Chris Silverwood has been named as the new head coach of Essex, having stepped up to the role in an interim capacity last season, following the departure of Paul Grayson

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2015Chris Silverwood has been named as the new head coach of Essex, having stepped up to the role in an interim capacity last season, following the departure of Paul Grayson.The announcement was made at the end of an interview process featuring five short-listed candidates – the former South Africa and Australia coach, Mickey Arthur; the former Kent and Leicestershire wicketkeeper, Paul Nixon; the former Afghanistan coach, Andy Moles, and Stuart Law, the current coach of Bangladesh U19s.Silverwood, the former Yorkshire, Middlesex and England fast bowler, has been working with the England Lions squad in Potchefstroom this winter. He helped Essex to third place in the second division of the County Championship last summer, having taken over at the start of September with the club in sixth place.He was the unanimous choice of a selection panel that included Derek Bowden, the chief executive, and David Acfield, the club treasurer, as well as two former Essex and England captains in Keith Fletcher and Graham Gooch, plus Ronnie Irani, the cricket committee chairman, and Wasim Haq, a recruitment specialist.”I am absolutely over the moon,” Silverwood said. “I made my intentions clear at the end of the summer, and I am delighted to get the opportunity to do the job. I passionately want to see Essex be successful. There were some big names on the panel, and to know I’ve got the support of those guys is immense. There was so much knowledge sat around that table, and to have them pick me out is fantastic.”Essex were consistently one of the most successful limited-overs sides in England under the guidance of Grayson, but they were repeatedly unable to translate that record into trophies.Quarter-final defeats in the NatWest Blast and the Royal London Cup – as well as a more predictable failed promotion challenge caused primarily by a lack of bowling depth – led to Grayson being removed in late season after Irani was installed as chairman of the cricket committee.”We are determined to move the club forward, and move on from last season,” Silverwood added. “This is a fresh start, and that is shown with the changes we have already made to our pre-season programme. We need to change how we have done things previously, and I am already making those changes. It is a great opportunity.”Bowden said: “Chris Silverwood is a tremendous young coach with the vision, passion and dedication that this club deserves. His work with the England Lions this month, alongside his time spent with other ECB development squads over the past few years, demonstrates how highly regarded he is in the game of cricket. We are delighted that Chris will be leading the side into the 2016 season.”Silverwood played 184 first-class matches in a 16-year career for Yorkshire and Middlesex. He took 577 wickets at an average of 27.41, and also played in six Tests and seven ODIs for England. He has been assistant head coach at Essex since January 2014.

Bangladesh fiddled with their batting order while winning the opening match of the T20 series and are likely to keep experimenting with the World T20 in mind

The Preview by Mohammad Isam16-Jan-2016

Match facts

January 17, 2016
Start time 1500 local (0900 GMT)Sabbir Rahman grabbed his opportunity to bat at No. 3 in the first T20I, scoring a swift 46•AFP

Big picture

Both Bangladesh and Zimbabwe view this series as a chance to experiment ahead of the World T20, but neither side could fiddle too much during the first T20, which Bangladesh won in a manner that reflected the growing quality gap between the sides.Mashrafe Mortaza was happy to see Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah vacate higher batting spots and use their experience well to steer Bangladesh to a win, but said he would have liked to use Shuvagata Hom’s offspin at some stage. Shuvagata also failed with the bat at No 4. It wasn’t new for the experienced batsmen to be doing their job, but seeing them adapt to new roles was pleasing for Bangladesh’s captain.Zimbabwe’s experienced duo of Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda starting superbly with the bat but the likes of Elton Chigumbura, Sikandar Raza and Malcolm Waller were unable to capitalise on the 101-run opening stand. Zimbabwe will also be unhappy with their fielding effort, with Sibanda dropping Sabbir Rahman at a crucial stage. Masakadza said he was happy with the bowling attack’s display despite missing Tinashe Panyangara’s control at the top.There are likely to be changes in both sides in the second T20, even if it doesn’t mean personnel changes as much as batsmen and bowlers assuming new roles. But no matter what the team managements are trying, the first T20 was proof that both sets of players weren’t forgetting two fundamental roles while playing T20 cricket: providing entertainment and enjoying themselves. It came down to the last eight balls in the first game, and if the second T20 goes down to the wire it won’t be a huge surprise.

