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Peter Trego took four wickets on Marcus Trescothick’s return to the Somerset side, as Lancashire’s batsmen struggled again

Myles Hodgson at Aigburth01-Aug-2012
ScorecardPeter Trego made full use of the conditions to claim four wickets on day one•Getty Images

It seems to have escaped many people’s attention that, despite the loss of Marcus Trescothick for most of the season through injury, Somerset have remained one of the Division One title contenders. So it was fitting on his return that they continued that impressive form on a rain-hit opening day against Lancashire.As captain, leading batsman and outstanding slip fielder, Somerset have struggled to replace Trescothick while he has been sidelined for the last three months with ankle ligament damage, yet they have remained consistent enough to be well placed behind the leaders, Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire.During a day with enough rain around to dampen even the most enthusiastic of county cricketers, it became apparent why they have been so consistent, expertly exploiting bowler-friendly conditions to make major inroads into Lancashire’s batting line-up in the 52.2 overs possible.Perhaps inspired by Trescothick’s first Championship outing since April, his comeback was overshadowed by an outstanding display from Peter Trego, their combative allrounder, who took his wicket tally to 38 by claiming 4 for 34. Bowling exclusively from the River End and benefitting from a stiff breeze that aided swing bowling for most of the day, Trego continued Lancashire’s desperate form in the defence of their title.Trego bowled six successive maidens from the start of the day and it was 41 balls before Lancashire were even able to score a run off his bowling. Bowling wicket to wicket and allowing the conditions to do the work, he had already dismissed openers Paul Horton and Stephen Moore by the time Trescothick allowed him a rest shortly before lunch with figures of 10-7-12-2.By the time he returned for his second spell in the evening session – rain washed out most of the afternoon – he was required to break up a stubborn 79-run stand between Karl Brown and Ashwell Prince that threatened to turn the day in Lancashire’s favour. Brown had battled for over two hours for his 39 when he drove loosely at Trego off the front foot and lost his off-stump, which precipitated a late collapse of three wickets for 15 runs in only 34 balls.Steven Croft followed five overs later, edging Alfonso Thomas low to second slip to give Trescothick his second catch of the day, before Trego halted Prince’s defiance with the first ball of the next over when he was adjudged to have edged behind.Only four more overs were possible before rain curtailed play for the final time and Lancashire, whose batting unit have only passed 300 four times in the previous 11 completed Championship matches, look unlikely to improve on that dismal record. It should certainly be an interesting Championship debut for Andrea Agathangelou, a South-African born batsman with a Cypriot passport, who will resume tomorrow morning unbeaten on 0.Lancashire, as they have to be wavering just above the relegation zone, remain optimistic and Brown believes the swing generated by Trego should also help their own attack. “Trego got a bit of swing, and if that movement continues it will really help our bowlers because Glen Chapple and Kyle Hogg swing the ball more than most bowlers,” he said.”Hopefully we can make the most of the conditions as well. He tries to do different things when he’s bowling, he tries to get you out in different ways and he’s quite clever the way he goes about it. I enjoyed the battle out there, getting stuck in, it was good fun. We are in a tough position in the league and we are going to have to fight our way out of it.”

Lance Klusener, the former South Africa allrounder, has been appointed coach of the Dolphins franchise and will begin working with the team on July 16, on a two-year contract

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2012Lance Klusener, the former South Africa allrounder, has been appointed coach of the Dolphins franchise. He will begin working with the team on July 16, on a two-year contract.Klusener, 40, had worked with the Dolphins on an interim basis after Graham Ford resigned earlier this year. He said he was pleased to be working with his old franchise. “Being a former Dolphin, I am very proud of my team and want to be part of the process of rebuilding the team to its rightful place as South Africa’s No. 1 franchise.”Klusener has level 3 coaching certification from Cricket South Africa, and has worked at the country’s high performance centre and with IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians. The shortlist of candidates for the job was brought down to two names, Klusener and former Cobras coach Shukri Conrad, before Klusener was chosen. Reportedly, while the panel selecting the coach was split initially over Klusener’s appointment, he was the Dolphins players’ clear first choice for the job all through.The Dolphins have not come close to challenging for a trophy for the last four seasons, since qualifying for what would have been the inaugural Champions League T20 in 2008 – the tournament was cancelled due to the terror attacks in Mumbai in November that year. They had won only one game in ten this season in first-class cricket, finishing bottom of the table in the SuperSport Series, and did not make the knockouts in the domestic one-day tournament.Fa-eez Jaffar, the chairman KwaZulu-Natal Cricket, said Klusener’s main task would be to reintroduce a winning culture into the franchise set-up. “Lance has been a Dolphins man all his life. It will be good to see him working with and bringing out the best in our senior players, and guiding and mentoring our young emerging players.”One of his first tasks would be to reintroduce the culture of winning and playing with passion and pride wearing the Dolphins badge. This has been missing for some time. Players must want to play for the Dolphins.”

