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There are times when cricket is defined by tumbling stumps, frenzied tension and the arcs of Eoin Morgan’s sixes. And there are those days when maiden overs, skilful leaves and the patience of saints are more than enough. These three sessions at York were notable for the latter and they offered almost perfect satisfaction to the spectators sitting under the wonderful white poplars on the far side of the ground, even as most of them yearned for the fall of visiting wickets. They will not forget this day at Clifton Park and neither will Rob Yates, a 19-year-old Warwickshire batsman who fell one short of a maiden fifty after over three hours in which his every stroke proclaimed a determination not to yield.Yet just as the evening crowd were ready to applaud the first major achievement of Yates’ career, his moment was stolen by a cricketer 16 years his senior whose value to Yorkshire appears to increase with every match he plays. In the morning session Steve Patterson’s 60 had helped his side post 259, which most thought a competitive score on a pitch offering bounce and carry. Yet deep in the evening session it seemed that Yates and Dom Sibley’s 101-run stand for the second Warwickshire wicket would erode that advantage much as water wears down stone. But Patterson is also a patient man.Yorkshire’s captain brought himself back for his third spell of the day at the City End. In his fourth over he bowled Sibley off the inside edge for 60 when the opener played an ungainly defensive shot outside the off stump. Six overs later the left-handed Yates pushed at a ball slanted across him and was caught at slip by Tom Kohler-Cadmore. Adam Hose survived his first ball before immediately playing around an in-ducker and falling leg before. By the close Matt Lamb had perished in the slips off David Willey, thus completing the loss of four wickets for 27 runs in ten overs. The day ended with Warwickshire on 192 for 5, the new ball due early in the morning and both sides hoping tomorrow’s weather forecast is wide of the mark.Yet if our cricket ended with Yorkshire’s cricketers suddenly buoyed by the fall of wickets, its heart had been dominated by the stand between Sibley and Yates, two young batsmen in a top order suddenly devoid of seniority. Indeed, many familiar figures at Edgbaston – Jonathan Trott, Keith Barker, Boyd Rankin – are suddenly absent and a Bears top order lacking Ian Bell is like a plate of eggs royale without salmon. The old solidities, the old pedigree are missing and in this context the batting of Yates and Sibley assumes fresh significance.Their partnership blunted Yorkshire’s attack and it even quietened the 380 corporate hospitality guests, although almost nothing could silence the stentorian auctioneer during the intervals, when he boomed out like Brian Blessed addressing the partially hearing.Sibley’s innings was replete with the defiance Edgbaston supporters have come to expect. The opener’s nine championship innings before today had yielded 426 runs including two centuries and his powerful flourishes though the leg side were also par for his course. Yates’ effort, by contrast, turned fresh earth. The 19-year-old had managed only 90 runs in seven visits prior to this match and his innings today offered encouragement even as it ended in disappointment. Yet Yates still needed the luck that fortifies any young cricketer. Most notably this came in the form of the straightforward chance dropped by Adam Lyth off Patterson when he had only a single to his name.Thus reprieved he went on to cut Willey over the slips and cover-drive Jordan Thompson for fours, but the quality of Yates’ batting consisted more in the good balls he defended or simply let go. To watch his mid-afternoon duel with James Logan, Yorkshire’s 21-year-old left-arm spinner, was to see two young cricketers at important stages of their development. And you may be assured most of the crowd realised it.For if the cricket at Clifton Park might be dismissed as slow in this 17-sixes-a-pop era, it prompted no discontent among the thousands on the ground for whom such contests are custom-built delight. They had enjoyed the morning’s play, too, when for nearly 90 minutes Patterson and Logan had batted with the prudence of Yorkshiremen squirrelling a few quid away in their building society accounts. Regular accretion was preferable to risky punts.This was no boisterous, end-of-term thrash but a considered alliance between batsmen who trusted each other during their 48-run stand for the ninth wicket. Only three boundaries had been struck, none of them in front of the wicket before Patterson lost his off stump when trying to cut Oliver Hannon-Dalby. He had made 60, which was only his fourth first-class fifty, but he had batted like a skipper who knew the value of his runs and a bowler who would have to defend the total he was compiling. And deep in the evening Patterson was doing precisely that.

