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The PCB has endorsed the life ban on Danish Kaneria after the former Pakistan legspinner lost his appeal on July 2 against the original punishment imposed by the ECB

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2013The PCB has endorsed the life ban on Danish Kaneria after the former Pakistan legspinner lost his appeal on July 2 against the original punishment imposed by the ECB. Because of an agreement between boards affiliated to the ICC, the ECB ban on Kaneria was applicable throughout world cricket and after the endorsement from his home board, effectively means the end of his career.”PCB has been made aware of the decision of Appeal Panel of the Cricket Discipline Commission of England and Wales Cricket Board which upheld the life ban imposed on Mr Danish Kaneria,” the board said in a statement. “Mr Kaneria was duly represented in the proceedings through a legal counsel of his choice and no question with regard to jurisdiction, composition, procedure or fairness of the Appeal Panel was raised by Mr Kaneria’s counsel.”Under ICC Anti-Corruption Code and PCB’s Anti-Corruption Code (Article-9) PCB is bound to recognize, respect and enforce the ban in Pakistan, meaning this ban is also being enforced by PCB in Pakistan. Therefore, Mr Danish Kaneria is suspended for life from any involvement in the playing, organization or administration of cricket in any form or manner under the jurisdiction of PCB. PCB hopes Mr. Kaneria will reflect on his past conduct and will now initiate efforts towards redemption and rehabilitation.”Kaneria was banned by the ECB in June 2012 after being found guilty of corruption in the spot-fixing case involving Mervyn Westfield, where he had been “cajoling and pressurising” his Essex team-mate into accepting money to concede a set number of runs in an over during a Pro40 match in 2009. He had been hoping to get the sanction reduced, having earlier lost another appeal against the convictions in April this year.Kaneria, 32, was Pakistan’s most successful Test spinner and the fourth-highest wicket-taker for his country with 261 in 61 Tests at an average of 34.79, putting him behind only Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan. He picked up 1024 wickets in 206 first-class games at 26.16, including 307 for Essex. His regular Pakistan domestic team Habib Bank Limited, for which he took 231 wickets, had already parted ways with him last year.

The preview of the second ODI between Sri Lanka and India in Hambantota

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria23-Jul-2012

Match facts

Tuesday, July 24
Start time 1430 (0900 GMT)Thisara Perera will have a bigger role in Nuwan Kulasekara’s absence•AFP

Big Picture

In the latter stages of the first ODI, Sri Lanka’s lower-order batsmen made a push towards the target of 315, but their attempt was too late. The hosts lost by 21 runs but that late charge revealed the fragility of India’s bowling attack, which depends heavily on the batsmen to provide a cushion of runs. When the teams meet again in Hambantota on Tuesday, Sri Lanka’s batsmen will want to time their acceleration better.Bowling has been India’s weaker suit for a while and Sri Lanka’s opportunity lies in exploiting the rustiness that may linger after a six-week break. Apart from Irfan Pathan and R Ashwin, the other Indian bowlers were expensive in the first ODI, but Sri Lanka lost momentum when Kumar Sangakkara had to stabilise the innings. Zaheer Khan bowled some good balls, but also many easy ones. Umesh Yadav generated pace but lacked direction and Pragyan Ojha was worked around. Sri Lanka could take a cue from the way Thisara Perera attacked to plan their comeback.India, on the other hand, will back their strong suit – the batting – to deliver consistently and make up for the weakness in their bowling.

Form guide

(Completed games, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LWWWL
India WWLWW

Watch out for…

In Kulasekara’s absence, Thisara Perera will share the responsibility of leading the bowling attack along with Lasith Malinga. Perera took three wickets in the first ODI and also scored a 28-ball 44 that gave Sri Lanka a glimmer of hope during the chase. At No. 8, though, his skills may be underused.After an indifferent IPL, Virat Kohli started the new season where he had left the old one. Four centuries in five innings – three of them against Sri Lanka – means the Sri Lanka bowlers need to find a way to get past him to test the rest.

