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Australia coach backs the struggling opener for Boxing Day and possibly beyond despite very lean returns

Alex Malcolm23-Dec-2021Australia coach Justin Langer has backed under-pressure opener Marcus Harris confirming there is no doubt about his place for Boxing Day as the selectors are determined for him to forge a long-term partnership with David Warner.Harris remains the only major question mark in Australia’s XI after they marched to a 2-0 series lead in Adelaide.Harris has been Australia’s best-performed opening in domestic cricket over the last five years but has only played six Test innings since 2019, all of which have come this year. He has only reached double-figures twice, with a top score of 38 against India while his second innings 23 in Adelaide is his next best, although he was 9 not out in the fourth innings chase in the first Test in Brisbane.More worryingly for Harris, he is averaging just 22.19 after 23 Test innings and just 14.85 in his last 15 innings having reached 20 only three times in that span. Australia’s selectors have noted that he has not had an extended run in the side since his debut summer having been dropped and recalled twice for two six-inning stretches apiece but the latter featured an 11-month gap between Tests.Langer is determined to give Harris the opportunity to bed down his place at the top of the order.”He’ll play in the Test, no worries about that,” Langer said. “This is his home ground. He’s played a lot at the MCG. He hasn’t made the runs he’d like to so far, but he dominates domestic cricket. So he knows how to play. We know he’s a very good player. We’re hoping he plays well and gets a good partnership with Davey Warner in this Boxing Day Test match.”We’re really confident Marcus has got what it takes to be a successful Australian opening batter. What we see in the nets, what we see in domestic cricket all adds up to what is potentially a very good Test career.”Harris does have a solid record at the MCG in first-class cricket averaging 43.26 with three centuries including an unbeaten 250 in 2018. He made his Test debut that summer and put up a solid showing against a world-class India attack averaging 36.85 for the four-Test series and reaching 20 in seven of eight innings including scores of 70 and 79 in Perth and Sydney.Justin Langer consoles Marcus Harris after he was dismissed for 79•Getty Images

It is that showing against India combined with his long-term domestic numbers that have led to Harris being backed for an extended run in this Ashes series.”We’d like to back our players in where we can and as I said, we know how good an opening batter he is in domestic cricket,” Langer said.”He has shown glimpses of it in Test cricket so far, and we’re hopeful that he’ll keep kicking on and keep getting better. It’s a tough, tough gig Test cricket, opening the batting so he’s not far off, I don’t think.”It’s something that we’ve talked publicly about and privately, about really cementing not just for the short term for the long term our opening partnership. I think it’s very, very important. We’ve chopped and changed a lot over the last five or six years and testimony to that is how many opening partners Davey Warner has had in his career. So certainly one of the building blocks of a great team is the opening partnership and the top three, and we’re determined to get that right.”Harris is the fourth opening partner Warner has since the start of the 2019 Ashes series and he has had 13 in his 10-year Test career, although only seven have been for more than five innings.Related

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Harris himself has had four different opening partners in his short career, one of whom being Usman Khawaja who is the only man that could replace him in the current squad with Australia’s selectors opting not to add either Bryce Street or Henry Hunt to the group for the final three Tests.Khawaja has scored two of his eight Test centuries opening the batting and averages 96.80 in seven innings at the top of the order. However, since his last Test appearance at Headingley in 2019 Khawaja has opened just three times in first-class cricket for scores of 30, 4, and 2. Since October 2020 he has made four Sheffield Shield centuries but has not batted higher than No.4 in any of his 20 innings and even batted at No.5 for Australia A against the England Lions in Brisbane a fortnight ago.But Langer did state that Khawaja is an option if Australia needs one at the top of the order at some point.”Time will tell,” Langer said. “The reason as he came in is he’s a very adaptable player. He can play in all positions. He’s opened in the past. He can bat in the middle order.”So as I say with all our guys, I’ve said it for four years, you’ve got to stay ready. You never know when the opportunity is going to come. Stay ready, stay ready, stay ready and Uzzy is so experienced, he’s a calm head, he’s fantastic around the group. The boys love having him around the squad so he’s going to stay ready like all the players.”There’s plenty of talent in Australian cricket. We can only pick 11 at a time, unfortunately. But it’s nice to have some real depth and some talent knocking on the door so that’ll be the message to Uzzy and he gets it.”

