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In his last six Tests, Ashwin has taken 36 wickets to jump from 365 wickets into the 400-club.

Varun Shetty25-Feb-20212:37

Gambhir: Amazes me that R Ashwin doesn’t play white-ball cricket for India

R Ashwin described the last few months in Test cricket as a fairytale after becoming the fourth Indian to 400 wickets, and the fourth-fastest overall (in terms of balls) to the mark in Tests. Speaking in the aftermath of India’s 10-wicket win against England in Ahmedabad, Ashwin spoke of not being sure of even having a spot in the XI before India’s Test tour of Australia began in December. Since then, in six Tests, Ashwin has taken 36 wickets to jump from 365 wickets into the 400-club.”It feels amazing, the way the board was flashing 400 wickets, the entire stadium stood up and clapped for me,” Ashwin said in a post-match interview with broadcaster . “It’s quite pleasant that it happened in a winning cause because in the middle when we collapsed for about 145, I thought we might not have enough of a lead on the board and the game could be in the balance.”I can’t really get a grip of what’s happened in the last 2-3 months. If I look back, I must say it’s been sort of a dreamy ride, it’s been a fairytale. When I started the Aussie tour, I didn’t expect to be playing in the XI because Jadeja was looking like he was going to start. And he got a hamstring tear and since then things have just looked upwards.”Related

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Ashwin spoke of a conversation he had had with captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri at the start of the Australian series, where it was hinted to him that he would need to work on his batting to be in the scheme for selection, as they’d seen something “special” in his bowling.”When I landed in Australia, the first session of practice in Sydney was quite interesting,” he said. “I thought I was bowling really well during the IPL as well – and when I reached Australia, both Virat and Ravi were having a chat with me about how I should get my batting going, because both of them thought they had seen something happening in my bowling which looked really special.”I don’t know what they thought or what they saw or what they felt, but they thought I was bowling really well. And you know, during the lockdown as well, I worked a lot on my fitness. On wanting to get my body ready for the so-called “next couple of years” or the next 3-4 years. Because you know this body is ageing by the moment, as we’re talking…so all those things started to pay rewards, I lost about 7-8 kilos through the lockdown. I just think from Australia onwards things have looked upwards for me.”Since then, Ashwin has been one of the foremost performers for India with ball and, at least on two occasions, with the bat. The recent stretch towards 400 has included getting the better of Steven Smith regularly at the start of the series in Australia, a first England Test of bowling more than 72 overs, and a complete domination over them in the last few innings of this series. The 34-year-old, when asked if he is at his best, said he is confident there is more to come.”This question has been asked quite a few times in my career,” he said. “In 2015-16 people were asking me the same thing when I went through that lovely phase in 15-16-17. And now people are asking the same. One thing’s for sure – I’ve always looked to improve and every time I’ve thought I’ve bowled well, I’ve always found another gear. So I’ll not be surprised if I surpass myself in the future as well.”“Gonna call him legend”
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were effusive in their praise of Ashwin after the match ended, with Kohli saying Ashwin was a modern-day legend.”It’s unbelievable,” Kohli said. “We all need to stand up and take notice of Ashwin’s contribution to Indian cricket. I told him that from now on, I’ll call him ledge [for legend]. Getting 400 is an outstanding achievement, and still so many games and years to go for India. In Test match cricket, he is surely a modern legend and we’re just lucky to have him in our team. As a captain I am so pleased he plays for us.”At the post-match press conference, Rohit suggested that the offspinner might be India’s greatest match-winner.”Ashwin is probably one of our matchwinners, if not  matchwinner of Indian cricket history. He has won so many games for us. So getting to that milestone, big, big congratulations to him. To do that in his 77th Test match, which is second fastest to 400, is a great feat.”

