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Second round of Covid-19 tests all come back negative

George Dobell25-Jun-2020West Indies provided a double boost to all those looking forward to a return to something approaching normality as their preparations for the Test series against England moved up a level.As well as offering a glimpse of the first organised cricket of the English season – you would have struggled to find many guessing the first game of the summer would feature two West Indies XIs – there was also good news off the pitch. ESPNcricinfo understands that every member of the touring squad tested negative for the Covid-19 virus – the second such test of the tour – increasing confidence that the series will start, as planned, on July 8.While this three-day match will not be recorded as a first-class encounter – the tourists named all 25 players across the two sides and wore coloured training kits, shorts and hoodies rather than whites – the fact that it represented the first professional cricket since the Pakistan Super League was suspended in mid-March rendered it a notable occasion.West Indies will be quietly satisfied with it, too. There were runs for key batsmen, Kraigg Brathwaite (who made 84 off 162 balls) and Shai Hope (83 off 127), while three of the fast bowlers looked in decent shape.Alzarri Joseph, who wrapped up the tail, was the top wicket-taker with 4 for 60, but Shannon Gabriel, who remains officially a reserve for the tour but looks all but certain to be added to the main squad, was equally impressive in claiming 3 for 32. Kemar Roach also started to find his rhythm after a slow start and claimed the wicket of Brathwaite as the batting side lost their last five wickets for the addition of just two runs.ALSO READ: Gabriel set to be added to Windies Test squadThe only cloud on the horizon was the lack of bowling from Jason Holder. While Phil Simmons, West Indies’ head coach, suggested the previous day that Holder had recovered from a minor ankle injury, there one or two looking at the scorecard with a furrowed brow. West Indies do have another match – a four-day, first-class game – ahead of the Test, however, providing Holder ample opportunity to prove his fitness.The Holder XI enjoyed the better of the opening session. John Campbell, who top-edged a pull to mid-wicket, went for a 16-ball duck, before Shamarh Brooks edged one to the keeper.But Brathwaite and Hope are made of stern stuff. Despite taking 23-balls to get off the mark, Hope made 39 off his next 45 and reached his half-century from 76 deliveries with seven fours. Brathwaite, meanwhile, defended and drove well and reached his half-century from 166 deliveries. In all, they added 103 for the third wicket.Shannon Gabriel celebrates the wicket of Shamarh Brooks•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

They were finally parted by Roach, quietly effective throughout, as he took out Brathwaite’s off stump before tea. From 176 for 3 at the start of the last session, the batting side were rounded up efficiently in the evening.Hope was the key wicket, sixth man down nicking Joseph behind. That was the start of a decisive spell for the seamer, who had Raymon Reifer and Anderson Philip caught in the slips and finished off the day by skittling Chemar Holder first ball. Off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall and left-arm seamer Preston McSween each contributed a wicket as the Brathwaite XI were bowled out on the brink of stumps for 275.”The intensity was there from ball one,” Brathwaite told PA afterwards. “Everyone was playing with a purpose. Those guys we faced are quality, so it was very good practice for batters and bowlers. It was intense, it felt like we were in a battle all day. When you play a game like this you want to come out on top.”Shannon looks fit to me and I believe he is ready for the Test series.”

There was a share of the points in Sydney as welcome rain swept through the city

Andrew McGlashan16-Jan-2020No one will begrudge New South Wales – or anywhere in Australia – some desperately needed rain even if it did mean an abandonment after less than seven overs at the SCG between the Sydney Sixers and Hobart Hurricanes.The share of the points was more damaging to the Hurricanes who remain second-bottom with seven points from their 10 matches with just four games remaining to try and squeeze into the knockouts. The Sixers stay second behind runaway leaders the Melbourne Stars.With the forecast poor from well before the start it was no surprise that the Hurricanes bowled first on winning a delayed toss. They made useful inroads during the powerplay as Josh Philippe charged and missed against Clive Rose then James Vince was caught behind off Scott Boland when he tried to use his feet.Daniel Hughes was forming a promising innings having reached 26 off 22 balls with some pleasing off-side strokes as he and captain Moises Henriques tried to steady the innings. Henriques survived a run out chance when George Bailey missed from point two balls before the rain became too heavy.The Sixers’ next match is the local derby against the Sydney Thunder on Saturday while the Hurricanes face the Adelaide Strikers in Launceston on Sunday

