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The South Africa coach will look to appoint four other support staff – an assistant coach, a batting coach, a fielding coach and a spin-bowling coach – over the next few weeks

Firdose Moonda30-Oct-2017Charl Langeveldt will not be retained as South Africa’s bowling coach with Ottis Gibson expected to take over the role alongside his duties as head coach. Although he did not confirm whom he has been scouting, Gibson is expected to appoint the rest of his support staff over the next few weeks, which will include an assistant coach, a batting coach, a fielding coach and a spin-bowling coach.ESPNcricinfo understands former Natal and Durham batsman Dale Benkenstein, who last held a coaching role with Hampshire, is frontrunner to become Gibson’s assistant with Adrian Birrell, the incumbent moving on from his role. While there is no clarity over the future of Claude Henderson, the current spin-bowling consultant, batting coach Neil McKenzie is likely to be retained. There is also the possibility of foreign consultants being employed as the need arises.”Obviously, Cricket South Africa have to make that happen. At the moment, there are just names of people that I think can do a good job with the team, some overseas, some local,” Gibson said. “I will do the bowling, then there will be a batting coach, a fielding coach, an assistant coach and a spin bowling coach – so four, plus myself. Having spoken to Charl, bowling has always been my specialism as a coach, fast bowling. He fully understands that.”Langeveldt has been South Africa’s bowling coach since Allan Donald left the post after the 2015 World Cup. Although he and the other assistants who served under Russell Domingo were kept on to work with Gibson in his first assignment against Bangladesh, a new panel will be put in place before South Africa’s four-day pink-ball Test against Zimbabwe, which begins on Boxing Day.Langeveldt, however, will not be lost to South African cricket. Gibson has also floated the idea of appointing elite bowling and batting coaches, who will work the domestic circuit to help feed players to the national side. “I am also in discussion with CSA about a few key positions that I think can make a difference in this country in terms of having elite coaches. So if there is an elite fast bowling coach for CSA, not just for the team, and an elite batting coach when we are on tour, and we have a couple of injuries and I want to know who is the next best fast bowler in the country, I have a person I can go to,” Gibson said. “At the moment, if I ask that question, I will be asking it to the selectors, and the selectors are doing a great job but the selectors are not coaches. Sometimes you want a coach.”While South Africa have a high performance set-up led by former national bowling coach Vincent Barnes and an academy coach in Shukri Conrad, Gibson appears to be in search of someone who can work with all the cricketers on a more consistent basis. For now, he is keen on establishing relationships with the six franchise coaches, with whom he met last Friday to discuss what sounds like a national coaching strategy, specifically designed for the 50-over game and the 2019 World Cup.”I had a really good discussion with the franchise coaches last week to get their input and tried to get a feeling and a message from them as to what I need from them and what they need from me as well,” Gibson said. “It was a really good chat. I really enjoyed meeting the guys and explaining my philosophy and how I want to take certainly the white-ball team forward towards 2019 and they are fully on board with a lot of the stuff that we discussed. Hopefully, over the next 2 months or so, we will continue to build those relationships.”Gibson will see plenty of the franchise coaches in that time as he plans to attend as much of the domestic T20 tournament as possible. “I am going to go around watching and try and see what there is.” Thereafter, he has extended an open invitation to the franchise whenever the national team is in their town. “For example, if we get to Port Elizabeth and there is no franchise cricket, then the two preparation days we have is an open invitation to the franchise coach to come and see how we do things,” Gibson said. “Wherever we go in the country, there is an open invitation to the franchise coaches to be a part of our preparations.”

