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In Zimbabwe’s victory over Pakistan, there was no centurion. Instead, there were three fifties, two five-wicket hauls and whole lot of heart

Firdose Moonda in Harare14-Sep-2013When Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh on their Test comeback in 2011, Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor both scored hundreds. When they beat them again in April this year, Taylor raised his bat to triple figures twice. But in this victory over Pakistan, there was no centurion.Instead, there were three fifties, two five-wicket hauls and whole lot of heart.”The great thing about winning this Test match is that everyone has contributed,” Taylor said. “In 2011 and even earlier this year, there were probably a few individuals who got us over the line. We’ve come a long way. Everyone has done something today.”Next door in South Africa they speak of Ubuntu – I am because you are – and over the course of this Test Zimbabwe were just that. Where one of them left a gap, the others stepped up to fill it.Masakadza and Taylor made up for early losses in the first innings and when the middle order wobbled, the tenth-wicket pairing of Tendai Chatara and Brian Vitori scored the runs that gave Zimbabwe what proved to be a match-winning lead. Vitori and Chatara took five wickets each but if Tinashe Panyanagara did not keep his end tight, they may not have been able to. Even Richmond Mutumbami, who was the weak link with the bat, was exceptional with the gloves.This win was a result of the entire machine working and an indication that Zimbabwe have progressed. “We’ve matured very quickly. We’re a lot more professional with what we have to do,” Taylor admitted.Evidence of Zimbabwe’s more developed skills is best seen when scrutinising their mindset. Instead of become overawed when Pakistan threatened to seize the advantage, like when Misbah smacked four fours in two overs in the dying moments of the match, they stuck to their task. “We were a little bit more determined this time,” Taylor said.After dominating three and a half days of the first Test, Zimbabwe were winded by a two dropped catches which allowed Younis Khan a double-century and showed how quickly things could get away from them. “In the first Test, when we lost a session, we lost a session badly,” Taylor said. “But this time, we were a lot more consistent.”The bowlers were responsible for those disciplines and surprised many, including their coach Andy Waller, who was concerned before the series about how they would take 20 wickets without Kyle Jarvis and Graeme Cremer. “We knew the only way we were going to do it was by being consistent,” Waller said. “We were patient and waited for the mistake. The guys were brilliant.”Staying committed is on the principles of Waller’s coaching and he believes it paid off here. “This win shows how hard work has paid off and the guys have realised that,” he said. “But we’re nowhere near the mark we want to be. We’re going to keep training and keep at it and become better.”Grant Flower, Zimbabwe’s batting consultant joked the squad is used to practicing a lot “because we don’t play a lot” and that will be the case for them over the next few months too. The planned series against Sri Lanka is all-but-postponed which means Zimbabwe’s next assignment will be February’s World Twenty20.That may result in the steps they’ve taken forward here being overshadowed by time out of the game but Taylor is optimistic the gains will remain. “We’ve got our domestic season coming up and we’re going to have to take ownership in ourselves and keep trying to better ourselves and to better each other.”The last part of that statement is the most crucial because that is how Zimbabwe will really develop. So-called smaller teams often compete either because of stand-out performances by marquee men or because they are capable as a collective. The more they manage to do the latter, the closer they come to not being labeled minnows. Zimbabwe’s journey to that may be just beginning.

Sri Lanka can only play one warm-up first-class match ahead of their Test series in England next year, thanks largely to a condensed tour schedule

Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Sep-2013Full tour schedule

May 9 Sri Lanka arrive
May 13 50-over tour match v Essex, Chelmsford (D/N)
May 16 50-over tour match v Kent, Canterbury (D/N)
May 18 T20 tour match v Sussex, Hove
May 20 1st T20I, Oval
May 22 1st ODI, The Oval (D/N)
May 25 2nd ODI, Durham
May 28 3rd ODI, Old Trafford (D/N)
May 31 4th ODI, Lord’s
June 3 5th ODI, Edgbaston (D/N)
June 5-8 four-day tour match v Northamptonshire, Northampton
June 12-16 1st Test, Lord’s
June 20-24 2nd Test, Headingley

