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England and Sussex wicketkeeper Matt Prior has announced his retirement due to the Achilles injury which required surgery last year

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-20152:21

‘Turbo-charged’ Prior set the trend for attacking English cricket – Butcher

England and Sussex wicketkeeper Matt Prior has announced his retirement due to the Achilles injury which required surgery last year.Following the second Test against India, at Lord’s, Prior had an operation which ruled him out of the remainder of the 2014 season but retained hopes of resuming his career. However, he recently told ESPNcricinfo that his recovery was like “two steps forward and four steps back” and has been forced to concede he will not return.”Today is a very sad day for me as I am forced to announce my retirement from the game I love,” he said. “I had been hoping and expecting to be fit for the start of the 2015 season. Unfortunately, this has proved impossible, and I have now had to reach this decision.”I feel honoured to have played for Sussex and England as many times as I have and shared so many great times with both teams. I also feel privileged to have been involved in an era of such success for English cricket.”I would like to thank my family, team-mates, coaches and the people behind the scenes that have supported me throughout the years. I have created friendships that will last forever. It would also be remiss of me not to thank the fantastic support I have had from cricket fans both at home and abroad.”I have always tried to play with pride and passion and have a deep belief that the team will always come first. A value that will never leave me whatever I go on to do. Although I haven’t achieved all the goals I had set out to, I feel immensely proud of what I have done in my career. Sadly it is now time to move on.”Prior, 33, played 79 Tests, scoring 4099 runs and claiming 256 dismissals which left him second behind Alan Knott in the list of England’s wicketkeepers. He was part of three Ashes series victories and was also part of the England team which reached No. 1 in the Test rankings in 2011.He made a century on his Test debut against West Indies, at Lord’s, in 2007 and his top score of 131 not out came in Port of Spain in early 2009 following a recall to the side late the previous year after a gap of a year. That was one of seven Test hundreds – the last of which was the monumental rearguard against New Zealand in Auckland.Although he did not find the same success in white-ball cricket at international level, he played 68 ODIs and 10 T20s.Overall he played 249 first-class matches and scored 13,228 runs at 39.25 while claiming 683 dismissals.Andrew Strauss, the director of England cricket, said: “Matt has had a wonderful career as a wicketkeeper batsman for both Sussex and England. During a period where the Test team won three Ashes series and achieved the world No.1 ranking, Matt’s contribution, both on and off the field, was immense.”It is a huge shame that his career has come to an end in this way, although his athletic wicket-keeping and counter attacking batting will live long in the memories of both his team mates and England supporters.”Mark Robinson, the Sussex director of cricket, said: “It is a sad day when a cricketer of such talent and character and who has achieved so much, and has the ability to achieve so much more, is forced to retire through injury.”Matt has done great things for the club but more importantly, has done what we all dream of, which is play for his country with honour and distinction. On behalf of all the current playing side of the club, but also on behalf of all those who have played with him in the past, we thank him for the memories and wish him all the luck for the next stage of his life.”

An unbeaten 51 by Lendl Simmons led West Indies A to a comprehensive win over Sri Lanka A in the second T20 at Kingstown

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jun-2013
ScorecardAn unbeaten 51 by Lendl Simmons led West Indies A to a comprehensive win over Sri Lanka A in the second T20 at Kingstown. The one-sided game was set up by the West Indies bowlers who restricted the visitors to 81. The target was chased down with nearly eight overs to spare and the hosts took the series 1-0 after the opening game was washed out.Sri Lanka struggled from the time they were put in to bat, tottering at 17 for 4 at one stage. A combination of pace and spin kept them in check. Legspinner Samuel Badree finished with miserly figures of 5 for 1 off four overs and Ashley Nurse claimed three middle-order wickets to finish with 3 for 15. The majority of the top order fell to single-digit scores, four batsmen fell for 10 and the highest score of the innings was 11 by the No.10 Madura Lakmal.The chase was dominated by Simmons, who smashed five sixes and three fours. The Sri Lankan bowlers reduced the visitors to 48 for 4 at one stage, but didn’t have enough runs on the board to enforce more pressure. Simmons sealed the win with consecutive sixes off Niroshan Dickwella.

“We are lucky that we have guys who have played plenty of cricket in these parts of the world,” the stand-in captain says

Sidharth Monga04-Oct-20232:47

Can New Zealand make it to their third straight ODI World Cup final?

