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In just his second Test, left-arm seamer Sam Curran made mark against India by taking out India’s top three on the second day

Andrew McGlashan02-Aug-20181:54

Roland-Jones: Curran gives England reason for excitement

Curran…there’s another of those, isn’t there?Yes, indeed. Sam’s brother Tom, who also plays for Surrey, made his Test debut against Australia in Melbourne and has also featured in the one-day and T20 sides. There is another brother as well, Ben, who is involved in the Surrey set-up and is very highly rated. Their father, Kevin, played 11 ODIs for Zimbabwe and had a long career in county cricket with Northamptonshire.Has it been a rapid rise for Sam?In a way as he’s only 20 – which is young for an international cricketer in England – but he’s been on the radar for a few years. He made his Surrey Championship debut as a 17-year-old in 2015, taking eight wickets in the match against Kent and by the end of the following season was already in the England Lions set-up. His Test claims were given a significant leg up early this summer when he took ten wickets in the Championship match against Yorkshire – a side that featured Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Cheteshwar Pujara (who he removed twice).How did his Test debut go?He was the seventh youngest man – at 19 years and 363 days – to debut in Tests for England. There were obviously a few nerves against Pakistan at Headingley – Stuart Broad said Curran struggled a little with the slope of the ground – and Curran joked that having his first Test wicket, Shadab Khan, caught at deep midwicket wasn’t quite how he’d dreamt it. But he was more comfortable in the second innings.He looked pretty solid with the bat as wellHe is certainly classed as an allrounder at first-class level and his batting ability is one of the reasons he was first called up and kept his place in this match ahead of Jamie Porter. There is even a school of thought that he could develop into more of a batting allrounder – he has spoken of his desire to bat higher up the order for Surrey and he already has 11 half-centuries in 42 first-class matches.He’s quite short for a fast bowler. Will that be a problem?It has been one of the debates raised about his long-term prospects of being an international pace bowler. There’s nothing he can do about his height, he just has to make the best of the natural skills he has which, as was on show at Edgbaston this morning, is making the ball swing. It’s true that there haven’t been too many successful short pace bowlers at the top level, but Curran will be about his all-round package. And, of course, there’s the variation he brings of being a left-arm which is something Trevor Bayliss has been keen on having in the Test side.

Middlesex have made Dawid Malan club captain and that begged the question whether a man with leadership ambitions might one day fill the most demanding role of all

David Hopps01-Feb-2018Dawid Malan did not break into England’s Test side until shortly after his 30th birthday, but what odds that one day – even if just fleetingly – he might captain England?That thought might have crossed the mind of more than a few people when Middlesex announced that he had been appointed as their new club captain. Here is the chance he has long yearned for to make an impression.The need to find Joe Root occasional rest periods will exist as long as he remains a multi-format player, the vice captain Ben Stokes is facing charges of affray and the player who stepped into that role in Australia, James Anderson, is approaching the end of his career.Malan, one of the few figures to emerge in credit after England’s 4-0 Ashes thumping, struck a maiden Test hundred in Perth and showed resilience throughout, gaining a reputation as a tough cricketer with an appetite for the challenge. Even if he just steps in for a day, his odds have tightened considerably compared to only six months ago.Middlesex have been heavily reliant upon overseas players to lead the club in recent seasons as Angus Fraser, their managing director of cricket and also an England selector, testified.But Malan’s stock has risen and, with a certain irony, he has been entrusted with the job just as England can be expected to make more demands on his time.Malan takes over the captaincy of the club in all formats, with Sam Robson appointed as his four-day vice-captain. Middlesex will appoint a stand-in captain in T20 and 50-over cricket only if should that prove necessary.It has taken almost 350 appearances for Middlesex across all formats, with him amassing more than 14,000 runs in the process, including 23 centuries, before he was appointed – although he did lead Middlesex in the NatWest Blast in 2016 and also led the England Lions to a tri-series win against Pakistan-A and Sri Lanka-A in the same year, impressing Andy Flower along the way.Fraser said: “In recent years Middlesex Cricket have looked at overseas players and new signings to captain the club but I now feel the time is right for players from within to take on major leadership roles.Dawid Malan slugs one to the leg side•Getty Images

