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Essex revived their promotion hopes with a crushing 254-run victory over Leicestershire in the County Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road

13-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Essex revived their promotion hopes with a crushing 254-run victory over Leicestershire in the County Championship Division Two clash at Grace Road.Having set Leicestershire a target of 393 Essex bowled them out for 138 in 49.2 overs to clinch their second successive Championship win after beating Northamptonshire in convincing fashion two weeks ago.But it was another dismal batting performance by bottom-of-the-table Leicestershire who only three weeks ago in their last Championship game were dismissed for just 48 to lose by an innings and 155 runs to Northamptonshire.Youngsters Tymal Mills and Tom Craddock played a major part in the Essex victory. Left-arm seamer Mills, only 18, took 3 for 48 in 10 impressive overs on his championship debut while leg-spinner Craddock, currently on trial with Essex, celebrated his 22nd birthday with eye-catching figures of two for 12 in 12 overs having claimed four wickets in the first innings.Essex batted on for another five overs at the start of the day scoring 38 runs and allowing Owais Shah to complete his first century since joining them from Middlesex. He reached it with a straight six off Claude Henderson and was unbeaten on 112 off 147 balls when Essex declared on 344 for 5 giving them a lead of 392. Off-spinner Jigar Naik took 4 of the wickets at a cost of 89 runs.Leicestershire made the worst possible start to the run chase with Will Jefferson out to the first ball of the innings edging David Masters to second slip. From that point on it was all downhill for the home side as their batting was blown away by some impressive bowling from Essex.Greg Smith and James Taylor followed, while opener Matt Boyce top scored with 26 before becoming Mills’ first victim, trapped lbw with a delivery that kept low. Tom New went in the same fashion to the same bowler and Wayne White had his leg stump knocked back by another excellent delivery from the 18-year-old.That made it 91 for six and from there there was no way back for the home side. Craddock was brought into the attack and picked up the wickets of Naik, who was bowled by a delivery that kept low, and then Henderson, who chopped the ball back into his stumps.A ninth-wicket stand between Andrew McDonald and Nadeem Malik delayed the inevitable for a time but Malik finally fell when he gloved a catch behind off Ryan ten Doeschate and, with Harry Gurney unable to bat because of injury, the home side were all out for 138.Essex took 22 points from the win to keep alive their hopes of mounting a challenge for promotion while Leicestershire’s four points left them rooted to the foot of the table.

It might be premature to describe Yorkshire’s Championship challenge as faltering but their position at the top of the table going into this match disguises a run of results that rather undermines their case

Jon Culley at Headingley03-Aug-2010
ScorecardRyan Sidebottom impressed as Nottinghamshire took control on the top-of-the-table clash•PA Photos

