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A round-up of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Super League matches on April 3, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2015Group AA clinical bowling performance, led by Anurag Singh’s 3 for 8, skittled Andhra for 58, and Madhya Pradesh chased down the total inside seven overs for their fifth win of the tournament.Having been put in, Andhra began poorly, losing AG Pradeep off the second ball when he was trapped lbw by Puneet Datey. The MP bowlers continued to chip away at the wickets as 1 for 1 became 29 for 6 and then 35 for 8. Naren Reddy and No.10 Bandaru Iyappa, the only batsmen to have reached double-figures, resisted briefly with a 23-run partnership, before Andhra were bowled out in 16.4 overs.Mohnish Mishra and Jalaj Saxena knocked 41 runs off the target to ensure that the chase began briskly. Though the stand was ended by Ashwin Hebbar in the fifth over, Jalaj and Zafar Ali helped MP coast home with more than 13 overs to spare.A tight bowling performance from Himachal Pradesh helped them successfully defend 130 against Jharkhand in Bhubaneswar.Jharkhand lost Prakash Munda to Pankaj Jaiswal in the second over of the chase, but Ishan Kishan and Virat Singh rebuilt the innings with a 39-run partnership, before Kishan was dismissed by Akshay Chauhan in the eighth over. That wicket triggered a collapse as Jharkhand went from 59 for 2 to 94 for 7, Bipul Sharma being the chief wicket-taker (3 for 21). Rituraj Singh and Prakash Seet pitched in with 20 and 10, but Jharkhand came up short by 12 runs.Earlier in the day, HP themselves were stifled by disciplined bowling, but 20-plus scores from Ankush Bains, Prashant Chopra and Paras Dogra, guided them to 130 for 3. Bains top-scored with 41 off 50 balls and added 66 with Prashant Chopra, while Dogra provided the late thrust, striking 28 off 22 balls.Group BA half-century from Suryaprakash Suwalka, followed by a three-wicket haul from Aniket Choudhary powered Rajasthan’s 86-run victory against Hyderabad in Cuttack. Rajasthan, having been inserted, began brightly, as their openers Suwalka and Ankit Lamba raced to 82 inside nine overs. Suwalka fell for a 32-ball 50, but Lamba carried on, stroking two fours and three sixes to make 44 off 32 balls. Hyderabad kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals, but were unable to stem the flow of runs, as a 26-ball 31 from Rajesh Bishnoi lifted the team to 183 for 7.Hyderabad never really got going in the chase, as Choudhary rattled their top order, reducing them to 26 for 5 inside six overs. Hyderabad’s captain Hanuma Vihari top-scored with 46, but none of his team-mates could manage more than 10, as they folded for 97. Choudhary (3 for 10) was aided by Ashok Menaria and Chandrapal Singh, who claimed two scalps apiece.Odisha put in a strong batting performance to beat Punjab by five wickets in their Super League game in Cuttack.Punjab, who chose to bat, started well with a 51-run opening stand between Jaskaranveer Singh and Manan Vohra. Biplab Samantaray ended the stand when he ran out Vohra for 34 in the eighth over. Sheshdeep Patra then picked up three of wickets through the middle overs to leave them on 114 for 4 after 17. Punjab added a further 29 runs as Himanshu Chawla top-scored with a 20-ball 37 guiding them to 143 for 5 in 20 overs.Debutant Shubek Gill struck on the fourth ball of Odisha’s chase to remove Roshan Kumar Rao for a duck and then dismissed Govinda Podder in his second over, leaving Odisha at 9 for 2.Abhilash Mallick and Anurag Sarangi revived Odisha’s chase with 76-run stand only to be broken by Mandeep Singh, who dismissed Mallick for 41. Odisha then lost Arabind Singh and Sarangi to Siddharth Kaul and Sandeep Sharma as they were 112 for 5 in the 16th over.Samantaray and Suryakant Pradhan took charge, making 32 from 14 balls, with Pradhan striking three sixes for his eight-ball 22 to guide them to victory with 11 balls to spare.

Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Chris Mpofu, Vusi Sibanda, Brian Vitori and Richmond Mutumbami will all make international comebacks on Zimbabwe’s limited-overs’ tour to Pakistan later this month, while allrounder Roy Kaia could also make his debut

Firdose Moonda12-May-20151:34

Moonda: Zimbabwe have a strong top order

IN
Charles Coventry, Roy Kaia, Chris Mpofu, Richmond Mutumbami, Vusi Sibanda, Brian Vitori, Graeme Cremer
OUT
Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Solomon Mire, Brendan Taylor

Zimbabwe have made major personnel changes to their squad for the upcoming tour of Pakistan by recalling six players and naming one new cap. Zimbabwe’s 15-man squad includes seven changes from their 2015 World Cup team.Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Chris Mpofu, Vusi Sibanda, Brian Vitori and Richmond Mutumbami will all be back in national colours, while 23-year-old allrounder Roy Kaia could also make his debut.There was no room for Regis Chakabva, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Tafadzwa Kamungozi and Solomon Mire, while Tendai Chatara was forced out because of a broken leg. Brendan Taylor had already retired from the national side to pursue a country cricket career, meaning the Pakistan series will be Zimbabwe’s first without Taylor in seven years.What Zimbabwe will miss from Taylor’s experience, though, they will make up through the returnees, many of whom have extensive international experience. Both Sibanda and Mpofu have been playing at the highest level for over a decade, although neither have featured for the team recently. Sibanda was dropped for the World Cup after a disappointing tour of Bangladesh, but has been recalled after scoring two centuries and two half-centuries in his last six matches.Mpofu’s absence has stretched even longer – he last played for Zimbabwe in 2013 before a series of injury kept him on the sidelines. However, the injury to Chatara and his own form – Mpofu topped the 2014-15 domestic List-A wicket-takers’ list with 19 scalps at 20.47 – has seen him force his way back in.The bowling has also been bolstered by the return of Vitori and Cremer, the legspinner who quit cricket for golf but has since U-turned on that decision and reclaimed the position occupied by Kamungozi at the World Cup. Zimbabwe’s other spinners include Sean Williams and Raza, while Prosper Utseya can offer medium-pace after he was banned from bowling offspin.Mutumbami will take over the gloves from Taylor, but it is the uncapped Kaia who may bat in his No.4 position. Kaia was the leading run-scorer in the domestic fifty-over competition, scoring 382 runs for Mountaineers in nine innings at an average of 76.40, which included three fifties and a hundred. Kaia also bowls offspin.But of all the players in the squad, it will be Coventry, who once held the record for the highest individual score in an ODI, who will attract the most attention. He has not played for Zimbabwe since October 2011, and has not featured in any of their domestic competitions for the last two seasons. Coventry turned down an offer to join the squad ahead of the 2014 World T20, citing Zimbabwe Cricket’s financial situation as the reason for staying away, and has been playing club cricket in the UAE.Coventry’s aggressive batting style is expected to signal a change of strategy from Zimbabwe, particularly in T20 cricket, where they will look for higher run-rates than they have previously achieved. At the World Cup, Zimbabwe’s focus was to patiently build an innings in an attempt to stay in the game for as long as possible, and while it kept them competitive, it did not bring them the desired results.The Pakistan series is Zimbabwe’s first international assignment since the World Cup, and it will usher in a busy winter period that will see visits from South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan. Zimbabwe’s main aim in the coming months is to break into the top eight in the ODI rankings and earn automatic qualification to the 2019 World Cup.Zimbabwe squad: Elton Chigumbura (capt), Sikandar Raza, Chamu Chibhabha, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Roy Kaia, Hamilton Masakadza, Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa, Richmond Mutumbami, Tinashe Panyangara, Vusi Sibanda, Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori, Sean Williams

Jesse Ryder hit 87 but Essex lost their last six wickets for 39 runs as Northamptonshire fought back to enjoy the better of the opening day

