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Jason Kerr says batter suffered “pretty serious” injury when rolling ankle playing football in warm-ups

ESPNcricinfo staff and ECB Reporters Network12-Sep-2024Somerset threw open the County Championship Division One title race by beating leaders Surrey in a thrilling day-four finish at Taunton – but victory came at a cost, with Tom Banton ruled out* of Saturday’s Blast semi-final rematch between the teams after rolling his ankle while playing football.Banton batted at No. 11 in Somerset’s second innings, scoring 46 in a vital last-wicket stand with Craig Overton worth 71. Surrey then collapsed from 95 for 3 to 109 all out in the final session of the game, Somerset securing victory with minutes left in the day to cut the champions’ lead at the top to eight points.Speaking before the extent of Banton’s injury was confirmed, Jason Kerr, Somerset’s head coach, conceded that it was “pretty serious”, adding that James Rew would be added to their squad as wicketkeeping cover.”Tom is an incredible talent, but so is James and we believe he has a bright future in all formats,” Kerr said. “Yesterday was a fantastic day and we need to use the confidence and momentum from that tomorrow. We know that anything can happen in the short format of the game, but the confidence in the group is extremely high and it’s a challenge that we’re all looking forward to.”Aside from Banton, who top-scored with 132 in the first innings, Somerset’s heroes were Archie Vaughan – the son of former England captain, Michael – and Jack Leach. Vaughan, playing only his second first-class match, claimed match figures of 11 for 140, while Leach took 9 for 142.Somerset’s dramatic victory kept them in touch with Surrey, the two-time defending champions, and maintained their hopes of winning a domestic treble, having also progressed to the One-Day Cup final later this month.”It was a crazy hour at the end,” Somerset captain, Lewis Gregory, said. “There were periods when not much happened, but the lads hung in there and Jack Leach and Archie Vaughan were fantastic the whole game.”To get a win with only a couple of minutes left in the match was very special. Four-day wins are some of the most pleasing you have as a cricketer because you work so hard for them.”Archie has taken to first-class cricket like a duck to water. The fact that he is more of a batter than a bowler is the really exciting bit and we believe he is going to be very good to watch with the bat over a number of years. If you throw in the off-spin he has bowled in this game, there is a mighty special cricketer developing.”Leachy is a great mate of mine. He has been through a good deal of adversity in his life and not just his cricket career. It’s great to see him back in the England squad and I’m sure he will show what he can do in Pakistan.”The coaches and myself said at the start of the season that we wanted to be in a position to challenge for trophies come September. The fact that we can still win three shows the calibre of players we have in our dressing room.”Although Surrey had their lead at the top cut, they remain in control of their own destiny with two rounds of the Championship to play – a home fixture against Durham and a trip to Chelmsford to play Essex.”We had a concentration lapse for the last hour of the game and it cost us the result,” Surrey head coach, Gareth Batty, said. “It was a very good game of cricket and we played our part in it, but Somerset deservedly take the points.”We are still top of the league and eight points clear. And, while we had a poor hour, there were still lots of positives to take from the game for us.”Archie Vaughan bowled nicely, but it is for Somerset to comment on his performance. It’s a really nice start for the lad and we wish him all the success for the future.”It will stay in the dressing room how we are feeling. We are a very tight unit and we will go into next week incredibly confident that we can do what is required at The Oval.”We meet Somerset again at Finals Day on Saturday. It will be a different format and different colour ball, but both teams have played good cricket in the group stages. There will be a few new faces in the match-ups and we will go again.”*September 13, 4.23pm BST – This story was updated following confirmation of Banton’s omission

Australia’s No. 3 was happy to acknowledge Broad won the early round

Andrew McGlashan26-Jun-2023Marnus Labuschagne believes the slowness of the Edgbaston pitch played a part in him being drawn into twice edging Stuart Broad during the first Ashes Test but while he is looking at some technical adjustments it isn’t something he will dwell on for long.Labuschagne nicked deliveries outside off stump in both innings – the first against the outswinger Broad said he developed especially for him and Steven Smith – with Australia’s batting coach Michael Di Venuto saying he had never seen that happen before.Labuschagne netted extensively at Lord’s over the weekend in preparation for the second Test which starts on Wednesday, at the venue where his Test career took off in 2019, with the Sunday session watched by Ricky Ponting, the pair sharing the occasional word.Related