It might be premature to describe Yorkshire’s Championship challenge as faltering but their position at the top of the table going into this match disguises a run of results that rather undermines their case. A record of one win in six matches since May leaves them in need of renewed impetus.They may struggle to draw it from this contest after their poorest day so far, one which began with Adam Lyth out for a duck and ended with Samit Patel and David Hussey shaping up to put Nottinghamshire in control. Yorkshire’s lead at the start of this round is one point. Given Nottinghamshire’s game in hand, if this is not a must-win fixture, it is certainly one they would prefer not to lose.The morning belonged squarely to Nottinghamshire as Yorkshire stumbled to lunch at 89 for 5, prompting inevitable questions about Andrew Gale’s wisdom in deciding to bat first in overcast, humid conditions, particularly after swing had been such a factor in the Test match between Australia and Pakistan here.But the pitches here have generally played well this season. In each of four previous Championship matches in 2010, the captain winning the toss has opted to bat and the average first-innings score was 431, with Yorkshire winning both matches in which they batted first. To Gale, therefore, it was probably a straightforward decision. Ryan Sidebottom confirmed afterwards that Nottinghamshire would have batted, too, given the choice.Indeed, this pitch – blanched and dry – looks like one that will take spin and there is no one in better form to exploit that factor than leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who came into this match with 28 wickets in his last four four-day games. Gale has also turned to David Wainwright, the left-arm spinner, for his first Championship appearance since May.With a decent Yorkshire total to give them room to manoeuvre, Gale will have reasoned, those two bowlers in tandem could pose real problems for Nottinghamshire. All out for 178 – their lowest total for two years – was certainly not part of any plan.The ball ruled from the moment Lyth, the First Division’s leading run-scorer, edged the fifth ball of the day from Sidebottom into the gloves of skipper Chris Read behind the stumps. Under the watchful gaze of Geoff Miller, England’s chief selector, it was not a good moment for the Yorkshire left-hander to cop his third duck of the season.Sidebottom is back in the Nottinghamshire line-up after a knee injury sustained – in the modern cricket tradition – playing football, replacing Charlie Shreck from the side beaten heavily by in-form Somerset at Taunton last week. It was a second defeat in three matches for Read’s team, whose thrashing of relegation favourites Warwickshire in between came on the back of career-best figures of 8 for 52 by Stuart Broad, who will not figure again this season.Yet Nottinghamshire’s bowling resources are as deep as anyone’s, even if their batting can be suspect, and the attack on duty here subjected Yorkshire to their poorest opening day of the season.It didn’t help, though, that their second wicket was needlessly squandered when a misunderstanding between Anthony McGrath and Jacques Rudolph led the latter to be run out for one in the sixth over, Ali Brown doing the fielding after McGrath shaped to take a single to cover off Darren Pattinson but thought better of it with his colleague halfway down the pitch.Gale looked in good shape, helping himself to a couple of nicely-timed boundaries off Pattinson and a couple more off Sidebottom but when Paul Franks came on first change for Pattinson he struck with his second ball, one that umpire Rob Bailey judged would have hit the stumps as the Yorkshire captain went forward and across.Again Yorkshire looked capable of repairing the damage. Andre Adams conceded three boundaries in four balls to McGrath after replacing Sidebottom at the football stand end and was hit for two more by Jonathan Bairstow. But then McGrath nibbled at one from Adams to be caught behind and when Gerard Brophy was bowled by the same bowler, with a fine delivery that came back sharply, Yorkshire were in serious trouble at 89 for 5.That became 104 for 6 when Rashid was out leg before, beyond much argument, in the fourth over of the afternoon. Bairstow, who is becoming a dangerous opponent in the middle order, again went for his shots with confidence, hitting nine fours to reach 45, including three in consecutive balls off Pattinson. But he was undone by a beautiful ball from Sidebottom that bowled him after swinging late – “the kind you bowl once a season,” Sidebottom said – after which Ajmal Shahzad paid the price for stretching for one outside off stump from Pattinson and Yorkshire were 144 for 8.Wainwright proved his value with the bat by adding 20 runs to that, although with his fellow left-arm spinner, Patel, trapping both Steve Patterson and Oliver Hannon-Dalby leg before, the Yorkshire total grew by only 34.As if to even the score after Rudolph’s give-away, Nottinghamshire handed Yorkshire an early gift when Alex Hales, chasing a ball that might have been called wide, edged Steve Patterson obligingly to keeper BrophyMark Wagh was bowled by a peach from Hannon-Dalby, a late inswinger to which the batsman played back, but Matthew Wood gave his side something to build on with his second fifty in consecutive games before Patterson had him leg before.Wood, who has form in one-day cricket, has been given another chance in the four-day side as Nottinghamshire continue to seek elusive consistency in their batting. The openers are not the only problem area, however. Patel’s hundred in defeat against Somerset was his first in the Championship since September 2008 but he and Hussey had put on 50 together at stumps, with Nottinghamshire 31 behind and seven wickets in hand.

