All posts by csb10.top

Big picture

South Africa lead the series after a convincing 74-run win in Paarl, but it is the hosts who are under pressure, having found themselves in this position only to falter more than once during their home summer. The Proteas led Test, ODI and T20 series against England after the opening match but went on to lose all but one of their subsequent encounters (the ODIs finished 1-1 after the second was washed out and the visitors won the third). South Africa’s results have also been inconsistent against Australia, bouncing back from a mammoth 107-run defeat in their first T20I to win the second, only to suffer another heavy defeat in the last to concede the series.There is, however, much for South Africa to be pleased about. A tight bowling performance led by Lungi Ngidi, Heinrich Klaasen’s maiden ODI century, a second successive fifty in the format for David Miller and Kyle Verreynne’s 48 on debut suggest they are in decent shape with bat and ball. Quinton de Kock, who smashed 70 off 47 balls en route to victory in the second T20 against Australia, and Temba Bavuma, who returned from a brief injury layoff in the first ODI, add extra power meaning this South African side is full of promise.Promise alone is not enough against an Australian side which is near full strength apart from the injured Glenn Maxwell though, and with the likes of David Warner, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne to contend with, the task for South Africa to hold their nerve and prevail is considerable.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)South Africa WLWWW
Australia LLLWL

In the spotlight

As South Africa’s premier allrounder, Andile Phehlukwayo‘s ability to close out a game comes into focus. While none of the home bowlers conceded more than six an over, he will be looking to improve on a return of 1 for 52 from his 10 overs. That comes off the back of his 1 for 47 from eight overs and none for 23 from two in two ODIs against England last month. He only played one of the three T20s against Australia, scoring 0 and taking one wicket.Australia found themselves wanting in terms of another imposing partnership to pick up where Smith and Labuschagne left off after their 84-run stand for the third wicket in Paarl. Alex Carey can play a vital part as a middle-order bolster in both limited-overs formats. Carey has featured as an opener for the majority of his domestic T20 career, but moved down the order in the most recent edition of the Big Bash, a role he has become more familiar with in white-ball internationals over the past year. Carey has not reached a half-century in the four ODI innings he has played since scoring back-to-back fifties – against New Zealand and South Africa – at the World Cup in July and said he wished he was able to take his side’s batting deeper in the first match of this series. He has a chance to do so now.

Team news

South Africa could be forgiven for sticking with a winning side. Janneman Malan is expected to be fit after suffering a leg problem late in Australia’s innings during the last match and, while he did fall for a first-ball duck on debut, it would seem harsh to drop him on that basis. However, Jon-Jon Smuts provides an option as both an opener and extra spinner, should they choose to go that way.South Africa: (possible) 1 Janneman Malan, 2 Quinton de Kock, 3 Temba Bavuma, 4 Kyle Verreyne, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Anrich Nortje, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabriaz ShamsiThe decision to combine Mitchell Marsh and D’Arcy Short as a fifth bowling option cost Australia 70 runs in the first match – they conceded 35 runs from five overs each – and may lead them to look towards Ashton Agar to reprise his role from the T20 series in which he was the leading wicket-taker from either side with eight at an average of 8.50 and economy rate of 5.66.Australia: (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Steve Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Mitchell Marsh, 6 Alex Carey, 7 D’Arcy Short/Ashton Agar, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions

Forecasts predict hot, dry conditions and the pitch is typically slow. Expect to see plenty of twos and threes on this ground, which has the biggest outfield in the country, and has been used increasingly less for international cricket over the past decade.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have won nine of their last 10 ODIs against Australia and have not lost to them on home soil since 2011.
• Lungi Ngidi is just three wickets shy of reaching the 50 mark in ODIs, with 47 from 25 matches so far.
• Of just three matches between these two sides at Bloemfontein, Australia have won two.

