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The second-string side will play two four-day matches in total, apart from three one-day matches against Pakistan A

Mohammad Isam30-Jul-2024Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque will play for Bangladesh A in their first four-day match in Pakistan next month. The second-string side will play two four-day matches in total, apart from three one-day matches against Pakistan A. The games will run concurrently with the Bangladesh senior men’s Test tour of Pakistan, which begins on August 21.The entire series will be played in Islamabad, with the first four-dayer to be held from August 10. Apart from Mushfiqur and Mominul, the selectors have also picked Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Nayeem Hasan and Hasan Mahmud for the first game. Mushfiqur missed Bangladesh’s previous Test series against Sri Lanka due to a broken thumb, while Mominul, Joy, Zakir and Mahmud played in that series. Nayeem is also a Test specialist.These six players will be replaced for the second game from August 17. Mohammad Naim, Saif Hassan, Soumya Sarkar, Jaker Ali, Towhid Hridoy and Mohammad Saifuddin take their places.Shahadat Hossain, Mahidul Islam and Mosaddek Hossain are three other batters who have been picked for both four-day matches, meaning that they are unlikely to be in the Test side against Pakistan. Among the bowlers, left-arm spinners Hasan Murad and Tanvir Islam, and fast bowlers Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rejaur Rahman Raja and Ruyel Miah will play both games.This will be the first time that a Bangladesh A side will play first-class matches since the 2003-04 season, when they participated in the PCB Patron’s Trophy. Bangladesh A will depart for Islamabad on August 6.Bangladesh A team for first four-day game: Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shahadat Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahidul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Murad, Tanvir Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Ruyel MiahBangladesh A team for second four-day game: Anamul Haque, Mohammad Naim, Saif Hassan, Soumya Sarkar, Shahadat Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Jaker Ali, Towhid Hridoy, Mahidul Islam, Hasan Murad, Tanvir Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Ruyel MiahBangladesh A team for one-day series: Anamul Haque, Mohammad Naim, Saif Hassan, Soumya Sarkar, Towhid Hridoy, Mahidul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Tanvir Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Ruyel MiahTour scheduleAugust 10-13: First four-day matchAugust 17-20: Second four-day matchAugust 23, 25 and 27: Three one-day matches

Legspinner handed chance for game-time as stand-in for injured Matt Kuhnemann

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-2023Matt Parkinson will feature for Durham against Derbyshire in the LV= County Championship on Thursday, after joining the club from Lancashire on a two-week loan.Legspinner Parkinson, 26, has featured in just one of Lancashire’s three Championship fixtures to date, taking 5 for 120 in the second innings against Surrey, and comes into the Durham line-up as a replacement for the injured Australia spinner, Matt Kuhnemann.The extra game-time is opportune for Parkinson, who was surplus to international requirements this winter and was also overlooked in last month’s Hundred draft. He has featured 12 times for England across formats, including a solitary Test appearance against New Zealand at Lord’s last summer, when he was called up as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach.”Following conversations between Matt and the club’s coaching staff, it was agreed that game time in the County Championship would be preferable,” Mark Chilton, Lancashire director of cricket performance, said.”Earlier this week, an opportunity arose for Matt to join Durham on loan and the deal has been agreed between both counties and the player.”This is a great opportunity for him to get some more overs under his belt in a more competitive environment. We are looking forward to seeing how he performs and to welcoming him back into the squad.”Kuhnemann had himself replaced fellow Australian Todd Murphy at Durham, but was unable to take the field on the final day of their drawn match against Durham after suffering a back problem, and will continue to be assessed by the club’s medical staff.Parkinson’s two-week stint covers a solitary Championship game. Durham are one of ten teams in action this week, with Lancashire sitting out the round prior to their match against Nottinghamshire starting at Trent Bridge on May 4, for which he will now be ineligible.