New Zealand’s key selection call ahead of the first Test in India will be whether to play three quicks

Andrew McGlashan13-Oct-20241:46

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Former New Zealand captain Tim Southee will be at the centre of a selection debate ahead of the first Test against India as the visitors ponder the balance of their attack for Bengaluru and weigh up whether to play three quicks.Southee stood down from the captaincy after the 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka last month and there’s a chance he loses his place in the XI straightaway after a lean run in format where he has taken eight wickets at 73.12 this year.Related

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He is working to discover the “snap” in his bowling action but though be boasts a handy record in India with 20 wickets at 28.70, including his career-best 7 for 64 in Bengaluru 12 years ago, his place will likely be under scrutiny whichever way New Zealand structure their bowling attack.If they opt for just two quicks Matt Henry has a strong case to partner Will O’Rourke who was impressive in Sri Lanka, while if they played three the choice would then be between Southee’s experience or the extra pace of Ben Sears who made a mark on his debut against Australia in March.Head coach Gary Stead said that the discussions between him and Southee after the Sri Lanka series would remain private but acknowledged they were “delicate” and did concede that without Southee as captain it allowed greater flexibility in selection.Matt Henry will be in the mix to return to the side•AFP/Getty Images

“Like all Test tours and series we have reviews at the end of it and Tim and I had a conversation around it, then he made the decision to stand down,” Stead said. “He thought it was in the best interests of the team. I supported his decision around that.”It allows different players to be considered in roles and as a selector and coach you are always trying to put what you think is the very best team out there. With Tim as captain, he was the guy who was starting for us and leading that team and think we were always looking at the options that were best for the team going forward.”An additional factor with the balance of New Zealand’s attack is the impact on the lower-order batting. Mitchell Santner batted No. 8 against Sri Lanka while Michael Bracewell would be another spin-bowling option, but Bengaluru turns out to help fast bowlers, and three quicks were selected, then either Henry or Southee would need to take on the role of chipping in with some runs down the order.”They’ve both scored fifties so that’s always the balance that possibly in New Zealand you think about more, especially if it’s going to be real seamer-friendly,” Stead said. “Think here the first thing you want to do is make sure you’ve got the bowlers you think can take 20 wickets.”Southee is working with bowling coach Jacob Oram on trying to rediscover his wicket-taking form and has been studying video from successful periods in a career which has so far brought 382 Test wickets, leaving him on the brink of becoming just the second New Zealand bowler to 400.”From my conversations with Tim he recognised he hasn’t been at his best but there’s certainly no desire to not get back there,” Stead said. “He’s working hard in the background, he’s doing everything he can and trying to rediscover what that little thing he feels is missing is.”There’s a couple of little technical points Tim’s working on. He’s working with [Jacob] Oram around them. We’ve looked back at quite a bit of video from previous years and times he’s played in India and had success. It’s just trying to rediscover that and find a little bit, I guess you could call it snap back into his action.”Stead added that Will Young was likely to bat No. 3 in the first Test in the absence of Kane Williamson who is recovering from a groin strain. There remains hope that Williamson will be available for the second Test with a call likely to be made during the first few days of the Bengaluru game.India will be without Mohammed Shami but Stead noted the depth of talent India were able to call on. “If they have an injury it doesn’t seem to effect them like other teams. There’s someone else who can come in who is equally adept,” he said. “They have the mass of numbers they can call but they are also very skilful and are an experienced team with a lot of Test caps. They play a brand of cricket that makes it very difficult for you over here but that’s the challenge that’s ahead of us.”