England batsman Alex Hales has failed a drugs test. Hales, who was named in England’s provisional 15-man World Cup squad last week, is understood by ESPNcricinfo to have tested positive for a recreational drug in recent weeks. The England selectors are not thought to have known about the test result at the time the squad was announced.According to a report in the , he is currently serving a 21-day ban after returning a second positive test, having pulled out of Nottinghamshire’s Royal London Cup campaign, shortly after the World Cup squad was announced, for undisclosed personal reasons.An ECB spokesman said: “We have a duty of confidentiality, therefore we are unable to provide any further comment.”The drugs violation is understood to have been detected after Hales underwent a routine hair-follicle test, which all professional men’s cricketers and centrally contracted women’s players undergo at the start and finish of every season. The policy was introduced in 2013 in the wake of the death of Surrey’s Tom Maynard, and can detect banned substances in the system for up to three months.For a first offence, which is treated as a health and welfare issue, players are offered advice and support with few people being notified. They are the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) director of development and welfare, the ECB anti-doping and recreational drugs manager, the chief medical officers of the ECB and the county involved.A second violation can invoke a three-week ban and a 5% fine of the player’s annual salary, at which point the player’s county is informed, as well as the ECB chief executive, Tom Harrison, and PCA chief executive, David Leatherdale.A third offence, such as that committed by Durham’s Jack Burnham in 2017, can lead to dismissal – although in Burnham’s case, the club chose instead to ban him for 12 months and give him the chance to revive his career this year.It is nevertheless another significant black mark for Hales, who was recently banned for six white-ball games (four of them suspended) and fined £17,500 by the ECB for his part in the Bristol brawl that led to Ben Stokes’ arrest and subsequent acquittal. England are not obliged to name their final World Cup squad until May 23.Although the loss of Hales at the World Cup would be significant, as things stand he would have served his suspension. He is still expected to join up with the squad for their training camp in Cardiff at the weekend and, according to reports, could be available for next week’s ODI in Dublin and the subsequent five-match series against Pakistan.While he is not currently seen as part of the first-choice side, he was set to be the reserve batsman in the squad. He has an outstanding ODI record: only nine men have scored more than his six ODI hundreds for England; only Jason Roy has a higher individual score in the format than the 171 Hales made against Pakistan. With Roy (back spasm) having recently experienced some fitness concerns, there was every chance he would win an opportunity at some stage during the tournament.Ashley Giles, the England men’s team director, and Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, both declined to comment when contacted by ESPNcricinfo.

MCC 265 and 221 for 1 (Sibley 102*) trail Surrey 520 (Pope 251) by 34 runsOllie Pope laid down a timely reminder of the credentials that earned him a Test debut against India last summer, as he converted his overnight century into a career-best 251 to cement Surrey’s control of the Champion County fixture at Dubai.By the close of the third day, however, their march to an apparently comfortable victory had been held up by a doughty response from MCC’s openers.Faced with a deficit of 255, the Warwickshire duo of Will Rhodes and Dom Sibley added 190 for MCC’s first wicket to help reduce their side’s arrears to just 34 runs with nine wickets standing.Though Rhodes eventually fell for 88 – bowled by the legspin of Scott Borthwick – Sibley was unbeaten on 102 at the close, a telling display from a player who left Surrey under a cloud last season, having felt his opportunities for first-team cricket had been limited since becoming, in 2013, the second-youngest player after WG Grace to score a first-class double-century.He went to his hundred with 11 fours, and had faced 194 balls by the close, in compiling his fourth first-class century in five innings, after finishing the 2018 county season with a flurry of 106, 44, 144 not out and 119 for Warwickshire against Leicestershire, Sussex and Kent.Earlier, Surrey had tightened their grip on the contest by adding a further 131 runs to their overnight 389 for 4, to finish on an imposing 520. They lost one of their overnight centurions, Jamie Smith, for the addition of just four runs, but Pope – who resumed on 183 not out – did not miss out on the chance to convert to a mighty innings.In the midst of a sandstorm, Pope soon went past 200 for the first time in his career, then launched the spin of Dom Bess for consecutive sixes to reach his 250 in style.MCC did battle back with the ball, however. Pope holed out to mid-off against Rhodes’ medium pace to open up an end, whereupon Stephen Parry, the former England left-arm spinner, picked through the tail with three quick wickets.

