claim the ball at the second attempt to send Northeast on his way for 26.Potts made way after his initial burst, but Brydon Carse ensured that the intensity from the hosts did not wane. He bowled with pace and accuracy after struggling in the first innings. An array of short-pitch bowling ended Billy Root’s stay at the crease for 10 as he gloved one behind, attempting a hook shot that had brought him a boundary earlier in the over.Sensing another opportunity, Borthwick brought Potts back into the attack for a short spell. The 23-year-old claimed his fourth five-wicket haul of the season when he pinned Glamorgan skipper David Lloyd lbw, who was batting at number eight after suffering an injury on day three.Carse turned the momentum firmly in the favour of the home side when he found Chris Cooke’s outside edge before lunch, removing the last recognised Glamorgan batter.Potts sensed blood in the water after lunch, and he drove his side over the line to claim career-best figures by dismissing Michael Neser with a brilliant yorker that caught the toe of the Aussie before clean bowling Michael Hogan to wrap up the victory, sparking massive celebrations from the hosts in the middle.Potts played down the England chatter. His dream of a game at Lord’s was just Durham’s trip to the capital to face Middlesex on Thursday.I’m looking forward to playing Middlesex to go to the Home of Cricket, I’ve only played there once with The Hundred,” he said. “It will be nice to play a red-ball game there to see what it has to offer.”As for the news articles about England I tend not to try and read them too much. It would be silly to read them and get too far ahead of myself. If you look too far ahead you can lose sight of what is in front of you.”It would be a dream to be picked and obviously to play Test cricket is something I aspire to do, having previously just been a white-ball bowler. I feel I have a lot to offer in the red-ball game, hopefully I can maintain my form and we’ll see what happens.”

Liam Hatcher and Nic Maddinson twice turned things around in the field for the Stars who were then left a tough six-over target

Andrew McGlashan16-Dec-2020Rain in Launceston meant the first abandoned game of the BBL season as the points were shared between Perth Scorchers and Melbourne Stars.The Stars will probably have been the happier with that: having been set a demanding 76 in six overs in an adjusted chase, they had lost Marcus Stoinis lbw the ball before the rain returned to end the game.The Scorchers’ innings was halted at 17 overs and they had been hauled back by the Stars attack after a stand of 70 in five overs between Colin Munro and Ashton Turner and put then on track to push 200.Hatching a planSpeaking to the television coverage, Glenn Maxwell said he had hoped to use a lot of spin in the first half of the innings but he had to adjust things when Tom O’Connell – who would be subbed out at the 10-over mark in favour of Ben Dunk – and Clint Hinchliffe went for 32 between them in the space of two overs. Liam Hatcher was brought on before Maxwell really wanted, but made an immediate impression when he had Joe Clarke – who had sped to 34 off 16 balls after being missed on 9 – caught behind, then trapped Mitchell Marsh lbw first ball. However, replays showed the Marsh lbw was missing leg stump which reignited the lack-of-DRS-debate, with Adam Gilchrist being especially vocal on Twitter.Turning it onTurner averaged 12.28 from seven innings in last year’s BBL and has drifted well down the Australia reckoning but he remains a very fine middle-order limited-overs batman. In the space of seven balls against Maxwell and Hilton Cartwright he struck five sixes, with the latter’s over costing 23 and the Stars may have regretted subbing out a bowler in O’Connell. However, the innings was turned around by Nic Maddinson’s occasional left-arm spin as he had Turner caught behind off a pull – a juggling catch for Stars debutant Nicholas Pooran – and then Munro picked out deep midwicket. In between an over from Nathan Coulter-Nile cost just seven and when Billy Stanlake removed Aaron Hardie the innings was threatening to subside.Chase on, chase offAfter a lengthy delay the rain briefly cleared enough for a six-over chase which left plenty of people checking the playing conditions about what would happen to the Bash Boost (the answer was that the point was shared). In the end it didn’t matter: the weather only allowed seven balls, with the only real impact being on Stoinis’ average when he was beaten for pace by Jhye Richardson.

