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Chris Nash, the Sussex batsman, has been forced to return home from the England performance squad in South Africa after fracturing his thumb during training

Cricinfo staff20-Nov-2009Chris Nash, the Sussex batsman, has been forced to return home from the England performance squad in South Africa after fracturing his thumb during training.Nash will undergo surgery next week and his rehabilitation will be monitored by the ECB medical team. No replacement will named in his place.The squad, made up of players in three categories depending on how soon they are expected to challenge for international honours, arrived in South Africa last week and will be based in Pretoria until December 17.The four category A players involved – those closest to an England call-up – are Michael Carberry, Stephen Moore, Mark Davies and Amjad Khan although the selectors have already moved outside the performance programme when they summoned James Tredwell to cover for Graeme Swann in the one-day squad.Nash is a category B player which means the selectors view him as being between one and three years away international cricket. He earned his spot after scoring 1298 runs at 59.00 in the County Championship.

Kia Oval crowd sees Hampshire restricted to below-par total on rain-affected night

ECB Reporters Network03-Sep-2020Surrey 81 for 1 (Jacks 45*) beat Hampshire 77 for 5 (Moriaty 2-12) by nine wickets (DLS method)County cricket’s first live attendance of the Covid-shortened season saw Hashim Amla and Will Jacks steer Surrey to a nine-wicket victory against Hampshire in a Vitality Blast south group match affected by rain.It was Surrey’s first win of the summer, following four Bob Willis Trophy defeats plus a tie, a no-result and a defeat from their opening three Blast fixtures, and they were always in charge once Gareth Batty had won the toss and opted to field.Chasing 80 on Duckworth Lewis Stern, after Hampshire’s innings was delayed and then disrupted by the weather, Amla and Jacks put on 64 in 8.1 overs to ensure there would be no alarms as they chased down a total that always looked inadequate.It took until the fourth ball of the final over, though, for Jacks to finish off Hampshire when, after six runs were still required from the last six balls, bowled by Ryan Stevenson, he top-edged a pull for his fifth four to reach 45 not out from 31 balls. Laurie Evans was 4 not out at the other end.Former South Africa batsman Amla took an immediate liking to Pakistan’s 20-year-old left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, making his Hampshire debut by conceding 30 from his three overs, with fours over extra cover and a lovely on-drive.Jacks, meanwhile, twice lofted Afridi high over extra cover for boundaries and he also swept Mason Crane’s legspin for four before Amla thin-edged an attempted reverse sweep at Crane to keeper Lewis McManus to go for a 27-ball 29.Some much-needed late hitting from Sam Northeast and James Fuller had earlier hauled Hampshire to 77 for 5 from their eventual 11 overs. Northeast made a run-a-ball 31 before being caught at long-on in the final over, while Fuller smashed a flat six over square leg off an excellent Gus Atkinson bouncer with a flashing blade to finish 17 not out.Jamie Overton’s only over, on his debut for Surrey on loan ahead of his permanent move from Somerset this winter, went for 12 runs as Northeast cut and forced successive fours in the innings’ penultimate over.Surrey were permitted to allow 2500 members into the Kia Oval, as part of the government’s ongoing process of getting live crowds back to sporting events, but those spectators initially found themselves frustrated rather than feeling fortunate as bad weather hit south London.A long burst of applause rang around the ground, however, when Batty led out the Surrey team to begin a match initially reduced to 17 overs-per-side, following an hour’s delay to the original start time of 6.30pm.But, after just three overs, more rain arrived to drive the players off with Hampshire 21 for 1. Reece Topley had bowled two tidy overs for ten runs but it was Jacks who grabbed the first wicket to fall, and his first in T20 cricket, when he turned an off break to have Tom Alsop stumped for 1 attempting a big hit from down the pitch.On the resumption, at 8.25pm, slow left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty bowled Felix Organ for 9 and then, in his second over, was delighted to see Rory Burns slide around the deep square leg ropes to hold a tremendous catch when Joe Weatherley swept powerfully.Weatherley had hit the first boundary of the innings in the previous over, the fifth, with a sweep at Batty’s offspin, but it was Surrey’s 42-year-old captain who then reduced Hampshire to 41 for 4 by having McManus held at point for 2 from a reverse sweep. Moriarty ended with the impressive figures of 2 for 12 from three overs.The only crowds previously allowed into county grounds this summer before tonight were at the Kia Oval and Edgbaston for two pre-season friendly contests in late July between, respectively, Surrey and Middlesex and Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