The wicketkeeper-batter has been handed a “surreal” chance to make an New Zealand debut because of the absence of a number of IPL-bound players

Deivarayan Muthu24-Mar-2022It has been an eventful few weeks for Dane Cleaver. In February this year, he became a dad, and around mid-March, he made his captaincy debut for Central Districts, against Northern Districts, in the four-day Plunket Shield. Nearly two weeks later, he is preparing to make his international debut for New Zealand, against Netherlands, at his domestic home ground of McLean Park, in front of his friends and family.Blair Tickner, Doug Bracewell and Will Young, Cleaver’s team-mates at Central Districts, are also part of New Zealand’s squad, drafted in because of the absence of a number of seniors who are gearing up for IPL 2022. Their presence adds to the celebratory mood in the New Zealand camp.Related

• Michael Rippon becomes first left-arm wristspinner picked by New Zealand

• Guptill: NZ won't take 'well-acclimatised' Netherlands lightly

• Brownlie added to New Zealand's coaching staff

“Yeah [starting to sink in], absolutely. Just being around the group and I suppose dreaming of this moment and hopefully getting the opportunity on Friday night [in the one-off T20I],” Cleaver, a wicketkeeper-batter, said. “Yeah, there’s a pretty excited bunch of family members that are organising their way over for Friday night. So, it will be very special to amongst not only friends and family but just home crowd in general.”Cleaver heard the news of his call-up from selector Gavin Larsen. “Gavin Larsen gave me the call and just, I suppose, ran me through the possibility and the squad selection,” Cleaver said. “It was a pretty surreal moment really – I suppose something you always aspire to and all that time and effort, love for the game, trainings, travel, everything sort of culminates in that. Yeah, [it] took a while to sink in and now that I’m here, it’s really exciting.”Sure, this is a second-string New Zealand side, but the 30-year-old Cleaver’s call-up is reward for his toil in domestic and A-team cricket. He was part of New Zealand’s squad in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup alongside Michael Bracewell. More than a decade later, the pair could make their international debuts together, against Netherlands. Fun fact: in the 2008 Under-19 World Cup, it was Cleaver’s first cousin Kane Williamson, who captained New Zealand.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Cleaver has now played nearly 200 games across formats for Central Districts and is seen as a senior figure in the set-up. He brings with him strong Super Smash form: he hit 369 runs in nine innings at an average of 46.12 and a strike rate of 166.21 in the latest edition. Only Bracewell scored more runs than Cleaver. Cleaver was particularly brutal in the middle overs; his middle-overs strike rate of 171.52 was the best among batters who had faced at least 100 balls in the season.”Yeah, absolutely [confident ahead of a possible international debut],” Cleaver said. “I think playing Netherlands [in the warm-ups] last week – you see the quality in their side and also the fact that you can stack up against an international side and taking that form from domestic into this… I suppose it’s just another game of cricket and just got to prepare the best you can and hopefully have some fun.”The weather in Napier, though, could spoil the fun, as it did during the third warm-up fixture against Netherlands.”You’ve got to take in a bit of a what-will-be-will-be attitude,” Cleaver said. “You can’t control the weather – so you got to prepare the best you can and I’m pretty positive that it will turn around in the next couple of days and we get some good cricket on Friday night.”New Zealand have a rich stable of wicketkeeper-batters – Tim Seifert, Devon Conway, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Finn Allen – but this is Cleaver’s chance to shake things up, and step out of his illustrious first cousin’s shadow, ahead of twin World Cups.

The Royals have a lot of questions to deal with, their captain’s poor form one of them

Shashank Kishore16-Oct-2020

Big picture

Who would have imagined that Virat Kohli vs Steven Smith would become a bit of a no-contest at the halfway mark of IPL 2020? Kohli started slowly, but has found his rhythm, and is making a difference. Smith, in comparison, has gone off the boil after a promising start, when he hit two half-centuries in winning causes. There’s more to the contest, of course: the Royal Challengers Bangalore are well-placed with five wins from eight games, and the Rajasthan Royals are struggling with three wins from eight games.The Royal Challengers are at the end of a hectic week. By Saturday, they would have played four games in eight days. Their previous outing – against the Kings XI Punjab – made headlines for their tactical mix-ups: the Royal Challengers sent in two left-handers – Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube – ahead of the in-form AB de Villiers to combat two legspinners on a slow surface. Kohli agreed the execution was off.Now, data goes beyond conventional logic. It shows de Villiers may have gotten out to a legspinner, as he has against bowlers of other varieties, but that is no reason to hold him back. If it was M Ashwin and Ravi Bishnoi on Thursday, he will have Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia, or maybe even Mayank Markande, coming at him on Saturday. Since the start of 2019, de Villiers has averaged 52.5 against legspin while striking at 135.77. That alone is enough reason to ensure he gets enough time to set himself up, whether they bat first or chase.The Royals have questions over their batting order too. Do they continue opening with Ben Stokes? Or can they do with his insurance in the middle? What do they do with a misfiring Robin Uthappa? Do they bring in a youngster, at a crucial stage, or keep their faith in the veteran? How do they balance out their bowling to ensure Jofra Archer isn’t the lone man standing? There’s more. Like Sanju Samson’s dwindling returns. Saturday could either answer a few of these questions or throw up new ones.

