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Former bowling coach to link up in Pakistan, Australia batter will join squad Down Under

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2022Michael Hussey and David Saker have been added to England men’s coaching set-up for the T20 World Cup in Australia next month.Hussey, the former Australia international who currently works as batting coach for Chennai Super Kings, and fellow Australian Saker, who was England’s Test bowling coach from 2010 to 2015, have been enlisted by Matthew Mott, England’s white-ball head coach, to add home-grown insight to the squad’s preparations ahead of the tournament in Australia, which gets underway from October 16.Saker, the former Victoria fast bowler who was a key factor in England’s triumphant Ashes tour of 2010-11, will link up with the squad in Pakistan ahead of the seven-match T20I series that begins in Karachi next week. Hussey, meanwhile, will join the squad when it arrives in Australia in October, when England are scheduled to play three T20Is against the host nation before their opening World Cup fixture against Afghanistan on October 22.The pair will augment the existing coaching structure, with Mott currently working alongside two assistants in Carl Hopkinson and Richard Dawson. The Pakistan leg of the tour – England’s first in the country since 2005 – will be captained by Jos Buttler, although Moeen Ali is expected to lead the side for the opening fixtures in Karachi while Buttler recovers from a calf injury.England are also reportedly close to appointing a new national selector, following the decision to dispense with the formal role that Ed Smith held until April 2021. According to The Telegraph, Nick Knight and Steven Finn are among the leading contenders for the position, with Steve Harmison also believed to have shown an interest in applying.

Four of their batters scored fifties, but Saurashtra are just 92 ahead with two wickets in hand

PTI03-Oct-2022Saurashtra showed a lot of fight, adding 281 runs through their middle and lower order, but Rest of India remained firm favourites to win the Irani Cup.At stumps on the third day, Saurashtra reached to 368 for 8, riding on half-centuries from the quartet comprising Sheldon Jackson (71), Arpit Vasavada (55), Prerak Mankad (72) and captain Jaydev Unadkat (78 not out).The overall lead is 92 runs now and Saurashtra will like to stretch it to at least 175 in order to make it a contest.With 276 runs in arrears, Saurashtra were staring at an innings defeat after being reduced to 87 for 5 before lunch.However, Jackson and Vasavada, who have bailed Saurashtra out many a times in the past, added 117 runs for the sixth wicket to steady the ship.But, it was the 144-run eighth wicket stand between Unadkat and all-rounder Mankad that raised visions — however improbable it may look at the moment — of pulling off a heist.The duo not only had a century stand but also scored the runs at a quick clip — in only 29.3 overs — to keep the contest alive.If it was Jackson who took the attack back to the opposition by repeatedly stepping out to left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (3 for 80 in 25 overs) to disturb his length, the pair of Unadkat and Mankad used the extra pace of Kuldeep Sen (3 for 85 in 16 overs) and Umran Malik (0 for 59 in 16 overs) to their advantage.They hit six sixes from the bowling of Jackson, Vasavada and Unadkat.

Batter sees “light at the end of the tunnel” as he aims to play against Pakistan on October 17

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2022Liam Livingstone has said he can see “light at the end of the tunnel” as he targets England’s final T20 World Cup warm-up match, against Pakistan on October 17, as a possible comeback from an ankle injury.Livingstone suffered the injury during the Hundred when he tripped on a kerb and spent several weeks in a moon boot after sustaining ligament damage in his left ankle. He arrived in Perth last week but is not expected to play any part in England’s ongoing three-match series against Australia, having missed their 4-3 series win in Pakistan.”Finally, we’re at the exciting part of the rehab,” Livingstone told the PA news agency. “We’re getting close and can see light at the end of the tunnel. I’m excited to be back out there and back playing.”In my head, I’m aiming for the warm-up game against Pakistan but if I push it too hard, too early, you knock yourself back. We’re trying to get that balance right: push it as hard as we can without aggravating it.”Related

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England have been keen to play down Livingstone’s prospects of being fit and ready to go in time for the start of the World Cup and with Harry Brook, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran all impressing in lower-middle order roles over the last month, they do not need to rush him back ahead of schedule.”I wouldn’t want to go into a game not being 100 percent,” Livingstone added. “Ultimately, there’s no selfish reasons to do that. I don’t think that’s the right thing for me to do.”We’ve got an unbelievable squad out here and I certainly wouldn’t want to be representing my country at 90 percent. It’s improving really quickly. It’s got much better quicker than I thought it was going to.”Livingstone added that he felt like “a new man” after a rare break from the game in September. “Maybe I just needed a break,” he said. “I’d pretty much played three years of solid cricket so it’s been nice to spend a bit of time at home.”I’ve seen this injury as a real positive for me because it’s given me time to get away from cricket. I went away for a holiday with my family to Portugal and literally came back a new man. You don’t quite realise it until you’ve done it.”Mentally, the break’s done me a world of good. Now I feel like I’m that kid again in the back garden, wanting to play cricket every minute of the day.”