James Price and captain Keaton Jennings, son of former South Africa player Ray Jennings, led South Africa to an easy win in the first Youth ODI in Cape Town

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2011ScorecardZimbabwe wicketkeeper Kudzai Sauramba’s 53 was the only significant contribution with the bat for his team•Zimbabwe Cricket

James Price and captain Keaton Jennings, son of former South Africa player Ray Jennings, continued the terrific batting form they had shown on the tour of Zimbabwe in July 2010, and led South Africa to an easy win in the first Youth ODI in Cape Town. Zimbabwe were never in the hunt after they lost three early wickets in their chase of 267 and ended up 46 runs adrift, with only wicketkeeper Kudzai Sauramba making an impression with the bat.On the 2010 tour of Zimbabwe, Price had smashed 135 off just 82 balls in the third ODI in Harare and followed it up with half-centuries in each of the two Twenty20 games. He scored briskly once again in Cape Town, reaching 98 off 66 balls with seven fours and seven sixes. Jennings was the leading run-getter in the five-match series in Zimbabwe with 289 runs at an average of 72.25, and carried on that form in the current series, scoring 72 at the top of the order. Price and Jennings shared a 139-run partnership for the second wicket to set the foundation for a big score.The innings slowed down after Price fell, with Zimbabwe offspinner Godwill Mamhiyo going through his 10 overs for just 34 runs, but 266 was still going to be a difficult task for the visitors.Seamer Keagan Rafferty did the early damage for South Africa, taking two wickets, and Zimbabwe slumped to 34 for 3. Sauramba fought with his 53, but Zimbabwe could not last the 50 overs, bowled out with nine balls still remaining. Legspinner Lionel Vaaltyn was South Africa’s most economical bowler, taking 2 for 29 in his 10 overs, while Jennings chipped in with two wickets with his seamers.The next game of the five-match series will be played at the Stellenbosch University Ground on January 15.

The decision to tour hinges on security assessments which will be partly determined by the government

Mohammad Isam09-Dec-2019The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will know later this week whether the Bangladesh government will allow them to send the men’s team to Pakistan for a full tour in January, according to chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury. The decision to tour hinges on security assessments, which will be determined by the government, apart from the board’s own security team which has submitted a report recently.Chowdhury was responding to a question posed about the Pakistan Cricket Board’s proposal to play a day-night Test during the tour. He said that the decision to play the day-night game is secondary for them currently.”Before discussing the proposal to play day-night Test, we are awaiting the government directive because of the security issue in Pakistan,” Chowdhury was quoted as saying by . “We will need the government’s permission. We have to first see if we can go on this tour. We don’t have much time as the tour is scheduled for next month. We are hopeful that we can clear our position on the tour this week. We will know if we are going to Pakistan or not.”ESPNcricinfo has learnt that the BCB are not quite keen on playing another day-night Test without giving the players enough match practice with the pink ball under lights. The current schedule would not allow the senior team time to prepare separately for pink-ball cricket, as the BPL ends on January 17.The tour is scheduled for three T20Is from January 23, and the Test series has to finish before the PSL that is scheduled to begin on February 20, so like their maiden pink-ball Test in India last month, Bangladesh are unlikely to get an extra practice match before the proposed Pakistan day-night Test.On the other hand, the PCB has been experimenting with day-night first-class cricket for the last eight years starting with the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in 2011, which was played with an orange ball in Karachi, and their Test side has played four day-night matches.

Rory Hamilton-Brown and Tom Maynard both hit half-centuries as Surrey made it three wins in three games as they claimed a 17-win over Leicestershire