On a day when the Lodha Committee handed over to the BCCI its first set of timelines for the implementation of its reforms, the Indian board has said it began the process of implementing them soon after the Supreme Court order on July 18

Arun Venugopal09-Aug-2016On a day when the Lodha Committee handed over to the BCCI its first set of timelines for the implementation of its reforms, the Indian board has said it began the process of implementing them immediately after the Supreme Court issued its order on the matter on July 18. This is a markedly conciliatory position from the BCCI – it is the first time it has admitted to beginning the process of implementing the recommendations – which had till now adopted a combative stance for the most part.The BCCI has till September 30 to, among other things, amend its rules and regulations, as per the Lodha directive issued on Tuesday. The first phase of reform, comprising recommendations on 11 topics with sub-divisions, is to be completed by October 15. In all, the court had given the BCCI a maximum of six months to implement all the recommendations, from the date of issue of the order.

Key reforms and deadlines in first phase

September 30
— Adopting amended BCCI MoA, and Rules and Regulations
— Amending constitutions of state associations
— Establishing 15-day gap between the national calendar and the IPL
— Amending the anti-corruption and related codes of the IPL
— Amending player-agent registration norms
— Deciding order of the rotational vote in states with more than one association
— Deciding on fund disbursements among members
— Establishing transparency of tenders
— Pondicherry to be made Associate member
— Setting in motion creation of players’ association
October 15
— Appointment of electoral officers at BCCI and state levels
— Reorganising the zones
— Various websites to be created/updated, including providing links to facilities in stadiums
— Handbooks to be made for differently-abled and age-group cricket

Despite the process being set in motion, BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke, who had met with the Lodha Committee on Tuesday to discuss the deadlines, indicated that the board’s reservations over the verdict remained; he said it would continue to pursue its legal challenge of the verdict.”Whatever BCCI is doing… the implementation process is going on; there is unanimous agreement on both sides that till – or if – the court stays it, this report is to be implemented,” Shirke told ESPNcricinfo after meeting with the Lodha Committee in Delhi. “The process [of implementation] is already going on. The process started from July 18.”The legal process [against the verdict] is a totally different matter; the implementation [of the recommendations] is a totally different matter. [Filing the review petition against the verdict] is a totally separate process. We have time till August 18 [30 days since the Supreme Court’s verdict]. We will file it whenever it’s ready.”According to a press release from the Lodha Committee, Shirke will have to furnish a report of compliance to the timelines by August 25. The BCCI was also directed to ensure “full transparency” of all tenders floated and bids invited by it, and all contracts entered into with effect from July 18. This will include the broadcast rights awarded to Star India for the two-match T20I series to be played in the USA later this month.The first list of recommendations to be implemented include adopting amendments to the Memorandum of Association and Rules and Regulations of the BCCI, the amendment of constitutions of state and member associations, reorganisation of the zones, and setting in motion the creation of the players’ association.Shirke said the meeting had been “very good”, and that there was no acrimony in light of the remarks made by former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, who was appointed by the BCCI to advise it on the Lodha verdict. “[There was] no problem,” Shirke said. “They are all justices of the highest court. What do you expect? People at a certain level can easily differentiate things.”How does Justice Katju’s [remarks] come up in this meeting? When the meeting was called for implementation of [the Lodha recommendations] how does he feature in that?”BCCI president Anurag Thakur, who is also a member of parliament with India’s ruling party, the BJP, couldn’t attend the meeting with parliament in session. Shirke felt Thakur’s absence was unlikely to attract contempt proceedings from the Lodha Committee, considering that he had a legitimate reason.”It is not a problem because he has already given a very valid reason,” Shirke said. “The parliament is on and the letter to that effect has already been submitted. According to me, that’s not an issue. If the committee feels it’s an issue then it’s for them to decide.”

Netherlands have picked 20-year old right-arm medium pacer Vivian Kingma and 21-year old batsman Rahil Ahmed for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League games against Scotland

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2015Netherlands have picked 20-year old right-arm medium pacer Vivian Kingma and 21-year old batsman Rahil Ahmed for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup and World Cricket League games against Scotland. Right-arm pacers Timm van der Gugten and Ahsan Malik, who were part of the squad for the last Intercontinental Cup, have been excluded.

