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The league, however, could potentially clash with the women’s IPL

Danyal Rasool06-Oct-2022The PCB has announced the launch of women’s T20 league, with the inaugural edition set to run alongside next year’s PSL. There will be 12 games played, all of them in Rawalpindi, with the final due to take place on March 18 2023, the day before the Pakistan Super League final. The league will comprise four teams, with 18 players per side, including six foreign players.”I am delighted to announce the women’s league,” PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said. “This league will attract young women cricketers to this great sport and help our current players further enhance their skills when they will get to share dug-outs with the overseas players. To amplify the coverage and promotion of this initiative, some of the matches will precede the HBL Pakistan Super League 8 matches.”This event is aligned to our strategy of making Pakistan a stronger cricket playing nation across all formats and genders. We are not only creating attractive brands to strengthen our cricket economy, but through this tournament are also providing career opportunities to our women cricketers. The more our women cricketers will participate in high-pressure events, the more they will learn.”Related

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Ramiz has been a proponent of a women’s T20 league ever since ascending to the chairmanship, with the lure of pipping India to hosting the first women’s T20 league in Asia a consistent theme among his stated goals. India has held the Women’s T20 challenge since 2018, but is yet to host a franchise-based women’s league similar to the Indian Premier League. The inaugural edition of the women’s IPL is also scheduled for March 2023, with the dates yet to be announced.That means there could theoretically be a clash between the women’s IPL and the women’s T20 league in Pakistan, potentially impacting Pakistan’s foreign options for the league.Ramiz had told ESPNcricinfo earlier this year that the PCB was looking to host a women’s PSL in the January-February window. At the time, Pakistan had just 12 centrally contracted women’s cricketers, though that has since increased to 20. Pakistan still need to have a further 28 local players for the league, meaning they will need to dig deep among their reserves for local talent, and likely turn to players that featured in the national Under-19 tournament in August to make up the shortfall.”There’s a lot of traction and a lot of takers for it,” Ramiz had said at the time. “Pakistan women’s cricket needs to improve a lot, and that will only happen when we give them an environment where they can make money and share the dugout with world-class players. We are also thinking of making first-class women’s teams and attaching them with provincial teams.”

Fast bowler Pat Cummins remains upbeat despite facing another lengthy period of rehabilitation as the result of a back stress fracture

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2015Fast bowler Pat Cummins remains upbeat despite facing another lengthy period of rehabilitation as the result of a back stress fracture. Cummins has been ruled out of Australia’s Test tour of Bangladesh but he has in mind the goal of returning to the national side in time for the World Twenty20 in India next March.Stress fractures of the back and foot have cruelled Cummins’ career ever since he was Man of the Match during his only Test appearance, against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2011. He has not played a Sheffield Shield game since March 2011 but was part of Australia’s World Cup-winning squad this year and at 22, he is confident that he can again return from a long injury lay-off.”I’m not really worried now, compared to a couple of years ago,” Cummins told reporters in Sydney on Friday. “The fact I was able to come back after bowling a heavy schedule over two years, and to have it culminate in a really successful one-day international series at the back end of it means I’m not worried at all.”I know I can do it. While we haven’t set out a rehab plan yet – and things will obviously be dictated by my recovery – the Twenty20 World Championship in India early next year has been targeted as a goal for me to try and return for. I will be doing all of my rehab sessions with that tournament in mind.”Cummins was only 18 when he played his sole Test match and a big future was expected, but nearly four years on and his entire first-class career still consists of only eight games. He said his latest injury would not discourage him from continuing to bowl as fast as he could – often he is able to break the 150kph barrier.”Certainly not, especially when you’re playing for your country and the batsman is trying to smash you around,” he said. “In short-form formats you have to bowl flat out because you only have a couple of overs to have an impact. Why would you bowl 140kph when you can hit 155?”Australia’s bowling coach Craig McDermott said he was confident Cummins could still have a long international career ahead of him despite the latest setback. McDermott said that although Cummins had “a little more lateral flexion than you’d like”, there was no apparent need to rebuild his bowling action from scratch.”He’s just going to be disappointed he’s got injured again and he’s got another road back of six or seven months before he is back playing competitive cricket at a high level again,” McDermott told the . “He’s already shown he can do it in all three formats so we’ve just got to be patient with him. He’ll do the rehab work, no doubt, and working your way back from those things is not much fun. It’s long, tedious work … but he’s been through it and I’m sure he’ll do the same.”I don’t think he’ll have any problems whatsoever dealing with this. He’s very mature, very meticulous with his preparation, and he’ll be back bigger and better than ever … I’ve known Patty since he was 16 or 17 … it’s disappointing he’s got injured but he’s still young, he’s got time on his side. He’s got another 10, 12 years ahead of him.”

