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Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan took three wickets for Worcestershire on the third day of their County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road

27-Aug-2010
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Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan took three wickets for Worcestershire on the third day of their County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.Stephen Peters, Rob Newton and Northants captain Andrew Hall all made half-centuries for the home side, who batted through the day in posting 385 for 9 declared at the close, with the game surely destined to be drawn.Peters top-scored with 75, with Shakib taking 3 for 75 and Alan Richardson claiming overall figures of four for 83 with an anti-climactic final day seemingly on the way tomorrow. After two days ruined by rain, Northants resumed their first innings on 96 for three, with opener Peters on 38 and youngster Newton yet to score.Peters went on to complete a patient half-century off 123 balls as the home side made a confident start. 20-year-old Newton reached his 50 in a more explosive fashion, smashing it off 59 balls including one superb six pulled over mid-wicket off Richardson.He added six more to his tally before his aggression proved to be his undoing when he launched Gareth Andrew to Richardson at deep square leg to end a fourth-wicket stand of 80 with Peters. Peters made it to 75 before being pinned lbw by Shakib in the last over before lunch. Richardson, who took two wickets on the first day, then dismissed Zimbabwe’s Elton Chigumbura (nine) when the seamer forced him to edge to Worcestershire wicketkeeper Ben Cox in the third over after the second new ball was taken.Hall then became the third batsman to make a half-century for the hosts when he clouted his 129th ball, delivered by Jack Shantry, behind square leg for four. He and James Middlebrook survived until tea, with the pair completing a 50 partnership in the first over of the evening session.Hall had reached 65 before he feathered a Shakib delivery to Cox in the following over before Middlebrook, who had made a competent 40, saw his leg stump taken out by the same bowler. However, the ninth-wicket pairing of Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy and Jack Brooks made the visitors attack toil after that in producing a 50 stand of their own.Richardson ended their entertaining partnership of 68 when he comprehensively bowled Brooks, who had blasted 34 off 46 balls. Murphy stayed put for the rest of the day and finished on 36 not out, with Lee Daggett unbeaten on six at the other end as the hosts declared.

Matty Hurst hits 78 from 45 but visitors fail to capitalise on platform of 90-run opening stand

ECB Media04-Aug-2024Northern Superchargers made it two wins from two over Manchester Originals in the northern derbies at Headingley in the Hundred on Sunday. Harry Brook’s side beat the team from the other side of the Pennines by 14 runs to follow success for Hollie Armitage’s team earlier in the day.Originals won the toss and chose to bowl, which looked a great choice with rain falling before the start of the match and thick clouds overhead. Unsurprisingly then, Superchargers got off to a slow start with the bat, as Fazalhaq Farooqi took a wicket with the very first ball of the match.Graham Clark and captain Brook rebuilt the innings with a well-paced 50 partnership. Brook went on to score an explosive 58 off 33, before being caught out by Scott Currie low to the ground at mid-off.After a strong middle to the home side’s innings, Originals came back strongly at the end to restrict Superchargers to 167 for 5.Mitchell Santner bowled a key spell•Getty Images

Captain Phil Salt and Matty Hurst got Originals’ innings off to a very promising start with 90 for the opening partnership. Salt scoring 40 from 27, while the impressive Hurst top-scored with 78 from 45.Unfortunately for the winless Originals, they then capitulated from 90 for 1 to 128 for 4 thanks to some game-turning run-outs and Mitchell Santner, who took 2 for 23. When Hurst departed, Originals required 29 from 13, but they were unable to get over the line, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the table and Superchargers up into third.Meerkat Match Hero Brook said: “I felt like they were the favourites coming out of the powerplay, but we bowled unbelievably well at the death to get the win.”We didn’t have the batting powerplay that we wanted, but we stuck to our task. The outfield is so quick here that I didn’t feel like I needed to hit many balls in the air, so I was just trying to pierce the gaps and it worked. I was just trying to stay in until the end, so I could put pressure on them at the end. I felt good at the start and thankfully I hit a few gaps.”We’ve always got a take-wickets mentality, but we obviously had to think about that a bit more when we didn’t get a wicket in powerplay, and they were 90 without loss. So, I tossed the ball to [Adil] Rashid and Mitch [Santner], and they did a really good job in getting some crucial wickets that helped us get the win.”

