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He showed symptoms during the second round match against Southern Punjab in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy

Umar Farooq04-Nov-2020Bismillah Khan, the Balochistan wicketkeeper-batsman, has tested positive for Covid-19 in Karachi. Bismillah had shown symptoms during the second round match against Southern Punjab in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy but wasn’t tested until the fourth day, after which he was substituted on the field by Adnan Akmal. Bismillah is currently in a dedicated quarantine room in the hotel, and is being monitored by a doctor.Bismillah’s positive result had initially raised questions about the immediate fate of the tournament, as all six teams were staying at the same hotel. However, the PCB confirmed in a release that all 132 players, personnel and match officials involved in the tournament had since tested negative for the virus, and that they will be fit to take part in the third round of matches, starting November 6.”The PCB understands domestic cricket is being played under difficult circumstances and fully appreciates the support of all involved,” the board’s high performance director Nadeem Khan said. “It is also appropriate that we remind all involved to religiously follow the PCB Covid-19 protocols, which will guarantee their health and safety as well as all those around them.”It is unclear as to how Bismillah might have contracted the virus. Before this round, nine Sindh players underwent Covid-19 tests after experiencing flu-like symptoms, but their results came back negative; only fast bowler Mir Hamza returned home after being declared unwell.Professional cricket returned to Pakistan in September after a 24-week hiatus forced by the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2020-21 domestic season had kicked off with the National T20 Cup – played over two legs in Multan and then Rawalpindi – followed by the first-class tournament Quaid-e-Azam trophy, held fully in Karachi.In preparation for the tournament, the PCB first ensured each team quarantined separately at a different venue before they were allowed to enter the biosecure bubble in Karachi. All teams have been undergoing regular testing throughout the tournament to ensure the bubble remains safe. The PCB has conducted a total of 1478 tests to date, including 1091 in the domestic events.After the third round of matches, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy will be put on hold for 11 days, as Karachi will play host to four remaining matches in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).The Covid-19 situation in Pakistan is nearly under control, with the country slowly returning to normalcy in recent weeks. While the government has been issuing daily alerts about a potential second wave of infections and appealing to the public to wear masks, only a few cities are observing a lockdown as restaurants, educational institutes, marriage halls and public transportation continue to operate freely.

Ben Stokes threatened a late jailbreak, but Nuwan Pradeep dismissed No. 11 Mark Wood to secure a memorable win for Sri Lanka