Phoebe Litchfield scores unbeaten 42 to see home side to victory in low-scorer

Ciara Fearn03-Aug-2023Northern Superchargers 112 for 3 (Litchfield 42*) beat Birmingham Phoenix 110 for 8 (Devine 46, Davidson-Richards 3-20) by seven wickets England allrounder Alice Davidson-Richards stole the show for Northern Superchargers as they beat Birmingham Phoenix by seven wickets to get their Hundred campaign off to the perfect start.Davidson-Richards took three wickets for just 11 runs from her 20 balls as well as taking two catches and claiming a brilliant run-out in an excellent team display from Superchargers, as they restricted Birmingham Phoenix to a total of 110 for 8 off their 100 balls.Australian Phoebe Litchfield top-scored for the home team with an unbeaten 42 as they eased their way to victory with 22 balls to spare with Marie Kelly also adding a valuable 24 at the top of the order.The visitors had got off to a flying start with New Zealand veteran Sophie Devine hitting England’s Kate Cross for two boundaries from her first set of five balls. But Superchargers quickly pulled things back with Cross claiming the wicket of Eve Jones for 10 before England wicketkeeper Amy Jones became Davidson-Richard’s first victim when she holed out to Leah Dobson on the square leg boundary for 13.Devine took centre stage throughout the Phoenix innings scoring an entertaining 46 runs off 36 balls before she was superbly run out by Davidson-Richards’ direct hit from mid-off. The Phoenix middle-order failed to offer any meaningful support to Devine with Erin Burns, Tess Flintoff and Emily Arlott all falling cheaply with Georgia Wareham’s caught-and-bowled dismissal of Burns a particular highlight.The hosts were brilliant in the field with Phoenix reliant on late-order runs from Abigail Freeborn and Issy Wong to get them up over the 100 mark, Wong hitting a mighty six into the crowd at one point before she became Linsey Smith’s one wicket.Kelly and Jemimah Rodrigues gave Superchargers an ideal start with a partnership of 23 for the first wicket. Rodrigues’ knock of 16 consisted of four boundaries before she was trapped in front by Wong.Kelly was bowled reverse sweeping by Katie Levick for 24 but Litchfield quickly took charge of the innings as she steered Superchargers home with an unbeaten 42 off 29 balls including seven fours. But this was Davidson-Richards’ day and she completed the win with a towering straight six off Hannah Baker to end an excellent showing by Superchargers.

Bangladesh won just three matches under Mominul’s leadership since he took over in October 2019

ESPNcricinfo staff31-May-2022Mominul Haque has resigned as Bangladesh’s Test captain, following the team’s series defeat at home against Sri Lanka.ESPNcricinfo understands that Mominul, who has led the side in the longest format since October 2019, was being weighed down by the pressures of captaincy, and as a result was struggling with the bat as well; he has averaged just 16.20 in 2022, with 162 runs from six matches. Overall, Bangladesh won just three Tests under Mominul’s leadership, losing 12 and drawing two.Related

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“When you play well, even if the team doesn’t win, you are still in a position to motivate them. I felt that captaining a side is tough when I am not scoring and team is not winning. I think it is best to quit the captaincy.”I feel I should focus on my batting. It wasn’t a hard decision. A captain has to contribute otherwise it brings a lot of pressure. The board president told me to stay on but I don’t want to be the captain. “Though Bangladesh began 2022 with a historic victory against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, they lost four of their next five Tests, falling to series defeats against both South Africa and Sri Lanka. It is understood that following the loss in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Mirpur last week, Mominul met with the BCB president Nazmul Hassan, indicating his wish to step down from the captaincy in order to focus on his batting.Shakib Al Hasan is among the names being considered to replace Mominul, but a full-time captain is yet to be named.”I am not concerned about Mominul’s captaincy. I didn’t hear anything from the coaches too. He is not getting runs, which is always a worry for a batsman. Mominul is going through a mental crisis. I told him immediately after the Dhaka Test that we believe in him,” Nazmul told .”I also heard Shakib’s name is in discussion for Test captaincy. Shakib used to be captain in all three formats but now I have to know what is he available for? He cannot make last minute decisions about his availability when he is the captain.”We have to discuss with him first. There are also other names being discussed. We have to take a well thought out decision. We cannot make someone a captain on a whim.”Shakib has had numerous stints as Bangladesh’s Test captain in the past, first leading the side in a game against West Indies in 2009. He captained the team for six more matches in the first half of 2010, and more Test in August 2011 against Zimbabwe, before falling out of favour with the then BCB chief Mustafa Kamal. Shakib then took over the Test captaincy once again in December 2017, replacing Mushfiqur Rahim. Shakib held the role for nearly two years, till he was handed a one-year ban from all cricket in 2019 for failing to report a bookie’s approach.Incidentally, Shakib’s future in Test cricket has been a topic of discussion in recent months, with the allrounder going back-and-forth on his commitment to red-ball cricket. In February, Shakib had reportedly asked the BCB for some time off from Test cricket, but was nonetheless selected in the squad for the tour of South Africa. Shakib, though, suggested that he was “jaded”, and requested a break from international cricket, which the BCB eventually granted him.However, that wouldn’t be the end, as Nazmul publicly questioned Shakib’s commitment to his country, and following another round of meetings between the allrounder and the BCB boss, Shakib was included in the tour of South Africa.

