Chris Taylor hit an unbeaten century to guide Gloucestershire to a 24-run Clydesdale Bank 40 victory over the Unicorns at blustery Bristol

02-May-2011
ScorecardChris Taylor hit an unbeaten century to guide Gloucestershire to a 24-run Clydesdale Bank 40 victory over the Unicorns at blustery Bristol.The county managed 195 for 6 from their 40 overs after winning the toss, Taylor contributing 100 not out off 98 balls, with nine fours and a six. New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson made 41 on debut while Unicorns bowler Dan Wheeldon took 3 for 31 from eight overs.In reply, the Unicorns never recovered from a spell of three for six off five overs from left-arm seamer David Payne (4 for 23), which reduced them to 43 for three on the way to 171 for nine. Skipper Keith Parsons hit a valiant 62 not out, off 77 balls, with three fours and a six, but the visitors never looked likely to reach their target on a tricky pitch of variable bounce.Payne was the pick of the home attack, but Will Gidman took a key wicket in Mike Thornely (31) on his way to figures of two for 29 from eight overs, while James Fuller claimed two for 27 from his eight. Parsons came in at the fall of the third wicket and battled hard without being able to raise the run-rate to the required level.Earlier, Wheeldon, who is playing minor counties cricket for Lincolnshire this season, had taken two wickets in the space of four balls to leave Gloucestershire seven for two. Skipper Alex Gidman was caught behind down the leg side, while Hamish Marshall was plum lbw to a ball that kept low.It was 26 for 3 when Ian Cockbain became Wheeldon’s third victim to another leg-before decision and Williamson found himself walking out to bat for the first time as a Gloucestershire player facing something of a crisis.He and Taylor steadied the ship without being able to take chances and their stand of 103 occupied 20 overs. The New Zealander was content to accumulate and had faced 69 balls, hitting only one boundary, when caught behind by Josh Knappett looking to pull Glen Querl.Will Gidman made 16 in a stand of 44 with Taylor, whose only six was lifted over square-leg off Neil Saker. But Gloucestershire were never able to cut loose and Taylor completed his ton in the final over, having held the innings together.Jonathan Miles conceded only 32 runs from his eight overs, while Neil Saker and Chris Peploe went for 38 apiece in a tidy Unicorns bowling display.

Ravi Bopara is the favourite to claim England’s vacant middle-order spot for the first Test against Sri Lanka at Cardiff

Andrew McGlashan21-May-2011More than four months after completing England’s finest achievement in many years by retaining the Ashes 3-1 in Australia, the majority of Andrew Strauss’s Test squad will reconvene for the first match of summer which, if it goes well, will put England on course for the No. 1 ranking.Nine of the team that completed the innings-and-83-run victory in Sydney will line-up in Cardiff to face Sri Lanka. The two who won’t be there are the retired Paul Collingwood and the injured Tim Bresnan and their replacements have been the only real debates for the selectors ahead of naming a 12-man squad.There has been plenty of time to consider who will fill Collingwood’s shoes in the middle order and the signs point strongly to Ravi Bopara. He didn’t make the most of his first innings for the Lions in Derby when he fell for 17, but the feeling is that the decision had already been made. That also means that Eoin Morgan’s 193 came too late, although it was a commanding innings that showed his immense natural ability.Bopara, though, has gained credit for the decisions he has made in recent months, most notably declining two IPL offers to remain with Essex. After overcoming a tricky start to the season he has made two Championship hundreds and, importantly, bowled plenty of overs to develop his second-string.Meanwhile, Morgan played nine Twenty20 innings over six weeks but then waltzed into the Lions and looked as though he’d been playing first-class cricket for months. In many ways it would have made the selectors’ job easier had Morgan failed (or at least not scored a near double hundred). Morgan has now indicated he will return to the IPL if he isn’t selected in the Test squad, a move that could well raise a few eyebrows. He will look particularly bad if someone breaks a finger on Wednesday and he’s back in India.The choice of pace-bowling cover could be one of a few impressive performers from the early stages of the domestic season. Given that Bresnan’s Ashes role was to pitch the ball up and find swing, Ajmal Shahzad is the likeliest option and has impressed the selectors with his work ethic over the winter. It shows the depth currently available that Steven Finn, who played three Ashes Tests and all of last summer, has slipped down the pecking order.Below those two the return of Graham Onions is being very closely monitored although it would be dangerous to rush him back too soon from such a serious injury, while Jade Dernbach is making significant strides as he showed with 5 for 44 against the Sri Lankans.It all means that none of the pace bowlers who do play can afford to coast. The most under pressure could well be Stuart Broad, England’s new Twenty20 captain, as he returns to the Test side after injury. Firstly he has to show his body isn’t becoming brittle, but also that he can contribute significant hauls. Currently he has 99 Test wickets at 35, a number that has to start coming down.The other player with plenty of eyes on him will be Kevin Pietersen. After recovering from his double hernia he has played two matches for Surrey (one an innings defeat against Cambridge University) and it’s a crucial summer for him if he really wants to regain his standing as England’s premier batsman. The selectors showed they were willing to drop him from the one-day side last year and Andy Flower isn’t one to accept passengers.Possible squad Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson, Ajmal Shahzad

The Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica staged its first full day of Test cricket on which India consolidated their position of strength

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya08-Jul-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
VVS Laxman made a half-century before being dismissed freakishly•Associated Press

Smart stats

• The partnership between Abhinav Mukund and VVS Laxman for the third wicket ended just two short of the century mark. The 98-run stand was the 23rd third-wicket partnership for India to end in the nineties and the third such against West Indies.

• The 103-run stand between MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina is the seventh-highest for the sixth-wicket for India against West Indies. It is also the third-highest for India in Tests in the West Indies.

• India have now scored over 300 on 29 occasions in Tests in the West Indies. They have won on three of those occasions, all in Tests in Trinidad.

• Laxman’s half-century is his third of the series and his 52nd overall. This moves him to seventh on the list of batsmen with most Test fifties.

• Dhoni’s 65 is his first half-century in eight innings. However, in Tests since the beginning of 2009, he averages over 44 with three centuries and seven fifties as compared to his overall average of just over 39.

The Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica staged its first full day of Test cricket on which India consolidated their position of strength, though after going through a couple of worrying phases against a depleted West Indies attack missing the services of Ravi Rampaul due to a viral infection. Abhinav Mukund and VVS Laxman overcame the pressure inflicted by a fiery opening spell from Fidel Edwards and Darren Sammy to build a platform for a substantial lead, and Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni ensured India stayed on track after a couple of freak dismissals that included some slick wicketkeeping from Carlton Baugh threatened to undermine the hard work.The weakened hosts would have known they were in for a long ordeal, but they made it difficult for India with an early double-strike. Edwards was dangerous with late swing, nearly yorking M Vijay in his first over of the day and dislodging him off his first ball of the second. He should have had Rahul Dravid, having deceived him twice with his late away movement, but Darren Sammy surprised Dravid with one that nipped back in to bowl him through the gate. Lots of patience and solidity was the need of the hour and Mukund and Laxman showed that to prop up India.It took some resolve to recover from 18 for 2. Abhinav showed excellent concentration and grafted his way to a maiden half-century that justified his selection for the tour of England. He used his feet well against the variations in length and when Edwards tried to ruffle him with some short balls, he was adept at handling them, moving back and tapping them down with soft hands. Opportunities weren’t wasted either, as he dispatched Devendra Bishoo’s full toss and cracked Edwards behind square leg and past point for successive boundaries. Hopes of a century were cut short when he offered a bat-pad chance off Bishoo, playing a shot that fetched him a fair number of runs today – the whip through square leg.Laxman took 16 deliveries to get off the mark as the early part of his innings was spent seeing off the fast bowlers. On a big ground and a slow outfield, he rotated the strike well, picking up the pace when Bishoo was introduced into the attack. Boundaries were long, so he picked off singles and twos, playing the ball late, preferring the areas past point and down the ground as the field spread out. Bishoo didn’t give too much air but when he did, Laxman caressed him through extra cover. When Bishoo dragged it short, Laxman brought up his half-century pulling him over midwicket. He looked good to build on with Virat Kohli, who had progressed to 30, and Sammy sticking to a leg-stump line on a track robbed of its early assistance.At 168 for 3, West Indies were beginning to look deflated but an opening wasn’t far away. They struck against the run of play when Kohli was caught expertly down the leg side by Baugh. What’s more, even though the appeal was for a catch, his foot was found to be in the air when Baugh instinctively took off the bails. But nothing could better what followed.Bowlers can’t get more innocuous than Shivnarine Chanderpaul and that was evident when he – handed the ball after Sammy was short of options – lobbed some amiable deliveries so far outside off that Laxman didn’t bother chasing them. However, they proved deceptively threatening, even though Chanderpaul – who was bowling for the first time since 2007 – would not have planned them to be. In one of the more bizarre dismissals in Tests, Laxman, having left another of those shockers alone, casually lifted his back leg a touch; Baugh took off the bails at that instant. Laxman is known for his shell-shocked expressions when dismissed – Chennai 2001, Rawalpindi 2004, spring to mind – and this one was right alongside them as he was sent back looking dumbfounded against the unlikeliest of wicket-takers.West Indies had clawed back to make it 172 for 5. With scores of 0, 15, 2 and 5 in this series, Dhoni was under pressure but against spin, in the company of a fluent Raina and the field spread out, he stepped up to revive India. Boundaries weren’t necessary as the pair ran well, working the gaps, nudging and dabbing away with Bishoo and Chanderpaul bowling extended spells.The West Indies seamers were not at their optimum fitness: Sammy was frequently seen holding his calf muscle while Edwards got some work done on his thigh. That made it easier for India, and Dhoni and Raina took full toll of the opportunities they got. Singles were converted to twos, Raina pulled and drove Bishoo for boundaries to break a long drought while Dhoni cashed in against Edwards towards the end of the day, smacking him through square leg before launching him over mid-off. In the interim, Edwards managed to trap Raina in front off the second new ball but only after the pair had put on a century stand and Raina had notched up his third fifty of the series, helping set up a potentially decisive lead, weather permitting.

