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Nick Compton praised the role of Alastair Cook in helping nurse him towards a maiden Test hundred

Andrew McGlashan in Dunedin09-Mar-2013Nick Compton praised the role of Alastair Cook in helping nurse him towards a maiden Test hundred on the fourth day in Dunedin. The pair combined for their third century opening stand in 10 innings, with Cook scoring his 24th Test hundred, and Compton was grateful for the experience of his captain as he edged towards three figures.Cook, who fell with Compton on 99, did not have to wait for more than a few days for his first Test century, which came in just his second innings against India in Nagpur. While Compton’s wait has not been too long the final moments were surrounded by tension. Compton’s innings had started to flow more freely after a sticky start against the new ball, but once the 90s arrived scoring seized up again and, for a short while, it appeared he could be stranded overnight short of the milestone.”He’s fantastic, a real solid grounding sort of guy. He’s a special guy,” Compton said. “Both of us weren’t moving our feet too well early on and probably got away with it a little bit. It grew from there. It was great to have that over-by-over focus. He’s a tough character and he kept me going when at times I wanted to get on with it a little bit.”The Cook-Compton partnership replaced one of the most settled of England’s history. Cook walked out with Andrew Strauss in 117 innings and they are comfortably England’s most prolific first-wicket pair whose 4711 runs together included 12 century stands. The new era, however, has started productively with three hundred partnerships in 10 innings.They are now only one behind three pairs who had lengthy associations – Geoff Boycott and Graham Gooch (four in 49 innings), Michael Atherton and Marcus Trescothick (four in 30), Atherton and Mark Butcher (four in 32). Currently, too, for partnerships that have lasted at least 10 innings they sit second behind Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe in terms of average. A skewed statistic, yes, but one nonetheless that shows their early success.Before the Test, Cook spoke about the differences in their characters – the intensity of Compton – and how life has changed since he is no longer opening with Strauss. He said he felt a duty, as the senior man, to help Compton along.”I think you get a bit more intense when the pressure is on and you are searching for runs, trying to get yourself together,” Compton said. “I’ve always been someone who analyses myself quite a lot, probably to the detriment but I also think it’s got me to where I have – the hunger and the drive. Alastair is a very balanced guy, very level-headed guy.”When Cook finally fell, shortly before the close, edging behind off Trent Boult with the second new ball, the stand of 231 was England’s highest for the first wicket since Strauss and Trescothick added 273 against South Africa at Durban in 2004, which was the beginning of another rearguard after a poor first innings, and also their eighth-highest ever upfront.It has given England a good chance of salvaging a draw after two horrid days in another slow start to an overseas series. “We put ourselves in this position, we’re well aware of that,” Compton said. “We weren’t good enough in the first innings and New Zealand were right on it. They batted brilliantly, they bowled well. So it was a bit of a kick up the proverbial, if you know what I mean. It was a case of really trying to get back into it.”

Kraigg Brathwaite has plenty to say about his 85 on the first day of the SCG Test, his development on this tour, and the prospect of bowling on a turning pitch. But he has nothing to say about the out-of-form Marlon Samuels

Daniel Brettig at the SCG03-Jan-2016West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite has plenty to say about his batting, his doughty 85 on the first day of the SCG Test, his development on this tour, and the prospect of bowling on a turning Sydney pitch. He has nothing at all to say about, or for, Marlon Samuels.In a telling interlude as Brathwaite spoke about how he has evolved as a batsman on this trip, becoming more proactive to counter Australia’s bowlers rather than simply trying to wait them out, he became decidedly tight-lipped about Samuels, the run-out they were involved in, and the older man’s contribution to the tour.It may well have been a case of if you’ve got nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all, for Samuels has endured a wretched tour, notching a meagre 35 runs in five innings – an average of seven for those not paying attention – and earning plenty of criticism for his apparent lack of verve in the field. At the time of the run-out, which was Samuels’ call, West Indies were in a decent position. After it, they subsided to 6 for 207.”I think those things happen in cricket. I’m not sure what to say about that,” Brathwaite said. “It was just a misunderstanding.”Queried further on Samuels’ contribution this tour, Brathwaite clammed up. “There’s not much I can say about that at the moment,” he said. A further question to that effect drew a similar response from the team media manager.What was left to discuss was an innings that impressed many, lacking only the catharsis of reaching three figures after Nathan Lyon finally found a way to confound Brathwaite’s previously sure feet and sound mind. “It is a good challenge,” Brathwaite said of Lyon. “I think he is bowling quite well and I just have to keep believing in my ability. They fielded well today and for me it is about trusting my defence and working towards my plan.”It is a tour where I am learning and I just want to keep going out there and building a foundation for my team and learning in the process. On a first-day pitch that is spinning like that, once we get a score, anything about 300 will put ourselves in a good position.”I think the spinners bowled well, it is just about trusting your defence and backing your shots and you can score. Coming from the last game, when the guys showed some improvement, it is key to keep showing that improvement and supporting one another.”As for the pitch, Brathwaite was surprised by how much deviation it offered, but was eager to see how his team might fare on it – and how he might bowl on it. “I was quite surprised, I didn’t expect the first day to spin like that,” he said. “I heard it can spin here but I didn’t expect that.”So as batters, once we put some runs on the board, we can put some pressure on Australia. It is important when we do bowl that we string those dots together because dots balls can build pressure and that brings wickets. I will be looking forward to [bowling]. We will just have to see what happens.”

