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Chameera becomes Sri Lanka’s third injury replacement at the World Cup after Chamika Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2023Lahiru Kumara has been ruled out of the World Cup after hurting his left thigh during training in Pune, where Sri Lanka play their next game of the tournament, against Afghanistan on Monday. He has been replaced in the Sri Lanka squad by Dushmantha Chameera, who becomes the third player to come in as an injury replacement for Sri Lanka since the tournament started.Chameera was one of the key players who Sri Lanka couldn’t fit into their World Cup squad earlier because of fitness issues. He was initially out of action with a torn pectoral muscle, which he suffered ahead of the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe, and after recovering from that, he injured himself again in the Lanka Premier League in August.Related

• Peak Sri Lanka too sharp for England

• Kumara goes from back-up to frontman

But Chameera came into the touring party – along with Angelo Mathews – on October 19 as a travelling reserve, and has now moved into the main squad. Mathews had earlier replaced Matheesha Pathirana (shoulder injury), while Chamika Karunaratne had come in for regular captain Dasun Shanaka (quad injury).While Chameera would have been an automatic pick in the Sri Lanka squad under ordinary circumstances, Sri Lanka would probably have wanted Kumara in the mix too, especially after his Player-of-the-Match performance against England on October 26. Kumara picked up three big wickets in that game – those of Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone and Ben Stokes – as Sri Lanka won by eight wickets, only their second win in five games in the tournament so far.Sri Lanka’s updated World Cup squad: Kusal Mendis (capt, wk), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Angelo Mathews, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne

It is understood Sriram will act as head coach of the T20I side, with current head coach Russell Domingo taking charge of the Test and ODI teams

Mohammad Isam19-Aug-2022The BCB has appointed former India allrounder S Sriram technical consultant for the Bangladesh T20I side, running from the Asia Cup later this month to the T20 World Cup in October-November this year. It is understood that Sriram will act as head coach of the T20I side, with current head coach Russell Domingo taking charge of the Test and ODI teams.Domingo is scheduled to reach Dhaka on Friday, to discuss his future plans, and on Thursday BCB president Nazmul Hassan said that they were going to make “drastic changes” to the Asia Cup-bound side.”We are not a strong side when it comes to T20 matches, and to do something about that, we have decided to bring drastic changes in our thought process and mentality,” Hassan said. “‘We want to start anew from the Asia Cup, and if we don’t do it now, we will face even worse results in the World Cup. We have done appallingly in the last T20 World Cup. We don’t know if we can get out of the circle of substandard results in T20 games. Since the Asia Cup is the biggest stage after the World Cup, we will try to change our way of playing and bring results.”Hassan, however, insisted that Sriram is a consultant and not coach. “The first thing is, Sriram was in our shortlist. He is coming to Dhaka on the afternoon of August 21. He is not taking over as coach. He is definitely not the head coach. He is coming as a technical consultant,” Hassan said.Sriram worked with the Australian team for six years from 2016, as assistant coach and spin-bowling coach, and has a role with Royal Challengers Bangalore at the IPL. In his time with Australia, he had a big impact on Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, and worked closely with Nathan Lyon. He has also worked on developing Glenn Maxwell as a T20 spinner both during his time with Australia and RCB.Sriram played eight ODIs for India between 2000 and 2004, scoring one fifty and picking up nine wickets, and has a long and distinguished first-class career.In a statement, he said he was excited to put his extensive coaching experience to good use with Bangladesh. “I bring with me 25 years of cricketing experience and nine years of coaching at an elite level. I am really looking forward to working with the Bangladesh players. I believe Bangladesh has huge potential in white-ball cricket and the very thought of being involved with such a talented group of players at two high-profile events excites me.”Sriram takes over a team that has won just two out of seven completed T20Is this year, on the back of the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE, where they lost five out of five games in the second round of the tournament.Among the challenges for Sriram will be to have an impact in a crowded coaching setup. Domingo might not be involved, but the team also has the influential Jamie Siddons as batting coach while board director Khaled Mahmud is team director.

The series isn’t without context, as there are World Cup Super League points up for grabs

Deivarayan Muthu22-Mar-20217:01

Will the toss be decisive in the ODIs? And, Rahul or Pant? Or both?

