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Nick Compton has signed a new three year deal to stay at Somerset, ending speculation about his future.

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2013Nick Compton has signed a new three year deal to stay at Somerset, ending speculation about his future.With Compton out of contract at the end of the season, several counties were interested in tempting Compton away from Taunton but he has decided to stay in the Westcountry, despite the prospect of playing in Division Two of the County Championship next season.Somerset are in deep relegation trouble but Compton has remained loyal to the county who have helped his career flourish. He spent the first nine years of his career at his home county of Middlesex, averaging 34.14 in first-class cricket before a move to Taunton in 2010. Since the switch Compton has scored 3,677 first-class runs at 61.28.Compton’s progress culminated in his call-up for England’s tour of India in November 2012. He had to wait until the following tour of New Zealand for his maiden Test century. But despite back-to-back Test tons, a lean return series against New Zealand saw him dropped for the Ashes.Back in the Championship, he has scored 578 runs at 44.46 with two centuries and Dave Nosworthy, Somerset’s director of cricket who has endured some problems in his maiden season at Taunton, is delighted to have retained a key member of his squad.”The Club and I are very pleased to have secured Nick again for a further period,” Nosworthy said. “He is one of the best players in the country and makes a huge contribution to the club, not just on the field of play but also off it. We look forward to seeing Nick score many more runs at Taunton and beyond and we are happy to have secured a quality person and a quality player.”Compton added: “I’ve enjoyed my three years with the club and feel settled by having such a great team and support network around me. I’m aware of interest from other clubs but I’ve played some of my best cricket here and I’m grateful to the club and its members who have given me such great support. I want to continue to grow as a player so I can be at the top of my game over the coming seasons.”

Karachi Kings guaranteed to finish bottom of the table after eighth straight defeat

Danyal Rasool16-Feb-2022
They might have left it a bit late, but the inevitable could not be thwarted. Multan Sultans, almost certain to top the table now, edged past Karachi Kings, guaranteed to finish bottom, in the final over, sealing a seven-wicket victory. In pursuit of 175, they were only trudging along at seven an over with five to go, with the asking rate at 14. But 71 runs in the last 27 balls – the last six a dashing flourish over square leg by Rilee Rossouw – condemned the Kings to their eighth successive defeat, at the same time ensuring the Sultans will get two bites at the cherry in their bid to qualify for the PSL final.In the end, Karachi might blame a mystifying approach to the first innings, particularly the first ten overs. Only 57 came off the first nine, with vaunted power hitter Sharjeel Khan struggling badly, managing just 21 off his first 29 balls. With Babar Azam falling for just 2 off four, it was down to the middle order to salvage a respectable total for their side.Sharjeel belatedly clicked into gear and was good for a couple of sixes, but hadn’t nearly undone the damage he had caused in a somnambulant stroll of an innings when Khushdil Shah struck to remove him with just his second ball. The Kings seemed well off the pace until the last seven overs, and needed cameos from Rohail Nazir and Imad Wasim – who smashed an unbeaten 32 off 16 balls – to get the 174 they eventually did finish with, the late surge thanks coming courtesy of 75 runs in the final seven overs.The Sultans innings looked, for the most part, very much like the batting effort of a side that already knew it was through to the next round. Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood appeared content to strike at just over a run-a-ball, prioritising preserving wickets on a pitch that didn’t look quite as free-scoring as some in this tournament have. The free-flowing Masood was reined in for much of his innings, and would admit in a post-match interview he feared he had “messed up” the chase as the asking rate climbed inexorably and the Sultans’ power-hitters sat in the dugout where they could do little damage.It was only after Masood holed out to the deep-cover boundary that the game really moved into the next phase. Rizwan’s best instincts came alive, and all of a sudden he seemed to be finding the gaps with every delivery, almost putting Tim David, batting alongside him, in the shade as he brought the run rate down single-handedly every over. When he fell for a 56-ball 76 that belied his early struggles, David quickly picked up the mantle with a couple of further boundaries, though his dismissal in the 18th over kept the Kings just in front.It was, as it so often is in T20 cricket, the penultimate over when the game truly showed its hand. Khushdil Shah smashed Chris Jordan first ball for six over midwicket, with a remarkable flick of the wrists; astonishingly, it was the first six the Sultans had hit all game. The second would follow two balls later and a boundary came in between, leaving nine to get off the final over.The winning shot was delightfully flamboyant from Rossouw, who moved across his stumps to pick Umaid Asif up over square leg for six, before nonchalantly folding his arms and holding the pose. It showed a swagger that comes so easily to the Sultans right now, and is wholly missing from the Kings, for whom this campaign cannot conclude soon enough.

