A round-up of the final day’s play of the fourth-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Super League 2009-10

Cricinfo staff27-Nov-2009

Group A

Scorecard
Chandrasekar Ganapathy and L Balaji put in superb performances with the ball as table-toppers Tamil Nadu stormed to a win against Himachal Pradesh in Dharamsala. With nine wickets between them, they helped Tamil Nadu cement their position at the top of the points table. Resuming on 199 for 5, the visitors were boosted by Ravichandran Ashwin’s fluent fifty and an unbeaten 44 from Ganapathy. They were bowled out in the 25th over of the day, not before setting HP a target of 247. Ganapathy had the top order in tatters, accounting for five of the top seven batsmen. Balaji proved to be the perfect foil picking up four wickets, as HP failed to hold on to first-innings points. Vikramjeet Malik was their top scorer with 45, but the day well and truly belonged to Ganapathy.
Scorecard
Gujarat slipped further down the points table with an innings defeat against Punjab in Mohali. They were staring down the barrel at 227 for 7 yesterday, and the Punjab bowlers wasted no time, taking just under 19 overs to wrap up proceedings. There was to be no fight from Rujul Bhatt, who added just two to his overnight score of 93. Manpreet Gony ended as Punjab’s most successful bowler with four wickets – a total of eight in the match – while Harmeet Singh finished with three. With the defeat, Gujarat fell to fourth position, handing the No. 3 spot to Punjab.
Scorecard
Railways would have to thank Marripuri Suresh and captain Murali Kartik for helping them avoid defeat against Mumbai at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. Beginning on 174 for 7, with a slender lead of 77, Railways were lifted by Suresh’s patient fifty. The overnight partnership with Karan Sharma finally ended on 81, but Suresh combined with Kartik to add another 83 for the ninth wicket. Suresh remained unbeaten, having struck 11 boundaries, as the innings came to an end in the 49th over of the day. The target of 213 could have tempted Mumbai to go on the offensive, but they chose to be content with first-innings points, as the openers put on an unbeaten stand of 69.
Scorecard
Anirudh Singh hit a combative half-century to carve out a thrilling draw for the home team after left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh had nearly pulled off a sensational win for Orissa in Hyderabad. Chasing an improbable 321 for win, Hyderabad were on the brink after being reduced to 191 for 9, but Anirudh held out for 43 balls along No. 11 Lalith Mohan. Earlier today, resuming at 159 for 4, Orissa declared their second innings in the 24th over of the day, setting Hyderabad a stiff 321 for victory. Basanth Mohanty and Alok Chandra Sahoo shared four top-order wickets as Orissa pushed for the win. Dhiraj polished off the middle and lower order with a four-wicket burst to draw them closer. Orissa though, had the consolation of three points, courtesy their first innings lead, while Hyderabad managed one.

Group A

Group B

Scorecard
Abhimanyu Mithun and R Vinay Kumar shared the spoils for the second time as Karnataka duly completed an innings victory over Maharashtra at the Poona Club Ground. Resuming on 254 for 5, Maharashtra’s hopes lay entirely with overnight centurion Ankit Bawne. He held fort to add 40 along with Ganesh Gaikwad, before Sreesanth Aravind had him caught by Robin Uthappa. The end came about quickly after that, with Vinay Kumar adding two wickets to take his match tally to eight. Mithun, who wrecked the Maharashtra top order yesterday, picked up one more today to finish with seven in the match. Karnataka took six points from the win, opening up a five-point gap at the top of the table.
Scorecard
Virat Kohli’s fighting century notwithstanding, Delhi surrendered tamely by an innings and 22 runs to Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow. Delhi’s hopes of salvaging a point from this game lay with the overnight pair of Kohli and Puneet Bisht. They did try their best, adding a further 104 to the overnight third-wicket stand, before Kohli departed, having hit 22 boundaries. Suresh Raina then got into the act, picking up three wickets with his part-time offspin to hasten the end. Rajat Bhatia made a watchful 56 but ran out of partners as Delhi were badly hampered by Shikar Dhawan’s absence in both innings. The six points helped Uttar Pradesh become the new No. 2 on the points table, at the expense of Bengal.
Scorecard
Arindam Das ensured that Saurashtra did not force an innings defeat, though the visitors gained first-innings points at the Eden Gardens. With victory out of the question, Bengal began the day hoping that Arindam and Manoj Tiwary would continue their partnership and challenge Saurashtra’s mammoth first-innings score. However, their hopes were dashed when both batsmen fell early, sparking off a collapse in which Bengal lost eight wickets for 132 runs. Ravindra Jadeja picked up 4 for 71, as Saurashtra enforced the follow-on. Rohan Banerjee’s early loss in the second essay gave the visitors some hope of a win, before Arindam and Deep Dasgupta joined hands for the second time to steady the ship. Both reached fifties before play was called off after 32 overs.