English cricket will continue to insist that all players, including short term overseas signings, undergo anti-corruption education – even though the amnesty to report match-fixing has produced “nothing of major significance.”

Alex Winter30-Apr-2012The Professional Cricketers’ Association and ECB will continue to insist that all players, including short term overseas signings, undergo anti-corrupotion education – even though the three-month amnesty to report match-fixing has produced nothing of major significance.Players arriving on short-term deals for the Friends Life t20 represent a major remaining obstacle in the education programme set up by the PCA and ECB in the wake of the Mervyn Westfield trial. Westfield pleaded guilty in January to spot-fixing while playing for Essex. He was sentenced to four months in prison but released on licence last week after serving half the sentence.Every professional cricketer in the country has been required to work through an online tutorial. Overseas players have been given a two-week period after arriving in the country to complete it but the PCA has encouraged counties to arrange for players to fulfil the obligation before they arrive.The Westfield trial prompted the ECB to open an amnesty window for confidentially reporting information about corruption. The window closed on April 30 with the ECB and PCA satisfied with the progress made in tackling corruption.Current and former players came forward with information but nothing of major significance has been discovered. “All of this information has been managed in confidence and has given us a clear picture of the nature of the threat our game faces from corrupt activities,” Chris Watts, the ECB’s anti-corruption officer, said. “The absence of a significant number of new reports is reassuring but the access unit will rigorously review any report of alleged corruption.”Angus Porter, chief executive of the PCA, said the amnesty window “had not uncovered a can of worms” but said it has served a greater purpose. “More importantly we’ve taken the opportunity to remind people of their duty to report incidents without delay. It’s been helpful as part as a general process of education.”Essex, Westfield’s former county, were criticised for their reaction to the incident which occurred in September 2009 but was not reported until early 2010. They were accused in the trial at the Old Bailey for “turning a blind eye” to corruption by defence counsel Mark Milliken-Smith QC, a criticism they later dismissed as unjustified.”We’ve been working closely with the Essex lads,” Porter said. “We’ve all come an awfully long way since 2010. The emphasis of our discussions with them has been to acknowledge that they did the right thing in coming forward as they did.”The PCA remains undecided on whether to use Westfield as part of its future education programme. He and former team-mate, the Pakistan international Danish Kaneria, who was named during the trial as the man who groomed Westfield for corruption, are the subject of an ECB disciplinary hearing on May 21.The hearing has been delayed to allow Kaneria’s lawyers more time to prepare their defence. Kaneria has not yet confirmed whether he will attend the hearing in person.

Scotland may have entered this match ahead of Afghanistan in the Intercontinental Cup table but for each of the three days at Ayr it has been the tourists who have played like leaders

Cricinfo staff13-Aug-2010
ScorecardMohammad Shahzad’s swift century set up the declaration•International Cricket Council