Formal announcements to be made once tour dates are confirmed by the boards

Mohammad Isam10-Feb-2021Following news that Australia will tour Bangladesh ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup, BCB’s chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury has said that they will also host England and New Zealand. He, however, said that formal announcements will only be made once the tour dates are confirmed by the boards.Chowdhury had said that Australia would play three T20Is as well as a two-match Test series in Bangladesh. But since CA and BCB couldn’t quite fit in the Tests, they have found time for an extra T20I match.”Both boards (CA and BCB) have agreed in principle for Australia’s tour of Bangladesh before the World Cup T20, which is going to be held in October,” Chowdhury said. “It has been scheduled as such. Ahead of the World Cup T20, England, Australia and New Zealand will tour Bangladesh, but a tri-series hasn’t yet been decided.”I think we had a commitment with Australia that they would play two Tests and two T20Is. Since we could fit the T20s we will increase it to three. It is not that it is replacing anything. We would have fit in a Test match if there was enough space. It will be a good preparation for us ahead of the World T20. We have an opportunity to play some high-profile teams.”According to the ICC’s published FTP, England are scheduled to tour Bangladesh in October to play three ODIs (as part of the ICC’s ODI Super League) and three T20Is.Meanwhile, Chowdhury added that all teams can fit in their World Test Championship matches until April after the timeline was extended from March. As such, the BCB is working on a tour of Sri Lanka to play the three-match Test series that was postponed twice last year.”It should be clarified that most of the FTP commitments currently are for the World Test Championships and the ODI competition (ODI Super League). There’s a guideline to complete the WTC matches before the final in June. The guideline to arrange those matches has been extended to April, from March.”To fit in these postponed series, both teams have to be available. At the moment only Sri Lanka is available till April. It is not possible to fit in the rest of the (postponed) matches. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are free in April so we are trying to schedule the two or three Tests of the WTC during that time.”

Falling short of usual standards a “positive sign we can get better” argues Lyon

Daniel Brettig at Lord's15-Aug-2019If there was any doubt as to the high standards Australia’s cricketers were holding themselves to on this Ashes tour, a blunt reminder came in the form of Nathan Lyon’s critique of day one of play at Lord’s following a washout on the Wednesday.While Lyon was glowing in his praise of Josh Hazlewood’s return to the team, and also Pat Cummins’ aggressive use of the bouncer in the afternoon, he indicated that the overall performance was short of expectations despite bowling England out for 258 and peeling 30 of those runs off for the loss of David Warner by the close.Lyon, who in claiming three wickets of his own drew level with Dennis Lillee on 355 Test wickets for Australia, reckoned that the dropping of three catches ad also allowing England to form a pair of pesky stands between Joe Denly and Rory Burns then Chris Woakes and Johnny Bairstow undid much of Hazlewood’s precision work with the Dukes ball.”If you look at today I don’t think we’ve had the best day if I’m being brutally honest,” Lyon said. “I think Josh Hazlewood was absolutely exceptional and the spell from Pat Cummins after tea really set the tone for us. For our standards I don’t think we were good enough for long periods of time.ALSO READ: ‘Cherry ripe’ Josh Hazlewood brings peak precision“But in saying that it’s still a good day for Australia, we’ve won the toss, we’ve created more than 10 chances, we haven’t played catch today. We can get better, and that’s exciting but we still were able to bowl England out for 258 on a day one wicket. There’s still a lot of work to do, we’re happy with the day but we know there’s a lot of improvement to be done.”Asked to explain where he thought he day went wrong, Lyon felt that the period in between Hazlewood’s early work and Cummins’ short pitched assault was a little too generous to the hosts. “I think we can always keep learning about the game, but the Dukes balls tend to go a little bit soft and the wicket’s quite slow as well, which makes … I think the quicks nicked about six and they bounced a good metre in front of our slips,” he said. “That’s generally a sign of the pace in the wicket and how soft the ball is if the nicks aren’t carrying.Tim Paine chats to Peter Siddle as Australia search for another breakthrough•Getty Images

