Tag Futebol

Trevor Bayliss has suggested he will take a more prominent role in the England dressing room over the final two Tests of the series against India

George Dobell06-Dec-2016Trevor Bayliss has suggested he will take a more prominent role in the England dressing room over the final two Tests of the series against India.Bayliss, England’s head coach, has generally been happy to leave team talks to the captain, Alastair Cook. But he is concerned by what he sees as England’s passive cricket in the last couple of Tests and is keen to encourage the batsmen to play what he sees as the “positive” cricket they demonstrated at the start of the series.While it would be stretching a point to suggest that minor change of approach indicates a rift with Cook, it does seem fair to conclude that Bayliss wants to make certain the team are in no doubt about the way he wants them to play.England scored at well over three an over in the drawn match Rajkot (3.36 in the first innings and 3.44 in the second). But then, in the second innings of the second Test in Visakhapatnam, Cook set the tone by taking 50 overs to put on an opening stand of 75 with Haseeb Hameed as England attempted to bat for the best part of five sessions to seal a draw.But Bayliss clearly feels most of the team’s batsmen are at their best when they are given a clear license to attack and suggested that some indecision had led to their failures in the Mohali Test.”The first three innings of this series we had a nice positive approach to the game and with our mental approach,” Bayliss said. “Probably the last three innings we have got away from that a little bit.”If you look at the batters who scored runs in the first three innings of the Test series they were proactive, trying to be positive which means they will defend well. When the opportunity comes we leave and defend well but when opportunity comes along to attack we take them.”In the last three innings we have changed that mindset so it is more along the lines of survival. And when some of our naturally more positive players try to play that way they were in two minds.”I thought in the last innings of the last Test we gifted them some wickets when I thought we looked to be in two minds. We looked like we were trying to go over the top once or twice but did not really go through with it which meant we were in two minds over whether it was right approach or not.”The message to the guys in last two Tests will be to approach it a bit more like we did in the first Test and maybe the first innings of the second Test when Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes got together. That is how they played and it suits the way we played. If you do that it gives you opportunity to put pressure on the opposition. If you don’t do that they put pressure on you, which is what happened in the last two Tests.”Asked whether the captain would be passing that message on to the team, Bayliss replied: “It will be up to me to play a role there. Probably over the last few series Cooky has taken on more of a role there, which has been great. But I think for the coming couple of Tests it is time I stepped up to the mark to just remind them of how we have played when we have played well.”Bayliss also admitted he had never seen Keaton Jennings bat, but will encourage him to play his own way if, as expected, he opens the batting in the fourth Test.”I’ve not seen him bat,” Bayliss said. “I saw Haseeb Hameed bat once, when he got 50, but I have not seen Jennings at all.”It was said the two openers play a defensive role. I don’t see that. To me if they play their natural game they are being positive. If that means they have not got quite as many shots as the other guys that does not mean they are not playing positively. If each individual does that in their own way then it gives you the best opportunity to score runs. The same message will be to Keaton as well. You have been successful playing in a particular way there is no reason to change that.”

The PCB has asked Misbah-ul-Haq to keep retirement plans on hold and play on through Pakistan’s tours of England and Australia next year

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2015The PCB has asked Misbah-ul-Haq to keep retirement plans on hold and play on through Pakistan’s tours of England and Australia next year. Pakistan are scheduled to tour England for four Tests in 2016, and then to Australia for three Tests in the 2016-17 season. Misbah will be 42 next year.”We have told him to delay his retirement for a year if he is thinking on those lines,” Shaharyar Khan, the PCB chairman, told mediapersons in Lahore. “We feel his presence as captain and senior player will be invaluable to the team for the Test tours to England and Australia next year.”Misbah confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Shaharyar had spoken to him. Earlier this month, he had hinted that the series against England in the UAE – which Pakistan currently lead 1-0 with one Test left to play – might be his last, particularly since the proposed series against India in December looked unlikely to go ahead.”I have been considering so many factors as it’s a very hard decision, in fact one of the toughest ones to take,” Misbah had said. “So in the next one-and-half months I will be analysing myself as to how far I can go. I will see how much I can contribute in for the team, I will see if my passion remains the same or I start losing interest in the game. Sometimes it’s not about fitness, it’s about how much interest you have in the game and I don’t want to be a liability. So whatever the decision you will know soon.”Misbah, 41, is Pakistan’s most successful Test captain, with 19 wins. He is retired from the shorter formats, but has shown no signs of waning form or fitness in the five-day game. He averages 56.75 in his 41 Tests as captain, all of which have come since his 36th birthday, and has made scores of 3, 51, 102 and 87 in his four innings so far in the series against England.

