Earlier this season Clark took a hat-trick dubbed the greatest ever when he removed Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow in the Roses match

George Dobell16-Aug-2018Surrey are expected to sign Lancashire allrounder Jordan Clark.Clark, who has been with Lancashire for a decade, is a hard-hitting batsman and strong seamer whose great ability is poorly reflected by modest career figures. Aged 27, his first-class batting is below 30 with one century and his bowling average above 34 with one five-wicket haul. That haul came earlier this season against Yorkshire and included a hat-trick dubbed the greatest ever as he removed Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow.But he is a dangerous player who should have his best years in front of him and can significantly improve those statistics. He can contribute with bat, ball and in the field in all three formats and, as showed when he hit six sixes in an over in a 2nd XI match in 2013, has huge power.ESPNcricinfo understands Surrey have offered a three-year deal. It seems Clark is seen as back-up for Sam Curran, who may well be on England duty frequently over the next decade or two, and in the longer term as a replacement for Rikki Clarke who is playing some of the best cricket of his career but is 37 next month.It is also understood Clark was previously of interest to Warwickshire.Meanwhile Northants fast bowler Richard Gleeson is understood to be in discussion with several clubs, notably Yorkshire, Hampshire and Warwickshire. Something of a late developer – he is 30 and has played only 20 first-class and 29 T20 games – he is blessed with sharp pace and, before injury intervened earlier this season, was starting to be of genuine interest to the England selectors. None of the injuries – one of which was an elbow problem caused by fielding training – is thought to be serious or long-lasting.Surrey’s Matt Pillans is also on the move. The seamer signed a three-year deal with Yorkshire a few weeks ago, though it has yet to be announced.

Phil Salt hit a half-century off 19 balls for Sussex in an action-packed evening at Lord’s

ECB Reporters Network02-Aug-2018Sussex 168 (Salt 50, Rawlins 49, Barber 4-28, Agar 3-41) beat Middlesex 156 for 7 (Morgan 90, Archer 3-25)

ScorecardJofra Archer’s hat-trick in a dramatic last over saw Sussex to a 12-run win over Middlesex in the Vitality Blast South Group match at Lord’s.Archer claimed the vital wicket of Eoin Morgan just as England’s white-ball captain threatened an unlikely win for the hosts with 90 off 56 balls, his highest score in T20 cricket. He then bowled John Simpson before completing his hat-trick by trapping James Fuller lbw.The drama came after a blistering half-century off just 19 balls from Phil Salt and 49 from debutant Delray Rawlins had helped the visitors post a challenging total of 168.Victory was the Sharks’ fourth of the campaign, but defeat for Middlesex left them struggling to qualify.Smarting from defeat at the hands of Gloucestershire 24 hours earlier where their batting failed them, Jason Gillespie’s side were given an electrifying start by Salt.He set the tone by hitting successive sixes in the first over, bowled by Steven Finn, a long-hop pulled over square-leg, followed by one drilled over long-off.Finn claimed some recompense when catching the dangerous Luke Wright at backward point off Ravi Patel, but Salt continued his onslaught, twice depositing Ashton Agar into the crowd, the second maximum seeing him to 50.Agar bowled him next ball with a quicker delivery, the first of three wickets in as many overs for the Australian, but with the victims costing more than 10-an-over Sussex had 98 on the board at halfway.Rawlins took up the quest for runs, one reverse sweep into the stands off Agar probably the shot of the innings.At one stage it looked as if Sussex’s highest score of 202 in the format at Lord’s five years ago might be under threat but to their credit a Middlesex attack pummelled for 229 by Somerset in their last outing fought back well.Fuller was the first to apply the brakes before Patel bowled Ben Burgess to leave Sussex 150 for 6.Then Tom Barber took centre stage, having Rawlins caught by Fuller out in the deep, one short of a deserved 50, though the catcher and Nick Gubbins collided in pursuit of the ball, Fuller doing well to cling on as he fell.Left-armer Barber would go on to claim the scalps of David Wiese and Chris Jordan to make it three in six balls, the second match running he had taken a trio of wickets in an over.And Sussex were all out with two balls left of their innings when Rashid Khan was caught on the fence to give Fuller a deserved wicket.Middlesex made a poor start, losing dangerman Paul Stirling for nought to the second ball of the innings, Wright producing a fine diving catch at cover off Wiese.And when Max Holden fell in the fifth over with just 25 on the board Middlesex were in trouble.Morgan’s counter-attack was breathtaking with two sixes and five fours, one a gorgeous reverse-sweep, helping glean 31 in just two overs. He and Nick Gubbins raised a 50-stand in 30 balls, of which Morgan contributed 42.Gubbins was stumped off Danny Briggs for 25, but Morgan went to 50 off 32 deliveries. Another huge six off Rashid followed, but the run-rate kept climbing and Stevie Eskinazi was bowled by Jordan in the quest for quick runs.While Morgan remained, Middlesex were still in the game and another huge six took the equation down to 16 off the final over.However, he holed out to Jordan in the deep as Archer, with figures of three for 25, claimed his hat-trick.