Big picture

In the year of the T20 World Cup and the inaugural World Test Championship final, most bilateral ODI series are expected to fly under the radar and this India-England series is no different. After being close to their full-strength in the T20I leg of the India tour, England will be without three of their 2019 World Cup heroes – Joe Root (rested), Jofra Archer (injured) and Chris Woakes (rested) – for the three-ODI series. It’s not an entirely context-free series, though, with World Cup Super League points up for grabs.This is a chance for England to take their first steps towards prepping for their 50-over World Cup defence in 2023 in India and test out the likes of Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Livingstone and Reece Topley, who didn’t feature in the T20I series at all. In the absence of Root, their second-highest scorer behind Eoin Morgan in ODIs, England need to choose between Ali, Billings, Livingstone and Ben Stokes for the No. 3 spot.Livingstone, who is uncapped in ODI cricket, looks a decent bet, having opened for Lancashire and more recently for the Perth Scorchers in their run to the Big Bash League final. But then again, England could bump Stokes up to No. 3 and slip in Billings as a finisher, something that Dinesh Karthik suggested on during the T20I series.Related

• Eoin Morgan: Selection for England's ODIs in India is no 'consolation prize'

• Bhuvneshwar the banker comes to India's rescue

• IPL SOPs: No vaccinations; 10-day isolation for positive tests

• Silverwood: Archer's decision to miss ODIs 'sensible'

Matt Parkinson, Livingston’s Lancashire team-mate, has been in England’s bubble since January for the subcontinent tour of Sri Lanka and India, but hasn’t got a game yet. Sure, Parkinson is a legspinner who doesn’t have too many attacking variations like Adil Rashid, but is he good enough to be England’s second spinner?Likewise, Kuldeep Yadav has got very limited game-time since the last IPL in the UAE – eight matches to be precise, including a tour game in Sydney. Yadav hasn’t played together with fellow wristspinner Yuzvendra Chahal since Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow picked them apart when England and India last met in this format, in World Cup match at Edgbaston.Since then, MS Dhoni has retired from international cricket and Kedar Jadhav has been axed from the set-up. The absence of a Jadhav-like player – a batsman who can pitch in with the ball – proved a thorny issue for India in Australia. The selectors and the team management have addressed it by bringing Washington Sundar and Krunal Pandya into the mix. Hardik Pandya bowled short, sharp spells in the T20Is, but India may manage him more carefully as far as the longer formats are concerned in a T20 World Cup year.Suryakumar Yadav, who made stellar contributions with the bat in the T20Is and impressed Virat Kohli with his “X-factor”, could be the latest entrant in India’s middle-order roulette in ODI cricket.

Form guide

India: WLLLL
England: LWLLWAfter a quiet T20I series, Sam Curran will look to hit form in the ODIs•Surjeet Yadav/Getty

In the spotlight

T Natarajan‘s ability to nail yorkers, often on demand, makes him a compelling white-ball prospect, but this ODI series and the following IPL will be a test of his fitness more than anything else. Having emerged from a tennis-ball background, Natarajan hadn’t played as much with the cricket ball on the bounce as he did in 2020-21. R Ashwin revealed on his YouTube channel that the left-arm seamer had a tibia issue on his knee during the Australia tour and has since returned to the side after undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.Sam Curran batted as low as No. 9 in the T20I series decider, with Morgan putting it down to a tactical move to perhaps break up the bevy of left-handers in the England line-up. On the whole, Sam Curran was under-utilised by Morgan – both with ball and ball. He got to bat in two other innings, scoring 3 and 6* from No. 7, and got to bowl just ten overs in five outings. In the absence of Archer and Woakes, Sam – or his elder brother Tom Curran – could potentially be given greater responsibility in the ODIs.

Team news

In the deciding T20I on Sunday, India left KL Rahul out to “bring in a good balance with bat and ball”. He could miss out again if they lean towards a sixth-bowling option for the ODI series opener. Kohli has also confirmed that Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan would start the ODI series as openers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is set to lead the seam attack in what will be his fourth ODI since the 2019 World Cup.India (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 KL Rahul/Krunal Pandya/Washington Sundar, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal/Kuldeep Yadav, 11 T NatarajanMorgan hasn’t guaranteed a return for Ali and if he doesn’t make the cut, Livingstone may make his ODI debut on Tuesday. Billings, who has excelled as a finisher since his return to the ODI team in 2020, is likely to play his first match of the tour.England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Ben Stokes, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Sam Billings, 7 Moeen Ali/Liam Livingstone, 8 Sam Curran/Tom Curran, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Reece Topley, 11 Mark WoodT Natarajan, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav tune up for the ODI series opener•PTI

Pitch and conditions

The MCA Stadium in Pune has traditionally rolled out pitches that favour batsmen. The venue has hosted only four ODIs so far, with 300 having been breached thrice. The last time England faced India in Pune, Jadhav and Kohli cracked centuries to hunt down 351 in January 2017. The weather is expected to be fine for the duration of the match. All three ODIs will be played behind closed doors.