Team news

Sri Lanka have included fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep in the squad as a replacement for the injured Nuwan Kulasekara but it is the left-armer Isuru Udana who is likely to make an ODI debut.Sri Lanka: (probable) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Angelo Mathews, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Rangana HerathIndia have a settled batting order, which allowed then to play a fifth bowler in Pathan, who bowled economically in the first ODI. Rohit Sharma squandered another opportunity, but India are unlikely to change much so early in the season.India: (probable) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Irfan Pathan, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Pragyan Ojha.

Stats and trivia

• The overall bowling averages of India and Sri Lanka in the last 12 months – 36.43 and 37.97 – are just above that of Zimbabwe in one-day internationals.
• Malinga had an economy of 5.36 in the last 12 months; against India, though, it was 7.52.
• Kohli’s ODI average is 51.33, but it drops to 29.15 in 14 matches in Sri Lanka.

Quotes

“I guess IPL has been a factor. The Indian players have played a lot against Malinga. But that doesn’t mean that he is bad bowler. He can destroy any opposition on a given day.”

“It was important for us to set up a platform and [so] Sanga [Sangakkara] was trying to build an innings. [But] We never had momentum going into the last 10 overs. We’ll try to refocus and come back strong.”

A disciplined bowling performance enabled Durham Dynamos to claim their second Friends Life t20 victory in the space of three days and move a giant step closer to a quarter-final place. Despite appearing all but beaten at the halfway stage of their oppone

26-Jun-2011
ScorecardA disciplined bowling performance enabled Durham Dynamos to claim their second Friends Life t20 victory in the space of three days and move a giant step closer to a quarter-final place. Despite appearing all but beaten at the halfway stage of their opponents’ innings, Durham rallied impressively to claim a three-run victory over Leicestershire Foxes.Needing to hit a boundary off the final ball of the game, Leicestershire’s Claude Henderson could only roll the ball back to bowler Mitch Claydon, who had earlier claimed two wickets in his first over.Leicestershire, who finished on 184 for 7, looked like securing their second victory in as many days when former Durham University student Will Jefferson hammered 63 runs from 30 balls. However, after Jefferson was trapped leg before to Dale Benkenstein’s first delivery of the afternoon with the score on 113 for three, the visitors quickly lost their momentum.Liam Plunkett removed both Jacques Du Toit and Abdul Razzaq in the very next over, and the Foxes’ lower order were unable to keep up with a run rate that eventually sailed to more than 10 an over. Durham’s innings of 187 for 5 was a collective effort, with the first five batsmen in the order all scoring 18 runs or more.Opener Gordon Muchall was the linchpin, equalling his best ever T20 score as he made 64 runs off 50 balls before holing out during the final over of the innings. Muchall has cemented his place in the Durham side for all forms of the game this season, and his collection of eight boundaries included an eye-catching square cut off former England international Matthew Hoggard that brought up his half-century.Muchall received support from a number of quarters, with Phil Mustard and Ian Blackwell both scoring 25 as Durham compiled their runs at a steady rate. Blackwell was particularly destructive, reverse sweeping Henderson for four before producing a more orthodox sweep to claim a six off the South African’s very next ball.Benkenstein and David Miller also contributed to Durham’s sizeable total, with the former cracking 23 off 15 balls just two days after top-scoring in Friday night’s emphatic victory over Lancashire. He eventually fell going for a shot too many off Hoggard, but while the Leicestershire skipper finished with two wickets, he was unable to stem the flow of Durham runs.

