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Shaun Marsh showed little signs of his back trouble as he smashed an unbeaten 99 off 52 balls in Perth Scorchers’ emphatic eight-wicket win, in pursuit of Melbourne Renegades’ imposing total of 3 for 188

The Report by Alex Malcolm22-Dec-2011
Scorecard Shaun Marsh and Luke Ronchi celebrate victory•Getty Images

Shaun Marsh showed little signs of his back trouble as he smashed an unbeaten 99 off 52 balls in Perth Scorchers’ emphatic eight-wicket win, in pursuit of Melbourne Renegades’ imposing total of 3 for 188. The innings should state his case for a Test return against India on Boxing Day.Marsh hit nine fours and five sixes to help the visitors home with four balls to spare, in the tightest game of the tournament so far.The attention was on Marsh to prove he was Test ready, though he was playing a Twenty20 game. He spent all 39.2 overs in the field, fielding without any trouble, before playing one of the best innings of the tournament to date.At times, he was starved of the strike as Herschelle Gibbs peeled off a majestic 57 in their opening stand of 95. Marsh sprinted between the wickets with purpose. His running with his younger brother Mitchell stood out. But most importantly, he handled the raw pace of both Shaun Tait and Shane Harwood, and the penetrative leg-spin of Shahid Afridi, with equal aplomb. Marsh ended the night with a straight six off Abdul Razzaq to seal the match.The Renegades did not help their cause with some sloppy fielding and strange tactics in their defence of what seemed a winning total.The captain Andrew McDonald dropped Gibbs on 14 in the third over, and substitute Meyrick Buchanan spilled Marsh on 39. Buchanan made matters worse by parrying the ball over the rope for six. McDonald’s field settings were questionable though. Gibbs’ strong off-side play is well known, but the Renegades strangely played to his strengths as he hit 18 off a Razzaq over.McDonald got a lucky break when Gibbs holed out to the only man at the cover rope when the South African was in total command. Mitchell Marsh joined his brother and the pair took on the fielders with some audacious running. The younger Marsh should have been run out in the twelfth over but Graham Manou failed to handle a strong return from long-on cleanly.McDonald also neglected to bowl the left-arm spinner Aaron Heal. The decision was strange enough given Heal’s impressive record in this format, but even stranger given the Scorchers’ two most successful bowlers in the match were the left-arm duo of Michael Beer, and Brad Hogg. The pair collected 3 for 50 from their combined eight overs when their team-mates all conceded more than nine-an-over.The Renegades would have thought they were in a strong position after winning the toss and setting 188. The openers, McDonald and Aaron Finch blasted 91 from 64 balls. Finch was sent to hospital with a suspected broken rib after being struck by Ben Edmondson, but he still managed 49 from 40. McDonald’s 50 from 33 was an innings of great class. Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Reardon, and Razzaq clubbed six sixes between them to progress to an imposing total. Maxwell launched three in a row off Marcus North’s offspinners.But in the end Shaun Marsh stole the show, proving why he is regarded in some circles as Australia’s best batsman in all formats.

Round-up of the fourth day of the fifth round of the Ranji Trophy Plate League

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2010

Group B

Andhra sealed a semi-finals berth with an innings victory over Kerala at
the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur. K Rakesh’s 72 not out pushed the game into the last session on the fourth day, but Andhra seamer P Vijaykumar mopped up the tail and finished with figures of 5 for 51 in the second innings. Andhra needed seven wickets to complete a win after a dominant performance on the second and third day. They got the first two within the first two overs on Saturday, with Sairaj Bahutule and D Kalyankrishna getting a wicket each. Rakesh’s effort then blunted them for a while, but could not deny them the win as Kerala were bowled out for 235.
Maharashtra reached the semi-finals by finishing a point ahead of Services despite conceding the first-innings lead to them at the Harbax Singh Stadium in Delhi. Services began the day 40 behind, and went on rack up a 175-run lead, thanks to their captain Yashpal Sharma’s unbeaten 203. He was supported by another Services stalwart, 36-year-old Sarabjit Singh, who made 75 as the pair added 175 for the sixth wicket. With Andhra winning, Services only chance of qualifying was an outright victory, but on a flat track, there was little hope of that and they delayed their declaration till Yashpal reached his double-century. Maharasthra had half the day to bat out, which they did comfortably, racing to 166 for 1 in 37 overs on the back of opener Nikhil Paradkar’s unbeaten 76.In the clash between the two laggards of the group, Vidarbha claimed their first victory of the season, but were made to work hard for it by the Jammu & Kashmir tail in Jammu. Vidarbha needed four wickets at the start of the day and J&K had to make 42 more to avoid an innings defeat, an ignominy they easily avoided due to Hardeep Singh’s maiden first-class century. The tail added 140 runs, setting Vidarbha a target of 99, which they knocked off in 26.3 overs with Ravi Jangid helping himself to a brisk 51.

