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Fidel Edwards bagged his best figures for Hampshire to earn a significant lead

ECB Reporters Network20-Aug-2018
ScorecardJames Vince crashed his 23rd first-class century as Hampshire put themselves in a strong position in their Specsavers County Championship fixture against Nottinghamshire.Vince, who lost his place in the England Test line-up after a disappointing winter in Australia and New Zealand, effortlessly collected 147.His innings was backed up by Tom Alsop, who notched his 10th career half century, and Fidel Edwards’ best bowling figures for the county.Edwards had been the main architect with his analysis of 6 for 50 as Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 166 in the morning session.But the afternoon belonged to Vince, who scored his first 50 from 65 balls to go alongside his first innings 74. The prime attribute of Vince’s innings was his supreme sprinting between the wicket, which saw his score increase quickly and put pressure on both the fielders and the bowlers.He had been brought to the crease in just the second over when Jimmy Adams was beaten by a swinging delivery from Mark Footitt. Vince soon saw Joe Weatherley lbw to Matt Milnes and Sam Northeast caught behind off Steven Mullaney.Vince offered no clear chances in his almost flawless innings, although popped up two leading edges into gaps either side of reaching his landmark. Nottinghamshire skipper Mullaney appeared lost for plans to dismiss Vince, with three extra covers deployed at one stage in an attempt to lure a mishit drive.Vince appeared in no mood to lose his wicket and reached three figures for the third time this season in 139 balls.For all Vince’s guile, Alsop played the anchor for the partnership as he scored slowly, yet effectively. He eventually reached a half-century in 112 deliveries, brought up with an out of place swipe over long-on for six.Vince and Alsop collected career records, moving past 9,000 and 1,000 first-class runs, as the fourth wicket reached a stand of 171 before Milnes knocked over his off stump. But the damage had been done with Hampshire reaching close with a lead of 364, with Alsop unbeaten on 63.Nottinghamshire had started the day staring at a heavy first innings deficit after Edwards’ day one evening spell of 3 for 9. And Edwards didn’t let up in the morning as he struck in just the second over of the day, with Samit Patel failing to add to his overnight total as he was lbw.Edwards almost added Riki Wessels to his list of victims, but Rilee Rossouw spilled a regulation chance at first slip with the batsman on 3. But Wessels only managed another eight runs before Kyle Abbott struck him on the pads with a hint of nip back into him.Nottinghamshire had needed somebody to steady the ship, like Vince had done in Hampshire’s first innings, and their own captain Mullaney somewhat fit the bill. Mullaney countered with 38 off 53 balls but before he could get away Gareth Berg teased him outside his off stump to edge behind.Luke Fletcher continued the aggression with a quick-fire 43, which saw him smash Abbott for a six over midwicket alongside seven more bludgeoned boundaries. But he failed to control a strike across the line against the extra pace of Edwards and skied to Liam Dawson at long-on.Edwards completed his six-wicket haul by dislodging Matt Carter’s leg stump with a yorker, before he completed the Nottinghamshire innings by catching Billy Root at long-on.

The pace bowler pushed thoughts of an Australia recall to the back of his mind as he battled form and fitness

