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The first day was washed out in Canberra

Alagappan Muthu30-Nov-2024The first day of the two-day pink ball game between India and the Prime Minister’s XI was washed out due to persistent rain.Chances of play were remote with a steady drizzle bedding in from almost 10am right through to about 5.30pm during which time the covers stayed firmly on. The Indian team did come over to the ground but there wasn’t much reason for them to stick around.The rain did stop, briefly, late in the day, and there was a flurry of activity, with the covers being peeled off and members of both teams’ support staff being briefed by the two umpires. But when the groundstaff restored the covers, packed up and left at 6.30pm, it was clear that there would be no cricket. Much heavier rain came through at 7pm.The game is expected to resume as a 50-over affair starting from 2.40pm on Sunday. Tickets for Saturday’s play will be refunded.The day-night match was going to be India’s only chance of getting any game time with the pink ball under lights, especially or India captain Rohit Sharma who joined the squad after missing the first Test in Perth, which India won by 295 runs. Sunday could also be the return for Shubman Gill, who missed the first game because of a thumb injury and had returned to the nets in Canberra on Friday.The second Test is a day-night game from December 6 in Adelaide, where India were bowled out for 36 in their last outing there.

Scott Boland will likely return if the selectors feel a change is needed

Andrew McGlashan05-Jul-2023The risks of asking Josh Hazlewood to push through three consecutive Tests is likely to be the decision that will most occupy the minds of Australia’s selectors ahead of Headingley, where the Ashes can be secured.Todd Murphy’s inclusion to replace the injured Nathan Lyon is all-but rubberstamped, but when Hazlewood appeared at Lord’s it became the first time he had played consecutive Tests since 2020-21 following a series of injuries.He was held back from the World Test Championship final against India to ensure he was ready for the Ashes and has since bowled 56 overs in two Tests, claiming eight wickets, although his economy is 4.64. It is not a massive workload, but one that may give the selectors some pause with the third Test beginning just three days after Lord’s.Related

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“He’d be the obvious one you’d be a bit more careful of,” captain Pat Cummins said. “The tour so far for him has gone as well as he could have hoped – no injuries, but he is kind of uncharted territory for the last year or two.”I think there will be some conversation around that. I think he bowled 25 and 35 [25 and 31], which isn’t extreme numbers, but again you weigh up this game versus the last two, how he’s tracking so we’ll work through that.”It’s a quick turnaround,” he added. “It’s obviously a huge match, but there are three matches to come. So you don’t want to put anyone in high risk than you’d like knowing that there’s a couple of fresh guys on the bench that come straight in.”While the major prize of retaining the Ashes with a series victory can be achieved at Headingley, the two remaining Tests at Old Trafford and The Oval would still carry important WTC points with this series being the first in the new cycle where Australia are defending champions.Should Hazlewood be benched for this game, Scott Boland would be the likely replacement ahead of Michael Neser, who has been retained in the squad. Boland played the opening Test at Edgbaston, where England took him at nearly a run-a-ball, but Cummins would have no qualms over his return.Josh Hazlewood took the match-deciding wicket of Ben Stokes at Lord’s•Associated Press

“We have such high standards of him [Boland] because of how well he has bowled,” Cummins said. “You saw in that little stretch where conditions were in our favour, how damaging he could be.”During the Lord’s Test, David Warner spoke about the difficulties he was facing with damaged fingers, but Cummins was not aware of them being a concern and Warner netted on Tuesday.”I saw him icing them at one stage in the changeroom and then him talking about it was the only time I’d heard of it,” he said. “So I don’t think it’s an issue.”Victory at Headingley, meaning a first away Ashes series win since 2001, would cement the legacy of this Australian Test team following their WTC title. Cummins was a central figure in the drawn 2-2 series in 2019, which meant the urn was retained, but conceded there were mixed feelings.”I think everyone felt a bit differently about it,” he said. “In Manchester, when we won that Test match to retain it, there was a big celebration where some people, me included, kind of thought, ‘do you celebrate when you retain it’. I genuinely didn’t know. For me it’s always about winning a series outright so that’s the goal. We want to win one of these last three Test matches.”

