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Dean Elgar will lead the side in his absence, while Zubayr Hamza has been added to the squad

Firdose Moonda28-Dec-2023Temba Bavuma has been ruled out of the New Year’s Test against India, after suffering a hamstring strain that kept him out of most of the Boxing Day match. Dean Elgar, fresh off a match-winning 185 in Centurion, will lead South Africa in what will be his final Test. Meanwhile, Zubayr Hamza has been added to the squad.Bavuma hurt himself on the first morning of the match, in the 20th over, when he chased a ball towards long-off and got to it as it stopped before the boundary. He left the field immediately and was sent for a scan, which revealed a strain, but not a tear, and Cricket South Africa said he would be monitored daily to determine his further participation in the match.He was seen briefly at the morning warm-ups, but not at all after that and over the next two days, there was no communication from team management, particularly on whether Bavuma would bat. Since it was an internal injury, he could bat only after he had served the time he was off for, or after the fall of the fifth wicket, whichever was earlier. But repeated questions to the changeroom went unanswered and speculation over the severity of his injury grew.Related

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• Elgar and South Africa pacers flatten India inside three days

• Classy Elgar unveils a new dimension in farewell series

South Africa’s Test coach Shukri Conrad confirmed Bavuma was “not in a great physical state” but that the situation was “fluid” and the team did not want to make any public comments before they knew if Bavuma would be needed to bat. Ultimately, Conrad decided not to risk Bavuma because he deemed South Africa’s lead comfortable enough, at 163.”Temba is not in a great physical state,” Conrad said afterwards. “He was ready to bat at every turn, and we kept monitoring it. When we reached where we reached, not because we felt that was enough, we felt that if we sent him out then there was a potential risk that he could aggravate the risk even further. We were constantly giving ourselves maximum time so we could give out the right information. If we lost wickets early, he would have walked on. With 150 runs ahead, I felt it wasn’t necessary to risk Temba.”Bavuma will be assessed to determine his availability for his next assignment, with the Sunrisers Eastern Cape at the SA20. He will not play in South Africa’s two-Test series against New Zealand early next year because of his SA20 commitments.This was Bavuma’s first outing since South Africa’s semi-final at the ODI World Cup against Australia on November 16, where he was carrying a right hamstring strain. Bavuma picked up that injury while fielding in their final group match against Afghanistan in Ahmedabad on November 10 but did not leave the field at any stage and batted for 49 minutes as South Africa successfully chased down 245. He did not have a scan in India but progressed with a rehabilitation program at training and was cleared to play the semi-final, even though he conceded that he was not 100% fit. South Africa lost that match by three wickets.Bavuma was rested from South Africa’s next assignment of three T20Is and three ODIs against India, which started on December 10, and was due to play a four-day first-class match between December 14 and 17 to prepare for the Test series. He missed the practice game because of a family bereavement. On the eve of the Test, Bavuma declared himself “mentally as fresh as ever” and he was a strong presence in the field for the first 90 minutes of play.In his absence, Elgar took over the leadership duties and will do so again next week when he signs off from South African cricket. Conrad put to bed conversations that his relationship with Elgar had turned sour after Elgar was removed as captain when Conrad took over and has since decided to retire. “If there was this frosty relationship, then he wouldn’t have captained [now],” Conrad said.

Jamaica’s Pete Salmon also suspended after his first-class debut

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2020Cricket West Indies has suspended Jamiaca offspinners John Campbell (a part-time bowler who opened the batting for West Indies in all three formats last year) and Pete Salmon from bowling in domestic West Indies matches with immediate effect, for illegal bowling actions. CWI confirmed that opinion reports from independent assessors at Loughborough University found that the actions of the two bowlers exceeded the permissible limit of 15 degrees.Campbell and Salmon will remain suspended until their actions are found legal either by an opinion report from Loughborough University or by an independent analysis from an accredited testing centre, in accordance with the board’s regulations for dealing with suspect bowling actions.The duo will undergo remedial work supervised by Jamaica and they can apply for a reassessment after modifying their actions.Cambell was reported for a suspect bowling action during the first round match against Trinidad & Tobago early last month. He took figures of 1 from 54 in his 19 overs in the match.Salmon’s action was reported on his first-class debut, the fourth-round match between Jamaica and Guyana earlier this month in Guyana. Salmon’s figures were very impressive: he finished with a match haul of 8 for 110, which won him the Player-of-the-Match award in his team’s narrow win of seven runs.

