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Back-to-back champions rack up 226 for 4 to hand Welsh Fire hefty defeat

ECB Media16-Aug-2025Oval Invincibles 226 for 5 (Cox 86*, Henry 2-39) beat Welsh Fire 143 (Bairstow 50, T Curran 4-15) by 83 runsOval Invincibles, led by an inspired Jordan Cox, smashed the highest score in the history of the Hundred, racking up 226 for 4 from their 100 balls as they crushed Welsh Fire by 83 runs at the Kia Oval.Asked to bat first in front of a packed home crowd, the Invincibles’ innings sprung into life inside the first 10 balls, Will Jacks hitting Matt Henry for back-to-back boundaries.Tawanda Muyeye then deposited David Payne for two sixes in a row as the home side started to put their foot down, racing to 54 for 0 after the 25-ball powerplay.Saif Zaib came into the attack and made a fortunate but much-needed breakthrough, Muyeye pulling a half-tracker into the hands of Payne on the square-leg boundary.Henry returned to the attack to remove Jacks, Chris Green taking yet another fine running catch in this year’s tournament. Invincibles reached the halfway mark of the innings on a very healthy 89 for 2.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Cox deposited Ajeet Singh Dale, playing his first game in the Hundred, for three consecutive sixes over the leg-side boundary and then sent him over the rope again from the final ball of the set with an incredible reverse-scoop.Sam Curran joined the party, hitting Green for back-to-back sixes to bring up the Invincibles 150, both he and Cox targeting the shorter boundary to devastating effect.Singh Dale dropped Cox at short-third and the batter took advantage of the life, striking Paul Walter for three sixes in a row, bringing up a 21-ball fifty in the process.Curran went caught in the deep off Green, which brought Donovan Ferreira to the middle, the South African promptly clubbing his first ball down the ground for six.Ferreira launched another six before being caught at long-on by Steve Smith to a chorus of boos. Cox, notably not named in England’s white-ball squads for the upcoming matches against South Africa and Ireland, closed out the innings with 14 runs from the final three balls, finishing 86 not out from 29 deliveries, with 10 sixes.Welsh Fire’s chase started dreadfully, Steve Eskinazi slapping the first ball from Jason Behrendorff to Muyeye who moved well to hang on at backward point.This set the tone for what would be a muted second half, the task just too tough. Jonny Bairstow made an aggressive 50 and Tom Kohler-Cadmore played enterprisingly for 31 from 16, but Fire could only make 143 all out, Tom Curran taking 4 for 15.Cox, named Meerkat Match Hero Cox, said of his power hitting: “Last game I unfortunately lost that front leg and basically had no power then. I did a bit of work in the nets with Donovan, he’s all about base, and it helped.”On the Invincibles, he added: “It’s a proper team and a privilege to be a part of it, to be honest. The depth we’ve got is incredible and it gives you that freedom for sure. We’re playing some pretty good cricket.”

The IPL has initiated steps to ensure that all contracted cricketers, except those with international commitments, are made available for the entire season

Ajay S Shankar16-Nov-2009The IPL has initiated steps to ensure that all cricketers who have been contracted by its franchises are available to play for the entire season from next year, except those with international commitments. This effectively means that these contracted players, and their national boards, will have to put the IPL ahead of their domestic commitments.A press release issued on Monday said that in case of a default, the IPL will impose penalties on such players, including termination of player contracts and a ban on future participation, although Lalit Modi, the league’s chairman, told Cricinfo that this would only happen in a worst-case scenario.In what can be seen as a two-pronged deterrent, the IPL, which is owned by BCCI, will also ask the governing council of the Champions League Twenty20, comprising senior officials from India, Australia and South Africa, to take “appropriate action” against participating national boards in that tournament if they don’t issue an IPL clearance for their players citing domestic commitments as a reason. While an IPL ban will affect players directly, any sanction on participating in the Champions League will impact the national board, which gets a share of the money from the organisers apart from an appearance fee for its competing domestic team.However, the IPL said that this move does not cover players with international commitments and those who will play in matches scheduled under the ICC’s Future Tours Programme (FTP) during the tournament. These decisions were finalised during the league’s workshop in Bangkok last week to ensure that the IPL franchises get their best players, who have been paid huge amounts by the teams, to be part of the league.