Quotes

“We’ll start this as a new game and a new start to the series, I think for us in order to play consistent cricket, it’s important that we start every new game like it’s the first game of the series to help us going towards winning series, back-to-back, as opposed to going one-nil and falling back towards the back end.”
“It’s a great opportunity to see where this group’s at and I’ve no doubt that we’l respond really strongly.”
Alex Carey believes that Australia will strike back after losing the series opener

Cricket Ireland has announced new coaching consultancy roles for William Porterfield, Ireland’s former captain across all formats, and Gary Wilson, the wicketkeeper-batsman who retired last week.Porterfield, 36, will combine his playing career with a job as consultant fielding coach, working with the men’s and women’s teams and the Ireland pathway system. He has also be named as Wilson’s assistant at the North West Warriors in Ireland’s interprovincial set-up.Recognised as one of Ireland’s best fielders, Porterfield’s last international appearance came in an ODI in January 2020, having stepped down from the captaincy a few months earlier.”I’m really excited about these two roles – both working within the national system and within the provincial system in the North West,” Porterfield said. “I had a bit of a taste of coaching with the Birmingham Bears last year, and am looking forward to working with some of Ireland’s most talented players – being able to pass on knowledge and experience from a coach’s perspective. It will be a bit different being a coach while still playing, but it’s going to be a great opportunity and I can’t wait to get stuck in.”The fielding role with Ireland is something I’m passionate about. I’ve prided myself on my fielding throughout my career, and tried to set high standards, so hopefully I’ll be able to help not only players from the senior men’s and women’s squads, but players from the under-age teams as well.”Related

• Ireland emphasise need for ICC funding and more context as Test drought continues

• Porterfield steps down as Ireland captain

• Dockrell, Porterfield, Rankin dropped for Afghanistan ODIs

• Gary Wilson retires to take up coaching role

Having called time on his professional career to take over as North West Warriors head coach and pathway manager, Wilson has also been given a consultant wicketkeeping role with Ireland, again working across men’s, women’s and age-group teams.Wilson said: “I’m thrilled to be able to support keepers up and down the Irish pathway in this new role. It’s a great opportunity to get back involved in the international set-up so soon after retirement, and it’s a role I’m looking forward to massively.”When I was initially discussing the scope of the role, what I really felt added to it was the ability to share my knowledge and experience with the keepers within the women’s game. Ed [Joyce] has been doing such a fantastic job as head coach, and I’m delighted to be able to work with him on bringing on the senior and emerging talent that we have here in Ireland.”Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s high performance director, added: “I’m delighted that we have not only appointed these two roles we have long sought, but to have appointed two world-class players like William and Gary represents a real win for Irish cricket and the players in our performance system.”For any young player to be able to access and learn from two of the best players Ireland has produced is an immense opportunity. I know both William and Gary have a passion for Irish cricket and are keen to help develop and improve Irish cricketers at all levels. I wish them well, but know they need no additional motivation – they are two of the most self-motivated people I have worked with and I look forward to seeing their work in this new capacity.”