IPL governing council provides letters of intent to the two new IPL teams after a delay

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Jan-2022A year after returning as the title sponsors of the IPL, following a suspension, Vivo has stepped away from the deal and Tata Group, the Indian business conglomerate, has stepped in. The Tata Group, which has varied business interests both in India and overseas, will be the IPL title sponsors for the next two seasons (2022 and 2023), after the IPL governing council gave the approvals on Tuesday.The governing council has also finally provided the letters of intent to the two new IPL teams – based in Lucknow and in Ahmedabad – which now have the ownership rights to operate the franchises they paid record sums to buy last October.In the wake of the military clashes at the India-China border in June 2020, BCCI decided to sever ties with Vivo, a Chinese mobile and technology company. Vivo had bagged the title sponsorship rights for the period of 2017 to 2022 for approximately US$ 341 million, as an extension of its two-year association from 2015.But, for the 2020 season, BCCI turned to Dream XI, the gaming company, as an interim replacement for Vivo. However, Vivo made a comeback ahead of the 2021 season. At the time, according to a PTI report, the company was given a “one year concession” since it had missed the 2020 season.Why the delay in clearing CVC?
On October 25, CVC Capital, a major global private equity fund, bid nearly US$ 750 million to buy the rights to own the Ahmedabad franchise. It was the second-highest bid, only behind that of the RP Sanjeev Goenka Group, which bid nearly US$940 million to bag the rights for the Lucknow franchise. Both the new teams were originally asked by the IPL to buy a maximum of three players by December 25. However, the entire process was stalled after the BCCI decided not give the letter of intent to CVC when it emerged that the company has investments in two betting companies overseas.With gambling being illegal in India, the BCCI appointed a group of legal experts before it could clear CVC. ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the BCCI gave the nod after it established that the IPL investment comes from CVC’s Asian funds, and there is no direct or indirect link with the betting companies CVC owns, as those investments come from its overseas funds.Both the new franchises now have about ten days to finalise the list players they want before the IPL finalises the auction pool. The auction is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.

Michael Neser and Mark Steketee were outstanding for Queensland but couldn’t quite pull it off

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-2022Chris Tremain held his nerve to guide an inexperienced New South Wales side to a gripping two-wicket victory over Queensland at the Gabba.At the end, he had Harry Conway for company who firstly survived eight deliveries and then hit the winning run off Mark Steketee.Moments earlier, with seven runs still needed, Tremain survived a run out appeal when he came back for a second to third man. Jimmy Peirson did superbly to flick the ball back onto the stumps and replays showed Tremain was short by a few inches but TV umpires are not part of the Sheffield Shield.Tremain then levelled the scores with a thumping straight drive off Michael Neser who had matched Steketee with three wickets in the innings including removing Baxter Holt with eight runs required.”Those last three hours were very nerve-wracking, I could not sit down,” Daniel Hughes, who top-scored for the match with an unbeaten 86 in the first innings, said. “That is a huge win with the very inexperienced side that we have.”They were so good, and their attitudes were awesome. To play a full-strength Bulls team at the Gabba, and get a win, is a huge credit to the lads and I’m proud of them. That side that we put out is the future of NSW cricket. The talent is definitely there – we have to be patient with them.”Neser and Steketee were superb throughout the match as they shared 14 wickets and regularly chipped away at New South Wales’ run chase.The target of 137 – after Queensland had lost 7 for 28 in their second innings – immediately looked much more imposing when Steketee got one through Ryan Hackney in the second over and Hughes edged a terrific delivery from Neser in the third.Jason Sangha was lbw to Jack Wildermuth and after Jack Edwards had been caught at slip off a no-ball from Steketee he fell to the same bowler when he clipped a catch to square leg to leave New South Wales 4 for 49.Lachlan Hearne and Hayden Kerr briefly settled things but Neser returned to trapped Kerr lbw and Hearne’s hard work was undone as the left hander chipped a catch to mid-on where Marnus Labuschagne made good ground.When Trent Copeland was also given lbw – a more borderline decision – New South Wales needed 17 with three wickets in hand at tea. Holt, playing just his third first-class match, faced 75 balls for his 20 to get the target down into single figures only for his departure to ratchet up the tension again.Just two half-centuries were scored in the match and Queensland could only add another 24 runs after resuming on 5 for 105. Copeland and Tremain did the damage while James Bazley was run out after being given little chance when Neser called him through for a single to midwicket.

