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Opener’s 69-ball effort, only marginally slower than his more celebrated team-mate, leaves Worcestershire clinging on

David Hopps07-May-2022Two centuries in the match for Sean Dickson, the second of them a rip-roaring affair made at a pace that only Ben Stokes has ever outdone in Durham’s history, and then only on the previous day, have prepared the ground for Durham to secure their first win of the season at the fifth attempt, an overdue reward for a county that was strongly fancied to be contesting the promotion places at the beginning of the season.Durham need eight wickets on the final day to beat Worcestershire, who are still 357 runs adrift, but any regular county cricket observers who have alighted on the competition for the first time this summer need to be brought up to date: that task is no longer as straightforward as it was once.Durham’s task is also compounded by the fact that the workload of Stokes, England’s new captain, their champion allrounder and therefore a tough guy who is regarded as vulnerable as porcelain, must be managed on his first appearance of the season. “Put overs into the legs of the Durham bowlers,” was the understandable policy of the Worcestershire dressing room. It was just that… there’s a tough England summer ahead, can’t you go a little easy?Related

• Stokes brutalises Worcestershire with record-breaking century on Durham comeback

• Robinson five-for, Pujara hundred maintain control for Sussex

Stokes has set up their victory push, alongside Dickson, with his breathtaking 161 from 88 balls on the second day, which delighted all who saw it, apart from Kevin Pietersen, who demanded the emergency introduction of franchise cricket, but it is questionable whether he will be able to finish off the job with the ball.England’s official instructions to their pace attack on the rare occasions they play county cricket are apparently not quite as prescriptive as once they were. Either they have happily adopted a less authoritarian approach or they just know that the likes of Stokes, James Anderson and Stuart Broad have the strength of mind to prepare themselves for Test cricket much as they see fit. But everybody knows there must be limits.If there is no likelihood therefore that Stokes’ phone will ping at breakfast on the final day advising him to bowl 12 overs in three four-over bursts, unless the wind is from a northerly direction, in which case the number of overs allowed should be divided by the moisture content of the pitch measured at hourly intervals, they may prefer instead to send an ambitious middle manager, armed with a Bluetooth-enabled microphone, to yell in his direction if he gets carried away.Such a recourse may be necessary because Durham could face an exacting day to force victory at New Road and confirm themselves as worthy promotion challengers. The pitch showed signs of unevenness for the new ball, and Chris Rushworth, who has had a tough season, took advantage by removing both Worcestershire openers, but it could easily go flat. With respect to Liam Trevaskis they do not have a spinner of repute, and the workhorse seamer – Ben Raine – stood down for Stokes in this match.At 169 for 6 when play resumed, the arrears still a monumental 411 runs, Worcestershire’s second innings might have been expected to run aground fairly quickly. But this is 2022, where batters have strutted their stuff and even the tailenders have done a good impression of the same. Joe Leach’s defiant 62 was the main component as Worcestershire batted the same amount of time again and, after a best-ignored but professionally-impressive sequence when the last pair blocked for 40 minutes without a run, their stand worth 29 in 19 overs, they were only one ball short of 100 overs when they were dismissed for 309.Matthew Potts finished with 6 for 62•Getty Images

Matthew Potts tacked on the wicket of Ben Cox to register 6 for 62 in a season where he has been one of the standout quick bowlers on predominately benign pitches. It should be conceded, however, that the number of quality fast bowlers jostling for attention would barely fill a phone box, especially as these days most of the room is already taken up by defibrillators or Ken Follett novels.In the circumstances, Scott Borthwick’s decision to give his bowlers a breather, and bat again, made sense and he could no have been happier with the outcome as Dickson recorded his second hundred of the match, Alex Lees (with less of the strike) added an unbeaten 60 and Durham declared after 21.3 overs at 170 for 1.Worcestershire spent much of the time employing white-ball tactics, to no great effect as Durham scored at a rate that they only manage occasionally in T20 itself. They also got Josh Baker, their 18-year-old left-arm spinner, back into the game as early as the seventh over after his 34-run mauling from Stokes on the previous day. Dickson reverse swept his first ball for four and later deposited a full toss so far that the ball was never found. After a lengthy delay, Baker bounced back with the replacement, beat the outside edge but Cox missed the stumping. Character-forming stuff, which is always a disturbing phrase.Dickson’s century rattled along in only 69 balls, which would have been the fastest hundred in Durham’s history had not Stokes managed one in 64 balls in the first innings. “I did realise when I was on about 60 that I was in with a chance of the fastest century for Durham but they kept bowling really wide down the leg side. I was going for it. It wasn’t to be.”Stokes’ hundred gained widespread media attention, whereas Dickson (and this report is culpable) will do well to get a nod of recognition. Such is the life of the respected but largely unsung county pro. He struck eight sixes on his way to his fourth century of the season and third in successive innings. He is having an outstanding season with this hundred giving him 729 runs at an average of 81 and taking him beyond Derbyshire’s Shan Masood as the leading run-maker in either division of the Championship.He will doubtless feel miffed that runs are so plentiful that his efforts may not receive the notice they deserve. That’s county cricket, but on a golden Spring evening at New Road it was still a wonderful place for any person of imagination to be.

