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Adam Rossington’s highest score in limited-overs cricket led Northamptonshire to a four-wicket victory against Gloucestershire in the Royal London Cup game at Cheltenham

Press Association27-Jul-2014
ScorecardAdam Rossington’s career best fuelled the Northamptonshire chase•Getty ImagesAdam Rossington’s highest score in limited-overs cricket led Northamptonshire to a four-wicket victory against Gloucestershire in the Royal London Cup game at Cheltenham. Rossington, on loan from Middlesex, made 82 from 91 balls, with 12 fours, as Northants overcame Gloucestershire’s 240 for 9 with almost eight overs to spare.Rossington put on 85 in 13 overs for the second wicket with Richard Levi, who blasted 43 from 39 balls, and shared a third-wicket stand of 69, also in 13 overs, with Matthew Spriegel, who made 32.Earlier, captain Michael Klinger had held the Gloucestershire innings together with 98 from 131 deliveries, but the home side’s total was below par on a ground with short boundaries square of the wicket and with a fast outfield. David Willey was comfortably the pick of the Northants attack, with the left-arm paceman’s haul of 4 for 33 including three wickets in the closing overs.Willey’s first wicket came in the eighth over when Alex Gidman played across the line and was bowled for 12. Klinger reached his first half-century in 11 innings when he turned James Middlebrook for a single to deep midwicket, having struck seven fours, but the loss of three wickets in six overs undermined Gloucestershire’s attempts to build a challenging total.Chris Dent was run out at the non-striker’s end by Azharullah’s direct hit from short fine leg, Hamish Marshall was bowled off his pads by spinner Graeme White, who took a low caught and bowled to dismiss Ian Cockbain in his next over.Will Gidman and Klinger revived the innings with a sixth-wicket partnership of 73 in 14 overs, which ended when Gidman miscued a delivery from Willey to Kyle Coetzer at cover. That proved to be the start of a collapse in which four Gloucestershire wickets fell for 10 runs in 13 balls. Klinger’s well-paced innings ended when he was caught behind, attempting to run a delivery from Steven Crook down to third man.Willey won lbw appeals against Adam Rouse and Tom Smith, which left Gloucestershire in deep trouble on 197 for 8 in the 44th over. Craig Miles was caught at midwicket by White off Crook in the penultimate over, but Benny Howell finished unbeaten on 30 after hitting the last two balls of the innings, from Azharullah, for four and six.When the visitors batted, Coetzer fell lbw to David Payne for a duck, and only eight runs were taken from the first five overs. However, Levi and Rossington upped the tempo dramatically. Levi hit two sixes, one driven over midwicket off Payne and the other cut square off Miles, and also struck five fours before he clipped a Will Gidman delivery to Smith at mid-on.Rossington reached his 55-ball half-century with a lofted driven boundary off Smith’s left-arm spin, the ninth of his innings. He surpassed his highest one-day score of 79 not out, made for Middlesex against Yorkshire at Radlett last year, before he departed in the 28th over when he swept a ball from Dent to Howell at square leg.It became 197 for 4 in the 35th over when Spriegel was caught behind off Howell, but Northants were cruising to victory by then. Gloucestershire claimed two more wickets when Smith took a return catch to dismiss Crook for a hard-hitting 36 and bowled Ben Duckett for one. However, Northants’ victory was never seriously in doubt and Willey, with an unbeaten 26, and Middlebrook duly completed the success.Gloucestershire captain Klinger felt his side were 30 runs shy of a defendable total. “Northants had the better of the first 10 overs in each innings and that made a difference,” he said. “Rossington and Levi gave them momentum when they batted, and we needed one of the top three to do the same and it didn’t quite happen for us.”I thought 270 would have been a par score, and if we had got to 280 or 290 then that would have put them under real pressure.”Northamptonshire head coach David Ripley agreed with Klinger’s verdict, saying: “The ball held up a little bit at times, but it’s a fast-scoring ground and we were pleased to keep Gloucestershire to 240. Adam Rossington batted really well for us. He’s a lad I’ve known about since he was 16 and he has a lot of talent. It wasn’t quite happening for him at Middlesex this season, but he’s done well for us and we’re delighted to have him for at least another month.”