Steven Crook claimed four wickets and captain Stephen Peters cracked a half-century to put Northamptonshire in a strong position at the end of the first day in Cardiff.

10-Apr-2013
ScorecardSteven Crook took 4 for 30 as Glamorgan’s first innings lasted just 50 overs•Getty Images

Steven Crook claimed four wickets and captain Stephen Peters cracked a half-century to put Northamptonshire in a strong position at the end of the first day in Cardiff.After being put into bat Glamorgan were bowled out for 134 in 50 overs with the last nine wickets accruing only 76. Crook took 4 for 30 in 12 overs. Northamptonshire responded with 108 for 3, a deficit of 26, with 20.3 overs of the day remaining when rain brought a premature close with Peters on 60 not out.Glamorgan, who gave debuts to Murray Goodwin, the former Sussex batsman, and Australian Michael Hogan, struggled to 74 for 4 at lunch. Ben Wright was caught behind by wicketkeeper David Murphy off David Willey in the third over before opener Will Bragg and Stewart Walters looked as if they had weathered the threat of the new ball putting on 51 in 20 overs before Northamptonshire struck to take three wickets in the space of 17 balls.Bragg was caught at square leg by Kyle Coetzer off Crook before Walters was trapped lbw by Andrew Hall, who pulled off a sharp catch at first slip to remove Marcus North to give Crook his second victim.It did not get much better after lunch as they slumped further to 117 for 7. Much had been expected of Goodwin but he went for just eight in the sixth over after the break, caught behind off Willey. Jim Allenby lasted only another six balls before he was trapped leg before by Trent Copeland.Some positive batting from Mark Wallace gave Glamorgan brief respite before the captain was bowled not offering a shot to Crook. Dean Cosker hung around for 18 balls without scoring, acting as a foil to the hard-hitting Wagg, before he was bowled by Hall. Wagg was Glamorgan’s last hope of posting a half-respectable score but after reaching 26 from 36 balls he edged to Copeland at third slip to give Crook his fourth victim and Hogan was last man out.In reply, Northamptonshire had reached 17 when they lost their first wicket when Kyle Coetzer was bowled by Hogan and after tea Reed claimed two wickets in two balls. David Sales was caught in the gully before Alex Wakely was trapped lbw.

Lee Fortis is to return to The Oval as head groundsman at the end of April

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-2012Lee Fortis is to return to The Oval as head groundsman next week. Fortis, 30, was previously assistant head groundsman and, since leaving the club in 2006, has been in charge of tending the Honourable Artillery Company ground in the City of London.He will take charge at The Oval on Monday April 30, leading a team that will include former head groundsman Bill Gordon, who remains at the club in a consultancy role and has led the ground staff team in the interim period following the recent departure of Scott Patterson.”It will be good to return to The Oval and an honour to once again work at such an historic ground and be part of a successful Surrey,” Fortis said.Richard Gould, Surrey’s chief executive, added: “The job of head groundsman at The Oval is never an easy one, but in Lee Fortis I believe we have found a formidable candidate that will be able to provide consistently world-class wickets for many seasons to come.”The appointment comes at a time when groundsmen around the county circuit are having to deal with wet spring conditions that make preparing pitches increasingly difficult. Surrey batsman Mark Ramprakash has been a vocal complainant after the earliest start to the Championship in the competition’s history.