Stats and trivia

• Stokes is set to play his first ODI since his starring role in the 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s.
• Both India and England come into this series on the back of 2-1 ODI series defeats at the hands of Australia.
• Among teams that have played at least ten ODIs since the last World Cup, India have the poorest record in the powerplay with the ball: six wickets at an average of an average of 144.16 and economy rate of 5.76. During this period, England’s bowlers have taken 17 wickets in the powerplay at an average of just under 23 in nine games.
• Since 2010, India have lost only three bilateral ODI series at home. They had suffered defeats to Pakistan in 2012, South Africa in 2015 and more recently to Australia in 2019.

Quotes

“Even though we didn’t pick up the trophy, we learned a huge amount. It has been an extremely productive tour so far in white-ball cricket. The biggest picture always being the World Cup in both white-ball formats. You don’t always have to win every series in order to win a World Cup. You continuously need to get better, need to be tested as a side, need to fail in order to learn. That involves losing, which isn’t fun, but it is part of the journey.”
“Along the way, scheduling and workload is something everyone will have to be very aware of and keep an eye out for, especially in today’s day and age where you just don’t know where restrictions might come in.”

ESPNcricinfo’s live updates on the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy games

Sruthi Ravindranath25-Nov-2019

Meanwhile former CA chairman Bob Merriman has termed the review “absolute bloody nonsense and a disgrace” while endorsing Mark Taylor for the role

Daniel Brettig31-Oct-20181:56

ACA will be ‘relentless’ in aiming to overturn player bans

Australia’s largest cricket state, New South Wales, will not express public support for Cricket Australia’s current chairman David Peever and his board before further consideration of the findings of the cultural review released publicly on Monday.The Cricket NSW board, chaired by the Credit Suisse Australia chief executive John Knox, convened for a regular meeting in Sydney on Tuesday night and discussed the release of the cultural review, which has handed down numerous highly critical findings about the culture of CA. “The CNSW Board is considering the review,” a spokesman said.As owners of CA, the state associations have the constitutional right to sack individual directors by a two thirds vote of state delegates at an extraordinary general meeting. Should each state’s three delegates for such a meeting vote en bloc, four out of the six states would be required to carry any motion to remove a board director.While the CEOs or chairmen of three states – Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania – have expressed support for Peever, NSW carries considerable influence as the largest of the state associations. It is also the home state of the long-serving board director Mark Taylor, who has been suggested by past administrators as the most appropriate man to take CA forward while carrying out the review’s 42 recommendations.Western Australia, home state of the board director Bob Every who resigned in protest at Peever’s intention to continue for another three years, has also declined to say anything beyond the fact that the WACA is considering the findings of the review. Cricket Victoria, meanwhile, released a statement from its chairman Paul Barker expressing support for CA in general but not Peever specifically.”Cricket Victoria will continue to support Cricket Australia in the delivery of the overall strategy for cricket,” Barker said, “and in the effective implementation of the Ethics Centre recommendations – as supported by Cricket Australia.”There is consternation among the states about CA’s decision to withhold the cultural review to stakeholders until after last week’s AGM, at which Peever was re-elected for three years. Internal discussions, in which the role of the outgoing chief executive James Sutherland was placed at the heart of cultural problems, has also left some states unimpressed.This has been underlined by the fact that it was Peever and the then lead negotiator Kevin Roberts who led the adversarial MoU dispute with the Australian Cricketers Association last year, before Sutherland was compelled to intervene and broker a compromise with a looming Test tour of Bangladesh under threat. Similarly, Peever’s public discussion of the review findings, both at a press conference in Melbourne on Monday and an interview with Leigh Sales on that night’s current affairs program, left plenty of questions being asked about his ability to serve as frontman for the organisation.Cricket Australia chairman David Peever•Getty Images

