Darren Stevens recorded his fourth Championship century of the season as Kent piled on the runs against Division Two rivals Gloucestershire

22-Aug-2013
ScorecardDarren Stevens continued his impressive campaign with the bat•Getty Images

Darren Stevens recorded his third Championship century of the season as Kent piled on the runs against Division Two rivals Gloucestershire on a rain-shortened second day. Responding to Kent’s 474 all out, the visitors went in at stumps on 80 without loss after 29 overs to trail by 394 at the mid-point of this 162nd Canterbury Cricket Week clash.Stevens, who earlier in the month was charged by the ICC for his failure to
report a corrupt approach while playing for the Dhaka Gladiators in February, made light of the pressure to build on his overnight score of 98 not out.Heavy morning showers had delayed Stevens and the resumption of Kent’s first innings until umpires’ inspections at 1.30pm and 2pm, with play finally allowed to start at 2.20pm. The 37-year-old Stevens needed only two deliveries to reach his hundred by clipping a loose delivery from left-arm seamer David Payne to the ropes at square leg for the 18th boundary of a 127-ball ton.His innings ended selflessly for 126 when – with his side needing seven runs for a fifth batting bonus point and with only four balls remaining before the 110-over cut-off – Stevens top-edged an attempted pull against Benny Howell to be caught by Michael Klinger at short extra cover.Home captain James Tredwell followed in the next over for a season’s best 48 when he steered a Craig Miles legcutter to Chris Dent at second slip to make it 399 for 8. With useful double-figure contributions throughout the tail, including an unbeaten 44 by Calum Haggett, Kent reached 474 before last man Charlie Shreck lost his leg stump just after 4.30pm.Meanwhile, Kent confirmed that Matthew Coles, their 23-year-old strike bowler, has turned down a contract extension and is set to leave the club.

Smith’s only cricket since his 74 for Surrey against Hampshire on May 6,was a warm-up game for his local franchise, the Cobras, this Wednesday. In 10 days’ time, he will front up against the Pakistan attack and lead his team in the first Test since Februa

Firdose Moonda04-Oct-2013Over the last six months Graeme Smith has become a father for the second time, presented the national rugby team, the Springboks, with their match-day jerseys, met up with Kevin Pietersen to help promote a range of clothing and worked alongside Mark Boucher in a bid to save the rhinoceros. He also played a bit of cricket. One match, to be precise.Smith’s only cricket since his 74 for Surrey against Hampshire on May 6, was a warm-up game for his local franchise, the Cobras, this Wednesday. In 10 days’ time, he will front up against the Pakistan attack and lead his team in the first Test since February. It’s a thought that would leave anyone, including Smith, wide-eyed.”I feel like I am going on my first tour but obviously with a lot more experience. I am extremely nervous,” Smith said, with a coy smile to match, at the team’s departure. “Having not played for a period of time, I need to maximise the preparation available for me before the first Test.”Apart from net sessions, which he has already been having with the Cobras for the last two weeks, Smith will only have one practice match in the UAE but it may be all he needs. “I’ve upped my cricket skills in the last two weeks or so and it will be about getting mentally ready.”Long layoffs have seldom affected Smith’s form. Last year, when he missed the IPL because of an ankle injury, he spent two months out of action before the tour of England. In his comeback game, which was also his 100th Test match, he scored a century.Smith has built on his career on leading by example and he plans to do the same on this tour. “We have to get ourselves up to the speed that we finished at summer,” he said. “There’s a standard we want to maintain. A lot of our standard comes from within.”0:00