New Zealand are usually one of the best-prepared teams for world tournaments, which lets them even the scales against teams that have larger populations to choose from. They need to latch onto any small advantage in order to have the kind of proud record they have: making at least the semi-finals in the last four World Cups.Four years since losing in the final to a cruel boundary countback rule, New Zealand begin what will almost certainly be the most attended World Cup against the same opposition, but without perhaps that extra preparation advantage of advance scouting.This is a weird old tournament. New Zealand made it to the venue of the tournament opener in Ahmedabad two days before the match but had not been to the ground even once when their stand-in captain Tom Latham spoke to the press. The day was jam-packed with a quick training session to be followed by a launch event involving all the captains.India is anyway a tough place to scout. There are so many venues that they have to wait years to get their next ODI, which gives little data about the characteristics of the surfaces. Some venues – such as Ahmedabad – have two different kinds of soil on the square with two completely different sets of behaviour.Related

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To make it worse, the teams have hardly played their full-strength squads between the two World Cups, either through injury or preserving their best players in what have become gruelling schedules.All this makes it critical that New Zealand’s other celebrated quality – adaptability, which is not independent of the scouting – does the heavy lifting. That is what Latham spoke the most about in his press conference on the eve of the World Cup opener.”Obviously, the end goal is to be there at the end [of the tournament], which I’m sure every team has,” Latham said when asked if he was confident they could adapt. “But I think something we pride ourselves on as a group is being able to adapt as best we can. We are lucky that we have guys who have played plenty of cricket in these parts of the world, whether it be against India or in the IPL.Tom Latham says New Zealand will tap into players’ experience of playing the IPL•Getty Images

“We have got that mix of experience where we are able to lean on guys around. [Some] guys have played at this ground, some guys haven’t. So adapting is a really important part of playing over in these conditions that can change throughout the game. It is being able to think on our feet a little bit and make sure we stay ahead of the game.”The build-up to the tournament hasn’t been great for New Zealand. They are effectively selecting from a squad of 13 for the first match: Kane Williamson and Tim Southee are recovering from their injuries and are not yet ready.Since the band is not yet properly together, it hasn’t perhaps put them in a contemplative mood around how some of them might be coming towards the end of a golden run of three or four World Cups.”I’m sure guys don’t want to jump the gun,” Latham said. “Everyone is in a slightly different situation in terms of what the future may look like. But for us, we are trying to enjoy the next sort of couple of months together as a group, and have it however that pans out. Hopefully for the good. We are just trying to enjoy each other’s company over the next period of time at such a special occasion playing cricket over here in India. Embrace what comes with being over here, I’m sure guys will make decisions around what that may look like for them in the future.”

Latham on Williamson: It’s like he had never left

“It’s obviously great to see Kane back, to see him batting. It’s like he had never left to be honest, in terms of with the bat. It’s great to see him moving really well. He is playing all the shots that he used to play, which is great, and to see him back in the field is another stepping stone in terms of where he needs to get to in terms of his recovery. It’s a day-by-day process with him making sure that whenever he is available he has ticked everything off all that he needs to do.”

Southee is tracking along well, says Latham

“He is tracking along really well. He is nearly two weeks post-surgery. So for him, it’s a day-by-day process as well in terms of making sure that he is in the right frame in terms of bowling and fielding. I’m sure once he gets back into his skill, he will be willing to go if that opportunity comes.”

Brisbane Heat will also be missing Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Renshaw for the Challenger final at the SCG

Tristan Lavalette31-Jan-2023Brisbane Heat and Sydney Sixers have been left pondering the sizeable batting holes of their departed Test players ahead of Thursday’s clash at the SCG with a grand final spot up for grabs.Heat captain Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Renshaw, along with Sixers opener Steven Smith, will be unavailable for the ‘Challenger’ final due to being part of Australia’s Test tour of India.The Heat trio sparked a resurgence with the team winning six of their last seven matches after being mired for much of the season near the bottom of the ladder.They each made important contributions in finals victories on the road against Sydney Thunder and Melbourne Renegades to have Heat positioned for an unlikely tilt at a second BBL title.Related

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But without three of their top four, Heat’s batting depth will be tested as they recalled Nathan McSweeney, Max Bryant and Sam Heazlett to curb an expected fired-up Sixers attack, who were clobbered by Scorchers batters Ashton Turner and Cameron Bancroft in the qualifying final.McSweeney has only played three matches this season, but notably smashed 84 off 51 balls against Sixers in Heat’s 15-run victory at the Gabba in a high-scoring contest on January 1.Once part of a devastating opening partnership with Chris Lynn, big-hitter Bryant failed to fire from seven matches this season and averaged just 15.71.The 27-year-old Heazlett has not played this season, but the bright finals lights shouldn’t faze him having mustered 48 BBL matches over the past seven seasons.”We have lost some of our Australian players but the guys we are bringing in have played the format before so I don’t have a problem with it,” said Heat coach Wade Seccombe. “They have performed when they came in.”Sixers don’t have as many holes to fill, but nonetheless need to replace Smith, who lit up the BBL with ballistic batting marked by consecutive centuries.Nathan McSweeney will return to Brisbane Heat’s line-up•Getty Images

