Sri Lanka Cricket has suspended Kithuruwan Vithanage from all forms of cricket for one year for his part in a public brawl in Colombo

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2016Sri Lanka Cricket has suspended batsman Kithuruwan Vithanage from all forms of the game for one year for his part in a public brawl in Colombo. In a hearing conducted on June 16, SLC’s disciplinary committee found Vithanage guilty of misconduct and in breach of the ICC code of conduct.The suspension not only makes Vithanage ineligible for international and Sri Lanka A team cricket, he is also unable to represent his club – Tamil Union – in the Premier tournaments, and is barred from any provincial tournaments in the coming domestic season. SLC’s severity on this occasion is a reflection of existing displeasure at Vithanage’s conduct. In September 2014, Vithanage was docked his full match fee and handed a “suspended sentence of one year” after leaving the team hotel overnight in the middle of a Test match he was playing. It is understood that at least two other breaches of conduct had been dealt with informally.In this case, SLC said its disciplinary committee “was presented with written and oral evidence from witnesses to the incident in question and Vithanage was invited to present similar evidence in his defence.”After a closed hearing, and in consideration of the evaluation of the evidence presented, the Disciplinary Committee has recommended an immediate suspension, specifically drawing attention to the fact that the conduct of Vithanage is ‘unacceptable when considering his status as a public figure, and a role model for the youth of Sri Lanka’.” Vithanage can appeal the decision.He last played for Sri Lanka during the tour of New Zealand in December and January, but his modest returns on that tour had seen him drop out of contention for national selection. Vithanage, 25, has scored 370 runs at an average of 26.42 in ten Tests, and has also played six ODIs and three T20Is.

England Under-19s dominated with the bat on the second day of their match against Sri Lanka, declaring at 500-9 and then making inroads with the ball as the tourists moved to 96 for 2 at stumps

ECB Reporters Network27-Jul-2016
ScorecardOllie Pope made 78 as England Under-19s racked up 500•Getty Images

England Under-19s dominated with the bat on the second day of their match against Sri Lanka, declaring at 500-9 and then making inroads with the ball as the tourists moved to 96 for 2 at stumps.After rain delayed start to the day, play finally got underway at 1.40pm with Worcestershire’s Olly Westbury looking to build on his overnight score of 157. But he fell short of his double-century by just four runs after being caught at first slip by Avishka Fernando from a slow Damitha Silva delivery. His four-session stay at the crease saw him face 379 balls, hitting 16 fours and one six.Wicketkeeper Ollie Pope who started the day on 9 was caught by Lahiru Kumara for 78 after a wild swing at Daniel, quickly followed by two balls later by Durham’s Josh Coughlin, caught by Avishka Fernando for 14.Sri Lanka spent a second day frustrated in the field, with their best efforts coming after Aaron Beard and George Panayi were run out from direct hits off Fernando and Rashmika Dilshan.After England declared at tea at 500 for 9, Warwickshire’s George Panayi struck first with the ball for England, luring Pathum Nissanka into a nick to the wicketkeeper Pope for just 5. Dilan Jayalath then gave Surrey spinner Amar Virdi England’s second wicket when he hit the ball into the hands of a diving Panayi on 23.”I was a bit disappointed not to get 100, but I knew we were going to declare about 15 minutes later so gave it a good go,” Pope said. “We got two big wickets, with both their openers out, and we knew this wicket was going to be tough because it is pretty flat. Luckily we got an early wicket but then they started to build a partnership.”We knew before we came out that we would have to work hard for every wicket as we knew they wouldn’t just roll over. It was a pretty tough day for me. Normally I get a bit of time to put my feet up between batting and keeping, so today has been really tiring.”We can’t play for the weather tomorrow, but we will be aiming to get 4 or 5 wickets by lunch so if the rain doesn’t come we can bowl them out by the end of the day.”The tourists regrouped with a flurry of boundaries to finish the day, as captain Charith Asalanka moved past a half-century. But with more rain forecast, England will need to take early wickets on Thursday to force home their advantage and give themselves a chance of victory.

