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England seamer says current levels of inclusion from players of Afro-Caribbean heritage are ‘just not OK’

George Dobell11-Jun-2020James Anderson believes the game must be “more active” to combat discrimination and that current levels of inclusion from players of Afro-Caribbean heritage are “just not okay”.Anderson, the leading wicket-taker among seam bowlers in Test history, said that recent events – notably the death of George Floyd and the global reaction it has sparked – had caused him to reflect on his own experiences and question whether he had done enough to combat racism.And he revealed that the England team will talk about how they express their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement – possibly in conjunction with the West Indies team – when the series between the sides begins in July.”It’s been a very thought-provoking few weeks for everyone,” Anderson said. “It’s made me do a lot of thinking. We will have conversations about what we can do as players to make a stand, definitely. I expect that to be a conversation we have.”It’s made me think ‘have I experienced racism on a cricket field?’ I couldn’t remember any instances. I wasn’t in New Zealand when Jofra Archer was racially abused. But it made me think and it made me think ‘have I turned a blind eye to things?'”ALSO READ: ICC to use ‘common sense’ if players pay tribute to George FloydAnderson admitted he was also struck by a Tweet sent by a journalist on Wednesday which suggested that, by the time the 2019 domestic season ended, there was only one UK-born, state-educated cricketer of Afro-Caribbean heritage playing first-class cricket in England.”I saw the stat that showed there’s only one black player who’s come through the state system in county cricket,” he said. “And that’s just not okay. It can’t keep going the way it is. It’s just not okay.”So, as a sport, we need to actively make this game for everyone. That’s the sort of thing I’ve been thinking about, really. Is there more I can do as a player to help the situation? Can I be more active? As players and a game we need to be more active.” Meanwhile Anderson expressed a hope that the enforced break due to the Covid-19 pandemic will help him extend his career. Anderson will be 38 at the end of July and has been struck by injury in two of his most recent three Tests.”I think the break will definitely have helped me,” he said. “I’ve had a few months off bowling properly and luckily I have some equipment at home so I’ve been doing some good strength work.”But I haven’t thought too far ahead. After the last 12 months, with the injuries that I’ve had, I just want to get back to playing and make sure I don’t get any injuries as has happened in the previous times I have come back to playing. I am fully focused on getting my body in the right place. Who knows how long I can keep playing?”Anderson is 16 wickets short of the 600 mark in Test cricket and 41 short of the 1,000 mark in first-class cricket. If he reaches either milestone, he may well prove the last seam bowler to do so. But despite all the success, he admitted he had been encouraged by his performance in the Cape Town Test, where his seven wickets helped England to a memorable victory and where he proved to himself that he could still thrive at the top level.”It’s not a case of proving myself to anyone else,” he said. “I think when I played those two Tests in South Africa, it’s almost proving to yourself that you can still do it.”The five wickets at Cape Town helped me. If there were ever any doubts about retirement, it certainly told me I was able to keep going, I am able to perform at the top level. I think that’s really important for me at this stage of my career.”The last year has been frustrating for me. Before that, my injury record was pretty good. I’m hoping it was just a dodgy 12-months and my body is in a good place now to be able to cope with whatever’s to come.”As long as I can prove to myself that I am good enough to keep playing, good enough to keep my place in the team, then I will keep going and I’ll keep working hard on my fitness.”

Alastair Cook conceded that England, although often competitive, lost the pressure moments, leaving him to hold out the hope that they would learn from their shortcomings