Scotland may have entered this match on top of the Intercontinental Cup table but for each of the three days at Ayr it has been the tourists who have played like leaders. Sitting on a 296-run lead coming into the day, Afghanistan, led by an unbeaten 105 from Mohammad Shahzad, remorselessly marched into a position of utter dominance. Scotland now face the tough task of batting out the final day with just eight wickets in hand against an attack that has already proved hostile in this match.The home side’s best hopes of slowing Afghanistan’s progress on day three lay with taking early wickets but a cautious opening stand between Noor Ali and Karim Sadiq ensured no alarms. Instead both were happy to work the ball around and pick up what boundaries were on offer during a patient 64-run partnership that took the best part of 19 overs. The loss of Ali, quickly followed by Sadiq four overs later, left Shahzad to boss the show.After starting quietly he worked his way to fifty from 75 deliveries. By that stage Afghanistan were well ahead but were unwilling to declare and instead let Shahzad progress serenely through the gears on the way to his second first-class century. He reached the mark in style, launching Moneeb Iqbal into the gardens over deep midwicket to finish undefeated on 105 and signal the declaration.With the weather set fair, Scotland’s task was either an unlikely 546-run chase, or an almost-as-difficult survival task. The openers started well enough, resisting the new-ball onslaught to reach 31 before Hamid Hasan intervened. The chief destroyer in the first innings struck again to remove Fraser Watts for 8, uprooting his off stump with a vicious delivery. Watts had battled hard, taking 44 balls for his eight runs but could not prevent the effervescence of Hasan from taking hold.At the other end, Mohammad Nabi was weaving a noose around Scotland. He did not concede a single run in 49 deliveries and had Ryan Flannigan out bowled through the gate for a fighting 32 off 97 deliveries. Ewan Chalmers stood firm to finish unbeaten on 37, using the attacking field to collect eight boundaries along the way, but he will have to score plenty more if Scotland are to avoid anything but defeat on the final day.

Cricinfo’s preview of the 2nd ODI between Australia and West Indies at Adelaide Oval

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale08-Feb-2010

Match Facts

The Australians will need to watch out for Kieron Pollard, who is in good form and knows the Adelaide Oval well•Getty Images

Tuesday, February 9, Adelaide Oval

Start time 1355 (0325 GMT)

The Big Picture

The series opener wasn’t the close contest that many people expected from a West Indies outfit that challenged Australia during the Tests. The absence of Dwayne Bravo, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and others was noticeable although there were some positive signs from the young allrounder Kieron Pollard. It’s worth remembering that West Indies began their Test tour with a dismal performance at the Gabba, where they were beaten inside three days, before they lifted significantly for the rest of the series. For that to happen in the one-dayers, they need not only their captain Chris Gayle to lead from the front but also several of the newer players like Pollard, Kemar Roach and Lendl Simmons to play important roles.For Australia, the 113-run victory in Melbourne has heightened their resolve to go through the summer undefeated, an aim that Shane Watson said was laid out by Ricky Ponting at the start of the season. They believe they have worked out Gayle’s weakness – cramping him and giving him no width early in his innings – and they know he is the key to a successful West Indies. Like the visitors, Australia are without some of their best one-day players including Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken but the depth in their fast-bowling ranks has been very impressive. Ryan Harris has taken 16 wickets in four ODIs this season, Doug Bollinger has troubled Gayle and Clint McKay couldn’t even squeeze into the XI in Melbourne having been Man of the Match in the previous game.

Form guide (most recent first)

Australia WWWWW

West Indies LLLLL

Watch out for…

Kieron Pollard knows the Adelaide Oval well. It was his home ground during December and January when he played with South Australia in the Big Bash. Pollard was the tournament’s leading run scorer and two of his best three scores came in Adelaide. He can also bowl a bit, as he showed at the MCG with 3 for 45, and his maturity impressed his captain Gayle. The more Pollard can resemble Bravo, the better the chance of a West Indies win.Questions have been raised over Michael Clarke‘s value as a Twenty20 batsman but his importance to Australia’s one-day international setup is not in doubt. He may not provide Shane Watson- or Cameron White-like thrills but his anchoring role in the middle order has been one of the reasons Australia have won 21 of their past 25 ODIs. The long straight boundaries at Adelaide Oval allow him to tick the score over relatively risk-free, as he did with 80 including only three boundaries against Pakistan on Australia Day. Of the current crop of Australians, none has scored more ODI runs in Adelaide than Clarke.