Squad takes week off ahead of series decider at Oval after three-day loss

Firdose Moonda30-Aug-2022Smarting from their defeat inside three days at Old Trafford, South Africa have taken the week off and will break away to the West Midlands before resuming training in London on Saturday.No further details have been provided about their itinerary except that they will “stay together as a group” and engage in team activities including golf rather than have individual time away, as was initially discussed. Speaking after the second Test, Dean Elgar said they would use the time to reconnect, to “pull ourselves towards ourselves”, and “don’t forget why we are here”.The mood is somewhat different to the one the team had after beating England in three days at Lord’s. Players were given the remaining two days off to do as they pleased with the only instruction to “be back at the hotel for an 11 o’clock leaving time otherwise it’s an expensive Uber to Manchester,” Elgar said.Related

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The gap between the second and third Test was initially scheduled for nine days to accommodate the Hundred’s final week. That became 11 days after England stormed to an innings-and-85-run win. South Africa remained in Manchester for what would have been the final two days of the Test and will leave for their getaway on Tuesday.While Elgar emphasised they would like to get away from cricket to a degree, South Africa will not be able to avoid addressing questions over their game, especially as the decider looms. Chief among South Africa’s considerations will be how to juggle the batting line-up after they were dismissed for under 200 in both innings.Rassie van der Dussen has returned home with a finger injury and will be replaced by one of Ryan Rickelton or Khaya Zondo, but both reserve batters could come into contention given Aiden Markram’s poor form.Allrounder Wiaan Mulder, who has been playing at Leicester, has been added to the squad in van der Dussen’s absence, and provides another option in the lower middle-order.

Hosts handed first home defeat of season as promotion race begins to hot up

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2022Worcestershire 191 (Barnard 69, Roland-Jones 4-60) and 238 for 3 (Pollock 113) beat Middlesex 188 (Hollman 62, Helm 50, Leach 3-58) and 240 (Hollman 46, Yadav 44*, Pennington 3-54, Baker 3-62) by seven wicketsEd Pollock annihilated Middlesex’s bowling attack with a brilliant century as Worcestershire coasted to a resounding seven-wicket LV= Insurance County Championship success at Merchant Taylors’ School.Pollock was in ruthless mood, slamming 113 from just 77 balls to register his highest first-class score and ensure the visitors chased down what had appeared a tricky fourth-innings target of 238 with ease.The left-hander’s performance – which included seven sixes and 11 fours – ensured Worcestershire became the first visiting team to taste victory in a red-ball fixture at the Northwood venue.The result strengthened the Pears’ promotion chances, lifting them to within 11 points of Middlesex, who remain second in Division Two for now despite their first home defeat of the campaign.Charlie Morris made early inroads in the morning, uprooting Toby Roland-Jones’ off stump before Tom Helm squirted him into the hands of mid-on to leave Middlesex eight down and 185 ahead.But Umesh Yadav’s pugnacious approach quickly propelled his new side past 200, thrashing Dillon Pennington over long-off for six and handing out the same treatment to Josh Baker when Worcestershire turned to spin.The India international dominated a partnership of 41 with Luke Hollman, who fell just four short of his second half-century of the match when Baker persuaded him to reverse-sweep and find the point fielder.Yadav was left unbeaten on 44 from 41 balls when Middlesex’s innings finally came to a close at 240, with Tim Murtagh caught behind swishing at Joe Leach.If the target appeared awkward, Worcestershire’s openers looked completely unflustered by it, with Roland-Jones’ first two overs disappearing for 22 as Pollock and Jake Libby raced to 50 inside the first seven.Hollman and Yadav succeeded in stemming the flow of runs before lunch – but the batting side resumed the onslaught after the interval, with Pollock hooking Roland-Jones for six and slamming another boundary in the same over to reach his half-century.Helm eventually achieved the breakthrough, having Libby (31) caught behind attempting to cut, but the wicket failed to disrupt Pollock’s rhythm and he ruthlessly pulled the first ball of Murtagh’s second spell over the fence.The opener’s hundred arrived from just 67 deliveries, with Taylor Cornall – who contributed 12 to the second-wicket stand of 82 – required to do little more than stand and applaud his partner’s efforts.Pollock eventually perished, pulling Yadav down the throat of deep square leg with 71 still needed, but his job was long since done and it was left to Cornall (31 not out) and captain Brett D’Oliveira (33 not out) to steer Worcestershire over the line.

