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England captain says Hales the “obvious pick” as injury replacement for Jonny Bairstow

Matt Roller15-Sep-2022Alex Hales’ success in Australia made him “the obvious pick” to replace the injured Jonny Bairstow in England’s T20 World Cup according to Jos Buttler, who suggested that Hales is “a different person” after three-and-a-half years out of international cricket.Hales was back in England training gear for the first time since a camp before the 2019 World Cup when he arrived in Pakistan, carrying a dartboard as part of his hand luggage as he prepared to spend three weeks in close company with team-mates old and new under tight security conditions in Karachi and Lahore.Thursday marked exactly two weeks since he had spoken to Buttler on the phone about his continued exclusion from the England set-up after learning that he would not be part of the squads for the Pakistan tour or the World Cup that were due to be announced.Related

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• Buttler on England's arrival in Pakistan: 'It's great to be back'

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But Bairstow’s ankle injury – suffered while slipping at Pannal Golf Club near Harrogate while Rob Key, England’s managing director, was telling the press he would open with Buttler at the World Cup – opened the door for Hales’ recall and, after discussions with senior players over the following days, the interim selection panel made a unanimous decision to bring Hales back into the fold.”Initially, we thought the best option was Jonny at the top of the order as that’s arguably his best position in T20 cricket,” Buttler explained in Karachi on Thursday, speaking to the touring media after his official arrival press conference. “But with his freak injury, it presented an opportunity for someone to come in.”It was literally as Keysy was telling you the news that he was going to open and speaking up his credentials [that Bairstow was injured]. As soon as he’d finished speaking to you guys, I had a message saying that Jonny had hurt his leg. I was hoping it wasn’t as bad as it turned out to be. He’s obviously had such a brilliant summer, so we’ll miss him greatly, but the opportunity is then given to someone else.”I spoke to lots of the senior players to make sure that no-one would have any issues with Alex being back in the team if we wanted to select him. No one had any issues. He’s obviously been in excellent form. We know what a talented player he is and he’s gained a lot of experience as well since the last time he played for England.”He’s played for a lot of franchises and had great success out here at the PSL. Looking ahead to the World Cup, his Big Bash record is fantastic [1857 runs, 33.16 average, 151.34 strike rate]. Australia is a place that he’s done well, and so he seemed the obvious pick.”Hales was dramatically axed from England’s squad for the 2019 World Cup a month before the tournament after a suspension for recreational drug use came to light, prompting Eoin Morgan to accuse him of showing a “complete disregard” for team values. He has not played for England since.But Morgan’s retirement from international cricket in June seemed to open the door for Hales to return, which came to fruition when his recall was confirmed while he was holidaying in South Africa last week.”He did message me to ask whether it would be possible to have a chat about why he’d not been selected,” Buttler said. “I spoke to him then: we had a good chat, and I explained the reasons he didn’t get the nod. Of course, he was disappointed with that… that’s exactly right, and how it should be. Very quickly, though, things changed and it became obvious there was going to be someone from the next pool of players picked as a replacement.”There’s been a lot of water under the bridge, I think. It’s been a long time and I’m sure Alex is a different person. He spent time out of the team and it’s great that he’s performed well and forced his way back in. We look forward to seeing him perform in an England shirt again.”Alex Hales is back in the England fold•Getty Images

On his discussions with senior players, Buttler added: “I think that was important. It’s no secret that when Alex got left out of the 2019 World Cup squad, Eoin did a similar kind of thing. He spoke to many of the senior players, all of the coaching staff and as a team I think it’s important that you give ownership to other guys and gather opinions.”I just wanted to double check. I had my own view, but I wanted to just make sure that everyone was on the same page. Everyone was, so that’s great. I’m just looking forward to having him back in and around the group. It won’t be long until Moeen Ali is taking the mick out of him again and all will be well.”Buttler also backed Jason Roy, a high-profile omission from England’s winter squads, to get back to his best as “one of the most intimidating batsmen to bowl at in the world” and confirmed that he still sees him as “my first choice 50-over opener”.”It was a really difficult phone call,” he said. “But one of the important things that I said to him was ‘it doesn’t mean it’s the end – it’s not terminal’. We know what a brilliant player he is when he’s on song… we spoke about a plan for him to get back to that point.”Buttler’s own role in the early stages of the tour will be limited by the calf injury he sustained during the Hundred, but he said felt it was important for him to be a part of England’s first trip to Pakistan since 2005. “Whether fit to play the games or not, I felt there would be a lot of value in me being here,” he said.”[I will] take it as I see it and very slowly build it up. It’s an injury that’s not bad, but one that has a risk of recurrence. You don’t want to push it too soon, especially with what we have ahead: we still have games in Australia and warm-up games so there’s no desperate need to get as fit as possible.”If I was available for the last couple, that would be the best-case scenario at the minute. It might come earlier that that; it might not at all. The picture will become clearer in a week or so. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.”