Andrew McGlashan in Sharjah05-Nov-2015Alastair Cook praised his team’s efforts against Pakistan but conceded that repeated batting collapses and a failure to seize vital moments had led to the 2-0 scoreline.England slumped to a 127-run defeat on the final day in Sharjah, collapsing against the spin of Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar and Shoaib Malik in a fashion that many pre-series estimates expected to happen much sooner. The result meant England slipped to No. 6 in the world rankings while Pakistan climbed to No. 2.They had resumed on 46 for 2 with Cook and Joe Root – England’s two best batsman at the crease – possessing the belief they could hunt down 284, even though it would have been far and away their best chase in Asia, but an early clatter of wickets against Yasir and Zulfiqar left them 59 for 6 with defeat inevitable despite a battling 63 from Cook.England’s Nos 3-7 made just eight runs between them in the second innings – the joint worst ever by that combination in England Test history – and it followed a collapse on the third morning in Dubai which cost them the second Test.Cook’s 263 in the opening Test in Abu Dhabi also turned out to be finished as England’s only century of a series where batsmen have made starts but not cashed in.”It’s costing us dearly,” Cook said of the batting collapses. “To lose four for 11 wasn’t good enough and we keep doing it when the pressure is on. It is incredibly hard starting your innings out here on a fifth-day wicket against those bowlers. But for us to get better, go up the rankings and win away from home we can’t allow that to happen.”The guys are disappointed. I hate the words ‘you’ll learn from it’ but you do, especially in conditions such as these because we go back to India and Bangladesh next winter. We’ll see then whether we have learned.”In general I thought our batting has improved throughout the series in terms of the way we played but when the pressure came on in Dubai and again here we just weren’t good enough.”As well as the significant batting collapses, there were also mistakes in the field that came at a heavy price for England. They began in the first Test when Ian Bell dropped catches offered by Mohammad Hafeez and Asad Shafiq that cost a total of 188 runs while Shoaib Malik was caught off a no-ball on 40 and went onto make 245.On the fourth morning in Sharjah the match was still in the balance, with Pakistan holding a 74-run lead with seven wickets hand, when Jonny Bairstow failed to pick Adil Rashid’s googly and missed a stumping chance off Hafeez when he had 97 and he would finish with 151. Stuart Broad also put down a tough caught-and-bowled chance when Hafeez was on 113 and James Anderson spilled Shafiq at mid-on when he had 29.”Our four seamers in particular were outstanding but the bottom line is we were just weren’t good enough with the bat to repel the Pakistan bowlers at crucial times,” Cook said. “Then with the ball and in the field we weren’t able to take those tough half chances – yesterday in particular when the game was still alive, we had three or four chances to get Hafeez – none of them easy – but we weren’t good enough to take them. I think that epitomised the series. We were there or thereabouts but not quite good enough to put Pakistan under pressure or grab that opportunity ourselves.”I can’t fault the lads’ efforts. We threw everything at Pakistan for 15 days, with our commitment, our thought, our desire and in some really testing conditions. They’ve been absolutely outstanding. But it’s not down to effort, it’s the crucial moments and we just weren’t quite good enough during those. We have to front up to it and get better.”

Allrounder gets through 16.5 overs on second day in absence of Kasun Rajitha and Dhananjaya de Silva

Andrew Fidel Fernando27-Dec-2020Dasun Shanaka batted well with the tail to complete his first Test fifty on the second morning of the Centurion Test, and yet, his more significant contribution so far may have been with the ball. Shanaka is a batting allrounder but was required to deliver almost 17 overs after two Sri Lanka bowlers – a third of their serious bowling resources – were unavailable through injury.Sri Lanka are unwilling to elaborate on the extent of Kasun Rajitha’s groin injury, believing that hiding that information confers a competitive advantage – however miniscule. But the early signs are that Rajitha, one of Sri Lanka’s three frontline seamers, will bowl no more than the 13 deliveries he bowled in this Test. With Dhananjaya de Silva’s offspin also officially unavailable due to a grade two tear in his thigh, Shanaka may have a heavy bowling workload through the course of this game.”Kasun Rajitha’s injury is really going to affect us – we all know how well he bowled on the last tour here,” Shanaka said at the end of day two at Centurion. Rajitha, it is worth remembering, took nine wickets at 23.22 on Sri Lanka’s last tour in South Africa. “Dhananjaya de Silva also comes in and bowls when they are batting well, and he dries up the runs for us. He does that job. I think we will feel their absence,” Shanaka said.Related

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• De Silva suffers torn thigh, ruled out of SA series