Ben Sanderson, Jack White put on 70 for ninth wicket but Daniel Bell-Drummond had Kent in command

ECB Reporters Network28-Jun-2023Kent’s spinners finally overcame a late flourish from the Northamptonshire tail to wrap up an innings victory at Wantage Road and climb to eighth place in the LV= Insurance County Championship Division One table.Joe Denly claimed four wickets and Hamidullah Qadri three as the home side were bowled out for 369 despite an entertaining ninth-wicket stand of 70 between Ben Sanderson and Jack White.The Northamptonshire pair both registered career-best performances in first-class cricket, with Sanderson hitting 46 before White, batting at No. 10, hammered a maiden half-century from 68 balls.He was last man out for 59 to seal Kent’s first Championship victory since the opening round of the campaign, when they defeated the same opponents by seven wickets at Canterbury.As they had done for most of the previous afternoon, Kent initially kept faith with an all-spin attack – which paid off after just 10 balls when Denly had Saif Zaib snapped up at short leg without adding to his overnight 43.Tom Taylor displayed attacking intent, clubbing both Denly and Jack Leaning to the leg-side boundary and Lewis McManus attempted to follow suit as he latched onto a long hop from Qadri, only to pick out the square leg fielder.Taylor found an unexpected ally in Sanderson, who batted with freedom and rattled up a string of boundaries in their lively partnership of 38, prompting Kent to take the new ball and entrust it to their seamers.It made little difference to Sanderson, who thrashed Arshdeep Singh twice to the cover fence, but Wes Agar duly provided the breakthrough – albeit in unusual fashion, deflecting Sanderson’s drive onto the stumps to run out Taylor at the non-striker’s end.However, the eighth-wicket partnership was surpassed by the ninth, with White slamming Denly back over his head for four and unveiling a rarely seen range of shots, including the reverse sweep, to lift Northamptonshire beyond 300.Sanderson stroked Denly for a couple on the leg-side to bring up the 50 partnership – and the highest score of his 15-year county career – but he missed the opportunity of a maiden half-century, taking a swing at Qadri and edging behind.White, however, made no such mistake, dispatching the leg-spinner cleanly over the top for a boundary to bring up his personal landmark before Denly finally had him caught behind to seal Kent’s success.

South Africa grappling with the unavailability of their experienced Test stars away at the IPL

Mohammad Isam30-Mar-2022

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362 caps v 206 caps.For the first time since they got Test status in 2000, Bangladesh are in South Africa with an opportunity to challenge the home team. They have already won the ODI series, they have the more experienced Test squad, and can potentially take advantage of South Africa missing their IPL stars in the two-match series.South Africa captain Dean Elgar has toned down the rhetoric after he had called the players’ choice between national duty for this series and IPL as a “litmus test of loyalty.” Having not got his way with the squad, the onus is on Elgar to bat, bat and contribute big.Elgar will heavily bank on Temba Bavuma and Keshav Maharaj, the other experienced players, along with Duanne Olivier, the fast bowler who leads an inexperienced pace attack. Maharaj may be able to bowl in tandem with offspinner Simon Harmer. who is set to return to international cricket for the first time since 2015.The only solace for the home side is that Bangladesh won’t have Shakib Al Hasan, who is home for personal reasons. Shakib aside, Bangladesh have their best players available, particularly with Tamim Iqbal back in the Test fold after missing the New Zealand series. Bangladesh can look at that tour for inspiration too, having recorded their first-ever Test win in New Zealand.Tamim, Mominul and Mushfiqur would once again carry the batting. Their form will be particularly crucial because Bangladesh have averaged 18 with the bat in South Africa, so just like the ODI series, they have a lot of room for improvement in this country.

