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Teenager Allison, playing his third first-team innings, shines

ECB Reporters Network11-Aug-2023Charlie Allison struck a maiden half-century in only his third first-team innings to help Essex pull off an extraordinary first victory of the season in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.The 18-year-old younger brother of seamer Ben lived up to his promise in the second eleven with a mature knock of 70 that included three sixes and even outshone his captain Tom Westley’s patient 80 from 90 balls.However, Middlesex looked well on track to record their own first win of the campaign when they reached 236 for 3 with 15 overs left chasing 299 to win.But despite Mark Stoneman setting the foundations for their reply with a dozen fours and two sixes in a 97-ball 93, Middlesex collapsed to lose by three runs with seven balls left to the delight of a large Chelmsford crowd.And it was Allison whose throw from the third-man boundary ran out Ethan Bamber as the final Middlesex pair tried to steal the runs to decide the match.Middlesex had 100 on the board inside the 15 overs of their reply with Stoneman reaching his fifty from just 39 balls. It included two sixes, one scooped off Aaron Beard and another pulled off Jamie Porter. He might have perished there and then had Michael Pepper’s throw been more accurate into the wicketkeeper’s gloves.He capitalised on the reprieve with an extravagant reverse-sweep for four off Simon Harmer. James Cracknell had been slightly overshadowed in the stand of 124, though he took two successive boundaries off Harmer before he was brilliantly caught in the covers by Robin Das for 48.The wicket had no significant impact on Middlesex’s progress and they were halfway to their target in 22 overs, though Sam Robson was dropped on 20 at backward point by Das.Essex thought they had Robson soon after for a catch behind off Beau Webster that left umpire Paul Nicholls unmoved and the bowler showing his frustration by slamming the ball to the ground. Robson was finally removed for 26, driving at Aaron Beard and being bowled.Stoneman’s stay eight minutes shy of two hours was ended when he swung Beard to Porter on the deep fine-leg boundary.At that point Middlesex threatened to implode with three wickets going down in 14 balls. Jack Davies was bamboozled by one from Harmer before Ryan Higgins dragged on from Webster and Luke Hollman was run out without facing a ball. It got worse when Josh de Caires was bowled by Porter to leave Middlesex still 42 runs short with 10 overs remaining.Martin Andersson had helped Simpson take them within nine runs of victory when he was bowled by Webster. He was followed, two runs later, by Simpson, bowled by Westley. And then came the unlikely denouement.On a pitch that took spin early on, de Caires’s three wickets in eight balls halted an Essex onslaught led by Pepper, who took a liking to Middlesex debutant Isaan Kaushal, hitting him for four fours and a six over extra cover before the 21-year-old seamer was withdrawn from the attack. However, when Kaushel returned late on he claimed his maiden first-team wicket when Will Buttleman picked out deep mid-on.Pepper swept de Caires’s first ball for his sixth boundary but fell next ball for an 18-ball 31 to a stupendous running catch over his shoulder at deep long leg by Andersson. Das then pulled de Caires invitingly to deep square leg, and two balls later Webster advanced too far and turned in dismay to see John Simpson removing the bails.Luc Benkenstein helped steady the ship in a 55-run partnership with Westley. But after lofting de Caires for six over long leg, he took a wild swipe at Luke Hollman, who then had Harmer playing all round one to be lbw.Westley’s innings had few thrills, though he carved Robson through extra cover for his sixth boundary the ball before he was beaten by one that turned from outside off and took middle stump.Allsion had played calmly alongside Westley but cut loose once his captain had departed. He reached his fifty from 59 balls with a six to long-off in a Robson over that also went for a maximum over long-leg by Buttleman. Allison’s 65-ball innings ended when he played over a ball from Bamber.

