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New Zealand put on an opening stand of 63 after dismissing the last five Australia batsmen for 44 runs

The Report by Daniel Brettig04-Jan-2020Better than Sir Donald Bradman, better than Steven Smith, better than Neil Harvey. Marnus Labuschagne’s astonishing home summer was crowned by a double-century at the SCG that vaulted him to 837 runs for the home Test summer, the highest tally for five matches by any Australian, bettering Harvey’s 834 more than 60 years ago.Australia, however, did not have day two of the New Year’s Test all their own way, as New Zealand conjured the capture of Australia’s last five wickets for 44 runs and then watched Tom Blundell and their stand-in captain, Tom Latham, put together a determined unbeaten opening stand of 63 in the day’s closing 29 overs.Labuschagne’s first Test double-century had helped him form the backbone of Australia’s first innings against a New Zealand side that was reduced to dressing up assistant coach Peter Fulton as a substitute fielder as illness stretched further across the squad.Matthew Wade and Travis Head were tempted into errors in the morning session, but Labuschagne was content to take his time as only 71 runs were compiled by the hosts before lunch. He then waited patiently in the 190s opposite the captain, Tim Paine, who made 35 in a sixth-wicket stand worth 79 runs.But from the moment of Paine’s dismissal, bowled between bat and pad by Colin de Grandhomme, New Zealand fought well to restrict the Australians to 454, with the wristspin of Todd Astle looking particularly dangerous on a pitch that is starting to take some turn for the slow bowlers.Latham and Blundell then weathered the new-ball bursts of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson, before Nathan Lyon gained some disconcerting spin out of a wearing pitch. The tourists’ stocks had been thinned even further by the news that Jeet Raval was now struggling with flu-like symptoms, forcing Fulton into the whites to augment the touring team’s options for fielding and running drinks out to the middle.Their diligence in the field and with the ball was laudable in not allowing the Australians to get away, even as Labuschagne found the occasional boundary. There was one DRS referral by the tourists against Paine in the morning session, but Astle’s suspicion of some pad before bat was proven a long way from reality by replays.Wade had suggested on the first evening he might be the one to push the game forward, but the day was not yet an over old when he knelt down to sweep Will Somerville, misjudged the flight and was bowled. Once he heard the sound of the off stump knocked back, he angrily swatting his bat into the ground.Head was a little more patient, corralled steadily by New Zealand from around the wicket, but he had made only 10 from 42 balls by the time he tried to cut a Matt Henry cross-seam delivery that was too close to his body and offered a thin edge behind to BJ Watling.Labuschagne, though, was not deterred, cruising through to his third 150-plus score of the Test season, and looking good for plenty more. He had one nervous moment near lunch when he inside-edged Astle just past the off stump, but otherwise radiated an air of security that has been rare for Australian cricket in recent years.The scoring rate was lifted by Labuschagne and Paine in early afternoon, as the SCG avoided the worst of hot temperatures of more than 45-degree C in western Sydney. But with Astle gaining extra turn and Wagner and de Grandhomme offering tight spells, Labuschagne was forced to slow right down in the 190s, with Paine even facing boos from the SCG crowd when he was unable to rotate the strike.Eventually, Labuschagne was able to squirt an edge past Watling’s gloves for the first double-century of his Test career. The innings brought a standing ovation from those in attendance and underlined just how much he had grown as a batsman and a cricketer since he first batted at No. 3 for Australia in the corresponding Test at the SCG against India last year.Whatever hopes Paine may have had for extending the partnership were ended when he failed to cover a de Grandhomme offcutter, and Astle soon followed up a sharply bouncing googly by flighting a legbreak nicely enough to coax Labuschagne into offering a leaping return catch.Pattinson was bounced out by Wagner, and Cummins flicked another Astle googly to Glenn Philips at short leg, before some brief Starc entertainment was ended by Wagner. This meant Australia’s last five wickets had gone down for 44, a reminder that Labuschagne’s feats were not achieved in a vacuum.Australia’s fielders were given plenty of reasons to be interested when Cummins’ first ball kept low and beat Blundell, before his second jumped up to hit the opener on the arm from a good length. There was remarkably calm progress form there until closer to stumps when Blundell looked to drive a fuller ball from Cummins and a noise saw Paine use the DRS after Aleem Dar denied the caught-behind appeal. A mark on the HotSpot looked visible but escaped the attention of Nigel Llong, and New Zealand reached stumps unscathed.