“It’s one of those ones where the short bowling is used as a tactic, and we saw it in the [2013-14] Ashes when Michael Clarke was captain. They’re totally different wickets but I thought the way Tim and Pat and others came to a plan and I think the way Josh stuck to his nagging length was exceptional.”We’re playing Test cricket, playing against the best players in the world, there’s going to be partnerships here and there, that’s where it comes back to us bowlers hanging int here and doing the basics for long periods of time. I don’t think we did that well enough for Australian standards, our standards we have in our bowling cartel, and in that change room. It’s a positive sign we can get better.”As for Hazlewood, Lyon indicated that his fellow New South Welshman had plenty more days like this one, where he nipped out England’s first three wickets and troubled everyone, lay ahead. “I think Josh has been a world-class bowler for a long period of time and I don’t think he’s got the rewards that he’s deserved as yet,” Lyon said. “I think they’re to come. In my eyes Josh is up in the top three best bowlers in test cricket in my personal eyes. I think his control of hitting that nagging length but having the skill to go both ways in and out.”Then he’s got a pretty strong bouncer as well and it’s always usually on the money. I think Josh has been outstanding, I know he was disappointed to be left out of the first Test but to come back and bowl the way he did today, hats off to Josh, I thought he was the pick of our bowlers.”

Fidel Edwards’ pace also caught the eye on the opening day at The Oval where almost 3000 spectators soaked up the action

Paul Edwards at Kia Oval20-Apr-2018
ScorecardPosters in tube stations are sometimes weirdly prescient. “We know what we are, but know not what we may be,” asserts a current advert for the Globe’s production of , and Ophelia’s words seemed curiously apt on Friday morning as one exchanged a fetid underland for Kennington’s rather cleaner air. On Thursday the uncertain prospect of hundred-ball cricket in 2020 had been all our rage. Hours later spectators at The Oval – around three thousand of them this Friday stolen from June – watched in perfect absorption, though nothing like content, as Surrey were dismissed for 211 by Hampshire, whose batsmen reached 52 for the loss of both openers and nightwatchman Chris Wood by the close.The Saturday papers may still label it “the visitors’ day” but such an outcome had not seemed at all likely until Surrey squandered their last six wickets for 24 runs immediately after tea. Four of those wickets fell to Liam Dawson in successive overs from the Vauxhall End but the collapse had begun with the first ball of the session when Ollie Pope played across the line to Kyle Abbott and was sent on his way by Steve O’Shaughnessy, the batsman dismissed by a delivery whose only virtue was its straightness. Pope had played well for his 34 but was plainly not infallible, which some may see as letting the side down.But the youngster’s misjudgement was quickly followed by more grievous errors, some of them committed by cricketers who know better. Sam Curran drove Dawson to Wood at mid-off and Rikki Clarke brainlessly lifted the same bowler to the same safe hands at long on. In between these lapses, Ben Foakes, who had stroked the ball with polished ease for 46, was leg before to a quicker arm-ball. Dawson and Fidel Edwards disposed of the tail and the home side’s profligacy was complete.The extent of the wastefulness became plain when one recalled that four of Surrey’s top six had done the groundwork necessary for a major innings and had effected a recovery from a poor start. For in the first six overs of the day the home side had lost Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick, both of whom were pinned leg before by Fidel Edwards’ inswingers. Rory Burns and Dean Elgar viewed those early wickets quite properly as proof that caution was needed and the pair batted with Puritan restraint in taking their side to 83 for 2 at lunch.In the interval hundreds of spectators wandered out and inspected the wicket. They did so in the manner of benevolent landlords returning to demesnes they had not visited for some time.Surrey’s third-wicket pair maintained their vigilance into the afternoon session. Then Burns was dismissed for 46 when an authentic glance off Edwards was neatly pouched by Sam Northeast who had been precisely placed at leg slip. It was a fine piece of cricketing craft, much finer at any rate than the inelegant and uncharacteristic slash which Elgar played to a wide ball from Wood, the edge being taken by McManus. That wicket left Surrey on 114 for 4 but Foakes and Pope’s 73-run stand repaired the innings until Dawson recalled the heyday of Peter Sainsbury and began to wheel away after tea.One’s mind turned briefly from a fine slow left-armer to the more immediate changes about to affect the English game. In two years’ time we shall be assailed by hundreds of balls and who knows what the penalty may be for non-compliance with the ECB’s trend hounds? “They say the owl was a baker’s daughter” muses Ophelia as she reflects upon the penalties for disobedience.For the moment, though, let us enjoy the County Championship. For on the day Surrey banned single-use plastics from The Oval, cricket’s older format again proved yet again that it should not be carelessly discarded. May your God be at your table this season but you had better make haste. Hampshire’s cricketers are already tucking in.

