Leicestershire launched their season in style with a convincing 10-wicket victory against Glamorgan which reflected their superiority over the four days

ECB Reporters Network20-Apr-2016
ScorecardAngus Robson helped knock off the target with ease•Getty Images

Leicestershire launched their season in style with a convincing 10-wicket victory against Glamorgan which reflected their superiority over the four days.Paul Horton and Angus Robson made light work of a target of 113 after Glamorgan’s final two wickets had been taken within the first six overs of the morning as Ben Raine finished with 4 for 57.Victory was achieved half an hour after lunch as Leicestershire secured 23 points and demonstrated to other Division Two teams that they are no longer the whipping boys after spending three seasons propping up the table.Clint McKay showed in this game that he is a consummate professional, taking eight wickets in the game and scoring a valuable 65 in the first innings which was instrumental in Leicestershire gaining a first innings lead. The club has also recruited well, with Horton, the former Lancashire opener scoring two fifties in the match and establishing a solid opening partnership with Robson. Neil Dexter and Mark Pettini are also shrewd signings, and with promising young players establishing themselves, there is a good blend of youth and experience.Andrew McDonald, Leicestershire’s Director of Elite Performance, could have issued the same advice to his squad that Richard Cockerill gave to his rugby players as they prepare for the European Cup, when he said he “wanted the Tigers to emulate the city’s footballers, and make their own bit of noise in the city”Although there might not be the same noise emanating from Grace Road on a balmy summer’s afternoon, this success will hopefully attract plenty of supporters for Leicestershire’s first home game against Kent on Sunday for which the club are offering free admission to the first day.McDonald said: “[I’m] thrilled with the very professional performance over the four days. All our batsmen contributed, while our bowlers – after perhaps a below par performance in the first innings – were spot on in the second innings. They got the rewards they deserved , while Mark Cosgrove and the others who make up the leadership team – Horton, Pettini and Dexter – were always talking and discussing tactics.”Glamorgan, meanwhile, managed a decent first innings total of 348, but then let themselves down at the start of Leicestershire’s innings when the openers were dropped three times before lunch and then allowed the opposition to score 147 for the last four wickets.When Glamorgan started their second innings, yet again the top order failed to contribute – as happened on many occasions last year – and apart from 19-year-old Aneurin Donald’s half-century, there was little resistance top order. They will be hoping that Colin Ingram, one of their leading batsmen, will soon be fit again after suffering from a troublesome knee that caused him to miss the opening game.Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph said the defeat was “a wake -up call, and we must learn that after being 132 for 2 it is not acceptable to lose three wickets for one run. Our catching was not good enough, but it was not easy on the second day fielding in the slips in the bitterly cold conditions.”

Deepak Shodhan, who was the first Indian to make a Test century in his debut innings, has died aged 87. He had been India’s oldest Test cricketer.