Uncapped fast bowler Andile Phehlukwayo has been named in the South Africa squad which will host Australia for five ODIs from September 30

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2016

SA squad for Australia series

AB de Villiers (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn
In: David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dale Steyn
Out: Dean Elgar, Morne Morkel, Rilee Rossouw
Squad for Ireland ODI
AB de Villiers (capt), Temba Bavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada

Uncapped fast bowler Andile Phehlukwayo has been named in the South Africa squad which will host Australia for five ODIs from September 30. Captain AB de Villiers, who missed South Africa’s last series – the Tests against New Zealand – due to an elbow injury, is back. The world’s No. 1 bowler in Test cricket, Dale Steyn, also returns to the 50-overs format after being rested for South Africa’s previous ODI assignment, the tri-series against West Indies and Australia in the Caribbean.Fast bowler Morne Morkel and batsman Rilee Rossouw, who hurt his shoulder during that tri-series, were not considered for selection due to injury. Morkel had injured himself during the Caribbean Premier League. While Steyn’s presence covers for the absence of Morkel, David Miller was brought in to replace Rossouw.Miller was South Africa A’s top scorer in the just-concluded quadrangular series in Australia, where he top-scored for his team with 332 runs at 110.66. Phehlukwayo was the side’s leading wicket-taker in the quadrangular, with nine wickets at 25.77 and an economy rate of 4.98.”Andile was our leading wicket-taker for South Africa A in the quadrangular series and he has been knocking on the door for some time following his strong performances in last season’s Momentum One-Day Cup,” CSA selection committee convener Linda Zondi said. “It remains our practice to reward players who do well at franchise and South Africa A level.”Zondi said Rossouw was fit to bat again, but the selectors decided against playing him since fielding would still prove difficult for him. “Rilee Rossouw played two practices matches for the VKB Knights at the weekend, when he batted freely, but still had issues with his throwing and it will be beneficial for him to start his comeback in the Sunfoil Series four-day competition which starts early next month.”In all, nine of the 16 players named for the Australia series are players of colour, of which three are black African. This is significant given the selection targets announced earlier this month after CSA’s AGM. As per the targets, the team must field a minimum average of six players of colour in the XI, of which at least two must be black African, effective immediately.Leading into the five matches against Australia, South Africa are scheduled to play a one-off ODI against Ireland on September 25. CSA named the squad for that match as well, comprising 13 players. Batsman Temba Bavuma, who has played 11 Tests but is yet to debut in ODIs, and the uncapped Dwaine Pretorius are the new faces in that squad. Of the players named for the Australia series, Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Imran Tahir, Tabraiz Shamsi and Steyn were not named for the Ireland game.The squad to play Ireland includes seven players of colour, of which three are black African.

Nottinghamshire and Middlesex go into the final day of this match with everything at stake

George Dobell at Trent Bridge08-Sep-2016
ScorecardJake Ball took out the top three•Getty Images

