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Franchise says “the team is still under the process of review” after failing to make the playoffs in IPL 2023

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Jul-2023Royal Challengers Bangalore have not yet renewed their contracts with director of cricket operations Mike Hesson and head coach Sanjay Bangar following a sixth-place finish in IPL 2023, a development that could signal a major revamp at the franchise.The contracts are usually up for renewal around September, ESPNcricinfo has learned, but the franchise management is deliberating changes to its coaching staff. It could not be confirmed whether RCB have informed Hesson and Bangar, both of whom did not respond to a query from ESPNcricinfo.”Their contract with RCB is still intact,” RCB said in a statement. “The team is still under the process of review. We will come back if any announcement on the changes in the team.”Related

• Middle-order woe leaves RCB empty-handed again

• Langer takes over from Flower at LSG

• Chahal on parting ways with RCB: 'I did not receive any phone call, no one even spoke to me'

Hesson came on board in August 2019 following a revamp of the coaching staff after their last-placed finish that year, while Bangar began his tenure ahead of the 2022 season, after Simon Katich parted ways with the franchise.Under Hesson, RCB finished fourth in the league in 2020 and lost the Eliminator to Sunrisers Hyderabad; third in 2021 and lost the Eliminator to Kolkata Knight Riders; fourth in IPL 2022 before winning the Eliminator and then losing Qualifier 2 to Rajasthan Royals; and failed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2023.RCB have made it to three IPL finals – in 2009 , 2011 and 2016 – but are yet to win an IPL title.RCB could become the second franchise to make changes to its team management since IPL 2023, after Lucknow Super Giants replaced Andy Flower with Justin Langer as their head coach.If RCB part ways with Hesson, it could also mean a revamp of the support staff of the RCB women’s team. Hesson was also director of cricket for the team during the inaugural Women’s Premier League, where they finished fourth among five teams, with two wins and six losses.

Keemo Paul is also flying to Pakistan as a late addition to the West Indies squad

Sreshth Shah08-Jun-20222:48

Pooran on Netherlands series, challenges in Pakistan and assessment of debutants

The intense Multan heat has been a major talking point ahead of the Pakistan vs West Indies ODI series. The games are set to start at 4pm local time to counter the weather conditions, but with West Indies desperate to win more World Cup Super League games, Nicholas Pooran doesn’t want to focus on uncontrollables, like the weather, at all.But, keeping in mind the heat, the in-form Keemo Paul has been flown in to bolster the squad. While lead selector Desmond Haynes said in a CWI press statement that the injury-prone Paul had earned his spot after his successful run in the regional four-day championships for Guyana, where he displayed high fitness levels while taking 20 wickets in five games, Pooran indicated that the heat meant an extra squad member would be useful.Related

• Pooran: 'We definitely need to buff up on ourselves, myself especially'