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While he did not want to divulge everything he had learnt from his twin dismissals, Labuschagne put some of it down to the conditions although did suggest Broad may have out-thought him in the first innings.”When you get out first ball you just throw it in the bag. Potentially I thought that they were going to come straight and then he got a nice ball that swung in the right area,” he said. “With a lack of bounce at Edgbaston, it sucks you in to thinking you can hit the ball a bit more and I just made a few poor decisions [against balls] that were really wide. They’d be eighth or ninth stump, some of those deliveries.”They were very uncharacteristic dismissals to how I’ve usually played, that’s why I was pretty frustrated with myself to get out that way and asked myself the question, ‘why did I play at those deliveries?’.”I’ve come up with my own summation of what that is. Now it’s if there’s anything I can do tactically or technically to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It’s a rarity that I’d play at those balls so it’s not something I’m going to overthink, but I hold myself to a much higher standard than those dismissals.”Labuschagne was happy to acknowledge the skill of Broad for having the better of him in the first Test. The only previous occasion he had been dismissed by him was the bizarre occasion when he walked across his stumps in Hobart and ended up flat in the crease.”He’s 2 and 0 now so he’s done his homework,” Labuschagne said. “That first [and only] ball I got in the first innings was a very nice ball. I haven’t faced Stuart Broad where he’s really been able to swing it away. He usually angles in, and that one definitely swung.”First ball, most of the time you just play and miss at that then you go ‘okay’, you can make the adjustments out there. I said this about [R] Ashwin, guys who take the time to do the homework, understand the game, and work out how they’re going to get certain guys out, I’ve got so much respect for them so if they’re putting the time and effort in and it pays off, that’s a credit to them.”On the flip side, Labuschagne was confident that he has the body of work to show he can respond to the challenge, which his batting coach Neil D’Costa had earlier told ESPNcricinfo was part of the “arm wrestle” that everyone enjoyed watching in Test cricket.”I’ve tried to make my game as adaptable as possible, so I don’t have one way of batting,” he said. “Some people play their whole career and bat one certain way and have one method that works… I’m always working on my game and working on my technique to think of ways I can score runs.”

Former captain will continue to play T20Is, having represented South Africa in 154 ODIs and a solitary Test

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-2022South Africa batter Mignon du Preez has announced her retirement from ODIs and Tests with immediate effect. She said her decision was based on the need to focus more on the shortest format of the game, and on the need to spend more time with her family.”I’ve been wonderfully fortunate to play in four ICC ODI World Cups to date,” du Preez said in a statement released by CSA. “These have been some of my most treasured memories in life. I feel South African women’s cricket is in a very healthy state, and the time is right to step away and allow the next generation of exciting cricketers to continue to grow this beautiful game of ours.”Related

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du Preez retires from the two formats, having played a solitary Test – which came back in 2014 against India, when she hit 102 in a losing cause – and 154 ODIs where she piled up 3760 runs in a career that started in 2007. The 32-year-old even captained her country in 46 ODIs from 2011 to 2016, with South Africa winning 24 of those.”I would like to take a moment to thank everyone at Cricket South Africa and the Board for their continuous support during my ODI career,” she said. “I am extremely grateful for the honour to have represented my country in 154 ODI games and also for the opportunity to have captained my country at the highest level.”South Africa lost to England in the semi-final of the recently-concluded women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand, which now turns out to be du Preez’s final ODI appearance.She was also the Player of the Match in a must-win fixture against India, where her innings of 52* from No. 5 held her side together in a tense chase of 275, which they ultimately managed to achieve off the final ball.South Africa are next scheduled to play a T20I in England this July, a tour which also comprises a Test and three ODIs before the three T20Is.

