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Dawid Malan and Adam Voges battled through the tough conditions to blossom into an outstanding match-establishing partnership

Will Macpherson at Merchant Taylors' School29-May-2016
ScorecardDawid Malan’s 147 set up Middlesex’s imposing innings•Getty Images

It is, in more ways than one, hard to imagine being sick of the sight of Dawid Malan. Tall, elegant, and left-handed, he has all the tools that come in the purr-inducing starter pack: the late cut, the drives on the up from point to mid-on, the sheer disdain on that tall pull and those dismissive flicks through midwicket. He is the type of leftie for whom the term southpaw actually has meaning; Malan has boxerish poise and balance, and possesses fleet of foot and sleight of hand at the end of powerful limbs.Hampshire, however, could be forgiven for wanting to see the back of him. They arrived at Merchant Taylor’s School having, this month alone, been on the end of an elegant Championship century and a brutal Twenty20 93, at Uxbridge on Friday night. Then, he had dispatched his first five balls for four, and went on to hit five sixes; words, feisty ones, were exchanged with Tino Best. Of course they were; they always are.Yet here Hampshire were again. 147 for Malan this time, in a stand of 279 with his captain Adam Voges, who finished the day unbeaten on 127. All five of Malan’s gears were on display, and no part of the sluggish outfield went unused; he used his quick feet to the spinners and stood deep in the crease to the seamers, Best especially.If Middlesex were not a team who relished one another’s success with such gusto – see the celebration of each of Ollie Rayner’s recent wickets as evidence – you would wonder if Sam Robson and Nick Gubbins, the form men in recent weeks, must have cursed the conditions handed to them first thing – 11 celsius, overcast and a dewy outfield – as the clouds parted and things became increasingly benign for Malan and Voges later in the day. Both openers were caught in the cordon, first Gubbins fending half-forward to James Tomlinson and taken low at third slip, then a battling Robson at second off Best. Both left with the slow, solemn walk of men who believed their team were heading for a tough day.If the scorecard seems at odds with that opening and the openers’ outlook, it is because Middlesex’s dominant position was carved out by exceptional batting rather than a perfect batting surface. It felt, in so many ways, like a morning for bowling. A scoreline of 14 for 2 seemed to support that theory.Yet both Will Smith, in asking for a toss, and Voges, in choosing to bat upon winning it, had looked down, not up. The pitch, while providing limited lateral movement, seemed a little up and down, while the sightscreen at the Benham End – from which, last year, Steven Finn gave Somerset a torrid time and Jamie Overton rapped the grille of a batsman of Nick Compton’s quality – is really rather small. The slope, running down from that end, is pronounced and, while this seems truer than the surface for last year’s rain-ravaged draw, a result – should the weather allow – seems probable.This, though, only serves to highlight the fact that Malan and Voges earned the blue skies they batted under and soft ball they batted against later. Early, it was a slog, a graft, with lbw shouts – each led by Best, each louder than the last – more common than convincing strokes. Singles were the mechanism for survival, and the only boundaries seemed to come to fine leg as the seamers strayed onto their hips. Best was ticking and talking, while Ryan McLaren nagged and probed.Slowly but surely, though, they settled, growing in authority. They moved tit for tat, sharing the strike, sharing the four balls that eventually came from a tiring if gallant attack. This was a pair of experienced pros ticking along together, patiently, steadfastly acccumulating: their running was assured, and the defence forthright. Only when they had 80 and Malan accelerated through to his century, reached moments after tea by slapping a Best full toss through the covers for four, were they separated. From there Malan sprinted, whacking Mason Crane down the ground for a perfect six, and playing a remarkable upper cut over wide third man off Best for six more. The booming drives kept coming until he flashed hard at Liam Dawson and was well caught at slip.From there, Voges took control, and looked a man intent on his side only batting once. He shared a sprightly 49-run stand against the new ball with John Simpson, and moved to his ton with his ease as Crane lost his length. Three consecutive fours: half-tracker, full-bunger, half-tracker did the trick as 91 became 103. The morning’s chirps from Hampshire, by now sick of the sight of Voges as well as Malan, had truly subsided.

