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Quick hopes says he would have been fit to play if selected for second Test

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2020Mark Wood has been spending his time on the sidelines of England’s Test campaigns against West Indies and Pakistan perfecting a new delivery in an attempt to boost his armoury when he returns to action.Wood has not played since the first Test against West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in early July, when he finished with match figures of 2 for 110.Despite bruising his foot while training in Manchester, scene of the last two Tests against West Indies and the first against Pakistan, Wood said he would have been able to play in ongoing match, back in Southampton, if selected.ALSO READ: England a ‘litle bit disappointed’ not to bowl Pakistan out – Broad“I’m trying to work on some wobble seams at the moment,” Wood told Sky Sports. “When you’re learning something new, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”You feel a million dollars when you get it right, but when you don’t quite get it you keep trying to strive for perfection, I guess, so something I’m working on and something that hope that I can use in a game soon.”Wood may have been keen to experiment in Southampton, with the ball moving plenty under heavy, damp skies. Fellow quick Stuart Broad told Sky after rain had hampered play for a second day in a row on Friday that he had “a clear game plan to try and wobble the ball and hit the stumps as much as possible”.Joe Root said at the toss that Sam Curran had won selection ahead of Wood for the second Test against Pakistan as England looked to boost their batting in Ben Stokes’ absence. He added that Wood would be given another week or so to reach peak fitness ahead of the third and final Test.”It was fine really,” Wood said. “I bruised my foot at Old Trafford because one of the practice pitches, the foot holes were a little bit bad and bit hard. A little bruise underneath my foot but I was training before the game here and fine for the match.”With a long and unfortunate history with injury, Wood credited experience and an understanding coach in Chris Silverwood with helping him to manage his body better.”Three ankle ops, knee surgery, countless injections, I think it does take its toll, ” Wood said. “The hardest thing is obviously when you have to pick yourself back up and think, ‘right, rehab again, get myself back,’ and you’ve got to have that sort of resilience and determination as a fast bowler.”Wood also said he had become more accepting of sitting out games.”I think having Chris Silverwood as a head coach, a fast bowler himself, understanding how you feel, honest conversation with things like maybe, ‘I’m not feeling my best this game’,” Wood said.”There’s been games in the past where I shouldn’t have played and I’ve actually done myself harm, the team harm, but because you don’t want to lose your spot, you end up playing, and you don’t then do yourself justice.”Now I’ve got a much better understanding of myself, my body, and I’m much more mature in the fact that I can go to the head coach and say, ‘I’m not sure my body can stand up to it today’.”

Allen will not be replaced in the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots squad

Matt Roller07-Aug-2020Fabian Allen has been ruled out of the 2020 Caribbean Premier League after missing his flight from Jamaica to Barbados.Players, staff and officials were required to arrive in Trinidad two weeks before the start of the tournament on August 18, with a number of charter planes organised to fly them to the island.Allen, who was retained by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in last month’s draft, was due to reach Barbados on an internal flight on Monday, August 3 before boarding the charter to Trinidad, but was late to the airport and missed his flight.”Unfortunately there was some confusion with his understanding of the flight details and he missed the flight,” Allen’s agent confirmed to ESPNcricinfo. “We explored all possibilities, but due to the pandemic and travel restrictions in Trinidad, the charter flight on Monday was the only way he could enter the country.”ALSO READ: Walsh, O’Donnell step in after Patriots lose top coaching staffUnder Trinidad and Tobago’s tight lockdown rules, nobody is able to come in or out of the country other than on those charter flights, meaning Allen will not be replaced in the squad. Those involved in the tournament are currently quarantining in the Hilton hotel in Port-of-Spain, and all tested negative upon their arrival.Allen’s absence is the latest in a series of blows for the Patriots. He has been a revelation for them with the bat in the competition in the last two seasons, making 337 runs at a strike rate of 181.18. He has also chipped in with the ball, and took one of the CPL’s best-ever catches as a substitute fielder in 2017.The franchise’s head coach Simon Helmot withdrew from the tournament following a positive Covid-19 test and a clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore’s pre-IPL camp meant his assistant Malolan Rangarajan would also be unable to travel.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Left arm-spinner Dennis Bulli also withdrew following a positive test, and was replaced by Trinidad and Tobago legspinner Imran Khan. Rassie van der Dussen was unable to confirm his travel plans, with his place taken by Otago batsman Nick Kelly.ALSO READ: All CPL players test negative on arrivalThe other late withdrawals from the tournament were Afghans Qais Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Noor Ahmad, who did not have the required transit visa to pass through the UK and board one of the CPL’s charter flights.Antum Naqvi, an Australian allrounder who has been part of Lahore Qalandars’ development programmes, will train with the Jamaica Tallawahs but is not part of their squad. Four members of the party that toured England for West Indies’ recent Test series have been added as replacement players: Shamarh Brooks and Keon Harding (Barbados Tridents), Jermaine Blackwood (Tallawahs) and Roston Chase (St Lucia Zouks).