• Elgar, Markram and du Plessis put SA in control

Both Rajitha and de Silva are understood to have been tasked with performing the holding role in this Test. Without them in the attack, South Africa scored at 4.4 runs an over through day two, getting within 80 runs of Sri Lanka’s 395, after 72 overs of batting. Sri Lanka’s remaining bowlers were somewhat indisciplined through parts of the day, but where captain Dimuth Karunaratne might normally replace a bowler after a bad over, he was forced to persist with them, due to the lack of resources.”There’s a big effect with the loss of those two,” Shanaka said. “We’ve only got four bowlers, but we’ll have to manage. We have to think of it as an opportunity. More than the number of overs we bowled today, we didn’t bowl in such a a way that we created a lot of chances today. I think that’s why they were able to score quickly.”It’s a big ask for the other bowlers. But we’ll have to come up with a different plan in the morning and get the job done. Tomorrow morning there will be a bit of freshness in the pitch, so I think the 70-odd run [lead] that we’ve got could be enough to get back in the game.”On a personal note, however, Shanaka has already impressed in his first Test in three years. He might not have played this match had Angelo Mathews been fit, but he added vital runs with the tail, hitting a six-laden 66 not out off 87. And in a similar circumstance, it is unlikely that Mathews would ever have been able to bowl 16.5 overs in a day, susceptible to injury as he is.Shanaka may, in fact, have been his team’s most consistent operator on day two. He claimed the wicket of Dean Elgar, and went at 3.32 runs per over – a better economy rate than any other Sri Lanka bowler.”I was really happy to be able to play a Test after three years,” he said. “I think I’ve got a lot more experience now, and I get a lot of support from the team as well. I was nervous but I was able to turn that around.”

After three washouts and two losses, Durban Heat are on a roll, having won their third successive game

Firdose Moonda04-Dec-2019After three washouts and two losses in their first five games, Durban Heat have reeled off three successive wins, the latest coming in a high-scoring chase on Wednesday. This keeps them alive in the playoff race; they currently have 18 points in eight games, one behind third-placed Tshwane Spartans.Nelson Mandela Bay Giants’ record of the highest successful chase of the tournament barely lasted 24 hours as Heat eclipsed them in a 196 chase with seven balls to spare. While the season’s wait for a centurion continues, Alex Hales added to a string of quality 90-plus scores. He made 97 not out of 55 balls.Delport finally comes good Cameron Delport put on middling performances in his first seven matches. But in his eighth, he showed why he is such a sought-after player on the Global T20 circuit. His authoritative 84 off 49 balls included dismantling of two current South African bowlers and one former international. Delport took 15 runs off Kyle Abbott’s first over, including three fours. He sent Andile Phehlukwayo onto the roof of the stand at deep midwicket and dispatched Keshav Maharaj behind square on both sides to set up Paarl Rocks for an imposing total.Faf sustains momentumSo far, Faf du Plessis had only threatened to come good in the tournament. On Wednesday, he actually did by scoring his first half-century of the season at a strike rate of 183.33 despite initially playing second fiddle to Delport. After his dismissal, however, du Plessis was severe on Abbott, plundering 18 runs off his third over to remind the selectors and administrators of his abilities in the shortest format. It was a statement of sorts, given he was left out of the T20I squad that played in India, which also cast doubts over his future in the format. Performances like these will keep those who matter interested as South Africa look to build to the T20 World Cup next year.Look England, its Alex It wasn’t just du Plessis who was looking to catch the attention of the selectors. Hales, who last played for England in March, is also eyeing a comeback. The unbeaten 97 was his first significant score of the season, and it came at the right time. He went particularly hard at Hardus Viljoen’s short balls and struck four consecutive fours off his second over that went for 17. This kept the Heat on track at 53 for 1 in six overs. Yet, at the halfway mark, they needed 110 of the back 10. Hales held his shape and shellacked 61 from the next five to leave them needing just 49 in the final five. Hales remained unbeaten and saw them home.Shamsi calling Tabraiz Shamsi’s two wickets in this match put him joint-second on the wicket charts, alongside Imran Tahir and Junior Dala. He picked up two wickets in this match. The first came when Wihan Lubbe was caught in the deep while the second was the strike of David Miller, who was caught behind while attempting a cut. Miller’s wicket after he’d made a 22-ball 40. It was one of the key moments in the game.