Welsh government regulations allow Labuschagne to play against Kent this week while quarantining

Matt Roller28-Apr-2021When Marnus Labuschagne arrived in Cardiff in 2019, he had made five Test appearances and was by no means guaranteed to play another: he averaged 26.25, had batted in five different positions, and had only played while David Warner and Steven Smith were banned. Ahead of his early-season stint with Glamorgan, few Division Two seamers were losing sleep over the prospect of bowling to him.Two years later, everything has changed. Labuschagne averages a shade above 60 in Tests, and is ranked as the third-best batter in the format by the ICC. County analysts and bowling coaches are scrambling to find plans as to how they can get him out, and on the back of hundreds in his last two first-class innings – including 192 in the Sheffield Shield final – he appears to be in the form of his life.Labuschagne has pinpointed that spell with Glamorgan as a “turning point” in his career that few saw coming. He made technical adjustments with Matthew Maynard, the club’s head coach, that helped him open up the leg side, and benefited from the opportunity to play a higher volume of cricket than had been available to him for Queensland; in 10 County Championship fixtures, he made 1114 runs at 65.52.”That stint at Glamorgan certainly helped me, and meant that when I got an opportunity, I was in form and I was batting well,” Labuschagne said on Wednesday, in a virtual press conference before his first appearance of the season against Kent. “The last time I was here I played pretty well but I think I can add more value to the team, and get better as a player each game – keep trying to grow as a player, not just in Australian conditions but in conditions that aren’t as familiar to myself.”You need to come in prepared and your game needs to adapt. You need to understand the conditions, the bowling, and what changes you’ll make to your own game to be successful and find ways to do well. You need to be prepared to change, and not get caught in trying to play one way. That’s what I enjoy most about the game: finding ways to keep performing even if you’re not feeling that good for whatever reason.”Related

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The high regard in which Australians hold county cricket is evident from Labuschagne highlighting the challenge of playing against Division One sides this season. The re-jigged Championship format means that four out of Glamorgan’s five opponents in Group Three should have been playing Division One cricket last year before the pandemic, meaning a higher calibre of opposition than he faced in 2019. He is likely to come up against James Anderson next week, and may have the chance to face Sussex’s Ollie Robinson later in the season, too.”The way the Championship is set up this year with three groups, four of the six teams in our group are Division One teams which is a really nice challenge,” he said, “being able to challenge yourself at a different level and with different skills required in these conditions.”It’s a real plus being able to play in swinging conditions, and obviously the English bowlers will be coming out this summer to Australia and playing over there [so] the potential to play against them in the County Championship is obviously a really good challenge. If you’re playing Jimmy Anderson now, it’s a challenge in these conditions, but when he comes to Australia, it gives me a look at him a bit earlier, which is the positive.”Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser have arrived in Wales•Glamorgan CCC

Labuschagne’s availability this week is due to a discrepancy in Covid regulations between the English and Welsh governments. While other Australians – including Billy Stanlake, Labuschagne’s Queensland team-mate – are unable to leave quarantine, Labuschagne is allowed to for the purposes of “elite sport” under Wales’ restrictions, though cannot yet go out for dinner, for example. Michael Neser, Glamorgan’s other overseas signing and another of Labsuchagne’s Queensland team-mates, will not debut until next week as the club look to manage his bowling workload, while Andy Balbirnie has returned to Ireland after deputising for Labuschagne.Glamorgan are not yet certain how much they will see of Labuschagne, with Australia due to tour the Caribbean and, potentially, Bangladesh later in the year for limited-overs series. His contract covers all formats and runs until the end of next season, and he admitted he is keen to play as much of the T20 Blast as possible, having played only 16 matches in his T20 career to date.”The potential to play 14 Blast games – which is almost double what I’ve played in my career – is exciting because that’s a part of my game that I haven’t had much of an opportunity to develop,” he said. “It’s a completely different format but the approach is still a thought-out one. I definitely want to play for Australia in all formats, but it’s hard to make a case to play T20 cricket for Australia on the back of 14 [16] career games.”

