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The allrounder is still building up to full capacity but Australia are never short of options with the ball

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2023Ellyse Perry’s knee injury could keep her from bowling for the entire white-ball series against West Indies that kicks off the women’s home summer.Perry hurt her left knee playing the second one-day international of Australia’s series against Ireland in July. The injury forced her out of the final match against the Irish, as well as England’s franchise tournament the Hundred.In early September, Cricket Australia (CA) named the 32-year-old allrounder in the squad for the white-ball series against West Indies that begins with a T20I at North Sydney Oval on Sunday.CA said at the time Perry was expected to be “fully available” for the six-match series, and on Tuesday she had her first competitive hit-out since July in a one-dayer for Victoria against Western Australia.Related

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Perry did not bowl in that match and said she may not do so again until after the West Indies series finishes in mid-October.”Nothing’s wrong, it’s just building workloads back up again so I’m fully prepared for the summer,” she said. “In terms of my full fitness, bowling will probably be something that I still work through across this series.”It might mean that I’m not available to bowl until late in the piece or perhaps towards the start of the WBBL.”Australia used Perry’s bowling sparingly during the white-ball legs of the women’s Ashes that preceded the Ireland tour and she has not sent down more than two overs in a T20I since the 2020 T20 World Cup.Australia are rarely short of bowling options in their limited-overs teams. Fellow allrounders Ash Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, Tahlia McGrath, Jess Jonassen and Georgia Wareham have all been selected in the squad to face West Indies.Perry shrugged at criticism of CA’s decision to schedule the first match of the women’s summer on the same day and in the same city as the NRL grand final.”The summer scheduling, and how much cricket we need to fit in, you can’t always get things 100 percent in a clear window,” she said. “Given the time of the match, being played early in the day, at a wonderful venue, there’s plenty of value in this fixture. I’m sure we’ll get a good crowd.”Perry played alongside Meg Lanning as Australia’s captain made her return to cricket this week following a four-month medical absence.Lanning hit a half-century in the first of two matches and CA is hopeful she will return to the national side later in the home summer. Perry heralded Lanning’s return to state cricket as a big step towards an Australia comeback.”That’s absolutely significant,” she said. “At the same time, it’s just significant that she’s back and she’s enjoying playing her cricket. She really just picked up where she left off in terms of her batting.”

England spinner stifles chase as visitors fall short of victory required to stay in hunt

ECB Reporters Network01-Jul-2022James Fuller’s quickfire 45 and impeccable bowling from Liam Dawson and Nathan Ellis fired Hampshire into the Vitality Blast quarter-finals at the expense of Gloucestershire.Allrounder Fuller needed only 24 balls to smack his haul at the death to drag Hampshire to an above-par 140. Gloucestershire, who needed to win to keep their knockout hopes alive, lost wickets with regularity with Dawson returning 2 for 16 and Australian Ellis 1 for 14 in his four overs – as Hampshire won by 15 runs.Hampshire chose to bat first on a sluggish used pitch and battled their way to above par thanks to some late-innings hitting. Before then it had been a struggle as Gloucestershire bowled incredibly tightly on a pitch similar to a typical Seat Unique Stadium wicket.Only 24 runs came in the powerplay with Ben McDermott and James Vince both falling, the former to Mohammad Amir who only bowled three balls before walking off clutching his side.Benny Howell had Tom Prest top-edging a slog sweep with the pressure building before his slower ball found Ross Whiteley chopping on via his pad, on the way to 2 for 29.Joe Weatherley kept things ticking, but his dismissal sent Hampshire sliding. Weatherley and Dawson handed Tom Smith figures of 2 for 18, before Fuller teed off. Forty-six runs came from the final three overs, and 36 from the final two, as Fuller swung Ryan Higgins for back-to-back sixes over the long square boundary before plopping David Payne over the straight boundary twice.The visitors moved Iain Cockbain up to open for the first time this season but he only lasted until the second over when Prest brilliantly ran him out with only a single stump to aim at. It was an atonement for Prest, who had dropped a tough chance off Chris Dent. And he would complete his penance when his offspin forced Dent to sky to deep extra cover – 40 for 2 at the end of the fourth over.Miles Hammond skied to McDermott but Dawson’s introduction swung the momentum. The left-armer’s first over only went for three runs, his second just two runs, the wicket of Glenn Phillips and four play and misses from Higgins, before he bowled Higgins with a jaffa in his third over – at which point he had 2 for 9. Mason Crane joined in to get Jack Taylor caught behind.Gloucestershire had the rate well in hand throughout but the regularity with which they lost wickets came back to bite them, with Howell swiping to deep square leg to become the seventh man to depart to leave 38 needed from the last five overs.Only 15 runs came in the following three overs and the burden was too much for James Bracey – who had scored 38 off 30 – when he was caught splicing to third. Tom Smith was run out off the first ball of the last over, with 17 required, before Ellis bowled Payne to a rapturous response from a packed Ageas Bowl.

