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The allrounder will miss the match against Perth Scorchers on Wednesday

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2023Melbourne Stars have suffered a huge blow to their hopes of bouncing back from a horror start to the BBL with Glenn Maxwell ruled out of their next match against Perth Scorchers due to injury.Maxwell picked up an injury to his forearm when batting against Brisbane Heat on the opening night of the competition where he made 23 off 14 balls as Stars were heavily beaten by 103 runs.Related

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He had medical attention twice in middle and had his forearm taped, then was seen icing it in the dugout after his dismissal at the Gabba. Maxwell’s absence will put more onus on Marcus Stoinis to lead the batting line-up while it also means Stars miss an important spin-bowling option.Stars face Scorchers on Wednesday at the MCG then have a 10-day gap until their next outing, against Sydney Thunder in Albury on December 23, which the club will hope gives Maxwell time to recover and only miss the one game.”Biggest forearms in the world and he’s pulled a muscle,” team-mate Hilton Cartwright joked after the game and before confirmation that Maxwell would be ruled out.”He’s had a nice break, came back super positive and he’s still super positive [after the loss]. On a night like tonight you’ve got to keep reminding yourself you’re not a bad team.”Stars also appear likely to be without Nathan Coulter-Nile after he picked up a calf strain against Heat. He came out to bat at No. 11 with a runner.”Nathan Coulter-Nile will undergo scans this weekend to determine damage to a calf injury suffered whilst bowling against the Brisbane Heat,” a club statement said.Stars will hope to be able to call on Pakistan quick Haris Rauf after he was not selected against Heat having only just arrived in the country. England fast bowler Olly Stone was one of their three overseas players along with Liam Dawson and Usama Mir.

Future is bright as champions begin their title defence

Alan Gardner at The Oval11-Apr-2019Surrey 342 for 7 (Jacks 88, Patel 70*, Foakes 69) v Essex
There is little in sport that can compete with the beguiling spectacle of young talent. Surrey are the county champions, and last season were unchallenged as the leading four-day side in the country, but they have also become a prolific finishing school for England prospects. It seemed appropriate, therefore, that the opening day of their title defence should be carried by the brio of two of the youngest men on the pitch.Will Jacks, 20 years and 141 days, set social media aflame last month when he struck a 25-ball hundred – which included hitting six sixes in an over – in a pre-season warm-up game in the UAE, and his first scoring shot on this occasion was also a hearty thump over the ropes. He went to fifty with a crisply driven four off the same bowler, Simon Harmer, and continued to bat with similar elan against the second new ball. Clearly there is no keeping Jacks in the box.He seemed set to dance his way through the evening shadows to a maiden first-class hundred, only for Peter Siddle to finally breach Jacks’ defences, following up a snarling lifter with one that came in to rattle the stumps. Jacks walked off following a sparkling, career-best 88 to generous applause from a good-sized first-day crowd at The Oval, their appetites duly whetted for the season to come.At the other end during their fifth-wicket partnership of 151 – a Surrey record against Essex – was Ryan Patel, the senior man at 21, whose most memorable contribution to last season’s success was a spell of 6 for 5 with the ball in an innings victory over Somerset at Guildford. Patel may not have played here had Scott Borthwick been passed fit, but he was tasked with batting at No. 3 and demonstrated a temperament worthy of the promotion; having taken 36 balls to record his first run, he batted for more than five hours to anchor his side to the close.As Alec Stewart and Michael Di Venuto acknowledged before the start of the season, there is a difference between hunting down the Championship trophy – which Surrey had done for the first time since 2002 – and being the quarry. Just ask Essex, who were title-winners 18 months ago. Most of their chasing on a bright, chilly day was in vain as Patel and Jacks pushed on confidently from a position of 181 for 4.Ed Smith, the national selector, was in attendance at The Oval, though he did not tarry beyond tea – meaning he missed much of the fun. He was able to observe a punchy fifty from Ben Foakes, eager to make his case for a Test recall this summer, and a couple of unconverted starts from England openers past and present, Mark Stoneman and Rory Burns. Depending on how often he blinks, he might have missed Ollie Pope, who drove his second ball for four and edged his third to slip.Foakes received a life on 0 when Dan Lawrence dropped a straightforward catch at second slip, but thereafter elicited several grunts of approval during an innings that included 14 fours, though Smith would doubtless have preferred to see him press home his point with a hundred.Patel was one of the tyros involved when Surrey set a post-war record by fielding four teenagers in the same side at the end of 2017 – Pope, Sam Curran and Amar Virdi were the other three. Curran, who is now away at the IPL, and Pope have since played for England, while there are several more-experienced Surrey hands jockeying for England positions – notably Jason Roy, who is eyeing an Ashes opening but was not fit to play in this match. Smith may need to keep his Oyster card topped up.After a hammering against Hampshire last week, this was another tough outing for Essex – though Siddle’s four-wicket haul (he was also the man to see Foakes put down) kept them competitive. They would clearly have preferred not to start round two with another long day in the field, but lost a contested toss and saw Surrey’s southpaw openers Burns and Stoneman box cleverly during the opening exchanges.Essex were already without wicketkeeper Adam Wheater, with Middlesex loanee Rob White drafted in behind the stumps, and they lost Ravi Bopara before the start, too, due to a stiff back. Perhaps that contributed to a sloppy start with the ball, in marked contrast to when they bowled Surrey out for 67 in the final match of the 2018 season (although that game nearly got away from them at the end of a rip-roaring contest).This time, the openers reached 75 without loss – Burns also benefiting from a Lawrence drop when on 23 – before Essex hit back with three quick wickets before lunch.

