All posts by n8rngtd.top

ECB Reporters Network14-Aug-2016
ScorecardSam Curran stood out for Surrey with five wickets•Clint Hughes/Getty Images

Eighteen-year-old seam-bowler Sam Curran took the starring role with five wickets as Warwickshire and Surrey delivered a superb day of Specsavers County Championship cricket at Edgbaston.Curran, playing only his 13th first-class match, took 5 for 44, including a devastating burst of 3 for 2 in 18 balls, to leave the home side reeling at 101 for 6 in reply to Surrey’s 252.But led by Keith Barker and Ian Bell, Warwickshire recovered to reach 247, a deficit of just five runs, before Surrey reached 33 for 1 second time round in 15 overs up to the close.On an excellent pitch, offering reward for all types of bowler and demanding high batting skills, the contest has been utterly compelling and of an intensity, quality and drama redolent of Test cricket. A good-sized crowd was engrossed all day and ended it without a clue which way the game will swing next.Warwickshire began their first innings at start of play and soon lost Varun Chopra, who edged Tom Curran to Jason Roy at second slip. Ian Westwood and Jonathan Trott added 40 from 15 overs before falling in the space of nine balls from Stuart Meaker. Trott, on 13, edged an attempted cut and wicketkeeper Steven Davies parried the ball to Kumar Sangakkara at slip. Westwood reached 45, his championship-best this season, then edged to Roy.From 91 for 3 at lunch, Warwickshire then had their middle-order ripped out by that high-class salvo from Sam Curran. Laurie Evans and Tim Ambrose were caught by Rory Burns in the gully, in the latter case quite brilliantly, and Rikki Clarke fell lbw to a swinging yorker.That was 101 for 6 but Bell and Barker added 95 in 28 overs – the biggest partnership of the match so far. While Barker was aggressive, Bell was at his most resolute and it took a near-unplayable ball to remove him when Sam Curran got one to rear off a length and Dominic Sibley made no mistake in the slips.When Sibley pounced again to end Barker’s resistance, Curran had his five-for but Jeetan Patel and Chris Wright ensured that 50 were added for the last two wickets to take their side almost to parity. Patel then had Sibley well-caught by a diving Westwood at short leg in the penultimate over of the day.

Jason Behrendorff finished with 14 wickets for the match – the ninth-best match figures in Sheffield Shield history – as Western Australia won by an innings against Victoria

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2017
ScorecardFile photo – Jason Behrendorff finished with match figures of 14 for 89•Getty Images

Jason Behrendorff finished with 14 for 89, the ninth-best match figures in Sheffield Shield history, as Western Australia wrapped up an innings victory over Victoria inside two days at the WACA. Behrendorff added five second-innings wickets to his nine from the first innings as Victoria were tumbled out for 130, losing by an innings and 38 runs.Behrendorff was just the second man in the post-war era to collect as many as 14 wickets in a Sheffield Shield game – Terry Alderman was the other, having picked up 14 for 87 in a match against New South Wales in 1981, also at the WACA. It completed a remarkable comeback match for Behrendorff, who was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left fibula in early December.The second morning began with Western Australia at 4 for 178, and while they were able to add only 107 to their overnight total it was more than enough to ensure they did not have to bat again. Behrendorff began Victoria’s second innings by scything through Travis Dean, Marcus Harris and Marcus Stoinis within his first four overs.Aaron Finch provided some resistance with an unbeaten 65, but the rest of the Victorians struggled, with 17-year-old Cameron Green picking up 3 for 20. Behrendorff returned to claim the final two wickets of the game, to finish with 5 for 52 to add to his 9 for 37 from the first innings, which were the fifth-best innings figures in Shield history.

