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Conway will see a hand specialist in Wellington as New Zealand try to lock in selections amid high churn

Andrew McGlashan23-Feb-20241:36

Phillips on Ben Sears: ‘Fantastic to have such young talent coming through’

Devon Conway remains a doubt for the opening Test against Australia in Wellington next week and will see a hand specialist to ascertain the extent of the damage he suffered to his left thumb during the second T20I at Eden Park.Conway suffered the blow in the second over of the match when he took a sharp delivery from Adam Milne down the leg side. He was briefly treated on the field before deciding not to continue and Finn Allen took the gloves for the rest of the innings.Related

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Conway went to hospital for x-rays and did not bat during New Zealand’s chase. He was cleared of “an obvious fracture to his left thumb” but was ruled out of the final T20I and returned home to Wellington on Saturday for further assessment.”There is a little bit of concern because we are not 100% sure yet exactly how it’s going to respond over the next three or four days,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “[We’ve] still got a little bit of time and at the end of the day think it will come down to pain management and what he can do in that space around making sure he feels comfortable at the crease.”It’s still a little bit unknown. Last night he had some strange things going with his thumb, it was clicking a little bit…but at this stage he has been cleared of a break which is great. He’ll see a hand specialist tomorrow in Wellington and we’ll find out more then.”There was a more encouraging prognosis for Rachin Ravindra after he sat out the second T20I with knee soreness. He remains with the squad but is unlikely to be risked in Sunday’s match with an eye on the Test series.Devon Conway went off after he was struck on the left thumb•Getty Images

“Not as much concern around Rachin,” Stead said. “He does have a bit of a niggly left knee. Think it’s unlikely he will play tomorrow with the Test matches in mind, but we are very confident that he will still progress well to be right for that first Test match. He’s slightly better today than what he was yesterday which is the encouraging signs we want.”Conway is penciled in to open the batting in the Test series while Ravindra is also a lock for the XI after he converted his maiden Test hundred into 240 against South Africa recently.If Conway is ruled out, Will Young would be his likely replacement at the top of the order. Young is the reserve batter in the Test squad and can cover a variety of positions. He came into side against South Africa in Hamilton as a middle-order replacement for Daryl Mitchell but can also opening the batting. Conway does not keep in the Test side with that role belonging to Tom Blundell.Tim Seifert, who himself was initially ruled out of the T20I series with an abductor injury, has been called back into the squad as Conway’s replacement for the last match of the series while Jacob Duffy has been added as fast-bowling cover. One more batter will be added after the conclusion of today’s Ford Trophy final in Christchurch.Ahead of the first Test, both Mitchell (foot) and Matt Henry (hip) are progressing well in their recoveries. “Very confident they’ll be good to go,” Stead said.Kane Williamson’s partner, Sarah, gave birth to their third child, a girl, earlier this week which ensures he will be available for the Test series having missed the T20Is.In terms of the T20I series, Stead was not overly concerned by New Zealand falling 2-0 down given the opening game went down to the last delivery then Conway’s injury meant they had to reshuffling the batting order in Auckland.”T20 cricket is pretty fickle, and that first game could have easily gone the other way,” he said. “You move on very, very quickly. We want to take the learnings and make sure we put them into practice, but there’s still a lot of good things that have come out of the last two games.”Ben Sears, for example, I thought was fantastic, a young guy early in his career. Thought Lockie Ferguson in the two games has bowled superbly well and looked somewhere back to near his best which is really exciting to see.”We are pretty realistic. Yes, we didn’t get the result we wanted last night but there are a number of guys who will come back into our side as well around the World Cup which will make a big difference in terms of experience.”