Fulton had replaced Craig McMillan as batting coach after the 2019 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2020Former New Zealand batsman Peter Fulton has stepped down as the national team’s batting coach in order to become the head coach of the Canterbury men’s team.Fulton, who had replaced Craig McMillan, took up the job with New Zealand after the 2019 World Cup last year. His assignments with the team included a tour of Sri Lanka and Australia and a visit by England last year before a home series against India in early 2020.While calling it an “honour to get back involved with the national team”, Fulton looked forward to pursuing his ambitions to be a head coach.”The Canterbury role appealed to me in terms of my aspirations to be a head coach and further my development in the game. The chance to spend more time at home with my young family and coach my home province were also motivating factors in applying for the job.”NZC High Performance General Manager Bryan Stronach wished Fulton well for his new role with Canterbury, the domestic side he represented during his playing days. “Pete’s a respected figure who has contributed a lot to the Black Caps set-up and built strong relationships in his time with the team. With the Black Caps entering a winter period at home we’ll take some time to consider our options in terms of a replacement for Pete.”Fulton begins his new role from August 1, having also managed the Under-19 side earlier in his coaching career.

No, we’re not talking about him. This is the surprise selection in the Pakistan squad who picked up a five-for

Andrew McGlashan12-Nov-2019Imran Khan ran through Australia A•Getty Images

If national selector Trevor Hohns and head coach Justin Langer had hoped for some clarity over the batting vacancies in the Australia men’s Test team by the performance of the Australia A side, they were left with anything but after the second day at Perth Stadium when the team slumped to 9 for 57 before regaining a modicum of respectability.Imran Khan, a surprise selection for this tour, burst through Australia’s second string with 5 for 32 as Pakistan continued to show impressive signs ahead of the Test series and, for a while, it appeared the innings would be done inside the middle session. However, they were hauled up to 122 by Cameron Bancroft – top-scoring at No. 6 with 49 – who wasn’t part of the side until Nic Maddinson withdrew a few days ago as he added 65 in 33.1 overs for the last wicket with Riley Meredith. The first nine wickets survived only 23.3 overs between them.After a lean start to the Sheffield Shield, Bancroft was considered well down the pecking order for a recall and it would be astonishing if things had changed but it felt a little like that sort of day as others failed. Joe Burns made a first-ball duck, incumbent opener Marcus Harris made 16, Usman Khawaja and Travis Head fell to the part-time offspin of Iftikhar Ahmed and Will Pucovski was also out cheaply. A second innings on the final day could yet prove decisive.Pakistan were a bowler down in tragic circumstances following the death of 16-year-old Naseem Shah’s mother, with him given leave for the day. Pakistan were offered the opportunity to bring Mohammad Abbas into the team, but the game would have lost first-class status so they declined and continued with ten players. Players from both sides wore black armbands.Pakistan’s overnight century-makers, Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam, retired to allow others a hit and the total was lifted to 428 by the first interval, with Yasir Shah making a half-century. Jhye Richardson finished with 3 for 79, but in 118 overs Australia A managed just seven wickets.It was a bit different when Pakistan got the ball. Khan struck with his first delivery when he beat Burns’ flat-footed drive and five overs later Harris was cleaned up by a beauty from Shaheen Afridi. Being dismissed by high-quality pace bowling with the pink ball is one thing, but falling to Ahmed would not have been in the script.Head gave him a sizeable helping hand when he cut a short ball to point before Khawaja edged to the keeper from round the wicket in a style of dismissal that has been a feature of his career. At least for Head he scored a century in the previous round of Sheffield Shield matches; for Khawaja, who was considered another option to open alongside David Warner, it has been a difficult time in first-class cricket.The last batsman in the line-up, seemingly, with an eye on the Gabba – the uncapped Pucovski – survived one huge appeal for caught behind off Khan before edging a delivery into the slips that climbed from short of a length.Captain Alex Carey dragged on as he attempted to leave the ball, Michael Neser edged to slip while Richardson was lbw to complete Khan’s five-wicket haul in the blink of an eye and Sean Abbott was trapped by Shah to leave it 9 for 57.At about this moment, the camera panned to Hohns, sitting in the stands, on his phone and it was impossible not to imagine what the conversation might have been. Eventually there was some backbone provided to the Australia A innings with Bancroft showing the technique to combat the challenge while Meredith dug in with aplomb, although there was a valuable lesson on display – as witnessed on the opening day – about how much more comfortable batting became after around 25 overs. Finally, coming round the wicket to Bancroft, Afridi found the outside edge with Abid Ali taking the catch as he deputised for Mohammad Rizwan who was icing his fingers after taking multiple blows while batting.Quite what this all meant for Australia’s Test squad that will be named on Thursday was anyone’s guess. Answers on a postcard to messers Hohns and Langer.

Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav will also feature in the 50-overs tournament while Ravindra Jadeja has been chosen to play for Rest of India in the Irani Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Feb-2018A day after being named Kings XI Punjab’s captain, R Ashwin has been given the leadership of another team. The BCCI selection committee has named the India spinner captain of the India A side that will compete against Karnataka – who, on Tuesday, won the Vijay Hazare Trophy – and India B in the 50-overs Deodhar Trophy from March 4 to 8 in Dharamsala. India middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer will lead the India B side.Test fast bowlers Mohammed Shami (India A) and Umesh Yadav (India B) have also found places in the Deodhar Trophy squads. Shami has not played any cricket since the third Test against South Africa in Johannesburg while Umesh, who featured in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Vidarbha, sat out all three Tests in South Africa, having slipped behind newcomer Jasprit Bumrah in the fast-bowling pecking order.Other notable selections in the Deodhar Trophy squads include the top-order pair of Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill (both India A), who were part of India’s victorious Under-19 World Cup campaign in New Zealand, spin-bowling allrounder Jayant Yadav, who played for India in the 2016-17 home season (India B), fast bowlers Siddarth Kaul (India B) and Navdeep Saini (India A), who have been on the India selectors’ radar recently, and wicketkeepers Ishan Kishan (India A) and KS Bharat (India B).Shaw, Jayant, Kaul, Saini and Bharat have also found places in the Rest of India side that will face Ranji Trophy champions Vidarbha in the first-class Irani Cup match from March 14 to 18 in Nagpur. Karun Nair will lead the side, which also includes his Karnataka team-mate Mayank Agarwal, who has scored over 2000 runs in this domestic season, and the India allrounder Ravindra Jadeja.Jadeja did not play any of the three Tests in South Africa, and has been out of India’s limited-overs sides since July 2017. He played for Saurashtra in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but a side strain prevented him from bowling in their last three matches. Given the two-week break before the Irani Cup, he should be able to recover fully and resume bowling duties.India A (Deodhar Trophy): R Ashwin (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Unmukt Chand, Akshdeep Nath, Shubman Gill, Ricky Bhui, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Krunal Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Basil Thampi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Amandeep Khare, Rohit RayuduIndia B (Deodhar Trophy): Shreyas Iyer (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ankit Bawne, Manoj Tiwary, Siddhesh Lad, KS Bharat (wk), Jayant Yadav, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Hanuma Vihari, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshal Patel, Umesh Yadav, Rajat PatidarRest of India (Irani Cup): Karun Nair (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, R Samarth, Mayank Agwarwal, Hanuma Vihari, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, Anmolpreet Singh, Siddarth Kaul, Ankit Rajpoot, Navdeep Saini, Atit Sheth

Gloucestershire’s seamers bowled them to a 61-run County Championship win over Division Two leaders Essex at Cheltenham.

ECB Reporters Network16-Jul-2016
ScorecardCraig Miles completed a split-innings hat-trick•Getty Images

Gloucestershire’s seamers bowled them to a 61-run County Championship win over Division Two leaders Essex at Cheltenham.Starting out on 16 for 1, requiring a further 197 for victory, the visitors crashed to 152 all out by early afternoon, with Liam Norwell, David Payne and Craig Miles all profiting from the overcast conditions.Norwell claimed four wickets in the innings, while Payne and Miles took three each, maintaining an exemplary line and length to put constant pressure on the batsmen.The result catapulted Gloucestershire into the promotion race as they took 21 points to the six earned by Essex. They now trail the leaders by only 11 points, with a game in hand.Norwell removed nightwatchman Jamie Porter with the first ball of the day, Gareth Roderick holding a thin edge at the second attempt, and followed up by having Tom Westley caught at first slip for 17 before left-armer Payne pinned Nick Browne lbw, pushing forward.Miles then claimed a split-innings hat-trick when bowling Ravi Bopara for 3, shouldering arms, with his first ball of the day, having also struck with his final two deliveries of the first innings.He followed up by dismissing Dan Lawrence, who drove a catch to extra cover and Ryan ten Doeschate, caught behind, in a six-over spell of 3 for 26.”My dad had mentioned to me that I was on a hat-trick after the first innings and Hamish Marshall reminded me before I ran in to bowl my first ball today,” Miles said. “I gave it everything and it was a great feeling, whether it was spread over a few overs or not. I’ve never taken a hat-trick in any form of cricket.”The ball I took the last wicket with is the one I get to keep and have mounted. But it was a real team effort by the bowlers. Liam Norwell and David Payne probably deserve a ball each too.”Essex did their best to be positive, but the quality of the bowling, with the ball swinging and seaming off the pitch, allowed Gloucestershire to dominate the morning session.James Foster pulled Norwell for a defiant six in the final over before lunch, but then edged a wide delivery through to wicketkeeper Roderick and departed for 7.That left Essex 124 for 8 at lunch, still requiring 89 runs, with spots of rain in the air. The afternoon session saw only one run added before Graham Napier edged a defensive shot off Payne to give Roderick his fourth catch.Ashar Zaidi smacked Norwell for a six over wide long-on, but the following ball saw the left-hander, on 37, get an inside edge onto his stumps and it was all over at just before 2.15pm.That gave Norwell 4 for 65 from 16.3 overs, while Payne finished with 3 for 40 and Miles on his lunch figures of 3 for 26. It was a high class bowling effort on a day Essex began as favourites.