He says the team is not unduly worried about losing the first ODI in a three-match series

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-20202:28

Really happy with the way I planned my innings – Iyer

Ever since his comeback into the Indian team after the 2019 World Cup, Shreyas Iyer has been among the most consistent batsmen in the side, flying under the radar perhaps given the exploits of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.In nine ODIs since August 2019, when Iyer returned to the team, he has averaged 53, with a strike rate of 104.95 (the best among Indians who have faced at least 100 balls since then). In 16 T20Is in the same period, Iyer has an average of 33.40 at a strike rate of 138.01. He is placed third and fourth on the highest run-scorers’ lists for ODIs and T20Is respectively since August, and quietly, Iyer has become an important member of a batting line-up he couldn’t break into just a year ago.Iyer has always had confidence in himself, so when his first ODI century didn’t result in a win for India, he was unperturbed.”I am very happy but if it had ended on a winning note I would have been even happier. But it’s the first of many, so I’ll take it in my stride and see to it that in the next matches, I finish on the winning side,” Iyer said at the press conference after India’s four-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the first ODI on Wednesday.That India lost despite putting on a mighty 347 for 4 didn’t cause any undue angst within the side.”We just sat and everybody was in their own zone. It didn’t matter to be honest. It’s just a loss and we have faced that before as well in our life,” Iyer said. “It’s not that we are facing it for the first time. So everybody is in their normal zone and it’s not something that hasn’t happened before. We’ve got that confidence in our team and in ourselves that we are going to bounce back strong. We have done in the past, so we’ve just got to take the positives from this game and move forward.”Iyer gave credit to New Zealand’s batsmen for hunting down a tall target, while also explaining how the surface at Seddon Park in Hamilton had changed as the game went on. Iyer’s own innings started slowly; he took 10 balls to get off the mark and he was on 11 off 28 at one point, having joined Kohli with India 54 for 2 in the ninth over. He eventually ended with 103 off 107, and shared stands of 102 for the third wicket and 136 for the fourth wicket in under 17 overs, with Rahul.”The pitch had become very good in the second innings. It was coming onto the bat and the dew factor also played an important role in this game,” Iyer said. “They batted really well, so credit has to definitely go to them for the chase.”It (the ball) was stopping and coming,” he said about batting in the first innings. “There was a variable bounce on the wicket, so we (Kohli and he) just decided that we need to take this phase and build a partnership. I’m really glad we took that situation completely out and had a partnership of 100, me and Virat. That set up momentum for the next batsman who came in and we ended up scoring 348 (347) which is a really good total. I’m really happy the way I planned my innings. I was keeping patient and I had that self-belief that once I cross a certain mark, I’ll be able to cover all the balls I played as dots.”Talking about KL Rahul, he’s been batting magnificently well. The way he’s seeing the ball… the time he came in and hit his first six, I literally asked him on the field, ‘Are you seeing the ball like a football?’ He just nodded and laughed. He’s been in tremendous touch and there’s lots to learn from him as well, as a batsman, the way he really plans his innings and then takes on the bowler.”Iyer also defended India’s fielding, which has seen several lapses and dropped chances on the tour of New Zealand, both in T20Is and the lone ODI so far.”Everybody goes through a bad day,” he said. “I personally feel we are a very good fielding side, and we have to try and hit the target (stumps) so that we create that momentum on the field. We need to cheer up the bowlers and all the fielders have be there in the game. So all these overthrows and all, it’s part of the game because the bowlers keep thinking of what they’ll bowl the next ball, and at the same time, it’s the fielders’ responsibility to back up obviously.”There are one or two instances that happened in the previous game, there’s a lot to learn from that. Obviously we are working hard on our fielding, it’s not that we are just giving up on the field. Even if you see that there are some places we need to improve, we have been doing really well. We have taken some amazing catches and run-outs in this game.”