There was a time, not so long ago, when these late season Championship encounters held little significance. Sure, one team might be challenging for a title but, as recently as 20 years ago, such matches very often lacked relevance or competitive edge. The season drifted off to sleep with the same gentle familiarity as “Sailing By” and the Shipping Forecast.Not any more. Here we are in the second week of September and Nottinghamshire and Middlesex go into the final day of this match with everything at stake. The side that loses will be relegated or see their hopes of a Championship title severely dented. Both have to win. Both can win. We are all set for a classic at Trent Bridge.So, as county cricket tears itself apart in the quest for a few dollars more – or a few million dollars more – it is worth reflecting on one of the great success stories of recent years: promotion and relegation works. It has improved county cricket markedly. It has made it tougher, more interesting. And, partially as a result of the increased edge to the competition, England’s players go into the fierce environment of Test cricket better prepared for the rigours they will face.It is no coincidence that England have won five of the last seven Ashes series; no coincidence that the side that reached No. 1 in 2011 contained four men in the top seven (Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior) who made centuries on Test debut – two others, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell, made half-centuries – and a bowler (James Anderson) who started with a five-wicket haul. We risk diluting the success of the Test team when we meddle with its foundations.That Nottinghamshire’s hopes of survival remain just about alive is largely due to some decent batting from Steven Mullaney and Brett Hutton and another incisive new-ball spell from Jake Ball. Ball’s fitness levels might need to improve if he is to enjoy a long Test career – unlike Chris Woakes, for example, it is noticeable that his fourth spell is significantly less hostile than his first, irrespective of the softening of the ball – but with the new ball he is, already, a terrific bowler.After taking a hat-trick in the first over of Middlesex’s first innings, he struck first ball in their second. And if Nick Gubbins, so compact and calm around, might regret being drawn into pushing at one he could have left well alone, the delivery that accounted for Sam Robson – nipping in sharply and taking the off stump as Robson tried to leave it – was a gem.There was a revealing irony in that dismissal. As Nick Compton went out to bat in the first innings, Robson warned him to watch out for the booming outswing that had just dismissed him. Moments later Compton was walking off having been trapped in front by one that cut back. Here Robson had been undone by the same trick. It bodes well for Ball, and England, that he has such skills. If Nottinghamshire do go down, second division batsmen face quite a challenge next year.Dawid Malan, also beaten by one that nipped back, but this time to the left-hander from round the wicket, also departed before the close. Middlesex bat pretty deep – Toby Roland-Jones is a No. 9 who could be a No. 6 – but Notts will know the allrounders will be padded up in the morning.At his best, this is the sort of situation Compton would have relished. But now? He has had looked a defeated man at times this summer, beset by the doubts and scars that torture nearly all batsmen in the end. But perhaps this challenge – and it is a hell of a challenge – might be yet the thing to reinvigorate him, entwine him to the heart of this team’s title challenge and prove to himself what most of those watching will know: at this level, at least, he remains a class act with much more to give.Batting on the fourth day is unlikely to prove easy. Samit Patel, again looking as solid as anyone (technically rather than physically), was undone by one that cut back and kept horribly low while, in the final over of the day, Compton was beaten by a legbreak from Imran Tahir that turned so sharply you imagine Don Bradman, at his best, might just have been good enough to edge it.Middlesex did not bowl especially well earlier in the day. While Steven Finn finished with three wickets, he gained two with balls that might uncharitably be described as long-hops – certainly the one that Michael Lumb edged as he tried to cut would have to be described that way – and the other with a leg-before decision that seemed to be heading down the leg side. They may yet regret allowing Notts to score 50 or so more than might have been the case.But the fragility of Nottinghamshire’s batting has let them down all campaign. Here, they fought for a while, but like addicts slipping back into bad habits, they couldn’t resist for long. A waft here; a poke there: at least three of the top four will reflect that they played a huge part in their own downfall.Jake Libby, poking at one without moving his feet, was first to go, before Tom Moores slashed to point and Lumb tried to hit his cut too hard. None of them averages 30 in the campaign. And while that can be tolerated for a couple of youngsters learning their trade at this level, it requires compensation from senior players. There has been none of that compensation this year, with nobody in this team averaging even 38 and only Mullaney averaging more than 35.He batted nicely here. He plays the cover drive as nicely as anyone in the county game and has an efficient cut that was well fed by a diet of Finn long hops. Hutton, too, attacked selectively and eked out 40 runs for the last two wickets that might yet save his county from the drop.But the sense that Notts had failed to take advantage of a slightly off-colour display from Middlesex was underlined by the manner in which they lost their last three wickets: Ball missed an attempted whip into the leg side; Imran slogged one to cow corner – where Roland-Jones clung on to an outstanding catch leaning backwards having originally misjudged his run and lost sight of the ball in the sun – and Harry Gurney was run-out. Each one of them was unnecessary and, in a match – a season, even – where another 10 runs might yet prove crucial, just a bit sloppy. Ollie Rayner finished with four wickets without ever looking particularly dangerous on a surface offering him some assistance.Still, it all leaves this match beautifully poised. Triumph and disaster loom. It will be painful for some but it’s meant to matter. And the fact that it still does, at this late stage of the season, is something to savour.