He marked his 300th T20 game with an unbeaten 69 off 37 balls to smash Paarl Rocks

The Report by Firdose Moonda29-Nov-2019
The Tshwane Spartans moved to the top of the Mzansi Super League table, with an eight-wicket bonus-point victory over the Paarl Rocks. Three teams – the Spartans, Rocks and the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants are tied on 19 points – with the Spartans leading the pack on net run-rate. As things stand, these three teams will battle it out to host the final, but the Durban Heat and the Cape Town Blitz will have opportunities in the coming week to make up some ground.AB gets a move on, a let-off and the winThe Spartans’ chase seemed to be drifting despite the team knowing the importance of a bonus point and they reached the halfway stage of their innings on 63 for 2, effectively half the total of the Rocks. And then AB de Villiers had enough. In his 300th T20 match, de Villiers reminded viewers who the boss of this circuit is. He took 19 runs off Hardus Viljoen’s third over, which also contained a wide, and three of the biggest sixes seen at this tournament.Viljoen went short too many times and de Villiers sent him over the leg-side boundary each time, with his sixes flying progressively further as he went. In the next over, de Villiers placed and timed a pull off Tabraiz Shasmi perfectly to bisect the fielders on the leg-side boundary but then made a mistake when he top-edged the left-arm wristspinner. Wicketkeeper Mangliso Mosehle and Henry Davids at first slip were both going for the catch, which should have been Mosehle’s, and the ball eventually fell between them. De Villiers went on to finish with an unbeaten 69 off 37 balls to take his side home in 15 overs.Rocks crumble The Rocks had raced to 29 off their first two overs but things swiftly went wrong from the their third.They added seven runs in the first four balls before Henry Davids was bowled by a Morne Morkel snorter than rattled middle and off stump. The Rocks lost all 10 wickets for 90 runs and their next highest stand was only 22. They were bowled out with two balls to spare.The Dupscoop Forget the Dilscoop, Faf du Plessis has invented a shot of his own and he brought it out against his old national team-mate Morne Morkel. Before Morkel had even released the delivery, du Plessis walked outside his off stump, bent his right knee to the ground and then flicked the length ball over his left shoulder and down to fine leg. Dane Piedt, on commentary, confirmed it’s called the Dupscoop. Unfortunately, du Plessis did not have the chance to do it again. Four balls later he gifted a catch to mid-off and was dismissed for 19.Best figures in MSL 2019 Roelof van der Merwe is now the holder of the best figures this season after his 3 for 15 in this match. His first victim was Sibonelo Makhanya who holed out to deep square leg and his third was du Plessis’ but it’s the second that van der Merwe will be particularly pleased was attributed to him. Bjorn Fortuin played across the line and missed an attempted leg-glance. The ball hit his back pad as he dragged his foot outside the crease and even seemed to think about a leg-bye. Heinrich Klaasen, though, reacted quickly to throw the ball onto the stumps and find Fortuin short of his crease. On the scorecard, the wicket was recorded as a stumping, and so counts towards van der Merwe’s tally, and not a run-out. It also put van der Merwe into the top-ten wicket-takers in the tournament.

The ball held sway on the opening day and Mohammad Abbas helped Leicestershire hit back after being bowled out