Steve Waugh believes Australia’s one-day side was wrong to go ahead with their recent series against Zimbabwe, putting him at odds with his immediate successor as Test captain, Ricky Ponting.Speaking to the media in Mumbai, Waugh supported the decision to call off the Test series and said it should have been extended to the three one-day matches too.”I’m definitely happy that the Test series was deferred,” he said. “I think the players were uncomfortable with the situation. When a team is picked on the basis of colour they shouldn’t be allowed to play. And that’s exactly what’s happening in Zimbabwe.”I’m disappointed that the one-day series went on. The same logic that applied to the cancellation of the Tests applied here also. I’m a bit unclear as to why they played the one-day series. As a player you look to your board and the ICC to make these tough decisions.”But Ponting is standing by his team’s choice to play Zimbabwe, compromised selection process and all. “I’ve got no doubt it was the right decision,” he said upon arriving home on Monday.”We went there to do our job, which is to play cricket. We didn’t get involved in anything political but that’s not saying we turned a blind eye.”Australia’s vice-captain Adam Gilchrist also defended the tour, while acknowledging that it rated among the least meaningful of his career. “The positive to take out is that it has exposed cracks in the system and posed questions that need to be answered in a strong fasion. Hopefully the ICC will be able to do that.”Waugh is visiting India as a brand ambassador for the insurance company AMP Sanmar. He took the time to open up on various other contentious issues.On several people, including John Howard, the Australian prime minister, calling Muttiah Muralitharan a chucker
Who’s called him a chucker? I’m not sure John Howard called him a chucker, I didn’t hear him say it so I can’t comment on it. But, I can say it’s for the ICC to make the decision. It’s not up to me or you or John Howard to make that call. They’re the governing body and they have to decide. They’ve done some tests recently that have shown that the doosra is a problem and he can no longer bowl it. I think he’s a better bowler when he just bowls offspin and does not bowl the doosra. I think it will make him a more dangerous bowler. It’s a great achievement to get the world record. He should be celebrated for the fact that he’s taken so many wickets. He makes Sri Lanka a very competitive side, he gets people through the gate to watch the game, and he’s also a nice guy.On Sourav Ganguly’s suggestion of a two-tier system for Tests
I think it’s worthy of consideration. It’s a good idea for one-day cricket because there are more sides playing that, and they’re looking to inject more sides all the time. For Test cricket though, I’m not so sure. There are only nine or ten sides, so if you split them up into two tiers the teams will get sick and tired of playing the same opposition year in and year out. I’m not sure how the teams in the lower tier will improve enough to move up. If you look at the history of Test cricket there have always been weak sides. Remember New Zealand took 26 years to win a Test match. I think we’re getting a bit carried away because a couple of sides aren’t doing too well.On the proposed innovations and changes to one-day cricket
In domestic cricket in Australia we’ve tried a number of things. We had 12 players interchangeable and that worked very well. We had different fielding restrictions. I think most players would welcome the possibility that you can change the rules and improvise a bit. Perhaps one-day cricket does stagnate sometimes.On failing to conquer `the final frontier’, a Test series win in India
First of all, I’m not sure I ever said winning in India was the final frontier. Someone said it, made it up and it stuck. But it’s not a bad line. I didn’t play a lot of Test cricket in India. After the tied Test in 1986 there was a gap of eight or nine years and that’s a ridiculously long time. I’m more than happy with what we achieved in India in my career. I think I played in probably the greatest Test series ever when we were last here, and we won the World Cup in 1987.On who he thought are the second-best team in the world
I don’t think there’s much value in being No. 2. Anyone can lay claim to it, and I’m not sure who really is. India have to be somewhere in the running on current form – they drew in Australia and won in Pakistan. England are playing well. South Africa will be a force again shortly as well. Pakistan are unpredictable – at any time they can beat anyone.On the Australians playing their cricket aggressively
I don’t think we’re aggressive. I think we play in the right spirit. Most Australians are very approachable and happy-go-lucky, but once you get them on the field the gloves are off. We play hard, we play to win, we play fair and we play with spirit and passion. That’s just the way Australians play, even if it is in the backyard against our brothers. That’s the way we’re brought up.On the state of Test cricket at present
I think Test cricket is in a pretty healthy state. The cricket that’s being played at the moment is among the most aggressive that has been played in the history of Test cricket. There are results almost all the time and it’s exciting. Perhaps we need to do something to help the bowlers. They seem to be struggling at the moment. The pitches are very flat, the outfields are getting smaller and the bats bigger so you probably have to keep an eye out in that direction.On Brian Lara’s record-breaking 400 not out
It’s an outstanding personal achievement. To hold the world record twice and score 400 is like being Roger Bannister, the first runner to break the four-minute mile. It is a record that may never be broken again. You have to have a great level of skill, concentration and desire to get there. And particularly in a losing side it’s a great effort.On being invited to light the cauldron at the Athens Olympic games
I thought that was a secret till I saw it in the papers this morning. That is a massive honour. I can’t believe I’ve been chosen to do that. When the Olympics were held in Australia I was involved in the torch relay. I carried down George Street, one of the main streets in Sydney with 500 people watching, and that was one of the highlights of my life so I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to actually light the cauldron.