Struggling Somerset are waiting to learn whether their plan to re-sign international spinner Abdur Rehman for the final few weeks of the season has been dashed

David Lloyd at Taunton04-Aug-2013
ScorecardLuke Fletcher cut through Somerset’s middle order•Getty ImagesStruggling Somerset are waiting to learn whether their plan to re-sign international spinner Abdur Rehman for the final few weeks of the season has been dashed by Pakistan’s re-arranged tour of Zimbabwe.Somerset’s Championship batting currently leaves a lot to be desired, as was evident during today’s grim top-order collapse between the showers. With relegation an all too real possibility, regardless of whether they scrape a draw from this contest, a boost, any boost, is needed – and Rehman’s return to the County Ground would surely fit the bill.The left-arm spinner captured 27 wickets at just 14 runs apiece when he played four Championship matches at the end of last season – and something similar this year might do wonders for the county’s chances of avoiding the drop.All appeared to be in place for Rehman’s arrival well before Somerset’s next four-day game – against Warwickshire, at Edgbaston, starting on August 20 – but now there is considerable uncertainty.Pakistan have scheduled a month-long Test and limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe, from mid-August onwards, to replace a trip that was postponed last year. What they have not done so far is to announce their squad, or indicate whether it will be full strength or largely experimental.”There should be an announcement in the next few days,” Dave Nosworthy, Somerset’s director of cricket, told the West Country’s newspaper. “If Abdur is not picked he will join us straight away because his visa has now been approved.”If he is selected for the Zimbabwe tour he won’t be coming, simple as that. But we have a Plan B in place should that happen. We can only wait and see what happens.”Rehman’s short stay with Somerset last year ended up being remembered at least as much for a failed drugs test as his splendid bowling performances. He was found to have used cannabis when he was tested during a match against Nottinghamshire and served a 12-week worldwide ban.Now 33, Rehman would be welcomed back with open arms, however. He apologised to all and sundry for his “error of judgement” and his contrition was accepted by Somerset.The county, currently third from bottom, could certainly do with a lift, be it through runs or wickets. No side in Division One has achieved fewer batting bonus points than Somerset – and it was easy to see why today as they crumpled to 81 for 6 before mounting a mini-recovery led by Craig Meschede.Nottinghamshire deserve plenty of credit for maintaining pressure throughout a start-stop day of four rain interruptions. And in Luke Fletcher they had a bowler who gnawed away non-stop at the hosts’ fragile confidence by drilling a challenging line and length ball after ball.But while Fletcher followed his splendid late-order half-century with some excellent seam bowling (he had figures of 3 for 7 from 11.2 overs at one stage and produced a spell of 3 for 1 in six overs), some of Somerset’s shot selection was inexplicable.Their problems began during the day’s first over, although Chris Jones can be excused for having his off stump disturbed by an Andre Adams bail-trimmer.Neither Nick Compton nor James Hildreth will want to watch too many replays of their dismissals, however. Compton may have been deceived by a slower ball from Fletcher but, either way, it was wide enough to leave alone and what was ultimately a one-handed shot sent a simple catch to cover.As for Hildreth, a top-edged hook to long leg, against Adams, looked especially horrible given Somerset’s already sticky position.Craig Kieswetter soon fended fatally outside off stump, then Peter Trego edged a good one from Fletcher to give the paceman two wickets in as many balls. Neither of those wickets were gifts, but Jos Buttler’s horribly miscued pull against Samit Patel certainly fell into the ‘thanks very much’ category.At 122 for 7, the follow-on figure of 229 looked hopelessly distant. And when bad light finally ended play for the day, with 49 overs lost to the weather, it still looked out of reach at 188 for 9. But at least Meschede and George Dockrell, with whom he added 53, closed the gap while using up valuable time.Meschede, who lifted Patel for two sixes during an 87-ball stay, was finally undone by an inside edge against Harry Gurney. But his third first-class half-century, and first this season, at least brought a little light to Somerset’s proceedings.

Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha both scored brilliant goals for Paris Saint-Germain in an eventual 5-2 win over Monaco on Friday.

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Dembele controlled brilliantly and finishedVitinha bent a stunning effort into the top cornerPSG comfortable against Ligue 1 rivalsWHAT HAPPENED?

PSG recorded a comfortable win over Monaco on Friday, running out 4-2 winners. Goncalo Ramos scored the opening goal, before an equaliser from Takumi Minamino. Kylian Mbappe then put PSG ahead from the penalty spot.

Ousmane Dembele then scored a brilliant third goal, controlling the ball on the run before slamming it home, and Vitinha followed that up with a stunning effort from the edge of the box. Folarin Balogun responded to make the score 4-2, before Randal Kolo Muani added a fifth in the 96th minute.

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PSG have been in fine form this season and their win over Monaco has now moved them four points clear of second-placed Nice. Monaco remain third, and are now six points back.

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PSG face Newcastle in a huge Champions League clash this week, and their massive win on Friday will be a major confidence boost. They will play Le Havre in Ligue 1 next weekend.

Fidel Edwards has suffered a fractured right ankle after injuring himself in warm-ups ahead of the final day of Hampshire’s County Championship match against Yorkshire at Headingley

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2016Fidel Edwards has suffered a fractured right ankle after injuring himself during a football game in warm-ups ahead of the final day of Hampshire’s County Championship match against Yorkshire at Headingley.Edwards will see a specialist on Thursday which will give a clearer idea of the length of time he faces on the sidelines but he is set to miss a considerable chunk of the season.On Thursday morning he posted Instagram photos of him in hospital in Leeds and said: “I broke my leg,” before thanking doctors for their help.Hampshire had been evasive on Wednesday when asked to confirm that Edwards had joined a long list of county cricketers over the years to be injured in a football kickabout, preferring to call it a “running injury – not a football injury”.Dale Benkenstein, Hampshire’s coach, was more forthcoming. “We were only 45 seconds away from the end of the game when Fidel went to kick the ball,” he told “I was just about to get the mitts on for fielding practice when his foot got stuck in the turf and all his weight went over on it. There was no-one near him, it was a really freakish fall and there was a loud crack.”Hampshire have suffered an extensive early-season injury list and will have to explore the loan market for extra resources. Reece Topley suffered a broken hand in the opening match of the season against Warwickshire, Chris Wood suffered a knee injury in the first innings against Yorkshire (although he was able to bowl in the second) and Liam Dawson picked up an abdominal strain in the same match.Despite their injury woes, however, Hampshire have secured battling draws in their opening two Championship matches of the season. Against Yorkshire, they showed considerable resolve to save the follow-on having conceded 593.They also face the prospect of losing James Vince next month with him being heavily tipped for a place in England’s middle order against Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh Cricket Board will send a second security team to Pakistan in two years to elucidate their commitment to tour the country, which was denied by ICC vice-president AHM Mustafa Kamal last week

Mohammad Isam12-Jan-2013The Bangladesh Cricket Board will send a security team to Pakistan – second in two years – to show their commitment to tour the country after ICC vice-president AHM Mustafa Kamal had denied any “unconditional commitment” from Bangladesh to tour Pakistan three days ago. BCB president Nazmul Hassan has questioned Kamal’s conflicting statement, and will ask the game’s governing body for clarification on his comments.”We think it is time to send a second security team,” Hassan said. “A lot of time has passed from the last inspection [in March last year]. We will sit in the next few days with the government about forming the team.”We haven’t made any specific decisions about a tour date but we discussed our end of the problem with him [PCB president Zaka Ashraf]. We talked about a time slot, which will be between the end of March and the start of April.”Hassan met Ashraf in New Delhi during the third ODI between India and Pakistan where, according to the BCB chief, the talks were cordial and lacked any ‘negative vibe’. “What I explained to him was the reason behind Bangladesh not travelling [to Pakistan] this time. He understood our problem, was reasonable and his hospitality was really good.”What he said to [ESPNcricinfo] was not what he told me. I still believe that based on our cordial discussion, the Pakistani players will take part in BPL. I think it is a knee-jerk reaction, because what we discussed in Delhi didn’t give me a negative vibe.”