Group B

Plays of the day for day three of the third Test between South Africa and England at Cape Town

Andrew McGlashan in Cape Town05-Jan-2010Another quiet start
For the second day running anyone taking their seat a few minutes late would have looked up at the scoreboard and realised they’d missed something. Following Graham Onions’ lead from yesterday Morne Morkel was soon in the action when a well-directed bouncer was fended to first slip by Graeme Swann. Next ball it got better for Morkel as Jimmy Anderson fenced another catch to Graeme Smith to give him his fifth-wicket. Although Matt Prior briefly rallied for England, Morkel’s early blow had set the tone for South Africa’s day.Prince goes for a walk
Daryl Harper is having an interesting match. On the second day he had to change a leg-bye signal to four runs and today he gave an horrendous decision against Ashwell Prince which was swiftly overturned on review. However, in Harper’s defence Prince didn’t do himself any favours as he shaped to walk after missing a leg glance. The ball had clipped the pad, but Prince motioned to make his way back to the pavilion so Harper raised his finger. Prince immediately called in a review and the pictures showed he’d missed the ball by some distance. His reprieve, though, didn’t last long before he again fell to Graeme Swann.Take five
South Africa accelerated during the afternoon session with the most free-scoring period of the match. With Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla both well-set, at one point a 10-over period brought a run rate above six-an-over as England started to lose control. With boundaries leaking the last thing they needed was to gift South Africa any extras, but to sum up their afternoon the total was boosted to the tune of five runs when Matt Prior missed a delivery from Swann that beat Smith and scooted through to hit the helmet.Jimmy heads to boiling point
It was seriously hot work in the middle as the day wore on and England started to feel the heat in more ways than one. After a wicketless session between lunch and tea they were desperate for a breakthrough, but Smith and Amla forged on. Jimmy Anderson’s mood wasn’t helped when he conceded consecutive boundaries to Smith. Paul Collingwood couldn’t do much about the first at fine leg, but Stuart Broad should have done better at mid-on with his dive. Anderson wasn’t impressed and when he collected a subsequent delivery in his follow through he hurled it straight back at the stumps in frustration.Hot under the collar
Anderson wasn’t the only one losing his cool. Graeme Swann is a chirpy, unflappable character most of the time, but even he started to lose his rag. When Amla played yet another sweep off him, Broad ambled around from deep square-leg to hurl the ball in and Swann clearly thought the batsmen should have been kept to a single. He waved his arms in annoyance and marched back towards slip with the odd chunter. When Swann can’t see the funny side you know the problems are mounting.Welcome home, Trotty
Jonathan Trott and Graeme Smith used to be team-mates at Western Province, but now they are adversaries of the strongest kind. Smith has made it clear he isn’t happy with the time Trott takes to prepare himself at the crease so there was always likely to be a bit of needle if Smith ever faced Trott’s bowling. To make it tougher for Trott, Smith had a hundred to his name and was seeing it like a football when he crunched four boundaries in an over including a dismissive lofted straight drive. Now all we need is Smith to have a bowl at Trott.

