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Adam Lyth’s career-best bowling display in vain as Yorkshire fall two wickets short of first win of the season

ECB Reporters Network27-May-2024Ricardo Vasconcelos hit a valiant 129 not out as he attempted to power Northamptonshire to an unlikely victory over Yorkshire in this Vitality County Championship match which ended in high drama on a see-saw final evening at Wantage Road.Yorkshire had set up a tantalising run chase of challenging 326 to win in a little over two sessions, and when Vasconcelos warmed up for the T20 Blast game with 17 boundaries all around the ground, a home win looked a possibility.But a dramatic clatter of wickets as Yorkshire’s attack staged a late fightback set nerves jangling in the home dressing room, Vasconcelos had to switch gears to ensure his side held out for the draw, eight wickets down, in an innings full of character and maturity.At 165 for 2 in the 33rd over, with Vasconcelos sharing a quickfire stand of 63 in 55 balls with Karun Nair (36), Northamptonshire were set for an enthralling white ball style finish. But a persistent Yorkshire bowling attack fought back hard taking three wickets for 13, and the last six for 54, as first innings centurion Adam Lyth concluded a memorable 200th Championship match with career-best bowling figures of 4 for 56.In an innings full of character and maturity Vasconcelos held his nerve as Northamptonshire saw out the draw.Earlier Yorkshire captain Shan Masood (131 not out) declared his side’s innings on 264 for 6 just before lunch, dangling the carrot of a chase which would have been the tenth highest to beat Yorkshire by any team in its history.Ultimately, though, the loss of 17 overs during two stoppages for rain took too much time out of the game, and the captains shook hands shortly after 6.20pm. The draw leaves both sides winless after seven games, Yorkshire taking 14 points and Northamptonshire 13.

The Bangladesh batter says he still has a “lot of discomfort” in his back, but is hoping the physios will overcome it soon

Mohammad Isam24-Sep-2023Bangladesh’s batting crisis continued as they succumbed to a 86-run defeat against New Zealand in the second ODI in Dhaka. But the return of Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah will be encouraging, as both looked sharp although they couldn’t kick on after getting starts. Mahmudullah top-scored with 49 before hitting Cole McConchi’s long hop to short fine-leg; Tamim had earlier gloved while trying a lap-sweep against Ish Sodhi after making 44.Mahmudullah was playing his first ODI since early March, when he was part of the squad for the three-match ODI series against England. The national selectors had initially said that they were resting him but it was clear for the next six months that they were moving on from Mahmudullah. But with the World Cup looming and Bangladesh’s batting proving to be inconsistent, the selectors had to give Mahmudullah another chance ahead of the major event in India.Related

• Sodhi: 'Worked really hard on my run-up to bowl a fraction quicker'

• Bangladesh recall Sodhi after run-out at non-striker's end

• Spotlight follows Sodhi as he spearheads NZ victory

Tamim meanwhile had missed most of the Afghanistan series in July, amid his retirement U-turn. He also missed the Asia Cup through a long-standing back injury. Tamim admitted that his return to action was a nervous one, especially with the bat, but once he timed a few shots, he felt better.”I was nervous today. I will be lying if I said it was just another game,” he said. “Whatever has happened in the last couple of months, I had nerves going out to bat. But after the first over, it came down. It was nice to hit the balls again. I think it was good to be out there but there’s certainly still a lot of discomfort in my back. The physios are trying to overcome it.”Mahmudullah also took a bit of time to settle down, but he was forceful through all the wickets that fell at the other end. Tamim said that Mahmudullah reacted well to the situation when he came out to bat when they were 70 for 4.”I thought he was excellent. I was in a small partnership with him. His intent looked really good. I didn’t feel he was out for six or seven months. He looked good. He fielded well.”Tamim felt that though Bangladesh could have kept New Zealand down to 200 or 210, the pitch was good enough to chase down the 255-run target, urging the team to take a serious look at their top-order collapses. Only once in the last seven innings have Bangladesh gone past 100 runs before losing four wickets.”This run chase was gettable on this wicket. I think we could have restricted them around 210-215. But this was a good wicket. I don’t think we got out to really good deliveries.”We have to look into (losing four wickets early) very seriously going into the World Cup. We can’t win a lot of games if we lose four or five wickets quickly. We lost early wickets but there were good patches today. But to win any game, you have to stop this (collapse). We have to look to minimise back-to-back wickets. The coach and captain aren’t the only ones in charge of this, the responsibility is among all of us.”

England (88 points) have dropped to their lowest rating in Test cricket since 1995

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2022Australia have consolidated their top position in the ICC men’s Test team rankings, while India and New Zealand remain the No.1 teams in the T20I and ODI rankings, respectively.The ICC’s annual update reflects all completed series since May 2019. The series played before May 2021 are now weighted at 50 per cent and subsequent ones at 100 per cent.