Andrew McGlashan11-Sep-2018A simple text message from coach Justin Langer gave Peter Siddle the encouragement that he could force his way back into Australia’s Test plans, having seemingly been overtaken by a group of younger, quicker pace bowlers.Siddle is in the frame to play his first Test in almost two years after being recalled to the squad for the series against Pakistan in the UAE, with Australia needing pace-bowling replacements for the injured Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.Siddle played the last of his 62 Tests against South Africa, at Perth, in 2016 after which he battled a recurrence of a back injury that kept him out for the remainder of that season. The 2017-18 Sheffield Shield campaign brought an underwhelming 24 wickets at 39.66, but he has just completed a productive stint with Essex where his 37 wickets at 16.40 have sealed his comeback.He had tried to keep thoughts of the baggy green at the back of his mind, but admitted to a few nerves since returning from England amid talk that he would be included, before the national selector Trevor Hohns confirmed the good news in a phonecall.”When you’ve been out of the side, the only reason he’s calling is usually good news, so when his name came up it brought a little smile to my face,” Siddle said.”I didn’t want to focus too much on the Australian side, just what I could control, so the chats [with Justin Langer] were more about how I was going. We’ve always been good mates. I helped him with the Aussie A side going over to India, just with some different bowling plans. He sent one message saying ‘every game counts’ and I think that was the best little message I had from him. I didn’t need to ask anymore, I knew what he meant, but to hear it from him was good backing and here we are.”Siddle was cautious of not getting ahead of himself during his return from injury last season, having learnt the lesson of rushing things following the initial back injury in 2016. He pinpointed last year’s Big Bash campaign with the winners Adelaide Strikers as the moment when things started to click again as fitness and enjoyment started to combine.”I pushed it last time to come back for that Test and got injured straight after it, so next time around I took my time and got everything right,” he said. “I focused better on what I needed to do, in the past I think I was just so focused on getting back in the Australian side that it took away from my performances on the field.”After the first half of the year I went away, played in the Big Bash for the Strikers, and started enjoying cricket a little more. I had a good tournament and when I came back for Victoria my performances were a lot better so that gave me a lot of confidence. By body was right, I was playing some good cricket and continuous cricket which I hadn’t done for a long while. Wickets always top things off and I think that’s what the English summer has done.”Siddle’s reward, however, is not what many fast bowlers would dream about: the potential of two Tests in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He was part of the team when Australia last visited in 2014 – “Younis Khan made a hell of a lot of runs,” Siddle recalled – when Pakistan completed two thumping victories, Younis scored 468 in four innings and Misbah-ul-Haq hit what was, at the time, the joint-fastest Test hundred off 56 balls. Siddle returned 2 for 217 across the two matches.”Patience was a big thing you can take out of it, especially from a fast bowler’s point of view,” he said. “You can be over-attacking sometimes and not generate wickets. It will be a different approach this time, we have some quality spinners who are bowling well. It will be hard work, but think we have enough information from previous trips.”

The home team’s pace trio shared nine wickets between them to knock New Zealand A over for 65

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2018Umaid Asif picked four wickets in two overs•PSL

Pace trio Waqas Maqsood, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Umaid Asif took nine wickets between them to skittle New Zealand A for 65, before the batsmen shrugged off the paltry target with more than seven overs to spare, as Pakistan A romped to an eight-wicket win in the first unofficial T20I in Dubai.New Zealand lost three early wickets to the opening combination of Maqsood and Afridi, finding themselves at 11 for 3, with the latter on a hat-trick at one stage. First-change Asif then tightened the noose, snaffling five in quick time to finish as the pick of the bowlers with 5 for 20, his best T20 figures. Only captain Corey Anderson and wicketkeeper Tim Seifert offered a modicum of resistance. But once they were separated by Asif, with a slower ball that Anderson dragged on to his stumps, the innings went into a steep nosedive again. Despite Seifert’s 26, which included five fours, the visitors folded up inside 13 overs.In response Pakistan lost their openers early, Sahibzada Farhan run out for 1 and Umar Amir hit wicket for 20 off Kyle Jamieson. But there were no hiccups thereafter as the third-wicket pair of Iftikhar Ahmed and Hussain Tallat stitched together a partnership of 44 off 51 balls to see the hosts home.

Raj makes battling half-century before spinners take over; Pakistan, New Zealand knocked out

The Report by Sreshth Shah15-Nov-2018India cruised into the semi-finals of the Women’s World T20 after demolishing Ireland by 52 runs in Providence. The result meant that Group B’s top-two spots were decided, with Australia being the other semi-finalist. For Ireland, it was their third-straight loss of the tournament. The result also meant New Zealand and Pakistan were knocked out.