Nagraj Gollapudi16-May-2016Deepak Shodhan, the first Indian to make a Test century in his debut innings, has died aged 87. He was India’s oldest living Test cricketer.Shodhan passed away at his residence in Ahmedabad. He had been suffering from lung cancer, which was detected in February this year. The funeral was scheduled for 11 am on Monday.An attractive left-hand batsman who bowled left-arm pace as well, Shodhan was given his first India cap at 25, against Pakistan at Eden Gardens in 1952, and made an immediate impact. He walked in at No. 8, with the score on 179 for 6 and no specialist batsmen left, and he walked out with 110 against his name. India claimed a lead of 140 runs, but the match ended in a draw.”I was in the reserves for the series against Pakistan in 1952-53, the historic first Test series between our two newly independent nations,” Shodhan had said in a recent interview. “In the final Test match, at Calcutta, I was drafted into the playing XI after our captain Vijay Hazare pulled out unwell. It was Lala Amarnath, who was captaining India in Vijay Hazare’s absence, who asked for me to be brought in – ‘that tall Gujarati boy who had done so well in the trials and other matches’.”Despite that bright start, Shodhan played only two more Tests, on a tour of West Indies in 1953. The team had journeyed to the Caribbean by a small boat, which kept tossing and turning. Everyone got sick at some point or other and Shodhan remembered being the last man standing. Having made 45 and 11 in the first Test at Port-of-Spain, he did not play the next three and was taken ill when he returned for the fifth one in Jamaica. That didn’t stop him from walking out at No. 10, after West Indies had taken a 264-run lead, to try and salvage a draw.Madhav Apte, the 83-year old former opening batsman who was part of that series, recollected Shodhan’s bravery. “He was down with flu and was admitted to the hospital and did not bat in the first innings. [In the second innings] We needed someone to waste time and delay the West Indies batting. Deepak managed to just do that and consumed enough time to help India draw that match.”Shodhan had a long domestic career, playing for Gujarat and Baroda in the Ranji Trophy and was a title-winner in 1957-58. “I loved playing cricket. My first-class career stretched on to 1962, ten years after I played my last Test match,” he had said in April. Shodhan had made his debut in 1946-47, in the same match that his older brother Jyotindra, currently 91 years old, had struck his first century.Datta Gaekwad, father of former India allrounder and coach Anshuman Gaekwad, has become India’s oldest living Test cricketer at 87 years and 202 days.

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.

Wahab Riaz’s spell at Essex has been cut short by two games after he was required to join up with Pakistan’s training camp ahead of Test series against England

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2016Wahab Riaz’s spell at Essex has been cut short by two games after he was required to join up with Pakistan’s training camp ahead of Test series against England. The news is a further blow to Essex’s NatWest T20 Blast campaign, after Adam Milne’s involvement in the second half of the group stage was ruled out by injury.Wahab had signed as Essex’s second overseas player – alongside Jesse Ryder – for the first seven games of the Blast, with Milne expected to replace him for the final seven. New Zealand quick Milne suffered a hamstring tear during the IPL, in which he played one game for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and subsequently required surgery on a shoulder injury.Essex are currently bottom of the South Group, having won one out of five games in the Blast, and have been looking for a replacement overseas signing.Although Wahab only managed to take four wickets in five matches, at an average of 46.50 and with an economy of 9.45, he said he had enjoyed his time at Chelmsford. He could return if Essex manage to turn things around and reach Finals Day.”Wonderful to be a part of the Essex team,” he said. “I have enjoyed it a lot there, it’s been fun with these guys, everyone really supportive and treated me well. I’ve learnt a lot about how to bowl in these conditions, so hopefully the experience I am taking from Essex I will try to put into my Test bowling.”Pakistan’s Test squad are currently based at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl, where they will undertake a two-week conditioning camp before the first tour game against Somerset on July 3.Essex’s coach, Chris Silverwood, added: “It is a shame Wahab’s spell has been cut short. Obviously we understand that his international commitments come first and that is the risk you take when signing international quality players. We thank Wahab for his efforts and his commitment to the club during his spell.”

West Indies captain Jason Holder said on the eve of the first Test match against India that he was confident in the abilities of the young group he was leading