Home batters made to struggle on rain-affected day as promotion race nears conclusion

Paul Edwards26-Sep-2022It is the last week of the season and suddenly it seemed so at New Road this morning. Full daylight came late to the city and Middlesex’s players seemed to be wearing an extra layer each as they strolled across the Worcester Bridge to the cricket ground. Travelling in the other direction, lines of commuter traffic took people to other, surely very different, occupations. One wondered how many earlier generations of visiting players, hairstyles different but concerns similar, had also walked from the nearby hotel and thought themselves fortunate indeed to be paid for playing the game they loved. It would have been easy at such autumnal moments to surrender to melancholy had not the Severn lay lacquered and still in the morning light, the swans cruised as though in formation and the cathedral been shadowed before a reluctant sun. “The doctrine of despair was never taught by such as shared the serenity of nature,” wrote Henry David Thoreau.Some farewells are more final – and more poignant. Nick Cook was given a guard of honour to mark his retirement from the first-class umpire’s list after this match and it is also Ed Barnard’s last game for Worcestershire before he joins Warwickshire. That, though, brought an end to the good fellowship. Important points are at stake around the country over these four days and for no one more so than Middlesex, who could be hailed as champions, congratulated as runners-up or dismissed as also-rans.That latter judgement would be savagely hard on Tim Murtagh’s team, who have won six and lost two of their 13 games, but if Glamorgan beat Sussex and Middlesex fail to win at New Road, there is a chance Lord’s will be the home of second-tier cricket in 2023. Murtagh and his players will be reminding them that matters are still in their hands. Beat Worcestershire and they will be promoted, perhaps even as champions depending on Nottinghamshire’s result against Durham. It would be a lovely conclusion to the season, particularly so for Toby Roland-Jones, who took three wickets on a rain-scarred day, one on which Worcestershire’s 167 for 8 was a disarmingly decent effort.Ed Pollock, on the other hand, might be rather pleased to see the end of the season. After making a 12-ball nought against Nottinghamshire last week, Pollock lasted 11 deliveries fewer on the final morning, his blameless forward defensive to Murtagh’s first nut of the game edging a catch to John Simpson. Five overs later Jake Libby was gone as well, lbw to a ball from Roland-Jones that nipped back a little.After an hour’s play the essential shape of this day seemed clear. This is a not a poor pitch but it was used for the game against Sussex in April and Middlesex’s exclusively seam attack clearly enjoyed bowling on it, especially as a couple of showers allowed them useful recovery time. On such days and on bowlers’ wickets like this, even modest contributions assume greater value and careless dismissals greater censure. Jack Haynes batted as calmly as anyone for his 20 runs but then fished at a wideish ball from Roland-Jones and Sam Robson grabbed the resulting chance.Azhar Ali committed no such indiscretions. Instead he laboured an hour and a half longer than Haynes for seven runs more than his young colleague before being pinned on the crease by Ryan Higgins. Barnard arrived to play his penultimate innings on a field he has always regarded as his home ground and immediately made batting seem simpler than anyone else. But each of Barnard’s six fours were scored either square or backward of square on the off side and he perished a little as he had lived when he edged Roland-Jones to Steve Eskinazi at slip. Gareth Roderick, last week’s centurion, arrived and left almost immediately when he clipped his fifth delivery off his toes and short leg Mark Stoneman clutched a ball that had been trapped somewhere near his armpit.That gave Murtagh his second victim of a day on which Roland-Jones’ three wickets had taken him to a career-best tally of 66 with power to add a few more in the rest of this match. But Middlesex’s captain will know that the game is probably evenly poised. For while wickets were falling at the other end, Brett D’Oliveira, Worcestershire’s skipper, was attacking the bowling where possible and putting his many play-and-misses behind him.D’Oliveira was one of his side’s best batsmen in the first half of the season and his dismissal, caught by Robson off Ethan Bamber for 44 a few minutes before the close, might yet be seen as vital in the outcome of this game. A few moments after his departure Cook, aided by his colleague Rob Bailey, took the players off the field. Cook has three days left in his career as a top-level umpire. Middlesex’s cricketers, by contrast, have three days left in which to realise the ambitions they have nursed for nearly a year.