Our total was not good enough – Mandhana

India opener Smriti Mandhana believes India’s total of 145 against Ireland was not good enough as their plan was to score at least 20 runs more.
“Definitely we were looking at 165 to 170,” she said after the match. “I didn’t think that 140 (145) was good enough because in T20s you can’t keep thinking about wicket and outfield because it’s such a fast game that, and we have 10 wickets to play. So I think we were aiming at 165 to 170, but unfortunately we could not do that.
“The first two matches I definitely felt we were good, but today I felt batting could have been better. But bowling and fielding I think we are really good, and we dominated the opposition.”
Mandhana went on to say that India’s batting line-up, especially the top four, could play a crucial role in the upcoming matches.
“Well, I think the first match was enough warning for everyone. Everyone has been in good form the last seven-eight months, so coming into the World T20, we all were really confident as a batting unit. So yeah, I think if our top four bat through the 20 overs, I think we will always be putting a good total up.”

On a day where torrential rain in the morning made batting conditions difficult, Mithali Raj battled her way to a 17th T20I half-century to help India post 145. With the outfield slightly wet and a damp pitch to boot, Raj anchored India’s innings till the 19th over, collecting four fours and a six in her 56-ball 51.Openers Smriti Mandhana (29-ball 33) and Raj added 67 after Ireland asked India to bat. This partnership gave India a platform that allowed young Jemimah Rodrigues (11-ball 18) to inject some momentum. But a flurry of wickets in the middle overs forced India to lose their way and eventually limited their surge in the death overs. Kim Garth, the medium-pace bowler, was the pick of the Ireland bowlers, dismissing Raj and Mandhana to finish with 2 for 22.Mithali Raj’s battling 17th T20I fifty helped India seal a semi-final berth•ICC/Getty

The lack of pace from the Ireland bowlers forced Raj to reply on late dabs and glances. Later in the game, there was an injury scare when she hurt her knee while diving at square leg. But at the end of the game Raj, who was named Player of the Match, put it down to just a minor niggle and hoped to be fit for the Australia game on Saturday.Ireland started their chase of 146 positively, going wicketless till the sixth over. Clare Shillington (23-ball 23) and Gaby Lewis added 27, but once the opening stand was broken, the India spinners continued to rattle Ireland. Barring Shillingford, only Isobel Joyce (33) reached double digits for Ireland, as they played out the 20 overs.But Ireland were nowhere in the contest after the Powerplay. The duo of Deepti Sharma (2 for 15) and Radha Yadav (3 for 25) began to choke Ireland as the field spread out, and regular wickets meant they could not put together any useful partnership.At 84 for 4 in the 16th over, it looked like Ireland’s batsmen would respectably see the game out, but a flurry of late wickets – one apiece for Harmanpreet and Poonam Yadav – and a run-out from D Hemalatha ensured Ireland finished their innings with only two wickets in hand. Taniya Bhatia had an excellent day with the gloves. Three of the eight Ireland wickets were due to her quick glovework.The winner of the India-Australia clash will determine the Group B topper. For Ireland, their last game against New Zealand will be a chance to leave the Caribbean with at least one win.

A disciplined bowling effort followed by a middle-overs run surge helped Melbourne Renegades upset Perth Scorchers at the Marvel Stadium

The Report by Sam Perry20-Dec-2018 103 all out (Klinger 28, Christian 3-22) by four wickets A disciplined bowling effort followed by a middle-overs run surge helped Melbourne Renegades upset Perth Scorchers in a low-scoring affair at the Marvel Stadium.After winning the flip and electing to bowl, the home side exploited the difficult wicket better than their opponents, who were bowled out for 103 thanks to Usman Shinwari, Daniel Christian and Kane Richardson’s bowling.While Renegades’ chase began nervously – at one point slumping to 4 for 17 – both Sam Harper and Mohammad Nabi profited from uncharacteristically loose bowling from the visitors, who are otherwise known for their tight defensive prowess. They put Renegades within reach, before Christian and Will Sutherland saw them home. Swing King ShinwariOn his BBL debut, the Pakistan international shone with the new ball, setting up Renegades’ bowling with four dominant overs that will be remembered throughout the competition. Shinwari’s first twelve deliveries kept the Scorchers largely quiet and allowed his team-mates to benefit from the pressure.He exploited the wicket’s underlying moisture through consistent length bowling, and he made the most of his whippy action that effects an acute swing away from the right-hander. He claimed 2 for 17 from his four overs, and looked a threat whenever he had the ball in hand.Scorchers splutter on tricky wicketThe fifth ball of the match told a key story. Michael Klinger, the only Scorchers batsman who made a significant contribution, came forward to a ball that zipped away from his bat. The camera quickly caught the Scorchers stalwart cocking his head, offering a wry grimace in response to a wicket that offered minimal pace and maximum seam, in T20 terms.From there, it was a procession of dot ball aggregation, followed by big shots that paid a big price. The wicket appeared very tacky, and Klinger aside, nobody seemed willing to make runs. Cameron Boyce was particularly difficult to get away, bowling with great control and giving away just 13 runs in his allotted four.Mohammad Nabi slugs one down the ground•Getty Images