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Antigua20-Jul-2016Only three members of West Indies’ 13-man squad for the first Test against India have played more than 20 Test matches. Six of them have either played four Tests or fewer, and two are yet to make their debuts. West Indies captain Jason Holder, who has himself played only 13 Tests, said on the eve of the match though that he was confident in the abilities of the young group he was leading.”Most of these guys have performed really well in the domestic competition,” Holder said. “You’ve got young Roston Chase, who’s in the squad for the first time. He averages around 40 in first-class cricket. You’ve got Shane Dowrich, who’s been doing well over the last few seasons. Leon Johnson had a really good season. Those are just a few names who did well back in the first-class competitions. So I think all of them are really eager for an opportunity and I’m very very eager to go into the competition with them.”The players, Holder said, were hungry to make a name for themselves.”I think what motivates this young group is that everyone is trying to make a mark on international scene. It’s a very young team. Many of us are looking at finding our way in international cricket. I think it’s important for the youngsters to just come in, to make their mark and solidify their place in the team, and to make a name for themselves. You know there is a rich legacy in West Indies cricket. Many of the young players are looking to make a legacy for themselves.”A lot of the inexperience in the West Indies team is concentrated in their bowling, following the loss of their long-time new-ball pair of Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach to retirement and non-selection respectively. Holder said he, as one of the four seamers in the squad, did not feel any specific pressure to step up and lead the bowling attack, but reiterated the need for all the quick bowlers to know their roles and perform them well.”You know, if you look at our side, we’ve got Miguel Cummins who’s come into the side, he’s done really well for the last two seasons in domestic cricket. You’ve got [Shannon] Gabriel, who’s been bowling really well, but has been struggling from injuries. He’s fit and ready to go. Carlos Brathwaite and myself, you know, are the two seamers and we are just looking to do what we’re asked to do.”I think it’s important that each one knows their role. You know Shannon’s obviously a fast and aggressive bowler. Miguel similarly. Myself and Carlos, we’re mainly the workhorses in the unit. You just have to know your role. I don’t think there’s pressure really. Once you know understand your role, you perform your role.”West Indies won the World T20 earlier this year, and were impressive in their recent ODI triangular series that also featured Australia and South Africa, beating both teams in the league stage and reaching the final. They have struggled to match that level of performance in Test cricket, with a number of their star players not featuring in the longest format. Holder said it was important for the team to keep improving steadily, while not expecting too much of them too soon.”You know that’s the ultimate aim [to be equally competitive in all three formats]. We’ve got a young side, and it’s good to see we have some young faces. We’re looking to build something. In the last series we played in Australia, we didn’t start really well. Moving on into the Test series, we got significantly better. All I stress and address with the guys is to keep improving. You can’t expect leaps and bounds, too much from a very young side. Once we get the steady progression in terms of improvement, I think we’ll move forward.”The last time West Indies played in Antigua, in April 2015, they saved a Test match against England courtesy an unbeaten fourth-innings hundred from Holder. Batting remains the second string in Holder’s bow, but in the days leading up to the Test against India, he has batted far more than he has bowled in the nets. Asked about this, he said he preferred to conserve himself for the long spells he often bowls in Test matches.”I’ve played a lot of cricket this year already. As I said, it’s about managing your body to get through a four-match Test series. I am a workhorse, so I don’t particularly like to bowl that much leading into a Test match. I like to save my energy for the Test match because I know I’ll be required to bowl quite a few overs. That’s how my preparation goes in terms of my bowling.”I try to bat a lot because I feel as though I need to pay a lot more attention there. That’s more of my secondary part of my training. I try to work really hard to get my footwork going and my balance going which I feel is the key to my success.”Asked about his team’s preparations to bowl against a batting line-up of India’s quality on pitches that are expected to play on the slower side, Holder reiterated what players and coaches from both sides have already stressed: the need for patience.”The name of Test cricket is discipline, when it comes to bowling,” he said. “Where we fell down in the past is not being as disciplined as we would like. We’ve stressed discipline and being patient for longer periods. We come in and string together a good session but we tend to falter or fall off going deeper into the day. So far, what I’ve seen in the nets I’m really, really pleased. The bowlers look good and we need to transfer that into the game.”

