Haseeb Hameed signs contract extension with Nottinghamshire
Steven Mullaney hopeful of Haseeb Hameed regaining England Test spot
County Championship Division Two Round-up | September 26
County Championship Division Two Round-up: September 21
David Lloyd’s triple ton headlines Day 2 proceedings from the 2022 County Championship’s September round.
County Championship 2022 | Division Two Round-Up, September 5
Here are the high points from each of three matches played in County Championship Division Two.
Royal London One-Day Cup 2022 | Group A Round-up, August 20
Brett Hutton and Chris Wright recorded remarkable bowling spells in a rain-affected Group A contest between Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire on August 20.
Haseeb Hameed bags John Pye Auctions Player of the Month award for July
Haseeb Hameed was awarded for his dream run with the bat in the last three matches by being named the "John Pye Auctions Player of the Month award".
County Championship 2022 | Division Two Round-up, July 19
Division Two of the ongoing 2022 County Championship resumed with two matches on Tuesday.
The Ashes | MCG Test, Day 1 - England openers fail once again; return to pavilion after 13 runs
England’s new opening combination for the series failed once again on Sunday, 26 December in the third Test match of the Ashes series. Being forced to bat first after losing the toss, England openers survived for a total of 7.2 two overs. Both of them edged their deliveries forcing Dawid Malan and Joe Root to come out much earlier than anticipated. Returning captain Pat Cummins took it upon himself to open the bowling with Mitchell Starc on Boxing Day and was rewarded in his very first over dismissing Haseeb Hameed for his 100th Test wicket. Australia were not hit for a single boundary in the opening spell of Starc and Cummins and that pressure bore another wicket in the 8th over with Cummins removing Zak Crawley. At the time of writing Joe Root and Dawid Malan were once again forced into the rebuilding act and had put up a partnership of 18 runs from 28 balls. England were 31/2 in 12 overs.
The Ashes | Day-Night Test, Day 3: 'Thankful' Neser relishing every bit of successful Test debut
Lucky to get into Australia playing XI for the second Test in Adelaide, Michael Nesser is making the best out of his debut Test and relishing every moment that are coming his way. He was seen celebrating passionately along with his teammates after taking his maiden wicket in the format and expressed his gratitude to his teammates for being able to play with them at the highest level. "I got a lot of love from the team ... I'm just really thankful I've got so many good mates playing in this team and they just got around me,” Neser said to one of the host broadcasters Seven. Neser also celebrated his time in the middle with the bat in his hand as he smashed the tired and exhausted England bowling attack to all parts of the Adelaide Oval and scored a 25-ball 38. He came back with the ball and did his primary job of taking wicket from the word go by dismissing Haseeb Hameed on the second ball of his Test career towards the end of the second day. However, he could not add on to his tally on the third day and said that the hosts were aware of the challenges of bowling under the sun when the pitch appears to be flatter and the ball doesn’t do much compared to the time when lights are one.
England announce revamped central contracts; Ollie Robinson, Jack Leach, Malan get their first
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has revamped and released its central contract for the 2021-12 season. The board has junked the format-specific contracts for players and has made a list of players who are expected to play for England across formats in the next 12-month period. There are a total of 20 players who have been awarded central contracts and this includes the newcomer such as Ollie Robinson, who made his Test debut in the just-finished summer. Dawid Malan, who returned to the longest format this summer has also earned the contract and so has Zak Crawley, who was dropped from the side after a string of low scores against New Zealand and India. However, there was no place for Dob Sibley and Haseeb Hameed, who made an encouraging comeback against Indian after a gap of five years in the contract list. There was serious doubt on Jonny Bairstow’s future in the longest format but he has got the contract as well. Moeen Ali, who recently announced retirement from the Test format and his spin bowling pattern in the format, Jack Leach, and Adil Rashid, who has been an instrumental part of the England white-ball formats, have also got the contract. The injured duo of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, who are all set to miss a significant part of the next 12 months due to complicated injuries, have also been retained on the list of players to get contracts. The ECB also issued incremental and pace bowling contracts to seven players in total. The incremental has been given to three players such as Tom Curran, Dom Bess, Liam Livingstone and Chris Jordan while the pace bowling contracts have been awarded to Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton and Olly Stone. The Managing Director of England’s Men Cricket, Ashley Giles rated the revamped central contract as "the fairest and most transparent way of rewarding players across all formats". He congratulated all the players who earned the contract while specifically mentioning the trio of Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, and Ollie Robinson, who got the contract for the first time. England Men's Central Contracts Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Jack Leach, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
5th Test Preview: Battle-hardened India chase legacy-defining series win over haphazard England
