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BBL’s all-time leading run-scorer will fulfil long-held ambition to play county cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2022Chris Lynn will play county cricket for the first time this summer after agreeing a deal to play for Northamptonshire in the T20 Blast.ESPNcricinfo revealed on Friday that Lynn’s name topped Northants’ shortlist for a second overseas player to appear alongside James Neesham in this year’s competition, and the club confirmed his signing on Monday morning.Lynn made his first appearance in English domestic cricket last summer, playing for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred, but this will be his first stint in the county game.”I have always wanted to play county cricket and I’m really looking forward to joining up with Northamptonshire for the Vitality Blast,” he said. “The UK is a great place to play and I am hopeful that I can contribute with some good performances and also try to entertain the Steelback fans this summer.”Related

• Essex escape with face-saving draw as Walter's 93 anchors rearguard

• Rossington joins Essex on loan after losing Northants captaincy

• Pollard in the running for Blast stint following international retirement

Lynn is the Big Bash League’s all-time leading run-scorer but his form has dipped in the last two years. Since August 2020 he has averaged 23.20 with a strike rate of 133.33 in all T20 cricket and he has fallen out of Australia contention.But Northants were in the market for a top-order batter following the departure of Adam Rossington on a season-long loan to Essex and Lynn was the perfect fit, according to their T20 captain Josh Cobb.”To get someone of Lynn’s quality is an excellent signing,” Cobb said. “He fits the bill really well in terms of his power at the top of the order and fills that slot for us nicely. I really get the feeling he has a hunger to go out there and perform and when he does Wantage Road certainly won’t be big enough.”Lynn’s captained the Brisbane Heat for a number of years too so for me personally he brings those leadership qualities as well,” Cobb added. “I’m looking forward to working alongside him and getting some different views he might have.”

BAT Sports are firmly on course to regain the ECB Southern Electric Premier League championship crown from Havant.

Mike Vimpany (Daily Echo)24-Jan-2021BAT Sports are firmly on course to regain the ECB Southern Electric Premier League championship crown from Havant.With seven matches remaining – three of them `time’ games and four 50-over affairs – they are effectively 37 points clear at the top.The championship race swung dramatically in BAT’s favour as Havant, the defending champions, crashed to a six-wicket defeat against a Matt King inspired Bashley (Rydal).BAT thrashed struggling Portsmouth by nine wickets – their sixth win in eight Division 1 matches – with New Zealander Neal Parlane leading the way.Portsmouth, the club who predicted a championship challenge before a ball was bowled, sank from 58-1 to 74-5 against Chris Thomason (3-40) and Dan Goldstraw (3-47).Pete Hayward (30) and Paul Ancell pulled things around but a total of 123 was never likely to test BAT – and so it proved.Parlane, predictably, led from the front blasting a boundary-strewn 81 not out as BAT raced to a nine-wicket win in just 18.1 overs.Gareth Tate and Toby Radford produced sparkling performances as Andover heightened Liphook & Ripsley’s survival fears with a three-wicket victory at London Road.Tate, the South African born off-spinner, came into his own after Alistair Gray (43) and Duncan Berry (51) had eased Liphook to 106-3.Mark Miller (3-21), who has got his bowling action back together under the critical eye of coach Nigel Noyce, grabbed the first three Liphook wickets.But it was Tate who broke the partnership by having Gray caught and, after Berry had fallen to Richard Taylor, who threaded his way through a dogged lower order to finish with figures of 5-64.Andover, chasing 191, quickly slipped to 12-2 but Radford, finding reliable partners in Roger Miller (26) and Taylor (28), fought off the threat of Alan Crawford (3-42) to hit an accomplished 90 and win the game for the North Hampshire side.

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.