He returns to the Stars for the entire season after his surprising debut in last years BBL against the Brisbane Heat

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2020Pakistan quick Dilbar Hussain is returning to the Melbourne Stars for BBL 10 after his debut late last season.Hussain has been re-signed as the Stars’ third overseas player and is available for the entire tournament after Haris Rauf was ruled out due to international duty. He is currently completing the mandatory 14-day quarantine in Western Australia and will be available for the Stars’ first match on December 11 in Canberra.Hussain was a surprise inclusion in the Stars line-up late last season for a match against the Brisbane Heat. It was his first T20 at a professional level and he got a baptism of fire at the MCG finishing with figures of 1 for 56 from his four overs, with AB de Villiers taking hold of him although he did eventually claim de Villiers in the final over.But the 27-year-old continued his development in the PSL and was outstanding in the playoffs for Lahore Qalandars in November, taking seven wickets in three matches including 2 for 28 in the final.That continued development was enough for coach David Hussey to re-sign him.”I’m looking forward to working with Dilbar again this season and supporting his development together with our wider bowling group,” Hussey said. “His Stars debut was a whirlwind last year – it was his first senior T20 match and he effectively came down to Melbourne at very short notice and ended up bowling to AB de Villiers at the MCG.”He’s a genuine 140km/hr bowler with a good yorker and an incredible slower ball. With another year of experience and his time in the PSL, we’re keen to see what Dilbar brings to the table for us this year. The fact that not many players have faced him before can be a real advantage for us.””I’m very happy to be coming back to the Melbourne Stars for the Big Bash,” Hussain said. “In the short time I was with the club last season I learnt so much. I’d like to thank David Hussey who was incredibly supportive and encouraged me to keep working on my craft.”

We get two winners. Here’s everything you need to know about the tournament that will bring new meaning and context to bilateral Test cricket

Nagraj Gollapudi29-Jul-2019What is this World Test Championship all about?Essentially, it is a league, like the zillions of T20 leagues out there, but this one is for Test cricket. It will be contested over two-year cycles, the first of which starts on August 1 with the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston. The group phase officially began on July 16, 2019 and will run until March 31, 2021 after which the top two teams will contest a final.How many teams will participate?Nine of the 12 Full Member countries will contest in 27 series during the window. The nine teams are: Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Why has the WTC been brought in?For a long time, there have been attempts to bring additional context to Test cricket beyond the result of individual series. There are the Test rankings where the top team is anointed on April 1 each year, but that is just based a rolling table. The idea of the WTC is to have a Test ‘winner’ every two years – like the World Cups in other formats – creating something else to play for outside of the series result. It is also hoped that it will increase interest in all series within the WTC, regardless of who is playing, because it can have a knock-on effect on other team’s chances of reaching the final.How many series will each team play and do all series count?The teams will play three series each at home and away. Each series will comprise a minimum of two and maximum of five Test matches. Therefore, all the teams do not play each other in the WTC in the two-year cycle. There can also be series played outside the WTC – an example being the New Zealand v England in November which is part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) but not the Championship.India go into the inaugural Test Championship as the world’s No. 1 team•Getty Images