“Since my return to Middlesex there have been a number of players who have developed from promising youngsters into high quality and highly-respected figures in domestic cricket. No player has done this more than Dawid Malan and that is why I am delighted he has taken up the offer to be club captain.”Dawid has always held the desire to captain teams and we have for some time believed he has had the potential to captain the club, hence his appointment as T20 captain in 2016. Along with the belief I have that he will become an excellent leader, Dawid stands out because he is somebody who we believe will do the job for several years.Fraser conceded that England absences complicated the issue but said that such considerations should not prevent Malan from gaining his rightful rewards. It is a view recently taken by Yorkshire with Gary Ballance and, somewhat controversially, by Kent with Sam Billings, a decision that will see Sam Northeast leave the club.”England commitments – and I hope Dawid continues to thrive as an international cricketer – may mean we do not see him for periods of the season but, in my mind, that should not stop the right man from holding the position he deserves to hold,” Fraser said.”In light of this Middlesex Cricket have made Sam Robson vice-captain in County Championship cricket. Sam is another player that has been developed by Middlesex and is a cricketer that is ready to take on further responsibility and new challenges. The pair of them will bring fresh ideas and energy to the County Championship cricket we play.Fraser also had warm words for the outgoing captain James Franklin, the New Zealand allrounder, who he said had “selflessly stepped in to fill a leadership hole.”So Malan as an England captain, however briefly? It might be seen as a bizarre suggestion, but there was a time when people would have scoffed at the thought that Paul Collingwood, by then pushing 34, would be the man to lead England to their only success in a major ICC tournament.

BCCI secretary Amitabh Choudhary says the Committee of Administrators is against divergent opinions

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Mar-20184:23

Ugra: CoA’s approval of player contracts first step in this transfer of power

A day after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) annulled all the powers of the BCCI’s office bearers, the board’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has challenged the decision, questioning whether the committee had the legal powers to issue such directives. In an email sent on Friday, Choudhary has accused the CoA of attempting to “gag” the office bearers of their fundamental rights while granting itself “cardinal” rights to “supplant” the board’s administrators.Choudhary said it was “praiseworthy” of the CoA to list excerpts from the court order “purportedly” concerning its appointment on January 30, 2016, on reasons why it was equipped with powers to issue the fresh directives on Thursday. The CoA promptly responded to Choudhary, saying it would stick to the directives issued two days back.Choudhary said, as per his reading of the twin court orders from last January, that it was clear that the CoA was appointed to carry on an “expeditious” implementation of the Lodha Committee recommendations and hence had been assigned supervisory powers of the management and administration of the board.”The supervision part was only for the interim period and what is cardinal to the whole scheme is that the Hon’ble Apex Court was clear that the office bearers not only existed while you thought and believed they did not, they must discharge their responsibilities,” Choudhary said in his email.According to Choudhary, when it appointed the committee, the court was clear that the CoA had a “very limited and defined” role while the BCCI would “function” through its office bearers. Choudhary chided the CoA, saying it was attempting to “undermine” the role of the office bearers despite the court having blocked such a move in the past.”The scheme does not even remotely suggest that the CoA could supplant the office bearers or the General Body of the BCCI. Yet right from day one, as has been demonstrated, the entire effort seems to be directed at ousting the office bearers, preventing the office bearers from functioning and repeatedly enjoining the court to do away with them which further strengthens the view that rather than implementation of the reforms your interest lies elsewhere.”One of the directives issued by the CoA was that the office bearers could not utilise board money to pay for individual petitions in the court concerning the ongoing hearing on the BCCI implementing a new constitution which would include the reforms finalised by the Lodha Committee.By “suppressing” the office bearers, the CoA, Choudhary said, was only wanting to eliminate all contrary opinion in the BCCI. The timing of the CoA’s latest diktat also bothered Choudhary, considering the court is likely to resume the hearing soon.”There is now a further confirmation of your long standing effort to continue to run down the office bearers by going so far as even preventing them from appearing in Court through their counsels effectively gagging even their fundamental rights and ensuring that there is no contrary viewpoint before the Hon’ble Court,” the email read.PTI