08-May-2011
ScorecardRory Hamilton-Brown top-scored for Surrey with 57•PA Photos

Rory Hamilton-Brown and Tom Maynard both hit half-centuries as Surrey made it three wins in three games as they claimed a 17-win over Leicestershire in the Clydesdale Bank 40.While Hamilton-Brown and Maynard shone for the hosts at The Oval, Josh Cobb produced a fine all-round contribution for Leicestershire. Cobb, primarily a batsman, took two good wickets with his leg spin, held two stunning catches, one off his own bowling, and hit a rapid 45 but Leicestershire subsided to 189 all out in pursuit of a target of 207.Surrey had made a poor start on an Oval pitch lacking its usual pace, slumping to 45 for 3 before Hamilton-Brown and Maynard gave them some momentum in a fourth-wicket stand of 63 in 13 overs.Steve Davies gave Nathan Buck a simple return catch, Jason Roy skied Buck to midwicket and Zander de Bruyn miscued his third ball from Nadeem Malik to mid on and was caught by a leaping Wayne White at mid on.Even Hamilton-Brown and Maynard, both powerful strokemakers, struggled with their timing but Hamilton-Brown had made 57 off 61 balls with seven fours when he drove fiercely back down the pitch and Cobb held a stinging return catch.Matt Spriegel helped Maynard add 49 in 10 overs before Cobb had him caught at long off for 28 and Maynard had reached 55 off 71 balls with only two fours but 40 singles when he was bowled by Buck. Cobb took his third and best catch of the innings – a running, diving effort at long off to remove Yasir Arafat – but a brisk, unbeaten 26 from Chris Schofield lifted Surrey to 206 for eight.It did not seem to be enough when Cobb was launching Leicestershire’s reply with 45 off 36 balls, including seven fours, three of them off successive balls from Jade Dernbach, and a six, driven back over Arafat’s head. Then he pulled Gareth Batty’s third ball into the hands of midwicket and Leicestershire lost four wickets for 14 runs in seven overs.James Taylor was well caught by Davies, standing up, when he tried to cut De Bruyn, Will Jones, an Australia-born batsman making his debut, was leg before to Batty and Matt Boyce was caught at slip off Stuart Meaker.It was 111 for 6 when Jacques du Toit was brilliantly run out by Maynard’s direct hit and White was caught behind off Arafat but Paul Dixey kept Leicestershire’s hopes alive and they even had a chance of winning when Matthew Hoggard joined him in a ninth-wicket stand of 29 in three overs.Then Hoggard, who had hit three fours and a six, holed out at long on, Dixey was bowled by Meaker for a gallant 42 off 38 balls with six fours and Surrey won with nine balls to spare.

His century stand with Wiaan Mulder lifted South Africa A from 142 for 5 to 400; Kuldeep Yadav picked up four wickets for India A

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2019For the first time on their tour of India, South Africa A showed some fight. After managing just 164 and 186 in their seven-wicket loss in the first four-day game, their batting clicked, with Aiden Markram, who in all likelihood will open for South Africa in the first of three Tests starting on October 2 in Visakhapatnam, top-scoring with 161 in Mysore.His 155-run sixth-wicket stand with allrounder Wiaan Mulder, who made his fourth first-class century, lifted South Africa A from 142 for 5. They were eventually bowled out for 400 but came within 17 runs of India A’s 471, which was put together on the back of half-centuries from Shubman Gill (92), Karun Nair (78), Shivam Dube (68) and Wriddhiman Saha (60).Mulder, who picked up three wickets in the first innings, remained unbeaten on 131 when last man Lungi Ngidi was dismissed in the 110th over, in the final session on the third day. The spinners bowled more than half the overs for India A, 65.3 to be precise, with Kuldeep Yadav picking up 4 for 121 in 29 overs. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who had three wickets, complemented him. Left out of the Test squad after the Caribbean tour, Umesh Yadav went wicketless after 18 overs of toil.In reply, Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran, who lost out to Gill in the race to the third opener’s slot, took India A to 14 for no loss in six overs when bad light forced an early end to proceedings. India A’s overall lead stands at 31, with draw looking the most likely result with one day remaining.India A earlier took the one-day series 4-1 in Thiruvananthapuram before winning the first four-dayer comprehensively.