• Azam hopeful Pakistan can beat the heat and West Indies

• Multan reclaims spotlight as Pakistan, WI go to battle

“Coming from Netherlands, from the cold to heat [is not ideal],” Pooran told the media on Tuesday. “Today we had our first training session and it went really good. We trained at 4pm, and it was windy. For now, it’s okay. Hopefully it doesn’t affect us. Coming from the Caribbean, it is quite similar, so I think we’ll be alright.”The guys are coping well, the medical team is doing everything to keep us protected. You can’t see the future, but I don’t think the heat will be too much of a problem after what I saw this afternoon.”Pooran wasn’t too concerned about his own form coming into the series. He had a high score of 10 in three innings in the Netherlands, even though there were four centuries and four fifties from his team-mates. He was out all three times to offspinner Aryan Dutt in that series, but despite that, Pooran felt batting against spin remained one of his strongest suits.”No, I’m fine, this is not the first time I haven’t scored runs,” he said. “Have to check my stats, but I am always scoring runs. Obviously, I’m disappointed by my personal performance in the Netherlands. Some people may say that I should’ve scored runs in the Netherlands. But I believe I am a good player of spin and don’t think I have to overthink it too much.”It’s just a matter of time, I need to get a start and then capitalise on it.”Pooran acknowledged that for West Indies, beating Pakistan in Pakistan was a challenge from the outset, but wanted his team to accept it instead of fearing it. As for tangible goals for the Pakistan series, Pooran revealed two such plans: hold on to catches and bat long as a team, consistently.”Some world-class bowlers and batsmen here [for Pakistan], but I want the players to embrace the challenge,” he said. “If we can take our catches, get some runs, you never know what can happen, the game can turn in a couple of balls. We want to use our momentum [from the Netherlands] and continue to be consistent as a team.”Cricket is played on its day. We had three guys getting centuries [in Netherlands]. We saw Brandon King being consistent with the bat. This is obviously really good for us. As a batting group, we want to bat 50 overs. In the Ireland series, in the India series, we haven’t batted all 50 overs.”Yes we are coming to Pakistan, yes they have good bowlers as well, but I believe we have the ability and confidence to bat the 50 overs. We appreciate the small goals and as a team we want to achieve it. One step at a time, and we’ll take it from there.”

Senior batsman says nothing but a series win will do in home conditions

Umar Farooq22-Jan-2021Azhar Ali, Pakistan’s senior-most batsman, has urged young players to shrug off their insecurities to give themselves the best chance to perform at home against South Africa. As many as nine uncapped players have been named in their initial squad of 20, with at least two of them likely to debut in the first Test starting January 26.For all practical purposes, this is the first time Pakistan are playing South Africa at ‘home’ since 2007-08. Azhar (83 Tests) aside, only Babar Azam (29 Tests) has had any kind of significant Test experience to speak of. Abid Ali is eight Tests old, Fawad Alam seven and Mohammad Rizwan, who captained in New Zealand, has 11 Test caps. Among the bowlers, Yasir Shah has the most experience with 43 Tests, and will do a bulk of the bowling alongside automatic pick Shaheen Afridi (13 Tests) and the returning Hasan Ali.”International cricket is always a challenge,” Azhar said. “Even if you play as a youngster or up there for long, pressure will remain for ever. But obviously for a new player it is a challenge to handle pressure and then there are insecurities in our culture around what if they are dropped.”Obviously we understand that there is a big difference between international and domestic cricket which make them a bit insecure. But as as a senior player my advise to them is to trust their skills and stick with that they are doing to do well because that is what is going to give them a best chance to performance. If you think too much that will bring negativity and hold you from doing well. So be positive and grab the opportunity.”Misbah-ul-Haq will have two more coaches in the set-up•Getty Images

Pakistan had a miserable time in New Zealand, losing both Tests comfortably while winning just the one T20I on tour. Those results, coupled with their poor returns in England and Australia, means there is going to be much scrutiny on the team as much as there will on Misbah-ul-Haq, the head coach.Azhar remains optimistic of returning to winning ways. “Home conditions bring confidence in players,” he said. “If you remember, our batsmen in previous two home series (against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) had big chunks of runs and did really well. But on away tours, ts always tough for Asian teams. But our batsmen fought it out. In England and New Zealand there was at least one batsman who made a century.”There is a different level of pressure on away tours, but at home, everyone expects nothing less than a win. We must take the responsibility as a team to win matches at home. We will try to take this benefit [of playing at home] positively and maximise this opportunity at fullest to keep the opponent under pressure.”‘No one is undermining anyone’ – Azhar on extra coaches joining teamTo ease some load off Misbah, the PCB has added coaches from the High Performance Centre to assist the team management. Mohammad Yousuf will work alongside batting coach Younis Khan while Saqlain Mushtaq will guide the spinners. Having so much of experience in the coaching set-up comes with the risk of information overload, at times, but Azhar hopes this will onl be beneficial.”Yousuf and Younis both being in the camp isn’t undermining anyone,” Azhar said. “This is mainly for conditioning and we are taking an advantage of their experiences. Younis bhai is our main batting coach and we are lucky to have Mohammad Yousuf around as well. The Test is starting in few days and we don’t have much time either for any change in our batting (technique) but both are getting us ready for the Test.”South Africa is a very strong team especially with their bowling they are the top side. Their fast bowlers are good but then if we get a spin track, we are wary of their left-arm spinner Mahraj who he is a seasoned bowler and is playing Tests for long. He is bowling consistency well. We have to come up with our A game to compete so I believe they have everything covered in their bowling and our batting must take this challenge and score big enough for our bowlers to get them out.”