In the news

• The Royals are not fretting over where they are on the points table. “We’ve been in this situation before and have come back from this, so we’re not panicking about this,” Jofra Archer said. “We know it can be done and I believe in this team to do it. There are wins out there and we just as a team need to go out there and get those wins.” Well, last time they played an afternoon game in Dubai, they pulled off a heist courtesy Riyan Parag and Tewatia.
• Mohammad Siraj had an off day in Sharjah. RCB have tactically strengthened their bowling by playing seven options at the smallest ground. In Dubai, it’s possible they could go back to Gurkeerat Singh. If they are willing to look beyond, they could even hand Shahbaz Ahmed a debut. The allrounder bowls Axar Patel-like left-arm spin apart from being an excellent lower-order batting option.

Previous meeting

The Royals huffed and puffed to 154 after Yuzvendra Chahal applied the brakes with a three-for. The Royal Challengers hardly broke a sweat as they cruised home by eight wickets, with Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli hitting half-centuries.AB de Villiers smacks one through the leg side•BCCI

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 1 Devdutt Padikkal, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Chris Morris, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Isuru Udana, 9 Navdeep Saini, 10 Mohammad Siraj/Shahbaz Ahmed, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal Rajasthan Royals: 1 Jos Buttler (wk), 2 Ben Stokes, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Sanju Samson, 5 Robin Uthappa/Manan Vohra, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Shreyas Gopal/Mayank Markande, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Kartik Tyagi

Strategy punts

• Why fix something that isn’t broken? Kohli held Washington back for Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran, the two big-hitting left-handers, on Thursday and it backfired. At the first sign of attack, Washington was taken out of the attack. In all other games, he’s bowled superbly in the powerplay, conceding at just 4.5 runs an over. He’s also dismissed quality batsmen like Rohit Sharma, Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis. Kohli might want to go back to the tested formula, irrespective of whether Stokes opens or bats in the middle.
• Padikkal likes pace on the ball, but against spin, especially early on, he has tended to lose his shape at times while playing the big shots. Aaron Finch, meanwhile, has been out to spin five times this season, the most for a top-order batsman, while only averaging 16.8 against it. Perhaps there’s a case for the Royals to give the Royal Challengers a taste of their own medicine and getting their spinners bowl in the first six.

Stats and trivia

• RCB haven’t lost a game when they have picked up a wicket in the powerplay this season.
• After the first ten balls, de Villiers’ strike rate zooms from 122 to 224, and he finds the boundary once in three balls.
• Shreyas Gopal has struggled this IPL, but now he’s up against his favourite team. He has taken 13 wickets against the Royal Challengers, almost double of what he has taken against any other team. He also concedes at less than six an over against them. He even has a hat-trick against them.
• Halfway into the tournament, Archer is the only bowler to bowl 100 dot balls. This is more than 50% of the balls he has bowled, the highest for anyone.

