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Aussie’s unbeaten 50 off 32 balls seals victory against Manchester Originals

ECB Media11-Aug-2025Reigning champions London Spirit made it three from three as they downed Manchester Originals in a nail-biter at Emirates Old Trafford, Grace Harris’s beautifully paced unbeaten 50 the stand-out performance.Brimming with confidence, Spirit won the toss and elected to bowl first, enjoying a dream start as Georgia Redmayne brilliantly caught Kathryn Bryce down the leg side before Melie Kerr was needlessly run out going for a non-existent second from a free hit.Beth Mooney counterpunched briefly and from 46 for 4 after 39 balls and Originals batted sensibly, Deandra Dottin mixing solid defence with the occasional blazing strike. She was well supported by Fi Morris and Alice Monaghan to take the home side to 122 for 6, both Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn going for under a run a ball.Mahika Gaur bowled 15 of the first 25 balls in reply, finding significant swing and ensuring Originals were still in the game before unleashing their own international class spinners. New Zealand leggie Kerr was at the heart of the action, taking catches to get rid of Kira Chathli and Redmayne and bowling Dani Gibson for a duck.But Harris was they key, the big-hitting Aussie who struck 89 not out off 42 balls in Spirit’s first-up win against Oval Invincibles, starting steadily as the run rate climbed. A four off a no-ball, followed by a free hit six, took the equation to 30 off 21, which became 16 off the last 10, at which point Harris hit a six just past Monaghan’s outstretched fingers. But Bryce then dismissed Issy Wong and Dean lbw in successive balls to leave the game in the balance.An edge for four first ball by Glenn made it five needed from the last five, and she hit another boundary off the 98th ball to seal the deal.Meerkat Match Hero Harris said: “I just thought it was a bit of a trickier wicket to start on, and then once you got in, you could try and cash in at the back end. I thought that’s what Deandra Dottin did really well in that first innings. When we got to about needing 26 runs, I thought we’re pretty good. We’d got wickets in hand; we could try and take the game on a little bit more.”Credit to our bowlers. I think we’re just really enjoying how we’re playing at the moment. I’m delighted with how I’m going. I think a lot of the principles that I’ve been working on within my game are paying off, and I just keep summing up conditions and whenever I’m injected into the game, I’m seeing what impact I can have.”

Mominul Haque finished unbeaten on 87 in the second dig but Bangladesh did not last even 50 overs

Andrew Fidel Fernando25-Mar-2024Mominul Haque resisted for 148 deliveries, making 87 not out, and he had the company of Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shoriful Islam for significant partnerships. But Sri Lanka’s quicks nevertheless hunted down the last five fourth-innings wickets and finished the job midway through the second session of day four, with Kasun Rajitha completing a second career five-wicket haul to finish with figures of 5 for 56.Rajitha dismissed Taijul Islam lbw in the third over of the day with a delivery that jagged back at the batter, then later in the morning session had Mehidy out driving to break the most substantial stand of the innings. He completed his five-for with a double-strike soon after lunch. Shoriful Islam had defied Sri Lanka for 41 deliveries, but provided a simple caught-and-bowled chance when he attempted to drive Rajitha on the up. Next ball, Rajitha delivered a beautiful fourth-stump length delivery to Khaled Ahmed, who nicked behind.Lahiru Kumara was the only other bowler to strike on day four, when he had No. 11 Nahid Rana caught off the shoulder of the bat to end the match, and hand Sri Lanka a 328-run victory, their second-biggest margin by runs. The quicks took all 20 opposition wickets, which a Sri Lanka attack had not done since the mid-1980s. This reflected the nature of the Sylhet surface, but also the skill and intensity of Sri Lanka’s seamers.Bangladesh had begun the day in dire shape, at 47 for 5, but will nevertheless be disheartened at not being able to make Sri Lanka work harder, particularly as rain was forecast for late in the afternoon. They were all-out for 182 after having been bowled out for 188 in the first innings. They did not last 50 overs in the second dig, and aside from Mominul no one passed 35, or batted for more than 50 balls.Mominul Haque was the brightest spot with the bat for Bangladesh in the second dig•AFP/Getty Images

