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Four wickets from England’s debut seamer tore through South Africa’s top order leaving them in danger of follow-on at The Oval

The Report by David Hopps28-Jul-2017Even before he bowled a ball in Test cricket, Toby Roland-Jones could be said to have made a name for himself. Double-barrelled international cricketers, after all, are a bit of a collector’s item, just enough of them to raise an XI with a 12th man and manager in support.By the time he finished his first spell, Roland-Jones was more than part of a statistical quirk; his name was about to permeate the cricketing world. Four for 22 was quite an introduction for his first eight overs in Test cricket, South Africa’s top four all back in the dressing room, caught cold by a debut that, whatever the extent of his Test career, will go down in England’s history.As the weather deteriorated from the west, and the floodlights pierced the south London gloom, England followed up Ben Stokes’ astute century – his fifth in Test cricket – by revelling in a perfect bowling day. South Africa crashed to 61 for 7 by the 26th over before stabilising at 126 for 8 by the close of the second day, still 227 behind.Widely criticised for the manner of their defeat at Trent Bridge, England remain well placed to go 2-1 up in the series with one to play. South Africa need a further 28 runs to avoid the follow-on.Supporters spending a day at the Test buy into a lottery. On Thursday, a capacity crowd at the start of The Oval’s 100th Test observed Alastair Cook’s orderly resistance as England reached a creditable 171 for 4. Friday’s full house delighted in something more enticing: Stokes’ enthralling hundred – raised during a rush of three successive sixes against the left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj while the last man, James Anderson, looked on from the non-striker’s end – followed by the high drama of Roland-Jones’ introduction to the Test scene.South Africa were hampered by the loss of Vernon Philander, who left the field midway through the morning with his stomach ailment unrelenting and went to hospital for tests, which also rendered him unable to bat as wickets crashed in the final session. His involvement on the third day had not been confirmed at the close.Strong, willing and decidedly able, Roland-Jones has a commodious run-up and, when he finally reaches his destination, hits the seam. He has long been regarded as a redoubtable bowler on the county scene, the man whose hat-trick against Yorkshire at Lord’s last September gave Middlesex their first Championship for 23 years. At 29, he has now made his mark in more exalted circumstances south of the Thames, Dean Elgar, Heino Kuhn, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock all accounted for, the first three in a burst of 3-3 in 15 balls.

Roland-Jones’ stunning start

2009 – Last instance of a fast bowler from England to take four or more wickets on Test debut. Graham Onions took 5 for 38 against West Indies at Lords in 2009. Toby Roland-Jones took 4 for 39 from his 11 overs. With two wickets remaining he can look to add to his tally.
5 – Number of wickets lost by South Africa before they reached 50. The last instance of South Africa losing their first five wickets for less than fifty was also against England at Johannesburg in 2016. They were bowled out for 83 on that occasion.
72 – Balls taken by Ben Stokes to reach his half-century. Incidentally he also took the same number of balls to move from 50 to 100. After negotiating the second new ball, Ben Stokes scored 27 runs from 12 balls to move from 76 to 103. Stokes scores his second century against South Africa and averages 49.83 from 12 innings.

