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ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2018Rajneesh Gurbani’s 7 for 81 ensured three points for India Red in a drawn opening match against India Green in the Duleep Trophy 2018-19. Green ended up 28 runs short of Red’s first-innings total, ending with one point as the match petered out into a draw on Monday, the fourth and final day.Abhinav Mukund had won the toss for Red and chose to bat at the NPR College Ground in Dindigul, and the team was bowled out for 337. Gurbani, who made 22 from No.8, was part of a lower-order resistance led by Mihir Hirwani’s career-best 61 that pushed Red past 300.All batsmen in the top six had got starts, but only Ashutosh Singh made a substantial score, holding much of the innings together with a patient 80.The extra runs proved crucial, as Green were bowled out for 309 despite B Indrajith’s 109 and Sudip Chatterjee’s 82. Green looked on course to take the first-innings lead when Indrajith and Chatterjee were putting together a 123-run stand for the third wicket. But Chatterjee was run out by Hirwani with the score at 158, and Green’s innings faltered after that.They would have still entertained hopes of grabbing the lead at 301 for 6, but Gurbani took out K Vignesh, Jalaj Saxena and Ashok Dinda in seven balls as Green slid to 302 for 9. Shahbaz Nadeem had Ankit Rajput caught shortly after as Green fell short of Red’s first-innings tally.With only academic interest left in the match, Sanjay Ramaswamy hit an unbeaten 123, while B Aparajith matched his twin brother’s feat with an unconquered 101 as Red piled up 262 for 1 before declaring, at which point both teams shook hands to end the four-day contest.All the matches in the Duleep Trophy will be held at the same venue, and are day-night affairs played with the pink ball. The next game will pit Red against India Blue from August 23.

Allrounder hopes England’s performance has ‘shut a few mouths’ as he stars on eve of Bristol court case.

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2018An emotionally spent Ben Stokes admitted that “playing for England means so much” after his final-day heroics with the ball secured his team a thrilling 31-run victory over India at Edgbaston.Stokes’ participation in the second Test at Lord’s – and beyond – will depend on how his trial for affray develops, when the case gets underway at Bristol Crown Court on Monday.However, he managed to put his off-field worries to one side with a brilliant three-wicket intervention on Saturday – including the priceless scalp of Virat Kohli, lbw to an inswinger for 51.”It’s great to be a part of this game, but I don’t know … I don’t know what to be feeling right now,” Stokes told at the end of the match.”Throughout the whole innings … Kohli played a brilliant knock in the first innings, but with the ball swinging, he was trying to move across to play for that inswinger, but actually it was the one that I was trying to swing away [that set the wicket up], he maybe leant over and missed one for a change.”Moments like that change the game in these tight ones. I’m proud to be part of this group, playing for England means so much, and it’s a great start to this tough five-match series. Being 1-0 up we’re in the box seat at the moment.”Stokes followed that dismissal up by having Mohammed Shami caught behind for a duck in the same over, before wrapping up the contest when Hardik Pandya fenced another lifter to Alastair Cook at first slip.”We weren’t quite sure what to expect here,” Stokes said. “We knew we needed five wickets and we had all the confidence, These games are brilliant. We’ve copped a lot of stick as a team recently and beating a team like India there has closed a few mouths.”Winning those tight games, you can’t underestimate what it gives teams for confidence. We’ve got a five-Test match series here, so we’ll take all the confidence we can. There’s no better way to start it off than that.”Stokes’ all-round impact in a tight Edgbaston Test brought to mind the efforts of Ian Botham in 1981 and Andrew Flintoff in 2005, but he paid particular tribute to another allrounder whose four-wicket haul in the first innings and vital half-century in the second kept England afloat in the game.”I thought we are a bit behind with the lead but Sam Curran took them out of play,” he said. “The way that he played at such a young age, that was the big turning point of this Test match.”