Alec Stewart warns Surrey are in danger of heading ‘in the wrong direction’ of the Championship

Richard Hobson at The Oval10-Jul-2019The sun was at its warmest of the week, but the Oval at its quietest as two true men of the game stood no more than ten yards apart dissecting a riveting contest and placing it in the context of their campaigns. While Matt Walker, Kent’s head coach, exuded pride and joy, Alec Stewart warned that his own Surrey group are in danger of heading in the wrong direction of the Championship.Kent know all about the second division having spent eight seasons there before earning promotion last summer. Surrey were celebrating the first division title back then, but events of the past four days and the eventual result reflect what has happened in 2019. Kent’s young players have risen to challenges and their bowlers could not have operated with more discipline. They are doing the basics very well. Meanwhile, Surrey have been hit by injury, inconsistency and perhaps self-doubt.And so, while Kent now stand five points from being level with Yorkshire in third place, Surrey teeter above only Nottinghamshire. As it happens, Surrey and Notts meet at Trent Bridge starting on Saturday. “It is alright saying we are a good side with good players,” Stewart, the director of cricket, said. “They have to show why they have earnt the right to be called good players.”Ollie Robinson completed Kent’s first Championship win at the Oval for 11 years by driving Dean Elgar over long on, emphatically ending a chase of 121 that began calamitously when Morne Morkel removed Zak Crawley and Joe Denly for first over ducks. The six raised Robinson’s unbeaten half-century from 41 balls to reinforce a collective impression of an improving side brimming with self-belief.”I think we played some brilliant cricket,” Walker said. “We spoke to coaches and people from outside when we came up, but as a player you don’t really know what it will be like and you have to learn quickly. While we have made mistakes, this result shows how far we have come in a short space of time. To be honest, I am extremely proud of the group. That little innings from Ollie when the chips were down was pretty special.”Stewart thought that Surrey’s determined attempt to defend what always looked to be slightly too few runs typified the 60 percent of the time they have played well overall. “That other 40 percent has proved expensive,” he said. “We have to realise if we carry on as we are, we will be going in the wrong direction. People say we have batsmen out of form. No, we have batsmen out of runs. They are hitting the ball well, but their shot selection is costing them dearly.”Will Jacks may replace Scott Borthwick against Notts having scored a half-century in the second team’s innings defeat to Essex this week. Amar Virdi did not play there, and Stewart revealed that the off-spin bowler has been with the first team group not as a contender to play – the intended switch with Gareth Batty apart – but to work under supervision on fitness, strength and conditioning as well as skills.Virdi has been given targets under threat that his season will be over, before it has effectively begun, unless he meets them. “Over the past two weeks, he has worked exceptionally well, but that has to be the norm,” Stewart said. “You have to be fit and look after yourself, and be careful. If not, you are either an injury waiting to happen, or your performances drop off. He is responding, he is starting to understand that. It might appear tough love, but we want him to go on and play for England.”Here, Virdi spent lunch bowling at a stump on the edge of the square as the contest itself hung in the balance. Kent had taken the remaining four Surrey second innings wickets for 39 runs in the first hour, but the chilling opening over from Morkel – to describe it as ‘hostile’ barely conveys the threat – suddenly gave the chase a tougher appearance.Sean Dickson then fell to the last ball before the break going too far across to Rikki Clarke, and when Daniel Bell-Drummond nicked one from Sam Curran, Kent were still 71 runs short. But Heino Kuhn responded positively and Robinson, having held six catches in the Surrey second innings, showed maturity beyond his 20 years. Oddly, Rory Burns held back Morkel’s return until Kent needed only 34 more to win.”This is probably one of our best wins of the past few years,” Robinson said. “I would be lying if I said there were not a few nerves out there after the first over, but we knew a couple of partnerships would do it. I had never been in that situation before. I had never won a game for Kent so it does feel special. I think we have upset the odds a little bit. Not many people would expect us to be where we are.”

Deusdedit Muhumuza, the last Uganda batsman dismissed, was adjudged run-out, though replays showed the ball never actually hit the stumps