Indian captain also talks about why he turned vegetarian in a chat with Kevin Pietersen

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2020One hundred thirty-four runs in five Tests.Stats that make Indian captain Virat Kohli cringe each time he thinks of the 2014 Test series in England.On Thursday, in an Instagram chat with former England captain Kevin Pietersen, Kohli said that tour was the lowest point in his career and it had come about because he was “too focused” on “doing well from a personal point” instead of putting the team first.”The lowest point in my career was the England tour in 2014 where that is one phase where I felt like, you know, when as a batsman you know you are going to get out in the morning when you wake up,” Kohli told Pietersen. “That was the time I felt like that: that there is no chance I am getting runs. And still to get out of bed and just get dressed for the game and to go out there and go through that, knowing that you will fail was something that ate me up. It just demolished me completely. And I promised myself I am never going to allow myself to feel like ever again in life.”Kohli now wants India’s young cricketers not to commit the same mistake. “And that happened, for all the younger guys listening, because I was too focused on doing well from a personal point of view. I wanted to get runs. I could never think of what does the team want me to do in this situation. I just got too engulfed with England tour – if I perform here, Test cricket, in my mind I’m going to feel established and all that crap on the outside, which is not important at all. It just ate me up. I just kept going into a downward spiral and I just couldn’t get out of it. Horrible.”Kohli said he was able to pick himself up and become the best all-format batsman in the world because he opened his mind and started focusing on what his team needed more than what he needed.Later, when Pietersen inquired about whether Kohli’s training routine ahead of a match day, he said it was just a mental thing and once again warned against being “self-centered.””With technique also, everything is mental. You have played in a time where you were walking and hitting fast bowlers. Coaches don’t teach you that. So it’s innovation. It’s staying one step ahead of the opponent. If you are thinking about how to win the game for your team, these things come to you.”If you are too personal in your approach, if you are too self-centered, you are just thinking about yourself, then you are just looking for ways to get out eventually because people are going to find you out. You are not getting out of your comfort zone because you don’t want to fail.”Kevin Pietersen and Virat Kohli catch up before the match•IDI via Getty Images