Somerset start title defence with tight win as Davies, Goldsworthy hit fifties

ECB Reporters Network25-Jul-2021James Hildreth’s eighth List A century and an elegant 94 from Steven Davies helped Somerset begin their defence of the Royal London Cup with a six-wicket victory over Derbyshire at Taunton.Hildreth required treatment for cramp and batted with a runner in the later stages of his innings, but guided a young side to victory with two overs to spare. Davies had led the way with with an imperious 72-ball innings, before Hildreth weighed in with 110, including nine fours and three sixes.The visitors ran up 298 all out after losing the toss, Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who made 93, and Brooke Guest (74) hitting career-best List A scores, while 18-year-old seamer Sonny Baker claimed 3 for 46 on debut.Related

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A crowd of well over 3,000 at the Cooper Associates County Ground saw Derbyshire reduced to 36 for 3 at the start. Baker, a product of Devon age-group cricket, had Harry Came and Tom Wood caught behind in a five-over spell of 2 for 14, while Jack Brooks accounted for Billy Godleman, caught at fine leg.Guest and Hudson-Prentice exercised understandable caution and at the halfway stage of the innings had taken the score to 117 for 3. Hudson-Prentice took advantage of anything short to reach an impressive half-century off 60 balls, while Guest cleverly picked gaps in the field to move to fifty from 67 deliveries.England spinner Jack Leach went for 18 off the 33rd over, Hudson-Prentice clearing the ropes for the second time. The stand of 142 with Guest was a Derbyshire List A record for the fourth wicket against Somerset. It ended when Hudson-Prentice was caught and bowled by new Somerset List A captain Ben Green, having hit 10 fours and two sixes.Fynn Hudson-Prentice top-scored with 93•Getty Images

After Anuj Dal had been run out by Brooks, Guest was caught at cover off seamer Kasey Aldridge, making his List A debut, to make it 224 for 6. Alex Thomson contributed 24 and last man Ravi Rampaul boosted Derbyshire’s score with 3 sixes off Green before the last wicket fell in the final over.Despite the early loss of Plymouth-born debutant Sam Young, caught behind down the leg side looking to glance off-spinner Thomson, Somerset were soon in charge on a true pitch. Davies took three fours off an over from Rampaul and looked in great touch. But George Bartlett flattered to deceive, carelessly pulling a short ball from Hudson-Prentice to Dal at deep square.Hildreth began well and when Davies moved to an effortless fifty off 46 balls, with five fours and a six, home supporters were in high spirits. The pair continued to flourish, bringing up a hundred partnership from 98 balls before Hildreth went to a typically attractive half-century off 62 deliveries.Davies fell to a catch in the deep, having struck 12 fours and a six. But Hildreth brought up the 200 with a pulled six off Ben Aitchison in the 35th over and found an equally positive partner in 20-year-old Lewis Goldsworthy, who celebrated his List A debut with a mature 57 not out, off 66 balls.Hildreth struggled through the later stages of his innings, but it didn’t stop him reaching three figures with a six over cover off Rampaul before falling with just 23 needed.