Coach Duleep Mendis has said he is satisfied with Oman’s top-two finish at WCL Division Five in Jersey, but has admitted that his side’s batting struggles are a major concern

Peter Della Penna01-Jun-2016Coach Duleep Mendis has said he is satisfied that Oman were able to secure promotion with a top-two finish at WCL Division Five in Jersey, but has admitted that his side’s batting struggles are a major concern. Speaking prior to the team’s departure from Jersey, back to Oman, Mendis told ESPNcricinfo that he expects several new players to come into the Oman squad for WCL Division Four to be held in the USA later this year.”The bowlers did extremely well right through the tour from the first game onwards, the seam bowlers as well as spin,” Mendis said. “The batsmen didn’t click; other than one or two batsmen, others never got off. That is one of our main concerns when we get back.”Opening batsman Zeeshan Maqsood finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with 350 runs at an average of 70. His opening partner Khawar Ali, however, managed only 68 runs in seven innings, including three scores of 2 against tournament champions Jersey. The rest of the batting order fared little better, with spin-bowling allrounder Aamir Kaleem the only Oman player besides Maqsood to cross 100 runs in the tournament, making 139 at 34.75.”We need to buckle down and get these things organised,” Mendis said. “Batting has to be organised because number two, three, four never gave us any runs. That is a main concern right now.”We tried with the present lot for a long period now and some of them haven’t really come off, so we need to go back and see what we have, and I’m sure there will be some new faces in the batting lineup in LA. They are quite used to playing 50 overs. It is not that they have not experienced it in the past. It is nothing new to them. But I think the present lot have been in the circuit for a long period and it is always good to have fresh blood coming in and even the fielding standard will improve.”Mendis said Oman’s lineup faces obstacles from the ICC’s player-eligibility guidelines regarding non-citizens at Associate tournaments. In any tournament below the WCL Championship, only two players who have lived in a given country for four years but not yet seven years are eligible to play in any starting XI.Oman carried three such players – wicketkeeper Swapnil Khadye, batsman Noorul Riaz and left-arm pacer Bilal Khan – in their squad to Jersey, with Bilal the odd man out in all but two games. Mendis admitted his preference was to have Bilal in his first-choice XI, but problems with the batting necessitated a different approach. Going forward, Mendis said Oman may have to reconsider the selection of four-year players if it poses issues with team balance.”The wicketkeeper Swapnil came off well,” Mendis said. “He started keeping well, [and] his contribution with the bat was good, so I think he has almost established himself. Noorul is a big question mark. He’s a new player who [debuted] for this tour. He did all right. At the same time, there are one or two other seamers as well who could come into the side. They might not be as good as Bilal, but they are somewhere there. But as I said, we will have to go back and see how we can get the best combination going.”The domestic 50-over season in Oman wrapped up just prior to the team’s departure for Jersey and will not begin again until September. Mendis said he is targeting a preparation tour to the UAE around then as part of the team’s build-up to Division Four in Los Angeles. Mendis says he toured there with a Sri Lanka XI as a player and feels the dry conditions in the San Fernando Valley at Woodley Park will suit his side more than those they encountered in Jersey.”The main concern for us when we came was to get in the next Division, Division Four,” Mendis said. “Because of relegation [in 2014], we had to come down to Division Five, but between now and then, the boys gained a lot of experience playing in the world circuit – the WT20 and Asia Cup – and we were confident when we came here that we would get into Division Four.”We are very keen that we do well in WCL Four and go up to Three. That will be our main goal now. Before the WT20, our goal was to make a big impact on the tournament and we did that. When we came here, we wanted to get qualified for [Division] Four and we did that. Now the next target is to get to Three.”