Ben Curran showed up well as Northants ended a wretched season on a high note

ECB Reporters Network17-Aug-2018
ScorecardA wretched season for the Northamptonshire Steelbacks in the Vitality Blast at least ended on a high note as they avenged their morale-sapping opening-day defeat at the hands of the Leicestershire with a comprehensive win at the Fischer County Ground.Chasing 149 to win, the Steelbacks got home with nine balls to spare. Ben Duckett made 33 off 24 balls, including an audacious scoop for six off pace bowler Zak Chappell, after Ben Curran – the middle one of the three Curran brothers – had caught the eye.Curran celebrated the contract he was awarded at Wantage Road earlier this week with a bright 29 off just 18 balls, taking four boundaries in an over off Chappell. His striking in a 50-run partnership with Ben Duckett was key in the Steelbacks racing to 63-1 in the powerplay, giving themselves a platform they did not waste.Josh Cobb made a run-a-ball 30 and, after a wobble in which four wickets fell in three overs as Dieter Klein dismissed both Wakely and Cobb in the space of six ball without conceding a run, Graeme White finished the job with 21 off nine deliveries, winning the match by clubbing Colin Ackermann’s off-spin for six over deep midwicket as off-spinner Tom Sole kept his nerve on his T20 debut at the other end.It was only their second win in the Blast and makes no difference to their finishing position at the bottom of the North Group but provided some satisfaction after the Foxes denied them in a remarkable game at Wantage Road at the start of the competition, when the Steelbacks failed to defend 213-3.Having put the Foxes in, the Steelbacks made a fine start with the ball, reducing the home side to 35-3 in the powerplay despite being forced to change their plans in the second over when a distraught Gareth Wade had to be removed from the attack on his T20 debut after two of his first three deliveries slipped out as beamers.The right-arm seamer, called into a Northamptonshire side who, like the Foxes, had chosen to rest a number of players with nothing on this game, was trusted with the second over of the innings but was no-balled for a high full toss with his first delivery and, after Ned Eckersley had crashed the free hit away for four, immediately sent down another full toss above waist height, which gave the umpires no option other than to call no ball again and direct skipper Wakely to withdraw Wade.Wade is 27 and has three or four seasons’ experience Minor Counties and Second XI cricket but only two senior appearances. Nerves seemed the only explanation for such an unfortunate start.Cobb had to bowl the five balls remaining in the over yet it was the Foxes who soon in disarray, losing Eckersley, Harry Swindells and Ackermann inside the first six overs, Wade making himself feel a little better by taking a catch at mid-off when Swindells hit Luke Procter over his head.A smart piece of work by Duckett behind the stumps to take advantage as Chappell stumbled as he swung at a wide delivery as Wakely introduced Graeme White’s left-arm spin left the Foxes 37-4 in the seventh.It came down to 21-year-old Harry Dearden to rescue the Foxes’ innings, at least in part, sharing a stand of 62 with Ateeq Javid for the fifth wicket on the way to a 40-ball 61 that included a couple of sixes and five fours.Dearden, who has plenty of first-class experience but was making his debut in this format, might have added a few more but for bowler Richard Gleeson’s quick thinking, the bowler running him out in his follow-through as he tried to steal a single from a miscued shot by Lewis Hall that landed halfway down the pitch.

Tim Wigmore at Hove23-May-2017
ScorecardDurham’s hopes of escape rest largely on Paul Collingwood•Getty Images