When and why did Kohli turn vegetarian?By the time Kohli returned for his next Test series in England, in 2018, he had not only improved his skill levels, he also decided to become a vegetarian. Pietersen, who had seen Kohli enjoy meat when they were team-mates at Royal Challengers Bangalore, was curious to know about the transformation.”I wasn’t a vegetarian till 2018,” Kohli said. “When we actually came to England, I left eating meat just before the Test series started.”Kohli went to talk about a medical condition that prompted him to become vegetarian. “In 2018 when we went to South Africa I got a cervical spine issue, while playing a Test match at Centurion…one of the discs in my cervical spine bulged out and it compressed a nerve which was running straight till the little finger of my right hand. So it gave me a tingling sensation, I could barely feel my little finger on the right hand. It was hurting like mad, I could hardly sleep at night. And then I got my tests done.”My stomach was too acidic, my body was creating too much uric acid, my body was too acidic. What was happening was, even though I was taking calcium, magnesium everything, one tablet was not sufficient for my body to function properly. So my stomach started pulling calcium from my bones, and my bones got weaker. That’s why I got this issue. That’s why I stopped eating meat completely in the middle of the England tour to cut down the uric acid and the acidity in my body.”The biggest difference that has made, Kohli said, was that it made recovery between matches quicker. “I’ve never felt better in my life, it felt amazing, it’s been two years, and the best decision of my life. I have never felt better waking up. I have never felt better when I have to recover after a game. If you make me play three games a week, which are intense, I am at 120% every game. I can recover within a day after a Test match and go on another Test match.”It’s so much better than being on meat. Being vegetarian now made me feel, honestly I felt like why didn’t I do it before? I should have done it two-three years earlier, to be honest. It’s completely changed everything – you start feeling better, you start thinking better, your body is lighter, you are more positive, you have energy to do more, so, overall it’s just been an amazing, amazing change.”Kohli’s most “fun” batting performanceKohli has played perhaps the greatest innings by an Indian batsman in T20Is – a half-century against Australia in the 2016 World T20. That was right after he played a starring role in that same tournament against Pakistan with politicians, actors, everyone including his idol Sachin Tendulkar watching from the stands. But when asked what was his most “fun innings”, Kohli picked out a lesser known classic.”It was against Kings XI in the IPL. It was I think, a 13… 14 over game or a 15 over game and I got a hundred in 12 overs. That was one of the days where I felt like Jeez, I’m just connecting everything and I just felt like I couldn’t get out. And I’ve never felt like that before. Just to be able to hit and not have that fear of getting out. It was amazing. So that has been my most fun innings.”

Worker played for many years with Central Districts and Auckland, and had a short stint in international cricket between 2015 and 2018

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2024Former New Zealand batter George Worker has announced his retirement from professional cricket at the age of 34 to take up a “fantastic opportunity” with an investment services firm.”After a fulfilling 17-year journey in professional cricket, I am announcing my retirement from the sport. This decision marks the end of an incredible chapter of my life and the beginning of a new adventure,” Worker, who started his professional career with Central Districts and ended it with Auckland, said. “Throughout the course of my career, I’ve forged some great friendships that will last a lifetime and memories I will cherish forever.”Worker had a short stint in international cricket, playing ten ODIs and two T20Is between 2015 and 2018, in which he scored 272 and 90 runs respectively. It started on a 2015 tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa where, on T20I debut, he won the Player-of-the-Match award for his 38-ball 62 in Harare. An impressive 2017 Ford Trophy, where he scored 659 runs in ten innings for Central Districts while averaging 82.37, put him back on the selectors’ radar. The ODI debut came on that same tour of Africa, and he got a bit of a run in his best format in 2017 when he played in Ireland and at home against West Indies, scoring all his three ODI half-centuries in that span.More recently, Worker earned a call-up to New Zealand’s ODI squad for their home series against New Zealand in March 2022, when Mark Chapman was ruled out with Covid-19, but he did not get an opportunity to add to his 12 international caps.Overall, in 169 List A games, he scored 6721 runs at an average of 43.64 and a strike rate of 79.85 with 18 centuries and 37 half-centuries. His first-class (6400 runs at an average of 29.49) and T20 (3480 runs at a strike rate of 123.57) numbers were less impressive.Worker debuted for Central Districts in the 2007-08 season and represented New Zealand at the Under-19 World Cup soon after. More recently, he played a big part in Auckland Aces’ Ford Trophy 2021-22 title win, topping the overall run-scoring chart with 672 runs in ten innings, averaging 84.00 and hitting four centuries.A part-time left-arm spinner, Worker finished with 58 first-class wickets to go with 60 in List A cricket and 42 in T20s.”Whilst his immense leadership and experience will be sorely missed in the Aces environment, we’re hugely excited for him as he embarks on this next chapter in his career,” Auckland Cricket’s head of performance and talent Evan Jones said. “George will, of course, remain an important part of the Auckland Cricket family, and we look forward to seeing what that may look like in the future.”The immediate future will be far away from cricket.”As I close this chapter, I am excited to embark on the next phase of my life with Forsyth Barr, who have offered me a fantastic opportunity,” Worker said. “I look forward to bringing the same passion and dedication to my new role with them.”