Mominul was outstanding for his part, however. He was fluent right through the day, driving through the covers and through point with special skill, while he also elegantly negotiated the bouncer barrages that Sri Lanka’s seamers sent at him. With the late cut also a productive stroke, he found 59 of his 87 runs on the off side. He should have been out on 64 when he toe-edged a ball on the way to the keeper, but Sri Lanka chose not to review. For much of the day, he was also turning down singles so as not to expose tailenders early in the over, though this was far from a uniform approach.There was no sustained period in which Mominul appeared uncomfortable; some of his stroke-play was gorgeous.Mehidy was Bangladesh’s next-best batter. He’d survived a big lbw appeal and review against Rajitha soon after coming to the crease, but eventually began to look a more secure figure. He increasingly began to look for driveable balls, hitting several boundaries this way. But this would also be his downfall, when he was caught at second slip off the outside edge.As with Sri Lanka’s last tour of Bangladesh, when Asitha Fernando (injured for this tour) and Rajitha shone, Sri Lanka’s Test seamers have imposed themselves again, picking up all 20 wickets in the match.

He is in line to face David Warner’s Sydney Thunder in a local derby on January 21

AAP11-Dec-2022Steven Smith will play for Sydney Sixers in the BBL this summer after the stand-off with Cricket Australia over his involvement was resolved.Under a deal struck between Smith and CA, he will be added to the Sixers squad as a replacement player once an international star heads back overseas in early January.Smith will then become available when the Test summer finishes on January 8, allowing him to play up to four regular-season matches.Ordinarily, the role of a replacement player attracts payments of $2200 per game, but Smith will now receive a greater salary as part of marketing expenditure.Related

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That offer from CA is similar to the one used to lure David Warner back to the BBL at the Sydney Thunder, but in this instance also includes a significant contribution from Cricket NSW.”Steve and his management recently confirmed he will be available to play in this summer’s Big Bash, after his international commitments have finished in January.” Sixers boss Jonathan Robinson-Lees said. “That is great news for the Sixers, the BBL and for fans.”We are really excited for the team and especially our fans, who will now get to see one of the world’s greatest players in magenta this summer.”Smith’s time at the club will include the Sydney Smash against Warner’s Thunder at the SCG on January 21. His return will mark the first time he has played in the BBL since 2019-20.The 33-year-old had attempted to play for the Sixers last summer, but was controversially precluded as he had not nominated for the player replacement pool.It had appeared as if he would suffer the same fate this summer, after the Sixers filled up their initial roster space believing Smith would not be available.However, CA bosses met Smith’s management during the Perth Test earlier this month in a bid to bring him back to the competition before it was eventually finalised.”Steve Smith is a Sixer. He has been part of this club from the start, and he will be part of this club for as long as he wants to be,” Sixers captain Moises Henriques said. “He has always known that the door is open to him playing with us again.”The outcome is a major win for CA on several fronts. Smith is a crowd-puller, and one the BBL needs given Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh have both been ruled out of the tournament through injury.It also comes after the organisation has been heavily criticised in recent weeks for a failure to make clear decisions, as highlighted by the Warner leadership saga.

The England and Northern Superchargers batter said she wants to be a role model for younger fans on the field and off it

Matt Roller30-Jul-2021Lauren Winfield-Hill has said that making her relationship with her wife Courtney public last year felt like “a weight lifted off my shoulders” and that she is hoping to act as “a role model” for young fans both on and off the field.The Winfield-Hills were married in Australia shortly before the pandemic struck in March 2020, with both Courtney – a former Brisbane Heat player in the WBBL and now a Leeds Rhinos rugby league player – and Lauren opting to take a double-barrelled surname, rather than keeping their respective maiden names.And with cricket supporting the Stonewall foundation’s rainbow laces campaign – which will see both men’s and women’s players wearing the laces across this weekend’s Hundred and Royal London Cup fixtures – Winfield-Hill said that the decision to go public with their relationship has been a driving force in her uptick in form over the last few months.”It was pretty significant, and pretty scary as well,” she said. “It’s a strange one: I never really felt fully comfortable being open publicly about my relationship until I got married. Then, I felt a sense of ‘I’m here, my people are here, everyone is happy, and we’re happy.'”I’m not afraid to be who I am and be authentic any more, but up until getting married, I’d probably never felt like that. It was quite frightening initially – even silly things, like posting a wedding photo on Instagram. People assume things when someone features a lot in your posts, but nobody actually knows.Cricketers in England and Wales will wear rainbow laces across this weekend’s fixtures•Getty Images for Surrey CCC