Sussex consider themselves a Division One county temporarily marooned in Division Two. Yet memories of the glories of the mid-2000s, and their three titles in five years, are receding. The £10 million bequeathed by Spen Cama in 2001 has almost been exhausted, even if the improvements to the ground will ensure a lasting legacy. While finishing fourth in Division Two last season, and losing their opening two Championship games in 2017, Sussex’s cricket has borne less resemblance to their triumphs earlier this century than the barren times that came before.But to be at Hove in the last few days has been to be transported back to the age of all conquering Sussex-by-the-sea, the image undermined only by the sea mist that wafted across the ground on the third afternoon. Until the sepulchral skies compelled Sussex to bowl spin in the last portion of the day, their performance had been utterly ruthless.First, there were the runs: so greedy that they felt almost sadistic, more in the spirit of Steve Waugh’s Australia than the old caricature of jovial Sussex. With an overnight lead of 165, Sussex more than doubled it in spite of losing two early wickets.Michael Burgess, playing on trial during Ben Brown’s injury, was resourceful and energetic in his 76, seldom playing in the batsman’s V but placing the ball astutely and scampering between the wickets. Admirably as he played, altogether more memorable was the contribution of another 22-year-old, Jofra Archer.Archer’s reward for 153 runs in Sussex’s first two Championship games, second only to the absent Brown, was a double demotion down to No. 10. If he was affronted by the decision – and Archer doesn’t give the impression of being bothered by much – his ire was reserved for Durham’s attack.Arriving at the crease at 566 for 8 was not a situation that called for restraint, and Archer did not show it. In a little over an hour, he struck five sixes – all against spin, and all into the leg side – that gave notice of his power. Yet it was Archer’s other shots, most notably a dreamy leg-side flick off Paul Coughlin, taking a stride forward to clatter the ball through midwicket, that gave notice of the full scope of his batting talent. Regardless of his position this game, Archer is much more than a big-hitting tailender: if he is not a genuine allrounder, the sort not remotely flattered by batting at No. 7, just yet, he surely soon will be.When Archer was caught attempting his sixth six, it was the prelude to him bowling again, a sight that Durham can have enjoyed scarcely more than his batting. His early burst did not bring wickets, but it brought almost everything else: venomous bouncers, which whizzed through at head height, persistent away swing, and nous. Archer set up Cameron Steel, Durham’s No. 3, with a series of deliveries that moved away; only an inside edge saved Steel when Archer brought the ball back in.It mattered not. Vernon Philander, wicketless in his opening game for Sussex and then injured, bowled with the zest expected of a man ranked the world’s 11th best Test bowler, which has not always been true during his stints in county cricket. He needed only a single delivery to win his tussle with compatriot Stephen Cook, who was squared up by a ball that curved awa. Four overs later, Keaton Jennings’ off stump was dislodged by a delivery that went through his gate.When Philander was replaced, it brought Durham no relief. Now it was Chris Jordan’s chance to move the ball both ways down the slope, doing so with vim. Outswing accounted for Steel, brilliantly snaffled by Chris Nash at second slip, who had shelled two far simpler chances off Jordan in the first innings; Graham Clark was then lbw, cut open by a ball that angled in.If Sussex like to imagine their stop in Division Two is only fleeting, the same is emphatically true of Durham, only in Division Two because of administrative failings rather than performance on the pitch.But, on this evidence, even promotion in 2018 may prove onerous. At Hove, Durham have had the look of a patched-up side, betraying the impact of being ravaged by departures, England commitments and ill-fortune, compounded by a mid-match injury to Graham Onions.The qualities of their opening batsmen and bowlers are without question, notwithstanding Cook’s underwhelming start; so is the spirit, embodied in an excellent fielding performance impervious to Durham’s bleak position in the game. Whether, besides Paul Collingwood, three days short of his 41st birthday, there is enough high-calibre support is altogether more doubtful.Redoubtable as ever, Collingwood and Ryan Pringle withstood over 200 balls together unbroken, though the spin they faced was altogether less threatening than Sussex’s pace attack, with which they will be reacquainted in the morning. On hopes of Collingwood reprising the adhesiveness of England days past lie Durham’s slim chances of leaving England’s southernmost ground without a second Championship defeat of 2017.

Adil Rashid and Tim Bresnan fought back with the bat after a fierce new-ball onslaught from Kyle Jarvis, as the 256th Roses match started with a bang

Paul Edwards at Headingley29-May-2016
ScorecardAdil Rashid fought back after a disastrous start for Yorkshire•Getty Images