Comfortable five-wicket win as Northamptonshire take control at Wantage Road

ECB Reporters Network07-Jun-2022 Northamptonshire 155 for 5 (cobb 70) beat Derbyshire 151 for 9 (Taylor 4-27) by five wickets Northamptonshire Steelbacks captain Josh Cobb struck 70 from just 44 balls, his highest score of this Vitality Blast season to help his side chase down 152 and earn a five-wicket victory over Derbyshire Falcons with 11 balls to spare.Cobb, deprived of opportunities this season by Chris Lynn’s power-hitting, picked up the mantle after the Australian fell to a rare first-ball duck. Playing a belligerent innings, he struck six fours and three maximums before Rob Keogh took the Steelbacks over the line.Earlier Tom Taylor took three wickets in an over as the Steelbacks’ bowlers restricted Derbyshire Falcons to a modest total. Wayne Masden was the only batter to offer any real resistance with 37.The Falcons were kept to 40 for two at the end of the powerplay. Luis Reece swung one high over deep midwicket in the first over but Taylor and Ben Sanderson applied the brakes, backed up well by some sharp Steelbacks fielding.Reece attempted to up the scoring rate but miscued a big shot against Taylor and offered a steepler of a catch to Neesham at midwicket. Shan Masood fell shortly afterwards to an astonishing running catch by Keogh on the boundary at backward square off Sanderson.Hayden Kerr (29 off 22 balls), promoted to number three, looked assured and put on 39 for the third wicket with Leus du Plooy (19). Any hope of building a big total fell away though when the Falcons lost three wickets for 16 runs in as many balls to stutter to 80 for five at the end of the twelfth over.First du Plooy hit Freddie Heldreich straight to Taylor on the long-off boundary before Kerr holed out at deep midwicket off Jimmy Neesham. Brooke Guest then gave Heldreich his second scalp caught at point.The Falcons went four overs before scoring another boundary as Madsen and Alex Hughes rebuilt. Hughes finally cleared the square leg boundary dispatching the ball into the gardens of the neighbouring terraced houses.Masden survived two dropped catches off Sanderson but Taylor struck back in the next over. First he removed both set batsmen who both fell to catches by Cobb at cover before knocking back Mattie McKiernan’s stumps. With a run-out off the last ball, the Falcons finished on 151 for nine.An expectant Wantage Road crowd were momentarily hushed when Lynn, fresh from his heroics in the previous two Steelbacks home games, edged behind off the first ball of the chase bowled by Kerr.Cobb though started aggressively, clubbing Kerr over mid off and then cutting him for consecutive boundaries.He slog swept George Scrimshaw over deep midwicket for six and hit Watt down the ground for another to take the Steelbacks to 53 for one at the end of the powerplay.He rode his luck at times, offering two sharp chances which the Falcons failed to hold. Later he was caught on the ropes only for the fielder’s boot to touch the rope in the process.He had put on 55 with Ben Curran before his partner fell to a catch behind square off Scrimshaw when Conners took a well-judged catch sliding on his knees to get to the ball. Saif Zaib made only six before he offered a catch behind off an attempted pull shot.Cobb meanwhile advanced to his half century reaching the landmark off 31 balls. He continued in belligerent fashion crunching the ball through the covers and playing some deft cut shots before finally falling off a thick edge to Conners at deep point off Scrimshaw to leave the Steelbacks on 102 for four in the 13th over.Neesham hit 20 before he fell to a catch at long-on but Keogh held his nerve, finishing with an undefeated 28 off 24 deliveries.

Richardson hit important runs down the order and then bagged four wickets in another impressive display