In a top order-heavy Royal Challengers batting line-up, Parthiv Patel has made peace with his role as an opener and the uncertainty of his position, should he lose his form

Sruthi Ravindranath in Bengaluru05-Apr-2019How does one stand out in a team that has Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in it?Just ask Parthiv Patel. He is currently Royal Challengers Bangalore’s top run-scorer in IPL 2019, with 138 runs in four games, 45 ahead of the second-placed de Villiers. Yet, nearly half the questions asked of him at the press conference on the eve of the match between Royal Challengers and Kolkata Knight Riders were about the Big Two in his side. And all Parthiv did was respond, breaking into his trademark crinkle-eyed smile. By now, he’s probably accepted that they’re always going to be the talking point.”Obviously they set very high standards, there is no doubt about it,” Parthiv said on Thursday, in Bengaluru. “The reason everyone is talking about Virat and AB is because of the performance they have given for Royal Challengers, and with Virat for India and AB for South Africa. I think more than anything, they will try and score big. AB had a good game against Mumbai here and Virat got a 40 as well in the same game. I am sure as everyone else, they will be as hungry as possible.”Royal Challengers have endured a rough start to the season, losing all four games. Their most recent match, against Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday, ended in another heavy defeat but a look at the scorecard throws up just one noteworthy batting performance: Parthiv’s 67 off 41 balls.In that game, he had a cautious start, making 22 off 13 in the Powerplay, going after just the bad balls while letting Kohli take most of the strike. After Kohli and de Villiers’ wickets in succession, and another batting collapse, it seemed like Parthiv was the only one who could avert another disaster. Although he kept his wicket intact till the 18th over, he could not accelerate as expected and the team managed 158 for 4.Rewind to the opening game of IPL 2019, where Parthiv kept his cool and batted deep in a collapse which saw Royal Challengers crumble to 70 all out against Chennai Super Kings, after Kohli and de Villiers had fallen for single-digit scores. He was the only Royal Challengers batsman to get to double figures and also came close to carrying his bat: he was the last batsman to be dismissed for 29 off 35 balls.In a tournament – and a format – synonymous with big numbers, bringing up Parthiv’s statistics is unlikely to do him favours. He has played 129 matches in the IPL and has 2613 runs at an average of 22.5. His strike rate of 119.14 is the second-lowest among openers who have played at least 50 IPL matches. While he can bring out the big shots, he isn’t known as a batsman who can go wham from the first ball. Since March 2017, he has a Powerplay strike rate of 148.67 but after the first six overs, it fizzles down to 119.83. In the last five years, his average has touched 30 in just one completed season (in 2018).BCCI

Yet, Royal Challengers have kept faith in the 34-year old, buying him back in 2018 even after his below-par stint with them in 2014.Parthiv has featured in all the editions of the tournament and has played for six different IPL teams. He’s had 22 different opening partners through the years; eight at Royal Challengers over three seasons and three in the last four games of IPL 2019 alone. But with Kohli admitting that the side haven’t found the right balance yet and that more chopping and changing are on the way, just a few bad scores for Parthiv could probably keep him out of a top-order heavy line-up. Considering the fragility of Royal Challengers’ batting order, it’s unlikely they would keep him just as the experienced wicketkeeper who would float around the order depending on the needs.Ask Parthiv about his role in the team and this is all he says: “Personally, I have played for so many teams and played with so many openers, it doesn’t matter that much to me. I have played a lot with Virat and with Moeen [Ali] together. I know what my role is and it doesn’t worry me too much.”Parthiv has indeed managed to show his value and has been trying to prove that he belongs in that Royal Challengers line-up. While accepting that the spotlight is always going to be on them, he probably realises he might not always be given the long rope, especially at the top of the order.”Obviously I am quite happy the way I have played but individual performances doesn’t matter as much. Whoever plays in the XI tries to do well and exactly what I have been trying to do,” he said. “Every time I get a chance to play, I try to perform to the best of my ability and I am glad the performances have come so far.”