Emboldened a trifle by their side’s position at the top of the Division One table, Lancashire’s travelling supporters had reasons for disquieting optimism as they made their way across the Pennines for the 256th Roses match. “Oh are we bound for glory, borne on a little fortune’s wave?” they might have trilled with the peerless Nancy Kerr, before adding that note of protective pessimism: “Or are we bound for some dark town and some grave northern story?”For well over an hour on the first day of this game it seemed that those loyalists from the Rossendale valley were destined for glory without trammel. Fine new-ball bowling by Kyle Jarvis and sharp slip catching by Karl Brown and Tom Smith had left Yorkshire miserably placed on 29 for 4 in the 14th over and the very limited recovery achieved by Andrew Gale and Adil Rashid was snuffed out half an hour before lunch when a shuffling Gale was lbw to a full length ball from Neil Wagner.This, though, is Yorkshire and they are not champions for nowt. And Headingley is, in the proudest possible way, a ground where they do not like you to forget it, particularly during a Roses match. More significantly, of course, Gale’s team is one which managed to win the 2015 Division One title by 68 points without ever batting at their best. Instead, they perforce relied on a series of spectacular recoveries, and the fact that many of them involved Jonny Bairstow has not blunted Yorkshire’s capacity to fight back. Bairstow may be with England but Yorkshire’s resilience burns wonderfully brightly without him.So it was barely a surprise that Rashid and Tim Bresnan took their side’s total from 74 to 210 before the sixth wicket fell when Rashid drove Simon Kerrigan to Luke Procter at short cover and trooped off 12 short of what would have been his third century against Lancashire. What was even more encouraging was that Rashid and Bresnan’s bristling partnership was followed in the last hour of the day by a fine stand of 75 for the ninth wicket between Steve Patterson, who is 41 not out, and Andrew Hodd, who received his Yorkshire cap early in the day and fell in its last over, when he turned Wagner to Liam Livingstone at backward short leg and departed for 40.Despite that late reverse, the Headingley spectators could return to their homes in Pudsey and Bingley, in Morley and Cleckheaton, knowing that they had seen their team finish the day on even terms. That was a distant summit late in the morning session.Yet this was a splendid day on which Lancashire supporters could also be proud, particularly, perhaps, of Jarvis who finished the day with figures of 4 for 74 and is now the leading wicket-taker in Division One with 28 scalps. Following Tom Bailey’s dismissal of Adam Lyth with the fourth ball of the match, Jarvis took three for 24 in a nine-over spell and there was really not very much either Gary Ballance or Jack Leaning could do about the balls which defeated their defensive shots and took the outside edge. Like Ballance, Alex Lees made nought and he may look back on his loose shot outside the off stump with rather less phlegm.The afternoon session was the property of Rashid and Bresnan, who added 107 in 34 overs during which they drew the sting of Lancashire’s attack, a particularly fine achievement on a pitch offering uneven bounce. Wagner tried to compensate for his lack of impact with an overuse of the bouncer and he looks so much less formidable a customer when his bumpers become outlets for frustration rather than targeted weapons. The Yorkshire crowd enjoyed it all hugely, of course, and offered frank assessments, not all of them complimentary, of the South African’s capabilities.Rashid, compact and skilful, drove and cut effectively; Bresnan launched his bat like a mighty scramasax at anything overpitched. Yorkshire fought their way out of trouble and the conversations among spectators reflected contentment. “Do we still spell it Maurice Leyland even though it’s Morris on his birth certificate?” asked someone. This is a county where they are putting up blue plaques to commemorate the birthplaces of their great cricketers. They will remember Rashid and Bresnan’s stand, too, especially, maybe, because it provoked such impotent wrath in Wagner. Every religion, especially a secular one, perhaps, needs its little devils.Lancashire fought back though, and Wagner will not be too unhappy with his final figures of 3 for 70. He dismissed Bresnan for 69 when another mighty drive could only inside-edge a catch behind and he then got rid of Hodd and celebrated joyously in the evening sunshine. One imagines he has enjoyed his first taste of a Roses match. As for Lancashire’s skipper, Steven Croft, he will be tired but not too despondent when he reviews the day. Pressed into service as a wicketkeeper after Alex Davies was ruled out with a knee injury, Croft pouched the catches which removed both Lyth and Bresnan and kept his men at their work. This game is beautifully poised. One wonders which side is bound for glory.

The spectre of Saeed Ajmal loomed over Worcestershire’s return to Division One. Last year Essex coach Paul Grayson said that if umpires had been “brave” enough to call Ajmal for an illegal action Worcestershire would not have been promoted.