Martin Williamson05-Dec-2005

A&C Black, 319pp rrp £22.50

I recently heard someone dismiss the C&G Cricket Year, now in its 24th year, as a poor man’s Wisden. That is has survived so long and continues to flourish should be an indication that it deserves respect in its own right. But aside from its English bias – coverage not writing – the similarities are few.I must confess that I was an avid reader of the book when it first came out – then it was under the sponsorship of Benson & Hedges – and the first ten or so issues were a perennial Christmas must-have. But then I drifted onto other things, and so I was interested to know what had become of the publication.What I enjoyed in the original was that it complemented Wisden. While the Almanack provided a mass of statistics and scorecards, the B&H put flesh on those bones. It reported in some depth on overseas matches – domestic games from the Caribbean to Pakistan and Australia warranted potted reports and an abundance of pictures. Armed with Wisden and the B&H, someone who wanted to know what had happened across the world just about had it all at his fingertips.A decade and a bit later, the world has moved on. The internet means that scores from the extremities are now almost instantly available, and even Wisden has taken the plunge and uses pictures liberally. But that very progress appears to have led to the C&G withdrawing back to its core audience. It is now unashamedly aimed at the UK market, with little more than passing coverage from elsewhere. Take Australia. Their whole year is given 12 pages, five of which are text, five scorecards of Tests, and VB Series potted scores so brief as to be, frankly, useless. It’s the same elsewhere.But the UK coverage is good. It presents a review of the English summer in a more colourful and less wordy format that the Almanack, and in time for the lucrative Christmas market – no mean feat given that that now almost drags on into October. The format of the book means that the layout is user friendly – the font can be read by people with anything other than hawk-like vision for one thing – and the lavish use of colour pictures really enhances the written word.But therein lies the other major gripe. Wisden does offer a high standard of writing, and its reputation means that it can attract the cream of the crop. The C&G, under the editorship of Jonathan Agnew, is far more limited, in terms of space and, I assume, budget. Agnew himself, aided by Mark Baldwin, contributes large swathes of the England pages, and does so effectively. But although there are some good essays dotted here and there – Charlie Austin (who is Cricinfo’s man in Sri Lanka) writes with first-hand experience of the effect of the tsunami – they are too few and far between to really satisfy those looking for something more than a quick ten-minute flick. Major issues which dominated English cricket – the Zimbabwe tour and the BSkyB TV deal, to name two – are given no more than a few lines in Agnew’s editorial.I was left with a feeling of not really knowing who this book is aimed at. When I first bought it, I remember thinking that I need it and Wisden to cover all the bases. I still need Wisden; the C&G is now no more than a welcome addition … but not a vital one. Times have moved on, and there is a suspicion that the C&G has not quite kept up.

On an absorbing sunny Saturday, in front of a packed and rapt full house, Pakistan’s second innings listed and creaked but they hauled themselves to a dominant position