Tom Maynard cracked an unbeaten 63 from 38 balls as Glamorgan Dragons got back to winning ways in the Friends Provident t20 with a seven-wicket win over Middlesex Panthers in Cardiff

26-Jun-2010
ScorecardTom Maynard cracked an unbeaten 63 from 38 balls as Glamorgan Dragons got back to winning ways in the Friends Provident t20 with a seven-wicket win over Middlesex Panthers in Cardiff. Glamorgan had won their opening three South Group matches but had suffered four successive defeats – and were then stripped off fast bowler Shaun Tait, who had been drafted into the Australia one-day squad.This time they held their nerve chasing down 167 to win with seven balls to spare after Middlesex, who won the toss, had been helped to 166 for 2 with contributions from Scott Newman, Neil Dexter, in his first game as captain replacing Adam Gilchrist, and Dawid Malan.The Dragons were given a fine launching pad in their reply with openers Mark Cosgrove and Jim Allenby – 45 from 35 balls – putting on 56 for the opening wicket. Allenby and Maynard combined to add another 54 from 32 balls with Maynard hitting sixes over cover and midwicket off Dexter and Pedro Collins respectively.Though he lost Allenby and Gareth Rees, 21-year-old Maynard did not panic as Glamorgan were left needing 16 for victory from the final two overs. Maynard, who had been dropped off Collins on 21, released the pressure by hitting Tom Smith for a six over long on and then a four from consecutive balls as he wrapped up the game in the penultimate over.Earlier, Newman had helped Middlesex build a useful base with 48 from 40 balls before Dexter and Malan, with 40 not out apiece, shared a partnership of 76 from the final 44 balls. Newman had an escape on 30 when he survived a leg-side stumping off Robert Croft, but made the most of his life hitting slow left-armer Dean Cosker over long on and midwicket for two sixes from three balls.But just two short of his half-century he perished to a brilliant return catch by Croft, who dived low to his right. From 90 for 2 in the 14th over Dexter and Malan gave the Panthers’ innings some real impetus sharing five sixes between them, but it proved not enough in the final analysis.

“there’s a lot of reminding ourselves of a philosophy, how we want to play and basically what our blueprint is to winning”

Firdose Moonda25-Jul-2024Last month, a South African T20 squad that last played together in December 2023*, traveled to (the USA and) the Caribbean and reached the World Cup final. This month, a South African Test side that last played together in the first week of January** is traveling to the Caribbean to begin their busiest period of red-ball cricket this cycle and attempt to get their WTC campaign on track.South Africa sit eighth on the points table but have only played four Tests, and you could argue only one real one. The Newlands Test against India lasted seven overs longer than an ODI thanks to an unsatisfactory Cape Town pitch and was no one’s idea of good quality cricket and their trip to New Zealand was headlined by what Kagiso Rabada called an “unacceptable” clash with their marquee T20 tournament and saw a second-string squad become the first South Africans to lose a Test series to New Zealand. Effectively, South Africa’s WTC starts now, with the first of four two-match series between now and January, and a real chance to develop something like form in this format, which is as rare a cricketing commodity as it gets for teams like them.”It’s a challenge that’s not necessarily unique to us and probably something that all the teams outside the big three face. It feels like we’re starting again and again as a team,” Temba Bavuma, South Africa’s Test captain said in Johannesburg. “You can hear in terms of the conversations, there’s a lot of reminding ourselves of a philosophy, how we want to play and basically what our blueprint is to winning. It’s nothing that is unique to us as a South African team . The challenge is we’ve just got to make it work with what we have. We don’t use it as an excuse. I think there’s definitely a lot of excitement from the guys and we’d like to focus on that excitement more than all the other uncontrollables.”Related