Group A

Rajasthan fell short of their third win of the campaign but weren’t too concerned as they still finished top of the group. They had a target of 27 after bowling out Jharkhand for 211 in Udaipur but there was no time left for Rajasthan to bat again. The match seemed headed for a dull draw after Jharkhand opener Aakash Verma’s 61 pushed them to 100 for 1 in 36 overs, before slumping to 150 for 7. Legspinner Vivek Yadav started the collapse by removing Verma, and Deepak Chahar, who shot to fame with his eight-for on debut when Hyderbad sunk to 21 all out earlier this season, then took three wickets in nine deliveries to leave Jharkhand reeling. Shiv Gautam battled to a patient 48 to consume enough overs to prevent defeat.Madhya Pradesh also reached the semi-finals after their match against Hyderabad predictably ended in a draw at the Gymkhana ground in Hyderabad. With the first innings still nowhere near completion at the start of the fourth day, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Hyderabad resumed from 168 for 4 in their reply to MP’s 422 for 4 declared, and went on to reach 286 for 6 before the match was called off. The result left Hyderabad fourth in the group and consigned them to another season in the Plate Division.Tripura had the satisfaction of finishing off a forgettable season with a victory, cruising to a seven-wicket win over Goa in Porvorim. Four defeats in the first four matches meant they were destined for the bottom spot, but they didn’t have too much trouble finishing off Goa on the final day. Tripura snatched a wicket off the first over, and took the last one soon after to be left chasing 99 for victory. Thirties from Rajib Saha and Nishit Shetty confirmed the victory in 23.3 overs. Goa began the match with hopes of qualifying for the next round, but had to be content with third place after the defeat.

Group A

Group B

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC’s chief executive, has said New Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla can still retain hopes of hosting the 2011 World Cup matches, despite the pitch fiasco

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Dec-2009Haroon Lorgat, the ICC’s chief executive, has said any penalty on the Feroz Shah Kotla for Sunday’s pitch fiasco that forced the abandonment of the fifth ODI between India and Sri Lanka will come only after completion of a thorough investigation and the prescribed monitoring process. Delhi, he said, can still retain hope of hosting the 2011 World Cup matches.”It is not fair to say it hangs in the balance because you cannot comment till you know what the facts are,” Lorgat told Cricinfo minutes after landing in New Delhi, where he will be presenting the ICC mace to the Indian captain MS Dhoni on Sunday evening for becoming the world’s No.1 Test team.Play was stopped after 23.3 overs into the Sri Lankan innings when the match referee Alan Hurst, in consultation with the on-field umpiring pair of Shahvir Tarapore and Marais Erasmus, deemed the pitch to be “dangerous” due to its “extremely variable bounce”. Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan captain, were involved in the lengthy discussions too, before the final decision was made.Lorgat said Hurst’s report will now be tabled as part of the pitch and outfield monitoring process. In the step-by-step guidelines provided by the ICC for pitch monitoring process, if the referee points out that the pitch and/or the outfield was substandard, the ICC will write to the concerned home board along with the referee’s report asking for a detailed explanation. This will be sent within five days of the ICC receiving the referee’s report, after which the home board has 14 days to reply.The referee’s report and the home board’s reply will then be passed to the ICC’s General Manager (Cricket) Dave Richardson and its Chief Referee Ranjan Madugalle. The duo will study the evidence, which would also include the video of the match. If they are convinced that the pitch and/or the outfield was substandard then they will impose the appropriate ban.”It is too early to conclude,” Lorgat told a press conference. “You must wait for the process to take its course. It will take five days for the match referee and the chief referee to discuss the issue and then BCCI would be given a notice to respond in 14 days. Then it depends on Madugalle to prepare the final report which would take about 10 to 14 days. So, it would be fair to say that it would take about a month’s time to complete the entire process. But his is not the final word on the time schedule for the process.”The range of penalty can vary from getting away with a warning, to withdrawal or suspension, for a period of time, of international match status from the venue for repeat offences. Surely, on the basis of the evidence today it is highly unlikely the matter would be treated leniently.Only recently, the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) was under fire for producing low-scoring pitches during the Champions Twenty20 League. In fact, if the pitch is deemed to be unfit then the ICC’s code of conduct for poor pitches states that a first such breach should be met with “a suspension of the venue’s international status for a period of between 12 and 24 months together with a directive for appropriate remedial action and the need for prior ICC re-accreditation as an international venue”.Delhi is scheduled to host four group games in the 2011 World Cup, and the authorities concerned, including the BCCI, will be embarrassed by today’s episode. In fact, realising the importance of the matter, in a swift action the BCCI dissolved
the five-member Grounds and Pitches Committee, headed by Daljit Singh, with immediate effect. Dhiraj Parsana (West), TR Viswanathan (South), Rajiv Gokhale (Central) and Rutul Das (East) were the other members on the committee.Lorgat said it was too early to predict New Delhi’s fate for the World Cup. “We can’t jump to conclusions,” Lorgat said. “It would be inappropriate and unfair – we need to understand exactly what the fact of the matter is and then it must take its course.”The latest episode is another blotch on New Delhi’s reputation as a host of international sporting events. It was only a week ago when the Commonwealth Games chief said they could only pray that the venues would be ready in time for the games, between October 4-13 next year.