The tour includes three T20Is and three ODIs in late March and early April

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-2021Australia’s women’s team will return to action in late March on a tour of New Zealand which includes three T20Is and three ODIs.The T20I series will be held in Hamilton on March 28, 30 and April 1 followed by the ODIs in Mount Maunganui on April 4, 7 and 10.The first ODI will be a chance for Meg Lanning’s team to surpass the record for consecutive victories in the format having equaled the mark of 21 set by Ricky Ponting’s side in 2003 when the two sides met last year in Brisbane.On that occasion Australia won the T20I series 2-1 and the ODIs 3-0.The tour, along with the preceding visit by England, help fill the gap created by the postponement of the ODI World Cup until next year. There had been talk of the three teams being involved in a triangular series but they will be two separate tours.”We’re very grateful to the New Zealand government for supporting and enabling these women’s tours and for creating an environment in which they can proceed,” David White, the NZC CEO said.”And with the ICC Women’s World Cup to be hosted in New Zealand next summer, it’s particularly important that teams are able to play and compete and develop their games ahead of such a significant tournament.”Australia had been due to host India in mid-January but that series has been pushed back to next season.The squad in New Zealand will undergo two weeks managed isolation on arrival.

Stand-in captain hits 20-ball fifty after Phoenix bowlers succeed in dragging back Superchargers

Matt Roller17-Aug-2021Liam Livingstone’s six-hitting blitz led Birmingham Phoenix into Saturday’s Hundred final at Lord’s after a remarkable comeback with the ball set up a cruise to victory against Northern Superchargers at Headingley.Phoenix needed to win – or tie – to guarantee they would finish top of the group stage and qualify automatically for the final, and when Chris Lynn and Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit 65 off the 25-ball Powerplay, their chances of doing so looked slim.But their three pace-off options – Livingstone, Imran Tahir, and the self-proclaimed “fast spinner” Benny Howell – returned 5 for 61 between them in 60 balls, and Adam Milne’s death-bowling masterclass meant Superchargers limped to 143, with Kohler-Cadmore starved of strike towards the end of his 71.Related