Fresh off a triple-century, David Lloyd passes fifty for sixth time this season in promotion push

ECB Reporters Network26-Sep-2022Glamorgan made good progress on a rain-ruined first day against Sussex in their push for promotion from Division Two of the LV= County Championship.Eight points behind second-placed Middlesex at start of play and needing a win to give them a chance of finishing in the top two, they progressed at more than five runs an over in the 41.2 overs possible at the 1st Central County Ground, reaching 221 for 3.Indian batter Shubman Gill led the way with an unbeaten 91 off just 102 balls while skipper David Lloyd, fresh from his triple hundred against Derbyshire last week, scored 56 against an anodyne Sussex attack.Skipper Lloyd bucked the recent trend at Hove by batting first when play began an hour late because of morning rain. His decision was quickly justified as Glamorgan made serene progress on a flat pitch.Brad Currie was the pick of the Sussex attack and took two wickets but the home side, who haven’t bowled an opposition out twice all season, struggled to back him up.Pakistan all-rounder Faheem Ashfraf, who is playing the final game of a three-match trial before Sussex decide whether to sign him for 2023, was withdrawn after bowling three wayward overs for 21 runs with the new ball.At the Cromwell Road end Currie was much more effective and he broke through in his fifth over when Eddie Byrom was surprised by a ball that left him off the pitch which he edged to wicketkeeper Charlie Tear for 21.Gill and Lloyd put on 57 in 12 overs between further stoppages either side of lunch with few alarms with Lloyd, who scored an unbeaten 313 in his last Championship innings, passing fifty for the sixth time this season. It was a surprise when left-armer Sean Hunt went round the wicket and thudded the ball low into his pads as the batter played half-forward. Lloyd’s 56 came off 64 balls with six fours and two sixes.Sam Northeast became Currie’s second victim when he edged an outswinger which Tom Alsop caught low at first slip with the total 151 in only the 27th over.Even with the floodlights on, Gill and Billy Root had little trouble in adding a further 70 runs in 15 overs before the players came off again 20 minutes after tea because of bad light. Gill, strong on the front foot and dismissive of anything short, has so far hit two sixes, including an effortless pick-up over mid-wicket off Currie that was the shot of the day, and 11 fours. Root is unbeaten on 17.Umpires Paul Baldwin and Tom Lungley held two further inspections before calling play off at 5.15pm but Glamorgan will feel it has been a productive day.

“We will pose a tougher challenge to New Zealand than Sri Lanka did because we have more variety and experience in our pace attack,” says Wahab Riaz

Andrew Fidel Fernando13-Jan-20161:04

Amir’s return will take pressure off me, says Wahab

Pakistan already have a bowler who is quick and hostile, and another who specialises in yorkers and reverse swing, but the return of Mohammad Amir may help round out the pace attack’s threat, Wahab Riaz said. The visitors have brought a pace-heavy squad to New Zealand – Anwar Ali and Aamer Yamin also in the mix, while Umar Gul, Amir and Wahab himself make up the more high-profile seam options.”Amir is a great introduction to the team,” Wahab said. “He’s getting a chance. He’s a great fast bowler – he’s proved that in the past. It’s time for him to prove here as well. And he will prove it. With him there’s less pressure on me as a bowler, because I’m getting his support. Umar Gul is back and is doing really well. It’s going to be a good combination for Pakistan.”Amir’s return to national team had in part been paved by his outstanding returns in the Bangladesh Premier League late last year. He took 14 wickets at an average of 12.64 and an economy rate of 5.56 in that tournament, where his swing and seam movement appeared largely undiminished by five years of suspension.”Amir is a good inswing bowler, bowling with the new ball,” Wahab said. “He can bowl outswing as well. If you can take wickets with the new ball the pressure will always be on the batsmen. That’s I’m saying that him coming into the team will help us more.”On paper, Pakistan’s attack appears stronger than the Sri Lanka bowling unit New Zealand plundered 147 for 2 against on Sunday. New Zealand’s top order has been in excellent form, but Wahab suggested Pakistan’s attack would present them with a sterner challenge.”It seems like cricket is very easy these days for the New Zealand batsmen,” he said. “They’ve been hitting balls really well. It’s going to be a different challenge because we have much more good bowlers than Sri Lanka. They lacked experience, but we have experience and some quality bowlers as well. It’s not going to be easy for them to score runs against us.”We cannot sit back and see what they are doing. We will definitely attack, and let’s see. If they can play good cricket – hats off to them.”Sri Lanka had struggled to contend with the small dimensions of Eden Park, but Pakistan have had recent success at the ground, having defeated South Africa there by 29 runs, during last year’s World Cup.*”We have some good memories here,” he said. “The World Cup game we played here were very successful for us.”It’s a great preparation for the World T20. Winning here against the Black Caps could be a great confidence booster for the team. The way they are playing right now – if we get the series win here, it will be great for Pakistan cricket. “*This article had said Pakistan won their most recent T20 series in the country, but New Zealand had been victors.