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu21-Jun-2019
As it happenedLasith Malinga conjured a vintage spell, part-time offspinner Dhananjaya de Silva struck three times in nine balls, Angelo Mathews scored a stubborn 85 not out, and Avishka Fernando made a rollicking 49 to shock tournament favourites England and give Sri Lanka enough reason to dream of a spot in the semi-finals.There were other heroes as well for Sri Lanka. Nuwan Pradeep bowled some mean inswingers with the new ball and then returned for the last over to have No. 11 Mark Wood feathering behind to deny Ben Stokes, who remained unbeaten – and heartbroken – on 82 off 89 balls. Isuru Udana backed up his excellent pace variations with two sharp catches – one off his own bowling and the other at the edge of the boundary. Kusal Mendis (46), like Mathews, had produced his highest score of the tournament to haul Sri Lanka to a scrappy 232 for 9. All of this resulted in Sri Lanka admirably defending that meagre total against a mighty England side that had topped 300 in eight of their last nine ODI innings. This, despite some late monster blows from Stokes.He threatened a jailbreak even after England were reduced to 186 for 9 in the 44th over. He farmed the strike and teed off, violently carting Udana for back-to-back sixes and then hitting the returning Pradeep for back-to-back fours. Stokes found a single off the fifth ball of the 47th over and Wood needed to see off just one ball. However, it wasn’t to be as Pradeep’s near-perfect full ball in the channel grazed the thinnest of outside edges and capped a remarkable comeback for the ragtag, seemingly down-and-out team.Malinga had struck with the second ball of the chase to pin local lad Jonny Bairstow lbw for a duck and, not much later, sent James Vince back caught at slip. He would return to whip up some old magic, dismissing the other local boy Joe Root for 57 and Jos Buttler for 10 in successive overs. While Root was late onto a glance and was snaffled down the leg side, the ball that bested Buttler was a Malinga special: a dipping leg-stump yorker that swooped under his bat and had him lbw.ALSO READ: Stats – Malinga joins McGrath, Murali and AkramJust as Sri Lanka were ramping up the pressure on England, Jeevan Mendis bowled a half-volley and a dirty long-hop that was smoked into the stands by Stokes. Enter Dhananjaya. Exit Moeen. The batsman had just aerially slog-swept an offbreak just away from the reach of deep midwicket, but he still ventured another big blow off the next ball and picked out Udana at long-off for 16. Then, in his next over, Dhananjaya took down both Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid to leave England at 178 for 8. It became 186 for 9 when Udana tricked Jofra Archer with his back-of-the-hand variation.Stokes then went bang, but Wood, who had hoped at the halfway mark that England might not need him with the bat, couldn’t hang on with him. Had he safely negotiated that ball from Pradeep, England would have only had to deal with the change bowlers, with Malinga having bowled out too.An upset did not seem likely when Root was unflappable in the early half of the chase, playing percentage shots on a slow, grippy Headingley pitch. He got cracking with a serene punch behind point, but Malinga and Pradeep didn’t allow him to keep going with similar fluency. Root, though, soldiered to his fifth fifty-plus score in six innings this World Cup. However, it was his dismissal that triggered a full-blown collapse.The sun was shining in its full glory in the morning, and Avishka played more glorious back-foot drives and pulls that had former Sri Lankan stylist Kumar Sangakarra gushing, “He’s got timing, this boy!” on TV commentary. Archer was swatted so far into the stands beyond square leg that the ball bounced off a railing and disappeared out of the ground. All told, Avishka took Archer for 24 off 15 balls. However, when Wood dug one short and wide outside off, he neither played an upper-cut nor a ramp and wound up simply gliding the ball into the lap of deep third man.Mathews and Kusal Mendis then got together for a 71-run stand – the highest in the game. Mathews took 13 balls to get off the mark and 39 to find the boundary, but Kusal Mendis scored at a brisker clip at the other end as they kept Moeen and Rashid at bay until the 30th over. Rashid, who is nursing a shoulder injury and taking injections for it, suddenly rediscovered some zip and removed Kusal Mendis and Jeevan Mendis off successive balls to reduce Sri Lanka to 133 for 5.With the innings spiralling out of control, Mathews adopted a more vigilant approach and tightened up further to give Sri Lanka a shot at batting out their 50 overs. Archer and Wood’s extra pace made light work of the lower order, but they could not find a way past Mathews.He tiptoed to an 84-ball half-century – the joint-slowest in this tournament alongside Afghanistan’s Hashmatullah Shahidi’s effort. But, it wasn’t until the last over of the innings that Mathews unleashed a shot in anger. His lusty leg-side club off Archer helped Sri Lanka reach 232, which proved enough in the end.

Fear grows about emergence of eight ‘Super Counties’ as the row over compensation to Test match grounds intensifies