ECB/PA07-Jun-2015
ScorecardJesse Ryder’s 87 had but Essex on top before they lost their way late in the day•Getty ImagesJesse Ryder hit 87 but Essex lost their last six wickets for 39 runs as Northamptonshire fought back to enjoy the better of the opening day of the County Championship Division Two match at Wantage Road.After Nick Browne’s 58 at the top of the order, Essex were well placed on 237 for 4 with Ryder in full flow, but his dismissal shortly after tea sparked a dramatic collapse, Rob Keogh taking a career-best 3 for 35 while Rory Kleinveldt also picked up three wickets.Stephen Peters and Rob Newton then safely negotiated the remaining 12 overs of the day as Northants closed on 43 without loss.James Foster won the toss and opted to bat on a sunny day in Northampton and Browne got the visitor’s off to a flying start, reaching 32 at a run-a-ball, but an opening stand of 48 was broken when Jaik Mickleburgh left a straight one from Steven Crook and was lbw for 8.Browne, who completed his second half century of the season, and Tom Westley appeared to be guiding Essex to lunch in relative comfort until Crook excellently ran out the later for 14, a full length dive at mid-off before throwing down the stumps with Westley stranded.Kleinveldt found Browne’s outside edge in the third over after lunch, and despite Ryder quickly finding his stride with his first six scoring shots all boundaries, Northants kept chipping away as Ravi Bopara was sharply caught by Alex Wakely low at second slip off Muhammed Azharullah.After his initial flurry of boundaries Ryder, together with Ryan ten Doeschate reigned in their natural aggressive tendencies to share a partnership of 90 in 29 overs, a stand that appeared to be putting Essex in a strong position, Ryder reaching 50 in 81 balls, as Essex went to tea 212 for 4.Having looked in little danger throughout his 87, which included 11 fours and a six, Crook found a leading edge, smartly taken by Peters at cover and Essex would go on to lose their final six wickets in 64 balls.Three overs later ten Doeschate was caught behind driving Keogh for 32 and Keogh, who had never previously taken more than a single wicket in a Championship innings with his part time offspin, got one to turn past Graham Napier’s attempted drive.James Foster passed 12,000 career first class runs but would be left stranded on 21 as Adeel Malik was bowled attempted to slog sweep Keogh, and Rory Kleinveldt returned to remove David Masters and Reece Topley inside four ballsNewton moved up to open the batting in place of Richard Levi, and together with Peters ensured Northants reached the close without loss, Newton hitting four fours in his 21, while Peters will resume on 15.

There was something very ominous and deeply appropriate about the manner in which Yorkshire completed their innings victory over Durham

Paul Edwards at Chester-le-Street01-Jul-2015
ScorecardJack Brooks helped finish off Durham as Yorkshire won by an innings to go top of the table•Getty ImagesThere was something very ominous and deeply appropriate about the manner in which Yorkshire completed their innings victory over Durham on the fourth morning of their match at Chester-le-Street.For three months or more, Jason Gillespie has been stressing the quality of the players in his squad who are barely if ever mentioned in connection with international selection. No one thought it false optimism or misplaced confidence.When England had six Yorkshire cricketers in the West Indies, Yorkshire prospered. During the Test and one-day series against New Zealand, in which many of their players were involved, Yorkshire prospered, even if they were not at the top of Division One table.When Yorkshire began their game against Durham last Sunday, four of their players were in Spain getting to know the new England coach Trevor Bayliss during a pre-Ashes training camp. And on the day when Adil Rashid was included in the 13-man squad for next week’s first Test in Cardiff, Andrew Gale’s side clinched the win that took them 11 points clear of vanquished Durham with a game in hand.Some still believe that Middlesex or Warwickshire might mount a challenge for the title. Well, the season is only half over and there is, indeed, a lot of cricket to be played. But it’s very difficult to argue against the view that Yorkshire have not only the most talented squad of players in the country but also the deepest pool of players. England calls may cause changes to be made but, at the moment, excellence comes as standard.”This was a fantastic win against a quality side,” Gillespie said. “You always want to be play good, hard consistent cricket but to be able to do it against Durham on their own ground is very satisfying.”I’d like to think that people would see that we are playing some very good cricket but we are halfway through the season and there is a lot of work to do yet.”We are 11 points clear with a game in hand and that’s a great position to be in but there are a lot of good sides in this division, so we need to make sure that we maintain our standards and then the points table will take care of itself.”Yorkshire’s cricket on this last day was as ruthless as the team’s followers have come to expect. Steve Patterson, made the first breakthrough in the fifth over of the morning when Gordon Muchall played fatally late at an inswinger which went on to brush his off stump.Having taken a wicket with the old ball, Yorkshire’s new-ball pairing of Jack Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom brushed Durham aside with the new one.Encouraged by the arrival of Ryan Pringle, the first of five men not selected solely for their batting, Brooks and Sidebottom took the last five wickets in 32 balls. Brooks took three in seven to finish the innings with 4 for 66 and Sidebottom removed Durham’s opening batsman, Mark Stoneman, who was leg before after making a determined 131 in 329 minutes.By the time Chris Rushworth edged Brooks to Jonny Bairstow just before 12.30pm, only the fact of Yorkshire’s victory needed to be confirmed; the superiority of Gale’s cricketers had been clear for some time. Durham will no doubt regroup and Warwickshire will also offer Yorkshire a proper challenge at Edgbaston, starting on Sunday. But at the moment it is very difficult to see the title going anywhere but back to Headingley in September. Indeed, we may be seeing the early stages in the establishment of a new Yorkshire dynasty.

