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Neil McKenzie’s unavailability for Bangladesh’s Test match requirements means the BCB are likely to look for a specialist Test match batting coach

Mohammad Isam26-Aug-2018The BCB are considering appointing a batting coach specifically for Test cricket. Neil McKenzie’s availability being limited only to white-ball cricket has prompted the board to look for a specialised coach, according to the BCB’s chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury.”Neil is a white ball batting coach up to the 2019 World Cup but we need someone for red-ball cricket,” Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo. “We preferred Neil to also look after red ball cricket, but he is not available. Most of the assignments to the new members of the coaching staff we have given are World Cup targeted, but we are considering someone who can help out in red ball cricket as well as do other work. We have asked our contacts to talk to coaches. Gary Kirsten is also in our assistance process.”The BCB’s search is justifiable: Bangladesh averaged 202 runs per Test innings in the last 12 months, and haven’t surpassed 200 in an innings in the last three Tests. Their batting debacles on their last two tours – to West Indies this summer and South Africa last year – suggest that as far as Test match batting is concerned, Bangladesh have a problem on their hands. In contrast, almost the same set of batsmen performed better in ODIs, as was seen during the West Indies tour when they won the ODI and T20I series after being swept aside in the Tests.England currently are the only international side with format-specific batting coaches: Graham Thorpe for ODIs and T20s and Mark Ramprakash for Tests.Meanwhile, the BCB will also face a decision next month about Sunil Joshi’s tenure as spin bowling coach, which ends after the Asia Cup. He was appointed in August last year.”The current spin coach’s contract is till the end of September, which means up to the Asia Cup. The board’s policy will decide on the spin coach. We will make a move as soon as we get a directive,” said Chowdhury.

The spinners did the job for Afghanistan once again, leading them to an 81-run victory

The Report by Ankur Dhawan22-Aug-2018Getty Images

A second consecutive fifty from Hazratullah Zazai helped the visitors mirror their total of 160 from the first match, before Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan broke the back of Ireland’s chase to script a seventh straight T20I win for Afghanistan over them.The win by 81 runs equalled Afghanistan’s second-largest victory margin in the format, and rendered the final T20I of the series a dead rubber. It also meant Ireland were shot out for their fourth-lowest T20I total: 79.For a while it looked like a change in team and strategy would bring about a change in Ireland’s fortunes, when they stifled the run-flow and snaffled early wickets in the Powerplay. That is, until Zazai awoke from a stupor and muscled his way to a 54-ball 82. There was quite a similarity in the way the two teams started off with the bat – finding themselves 8 for 2 – but what separated them was Zazai’s sustained power-hitting and Afghanistan’s bowling depth.The inclusion of the experienced Boyd Rankin, who had recovered from a back niggle, and the introduction of spin in the Powerplay propped up Ireland early on. Rankin’s penchant for generating disconcerting bounce kept the dangerous Zazai in check in the first over, after Afghanistan had chosen to bat. Offspinner Simi Singh followed this up with the wicket of Mohammad Shahzad, who attempted an awkward pull to one that hurried on to him only to be caught at short third-man. Samiullah Shenwari followed soon after, caught on the square-leg boundary off a Peter Chase short ball that held up in the pitch.Overall the Irish pacers used the short ball effectively during the Powerplay and reaped rewards, as the run rate hovered around seven. However, having stabilised the innings considerably, Zazai and captain Asghar Afghan found an opening and they battered their way in, taking 19 off the 10th over bowler by the 18-year-old left-arm pacer Joshua Little. Then Zazai tore into Paul Stirling’s part-time spin, depositing him into the stands three times in four balls. The first of those three sixes brought up Zazai’s fifty off 34 balls.George Dockrell halted his charge in an excellent 16th over rife with full, wide deliveries which, Zazai’s wicket apart, produced three consecutive dots and just two singles. Much like the previous T20I, Afghanistan did not take full toll of the final five overs, but a few lusty blows from Mohammad Nabi (12) and an unbeaten 20 from Najibullah Zadran helped them to 160 for 8.Any hopes Ireland had of chasing the target were quelled quickly. Like falling through a series of trapdoors, they lost wickets in clumps.Aftab Alam set the collapse in motion, with the wicket of Stirling for a scratchy five-ball 2 before the spinners took over, taking eight wickets between them. Mujeeb accounted for Stuart Thompson, Andy Balbirnie and later Dockrell. Rashid made the most decisive inroad, getting William Porterfield – the only batsman to show a semblance of resistance – for a 23-ball 33. However, the wicket was rendered possible primarily by Alam’s brilliance in the field, with him intercepting Porterfield’s airborne reverse sweep at short third-man.It was the kind of moment that could deflate even better-placed opposition. Ireland, trying as they were to recover from 9 for 3, found themselves 46 for 4 in the ninth with that wicket, and they subsided quickly thereafter, bowled out in 15 overs.

