Category Uncategorized

Reactions from the England players and team management after their triumph over India in a nail-biting World Cup final at Lord’s

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2017Anya Shrubsole“I’m a little bit lost for words, if I’m honest. Just an unbelievable game. It looked for a minute like we were out of it, but one of the great things about this team is we never give up. Alex Hartley got that vital wicket of Harmanpreet (Kaur) and we never looked back from there.”It’s more that you don’t want the game to be ruined by rain. It was just an amazing game from start to finish, and I think it’s a very fitting final for what’s been a brilliant World Cup. It’s a World Cup final, there’s a huge amount of pressure, so much pressure on new batters coming in. We never let the run rate get away from us, even though we weren’t getting wickets, so we knew if we got a couple, we’d be right in the game. It’s a dream, and a dream you never think is going to come true. Here, watching my dad play in the club national knockouts, so to be back 16 years later as a World Cup winner is just amazing.”Heather Knight“I can’t stop smiling, to be honest. So proud of that group of girls, they have been outstanding. We’ve made it hard for ourselves this tournament, but I couldn’t care less. We won those really tight games, which is something we wanted to work on over the last 18 months. Back in Delhi feels like a long time ago, but it was the making of this team. All we’ve done in the last 18 months is to deal with situations like that. Anya Shrubsole, what a hero. What a day.”Credit to India, they had a brilliant tournament and played really well. Punam (Raut) was batting outstandingly and they got some partnerships together. I thought if we hung in there and let the rate stay around five or six that we’d always be in the game. The girls really held their nerve. We took our catches at the end, apart from that little one by Jenny Gunn which was slightly stressful, but the main thing is we got over the line and have got the trophy. Just want to thank the crowd, the support has been fantastic throughout the tournament. Hopefully after our success, we can grow the game in this country. There has never been a better time for girls to play.”Tammy Beaumont“Robbo (Mark Robinson, the coach) had to remind me that I’ve been doing well. So many of the girls stood up. It’s been a great team performance. Myself and Lauren got off to a good start, but we thought we threw it away. But our batting order has been superb. Jenny Gunn and Katherine Brunt were excellent. Full credit to Raut and Kaur, they put on an exceptional partnership. In my head, it was never in doubt, we knew one wicket could change things. It was back in April that we all came here to the Lord’s tour. Lot of hard work went into it, all for just this moment.”Sarah Taylor“Probably couldn’t have been a better comeback, I’m just so proud of the girls. It’s been a roller coaster year for me, but to be part of this team has been simply incredible. For me, it was a case of being healthy, just get back training and see how I go. I was just lucky to be here for the World Cup. India played exceptionally well and we’ve been there, so we know it hurts. But I guess you have to rebuild, come back stronger, and this will make them better cricketers and better people. Good luck to them in the future. Heather Knight’s such a calm character, there was no pressure on us at all. She just lets us play our game. She’s been an incredible character for us and an incredible person.”Alex Hartley“I can’t believe it. This is what we’ve been working for. The girls were absolutely fantastic. It’s a dream come true for all of us. I’ve never stepped onto Lord’s before in a game, absolutely fantastic that we managed to pull it off. At that moment, you can’t really think of that (that a World Cup is at stake), you get too nervous. For me, it’s just another cricket game, but at the back of the mind, it was the World Cup. Anya Shrubsole, what a hero.”Laura Marsh“Think I bowled okay, but Anya was just outstanding at the end, to take all those wickets under pressure was fantastic. I think in a World Cup final, every run is really important. We always knew we’re right in the game. We just stuck in there, it was brilliant.”Fran Wilson“We knew we’d be able to pull through. We’ve done it before; we knew we could do it again. Credit to Anya, she was amazing. Everyone was amazing. I can’t tell you what was going through my head. I guess just past experiences, knowing that 20,000 people are behind you and also the 11 girls on the pitch and the support staff, all willing you on, and that’s always going to keep you calm. It was amazing, an incredible experience. I can’t imagine life after the World Cup.”Jenny Gunn“It’s brilliant to be here at Home of Cricket, Lord’s, home support, in front of family and friends, is just amazing. This is one of the best teams I’ve played with.”England coach Mark Robinson“India played really well, but I’m so proud of the girls. We knew we were 30 light, but we knew we were always in the game. The wicket has been used before, early in the year, so slow bowlers were always going to be hard to get away. So it was a fighting score. This team has a lot of heart, lot of courage. We just needed that break every now and then, and once we had that break, we were right in this game. The game’s really grown, has been incredibly backed by the ICC, it has been marketed, the media has got behind it. And what an atmosphere today. I really enjoyed it. I was desperate for us to win, but it’s such a great occasion, and I just enjoyed every minute of it. The girls have been really well-behaved this trip, I don’t suppose they will be tonight.”