Daniel Brettig22-Jan-2021Matthew Wade returned to BBL ranks and Tim Paine sat on the Hobart Hurricanes’ bench, but it was the Perth Scorchers’ South Africa tour aspirant Jhye Richardson who maintained his dominance of the tournament to effectively seal a finals place for his side.The Scorchers’ innings endured more than a few hiccups courtesy of some useful spin from the Hurricanes and another excellent display from Nathan Ellis, however the Scorchers’ gloveman Josh Inglis put together an excellent middle order innings and was aided by some powerful late blows from none other than Richardson.Hobart’s chase was unsettled early on by Richardson, defeating Wade and Ben McDermott in his opening two overs, before he returned to also account for Pete Handscomb and then rounded off the contest by snaring Tim David. Jason Behrendorff also figured importantly by finding ways past D’Arcy Short and Dawid Malan.Spin slows Scorchers’ early hittingA fine, sunny afternoon in neutral Melbourne was more reminiscent of Perth than Hobart, and an ideal seeing day for the Scorchers’ top order after Ashton Turner won the toss. Jason Roy was quickly into gear, taking 10 from Riley Meredith’s first over and then lining up Scott Boland to set the Victorian on the path to an unflattering 0 for 48 from his four overs.Wade called on spin to shift momentum, and was well served by Will Jacks, Sandeep Lamichhane and Short after the skilful Ellis had found a way through Roy’s defence. Jacks’ first wicket of the tournament was a helpful drag-on from Colin Munro, before Liam Livingstone and Mitchell Marsh both miscalculated against Lamichhane’s leggies. A promising 1 for 44 quickly became a sickly looking 4 for 66.Ellis, Inglis duel for prominenceWith Australia having both T20I and Test tours soon to commence, there will be extra places available due to those players unable to take part in both. This should mean close consideration of Ellis, who as a Power Play and death bowler is among the more canny in BBL ranks while also having enough pace when he chooses to use it. He is a study in contrasts with the quicker, taller but not always as game-aware Riley Meredith, who went to England with the white-ball squad last year. A return of 4 for 34 went a long way towards limiting the Scorchers at Docklands.At the same time, Inglis’ tidy wicketkeeping and improving batting has rewarded the faith of the Scorchers and Western Australia at both BBL and Shield levels. Having to endure as the Scorchers’ innings staggered, Inglis was then able to accelerate intelligently while making the most of an array of different ways to find the fine leg boundary. Using both power and finesse, Inglis joined forced grandly with another international aspirant in Richardson, who hammered 29 from 14 balls in the closing overs to vault Perth well past 170.Richardson knocks the top off HurricanesFollowing a Test series that achieved little for Wade other than to take his Test batting average below 30, he was understandably hopeful of a strong rebound in the BBL – an arena that had been something of his playground on his road back to the international realm in 2018-19. Instead he ran headlong into Richardson who is close to taking off for South Africa with the Test team in late February.Wade defended a couple, mistimed a couple and cracked one fierce boundary through cover before being cramped into a leading edge and a tame return catch to Richardson, departing for just 6. Richardson followed up by coaxing another miscue out of Ben McDermott, and after a brief rest was brought back by Turner to find a way through Pete Handscomb, to that point looking very much like the Hurricanes’ best chance of mounting a successful chase.David defeated by line-ball full tossTowards the end of the innings the Hurricanes found one small glimmer through the heavy hitting of David, a WA product well familiar with most of the Scorchers’ bowlers. While lacking support, he had the Hurricanes needing an unlikely but not impossible 32 from nine balls while farming the strike. At this point Richardson, in his final over, erred on the full side with a delivery that looked very close to waist height as it whirred down towards the batsman.David threw everything at it, slicing a catch to deep cover and forcing a long wait while the third umpire Sam Nogjaski deliberated. It was a line-ball call, but the umpire eventually decided that the delivery had not risen above waist height in David’s regular stance, handing Richardson his fourth wicket for the match and 25th for the tournament. The Scorchers duly finished off the job to entrench their position in the BBL top five.

Garg was trying to take evasive action when a back foot punch from Avesh Khan struck him

Hemant Brar in Alur01-Sep-2019India Green batsman Priyam Garg was hit in the neck while fielding at silly point on day four of his side’s Duleep Trophy match against India Red in Alur. Garg was conscious but in pain as the physio applied an ice pack to the injured area. An ambulance was brought on to the field and, as a precaution, he was taken to hospital to run some tests and scans.The incident took place on the last ball of the 138th over of India Red’s innings, bowled by Rahul Chahar. Garg found himself directly in line of the travelling ball while taking evasive action against a back-foot punch from Avesh Khan. Garg’s helmet had a neck guard, which softened the impact.”Initially, we had suspected a concussion and that’s why took him for some scans. But he never showed any signs of a concussion,” India Green physio Prasanth Panchada said. “Still we are sending the MRIs to another radiologist for a second opinion but as of now he is fine and can bat as well.”Meanwhile, Avesh’s maiden first-class half-century helped India Red take a one-run lead. Avesh, who hit two fours and seven sixes in his 56-ball 64, added 73 for the tenth wicket with Sandeep Warrier; the latter contributing only 5.Despite conceding the lead, their higher quotient means that India Green are almost through to the final, unless they collapse in the second innings.