George Dobell16-Mar-2018Pressure continues to mount on Colin Graves with an emergency chairmen’s meeting called for March 26 amid mounting disquiet within the county game.Graves, the ECB chairman, is under fire after it emerged that ‘compensation’ payments could be paid to some Test-hosting clubs in the years they did not stage a match despite the policy having not been discussed at Board level.That revelation resulted in the resignation from the ECB board of former Somerset chairman Andy Nash citing failures in the governance of the organisation.It has also now resulted in a claim that Graves misled at least one county about discussions on the subject and a warning that such additional rewards for Test-match grounds will result in “dire effects” for the counties that do not host teams in the new T20 competition.Bob Warren, the Sussex chairman, has raised particular concerns. In a letter written to Graves and seen by ESPNcricinfo, Warren complains about a lack of transparency from the ECB and appears to express serious doubts over Graves’ assurances.”You used the word transparency several times,” Warren wrote. “Unfortunately, at the moment, we don’t have this between the ECB and the counties.”The ECB policies are, taking into account the way matches and money are being distributed, going to produce eight super-counties with dire effects for the rest of us.”You mentioned at the start of our conversation that the policy of compensation was discussed and agreed by the ECB board around 15 months ago. I asked if you could send me a copy of the minutes which reflect this. You agreed with my request. I have now looked through those minutes and I can’t find any mention of this policy even being mentioned. Furthermore, a Board member told me he couldn’t recall a conversation about this, let along an agreement.”The resignation of Andy Nash confirms that the issue was not discussed by the board prior to the policy being agreed with the TMGs [Test Match Grounds].”While the ECB insist a payment made to Glamorgan was to help the club deal with creditors, other counties – some of whom have worked hard to ensure they are not burdened by debt – are now asking if they, too, can benefit from such an arrangement. The apparently contrasting treatment of Durham, who were stripped of their right to host Tests in return for an ECB bailout, is also intriguing.Meanwhile at least three of the Test-hosting grounds seem bemused by the furore around the proposed payments as they were under the impression they had been common knowledge for many months.Having already incurred the wrath of several counties who feel commitments made over the ownership of the new-team T20 have not been kept – in December, 10 of them signed a letter calling for assurances and clarification – Graves’ would now appear, for the first time, to be facing the possibility of a full scale revolt from a majority of the first-class counties.Perhaps most serious of all is the legal advice taken by some counties and revealed by ESPNcricinfo on Wednesday which suggests the compensation payments might be considered “unlawful”. It also suggests the money could have to be repaid and any directors responsible for sanctioning them held personally responsible.

A round-up of all Inter-State T20 Tournament matches from January 4, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2017Central Zone
Apoorv Wankhade scored 15 runs off the last over to take Vidarbha to a last-ball win against Rajasthan at Jaipur. Chasing 155, openers Faiz Fazal (28) and Jitesh Sharma (54) struck 78 runs in their stand. A flurry of wickets soon after saw Vidarbha slip from 110 for 1 to 118 for 4 but with 13 needed off the last over, Wankhade took Vidarbha to victory with a last-ball boundary.Earlier, Rajasthan scored 154 for 5 in their 20. After a poor start that saw them at 10 for 2, Ajit Gupta (50) stitched useful partnerships with Divya Kumar Hada (37) and Mahipal Lomror (38). Akshay Wakhare’s spell of 2 for 21 in four overs was the pick of the Vidarbha bowlers.Chandrakant Sakure took 4 for 15 in his second T20 match, and Puneet Datey claimed 3 for 22 – also career-best figures – to restrict Chhattisgarh to 111, a total Madhya Pradesh chased down with seven wickets in hand in Jaipur. Chhattisgarh lost six off their nine wickets off the first ball of an over, which crippled their ability to build any sort of momentum. Opener Amandeep Khare top scored with 27 and Sumit Ruikar was the only other batsman to get past 15. Their highest partnership was 25, for the second wicket.Madhya Pradesh’s top order did its job in a small chase. Opener Naman Ojha made 29 off 23 balls, and Harpreet Singh (37) and Parth Sahani added 57 for the third wicket. Sahani was unbeaten on 28 when Madhya Pradesh won with 15 balls to spare.West Zone
A rash of early wickets and the resulting slow run rate ruined Saurashtra’s chances of posting a competitive total against Gujarat in Baroda. They were reduced to 15 for 3, and then slumped further from 43 for 3 to 72 for 7. They finished with 147 because the lower order rallied: Chirag Jani made 34 from no. 7, the no. 9 Shaurya Sanandia scored 21 off 10 balls, and D Jadeja made 29 off 9 at no. 10. Ishwar Chaudhary’s 4-1-23-3 were the best figures for Gujarat.Gujarat’s batting did not suffer from the pains Saurashtra’s did. Their openers put on 81 in 7.5 overs before Abdulahad Malek was out for 49 off 29 balls. Manprit Juneja, who was eventually dismissed for 53 off 41 balls, added another 51 runs with Rujul Bhatt for the second wicket. Gujarat won with eight wickets in hand in 17.2 overs.Maharashtra left it late against Baroda, but they had seven wickets in hand when they won with a ball to spare at Reliance Stadium in Baroda. In the chase of 169, Vijay Zol scored 64 off 50 balls, his first half-century in only his second game since March 2015. The other four batsmen in the top five made scores in the 20s to ensure there was no wobble in the innings. Irfan Pathan got hammered for 0 for 47 in four overs.Unlike Maharashtra’s collective batting effort, Baroda depended on two batsmen to take them to 168 for 6: Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan, who made 53 and 56. They came together with the score on 29 for 2 in 5.1 overs and added 80 for the third wicket in nine overs. Nikit Dhumal was the pick of the Maharashtra bowlers, taking 3 for 18 in his four overs.