An already depleted West Indies are waiting to learn whether their star allrounder Dwayne Bravo will participate in the upcoming limited-overs series against Australia

Cricinfo staff03-Feb-2010An already depleted West Indies are waiting to learn whether their star allrounder Dwayne Bravo will participate in the upcoming limited-overs series against Australia. Bravo, who has been in the country representing Victoria in the Twenty20 Big Bash, broke his right thumb while batting against Tasmania on January 15 and the injury could turn out to be more serious than anticipated.A West Indies spokesperson told Cricinfo the management was waiting to hear back on test results on Bravo’s finger, and should know tonight or tomorrow morning if he will remain with the squad in Australia or return home.Bravo has been ruled out of the tourists’ warm-up fixture against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Thursday.West Indies have returned to Australia for five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals after losing a three-Test series in November-December last year. They have arrived without the likes of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan as well as Sulieman Benn, who was suspended for two ODIs for an incident in the Perth Test.West Indies will use the series to prepare for a home series against Zimbabwe and the World Twenty20 tournament in the Caribbean in April and May.

A round-up of the play-off fixtures from the Under-19 World Cup

Cricinfo staff25-Jan-2010India eased past England in the 5th place play-off semi-final, beating them seven wickets at Hagley Oval. India’s captain Ashok Menaria grabbed four for 35 to help skittle out England for 176. Opener Jos Buttler struck six fours in his 78 but, barring a 59-run stand with Ateeq Javid for the third wicket, failed to receive support from the others. Maneria was backed up well by left-arm seamer Jaidev Unadkat, who picked up two wickets. India’s reply was led by opener Akshath Reddy’s 116-ball 94 who, supported by important contributions from the middle order, ensured victory was sealed with more than 13 overs to spare.South Africa‘s humbling of hosts New Zealand in Lincoln sets up a 5th place play-off final against India. New Zealand, boosted by half-centuries from Jimmy Neesham and Corey Anderson, would have thought they had done reasonably well to post a challenging 250. But their bowling simply failed to measure up to the South African top order. Dominic Hendricks smashed an unbeaten 107, adding 124 with opener Josh Richards, who made 67. David White continued the attack, smacking 72 off 71 balls to ensure victory was achieved with 11 balls to spare.The ninth place play-off semi-final between Canada and Ireland at Palmerston North was abandoned as a result of persistent rain.Hong Kong upstaged Afghanistan by four wickets in the 13th place play-off semi-final in Napier. Irfan Ahmed and Waqas Barkat starred with half-centuries in Hong Kong’s chase of 152 in a truncated 32-over fixture; the pair added a match-winning 95 for the sixth wicket after their side had been reeling at 49 for 5 due to Aftab Alam’s early burst. Barkat, the wicketkeeper, was the more aggressive of the two, scoring at better than a run a ball and remaining unbeaten to see his team home. Afghanistan’s innings had centered around a knock of 61 by captain Noor-ul-Haq but the effort was in vain.Zimbabwe brushed aside USA in the other 13th place play-off semi-final in Napier, coasting home with 12 overs to spare. USA never really recovered from Nathan Waller’s triple-strike early in the match, which reduced them to 40 for 3 in the 10th over. There was another triple-blow later in the innings, by legspinner Natsai Mushangwe, which sawed off USA’s revival efforts at 90 for 5 – they were soon 99 for 9. Chasing 116 in 41overs, Zimbabwe were rarely in trouble, especially after the openers put on 42 by the 10th over. Legspinner Saqib Saleem took four wickets but couldn’t stop Zimbabwe from winning by five wickets.

Stuart Clark is set to make his comeback after a near three-month lay-off due to a back injury that kept him out of contention for most of Australia’s international matches this summer

