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The 13-man squad also includes Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer, Saurabh Kumar, Ishan Porel, and others

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Sep-2018Batsman Karun Nair, who was benched throughout India’s Test tour of England, will lead a 13-member Board President’s XI squad to take on the visiting West Indies for a two-day practice match in Vadodara. The match will begin on September 29 and will precede the two-Test series in October.Hanuma Vihari, who was selected ahead of Nair for the fifth Test against England and made a fifty and a duck on debut, also found a place, as did Mumbai batsman Prithvi Shaw, who was also called up for the final two Tests in England without getting a game.Mayank Agarwal, who has been on the periphery of an India call-up for a while, also made it to the side on the back of an extended prolific run that included a first-class double-century last month against South Africa A and a one-day hundred in the quadrangular series that followed. In his last first-class innings, he scored 80 on a tough second-innings pitch against Australia A.Shreyas Iyer and Ankit Bawne, who struck three fifties in six first-class innings against the visiting South Africa A and Australia A teams, form a strong batting line-up. The selectors, however, opted for a less experienced bowling attack, especially the pace line-up which will be led by Kerala’s Basil Thampi, who has played 18 first-class matches.Uttar Pradesh left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar and Tamil Nadu pacer K Vignesh were rewarded for impressive performances in the Duleep Trophy. Saurabh finished the tournament as the highest wicket-taker, with 19 scalps from three matches. Vignesh, with eight scalps in two matches, was also among the top-five wicket-takers. Madhya Pradesh’s Avesh Khan, Bengal’s Ishan Porel, experienced allrounder Jalaj Saxena and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan complete the 13-member squad.West Indies will be in India for a full tour featuring two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is in October-November.Board President’s XI squad: Karun Nair (capt), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer, Ankit Bawne, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jalaj Saxena, Saurabh Kumar, Basil Thampi, Avesh Khan, K Vignesh, Ishan Porel

Jamie Overton took three wickets before the close after half-centuries from Mark Stoneman, Keaton Jennings and Nick Gubbins had set the Lions up for a declaration

ECB Reporters Network23-Jun-2017
Scorecard Mark Stoneman top scored with 86•Getty Images

Three of the contenders for a possible Test call-up – Keaton Jennings, Mark Stoneman and Nick Gubbins – all made half-centuries as England Lions pressed for victory against South Africa A in the tour match at Canterbury.Skipper Jennings and former Durham team-mate Stoneman passed 50 for the second time in the match before Middlesex’s Gubbins sped the Lions toward a declaration with 63 off 65 balls.England pulled out on 308 for 5 after scoring at nearly five an over on a slow pitch, leaving South Africa A with a target of 412 but they lost four wickets before the close, three of them to Somerset’s Jamie Overton in successive overs.Openers Adrian Markram and Heino Kuhn had put on 164 in the first innings but were parted with 8 on the board this time around when Essex’s Jamie Porter defeated Markram’s tentative defensive push. Overton then had Kuhn and Khaya Zondo caught behind and Theunis de Bruyn smartly held at fourth slip as South Africa A limped to 29 for 4 at stumps.A fortnight after he made his career-best 197 for Surrey in the Specsavers County Championship, Stoneman continued his impressive form with 86. He was dropped on 20 and 33 but the left-hander played confidently on both sides of the wicket with 15 fours and a six off offspinner Dane Piedt.Stoneman and Jennings came together after Haseeb Hameed had been dismissed cheaply for the second time in the match when he was squared up by Beuran Hendricks. The second-wicket pair put on 145 in 35 overs and Stoneman appeared to be cruising towards his fourth hundred of the season when he played on to Duanne Olivier after facing 129 balls in 163 minutes.Having hit nine fours in 122 balls, Jennings, one of only three players in this week’s squad who are in the party for the Lions game against South Africa next week, fell for 71 to a smart slip catch cutting against the spin of Piedt before left-hander Gubbins began England’s acceleration after tea.After Dan Lawrence had been caught behind off Hendricks, Gubbins and Ben Foakes, who made an unbeaten 127 in the first innings, added 69 in 7.4 overs with Foakes employing the slog-sweep against Piedt to good effect, twice clearing the midwicket boundary in the same over.Gubbins wasn’t afraid to employ the long handle either, depositing Hendricks over long-on for six. Foakes drove to cover after making 34 from 27 balls and England declared when Gubbins, who struck eight fours and a six, was out in similar fashion.Earlier, South Africa A had been bowled out for 283 – a deficit of 103 – in their first innings after their last three wickets added 46.