A record crowd of 80,833 watched Luke Wright’s masterful century guide the Melbourne Stars to a crucial seven-wicket win over cross-town rivals Melbourne Renegades

The Report by Will Macpherson at the MCG02-Jan-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsLuke Wright’s unbeaten 109 was a memorable innings for the record crowd that showed up at the MCG•Getty Images

Forecasts had suggested the Melbourne derby might break the Big Bash League’s record attendance (previously 52,633). But in the end, the record was veritably smashed, with 80,883 people watching Luke Wright’s masterful century guide the Melbourne Stars to a crucial seven-wicket victory over cross-town rivals the Melbourne Renegades.Earlier 12,901 people – more than have ever watched a Women’s WT20 Final – had seen Renegades Women sneak home against their Stars counterparts. That game was also the first women’s fixture to be shown on one of Australia’s main TV channels.Crowd-wise, this was the perfect storm, a warm Saturday evening at a family-friendly time at the back-end of the holiday season. The significance of such a crowds – particularly with regard to the BBL’s relationship with Test cricket in Australia – cannot yet be known. What is for certain is the tournament has landed; the MCG is used to filling like this for the AFL’s finals series and flagship days, for Ashes Test matches, or for World Cup Cricket.Wright’s innings was brutal, stalking down a Renegades total that always looked light, vindicating David Hussey’s decision to invite them to bat first. Chris Gayle – the self-proclaimed biggest draw of the night – never got going; looking to heave John Hastings’ second ball, Gayle contrived to find Kevin Pietersen at mid-off.Aaron Finch shared 49 with Cameron White, but the Renegades continued to lose set batsmen at inconvenient junctures. Finch heaved Ben Hilfenhaus for a leg-side six before miscuing Marcus Stoinis to point. Every time Adam Zampa entered the attack, White seemed to find an extra, utterly brutal gear, launching the legspinner for three sixes between cow corner and long-off. White put on 58 with another former Stars player, Matthew Wade, who the ball over Stoinis’ head for a beautiful four. Both batsmen, however, fell in the space of three balls just as the Renegades needed to motor. Wade attempted to ramp Hastings and edged behind, then White sent Michael Beer straight to deep backward square.Tom Beaton nailed his first ball for a straight six but was gone an over later, caught in the deep on the leg side, then Hastings picked up two wickets in the final over to finish with 4 for 29. Tom Cooper hit a marvellous ramped six, but mistimed a pull to fine leg. An uncomfortable Dwayne Bravo innings ended in comical fashion, his bat flying towards midwicket – for the second time this competition – as he was comprehensively yorked.Wright looked ravenous from the off. The Renegades bowling looked shy once more, and after a series of hard-run twos to get going, he pulled Nathan Rimmington for four, then bunted him over long-on for six next ball. His opening partner Stoinis was scratchy, and fell to a stunning catch by Wade off Chris Tremain, the wicketkeeper diving full-stretch, one-handed to his right to take a thick edge.Wright continued on his merry way, briefly joined by Kevin Pietersen, who drove his first ball for a beautiful four but was caught behind playing a half-hearted pull off Cameron Gannon, the pick of the Renegades’ bowlers. Wright’s first half-century for the Stars in his last 15 innings came after consecutive boundaries – pulled, then straight-driven – off Gannon. Wright is seldom elegant, but is more calculated than he looks, and his strong wrists and brutal bottom-hand make him tough to bowl to when set.Glenn Maxwell came, shone briefly, then left; a stunning swept six off Xavier Doherty followed by a horrid misjudgement to Bravo, who bowled him through the gate at the end of an over that saw Wright biff him for two more boundaries. Wright stepped up a gear to Doherty’s next over. He was dropped by Beaton at long-on on 64, and punished the fielder to the tune of two consecutive sixes straight over his head. In the company of the calm Peter Handscomb, it was a cakewalk, Wright bringing up his century in the penultimate over with a pull over midwicket for six, and finishing the job off the first ball of the last, hitting Gannon down the ground.The BBL is on the charge and so, thanks to Wright, are the Stars.