Punjab were 52 for 2, chasing 195 in 39 overs, when the weather put paid to play

The Report by Hemant Brar in Alur21-Oct-2019No result Tamil Nadu qualified for the semi-finals of the 2019-20 Vijay Hazare Trophy on the basis of more wins in the league stage after rain washed out their quarter-final against Punjab in Alur. The match was evenly poised at the time of the call off, but Tamil Nadu’s nine out of nine wins to Punjab’s five out of eight saw them through.Due to a wet outfield, the game itself started 45 minutes late, as a 47-over contest, and was further reduced to 39-overs-a-side when a passing shower brought a pre-mature end to Tamil Nadu’s innings. At that stage, Tamil Nadu were 174 for 6, thanks to B Aparajith’s 56.Chasing a VJD-adjusted target of 195, Punjab reached 52 for 2 in 12.2 overs before it started raining again, this time bringing a complete end to play.ALSO READ: Dinesh Karthik tells the story of Tamil Nadu’s nine wins in a rowTamil Nadu had a nervy start after being put in. Abhinav Mukund tried to impose himself but ended up chopping Sandeep Sharma onto his stumps. M Vijay struck two fours, flicking Sidharth Kaul’s pace with ease over midwicket, but he missed the same shot against left-arm spinner Karan Kalia and was lbw for 22.When Mayank Markande dismissed Vijay Shankar, Tamil Nadu were 82 for 3. Aparajith and Dinesh Karthik took the side past 100 before Karthik pulled a long hop from Markande straight to short midwicket.Aparajith though kept chipping away and took his tournament tally past 500. Along the way, he smashed a free hit from Sanvir Singh over long-on, pulled Sandeep over deep-backward square leg and brought up his fifty in 68 balls. Washington Sundar held it together at the other end as the duo added 51 in 59 balls. Aparajith was looking set for a big score but he ended up hitting an innocuous Gurkeerat Mann delivery straight to deep midwicket. In his next over, Mann dismissed Shahrukh Khan in the same manner as well.Punjab lost Abhishek Sharma in the fourth over of their chase. Anmolpreet Singh hit a couple of boundaries before Sai Kishore got him caught-behind, leaving Punjab 37 for 2 at the end of seven overs. Sanvir hit a couple of good-looking drives to keep the chase on track but the rain had other plans.

Two weeks is a long time in football; something Sunderland and Lee Johnson have found out recently.

They have now failed to win their last five league games, leaving the Black Cats’ automatic promotion hope in tatters. They are lacking the fluency and rhythm we had became so accustomed to seeing from them in the last few months.

Johnson had engineered their first Wembley triumph for almost 50 years and had taken the Mackems to third place after 14 matches without a defeat.

However, in typical Sunderland fashion, they are beginning to bottle things. A 2-2 draw with league leaders Hull City in midweek was a good result on paper but they will be eager to finally bounce back when they face Accrington Stanley on Saturday.

Given how poor they’ve been over the last fortnight, how will they line up this weekend? Here’s our predicted XI…

We’re tipping Johnson to make just the two changes from the team which drew with the Tigers.

The first thing to note in the XI is that we think Aiden McGeady will miss out. The manager revealed that the Irishman is “50-50” to face Accrington on Saturday as the winger still has significant bruising on his foot which is making it difficult to kick a ball.

He didn’t face Hull in midweek either but, in order to give Sunderland an extra dose of spice in the final third, we think Josh Scowen should be dropped.

That sees Chris Maguire return to the starting XI for the first time since December. The attacker has had to wait patiently on the sidelines but, after a period where he’s regained fitness while playing for the under-23s, Johnson should finally unleash him.

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The other change is at left-back, where Callum McFadzean drops out. The left-back has been a liability of late and was absolutely terrorised by Mallik Wilks a few days ago.

With that in mind, Denver Hume comes back into the XI to make only his second start since returning from injury.

Tom Flanagan is still missing while Dion Sanderson has headed back to Wolves temporarily in order to help him recover from a back problem.

AND in other news, Zero starts in 2021: Johnson can forget McGeady by unleashing “very talented” SAFC ace…

Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League campaign came to an end on Wednesday evening at the hands of Real Madrid.

The Reds were not able to overturn their 3-1 deficit from the first-leg, eventually earning a stalemate against Los Blancos at Anfield.

We take a look at how Jurgen Klopp’s men rated:

Starting XI

Alisson – 7/10: Whilst not forced into too many saves by Zinedine Zidane’s men, the Brazilian performed at exactly the right time for Liverpool by denying both Vinicius Jr. and Karim Benzema in quick succession in the second-half.

Andrew Robertson  – 6/10: It was a solid if unspectacular night from the left-back. He coped well with the threats of Ferland Mendy and Marco Asensio down the Real Madrid right but his final product ended up disappointing on one too many occasions.

Ozan Kabak – 6/10: The Turk did not do all too much wrong having kept Los Blancos quiet in his time on the pitch. He was replaced somewhat out of consequence with Liverpool pushing for a couple of goals after a steady hour.