It was the second-biggest successful chase in Vijay Hazare Trophy history

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2024Playing only his third List A game, K Shrijith struck an unbeaten 101-ball 150 to lead Karnataka home in the second-highest successful chase in Vijay Hazare Trophy history, as they hauled down a target of 383 with 3.4 overs to spare at the Narendra Modi Stadium’s B ground.Andhra’s successful chase of 384 against Goa in the 2011-12 season continues to hold the tournament record.Related

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Shrijith’s effort meant that Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 114 off just 55 balls went in vain for Mumbai. Iyer hit five fours and as many as ten sixes as he hurried Mumbai to a formidable total following a relatively sedate start. When Iyer walked out, Mumbai were 148 for 2 in the 30th over, following a 141-run second-wicket stand, off 160 balls, between Hardik Tamore (84 off 94) and Ayush Mhatre (78 off 82).Mumbai proceeded to up their scoring rate as Iyer added 30 off 22 with Tamore and 56 off 34 with Suryakumar Yadav (20 off 16). That set the stage for a frenetic finish, as Iyer and Shivam Dube proceeded to put on an unbroken 148 off the last 65 balls of Mumbai’s innings. While Dube scored an unbeaten 63 off 36 (5×4, 5×6), Iyer from the other end smashed 74 off the last 29 balls of his innings.Amid the carnage of Mumbai’s innings, new-ball operator Vasuki Koushik finished with the impressive figures of 0 for 45 from his ten overs.In contrast with Mumbai’s gradual build-up of steam, Karnataka kept pace with the required rate almost throughout their chase. They were 106 for 2 in the 15th over, with openers Nikin Jose (21 off 13) and Mayank Agarwal (47 off 48) having both departed, when Shrijith walked to the crease.The wicketkeeper-batter took charge of the innings thereafter, first putting on 94 with No. 3 KV Aneesh, who made a 66-ball 82 on his List A debut, and then dominating an unbroken stand of 183 off just 119 balls with the legspinning allrounder Praveen Dubey.While Dubey contributed 65 off 50 balls to the partnership, Shrijith smashed 107 off 69, as Karnataka charged towards their target. Mumbai’s bowlers came in for heavy punishment, none worse than Shardul Thakur who went for 72 in six wicketless overs.