Four days before Australia’s opening Champions Trophy match against England, Michael Clarke will visit a specialist in London after his long-standing back problem flared up

Nagraj Gollapudi in Cardiff04-Jun-2013Four days before Australia’s opening Champions Trophy match against England, Michael Clarke will visit a specialist in London after his long-standing back problem flared up and ruled him out of the warm-up match against India after he also missed the West Indies game.Clarke has had to manage his back condition through the majority of his international career so the fact that he is having further investigation will not cause overdue alarm although the timing is hardly ideal for Australia.Cricket Australia physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said: “Michael is still experiencing some lower back pain and as such is not fit for the warm-up game against India today. Michael will head to London tomorrow for specialist treatment and a decision on his fitness for next game will be made in due course.”Clarke sat out Australia’s four-wicket victory against West Indies in the first warm-up match, in Cardiff last Saturday, with George Bailey taking over as interim captain. Clarke had batted in the indoor nets ahead of the second match against India but was not part of the playing eleven as Australia named an unchanged team.In March, Clarke was forced to miss the final Test against India, in Delhi, after his back problems surfaced and Shane Watson stood in as captain. However, Watson has ruled himself out of filling in the leadership again after his troublesome tour of India.”At this point in time absolutely not,” he said. “I stepped down as vice-captain for a number of different reasons but at this point in time, it was certainly the best thing for the team. I’m just here to get the best out of myself and help as much as I always do anyway.”If Clarke’s problems reoccur during the Ashes, Brad Haddin would be the likeliest person to step into the captaincy. Before leaving Australia, Clarke had spoken about his confidence at the back issues not being a major problem.”I’m confident it’ll be no different to what it has been through my career. I’ve managed to play 90-odd Test matches and only miss one through my career,” he said. “That’s a big part of why preparation is so important for me, I need to make sure I’m fit, need to make sure I’m not carrying too much weight, I need to make sure I’m putting in the work to be fit in eight or 12 months’ time.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings in Kolkata

The Preview by Kanishkaa Balachandran13-May-2012

Match facts

Monday, May 14, 2012
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Super Kings have two remaining games as opposed to Knight Riders’ three•AFP

Big Picture

The Saturday double-header produced unexpected results, adding more intrigue to the race for the playoffs. Both Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders – the top two teams – suffered heavy defeats, giving the teams below a chance to sneak into the final four at the end of the league stage.Chennai Super Kings’ campaign, which had stuttered midway, was revived by two consecutive victories, the latest coming against Daredevils. The manner in which they brushed aside the table leaders in Chennai should cause shivers to Knight Riders, who took their foot off the pedal on Saturday and paid the price. Super Kings silenced a powerful batting order on a pitch that gave the seamers a lot of assistance. Knocking off the required 115 was a mere formality. If Super Kings lose to Knight Riders and then beat Kings XI Punjab to finish on 17 points, they’ll need a lot of other results to fall into place for them to make the last four. Having seen off one powerhouse, they need to get past another.Knight Riders are ahead of Super Kings by points, but, have played one game less at this stage. One win in their remaining matches will give them a very good chance of qualifying. However, their aim won’t be to just qualify. They’ll want to finish among the top two and give themselves the best chance of making it to the final.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed games)
Chennai Super Kings: WWLWL