Board pledges £20 million over two years and announces 40 new domestic contracts

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2019The England & Wales Cricket Board has pledged a funding boost for women’s cricket of £20 million over two years, and plans to invest £50 million in the next five years, in a bid to make cricket into a gender-balanced sport.The challenge of transforming women’s and girls’ cricket was one of six priorities within the ECB’s ‘Inspiring Generations’ strategy for 2020-2024, and part of the new remit is a commitment to the funding of 40 full-time professional, domestic contracts, in addition to the existing central contracts for England Women’s elite players.A ten-point action plan was unveiled by Clare Connor, the ECB’s managing director for women’s cricket, at an event in London, with a focus on five key objectives:Participation: To increase the number of women and girls playing cricket recreationally

Pathway: To develop aspiring female cricketers (U11-17) as players and people

Performance: To drive the performance of England women’s cricket through a new semi-professional, eight region structure

Profile: To elevate the profile of women’s cricket through The Hundred, the England Women’s team and the elite game

People: To increase the representation of women across the cricket workforce”Cricket has been an integral part of my life, as a player and in my role of Managing Director of Women’s Cricket. I have never been more excited by the opportunity in front of us right now,” said Connor.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Recent initiatives have given women and girls more opportunities to play, such as All Stars Cricket for 5-8-year-olds, the South Asian female activators programme, and the Kia Super League for our most talented domestic cricketers. But to truly transform women’s and girls’ cricket, we must now move from targeted standalone programmes to addressing the whole pathway as one.”We have an amazing opportunity to make cricket the sport we want it to be – a sport that is modern, innovative and inclusive. I have been so heartened by the level of enthusiasm, commitment and support for this plan from everyone involved in cricket.”Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, added: “During the development of Inspiring Generations, and extensive conversations and research across the game, the strong appetite to transform cricket’s relationship with women and girls was abundantly clear.”There is tremendous energy across the cricket network to pursue the game’s largest growth opportunity and to increase the number of women and girls playing, watching and volunteering at every level of the game.”This plan, formed in collaboration with the whole cricket network, and supported by our commercial and media partners, represents a crucial step in achieving our ambition of making cricket a gender-balanced sport.”The plan was produced following two years of consultation with all 38 Counties and Cricket Wales, and detailed analysis of thousands of survey responses from the recreational and elite game.To test some of the recommendations for the recreational game, ECB has run pilot programmes with over 600 cricket clubs to better understand the essential criteria in creating the most sustainable women’s and girls’ clubs.”This action plan is a really exciting next step in the continued growth of women’s cricket,” said Heather Knight, England Women’s captain. “We need more young girls to be inspired to play and those young girls need to be able to see a clear pathway above them that encourages them to continue pursuing the game.”As England players we’re fortunate enough to meet lots of young girls who love the game and it means so much to us to see how much they love cricket. Much of this plan is about normalising the game for women and girls and I’m excited to see how this increased opportunity takes the game forward.”

