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Look out Division One, the Essex boys are coming. Ryan ten Doeschate afterwards played down the effect his captaincy has had on Essex winning promotion

Alan Gardner at Chelmsford13-Sep-2016
ScorecardJames Foster embraces Ryan ten Doeschate as the Division Two title is clinched•Getty Images

Look out Division One, the Essex boys are coming. Ryan ten Doeschate afterwards played down the effect his captaincy has had on Essex winning promotion but he led from the front to haul his side over the line in their penultimate match of the season, the Division Two title finally secured to raucous approval on a sweltering afternoon in Chelmsford. Ten Doeschate struck the single that took Essex to 250 and a second batting point – enough to move them clear of all challengers – and his fourth hundred of a most fulfilling first season in charge duly followed.The Championship has been a matter of delayed gratification for Essex fans, having seen their side finish third in each of the last three years, and they had to endure one or two trying moments against second-from-bottom Glamorgan before the job was completed. With only one promotion spot going this season, there was no margin for error but they will now return to Division One for the first time since 2010. A trip to Canterbury next week will serve only as a coronation.”We made it hard for ourselves today and it would have been a lot nicer to fly past the winning post but as much as we tried to avoid it, this game was really about getting those bonus points and making sure we didn’t have to go to Kent with any work to do,” ten Doeschate said. “Everyone’s delighted, it’s a bit weird winning it on day two…but I think it’s more a sense of relief up there and a great achievement to achieve what we set out to do at the start of the year.”Promotion was the stated goal and, in Chris Silverwood’s first campaign as head coach, Essex produced their most dominant Championship cricket in more than a decade. They have led practically from start to finish (Kent spent a week on top in July having played a game more), their six victories so far all by the imposing margins of either an innings or ten wickets.Three of those came as the season approached its climax as Essex, in ten Doeschate’s words, carefully “eliminated” their rivals one by one. After Kent were unexpectedly beaten by Northamptonshire last week, they came into this match knowing that bonus points could be enough; five were needed to extinguish Kent’s chances, six in the event that Sussex took maximum points from their game with Worcestershire. Essex were wobbling at 85 for 5 shortly after Sussex were dismissed for 229 in their first innings at Hove but ten Doeschate put on a century standard with Adam Wheater to settle the nerves.It was fitting that ten Doeschate was the man who made sure of things. Since July, his run of scores reads: 91, 52, 25, 83, 109, 60, 86, 109* and 109*; in the process he became the first Essex captain to pass 1000 runs for the season since Ronnie Irani in 2006. Irani, whose return as cricket committee chairman last year led to the winter shake-up in management, would doubtless approve of such talismanic displays.Ten Doeschate was also the man who scored the dramatic last-day hundred to fire Essex up the last time they were promoted, in 2009, but he has experienced enough near-misses over recent years to make this a moment to savour – even if he was keen to downplay his own role.”I think the really rewarding thing about this year was the fact there was only one promotion spot available and we really made a pact that we were going to go for it,” he said. “To achieve it – and it’s only Division Two and we’re only the tenth best team in the country at the moment – is so rewarding, and being captain as well, it is probably my proudest and biggest achievement at Essex.”Subconsciously we’ve tried to be more relaxed and place more faith in the players, and that’s shown in the belief guys have shown in themselves. A year ago, or two years ago there would have been stages, in the same position, where we would have folded and the belief in the camp this year has been a lot better. I personally think the captaincy thing is overrated, I believe it’s more the environment you can create. I don’t really have too much to say on it but things have clicked pretty much from the first game.”Essex have barely clicked so well in four-day cricket since they won Division Two way back in 2002. Only in the middle of the season, when they lost twice in three games, to Leicestershire and Gloucestershire, did they falter. “Since then, we’ve been really switched on, learned quickly from the mistakes we’ve made. Four-day cricket is never easy but we’ve pretty much been faultless over the last five or six weeks,” ten Doeschate said.It has, as the captain was keen to stress, been a collective effort. Essex have the leading wicket-taker in the division, in Graham Napier, as well as two batsman with more than 1000 Championship runs (Tom Westley and ten Doeschate) and a third, Nick Browne, just shy of the mark; the team have racked up more than 500 on five occasions (twice passing 600), something no other Division Two county has done more than twice. Oh, and Alastair Cook’s 643 runs at 91.85 have helped, too.The strategy that Essex set out at the end of last season has been followed with doctrinal zeal. Silverwood was appointed with the aim of getting Essex into Division One of the Championship and he has succeeded where Paul Grayson failed so often, at the first time of asking.Quarter-final defeats in the NatWest Blast and Royal London Cup were uncomfortably reminiscent of the Grayson era but, while limited-overs cricket is important to the club’s finances, Essex believe that being in the top-tier of the Championship is the best way to retain the talent they bring through. The XI for this match, which included the returning Wheater and Varun Chopra in anticipation of Division One challenges ahead, might be considered validation of such a strategy, with only ten Doeschate and Kent-born David Masters requiring honorary Essex boy status.The Championship side has come together as the perfect blend of youth and experience, at least as far as Division Two goes. How they will fare in Division One without Napier and Masters – whose retirement seems imminent – is one of the imponderables that Essex regulars will return to gnaw at periodically over the winter months.For now, Essex have their moment in the late-September sun. On an oppressively hot afternoon, a blissed-out crowd slowly swelled beyond four figures, applauding singles and cheering boundaries as ten Doeschate and his predecessor, James Foster, took them to the ECG equivalent of nirvana. “Come on you Essex boys!” was the cry, before ten Doeschate and Foster embraced. They are coming.