Spinner Keshav Maharaj expects to play more of a holding role in the coming Tests against Australia after picking up four wickets in Perth

Firdose Moonda in Hobart09-Nov-2016While Australians have agonised over umpiring decisions, including the one Aleem Dar made against Steven Smith in the first innings of the Perth Test, South Africa’s new spinner Keshav Maharaj can’t complain. He claimed his first Test wicket as a result of that lbw call that sent Smith on his way for a duck.Smith, who had advanced down the track, missed his flick and was struck on the pad, and reviewed the on-field decision immediately after Dar raised the finger. Replays showed that even though he had come 2.8 metres down the track, the ball was hitting the edge of leg stump. Under DRS rules, both old and new, Smith was doomed, for an on-field “out” decision would only have been overturned had the ball been missing completely.Steve Waugh called it a “brave decision,” but Shane Warne labelled it a “bad decision,” given how tight it was. Maharaj himself did not comment on the quality of Dar’s call, but was pleased it went his way. “It looked pretty straight to me and obviously any bowler that hits the pads is going to appeal if he thinks there is half a positive that’s going to come out of it,” Maharaj said. “Fortunately it went in my favour.”Asked whether he thought the new DRS laws were good for the game, Maharaj gave the answer most bowlers would under the circumstances. “Bowlers also need a chance,” he said. “Bats are getting bigger. Fields are getting smaller. It’s nice to have something swing your way.”That Smith was the man dismissed only made the ‘something’ a little sweeter for Maharaj. “My first Test wicket is a critical moment in my career,” he said. “Having someone of his calibre as my scalp is very special to me.”Wicket-taking is not necessarily something Maharaj can get used to because he understands his role to be more in the Paul Harris holding mould, especially in current conditions. “I did have a chat with ‘Harro’ before I got here and he had a few thoughts about bowling in Australian conditions,” Maharaj said. “I’m trying to replicate what he did because he was one of the most successful spinners for South Africa.”He said your job here is to rest the fast bowlers because conditions are in their favour rather than yours, and you will pick up a few wickets along the way. So try and stop the game from one end and let them strike.”That is the way Maharaj operated in Perth, despite the inevitable first-match butterflies, which he were well hidden. “I was very nervous on the first day,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect. It’s very intense. For five days you’re focused on every ball. The only breaks you get is lunch and tea. It’s a proper gentleman’s game and a proper man’s game and a test of character.”Bigger tests are sure to come but Maharaj is expecting them, and preparing to meet them as he did in his first Test. “I’m a spinner. I’m allowed to get hit now and then,” he joked. “I’m just fortunate that my first Test worked out in my favour. Australia’s not known as a country where the ball turns a lot so I’m just going to stick to my game plan and hopefully that’s more than enough to help the team.”

PCB grants all-rounder time off to deal with ‘personal issues’

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2019Senior Pakistan allrounder Shoaib Malik has been given ten days’ leave from his team’s pre-World Cup trip of England to deal with “personal issues”.Malik will miss Sunday’s T20I and the first ODI against England on May 8. He is expected to rejoin the side before the second ODI on May 11. The reason for his unexpected exit has not been revealed by PCB.”The Pakistan cricket team management has given leave to Shoaib Malik so that he can return home to deal with a personal issue,” PCB said. “He is expected to rejoin the team in 10 days’ time. The PCB will not be making any further comments and fully expects all concerned to respect Shoaib’s privacy.”Malik’s selection for the World Cup raised eyebrows, given that he averages 13.6 with the bat in 23 innings in England. This year’s World Cup will be his last as he has confirmed he will retire from ODIs after the tournament.He made a comeback in Pakistan ODI side in a home series against Zimbabwe in 2015 after being dropped for two straight years following the 2013 Champions Trophy. Since his return he has become an integral part of the side.His career average in 282 games is 35.12 with a strike rate of 81.75, which, since his return, has risen to 44.24 and 93.16 respectively. However, in ten of his last 11 ODI innings, the 37-year-old Malik has been dismissed between 10 and 31. He has struggled to serve as the launchpad Pakistan want at No. 5.Pakistan won their tour match against Northamptonshire by eight wickets on Monday.