Melbourne Stars cruise to their first win of the season after fifties from Glenn Maxwell and Peter Handscomb help them win by five wickets

The report by Daniel Brettig27-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGlenn Maxwell’s 83-run stand with Peter Handscomb in just 10.2 overs converted Melbourne Stars’ chase into a cruise•Getty Images

Glenn Maxwell was at the forefront as the Melbourne Stars brushed aside the Sydney Sixers at the SCG to demonstrate how the balance of BBL power appears to be shifting.The Stars had been vanquished at the MCG by the Sydney Thunder, for so long the tournament underachievers. But they proved far too powerful for the Sixers who, without a major innings from either Brad Haddin or Nic Maddinson, were unable to set a challenging target for the visitors.There was irony as the Sixers were tied in knots by the spin triangle of Michael Beer, Adam Zampa and Maxwell, exactly the strategy they favoured themselves against at the SCG. But without Nathan Lyon’s wiles due to his Test match duties in Melbourne, the Sydney spin collective was second best, though Steve O’Keefe did not bowl badly upfront for the hosts.Any chances of the Sixers defending their mediocre 139 was snuffed out by Maxwell, who played with invention and power but also a degree of restraint while partnering Peter Handscomb. Their stand of c was exactly what the situation required.Having lost twice against Adelaide Strikers and the Thunder to commence the competition, the Stars needed a win, and Maxwell’s all-round contribution played large part in achieving it. He has ambitions to play Tests for Australia, but of more pressing responsibility is to play a dominant role in the national team’s tilt at a first World Twenty20 title in India early next year.In addition to defeat, the Sixers also had to cope with injury to Moises Henriques, who was forced to retire hurt with a calf injury just when his side were hoping to lift off. The apparent recurrence of a problem that Henriques battled in November had the Sixers captain holding his hand to his head as he was conveyed from the ground on a motorised stretcher.That injury may yet keep Henriques out of the remainder of the BBL. As importantly it is another blow to the formerly dominant Sydney T20 team – the Thunder are giving them a run for the domestic dollar this summer.

A fighting half-century, and a more inventive and flamboyant one by Steven Smith made sure Australia reached the No. 1 Test ranking without drama

The Report by Daniel Brettig24-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:22