Elgar fell to what became the last ball before tea, crouching forward to be caught at the wicket off a faint edge, a decision Elgar failed to overturn on review and which, by his expression, Roland-Jones did not entirely expect until he saw the spike on the big screen.Amla might have fallen to the next ball – the first after tea – but England’s review, in search of an lbw decision, narrowly failed. Considering that the last time Amla played at The Oval he batted for more than 13 hours it was perhaps a better gamble than most.On this occasion, however, the balance heavily favoured the bowlers. Roland-Jones brought one back in his third over to have Kuhn lbw, struck on the back leg. Amla followed in his fourth – a ripper, this one, which took off and flicked his glove as he tried to drop his hands. The fact Amla walked somehow made it seem even grander. Finally, came de Kock who aimed to work a full delivery to the leg side and sent an outside edge to Stokes at gully.Roland-Jones had replaced Anderson after only three overs – a sensible nerve-settler by his captain Joe Root – and Anderson’s eventual switch of ends did the trick. He was in no mood to waste the opportunity. Du Plessis left one that seamed back and was lbw on the back leg and Chris Morris patted back a return catch.Their recovery, of sorts, was some relief. No side has made less than 100 in the first innings of an Oval Test since 1957 when Surrey’s spinners, Jim Laker and Tony Lock, tore through the West Indies.Stokes’ 112 from 153 balls was one of his most accomplished, an innings of contrasting shades as he defended with conviction and appreciated the opportunities to play more expansively.Anderson’s emergence at No. 11 with Stokes still nine short of his hundred persuaded him that it was time to crank things up. Maharaj’s second ball should have caused his downfall at deep midwicket only for du Plessis to touch the boundary markers as he stretched to take the catch.Undeterred, Stokes stretched to swing a ball well wide of off-stump down the ground and into the stands; du Plessis applauded ruefully. His century secured, for good measure Stokes slog-swept the next one for a third six in a row. The next over, from Morne Morkel, silenced him as he launched the bowler high to Kagiso Rabada, running in from long-off.There was no 31st Test hundred for Cook – 82 overnight, he had only added six when Morkel won an lbw decision. Morkel’s wicket confirmed his excellent record against Cook as he dismissed him for the 10th time in Test cricket. No bowler has dismissed him on as many occasions.South Africa bowled impressively as long as Philander and Morkel had the ball in their hands, but their support seamers posed less threat. Morris found so much swing from the Dukes ball that he was unable to control it: he was one player, on this evidence, who did not benefit from South Africa’s decision to rest between Nottingham and The Oval rather than request a further warm-up match.Stokes’ recognised an opportunity to press ahead. He had stood so far outside his crease against Philander, to negate his movement, that one half expected him to follow Philander into the dressing room and take guard.Instead, he feasted upon Morris. Three overpitched deliveries in one over from disappeared to the boundary and Maharaj, conceded three more against Jonny Bairstow, one of them an advance to drive down the ground, a typically defiant repeat of the shot that caused his downfall at Trent Bridge.England rattled up another 73 at nearly five an over, making excellent use of the hour leading up to the second new ball.Unsurprisingly, South Africa took it immediately with England, at 256 for 5, threatening to break free. Rabada felt the benefit as he took the new ball for the first time in the series. Ten deliveries into the new ball and Bairstow was dislodged, pushing at one that bounced and moved away for du Plessis to take the catch at second slip.Late-order allies slowly departed as Stokes edged towards his century. Moeen Ali fell to a keeper’s catch via an inside-edge onto his pad, Morkel the deserving bowler. Roland-Jones’ spirited 25 from 25 balls also provided a glimpse of his dangerous late-order hitting. Morris leaked 17 off an over to complete a miserable day.Roland-Jones’ best shot was a pulled six off Rabada. As he revelled in the near-absurdity of it all, he might have imagined that he would have no happier moment all day. Then England tossed him the ball and he realised that it was only the start.

Mohammad Akram, Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy head coach, has resigned from the post due to family reasons, three months before his contract expires

Umar Farooq24-Oct-2015Mohammad Akram, Pakistan’s National Cricket Academy head coach, has resigned from the post due to family reasons, three months before his contract expires. The resignation is yet to be accepted, but Akram is committed to quitting a full-time job to be around his family who is based in England.”I have resigned with no regret,” Akram told ESPNcricinfo. “I have enjoyed every moment working with Pakistan cricket. I have done a lot to the best of my ability and I see the players now started to bloom. I worked so hard to get the system going and the result of my efforts is quite evident. I am leaving the set-up in safe hands.”Akram, 41, had joined the set-up as Pakistan bowling coach three years ago and since then had worked in various capacities including selector, head of illegal bowling committee, Pakistan A coach, and is the man responsible for imposing the fitness clause on Pakistan cricket. His other big achievement was reviving the youth and A team tours to other countries and to make a second-string team at every level.According to Akram, he had been thinking about resigning over many months. His family is based in England and he was based in Lahore in National Cricket Academy. He said living away from his family and not seeing his kids growing up was a painful thing for him.”I am a family man but with this job from 9 to 5 in Lahore, living away form family, it isn’t working for me. Earlier, when I was a bowling coach, I still had a time to visit my family frequently, but since then I have shifted to an in-house job I was not able to make it. I came here to contribute for cricket but at the same time my family is much more important.”Akram is also presently under immense pressure over his part-time job as an analyst with the host broadcaster during the ongoing Pakistan-England Tests. He was given all the due permissions from relevant PCB authorities, including media director Amjad Hussain and the director NCA Aizad Hussain Syed, but in the media his job was questioned.”I am not bothered at all about any undue criticism because I am here with the permission,” he said. “Back home at NCA, I didn’t have much to do as head coach as these are the idle months. I am not stepping down due to criticism but the main thing taken precedence in my resigning is just my family as I want to reconnect with my kids and my family back in England.”