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

• South Australia target rare double after finding winning 'belief'

• Kellaway holds firm amid Buckingham and Thornton four-wicket hauls

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.

Bridget Patterson played the key hand with the bat with her 70 lifting the home side to a competitive total

AAP29-Oct-2023A bizarre run out helped Adelaide Strikers hand Brisbane Heat their first defeat of the WBBL season, downing the visitors by 59 runs to go second on the ladder.On the same night that the Melbourne Stars got their season back on track with a seven-run over Perth Scorchers, Strikers did well to defend their total of 148 for 4 at Karen Rolton Oval.With Heat battling at 31 for 2 in reply, big hitter Mignon du Preez was run out for one at the non-striker’s end when a Georgia Voll drive was hit straight back at her.Related

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The ball rebounded off du Preez and onto the stumps, dislodging the bails, before bowler Amanda-Jade Wellington removed the stump from the ground and touched it with the ball with the South African still out of her crease.Players are able to remove the stump if the bails are already off to effect a run out, however it was questionable if Wellington had done so correctly with the ball in the opposite hand to that which pulled out the stump.The wicket proved a crucial moment in the game, as Wellington had Voll caught-and-bowled next ball for 15. The legspinner also claimed the key wicket of Jess Jonassen later in her spell, deceiving her in flight to have her stumped for 22. Heat were bowled out for 89 in 16 overs, ending their run of four straight wins to start the season.Wellington’s efforts with the ball came after Bridget Patterson hurt Heat with the bat for the second time in 12 months.The hero of Strikers’ finals win over Heat last summer, Patterson struck 70 off 53 to help rescue Strikers from 47 for 3 after 10 overs.Patterson hit seven boundaries and two sixes, including a massive hit off Sarah Glenn back over the spinner’s head.

Sri Lanka are best placed at the moment, but they are not in the final yet

S Rajesh07-Sep-2022Afghanistan
If Afghanistan lose to Pakistan, they will be eliminated [along with India]. If they beat Pakistan but lose to India, they will have to hope Sri Lanka beat Pakistan on Friday, so that three teams are tied on one win each.If Afghanistan win both matches, they will qualify for certain if Sri Lanka defeat Pakistan on Friday. If Sri Lanka lose to Pakistan, then three teams will be level on two wins, and net run-rate will come into play.India
India’s only chance of making the final is if Sri Lanka finish with three wins, and the three other teams have one win each. In that case, the team with the best NRR among Afghanistan, India and Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in the final.For India to qualify, Pakistan will have to lose both their remaining matches, against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, while India will need to beat Afghanistan on Thursday. If Pakistan beat Afghanistan, both India and Afghanistan will be eliminated.Pakistan
If Pakistan beat Afghanistan, they will qualify for the final along with Sri Lanka. If they lose on Wednesday and beat Sri Lanka on Friday, they will still qualify if India beat Afghanistan on Thursday. However, if Afghanistan win both their remaining games, then Pakistan will need to beat Sri Lanka and hope that their NRR is in the top two.If Pakistan lose both their remaining matches, they will have to hope India beat Afghanistan, in which case three teams will have one win each. NRR will then decide the second finalists.Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka are sitting pretty with two wins out of two. The only way they can fall short is if they lose to Pakistan, and Afghanistan beat both Pakistan and India. In that case, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan will all finish on two points each, with NRR deciding which two teams qualify. For that to happen, though, Afghanistan will have to beat Pakistan and India on successive days at two different venues.

Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva move up in Test batting rankings

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Apr-2021Mohammad Rizwan continued his rapid rise as a T20I batter by entering the top 10 in the ICC rankings on the back of his player-of-the-series performance in Zimbabwe.Rizwan hit 82* and 91* in the two matches Pakistan won, and that took him up five slots to tenth. He went past Eoin Morgan and Rohit Sharma on the table where Dawid Malan, Aaron Finch, Babar Azam, Devon Conway and Virat Kohli retained the top five positions.Haris Rauf was the other Pakistan player to make a noteworthy gain, up 17 places to 21st after taking four wickets in three matches.Zimbabwe, who won the second T20I to give themselves a chance of a rare series win, moved up one slot – past Ireland – to No. 11 in the team rankings, while Pakistan remained in fourth place. Elsewhere, Nepal’s victory in the T20I tri-series at home against Netherlands and Malaysia meant a move up (by one spot, past Scotland) to No 14, while Netherlands slipped from 17th to 18th and Malaysia stayed at No. 31.The drawn first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Pallekele had a number of major performances by the batters of the two sides, and that reflected in the Test batting rankings too.Dimuth Karunaratne’s career-best 244 helped him gain seven places to reach the 15th position. His 676 rating points was also his best since last January.The other Sri Lanka batter to move up was Dhananjaya de Silva, who scored 166, and was involved in a 345-run stand for the fourth wicket with Karunaratne in Sri Lanka’s only innings. He gained seven spots to reach his career-best 28th position.Among Bangladesh batters, Mominul Haque’s 11th Test century, and first overseas, took him from 35th to joint 31st, while Vishwa Fernando was the only bowler to have a decent haul, and his 4 for 96 in the first innings took him to 43rd place.

Despite Root leading England 34 times, it is only fair to start looking at his record as Tests take priority, Giles says

George Dobell in Hamilton26-Nov-2019Ashley Giles has appealed for Joe Root to be given more time before he is judged as England’s Test captain.While Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, concedes that Root has been in the job for 34 Tests, he feels that it is only now, with Test cricket gaining more priority in the ECB’s planning, that it is fair to start judging him in the role.In particular, Giles stresses that, until recently, the priority of the England set-up had been success in white-ball cricket and that recent changes both to the coaching staff and to the development systems will take time to take hold.So while Giles accepts that Root’s form with the bat has dipped – he is averaging 39.70 as captain and 27.40 this year – he believes the introduction of Chris Silverwood as England’s head coach will ease the burden on Root and allow him to rediscover his best form.Also read: Who could possibly take over from Joe Root?At present, Root has captained England in 14 away Tests. Four of them have resulted in victories – including three in succession over Sri Lanka – and eight have been lost. England have won 13 and lost six of the Tests Root has captained at home.”Joe is our captain and he takes us forward,” Giles said. “The stats would say the captaincy has affected his batting. You can’t hide from that.”So we’ve got to work with him to make sure his game is in the best shape and he’s got time to work on it away from the pressures of captaincy. We want to help him get back to averaging 50-plus and if he’s doing that we are going to win games of Test cricket. I am very confident that [the burden] on Joe has changed and Chris is picking up a lot of the slack. I feel their relationship is going very well.”There is a renewed focus on Test cricket and there are some young players in this team. We are going to make mistakes.”But it’s important that while we have a long-term vision in mind, we are looking at the short-term measures and reflecting and reviewing: do we need to change; how do we get better? We can’t just get to the Ashes and see how we go. We’ve got to keep learning and keep getting better.”In modern times, England captains have been appointed to the job on a permanent basis – rather than for a fixed period – in the belief that the security reduces unsettling speculation and encourages stability.But that does leave Giles in a slightly tricky position. State that he expects Root to captain into the Ashes in 24 months and he might be accused of complacency; suggest that the appointment will be reviewed and he risks being seen to undermine his captain. As he puts it: “I’m not quite sure what anyone is expecting me to say; ‘we’ll see how we go’? That’s not a great vote of confidence in a captain.”In reality, Root will be given every opportunity and every bit of support with a view to him leading lead England to the Ashes. But if results do not improve, well, you only have to look at the many other departures around the ECB – particularly at Loughborough – since Giles was appointed to know he is not afraid to make tough decisions if he thinks they’re necessary.We’re not at that stage now. Both Giles and Silverwood have stressed their desire to reduce Root’s workload to allow him to concentrate upon his batting and ensure he is fresh for games. And Giles hopes that changes to the county and pathway systems – including his proposal that Championship games are played during the window created for The Hundred – will help develop players better prepared for Test cricket. Equally, there will be an emphasis on improving the pitches used in county cricket.It was a message reiterated by England’s new head coach, Silverwood, who also suggested the team were at the start of a “new sort of era”.”Behind the scenes we’ve got to keep trying to strip away the things Joe doesn’t have to worry about,” Silverwod said. “Making sure that when it comes to practice he’s just one of the lads and he’s worried about his batting and that’s it. We have to help him, talk to him and try to strip pressure away.”In any form or walk of life, you never stop learning, and we are starting a new sort of era now so I’m going to judge this team on where we are now and where we get to.”