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara praised his brittle middle-order batting for carrying his team to the final of the World Cup after they beat New Zealand

Sa'adi Thawfeeq30-Mar-2011Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara praised his brittle middle-order batting for carrying his team to the final of the World Cup after they beat New Zealand by five wickets in Colombo on Tuesday. Chasing New Zealand’s moderate total of 217, Sri Lanka were cruising to victory at 160 for 1 when a sudden top-order collapse – four wickets fell for 25 runs – left them looking vulnerable, before the experience of Thilan Samaraweera and the flair of Angelo Mathews (batting with a runner due to a thigh strain) saw Sri Lanka through.”The middle order won the match for us. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about,” an elated Sangakkara said. “I always said if you give them the opportunity they would deliver. They got it today in very tense circumstances. We are very happy what they’ve done.”Samaraweera and Mathews added 35 crucial runs for the sixth wicket to carry Sri Lanka to their second successive World Cup final. They will meet the winners of Wednesday’s second semi-final between India and Pakistan in the final on Saturday. Sangakkara blamed himself for not seeing Sri Lanka through to victory after the openers had got them off to a rapid start once again.”The responsibility should have been on me and [Tillakaratne] Dilshan. Dilhan did his job and I should have seen the match through. I played one shot too many and our dismissals put a lot of pressure on the middle order and they came out very well.”We got tensed in the end basically because Dilshan and I should have finished it off or got as close as possible at least to the 200 mark. We let that opportunity go and put the side under a bit of pressure. Dilshan batted brilliantly, he and Upul (Tharanga) gave us another great start. Upul was out to a fantastic catch by Jesse Ryder when he was batting beautifully.Sangakkara: The middle order won the match for us. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.•AFP

“My job was to hang around with Dilshan and build a partnership, but with two down and 60 runs to go on hindsight it was good for the middle order to show us what they can do as well. Thilan did exactly what was expected of him, Chamara Silva chipped in and Angelo Mathews as usual finished it up for us.”It was the second time in successive knockout matches that Sri Lanka had chased and won under lights. “We won two matches chasing because we lost the toss not because of anything else. If we had won the toss we would have batted first,” Sangakkara said. “Chasing and winning does a lot more for your confidence than batting first and defending because you got the bowling attack to defend. You just need to see off ourselves how well we do in a chase especially in two crunch games. I thought New Zealand adapted to the conditions a lot better.”They always have the variety to trouble us at home because they have the bits and pieces cricketers and quality spinners. But today the wicket was really great it didn’t take a huge amount of spin and actually the seam bowlers were a bit more difficult to attack than spin.”Reaching a World Cup final was the culmination of a long journey and careful planning, Sangakkara said. “We planned for it for over two years. We missed a great opportunity in 2007. Ours was to recreate those opportunities in 2011 and to be there is very special for us. If we had not won the World Cup in 1996 we wouldn’t have come to this level. We must thank players like Murali [Muralitharan], Vaasy [Chaminda Vaas], Sanath [Sanath Jayasuriya], Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna [Ranatunga].”From that winning side only one member is with us and that is Murali. The amount of input he has given to us we cannot measure. If you take his bowling and his character he has played a big part in our cricket. Not only the players but the rest of Sri Lanka look at him as someone special.”The game was Muralitharan’s final appearance in an ODI at home and he was rightfully given a lap of honour at the end of the match. “It was a bit emotional because it was the last game we were playing in front of our home crowd. The next match is not going to be here. It was a very special moment for us and even more so because it is the last time Murali will ever play an ODI. When the magnitude of that occasion hits you it kind of overwhelms you.”In his farewell Test against India last year, Muralitharan took his 800th wicket with the last ball he bowled in Test cricket. Against New Zealand, he again took a wicket off the final ball he bowled in his final ODI appearance at home.”The good thing about Murali is he has no ego and he is a great team man,” Sangakarra said. “Why these kind of fairytale endings keep happening to him is because he is a great human being. He has a great heart, he is an honest hardworking guy and he has no pretenses about it. When he is such a nice guy good things happen to him.”Looking ahead at the final on Saturday, Sangakkara said, “Kicking off from here it is easy to get carried away. We won a semi-final but we haven’t won a final. We are in the final, we need to keep our heads down and keep playing good cricket. There is a lot of work to do in the next three days to play in the biggest match of our lives.”It means a great deal especially in a new future that is envisioned for Sri Lanka. For us to be in this position, to host a World Cup and for the Sri Lankan team to get into a final it bodes well for the future of our country. Cricket’s always been the panacea that’s healed all wounds in Sri Lanka. Whenever cricket is played it seems as if life was back to normal. We carry that responsible job and it has been with us whenever we played. We understand the gravity of work but we also understand what privilege it is to be able to represent our country.”Every single match we play is for our country. What people outside don’t see is the greatest pride we have when we don our national colours. You go to the dressing room and there is a national flag with every player above their seat before we go out to play.”