While Shikhar Dhawan is set to return after an injury lay-off, Harbhajan Singh will lead Punjab in his first match of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2016 Harbhajan to lead Punjab on returnHarbhajan Singh will lead Punjab in the Group A match against Tamil Nadu in Nagpur in his first Ranji Trophy game of the season; the offspinner will be returning to the squad after a long personal break. Harbhajan will take over as captain from Yuvraj Singh, who will miss the matches against Tamil Nadu and Gujarat (starts from November 29) due to his wedding. Punjab are currently fourth in Group A with 16 points. Yuvraj is among the top five run-scorers this season with 672 runs, including a career-best 260 against Baroda, in five matches at an average of 84. “I am [still motivated],” Yuvraj told . “I got a career-best 260 just weeks ago. I’m not through with the game.”Gambhir set to lead DelhiHaving been released from the India squad, Gautam Gambhir is set to lead Delhi in their Ranji Trophy fixture against Rajasthan in Wayanad. Fast bowler Ishant Sharma was named the 16th member of the squad, although he is likely to stay with the national team as cover. Shikhar Dhawan, however, is a certain starter in the Delhi XI, having recovered from a thumb injury he sustained in the only Test he played against New Zealand, in Kolkata. Dhawan will be keen to prove his fitness in domestic cricket, in line with national coach Anil Kumble’s policy, and press his case for the hotly-contested opening spots.Mishra boost for HaryanaLegspinner Amit Mishra is set to turn out for Haryana in their Group C fixture against Goa in Ghaziabad after being released from the Test squad. Mishra picked three wickets in the first Test against England and his economy rate was over four runs per over in both innings. He was dropped for the second Test in Vishakhapatnam, and instead his Haryana team-mate Jayant Yadav was handed a debut. The match against Goa will be Mishra’s first Ranji game since February 2015. Haryana are currently placed second, behind Andhra, in Group C with 19 points from six matches.Vinay targets India returnKarnataka captain Vinay Kumar, who went past 400 first-class wickets with a nine-wicket haul in Karnataka’s 393-run win over Rajasthan, has now set his sights on a return to the national side. Vinay has made 41 appearances for India, with the last one in an ODI against Australia in Bangalore three years ago. “I am not going to be satisfied with this [400 first-class wickets] as my main goal is to make a comeback to Indian team,” Vinay told . ” I am feeling much better even though I am 32. Age is just a number. I will keep working on my batting and bowling and try to keep myself fit. I am never going to give up.”Krishna, Mathias included in Karnataka squadSeamers David Mathias and Prasidh Krishna have been called-up to the Karnataka squad for their Group B clash against Orissa in Delhi, with Abhimanyu Mithun still recuperating from injury. Mathias played two Ranji Trophy games last season, while Krishna is yet to make his debut in the tournament. Left-arm spinner Abrar Kazi, meanwhile, replaced J Suchith in a like-for-like swap. Karnataka are currently on top of the Group B table with 29 points.

England selector Mick Newell praised the unyielding virtues of Haseeb Hameed and predicted a Test future as Lancashire held out at Trent Bridge

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge06-Jul-2016
ScorecardHaseeb Hameed’s unyielding style won a new fan in England selector Mick Newell•Getty Images