Durham have plenty of downtime ahead of Friday night’s Vitality Blast quarter-final against Sussex while Glamorgan’s coach has lots to ponder

ECB Reporters Network21-Aug-2018
ScorecardDurham’s bowlers needed only 8.2 overs to dismiss the remaining three Glamorgan batsmen at Sophia Gardens this morning to gain their third championship win of the season, and inflict on Glamorgan their third successive championship defeat and their sixth in the last seven games.Resuming on 79 for 7, Glamorgan soon lost Craig Meschede, who was leg before to Chris Rushworth in the fourth over of the day, and the Durham seamer struck again in his next two overs when he bowled Lukas Carey and Michael Hogan to end Glamorgan’s misery.The victory margin, an innings and 30 runs, was a fair reflection of Durham’s dominance throughout the game, while Glamorgan were to reflect on another hugely disappointing performance which will little to restore confidence or morale.Rushworth ended with 5 for 28, and match figures of 8 for 64 as throughout the match Glamorgan’s batsmen were unable to counter the movement Durham’s seamers obtained in both innings.It all left Glamorgan’s coach Robert Croft with much to ponder as he seeks to keep momentum in the season after the county’s failure to reach the last eight of the Vitality Blast.Had the weather not intervened in this game, Glamorgan would have been beaten inside two days in successive games, and although they have been unlucky with their overseas signings and Marchant De Lange, one of their leading bowlers, has been out injured since mid-May, the fact is that their young batsmen have been unable to cope with opposing attacks.Meanwhile, Durham, who will have an extra day off before Friday’s T20 quarter final game against Sussex at Chester Le Street, will be delighted with their performance, especially their two debutants Alex Lees and Axar Patel.Lees, signed from Yorkshire, was soon into his stride with an assured 69, while Indian all rounder Patel, took three wickets in the game and struck an aggressive 95 and rescue Durham following a mid -innings collapse.A dejected Glamorgan captain Michael Hogan said after the crushing defeat,”it was not ideal, it was just another of those days. The dressing room is pretty low at the moment, and we have to give them the opportunity to have some fun, and get some smiles back on their faces. We will have nets on Thursday and get some practice before the game against Warwickshire next week.”Durham seamer Chris Rushworth, who took eight wickets in the game, said” it was good to field in bowling conditions on the first day, and it suited our bowlers. We were clinical, and that’s what we need to be to beat the teams around us in the championship. Everyone contributed, and it was a very satisfying victory”

AB de Villiers has said he was “pretty upset” at being asked by the umpires to explain the condition of one of the balls during South Africa’s narrow defeat against England at the Ageas Bowl

Alan Gardner at the Ageas Bowl27-May-20173:03

‘Upset at being held responsible for condition of the ball’ – de Villiers

AB de Villiers has said he was “pretty upset” at being asked by the umpires to explain the condition of one of the balls during South Africa’s narrow defeat against England at the Ageas Bowl.Rob Bailey and Chris Gaffaney, the standing umpires, spoke to de Villiers before the start of the 34th over in England’s innings, bowled by Keshav Maharaj. De Villiers was animated in his response on the field and the ball was not changed; afterwards, South Africa’s captain said he felt it was being implied that his players were at fault for scuffing up the ball.”The umpires felt the condition of the ball changed,” de Villiers said, “in a way, making me feel that we are responsible. I was quite upset about that. I don’t know what else I can say, I was pretty upset. It’s done and dusted now, nothing happened, there were no fines given or anything like that.”I honestly told the umpires we have nothing to do with the condition of ball, except for the fact that Maharaj bowled five overs on the trot from that end. The ball generally scuffs up when the spinner bowls a few overs. I expressed my views about that and we move on.”Asked if he felt that the implication from the umpires was that his side had been engaging in ball-tampering, de Villiers replied: “Yes. That’s the feeling that I got and I expressed that I was quite upset about it. But like I said, no further steps were taken from both parties.”If I can give my five cents, I felt it was a bad ball and that happens sometimes. The leather comes off and you do get that. Unfortunately the umpires didn’t agree. [But] nothing happened, generally there’s a warning or a fine, none of that happened, which tells me they realised we were innocent in this case.”South Africa were sanctioned last year for altering the condition of the ball in a Test against Australia in Hobart, after their captain, Faf du Plessis, was filmed by television cameras with a mint in his mouth when applying saliva to shine the ball. In 2013, during a series against Pakistan, du Plessis also pleaded guilty to a charge of ball-tampering after rubbing the ball near the zipper on his trousers.Eoin Morgan, England’s captain, said his team were unaware of any suggestion that the ball had been scuffed up. “Normally, if there’s any dispute about the ball, they change it straight away,” he said.The umpiring team of Bailey, Gaffaney, the third umpire, Rod Tucker, and match referee, Andy Pycroft, were engaged in their customary debriefing after the game, with no suggestion that the matter would be taken further.Having seen his team lose out off the final ball by two runs, de Villiers praised England’s bowlers for closing out victory and the series. With ten balls to go, South Africa needed ten runs to win but Jake Ball and Mark Wood conceded just six singles and a leg bye to deny David Miller and Chris Morris.”I thought the boys played a great hand at the end there, to get us so close,” de Villiers said. “I got a bit excited, thought we had it in the bag. Got to give credit to the last two bowlers of England, who finished there, they showed some great skill and good plans.”Unfortunately it didn’t go our way, we didn’t get the lucky bounce – if you want to call it that, a little edge over the keeper. We were just waiting for one little break and it would be game over. The boys gave it their best shot. Chris and David played a great knock, built a great partnership but unfortunately we couldn’t cross the line.”