‘Ideally we would want two three- or four-day games before a Test series,’ India’s head coach has told ESPNcricinfo. ‘But do you have the time?’

Nagraj Gollapudi13-Sep-2018India head coach Ravi Shastri has said that the team management has asked the BCCI to arrange “a couple” of warm-up matches ahead of their four-Test series in Australia, which begins on December 6. In an exclusive interview with ESPNcricinfo, Shastri also made it clear that he was leaving the UK in a “positive” frame of mind and had not received any communication from the board to review India’s 4-1 series defeat in the Pataudi Trophy.The debate over India’s preparation ahead of major away Test series has raged over the last nine months. The team opted to skip the one-off warm-up match ahead of the three-Test series in South Africa in January in favour of high-intensity training sessions. In England, India played only one warm-up game, against an Essex second XI, ahead of the five-Test series. The visitors raised eyebrows by shortening the four-day match into a three-day affair.In a conversation with the former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding on during the Test series in England, India captain Virat Kohli had explained why he felt warm-up games weren’t always useful. The opposition in such games, he said, was often of poor quality, and pitches unlike the ones prepared for the Test matches. In those circumstances, he felt intense practice sessions were often a better way to prepare.Shastri has now said he is not against playing warm-up games.”Absolutely not. Why would we be?” he asked. “You can only see the results (in the England Tests). Every time after the second Test we have improved. You can still get better. But why can’t we be in that position in the first Test match?”He however said it was not always possible to play as many warm-up matches as the team would like, given the choked international calendar.”If you have two or three games against weaker sides we don’t mind because it is a game,” Shastri said. “But when you have a schedule as tight as this and when you have a memorandum of understanding that has already been formulated, with a choc-a-bloc calendar, there is very little you can do. Now, we have requested for a couple of (warm-up) games in Australia before the Test series. But is there space (to play those matches)? That is the question.”India start their Australia tour with a three-match T20I series, beginning on November 21. This leaves them with only a ten-day gap before the first Test.”Ideally we would want two three- or four-day games before a Test series,” Shastri said. “But do you have the time? For example, we have a T20 series in Australia preceding the Test series. There is a 10-day gap before the first Test. These are things that have been approved earlier. It is not in our control.”The 4-1 defeat in England has led numerous critics to question the role of India’s support staff, including Shastri. He, however, said he had full faith that India’s support staff could lead the team in the right direction.”Absolutely not,” Shastri said, when asked if he was distracted by the criticism. “Last one to press the panic button when I see so many positives. I head back home with a very positive state of mind. I know exactly what we do. I know exactly and clearly where the team is heading – it is heading in the right direction.”People are entitled to their opinions. As long as we know the job we are doing and we are honest to our jobs, as long as support staff we are helping players channelise their energies in the right direction, we are not worried about what critics say.”

Sri Lanka’s big hitter admits he’s falling short of his potential at the top of the order