Pope set to deputise behind stumps in Sydney with Buttler, Bairstow suffering hand injuries

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2022England have drafted Sam Billings into their Ashes squad as a back-up wicketkeeper-batter ahead of next week’s fifth Test in Hobart.Billings, who has just completed a Big Bash spell with Sydney Thunder, was due to fly to the UK on Friday to prepare for England’s T20I tour of the Caribbean later this month. But, with Jos Buttler’s woes deepening and Jonny Bairstow suffering a nasty blow to the thumb during his unbeaten century in the fourth Test, Billings will now join the touring party in Sydney after a period of isolation in the team hotel, subject to returning a negative Covid test result.England said in an update* before play on day four at the SCG that both Buttler and Bairstow had been sent for X-rays, and that Ollie Pope would be subbed in to keep wicket during Australia’s second innings.Buttler’s struggle for form with the bat continued during the third day at the SCG when he was dismissed for an eight-ball duck, prodding a Pat Cummins delivery tamely to Usman Khawaja at short extra cover. Buttler now has 96 runs at 16.00 from seven innings. He may well have been hampered on this occasion by a finger injury picked up while fielding the previous day which cast doubt over his ability to keep wicket during Australia’s second innings.Related

• Sam Billings: 'Don't want to be pigeonholed as a white-ball player. I'm better than that'

• Seventy balls of England struggle

• Defiant Jonny Bairstow century keeps England fighting

Bairstow reached 103 not out at the close, having been left in agony after being struck on the thumb by a Cummins delivery during the afternoon.”I was hurting,” Bairstow said. “But, look, you’re playing in a New Year’s Test match in Sydney on the pink day, it is going to take a heck of a lot to get you off the field. In some ways, it frees you up, in some ways it doesn’t. But at the end of the day, you’ve still got a job to do. Yes, it will be sore, but at the end of the day you’re playing cricket for England and I’m very, very proud to do that.”Asked about potentially taking the wicketkeeping gloves in Hobart, Bairstow said: “I don’t know as yet, to be really honest with you. I’ll know some more information tomorrow. I’m not sure about the keeping side of things anyway. But from a batting point of view, I’ll be out there in the morning.”Sam Billings has just finished a BBL stint with Sydney Thunder•Getty Images

With Buttler and Bairstow under injury clouds, Pope spent time working with wicketkeeping consultant James Foster in the nets on Friday afternoon in case he is needed behind the stumps when Australia bat again.Billings is yet to make his Test debut, but he has spoken previously of his ambitions to break into the red-ball side. He has played 58 limited-overs matches for England and averages 34.29 in first-class cricket with six centuries.England also have concerns over the fitness of Ben Stokes, after he left the field mid-over holding his side on day two. England said on Saturday that Stokes had also gone for a scan and that they would “evaluate the extent of the injury and update at the end of the Test match”, amid questions about his availability for Hobart.*2300 GMT – This story was updated

Australia opener says she was “more disappointed to lose two wickets in a row,” when she fell soon after Lanning