The BCCI has also nominated Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Deepti Sharma for the Arjuna Award

ESPNcricinfo staff30-May-2020The BCCI has nominated Rohit Sharma for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, India’s highest sporting honour. The board has also nominated India fast bowler Ishant Sharma, opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan and India woman allrounder Deepti Sharma for the Arjuna Award.Rohit’s Khel Ratna nomination comes on the back of an outstanding 2019 with the bat: 556 runs at an average of 92.66 in five Test matches, all while opening the batting for the first time; and 1657 ODI runs at 57.30, including the unprecedented feat of five centuries at a single World Cup.If Rohit wins the award, he will become only the fourth cricketer, after Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, to do so.”We went through a lot of data and considered various parameters before shortlisting the nominees,” Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, said via a media release. “Rohit Sharma has set new benchmarks as a batsman and achieved scores people thought were not possible in the shorter formats of the game. We feel he is worthy of getting the prestigious Khel Ratna Award for his commitment, conduct, consistency and his leadership skills.”Ishant Sharma is the most senior member of the Test squad and his contribution has been vital in Indian team’s long run as the No. 1 Test side. Fast bowlers are prone to injuries and Ishant has had a fair share of them but he has fought hard to be back on the park every time. Shikhar has been consistently scoring at the top and his performances in the ICC events have been significant. Deepti is a genuine allrounder and her contribution to the team has been vital.”

At least four allrounders, including the 14-year-old Shahzad, feature in the 15-man squad

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2019Pakistan have named at least four allrounders, including the 14-year-old Mohammad Shahzad, in their 15-man squad for the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa early next year. The in-form Rohail Nazir will continue to led the side, while 16-year-old quick Naseem Shah, who recently made his Test debut in Australia, also featured in the squad.

The squad

Rohail Nazir (capt), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Haider Ali, Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Harris, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Irfan Khan, Abbas Afridi, Fahad Munir, Qasim Akram, Amir Ali, Arish Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Naseem Shah, and Tahir Hussain

“We have planned extensively and tried our best to form a fine team,” Saleem Jaffar, the Pakistan junior team head coach, said at a press conference in Lahore. “Probables selected for the World Cup will give both coach and captain full options to form a balanced side. I hope this team will go good. But whoever is left out shouldn’t be disheartened because they are on a path that will take them to the professional cricket and this isn’t the end of world.”Shahzad, a batting allrounder from Southern Punjab, caught the selectors’ eye at the ongoing Under-16 domestic tournament, where he scored 175 runs in two games and picked up six wickets.”Shahzad is a good package; [he can] bat in the opening slot and bowl at medium pace, so we are also eyeing to tap someone who can be a good prospect in future like [Abdul] Razzaq,” Jaffar said. “This is the cricket that actually take players forward. He is young on the Under-16 circuit and has done really well recently. For us, winning is equally important but at the same time we are also giving them an international feel. This Under-19 circuit is an exciting cricket and such players are the future.”

Team management

Ijaz Ahmed (head coach and manager), Rao Iftikhar Anjum (bowling coach), Abdul Majeed (assistant coach), Saboor Ahmad (trainer), Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rasul (physiotherapist), Usman Hashmi (analyst), Emmad Ahmed Hameed (media manager) and Col (retd) Usman Riffat Ansari (security manager)

Aside from Shahzad, the allrounders’ contingent comprises Abbas Afridi, Fahad Munir and Qasim Akram, who made it to the squad on the back of his impressive returns of 296 runs and three wickets and 260 runs and 15 wickets in the PCB Under-19 one-day and three-day tournaments respectively. Akram also made a mark at the recent Emerging Under-19 Asia Cup, and the tours of South Africa and Sri Lanka, where he scored 77 and 124 runs respectively.Three out of the 28 probables – Ammad Butt Jr, Akhtar Shah and Saim Ayub – were not considered for selection because of injuries.The 2020 Under-19 World Cup will be held from January 17, in South Africa. Pakistan, the 2004 and 2006 champions and three-time runners-up, are slotted in Group C along with Bangladesh, Scotland and Zimbabwe in the 16-team competition. They will kick off their campaign against Scotland on January 19 in Potchefstroom.