Despite all the changes at The Oval over the winter there was one very familiar sight on the second day against Derbyshire – Mark Ramprakash making effortless runs

Andrew McGlashan at The Oval10-Apr-2010
ScorecardDespite all the changes at The Oval over the winter there was one very familiar sight on the second day against Derbyshire – Mark Ramprakash making effortless runs. Surrey will need plenty more from him, too, after Greg Smith’s three-wicket burst built on Chris Rogers’ double hundred to leave the visitors in charge, although the fifth-wicket stand of 109 between Ramprakash and Steven Davies averted an imminent collapse.Ramprakash’s pre-season was a disjointed affair as he spent time on the road with the tour, then helped himself to some runs in Dubai before missing the MCC match against Durham for personal reasons. But Ramprakash has been doing this job for so long that he just slots straight back in. Although he had an escape on 10 when Graham Wagg overstepped and the ball seemed to take an edge down the leg side he barely looked in trouble.By the close he had registered the first of what will be many fifties this season from 94 balls and alongside Davies had steadied the innings from a precarious 74 for 4. Davies, after spending the winter as a drinks waiter for England, played positively for his 70-ball half century although had a few uncomfortable moments against Robin Peterson’s left-arm spin out of the footmarks. And three overs before the close it proved his downfall as he pushed forward and got a low edge to slip, a wicket that confirmed Derbyshire’s position of strength.The Surrey openers had a fair degree of luck in a stand of 44 as both Arun Harinath and Matthew Spriegel were given lives. Tim Groenewald dropped a tough return catch from a leading edge off Spriegel when he had 10 and Harinath was missed off a much simpler chance by Peterson at first slip. So it didn’t come as a complete surprise when Spriegel pushed outside off to give a regulation catch to the keeper and Smith his first wicket.Smith, a versatile cricketer who also bowls offspin, bustled in from the Pavilion End and found a hint of movement with his skiddy action to take 3 for 4 in 14 balls. An over after dislodging Spriegel he ended Harinath’s fidgety innings when the left-hander skewed a catch to gully and Surrey were really in the mire when Usman Afzaal offered a simple edge to first slip.It meant a daunting position of 53 for 3 greeted Rory Hamilton-Brown as he joined Ramprakash, someone who hasn’t been overwhelming in the support of his captaincy appointment. Despite one pleasing cover drive Hamilton-Brown couldn’t stop the slide when he was trapped on the crease by Groenewald so it was left to the man who made his first-class debut in the year Hamilton-Brown was born.When play resumed the main interest was whether Rogers could register another double century and he duly reached the milestone from 318 balls – but not before a second let-off by Stuart Meaker who dropped a sitter a deep square-leg, then gave away four overthrows next ball. It was Rogers’ third double in his last four Championship matches for Derbyshire, a conversion rate that most English batsmen can only dream of. However, he couldn’t add to his tally before being trapped lbw sweeping at Gareth Batty.Peterson had already departed when he was beaten for pace by Meaker to partially atone for his poor fielding, but Derbyshire’s lower order frustrated the home side. Wagg struck the first six of the match during his 37, but Andre Nel finally found some deserved reward when he took the off stump and also added Groenewald.Still, though, there was no swift finish as wicketkeeper Lee Goddard and last-man Mark Footitt added 51 in nine overs with some merry stroke play including a reverse sweep from Goddard. But despite their large total, Derbyshire missed out on full batting points which this season have to be collected within 110 overs of the first innings. Surrey, too, missed out on a point, but that soon became the least of their concerns.