• Phoenix women on cusp of knockouts after Superchargers collapse

• Lintott savours 'special feeling' as Hundred rise continues

• Dunkley with bat, Wellington with ball help Brave finish on a high

• Rashid retains match-winning class amid worsening crisis at home

• Livingstone rise justifies Phoenix faith in top draft pick

Livingstone then smoked the fastest fifty of the competition to date, off 20 balls, to break the back of the chase inside the Powerplay. His 92 not out was the joint-highest score of the Hundred, alongside Jemimah Rodrigues in Superchargers women’s opening game, and his 10 sixes were the most in an individual innings.Phoenix look set to welcome Moeen Ali back into their side for the final, with an update on his availability expected shortly, and included Tom Abell for the first time this season following his hamstring injury. Few pundits backed them at the start of the competition but their ultra-attacking strategy with the bat and their canny bowling attack have seen them top the group with six wins out of eight.Phoenix will play the winners of Friday’s eliminator at The Oval, between Southern Brave and Trent Rockets. Superchargers were already eliminated, and missed Adam Lyth and Harry Brook, both of whom tested positive for Covid-19 last week. They finish fifth in the men’s table.Pepsi’s fizzy pop
Phoenix’s cruise to victory looked a long way off when they were under the pump in the Powerplay, with Chris Lynn and Tom ‘Pepsi’ Kohler-Cadmore swinging for the hills and treating Pat Brown and Dillon Pennington with utter contempt. Kohler-Cadmore, left out earlier in the season, hit two sixes and a four off Pennington’s first set of five, while Lynn got after Milne in his second set.But it was Brown’s first – and only – set that went the distance. Brown is a canny slower-ball specialist whose quicker ball is clocked at around 87mph/140kph, but Kohler-Cadmore set himself for the variations and swung him for three sixes and two fours, taking 26 off the last five balls of the Powerplay – the second most-expensive set of the tournament.Spin to win
Howell and Tahir dragged things back when the field spread, finding some purchase from the pitch as the ball stuck in the surface. Livingstone, standing in for Moeen, brought himself on after 50 balls and it proved to be a turning point. He struck with his fourth ball, Lynn flashing an outside edge to short third, and after David Willey whacked him over long-on for six, Livingstone tossed the next ball up and caught a skier off his own bowling.Howell conceded a single boundary when Jordan Thompson swung him over long-off for six, but he picked out Allen on the rope three balls later. Kohler-Cadmore was stranded at the wrong end, Livingstone rattling through his final 10 balls in a row for nine runs and the dismissal of Dane Vilas, and Milne bowled 10 on the bounce at the death, conceding only seven as he nailed his yorkers at above 90mph/145kph.Livingstone tees off
Howell described the pitch as a “Powerplay wicket” at the interval, by which he meant that it was by far the best time to score runs with the field up. Phoenix lost a wicket early on, Will Smeed dragging on for a first-baller, but Livingstone and Allen were never likely to consolidate.Liam Livingstone swings for the hills•Getty Images

Livingstone pulled his fourth ball, from Callum Parkinson, for six over deep backward square leg and stayed in fifth gear for most of his innings. He hit Parkinson for two more vicious straight sixes in his next set of five, and when he swung three Willey balls out of four into the stands on the leg side, the required rate was down at 1.13 runs per ball by the end of the Powerplay.Allen toyed with Adil Rashid in his second set of five, swiping him back over his head for two fours and a six, and Ben Raine was the next lamb to the slaughter as Phoenix’s batters traded sixes. Parkinson returned to have Allen stumped but Abell ticked over then watched from the non-striker’s end as Livingstone scooped and drove Matt Fisher down the ground, then let out a scream of delight when he pulled his tenth six over square leg to seal their final berth.Livingstone was Phoenix’s first pick in the initial draft for the Hundred and has more than vindicated their faith in him over the last month. “I’ve felt a little bit more pressure since Mo’s gone away,” he said afterwards. “We’ve got a young, fearless line-up and we’ve seen some great talent coming through. We’ve proved a lot of people wrong in this competition.”Leading Phoenix into the final is the latest landmark in what has been a remarkable summer for Livingstone after his T20I exploits for England against Pakistan. “I don’t think I’ve seen an England batter burst on the scene quite like this since Kevin Pietersen,” Nasser Hussain said on Sky Sports. “In white-ball cricket, we have found another one. This guy can hit a seriously big ball.”

Bacher mediated talks between CEO Moroe and Graeme Smith, which could have led to Smith becoming director of cricket