Scorchers’ early surge A characteristically potent start saw Scorchers surge immediately back into the contest. First, Tim Ludeman feathered a soft glide through to Whiteman from Behrendorff’s bowling, before Wildermuth chopped on from Coulter-Nile in the second over. Even at 2 for 7, it looked salvageable enough for the hosts, before disaster struck again. Both bowlers were making the ball talk, but it was the former producing the most serious hoop. Behrendorff enticed Cameron White into an expansive cover drive, before the ball zeroed back very late to pin him in front.Coulter-Nile responded with a wicket of his own the following over. Tom Cooper, who to that point had looked relatively assured at the crease, first hooked Coulter-Nile for four, momentarily allowing Renegades fans to breathe. It was short-lived, however, as the stand-in skipper then spooned an easy catch to point. That made it 4 for 17, and 103 was starting to look uncomfortably distant for the home side.Harper and Nabi take the game awayAfter nearly 24 consecutive overs of disciplined, successful length bowling from both sides, Scorchers were the first to deviate from the plan. After new batsmen Sam Harper and Mohammad Nabi dealt blows to Andrew Tye’s opening over, they fully exploited the loose offerings of both David Willey and Usman Qadir. It was Willey who first suffered, presenting rare width to Nabi, who cut via third man for four. Two balls later the Afghanistan all-rounder was back smashing him over deep cover for six.It represented a turning of the tide, and it was amplified after Usman Qadir’s first over, which was one to forget. He dished up a number of drag-downs which were dispatched with ease, first conceding three, then four, then six, among assorted singles. After such a strong start, it meant Scorchers had leaked 38 runs in the next three overs, undoing their advantage.From there, Renegades cruised, eventually reaching the total in the 16th over with 28 balls to spare. Harper and Nabi’s partnership broke the arm-wrestle, before Christian and Sutherland guided the Renegades to a win.

The allrounder made 21 and 11 after returning to the Sheffield Shield and appears unlikely to play the second Test against India

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2018Mitchell Marsh missed an opportunity to make a forceful statement to Australia’s selectors after being left out of the first Test against India and doesn’t know the impact his omission will have on his role as joint vice-captain.Marsh was named as vice-captain of the Test side alongside Josh Hazlewood earlier this year, but neither have played in the same team yet after Hazlewood missed the Tests in the UAE and now Marsh’s axing for Adelaide. It is an unusual situation for a team to have a designated vice-captain on the sidelines other than through injury.”I don’t know where I stand in that sense,” he said. “Lucky we’ve got two vice-captains.”Marsh was dropped when Australia favoured Peter Handscomb as a specialist batsman in the middle order and the allrounder was sent back to the Sheffield Shield with instructions to score runs.ALSO READ: A genuine fight, but more pain for Australia
He returned 21 and 11 for Western Australia against Victoria at the MCG – and claimed 1 for 102 – in a performance that did not hammer the door down for an immediate recall.”I was obviously very disappointed to miss out in the first Test but I understood the reasons why,” Marsh told reporters in Melbourne. “Ultimately, you’ve got two ways to go about it – you can either sulk and go into your shell or you can put a smile on your face and enjoy the hard work, enjoy the challenge of getting back into that Test side.”Despite struggles in the UAE against Pakistan, where he made 30 runs in four innings which continued a lean Test run dating back to South Africa, Marsh returned to domestic action with 151 against Queensland last month but then followed that with scores of 1, 44, 6 and 30 in the next two matches before the Test squad assembled.”I still felt like I was in really good form and feeling very confident heading into last week. But ultimately I still had two chances before the Test match to put a big score on the board and I didn’t do that. The message was clear – I needed more runs.”It appears unlikely Marsh will get his chance in his home state of Perth despite continued discussion about the workload Australia’s three quicks face without the presence of an allrounder.Mitchell Starc, who sent down 40.5 overs, was disappointing in Adelaide but has been backed by captain Paine while Hazlewood clocked up 43 overs and Pat Cummins 37.”I was certainly pumped about [playing in Perth] and I still am,” Marsh said. “I’m in the squad so I’d say I’m a chance … ultimately it’ll come down to conditions and how the bowlers pull up.”