Colin Carter, joint author of the governance review that brought the current board model into effect, said it was “completely astonishing” that the states found themselves voting for the re-election of the chairman for another three years without having access to the cultural review beforehand.”The one thing I would say is that I am incredibly surprised that the ‘shareholders’ voted on the composition of the board before they had a chance to read the report,” Carter told . “There is a legitimate debate that goes on, to what extent as you move up the chain should senior people be held accountable and even lose their jobs. That’s a debate that goes on in the banks at the moment, in the churches and the Essendon footy club a few years ago. There is a no black-and-white answer to that because the circumstances are all different and stuff like that.”I don’t think it is possible to have a strong view that board members should be re-signed or sacked or whatever. What I do think is completely astonishing is that decisions were made about the composition of the board for the next three years before any of the people who were voting had a chance to read the assessments that were made. From a governance point of view, I think that was not correct.”Bob Merriman, the former CA chairman, has stated bluntly that Taylor should replace Peever as chairman as soon as possible, while also slamming the findings and process of the cultural review. “I believe Mark Taylor should be the chairman tomorrow and the place should get back on its even footing, either Mark Taylor or Earl Eddings. He [Taylor] is one of the greatest captains we’ve had in our time,” Merriman told the . “He’s been on the board for at least 10 years and has experience in what cricket people really want.”We don’t want this kind of crappy, academic bullshit that’s been presented. We want people that know the game and know what to do with the game. I’m concerned for the game, I’m concerned for the leadership of the game. We’ve lost some good people. I don’t know how in the hell we rely upon non-cricket people to make decisions that are so important for the game. I personally think it’s a disgraceful report as to its quality, I’ve read it in detail.”I think the wisest thing that’s happened is James Sutherland has decided to retire rather than put up with this kind of crap. All the actions James Sutherland took to cover and do the right thing in Cape Town were not even mentioned – the fact that he acted so quickly to suspend the captain and the vice-captain – and under his leadership, the administration took every step that was possible. Now we find a situation where, against the better judgment of a number of people, we’ve got people reporting and investigating without the proper quality. To me, the report is an absolute bloody nonsense and a disgrace.”Another former director, the South Australian Ian McLachlan, reiterated his opposition to a fully independent nine-person board, preferring to see a model where six state-appointed delegates mix with three nationally-appointed independents. A former cabinet minister in Federal Parliament, McLachlan led SA’s opposition to CA governance reform in 2011-12, before sitting on the initial nominations committee for the new board that unearthed Peever, Roberts and Jacquie Hey as the first three independents.”Until they let the states elect their own person to the board, the states will simply be told what to do from Jolimont, and that’s exactly not the way to run cricket,” McLachlan told the . “That was the one mistake in the Carter/Crawford report. It says CA is there to represent its owners, and the states are the owners, but it also contradicts that by saying the owners can’t have a direct member on the board. That in my view has led to the owners not knowing anything because they’re not told anything.”

Sarah Taylor’s half-century and Jenny Gunn’s cameo unbeaten 27 helped England fight nerves and a full-blown batting collapse to progress to their fifth World Cup final

The Report by Shashank Kishore18-Jul-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSarah Taylor helped England nudge ahead early in their chase•Getty Images