Leicestershire’s Ben Raine shook Glamorgan with five wickets but a substantial late-order rally left Glamorgan holding the whip hand in Cardiff

ECB/PA24-Jun-2015
ScorecardBen Raine’s five-for had Leicestershire sniffing victory•PA Photos

Leicestershire medium-fast bowler Ben Raine ripped through Glamorgan’s middle order to give Leicestershire hope of victory in the Division Two match in Cardiff.Raine tore the hosts’ middle order apart, taking four wickets for two runs in 17 deliveries after Colin Ingram, with a polished innings of 60, and opener Jacques Rudolph had put on 96 for third wicket.Raine dismissed Ingram, Chris Cooke, Craig Meschede and Mark Wallace, the last two for ducks, in quick succession to leave Glamorgan rocking on 105 for 6.It meant their lead was only 130, but yet again Graham Wagg, after his 200 and 94 in the last two innings, counter-attacked effectively and as the last three wickets piled up 139 with consummate ease it helped to rally Glamorgan to a second innings total of 298.Visitors Leicestershire closed the penultimate day on 75 for 3 and will go in search of the 249 more runs they need for victory on Thursday’s final day, while Glamorgan need seven more wickets to record their fourth successive championship win.Glamorgan captain Jacques Rudolph top-scored for the hosts with 74 after remaining at the crease for five and a half hours while Raine claimed a career-best 5 wickets for 43 runs in the innings.Rudolph was assisted by Ingram and latterly Wagg, with the tailenders chipping in at the end of the innings.Rudolph eventually fell when the score was on 207, bowled by Tom Wells, but Andrew Salter, with a career best 54 not out and Michael Hogan and Andy Carter, plundered 91 from the last 10 overs.Needing 324 to win from 126 overs, Leicestershire soon lost Angus Robson, who nicked at an outswinger from Meschede to Wallace. Shortly afterwards Wagg dismissed Ned Eckersley, who deflected the ball on to his stumps.There was further success for the home team when Hogan, in his second spell, trapped Mark Cosgrove lbw for 14 after the former Glamorgan batsman had found it difficult to adapt to the slow pitch.

Mandhana’s 46 helped Brave to 153 for 8, and Invincibles never got going in the chase