Wes Durston has called time on his Derbyshire career by mutual consent

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2016Wes Durston has called time on his Derbyshire career by mutual consent.Durston, 36, leaves Derbyshire after making 218 appearances since his debut in 2010, scoring 7,628 runs across all formats. He also skippered Derbyshire in limited-overs cricket.Cricket advisory director, Kevin Dean said: “Wes has been a tremendous player for Derbyshire and we would like to thank him for his efforts over the last seven seasons. He made many notable contributions down the years, no more than in our 2012 promotion winning season, but both parties feel that the time is now right to move on. We wish Wes all the very best for the future.”Durston’s uncomplicated see-ball, hit-ball approach made him a favourite with Derbyshire supporters and probably testified to a late-developing career that had a reawakening in his thirties after he had been released early by Somerset. But he began to show his age in 2016 and with the new director of cricket, Kim Barnett, intent on a shake-up, his departure is no surprise.

While calling for people to be patient with West Indies’ developing side, captain Jason Holder has said that there are signs of progress

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-20161:53

West Indies lose eight out of eight in UAE

In the wake of West Indies’ 133-run defeat in the second Test in Abu Dhabi, captain Jason Holder has said that his young, inexperienced side is making progress, but emphasised that it would take time for that to reflect in the results they achieve.”I don’t feel any pressure as captain,” Holder said. “It is a young and inexperienced squad; it will take time to get the results we have been looking for. We have been inconsistent for the last number of years. I’m here to do a job and I’m trying to do the best I possibly can.”West Indies have had a prolonged underwhelming spell in Test cricket and are currently ranked No. 8 in the format. However, they have turned in a couple of spirited performances recently; they saved the second Test against India in Kingston in July-August and came from behind to run Pakistan close in the first Test in Dubai.Holder asked for patience in West Indies’ developing team and cited their performance in the Dubai Test as evidence that they are moving in the right direction.”We understand the position we are in, but it’s been almost a decade that we have been struggling. We are in situation where we are trying to get things right, but also taking in some young players. It will take some time for these boys to develop and we have to give them the opportunity to do so.”If you have watched our cricket for the last couple of months, we have shown signs of improvement. In Dubai, we put ourselves in a position from where we could have won it. It is just a matter of consistency here.”While consistency may be a longer-term project, West Indies’ immediate task is to find a way to avoid a series whitewash as they head to Sharjah for the third Test. After whitewashes in the T20I and ODI series on the tour so far, even a hard-fought draw in Sharjah might represent progress.Holder said the side must convert starts and take all their chances in order to push for positive results.”The difference between our team and the big teams is that we have not capitalised after getting starts and that is due to the lack of experience. We haven’t carried on. Also, if you give chances to good players, they make you pay. We put down a few chances and that hurt us in this Test match. At this level, giving good players two opportunities is bad.”

R Ashwin bagged 5 for 67 after Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow had added a defiant century stand, before Virat Kohl’s fifty cemented India’s dominance

The Report by Andrew Miller19-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:18