Scans have confirmed that the batsman has suffered a meniscal tear in his left knee and could require surgery

Daniel Brettig in Abu Dhabi18-Oct-2018Australia’s No. 1 available batsman Usman Khawaja may be out of action for up to eight weeks, placing his availability for the home Test series against India in doubt, after he suffered a meniscal tear to his left knee that is likely to require surgery.After twisting his left knee in warm-ups before day three of the Abu Dhabi Test against Pakistan, there were concerns that Khawaja had reinjured the anterior cruciate ligament that was reconstructed in 2014.While overnight scans cleared Khawaja’s ACL, the meniscal tear that was located will require a recovery time of anywhere from three to eight weeks, which is also dependent on whether surgery is required. Khawaja will consult a knee surgeon on his return home from the UAE. Already missing Steven Smith and David Warner due to suspension until April next year, the national team could ill-afford to lose Khawaja for any length of time, as their only remaining proven quantity as a Test batsman.It remains uncertain whether Khawaja will bat in Australia’s fourth innings of the Test, with his levels of knee function and pain to be monitored across the day. He did not take the field at all on day three after suffering the injury.Following a seemingly innocuous incident in a fielding drill, he hobbled off the field for assessment and treatment, where he would remain throughout Pakistan’s second innings. Initially it was thought Khawaja would only be off the field for a handful of overs, but ultimately he was absent all day, which meant he was ruled out of batting until No. 7 in the batting line-up, or until Australia had occupied the crease for the equivalent amount of time that he was missing from the field.The seam bowler Peter Siddle said many of the squad were unaware that Khawaja had hurt his knee until they saw him unable to join them for the start of play. “Nah we didn’t see it, some of the guys might’ve but I didn’t, he hasn’t really said too much,” Siddle said. “Disappointing for him but he’s getting a scan later tonight and they’ll send it to the people who need to have a look at it in the next day or so and we’ll find out more. At this stage that’s all we know. Just fingers crossed for him, hopefully it comes back positive for him and he can get back out there.”It was just something in warm-up, we were throwing the ball. So that’s about all I know, I don’t know what specifically happened, but something so small it’s kept him out. So disappointing for him but fingers crossed he gets some good news tonight. Initially [he was] very flat, as anyone would know, knowing that he can’t get out there with the boys and help out.”But I think throughout the day he was up and about, moving around, helping us when we came in and trying to help us in the rooms. He’s a positive guy, so fingers crossed for him and we get some good news tonight or tomorrow. Tonight once he’s got the scan and we know more that’ll determine from the doctor’s point of view what he can and can’t do. That’s the big thing at the end of the day and just looking after his welfare. We’ll see how that comes up tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”In the wake of Khawaja’s career-defining double of 85 and 141 to save Australia’s blushes in Dubai, the gulf left when he cannot make runs was demonstrated when his early dismissal on the first evening here led to an inadequate first-innings tally of 145 that effectively surrendered any chance of victory in the match to Pakistan.After Sarfraz Ahmed’s team went on to set Australia a distant 538 to win in more than two days, the team coached by Justin Langer was left with a minimum of 192 overs to survive, with Khawaja’s role in proceedings severely restricted. His was the second injury problem for the Australians in this match, after Mitchell Starc complained of hamstring tightness at the start of Pakistan’s second innings having sustained a heavy workload in Dubai.The effect on Starc’s ability to cover the ground was confirmed by his placement at slip for much of the innings, while he was restricted to bowling a mere seven overs across two spells – four overs with the first new ball, three with the second. Siddle, so effective in the Big Bash League for the tournament-winning Adelaide Strikers last season, will be kept in the Twenty20 squad as cover.After Dubai, amid the reverie of Australia’s successful rearguard, Langer had commented on the physical and mental toll of Test matches, particularly those played in the UAE desert, where temperatures have routinely hovered near 40C with considerable humidity.”I said to Travis Head actually when he missed out on the T20 side,” Langer said. “At the end of this second Test you’ll be coming and giving me a hug. “And Finchy said it to me today as well because Test cricket is so tiring. Physically and mentally, it’s so draining. But that’s all part of the back-to-back Test matches, especially with our young guys. We were going to have to recharge the batteries as well as we can and then have another crack at it. They’re all important Test matches.”The other batsman expected to shoulder more responsibility while Smith and Warner are banned was Shaun Marsh, but a perfectly-pitched ball from Mir Hamza on the third evening completed a wretched series for the 35-year-old, tallying just 14 runs at 3.5 in four innings. Remarkably this is not Marsh’s poorest series in Tests, after he managed just 17 at 2.83 against India in 2011-12. That run of outs was followed by an extended absence from the team, lasting until the 2014 tour of South Africa.October 19, GMT 0530 The story was updated to include the findings of the scan on Khawaja’s knee.