Thisara Perera has raised questions about the ODI team’s leadership with Sri Lanka Cricket in the aftermath of a social media beef between him and captain Lasith Malinga’s wife. He has also described the team as “a laughing stock to the whole country” because of the exchanges unfolding on social media, and asked that the board “intervene”.Thisara, a former limited-overs captain himself, had ostensibly been the target of a Facebook post made by Malinga’s wife, Tanya Perera, early this month, in which she appeared to have alleged that Thisara had gone to meet the country’s new sports minister in an attempt to secure his place in the national side.Thisara then took to Facebook to defend himself, pointing to his excellent ODI record in 2018. Then, a few weeks later, following what he claimed was another post targeting him, he has taken the step of writing a letter to SLC CEO Ashley de Silva.Excerpts of the letter are as follows: “When these kinds of accusations are made by the incumbent captain’s wife on social media, it is hard to prevent the general public from believing and further slandering me in various ways.”There has been a general sense of unease in the dressing room ever since [the Facebook post] and to be honest the environment was rather unpleasant for the youngsters especially when two senior players were not on the same page. We cannot play as a team with friction. The leadership’s role is to create stability and unity within the team even before one could start with a game plan. In this instant I regret to say we had none of the above.””We are at the verge of the World Cup. Our focus and attention should be on performing well at it instead of bickering over social media on pointless issues. This team is in dire need of steady leadership and guidance. Importantly, and environment of unity is needed… These issues need rectifying ahead of the World Cup. The leadership and seniors of the team must set the example for this.”We have become the laughing stock of a whole country all because of one person’s personal vendetta. This is not something to be taken lightly, especially at a time like this. I humbly request SLC to intervene and help us overcome our difference and move forward with a renewed confidence and sense of unity.”Malinga was made captain of the limited-overs teams by the new selection committee, headed by Ashantha de Mel, ahead of Sri Lanka’s one-dayers in New Zealand. Thisara had been limited-overs captain in late 2017, after agreeing to lead the side in Sri Lanka’s first tour of Pakistan since the 2009 terror attack.

Pat Cummins and Travis Head have been named joint vice-captains for the two Tests against Sri Lanka, replacing the dropped Mitchell Marsh and injured Josh Hazlewood.Australia went down the route of having two people in the position to support Tim Paine before the tour of the UAE to play Pakistan, but Marsh and Hazlewood have only played once together, in the Boxing Day Test against India in Melbourne.Marsh was then left out of the Test team and Hazlewood was ruled out of the two Tests against Sri Lanka with a back injury.Head has only played six Tests but is captain of South Australia, and Cummins has enjoyed an impressive season amid Australia’s Test struggles.Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc are the other players who may have been considered for the role given their seniority.”Travis was an impressive candidate when interviewed during the leadership identification process we conducted last year. He has also continued to develop his leadership qualities since joining the Australian men’s Test team,” national selector Trevor Hohns said.”Travis is a respected member of the dressing room, he consistently demonstrates care for his team-mates, provides valuable contributions in team meetings, and embodies the values of the team.ALSO READ: The contenders in Australia’s unsettled batting line-up“Pat is a fine young man who displays strong leadership though his actions on and off the cricket field. He is also a well-respected and popular member of the dressing room, who consistently lives and demonstrates the team’s values and standards. We also believe in having strong and even representation of both the batting and bowling groups, and Pat will provide important insights and knowledge when making decisions in the best interest of the team.”As Australia slumped to defeat against India, there was talk of Cummins being a future Test captain, but it was a suggestion the paceman had quickly dismissed.”I think it’s pretty ridiculous at the moment,” Cummins said before the Sydney Test. “We’ve obviously got Painey at the moment, who is doing a brilliant job, and I think it’s his for a long time now.”I feel like I’m too busy in the game bowling and when I’m batting putting all my effort into that. And when I’m not doing it I’m usually off with the fairies trying to recover. So, I don’t think I would make a very good captain at the moment.”The first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka will take place under lights at the Gabba from Thursday, with the second Test slotted for Canberra from February 1.