Compton: Stokes, Bairstow showed the fight England need

Three days into Visakhapatnam’s maiden Test match, the prospects of England emerging from this contest with anything less than a hefty defeat remain no less bleak than they had appeared at the height of their top-order implosion on the second afternoon.However, this was a day on which their hopes of a fightback in the remaining three fixtures were exponentially boosted, thanks to a feisty series of performances with bat and ball that required India’s champion bowler and batsman, R Ashwin and Virat Kohli, to summon their very best efforts in order maintain their side’s dominance.The tone for England’s day was set by a spirited stand of 110 between their overnight pair of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, but their fate was eventually sealed by the wiles of Ashwin, who claimed his 22nd five-wicket haul but first against England, to secure India a priceless first-innings lead of 200.Then, after India had decided not to enforce the follow-on, Kohli reached the close on 56 not out, another imperious display to follow on from his first-innings 167, and one in which he was obliged to overcome an exemplary display of incision and experience from England’s senior bowlers, Stuart Broad and James Anderson, whose combined figures to date are 3 for 22 in 14 overs.India’s overall lead by stumps was an imposing 298, and on a surface now offering sharp turn to the spinners and clear signs of uneven bounce, mere survival will be a challenge beyond anything that England have yet encountered on this trip. Nevertheless, given the naïve hour’s batting that had condemned them on the second afternoon, this was a response from which is no platitude to admit that they will “take the positives”.The general assumption before the start of play was that England would continue to stumble against India’s spin-led attack, and Bairstow’s alarming arrival on the field of play merely sharpened those thoughts. Jogging out to the middle to resume his innings on 12 not out, Bairstow lost his footing as he crossed the boundary line and had to hobble back to the dressing-room for treatment after rolling his ankle.He showed no ill-effects however, turning quickly for two runs in Umesh Yadav’s first over of the day to open his account for the day, and from that moment on, England’s sixth-wicket pairing continued in the same prolific vein that they have displayed all year. Between them, they have now made 772 runs in seven stands in 2016, the most by any batting pair.India stuck doggedly to their guns throughout a fallow first hour – arguably too doggedly, with Ashwin initially stymied in a nine-over spell that yielded an early wasted review for lbw and one half-chance for a stumping off Stokes. However, there was little of the threat and penetration that he had displayed on the second evening.That, in part, was down to the quality of England’s batting. With Bairstow working the singles while Stokes interspersed his hugely improved defensive technique with an assassin’s eye for anything remotely loose, the pair had come within ten minutes of batting clean through the morning session when Umesh produced a beauty, a fast inswinging yorker that crashed into Bairstow’s stumps via the base of his pad.It was a body blow to England’s hopes of approaching parity but, when Kohli opted to take the second new ball soon after the interval, Stokes and Adil Rashid were ready to take full advantage with an enterprising counterattack.The hardness of the new ball suited Stokes’ methods just fine, as he clipped Mohammad Shami’s second ball off the pads through square leg, before rifling a ferocious pull through midwicket. At the other end, Rashid snaffled three fours in a single over from Umesh, the best of them a scorching cover drive that left Kohli at slip spitting with rage.Sure enough, his seamers were soon banished and Kohli instead threw the ball back to his senior spinners, who responded with the day’s most vital breakthrough. Propping forward to the extra bounce of Ashwin, Stokes was given out lbw by umpire Kumar Dharmasena for 70, even though replays implied that he had grazed an inside edge. No matter – the ball had also deflected into the hands of silly point, so the verdict was correct even if the mode of dismissal was moot.Zafar Ansari did his best to support Rashid, who was accumulating fluently at the other end, but having flicked a well-timed four through midwicket off Ashwin, he was pinned on the back leg as he played round a full ball from Ravi Jadeja, and burned up England’s last review with one of the more futile attempts at a reprieve since the last days of Shane Watson.Broad might have wished he hadn’t – his subsequent lbw against Ashwin looked distinctly leg-sided but England had no more recourse to the third umpire. One ball later, however, Anderson had no such doubts as he was nailed plumb in front of middle on the back foot.England’s tail had once again been docked cheaply – the last four wickets had fallen for 30 in 12.2 overs. But, if there had been any suspicion that England were about to surrender the contest and conserve their energy for next week’s third Test in Mohali, then Broad confounded that by bounding in with the new ball in spite of the fact that he was still awaiting the results of a scan on his injured right foot. At the close of play, it was confirmed that he had strained a tendon and, though he will continue to be monitored for the rest of the match, he will be fit to continue.After back-to-back maidens before tea, Broad resumed with the sort of rhythm and bounce through his action that brought images of Trent Bridge 2015 and Johannesburg 2016 swimming into the mind’s eye.He grabbed two wickets in 25 balls before conceding a single run – both of them overturned on review after initially being given not out by Rod Tucker. Murali Vijay inside-edged a nipbacker onto his thigh, for Joe Root to snaffle with a dive in the slips, before KL Rahul feathered the thinnest of tickles through to the keeper. It was so thin, in fact, that no-one behind the bat was sure there’d been an edge, but Broad was convinced, and so too, crucially, was Haseeb Hameed at short leg. His vigorous insistence was enough to persuade Alastair Cook to take a look – something for Kohli and India to consider as they come to terms with the nuances of DRS usage.So out came Kohli with India in a bit of bother at 16 for 2. But perhaps the single most telling measure of his class was his response to Broad with his tail up. Where none of his team-mates had been able to get the ball off the square in his spell, Kohli helped himself to six runs from the first five balls he faced, a flick off the pads for two and a filleted four through the covers.After six overs of Broad, the return of Anderson offered a subtly different challenge, and Kohli’s fellow first-innings centurion, Cheteshwar Pujara, was not equal to it on this occasion. After being pushed back onto his stumps by a sharp bouncer, Anderson followed up with an offcutter to open his gate, before completing his three-card trick with a pummelling nipbacker that burst into the top of Pujara’s off stumpAjinkya Rahane, on 2, was lucky to survive an edge off Rashid that deflected to safety off Bairstow’s knee, when Stokes would have been lurking at slip to pounce. But he endured to the close, on 22 not out, a distant second fiddle to the majestic Kohli, who brought up his second half-century of the match from 63 balls. He was playing on a different surface from the rest of the players on display. England, for all their efforts, are unlikely to be allowed to share his private net.