Form guide

South Africa WLWWL (Last five completed matches; most recent first)

Bangladesh LWLLW

In the spotlight

Taskin Ahmed was named Player of the ODI Series. This has helped rebuild his reputation in South Africa after his disastrous 2017 tour. That said, Taskin has lots to prove in Test cricket still. The initial signs are encouraging. Over the past 11 months, he has brought down his bowling average from 97.42 to 56.73. He’ll be looking to improve further.All eyes will be on Dean Elgar whose 74 caps make up for one-third of South Africa’s Test experience ahead of the series. Apart from, of course, wanting talk about the missing stars to die down, he has to bounce back with some runs too, having managed just 55 runs in four innings.

Team news

From the XI that beat New Zealand by 198 runs to level the series last month, South Africa will be without Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Marco Jansen and Kagiso Rabada. Ryan Rickelton is likely to be handed a debut, while Harmer, Olivier and Keegan Petersen could also get games.South Africa (probable): 1 Dean Elgar (capt), 2 Sarel Erwee, 3 Keegan Petersen, 4 Ryan Rickleton, 5 Temba Bavuma, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Simon Harmer, 9 Duanne Olivier/Glenton Stuurman, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Lutho SipamlaTamim Iqbal and Mahmudul Hasan Joy will form the opening pair while Mushfiqur Rahim returns to the middle order after missing the second Test in New Zealand in January.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mominul Haque (capt), 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Yasir Ali, 7 Litton Das (wk), 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Shoriful Islam, 11 Ebadot Hossain

Pitch and conditions

Rain is in the forecast for the first four days in Durban. The Kingsmead pitch is synonymous with pace and bounce but spin has played its part in recent years. First-class teams this year have averaged 400 runs in the first two innings.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have four uncapped players in their current Test squad. In 2017, they fielded two debutants in the Potchefstroom Test, the most against Bangladesh.
• Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque and South Africa’s Temba Bavuma will play their 50th Test in Durban on Thursday. Mominul will be Bangladesh’s seventh, and Bavuma South Africa’s 24th.

Steve Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood will not play any long-form games prior to the Test series

Alex Malcolm and Andrew McGlashan12-Nov-2020Joe Burns could have a final chance to keep his Test place in a head-to-head battle with Will Pucovski after both were named in the Australia A squad for the two warm-up matches against India.Fellow Test specialists Tim Paine and Travis Head have also been included, but Steven Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood will not play any red or pink-ball cricket prior to the four-Test series.Selectors named a 19-man Australia A squad for two three-day tour games against India in Sydney on the same day they announced the 17-man Test squad. The most interesting aspect will be the head-to-head between Burns, who made just 57 runs in five Sheffield Shield innings, and Will Pucovski for who will open in the Test series following the latter’s back-to-back double hundreds.”[It] could well do,” national selector Trevor Hohns said when asked if the A-games could decide the Test line-up. “Particularly those who won’t be playing any cricket between now and the Test match [we] will certainly be using the Australia A games to give us an indication of where some of our players are at that stage.”Hohns indicated that the judgement call will be between current form and the success the Test side had last season during which they went to No. 1 in the world. Although Burns did not score a century last summer his partnership with Warner has been a success.”If we’re looking at where Will bats up the top there, the partnership that our openers have formed over the last 12 months have been instrumental in helping us get to that No.1 position in world cricket,” he said. “So we have to take that into account, but of course it would be nice to have everybody in form right now.”Hohns added there wasn’t any consideration given to keeping Pucovski or Cameron Green, who is also in both squads as well as the limited-overs set-up, away from the Indians ahead of the Test series.”We are using these games really as preparation,” Hohns said. “Also, it gives our players the opportunity to have a look at the Indian players so I don’t see that as an issue at all.”The first tour game against India A will take place at Drummoyne Oval, starting on December 6, while the final two games of the Australia India T20 series is happening across town at the SCG. The second game is a day-night fixture at the SCG starting on December 11, which will be the final warm-up for both nations prior to the first test in Adelaide.Paine, Burns, and Head will all likely play in the first fixture after all three played in the opening four rounds of the Sheffield Shield fixtures in Adelaide. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey has also been included in the A squad and looks poised to replace Paine for the second fixture once the T20 series is completed. Carey missed the first four Sheffield Shield rounds due to IPL duty.But Warner, Smith, Cummins, and Hazlewood will not play any long-form cricket prior to the Test series having missed the opening four rounds of the Sheffield Shield due to IPL duties in the UAE. They have all been included in Australia’s limited-overs squads but could be rested from some of the six white-ball matches to allow for time at home prior to the Test series.Mitchell Marsh has been included in the Australia A squad subject to fitness after suffering a serious ankle injury early in the IPL that ruled him out of the tournament and the early rounds of the Shield season.Moises Henriques, Ashton Agar and Sean Abbott have all been included in the Australia A squad despite being in the limited-overs squads and could well play in one or both of the A matches.Marcus Harris missed out on the Test squad but has been included along with fellow Victorian’s Nic Maddinson and Will Sutherland.Jackson Bird, Harry Conway, and Mark Steketee have been rewarded for their consistent wicket-taking over recent seasons, joining Michael Neser, James Pattinson, and Mitchell Swepson who have also been included in the Test squad.Australia A squad Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Joe Burns, Jackson Bird, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Nic Maddinson, Mitchell Marsh (subject to fitness), Michael Neser, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Mark Steketee, Will Sutherland, Mitchell Swepson