Who decided on which series will be played under the WTC?The competing countries. Some of the series already committed in the previous FTP will now be played as part of the WTC with each team playing against some higher-ranked opposition and some lower-ranked opposition.How are points allocated?This is where things get a little complicated because, well, cricket can be complicated. For every series under the WTC, there are 120 points available, distributed evenly over the number of Tests in the series. So, for example, in the Ashes, which is a five-match series, there will be 24 points for each win. In a two-Test series (such as Sri Lanka v New Zealand and West Indies v India which also start in August) there will be 60 points for a win. A draw is worth one-third of the points for a win: so eight in the Ashes scenario above and 20 in a two-Test series. A tie, just in case we need to know, is worth half the points for a win.Ishita Mazumder/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Anything else about the points we need to know?Recently the ICC had announced that teams will be docked points in the WTC for slow over-rates. Two points will be deducted for every over a team is behind at the end of a match.How will the finalists be determined and when will it be played?The top two teams on the points table at the end of the league phase will play the final, which will be played from June 10-14, 2021. It will be hosted by the ECB.ALSO READ: ‘We want every game in the Test championship to count,’ says Geoff Allardice, ICC general manager of cricketWhat will happen if the final ends in a draw or is tied?If the final ends in a tie or a draw, the two teams will be joint champions. Although the playing conditions allow for a reserve day, it can only be used if net playing time is lost during the scheduled five days of the final. Net playing time for every Test amounts to 30 hours of play (six hours per day).The reserve day kicks in only if the time lost during regulation play on each day is not made up on the same day. For example, if you lose an hour of play due to rain and then make it up by the end of the same day, then that is zero net time lost. But if you lose an entire day’s play due to rain and then make up, say, only three hours over the remaining four days, then you are short of net playing time for the match. That is when the reserve day kicks in.What about the other three Test-playing nations?Zimbabwe and the two latest Test nations, Afghanistan and Ireland, are the three who will not be part of the inaugural WTC. Zimbabwe are currently suspended by the ICC till October for government interference into cricket affairs. However, Afghanistan and Ireland will play Test series as part of the FTP, points from which will be considered for the Test rankings, but not the Championship.

The meeting was significant as it suggests that Kirsten is looking for a local coach to be involved in the set-up

Mohammad Isam22-May-2018Gary Kirsten, as part of his internal audit of the Bangladesh team, met with coach Mohammad Salahuddin on Tuesday morning in Dhaka. Salahuddin is a former Bangladesh assistant coach with much domestic success, including a BPL title with underdogs Comilla Victorians in 2015.The meeting was significant as it suggests that Kirsten is looking for a local coach to be involved in the set-up; once he is done with the audit, Kirsten is to offer his recommendations for the appointment of a full-time Bangladesh head coach.Kirsten also had sessions with Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman and the national selectors on the second day of the audit.More than the domestic trophies his teams have won, Salahuddin’s reputation and effectiveness with big-name players that sets him apart. Shakib Al Hasan is one of many Bangladesh cricketers who regularly take inputs from Salahuddin on technical and mental aspects. Once, during an IPL, Shakib returned to Dhaka to work on his batting for two days with Salahuddin. Last year, Mominul Haque took batting sessions with Salahuddin to deal with his struggles against against offspin.It has long been considered that Salahuddin is essential in the Bangladesh senior team’s coaching set-up. Last year, the BCB asked Salahuddin to join as a batting consultant but when he had arrived to complete formalities, he was told that the board had changed its mind.This is the first time since then that Salahuddin has been involved in any senior team matters. He said Kirsten asked him about the game in Bangladesh in general, and a little about himself too.”It was a pleasant experience meeting him but I don’t think he was meeting me as a coach. He was more of an administrator during our meeting,” Salahuddin told reporters at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel. “He had told me to come here today. He asked about Bangladesh cricket, our cricketers and he also asked about me.”

He had only recently begun training at full intensity following back-to-back hamstring injuries. To come good on the back of that was very satisfying for the New Zealand opener