Andrew McGlashan27-Jan-2022A Test century continued to elude Rachael Haynes but it was not a milestone she was worrying about despite the fact this match against England in Canberra could be her last in the format.With the one-off Ashes Tests, which form part of the multi-format series, the only guaranteed games in the format Australia get – although this is their second of the season after the game against India in October – and most nations not playing them, Haynes admitted it might be the final time she pulls on the whites for her country.Her 86 was the third occasion she had got within touching distance of a Test century following her 98 on debut in Worcester in 2009 and the 87 in Taunton two years ago. Having taken advantage of being dropped on 44, she was closing in on triple figures until receiving a terrific delivery from Katherine Brunt which bounced to take the glove.”It’s probably a fair assumption, think it probably will be my last Ashes Test,” she said. “I just want to enjoy it. It’s a really special occasion, not just for me but for the whole team. This series is one that’s held in really high regard. First and foremost I just want to focus on tomorrow and get another good day’s play.”Haynes combined in a 169-run stand with captain Meg Lanning – who was dropped on 0 and 16 – which lifted Australia from 43 for 3, and things had been even more uncertain when Haynes watched from the non-striker’s end as Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney edged to the wicketkeeper inside the first four overs.As much as the missed landmark, it was the fact Haynes’ departure came just three balls after Lanning had also fallen narrowly short of a century that frustrated her, although the partnership between Ashleigh Gardner and Tahlia McGrath ensured Australia ended on top despite McGrath falling to the last ball of the day.”I wasn’t thinking about it [the hundred] to be honest,” she said. “I was more just disappointed to lose two wickets in a row. It just opened the door a little bit but think our batting order rallied really well and had a good counterpunch. It was pretty good to watch as well, the contest between Ash and Katherine [Brunt], it was good fun. It was a really positive way to finish the day.”If the chance had been taken off Lanning before she had scored, edging low to second slip, Australia would have been 43 for 4 and if she had been held by Heather Knight at slip in the last over before lunch it would have been 78 for 4.However, Nat Sciver said that overall England were satisfied with seven wickets on the opening day having opted to bowl in conditions where she felt runs could be scored at a good rate throughout the game. Four wickets in the final session kept them in the hunt after Australia had scored 120 without loss between lunch and tea.”All the bowlers can do is create them [the chances]. We have to take them really,” Sciver said. “We’re frustrated with the drops and maybe we lacked a bit of energy in the middle session.”We brought it back at the end and feel pretty positive…probably buoyed a little more with the wicket on the last ball. When they got in it seemed a lot easier to score so hopefully that’s what we can do.”

New Zealand Women beat Australia Women by six wickets with two balls to spare in the first Twenty20 match of the series in Melbourne on Tuesday

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2013
ScorecardEllyse Perry took two crucial wickets, but it couldn’t prevent defeat for Australia•Getty Images

New Zealand Women beat Australia Women by six wickets with two balls to spare in the first Twenty20 match of the series in Melbourne on Tuesday. The two sides will play the second match of the series later in the day.Captain Suzie Bates led the New Zealand team’s chase of 151, with an important knock of 42. Bates and Sophie Devine set the foundation for a New Zealand win, adding 67 runs for the third wicket, before Frances Mackay and Nicola Browne took their side past the target with an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 54.Earlier, Australia managed to score a respectable 7 for 151 after they were reduced to 3 for 15. Left-arm spinner Morna Nielsen and medium-pacer Lea Tahuhu struck early to dismiss Jess Cameron and Lisa Sthalekar in quick succession after opener Alyssa Healy was run out in the first over.The Australia innings recovered following a 75-run partnership between Meg Lanning, who top scored with 76, and Alexandra Blackwell for the fourth wicket. However, Australia again lost a flurry of wickets towards the end of their innings that limited them to 151.

The franchise has got a new logo as well

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2021Saint Lucia Zouks are now Saint Lucia Kings, the CPL franchise said in a media release on Monday. The team has got a new logo as well.In 2020, the franchise was sold to KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, the consortium that owns the Punjab Kings in the IPL. The Punjab Kings had also changed their name from the Kings XI Punjab before IPL 2021.”The new name and logo are consistent with the KPH Dream Cricket brand while still capturing the essence of Saint Lucia through the name and national colours of Saint Lucian Flag,” the release said.”The brand name and monogram, lion in the team’s logo stand for exuberance. While the blue epitomises the sky and the sea, specifically the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea which encircle the country, the roaring lion monogram infuses vigour and vibrancy.”Related