Mahmudullah XI claim victory in 40-over-per-side game against Tamim Iqbal XI

Mohammad Isam14-Jan-2021Hasan Mahmud led the way with a four-wicket haul in Mahmudullah XI’s five-wicket win over Tamim Iqbal XI in Bangladesh’s first inter-squad practice match at the BKSP on Thursday.Tamim’s side were bundled out for 161 runs in 37.2 overs in the 40-overs-per-side encounter. Mahmud took 4-21 while Al-Amin Hossain and left-arm quick Shoriful Islam took two wickets each. Afif Hossain top scored with 35, while captain Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Soumya Sarkar all got out in the twenties..In reply, the Mahmudullah-led side reached the target in 36.5 overs with the captain top scoring with an unbeaten 51. He struck four boundaries in his 64-ball stay. Opener Mohammad Naim made 43 off 52 balls with seven fours.”The bowlers did well from both sides,” Mahmudullah said after the match. “There was a bit of movement early on, but it got better in the second half. Overall, it was good practice. Our new-ball bowlers bowled in the right areas. We took the early wickets. I think it was bowlers’ day today.”I had a good time in the middle. We are preparing well. We are positive about the series, and I hope we can win the series, .Bangladesh’s next practice match is on Saturday, while the touring West Indies side have their warm-up game scheduled on Monday at the BKSP ground in Savar. The series begins with the first ODI on January 20 in Dhaka .

Afghanistan allrounder to play entire South Group campaign in 2020

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2019Mohammad Nabi will join Kent for a second Vitality Blast season in 2020.Afghanistan international Nabi, who leads the ICC’s T20 allrounder rankings, produced a number of memorable performances for in Kent in nine Blast matches in 2019. He scored 147 runs at a strike rate of 153.12 and his destructive innings of 43 off just 12 balls to help the club defeat Surrey in July was a highlight.He also claimed eight wickets with his off-spin at an economy rate of 7.22 and took three catches, including a brilliant boundary edge catch against Somerset on debut.Nabi is experienced in playing for T20 franchises around the world, including Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL and in the BBL with champions Melbourne Renegades. He was a second-round draft pick for London Spirit, with whom he will play in the Hundred next year.”I very much enjoyed my first season with Kent and I am pleased to be coming back for another year of the Vitality Blast,” Nabi said. “There’s lots of quality in the team so hopefully we can do well.”Nabi scored his 15th ODI half-century with an unbeaten 50 off 66 balls in Afghanistan’s five-wicket defeat in West Indies on Monday as the hosts swept their series 3-0.Kent’s Director of Cricket, Paul Downton, said the county were delighted to have secured Nabi for a second straight year, subject to regulatory approval.”To do well in the Blast, you need a number of match-winners, and Nabi showed us what he is capable of last year,” Downton said. “His ability to bowl at any stage of the innings and to hit the ball out of the park when he bats makes him one of the most exciting players in world cricket. He fitted into our environment really well and to have him with us for the entirety of the South Group in 2020 is a boost to the whole squad. “

England’s quest to secure their first trophy in a 50-over global tournament came to grief in emphatic fashion in Cardiff as Pakistan surged into the final of the Champions Trophy with masterful unpredictability

The Report by David Hopps14-Jun-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:50