Glen Chapple proved that the Colwyn Bay pitch was not quite so flat as to repel bowlers of timeless class after Alviro Petersen and Ashwell Prince had scored 501 in partnership

Paul Edwards at Colwyn Bay20-Jul-2015
ScorecardGlen Chapple wound back the clock to leave Glamorgan in trouble (file photo)•PA PhotosThe seagulls in Colwyn Bay are probably mutants. Embittered at not landing parts in Jurassic Park as baby pterodactyls, they vent their savage grievance on any holiday-makers foolish enough to leave their sarnies unguarded. Their natural cinematic home would have been Alfred Hitchock’s 1963 film The Birds, but should any director be so foolish as to attempt to remake that classic, Rhos on Sea would make an excellent setting.Yet on the second day of this match at Colwyn Bay even the massive gulls had to take second place in the avarice stakes to Lancashire’s Ashwell Prince and Alviro Petersen. Then later, they may even have perched, corpulent and admiring, as Glen Chapple proved that this pitch was not quite so flat as to repel bowlers of timeless class.Having already put on 324 for their side’s third wicket when play began, Prince and Petersen extended their stand to a colossal 501 before Prince miscued a drive off David Lloyd and Andrew Salter took a good low catch running in from the long-off boundary. By that stage the partnership was already the highest in Lancashire’s history, beating the mere 371 added by Frank Watson and Ernest Tyldesley against Surrey at Old Trafford in 1928. It was also the most conceded by Glamorgan for any wicket. Prince himself had hit 35 fours and seven sixes in a career-best 261 after a morning in which he had launched a cheerful assault on the car park behind the pavilion.As Prince ambled back to the dressing room, tossing his bat in the air as he went and accompanied by Petersen’s congratulations and hugs, he probably little knew that the partnership was only 22 runs shy of the third-wicket County Championship record, which is held by Michael Carberry and Neil McKenzie, or that it was the thirteenth most fruitful for any wicket in the first-class history.Within half an hour Petersen was gone too, also caught in the deep off the frequently punished Lloyd and also for a career-best, in his case, 286. He and Prince had become the only Lancashire batsmen to have hit double-hundreds in the same innings. The total was then 625 for 4, which is really the sort of score one reads about rather than seeing first-hand.All the same, there it was and after Steven Croft, the Lancashire captain, had thrashed another 57 runs in 51 balls, the declaration was applied with the score having moved on to 698 for 5, the fifth highest total in Lancashire’s history. Between innings there were reports that Opta’s statistician was frothing at the mouth in ecstasy. Such days do not come around very often for the number crunchers.Many debates to this point had concerned the flatness of the pitch. Some Glamorgan players announced that they had never played cricket on anything quite like it. At the end of Lancashire’s innings the scoreboard seemed to justify their view and it was even mooted that this pitch could give cricketers a standard by which the unresponsiveness of later surfaces could be assessed, a Colwyn Bay quotient to rank with the Richter and Beaufort scales.Chapple put such talk into useful perspective. When it was announced on the first morning that Chapple, who is now 41, would be in Lancashire’s side, there was a curious sigh of loving fondness from many in the crowd. So the happiness from the very many visiting supporters when Chapple moved one away just enough from Jacques Rudolph’s loose defensive shot to clip the off stump needs little imagining. It was the beginning of a few overs to remember for Lancashire loyalists as they grab every chance they can to see Chapple in what must surely be the late autumn of his career.Next over Colin Ingram was caught behind by Alex Davies for nought. After tea, Chris Cooke elected to leave a ball which was going to hit the off stump, and that is rarely a wise move. Chapple’s figures at the end of his first spell read 11-4-27-3. For so many cricket fans, whatever their loyalties, his bowling counted for more than Petersen and Prince’s stand. He had nagged away and coaxed assistance from a pitch which, hitherto, had seemed as hard as an airport runway.Lancashire’s bowlers were not finished, though, as they pressed for the victory that would make them even more prohibitive favourites for promotion. Will Bragg was leg before playing across a straight one from James Faulkner and the spinners Arron Lilley and Simon Kerrigan picked up the wickets of David Lloyd and Craig Meschede, both caught in the ring for 21 apiece during a long evening session.Mark Wallace, the epitome of Welsh resistance, was still there on 39 and Graham Wagg, in this great season for him, made so bold as to hit Lilley’s penultimate ball of the day for a six over long-on. Nonetheless, Glamorgan can rarely have been so far behind in a match and an early finish is clearly on the cards. This would be a shame for those who treasure the warm friendship, grassy banks and gentle charms of this ground.The day finally ended with Petersen and Prince posing for snappers in front of a scoreboard rigged to record their partnership. Some of the resulting photographs will no doubt be auctioned at cricket dinners this winter; others will appear in county yearbooks, those annual chronicles of special weeks and afternoons of plenty.