Pakistan captain Misbah ul Haq has expressed his disappointment with the selectors over not having another spinner in the squad to cover for the injured Yasir Shah in the opening Test in Abu Dhabi

Umar Farooq in Abu Dhabi13-Oct-2015Pakistan captain Misbah ul Haq has expressed his disappointment with the selectors over not having another spinner in the squad to cover for the injured Yasir Shah in the opening Test in Abu Dhabi. Pakistan prefer to play two fast bowlers and at least two specialist spinners but were forced to bring in Imran Khan as part of a three-man seam attack after a back spasm ruled out Yasir.Pakistan initially named a 15-man squad, with another spinner – either Zafar Gohar or Mohammad Asghar – expected to come in as a 16th player but instead Shoaib Malik was selected having not played a Test in five years. Less than 24 hours before the first Test, Yasir collapsed during a training session and he was unable to prove his fitness on Tuesday morning. It was a major setback for Pakistan, with their plans centred on Yasir.The flaw in their selection was immediately apparent, with no spinner sitting on the bench as a cover. Misbah made his feelings clear before the start of the match, saying: “I think it’s a mismanagement and we’re really disappointed by this.”The team’s management had attempted to bring back Gohar but the uncapped left-arm spinner had already returned to Pakistan after playing in two warm-up matches against England and had to apply for another visa.The PCB made every effort to fly Gohar overnight to Abu Dhabi from Lahore and make him available for selection but time was against them. He did not make it and Pakistan had to play three seamers against their will, leading to Misbah voicing his disapproval publically.It was, however, with the consent of Misbah that team management preferred Malik to either Gohar or Asghar. Both were to be judged while playing for Pakistan A against England in Sharjah last week, with Gohar emerging as the standout performer with figures of 2 for 47 and 3 for 72.It is understood that Misbah was not happy with the selections in the first place, with four seamers and two spinners included, but he did not resist and the squad was ultimately named with his consent. With Mohammad Hafeez currently banned from bowling, Zulfiqar Babar will therefore carry the spin burden, although Malik – who has 21 Test wickets at 61.47 – is also likely to contribute.