Chris Adams, the Surrey coach, believes Rory Hamilton Brown, the 22-year-old Sussex allrounder, has the ‘charisma and intelligence’ to lead Surrey to the top of English cricket

Cricinfo staff15-Dec-2009Chris Adams, the Surrey coach, believes Rory Hamilton-Brown, the 22-year-old Sussex allrounder, has the ‘charisma and intelligence’ to lead Surrey to the top of English cricket.Hamilton-Brown, who is currently with England’s Performance Programme squad in South Africa, moved to Sussex from the Oval in 2008 but Adams, who joined Surrey after the 2008 season, is hoping to attract Hamilton-Brown back to London when they talk on Wednesday.”We’ve got sell him the vision,” said Adams to Surrey TV. “The journey that we have begun here which we hope will be a very special one. I want Surrey to go back to the top of English cricket, that’s what I’m doing here.”After a difficult first year in charge in which Surrey won just one of their 16 Division Two Championship matches and culminated in captain Mark Butcher’s retirement, Adams said the club needs a leader who can inspire and galvanise the squad as the club moves forward and claims that ‘Surrey lad’ Hamilton-Brown is the man to do so.”We need a new captain who really brings the players together and if you look at the guys out there currently, there’s not a massive list. Rory’s name came right at the very top. I know the lad, he’s a super talented cricketer and he’s a Surrey lad first and foremost.”He’s had 85% of his cricket through the Surrey system and a couple of years at Sussex, he’s developed exceptionally well and the time is right for me and him to come together and formulate a partnership which will take Surrey back to where it needs to be – the top of English cricket.”Hamilton-Brown would become the youngest captain on the county circuit and would have to manage the famously volatile temperament of star-batsman Mark Ramprakash. Yet Adams believes the English game can be too conservative and points to the example of Graeme Smith, who got the South African captaincy at the age of 22, to show what can be achieved.”Captains are born. You need charisma and intelligence and the ability to get people to follow you and Rory has that,” said Adams.”One of the problems of English cricket is that we’re too steeped in tradition, When we’re presented with an opportunity like this we tend to rule it out. But look at Graeme Smith – he captained South Africa at 22, look at Cameron White, now in Australia’s one-day team – captained Victoria at 20.”

India fell short by 28 despite having a first-innings lead of 190

Sidharth Monga28-Jan-20242:26

Manjrekar: Indian batters found wanting temperamentally in Hyderabad

England pulled off one of their greatest Test wins in front of the raucous Barmy Army and a stunned home crowd in Hyderabad. Of all the ways you envisage winning a Test in India, falling behind by 190 in the first innings – a deficit never before reversed by a visiting team in India – is not one. Yet England did the unthinkable with their most experienced spinner injured, half their side gone before scores were levelled, and did so emphatically even though a hilarious last-wicket stand took India to within 29 runs of their target.The highest lead India have lost from is 192, in Galle back in 2015. That Sri Lankan win was fashioned by a sweep-filled, adventurous, once-in-a-generation knock from Dinesh Chandimal. Ollie Pope played that role for England, scoring 196 runs full of sweeps, reverse sweeps and reverse Dilscoops, messing up with the lengths of the Indian spinners as if they were match predictions after two days of cricket. The other hero was Tom Hartley, the debutant left-arm spinner who was hit for two sixes in his first over in Test cricket and consigned to one of the costliest analysis for a debutant, who ended up with seven wickets in the second innings.Related

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• India fall short in the Hyderabad sweep-stakes

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• Face of this match contorted beyond recognition by Pope