It was like Test cricket had gone asleep for one hour on the third morning before India lost eight wickets for 39 runs, and yet spun South Africa out to take a 1-0 lead

The Report by Sidharth Monga07-Nov-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
4:31

Manjrekar: ‘Lightning’ Jadeja a big plus

It is often said that Test cricket in India crawls for three days with seemingly nothing happening before suddenly exploding to life. What happens when Tests do not last three days? Time frames get compressed. It was like Test cricket had gone asleep for one hour on the third morning. India lost eight wickets for 39 runs, and yet spun South Africa out to take a 1-0 lead. This was the fourth straight three-day finish in Tests in India. R Ashwin continued his impressive bowling, Ravindra Jadeja completed a successful comeback to the Tests with a five-for, and Amit Mishra contributed with the big wicket of AB de Villiers again.At effectively 178 for 2 on a pitch that had been turning big from day one, India looked home and dry. It took a big collapse for South Africa to be set a target they could think about chasing. Imran Tahir and Simon Harmer took four wickets each, but the task for South Africa was still enormous: only twice had visiting teams chased 200 successfully in India, most recently in 1987-88. South Africa needed to bat extremely well to add to that tally. They did not.South Africa’s mistrust of the pitch showed in their approach. The demons in their heads were bigger than the ones under their feet. Three of them got out even before the pitch could do a thing. Vernon Philander was promoted to open the innings. He survived two balls. Hashim Amla took guard outside leg, and left alone a straight delivery that hit middle and off. Both of them fell to Jadeja, who confirmed his reputation of being a dangerous bowler on a turning track, by bowling straight and quick. He showed the value of being able to hit the off stump on square turners.Faf du Plessis overestimated an Ashwin offbreak with the new ball from round the wicket, and edged him to slip. It looked a set plan. He had bowled over the wicket to Philander before this dismissal, and over the wicket to Amla after it. Du Plessis read that it was on offbreak, but the ball didn’t turn as much as he expected.It was mayhem at 10 for 3, which de Villiers calmed down for a bit with his excellent use of feet and ability to punish anything loose. It is a mark of the threat he carries that India did not feel entirely comfortable until they had got rid of de Villiers. For the second time in the match Mishra did the job. This was a rare case of de Villiers’ failing to pick the length as he went back to a length ball. A possible explanation could be the flat trajectory of the delivery, but Mishra does bowl that fuller flatter one, which turns only a little. What is more, it stayed low, and took the inside edge onto the stumps.Only formalities were left after that. Spinners completed them duly with South Africa managing to bat out only 39.5 overs to go with 68 in the first innings, but Varun Aaron too contributed by drawing a big leading edge with a short ball to Dean Elgar. This was the first wicket taken by an Indian seamer, but South Africa, who do not have the luxury of the quality of Indian spinners, did have to rely on seam in the morning. India consolidated their position with 36 runs without loss in the first hour of the day, but South Africa conjured a breakthrough through part-time medium-pace of Stiaan van Zyl.A major chunk of the collapse in a five-batsmen Indian team was the losing of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane for three runs. When you have three-day Tests, you often have batsmen falling for no mistake of their own, but all three made errors here. Except that they took longer to make these errors than the South Africa batsman. Kohli went driving outside off at a ball not full enough, and van Zyl and Amla looked like geniuses. South Africa now went to their spinners once Kohli had provided them with the opening.Tahir began with a regulation legbreak first ball, Pujara went to defend, but was nowhere close to the pitch of the ball, allowing it to turn and take the edge. He had added 14 to his overnight 63. Rahane jabbed at a Harmer offbreak well in front of his body, and offered the acrobatic substitute Temba Bavuma a catch at short leg. Three wickets gone in four overs, India now looked to the lower order for some stability, but Tahir and Harmer got the better of them, which was expected on a pitch like this.

Angelo Mathews has confirmed Upul Tharanga will take Kumar Sangakkara’s place, but said the team management was ‘giving the batting order a bit more thought’