Australia captain proud of how his team have ‘handled everything thrown at them’

Daniel Brettig in Manchester08-Sep-2019Having put on a brave face in the aftermath of Headingley, Australia’s captain, Tim Paine, admitted in the afterglow of retaining the Ashes in England for the first time in 18 years that the trauma of that defeat had been enough to break a team.What’s more, he reckoned that the wider trials and tribulations of Australian cricket over the past 18 months, in the wake of the Newlands scandal that thrust the Test captaincy on his shoulders and the national coaching job on Justin Langer’s, served as an important contributor to the team’s ability to rebound from Leeds with a largely commanding victory over England at Old Trafford, culminating in a far better collective display in the field on the final day to bowl out the hosts with 13.4 overs to spare.”In terms of what we’ve been able to achieve as a group is pretty satisfying from where we’ve come from in the last 18 months,” Paine said. “Great character, shows the great people we have got and shows we’ve also got some bloody good cricketers in our team. I am also proud of our staff. Also from where we’ve come from even from last week, that was a loss that would break a lot of teams, but we weren’t. I could feel it during the week. We turned up here and did our job like good sports teams do.”The group has clearly been through a bit of adversity, some more than others. But the guys sat in that change room have been through what happened at Cape Town and it’s times like that you find out what sort of people you have got and you find people who can give up or keep fighting and I think we have got guys who have come back and kept fighting and are wanting to get better and keep wanting to be in situations like we got at Headingley because those games, when you do win, feel very special.”Headingley’s loss make this all the more sweeter after a lot of people wrote us off. There were a few nervous moments there, coming off Headingley but I thought we learnt from that, held our nerve and bowled really well against a team that fought really hard like we knew they would.”Paine’s captaincy, the team’s fielding and catching, and the bowling of the inexhaustible Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood plus Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon had all stood up far better to the pressure of the moment, leading to a victory that will be both celebrated wildly and recorded as an important moment in Ashes history.”It’s exciting, you are going to see emotion when you get a bunch of people together who have a common goal and have worked so hard for it for a such a long time,” Paine said. “This has been two years in the planning so to carry it out over here under pressure and with everything we’ve had thrown at us … it’s a nice place to play cricket but it is bloody difficult in England, if I am honest.Tim Paine directs strategy at the start of play•Getty Images

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way our group have handled everything thrown at them. At the end, it was just a bit of raw emotion when you have a little bit of success particularly on the back of last week and the last 18 months. We haven’t had a lot of success and not a lot of happy times. But we are beginning to get them and that is awesome.”My dream was to come here and win an Ashes. I certainly didn’t want to be the captain winning the Ashes. It doesn’t mean any more or any less to me. I have said a lot of times my part in this team is just one job that many are doing, I just get a lot of the credit, I suppose, but it is something we share around between the players and staff. I am just happy to be a part of it. I could have been working at Kookaburra [in 2017], so this isn’t bad.”Among many key moments on the last day was Paine’s use of Marnus Labuschagne’s wristspin to break a pesky stand between Jack Leach and Craig Overton as the final hour drew near. The subsequent wicket not only set up Hazlewood’s final wicket but also underlined how Labuschagne had made a difference to the team.”Even from when I captained him in Dubai he has been working on his legspin bowling,” Paine said. “He came on the trip and bowled a lot in the nets and we said, ‘he can bowl’.”He has bowled a lot of overs in county cricket for Glamorgan, which has helped him. He is improving all the time. He is one of those cricketers if you tell a youngish part-time legspinner to warm up at that part of a Test match, I don’t think too many would want to bowl.”Marnus wanted to bowl. He wants to bat in the games when the best bowlers are on and even in the field, he wants to make a difference all the time. His energy is great and a really exciting cricketer for us and someone we can build our team around in the future.”As for Hazlewood and Cummins, Paine offered the praise of a grateful captain. “They are extremely consistent and that is why they are good,” he said. “What I love about those two fast bowlers is that from day one of the series the same effort is coming all of the time. I can’t fault them. They run in fast, bowl as hard as they can and for me that is a real weapon to have.”I am not sure there are a heap of bowlers going around that would get through the workload that our guys are and maintain pace and skill like those two do. Pat is No. 1 in the world and rightly so and Josh has been right up there as well. We’re lucky to have them.”Last but far from least, the dominance of Steven Smith with the bat had been the rock on which Australia’s Ashes challenge was built, and at one stage the rock on which England’s campaign was dashed.”Anyone who’s watched him bat know the talent, hunger and skill that he has got,” Paine said. “People don’t see how driven he is and how he trains, eats and sleeps batting. He is just a genius and I never had any doubt he would come back and be the player he was. The scary thing is he’s getting better. I don’t know where it is going to stop but we are enjoying being on the ride, that is for sure.”