Team news

Deciding which bowler to leave out was more troubling for Australia’s selectors than worrying about who to include at the MCG, such has been the success of the attack this summer. McKay was desperately unlucky not to play and might miss out again given the usual reluctance to change a winning line-up, especially one that won so easily.Australia (possible) 1 Shane Watson, 2 Shaun Marsh, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Nathan Hauritz, 10 Ryan Harris, 11 Doug Bollinger.Gayle was happy with his bowlers at the MCG but he was concerned by the batting. If West Indies wish to make any changes to the top order, Wavell Hinds and Brendan Nash are the two men who could come in. Nash’s game isn’t especially suited to limited-overs, so the most likely scenario would be including Hinds for his first international match since 2006, having been ineligible for the past couple of years due to signing as a Kolpak player in county cricket. Runako Morton could be vulnerable after he looked very rusty at the MCG, struggling to react quickly enough against bowling that was only mid-130kph and scratching his way to 3 from 15 balls.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Wavell Hinds, 3 Travis Dowlin, 4 Lendl Simmons, 5 Narsingh Deonarine, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Nikita Miller, 10 Ravi Rampaul, 11 Kemar Roach.

Pitch and conditions

Australia had no trouble posting nearly 300 in Adelaide on Australia Day and there is no reason to expect a low-scoring encounter this time. The forecast for Tuesday is for a hot and humid day with temperatures reaching 36C.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies haven’t beaten Australia in an Adelaide ODI since 1986-87. Australia have won the three games since then
• When Denesh Ramdin caught Michael Hussey at the MCG he became the third West Indies wicketkeeper to take 100 ODI dismissals. He got there in his 68th match, much quicker than Jeff Dujon (80 games) but slower than Ridley Jacobs (61)
• The Australians who triumphed at the MCG have played a combined tally of 1007 one-day internationals, nearly double the West Indies’ mark of 511 games
  

  Quotes

  “We’ll take Adelaide as Adelaide and then we’ll go from there but an unbeaten summer, that would be great.”
  
  
  “We did well with the ball [in Melbourne] but my worry is always with our batting.”

Australia are strong and settled as they aim to close out a memorable year with victory

Andrew McGlashan25-Dec-20233:33

Australia settled, Pakistan have more questions than answers

Big Picture: Pakistan search for inspiration

All we want for Christmas is a contest, right? Well, Pakistan will hope for a miracle. If they topple Australia at the MCG it would come close to that.After just about holding their own, to a degree, across the first three days in Perth, things unravelled quickly on the fourth, albeit the surface was tricky by the time Pakistan started their second innings.Related

• Pakistan are down, but Shakeel keeps faith in Boxing Day dream

• Sarfaraz vs Rizwan: Pakistan's self-inflicted conundrum

• One last chance for Smith and Labuschagne to turn around their lean 2023

• Back at MCG, Carey will look to end year of up-and-down fortunes on a high

So they came to Melbourne somewhat battered and bruised, but at least had a slightly longer gap to collect their thoughts. They have played two days of cricket – whether that time at Junction Oval will make any significant difference is debatable – and have also lost two players to injury and illness.Despite Pakistan’s second innings collapse last week, their biggest challenge appears taking 20 wickets with what looks a fairly threadbare attack. If the top order can build on the starts they got in the first innings in Perth they can at least have hope of building a total, although Australia’s attack is relentless.There is barely a flicker of concern around the home side, and even the talk around David Warner has diminished after his 164. Now it’s all about the farewell, rather than whether he deserves it.When Marnus Labuschagne averaging 35 for the year is perhaps an area of concern, or whether Alex Carey can recapture the batting touch that brought him a maiden century this time last year, things are tracking nicely. Things are so stable that the MCG crowd won’t even be able to cheer on Scott Boland.A final, and not hugely uplifting note for Pakistan: last time they played a Test at the MCG they made 443, only to see Australia rattle up 624 (Warner 144 off 143 balls) and win by an innings.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)
Australia WLDLW
Pakistan LWWLLCan Babar Azam lead the way for Pakistan?•AFP

In the spotlight: Marnus Labuschagne and Babar Azam

It’s been a lean year by Marnus Labuschagne‘s high standards with an average of 35. In Perth, he was lbw in the first innings having moved compactly to 16. He was given a working over in the second, including a painful blow on the hand, before top-edging a short ball. This time last year his Test average was 59.05 and now it’s 52.15. He will, no doubt, turn things around and Boxing Day at the MCG – a ground where he hasn’t had a huge amount of success – could be where it starts.At 181 for 3 in the first innings in Perth, Pakistan were making a good fist of it. Then Babar Azam edged Mitchell Marsh to Carey who clung on to the chance. Pakistan lost seven wickets for 90 and the game was done. There was nothing Babar could do about the wonderful delivery from Pat Cummins in the second innings, but Pakistan need him to find the groove that brought scores of 104 and 97 on the tour four years ago. “He’s still in his shell, not really playing his natural way,” Waqar Younis told ESPN’s show. “I know the bowlers are too good, it’s hard to get on top of them, but you have to find a way, good players do that.”