‘Expecting a big challenge in unknown conditions’ – Smith

Even though South Africa are in no danger of losing the Test mace even if they are beaten 2-0, because of their healthy lead at the top of the rankings, they have a record to uphold. They have not lost a Test series away from home since 2006, when they were defeated in Sri Lanka. Since then, they have won in England and Australia, twice, triumphed in West Indies and drawn in India.The subcontinent remains the final frontier and Smith wants the team to be ready for “the worst”. By that he means raging turns, the type that undid England early last year and will test a technique South African batsmen have been working to master in recent years. “Maybe England weren’t as mentally prepared as they could have been,” he said. “One of the reasons we’ve traveled so well is because we are able to adapt but this time there is probably a little more of the unknown.”Another uncertainty is what happens when South Africa come home. What was supposed to be a bumper summer with three Tests each against India and Australia has been thrown into disarray because of administrative arguments. Through their association, the players have called for an “urgent engagement” between the CSA and the BCCI and their desperation to play more Test cricket is becoming more evident the longer the impasse wages on.”We’re looking forward to playing Test cricket again,” Smith said. “We’ve already got the mace and it’s nice to see it here. I can feel the excitement in the team and when I walk around from the fans. People want more Test cricket.”The desire to continue playing cricket that makes South Africans proud is what Smith reminded himself of even when he felt the pain of his injury was becoming too much. “I still have the drive and motivation to play; that’s what kept me afloat,” he said. “I still feel I have the drive to do it for a period of time. When you’ve captaining since 22, you spend a lot of time building and putting processes in place. And now we have those and we’ve given ourselves a great chance to create something special as a team.”

Natalie Dodd, Maddie Green and Leigh Kasperek have been included in the New Zealand women’s squad that will tour India for five ODIs and three T20 internationals in June

ESPNcricinfo staff12-May-2015Natalie Dodd, Maddie Green and Leigh Kasperek have been included in the New Zealand women’s squad that will tour India for five ODIs and three T20 internationals in June. They were replacements for Sara McGlashan and Erin Bermingham, who were unavailable due to work commitments, and Holly Huddleston who had been part of the team that played England in February.Haidee Tiffen, the New Zealand women’s coach appointed until the end of the 2017 World Cup, said she was excited about the challenges for her first tour as coach. “We haven’t faced India a lot in recent times, but they’re a team that are growing and will be a tough task to beat them, especially in their own conditions. But we’re really pleased with the balance of the squad, we have plenty of pace and spin options. India have two batsmen ranked in the top five in the world, so we know we’ll have to be on top of our game with the ball.Kasperek, 23, previously played for Scotland women but was eligible for selection after playing the last three domestic seasons in New Zealand. “Kasperek’s an all-round talent,” Tiffen said. “She spins the ball, she is a dynamic batsman and an outstanding fielder, so she ticks all the boxes and it’s exciting to see her get this opportunity.”Kasperek said she “couldn’t believe it” when she got the call. “My parents were pretty rapt when I told them, although when I called them they had just woken up, so they were a bit dopey on it and it took them a bit to process it,” she told . “There is going to be five weeks of intensive training because it was a surprise, I wasn’t expecting it.”All the ODIs will be played at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore – the first three will count towards the ICC Women’s Championship – before the series shifts to Alur for three T20s.”With championship points on the line, there’s no shortage of incentive and we’ll be doing everything possible to get an important series win,” Tiffen said. “We have high expectations for ourselves and expect to make it tough for them as well.”Squad: Suzie Bates (capt), Kate Broadmore, Sophie Devine, Natalie Dodd, Maddie Green, Georgia Guy, Leigh Kasperek, Morna Nielsen, Katie Perkins, Anna Peterson, Rachel Priest, Hannah Rowe, Amy Satterthwaite, Lea Tahuhu.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has received six technical proposals for the national team’s sponsorship rights for the next two years, starting from the India series in June

Mohammad Isam19-May-2015The Bangladesh Cricket Board has received six technical proposals for the national team’s sponsorship rights for the next two years, starting from the India series in June. Board CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that the companies will have to submit their financial proposals a day later, when the BCB will also conduct the bidding process.The base price has been set at Tk 30 crore (approx. US$3.85 million). It is understood that some of the bidders for the previous tender – for the Pakistan series in April and May this year – have participated this time as well.Last month, the BCB awarded Top of Mind, a media planning company, the team sponsorship rights for the Pakistan series. The agreement was completed after the BCB’s four-year contract with Aamby Valley, an affiliate of Sahara India Parivar, was terminated 15 months before it was scheduled to end. The winning quote was reportedly more than Tk 3 crore.Top of Mind and Grameenphone, the team sponsor for eight years before Sahara, were the two highest bidders during that tender but had to bid again as they had not quoted a price favoured by the BCB.The BCB’s deal with Sahara, which included branding rights for the national team and the national cricket academy, title sponsorship and in-stadia sponsorship for 2012-13, was worth $14 million.