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Bavuma himself has only featured for a few hours in a Test in this cycle and has not played any international cricket in 2024. He was injured while fielding on the first day of the Boxing Day Test against India and later ruled out of the series with a hamstring strain. He played one SA20 match, two first-class games and in the CSA T20 Challenge but has flown largely under the radar as he readies for a high-profile comeback.”I’ve come out refreshed over the last couple of months of no cricket. It’s largely been about being in the gym and doing my rehab. I’ve been under rehab for the last two and a half to three months,” he said. “Mentally, that’s been tough; physically, it’s also been tough but I am quite refreshed and quite excited to have the opportunity again to be out there with the boys.”Since taking over the Test captaincy in February last year, when he was also removed as T20 skipper, the next six months will be his most consequential assignments as a leader. South Africa play in West Indies and Bangladesh and then host Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home which, on paper, seems to give them a fairly good chance of pushing for the WTC final. But they do all that at a time when players have already spent months playing in successive tournaments, from the SA20 to the IPL to the T20 World Cup and MLC, and gearing up for more. The CPL takes place after South Africa’s tour to West Indies followed by a fairly full home summer before another SA20, IPL… and so it goes. There is also the Champions Trophy sandwiched in-between and all that has made player management tricky.South Africa are already without three fast bowlers, for example, after Anrich Nortje opted out of a central contract to concentrate on T20s, Marco Jansen was rested from this series and Gerald Coetzee was ruled out with a side strain. “Obviously, it’s a setback. We build our fast bowling attack on our fast bowlers. We’ll still find a way to be effective in those conditions. Guys like KG, Lungi (Ngidi) and Nandre Burger – it’s a massive opportunity for them again to put up their hands and lead that bowling attack,” Bavuma said.Ngidi has only played one Test since December 2022 and Burger only has two caps to his name. Uncapped Migael Pretorius is also in the squad along with experienced domestic professional Dane Paterson, but it’s fair to say there is a level of experimentation happening as South Africa try to find their best Test combinations without much game time.A makeshift South Africa side lost the Test series to New Zealand back in February•Getty Images

“Looking at the inexperience and all the new faces that we find within the team, it’ll be a good test for the team and for those younger guys to kind of stamp their authority on international cricket,” Bavuma said.The same can be said for the batting. South Africa will have Tony de Zorzi (four caps) opening the batting alongside Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs (one cap) and David Bedingham (four caps) slotting in at No.3 and 5 respectively. That puts the onus on Bavuma not just to anchor the line-up, but to provide impetus and it’s something he is keen to take on.”It’s a responsibility. In my Test career, I’ve always found myself at No.6 or No.5 but I think now with the responsibility coming in, wanting to step up, wanting to score big runs, that opportunity comes in nicely at No.4,” he said.Those members of South Africa’s Test squad who were not at the MLC – Bavuma, de Zorzi, Stubbs, Dane Paterson, Keshav Maharaj and Kyle Verreynne – took part in a training camp last week in Durban. They will meet their MLC counterparts in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday ahead of a four-day warm up match against a West Indies Invitational XI from Wednesday. The first Test starts on August 7.

Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh gave KKR a chance after SRH put up the biggest total of the season so far, but they fell well short in the end

Hemant Brar14-Apr-20232:28

Moody: Brook is a sensational talent in all formats

Harry Brook put behind a string of low scores with an unbeaten 55-ball 100 that included imperious hitting against pace and calculated strike rotation against spin. Aiden Markram was equally destructive, scoring 50 off 26 balls, as Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 228 for 4, the highest total of IPL 2023 so far.In response, Kolkata Knight Riders were 96 for 5 in the 11th over and in need of a miracle for the third game in a row. Nitish Rana’s 41-ball 75 kept their hopes alive, and with 58 required from the last three overs, they had Rinku Singh and Shardul Thakur – their miracle-makers from the previous two games – in the middle. Rinku fought hard with an unbeaten 58 off 31 but this time, it wasn’t to be.

Brook shows his class

Coming into this game, Brook had 29 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 74.35. But one felt it was only a matter of time before he stepped up. On Friday, he started by hitting the first ball of the innings, bowled by Umesh Yadav, through the covers for four. He picked up two more fours in the over, pulling and scooping the bowler with little fuss.Against Lockie Ferguson, he exposed his stumps and dispatched a slow full toss to the cover boundary. He used the same strategy in Umesh’s next over with even better returns – two back-to-back sixes. Thanks to Brook, Sunrisers raced to 43 for no loss in three overs.