South Australia bowlers overcame a 125-run stand between Victoria’s Cameron White and Peter Handscomb to take their side to victory after three successive losses

Daniel Brettig30-Sep-2018Callum Ferguson gets off his feet to hit the ball•Getty Images

A fine century by South Australia’s senior batsman Callum Ferguson bankrolled a total of 265 that proved beyond the reach of Victoria in the domestic limited-overs match at the Junction Oval in Melbourne, and allowed the Redbacks to squeak to victory after three successive losses.Having made three starts in four innings prior to the game, Ferguson was able to go on to a match-shaping score with assistance from the captain Jake Lehmann and Tom Cooper after the early losses of Jake Weatherald and Alex Carey, the former in a wasteful run out when the ball was still new.Ferguson and Lehmann played with notable patience, unworried by a run-rate that stayed below four runs an over for a sizeable proportion of the innings. With wickets in hand the late acceleration that followed was dramatic, as no fewer than 92 runs being ransacked from the final 10 overs of the Redbacks innings.The erstwhile Australian representatives Joe Mennie and Adam Zampa then played key roles in damaging the Victorian chase, after the hosts had seemed well and truly on course for the win at 2 for 178 with Cameron White and Peter Handscomb in firm occupation. Handscomb tried to cut a Mennie delivery too close to him and dragged onto the stumps, before White was run out the very next over in a mix-up wth the new batsman Glenn Maxwell.Zampa’s spell featured a trio of contrasting wickets, bowling Mackenzie Harvey on the pull shot with a quicker ball, cornering Seb Gotch with a googly that zipped off the pitch, and then taking a return catch when Scott Boland closed the face of the bat on a leg break. The critical wicket of Maxwell was earned by the Redbacks debutant Luke Robins, who snuck under the allrounder’s bat with a yorker that swung back just enough to strike the base of the off stump.While the last pair of Fawad Ahmed and Jackson Coleman made a brave effort to close the gap, they always appeared to be a big hit or two short – the sorts of runs Ferguson was able to make as he moved up the gears in the closing stages of his hundred. The result moved SA up the table while also keeping NSW in last place – albeit with the Test bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins set to resume after rehabilitation from injury. All teams can advance to the tournament final irrespective of the results of the qualifying rounds.

England fast bowler Mark Wood has dismissed accusations of corruption made in an Al Jazeera investigation as “like the boy who cried wolf”

