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Moeen Ali made his third Test hundred and his second match-defining score in as many innings to rescue his side from a familiar top-order collapse in the fourth Investec Test.

The Report by Andrew Miller11-Aug-2016Pakistan 3 for 1 (Azhar 0*, Yasir 0*) trail England 328 (Moeen 108, Bairstow 55, Sohail 5-68) by 325 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMoeen Ali once again demonstrated the power that resides in England’s allrounder-laden middle order as he stroked his way to a brilliant counterattacking 108 – his third Test hundred and his second match-defining score in as many innings – to rescue his side from a familiar top-order collapse in the fourth Investec Test.By the close of the opening day’s play at the Kia Oval, England had seized control of a contest that could yet propel them to the top of the world Test rankings, if results elsewhere go their way. Left with three overs in which to go for broke before the close, Stuart Broad prised out Pakistan’s most obdurate find of the tour, Sami Aslam, lbw for 3, as England inched closer to their coveted clean sweep of series wins against all Test opponents.But, with Wahab Riaz back in the Pakistan side and restored to the fire-breathing hostility that had secured the spoils in the last Test series between these sides before Christmas, they had been required once again to take the scenic route to the ascendancy.The first delivery of Moeen’s innings summed up the challenge that England faced shortly after lunch, as he arrived at the crease to join Jonny Bairstow with his side floundering on 110 for 5 after winning the toss under overcast skies, and on a livid green pitch that looked more threatening than it actually turned out to be.Wahab – with three wickets, one drop and a no-ball reprieve already to his name in the first eight-and-a-half overs of a typically vigorous onslaught – greeted the incoming Moeen with a scorching bouncer that tailed into the left-hander and sconed him so hard on the badge of his helmet that it rebounded clean into the hands of backward point.Pakistan, at this stage, were swarming as only they can when that whiff of cordite hits their nostrils. But Moeen’s refusal to be flustered is a trademark of his game, and in the course of two vital and urgently-paced stands – 93 for the sixth wicket with Bairstow and 79 with England’s man of the moment, Chris Woakes – he first shored up the foundations of England’s innings before taking the game away in the final session from a tiring Pakistan attack.Sohail Khan once again emerged as Pakistan’s stand-out wicket-taker, with 5 for 68 in 20.4 toiling overs, but Pakistan’s fielders were unable to match the application of their bowlers. Mohammad Amir proved especially luckless in his best spell since his return to Test cricket as a genuine opportunity to roll England aside inside two sessions hit the turf with a thud.Hales decision under scrutiny

Two England players retweeted footage that appeared to cast doubt on the veracity of the catch that dismissed Alex Hales. Hales looked furious after he was adjudged to have been caught by Yasir Shah at mid-wicket. While TV replays appeared inconclusive, some felt that still pictures suggested the ball may have bounced.
Certainly Hales’ Nottinghamshire team-mate Stuart Broad seemed to think Hales had been unfortunate. He tweeted: “Replays are unclear? You don’t believe that do you?” Hales, however, seemed to accept the umpires’ decision had been far from straightforward, tweeting a pixelated picture with the comment: “Bit blurry to be fair.”