Farrell: No fairy tale ending for McCullum

At once a benediction and a coronation, Brendon McCullum’s final moments as a Test cricketer marked Australia’s ascendancy to the world No. 1 Test ranking after a resilient and relentless performance by Steven Smith’s men.It was Smith at the other end as Adam Voges stroked the winning runs through cover after key contributions from Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja. A target of 201 was never enough for New Zealand to defend against an Australian batting line-up that has carried much before them since the harsh lessons of England last year.Since the nadir of Trent Bridge, Australia have won seven of nine Tests without once tasting defeat, enough to hand them the ICC Mace as the world’s top team and a $1 million prize. This was the first time Australia reached No. 1 since 2014, but the difference now was a far younger team aware there was still much more to do: namely to succeed in Asia, against Sri Lanka and India over the coming 15 months.Befitting their enduring loyalty to McCullum, New Zealand’s effort was never less than wholehearted. This was epitomised by Neil Wagner’s continued bouncer assault on the tourists, despite carrying what had been revealed to be a broken left hand from a Burns shot that burst through his fingers on the fourth evening.Even so, it was occasionally puzzling to see New Zealand not really trying to generate pressure through disciplined lines and reverse swing, which Matt Henry in particular was able to find. Smith relished the challenge of matching McCullum’s outlandish field settings with creativity of his own.Khawaja had a fortunate escape in the second over of the morning, edging Trent Boult precisely between the wicketkeeper and a wide sole slip. Thereon he accumulated his runs in calm style.Batting was more of a struggle for Burns, who was struck one glancing blow on the helmet by Wagner and others on the body. He took 35 minutes of play to add to his overnight score, but refused to be flustered and eventually went to a deserved fifty.Tim Southee’s entry to the attack brought another Khawaja edge, this time held smartly by McCullum above his head. Smith arrived to one last display of lateral captaincy from New Zealand’s retiring leader, a packed leg side field and another short-ball attack.Having been hit hard by a bouncer in the first innings, Smith resolved to attack, and boldly hooked his first short ball from Wagner over the head of the man at fine leg. He used the full width of the crease to open up other scoring zones, and was soon bringing the target well within reach.After speaking with the umpires, Smith took the opportunity for an extra 15 minutes to try to seal the game without breaking for lunch. Burns rose to the challenge with a pair of boundaries before being bowled by Boult when going for a third, leaving Smith to concede the job could not be done before the interval.The remaining 16 runs were duly polished off in early afternoon, Voges finishing off the match with a princely cover drive. Australian celebrations were of the reserved variety: partly out of deference for McCullum, but also in acknowledgement of the fact that getting to the top is one thing, staying there quite another.

South Africa’s towering left-arm quick talks about his upbringing and the hard yards to get to the top

Firdose Moonda23-Aug-2022Koos Jansen spotted the cricketing talent of his twin sons, Marco and Duan, when they were nine-years-old and ran with it. Much like Richard Williams, who masterminded Venus and Serena’s rise to being among the best players tennis has ever seen, Koos made it his mission to train and talk to his kids about the sport he believed they would excel in, becoming cricket’s equivalent of King Richard. Let’s call him King Koos.Like Williams, and in keeping with a few other famous cricketing dads, Koos Jansen wasn’t always gentle in his methods.”There have been some very tough times when my dad was very tough on us,” Marco Jansen, South Africa’s 22-year old tearaway, said. “There was no sugarcoating. Back then, he spoke to us in the same way he is speaking to us now. Nothing has changed. That enabled us to grow and mature a bit quicker than all the other kids when we were a bit young.Related

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“Since we were growing up, he is the one that has been – not the tough guy – but harder on us, especially when it comes to sport.” Koos demanded the best from his boys in other spheres too, such as academics. “But we weren’t that great,” Jansen said.By Jansen’s own admission, and despite some eye-watering numbers (164 and 80 respectively) in a T20 game for example, the pair were not stand-out youth players either. “My high school career didn’t go well. I wasn’t the top schoolboy cricketer,” Jansen said.Neither of he nor Duan played in an Under-19 World Cup and both made their names as net bowlers. In a professional era where the pathways are clearly laid out, and usually followed, theirs is the stuff of fairytales, which is why when Jansen made his Test debut, with only 18 first-class appearances to his name (and of those only half in South Africa’s top-tier of domestic cricket), he could barely believe his good fortune. “If you had told me you will make your debut against India in South Africa, I would have laughed and said, no, there’s no chance,” he said.There was an element of his selection which was about him being in the right place at the right time. South Africa were without Anrich Nortje for that India series and would have picked Duanne Olivier for the Boxing Day Test but he had not fully recovered from Covid-19 and was nursing a hamstring niggle. When Jansen’s name appeared on the team-sheet, it was a surprise and he found himself under scrutiny immediately.He was nervous and his first spell was wayward but he returned later in the match and showed off an ability to swing the ball at pace, to exploit any bounce and to challenge even the best. In India’s second innings, Jansen dismissed Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Mohammed Siraj to finish his debut match with five wickets.He has since added KL Rahul – three times – Cheteshwar Pujara and most recently Joe Root to his list of wickets and continues to ask serious questions of marquee players. In Root’s case, Jansen struck him on the pad with a delivery that shaped in and the amount of movement on offer at Lord’s surprised Jansen himself. “I didn’t expect the ball to swing that much,” Jansen said. “The plan was to stick around that off stump or fourth stump area and let the ball pass through there. If it nips back then it brings all dismissals into play and if it just straightens, you can nick him off. When you get the big names out, it’s always a good feeling.”Duan (left) and Marco Jansen with Virat Kohli in the nets on India’s 2018 tour•Koos Jansen

