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Shane Warne has urged Nathan Lyon to simply focus on his stock ball rather than worrying about developing any new tricks as he aims to lock in his place as Australia’s long-term Test spinner

Brydon Coverdale23-Oct-2012Shane Warne has urged Nathan Lyon to simply focus on his stock ball rather than worrying about developing any new tricks as he aims to lock in his place as Australia’s long-term Test spinner. And Warne said a potentially serious shoulder injury to the Victoria left-arm spinner Jon Holland, who he expected to be picked for next year’s Ashes tour, could be a big blow as Australian cricket would need Holland as well as Lyon going forward.Warne, who was at the MCG for his first net session since being named as captain of the Melbourne Stars, said there should be no question that Australia would play a spinner in the first Test against South Africa in Brisbane. The Gabba was Warne’s most successful ground as a Test spinner – he took 68 wickets there at 20.30 – but the seam-friendly nature of Sheffield Shield pitches at the venue often makes four fast men a tempting option for selectors.However, Australia’s desire not to ask too much of its young fast men, combined with the fact that Lyon picked up seven wickets in his only Gabba Test, against New Zealand last year, means he will almost certainly play. Lyon is trying to regain his form in the Sheffield Shield after a disappointing Australia A tour of England this year and Warne believes Lyon, who conceded he had struggled with the avalanche of advice he had received over the past year, should go back to basics.”Graeme Swann does okay [with only] the offbreak and the straight one. I think Nathan Lyon has done very well too,” Warne said. “I think if he can just concentrate on his offbreak and the straight one I’m sure he’ll be fine.”For Nathan it’s just to keep doing well. As a spinner, all you want to do is bowl well. Don’t try too much stuff, just bowl well, and over a period of time you’ll have better games than not. Keep spinning his offbreak, the odd straight one, think about the game pretty well, contribute to the team and that’s it.”Warne believed Lyon and Holland could both play roles for Australia in future and he said he had very impressed with what he saw of Holland last year, when they were both on the Stars roster. Holland had been mentioned by the national selector John Inverarity as one of the two best spinners in the country last week, only to suffer a shoulder injury while fielding in club cricket at the weekend.Holland was due to find out his prognosis after seeing a specialist on Tuesday, but there were strong fears within the Victoria camp that he would need a second shoulder reconstruction, having had one in 2010. Warne said Holland, who usually concentrates on a stock finger-spinner with subtle variations in pace and flight, was the kind of bowler who could provide value to Australia’s Test team.”Jon Holland is a big loss,” Warne said. “I had him pencilled in about 12 or 18 months ago that him and Nathan Lyon would be on the Ashes next year and I was hopeful that both of them would play, especially for the balance of the team when you’ve got guys like Watson, Mitchell Marsh who can play as allrounders, you can play two spinners and one or two other quicks.”It’s a real big loss to lose Dutchy. He’s really improved. I loved working with him last year. We worked on the mindset of bowling, how to approach bowling, and I think he really developed. He had a good finish to last year and he’s been bowling really well. I really feel for Dutch and hopefully he’ll be back as quick as possible because I really think Australian cricket needs him.”

Half-centuries from Jim Allenby and Will Bragg guided Glamorgan to 300 for
eight on the opening day of the County Championship Division Two match with
Gloucestershire at Bristol