He does things that are in essence truly remarkable, but does them with such banality that in the end they are barely remarked upon

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Galle16-Aug-2019If New Zealand are the team that do great things that barely get noticed in the wider cricket world, BJ Watling is the New Zealand of New Zealand. Pull up to a cricket ground when he is in action and watch him closely. Take in his every movement, observe every run he scores, note the difficult takes and the fine catches, drink in his cuts and pulls, revel in Watling, breathe Watling in.Then go home and describe Watling to a friend.He was vital to the team’s cause, and…. oh yeah, he contributed to key moments. But beyond that, be honest, you can’t really remember much. I mean, were you even really watching him? Or were you too busy seething at a Ross Taylor dismissal? Or salivating over a Trent Boult spell? No one would really blame you. Least of all Watling himself. This is his calling in life – to do things that are in essence truly remarkable, but to do them with such utter banality that in the end they are barely remarked upon. You sense he wouldn’t have it any other way.In Galle, on day three, he struck one of those quintessential Watling innings, making 63 not out. Quintessential because, as is often the case, this good Watling innings came with his team in deep trouble, effectively 64 for 4. Quintessential, also, because although the scorecard says he hit five fours, you can barely bring them to mind. Was one of them off a sweep? Come to think of it, does he even play a sweep? A batting style so bland, so nondescript, if it ever committed a crime, you wouldn’t pull it out of a police lineup.And what he does for this New Zealand side, one packed with more great players than you suspect a New Zealand side ever has been, has routinely been the difference between victory and defeat. Specialising in crises is the making of many great players. It is inherently a magnetic and heroic endeavour. When Watling does it though – and man does he do it often – it’s like he is doing no more exceptional a thing than walking down the road to buy groceries. The Galle pitch is treacherous. It has made a fool of all-time greats. Watling negotiated it, no fuss, no chances given, no look-at me shots. Just smart, scrappy batting, and concentrated stubbornness.Ninety-nine innings into his Test career, Watling has six hundreds and 17 half-centuries, but where he really excels is at putting up partnerships. He has been part of two record sixth-wicket stands, with Brendon McCullum, and Kane Williamson, but because he played second fiddle in both, no one really remembers him being in them. When he does lead a partnership, it is generally one of those vital stands with a tailender, and as such do not send any meaningful records tumbling, so no one remembers those for long either. But then what if they had never happened? Where would New Zealand be in this game without the 54-run seventh-wicket stand with Tim Southee? When he bats with the lower order, even normally aggressive tailenders suddenly become workmanlike.Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella is often accused of playing flashy and insubstantial innings, and is basically the opposite of Watling in every way. In this Test, as if even being in the same ground as Watling is enough, Dickwella produced a jaw-droppingly responsible innings (by his standards at least) and put up his own big partnership with No. 9 Suranga Lakmal.All of this is to say nothing of Watling’s keeping, which of course, as with everything, is sublimely proficient, and deeply unsexy. He doesn’t kick up his heels on the diving takes, doesn’t over-celebrate the great stumpings. His appeals are earnest but not pleading. Precise footwork, soft hands, good anticipation – this, instead, is where Watling makes his honest living. He has twice taken nine catches in a match, which is outstanding, but still two catches short of being a record. He has 2.05 dismissals per innings across his career, which again is super, but puts him at only fourth on the all-time list (for keepers with more than 200 career dismissals), behind Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin and a certain gloveman from Pakistan. How strange is the space Watling inhabits, that he is both statistically the greatest purveyor of his craft his nation has produced, and yet has slightly worse numbers than Kamran Akmal.If the defining quality of this New Zealand team is to be better at what they do than most imagine they are, no one embodies those virtues better than their wicketkeeper-batsman. In an alternate universe, New Zealand were bundled out for 120, and Sri Lanka have already won this Test. This universe is no sexier for Watling’s presence in it. But it definitely is better.