Form guide

Bangladesh (Last five matches, most recent first): WLWLL
Zimbabwe: LLLWL

In the spotlight

Sabbir Rahman would have liked to stay at the crease till the end of Bangladesh’s successful chase in the first game, but his 46 was heartening given how he grasped the chance to bat at No 3.Vusi Sibanda played second fiddle to Hamilton Masakadza’s brutal 79. He should have also made a fifty but got too greedy against Shakib Al Hasan, falling for 46.

Team news

The potential inclusion of Arafat Sunny could be one possible change for Bangladesh if they look to try out more combinations.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Mahmudullah, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Sabbir Rahman, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Shuvagata Hom, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Al-Amin HossainZimbabwe may rethink their bowling attack with either of Neville Madziva, Tendai Chisoro or Taurai Muzarabani getting a chance to play.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Sean Williams, 4 Peter Moor (wk), 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Malcolm Waller, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Brian Vitori, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Luke Jongwe, 11 Graeme Cremer

Pitch and conditions

There was considerable dew in the second innings of the first T20, and that could make it harder for the spinners in the second half once again. The pitches on the main square are similar in look, and batsmen should continue to enjoy conditions in the second game.

Stats and trivia

• In the first match, Mushfiqur Rahim played as a specialist batsman for the first time in his T20I career.
• Hamilton Masakadza’s 79 equalled his and Zimbabwe’s highest individual score in T20Is.

Quotes

“I think it was more of positives from the way we started our batting and at some stages our spinners bowled well as well. So there were few positives to take out of the game.”
“I think winning the first game of the year was quite useful. This series is very important ahead of the Asia Cup. We want to win all four games.”

A brisk 90 from Shreyas Iyer and fifties from captain Aditya Tare (68) and Siddhesh Lad (57*) led Mumbai to a strong 327 for 7 on the first day of the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh in Cuttack

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2016ScorecardFile photo – Shreyas Iyer’s 90 took his tally of fifty-plus scores in Ranji Trophy 2015-16 to nine•K Sivaraman

A brisk 90 from Shreyas Iyer and complementing fifties from captain Aditya Tare (68) and Siddhesh Lad (57*) led Mumbai to a strong 327 for 7 on the first day of the semi-final against Madhya Pradesh in Cuttack.Medium-pacer Chandrakant Sakure took 4 for 102, accounting for Mumbai’s top three but the side recovered through a string of fifty-plus stands to pull Mumbai out of trouble.MP won the toss and Sakure got a breakthrough with Akhil Herwadkar’s wicket in the 11th over, but Mumbai still forged on through an 88-run second-wicket partnership between Iyer and Bhavin Thakkar. The side suffered a wobble when Thakkar and Suryakumar Yadav were dismissed in successive overs with the score at 112 for 3 but recovered as Iyer added 57 runs with Aditya Tare.Iyer fell 10 runs short of his fourth hundred of this Ranji Trophy season, his 103-ball stay at the crease yielding 13 fours and a six. It was his ninth fifty-plus score in this season, a tally second only to Vijay Bharadwaj [1998-99] and Abhishek Nayar’s [2012-13] 11 in a season. A 65-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Tare and Lad, followed by a breezy 75-run partnership between Lad and Abhishek Nayar kept Mumbai in control.After Tare’s dismissal for 68, Nayar and Lad lifted the tempo of the innings, the former scoring a 48-ball 43 that included seven fours. His partnership with Lad progressed at a rate of 5.17 and took the side past the 300-run mark. Lad saw Mumbai through to close of play with an unbeaten 57 off 115 with 11 fours.

Opening batsman Kieran Powell is set for a return to West Indies’ first-class cricket competition after a gap of almost two years, after he was picked in Leeward Islands’ 13-man squad for the Regional 4-day tournament match against Guyana, which starts fr