Rising Pune Supergiants’ seam bowlers, led by Ashok Dinda, used the fresh Hyderabad surface to reduce Sunrisers Hyderabad to 32 for 5, setting up a crucial 34-run D/L win

The Report by Nikhil Kalro26-Apr-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAshok Dinda set up Rising Pune Supergiants’ win with his second-best IPL figures•BCCI

Rising Pune Supergiants’ seam bowlers, led by Ashok Dinda, used the fresh Hyderabad surface as an ally to restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 118 for 8, before producing a dominant batting performance to seal a 34-run win via the Duckworth-Lewis method.Sunrisers were reduced to 32 for 5 after mild showers delayed play by an hour. Dinda, brought in for Ankit Sharma, struck off the fourth delivery to dismiss David Warner, Sunrisers’ highest scorer, to set the tone for the evening. He later dismissed Aditya Tare and Naman Ojha to finish with 3 for 23. In the chase, Faf du Plessis and Steven Smith overcame the early loss of Ajinkya Rahane by putting together 80 off just 55 balls to derail Sunrisers.Rain returned to bring a premature end to the game with Supergiants needing 25. It was the 18th win by a chasing side in 22 games this season.Dinda, making his debut for Supergiants, removed Warner with a wide delivery that was cut straight to backward point, eliciting a Cristiano Ronaldo-like celebration. Mitchell Marsh swung the ball both ways to leave the batsmen searching for runs. The pressure of an unproductive Powerplay resulted in loose shots from Tare and Eoin Morgan as Sunrisers slipped to 27 for 3.Sunrisers’ innings went from bad to worse when Deepak Hooda gloved a reverse sweep off R Ashwin’s first delivery to MS Dhoni. In the next over, Moises Henriques was strangled down leg to leave Sunrisers at 32 for 5.Supergiants did not concede a boundary from the sixth over till the 14th, with R Ashwin conceding 14 in four straight overs. It was only the third time he completed his full quota this season.Shikhar Dhawan and Naman Ojha milked the bowling, but the inability to find boundaries forced them into playing the big shots. Dhawan, who was dropped by Rahane at long-off in the 15th over, carried on to post his second fifty of the season, but Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided the finishing touches – his eight-ball 21 gave Sunrisers momentum going into the break.Bhuvneshwar wasn’t done yet; he gave Sunrisers some hope in the chase with a wicket-maiden in the first over, after having Rahane caught at backward point. However, Smith and du Plessis capitalised on loose bowling, hitting 11 boundaries in the next seven overs to all but finish the game. Mustafizur Rahman, Warner’s trump card, was also taken apart by Smith’s wristy flicks.Du Plessis’ fluent knock ended when he edged behind for 30. Dhoni, who got off the mark with a muscular hit over mid-on, nailed a cut straight to backward point off Ashish Nehra soon after just as the drizzle got heavier. The players scurried off immediately with Supergiants at 94 for 3, comfortably ahead of the D/L par score of 60.