“The young players just need to take that extra step so that they perform overseas all the time”

Mohammad Isam26-Feb-2022Jamie Siddons’ agenda in his latest stint in Bangladesh cricket, as batting consultant with the senior team, is to take the younger batters’ game to the next level.”My job is half-done because the class of players is already there,” Siddons said, having joined the Bangladesh side on February 21 ahead of the ODI series against Afghanistan after a bout of Covid-19. “We are playing against Afghanistan, who have three top spinners and a world-class fast bowler. When we go against South Africa, Australia and India, they have four of those [world-class fast bowlers]. They will have quality spinners coming at us too, so there’s no respite. There are no easy runs.Related

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“That’s where we will be challenged. That’s where we have to improve and be ready for it in their conditions. We have a long way to go to get to that point, but we are a really good cricket team. We need to continue to do that. The young players just need to take that extra step so that they perform overseas all the time.”Speaking about specific players, Siddons pointed to Litton Das, saying, “People like Litton have done it in Test matches. I see some little things I can help him with. It is going to take time to put that last bit of class in him where he can succeed against every bowler, whether really fast bowlers or great spinners, in the world.”It is my challenge, to make him a little bit better. Tamim [Iqbal] and those guys have reached a great level. Now we want the younger guys to even go further.”Siddons, who had worked as Bangladesh’s head coach from 2007 to 2011, stressed that patience must be shown with the current lot despite the inconsistent returns.”We have to remember that Tamim, Shakib [Al Hasan], Mushfiq [Mushfiqur Rahim] and [Mahmudullah] Riyad were all inconsistent when they started,” Siddons said. “We could have dropped them at any stage of their career. If Shakib wasn’t a good bowler, he would have been dropped as a batsman a lot of times before he started to succeed. But he held it together because he was a good potential batsman.”We have got some potential superstars here. We pick the right ones, give them time and nurture them. We should give them opportunities without putting too much pressure on them. I have no doubt that they will be the new Shakibs and Tamims.”Despite being one of the stalwarts of Bangladesh cricket, even someone like Tamim has been a bit inconsistent at times, and Siddons has plans for him too. “For me, a lot of it is footwork. Tamim wants to straighten up his front foot. It won’t happen really quickly, but we are talking about the long term. If he is going to play for the next three or four years, he has to straighten his front foot up a bit. He will have a lot more success. If he doesn’t get out lbw, they [bowlers] will find it very hard to get him out. I can see his best cricket is still ahead of him.””It is my challenge, to make him a little bit better” – Siddons on Litton Das•BCB

Siddons had arrived in Bangladesh in early February and spent the first two weeks watching BPL matches in Dhaka and Sylhet. He was initially contacted to work at the BCB’s High Performance unit, but after Ashwell Prince resigned as the batting consultant, Siddons was given that role.Siddons’ immediate task, he said, would be to prepare the Bangladesh T20I side for their two-match series next week.”Afghanistan probably play better T20 cricket at the moment than they do ODI cricket, we know it is their favourite format,” Siddons said. “We know we have a lot of improvement to do from the World Cup, part of that is the first four overs, sustaining that smart aggression, and finishing the game. We have to score more runs quicker to win against Afghanistan.”T20s is the focus because it is the next World Cup. If we can be good T20 players by October and November, we can be a much better one-day team at the end of the day in India [in 2023]. We know we have to make big scores in India to win or play well in the World Cup. We can’t get away with 260-270. We will need 320.”