Lancashire’s resilience secured them a draw that is enough to take them back level on points with Warwickshire and ahead by virtue of having won one match more, although now behind Middlesex following their win at Scarborough. Nonetheless, at the halfway stage of the season, it is a position with which they are understandably delighted.They were helped by a docile pitch that was of little real help to any of the bowlers, to the frustration of the legspinner Imran Tahir, to whom Nottinghamshire were looking in particular to lift them out of the doldrums. They are without a win since the opening match of the season.Nonetheless, for all that conditions were not as testing as they might have been, Lancashire still had to pass a test of patience and concentration to come through. Five down at tea and only 51 in front, they lost their sixth wicket soon afterwards as Tahir winkled out Karl Brown for his only success but Steven Croft and Jordan Clark used up another 20 overs before Nottinghamshire made another breakthrough. Lancashire had a lead of 108 and 11 overs remained when handshakes were offered.Croft’s 141-ball 34 was a gutsy, captain’s effort, although it was the opening partnership between Tom Smith and Haseeb Hameed that was the key factor in saving the game. Nottinghamshire needed to part them early but it was almost an hour before Harry Gurney found some extra bounce to have Smith caught at first slip off the shoulder of the bat and there were no further losses before lunch.By then there had been confirmation that their young opener, Hameed, has the attributes required for such circumstances in abundance as he completed a second hundred in three matches.The 19-year-old from Bolton, who delivered an innings of similar match-saving qualities against Surrey in only his third appearance last season, continued until he had batted for almost six and a half hours for a career-best 122, his dismissal coming not until mid-afternoon, more than 24 hours after the innings began on Tuesday.Until that point he had made barely a mistake, certainly nothing that would offer much encouragement to the opposition. But then, faced with a change of bowler and possibly beginning to tire, he was drawn to play a good ball outside off stump and was caught behind.It was his second century in three matches, with an 89 in between. Only Alviro Petersen has made more Championship runs for Lancashire. Mick Newell, momentarily swapping his duties as Nottinghamshire spokesman for his England selector’s cap, described him as a player “born to open the batting in Test cricket.””He is a throwback,” Newell said. “An old fashioned type of cricketer who looks like he was made for Test cricket.”He’s gone out to bat 200 runs behind against bowlers of the quality of Stuart Broad and Imran Tahir and played exceptionally well. I thought he was absolutely terrific. I just hope that Test cricket lasts long enough for him to play!”The young right-hander admitted that taking on two such accomplished international bowlers was as tough a test as he has faced, revealing as he was asked questions that as well as batting with a maturity beyond his years he is as thoughtful and eloquent in his self-assessment, too, as someone much older.”It was a real challenge today against international players but to have that challenge motivates you and gives you that hunger to score runs because they mean more if it is against better opposition,” he said.”You could see how good they are in the spells they bowled. Broad came back with the new ball and got two quick wickets and we have seen in the past that once he gets a couple of wickets he can go through a side.”His patience and ability to concentrate for long periods come naturally, he says. “It is not something I’ve worked towards, it is the way I have always played,” he said.Taking the new ball at lunch, when Lancashire had eradicated their first innings deficit but only just, Nottinghamshire’s hopes were raised when Broad dismissed Luke Procter and Alviro Petersen in the space of four balls to leave Lancashire effectively 15-3 and when Brett Hutton followed up his dismissal of Hameed by having Liam Livingstone caught at mid-on they were five down and just 35 ahead.Time was always against Nottinghamshire achieving a win, even after a stunning catch by Brendan Taylor at short leg helped Tahir remove Brown just after tea.Yet Newell, switching to his Nottinghamshire director of cricket perspective, saw encouraging signs.”There have been parallels with last season in that we have reached the halfway stage looking back at games in which we haven’t batted well enough and not been able to fight back when we have been under the pump,” he said.”But I can’t fault us for effort and commitment and the skill we have shown over these four days. I can’t think of a dropped catch and in terms of batting and bowling we dominated the game.”Now we have to maintain this standard. That’s our challenge because we’ve only got six games left and others have more, and we’re in the bottom three. We do need quite a lot more points.”

South Africa had been frustrated by the wet weather in Dhaka, more so because their side is still in transition and they need more game time to figure out their best XI

Firdose Moonda27-Jul-2015Dale Steyn has played street soccer and been taken out for supper by Shakib al Hasan. Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada have been watching horror movies and Hashim Amla has entertained some of his younger crop – Simon Harmer, Dean Elgar and Dane Vilas. But none of that has left South Africa any happier with their lot in Bangladesh.”It’s very frustrating for us at the moment, especially after Chittagong, it looks like the rain followed us here or it’s been here as well,” Elgar said at what was supposed to be a team training session in Dhaka.Wet weather meant the South African practice had to be moved indoors, which extended their cabin fever to a fourth day after two from the first Test were washed out as well. With more rain forecast for the week, it’s little wonder Elgar could not find a silver lining.”It looks like we are never going to play cricket again here,” he said.If the second Test scheduled for Thursday struggles to get underway, South Africa will only have played eight out of a possible 15 days of international cricket on their five-week tour of Bangladesh. And they will leave with a lot of unfinished business.Apart from a series victory, which South Africa will be going after with some gusto should play take place, they will also want to establish which players to take to India – their next, and perhaps most important, Test assignment this year. There, South Africa will not want to be a team in transition, as they are now in Bangladesh. But without sufficient match time in Mirpur, they may not have another choice.South Africa will be heartened by Harmer’s claim for the specialist spinner’s role but may still want to turn to Dane Piedt, or Aaron Phangiso, or Eddie Leie. They will be satisfied in the way Temba Bavuma stepped up but may not know where they can fit him, especially when AB de Villiers returns. They will also be impressed with Stiaan van Zyl’s first attempt in the opening role but may have wanted to see more of him.At least on that last count, they can rely on Elgar’s assessment: “Stiaan is very new to the opening berth and I see where I can assist and help him. He is a very talented player,” Elgar said. “There’s no added pressure irrespective of the guys who have retired – Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen. What they have done was awesome but it’s time for myself and Stiaan to put our hands up and make the position ours.”With regards to South Africa’s prospects in the Mirpur Test, Elgar said a big first innings total may be the only way to beat the weather. “In the subcontinent, the first innings seems to be quite important for both teams and batting once is an ideal but we understand there’s a lot of hard work that goes into doing that,” he said. “It takes a lot of pressure off the side and then you can just go out and express yourselves with the ball.”Elgar admitted South Africa did not “execute well,” enough to do that in Chittagong, but said if they improve on that it could create the canvas for the bowlers to colour. “Our bowlers are experienced enough to get 20 wickets in these conditions. We definitely have the best bowlers around at the moment,” he said.Unless the rain stops, all of that will just be talk; something South Africa generally prefer not to do when it comes to cricket. They also prefer to disconnect from the daily drag of the game, as Steyn did when went out to play football with no cricket possible.”It’s very important to switch off from the game totally so when you have your time off you try and not think about cricket too much,” Elgar said. “When it’s practice and game time, you switch back on. You can’t be playing the game in your head the whole time. It’s quite exhausting when you are always thinking about the game.”And so far on this wet old tour, South Africa are becoming experts in exactly the opposite.