ECB Reporters Network19-Aug-2018
ScorecardOvercast conditions and a lively pitch ensured the bowlers were very much on top as the first day of the Specsavers County Championship match between Leicestershire and Kent ended with honours approximately even.Heavy cloud over the ground at the start of play ensured Kent skipper Sam Billings exercised the away team’s right to bowl first, and opening bowlers Harry Podmore and Darren Stevens made the ball swing from the start.With the ball also nipping off a pitch previously used for a T20 game, it was hard going for the Leicestershire batsmen, and although Harry Dearden hit two fine drives through the covers, Stevens swung one back in to the young left-hander to have him leg before in the eighth over.Grant Stewart dismissed Colin Ackermann lbw with a delivery that swung late from middle and leg and would have gone on to hit off stump, and Ivan Thomas, in his first over, found extra bounce to bowl Mark Cosgrove with an inswinger that came off glove and bat handle and bounced on to the stumps.In the final over before lunch legspinner Joe Denly found the edge of Ateeq Javid’s bat and Sean Dickson held the catch at slip, but Leicestershire captain Paul Horton, who earlier in the day confirmed he had signed a two-year extension to his contract until the end of the 2020 season, battled his way through to lunch.Horton scored just two runs in the first hour, and was dropped by Kent debutant Oliver Robinson at fourth slip off Stewart when he had scored just three, but kept his head down and at the interval had reached 26, having faced 94 deliveries.After lunch saw Kent drive home their advantage. Ned Eckersley and Horton had taken the score on to 114 without too many alarms when Podmore nipped one back off the seam to beat Eckersley’s back foot defensive shot and win a leg before decision.Podmore’s next delivery knocked back Ben Raine’s off-stump, and two overs later Horton, having fought his way through to 49 off 119 deliveries, tried to guide a delivery from the former Middlesex seamer to third man only to get an inside edge on to his stumps, leaving the Foxes struggling on 119 for 7.Zak Chappell and Callum Parkinson added 29 for the eighth wicket before Parkinson edged Ivan Thomas to wicket-keeper Sam Billings, but Chappell, looking to be positive, hit four boundaries in going to 31 when he was hit on the helmet by a Thomas bouncer and retired hurt with the score on 163. It was subsequently confirmed the concussion protocol had been invoked and he would play no further part in the game, with Dieter Klein replacing him.To Kent’s frustration, Abbas and Gavin Griffiths added a further 39 runs for the ninth wicket, and with Klein also chipping in, Leicestershire’s total of 220 did not look uncompetitive.That was certainly the case after Dickson edged an expansive drive at Raine and was caught by Cosgrove at first slip. Raine was also a factor in the dismissal of Heino Kuhn, taking a fine catch falling forward at gully after the South African edged Abbas, while Daniel Bell-Drummond never looked settled before edging Abbas to wicketkeeper Eckersley.Joe Denly survived a huge leg-before shout off Raine, and he and Billings were relieved when the umpires took the players off the field for bad light, with 13 overs remaining in the day.

In another rain-hit game at the Champions Trophy, England got the better of Australia and knocked them out of the tournament

The Report by Daniel Brettig10-Jun-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:40

Tait: Australia let the game slip away

As per a chorus in the Eric Hollies Stand cribbed from Three Lions and directed at Aaron Finch, Australia are going home. That they are doing so has less to do with damp English weather than the verve of the home side, personified by the pace of Mark Wood, the guile of Adil Rashid, the leadership of Eoin Morgan and the raw power of Ben Stokes.This was a meeting between a confident, aggressive England favoured to lift the Champions Trophy and an out-of-season Australia playing their first completed match of the trip. With the bat and then the ball, Steven Smith’s side hinted at their full capability, but were unable to follow through as Morgan’s men proved much the more resilient team when challenged. Having themselves knocked out New Zealand, a delighted Bangladesh are into the semi-finals.England did not lose their way when Finch and Smith set a commendable platform for Australia, and held their nerve once again when Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc nipped the new ball about with venom to pick up three early wickets. By contrast Australia’s innings featured a pair of collapses, then an inability to wrestle momentum back once Morgan and Stokes found their range after a brief rain delay.Morgan’s intent was made plain with a pair of boundaries from Starc in the first over on resumption, and Stokes was soon following suit with a succession of meaty blows that suggested a wonderfully uncluttered mind. For most of their stand, Smith seemed to be hoping either batsman would simply make a mistake as he had; England were in no mood to be so charitable – neither in terms of this tournament, nor the fact an Ashes series sits six months away. They were consequently well ahead of the runs required by the time the showers returned to end proceedings early.1:35

ESPNcricinfo Match Report – Stokes combines forces with Wood and Rashid to eliminate Australia