There was relief and hope for Somerset: relief that their pitch had been given the all-clear following several sessions of close scrutiny, and some hope of a vital backs-to-the-wall victory

David Lloyd at Taunton04-Sep-2013
ScorecardJames Hildreth’s innings has put the match back on an even keel•Getty Images

There was relief and hope for Somerset: relief that their pitch had been given the all-clear following several sessions of close scrutiny, and some hope – despite the galling last ball of the day dismissal of Craig Kieswetter – of a vital backs-to-the-wall victory in this relegation nerve-tingler.ECB pitch inspector Bill Hughes was among those present yesterday when the ball turned and bounced significantly from the outset, for home spinners Piyush Chawla and Jack Leach. At the close of play, umpire David Millns confirmed the surface was being “monitored”.Today, Hughes settled down behind the bowler’s arm, alongside groundsman Simon Lee, and announced during the lunch interval that his work was not yet done. But by tea, he declared himself satisfied; meaning any threat of a points penalty had been removed.Of even more importance for Somerset – and potentially more damaging for Derbyshire – the balance of power had started to shift out in the middle. A daunting first innings deficit of 195 was eaten into by Marcus Trescothick’s sixth half-century of this, so far, hundred-less season and then wiped away completely through the combined efforts of Nick Compton and James Hildreth.By stumps, the hosts were ahead, by 36. And if only Kieswetter had defended Shiv Chanderpaul’s final delivery instead of trying to cut the now extremely occasional legspinner, they would have had seven wickets in hand. The ball cannoned into the stumps via a bottom edge and Derbyshire celebrated an unexpected and badly needed late gift.But even now, the visitors can anticipate a testing fourth innings run-chase, thanks in no small part to a stand of 116 between Compton and Hildreth.Trescothick, dropped on 35 by second slip Richard Johnson off Tim Groenewald, was unable to benefit fully from his slice of luck. And Hildreth, having looked all at sea early on against the spinners, prospered splendidly yet still failed, by 19 runs, to turn what was only his third Championship fifty of the campaign into a second hundred – under-edging an attempted pull into his stumps. But Compton remained reassuringly rock-solid throughout.The, for now at least, former-England batsman dropped down to No. 3 so he could have treatment on a stiff neck. But once in the middle he looked happy enough, negotiating 151 deliveries while accumulating 64 unbeaten runs. No wonder Derbyshire were looking hot and bothered before Kieswetter played into their hands.Last year’s Division Two champions were recently penalised for a pitch producing excessive turn during a YB40 match and at least some in their camp will believe they saw enough evidence on the first day here for Somerset to have been convicted of a similar charge.The problem, in more ways than one, for the visitors is that their spinners were unable to extract as much turn and bounce as Chawla and Leach – at least not on anything like a regular basis.They had chosen to leave out 19-year-old offspinner Peter Burgoyne, who has played in the last four games, while left-armer David Wainwright started this match with a season record of 13 wickets at 55 runs apiece. He posed some problems, inevitably, but no more than occasional tweaker Wayne Madsen. It was more in hope than expectation, then, that Chanderpaul was called upon, but what a good decision.Derbyshire had added 78 for 5 this morning which was both a fair bit better than seemed likely at 256 for 9 but ultimately just a tad disappointing when they were all out, following a last wicket stand of 42 between Tim Groenewald and Mark Footitt, with a third batting point only two runs away.Alfonso Thomas did most of the damage with the ball, taking 3 for 19 in six overs with the help of two outside edges and a bad misjudgement from Palladino, who padded up to an in-ducker.Derbyshire might have expected to face another trial by spin. Instead, Trescothick ignored left-armer Leach completely and kept Chawla’s powder dry until 55 minutes into the session. When the little Indian leggie did appear, his sixth delivery – one that hurried through – easily defeated Johnson’s ill-advised attempted pull.Johnson deserved a career-best but had to settle for 68, four short of that landmark. Still, his earlier partnership of 103 with Tim Poynton had gone a long way towards putting the visitors into a position of strength – and it did not go unnoticed by Somerset supporters that the stand was worth precisely what the hosts could muster, in total, in their first innings.That should have been just about it. Instead, the last pair made merry (when they weren’t playing at fresh air during Chawla’s five-over spell) and Groenewald’s almost-straight six off the legspinner was a treat to behold. In the end, with 300 beckoning, confidence got the better of Footitt and a sliced drive against Craig Meschede brought the curtain down.