Victoria captain made 95 on day one against Tasmania while debutant Ashley Chandrasinghe finished 63 not out in Hobart

AAP29-Oct-2022Victoria captain Peter Handscomb was dismissed for 95 just before stumps after putting his team in a solid position in the Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania in Hobart.Victoria finished day one at 216 for 4 after Tasmania fast bowler Riley Meredith removed Handscomb and nightwatchman Mitchell Perry in quick succession just before the close.Handscomb had plenty of assistance from debutant Ashley Chandrasinghe in a 157-run partnership for the third wicket.The duo came together on the cusp of lunch after openers Marcus Harris and Travis Dean had been dismissed by veteran paceman Peter Siddle.Handscomb has reminded Australian selectors this month of his penchant for scoring runs and lots of them. He has scores of 132 against South Australia and 281 not out against Western Australia to his credit already this season.The 31-year-old played the last of his 16 Tests in early 2019 but his weight of runs, he has 518 in the Shield this season, is making a case for a recall.Tall and lean, left-handed No.3 batter Chandrasinghe played a composed 239-ball knock and put the loose ball away with aplomb.The 20-year-old was awarded a rookie contract for 2022-23 after a superb 2021-22 season with the Victorian Second XI when he plundered 423 runs at an average of 84.60.Tasmania had won the toss and sent Victoria into bat on a pitch that offered assistance for Siddle and his fellow seamers. The 37-year-old former Test quick has been in top form this summer.He claimed eight wickets for the match in Tasmania’s recent win over South Australia and picked up where he left off with his nagging seam deliveries just doing enough to trouble the batsmen.

Teenager given “every chance” to be fit for tournament after broken collarbone

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2023Alice Capsey has been included in England’s Women’s T20 World Cup squad as she continues her recovery from a broken collarbone suffered on the tour of the Caribbean before Christmas.England head coach, Jon Lewis, said they wanted to “give her every chance” of being available for the tournament, with the 18-year-old potentially a key player at the top of the order.There was a recall for experienced seamer Kate Cross, who last played a T20I in 2019, but no place for Issy Wong, who will be one of two travelling reserves in South Africa, alongside Dani Gibson.”It’s always exciting to name a World Cup squad, and there’s a great deal of talent in this group,” Lewis said. “We saw a lot of good things in the West Indies, a lot of progress around shifting our mindset as a team, and I’m excited to see how we take that into to the challenge of a global tournament.”We hope Alice is fit enough, she’s worked incredibly hard alongside the medical staff to get to this point and we’ll give her every chance, but as we saw in the Caribbean the depth of talent and skill in the squad is growing fast and winning tournaments is about everyone collectively embracing the moment and enjoying the journey.”It’s an honour for me to lead a team into a World Cup and I know that we will be giving it everything we have got, not only to show everyone who we are as a team and how we want to play, but also to keep inspiring people to play the game we all love so much.”Katherine Brunt, Player of the Match when England won the title at Lord’s in 2009, will once again lead the line in her sixth T20 World Cup campaign. Freya Kemp, England’s breakout star of the 2022 season, misses out after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in her lower back during last month’s tour of the Caribbean.England Women’s World Cup squad: Heather Knight (capt), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Katherine Brunt, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Lauren Winfield-Hill, Danni WyattTravelling Reserves: Issy Wong, Dani Gibson

England complete first win in New Zealand since 2008 after claiming five wickets in session