Andrew McGlashan in Hamilton01-Mar-2017″Decent stick I’ve got, I’ll put that one on ice until next time,” Martin Guptill said about the bat that helped him pile up his series-levelling unbeaten 180 against South Africa.It was a performance he rated as probably his best ODI innings, which would put it ahead of his 237 in the World Cup quarter-final against West Indies, because it came off the back of a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury. That was a sentiment supported by his captain Kane Williamson who termed it a “world-class” innings.Guptill had only begun netting a week ago, and the session the day before the fourth ODI was the highest intensity he had trained at since injuring his hamstring before the one-off T20I against South Africa, which followed a previous hamstring strain during the home Chappell-Hadlee series. In all, Guptill has only batted three times in 2017, twice for New Zealand and once for Auckland: his scores 112, 61 and 180 not out.He had spoken before this match of hoping that he could regain the rhythm he had earlier in the season. The outcome was a magnificent display of clean hitting which included 11 sixes and left him with New Zealand’s three highest scores in 50-over cricket.”It’s pretty up there, possibly No.1. I’m reasonably happy with how today went without a lot of preparation,” he said. “It was difficult to bat all round, two-paced, turning, slower balls gripping, it wasn’t easy, and I wanted to create a good partnership. I did that reasonably well and fortunately I was able to get a few out of the middle.”He had immediately jumped in an ice bath after the match and said his hamstrings were “a bit tight” but nothing that wasn’t to be expected.The two camps differed somewhat on how the conditions panned out with AB de Villiers believing the surface eased, starting at the back end of South Africa’s innings when they scored 100 off the last eight overs, but Williamson supported Guptill’s view that it remained a tricky pitch throughout.”I said to Martin when he came off, that’s probably his best, and he’s done it a few times to be fair so there are a few tight comparisons,” Williamson said. “In a chasing effort on what wasn’t an easy surface and to hit the ball the way he did and play with the freedom we know he can and do something special against the best team in the world was a special, world-class effort.”In a chase of 280, Guptill inside-edged his first ball from Kagiso Rabada past the stumps, played out a maiden from Wayne Parnell in the second over and was 2 off 10 balls when he connected with a stinging pull shot off the left-arm quick for the first of his sixes. The splits for his fifties were 38 balls, 44 and 41 with his last 30 runs taking 15 deliveries.”I wanted to give myself a chance really, have a look at what it was doing,” he said. “I got a few away and developed a strike rate early at the top and carried it through.”Guptill’s innings continued an upturn in his fortunes against South Africa. In the previous one-day series between the teams, Guptill scored his first hundred against them in the second match in Potchefstroom having had a previous best of 58 from 12 innings at an average of 14.50. In the space of three innings, the average against South Africa has lifted to 35.92.”I’ve always rated him as a player, he’s had to work through a few things,” de Villiers said. “I was always hoping this day would never come, where he’s figured out his game, playing it nice and late and he’s moving well. I could sit here for quite some time and talk about that knock. It was a very special innings.”

Adam Voges was Australia’s last man to fall (finally), but not before he had added 614 runs from the last time he was dismissed in a Test