The frailties of Smith’s side seemed as much to do with a lack of sharpness as a deficit in quality, though Moises Henriques’ selection at No. 4 seemed odd when considering a limited-overs batsman as formidable as Morgan occupies the equivalent berth for England. Finch and Smith appeared capable of big innings but both lost their wickets to miscues, before the middle and lower order could make nothing of Rashid’s legbreaks and googlies.Travis Head played busily and well, but was left stranded as Rashid and Wood orchestrated the loss of 5 for 15 from the relatively lofty Australian position of 239 for 4 in the 43rd over. Of the batsmen, only David Warner could say he was legitimately beaten by fine delivery, while Glenn Maxwell fell victim to an excellent catch by Jason Roy, juggling the ball while stepping over the midwicket boundary to retain his balance.Warner and Finch had begun in strong fashion, hammering numerous short balls to the boundary on a pitch that was dry and brimful of runs. Wood’s well-pitched delivery running across Warner found an outside edge to break the stand at 40, before Finch and Smith purred along at a run a ball without seeming in trouble.A century beckoned for Finch, in his most fluent ODI contribution for quite some time, but a mistimed drive at Stokes was skied to a grateful Morgan. Smith, too, looked good for three figures, but after Henriques flattered to deceive in a brief stay that ended when he tugged Rashid to mid-on, the captain was too early into a drive when Wood returned to the bowling crease and chipped a tame catch to mid-off.Head and Maxwell combined for another useful stand, and appeared ready to launch when Maxwell swatted Wood just within the reach of Roy’s outstretched hands and then nimble feet to claim a fair catch. Rashid then found Matthew Wade and the bowlers susceptible to his guile, the flurry of wickets bringing a raucous crowd to their feet.The resultant collapse left 300 out of reach, but the No. 11 Hazlewood was at least able to keep Head company in the closing overs to add 23 precious runs. Head’s innings showed tremendous composure, and also suggested he may be due for further promotion up the batting order.Very little swing has been discernible during the competition, but Starc found the merest hint of curve to pin an out of sorts Roy lbw in the first over of England’s reply. Hazlewood’s initial rhythm was excellent, and neither Alex Hales nor Joe Root could be overly blamed for edging a pair of swift, bouncing and seaming deliveries.If the innings had a pivotal moment, it probably arrived a couple of overs before Root’s exit, when Matthew Wade failed to hang onto a chance gloved down the leg side by Morgan. That reprieve led to Morgan and Stokes playing with unbridled freedom after the rain delay, pinging boundaries and sixes in the fashion England supporters have become familiar with since Trevor Bayliss was charged with bringing the team’s ODI approach into the 21st century.England romped well ahead of the par score in the event of any further showers, while an increasingly desperate Smith tried Head, Henriques and Maxwell in addition to his pace bowlers and Adam Zampa. The stand was worth 159 in 26.1 overs and the target well within sight by the time a running mix-up and Zampa direct hit did for Morgan on 87.Jos Buttler offered one final moment of hope for Australia when he cut Starc in the air towards backward point, but Maxwell lost the ball in the crowd – at 24,277, an ODI record for Edgbaston – and Stokes went on to an exceptional hundred that ensured England were 40 runs ahead of the par score when the rain returned.Australia are left with plenty of questions, from whether the pyrotechnics of Chris Lynn and Marcus Stoinis should have been tried to the matter of how much the current pay dispute clouded the players’ minds. Whatever the answers, one thing is certain: Smith’s team will have to lift several notches for the Ashes, as England evidently have.

Alastair Cook and Tom Westley continued their prolific form as Division Two leaders Essex enjoyed more success on a rain-disrupted day at New Road

ECB Reporters Network01-May-2016
ScorecardTom Westley was in prime form for Essex•Getty Images

