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Olly Stone finished with seven wickets but Warwickshire face an immense task on the final day

ECB Reporters Network06-Sep-2018Warwickshire 310 and 28 for 1 lead Durham 292 (Stone 7-59) by 46 runs
ScorecardWarwickshire’s attempt to press for victory were thwarted by the weather on day three of their Specsavers County Championship match against Durham at Edgbaston.After heading into lunch on 28 for one, a lead of 46, rain started towards the end of the interval and continued throughout the day.The umpires did see an improvement as a 3.20pm inspection was called, but the weather deteriorated and no further play was possible meaning 70 overs in total had been lost.That will surely cause frustration for Warwickshire as promotion rivals Sussex have already won and Kent sit in a strong position again Northants.Jeetan Patel’s side must now bat aggressively in the morning to set-up a Durham run chase and unlikely victory with only 96 overs available on the final day.The day started under blue skies with the visitors resuming on 224 for 7, 86 behind.Olly Stone immediately exposed the tail by bowling Paul Collingwood first ball of the morning for 38, but any Warwickshire expectation of a sizeable first innings lead diminished as Barry McCarthy and Salisbury put on a resolute 42 between them.McCarthy was eventually dismissed, trapped lbw to Chris Wright for 43, but Durham were buoyed as they made inroads to the first innings total set.Chris Rushworth, the last man in, supported Salisbury in another valuable 26-run partnership before Stone struck with his seventh wicket to remove the stubborn number ten, who’d made a career-best 38, and bowl Durham out for 292.With conditions darkening, the Bears faced eleven overs before the interval and they saw opener Will Rhodes trapped lbw by Rushworth for 16.

Seven home matches been shelved, but not for political reasons, according to CEO Warren Deutrom

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Mar-2025Ireland have shelved plans to host a multi-format series against Afghanistan this year for “financial reasons” in a busy summer schedule which includes historic tours by England Men’s T20I side and Zimbabwe Women.Cricket Ireland released their international fixtures on Tuesday, including Women’s 50-over World Cup Qualifying matches against Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, Thailand and Scotland between April 9-18.It also listed warm-up games for Ireland Women against West Indies and Bangladesh in Pakistan on April 5 and 7 respectively, ahead of their bid to reach the tournament for the first time since 2005, although the ICC is yet to confirm dates and venues for the Qualifiers.Ireland Men will host West Indies in ODI and T20I series in May and June respectively, while England Men will play their first T20I series in Ireland in September, comprising three matches.According to the Men’s Future Tours Program (FTP), Ireland were due to play a Test against Afghanistan as well as three ODIs and three T20Is. However, all seven matches have been cancelled and, though this follows the example of Australia and England in not playing bilateral series against Afghanistan, Warren Deutrom, Cricket Ireland chief executive, insisted it was for financial not political reasons. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Human Rights Watch had called for Afghanistan’s ICC membership to be suspended for human rights abuses.”One planned series that won’t go ahead for financial reasons is against Afghanistan,” Deutrom said. “This decision is part of our management of short-term budgetary constraints, as well as our requirement to comply with the Board’s mandate to deliver balanced investment across the organisation’s strategic objectives.”Ireland have only hosted two of the ten Tests they have played since becoming Full Members of the ICC in 2017. They secured their maiden win in the format against Afghanistan in the UAE in 2024 then won two more Tests against Zimbabwe, at home last year and away last month.Related

• As Cricket Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom departs, he leaves behind a complicated legacy