The best, in fact. Though Jansen has an IPL deal and was among the players who opted out of the series against Bangladesh earlier in the year, he spoke of Test cricket as the highlight of becoming an international. “I enjoy the red-ball format. It’s the format where what you put in, you get out. If you bowl well, you will get wickets. If you bat well, you will score runs,” he said. “That’s what I have enjoyed the most. And just being around the guys, they make it [nice] to play the game.”As the youngest in the group, Jansen is soaking up the knowledge from players who are much more experienced than him, much like he did with his dad.”Like today, we had a long practice session, so then you chat to them and you ask all the nitty gritty stuff,” he said of South Africa’s preparations for the second Test at Old Trafford. “They help you think out of the box. And there’s the coaches as well. They bring a different perspective. There’s a lot of angles or perspectives you have at your disposal to try and figure out what you can do to give yourself the best chance to perform.”There’s also some advice about what not to do. Naturally, because of Jansen’s frame – he stands at 2.06 metres tall – there are concerns about overbowling him and injuries. He has already overcome what was turning into a stress fracture of the lower back. “I’ve had problems when I was 18 or 19 – a semi-stress fracture in the lower back. I have grown a lot quicker for my body to adjust to my muscles and all those kinds of stuff.”To try to prevent future issues, he has to work specifically on his lower body and abdominal area. “My core has to be strong. My glutes, my lower body have to be very strong because that’s where most of my loads go. Because I twist a lot, if my core muscles are quite strong, then I have a base to work from.”That’s how Jansen’s entire career has been. He has the foundations laid by his family (and he wants you to know that Koos was also always there for “a bit of love and a bit of softness”) and he built on those by almost immediately joining the best cricketers in the country and turning out regularly for them. And it’s not just any international team.After the last year South Africa have had in Tests, and their performance at Lord’s, there’s already talk this pace pack could become one of the best going around. Asked if he thought the South Africa attack was as good as it could be, Jansen checked himself. “I wouldn’t say we are unbeatable. We put in the hard yards and we are still putting in the hard yards,” he said. “We don’t take anything for granted because we know when we do that, Mother Cricket is going to kick you on the backside.”Or make that, Papa (King) Koos.

Josh Little’s four-wicket ends up as a footnote in the game as Ireland fail to chase 174