Andrew Miller19-Feb-2023England 325 for 9 dec (Brook 89, Duckett 84, Wagner 4-82) and 374 (Root 57, Brook 54, Foakes 51, Tickner 3-55) beat New Zealand 306 (Blundell 138, Conway 77, Robinson 4-54) and 126 (Mitchell 57*, Anderson 4-18, Broad 4-49) by 267 runsJames Anderson provided the fourth-day mop-up after Stuart Broad’s third-evening blitz, as England put the seal on a crushing 267-run victory in the first Test at Mount Maunganui. Though Daryl Mitchell saved some face for New Zealand with a fighting half-century, victory was sealed with 15 minutes remaining of the first session.Anderson’s surging burst of 4 for 18 in 7.3 overs dovetailed with Broad’s overnight 4 for 21, to provide a fitting denouement to a match of many milestones for the veteran seam pairing – 15 years and now 1009 wickets after their partnership was launched in this very country on England’s 2008 tour.Those first two matches together, at Wellington and Napier in 2008, also happened to be England’s last two victories in New Zealand. But after this latest display of poise and dominance, Ben Stokes’ men can head back to the Basin Reserve next week with their sights set on another series victory, having now won 10 of their 11 Tests since the start of his tenure last June, and claimed ten wickets in every one of their 21 fielding stints in that period.Despite Broad’s heroics on the third evening, Stokes opted to turn to the spin of Jack Leach for the day’s first over, and it took just three balls of his second for Leach to make the first dent in New Zealand’s remaining resistance. Faced with a hint of turn into the body from over the wicket, the left-handed Michael Bracewell flicked limply off his pads for Harry Brook to pocket the simplest of chances at short midwicket.Nine balls later, the match was as good as over, thanks to an Anderson double-whammy. First in his sights was the debutant Scott Kuggeleijn, a nuggetty presence in the first innings, but a deer in the headlights second time out, as Anderson pinned him on the knee-roll with an inch-perfect nipbacker to claim his 250th wicket in overseas Tests.One ball later, Tim Southee was gone as well – caught on the crease as Anderson dragged his length back, and opening the face on impact to offer catching practice to Joe Root at first slip. That dismissal will have provided Anderson with an additional measure of satisfaction, for it took his average in overseas Tests below 30, a further debunking of the long-disproved notion that he loses his impact when removed from English conditions.Mitchell, New Zealand’s form player from last summer’s tour of England, did his best to shore up his side, and the second of his two straight sixes off Leach at least guided them past the ignominy of a double-figure total – a fate that befell England in their last pink-ball Test in this country, at Auckland in 2017-18.By then, however, Anderson had claimed his third and New Zealand’s ninth wicket. Neil Wagner hung around with some determination for 22 balls, including a flamboyant slap for four, but when Anderson pitched it up shortly after he could only snick a high edge into the cordon, where Ben Foakes leapt to his left to grab. That wicket also meant that, after 178 Tests and for the first time since his debut series against Zimbabwe, 20 long years ago, Anderson’s overall average had dropped below 26.Broad duly returned with a five-for up for grabs, but neither Mitchell nor Blair Tickner, fresh from his tail-end heroics in the first innings, was ready to go down without a fight. Mitchell duly launched Broad through midwicket to reach his fifty from 94 balls, while at the other end, the debutant Tickner hung around for 8 from 29, adding another tenth-wicket stand of 35 to the 59 he had contributed with Tom Blundell in the first innings. Anderson, however, returned for another burst in the second hour, and fired a match-winning inswinger through his defences.

She first returned 3 for 22, and then kept her cool to take Mumbai past a small target with an unbeaten 31

Vishal Dikshit21-Mar-2023Amelia Kerr had figures of 3 for 11 after her first three overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore and she could have easily had a fourth, but Issy Wong dropped the hard-hitting Richa Ghosh at long-on in Kerr’s last over.

Mumbai to face UP Warriorz in eliminator

Despite beating RCB and going to the top of the table following that, Mumbai were displaced at No. 1 by Delhi Capitals later in the evening, on NRR. That meant Capitals were through directly to the final, while Mumbai will face UP Warriorz in the eliminator on March 24.*

Exactly five balls later, Wong had the ball, Kerr was at long-on, Ghosh mistimed another heave, and Kerr pouched the catch several yards inside the boundary rope. Wong’s smile to Kerr, brimming with appreciation, said it all.Kerr has stepped up for Mumbai Indians at the end of the league stage, when pitches have started to tire out and assist spinners, and when Mumbai’s best spinner in the early stages – Saika Ishaque – hasn’t been able to continue her form from the first five games.Related