A fifth-wicket partnership of 144 between Kedar Jadhav, who made a maiden hundred, and Manish Pandey, who made 71 on debut, revived India to 276 for 5 after another top-order stumble, after which Zimbabwe crumbled for 193 to hand the visitors a 3-0 sweep

The Report by Abhishek Purohit14-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:50

Agarkar: ‘Zimbabwe didn’t have the quality to match India’

A fifth-wicket partnership of 144 between Kedar Jadhav, who made a maiden hundred, and Manish Pandey, who made 71 on debut, revived India to 276 for 5 after another top-order stumble had left them in trouble at 82 for 4. Led by Chamu Chibhabha’s 82, Zimbabwe built a base for themselves at 150 for 3 in the 35th over, but lost their last seven wickets for 43 runs to hand India a 3-0 series sweep.Yet again, Zimbabwe’s seamers let the opposition get away after putting them under considerable pressure in the first half of the innings. Jadhav and Pandey quietly batted themselves in and got through the difficult period against the seamers before targeting legspinner Graeme Cremer to build momentum. Zimbabwe’s death bowling fell apart once more. Despite Pandey’s exit in the 47th over, Jadhav and Stuart Binny helped India take 106 off the last ten.The India openers had played within themselves to put together a partnership of 112 in the second ODI, but in the third, Ajinkya Rahane and M Vijay both went for their shots from the start. Both were gone by the start of the eighth over, and within eight deliveries of each other, to Neville Madziva. Rahane mishit a drive to cover and Vijay edged an attempted drive to the keeper.It was not an easy pitch for strokeplay, with the ball appearing to stop on the batsmen at times. There was also some consistent wobble and seam for Zimbabwe’s medium-pacers, whose nagging good length made it harder to drive.The new-ball bowlers were followed by the seam-up mediums of Hamilton Masakadza and Prosper Utseya, both of whom bowled ten disciplined overs each on the trot for a combined return of 2 for 72.Robin Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary tried to rebuild but it was slow going, especially for Tiwary, who managed 10 off 33 before getting a leading edge off Prosper Utseya’s second delivery.Three overs later, India slipped to 82 for 4 as Uthappa went in similar fashion, eyeing the leg side and forcing a leading edge to mid-off. Uthappa had looked in fine touch during his 31, the highlight being a charge down the track to lift Chibhabha cleanly for four over mid-off.Boundaries were hard to come by for Pandey and Jadhav initially against Masakadza and Utseya. Masakadza was getting the ball to seam and bounce outside off, and beat the outside edge a few times.Pandey was mature enough to deny himself in that period, and when he was beaten, he did not attempt a rash shot to release the pressure. His first boundary came only off his 31st delivery, a straight six off Masakadza. Jadhav was a bit more adventurous with his dabs and paddles, but he batted largely safely too.The introduction of Cremer in the 34th over finally injected some life into the innings for the Indians. He bowled short often, and was duly taken for runs. Cremer should have had Jadhav, on 41, in the 41st over when the batsman was surprised by a bouncing googly and spooned it up to point, but Elton Chigumbura put down a sitter.Zimbabwe were to pay dearly for that lapse. Jadhav moved to his fifty off 64 balls, and took only 22 more to zoom to his century. Refusing to learn, Zimbabwe kept feeding him width outside off at the death, and he kept powering them square for boundaries.Three successive fours off Donald Tiripano took him into the 90s in the 48th over. He remained off strike for the next one as Binny went after Chibhabha, but swung Madziva over deep backward square for six to bring up the landmark off the penultimate ball of the innings.Bhuvneshwar Kumar began