Afghanistan’s spinners Amir Hamza and Rashid Khan joined forces with batsmen Mohammad Shahzad and Samiullah Shenwari to deliver the side a six-wicket win over Ireland

The Report by Akshay Gopalakrishnan08-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Mohammad Shahzad slammed a brisk 47 to enter the top-five among T20I batsmen•Peter Della Penna

Ireland paid the price for ill-disciplined bowling and conceded the first T20 international to Afghanistan by six wickets in Greater Noida. Ireland did most things right at the beginning. Luck favoured them at the toss, and Stuart Thompson and William Porterfield gave them a strong start after electing to bat. But once Afghanistan’s spinners began stifling them with regular wickets, things went downhill.Ireland still managed a late recovery – thanks to Gary Wilson’s 27-ball 41 not out – that took them to competitive 165 for 5. But the chase was entirely dominated by Afghanistan, Samiullah Shenwari and Mohammad Shahzad leading the way as the side romped to 171 for 4 with 12 balls to spare. Afghanistan secured their ninth successive win – the longest such streak in T20Is.On a sluggish pitch where the ball repeatedly stopped on the batsmen, Ireland’s bowlers needed to take pace off the ball and target the good-length region. They did the former, but struggled with their lines and lengths, generously offering width outside off and erring short. Given the lack of pace off the surface, the short balls gave batsmen enough time to get into position, and swat them away.Afghanistan did not respond with the prettiest of strokes, but with Ireland’s spinners failing to make them use their feet, their muscle proved enough to clear the boundaries and mow the target down. Their opening partnership, which lasted five overs, averaged two boundaries per over as Najeeb Tarikai and Shahzad used their brawn to cut, pull and drive. Ireland had their first breakthrough at the end of the fifth over when Wilson, the wicketkeeper, ran back to snaffle Tarikai’s leading edge off an attempted slog.Ireland needed to sustain that sharpness on the field. Shenwari, who got off the mark with a slapped boundary through extra cover, nearly fell to a short-ball trap from Craig Young. With fine leg inside the circle, Young banged one short. Shenwari pulled, but too fine to his liking as the ball went straight to the fielder, who let it burst through his fingers. Two overs later, O’Brien put down Shahzad in front of the long-on boundary after failing to pick up the batsman’s loft in time. Shahzad was on 27 at that point.Both batsmen made ample use of their reprieves. Shenwari, in particular, was in a punishing mood, springing on anything pitched up, and rocking back comfortably to the not-so-full ones. But the one area the partnership failed to make an impression was the running between the wickets.Mix-ups were frequent, and one such moment of indecision ended the partnership. Shahzad, hesitating after responding to a call for a single, was caught short at the keeper’s end. By then, he had gone past Umar Akmal to become the fifth-highest scorer in T20 internationals.If Ireland sniffed an opening, it came to a swift end after O’Brien’s nine-ball over, the 16th of the innings, which went for 27 runs. If his fuller balls were easy pickings for Shenwari and Asghar Stanikzai, O’Brien made it worse with three wides – one of which evaded the keeper and scooted to the fine leg boundary. With the equation down to seven off 24, it was Afghanistan’s game to lose. Though they lost two late wickets, including that of Shenwari to a brilliant catch by George Dockrell at long-on, the damage had already been done. Shafiqullah, ultimately, completed the victory with a shovelled six over wide long-on.In contrast, Afghanistan’s bowlers, Rashid Khan, particularly, showed better awareness of how to bowl on the surface. As has become almost customary with them, Afghanistan began with spin, and Amir Hamza struck with his fourth ball when Paul Stirling misread the length and perished to the sweep and lost his leg stump. But like Ireland, Afghanistan bowled short and wide in the early exchanges as Thompson and Porterfield quickly wrested back the initiative.Thompson played to merit and his ease in playing off either foot threw Mohammad Nabi off his length. The offspinner was tonked for three fours and a six in the sixth over as Ireland closed the Powerplay at 48 for 1.But Afghanistan clawed their way back, starting with the re-introduction of Hamza. The left-arm spinner outsmarted Thompson with a flatter trajectory and had the batsman holing out to long-on. Porterfield was run out after an utterly chaotic chain of events – he survived one chance on the second run and was caught short on the third, and with O’Brien struggling against spin, the run rate dipped.Rashid did his bit in choking the batsmen, using the googly smartly and getting the odd ball to turn. O’Brien, who had struggled to pick Rashid, decided the give the bowler the charge and swung wildly to one that spun away from him to be stumped.Wilson and Lorcan Tucker then provided a fine exhibition of batting on a slow pitch, using scoops, sweeps, reverse-sweeps and cuts as Ireland punched 39 runs off the last three overs. But, as it turned out, the recovery was far from a match-winning one.