India hadn’t seen the best of Alastair Cook in the first two Tests. Now they have. His unbeaten 182, a 19th Test hundred, carried England into a position of complete control

The Report by Andrew McGlashan11-Aug-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAlastair Cook celebrates another Test hundred as England made commanding progress•AFP

India hadn’t seen the best of Alastair Cook in the first two Tests. Now they have. His unbeaten 182, a 19th Test hundred, carried England into a position of complete control at Edgbaston as they built a lead of 232 with the prospect of plenty more to come. Cook added 187 for the first wicket alongside Andrew Strauss, while Kevin Pietersen contributed a lively half-century during India’s worst day of the series with England closed on an imposing 456 for 3.Cook’s lean start to the series – 20 runs in four innings – was barely enough to constitute a problem, but the expectations on him are high after his run-scoring feats over the last 12 months. A year ago, midway through the Pakistan series, Cook was in the middle of a severe slump but this hundred was his third of the summer and fourth of the year. His century came from 213 balls and after a watchful, dogged, start both yesterday evening then in the morning session he was scoring freely through the leg side and also with both his cover drive and cut.Yet it wasn’t just Cook’s normal shots that were on show. At one stage he played a reverse sweep off Amit Mishra having noted the vacant slip area, which also cost India the opportunity of dismissing Cook when he slashed through the gap on 94. He didn’t offer a clear-cut life, although inside-edged Ishant Sharma over the stumps shortly after reaching his hundred and Sachin Tendulkar didn’t appear to pick up the ball at mid-on when Cook clipped in the air on 165. He appeared on track to reach his second double hundred before the close, but was content to play out time and wait for a new day.

Smart stats

• In the last 12 months Alastair Cook has scored seven centuries in 19 Test innings, and averages 87.29.

• Cook has scored more runs in this knock than he had in seven previous Test innings at Edgbaston (163 runs at 27.16).

• The 186-run partnership between Cook and Andrew Strauss is the third-highest opening stand for England against India, and the highest for England in Tests at Edgbaston.

• The century stand is the 11th between Cook and Strauss. This puts them in fourth place among opening pairs with the most century stands. They are second only to Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe among England pairs.

• Amit Mishra has bowled 69 no-balls in his 12 Tests; in the last 12 Tests, including the current one, England have collectively bowled 39.