van der Merwe scores 76, de Lange 75 as Somerset look to bat once with visitors three down in reply

ECB Reporters' Network05-Jul-2021Josh Davey’s career best 75 not out helped Somerset dominate the second day of the LV=Insurance County Championship match with Leicestershire at Taunton.The Group Two leaders began by extending their first-innings score from a precarious 242 for 7 to 461 for 9 declared, Davey sharing century stands with Roelof van der Merwe, who scored 76, and Marchant de Lange, who reached 75.Then Somerset’s seamers got to work, reducing Leicestershire to 60 for 3 in reply. They closed a final session curtailed by rain on 95 for 3, with skipper Colin Ackermann unbeaten on 21.The day began under cloudy skies at the Cooper Associates County Ground, with van der Merwe on 18 and Davey 4. The former proved the aggressor, taking successive boundaries off Ben Mike as the total advanced to 272 for 7 before the second new ball was taken.It made little difference as van der Merwe moved confidently to fifty off 70 balls, with six fours and a six. He and Davey looked untroubled in extending their eighth-wicket partnership to 102.Ed Barnes eventually had van der Merwe caught at long-on to end an innings that had transformed Somerset’s prospects. But if Leicestershire thought their troubles were over, de Lange was about to prove them wrong. On no fewer than six occasions, the powerful South African swung from the hip to clear the ropes over mid-wicket. And all the time Davey was patiently accumulating to reach his first Championship half-century for Somerset off 144 balls.Roelof van der Merwe drives during his 76•Getty Images

It was 408 for 8 for lunch, by which time de Lange had reached a 38-ball fifty and the hosts were looking to bat only once in the game.They had progressed to 446 when de Lange was caught at long-on off Callum Parkinson. It remained for Davey to go past his previous best first-class score of 71, made for Middlesex on debut against Oxford University back in 2010. At the declaration, the Scotland one-day and T20 international, often an unsung hero of Somerset’s team, had faced 169 balls and hit 11 fours.All the momentum was with the home side and they maintained it before tea, claiming the wickets of Lewis Hill, Rishi Patel and Marcus Harris to leave their opponents 60 for 3.Skipper Craig Overton dropped Hill on 14 at third slip off Jack Brooks, but responded by pinning the opener lbw with the first ball of the following over.Brooks and Davey claimed a wicket apiece before Ackermann dug in, receiving solid support from Josh Inglis in an unbroken stand of 35.The action looked set to continue beyond 7pm to make up for overs lost on day one. But heavy rain set in and the umpires called play off shortly before 6pm.

The T20 World Cup champions were humbled in Dhaka

Mohammad Isam12-Mar-2023The optimistic Bangladesh fan would have predicted exactly the opposite of what happened in this England tour. Shakib Al Hasan’s men won the T20I series, convincingly in the second game in Dhaka, after conceding the ODI series 1-2 last week. Bangladesh are usually at their best when they play ODI cricket, but who could tell after this tour?Mehidy Hasan Miraz had a great all-round hand in this win. He first took 4-12 in his four overs, an economically effective spell that sparked England’s second collapse in the innings. He put the exclamation point in when, promoted to No 5, he knocked a couple of sixes in a 16-ball 20.Najmul Hossain Shanto ensured Bangladesh didn’t have too much of a wobble in the end, remaining unbeaten on 46 off 47 balls. Taskin Ahmed hit the winning runs with two fours in the penultimate over, as they ran off in delight.This was Bangladesh’s first bilateral T20I series against England, and having emerged winners, they ticked off another little stat. A first series victory (min of three matches played) after two-and-a-half years. It also ended England’s long run of success in this format, having won the T20 World Cup, and bilateral series against Australia and Pakistan last year.