31-Aug-2011
Scorecard
Half-centuries from Jim Allenby and Will Bragg guided Glamorgan to 300 for
eight on the opening day of the County Championship Division Two match with
Gloucestershire at Bristol.After being put into by bat by home captain Alex Gidman, the Glamorgan innings
revolved around two partnerships of 103. The first came from Bragg (63) and Nick James (40) for the second wicket. Then Allenby (78) and Mark Wallace (42) put on the same amount for the fifth wicket.Gloucestershire’s attack stuck to their task well on a slow pitch and David
Payne finished as the most successful of the six bowlers used with 3 for
46. Gloucestershire handed a championship debut to former New Zealand Under-19 fast
bowler James Fuller, and Glamorgan did likewise with young paceman John Glover.Fuller was one of five frontline seamers selected by Gloucestershire, but the
only wicket of the morning session came in the fifth over when Gareth Rees
gloved a delivery from Jon Lewis to Chris Dent at second slip. Bragg and James survived several strong shouts for lbw early in the innings, but then played with increasing confidence.The partnership was broken shortly after lunch when Bragg, who had hit nine
boundaries in his 110-ball innings, was trapped on the crease and fell leg
before to Payne. The left-arm seamer struck again in his next over when Stuart Walters pushed
forward and was also dismissed lbw.It became 130 for four when James’ gritty 127-ball innings ended with a loose
drive at Ian Saxelby, which gave Dent a second catch in the slips. Wallace, captaining Glamorgan in the absence of the injured Alvaro Petersen, took three successive fours off Saxelby, two cut behind square and one turned off his legs, in a brisk start to his innings.Allenby also scored freely and he reached an 81-ball half-century with a
leg-glanced boundary off Payne in the last over before tea, which Glamorgan took
on 209 for 4. Allenby and Wallace had extended their stand to three figures when the
Glamorgan skipper miscued a pull at Fuller and gave the paceman a gentle return
catch.James Harris (21) and Allenby added 44 for the sixth wicket before both
departed within five deliveries, soon after the second new ball had been taken. Harris played on to Will Gidman and Allenby, who hit 13 fours, was caught behind down the legside off Lewis.Payne claimed his third wicket when Robert Croft edged a low catch to
wicketkeeper Richard Coughtrie.

David Collier, the chief executive of the ECB, has said that Pakistan are unlikely to be welcomed back to England for any series outside the Future Tours Programme

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2010David Collier, the chief executive of the ECB, has said that Pakistan are unlikely to be welcomed back to England for any series outside the Future Tours Programme, after relationships between the two boards dipped to a new low following the allegations from the PCB chairman, Ijaz Butt, that England’s players accepted a bribe to lose the third ODI at The Oval on Friday.Earlier this summer, Pakistan played a series of two Tests and two Twenty20s against Australia in England, having been prevented from hosting their own home internationals due to security concerns following last year’s shootings in Lahore. There had been tentative plans for further such matches to take place in 2011, but Collier admitted that this was now effectively off the agenda.”We have been through difficult times before with Pakistan, as we all remember,” said Collier. “They’ll certainly be part of the Future Tours Programme in the future, [although] it’s not for a few years that Pakistan are due to tour the UK. We are working with them on a number of [neutral] games, but we have to give it time. Time is a great healer, but now and probably next year is not the right time to consider that.”Speaking to Sky Sports during the interval of the fourth ODI at Lord’s, Collier explained how a meeting involving the ECB and the England team management, that got underway at 9pm on Sunday night, ended up being extended into the early hours of Monday morning. A strongly worded joint statement was eventually released an hour before the start of the game today, in which the ECB promised to support any moves from the players towards legal action.”The players were obviously incensed by the allegation, and quite rightly so,” said Collier. “The ICC have made it very, very clear that there were no England players were under any suspicion, therefore we have made the statements we’ve made today.”There were some very difficult decisions for everybody to have to make, including the players, and I pay extreme credit to the players for the way they have conducted themselves throughout the whole series, not just for the past 24-48 hours. There was true leadership last night, and a lot of soul-searching, and I think the players, and the PCA, who have worked very closely with us, deserve a lot of credit.”When asked how close the series had come to a cancellation, Collier admitted that “all options” had been examined, although the decision to play on had hinged on two key points. “One is the precedent,” he said. “If a comment is made, do we cancel a tour in the future, and that was a concern to the board. The second concern was that we didn’t learn until the middle of the afternoon yesterday, and a lot of people would have travelled for this game already. We owe it to the general public to put on a show.””It has been an extraordinary two to three weeks, and a very sad two to three weeks,” he added. “A lot of people have been under an awful lot of pressure, no-one more so than the chairman of the Pakistan board, who has been very much at the forefront of all of the response from the [PCB]. He’s done a lot of travelling during that period, so that is the sympathy that we have.”This is different to anything I’ve experienced in cricket because has been over a prolonged period of time, not just one or two days, but the bigger concern is for the game as a whole,” said Collier. “The most important thing is that integrity is at the heart of the sport. If there is a cancer in the game, we have to get rid of it and it doesn’t matter where in the world it is and which team is involved. At the chief executives meeting last weekend, we made it very clear that there had to be zero tolerance, and we had to get it cut out of the game, if it is there.”