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Pallekele17-Oct-2018With the top order contributing runs for the first time in four matches, it’s the middle order that failed Sri Lanka in the shortened third ODI against England. So said Niroshan Dickwella, the batsman who had given Sri Lanka their fast start, hitting 36 off 25 balls to set the team on course to a score of 58 for 1 by the end of the Powerplay.Just after the 12-over mark, however, Sri Lanka’s innings started to wobble. They lost Sadeera Samarawickrama to an Adil Rashid full toss, the batsman top-edging what should have been a straightforward sweep to the short fine leg fielder. Next ball, Thisara Perera attempted to launch the first delivery he faced into the next galaxy, and managed only to top-edge it into the deep. When Dhananjaya de Silva fell at the start of the 16th over, Sri Lanka had lost three wickets for 18 runs.Eventually, due in part to a laboured 34 off 42 balls from Dinesh Chandimal, Sri Lanka mustered only 150 for 9 from their 21 overs – a total that always seemed light on a night when the bowlers struggled to grip the ball.”We got a good start but we were 20-25 runs short,” Dickwella said. “After being 92 for 2, it was 92 for 4 suddenly. That was the main turning point. If Thisara could have batted five overs at that time, we would have ended up with a score closer to 190. You can’t win a 21-over match with only 150 on the board. The ball was also wet because of the rain. If we had made 175, it could have been a winning score.”Sri Lanka’s batting has been consistently modest since the start of 2017, in which they’ve now lost 32 games out of the 42 they have played. They had lost four top-order wickets inside the Powerplay in the second ODI, essentially surrendering the game in that period. Now, in this match, batsmen further down the order have failed to make an impact, with Thisara and de Silva producing three runs off 11 balls between them.”In the last couple of matches we didn’t get a big partnership from the top order,” Dickwella said. “This time we got that, but the middle order failed. That’s been happening for a while. When the top order scores, the middle order fails and vice versa. To get the optimal score, we need to click together.”Though on this occasion, Dickwella was perhaps justified in attacking relentlessly as the match had turned into a virtual T20, he has been guilty of being wasteful with his wicket after he has made a promising start. He had reached double figures in five of his seven previous innings, but had only once made a half-century. It’s a shortcoming he admits to.”I can’t be satisfied with my performance. A lot of times I get 30 or 40, but only about one in five games do I go on to get 70 or 80. Today was a shortened game so it’s different. Once I got 30 I tried to keep going at the same tempo, because we had wickets in hand. But overall when you look at my one-day cricket, even though I’ve got starts, I haven’t capitalised and turned them into big innings.”

David Warner and Steven Smith have both met with Justin Langer in recent days as Australia’s challenge to fill their boots continues

Daniel Brettig26-Nov-2018Aaron Finch is set to bat No. 3 for Victoria behind Marcus Harris and Travis Dean in what appears a compromise between his likely opening role for Australia in the looming Test series against India and the state team’s clear desire to avoid breaking up their own settled combination at the top of the order.Having led Australia to a six-wicket defeat to India at the SCG on Sunday night, Finch landed in Brisbane on Monday afternoon to prepare for his first and only Sheffield Shield match before the Border-Gavaskar series. After making his Test debut for Australia as an opener in the UAE matches against Pakistan, Finch’s role in home conditions has been a matter for some debate.While the national team coach Justin Langer has stated that he liked the promise shown by Finch and Usman Khawaja as an opening pair in Dubai, the inclusion of Harris in the Test squad suggested a likely move down the order by one of the pair. With Khawaja boasting an enviable record at No. 3, that has led to many expecting Finch and Harris will open, but the Victoria coach Andrew McDonald’s preference for Travis Dean to remain up the top with Harris has led to a shift for another Test squad member, Peter Handscomb, to No. 4 from No. 3 spot he has occupied for the last two Shield matches.”I’m going to bat at No. 3 in the Shield game I think, I had a quick chat to Andrew McDonald this morning and I think that’s going to be the case,” Finch said on his arrival in Brisbane. “[Finch and Harris] have played a fair bit of cricket together now, so whether we walk out to open the batting together for Victoria or Australia or I bat at three, I don’t think it makes too much difference to be honest.Aaron Finch’s indifferent white-ball form•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I’m happy to bat anywhere, whatever the best way I fit into the Victoria side is important for the balance of their side to win games and we’ve had some really good success over the last four or five years, so it’s exciting to be back with them.”Moving Handscomb to No. 4 would reflect the large Victorian presence in the Test squad, but also his likely position in the national team as a possibility to bat at No. 5. Another intriguing decision on Sunday night was the inclusion of Mitchell Starc for his first T20I for two years, after the decision had been made to rest him from the New South Wales Shield team to face Western Australia in Perth.The Australian domestic season is structured in format-by-format blocks – one-day tournament, six Shield rounds, Big Bash League than another four Shield rounds – to avoid abrupt shifts for pace bowlers, but Alex Carey, Australia’s T20 wicketkeeper, suggested that a bowler of Starc’s level of experience should be able to cope.”He’s played a lot of cricket now. He’s a real professional, looks after his body. He’ll be fine,” Carey said. “It was fun standing behind the stumps to him. I’ve had the pleasure to do it in the ODI series and now in this T20, it’s always exciting. You’re always waiting for something to happen and I thought he bowled really well … he had a real impact.”Two other notable figures seen around the Australian set-up in the past 24 hours have been the banned duo of David Warner and Steven Smith, who last week had their suspensions upheld by Cricket Australia, meaning they remain unavailable for international or state selection until the end of March. Warner batted in the SCG nets against Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood on Sunday afternoon, while Smith met for a coffee with Langer on Monday.”It’s great to see them back around the boys, hitting balls and preparing as well as they can for when their bans are up. It’s obviously been a difficult time for them, but I think they’ve handled it very well and it’s great to see them back training,” Finch said. “I haven’t spoken to Steve a huge amount over the last little while, I spoke to Davey a lot, but I’ll definitely over the next few weeks catch up with Steve and try to get him for a coffee at some point.”The three T20Is were characterised by enormous Indian support at the Gabba, the MCG and the SCG, and Finch said that while he enjoyed the frenzied atmosphere that resulted, he was hopeful for a more vociferous Australian presence for the Tests, starting in Adelaide on December 6.”There’s certainly a lot of Indian supporters, we know how passionate they are about the game, how loud they are at the game as well. It’s just great to see people supporting cricket,” Finch said. “I think we’ll get that [home support] throughout the summer in the Tests in particular, but the Indian fans are so loud, it’s great for the game, a great atmosphere in the game as well.”