Krunal Pandya smashed a 37-ball 86 to set up Mumbai Indians’ total of 206, a score they defended by 80 runs against Delhi Daredevils in Visakhapatnam

The Report by Nikhil Kalro15-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKrunal Pandya blitzed 86 off 37 balls, his career-best score•BCCI

After Shahbaz Nadeem, bowling the first over of the game, got his first two balls to grip and turn, Delhi Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan may have been proud of the move to play an extra spinner. That changed quickly as Mumbai Indians’ Krunal Pandya pummelled 13 boundaries in a 37-ball exhibition of power-hitting against spin. His career-best score of 86 set up Mumbai’s total of 206 and their subsequent 80-run win in Visakhapatnam. As a result, they climbed to third spot on the points table, and Daredevils dropped from fourth to fifth.Rohit Sharma had laid into Nadeem in the first over to set the tone for Mumbai’s innings. A sweep and a lofted cover drive off consecutive balls meant Mumbai had already equalled their Powerplay boundary count from their previous game. However, Martin Guptill struggled to find timing in his second IPL game despite a forehand swat he sent for six over point in the fourth over.Daredevils’ bowlers forced many chips and bunts through wily changes in pace. Rohit, though, peppered the midwicket region with exquisitely-timed heaves, primarily off the front foot. Just when it looked like Rohit was settling into the anchor role, he skewed a cut to point.Against two legspinners and a left-arm spinner, Krunal, batting at No. 3, utilised his hitting arc through midwicket. Even googlies from Amit Mishra and Imran Tahir were heaved across the line. Krunal’s brisk stand with Guptill resulted in a strong platform where Mumbai could launch from towards the end.It was the 13th over that gave them the extra push. Tahir was walloped for consecutive sixes as he floated deliveries in Guptill’s half. And Pandya finished the over with two more boundaries as 23 runs were taken. Pandya didn’t look back from there.He struck eight boundaries in the following four overs to ensure Mumbai never stalled after Guptill holed out to long-off. Krunal got to a 22-ball fifty with a muscular biff over long-on and celebrated it with an imitation of his brother Hardik’s stance. “I knew there were two legspinners and one left-arm spinner. I was picking the googlies and going with the flow,” Krunal said at the post-match presentation.In the 18th over, Chris Morris used variations in pace and length to remove Krunal and Kieron Pollard in the space of four balls. A 16-run penultimate over meant Tahir finished with figures of 0 for 59, the worst returns by a spinner in the IPL. Twelve more runs in the last over gave Mumbai their fifth-highest IPL total.Daredevils were never in the hunt after losing regular wickets in the chase. Quinton de Kock’s impressive pick-up strokes kept them hoping briefly. But those slim chances were ended when he was adjudged caught behind in the 10th over. De Kock had gone back in his crease to execute a late dab, but so deep was he that his bat flicked Jos Buttler’s gloves as he missed the ball, the second successive time he was wrongly given out.By then, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair and Sanju Samson, had fallen for single-digit scores. With Harbhajan Singh ripping his offbreaks, Mumbai’s challenging score seemed out of reach as the required rate climbed steeply. JP Duminy and Rishabh Pant fell off Jasprit Bumrah’s consecutive balls in the search of quick runs.Bumrah used his offcutters on a slow pitch effectively to finish with 3 for 13 from four overs. Daredevils folded for 126 as Mumbai recorded their third-biggest win. It was fitting that Krunal finished the game with an offbreak that turned past Zaheer’s outside edge to hit the off stump.

Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar are reportedly planning a new Twenty20 competition for retired international players

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2015Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar are understood to be planning a new Twenty20 event for retired international players that would involve two teams playing each other in a series of exhibition matches.Although the plans are not concrete yet at least the organisers – whose identity has not yet been revealed – have a shortlist of 30 players in mind. It is understood that they have identified, among others, Brian Lara, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Anil Kumble, Brett Lee, Adam Gilchrist, Muttiah Muralitharan, Andrew Flintoff, Glenn McGrath and VVS Laxman.The plan is understood to involve a series of matches around the world over a three-and-a-half-year period, with the USA to host the first series in September. The idea, it is learnt, is to take the matches to places where fans are starved of good quality cricket. The USA, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, UAE are some of the venues the organisers are exploring.A report in the newspaper said the proposed tournament – which it said would be called the Cricket All-Stars League – had offered contracts worth US$25,000 a match to ex-players to be involved in it.The seeds for this venture are believed to have been sown last year during Lord’s bicentenary celebrations, where Tendulkar and Warne led teams in a 50-over match. Subsequently both players and their management teams fanned around the cricketing globe to check if recently retired players were interested in playing in Twenty20 matches which would be competitive in nature.The organisers are also keeping powerful boards like the BCCI, Cricket Australia and ECB in the loop and are expected to make a formal announcement in the next two months to make the plans public.An ICC spokesman said it had not yet received any communication and had seen nothing other than what had been reported in the media. “There is a process in place with regard to activities such as this and the ICC will deal with it once it is approached,” the spokesman added.Lee’s manager, Neil Maxwell, said Lee had received an offer and would be seeking permission from Cricket Australia to play.”I can’t see anything wrong with it,” Maxwell told Fox Sports. “It’s a group of retired blokes playing a game of cricket.”The reports come as the Indian Essel Group also considers launching a T20 league, although the two ventures are unrelated.There has been no comment from Warne or Tendulkar, although in January, Warne tweeted that “Sachin & I have an exciting announcement soon”.