Full rankings tables

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Australia extended their lead to nine points over second-placed India in the Test rankings, following a 4-0 thrashing of England in the home Ashes series at the turn of the year, and a 1-0 win in Pakistan. They now have 128 points.Pakistan have moved above England to fourth place in the Test rankings•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

India have gained a point to move to 119, and, with England’s 4-1 series win over India in 2018 now dropped from the rankings, they are at 88 points, their lowest since 1995. England’s home series against India, which began in 2021, will be included in the rankings post the completion of the fifth and final Test scheduled for July.India remained second following their home series wins against New Zealand, West Indies, and Sri Lanka, with tight competition for third between New Zealand (111) and South Africa (110). Pakistan (93) are fifth ahead of England.The gap between the top two ODI teams is down to just one point•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Meanwhile, in the ODI rankings, England have done well to close their gap from three points to one below leaders New Zealand (125 points) after overcoming Sri Lanka 2-0 and Pakistan 3-0 – both series at home – in the World Cup Super League, collecting 55 points.This has widened the gap between England and third-placed Australia (107) from seven to 17 points after the latter dropped five points. Though Australia produced two wins in three matches against West Indies, they dropped two matches on their tour of Pakistan. It also meant Pakistan (105) jumped one spot to fifth, replacing South Africa and reducing their gap from India (102) to three points.New Zealand have slipped two places to No. 6 in the T20I rankings•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

In T20Is, India have extended their lead over second-placed England from one to five points. Pakistan occupy the third spot. South Africa and Australia have jumped one spot each to fourth and fifth, respectively. New Zealand lost two places to drop to No.6 while West Indies remained in seventh.Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have both gained one position to be placed eighth and ninth, respectively. Afghanistan, who lost two places, occupy the tenth spot.Overall, the number of ranked teams has come down to 72 from 91, with each team being required to play a minimum of six rated matches since May 2019. Fiji, Costa Rica, Japan, South Korea, St Helena, China, Indonesia, and Myanmar have not played since May 2019 and have lost their rating.

The Pakistan bowling consultant was scheduled to leave the squad after the first Test anyway, but has had to change his plans

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Nov-2021Vernon Philander, the former South Africa quick who is a bowling consultant with the Pakistan team currently on tour in Bangladesh, will leave the squad bubble in Chattogram tomorrow, the fourth day of the ongoing first Test, and fly back early on Tuesday because of the “shutdown of flight operations” in his home country following the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant there.Philander was, in any case, scheduled to leave for South Africa at the end of the first of two Tests, but, as a PCB media statement said at the end of the third day’s play on Sunday, he has had to change his plans because of the worsening Covid-19 situation. Concerns around a new variant, called Omicron, has already disrupted the cricket schedule in South Africa, and could impact it further in the coming days.Related

• 'Courageous' Taijul Islam delivers for Bangladesh, again, when most needed

• Women's WC qualifier in Zimbabwe called off

• SA vs Netherlands: Last two ODIs postponed

After South Africa and Netherlands had to split points because of the weather in the first ODI of their series, the second and third games were postponed, and in nearby Zimbabwe, the women’s ODI World Cup qualifying event had to be called off – and subsequently cancelled altogether – following travel restrictions being imposed on large parts of southern Africa. An India A team is currently on tour in South Africa, and that series is going to continue as planned, because India has so far not imposed any restrictions on travel to and from southern Africa.The senior Indian men’s side is also scheduled to travel to South Africa in December for a series of three Tests, three ODIs and four T20Is, and the status of that tour is also, for the moment, unchanged. But if the borders close between now and December 8-9, when the Indians are expected to fly out, the prospect of the tour taking place will be severely diminished.News of the Omicron variant became public on Tuesday, November 23, and cases in the Gauteng province of South Africa, where the Netherlands series was taking place, have increased several-fold since. Although South Africa is reporting around 2000 new cases a day, there are concerns this will rise exponentially and stricter regulations are due to be introduced soon. South Africa is currently on Level 1 of 5 of its restrictions, the most lenient since the pandemic began, and the Netherlands ODI was the first time since March 2020 that cricket was played in front of a limited crowd.

The pace bowler continued his remarkable Test career with a hat-trick but when his next appearance will be remains unclear

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jul-2025Scott Boland could lay claim to being Australia’s unluckiest ever cricketer, after adding a Test hat-trick to a magical late-career surge since his famous 2021 Boxing Day debut.Statistically the best Test bowler in more than 100 years, Boland became just the 10th Australian man to take a hat-trick on Monday in Jamaica.His haul came on a record-breaking day for the tourists, who bowled West Indies out for just 27 to wrap up a 176-run win and 3-0 sweep of the Frank Worrell Trophy.Related

• Boland better prepared for anticipated Bazball blitz in Australia

• Australia's Ashes questions: Open season, two allrounders, four quicks?