Agarkar: Pakistan were the better team on the day

England’s quest to secure their first trophy in a 50-over global tournament came to grief in emphatic fashion in Cardiff as Pakistan surged into the final of the Champions Trophy with masterful unpredictability, completing a thumping win by eight wickets with nearly 13 overs to spare.Central to Pakistan’s victory was their commendable vigour and skill with the ball on a dry, abrasive surface to dismiss England for only 211. A re-used pitch was the one on which Pakistan had earned their semi-final spot by edging out Sri Lanka in frenzied fashion on Monday, and it might have been designed for them. This time, there were no alarms with the bat as both their wickets and nerves remained intact.England, who have been routine collectors of 300-plus scores since the last World Cup, have rarely looked as subservient since they adopted a more daring brand of one-day cricket largely fought out on more batsman-friendly surfaces. They became becalmed with the bat as Pakistan’s pace attack found enough reverse swing to be perpetually dangerous, and they did not match their opponent’s standard when it was their own turn to bowl.Neither should this England defeat be remotely put down to an inability to cope with the demands of the occasion, because interest in this tournament on their own shores has been manageable, disappointingly so. They tried to adapt to conditions but came up short. Morgan’s measured comment that they “did not prepare for a used wicket” was revealing.They were simply outplayed. All six Pakistan bowlers acquitted themselves impressively, backed up by combative fielding and the desire of their wicketkeeper-captain, Sarfraz Ahmed, to maintain an attacking intent.Hasan Ali, a fist-pumping, arm-outstretching inspiration, finished with 3 for 35 and his 10 wickets make him the leading wicket-taker in the tournament – the face of Pakistan’s success. He continued to sweet-talk the Kookaburra ball into occasional responses – a reluctant grunt of reverse here, a wink of compliance there. Junaid Khan was another impressive suitor.Pakistan had been dealt a potentially grievous blow before the toss when Mohammad Amir, their attack leader, was ruled out of the match with a back spasm. However, Rumman Raees, his reputation enhanced in the Pakistan Super League, put in a solid shift of left-arm fast-medium on his ODI debut. Imad Wasim’s left-arm slows and the leg spin of the recalled Shadab Khan also contained England’s ambitions on a dry, used surface, with the seasoned Mohammad Hafeez equally hard to combat.Pakistan’s chase was a breeze, and Fakhar Zaman’s exuberant innings – 57 from 58 balls – was an unfastened kite that swirled around unpredictably in that breeze. An opening stand of 118 in 21 overs made necessary early inroads into England’s total. While Azhar progressed intelligently to 76, Fakhar pretty much did what he liked.Fakhar, a former navy trainee who is in his first ODI series, claimed his second successive half-century in a do-or-die game. England’s quicks pounded the middle of the pitch in an obsessive belief that they could dismiss him with the short ball. Their conviction was understandable because it was a seat-of-the-pants innings from the moment he top-edged the second ball he faced, from Mark Wood, over fine leg for six. Another flew in the same direction off the helmet. An on-the-charge pull against Jake Ball was another variation.By the time England reviewed for a supposed catch behind the wicket, Fakhar had his fifty and one suspected that Wood, back for a second spell, wanted the replay because of sheer aggravation. It showed, as Fakhar knew it would, that the ball had brushed his hip. He fell in the next over, deceived by Adil Rashid’s googly as he made room to blaze him over the off-side to be stumped by Buttler.2:35

Agarkar: Pakistan bowlers’ lengths made the difference

Azhar Ali increasingly looks a class act. Little troubled him until he charged a slower ball from Ball and bottom-edged it into his stumps. There is talk of a slight calf strain and Pakistan need him in the final. Mohammad Hafeez, who should have been stumped by Buttler off Rashid, sparked celebrations by pulling a long hop from Stokes to the boundary. Stokes’ 3.1 overs disappeared for 38 – an off-colour display that epitomised England’s collective lethargy.Such a towelling was not remotely signalled as noon approached. That England reached 80 for 1 midway through the 17th over was contentment enough. It was at this stage that Jonny Bairstow – summoned in preference to the woefully out-of-touch Jason Roy, who had made 52 in his last eight knocks – fell for 43 from 57 balls. Joe Root and Eoin Morgan also got starts (not that Morgan ever settled), but it was Stokes’ careworn innings that was most revealing.Stokes had pummelled Australia at The Oval to knock them out of the tournament, but he failed to hit a boundary in scraping 34 from 64 balls before he struck a slower off-cutter from Hasan straight up in the air 15 balls from the end. It felt like hard work: he might have been batting in dense air. England hit only 15 boundaries, only one in the last 11 overs – and that was an edge.Pakistan restricted England despite the sensation that luck was siding with the home side. Three reviews fell in their favour in the first half of the innings. Bairstow might have fallen lbw second ball, for nought. But Bairstow survived against Junaid by virtue of umpire’s call and a plentiful supply of leg-side whips gave England the sort of start they had been lacking all summer.Bairstow was dropped twice, too, on 27, when Azhar failed to cling to a tough, leaping catch above his head, and again on 42 when he swiped at a wide one from Shadab and another head-high chance this time evaded Babar at slip. Generally, however, Pakistan’s outfielding was at the top of its game.Alex Hales overturned his dismissal, lbw to Raees on 9, but failed to prosper as the same bowler defeated his advance down the pitch courtesy of a catch at short extra cover. Morgan also benefited from a review, on 19, rightly confident that the deflection when he reverse-swept Shadab would prove to have come off his forearm.If Bairstow had become anxious at England’s slowing progress, it was nothing compared to the disquiet in the second half of the innings as the ball softened and reverse swing became evident. It has been a while since Morgan allowed himself such a prolonged period of assessment, a succession of defensive pushes at deliveries angled into him symbolising England’s unease.Joe Root was England’s fall-back on such a surface and he proceeded to 46 from 56 balls with a succession of learned pushes that were beyond his team-mates – 30 singles in all. He took painkillers in case his back played up, but fell cutting when Shadab summoned a little extra pace and bounce.Morgan, fortunate not to be bowled by Hafeez when he tried to pull early in the innings, eventually charged at Hasan in desperation and the ball, not just wide but moving wider, was edged into the wicketkeeper’s hands. Jos Buttler soon followed, Junaid angling the ball across him.As Stokes laboured, nobody else filled him with hope. Moeen Ali departed to a top-edged pull against Junaid, excellently held on the run by Fakhar at deep square leg. Rashid suffered a hangdog run-out after being struck on the pad by a yorker. England’s bowlers hoped they would be happier with a ball in their hands. Instead, the truth was far less palatable.