New Zealand came close in the 219-run chase, but Sri Lanka did enough to get a consolation win

Madushka Balasuriya02-Jan-2025In the end, Sri Lanka did enough. That’s not something you’d expect to say about a team that had racked up 218 runs in their first innings, but it speaks towards just how well New Zealand had set about their chase for most of the innings. It was a victory set up largely by Kusal Perera’s maiden T20I ton, the fastest ever by a Sri Lankan, coming off just 44 deliveries.For about 15 overs of the chase New Zealand were keeping up with the nearly 11-an-over required rate, and when Daryl Mitchell struck Charith Asalanka for four consecutive sixes in a 25-run 15th over they might have even been ahead.Sri Lanka then thought they had done enough with a couple of wickets at the death, before Zachary Foulkes’ final-over fireworks provided yet another scare. But despite frayed nerves, Sri Lanka held on to close out a consolatory seven-run win.Having entered inside the powerplay, Perera fell with less than two overs left in the innings, and such was the impact of his innings even a run-a-ball final two overs couldn’t prevent Sri Lanka from registering their second-highest T20I total ever.Asalanka also played a starring role – despite the treatment meted out by Mitchell – backing up his 46 with the bat with a three-wicket haul that derailed New Zealand’s well-planned chase. He also took a scorcher of a catch at extra cover to cap an impressive outing. There was however no looking beyond Perera for the player of the match award.Jacob Duffy, a thorn in Sri Lanka’s side throughout the series, picked up just the solitary wicket this time round, although his economy rate of 7.50 was still the best of any bowler who bowled at least two overs in the game. He was deservedly named player of the series.

SL and NZ trade early blows

The rollercoaster nature of the game was telegraphed right from the start. Sri Lanka lost three of their top four inside the opening 10 overs, and their openers inside the powerplay, but they didn’t let that slow them down.Kusal Mendis struck 22 off 16, Pathum Nissanka 14 off 12 and Avishka Fernando 17 off 12, as Sri Lanka kept a steady rate of around eight an over.Despite the early wickets, it could have been better too, had New Zealand held on to miscued reverse sweep off Perera when he was on just 15.Despite taking two excellent grabs to dismiss both Nissanka and Mendis, it was the chance they will likely look back on and regret.Mitchell Santner celebrates Kusal Mendis’ wicket•MARTY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty Images

Perera and Sri Lanka turn on the afterburners

Despite losing three wickets, Sri Lanka’s score of 85 after the first 10 overs constituted their best score at the halfway mark of an innings all series. But the 10 overs to follow would put that tally comfortably in the shade.Led by a belligerent Perera, and aided by some short boundaries at Nelson, Sri Lanka proceeded to plunder 133 runs off the final 10 overs – and that could have been considerably more if not for two excellent overs at the death from Mitchell and Duffy.Those two overs went for six each, but that Sri Lanka still ended up on a mammoth 218 speaks towards the damage done in the overs that preceded them – particularly devastating was a four-over period from overs 14-18 that brought 75 runs. Much of that was down to Perera, whose century came at a strike rate above 200 and included 13 fours and four sixes.While he initially targeted the boundaries behind square with a catalogue of sweeps, switch hits and outright slogs, by the end his knock was a true 360 exhibition – a monster six over cover to bring up his century emphatically ramming home the point.He was kept company by an equally combative Asalanka, who struck 46 off 24 during a 100-run fourth wicket stand that came off just 45 deliveries.