Despite much debate, England’s first Test squad of the season includes minor tweaks rather than any major overhauls which is a prudent outcome

George Dobell12-May-2016Just as you wouldn’t expect to hear an hour of Belgian jazz if you went to see Kylie Minogue in concert, so you probably shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of surprises in an England squad.Continuity of selection has been a significant policy in recent years. And, while there are times that might appear to frustrate progress, it is almost certainly a price worth paying. Nobody wants to return to the bad old days when England picked 29 men in a series (the Ashes of 1989) or the sense of uncertainty and selfishness that fostered in the dressing room.Both the changes to the England squad for the first Investec Test are, to a point, enforced. James Vince comes in for the unfortunate James Taylor and Jake Ball takes the opportunity offered by injury to Mark Wood. Ball has, though, nudged in front of Chris Woakes, who is paying the price for a poor Test at the end of the tour of South Africa, when he stood in for the injured Steven Finn.The bowling attack pretty much picked itself. Steven Finn will, barring injury, almost certainly fill the spot of third seamer behind Stuart Broad and James Anderson and Moeen Ali provides the spin option. Perhaps, later in the summer, the likes of Adil Rashid and Simon Kerrigan might squeeze Moeen but the combination of his batting ability and calm temperament provide an edge at this stage. He is generally regarded as the best available offspinner now, too, though his batting has regressed a little.Ball has bowled beautifully this season. He maintains an immaculate length and has the skill to move the ball either way which should stand him in good stead even on Test surfaces. He is not the quickest, by any means, and looks a Test No. 11 with the bat but if he wins an opportunity on the sort of pitches we saw in Tests at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge last year, he will flourish.The batting was more problematic. Neither Nick Compton or Alex Hales made a definitive case for themselves in South Africa and Sam Robson, in particular, must have pushed them hard. Perhaps, had Ian Bell had no fitness concerns and had Gary Ballance looked in better form, things may have been different. The door is not shut on any of them.Speculation ahead of the announcement suggested that Hales’ position was more secure than Compton’s. This was puzzling as Compton performed significantly better in South Africa (he averaged 30.62 to Hales’ 17.00), though the series did finish with Compton playing horribly at Centurion when his fear of losing the place he values so highly became palpable.Perhaps nothing demonstrated the value of continuity of selection more? Players who feel secure of their position are able to relax and focus on their game without the distraction of unnecessary insecurities. Compton and Hales now have a chance – three more Tests, probably – to show what they can do.Nick Compton has had a slow start to the season but is likely to get the three Tests against Sri Lanka•Getty Images

Compton’s issue may well, these days, be less that others can’t accept him as much as it is he seems to struggle to accept himself. He is, at his best, an old-fashioned Test batsman with a solid defence and fine powers of concentration. Throw in an elegant drive, an effective cut and a decent pull and you have the makings of a highly-effective player.He needs to accept those limitations, understand that he will never be as glamorous a cricketer as Ben Stokes or Joe Root, and settle into a role he does better than just about anyone: blocking the hell out of the new ball and then accumulating runs. He needs to forget the past and the Andy Flower regime that came to distrust him and understand that the new management want only his success.Hales looks in fine form. While some observers have felt his batting this season has been overly cautious, others feel he has added maturity and discipline to his obvious flair. The judgement of which balls to play around off stump will remain key to determining the success of Test openers and Hales struggled in that regard in South Africa. He still looks a more natural No. 3 but England’s slightly quirkish desire to have one free-scoring opener has put him under undue pressure.Under the carefree exterior, though, he has shown some courage. The decision to rest for the opening couple of rounds of Championship matches was both wise and brave. Others, certainly in previous regimes, would have wanted to be seen to do the right thing. It reflects well on Hales and the current England management that he was allowed to rest.Vince is a fine-looking, elegant player. The sort who could spawn a thousands of imitators in playgrounds around the land – if they still have playgrounds these days; or if they still see Test cricket – and whose batting you could fall in love with. He remains, as yet, unproven against top-class bowling, but starting him at No. 5 provides him with the best chance of success.Jonny Bairstow deserved the right to retain the gloves and looks in magnificent form with the bat. We know he is not the finished article as a keeper but he did recently out-keep Chris Read – no mean achievement – in the Championship game at Trent Bridge and in the absence of overwhelming evidence of better options has an opportunity to progress.There are few surprises in the performance squad, either. Samit Patel, a member of the Test squads over the winter, is one noticeable but unsurprising omission, while Jamie Overton is preferred to his twin, Craig. It is a reversal of Somerset’s selection policy but Jamie has pace and produced a sharp and impressive spell in front of Trevor Bayliss at Edgbaston a few days ago. Ben Foakes, meanwhile, has an opportunity to develop as first choice wicketkeeper with Surrey. His glovework looks good enough already; his batting requires extra concentration but he is one for the future.It might be worth remembering that Sri Lanka beat England the last time they visited. Pakistan might have at least drawn the series, too, had the whole team been focussed on doing so. While a couple of fine batsmen have gone from that Sri Lanka team, the bowling attack will probably be very similar. Those who wanted to use these series for experimentation should remember that. There is no room for complacency.