Tim Wigmore at Hove21-Apr-2015
ScorecardSachithra Senanayake helped set up a manageable target•Getty Images

The spectre of Saeed Ajmal loomed over Worcestershire’s return to Division One. Last year Essex coach Paul Grayson said that if umpires had been “brave” enough to call Ajmal for an illegal action Worcestershire would not have been promoted.When he returns, as Ajmal 2.0 after refining an action that extended to an average of 40 degrees, Worcestershire will dream of him evoking the destruction of his 63 wickets at 16.47 last season. But in the meantime they need to make sure that there is not too much for Ajmal to do. On the third day at Hove, Worcestershire looked to have uncovered a solution: two men combined to do what, last season, was the work of one Ajmal.The identity of the first name was not surprising. Sachithra Senanayake, another man to have remodelled his action following the ICC clampdown on throwing last year, was signed expressly to provide his best Ajmal impression. After beginning the match bowling too short, Senanayake located a fuller length, relentlessly probing outside off stump. He snared the last four wickets with a healthy dollop of bounce and turn on a pitch that might have got Monty Panesar longing for a return to the South Coast.But the identity of his offspin twin, who dismissed three of Sussex’s top five, was rather more surprising. Before today Alexei Kervezee had taken two first-class wicket – both for Netherlands – in 88 games. He was even listed as a medium-pace bowler.For the second time in the match, Ed Joyce and Matt Machan added a sparkling century stand for the second wicket after the early loss of Luke Wells. With a sumptuous day to enjoy, it provided the perfect backdrop for locals to enjoy the ground’s generous selection of gelatos; the pistachio comes particularly recommended.While less belligerent than during his 70-ball century in the first innings, Machan counter-punched pugnaciously after a dicey start – surviving a sharp slip chance off Charlie Morris on 4 – and it might have been with a little desperation that Daryl Mitchell asked Kervezee to bowl.”It was a surprise,” Kervezee admitted. But over his 15-over spell either side of lunch, the game was transformed. Machan was trapped lbw playing across the line to a quicker ball and Luke Wright was caught at short leg to a ball with extra bounce. And then, most significantly of all, a deliciously flighted ball tempted Ed Joyce, who had held Sussex together with his typical blend of serenity and panache, into slashing to slip.Despite some pyrotechnics from Ajmal Shazhad, including a slog sweep for six off Senanayake, Sussex were becalmed, and their last five wickets mustered only 57. It was a bowling performance of tenacity and skill from Worcestershire, and not all about spin, either: Morris moved the new ball with menace while Jack Shantry was typically wholehearted. At times only the grunt Shantry emitted in his delivery stride disturbed the tranquility at Hove; clean-bowling Ben Brown after a sprightly 44 was a wicket well earned.For Worcestershire to record their first victory in Division One since July 2012 – when Moeen Ali took 12 wickets at Old Trafford – the 14 overs they had to endure tonight shaped up as crucial. It was certainly enough time for Steve Magoffin, who has 207 first-class wickets for Sussex at 20 apiece, to ravage their top order.Not on this occasion. The rangy Magoffin began with a wide, and Richard Oliver and Daryl Mitchell both exuded calm at the crease, knocking off 47 of the 247 needed. With Tymal Mills very unlikely to bowl due to a back complaint, the onus falls more than ever on Magoffin. As well as their quicks, Sussex also have Ashar Zaidi’s left-arm darts and Luke Wells’ legspin, which claimed two wickets in the first innings, but Hove has become greedy for more venomous twirlymen.”Mushtaq Ahmed would be nice right now,” Luke Wright said after the close. In his absence, as Wright conceded, Worcestershire should be considered slight favourites to chase down an even 200 on the final day.