Andrew Fidel Fernando at SSC27-Aug-20152:46

‘Still haven’t found the best combination’ – Mathews

For the past week, Sri Lanka has reflected on Kumar Sangakkara’s legacy. On the eve of the deciding Test match, the team has found he has also left behind a slew of dilemmas. Sri Lanka know there is no possible substitute for Sangakkara’s experience, but they do hope to scavenge together the runs he used to score. They hope to tickle the top order in just the right way, to collectively squeeze out those few additional runs.The team has confirmed Upul Tharanga will replace Sangakkara in the XI. Though both are left-handers from Nondescripts Cricket Club, that is about where the similarities end. Where Sangakkara was Sri Lanka’s sure thing, Tharanga is a man of glorious uncertainties, transitioning through lean trots and purple patches in a single over, the way most others do over long careers.Tharanga is among the more polarising figures in Sri Lanka cricket, but recently he has made a good Test-match case for himself. He top-scored at the SSC against Pakistan last year, but was then dropped. He then made 46 and 48 on a demanding Pallekele surface upon his return to the team.Sri Lanka’s problem now is where to fit him in the order. Tharanga is an opener by trade, but Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva have those slots sealed up. The team batted Tharanga at No. 3 in the last series against Pakistan, but Lahiru Thirimanne has long been groomed to take over Sangakkara’s spot, and his ODI returns suggest the top three is where Thirimanne is most productive.”At the moment we’ve got so many questions hanging around,” captain Angelo Mathews said of the batting order. “Tharanga has to come in definitely. In the last match he played, he hit a couple of 45s. He went out only because Sangakkara came back for the India series.”We are giving the batting order a bit more thought. We’ve got different characters in the team – some are quite slow, some are very attacking. You’ve got to slot them out in those positions where the team is benefiting at the end. You need to give it a bit more thought and we’ll try and find the best position for those individuals. “Sri Lanka have more decisions to make lower down the order. Jehan Mubarak has played decent supporting hands in three of his six innings since his recall, but for all that is no closer to cementing his position in the side. Sri Lanka will be tempted to replace him with the dynamic Kusal Perera, who was seen practicing his wicket keeping in the approach to this Test. If Kusal does take the gloves, Dinesh Chandimal may be free to move further up the order, though that option is not itself without risk. Chandimal is scoring runs at no. 6 and 7, and has been effective in partnerships with tail-enders.Kusal’s Test debut has been seen as overdue by some, especially as the batsman had had an exceptional series against Pakistan A in May, then made two match-winning ODI contributions against the senior Pakistan side last month.”You can’t really find a perfect time to bring a player into the team,” Mathews said of the decision to keep Kusal out of the XI so far. “There are seniors, there are guys who have played and you can’t just chop and change them in one or two games. Sometimes you may not get the chance when you’re in form. Sometimes you might have to play when you’re rusty. You’ve got to test your character. Whenever he gets the opportunity I’m pretty sure that he’ll come good. He’s a young, exciting player. We’re not afraid to take chances with that kind of player.”Whoever plays, all Sri Lanka’s batsmen will aim to decipher India’s spinners, who have so far left the entire top order groping at the ball, and at excuses. Mathews has said that his team would seek to attack R Ashwin. Amit Mishra, who has 12 wickets at 12.75 in the series, will be approached the same way, he suggested.”No matter who is bowling, our aim to score runs. Even yesterday we had a discussion as a batting group. We always trust that no matter who the bowler is, and however well he’s bowling, if he gives us a chance to get runs, we should do that. We know Ashwin bowled well in the last two matches. Mishra and the seamers were also bowling well. Whoever it is, we’ll play them positively.”Batsmen from both teams have been embarrassed by spin so far in the series, but if they have arrived at the SSC expecting to have an easier time, they may be surprised. The club is the home of Sri Lanka cricket’s bourgeoisie, and for so long the SSC pitch was class warfare – pampered batsmen lording it over the bowling proletariat. Recently though, the bowlers’ union has had a breakthrough. The pitch was relaid in 2013, and the bowlers have since had more luck at the venue.Spotting some live grass on the track a day before the match, Mathews said his team “can’t predict the pitch 100%” so would have to “play it by ear”. Now that all the greats have taken their leave, he may be doing a lot of that while his new team comes together.

Buttler, McCoy and Bosch were also part of Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Aug-2022In a continuing sign of T20 franchise owners gravitating towards players they already know and trust, Paarl Royals snapped up the South African duo of David Miller and uncapped allrounder Corbin Bosch, England’s new white-ball captain Jos Buttler and West Indies fast bowler Obed McCoy. All four have worked for these owners before – in the IPL with Rajasthan Royals – and will continue to do so now in the upcoming CSA T20 LeagueAccording to tournament rules, a team can sign a maximum of one capped South African, three overseas players and an uncapped player ahead of the players auction. So far, the Durban franchise – owned by the same group that manages Lucknow Super Giants and comprising the same core of players who helped take LSG to the knockout stages of IPL 2022 – and MI Cape Town have announced their picks.Buttler bossed this year’s IPL for the Royals, scoring a whopping 863 runs, an average of 57.53 and a strike rate of 149.05. He hit four centuries and smashed 45 sixes and was also the leading run-getter of the competition.