“These are the performances that extend your career,” Shoaib Malik said after scoring his eighth ODI hundred. “I needed that and it came with a lot of backing from the team management.”

Umar Farooq27-May-2015A witty smile with a smart salute – this is how Shoaib Malik entered the press conference at Gaddafi Stadium after scoring a much-needed hundred. There were nearly two dozen journalists sitting in the room and Malik went to each, one-by-one, to shake their hand and acknowledge the presence of all those who had witnessed his eighth ODI hundred. With this utterly unprecedented gesture – instigated by Malik, not the journalists – he said a lot.Malik last played an ODI during the 2013 Champions Trophy and has been ignored over the past two years as he struggled for form. His name kept floating into discussions but he never made into the side. He was randomly selected for the 2014 World T20 but it was for him another international flop. His selection remained a dilemma as his last two comebacks had been accompanied by talk of political sway.His recent comeback was a surprising one; the Pakistan ODI team to play Zimbabwe was announced in the midnight hours, at a time when the mobile network around Gaddafi Stadium was jammed amid the security protocol of the Zimbabwe team, all set to return to the hotel after completing the second Twenty20 on Sunday. The PCB selectors offered no explanation why Malik was included – he had no extraordinary form to suggest he would be picked.In the past year, Malik was away from the cricketing limelight but continued to be in the spotlight for his commercial venture in India. Ahead of every team selection announcement he was mostly seen at the National Cricket Academy, training and warming up his Twitter account. Nothing made sense until he scored this match-winning 112 off 76 balls; it was difficult, though, to know the precise value of his innings.Over the years, Pakistan have spoken of blooding young players but it requires courage from the selectors. They made drastic changes to the ODI squad after the 2015 World Cup but lost 3-0 to Bangladesh, which forced them to back into their shell. Pakistan traditionally adheres to the nucleus of mainly senior players, with a few young players mixed in.Malik was initially handed an opportunity in his specialist format, Twenty20, where he failed to mark his international career revival. His technique looked poor and he played two of the uglier innings of his career. But coach Waqar Younis had faith in him, which proved a major difference according to Malik himself. He was meant to bat at No.5 in the ODI team but was suddenly asked to bat at No.3 with 23 overs left, allowing him to get settled with ample overs left.Malik has batted in every position except No.11 over the course of his ODI career. Here, he turned the tables and played a big hand to give Pakistan their highest total of 375 runs in Pakistan. The midas touch was back as his innings revived some old memories of his unbeaten 82 off 41 balls in 2003 at the same venue.Malik’s stroke-making and immense power with his sharp coordination makes him a shrewd batsman. He hit 12 boundaries and two sixes at a strike-rate of 147.36 to mark a valuable revival to his career. “These are the performances that extend your career,” Malik said after the match. “I needed that and it came with a lot of backing from the team management.”When Malik was out of contention he was still captaining his regional side, Sialkot Stallions, and led them to the T20 title this month. He himself finished as the third leading scorer at an average of 61.55 in five matches. “Before coming into the series I was playing in Faisalabad in domestic T20 where I played couple of good innings and that actually gave me the flow and confidence. Now I would like to keep it going and be consistent with my form.”Recalling his two years in the wilderness he said: “There has been an obvious disappointment but as a profession you always look for opportunity and you have to perform to get their attention. At the end of the day, it’s selectors’ prerogative to pick me or not as it’s up to them to pick whatever they require fitting in for their combination. Everyone set goals for themselves … I have some plans to contribute as a team and individually comes later.”The inclusion of Malik, 33, in the team might have discouraged one youngster waiting for a million-dollar opportunity, but after his century, his selection suddenly made sense, with a big vacuum to be filled following the retirements of Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq from the format.