Despite the excellence of their contributions, both Moeen and Bairstow were the beneficiaries of key reprieves early in their innings that Pakistan will be sure to rue as this contest develops. On 13, and without having added to his lunchtime score, Bairstow poked flimsily at another exocet outside off stump and lobbed a simple catch to Yasir Shah at backward point.Wahab’s celebrations, however, were cut short by umpire Marais Erasmus’s outstretched arm – and the bowler could have no complaint. He had been warned after the first ball of the over that he was getting close to transgressing, then called for both of his subsequent deliveries, the second of which was the vital one.Bairstow, whose 83 at Edgbaston had arguably been the defining knock of that contest, instantly bunted a four through the covers to rub salt in Wahab’s wounds, and set about ensuring that Pakistan would be made to pay for his let-off.It wasn’t just Wahab whom the pair had to overcome. At the other end, Amir was locating that prodigious late swing that made him such a threat in his first coming as a Test cricketer, and on 23, he rapped Bairstow on the back pad with a fierce late inswinger that Pakistan felt obliged to review – the ball was shown to be slipping over the top of off stump.Then, on 9, came the key let-off, as Azhar Ali at third slip made a Horlicks of a low edge off Amir that hit him on the wrists. A similar juggled opportunity had earlier been good enough to send Gary Ballance on his way for 8, but this one refused to stick, as did another technical chance at the hands of the same fielder six runs later, although only a harsh judge could criticise Azhar for this one – a firm clip off the pads against Yasir that struck him on the chest at short leg but rebounded out of his reach.But as the session progressed, England’s confidence grew, and with it the urgency in their run-harvesting. Bairstow’s exemplary judgment of a quick single means that his stands are rarely anything less than hyper-charged, and with tea approaching, the pair were reprising their game-changing efforts in the second innings at Edgbaston.Moeen clipped the debutant Iftikhar Ahmed over midwicket for the first six of the innings, then rolled his wrists on a pull through midwicket four balls later to join his team-mate on fifty, and though Bairstow fell soon afterwards for 55, dangling his bat outside the line to inside-edge Amir through to the wicketkeeper, the arrival of Woakes offered Pakistan no let-up.With an England-record 23 wickets in a Test series against Pakistan, Woakes would be having the time of his life with or without any extra strings to his bow. Throw in his sublime form with the bat, however, and you end up with an allrounder with the form and confidence for any situation. With his cover-drive in preposterously good order, he cashed in on Wahab’s angle across his bows to breeze along to 45 from 57 balls, before feathering a thin edge to give Sohail and Pakistan a late chance to get their way back on track.Sohail did his best to oblige, extracting a marginal lbw against Stuart Broad for 0 before bowling Steven Finn through the gate for 8 to give Moeen a nervy few minutes as he biffed his way through the nineties with only James Anderson for company. But, having flashed a four past a baffled Younis Khan at slip, he took a premeditated swipe for six over deep midwicket off Yasir, to complete his century and cement England’s revival.Though he fell soon afterwards for 108, caught at square leg to complete Sohail’s five-for, Moeen’s personal contribution had all but doubled England’s halfway innings total.There had been little in the day’s opening exchanges to hint at the ebb and flow to come, with Alex Hales’ contentious early dismissal at square leg appearing to come against the run of play, given the fluency of Alastair Cook and Joe Root’s initial strokeplay. Hales, on 6, clipped firmly to Yasir at square leg, who scooped a low chance that umpire Oxenford referred upstairs for a second opinion. His initial instinct was that it carried, but the incident happened so quickly that none of the TV cameras could keep up with the blur of action, so the decision stood.England, however, had reckoned against the determination of Wahab to make an impact on the series. After entering the attack in the 12th over, he should have struck with his 13th ball, when Iftikhar shelled a low edge at first slip off Cook – ironically the same position in which Mohammad Hafeez, the man whom he had replaced, had been standing when he gave Root a crucial reprieve at Edgbaston last week.For once, Cook failed to make that sort of a let-off pay. He had added just one more run when he leant back on a pull against Sohail and under-edged into his own stumps. One over later, Root, whose stunning double-century at Old Trafford has been bookended by a cluster of limp dismissals, was suckered by Wahab’s extra pace and lift to tickle an edge through to Sarfraz Ahmed.In Wahab’s next over, he made it a collapse of 3 for 5 in 15 balls when the under-pressure James Vince was detonated from the crease by a fierce lifter that forced a defensive back-foot poke to give Sarfraz his second catch of the morning. At that stage, the contest was ripe for the seizing. But Moeen and his middle-order cohorts had other plans.

The list of 57 candidates for the post of India coach has been cut to 21, the BCCI announced on Wednesday

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2016The list of 57 candidates for the post of India coach has been cut to 21, the BCCI announced on Wednesday. The next step in the process of selecting the coach will be a review of the remaining candidates by the BCCI’s cricket advisory committee, comprising former players Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. Sanjay Jagdale, who had served as BCCI secretary in the past, will act as chief co-ordinator of the committee for the duration of this process.The trimming down from 57 applicants to 21 was carried out by BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke’s office. However, if the cricket advisory committee wishes, it will be furnished with the entire list of 57 as well, the BCCI said. The committee is expected to submit its choice to Shirke by June 22.Shirke did not divulge any of the 21 names, pointing out that that would affect the committee’s work. The BCCI has not revealed any of the 57 names, but some candidates confirmed that they had applied. The prominent ones are Ravi Shastri (former India team director), Anil Kumble (former India captain), Sandeep Patil (current chairman of selectors) and Stuart Law (ex-Bangladesh coach).Among the key qualifications asked of the applicants by the BCCI was that they should have coached at the international or first-class level. It was also mentioned that “it is preferred that the candidate should be qualified through a certification/assessment program conducted by any of the Full Member countries, and currently possess such a valid certification.”*Kumble, despite his vast experience as a player and administrator, does not meet both criteria. Shirke did not want to comment on this, but said it was for the advisory committee to work out the eligibility of the shortlisted candidates. “They [panel] have the liberty to decide,” Shirke said.It is understood that a final shortlist of candidates will be asked to appear for interviews before the BCCI finalises the coach.*15.30GMT, June 15: The wording of the required qualification quoted here has been changed to reflect the BCCI’s list of criteria.