It’s been a tournament of mixed emotions for Faf du Plessis, so it was fitting that his relief at finally getting “the horse out of the shed” in registering South Africa’s first point in four attempts should be tempered by frustration on a rain-wrecked day in Southampton that denied his side the chance to get into a proper World Cup dogfight.That said, by the latter stages of a five-hour rain delay, du Plessis – who had yet to get off the mark in the first seven deliveries of his innings – admitted that his team’s desire to get back onto the field had been tempered by the fear that a rain-shortened contest would have played into the hands of their opponents.Having lost two early wickets with only 29 runs on the board in 7.3 overs, the likelihood would have been a favourable DLS adjustment for West Indies, no matter how well South Africa had recovered. And so, in the final analysis, du Plessis was content to take his side’s battle for World Cup survival into Saturday’s clash with Afghanistan in Cardiff – the first of what he now knows will be five must-win contests.”The horse is out of the shed, if that’s the right wording,” said du Plessis. “You know we wanted to play a full game today. I think it’s pretty obvious that when you play a team like West Indies, just because of the make-up of their side. So it’s disappointing because it’s important for us to get some cricket in and start ticking over. But we can’t control the weather. So as a team, we’ll take the one point and move forward to the next week.”Given the grey skies that dogged Southampton all day, there’s clearly no knowing how West Indies’ own hard hitters would have fared when faced with an attack led once again by Kagiso Rabada and beefed up by the inclusion of the left-arm seamer, Beuran Hendricks – Dale Steyn’s newly acclimatised replacement. However, the available evidence suggested that South Africa actually dodged a bullet – especially after their designated mainstay, Hashim Amla, had been blasted from the crease in Sheldon Cottrell’s second over, to take his tournament tally to 25 runs in three visits.”Hash is a class player,” said du Plessis. “You know it’s tough on a wicket like that because, when you are opening up the innings, you need a bit of luck to go your way. Like most of our batters, it’s just a matter of getting in, and getting those starts converted into runs, because if you can get through the first 10-15 overs, that’s when the scores come.”There didn’t seem to be much prospect of any batsmen getting themselves in on a tricky deck, however. Aiden Markram fenced a short ball to the keeper to give Cottrell his second breakthrough, and the difficulty of knowing how to pace the rest of their innings was bound to have played on South Africa’s minds, given that they were nominally expected to see out a full 50 overs, but were almost certainly going to find themselves defending their target in considerably less.”Generally when you are chasing, it always favours the team batting second,” he said. “We batted seven overs, they are not expecting a shortened game, so the pace that you go at, and losing two wickets, [changes things].”Even with, around in my mind, when I was looking at 30, 35 overs, I was still feeling like if we get a score of 200, or 200-plus, I do feel there was enough in that wicket with our bowling attack, especially when playing Beuran today as well, an extra seamer.””But the further the game goes, the closer to a T20 game it becomes, the odds are heavily in their favour. So as it got a bit later in the day, then you’d rather get the point and go.”Floyd Reifer, West Indies’ head coach, tempered his own disappointment at the washout, but conceded that his team – irrespective of their defeat against Australia last week – would have fancied their chances of inflicting further damage on their demoralised opponents.”It was a good opportunity to play against them, like any other team in the competition,” Reifer said. “We are playing fearless cricket, so it doesn’t matter who we play. When we play them, we want to play the same brand of cricket that we are playing, what we executed in the past couple of games.”It was a chase that we should have won,” he added of the Australia match, when they came up short in pursuit of 289. “We kind of made some mistakes at key points in the game and it happens in cricket, but you learn from it. I’m sure next time most guys will be in that position and will make better decisions.”Either way, South Africa would all too readily swap positions in the group table with West Indies. However, du Plessis insisted it was too soon to start weighing up permutations in the fight for the top four, or to start wishing for certain teams to trip up to make their own requirement more manageable. The only thing that really matters, he said, is chalking up some overdue wins.”It is too far away,” du Plessis said. “Right now, for us, we need to focus on our performance. If we can get our performance sorted out, our skills, our confidence back up where it needs to be, and start getting on a roll of two or three games, you can only really look at those things when it comes to the last week of the tournament.”Naturally, when you are in a tournament like this, as the team at the bottom part of the log, you want the top team to keep winning to make sure there is a little bit of a breathing room for the other two or three teams, so you keep an eye on other results, maybe, in that aspect. But it’s obviously really out of our control.”