Rahul Dravid has said India must decide whether they want Virender Sehwag to open in Tests in South Africa at the end of the year

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2013India’s selectors and management must decide whether they want Virender Sehwag to open in Tests in South Africa at the end of the year, and if not, they must give someone else the opportunity to find his feet in familiar conditions, Rahul Dravid has said. The Indian selectors are due to pick the squad for the last two Tests against Australia on Thursday, but ESPNcricinfo understands no changes are expected.A chink in India’s commanding victories in the first two Tests in Chennai and Hyderabad was their opening partnership, which produced 11, 16 and 17. While M Vijay found form in Hyderabad with 167, Sehwag aggregated 27 in three innings.He had made only 253 runs in seven innings during the home series against England last year, 117 of those coming in one innings in Ahmedabad. He also failed to score a half-century in two home Tests against New Zealand. On India’s last overseas assignment, in Australia, Sehwag made 198 runs in eight innings. After the two remaining matches against Australia, India have no more Tests scheduled before their trip to South Africa at the end of the year.”I think the selectors and management need to decide whether they are going to open with Viru (Virender) in South Africa,” Dravid told ESPNcricinfo. “I mean Viru playing well, Viru at his best, is a great asset to any side, but the reality is that he hasn’t been performing particularly well, and he hasn’t really done well on overseas trips over the last two or three years. If they feel confident about opening with Sehwag in South Africa, then I think it makes sense to continue with Sehwag and give him the opportunity to get that confidence.”Dravid said there was also the option of moving Sehwag to the middle order, and if that was the case, then India should blood the replacement opener in home conditions before taking him to face the new ball in South Africa. The reserve opener in the squad for the first two Tests against Australia was Delhi batsman Shikhar Dhawan.”If they are going to look ahead, I think there could be a realistic possibility of Sehwag coming into the middle order,” Dravid said. “You know if opportunities open up at some stage, maybe Sachin is going to move on, then I think Viru is the man with the experience to be able to come in and bat in the middle order. He has said in the past that he would like to, and that could be an option.If that is the route India is going to take then I think it makes sense to try out another youngster, or try out another opener, and give him the opportunity to play at least a couple of Test matches in more familiar conditions, before going to South Africa. I think it will be unfair on any young opener to be asked to go to South Africa straightaway, and play against the likes of Steyn, Philander and Morkel.”

Michael Clarke believes the added responsibility of captaincy has been a factor in his remarkable year as a batsman

Brydon Coverdale in Melbourne 27-Feb-2012Michael Clarke believes the added responsibility of captaincy has been a factor in his remarkable year as a batsman. Clarke won his third Allan Border Medal in Melbourne on Monday and it was no surprise after a 12-month period in which he topped Australia’s run tally in both Test and one-day international cricket, and took over the captaincy from Ricky Ponting.In contrast, the previous year was much leaner for Clarke, who averaged 31.30 in Test cricket in the 12 months up until last year’s Allan Border Medal. The highlights of Clarke’s 2011-12 were his triple-century against India at the SCG and his double-hundred in the Adelaide Test two games later, but he made a ton in each of Australia’s four Test series and topped the run tally in three of those.”I think the added responsibility of captaining the team has probably made me stand up and lead from the front,” Clarke said. “People see the rewards when you stand up on the big stage, they don’t see the hard work you do off the field. When you have the chance to go and bat for Australia in the middle of the SCG or the Adelaide Oval, that’s the fun part, that’s the part where you just walk out and enjoy yourself because the hard work has been done.”With some young guys coming in to our team this summer it’s been crucial that the senior players have stood up. It’s a great reflection when you look at that leadership board for the Allan Border Medal you’ve got myself, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson – the senior players are on that board and I think that’s played a big part in the success we’ve had over the last 12 months.”And it has been a prosperous year for Clarke’s team as well as for himself. He is yet to lose a series as captain and started his tenure in the Test role with victory over Sri Lanka and over the past two months helped his side whitewash India 4-0. But in among those triumphs there have been lower points: their 47 all out in Cape Town and the loss to New Zealand in Hobart in particular.”I think it could have gone better, definitely,” Clarke said of his first year as captain. “I think over the past 12 months we’ve played some really good cricket but there’s been some patches that we’d like to forget as well. I think we’re heading in the right direction as a team. When you’re the No.1 one-day team in the world it’s really hard to stay on top of your game all the time; you have to keep finding new things, new ways to improve. You have to keep working hard, you can’t take anything for granted. Getting to the top of the tree is very hard but staying there is even harder.”The job we face as a Test team is we have three other teams in front of us. We know we have a lot of work to do. We see that every single day with the ICC rankings, we see very clearly where we sit. We have very clear goals there. I think we’re a long way from the team we want to be but I do believe we’re heading in the right direction.”Clarke won the Allan Border Medal by quite a distance from the second-placed Hussey and Watson, who came in third. Ponting was fourth, followed by the emerging fast man James Pattinson in fifth position and the batsman David Warner, who came sixth.