Sreshth Shah18-Jul-2022Lockie Ferguson used his assortment of quick deliveries and change-ups to take a four-wicket haul, and in the process left Ireland 31 runs short of New Zealand’s score of 173, handing the visitors a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.In sunny (and warm) Belfast conditions, Ireland dominated for most of the first innings, leaving New Zealand struggling at 100 for 5, but Glenn Phillips’ late flurry with the bat pushed the visitors to 173 for 8 in 20 overs.After Phillips’ unbeaten 52-ball 69, Ferguson took charge of proceedings, dismissing Gareth Delany and Paul Stirling early. He then returned to remove Ireland’s top scorer Curtis Campher for 29 and took the final wicket of the game, Craig Young caught behind.Ireland had some positives, especially left-arm seamer Josh Little’s four-wicket haul that strangled New Zealand for most of the first innings. But they conceded 61 runs in the last five overs and that proved to be the turning point in the end. Phillips was the man who did most of the damage in this period and because of that he was fittingly named Player of the Match.NZ bowlers rally around FergusonEarly wickets were needed for New Zealand’s fairly inexperienced bowling unit to defend 173, and they came starting with a backpedaling catch from captain Mitchell Santner in the third over. Jacob Duffy, playing for the first time since his appearance against Bangladesh in 2021, forced a miscued inside-out shot from Andy Balbirnie to get that opening wicket. After that, Ferguson picked off Stirling and Delany fairly cheaply.The middle-overs squeeze came from Santner, James Neesham and Ish Sodhi, the trio sharing five wickets in their 11 overs, as Ireland stumbled to 96 for 7 by the 13th. The seventh wicket was that of Campher’s, who appeared to be the only Irish batter willing to muster up a challenge, but he was done in by a Ferguson yorker – plumb lbw – and then the tail wagged but not for long enough.As the pitch got older, run-scoring got tougher, and Santner and Neesham in particular made it even more difficult by changing their speeds and not offering deliveries at the arc of the Irish batters. Santner picked up the wickets of Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker with edges to short third man and the wicketkeeper respectively while Neesham’s two strikes in the 17th over sent Ireland from seven down to nine down in the space of four balls.Ferguson then finished the game off, delivering a bouncer to No. 10 Young, who gloved it to the debutant Dane Cleaver.New Zealand struggle with the batWith key senior players missing from the T20I tour for New Zealand, the onus was on Martin Guptill to provide a rollicking start after they were put in to bat. But while he did race to 24 off 11 balls, three of his five boundaries were off the edge, and he eventually fell searching for a big shot to Mark Adair in the third over. His opening partner Finn Allen smacked a cut off Little straight to cover for 1 off 7 balls and the debutant Cleaver fell early too, gloving a short ball from Little through to the keeper.At 38 for 3, New Zealand’s innings needed resuscitation. Phillips tried to do that by pushing his partner Daryl Mitchell for an extra run whenever he could on a Stormont ground where the square boundaries were quite large. But Mitchell struggled with timing, and Campher’s medium-pace had him walking back to the pavillion after he top-edged a short ball for a 10-ball 5. At 54 for 4, Ireland had the upper hand.Phillips’ rescue actWith only New Zealand’s middle and lower-middle order left, Phillips reined in his shot-making to try and last the whole innings. In Neesham, he found someone who could be the risk-taker, and Neesham’s 16-ball 29 in a partnership of 46 helped New Zealand reach triple-digits by the 14th over. However, Neesham fell next ball to left-arm spinner George Dockrell before the slog-overs explosion could really come about.Joined by No. 7 Michael Bracewell – on T20I debut – Phillips was on 28 in 31 balls with six overs to go. But he thumped Little for two fours in the 15th over to get his strike-rate to over 100, and then, off the same bowler, slashed a four behind point in the 19th over to reach his fifty in 45 balls.Phillips saved his best for the final over. After surviving a lucky toe-ended shot that squirted past the keeper for four, Phillips clattered Adair for four and six to take 19 runs off the 20th to not only finish on a tidy 69 but also hand New Zealand the momentum at the break.

Batter believes she “still had more to offer” as NZC shift focus to younger players and T20