David Warner said he enjoyed his international captaincy debut, in the 3rd ODI against Sri Lanka, but hopes he can regain his batting form soon

Brydon Coverdale30-Aug-2016Captain David Warner and incoming batsman Usman Khawaja will both be searching for a turnaround in their personal fortunes even as Australia aim to seal the ODI series against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Wednesday. Australia enter the fourth match of the five-game series with a 2-1 lead and a win, though far from making up for their humiliation in the Test series, would at least allow them to lift some sort of trophy on this trip.Khawaja will come into the XI for the first time in this series, after Shaun Marsh was ruled out of the remainder of the tour having broken a finger while fielding during Australia’s win on Sunday. The recall provides an opportunity for Khawaja to regain some pride after he was axed for the final Test of the Sri Lanka series, following scores of 26, 18, 11 and 0 in the first two Tests.”It was a difficult time for everyone, not just Usman himself,” Warner told reporters in Dambulla on Tuesday. “We all have to have a bit of a reality check sometimes in regards to the way we play our game. It’s such a tough environment to be over here. Unfortunately he did get dropped from the Test series. He took that very, very well. He’s been training his backside off in the nets.”He’s been doing everything he can to put his hand up for selection. He accepts that he didn’t have the runs on the board and he’s been doing everything he can to get back in the team. I’m really looking forward to seeing him come out and play the way he does. He scored a lovely 90 in the Caribbean and he played fantastic there, I’m hoping he can come out here and do the same thing tomorrow.”Khawaja is expected to be Australia’s third No. 3 this series, after captain Steven Smith filled the role for the first two games but then flew home for a break and was replaced by Marsh. Warner and Aaron Finch have been the opening combination all series but Warner is yet to make a contribution with the bat, with scores of 8, 1 and 10 in the first three games.”If you can find the answer, I’ll take it,” Warner said when asked how he could turn his form around. “That’s just what happens with cricket. Sometimes you’re in form, sometimes you’re not. I feel like I’m hitting the ball well. I’ve had some good dismissals, I’ve had a couple of poor shots here and there.”But that’s the challenge you face over here in these conditions. You always have to back your game plan and back your skills. Every time I’ve gone out there, I’ve done that. Unfortunately I haven’t got the runs on the board that are necessary. I’ll be aiming to come out here and play my role as I normally do, try and have that intent from ball one.”Despite his own lack of runs, Warner captained Australia effectively on Sunday in his first match in charge, juggling his bowlers well and showing an attacking mindset in the field. He said one of the challenges was to keep on top of the over rate given Australia’s reliance on fast bowlers, but that he had loved the experience of leading his country.”I loved every minute of it,” Warner said. “I feel that the guys have taken it on board very, very well. You always have the respect from your peers, which is always fantastic. And I felt that the guys did everything I asked of them in the last game, and everything I’ve asked of them at training. They’ve done everything I’ve asked for, and I couldn’t be any more pleased.”The fourth ODI will be played on the same Dambulla surface as Sunday’s match, meaning it could be slow and dry right from the outset. Offspinner Nathan Lyon is likely to come under strong consideration after being left out of the previous game.

An unbroken partnership of 167 between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, the highest of the series so far, put India in control at the end of Indore’s first day of Test cricket

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy08-Oct-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:29