• Ireland government approves permanent cricket stadium in Dublin

Ireland staged a “home” white-ball series against South Africa in Abu Dhabi last year in a bid to overcome what Deutrom described at the time as “current infrastructure constraints” given the lack of a permanent home stadium and the high cost of temporary infrastructure.Last August, the Irish Government approved the development of apermanent international cricket stadium and high performance centre in Dublin. The first phase, including a main cricket oval, permanent seating for 4,000 people and the high performance centre is due for completion in 2028 with a view to preparing Ireland to co-host the 2030 T20 World Cup alongside England and Scotland.”Off the field, recent Programme for Government announcements will enable us to continue our planning for the new Dublin stadium and for the 2030 T20 World Cup, while we’re looking forward to announcing infrastructure and facilities investments across Ireland as part of our expanded Club Fund,” Deutrom said.However, the ACB CEO Naseeb Khan said in a release that Cricket Ireland has expressed interest in hosting them in 2026. “Ireland CEO Warren Deutrom spoke to me on March 8 and explained that, due to financial reasons, they are unable to host us this year,” Khan said. “However, they have expressed interest in hosting us in 2026. While we acknowledge their reasons, this would have been a valuable opportunity for players from both countries. We are in discussions with Cricket Ireland to explore suitable options for rescheduling the series and will work collaboratively to find a mutually convenient window.”Ireland Wolves will play Afghanistan A in four-day and one-day matches in Abu Dhabi next month as part of a tour which includes a white-ball tri-series also involving Sri Lanka A.Ireland Men will also play in the European T20 Premier League with Scotland and the Netherlands from mid-July.Zimbabwe Women will visit Ireland in July, their first tour since being added to the Women’s FTP for 2025-29. They will play three T20Is followed by two ODIs.Pakistan Women will then travel to Ireland in August for three T20s ahead of the T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier in the Netherlands, where Ireland Women are competing.

The players’ body also asked CA to take the contrition shown by the players on their return to Australia into account, and allow them back into domestic cricket sooner

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2018The Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) has asked Cricket Australia to consider reducing the “disproportionate” sanctions on Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, the three players involved in the plan to tamper with the ball during the Cape Town Test.

‘I’d pick them for sure’ – Mark Waugh

Australia selector Mark Waugh has backed Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft to make returns to the national side after they complete their bans for ball-tampering in Cape Town.
“I would (pick them), for sure,” Waugh told Sky Sports Radio. “My personal contact with these three guys is they’re all good people. Everyone makes mistakes. This is a major one.
“We all hope they bounce back to their best form when the penalties are finished. We should all look at the facts and you’ve got to let them back into the fold again. You’ve got to forgive them.”
Waugh also defended the Australian team against criticism of its culture.
“I don’t see this team as any different as any other team from previous eras,” he said. “Of course there’s the odd individual player who’ll push the boundaries. But to then say because of that there’s a whole toxic culture of Australian cricket, I’m just not seeing that. Most of this team, they’re so quiet on the field.”

Smith and Warner were banned from international and domestic cricket for 12 months, while Bancroft was banned for nine. Warner was also banned from holding leadership positions in Australian cricket for life, while Smith and Bancroft were banned from leadership positions for another 12 months after the end of their bans.”The proposed penalties are disproportionate relative to precedent,” ACA president Greg Dyer said in Sydney on Tuesday. “We ask that consideration be given to recalibrating the proposed sanctions, to consider options such as suspending or reducing part of the sanction. To consider allowing the players to return to domestic cricket earlier, for example, as part of their rehabilitation.”We believe [the bans] are disproportionate. We’ve pointed out the fact that incidents of this similar type have occurred previously, the sanctions are vastly less than what’s been suggested here. There’s a need to reconcile between the two, there’s a need to understand that disproportionality and to move forward. We’re in ongoing conversations with Cricket Australia through this process.”The players have until Thursday to decide whether to appeal the penalties imposed by CA or not.”The ACA is working strongly with the players,” Dyer said. “Their decisions are imminent but I’m not able to share them with you this morning. [It is] a deeply personal decision for the players. We’re supporting them through that process but ultimately [whether to appeal is] for the three players to decide.”Dyer was of the opinion that the administration needed to support the banned players during this time, and allowing them to stay involved with cricket would be beneficial. “The players need to be brought back into the confines of the game to be supported by the game – to be assisted by the game, in the rehabilitation,” Dyer said. “If the sanctions were to prevent that then I think that would be a bad outcome.”The loss of leadership is significant as a sanction … these are very substantial things that have occurred to these men. That needs to be brought into mind. Those [consequences] are over and above the length of the sentence.”Smith, Bancroft and Warner held press conferences after returning to Australia, where they expressed remorse for ball-tampering on the third day of the Newlands Test. All of them were extremely emotional during their press conferences and Dyer said their “extraordinary contrition” should be taken into account by CA.”The contrition shown by these men is extraordinary. We ask for this extraordinary contrition to be taken into account by Cricket Australia just as it would be in any fair or proper process. Their distressed faces have sent a message across the globe as effective as any sanctions could be. Australia cried with Steve Smith last Thursday. I certainly did. We expect this contrition to be taken into account.”