Sri Lanka batter was picked up by the police from the team hotel in Sydney on Sunday morning

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2022Sri Lanka batter Danushka Gunathilaka has been charged by police after an alleged sexual assault in Sydney’s east. He was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning from the team hotel in Sydney’s central business district after a police investigation into reports that a 29-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted at a residence in Rose Bay earlier in the week.”The woman met with the man after communicating with him for a number of days via an online dating application; it’s alleged he then sexually assaulted her on the evening of Wednesday 2 November 2022,” a New South Wales police statement said. “As part of ongoing investigations, a crime scene examination was undertaken by specialist police at an address in Rose Bay yesterday.”Following further inquiries, a 31-year-old man was arrested at a hotel on Sussex Street, Sydney, shortly before 1am today (Sunday 6 November 2022).”He was taken to Sydney City Police Station and charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent. The Sri Lankan national was refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court via AVL today.”SLC issued a statement on Sunday morning after the news had become public.”Sri Lanka Cricket confirms that it was notified by the ICC that player Danushka Gunathilaka has been arrested on the allegations of sexual assault of a woman in Sydney, and Mr. Gunathilaka is due to appear in court tomorrow (7 November 2022),” the statement said. “SLC will closely monitor the proceedings in court and, in consultation with the ICC, will expeditiously initiate a thorough inquiry into the matter and take stern action against the player if found guilty.”Gunathilaka was ruled out of the T20 World Cup during the first round with a hamstring injury. He was replaced in the squad but remained with the team in Australia. He has played eight Tests, 47 ODIs and 46 T20Is for Sri Lanka since making his international debut in November 2015.Sri Lanka’s tournament ended on Sunday following a defeat in their final group match against England at the SCG.

The incident occurred in the 19th over of Kings XI’s Super Over thriller against Delhi Capitals on Sunday

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Sep-20203:10

IPL 2020: ‘Decorum’ v ‘Common sense’: Manjrekar and Moody discuss the short-run incident

Kings XI Punjab have lodged an appeal with match referee Javagal Srinath over what they believe was an erroneous line call in the 19th over of their match against the Delhi Capitals on Sunday night. The “short run” call cost them the game, their CEO Satish Menon has said.Umpire Nitin Menon’s call for one-run short against Chris Jordan in the penultimate over of their chase, Satish Menon believes, could “cost them a playoff spot”. He said that technological intervention could have given them the extra run and possibly a victory.”We have appealed to the match referee,” he told PTI. “While a human error can happen and we understand that, there is no room for human errors like these in a world-class tournament like the IPL. This one could cost us a playoff berth. A loss of a game is a loss of a game. It is unfair. I hope the rules are reviewed so that there is no margin for human error.”Menon also told ESPNcricinfo there shouldn’t be any errors because of the presence of technology: “Even if you give the benefit of doubt to human error, in a Twenty20 match, a crunch match, there should be nothing called an error. Because you have got technology today for everything.”However, as per the playing conditions of both the ICC and the IPL, the umpire can use the assistance of third umpire only in cases of a possible dismissal or an unclear boundary decision. So there was no way under the rules that the on-field umpire could have sought the third umpire’s inputs. The third umpire can’t get into the game without being asked for by the on-field umpires or a player using a DRS review. The only exception to this is the no-ball calls, which he used to keep an eye on in cases of dismissals before he was mandated to check every delivery for overstepping.The incident on Sunday occurred when Mayank Agarwal tapped the ball towards mid-on to comfortably complete two runs. TV replays confirmed Jordan turned for a second run only after dragging his bat inside the crease for the first run. Yet Menon, stationed at square leg, deemed it to be a run short.Eventually, Jordan was caught at square leg off the final delivery with Kings XI needing one run for victory, thereby forcing the game into a Super Over.Is technology foolproof? The incident has reignited the debate about how cricket can utilise technology better for line calls. However, technology itself is not always definitive. On Sunday there was another incident that nearly became a talking point when Paul Reiffel, the TV umpire, called the last ball of the Capitals innings, bowled by Jordan to Marcus Stoinis, a no-ball.However, ESPNcricinfo understands that the two side-on cameras monitoring the line calls for no-ball showed different results for the particluar delivery. While one camera angle showed the Kings XI bowler had stepped over the line, the other one had his foot on the line. Regardless of the conflicting pictures, it was called a no-ball, but the wider point was: for the same delivery and same foot landing, two different cameras showing two different pictures.The short run incident could be similar to the no-ball event. It is understood that in the case of the short run, the camera angle that showed Jordan turning after the first run was from the side opposite to where Nitin Menon, the square-leg umpire, was standing. While Menon is understood to have seen Jordan’s bat touching the line, the camera angle from the opposite end showed the bat crossing the line. Incidentally, the replay was shown on TV only two deliveries later.