Andrew Miller at Lord's16-Jul-2016A month ago, on this very ground, Alastair Cook faced up to the press on the final day of the Sri Lanka series and bemoaned the fact that – after two facile victories in the opening two Tests of the summer – rain had robbed his developing team of a timely test of their mettle. “It would have been good to put us under pressure,” he had said. Well, he’s going to get his wish on Sunday, and no mistake.On an absorbing sunny Saturday, in front of a packed and rapt full house, Pakistan’s second innings listed and creaked and, with Chris Woakes producing yet another display of outstanding attacking swing bowling, they came close to capsizing on more than one occasion.And yet, by the close, Pakistan had ridden out the jitters and found sufficient resistance from their lower-middle order to put themselves in a position of undeniable dominance. With a lead of 281 already banked, and on a surface that is beginning to offer both turn and variable bounce, Pakistan know as well as England that – in the legspinner Yasir Shah, not to mention a potent trio of left-arm seamers – they have an attack that can wrap up a first victory at Lord’s since 1996.”I’d like to say we are just in front,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach. “It’s very close, almost too close to call. I think we are in for a cracking day’s cricket tomorrow, if we can sneak another 19-20 and get just over 300, it’s going to be a very, very good Test match.”Moeen Ali, England’s offspinning allrounder, didn’t try to disagree with that sentiment. Having been bundled out for 272 on the second afternoon – with Yasir claiming figures of 6 for 72 in his first Test outside of Asia – he admitted that England’s batsmen would need to formulate a better plan second-time around if they want to avoid being shown up for the second innings in a row.”In the first innings, we didn’t bat very well, so we want to put that right,” Moeen said. “There’s a lot of us who want to score some runs, but it’s going to be tough. They are a very good bowling side and you saw in the first innings, they have a very good legspinner who’s going to cause us trouble.”England’s problems in the first innings stemmed largely from Yasir’s control. With little in the way of big spin on offer, line and length – allied to natural variation and the odd ripper – were sufficient to destabilise an England middle order for whom the legend of Shane Warne is but a distant noise in the commentary box. In the ten years since his retirement, practical experience of such artistry has been thin on the ground, and it showed in the manner of all too many dismissals.”The guys will come out with definite plans,” said Moeen. “We’ve been preparing very well against legspinners but, in the first innings, we didn’t play very well against him, and he got a lot of wickets, so he’s going to be the biggest threat tomorrow.”In the first innings we were caught in the crease a lot and didn’t use our feet against him. But sometimes, when it’s not spinning, it’s a little bit harder because he bowls very accurately. In the next innings, we’ll have to be good on our feet, whether back or forward, but the lack of bounce did us a little bit in the first innings. We are just going to have to play well. We’ve all got runs in the past so we are going to have to use that experience and play well against him.”On the evidence of Moeen’s own bowling performance, a lack of bounce won’t be the issue on a gently deteriorating Lord’s surface. If Misbah-ul-Haq’s suicidal mo(w) to deep midwicket was a clear case of batsman error, then the ball that did for an extraordinarily skittish Younis Khan clearly gripped before cannoning into his stumps off an inside edge.Still, Moeen was happy to accept the offerings, particularly after a fallow first innings in which a far more focused Misbah had beaten him out of the attack with a volley of dead-eyed sweeps and reverse-sweeps.”I actually felt like I bowled all right in the first innings, but Misbah … I just can’t bowl at him at times,” he said. “I try to do a holding job but it’s very difficult, so I was very pleased to get him out today. But I’m happy with how I’m bowling at the moment. I felt like it came out just as well [in the first innings] but I just got smashed. That can happen.”The assistance for Moeen, second-time around, may have had as much to do with the rough outside off that Pakistan’s trio of left-arm quicks had created, but the doubts, where Yasir is concerned, are already embedded in England’s minds. Arthur didn’t need much invitation to begin the probing on behalf of his team.”I think we saw there was a little bit on offer,” he said. “The one that got Younis gripped quite big. And it’s a little bit up-and-down as well, there’s variable bounce which is great, so hopefully it will assist Yasir in a big way.”The wider concern for England is that Pakistan’s team are far from a one-trick outfit. In fact, as Yasir himself admitted after the first innings, his own success had only arisen because he had set himself to do a holding roll for his seamers. But on that occasion, amid the emotion of Mohammad Amir’s return to the fray, their lines and their disciplines went fractionally awry, and Arthur was adamant they’d be better for having got all that out of their systems.Amir, he claimed, had been so nervous before his opening spell that he could barely grip the ball. But, he added, “he hit his areas more often than not and did a job at good pace. Hopefully he can take that into tomorrow. Everything that’s gone has gone now, he’s back out on the field, raring to go tomorrow, and hopefully he can bowl us to victory.”However, England’s task could and perhaps should be significantly less daunting than it already is. On a day when Woakes’ penetration kept them in the contest, Steven Finn produced his best spell of a difficult match, only to see two catches in three overs go down. The second, by Jonny Bairstow off Sarfraz Ahmed, was especially culpable, and Moeen admitted that England’s standards had not been high enough of late.”We spoke about it,” he said. “We haven’t been catching very well this summer, and we are going to have to get better. Going back to the Ashes [in 2015], the reason we won it was some brilliant catches. We held on to everything so we know we can field better. Hopefully we can go bang, bang tomorrow and keep them less than 300-310. It’s still going to be tough, but we’ve got players hopefully who can knock them off.”Pakistan, however, have a legspinner who can knock England off in return, and Moeen knows that he stands squarely in their way.”Pakistan spinners are always very attacking and tactically very good,” said Moeen. “Yasir is always attacking the stumps so, as a batter, you feel like you’ve got to play, but he does bowl bad balls as well. He’s a human being at the end of the day. He can have a bad day as well.”

And what’s the lowest score a batter has a Player-of-the-Match award for?

Steven Lynch14-Jun-2022I spotted that Mustafizur Rahman took 28 wickets in his first ten ODIs. Was this a record? And what’s the most by anyone in any spell of ten ODIs? asked Khaled Hossain from Bangladesh

Mustafizur Rahman’s tally of 28 wickets in his first ten one-day internationals for Bangladesh – starting with 5 for 50 and 6 for 43 against India in June 2015 – has been bettered only by another left-arm seamer, New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan, who managed 29; the West Indian Ottis Gibson also took 28.The purplest ten-match patch at any stage in ODIs belongs to Pakistan’s Waqar Younis, who claimed 35 wickets in ten games between April and November 1990, a run that included five five-fors, three of them in succession, and even one wicketless match. Ajantha Mendis once took 34 wickets in ten ODIs for Sri Lanka, while Rashid Khan of Afghanistan and Oman’s Bilal Khan (earlier this year) have both managed 32.All nine Bengal players who batted reached 50 in their recent match against Jharkhand – is this a record? asked Peter Dayson-Smith from England, among others