Sri Lanka can only play one warm-up first-class match ahead of their Test series in England next year, thanks largely to a condensed tour schedule.The four-day match that has been scheduled will be against Northamptonshire in Northampton, with two 50-over tour matches to be played in Chelmsford and Canterbury before the limited-overs series. A Twenty20 tour match will also be played, in Hove.Sri Lanka had played two first-class warm-up matches in their last tour to England, in 2011, ahead of the series they lost 1-0.The ECB moved Sri Lanka’s Tests to mid-June in order to avoid a clash with the IPL, but that reshuffle, and the abundance of cricket in England next summer, does not allow for a lengthy warm-up period. After Sri Lanka’s two-Test series, India play five Tests in the UK.In 2014, they will arrive in England without having played a Test match outside Asia in the last 16 months. However, Sri Lanka will have played five ODIs and a Twenty20 international in the UK before the Tests begin.Sri Lanka are set to arrive in England on May 9.

Shakib Al Hasan believes that the team has thrown up more faces who could be potentially match-winners, with Sohaq Gazi being the latest prospect

Mohammad Isam18-Oct-2013Shakib Al Hasan has said Bangladesh have a major opportunity to win the series against New Zealand and this increase in team’s confidence has developed over the past five years with more players performing regularly. The latest in that list is Sohag Gazi, who became the first Test cricketer to score a hundred and take a hat-trick in a Test.Shakib took the catch to complete Gazi’s hat-trick, an excellent swoop from leg-slip after the ball had deflected off Mushfiqur Rahim’s pad. The catch was one of the many moments in the past two years which have signified the team’s growing will power after the lows of 2011. The drawn Test against New Zealand last week also pointed to the progress within the team.Shakib said that since his international debut, the talk in the dressing-room has gone through a lot of change. He has had a major contribution to this transformation, particularly his role in the 4-0 series win over New Zealand three years ago.”When I started six years ago, our goal was to play five days,” he said. “Then it was to draw Test matches. Now we go out to win. We have been progressing as a team all along. Everything takes time. This team has been playing together for quite some time, so we have more confidence. We are looking to win this series. We have a major opportunity, so we have every reason to give it our best.”When there are four or five performers in a team, the rest of the players then want to do well. So within everyone, there is a challenge to perform. I think it is major positive for the Bangladesh team.”Shakib hasn’t necessarily stopped being a performer himself. Bangladesh’s last Test win against Zimbabwe in May had two Shakib half-centuries. He struggled with the ball in the Chittagong Test match, but he has said the hunger is far from satiated. The fact that he has returned to the top of the Test allrounder rankings has been an added inspiration.”It is easy to motivate myself when I look at the rankings. My battle is with top cricketers, but I wouldn’t compare myself with anyone. Everyone wants to contribute to the team’s cause. I don’t think any cricketer keeps an eye on the rankings but it does feel good to be at the top.”This is his second time as top Test allrounder after he scaled the height in December 2011. While someone like Jacques Kallis gets plenty of opportunities to maintain such a position, Shakib has to do his best in the limited number of Tests that Bangladesh play. The second Test against New Zealand is one of them, and given the position of the series, there couldn’t be a better time for Shakib.

West Indies team manager, Richie Richardson, has said that Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell celebrations will not overshadow their preparations for the two-Test series