The Bangladesh Cricket Board will issue show-cause notices to Elias Sunny and Nadif Chowdhury after they participated in a private T20 tournament last month in the USA without the board’s permission

Mohammad Isam19-Aug-2015The Bangladesh Cricket Board will issue show-cause notices to Elias Sunny and Nadif Chowdhury after they participated in a private Twenty20 tournament last month in the USA without the board’s permission. The tournament also featured Mohammad Ashraful, who was banned by the BCB last year for his role in fixing during the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League. Sunny and Nadif will also be summoned before the board’s disciplinary committee, according to media committee chairman Jalal Yunus.Sunny and Nadif, who are contracted first-class cricketers with the BCB, played in a T20 tournament in Michigan along with two other Bangladeshi players, Shaker Ahmed and Tapash Baisya. Ashraful, who was given a five-year ban last year, was a team-mate of these four players in Michigan, and also played a celebrity cricket tournament in July with at least nine current and former Bangladesh cricketers. The BCB, however, didn’t comment on whether current players can play alongside a banned cricketer in the same tournament.”We will showcause [sic] both Sunny and Nadif for playing without the permission of the BCB,” Yunus said. “Later it will be referred to the disciplinary committee who will summon them. Every player knows that they must take prior permission from the BCB to play in any tournament abroad.”He added that their participation in the forthcoming domestic season will depend on the outcome of the disciplinary committee hearing.Rajasthan Royals cricketer Pravin Tambe was one of the cricketers who played in a private T20 tournament in New Jersey that also featured Ashraful. Tambe, however, is unlikely to face any sanctions because of the nebulous state of affairs in the USA Cricket Association.In July, the BCB had sought an explanation from Sabbir Rahman for playing in a celebrity cricket tournament in July although a decision on the matter is still pending.

Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, has been banned for life from all BCCI affairs by the board during a special general meeting (SGM) in Chennai on Wednesday

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2013Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, has been expelled from the BCCI during a special general meeting (SGM) of the board in Chennai. The unanimous decision was made quickly after the meeting began at 2.00 pm and it came following a series of legal proceedings in court over the last couple of weeks, as Modi tried to stay the SGM. The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the final go-ahead for the BCCI meeting and the board’s action was swift and severe.Anirudh Chaudhary, the Haryana Cricket Association secretary, proposed the expulsion and the motion was seconded by Ranjib Biswal, the Orissa Cricket Association president. The sanction could prevent Modi from holding a position in the board again. The BCCI said it had discussed during the SGM, the findings of the disciplinary committee against Modi, as well as a letter Modi had written to the board secretary on September 24, requesting a postponement of the meeting.At the SGM the board “resolved that Mr. Lalit Modi is guilty of committing acts of serious misconduct and indiscipline, and therefore, in exercise of powers as per Regulation 32 of the Memorandum and Rules and Regulations of the Board, Mr. Lalit Modi be and is hereby expelled from the BCCI. He shall forfeit all his rights and privileges as Administrator. He shall not in future be entitled to hold any position or office, or be admitted in any Committee or any member or associate member of the Board.”Modi, speaking to said he would continue to fight the BCCI. “I expected the ban, it’s sad for Indian cricket because it shows the BCCI is least concerned for the integrity of cricket,” he said. “It’s a cosy club. I’m going to be here, fighting them. I think Indian cricket needs cleansing and as far as I am concerned I am going to go after them. Till now they were colleagues. Time has now come to take everything out of the box and put it in public domain.”I was already gone. I was suspended for three years. I kept fighting. I will continue to fight. I am moving on, I am looking at other sports. Wait and watch … it’s a global league. I have not been sitting here idle.”The BCCI’s disciplinary committee had found Modi guilty on eight different charges of “various acts of indiscipline and misconduct”. The charges, relating to irregularities in various financial and administrative matters of the IPL including the sale of franchise and media rights, were pressed by the BCCI in 2010 soon after Modi’s swift and dramatic exit from the league he founded.