England have the chance to expose India’s middle-order muddle again as teams square up for another decider

The Preview by Alan Gardner16-Jul-20181:15

What is your favourite MS Dhoni shot?

Big Picture

For the second series in a row, England-India goes down to a decider. For the second series in a row, England have come back from being befuddled by Kuldeep Yadav to level things up. For the second series in a row, India will be hoping that one of the big guns of their top order fires them to victory and secures another trophy ahead of the marquee five-Test series.Spiking those cannons at Lord’s was the major contributor to England eventually running out comfortable winners. The common denominator in India’s three white-ball victories so far has been a centurion in the top three: KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma at Old Trafford and Bristol in the T20Is, and Rohit – backed up by a slick 75 from Virat Kohli – in the first ODI at Trent Bridge. India’s middle order has been less productive, and the match at Headingley could hinge on whether England can make inroads again.The scrutiny on MS Dhoni may go up a notch, too. India’s veteran tank commander rumbled into a ditch during the second ODI, a tepid 59-ball 37 so far removed from what is expected from him as a finisher that it left fans on both sides scratching their heads. He has talked about deciding to go up the order in T20, and maybe that is something to explore as India focus their World Cup plans.England were reassured twice over by their Lord’s performance. Despite Kuldeep striking with his second and 13th deliveries, they continued to attack the wristspinner; both openers fell taking the attacking option of sweeping, while Eoin Morgan hit a full toss to a fielder on the rope, but figures of 3 for 68 were eminently manageable. The performance of Joe Root, with his 12th ODI hundred (equalling Marcus Trescothick’s record for England), then reinforced the view that his method of busy accumulation has a home in an otherwise-macho hitting line-up.With anticipation of Kuldeep being named in India’s Test line-up growing, it will be interesting to see if Kohli is minded to protect him again – as occurred during the T20 decider at Bristol. With England and India set to remain No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings whatever the result, Headingley will provide a useful marker as the last ODI to be played in England before World Cup year – with a little knockout pressure into the mix. It could also contribute another thread in the Test tapestry to come.Mark Wood trains ahead of the third ODI•Getty Images

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLWWW
India LWWWL

In the spotlight

Armed with a white ball that rarely swings and asked to bowl on the most benign of surfaces, all but the quickest of quicks face a fight for survival every time they walk out in ODIs. David Willey is a man with as much fighting spirit as any member of the England squad, however, and he is having a quietly effective season in coloured clothing. He can still just about talk the new ball into doing a bit, while his death bowling has improved – and his batting has also shone through, with a maiden half-century at Lord’s to follow a match-sealing contribution against Australia at The Oval last month. He is still a little way off being classed as a genuine allrounder, but his wickets and runs have helped make up for the absence of Chris Woakes.Suresh Raina had an opportunity to shepherd the chase after a top-order wobble at Lord’s. While he managed 48, the top score of the innings, his age-old nemesis, the short ball, had him hopping and fending awkwardly. His footwork lacked assuredness even to pitched-up deliveries. After being dropped twice, he was out bowled failing to read Adil Rashid’s googly. As key as his contributions have been in the past, the room for failures currently is minimal with India’s middle order still testing the waters as far as their combinations for the World Cup go. With Dinesh Karthik and Shreyas Iyer breathing down his neck, the onus is on Raina to ensure his return to the ODI squad after nearly three years is not short-lived.