When the coin went up in the air for the first time at Trent Bridge early last month, it was the start of a “blockbuster” series as Indian captain Virat Kohli had described then. Now, after a period of over one month and four riveting Test matches, each and every phase of play has thrown fierce battles and mouthwatering competition between the players across both sides to justify the hype and expectations. While India made an impressive start in the first Test, Joe Root brought his best to the fore and thwarted an early advantage to the tourists. To overcome the Joe Root-led England batting, Virat Kohli’s highly-spirited side sucked the life out of the hosts at Lord’s to go 1-0 up in the series. There were obituaries written for the hosts in the aftermath of Lord’s loss and people expected Kohli-led India’s ship to sail comfortably through the Englihs summer. Both their critics and the Indian side faced a rough high tide soon after as James Anderson and Ollie Robinson blew them apart at Headingley. What was described as an “Indian juggernaut” after Lord’s became “here to go again” in terms of batting collapse for the Indian side and the fortunes of analysts writing off a side were returned to India after a humiliating defeat at Headingley. However, just as Root’s side came back strongly after Lord’s defeat to trounce India, Kohli’s men bounce back in as bullish a manner as possible to take a 2-1 lead at the Oval Test. It’s that topsy-turvy ride in the series that augurs fantastic five days for the fifth and final Test of the series due to be played at Old Trafford. If England’s defeat at Lord’s and India’s defeat at Headingley were of their own making, the last Test at the Oval was more a case of a stronger side defeating a mediocre team in the long haul where all aspects of their game were tested until wheels came off. India’s last win showcased the difference between the sides and established their supremacy in neutral conditions. It highlighted that the gulf between the sides can be narrowed only by bowling conditions heavily stacked against batsmen and in favour of swing and seam bowling. On what considered as “good” or “flat” pitches, England have always been found wanting and it was again on display at the Oval as they could not modify their game as per changing playing conditions while India had plans ready for multiple propositions. Kohli had issued a bullish statement in the wake of the horror show at Headingley that his team love being “written off” and that they have shown their strong mind and class to come back from such situations before. He and his team have lived up that promise by returning the favour of a humiliating loss at Headingley to the hosts and it’s the turn of England to come back with their riposte at Old Trafford. After all, the tourists have a first-mover’s advantage having taken a lead of 2-1, it’s the hosts England who have to hit the ground running if they want to avoid an embarrassing two consecutive series loss at home. England vs India: Match Details Match Number- 05 Date and Time: September 10-14, 2021, 3:30 pm IST, 10:30 Local, 10:00 GMT Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester Broadcast and Live Stream: SonyLIV, Sony Six Pitch and weather Joe Root has asked for “England condition” for the fifth and final Test of the series and it is understandable that he knows the limits of his side. England are not quite adept at batting for 150 odd overs on a dry pitch against disciplined bowling and also not have too many pace bowlers who could “take the pitch out of the equation” and hence the hosts will need conditions such as it was Headingley to stop India from winning the series. However, they would not be feeling confident of unleashing an absolute green seamer as it can also bing the fiery Indian pace attack well and truly in the game and hence Root wants just “England conditions” and not absolutely bowling-friendly conditions. England have also added Jack Leach to the squad which suggests that even the hosts are not ruling out a spin-friendly pitch at Old Trafford. The pitches at the venue in the recent past have aided spinners and if it holds true for the Test, India will be confident of returning with the Pataudi Trophy firmly in their grasps. The weather god is likely to intervene a lot during the course of the final Test in Manchester with chances of rain exceeding 10 per cent on all days of the game. The first day is likely to be affected the most by the rain as there is more than a 30 per cent chance of rain throughout the first day. Team News England England have confirmed the return of Jos Buttler into the playing XI for the final Test and hence there will be a shuffling of the batting lineup with only one slot remaining in the middle order for the duo of Jonny Bairstow and Ollie Pope. Pope returned to the team just in the last game and looked in excellent touch in the first innings while Bairstow has looked very assuring at the crease but doesn’t have any good score to show to his name. Root has not thrown any hint on who is the preferred option in the eyes of the team management, but dropping Pope will be an injustice for the Surrey lad who did the best from his side with the bat in the first innings. England have also added left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who had gone into oblivion following a stellar winter in India and Sri Lanka, to the squad for the final Test but Root has confirmed that he will come back into XI only in case the team will find conditions worthy of playing with two spinners. Moeen Ali, who suffered from his perennial problems at the Oval, remains as England first-choice spinner for the final Test. Moeen for a long time has been known as a bowler who produces magic deliveries and