Chris Hartley, the Queensland wicketkeeper, has signed with the Brisbane Heat for the Twenty20 Big Bash League

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Aug-2011Chris Hartley, the Queensland wicketkeeper, has signed with the Brisbane Heat for the Twenty20 Big Bash League, and will serve as understudy to Brendon McCullum during the tournament.Not known for particularly fast scoring, Hartley was set targets for off-season improvement by the Bulls and Heat coach Darren Lehmann, and was signed once he had reached them.”We gave a number of the players some specific things we thought they needed to work on during the off-season and Harts more than met expectations,” Lehmann said.”He showed that he can play the sort of game we want in T20 and his batting has been as good as anyone in the Queensland squad so far in our preparations.”It’s also good to have another ‘keeper in the squad in the event that Brendon McCullum has to miss a game. And Harts is just one of those people you want to have around the group. He’s incredibly dedicated and has a sharp cricket brain.”Hartley’s signing is the Heat’s 15th ahead of the BBL, bolstering a squad that includes the likes of McCullum, Daniel Vettori, Daniel Christian, Ryan Harris, James Hopes and the previously retired opener Matthew Hayden.The squads so far
Adelaide Strikers Aiden Blizzard, Cameron Borgas, Lee Carseldine, Tom Cooper, Adam Crosthwaite, Theo Doropoulos, Brendan Drew, Callum Ferguson, Daniel Harris, Michael Klinger, Nathan Lyon, Aaron O’Brien, Gary Putland, Kane Richardson. Overseas players: Kieron Pollard.
Brisbane Heat Ryan Broad, Nick Buchanan, Daniel Christian, Ben Cutting, Peter Forrest, Ryan Harris, Chris Hartley, Nathan Hauritz, Matthew Hayden, James Hopes, Chris Lynn, Michael Neser, Chris Swan. Overseas players: Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori.
Hobart Hurricanes Travis Birt, Mark Cosgrove, Xavier Doherty, Luke Feldman, Evan Gulbis, Ben Hilfenhaus, Michael Hogan, Phil Jaques, Matt Johnston, Jason Krejza, Nick Kruger, Ben Laughlin, Rhett Lockyear, Tim Paine, RIcky Ponting. Overseas players: Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Owais Shah.
Melbourne Renegades Ryan Carters, Aaron Finch, Shane Harwood, Aaron Heal, Jayde Herrick, Michael Hill, Brad Hodge, Glenn Maxwell, Andrew McDonald, Brenton McDonald, Dirk Nannes, Nathan Reardon, Will Sheridan, Shaun Tait. Overseas players: Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi.
Melbourne Stars George Bailey, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Jon Holland, David Hussey, Alex Keath, Clint McKay, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Chris Simpson, Adam Voges, Matthew Wade, Cameron White. Overseas players: Luke Wright.
Perth Scorchers Tom Beaton, Michael Beer, Mark Cameron, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Edmondson, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Marcus North, Luke Pomersbach, Nathan Rimmington, Luke Ronchi. Overseas players: Paul Collingwood, Herschelle Gibbs.
Sydney Sixers Ed Cowan, Pat Cummins, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Brett Lee, Nic Maddinson, Ian Moran, Peter Nevill, Steve O’Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Dominic Thornely, Shane Watson. Overseas players: Michael Lumb
Sydney Thunder Sean Abbott, Tim Armstrong, Nic Bills, Doug Bollinger, Luke Butterworth, Scott Coyte, Tim Cruickshank, Matthew Day, Luke Doran, Ben Dunk, Jason Floros, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Craig Philipson, Daniel Smith, David Warner. Overseas players: Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle.