In his strongest message yet in the pay war between CA and the ACA, Steven Smith declared that the leaders of the men’s and women’s national teams were unanimous in fighting for a fair share for all players, directly linked to the game’s overall financial

Daniel Brettig09-Jul-2017Australia’s captain Steven Smith insists that the players will not back down from their demand to retain the fixed revenue percentage share they have enjoyed for two decades.In his strongest message yet in the pay war between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), Smith declared that the leaders of the men’s and women’s national teams – himself, David Warner, Meg Lanning and Alex Blackwell – were unanimous in fighting for a fair share for all players, directly linked to the game’s overall financial fortunes.Some have questioned Smith’s relative lack of involvement in the public debate over MoU talks, which have now extended more than a week beyond the June 30 expiry of the previous deal, leaving more than 230 players unemployed. However, his words on Sunday could not be more unequivocal in pressing for CA to retreat from its attempt to breakup revenue sharing.Echoing the ACA’s own position, Smith said the players were prepared to be flexible about the details of the deal, including which revenue streams are included in the model and also reducing the percentage. The association’s pay proposal suggested players would accept 22.5% rather than the 2012 agreement’s share of between 24.5% and 27% of Australian Cricket Revenue depending on the performance of the national team.”I’ll say what we as players have been saying for some time now: we are not giving up the revenue sharing model for all players,” Smith wrote on Instagram. “But, through the ACA we are willing to make important changes to modernise the existing model for the good of the game. We are and have always been willing to make those changes.”Changes for how the model can be adapted for the even greater benefit of grass roots cricket, which is after all where we all started. We are determined to keep revenue sharing for all because we must take care of domestic players in Australia. As leaders that’s what David [Warner], Meg [Lanning], Alex [Blackwell] and I have been fighting for: a fair share for state players who are also partners in cricket.”Smith reflected on his own career, pointing out that when he was dropped from the Australian side in 2011, it was the strength of the Sheffield Shield competition that enabled him to evolve his game and return two years later as a much improved player. Recalled in 2013, Smith quickly asserted himself as one of the game’s outstanding batsmen, and was formally appointed captain in 2015.”I know from my career that when I was dropped in 2011 if I didn’t have a strong domestic competition to go back to, I certainly wouldn’t be in the position that I’m in today,” he wrote. “State players need to be taken care of financially so the domestic competition will always be strong which in turn keeps us strong at the International level.”Also as Women’s cricket gets bigger and bigger in Australia women players must also be able to share in what they will be earning. They must have the same chances and incentives to grow the game as the men have had since revenue sharing started.”And I know I speak for all of the men that we want women cricketers in the one deal with the men as well. It’s time to get a deal done. It should be and can be an exciting time for the game.”Talks between CA and the ACA are continuing, though neither party has yet shown any sign of compromising on the fundamental difference between their respective positions on revenue sharing.