The relationship between the CoA and the three office bearers comprising CK Khanna (acting BCCI president), Anirudh Chaudhry (treasurer) and Choudhary has always been tense. The differences have been so entrenched that the CoA has already twice asked the court to remove the office bearers in its seven status reports. In the latest report, the CoA told the court that the tenure of all three office bearers had expired on March 2 as per the existing constitution of the board and they should be replaced with immediate effect.In the past month both Choudhary and the CoA have been involved in a bitter to-and-fro. The CoA chairman Vinod Rai took strong exception to Choudhary initiating a dialogue on India playing their inaugural day-night Test, potentially during the home series against West Indies later this year. Rai asked why the CoA was bypassed and placed the issue on hold until further deliberations were held between all stakeholders.Last week Choudhary challenged the CoA’s decision to approve the new player contracts despite not having the consent of the board’s finance committee, the primary authority as per the board’s rules. Choudhary said the office bearers had not been taken into confidence during the process of finalising the contracts.Choudhary said in its attempt to take “ownership” of the board, the CoA had even ignored the general body, which so far had been the main decision-making body in the BCCI, while taking several decisions which could have huge financial implications. “The clear thought of the COA is of having ownership of the organisation with its assets and liabilities dehors (foreign to) the members who actually form the Board,” Chaudhary said in his email. “Several decisions having huge financial implications on the BCCI, which under the rules and regulations of the BCCI can be taken only by the general body of the BCCI have been taken by the CoA and thus in effect the CoA has even supplanted the general body of the BCCI.”The player contracts and the media rights for Indian cricket, which are set to be sold via an e-auction for the first time, were among the examples Choudhary cited in his email of the CoA taking unilateral decisions without consulting the office bearers and while bypassing the BCCI general body. “Revision of salary of the BCCI staff, grant of increments to the staff even before they were due, new categorisation of players and finalising the players contracts, change of procedure for auction of media rights, are only of few of such decisions which were entirely within the domain of the general body of the board.”

“I get to 20 and I think I’m like Bradman, that’s the problem,” the fast bowler joked after he staged a significant fightback for England along with Jonny Bairstow on the opening day in Christchurch

Andrew McGlashan in Christchurch30-Mar-2018Mark Wood praised the role played by Jonny Bairstow in making batting “fun” as the pair staged a significant fightback for England on the opening day in Christchurch.Wood, recalled for this match in place of Craig Overton, joined Bairstow with England tottering on 164 for 7 with seemingly a longer tail having also dropped Chris Woakes. He proceeded to make his maiden Test fifty, dominating an eighth-wicket stand of 95 in 18 overs which, at the very least, have given England a foothold in a match that appeared to be slipping away.”I had loads of fun but the worrying thing is I’ve got a fifty before a five-for, so I’ve done that the wrong way round,” he said. “I loved batting with Jonny, a lad I’ve played with and against since I was about 11 years old. So nice to do it with him at the other end.”When I went out to bat we were in a bit of trouble. Jonny knows I like to have a bit of fun out there, so it made it easier – just having a laugh and seeing how it goes. It just put my mind at ease and you forget the situation you are in.”Wood’s first-class average of 21.10 shows he has some ability and he has previously given glimpses in his short Test career, but after this innings, he has made a strong case to be No. 8 ahead of Stuart Broad. However, Wood believes he should already have scored more runs than he has managed and has to remember not to get carried away.”I worked hard in the nets this week thinking I might play this game. I get to 20 and I think I’m like Bradman, that’s the problem, I try too many shots. It was nice having Jonny there, he kept it fun, kept it calm whereas sometimes I think I get a bit ahead of myself and try too much. [Neil] Wagner was bowling a lot of bouncers more often than not I knew where the ball was going to be. Me and Jonny talked about a plan and we could set up. When I first got in, [Tim] Southee had done a lot of the damage and was nipping it around so it was harder.”Wood defended England’s top order after another poor display, saying there was significantly more help for the bowlers in the first part of the day.”Maybe there was panic stations at one point but New Zealand bowled really well this morning…maybe it felt like we just changed the momentum a little bit and brought it back in our favour. We rotated the strike well, that’s one of things Jonny does – he runs well between the wickets.”Southee, who finished the day with 5 for 60 to move level with Chris Cairns at No. 4 in New Zealand’s all-time list on 218 scalps, conceded the day had taken a different turn after the post-lunch spell of 3 for 1 in nine balls by him and Trent Boult.”That little burst after lunch was good for us with three quick wickets then England dug deep and that partnership was a crucial one for then,” he said.”One thing to come out of it, it shows that once you get in and the ball gets a bit older the wicket is reasonably good. I think it’s pretty even, it would have been nice to finish them off this evening but credit has to go to the way the lower [order] of England stuck in. The way that Jonny has played all summer so we know he’s a big wicket and a dangerous player which he showed at the end.”