• St Lucia Zouks sold to Kings XI Punjab owners

• Barbados Tridents set to become Barbados Royals

The team, coached by Andy Flower and captained by Faf du Plessis, will also feature Daren Sammy as the team’s assistant coach and mentor in CPL 2021. Sammy was the captain till the last year when the team finished as the runners-up.”I love the logo and I love the new name, and I truly hope that the name can inspire our players to play like the true Kings that we are,” Sammy said in the release.Satish Menon, the CEO of Saint Lucia Kings said, “Saint Lucia Kings is more in line with the positioning that the KPH Dream Cricket brand has, and we believe that the time was right for us to merge the sister brand and its inherent values with the mother brand.”Recently, the owners of the Rajasthan Royals bought a majority stake in the Barbados Tridents, which will now be known as the Barbados Royals, making them the third team after the St Lucia Kings and the Trinbago Knight Riders to be run by the IPL franchise owners.CPL 2021 will be held between August 26 and September 15, with all 33 games to be played at Warner Park in St Kitts & Nevis.

Michael Clarke is not certain whether he will be fit to face Sri Lanka in Australia’s vital last Champions Trophy group match on Monday but has declared that he “will definitely be back for the Ashes”

Andrew McGlashan14-Jun-2013Michael Clarke is not certain whether he will be fit to face Sri Lanka in Australia’s vital last Champions Trophy group match on Monday but has declared that he “will definitely be back for the Ashes”.Even before David Warner decided to take swing at Joe Root last week, Clarke had enough on his mind as he tried to overcome a recurrence of his back problem which had ruled him out of Australia’s first two matches.Australia’s tournament hopes rest on Monday’s meeting with Sri Lanka at The Oval but it remains uncertain whether their captain will be able to return to the side. Clarke was not with the squad during the first two games – a defeat to England and an abandonment against New Zealand – and his linking back up with the team as they arrived in London was dominated by him dealing with the fall-out to Warner’s night out.However, there was time to ask Clarke about the state of his back and though he tried to make positive noises he was not giving any promises.”It is getting there,” he said. “I can sit here and say I will be 100% fit for the game on Monday. But I have been saying that for the last two games as well.”It is about judging my back every day. It is slowly getting better, there is no doubt about it, but I am as keen as ever to try to get on the field and help this team have some success.”George Bailey has led the side in Clarke’s absence and has struck two half-centuries, but the top order has been unconvincing. Before Warner’s enforced absence, his form had been poor and Shane Watson is also struggling for runs. Phil Hughes battled his way to an unconvincing 30 against England and was run out for a duck against New Zealand.

New Zealand appear to be moving towards sticking with the 11 players used in the home series against England when the return contest starts at Lord’s next week

Andrew McGlashan at Grace Road08-May-2013New Zealand appear to be moving towards sticking with the 11 players used in the home series against England when the return contest starts at Lord’s next week.An unchanged top-order seems certain after Martin Guptill was left out of the final warm-up match against England Lions, while Doug Bracewell could struggle to force his way into the line-up although has a chance to impress at Grace Road in the absence of Neil Wagner who has been rested.Guptill missed the series in New Zealand due to a hamstring injury followed by thumb surgery and both opening slots in the side have been successfully filled by Hamish Rutherford and Peter Fulton, although neither shone against Derbyshire. That left Guptill battling for a middle-order place but he made just 25 and 8 in the first warm-up match while Dean Brownlie, the most under-pressure of the incumbent batsmen, made 71 in the first innings.Wagner, who formed a three-pronged pace attack with Tim Southee and Trent Boult in New Zealand, took eight wickets in the match against Derbyshire. Brendon McCullum confirmed there were no injury worries over him after he had problems with a toenail towards the end of that game. “Wagner has a huge chance of playing at Lord’s,” he said. “He’s fine, it was just a case of bowlers and toenails.”McCullum has also previously said that he is keen to retain balance in the attack with Bruce Martin’s left-arm spin, although it is not inconceivable that if conditions were persuasive enough New Zealand may consider an all-pace attack at Lord’s and rely on Kane Williamson’s offspin for variation. Williamson was a surprisingly effective bowler in the previous series, taking four wickets in the second innings in Auckland, when England hung on nine wickets down, while Martin went wicketless.”We have got a pretty good squad here and what we think is a reasonable eleven,” McCullum said. “The guys who played the other day performed well and put pressure on the incumbents and we haven’t bedded down our Test team just yet.”Bracewell, who has 46 wickets at 31.89 in 15 matches, made a case for a Test recall with seven wickets against Derbyshire having missed the home series after injuring his foot standing on glass. However, another factor in Wagner’s favour is that England have at times struggled against left-arm pace bowlers. Alastair Cook fell to either Wagner or Boult in four out of his five innings in the recent Test series.”We’ll see how Doug goes but I’m confident both can do a role,” McCullum said. “It’s more a horses-for-courses policy rather than favouring one person.”New Zealand XI 1 Hamish Rutherford, 2 Peter Fulton, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Dean Brownlie, 6 Brendon McCullum (capt), 7 BJ Watling, 8 Doug Bracewell, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Bruce Martin, 11 Trent Boult