A tight finish is in store at Cheltenham so like the revellers in the marquees circling the ground the scoreboard needs to be on its best behaviour

Paul Edwards at Cheltenham18-Jul-2018
ScorecardThis day began with the completion of a domestic collapse fit to rank with that of Overend, Gurney and Company in 1866, six years before the Cheltenham Festival began. It ended with Gloucestershire batting again and seeking to atone for their previous frailty by making 276 to win. They have so far scored 30 of those runs but have lost their openers, both of whom were caught behind by Ben Brown off Jofra Archer. Thus, after three fluctuating sessions we are set for a climax to savour. Watching county cricket this summer has seemed an idyll without interruption; it has been good fortune without tariff.Yet if Wednesday’s cricket began and ended with Archer cruising in and scenting flesh, the heart of our cricket featured a gloriously disciplined innings of 98 by Harry Finch, who came to the middle when Phil Salt was bowled for 9 by Ryan Higgins in the sixth over of Sussex’s second innings and did not depart until his side’s lead was nearly 200. Finch’s dismissal, caught behind off Craig Miles, came one ball after his 16th four, a faultless cover-drive, had taken him to within a single good hit of his second century of the season. His departure was surprising because his defence had hitherto been so compact and his attacking shots had been played without the showy flourish which so often suggests vulnerability. To borrow a term used by Mike Brearley in his book Finch’s batting was “centred” in the fashion of batsmen in decent nick and his fatal flirt with a ball just outside off stump was one of his few errors.For most of the day the other Sussex batsmen played their innings around Finch’s 205-minute vigil. Luke Wright’s gloriously savage 48 included nine fours and a six but ended two balls after lunch when he drove David Payne low to Ryan Higgins at mid-off. David Wiese put on 39 for the sixth wicket with Finch and was seventh out for 40 when his attempted drive off Higgins skied the ball towards Prothero’s chapel, only for Miles to hare some forty yards from mid-on and take a quite brilliant catch. Chris Jordan made a pleasant 30 before edging Miles to Roderick.In contrast to Gloucestershire, who had lost the last seven wickets in their first innings for 11 runs in 8.5 overs, Sussex built modest partnerships. This was easier, perhaps, because Ben Brown leads a team with a clear top six in its order and four other batsmen each of whom could go in at No 7. If the home side mirror their careful approach, Dent’s men may yet achieve a very fine victory.The odds, though, are against it. A target of 276 is substantial on a pitch offering inconsistency of bounce. David Payne’s four wickets on Wednesday were a just reward and included his 200th first-class victim but Archer, Jordan and Ollie Robinson will reckon they can more than match his contribution, albeit that Gloucestershire’s batsmen are under no pressure to score quickly.And it was also a day on which the packed tents and marquees – over 20 of them at this year’s festival – could take in Cheltenham’s many glories. Indeed, the College Ground is the sort of venue where visitors struggling to shake off the past suddenly find they have no wish to do so.There are Sussex connections, too. Just to the left of the pavilion a fine Lombardy poplar commemorates the achievement of the KS Duleepsinhji who took 7 for 35 in 1921 against a Marlborough team whose eleven players boasted 27 initials. Duleep nearly steered Sussex to the County Championship in 1932 only for his health to break down in mid-August. He never played for the county again.And perhaps spectators in Wednesday’s cheery chaos of canvas, clinking glasses and jazz bands needed a sense of history and a tranquil approach to life as they watched George Drissell and Matt Taylor, two nightwatchmen if you please, defy the Sussex seamers in the final 25 balls of the day.At least they could be grateful the scoreboard worked. On the first day of this game the damn thing had packed in and essential details had to be announced over the public address. This managed to be very irritating while also not mattering much at all. This is Cheltenham, after all. That wretched board will need to work properly on the final day, though.

England are using the Lions’ four-day match against South Africa as a shoot-out for a Test openers spot with Mark Stoneman, Nick Gubbins, Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed all named

David Hopps13-Jun-2017England have set-up a Test shootout for the role of Alastair Cook’s Test opening partner as four batsmen vie for the opportunity in the Lions squad which will face South Africa in Canterbury next week.

Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings are the two men in pole position, but they will have to promote their claims alongside the Middlesex batsman Nick Gubbins and Mark Stoneman, who is having a fine inaugural season with Surrey since making the switch from Durham.Jennings is averaging a shade under 40, with only one century, in a Durham side that has been in the doldrums since relegation to Division Two of the Specsavers Championship with a 48-point penalty, but he also had an unproductive Lions tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year as he also came to terms with the responsibilities of captaincy, a role he has retained.Hameed has had a disturbing loss of form, averaging only 19.33 and still to pass fifty in six Championship matches for Lancashire as his inclusion in their 50-over side has coincided with a reduction in the ingrained concentration that won so many plaudits last season.The confidence surrounding England’s one-day side as they have advanced to the semi-final of the Champions Trophy has not been without its own uncertainty about the top of the order with Jonny Bairstow well placed to replace the out-of-form Jason Roy in the semi-final against Pakistan on Wednesday.The questions in the Test side ahead of a four-match series against South Africa, beginning at Lord’s on July 6, are equally pressing, yet with different personnel. Joe Root batted at No. 3 throughout England’s disastrous Test series in India last winter, which if that policy persisted against South Africa, and ahead of this winter’s Ashes series, would leave only a single place available.Somerset’s spin-bowling duo, Jack Leach and Dom Bess, a teenaged offspinner, are both named in the squad. Leach, who played in the Lions’ last four-day game against Sri Lanka A in Dambulla in February, is also joined by another Somerset team-mate in Jamie Overton.Stoneman and Bess, about a decade apart in age, are the only two members of the squad not to have played previously for the Lions. A separate Lions squad will be named next week for a three-day match against the senior South Africa tourists in Worcester starting on June 29.James Whitaker, the national selector, said: “We have had to delay naming that squad because the game clashes with the Royal London One-Day Cup final, and we will not consider players from the counties who qualify for Lord’s.”There were other considerations in selecting this squad – as ever, we were mindful of counties who have important fixtures in the Specsavers County Championship, while four members of the Lions squad who won the Royal London One-Day Series against South Africa A were unavailable after being selected for the full England squad for the NatWest T20 internationals against South Africa.”England Lions squad: Keaton Jennings (Durham, capt), Mark Stoneman (Surrey), Haseeb Hameed (Lancashire), Nick Gubbins (Middlesex), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Ben Foakes (Surrey, wk), Sam Curran (Surrey), Jamie Overton (Somerset), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Jamie Porter (Essex), George Garton (Sussex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Dominic Bess (Somerset)

Travis Dean hopes he has proven himself as something more than a hundreds-on-debut trivia question by constructing a fine century in the Sheffield Shield final

Daniel Brettig in Adelaide27-Mar-2016Travis Dean hopes he has proven himself as something more than a hundreds-on-debut trivia question by constructing a fine century in the Sheffield Shield final.Following his twin hundreds for Victoria against Queensland in October he had not reached three figures again, but fought his way to 111 on a day when South Australia’s bowlers could have had quite a few more wickets.”Been working as hard as I can, a couple of centuries first game and not much since then so that was a major factor to try to prove I deserve to be here,” Dean said. “Prove to myself and prove to my team-mates.”It hasn’t sunk in yet but hopefully we can bat on and bat big and set up the game for the next couple of days. They bowled really well in stages there and were hard to get away in some stages.”But you never feel in control. As you saw at the end there when we lost a couple of quick wickets there is enough there for the bowlers with the new ball and if you hit the seam you can get a bit out of it.”The innings was a neat summation of Dean’s qualities: an unfussy, technically neat accumulator with a game designed for first-class and, should he keep batting as he did at Glenelg Oval, Test-match arenas.”I’m a very limited player, I don’t have many shots, I try to stick to my game plans, it’s pretty simple,” Dean said. “What all the coaching staff have been saying to me is just stay out there as long as you can, play your natural game to take time out of the game, face as many balls as I can, stay there as long as I can and the runs will eventually come. That’s basically my philosophy.”After a quintet of recent low scores, Dean took succour from Cameron White’s last day defiance in Alice Springs to scrape the Bushrangers into the final. “That was phenomenal to see someone like that,” he said. “You take a lot out of watching the calibre of players we’ve got in the team; every week watching them in the nets, they’ve got tips for you every now and then which is good, but his innings there was phenomenal and you take a little bit out of that.”Dean also showed resilience in making the hundred days after losing his grandmother, who died while he was in Alice Springs. The funeral meant a delayed arrival for the final, but he was able to mark her passing with a poignant gesture towards the heavens upon reaching the milestone.