Russell’s double-strike

Andre Russell hadn’t bowled this season so far, but it took him just one ball to make an impact. While Brook seemed unstoppable, Mayank Agarwal was struggling. Russell ended his agony by having him caught at short third for 9 off 13 balls. Rahul Tripathi hit a couple of fours but ended up top-edging a pull on the last ball of the over, giving Russell his second wicket.Aiden Markram took out his big strokes when Harry Brook slowed down•Associated Press

Markram takes over

In their spinners, Knight Riders found a way to keep Brook quiet. In the first six overs of the innings, Brook had smashed five fours and two sixes. In the next eight – seven of which were bowled by the spinners – he didn’t find a single boundary, and instead focused on rotating the strike.That, though, didn’t mean Knight Riders could breathe easy. Markram took the baton and ransacked 42 off 22 balls against the spinners. He was severe on Suyash Sharma, in particular, taking him for two sixes and a four in the 12th over of the innings. In the next over, he hit successive balls from Varun Chakravarthy for a four and a six, the second shot bringing up his half-century off 25 balls. He tried to go big on the next ball as well but holed out at deep midwicket.

Brook brings up his hundred

In the 15th over, Knight Riders re-introduced seam in the form of Ferguson. And Brook was back hitting boundaries, sending the bowler for four fours and a six in a 23-run over. Abhishek Sharma, meanwhile, took over Markram’s role and looted 32 off 16 against spin. He didn’t even spare Sunil Narine, hitting him for a four and a six in the 17th over. Those were the only two boundaries Narine conceded in his 4-0-28-0. Abhishek faced just one ball of pace, and was out on that.Brook kept picking up the occasional boundary, and moved to 95 off 52 with one over left. He was tiring by then but found just enough energy to hobble a couple of twos and a single to bring up his hundred.1:59

Did KKR get their plan for Narine’s overs wrong?

Knight Riders start poorly

Bhuvneshwar Kumar dealt Knight Riders an early blow when Rahmanullah Gurbaz sliced the third ball of the chase to deep third. In the fourth over, Marco Jansen dented them further by removing Venkatesh Iyer and Narine off successive deliveries. Iyer, who came in as Impact Player for Suyash, hit a couple of boundaries before miscuing one to Markram at mid-on. Narine was cramped for room and was also taken at mid-on, leaving Knight Riders 20 for 3.

Nitish Rana’s counter-attack

It looked like Knight Riders would surrender without a fight, but their captain Rana resuscitated the chase. In the sixth over, he hit Umran Malik for 4, 6, 4, 4, 4, 6. Not every shot came off the middle of the bat, but the 28-run over helped Knight Riders end the powerplay on a solid 62 for 3.N Jagadeesan gave Rana good support with his 36 off 21 before Mayank Markande had him caught at deep midwicket. Russell, who had walked off twice during the first innings with cramps, didn’t last long either, holing out in the legspinner’s next over.At that stage, Knight Riders needed 133 in 9.5 overs. Rana and Rinku kept the fight on, adding 69 in 6.2 overs for the sixth wicket. The pair was also helped by some lapses in the field – both Rana and Rinku were dropped once each, and later, Thakur was dropped twice.With 70 needed from 23 balls, Rana got two full tosses in a row from T Natarajan. He smashed the first one for a six but ended up hitting the second to sweeper cover, where Washington Sundar held on to the chance.Rinku hit three fours off Natarajan in the 19th over to reduce the equation to 32 needed off six, but as Rana himself said after the game, miracles don’t happen every game.