Reporter and Leeds United fan James Marshment has been reacting to an injury to forward Wilfried Gnonto during the international break.

What’s the latest on Wilfried Gnonto’s injury?

The Whites haven’t had much luck when it comes to injuries over the last two weeks. Tyler Adams was the first to encounter a problem, with the club confirming prior to the Premier League win over Wolves that he had suffered a hamstring injury in training. The midfielder missed the trip to Molineux and the chance to captain his country, with Phil Hay reporting that he needed to see a specialist.

Max Wober was the next to pick up an issue, with the centre-back needing to be replaced during the first 45 minutes of Austria’s first European Championship qualifier. The defender has returned to Leeds for an assessment, with things going from bad to worse now as Gnonto joins the club.

The teenager started for Italy in their European Championship qualifier against Malta, but like Wober, failed to make it to half-time due to an ankle injury. Roberto Mancini was hoping that it was just a sprain, with Gnonto returning to Yorkshire as a result. Marshment took to Twitter in the last 48 hours to relay the news of Gnonto’s ‘urgent assessment’ following the injury on Sunday evening. He said that alongside the news on Wober:

“It never rains, it pours…”

What will Leeds do without Gnonto?

Javi Gracia may not have Gnonto available in the short term, however, the head coach has a number of options out wide. He actually has started Gnonto in just two of his four Premier League games in charge, although the 19-year-old has provided assists in the last two top-flight fixtures against Brighton and Wolves.

His absence could prove to be a big blow, but Gracia should have the likes of Jack Harrison, Luis Sinisterra and Crysencio Summerville to call upon, starting against Arsenal this weekend. Who knows, Gnonto’s issue could prove to be minor, with Hay saying that both the forward and Wober have had ‘positive assessments’ since returning to Yorkshire.

The club might not want to take any risks, especially as Gnonto is the most fouled player on the books at Elland Road this season, as per WhoScored, but hopefully, they will be able to feature in crucial back-to-back home fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace next month, games which could prove crucial to the club’s Premier League status.

An update has emerged on Aston Villa and their interest in Pedro Goncalves ahead of the summer transfer window…

What’s the latest on Pedro Goncalves to Aston Villa?

According to the print edition of Record, via Sport Witness, the Villans have been sending scouts to watch the Sporting dynamo in action and will do so again for their Europa League tie with Arsenal on Thursday.

The report claims that the club sent people to watch the midfielder play against Portimonense in the Portuguese top-flight last weekend, in which he assisted the winning goal, with Johan Lange gathering intel on the gem.

It has been claimed that the 24-year-old has an €80m (£71m) release clause but it remains to be seen how much Villa are willing to spend to sign the talent.

Would Goncalves be a good signing for Aston Villa?

Lange could land Unai Emery an upgrade on his options in the attacking midfield position by securing a deal to sign the Sporting star this summer.

Coutinho has endured a difficult season in the Premier League and is heading into the final years of his peak – turning 31 at the end of the campaign.

The Brazil international has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.66 across 20 appearances in the top flight and has produced one goal and 0.4 chances created per match, with zero assists to his name.

Goncalves, meanwhile, has averaged a score of 7.53 across 22 outings in Liga Portugal. In that time, the marksman has delivered 12 goals and six assists, whilst creating ten ‘big chances’ and making 2.2 key passes per game for his side.

These statistics suggest that if the 24-year-old can adapt to English football, he would be a significant upgrade on what the Brazilian is currently offering to Aston Villa at the top end of the pitch, both in terms of his goalscoring prowess and his creativity from an attacking midfield position.

The Portugal international, who Wolves coach Rob Edwards once hailed as “outstanding”, has also made 2.8 tackles and interceptions per match, compared to Coutinho’s 1.1, with that an indication of how much the Sporting ace would provide from a defensive perspective, as well as the quality he would offer in the final third.