Expansion opposed

The IPL has confirmed its previous decision to expand to 10 teams from 2011, but the move was opposed during the recent Bangkok workshop by one franchise, believed to be Chennai Super Kings. “A discussion for the addition of two new franchises in Season 4 was held with the same being adopted with 7 of the 8 franchises being in favour of increasing the number of teams to 10,” an IPL statement said. The Chennai franchise, owned by N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, is apparently concerned that the addition of teams would impact the value of existing franchises, and cut into their share of the central sponsorship pie that includes a billion-dollar TV rights deal. It will also necessitate a fresh auction of all players before the fourth season. But an IPL official said that the addition of more teams would add more money to the pool in terms of franchise purchase fee, which is expected to run into millions of dollars.

“The IPL will work with all the cricket boards to ensure that cricketers contracted with the eight franchises are available for the season,” Modi told Cricinfo. “The IPL 2010 season is in March-April, when a lot of domestic domestic tournaments will still be on. This is a one-off situation. A worst-case scenario could mean penalties on such players (who skip IPL matches citing domestic commitments), including termination of contracts, jeopardising future participation. However, we do not want to walk that path and are hopeful that we can sort this through discussions with the boards.”The next IPL will be held from March 12 to April 25, instead of the usual April-May slot, to avoid a clash with the ICC World Twenty20 that starts soon after. However, this advanced IPL schedule clashes with the Australian domestic season, which ends on March 23, and the South African season that ends on March 28. Players from both these countries are among the most sought-after in the Indian league. The Australian cricketers will then be busy with the New Zealand series that ends on March 31.Apparently, the IPL wants to adopt the model of the Champions League Twenty20, which ensured that the best players from the top domestic teams from the seven participating countries (India, Australia, South Africa, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand) were available for the multi-nation club tournament. “Given that this was also the founding principle of the Champions League Twenty20, it was agreed that in the event any of the member boards not issuing an NOC to their players for participation in the IPL, on the pretext of domestic engagements, IPL could make a representation to the governing council of the Champions League for taking appropriate action against the members boards’ participation in the League,” the IPL release stated.The BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa are founding partners of the Champions League and its governing council comprises Lalit Modi, its chairman, Niranjan Shah, its vice-chairman, N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, Dean Kino, CA’s business and legal affairs head, and Gerald Majola, CSA’s chief executive.The IPL press release added that the measures discussed at the workshop in case of a no-show by the players include “termination of player contracts and barring from future participation in the IPL, of players that have signed contracts, but fail to make themselves available for playing in the IPL.”This will exclude any instances wherein players would have international and FTP commitments and was aimed at ensuring that players make themselves available for the IPL post their FTP commitments, especially, since such players would have already received a player release to play in the IPL from their respective boards.”

Bangladesh have nearly 500 on the board, but they lost a little ground when they lost five wickets for 26 runs

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Jun-2025Bangladesh have made 484 for 9 in Galle so far, which is often a winning first-innings score at this venue.But so batting-friendly does this surface appear so far, that even Bangladesh’s assistant coach is willing to claim a definitive advantage. “It’s hard to tell who is in the driving seat – it depends on who is winning each session,” said Mohammad Salahuddin, Bangladesh’s assistant coach. Sri Lanka bowling allrounder Milan Rathnayake had similar things to say. “It’s not easy [to judge which team is ahead]. Both teams did really well today.”Both Rathnayake and Salahuddin also agree that this is an unusually batting-friendly Galle track.”It still looks like a batting-friendly pitch. I hope the wicket can break in the next couple of days,” Salahuddin said.”The pitch is definitely one that favours batters,” Rathnayake said. “Even though it’s the second day, it’s just as good for batting. I don’t think it’s changed since yesterday.”Rathnayake thinks Sri Lanka clawed their way back into the contest in the final session of a rain-interrupted second day. Bangladesh began that final session on 423 for 4, but finished the day on 484 for 9, having lost 5 wickets for 26 runs towards the end of the day.Rathnayake insists that his wickets during that late period, with the old ball, came from conventional swing, rather than reverse swing. And Salahuddin seemed to agree.”I will take the positive from Sri Lanka’s bowling – they maintained the ball very well in that last session, unlike the previous five sessions,” Salahuddin said. “If that’s so, we can use this exact method in our bowling.”Rathnayake, meanwhile, chose to focus on the period of day two in which Sri Lanka made their greatest gains- the last half of the final session. Early in the day, they had missed at least three chances – a catch that went down at short midwicket, plus two run-out opportunities.”We did miss a few chances and it did have an effect,” Rathnayake said. “But at the end of the day our bowlers did make a recovery. Though their batters did well we could have cut down their runs by holding our chances. But I think the bowlers made some ground at the end of the day.”