Fifties from three of the top four lead visitors to 305 for 3 and a lead of 86 with one day to play

ECB Reporters Network20-Aug-2019Derbyshire’s batsmen fought back strongly to frustrate promotion-chasing Gloucestershire on the third day of the match at Derby. Gloucestershire had an imposing lead of 219 after they were bowled out for 419 with Luis Reece taking 4 for 91 but by the close, the game was back in the balance with Derbyshire 305 for 3, a lead of 86.Billy Godleman top-scored with 86, Wayne Madsen made 69 and Tom Lace an unbeaten 69 to raise the home side’s hopes of pulling off an unlikely victory on the final day.Gloucestershire had started holding all the cards but after their last three wickets added only 23, the bowlers lost line and length on a pitch which had flattened out.The wicket did not appear so benign at the start when Reece again showed his quality as a seam and swing bowler by polishing off the tail in the space of four overs. He nipped one back to defeat Jack Taylor’s defensive push and knock out middle stump and after Josh Shaw played across the line, more late movement bowled Ben Allison first ball.Even so, Gloucestershire’s lead was still a formidable one but they were unable to put Derbyshire under pressure with a consistent line and by lunch, Godleman and Reece were established.Ryan Higgins and David Payne, who had been struck on the helmet by Ravi Rampaul, could not reproduce the sustained discipline which had undermined Derbyshire on the first day and the ball was 20 overs old when Shaw broke through.Reece missed an attempted pull and was lbw for 38 but another 106 runs were added before the next wicket fell as Godleman and Madsen ticked along at four an over.Some of Gloucestershire’s fielding became scruffy and Derbyshire were close to clearing the arrears before Godleman lost concentration and edged a loose drive at Allison. But Madsen was the wicket they wanted given his impressive record against Gloucestershire which included an unbeaten double-century at Bristol in April.He reached his 50 just before tea and with Lace, put Derbyshire in credit in the 65th over as Gloucestershire’s seamers continued to offer too much width.Ben Charlsworth conceded four fours in his first two overs and Miles Hammond became the seventh bowler used as Gloucestershire became increasingly desperate for a wicket. When it came, it was the result of a poor shot from Madsen who reached for a drive at Allison and spooned a catch to cover.Gloucestershire should have had another but Tom Smith dropped Leus du Plooy on 7 and when he spilled the same player on 22 off Payne with the new ball, Derbyshire sensed the momentum was now with them.

Uganda and hosts Oman both picked up big wins on day one of the World Cricket League Division Three

Peter Della Penna09-Nov-2018Left-arm seamer Charles Waiswa produced a fantastic spell with the old ball, polishing off the last four Denmark wickets in the space of 13 deliveries to set up a five-wicket win for Uganda. Arnold Otwani followed with a classy 88 in the chase of 166 to help Uganda secure an early net run-rate advantage over the tournament field.Denmark got off to a strong start after winning the toss and choosing to bat. Bilal Hassun struggled with his lines against the left-right combo of Freddie Klokker and Hamid Shah in his three-over spell that went for 25 runs as Denmark reached 45 for 0.Riazat Ali Shah made the initial breakthrough coming on at first change, getting both openers to prod edges behind to Man of the Match Otwani. The left-right spin combo of Irfan Afridi and Henry Ssenyondo put the brakes on Denmark’s scoring in a three-maiden sequence from the 16th through 18th. The pressure resulted in Afridi claiming the wicket of Taranjit Bharaj, and Ssenyondo struck twice to reduce Denmark to 82 for 5.Denmark rebuilt through a 48-run stand between Saif Ahmad and Henriksen, then later another 28-run partnership between Mads and his brother Jonas. However, Waiswa ran through the tail in his second spell, ending with 4 for 25 and leaving Denmark at least 40 runs below the par score.Otwani had been dropped after Uganda’s debacle on home soil at WCL Division Three last year and missed the team’s promotion run in Malaysia this past April but vindicated his recall to the squad with a sensational innings. Overcoming the early loss of his captain Roger Mukasa, Otwani cut through point then drove over cover for back-to-back fours to get off the mark.Otwani struck six boundaries in the space of eight balls across the seventh and eighth overs to leave Denmark reeling. A sweep behind square for his tenth boundary brought up his fifty off 46 balls, before he began peppering the gap between backward point and short third man for another flurry of fours.Otwani fell 12 short of his ton trying to pierce the gap again, caught at short third man. But by that stage, Uganda needed just 36 off the last 21 overs. Riazat dashed any hopes of a Denmark rally by striking his second and third balls down the ground for four, his unbeaten 29 taking Denmark home with 82 balls remaining.Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood pulls through midwicket for a boundary to clinch victory•Peter Della Penna