• Starc six-for, Boland hat-trick consign West Indies to 27 all-out and 0-3 defeat

• Stats – WI post second-lowest Test total; Starc takes five in 15 balls

• Starc 'uncomfortable' with the attention, but will 'cherish' his special week

Mitchell Starc was the chief destroyer with 6 for 9 up front, but Boland again vindicated the selectors’ call to go with four quicks and leave out a fit Nathan Lyon for the first time in 12 years.Boland later joked about who might get the match ball. “There was talk of cutting it in half,” he told reporters. “100 Tests and 400 wickets. He can have it.”Boland’s inclusion also allowed him to join Glenn McGrath as the only paceman to play for Australia after his 36th birthday in the last 60 years.In Australia’s 39 Tests since his 2021 debut, Boland has played just 14 of them for a hat-trick, 6 for 7 on debut in 2021 and 10-wicket match haul in Sydney last summer. All of it prompting Starc to label the seamer one of the unluckiest men to ever wear the Baggy Green”He would have played so many more Test matches in another team,” Starc said. “But every time he comes in he is on the money, like we saw this week. He is never far from the perfect length.”He is preparing all the time to play, and this week he got his opportunity and showed what a wonderful Test bowler he is.”When Boland’s next Test will come remains unclear. Selectors have repeatedly shown that Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins maintain top billing in Australia’s squad, with Boland only picked ahead of any of them once.The final three Tests of this summer’s Ashes will be played over a 23-day window, potentially opening door for Boland to come in if one of the big three are rested.Otherwise he could be forced to wait again, despite having the sixth-best bowling average in Test history (minimum 50 wickets) with 16.53, and the best of any bowler in the past 100 years.Boland has been close to hat-tricks before, but nailed his execution in Kingston when he took the top of Jomel Warrican’s off stump.Peter Siddle was the last Australian to do it in Tests and quickly sent Boland a message. “Welcome to the club.”He had previously discarded Justin Greaves and Shamar Joseph, edging the former off before having Joseph trapped lbw on review.”Today was three classic Scotty Boland wickets,” Cummins said. “Three right at the stumps or not far away. Really happy for him. He has spent a lot of time running the drinks in the past year or two when the other guys are fit, but he is always quality when he comes in.”

The board also introduced Mymensingh as the latest first-class team. It will replace Dhaka Metropolis

Mohammad Isam10-Aug-2025The BCB has brought in Alex Marshall, Julian Wood and Tony Hemming as the three new appointments after its meeting in Dhaka on Saturday. Wood will come in as a specialist batting coach for three months. He is a power-hitting specialist who recently worked with Sri Lanka Cricket.Marshall has been appointed as a consultant for the board’s anti-corruption department, for one year. Marshall was the ICC’s anti-corruption unit general manager until September last year. BCB’s media committee chair Iftekhar Rahman said they want Marshall to “enhance” the board’s anti-corruption unit.Rahman also said that the BCB has appointed the ICC’s integrity unit to oversee the BPL’s anti-corruption operations.The BCB’s anti-corruption unit is currently investigating corruption allegations from the BPL and Dhaka Premier League of the 2024-25 season.The BCB has also brought back Hemming, who recently resigned as the PCB’s head curator. Hemming had taken up the Pakistan role after being BCB’s curator from July 2023 to July 2024. Hemming’s appointment brought the question of whether Gamini Silva, the Shere Bangla National Stadium curator, will continue in his role. Rahman said that Gamini was given a one-year extension.”Tony Hemming has been appointed head of turf management for two years,” Rahman said. “All our international venues and curators will be under him. He will also undertake the process of training Bangladeshi curators. All the board directors had a lot of interest in bringing him back.”Hemming is one of the best curators in the world. Maybe he had a good experience with the BCB in the previous occasion, that’s why he agreed to come back. The turf management will run as Hemming will want. Time will tell if Gamini will stay or not. He has been given a 12-month extension.”Meanwhile, the BCB introduced Mymensingh as the latest first-class team. It will replace Dhaka Metropolis, which was introduced in 2011 to make it an even number of teams in the first-class competition.”Mymensingh is one of the country’s newest divisions,” Rahman said. “They will play in the NCL first-class tournament from the coming season. They will replace Dhaka Metropolis. Mymensingh will play all divisional tournaments though we can’t accommodate them in the upcoming NCL T20s as the schedule has been made. Mymensingh will play in the T20 tournament from the next edition.”