England progressed to their fifth World Cup final but not before South Africa gave them a mighty scare in Bristol. England nearly paid the price for switching off. A cruise when Sarah Taylor and Heather Knight were at the crease turned into a full-blown collapse when they lost three wickets – one of those to a brilliant run-out and another to a rank full toss – in the space of eleven deliveries. At 149 for 5, chasing 219, it was game on.But England dug deep to find a way out. Fran Wilson and Jenny Gunn exhibited England’s batting depth to take them within six runs of victory. Wilson showed tremendous guts – none more than her scoop to a full ball over short third man off Shabnim Ismail with England needing 40 off 38 – to make 30, before falling in the 48th over.It should have been easily from there on, but pressure can do strange things. South Africa were taking every step to make Nelson Mandela Day a memorable one. The game hinged on a knife’s edge as it went into the final over, off which England needed three. Ismail, entrusted with the responsibility of trying to polish off the last three wickets, put down a sharp chance off the first ball to reprieve Gunn. Nerves were jangling. Then with two needed off four, she foxed Laura Marsh with a slower ball. The England players were on tenterhooks now.South Africa needed two wickets. Anya Shrubsole, hardly needed to bat in the tournament, was on strike. She saw width and flayed it through point to bring up the winning runs, runs that were like a dagger through South Africa’s hearts as another World Cup dream crashing down to leave them heart-broken even as a jubilant England side extended an arm of support to the wounded soldiers.If South Africa were to reflect on the heart-wrenching loss, as they would in all likelihood, they’d perhaps rue letting England drift away when Taylor whipped, scooped and flicked her way to a half-century. Up until then, they had managed to pull things back courtesy Ayabongo Khaka’s 10-over spell which yielded two wickets, including that of Tammy Beaumont, the highest run-getter in the tournament.But Taylor’s 78-run stand with Knight had a deflating effect. They also didn’t help matters early in the chase by being a little off-colour on the field. Trisha Chetty, the record-holder for most dismissals in women’s ODIs, had a particularly bad day, fluffing two opportunities along with a number of fumbles to leak runs.All of this meant South Africa had no control over proceedings until Dane van Niekerk brought them back with an inspirational effort – a one-handed pick up at cover to run Taylor out with a direct hit at the striker’s end in the 33rd over. They weren’t the same side from there on. Laura Wolvaardt’s acrobatic effort at square leg off a full toss sent Knight back. When Natalie Sciver was bowled around her legs by Sune Luus, South Africa’s hopes brightened.The tournament’s best batting line-up was seriously being challenged by a gun attack. But England had a Gunn in their ranks too, and she biffed two boundaries off the 47th over to bring the equation to under a run-a-ball, shortly after Mosaline Daniels removed Katherine Brunt. But at the end, South Africa were left to rue a lower-order collapse of their own, which left them at least 30 short of what they should’ve got.Wolvaardt and Mignon du Preez struck half-centuries, and together they put on 77 for the third wicket, to set South Africa for a tilt at 250, but they never gained momentum. Once Wolvaardt fell, England simply didn’t let the middle and lower order get away on a slow surface where manufacturing shots wasn’t easy.Yet, Wolvaardt’s control of her batting stood out when runs were hard to come by. She batted with the maturity of a veteran, who knew how to make up for the slow start. At the other end, du Preez improvised, often manufacturing strokes by walking across or using the depth of the crease to either flick or cut and pull.But the first sign of growing comfort resulted in Knight introducing spin. It was a sign that they’d done their homework. Laura Marsh and Alex Hartley tied the runs down in the middle overs, before Knight reaped the reward in her first over when Wolvaardt was out bowled trying to cut a skiddy delivery. Three balls later, a mix-up led to Marizanne Kapp’s run out.South Africa’s last roll of the dice at 250 were Van Niekerk and Chloe Tryon, who replaced Masabata Klaas, only because they needed the middle-order muscle. When she chipped a simple return catch off her third delivery, South Africa’s innings had quickly descended into free fall. It needed a pugnacious unbeaten 76 from du Preez to give them a fighting chance, but it wasn’t quite enough.

Nick Gubbins and Steve Eskinazi revelled in an overdue catch-up as Middlesex’s young batsmen shone against Lancashire at Lord’s

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Lord's28-Jun-2016
ScorecardNick Gubbins registered his first double century•Getty Images