Family affair in prospect as England allrounder gets his first game-time of the season

George Dobell28-May-2021Moeen Ali is set to return to action on Saturday with an appearance in the Birmingham League.Moeen, who recently returned from the IPL, has received approval from the England team management to play for West Bromwich Dartmouth (WBD) against Walsall in Premier Division One of the country’s oldest cricket league.The match promises to be something of a family affair. Moeen will be joined in the WBD team by his brother, Omar, and his cousin, the former England swing bowler, Kabir. Another cousin, Ismail Mohammed, who is on the staff at Worcestershire, is also in the side.Moeen’s oldest brother, Kadeer, will be absent, however. The former Gloucestershire and Worcestershire batter is WBD’s regular captain but has been asked to help out the Worcestershire first team in a coaching capacity (he is the county’s second XI coach) this weekend. In his absence, Kabir will captain the side.Several, though not all, of the England players who were at the IPL are likely to return to LV= Insurance County Championship action in the round of games starting on June 3. A firm decision on each player’s involvement will be taken by the England management in the coming days.

Khan Research Labs defeated National Bank of Pakistan by 10 wickets in the Ramadan T20 cup game in Karachi.

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jul-2013
ScorecardZain Abbas was adjudged the Man of the Match•PCB

Zain Abbas capped off a strong all-round performance, scoring an unbeaten half-century and bowling economically, to guide Khan Research Labs to a 10-wicket win over National Bank of Pakistan in the Ramadan T20 Cup in Karachi.Abbas got the crucial wicket of Aqeel Anjum just as NBP were beginning to settle and and bowled some tight overs, finishing with figures of 4-0-16-1. He hit seven fours and three sixes during his 58-ball 68 as KRL overhauled the 132-run target with 12 balls to spare.National Bank of Pakistan chose to bat and got off to a shaky start, losing their captain Kamran Akmal and Umair Khan in the second over to successive deliveries from the debutant, Usman Khan. With NBP struggling at 7 for 2, Anjum and opener Sami Aslam revived the innings with a third-wicket stand of 62 runs. Aslam struck three fours in his 32-ball 28, before getting caught by Ali Khan off Nauman Ali. Three deliveries later, Anjum also departed after hitting the ball back to Abbas.Hammad Azam struck a late 21-ball 33, but NBP were unable to build any other significant partnership, as medium-pacer Rahat Ali and left-arm spinner Nayyer Abbas dismantled the lower middle-order to restrict the batting side to 132 for 7 in their 20 overs.KRL remained comfortable throughout their run chase, as the openers Abbas and Mohammad Yasin struck boundaries at regular intervals to maintain the required run-rate. Yasin’s 50-ball 61 included eight fours and two sixes, and the pair reached the target in a little over 75 minutes.Abbas was named Man of the Match for his all-round performance.The win took KRL to second place in Group B, while NBP remain at the bottom, having lost both their matches so far.