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Worryingly for them, Mumbai came into their last league match on the back of two losses, both at the DY Patil Stadium, where they scored just 109 for 8 and 127 all out against Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz respectively. Ishaque, who had picked 12 wickets earlier, went wicketless in both. It could be her lack of experience, or just her usual style of bowling – she was largely bowling in the range of 85-90kph when another left-arm spinner, Sophie Ecclestone of UP Warriorz, slowed it down to pick 3 for 15 while bowling out Mumbai for 127 a few days ago.On Tuesday, Ishaque started with deliveries that were flat, around the 85-88kph mark, and she didn’t get any success against the frontline batters.Enter Kerr in the seventh over, when Smriti Mandhana had started to open up after collecting boundaries off the quick bowlers. Kerr went around the wicket and slowed one down at 77.6kph, which Mandhana went back for and miscued to the wicketkeeper with a leading edge.Tossing the ball up is one of Kerr’s strengths anyway, and the lack of pace on this pitch was going to trouble the batters when trying to manufacture power for the big hits. In her next over, Kerr flighted one even more, at 74.3kph, and with Royal Challengers desperate for runs after crawling to 59 for 2 in the 11th over, Heather Knight tried to clear the long-on boundary but was caught comfortably a few yards inside the rope for 12.”I felt like I got going all right at the start of my innings reasonably positively and wanted to kick on because the overs were running out and we needed a few boundaries,” Knight said later at the press conference. “I just probably picked the wrong ball as I was going for a slog sweep and it was a little bit further, and I tried to go for the sight screen.”She [Kerr] bowled really well and she’s a world-class bowler and varies her pace really well, and spins the ball both ways as well. It wasn’t the easiest of wickets, it was a little bit slow, definitely hard to get going as a batter. That’s the sort of wicket where you want to punch out 140 to make it competitive and give your bowlers something to bowl at.”Kerr is just 22 but she has belonged to the international stage for a good six years after making her New Zealand debut at the age of 16. At an age when most people have no idea what to do with their lives, Kerr had dismissed Meg Lanning with the first ball she bowled to the Australia captain in international cricket. It could be said that Lanning hasn’t really found a way to dominate Kerr yet, because just last month, Kerr had foxed Lanning with a googly in the T20 World Cup.After the wickets came the runs – Amelia Kerr plays a scoop as she takes Mumbai towards their target•BCCI

On Tuesday, she unleashed her deceptive wrong’un again when Kanika Ahuja stepped out in the 15th over. Kerr bowled it so slow and wide of the left-hand batter that Ahuja didn’t even bother to try and make her ground after missing with her big swing. Kerr’s celebration after the stumping was a steely-eyed stare to Ahuja, as if to say, “this googly gets the best in the business, you better not try to go after it”.”When I first got here I was thinking, ‘ten an over is a good day’. So the pitches are slowing up a little bit and getting some more turn,” Kerr said at the post-match presentation. “But some world-class batters are batting in this competition on pretty good wickets with short boundaries and they can hit the ball a long way. It’s about trying to deny that and going along the tournament I have worked out different plans that give me the best option to be successful.”Kerr returned for her last over at the death, and nearly got her fourth wicket too, before she took Ghosh’s catch herself. And then she flung herself to her left while sprinting from long-on four balls later to save two runs, adding an Ellyse Perry-like halo to her all-round image.And all this came well after her first big effort in the field on the day, when she ran out her Wellington team-mate Sophie Devine, who had hammered 99 off 36 three days ago – even if the throw went to what looked like the wrong end initially, with Devine and Mandhana nearly coming face to face.About three hours later, Kerr had led Mumbai from a slightly worrying 73 for 4 to the finish line by top-scoring with an unbeaten 31 off 27. She scooped Mandhana to the fine-leg boundary when Mumbai needed six to win from 24 balls and would have hit the winning runs, too, had Mandhana not bowled five wides later in the same over.

Queensland quicks claim four wickets each as South Australia lose 10 for 50 before Queensland chase down 94