The Warriors and the Lions, the two South African franchises who competed in last year’s Champions League Twenty20, have confirmed they have not received their prize money from the tournament

Firdose Moonda31-Jan-2011The Warriors and the Lions, the two South African franchises who competed in last year’s Champions League Twenty20, have confirmed they have not received their prize money from the tournament. The amount, totalling US$ 1.5 million for both franchises, was due to be paid out on the last day of January.”We have not received any notification of the money yet,” Cassim Docrat, chief executive of the Lions told ESPNcricinfo. “We understand that it takes a while to reconcile everything although we were told that the money would be paid at the end of the month.”Signs of a delay in the processing became evident last Tuesday at the launch of the Standard Bank Pro20, the competition which produces South African’s two CLT20 candidates. Alviro Petersen was asked if he was enjoying his CLT20 money, to which he replied, ‘I’m still waiting for my wallet to fill up.”At the time, both Docrat and Dave Emslie, chief executive of the Warriors franchise, were not concerned about the non-payment, because they expected the money to arrive by the end of the month. “The tournament ended in September and we think it’s a very acceptable time period for payment to be made,” Emslie said.The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations’ (FICA), however, disagrees. “It’s simply unacceptable that three of the most financially affluent cricket boards in the world can seemingly sit on their hands for four months with no apparent sense of obligation to pay this prize money in a timely manner,” Tim May, FICA’s chief executive, said. The CLT20 is jointly owned by the BCCI, CSA and CA and the total prize money owed by them totals US $6 million.May said that FICA has been told that payment “may be made in late January or early February.” He added that participation fees, which were due to be paid no more than 20 days after completion of the event on September 26, 2010, had also not been paid. “We will be assessing our various options regarding recovery of these outstanding amounts for the 2010 event should the monies not be received within the next couple of weeks.”The two South African franchises will receive notification from CSA when the money is successfully transferred from India. On receipt, it will be divided among all six local franchises. The Warriors, who reached the final of the CLT20, will be awarded the biggest share. Despite their imminent riches, Warriors captain Davy Jacobs is in no hurry to receive his cheque. “We will get it at some stage. The later, the better,” he said. “By then we would have forgotten all the silly things we want to do with it and will spend it properly.”

A round-up of the fourth day of matches from the sixth round of the Regional Four Day Competition

Cricinfo staff23-Feb-2010Shivnarine Chanderpaul was at the forefront during Guyana‘s first win of the season, and for three years in the WICB regional first-class championship, as they beat Leeward Islands by five wickets at the National Cricket Centre in Couva. Chanderpaul followed up his first-innings century with 32 not out, as Guyana, chasing a modest 98 for victory, reached their target before lunch. The result never appeared to be in doubt, although they lost Assad Fudadin and wicketkeeper Derwin Christian continuing from their overnight score of 49 for 3. But Chanderpaul was there to provide the final touch.”It is always good to win, and it will be a big boost to the team’s confidence going into the final round,” said Chanderpaul. “You needed to apply yourself and be patient which is a problem for most of our batsmen.”Apart from spending time in the middle, Chanderpaul was also pleased that his thumb injury, sustained during West Indies’ tour of Australia in December, hadn’t played up. “I’m feeling okay with my injury,” he said. “Victory against Zimbabwe in the coming series will be a psychological boost to the team and the fans in the Caribbean. We have to lift our game and play more intelligent cricket.”Offspinner Amit Jaggernauth starred with the ball to hand Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) a 155-run victory over Windward Islands in Port of Spain. Jaggernauth picked up 5 for 47 as Windwards, chasing 373 for victory, were cleaned up before the lunch interval. T&T had early success after the Windwards resumed from their overnight 129 for 5, with Imran Khan trapping Shane Shillingford leg before for 1. But from then on it was the Jaggernauth show as the Windwards lower order found the mixture of offspinners and googlies too hot to handle. The result helped T&T climb to third on the points table, whereas Windwards hit rock bottom.