Ben Duckett set for final outing of busy summer before being rested for T20Is

Matt Roller06-Sep-2025Ben Duckett has been backed to end his international season in style in Southampton on Sunday, keeping his place for the third ODI against South Africa despite England’s decision to rest him for next week’s T20Is.England have made a single change from the team that lost by five runs at Lord’s to go 2-0 down in the three-match series, with Jamie Overton replacing Saqib Mahmood. It means that they will again be relying on Jacob Bethell, Will Jacks and potentially Joe Root to share the workload of a fifth bowler, after Bethell and Jacks returned combined figures of 1 for 112 in 10 overs on Thursday.Duckett is one of three England players – along with Harry Brook and Jamie Smith – who has featured in all 14 of their home internationals this season: six Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is. Since the start of the Hundred last month, he has only gone past 20 once in 10 innings and followed his 5 in the first ODI at Headingley with an uncharacteristically scratchy 14 off 33 balls at Lord’s.Related

• Bethell, Root tons, Archer four-for see England hand out record thrashing

• Jamie Overton out of Ashes amid 'indefinite break' from red-ball cricket

• Overton's shock decision sounds alarm bells for England schedule

• England blown to bits-and-pieces as part-timers' bowling strategy backfires

• Sam Curran added to England T20I squads as Ben Duckett takes break

He has since spoken to Brendon McCullum, England’s head coach, and reached the decision to miss next week’s T20Is, with Sam Curran replacing him in the squad. Marcus Trescothick, one of McCullum’s assistants, said that the call was designed to ensure Duckett is “firing” ahead of a busy winter schedule, which includes the Ashes in Australia followed by a T20 World Cup.”Brendon spoke to him over the last few days, trying to get a gauge of where he’s at,” Trescothick said. “You look at every situation individually and in its own way, looking at the volume of cricket they’ve played and by chatting with them to see how they’re feeling… This is the best [decision] to maximise performances going forward as we head into a big winter.”We need certain players to be firing, and Ben is certainly one of those… We need the boys firing going into November, December, January. That’s an important time. It’s not to say things aren’t important coming up, but sometimes you just have to take your foot off the gas a bit and rejuvenate the mind. Then, you can get back on the horse and crack on.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Duckett’s retention means that Tom Banton, the spare batter in their squad, will not feature in the series barring a late withdrawal. But he has not been released to play for Somerset in their T20 Blast quarter-final against Warwickshire on Saturday night, and will instead stay in Southampton on standby.McCullum took over England’s white-ball teams in January – becoming coach across formats – but has failed to address their slide in 50-over cricket. They have lost eight out of 11 ODIs this year, including all three matches at the Champions Trophy, and sit eighth in the ICC’s rankings after a sustained run of poor results.Eight teams will qualify for the 2027 World Cup automatically via the rankings – with South Africa and Zimbabwe guaranteed spots as Full-Member co-hosts – so England would likely have to slip below both West Indies and Bangladesh to miss out. But the mere notion of having to play in the global qualifier is a source of embarrassment for the 2019 world champions.”We’re in an interesting position where we need to climb those rankings,” Trescothick said. “Longer term, there’s a bigger picture: we need to look at being at the top of those rankings and beyond. We want to go and compete in the biggest competitions and we’ve got to be a team that has grown from where we have been to compete like we did in 2019.”The journey hasn’t been easy, of course not, but I definitely feel we’re improving and moving in the right direction even though the last two results have been disappointing… We’ve made a few changes in recent times since Brendon took over, and we feel like we’re starting to play better cricket generally.”Overton’s inclusion means he will make his first appearance for England since his decision to put his red-ball ambitions on hold took the team’s management by surprise. Rob Key, England’s managing director, said Overton’s decision was “unexpected”, but his selection for the third ODI confirms that he remains part of their white-ball plans.England XI for the third ODI vs South Africa: 1 Jamie Smith, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Jamie Overton, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Adil Rashid

The duo helped chase down 41 off the last three overs to hand Punjab an unlikely win

Alagappan Muthu04-Apr-2024Punjab Kings only had 9% chance of victory and 18 balls to beat the odds with the guy they seemed to have bought by mistake at the auction. Guess what happened next?Shashank Singh hit 10 of the 29 balls he faced to the boundary. He survived a very close lbw shout off Noor Ahmad when he was 1 off 2, but was soon carting around a bunch of former IPL champions. Rashid Khan, launched over midwicket, Umesh Yadav, helped over fine leg, Noor Ahmad, skewered over long-off, Mohit Sharma, even when he tried to go pace off and into the wicket, ramped over the keeper. These were unbelievable shots because they came from a place where victory was only fantasy.It was less than four months ago that the Kings’ management was huddled around the auction table trying to offload this guy, then sending out a clarification tweet, which Shashank replied to, hoping to shut down the stories that were swirling around. Tonight, in a twist that the IPL should consider trademarking, both the unfancied team and their unfancied purchase came good facing impossible odds in a chase of 200.