To hear Mitchell Starc described as “robust” by Australia’s pace bowling coach Ali de Winter may be a far more significant moment for the young left-armer’s future than any of the 14 wickets he’s plucked at the CLT20

Daniel Brettig23-Oct-2012Durability is among the most valued qualities in a fast bowler, and never more than during cricket’s present era of multiple formats and greedy scheduling.So to hear Mitchell Starc described as “robust” by Australia’s pace bowling coach Ali de Winter may be a far more significant moment for the young left-armer’s international future than any of the 14 wickets he has plucked at the Twenty20 Champions League.De Winter has returned to Australia from his stint helping nationally contracted bowlers to prepare as best they can for the looming home Test summer.He has done his best to minimise the effects of the aforementioned schedule, which had the likes of Starc, Ben Hilfenhaus, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood carted across to South Africa for the game’s shortest format only a matter of weeks before they must be ready for the rigours of its longest.Nevertheless, de Winter spoke with great optimism about the bowling stocks now before him, but was particularly glowing about Starc, who following a year of careful management and steady improvement across several tours and continents may be about to blossom into a first-choice member of Australia’s Test match bowling attack.”Mitchell Starc in particular has been outstanding,” de Winter said in Hobart. “He’s played a lot of cricket since the West Indies, he’s been to England and played the A tour, Yorkshire, through the UAE and he’s proved to be pretty robust for us, which is a good sign.”It’s a great problem to have that we’ve got a full bowling list at the moment. The challenge will be for the selectors to come up with the right mix for that first Test in particular. It is something we haven’t experienced for a number of years to have a full list of bowlers.”Starc’s time with Yorkshire during the English summer may be an important factor in the decisions around his readiness to take part in the Tests against South Africa. Hilfenhaus and Cummins are two other pace bowling options who have not bowled a red ball in a first-class match for quite some time. Hilfenhaus last did so in the West Indies in April, while Cummins must cast his mind back to the Johannesburg Test last November for his previous long-form encounter.”I think Hilfy and a lot of others have been a bit short of a run in terms of red ball cricket,” de Winter said. “We recognise that, but we’ve got some measures in place to make sure before that Test match they at least have one Shield game under their belt. The guys who have been here, James Pattinson and Peter Siddle have had an outstanding start to the year, so things are in as good a shape as they can be at this point.”The likely plan for Cummins will be to give him at least two Sheffield Shield matches for New South Wales before serious considering is given to pitching him back into the Test team, a schedule that would have him boarding a plane to Perth for the third Test against South Africa.”We’d certainly like to see him playing Sheffield Shield cricket first and get his workload up,” de Winter said. “Then it becomes a performance issue. Nobody’s a given to be selected in any Test match, but certainly he’s one who we’d like to see fast-tracked into Shield cricket and make sure when his opportunity comes that he’s as ready as he can be, understanding he’s still a teenager with a lot of growing and learning to do.”We’ll certainly manage our bowlers knowing we’ve got a six Test match summer followed by four in India and then of course the Ashes. The next 12-15 months are going to be really important.”So deep are Australia’s pace bowling resources at the outset of the season that a bowler as accomplished as Luke Butterworth is unlikely to be considered. Butterworth’s consistency and craft are well known to de Winter, the former Tasmania bowling coach, leaving him to hope that his former pupil can push for a berth on the Ashes tour in 2013.”He keeps stacking up the numbers doesn’t he, and over a long period of time,” de Winter said. “I think he’s probably someone you could consider in conditions that suit his style of bowling. He’s a proven player of a long period of time and I’m sure he’s on the radar. But it’s a large group of bowlers so there’s going to be a big challenge on.”Based on performance Hilfenhaus, Siddle and Pattinson are the leading candidates to be selected, and that’s just a common sense approach, given how well they did last summer and in the West Indies.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the Champions League match between Somerset and South Australia Redbacks in Bangalore

The Preview by Nitin Sundar30-Sep-2011

Match facts

October 1, Bangalore
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Will Roelof van der Merwe continue to connect with his slogs?•AFP

Big Picture

Somerset have had six days to rest and prepare after their opening fixture, a period during which some other sides have played three games. The break has been good for Somerset; two of their key players – Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler – have joined the squad following their England commitments, while the two IPL sides in Group B have moved to the brink of elimination. If Somerset win on Saturday, they will draw level with Warriors at the top of the points table.Their task won’t be easy, though. South Australia found the resolve to bounce back from their defeat against Warriors, a game in which they were tactically poor. They made corrections in their next game, axeing the wayward Shaun Tait and one of their three spinners, to trounce Kolkata Knight Riders. Despite the impressive margin of their victory in that game, South Australia have the worst net run-rate in the group. They can take run-rates out of the equation if they win their last two games, and Michael Klinger will be hoping for another clinical show on the field.