“We’ve played 10 games without Steve and had a few wins along the way so we’re familiar with this group,” said veteran batter Jordan Silk, who re-signed with Sixers on a three-year deal.Sixers appear to have a ready made replacement in stalwart Daniel Hughes, who has been a reliable batter for Sixers over the years but restricted to just three matches this season.”[Hughes] has trained well, he’s been great around the group all year. He’s probably one of the more unlucky players in the competition to not be playing,” Silk said. “He’s been a reliable performer at the Sixers for a number of years.”There are other options with Kurtis Patterson, who starred as an opener during Perth Scorchers’ title-winning run last season, possibly being considered to move up the order having batted at No. 3 since Smith’s return.While allrounder Hayden Kerr could rekindle his elevation from last season’s corresponding match, where he memorably hit an unbeaten 98 as an opener to lift Sixers past Adelaide Strikers in a last-ball thriller.”[Kerr] is a vital piece for us down in that middle to lower order,” Silk said. “Whether we’d see his value at the top in a game like this, I’m not sure what’ll happen there. He’s almost been probably too good at the role he’s played at six to warrant moving him.”As they eye a seventh grand final appearance, Silk said Sixers would target Heat’s new-look batting line-up.”They have some big holes from a batting sense,” Silk said. “Looking back to the game at the Gabba, where they were without those [Test] batters, [Josh] Brown and McSweeney stepped up. Queensland produce very good cricketers. We will do our research so we can stop them.”The winner plays Perth Scorchers on Saturday at Optus Stadium with a crowd of more than 50,000 expected.

Azhar Ali, who had replaced Shehzad in the ODI squad, did not find a place in the T20 squad

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jan-2018Opener Ahmed Shehzad, who had been dropped for the ODI leg of the New Zealand tour, has returned to Pakistan’s squad for the three-match T20 series. Azhar Ali, who had replaced Shehzad in the ODI squad, did not find a place in the T20 squad. The only other change from the ODI squad was the inclusion of batsman Umar Amin in place of Imam-ul-Haq.Shehzad’s recent form bodes well for Pakistan: he has scored 403 runs in seven innings in the ongoing Departmental One Day Cup at an average of 67.16 and strike rate of 100.24.With allrounder Imad Wasim yet to recover from the knee injury that had sidelined him from the ODI series, Mohammad Nawaz retained his place in the squad.”Imad Wasim was yet to recover from his knee injury, and was told to continue his rehabilitation at the NCA,” Inzamam ul Haq, the chief selector, said.Pakistan are presently two games into a five-match ODI series, with New Zealand prevailing in both contests via the DLS method. The first of the three T20s will be played on January 22 at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, three days after the fifth ODI.Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt &wk), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Rumman Raees, Umar Amin

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has signed for Yorkshire as an overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast

George Dobell15-Jul-2017Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has signed for Yorkshire as an overseas player for the NatWest T20 Blast.Sarfraz, captain of the Champions Trophy winning side a few weeks ago, replaces Australian Peter Handscomb, who is scheduled to attend a training camp ahead of Australia’s tour of Bangladesh although that series could yet get caught up in the ongoing pay dispute.Sarfraz, who has recently been appointed as Pakistan’s Test captain, is expected to feature in five T20 Blast matches and has confirmed he is happy to keep wicket as required. His signing is subject to him gaining a work permit.Yorkshire are currently second in the North Group of the Blast. They have won one, lost one, tied one and seen one match abandoned.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner, too, praised Yuvraj Singh, saying if Yuvraj repeated his effort “five or six times” then the defending champions could go a very long way in the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2017Yuvraj Singh has said that his return to India’s limited-overs sides has helped him express himself more “freely”, after he struck a match-winning 62 off 27 for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the opening game of IPL 2017 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.”I enjoyed my batting tonight. My batting has been up and down over the couple of years, but I am feeling really good at the moment,” Yuvraj told . “The comeback into the Indian team has really helped me. I am more free in my mind and I am not worrying anymore about making a comeback. I am just going to play according to the situation and express myself.”Yuvraj was recalled to India’s ODI and T20I sides for the home series against England in January, having previously played for the side in the 2016 World T20. Picked on his form in the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy, he went on to score 210 runs in the three-match ODI series, including a 127-ball 150 in the second ODI in Cuttack. He scored his fastest IPL fifty on Wednesday, reaching the landmark in 23 balls.Sunrisers captain David Warner said Yuvraj was given the No. 4 slot so that he could get his eye in before getting in the big hits.”Look, it’s superb to see him play the way he did. That’s the Yuvi I used to watch on TV,” Warner said. “Superb stroke-play, hitting it clean, and, you know what, he backed himself. And that’s the way we want him to keep playing. He’s batting at [No.] 4 for a reason and that’s to get himself in and play that way. If he can do that another five or six times for us this year, we are going to go a long way to the finals.”Yuvraj said the game-changing moment was Ben Cutting’s darting throw from fine-leg to run out a set Kedar Jadhav at a crucial stage in Royal Challengers’ chase of 208. Shane Watson, standing in as captain of Royal Challengers, also agreed that Jadhav’s run-out turned the game in Sunrisers’ favour, ending a promising 56-run partnership for the third wicket. Watson also pointed to the side’s sloppy fielding, particularly a dropped catch when Yuvraj was on 26, as a factor in their loss.Yuvraj Singh’s 27-ball 62 was his fastest fifty in ten seasons of IPL•BCCI