New Zealand Under-19 pulled off a close last-ball, one-wicket win, their first of the series, against Australia Under-19 in the third Youth ODI between the two teams

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2013
ScorecardNew Zealand pulled off a close last-ball, one-wicket win, their first of the series, against Australia in the third Youth ODI between the two teams. The third ODI was a dead rubber as Australia had already taken a winning lead of 2-0 in the three-match series.Batting first, Australia began well as the openers put on 71 runs. Kelvin Smith scored his second half-century of the tour, hitting 52 off 76 balls. However, offspinner Dane Watson effected a breakthrough to dismiss Jaron Morgan for 36. Sean Willis and Jake Doran fell in quick succession to leave Australia at 126 for 4. The rest of the batsmen struggled to put together partnerships and it took a brisk knock of 39 from Cameron Valente to push their score to 220 for 8. Watson finished with figures of 4 for 31, while Kyle Jamieson and Arana Noema-Barnett took two wickets apiece.In reply, New Zealand were shaky at 19 for 2 before a 90-run partnership between opener Rakitha Weerasundara and Ken McClure revived the chase. Weerasundara then added 71 runs with Leo Carter to take New Zealand to 180 for 3 in the 41st over. Australia clawed back into the match as Ben Ashkenazi dismissed Weerasundara and Valente, then got wickets off two successive deliveries. Valente took another two wickets in his next over as New Zealand stumbled to 8 for 198. A run-out in the last over almost gave Australia a 3-0 scoreline, but Noema-Barnett hung on to ensure New Zealand scampered home off the final ball.

A wrap of the final day of the ninth round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group A

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jan-2013
ScorecardAround noon, during their lunch break, Railways came to know Saurashtra had won their match. That meant Railways would not qualify for the knockouts even if they won. Around that time, Sanjay Bangar, one of the most respected domestic workhorses, made up his mind it was time to end his 20-year first-class career.Bangar’s team-mates were stunned at the decision, but they delivered him and Railways a consolatory win. One for the road. Or track, in the case of the team made up for Indian Railways’ employees.Bangar himself took two important wickets, those of opener Arindam Saha and captain Wriddhiman Saha. It went into the final session, though, and towards the end Anureet Singh began Bengal’s final slide with the wicket of Debabrata Das, who scored 44 off 55.
ScorecardRajasthan had taken the lead on the third day, sending Hyderabad into relegation, and day four was pretty academic. However, Vineet Saxena used the day well to sign off the season with an unbeaten 146.
ScorecardAlong with the paucity of quality spinners in India, probably as big an issue could be the inadequacy of domestic batsmen against good spin bowling. Madhya Pradesh provided the latest example of that, losing eight wickets for 45 runs in 22.1 overs to hand the remaining quarter-final spot in Group A to hosts Saurashtra. And it wasn’t even an experienced slow bowler who did the damage. It was 22-year old debutant left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, bowling with a classical pivot, who ran through MP to finish with six wickets in the innings and nine in the match.Click here for the full report.

ScorecardMumbai aborted a chase of 135 off a minimum of 41 overs and instead settled
for three points for the first innings lead against Gujarat in their last
Ranji Trophy Group A game at the Dr DY Patil Sports Stadium.Click here for the full report.