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Mar-2023The dynamic new-ball duo of Mark Steketee and Michael Neser have kept Queensland in the hunt for the Sheffield Shield final after taking four wickets apiece to rout South Australia and set up a critical five-wicket win at the Gabba inside three days.Steketee claimed 4 for 34 while Neser bagged 4 for 42 as South Australia lost 10 for 50 in their second innings to be all out for 111, having led Queensland by 43 runs with all second-innings wickets intact during the morning session.Queensland’s fourth-innings chase of 94 was nervy at times. They lost Bryce Street with the score at just 3 and slumped to 76 for 5 before Jack Wildermuth and Jimmy Peirson iced the chase after Sam Heazlett made an important contribution of 26.Wildermuth also made important early breakthroughs with the ball following South Australia’s opening stand of 61 between Jake Carder and Henry Hunt. Carder nailed a pull shot straight to Jack Clayton at square leg before Hunt was given out caught behind four balls later, although he was visibly displeased with the decision.Neser and Steketee then returned to cause carnage. Neser held a brilliant low return catch to dismiss Nathan McSweeney on the stroke of lunch. After the break, Steketee also claimed Daniel Drew caught and bowled off a leading edge. Seam movement and extra bounce accounted for the rest as Liam Scott was the only other South Australia batter to reach double-figures. The visitors lost their last eight wickets in just 16 overs with Neser bowling unchanged to finish with seven wickets for the match.He was outdone by Spencer Johnson, though. Johnson bagged a career-best nine for South Australia in just his second Shield appearance and put a scare through Queensland in the chase. He had Street caught behind for a duck in the third over with a cracking delivery that angled in and jagged away off the seam. He also picked up Clayton in the ninth over with extra bounce as the left-hander skied a pull shot. It left Queensland 21 for 2 with 73 still to get but Joe Burns and Heazlett steadied the innings adding 42 before another mini-collapse had the hosts’ hearts murmuring.Wildermuth and Peirson found the last 18 runs without too many issues.Queensland remain second on the Shield table, just ahead of Victoria on bonus points with one game to play against Tasmania. The loss meant South Australia can’t reach the final with one game remaining against New South Wales.

Royals captain also credited pre-season prep for young Jurel’s success

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Apr-20233:13

Sanju Samson lauds Dhruv Jurel for debut blitz

There was dew, they were chasing a sub-200 target thanks to their bowlers recovering well at the death and they had a deep batting line-up. Most things pointed to Rajasthan Royals having a decent chance of winning their first-ever IPL game in Guwahati, their new home. But they eventually fell short by five runs.Like it does more often, every loss puts certain decisions under the spotlight. It was no different on Wednesday night. Did they err by sending in R Ashwin as an opener when they had Devdutt Padikkal once it was clear that Jos Buttler had bruised his finger while taking a catch?Samson certainly didn’t think so.”Jos wasn’t fully fit; he had a stitch on his finger,” Sanju Samson said. “The thinking behind Devdutt Padikkal at No. 4 was we knew that they had a left-arm spinner [Harpreet Brar] and legspinner [Rahul Chahar] who would be bowling in the middle overs. So, it was important for us to have a left-hander.”The idea might perhaps have been sound, but Padikkal, who is a specialist opener, struggled at No. 4, making 21 off 26. And when he fell, it left Royals needing 74 off the last five overs. Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel, brought in as Impact Player for his IPL debut, nearly blindsided Kings with a 61-run partnership off just 26 balls but it still wasn’t enough.Related

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Samson wasn’t surprised by Jurel’s boundary-hitting skill (he struck three fours and two sixes in 15 balls) and credited both him and the backroom staff for the work they do in the off-season at the Royals academy near Nagpur.”He has been with us from the last two seasons. Lots and lots of work has gone behind him,” Samson said. “Credit to our team management, especially Zubin Bharucha [Director of High Performance at Royals]. When you come to the IPL, you generally have a week’s camp. But these guys put in lots of work, I think it was around five to six weeks [of preparation]. Before every domestic tournament, they come over to our academy and hit thousands and thousands of balls. Very happy the way he batted and to have someone like him in the team.”Samson also praised his bowlers for pulling things back after Kings had raced to 152 for 1 after 15 overs, thanks in large part to Prabhsimran Singh’s 34-ball 60. Their captain Shikhar Dhawan batted through the innings to make an unbeaten 56-ball 86 but Royals dealt with that challenge well enough, giving away only 45 runs in the last five overs. Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashwin and Jason Holder were the people charged with this task and they each picked up a wicket to keep the total to 197 for 4.”They [Kings] came out with a really positive mindset, they had a really good powerplay and the momentum just carried on with that,” Samson said. “Our bowlers tried to vary their lengths and speed on this small ground. It’s a high-scoring venue but we did really well to pull the game a bit back after the start they got. Our bowlers did a reasonably good job.”Royals play one more match at Barsapara Stadium before moving to their traditional home ground in Jaipur. Samson said that they will gain from the loss and be better prepared for their match against Delhi Capitals on Saturday.”I was expecting dew to come in the second half but it was right there in the first-innings itself,” he said. “It will be a high-scoring game our next one too, and we’ll be better prepared for it.”