Netherlands squad changes

In:Thijs van Schelven, Vivian Kingma, Rahil Ahmed
Out:Timm van der Gugten, Daniel Doram, Ahsan Malik

Van der Gugten was Netherlands’ top wicket-taker in their last game against Papua New Guinea with six scalps. Malik was pulled up for a suspect bowling action the last time the two sides met, in the World T20 qualifiers, and is yet to be cleared to bowl in international cricket. Daniel Doram, the 17-year old left-arm spinner has also been left out of the squad and Thijs van Schelven has been called up.Netherlands will play a four-day game against Scotland at The Hague from September 8-11 as part of the Intercontinental Cup and then meet them for two WCL games in Amsterdam.Netherlands squad: Peter Borren (capt.), Wesley Barresi (wk), Rahil Ahmed, Mudassar Bukhari, Ben Cooper, Quirijn Gunning, Vivian Kingma, Paul van Meekeren , Roelof van der Merwe, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Michael Rippon, Thijs van Schelven, Pieter Seelaar.

Khulna Royal Bengals, playing in front of a packed Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, beat Rangpur Riders by nine runs and have turned around their flagging campaign with two wins in a row

Mohammad Isam25-Jan-2013
ScorecardKhulna Royal Bengals, playing in front of a packed Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, beat Rangpur Riders by nine runs. They have now turned around their flagging campaign with two wins in a row. Shahriar Nafees helped set up a competitive total on a pitch that was too slow for big hits before Shapoor Zadran rocked the top order of the opposition.The fightback made for excellent viewing too, as the Royal Bengals made 106 runs in the last 10 overs, after struggling for 44 for 4 in the first 10. The fielding display also helped stop the Riders, who had won their last two games quite handsomely, from clinching the tight game. Zadran, the Afghanistan left-arm fast bowler, bowled a mean spell to take three wickets in his first two overs, while Daniel Harris kept things tight with his medium pace.Riders’ Nasir Hossain continued his good form, but was the only batsman to put up a fight, hammering 70 off 49 balls with seven fours and two sixes. He found some support from Dimitri Mascarenhas, who was foxed by Sanjamul Islam to hand back the advantage to the Royal Bengals after their 33-run sixth wicket stand.Khulna’s Nafees batted like a captain should, taking responsibility of an innings that lacked direction. Lou Vincent fell early, and the Riders lost three further wickets, but Nafees assumed control. The emphatic pulled six he hit off Fidel Edwards, the same bowler who had struck his face two years ago, was symbolic of his confidence.Nafees scored 53 off 50 balls with five boundaries and two sixes, and added 70 runs for the fifth wicket with Harris, who stayed unbeaten on 48. Haris provided the final push to take his team to 150.

Jimmy Hansra will lead Canada’s 14-member squad for the Caribbean T20 in January

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Dec-2011Jimmy Hansra will lead Canada’s 14-member squad for the Caribbean T20 in January. The team will be participating in the tournament for the third consecutive year, which will be held in Antigua and Barbados.Canada managed just one win out of four in last year’s edition, beating Hampshire, and finished fourth in their group. The squad will leave from Toronto on January 6 and start the tournament five days later against Winward Islands. The other teams in their group are Leeward Islands, Guyana and defending champions Trinidad and Tobago.Squad: Jimmy Hansra (capt), Rizwan Cheema (vice-capt), Manny Aulakh, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Salman Nazar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Raza Rehman, Junaid Siddiqui, Zubin Surkari, Hamza Tariq

England’s wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, admits there is a strong temptation to start thinking of Ashes glory in the wake of a crushing innings victory in the second Test at Adelaide