The dual roles of Mickey Arthur and Azhar Mahmood with the national team and Karachi Kings could come under review at the board’s next governing council meeting

Umar Farooq07-Feb-2019The PCB’s board of governors (BoG) has formally taken up the issue of dual roles causing potential conflicts of interest ahead of the Pakistan Super League. The BoG has agreed to chalk out a policy on engagement of PCB employees with PSL franchises.In the 52th governing council meeting today, the issue came up for discussion officially, with a focus on national-team coaches who also work with PSL teams. The PCB has confirmed the development, but with the league starting in a week’s time, a final decision on the issue will have to wait until the next board meeting, with all appointments to be reviewed after PSL season ends on March 17.Ever since Ehsan Mani took over as PCB chairman in September 2018, high-profile names such as Mickey Arthur have come under the spotlight, with other high-profile names having to give up roles in the PSL.Last year, the PCB removed chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq from the PSL player draft committee because of a potential conflict of interest since he was involved with a talent-hunt programme run by one of the tournament’s franchises, Lahore Qalandars. Tauseef Ahmed, who is part of the national selection committee while also being Islamabad United’s spin coach, was also left out of the PSL draft committee and later axed by the franchise.ALSO READ – Mickey Arthur’s dual roles with Pakistan and Karachi Kings back in the spotlightPakistan head coach Arthur is also part of the Karachi Kings coaching staff, which has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest.In 2016, Arthur was already Karachi Kings’ head coach when he took over the Pakistan role shortly after Waqar Younis’ resignation. Arthur, with then PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan, had negotiated a contract to allow him to fill both roles, foregoing his monthly PCB retainer during the duration of the PSL. When he renewed his contract as Pakistan coach until the 2019 World Cup, this agreement remained intact. Arthur has coached Karachi Kings in all three seasons of the PSL so far, and is set to do so again in the 2019 edition. Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood had been part of the franchise as well but that is no longer the case.PSL franchises haven’t raised the issue openly, but have hinted at concerns about having Arthur in both set-ups. “If you talk about me as a head coach, its challenging for a coach and selector within one set-up,” Aaqib Javed, the Lahore Qalandars head coach, told ESPNcricifo after the first season. “There is a reason why it’s been avoided and seen as awkward. I have great regard for Mickey but this should be avoided.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Arthur has no vote in picking Pakistan’s squads, though the selectors take his inputs on board, but he does have a vote in selecting the final playing XI. “I see absolutely no conflict at all and in fact see it as a massive benefit because it allows me to see all the best young talent available,” Arthur said in 2016. “I certainly am professional enough not to in any way be biased in selections or opinions on any player because at he end of the day I am here to assist Pakistan cricket and make Pakistan cricket the best and I am not going to jeopardise that in any way.”

The CA central contracts for 2019-2020 and the Australia A sides to tour England will also be named on Monday

Alex Malcolm12-Apr-20191:22

Shaun Marsh in for Handscomb? How many quicks in total?