Brendan Taylor will have the treble role of leading the side, anchoring the batting and playing as the first-choice wicketkeeper at the World Twenty20

Firdose Moonda12-Sep-2012All 12 captains at the upcoming World T20 will have issues on their mind ahead of the big event, none more so than Zimbabwe’s leader Brendan Taylor. He will have the treble role of leading the side, anchoring the batting and playing as the first-choice wicketkeeper. Taylor has done all three jobs before but never all at the same time. That makes this tournament as stern an examination of his ability as multi-tasker as it will of his team and the progress they have made since their return to Test cricket last August.Taylor took over the captaincy shortly before Zimbabwe were ready to re-enter the elite club of the game and has shown himself to be creative, unafraid and a strong performer while in charge. He led Zimbabwe through a successful comeback and has kept the armband for longer than most of his counterparts. He has also earned many personal accolades in the time and was being picked up by T20 leagues in New Zealand and Bangladesh as reward for his efforts.He has developed into one of the country’s most reliable batsmen and when Tatenda Taibu announced his retirement from the game in July, to follow his spiritual calling in the church, Taylor had to become its premier gloveman as well. Whether he will do the job in the longer format remains to be seen but he is man in possession for now and has shown no signs of being overburdened.Taylor took the gloves in the unofficial T20 tri-series played in June, which Zimbabwe won after beating a South African XI in the final of the competition, which also featured Bangladesh. Taylor was the second highest run-scorer in the tournament, making 163 runs in five matches, including a half-century.Zimbabwe’s openers, Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda, ensured that Taylor was rarely under pressure in at No.3. On one of the occasions when he was, in the final, Taylor featured in a 118-run partnership with Masakadza and scored 59 to guide Zimbabwe to victory.It was a small example of the way Taylor responds to increased responsibility. Zimbabwe’s most experienced player, Ray Price, has no doubt that Taylor would continue in that vein at the World T20. “I think he’ll sweat quite a bit in this weather but I think he’ll do well,” Price said at Zimbabwe’s arrival press conference in Colombo. “When you’re keeping it’s also easier to manoeuvre the field and in T20, he’ll be pressed for time, so that will be a big advantage for him.”Taylor’s position behind the stumps is not the only thing he has going for him ahead of the tournament. He was the only Zimbabwean player to feature in the recently completed SLPL and while he did not find any form for the Uthura Rudras, with just 46 runs in his six innings, he was able to get first-hand experience of conditions in Sri Lanka and gathered information to pass on to his charges.Most notably Taylor thought that there would be more life in the tracks on the subcontinent, despite their reputation. “I thought the wickets moved around a bit so it was fairly challenging,” Taylor said. “Last year we were here for the World Cup and I think the wickets have changed a little bit since then so it will be quite interesting to see how it goes.”Price said he also expects something for Zimbabwe’s bowlers in the group stage. “Hambantota does swing around and there’s quite a bit of wind there as well,” he said. “The most important thing is to attack as much as we can. Kyle Jarvis and Chris Mpofu have been bowling really well, so it will be interesting to see how they apply what they’ve learnt from those past experiences.”More than the conditions, the place itself may give Zimbabwe an advantage. Known as one of the most remote international grounds, Hambantota has been criticised for the lack of other facilities, such as hotels and shops, in the area close to the ground. Taylor is aware that some teams, including the hosts, would be uncomfortable in the city. “It’s new to the South Africans as well and I know the Sri Lankans would probably rather play elsewhere,” he said.For Zimbabwe though, just playing international cricket is enough. Their national team has not been in action since January when they toured New Zealand and have had to make do with unofficial tournaments and training camps since then. Lack of preparation has been a common thread for Zimbabwe.”It hasn’t been ideal but our preparations back home have been close to what we’ve wanted. We had a good six or eight weeks together, playing a lot of T20 matches and team-building so we feel prepared and we’re all ready to go. I think we’ve covered all the angles. We’ve all played enough cricket in the past so it’s just we’re all ready to go.”Sparse competition at the top level means that Zimbabwe do not see their role as making up the numbers, even though the groupings would suggest otherwise. Each three-team ensemble has one outfit that are likeliest to exit early and Zimbabwe are under no illusions. Taylor insists he won’t let that stand in the team’s way.”We know what we’re up against and to be honest we’re not too flustered about it,” he said. “It’s going to be extremely tough but that’s why we’re here. We want to showcase our talent and skills and it’s great to be part of a good tournament. Hopefully we can have a so-called upset but we feel we’re good enough to go out there and win.”As Price will remind him, it will only take one good performance to advance to the Super Eights. “The good thing is if you win one game you’ve got a good chance of going through,” he said. “If we can scratch a win between the two of them it will be very good for us.”