For England the success of their openers added two more pieces to the series jigsaw that is almost complete. All they need now is for Graeme Swann to play a part in the second innings which isn’t out of the question having seen the turn Mishra and even Suresh Raina were able to extract. This was a humbling day for India and they were never in the contest. The ground fielding was poor and the catching fallible with three chances going down; the third of them in the final over of the day when Rahul Dravid missed a dolly at slip with Eoin Morgan on 43. Dravid threw his cap down in frustration. It summed up India’s performance.Early wickets could have brought them back into the contest but they never materialised and the rare inroads they did make never halted England’s progress. The attack was largely toothless, although Praveen Kumar deserves immense credit for his unstinting efforts which were rewarded with two wickets and a pair of sore feet.England, quite sensibly, gave the first hour to the bowlers aware that India’s attack lacked depth and scoring would steadily become easier. Cook made 5 from his first 42 balls in the day and there was a five-over period with one run off the bat – Praveen’s first spell was 7-5-2-0 – but India were denied any inroads. Strauss and Cook then expanded their scoring as runs flowed either side of lunch and the pace never slowed. The day brought 372 runs which, to follow on from 417 conceded on the third day Trent Bridge, highlights how profligate the bowling has been.Strauss was closing in on his first Test hundred since Brisbane last November but moved too far across when he went to sweep Mishra and the ball clipped leg stump. Replays showed it was another no-ball on a day Mishra delivered eight. However, if India had hoped that would give them a chance to assert some pressure they soon found England scoring at an even greater rate as Ian Bell began with a string of boundaries off Ishant. Bell was given a life on 30 when Dravid dropped a low chance at first slip but it wasn’t too costly for India as Praveen produced a beautiful delivery to take off stump.Pietersen continued the positive approach, after his off-the-mark boundary flew close to leg slip, and made his intent to dominate Mishra clear when he drilled him straight then launched him into the stands over long-on. Against the new ball he was expansive, taking three boundaries in an over off Ishant, the first of which took him to fifty from 52 deliveries. It was a shock – both for the crowd and Pietersen – when he was given lbw to Praveen despite being a long way down the pitch although Hawk Eye said it was clipping off stump. Pietersen had to drag himself away, no doubt aware that there were plenty more runs on offer.Still, the occasional wicket was barely a set-back for England. Another partnership would form, as Cook did with Eoin Morgan, but India continued to find new ways to embarrass themselves as Sreesanth spilled a simple catch at point to give Morgan his first life on 17. Like at Trent Bridge, after a brief test against the quicks, Morgan was able to face some fairly friendly spin with the pacemen exhausted. India looked anything but the No. 1 team in the world and soon they won’t be.

Eoin Morgan slams 91 off 41 before Matt Parkinson takes 4-47 as New Zealand are thrashed

The Report by George Dobell08-Nov-2019Dawid Malan struck the fastest century in England’s T20I history to set up a series-levelling win in Napier.Malan, who reached the landmark in 48 deliveries, laid the platform for England’s highest T20I total, surpassing the 230 they made against South Africa in Mumbai in 2016. With Eoin Morgan also recording a career-best T20I score – he made 91 from 41 balls – England added 182 in 74 balls for the third wicket. It was the highest third-wicket partnership by any team in the history of T20I cricket and the fourth-highest partnership for any wicket.The result leaves the series poised at 2-2 with only one game, in Auckland on Sunday, to come.

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For Malan, in particular, this may prove a vital innings. Even before this match, he had a fine T20I record – he had registered five half-centuries in his first eight T20I games – but probably needed to produce something special to remain in contention for selection once the likes of Jason Roy, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes return to the side.This was pretty special. Having started his innings by feasting on any width offered by the seamers, he also showed a willingness to use his feet to the spinners – four of his sixes came off them – and hit across the line to target the short, square boundaries. And, having reached his half-century from 31 balls, he accelerated sharply to record his century just 17 deliveries later. At one stage he struck five sixes and a four in nine deliveries with his ability to hit straight and on both sides of the wicket offering no room for error.It was the second T20I century from an England player, with Alex Hales – now, surely, even further from a recall – taking 60 deliveries to make his against Sri Lanka in Chattogram in 2014.It looked, for a while, as if Morgan might break the record Malan had set minutes earlier. He had struck 28 – comprised of four sixes and a four – in his previous six deliveries and, with three balls of the innings remaining, required nine more for the milestone. Instead he fell to a catch at long-off.Dawid Malan of England celebrates his remarkable century•Getty Images