Starting the day 126 ahead with just four wickets in hand, Pope added 48 to his overnight 148 with crucial assistance from Rehan Ahmed and Hartley. Only five times has 230 or more been chased down successfully in India, but the hosts would have had cause for optimism. Jack Leach, the experienced spinner, was at best hobbling. Hartley, the other left-arm spinner, had been punished for 63 runs in his first nine-over spell in the first innings. Ahmed had been so inconsistent and Mark Wood so unsuited to the conditions that Joe Root had been their best bowler until then.However, fourth-innings chases follow their own rhythms. Ben Stokes, who captained like a millionaire in the first innings to buy wickets, knew he just needed in-out fields here. Root, Hartley and Leach rose to the occasion despite obvious limitations. And India, unlike England, provided them stationary target, letting them bowl good length over and over again, a luxury not afforded to India’s spinners.You can imagine Pope, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley spent two weeks in Abu Dhabi just practising the various sweeps more than their front-foot defence against spin. They took those chances in the second innings after having got out playing defensively in the first. Pope’s execution lasted the longest. Some of the shots were sensational, like his repeat of the reverse Dilscoop off Ravindra Jadeja from Saturday.It is an indictment of the spinners – world-beaters and two of the greatest of all time – that Jasprit Bumrah was India’s best bowler. He got Ahmed early with a reverse-swinging outswinger, and also ended Pope’s innings with a slower ball. Between that, though, Hartley and Pope added 80 for the eighth wicket. During that partnership, with Ashwin and Jadeja bowling, India struggled to hold their lengths and the field settings allowed singles everywhere.It might not be unfair to say that India didn’t have a response for the time when unorthodox methods worked against them. Pope needed some luck all right, 72 false responses, which is the second-highest for any innings since 2003, but he did do his bit in getting rid of catching men, which reduces the potency of mistakes bowlers induce.Pope could do what he did because that is the philosophy of Bazball: rather get out reverse-scooping than defending as he did in the first innings. For if he reverse-sweeps, he is playing what he has practised and prepared for. That England had nothing to lose after falling behind by 190 freed him further.India had none of these liberties. Firstly, they are not natural sweepers, forget reverse-sweepers. They also had a home Test to lose, which they rarely do, and never after taking that kind of first-innings lead.Stokes, who had looked to manufacture wickets in the first innings with attacking fields, could now fall back on the conventional method: attack with the ball, defend with the fields. Two catchers at the wicket, two at cover and midwicket, but others protecting runs.Wood bowled only one over with the new ball – in which he had Rohit Sharma dropped at second slip – but Root and Hartley then were all over the good length like a rash. India got off to a good enough start, getting 42 for the first wicket, but the spinners were troubling them and were not making the errors in length they did in the first innings.Credit has to be given to Stokes, who kept bowling Hartley in the first innings despite that ordinary start and got him into his work. Now that he found his length, India needed someone to work him off his areas. The first time someone did try it, Yashasvi Jaiswal was outside the crease, forced to defend by the length correction, but Pope pulled off a stunning catch at short leg off the face of the bat. Two balls later, Hartley had sent Shubman Gill back, who defended with hard hands and Pope got down on his knees at silly point to catch it off the face of the bat again.Rohit was the only India batter who showed the willingness to sweep and reverse-sweep spinners off their length. He even played three reverse sweeps after having played the shot only seven times in his Test career. Two of them got him boundaries. However, Hartley was good enough to pin him on the crease and forward-defending at one that didn’t turn, and had him plumb lbw.India promoted Axar Patel to introduce a left-hand batter in the mix and also use his batting ability better. He and KL Rahul added 32 for the fourth wicket, but the runs came in two spurts. First when Rahul was allowed to sweep from outside leg, and the second when Ahmed missed his length.Once England controlled the bad balls, the wickets came promptly. Axar gave a return catch to Hartley, and Rahul went back to a full ball from Root, a rare misjudgement of length.Jadeja then ran himself out, and Shreyas Iyer played arguably the worst shot, giving slip practice to Root when he followed the turn and opened the face for Hartley. The ball had become soft by then, and India were in a position to capitalise on the easiest batting conditions. Instead, KS Bharat and Ashwin added a conservative 57 for the eighth wicket in 21.4 overs. If India had more wickets during this phase, they could have got closer.In the dying moments of the day, Hartley produced his ball of the match, one that drifted in, pitched leg, and turned past Bharat’s bat to take the off stump. England claimed the extra half hour and, despite a chancy 25-run stand between Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, got home in the last over of the day.