This was reasonably fresh in the memory, as a few weeks ago I answered a similar question after seven Surrey players reached 50 in an innings against Kent. And so it’s easy to confirm that Bengal’s nine half-centuries against Jharkhand in Bengaluru last week is a record for any first-class innings, beating eight by the Australian tourists in their match against Oxford and Cambridge University Past and Present in Portsmouth in 1893. There have been 26 instances of seven scores of 50 or more in an innings, including Surrey’s total of 671 in that match in Beckenham in May, which remains the highest in first-class cricket without an individual century.In the same round of Ranji Trophy quarter-finals, in Alur, Mumbai thrashed Uttarakhand by 725 runs, another first-class record: the previous-heaviest defeat by a runs margin was 685, by New South Wales against Queensland in Sydney in 1929-30, in the match in which Don Bradman made 452 not out, the highest score in first-class cricket at the time. There have been heavier innings defeats, the grand-daddy of them all being Pakistan Railways’ victory over Dera Ismail Khan in Lahore in 1964-65, by the little matter of an innings and 851.What’s the lowest all-out Test total that included a 200-run partnership? asked Vipul Shah from India

There have so far been four completed innings in Tests which were less than 300 but nonetheless featured a partnership of 200 or more. Lowest of all is Australia’s 284 against West Indies in Brisbane in 1968-69, which included a stand of 217 between Bill Lawry and Ian Chappell (no one else made more than 17).When Pakistan made 288 against West Indies in Georgetown in 1999-2000, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Abdul Razzaq put on 206, quite a recovery from 39 for 5. India’s 293 against England at Headingley in 1952 included a partnership of 222 by Vijay Hazare and Vijay Manjrekar, while South Africa made 296 vs India in Kolkata in 2009-10, with a stand of 209 between Alviro Petersen (who was making his debut) and Hashim Amla. New Zealand’s 283 against West Indies in Kingston in 1984-85 included a stand of 210 between Geoff Howarth and Jeff Crowe – but only nine wickets fell in that one as Jeremy Coney had broken his arm and was unable to bat.If we look at innings which were not all-out, Pakistan’s 230 for 3 to beat New Zealand in Hyderabad in 1984-85 included a partnership of 212 between Mudassar Nazar and Javed Miandad.Asif Ali faced only seven balls and made 25 runs in his Player-of-the-Match performance against Afghanistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup•ICC via GettyI noticed that Aiden Markram has played 31 Tests, and has not yet taken part in a draw – is this a record? asked Keith McKenzie from South Africa

You’re right that the South African batter Aiden Markram has so far taken part in 19 Test victories and 12 defeats – and no draws yet. This is indeed a record: Jason Gillespie took part in 26 Tests before playing in a draw, while his Australian team-mates Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden had 22 and 21 respectively; the 19th-century England allrounder Johnny Briggs played 20 Tests before his first draw.Markram currently has the most Tests in a complete career without a draw, although he might yet lose that distinction. George Lohmann, another 19th-century Englishman, played 18 Tests without ever featuring in a draw; next comes Alok Kapali, who played 17 Tests for Bangladesh and lost them all. Keaton Jennings has so far appeared in 17 Tests for England, all of which ended in definite results, while Shimron Hetmyer has played 16 for West Indies.In the second match in Sri Lanka, Matthew Wade was Man of the Match for his 26 not out from 26 balls; he didn’t bowl, or make any catches or run-outs. Has anyone won the award after scoring fewer than this as their only formal contribution to a T20 international? asked Rohan Kennedy from Australia