All the highlights from the past week at the Dhaka Premier League, including a career-best 141* from Mohammad Ashraful

Mohammad Isam06-Apr-2022A round-up of the third week of matches at the Dhaka Premier League. Five of these matches went down to the last over, with one veteran scoring a hundred and another bagging a four-wicket haul.Key takeaways
It is getting crowded at the top of the Dhaka Premier League points table with just over a week remaining for the first phase to end. Prime Bank Cricket Club and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club are on top with 12 points, closely followed by defending champions Abahani Limited and Legends of Rupganj, both on ten points each.The battle for the last two Super League spots are also heating up, with four teams – including the big-budgeted Mohammedan Sporting Club – vying for a place in the top six.Best batters
Hanuma Vihari, Abahani’s Indian recruit, struck a century and a fifty helping Abahani to three wins out of three this week. Brothers Union’s Mohammad Ashraful reached his career-best List-A score against Rupganj Tigers, making an unbeaten 141.Sikandar Raza and Fazle Mahmud also struck centuries, while Anamul Haque overtook Naeem Islam as the top run-getter, taking a 51-run lead.Best bowlers
Left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan climbed to the top of the wicket-takers’ charts this week, having taken 17 wickets at 22.00, with an economy rate of 4.73.Fast bowlers Rejaur Rahman Raja and Tanzim Hasan Sakib took five-fors during the week, while veteran Mashrafe Mortaza’s 4 for 38 helped Legends of Rupganj to a two-wicket win over Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity.Best match
Rupganj, Prime Bank, City Club, Sheikh Jamal and Shinepukur Cricket Club all won matches that went to the last over. Dramatic finishes all of them, but the most noteworthy one was the most high-stakes of all.In the battle of the two table-toppers, Sheikh Jamal’s Parvez Rasool battled brilliantly with the tail to take their 266-run chase against Prime Bank to the last over. He struck Robiul Hoque for a four and a six, before calmly taking two off the penultimate ball to bring home a one-wicket win.Points to ponder
Mohammedan’s eighth position on the points table after seven games belies the fact that they are a high-spending team that includes former Pakistan international Mohammad Hafeez. But they have had few in-form players, and even had to drop Soumya Sarkar for the Dhaka derby against Abahani. Soumya has so far made just 100 runs in six innings, while Shuvagata Hom, another domestic stalwart, has made 78 runs in seven outings.Players to watch
Akbar Ali’s 45-ball unbeaten 89 against Mohammedan was a thing of beauty. Since leading Bangladesh to the Under-19 World Cup title two years ago, Akbar has a massive following, and all the expectations that go with it. That said, this was only his fourth fifty in 68 games across formats, but then he often doesn’t get much time at the crease. In this game he did, and he struck six sixes and five fours in a reminder to the national selectors of his skills.

Sunrisers pace sensation pushes speed gun several times against Delhi Capitals but goes wicketless

Nagraj Gollapudi05-May-2022Sunrisers Hyderabad pace sensation Umran Malik clocked the fastest ball of IPL 2022 on Thursday evening, bowling one at 156.9 kph against Delhi Capitals in his side’s 21-run loss. His coach Tom Moody had recently likened him to a Ferrari, and the 22-year-old duly pressed the accelerator to record one of the fastest deliveries in the tournament’s history: he was nearly 0.7 kph faster than Anrich Nortje’s 156.22 kph delivery in 2020, which was logged by the IPL as the fastest delivery between 2012 and 2020.Getty Images

The delivery was the fourth of the final over of Capitals’ innings. It was a length delivery, and well-set power-hitter Rovman Powell, staying deep in the crease, despatched it for a four past cover.It was otherwise a forgettable evening for Malik in which he sent down four wicketless and leaked 52 runs – the first time he has gone for over 50 runs in 13 IPL matches. Malik’s express speeds have grabbed headlines repeatedly this IPL but Capitals blunted him with aggression of their own, including a 21-run first over in which David Warner punished him for bowling on the shorter side, taking two fours and a six either side of the wicket.Related

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Despite getting hit, Malik did not compromise on speed. In that final over, his slowest delivery, the last ball of Capitals’ innings, was clocked at 144.3 kph, with four other deliveries north of 153 kph.Malik, who had been retained by Sunrisers ahead of this year’s mega auction, had said after taking his maiden five-for in the IPL – a Player-of-the-Match showing against Gujarat Titans – that he wanted to cross the 155 kph barrier. “God willing, I will bowl 155 as well one day,” Malik told host broadcaster Star Sports then.