I don’t say anything without confirming and without knowing, so what he said was completely wrong. I have all the proof.Nazmul Hassan on Mustafa Kamal’s statement

Regarding Kamal’s comments about there being no commitment to tour Pakistan, Hassan reacted strongly, mentioning the exact dates of sending letters and the exact language. “I don’t say anything without confirming and without knowing, so what he said was completely wrong. I have all the proof.”On April 12 last year, a letter was sent from the BCB, [which mentioned that] we were going there to play, but that tour didn’t happen due to a court ruling. The second letter was sent from here on October 8 where a timeline of December 12 to 20 was given for touring.”Both these letters were sent during his [Kamal’s] time. The directors told me they don’t know anything about the letter. Our CEO made all the communications on behalf of the board. He told me that it was Kamal who asked him to send the letters,” he said.Hassan showed the minutes of the April 15, 2012 ICC meeting to the media, the words on Bangladesh’s tour highlighted in green. “We go back to April last year when we sent a letter on the 12th. On the April 15 ICC meeting, it was written in the minutes that Bangladesh will go to play in Pakistan, and they would have to go even if the ICC don’t send match officials. We cannot cancel the tour, we have to go.”I don’t know if there can be any more difficult conditions for touring. I also saw that only Mustafa Kamal was present from Bangladesh in that meeting. If the minutes of the ICC meeting are challenged by the ICC, we would like to be clarified on this issue. We would also ask them why such a thing was written in the minutes when the vice-president himself is saying such a thing was not discussed,” he said.

Mick Newell has admitted that it is a case of “now or never” if he is to become England coach.

George Dobell07-Apr-2014Mick Newell has admitted that it is a case of “now or never” if he is to become England coach.Newell, the longest serving head coach in first-class county cricket, will be interviewed for the England role sometime in the next couple of weeks and accepts that it will probably represent his final chance to gain the job he sees as “the ultimate.””It probably is a question of now or never for me,” Newell told ESPNcricinfo. “I’m 49 now and, by the time England look again, I can see them thinking I may be too old.”It’s likely to be at least three years before the chance comes around again, isn’t it? I haven’t been told when the interviews will take place yet, but yes, I have been asked for an interview and I expect it will be in the next week or two. Maybe even the end of this week.”Newell has been with Nottinghamshire for 30 years, first as a player and then as a coach, and assumed the head coach role in 2002. The club has subsequently won the County Championship twice – in 2005 and 2010 – and won the YB40 trophy in 2013. He has previously been linked to the Bangladesh coaching role but withdrew, citing the difficulty of spending time away from his children.”I have a great job here at Nottinghamshire,” he said. “But the England role is the ultimate for an English coach. I’m sure any coach will tell you they would love to work with the very best players their country has to offer.”Newell is on a short-list for the England role that also includes the Lancashire coach, Peter Moores, the Sussex coach, Mark Robinson, the England limited-overs coach, Ashley Giles and the New South Wales and Kolkata Knight Riders’ coach, Trevor Bayliss. While Giles was the favourite for the role, England’s World T20 defeat at the hands of Holland has damaged his chances and there appears to be an increasing chance that Moores could take the position with Robinson as his deputy.