Alastair Cook and Tom Westley continued their prolific form as Specsavers County Championship Division Two leaders Essex enjoyed another successful day despite being held up by the weather against Worcestershire at New Road.England Test captain Cook, who has already scored two centuries this season against Gloucestershire and Sussex, completed a sedate fifty off 112 balls with seven fours and a six.Westley was the more aggressive, reaching his half century off 64 balls and this is the sixth successive first-class match in which he has topped 50, starting with his appearance for the MCC against Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi in March.The unbroken stand of 128 in 37 overs fully justified Essex skipper Ryan ten Doeschate’s decision to bat first after winning the toss.But rain and bad light meant only 40 overs play was possible in two spells after the loss of the afternoon session as Essex closed on 144 for 1 from 40 overs. Cook was unbeaten on 53 and Westley was 70 not out when umpires Neil Mallender and Michael Burns called off play for the day. Worcestershire paceman Matt Henry claimed the only wicket to fall.The New Zealander marked his home debut by having Nick Browne (15) caught behind by keeper Ben Cox with 16 on the board.But generally after that bat dominated ball and Westley signalled his intent with successive cover drives for four at Henry’s expense.Cook had one slice of good fortunes when he edged Joe Leach for four to bring up the Essex half century in the 10th over, but he produced a far more authorative stroke when lofting his England team-mate Moeen Ali over mid on for six.Cook’s only other real scare was on 33 when he went for a risky single off Jack Shantry to mid on and may have been struggling to make his ground had Henry’s throw hit the stumps.Essex reached 105-1 in 24.1 overs when rain started to fall at 12.30 and prompted a delay of more than four overs.
The players re-appeared at 4.40 with a possible 29.5 overs remaining and Westley had a slice of good fortune when he inside edged Ed Barnard for four to reach his 50 before lofting the same bowler over square leg for six.Cook pulled Shantry for four to complete his fifty shortly before the players left the field for the final time at 5.35.Worcestershire were at least happy to stage some cricket at their headquarters after the complete wash-out of the opening clash with Kent.Skipper Daryl Mitchell used five bowlers in a bid to make further breakthroughs but Cook and Westley stood firm.

A spell of 3 for 28 from Sunette Loubser, followed by a fifty from Lizelle Lee powered South Africa Women to an easy six-wicket win over Bangladesh Women in Benoni

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2013
ScorecardAn incisive spell of 3 for 28 from offspinner Sunette Loubser, followed by a patient fifty from opener Lizelle Lee powered South Africa Women to a six-wicket win over Bangladesh Women in Benoni.Loubser took the middle-order wickets of Salma Khatun, Nuzhat Tasnia and Shaila Sharmin during a five-over period that cost only eight runs, to restrict Bangladesh to 149 for 8 in 50 overs. Chasing a low score, Lee hit seven fours during her 130-ball 77, and added 80 for the opening wicket with Trisha Chetty, who made 39, to all but secure the win for the hosts.South Africa, after choosing to bowl, were comfortable throughout the game, and a 108-ball 63 from Fargana Hoque did little to change Bangladesh’s fortunes. They had been put on the back foot in the 11th over, when Ayasha Rahman was run out for 13.Hogue aside, none of the other Bangladesh batters could produce big scores, as tight bowling from South Africa kept the run-rate under three an over to set up an easy chase.Offspinner Khadija Tul Kubra took three wickets for Bangladesh, including that of Lee, but couldn’t prevent defeat, as Alexis le Breton and Dane van Niekerk took South Africa home with 12.1 overs remaining.South Africa captain Mignon du Preez praised the opening pair of Lee and Chetty, who had laid the platform for the victory. “I’m really proud of the way Lizelle batted today,” she said. “It was quite difficult batting upfront and she and Trisha set us up for the target with a good opening partnership. She structured her innings really well and adapted with ease to the conditions. The rest of the batters in the order also chipped in.”The teams will play the second ODI at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Derbyshire are hoping to continue strengthening their squad with the signing of Billy Godleman

George Dobell27-Sep-2012Derbyshire are hoping to continue strengthening their squad with the signing of Billy Godleman, the 23-year-old opening batsman who was released by Essex towards the end of the 2012 season. Godleman made his first-class debut for Middlesex as a 16-year-old – the second youngest man to make his first-class debut for the club – and represented England at every level from Under-15s to Under-19s.Having joined Essex for the 2010 season, he averaged in the mid-20s in 2010 and 2011 and despite scoring a century in Essex’ opening Division Two game in 2012 he lost his first-team place in the latter half of the summer and was told his contract would not be renewed.Derbyshire, who won promotion to Division One for the 2013 season, also announced the signing of wicketkeeper Richard Johnson from Warwickshire earlier this week. Their aim is for Godleman to open the batting and hope he can mirror the success of other players – such as Chris Wright, Stephen Peters, Varun Chopra and Derbyshire seamer Tony Palladino – whose fortunes improved significantly once they left Essex.