He was suspended on Tuesday for assaulting a Bangladesh cricketer and taking more leaves than mentioned in his contract

Mohammad Isam17-Oct-2024Two days after suspending Chandika Hathurusinghe, the BCB has terminated him as Bangladesh’s head coach. The sacking came on the grounds of misconduct and breach of employment terms.BCB president Faruque Ahmed said on Tuesday that Hathurusinghe assaulted a Bangladesh cricketer and took more leaves than mentioned in his contract. The board had served him a show-cause notice, seeking an explanation on the two counts of misconduct. Hathurusinghe responded on the following day, which prompted an emergency board meeting to review the situation on Thursday.”After considering all factors, the board deemed Hathurusinghe’s explanation unsatisfactory and unacceptable and found his action consistent with misconduct and dereliction of duty,” a BCB release said. “His termination comes into immediate effect.”This ends Hathurusinghe’s second stint as Bangladesh coach, even though his contract was till January 2023. This stint included the milestone Test series win in Pakistan recently. However, the two World Cup campaigns, the ODI one in 2023 and the T20 one in 2024 were underwhelming.Phil Simmons has already been appointed the next head coach till the Champions Trophy in February 2025.

Esmae MacGegor takes 3 for 19 but Essex succumb in final over

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay08-Jul-2025Amanda-Jade Wellington played a match-winning innings under pressure as Somerset beat Essex by four wickets at Taunton’s Cooper Associates Ground to register their first win of the Vitality Blast T20 campaign in their tenth game.The Australian international raised 29 from 23 balls, struck four fours and shared in a crucial stand of 45 off 29 balls for the fourth wicket with Fran Wilson, who contributed 41, as the home side chased down a victory target of 156 with three balls to spare.Esmae MacGregor claimed 3 for 19 to keep Essex in the hunt, but Wellington and Alex Griffiths, required to score 16 runs off the final 17 balls, held their nerve to carry the cider county to their first win of the season at headquarters.Returning from England A duty, Jodi Grewcock top-scored with 45 from 34 balls and shared in a stand of 58 for the third wicket with Cordelia Griffith, who contributed 31, as Essex posted 155 for 5 after being put into bat. The pick of the Somerset bowlers, Wellington returned figures of 1 for 25 from four overs.Deputising for the injured Sophie Luff, stand-in Somerset captain Niamh Holland won the toss, inserted the opposition and watched her bowlers reduce the visitors to 30 for 2 in 4.1 overs. Lauren Winfield-Hill plundered three boundaries in moving effortlessly to 19 from 14 balls, only to be cut down in her pomp by an Olivia Barnes delivery that pinned her in the crease. Three balls later, fellow opener Grace Scrivens followed the former England batter back to the pavilion after pulling a shortish ball from Erin Vukusic to midwicket for 6.Charged with the task of repairing the damage, Griffith and Grewcock advanced the score to 40 for 2 at the end of the powerplay and 66 for 2 at the halfway stage, despite finding boundaries hard to come by. The 50 partnership occupied 45 balls and Griffith, having raised 31 from 29 balls, was beginning to accelerate when she attempted to pull Mollie Robbins to the deep midwicket boundary and succeeded only in finding Griffiths with the score 88 for 3.That was the cue for Grewcock to take centre stage, the England A batter opening her shoulders to harvest three successive fours in an over from Barnes as the fielding side came under real pressure for the first time. Grewcock had made 45 from 34 balls and was eyeing a half-century when she gave the charge to Wellington’s legspin and holed out to Vukusic at long-on.
Essex were 115 for 4 in the 16th over with work still to do as Jo Gardner joined Maddie Penna in the middle. These two staged a useful stand of 40 from 27 balls, Australian Penna scoring 21 at a run a ball and the forthright Gardner 22 from 12 deliveries, to hoist Essex to a competitive total.Somerset required the reassurance of a good start and Bex Odgers and Holland provided exactly that, adding 41 in five overs before the former blotted her copybook and top-edged to short third for 20 off the bowling of Eva Gray. Holland had also scored 20 when she surrendered her wicket in similar fashion next over, skying a catch behind off MacGregor as the home side slipped to 41 for 2.Buoyed by her half-century against Hampshire last time out, Wilson hit the ground running as Somerset passed 50 in the seventh, while debutant Ruby Davis calmed any nerves by straight-hitting Gray for four as the third-wicket partnership began to profit. These two added 46 in 36 balls and were threatening to take the contest by the scruff of the neck when Davis, having raised 19 from 16 balls, attempted to reverse sweep MacGregor and was adjudged lbw with the score 87 for 3 in the 12th.Wellington drove Grewcock down the ground and pulled Sophia Smale for four to serve notice of her intentions, but Abtaha Maqsood and MacGregor kept things tight to push the asking rate above eight. Somerset’s fourth wicket pair took 15 off the 15th, bowled by Smale, at which point they required 35 off the last five.Victory looked to be a formality, only for Wilson to dance down the wicket and lose off stump to MacGregor with 24 needed off 22 balls. Wellington then hit Scrivens to long-on in the final over, but Griffiths and Chloe Skelton saw the job through.