Oman‘s dominance over Kenya from February at Division Two in Namibia continued on Friday, as the WCL Division Three hosts scored a commanding five-wicket win at the Oman Cricket Academy in Al Amerat.Oman had swept Kenya in a pair of matches this past February and the visitors were no match for the home side on this occasion either, slipping to 8 for 3 in the Powerplay before eventually succumbing for 164.Bilal Khan, who took a five-for the last time these two teams played, struck on the fifth ball of the match by beating Alex Obanda for pace and knocking back his stumps for a duck. Kenya also struggled with Kaleemullah’s height and bounce as a series of maidens built pressure, resulting in another wicket for Bilal. Jatinder Singh took his second catch in the slips in the following over as Kaleemullah followed up Bilal’s early strikes to get Dhiren Gondaria for the first of his four wickets.Kenya grinded their way through much of the rest of the innings, valiantly lasting until the 50th over.Oman’s chase got off to a typically fiery start behind Aqib Ilyas, who stroked five boundaries in his 22 off 20 balls before falling leg before to Nelson Odhiambo. Fellow opener Jatinder grinded out 33 off 49 balls before he was dismissed by Bhudia’s spin, opening the door for captain Zeeshan Maqsood to steer the rest of the chase.Despite needing just 31 more to win over the final 18 overs and six wickets in hand, Oman took a peculiarly cautious approach in a format where the net run-rate tiebreaker can be crucial by the final day. They took until the 43rd over when Maqsood, who in the past has had a reputation for rapid scoring as an opening batsman, finally brought up his half-century off 93 balls, ending the match with his fifth boundary.

Amid tense scenes at The Oval, on the final day of the season, Essex inflicted a first defeat on champions Surrey

Paul Edwards at the Kia Oval27-Sep-20181:15

Championship win finally starting to hit home – Burns

ScorecardThe chairmen of the first-class counties were holding a meeting at The Oval on this final day of the 2018 season. One would like to think they could not give much attention to their agenda. One hopes they looked outside and saw the County Championship offering its final blazon of the summer. One hopes they watched Essex defeat Surrey by one wicket and realised they hold a priceless game in their hands. And there is no harm in hoping these things; hope and reflection are the staple foods of cricket lovers in autumn.Yet for almost all of this remarkable day there was no time for gentle elegy or fond recollection. Instead there was only the keen blade of battle as Essex dismissed Surrey for 541 and then sought to score the 132 runs they needed to inflict a first defeat of the season on the 2018 champions. No team in the history of first-class cricket had ever conceded a first-innings deficit of 410, as Surrey had here, and gone on to win. Only the early afternoon shadows suggested late September; the cricket itself was of such intensity it could have played in mid-June with the title still in the hazard.The climax of this extraordinary game saw the Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate pitched against the three-man Surrey attack. Inspired by the final challenge of defending a mere 131 before receiving the Championship trophy, Morne Morkel, Jade Dernbach and Amar Virdi had set about their task without restraint. On the Harleyford Road the 436 went to Paddington by way of Marble Arch and the 185 to Lewisham by way of Denmark Hill. Inside the Oval a few thousand watched in the sharp afternoon sunshine as Morkel straightened one up to knock back M Vijay’s off stump. Then Martin Saggers agreed that Nick Browne had edged Virdi to Rikki Clarke at slip. The batsman was unconvinced but the visitors were 25 for 2, still over 100 runs from their target.Ryan ten Doschate got his side over the line•Getty Images