India’s defence with a superb spell of six overs for 12 runs. He was unlucky not to break through as he made the ball climb and hold its line.It was mostly Chibhabha for Zimbabwe. Severe on width outside off, he added 70 for the second wicket with Regis Chakabva and 53 for the fourth with Richmond Mutumbami. Between those stands, Chigumbura was trapped in front for 10 by Vijay for his maiden ODI wicket, off his first ball of the match.Whenever Zimbabwe gained some steam, they would lose a wicket. They had a decent chance with 127 needed from 91 and seven wickets standing, but Binny hastened the collapse, sending back Mutumbami and Chibhabha in successive overs. Chibhabha had been eyeing the pick-up shot over midwicket but could not time it well and Jadhav took a diving catch running in from the deep.Flighting the ball generously, Harbhajan Singh took two in two in the 38th to all but end it, and Zimbabwe were eventually bowled out in the 43rd over for 193.

Fans without tickets were turned away from Scotland’s World T20 match against Zimbabwe at the VCA stadium in Nagpur today, as there are no ticketing facilities available at the ground

Jarrod Kimber and Arya Yuyutsu10-Mar-20162:42

Poor ticket arrangements disappoint fans in Nagpur

Fans without tickets were turned away from Scotland’s World T20 match against Zimbabwe at the VCA stadium in Nagpur today, as there are no ticketing facilities available at the ground.The tickets for the match are priced at 100 rupees for the East and West stands and 200 rupees for behind the bowler’s arm (approx £1.10 and £2.20 respectively). However, many supporters were obliged to travel back to the old VCA stadium in central Nagpur to purchase their tickets, meaning that that those that chose to do so were forced to miss much of the contest.The current stadium, which was inaugurated in 2008 and has a capacity of 45,000, lies 20km outside the city centre, a journey time of approximately 40 minutes by auto-rickshaw. However, the main ticketing system remains still situated at the old venue. A VCA official said it was not possible to have ticketing at both grounds.The BCCI, who declined to comment, are in overall charge of the ticketing policy for the tournament, but the arrangements for each match are at the discretion of the individual state associations. Dharamsala, the other venue that has so far hosted matches, has chosen to sell tickets for the qualifying rounds at the gate.The VCA spokesman added that advertisements for the ticketing policy had been placed in local papers but was unable to explain why the information had not been passed on to the BCCI or ICC, so they could warn fans who were travelling in from other grounds.The atmosphere inside the stadium, which came in for heavy criticism on the opening day of the tournament, was marginally improved for today’s contest, thanks to an influx of some 250 children from nearby schools. However, approximately 100 fans remained locked out of the ground at the start of Zimbabwe’s innings. The venue is too remote to support any local pubs or cafes in which to watch the contest, or to access the ICC’s online ticket-booking service that could have resolved the issue.”We love cricket, which is why we are here even in this heat to watch Scotland take on Zimbabwe,” one group of college students from Nagpur told ESPNcricinfo. “But we can’t book online because of the network and the ticket sales are going on at the other ground. There’s so few people in, why can’t they just let us in. We are even willing to pay at the gate.”One group of Scotland fans, who encountered similar problems during Tuesday’s opening round of fixtures, including Scotland’s defeat against Afghanistan, had been mistakenly informed that they could buy their tickets at their hotel.Privately ICC officials are frustrated that common sense has not been used, especially with the already low turn out for these matches.