Nagraj Gollapudi in Kolkata04-Nov-2013West Indies team manager, Richie Richardson, has said that Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell celebrations will not overshadow their preparations for the two-Test series against India starting at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.According to Richardson, Tendulkar himself would make sure that all the attention would return to the game as soon as he walked in to face the first ball, and that West Indies would not be embarrassed to spoil his swansong.”We are going to be playing hard. When we here last time, whenever Sachin came we bowled hard and fielded hard,” Richardson told media at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) office. A scheduled press conference by West Indies could not take place because the local police had locked themselves in the pressroom to have their own meeting. Richardson, who was meeting an Indian acquaintance with whom he had played at a local club in England, had to cut short the chat and address an impromptu briefing.West Indies last won a series in India under Clive Lloyd’s leadership 30 years ago. In 2011 under Sammy’s captaincy, West Indies, despite losing the series 2-0, had shown a lot of character and were successful in denying Tendulkar his 100th century in the third Test in Mumbai.According to Richardson, West Indies had the manpower and experience, but would have to work really hard to get the better of India. “India are going to play hard despite all the big thing about Sachin. The guys are very confident and are playing good cricket. They have their pride to maintain as well. So we don’t expect India to come at us easy. We are going to have to work really hard. At the same time, we believe we can be competitive against India as we showed last time. We had a couple of bad sessions. It is a now a different series. So we are looking forward to a good challenge.”This is the second time in a week Richardson has promised that West Indies would play at high intensity, after he said the visitors would not give an inch to Tendulkar, during the warm-up match against Uttar Pradesh last week.Still, it is hard not to feel overwhelmed by Tendulkar’s farewell because it is everywhere. Cutouts of Tendulkar lifting the World Cup and playing a drive, a wax carving of him in a celebratory pose, pictures of him along with his family and local hero Sourav Ganguly adorn the porch of the CAB office. A popular soundtrack based on Tendulkar by a local singer was being played from the early morning.On Monday, as photographers and TV reporters waited for hours to get Tendulkar to stand besides the wax replica, Darren Sammy and his team slipped in quietly through an adjacent door. Barely a few people noticed the visitors as all the attention was focused squarely on Tendulkar. Later, Chris Gayle wrapped up his batting drills quickly before leaving a training session to play the role of ambassador for a global watch brand. No one bothered. Tendulkar remained the centrepiece.

Nathan Lyon is preparing for a heavy workload in the Adelaide Test on a pitch he described as “a belter”

Brydon Coverdale03-Dec-2013It is not unusual for spinners to be savaged by Kevin Pietersen, but typically they’re bowling at the time. That wasn’t the case during the last Ashes Test in Adelaide in December 2010, when Nathan Lyon was part of the groundstaff that Pietersen slammed as “pathetic”. His ire was raised when the practice wickets were not covered when rain fell in the lead-up to the Test; his preparation didn’t seem to suffer, for he went on to score 227 in England’s innings victory.As part of curator Damian Hough’s staff, Lyon had a front-row seat to that Test, which also featured 148 from Alastair Cook. If Lyon was dreaming of anything regarding his own career it was simply the chance to play state cricket, which would happen later that summer. Now, Lyon will enter the next Adelaide Ashes Test as Australia’s frontline spin bowler and a man with 89 Test wickets.”I was sitting on the roller watching the whole time and preparing to put the covers on the last day when England won,” Lyon said of the 2010-11 Test. “I was cutting the ground every morning so it was a different view and I can’t wait to be out there enjoying an Ashes Test match … [Pietersen] had a fair crack at us.”Collectively Australia’s spinners – Xavier Doherty and the part-timer Marcus North – took 1 for 220 in that match, while Graeme Swann finished with 7 for 161 as Australia’s batsmen failed to take advantage of good batting conditions. While England might consider bringing Monty Panesar in to join Swann this time around, Lyon is the only specialist slow bowler in Australia’s squad, which should mean a mountain of work for him.The redevelopment of Adelaide Oval means the traditional pitch has been replaced by a drop-in surface and the indications so far this Sheffield Shield season have been that fast bowlers will find it incredibly difficult to earn their rewards. At the halfway point of the Shield season, fast bowlers have collectively taken only 23 wickets at 57.08 at Adelaide Oval; last summer they piled up 127 wickets at 22.92.Spinners, by comparison, have picked up 28 wickets at 41.39 this season, compared to a tally of 37 at 37.54 throughout the whole of last summer. In short, batting has become easier and all bowlers are finding the ground difficult, but spinners less so than the fast men. The main query will be whether the pitch will begin to break up and offer more turn towards the end of the match, which hasn’t really happened in the four-day Shield matches.”I’ve had a chat to Damo, my old boss, and it looks an absolute belter of a pitch, so credit to Damian,” Lyon said. “It looks pretty similar to what we’re used to here in Adelaide. It might be a tad slower, but it looks pretty good. It’s going to be a great challenge for both teams.”It’s going to be a good challenge for me. Test pitches are totally different to Shield pitches. Fingers crossed there’ll be some foot marks there and over five days it may break up, who knows. It looks like I’m going to be able to bowl a few overs here and I’m looking forward to that challenge bowling to their batsmen. If I can hold up one end and rotate our quicks it’s going to hopefully keep their legs as fresh as possible and they can bowl a few fast bumpers again.”Australia will consider whether to include James Faulkner as an extra bowling option, given the workload that might otherwise be foisted upon Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson, but whatever the case, Lyon will have a heavy burden. Last summer, he suffered some criticism for not bowling Australia to victory on the final day against South Africa in Adelaide, but he took 3 for 49 from 50 overs in the second innings – hardly a catastrophic performance.”You can thank Shane Warne for that, that’s all I have to say about that,” Lyon said when asked about the expectations on spinners in the fourth innings. “Shane Warne produced that for the spinners and that’s part of the game. But saying that, there’s 11 guys out there and usually about four or five bowlers. If we bowl together we’ll win.”Unfortunately last year James Pattinson went down with an injury. I’m sure if we had him up and going we would have won that Test. But injuries do happen and we can’t control that. There’s a lot of expectations but if we bowl well as a unit there’s no reason why we can’t beat anyone.”Warne has been available on occasions to provide advice to Lyon, but it is a far less celebrated spinner who has worked the most with Lyon in recent times, including on trying to make his action more side-on. John Davison, the spin coach and former offspinner with Victoria, South Australia and Canada, has been a key mentor for Lyon, including while travelling with the squad this summer.”I’ve spoken to Warney a bit, especially over there in England,” Lyon said. “It’s fantastic for me, he’s someone I can always call up and ask for a bit of advice or his opinion. But I’ve got John Davison here and he’s one that I’ve really been working closely with.”