England were bowled out for 289, setting Australia 412 to win as the first Test of the Investec Ashes moved swiftly on

The Report by David Hopps10-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsWelcome to Wales, land of rain and anxiety. Cambridge scientists recently concluded that it is here where the United Kingdom is at its most neurotic. And it is here where Australia did their utmost to prey on those nerves and insist against all logic that even though they must embark upon a seemingly impossible pursuit of 412 on the fourth morning, and the pitch is both turning sharply and bouncing irregularly, they are not quite dead in the Cardiff Test. They are. They must be.Pessimism can cling to a side with recent memories of an Ashes whitewash. England initially made rapid headway as they sought to turn a formidable first-innings lead of 122 into a bridgehead for victory and a 1-0 lead in the Investec Ashes series. The impetus from bundling out Australia in their morning spread into the batting of Ian Bell and, less obviously, Joe Root in the afternoon. And even as the lead built, millions of England supporters looked on and spoke of “only”.The lead was only 200, 300, and 20 minutes from the close, with great relief, 400, as England’s No. 10, Mark Wood, swung the offspin of Nathan Lyon towards the River Taff for six and then reverse lapped him for four to applause from the England balcony. The wickets remaining slipped to only eight, four, two. But by the close of the third day, an awkward spell in which Bell, Root and Ben Stokes had their wicket struck in turn and Australia felt a glimmer of hope, Wood, a tail-ender with a sense of fun, had an unbeaten 32 from 18 balls and England were out of sight. Finally, there was not an “only” to be heard.Australia like to speak of the highest Test run chase ever pulled off in England, of Headingley 1948, of Don Bradman and of 404 for 3. Even that would not be enough now. The forecast for Sunday is indifferent, but as the Welsh have it, it is not expected to rain old women and sticks. This excellent game deserves a winner and logic suggests that it is England.Four wickets for Lyon were deserving of respect, if an expected reward on a dry pitch offering considerable turn. Australia’s bonus was Mitchell Starc. When he left the field for the last time, the clock had gone beyond six o’clock and a bowler whose first ball of the day had seen this lissom left-armer hop gingerly through the crease in mistrust of an ankle injury had got through 16 overs, logged Alastair Cook and Stokes in the wickets column and, at 92.8mph, had clocked the fastest ball of the match. Impressive stuff – but he might miss the Lord’s Test as a consequence.Australia were not averse to playing on England’s insecurity. New ICC regulations might make sledging a risky business, and not before time, but nobody said anything about mind games. Lyon and David Warner more than once held conversations at the point in the crease where Stokes, idiosyncratically, likes to sweep the crease in a semicircle. Brad Haddin had more appeals than the Salvation Army.It would be tempting to term the pitch treacherous, but considering its particular difficulty to Australia, whose batsmen are brought up with pace and bounce, perhaps it was actually suffering from excessive loyalty. It has also produced magnificent entertainment from the outset.It had taken England only 14.5 overs to polish off the last five Australian wickets, 44 runs added in the process, and although the stand-out performer was James Anderson, who provided a brief exhibition of new-ball bowling to log 3 for 43, every England bowler took a wicket in what had been a consistently focused display.The sense that batting might remain a taxing business was encouraged when Alastair Cook, England’s captain, failed for the second time in the match, driving at a gentle, wide outswinger from Starc which was well picked up by Lyon, low at backward point. He seems, perhaps temporarily, to have abandoned his habitual insistence of making bowlers bowl at him in a desire to buy into England’s much-vaunted commitment to enterprising batting.If Cook could rue a puff of dust from the footholes, Gary Ballance had more reason for frustration. Two excellent swinging deliveries from Starc left him fortunate to reach lunch unbeaten – but still on nought. Ballance might have reached the interval, but that first run never came as soon after the resumption he received a climbing delivery from Josh Hazlewood and gloved to the wicketkeeper.Bell’s three hundreds won him the Man of the Series award the last time the Ashes were contested in England, but who had been bereft of form with six scores of 0 or 1 in his last nine Test innings. It was a timely moment for him to regain form. He drove sublimely through the off side from the outset, two early boundaries against Starc setting the tone from a half-century of elegant ambition. There were 11 boundaries in his 60 before he became Mitchell Johnson’s first victim, expecting inswing but beaten by one that seamed away.Bell’s authority briefly rubbed off on Adam Lyth, whose slog-swept six against Lyon summed up his rising ambition. Lyon, though, gradually unravelled his game and outdid his defensive poke for Michael Clarke to hold a wonderful springing catch to his left at slip.At 207 for 4, England’s lead was already 329, but the loss of Root, bowled by a nip-backer from Hazlewood, was the start of an uncomfortable period in which four wickets fell for 38 in nine overs. Jos Buttler might have regretted this reverse sweep more than most as Lyon had him caught at the wicket; Stokes’ controlled 42 ended with a drag-on as Starc scudded one through; Broad flung his head skywards and reached deep mid-off, running in. Wood banished the nerves.Australia had begun the morning at 264 for 5 and might have shrugged off the loss the nightwatchman, Lyon, as he fell lbw to Wood, immaculate in line throughout, but the dismissal of Shane Watson that preceded it was drainingly familiar as he played across his front pad against Broad. For Watson, it was another Test match 30 and a striking record of 28 lbw dismissals in 108 innings, unmatched for a player of such longevity. He left with mournful, pursed lips, as if he could not believe that fate had conspired against him once more.Haddin was a danger, memories of his productive last series against England still fresh, but Anderson found prodigious movement both ways and it was not long before Haddin edged an outswinger to the wicketkeeper. Johnson clipped Broad to midwicket and Australia’s innings came to a close when Anderson had Starc expertly held by Root, diving to his left, one of five England slips stationed for a catch, an attacking flourish they clung to, refusing whatever the doubts around them to let the talk of “only” enter their thoughts.