Like many batting sides before them, Essex got a severe attack of the jitters. Dan Lawrence edged Dernbach to Clarke at slip and Ravi Bopara ambled off miserably when given out caught at short leg off Virdi: 47 for 4. Eight runs later the Dernbach/Clarke combination got rid of Tom Westley for 20 but suddenly ten Doeschate began a counter-attack against Virdi, who conceded 30 runs off three overs as he was swept and reverse-swept to the fence.By now a crowd which had turned up partly to watch the trophy presented and the champagne dutifully sprayed were fully engaged in the latter stages of an epic contest. Ten Doeschate and Adam Wheater took the score to 97 but Wheater then edged Morkel to Ryan Patel at second slip. Two balls later Simon Harmer nicked a catch to Ben Foakes off Morkel, who four overs later claimed his 59th and final wicket of the season when he had Jamie Porter lbw for 4: 111 for 8.Matt Coles put on 13 more with ten Doeschate before being called by his captain for a third run which he had no hope of making. Ten Doeschate, you see, can run like the wind; Coles cannot. Mark Stoneman stopped the ball on the boundary and dragged it back to Will Jacks, who hurled it to Foakes. Coles was run out by the length of a long jump pit and went off with the air empurpled around him.Now Matt Quinn joined ten Doeschate and the Surrey fast bowlers put in one last effort. Singles and twos were scampered. Morkel did not spare himself. His devotion to this county could not be greater had he been born in Virginia Water rather than Vereenging. He rattled Quinn’s helmet and hit him on the hand but he could not dismiss him. Then ten Doeschate nudged Dernbach to long leg and both game and season were done.Tastes sweet: Morne Morkel drinks in Surrey’s title•Getty Images

The players gathered together in mid-pitch and exchanged handshakes. As county cricketers have done on countless occasions for over a century they agreed what an incomparable game this is. Coles, who had earlier taken completed a five-wicket haul to set up his side’s victory, offered his congratulations to Surrey’s players on their title. Rory Burns and his colleagues then devoted themselves to the serious celebrations. Unfortunately, though, Colin Graves, the chairman of the ECB, was not available to present the trophy to Surrey. This was a shame. Graves has many responsibilities but presenting such worthy champions with their prize was an honour he should have accepted and relished. His absence did him no credit.But perhaps it hardly mattered. The thousands who gathered in front of one of cricket’s greatest pavilions did not miss Graves and neither did Surrey’s players. They will, though, remember one of the great summers of their lives, a summer which ended with a glorious contest played between two sides neither of whom spared a sinew. If this was the day when the 2018 season withdrew from our sight and took its place in our memory, we can at least be sure it will occupy an honoured place.For our cricket ended, much as it has been played, under a cloudless blue sky. It ended on a day when only one game was taking place. Both these things were entirely fitting. They brought a proper sense of closure to an idyll which, regardless of its off-stage rumblings, has been one to treasure. It will take more than the absence of one man, however grand, to remove the gilt from that gingerbread.

England will be looking to fine tune for the World Cup while West Indies could field two debutants as they seek a winning formula in ODIs