Opening batsman to be assessed once more before being passed fit to play at Headingley

George Dobell at Headingley21-Aug-2019Jason Roy has come through a concussion test following a blow to the head while batting in the nets on Tuesday, but will be assessed once more before he is cleared to play in the third Ashes Test at Headingley.Roy sustained a blow directly on the stem guard when facing throwdowns from Marcus Trescothick. He was assessed both at the time – he was cleared to carry on batting – and again on Wednesday morning before training but will undergo one more test on Thursday morning before he is deemed eligible for selection.Jason Roy receives treatment after copping a blow in the nets•Getty Images

While he is thought highly likely to be declared fit to play, England will have Ollie Pope on standby should Roy display any symptoms of delayed concussion. If that happens, and Roy misses out, Joe Denly would be promoted to open the batting alongside Rory Burns and Pope would slot into the middle-order. Pope and Dominic Sibley were on unofficial standby during the second Test at Lord’s in the understanding that Sibley would come in for a top-order batsman and Pope for a middle-order batsman.In years gone by, it is probable the blow sustained by Roy would have gone largely unnoticed. But with concussions very much in the news and a growing awareness of the seriousness of the condition, the cautious approach taken by England here is likely to become the norm. Roy batted in training without any apparent discomfort on Wednesday.”I’m pretty confident Jason’s going to be fit,” Joe Root said. “He’s been monitored quite closely as you’d expect; there is a huge
amount of attention around concussion at the minute. He’s undergone a couple of concussion tests so far and scored really well. So as it stands I fully expect him to be fit and ready to go.”You can only make a change if it happens within a Test match not if it happens prior to it so, with that in mind, we will have to be absolutely sure Jason is fit and ready to go, but we are fully confident he will be.”

Lancashire have been relegated to Specsavers County Championship Division Two after they failed to secure a third batting bonus point against Hampshire