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has said his team would seek clarifications from the match referee on how West Indies offspinner Shane Shillingord’s illegal deliveries are policed

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-2014New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has said his team will seek clarifications from the match referee on how West Indies offspinner Shane Shillingford’s illegal deliveries are policed. Shillingford, who was suspended during the tour of New Zealand after both his conventional offspinner and the doosra were found to be breaching the 15-degree flex limit, will be playing his first international match after remedial work on his action. His doosra, though, remains illegal.”It’s quite hard to see how they actually police that,” Hesson said. “It’s all very well saying it, but do they call a batsman back if he bowls a doosra? It’s going to be an interesting discussion with the match referee.””Same with [Marlon] Samuels, he’s not allowed to bowl a quicker ball so we’ll certainly get some clarification on those two things.”Shillingford was reported during the second Test against India, in Mumbai, in November, and following testing was suspended in New Zealand in December. It was the second time he had been suspended due to an illegal action. Subsequent testing on March 4, again at the University of Western Australia in Perth, showed that his offspinner and straighter ball were within the regulations after remedial work. On his return, he grabbed 11 wickets in a first-class game at the Sabina Park, which also hosts the first Test, and Hesson remains wary of the threat.”He’ll get more bounce and turn over here whereas in New Zealand they tended to slide on a lot more,” Hesson said. “Shillingford seems to be their first-choice spinner, and [left-armer] Sulieman Benn is back in favour. None of our guys have faced a lot of him and, with his bounce and his height, he’s going to ask some different questions.”While West Indies’ spinners are likely to pose a lot of problems for the visitors, New Zealand’s batsmen will also have to contend with a stronger pace attack compared to what they faced at home. The return of Kemar Roach, who had been sidelined last season with a shoulder injury, comes as a boost to the home side.”It was excruciating pain, but I believe I am back now, and close to my best,” Roach said. “I just want to continue this form and go out in the park and give it a good shot.”

Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, rued his team’s performance with the bat in the first Test in Barbados, where West Indies won comfortably by nine wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Mar-2013Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, rued his team’s performance with the bat in the first Test in Barbados, where West Indies won comfortably by nine wickets. Several Zimbabwe batsmen, including Taylor, squandered starts in the first innings to post just 211 on the first day, and then collapsed in the second innings to be bowled out for 107.”It was a tough Test, we let ourselves down in the first innings,” Taylor said at the post-match presentation. “Getting just 200 was disappointing, had we got 300 it could have been a different game. Not a lot of positives in the game apart from Kyle Jarvis’ bowling.”Five of the top six got starts in the first innings, but only three batsmen managed to reach double-figures in the second. Struggling at 41 for 3 at stumps at the end of the second day, Zimbabwe were bowled out in the morning session on the third. “We’ve got to find a way to combat their spin [Shane Shillingford] and three-pronged pace attack [Tino Best, Shannon Gabriel, and Kemar Roach].”Jarvis picked up a five-for in the first innings, this after he had just two wickets to his name in the limited-overs matches prior to the Test series. “I am pleased for him,” Taylor said. “It’s nice to see him swinging the ball again.”Taylor admitted it didn’t help that one of his strike bowlers, legspinner Graeme Cremer, proved expensive in the first innings, as Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, and Denesh Ramdin took him for runs. But he backed the bowler to fight back, and hoped for a better performance from the team in the next Test in Dominica. “We hear it spins more in Dominica, it’ll be challenging.”Sammy praised his team for winning five Tests in a row, their first such achievement since 1988. His quickfire knock was a game-changing one and he said he’d been working with his batting coach Toby Ratford, who suggested a slight change to his grip. But the Man of the Match was offspinner Shillingford, who picked up nine wickets in the game, including six in the second innings, in what was his Test comeback. He played his previous Test in England in May 2012.”I played a couple of games here during the first-class season and picked up wickets, I just gave it my all,” Shillingford said. He has had an impressive first-class season, collecting 24 wickets for Windward Islands in three games at 15.25. “I tried to bowl a consistent line first up and then tried to spin the ball as much as possible.”

Ex-Chelsea striker Carlton Cole has revealed that Jose Mourinho once told him he would be “lucky to work at Tesco” during a savage post-game rant.

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Portuguese famed for speaking his mindHappy to tear into players during trainingLooking to get a positive responseWHAT HAPPENED?