Bangladesh also brought in uncapped pace bowler Hasan Mahmud for the injured Musfik Hasan

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Mar-2024Shakib Al Hasan has returned to the Bangladesh Test squad after being out of action for a year in the longest format.Former captain Shakib has been picked for the second Test against Sri Lanka in Chattogram, starting March 30. He last played a Test in April 2023 before an eye condition kept him away from Tests although he has played white-ball cricket during this period, including at the ODI World Cup late last year. More recently, he has played in the Bangladesh Premier League for Rangpur Riders and in the ongoing Dhaka Premier League List A tournament for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.Shakib comes into the squad in place of the uncapped Towhid Hridoy, who wasn’t picked in the XI for the first Test against Sri Lanka, which Bangladesh lost by 328 runs in Sylhet. The other change in the squad is the fast-bowling department, where Hasan Mahmud has come in for the injured Musfik Hasan, who has hurt his left ankle and will require rehab. Mahmud is also uncapped in Tests, like Musfik, but has played 39 white-ball games in international cricket.Related

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• Shakib out of Bangladesh's white-ball squads against SL

A retinal condition in the left eye had kept Shakib out of the ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka. He had visited an eye specialist in Singapore at the start of the year to address the issue.Shakib had at the time said that batting had been an issue for him because of the condition. He had pushed himself down the order for Rangpur before returning to the top three in the latter stages of the BPL. He scored 255 runs in 11 innings in the BPL, striking at 158.38, and finished as the second-highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets at an economy of 6.31. Rangpur lost to eventual winners Fortune Barishal in Qualifier 2.Earlier this year, Shakib also joined politics, contesting the Bangladesh general elections for the Awami League party. He won from the Magura constituency and is now a member of parliament.Before the loss in the first Test against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh had won the ODI series 2-1 but lost the T20I series by the same margin.

Bangladesh squad for second Test vs Sri Lanka

Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Zakir Hasan, Mahmudul Hasan, Shadman Islam, Litton Das, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Taijul Islam, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Hasan Mahmud

Former England and Yorkshire batter leaves the game after successful return to native country

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Apr-2023Gary Ballance, the former Yorkshire and England cricketer who recently relaunched his career with his native Zimbabwe, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket with immediate effect.Ballance, 33, made four centuries in 23 Test appearances for England between 2014 and 2017, a record that compared favourably with many other players to have debuted in a similar period.However, he was heavily implicated in Azeem Rafiq’s explosive testimony during the DCMS parliamentary hearings in Westminster last November, after his use of the racial slur “P**i” had been deemed to be “banter” in the initial report into allegations of institutional racism at Yorkshire.His career within English cricket ended amid the controversy, and after several months of open-ended leave on mental health grounds, Yorkshire released him from his contract at the end of the 2022 season, shortly after he was charged by the Cricket Discipline Commission alongside six other Yorkshire cricketers, including Michael Vaughan (who was subsequently cleared) and Matthew Hoggard.His move back to Zimbabwe – whom he had represented at Under-19 level prior to his England call-up – had been a bid for a fresh start, and it was initially a successful one too. He signed a two-year contract with ZC in December and played a total of eight international matches between January and March, including a one-off Test against West Indies in Bulawayo in which he scored a memorable 137 not out.The feat made him only the second Test cricketer to score centuries for two different nations, after Kepler Wessels, the former Australia batter and South Africa captain. However, after signing off with an unbeaten 64 to seal last month’s ODI series against the Netherlands, Ballance has now decided to call time on his relaunched career.”After much thought, I have decided to retire from all forms of professional cricket with immediate effect,” he said in a statement.”I had hoped my move to Zimbabwe would provide me with a new-found happiness for the game and I will always be thankful to Zimbabwe Cricket for providing me with an opportunity to return to international cricket and welcoming me into their team.”However, I have reached the stage where I no longer have the desire to dedicate myself to the rigours of professional sport and this would do Zimbabwe Cricket and the game itself a disservice, should I carry on. I wish them every success going forward.”I have been fortunate to have some incredibly memorable moments in cricket, winning County Championships with Yorkshire and gaining the ultimate honour of representing England and Zimbabwe. I want to thank all of my clubs, coaches, support staff, teammates and supporters for their guidance and encouragement over my career, it has been a privilege.”It is now time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life. I will be making no further comments on my decision at this time.”He retires with a total of 1653 runs at 40.31 from his 24 Tests, and 12031 first-class runs at 47.74 all told, including 42 centuries and a further eight in List A cricket.