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2022New Zealand batter Amy Satterthwaite has announced her retirement from international cricket after being told she would not receive a new central contract.Satterthwaite, New Zealand’s most capped ODI player, captained the team in 2018 and 2019 having made her debut in 2007. Overall she amassed 145 ODI matches and 111 T20Is.Her ODI record was particularly outstanding with 4639 runs – making her New Zealand’s second-highest scorer behind Suzie Bates – including seven centuries, four of which came in consecutive innings during 2016-17 which equalled the world record alongside Kumar Sangakkara. Her offspin also claimed 50 ODI wickets while in T20Is she had a best of 6 for 17 against England in 2007 which remains New Zealand’s best return in the format.”It is with a degree of sadness that I announce my retirement from international cricket,” Satterthwaite said. “It has been a tough few days after learning of NZC’s decision to head in a new direction and contract some younger cricketers.”I am disappointed not to be receiving a contract and believe I still had more to offer. However, I respect NZC’s decision and I wish the White Ferns all the best as they embark on an exciting winter of cricket, including the Commonwealth Games. I’ll be supporting them all the way.”Speaking to reporters in Christchurch later on Thursday, she added: “It’s come out of the blue and a bit of a shock. I haven’t been given any insight that this was the direction they wanted to go. It was pretty devastating to hear…and it’s been an emotional few days to digest it all and comes to term with it.”Bryan Stronach, NZC’s general manager of high performance, lauded Sattherhwaite’s achievements but explained that the aim of the contracts list – which will be confirmed on Friday – was to blood some new players and have a focus on T20I cricket with the Commonwealth Games later this year then the T20 World Cup in early 2023. New Zealand are yet to confirm their new head coach following Bob Carter’s planned departure after the ODI World Cup.”Amy will be remembered as one of our best cricketers; her record is outstanding, and she can feel really proud about what she has achieved – not just for herself and the team, but also for all the players she has inspired and enabled,” he said.”Essentially, we’re looking to the future and want to give some younger cricketers a chance to develop their skills surrounded by our high performance systems. We also considered the immediate playing programme and next pinnacle events – both heavily weighted towards T20I cricket.”Satterthwaite will continue to play domestic cricket for Canterbury Magicians and has a contract in the Hundred with Manchester Originals. Having returned to international cricket after the birth of her first daughter, Grace, she added she hoped to have shown what was possible.”I’m immensely proud of my journey with the White Ferns and especially taking the time away to give birth to our daughter, Grace, before returning to play international cricket,” she said. “I didn’t know if I would ever make it back to the top level and I hope my story can inspire other mums and mums-to-be that it is possible to follow your career dreams and start a family.”

Tom Abell plays support role in century stand to ease visitors home

ECB Reporters Network19-Jun-2022Somerset 194 for 2 (Rossouw 85*, Abell 62*) beat Essex 188 for 5 (Pepper 86*, Walter 58) by eight wickets Rilee Rossouw surged to the top of the Vitality Blast run-scoring charts as Somerset stayed on course for a home knockout tie, thrashing Essex by eight wickets at Chelmsford.Rossouw plundered 85 not out with seven sixes and five fours to move ahead of Northamptonshire’s Chris Lynn in the standings as the visitors made light work of chasing down 189 to win, though Eagles were left to rue giving him a life, spilling a regulation chance when the match-winner had made just 4. Tom Abell provided great support, reaching his own half century in 39 balls.All this came after Michael Pepper, with 86 not out, and Paul Walter were the mainstays of the hosts’ 188-l for 5. Jack Brooks was the pick of the Somerset attack with 2 for 23.On the same pitch which yielded 477 runs in Friday’s encounter with Sussex, Essex initially struggled for fluency after being put in. Adam Rossington gloved one from Peter Siddle through to Tom Banton and Feroze Khushi flowered briefly before lofting Ben Green to midwicket.Pepper spiced things up, sweeping Roelof van der Merwe over backward square for six, but when the in-form Matt Critchley missed out Eagles were 78 for 3.It was Walter who changed the complexion of the innings, clearing his front leg and striking the ball cleanly to all parts, one of his five sixes threatening the residents of flats on the old hospital site. The allrounder raced to 50 in 26 balls and the stand reached 87 from 47 before he holed out in the deep, one of two wickets in as many balls for Brooks.Pepper though, whose 50 came in 31 balls, dinked Siddle for six over third man as 20 came from the final over.Even so, 188 looked light, all the more so when Will Smeed plundered three sixes from the opening over, but having raced to 22 he edged Daniel Sams through to Rossington.Banton briefly picked up the baton, only for Pepper to send him on his way courtesy of a stunning catch, running in from the fence and diving full length to cling on inches above the turf.If that was stunning, Sams dropped a sitter by comparison to reprieve Rossouw later in the same Ben Allison over. The groans from a big crowd suggested it was a pivotal moment and Rossouw reinforced the view by lofting the luckless Allison for successive sixes in his next over, before plundering another maximum off spinner Simon Harmer.Two more mighty blows off Aron Nijjar took him to 50 off 19 balls with five sixes and three fours, and with Abell providing wristy elegance from the other end the 100-stand took just 52 balls as the Cidermen coasted home.