The 32-run win in Bloemfontein put the hosts one victory shy of another clean-sweep, having claimed the ODI series 5-0.

ESPNcricinfo staff19-May-2018Sune Luus struck a brisk 35 before being run-out•ICC

Half-centuries from allrounders Sune Luus and Dane van Niekerk helped South Africa take an unassailable 2-0 lead over Bangladesh in the three-match T20I series. The 32-run win in Bloemfontein put the hosts one victory shy of another clean-sweep, having claimed the ODI series 5-0.Bangladesh had started positively in this game with the wicket of the in-form opener Lizelle Lee off the second ball of the match. Left-arm spinner Nahida Akter removed Lee for 4 – her lowest and only sub-30 score since the start of the ODI series – before medium-pacer Panna Ghosh dismissed Lee’s opening partner, debutant Tamzin Brits, for 10.Bangladesh’s early strikes, which reduced South Africa to 35 for 2 inside the Powerplay, were negated by a 96-run stand between Luus and Van Niekerk for the third wicket. The duo struck 20 fours and a six and helped propel South Africa to 169 for 4. Van Niekerk finished on 66 off 42 balls while Luus fell off the penultimate ball of the innings for a 57-ball 71 – her highest T20I score.Bangladesh were teetering on 21 for 2 after 3.5 overs of the chase. Marizanne Kapp struck with her fourth ball to dismiss opener Sanjida Islam for a duck; Shabnim Ismail, meanwhile, accounted for Rumana Ahmed. But halfway through the chase, Bangladesh were 74 for 2 and had reduced the equation to 96 needed from 60 balls.A 77-run stand between Shamima Sultana and Fargana Hoque for the third wicket anchored the innings, before Ismail dismissed Hoque. Sultana motored on to notch up Bangladesh’s maiden individual T20I fifty off only 39 balls, but she faced three more deliveries without scoring a run before being bowled. Of the 57 runs required off the last 18 balls, the visitors managed only 24. Bangladesh finished on 137 for 5 – their highest total in T20Is.

The allrounder was pleased to have ended a long wait for a century and said there won’t be recriminations over him trying to win the match with another six

Sidharth Monga at Old Trafford23-Jun-2019Carlos Brathwaite was dropped for West Indies’ last match. There is a good chance he wouldn’t have been playing at Old Trafford had Andre Russell not been unfit. It wouldn’t have been a particularly harsh decision because Brathwaite had scored only five half-centuries in 158 innings since his sensational four sixes to win West Indies a lost World Twenty20 final back in 2016.Yet, with the World Cup dream all but over, Brathwaite reignited West Indies’ hopes with a scarcely believable century to bring them within five runs of New Zealand’s total. He was caught on the boundary trying to clear long-on off the last ball of the 49th over. After the knock, a shattered Brathwaite was honest in saying the knock meant him a lot even if it left him feeling bittersweet.WATCH on Hotstar (India only) – Brathwaite breathes fire with 101“It is a cliché to say that it doesn’t matter if you don’t win, but for me personally, for my confidence, it is a result of all the hard work that I put in,” Brathwaite said of his first international century. “It is finally good that it has come to fruition. I continue to work hard. Obviously heartbreaking to not get over the line but I give thanks for the performance and being able to get the team in the position that I was able to.”Brathwaite came in to bat at 142 for 4, and scored 101 of the remaining 144 runs that West Indies managed. With a stunning 25-run assault against Matt Henry in the 48th over, he brought the equation down to eight runs required off the two overs.”When I lost [Sheldon] Cottrell, then Lockie [Ferguson] had one over to go and [Trent] Boult had one to go,” Brathwaite said. “And the thinking was if we see them off, we can get 30 in three overs.”Now the equation was manageable, but he had only the No. 11 Oshane Thomas, who was yet to score a run, for company. Jimmy Neesham, bowling the 49th over, said they wanted Brathwaite to make more decisions now. The final – as it turned out – decision was whether to look for a single last ball of the 49th over or a six. If he got a single, he would have retained strike with five to get in the final over. If he missed while going for a six – or even if he got four – New Zealand would be able to have a crack at Thomas.As it turned out, Brathwaite went for a six, and was caught a few metres inside the long-on boundary. “I did tell Oshane about it [the possibility of a single],” Brathwaite said. “Told him we remain positive. We are one hit away. Probably memories came back of 2016 when I played a game against Afghanistan [in the 2016 World T20] and patted a full toss for a single instead of hitting it for a six. My thinking was still: watch the ball, still react, and if it is not a ball that I can get a six off, I try to get a single. He was on high alert, but if it came in my area I try and finish the game in that ball, which I did.”Carlos Brathwaite sinks to his knees after getting caught on the boundary•Getty Images