Brydon Coverdale in Wellington14-Feb-2016When Adam Voges drove a return catch to Mark Craig on the third day at the Basin Reserve, he was out for 239. In another way, he was out for 614, for that was the amount of runs Voges had scored in Test cricket between dismissals. In the dim, dark ages of day-night Test cricket at the Adelaide Oval, Voges had edged Trent Boult to second slip. From then on, it took another 815 balls and 1115 minutes of batting before Voges would again go out.Extend it to first-class cricket, and he scored 763 runs from 1422 balls between times when a bowler got him out – he was dismissed for 149 in the Sheffield Shield match in Lincoln this month, but it took a run-out to do it. They are extraordinary figures, and his Test success against West Indies and New Zealand pushed his average up over 100 during his double-century in Wellington, though it dropped down to the sub-Bradman figure of 97.46 when Craig got him.”I’m probably happy that I’m out now and it’s gone back under,” Voges said. “I can just get on with playing cricket, I guess. The boys had a bit of fun taking the mickey out of me in the change-rooms but it’s all good. It [the average] was never going to stay there, it won’t stay there, I know that. So it was always going to happen at some stage.”Of course that was true, but what is equally obvious is that Voges, at the age of 36, is in the form of his life. In the past two years, nobody in the world has come close to the 3687 runs and 14 centuries that Voges has scored in first-class cricket, and his promotion to Test ranks has done nothing to slow his progress.”I think that I’m giving myself every chance to get in each time I bat and then when I do get in I’m hungry to score runs and score big runs,” he said. “I try and keep it pretty simple. I really enjoyed my partnership with Usman [Khawaja] the other day, he’s batting brilliantly. He’s in complete control of his game so that made life a lot easier for me.”Life in this match was also made easier for Voges by the incorrect no-ball call from umpire Richard Illingworth that resulted in him being reprieved in the last over of the first day. On 7, Voges shouldered arms to a ball from Doug Bracewell and looked back to see his off stump knocked back, but when he realised that Illingworth had called no-ball he refocused for the next day.”I turned around, it was a bad leave, saw the stumps, went to walk off and then saw the arm out. A little bit of luck,” Voges said. “I approached the [next] day that I was going to go pretty hard, you don’t get second chances too often so I’m gonna try and take the game on a little bit here.”As it turned out, New Zealand bowled really well and I couldn’t do it. I had to bide my time and think I only scored 30 and had to be a little bit more patient. Once I did the hard yards it did become a little bit easier but the plan to go out and take the game on didn’t quite eventuate.”It took Voges 130 deliveries to register his half-century and 203 balls to bring up his hundred, as he ground down the New Zealand bowlers and attacked them when the chance arose. Voges said the ability to assess how bowlers were trying to dismiss him had come with age, and he conceded he would probably not have been capable of such an innings earlier in his career.”No doubt it comes with time,” Voges said. “It comes with a lot of hard work as well. And understanding your game. It comes with confidence as well, being able to trust your ability, trust your defence and then being able to attack when the opportunity presents.”Voges’ 239 and the 140 from Khawaja set up an enormous lead for Australia after they had dismissed New Zealand for 183 in the first innings, and by stumps on day three Australia’s control of the match had only strengthened. New Zealand were four down in their second innings and were still 201 runs from making Australia bat again.There was a concern for the Australians, though, with fast bowler Peter Siddle not bowling after tea and spending most of the final session off the field dealing with a back problem. Siddle also struggled with back spasms during the day-night Test against New Zealand in Adelaide in November, and was hampered by an ankle injury during the Boxing Day Test against West Indies.”It’s a bit of a back spasm and they’re never nice,” Voges said. “We’ve got some good medicos who will look after him tonight and we’re hopeful he’ll be out there tomorrow. He’s got very good skills with the reverse-swinging ball so hopefully we’ll see him out there tomorrow.”