New Zealand’s bowling wilted in the face of the assault. Gaining no assistance from the surface or the conditions, they found their variations picked comfortably by the England pair and the short boundaries – particularly square of the wicket – unforgiving of any error. Ish Sodhi’s figures – he conceded 49 from three overs, with his final one costing 28 – were particularly ugly, though Blair Tickner recovered relatively well after his first two overs cost 32.ALSO READ: Will England dare to leave out Malan again?Even Mitchell Santner, who had 2 for 2 after eight deliveries and has toyed with England’s batsmen throughout much of the series, conceded 20 off his third over.Morgan was twice caught off full tosses – once, on 51 off Santner and once, on 59, off Tickner – that were subsequently adjudged to have been over waist height. He was also dropped on 11 when Mitchell did well to cling on to a tough chance on the midwicket boundary but then released the ball as he realised his momentum was about to carry him over the rope.Mitchell, a late replacement in the New Zealand side for the unwell Jimmy Neesham, was punished for the error by conceding 25 from his only over of the innings, the 19th, with Morgan taking him for three sixes. The innings lifted Morgan from 12th to seventh in the list of all time T20I run-makers.New Zealand, requiring their highest total batting second to win, started well in reply. Martin Guptill hit successive sixes off Chris Jordan – the second of them, a cut, carrying out of the ground – while Colin Munro struck three fours from his first seven balls. They reached 50 from the first ball of the fifth over.But Tom Curran then produced a yorker which Guptill chipped to mid-on and Jordan a slower ball which Tim Seifert scooped in the same direction. When Matt Parkinson, hit for six the previous delivery, held his nerve and lured Colin de Grandhomme into another drive towards the longest boundary, New Zealand’s chances subsided sharply.Parkinson had Munro taken in similar fashion with his next delivery and Mitchell in his next over. Had Pat Brown, at long-on, held on to a relatively straightforward chance offered by Tim Southee on 13, Parkinson might have ended with a five-for. Either way, it was a performance that justified his inclusion ahead of Adil Rashid.By that stage, New Zealand’s task was almost hopeless. But Southee, swinging merrily, dented Parkinson’s figures and England will have been just a little disappointed by some of the outfielding. Twice boundaries were conceded as fielders – once Lewis Gregory and once Brown – misjudged the bounce of the ball approaching them. A direct hit from Jordan to run out Sodhi will have provided a reminded or the desired standards.Still, having lose the previous two games, this was a much-improved performance from England with the final margin of victory the fourth biggest, in terms of runs, they have recorded in this format of the game. As their ODI team has shown on many occasions, on flat wickets they really do – even without a host of first-choice players – present formidable opposition.

New Zealand allrounder Sarah Tsukigawa has announced her retirement from international and first class cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Apr-2011New Zealand allrounder Sarah Tsukigawa has announced her retirement from international and first class cricket. Commenting on her retirement, New Zealand women’s coach Gary Stead said Tsukigawa will be missed by New Zealand and her domestic side Otago, which she has captained. “The experience she has developed in her 12 years [of domestic cricket] cannot be replaced,” he told website. “The leadership capabilities and respect she has within the Otago Sparks and White Ferns sides is huge.”A hard-hitting middle order batman and medium pacer, Tsukigawa, 29, debuted against India in 2006 and has played 42 ODIs and 19 Twenty20 internationals for New Zealand since. She averaged 22.12 with bat and 32.02 with ball in the 50-over formant. The highlight of her career came when she averaged 71.33 in a five-match series against India in 2007, in which she also picked up five wickets at 23.80 apiece.

Essex must win their game against Kent, but even that might not be enough to qualify