gets the best batsmen from the opposition out but in between those unplayable deliveries, he lacks control. He leaks too many runs for the liking of his captain and the trend has not stopped in the series as well with India milking him at more than four runs per over in the second innings at the Oval. The team management will be at loggerheads over the workload of the Anderson-Robinson who were made to toil in the last Test but Root does not have too many options to fall upon in the absence of Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad. However, Root has suggested that they will not risk playing with a bowler who is concerning about an injury and hence the outlook of the England pace attack will be interesting. Craig Overton was found out at the Oval and to add to the misery, he was also injured while batting in the last innings which would open a certain door of selection for Mark Wood. Probable XI Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (C), Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler (WK), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, James Anderson India India too have too many selection conundrums albeit a majority of them are due to the availability of too many options. make. The biggest of them all will be the question of Ajinkya Rahane, who has looked like a fish out of water for a large part of the series. His numbers have dried up and so are the calls for his support from outside. Although Kohli has not given in too much for what he calls “outside noise” but Rahane’s position in the team is becoming untenable with each passing failure with the bat. If Kohli sticks to his style of giving a long rope to players he trusts, Rahane will be batting at number five at Old Trafford or Hanuma Vihari will get his first chance in the last Test of the series. Another big and continuous conundrum for them will be the selection or non-selection of Ravichandran Ashwin. He has been excluded from the playing XI throughout the series after Kohli ditched the two-spinner formula in the wake of loss in the WTC final against New Zealand and adopted a “template” of four pacers and one spinner in the form of Ravindra Jadeja. They have maintained the stance that the off-spinner will come in the picture only if the pitch will allow them to play two spinners and hence nothing could be said from the outset. India rested Mohammed Shami as he was recovering from a niggle but Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj continued to play at the Oval as well. The duo has played all the Tests of the series so far and they must be feeling having tired legs. Bumrah was also seen clutching his calf while bowling in the second innings at the Oval and hence Kohli will have to take a call whether they want to rest one or both of them from an all-important series decider at Old Trafford. Siraj can well be replaced by Mohammed Shami but India would be fretting over the injury scare to Bumrah, who has an equally important series to play for India in the coming months. Unlike Siraj or Shami, he forms the core of the Indian bowling attack that will play in the ICC World T20 later this year and the team management will be wary of bowling him to the ground some months before the marquee event. If the pitch at Old Trafford will be drier than the other pitches that have been used in the series so far, India might go with both Jadeja and Ashwin with Shardul being the third pacer in the team. Probable XI KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
4th Test | Final Day Live Updates: India blow England away to take 2-1 lead at the Oval
After four eventful days of cricket between the two sides, India and England are in for another close contest on the final day of the fourth Test to take a 2-21 lead in what has been a keenly contested series. None of the sides is out of the contention to travel to Manchester with a 2-1 lead and that augurs the best outlook for the Virat Kohli and Joe Root-led sides. India are in desperate need of all 10 England wickets while the hosts need 291 runs on the final day to take a comprehensive lead. They were set an almost improbable target of 368 runs by India but the unbeatne partnership between Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns has given them a big hope on the final day. India will hope Ravindra Jadeja will get enough purchase from the rough patches developing outside the off stump of the left-hander batsmen while the pace quartet of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur will create enough opportunities to get through the England abetting lien up.
Felt like it was a good enough wicket to be able to chase any score: Chris Woakes
The Indian batsmen had a brilliant outing against England in the second innings of the fourth Test at Kennington Oval after the visitors took a lead of 367 runs to hand the home side a target of 368 runs. In reply, England were off to a good start after openers Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns put 77 runs on the board before the stumps were called on the penultimate day. Chris Woakes has said that the pitch is “good enough” for batting but it would take some effort to chase down the target. "We felt like it was a good enough wicket to be able to chase any score," Woakes told reporters. "To go all the way and chase down that score would be an incredible effort. It would be a great, great chase,” he added. The right-hander further lauded the openers’ efforts and hailed them for keeping things in control for the hosts. Woakes said. The five-match Test series is presently levelled at 1-1. The first match at Nottingham ended in a draw while India won the Lord’s Test by 151 runs to go 1-0 up. Later, England made a comeback in the third Test at Leeds after winning the encounter by an innings and 76 runs.