Andrew Miller in Melbourne09-Dec-2010England’s wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, admits there is a strong temptation to start thinking of Ashes glory in the wake of a crushing innings victory in the second Test at Adelaide, but he also believes that this particular squad of players has learnt its lessons from previous campaigns and will not allow themselves any let-up in intensity until the task has been completed.Against Australia at Lord’s in 2009, and then in Durban against South Africa five months later, England won the second Test of a major series only to allow their opponents to draw level – in the first instance at Headingley, where England were routed inside three days after being brushed aside for 102 on the first morning, and then at Johannesburg, where Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel reaped the rewards that had eluded them in the first three Tests.”You learn lessons,” said Prior, who played in all four of those contests, having been ever-present in the side since the tour of India in December 2008. “If you’ve got a group of people who’ve stayed together for a while and experienced things together, you learn from them as a team and as a unit. Certainly, we learned a huge amount from that South Africa Test series. To have a really impressive victory in Durban and underperform horribly in the next game [sic] we take a huge amount from that and learn a lot from it.”You’ve got to be careful you don’t fall into the trap of too much back-patting too early,” he added. “The tour’s gone well so far but it’s all in the past now. We learned you can’t look far ahead and you have to take every game and every day as it comes. That’s why the danger would be to starting thinking ‘oh, we’re 1-0 up, we can win the Ashes’. All these comments start flooding in and it’s tempting to start thinking like that, but you have to guard against it and not get too carried away.”Nevertheless, England’s caution does not preclude them from taking satisfaction in a job well done. On Wednesday, Andy Flower allowed himself a rare moment of euphoria in describing the victory in Adelaide as “the perfect game”, and Prior admitted that the last day of that match was “probably the proudest moment for me on a cricket pitch”.”Losing the toss on a very good track, we knew we had a huge task ahead of us,” he said. “Trotty’s run-out set the tone for the whole match, Jimmy’s spell to get Ponting and Clarke early, and the way the whole fielding unit got behind the bowlers. The way the whole team gelled was fantastic and it was a pretty much the perfect game, but as Andy said, it counts for nothing if we go into the next game and throw away the lead we have.”We’ve got to make sure we guard against any complacency. In the past, we’ve played good cricket and pretty poor cricket in the very next game. We’ve set ourselves a benchmark and we have to try to maintain it for as long as possible and stay consistent. If you want to win big series, you have to play consistently. You can’t have one great game and one poor one. We’ll certainly be guarding against that and making sure we’re working every day as we have been and never take our foot off the gas.”Prior’s personal contribution to the series has been extremely limited. He suffered a golden duck at Brisbane as Peter Siddle stunned England with a first-day hat-trick, and beyond that, he was not called upon to bat again until the fourth day at Adelaide, when he made a quick-fire 27 not out to set up a first-hour declaration. However, so long as England are in command of the contest, he does not mind in the slightest.”All the time I’m not batting, we’re scoring a lot of runs and giving ourselves a good chance of winning a Test match,” said Prior. “From that point of view, I’m absolutely delighted with how things have been going. The minute you get to a place where the team’s goal and the team’s target is more than the individual’s, that’s a very powerful place to be, and that’s what we have right now. Every single man in that dressing room knows the team’s goals will come before anything else, and they’re more than happy with that.”The unity of England’s squad has been plain to see, from their defence of Kevin Pietersen after claims that he is an “outcast” to the relaxed cameos that the players have been putting in on Graeme Swann’s video diary. While it is often said that team spirit is an illusion created in victory, Prior believes it is a more complex process than that.”It’s a number of things,” he said. “There are so many little things that come together, and the minute you start forgetting about the one percenters, it becomes dangerous. It’s very easy to look at the 200s, the big partnerships, the individuals taking five-fers, but it’s putting your arm round a mate when he’s struggling, celebrating someone else’s success, genuinely enjoying Cook and KP’s double-hundreds. You see the guys on the balcony, and that excitement is not made-up, it’s not fake. It’s very, very real, I can assure you. We’ve got a whole load of good mates in the dressing room.”Anyone who’s played team sport has probably been involved in a team like that at some stage,” he added. “When you do have that team unity, it’s very special, but it’s not something that just happens overnight. It’s been two years in the making, and when you get it, it’s a very special thing and is something you have to protect and make sure that you keep looking after.”The process will continue on Friday when England play their final warm-up match at the MCG, against a Victoria side that will contain four debutants in Ryan Carters, Alex Keath, Tom Stray and Jayde Herrick. “We’ve got a big game against Victoria coming up tomorrow and that’s as far ahead as we’ll look,” said Prior. “You can fall into a trap if you start looking too far ahead.”The match will be notable for the inclusion of all three of England’s reserve seamers, with Chris Tremlett the favourite to take the place of the injured Stuart Broad for the third Test in Perth next week. However, Prior doubts that the conditions in this contest will be anything like those that are anticipated in Perth.”Not really played here before but looks like it could be quite slow, tacky,” he said. “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see how well it plays, but it doesn’t look as though there are going to be many gremlins in it.”England XI (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Matt Prior, 7 Steve Davies (wk), 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Ajmal Shahzad, 10 Chris Tremlett, 11 Monty Panesar.Victoria Cameron White (capt), 2 Ryan Carters, 3 Aaron Finch, 4 John Hastings, 5 Jayde Herrick, 6 Michael Hill, 7 Jon Holland, 8 David Hussey, 9 Alexander Keath, 10 Clinton McKay, 11 Tom Stray.