South Africa’s Thami Tsolekile has talked down his non-selection in the Test team, following Makhaya Ntini’s comment about race playing a role in him being consistently overlooked for the wicketkeepers’ role

Firdose Moonda18-Nov-2012Thami Tsolekile has talked down his non-selection in the Test team after being nationally contracted in February. His statements come after former Test bowler Makhaya Ntini implied race played a role in Tsolekile being consistently overlooked for the wicketkeepers’ role despite the retirement of Mark Boucher.Tsolekile was identified as Mark Boucher’s successor even before his injury-enforced retirement in July, but has not played a match because AB de Villiers was tasked with the keepers’ role. While Tsolekile’s omission has been put down to strategy, with South Africa using Boucher’s absence to lengthen their batting line-up, two weeks ago Ntini presented another argument.He said Tsolekile “would have been playing if he was white” and questioned why there is only one black African player in the Test squad, 20 years after South African cricket was unified. But Tsolekile said Ntini may have been reacting out of hurt.”Having played most of my cricket in the township and, with Makhaya, also growing up in the township, obviously he was an icon,” Tsolikile said. “He has done very well over the years. What he said was quite disturbing and I wouldn’t know why he said that.”He was speaking on behalf of himself. Maybe he has got his own reasons for why he said that. The fact is that he is talking from a point [of view] where he wishes to and would love to see more African players playing for the Proteas. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what he meant.”Ntini was the only black African to consistently represent South Africa at international level after readmission in 1991. He is one of only seven black Africans to play for the country in any format. Five of those have played Test cricket but under Gary Kirsten no black African has worn the whites. Since Ntini’s retirement in November 2010 the only black player to take the field has been Lonwabo Tsotsobe – he played just five Test matches but rose to the top of the ODI rankings in the last year.Tsolekile was believed to be the next black African Test player but has yet to make his comeback. Instead of delving into the race politics, though, Tsolekile was softer in his approach: “I feel good that I have been recognised and I’ve spoken to the selectors. I’m happy because I know exactly where I stand. I had a long chat with Gary in England and again in Australia, and I think he made it clear where I stand and I am happy with that.”He did not elaborate on where that is but he believes that he will, eventually, play a Test. “It might take three weeks, three months or a year for me to play another Test match. I don’t know,” he said.De Villiers has shown no signs of giving up the gloves, despite the effects on his back and his batting. He said his body is coping with the extra burden even though he suffers from chronic and recurring back pain, and he feels on the verge of a big score though he has not managed a single half-century since taking over from Boucher.”I got a lot of value out of both my innings [in Brisbane]. I was in in both innings. I felt like I could score a hundred in both innings and I had the energy to do so. It’s a little unfair to look at the stats. I’ve only had seven or eight innings as a wicketkeeper and there’s still a lot to come. It’s got nothing to do with wicketkeeping, or energy levels, or mental fatigue or anything of that sort. I just haven’t been able to push through.”With Duminy being ruled out of the series with a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, Tsolekile – who played three Test matches in 2004 and was quickly replaced after appearing out of his depth – may yet get his chance on the Australia tour. He said that whenever it comes “it will feel like I am making my debut”.

It is yet to be decided whether such provisions are for the next three years or until the end of the current rights cycle in 2031

Nagraj Gollapudi and Osman Samiuddin03-Dec-2024In a development that could potentially break the current deadlock over the upcoming Champions Trophy , the PCB has offered to consider a hybrid model but only if there is a concrete written agreement allowing Pakistan the same option when a global tournament is held in India.Although discussions are ongoing and the situation remains fluid, ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB put forward its proposal over the weekend in meetings with the ICC and BCCI in Dubai. In it, they called for an equitable and long-term agreement, stretching beyond the 2025 Champions Trophy, with reciprocal provisions for Pakistan to play outside of India during global events held there. It is yet to be decided whether such provisions are for the next three years or until the end of the current rights cycle in 2031.In this time, India are scheduled to host three global men’s tournaments – the 2026 T20 World Cup along with Sri Lanka (February), the 2029 Champions Trophy (October) and the 2031 World Cup along with Bangladesh (October-November) – as well as the women’s ODI World Cup in 2025. The co-hosted events provide a solution, though any India-Pakistan games will pose the same problem. And although it doesn’t come under ICC jurisdiction, the next Asia Cup – in October 2025 – is also scheduled to be played in India.Related