Opener’s big hundred leaves England playing catch-up despite dismissing Virat Kohli for 0

Alan Gardner13-Feb-2021A majestic innings in capricious conditions from India opener Rohit Sharma gave the hosts a strong platform at the outset of the second Chennai Test. Rohit counterattacked during a harum-scarum morning session and then settled in to grind England into the dry, cracked clay of the MA Chidambaram Stadium, converting his fourth Test hundred as an opener into a dominant 161.After Virat Kohli had voiced his dissatisfaction with the pitch produced at Chepauk for the first Test against England, it was no surprise to see the ball turn and spit for the spinners on day one of the rematch. Kohli himself was done in by it, bowled for a fifth-ball duck by the returning Moeen Ali before lunch. But that was the high point of the day for Moeen and England, as Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane produced a bustling century partnership that threatened to be decisive even at such an early stage.England claimed three early wickets – including one for Olly Stone with his third ball on only his second Test appearance – but were effectively shut out by Rohit and Rahane during the afternoon session, despite regular half-chances coming and going. Again Joe Root was left to rue a lack of control from his spinners: Jack Leach was the more consistent, asking questions throughout the day, while Moeen went at more than four an over, despite picking up the wickets of Kohli and Rahane.Rohit rode his luck at times, gloving Leach short of slip on 41 and enduring some nervy moments against Moeen in the 90s, but he picked when to attack with judicious care to ensure that India would not squander their in advantage after winning the toss. He skipped along briskly during the early exchanges, scoring 80 from 78 balls before lunch, and kept England toiling long into the day. Such was his dominance that he was visibly frustrated after slog-sweeping Leach to deep backward square leg, having scored almost exactly two-thirds of his side’s 248 for 4.Related

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Rahane showed his quality, too, reaching fifty for the first time since his Boxing Day Test hundred at the MCG. He fell shortly after Rohit, although not before he had controversially been given not out on review when the third umpire failed to check whether a delivery from Leach had bounced up to hit the glove off the pad.In the next over, Rahane was bowled sweeping at Moeen, and Root himself picked up a wicket when he had R Ashwin stabbing a bat-pad catch to short leg, but with Rishabh Pant bringing out his trusty frying pan to deal with the spitting ball India bounced along to reach 300 in the final over of the day, much to the satisfaction of the home fans who had been allowed back in for this match.England, whose attack featured three changes from the one that bowled them to victory in the first Test, made a good start after being put into the field, with Stone striking in the second over, Shubman Gill pinned lbw offering no shot. Rohit and Cheteshwar Pujara then played positively during an 85-run partnership at more than four an over, with the former latching on whenever England’s bowlers missed their lengths. Rohit hooked Ben Stokes for six, twice swept Leach for fours to bring up a 47-ball fifty and drilled another boundary to long-on to take India to 100 shortly before the break.There was plenty of work to do for England’s spinners on day one•BCCI