Matt Roller14-Aug-2022Oval Invincibles are defending champions in the Hundred and eased to a nine-wicket win on the opening night of the women’s competition on Wednesday. But three days later, their season is in turmoil after they made a shock call to omit captain Dane van Niekerk from their side, then slipped to a 12-run defeat against Southern Brave in a rematch of last year’s final in the south London sunshine.Marizanne Kapp was fit to return after missing the opening game through illness and her return demanded a tough call, with four top-class overseas players in the squad and only three permitted in the playing XI. Jonathan Batty, Invincibles’ head coach, was expected to leave out Suzie Bates, but her innings of 46 off 34 against Northern Superchargers saw her keep her place.Instead, van Niekerk made way, and Invincibles never got going in her absence. Smriti Mandhana hit the first two balls of the innings for four after Bates, deputising as captain, chose to bowl, and her innings of 46 led Brave to 153 for 8, the highest women’s Hundred total at The Oval. In the chase, Kapp, Bates and Lauren Winfield-Hill made bright starts, but failed to turn their cameos into innings of substance as Brave’s spinners closed out a comfortable win in front of a 14,525 crowd.Mandhana magic
Mandhana missed the final week of the Hundred last year, returning home to see her family before flying to Australia for India’s tour, and their batting wasn’t the same without her: in the final, they folded to 73 all out – which represented something of a recovery from 14 for 6. While there is no guarantee she would have kept out Kapp’s high-class opening spell on that day, this was a reminder of what Brave had missed.She was up and running immediately, creaming her first ball – from Kapp, no less – through the covers for four and hit six fours in her first 13 deliveries, punishing Kapp and Shabnim Ismail when they missed their lengths. When she slog-swept Mady Villiers for four at the start of the ninth, she was a hit away from a half-century after just 24 balls, but was beaten in the flight by her 25th and stumped by Winfield-Hill.”I was timing the ball well,” Mandhana told Sky Sports at the interval. “When you get a first-ball boundary, that gives you a lot of confidence. I was really disappointed to get out – I think it’s a crime to get out in the 40s after batting so well – and really disappointed that I couldn’t play at least until the 90th ball.”Sophia Smale had the wickets of Danni Wyatt and Tahlia McGrath to show•ECB/Getty Images

Brave keep coming
Invincibles took regular wickets through the middle phase, with 17-year-old left-arm spinner Sophia Smale keeping a lid on the scoring, but Charlotte Edwards has made a point of building a side with a long batting line-up and they continued to attack throughout the innings: Mandhana aside, no batter reached even 25 but their intent dragged them up to a defendable total.Freya Kemp and Georgia Adams’ partnership of 45 off 24 balls for the sixth wicket was particularly crucial, and highlighted the extent to which Brave’s lower-order firepower has emboldened their batters to attack: rather than a major setback, each dismissal resembles one batter handing the baton over to the next.Oval’s overseas dilemma
Batty’s decision to leave out his captain, and the MVP across the tournament’s first season, was a gamble that backfired. “She led them to the trophy last year,” Lydia Greenway said on Sky. “From a coach’s point of view, if you feel like you need to make a big call like that, you have to go for it. The challenge they will have is if they lose today, how will they manage that?”In her absence, Invincibles needed their overseas trio to step up and prove their worth; perhaps inevitably, they struggled to make any impact. Kapp and Ismail were uncharacteristically loose with the new ball and at the death, returning combined figures of 0 for 67 from 40 balls. With the bat, Bates hit 15 off 8 balls and Kapp crunched 19 off 9, but both fell without making a lasting impact.With Alice Capsey sidelined due to the ankle injury she picked up fielding in Invincibles’ opening game, their domestic players were left with too much to do. Ryana Macdonald-Gay’s late hitting put a dent in Amanda-Jade Wellington’s figures but by then, tight spells from part-time offspinners Adams (2 for 16 from 20) and Danni Wyatt (2 for 16 from 10) had seen the asking rate spiral out of control.

Four players who featured in that 2014 game – SA’s last Test match – are part of the squad that’s currently touring England