“That run-out of Kedar was the turning point, really,” Watson said. “We were neck and neck with Sunrisers and then we lost a couple of wickets especially through the middle period. He is batting beautifully at the moment, so Ben Cutting’s amazing piece of work changed the game. Especially with someone like Yuvi, if he is able to get some momentum, with the dropped catches, he hits the ball so sweet. If you drop someone of his caliber, he can hurt you like he did tonight.”There’s no doubt that <Yuzi [Yuzvendra Chahal] bowled beautifully. More than anything, Sunrisers took the game on in certain parts. A little bit of sloppy fielding, some good batting [from Sunrisers] and some not great execution at times meant they could get away. Unfortunately I didn’t execute what I wanted to do against Ashish Nehra’s left-arm pace. We certainly didn’t click as a bowling unit, and that comes down partly to me. I take full blame for that. Still a big learning curve for me to know how to take to them [bowlers], what fields to set and we will certainly be a lot better from what happened tonight.”

Rangpur Riders inflicted three timely run-outs and then batted well to beat Dhaka Dynamites by six wickets

The Report by Mohammad Isam06-Dec-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Jahurul Islam steered Rangpur Riders’ chase of 136•Associated Press

Rangpur Riders inflicted three timely run-outs and then batted well to beat Dhaka Dynamites by six wickets. The win meant that Rangpur, Comilla Victorians and Barisal Bulls now have 10 points each on the table, while Dhaka are in fourth place with six points, and still need to strengthen their lead over Chittagong Vikings and Sylhet Super Stars, who have four points each.The fielding was the main difference between the two sides. Dhaka misfielded several times, especially Sohail Khan at the boundary, while Rangpur made sure that their bowling wasn’t going to be the only thing attacking Dhaka as they limited the side to 135 for 7. Jahurul Islam was in charge of the chase for most of the time, ending with an unbeaten 35 off 26 balls with four boundaries.When Rangpur’s chase began, however, there were plenty of plays and misses from the Rangpur openers – Soumya Sarkar and Lendl Simmons – in the first six overs. Soumya hit just the two fours and a magnificent pull off Sohail Khan in the fifth over but in the following over, Abul Hasan had him caught at mid-off as he attempted to bunt the medium-pacer. Simmons was caught at point off the same bowler, after making only 18. Rangpur’s chase received a further jolt when, in the 12th over, Mustafizur Rahman duped Shakib Al Hasan to give a catch to mid-on to make the score 74 for 3.Sammy had a terrible time at the start of his innings, missing deliveries against Mustafizur and Abul, but just as things were getting tougher for Rangpur, Shykat Ali was given a third over with 54 needed off 42 balls. Sammy struck two fours and Jahurul got one past the wicketkeeper to take 16 runs off the over. In the next over, the pair combined to hit Sohail Khan for three fours in a 15-run over. The target came down to 23 off 30 balls.Mohammad Irfan had Sammy drag one on to the stumps after making a 21-ball 23, with 17 needed off the last 24 balls. Jahurul kept his cool and, with Thisara Perera, made sure the win was achieved with 10 balls to spare.When Dhaka decided to bat, the 45-run, fourth-wicket partnership between Nasir Hossain and Kumar Sangakkara was the best part of their batting. That partnership helped the side overcome a sluggish start after they had slipped to 39 for 3 in the seventh over. Shadman Islam was the first to go, run out by Soumya Sarkar’s direct hit in the fourth over. Shamsur Rahman was struck in front against Shakib, before Shykat, impressive while hitting the two fours and the six, holed out at long-off for 18.Sangakkara and Nasir worked on picking the singles and twos, and occasionally found the boundary; the stand-out shot was Sangakkara’s inside-out six over cover off Mohammad Nabi in the 11th over. The partnership had the potential to push the total past the 150-mark, especially after Arafat Sunny dropped Sangakkara on 29 but, off the very next ball, Shakib’s direct hit from short midwicket found the batsman inches short of the crease.Nasir made a 28-ball 30 and, after Sangakkara’s dismissal, tried to push the run-rate. He even struck a six off Sunny but was gone next ball after the bowler turned it and beat Nasir’s charge. Ryan ten Doeschate swept one straight down deep square-leg’s throat in the 18th over before Mosaddek Hossain was run out trying to run a bye after Thisara Perera bowled a wide at the end of the penultimate over.Apart from Sunny’s two-wicket haul and the three run-outs, Sammy and Shakib had one wicket each.