It will be the first women’s T20 tournament to be held in Bangladesh; could kick off at the end of the ongoing BPL

Mohammad Isam17-Jan-2025The BCB will be launching a maiden Women’s Bangladesh Premier League (WBPL); it is likely to be held soon after the ongoing men’s competition ends on February 7. According to Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, the BCB director, it will be a three-team competition, with each team playing the others twice for a total of six league games followed by the final.”The board has been thinking about the various ways that we can take women’s cricket forward,” Fahim said. “Whether we can do a T20 competition for women was in our thoughts. We have decided today that we will do the Women’s BPL.”Fahim said the BCB is in talks with some of the men’s BPL franchises regarding ownership of the women’s teams, and that a couple of owners have shown interest.”We have already spoken to a few BPL franchises, who have shown interest [in owning women’s teams],” he said. “We want to see how a women’s tournament has an effect on our T20 cricket. We are hopeful that it will help our women’s game progress.”Fahim said that only allow one overseas player will be allowed in the playing XI, with the squads having a maximum of 15 players each.”We won’t take many overseas players due to the financial constraints,” he said. “Four overseas players puts financial pressure on the teams; perhaps they don’t want to take that pressure. We want to give more opportunities to our domestic cricketers. We want to add competitiveness.”It will be the first women’s T20 tournament to be held in Bangladesh. Women cricketers in the country play the one-day league in Dhaka, and the BCB recently launched a women’s three-day competition.

Experimental side captained by Nat Sciver-Brunt made to work before getting home in final over

Valkerie Baynes11-Jul-2024England mixed it up, put it in a test tube, found themselves under pressure and still came out with a win and an unassailable 3-0 lead in their T20I series against New Zealand.Sophie Ecclestone’s four-wicket haul smothered Sophie Devine’s defiance before Alice Capsey’s T20I career-best of 67 not out saw the hosts win by six wickets with four balls to spare in Canterbury.With two matches left, the hosts could well continue their experimental approach which saw Sophia Dunkley take her chance with a 26-ball 35 returning to the top of the order and sharing a 66-run partnership with Capsey to put England in control. Two quick wickets to Fran Jonas preserved the hope that Devine had given New Zealand but Capsey’s 60-ball innings, and an cool cameo by Freya Kemp of 16 not out from eight balls saw England home as the White Ferns were left to rue a rash of missed chances in the field.

Devine intervention

From Suzie Bates’ stunning straight drive for four off the first ball of the match – bringing up her 10,000th international run – to her 52-run partnership with Amelia Kerr for the second wicket, this was more like the batting performance New Zealand had craved. At the end of the powerplay, the White Ferns were 46 for 1 and Kerr took them past the 50-mark with four off Sarah Glenn’s first delivery, a fuller one which she lifted behind square. But when Ecclestone cleaned up both in a devastating first over, Devine needed to produce the sort of innings that had so far eluded her on this tour.With Georgia Plimmer having fallen for a first-ball duck in the opening over, the spectre of New Zealand’s batting woes loomed large again and, at 63 for 3, it fell to Devine and Brooke Halliday to steady them. Devine received a life on 4 when Charlie Dean couldn’t hold a sharp return catch before Halliday spooned a Glenn delivery straight to Nat Sciver-Brunt at long-on. Devine broke a boundary drought lasting 5.4 overs when she struck Dean for two fours in four balls, swung through square leg and thundered through long-on, but as the wickets continued to fall, Devine would have to unleash if they were to turn 100 for 6 into a defendable total.Kemp made it 106 for 7 with a perfect yorker to remove Hannah Rowe but Devine slammed the first six of the match over long-on two balls later then slog-swept Ecclestone for an even bigger one over deep square leg and drove the next ball down the ground for four. Devine brought up her fifty with the first of three fours in a row off Dani Gibson, smashed down the ground, before slashing past short third and ending the innings with a heave through square leg to walk off with her first half-century of the tour.

Ecclestone’s incisions

Ecclestone came into the attack and struck with her second ball, Bates chipping straight to Sciver-Brunt at mid-off for a 27-ball 38. Kerr swung her bat in anguish after she was beaten a beauty three balls later, a flighted delivery that dipped then gripped off the pitch and sailed past the inside edge onto the top of middle stump. When Ecclestone splattered Izzy Gaze’s off stump with her arm ball, New Zealand were in all sorts of trouble. That’s when Devine shifted gears but Ecclestone claimed her fourth when Leigh Kasperek tried to match her captain’s hitting and heaved across the line, only to miss and see her middle stump rattled. It was the last ball of Ecclestone’s allocation, giving her 4 for 25, her second four-wicket haul in T20Is and bettered only by the 4 for 18 she took against New Zealand at Taunton in 2018.Alice Capsey’s half-century got England over the line•Getty Images