“It might seem silly, but it was quite a big deal. It feels like a weight lifted off my shoulders for sure. I honestly think that’s why I’m playing some of my best cricket as well, because I just feel comfortable, confident and more open about everything.”The Hundred is the perfect platform to support and showcase our support for the Stonewall foundation. I genuinely believe cricket is a sport for all. If people can be true to themselves then it’s making massive strides moving forwards – it means the pond that you’re fishing from for players to come and enjoy the game is wider and wider.”Winfield-Hill is one of several openly gay players in the England dressing room, and said that she was beginning to embrace the idea of being a role model for younger fans – not only as a cricketer, but as a person more generally.”It’s about being more open and confident in who you are as a person,” she said. “You can’t just be a role model as a cricketer with a cover drive. It has to be about who you are – you want to be considered as more than just a cricketer. You want people to like you as a person.”Fans want to know that Lauren Winfield-Hill likes to play golf, she likes to go for coffee, and she’s married to Courtney. That helps build who you actually are. I’ve never really seen myself as being a role model beyond being a cricketer because I’ve put a lot of value on just being a cricketer, but I’ve put a lot more value on the whole package now, and who I am as a person.”While a number of cricketers in the women’s game are openly gay, the situation is very different in the men’s game. Steven Davies, the former England wicketkeeper, was the last high-profile male player to come out back in 2011, and Winfield-Hill said that she hoped players would feel comfortable if they were to follow suit.”It’s individual preference,” she said. “You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. You can just make the environment good and open, and the culture supportive. I think the ECB are doing a lot of good work to ensure that is definitely the case.”Hopefully, in time, if that was the situation that would arise, they would feel comfortable enough to be who they are. I certainly think that’s something that the ECB have put a lot of value on and been very supportive in pushing. Hopefully, moving forwards, cricketers do feel that they can just be themselves.”

India’s No. 1 offspinner talks to Manjrekar on his form abroad, injuries and more

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2020R Ashwin has said that he is “fighting my own benchmarks” because his Test performances overseas are being measured against his heroics in India. Despite being the country’s best long-form spinner in this decade, there has been only one instance of Ashwin playing every match of a Test series held outside Asia.Various factors have contributed to this situation, including injury to the player and selection based on horses for courses logic. Take India’s most recent Test tour. Ashwin played the first match against New Zealand in Wellington but lost his spot in the next one to Ravindra Jadeja as the team management sought to bolster their batting firepower.Despite this trend of not being picked consistently for overseas matches, Ashwin said his numbers since the Johannesburg Test in December 2013, where he went wicketless in 42 overs, have “significantly increased.”In an extensive conversation with Sanjay Manjrekar for ESPNcricinfo’s Videocast series, he said: “See, one thing is for sure. I’m actually fighting my own benchmarks in a lot of ways. The number of games that I’ve managed to win for my country and for myself, the number of successes I’ve had and the excellence I’ve shown is always measured up in equal parlance when I travel away from the country, which is great.”