After losing the first unofficial Test to West Indies A in Mysore, India A captain Cheteshwar Pujara admitted that his decision to bowl first had backfired

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Sep-2013After losing the first unofficial Test to West Indies A in Mysore, India A captain Cheteshwar Pujara admitted that his decision to bowl first had backfired. The match was dominated by the West Indies spinners who exploited a slow pitch and shared 19 wickets between them to bowl out the hosts for 152 on the final day to win by 162 runs.India went in with three seamers – Mohammad Shami, Ishwar Pandey and Ashok Dinda – but the conditions didn’t assist them as expected. West Indies picked only two specialist seamers but the bulk of the bowling was done by the spinners Nikita Miller, Veerasammy Permaul and the part-timer Narsingh Deonarine.”We went in with three pacers and found nothing in the pitch for them, not even reverse swing,” Pujara said. “Personally, I thought we should have batted on winning the toss. Opting to bowl was a mistake.”The seamers picked only two wickets in the first innings, but the offspinner Parvez Rasool was the most effective bowler, bowling 45 overs for a five-wicket haul. West Indies piled on 429 and India in response conceded a lead of 184. West Indies batted again and set India a target of 315 to chase on the final day, but the hosts’ batting faltered again to spin. Pujara said the plan was to go for a win.”If we had wickets in hand we could have chased the target,” he said. “We needed a very good start for that. But we lost three wickets before lunch. Later, as the ball became older, it was tougher to bat.”Manpreet Juneja was the only Indian batsman to impress in both innings, with scores of 84 and 70 and Pujara praised him for his application on a tough wicket. “He batted really well, given the kind of wicket he was batting on. He has a lot of talent and I think he has a good future.”West Indies A captain Kirk Edwards praised his side for a “clinical” performance with a special mention to his spinners. The left-arm spin duo of Permaul and Miller took five-wicket hauls in the first and second innings respectively, the latter bowling 36.4 overs in the final day and conceding only 40.”Miller was top class. Every time I called on him he responded in a positive way,” Edwards said. “He delivered in the first innings and when I asked him to use the new ball in the second innings he responded as well. He’s one of the most experienced members of the team and he stepped up with the bat in the first innings and with the ball both times when we bowled.”Permaul is a very confident player and is always relaxed. He helps to take the pressure off his team-mates and keep the pressure on the opposition, as we saw on both occasions when we bowled. He has played at the highest level before and is showing the benefits.”The teams head to Shimoga for the second unofficial Test starting on Wednesday.

India have dropped Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh for the Nagpur Test