Cricinfo staff01-Mar-2010Stuart Clark is set to make his comeback after a near three-month lay-off due to a back injury that kept him out of contention for most of Australia’s international matches this summer. Clark has been named to captain New South Wales in their second-last Sheffield Shield game of the season, against Tasmania in Hobart starting on Wednesday.Although Clark has conceded his international career is all but over he is keen to take on more captaincy duties with the Blues and has signed a county deal with Kent. He will take the reins for New South Wales, who have rested their regular leader Simon Katich due to his heavy workload.The Blues are also without Josh Hazlewood, who has a side strain, and Grant Lambert and Moises Henriques, who have been dropped. But their batting has been given a boost with the return of Usman Khawaja, who has averaged 60.62 this season but hasn’t played since early January due to a thumb injury.Steven Smith has also been named in the 12-man group, having finished his duties with the Australia Twenty20 team in New Zealand, while Tasmania chose an unchanged squad. New South Wales would need to win their remaining two games outright and have a host of other results fall their way to even have a chance of making the Sheffield Shield final, as they sit second-last on the table.New South Wales squad Phil Jaques, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Peter Forrest, Ben Rohrer, Dominic Thornely, Steven Smith, Steve O’Keefe, Peter Nevill (wk), Stuart Clark (capt), Mitchell Starc, Trent Copeland.Tasmania squad Ed Cowan, Rhett Lockyear, Alex Doolan, George Bailey (capt), Daniel Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), James Faulkner, Xavier Doherty, Brendan Drew, Adam Griffith, Tim Macdonald, Adam Maher.

Bangladesh are expected to make two changes to their side for the second Test against England at Dhaka on Saturday, as their coach seeks a higher level of discipline with both bat and ball

Andrew Miller in Dhaka19-Mar-2010Bangladesh will make two changes to their side for the second Test against England at Dhaka on Saturday, as their coach, Jamie Siddons, seeks a higher level of discipline with both bat and ball following their 181-run defeat in Chittagong last week.Their new-ball bowler, Shadahat Hossain, has been dropped to make way for Shafiul Islam, while Aftab Ahmed’s place at No. 4 has been taken by the uncapped Jahurul Islam, who joined the squad on the eve of the first Test following Raqibul Hasan’s shock “retirement” from international cricket.”This was definitely a moment I have looked forward to since I became a cricket player. The dream of playing cricket at Test level has always been my chief motivation,” said Jahurul. “I have been in good form coming into the national team and I will take the confidence of the runs I had scored into the Test match.”Meanwhile Raqibul’s potential return to the team has been delayed after he was handed a three-month suspension by the board despite Siddons being optimistic that a decision that he described last week as “rash and foolish” would soon be forgotten.”We’ve spoken to him, but it is still up to a board decision to release him back to play,” said Siddons. “That’s not happening yet so he’s left his run a little bit late. I would have had him back no problem but there’s a few little delays happening. Hopefully we’ll have him back for the England tour and the Asia Cup.”After a torrid start to the Chittagong Test, in which Bangladesh slumped to 51 for 3 after conceding a hefty 599 for 6 declared, the team settled down to produce three decent days of Test cricket, with their batsmen amassing 627 runs across their two innings, while restricting England to 209 for 7 second time around. However, Siddons remains frustrated by such peaks and troughs, and wants an improved focus at Dhaka.”The one thing we’re aiming for is to be consistent,” said Siddons. “All of our top order – apart from our No. 4 position – are centurions in Test cricket now, and they have all made them in the last four months. But we’re still having Mahmudullah making a fifty then nothing, Tamim [Iqbal] 80 then nothing, Shakib [Al Hasan] nothing then a score. To get scores of 400 you need more consistency than that.”To make 630 over two innings against England was a reasonable effort, but we’re still probably 150 short. Our players are all confident of performing at this level and they’ll be confident of performing on that wicket. We just need them to put it together in the same match. That’s what England did to us, and it’s what we need to do back to them if we want to be successful.”We bowled, I think, nine maidens in 145 overs [138.3],” said Siddons. “It’s ridiculous, and it’s not good enough. Test cricket should be a game where you have to work a lot harder for your runs, but we couldn’t bowl one side of the wicket, and when we wanted to bowl at the wickets we couldn’t do that either. We also need to make more runs in the first innings. We batted on probably the flattest day, and only made 296, and that probably wasn’t anywhere near enough.”One aspect of Bangladesh’s performance that will change, however, will be their decision if they win the toss. At Chittagong, Shakib called correctly but chose to field first, a move that Siddons later admitted was the wrong one. This time, with another spin-friendly surface in prospect, there’s no doubt that they be aiming to put a score on the board first-up.”If the wicket plays the way we expect it to, and day one should be flat, if we win the toss we will bat,” said Siddons. “And if we do bowl I hope we put the ball in better areas and make them work a little harder for their runs. I expect it to turn a bit more towards the end of the game, because the footmarks play a bigger part on this wicket. Hopefully it will turn from day one, but we won’t be taking that risk.For me, as usual, it’s about us playing our game as well as we can,” he added. “I’ve got no expectations, I just want our players to play well. Each day is different, so our expectations change every day, according to the situation of the game. But I expect us to play pretty good cricket. It’s our home conditions, and we played reasonably well at Chittagong, but we’ll need nearer 700 [runs in the match] to win the game here.”Bangladesh 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Imrul Kayes, 3 Junaid Siddique, 4 Jahurul Islam, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 7 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 8 Naeem Islam, 9 Abdur Razzak, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Rubel Hossain.

Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar bowled an astonishing spell, taking 6 for 10 in eight overs, to help Baluchistan Bears defend a low total against Punjab Stallions in Karachi

Cricinfo staff22-Apr-2010
ScorecardLeft-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar bowled an astonishing spell, taking 6 for 10 in eight overs, to help Baluchistan Bears defend a low total against Punjab Stallions in Karachi. It was a low-scoring contest at the National Stadium, with 20 wickets falling for 258 runs in 74.3 overs.Punjab would have fancied their chances of pulling off a victory after their bowlers restricted Baluchistan to 149, and even more so after their openers added 45. The seven-foot fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, however, jolted the chase by striking twice in the 12th over, leaving Punjab on 45 for 2.Another partnership of 38 followed before Zulfiqar began his act. He ripped out the next five wickets for only 20 runs, leaving the chase in tatters at 103 for 7. He claimed one more, his sixth, and Jalat Khan chipped in with two, including the final wicket of Asad Ali, with the score on 109 in the 34th over.Baluchistan had earlier scraped to 149 after collapsing from 20 for 0 to 23 for 5, with Asad Ali and Mohammad Talha causing the damage. Taufeeq Umar steadied the innings with 57 and Jalat contributed 38, which gave their bowlers a defendable score.

Zimbabwe’s preparations for next week’s ICC World Twenty20 took another hit as they were again beaten by West Indies A in a practice Twenty20 match

Cricinfo staff25-Apr-2010
Scorecard
Zimbabwe’s preparations for next week’s ICC World Twenty20 took another hit as they were again beaten by West Indies A in a practice Twenty20 match at Progress Park. Having been put in to bat, Zimbabwe could only make 124 for 8, with the lower middle order flopping, and after having West Indies in some strife the visitors were undone by a whirlwind innings from Imran Khan.The spinning pair of captain Prosper Utseya and Ray Price began will in Zimbabwe’s defence of a small total, and left West Indies at 23 for 3 in the fifth over. Graeme Cremer then got the in-form Kirk Edwards to nick one before Chamu Chibhabha snapped up Shane Dowrich for 1, and that brought the allrounder Khan to the crease. Along with Assad Fudadin he began a sensible recovery before exploding to smash an unbeaten 60 from 33 balls, inclusive of seven fours and three sixes. He and Fudadin (29) shared a match-winning 84-run stand off just 53 balls and that put Zimbabwe on the back foot. Fudadin fell with West Indies needing just five to win and the match was sealed when Jason Holder deposited a delivery from Chibhabha onto the roof of the pavilion.Zimbabwe were thus left to rue how they let the home side off the hook, as well as a poor batting card. They had begun well through a half-century stand between Chibhabha (33) and Hamilton Masakadza (27) but a collapse of 4 for 32 turned out to be decisive. Shane Shillingford was the wrecker-in-chief with four wickets and the fast bowler Nelon Pascal claimed 2 for 35.