Karun Nair became only the second Indian batsman to score a triple-hundred as India declared with a lead of 282 on day four of the Chennai Test

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy19-Dec-2016
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:55

Chopra: Nair’s work against spin impressive

Back in March 2008, the MA Chidambaram Stadium witnessed the first triple-hundred on Indian soil, as Virender Sehwag plundered 319 against South Africa. Eight-and-a-half years later, the stadium’s revamped stands became the backdrop to the first triple-hundred by any Indian batsman apart from Sehwag. That batsman, Karun Nair, was playing his third Test match, and was only playing because India’s middle order had lost two of its regular occupants to injury.When India next play a Test match, they will need to choose who to leave out – and perhaps even which two – among Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Nair, a man with an unbeaten 303 in his last innings. Three hundred and three, not out. A square-cut brought up the landmark; Alastair Cook had brought all his men into single-saving positions with Nair on 299. Adil Rashid dropped short, Nair slapped it away, and Cook just happened to be the fielder diving uselessly to his left from cover point.The declaration came right then, with India 759 for 7. It was their highest-ever total, against anyone. It was the highest total against England, by anyone. It left England, starting their second innings with a deficit of 282, 16 minutes to get through to stumps.By the time Virat Kohli called his batsmen off the field, they had inflicted as much mental disintegration upon England as they have faced anywhere in the time since Carl Rackemann coined the term during the 1989 Ashes. At lunch, India still trailed by 14 runs. At tea, they led by 105. So far, so Mumbai, on a pitch that was rather flatter than Mumbai, and England didn’t seem in any immediate danger of defeat. By the time India declared, an innings defeat wasn’t out of the question. Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings got through to stumps unscathed, but their task has barely begun.England have it all to do on the last day of a sapping tour of the subcontinent. This is still a flat pitch, by the standard of Indian pitches, but R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowling on it with raucous voices clustered around the bat is an entirely different prospect to England’s spinners bowling with five fielders on the rope.Ashwin and Jadeja did their bit with the bat as well, scoring 67 and 51 as the sixth- and seventh-wicket partnerships added 319 to India’s total. Post-tea, India clattered 177 runs in 25.4 overs. That’s 6.9 runs per over. Nair, on 195 at tea, scored his last 108 runs in 78 balls. If his triple-hundred wasn’t uniformly Sehwagian in tone, it certainly was now.Karun Nair executed the flat-batted pulls and the ramps superbly•Associated Press