Therefore, Lange must swoop for Goncalves in the summer transfer window as the young talent could be an excellent signing for the club and a player Emery could develop further, with the magician still having plenty of time on his hands to grow and improve at the age of 24.

The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questionsabout (almost) any aspect of cricket. This week it’s a World Cupspecial

Steven Lynch20-Mar-2007The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket. The World Cup dominates your questions again this week:

Down on luck: Graham Gooch was the bridesmaid in three World Cup finals © Getty Images
Has anyone played in three World Cup-winning teams? asked Michael Docherty from Brisbane
The only team which has won the World Cup three times is Australia (1987-88, 1999 and 2003), and no-one played in all three games. But three members of the current team were on the winning side in both the last two finals – Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath, who thus stand to become the first three-time winners if Australia can justify their favourites’ tag again this year. Graham Gooch played in three finals for England … and, uniquely, lost the lot.I’m just watching Ireland play and they seem to have a lot on non-Irish-born players. How many of them are there, and what are the qualification rules? asked David Thompson from Huddersfield
The Irish squad includes four players who were born overseas – the captain Trent Johnston, Jeremy Bray and Dave Langford-Smith, who were all in Australia, and Andre Botha (South Africa). The full regulations are rather complicated, but basically a player born outside the country he wishes to represent can do so provided he has lived there for most of the preceding four years (and has not played for any other country in that time). Scotland’s squad also includes four players born outside the country – as does England’s – but the “leaders” in this regard at this World Cup are Canada, who have only three home-born players in their squad (John Davison, Ian Billcliff and Kevin Sandher) and Holland, who have eight players in their squad who were born outside the Netherlands. The full qualification rules can be found on the official ICC siteWho won a World Cup winners’ medal as a player but never played a World Cup match? asked Siddharth Ramesh from Chennai
I think the man you’re looking for has an even more remarkable claim to fame than that: Sunil Valson was in India’s World Cup -winning squad in 1983, but didn’t play in the competition – and in fact never played in a one-day international at all. Valson was a left-arm medium-pacer who took 212 wickets in first-class cricket, most of them for Delhi. In 2002-03 the offspinner Nathan Hauritz replaced Shane Warne in Australia’s squad when Warne was banned after a positive drugs test: Hauritz didn’t play in the tournament, but he has played in eight ODIs outside World Cups.Is Bermuda’s Dwayne Leverock the heaviest man to play international cricket? asked Savar Kashif from Kolkata
Bermuda’s genial left-arm spinner Dwayne Leverock is variously reported as weighing in at between 19 and 20 stone. I’m sure this makes him the heaviest player to appear in a World Cup, and probably in any one-day international, but there’s at least one player who outweighed him in Test cricket: Warwick Armstrong, the Australian captain who inflicted the first Ashes whitewash on England in 1920-21. By the time of the 1921 tour of England, Armstrong – who was known as “The Big Ship” – was thought to weigh around 22 stone. I read in a recent interview that Leverock lives above a curry house – and, he admitted with a twinkle in his eye, “there’s another one next door.” A recent Cricinfo column looked at some other beefy batsmen and bowlers.Ricky Ponting reached 1000 World Cup runs early in his hundred against Scotland. Is he the first Australian to do this? asked Colin Matthews from Perth
Ricky Ponting started this World Cup with 998 runs, and his first scoring shot in this tournament (a four off Dougie Brown) took him into four figures. And his next scoring shot – another boundary off Brown – took him past Mark Waugh (1004 runs) as Australia’s leading scorer in World Cup history. Ponting ended that match with 1111 runs (quadruple Nelson, perhaps?), behind only Sachin Tendulkar (1732) in the World Cup lists at the time. For updated details of the competition’s all-time leading runscorers, click here.Regarding the recent question about the current players who also appeared in the 1992 World Cup, didn’t Sourav Ganguly also do so and score 3 against West Indies … asked Pradyumna Dhore
No, Sourav Ganguly didn’t play in the 1992 World Cup, although I can see why you might have thought he did – he made his one-day international debut in Australia in 1991-92 – against West Indies at Brisbane – and did indeed score 3. But that was in the traditional Australian three-way one-day series, which was played before that season’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Ganguly didn’t make the Indian squad for that tournament – or the 1996 one.