Paul Collingwood was left fuming at the Duckworth-Lewis system as it played a huge role in England’s defeat against West Indies for the second World Twenty20 running

Andrew McGlashan in Guyana04-May-2010Paul Collingwood was left fuming at the Duckworth-Lewis system as it played a huge role in England’s defeat against West Indies for the second World Twenty20 running and left them facing a must-win match against Ireland. After piling up an imposing 191 for 5 England were in the driving seat but rain intervened after 2.2 overs of the chase and when play resumed, virtually as late as it could before the game was abandoned, the hosts were left needing 60 from six overs with all 10 wickets in hands.”There’s a major problem with Duckworth-Lewis in this form of the game,” Collingwood said. “I’ve got no problem with it in one-dayers, and I know it’s made me very frustrated tonight because I’ve come off the losing captain, but it’s certainly got to be revised in this form.”Ninety-five percent of the time when you get 191 runs on the board you are going to win the game. Unfortunately Duckworth-Lewis seems to have other ideas and brings the equation completely the other way and makes it very difficult.”Just to rub it in for Collingwood, five minutes after the game ended torrential rain started. There was always a risk that weather would play its part in Guyana and both games on Monday were affected with Sri Lanka also winning under the D-L system. It was a lack of intent that cost Zimbabwe – although it is believed they didn’t have a copy of the D-L chart when their revised chase began. For England it was an early blitz by Chris Gayle which proved costly, because the 30 runs that came before the rain meant the calculations would always be in favour of West Indies.It won’t make Collingwood feel much better as he stews over the result, but Gayle agreed with his assessment of the system. “I think it’s something they’re going to have to look into,” he said. “I would support what Collingwood just said. I could have been in the same position as well. It’s something that can be addressed so it can be even stevens for both teams in the future. I’m happy but it’s just unfortunate for England.”What made it worse for Collingwood, though, was that it was the second time in nine months England had come out on the wrong end of the calculations against the same team. At The Oval, during last year’s World Twenty20, a rain break left West Indies chasing 82 from eight overs and they achieved the target, despite a flurry of wickets, to send England packing.”I’m trying to take the emotion out of that defeat to be honest with you,” he said. “It’s the second time it’s happened to us against West Indies so it’s very frustrating for the boys because we’ve played a near-perfect game and still lost.”The one slight difference this time was that West Indies had managed to start their chase – whereas at The Oval the entire pursuit came after the heavens opened – and they benefited from judging the conditions. Gayle said at the toss that he was bowling first because Ramnaresh Sarwan, a Guyanese, knew rain would be a factor. There’s nothing like a bit of local knowledge coupled with the luck of the toss.”We knew that the weather was going to play a part so the first five overs, obviously, can determine the game,” Gayle said. “So we decided to go out and see what we could get out of the first five overs. The target was actually 43, I think, at one stage and the adaption went in our favour. After the rain we knew we were most likely to win the game from there on.”But that doesn’t escape the fact that the D-L system needs some serious adjusting for Twenty20 cricket. It goes through periodical updates based on matches played, but the problem is that the sample size of Twenty20 internationals remains quite small. Scoring at ten-an-over, which was West Indies’ aim, is far from challenging for six overs when it is often a rate maintained over the full 20.”I think that’s what the equation is built around in the one-day format. Unfortunately there’s probably not enough games,” Collingwood said. “I’m not a mathematician, I don’t really know what the equation should be, but your backs are certainly against the wall when it’s like that.”The unsatisfactory end to the match took the gloss off an outstanding batting display for England, who produced one of their most complete Twenty20 performances. They have been looking for players who can throw the bat, but Luke Wright took that to the extreme when he lost his grip and the willow flew towards square leg. The team effort included an England-record 11 sixes, on a pitch previously not easy for scoring, as their pre-match routine of launching balls into the stands from the centre clearly paid off.It was started by the pair of debutants, Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter, and finished off spectacularly by Wright and Eoin Morgan, who gave another display of his breathtaking skills as 76 came from the last five overs. It showed England should have far too much firepower for Ireland.”What we’ve spoken about in the dressing room, what we’ve picked guys for, they did exactly that today,” Collingwood said. “For the two guys to make their debut and show the confidence they did, it put the opposition under a lot of pressure and I thought all the guys played it pretty perfectly. There was a lot of power there.”England’s batting performance showcased Twenty20 at its fast-paced best, but what followed showed that some of the regulations and calculations have been left playing catch-up.