A spirited performance on the field, followed by a resilient 95-run stand between David Warner and Unmukt Chand helped Daredevils add a third win to come level with Knight Riders

The Report by Devashish Fuloria01-May-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDavid Warner played a measured 66 to marshall the chase•BCCI

A spirited performance on the field, followed by a resilient 95-run stand between David Warner and Unmukt Chand helped Delhi Daredevils add a third win to come level with Kolkata Knight Riders. Knight Riders are now level with Daredevils, squandering a two-point advantage. The task of making it to the playoffs, for both, remains a distant dream.Daredevils had been the happier side halfway into their innings. The first couple of overs from Brett Lee and L Balaji indicated there was help for the bowlers, but Virender Sehwag laced a couple of boundaries to set the innings into motion. Gautam Gambhir spilled an easy chance off Sehwag at short cover, but it didn’t hurt Knight Riders much. Sehwag steered a length delivery into the hands of slip in the next over, the relief writ large on Gambhir’s face. And when Mahela Jayawardene fell in an identical manner the next over, Knight Riders had found an opening.Unmukt Chand had a torrid time in his first four games, but he set about improving his run with a patient stay in the middle. He was at sea against Sunil Narine’s variations, but hung in and kept rotating the strike. Fortunately for Daredevils, there wasn’t much scoreboard pressure; only a couple of productive overs were needed to catch up with the required rate.That impetus was provided by measured aggression from David Warner, who pierced the boundary every now and then and helped bring the equation under control during the 12th over that yielded 15 runs. By that time, Chand had settled down and started stroking boundaries – an upper-cut past slip being the most stylish – to bring up his best score this IPL. He fell trying to hasten the end but Warner, who scored his third half-century this IPL, switched gears, unleashed the ruthless strokeplay he’s acquired a reputation for and sealed victory with 13 balls to spare.Gambhir called the Raipur stadium one of the best in the country in terms of facilities, but the venue didn’t bring any cheer for Knight Riders after they chose to bat. Manvinder Bisla, who was in imperious touch in the last two matches, started with a casual pull that rocketed to the deep square-leg boundary, but, off the very next ball, Gambhir called him for a suicidal single and paid the price as Irfan, the bowler, beat him in a dash to the striker’s end.What followed was a period in which the Daredevils seamers – and the fielders – started shutting escape routes for the batsmen. Bisla was beaten for pace by a sharp delivery from Umesh Yadav. Yusuf Pathan attempted to mark his authority with a huge hit off Morne Morkel, but was brilliantly caught next ball by Irfan, who took the skier running backwards from square leg.That brought the experienced pair of Jacques Kallis and Eoin Morgan together, but their alliance was short-lived. Morgan reverse-swept Shahbaz Nadeem for a boundary, but when he tried to pull the long-hop next ball, Yadav charged in from deep square leg to take a good, low diving catch. Kallis followed Morgan in the next over, as another stunning, one-handed catch at point, from Ben Rohrer, reduced Knight Riders to 50 for 4 in the ninth over.Debabrata Das and Rajat Bhatia started the repair job, making slow progress with occasional hits to the boundary to bring Knight Riders to 83 for 5 with five overs to go. They hobbled to 110 for 6 at the end of the 18th, but some timely hitting by Lee propped up the score to 136, a good effort on a ground with bigger boundaries. It wasn’t good enough, however.

James Pattinson achieved in Brisbane what Nathan Lyon managed in Galle and Pat Cummins accomplished in Johannesburg: a five-wicket haul on Test debut to help Australia to victory

The Report by Brydon Coverdale04-Dec-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
James Pattinson collected three wickets in his first over of the day•Getty Images

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