Daniel Bell-Drummond came to the rescue with a century after Kent suffered their first ‘handled the ball’ dismissal since 1882

ECB Reporters Network24-Apr-2016
ScorecardDaniel Bell-Drummond saved Kent from disaster•Getty ImagesDaniel Bell-Drummond underlined his potential with a high-quality century to deny Leicestershire control of the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Kent at the Fischer County Ground.The 22-year-old batsman made 124 in an innings spanning four hours and 20 minutes as Kent recovered from 48 for 4 to close on 227 for 7 after his opening partner, Sean Dickson, had provided the other story of the day.Dickson was out without scoring in the second over of the match, earning himself a line in the record books for the mode of dismissal when he was given out ‘handled the ball’.Having jammed down his bat on a fullish delivery from Leicestershire seamer Ben Raine, the South African-born Dickson looked down to see the ball roll back over his foot and towards the stumps.In those circumstances, the Laws permit a batsman to use his bat to protect his wicket or simply to kick the ball away. Yet Dickson instead reached down and deflected the ball with his right hand, almost as if he were retrieving it in a net session to throw back to the bowler.Wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien immediately led Leicestershire’s appeal and, after a brief consultation with his colleague at square leg, umpire Russell Evans raised the finger and Dickson was on his way, having clearly contravened Law 33.”I think there was a bit of shock at first,” Leicestershire’s head coach, Andrew McDonald, said. “I’ve never seen it happen before, at least not in a game I’ve been involved in, and when Sean used his hand to stop the ball rolling into his stumps I think the guys needed a moment to digest what had happened.”But then it was a case of ‘hang on, you’re not allowed to do that’ and they appealed. But the Law states clearly that you’re not permitted to use your hand to keep the ball from hitting the stumps. I don’t think anyone in either dressing room would argue that it was not the right decision to give him out.”Although not the rarest form of dismissal, there have been only 60 instances of a batsman being given out handled the ball in the history of first-class cricket. Dickson is only the second for Kent, the last being George Bennett against Sussex in 1872.The most recent instance before this, coincidentally, came in a Leicestershire match less than two years ago, when the India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was dismissed in that manner for Derbyshire at Derby in September 2014.After recovering from Dickson’s loss, Kent ran into more serious difficulties, slumping from 42 for 1 to 48 for 4 in the space of 15 balls, raising questions about captain Sam Northeast’s decision to forego the opportunity now afforded to the away side to bowl first. In cool, blustery conditions on a pitch with a good covering of grass, he opted instead for the toss and chose to bat when the coin fell in his favour.Leicestershire skipper Mark Cosgrove’s first bowling changes paid off as Wayne White ripped out Joe Denly’s off stump with his first ball, Charlie Shreck knocked off Northeast’s off bail and White claimed his second wicket as Darren Stevens clipped him straight to Cosgrove at square leg.But Bell-Drummond, who has ambitions to play for England that many good judges believe he will realise, mixed watchfulness with attack in a manner that underlined his cricketing intelligence to guide Kent out of trouble.He took 104 balls to complete his first half-century, needing to be watchful at times, but his second was much brisker as he moved into more attacking mode. He terminated White’s second spell with three consecutive boundaries, moved from 86 to 94 with a couple of high-class shots for four off Shreck, one whipped through midwicket, the next driven to extra cover, then reached three figures with his 16th boundary, chopped square of the wicket off Raine.He had added four more boundaries before he was dismissed just before tea, trapped in front by Neil Dexter attempting to work the ball to leg. It was his fifth century in the Championship and followed an unbeaten double-hundred against Loughborough MCCU in his only other innings so far this season. Kent’s scheduled opening match against Worcestershire was abandoned without a ball bowled in four days.He had support from Alex Blake and Adam Rouse, who was making his Championship debut in the absence of Sam Billings, who has been given leave to play for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.Blake contributed 26 to a fifth-wicket stand of 57 before he was judged caught behind off Clint McKay, a decision with which he appeared less than happy. Rouse fell in the over before Bell-Drummond, caught by Angus Robson at second slip off a thick edge as McKay struck for a second time. He and Bell-Drummond added 107 in 26.1 overs.A combination of bad light and drizzle restricted play to only a couple of overs after tea, with almost 30 overs lost in total from the day’s play.