How’s your luck, Joe Root? Fighting for pride and, ahem, World Test Championship points at the end of a gruelling Ashes series and a summer flushed with emotional highs and lows, Root must have felt things were going his way as he went to tea on 57, his side reasonably placed on 169 for 3. Then Pat Cummins strolls in, rips the old ball past his outside edge and rattles the top of off with a stonking delivery that might as well have been a laser-guided replica of his dismissal at Old Trafford.Two innings, two dismissals, two unplayable deliveries. Well, maybe only unplayable if you are not coming forward as much as you should be – a minor quibble but they are fine margins at this level. Root had in fact looked much better with his footwork in compiling a fourth half-century of the series, but after benefiting from three drops earlier in the day, he finally saw his luck desert him as Australia tightened up after tea.Plenty has been said about the role of luck in sport, and life in general. England’s head selector, Ed Smith, wrote a book about it: . ESPN has the Luck Index, to try and fully quantify its effects. Some people prefer to imagine you make your own luck, falling back on a phrase often attributed to Gary Player: “The harder I practise, the luckier I get.”In cricket, the very first action is a game of chance. One captain tosses the coin, the other calls “heads” or “tails”. Sometimes, it’s a game you’d rather not win, and there was a hint of that uncertainty on a crisp, clear morning at The Oval. This is a ground on which it is possible to construct scores with the imposing solidity of the famous gas holders that squat behind its north side, as well as one given to spinning later in the game, but there was just a hint of mottled grass and a forecast for cloud cover throughout the day.As it turned out, Root lost the toss, but was still handed the chance to bat by his opposite number, Tim Paine, who wanted to extract any possible early advantage for his seamers. England’s openers then diced with danger during a testing new-ball spell from Cummins and Josh Hazlewood to post the highest first-wicket stand of the series (albeit a modest 27). Burns was given out lbw on 3, Hazlewood snaking the ball back to strike him on the back thigh – but Burns is a Surrey man, knows there’s a bit of bounce on this ground, and reviewed straight away.If that was more judgment than luck, Root was soon to benefit from a few helping prods from Dame Fortune. Coming in during the ninth over, after Joe Denly had finally run out of lives in his game of pin the tail on the donkey, Root attempted to strike the carefree notes that characterise the best of his batting, latching on to some unexpected width from Peter Siddle to squire his fifth and eighth balls for fours through backward point.Ground down through the series by the tight lines Australia have bowled to him, Root may well have resolved to play his shots and be damned. He dabbed and missed, inside-edged into his pads and generally threw some shapes before twice surviving presentable chances in the space of four balls delivered by – that man again – Cummins.The first, an airy pull on 24 that flew straight to deep backward square, was butchered by Siddle, who received a tongue-in-cheek ovation from the crowd when he walked back out towards the OCS Stand a couple of deliveries later. Cummins then induced a thick outside edge in his following over, only for Paine to do Root another favour by palming it over David Warner at first slip.A third gift was bestowed shortly after lunch, Steven Smith this time the man to prove that incessant practise can’t completely overrule the whims of the sporting gods. Root, on 30 at the time, drove Hazlewood authoritatively through cover a couple of overs later, bringing up his 7000th Test run and it looked like he might be on his way. He duly jinked past 50 for the 16th time in Ashes contests, only for Cummins to prolong his conversion issues. If captaincy, as Richie Benaud said, is 90% luck and 10% skill, then the delivery to dismiss Root flipped those numbers around.So it goes. Fourteen years ago to the day, Kevin Pietersen memorably rode his luck to a hundred on this ground that not only sealed the return of the Ashes but brimmed with the showmanship worthy of a series almost without parallel. They came hoping to see something similarly uplifting from an England team rallying around their captain, even with the urn already gone, but the 2019 Ashes have turned into a contest that threatens to slink away quietly, from an English perspective, just as Root did from the crease during mid-afternoon. And luck hasn’t had much to do with that.

Alyssa Healy is looking towards Rohit Sharma for a formula to find cross-format success opening the batting as she prepares for the multi-format series against India that will include a pink-ball Test.Healy, who has played four previous Tests, admitted it will be a challenge to prepare for the format amid the condensed series with the additional elements of the game being day-night plus a venue they haven’t played at before in Metricon Stadium adding to the uncertainty. There has already been an emphasis on the Test with Australia’s first post-quarantine training session being against the pink ball.Australia were part of the previous day-night Test, against England during the 2017-18 Ashes, where Ellyse Perry made a double century at North Sydney Oval during which Healy was part of a 102-run stand.For her first three Tests, including that game against England, Healy batted in the middle-order but the last time Australia took the field in the format, during the 2019 Ashes, Healy was promoted to open which brought her a maiden Test half-century and it appears likely she will continue in the role.In that game Healy opened with Nicole Bolton who is no longer part of the set-up so a new opener will need to be found with either Rachael Haynes or Beth Mooney the likely options.Related