Other topics Ashwin opened up on

His success in Test cricket as new-ball bowler
How IPL was like a “slap on his face” early in his career
How WV Raman helped him build on the carom ball in ‘isolation’
The ‘reverse’ carom ball
Why he has no time for old-fashioned coaching but has time for old-fashioned ways of building discipline
Why Sehwag was “carefree” about his failures and that is why he was brilliant
The future of fingerspin

Ashwin’s numbers outside Asia have certainly become better after the 2016 tour of West Indies, where he featured in the whole series. Since then in 12 Tests outside Asia, he has picked up 44 wickets at an average of 27.65. Eight of those were played in Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand, where Ashwin took 27 wickets at 30.48.Before 2016, he had played nine Tests outside Asia, which yielded 24 wickets at 56.58Since becoming a one-format player after the 2017 Champions Trophy, Ashwin has spent summers in the UK playing county cricket so that he can be a wicket-taker even on unfriendly pitches.”Increasingly the number of games I’ve played in England, I’ve started realising that for a spinner to be bowling in alien conditions and to be able to repeat similar numbers (as at home), you need to be bowling in all the possible right times of the game, first. And, secondly, you do need a little bit of luck. After 2014 [December 2013] when I had that South Africa game, I’ve taken a very serious look at my numbers and those numbers have significantly increased very, very well.”Ashwin also opened up on the hurt caused by critics who questioned him after his injuries at crucial times in the 2018 tour of England and later Australia. Ashwin suffered a hip injury during the fourth Test in Southampton and was again ruled out after the first Test in Adelaide.Ashwin said his body had “let him down” due to the “stop-start” nature of being a single-format player. Asked whether technically he was facing any challenges overseas, Ashwin disagreed, saying he had grown wiser and better with every experience. “For me to able to deliver on a consistent basis abroad there are a lot of factors beyond just me that need to go into it.”

Coach to oversee Test squad during England series, and is expected to remain in charge through World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2019Cricket West Indies says it will stand by its decision to appoint Richard Pybus as interim Head Coach, in spite of objections from the Leewards Islands Cricket Board (LICB), which claims he was “handpicked” by Dave Cameron, the CWI president.Pybus will now oversee the Test squad during the forthcoming series against England, and is expected to remain in charge at least until August, a period that encompasses the 2019 World Cup and the visit of India to the Caribbean.He had been appointed to the role in place of Stuart Law, who stepped down in September to take over as head coach at Middlesex, in spite of claims that a shortlist of 11 candidates had been submitted. That list is understood to have included Nic Pothas, who was appointed stand-in coach for the Bangladesh tour in November 2018.In a press release, CWI stated that “the appointment of Pybus was made with the support of more than two-thirds of its board to ensure the team had strong leadership ahead of the busy cricket season this year”, and that he would be supported by a technical team “which includes some of the game’s leading experts from within the region and around the globe”.However, LICB had expressed strong opposition to the appointment, writing to CWI earlier this month to protest that the process by which Pybus had been selected was “unacceptable”.”It is unfortunate, unacceptable and unethical for the CWI President to single-handedly recruit a person of his choosing, and to proceed with salary negotiations without the prior knowledge of the Board,” the LICB email, signed by its directors Enoch Lewis and Denrick Liburd, and accessed by ESPNcricinfo, said.In response, CWI stated that Pybus’ appointment had been reviewed and approved by the Corporate Governance, and Audit Risk and Compliance Committees, and that the LICB complaint has been referred to the governing body’s Ethics Committee for review.

Both teams are coming off fine wins, with Khulna beating Chittagong Vikings by 18 runs while Dhaka crushed Sylhet Sixers with eight wickets and 73 balls remaining

The Report by Mohammad Isam14-Nov-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAshley Allen – CPL T20 / Getty