England tried to bounce him with a fine third-man – almost a long stop – in place for the ramp over the keeper. Nair tennis-forehanded Jake Ball through the vacant mid-on region. Then he played the ramp anyway, against Stuart Broad, and it carried all the way for six. When the spinners returned he reverse-swept Moeen Ali, and tonked four fours and a brutally clubbed six off successive overs from Adil Rashid. This when Rashid had five men on the boundary.Nair’s innings wasn’t chanceless, of course. Cook had put him down at slip on day three, a hard chance flying to his right when Nair edged Ball on 34. Then, on 154, he had tried to reverse-sweep Rashid and sent the ball into Jonny Bairstow’s gloves. Replays and Ultra Edge suggested it had deflected off the face of his bat. The umpire said not out, and England had no reviews left.On 217, he edged Ball again, the third new ball going low to Joe Root’s right at slip. He only got his fingertips to the ball. And finally, on 246, he stepped out, heaved at Moeen, missed, and turned around to see the unsighted Bairstow fluff the stumping chance. Destiny was clearly on Nair’s side, and he chased it in a hurry, scoring 57 off 39 balls after the missed stumping.All this merrymaking, of course, would not have been possible without the restraint he displayed on day three – he walked in with India 211 for 3 and still trailing by 266 – and in the morning session of day four. India went at less than three runs an over in the session before lunch, but lost only one wicket, M Vijay lbw to a Liam Dawson arm ball.Resuming on 71, Nair took 49 balls to reach his maiden Test hundred. M Vijay saw him through a nervy period in the nineties, exhorting him from the other end to stay calm and wait for the scoring opportunity. Having played out five dots from Ben Stokes on 99, he reached the landmark by defying a packed off-side field, which included two short covers for the uppish drive, stretching out to a full, wide ball and letting it come to him to steer it past the diving backward point fielder.That was only the third boundary Nair hit in those first 49 balls – and one of them had been unintentional, off an edge when he tried to leave the ball. It reflected the hard-nosed approach India had had to take in a session where England set defensive fields, bowled with discipline, and got a bit of help from the surface, largely through inconsistent bounce. Dawson nearly bowled Vijay with one that crept low, and Ben Stokes, hitting the pitch hard, got the ball to lift disconcertingly as lunch approached, taking a chunk off the shoulder of Nair’s bat and hitting Ashwin’s right glove.Cook’s use of his spinners also contributed to India’s caution in the first session: he bowled the accurate Dawson unchanged from one end – he sent down 13 overs for 31 runs – and his seamers from the other, only using Rashid for one over – the last one before lunch – and not using Moeen at all.Rashid’s introduction brought a little spike of aggression from Nair, who made himself a bit of room and drove him inside-out to the cover boundary. It was just a teaser of what was to come after lunch.

Mark Wallace has announced his retirement from first-class cricket after an 18-year career with Glamorgan to join the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s team of personal development and welfare managers