The Report by Peter Della Penna in Kuala Lumpur29-Apr-2018
Peter Della Penna

WCL Division Four hosts Malaysia avenged a thumping defeat 11 months ago at Division Three, with a dramatic last over run-out to clinch a nine-run win over Uganda at the Kinrara Oval. However, the finish was shrouded in controversy, with Uganda questioning the validity of the run-out, as Suhan Alagaratnam’s underarm throw from cover never actually hit the stumps at the striker’s end. Video evidence viewed afterward by ESPNcricinfo supported their claim.Chasing 209, Uganda needed 16 off 24 balls with two wickets in hand. But Malaysia’s spinners built up the pressure with a tight infield ring that cut off runs. It resulted in Bilal Hassan forcing a pull off a good length ball from Muhammad Syahadat, and dragging it onto his stumps for 10.With 10 needed off the final over, and the set Deusdedit Muhumuza off strike, Henry Ssenyondo nudged a good length ball from left-arm spinner Virandeep Singh into the covers. Alagaratnam swooped in and threw underarm into the ground, the ball bouncing five times before skidding toward the stumps. However, video replays showed that the ball never deviated after crossing the stumps, and instead carried on along its path towards fine leg, whereas a natural deflection off the stumps should have taken it to midwicket.Square-leg umpire Isaac Oyieko of Kenya upheld Malaysia’s appeal and ruled Muhumuza out, prompting the batsman to hurl his bat across the pitch. The implication from the video replay is that Malaysia’s wicketkeeper Shafiq Sharif may have inadvertently knocked a bail off when making contact with the stumps. Sharif was credited for the run-out by the official scorers, though he never came in contact with the ball, further clouding the picture.The ending marred what was a thrilling chase that Uganda arguably gave away with some poor shots on a flat surface. Man-of-the-Match Syahadat struck the telling blow, when he pinned Fred Achelam, playing around his pads for 36, ending a 54-run stand with Muhumuza. Syahadat then burrowed through the tail, ending with figures of 4 for 21.Earlier, Alagaratnam and Ahmed Faiz had set up Malaysia for a defendable total with a pair of half-centuries, after Malaysia chose to bat under clear skies.

The visibility of the pink ball when catching was a concern in the Plunket Shield, but Eden Park, the proposed venue for the day-night Test against England next year, was given a positive review

Andrew McGlashan09-Mar-2017The visibility of the pink ball when catching was one concern cited during the round of Plunket Shield matches played under lights in New Zealand this week but Eden Park, the proposed venue for the day-night Test against England next year, was given a positive review.The round of matches was designed to test the pink ball in New Zealand conditions ahead of rubber-stamping a floodlit Test against England next March. The weather had a significant impact with two days getting washed out in Auckland. Hamilton was also severely disrupted and only the match in Wellington had more than two innings.Legspinner Ish Sodhi, who claimed 7 for 107 against Central Districts at Seddon Park, said it was tricky judging distance in the field. “Catching under lights was very tough, the perception of the ball is different. I personally found it hard to figure out how far it was from my face whenever the ball was coming towards me. You think it’s a little bit further away than what it is and it gets to you a little bit quicker.”In that match Central Districts declared nine down during the night session on the opening day and then seamer Seth Rance ripped through Northern Districts under the lights. He had 4 for 6 by the close and finished with 6 for 31 in the rain-ruined contest. Henry Cooper, who faced Rance during that night-time spell, said that the visibility of the ball was fine but swing caused the problems.”It did swing around quite a bit,” Cooper said. “The pink ball wasn’t too tough to pick up; it was just the sort of swing that went on late last night. It was tricky to deal with and obviously we didn’t deal with it as good as we could have.”It did move around for our seamers at the start of the day as well. I think it was the night factor made it feel like it was maybe doing a little more than it possibly was.”Donovan Grobbelaar, the Auckland pace bowler who played in the Eden Park match, had no concerns about the conditions. “I had no problems [with visibility],” he said. “We found it pretty easy viewing. At Eden Park it’s got pretty exceptional lighting so it helps.”Michael Papps, the Wellington opener, scored New Zealand’s first pink ball century – beating Andrew Ellis to the mark by a few minutes – and said that while adjusting to conditions between the middle and last session was demanding, the ball itself behaved well.”The first two sessions were quite similar but the third session certainly did feel quite different, before went off for dinner there was still a lot of natural light but coming back out the lights had definitely kicked in and it took quite a bit of adjusting to the artificial lights. There might have been a bit of uncertainty with the pink ball but to be fair it’s played pretty well and hasn’t done out of ordinary.”Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, who played in the inaugural day-night Test in Australia recently said he was a supporter of innovation in the game but cautioned about there being to vast a difference between the conditions for day-night and traditional Tests.Eden Park and Seddon Park are the two likeliest venues for day-night Test cricket in New Zealand in the future although the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, which hosted its first first-class match in this round, and McLean Park in Napier could be options.”We believe this time of the year is the best time of the year,” David White, the NZC CEO, told ESPNcricinfo. “We are just going through that trial now to make sure. We’ll know more after this round but the most obvious thing is to see how the ball performs in New Zealand conditions and from a visibility point of view how it reacts. We played the first day-night Test in Australia so are very comfortable with the prospect but are just going through our due diligence.”The ground in Napier is currently undergoing extensive remedial work on the outfield after the abandoned ODI against Australia, which led to them losing the South Africa fixture, but White said there would not be a black mark against them in the future.”We’ve worked very close with the local authorities and they will invest a lot in the facilities. It is very important for us to have cricket throughout the country.”