Well prepared New Zealand come out firing

Regardless of the match situation you can always count on New Zealand to come out with an effective plan, and their chase in Nelson was a prime example.Most sides would be overawed when hunting down a target of 219, but from the very first over of the chase New Zealand set the tone as Tim Robinson and Rachin Ravindra each took Chamidu Wickramasinghe for a boundary each.This was followed by a five-run over by Nuwan Thushara, but New Zealand made up for that by taking on Sri Lanka’s most effective seamer this series, Binura Fernando, for 18 off his opening over.Sixty-three runs were scored inside the powerplay, but the onslaught only continued afterwards. By the halfway point New Zealand had run up 108 runs and still had eight wickets in hand.Charith Asalanka struck in three consecutive overs•MARTY MELVILLE/AFP via Getty Images

Asalanka the unlikely hero

With Thushara and Binura being saved for the death overs and Theekshana having an off day, Asalanka was left with a conundrum through the middle overs. Was he going to rely on the green Wickramasinghe to handle the fifth bowler quota on his own, or would he bowl a few himself?He ended up opting for the latter, and it might just be what swung the game in Sri Lanka’s direction. In his first over the Lankan skipper removed Mark Chapman, before taking out Glenn Phillips in his second. But it was his third that brought the big fish, sliding one past Ravindra’s inside edge to dismiss the New Zealand opener for a 39-ball 69.Perhaps Asalanka overestimated his capabilities in bowling himself out, and was duly punished by Mitchell. But his breakthroughs meant New Zealand would be forced to score heavily off Sri Lanka’s frontline bowlers at the death.

New Zealand can’t stick the landing

Despite Asalanka’s strikes, Mitchell’s monster striking had brought the equation down to 51 from 30 with six wickets in hand.At that point it seemed like the hard work had been all but done, but New Zealand just couldn’t stick the landing. Hasaranga’s double-wicket 16th over did much to reverse to momentum that had swung New Zealand’s way through Mitchell’s onslaught. And then when Mitchell fell an over later, looking to take on Thushara, the writing seemed on the wall.Foulkes however ensured Sri Lanka were made to work for their win with some powerful hitting at the death, but the visitors just about managed to hold on.

The bowlers set up Australia’s win, Zampa, Cummins and Starc doing all the damage after Sri Lanka had raced away to 125 for no loss

Madushka Balasuriya16-Oct-20231:34

Did Australia tick every box against Sri Lanka?

Australia chased down Sri Lanka’s sub-par 209 with some ease, cantering to a five-wicket win in Lucknow to revive their flagging World Cup campaign. The result leaves Sri Lanka second-last on the table with three losses from three, and essentially needing only wins from hereon to stand a chance of making it to the semi-finals.For Australia, it was a victory set up by a tenacious bowling effort, and then capped off by a chase exemplified by its clarity of thought.Having won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch that stand-in Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis had deemed a “280-300” track, Sri Lanka got off to the ideal start with the opening pair racking up 125 runs.But a collapse of astounding proportions saw them lose ten wickets for just 84 runs – the worst such collapse in World Cups since 2011, and Sri Lanka’s worst collapse since their inaugural World Cup game – as they were bundled for 209.Adam Zampa was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4 for 47, while Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc grabbed two apiece. Though special mention should go to David Warner for two outstanding catches in the deep to dismiss Pathum Nissanka and Mendis, wickets which in many ways catalysed Sri Lanka’s downfall. It was also a fielding effort that was a welcome change for Australia, after their opening defeats to India and South Africa had been marked by some uncharacteristically poor catching.In defence of their total, Sri Lanka, and particularly Dilshan Madushanka, started excellently. Madushanka’s first 12 deliveries went for zero runs and two wickets, including a double-wicket maiden. While those two wickets would see the dangerous Warner and Steven Smith sent packing, Mitchell Marsh at the other end offered Sri Lanka no respite.1:23

Maharoof: ‘Absolutely pathetic batting display from Sri Lanka’