Teams news

England have called up James Vince as the spare batsman in the squad, with Dawid Malan heading to play first-class cricket with the Lions, and he could come straight into the side if Jason Roy is not fit to play, although Sam Billings has also been called into an ever-expanding squad. Roy suffered a “laceration” to the little finger on his right hand going for a catch at Lord’s and sat out of training on Monday. He remains a doubt, according to the ECB, and will have a fitness test in the morning to ascertain whether he’ll be fit to play. Sam Curran has also been released to play for the Lions against India A, but Jake Ball remains an option.England (probable) 1 Jason Roy/James Vince, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 David Willey, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Mark WoodIndia seem set to continue with Raina, so the only change is likely to be in the seam-bowling attack. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was bowling smoothly in practice, having missed three games with a stiff back, and should replaces Siddarth Kaul.India (probable) 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 KL Rahul, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Umesh Yadav

Pitch and conditions

The surface at Headingley is usually good for run-scoring, with the white Kookaburra unlikely to be persuaded to do much whatever the overhead conditions: England piled up 339 for 6 at the venue against South Africa last year. The UK’s extended dry spell has resulted in a very brown surface with hardly any grass, which should bring the spinners from both sides into play.

Stats and trivia

• England have won their last four ODIs at Headingley, with their most-recent defeat coming against Sri Lanka in 2011.
• Kuldeep needs two wickets for 50 in ODIs – if he gets them at Headingley, in his 23rd match, he will equal Ajit Agarkar as the fastest for India.
• Dhoni became only the 12th man, and fourth Indian, to record 10,000 ODI runs during his innings at Lord’s.
• Jonny Bairstow needs 68 runs to reach 2000.

Quotes

“If we can use this game as a semi-final, a must-win with the pressure on, we can learn what we are doing wrong if we don’t win or what we are doing right if we do. Over the past year we have dealt with these situations well and hopefully we can carry on that trend.”
Going forward, still 16-17 games to go [before the World Cup], we are looking at in terms of the games remaining where we could look at settling the middle-order slots.”

Pakistan will not tour Bangladesh this year as per schedule; the PCB said the series has been postponed indefinitely by mutual consent

Umar Farooq26-Apr-2017Pakistan will not tour Bangladesh this year as per schedule; the PCB said the series has been postponed indefinitely by mutual consent. Pakistan was to play two Tests, three ODIs and a T20I series in Bangladesh in July and August.”We had spoken about the possibility of hosting them [Bangladesh in Pakistan] this year,” PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan told ESPNcricinfo. “Pakistan have now toured Bangladesh twice without them reciprocating, and we feel we cannot tour Bangladesh for the third straight time. Therefore, we have decided to postpone the tour, and will explore another window in the next year or so.”Bangladesh last toured Pakistan in 2007-08, for a five-ODI series. Since then, Pakistan have toured Bangladesh twice, in 2011-12 and 2015. The PCB had invited Bangladesh for a two-match T20I series this year, only for the BCB to rebuff the invitation.On Pakistan’s last visit to Bangladesh in 2015, the PCB had reportedly taken US$ 325,000 and justified it by saying the series had “technically” been Pakistan’s home series. This year the BCB rejected all such proposals to share revenue, though it was open to playing at a neutral venue if necessary.The PCB, however, was not keen on that option. It is understood the Pakistan board feels that hosting teams like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the UAE – its adopted home – is not financially viable.Relations between the Pakistan and Bangladesh boards have been sour in the past. During the Zaka Ashraf regime, the PCB had stopped communication with the BCB and barred its cricketers – who had already been auctioned to various teams – from featuring in the Bangladesh Premier League.Bangladesh were the fourth team – after West Indies, Ireland and Sri Lanka – to refuse to travel to Pakistan in the last two years. Nevertheless, the PCB is looking to build on hosting an incident-free PSL final in Lahore in March by inviting a team of international cricketers to play a T20 series in September. However, even the PSL final – touted a success – was marred by Quetta Gladiators’ entire foreign contingent deciding against travelling to Pakistan for the final.In another development, members of the ICC board were briefed on the security situation in Pakistan. According to Shaharyar, Giles Clarke, the head of the ICC task force on Pakistan, confirmed that Lahore would host a World XI in September.”We wanted to share the series between Lahore and Karachi but since the security assessment was focussed on Lahore only, it was decided to restrict the series to Lahore for now,” Shaharyar said. “The presentation about the PSL final was well received and all members understand that the World XI tour will further pave the way for major international cricket in the country. They were supportive overall and we are looking forward to host some of the top players of the world.”