Matt Roller at The Oval29-Aug-2019An unbroken stand of 117 in 10.4 overs between Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate was enough to keep Essex’s hopes of qualification alive at The Oval and dumped Surrey out at the group stage for the fourth time in five years.On a two-paced pitch, Essex had started sluggishly, and at 87 for 4 after 12 overs dominated by Surrey’s spinners, were set for little more than a par score. But ten Doeschate’s expert rotation of the strike, followed by a late blitz from Bopara after a characteristically slow start took them to an imposing 186, which proved too many for Surrey’s faltering batting line-up.For Essex, the qualification picture is not as simple as they might hope. Their game against Kent tomorrow night is a must-win, but even that might not be enough; their net run-rate is comfortably the worst of the sides still in contention, and they could well find themselves needing winless Glamorgan to pull off an upset against Hampshire to seal a quarter-final spot.Essex lost three early wickets as their top order struggled to time the ball early on, and Surrey’s veteran spin duo of Gareth Batty and Imran Tahir looked set to keep them tied down. Batty’s figures – 1 for 15 in four overs – were by no means flattering, with his subtle variations and guile resulting in a boundary-free spell.When ten Doeschate reached his fifty with a boundary and a single at the start of the 17th over, Bopara was on 21; they ended unbeaten on 55 and 70 respectively, as Bopara took advantage of some profligate death bowling from Jade Dernbach and Sam Curran for three fours and four sixes in the final three overs to take him from 21 off 18 to 70 from 35.From the England perspective, it must have smarted to see Curran with the white ball in his hand, not least given the Australians’ game at Derby had seen the two touring seamers yet to play a game – Mitchell Starc and Michael Neser – share six wickets earlier in the day.Curran’s final over – the 19th – included three full tosses, two towering sixes, and went for 22 runs all told, and while regular Blast games represent the only real cricket on offer to him, they can hardly be considered ideal preparation for a young man on an England Test contract ahead of a possible Ashes bow later in the series.Since playing in the Test against Ireland, Curran has been limited to seven Blast games and the first two days of a Championship match, meaning that both Neser and Starc have bowled more red-ball overs than him in that time. We are more than used to hearing complaints from touring teams about a lack of quality match practice during long tours; it should rankle that England’s domestic set-up means the same is true for them when they play at home.With the bat, things were little better for Curran. He has been a useful, free-scoring No. 3 for them this season, with 222 runs and a strike-rate of 144.16 before this evening, but chewed up four dot balls against Mohammad Amir, before chipping a couple of boundaries over long-off and then holing out for a run-a-ball eight, as Bopara took an excellent catch running back at square leg.His time will come back around – failure is a much more regular a feature in T20 than success – but this night did not belong to him.Surrey have struggled throughout the season to score runs regularly, with only Aaron Finch ending the tournament with more than 350 runs, and so it proved again here.Jamie Porter – who was only playing due to a last-minute injury to Aaron Beard during Essex’s warm-up – took three Powerplay wickets in his first appearance of the season to remove Finch – well held by the diving Simon Harmer at mid-off – then Curran and Mark Stoneman with successive balls to seemingly end the game as a contest in the fourth over.Will Jacks and Ollie Pope threatened to salvage the chase, both smiting sixes into a sell-out crowd, but wickets fell all too regularly for Surrey to seriously threaten to pull off a win.Jordan Clark did his best to keep things alive with a 32-ball 60, but found himself needing to hit 31 off Porter’s final over. He hit four then six from the first two balls, but Porter held his nerve to close out the win, firing in two yorkers before clinging onto a steepling caught-and-bowled chance.

England spinner reflects on cult status after helping seal victory in the final Test of summer