There were early signs of turn and the ball disturbing the surface, though, and it was Leach who broke the second-wicket stand when Pujara tamely steered to slip. That brought cheers from the crowd, with Chepauk back at 50% capacity for this game, as Kohli walked out to bat – but they were silenced a few moments later when Moeen tossed up an inviting delivery that ragged back inside the India captain’s expansive drive to ping the off bail.Kohli was left looking quizzically at his partner, and lingered while the umpires confirmed that the ball had indeed crashed directly into the stumps. But as has often been the case during Moeen’s Test career, he mixed the sublime with the ordinary: his first ball of the day was a full toss, and a similar delivery saw Rahane get off the mark with a drive through cover.With Rohit sweeping aggressively – he scored six boundaries and 31 runs from the 16 times he employed the shot – and Rahane working the gaps interspersed with the occasional off-side boundary, India held England at bay before pressing home their advantage as the day wore on. Rohit, who survived an early review for lbw against Leach, was occasionally ruffled by the left-arm spinner’s line, while Rahane had to endure some uncomfortable moments against Stone’s short stuff, but as the partnership grew so will England’s sense of foreboding about a surface on which they will have to bat last.Having moved to 97 by rifling Moeen over long-off for six, Rohit almost toe-ended a paddle sweep to short midwicket, before bringing up his hundred with a more effective attempt a couple of overs later. England thought he should have been given out stumped on 159, but TV umpire Anil Chaudhary gave Rohit the benefit of the doubt despite his back foot seeming to be on the line when Foakes dislodged the bails.Chaudhary was again the focus of attention once Rohit had departed, when he declined to wind the replay on after determining that the delivery had missed Rahane’s inside edge. England’s review, which had been lost in error, was later restored by the match referee – but their frustration was palpable at the end of a day that clearly distilled the challenge ahead.

Sri Lanka’s captain has expressed ‘regret’ over his decision not to tour the country for September’s limited-overs matches

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Karachi18-Dec-2019Halfway through the Test series, several Sri Lanka players have expressed confidence that Pakistan is safe to tour. Not only that, captain Dimuth Karunaratne now even regrets pulling out of the ODI leg in September.Pakistan and Sri Lanka had originally been slated to play the ongoing Test series in September, and the limited-overs leg at this time of year. But so intent was the PCB on resuming Test cricket in Pakistan that they switched the series around, hoping that a safe and successful limited-overs tour would convince the holdouts among the Sri Lanka Test side to travel to Pakistan.It worked. Members of the limited-overs side took good reports of the security situation in Pakistan back to Sri Lanka’s senior players. Karunaratne had been among 10 cricketers to opt out of the September tour, but all of those players made themselves available for the Test series.”Now I do regret not coming for the shorter formats,” Karunaratne said, ahead of the Karachi Test. “At that time it was a really hard decision to take, because I had heard and read lots of things about Pakistan on news and social media – not positive things. But the guys who came here before gave really good comments and that’s why all the seniors decided to go and play a good Test series. Now I think I should have come and played the one-dayers.”The PCB took a further step towards normalising high-profile tours of Pakistan on Wednesday, when it confirmed a tour of Pakistan in February 2020 by an MCC team led by Kumar Sangakkara. It is also hoped that Bangladesh will tour sometime in the next eight weeks, but that visit has not yet been confirmed. Another series, with South Africa, is also in the works, while the Pakistan Super League is expected to be played in Pakistan in its entirety next year.”I can’t appeal to Bangladesh about whether they should come, but what I can say is that for me it feels really safe,” Karunaratne said. “The guys who are giving us security, they are giving us not just 100% but more than 100%. That’s why we feel really good. We went out for dinner as well. I can say that Pakistan is now safe for cricket.”The ongoing Test series is the first in the country since 2009, when the Sri Lanka team bus was attacked by terrorists in Lahore. Six security personnel and two civilians were killed in that attack.