“What-if?” planning

England made sweeping changes in a piece of “what-if?” planning ahead of the T20 World Cup, as it was described at the toss by Sciver-Brunt, standing in as captain for Heather Knight, who sat out alongside Danni Wyatt and Lauren Bell. That made way at the top of the order for Dunkley to play her first T20I since March. Kemp returned after her unbeaten 26 and 1 for 30 playing again as an allrounder in the opening T20I in Southampton while making her comeback from a back injury. Bell made way for fellow seamer Lauren Filer in the other change, which was in keeping with a theme Knight painted ahead of the T20I series where she said England would look to try different combinations and tactics with a view to needing to adapt to changing conditions in Bangladesh.Having been dropped after England’s tour of New Zealand earlier this year, Dunkley scored 15 in her only other appearance of this visit by the White Ferns, in the third ODI in Bristol. Here she had another chance to show what she could do ahead of the T20 World Cup and the spotlight intensified here when Maia Bouchier fell on the first ball of the run-chase, pinned lbw by Rowe. In Rowe’s next over, Dunkley powered a big six over long-off, then helped herself to three fours – and 15 runs in all – off Devine’s second over, which was the last of the powerplay and ended with England comfortable on 50 for 1. But when left-arm spinner Jonas entered the attack, she had two wickets in two balls, Dunkley cramped by a full ball which drifted in and chopping onto her stumps and Sciver-Brunt to an lbw decision that would have been overturned had she reviewed with ball-tracking showed it was missing leg stump.

Capsey, Kemp get the job done

That left England needing 73 runs in 10 overs and Capsey made the most of her chance when she was pinned on the front pad attempting a reverse sweep off Kasperek and successfully reviewed, the ball shown to be going down the leg side. Amy Jones survived two dropped chances, put down on 11 by Plimmer at long-off and Devine at mid-off on 18 with England needing 28 off 17 balls. Capsey slammed Kerr over long-on for six next ball so that when Jones was run out, the equation was 22 needed from 15.Yet another chance went begging when Maddy Green failed to hold in the deep and Kemp capitalised, cleverly reversing Kasperek to the boundary through short third and smashing the next ball down the ground to leave England with five to get off the last over. They got there with four balls to spare via a streaky four by Capsey off a Jonas misfield.

Needing six off the last over, Notts only manage five as Wayne Parnell holds his nerve