Mitchell Johnson has joined the ranks of Australia’s greatest bowlers by terrifying England’s batsmen in a way not seen for many a year, Michael Clarke has said

Daniel Brettig in Sydney05-Jan-20140:00

‘No one can doubt Johnson again’ – Clarke

Mitchell Johnson, the Player of the Series, has joined the ranks of Australia’s greatest bowlers by terrifying England’s batsmen in a way not seen for many a year, his captain Michael Clarke has said. Summing up Johnson’s series, in which he claimed 37 wickets at 13.97 while also clattering handy runs, Clarke declared the left-armer’s displays as good as any by the likes of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie or Brett Lee, all former team-mates of the captain.Not even required for the earlier five-Test bout in England, Johnson put his mark on the series as early as day two in Brisbane when he was the catalyst for the collapse of the visitors’ first innings. He continued to intervene at pivotal times throughout, creating a sense of anticipation every time he took the ball arguably unseen in Australia since Warne’s most prolific days. Clarke paid warm tribute.”Man of the Series, who would have thought, except me and probably Mitch?” Clarke said. “He’s been an amazing bowler for a long time. He’s bowled with a lot of aggression. To be able to bowl at that pace is one thing; to be able to do every single innings and back it up is an amazing achievement.”Mitch has bowled a couple of spells through this series that are without doubt as good a spell as I’ve ever seen in my career. I’ve been lucky enough to play with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee, Shane Warne … Mitch’s spells certainly match the greats I’ve seen, if not better.”He’s copped a lot of criticism through his career – he’s been dropped – and no-one in the world can doubt Mitchell Johnson’s character ever again. He’s as tough a cricketer as I’ve played with. To have the attitude and hunger to say ‘no I’m not giving up, I’m going to come back’ is a credit to him.”Johnson’s first spell of the series at the Gabba had been nervous, spraying numerous wides before he was fortified by the chance to bowl at Jonathan Trott, who he had troubled in ODIs in England earlier in the year. The wicket of Trott, who was to go home due to a stress-related illness after Brisbane, settled Johnson into a rhythm he did not lose all summer, often slinging down deliveries comfortably faster than 150kph. His treatment of England’s tail was ruthless, another trend started that day in Brisbane.Mitchell Johnson on Australia’s attack: “I think as a bowling unit we really set the tone in that first Test and stuck with it”•Getty Images”For me, I was quite nervous at the start for good reason, I guess, after what’s happened in the past,” Johnson said. “But they were good nerves and once I got past that and got into my rhythm and stuck to the plans and having the support of Michael and knowing I was going to bowl in short spells, I could be aggressive and go hard at their batters and it really did set the tone, that first Test match.”That just stuck with us, especially seeing their tail and they way they were jumping around, they did look quite nervous with that bouncy fast Gabba wicket. Like Michael said, that was something we spoke about at Allan Border field. That definitely set the tone throughout this whole series.”Johnson’s enjoyment of this summer has been enhanced by the development of a close relationship among all the bowlers, their group embracing tightly when the final wicket fell. “It was just a great feeling for the bowling unit to get through five Test matches, ” Johnson said. “We’ve had the experience, guys like Peter Siddle have played 50 Test matches now and Ryan Harris has got through five Test matches bowling on one leg apparently. He’s done exceptionally well, and Nathan Lyon, what he did today and in the last Test match, so I think as a bowling unit we really set the tone in that first Test and stuck with it.”We just felt really good out there throughout this whole Test series. The support staff being able to get us through, I’m absolutely exhausted now, it’s a huge relief to get through the Test series but we all feel confident that we can play back-to-back cricket, we’ve shown that. We can keep the accuracy up and keep working really well as a unit. We’d like to play a lot more cricket together I’m sure.”