A century from Paul Stirling set Middlesex up for a 34-run victory over
Derbyshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 game at Chesterfield to end the home side’s
hopes of taking second place in Group A

21-Aug-2011
ScorecardA century from Paul Stirling set Middlesex up for a 34-run victory over
Derbyshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 game at Chesterfield to end the home side’s
hopes of taking second place in Group A.Stirling made 109 off 81 balls to take the Panthers to 253 for eight with
17-year-old off-spinner Peter Burgoyne taking two for 36 on his senior debut for
the Falcons. Chesney Hughes top scored with 66 and Wayne Madsen made 50 but Steven Finn took three for 28 as Derbyshire were bowled out for 219 with 26 balls to spare.The Panthers looked set for a more formidable total when 73 came off the first
10 overs but the spinners dragged it back for the Falcons with Burgoyne
impressing on his first-team debut.Hughes also checked the Panthers progress by conceding only 39 from his eight
overs and had former Derbyshire captain Chris Rogers caught on the midwicket
boundary off a full toss. Hughes should have had Stirling on 51 when the Irishman skied a big pull but Wayne Madsen spilled the chance at midwicket and that proved a costly miss.Stirling went on to an excellent century off 75 balls and he hit six sixes and
six fours before a miscued drive was well caught by Martin Guptill sprinting in
from long off. Scott Newman scored 33 from 39 balls before he was Burgoyne’s first victim when
he missed a pull and despite an unbeaten 34 from Ollie Rayner, the Panthers
managed only 68 from the last 10 overs.Rayner swept Burgoyne for six but another of Derbyshire’s promising young
spinners Tom Knight conceded only four from the last over to keep the Panthers
in range. Guptill had scored an unbeaten century on the same ground a week earlier in a
six-wicket win over Yorkshire but this time he fell to Finn in the first over of
the chase.The England paceman got the fifth ball of the innings to move away just enough
and although Dawid Malan could not hold the edge at first slip, wicketkeeper
John Simpson scooped up the rebound.Hughes responded by twice driving Finn to the ropes and he launched Toby
Roland-Jones into the pavilion before Finn struck again by bowling Wes Durston
for 12 in the seventh over. The Falcons’ best chance now rested with Hughes and after reaching his fifty from 51 balls, he pulled Steven Crook for his second six before two wickets in
three balls put the Panthers firmly in charge.Hughes clipped Tom Smith to backward square where Crook held a diving catch and
the slow left-armer then took a return catch to send back Greg Smith. Madsen hit 50 off 57 balls before he was deceived by a Crook slower ball and although Tom Poynton hit Smith for consecutive sixes, Derbyshire’s last three wickets fell in the space of six balls.