Kolkata Knight Riders: LWWWW

Players to watch

In a forgettable game with the ball for Knight Riders against Mumbai Indians, Shakib Al Hasan was the lone wicket-taker and finished with the best economy rate – 6.75 – off his four overs. Shakib returned after nearly a month on the bench and enhanced his reputation by bowling 12 dot balls.Ben Hilfenhaus was the standout performer for Super Kings against Daredevils with a match-defining 3 for 27, but Albie Morkel‘s contribution was also significant. He took a wicket but gave away just 15 runs off four overs. Morkel’s overall economy rate for Super Kings over five seasons is a pricey 8.22. His returns on Saturday were a refreshing change.

Stats and trivia

• Ravindra Jadeja is Super Kings’ leading wicket-taker with ten wickets and has bowled 29 overs. Dwayne Bravo is second with nine but has bowled 13 overs more.
• Sunil Narine has gone wicketless in an innings only twice in his ten games for Knight Riders.

Quotes

“Ben’s action is different to that of Doug [Bollinger]. But, Ben is very good at swinging the brand new ball. It is an asset, though his action is a little different to both Albie [Morkel] and Doug.”
.”Calling his innings excellent will be an understatement. It’s hard to describe his innings in words.” .

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Pune Warriors in Bangalore

Sidharth Monga28-Apr-2011

Match facts

Friday, April 29, Bangalore
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)Yuvraj Singh will look for more support from his batting line-up•Associated Press

Big picture

Time is running out for Pune Warriors. With four losses out of six matches, they have severe catching-up to do in their remaining eight games. And it all has to start with snapping a four-match losing streak they have accumulated. In their last three matches they have been 17 for 4, 40 for 4 and 41 for 4. The batting order is surely not ideal: Yuvraj Singh at No. 5 always runs the risk of being wasted, Mithun Manhas and Mohnish Mishra in the top four make it one non-international batsman too many, and Callum Ferguson definitely should not be on the bench considering their batting failures.Royal Challengers Bangalore, on the other hand, have started a turnaround of sorts with Chris Gayle’s arrival. They have seven points after seven matches; 14 after 14 can get them through to the qualifiers. However, they will want more than that, and will be aiming at four wins at least in the remaining games.

Form guide (most recent first)

Bangalore WWNLL (fourth in points table)
Pune LLLLW (ninth in points table)

Team talk

Pune will need to find a way to get Ferguson in. Given that they have five specialist bowlers doing a good job for them, they can easily bring him in ahead of Mitchell Marsh, who replaced Nathan McCullum for Pune’s last game.Bangalore will want to persist with their winning combination.Predict the playing XIs for this match. Play ESPNcricinfo Team selector.

In the spotlight

Jesse Ryder has got off to good starts, but has also fallen to the short ball on more than one occasion. Expect more of that from Zaheer Khan & Co.Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a golden duck in the previous game, and will look to pull his weight in what is, on paper, one of the most destructive opening combinations in the IPL.

Prime numbers

• Virat Kohli, with 227 runs to his name, is 43 short of claiming the orange cap
• Rahul Sharma’s 6.04 an over is the fourth-best economy-rate among bowlers who have bowled a minimum of 10 overs. Daniel Vettori, Yusuf Pathan and Doug Bollinger are ahead of him

The chatter

“We didn’t apply our brains while batting. We kept on making the same mistakes again and again.”

Ewen Thompson, the Central Districts left-arm seamer who played an ODI and a Twenty20 for New Zealand, has retired from first-class cricket