A round-up of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Super Eights matches that ended on January 13

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2014Group AAn unbeaten century by 20-year-old Mehran Ibrahim and a career-best 12 for 162 by left-arm seamer Taj Wali were the two significant contributions in Peshwar’s hard-fought win against Karachi Whites in Peshawar. The home team had stumbled to 34 for 4 in chase of 211, but Ibrahim, playing only his fourth first-class game, changed the complexion of the game. His 135 for the fifth wicket along with Aimal Khan stemmed the collapse and brought Peshawar to within 42 runs of a win, which they achieved without any further loss. It was also Ibrahim’s maiden century; his 101 off 132 deliveries included 13 boundaries.Peshawar were behind by 31 runs after the first innings too – a reflection of the batsmen failing to respond to Wali’s six-wicket haul that had restricted Karachi to 253 after they were 121 for 1. Wali and seamer Azam Khan then ran through the Karachi top order in the second dig to reduce them to 28 for 5, but a rearguard half-century by Mohammad Hasan lifted Karachi to 179. However, Peshawar reached the target in the 55th over.Islamabad’s Sarmad Bhatti and Shehzad Azam’s 207-run stand for the last wicket was the highlight of their drawn match against Karachi Blue. Islamabad were staring at a sub-200 total in the first innings when they lost their ninth wicket for 160, but the two batsmen stretched the total to 367. Though a rarity, the stand – only the 12th instance in first-class cricket of the last two adding more than 200 – was still 31 less than the Pakistan first-class record of 239 and a whopping 100 less than the all-time record. By the time Azam was out for 91 – his personal best – with three fours and five sixes, Bhatti had racked up an unbeaten 147.Karachi Blue’s response was led by Fakhar Zaman’s century that gave the team a two-run lead. The two innings used up almost three days and Islamabad played out the last day scoring 325 for 9 despite a six-wicket haul by Usama Basharat.Group BAdnan Mehmood’s 101 on debut and seven wickets in the match from Haseeb Azam helped Rawalpindi beat Sialkot by nine wickets in Islamabad.Having chosen to field, Rawalpindi had Sialkot reeling at 39 for 6 before Salman Ali’s 64 from No. 8 and contributions of 44 and 23 from Ahmed Butt and Hasan Ali helped stretch their score to 194. Seamer Haseeb finished with four wickets and left-arm spinner Babar Naeem with three.Playing his maiden first-class innings, Rawalpindi opener Mehmood retired hurt with his team’s total 17 for 0, but returned to score a 210-ball 101 with 17 fours. Shoaib Nasir, Akhtar Ayub and Zahid Mansoor made half-centuries to help Rawalpindi score 375 and take a 181-run lead. Salman continued waging lonesome resistance for Sialkot, this time with his offspin, to achieve figures of 7 for 117.Sialkot were in danger of an innings defeat at 135 for 6, but Bilal Hussain’s 81 and Ahmed Butt’s 35 helped them to post 260 and set Rawalpindi a target of 80. Rawalpindi got there in 19.2 overs, losing just one wicket, Salman bowling Shoaib Nasir to finish with match figures of 8 for 150.Zeeshan Ashraf’s maiden first-class century formed the basis of Multan’s second-innings fightback which helped them earn a draw against Lahore Shalimar. Multan had conceded a lead of 162 runs, but Ashraf led a strong response, wiping out the deficit in a 170-run opening stand along with Usman Liaqat, who scored 69. Ashraf’s 112 took only 123 balls and included 18 fours and a six.Then Aamer Yamin further stretched Multan’s innings with his third first-class century that helped them post 448 and give Lahore a target of 287. The teams agreed on a draw in the fifth over of Lahore’s innings.It was a good result for Multan considering they were bowled out for 210 on the first day and were punished by Umar Siddiq, who scored an unbeaten 187 – his best first-class score. Multan’s left-arm spinner was the most successful bowlers across teams, picking up eight wickets in the match.