ECB Reporters Network25-Sep-2018
ScorecardLancashire have been relegated to Specsavers County Championship Division Two after they failed to secure a third batting bonus point against Hampshire, although they remain on course for victory.Lancashire needed to reach a minimum of 300 and beat Hampshire, while elsewhere requiring Nottinghamshire to fall short 200 – which they did – and then lose to Somerset at Trent Bridge. But after Fidel Edwards blasted through the tail with the second new ball they fell 27 runs short of the 300 mark and their demotion to the second tier was confirmed.Next season will therefore be the first time since 2015 that Lancashire will play their cricket in Division Two. On that occasion they only spent one year in the second before they were immediately promoted back to Division One.They join Worcestershire in dropping down this season, although they remain on top of their clash at the Ageas Bowl, restricting Hampshire to 178 for 8 – a lead of just 92.Rob Jones had brilliantly batted Lancashire in the right direction to stay up with a morning half-century. Jones, who had come into the game with an average of less than 10 in seven Championship innings this season, added 84 runs with Dane Villas for the sixth wicket, after Liam Livingstone had been yorked by Edwards, his 50th scalp of the season, in the second over of the day.But after a classy, attacking fifty, Jones departed two overs after lunch when Ian Holland had him lbw – the Australian’s third wicket in figures of 3 for 48.That left Lancashire needing 59 from the last three wickets, and Josh Bohannon and Tom Bailey kept the score ticking until the second new ball. But on 273, Kyle Abbott and Edwards reconvened and took three wickets between them to send the visitors down.Abbott needed just three deliveries to find Bohannon’s outside edge, with Joe Weatherley taking a good catch at third slip. Former West Indies fast bowler Edwards then sealed Lancashire’s fate by bowling Bailey with a fierce full ball before Saqib Mahmood was lbw two balls later.The difficulties of batting on a bowler-friendly pitch, despite blue skies above, were proven by Hampshire’s upper order. With a first-innings deficit of 86, Hampshire lost Oli Soames to a fine head-high catch by Vilas at second slip, before Joe Weatherley was caught behind – both off the bowling off Richard Gleeson.That brought Jimmy Adams to the crease for his final innings in first-class cricket, accompanied by warm applause from the crowd and away team players. He rode his luck when he was dropped by Jones at second slip on 2, before departing lbw for 13, and ending on 14,145 first-class runs.Adams was given a guard of honour by his Hampshire team-mates before hugging his father on his way to the dressing room for the last time as a professional batsman.Bohannon then took three wickets to leave the hosts 88 for 6. The bowler had Sam Northeast lbw to the fifth ball after tea, James Vince caught behind and then, a ball later, Holland bowled.Liam Dawson and Lewis McManus added 43 for the seventh wicket to start a recovery, before the former was strangled down the leg side.
Gareth Berg was caught at second slip but Kyle Abbott and McManus guided Hampshire to the close eight down.

India’s captain said there were lessons to be learnt in the way their Nos 9, 10 and 11 batted in the Edgbaston Test

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2018Virat Kohli has asked India’s top-order batsmen to learn from their team-mates in the lower-order after a nail-biting 31-run defeat to England at Edgbaston.Although Kohli himself had a great Test, scoring 200 runs, with considerable help from Nos. 9, 10 and 11, the other four specialist batsmen put together made a mere 99. So when asked what the biggest takeaway for India was in in the post-match presentation, India’s captain said, “Application. There’s a lot to learn from the lower order as well. First innings, Ishant and Umesh got stuck in there, again Ishant showed character here, Umesh got stuck in with Hardik, so those kinds of things make you feel that as top-order batsmen, we need to apply ourselves better also. Just look at ourselves in the mirror. There’s no hiding from this game. Whenever you step onto the field, whatever you feel will come out in no time. We just have to be positive, fearless, enjoy our cricket, take the negatives out of our cricket and look at the positives and build on those.”Kohli was happy with the character India showed in coming back on the first two days of the Edgbaston Test, but he knew his side needed more. England won’t allow oppositions to come back all the time in home conditions, as was seen on the final day when India couldn’t get the required 84 runs with five wickets in hand.”There were a couple of times when we made comebacks into the game and I thought that we showed character there but a team like England will not let you do that every day of a Test match,” Kohli told . “We realised that on the final day. They were relentless in the areas that they hit, and they made us work hard for our runs. Definitely could have applied ourselves better but I’m still proud of the fight that we showed and set up the series really nicely, I guess. It’s going to be exciting for people to watch and just enjoy Test cricket over the next few weeks.”That India came so close was down in large parts to Kohli himself who scored an epic 149 in the first innings and 51 in the second. The next best score from India in the whole match was 31. This effort was reminiscent of his twin hundreds in Adelaide in 2014-15 when India fell just short again. Earlier in the Test Kohli had said this hundred was next only to that Adelaide knock for him. On the final day he had a chance to make this more special, but finally fell to a perfect inswinger from Stokes.1:53