Clint McKay claimed five wickets for Leicestershire as seam bowlers dominated the opening day at Cheltenham.

ECB/PA16-Jul-2015
ScorecardJames Fuller was on target to take 4 for 35•PA Photos

James Fuller produced his best return of the season to help Gloucestershire establish a narrow first-innings lead on the second day of the LV= County Championship match against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham.Replying to Gloucestershire’s 218, Leicestershire were all out for 215 inside 88 overs with Fuller claiming 4 for 35 from 15.2 overs.But Charlie Shrek removed openers Will Tavare and Chris Dent in the final session to put the visitors on terms, Gloucestershire reaching the close on 54 for 2, a lead of 57.Mark Cosgrove proved the mainstay of the Leicestershire innings, registering a gritty 74 from 155 balls with 10 fours to usher his side clear of trouble.Forced to adopt an uncharacteristically cautious approach on a pitch that rendered batting problematic, Cosgrove required 94 deliveries to make his half-century and rode his luck on occasions.He dominated stands of 40 and 31 with nightwatchman Jigar Naik and loan signing Greg Smith for the fourth and fifth wickets respectively and proved the glue that held the innings together.Cosgrove’s disciplined three-hour vigil finally came to an end when he aimed an expansive drive at Kieran Noema-Barnett and edged a catch behind.But Leicestershire were 149 for 6 and within sight of parity by the time their captain departed in the 58th over.Noema-Barnett also weighed in with the wicket of Smith, caught and bowled for 20, while Benny Howell finished with 2 for 28, these two demonstrating the virtue of taking the pace off the ball.But Fuller was arguably the pick of the Gloucestershire bowlers. Used sparingly, his express pace caused Leicestershire problems throughout and, having removed top-order batsmen Angus Robson and Ned Eckersley the previous evening, he accounted for Aadil Ali and Clint McKay with the second new ball to finish with impressive figures.Leicestershire were threatening to establish a first-innings lead when Fuller took the new ball and clean bowled Ali, whose 40 from 119 balls represented an object lesson in patience.Craig Miles then served notice of his burgeoning talent, taking a sharp return catch to dismiss Ben Raine before closing the innings out with a brilliant diving catch on the long-off boundary to end McKay’s brief sojourn.Gloucestershire skipper Ian Cockbain will play no further part in the match after suffering a broken wrist in the nets prior to the start of play. He faces at least seven weeks on the side-lines and Michael Klinger will assume the captaincy for the foreseeable future.