Australia’s Matthew Wade won the match award in the second T20 international against Sri Lanka in Colombo last week for his run-a-ball 26, which came after he entered at a tricky time – 80 for 5 in the ninth over, chasing only 125. You’re right that he didn’t otherwise feature on the scorecard, although that wouldn’t show, for example, any particularly good pieces of fielding; Wade did keep wicket through a Sri Lankan innings that included no extras.However, Wade’s 26 balls is a long way from the smallest involvement by a player who ended up with the match award in a T20 international. Playing for Pakistan against Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup in Dubai in October 2021, Asif Ali was given the award after having an active involvement in only seven deliveries, from which he hammered 25 not out. Brad Hodge (21 not out) faced eight balls for Australia against South Africa in Durban in 2013-14, as did Dinesh Karthik (29 not out) for India vs Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy final in Colombo in 2017-18 (he did also complete a run-out while keeping wicket). Against England at The Oval in 2009, Ramnaresh Sarwan won the award for his nine-ball 19 not out as West Indies chased a rain-reduced target.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

A slow surface that makes strokeplay difficult and large outfields in Nagpur can be turned into Afghanistan’s favour

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Nagpur26-Mar-2016They worried Sri Lanka with a rousing batting recovery, startled South Africa with a barnstorming start in a big chase, and left England gasping with their spin bowling. Three Super 10 matches against three Full Members, and Afghanistan created chances of winning each of them. They eventually fell short all three times, but the displays have only strengthened their belief that beating top opposition is not a distant prospect.On Sunday, Afghanistan will end their World T20 with a meeting against West Indies, who top their group with three wins in three matches. Afghanistan will be up against, perhaps, the most power-packed batting line-up they have faced in the tournament.But in Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari and Hamza Hotak, Afghanistan have enough depth in the spin department to make life difficult for batsmen reliant on big shots on a slow pitch and one of the bigger outfields in Indian cricket. Afghanistan have played three matches at the VCA Stadium before, in the first round, and though they faced far weaker opposition at that stage of the tournament, they know the conditions.”Definitely, their batting is very [strong], but we have a very good spin department,” Asghar Stanikzai, Afghanistan’s captain, said on the eve of the match. “So where we can restrict them is, we will try to depend more on spinners, since the boundaries over here are longer and hitting the spinners will not be that easy. They are good strikers of the ball but we play good cricket, and are not just trying to give them a tough time but we are here to go back with at least one win [from the Super 10 stage].”Afghanistan have made massive strides since their first appearance at a world event in 2010, and Stanikzai said they were no longer content simply with pushing big teams hard. He was particularly disappointed that they had let strong positions slip against Sri Lanka and England, and said Afghanistan were close to being a “serious team” that would win matches regularly.”When we first appeared in that [2010 World T20] in West Indies, we were only thinking that we are playing with big names and most of us were very impressed with the players around,” Stanikzai said. “This time we are not only participating in this tournament but we were serious about it.”If you see our last three matches, especially against Sri Lanka and England, we have played very good cricket. To be honest, we could have won those games because we knew the strength of our team, but somehow we made mistakes and that’s why we couldn’t finish on a winning note. If you compare between 2010 and 2016, there is a lot of difference in the Afghanistan team, and in the next one or two years we will be a serious team and beat these Full Members very easily, as we have potential.”West Indies are already through to the semi-finals, but their coach Phil Simmons knows they cannot take Afghanistan lightly.”They’ve played well in all the games,” he said. “They’ve batted really well, [especially when] they were chasing a big score against South Africa, who we played yesterday. So they’ve been playing well and I know them from before [Simmons was Ireland’s coach from 2007 to 2015], so I know that they’re going to come to try and win. So we’ve got to just play properly.”While Afghanistan are clearly a team on an upward curve, there are fears that West Indies are heading in the opposite direction. They have failed to qualify for the ODI Champions Trophy in 2017, and have struggled in Test cricket for a number of years. They have been among the best T20 sides in the world, as their displays in this tournament have suggested, but some of their biggest stars in the format, including Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy, are in their 30s and could possibly be playing at their last ICC event.Simmons disagreed with the pessimistic view of the future, pointing to the fact that Bravo and Sammy are only in their early 30s, the fact that the current squad has performed so well while missing Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons and Sunil Narine, and the fact that West Indies have just won the Under-19 World Cup.”I’m not too sure how you write off guys at 30, 32 and 33,” Simmons said. “But to answer your question, yes, you can see it in the amount of players we have missing here. You see it in the young players coming up. You saw it in the Under-19 squad and you see it in the CPL at home, so it’s going to keep coming for a long time to come.”