Lancashire’s hefty target overhauled despite Dockrell 45

ECB Reporters Network19-Jul-2024Matthew Breetzke’s thunderous 31-ball 76 helped Northamptonshire Steelbacks secure a home quarter-final in the Vitality Blast by beating Lancashire Lightning by four wickets at Emirates Old Trafford.It was the visitors’ first T20 victory on this ground in eight attempts but no one could doubt that it was thoroughly deserved.Reply to the home side’s 210 for nine, in which Jack White took three for 16, the Steelbacks sealed their win with eight balls to spare, the visitors surviving a late tumble of wickets before Ashton Agar’s six off Liam Livingstone settled matters.Lancashire scored 54 runs in their Powerplay overs but lost three wickets in doing so, all of them falling to White. Luke Wells was caught at deep square leg by Breetzke for 10, Phil Salt holed out to David Willey at mid-off for nine and, after whacking four fours and a six in his 12-ball 24, Keaton Jennings skied a return catch to the bowler.Livingstone and Matty Hurst then launched an effective counter-attack, Livingstone hitting three sixes in his first 18 balls and Lightning reached the midpoint of their 20-over allotment on 93 for three. But the T20 England international’s fun was ended by Freddie Heldreich, who had him caught at deep midwicket by Ricardo Vasconcelos for 36 and Hurst followed in the next over, caught at deep backward square leg by Ben Sanderson off Ravi Bopara for 30.However, Lancashire were still well placed on 115 for five when that wicket fell and their momentum was maintained by George Dockrell and Steven Croft, the latter passing 5,000 T20 runs for the Red Rose when he reached five.The pair put on 44 in 23 balls before Croft skied Willey to Bopara and both Chris Green and Tom Hartley soon fell in successive overs to leave Dockrell and Luke Wood to ensure Lancashire set a formidable target. The Irish international gave Vasconcelos his second catch and Sanderson his second wicket when five short of his fifty but the home side’s 201 for nine looked more than competitive, albeit on a good batting wicket.White was the most successful Steelbacks bowler with three for 16. Willey and Sanderson collected two apiece and Bopara took one for 26 from his three useful overs.Northamptonshire’s pursuit of their target in a manner that was alternately orthodox and inventive but which put all Lancashire’s bowlers to the sword. Vasconcelos and Breetzke hit 13 fours and two sixes in their Powerplay overs, at the end of which Northamptonshire were 85 without loss and perfectly placed to secure their vital victory.Breetzke reached his fifty off 19 balls with seven fours and two sixes, an astonishing display of calculated hitting that helped ensure the visitors’ hundred came up in the eighth over, Two balls later, though, Vasconcelos was caught at the third attempt by Matty Hurst at short third man for 36 off Wells to end his 102 stand with Breetzke.And Wells struck again in his next over when he removed Breetzke, who pulled him to Green at deep midwicket after making 76 off 31 balls with seven fours and five sixes. Saif Zaib then fell lbw to Livingstone for four but Bopara and Willey’s shrewd 59-run stand took Northamptonshire to within 13 runs of their goal.The skipper was caught by Croft off Dockrell for 26 and Bopara fell lbw to Mahmood for 36 but Agar and Gus Miller saw their side home. Wells finished with two for 23.

Mo Bobat said that his players have not been able to play to their potential, backing Maxwell to find his form soon

Hemant Brar14-Apr-20242:54

What’s gone wrong with Siraj this season?

Mo Bobat, Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s director of cricket, feels it is “not easy to gain home advantage” at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.Over the years, RCB have struggled to convert their home venue into a fortress, and this year has been no different. Alongside Punjab Kings, they have the joint-worst home record in IPL 2024, with just one win from their three home games.”Winning at home is quite tricky [for us],” Bobat said on the eve of their next home game, against Sunrisers Hyderabad. “It’s a sort of ground – because of its small boundaries – that is a bit more of a leveller. So it’s quite hard to get home advantage compared to a bigger ground. Or if there are conditions that tilt one way or the other, you can try to build your team to maximise those conditions. So it’s a hard thing for us to do.Related

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“From our perspective, what we’ve tried to do is try to have pitches that have pace and bounce in them, hopefully, because we are seam-bowling heavy and our top-order batters are really good against quick bowling.”We try to work closely with the curators to try to make sure we get exactly what we want, and to be fair to them, they are trying really hard to deliver that. But at this stage of the year, there has been a lot of cricket on this square – the WPL was here, a lot of other cricket was here – so we haven’t always got that here.”The simple answer is that it’s not that easy to gain home advantage at the Chinnaswamy. It’s the sort of place where everybody fancies having a go at a big score and if you get on the wrong side of the toss, it’s difficult to defend.”After six games, RCB have just one win and are at the bottom of the points table. A big reason behind that has been the lack of runs from their overseas batters, particularly Glenn Maxwell.Glenn Maxwell’s poor form has hurt RCB this season•BCCI