Rain washed out the final day of the Sheffield Shield match in Wollongong, where New South Wales and Tasmania had to settle for a draw

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Ed Cowan finished unbeaten on 51 as no play was possible on day four•Getty Images

Rain washed out the final day of the Sheffield Shield match in Wollongong, where New South Wales and Tasmania had to settle for a draw. The final day was to have started with the Blues on 1 for 141, trailing by 96 runs, but not a ball was bowled due to the wet weather.

Wayne Parnell, who was not played an international match in six months, was named in the South African A side that will play against England in the one-day match in Kimberly on January 30

Firdose Moonda15-Jan-2016Wayne Parnell has not played an international match in six months since South Africa’s tour to Bangladesh, but remains a part of the senior side’s plans. He was named in the South African A side that will play against England in the one-day match in Kimberly on January 30.The fixture is a warm-up for the five-match ODI series that follows the four Test rubber. The A team, which includes two debutans, Titans’ left-hander Qaasim Adams and Dolphins quick Andile Phehlukwayo, will be led by Test opener Dean Elgar. He has emerged as a possible contender for the Test captaincy, which the national selectors will decide this winter. Elgar’s leadership role with the A team may provide clues as to whether he can take the job at a higher level.Adams has been playing between two franchises this season, after he was sent on loan to Lions. He hit two half-centuries in his last two innings while Phehlukwayo impressed in the twenty-over competition semi-final, where he defended four runs off the final over. In the tournament overall, he took 12 wickets at 21.75, although he only has one wicket in the domestic fifty-over tournament.”Qaasim and Andile have both done well in the franchise limited overs competitions and this is their opportunity to show what they can do at the next level,” Linda Zondi, South Africa’s convener of selectors said.Parnell leads the one-day cup list with 10 wickets in four matches at 18.60, but has sat out since early December with a foot injury. He will lead an attack which also includes recent Test debutant Hardus Viljoen, allrounder David Wiese, and left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso, who has been left out for ODI series against England. Dane Vilas will take the wicket-keeping gloves while Reeza Hendricks and Khaya Zondo are are the two other batsmen who have had stints with the national squad.South Africa A team: Dean Elgar (capt), Qaasim Adams, Theunis de Bruyn, Reeza Hendricks, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dane Vilas, Hardus Viljoen, David Wiese, Khaya Zondo