Kenyon replaces long-serving Lisa Pursehouse as club finalise details of Trent Rockets deal

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Oct-2025County champions Nottinghamshire have appointed Richard Kenyon, who has spent the last decade working in commercial and communications roles at Everton Football Club, as their new chief executive.Kenyon will take over from Lisa Pursehouse, who announced her intention to step down earlier this year and has now left the club after 14 seasons in the role. Her last week at the club coincided with their first Championship title since 2010, which was clinched with victory over Warwickshire at Trent Bridge in the final round of fixtures.During his 11 years at Everton, Kenyon worked in various marketing and communications roles, including three-and-a-half years as chief commercial and communications officer, and served as chief executive of the charity Everton in the Community. Notts said that he had played an “instrumental role” in the club’s move from Goodison Park to the new Hill Dickinson Stadium.Related

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Kenyon’s appointment comes at a time when Notts are preparing to assume operational control of Trent Rockets in the Hundred. An announcement in the completion of their £40 million deal with Cain International and Ares Management is imminent, with Notts retaining a 51% controlling stake in the new joint-venture.Andy Hunt, Notts’ chair, said that Kenyon’s experience at Everton made him the standout candidate: “His leadership at Everton spanned critical areas including commercial strategy, global brand development, major infrastructure projects, and multi-stakeholder consultation – all directly relevant to the current and future ambitions of our club.”Kenyon described his appointment as “a tremendous privilege”. He said: “It’s a great credit to the outgoing CEO and her team that I’ll be joining a club in such a strong position. I can’t wait to get started later this year and look forward to working closely with the general committee, the executive team, and our members to make the most of the opportunities that lie ahead for this great club and all of its teams.”Michael Temple, Notts’ commercial director, will serve as interim chief executive before Kenyon takes up his new role in December.Several counties are changing their chief executives over the 2025-26 winter. Emma White, who has previously worked in rugby union and horse racing, has replaced Sean Jarvis at Leicestershire, while Kent’s chief operating officer Nimmo Reid will fill the role on an interim basis while the club search for a successor to Simon Storey. Sussex’s Pete Fitzboyden has also stepped down after two seasons for personal reasons.

David Coltart, the former sports minister, called it a “misplaced budgetary priority” as ZC look to market it as a destination venue for touring teams and the fans

Firdose Moonda25-Aug-2025Zimbabwe Cricket’s (ZC) construction of a flagship 10,000-seater stadium at Victoria Falls has come under severe criticism from the country’s former sports minister and mayor of Bulawayo, David Coltart.The stadium, named the Fale Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium, is scheduled to be ready by August 2026 and is expected to host matches in the 2027 ODI World Cup. It has been called a “misplaced budgetary priority” by Coltart, even as ZC looks to market it as a destination venue for touring teams and the fans, especially from the countries that make up cricket’s Big Three.Fale Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium has already had the main pitch planted, irrigation installed, and grass embankments completed. Work is now being done on the players’ pavilion and media centre, as well as with the water and power supply infrastructure.The development is fully funded by ZC and will cost the organisation US$12 million, money they believe they will recoup through the hosting of 2027 ODI World Cup matches and high-profile international visits. The confirmed fixtures and venues for the World Cup are yet to be decided, but Zimbabwe, who will co-host the tournament with South Africa and Namibia, will have at least two stadia allocated to them.Related