He is in the mix for selection for the upcoming tournament with board president Faruque and ODI captain Shanto giving their nods already

Mohammad Isam08-Jan-2025Shakib Al Hasan is awaiting the result of a second test of his bowling action from Chennai in India after failing his previous assessment from UK’s Loughborough University that had left him suspended from bowling in top-flight domestic and international cricket.Shakib was reported for a suspect action during an English county match in September. This prompted the ECB’s action, and, in accordance with clause 11.3 of the ICC’s regulations for illegal bowling actions, his suspension was automatically recognised and enforced by the ICC in international cricket and by all national cricket federations in their respective domestic competitions.Shakib is expecting a result from the Chennai centre in a day or two, which is also keeping the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) from naming their Champions Trophy squad. Shakib is in consideration after board president Faruque Ahmed said on January 3 that he wants Shakib back in the team. It was also reported recently that Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto gave his nod to the BCB about Shakib’s return for ODIs.Related

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Shakib had been out of international cricket since he played the two Tests in India last year. He couldn’t travel to Bangladesh in the face of students’ protests. Shakib was a member of parliament of the Awami League government, which resigned from power in the face of student-led revolution in Bangladesh, on August 5.After the two Tests in India however, Shakib was reported for suspected action in England. The suspension came in December. He was already playing franchise cricket in UAE and Sri Lanka, as the BCB were also weighing his options for selection, to stay in line with Bangladesh’s interim government.BCB’s chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain said on Wednesday that he heard that Shakib has undergone a second bowling action test in Chennai, but couldn’t confirm the details.”It was very shocking to hear that Shakib couldn’t pass the bowling action test [at Loughborough],” Gazi said. “I will have to find out whether he has tested himself again. We have to wait for this information. The board hasn’t instructed us fully on Shakib. I think every minute counts. I am sure we can clarify this in a day or two.”Mohammad Salahuddin meanwhile said that he has given some tips over a video call to Shakib in the last few weeks to help him correct his bowling action issue.”He already went through the test,” Salahuddin told on Tuesday. “I know the A-Z of Shakib’s bowling. I couldn’t go and train him (in India). I think he knows what to do. We discussed a few things about what he has to do with his arm. We don’t need a big change in his bowling action. He can do it quickly too. But when an allegation comes, a person usually has to think about it.”Salahuddin said that Shakib couldn’t bowl with a correct action in an effort to impart more spin on the ball during the county game in Taunton in September. Shakib was trying to get some cricket with a red-ball ahead of Bangladesh’s tour of India.”I think it was due to extreme workload. Maybe he tried to impart more spin on the ball, for which he needed to use his upper body,” Salahuddin said. “It must have been one or two balls which came into question. When you can’t get strength from your legs, you have to drive from your arms. It is natural. I think he can fix it.”