A round-up of the latest matches from the Metbank Pro40 in Zimbabwe

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2010Nick Compton’s powerful form continued with an unbeaten 90 to set up a 36-run victory for Mashonaland Eagles against Southern Rocks. He hit seven fours and two sixes in his 80-ball innings, adding 93 for the third wicket with Forster Mutizwa who clubbed 62. Their stand formed the backbone for a strong total of 257 for 6 and they made the perfect start in the field when Chad Keegan trapped Steve Marillier lbw first ball. Keegan added two more wickets and Rocks slid to 53 for 5 in the 13th over to leave them a mountain to climb. Steve Tikolo threatened to turn the innings around with 68 off 55 balls, but Rocks were well behind the D/L target when rain ended the contest in the 30th over.Mountaineers put in an impressive bowling display to earn a 78-run victory against Matabeleland Tuskers which was enough to gain a bonus point and move them ahead of their opponents on run rate. Donald Tiripano was the star with 4 for 16 to remove Tuskers middle order after Tinashe Panyangara had claimed two important wickets despite being expensive. The Mountaineers top order also struggled, but the difference was Timycen Maruma who hit a brisk 67 off 48 balls to lift them to 205 for 9 which proved more than enough.

Leicestershire finally broke Worcestershire’s Gareth Andrew-inspired resistance to claim their fourth County Championship win of the season by seven wickets with a day to spare at New Road

30-Jun-2010
ScorecardLeicestershire finally broke Worcestershire’s Gareth Andrew-inspired resistance to claim their fourth County Championship win of the season by seven wickets with a day to spare at New Road. Al-rounder Andrew made 79 – the highest score of the match – as the home side reached 315 in their second innings and then took 2 for 24 before Leicestershire cruised to their target of 182.The closing phase was the most comfortable as Paul Nixon completed his fifth half-century of the Division Two season and gave his county a significant boost in a competitive promotion race.At the start of the third day Leicestershire’s first objective was to break a century stand by Daryl Mitchell and James Cameron. The fifth-wicket pair eventually put on 138 before falling in quick succession to Nadeem Malik. Mitchell (77) stepped in front when the former Worcestershire seamer cut one into his pads and Cameron was half-forward when he tickled a catch behind the wicket after posting a career-best 75.Frustratingly for Leicestershire, this was not a passport to an early wrap-up. Andrew saw to that with another example of how his batting has improved since moving to Worcestershire in 2008. At the start of this season the former Somerset player had scored three half-centuries in his career. Now he has doubled the tally – and all at the expense of Leicestershire.At Grace Road in May he made 53 in a comfortable victory and in this match he was top scorer in both innings, starting with an undefeated 53 when Worcestershire collapsed for 175 on the opening day.An uncomplicated left hander who knows how to dispatch a loose ball, he saw his side to the highest total of the game with two sixes off Malik before he was last out. In an error of judgment, he offered no stroke when a ball from Jigar Naik clipped the off bail.Andrew made three-quarters of the 106 runs added in his time in the middle. James Benning dismissed Ben Cox and Richard Jones within three overs but Matt Mason – eventually caught in the deep off Claude Henderson – and last man Jack Shantry faced 42 balls between them.Having worked so hard to get back into contention, Worcestershire let things slip again as Leicestershire’s openers, Will Jefferson and Paul Nixon, punished some erratic new-ball bowling in a stand of 61. Jefferson (32) looked in good form until Phil Jaques held a diving catch in the gully. Jacques du Toit, who did not field in the morning because of a damaged finger, was next to go, lbw for 11 as Andrew claimed his second success.Nixon, dropped twice off Mason in making 55, was caught behind off Shantry after hitting 10 boundaries but James Taylor, unbeaten with 43, and Benning saw the job through.