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Post-tournament, Zimbabwe’s first target for a Victoria Falls series could be England and their large contingent of travelling fans. If a tour can be agreed, it will end more than 20 years of England cricket’s absence from Zimbabwe. England last played in the country in 2004 but relations thawed when they hosted Zimbabwe for a Test in May, after 22 years.Even with England as a drawcard, Coltart’s concern is that ZC are putting all their eggs in one basket, and not a very big one when it comes to cricket development. “Victoria Falls is a small tourist town with a tiny cricket supporting population. The development of this boutique stadium is unprecedented worldwide,” he posted on Facebook. “In every other Test-playing nation, the primary investment by their Boards has been to invest in existing stadia in large population centers right across their countries.”It must be clear that this stadium is not primarily part of an objective to take the game to smaller centers to promote the game. It appears to be mainly to have a stadium in a tourist center to attract foreign teams who will come for reasons beyond the sole purpose of playing cricket.”Whilst this may be admirable if the financial health of ZC was good, it is a terribly misplaced budgetary priority given the fact that cricket venues in cities across the country outside of Harare are collapsing and there is, as stated above, a near total collapse of cricketing facilities at most Government schools countrywide.ZC’s flagship Fale Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium is expected to be ready by August 2026•Zimbabwe Cricket

“Unless we focus on the development of grassroots cricket and the game right across the country, our ability to play the game well at international level will continue to erode and ultimately the Victoria Falls stadium will become a white elephant.”ZC has not disguised that they are hoping to cash in on the tourist appeal of Victoria Falls, whose 108-metre-high and 1,708-metre-wide waterfalls attract around half a million people a year. However, they denied that it is their sole financial focus as they are spending a further US$6 million on other projects around the country.”Victoria Falls is our flagship project, but Zimbabwe Cricket is also investing heavily in other venues,” Tavengwa Mukhulani, ZC’s chairman, said. “At Harare Sports Club (HSC), we have almost completed construction of a new indoor facility, while we will also be reconstructing the famous Castle Corner grandstand and other areas.”Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo is getting new floodlights this year, while Takashinga is being expanded with new pitches and practice nets. We have also modernised facilities in Masvingo while setting up our new academy facility at Ncema. We are also preparing new sites in Mutare, Gweru and Mhondoro-Ngezi. These investments are about building capacity across the country so that cricket truly becomes a national game.”It is the last of those points that Coltart also contested in his post, where he wrote, “it appears that there is a conscious decision by Zimbabwe Cricket to promote cricket in Harare but little elsewhere,” and referenced both fixtures and team selection.HSC, which is Zimbabwe’s only venue with floodlights, currently hosts all of Zimbabwe’s white-ball internationals, while Queens in Bulawayo has hosted their last nine home Tests. Zimbabwe have not won a Test at Queens since 2001, and have not won a home Test since beating Pakistan in Harare in 2013.Their latest string of defeats, which culminated with their heaviest Test loss by an innings and 301 runs to New Zealand earlier this month, has also prompted criticism of team selection. Coltart alleged this is regionally biased and speaks to the lack of development elsewhere in the country.Zimbabwe were handed a comprehensive defeat by New Zealand•Zimbabwe Cricket

“It is also increasingly reflected in the composition of National teams, with almost all the players selected coming from Harare. All but one player in the current senior men’s team comes from Harare,” he wrote. “All but two players in the current men’s Under-19 team come from Harare and its environs.”Is it really the case that the rest of the country isn’t producing players of international quality? Cricket is a national game and we can only compete well internationally if we promote the game fairly right across Zimbabwe.”In a press conference, Mukhulani admitted that there is “an issue with the talent pool,” but said Zimbabwe’s wretched run is the result of them playing much more cricket (11 Tests this year alone) against much stronger opposition. “Given where we were coming from, it was important that we challenge ourselves,” he said. “We give the boys the best opportunity to progress. And you can only do that when you play those who are better than you.”The media engagement took place on August 15, the same day as Coltart’s post went public and three days after ZC issued a press release condemning what they called a “smear campaign,” run by Coltart.Among the issues between the parties are historical disputes dating as far back as 2003 over Coltart’s role when Andy Flower and Henry Olonga wore black armbands to protest what they called the death of democracy in Zimbabwe, both ZC’s and Coltart and relationship with the UK, and differences over team selection and environment and board composition.