After their strong performance in the first game of the Twenty20 Tri-Series against Uganda, the Kenyan spinners once again set up an easy victory over Scotland, running through the middle order to take a combined 6 for 72 in 16 overs, as Scotland crawled

Cricinfo staff01-Feb-2010
Scorecard
David Obuya blasted seven fours and two sixes during his 48-ball innings•Thota Sreenivas

After their strong performance in the first game of the Twenty20 Tri-Series against Uganda, the Kenyan spinners once again set up an easy victory over Scotland, running through the middle order to take a combined 6 for 72 in 16 overs, as Scotland crawled to 109 for 9 in their allotted overs. David Obuya and Steve Tikolo’s unbroken opening partnership then overhauled the target with more than seven overs to spare.After Maurice Ouma won the toss and put Scotland in to bat, Tony Suji marked his return to the Kenyan national side with a mercurial performance in the field to spark early alarm in the Scotland line-up. In a tight opening spell before Kenya’s quartet of spinners took over, Suji snared the dangerous Ryan Watson for 13.In a dramatic over, offspinner Jimmy Kamande then bowled Fraser Watts and Jan Stander – Scotland’s matchwinner in yesterday’s game – in successive balls. Suji then swooped in to run Kyle Coetzer out, as bowler and fielder combined to complete a hat-trick of wickets.Suji was at it again a couple of overs later, running Gavin Hamilton out to leave Scotland teetering at 62 for 5. The collapse was not long coming, as Richie Berrington edged Tikolo through to Ouma in the same over. Shem Obado, the young offspinner, soon dealt with Simon Smith and Ross Lyons and had it not been for Majid Haq’s unbeaten 21, which included a six off the final ball of the innings, Scotland would have struggled to reach 100.In the face of such a paltry target, Scotland’s bowlers could not put any pressure on Obuya and Tikolo. The first over, bowled by Dewald Nel, cost 13 runs and Kenya reached 66 in the first six overs. Gordon Goudie, in his first Twenty20 game for Scotland, was dealt with particularly harshly and his solitary over went for 20 runs. Obuya, dominating the partnership, rushed to his highest score in Twenty20s before Kenya romped home to their second victory of the tournament in the 13th over.

KL Rahul feels scoring runs won’t be easy on the final day

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2025KL Rahul has compared the Headingley surface to a subcontinent pitch, saying run-scoring will not be easy on the final day of the first Test.India, led by Rahul’s memorable 137 and Rishabh Pant’s second century of the Test, set England a target of 371. England reached 21 for 0 at stumps, still needing 350 for a win, and Rahul expected a “very interesting” final day.”I think the first two days, being as hot as it was, the pitch has taken a bit of beating,” Rahul said in an interview with at the close of day four. “The crack seems like it’s opening up. There’s a bit of rough there, and the wicket is really dry. Mostly, it’s like a subcontinent wicket on day five.Related