Hong Kong have received assurance from the ICC that they are not under any greater scrutiny than other teams at the World T20 following comments earlier in the week

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-20162:31

‘Unfair to speculate on fixing’ – Richardson

Hong Kong have received assurance from the ICC that they are not under any greater scrutiny than other teams at the World T20 following comments earlier in the week.Shortly before the start of the World T20, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the head of the ACU, spoke about how an international team was under investigation. In a subsequent press conference David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, said “in recent times you would have read in the media that a particular player was suspended from his country and the investigations relate to that same team.” That promoted links back to the January suspension of Hong Kong batsman Irfan Ahmed.But Hong Kong have been told that the current investigation does not relate to them.In a statement, Tim Cutler, the Hong Kong Cricket chief executive, said: “Ordinarily, neither a Board nor the ICC comments on matters relating to ACU activities or investigations, but, following a range of comments and subsequent media reports that suggested that the Hong Kong team is under investigation, we feel it is imperative to clarify these misleading and damaging reports.”The HKCA has received confirmation from Sir Ronnie Flanagan, the Chairman of the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, that the Hong Kong squad is under no greater scrutiny than any other squad involved in the current ICC World Twenty20 India 2016.”David Richardson also clarified in a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday that all teams involved in the ICC World Twenty20 2016 will be equally monitored, as per usual ICC practice, to isolate them from any attempts to corrupt them or the results of their matches.””Sir Ronnie Flanagan has expressed his deepest gratitude for HKCA’s assistance in the ongoing fight against corruption, and in particular, our support of recent ACU activities,” Cutler added.”Naturally, we are very disappointed that this matter has been raised in this manner and at this time, but we thank the ICC for clarifying the matter, and publicly supporting Hong Kong and our efforts to combat corruption.”We are here to play cricket, and will now move on from this matter to focus on the remainder of the tournament.”Hong Kong play their final match of the World T20 against Scotland on Saturday following defeats against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

Debutant Zulfiqar Babar, 34, took 3 for 23 and hit the winning runs off the last ball to take Pakistan home in a thriller against West Indies

The Report by Abhishek Purohit27-Jul-2013Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsZulfiqar Babar, 34, had a dream debut for Pakistan•WICB Media

You get a chance to play international cricket at 34, becoming the second-oldest debutant for your country. You are hit for six second ball. What do you do? You dismiss three key batsmen for just 23 runs. You are then called on to finish the game. With the bat. Understandably, you are tied down. But with six needed off six, you loft over extra cover for four. You think you have more than pulled your weight as a debutant. You have, but it is not over yet. It comes down to the last ball. One run needed. Everyone is in the circle. No sweat. You go big over mid-off, so big that you clear the rope. Zulfiqar Babar, welcome to international cricket.It should not have come down to the last ball the way Shahid Afridi sensibly steered the chase from 86 for 5. After that became 116 for 6, he did it with the tail for company. He made 46 off 27, but barring the 27th delivery, he hardly hit a desperate, reckless stroke. With eight needed off 11 though, he tried to seal it with a straight six, and mishit to long-on.West Indies sensed a chance. Babar played out a few dots. Despite that early boundary in the last over, Saeed Ajmal was run out off the fifth with the scores tied, before Babar roared one final time.The way they bowled and fielded, West Indies were lucky to have taken it down to the last ball. Shannon Gabriel took three wickets, but he crumbled under pressure each time he was called upon to deliver. Umar Amin, who played a blinder on T20 debut, took three fours off Gabriel’s first over, with a flick and two pulls.Amin then took Samuel Badree apart on a turning pitch. Never giving the ball a chance to spin, he repeatedly stepped out to loft Badree down the ground. When the bowler dropped it short, Amin pulled. When he overpitched,
Amin drove. Even as Amin was toying with West Indies, the hosts were striking at the other end.The Pakistan top order fell to miscalculated hits, but Amin’s brilliance meant the asking-rate was always under control. That still didn’t stop Amin from walking out to Samuels and getting stumped to make it 86 for 5.Afridi took over now, striking Samuels first ball for six over long-off and drilling the third to the extra cover rope. Thereafter, he settled down into cruise mode, rotating the strike, picking the odd boundary and also lofting Sunil Narine to become the first man to reach 400 international sixes. He did everything right except the stroke on the ball he got out to, but then, it was to be the debutant’s day in the end.Babar, and the other Pakistan spinners, had shocked West Indies initially on the turner but the hosts recovered and then took apart the fast bowlers to post a challenging total. Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard came together at 42 for 4 and put on 56 before Darren Sammy cracked 30 off 14. Pakistan’s slow bowlers did their job, taking 5 for 74 in 14 overs but the fast bowlers, missing the yorkers too often, disappeared for 1 for 73 in six. Mohammad Hafeez, who opened the bowling and dismissed the openers, gave himself just two overs.Babar squared up and bowled Lendl Simmons with his fourth delivery and in his next over, found himself in the way of a powerful hit from Samuels, but managed to hold on. Samuels had been cutting Mohammad Irfan for boundaries amid all the wickets.Bravo and Pollard, although not always in control, rotated the strike, a refreshing thing coming from a West Indies pair. Bravo was quick to hit with the turn through the off side, and Pollard made sure he put away the rare half-volleys for boundaries. Sammy went after the fast bowlers as he and Pollard looted 53 in four overs. As Sammy said after the game, 152 should have been defended on that pitch, but Babar was to have the perfect debut.