Will Jacks shone once more and Connor Brown just missed out on his first List A century as Glamorgan fell to defeat at Kia Oval

ECB Reporters Network06-Jun-2018
ScorecardA crowd of almost 5,000 at the Kia Oval were given another glimpse of Will Jacks’ immense potential as the 19-year-old struck a brilliant 80 from 57 balls as Surrey eased to a five-wicket Royal London One-Day cup victory against the South Group’s bottom side Glamorgan.Sadly for Surrey, however, their fourth win of the competition did not earn them a quarter-final berth because Essex Eagles beat Kent Spitfires at Chelmsford to go through to the knockout stage alongside Kent and top-of-the-group Hampshire.Like Jacks, it was also a bittersweet day for another youngster, 21-year-old Glamorgan batsman Connor Brown, who earlier hit a six and nine fours to reach 98 from 136 balls in just his third List A appearance before being caught in the last over.But Glamorgan’s 50-over total of 266 for 8 was never going to be enough after Jacks and Jason Roy plundered 77 in only 8.3 overs for the second wicket to take full advantage of the initial ten-over Powerplay following the early dismissal of an out-of-form Mark Stoneman.Jacks, who also scored 121 against Gloucestershire earlier in the competition, reached his fifty from a mere 30 balls and pulled Timm van der Gugten powerfully for successive sixes in the eighth over of Surrey’s reply. With Roy also swinging Carey over deep square leg for six, it was only when off spinner Andrew Salter was introduced that Surrey’s cavalier progress was slowed.Salter bowled Roy for 23 with his second ball, when brought on for the tenth over, to leave Surrey 84 for 2, and then he also ended Jacks’ sparkling knock when the tall opener yorked himself as he advanced to drive. Jacks had hit 12 fours, besides those two huge sixes of Van der Gugten.From 125 for 3, it was left to Surrey captain Rory Burns and the classy Ben Foakes to steady Surrey with a fourth wicket stand of 79 in 14 overs.Both got out when victory was all but assured, Burns for a 69-ball 68, caught at long on off David Lloyd’s off breaks, and Foakes held at mid wicket off Carey for 30.Ollie Pope and Sam Curran, in an unbroken sixth wicket stand of 51, completed the win with 9.2 overs to spare.Rikki Clarke, with a deserved 3 for 49, was the most successful bowler in a disciplined Surrey attack in which Morne Morkel looked a class apart while taking 2 for 39 from his ten overs. Tom Curran had a rare off day as he was taken for 80 from his ten-over allocation.Glamorgan lost their first two wickets without a run on the board, as openers Nick Selman and Aneurin Donald fell to Morkel and Sam Curran respectively to the third and tenth balls of the match.Glamorgan’s recovery was launched by Brown and Colin Ingram, the captain, who put on 85 in 18 overs for the third wicket but Ingram then aimed a reverse sweep at off spinner Batty – perhaps an error of judgement on the left-hander’s part at that stage of the innings – and was lbw for 44.Ingram had faced 59 balls, hitting sixes off both Batty and Tom Curran, but his dismissal was quickly followed by that of Lloyd, who was caught at long leg in the 25th over when Morkel returned for a quick second burst.Brown was fortunate to squeeze a searing Sam Curran yorker off the toe of his bat just past Foakes for four to go to his half-century but he and his fellow youngster, the 20-year-old Kiran Carlson, added 65 to give Glamorgan the chance to post some sort of defendable total.Carlson was leg-before to the accurate Clarke for 33 but Brown, accelerating, pulled Sam Curran for six and then swatted Morkel over mid off for four to go into the 80s.Graham Wagg proved to be just the man Glamorgan needed to join Brown, swinging three legside sixes in a violent 18-ball 35 before he skied Clarke to extra cover.Brown, needing just two for his first List A hundred, selflessly swung the second ball of the final over, bowled by Clarke, to deep midwicket.