England’s strong start slips into collapse

The last thing England wanted with limited batting options was a collapse but that’s exactly what happened to them in the middle overs. They raced to 50 for 1 in seven overs when Shakib removed Phil Salt, who continued his get-set-get-out theme on this tour. Salt struck one back at Shakib, a delivery that he should have smashed through either side of the pitch with ease, and it became the catalyst for an England collapse.Mehidy Hasan Miraz claimed four wickets in his four overs•AFP/Getty Images

The impressive Hasan Mahmud broke through Jos Buttler in the next over, a turning point for the home side. Buttler made a quickfire 67 in the first game, and was expected to be a major threat. But he was undone by a yorker length delivery that swerved back into his stumps prompting Hasan to leap in delight. Hasan had given up just five runs in two overs in the death in the first game, rapidly growing in reputation as a white-ball bowler. Then it was Mehidy’s turn to shine, as Moeen Ali hit one down deep midwicket’s throat in the next over. England were 57 for 4, having lost three wickets in the space of 16 balls.

Mehidy sparks second England collapse

Sam Curran and Ben Duckett added 34 runs for the fifth wicket, before Mehidy’s triple-strike sent the visitors into free fall. Litton stumped Curran and Chris Woakes in the space of three balls. Both tricky deliveries but handled smoothly by the gloveman. As soon as England reached three-figures, Mehidy landed his maiden four-wicket haul when Chris Jordan hit one to deep midwicket. England slipped from 91 for 4 to 100 for 7 in 17 balls.The remaining three wickets fell in the last over. Duckett, the only one who looked remotely close to giving England a good finish, was caught superbly by Shanto, before Rehan Ahmed and Jofra Archer were run out off the last two balls of the innings.

Shanto calms nerves

Bangladesh didn’t have the smoothest chase. Curran removed Litton for yet another soft dismissal, caught at deep square leg, the only deep fielder on the leg-side at the time. Rony Talukdar couldn’t quite get Archer away, falling for 9 in the sixth over. Legspinner Rehan then took his first T20I wicket, when Towhid Hridoy, playing his second T20I, toe-ended the ball to Woakes at point. It was a rank half-tracker from Rehan, but he’d nonetheless take the wicket.Shanto held his own at the other end, adding 41 runs in 5.2 overs with Mehidy. But Bangladesh slipped again, this time losing Mehidy, Shakib and Afif Hossain in the space of two overs. Shakib threw away his wicket, while Archer blew away Afif’s off bail, which landed at fine leg. Shanto and Taskin scored the remaining 15 runs, with the former providing the calming influence in that final partnership.