Lancashire found Steve Finn irresistable after another Ashes hopeful, Haseeb Hameed, had to retire hurt and then emerged again at No 11 in an unavailing effort to claim victory

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Lord's21-Sep-20171:13

‘About time I did something for the boys’ – Finn

For the second year in a row, domestic cricket concluded at Lord’s in enthralling fashion. No silverware was lifted this time, nor tears cried in the Pavilion. This year, there was relief rather than champagne in the dressing room. But, thanks to another virtuoso bowling performance, this time from Steven Finn who took 8 for 79 to see off Lancashire, Middlesex are out of the relegation zone, with a do-or-die showdown against Somerset still to play.Everything went right for Finn, bowling with pace, control and the verve of a man operating close to his peak, wary he had to be the man to preserve his county’s Division One status. The only blemish on an immaculate day for the 28-year-old came when a member of the press accidentally kicked over his celebratory beer. Thankfully, it was only Fosters.The cold hard numbers are remarkable in themselves, not least because they highlight some peculiarities in Finn’s back catalogue. Those figures of 8 for 79 were his best in first class cricket since a spectacular 9 for 37 against Worcestershire in April 2010 – a month after he made his England Test debut against Bangladesh in Chittagong. This was also his first five-wicket haul since July 2015, when he made a triumphant return to the format against Australia with 6 for 79. His last five-fer in Championship cricket came against Nottinghamshire – 5 for 91 at Lord’s back in April 2014.In the context of the game, Finn’s haul was Roy of the Rovers stuff, at a time when Middlesex needed him most. Having begun the day with no Toby Roland-Jones, off-spinner Ollie Rayner suffered an intercostal side-muscle injury. Both are unlikely to play at Taunton, where a turning Taunton pitch awaits. “Ollie won’t play next week,” said Voges. “He could hardly breathe out there.” How special, then, that Rayner – as good a team man in the game – continued on in the field and took a stunning catch, diving to his left to grab a flying thick edge with his right hand, to remove the dangerous Ryan McLaren for Lancashire’s ninth and Finn’s seventh wicket.Many thought that was Lancashire all out after Haseeb Hameed, needing a score of note to be in consideration for the upcoming Ashes tour, took a blow from James Harris on his bottom hand (right) at the start of the 26th over. After a long break with the physio and Hameed seeing if he could hold the bat effectively, he retired hurt. While he was able to return upon McLaren’s wicket, Lancashire confirmed at the end of the day that he had suffered a fractured finger. While it is not a reoccurrence of the injury he sustained out in India during last winter’s Test series, which was a break of the little finger of his left hand, the inability to push his case next week, let alone the recovery time for the injury, almost certainly rules him out of contention for Australia.Finn, on the other-hand, has pushed himself to the front of the queue. Roland-Jones’ back issue – England, with Middlesex, have arranged for a CT scan after a precautionary scan on day two was inconclusive, with the results to be revealed tomorrow – and Mark Wood’s niggle leaves England worryingly short of fit an X-factor quick ahead of Australia. Voges, in his capacity as resident Aussie, offered his thoughts on whether Finn should tour: “He’s bowled as well as I’ve ever seen him bowl today. If he bowls like that, he should. One-hundred percent. He had rhythm, his pace was up and his areas were good.” Finn was more phlegmatic.”We’ll see what happens. I’m pretty content with where my game’s at. I felt really good. I