Team news: Australia unchanged…

Barring any late Christmas-dinner related injuries, Australia will be unchanged which means no place for hometown hero Boland who averages 13.80 at the MCG.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Mitchell Marsh 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins (capt), 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh HazlewoodPakistan have named a squad of 12 and will make a final decision on the XI at the toss. Mohammad Rizwan replaces Sarfaraz Ahmed as wicketkeeper. Khurram Shahzad has been ruled out of the tour with a rib fracture and Faheem Ashraf has been dropped. That means two of Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza and Sajid Khan will play. Sajid appears likely to be included unless the pitch looks better for four quicks and Agha Salman.Pakistan 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Agha Salman, 8 Hasan Ali/Mir Hamza, 9 Sajid Khan, 10 Aamer Jamal, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pitch and conditions

The groundsman, Matt Page, has promised a well-grassed surface with pace and bounce – although the latter two factors may not reach Perth levels. Life has been tricky for batters at the MCG in recent seasons. But this pitch only has 6-7mm of grass compared to 10mm plus on previous Boxing Days and is less thatchy. The pitch has been under the covers since December 24 due to relentless rain on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The forecast is not ideal with a high chance of more showers on the first day more on the second, but an improvement after that. However, things can change quickly in Melbourne.

Stats and trivia

• Travis Head needs 42 runs to reach 3000 in Tests
• Steven Smith’s MCG average of 84.75 is second only to Don Bradman for those to have played at least 10 innings at the venue
• Saud Shakeel needs 73 runs to reach 1000 – he has currently batted 15 times, and the record for Pakistan to that landmark is 20 innings by Saeed Ahmed
• Since the start of the 2018-19 season, the MCG has the lowest Test batting average of Australia’s venues, other than Hobart which has hosted just one game.

Quotes

“It looks really good, fair bit of grass, probably a fair bit harder and not as green as last year, knowing it was potentially going to be under covers today and for a little bit tomorrow maybe, so we’ll see how it plays but it looks like a really good wicket.” “It was hard out there in Perth. But I still feel there were some positives that probably we didn’t do back when we were here in 2019. We don’t want to force people to play a certain way. But we’ve sort of outlined certain things that we want to do better.”

Home Office backlog caused by displacement of Ukrainian citizens sees Pujara miss Notts fixture

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2022Cheteshwar Pujara will miss the opening game of his stint as Sussex’s overseas player in the County Championship due to a visa hold-up caused indirectly by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Pujara, who was dropped by India for their recent Test series against Sri Lanka and has been demoted in the BCCI’s contract list, was due to play Sussex’s first six Championship games of the season before returning later in the summer for the Royal London Cup and “some additional four-day games”, according to the club’s statement.He had been expected to arrive in time to make his debut against Nottinghamshire on Thursday, but will not be available until Sussex’s fixture against Derbyshire the following week due to a delay in receiving his visa.Related

• Project Sussex requires signs of progress as Salisbury targets 'sustained success'

• Sussex sign Pujara for English summer

• Root rested for opening rounds of County Championship

• Notts left snow-blind amid uncertainty over Championship future

• Burns readjusts to life on England fringes after putting Ashes 'to bed'

“Securing overseas players has been tremendously difficult in the current climate,” Keith Greenfield, Sussex’s performance director, said. “We renegotiated the initial Pujara contract so he could return for more County Championship and Royal London 50-over matches, and this subsequently changed the visa requirements.”On top of this, the Ukraine crisis has meant that the Home Office has redirected their resources to help with the displacement of Ukrainian citizens. We were expecting Pujara to be with us last weekend but can now confirm he will be here at the back end of this week.”Ian Salisbury, the club’s Championship and 50-over head coach, said he was “extremely disappointed… not [to] have a player of Pujara’s experience and quality available for the opening day of the season”.Sussex will also be without Ollie Robinson for the first game of the season, with the fast bowler made unavailable by the ECB after missing all three of England’s Tests against West Indies in the Caribbean last month through injury.

Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Marnus Labuschagne and Kyle Jamieson moved up the tables

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2021Kane Williamson, who hit 238 in the Christchurch Test, consolidated his position at the top of the ICC rankings for Test batsmen by reaching 919 rating points – the highest ever by a New Zealand player. There was a switch just below him, with Steven Smith replacing Virat Kohli in the second position following the Sydney Test where he was the Player of the Match.Williamson’s previous best points tally was 915, which he had reached in December 2018, already taking him past Richard Hadlee, the only other New Zealand cricketer to have crossed the 900-point mark (909 in December 1985).Meanwhile, Smith’s scores of 131 and 81 at the SCG took him past Kohli, who went back home from Australia after the first Test for the birth of his first child.Related

• NZ become No. 1 Test team after sweep against Pakistan

• Australia's batting ills continue despite Smith ton

In other changes after the thrilling draw in Sydney, Marnus Labuschagne achieved a career-best 866 points to stay at No. 4 – he hit 91 and 73 in the game – and among bowlers, Josh Hazlewood gained three places to reach No. 5 after picking up four wickets in the game.For India, Cheteshwar Pujara’s twin half-centuries pushed him up to No. 8 from the tenth spot, while Rishabh Pant’s aggressive 97 in the second innings helped him jump 19 spots to No. 26. Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari and R Ashwin also made gains after playing crucial innings in helping India salvage the draw.Kyle Jamieson ran through the Pakistan line-up in Christchurch•Getty Images

Following the conclusion of the Christchurch Test between New Zealand and Pakistan, Henry Nicholls’ 157 brought him inside the top ten for batsmen after he gained three places to become No. 9. Kyle Jamieson – who bagged a career-best match haul of 11 for 117 at Hagley Oval – was another big mover: he climbed seven spots to reach No. 21 among bowlers, and also became the fifth-ranked allrounder after just six Tests.Also, Pakistan – despite losing the series 0-2 – had reason to cheer after Azhar Ali’s 93 and 37 helped him advance seven places to No. 18 and Mohammad Rizwan’s 61 took him to No. 37 following a gain of ten places.In the other update following the Johannesburg Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka, opener Dean Elgar reached No. 13 after innings of 127 and 31* in a ten-wicket for the hosts. His team-mates Anrich Nortje, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi and Lutho Sipamla also rose in the bowlers’ chart to be No. 38, No. 45, No. 47 and No. 49, respectively.Sri Lanka too had their share of gains – captain Dimuth Karunaratne’s second-innings 103 took him to No. 15, while Kusal Perera, the visitors’ highest run-getter in the series, moved up four spots to No. 56.

Marcus Stoinis’ dream performance was the sign of a much improved allrounder but the end of the match was a harsh dose of reality

Daniel Brettig30-Jan-20171:09

‘No time for nerves’ – Stoinis

Marcus Stoinis played the innings of his dreams at Eden Park – only to have reality bite him hard with the closing run-out of Josh Hazlewood, to ensure Australia fell narrowly short of the most unlikely of pursuits.There were decidedly mixed emotions in Stoinis’ voice as the 27-year-old spoke of his unbeaten 146 that took the visitors to within seven runs of victory. Satisfaction, sure, at stamping himself as an international cricketer of character and power, as well as a much improved allrounder as shown by his three wickets earlier in the day; but it will take some time before the pain of that final run-out, and a dash for the win thwarted, subsides.”If you look at the stat book after making 140-odd and taking three-for it doesn’t feel that good,” Stoinis said in Auckland. “It just shows how much of a team game cricket is and how important winning is to everyone. I’m happy to an extent but probably not what I would imagine.”As an all-round game, it’s what you dream of and think about when you close your eyes before the game. I’ve had smoother innings than this but this is a different kind of pressure. To put the performance on the board feels good.”Stoinis first turned out for Australia in an ODI in England after the 2015 Ashes series, and was left with a couple of clear goals for improvement. The first was to strengthen his bowling, and he has done so in adding a little more pace and a lot more consistency, as Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro found out. But he also needed to bring more adaptability to a batting game that had looked impressively correct but also rigid.”I think my bowling had to improve to move into that allrounder’s position,” he said. “In state cricket, I probably bat a bit higher, but it’s a different mould of position if you’re going to be batting at six, seven or whatever it is. Mostly just thinking about what’s happening in the situations you’re in and understanding the game. On the bowling side of things, [it’s] just consistency really.”‘The plan was to try to hit a six and get a draw and then leave Josh to get a single to win the game’•Getty Images