The MCC introduced a rule last year confirming that substitute fielders will be allowed to keep should the original wicketkeeper suffer an injury during play

Osman Samiuddin in Abu Dhabi16-Oct-2018Rules introduced last year will allow Pakistan to look into the option of calling up a substitute wicketkeeper in case captain Sarfraz Ahmed is unable to take the gloves on the second day of the second Test against Australia in Abu Dhabi.Sarfraz was hit on his left forearm by a Mitchell Starc short ball when he was on 90, in the 70th over of Pakistan’s innings. After getting some treatment, he batted on for a couple of overs before holing out off Marnus Labuschange for 94.He then kept wicket for the seven overs Australia batted, not looking comfortable, but still taking an excellent, diving leg-side catch to dismiss Usman Khawaja.When he turned up at the end of the day to speak to media, it was with an icepack strapped to his left forearm.”The arm is not moving properly,” he said. “It’s a bruise, but I think it will have swelling later. I think Mickey [Arthur] was talking to the umpires about a reserve wicketkeeper tomorrow. That time when I was hit, I felt pain, but I hung on because I was approaching my century.”I think had it been more forceful, then I would not have been able to bat properly after that, but I hope that with icing, it will get better.”The MCC, guardians of the Laws of Cricket, last year introduced a rule confirming that substitute fielders will be allowed to keep wicket should the original wicketkeeper suffer an injury during play. The umpires have to okay the change, and it is understood that match officials will allow another wicketkeeper should Sarfraz not be able to come out.That will be Mohammad Rizwan, who was part of the original 18-man Pakistan squad for this Test series. Rizwan was released before the second Test and allowed to join the Pakistan ‘A’ side, also in the UAE, to take on New Zealand ‘A’. That, however, is believed to not be an issue in allowing Rizwan to take over.In the ICC’s Test match playing conditions, clause 1.2.1 states that each captain can nominate up to six substitute fielders on the team sheet handed to the match referee before the toss.Whether or not Rizwan’s name was on that team sheet – as he had been released – is a point made moot by clause 1.2.2, which says: “Only those nominated as substitute fielders shall be entitled to act as substitute fielders during the match, unless the ICC Match Referee, in exceptional circumstances, allows subsequent additions.”Pakistan are fortunate in having Rizwan, who has played one Test, available in the first place. The usual practice, under Sarfraz’s captaincy, has been to not pick a back-up wicketkeeper in their squads. But a lack of form and concern over Sarfraz’s excessive workload meant Rizwan was selected.In the event that Sarfraz doesn’t show up, Asad Shafiq will lead Pakistan on the field.

The India opener was hopeful playing in the Tamil Nadu Premier League T20s could get him in the right frame of mind after a five-month layoff from international cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-2017India opener M Vijay was looking forward to ending a five-month period without any top-level cricket and though his first match back – in the Tamil Nadu Premier League – ended up a washout, he said the T20 tournament was an ideal way to regain match-fitness.”This is an excellent opportunity to start my second innings,” Vijay told reporters on Thursday after Lyca Kovai Kings and Madurai Super Giant had to share points. “It is an absolute pleasure to be back here. I’ve been waiting for this, and hopefully I can start it from here and build it there on.”I don’t feel a 100 percent, to be honest. But mentally, yes, I’m up there. And, format doesn’t matter to me. It’s just been injuries, which are not under my control. I just want to get myself fit and play cricket.”A wrist injury in March, during the Border-Gavaskar series, had forced Vijay out of the IPL. He underwent surgery in the UK and was expected to return to international cricket during the Tests against Sri Lanka, but recurrence of pain in his wrist forced him out of the squad again.Vijay also experienced problems with his left shoulder during the final Test against England in December. After five months out of international cricket, he was conscious of the need to manage himself better, especially because he intends to be more than a Test specialist. “As you’ve seen, my career has become one-dimensional at the moment. So, I obviously want to enhance it. Batting is never a problem for me. It’s just about mindset and injuries, which I want to manage properly now on. Any cricket is fantastic for me, because I enjoy playing.”