felt that my pace was there for most of the game. It’s up to the selectors and whoever picks the team to see who goes Down Under. It’s a really exciting opportunity and really exciting prospect to potentially – hopefully – be in the mix.”I’ve got experience in playing down there in both one-day internationals and Test matches. Good and bad. I think I could add to whatever group goes down there.” Finn was part of the touring party in England’s 3-1 win in 2010-11, but was dropped after playing the first three Tests. At that point in the series, no England bowler had taken more than his 14 wickets.Even without an Ashes on the horizon, is it ever possible to discuss Finn without talking about England credentials? He seems to exist on that peculiar plane between the county and international game. Too good for one, jury still out for the other. But by Finn’s own estimation, he hasn’t quite been at his best for Middlesex this season. The opportunity to play such an emphatic part in this victory, against a county who offered him a lucrative contract to move earlier this summer, was the least he owed to his boyhood club.”I’ve played for this club for a long time and I’m very proud to represent it, and will be into the future. It was about time I did something for the boys!”Both teams arrived today with a match perfectly set up for the neutral. Lancashire started the day needing 175 more runs for their target of 221. Middlesex, nine chances. Personnel on both sides looking ahead to the winter and wondering whether they should make their own plans.Finn’s opening burst from the Pavilion End set the tone: five overs of the perfect length to take out Liam Livingstone’s off stump and wrap Lancashire skipper Steven Croft low on the front pad for two wickets, conceding just 14 runs. Voges, standing in as captain after James Franklin dropped himself for this match, needed to rotate three seamers, while also knowing Finn required downtime in the field to prepare for the bursts that would turn this game.Tim Murtagh and Harris were the perfect foils, offering control and picking up the two that Finn left behind. Shivnarine Chanderpaul, cool as ice, seasoned as oak, was a marquee name in a dangerous middle order. Murtagh trapped him in front to leave Lancashire reeling on 59 for 4, 162 still to get.Hameed’s blow followed before Dane Vilas injected some impetus into the chase, using Finn’s downtime to drive and cut Murtagh and inventively work Rayner with reverse sweeps and the odd chip-and-charge down to midwicket. Finn’s four-over burst before lunch, while a tad expensive, accounted for Vilas who gloved down the leg side attempting to hook a well-directed bouncer.Vilas’ counter-attack was carried over by McLaren and Jordan Clark – the latter scoring six of his seven boundaries against Finn, before becoming his fifth victim of the innings. Harris’ graft was rewarded with Tom Bailey adjudged lbw before Finn’s sixth came with Kyle Jarvis forcing Voges to take a brilliant catch above his head at first slip.Matthew Parkinson, previous best of 9, came out to hold up an end on McLaren’s behalf. Together, they moved to within 38. Then, a sharp delivery from Finn, an attempted ramp from McLaren and a worldie from Rayner at second slip. Out strode a courageous Hameed, in visible discomfort, to block a few balls (Middlesex had no doubt that, despite his broken finger, he would come out to bat at the end). Parkinson, on 13, knew he was Lancashire’s only hope. A drive low to Voges was taken, capping off a brilliant fielding effort to give Finn his eighth and seal a precious third win of the season for Middlesex.Currently, the defending Champions are up to third, but they are under no illusions that, for once, the table is lying. Onto Somerset they go, in charge of their own destiny. That is all they could have asked for.