When Graeme Smith declared South Africa’s first innings he did something South African cricketers are not known for. He got creative

Firdose Moonda at The Oval22-Jul-2012When Graeme Smith declared South Africa’s first innings with his team 252 runs in front and four sessions left in the game, he did something South African cricketers are not known for. He got creative.Many observers expected him to allow the record run-scoring to continue for a few more overs, especially with Jacques Kallis approaching a double hundred, before unleashing his attack for a short burst. Instead he took the situation by the scurf of the neck and handed the challenge to England’s top order; the end result was four wickets which has put South Africa in prime position for victory.Hashim Amla, who was undefeated on a South African-record 311 when he was told to stop, offered some insight into the captain’s decision. “We saw the wicket is good to bat on and we’d rather have a lot of time to bowl and chase whatever we have to than bat on for 10 or 15 overs that we may need later on,” Amla said, indicating that South Africa have prepared to bat again if needs be. “You’d rather be in our change-room without a doubt.”Despite the unresponsive surface, Amla believes there is something in it for South Africa’s attack, particularly Imran Tahir who already has the scalp of Andrew Strauss. “There’s quite a bit of rough. Even though they don’t have many left-handers to come, the rough is always a danger for the left-handers so maybe Imran can get a bit there,” he said.Amla predicted a tough first hour which has been the pattern throughout the match. He negotiated two days’ worth of first hours; day three when South Africa managed just 32 and day four when they scored 36. “It’s tough going early doors. Fresh bowlers in these conditions are never easy.”England will know that only too well, as they faced the first hour on day two and lost three wickets in that time. With South Africa’s attack proving dangerous, England face a battle early on the final morning “Dale, Morne and Vernon got the ball to move a bit,” Amla said. “It’s their good skill that is coming through.”Skill has been the winner in this match, whatever happens on the final day, with Amla’s masterclass the highlight. His marathon innings resulted in the first triple hundred by a South African in Tests but he said it was not always easy. With Smith, he had to “just hang in there and hang in there,” until conditions allowed for freer flowing play.”Graeme batted superbly,” Amla said. “His knock was a major stepping stone for us in our big total: the way he managed to grind it out. We went through patches where we didn’t score a lot and then either he would score freely or I would. That’s the beauty of a big partnership.”A second sizeable stand, with Kallis, guided Amla to the milestone and he credited his partner with providing “guidance,” during their time together. “You keep encouraging each other as you go on and you keep building,” he said. “You want to put the team in the best position as possible.”Amla had not had much time to think about his achievement by the end of the day’s play but took immense satisfaction from putting his team in control. “The biggest pleasure is that we are in a really dominant position to win this position, that’s the great joy. You want to contribute handsomely to the team. I try not to get into the psycho-babble about it and try and maximise opportunity.”Breaking a record and making history were things Amla had never thought about before and will not put on his to-do list in future. “I didn’t ever dream about getting 300, although I would have loved to,” he said. “I’ve always been the kind of person to never set goals. Fortunately, that means you can keep going without being limited by having set something up.”