Jonathan Trott began life in international retirement with an assured 42 but his innings was a mere footnote to a rollicking opening day’s play

Paul Edwards at Edgbaston17-May-2015
ScorecardKeith Barker belted•Getty Images

Cricket has a whimsical gift for misdirection. On a day when many spectators were concerned to see how Jonathan Trott would perform on his return to the county circuit, it was the batting of Ian Westwood and Keith Barker, his Warwickshire colleagues, which eventually commanded more attention than Trott’s innings of 42.Close followers of the domestic game might greet this development with nothing more than a knowing smile. Westwood has been in excellent form this season. His 88 on the first day of this match against Durham took his Championship aggregate for 2015 to 439 runs in seven innings. When he was bowled three overs before tea by a fine ball from Graham Onions which moved off the seam, the compact left-hander with an enviable gift for clipping the ball away on the leg side had provided his side with the foundation upon which their very substantial total was built.So well had Westwood been batting that his dismissal, after a knock which included 14 fours and a six into the Hollies Stand, came as rather a shock. It also occurred in the middle of a difficult period in Warwickshire’s innings, one in which they also lost Laurie Evans, who had been caught behind for 45 by Phil Mustard in Onions’s previous over when playing the loosest of cuts at a ball unsuitable for the stroke.And when Tim Ambrose was so discomfited by the extra bounce extracted by John Hastings that he gave Mustard his third catch a couple of overs after tea, Varun Chopra’s team were 227 for 6 and in danger of wasting the advantage gained when their captain had won the toss. This did not happen, though. On the contrary, some very positive batting by Rikki Clarke and Barker saw 103 runs added in 68 minutes prior to the taking of the second new ball, 28 of those runs coming in consecutive overs from the Pavilion End bowled by Paul Coughlin and Scott Borthwick.Chris Rushworth, as is his skill these days, restored a little control to Durham’s attack and had Clarke lbw for 36 in the 81st over. The ball may have struck the allrounder a little high on the pad and Barker certainly did all he could to avoid a similar fate during the remainder of the evening session. Dropped by Paul Collingwood at slip and Calum MacLeod in the gully off successive balls from Hastings when only 16, Barker used his bat to very good effect and he goes into the second day on 85 not out and with a fifth first-class century beckoning.At the other end Jeetan Patel hit Rushworth for a straight six, straight drove Hastings and Coughlin and reached his 46-ball fifty off the last ball of the day. Durham’s bowlers conceded 199 runs off 32 overs in the final session.But what of Trott? Only 13 days after he had announced his retirement from Test cricket and 16 after the vicious short-pitched ball from Shannon Gabriel which had made that decision something of a relief for his many friends and supporters, the Warwickshire No. 3 batted in a style both familiar and reassuring during his 90-minute inningsGreeted by a warm ovation when he came to the wicket with his side on 18 for 2 after Onions and Rushworth had removed Chopra and William Porterfield, Trott clipped his first ball for four and quickly settled into a recognisable rhythm. This was characterised by frequent marking of the crease, strolls to square leg, and decisive strokes, whether in defence or attack. Renowned as something of an enforcer in the England team, Trott helped Westwood deal with the new ball and one can foresee a few seasons in which he will take care of such business for Warwickshire. Further boundaries followed off Coughlin and Hastings but so did sensible decisions to leave the ball alone.Was Trott tested quite as he had been in Barbados? He was not. Was his technique given a thorough examination by a Division One attack? That did happen and Trott coped with it all well. It was a something of a surprise when he was leg before to Onions’s third ball after lunch.”Trotty’s been fine,” said Dougie Brown, Warwickshire’s Director of Cricket. “This is an environment that he knows and one that he trusts. He responds really well to it and we are delighted to have him back. He looked to be in good order on what was quite a tricky pitch and I thought he played really well. There’ll be a number of bowlers round the country that would prefer it if he was still playing international cricket. He’s a rock in our batting order.”