Firdose Moonda24-Jun-2022It’s natural for sports teams to take lessons learnt from one game into another but to take those lessons from a fixture played over eight years ago has to be unprecedented. That’s what South Africa will have to do when they play their first Test since 2014 next week.They’re looking back to when they played against India in Mysore, where they lost by an innings and 34 runs after a lower-order collapse of 6 for 25 in their first innings and middle- and lower-order meltdowns of 4 for 8 and 4 for 12 in the second.”In that Test match, we were well in the game competing and then we lost concentration as a unit after tea and that’s when we lost the Test match,” Hilton Moreeng, who has been South Africa’s coach since 2012, said. “It showed what a lack of concentration can do and what losing a session does – how critical that can be. Those who were part of it understand what happened and it’s now an opportunity to show they can put it right against a team that has been playing consistently in this format.”Four of the current squad – Lizelle Lee, Chloe Tryon, Marizanne Kapp and Trisha Chetty – played in that Test. Of those four, Chetty spent almost three hours at the crease while scoring a first-innings 56, and then spent two hours and 25 minutes in the middle while scoring 35 in the second. Tryon batted for two hours and 27 minutes for an unbeaten 30 in the second innings. Their experience will be crucial to a line-up that is still finding its feet in the longer format.Moreeng said the batters were having a more difficult time adjusting than the bowlers but have progressed well from their training camp last month. “The ones that are battling with it currently are our batters, because we’ve just come from a white-ball tour in Ireland,” he said. “What has helped is the prep we had prior to the Ireland tour. We had a three-day and four-day game where we introduced most of them to red-ball cricket.”File photo – Laura Wolvaardt scored a century during South Africa’s three-day warm-up match against England A•Cricket Ireland/Keniry Photography

And the fruits of that labour showed in the three-day warm-up match against England A. Laura Wolvaardt scored her first red-ball ton, Lara Goodall, batting at No. 3, made 51, and Andrie Steyn, Wolvaardt’s opening partner, hit a second-innings 63.”To see how the batters have set up their innings, taking their time and their application – that’s something that wasn’t there in the preparation matches that we had and we are very happy to see that on the back of white-ball cricket,” Moreeng said. “The application we see from batters shows that the improvement is there. Getting into the Test, we can say that most of our batters have spent time in the middle to be able to understand what’s required.”Moreeng would not give away much about the line-up he intends to play in the Test but on the evidence of the warm-up match, Lee is likely to bat in the middle order, flanked by captain Sune Luus and Kapp, who will headline the pace attack. South Africa are likely to go in seam-heavy, with Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka as first-choice (though both were rested from the warm-up match) and Anneke Bosch (3/17) and Tumi Sekhukhune (2/27) enjoying good outings in Arundel. “It’s an experienced [bowling] unit,” Moreeng said. “With the Duke ball, they have to make sure they can manage whatever excessive swing they get on this wicket. And the patience around setting up batters and working towards a plan. There’s enough time to make plans and execute your skills.”While the batters and bowlers have been getting skill-specific in their preparation, the squad as a whole has been preparing for successive days of cricket, which they are also unused to. “Our conditioning has been good. We knew the Test was coming so it was put in their conditioning plans. There’s nothing that beats time in the legs. The two games we had back home gave them an idea of what could happen and after four days we could see who was where,” Moreeng said. “Test cricket is more taxing on the body and the mind and everyone understands that. They’re more excited to see how it goes.”And hopeful that, despite the ICC chair Greg Barclay’s feeling that women’s Tests won’t form a big part of cricket’s future, this is the start of a longer-term plan to play red-ball cricket. “Ideally it’s a format we want to see in women’s cricket because of everything it brings to the game,” Moreeng said. “If your skills are good as far as playing Test cricket is concerned, you can transfer the basics to the other two formats.”