Marvan Atapattu has resigned as Sri Lanka coach, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced. His resignation was accepted by the board

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-20150:42

Quick facts: Marvan Atapattu as Sri Lanka coach

Marvan Atapattu has resigned as Sri Lanka coach, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced. His resignation was accepted by the board. Neither the board, nor Atapattu has offered a reason for the decision.Atapattu had officially held the position since September last year, but had effectively been head coach since April 2014, after Paul Farbrace’s departure. Before that, he had worked as batting coach of the team since 2011. During his term as interim coach, he had overseen Sri Lanka’s first Test series win in England in 16 years. He was Sri Lanka’s first full-time local coach in 15 years.In the past 10 months, however, significant concerns over his coaching style have arisen. Atapattu is reputed to be an excellent technical coach, but is understood to have been less impressive as a man-manager – which was seen by the board as a particularly worrying trait, in Sri Lanka’s transition period.This perceived weakness, coupled with consistently poor results at the top level have likely paved the way for Atapattu’s exit. He has departed of his own volition, but did so after Sri Lanka failed to win a single series this year. The home ODI series victory against England late in 2014 remains the only trophy the team has won since Atapattu was formalised as head coach.The resignation comes two days after the completion after a particularly dispiriting home season. Sri Lanka were defeated in four Tests out of six since June, losing to Pakistan and India. The only other time Sri Lanka lost two home series in a calendar year was back in 1993.Sri Lanka’s next international begins against West Indies in mid-October, but the board is unlikely to appoint a permanent coach before then. Some members of SLC’s interim committee are understood to have a favoured candidate in mind, but the board is likely to field applications. In the meantime, a local coach may take over in a temporary capacity. SLC’s head of coaching Jerome Jayaratne would seem to be the obvious choice.Atapattu’s exit follows the resignation of Chaminda Vaas as fast-bowling coach following the World Cup this year. In his time as batting coach, Atapattu has overseen substantial improvement in Angelo Mathews’ batting, but has had mixed results with other young batsmen. In addition to the Test series win in England, Sri Lanka also won a World T20, and Asia Cup, and a Test match in South Africa during his time with the side.Atapattu led Sri Lanka in 18 Tests during his playing career. He has 90 Test matches and Test 5502 runs to his name.

Tasmania fast bowler Andrew Fekete is the surprise inclusion in Australia’s Test squad for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh

Brydon Coverdale14-Sep-20152:46

Coverdale: Fekete’s inclusion a big surprise

Tasmania fast bowler Andrew Fekete is the surprise inclusion in Australia’s Test squad for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh. Fekete and Western Australia opener Cameron Bancroft are the two uncapped members of the 15-man group, while Adam Voges has been named as vice-captain to Steven Smith for the two-Test tour next month.Australia’s selectors confirmed that Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood had been rested from the tour given their heavy workloads over the past few months, with Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Pat Cummins set to lead the pace attack. There were also recalls for Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell and spinner Steve O’Keefe, who made his Test debut in the UAE last year.The retirements of Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and Ryan Harris on or after the recent Ashes tour forced Australia’s selectors to look to the future with their squad for Bangladesh. A thumb injury suffered by David Warner during the ODIs in England also meant they had to find a new vice-captain, and Voges’ domestic experience tipped things in his favour.”It was a very tough decision to make, that,” national selector Rod Marsh said. “We’ve got a lot of people that have played very few Test matches. The fact that Voges has captained Western Australia, the fact that we’re playing in Bangladesh – it is quite possible to wake up in the morning and not be able to play if you’ve caught something … If Steven Smith did get crook, it would have been very tough to have anyone else captain the side but Voges.”He’s had a lot of experience at captaincy, he’s got a cool head, and I think he’ll be an excellent vice-captain for Steven on his first tour of duty away from home as captain of the Australian Test team. Having said that, we’re really going to miss David Warner. He was excited about his appointment as vice-captain and he’s bitterly disappointed he can’t make this tour.”At 35, Voges is comfortably the oldest man in a squad that is much shorter on experience than Australia is used to. The only other players aged in their thirties are Shaun Marsh, Siddle, O’Keefe and Fekete, 30.”The retirements of five players from the squad that went on the Ashes tour, as well as issues of injury, form and conditions have brought about a major change in the profile of the touring party from the one that toured the British Isles,” Rod Marsh said. “But with that change comes a fantastic opportunity for all the players going to Bangladesh.”They are going as a young group with seven of the players aged 26 or less, and all 15 have the opportunity to kick on and, in the case of Cameron Bancroft and Andrew Fekete, kick off their Test careers and establish themselves as the core of the side for years to come.”Although Bancroft’s inclusion was widely expected, as Australia sought top-order replacements for Rogers and Warner, Fekete was very much a left-field selection. He was the second-leading wicket taker in the Sheffield Shield last summer with 37 victims at 24.10, but his only prior first-class experience was six matches the previous season.The new man in Australia’s Test squad, Andrew Fekete has played only 18 first-class games•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