Neymar took time out of his rehabilitation to pay a visit to his former team Santos, where he watched the Brazilian side beat rivals Corinthians.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Neymar paid visit to Santos
• Watched former team in action
• Star out with serious injury

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Neymar turned up at the Estadio Urbano Caldeira on Wednesday night wearing a T-shirt with the Santos logo on it. The Al-Hilal attacker looked on as Joao Schmidt fired the Alvinegro to a 1-0 win, lifting them to the top of the Paulista after six matches – though Sao Paulo could overtake them with a win on Thursday.

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  WHAT SANTOS SAID

  Neymar's appearance at Santos sparked suggestions that he could return to his boyhood club in the near future. Asked about the prospect of signing him, coach Fabio Carille said: "It would be great [to have Neymar]. We know it's difficult, a different player who can solve it… It's a distant dream, but let's dream."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Santos will likely have to wait until next year if they want to bring the 32-year-old back to the Brazilian league. He has a contract with the club until 2025, having joined from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window. The ex-Barcelona star managed just five games for Al-Hilal before he suffered a cruciate ligament injury and was ruled out for months.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR NEYMAR?

  The attacker will continue his recovery and was initially expected back before the end of the season. However, Brazil's team doctor has ruled him out until the start of next season, meaning the star will likely miss the Copa America this summer.

BCCI president Anurag Thakur has said India will not play any day-night Test at home this season

PTI27-Sep-2016BCCI president Anurag Thakur has said India will not play any day-night Test at home this season. Thakur put to rest speculation on India hosting their first ever day-night Test in the long home season comprising 13 Tests which will be played up to March.Thakur said more experiments like the one in Duleep Trophy were needed before BCCI took the final call on introducing the pink ball in Tests.”It is too early to say anything [about pink ball]. As far as trying it in Duleep Trophy under lights is concerned, it was a big success. But you need to look at overall picture before you take the final call,” Thakur told .”I think we need to look into many areas before we take the final call. I would like to go into details in a scientific manner to take the final call. As of now, we are not ready to implement pink ball this season.”The pink ball was initially expected to be used in the ongoing Test series with New Zealand but the decision was put off amid speculation that it could be done in the upcoming home series against England and Australia. India are also scheduled to play a one-off Test against Bangladesh. Thakur explained why more time was needed before using the pink ball for the first time.”I think we need to take the final call after keeping a few things in mind. First, how to make it more interesting [for fans] and result-oriented,” he said. “If you have matches like the one in Kanpur [which lasted five days], well done.”Then we don’t need to do anything. Second, how do you involve more fans who come to the ground or watch it on TV? Third, you really need to look into areas as to how [pink ball] is impacting Test cricket at a time when enough people are not coming to watch Test cricket. What are the real reasons behind it?One more factor to be considered, he said, was the role of pink ball or red ball in terms of seam, shine, turn, swing and late swing.”With the red ball, you can have reverse swing after 20-25 overs, but with pink you can’t. So the challenge for batsman goes away,” Thakur said.This season’s Duleep Trophy attracted mixed responses about the use of pink ball from the current and former players. Thakur said the pink ball should be tested in at least a couple of domestic seasons before it is used in Tests.”Even if you have to play with pink ball, you should play two-three seasons with it in domestic cricket. Let us look at the ball, how it behaves, how the grounds behave.”Let us take Test matches to smaller venues and see if it makes any difference. You need to take it to much smaller centres where people have not seen international cricket. We must segregate Test and ODI venues and take Test cricket to smaller venues.”The way we have opened up new Test centres. Now we will wait and see how the response is in all these venues. That will be a real Test for the BCCI.”

A 120-run stand between Azhar Ali and Babar Azam made it Pakistan’s day after they were put in to bat under overcast conditions in the series decider in Roseau

The Report by Danyal Rasool10-May-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
0:55