Last IPL, Maxwell had smashed 400 runs at an average of 33.33 and a strike rate of 183.48. This time he has managed only 32 runs in six innings. Only once has he lasted beyond five balls – against Kolkata Knight Riders, when he made a 19-ball 28 with the help of two dropped catches. His current average of 5.33 is the lowest for an overseas batter who has batted in the top five at least six times in an IPL season.”Look, firstly, he is disappointed,” Bobat said of Maxwell. “He obviously has high standards, and he has had a very impressive 12 to 24 months. He is a really important part of our batting line-up, particularly in those middle overs where we want to attack spin bowling, in particular, of which he is one of the best players in the world. We are trying to support him as best we can and help him find his best form.”Mohammed Siraj is having a similar slump in the bowling department. He was RCB’s highest wicket-taker in IPL 2023 with 19 scalps at an economy of 7.50. This year, he has picked up just four wickets from six games at an eye-watering economy of 10.40.”He probably feels himself that he hasn’t quite been at his best,” Bobat said. “We all know Mohammed Siraj is a sort of player that when he is on song, you can see his rhythm, his body language, he is aggressive. So we are trying to help him get back to that place where he can trust his best ball and bowl with aggression. But it’s difficult to show that body language and intent when you’re not feeling quite confident.”There aren’t quick fixes to some of these things, and the coaches are working hard to support the players. But look, what is true is that we’re talking about some champion cricketers who will find their form, we just hope it’s sooner rather than later.”In their previous game, against Mumbai Indians, RCB tried changing the personnel, bringing in Will Jacks for Cameron Green. It didn’t bring immediate success but Bobat is hopeful a couple of wins will put their campaign on the right track.”We’re getting close to the halfway point of the competition, and there’s no hiding away from the fact that we haven’t played the way we want to play,” Bobat said. “When you go into the competition, you work out what your best chances of winning are. You set the strategy, and you come in and you expect the players to deliver.”What you try next is you look at different selection options, different combinations. We have already looked at a couple of different personnel changes, and we will continue to think about whether any selection changes can enhance the team.”And selection is only one tool. There are other ways to improve the team as well. One really pleasing thing is the team environment feels very strong and the players are very well-connected. As most of us have been involved in league cricket, we spend time in environments… when you get bad results, the environment isn’t always healthy. I think our environment is excellent – the captain [Faf du Plessis] and coach [Andy Flower] deserve a lot of credit for that. So if we can get one or two performances under our belt and play the way we want to play, I think that will turn it around.”

Only 26 overs possible as Worcestershire reply to Somerset’s first innings

ECB Reporters Network27-Apr-2024Worcestershire 107 for 1 (Libby 56*) trail Somerset 309 for 9 declared by 202 runsJake Libby continued his impressive start to the season for Worcestershire on a rain-shortened second day of the Vitality County Championship Division One fixture with Somerset at Kidderminster.Only 29 overs were possible – all during the afternoon session – but it was enough for Libby to move past the fifty mark for the fourth time in six innings this summer, including a century in the opening game against Warwickshire.He has been tagged as Worcestershire’s ‘Mr Reliable’ by Head Coach Alan Richardson and has been a prolific performer since moving from Nottinghamshire to New Road four years ago.Libby enjoyed his most successful summer in 2023 with 1153 runs at an average of 57.65 and he has continued in the same vein after helping Worcestershire to promotion.He had a slice of luck when play eventually got underway at 2.50pm, being dropped on four at third slip of Migael Pretorious.Libby also had to contend with an impressive spell from Jake Ball but otherwise he and Gareth Roderick flourished during a second wicket stand so far worth 84 from 148 balls.Roderick, his regular opening partner, got his head down to provide staunch support before play ended through bad light and then drizzle before the players could return after tea.Bad light and morning rain led to an early lunch at 12.30pm before play could finally get underway at 2.50 with a possible 54 overs remaining in the day.Worcestershire resumed on 14 for nought with nightwatchman Adam Finch and Libby having survived five overs yesterday evening.Finch provided resistance for 35 balls, striking Pretorious for a handsome straight four, before he was lbw to Ball.It took him 44 balls to register his first boundary as he and Roderick tackled some probing bowling with a still newish ball.But the second wicket pair started to accelerate and the 50 partnership was completed in 88 balls.Ball asked plenty of questions, barely conceding more than a run an over, but runs flowed from the other end.Libby cover drove a rare loose ball from Ball for his ninth four to complete an 88 ball half century.The 100 came up in the 31st over and Roderick showed his aggressive intentions in slashing Pretorious to third man.Worcestershire reached 107 for one by tea, with Libby unbeaten on 56 and Roderick 28 not out, but under increasingly leaden skies the players did not return.