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2016Opening batsman Kieran Powell looks set for a return to West Indies’ first-class cricket competition after a gap of almost two years, after he was picked in Leeward Islands’ 13-man squad for the Regional 4-day tournament match against Guyana, which starts from March 11.Powell last played a first-class match for Leeward Islands in April 2014. He went on to play the Kingston Test against New Zealand in June 2014 but has been out of the West Indies squad since then. In February-March 2015, he played four first-class matches for Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club in Sri Lanka’s first-class Premier League Tournament.In January 2015, Powell issued a statement saying that mixed signals from West Indies cricket authorities had left him “deflated and confused” as he attempted to return to international cricket after a self-imposed break for the game. This resulted in his decision to step away from the game for some time. In January 2016, he tried his hand at baseball, without much success.Leeward Island Cricket Association chief executive, Richard Berridge, told that Powell had said that he was mentally prepared to return to first-class cricket.”Kieran was always going to come back to cricket. I don’t know the exact details but what I do know is that he made himself available to us,” Berridge said. “He said he was ready – mentally ready to return to the game – and therefore the selection panel chose to include him in the squad for the ninth round.”For the Leeward Islands Cricket Board it is certainly positive news. As you know, Kieran has played 21 Test matches already for West Indies, he’s scored three Test hundreds and he is also a past captain of our team, so a player of that caliber we’re always happy to welcome back into the fold.”He will have to perform, just like anyone else. I think he would be recalled [to West Indies] if he performs. I know there are only two matches left in the four-day season. However, it is a start and we really hope he builds from strength to strength.”Powell has played 21 Tests for West Indies since his debut against India in July 2011, scoring 1072 runs, including three centuries and two fifties. He scored centuries in each innings of a Test against Bangladesh in November 2012, having scored his maiden hundred against New Zealand in July that year. In 68 first-class matches he has scored 3973 runs with six centuries and 21 fifties.

Dale Steyn, who is fit again after two months on the sidelines with a “broken shoulder,” explained that while Test cricket presents more of a physical challenge, the shorter format takes its toll in other ways

Firdose Moonda16-Mar-2016As is always the case at major tournaments, South Africa’s mindset will be under the microscope at this World T20, and the shortest format could prove to be their toughest test yet. Dale Steyn, who is fit-again after two months on the sidelines with a “broken shoulder,” explained that while Test cricket presents more of a physical challenge, Twent20s takes its toll in other ways.”The T20 game can be quite mentally hard. Being a bowler, you’ve only got four overs. If you find the edge, it can go for four and it’s not your fault. In Test matches you’ve got five days to make up for it,” Steyn said in Mumbai, where South Africa face England on Friday. “T20 is slightly easier on the body but it might be more taxing on the mind.”Steyn believes South Africa are in a good space. Despite losing at home to Australia, their five-match winning streak over England prior to that did wonders for their self-worth. “When I walked into the side, I could see the guys were glowing with confidence,” Steyn said. “I realised how much these guys have grown as a team even in that two month gap that I had.”Now, that growth will be tested under major tournament pressure.The fast pace of a T20 game means mistakes have to be forgotten as quickly as they happen, so South Africa have worked on living in the moment. “We talk about it in our bowling meetings and our team meetings: It’s the next ball that matters,” Steyn said. “You can go for 80 runs in 3.5 overs, but when a team needs four runs to win off the last ball, and you’ve got that ball in your hand, that’s all that matters.”Steyn has experienced that first-hand, albeit not in this format. At last year’s 50-over World Cup, New Zealand needed five off runs off two balls in the semi-final. Steyn was hit for six. All that mattered was that ball, even though Steyn has banished it from his memory. “It’s a pity that everyone thinks about that ball. I think about what happened after that ball. Grant Elliot came and picked me up.”South Africa have travelled to this World T20 with largely the same squad that played in that event, which will raise questions about old scars. But, of the three players who did not play in last year’s World Cup, one has tasted success the rest can only dream of. Kagiso Rabada is an under-19 World Cup winner and has injected new life into the senior side. Steyn hinted that Rabada’s state of mind – fresh and uncluttered – could make the difference.”He is fantastic. He is really quick, but he is also unpredictable. I don’t think many teams have played against him yet, so it’s not like they can plan for him. He is surprising for us too,” Steyn said. “I will be standing down there at fine leg thinking he is going to bowl a gun bouncer and he comes up with a beautiful yorker. He has got a gut feel for himself and that’s his biggest strength right now. People don’t know what he is going to deliver.”In Steyn and Rabada, South Africa have the core of a pace pack that will be the envy of all their opponents, but on Indian pitches, they may need something else, and it’s something they still lack – a spin attack.South Africa have Imran Tahir, who is ranked third on the T20 rankings and has won matches on his own, but their only other specialist spinner is Aaron Phangiso, who they may not use at all. Phangiso travelled through the 2015 World Cup without playing a game and has just remodeled his action after it was declared illegal. JP Duminy can bowl some part-time off-spin, but South Africa will still rely on the quicks to do most of the work.After New Zealand upset India with three spinners on a dry Nagpur pitch – where South Africa will play West Indies – South Africa may be wondering whether their resources will be enough. But Steyn wants to erase any doubts from their mind with an assurance that he can fill in any gaps.”I’ve always said I can bowl on anything. I prefer the wickets that are slow and turning because the ball stops. It makes it tough for batters to hit you out of the ground,” he said. “As a seamer, I back myself to bowl fast cutters. It is really difficult to hit out when the ball is coming at 140-145 [kph], its gripping and stopping. You don’t have to worry about running in and bowling the perfect yorker. You can bowl a back of a length ball, one might bounce and skid, one might stay low, and it’s really tough to bat on those wickets.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on Shikhar Dhawan’s 82 and Ashish Nehra’s new-ball burst to thrash Mumbai Indians by 85 runs in Visakhapatnam