Watch out for …

Barring his electric fielding, Roelof van der Merwe had done little of note in three seasons of the IPL. He has been inspirational for Somerset in this tournament, though, derailing KKR both in the qualifier and in the main draw with robust hitting and restrictive left-arm spin.

Daniel Christian was the surprise pick in the 2011 IPL auction, when he was snapped up for a whopping $900,000. He didn’t live up to expectations for the Deccan Chargers, but has been impressive so far in this tournament. His change of pace and nagging lengths could prove a handful on the hard wicket in Bangalore.

Team news

Kieswetter and Buttler should walk back into the Somerset line-up, and the out-of-form Chris Jones, and Nick Compton are the most likely to miss out. South Australia looked a complete side during their victory against KKR, and won’t want to meddle with that combination. They will, however, toy with the idea of giving Tait another go.

Stats and trivia

• With 131 runs, van der Merwe is third in the race for the golden bat. Peter Trego is fourth, with 117
• Daniel Harris is joint-third with four others on five wickets for the tournament, but Ravi Rampaul is well ahead of the pack with 10.

Quotes

“With the spinners, it’s just a case of playing according to the ground and conditions. At home it works because mis-hits go straight down someone’s throat, but on grounds like this, they go for a six.”
“Hyderabad is a home away from home for us. Three wins out of three is always good to take. We are definitely over the moon.”

Kevin Pietersen will go back to his roots next month after agreeing to a short-term stint with KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa as he continues his battle to regain form ahead of the Ashes

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Sep-2010Kevin Pietersen, the England batsman, will go back to his roots next month after agreeing to a short-term stint with the Durban-based Dolphins in South Africa as he continues his battle to regain form ahead of the Ashes.Pietersen will play for the side between October 7 and 17 which means he’ll be able to play two four-day matches in that time. The deal has been approved by Cricket South Africa, with the chief executive Gerald Majola given his permission.”I’m extremely keen to get as much cricket as possible under my belt before a challenging and exciting winter,” Pietersen said. “My sole focus is to continue playing a leading role for England and joining Natal is the perfect opportunity to prepare in excellent conditions immediately before the Ashes. These two matches would enable me to work on my game against the Kookaburra ball in southern-hemisphere conditions, which is the ideal preparation for Australia.”Pietersen was dropped from England’s Twenty20 and one-day squads ahead of the series against Pakistan after a lean summer in which he only passed fifty once and joined Surrey on a short-term loan. His axing led to him accidentally posting an angry comment on Twitter and, though Pietersen quickly apologised, he was fined by the ECB for his outburst.The move to the Dolphins suggests that Pietersen feels his deal with Surrey may not be enough for him to recapture his best form before England fly to Australia. His Surrey spell has brought mixed results so far, with an 116 in the CB40 against Sussex – his first hundred in any cricket since March 2009 – followed by a second-ball duck against Glamorgan in the Championship.”We’re very pleased Kevin is seeking to get some more high quality cricket at a crucial period before the Ashes,” Andy Flower, the England coach, said. “We are well aware of Kevin’s attention to detail and thoroughness when it comes to preparation, and he would gain a great deal from working on his batting against tough opposition in South Africa.”Kevin’s commitment, his desire to work on his batting and to play a significant part in a successful England team is unquestioned and this proposed arrangement with Natal, initiated by Kevin himself, further underlines that.”Pietersen won’t be paid for the stint, which takes him back to where his cricket career began before he opted for a future in England. During England’s tour of South Africa in 1999-00, Pietersen was in the KwaZulu-Natal side which took on Nasser Hussain’s team. He scored 61 batting at No. 9 and took 4 for 141 in 55 overs with his offspin. During that game, Pietersen made his first serious push for a county contract that eventually brought him to Nottinghamshire.Meanwhile, ESPNcricinfo understands that Owais Shah, the Middlesex batsman, has agreed to an overseas spell with the Cape Cobras. Shah, who last played for England during the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa, was recently released by Middlesex and is looking for a new county ahead of the 2011 season.