Firdose Moonda05-Dec-2019Ali Bacher, the former South African Test captain and managing director of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (now CSA), has called on CSA’s current administration to take responsibility for recent events which has seen the game teetering on the brink of crisis.Bacher called on the board to be held accountable and CEO Thabang Moroe to consider stepping down after initially mediating talks between Moroe and former captain Graeme Smith, which could have led to Smith taking on the director of cricket role on October 1.Smith and Moroe met at Bacher’s Johannesburg home on August 28, where Smith’s deal was all but finalised, but 11 weeks later Smith withdrew interest in the role citing lack of confidence in the administration. Now, with CSA putting out fires with the players’ association, sponsors, the media and facing collapse in their own board, Bacher has decided to speak out.”I have been involved in cricket administration at varying levels from 1981 to 2003. In 2003, after the Cricket World Cup, I decided to call it a day. It was my call. I decided I would not interfere in the future running of South African cricket and I kept my word. However recent developments have made it obligatory for me to go public and express my most serious concern about the current administration in South African cricket,” Bacher told ESPNcricinfo.While Bacher was not involved in the Gerald Majola or Haroon Lorgat era, he has been sought after for counsel under Moroe’s administration in recent months. Bacher oversaw the meeting between Smith and Moroe, and was thrilled with Smith’s interest. “Graeme is a legend not only in South Africa but around the world and I was excited to see him consider going into administration in South Africa full-time,” Bacher said.Bacher was optimistic Smith would be able to start rebuilding of the national side that had just been whitewashed in a Test series in India, under a revamped management. The tour was the first since CSA announced a structure that did away with a head coach and installed a team director in his place. The job was given to Enoch Nkwe, who had a successful run with the Lions and Jozi Stars in the 2018-19 summer, winning three of the four trophies available in his first season as a franchise coach. Vincent Barnes travelled as the bowling coach and Amol Muzumdar from India was hired on a short-term deal as a batting consultant.Though CSA put the poor results down to a transition period following the retirements of Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn, there were deeper problems than personnel. “It is a well-known fact that the current highly respected captain of South Africa, Faf du Plessis, was not consulted over the appointment of the coach or three assistants for the tour to India. South Africa got a 3-nil drubbing. Are you surprised?” Bacher asked.Few were, including Smith, who used much of his on-air commentary time to explain where South Africa were tactically erring. While CSA continues to attempt to draw Smith into the tent – and discussions between him and president Chris Nenzani are ongoing – Smith has admitted to having “real concerns,” with the way cricket is being run. Smith did not go into detail but an obvious issue is lack of communication. More than two months after Smith and Moroe met at Bacher’s home Smith “had still not received a contract for consideration”, Bacher said.Similarly, now, with little more than three weeks to go before South Africa host England for four Tests, three ODIs and three T20s, the director of cricket appointment has been delayed, there is no selection panel in place and no coaching staff have been confirmed. CSA’s board will hold a special sitting on Saturday in an attempt to resolve these issues but Bacher believes it is too late for them to seek redemption: “The current CEO is out of his depth and I strongly suggest that he resigns imminently in the best interests of South Africa cricket.”

Second extension granted as CSA continue to navigate choppy administrative waters

Firdose Moonda15-Feb-2021Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) interim board has been granted a two-month extension by the country’s sports minister, Nathi Mthethwa, in order to conclude its work. The board, chaired by Dr Stavros Nicolaou, will be in place until April 15 after initially being appointed on October 30, 2020 for a period of three months. This is the second extension granted to the board after they had their tenure stretched to mid-February last month.”Bearing in mind that in announcing the Interim Board late last year, the minister anticipated that even with the best laid plans, no one had a crystal ball on how things would practically pan out. As the Minister takes deadlines that he sets seriously, he considered and was persuaded by the rationale for the requested two-month extension, which was influenced by such external issues as the disciplinary hearings as well as consultations with internal and external stakeholders,” a statement issued by Mthethwa’s office read. “The minister is persuaded to grant the extension on the grounds stated, he has consulted with the members council (the highest decision making body at CSA made up of the 14 provincial presidents) and it was unanimously concluded that this is the best decision for cricket.”The interim board is currently in the process of disciplinary proceedings against CSA’s company secretary Welsh Gwaza and acting CEO Kugandrie Govender. It also needs to lay the framework for electing a permanent, and mostly independent board, and needs to ensure CSA is in a position to hold its AGM, which was postponed from September last year. Overall, the interim board’s scope of work remains the same: “to generally do whatever is necessary and appropriate in order to restore the integrity and reputation of CSA,” as the minister’s statement put it, following years of maladministration.But the board has not had it all smooth sailing. Last month, former interim board chair Zak Yacoob stood down following a verbal tirade on a journalist, while former board member Omphile Ramela is fighting the interim board in court over his removal as a director.