Surrey’s surprise round of belt-tightening, which led them not to offer new contracts to Alec Stewart and Ian Ward, means that Stewart has played his last game of professional cricket

Wisden Comment by Steven Lynch10-Nov-2015

Surrey’s surprise round of belt-tightening, which led them not to offer new contracts to Alec Stewart and Ian Ward, means that Stewart has played his last game of professional cricket. Fittingly, it was a great match – the remarkable comeback to win the final Test against South Africa – but his abrupt decision to retire from first-class cricket as well leaves an empty feeling, almost as if he’d missed the last step at the top of that steep staircase leading to the Oval dressing-room.Perhaps it’s fitting that there will be no tearful Surrey farewell for Stewart. After all, he hasn’t played a full season for them since 1990, when he became an England regular. Before that, though, he had almost ten years of the county circuit, in which he became a master of the polished 70-odd.He might not have played much for Surrey recently, but somehow Stewart belongs under the chocolate-brown cap, and it would have been hard to adjust to those chiselled features being crowned by the Hampshire rose or the Leicester fox – or, Heaven forbid, the three seaxes of that lot north of the river.What you can imagine is that Jon Batty, who has scored plenty of runs himself for Surrey in Stewart’s absence, wasn’t too thrilled at the thought of turning out for the stiffs while the old boy went on a farewell tour of the counties next season. Even so, it’s hard to understand why someone who, according to the selectors, was the best wicketkeeper in the country a fortnight ago is now out of a job. Actually it’s more because Stewart himself didn’t fancy it. On Sunday, he told the News of the World: “There’s no point just turning up to play for the sake of it. I’ve always striven to get to the top, ie England. Once that has gone, why are you playing?”And so we are left to assess Alec – and without taking the Micky. The junior Stewart has been as squeaky-clean as one of his nicknames almost throughout his career – cricket whites, boots and opinions all neatly polished. Journalists wanting a sensational soundbite eventually stopped trying to get blood out of the Gaffer, which is why it’s widely assumed now that following Mike Atherton into the commentary box isn’t an option.The sports-management business is a more likely scenario. You can imagine Stewart jumping into well-pressed blazer and chinos for a meeting with all the alacrity he showed in donning the three lions 133 times in Tests and 170 times in one-dayers.He’ll be remembered as a good wicketkeeper and a fine batsman – but once again there’s that missing-step feeling. He could have been one of the great batsmen, up there with his old mate Goochie and the like, if he’d been left to open the innings and not saddled with the wicketkeeping gloves. The stats are conclusive: in Tests he averaged a Mercedes 46.70 when not keeping wicket, a Mondeo 34.92 when he did. Most of the regular keeping came later in his career, when he might have expected to be building that already excellent average.It’s ironic that Stewart follows his fellow fortysomething, Robin Smith, into retirement in the same week. They were singled out by Ray Illingworth, the manager, as the fall guys for the miserable 1995-96 season, when defeat in South Africa preceded a wan World Cup. Neither Stewart nor Smith was in the side for the first home Test of 1996, against India, but Nick Knight broke a finger in that game and Stewart returned for the second, and biffed 66. Smith never played another Test for England: Stewart managed to squeeze in another 80.The Judge will be remembered for his crunching square cut. The Gaffer had no such signature stroke. There was the pinpoint cover-drive, with the bat drawn forward as if on a string; the hard-hit pull, to balls lower than usual for that shot, which sent them scudding towards the midwicket boundary; and sometimes a busy back-and-across, bat twitching, before clunking an on-drive past the bowler. All done while booted and suited immaculately. Above all Alec Stewart will be remembered for his presence, his pride, and his professionalism.