Marsh lofted the first ball of the chase, a fullish delivery on off from Lahiru Kumara, back over mid-off and he didn’t look back. Maheesh Theekshana, brought into the attack as early as the third over after Kumara had been hacked for 15 in his opening over, was taken for a pair of exquisite boundaries, and Marsh repeated the feat in Kumara’s next over. The worst, though, was reserved for Dunith Wellalage, who was lashed for three boundaries in his opening salvo.It took a fine Chamika Karunaratne throw from the deep to dismiss Marsh as he looked for a tight second, but by then a third of the chase had been scratched off, and the game was well in hand. Josh Inglis and Marnus Labuschagne then put the result beyond doubt with a stand of 77 off 86; though both fell before the finish line, Inglis notched a half-century. The finishing touches were added by Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis, who entered the fray to turbo-power an already comfortable chase and romp home.But on a surface that Cummins had said he would have liked to have batted first on, this was a game won with the ball.Sri Lanka’s partnerships tell the entire story. A substantial opening stand of 125, followed by a brief but industrious 32, and then… well, nothing. Indeed, beyond those two top-order efforts only two others passed double-digits, and that too by the barest of margins. Contrast that to Australia, who put up stands of 24, 0, 57, 77, 34 and an unbroken 23 on their way to victory.The collapse is a worrying theme for Sri Lanka, who have now thrown away a promising position for the second game running – the fourth time in five games if you count the warm-up games. This game also highlighted what could happen if Mendis fails to fire; despite the opening pair of Nissanka and Kusal Perera putting on 125, Sri Lanka’s middle order failed to capitalise on the platform, going from 157 for 1 to 209 all out.Nissanka had got runs against Pakistan but Perera was coming into this game nursing a recently recovered shoulder strain, and not much recent form behind him. But a lacklustre start from the Australia seamers meant that even though the Lankan openers weren’t exactly proficient in rotating the strike, there were enough boundary balls on offer to allay any pressure being built.Together, the pair put on Sri Lanka’s best opening stand of the tournament, which would have had them eyeing a total in excess of 300, but no one could have predicted the extent of the collapse that followed.1:13

Maharoof: Madushanka a real positive for Sri Lanka

While the start of Sri Lanka’s slide will nominally be attributed to Cummins for picking up both openers in the span of a couple overs, a large part of the credit should go to Warner whose catching provided the opening.Either side of Cummins nipping one back and castling Perera, Warner held on to two high-difficulty chances in the deep. The first was to get rid of Nissanka, who mistimed a hook seemingly into the safety of the vacant midwicket region, only to see the patrolling Warner sprint across from deep square-leg and hold on to it on the slide.He grabbed an even better one a couple of overs later, once more tearing to his left – from deep midwicket this time – making up an incredible amount of ground to gobble up a miscued slog sweep off Mendis. He then had to nurse some bruised kneecaps for his troubles as his forward tumble took out lumps from the Lucknow outfield, but it was well worth it as the Australians never looked back from thereon.Zampa was the beneficiary of that second moment of Warner brilliance, and he struck once more an over later, trapping Sadeera Samarawickrama lbw with a slider shown to be barely clipping leg stump on umpire’s call. It was a marginal decision that left Samarawickrama shaking his head, but Australia will feel it evened out a not-out lbw call against Perera when he was on 24, which had they reviewed would have shown three reds.It was around this time that the game was halted by a brief shower, followed by some heavy winds which blew off some scaffolding and adverstising hoardings from the stadium roof. When play continued, it was all Australia as Sri Lanka’s batters struggled to come to terms with the extra bit of zip in the surface following the rain.Dhananjaya de Silva fell just two balls after the restart, chopping one on from Starc, while a period of concerted pressure saw Welllalage attempt an ill-advised single to mid-on, only for Cummins to throw down the stumps.With the innings in freefall, a pair of Zampa googlies accounted for both Karunaratne and Theekshana, shortly before Starc returned to take out Kumara with an inch-perfect yorker. Charith Asalanka was the last man out, slicing a slog sweep off Maxwell.