Mithali Raj made a smooth half-century but the rest of India’s line-up ran into some turbulence

Srinidhi Ramanujam12-Feb-2022
An all-round performance helped New Zealand thrash India by 62 runs in the first of the five-match women’s ODI series in the windy Queenstown. Centurion Suzie Bates shouldered the responsibility alongside Amy Satterthwaite to guide New Zealand to a competitive total of 275. Pacer Jess Kerr starred with four wickets to bowl India out for 213.New Zealand’s total would have swelled to 300, but India struck with a flurry of wickets towards the end of the innings – after picking up just three for the first 223 runs – to bowl the hosts out in 48.1 overs. By then, Bates and Satterthwaite, who scored 106 and 63 respectively, had accumulated the bulk of runs and inflicted the damage.Asked to bat first, New Zealand made a steady start with Bates and Maddy Green sharing a 54-run opening stand. Offspinner Deepti Sharma broke the partnership when Green was caught at the first slip for 17 in the 13th over. Bates made the most of her drop in the fourth over, off Pooja Vastrakar, on 1 to notch up her 11th ODI century. Her 111-ball innings comprised ten fours as she remained proactive throughout the innings.Bates has not had an easy ride in the last 12-15 months. Since returning to international cricket in September last year after her shoulder injury in November 2020, she had scored 57 runs in five ODIs before the ongoing home series against India. Having opted to skip the WBBL, Bates shifted her focus to playing more matches back home to fine-tune her game in the lead up to the ODI World Cup in March. She accumulated 218 runs in six one-dayers, averaging 43, and finished the Super Smash T20 tournament as the highest run-getter: 504 runs in 12 matches.Suzie Bates made her 11th ODI century. Only Meg Lanning has more (14)•Getty Images

All the hard yards that she had put in at the domestic level was visible on Saturday, when she punished the Indian bowlers with ease, concentrating more on the legside to score the majority of her runs.After putting on 52 runs with Amelia Kerr for the second wicket, Bates shared a crucial 98-run stand with the left-handed Satterthwaite, who brought up her 25th ODI half-century. En route, the 35-year-old Satterthwaite also became the first player to score 2000 runs in ODIs in New Zealand.That India were sloppy in the field didn’t help them either. Barring Harmanpreet Kaur, all the Indian bowlers were among the wickets with Deepti, Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami and Rajeshwari Gayakwad accounting for two apiece, and Poonam Yadav picking up one. However, seven of those wickets came in the last 10 overs.With experienced batter Smriti Mandhana also missing the first match due to quarantine in New Zealand, India toiled to chase down a 250-plus score with Mithali Raj putting up a lone fight.There were early jitters, with the visitors losing both their openers cheaply – including the debutant S Meghana – inside the powerplay. However, Raj and Yastika Bhatia brought some stability – albeit rather briefly – with a partnership of 88 runs for the third wicket. Raj top-scored for India with 59 off 73 balls – her 60th fifty in ODIs – while Bhatia made a 63-ball 41.The team then witnessed a mini-collapse, going from 105 for 2 to 165 for 6, as New Zealand kept their line and length accurate. With both experienced batters Raj and Kaur, who made a 22-ball 10, dismissed by the 33rd over – courtesy Jess Kerr, India more or less, were knocked out of the game.

Seamer targets fourth first-class trophy in five seasons in Bob Willis Final at Lord’s