Today was about a tale of Nick Gubbins and Stevie Eskinazi – two who have made their way up the youth ranks at Middlesex together and spent the best part of their Tuesday creating the sorts of memories that best friends never tire of reliving. Gubbins will no doubt lead the reminiscing: a double hundred to savour as he led his side out of Lancashire’s huge first innings shadow. But Eskinazi, as he did today, will interject with his side of the story – an accomplished maiden first class century in his second match in the format.Together, they put on 208 in 361 balls for the third wicket, their time in the middle a welcome treat for Middlesex and Gubbins: “It’s probably the most time I’ve spent with Eski since he got a girlfriend. It was nice that he took time out of his day to spend it with me.”Ah, Gubbins, the proto-Strauss starting to enhance his own name. For many Middlesex fans, the Gubbins-Strauss comparison is tiresome. While the similarities are evident and valid – Radley College alumni, a carbon copy game square of the wicket, identical slack jaw smile and general clumsiness – the annoyance for them is that some use the comparison to extrapolate what Gubbins might achieve rather than lauding what he is achieving right now.At 22 years of age, he has a Division One double hundred at Lord’s. That’s now two centuries and, at the time of walking off when bad light stopped play after tea, 570 runs in his first full season of Championship cricket. Only Sam Robson has enjoyed a more fruitful red ball summer than him. In case you were wondering, Strauss was 34 when he made it past 200 for the first time.His time at the crease is approaching eight hours, having begun this innings 12 overs before lunch on day two. Starting again on 71 on the third morning, he made the most of Kyle Jarvis’ pace on the ball to drive across a fast outfield. He waited for the bad balls, sure, but he also scored off the good deliveries, too: soft hands guiding any balls that left him to third man and firm wrists pushing anything at him into midwicket and mid on. It was only when he went from 89 to 95 in one strike that trepidation entered his game.Scores in the nineties hang over any batsmen: each a sizeable nugget in your conscience that reminds of you of opportunities missed. Comparable to the person at the bar you couldn’t summon the courage to talk to or that spare ticket you fobbed off to what turned out to be the gig of a lifetime. Or that time you were on a flat one at Lord’s and failed to make it count. And Gubbins had three of them before breaching three figures for the first time against Somerset in his previous match at Lord’s. He very nearly added a fourth.On 96 and looking to cut into a vacant backward point, he edged Jordan Clark to Steven Croft, only for the Lancashire skipper to shell what would have been a smart, diving take to his left. After some calming words from Eskinazi, he decided to get there in singles.There was no such hesitancy in the 190s which he admitted were “a bit of a blur”, aided by a nick through third man and then a powerful pull shot off Jarvis which pinged off the advertising boards of the Grandstand. When Eskinazi was asked what his hundred felt like, he used up most of his time lauding the feat of Gubbins’ double.When they weren’t singing each other’s praises, they were joshing – Gubbins scoffing at Eskinazi’s assertion that he was “as British as my friend Nick Gubbins”; Eskinazi at Gubbins’ insistence that the slog sweep for six to take him to three figures was “pretty rogue”.At lunch, Eskinazi, on 91, had an inbox full of encouragement from his friends and family. As joke, he messaged his brother to ask whether or not he should sweep the leg-spinner, Matt Parkinson, for six to bring up his 100. “Absolutely not, not a chance, please don’t!” came the reply from brother, mum, dad, three uncles and two cousins. When he eventually departed for 106, edging Kyle Jarvis to Tom Smith at second slip, came the follow-up texts: “You absolutely cowboy!”This is Eskinazi’s fourth year at the club and is three years away from qualifying fully for England. Born in Johannesburg, raised in Western Australia where he turned out for the state’s Under-17 and 19 sides, while also spending 10 years in England as a kid (his mother was born here). As a wicket-keeper batsman, his first team opportunities had been limited, but he was never far from the lips of the Middlesex members.Like most diehard county fans, any lament of an underperforming first XI brings a stream of 2nd XI names that should be given a chance to do better. In the last few years, Adam Rossington and Andy Balbirnie were names that have echoed around the ground or off the metal finished bar of the Tavern pub: players who have wiped the floor with 2nd XI attacks but whose opportunities further up were limited. Both have moved on. Last season, “Stevie Eskinazi” began to make an appearance as words of “outstanding knocks for the 2s” or “big runs for Stanmore” spread like fantasy folklore. On this day, you saw it for yourself.He could not have asked for a better pitch for only his third first-class knock. Even so, every defensive shot came out of the middle, as he lined up behind every full or short ball. Near the end of the morning session, Lancashire looked to prey on any nerves he might have while Eskinazi was on his maiden first class voyage in the nineties. Parkinson bowled around the wicket into the right-armers footmarks at the Pavilion End, with a two slips and a leg slip for company. He ignored it all, leaving a handful of deliveries across him and pushing the ball out in front before waiting for his mate to go for lunch.Like all Bromance movies, there is a key message here: Middlesex’s investment in youth is starting to pay dividends. While previously it had been senior men steered the team out of trouble, here were two 22-year-olds doing so with all the comfort of a long overdue catch-up.In keeping, Lancashire looked very much like patrons unable to get on with their own plans over the raucous bonhomie on the next table. But rather than lose their will and ask to be moved, they got on with matters. A mini-collapse of 42 for 3 with the new ball brought them some relief.A fourth Lord’s stalemate is in the offing. For all the revelry of the regulars, Lancashire can take solace from the fact that they don’t come here often.