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“[The] day five wicket won’t be as easy, but knowing how England play and their style of cricket, they’re going to come hard and try and score boundaries and try and score runs as quickly as possible. We need to keep that in the back of our heads and try and bowl as straight as we can. Try and be patient and really not give them those boundaries, make them earn their runs. It should be a very interesting day.”The match was evenly poised when play began on day four, with India two down and leading by 96 runs. They lost their captain Shubman Gill early in conditions ripe for swing bowling, but Rahul and Pant dug in. India managed only 28 runs in the first hour of play but lost just that one wicket, despite the ball moving around.”It was very different this morning,” Rahul said. “It almost felt like it was the first time we were actually in English conditions. The ball was seeming around, it was overcast. There was a bit happening from the wicket.”The first couple of days when we batted, there wasn’t much. There was a bit of swing in the air, but nothing off the pitch. But this morning it was a really good spell. I just felt like I needed to play tighter and make sure that we don’t lose too many wickets and make sure that I kill the first session. I was trying to play as straight as possible. At least defend as straight as possible.”KL Rahul recorded his third century in England•Getty Images

Rahul also said that playing the second unofficial Test for India A against England Lions helped him acclimatise to the conditions in England better and got him into that “tempo of playing Test cricket again”.”[I felt if] I get some time to spend in the middle, it would be really good just to bat against the Dukes ball, just get used to the cold conditions and windy conditions and just spend some time leaving a few balls and just getting that tempo again of playing Test cricket,” Rahul said. “That really helped me come here early and adjust to the conditions. Just get that tempo right and feel comfortable wearing the whites again and getting used to seeing the red ball coming at me.”That really helped me in terms of prep, and obviously, I’ve been here before, I’ve played a few Test series here. So I knew what to expect, but again, every series is different. This time the bowlers are different, the conditions are different, so it was just about switching on and trying to do the simple things right and yeah, coming here early really helped me.”Rahul praised Pant, with whom he forged a 195-run stand for the fourth wicket.”When Rishabh walks in, you just let him be,” Rahul said. “He knows what’s best for the team and for him and how he can do that. Obviously, everyone’s different. Rishabh’s a very different player. He does the job for the team, so you just let him be and make sure that he’s doing the simple things right. We’ve had a few partnerships before as well, so we enjoy batting together.”

He last played for Pakistan in a T20I against New Zealand in April this year

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Nov-2023Pakistan allrounder Imad Wasim has retired from international cricket with immediate effect. Imad, who announced his retirement with a post on social media, played 55 ODIs and 66 T20Is for Pakistan as a left-arm spinner and lower-order batter. He last represented Pakistan in April this year in a T20I against New Zealand in Rawalpindi.”In recent days I have been doing a lot of thinking about my international career and I have come to the conclusion that now is the right time for me to announce my retirement from international cricket,” Imad wrote on X. “I would like to thank the PCB for all their support over the years – it has truly been an honour to represent Pakistan.”Each of my 121 appearances across the ODI and T20I formats was a dream come true. It’s an exciting time for Pakistan cricket going forwards with new coaches and leadership incoming. I wish all involved every success and I look forward to watching the team excel.Related

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“Thank you to the Pakistan fans for always supporting me with such passion. A final thank you to my family and friends who have been so important in helping me achieve at the highest level. I now look forward to focussing on the next stage of my playing career away from the international stage.”Imad, now 34, was part of Pakistan’s Under-19 World Cup-winning side in 2006 and went on to lead Pakistan in the next edition, in 2008. He had to wait till 2015 for a Pakistan debut, in a T20I against Zimbabwe in Lahore. This was when international cricket returned to Pakistan six years after the attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore. He represented Pakistan in the T20 World Cup that followed, in 2016. In 2019, he captained Pakistan, in two ODIs against Australia in Dubai, when regular captain Shoaib Malik was out with an injury.In all, he took 44 wickets and scored 986 runs in ODIs. In T20Is, he took 65 wickets and scored 486 runs. His best performance with the ball, incidentally, is identical in both formats – 5 for 14.Imad is currently in Karachi Kings’ roster for the PSL, and recently played in the Hundred, the CPL and the LPL as well. He has also been a regular in the English county circuit. In fact, born in Swansea in Wales, he played his early cricket in the UK.