England name 17 players, including seven on two-year deals, to cover Ashes and twin World Cups

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2024Mahika Gaur and Lauren Filer have been handed full ECB central contracts for the first time, while a senior core of seven players – including captain Heather Knight and senior allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, have been given two-year deals, ahead of a busy women’s schedule that includes the Ashes in January and back-to-back 20- and 50-over World Cups in 2025 and 2026.Gaur, the promising left-arm seamer, and Filer, England’s fastest bowler, are the only new additions to the 17-player pool, having been on development contracts last year. Emma Lamb and Tash Farrant have been cut from the list from 2023-24.A further three players have been handed development deals for the next 12 months, including Ryana MacDonald-Gay, who made her ODI and T20I against Ireland in September, and is currently in South Africa ahead of the one-off Test at Bloemfontein which starts on Sunday.Clare Connor, England women’s managing director, said: “As ever, we have awarded central contracts to the players we feel will play a significant role for England in the foreseeable future.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“We are delighted that Mahika Gaur and Lauren Filer have transitioned on to full contracts, having been part of our group over the past year.”Ryana MacDonald-Gay has had an outstanding year, and the development contract affords her the opportunity to continue to push her claim for selection. We look forward to working with all three players on development contracts and their Counties to ensure they continue their development.”We have another significant period of cricket ahead and we believe this group of players have the skills to be successful in all conditions and formats which will be essential as we look forward to a two-year period that includes the Women’s Ashes in early 2025, multiple bilateral series, the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in India, and a home ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the summer of 2026.”This is another landmark year in terms of increased remuneration for England Women. We have been able to make another significant increase in the value of central contracts on the back of last year’s equalisation of men’s and women’s international match fees across all formats. We continue to work positively with the England Women’s Player Partnership (EWPP) and the PCA and are grateful for both their support and challenge in these matters.”England Women’s Player Partnership Management Board Member, Emma Reid, said: “EWPP and the PCA are really encouraged at the progression of standards within the Women’s Central Contracts, achieved through strong collaboration between the ECB and player representatives.
“It is positive to see multi-year agreements, showing long term commitment from the ECB and also the players who continue to prioritise representing their country.”We are pleased to have worked with the ECB and the players to achieve the priorities of being well supported in their England careers.”

McSweeney’s 199-ball innings ensured South Australia’s first innings deficit was just two runs

Alex Malcolm07-Mar-2025Nathan McSweeney showcased why he remains firmly in Test calculations with a gritty half-century in the face of some phenomenal seam bowling from Scott Boland and Fergus O’Neill who took nine wickets between them to leave Victoria and South Australia locked in a tight arm wrestle after two days at the Junction Oval.O’Neill took his fifth career five-wicket haul to maintain his outstanding Sheffield Shield record, while Boland claimed 4 for 53 with spells that were every bit the equal of the best he has shown at Test level, to bowl South Australia out for 283 and give Victoria a narrow two-run first innings lead. That advantage swelled to 48 as Campbell Kellaway and Marcus Harris batted impressively in the final hour of the day.Victory is crucial for Victoria if they are to maintain a realistic chance of making the Shield final.Related

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Their lead would have been more without McSweeney’s 199-ball 60 in very challenging batting conditions. He only struck six boundaries and had to defend and leave stoutly in the face of some high-quality bowling from O’Neill and Boland who delivered 38.4 of the 67.4 overs he was out there for.He began the day on 9 off 52 balls and was unable to gain any fluency early after Jason Sangha was adjudged lbw not offering a shot to O’Neill for 19.Jake Lehmann helped break the shackles with a breezy 40 off 43 balls that included two thunderous drives down the ground. O’Neill switched ends to break the 54-run stand, nipping one back from around the wicket to pin Lehmann lbw.McSweeney started to flow from there despite the loss of Liam Scott, who was also trapped plumb infront by an excellent Xavier Crone yorker. Scott’s front foot slid from under him to leave him on all fours as the finger was raised.McSweeney kept accumulating with the help of Harry Nielsen. But O’Neill’s accuracy was unrelenting. McSweeney eventually nicked a good length delivery on off stump to Blake Macdonald at slip who held the low chance.Nielsen and Ben Manenti then counterattacked against the old ball as Boland and O’Neill rested before the new one was due. The pair added 61 for the seventh wicket before Boland returned to remove them both in quick succession.Manenti flashed a drive against the second new ball and nicked to Macdonald at first slip. Boland then nipped one back through Nielsen’s gate from around the wicket to splay off stump in almost identical fashion to Conor McInerney’s dismissal on the first evening. But Nielsen’s 45 was vital in the context of the match.Brendan Doggett and Henry Thornton combined to frustrate Victoria, adding 34 for the ninth wicket before O’Neill switched ends again to take the final two wickets. He took a sharp return catch to remove Doggett for 19 before clean bowling Jordan Buckingham.It set up a tricky 16-over period in the evening session for Kellaway and Harris to negotiate. But the pair left and defended well against the new ball while rotating the strike impressively to give Victoria the chance to build a significant lead on day three.