Bilal Asif misses out, while Shan Masood replaces the retired Mohammad Hafeez. Fakhar Zaman is expected to recover from his knee injury in time to play the Boxing Day Test

Umar Farooq07-Dec-2018Fast bowler Mohammad Amir and legspinner Shadab Khan are back in Pakistan’s Test squad for the tour of South Africa. The first of three Tests in the series begins on December 26 at Centurion.Also back in the squad are openers Fakhar Zaman, who missed the Test series against New Zealand with a knee injury, and Shan Masood, who comes in following the Test retirement of Mohammad Hafeez. Mohammad Rizwan, who has previously played one Test in Hamilton in November 2016, has also been included as the second wicketkeeping option behind captain Sarfraz Ahmed.Hafeez apart, Pakistan have left out offspinner Bilal Asif, fast bowler Mir Hamza, and the uncapped batsman Saad Ali, who were all part of the squad against New Zealand.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A poor run of limited-overs form had led to Amir being dropped from Pakistan’s squad in all three formats during their ongoing home season in the UAE. He missed the Test series against Australia and New Zealand, but he has shown excellent form in first-class cricket, picking up 23 wickets in his last four Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches at an average of 13.61.Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s chief selector, said Amir’s drop in form had come about as a result of his heavy workload since returning from a five-year spot-fixing ban in January 2016.”Amir is a wonderful bowler and we all know how skillful he is,” Inzamam said. “But since his return he went through a lot of workload and didn’t get enough time to rest. He was always in our plans. He was dropped for his good, to allow him to go back and not only rest but also work on his deficiencies.”Shadab, meanwhile, didn’t play any of the Tests against Australia and New Zealand, nursing a long-term groin injury – although he did play the limited-overs matches against New Zealand. His return has led to the exclusion of Bilal, who made his Test debut during the home season and picked up 16 wickets in five Tests – including two five-wicket hauls – at an average of 26.50.Fakhar has been undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore since sustaining his knee injury in October. Initial media reports suggested he would be out for three to five weeks, but his recovery has gone quicker than expected and he has already returned to batting practice, facing more than 100 balls at the NCA nets on Thursday.Fast bowler Mohammad Abbas was another player under a fitness cloud, having missed the final Test against New Zealand this week with a shoulder injury, but he is expected to be fit in time for the Boxing Day Test.Amir and Abbas are joined by Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi and the allrounder Faheem Ashraf in a five-member pace contingent. The batting ability of Faheem and Shadab will give Pakistan a certain degree of flexibility in terms of the composition of their bowling attack, leading to the possibility of their fielding twin legspinners in Shadab and Yasir Khan.Squad Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi

The fast bowler has given his stamp of approval to the Perth Stadium pitch but has also admitted to being puzzled by its characteristics

Melinda Farrell17-Dec-20182:28

‘Pujara and Rahane are the big wickets, not only Kohli’ – Hazlewood

Josh Hazlewood has given his stamp of approval to the Perth Stadium pitch but has also admitted to being puzzled by its characteristics. The pitch has played differently throughout each day of the Test, at times offering considerable assistance to the bowlers – particularly through the aid of cracks and divots – while at others the demons subside and the batsmen regain some advantage.”Yeah it’s a strange one,” Hazlewood said. “You see obviously patches where it’s flying around and hitting the cracks and then for a period it’ll go pretty quiet and it’s manageable to bat.”I think definitely right-armer around the wicket to left-handed batters there’s more cracks on offer. I feel when I’m bowling to all the right-handers it feels a little bit more like a normal wicket, there’s not as many cracks there or up and down but yeah, from time to time it jumps around and then it can calms down.”The morning sessions seems like they’re a little bit better for batting – I’m not sure why – and then as the day goes in I think the cracks might reappear. It’s an interesting one with the drop-in wicket as well so yeah not too sure.”Josh Hazlewood produced a good one to remove Cheteshwar Pujara•Getty Images

Drop-in pitches have largely been panned in Australia for their homogeneity and the loss of individual quirks that characterised each major ground, in the past giving the Gabba it’s quick and bouncy surface or providing the steady deterioration at Adelaide Oval in the manner of a traditional five-day pitch.While the WACA surface has steadily lost its reputation for fearsome pace, there were questions surrounding the nature of the drop-in pitch and the kind of cricket it would produce.The base elements of the Perth Stadium pitches at Gloucester Park, next to the WACA, are characterised by a high clay content, which helps give the surface its extra bounce.Overall, Hazlewood’s verdict was a positive one, and he agreed that it was a fun surface on which to play.”Yeah I think so,” said Hazlewood. “That’s from a bowlers point of view, definitely. But we’ve seen hundreds as well and quite a few guys getting fifties and it’s obviously gone to the fifth day, so there’s plenty there, and I think it’s exciting that things can happen any time of the day and its pretty competitive with bat and ball.”I think if you’re comparing to the WACA, where its obviously not a drop-in at the WACA and the cracks just keep getting bigger and bigger, these have appeared pretty early and I guess haven’t widened too much, if that makes sense. So yeah, it’s definitely different.”

For the first time in the series, New Zealand managed to dig in for long enough through their first century stand of this one-sided contest to be able to think of transferring the pressure back on India, but India smothered that uprising to seal an emphat