• Haynes, Lanning, Mooney, Campbell shine in Australians' warm-up win

• Sophie Devine yearns 'for an opportunity to pull on the whites'

• Mooney: Pink-ball Test poses a different challenge to what we're used to

• Starc joins Healy in Brisbane quarantine amid Covid schedule challenges

• Perry: 'You've always got to push to get better or else someone comes along who is going to jump you'

“It’s a tricky one because I’ve only played four Tests so I wouldn’t say I’m overly comfortable with how to play or how to approach a Test,” Healy said at a Fox Cricket launch event for the series. “From my point of view, I don’t think it’s going to change too much from my one-day international batting. I think the ability to give yourself more time is such a blessing.”I look at the modern Test game and see how it’s changed quite a lot. I watch a lot of the men’s cricket and I look at someone like Rohit Sharma who is one of the most devastating white-ball batters in the world and yet he’s a really successful opener in Test cricket. So for me, I said look at somebody like him and think about how he translates those skills across all the formats, could I potentially replicate that somehow?”Healy, who has faced some spicy pre-season nets against her New South Wales team-mates Stella Campbell and Maitlan Brown, is prepared for the need to adapt quickly during the multi-format series, both in terms of the conditions on offer at Mackay (ODIs) and Metricon (Tests and T20Is) and in terms of what India will throw at them.Alyssa Healy made her maiden Test fifty opening the innings against England in 2019•Getty Images

The teams have had some see-sawing battles in recent years, most notably at the 2017 ODI World Cup where India dumped Australia out in the semi-final and then last year’s T20 World Cup where India took the opening match, on the back of Poonam Yadav’s spell, to throw the group stage wide open before Australia claimed the historic final with a huge victory.Yadav did not play the Test against England earlier this year and was not at her best in the limited-overs matches although found more rhythm as the series went on.”Sometimes a bit of the unknown and the unpredictable nature of India makes them incredibly dangerous. They’ve picked a few new players that we haven’t seen before on this tour,” Healy said. “So they always love throwing something new at us, even if it is Poonam Yadav, she always has something new to throw at us, just to kick us off track again.”The Test match will be just the second between the teams in 30 years – the previous one came back in 2006 – and with an Ashes Test to follow in January, Healy hoped the format could find a regular place in the Australia calendar.”The boys have their designated Test match spots every summer,” Healy said. “Look at the Boxing Day Test, we know it’s going to be on December 26 and everyone goes to the Test. I would love to see the same thing happen for us every summer. Imagine, November 1, Australia are playing a pink-ball Test at North Sydney Oval against whatever the opposition might be.”Obviously it’s a pipe dream and I’ll do whatever I can to keep pushing that point forward, but at least for the minute it’s great that the conversations are being had and that there’s three international sides that are willing to play the Test game because I think it’s a great thing for us.”Australia will play an intra-squad game on Thursday – “one of the most competitive games of cricket that you’ll ever find,” Healy said – before facing India in a warm-up match on Saturday ahead of traveling to Mackay.

Avishka Gunawardene, the former Sri Lanka opening batter, has been appointed the Afghanistan men’s team’s batting coach for the forthcoming ODIs against Pakistan. The Afghanistan Cricket Board announced this on August 17 via Twitter. ESPNcricinfo understands the ACB had wanted Gunawardene for a longer stint, but Gunawardene has only confirmed his involvement in the ODI series – which is to be played in Sri Lanka – for now. This will be Gunawardene’s first major assignment since being cleared of corruption charges relating to alleged breaches of the Emirates Cricket Board’s anti-corruption code during the T10 tournament in the UAE in 2017. An independent tribunal cleared Gunawardene in May, following an investigation, leaving him free to resume his coaching career. Gunawardene has served as the Sri Lanka national men’s team’s batting coach, and has also coached the Sri Lanka A and Emerging teams.Related