Former ODI captain asks his successor to take the young match-winners in his team along with him on the ride

Mohammad Isam05-May-2020Mashrafe Mortaza has asked Tamim Iqbal to trust his “gut feeling” when he leads Bangladesh out to the field as their new ODI captain, but also told his junior colleague to be patient when it comes to dealing with the noise around the team.”You will hear a lot of advice as a captain – ‘do this, do that’; but as long as you listen to your heart, you will be able to sleep at night even if you lose,” Mashrafe told Tamim during a conversation on Facebook. “You will be unhappy if you had to do what other people told you. I have always believed in this.”I won’t tell you how to do your captaincy, but you should do what your heart desires. Of course, you will have Shakib [Al Hasan], Mushfiq [Rahim] and [Mahmudullah] Riyad around you, but if you listen to your gut feeling, you will be more successful.”ALSO READ: Life in the time of Mashrafe, by Tamim and MahmudullahMashrafe, who resigned from the ODI captaincy in February, asked Tamim to back the younger players like Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das and Mustafizur Rahman to move forward.”Bangladesh’s reality is a little different. You have to be patient. If you can make the players understand that you will do everything you can for them, they will give the best for you,” Mashrafe said. “As long as I am confident in your ability, it doesn’t matter what others are saying. You have match-winners in Soumya, Liton and Mustafiz, so if something is being said about them, you have to handle it.”Everyone had a lot to say about Shakib batting at No. 3 in the [2019 50-over] World Cup. Shakib was confident that he could handle the pressure. My point of view was that if he failed in two matches, nobody would be more concerned than Shakib. He knows how to handle the pressure. I backed him fully because I felt he would have maximum impact at No. 3.”Shakib had a standout tournament, hitting 606 runs in eight innings, with two hundreds and five fifties, scoring at an average of 86.57 and a strike rate of 96.03. Bangladesh, however, couldn’t get into the final four.As such, while Tamim has been a senior player in the Bangladesh side for long, he has been a bit of a reluctant captain, taking charge only in one Test and three ODIs over the years. But Mashrafe suggested that Tamim’s leadership role off the field would be useful for him in his new position.”I never really supported your view of being reluctant about captaincy. Why wouldn’t you be the captain? You already have leadership qualities,” Mashrafe said. “The BCB will give you the captaincy for a long time, but that’s up to them. You have to accept it properly.”You didn’t accept it properly in Sri Lanka [when he led in ODIs last July] but seeing you now, I feel you are on the right track. Bangladesh cricket will take the next step very soon.”

The players from the three host countries were all due to earn between USD 10,000 and USD 35,000 in three salary tiers for Associates