George Dobell in Colombo22-Oct-2018England fast bowler Mark Wood has dismissed accusations of corruption made in an Al Jazeera investigation as “like the boy who cried wolf”. In a documentary broadcast on Sunday, the channel claimed it had evidence of spot-fixing in 15 international matches between 2011-12, seven involving EnglandWood, who will return to the England side for the final ODI of the series against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Tuesday, insisted he did not believe suggestions that England players had been involved and suggested that Al Jazeera had, to date, been rather stronger on sensationalism than substance.”Until Al Jazeera bring out anything concrete, where they name someone or show a piece of evidence, I’m not going to believe what they say,” Wood told Talksport.”They keep saying there’s this and that, but never producing anyone or saying there’s any evidence behind it. It’s a bit like the boy who cried wolf. Until they can produce something that I’m worried about then I don’t take any notice of it.”While Wood’s dismissal of the story is no surprise – he was not involved in the England set-up at the time the alleged incidents occurred and you would hardly expect him to cast doubts over his colleagues – it may be more relevant that he believes it has done nothing to disturb the equilibrium in the squad. Indeed, he said it had not even generated a conversation.”I haven’t spoken to any of the other players about it,” he continued in an interview with the BBC. “It’s not news to me. It had no sort of ‘hit’ to it.”If they came up with concrete evidence or they said a name and they could prove something then I would be a bit more worried. But at the moment they keep making accusations and there’s nothing behind it so I’m not too fussed.”Responding to the claims made by Al Jazeera, the ECB said on Sunday that its own investigations had “cast no doubt on the integrity of any England player, current or former”. The documentary marked the second time in recent months that the channel had broadcast allegations about England players’ involvement in fixing. The ICC has called for Al Jazeera to share evidence that may aid further enquiries.

Shabnim Ismail rocked West Indies’ top order, but South Africa lost their last nine wickets for 28 runs and were bundled out for 76

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu15-Nov-2018
With a howling gale whistling behind her, Shabnim Ismail, one of the fastest bowlers in women’s cricket, blew away West Indies’ top order, but South Africa lost 9 for 28 in pursuit of 108 to be dismissed for 76. The 31-run win took the defending champions to the top of the Group A points table and a step closer to the semi-finals.West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor, one of Ismail’s three wickets, overcome a neck injury and claimed a career-best 4 for 12 to tear up South Africa’s middle and lower order. She was backed up by electric fielding, highlighted by Deandra Dottin’s direct-hit to run out Dane van Niekerk for 1. Dottin swooped in from point, collected the ball, threw down the stumps – all in one swift motion – to have Darren Sammy grooving in the stands at a ground that has been named after him. The night ended in similar revelry, with the West Indies women jiving with a packed crowd in Gros Islet.Stafanie Taylor overcame injury to bag career-best figures in T20Is•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

South Africa had a strong chance to secure their first win over West Indies in the World T20 after limiting the hosts to 107 for 7. They were still the favourites when opener Lizelle Lee and No. 3 Marizanne Kapp put on a 31-run stand after weathering incisive new-ball bursts from Shakera Selman and Shamilia Connell.A spectacular collapse, though, was then set in motion, when Dottin had Lee holing out to sweeper cover, where Britney Cooper pulled off an outstanding catch in the 11th over. In the next over, Dottin capitalised on a mix-up between van Niekerk and her life partner Kapp, and caught the South Africa captain well short. Taylor’s loopy offspin and two further run-outs hastened the end for South Africa. From 48 for 1, they crashed to 76 all out, which left van Niekerk short of words at the post-match presentation.In the early exchanges, it was Ismail, who had silenced the West Indies top order and the crowd. She struck with her fourth ball, having Hayley Matthews nicking off to slip via a deflection off the wicketkeeper. She then hit the deck with her next ball and removed Taylor for a golden duck. Then, when she had Dottin popping a catch to extra cover in her next over, West Indies were 22 for 3 in four overs.Moseline Daniels snuck through the weak defences of Shemaine Campbelle in her first over to reduce West Indies to 29 for 4, but Natasha McLean and Kycia Knight staged a recovery with a 45-run partnership, the highest in the match. McLean was quite fluent through the off side, caressing Masabata Klass for fours through covers and mid-off. Knight switched gears only after McLean holed out in the 15th over, hoisting Daniels for a four and a six in the 18th.Knight herself holed out in the next over, but tigerish bowling and fielding from West Indies made their total of 107 for 7 look a whole lot bigger.