Matthew Wade knows his immediate fate in the baggy green could be in his own hands as the selectors

Brydon Coverdale17-Oct-2012Matthew Wade knows his immediate fate in the baggy green could be in his own hands as the selectors prepare to choose between him and Brad Haddin for the first Test against South Africa. Australia’s captain Michael Clarke and national selector John Inverarity have both said in the past few days that the Haddin-Wade decision has not yet been made, which gives both men extra motivation to perform over the next fortnight.The problem for Haddin is that he is in South Africa at the Champions League T20 and should the Sydney Sixers go all the way in the tournament, he won’t have any more Sheffield Shield opportunities to press his case before the decision is made. Although Haddin, who turns 35 next week, made a terrific 114 in his most recent Shield match last month, the selectors will need to weigh up his experience against the youth and talent of Wade.Wade was given a chance in Test cricket in the West Indies in April, when Haddin pulled out of the tour after his daughter Mia was diagnosed with cancer, and impressed with a century in his third Test. He began this season with 89 in his only Shield match so far and another big innings against Tasmania at the MCG next week could be enough to sway things his way ahead of a battle with the No.1 Test team in the world.”I feel comfortable within the Australian setup now, I understand what they’re all about and what we’re trying to do,” Wade told ESPNcricinfo. “I feel really comfortable around the team but that doesn’t guarantee you selection. It’s all about performance from here on in. I’ve got two more Shield games before the Tests and if I can perform in them, hopefully I’ll get picked.”I can only do what I can control. It was nice to come home early and play at the Gabba and get some runs there. I feel like I’m doing everything I can, I’m playing to the best of my ability. If that’s not good enough, that’s not good enough. I can only get told on the day whether I’m in or out.”Wade, 24, has racked up three Tests, 25 ODIs and 15 Twenty20 internationals since making his debut just over a year ago, and has gone from strength to strength. Inverarity has been impressed not only with Wade’s work for Australia but was also happy with what he saw against Queensland at the Gabba last week, when Wade came in with Victoria wobbling at 4 for 39 and rescued the innings in very trying conditions.”It shows what a very good batsman Matthew Wade is,” Inverarity said. “That innings, in the context of that game was the match-winner. They bowled very well in helpful conditions and that 89 was a very significant batting performance.”If you go back to February, he played for Australia, then he played on the wickets in the West Indies, then he went to England and played there, then the UAE, then Sri Lanka. The amount of experience he’s got into his experience in seven months is fantastic.”It hasn’t all been easy for Wade, as anyone who watched the one-day series in the Caribbean could attest. While his glovework was always sound, he found it especially difficult batting against the spin of Sunil Narine, but the way he worked through that trouble and emerged with a Test century in Dominica, having come to the crease at 5 for 157, pleased the coach Mickey Arthur.”We saw Wadey in the West Indies really battle with the turning ball, he hadn’t played in conditions like that before, he didn’t have a game-plan, he didn’t know how to score, he didn’t know where to score off Sunil Narine,” Arthur said. “But he worked it out and at the end of the series he got a really good hundred.”We saw a little bit of that in England, a little bit of that in Sri Lanka, he worked immensely hard through the T20 on his batting, his first-class batting. He learns very quickly. He’s like a little kid, he comes and he fights it and he moans and whinges and gets frustrated, but he works hard, learns quick and hopefully he gets the rewards. He’s got a good edge to him.”Arthur and Inverarity are both on the selection panel that will make the decision by the end of this month, as is Clarke, who said this week that Wade was “an amazing talent” who “is going to be a big player for Australian cricket over a long period of time”. Whether that period encompasses the South African series remains to be seen, but Wade would love the chance to tackle Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel.”There’s no tougher Test cricket than what that will be against South Africa,” Wade said. “As cricketers all we want to do is test ourselves against the best players in the world. Their bowlers are the best in the world at times. It’s going to be hard work all summer against those guys and then a pretty good team in Sri Lanka coming over as well.”It’s definitely a bigger jump up in intensity [to Test cricket] and you always get that one bowler that troubles you. The pressure is a little bit different. I think a home series is probably going to be even tougher, everyone is watching, but it would be fantastic to play in.”