Originally from Victoria, Fekete played a solitary one-day game for his home state before moving to Tasmania, where he made his first-class debut aged 28 in late 2013. Australia’s selectors were impressed with Fekete’s bowling on the recent Australia A tour of India, where he claimed five wickets in two first-class matches.”Andrew bowled really well last summer and followed that up on the A tour,” Marsh said. “He can generate reverse swing and that ability could be extremely useful in the conditions we expect to encounter in Bangladesh.”Bancroft, 22, is a patient opening batsman who last summer made a 13-hour 211 for Western Australia and his temperament should mean he is suited to the challenges of Test cricket. He was the third leading Sheffield Shield run scorer last season with 896 at 47.15 and he too played well on the A tour of India.”Cameron is a player who impressed everyone on the recent A tour of India,” Marsh said. “He can bat for long periods of time and scored an outstanding 150 against India A in Chennai. On that tour he played spin well, fielded brilliantly at bat-pad and his whole demeanour was that of a player who is determined to play Test cricket. He scored almost 900 first-class runs last season, he’s young, hungry and he could become a very good player for us over a long period of time.”Bancroft, Burns, Khawaja and Shaun Marsh loom as the candidates for the opening positions vacated by Rogers and Warner in Bangladesh. The make-up of the attack will depend on the pitches offered in Bangladesh, but there is every chance that a twin spin attack will be employed, with O’Keefe and Maxwell preferred to legspinner Fawad Ahmed as backup for Nathan Lyon.”Stephen did well on the A tour,” Marsh said. “We felt he bowled exceptionally well. It’s true that Fawad didn’t get many opportunities in either the West Indies or on the Ashes tour but when he did get them he didn’t bowl as well as I’m sure he would have wanted.”He will go back to Victoria and hopefully start taking wickets to give us the right type of problem to have as a National Selection Panel. With Stephen O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon and Glenn Maxwell we believe we have the right number and the right type of spinners for the conditions we expect to encounter.”The pace attack will be shorn of the speed of Johnson, who in challenging conditions in the UAE last year was the only Australian to average under 30 with the ball, and Bangladesh could be a tough place for Cummins to return to Test cricket for the first time in nearly four years. But Marsh said it was important that Johnson and Hazlewood were rested with six home Tests and a tour of New Zealand coming up.”Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood were not considered for the tour as, after heavy workloads over the past six months and with a significant amount of cricket to come, we wanted to make sure they are right to go at the start of our domestic summer,” he said.”We expect both players to start bowling again in the next week or so, hopefully play some Matador Cup and Sheffield Shield cricket for their states and be ready for selection for the first home Test of the season, against New Zealand.”The Australians will depart for Bangladesh on September 28 ahead of a three-day warm-up game in Fatullah from October 3 to 5. That is followed by two Tests in Chittagong and Dhaka, Australia’s first in Bangladesh since the 2006 tour on which Jason Gillespie famously made a double-century.Australia Test squad Steven Smith (capt), Adam Voges (vice-capt), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Patrick Cummins, Andrew Fekete, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Nevill, Stephen O’Keefe, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc

Zimbabwe weathered a spirited fightback from Pakistan’s lower middle order to secure a tight five-run Duckworth-Lewis win in controversial circumstances in the second ODI at Harare Sports Club

The Report by Liam Brickhill in Harare03-Oct-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:46