Shelley Nitschke has been handed the interim coaching role and will be a favourite for the full job

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2022Ashleigh Gardner has played her entire international career under the guidance of Matthew Mott and admitted it will be “pretty weird” when he isn’t there after taking the white-ball role with the England men’s team.Gardner reflected on the bond she – and the team – had built with Mott which during the last four years brought unprecedented success with back-to-back T20 World Cups, the ODI World Cup and Ashes triumphs.”I know over the last five years that I’ve been involved in the team we’ve built a really good friendship and relationship so from a personal perspective it’s quite sad to see him go,” Gardner said on the day Australia’s Commonwealth Games squad was named. “It will be pretty weird him not being there.”Albeit being a fantastic batting coach, it was just his personality around a group like ours [which] was something that we needed. Especially as female athletes, we can get caught up in minor details sometimes and he was someone who always brought things back into perspective and put a funny spin on things.Related

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“For myself there was always that constant banter with him. I probably had a relationship that no other [player] had really had where we’d sledge each other constantly, but guess that was the trust we had built between each other.”Mott went through the whole playing group to inform them of his career move with Gardner finding out over text message having missed the initial call. “It was kind of weird to read that,” she said. “I knew how much this group meant to him and how hard that would have been to make that decision.”When the announcement was made, Mott said it came with a “heavy heart” but speaking on Friday, having spent the week coming to terms with the death of his close friend Andrew Symonds, he said it was the right moment. He applied for the men’s head coaching position earlier this year which went to Andrew McDonald.”My time with the Australian team was always getting close. Been there seven years and it was only fair to look to move forward and give someone a new voice,” he told SEN.Mott expects there to be a lot of interest in the role for which Shelley Nitschke has been named the interim head coach for the Ireland series and Commonwealth Games.”I think it’ll be a great experience for her to see whether she likes it as well,” Mott said. “She likes to fly under the radar a bit, Shelley, so I think it’s a good taster for her to see if she wants to do it. I think it will attract a great field where the team is at, the amount of men’s and women’s coaches that will look at that role and think they’d love to be a part of it. I’m sure there will be a process and I’m sure there will be some excellent candidates.””There are some amazing leaders in that group…so they are in really good hands and whoever gets that job will inherit a team functioning really well.”Gardner, who as a fellow spinner has worked closely with Nitschke, said she was someone not afraid to challenge the players and she also expected bowling coach Ben Sawyer to put his name up for the position.”[Ben’s] a coach that’s right into the analysis side of things,” she said. “He’s all about numbers and he’s a fantastic source to have for fast bowlers in our group.”For Shell, from a spin perspective she’s obviously great to have around. She was so good back in her day…and she was a fantastic batter. She’s always up for a joke as well, but she’s also someone who keeps you pretty grounded and tells you sometimes what you don’t want to hear but [it’s] sometimes the truth you need as players.”Either of them would fill the role perfectly but I know how much interest this job will get. We’ve been one of the most successful sides maybe in history, think that will attract some really good options. Whoever fills the role will be really excited to be among the group. But if it is Shelley or Ben I know none of us will be complaining.”The Australia squad will come together in June for a training camp in Brisbane ahead of getting back on the road in July.

Unchanged XI announced as Parkinson returns to sidelines after standing in at Lord’s