Paul Edwards at Edgbaston21-Sep-2019″You want everyone to hurt as much as you do. If you cut us in half we’d be green and gold.”Well there is really nothing like T20 Finals Day for a bit of gothic hyperbole and no one doubts Steven Mullaney’s loyalty to Trent Bridge. Nottinghamshire’s club captain has felt his team’s pain as sharply as anyone this year and so one can easily imagine his utter agony when the Outlaws lost a game they should have coasted to an exultant Worcestershire team, some of whom seemed as surprised by the outcome as their devastated opponents.Even in the slightly absurd world of T20 no one at Edgbaston could quite credit what they were seeing in this first semi-final and it will take a while for things to sink in at Trent Bridge.Needing 11 to win with eight wickets in hand, Notts lost three batsmen in the penultimate over – one of them that of Mullaney, who was run out without facing a ball. No problem, you might think, given that the Outlaws then required only six off the final over, bowled by Wayne Parnell. A tie would do.But having conceded 37 off his previous three overs, Parnell hit his lengths to the extent that Ben Duckett and Samit Patel managed only five before Duckett swished fruitlessly at the last ball and Ben Cox, standing up to the stumps, collected it brilliantly. Parnell raced off to the dug-out while Duckett sank to his knees and stayed there for a long minute. He may have wanted the Birmingham earth to swallow him upAbsolutely none of this had seemed likely, given that Worcestershire’s total of 147 had seemed about 20 shy of par and Nottinghamshire’s batsmen had gone about proving the justice of that contention.Put at its simplest, the Rapids innings began with three sixes by Moeen Ali and ended with three more from the bat of Ross Whiteley. The middle overs were dominated by Riki Wessels’ relatively restrained 34, his moderation necessitated by a steady haemorrhage of wickets, three of them taken by Matt Carter and two by Mullaney. All of which made Whiteley’s late assault all the more necessary; no could match Moeen’s aggression until he levied 16 runs off three balls from Mullaney and it had been left to Wessels to anchor the innings – always a curious term in the speedboat world of short-form cricket but valid all the same – in his 38-ball inningsMoeen had made 21 off nine balls, depositing his second delivery from Carter deep into the Chairman’s Lounge at the Pavilion End. There were two more sixes, one off Harry Gurney measured at 92 metres, before he was bowled aiming an extravagant sweep at a 60mph off-spinner from Carter. At that pace though, flight and grip had little to do with the dismissal. Whiteley managed 36 off 24 balls before he became one of Gurney’s two late victims.Not many folk thought 147 would be enough and even that plucky caucus was reduced once Chris Nash had taken 18 runs off Parnell’s second over of the innings. Nash has been given licence to whack it and he made 24 off 16 balls before he was caught at square leg by Daryl Mitchell off Ed Barnard. But any thoughts this might prompt the steady loss of wickets suffered by Worcestershire were quickly dispelled by Alex Hales and Duckett, who gauged the pace of the pitch – slow but hardly sticky – before getting out the ramps, the reverse sweeps and other strokes from T20’s palace of varieties.The pair had added 49 when Hales was caught by Cox off Moeen for a 42-ball 52, but that wicket fell in the offspinner’s last over and the task of preventing the Outlaws scoring 45 runs off six overs fell to the rest of the skipper’s seven-man attack. Parnell bowled at over 80mph but his deliveries came off the bat at a similar velocityThen Dan Christian fell to Pat Brown in the penultimate over of the innings and Moores was caught at long on by Wessles three balls later. Next ball Mullaney was run out and the level of tension in the Nottinghamshire camp was cranked up about a dozen notches.Parnell was entrusted with the final over of the innings and what happened next will haunt this winter by the Trent. Having won none of their championship games, Notts were hoping this day would rescue their season, Instead of which they face a short journey home before having the chance to watch the final on TV. You may be assured they will not do so.

Daniel Gidney says ECB must invest more in promoting women’s domestic competitions

Matt Roller18-Apr-2024Daniel Gidney, Lancashire’s chief executive, has called on the ECB to find a title sponsor and a standalone broadcast deal for the Charlotte Edwards Cup after his club’s investment in women’s cricket was rewarded with the award of Tier 1 status from 2025 in the revamped domestic structure.Lancashire have been major investors in Thunder in England’s regional competitions since 2020, with help from two sponsors in Hilton and Sportsbreaks.com. They will have a full-time squad of 15 professionals this year and travelled to Dubai and Bangalore last month, their third successive pre-season tour.They were among the counties pushing for a change in the domestic structure which would empower them to invest more in their women’s team and Gidney said that he was “absolutely thrilled” that Lancashire will host a Tier 1 side from next season. “I’ve always believed that if you are going to do this, you have to do it properly,” he told ESPNcricinfo.Related