The Strikers opener struck a 44-ball 71 to lift his team to 158, before the bowlers relentlessly chipped away to choke Renegades in the chase

The Report by Alex Malcolm03-Jan-2019Getty Images

Jake Weatherald found his mojo with a sublime 71 as Adelaide Strikers rolled out their trademark blueprint to strangle the Melbourne Renegades in Geelong.Weatherald appeared to bat on a different surface, with his 71 off 44 balls the stand-out performance of the match. He was the only player on either side to pass 33 and looked set for a huge score until he was run out in unusual circumstances, attempting to pinch a third run.He was doing so to try and regain some momentum after Renegades legspinner Cameron Boyce stemmed the flow, taking 2 for 16 in a sublime four-over spell. Some special late hitting from Rashid Khan gave the Strikers a decent score to bowl at, but it proved surplus to requirements.The Renegades never came close in the chase. They scored just 12 runs off the first four overs and never recovered. Michael Neser and Billy Stanlake did the early damage, before the Renegades floundered against the legspinning trio of Rashid Khan, Liam O’Connor and Colin Ingram.Stormy WeatheraldMuch has been expected of Jake Weatherald this season, after his match-winning century in last season’s BBL final. He had made four starts this tournament, but failed to kick on. He started with two boundaries in the first over from the part-time spin of Tom Cooper. But he really got going against the dangerous Usman Shinwari. After flushing one into Shinwari’s shin that left an egg-shaped bruise in the second over, he stuck three consecutive boundaries in the fourth over, including a magnificent lofted straight drive. He then targeted the short 60-meter boundary after the Powerplay, smashing three sixes into the stands at midwicket. He reached 50 off just 26 balls and laid the perfect platform as the Strikers reached 1 for 75 after nine overs.Boyce breaks through and bouncing batsBrought in for the eighth over, Boyce slowed the rate immediately. Alex Carey holed out from the first ball of his spell. Boyce bowled three dots to Ingram in his next nine balls. The pressure forced Ingram to heave across the line and he sliced a leading edge to cover. Boyce had 2 for 5 after two overs and finished with 2 for 16 from his four. The scoring rate plummeted and it caused two unusual run outs. Matthew Short and Weatherald were both run out in similar fashion. Both men dived for their ground at full stretch, both had their bats over the line, but the end of their bats were adjudged to be in the air by the TV umpire, with no part of it deemed grounded past the popping crease when the stumps were broken. The vision didn’t appear clear cut in either case, but the TV umpire Sam Nogajski was quick to give both out. The Strikers slumped to 6 for 127 with two overs to go, but Rashid Khan did what Rashid Khan does and thumped 21 from seven balls, which included two dots, to raise the total above 150.Powerless PowerplayThe Renegades had raced out of the blocks in their previous match against the Melbourne Stars before falling in a huge hole. They made a change at the top of the order, splitting the inexperienced but inventive pair of Mackenzie Harvey and Sam Harper with the wise-head of Cameron White. But White’s sluggish start put the Renegades well behind the rate. He made 8 off his first 14 balls as the Renegades slumped to 2 for 12 after four overs. Neser hit his lengths superbly, and Harvey and Harper both fell trying to find the rope. Harper was caught attempting a ramp. Carey bravely took the catch running back and collided with Billy Stanlake, but both men avoided injury. White and Cooper took 20 from the last two overs of the Powerplay, but the required run-rate remained above nine-an-over.Legless against legspinLegspinners have dominated the BBL so far, and the Strikers picked two specialists in Rashid Khan and Liam O’Conner, along with the skipper’s part-time leg breaks. Ingram used O’Connor in the first over and then brought him back immediately post the Powerplay. But it wasn’t a magic delivery that made the breakthrough. Instead, Cooper bunted a long hop to cover. It started a sequence of eight straight overs of legspin that put the Renegades into the mire. They got out to good balls and bad ones. White was trapped plumb lbw, sweeping to Rashid Khan. Mohammad Nabi and Dan Christian were bowled by O’Conner and Ingram respectively to leave them 6 for 51. Ingram pushed his luck with a third over and finally paid a price for two waist-high full tosses, but the damage was done. The required run-rate reached 13 by the time pace returned and the game meandered to a tame finish.