Shane Watson’s hundred, the first of IPL 2013, might have gone in vain as Chennai Super Kings chased down Rajasthan Royals’ target of 186, but the Australian allrounder was relieved to be back among the runs and bowling once again

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Apr-2013Shane Watson’s hundred, the first of IPL 2013, might have gone in vain as Chennai Super Kings chased down Rajasthan Royals’ target of 186, but the Australian allrounder was relieved to be back among the runs and bowling once again.”It’s nice to finally score some runs. I felt that I have been hitting the ball really well,” he told the IPL site after the game. “In T20 you need a little luck as well to get your innings going. Unfortunately we weren’t able to finish well.”I’m very excited to get back to bowling. It’s certainly something that I’ve missed in the last three months. It will probably take me another two games to fully find my feet and bowl exactly how I want to.”Watson’s bowling return is neatly timed, coming only two days before Australia’s selectors are expected to announce their Test squad for the Ashes series in England this summer. Although he has recently relinquished the vice captaincy, he remains a strong contender to make the squad.He bowled for the first time this year in Royals’ previous game, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, following a series of injuries, the most recent of which was a calf issue. In the match against Super Kings, the final over of the game was his second.Watson said he is almost close to full bowling fitness, but not quite there just yet. “I’m getting closer to being 100%. A couple of more training sessions and games, and my body will be absolutely ready to handle the rigours of bowling. It is holding up well generally but now it’s just the matter of it getting used to bowling again.”On the whole I feel as good as I ever have. I’ve put in a lot of hard work during this period and hopefully, will reap the rewards for the coming 10 months or so. I was half-capacity without my bowling. It feels great to be bowling once again.”Though they could not pull off the win, Royals did well to get to 185 in Chennai, he said: “I think 185 is a lot of runs on any ground. At the beginning of the match our mindset was probably 160-170 and we ended up with an above-par score. We batted really well as a unit.”Speaking about Watson’s innings off 101 off 61 balls, Chennai spinner R Ashwin said the great start he gave Royals forced Super Kings to shuffle their bowling options, resulting in him coming on within the Powerplay: “This year I have bowled quite a few death overs as I have come into the attack pretty late. I have bowled a lot of 13th, 15th and 17th overs this season. We have a couple of overseas seamers and an Indian seamer, which gives the captain many options to exploit in the Powerplay,” Ashwin said. “[Today though] Watson was going great guns and the captain probably wanted to shut down [Royals’ scoring] and look to get a breakthrough. Shane Watson made sure that I had to come early into the attack.”

Varun Aaron, the India and Delhi Daredevils fast bowler, has almost recovered from the injury that has kept him out since December last year and is expected to be able to bowl in the IPL within a week

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2012Varun Aaron, the India and Delhi Daredevils fast bowler, has almost recovered from the injury that has kept him out since December last year and is expected to be able to bowl in the IPL within a week, according to franchise mentor TA Sekar.Aaron had to pull out of the Test squad for the Australia tour with a stress injury to his back. His last game was India’s second ODI against West Indies in Visakhapatnam in December 2011. He impressed with his pace and control before his short stint with the Indian team was ended by injury. Aaron has had a history of back trouble, having suffered two stress fractures soon after he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Jharkhand in the 2008-09 season.Sekar said that while Aaron was on the verge of regaining full fitness, Daredevils were not willing to take any chances with him. “He is getting very close to 100 percent fitness,” he said. “I think, in maybe a week, he should be ready to bowl in the IPL.””These fast bowler’s injuries, you cannot rush, because if it recurs, then he goes back by another two months. We are playing it very safe. He is almost ready to bowl, but we want him to be mentally [prepared], because he hasn’t played for a long time. Mentally also he should be match fit.”