By the numbers – Malik stranded four short of record ton

Zimbabwe weathered a spirited fightback from Pakistan’s lower middle order to secure a tight five-run Duckworth-Lewis win in controversial circumstances in the second ODI at Harare Sports Club.Chasing Zimbabwe’s 276 for 6, Pakistan sank to 76 for 6 before Shoaib Malik and Aamer Yamin resurrected the chase with a 111-run stand for the seventh wicket. After a rain delay Malik was on 96, with 21 needed from 12 deliveries, when the heavy clouds prompted umpires Ruchira Palliyaguruge and Jeremiah Matibiri to take the players off. With the sun setting, the light only got worse, allowing a rare Zimbabwe win – much to Malik, and Pakistan’s chagrin.That they got so close at all was due mainly to Malik’s brilliance and it was once again left to Pakistan’s lower order to try to lift the team out of the mire when they slipped to 17 for 3 – their worst start of the tour. Malik responded with one of his finest limited-overs innings, and came within one shot of what would have been his ninth ODI hundred – and the first by a Pakistan No. 5 batsman in a run chase. He was also helped by Zimbabwe’s errors in the field, having been dropped by substitute fielder Tino Mutombodzi at backward point when he was on 37. That was just one of a number of errors from the hosts in the latter half of the chase.In the course of their own innings this morning, Zimbabwe had looked a completely different batting unit to the one that was bowled out for 128 in the first ODI. But this time it was in the field that the wheels had threatened to come off. The required run-rate was already above seven an over when Yamin joined Malik at the wicket, but the direction of the match changed completely with Yamin’s first boundary. He stepped down the wicket to hit legspinner Graeme Cremer back over his head, who leapt up at the ball and landed awkwardly to suffer a painful ankle sprain.Zimbabwe lost a bowler, but they also very nearly lost the plot as they dropped three catches, missed a stumping and let the game drift completely away from them in the following 16 overs. Malik and Yamin collected five sixes and nine fours during that period, Yamin celebrating a 54-ball fifty with a mid-pitch . His fearlessly attacking innings eventually came to an end when Elton Chigumbura was fortunate to have him caught down the leg side but, with rain falling intermittently, Malik continued undeterred.He found an able partner in Yasir Shah and, on either side of a dramatic rain break, took the equation down to 21 from the last two overs. But then the umpires called the players together and told them they could no longer see the ball. Chigumbura led his players off, and just over ten minutes later the match was called off, the result going in Zimbabwe’s favour.Chigumbura had played a strong hand with the bat for Zimbabwe earlier in the day, his 55-ball 67 building upon Chamu Chibhabha’s patient 90 to lift the hosts to a competitive 276 for 6.
That was more than had been expected when Azhar Ali called correctly at the toss and sent the hosts in this morning. Harare Sports Club head groundsman Fungai Shanganya left plenty of grass on the track for this game and there was a noticeable twinge of green to it, suggesting swing, seam and bounce first up.The pitch was definitely firmer, but the movement on offer was not extravagant. For their part, the hosts promoted senior batsman Hamilton Masakadza to open the innings with Chibhabha, but his scratchy knock came to an end when he skied a pull off a Wahab Riaz bouncer.At the other end, Chibhabha displayed a sure-footed drive and favoured the off side to collect his first four boundaries on that side of the wicket. He took a particular liking to Yamin’s medium pace and played the spinners with measured assurance with Chari playing a perfect foil to the more attacking Chibhabha.When Chari edged Mohammad Irfan to Mohammad Hafeez at first slip against the run of play Pakistan had an opening, and enlarged it with the wicket of Sean Williams soon afterwards to reduce Zimbabwe to 132 for 3. A tiring Chibhabha needed treatment for cramp on a sweltering day – this being his longest international innings in terms of balls faced by quite a distance – but even as he struggled, Chigumbura asserted himself.Chigumbura had taken a little time to play himself in and was struck a fierce blow to the helmet by Riaz, but his riposte was emphatic. A muscular pull off the same bowler sent the ball onto the roof of the Tobacco Stand on the Western side of the ground, and he celebrated a 46-ball half-century by lifting a full toss from the same bowler almost as far. With Sikandar Raza also playing a busy hand, and Richmond Mutumbami and Luke Jongwe’s cameos ensuring an energetic finish, Zimbabwe took 96 off the last ten overs. It proved just enough.