South Africa allrounder JP Duminy said that the team has identified the need to stay in the present and not think too far ahead as key to their success in the Champions Trophy

Firdose Moonda02-Jun-2017Among the many diagnoses for South Africa’s failure to win a major tournament in almost two decades is the theory that they are simply too scared to take the final step.If that sounds silly, just consider that South Africa always have everything else waxed. Their preparations are among the best, their squad always includes some of the world’s best players, and they rarely enter an event without some form on their side. That’s why the likes of Herschelle Gibbs and Lance Klusener, who have been there and not done that, too, believe that if a South African side can avoid over-analysis and trust themselves to think on the fly, their fortunes will change.This time, they have a poster boy to lead the way: Quinton de Kock.At 24, de Kock is already being spoken of as a legend in the making, in the same breath as Adam Gilchrist and MS Dhoni. It’s not difficult to understand why. Last year, de Kock was South Africa’s highest ODI run-scorer and third globally. This year so far, he has been the second highest for South Africa, behind Faf du Plessis, and fourth overall.With de Kock in the side, South Africa have scored over 300 while chasing four times in the last three years. Barring one of those occasions – when he scored 19 in South Africa’s successful chase of 328 against Australia in Harare – de Kock set them up each time. He slammed 70 off 49 balls in a chase of 372 against Australia in Durban in October 2016. . He did better against England, plundering a century in Centurion last February, and more recently, striking 98 , albeit in a losing cause.The last of those illustrates best the importance of de Kock’s role in the South African line-up. Like every opener, he sets the tone, but seldom pre-empts what that will be. He is talented enough to pull off the spontaneous approach, something South Africa have been specifically working on in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy.”It’s those pressure moments that we identify to make sure we stay in that moment and don’t think too far ahead,” JP Duminy said. “That’s what we’ve learnt over the last couple of weeks – to stay in the moment and focus on what is in front of you and not look too far ahead about the outcome of the game.”JP Duminy, who has gone 11 innings without a half-century, has gone out of the way to prepare for the Champions Trophy•Getty Images

Duminy is speaking from the opposite end of the spectrum. He enters the Champions Trophy under immense pressure, having failed to pass 50 in 11 innings this year. He has made more than 30 only once in that period. This is not the first time he has had such an extended dry run; between July 2015 and June 2016, too, he went 11 innings without a half-century, but had four scores of 30 or more. The close proximity of the lean patches has him hanging on to his place by a thread, and though he would not explicitly say so, it seems he knows it.Instead of spending the period between the end of the South African summer and the start of the English one at the IPL, Duminy opted to stay at home and work on his game. “I put in a lot of hard work in the six weeks I was off,” he said. “The main thing was to try and be mentally fresh for this tournament and what lies ahead on this tour.””I’m feeling that I’ve achieved that. In terms of my skills, there were one or two things I worked on that I felt needed a bit of work. I don’t feel like there’s added pressure. There’s always high expectation within the team and my expectation on myself in terms of my performance is always high. That will never change.”The difference is that Duminy has fallen short of expectation too often, while de Kock has recently begun to exceed it. As a result, the responsibility in the South African batting line-up has shifted somewhat, though Duminy insists the division is the same. “Whether you’re a youngster, whether you’re a senior player, I don’t think that (the responsibility) changes,” he said.Ultimately, the entire South African squad has a responsibility to return home with something to show for their No.1 ranking and the star-studded line-up. They have a responsibility to show that something has changed, that the oft-spoken of conservative mindsets are really in the past and that the shackles have been broken. And they all know it.”We don’t want to put extra pressure on ourselves by thinking that we need to win this tournament but we definitely want to,” Duminy said. “I don’t think there’s any other team that wants it more.”