How many announcements are expected next week?It is expected that Cricket Australia will make a raft of announcements on Monday, April 15 including naming the contract list for 2019-20, the 2019 World Cup 15-man squad, as well as the Australia A limited-overs and four-day squads that will tour England in June and July.That’s a lot of players…There will be 15 players in the World Cup squad as well as possibly another 15 or so in the Australia A white-ball squad in England in late June for five 50-over games. The Australia A red-ball squad will assemble in early July just after the conclusion of the World Cup and will feature a number of players from both white-ball squads plus some additional long-form specialists and perhaps some young players with an eye towards the future. There is an Australia versus Australia A four-day game in Southampton on July 23 that will require a minimum of 24 players. The Ashes squad is slated to be formally announced after the conclusion of that game, just five days out from the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston on August 1.Why so late for the Ashes squad?The selectors want the opportunity to pick players after seeing the performances on the Australia A tour and potentially county cricket. For the two previous Ashes tours the squad was selected and named more than two months out from the tour. A wider squad will be picked on Monday well in advance of the first Test in August but it gives the selectors the flexibility to add players depending on form and fitness.ALSO READ: Aussies overseas: Warner and Smith find form, Renshaw misses outRemind me where we are with the World Cup squadThe selection panel of Trevor Hohns, Greg Chappell and Justin Langer met in Perth on Tuesday to finalise the squad for the World Cup as well as discuss the Australia A squads. The World Cup squad will almost certainly be picked from the squad that toured India and the UAE for 10 ODIs in February and March as well as previously suspended duo Steven Smith and David Warner, and injured fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. It is unlikely than any player outside of the 15 who toured India and UAE plus those four will come into the World Cup mix.Usman Khawaja celebrates his maiden ODI century•Getty Images

So what’s the toughest decision for the selectors?There are two areas of contention. The batting is the toughest issue to solve. The inclusion of Warner and Smith means there are surplus to requirements in the top four. Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh on recent performance have every right to remain in the side but Warner and Smith are proven world-class players and World Cup winners. What it will mean is Ashton Turner misses out but they will lose a freakish power-hitting finisher at the expense of having six batsmen who are all top-four specialists, none of whom possess Turner’s late-over hitting ability.The bowling is less complicated despite the number of quality options. Starc, if fit, will likely replace Jason Behrendorff as a like for like. Jhye Richardson’s fitness may be an issue depending on his recovery from a dislocated shoulder. The other debate surrounds Hazlewood’s inclusion. He could well be left out in order to preserve his body for the Ashes. The wicket-keeping spot is unlikely to be up for debate. Alex Carey looks set to be the No.1 with Peter Handscomb only to be used in the case of injury.Who had central contracts in 2018-19?The initial list, not including players who qualified for upgrades during the year was: Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh, Tim Paine, Matthew Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis and Andrew Tye.Who might miss out this time?Smith and Warner are almost certain to be contracted after missing out last year due to suspension although the interest will be at what level. Renshaw did not represent Australia in a single international in the contract period so he is unlikely to keep his contract. Mitchell Marsh was named the Test vice-captain last year but lost his place in all three forms. Agar, Tye and Stanlake were out of favour by the end of the summer, although Agar missed a lot of cricket through injury and Tye was called up to the India ODI tour as cover for Kane Richardson. But Zampa has become an automatic selection in Australia’s limited-overs teams and would almost certainly be added while Peter Siddle and James Pattinson could become integral parts of Australia’s England plans, and Pattinson is a tantalising prospect long-term given he is seemingly back to full fitness.The other issue is whether the Test specialists will be rewarded given there were fewer Tests in this contract period than previously. Marcus Harris played all six Tests over the summer and appears a certainty for the Ashes squad at the very least. Joe Burns and Kurtis Patterson made Test hundreds in their last Test appearance against Sri Lanka while Marnus Labuschagne also played in five of Australia’s eight Tests over the last contract period.