After struggling on recent away tours, Australia set out to try and redress their issues with dealing with the swinging ball

Brydon Coverdale in Wellington10-Feb-20161:51

Don’t want Trent Bridge memories back – Warner

Sixty all out. If Australia forgot about that depressing figure during their home summer, they should dredge the memory back up. Denial is rarely a successful coping strategy; it is best to own up to your problems and learn from them. It would be easy to pretend everything was fine after first-innings totals of 4 for 556, 9 for 559, 4 for 583, and 3 for 551 during their home Tests in November and December. On flat pitches against straight balls, Australia’s batsmen looked invincible.But for peaks to exist there must also be troughs. In Nottingham last August, Stuart Broad moved the ball around just enough to destroy Australia and secure England the Ashes. In the previous Test at Edgbaston they had been rolled for 136. At Lord’s two years earlier it was 128. Go back a few years earlier and you have all-out 47 in Cape Town, all-out 88 against Pakistan in Leeds, albeit with different personnel. For swing and seam bowlers against Australia, it’s a move-a-ball feast.So, what will Australia’s batsmen face over the next fortnight in New Zealand? It is worth noting that none of their squad members have played a Test there, and perhaps the only thing greener in New Zealand conditions is the pitch at the Basin Reserve. Two days out from the Test, it was hard to distinguish which one from the wicket square was to be used, such was the consistent grass cover. But the Basin pitch traditionally flattens out and becomes better for batting.Last summer, New Zealand were knocked over by Sri Lanka for 221 in the first innings, but in the second they piled on 524 for 5, thanks to a world-record sixth-wicket stand from Kane Williamson and BJ Watling. The previous year, India rolled New Zealand for 192 on the first day but another mammoth second-innings stand, this time from Watling and Brendon McCullum, and they racked up 680 for 8.”The ball will swing for a lot longer than what it does in Australia,” Australia’s vice-captain David Warner said on Wednesday. “The wickets were pretty flat, I’d have to say, in Australia. Looking at the wicket here it looks nice and green, but that’s irrelevant. I don’t think the ball will do much off the wicket. It will swing around a lot, and obviously with two world-class swing bowlers in the attack it’s going to be a challenge for us guys at the top of the order.”It will be especially fascinating if Australia bat first and find themselves facing up to hooping deliveries from Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Without a red-ball warm-up match they have had no chance to get used to the New Zealand conditions other than in one-day internationals, where they have naturally looked to score quickly. Patience will be key early but at least they will face the familiar Kookaburra and not the Dukes of England, which generally swings for longer.”It’s like when we go to England, you have to adapt very fast, you don’t want to get too far ahead of yourselves,” Warner said. “Look at Trent Bridge, it was swinging around, you don’t want those memories back again. We just have to adapt to whatever we face on game day.”Remarkably, given Australia’s loss of the Ashes last year and the struggles they have had away from home in recent years, Steven Smith’s side will jump to No.1 in the Test rankings if they win the series in New Zealand. Smith is the only member of the squad who was also on the previous tour in 2010 but he was on work experience back then, and did not win his baggy green until later that year. It means a significant advantage for New Zealand in terms of knowing the conditions.”It’s probably been a while since a side’s come to New Zealand without having any experience of playing Test cricket here,” Southee said. “It’s something foreign for them and I guess there is a slight edge there for us if we can make the most of it. But they’re a quality side and they’ve got quality players and they’ve got a big series on the line, if they win this they can go to No.1 in the world.”Of course, Australia are not the only team that has had trouble winning away from home. In recent years South Africa have been the only side that has been able to do so consistently, and New Zealand themselves failed to adapt quickly enough to the Australian conditions when they visited earlier in the summer. It was not until the day-night Test in Adelaide at the end of the tour that their bowlers looked close to their best.”We didn’t start too well in Australia but the second half of the series we bowled a lot better,” Southee said. “It showed in the back end of that series, we didn’t ask some questions [earlier] and when we get it right we can be dangerous in any conditions. It just shows if you’re a little bit off, sides can capitalise on that. Coming back to conditions that we are familiar with and we’ve had a lot of success it is a nice feeling.”Southee himself enters this Test under an injury cloud, having suffered a foot injury during an ODI against Sri Lanka on December 31. However, he returned in the Plunket Shield for Northern Districts last week and is confident he will be fit for the Test. “I’m pretty good, I got through that four-day game unscathed,” Southee said, “so hopefully I get through today and scrub up all right tomorrow.”