The winter window is now closed, with the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City among those to have spent big bolstering their ranks

Getty20Sandro Wagner: Hoffenheim to Bayern Munich, £10.7m

A Munich native and former Allianz Arena academy graduate is back where it all began at the age of 30, with the towering frontman having offered enough at Bundesliga rivals to convince the reigning champions of his worth.

AdvertisementValencia CF19Francis Coquelin: Arsenal to Valencia, £12m

A rollercoaster ride in England saw the Frenchman go from bit-part squad player to the answer to a holding midfield conundrum and back again, with a move to Spain secured after starting to slip down the pecking order once more.

PROSHOTS18Jurgen Locadia: PSV to Brighton, £14m

The Seagulls always knew that stepping up to the Premier League would require them to roll the dice in the transfer market, and a new club record fee has been shelled out to land a promising forward who must hit the ground running.

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Stoke City17Badou Ndiaye: Galatasaray to Stoke City £14m

The Potters can rarely be accused of lacking battling qualities, but Paul Lambert has moved to further enhance those qualities by acquiring a Senegal international midfielder who could be among those gracing a World Cup stage this summer.

With the summer transfer window now open, Goal takes a look at some of the big names who could be making a move

Getty ImagesToby Alderweireld | Tottenham | DefenderToby Alderweireld's time at Tottenham looks set to end this summer and there are a number of clubs said to be keen on his signature. Manchester United are eager to strengthen their backline and Alderweireld is one of a number of candidates for the role. Goal understands the two sides have agreed a deal, but Spurs want to have a replacement in hand before letting him leave. AdvertisementMatthias Hangst/Bongarts/Getty ImagesLeon Bailey | Bayer Leverkusen | ForwardLeon Bailey has been a key member of the Bayer Leverkusen squad since joining from Genk in 2016 and, despite being just 20, has carved out a reputation as one of the brightest prospects in the Bundesliga. The Jamaican forward’s displays have unsurprisingly attracted attention from some of Europe’s bigger clubs, with the player confirming "concrete interest" from Premier League duo Liverpool and Chelsea along with Serie A side Roma. Getty ImagesGareth Bale | Real Madrid | ForwardGareth Bale has won a Liga title and three Champions Leagues during his time at Real Madrid, scoring plenty of important goals for the Blancos over the course of four seasons. However, due to injuries and poor form, he has been in and out of the team in 2017-18, leading to suggestions that he may be nearing an exit. Bale is valued by the club president Florentino Perez, but did not appear to figure prominently in Zinedine Zidane’s plans. However, the Frenchman's exit may have changed all that. Bale has been a star for Madrid in pre-season, and while Manchester United were reportedly convinced that he would sign with the club before the World Cup, rumours linking the former Spurs man with a move away have died down since Madrid lost Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus. ENJOYED THIS STORY?

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Getty ImagesMichy Batshuayi | Chelsea | ForwardHaving joined Borussia Dortmund on loan from Chelsea for the second half of the season, Michy Batshuayi has reinvigorated his career and the Bundesliga club are keen to make the move permanent. The Belgium international scored nine goals in 14 games in all competitions for BVB, including seven in 10 Bundesliga appearances before an ankle injury brought an end to his season. Goal understands that Sevilla are in pole position to land the forward on loan, however, with Atletico Madrid and Valencia also interested in the Belgian.