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2022Jack Leach will make an immediate return to England’s Test team after the selectors named an unchanged XI for the second Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge, starting on Friday.Leach, for whom the Lord’s Test had been his first at home since the Ashes in 2019, had to be substituted out of the match after landing heavily on his head in the sixth over of the opening day, as he chased a Devon Conway drive to the backward-point boundary.As Leach dived, successfully dragging the ball back from the edge of the rope, he suffered the injury as his body rotated over the rope. Though he was able to walk from the field of play back to the pavilion after several minutes of treatment, he was withdrawn from the match after a subsequent check-up from the ECB medical team.Matt Parkinson, who claimed his maiden Test wicket with the final ball of New Zealand’s second innings, duly made his debut as the first concussion substitute in England’s Test history, and seemed likely to keep his place too, given that Leach had to serve a mandatory seven-day concussion protocol before being considered eligible for selection.However, he has taken his place back in the side at the earliest opportunity, with Parkinson – who had also been named in an extended 14-man squad – returning to the bench.Leach had been monitored by England’s medical staff since the incident, and was passed fit to play after undergoing a final assessment on Thursday. England’s management also confirmed that the captain, Ben Stokes, would be expecting to bowl in the second Test despite looking uncomfortable during a net session on Wednesday.”Obviously it was pretty unfortunate with what happened to Leachy last week at Lord’s, but he’s pulled up well this week,” Stokes told broadcasters. “It was it was pretty straightforward once we got the good news that he’s fit to play.”The team announcement, which once again comes more than 24 hours before the start of the match, means that there is once again no debut for Harry Brook, the young Yorkshire batter whose form in the County Championship had demanded his inclusion in the squad. England will instead keep faith with their existing middle-order options of Ollie Pope at No.3 and Jonny Bairstow at No.5. Craig Overton, the reserve seamer, also misses out.England XI 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Alex Lees, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Ben Foakes (wk), 8 Matthew Potts, 9 Jack Leach, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

Former Australia allrounder Shane Watson believes David has a “very rare” skill while Aaron Finch said his time will come

Alex Malcolm09-Jul-2022Australia are the current T20 World Cup champions and have not lost a T20I series this year. But less than 100 days out from their home title defence starting there is one major question hanging over their squad. How do they fit Tim David into a settled winning team?David has represented Singapore, but is eligible and keen to play for Australia and has spoken with Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey.Former Australia allrounder Shane Watson, who was unveiled on Friday as the T20 World Cup trophy ambassador for the 2022 tournament in Australia, believes they have to find a way simply because David is an asset too valuable to ignore.”I hadn’t really seen much of him at all up until the IPL and seeing what he did there is something that I haven’t seen for a long time,” Watson said. “For a young guy coming in and just dominating and just hitting the ball like I haven’t really seen in the past. So you just find a way.”It’s hard with Australia being the defending champions of the T20 World Cup. But with someone like that, the power that he has and the composure as well under pressure situations is something that’s very, very rare.”Related

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Watson saw David up close while he was an assistant coach at Delhi Capitals in the recent IPL. He watched him smash 34 off 11 balls to help guide Mumbai Indians home against Capitals after they needed 65 off 31 at one stage. The result meant Capitals missed the playoffs.David has continued his excellent form in the Vitality Blast in England for Lancashire to help them reach finals day. He has scored 387 runs at a strike-rate of 180 in 15 innings, with two stunning half-centuries. Only Alex Hales (193.78) and Rilee Roussouw (189.17) have higher strike-rates of those with more than 200 runs in the tournament, but both have batted exclusively in the top three while David has only twice batted higher than No. 5.David was not considered for Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka with the side selected prior to his run of form in the second half of the IPL. Australia captain Aaron Finch has been asked the question repeatedly about David over the last few months and believes his time is coming sooner rather than later.”I think it’s important that that time will come for Tim,” Finch said. “He’s such a valuable asset. Guys with that much power who can bowl a few overs, are good in the field, they will slot into a lot of T20 sides. So I think there’s going to be opportunities there no doubt, especially with the amount of cricket that’s going to be played over the next sort of three months until that World Cup starts.”Australia do not play another T20I until September when they will make a brief 10-day tour to India for a three-match series. Those games are wedged between six home ODIs against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, starting in late August, and five home T20Is against West Indies and England in early October, prior to the World Cup warm-up games ahead of the tournament.David’s chance might come on that trip to India as Australia’s only three-format batters, David Warner and Steven Smith, could well be rested given the India series will be played in foreign conditions to the World Cup and both will have huge Test workloads following the tournament.World Cup squads will probably need to be named by mid-September, so Australia may need to make an early call, although there is often room for late changes. The other quirk around David is that he is on the edge of the Australian system without a state contract and has been confirmed in the CPL for St Lucia Kings, with that tournament running through September, although it is likely he would forgo that deal should an international call-up emerge.David did have a rookie contract with Western Australia for one season in 2018-19 and played one Marsh Cup game for Tasmania last season without a contract. Watson has publicly raised some valid questions about the potential negative flow-on effects of picking a player like David for Australia from outside the state system.But Cricket Australia’s high-performance team does not see it as an issue at the moment and is looking at ways to contract T20 specialists in the future without forcing them to forgo franchise cricket to remain tied to the domestic system. David is the latest case study but Dan Christian and AJ Tye have both been picked for Australia’s T20I side in recent years without a state contract.Smith appears the most vulnerable in Australia’s settled line-up. He did make 37 not out off 27 balls in Australia’s last T20I against Sri Lanka in Pallekele but it was the first time he had struck at over 135 in 12 T20I innings dating back to September 2020. But Australia’s hierarchy have a lot of faith in his T20 ability and believe he will be of value in Australian conditions.