Even with that progress in his mind, winning seemed the remotest of possibilities when Stoinis walked out to join Sam Heazlett at 54 for 5, and grew less plausible still when the debutant was dismissed. However he kept his cool, and talked through the situation with the experienced James Faulkner.”When Jimmy [Faulkner] came out, I was thinking ‘ok, you’ve got to give yourself a chance here, so first thing’s first, have a look around, get yourself moving’,” Stoinis said. “Then once he got to about 15 or so, we spoke and made a little plan there as to the way we’d go about it. When you come up with a plan, everything is more simple even though it seems a long way away. So it was all thought out.”[The plan was] pace myself but then target a certain bowler and the end with the wind was the main thing for me. Then there were a couple of overs before they put five out on the boundary where I thought it might be time to have a crack. Also, once you’ve faced 100 balls it does get a bit easier, so the more wickets we lost, the more I thought it was my turn to score the runs.”Later in the innings, Stoinis appeared to occupy the “zone” famously spoken of by many elite athletes where they are simply doing and not thinking. The spell was only broken when last man Hazlewood hared down the wicket when Stoinis bunted a yorker back down the ground, allowing Kane Williamson to underarm the stumps down.”There’s too much going on for the nerves by that time, you know,” Stoinis said. “Some of our most experienced players, they might be bowlers but the way they think about the game is as good as it gets. Josh Hazlewood and [Mitchell] Starcy were good at calming the nerves.”[With Hazlewood] the plan was for me to face the first four or five and then get a single last ball. But at the end there, the plan was to try to hit a six and get a draw and then leave Josh to get a single to win the game.”

David Warner is hopeful of being available for Australia’s next match against West Indies on Monday, despite suffering a painful blow to the finger in the win over South Africa on Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jun-2016David Warner is hopeful of being available for Australia’s next match against West Indies on Monday, despite suffering a painful blow to the finger in the win over South Africa on Saturday.Warner was Man of the Match in St Kitts for his 109 against South Africa, but late in South Africa’s chase he was struck on the index finger of his left hand diving for a catch. Warner left the field immediately after the blow but he took hope from the fact that, while it had hurt, the feeling was different to when he had broken his thumb previously.”The finger is quite sore,” Warner said. “We’ll keep assessing it over the next 24 hours. It’s quite painful. To me it’s just got the same bruising marks as a normal bung on the finger does. I’m always hopeful. A sore finger is not going to stop me but if it’s broken, that might.”I was a bit hesitant. When I first looked at it, it didn’t look too good. It had that sort of purple mark on the nail. But it doesn’t feel like the thumb … I’ve broken the thumb twice, I know what that feels like. Hopefully, I’m being positive, and there’s not too much damage.”Warner was struck when he dived in an attempt to catch a JP Duminy cut off the bowling of Mitchell Marsh in the 39th over and while he failed to make the catch, Australia’s bowlers created enough chances to secure a 36-run win. Warner’s century was the difference in the match, and despite the short boundaries at Warner Park, nearly half his runs came in ones and twos.”It’s always challenging when you play on these small grounds, because in the back of your mind you’ve got to take the ego out of it,” Warner said. “When you’re in, you can feel like you can hit every ball for six. But once that ball got older it was harder to bat. It was actually quite hard to free the arms. You’ve got to try and get yourself in and be positive.”The boundaries are always going to come if you’re being positive, looking with intent to hit the ones and twos. That’s the most important thing about this game, is rotating the strike. There’s four fielders out until the last 10, you’ve just got to make the most of it until you get into there.”The hundred was Warner’s sixth in ODIs and his first outside Australia. Warner’s one-day form this year has been excellent – so far in 2016 he is the world’s leading scorer in ODIs, with 511 runs at 63.87.