Nathaniel Phillips – 7/10: The 24-year-old produced what was arguably one of his most impressive performances in a Reds’ shirt by keeping the likes of Karim Benzema, Marco Asensio and Vincius Jr. quiet. He was evaded late on by the French striker but in the end was not punished for that. Phillips eventually produced a team-high four interceptions.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8/10: By far the best of Liverpool’s defence, the Reds’ academy graduate was hugely impressive going forwards and in defence. According to WhoScored, he produced two tackles and three interceptions, whilst also contributing a huge six key passes. Alexander-Arnold will certainly have felt unfortunate to have not at least notched a couple of assists.

Fabinho – 6/10: Whilst the former Monaco man was an ever-solid presence in the Liverpool midfield, he did not stand out too much. His defensive awareness was probably not what the Reds needed.

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James Milner – 5/10: Retaining his spot in place of Thiago Alcantara, the veteran midfielder did not contribute all too much but for a booming effort from range that was well tipped over from range. He was the victim of a crunching challenge from Casemiro in the first-half and did not appear to regain his footing, eventually being replaced by Thiago.

Georginio Wijnaldum – 6/10: Having previously starred against another Spanish club in the form of Barcelona a few seasons ago, the Dutchman could not replicate that performance against Real. Wijnaldum was tidy on the ball with his 87.9% pass accuracy but simply did not threaten enough going forwards.

Sadio Mane – 5/10: Another hugely quiet evening for the Senegalese as his inconsistent run in front of goal continues. Mane certainly looked off-colour again versus Real having had just one shot and lost the ball on five occasions with poor touches. The £90m-rated star was eventually replaced late on after his shocker.

Mo Salah – 6/10: His impressive Champions League record has finally come to an end. Having scored in each of his last four games in the competition, he looked the most likely to find the net having had three shots but he was not accurate enough. His evening was summed up with a second-half left-footed effort that drifted harmlessly over.

Roberto Firmino – 6/10: Another of the Liverpool attack to have an under-par evening, Firmino also did not seem to have his shooting boots on. He really should have scored midway through the second-half but was replaced by Xherdan Shaqiri.

Substitutes

Thiago Alcantara – 5/10: As has been seen in the past, the Spaniard really did not affect the game all too much against Real Madrid. He played some nice cross-field passes but that was the limit of his contribution after he replaced Milner.

Diogo Jota – 6/10: Initially looked a threat after his introduction with his pace and was somewhat unfortunate to maybe not have scored but faded towards the closing stages.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6/10: Despite not being on the pitch for long enough to really get a fair rating, the former Arsenal man turned one of his typical performances, being full of effort and endeavour.

Xherdan Shaqiri – 5/10: Did not have enough time on the pitch to have a contribution.

AND in more news, Liverpool made the wrong choice in signing Kostas Tsimikas last summer…

Chelsea earned themselves a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid on Tuesday night, which should give Thomas Tuchel’s side a great chance of progressing to the Champions League final when the two sides meet again at Stamford Bridge next week.

Christian Pulisic gave the Blues an early lead at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium as he latched on to Antonio Rudiger’s long ball before keeping his composure to round former Chelsea man Thibaut Courtois and fire into the net.

However, it wouldn’t take the hosts too long to level, as Karim Benzema showed the goalscoring instinct that Timo Werner lacked earlier in the game to fire home an emphatic volley after it broke to him in the box.

Unfortunately for the German international, it was another disappointing performance on Tuesday night as he struggled to get involved at all, whilst he also missed a great early chance as he inexplicably volleyed straight at Courtois when found by Pulisic inside the six-yard box.

As per SofaScore, the former RB Leipzig man would earn a disappointing 6.6/10 rating for his performance, which was the joint-worst rating, along with Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva, of any outfield Chelsea player who started the game.

During his 66 minutes on the pitch, the 25-year-old striker had just 21 touches of the ball, which was the least of any player who started the game, including Chelsea shot-stopper Edouard Mendy, who had 24.

Werner also managed to complete just seven passes during the game, which is significantly worse than the 20.3 passes he has averaged per game in the Champions League this season, which emphasises just how little he was involved on Tuesday evening.

The summer signing, who was dubbed “frustrating” by Rio Ferdinand earlier in the season, also failed to contribute a single dribble or key pass during his time on the pitch, which again suggests that he needs to do more in Chelsea’s build-up play.

Considering the Blues’ impressive start to the game which could have seen them establish a more comfortable lead, you could definitely argue that Werner let Tuchel down because of his inability to finish and his general ineffectiveness in Madrid. If he had performed better, Chelsea would be taking more than one away goal back to the Bridge.