Stand-in keeper showed skills that England has sometimes lacked, but knows his chances will be limited

George Dobell03-May-2019Ben Foakes admitted he has little chance of breaking into England’s limited-overs team despite leading them to victory on debut in Dublin.Foakes made an unbeaten 61 – the only half-century of the match – to help England secure a win that looked unlikely when they subsided to 66 for 5 within 15 overs of their reply. Keeping wonderfully calm despite the apparently hopeless position, Foakes added 98 in 15 overs with Tom Curran for the seventh wicket to see his side home. It meant that he followed the Man-of-the-Match award he won on Test debut with another such award in his first ODI. He is set to make his T20I debut on Sunday in Cardiff.But, as he has seen from his Test career, that is no guarantee of longevity. And despite finishing his maiden Test series in Sri Lanka as England’s Man of the Series, Foakes was dropped after two more games in the Caribbean as England struggled to balance their side. With Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, who have both been rested following their IPL stints, to come back into the side in the coming days, he knows there is a chance he may never play again.”Can I break into the team? Probably not,” Foakes said. “Jos is probably the best keeper-batsman in the world and Jonny is probably second, if not first. It’s ridiculous.”So just to get the game has been great. It’s something I didn’t expect. I didn’t really think I’d make my debut.”While Foakes is probably right in the short term – there were seven first-choice England players missing from this side, after all, and he was only called up when one of their replacements, Sam Billings, suffered an injury – he did show the skills that this England side has sometimes lacked in recent times.Adapting to the slow surface, he was content to rotate the strike and pick up singles for an unusually long time in modern ODI cricket – his first boundary, a pulled six off Boyd Rankin, came from the 57th delivery he faced – and he showed an unflustered temperament that was a little reminiscent of MS Dhoni. There have been a few times in the recent past that England could have benefited from such composure.”It was one of those rebuilding jobs and I guess that suited my game a little bit,” Foakes said. “I just had to get my head down and fight it out. It was a bit of a grind.”Whenever you lose that many wickets early, you’ve got a job to do to stick in there and not get out. There were a few nerves, but there was never a stage where the run rate was getting out of hand. The guys like Tim Murtagh and the slower bowlers were tough work on that sort of wicket, so the job was to see them off, try not to get out, and when a bit of pace came on, get a bit more value for your shots.”At one stage with Foakes at the crease, England scored just nine runs in six overs with Murtagh and George Dockrell – their bowling speeds around 14 mph apart – bowling their allocation of nine overs each for a combined total of just 56 runs. But with both bowled out with eight overs remaining and Ireland obliged to rely on two debutants in Mark Adair and the impressive Josh Little, Foakes always had confidence in himself and his lower-order colleagues to get the job done. Adil Rashid (10 first-class centuries), Liam Plunkett (three) and Jofra Archer were all still to bat.”Plunkett was coming in No.11 today, so I knew we batted deep,” Foakes said. “In that sort of situation you know what the job is, you don’t go too far out of your comfort zone. It’s just about soaking up the pressure.”Foakes also completed a stumping to dismiss the dangerous Andy Balbirnie. While most of the talk around the dismissal concerned the amount of time Foakes waited for Balbirnie to raise his back leg – Ireland captain William Porterfield subsequently claimed “the ball was pretty much dead” – what was perhaps more significant was the smooth way Foakes collected the leg-side wide.ALSO READ: Archer shows glimpses on debut but rivals raise their game“It was quite wide down leg,” Foakes said, “but I got it back to the stumps. When it’s a sweep you think they might fall over and I just saw he lifted his foot and nicked them off.”While Porterfield admitted the match felt “like the one that got away”, he said he was “proud” of his team and accepted that, in retrospect, he should have called for a review when Foakes was adjudged not out to a leg-before appeal when he had scored 37. Hawk-Eye replays subsequently showed that, had Ireland called for the review, Foakes would have been out.”We should have reviewed it,” he said. “But there were only about 10 overs left and you don’t know if you’re going to get another chance? It probably looked as high as any of them but it was red. If I could go back an hour I’d be reviewing it.”Meanwhile, another debutant, Dawid Malan, sustained a groin injury while batting and will be unavailable* for Sunday’s T20I in Cardiff. Sussex’s Phil Salt has been called up in his place as cover.*May 4, 1000 BST – This story was updated with confirmation of Malan’s replacement

England director confirms that management had been bound by confidentiality until story was made public