Glamorgan into semis as Surrey and Yorkshire take quarter-final spots

ECB Reporters Network12-Aug-2021Glamorgan fell to a four-run defeat in their final Royal London One-Day Cup clash with Yorkshire Vikings, but still managed to top Group 1 and bag a home semi-final on Monday.They were able to stay on top of the table despite their loss thanks to a superior net run rate over the eight pool matches. That put them ahead of Surrey and Yorkshire, who took the two quarter-final spots, with Surrey gaining a home tie.The Vikings posted 230, with an eighth wicket partnership of 84 between Jonathan Tattersall and Matthew Waite crucial in their total, while Glamorgan got off to a solid start with a stand of 121 for their first wicket between Hamish Rutherford (58) and Nick Selman.Selman eventually went on to make 92 and the home side were left with 11 to win off the final over. Matthew Waite restricted them to six runs and two more wickets fell to leave the Welsh country stranded on 226 for 8.Having won the toss Glamorgan did what they did to the Notts Outlaws at the weekend and put the Vikings in to bat. The visitors got off to a solid start and Will Fraine hit four boundaries on his way to a quickfire 25 before falling to a catch at the wicket by Tom Cullen off the ever-reliable Michael Hogan in the seventh over.The 50 came up in the 11th over before another paceman, James Weighill removed Will Luxton, who spooned a thick edge to Steve Reingold in the covers three overs later. The introduction of the off-spinner at the river end put a brake on scoring and when he bowled opener Harry Duke for 20 the Vikings were 70-3.It was another spinner, Steve Reingold, who made the next breakthrough in his first over. His first ball was swept to the boundary by Vikings skipper Gary Balance, but four balls later he got his revenge when he forced the left-hander onto his back foot and bowled him to make it 88 for 4 in the 20th over.The 100 came up with a four through mid-wicket by Hill in the first ball of the 26th over, only the third boundary in a very neat 11 over spell from the home bowling attack. Then James Cooke clean bowled George Hill with a ball that stayed low and had Matthew Revis caught behind with the next ball.Dom Bess foiled the hat-trick, but the Vikings were rocking a little at 121 for 6. The England spinner was then lucky to survive a steepling catch at deep mid on which Selman couldn’t quite deal with as Salter ended his quota of 10 overs with 1 for 34.Bess wasn’t able to make much of his reprieve as in the very next over he was trapped lbw by the returning Weighill. Jonathan Tattersall and Mattew Waite steadied the ship and took the score to 178 for 7 at the 40 over mark, Waite clearing the boundary rope with one shot back over the head of Reingold as their highly productive partnership went through the half-century mark.The pair steered their side through the 200 barrier in the 44th over before Billy Root took a brilliant catch on the boundary to remove Waite for 44 off Cooke and end a partnership that yielded 84 runs for the eighth wicket.Cooke ended his 10 over spell with 3 for 40, while Tattersall’s 50 came up off 58 balls and contained two boundaries. He succumbed to a catch by home skipper Kiran Carlson off the bowling of Hogan in the 47th over for 53.The Vikings closed their innings on 230 when Josh Sullivan holed out to Hogan off the bowling of Weighill eight ball short of their full allocation of 50 overs. There were 25 extras.Glamorgan’s slow, but solid start was finally ended when Ben Coad bowled Rutherford with the score on 121. The patient approach continued and with 10 overs to go Glamorgan still needed 58 runs to win. Hill then struck twice in the same over to send back Reingold and Carlson and the Vikings’ noose began to tighten.Selman then became Hill’s third victim when he was caught by Gary Balance for an excellent 92 and the home side were 187 for 4 still needing 44 runs off 41 balls to win. As wickets tumbled, and the run rate rose, so Glamorgan paid the price for their slow start.Hill ended as the most successful bowler for the Vikings, taking 3 for 49 in his 10 overs.

Preview for the match between Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors in Raipur

The Preview by Rachna Shetty in Raipur27-Apr-2013

Match facts

Sunday, April 28, 2013Start time 2000 IST (1430 GMT)Mahela Jayawardene will hope a change of scenery will bring good fortune to Delhi Daredevils•BCCI

Big Picture

With the tournament only half complete, the match between Delhi Daredevils and Pune Warriors is not quite the battle of the wooden spoons. But both teams will be looking to haul their sputtering campaigns back on track after poor shows in their last respective games.Daredevils squandered any confidence gained from beating Mumbai Indians by losing to Kings XI Punjab. It was a showing consistent with their other six losses in the tournament so far, making the win seem an aberration. The team is still hopeful but their poor run has put them in a place where they have to win each remaining match.Daredevils will be hoping there will be some serendipity for them in Raipur, which hosts its first IPL match. The stadium had hosted one stage of the BCCI’s Corporate Trophy earlier in the year, and the batsmen did well on the surface.For Warriors, the game will be an indicator of whether their players have recovered from the mauling they received from Chris Gayle in their last match. Coach Allan Donald spoke about the mental scarring, but the team has had a few days off to rest and pick up the pieces. Their mix-and-match captaincy formula has hurt them but against Daredevils, their bowling will have a chance to make an impact early on.

Form guide

Delhi Daredevils LWLLL (most recent first)
Pune Warriors LLLWL

Players to watch

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the only bowler spared from the hammering that Chris Gayle meted out. The youngster has impressed throughout the tournament, picking up early wickets, with his swing bowling. He has plenty of skill to trouble Daredevils’ fragile top order.Mahela Jayawardene has always led from the front and his stint as captain with the Daredevils is no different. He’s taken the flak for some under-par performances and his own batting has been poor. Daredevils need an inspirational performance from him to improve their sinking chances.