Nottinghamshire new-ball pair share nine as visitors skittled for 85 on final day

ECB Reporters Network28-Jul-2023Five wickets for Dane Paterson and four for Brett Hutton consigned Kent to a rapid and damaging defeat in their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Trent Bridge, where they were bowled out for 85 to drop into the bottom two in Division One with only three matches to play.Paterson finished with 5 for 41 in 10 overs, while Hutton’s 4 for 44 allowed him to celebrate a 50-wicket season for the first time in his first-class career, giving him 52 so far. Kent skipper Jack Leaning’s 21 was a paltry top score as Kent, theoretically chasing 407 to win from 72 overs, were dismissed in just 21.3 overs.Earlier, Will Young and Ben Slater had both made 87 and Joe Clarke 73 before Nottinghamshire declared their second innings on 372 some 40 minutes or so before lunch.The result gives Nottinghamshire 22 points, which is probably enough to ensure they remain in Division One for another season after being promoted in 2022.Slater, his eyes on a second hundred in the match, fell to the fifth ball of the day, unable to add to his overnight score, but otherwise Nottinghamshire’s plans on how to set up a run chase could not have gone better.If anything, they went too well, the scoreboard turning so rapidly that skipper Steven Mullaney might well have had to think again about when to declare given the overs left in the match. When he did decide the moment was right, some 196 runs had been added in just 78 minutes following Nottinghamshire’s resumption on 176 for 1.Of those, 114 came off just 77 balls in a blistering third-wicket stand between New Zealand’s Young, who made 87 in the last innings of his brief attachment to the county, and Clarke, whose 73 from 40 balls would have felt like the perfect preparation for his upcoming stint with Welsh Fire in the Hundred.Clarke hit three sixes, matching Young’s tally of maximums in half the number of balls, and there were a couple each for Mullaney and Lyndon James, who hammered 42 in 18 balls for the sixth wicket before Mullaney’s dismissal, bowled aiming to inflict more damage in an Arafat Bhuiyan over that had already gone for 20, prompted the declaration.Eventually caught at deep midwicket, Clarke should have gone for 26 but Arshdeep Singh, in his final outing for Kent, dropped a regulation catch at mid-off. Joey Evison, the disappointed bowler and Clarke’s former Trent Bridge team-mate, was only too aware of how costly that mistake might be.Like Clarke, Young and Tom Moores were caught in the deep going for big returns as Nottinghamshire ultimately pushed the Kent target beyond 400, which was never likely to be a realistic ask of a side lacking so many front-line batters through injuries and international calls.Yet draw still looked within their capabilities and the rapid unravelling of that possibility came as a surprise.In the eight overs before lunch, their top three all departed. Toby Albert copped a beauty from Hutton to fall for a fourth-ball duck, Ben Geddes fell victim to a fine, rapid-reaction catch by Slater at short leg off Paterson and Ben Compton was leg before to a swinging ball as the South African celebrated his second success.Lunch did nothing to stiffen Kent’s resolve, with Harry Finch soon leg before as Hutton claimed his 50th of the season, before Leaning was caught behind off a bottom edge to make it 59 for 5.Paterson had Evison caught low down at third slip and Matt Quinn on the boundary as a merrily brief innings ended with a top-edged pull. Alex Blake knew his fate immediately as he saw Mullaney readying himself for the catch as he heaved Hutton over midwicket and Arshdeep, having launched Paterson for six over the leg side, perished next ball, well caught by a diving Hutton at deep backward square attempting a repeat.The two pacemen each took a breather after 10 overs, but Kent’s demise was quickly completed as Bhuiyan gave Haseeb Hameed’s legbreaks a maiden first-class wicket.