James Anderson takes three-for but Stuart Broad’s unbeaten 3 from 50 helps save home side

David Hopps07-May-2023Brett Hutton, sticking to his defensive duties like black treacle, put in a redoubtable defensive shift as Nottinghamshire narrowly survived a Lancashire victory push on the final day at Trent Bridge. Lancashire left themselves two full sessions to claim victory as they set Notts 295 in 67 overs – enterprising enough – but the home side escaped with the last pair at the crease.That last man was Olly Stone, who is awaiting the results of a scan on an injured hamstring, and who had to see out the last four deliveries from Lancashire’s left-arm spinner, Tom Hartley, after Luke Fletcher had fallen lbw. In fact, Stone had to survive the last ball not once, but twice as he imagined he had saved the game only for a cry of no-ball to rent the air. Encircled by close fielders, he popped a short ball uncomfortably into the crease. The hamstring may even have complained a little. Job done.There is no doubt which side will be happier with the draw. Notts have few peers in T20, but here they looked what they are: a promoted side coming to terms with Division One life. They have too many Championship days when it appears that the shorter formats cannot come a moment too soon. Five points will sustain them, a sound response to their declaration defeat against Middlesex at Lord’s last week.For Lancashire, a draw with nine down will feel like scant reward for one of their most impressive displays in recent seasons. Harried by rain for the first month of the season, they had conceded a first-innings deficit of 35 thanks to the excellence of Haseeb Hameed, formerly one of their own, but from that point dominated the game without quite making up for the hours lost to bad weather.Hutton’s defiance in making 23 from 141 balls, ably supported by Joe Clarke, changed the tenor of the match after they had lurched to 55 for 6 after only 19.5 overs. It is not that they batted irresponsibly as the wickets fell, far from it because there was enough movement to be had with a hard ball and all Nottinghamshire’s dismissals had an air of caution about them. But the ball softened and Notts toughened, in the shape of a seventh-wicket stand of 67 in 34 overs.Hutton is an adaptable lower middle-order batter, capable of lusty blows and obdurate defence as the situation demands. There was no doubt what was required here and soon the front dog was being pushed forward to good and repetitive effect.Clarke is not noted for strokeless resistance, but he also acquitted himself well, and his dismay was clear when he was seventh out with 13.4 overs, deflecting Anderson to leg slip and falling to a trap that had been laid moments before. “Brett’s a pretty simple man,” Clarke said, “so we didn’t really talk too much. It was an incredible effort from him.”That set up an intriguing match-up between Anderson and Stuart Broad, England’s anticipated Ashes new-ball attack, but this time only Anderson with the ball in his hands. Broad, uncommonly, committed to responsible defence and Anderson never quite locked onto him, peppering him with short balls that passed harmlessly high or wide. Hutton was bowled by Anderson, who left him a shade to hit off stump. Broad finished unbeaten on three from 50 balls, quite a collector’s item.Two weeks ago, Nottinghamshire bundled out Somerset on the final day with ample time to nip over Radcliffe Road in time for Nottingham Forest’s match against Manchester United. This time, the interest was in Notts County’s National League play-off against Borehamwood, and they collapsed so fast that it could mischievously be imagined that they were trying to get there in time for extra time.Notts had never been in the hunt. They began badly, their two most prolific batters blown aside like cherry blossom in a chill wind, when Tom Bailey uprooted Ben Duckett’s middle stump for the second time in the match, this time as he tried to run a ball that came back, and Anderson had Hameed caught behind off a lovely delivery that moved late.It was George Balderson who deepned the disarray with wickets in three successive overs. Scampering in from the Pavilion End, he nibbled the ball around at busy medium pace to have Ben Slater and Lyndon James caught at the wicket – the latter for nought, off an inside edge – and Steven Mullaney held at first slip.Balderson has form on helpful surfaces. Last September, on an inferior pitch at Chelmsford – one condemned by Lancashire’s coach, Glen Chapple, as unfit for county cricket – he took 5 for 14, including a hat-trick, as Essex were dismissed for 59, chasing only 98 to win. A former England U-19 captain, he is 22 now and has shown great maturity with bat and ball alike in perhaps the best all-round game of his career.That Balderson burst was even more damaging for Nottinghamshire as it also included the loss of Matt Montgomery who played their one innings of attacking substance, off-driving splendidly to reach 30, at which point Will Williams hurried one back a shade to bowl him through the gate. Victory then felt inevitable.The morning session had threatened to go awry for Lancashire. They had an overnight lead of 184 with seven wickets left, but lost two wickets quickly before Steven Croft and Hartley, with his second first-class fifty, stitched together a declaration in impressive fashion.With the ball, an argument could be made that Tom Bailey resorted to pick-n-mix a little early, as the ball began to soften, or even that they could have tried Luke Wells’ spin a little earlier, but that would be carping: they came close and will be frustrated that the luck that can help win Championship titles eluded them.