South Africa demonstrated the ruthless instinct that has brought them seven straight series win at home, rounding up the seven Pakistan wickets they needed before lunch

The Report by Alan Gardner14-Jan-2019South Africa demonstrated the ruthless instinct that has brought them seven straight series win at home, rounding up the seven Pakistan wickets they needed before lunch on day four at the Wanderers. Duanne Olivier made the early inroads, taking his wicket tally for the series to 24, before Kagiso Rabada scythed through the tail to help confirm a 3-0 whitewash.Pakistan did manage to breach the 200-mark for the only the second time in six innings, but that was small consolation as they fell to another heavy defeat. Asad Shafiq top-scored with 65 from 71 and there was some devil-may-care hitting lower down, though little to suggest the tourists ever harboured serious hopes of chasing 381 for a consolation victory.While the efforts of the top order on the third evening declared that Pakistan were not willing to run up the white flag in their last act of the series, it did not take long for them to buckle once play had resumed. For the second time in the match, Olivier found himself on a hat-trick and when Shafiq’s punchy innings was ended by Vernon Philander a few overs later, the bulk of South Africa’s hard work had been done.Babar Azam is one player who has left a mark on South Africa – just ask Dale Steyn – but he could do little about the Olivier throat ball he received in the third over of the morning, a pawing, snorting delivery worthy of the Bullring that flicked the bottom glove on its way through. Sarfraz Ahmed was then bluffed out first ball, hanging back for the short one only for Olivier to hit the top of off stump as the bat came belatedly into line.There was a second fifty of the series for Shafiq – although 185 runs at 31.00 was an underwhelming return for one of Pakistan’s senior batsmen – and a few more retaliatory boundaries before he walked down at Philander and diverted tamely to second slip.With Pakistan now 179 for 6 little more than half an hour into the morning session, and the target a hazy dot on the Highveld horizon, the rest was mostly formality. Shadab Khan had negotiated Olivier’s hat-trick delivery by sending a compact drive back down the ground for four, and he added 25 in partnership with Faheem Ashraf, before the latter’s fun was ended by an excellent diving catch at gully from Aiden Markram.The same combination of Markram and Rabada removed Mohammad Amir two overs later, bat dangled apologetically in the channel, and although Hasan Ali made merry while hitting two fours and a six in 22 of 14, he soon sent up a steepling caught-and-bowled chance for Rabada to swallow.Shadab demonstrated a correct technique and some enterprising strokes, hitting seven fours to move within sight of a fourth Test fifty. However, having put on 31 for the last wicket with Mohammad Abbas, forcing the lunch interval to be pushed back, an impetuous call by the No. 11 ended Pakistan’s resistance via a run-out.

He put down the 4-1 series result to the way the Indian side put the hosts ‘under a lot of pressure’ in the five-match series

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-20194:55

Neesham, Santner dismissals ‘on the unfortunate side’ – Williamson

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson put the 4-1 series result down to the way India’s bowlers bowled throughout the series and the way the visitors put the hosts “under a lot of pressure”. Speaking after losing the fifth ODI by 35 runs in Wellington, where New Zealand were unable to chase down 253, Williamson conceded there was “a little bit of a theme throughout the series” in the way India would recover and put the pressure back on the hosts.”I mentioned earlier that the game is about pressure and if you can, as an outfit, you want to put the opposition under as much pressure as you can to challenge decision-making, and when you do that, you tend to pick up wickets and that puts you in a fairly strong position,” Williamson said. “I think throughout this series India were far better at that than us and as a bowling unit they were superb – their accuracy from a seaming and spin perspective did put us under that sort of pressure in which we saw improvements throughout the series but it certainly was something that we didn’t start the series well with. We weren’t able to soak that up and try and turn up and put it back on them.”To be honest, over these five games, we’ve been put under pressure a lot and it obviously challenges decision-making which although we’re on the wrong side of the results 4-1, which India fully deserve.”New Zealand’s bowling unit relied heavily on their swing spearhead Trent Boult, who collected 12 wickets, but no team-mate of his picked up more than four in the series. India, in comparison, had all their frontline bowlers chipping in with Mohammed Shami and Yuzvendra Chahal taking nine each, Kuldeep Yadav eight, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar seven. They also stifled the New Zealand batsmen, with none of the above conceding more than 5.50 runs per over. Overall, the New Zealand bowlers picked up 27 wickets in the series and India had 40 to their name.In the fifth ODI, India were in trouble at the start yet again, at 18 for 4, but recovered on the back of Ambati Rayudu’s 90 and scores of 45 each from Vijay Shankar and Hardik Pandya, which helped them post a challenging total. Williamson said they were “confident” of chasing the score but India managed to pick up wickets at key moments.Colin Munro tosses his bat up after chopping on•Getty Images