When Richard Jones was told he wouldn’t be offered a new contract by Worcestershire at the end of the 2008 season, it looked as if his career could be over

George Dobell at New Road29-May-2010
ScorecardWhen Richard Jones was told he wouldn’t be offered a new contract by Worcestershire at the end of the 2008 season, it looked as if his career could be over. There was never much doubt over his ability. As a teenager, he had earned selection for England U19s and appeared set for a bright future. Yet, aged 21, his progress had stalled and Worcestershire’s patience had started to wane.Fortunately for both bowler and club, however, their patience had not evaporated entirely. Instead of washing their hands of Jones, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, told the young fast bowler that he had the winter to prove himself. He could train with the club and, if they were suitably impressed, he would be offered another contract.It proved to be an inspired piece of man management. The tactic focused Jones’ mind and provided the motivation to force him into long gym sessions. Though 2009 was a grim year for most at New Road, Jones’ progress provided one of the few silver linings. He finished the season with 22 championship wickets at 34 apiece and fully merited his new, one-year deal and his place in the England Performance Squad.”It was brilliant management,” the 23-year-old Jones admits now. “The whole experience was a massive wake-up call. Which was exactly Bumpy’s [Rhodes] plan. I’m massively in debt to him.”It changed my outlook completely. Before then, I had fallen into bad habits. I just did what I was asked at practise without ever doing anything more. I just thought it would all happen for me without having to work for it. I’d played for England U19s and I guess I thought it would all happen easily”In my heart of hearts, I knew it [the news that he wasn’t automatically to be offered a new contract] was coming. I hadn’t performed anywhere near as well as I should have done and, looking back, when I went to the ground in the morning, it was in the knowledge that I might not have a job by the end of the day.”I was told that I had the winter to prove myself. So, in October, when everyone else had the month off, I went to the gym six days a week. Now I’m working hard. I know I’ve been given a second chance and I’m determined to take it.”Jones is still not the finished article. An economy rate above four-an-over betrays a lack of consistency but, with an ability to swing the ball away at pace the sharp side of fast-medium, he is a dangerous bowler with more than a hint of James Anderson about him.
Jones was certainly the pick of the bowlers on the first day of this match. Following on from the career best 7 for 115 he took in his last game, against Sussex, he claimed the first two wickets as reward for a probing opening spell. Only Gloucestershire’s Gemaal Hussain, who was rested for this game, has now taken more than Jones’ 31 championship wickets this season.Indeed, such has been his improvement, that Worcestershire may face a fight to keep him. He’s out of contract at the end of the season and sure to attract interest from a number of counties. They really aren’t too many bowlers of Jones’ pace, ability or potential in the English game.He had some assistance from the batsmen here. Though Gloucestershire are currently third in the division two table, they have earned the position in spite, rather than because, of their top order batting. Chris Dent (21.07), Jonathan Batty (20.14) and Steve Snell (19.50) all have horribly low averages (though Snell made 98 in the victory over Derbyshire earlier in the week) and, in testing, damp conditions that delayed the start until 3.15pm and brought an early finish, their decision to bat first was, perhaps, something of a surprise. So, too, was their decision to omit Kadeer Ali, who scored a polished 74 against Derbyshire.Snell was first to go, reaching for one he could have left and edging to second slip, before Dent top-edged a pull to long leg. Neither man will look back on their stroke with much affection. Batty was unfortunate. After weathering a tough start, he was just beginning to unveil some handsome cuts, as well as a pleasing drive through extra-cover off Shantry, when he turned one off the full face of the bat into the hands of short-leg. It was cruel fortunate for a man who has passed 50 just once in the Championship this season.
It was due reward for another impressive spell from Alan Richardson, however. The 35-year-old seamer, with 27 championship wickets already this season, has fully vindicated Rhodes’ decision to sign him and scarcely delivers a poor ball.The same cannot be said for poor old Matt Mason. The 36-year-old, playing his first game of the season after a back injury, looked a shadow of the fine fast bowler he once was and is now reduced to operating at a pace somewhere between slow and stationary. Suffice it to say, if you saw him on a bus, you’d offer him your seat.