The allrounder is looking forward to picking up where he left off, finishing games for India

PTI and ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2022As he got down to plot his return to the Indian team, Hardik Pandya would hit the bed at 9.30pm and wake up at 5am, dedicating the intervening period to win battles against his “own self”.The 28-year-old allrounder followed this timetable for four months, after which he guided an unfancied Gujarat Titans to a memorable title triumph in only their maiden IPL outing. Soon after that, he made his long-awaited international comeback.Hardik, who has been managing a long-standing back problem, hadn’t played for India since they dropped out in the group stages of the 2021 T20 World Cup in November. But on Thursday, reprising his usual role as finisher, he looked pretty much like his old self, hitting an unbeaten 31 off just 12 balls against South Africa.”I was happy,” Hardik told . “It was more about the battles I won against my own self and a lot of other things as well. Winning the IPL, or even qualifying [for the playoffs] was a big deal for me because a lot of people doubted us,” he said. “A lot of people frowned at us before we started. A lot of people raised a lot of questions. A lot of things were said about me even before I made a comeback.”But it was never about giving them answers. I’m just proud of the process I followed. No one knows what I went through the six months that I was off. I’ve gotten up at 5 in morning to make sure I train. I slept at 9:30 in the night for four months, so [there was] a lot of sacrifice.”It was the battle I fought before the IPL. I have always worked hard in my life, and it has always given me the result I wanted.”Hardik also said the ongoing series against South Africa was the ideal platform for him to get into the groove for the upcoming T20 World Cup, especially since India will look to him to finish an innings, not start one like he did at Titans”Every series or every game you play is as important as your last,” Hardik said. “So, for me, World Cup is the goal, this is the right platform to get into the rhythm and a lot of cricket is going to come back-to-back. Always being in the rhythm is very important.”My role will be changed here, I won’t be captain, I won’t be batting higher up the order and guiding through the innings. This will be back to being the Hardik for which I am known.”

Fixtures against Netherlands and Zimbabwe also confirmed for 2021 summer

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2021South Africa will travel to Ireland for three ODIs and three T20Is in July, as Cricket South Africa look to fill the men’s team’s winter with fixtures following the postponement of a three-Test home series against Australia.This tour is part of the 2018-2023 Future Tours Programme (FTP) with the ODIs forming part of the World Cup Super League. The matches will be played between July 11 and 25 in Malahide and Stormont.This is the first time South Africa are visiting Ireland since 2007 when they played one ODI against Ireland and a three-match ODI series against India in the country. Vernon Philander debuted on that tour. Since then, South Africa have only met Ireland at 50-over World Cups and never in a T20I.

Ireland schedule for summer 2021

Netherlands (away)
ODIs – June 2, 4, and 7 (venues TBC)

South Africa (home)
ODIs – July 11, 13 and 16 (Malahide)
T20Is – July 20 (Malahide), 22 and 25 (Stormont)

Zimbabwe (home)
ODIs – August 6, 8 and 11 (Stormont)
T20Is – August 15, 17 and 20 (Bready)