Cricinfo staff27-May-2010 Ewen Thompson, the Central Districts left-arm seamer who played an ODI and a Twenty20 for New Zealand, has retired from first-class cricket. The 30-year-old has announced that he wants to focus on being a player-cum-coach for club side Northland from next season.Thompson had already hinted at retirement recently, when he told his bosses at Central Districts that he won’t be available for the Twenty20 Champions League in South Africa later this year.”I have decided I’d rather move on earlier rather than stay around for the tournament so have organised my job with Northland Cricket,” Thompson told New Plymouth-based . “I’m focusing on my other careers, which is coaching and in property.”A tall left-armer and useful lower-order batsman, Thompson was rewarded with a national call-up at the age of 29, during West Indies’ tour of New Zealand in 2008-09. He made his first-class debut in 2000-01 and immediately made an impact, finishing the joint second-highest wicket-taker (22) for his state. His journey to the top wasn’t easy – he once suffered a fatigue-related virus – and his perseverance was one of his string suits.Thompson ended the previous Plunket Shield season as the third-highest wicket-taker with 34 in eight games at an average of 24.08. Despite those figures, Thompson admitted that his body felt the strain towards the end of the season, which prompted his decision to quit the first-class game.”I’m not a player who can manage my workload very well. I just like to get stuck in and I really found the last part of last season tough keeping up the overs I tended to bowl,” Thompson said. “Plus, we’ve got some good young guys coming through in Central Districts like Adam Milne, who really impressed me with his start last summer, so it’s a good time to move on.”Before joining Northland, he will play six weeks of club cricket in Ireland from August.

Glamorgan claim consolation win thanks to unbeaten 50 from Australia international

ECB Reporters Network16-Jul-2024Marnus Labuschagne starred with bat and ball as Glamorgan eased to a 13-run victory over the Kent Spitfires in a rain-shortened dead-rubber at Canterbury.After the weather delayed the start, Glamorgan made 145 for 6 from their 13 overs, with Labuschagne blasting an unbeaten 50 from 26 balls, before claiming an economical 1 for 14 from his two overs.Sam Billings hit 33 from 17 balls but Kent were always struggling to keep up with a run rate of more than 11 an over. Two wickets from Timm van der Gugten in the 11th over extinguished the Spitfires’ already slim hopes and they finished on 132 for 5.Neither side stood a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals and torrential rain delayed the start until 8pm, with the game reduced to 13 overs per side.The visitors were asked to bat and attacked from the outset. Kiran Carlson ramped Tom Rogers for an outrageous six and Will Smale hit a rapid 18 from eight, before a cluster of wickets temporarily slowed the run rate. Smale miscued Nathan Gilchrist to Tom Rogers at mid-off and Tom Bevan was run out for 3 after Carlson was hit amidships by Rogers: he had almost reached the striker’s end before realising his partner was doubled up with pain, allowing the bowler to run him out with a direct hit.Marcus O’Riordan claimed a wicket with his first ball when Carlson went for 18, caught at backward square-leg by Rogers. At that point it was 52 for 3 but Labuschagne and Colin Ingram countered with a stand of 54 that ended when Joey Evison had Ingram caught by Rogers for 26 from 13 balls.Related

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Chris Cooke went for 6, driving Gilchrist to Jack Leaning at long-off and Ben Kellaway was run out by Rogers and an off-balance Billings for 3, but Labuschagne scrambled his way to a half-century in the final over.Kent’s Blast campaign has been so grim that this looked like the sort of target they’d struggle to chase with 20 overs to play with. They took 12 from a promising first over, but lost Tawanda Muyeye for 7, caught behind off Dan Douthwaite.O’Riordan should have gone for a duck in the same over and although Andy Gorvin dropped an absolute dolly at midwicket, he failed to cash in. Mason Crane claimed the prize wicket of Daniel Bell-Drummond for 27, caught by Kellaway at the cow-corner boundary before Labuschagne bowled O’Riordan for 9 off 14.Billings hit Crane for a six that landed on the roof of the Cowdrey Stand and Smale dropped Jack Leaning when he holed out off Labuschagne on 9, but Glamorgan’s economical bowling meant the rate spiralled out of control.Kent needed 54 from the final three overs and the pressure forced Billings into an ugly shot, chipping van der Gugten to Carlson at cover. Van der Gugten then had Leaning caught by Kellaway at deep square for 11 and although Rogers had some fun, his unbeaten 31 from 12 begged the question why he hadn’t batted higher up the order.Kent needed an improbable 29 from Douthwaite’s last over but only managed 15 and the defeat guarantees the 2021 champions will finish bottom of the South Group.