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2012India have dropped Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh for the Nagpur Test. Delhi fast bowler Parvinder Awana and Saurashtra allrounder Ravindra Jadeja have received their first call-ups, and legspinner Piyush Chawla replaced Harbhajan.Zaheer’s is the biggest fall. This is the first time he has been dropped from the Test side after his rousing comeback in 2006-07. He has taken 15 wickets in eight Tests in 2012 at a strike rate of 98 balls per wicket. In this series, he has taken four scalps at a strike rate of 133. Moreover, his fielding has been below par for some time. His replacement, Awana, took 5 for 81 against Karnataka in a Ranji Trophy match a day before the selection meeting. Reputed to be brisk, Awana has taken 21 Ranji wickets at an average of 21.57 this season.Yuvraj, called back after a double-century in the Duleep Trophy was deemed enough to prove his fitness, did not take his chance either. He scored 125 runs in five innings in the series. He has now played 40 Tests over various comebacks for three centuries and an average of 33.92.Yuvraj’s replacement, Jadeja, recently scored his third first-class triple-century in 13 months. He was dropped from India’s limited-overs squads earlier this year, but the two triples in one month this season and 18 Ranji wickets at 23.72 have put him ahead of Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary in the queue for a middle-order slot. Jadeja told he had hoped to get his chance after his run in domestic cricket: “I have proved my ability to stay at wicket for a long time, which is necessary while playing Test cricket, and I was hoping after making two triple centuries I would be selected for Test cricket.”Even as the squad was being debated, Tiwary was busy rescuing Bengal with 55 out of a score of 112 against Jadeja’s Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy. Four of Bengal’s wickets, though, fell to Jadeja. Tiwary retired-hurt with a pulled muscle, but that happened after the squad was announced.Harbhajan was recalled for the Tests without any improvement shown in domestic cricket, but a lacklustre show in Mumbai means he will be stuck on 99 Tests for a while. Not that his replacement, Chawla, has set the domestic scene on fire, with nine wickets at an average of 48.33.Awana and Jadeja made it to the T20 side too. Uttar Pradesh allrounder Bhuvneshwar Kumar joined them in place of the injured Irfan Pathan. Virender Sehwag and Zaheer, left out of T20 squad, were unavailable for reasons the BCCI didn’t state. Ajinkya Rahane took Sehwag’s place. Harbhajan has been dropped for T20s as well.Squad for Nagpur Test: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Parvinder Awana.Squad for T20Is: MS Dhoni (capt &wk), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwary, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Parvinder AwanaBy Sidharth MongaThis selection should drive home what a bad state Indian cricket is in. Piyush Chawla’s bowling averages over the last three first-class seasons tell you all you need to know about the reserves: 48.33 this season, 40.61 in 2011-12 and 41.04 in 2010-11. He was picked for the Nagpur Test against England despite that. No wonder Harbhajan Singh came back into the side without taking wickets at domestic level. The spin cupboard is bare, and the choice was between Amit Mishra and Chawla. The selectors overlooked Mishra, who at least has better stats than Chawla.There are better options in the fast-bowling department, but they are all injured. Most noteworthy among them are Umesh Yadav, Praveen Kumar and Sreesanth. Parvinder Awana, reputed to be a quick bowler, has had a decent season and looks a good pick with others unavailable. If the pitch in Nagpur is not a raging turner, at least one out of Awana and Ashok Dinda should debut.Ravindra Jadeja’s selection seems driven by numbers alone. His two triple-centuries this season, to go with one in 2011-12, have pushed him ahead of two specialist batsmen, Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary, who have been on the fringes for a long time. It could also be Jadeja’s left-arm spin, something that was supposed to be in Yuvraj Singh’s favour when he jumped the queue. The problem with this selection, on the evidence of what we have seen in international cricket, is that Jadeja is neither a top-six batsman nor a top-four bowler.

George Dockrell claimed his second six-wicket haul at Taunton this season to bowl Somerset to an unlikely three-day win over Durham

24-May-2012
ScorecardGeorge Dockrell gave another demonstration of his talent•Getty Images

George Dockrell claimed his second six-wicket haul at Taunton this season to bowl Somerset to an unlikely three-day County Championship win over Durham.Dockrell, the 19-year-old Irish left-arm spinner, took 6 for 29 as the visitors were shot out for 167 in their second innings, having conceded a first-innings deficit of 16. Set 152 to win, Somerset were 17 for 2 at one point. But Arul Suppiah (73) and James Hildreth (31) eased any nerves with a third-wicket stand of 83 as the hosts romped home by five wickets.The day began with Somerset 357 for 8 in their first innings. Peter Trego extended his overnight score of 67 to 89 with some meaty blows before losing his middle stump to Jamie Harrison, who claimed 4 for 112 on his Championship debut.Dockrell and Jamie Overton scored the remaining 11 runs for maximum batting points and Hildreth immediately declared, hoping his bowlers could take advantage of some rare cloud cover.Jamie Overton responded by having Michael Di Venuto (26) caught in the slips with the total on 36, but there was no sign of the carnage to come as Durham progressed to 69 for 1.Then three wickets fell without a run added. Mark Stoneman was taken at first slip trying to withdraw the bat from a Craig Overton delivery, Ben Stokes fell to a catch at third slip off the same bowler and Will Smith was snapped up at second slip off Alfonso Thomas.Paul Collingwood and Ian Blackwell looked to be steadying the ship, only for four wickets to tumble with the total on 131, all to Dockrell, bowling from the River End. Blackwell gave a return catch just when threatening to break loose. Phil Mustard was caught at short-leg off bat and pad, Liam Plunkett was well caught above his head by Craig Overton at mid-off and Callum Thorp was taken by Jamie Overton in the covers.Suddenly it was 131 for 8 and Durham led by only 115. Collingwood did his best to lift the total before edging a big shot to Hildreth at slip, giving Dockrell his fifth wicket. He soon made it six by having Harrison caught by Jos Buttler running in from cover, but his figures were not a season’s best. He took 6 for 27 in the opening Championship game against Middlesex.After losing Alex Barrow first ball and Nick Compton for 8, Somerset needed a positive response. Suppiah supplied it, moving to an attractive half-century off 72 balls, with five fours and three sixes, before falling lbw to Smith with only 23 needed.Compton’s dismissal means he still needs 59 for 1,000 first-class runs before the end of May. He will probably have one Championship innings on the first two days at Worcester next week to achieve the milestone.