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To that end, Gidney believes the ECB must find a title sponsor for the Charlotte Edwards Cup – the regional T20 competition – and invest more in marketing games outside of the Hundred. The ECB have committed to investing around £19 million in women’s domestic cricket by 2027.”There is a lot of history of men’s sports sponsors wanting women’s competitions as an add-on,” Gidney said. “We’re now at a stage where the Charlotte Edwards Cup needs to be backed, it needs to have England players available, and it needs to be taken seriously. There were more people at our quarter-final at Blackpool last year than at Finals Day at New Road.”The Charlotte Edwards Cup falls under Sky Sports’ TV rights deal with English cricket, which runs from 2024-28, but the channel has rarely broadcast matches from the competition, which are instead largely available via free online live streams. Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, said any changes will only be considered before the next rights cycle, which will start in 2029.”If we deliver on what we aim to deliver, that is a natural consequence of what we aim to do,” he said on Thursday at the launch of the ECB’s national tape-ball competition. “At the moment, we fall back on streaming platforms for much of our professional domestic cricket at county level and we’ll be doing the same for the women, but ultimately, that’s what we want to do.”While the three men’s county competitions all have headline sponsors, the women’s regional equivalents do not. Gould would not be drawn on sponsorship, saying: “I would not want to go into that at this point.” Gidney said: “This competition needs a title sponsor that is paying proper money, and we need to get it broadcast.”We shouldn’t just be giving assets away to people: it’s insulting to all of the women’s professional cricketers we have in the UK now. This is a proper sport that has real value. The top [level] of women’s elite sport in English cricket is the Hundred, but that’s not the only domestic professional cricket in town.”Gidney believes the move away from a regional structure funded predominantly by the ECB and towards a county model reflects the speed of commercialisation in women’s sport. “At the time the regional structure was introduced, it was all about accelerating performance, development of skills and professionalism,” he said.”But people underestimated the speed at which elite women’s professional sport has become commercialised: look at the amazing successes of the Lionesses, the Red Roses, sell-out games for Arsenal’s women at the Emirates Stadium, the Women’s Premier League. The money that has come in and the level of engagement from a new fanbase has been mad.”Deloitte put out a report to say that they believe in 2024, women’s elite sport will become a billion-dollar industry… you have to encourage innovation and generate commercial income to help grow women’s elite sport. We’re thrilled to be a successful Tier 1 club, but that comes with massive responsibility. I can’t now use it as an excuse that the ECB are holding me back.”Lancashire are building a new training base at Farington•Lancashire Cricket

Gidney believes that the tender process for Tier 1 teams has demonstrated which counties are “serious” about investing in women’s cricket. “I sat in one meeting and one CEO said, ‘if you get it and we don’t, you’re getting more revenue off the ECB.’ I said, ‘I’m astonished you’ve used the word ‘revenue’ in this context.’ The money that comes from the ECB is just a percentage of what has to be invested into the women’s programme to make it successful.”A few years ago, there was one non-Test match ground county that took a lot of money from the ECB for its academy. They spent £20,000 on the academy, and the rest on a Kolpak fast bowler. Authenticity is important. If you’re serious, you have to put your money and your actions where your mouth is, and I’d challenge anybody to say that Lancashire hasn’t done that in the last few years.”Thunder – who have appointed Chris Read, the former England wicketkeeper, as their coach ahead of the upcoming regional season – will play seven fixtures at Old Trafford this year, the most that any regional team will play at a men’s Test venue. The old away dressing room at the ground has already been converted into a home dressing room for the women’s team.Lancashire are also building a new facility at Farington, near Preston, which will become a training base for their men’s and women’s teams and will stage some first-team matches as well as second-team and pathway fixtures. But Gidney stressed: “Emirates Old Trafford is the home of Lancashire Cricket – for both our men and our women.”Old Trafford will also stage women’s international cricket again from 2025, more than a decade since its most recent fixture. Gidney wants to host Women’s T20 World Cup matches there in 2026: “We haven’t got a men’s Test match in 2026, so we are very hopeful about that.”

Qiana Joseph and Chedean Nation return to the mix after missing the Australia tour

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Mar-2024Kate Wilmott has earned her maiden West Indies call-up, while Qiana Joseph and Chedean Nation have been recalled into the 15-member squad for their white-ball tour to Pakistan.Joseph took eight wickets in her five appearances in the Women’s Super50 Cup, which took place in March. Chedean Nation took six wickets in five games in the Women’s T20 Blaze.Djenaba Joseph, Ashmini Munisar, and Shabika Gajnab are the ones to miss out after being part of the squad for the Australia tour last year.”The upcoming series against is extremely important for the team as they return to international competition after almost six months, the last series being against Australia,” Ann Browne-John, Lead Selector for West Indies’ Women’s cricket said. “Apart from the three ODIs, the team will get some much-needed T20 matches as they prepare to participate in the T20 World Cup later this year.”The players will assemble in Dubai for a one-week training camp from April 6 and will play five three ODIs – which are part of the ODI Women’s Championship – followed by five T20Is. All the games will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi.West Indies women squad: Hayley Matthews (capt), Shemaine Campbelle (vice-captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Afy Fletcher, Cherry Ann Fraser, Jannillea Glasgow, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James, Qiana Joseph, Chedean Nation, Karishma Ramharack, Stafanie Taylor, Rashada Williams, Kate Wilmott