Kieron Pollard nicked the battle of big-hitters against Carlos Brathwaite as the Shere Bangla National Stadium were enthralled by both batsman’s six-hitting abilities. Pollard’s 24-ball 55 – that had six huge sixes – helped Dhaka Dynamites to their third win in a row, this time beating Khulna Titans by four wickets in the final over.Khulna had earlier made 156 for 5, a remarkable recovery from a sluggish 47 for three in the first 10 overs. The late addition came mostly through Brathwaite’s unbeaten 64 that included six sixes in the last 5.5 overs. Abu Hider took two wickets while Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Shahid Afridi took one each.Dhaka’s chase, however, started even poorer. They were 41 for 5 at one stage, but Pollard’s cluster of sixes bought them back into the game, before Jahurul Islam and Mosaddek Hossain took them to victory with a ball to spare.Slow to startKhulna struck only five boundaries in the first 10 overs after being sent to bat. They also lost Michael Klinger, Dhiman Ghosh and Nazmul Hossain Shanto during the same period. The lack of boundaries played a big factor in each of these batsmen’s dismissals.Klinger’s cross-bat took a top edge and was well caught at mid on by Hider, off Shakib. The bowler-fielder combination then switched roles as Hider took Dhiman’s wicket in the sixth over, the skier taken in the second attempt by Shakib.Narine easily scalped Shanto in the tenth over when the batsman charged him needlessly, only to be stumped by Jahurul Islam for a 25-ball 24.Khulna’s late burstEerily similar to their previous game, Brathwaite got into his stride soon after Mahmudullah got out. He first struck Afridi for two sixes in the space of three balls, first over the bowler’s head and then over midwicket. Shakib then went for 17 runs in the 16th over, which included another six over midwicket that went deeper than the one in the previous over.Rilee Rossouw got out in the next over to end the rapid 54-run fifth-wicket stand but Brathwaite struck his fourth six before reaching his maiden T20 fifty off just 25 balls. In the final over, both his sixes off Hider went straight, the second slightly bigger than the first. He finished with six maximums in his unbeaten 29-ball 64.Pollard’s reply to BrathwaiteDhaka, too, slipped like Khulna in the first half of their innings. Abu Jayed had Evin Lewis skied to mid off in the first over, Afridi slammed one to cover in the second over before Jofra Archer bowled Cameron Delport with a quick delivery. Mahmudullah took a sharp catch to remove Narine and Dhaka’s crisis deepened further in the ninth when Shakib was caught for 20.But the scenario changed in the space of five balls, of which four went for sixes off Pollard’s bat. All of those went over long on, despite Mahmudullah’s varying lengths. That over, the innings’ 11th, cost 25 runs. Pollard didn’t spare Brathwaite either, hitting his compatriot for two sixes, both on the leg side in the 13th over that cost 20 runs. From a precarious position, Dhaka had reduced the chase to 58 off the last seven overs.The pullback via ArcherJofra Archer, whose pace has troubled a few batsmen in the BPL, used it to good effect in the 14th over. He gave away just three runs, after which Shafiul picked up the key wicket of Pollard in the following over. Much of the credit for Pollard’s wicket, however, should go to Archer for bringing some control to the Khulna attack. Between the 14th and 17th overs, Khulna conceded only two fours as Dhaka went left needing 27 off the last three overs.Some local creditThe lack of contribution from the local players had been a concern in the BPL but the way Jahurul and Mosaddek played out the last 5.1 overs should be appeasing. They narrowed the chase down with two balls to go, but Jahurul’s reverse off Brathwaite, with four needed, was a was superbly executed. The pair added 43 in their unbroken seventh-wicket stand.What they said“I gambled with that reverse scoop off the second last ball. This is the first time I played in a match.”

Lanka de Silva, coach of the Sri Lanka Women’s team, said he was banking on spinners, particularly left-arm spinners Inoka Ranaweera and Sugandika Kumari, to lead the side’s attack in their upcoming ODI series against Australia Women