“The tour marks a significant new chapter in our history as we visit one of the fast-developing cricket nations for a six-match tour,” Graeme Smith, CSA’s director of cricket said. “Ireland have shown themselves to be highly competitive adversaries in recent years, with a growing profile in the world game. It will also offer our players further international action in unfamiliar conditions, so we are looking forward to the contest.”Ireland last played cricket in January, when they travelled to Abu Dhabi for series against the UAE – which was interrupted by several positive cases of Covid-19 in the hosts’ squad – and Afghanistan. Their tour to Zimbabwe, which was due to take place in April, has been indefinitely postponed because of the difficulties in scheduling which sees Zimbabwe play Afghanistan later this month and then host Pakistan.Ireland have also announced dates for Zimbabwe’s six-match tour, which comprises three World Cup Super League ODIs and three T20Is. The 50-over fixtures will be staged in Stormont, with the T20Is at Bready.Cricket Ireland confirmed that talks are ongoing with the ECB and PCB around the possibility of staging a two-match T20I series against Pakistan in England, as revealed by ESPNcricinfo last month. Dates for Ireland’s three-match World Cup Super League series in the Netherlands have also been confirmed for early June.”Given the significant changes to the Future Tours Programme due to the postponement of home series’ from 2020 – and all other countries having to reschedule fixtures over the period 2020-2023 – it has truly been a jigsaw puzzle for world cricket administrators to try to make the pieces fit,” Warren Deutrom, CEO of Cricket Ireland said. “We look forward to the season ahead and thank our touring opponents for working with us on this restructured season.”Ireland is currently still allowing South Africans into the country, although they are required to spend 14-days in quarantine on arrival. It has not been confirmed if the South African team will be subject to the same requirements but with the tour still five months away, it will likely depend on the status of the pandemic. South Africa are also exploring the possibility of rescheduling last year’s postponed two-Test and five T20I visit to the Caribbean as well as travelling to Sri Lanka and India in the winter.

The new selection panel also picked left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and top-order batsman Sunil Ambris

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2019The newly-picked West Indies selection panel has dropped Darren Bravo for the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan in India next month. With Shannon Gabriel injured, his place was taken by fast bowler Alzarri Joseph who proved his fitness in the CPL recently.

Changes to West Indies’ Test squad

IN: Alzarri Joseph, Shane Dowrich, Sunil Ambris, Jomel Warrican
OUT: Darren Bravo, Shannon Gabriel, Jahmar Hamilton

Shai Hope, who had sustained a finger injury during the Tests against India, was picked too – including in the ODI squad – having proved his fitness in Barbados Tridents’ run to the CPL title.Bravo was dropped after managing a mere 47 runs in four innings at an average of 15.66 against India. His form hardly improved in the CPL thereafter, with 128 runs in seven innings, striking at 103.22, and only one half-century. Gabriel’s recent form against India wasn’t impressive either. He claimed just four wickets in the two Tests and averaged as much as 56.50 with a strike rate of 99. He then went to the UK last month to play county cricket for Gloucestershire, and took only two wickets in three innings there, with figures of 0 for 39, 2 for 20 and 0 for 121.Wicketkeeper Jahmar Hamilton, who made his Test debut in the second game against India, was also left out of the Test squad. He got the chance against India after injuries to both Hope and Shane Dowrich, but with both fit to travel to India, there was no place for Hamilton this time.Joseph, who returned to the CPL after an injury layoff, was picked for all three formats. He is yet to make his T20 international debut. He had injured his right arm while playing for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL in April and returned to the field after nearly five months to represent St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the CPL recently. He played nine matches to pick as many wickets and ended with an impressive economy rate of 7.75.Apart from Joseph’s return, the selectors picked left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican and top-order batsman Sunil Ambris. Both Warrican and Ambris last played a Test in November 2018 against Bangladesh. While Ambris struck some form against India A recently in both four-day matches and one-dayers, Warricon impressed more while playing for Barbados in the domestic first-class competition at the beginning of the year.The lone Test will be played after the T20Is and ODIs, starting November 27 in Dehradun.Test squad: Jason Holder (capt), Shai Hope, John Campbell, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shimron Hetmyer, Shamrah Brooks, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Sunil Ambris, Jomel Warrican, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kemar Roach, Keemo Paul, Alzarri Joseph

Ashton Agar and Steven Finn took three wickets apiece as Middlesex staged an astonishing comeback to beat Hampshire by 22 runs at Lord’s in the Vitality Blast

ECB Reporters Network26-Jul-2018Middlesex 165 for 8 (Stirling 60) beat Hampshire 143 (Munro 58, Agar 3-17, Finn 3-21) by 22 runs