Albie Morkel, the South Africa and Titans allrounder, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Wednesday, ending a professional career that has spanned nearly 20 years.Morkel played one Test, 58 ODIs and 50 T20Is for his country, scoring 1412 runs and picking up 77 wickets across formats. He was an especially effective force in short-form cricket, both at home and abroad. He was an IPL champion with Chennai Super Kings – his 91 wickets making him the third-highest wicket-taker for the franchise – and he captained the Titans to a hat-trick of T20 titles from 2015-16 to 2017-18. So effective was he with his big-hitting abilities and canny medium-pace that he was brought into the South Africa squad for the World T20 in 2014 after he publicly admitted that his international career was over.The next step of his career takes Morkel to Namibia, with whom he has signed a contract to work as a coaching consultant starting January 2019.”Time has run out for me on the cricket field, and I would like to announce my retirement from the game.” Morkel said in a Titans press release. “The last 20 years of my life took me on an incredible journey, with so many awesome memories that I will cherish forever.”Titans’ chief executive officer Dr Jacques Faul said plans for a farewell match were being put in place. “He deserves a send-off, and also a chance for the Titans fans to say a fond farewell. It wasn’t just for Titans that he was a massive player, because he also served the Proteas with distinction.”Morkel, who began his domestic career in the 1999-2000 season and graduated to international cricket in 2004, represented eight teams – CSK, Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rising Pune Supergiant, Derbyshire, Durham, Somerset and St Lucia Zouks – outside of South Africa and the Titans.”I would like to thank Jacques Faul and everyone involved at the Titans for giving me the opportunity to live my dream,” he said. “The squad is in a healthy state and I’m looking forward to seeing the progress that the younger players will make. I will forever be a big Titans fan.”” I want to say a big thanks to Cricket South Africa, because it was a huge honour to represent my country. Thank you to my family, friends, supporters and sponsors who were there for me through thick and thin, and most importantly my wife who played an unbelievable supporting role, allowing me to do what I love.”Professional sport can be a ruthless space to operate in, and it’s impossible to do it without a solid support system. Thank you so much.”Morkel has committed himself to a Titans tour later this year before “enjoying the game from the other side of the rope”. His brother Morne had retired from international cricket last year, although he is still active as a Kolpak player for Surrey in the English county circuit.

Ireland will begin their first overseas Test match on St Patrick’s Day – March 17 – when they take on Afghanistan next year, in what will be a second Test outing for both of the game’s newest senior nations.The Test will be the culmination of a nine-match itinerary, which will also include three T20Is on February 23, 24 and 26, and five ODIs on March 2, 4, 7, 9 and 12 – all in the northern India city of Dehradun, Afghanistan’s home from home.Both teams made their Test debuts in 2018, with Ireland taking on Pakistan in Malahide in May, before Afghanistan played India at Bangalore in June.”Afghanistan are a quality side with world-class players – it’ll be a great challenge in their ‘home’ conditions,” said the Ireland batsman, Andrew Balbirnie.”The Afghanistan series is a major step forward for Irish cricket as the tour is the first one as a Full Member.””It will no doubt be a test for the entire squad – taking on Afghanistan in subcontinent conditions will require a level of adjustment by both our batting and bowling units.For Afghanistan, the limited-overs leg of the tour will form part of their preparations for next year’s World Cup – a tournament for which they qualified in remarkable circumstances in Zimbabwe last year.Ireland missed out on that showpiece event, but their highlight of 2018 promises to be a maiden Test match against England at Lord’s in July, a four-day affair that will form part of their hosts’ preparations for the Ashes which get underway on August 1.”The level and regularity of top-quality international cricket in 2019 will be exciting for Irish cricket fans,” said Balbirnie.”The year will start with this Afghanistan series, and will involve a busy home schedule of matches involving multiple Full Member nations – starting with an ODI against England at Malahide in May.”There’s also the Lord’s Test against England in July, and the year will end with the T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in October.”