Sa'adi Thawfeeq17-Sep-2016Lanka de Silva, coach of the Sri Lanka Women’s team, said he will be banking on spinners, particularly left-arm spinners Inoka Ranaweera and Sugandika Kumari, to lead the side’s attack in their upcoming ODI series against Australia Women, which starts from September 18. The teams are scheduled to play four ODIs and a T20 international, and three of the four ODIs will be counted for points in the ICC Women’s Championship.Australia, who are leading the Championship table with 24 points, are one point away from gaining automatic qualification into next year’s Women’s World Cup. Sri Lanka, however, are placed at the bottom of the eight-team table with five points from 15 matches. While the top four teams gain direct entry into the World Cup, the bottom four teams will have to play the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier with six other regional qualifiers. The top four teams in the Qualifier will then advance to the World Cup.”The Australian line-up has plenty of right-handers, and Inoka and Sugandika, our most experienced spinners in the side, should make it difficult for them,” de Silva said before the first ODI in Dambulla on Sunday. “We also have the off-breaks of Inoshi Priyadharshani and we are banking on the three of them to deliver.”De Silva stated that unlike in the past, the team had prepared for the series well in advance. He said the emphasis during selection had been on picking specialists, and, like the bowling attack, he picked out the players who would take on the batting responsibilities.”We picked the squad of 14 players one month ahead and they have been practising together as a team,” he said. “We played six practice matches and managed scores between 215 and 220 in most of them. If we can come up with similar scores against Australia, we have the bowlers to do the job for us.”The selections were also made with emphasis on specialists rather than allrounders who can do a little bit of both. We have selected seven batters in our squad of 14 and identified captain Chamari Atapattu, Prasadani Weerakkody, Chamari Polgampola and Dilani Manodara as the batting specialists who are expected to put the runs on the board for us.”De Silva, who is eight months into his two-year contract as coach, said that the team had learnt a great deal from the mistakes of this year’s World T20 and had rectified them to some extent. Sri Lanka failed to qualify for the semi-final of the World T20 in India earlier this year, after a third-place finish in Group A, behind Australia and New Zealand.”We showed great improvement in our T20 rankings, moving from eighth to fifth position. In this series, we expect to move at least one rung up the ladder in the rankings,” De Silva said.Atapattu, leading Sri Lanka in the absence of Shashikala Siriwardene, said the series against Australia was an important one in terms of preparations for the 2017 World Cup.”We are sad that our captain Shashikala (Siriwardene) is out of this series due to a back injury, but we have a good team consisting of experience and talent,” said Atapattu. “We have selected very talented players as new caps. Although they lack experience, if they perform to their potential, we can still pose a big challenge to Australia.”The Australian players are physically stronger than us and they can go for big hits whenever needed, but we are confident that our spinners will try and keep them under the 200-run mark as much as possible.”Despite the huge gap in rankings between the two sides, Australia captain Meg Lanning was wary of the conditions.”We know that we will have a tough time here with the conditions, but hopefully, we will give a good performance. This is a good test for us to see how we can adjust to these conditions,” Lanning said.The first and second ODIs of the series will be played in Dambulla on September 18 and 20, while the third and fourth matches will be held at the Khettarama in Colombo on September 23 and 25 respectively. The only T20I of the tour will be played at the SSC on September 27.

Sometimes fairy tales do happen in sport. Geraint Jones, Ashes winner in 2005 turned priceless county pro – via Papua New Guinea – signed off his professional career by being chaired around Lord’s