Seamer’s quad stiffness the latest injury setback for England after they lost Topley for the entire World Cup

Tristan Lavalette21-Oct-2022England seamer Chris Woakes is in doubt for the side’s T20 World Cup opener against Afghanistan as he battles quad stiffness. His injury might further stretch England’s options in the powerplay and the death.After England were rocked this week by the loss of in-form seamer Reece Topley for the entire tournament, Woakes was tipped to be a starter for the clash on Saturday at Perth’s pace-friendly Optus Stadium.But he faces a race against time to be fit and went through what appeared to be a fitness test on the ground on Friday afternoon. Under the watchful eyes of England’s medicos, Woakes had an intense workout, including several sharp sprints, while just metres away left-armer Tymal Mills – who replaced Topley in the squad having recovered from a toe injury that had sidelined him in recent months – marked his run-up, adding to the intrigue.”He [Woakes] is not someone you’d want to take a risk on. But I think he’s feeling good,” England captain Jos Buttler said. “He’ll take full part in training today and hopefully pulls up well.”He’s obviously a key player for us.”Related

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Woakes looms as an especially important cog of the attack during the powerplay. He issued a reminder during the third T20I against Australia in Canberra that he might be England’s best new-ball bowler with three wickets, including Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh with the first two deliveries of the innings.Woakes has endured an injury-riddled year, including surgery on his left knee, before returning in style recently in Pakistan. In the seventh T20I, he claimed 3 for 26, including Babar Azam in the first over, helping England to a big victory.In that match he also claimed Shan Masood in the penultimate over to further showcase his versatility at the death. He won’t be easy to replace if ruled out with Mills, David Willey and Chris Jordan fighting for a berth alongside speedster Mark Wood and Sam Curran, who starred against Australia with clutch death bowling marked by canny slower deliveries.While Woakes and Topley were originally earmarked to be England’s new-ball bowlers, Willey could now be a powerplay option along with Ben Stokes, who recently returned to T20Is after an 18-month absence.England have already been dealing with the headache of losing Topley on tournament eve, in what is a significant blow, given his flexibility and versatility to bowl at every phase.”We’re all so bitterly disappointed for him,” Buttler said of Topley, whose 17 T20I wickets is the most by an England bowler this year.”The amount of setbacks he has had already in his career…to come back and be in the position he’s in on the eve of a tournament, being in such great form, and to have that cruelly taken away from him is really tough.”Even though England have entered the tournament with bad injury luck, much like 12 months ago, there is an air of confidence in their camp that has been evident since they initially arrived in Perth earlier in the month.It manifested in an impressive series victory over Australia, which probably would have been a clean sweep if not for a washout in Canberra, but Buttler has managed expectations in his first major tournament in charge.”Far from it,” Buttler said when asked if he believed England were favourites, preferring to give the tag to Australia. “I think we’re a dangerous team who have players who can win games on their own and that’s a huge thing in T20 cricket.”We have plenty of options as to whichever way we want to go. I’m very confident in the team.”

The New Zealand batter was on 17 when he was caught backing up early by Hasan Mahmud, but he was quickly offered a second life

Mohammad Isam23-Sep-2023Bangladesh captain Litton Das recalled batter Ish Sodhi after fast bowler Hasan Mahmud had run out the New Zealand player when he left the crease early at the non-striker’s end.Senior Bangladesh batter Tamim Iqbal spoke about the incident at the post-match press conference and appeared to be against bringing batters back after dismissing them. Sodhi was on 17 off 26 balls when he was called back. After the reprieve, he scored 18 off 13 with the help of two sixes.The incident took place in the 46th over when Mahmud broke the wicket in his bowling stride as Sodhi backed up early. The bowler appealed to umpire Marais Erasmus who went straight to the TV umpire. Replays showed that Sodhi was out of his crease when Mahmud dislodged the bails.Sodhi walked off with a smile on his face but as he neared the boundary rope, Bangladesh’s captain Litton told the umpire that he wanted to call Sodhi back. Informed of the gesture, Sodhi ran back to the middle and gave Mahmud a hug.Litton’s decision could be seen as surprising considering the run-out at the non-striker’s end was destigmatised last year by the MCC. In March 2022, the MCC moved the wording of this dismissal from Law 41 (Unfair play) to Law 38 (Run out), to remove some of the stigma around such dismissals.”The bowler is always painted as the villain but it is a legitimate way to dismiss someone and it is the non-striker who is stealing the ground,” Fraser Stewart, MCC Laws Manager, told the , at the time. “It is legitimate, it is a run-out and therefore it should live in the run-out section of the laws.”New Zealand finished on 254 all out in 49.2 overs.