Stats and trivia

• Daredevils have won two of the four games they played against Warriors, with one being a no result
• Virender Sehwag is the seventh highest run-getter in the IPL, with 2051 runs from 71 matches at an average of 31.07.
• Yuvraj Singh needs 13 runs to reach 2500 T20 runs.
• Ross Taylor needs 42 runs to reach 1000 IPL runs

Rashid Khan couldn’t defend seven in the Super Over

Alagappan Muthu25-Apr-20213:42

Deep Dasgupta: ‘It’s a shame Williamson didn’t have enough support’

Delhi Capitals win the one-over eliminatorKane Williamson once again masked the Sunrisers’ lack of middle-order firepower and took them as far as the Super Over. But that final hurdle just proved too much.The Delhi Capitals’ Axar Patel, only recently recovered from Covid-19, was chosen ahead of Kagiso Rabada, the Super Over expert, to bowl in the most intense conditions, and through artful changes of pace and vicious use of angles to cramp the batters, he restricted Sunrisers to seven. It could have been eight but the third umpire spotted a very tight short run by David Warner.People will debate the choice not to send Jonny Bairstow, who struck at 211 on the night, for the Super Over. But that will end up in the footnote of this engrossing game as Rishabh Pant persevered against Rashid Khan, reverse swatting him for a boundary to bring his team and his pandemic-hobbled city a tiny bit of joy deep into extra time.Shaw goes berserk

The pitches in Chennai are best to bat on right at the start of the game. Then it starts to wear, with every single ball. Eventually run-scoring becomes a serious hassle.So Prithvi Shaw decided to take advantage of his position as opener. He took strike and promptly hit the first three balls to the boundary. His best shot though was an imperious cover drive for six off Siddarth Kaul in the third over.The camera panned to Pant just then. He was sitting in the dugout, his chin resting on his hand, very quiet, almost contemplative. He was the next batter in, so perhaps he was focused on getting into his zone. Even so, that shot was so good it broke through the captain’s zen and made him nod in appreciation.Sunrisers vs Pant

The Capitals marched to 51 for 0 in the first six overs. Now with the field spreading and the spinners coming on, hitting through the line became almost impossible. Even the half-centurion Shaw, who cruised to 39 off 23 in the powerplay, could make only 14 off his next 16 balls before getting run-out.The Sunrisers placed all their faith in taking pace off the ball. But as well as they did that, they weren’t making too many inroads. Chances came in the 16th and 17th overs when Pant and Steven Smith offered catches to short fine leg (Khaleel Ahmed) and short third man (Siddarth Kaul) but neither were accepted.Rishabh Pant’s boundary in the Super Over all but sealed the game for the Delhi Capitals•BCCI/IPL

Warner was hunched over by this point. His bowlers were doing everything right. His fielders were doing everything wrong. And because of that a power-hitting genius was still at the crease.Pant made 37 off 27 balls. He hit slower deliveries for six. He reverse-scooped fast bowlers for four. He toyed with Rashid, whacking the legspinner for 15 off eight balls. His 58-run partnership with Smith helped take Capitals to a very reasonable 159 for 4.Bairstow and Williamson step up

Put the ball in a spinner’s hand – spinners of the quality of R Ashwin and Amit Mishra – and it was spitting and bouncing and ripping and dipping.Bairstow somehow put all that to the back of his mind – and better yet, he made the spinners put them in the back of theirs too. Worried by his power against tossed up deliveries, they all went fast and flat at him and he still punished them. The Sunrisers opener made 38 off 18 balls. He could have been gone for 1 had Shimron Hetmyer not misjudged a tough catch on the midwicket boundary.Williamson has a subtler approach. He knows he can’t blast an opposition out but he can bring them to submission, slowly and methodically. And he did that here. Williamson swept and reverse-swept the Capitals spinners, always mindful that his wrists came down on top of the ball to prevent the top edge. He made the most of the little flaws in the field; when Kagiso Rabada ran in with mid-off up, Williamson charged out and lofted the ball over that fielder. He knew the value of taking this chase deep and so he used the crease, worked the angles and ran like a demon between the wickets.The surprise cameo

Despite all of this, Sunrisers still needed 50 off the last 30 balls. How does a T20 team with no recognised finisher manage ten an over for that long?Well, with some help from a very unlikely source. J Suchith came into the side because Bhuvneshwar Kumar pulled up sore. With the game going the other way, he struck Avesh Khan for two cracking fours in the 19th over and Kagiso Rabada for one towering six in the 20th to force a Super Over showdown.