Allrounder hits fifty and takes two parsimonious wickets as Vipers scramble last-ball single to tie

ECB Reporters Network15-Aug-2019Southern Vipers and Lancashire Thunder produced a thrilling tie under the Hove lights in the Kia Super League.On a slow pitch Thunder’s 132 for 7 didn’t look enough but by the seventh over of their reply Vipers had slumped to 24 for 4. Stafanie Taylor and Maia Bouchier appeared to be taking Vipers to victory but the game seemed to swing back Lancashire’s way again in the 19th over when Taylor was bowled sweeping Sophie Ecclestone, who then ran out Bouchier for 40 with a direct hit on the turn.Vipers needed 12 off the final over and were back in control when Amanda-Jade Wellington struck the first two balls from Emma Lamb to the boundary only to be stumped off the next. Tash Farrant scrambled two off the fourth delivery but was bowled attempting a reverse-hit off the fifth. Carla Rudd could only manage a single off the final ball to leave the scores level.Skipper Kate Cross had made the breakthrough in the second over when Danni Wyatt feathered an edge to the wicketkeeper before Suzie Bates played on to Ecclestone in the next over. Thea Brookes mistimed a drive to mid-off to give Cross a second wicket and Lancashire appeared to be in control when Tammy Beaumont squirted a delivery well outside off stump from Emma Lamb to point in the seventh over.But player of the match Taylor, who had earlier taken 2 for 23, and Bouchier turned things around in a terrific stand of 94 in 12 overs which got Vipers’ target down to 15 off 12. Taylor took her aggregate in four innings to 173 runs as she hit Sophia Dunkley for two sixes and also struck four boundaries in 51 from 43 ballsHaving won the toss Thunder found themselves in early trouble when they lost openers Tahlia McGrath and Sune Luus in the first two overs. McGrath steered Farrant’s third ball to backward point and Luus was run out by Wyatt’s accurate throw from deep mid-wicket as she came back for a second.Skipper Beaumont mixed up her bowlers effectively and Vipers were in control when New Zealand leg-spinner Wellington came on in the seventh over to pick up two wickets and reduce Thunder to 28 for 4. A promising start by Dunkley ended when she drilled a return catch back to the bowler and Georgie Boyce played across a quicker delivery to fall for a two-ball duck.Thunder fought back through Harmanpreet Kaur and Lamb, who shared 62 in seven overs for the fifth wicket and played with increasing confidence. Harmanpreet appeared to be moving through the gears when she drove Taylor over extra cover for six and hit the next ball for four but she was caught on the mid-wicket boundary for 34 off the next delivery. Lamb fell for 29 off 24 balls in the next over when she became Wellington’s third victim.Thunder were 94 for 7 in the 16th but Cross and Ecclestone put on 38 for the seventh wicket and they proved to be crucial runs.

Fast bowler makes move to reinforce bowling stocks following Tim Murtagh’s retirement