Alan Gardner16-Sep-2019If any confirmation were needed that Jack Leach has become an England cult hero, it came on the third evening at The Oval. Leach had walked out to bat alongside Jofra Archer, with England eight down and sitting on a 374-run lead when people began to rise in their seats and join in with a booming chorus that echoed around the ground: “Stand up if you love Jack Leach!”Only those of a green-and-gold persuasion declined to join the choir. Leach’s fan club has grown steadily since the middle of summer, but largely because of his batting exploits rather than his spin bowling. First came the 92 as nightwatchman opener against Ireland at Lord’s, for which he was named Man of the Match; then the valiant 1 off 17 balls to accompany Ben Stokes into the history books at Headingley. In the first innings at The Oval, he held up his end while helping Jos Buttler to add 68 and lift England from trouble again.Then there is the endearing routine of cleaning his glasses between deliveries. In part it is Leach’s everyman appearance that chimes with the watching public – though the sight of fans at Old Trafford mimicking his bald pate and glasses prompted Kevin Pietersen to wonder in a column for a betting site whether Leach was becoming a “laughing stock”.On the final day of the series at The Oval, Leach made sure the talk would be about his bowling at last. He made key incisions to remove Marnus Labuschagne and Tim Paine before taking the last two wickets to fall for figures of 4 for 49 – his best in home Tests – in the process sharing all ten with Stuart Broad and his captain, Joe Root. “Today I just wanted to be patient and felt if I did my job well then the wickets would come,” he said. “I needed to put the ball in the right area and be patient. I got my rewards at the end, with some good catching from Rooty. Broady set the tone amazingly well earlier on, it was a real team effort. The Aussies fought hard but we did enough.”It was nice to get some wickets on the last day. The support for me has been something I didn’t think I’d ever experience. Maybe it’s because of my batting, but I think it’s mainly because I’m bald and have got glasses. The way the public have warmed to me is something very special and I don’t take for granted. I can’t thank them enough.”England were well on their way to drawing the series on Saturday evening, when Leach was warmly serenaded by the Oval crowd. Looking back, he was happy enough to acknowledge the moment of fortune at Headingley that saw Nathan Lyon drop the ball with a decisive run-out opportunity begging.”Yesterday, when I was batting at the end, over there they were singing ‘Stand up if you love Jack Leach’, and then they started over there as well. I just thought ‘What is going on?’ Nathan Lyon came over and said to me ‘How many beers do you owe me [for the run out]?’ I think I owe him a lot. Sport is fickle and I guess you have to enjoy the good moments and not get too down about the bad moments. I have had some luck as well. Hopefully you earn that luck through hard work, I will continue working hard.”Jack Leach claimed the key scalp of Tim Paine•Getty Images

Leach has been a hit on social media, as well as in the stands, with a video of his re-enactment of the single he scored at Headingley receiving more than 5000 likes on Twitter. After Australia had retained the urn by winning the next Test, at Old Trafford, there were suggestions that Steven Smith had donned a pair of glasses in mock tribute – though it was later clarified to be a joke at the expense of bespectacled former Australia opener Chris Rogers.”Smith came to me to let me know that it wasn’t about me,” Leach said. “I didn’t know whether it was or wasn’t. I was kind of hoping it was, and thought it was a good laugh. I was very embarrassed after Headingley when the video came out of me doing my one. I think I deserved that to be honest! That’s why we got a picture together after the game with him wearing my glasses!”Having made a low-key debut in Christchurch in March 2018, then missing out on the following Test summer through injury, it feels as though Leach has taken 18 months to become an overnight success. However, he does not intend to bask in his new status, and could well find himself involved in a momentous achievement of a different kind over the coming days, with Somerset closing in on the first-ever Championship title in their history.”Somerset-Essex next week, I don’t know if I’ll play yet. I’ve been part of that Somerset season as well so I don’t know. During this series it’s been pretty mentally and physically tiring. But I probably haven’t bowled too many overs, not a silly amount. It will be good to go back and try to win the Championship with Somerset because we’ve never won that.”

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Tottenham fans have taken to Twitter to discuss Ryan Fredericks’ performance for West Ham against Liverpool on Monday night, after the English right-back put in an excellent shift to help his side snatch an unlikely point against the league leaders.

The 26-year-old, signed from Fulham in the summer, helped limit the Reds’ goalscoring chances, whilst also proving to be a good attacking outlet on the overlap – this was key, as it helped nullify Andrew Robertson’s usually dangerous impact going forward.

Fredericks is a fantastic modern-day full-back, who possesses an abundance of pace but is physical enough to deal with most wingers, and Tottenham fans were certainly made to sit up and take notice of their former youth player’s performance.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

Spurs have a bit of an issue at right-back currently, with both Serge Aurier and Kieran Trippier struggling for form and Kyle Walker-Peters still relatively inexperienced, so they were keeping a very close eye on how their ex-starlet fared against Jurgen Klopp’s side.

In that respect, Fredericks’ fantastic performance prompted some Spurs fans on Twitter to call for their club to sign him…