Paceman returns to scene of Champions Trophy glory with hopes of emerging from lean 50-over form

Osman Samiuddin07-May-2019Mohammad Amir’s last-ditch audition for a role in Pakistan’s World Cup campaign could begin at the very ground where he was one of the architects of their memorable Champions Trophy triumph of 2017.Amir was not picked in Pakistan’s preliminary squad for the tournament but has been included in the 17-man squad for this England series, which begins tomorrow at The Oval. If he does start, it will be with the understanding that performances here could squeeze him into the final World Cup 15.So far on this tour Amir has appeared in just one of the four games Pakistan have played – a warm-up 50-over game against Northamptonshire in which he picked up 1 for 45.But it is understood that he will be part of Pakistan’s match-day 12 and depending on what the weather and surface look like in the morning stands a good chance to start.”As far as fast bowling goes, we will be flexible in this series, we will try and give Amir a full opportunity,” captain Sarfaraz Ahmed said. “The good thing is we have this opportunity to try out what we need to try out before the World Cup. We have till May 2 so we’d like to give Amir a full opportunity to stake his claim in the side.”If he does make it into the squad, it will hold some extra personal significance for Amir, being his first World Cup. He missed the 2011 and 2015 tournaments because of his five-year ban for spot-fixing.The word around Amir’s non-inclusion is that it is the kick he has long needed to put things right in the 50-over game. But given how lean a drought he has endured since that Champions Trophy final, he will still need to show some solid wicket-taking form to get back in.In the 14 ODIs since the final, he’s taken just five wickets, going wicketless in an innings as many as nine times. It’s been a strange run in which, though he’s rarely looked like taking a wicket, he’s also not looked awful. His economy rate in that period is 4.58, though if you take out games against Zimbabwe and Hong Kong that goes up to 5.28.But Pakistan already have two left-arm pacemen in the World Cup squad; the emerging Shaheen Shah Afridi, against whose dazzling and swift rise Amir’s own form has paled; and Junaid Khan, an exact contemporary of Amir’s through their earliest years, who without ever attracting the same attention has picked up far more wickets since the Champions Trophy.The arrival of Mohammad Hasnain has also made it harder for Amir. Hasnain has the one thing Pakistan’s squad has missed: genuine pace. It is something that Mickey Arthur in particular is very excited about, enough to overlook his extreme rawness. Hasnain has only played four List A games in his career, of which three were ODIs.If Amir were to perform in these ODIs, however, Hasnain or to a lesser degree Junaid might be most at risk of losing a spot.

In return, Malaysia could only muster 93, with medium pacer Deepesh Devendran running through the line-up to finish with a five-for

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Dec-2025Abhigyan Kundu, the wicketkeeper-batter, walked out at No. 5 in the 11th over, batted till the end of India’s innings against Malaysia in their Under-19 Asia Cup contest in Dubai, and finished with a 125-ball 209 not out against his name, taking India to a formidable 408 for 7 in the process. In return, Malaysia could only muster 93, with medium pacer Deepesh Devendran running through the line-up to finish with a five-for.The India vs Malaysia match, however, doesn’t have “official youth ODI” status, meaning South Africa’s Jorich Van Schalkwyk, who had scored 215 off 153 balls against Zimbabwe earlier this year in Harare, remains the only batter in that list. Bangladesh international Soumya Sarkar had also hit a double-century in a fixture against Qatar in 2012, hitting 209 in 135 balls, but that was also in a game without official youth ODI status.Kundu led India’s batting effort against Malaysia after Vaibhav Suryavanshi had done the initial scoring, with a 26-ball 50. Kundu put together a 209-run stand with Vedant Trivedi (90 in 106 balls) for the fourth wicket, a partnership that ran from the 11th over to the 41st.When Trivedi was dismissed, Kundu was on 128 in 92 balls. He sped up in the last ten overs, adding 81 runs in 33 balls, taking India past the 400-run mark. Kundu had earlier scored 32 not out in 17 balls against UAE and 22 in 32 balls against Pakistan.For Malaysia, Muhammad Akram was the standout performer, returning 5 for 89 from his ten overs, the left-arm medium pacer victims including Suryavanshi, Vihaan Malhotra and Harvansh Pangalia.In the chase, Malaysia lost openers Azib Wajdi and Mohammad Hairil for ducks. Deepesh then took a wicket in each of his first five overs, leaving Malaysia tottering at 38 for 7. Hamza Panggi and Jaashwin Krishnamurthi resisted with a 36-run 10th-wicket stand, but it did not take too long for India to wrap things up.India are on top of the Group A table in the tournament, having earlier beaten UAE and Pakistan. Malaysia are bottom of the group, having lost to the same opponents earlier.