‘Would have ideally wanted Pakistan four wickets down’ – Coley

Pakistan eased into their comfort zone in the evening session of a truncated day’s play in Roseau. They played as they like to – slow, solid, unremarkable – scoring at a run rate around 2.50 throughout the day, ending on 169 for 2 in 69 overs. Azhar Ali and Babar Azam looked settled for most parts, much more so than one would have expected after their team was thrust in to bat under gloomy skies. The late wicket of Babar gave West Indies something to cling to on at the end of a long day.After the brighter evening skies allowed for an extended final session, Azhar and Babar resumed their dominance, but the lengthy break seemed to have taken much of the intensity out of the game. The scoring rate dropped and there was a palpable lull in proceedings as Pakistan inched along in conditions that looked to have improved for batting.There was a slice of luck for Babar soon after play resumed, a perfect legspinner from Devendra Bishoo taking his outside edge on 28, only for Dowrich to put down a straightforward. Excitement elsewhere was in precious little supply as Azhar brought up his half-century soon after and Pakistan hit cruise control.There was a massive scare for the West Indies early on in the session, with their ace bowler Shannon Gabriel heading off the field with a niggle. Much to their relief, however, he was able to make his way back soon after, and, despite remaining wicketless, was the pick of the bowlers, wielding an aura of control over proceedings that his fellow bowlers couldn’t quite match.Azhar Ali struck seven fours and two sixes in his 219-ball vigil on a truncated opening day•AFP

But it was Alzarri Joseph who provided the breakthrough towards the end of the day, with a fifth stump line that Babar couldn’t quite decide whether to leave or play. He did neither in the end, and his bat jutted out indecisively. The ball caught the outside edge and carried through to slip, but not before he had scored 55 in a 120-run partnership that had put his side in a position of authority.That heralded the most memorable moment of the day, as the West Indies players formed a guard of honour to allow Pakistan’s next batsmen to pass through. Younis Khan strode in to respectful, almost reverent applause from the Dominica crowd before shaking Jason Holder’s hand as a way of thanks, and then drawing him in with a warm embrace. With the niceties out of the way, West Indies brought their best bowler Gabriel back into the attack, knowing Younis’ wicket could put an entirely different spin on proceedings. Pakistan’s most prolific runscorer, however, stood firm, living to bat yet another day.The first session, to borrow from a football cliché, was one of two halves with Pakistan scoring freely after the first hour, during which they managed just 19 runs in 13 overs for the loss of Shan Masood. The cloudy weather resembled much of the first Test, and Azhar Ali and Masood, replacing the ill Ahmed Shehzad, started tentatively against the late swing of Gabriel and Joseph. As the pair pounded away at the Pakistan side they had skittled for 81 less than a week earlier, the scoring rate wasn’t of as much importance as the wickets column.With the bowlers on top, it was surprising to see Holder introduce part-time offspinner Roston Chase into the attack as early as the ninth over. What was even more unexpected was the prodigious turn and bounce Chase extracted, beating the left-handed Masood’s bat almost every ball. Masood’s eventual dismissal was entirely in keeping with the events leading up to it, as he finally edged an offbreak that carried low to Jason Holder at second slip.The run rate picked up sharply after the drinks interval, with Chase, who didn’t concede a run in his first three overs, lofted for two sixes off consecutive overs by Azhar. With the left-hand batsman gone, Chase found himself unable to take advantage of the footmarks created by the fast bowlers, and his potency rapidly decreased.By the time lunch was called, the tables had been turned almost completely, with the West Indies on the defensive as Pakistan tried to stamp their authority on a session they might have been dreading by the drinks break.The rest of the day continued in much the same fashion, though with rain expected across the remaining four days of the Test, Pakistan will have to speed up their run rate if they are to prevail in a Test that would give them their first ever series win in the Caribbean.

Mason Greenwood has explained why he takes penalties with his weaker foot after scoring from the spot for Getafe on Saturday afternoon.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Greenwood scores penalty for Getafe
• Spot-kick taken with right-foot
• Forward explained why he takes it with right

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Greenwood, 22, has revealed he has always taken penalties with his right-foot after missing a spot-kick, taken with his preferred left-foot, for the Manchester United U13 team against their fierce rivals Manchester City.

Advertisement

• Getty
  

  WHAT GREENWOOD SAID

  Speaking back in 2019, Greenwood explained why he takes penalties with his weaker right foot. "I prefer my left foot, just about, to my right foot," he said. "Actually, it happened when I was in the Under-13s. I missed with my left foot against City when I was struggling in a game and ever since I've just gone with the right foot."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Greenwood played a key role in Getafe's recent 3-0 win against Sevilla on Saturday, with the United loanee setting up Jaime Mata in the 37th minute, before scoring his penalty in the 80th minute to round off the dominant win. The former England international is enjoying a successful return to first team action after departing Old Trafford, with three goals and four assists in La Liga this season.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR GREENWOOD?

  Greenwood and his team-mates will now face a quick turnaround before facing Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid side on Tuesday evening, as they look to record a fourth win in a row across all competitions.