Stand-in skipper’s late flurry seals run chase and ends Lancashire’s unbeaten start

ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2022Liam Trevaskis produced late heroics to guide Durham to a final-over victory over Lancashire Lightning in their Vitality Blast clash at Seat Unique Riverside.The home side appeared to be on the verge of their fourth straight defeat in their chase of 131 amid outstanding bowling from Richard Gleeson, despite knocks of 46 from Ned Eckersley and 36 from Michael Jones. However, with the pressure on Trevaskis, the skipper blasted 16 runs from seven balls to steer his side over line with vital late boundaries with three balls to spare.Lancashire had produced an under-par effort with the bat, mustering only 130 from their 20 overs, with the main contribution coming from Steven Croft’s innings of 55. Durham debutant Nathan Sowter and Andrew Tye claimed three wickets apiece to limit the visitors, which proved to be crucial later in the day in delivering the win for the hosts and Lancashire’s first loss in the tournament this season.Lancashire opted to bat on a used wicket and Phil Salt looked to use the powerplay to his advantage. The opener scored quick-fire boundaries, including three in a row against Trevaskis, to get the visitors off to a bright start.However, the Durham skipper had his revenge from the fourth ball of his opening over as Salt fell for 23. In a sign of things to come, Keaton Jennings endured a difficult seven balls at the crease, scoring only three runs before he was bowled by Tye.Related

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Sowter then put the clamps on the visitors after only completing a loan move from Middlesex hours before the contest. He prised out Dane Vilas lbw for 12 before taking the key wicket of Tim David bowling the powerful right-hander for only six.Further wickets from Tye and Raine allowed Durham to keep the pressure on the Lightning, while Sowter returned for his final over to remove Tom Hartley, ending the innings with impressive figures of 3 for 22.Croft was the only Lancashire batter to offer resistance with a determined half-century from 49 balls, but he fell going for a big strike to Raine in the final over before Matt Parkinson was run out from last ball of the innings, leaving the visitors with work to do to defend their total.Durham lost Graham Clark to the first ball of their reply as Liam Hurt produced a brilliant delivery first up to bowl the opener. Gleeson then came to the fore cleaning up David Bedingham and Ollie Robinson for single-digit scores to bring the Lightning back into the game. Jones steadied the Durham innings by picking his moments to find the fence and seeing off the initial threat of Gleeson.The opener made 36 before he had a rush of blood to the head and attempted a risky sweep against Hartley and was pinned lbw. Hartley drew another false stroke to notch his second wicket as Raine was caught miscuing his slog-sweep to Croft at deep backward square leg. The wickets gave the Lightning a glimmer of hope as the required rate climbed above seven for the first time.Eckersley appeared to have Durham in position to whittle off the remaining 21 runs from the final three overs, but Gleeson’s return to the attack turned the tide as he bowled him for 46 and Brydon Carse for 2.Durham needed heroics from their captain in the middle, and Trevaskis delivered by striking Hurt for a four and six in back-to-back deliveries in the penultimate over before seeing his team over the line to secure their third win of the campaign.