New Zealand seamer Tim Southee has been ruled out of the third Test against South Africa in Hamilton due to a hamstring injury he sustained in the hosts’ eight wicket-loss in Wellington

Firdose Moonda in Hamilton23-Mar-20171:15

Moonda: Depleted New Zealand left with plenty of problems

New Zealand have suffered a third major injury blow in three Tests with news that vice-captain Tim Southee has been ruled out of the Hamilton match with a hamstring tear. Although only a grade one tear, Southee will not be risked in an attack that is still waiting on confirmation of whether Trent Boult, who sat out the Wellington Test with an upper leg injury, will be able to lead it. At the other end of the line-up, New Zealand are without their most experienced batsman Ross Taylor, who suffered a calf tear in the first Test and has not been able to participate in the remaining two.Southee’s absence leaves New Zealand with four other seam options: Neil Wagner, Matt Henry, who is yet to play in the series, and allrounders Colin de Grandhomme and Jimmy Neesham. It is likely New Zealand will choose between three of the quartet to feature in an attack that is set to include both specialist spinners.Jeetan Patel and Mitchell Santner are the two slower bowlers in the New Zealand squad and both played in the first Test in Dunedin, at the expense of Southee, on a slow, low surface. The Hamilton one is set to be similar, although it is also expected to take some turn. With New Zealand deciding not to add legspinner Ish Sodhi to their squad, the two tweakers will likely be in the starting XI.This is Southee’s second injury of the summer. In September, he was ruled out of the three-Test series in India after an ankle ligament strain. He went on to play the four home Tests against Pakistan and Bangladesh, against whom he picked up his 200th Test wicket, before sitting out the first Test against South Africa in Dunedin and being brought back for the second. There is no word on whether the injury will affect Southee’s participation in the IPL, which starts on April 5.Since Boult’s Test debut in December 2011, New Zealand have played only three matches without both Boult and Southee, none of which the side could win.South Africa have an injury concern of their own. Quinton de Kock suffered damage to a tendon on his right index finger and could need up to six weeks on the sidelines. A late call will be taken on de Kock’s availability on Friday afternoon.

Steven Smith went on to score his 14th Test ton, despite receiving a blow on his helmet prior to tea, a break that helped “let the shock settle”