MCC defend “premium” prices despite slow ticket sales

Andrew Miller and Matt Roller31-May-2022Ben Stokes, England’s new Test captain, has warned that the sport may need to take a serious look at the cost of tickets, as this week’s Lord’s Test against New Zealand prepares to get underway with a significant number of seats still available for the first four days of the match.With 24 hours to go until the start of the first Test of the summer against the reigning World Test Champions, some 16,000 tickets are still unsold, including 9,000 for Sunday’s fourth day’s play. Of those, the majority are priced in excess of £100, leading Stokes – in his first pre-match press conference as full-time captain – to lend his weight to the spectators’ cause.”The ticket prices is something that I think is going to have to be looked at properly,” Stokes said. “What is cricket without its fans? What is sport without its fans?”We want to be attracting people to come and watch us because of the cricket that we play and how successful we are. But I guess you have to look at how much it’s going to cost someone to get into the ground.”One thing that we have always received as an England cricket team is amazing support. Obviously the Barmy Army are well renowned but even those who don’t associate themselves with any supporters group are just fantastic. I don’t set the prices, but I think it does need to be looked at.”Related

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There are extenuating circumstances for this particular fixture, which takes place across the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend, meaning both Thursday and Friday are national holidays. The UK is also experiencing a cost-of-living crisis, with inflation rates at their highest in 40 years, leaving household budgets stretched.However, despite the fact that most schools are on their half-term break, meaning that this Test could be an opportunity for children to attend during the weekdays, the only concessions available are in the cheapest price brackets, meaning that some Under-16 tickets are on sale for as much as £160 on the first three days of the Test.On Wednesday, MCC defended setting such “premium” ticket prices for the first of their two Tests this summer – with South Africa also due to play at Lord’s in August.”MCC has undertaken significant reorganisation of its ticket pricing for international matches in recent years, recognising the exceptional demand for tickets that Test matches at Lord’s are expected to generate,” the club told ESPNcricinfo in a statement.”With the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee double bank holiday weekend also taking place, we have seen a reduction in our usual expected attendance numbers. However, sales remain strong for the opening two days of the match and across our other international fixtures this year, with our India ODI being sold out.”Whilst we recognise that the top price tickets available are at a premium price, we believe that across the whole ground, this represents good value to watch top-class international cricket at one of the world’s most iconic sporting venues, with many pricing points available.”Stuart Broad, who has been confirmed in England’s playing XI, agreed with Stokes’ stated aim to play the sort of cricket that persuades fans to come back through the turnstiles.Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes are concerned by low ticket sales•PA Images/Getty

“From the outside, when you see Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes’ mindset come together, it’s pretty exciting,” he said. “To attract the fans, we have to build on that style of cricket and have a style that people want to watch.”Trent Bridge [the venue for the second Test] has sold out for the first three days, so there is still that support for the team. From the players’ point of view, we have to make that commitment that we want to be exciting and draw people through the gates.”I suppose it’s comparative with Twickenham, Wembley – there’s a market value,” Broad added. “There’s a lot going on this weekend [so it’s] a strange one to judge: the Queen’s Jubilee, a bank holiday – there’s a lot of competition for entertainment in London. I’m sure the prices will have to adjust to the cost of living and if stadiums get emptier, people will have to adjust.”McCullum said at his unveiling as England’s new Test coach last week that Test cricket would be “in trouble” if his side were not among the top sides in the world “because of the support that the people of England and the UK have” for the format. “No one else really has the same affection and has the ability to make the game sustainable,” he added.Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, told the that the ECB should consider reviewing the allocation of two Tests per summer to Lord’s. “You can’t keep saying, ‘we are Lord’s, we need two Test matches a year’ and then charge over £150 in the holidays, during the jubilee and during a cost-of-living crisis,” he said.”It’s scandalous that Lord’s thinks it can get away with a ticket price for one day of Test cricket that is the same as what you would charge for a season ticket for the Hundred. We have all these administrators telling us Test cricket is the pinnacle and then they do this.”