ScorecardAshton Agar and Steven Finn took three wickets apiece as Middlesex staged an astonishing comeback to beat Hampshire by 22 runs at Lord’s in the Vitality Blast.Hampshire appeared to be coasting at 89 for 1, chasing a modest target of 166 for victory, but they somehow contrived to throw away their last nine wickets for just 54. That turnaround secured Middlesex’s first victory in the tournament for five games and lifted them off the bottom of the South Group table.Fidel Edwards and spin duo Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Liam Dawson ensured that Hampshire restricted their hosts to 165 for 8 after winning the toss, despite Paul Stirling’s accomplished half-century.Max Holden kept Stirling company throughout the Powerplay, but their stand of 58 was broken when the left-hander called a single that never looked on and was comfortably run out by Edwards’ throw.Stand-in captain Eoin Morgan’s promotion to three in the order failed to pay off as he made just 2 before holing out to deep midwicket – and Middlesex’s innings never gained any kind of traction. That was no reflection on Stirling, whose knock of 60 from 44 balls included five fours and three sixes before he eventually perished driving Colin Munro to long-on.Dwayne Bravo hammered a rapid 20 but, once he was run out attempting a risky single, Middlesex’s hopes of a par score evaporated and only some spirited late blows from Tom Helm hauled them up to 165.That target looked unlikely to cause Hampshire problems, although James Vince surrendered his wicket in the first over by spearing an attempted pull back to Finn. But Munro was soon into his stride with some clean hitting, dispatching all the Middlesex seamers to the boundary with regularity as he rattled up 58 from 29 deliveries.The New Zealander shared a second-wicket partnership of 85 with Sam Northeast before the latter charged Agar and missed, allowing John Simpson to whip off the bails.Agar then gave his side a glimmer of hope with two wickets in as many balls as Munro heaved one to long-on and Rilee Rossouw scooped the next into the hands of Stirling.Hampshire’s wobble soon turned into a full-scale collapse as Finn followed Agar by removing Chris Wood and Tom Alsop with successive deliveries. And it was Agar who applied the finishing touch in the penultimate over, calmly taking a catch at long-on to dismiss last man Edwards off the bowling of Bravo.

When Kagiso Rabada got Ben Stokes out for a first time at Lord’s, he also got himself a suspension. When the same thing happened a second time, he made a point to be as good as he could

Firdose Moonda09-Jul-2017After being suspended from the second Test for using an expletive to send off Ben Stokes in the first innings at Lord’s, Kagiso Rabada has learnt his lesson about saying too much.After dismissing Stokes for the second time, Rabada made it apparent he would not be saying anything when he put his finger to his lips as Stokes walked after being pinned lbw. And to make doubly sure silence was maintained, stand-in captain Dean Elgar covered Rabada’s mouth with his own hand.”The first person that gets to him when he takes a wicket needs to throw a hand over his mouth, like I did,” Elgar said after the match. “Hopefully, he learns from this.”Kagiso Rabada walks past Ben Stokes nonchalantly after dismissing him•Getty Images

On the first day of the Test, when Rabada had Stokes caught behind, the stump mic picked up Rabada telling the England allrounder to “f*** off.” That earned Rabada one demerit point, adding to the three he already had equating to a one-match suspension.Several former and current cricketers including Graeme Smith have come out in Rabada’s defense and the man himself is said to be “heartbroken,” by the sanction.”He realises that he is missing a game for South Africa which hurts, he has possibly let the team down,” Elgar added. “Even more so, he has let himself down. I’m not 100 percent sure he has apologised to the team. A lot of things have happened in the past four days but I know he has apologised to senior management.””It’s a big loss for everything – A big loss for the Proteas, a big loss for Test cricket,” Elgar said. “He is a vitally important bowler within our attack. He adds a different dynamic to our bowling attack, he has the aggression factor which is quite important in Test cricket to get those breakthroughs. He has been a phenomenal strength for us in all formats. It’s an opportunity for someone else to come in and maybe start a career, maybe it’s just for one game. The game of cricket is at a loss for him not playing.”South Africa will likely look to Chris Morris to play as a second bowling allrounder in Rabada’s absence, and could also go into the match a batsmen short, leaving out Theunis de Bruyn for Duanne Olivier.