George Dobell02-May-2019Ashley Giles has accepted that Alex Hales would still be in England’s World Cup squad if news of his drugs test failures had not been revealed by the media.But Giles, the England men’s team director, has also insisted that Hales has not been “deselected” as a direct result of that indiscretion. Instead, according to Giles, Hales was axed from England’s World Cup plans because of “a string of poor behaviour over time” and “the effect the [latest] news had on the players, the management and the captain”.Giles also confirmed that, while he was aware of Hales’ second drug test failure before the selection of England’s provisional 15-man World Cup squad – only Giles, Tom Harrison (the ECB’s CEO) and Nick Peirce (the ECB’s chief medical officer) were informed among ECB officials – he had not passed on the information to the selectors as he was “bound by a duty of confidentiality”.ALSO READ: ‘Breakdown in trust’ between Hales and team – Morgan“When the teams were selected, the selectors and the captain were unaware of any issue surrounding Alex,” Giles said. “The advice we got from our legal guys was categorically we had a duty of confidentiality which we stuck to. We couldn’t tell them, simple as that.”But once the story broke on Friday, the effect of it on the England environment – on the players, management and captain – was really strong. We’re building towards our biggest summer of cricket in 40-50 years and our responsibility is to making sure we’re in the best possible shape going into the World Cup. This became too big a distraction for our environment to have.”Speaking candidly on Thursday afternoon, England’s captain Eoin Morgan confirmed that he and the team’s senior players – Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes – had reached the conclusion that Hales’ place in their plans was untenable, due to a “lack of respect for [the team] values, and … a complete breakdown of trust”. Giles subsequently confirmed that he had been asked to take action.”Being at England’s camp in Wales and seeing the effect of that news, it was clear it wasn’t going to work,” he said. “There’s an element of trust in that environment and if that trust is not within the group, that’s a problem. I think that’s what occurred here. It could be seen that a string of poor behaviour over time has led us to this point.”There was consultation. The captain consulted with his senior players and I talked to the captain and the coach. I’m not a selector, but the selectors were unanimous in this decision, fully supported by myself and Tom Harrison that this was the right way to go.”While Giles was adamant the door had not been permanently closed on Hales’ England aspirations, he did confirm the player “had some making up to do”.”Alex has been an important part of this team’s journey over a period,” he said. “The door isn’t closed, whatever people think.”What we want to see is some really good behaviour over time and some good cricket, of course. We’re there to support him. I understand he’s going back to play for Notts but it’s important we have support from all corners, whether it be the PCA, the ECB or Notts. The player’s welfare is still fundamental. But there’s some making up to do, I’m sure.”Ashley Giles discusses selection matters with England’s Test captain, coach and selector•Getty Images

Giles seemed particularly underwhelmed by the statement from Hales’ management team which suggested that previous assurances from Giles that Hales’ World Cup place would not be affected were “rendered meaningless” by the subsequent decision to ‘deselect’ him.”I didn’t think that statement was particularly good, but he’s clearly disappointed and we get that,” Giles said. “We – Tom Harrison and I – kept our part of the bargain and maintained our integrity throughout this. Someone else clearly didn’t. That’s the problem.”We said no off-the-field incident could have a bearing on World Cup selection. We stand by that. Any process, whether it be discipline or otherwise, you can’t have double jeopardy.”At the same time, Tom and I can’t make guarantees on selection because we’re not selectors. That’s not handing over responsibility, but we assured him in this case that, for this off-the-field incident, it could not have a bearing on World Cup selection.”But once the story broke, the effect was really strong. It was too big a distraction for our environment to have. So yes, of course, had the story not been made public, the environment would not have been affected and he could have stayed in the side.”Giles also confirmed that England’s policies on the issue of recreational drugs may need to change. While he accepted the current guidelines had been put in place to avoid a recurrence of the Tom Maynard tragedy in 2012 – many felt Maynard may not have attempted a desperate escape from the police if he was less fearful of the repercussions to his career of a potential drugs test failure – he conceded they required reviewing in light of the Hales case.”The worst thing we could do is bury our heads in the sand and go, let’s hope this doesn’t happen again,” Giles said. “If policies need reviewing, that’s what we have to do to make sure next time things work much smoother.”Let’s remember why it was put in place. That policy was put in place after the Tom Maynard situation, a terrible situation, where if we had something like this in place, maybe that could have been avoided. But whether it operates right or not, that’s what needs review.”