Graeme Smith, who has been out of competitive cricket since May, will lead South Africa against Pakistan in the Test series in the UAE, which begins on October 14

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-2013

SA squads for the Pakistan series

Test squad
Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Thami Tsolekile (wk)
ODI squad
AB de Villiers (capt), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Ryan McLaren, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Graeme Smith, who has been out of competitive cricket since May, is set to lead South Africa against Pakistan in the Test series in the UAE, which begins next month. Smith suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury while playing county cricket for Surrey, which required surgery. He is not 100% fit yet but, at the squad announcement, Smith said: “I’m feeling on track and I feel I will be there on the tour.”Dale Steyn, who missed much of the Champions Trophy and the limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka due to several niggles – including side strain, groin, glute, neck and ankle problem – will be fit to play. Wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile was picked, while Jacques Rudolph missed out. Imran Tahir and Robin Peterson were both named, meaning South Africa will have two frontline spin options for the tour.JP Duminy, who had missed South Africa’s previous Test series – also against Pakistan, at home in February this year – due to the Achilles tendon injury that ruled him out for several months in the first half of the year, returns to the long format.Smith and Steyn also feature in the ODI squad for the tour, but Jacques Kallis – who opted out of the Champions Trophy and the limited-overs games in Sri Lanka – does not feature, despite confirming his desire to play the 2015 World Cup.Vernon Philander earns a recall to the ODI squad – the last of his eight one-dayers was played in January 2012. One-day cricket, South Africa coach Russell Domingo said, would help Philander develop his bowling further. “Vern’s strengths in Test cricket are his line and length and he would have to find more variation in the one-day game. It’s not about just bowling 10 overs on off stump,” Domingo said. “I always judge a player’s skill on how they are able to learn new things. Vern has an unbelievable desire to do well.”Kallis is expected to be back in the limited-overs set-up for the scheduled home series against India, and convener of selectors Andrew Hudson said the Pakistan series meanwhile provided the lesser-established players a chance to press their case. “This is an opportunity for new guys to put their hands up and compete for a place in the World Cup in 2015.”Wayne Parnell and Imran Tahir will be among the players who want to grab that chance, having gained recalls in ODIs after more than a year on the sidelines. Alviro Petersen, Farhaan Behardien, Colin Ingram, Rory Kleinveldt, Chris Morris and Aaron Phangiso are the ones to miss out from the squad that played the ODI series against Sri Lanka in July.Cricket South Africa said their T20 squad would be named after the Champions League T20, which ends on October 6.South Africa play two Tests, the first of which starts on October 14, followed by five ODIs and two T20s, on the tour. Smith said South Africa would have to ease themselves back into Test cricket, having been away from the longest format for so long: “Going to conditions that are foreign, we just need to be smart in our preparation to be ready. We need to make sure we get the basics right. We can’t expect to be flashy after such a long break.”Domingo said it wasn’t ideal to go into a Test series after a long layoff, and that his team would just have to adapt fast. “We’ve been into Test series cold before; there’s not an awful lot you can do about it. The players are professional and experienced enough to know what they must do to hit the ground running.”There are some positives: fortunately we’ll be there for nine or 10 days before we hit the first of the two Tests, so that’s a bit of a plus. Included will be a three-day warm-up game, which is better than nothing at all – it’s pretty typical of the ways schedules go these days. I think eight of the 15 who go will be playing first in the Twenty20 Champions League, so that’s another good development.”

Nawroz Mangal will lead Afghanistan against Australia in their one-off ODI in Sharjah on Saturday

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Aug-2012Nawroz Mangal will lead Afghanistan against Australia in their one-off ODI in Sharjah on Saturday. Mangal, Afghanistan’s regular captain, had missed their previous international assignment – the Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League Championship matches against Ireland in July.

Afghanistan squad for one-off ODI v Australia

Nawroz Mangal (capt), Mohammad Nabi (vice-capt), Mohammad Shahzad, Karim Sadiq, Javed Ahmadi, Asghar Stanikzai, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shenwari, Gulbodin Naib, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Rahmat Shah, Mohammad Sami

Mohammad Nabi has been named vice-captain, ahead of Karim Sadiq who stood in for Mangal in the Ireland games. The squad includes batsman Javed Ahmadi, who had captained Afghanistan Under-19s at the ongoing World Cup in Australia.The only player to miss out from the XI that played the World Cricket League Championship (the ICC’s 50-overs competition for Associates) game against Ireland, is left-arm spinner Hamza Hotak.The ODI against Australia will be Afghanistan’s second against a Full Member, following the game against Pakistan, also in Sharjah, in February. Australia are in the UAE for a limited-overs series against Pakistan, and Cricket Australia said that they had agreed to play the match against Afghanistan in an effort to assist with their cricketing development.