Bawne had refused to leave the field after his dismissal against Services, causing a 15-minute delay

Shashank Kishore23-Jan-2025Maharashtra batter Ankit Bawne has been handed a one-match suspension for dissent. The decision was communicated to the team ahead of the side’s Ranji Trophy sixth round Group A fixture against Baroda in Nashik.Bawne’s refusal to leave the field after being given out in their fifth-round game against Services, prior to the white-ball season, created a flutter, even though there appeared to be conclusive evidence that the ball had bounced before Shubham Rohilla completed the catch at slip off left-arm spinner Amit Shukla.Bawne, who was the stand-in captain in that game, couldn’t opt to review the decision as the match was only on a livestream and not televised, which meant there was no infrastructure for DRS to be in place. His refusal to leave the field led to play being suspended for nearly 15 minutes, before the game resumed upon the intervention of match referee Amit Sharma and Maharashtra coach Sulakshan Kulkarni.Related

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After the incident, Kulkarni had lashed out at the umpiring standards in domestic cricket. “Players are subject to fines and reprimand, what about proper assessment of umpires,” he had said. “Why do the same erring umpires continue to officiate and play spoilsport? When there are blunders of this nature, the anger is justified.”At the time, Maharashtra’s regular captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, too, had posted replays of the dismissal. Gaikwad was playing for India A in Australia at the time.Bawne has been Maharashtra’s leading run-scorer this season, with 361 runs from five matches at an average of 51.57. He has scored one century and two fifties.Maharashtra are second from bottom in Group A and are already out of the reckoning for a playoff berth as they can reach a maximum of 22 points. As things stand, there are already two teams in the pool – Baroda and J&K – with more points.

Meanwhile, South Africa slumped to their third straight loss in the World Cup

The Report by Alagappan Muthu05-Jun-2019
As it happenedWhoooooooosh.That’s the sound of ball beating bat. South Africa were not in control of nine of the first 12 balls that Jasprit Bumrah bowled.Crrrraaaccckkkkkk.That’s the sound of ball hitting bat. And breaking it. Kagiso Rabada made sure the entire world could hear it. But outside of that match-up, South Africa really had nothing to offer India.They’d lost Dale Steyn. They don’t know when Lungi Ngidi will be fit again. And they can’t ask AB de Villiers to come back. Meanwhile, the other team had the world’s best batsman, one of the bowlers of this generation, and two highly-skilled wristspinners. Essentially, this game was like an Angry Bird fighting Thanos.The impression hit home even further when Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav worked in tandem. From 78 for 2, it was quickly 89 for 5 as the revolutions those two put on the ball produced dip, drift and sheer magic.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rassie van der Dussen tried to reverse sweep his way out of trouble and was bowled. JP Duminy figured he might read the turn better if he played off the back foot. Out lbw. Even their captain, Faf du Plessis, couldn’t keep a slider from crashing into his stumps.South Africa were on a recovery mission from that point on and though Chris Morris did rather well in the final overs, walloping 42 off 34 balls, the early damage was just too much. That is why Bumrah was the biggest influence in this game and watching him was a pleasure.The fast bowler’s glare tends to go down in history. But it’s even cooler when they smirk. It’s almost as if they’re telling the batsmen, “heh, is it that easy to beat you?”Bumrah’s upper lip curled several times in his first over on World Cup debut. He had Quinton de Kock – a legitimate contender for Man of the Series in this tournament – looking like a cardboard cut-out. Everything zipped past the edge and each time, the bowler just smirked. Each time, all he did was smirk. WATCH – Highlights of Chahal’s magical spell on Hotstar (India only)A wicket looked around the corner, except it was Hashim Amla who fell, caught at first slip, off the first ball he faced from Bumrah. Du Plessis walked in with four catchers behind him.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The level of cricket at this World Cup is also a function of the pitches being rolled out (and maybe the 10.30am starts as well). Groundsmen all across England have been good enough to leave a little grass on the pitches – it was uneven in Southampton, resulting in uneven bounce – and that’s made the contest between bat and ball all the more compelling. So making runs here mattered. It signalled that you had the bottle to succeed. And Rohit Sharma showed plenty.A few of his 122 runs came off mis-hits. He was even dropped on 1 when Rabada was in the middle of a scary good spell. But then, in the eighth over, he hit a glorious pull shot and never looked back. Braving through very difficult spells of fast bowling is a part of his game that doesn’t get enough credit.”Couldn’t play my natural game,” Rohit said at the presentation. “You have to play out and see what the ball was doing and take your time to play those shots. Certain shots that I love to play, I had to cut it down and make sure I play close to the body and make sure I leave as many balls as possible in the initial spell. Those are the basics that you had to do on a pitch like that and that’s what I was trying to do.”Sticking to that gameplan meant he was there to help India recover from a poor start (They lost Shikhar Dhawan for 8). He was there when South Africa got rid of Virat Kohli thanks to a perfectly executed plan (consistently bowl back of a length and along the line of fifth stump). And he was still there when the winning runs were hit (Hardik Pandya putting the final flourish with a violent cut shot). You can’t ask more of an opener.South Africa, meanwhile, have a lot to think about. They’ve lost all three of their matches at this World Cup, and although the format allows for a slow start, the team is short on resources and practically bereft of confidence.Rabada was the only one trying to make things happen. Nine of his first 18 deliveries made the batsman lose control. “Come oooonnnn!” he’d screamed watching the Rohit catch go down, fists clenched, head slanted upwards, a vision of pure anger. He used that emotion to fuel his performance, harassing the Indian batsmen with his pace, bounce and laser-like accuracy.But the problem was, even when he generated those wicket-taking opportunities, his team-mates kept messing it up. Rabada fooled Rohit on 107 as well only for David Miller to drop an absolute dolly at cover. And that basically summed up South Africa. One captivating genius. Ten others struggling to keep up.