• Avishka Gunawardene appointed Sri Lanka Under-19 coach

• Afghanistan-Pakistan ODI series postponed indefinitely

• Plan B for Afghanistan: Travel to Sri Lanka via Pakistan and Dubai

• Afghanistan vs Pakistan ODIs shifted from UAE to Hambantota

• Gunawardene cleared of corruption charges by independent tribunal

The appointment comes at a time of major upheaval in Afghanistan with the Taliban taking back the political reins following the withdrawal of US troops from the country. It remains to be seen how cricket is affected by these events, though ACB CEO Hamid Shinwari has been quoted saying he expects the sport to carry on as before.”We will resume our office from tomorrow and the national camp which was underway ahead of the Pakistan series in Sri Lanka will also resume after a two-day break with the change in regime,” Shinwari told PTI on Monday.It is as yet unclear when the Afghanistan side can fly to Sri Lanka for the series (expected to be played sometime in September), as Kabul airport remains closed following the Taliban’s takeover of the city. It is hoped the team can fly over the next two weeks.All three ODIs against Pakistan will be played in Hambantota.

The New Zealand contingent arriving in Dhaka on August 24 will have most of the elements of the bio-secure environment that the BCB provided Australia with, according to chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury. The only major difference will be that the New Zealand squad will not get the direct tarmac-to-hotel ride that Australia got from the airport – Australia arrived by chartered plane, while New Zealand will be on a commercial flight.”They [NZC] have requested us to give them the same bio-bubble environment that we ensured for Australia,” Chowdhury said. “Keeping everything in mind, we will do as much as practically possible to put together a complete bio-bubble environment to have a successful series. They will be travelling commercial, so their airport procedure won’t be exactly like Australia’s arrangements. But we will try to minimise public contact on their way to the hotel.”The contingent will undergo a three-day in-room quarantine on getting to the hotel. Once that is over, they will start to train at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, where all five matches of the series will be played.At the airport, New Zealand are likely to go through the usual VIP channel and have their immigration process done separately, as is usually the case for cricket teams travelling to Bangladesh these days.Chowdhury also said New Zealand were not inclined to play the tour match scheduled for August 29, in the lead-up to the five-match T20I series that begins on September 1, to avoid bio-bubble complications. “They were offered [a practice match] but since it means an additional bio-bubble in another venue, they [NZC] have discouraged it,” Chowdhury said. “They also want minimum movement during the series.”The Bangladesh players, meanwhile, have been instructed by the BCB to be conservative in their movements ahead of joining the bio-bubble for the series. “They will enter the bio-bubble when it is ready,” Chowdhury said. “Our players have been instructed to keep their movements restricted, and told to be within the family environment. They have been discouraged from attending public functions.”Chowdhury also confirmed that the games will start earlier than usual, keeping New Zealand audiences in mind. “We plan to start the matches at 4pm (local time) after speaking to the team management. We have kept in mind the viewership in New Zealand.”

Peter Handscomb will press his case for inclusion in Australia’s squads for the World Test Championship final and the Ashes after signing a deal with Leicestershire to play the first two months of the County Championship season.Handscomb, who missed out on Ashes selection in 2019, was recalled to the Test side after a four-year absence for Australia’s recent tour of India. He made 145 runs at 29.00 across the series, including one half-century.He has pulled out of Australia A’s upcoming tour to New Zealand and will travel to the UK after playing for Victoria in this week’s Sheffield Shield final. He has previously played county cricket for Durham, Gloucestershire, Middlesex (as captain) and Yorkshire.Handscomb will fill in for Ajinkya Rahane, and is likely to be available for the first six rounds of the Championship season. Rahane is not available until early June due to his involvement in the IPL, where he has a INR 50 lakh (£50,000 approx.) contract with Chennai Super Kings, and will play both four-day and 50-over cricket in the second half of the county season.Leicestershire had previously agreed a deal with Abdullah Shafique, the Pakistan opener, to cover the period while Rahane is unavailable. But his likely selection for their upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand meant he became unavailable, hours before his contract was due to be announced by the club.Cricket Australia confirmed that Caleb Jewell, the left-handed Tasmania batter, would replace Handscomb in the Australia A squad on Tuesday. “Players with upcoming County Cricket deals were not considered for Australia A selection as they will already be subject to English conditions prior to the Ashes,” a CA spokesperson confirmed.Cameron Bancroft and Todd Murphy have also lined up county deals which are yet to be announced, which are understood to be with Yorkshire and Durham respectively.A number of Australia players will use the early months of the county season as a chance to acclimatise to English conditions ahead of their six Tests in the country this summer.Chief among them are Marnus Labuschagne (Glamorgan) and Steven Smith (Sussex), whose deals have prompted some pundits to question why counties are willing to provide red-ball preparation to England’s summer opponents.The ECB is unconcerned by the situation, but has expressed a desire for more English players to win reciprocal opportunities in the off-season. “I’d love to get more of our players in first-class cricket overseas,” Mo Bobat, the ECB’s performance director, said earlier this year.