Dawid Malan struck a brilliant century as Middlesex took control on the third day of their top-of-the-table clash against Northamptonshire

25-Aug-2011
ScorecardDawid Malan struck a brilliant century as Middlesex took control on the third day of their top-of-the-table clash against Northamptonshire in Division Two of the County Championship at Wantage Road. Malan made a fantastic 113 off 170 balls including 17 fours and Ollie Rayner
blasted 57 off 48 deliveries as Middlesex declared on 479 for 8 – their highest total this season.James Middlebrook took 5 for 123 for Northants, who then survived nine overs in the evening to close on 22 without loss with a deficit of 181 runs to make up.Middlesex began the day on 149 for 2, 127 runs behind their opponents, with their captain Chris Rogers and nightwatchman Toby Roland-Jones both resuming on 3. Rogers was to go past 50 off 82 balls with a four through mid-wicket off Lee Daggett and Roland-Jones was to make his highest score for Middlesex.He went past his previous best total of 26, but he was to perish on 28 when he dragged Middlebrook’s first delivery, in the 64th over, onto his stumps. Middlebrook was to strike again when Rogers, who had moved on to 55, was well caught by Northants captain Andrew Hall at slip.There was a flashpoint before lunch when David Lucas gestured towards a group of spectators who sarcastically applauded him for stopping a Malan drive at mid-off after he had previously misfielded in the same position.The visitors were on 244 for 4 at the interval, but they lost Jamie Dalrymple for 40 when he was caught by Daggett, running from long leg, off Chaminda Vaas. However, by this point they had already passed Northants’ total to take the lead before Malan reached 50 off 110 balls.Resuming after tea on 371 for 5, Middlesex wicketkeeper John Simpson went cheaply for 24 in the fifth over of the evening when he launched Vaas to Alex Wakely at deep square leg. Malan then kicked on to complete the seventh first-class century of his career and his second of this season off 165 balls with a four through third man off Daggett.But he finally had to walk when he feathered Middlebrook him to Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy. Rayner then smashed an explosive half-century off just 43 balls but Middlebrook
had his 10th first-class five-wicket haul when he was caught behind by Murphy just before the visitors declared.A rain delay meant the loss of three overs but Rob Newton and Stephen Peters survived until the close and will resume tomorrow on 14 and six respectively.