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“We will do whatever’s best for cricket,” Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB chair, told reporters in Dubai on Sunday. “If we adopt any other formula [except hosting the tournament in Pakistan], it will be done on the basis of equality. The most important thing for Pakistan is its respect; everything else is secondary.”A one-sided arrangement is no longer acceptable. It cannot be the case that we continue to go to India, but they do not visit Pakistan. Whatever happens must be on the basis of equality.”While the BCCI remains tight-lipped, indications are it might not be willing to accept adopting a hybrid model for their tournaments. In either case, the ICC Board will reconvene and examine the PCB proposal before making a final decision on the Champions Trophy. And both PCB and BCCI will need to have that decision ratified by their individual governments. The ICC has tentatively penciled in December 5 as a date for that meeting.Options on the table for the tournament remain the same as they were when the board met briefly last week, otherwise – that the tournament will either be based on a hybrid model with India playing its games outside Pakistan; that the entire tournament is hosted in another country; or that the tournament goes ahead without India.In that meeting last week, it was decided to give the PCB time to hold separate negotiations with BCCI to find a resolution after the latter told ICC that the Indian government had denied permission for the Indian team to travel to Pakistan. Last Friday, a spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that “security concerns” meant India were unwilling to travel. “The BCCI has issued a statement so I would refer you to it,” said the spokesperson during a press briefing. “They have said there are security concerns there and therefore it is unlikely the team will be going there. Please do refer to the statement issued by the BCCI.”Where will the next India-Pakistan match be played?•CREIMAS

No such statement has been publicly issued by the BCCI. The PCB says it has still not received an official explanation citing the reasons for India’s inability to travel, though it has sought one from the moment the BCCI informed the ICC.

Jay Shah to chair ICC meet on December 5

Since the first ICC meeting, a significant change has taken place at the ICC. Jay Shah, who has been the BCCI secretary since 2019, took charge as ICC chair on December 1. Imran Khwaja, the ICC’s deputy chair, has been dealing with the Champions Trophy issue as an interim chair. But it could not be confirmed who the BCCI representative at the next ICC Board meeting will be.The meeting is widely thought to be on the Champions Trophy, although there was also a suggestion that it might be a courtesy call for Shah to ring in his tenure.With time running out – there are only 77 days to the start date of the event – the ICC finds itself in a spot of bother. It has not yet released the tournament schedule (normally put out 100 days from the event) nor announced the ticketing process which would facilitate fans to make travel arrangements for the eight-team event.

Meanwhile, Chris Silverwood has declared an interest in becoming the county’s new head coach

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Aug-2024Jonny Bairstow will play his first match of the season for Yorkshire this week when the County Championship returns following a six-week break.Bairstow has only played two first-class games for his home county since the end of the 2020 season due to his England and IPL commitments. He is yet to feature for Yorkshire in any format this season, having taken a short break from the game between the T20 World Cup and the start of the Hundred, where he represented Welsh Fire.But he will return for Thursday’s fixture against Sussex at Scarborough, with Yorkshire sitting just outside of the two promotion places in Division Two. They are four points behind second-placed Middlesex heading into the final five games of the season, and can close the 27-point gap on leaders Sussex this week.Bairstow made 123 runs in seven innings for Welsh Fire this season•Getty Images

Bairstow lost his place in England’s Test team after failing to reach 40 on their tour to India this year, and appears unlikely to feature in their T20I and ODI series against Australia in September. He declared at the start of the Hundred that “all I want to do is play for England”, but was short of runs for Welsh Fire, with 123 runs and a single half-century across seven innings.”I spoke to Jonny, and he still has ambitions of getting back into the England team,” Ottis Gibson, Yorkshire’s head coach, said last week. “When he was coming back from his injury last year, our medical team and coaches – everybody associated with the club – helped him get back into the England fold.”If it’s that we need to do that again with him, give him some love and get him into a position where he puts good performances in, everybody benefits from that. Jonny Bairstow is a serious cricketer anyway, but when he has a point to prove, he’s even more dangerous. Hopefully, we can take advantage of that.”Related

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Yorkshire confirmed on Monday that Bairstow is available to play at Scarborough after a shoulder niggle, but his availability for the final four games of the season has not yet been confirmed. They will be without their captain Shan Masood this week, who is with Pakistan’s Test squad ahead of their series against Bangladesh.The club announced earlier this month that Gibson will leave his job at the end of the season, and are also in the process of recruiting a new director of cricket, having advertised for the role earlier in the summer.Chris Silverwood, who recently left his job as Sri Lanka coach, has declared his interest in the head coach vacancy: “I haven’t spoken to anybody as yet,” he told talkSPORT. “Would it interest me? Absolutely, it’s my old county and I have a great love for Yorkshire.”