The Preview by Alan Gardner19-Feb-2019

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Rarely does a five-match ODI series become the focal point of any modern tour but, 100 days out from the World Cup, this is arguably the main event for both West Indies and England. While the tourists, so lacklustre during their Test defeat, will step out after a quick change of clothing as the No. 1-ranked ODI side, ready to hone their plans in the run-in to a tournament for which they are warm favourites, West Indies must attempt to channel the mood of optimism currently suffusing Caribbean cricket into an upturn in form in their weakest format.Jason Holder’s contribution to victories in the first two Tests against England (before he was suspended over his team’s slow over rate) further enhanced his reputation as an impressive young leader – but while the Test side has steadily come together over the last two years, results have been harder to come by in ODIs. Holder was appointed captain before the last World Cup, aged just 23, and has still to oversee a bilateral series win after 11 attempts.There were sparks of encouragement in India before Christmas, when West Indies won one game and tied another (which they probably should have won) while the series was still alive, as Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer shone with the bat; but they went on to lose in Bangladesh, with Holder absent through injury, and are set to rejig their side again just three months out from the World Cup.The likes of Chandrapaul Hemraj, Kieran Powell and Roston Chase have been dispensed with, while Andre Russell and Evin Lewis remain unavailable despite both playing in the BPL final 11 days ago. Chris Gayle is a welcome returnee, and is bound to bring some “Universe Boss” charisma to proceedings in what is set to be his final home series before retirement, while John Campbell could make a debut after impressing in the Tests. But little about the team is settled.England’s players, by contrast, know their roles backwards and you can pretty much pencil in their 15-man World Cup squad already – though the tantalising prospect of Jofra Archer becoming eligible next month adds a little spice. Is Mark Wood capable of replicating his 90-plus mph burst with the red ball in St Lucia? Can Liam Plunkett still harvest regular middle-overs wickets with his back-of-a-length hostility? How fit is Chris Woakes (and David Willey)? These are some of the questions likely to preoccupy Eoin Morgan over the next two weeks – though, as the Tests demonstrated, it would pay not to be complacent.Chris Gayle is back in the fold for West Indies•Getty Images

Form guide

West Indies: LWLLL (Last five completed matches, most recent first)
England: LWWW

In the spotlight

The spotlight is where Chris Gayle loves to be, and the announcement that he is to call it a (one-)day after the World Cup will ensure that he casts a long shadow in a squad light on experience. Gayle has only played 15 ODIs since the last World Cup, passing 50 three times, while his returns on the global T20 circuit have slipped from unparalleled greatness to merely very good. But just one sweetly struck six into the Kensington Oval crowd could be enough to light some farewell fireworks.Talking of explosive openers, England have a couple in Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy. While Bairstow’s role in the Test side has been subject of much discussion – from batting and keeping at No. 5, to specialist No. 3 back down to No. 7 and reclaiming the gloves – he has appeared at ease with his belligerent brief in one-day cricket. Roy, meanwhile, could look to push his Ashes credentials via white-ball success. With Alex Hales hovering, neither will want to experience a dip in form.

Team news

Campbell looks set to win his maiden ODI cap just a few weeks after coming into the Test team, while Nicholas Pooran, a member of the T20I side, is also in line for a potential debut. Kemar Roach may be rested, following his Test exploits, while Carlos Brathwaite has only just flown in from the Pakistan Super League.West Indies: (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 John Campbell, 3 Shai Hope (wk), 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Nicholas Pooran, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Fabian Allen/Devendra Bishoo, 9 Ashley Nurse, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Oshane ThomasEngland rested Jos Buttler for their warm-up match on Sunday but he is set to slot back in ahead of Hales. Woakes got through seven overs against the UWI Vice-Chancellor’s XI, having struggled for fitness during the Test leg of the tour, while Wood was preferred as his new-ball partner, which could mean Willey and Tom Curran are the bowlers to miss out.England: (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood

Pitch and conditions

There has only been one 300-plus total at the Kensington Oval in the last 10 years – made by England in 2017 – but the pitch is expected to be a good one. The forecast is for a warm, humid day with some cloud cover but minimal chance of rain.

Stats and Trivia

• England have won their last nine ODIs against West Indies, including a 186-run thrashing in Barbados two years ago.
• West Indies’ last bilateral series win in ODIs came against Bangladesh in 2014.
• Joe Root needs 54 runs to become the fourth Englishman to reach 5000 in ODIs.

Quotes

“We have got to be clear on our bowling – England pack a heavy punch in their batting, they bat deep, and are top-ranked for a reason. We have to be precise. The way ODI cricket has gone, 300-320 is par these days.”
“We got beaten by Scotland last year and they are ranked lower than West Indies. Any side can be a threat on the day. West Indies are very strong at the moment and we’re not taking them lightly.”
England captain Eoin Morgan says they won’t underestimate the opposition