The fiery Portuguese coach is famed for wearing his heart on his sleeve – with those at his disposal growing accustomed to receiving the hairdryer treatment. Cole found himself on the receiving end of Mourinho’s sharp tongue following a Premier League meeting with Liverpool in which he did not even take to the field.

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Chelsea lost the game in question 4-0 – in what was a rare blot of Mourinho’s copybook during his time at Stamford Bridge – with there plenty to mull over after the game. Cole found himself in the firing line ahead of a training session that saw the Blues’ outspoken boss make it clear that he expected standards to improve.

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Cole, who also represented West Ham in his playing career and earned seven caps for England, has told : “I've sat down and I'm thinking ‘Here we go … someone's going to get the hair-dryer treatment'. But it was all about me! He was going to me ‘Listen Carlton, you're never gonna make it'. 'You’re not serious, all you care about is going out, you’d be lucky to be working in Tesco’s'. I was only 21 at the time, I was thinking ‘that’s a big drop.”

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While Cole was left surprised at incurring Mourinho’s wrath, the desired response was achieved as he went on to star in the subsequent training session. He added: “I’ll tell you what. I went out to train I had the best training session of my life. I was like prime Ibrahimovic – just smashing balls, using my body, I was on top form!”

Younis Khan said that the Bangladesh decision to field was a good call as the pitch had some early help for the bowlers, but then it flattened out to aid strokemakers

Umar Farooq in Dhaka06-May-2015In the Khulna Test, Younis Khan had to wait for 71.5 overs for his turn to bat, but in Dhaka he had to come out in the 23rd over after Pakistan lost both openers for 58. However, Younis’ 148 that came in a little over three hours drove Pakistan into a position of advantage by the end of the first day. It was Younis’ 29th hundred, the same as Don Bradman.”It’s always good to stand equal with the likes of Bradman,” Younis said. “I am happy that I am still going on and scoring hundreds. If I was able go back and start my career again I would want to score hundreds at the average of Bradman and it could have been more satisfying for me.”Along with Azhar Ali, Younis put up a partnership of 250 runs for the third wicket. Both had looked uncomfortable early on and played out the first hour watchfully before finding fluency. Younis strike rate was brisk as he completed his half-century in 72 balls, and reached the hundred-mark in 142 balls. Frequently using the sweep, Younis scored 100 of his runs on the leg side.”I always insisted on building partnership and players like Azhar are the future of Pakistan cricket,” Younis said. “We chat a lot in the middle, rotate strike and allow each other to establish and with bigger partnership, the chances of win increase.”Younis said that the Bangladesh decision to field was a good call as the pitch had some early help for the bowlers, but then it flattened out to aid strokemakers.”Pitch was supporting both the bowlers and the batsmen and if you play properly you have a chance to score big,” Younis said. “The outfield was slow and if you bowl with pace and in good areas, there was some help definitely. We saw it worked well for them in the first hour.”The decision to field wasn’t bad. With grass on the pitch, captains want to make use of the moisture and it went well for them. The way they bowled the first few overs, they got Hafeez, who was in a very good nick, but when a partnership started to build for us they lost their way.”But Bangladesh bounced back strongly in the previous Test and it won’t be easy for us going forward. The first session (tomorrow) is crucial again and we got to have enough runs to put them under pressure.”Younis did provide a chance to Bangladesh. On 78, he was caught at short cover off Soumya Sarkar, but the replays showed the bowler had overstepped. After that lucky break, he went on to complete his fifth century in seven Tests.He was on 78 when he scoped it straight at short-cover to be caught but on reviewing the foot no ball by the third umpire, he got a luck lifeline. He was ‘lucky’ to have a chance to covert the inning into yet another hundred as this is his fifth hundred in last seven Test matches.A Younis century usually bodes well for Pakistan: Fourteen of his hundreds have comes in Pakistan wins.”It’s always good to have a chance,” Younis said with a smile. “I was in mood to score big and when you are at 70-odd runs it great to have a chance like that to convert the score into a century. It worked for me and I grabbed it.”