The board, however, has not confirmed him for any engagements beyond that tour

Danyal Rasool17-Nov-2024The PCB has said there will be no change of Test match coach for one more series, with Jason Gillespie taking charge of the upcoming two Tests against South Africa. The board has not confirmed him for any engagements beyond that tour, though he does have a contract with the PCB that runs till 2026.Over the past few days, multiple local reports indicated that Gillespie’s time with Pakistan cricket was limited, with Aaqib Javed lined up as replacement. Earlier today, ESPNcricinfo also reported that Aaqib was likely to take over as all-format coach. The white-ball coaching role remains vacant after Gary Kirsten resigned last month, and Aaqib remains the frontrunner to be replace him, with Pakistan’s T20I and ODI tour of Zimbabwe starting next Sunday.The PCB, though, has denied that Gillespie’s job is under immediate threat. “As announced previously, Jason Gillespie will continue to coach the Pakistan side for the two red-ball matches against South Africa,” a statement from the PCB on X said.Related

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• Gillespie frustrated by lack of clear communication in role as Pakistan coach

• Jason Gillespie 'sits on the fence' as Pakistan go all-in on the short term

The PCB have not confirmed whether Gillespie will be the head coach for any series beyond those two Tests. Pakistan have a two-Test home series against West Indies immediately following the Tests in South Africa.ESPNcricinfo has reached out to the PCB to confirm if their statement locks Gillespie for any engagements beyond the two-Test series of South Africa, and await a response.Earlier this week, the PCB sounded Gillespie out on the prospect of taking over as white-ball coach until the conclusion of the Champions Trophy. However, the increased responsibility did not come with a commensurate increase in his financial compensation, which is understood to be the reason Gillespie turned them down. Consequently, the PCB turned their attention to replacing Kirsten with a local appointment.They initially considered the possibility of either elevating Azhar Mahmood, or appointing Saqlain Mushtaq, who served as coach in 2021-22. Neither, though, appeared to draw enough support from within the PCB’s advisory circle, which led to Aaqib being offered the position. It is understood he will be asked to take on the role until the end of the Champions Trophy, following which the PCB will reevaluate.Gillespie’s next immediate engagement is the third T20I against Australia, a series he took over as interim coach for. Pakistan’s Test series against South Africa, the only other engagement he has yet been formally confirmed by the PCB for, begins on December 26.While Gillespie appears to have kept his job in the immediate term, the relationship between the coach and the board has been anything but smooth. Three Tests into his tenure, Aaqib was hired by the PCB as part of a revamped selection committee, with Gillespie’s powers significantly reduced. He was removed from the selection committee, and no longer had a say in which players were selected for a match or series.He was left thoroughly unimpressed by the changes, admitting in a press conference during the home series against England that he was “just a matchday strategist”. In another interview with broadcaster Sky the following day, he said that it “was not what he signed up for.””For me, when I came on board with Pakistan cricket, I was told there was a long-term plan, and we need to make sure our communication’s spot on,” he said at the time. “I made that a real focus and so you can get frustrated if those things aren’t done how you would like. It wasn’t what I signed up for, I’ll be completely honest.”