Phillip Hughes has been given another chance in Australia’s Test squad after Shaun Marsh failed to convince the selectors he would recover from his calf injury in time for the warm-up game in South Africa

Brydon Coverdale30-Jan-2014Phillip Hughes has been given another chance in Australia’s Test squad after Shaun Marsh failed to convince the selectors he would recover from his calf injury in time for the warm-up game in South Africa.The inclusion of Marsh was the most controversial selection in Australia’s original 15-man squad for the three-Test tour, given his lack of first-class runs this summer and his poor red-ball record since he was dropped from the Test team two years ago. Hughes appeared especially unfortunate not to be granted a place on the trip after scoring three Sheffield Shield hundreds in five games this season.However, Marsh picked up a calf injury during the final ODI against England in Adelaide on Australia Day and he was held back from departing with the rest of the Test squad so his fitness could be assessed. The only tour match before the first Test will begin in Potchefstroom on Wednesday and the selectors were unwilling to take Marsh if his fitness could not be guaranteed for that game.”As Shaun Marsh’s calf injury has not improved as much as required over the past four days he has been withdrawn from the Test Squad for the tour of South Africa,” the national selector John Inverarity said. “Phillip Hughes had been placed on standby and now comes into the Test squad as a replacement for Shaun. Phillip will head to South Africa as soon as possible.”Hughes now has the opportunity to press his claims for a Test recall with Alex Doolan his main rival for the place in the top six that has become available after the axing of George Bailey. However, it is unclear whether the vacant spot will be at No.3 or at No.6. Initially it seemed that Shane Watson might move down to No.6 but the captain Michael Clarke said before flying to South Africa he wanted Watson to remain at first drop.Both Hughes and Doolan are considered top order players, although Hughes has been used at No.6 as well as Nos.3 and 4 in the Test team over the past year. He was dropped from the side following the heavy loss in the Ashes Test at Lord’s in July, a match in which he managed only 1 in each innings, although in the previous Test at Trent Bridge he had scored a mature 81 not out that was overshadowed by Ashton Agar’s near century.Since being axed in July, Hughes has made 671 first-class runs at the average of 61.00 from 11 innings, including a double-century and two other hundreds this Sheffield Shield season. Marsh, by comparison, had managed only 675 first-class runs at 25.00 since his last Test in January 2012, and appeared to have been selected based largely on his form in the shorter formats.South Africa has been a productive country for Hughes, who scored two centuries in his second Test in Durban on the 2009 tour and also made 88 at the Wanderers on Australia’s most recent trip there in 2011. However, Hughes has never seemed far from the axe and his demotion after the Lord’s Test was the third time in his 26-Test career he had been dropped following an extended run in the side.