Sunil Narine has written to the National League Representatives (NLR) after allegedly being mocked by Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Feb-2016West Indies offspinner Sunil Narine has written to the National League Representatives (NLR) asking for an independent probe into whether an email that mocked him for “pelting” was sent by Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) president Azim Bassarath.Narine, who was banned from bowling in international cricket on November 29, had undergone biometric testing at Loughborough University after being reported for a suspect action during the third ODI of West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka earlier that month.In his letter to the six-member NLR, a copy of which has been seen by ESPNcricinfo, Narine claimed that Bassarath’s email had been sent on the very same day as his ban to various TTCB officials, including executive member Baldath Mahabir.”If indeed the letter came from Mr Bassarath and I have to stress the ‘if’ right now, it seems that he must have long believed that my bowling action was illegal,” Narine wrote.”There was such venom and almost joy in my being suspended that was evident in the email which said, “Let him start to Bowl !!!!!! He was not turning much in d first place!!!!! Straight ball and faster one all the time. !!!! PELTING !!!!!!!”But in a TTCB media release sent this week Bassarath strongly denied he had sent the alleged email. Bassarath also stressed that he would take legal recourse if the email was attributed to his name in the local media.In the immediate aftermath of his suspension, Narine claimed to have received a sympathetic email from TTCB chief executive Sooraj Ragoonath, a copy of which was sent to Bassarath, extending the board’s support to the offspinner and, soon afterwards, inviting Narine to play in the Nagico Super 50, the regional ODI tournament in which he had been the leading wicket-taker last year.However on December 18, Ragoonath wrote back, saying the WICB would not allow “any person who is debarred by the ICC” to participate in regional tournaments until cleared and that the TTCB had withdrawn Narine from the one-day squad. Narine was subsequently barred from entering the T&T players’ enclosure by the ground security at Queen’s Park Oval.”It was a time of extreme stress for me and I was grateful when I received an email from Suruj Ragoonath, the CEO of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board, which contained the promise to provide me ‘with all the necessary support’ and invited me to a meeting to discuss how the TTCB could assist me and to get an idea of the support I would require,” Narine wrote.Instead, Narine said that he was taken totally aback on learning that the TTCB was contemplating banning him from bowling in club cricket in T&T. At a TTCB meeting chaired by Bassarath, Narine said, “An attempt was made to change the rules of the national tournament to prevent players suspended by the ICC from participating at the national level.”Responding to Narine’s allegation, Bassarath, through a TTCB release titled ‘Email link denied’, issued by the board’s media manager, stated, “Mr Bassarath wishes to totally disassociate himself from the alleged email currently making the rounds and which is being pronounced upon to suggest that it is authentic.”The president of the TTCB reserves the right to seek legal recourse to clear his name should the alleged email be attributed to him in reports carried in the local media,” the release read.Narine concluded, “Even though I seem to have been denied natural justice by the writer of the email which accused me of “pelting”, I believe that an independent investigation should be undertaken to determine, if it was not Mr Bassarath himself, who indeed was the person who sent the Emails using Mr Bassarath’s known and familiar email address as well as Mr Baldath Mahabir.”The NLR comprises six members elected by the local T&T clubs, and they sit on the TTCB. The members of the NLR are: Dinanath Ramnarine, Daren Ganga, Giles Antoine, Andre Lawrence, Anil Kamal and Clint Pamphille.

Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed has replaced Robin Singh as coach of the Chittagong Vikings for the third edition of the BPL that begins on November 22

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2015Former Pakistan fast bowler Aaqib Javed has replaced Robin Singh as coach of the Chittagong Vikings for the third edition of the BPL that begins on November 22.”Aaqib took the Chittagong job after Robin Singh failed to fulfill the contract with Chittagong Vikings for the season. Former Indian cricketer Robin was signed by Chittagong as the head coach but due to personal reasons had to pull out from the job,” a Vikings statement said.The press release also quoted Singh apologising for his having to back out. “It is regretful that for personal reasons I will now be unable to fulfill my contract with the Chittagong Vikings in the BPL. I would like to convey my apologies to the franchise owners, players and support staff. My best wishes go to the team for the tournament.”Javed, who helped UAE qualify for the World T20 2014, is expected to arrive on November 17 while the team has already begun training with some of their local cricketers. The Vikings will play their first match of BPL 3 against the Sylhet Superstars on November 23.