Chris Woakes has conceded that his winter of inaction with England “felt like a bit of a waste”, and revealed that he had received an apology from the team management and the ECB over the shared car ride that led to him having to self-isolate on arrival in Sri Lanka in January.Woakes has not played international cricket since last September, having travelled to South Africa, Sri Lanka and India without making it into the starting XI in any format of the game. He was recalled this week to the T20I squad for the first time in almost six years, and while admitting that had come as a surprise he said he would be hoping to push himself into the selectors’ thinking ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.”I haven’t been in this squad for a while and I look at this as an opportunity” he said. “It is great for me to be back amongst the squad. I don’t take any squad selection for granted, I am certainly not just here to make up the numbers – if I get a go I will be trying to stake a claim. I also realise there are a few injuries knocking around but that doesn’t take anything away from me being part of this England team and putting my hand up to be part of this World Cup – with two World Cups around the corner.”T20 is the only format Woakes has had any game time in recently, initially at the IPL and then with Birmingham Bears in the Vitality Blast. After being named PCA Men’s Player of the Year last summer, Woakes was part of the ODI squad that flew to South Africa only to return without playing a game after concerns over bio-security. He then missed the first Test in Sri Lanka – a game he felt he was “a shoo in to play” – after being deemed a close contact of Moeen Ali, who tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival in the country.When the Test team moved on to India, Woakes was repeatedly overlooked before returning home as part of the ECB’s rotation policy, then missed the three ODIs due to the logistical demands of travel and quarantine required to rejoin the England bubble. “I just want to put it behind me really and look to what’s ahead,” he said. “It’s certainly been a tough seven or eight months since last September.Related

• Woakes flies home from India after lengthy spell on sidelines

• Woakes makes his mark on winning return for Birmingham Bears

• Bairstow ankle scans clear but batter doubtful for first SL T20I

“It all bubbles up to a really frustrating time. Not playing a single game all winter, after the summer I had, almost felt like a bit of a waste for me. Still great to be with the squad but you want to be playing cricket and making the most of your form when you’re hot.”On the decision to send him and Moeen in a shared taxi from Birmingham to Heathrow, despite the multitude of protocols in place to protect players from potential Covid-19 transmission, Woakes said that he had “vented” his frustration at the time, with his period in isolation effectively costing him his place in the side.”I felt like I was kind of a shoo in to play that first Test match in Sri Lanka, and obviously having had what happened, therefore obviously it did have a knock-on effect, [if] the team wins or the team does as well, all of a sudden it becomes hard to break back in. It doesn’t mean that I’d have played all the Test matches for the winter, but it might mean that I’d have had an opportunity to put my hand up before in a strong performance. And then the thoughts around selection for further Test matches might have been different.”I vented my frustration at the time, and apologies were given. [No] stone was [left unturned], but unfortunately that was the one thing that we did not quite get it right, and I did pay a price for that.”Having opted to go to the IPL after being picked up at auction by Delhi Capitals, Woakes then missed England’s two-Test series with New Zealand earlier this month. That decision was agreed between the player and ECB, with Woakes saying time away from home had “taken its toll mentally” – but he was keen to find a way to press his case for a Test return against India later in the summer, despite few opportunities to play red-ball cricket over the next six weeks.”I spent a lot of time away from home in that period and it had kind of taken its toll mentally,” he said. “The IPL was very much a decision which I took on, it’s on my shoulders, but I felt it was a great opportunity to learn and play some cricket after the winter I’d had.”Those two Tests versus New Zealand were put in [the schedule] quite late and I think the issue was as soon as getting out of isolation in London I’d have had to have a few days at home then play for Warwickshire to make myself available for any part of that Test series. Then there’s the tricky side of Covid restrictions and getting back in that bubble. Once we’d made the decision it was never really an option to play the second Test match. You’d have had to be in the bubble from the start.”It’s a real tricky situation. I felt I needed a refresh and some time at home with the young family. I kind of put up the pros and cons of missing that two-match series. It was very much in our hands, I spoke to Spoons [head coach Chris Silverwood] and the rest of the backroom staff here and they said ‘as much as we feel you probably should have a breather and get away from cricket, it is on you. If you want to be part of that we’ll definitely let you’.”I decided that little break would do me good in the long run. They certainly know I want to play Test cricket, don’t get me wrong. I haven’t played much red-ball cricket but they know I want to be a part of that Test squad and I believe they want me to be part of it so hopefully come that India series I’ll be fit and firing and ready to play a big part of that.”