Cheteshwar Pujara, the Indian batsman, will be out of action for four months after undergoing knee surgery

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2011Cheteshwar Pujara, the India batsman, will be out of action for four months after undergoing knee surgery. He injured his right knee during the IPL earlier this year, missed out on much of that tournament and was forced to skip the recently concluded West Indies tour as well.Pujara, 23, is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, and still needs the help of crutches to walk. “The last time I injured my left knee, during the second IPL, there was a lot of pain,” he told the . “This time there was no pain at all and doctors believed I could get fit for the tour of England. But I was asked to consult Dr Andrew Williams [in England] who advised me to undergo surgery.”The surgery puts the brakes on Pujara’s attempts to seal a permanent spot in the Test XI. After several seasons of heavy run-scoring in the domestic circuit, he delivered on Test debut last year with an enterprising second-innings 72 to seal a home-series win against Australia.His absence from the West Indies tour and the forthcoming visit to England allows other contenders like Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh to make their case for the only middle-order opening available in the Indian team.”I don’t know what the future holds. I’m hopeful of making a comeback,” Pujara said. “I think I have given my best during the opportunities I have got.”Another, more senior, member of the Indian team is also at the NCA recovering from injury. Virender Sehwag, who had shoulder surgery in May, spent 40 minutes on Tuesday afternoon facing gentle throwdowns. He hasn’t played since the IPL, and will miss at least the first Test of the England series.

Ed Joyce made his first hundred in one-day league cricket as Sussex Sharks improved their chances of defending their Clydesdale Bank 40 title with a crushing 159-run win over Worcestershire Royals at Hove

19-Jul-2010

ScorecardEd Joyce stroked 16 fours and a six during his 117•Getty Images

Ed Joyce made his first hundred in one-day league cricket as Sussex Sharks improved their chances of defending their Clydesdale Bank 40 title with a crushing 159-run win over Worcestershire Royals at Hove.The Irish left-hander’s 117 and a swashbuckling 95 from Luke Wright propelled the Sharks to 313 for 6 and it was way too much for the Royals who were dismissed for 154 and have now lost all six games in Group A.Sussex’s fourth win moved them to within a point of second placed Surrey Lions, although they have played a match more.Joyce looked in good touch from the start against an under-strength Worcestershire side who gave one-day debuts to England under-19 batsman Jack Manuel, wicketkeeper Ben Cox and slow left-armer Shaaiq Choudhry.He helped give Sussex an ideal platform with 76 in 12 overs with Chris Nash before adding 119 in 16.4 overs with Wright. Joyce timed the ball superbly throughout and reached his fourth one-day hundred for Sussex by slog-sweeping Choudhry for six.His innings ended disappointingly when he top-edged to short fine leg but it was a classy effort nonetheless containing 16 fours off 91 balls. Wright then took up the attack after reaching his half-century from a relatively sedate 53 balls with just three fours.When Sussex called their second four-over powerplay in the 31st over he hit six more boundaries and a straight six off Jack Shantry to move to 95 only to sky Shantry’s slower ball to long off when only the second one-day hundred of his career was in sight.Robin Martin-Jenkins, in his final game before he retires to take up a teaching job after 16 seasons and 459 matches, took Sussex past 300 with two sixes and he then bowled eight wicketless overs as the Royals lost wickets regularly in an increasingly forlorn run chase.James Kirtley took two wickets with successive balls in his third over including Royals’ skipper Vikram Solanki who lost his off stump in spectacular fashion shouldering arms after Manuel had mis-timed a drive to extra cover. Kirtley also removed Alex Kervezee while Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali were run out by direct hits from Joe Gatting and wicketkeeper Ben Brown respectively.Monty Panesar bowled superbly to pick up two wickets with his left-arm spin, conceding just 11 runs in his eight overs. Choudhry hit out breezily at the end to top score with 39 including seven fours but the outcome had long since been decided.