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2017Mark Wallace has announced his retirement from first-class cricket after an 18-year career with Glamorgan to join the Professional Cricketers’ Association’s team of personal development and welfare managers.Wallace will still be involved with Glamorgan. His new role will involve helping his former team mates, as well as players at Gloucestershire and Somerset, to help improve their performance on the field through minimising potential distractions off it and also to assist them in preparing them for a life after cricket.He takes over the role of his former Glamorgan colleague Ian Thomas who was recently appointed the PCA’s Head of Development and Welfare.”I’ve been extremely fortunate to have been able to represent Glamorgan for so long,” said Wallace. “While I walk away with a heavy heart I’m delighted to be able to start the next chapter of my life with the PCA.””I will be going back into Glamorgan in a different role and that will probably feel strange because nothing replaces playing. I’ve had my last day’s training and now I’m an ex-cricketer, so it is an odd feeling. But I know the PCA very well. Being Chairman for four years has given me a real insight into the organisation and given me some real enthusiasm and drive to want to help players.”The most successful wicket-keeper batsman in Glamorgan’s history, in 2011 Mark Wallace became the first gloveman for the Welsh county to amass over 1,000 first-class runs in a season.Born in Abergavenny, Wallace made his Glamorgan debut in 1999 against Somerset at Taunton, and at 17 years and 287 days old he duly became the club’s youngest wicketkeeper in a Championship match.

A round-up of the Regional Super 50 2016-17 Group A matches played on February 2, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2017West Indies Under-19 held off Kent by 28 runs in a low-scoring contest at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium to record their first win of the Regional Super50. Sent in to bat, West Indies Under-19 were bowled out for 155 in 46.3 overs. They then spun out Kent for 127 in just 34 overs, with 16-year old left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop taking 4 for 44.Kent were 76 for 2 before Bishop ripped through the middle order. He first dismissed Darren Stevens for 18 in the 18th over, before striking thrice in the 22nd over. Then off the next, Bhaskar Yadram took the first of his three wickets by bowling Matt Coles for a duck, as Kent lost four for three runs to slide from 92 for 3 to 95 for 7.Captain Sam Northeast, who was at the non-striker’s end throughout the mayhem, tried to weather the storm, making 37 before he was ninth man out to Keemo Paul. Yadram then removed tailender Ivan Thomas to end the match with figures of 3 for 6 in five overs, clinching an improbable win.A 59-run second-wicket partnership between Matthew Patrick and Yadram produced the bulk of the runs for West Indies Under-19. Patrick top-scored with 45 off 79 balls while Yadram’s 29 wound up being the third highest total in the match to go along with his three wickets later on in a solid all-round performance.Trinidad & Tobago produced a tremendous fightback to win a thriller by 11 runs over Leeward Islands at Coolidge. Defending 226, they appeared well out of the game after a 115-run opening stand by Leewards captain Kieran Powell and Montcin Hodge. But the wicket of Powell in the 27th over, stumped after being unable to reach a ball dragged wider outside off stump by left-arm spinner Khary Pierre, sparked a slide which resulted in Leewards losing all ten wickets for 100 runs and slump to their first loss of the tournament.Pierre struck in the 31st and 35th overs in identical fashion to remove Nkrumah Bonner and Marlon Samuels, both batsmen skipping down the track to clear mid-on, only to miscue them to Rayad Emrit at long-off. Emrit then struck a crucial blow to remove Hodge for 82, producing an edge behind to Denesh Ramdin on a failed attempt to guide a single to third man. Only two other batsmen made double-digits with 16 extras winding up as the next best contribution outside of the openers.Pierre was named named Man of the Match after finishing with 4 for 40. He induced a leading edge from Jahmar Hamilton for his fourth , and concluded his day with another fine moment at the end of the 46th over, running out Gavin Tonge from long-on with a relay to Ramdin for the ninth wicket with 20 required to win. Shannon Gabriel defeated Jason Campbell’s heave across the line in the 49th over to end the match.Campbell’s efforts with the ball went in vain after he had set up the dramatic second innings, taking 5 for 37 with his left-arm spin in the first innings. Nicholas Alexis made 50 at No. 3 for T&T but Imran Khan’s 45 not out at No. 6 ensured they batted through the 50 overs. Roger Primus fell in the 39th over to make it 151 for 6 and Khan shepherded T&T’s long tail through the final 11 overs before they ended on 226 for 9, which ended up being just enough to secure their third win, putting them just a bonus point behind Leewards for the top spot in Group A.