The Report by Sidharth Monga28-Jan-2019For the first time in the series, New Zealand managed to dig in for long enough through their first century stand of this one-sided contest to be able to think of transferring the pressure back on India. The visitors, however, smothered that uprising to seal an emphatic 3-0 series win against a full-strength New Zealand, who have the best win-loss ratio at home since the last World Cup.It was more of the delightful domination from India’s bowlers to reduce the hosts to 59 for 3; Ross Taylor and Tom Latham then added 119 for the fourth wicket but when it came to cashing in, India were too good once again, keeping the pressure up in the field and then breaking through with wickets for the returning Hardik Pandya and the rampant Mohammed Shami.New Zealand lost their last seven wickets for 65 runs to end up with just 243, which proved to be below par by about 25. The slow nature of the pitch meant you could trouble batsmen if you banged the hard length. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had to take a few unusual risks to make sure the bowlers didn’t settle into a rhythm and their fifties did enough to make sure the middle order was not stretched.Through the series, New Zealand have been grappling with questions rarely asked in bat-dominated ODI cricket these days. Once again the top order didn’t have answers. Colin Munro, after a brief attempt at curbing his natural game in the second ODI, threw his hands at everything; two balls after being dropped, he edged Shami to first slip again. Martin Guptill did much the same, and once again New Zealand had failed to deny the two new balls a wicket each. Once again, Yuzvendra Chahal was introduced with new batsmen under pressure, once again he delivered with an early wicket.The early wicket for Chahal this time also announced the return of Pandya, who took a spectacular flying catch at short midwicket to send back Kane Williamson. Taylor and Latham then had to be at their best to make sure they didn’t lose the series then and there. Taylor was understandably slow to begin with, but Latham brought industriousness with his manipulation of spin. He was better at the sweep this time than in the previous game, and both gradually began to increase the scoring rate.With Pandya back, India didn’t have to rely on Kedar Jadhav early – he had bowled ahead of Kuldeep Yadav in the two previous games – and by the time Jadhav came on to bowl his three overs this time, New Zealand were in a better position to attack him. New Zealand were 113 for 3 in 27 overs when Jadhav came on. In the next 10, New Zealand scored 63 without taking too many risks. Taylor had gone from 15 off 40 to 71 off 90. Latham was one short of a fifty. They had taken 85 off the wristspinners’ 16 overs for just the one wicket. This was the ideal scenario now; they were hoping for at least 100 off the last 13, and if things went well, even a score of 290 could not be ruled out.Latham then tried to take six off Chahal over deep midwicket but under-hit the ball. A moment of indiscretion had put New Zealand right back under pressure. Pandya now jumped in. He had bowled seven overs for 26 runs until then, and with the catch earlier this was already a satisfactory return to action. The real blows came now. A slower bouncer handcuffed Henry Nicholls, and Mitchell Santner edged another slower ball outside off. Just like that New Zealand were 198 for 6 with everything now relying on Taylor.Taylor threatened to switch gears in the company of Doug Bracewell, who scored a fifty in the last match, but Shami was quick to quell this mini resurgence. He stopped the partnership at 24, once again hitting the in-between length to catch Taylor playing the cut to a ball not short enough. The rest folded swiftly with New Zealand failing to bat out their 50 overs in all three innings this series.It wasn’t as straightforward a chase as the eventual seven-over margin suggests. Shikhar Dhawan’s flying cameo of 28 off 27 at the top of the chase helped. Just as the slow pitch began to play its trick, Rohit and Kohli had the luxury of taking their time to get themselves in. Both of them had to take risks to eliminate the threat of Santner. In Santner’s second over, just after having been beaten on the outside edge, Rohit stepped out and launched him over long-off for a six. He had been 24 off 40 before that. In the 20th over, even Kohli played across the line and against the turn. He had been 19 off 35, and this was the only boundary since that Rohit six six overs ago.The two batsmen, arguably already all-time greats in the format, knew this was the key contest, and they not only needed to deny Santner but also needed to not let him build too much pressure on them. Immediately after that, Kohli got stuck into Ish Sodhi, and the game had been broken open. By the time Rohit tried to hit Santner off his length again, to be out stumped for only the second time in this format, India had seen off Lockie Ferguson’s short-ball attack and needed just 92 in 127 balls.A slower ball from Boult resulted in a rare Kohli dismissal between 50 and 100 but India were well on their way. Dinesh Karthik and Ambati Rayudu saw India through to the win, which sealed the most comprehensive home series defeat for New Zealand in six years.

BCCI has only released the schedule for the first two weeks, owing to a clash with the general elections in India

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2019The 2019 IPL will begin with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on March 23.The schedule for the first two weeks of the tournament was made public on Tuesday, listing out the first 17 matches, which will take place over two weeks. In this period, six of the teams will feature in four games apiece, with Bangalore and Delhi Capitals playing five of their league fixtures, and all teams will have two home fixtures, with only Delhi hosting three games.Like it was in 2018, the IPL has stuck to keeping the double headers limited to the weekends, with three announced in the first two weeks’ schedule. Incidentally, the start times for the afternoon and evening matches were not listed in the schedule.The announcement from the IPL’s governing body, though, came with a caveat: the dates are subject to changes, because the 2019 general elections across India are scheduled around the same time period.”Once the election dates are released we will address any issues with the first two weeks and also prepare a schedule for the remainder of the season working with the local authorities around the polling dates,” a statement on the IPL website said.