Kevin Pietersen scored a fighting century but Australia’s bowlers worked their way through the line-up to maintain hopes of the victory required to stay alive in the series

The Report by Daniel Brettig03-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ballKevin Pietersen’s hundred kept England in the game but late wickets lifted Australia•PA Photos

For a little more than two hours, England asserted the measure of control they required to secure this match, and the Ashes themselves. Though Australia’s bowlers had toiled manfully and persistently, finding life where their opposite numbers had not, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell stood firm, the former thrusting to a fine hundred, the latter caressing his way towards a third such score of the series.But right at the moment the tourists may have begun to flag, Ryan Harris found a way through the previously impassable Bell, tilting back his off stump and revitalising Australia. The wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Pietersen himself followed, leaving the Old Trafford Test finely balanced with two days remaining and maintaining Australia’s heartening revival as belatedly serious contenders for the urn.On a day of high quality and considerable intrigue, Harris, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Shane Watson all delivered searching spells. Pietersen and Bell can seldom have played better, their calculated attack on Nathan Lyon a critical passage on a pitch taking turn and bounce throughout. There were imponderables, too. Pietersen on 62 would have been out lbw had Michael Clarke assented to Watson’s opinion that his old-ball inswinger was bound for the stumps. When Starc dismissed Pietersen lbw there was Hot Spot evidence of the merest nick.Starc’s contribution should not be underestimated, for his knack of taking wickets countered a tendency to lose his length and line at times. A mediocre delivery accounted for Alastair Cook thanks to a supreme leg-side diving catch by Brad Haddin, but Bairstow and Pietersen fell victim to a sublime spell of reverse movement as the evening drew in.Recovered from an apparent stomach bug, Harris had opened up for Clarke alongside Siddle. Their early overs were relentlessly probing, offering only the most occasional scoring chances for Cook and Jonathan Trott, neither of whom looked comfortable despite a ball that was no longer new and a pitch possessing few demons.Trott, who had begun the series in grand touch, was particularly scratchy, becalmed in much the same way Joe Root had been the previous night. Unable to get off strike, or hit the middle of the bat, Trott ultimately succumbed while doing his best not to play a shot at all, edging to Clarke at second slip while trying to leave Harris.Pietersen’s first few deliveries were no more convincing, as he fiddled loosely at balls zinging past him outside off stump as though wanting to offer a nick to the Australia cordon. Harris nearly burst a yorker through Pietersen also, but the entry of Starc and Watson to the bowling attack – while Lyon was oddly given only two overs – allowed a little pressure to be relaxed.With Pietersen scoring freely and Cook carrying on stoically, England appeared set to reach lunch without further loss. But 12 minutes before the break a Starc delivery angling towards Cook’s hip drew a fine leg glance and a rasping catch by Haddin, clasping the chance in the tip of his right glove as he threw himself full length. In the dying moments of the session Bell may have given up the thinnest of edges to Haddin off Starc, but only Australia’s wicketkeeper went up for the catch.That moment did not linger too much in Australian minds, but there was to be another midway through the afternoon. Pietersen and Bell had counter-attacked confidently and fruitfully, their chief achievement the removal of Lyon from the attack despite Australia’s offspinner bowling well on a pitch that offered turn and bounce. Twice Pietersen lofted Lyon for six and Bell followed up with one of his own; not once could the bowler be said to have offered up something to hit.Nonetheless, his withdrawal left Clarke searching for wickets, but when Watson found a hint of swing after replacing Lyon, the moment of success passed without the captain realising it. Pietersen had lurched forward and across to play through midwicket, and though Watson seemed adamant in his appeal Haddin and Clarke suggested the ball was swerving down the leg side.But Hawk-Eye revealed it to be hitting leg stump squarely enough for Tony Hill’s verdict to be overturned, and the sight of Darren Lehmann raising a glum finger from the balcony left Clarke pondering whether his moment had passed. Certainly there were few other glimmers offered by Pietersen and Bell, both well entrenched by the time the interval arrived and already taking some shine off the second new ball.Safe as both batsmen looked, Australia required something beyond the sturdy stuff dished up in the first two sessions. True to his form so far in the series Harris would provide it. Moving most deliveries fractionally away from Bell, he conjured a nip-backer that beat an accomplished technician for length, pace and deviation, striking the top of off stump and reviving his team.Bairstow and Pietersen then prospered for a time, but never with the security of the previous stand. Each bowler troubled Bairstow in turn, while Watson singed Pietersen’s outside edge with a series of deliveries bending subtly away. Watson’s frustration at this sequence was plain, but it did not prevent him from pouching a sharp low chance when Starc’s angle eventually tempted Bairstow to flirt at a ball whirring across him.Starc was by now finding the reverse swing that won him selection ahead of Jackson Bird, and two overs later he ensured Australian hope would be raised for the remainder of the match by pinning Pietersen lbw. The ball straightened down the line and would have crashed into middle stump, though there was the suspicion of an edge so thin that even Pietersen did not pick it up. Stuart Broad and Matt Prior were left to scratch around in the lengthening shadows, the match and the series still tantalisingly open.

The batsman Aiden Blizzard has moved to his third state, Tasmania, in an effort to earn more chances in first-class and one-day cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2012The batsman Aiden Blizzard has moved to his third state, Tasmania, in an effort to earn more chances in first-class and one-day cricket. Blizzard, 28, and the former New South Wales fast bowler Timm van der Gugten have been signed for next summer by the Tigers, who like all states must finalise their contract lists by the end of this week.Blizzard began his career in Victoria, where he was viewed largely as a Twenty20 specialist, and he moved to South Australia in 2010, hoping to find more opportunities in the longer formats. He grabbed his chances in his first year with the Redbacks, scoring 659 first-class runs at 34.68, but was given only three Sheffield Shield games last summer and was overlooked completely in the Ryobi Cup.He will be joined at Tasmania by van der Gugten, 21, who played his first games for New South Wales last season and has also played ODIs and Twenty20s for the Netherlands, thanks to his Dutch passport. The Tigers have gradually announced their contracted players over the past week and will confirm their remaining players on Friday.Western Australia and Queensland have already named their complete contract lists for next season, but Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales have kept the majority of their announcements for the end of the week.