A round-up of the sixth round of the President’s Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2012Star-studded Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited thrashed United Bank Limited by an innings and 216 runs in Rawalpindi. Mohammad Hafeez hit 193, just three shy of his career best, Misbah-ul-Haq made 109 and Ali Waqas 95 as SNGPL racked up 455 for 5 declared. Misbah has now made successive hundreds, after his 110 in his side’s previous game. Hafeez’s best in this tournament so far was 95 against Khan Research Laboratories in October. Before hitting 32 fours in his 193 off 301 deliveries, Hafeez had also picked up 4 for 13 as United Bank crumbled to 165 after being inserted by Misbah. Only opener Abid ali (82) resisted for United Bank, who plummeted further in the second innings. Asad Ali grabbed a career-best 7 for 42 to blow them away for just 74, with five batsmen registering ducks, and eight failing to get into double digits.Wahab Riaz took a first-class best 7 for 29 as National Bank of Pakistan thumped State Bank of Pakistan by an innings and 31 runs inside three days in Lahore. Coming on as first change and after Imran Khan had made the first breakthrough, Riaz scythed through the State Bank line-up to dismiss them for 136 in reply to National Bank’s 304. Fawad Alam enforced the follow-on and this time, the wickets were shared among four bowlers. While Riaz and Hammad Azam picked up three each, Imran and Uzair-ul-Haq took two apiece as State Bank managed 137. Byes contributed 18 and 23 to State Bank’s totals in both innings. National Bank’s 304 had earlier been set up by fifties from Sami Aslam (89) and Qaiser Abbas (66).A combined second-innings bowling performance by Pakistan International Airlines helped them defeat Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited by six wickets in Islamabad. After conceding a 60-run first-innings lead, and after No. 4 Haris Sohail had scored his third century in three matches, PIA fast bowlers Aizaz Cheema and Anwar Ali claimed seven wickets between them to bowl ZTBL out for 131 in the second innings. While chasing 192 to win, however, PIA were in trouble at 77 for 4, but the middle order thereafter played responsibly to reach the target for the loss of six wickets.PIA had a poor first innings when Mohammad Khalil – who ended the game with nine victims – and Sohail Tanvir took eight wickets together to help dismiss them for 152. The ZTBL lead, however, had been brought about by Sohail’s century. Sohail, who scored 120, was the only batsman who provided some resistance to the PIA bowling, as the next best score was 33, with seven single-digit scores.Azam Hussain, Kamran Younis and Tanvir Ahmed bowled Port Qasim Authority to an improbable 17-run win against Water and Power Development Authority in Faisalabad. Set only 118 to win, WAPDA were never in the chase as the PQA trio struck regularly. Only four batsmen managed to make double-digit scores as WAPDA were dismissed for 100. PQA themselves had an average outing in the second innings, with No. 7 Mohammad Salman’s 36 being the highest score. Zulfiqar Babar picked up 5 for 40 as PQA made 173. Both sides fared better in the first innings, with WAPDA eventually taking a lead of 56 after posting 271 on the back of fifties from Sohaib Maqsood and Ali Azmat. PQA, who chose to bat, had been restricted to 215 after Junaid Khan’s 5 for 68.Fast bowler Abdul Ameer, 20, took his best figures of 7 for 66 as Habib Bank came from behind to beat Khan Research Laboratories by 65 runs in Rawalpindi. Habib Bank had conceded a first-innings lead of 92 but Imran Farhat cracked an aggressive century to set up a second-innings total of 399. Farhat was helped by contributions from Ahmed Shehzad (75), captain Younis Khan (58) and Asad Shafiq (80*). Faced with a target of 308, KRL lost wickets regularly, save for a second-wicket stand of 119 between Shoaib Ahmed (60) and Bazid Khan (54) and a ninth-wicket partnership of 91 between Nauman Ali (51) and Mohammad Irfan. Ameer dismissed all but three of the Habib Bank batsmen, who fell to Ehsan Adil. There had been no fifties on both sides in the first innings but KRL had a handy lead after making 253, despite Adil’s 6 for 58.

Western Australia wrapped up first innings points and engineered a strong position from which to push for outright victory on day two of the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2011
ScorecardNathan Coulter-Nile nabbed two vital wickets on a strong day for the Warriors•Getty Images

Western Australia wrapped up first innings points and engineered a strong position from which to push for outright victory as South Australia fell 110 short of the visitors’ 335 on day two of the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval.The Warriors’ tail crept up to their first innings total before harrying the Redbacks with the ball and ultimately enjoying a flood of wickets in the afternoon, taking 9 for 165 after lunch as the hosts were rounded up for 225.Nathan Coulter-Nile struck first, bowling Michael Klinger when he failed to offer a shot, and would later return to dismiss the dangerous allrounder Daniel Christian. Michael Hogan and Michael Beer also bowled with intelligence and economy to strangle an SA innings that had shown promise when Daniel Harris and Callum Ferguson were together.Among the rest only Tom Cooper offered much resistance, and his stay was ended by a legside catch from the bowling of Beer, who warmed up nicely for his looming trip to South Africa with the Australian Test team.Gary Putland had earlier collected his second five-wicket Shield haul for SA, though the Redbacks were frustrated somewhat by a stubborn innings from Beer against the second new ball.