“I think it was probably a par-ish total on that surface,” the captain said. “It (the pitch) was a little bit variable and probably a little bit two-paced as well. We knew that the Indian bowling attack would maximise what they might be able to get out of it, as they’ve done in the series. So we knew it’d be a challenge but saying that when it is 250, there isn’t the scoreboard pressure, so if we’re able to get partnerships then we could take the game deep and we were confident and been able to chase it down.”But I guess there’s a little bit of a theme throughout the series although there were some improving signs today, we just wanted to take them a little bit further. And they were able to pick up wickets at key moments which made life a little bit difficult in that chase. I thought the first half from the bowlers was outstanding and in the last two games they’ve really stepped up which is pretty nice.”India’s recovery on Sunday was made easier by their decision to play an extra batting option in Vijay Shankar by resting spinner Kuldeep Yadav. Shankar batted at No. 6 ahead of allrounder Jadhav and consolidated with Rayudu by putting on 98 runs for the fifth wicket with a patient 45 off 64 balls. India’s decision to add depth in the batting also allowed them to play Pandya at No. 8 – he hammered 45 off 22 balls – and Bhuvneshwar Kumar at No. 9.”It would have been nice to pick up another couple of wickets [after 18 for 4], we obviously spent a lot of resources at the top with seven and six [overs] from our front two seamers,” Williamson said. “Knowing that they had an extra batter we had to make a few changes and because they’ve not been coming that hard at us it was difficult to blast them out but we thought if we could squeeze for a period of time we would maybe create a couple of errors.Colin de Grandhomme walks back after being trapped in front•Getty Images

“We saw some chances, maybe the odd mistake which is nice if it goes your way, but for the large part they were able to soak up that pressure and take the game to a stage where then they could knock some hard runs. [Pandya’s] was a fantastic innings of 40 off 20 which put them at that par, perhaps even a fraction higher, at the halfway stage.”Williamson quickly dismissed suggestions of any kind of complacency after New Zealand had dismissed MS Dhoni for 1 and had India four down inside the first ten overs.”Not, not at all,” Williamson said, when asked if his team grew complacent. “We’ve seen throughout the series how good India are and you do need to be playing good cricket for a long time, not just a few dismissals. MS is a big wicket but as we’ve seen today there are a number of other guys that are outstanding world-class players. We’ve seen throughout the series. So there was none of that.”Williamson also admitted he made a “mistake” when asked about the dismissal of Ross Taylor, who was trapped lbw by Pandya for 1 in the 11th over. The ball had struck Taylor above the knee roll and the batsman decided not to review it after having a chat with Williamson at the other end. Ball-tracking later suggested the ball would have bounced over the stumps.”Yeah, I heard about that. We obviously had a conversation and Ross has been batting absolutely beautifully so it’s actually hard when you realise you make a mistake through our communication but unfortunately it’s one of those things and you do need to move on.”Yeah, he walked past me and asked, ‘what do you reckon, and maybe it’s too high, and maybe it’s umpire’s call,’ and unfortunately it’s one of those things that we move on [from].”After the upcoming T20I series against India starting February 6, New Zealand will host Bangladesh for their last three ODIs before the World Cup in England. Williamson was non-committal about how far they were from finalising a squad of 15 before the world tournament.”We had a number of guys involved from a larger squad perspective which was great,” he said. “There’s still some cricket to come and that will be helpful but time will tell as to finalising that squad but it’s not so much about that as it’s about the cricket that we want to play right here right now.”The idea is that as a squad you want to be able to have guys in the situations and have these experiences so over a bigger picture we’ll all be better for it and that’ll be the best part that came out of this series, it was a very tough series.”