Middlesex battle back from the brink to haul themselves into knock-outs in epic tussle

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay26-Aug-2025 Middlesex 292 for 9 (Fernandes 92, Morgan 61, de Caires 50, Singh 4-27) beat Lancashire 291 for 8 (Harris 64, Blatherwick 48*, Hollman 2-30, Brookes 2-57) by one wicket Nathan Fernandes’ brilliant 92 off 79 balls helped Middlesex conjure an extraordinary one-wicket over Lancashire in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, a result that also ensures the visitors qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition.But the bland facts tell only half the story. Coming to the wicket with his side in the toils on 105 for five and needing another 186 runs, Fernandes put on 126 for the seventh wicket with Seb Morgan and despite being caught on the boundary in the final over, went on watch Noah Cornwell clinch the victory on an evening that recalled the great limited-overs matches on this ground.Part-time off-spinner Harry Singh had earlier taken a career-best four for 27 and it seemed the visitors’ chances were gone when they were 127 for six, despite Josh de Caires 50. But their hopes were raised in dramatic fashion late in the game by Fernandes and Morgan, whose fearless batting inspired a quite wonderful victory for their team.Having reached his maiden List A fifty, Morgan was eventually caught on the boundary off George Balderson for 61, but Fernandes went on to make his best List A score and the tailenders did the rest.Lancashire skipper Marcus Harris made 64 for the home side but the main acceleration towards a defendable total had come late in the innings from youngsters Arav Shetty and Joe Moores before Jack Blatherwick clubbed an alarmingly violent 48 in 20 balls.Lancashire’s innings had begun poorly when George Bell was caught behind by Joe Cracknell off Cornwell for a first-ball duck in the day’s opening over. Michael Jones and Harris then oversaw a recovery with a partnership of 61 in eleven overs before Jones, who had hit earlier hit two big leg-side sixes was caught by Jack Davies at deep square leg off Morgan for 42 when trying to repeat the trick.For the next 20 overs Lancashire’s batsmen struggled to score fluently on a stodgy pitch against an accurate Middlesex attack. Josh Bohannon made 24 off 33 balls but perished when he skied Luke Hollman to Morgan at mid-off. Hollman was clearly the pick of the visitors’ attack, bowling his ten overs for 30 runs, and in his penultimate over he took the prize wicket of Harris when the Lancashire skipper was lbw for 64 when trying to reverse sweep.It was left to the home side’s youngsters to supply some much-needed acceleration. Shetty made 30 off 23 balls and put on 50 with Singh, thereby hoisting the total to 192. And after Shetty and Balderson had fallen to successive balls from Henry Brookes, Moores clubbed two sixes in his 21-ball 35 before he top-edged de Caires to Noah Cornwell at deep square leg.Put under pressure, the Middlesex attack crumbled a little. Blatherwick maintained the tempo, whacking two sixes off a Cornwell over that cost 21 runs and a remarkable 99 runs were scored off the final nine overs, Blatherwick thrashing four sixes and four fours in an unbeaten innings that changed the shape of the game. Singh was dismissed in the penultimate over caught at mid-off by Ben Geddes off Gilchrist for a 116-ball 38. Apart from Hollman, Brookes was the most successful Middlesex bowler with two for 57.Middlesex’s pursuit began badly when Joe Cracknell was pinned on the back foot by Tom Bailey for ten and their intent to score quickly was constantly hampered by the regular fall of wickets.Sam Robson was bowled via bat, pad and foot by Singh for 31; Geddes lost his stumps in more conventional fashion to the same bowler for eight; Davies shovelled Balderson to Singh at midwicket when her had made only nine; and when Bailey ran across from deep mid-off to catch Hollman without scoring Middlesex were in deep trouble on 108 for five with almost half their overs gone.Seven overs later, de Caires holed out on the deep square leg boundary, Moores taking the catch to give Singh his fourth wicket but the rest of the day belonged to Fernandes and Morgan, whose partnership seems certain to become part of Middlesex folklore.