Peter Della Penna in Aberdeen16-Aug-2019Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer has called for Euro T20 Slam organisers to show “a gesture” of good faith in order to restore confidence that the tournament will indeed go-ahead for 2020. Just two weeks before the start of the tournament, the organisers had cancelled the Euro T20 Slam.Coetzer stated that the news, which was delivered to the Scotland squad in a team meeting on Wednesday before organisers sent out an official release to the general public, may leave Scotland players in a bind and many will now have to seek other ways to recoup the expected earnings from the tournament.”Let’s be honest, pretty much every one of the players was going to earn more in that space of time, to what they would earn in a full year playing cricket,” Coetzer told ESPNcricinfo. “You have to look at the impact it may have on some guys and certainly there’s a couple of boys that were potentially looking to go away at some time during the winter and now they probably need to get a job. It would have created giving guys an opportunity to feel an element of security in what we try and do.”The players from the three host countries were all due to earn between USD 10,000 and USD 35,000 in three salary tiers for Associate players in the three-week competition. Coetzer was due to receive USD 40,000 as all three T20 captains from the host countries – Ireland’s Gary Wilson and the Netherlands’ Pieter Seelaar – were stipulated to receive a USD 5000 bonus payment. In addition to the exposure of playing against world-class players, the financial lift to help professionalise players has now disappeared – which is significant.”It’s always hard enough,”Coetzer said. “You’re just getting by and no one complains because we all love playing for Scotland and we’re all heading towards the same goal but it’s gonna make things harder. It would have just given guys, even if it was a year of breathing space, just to let them ease their minds a little bit, just go and play cricket, show the passion, which we always show anyway. But it would have taken a bit of a weight off some of the guys’ shoulders financially. That’s gonna be tough for guys to take.”Coetzer had returned just days earlier from the Global T20 Canada, where his Montreal Tigers squad was involved in a player protest along with Toronto Nationals as players refused to take the field until overdue salary disbursements were paid out. The Scotland captain said that organizers, who are in charge of both events, need to consider a make-good financial gesture to restore the confidence and credibility in the eyes of players and fans.”It’s reasonably well documented that something happened in Canada,” Coetzer said. “I think all the players felt as if they would be getting paid. Part of it was there was a structure within the contract that says certain amounts should be paid within certain dates and that’s where the issue was. I feel if they hold onto those agreements when they agree to them, then there would be no issue.””What they may need to do to convince people for the Slam would be possibly a kind gesture towards some of the players to say, ‘Look, we apologize for this but it will go ahead next year.’ They probably need to show some kind of sign that they’re willing to do that because we need the people to believe that it will still go ahead next year. The international players, the marquee players, they still need to have confidence that they won’t miss out on something else if they come to the Slam. A number of our guys didn’t put their names in other competitions.”Scotland coach Shane Burger also felt that the news influenced his players mentally prior to taking the field in their first Cricket World Cup League Two ODI against Oman, a match in which they were bowled out for 168. But he hopes they’ll be able to bounce back over the next three matches in Aberdeen against Oman and Papua New Guinea.”I have no doubt that there was an impact,” Burger said. “I think if there wasn’t an impact because of that, then I’d be surprised. There was a massive disappointment when the news was heard. However, in saying all of that, this is a professional cricket team that needs to make sure that they can switch on and off when they need to. It’s not gonna be the first time they get given bad news.”This team has had to deal with a lot this season, people passing away, Euro Slam news, all of it. I believe the team has come a long way in terms of maturity and they should have been able to deal with the news, as tough as it is to handle. I don’t think that played a role in us losing the game today. I just think they outplayed us.”

Kane Williamson was delighted with the fighting spirit his charges showed as they snatched a dramatic four-run win in the first Test in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan

Danyal Rasool19-Nov-2018Kane Williamson has hailed the astonishing four-run win in Abu Dhabi as New Zealand’s “best in recent memory” and among the best in his career. Speaking just after New Zealand triggered a Pakistan collapse that saw the hosts lose their last six wickets for 24 runs to be bowled out for 171, the New Zealand captain praised the attitude and “fighting attributes” of his side.”Some of the characteristics we hold very dear is our attitude whenever we had to get back into the game, be it with the bat, ball or in the field throughout these four days,” he said. “I think the fighting attributes of this team really shone through, certainly today. It’s important to build on a number of parts to go into the next game, for sure.”It wasn’t just today that the momentum of the game ebbed and flowed. In truth, it had been a match that, across four days, refused to reveal its hand, with no side able to establish a clear advantage over the other. For the most part, it was Pakistan doing the frontrunning, but whenever it appeared they were pulling too far ahead, New Zealand rallied, dragging themselves back into the contest, refusing to lie down.Consider that New Zealand’s 153 was the lowest ever first innings score by any side in Abu Dhabi. When, two sessions into the match, the visitors had been turned over, it looked like the result was already a foregone conclusion, with Pakistan having historically demonstrated the ability to grind opponents into the desert dust. Here, however, Williamson’s men, playing their first Test match in seven months, kept themselves in the contest. 74 was a sizeable first innings lead, but partnerships in the second innings ensured they would leave themselves with enough to play with to have a shot.”It certainly was dramatic,” Williamson reflected. “Throughout the four days, both teams were put under pressure. I think at the end of the day it was a great advertisement for Test cricket. The wicket was challenging and both teams had to fight hard, and certainly Pakistan had the upper hand after day one.”To get through the four days and stay in the match and come out with this result must obviously rank as one of our best wins. In theory it was an old-fashioned Test match, really slow in terms of scoring. The guys had to really fight hard for the runs and that partnership [112 runs between BJ Watling and Henry Nicholls] was huge for us to get a lead, even though it wasn’t a big lead. But it still kept us in the game. I guess when you look back, winning by such a small margin means every contribution in terms of runs scored and runs saved on the field did matter.”It was a game for partnerships, with one wicket triggering several more on numerous occasions. That meant those pairings that did find a way to spend quality time at the crease made crucial, and in New Zealand’s case, match winning contributions. Of the 402 runs the visitors aggregated over two innings, 270 came across just three partnerships. It was up to the specialist batsmen to make they key difference in the most testing of conditions; only 136 runs were scored by the last five wickets across the four innings, the lowest of any match since 1980.”We saw the nature of how wickets fell in clumps,” Williamson said. “I’m not sure why it was challenging to start as a batsman, and we knew if you’re able to keep the pressure on, who knows what might happen? This game was very close and you can reflect on how you do so many little things differently depending on which side of the result you’re on, but at the end of the day it was a great game.”It certainly was, prompting many to gush about the state of Test cricket, and the value of the format at a time when it is in increasing danger of being marginalised. But across in the other dressing room, Pakistan will draw little consolation about the fillip this match provided to a format that, just two years ago, they were ranked the best in the world in.

In more bowler-friendly conditions than Derbyshire’s last home match, the captain stood firm for four-and-a-half hours

ECB Reporters Network04-Sep-2018
ScorecardDerbyshire captain Billy Godleman continued his recent impressive run of form with 95 to steer his side to respectability on the opening day of the Division Two match against Glamorgan at Derby.Godleman, who had scored a century and 71 in his previous four innings, passed 4000 first-class runs for the county as Derbyshire made 251 with their former seamer Graham Wagg taking three wickets.Timm van der Gugten also claimed three wickets and in reply, Glamorgan were 20 without loss when bad light ended play early.Derbyshire’s previous home game had been a batting feast with more than 1300 runs scored but conditions here provided help for the bowlers throughout with the floodlights on from ball one.Given the overcast skies and a green tinged pitch, it was no surprise the toss was uncontested and Tom Lace had already been dropped in the slips before he shouldered arms and lost his off stump to one that came back a long way from van der Gugten.van der Gugten also saw Wayne Madsen put down at point before he had scored in the same over but he clipped Michael Hogan tamely to mid-wicket and when Alex Hughes was caught behind trying to withdraw his bat, Derbyshire were wobbling at 50 for 3.Godleman was beaten several times but showed typical determination along with an awareness of any movement in the media centre to ensure his team posted what looks a competitive total.Gary Wilson shared a stand of 52 but was lbw playing no shot to the last ball of the morning to give David Lloyd his 50th first-class wicket and Matt Critchley batted positively until he played across the line at Hogan.Kieran Bull, in his first game for three years, was rewarded for an impressive spell of controlled offspin when Harvey Hussein was lured down the pitch and after tea was taken early because of rain, former Derbyshire allrounder Wagg had Martin Andersson lbw on his Championship debut following his loan move from Middlesex.Godleman had been in for 270 minutes but with a century beckoning, he dabbed at a wide ball from Wagg and was caught behind.Wagg quickly pinned Lockie Ferguson lbw but Tony Palladino and Ravi Rampaul guided Derbyshire to an unlikely second batting point before Glamorgan were left with 13 overs to negotiate.It was always likely to be an awkward period for the openers but they survived six overs before bad light ended play with Glamorgan 231 runs behind.