Alan Gardner21-Sep-2020At some point over the next few days, Jamie Porter will take the new ball in a five-day match at Lord’s. It won’t quite be the Test debut that he has spent his career working towards, but it will nevertheless be a memorable way to sign off a season that almost wasn’t, as Essex and Somerset contest the first – perhaps only – Bob Willis Trophy final.”I’ve been saying, ‘lads, we’ll be one of only two teams playing a red-ball game at Lord’s this year’. That makes it kind of special,” Porter says, before adding: “It’s a weird one because I haven’t really looked at the occasion, I’ve just been looking at the opposition. Somerset’s going to be a tough game and I’ve just been looking at how am I going to get through their batting line-up and how are we going to win the game.”That pretty much sums up the approach of Essex’s senior seamer, a genial destroyer with a Stakhanovite work-rate, who has been “getting through” opposition line-ups with alacrity over the last six seasons. Winning games has been the natural by-product, with Essex looking to secure a fourth first-class trophy in five seasons.You’ve probably heard a version of the numbers by now. Since Porter’s debut in September 2014, his tally of 341 first-class wickets at 23.63 is second only to Durham’s Chris Rushworth in England and Wales. Over the last four years, in Division One of the Championship and this summer’s Willis Trophy, that record improves to 202 at 21.38, with only his Essex team-mate, offspinner Simon Harmer, more prolific.ALSO READ: ‘I’m trying to be the best Jack Leach I can be’And yet, despite being called up to England’s Test squad as recently as the 2018 home series with India, when an expanded training squad was named following the Covid-19 lockdown earlier this year, Porter had seemingly fallen off the selectors’ radar.”It was a bit of a shock. I feel if you were picking a 55-man squad, and with my numbers over the last few years – to not be in there, I was gutted, I was really disappointed,” he says. “I had a week when I was pretty down about it all. But it did help motivate me for when we got back – there’s only one way I can really answer back and that’s by taking wickets. That’s what I’ve done and hopefully I’ll keep doing.”I had a conversation with Ed Smith at the time. It’s a tough one, because the obvious answer is you’ve got to take wickets and bowl well. I probably knew that anyway. Sometimes things just come down to a matter of opinion and you’ve got to accept that. Unfortunately the decision-makers’ opinion is they wanted to give that opportunity to other people. All I can do is bounce back, get better and hopefully keep knocking on the door.”As the six behind-closed-doors Test against West Indies and Pakistan demonstrated, England’s seam stocks have rarely been higher – but rather than worry about whether he has slipped behind the likes of Ollie Robinson or Craig Overton, Porter has set himself the highest standard to try and emulate.”The way I look at it is how can I be better than Jimmy Anderson? Because he’s been the best in the world for God knows how long. So if I can look to be better than him… and if I fall short, I still reckon I’ll be a half-decent bowler.”Anderson, of course, recently became the first fast bowler to take 600 Test wickets; 103 of them have come at Lord’s, though he did not bowl a ball there this summer. Lord’s missed out on hosting bio-secure Tests and the five-day domestic final will be the only first-class match held at the ground in 2020, as Essex and Somerset play out a rematch of their Championship decider at Taunton last year.Jamie Porter bowls for Essex•Getty Images

“I’d definitely say there’s a little bit of a rivalry there – a healthy rivalry, we appreciate how good a side they are and we know they’re capable of winning titles themselves,” Porter says of the opposition. “But we don’t want that because we want to be winning the titles. They’re always a team we want to beat.”While Somerset’s wait for a maiden Championship will go on even if they claim the inaugural Willis Trophy, Essex have established themselves as the format’s dominant force. Having been promoted and then relegated three times previously, the club made it a priority to get back into Division One at around the time Porter was breaking into the first team, and have since enjoyed a period of success to rival the Fletcher and Gooch dynasties of the 1980s and ’90s.”We take a lot of pride in our red-ball cricket,” Porter says, pointing to Essex’s focus on bringing through local talent.”Every time a young guy has been given an opportunity in the red-ball side they’ve come in and taken it. Not only shown us what they can do but at the level to compete for trophies. Look at the last game against Middlesex, Aaron Beard bowled that spell second innings and should definitely have had five-for – on another day he’d have had six or seven. That was probably the best spell of seam-bowling I’ve seen this season.”Sam Cook at the other end was unbelievable, he could have had four or five. Those are the two least-experienced guys in our bowling attack, and they’re the ones in the last innings of a big game putting their hands up and taking the wickets, which is credit to them and credit to the club for bringing through young players who can step up when we need it.””All the young lads that have had a go have stepped up and done well. Paul Walter’s opened the batting and looked brilliant, Feroze Khushi has done brilliantly, Aaron and Sam have done brilliantly. It’s great for us that not only have we got into the final but we’ve got there with academy guys leading the way.”Porter was a beneficiary of that faith himself, quitting his job in recruitment to pursue a county career at the age of 21. Three years later, Essex were county champions for the first time since 1992, with Porter named one of ‘s Five Cricketers of the Year; last summer, they became the first county to win a Championship and T20 double. If a Test cap remains elusive, success has not.”If it happens it happens, if not I’m fortunate enough that I’m playing in a very successful side in Essex and I’ve achieved quite a lot already. If I don’t play for England, I still think there’s quite a lot to look forward to.”