Brathwaite came very close, though. “I thought I had enough bat on it,” he said. “Unfortunately it didn’t. Also it went to probably one of the better fielders in the world as well. So, yeah, it is what is. A game of margins. One or two yards more, we could be victorious.”Brathwaite said it should not be too difficult to move on from the decision he made. “The best dressing rooms create a culture where when you pinpoint any incident, any game, there is [talk around] planning and execution,” Brathwaite said. “The plan was right: obviously stay, reacting to the ball, don’t premeditate, if it is not in your zone, get single; if it is, maximise and get a six. And the execution was off. In the game against Australia as well, I got out to a slow full toss from Starc, kind of haunted me as well. Again it is execution. Back to the drawing board. Probably get some other options to similar ball. I am not going to beat myself up because the ball should have gone for six, and we should have won.”It was “heartbreaking” that it didn’t end West Indies’ way, but there was also personal relief. “I know I can [bat well], I know I should,” Brathwaite said. “I never stopped working, I kept working hard. It’s great to see hard work pay off. At the end of the day it is a century in a losing cause, which is bittersweet.”His captain Jason Holder wasn’t surprised he delivered the runs. “His work ethic is really good,” Holder said of Brathwaite. “He’s not one to shy away from his responsibilities. And he puts in really good effort into his preparation. And that’s one thing that I credit him for. The knock that he played today is not surprising to me.”I guess everybody could sit here and agree that we’d love to see that a little bit more often. But that’s the general feeling within the entire group. I think as a team we just need to be a lot more consistent. But seeing Carlos play the way he did doesn’t really surprise me. Just a matter for us to bring it together more often.”The feeling of awe was on both sides. New Zealand didn’t waste any time in going to congratulate and commiserate with Brathwaite moments after the win was sealed. “New Zealanders are some of the best people in the world to share a dressing room with or to play against,” Brathwaite said. “I obviously socialise with them at franchise tournaments and am good friends with a few of the boys. I guess it didn’t mean much at that point in time because you are just getting over watching Boult take the catch and losing. In hindsight it was good sportsmanship on their behalf. I appreciate the mutual respect the opposition had.”

Opening stand worth 114 in 49 balls headlines nine-wicket drubbing

ECB Media09-Aug-2025Oval Invincibles delivered a clinical performance in the Hundred at The Oval, securing a commanding nine-wicket victory over Manchester Originals. The two-time defending champions chased down their target with 43 balls to spare in front of 20,976 fans.Winning the toss for the second time on the day, Invincibles opted to bowl first and immediately justified the decision. Jason Behrendorff (2 for 6) struck twice in his opening spell, removing Matty Hurst for a first-ball duck and Jos Buttler without scoring, reducing the Originals to 18 for 2, 15 balls in. The early wickets forced Originals captain, Phil Salt, to anchor the innings, passing 1,000 runs in The Hundred in the process.Mark Chapman offered brief resistance with a gritty 28, before falling to Rashid Khan (3 for 19), who kept things tight in the middle overs. Salt battled to 41 from 32 but succumbed to mounting pressure, becoming Rashid’s second victim.Sam Curran (2 for 17) returned to dismiss Noor Ahmad first ball, as the Originals limped to 105 for 7. Despite a late push from Scott Currie (21), the visitors could only post 128.Rashid Khan finished with 3 for 19•ECB/Getty Images