Agarkar: Kohli batted according to the merit of the ball

An unbroken partnership of 167 between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, the highest of the series so far, put India in control at the end of Indore’s first day of Test cricket. Kohli ended the day on 103, his 13th Test hundred. It was by no means his most enthralling innings, but it was utterly dominant in that he gave New Zealand no inch on a largely attritional day. Rahane, less certain, gutsed it out to stay unbeaten on 79 and India were 267 for 3.Having come together at 100 for 3, with the match in the balance, Kohli and Rahane gradually asserted India’s dominance in front of an enthusiastic crowd numbering over 18,000. Having started watchfully – they added 48 in 20 overs before tea – they grew increasingly fluent, scoring 119 in the final session in 34 overs, at exactly three-and-a-half runs an over.All five of New Zealand’s bowlers were disciplined and had well-thought-out plans, but there was little help for them off a pitch that wasn’t the greatest to look at, with cracks all over its surface, but played more or less true on the first day, if a little slow. The offspinner Jeetan Patel was their best bowler, but his figures – 1 for 65 off 24 overs – told a story: he frequently beat the batsmen in the air, but they usually managed to adjust since it didn’t turn all that much or all that quickly once it landed.Kohli came into the match with scores of 44, 3, 4, 9, 18, 9 and 45 in his last seven Test innings, but the last of them, in Kolkata, had been a superb display of footwork and judgment on a pitch with uneven bounce. It suggested he wasn’t really out of form.Again, in Indore, he avoided the extravagant shots that had got him out in his first three innings of the series, and accumulated steadily, blending into the background for most part. He didn’t offer any clear chances, and the two times he edged the ball, it eluded the fielders: on 39, drift caused him to edge Patel between keeper and slip; on 69, he reached out at a wide-ish length ball from James Neesham, and edged through a vacant first slip.Otherwise, New Zealand could see no way past him and, every now and again, he roused the crowd with his strokeplay. There were a couple of his trademark extra-cover drives, but his most breathtaking shots on the day came on the leg side: a checked pull off Trent Boult, when he adjusted to the ball staying lower than expected; a back-foot whip to the right of midwicket, against the turn, off Mitchell Santner; a clip off the legs, off Boult, that bisected square leg and long leg. All three times, the ball sped away effortlessly, testament both to the quickness of the outfield and to Kohli’s timing.Rahane endured a few nervous moments against the short ball. Twice – on 3 by Matt Henry and on 25 by Neesham – he lifted his hands instinctively to protect his face, and was lucky the ball hit his arm guard on both occasions rather than his glove. On 7, he top-edged a pull as Boult went around the wicket and angled a short ball into his body, and saw the ball fall inches wide of Henry rushing in from the square leg boundary. On 41, he kept his gloves and bat out of the way of a Henry bouncer, but couldn’t move his upper-body across quickly enough to evade it, and took a blow to the back. There were a number of other times when he ducked or swayed awkwardly, with eyes off the ball, as well.Ajinkya Rahane endured a few nervy moments against the short ball•BCCI

But a good batsman makes runs even in discomfort, and Rahane did not let these moments affect him. His defence was solid, and he got his head right on top of the ball while striding forward to the spinners – a failure to do so had cost him his wicket twice in Kanpur. Occasionally, he served up a reminder of his timing, such as when he lofted Patel back over his head and when he drove Santner inside-out to the cover boundary. He went past fifty with a six, stepping out to Patel, not quite reaching the pitch of the ball, but adjusting by playing with an almost horizontal bat to swat the ball over wide long-on.Given the look of the surface, India seemed to gain an early advantage when they won their third toss of the series and their eighth in a row in home Tests. Batting, by general consensus, would be easiest on days one and two. But India didn’t really press their advantage in the first two sessions, despite their batsmen looking fairly comfortable in the middle.The crowd was treated to an entertaining start as M Vijay drove Boult on the up for two fours through the covers in the third over of the morning, and Gautam Gambhir, returning to the Test side after two years to replace the injured Shikhar Dhawan, pulled Henry for successive sixes in the fourth over. Kane Williamson, back in charge of New Zealand after missing the Kolkata Test with illness, brought Patel on in the fifth over, and he struck with his fifth ball, getting it to dip on Vijay, who looked to flick a long way in front of his body and gave Tom Latham the chance to pull off a juggling reflex catch at short leg.There was little turn on offer for Patel and Santner, who bowled from both ends till the 11th over, and Cheteshwar Pujara and Gambhir settled down nicely before Boult and Henry came back into the attack. The quicks changed their lengths to Gambhir in their second spells, bowling noticeably fuller and trying to exploit the left-hander’s tendency to shuffle across his crease. He grew quieter against this mode of attack, scoring only two runs in 20 balls before he was lbw to Boult, bringing his bat down at an angle to a full one that nipped in slightly.Pujara looked serene through to lunch, using his feet to the spinners, getting nicely on top of the rising ball against the quicks, putting the bad ball away, and showing more willingness than in Kolkata – given the lack of turn or seam movement off this surface – to change the angle of his bat face to look for singles on both sides of the pitch.After lunch, however, both he and Kohli had to work hard for their runs as Patel settled into a good rhythm. He caused both batsmen problems, bellowing out an lbw appeal after Kohli went back to a quicker one on a good length – the ball striking his pad just outside the line – and throwing his hands up in the air when Pujara came down the track, failed to cover for drift, and edged a defensive push through backward point.It was Santner, though, who gave New Zealand the breakthrough, in the second over of a new spell. Firing one in just short of a good length, he caused indecision in Pujara, who pressed half-forward, and then went halfway back and ended up caught on the crease as the ball spun sharply past his defensive bat and hit his off stump.