Middlesex bowler claims 7 for 52 as visitors are dismissed for 201, hosts lead by 67

ECB Reporters Network08-Jul-2019Middlesex 172 and 96 for 3 (Higgins 3-16) lead Gloucestershire 201 (Higgins 61*, Roland-Jones 7-52) by 67 runsToby Roland-Jones claimed career-best bowling figures on day two of Middlesex’s County Championship game with Gloucester at Merchant Taylors’ School.However, former Seaxe Ryan Higgins produced crucial contributions with bat and ball to leave the visitors still ahead of the game at stumps.Roland-Jones turned back the clock to claim 7 for 52 as Gloucestershire were bowled out for 201, a score bolstered by Higgins’ combative 61 not out.And the all-rounder, who left the Lord’s tenants at the end of the 2017 season, then took 3 for 16 to reduce the hosts to 96 for 3 in their second innings, a lead of just 67.It had been almost three years since Roland-Jones had taken five wickets in an innings – the last occasion being the Seaxes famous last-day of the season championship-clinching win over Yorkshire.A Test call-up followed and at the end of the 2017 season, the right-arm seamer was on the verge of an Ashes call-up – a dream ruined when he was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the back.A winter’s rehab appeared to have done the trick only for him to break down again in just the second game of the 2018 campaign, so missing the rest of the season. He returned at the start of this season, but the early signs hadn’t been good – just five wickets at 101-apiece.However, here Roland-Jones looked a man transformed, building on his two wickets on the first evening with three more in a devastating nine-ball mid-morning burst.Sending Gloucestershire skipper Chris Dent’s off-stump cartwheeling backwards was the perfect fillip for a fast bowler in need of a change of fortune. As it turned out it was only the start.The fourth ball of his next over saw Ben Charlesworth nick one into the hands of Middlesex skipper Dawid Malan at slip and Benny Howell, so often the scourge of the hosts, lasted just two balls before he edged another to the gloves of John Simpson.Tim Murtagh, back in Middlesex colours after his international stint with Ireland, then removed the obdurate Gareth Roderick lbw for 40 make lunch that bit more indigestible for Dent’s side.’Ro-JO’ as he’s affectionately known wasn’t out of the action for long, returning early in the afternoon to have Graeme van Buuren brilliantly taken at first slip by Stevie Eskinazi, two-handed just millimetres from the floor.When Tom Helm had David Payne caught at slip by Malan, Gloucestershire were still 27 in arrears, but Higgins struck six boundaries en route to an excellent fifty.Josh Shaw proved a great ally in a ninth-wicket stand of 43, before Roland-Jones trapped him lbw to secure the amendment to his career stats.By the time last man Chadd Sayers fell to Nathan Sowter for a duck, Higgins had secured a batting point – and he hadn’t finished haunting his former employers.When the hosts began their second dig immediately after tea, Sam Robson and Eskinazi survived a testing period of playing and missing to wipe out the arrears with an opening stand of 53.Higgins, though, took ball in hand to break the stand, finding the edge of Robson’s bat for Miles Hammond to snaffle the catch at slip.One brought two as Higgins struck again soon afterwards, Eskinazi getting a thin edge through to wicketkeeper Roderick who was standing up to the stumps. And when Higgins bowled Gubbins in his next over Middlesex were back in trouble just 44 ahead.Malan and George Scott dug in before fading light drove the players off seven overs early. An intriguing day three awaits.