New Zealand were bowled out cheaply in their first innings for the third time in successive Wellington Tests, but Australia will be wary that they recovered to draw and win on the last two occasions

Brydon Coverdale in Wellington12-Feb-20160:59

‘We bowled well as a group’ – Hazlewood

For the third straight Basin Reserve Test, Brendon McCullum lost the toss. For the third straight time New Zealand were sent in on a pitch that was expected to offer the fast men some assistance. For the third straight time, they were knocked over inside 60 overs. If that scenario seems like it should favour Australia, it is worth noting that in neither of the previous two instances did New Zealand go on to lose the Test; they won one and drew the other.To that end, the Australians finished the first day pleased with their performance but wary that there remained plenty of work to come. Hefty second-innings partnerships against both Sri Lanka and India got New Zealand out of their previous Wellington troubles, when the pitch had flattened out and become easier for batting. Josh Hazlewood, who took 4 for 42, forecast harder times in the second innings.”I think while the ball is new at any stage it’s going to do a little bit, once the shine and the hardness of the ball is gone it’s quite a good wicket for batting,” Hazlewood said. “It didn’t turn much and once our ball got older it didn’t seam much, so I think it’s going to hold together pretty well. The next ten wickets that we need will be quite tough to get.”For the second time in consecutive Test matches, all ten New Zealand wickets fell to catches, as they struggled against deliveries that moved just enough, particularly from Hazlewood and Peter Siddle. Jackson Bird, playing his first Test in two-and-a-half years, could not find the right length and served up too many half-volleys and short balls, but Siddle was typically miserly and built important pressure bowling into the wind.”It does make a big difference, bowling in partnerships,” Hazlewood said. “He’s done a great job, not only this Test but throughout his whole career of just drying up one end and building those dots and that pressure which obviously ends in wickets, eventually. He was outstanding again today.”There was perhaps not as much swing as the Australians might have expected in Wellington but the ball did move about off the seam, and Hazlewood showed that he had learnt the lessons of his Ashes tour last year, on which he tried too often for the “miracle ball” instead of letting the conditions help him build pressure.Josh Hazlewood expects the Basin Reserve pitch to ‘hold together pretty well’ over the course of the Test match•Getty Images

He was well supported in the field. The coach Darren Lehmann had mentioned in the lead-up to this series that fielding was an area in which Australia needed significant improvement. They did not drop a catch on day one in Wellington and took ten, including a sharp take from Adam Voges at slip, a clever boundary juggle from Usman Khawaja, and most impressively a dive down the leg side from Peter Nevill to an inside edge off Siddle that dismissed Kane Williamson cheaply.”Not much gets past Nev, he has very high standards and that’s right up there with some of the best we’ve seen from Nev,” Hazlewood said. “We’ve done a lot of work over the last few days especially fine-tuning that catching and ground fielding and I think we saw today that we held on to everything and that makes a massive difference.”The same could not be said of New Zealand. On 18, Steven Smith was put down by Mark Craig in the cordon, and the miss cost New Zealand the opportunity to have Australia wobbling at 43 for 3. Smith went on to make 71 before Craig redeemed himself by snaring a good return catch low to his left.”Looking back I probably owe the boys 50 runs after putting Smith down at second slip,” Craig said. “No one likes dropping catches. It’s pretty disappointing personally, but we move forward.”Earlier, Craig had been one of the key reasons that New Zealand had not crumbled for something just over 100. He had come to the crease at 97 for 7 and went on to be his team’s highest scorer, finishing unbeaten on 41 and compiling impressive fighting partnerships with Corey Anderson and then Trent Boult.”You’ve got to give it to the way those Aussie boys bowled,” Craig said. “When they got it in the right areas they showed it was very tough to score. We would have liked a few more runs but the game is nicely advanced now.”The ball was a bit softer [when I batted] and it didn’t do as much as what it was doing early in the day … I wouldn’t say it was seaming massively but once they bowled that slightly fuller length it was doing enough to grab either way, grab both edges. It was definitely doing enough with that newer ball, once they got it full enough.”New Zealand’s bowlers also made a strong start and two early wickets from Tim Southee had Australia at 5 for 2, but Smith and Khawaja put on a fighting 126 for the third wicket to put Australia back on top by the end of the day. Still, only the incorrect no-balling of Doug Bracewell in the final over of the afternoon denied New Zealand the chance to have Australia four down at stumps.”If we managed to get one or two more wickets at the end it probably would have been parity, a pretty even day,” Craig said. “After losing the toss and getting put in, we’d take them five or six down any day. One or two more wickets and we’d have been really happy.”