On a sunny Manchester morning, out near Old Trafford, Graeme Swann arrived wearing dark glasses after a celebratory evening on the town

Sharda Ugra in Manchester01-Sep-2011On a sunny Manchester morning, out near Old Trafford, Graeme Swann arrived wearing dark glasses. He stayed that way for a few hours, not because the area around the Trafford Sports Barn had suddenly turned tropical, but because England had celebrated their Twenty20 International victory over India a little too enthusiastically.Swann, one of two star names at the formal launch of Streetchance, a nationwide inner-city cricket programme, may need a day to bounce back towards his usually high degrees of cheeriness, but he assured anyone listening that the England team was quite ready to launch the next phase of their ambitions.The five-match ODI series versus India begins in Durham on Saturday, and Swann said that it would be a searching examination of England’s new-found status after their 4-0 Test victory and No.1 Test ranking. “It is a great test for us – hopefully the conditions will suit us and we can pull off a victory. It’s where we want to go in one-day cricket, we want to be an improving team and it’s a good chance to start,” the sunglassed Swann said, speaking to a handful of reporters in an indoor basketball court.England’s ascent to the world No.1 Test ranking has not been matched by a similar surge through the ICC ODI rankings. Amongst the ten Test-playing nations, England are ranked a mid-table No.5. A series victory over the current world champions India will ensure that England can both establish credentials as a more-than-competitive limited-overs team, and also ensure that they snap out of the habit of following triumphant Test series with tepid ODI performances.England’s last two Ashes victories, 2-1 at home in 2009 and 3-1 away last winter, were followed by identical 1-6 defeats in the two seven-match ODI series that followed. Victory in the ICC World T20 last year was England’s first in a multi-national ICC event, after having made three of the first five World Cup finals. Swann said that the record of successful Test series tapering off into poor ODI form “was an area we need to really watch; it can often be a bit of a damp squib after a Test series and hopefully it will be a positive rather than negative end to the summer… it’s not something we have discussed amongst us until now, but I’m sure we will soon. The summer has gone great for us; we are hoping to carry that on in the one-day series. It’s a better feeling to be winning rather than losing.”When asked what England’s ODI bug-bears of the past had been, Swann said, “I dunno… we’ve missed a certain X-factor in players but I think we’re getting that now in Jake Dernbach and Eoin Morgan… we’re starting to find those real match-winners with bat and ball.”Over the past week, Dernbach and Morgan have played key roles in England’s ODI victory over Ireland and the T20I vs India in Manchester. The win over India on Wednesday night, he said, had come against “a world-class team. We are going to have to be at our absolute best to beat them and we are confident at the moment; that Twenty20 win last night has done no harm for our confidence at all.”There is much rumbling about India’s performances on this tour (not least from Michael Vaughan, who predicted via Twitter a 4-1 victory for England in the ODIs) and the Twenty20 defeat came from a wobbling middle-order that couldn’t score enough, despite the presence of some of India’s younger and fresher batsmen.Before he left the Manchester media, Swann was asked a few questions about local cricket and football. His preferences ran thus: City over United in football, (“I’d rather see City do it, to be honest, even if they’ve got gazilloons of dollars to spend, whatever”) and Lancashire to win the county championship – both for the sake of history and for the sake of his former England coach Peter Moores, the man who recalled him to the fold after a seven-year international hiatus in 2007. “I wish Moorsey all the best for Lancashire and I hope they can win it for him,” he said, shortly before they were routed by Worcestershire inside a day-and-a-half at New Road.At the start of the event, Swann had been called onto stage by MC Mark Nicholas as the “representative of modern England” and took off his sun-glasses for a short instant, before revealing that he had been called Grandad on the field by the rest of the T20 squad. He is one of two players over the age of 30 in the Twenty20 team and the audience of officials, coaches, bankers, police officers, community workers, and young cricketers from six inner-city teams laughed as Swann said ruefully, “When they take their tops off, you can see they’ve barely started puberty.”Graeme Swann was speaking at the launch of ‘StreetChance supported by Barclays Spaces for Sports’ – a cricket initiative that aims to tackle youth crime and anti-social behaviour. See Streetchance.org for details