Ryan Harris and Brad Haddin will be part of Australia’s coaching team for the one-day tour of New Zealand next year

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Nov-2016Ryan Harris and Brad Haddin will join Australia’s coaching staff for the Chappell-Hadlee Series in New Zealand early next year, with batting coach Graeme Hick and bowling coach David Saker instead flying to India ahead of time to prepare for Australia’s four-Test tour.Australia play three ODIs in New Zealand from January 30 to February 5, and the first Test against India begins in Pune on February 23. Head coach Darren Lehmann will be with the one-day squad in New Zealand but Hick and Saker will be part of an advance party to India with their focus on the longer form of the game.Harris, who retired on the eve of the 2015 Ashes series, will serve as bowling coach, having previously performed that function during this year’s one-day tour of South Africa. Haddin, whose official retirement was announced in September last year, will serve as a fielding mentor during the New Zealand trip, having also coached during this winter’s Australia A series.”It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to have ex-players of the calibre of Brad and Ryan on board for this tour and continue their involvement in Australian cricket,” Lehmann said. “Both these guys have worked hard on their coaching since leaving the game and thoroughly deserve their opportunityHaddin said: “It is going to be great to be back in Australian colours again, albeit as part of the coaching group . I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with Australia A in Townsville recently and am grateful that coaching has given me the opportunity to remain involved in cricket.Harris said: “South Africa was a great learning experience for me and it was fantastic to be back with the team again. Coaching is something I really enjoy and to be able to continue to be involved with the Australian team is something I can’t wait to be a part of again.”

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2016
ScorecardSimon Milenko picked up 3 for 98•Getty Images

Jackson Bird and Peter Siddle both performed admirably in their Test auditions on a rain-affected second day at the MCG, where play continued until 10.30pm in an effort to make up lost overs. At stumps, Tasmania were struggling in their first innings on 4 for 93, with George Bailey on 25 and James Faulkner on 14, and they still trailed Victoria by 322 runs.It was a difficult evening session for Tasmania’s top order against the pink ball as Siddle and his pace-bowling colleagues Chris Tremain and Scott Boland proved hard to get away. Siddle sent down 10 typically miserly overs and picked up 1 for 17, bowling Beau Webster for 20 after Tremain had earlier trapped both Tasmania openers – Caleb Jewell and Ben Dunk – lbw cheaply.Daniel Christian also chipped in with the wicket of Alex Doolan, lbw for 21, and it meant a mountain of work remained ahead of the Tigers at the halfway point of the match. The Bushrangers had resumed the day on 4 for 351 and batted for a further 22.2 overs for the loss of their final six wickets, putting on 64 runs in that time.Matthew Wade was lbw to Simon Milenko for 78 and Cameron White was caught for 64 off the bowling of Bird, who had been tidy on day one without gaining many rewards. Bird also had Christian caught behind for 3 to finish with 3 for 75 from his 30 overs, which included 10 maidens, and ahead of Friday’s naming of Australia’s squad for the first Test against South Africa it was a solid performance.The likelihood is that Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will be joined by Nathan Lyon and one further fast bowler in the WACA Test, with Bird and Siddle both leading candidates having played on February’s Test tour of New Zealand. It is possible that both men will be named in the squad on Friday before the final XI is chosen closer to the match.