Originals’ bowlers were immediately put under pressure by the Invincibles. Will Jacks exploded out of the blocks, sending the ball to all parts of the ground, while Tawanda Muyeye provided him with a composed partner at the other end.The pair raced to 114 without loss, claiming their half-centuries along the way. Jacks, in sublime touch, reached 61 before falling to Lewis Gregory, caught by Currie on the boundary. But the result was never in doubt, with Muyeye reaching 59 as he and Jordan Cox took the side to their second victory of the competition.”I’m feeling good getting the back-to-back Man of the Match awards, but more importantly the win was very special with a good run-rate as well,” Rashid said. “It’s definitely a good feeling, two back to back wins. It’s a great start to the competition, everyone is doing so well in taking the responsibility. Either the batter, bowler or fielding – for us this is a great start and we’re looking forward to [seeing] this continue.”

The Australia fast bowler wants to live up to the potential shown on an injury-curtailed 2013 tour

Daniel Brettig23-Jul-2019To say James Pattinson has unfinished business in Ashes cricket in England would be quite an understatement. It’s six years since he played the first two matches of the 2013 encounter at Trent Bridge and Lord’s, tearfully withdrawing in the middle of the second match with a side strain that was to be only an early instance of the litany of injuries that would follow.Foot, back, side, shin, stomach. All were areas where Pattinson experienced the pain of injury, though it was recurring back stress fractures that caused the most grief. It was something of a final gamble when Pattinson traveled to New Zealand in November 2017 for surgery previously undergone by Shane Bond, among others, a procedure he underwent with one goal in mind – to be in England for this Ashes series.”I knew that if I was up and running, string a few on the pitch, that I would have every chance of getting picked in an Ashes team,” Pattinson said. “Going back to a year-and-a-half ago when I was contemplating whether to get back surgery and whether it was going to work. There was a month there where there was a bit of unknown and conjecture around whether I would get back to playing cricket. Sitting here now after going through all that is quite pleasing that I am here and bowling and putting myself in position to get picked in an Ashes series.”You go through your career, you try different things, you get setbacks, you go through strategies and theories and you work out what’s best for you. You have to try things in cricket, some things don’t work and some things do. For me it worked in a way, with my action it’s sort of somewhere in between when I first started and when I tried to remodel it.”I tried to let that evolve over the last few years and I am happy with where that is, my body is feeling good and more than anything I can relax and run in and bowl and not worry about where my back foot’s landing and if the front arm is high and that stuff. When you are trying to play Test cricket and you are doing that it is hard work, I’m in a good spot at the moment and I have come off a bit of cricket and that’s a bonus for me.”Now Pattinson is here, and by dint of his proven ability to be highly destructive when fit and in rhythm, he appears certain to be one of the members of the final Ashes squad to be named later this week. And as those who have seen him bowl for Nottinghamshire know well, Pattinson has the ability to claim a lot of wickets in a hurry.So, what do you think? Will I get picked? James Pattinson makes faces at a camera•Getty Images

“If my body holds up I think I can challenge them over here,” Pattinson said in Southampton. “It’s pretty simple, you get wickets that can assist you and you get wickets that are quite flat so, to have the ability to bowl on a flat wicket or a wicket that’s seaming around hopefully I can do that. It’s pretty simple over here you try to hit the same area. You look at Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, they are always challenging the batsman, challenging the defence.”If we can take something out of the series before is to be trying to always challenge the front foot, challenging the knee roll and trying to stay in one spot in the wicket and not release too many boundary balls. Over here you see a lot of boundaries hit, the run rate is often a lot higher if we can try and cut that down. Over the years we have managed to try and take wickets but a bit more expensive than what it would be in other places, so I think that’s a big push from bowlers.”Since his debut in 2011 when he razed New Zealand at the Gabba, there has been nothing in Australian cricket quite like seeing Pattinson in full flight. It was a sight most recently glimpsed in this year’s Sheffield Shield final at Junction Oval, where New South Wales’ challenge was brought undone by a fiery Pattinson, screeching in aggressive delight at each one of his seven victims. Taking wickets “in clumps” is part of Pattinson’s gift, now allied to a more mature understanding of the pace bowler’s craft in England.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Over the years I have been able to come on and take wickets in clumps so I suppose the selectors are looking for bowlers who can do a bit of that and bowlers who can bowl economically as well,” he said. “I’ve played enough cricket, I’ve been over here three months with Nottingham which is fantastic for someone like me who hasn’t had a great load of cricket over the last few years. I managed to play a fair few Shield games this year and obviously moved on into the summer here and the good thing is I’ve come off plenty of cricket.”They’ve shown over here they can play swing bowling quite well, if it swings big and you’re not getting the right areas, it doesn’t really matter. So it’s about trying to get the ball in the right area, i think it’ll hopefully do it off the pitch. And obviously if the conditions are right it’ll swing. The hard thing over here is if the sun does come out it’s quite challenging to bowl, because your margin for error is quite low.”So all off a sudden you’ve got to be on the spot, that’s when you try to work with training your positions on the crease and all that sort of thing, to try and work with it. I think it’ll be about thinking on our feet over here and during this next game as well, working together and bowling in partnerships. Hopefully that’ll bring some good success.”James Pattinson in his delivery stride•Getty Images