There is the faintest risk of relegation in the air for Durham and Warwickshire, with the whiff about to become stronger for whichever county finishes on the wrong end of the result here

David Hopps at Chester-le-Street23-Aug-2016
ScorecardMichael Richardson took a blow but made an important fifty•Getty Images

There is the faintest risk of relegation in the air for Durham and Warwickshire, with the whiff about to become stronger for whichever county finishes on the wrong end of the result here. Just the time then with the Championship season at such a critical juncture for Paul Collingwood to stage an encore for Brigadier Block.Durham’s coach, Jon Lewis, had summoned the squad in on Monday, barely 24 hours after their defeat in the final of the NatWest T20 Blast, for a practice session that he called “more mental than physical”. The emphasis had to switch to four-day cricket and Collingwood, who ground out 23 in 107 deliveries, certainly gave it his full attention.It was clear from the outset that if Warwickshire got him out it would be over his dead body – it was just that there were times in a stubbornly strokeless display when it seemed that his death had been a little premature.It was the sort of Bowling Day that legitimised such defiance with plenty of encouragement for the bowlers in humid conditions and on a pitch that Warwickshire regarded as a bit “tacky”. Only Michael Richardson, who made 55 from 72 balls before he edged Keith Barker low to second slip, and more briefly Jack Burnham, also picked up at slip, this time off Chris Wright, made much headway in a total of 207 that took 81 overs to compile.Richardson has handed over the gloves to Stuart Poynter and the batting responsibility seemed to spur him on. But generally, it was attritional fare for a decent sun-drenched crowd.Barker bowls his left-arm medium with grace despite his bulk, a man who one suspects would barely leave a footmark in a fresh fall of snow. Such economy of effort enabled him to deliver 11 overs with the new ball, bowling Mark Stoneman and swinging one away from Keaton Jennings to have him caught at first slip. Barker has made a habit of tormenting Durham with bat and ball in recent seasons and 3 for 29 off 17 overs was another decent effort.But once Richardson had departed, half the Durham side sent back for 151, the last five wickets fell to the offspin of Jeetan Patel. Figures of 5 for 32 in 15.3 overs are not what you expect from a spinner on an opening day at Emirates Riverside, even in a season where attempts have been made to encourage spinners back into the game.At a time when Collingwood might have hoped to benefit, he became increasingly careworn, feet not always moving, bat likewise. His only boundary was a delicate leg glance off Barker from the 67th ball he faced. There was a flurry of activity straight after tea when he tried to drive Patel and the ball spun past leg stump and trundled for four byes.He fell in hesitant fashion to the next delivery, sitting back to dab the ball between silly point and slip, flinging his head back in response to some modest turn and bounce and somehow depositing the ball into the hands of silly point. It was an innings to make his various injuries niggle away a little deeper, but Durham scored 114 for 2 while he was at the crease and the value of his innings might be recognised in hindsight.Patel made short work of the rest. Poynter and Barry McCarthy, back from Ireland duty, were both bowled, Paul Coughlin swept to deep midwicket and Graham Onions’ idiosyncratic reverse paddle against Patel was the sort of T20 shot Lewis had feared, only from a No. 11 who had not actually been part of the squad.Durham’s resolve has never been higher this season than when they won at Edgbaston last month, surviving Chris Woakes’ brilliant 9 for 35 to secure the game on the final morning. They will need a display of similar determination, one fancies, if they are to come out on the right side of this one.