The Report by Shashank Kishore08-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
1:24

‘We need to forget this game’ – Pollard

It was a ‘home’ game for Mumbai Indians, but it was Sunrisers Hyderabad, whose base is geographically closest to Visakhapatnam, that rode on Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 82 and Ashish Nehra’s new-ball burst that fetched him three wickets, to defend 177 with aplomb. A sixth win in nine matches took them to No. 2 in the points table.Four of Rohit Sharma’s five half-centuries resulted in successful chases for Mumbai this season. Against Sunrisers, he lasted three balls and exposed a middle order that has thrived on Rohit’s holding role. They couldn’t find form against a rampaging Nehra, whose late swing broke Mumbai’s backbone with the strikes of Rohit, Ambati Rayudu and Jos Buttler. At 30 for 4 after four overs, it was a case of trying to limit damage for Mumbai, with Sunrisers’ bowling depth shining through once again in their 85-run win at the ACA-VDCA Stadium.Rohit poked at an inswinger with leaden feet, and a thick inside edge clattered into off stump. Rayudu, Mumbai’s second-highest run-scorer this season, fended a skiddy bouncer to point, while Butter was pouched by Naman Ojha, who stuck out his right hand to pull off a one-handed stunner. The meltdown was complete when Kieron Pollard miscued a slower ball to long-on in the ninth over to leave Mumbai in tatters at 49 for 6.The brisk start was once again provided by David Warner, who dispatched offerings from Mumbai’s pacers as Sunrisers raced to 51 in the Powerplay after being sent in. The effervescence of his strokeplay forced Rohit to pack the off-side field with five fielders at one stage. Still, he pierced the gap as the bowlers continued to offer him width.Warner’s enterprise allowed Shikhar Dhawan to slip into the anchor role, but his sweetly-timed strokes on a fast outfield allowed him to find the boundary regularly. Both batsmen used the depth of the crease to ride the bounce on a fresh surface.After the Powerplay, Dhawan used deft touches and flicks to give Warner as much strike even as Mumbai’s spinners, in an effort to stem the damage, tried to fire the ball in. Warner welcomed Harbhajan with a biff for six over long-on before receiving a succession of darts outside off, which he failed to squeeze through.Warner holed out to Pollard at long-off, off Harbhajan, in the 10th over to give Mumbai some relief. In the next over, Harbhajan set up Kane Williamson by deceiving him in flight, and Rohit completed a low catch at midwicket. The double-strike stalled Sunrisers, who managed just 31 off the five overs following Warner’s dismissal.In the 15th over, Yuvraj Singh signalled the switch in momentum again as he made room and scorched a drive into the cover boundary. Yuvraj followed that with a clean connection that sent a slower delivery soaring over wide long-on for six, as he maximised timing with minimal feet movement.At the other end, Dhawan used his strong wrists to pepper the leg-side field. He accelerated the run-scoring once past his half-century, hitting Jasprit Bumrah for three fours in four balls in the 16th over. Yuvraj and Dhawan’s 85-run stand off 49 balls came to an end when Yuvraj clattered his stumps to be out hit-wicket, but the end-overs carnage gave them the momentum which Nehra rode to derail the chase.Mustafizur Rahman, introduced in the ninth over, struck twice in successive overs to effectively finish Mumbai off. Harbhajan hung around to delay Mumbai’s fifth loss before Barinder Sran closed the game out by dismissing Bumrah in the 17th over. By winning in the manner they did, Sunrisers also boosted their net run-rate, a factor that could come in handy if teams are tied on points.