He names his World Cup semi-final picks and is optimistic about Australia’s chances

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Sep-2023Rishabh Pant won’t be fit to play the upcoming World Cup but former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist is still fascinated by the impact he has had in his six years with the Indian team.Pant, 25, made his international debut in February 2017 and has risen to be one of the first names down on the team sheet, especially in Test cricket. A strike rate of 73 in the longest format shows the kind of threat he poses to the bowlers and his performance against Australia – 274 runs in five innings, including a series-winning 89 at the Gabba – was crucial to one of India greatest achievements: taking home the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2020-21.”I think Rishabh has inspired a lot of wicket-keeper batters around the world to play that [aggressive] way. It is fascinating for such a young man to have such an impact that Rishabh has had, and others are responding and playing in that positive manner,” Gilchrist, who is in India on a promotional visit, told PTI.Pant is currently out of action having met with a horrific car accident last December. He is working his way back to full fitness at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and is expected to make a comeback sometime next year.Related

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In Pant’s absence, KL Rahul is likely to keep wicket for India in the World Cup. Ishan Kishan also has experience behind the stumps but it appears his role in the first team will be limited to that of a middle-order batter. Gilchrist was impressed with how Kishan has shaped up despite knowing that he is behind Rahul in the pecking order.”They [India] are well stocked,” Gilchrist said. “They have got a couple of [wicketkeeping] options there, obviously, when KL was out with his injury, Ishan Kishan took his opportunity and played really well, and now they find themselves in the team together so that’s a wonderful case of taking an opportunity.”Being positive, and then, forcing the selectors into keeping you in the team [is impressive]. It seems like KL is gonna be the one who is going to continue with the gloves but it does not seem to hinder Ishan Kishan’s batting, he seems to be playing really well, carefree, attacking and dangerous.”Gilchrist reckons Australia will bounce back from the loss in South Africa•AFP/Getty Images

Gilchrist picks his World Cup semi-finalists

With the tournament less than three weeks away, and having won it three times, Gilchrist was asked to pick his final four. “I think India and Pakistan could feature, Australia and England are another two teams,” he said.Gilchrist is hopeful that Australia, five-time champions, will do well in India, where they won a bilateral series 2-1 in March 2023. He added that Adam Zampa, who finished with 0 for 113 and 3 for 70 in his last two ODIs in South Africa, will bounce back in more favourable conditions.”Australia will learn a lot from their efforts in South Africa when they come to India. They have got three games before the World Cup against India. So, they will have a bit more of a full-strength squad there, that might tell us a bit about where they are at.”Adam Zampa, in South Africa, was at the receiving end a little bit but it’s different conditions out here in India with different pitches and he is a world-class spin bowler, and he has shown that particularly across T20 cricket, and now he gets his chance in the 50-over World Cup. So it’s a very knowledgeable group and they are going to have to use all that experience against batting line-ups across the globe and play without fear.”There have been some suggestions about Australia pushing David Warner down the order but Gilchrist isn’t a fan. “He [Warner] looked really good in South Africa for the most part of what he did,” he said. “I think he has got to bat at the top, there has been some sort of discussions that he bats down the middle order but I think he has got to open. He showed in South Africa a couple of times that he is [as] aggressive and dominant at the top of the order as he has ever been. So, I think they bring with him a lot of experience and a lot of confidence, and I think he should play at the top of the order for Australia and if he plays really well then our opposition will fear that.”