Somerset spinner claims earliest five-wicket haul of career to serve reminder of talents in Ashes year

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge13-Apr-2019Somerset 403 (Bartlett 133, Abell 101, Broad 5-73) beat Nottinghamshire 263 (Nash 58, Wood 52; Gregory 6-68) and 126 (Leach 6-36, Brooks 4-22) by an innings and 14 runs
England need no introduction to the qualities of Jack Leach as a spin bowler but, in an Ashes year, his performance to win this match on the third day, at a time of year in which seamers enjoy a near-monopoly of the ball, is worth underlining in fluorescent ink.Leach took six Nottinghamshire wickets in the space of 17 overs either side of lunch to kill off any prospect of the home side, under the cosh after two days, doing enough even to threaten to end Somerset’s remarkable run of consecutive victories against them, which now stands at seven in Championship cricket.They were not the best figures of his career but he has never done so well so early in a season. Of his 18 hauls of five wickets or more in first-class matches, this was only the second one in April and the earliest by a couple of weeks. Tom Abell, Somerset’s captain, said it was the best he had seen his man bowl at any time of year and Leach, without being brash or boastful about it, was inclined to agree.”Yes, I do think it was one of the best spells I have bowled,” he said. “I didn’t play in our opening game last week and, after the first two days here, I felt like I hadn’t really contributed, so I wanted to make an impact.”There was a bit of turn and it skidded on a bit before lunch, when there was a bit of drizzle in the air.”I tried to mix my pace a bit and play with my angles. On those kind of wickets I want to keep the batter guessing a little bit but stay accurate and keep things tight at one end so the seamers can do their work.”It was pretty cold. It is a tough time for a spinner at this time of year so I was pleased to get a spell of overs under my belt. To be able to contribute to a win makes it even better.”All those things Leach spoke of were too much for a Nottinghamshire side who looked full of runs against Yorkshire last week but out of sorts in this match, unable to deal with the usual kind of April threat when Lewis Gregory tore through them in the first innings and lacking the skill or resilience on the day to counter Leach’s teasing.The left-armer came into the attack shortly after midday, at which point Nottinghamshire, 25 for 2 overnight after conceding a first-innings deficit of 140, were still fighting. Ben Slater and Luke Fletcher, the nightwatchman, had seen off Gregory and Jack Brooks for the moment, advancing the score to 65 for 2.But then Leach struck in his first over, drawing Slater into a miss that allowed Steve Davies to execute a routing stumping. Joe Clarke was next to go, misreading the delivery so badly he lost his leg stump. Fletcher had a go at launching him but his miscued effort was caught in the deep. Down to 88 for 5 at lunch, Notts still trailed by 52.Steven Mullaney and Samit Patel play spin better than most in this Nottinghamshire side and for the next hour they held firm. But they were offered few opportunities to score and ultimately Leach split them, Mullaney going the same way as Slater, although only after a long and plainly bemused review of where he thought his back foot had been when Steve O’Shaughnessy raised his finger at square leg.Tom Moores went next, brilliantly caught by Marcus Trescothick, diving forward – yes – at short leg as Leach completed his five. The 43-year-old took a second catch when Luke Wood popped one to short midwicket off Brooks before Patel was deemed to be leg before to Leach and Stuart Broad hooked his first ball down the throat of deep backward square. All over.”At the start of day two the game was even stevens but from that point onwards we were outplayed,” the Nottinghamshire head coach, Peter Moores, said. “It is early in the season but we have to learn lessons quickly before we come back to Championship cricket.”They [Somerset] look a good team. There is a reason they ran Surrey close in the Championship last year.”He agreed that the most positive aspect of the match from the home side’s point of view was the form of Broad, who bowled a couple of spells in the Somerset innings that emphasised that his pace and skill are still there to be exploited when the Ashes series finally comes around in this packed year.”His action looks as good as I’ve seen it for a long time and I said that to him during the game,” Moores said. “He’s worked hard, shortened his run-up a little bit, he’s worked hard on his alignment towards the batter. He looks in great shape. I thought his spell at the end of day two was a Test match bowler operating on full power.”Moores admitted, meanwhile, that Clarke, who had to give evidence earlier in the week in the retrial of his friend, the former Worcestershire player Alex Hepburn, who was convicted of rape on Friday, found it difficult to concentrate on his cricket.After scoring more than 200 runs against Yorkshire, Clarke was out for 2 in both innings here.”It was difficult for him today, yes,” Moores said. “All sport is about focus and when you have got other things on your mind that makes it challenging for sure.”