More magic at the IPL

Kings only had two batters among their five substitutes in a bowling first XI. It looked a lopsided selection. But the man they chose as the Impact Sub played a massive role in their victory. Ashutosh Sharma, playing his very first IPL game, and only the 15th T20 of his career, looked at an equation that read 41 off 18 balls square in the eye and took it down with brutal precision. He hit three fours in Azmatullah Omarzai’s 18th over. Another six to start the 19th from Mohit. In those 12 balls, the Kings got 34 runs. In those 12 balls, the Kings’ chances of victory rose from 9.23% to 94.56%.This is what happens when two players look for the best boundary option they have with every single ball. But the fact that they were both uncapped, that they had very little experience at this level of the game – Shashank had played 13 matches in the IPL, but batted in just eight of those and had a high score of 25 prior to this – and were coming up with the goods even against bowlers of the calibre of the Titans was incredible.They waited for Mohit and Azmatullah’s variations – whether they were slower balls or short balls – and it wasn’t just that they were looking to slog ’em across the line. Shashank (previously) and Ashutosh (in the death) ramped fours over the keeper. It was nerveless. It was glorious. And by the end of it, Kings had conquered their sixth target of 200 or more, a men’s T20 record.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rashid’s problems

It is still early – only four matches – but Rashid Khan has an economy rate of 9.06, his worst in an IPL season. In this game, he was lined up twice by Jitesh Sharma, leaking back-to-back sixes in the 16th over. He has already been hit out of the park nine times in IPL 2024. That’s as many sixes as he’d given up across 14 matches in 2021 and 16 matches in 2020. Titans are turning to him a little more often now because they don’t have Mohammed Shami in the powerplay and the death and it seems like he is yet to cope with that extra responsibility. The Kings were in a squeeze at 70 for 4 in the ninth over and then 111 for 5 in the 13th over. Liam Livingstone was injured. Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran were out. Only Jitesh and some unknowns were left. This match should’ve been done but it wasn’t.

Top-heavy Titans

Six. The total number of boundary attempts made by Wriddhiman Saha and Kane Williamson from a combined 35 balls faced. Titans were a top-heavy line-up with David Miller out injured. That automatically puts pressure on their best batter and Shubman Gill could have cracked if not for the man coming out at No. 4 and flaying at everything that came his way. Sai Sudharsan looked for a boundary off 12 of the 19 balls he faced. He outscored Gill – 33 off 19 vs 20 off 13 – in a 53-run partnership that reset the game.Shubman Gill made his highest individual score of IPL 2024•BCCI

Peak Shubman Gill

Gill faced only 10 balls in the powerplay. Even after 10 overs, he had only been on strike for 19 deliveries. He looked in glorious form but wasn’t getting opportunities to influence the game. External pressure could have made him take a risk too soon and end up back in the hut, but Sudharsan’s innings gave him chance to bat at his tempo, and that was only ever going to spell trouble for the opposition.Gill made 89 off 48 batting well within himself. Even the most jaw-dropping shot of his innings was a simple consequence of seeing a length ball and knowing he can get under it. Kagiso Rabada, who is IPL royalty thanks to his strike rate of 14.8, the best out of everyone who has at least 100 wickets in this tournament, was launched straight down the ground for an effortless six. Gill thrived just by responding to what was coming down because nine times out of 10, he had the perfect one. He was in the zone, striking at 185.42 and combining it with a control percentage of 91.67. That is rare. Typically when you’re looking to go big, you end up with a few more mis-hits. It must feel like pretty small consolation, though, on a night where he watched his team lose from a winning position.