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2023Henry Brookes, the talented Warwickshire fast bowler, has signed for Middlesex on a three-year contract.Brookes, 24, made his professional debut for Warwickshire in 2017 when he was just 18, and helped secure the County Championship Division Two title the following season, when he claimed 21 wickets in five appearances.His ability to bowl at 90mph makes him a prospect across all three formats, and in 2022 he became only the third bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the Men’s Hundred, with figures of 5 for 25 for Birmingham Phoenix against Southern Brave.In all, he has claimed 80 wickets in 31 first-class appearances for Warwickshire, and a further 77 across 60 white-ball appearances. His recruitment fills a void in Middlesex’s fast-bowling ranks following the retirement of Tim Murtagh.”I’m thrilled to be joining Middlesex,” Brookes said. “This is a hugely exciting moment in my career and I can’t wait to get started. I’m looking forward to joining up with my new teammates and I’m going to give my all to help get the club back into Division One and achieve white-ball success.”Alan Coleman, Middlesex’s Director of Cricket, said: “We are thrilled to have secured the signature of Henry for Middlesex – someone that we have been keeping a close eye on for some time now.”He is a player that has huge amounts of genuine talent, can bowl with real pace and aggression, and is someone that we believe will add a completely different dimension to our attack.”He has shown across both red and white ball formats that he can take wickets and cause batsmen problems, and we can’t wait to start working with him.”He is still young and has huge potential to develop into one of the best bowlers in the country, and we’re delighted that he’ll be doing so in a Middlesex shirt.”Brookes’ recruitment comes in spite of the financial difficulties that Middlesex are undergoing, with the club having recently confirmed they will be playing two T20 Blast games at Essex’s home ground in Chelmsford, rather than undergo the set-up costs associated with hosting matches at their outgrounds of Radlett and Merchant Taylors’ School.Andrew Cornish, Middlesex’s chief executive, added: “The challenges we face financially dictate that we are having to make some really difficult decisions for the long-term good of the club. Making these calls however, which positively impact on our financial position, can give us the opportunity where appropriate to invest in our playing squad to ensure we can deliver against our ultimate objective of being a competitive cricket team in all formats.”The signing of Henry Brookes is a great example of this, and I’m sure our members will be as excited as we are to see him representing the Club from 2024 onwards.”

Cameron Bancroft took a blinding catch at slip on the final day to cap a fine match

AAP29-Oct-2023Joel Paris ripped through South Australia’s batting to take a career-best 11 wickets for the match, bowling Western Australia to a 200-run Sheffield Shield win in Adelaide.After WA declared overnight and set South Australia 355 on the final day to win, Paris claimed figures of 5 for 39 to have the Redbacks all out for 154.Paris took the first two wickets, before coming back to finish the job early in the final session. No South Australian passed 30 in their second innings, as they surrendered inside 63 overs.Related

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After taking 6 for 74 in the first innings to have the Redbacks all out for 264, Paris was a handful on Sunday in his first Shield match of the summer due to a hamstring injury.While his career has been stalled by injury in recent years, Paris has never been far from selectors’ thoughts after playing two ODIs for Australia in 2016.So highly is he regarded, he was told during this year’s Ashes to be ready to join the squad as cover for Mitchell Starc if the left-armer went down with injury.The 30-year-old set the tone early when he drew South Australian opener Kelvin Smith’s edge, discarding him for a duck. Paris also had Daniel Drew caught pulling, superbly taken by Hilton Cartwright with one arm above his head at midwicket.Liam Haskett made an impact on the final day against South Australia•Getty Images

Cameron Bancroft also took a great catch off Paris, fully outstretched to his left at second slip to remove Jake Lehmann for 6.If Paris was Western Australia’s best in the match, Bancroft wasn’t far behind with 57 in their first-innings 241 before he hit an even 100 in the visitors’ second dig.Considered third-in-line at the start of the summer to replace the retiring David Warner after the Sydney Test, Bancroft is now averaging 92.50 this season.With his fielding also on song, he is making a compelling case to move ahead of both Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw in the eyes of Australian selectors.”He’s doing all he possibly can do at the moment,” WA coach Adam Voges said. “He was outstanding all of last season, he has started this season like he did last year. He is the premier, form batsman of the competition.”After Bancroft’s neat work in the field, Paris then returned to finish the match after tea when he took the edges of both Harry Conway and Wes Agar.WA’s other left-armer Liam Haskett took 3 for 31, while spinner Corey Rocchiccioli claimed 2 for 59 in the side’s second Shield win of the summer.The loss marked South Australia’s second defeat in three games to start the season, leaving them in fourth spot on the ladder.”It’s pretty disappointing,” coach Jason Gillespie said. “In three Shield games, we’ve had seven individual scores above 40. We just can’t keep having these performances. We need to be better.”