Unbeaten Bears prove surprisingly easy prey for Foxes

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Aug-2022Another fine innings from Louis Kimber helped Leicestershire inflict a first defeat in the Royal London One Day Cup on Warwickshire, and in so doing take a big step towards qualifying for the knock-out stages.Kimber hit three sixes in scoring 78 off 68 deliveries, adding a second half-century to the century he made against Somerset in the competition two days earlier. The 25-year-old from Lincoln also picked up an important wicket, having Michael Burgess caught on the boundary when the Bears’ batsman was threatening to hit his side back into the game.As it was, another disciplined bowling display, led impressively by Chris Wright (3-29) against his former county, ensured the visitors were dismissed a long way short of their target.Using the same pitch as had been used against Somerset, Leicestershire had begun circumspectly after skipper Lewis Hill had won the toss and chosen to bat first, understandably so after they had been 18-3 at the end of the first Powerplay.Related

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Rishi Patel and Nick Welch took the score 34 in the tenth over before both were dismissed on that score, Patel caught at midwicket attempting to turn a delivery from Ollie Hannon-Dalby to the leg side, and Welch edging a catch behind off Liam Norwell.Hill made a busy 18 before he too edged a catch behind, driving loosely at Will Rhodes, but by then Kimber was well-established, and the arrival at the crease of the equally in-form Mulder can only have further boosted his confidence.Already suffering in the heat, none of the Warwickshire attack could contain either batter, Kimber hitting five fours and a six in going to his half-century off 44 balls, Mulder six fours in going to his off 46. The fourth wicket partnership was well past 100 when Kimber, having hit two more huge maximums, went back to work Krunal Pandya through the off-side, sliced the ball high toward backward point, and saw 12th man Manraj Johat take a fine leaping catch high above his head.Pandya made a second breakthrough almost immediately, albeit slightly fortuitously, when Mulder advanced down the wicket and clubbed the ball ferociously hard but at chest height to long-on, where Norwell made no mistake in holding the catch.At 209-5 in the 36th over the innings could have petered out, but Harry Swindells, who had made a vital 70 in his previous innings against Somerset, again played an important role in ensuring the impetus was maintained, first in company with Arron Lilley, who hit Pandya for two beautifully timed straight sixes, and then Tom Scriven, who hit four fours and a six in making 30 from just 17 balls.Warwickshire needed at least one of their high-powered openers to make a big score, but Wright brilliantly caught Dom Sibley high to his right off his own bowling, and Mulder found the edge of Rob Yates’ bat with a fine delivery which bounced and left the left-hander. Burgess, in company with Will Rhodes, hit out strongly – if occasionally wildly – and the third wicket partnership was worth 71 when an inspired Hill turned to Kimber’s occasional off-spin and was rewarded by seeing Burgess slog-sweep straight to Welch at deep midwicket.Rhodes lost his middle stump pulling at Scriven, and with the scoreboard pressure telling, Warwickshire’s innings subsided. Hill ran out Matt Lamb, stranded when Pandya did not respond to his call, Pandya skied Wright to backward point, and Beuran Hendricks picked up two wickets in two balls to take his total to 11 wickets in the competition.