England will host Ireland for two ODIs in 2017, in a move described as “an historic stepping stone for Irish cricket”

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-20162:45

Dobell: ECB no longer paying lip service to helping Associates

England will host Ireland for two ODIs in 2017, in a move described as “an historic stepping stone for Irish cricket”. The fixtures, one of which will be at Lord’s, represent the first bilateral series between the sides, as well as the first time they have faced each other in England.Under the previous agreement between the ECB and Cricket Ireland, England played a biennial ODI in Ireland. Next year they will instead host Ireland at Bristol, on May 5, and Lord’s, on May 7, as part of their build-up to the Champions Trophy. The development is a further boost for Ireland as they seek greater engagement with Full Members and a calendar that can help them challenge for World Cup qualification via the ODI rankings.Ireland’s captain William Porterfield, who has led calls for more opportunities for his side, described the series as “absolutely massive”, while Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland’s chief executive, thanked the ECB for helping to bring it about. Ireland are also due to host New Zealand and Bangladesh for a six-match triangular series in May 2017.”We would like to extend our sincere thanks to ECB for their support in bringing this series to fruition and, in particular, giving us the opportunity to play a two-match series in England for the first time,” Deutrom said. “Rounding the series off at Lord’s will, of course, make this truly memorable for everyone involved.”We have set out our stall to make cricket a mainstream sport in Ireland and perhaps one measure of that is for the Blarney Army, whether living in Ireland or England, to arrive in their thousands to paint the Home of Cricket green in front of a worldwide TV audience.”England were Ireland’s opponents in their first ODI, in Belfast in 2006, and they have met twice in World Cups but this move signals a greater degree of commitment from the ECB to helping their Associate neighbours. It is understood that part of the decision for England to host the games was in order to save Cricket Ireland the set-up costs.”This series will represent a historic stepping stone in the development of Irish cricket and give further impetus to the growth of the game in Ireland as a whole,” the ECB’s chief executive Tom Harrison said. “There’s always been a friendly local rivalry between Ireland and England on the sporting field and this is a great opportunity for cricket matches between the two countries to enjoy even greater status and profile.”Ireland recently played a two-match series against Sri Lanka and will host Afghanistan and Pakistan this summer, before playing ODIs against South Africa and Australia later in the year. They were added to the ICC ODI rankings last year, giving them a chance to secure automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup by reaching the top eight, but had struggled to arrange a competitive fixture list.England had previously only played one-off fixtures against Ireland, in Belfast once again in 2009, then at Clontarf, in Dublin, two years later, followed by matches in 2013 and 2015 at Ireland’s new home, Malahide. Ireland’s only win over England came at the 2011 World Cup, when they pulled off the highest successful chase in the competition’s history in Bangalore.”It’s absolutely massive for us to have the opportunity to play against England in a series,” Porterfield said. “What makes it extra special is the fact that one of the games is at Lord’s – where every cricketer dreams of playing.”I’m certain we’ll have a lot of support there from both the Irish living in London and travelling over from Ireland. There’ll be a great atmosphere and it will be one which the team will relish playing in front of.”Teams travelling to play England are also coming over here now to play series too so hopefully that trend will continue. We are getting more and more international fixtures with games against Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia and South Africa still to come this year, and England, Bangladesh and New Zealand confirmed already for next year.”

Karl Brown put Lancashire well on top against Leicestershire at Old Trafford as he narrowly missed his first Championship century for four years

ECB/PA15-Jun-2015
ScorecardKarl Brown narrowly missed his first century for four years•Getty Images