James Hildreth became the fourth-highest first-class run-maker in Somerset’s history on the second day of the LV=County Championship match with Middlesex at the Cooper Associates County Ground. The 36-year-old batter went past Bill Alley’s tally of 16,644 while contributing 39 to his side’s first innings total of 178 for 4 and now lies behind only Harold Gimblett, Marcus Trescothick and Peter Wight.Earlier, Middlesex had moved from an overnight 308 for 6 to 357 all out, Robbie White falling for 92 and Josh Davey claiming three of the wickets in the space of an over.Related

• Tom Westley grinds Worcestershire once more as pitch battle ensues

• Michael Hogan five-for trumps Darren Stevens' as Kent tumble to two-day defeat

• Hill hundred leaves Gloucestershire with mountain to climb

There were two victims each for Steve Finn and Tim Murtagh when Somerset replied before an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 80 between George Bartlett and first-class debutant Lewis Goldsworthy left honours pretty even.The day began with White, unbeaten on 70, and Luke Hollman adding 24 before Craig Overton uprooted Hollman’s off stump with his score on 16. White had moved to 81 and the total to 338 for 7 off 108 overs when rain interrupted play at 11.50am. The action resumed at 1.20pm with two incident-packed overs.White took two fours and a three off the first of them, bowled by Tom Abell to put his side within a single of a fourth batting point. But his hopes of a maiden first-class century were dashed when he edged Davey’s first ball of the following over to Hildreth at first slip.The crestfallen White dragged himself off, having faced 224 deliveries and hit 13 fours. Two balls later Finn fell lbw, having survived an equally confident appeal first up, and Somerset had their third bowling point. With one run still needed for a fourth batting point, Murtagh swung two boundaries to third-man, before being caught there to give Davey a third wicket.Somerset’s reply had reached 8 without loss when a lighter shower brought a 15-minute interruption. Then both openers fell quickly as Tom Lammonby edged a catch behind off Finn and Tom Banton was pinned lbw by Murtagh.Hildreth looked in good touch as he and Abell took the score to 86 for 2 at tea, the latter surviving two slip chances in the same Tom Helm over, Max Holden and White the guilty fielders.Hildreth had overtaken Darren Stevens as the leading run-maker among players still operating in the domestic game when fencing at the first delivery after tea from Murtagh and being caught behind. Abell then chipped a full ball from Finn to midwicket and departed for 41. With the floodlights on, Bartlett, on 13, was dropped by Sam Robson at second slip off Martin Andersson.Drizzle and light issues brought a further break at 120 for 4. A 6pm resumption of 15 overs saw Bartlett progress serenely to 43 and 20-year-old Cornishman Goldsworthy move stylishly to 34, an innings rich with promise.