Pakistan head coach says he will focus on getting batters used to such conditions

Danyal Rasool24-Jan-2025Pakistan head coach Aaqib Javed has launched an impassioned defence for the recent spin-friendly pitches for Test matches in the country.Ahead of the second Test against West Indies in Multan, Aaqib said that if the decision to prepare such wickets been taken sooner, Pakistan may have been closer to making the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Speaking publicly for the first time since assuming the role of interim coach of the Test side, he said he remained focused on winning Test matches and dismissed concerns about his side’s strategy.”Why is it that if fast bowlers take wickets, [people say] Test cricket is moving forward, and if spinners take wickets, Test cricket’s going backwards?” Aaqib said on the eve of the game. “I don’t understand this. When you go to Australia and England, they prepare pitches how they like. So, if we prepare turning wickets and spinners take wickets, what is the problem?”Of course, we were right to prepare a spin pitch [in the first Test] against West Indies. Their batters are not as proficient against spin when compared to fast bowling. I also want to address concerns about where our Test cricket is going. If we had taken these decisions earlier, then we would have been in the race for the WTC [final]. The rule of Test cricket is to win at home. If you win at home and you win two to three Tests away, you become a strong candidate for the final.”Related

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• West Indies face another trial by spin, Pakistan eye clean sweep

Aaqib was speaking after his team wrapped up victory in the shortest completed Test in Pakistan – the first Test against West Indies. He said Pakistan were trying to prepare a similar surface for the second Test too, and the decision to pivot to spinning tracks, masterminded largely by him and selector Aleem Dar when they were appointed to the men’s selection committee in October, was partly necessitated by a drop in the skill levels of Pakistan’s current fast bowlers.”We used to be strong on [bowling] reverse swing, but now that skill level has gone down,” he said. “We have told our fast bowlers if you want to take wickets here, their reverse-swing skill will have to go up. In the past, we had Shoaib [Akhtar, Waqar [Younis], Wasim [Akram], and both spin and pace bowlers took wickets.”In the clearest sign that Pakistan’s latest strategy looks like it might be here to stay, Aaqib acknowledged the toll this was taking on his side’s batters because “even they have never played in these conditions”. He indicated broad changes would follow in the off-season with regards to Pakistan’s domestic pitches as well as the training regimen the batters would be put through to prepare them for these wickets in the future.”Even though foreign players are struggling with spin pitches from abroad, so are our players, because they have never played on these pitches,” Aaqid said. “Moving forward, we have told them their training and practice routines will be geared towards this, and we will change domestic pitches too. Our next Test is not until October, so that gives them time to improve their batting.”All three pitches against England last October were declared satisfactory by the ICC•PA Images via Getty Images

Pakistan’s tactics have come under intense discussion, and at times criticism – both from outside the country and within. While they escaped ICC censure for the surfaces they prepared against England last October – all three were declared satisfactory – a decision on the pitch for the first Test against West Indies has not yet been made.Criticism from abroad has focused on whether Pakistan’s tactics amount to pitch doctoring. Concerns have been raised at home over Pakistan’s future ability to develop fast bowlers and quality batting talent, and if this is likely to further erode Pakistan’s competitiveness in away Test series.”We were in South Africa just now, and we came very close to winning a Test,” Aaqib said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t take those last two wickets in Centurion. No spinner played those Tests for us there. You have to select a team depending on the conditions you get.”It’s about winning Tests; that’s what matters. We think we can prepare these pitches in every center of Pakistan, and it should be as difficult to beat Pakistan here as it is to beat Australia or South Africa away. People should know if they’re going to Pakistan, they will have to do something extraordinary to beat Pakistan.”