The opener marked his return to first-class cricket by carrying his bat with a century for Western Australia against New South Wales

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Feb-2019Cameron Bancroft said that he, Steven Smith and David Warner have “stuck by each other” during their bans after the ball-tampering scandal in Newlands last year.Bancroft, who was handed a nine-month sanction, was the first to return to action in late December and has marked his comeback to Sheffield Shield action by carrying his bat for 138 off 358 balls against New South Wales. It was the third time he has carried his bat in first-class cricket.Speaking to the before the start of that match, Bancroft denied that there was a rift between him and Warner following his interview with Adam Gilchrist on which aired during the Boxing Day Test against India in which he reiterated how the ball-tampering had been instigated by Warner.”Yeah, I’ve spoken to Dave … I think all of us, including Dave, have been really challenged through this period of time,” Bancroft said. “I know that all three of us have really stuck by each other and looked after each other well.”I guess moving forward there will be great lessons for all of us, including Dave. That’s something we’ve all shared with each other and something I’ve certainly shared with Dave when we’ve communicated throughout this entire journey.”The bans for Warner and Smith elapse of March 29 but when they next play remains up in the air with them both recovering from elbow surgery. Smith had the more serious problem and it could be that he does not play much before Australia have to name their World Cup squad on April 23. Warner is expected to take part in the IPL, although two of the ODIs in the Pakistan series next month come after his ban has finished.Bancroft has these four Sheffield Shield matches for Western Australia to put his name back in the selectors’ minds and push the likes of Marcus Harris and Joe Burns for an Ashes spot, but he is not thinking that far ahead.”As far as what is in my control is these four Shield games for Western Australia, I’ve committed to playing county cricket with Durham in the winter as well, so as far as I’m concerned they are the things that I can control and look forward to and put my energy into,” he said.”I think I love the game far more authentically now…I think those little things about the game, you know at times you get caught up in some unhealthy values that playing at the highest level can sometimes present — at the end of the day it’s a game of cricket, and it’s nice that that’s why I play the game.”

England women chase down a moderate target of 188 with six wickets and 16.3 overs to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2019England women eased to another comfortable victory in the second ODI against Sri Lanka in Hambantota, chasing down a moderate target of 188 with six wickets and 16.3 overs to spare to secure an unassailable 2-0 series lead.After winning the toss for the second match running, Sri Lanka this time chose to bat first, perhaps mindful of the daunting score that England had put on the board in the first fixture after being asked to bat.And though each of the top eight reached double figures in a determined team performance, no-one managed to push on to any milestone of note, with Harshitha Madavi top-scoring with 42 from 46 balls.Alex Hartley rejoices after picking up a three-for•Getty Images

With Katherine Brunt sitting this match out with a back injury, England’s seamers were thwarted in their initial burst, and instead it was the spin of Laura Marsh that made the first incisions, with both openers, Prasadani Weerakkody and Chamari Atapattu falling in quick succession after a stand of 41.Wickets continued to fall in pairs for Sri Lanka, as they were frequently pinned back after laying decent foundations. With the score on 71 for 2, Alex Hartley bowled Anushka Sanjeewani for 13 before Anya Shrubsole dealt with Shashikala Siriwardene two runs later, and the pattern was repeated at 145 for 4, with two more wickets for four runs ending the most threatening stand of the innings between Madavi and Hansima Karunaratne.Sri Lanka’s innings fell away thereafter, as Hartley dealt with the tail to finish with figures of 3 for 36, and England’s reply started with the sort of intent that soon made the result a foregone conclusion.
Amy Jones, England’s pace setter in the opening fixture, once again left her team-mate Tammy Beaumont in her wake as he blazed her way to 54 from 39 balls with seven fours and three sixes. She had scored more than 75% of England’s runs when she fell to Oshadi Ranasinghe off the final ball of the Powerplay.Lauren Winfield picked up where Jones had left off with 44 from 41 balls, with Beaumont playing the relative anchor role for 43 from 60. Nat Sciver, who made 6 from 14 balls, endured another off-day with the bat – her tour has been a bit all or nothing in that regard – but captain Heather Knight and Danielle Wyatt were on hand to steer the final phase of the run-chase with an unbeaten stand of 28.