Andrew McGlashan at Lord's19-Sep-2015Sometimes fairy tales do happen in sport. Geraint Jones, Ashes winner in 2005 turned priceless county pro – via Papua New Guinea – signed off his professional career by being chaired around Lord’s after Gloucestershire secured the Royal London Cup with an epic come-from-behind victory.Jones had dragged Gloucestershire to a competitive total with 50 off 65 balls, using his wealth of experience to assess the conditions, before being bowled as the first of Jade Dernbach’s hat-trick wickets. For 34 overs of Surrey’s chase it appeared Dernbach’s 6 for 35 would be the headline act, but then Kumar Sangakkara clubbed a full toss to mid-on and Gloucestershire, evoking the spirit of the one-day sides which dominated from 1999-2004, strangled Surrey and took the match to the final over.”I just feel very lucky to be honest,” Jones said. “To finish this way, very few people get the chance to walk off holding a trophy and look back on a great day. Personally I couldn’t have asked for any more. Since the knockout stages I’ve been saying to myself, dare to dream and who knows. And it couldn’t have worked out better.”My family was here, although I had to keep batting because the boys had swimming lessons this morning and then had to get the train up so I couldn’t get out until they showed up – that spurred me on. To finish this way, with a group that has given such energy back to my cricket, it’s a pleasurable way to finish.”Jones was not actually on the field the moment the match started to change as Jack Taylor’s full toss found the hands of substitute Will Tavare at mid-on. “Thankfully when I popped off for a toilet break is when Sangakkara hit that ball to Tavs, because I knew they were trying to hit it my way,” he said.”I must admit at half time I was very nervous that we were 15-20 shy especially with the way Sangakarra has been playing. But once we got into it, I knew the way our spinners have been bowling all summer has been exceptional and the wicket was going to be good for them because Batty showed when I was batting that it wasn’t easy to score off them.”Michael Klinger, the Gloucestershire captain, also pinpointed the role of his spinners – Taylor and Tom Smith who combined to take 5 for 85 in 20 overs – plus the unfortunate absence of Zafar Ansari for Surrey as a key part of the match. He said he, too, would have bowled with the 10.30am start but also backed the strength of his team’s bowling if they were able to get a score on the board.”They were a little bit light on their batting playing a lot of allrounders,” he said. “We talked pre-game that if we could get through the top they were quite inexperienced and it just so happened the two wickets we got were the two in batters. We knew it would be tough to score against our spinners. In the end, two spinners was the advantage for us. Unfortunately Ansari’s injury hurt them a little bit as well.”Klinger also paid tribute to Jones. “It was fitting that he was our best batter in his last game and to finish his career the way he did.”For Jones, who celebrated with his children on the outfield as Gloucestershire enjoyed a lengthy lap of honour in front of a large number of travelling supporters, this victory will take a special place in his career highlights.”It’s right up the top, purely for the fact I was able to contribute and the group of lads have added more than I can put into words because they’ve made my last few months in cricket so enjoyable.”He will certainly be remembered for more than just that one catch.

Nathan Lyon, the Australia offspinner, believes Australia should field two spinners in the Test series against India, which begins in two weeks’ time

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2013Nathan Lyon, the Australia offspinner, believes Australia should field two spinners in the Test series against India, which begins in two weeks’ time. Lyon was one of eight members of the Australia Test squad who landed in Chennai on Thursday, to acclimatise ahead of the series.”I personally think so [that two spinners should play]. It’s going to be a big challenge for all of us in the different conditions over here,” Lyon said. “Hopefully there’ll be an opportunity where two spinners will be able to go out on the field together for Australia.”Lyon pointed to the success the English slow bowlers enjoyed in India last November-December as evidence that more spinners is a strategy that is likely to work. He took note of a few things that he would like to emulate, he said. “I certainly watched [Monty] Panesar and [Graeme] Swann. They bowled quite well. I did watch Swann very, very closely and I hope to take in a few things and put the same method into practice against India. And India, they even played four spinners in the last Test against England.”Both India and England had played at least two spinners in all four Tests of that series, with India playing only a single quick in the second and fourth matches. The wicket charts, expectedly, were dominated by the spinners: Swann and Panesar took 20 and 17 wickets respectively, comfortably ahead of the next highest for England – James Anderson with 12. For India, while Pragyan Ojha and R Ashwin took 34 wickets between them, all their other bowlers combined tallied 17.Australia have a second spinner in left-armer Xavier Doherty, and spinning allrounders in Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell. The squad also includes 19-year-old Western Australia left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, in a development capacity: he will bowl at the touring batsmen in the nets and is likely to play the first warm-up game. This abundance of spin options will create healthy competition, Lyon said. “It’s going to be a good challenge for all of us, and it’s going to be really good pushing each other along for spots in the first Test side.”Dennis Lillee, the former Australia fast bowler, is in Chennai too and will work with the Australian team, researching why several of their young fast bowlers seem to be breaking down. “I’ll be consulting when there are technical issues or injuries, but I’m not going to be travelling with the team,” Lillee told the . “I’m looking into a lot of things, certainly their training methods, but also technique. My focus is on fitness, strength, and flexibility. So there’s a lot I’ll be researching and thinking about.”Australia will play the first of two tour games from February 12, against the Indian Board President’s XI in Chennai. The first Test starts on Feburary 22, also in Chennai.