Change of ball precipitates home side’s collapse from security of 231 for 1

Paul Edwards05-Sep-2022Lancashire 272 for 8 (Jennings 119, Wells 84, Hill 6-26) vs YorkshireFrom one perspective, the Roses match has become a little shop-soiled this season. This, after all, is the sixth game between Lancashire and Yorkshire since mid-May and some of those sitting in the Emirates Old Trafford pavilion this afternoon could have told you that Lancashire have triumphed in three of them whereas Yorkshire have won none. For many others, Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings’ 180-run first-wicket stand counted for rather more than those victories in the Vitality Blast and the Royal London Cup because the runs were scored in the format that is the best test of a cricketer.Such divergent preferences are among the more benevolent reflections of cricket’s capacity to be shaped as time and structure require. They illustrate the richness of a game that is not simple and will never be made so, no matter how much advertising guff is thrown at it. Less than 72 hours before this match began, Tom Hartley and Matt Parkinson were skeltering around Lord’s and trying to bowl four overs as cheaply as possible. Over the next three days they will be charged with trying to dismiss Yorkshire twice on a pitch that should take spin.That plan and Dane Vilas’s decision to bat first were predicated partly on the home team’s ability to compile a substantial total and by the start of the evening session the confident belief was that Lancashire would amass so substantial a first-innings score that they might only have to bat once in a match for which they had selected two specialist spinners plus Wells. That conviction was strengthened as Jennings and Josh Bohannon added another fifty runs with Jennings becoming the first player in the honoured history of these games to make four centuries in consecutive innings. At 231 for 1, therefore, everything was more or less tickety-boo for Lancashire. Yet an hour or so later, tickety could hardly be glimpsed and boo was nowhere to be found. It all began when Bohannon cut Dom Bess into a puddle that was lying on the covers.That, of course, necessitated a ball change yet the oldest ball in the box offered to the umpires still had its gold lettering on it. Jennings would later say that he could see it “kick and zip” off the surface, so it was not surprising that the medium-pacer George Hill, who had earlier dismissed Wells for 84, was not bemoaning the change. Instead he seized the replacement ball and took five wickets for five runs in 41 deliveries to finish the day with 6 for 26, his best figures in any cricket, including school matches at Sedbergh, club games anywhere else and imaginary Tests in the back garden.George Hill celebrates success with the ball•Getty Images

Jennings, whose straight driving had been a delight, was bowled for 119 when he played fractionally across the line and lost his middle stump. Bohannon, having made 27, drove Hill to short extra-cover where the debutant Fin Bean took a low catch. Vilas fell for 2 to a brilliant one-handed effort by Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who dived to his left from first slip to complete the dismissal.Far more conventional snares by Kohler-Cadmore accounted for Steven Croft and George Balderson in the space of five balls and helped Hill complete his maiden five-wicket return in first-class cricket – his previous best had been 2 for 21 – and the session ended with yet more success for Yorkshire as Hartley and Tom Bailey fell to successive deliveries from Ben Coad.For a Yorkshire team still threatened with relegation Hill’s spell was greeted with a measure of delight that increased with every success. Before the ball was changed Jonny Tattersall’s players might have been anticipated facing a score in excess of 400 and their mood can hardly have been improved by the blow on the nose Adam Lyth received from a full-blooded clip to leg by Steven Croft which caused the opener to be led from the field. Deep in the evening session all the talk was of Jennings’ achievement in following his scores of 114, 132 and 238 with a fourth century and thus eclipsing Geoff Pullar and Herbert Sutcliffe, both of whom made three successive centuries in Roses games. Yet as Hill led his colleagues off the field he surely knew that the game is now evenly poised and that he was the player who had made it so.