He and Ian Holland take three wickets each as Northamptonshire are skittled for 189

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay25-Sep-2025Leicestershire 429 (Eskinazi 155) and 86 for 2 (Budinger 50, Keogh 2-20) lead Northamptonshire 189 (Zaib 62, Wright 3-19, Holland 3-28) by 326 runsChris Wright celebrated his 600th first-class wicket, crowning the final game of a 21-year professional career as his 3 for 19 helped put Leicestershire in the ascendency on day two of this Rothesay County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.Wright, who was greeted by a guard of honour when he batted in the morning session, also collected his 800th wicket in all formats, and with Ian Holland taking 3 for 28, a hapless Northamptonshire were skittled for 189 inside 58 overs, 240 behind.Only the prolific Saif Zaib looked totally assured for Northamptonshire, scoring 62, his sixth half-century of the season to go with six centuries. Named the Supporters’ Club Player of the Year during lunch, his innings moved him into sixth place on the list of Northamptonshire batters with the most runs in a season this century.With Leicestershire deciding not to enforce the follow-on, Sol Budinger picked up where he left off in the first innings, smashing 50 off 44 balls. Rob Keogh took two wickets in two balls in the day’s closing overs to offer Northamptonshire a glimmer of hope, but the visitors closed strongly on 86 for 2, 326 ahead.Earlier Northamptonshire wrapped up the Leicestershire innings within 40 minutes, Logan van Beek (35) edging behind off Justin Broad (3 for 38). Centurion Stephen Eskinazi added just five to his overnight 150 before Broad found some late movement to take the edge. Finally, Josh Hull was caught down the leg side to give George Scrimshaw his third wicket and Lewis McManus his fifth catch of the innings and 51st dismissal of the Championship season. The Northamptonshire keeper, who has played every competitive game this summer has 75 dismissals in all formats.McManus (25) displayed some crisp strokeplay, unfurling sweet drives through the covers, but he also edged several balls which fell just short or ran wide of the slip cordon. He fell playing a rash pull to Hull’s first ball with two men back for the shot, van Beek taking an excellent catch as he back peddled at fine leg.Debutant Arush Buchake survived probing early spells from Leicestershire’s seamers and showed good timing as he drove through the covers. But after punching Holland behind square for his sixth boundary, he edged to second slip for a well-made 35, as Northamptonshire lost three wickets for 12 runs in seven overs.James Sales fell cheaply to Wright when he cut too close to his body and chopped on to his stumps. Then Keogh (28), who had got off the mark with two consecutive legside boundaries off Hull, was possibly unlucky to be adjudged lbw as he came down the track to Wright, 10 short of 10,000 career runs in all formats.Zaib attacked the spin of Liam Trevaskis, smashing six down the ground before collecting another maximum as he swept over deep midwicket.At the other end, Broad dropped anchor, but after half an hour van Beek got one to lift sharply and draw the edge of his bat through to keeper Ben Cox.Zaib took on van Beek, pulling and hooking, while using his feet to drive Trevaskis down the ground, but Northamptonshire lost a sixth wicket when debutant Stuart van der Merwe fell cheaply, sweeping Trevaskis round the corner into the hands of van Beek.Zaib drove Hull through the covers to reach fifty off 58 balls, while George Bartlett (11) flat batted a full toss from part-time spinner Rishi Patel over long off for six. But on the brink of tea, Bartlett was trapped lbw as he played down the wrong line to a straight one from Trevaskis.After tea Zaib had a rush of blood smashing Holland straight to mid-off before Wright celebrated his milestone wicket when he snared Ben Whitehouse lbw. Scrimshaw was the last to go, offering a return catch to Holland.Batting again, Leicestershire made their intentions clear as Budinger went on the offensive, blazing six fours and a six before he was bowled by Keogh with one that spun away. Next ball Keogh removed Holland via a brilliant one-handed grab by Broad at first slip.