Worcestershire may well go on to avoid relegation this season, but goodness me, they are making life hard for themselves

George Dobell at New Road08-Sep-2011
ScorecardWorcestershire may well go on to avoid relegation this season, but goodness me, they are making life hard for themselves.Whenever it appears they are on the brink of safety, they suffer a reverse that throws their survival into doubt once more. Most pertinently, they resume on day three requiring 27 more runs to avoid the follow-on.Perhaps such nerves are understandable. This is Worcestershire’s third spell in the top division and, on all previous occasions, their experience has ended in relegation after a single year. One bookmaker offered odds of 20-1 on, on them suffering a similar fate this time.They deserve to survive. Not only have they won four games, but they’ve been unlucky on several other occasions. One bad session has cost them in several matches, while they were robbed a possible victory by shoddy covering at The Rose Bowl recently.They continue to stumble with the line in sight, however. They have been several occasions during this game when it has appeared as if they had survival within their grasp. Firstly when Sussex slipped to 234 for seven, then when Worcestershire’s openers posted 64 without undue difficulty and finally when Alexei Kervezee and Gareth Andrew added 73 for their sixth wicket.Each time, however, Worcestershire have allowed Sussex back into the game. Whether it has been with some quite out of character awful fielding, or with their tentative batting, Worcestershire find themselves on the back foot in a game in which they could have been dominating.Perhaps such a summary is unfair on Sussex. Monty Panesar, in particular, has applied sustained pressure on the Worcestershire batting with a testing spell of bowling, while Sussex’s tail also wagged vigorously. Indeed, Sussex added 141 runs for the final three wickets, with Jimmy Anyon showing up the paucity of the Worcestershire support bowling with an increasingly accomplished innings.Worcestershire, however, will reflect that they made life far too easy for the Susses tail-enders. For all his unrewarded excellence on day one, Kemar Roach sprayed the ball around horribly on the second day, while the catch that James Cameron out down at mid-wicket off Anyon left his team-mates transfixed with shock and horror. By professional standards, they don’t come much easier. Doubts continue over Richard Jones’ ability to prosper at this level, too. While he does have the tremendous ability of bowling wicket-taking deliveries, such moments are interspersed with some far less impressive bowling. That Anyon, a batsmen of few pretensions, was able to hook him for a six and four in the same over speaks volumes.Anyon finished unbeaten on 44 having added 52 for the tenth wicket with Panesar. It was a valuable stand, for it helped Sussex to a fourth batting bonus point and a step nearer Division One survival.Panesar’s real work was always going to be with the ball, however. Beginning his spell about 40 minutes before tea, he bowled unchanged until stumps and claimed four important wickets. Vikram Solanki, playing with hard hands at one pushed through typically quickly, edged to short leg, before Moeen Ali was adjudged caught at slip off an arm ball (replays suggested Moeen might have been unlucky, as the ball appeared to have come off only the pad). Gareth Andrew was deceived in the flight and yorked while Ben Scott, who has agreed a one-year deal with Worcestershire, was leg before to the final delivery of the day, another that was pushed through and went straight on.It might be tempting to conclude that Panesar is now back to best. Tempting, but not quite true. Panesar certainly doesn’t bowl many poor balls. Indeed, he pushes the ball through at such a pace that the batsman cannot afford to make any mistake.But he also doesn’t turn the ball away from the bat much and continues to lack variety. The wicket of Andrew – victim of a delightfully well-flighted delivery that dipped sharply – stuck out for its novelty value and also hinted at the untapped promise that Panesar possesses. It is surely worth noting that three of his wickets here came either with deliveries that went straight on or drifted with the arm. In terms of flight and lateral spin, he has been out-bowled in this match by Moeen Ali.Worcestershire had started well in reply. Cameron, in particular, looked in fine touch and it was some surprise when he was yorked by the lanky Will Adkin. It was Adkin’s first wicket of the season and just the second of his career. Tall and blessed with a pleasing action, he looks as if he has the raw attributes to succeed as a bowler, though he could do with adding a yard of pace. Later Darly Mitchell and Aneesh Kapil were both beaten for pace.At least Alexei Kervezee resisted. The 21-year-old has been in horrid form of late, scoring just 17 runs in his last five Championship innings, but here he survived an uncomfortable start and resumes on day three charged with averting the follow-on.Earlier Moeen was the pick of the host’s bowlers on day two. Ending Ben Brown’s fine innings with his first delivery of the day – Brown charge down the pitch and was beaten by the flight – Moeen finished with admirable figures of 4 for 53. The statistics are modest as yet, but he could yet develop into an all-rounder at international level.Meanwhile the sizeable – and affable – contingent of Sussex supporters that have travelled to this game were joined in an impromptu game of cricket on the outfield at tea by their club’s chief executive, Dave Brooks. It’s hard to think of another county CEO who would have participated in quite such an unashamedly enthusiastic way and was an insight upon the friendly and approachable spirit on which Sussex pride themselves. ECB chairman Giles Clarke, watching on from a hospitality suite, didn’t join in.