Luke Wright has found out firsthand the views of some England supporters about the team’s performances this winter after hitching a lift from the airport to his hotel

Andrew McGlashan24-Feb-2014Luke Wright has found out firsthand the views of some England supporters about the team’s performances this winter after hitching a lift from the airport to his hotel.Wright arrived in Antigua ahead of his team-mates and found himself without transport when he landed on the island, so a group of England fans said they would give him a ride. It felt like a long journey for Wright.”Their flight from Manchester pulled in just behind mine from Miami, and my car didn’t turn up – so it was nice of the ‘Barmy Army’ to drop me off … and give me a good grilling on the way here of what they weren’t happy with in the winter,” he said.”They probably asked more questions than here today actually. It was a long 45-minute drive. They were quite tough, but they were good … and happy to find out what Mitchell Johnson is like to face. We need to be putting smiles back on their faces.”To be fair to Wright, he would only have been able to answer about what happened in the Twenty20s at the end of the painful trip around Australia as he was not involved in the other two formats, but the 3-0 drubbing was enough to leave Wright feeling as hurt as those involved elsewhere.His frustration was compounded by having impressed in the Big Bash League but then being unable to transfer that into the matches in Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney where he made 9, 0 and 8. However, the selectors have shown faith for the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh and, because of the emphasis on the short format, he also has a chance in the three ODIs against West Indies in Antigua.”I think that was the most frustrating for me, going into that Australia series,” he said. “I’d watched the whole way through and seen how disappointingly we’d played, and I felt in great nick from the Big Bash going into it and had played well against all the bowlers I was going to face for Australia.”To then not do it was the most frustrated I’ve probably been in my career. It was so annoying and disappointing to come away from that performing badly … I’ve got to put that right.”Much has been made within the England camp of looking forward, not back, but lessons will have to be learned about what happened in Australia. It was a tour that cost Andy Flower and Kevin Pietersen their jobs and also saw Graeme Swann retire.”You walk away as a player and say ‘why didn’t you take those moments?’ when you should have won games,” Wright said. “I’ve been asking [myself] that over the last three weeks since I left Australia. Sometimes you can’t put your finger on it, and that’s the hardest thing as a cricketer.”

Jamie Harrison gave himself a pre-season confidence boost by claiming 5 for 60 in Abu Dubai to help limit MCC’s lead to 44 in the Champion County match

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2014
ScorecardLuis Reece drives square during his 85•Getty ImagesJamie Harrison gave himself a pre-season confidence boost by claiming 5 for 60 in Abu Dubai to help limit MCC’s lead to 44 in the Champion County match.MCC fell away from 169 for 1 following a second-wicket stand of 112 between Lancashire’s Luis Reece and Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond. Scott Borthwick, the legspinner, also produced a handy performance by claiming 3 for 95 from 27 overs which included the scalps of former India batsman Virender Sehwag, who was caught at mid-on, and Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene.MCC’s reply to Durham’s 248 had begun solidly as Reece and Sam Robson, the latter pushing for an England call-up this season, put on 57. Reece struck 12 boundaries in his stay before becoming Borthwick’s second wicket.Harrison, a 23-year-old left-armer, then began to make his inroads when he removed Samit Patel, turning around his figures which stood at 7-0-39-0. He later found himself on a hat-trick after claiming Ollie Rayner and Andre Adams as he sped through MCC’s tail with the second new ball.This is just the eighth match of Harrison’s first-class career, which has been stalled in its early stages by a stress fracture in 2012, but this performance – and the way he finished last season – suggests he is ready to play a more central role in Durham’s Championship; he ended the 2013 campaign with 14 wickets in four matches as Durham surged to the title.There was time for Durham to start their second innings and Keaton Jennings fell for a duck – becoming Kyle Hogg’s fifth wicket of the match – before Mark Stoneman and Borthwick took the county back into a slender lead