Pattinson’s aggressive, unbridled approach to fast bowling is epitomised by how he talks about bowling in the nets to Australia’s leading players. In an era of workload management and careful preparation, Pattinson cannot help but admit that he always bowls a little faster to the likes of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and now the returned Steven Smith.”Throughout my career I’ve always tried to crank it up a little bit to the best batter,” he said. “I know when I first came into a Test match, in 2010 in India, and Ricky Ponting was there. I always made a conscious effort to bowl a bit faster to him then always to Michael Clarke too. You always try to get in with the best batters and bowl well against them, I think the selectors like that.”

Dinesh Karthik has been picked as replacement, ahead of Parthiv Patel

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-20180:44

Quickinfo – Dinesh Karthik returns

A thumb injury sustained in the IPL has ruled India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha out of playing their Test match against Afghanistan in Bengaluru on June 14. Dinesh Karthik has been picked as replacement, ahead of Parthiv Patel.Having been struck on his right thumb by a Shivam Mavi bouncer on May 25, Saha faces an estimated recovery period of five to six weeks. He also missed six games for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL because of a shoulder niggle. The first Test in England starts on August 1 at Edgbaston.During India’s previous Test assignment in South Africa, both Parthiv and Karthik were added to the squad after Saha was sidelined with a hamstring niggle. It was Parthiv who was brought into the XI for the second and third Tests, but he managed only 56 runs in four innings. He had a particularly poor game in Centurion: dropped two catches and failed to attempt a third regulation chance.Karthik is set to play his first Test since 2010 and 24th overall since his debut in 2004. More recently, he captained Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL playoffs and was the top-scorer for the side with 498 runs in 16 innings at an average of nearly 50 and strike rate of nearly 150.Updated India squad: Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, M Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Shardul Thakur