Hawk-Eye’s custodians have admitted the depiction of Phil Hughes’ second-innings lbw dismissal in the Galle Test was rendered inaccurate by “a tracking mistake”

Daniel Brettig06-Sep-2011Hawk-Eye’s custodians have admitted the depiction of Phil Hughes’ second-innings lbw dismissal in the Galle Test was rendered inaccurate by “a tracking mistake”.The visible discrepancy between Hawk-Eye’s graphic and television replays led to the incident being referred to the ICC by the officiating umpires, under the governing body’s conventions for the assessment of decisions made under the DRS.Steve Carter, the managing director of Hawk-Eye Innovations, said the mistake had been the result of several factors, one of which was the fact the ball had travelled less than 40cm between pitching and striking Hughes’ pad. Under Hawk-Eye’s configuration for the Sri Lanka series, ball-tracking cannot be deemed conclusive if the distance between pitching and impact is less than 40cm.”Yes, we made a tracking mistake, and the Hawk-Eye track didn’t deviate enough off the wicket. We informed the ICC immediately after the game to make them aware that this was the case,” Carter told ESPNcricinfo. “Despite the small distance from pitching to interception, and other mitigating circumstances that have been explained to the ICC, we should have done better. Lessons have been learnt from this instance and the probability of it happening again in the future is greatly reduced.”Our track record as part of DRS is very good. This is our first error in a long time, and the ability of Hawk-Eye to reliably provide accurate and definitive decisions compares very favourably with other technologies and replay angles that are used to assist the umpire in different parts of the DRS protocol.”Hughes was given out lbw on the second evening when he attempted to sweep Tillakaratne Dilshan. Replays indicated that the delivery had spun appreciably from around middle stump towards off, but Hawk-Eye’s prediction had the ball going straight on with the angle from round the wicket to strike leg stump. The decision was upheld not because of the errant Hawk-Eye tracking, but because the third umpire Tony Hill found insufficient evidence to reverse Richard Kettleborough’s original call.Carter said previous queries about Hawk-Eye’s accuracy in the circumstances of the Hughes dismissal had led to the addition of a graphic to indicate that the point of impact was less than 40cm away from the point of pitching, meaning the onus for the decision would return to the on-field umpire’s judgement. This graphic was not in place for Hughes’ dismissal, however.”There was less than 40cm of travel between the pitching point and the interception point,” Carter said. “This has been an issue that has been raised in the past, and led to the implementation of the 40cm graphic. We are currently under instruction that the 40cm graphic shouldn’t be displayed in the circumstances of the lbw appeal in question.”

Glamorgan seamers James Harris and Huw Waters dragged their side back into contention by sharing six wickets in the County Championship promotion battle against Sussex at Hove

29-Aug-2010
Scorecard
Glamorgan seamers James Harris and Huw Waters dragged their side back into contention by sharing six wickets in the County Championship promotion battle against Sussex at Hove. Harris reached 50 wickets in a season for the first time in his career while Waters produced an inspired burst of 3 for 2 in twenty balls after lunch just when it looked as if the leaders would take control.Sussex slumped from 166 for 3 to 250 all out in the afternoon session, losing eight wickets for 84 runs to concede a first innings deficit of 50. After tea 17 overs were lost to rain and Glamorgan closed on 37 for 1, an overall lead of 87 going into the final day.Their best chance of winning the game and closing the twenty-point lead Sussex had going into the match will be to score quickly in the first session on Monday although their hopes suffered a setback before the close when Australian left-hander Mark Cosgrove fell for 9. Cosgrove, who made 142 in the first innings, was superbly caught one-handed by Chris Nash on the square leg boundary off Yasir Arafat.Six batsmen earlier fell to leg before decisions, the first of them Nash who had added five runs to his overnight 14 when he was squared up by Harris in the fourth over of the day. Dean Cosker could have been celebrating twice in his first over but skipper Mark Wallace missed an easy stumping to reprieve Ed Joyce on 26 and Ben Brown was dropped by Waters running back from mid-on.Brown made his third successive Championship half-century, studding his run-a-ball 58 with 11 boundaries, but after adding 72 in 16 overs he was bowled by Jim Allenby playing across the line. Murray Goodwin maintained the attacking tempo as Sussex scored 136 runs in the session but the game changed the first ball after lunch when Harris had Goodwin leg before.Joyce, who added just three runs in 30 minutes after the interval, played back to Harris for 56 and Luke Wright became Waters’ first victim when he was bowled offering no shot. Waters picked up Mike Yardy and Arafat in successive overs and the tail was mopped by left-arm spinner Cosker.Andy Hodd, who had held the lower order together with 26, was leg before offering no shot and James Anyon fell in similar fashion to end the innings, Monty Panesar having fallen to Allenby in the previous over.