Jack Haynes’ unbeaten fifty seals chase as Durham lose ground in congested qualification race

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay11-Jul-2025Notts Outlaws kept their qualification hopes alive with a seven-wicket victory over Durham, who began the evening as marginal North Group leaders but ended it locked in a battle for the top four places that is still impossible to call.Chasing 157 to win on a slow pitch, Jack Haynes steered the Outlaws home with an unbeaten 55 off 40 balls with two sixes, backed up by Moises Henriques (43 off 33) and Joe Clarke (43 off 26), both of whom also cleared the ropes twice as Durham were beaten with eight balls to spare.Australian seamer Daniel Sams and offspinner Matt Montgomery, with a career-best 4 for 30, led for the Outlaws with the ball as Durham were all out for 156 in precisely 20 overs. Graham Clark passed 300 for the season with three sixes in his 27-ball 44, with finisher Jimmy Neesham making 29 off 17.Although they move on to 24 points, four behind Durham, the Outlaws’ chances are slightly more tenuous with just two matches left, while Durham have three to play.Clark cleared the ropes three times in the first four overs but Durham lost three wickets in the powerplay, left-handers Alex Lees and Ben McKinney falling to top-edges as they attempted to club Montgomery’s offspin over the short leg-side boundary before Haynes took a stunning, one-handed catch at mid-off as Colin Ackermann went without scoring, just a week after plundering 83 from 33 balls against Notts at Chester-le-Street.From 52 for 3 after six, Durham were 70 for 4 after 10 as the Outlaws spinners applied the brakes on a slow surface, the opening half of the innings concluding with Clark caught on the wide long-on boundary as Montgomery picked up a third wicket. A somewhat tortured 18 off 30 by Will Rhodes ended with a second brilliant catch by Haynes on the midwicket boundary as Durham reached 104 for 5 from 15.Ollie Robinson hit Montgomery straight to cover before Neesham and Kasey Aldridge blitzed 32 off 13 balls, some 21 coming off Calvin Harrison’s final over before Sams picked up his third with Aldridge missing a full, straight one and Ollie Stone ran all the way to the 30-yard circle to claim a superb caught-and-bowled as Potts departed.Neesham fell to another excellent boundary catch as Sams claimed his first four-wicket haul for Notts and Nathan Sowter was run out off the final ball of the innings but 52 from the last five overs gave Durham something to defend.They made a good start in that respect as Matty Potts had Freddie McCann caught behind and left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson conceded just seven in his two powerplay overs but Ackermann went for 21 as Clarke twice cleared the ropes on the offside but the Notts skipper fell for 43 attempting to scoop Aldridge in the eighth, he and Haynes adding 63 off 37 balls.The Outlaws were bang on the required rate at 79 for 2 from 10 and sensible batting by Haynes and Henriques brought the target down to 38 from the last 30 balls as Durham struggled to create a chance, the Australian allrounder clearing long-off for six off Aldridge and hauling another maximum off Neesham before slicing the same bowler to fall for 43.By then, though the Outlaws were well on track, Haynes completing his fifty from 38 balls before Tom Moores pulled Neesham for the winning boundary.