Plenty for India to be positive about – Ashwin

“From the team’s perspective, I think it was right up there,” Kohli said. “Second-best probably to Adelaide second innings. But it was one I’ll fondly remember. If we had won, it would have been No. 1. But yeah, it was hard work and when you’re able to take your team close to the first-innings total of a home side, it always feels good. We thought we could build on that, the target was in sight, we needed one more partnership to pull us through, which didn’t happen. Not really thinking about that right now. Just thinking about how we’re going to regroup and come back stronger in the next Test.”R Ashwin, who was India’s best bowler with seven wickets in the match, said that the it would be “unfair” to feel “defeated” so early in a long Test series. But he did admit that when India had the “initiative” they failed to grab it and that it had cost them dearly.”It is a game where we would have liked to finish on the winning side,” Ashwin said at the press conference. “No doubt about it. But there a lot of things we feel proud at the end of this game. It is a long Test series, so to feel defeated or painful so early on in this series is quite unfair. I don’t feel that bad or hurt as of now because I thought we competed really well. We made more than two comebacks and probably didn’t close out the game when the initiative was on our side. That is something that can happen when you are travelling. There are lot of things to be upbeat about this game.”Although Ashwin tried to put on a brave face, there was a sense of pain when he said India ought to have delivered the “killer blow.””Like Virat keeps mentioning when you make runs or when you pick up wickets, you want to make sure it is sort of a killer blow and you want to end up on the winning side and that gives you more pleasure out of the game. When it doesn’t happen you do feel deflated about it. But as I told you before this game was like a see-saw battle. There was enough in there for the quicks and it was doing quite a bit. So the bowlers are always in the game so yuou do expect batsmen to get a ball that has their name on it. With that sort of a game hedging on the balance I thought we did compete really well through the game.”

After being omitted for the ODIs against India, Agar joked he “mustn’t have run the drinks well enough” during the series against South Africa

Alex Malcolm07-Jan-2019Ashton Agar has become the second player in a week to take a swipe at Australia’s selectors after being left out of the ODI squad for the upcoming three-match series against India.Western Australia and Perth Scorchers team-mate Nathan Coulter-Nile on Saturday made his frustrations known about the communication surrounding his omission from the ODI squad and Agar has followed suit on Monday, joking that he “mustn’t have run the drinks well enough” during the series against South Africa.Agar was part of the ODI squad for the three-match series against South Africa in November but did not play any of the matches. He said the communication regarding the reasons for his omission weren’t clear compared to previous experience.”Recently, it has been pretty vague, to be honest,” Agar said. “I got told pretty much just keep trying to get better. That’s what I was told. I guess I mustn’t have run the drinks well enough last time, because I didn’t really get a crack at that before.”This one was probably a little bit tougher because it was a little bit confusing. But it is what it is. All I can do now is get better. Find ways to evolve as a cricketer and really just have fun. I’m just going to do it my way now and really enjoy it. If that means opportunities come, they come.”ALSO READ: Chaotic selections put Australia’s World Cup at riskAustralia’s Test captain Tim Paine was asked about the communication between selectors and players after the Sydney Test match and said he felt it was fine. “I’ve personally never had an issue,” Paine said.”The selectors are doing their best to communicate with everyone. When players get dropped they are normally not too happy so it’s a difficult situation to be in.”Agar did stress that the communication to him previously had been very clear. “I think generally with me the communication has been pretty good, especially in the past,” Agar said. “Pretty much it was just that Nathan Lyon is bowling really well and Zamps (Adam Zampa) gives us a legspinning option. But I guess that probably had nothing to do with me as such.”Agar has had a strange couple of months. Between September 19 and December 19, he played in only three matches at either first-class, List A or T20 level despite being fully fit. In the same period, Lyon played nine while Zampa played 16.Agar was part of the Australian Test squad for the series against Pakistan in the UAE but did not play. He was also in the T20I squad but only played two of the four matches against Pakistan and UAE.He returned to Australia and was included in the ODI and T20I squads but again didn’t play a single game, but was not released to play domestic cricket. He then played one Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales before he was rested by Western Australia for the game against Victoria in order to freshen up prior to the BBL.Agar has been solid with the ball in six matches in the BBL, taking five wickets at 21.20 at an economy rate of just 6.23. He is still hopeful of returning to national colours.”Looking forward there’s a one-day tour to India coming up as well,” Agar said. “So fingers crossed. I just have to put good numbers on the board across the Big Bash and then you get selected from there.”