Alex Lees makes 62 against old club to drive Durham to six-wicket win at York

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay15-Jun-2025England seamer Matthew Potts excelled with a superb T20 career-best five for 17 as dominant Durham ran through Yorkshire en-route to a six-wicket Vitality Blast victory at York Cricket Club.Potts, who made his T20I debut for England against West Indies earlier this month, was destroyer in chief on a helpful Clifton Park pitch as the White Rose, inserted, were bowled out for 128 in 19 overs. James Wharton top-scored with 26.But Durham’s batters were far more commanding and dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s on a fourth North Group win in six games in 18 overs of their chase, with captain Alex Lees hitting the contest’s only six in a season’s best 62 off 46 balls.While Durham are second in the table, Yorkshire have now reached the halfway stage in their campaign having won two and lost five and are second-bottom.Durham made an ideal start as Zak Foulkes trapped Dawid Malan lbw for a golden duck at the end of the first over and Callum Parkinson’s left-arm spin forced Jonny Bairstow to miscue to mid-off for four at the end of the second.And when Adam Lyth, on 18, hoisted Parkinson out to deep midwicket midway through the fourth over, Yorkshire were reeling at 28 for three.Bairstow, schooled in the Minster City, was playing his first Blast game of 2025 following IPL duty and a subsequent calf injury, and it came on the ground where he played club cricket as a junior.Further damage came in the eighth over as Potts made the perfect start to his fantastic four-over burst when he trapped Will Luxton lbw and, two balls later, had a tentative Will Sutherland caught at slip, leaving Yorkshire 55 for five.Wharton pulled the same bowler out to deep backward square-leg shortly afterwards before a career best return was achieved when Dom Bess was lbw playing to leg.Nathan Sowter struck before Jordan Thompson was another lbw victim for Potts, his fifth wicket, as he tried to whip a full toss to leg on 19.That left Yorkshire 100 for nine after 16 overs, the majority of the 4,500 sellout having just cheered ironically when their side reached three figures.New Zealand fast bowler Will O’Rourke and Jack White then shared 28, the highest partnership of the innings, and recorded career best scores of 21 not out and 13 respectively as Yorkshire gave themselves a glimmer of hope.White, batting for the first time in this format, was bowled by Ben Raine to wrap things up, though 52 runs were added for the last two wickets.White then had Graham Clark caught at cover on the cut – 8 for one in the third over of Durham’s chase.But, in truth, the visitors advanced comfortably thanks to their captain, who held things together with a cautious rather than carefree innings.Spinners Jafer Chohan and Bess removed Ollie Robinson, 21, and Colin Ackermann as the score reached 63 for three after 10 overs.But opener Lees reached 50 off 39 balls, and he shared a stand of 60 another ex-Yorkshire player, Will Rhodes, 31 not out.Lees miscued Thompson’s seam to mid-off late on, but it didn’t matter.

Orla Prendergast’s 76 underpins Ireland innings but England side featuring five debutants get home

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2024Kate Cross claimed career-best figures with bat and ball on her captaincy debut to lead England to a four-wicket win over Ireland in the first ODI at Stormont.Cross, leading a side featuring five ODI debutants in the absence of most of England’s T20 World Cup squad, was largely responsible for limiting the home side to 210 all out, her haul of 6 for 30 including Ireland’s top-scorer, Orla Prendergast, for 76.She then helped repair the damage after Ireland had reduced the visitors to 156 for 6, hitting an unbeaten 38 that included the winning runs.”There was a lot of nerves out there today,” Cross said. “When you’re captaining one debutant it can be quite hard but to have five on the pitch was a lot to manage so I was just really pleased with the first half in general, how we managed to restrict Ireland to what I thought was a below-par total and then we’ve chased it down.”I’ve been there. When I was running in in Barbados for my debut I remember thinking, ‘just try and land it on the cut strip’ and that does go through your head as a player but sometimes it’s the unknown and a fear when they play on debut because they don’t know how they’ll go in international cricket. I think they coped with the occasion really well.”Ireland opted to bat first in the opening match of the series and were well placed at 151 for 3, with star allrounder Prendergast going well. But Cross returned to break a stand of 77 with Leah Paul, and then mopped up the tail for her second ODI five-wicket haul.Cross had struck in her first over, pinning Una Raymond-Hoey lbw, before Lauren Filer removed Ireland captain Gaby Lewis via a catch at slip. Hannah Baker, the legspinner winning her first cap in any format, then struck in her opening spell as Amy Hunter departed for 37.Prendergast, who scored her maiden ODI hundred last month in Ireland’s series win over Sri Lanka, led the rebuilding effort but the innings folded quickly after her departure. Ryana MacDonald-Gay, another England debutant, bowled Rebecca Stokell, then Paul was run out by a combination of Freya Kemp and Bess Heath – two players who will be going to the World Cup in the UAE.Ireland’s total was their highest in women’s ODIs against England, and they made a good start in its defence. Prendergast opened the bowling and removed Emma Lamb and Tammy Beaumont inside her first four overs to leave England 32 for 2.Two debutants in Hollie Armitage (previously capped in T20Is) and Paige Scholfield steadied the ship with a stand of 62, before they were both dismissed in consecutive overs. Kemp showed her power with 26 off 19, but after she fell Mady Villiers was run out to leave England six down.Heath was joined by Cross, with 55 needed and more than 20 overs in which to get them. The captain did the bulk of the scoring, finishing unbeaten with 38 from 36 balls, as England got home with 91 balls to spare.