Karl Brown narrowly missed out on a first LV= County Championship century since early 2011 – but his composed 96 still ensured Lancashire reached the halfway stage of their clash with Leicestershire at Emirates Old Trafford in total control.The 27-year-old right-hander hit 14 fours and a six in 231 balls from the top of the order as the Division Two leaders responded strongly to Leicester’s first-innings 207 all out with 314 for four from 96 overs at close on day two.Brown shared in half-century stands or better for Lancashire’s first three wickets before falling lbw to Ben Raine in the first hour of the evening, leaving the score at 248 for three in the 76th over.He added 91 inside 32 overs with opening partner Paul Horton before lunch, 83 inside 25 with Alviro Petersen through the majority of the afternoon and 74 inside 20 either side of tea with Ashwell Prince.Horton made 54 off 104 balls, Petersen 46 off 65 and Prince an unbeaten 74 off 110.Brown navigated some tight bowling from the visitors during the morning session, with off-spinner Jigar Naik and new ball partners Atif Sheikh and Raine bowling five successive maidens between the end of the fourth over and the start of the tenth.But Leicester failed to maintain the pressure, and they only took one wicket in each of the first two sessions and two in the last.There was another memorable moment for former Lancashire batsman Andrea Agathangelou on his first return to the club he left at the end of last season.Agathangelou scored a first day 54 before taking a stunning one-handed second slip catch – head high diving to his right – to help left-arm seamer Rob Taylor get rid of Horton in the final over before lunch.Naik had Petersen lbw as he shuffled across his crease and played to leg deep into the afternoon session as Lancashire fell to 174 for two in the 57th over before Raine denied Brown his milestone after tea.Brown was trapped lbw playing back to one which kept low – 248 for three in the 76th.Prince and captain Steven Croft then added 55 inside 12 overs for the fourth wicket, meaning this was the first time Lancashire’s first four wickets in an innings had each put on 50 or more since 2007.Naik picked up his second wicket when he had Croft caught at mid-off with 303 on the board in the 87th over.

The EPP suffered a batting collapse on the second day of their match against the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy as they fell from 153 for 1 to close on 235 for 7

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Dec-2012
ScorecardEngland’s Performance Programme squad won their tour match against Dr DY Patil Sport Academy, racing past a target of 228 in just 30.1 overs. Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes provided the power, hitting 13 sixes between them, after two declarations on day three set up the chance of a result.The EPP halted their first innings on their overnight score of 235 for 7, still trailing by 42 runs, before Stokes, Toby Roland-Jones and Stuart Meaker helped reduce the Academy to 47 for 4 and then 85 for 5. Prashant Naik and Pankaj Jaiswal put on 100 for the sixth wicket, the declaration coming when Naik fell to Varun Chopra’s occasional offspin for 70.After Chopra and James Taylor opened the first innings, Craig Kieswetter and Gary Ballance strode out second time around. They fell in pursuit of quick runs but Stokes and Buttler cracked on, adding 91 in eight overs.Taylor then joined Buttler in another 50 partnership and although Vishal Dabholkar returned to claim his second and third wickets, the EPP overhauled their target with almost four overs to spare. The win was their second on tour, after an innings victory against the same opponents last week.

Kamran Akmal, the Pakistan wicketkeeper, has said he is in favour of having the PCB check the assets and bank accounts of all of its players every six months to ensure that the players are clean

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2011Kamran Akmal, the Pakistan wicketkeeper, has said he is in favour of having the PCB check the assets and bank accounts of all of its players every six months to ensure that the players are clean.”I would support any move by the PCB to regularly check player assets and accounts,” Akmal told . “I say it should be a six month exercise. Only such an exercise can clean up our image and end these baseless allegations made against us all the time.”Earlier this month, three Pakistan players – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – were given jail sentences after they were found found guilty of conspiring to bowl pre-determined no-balls in the Lord’s Test against England in August 2010. Following the spot-fixing trial, the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit said they were considering new investigations based on information that came out during the trial.”I would welcome any move by the ICC to have a fresh inquiry based on evidence allegedly given in the spot-fixing trial in London,” Akmal said. “I am ready to make myself available to any investigation. Because I want this stigma to go away for ever.”The ICC and PCB cleared me to play for Pakistan but yet the media keeps on mentioning my name in relation to spot-fixing stories.”Akmal has had a controversial time behind the stumps for Pakistan over the course of his career and has been criticised for his shoddy wicketkeeping. He was dropped after the 2011 World Cup semi-final in which Pakistan lost to India, and his place was taken by his youngest brother, Adnan Akmal. He subsequently lost his central contract for the second half of 2011 as well, but said he is determined to prove his worth in domestic cricket and make a comeback.