Brydon Coverdale21-Feb-2016The bouncer was a key part of Neil Wagner’s weaponry on day two at Hagley Oval, and a weapon that eventually brought him the wickets of Joe Burns and Steven Smith, but it also led to a moment of serious concern. On 78, Smith ducked into a short ball from Wagner and was struck flush on the helmet, falling face-down on the ground and requiring attention from team doctor Peter Brukner before being cleared to resume his innings.After pausing for a few minutes to recover, Smith pulled his next delivery gamely for a single, and Burns faced out the remaining two deliveries of Wagner’s over. It was the last over before tea and the break came at the perfect time for Smith, who in the words of Burns was able to “let the shock settle” for 20 minutes before resuming in the final session, and going on to post his 14th Test hundred.”Not nice is it, it’s a bit of a shaky feeling,” Wagner said after play. “It’s never anyone’s intention to try and hit someone in the head and see them go down like that so I think a hell of a lot of credit to him to take a blow like that and stand up and bat the way he did shows the character of the bloke that he is. Credit to him he did pretty well from that. Hell of a knock.”I ran up straight to him and he sort of flashed his eyes a little bit and I was a bit worried at the start, and then he said he’s fine and he took a bit of time, which we all said make sure you take enough time and get yourself ready, we’ll give whatever you need. So he did and he looked fine after that.”The New Zealand players all moved to check on Smith after the blow, as did his batting partner Burns, who was quickly joined by team physio David Beakley as well as Brukner, who assessed Smith on the field. Burns said Smith got a new helmet and used the tea break to “reset himself” after the incident.”Certainly it’s always a concern when you see someone get hit in the head,” Burns said. “It got him quite flush as well, which was a concerning part. But fortunately the medical staff were out there very quickly and they gave him the all clear.”Luckily the tea break was just around the corner, so it gave him a chance to sit down for 20 minutes and I guess just let the shock settle. And then yeah, he came out after tea and was 100%, so all good.”Smith went on to score 138 before he eventually fell to another bouncer from Wagner, which was pulled straight to Martin Guptill at square leg. Burns had fallen for 170 in almost identical fashion in Wagner’s previous over, but not before his partnership of 289 – an all-time record for Australia in New Zealand – put Australia within touching distance of a first-innings lead.”When you have a long partnership with anyone it’s very satisfying,” Burns said. “The fact that we just applied really basic game-plans for long periods of time is the most satisfying thing. But getting towards stumps we were talking about how we really wanted to be two down at stumps. I guess that’s the disappointing thing, that we’re four down, and it just changes the game a little bit.”However, New Zealand still have a considerable amount of work to do in order to restrict Australia’s lead, with six wickets still in hand, only seven runs in arrears, and the prolific Adam Voges at the crease. Wagner said it had been hard work for New Zealand’s all-pace attack on day two with the Hagley Oval pitch having lost some of its pace.”It definitely slowed down quite a bit and the wicket definitely flattened out a touch,” Wagner said. “But credit to Joe Burns and Steve Smith, they batted exceptionally well and never gave us a chance. I think we bowled well in patches and periods of time where we asked good questions. They just batted really well.”

Chris Wood’s first half-century of the season ensured Hampshire escaped with a draw and left Glamorgan still looking for their second win in the County Championship this term.

05-Aug-2013
ScorecardNeil McKenzie shared in a healthy partnership that secured the draw•Getty Images

Chris Wood’s first half-century of the season ensured Hampshire escaped with a draw and left Glamorgan still looking for their second win in the County Championship this term.Rain meant only 39 overs were possible, during which time Hampshire overcame a 14-run deficit, built a lead of 108 and in the process lost two wickets. A draw was inevitable as the home side closed on 237 for 4 at Southampton.The result did neither side any good since Glamorgan’s 11-point haul left them still in the bottom two while Hampshire’s promotion hopes receded further with their eight-point return. In addition neither could blame the Ageas Bowl pitch which offered some help to the seam bowlers on the first day, as it often does, but flattened out over the course of the match.Hampshire began the last day on 115 for 2 from 41 overs, still 14 behind and with Glamorgan in urgent need of early wickets before the threatened rain arrived. They did not get them. Liam Dawson and nightwatchman Wood took root as Hampshire required 46 overs to finally clear the deficit.There was still marginal hope for Glamorgan when Dawson was run out for 42 in the 52nd over when Hampshire led by only 40 but they quickly died when the powerful-driving Wood was joined by Neil McKenzie. Wood and McKenzie added another 95 in 29 overs for the fourth wicket as the match limped to a tame conclusion.The 23-year-old Wood made an aggressive 69 which included three successive fours off Graham Wagg but in Wagg’s next over he mis-hooked to Michael Hogan at slip. Wood’s 69 included nine fours and came off 139 balls and at the fall of his wicket, the rain came down to force the draw. McKenzie was 35 not out when stumps were drawn.Glamorgan captain Mark Wallace used eight bowlers in an increasingly desperate attempt to force a breakthrough and the most successful of those was Wagg who finished with 2 for 20.