Of course there is pressure when you are the No. 1 ODI team in the world. Of course there is widespread expectation to beat a Sri Lanka in some disarray. But so what, asks Jos Buttler. After decades of being expected to be swept aside in the format, especially when playing in South Asia, it’s nice to go in to a series the much more fancied team.”I like being favourites – it shows we’ve been doing good stuff,” Buttler said on the eve of the first ODI in Dambulla. “It’s been tricky in the past for England sides to come here. But we are full of confidence, we look forward to adapting our play.”There’s always pressure being No. 1. Once you get there, I think that’s when the hard work really starts. You’ve got a bit of a target on your back. It’s down to you to keep improving and try to stay there. That’s the challenge and it has its own pressures. I think in the dressing room we have a good understanding of what that is and who we are as a side, and know that we need to keep improving and pushing the boundaries, and putting no limitations on what we’re capable of. That should stand us in good stead. A lot of the guys enjoy the pressure in the dressing room.”So many of the major trepidations that England teams of yesteryear had, are simply not a worry for this ODI outfit. A relatively modest spin contingent, for example, will have worried previous England captains, but not this lot. In Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, England almost certainly have a better-heeled slow-bowling outfit than Sri Lanka, for whom Akila Dananjaya has been a consistent performer, but Lakshan Sandakan and Amila Aponso have been sporadic ones.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“In England if you look at the two guys who have played well consistently for us are usually the two spinners,” Buttler said. “Adil takes a lot of wickets, Moeen is economical, and they’re a big strength of the side for us, even in home conditions. Seam is going to have a big part to play as well. Maybe there are few different roles for the seamers and the spinners, but the guys are excited for that.”And the conditions may not be overly spin-friendly anyway. During the South Africa series, Sri Lanka made the decision to play on good batting tracks at home, to better prepare themselves for the challenge of next year’s World Cup, and the New Zealand and South Africa ODI series on the horizon. Whatever the conditions, England are confident they have enough know-how in their squad to tackle them.”A lot of the squad have been a part of the IPL and experienced that,” Buttler said. “Not just for the conditions, but touring this part of the world and the chaos that comes with the IPL – stuff like weather and not allowing it to impact your performance and preparation. Guys have travelled the world a bit as well. Hopefully you’ll see some return on investment on guys have been part of that competition.”

Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, has been ruled out of the England Lions tour of the UAE after routine scans found a stress fracture in his back.Parkinson enjoyed a stellar season in all formats last summer, claiming 59 wickets all told, including 18 in the Royal London Cup, the most by any bowler, and a further 25 in the Vitality Blast.On the strength of those performances, he was earlier this month named as one of Melbourne Star’s signings for the 2018-19 Big Bash, an opportunity that could now be in jeopardy depending on the seriousness of his injury.”It’s a real shame for Matt that he’s forced to miss the tour,” said Andy Flower, the England Lions head coach. “He had a fine summer for Lancashire and his selection was just reward for the ability that he’s shown.”He’s been shut down from bowling and he’ll see a spinal specialist this week as we try to determine the full extent of his injury.”Parkinson will be replaced in the England Lions squad by Sussex slow left-armer Danny Briggs.It is the second time in as many winters that a young England legspinner has been diagnosed with a stress fracture, after Hampshire’s Mason Crane was ruled out of the tour of New Zealand, having made his Test debut at Sydney during the Ashes.Crane made a comeback to county cricket in the summer but was ruled out for the rest of the season after helping Hampshire win the Royal London Cup final against Kent in June.