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Worcestershire have secured a deal to bring Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal back to New Road in 2015 for at least the second half of the season from July.

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Feb-2015Worcestershire have secured a deal to bring Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal back to New Road in 2015 for at least the second half of the season from July.Ajmal, 37, has successfully remodelled his action after being cited for throwing, sending down 12,000 deliveries, and was cleared to bowl again by the ICC last month.Worcestershire could have Ajmal available for the first two months of the season if Pakistan’s tour to Bangladesh, pencilled in for April and May, does not go ahead – the two boards are currently in negotiations – but he will definitely arrive after Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka concludes at the start of July.Ajmal is crucial to Worcestershire’s chances of survival in Division One of the County Championship. Last year he took 63 wickets at 16.47 in just nine matches – five of which Worcestershire won – to propel his adopted county to a most-unexpected promotion. Worcestershire did not lose in the Championship when Ajmal was in the side last season.”I’ve had this difficult spell of my career with my action but I knew I would come through it and have had the support not only of Pakistan but also Worcestershire throughout,” Ajmal said.”Worcestershire have all the time stood by me and I can assure them I will repay the faith they have shown in me this season. I would love to be with Worcestershire as long as possible so I can help the club achieve their high goals and also help establish them in Division One.”Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes added: “I’m delighted Saeed is coming back. He’s very important in what is hopefully going to be a successful season for us and is an important member of the dressing room.”He brings a lot of confidence to the team as well which is really important for this young group of players. He has made a tremendous impact. He is a real quality performer as all our members and supporters know.”Worcestershire are back in Division One of the County Championship after a two-year absence. They begin their new campaign at home to champions Yorkshire on April 12.

A round-up of IPL news on April 11, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Apr-2015Deepak Hooda, whose 15-ball 30 gave Rajasthan Royals the crucial late-order thrust in their 26-run win against Kings XI Punjab, has said he hit what he thought was in his range. Along with James Faulkner, he put on 51 runs to put Royals back on track after they were 75 for 5.”The only thing we were talking about was that if the ball is in our range then we will hit it,” Hooda told . “If not then we will take ones and twos and keep rotating the strike. So I kept playing my normal game. So what I thought was in my range, I hit it.”When asked about what he would take away from the game, Hooda said, “Positive attitude and now I will not get nervous. When I went in to bat I was nervous a bit. (Mitchell) Johnson was bowling, but then (later on) I was okay.”Hooda, who was picked up by Royals for Rs 40 lakh in 2014, didn’t play a single game last year. He was informed of his debut a day before the match. “Yesterday, after practice I came to know that I would be playing today. Paddy Upton and Rahul (Dravid) sir came and told me that. So I was very excited to play. Last season I was on the bench. So I was also eagerly waiting to play.”Confident I can work the ball both ways – AnureetAnureet Singh was the most successful Kings XI Punjab bowlers against Rajasthan Royals, finishing with figures of 3 for 23.Anureet said he was aware Ajinkya Rahane would try to attack him first up. “It is often said about me that I bowl the inswingers well, but I also try to bowl the away going delivery to a right-handed batsman,” Anureet told . “I have practised that and now I am confident that I can work the ball both ways. I had an idea that he (Rahane) would try and attack me a bit because I am playing against him for the first time. So I stuck to my basics and I got him out.”Anureet gave away only four runs in the last over of Royals’ innings and picked up Faulkner’s wicket. “If I am bowling in the death overs then I have practised bowling round the wicket. I don’t try two-three things at the same time. In death overs, try and bowl your best ball, what you have practised. If it is his day, it can so happen that the batsman might hit you even then. But if your basics are strong and if you bowl your best ball, then you are less likely to get hit.”He, however, conceded that it “wasn’t a wicket for 160-odd runs”, and Kings XI should have restricted them for fewer runs.

The selection of Adam Voges and Peter Siddle for Australia’s Test squad has caused headaches for Middlesex and Lancashire respectively

Alex Winter31-Mar-2015The selection of Adam Voges and Peter Siddle for Australia’s Test squad has caused headaches for Middlesex and Lancashire respectively. Both counties will now have to rethink their plans for overseas players this season.Voges and Siddle signed season-long county deals but will now only be able to play a small part in domestic cricket this summer.To add to the frustration around the counties, Yorkshire are awaiting confirmation of the dates for the tour of India by Australia A this summer, plus information about any training camp arrangements, before finalising a plan regarding Twenty20 overseas recruit Glenn Maxwell.Middlesex brought in 35-year-old Voges as a replacement for Chris Rogers and appointed him their four-day captain. Without a Test debut his call up for Australia appeared a long-shot but an outstanding season down under, where Voges scored 1358 runs at 104.46 in the Sheffield Shield, made him impossible for the Test selectors to ignore.”When we signed him we made the decision that Chris Rogers would be in the Ashes squad we would so we’d go for someone who we didn’t think would be,” Angus Fraser, Middlesex director of cricket, told ESPNcricinfo. “I don’t think Adam was on Australia’s radar. He had been left out of Australia’s one-day squad for a while and in his mind and everyone else’s Australia had possibly passed him by.”We’ve sat down and talked about this possibility for a period of time and we’ve got a number of irons in the fire. It’s blow but we’re delighted for him in the same way.”We’ve got to know Adam quite well in the last few years and you realise what a cracking bloke he is and obviously what a good player he is. He’s had a magnificent year and deserves his selection but obviously it means that we have to rejig our plans.”Middlesex should have Voges available for the first four matches of the campaign and Fraser said that Voges will be captain for those matches. The search begins for a replacement for the remainder of the season with a decision on the captaincy dependent on what overseas players are available. Middlesex could turn back to Neil Dexter who captained the side in all formats from June 2010 to April 2012.Lancashire’s overseas plans are similarly up in the air. They thought they had secured Siddle with his return to the Australian Test side unlikely. He was dropped during the series against India and not offered a central contract with a crop of young fast bowlers emerging. But with injury doubts surrounding some of those younger men, the selectors chose to pick Siddle again for both tours.With Australia touring the West Indies before the Ashes, both men are, prima facie, ruled out of most of the domestic season in the UK. Voges will be able to play in Middlesex’s first four Championship matches before leaving for the West Indies. Siddle may be available for a similar schedule but might be required to rest.”Although it’s pretty frustrating for us we are over the moon for Peter,” Lancashire head coach Ashley Giles said. “When you sign an international bowler of his calibre there is always a possibility that this will happen but we are still hopeful that Peter will be available for the start of our campaign. The hunt for a replacement begins now.”Gloucestershire may also have an issue after their second overseas player, Victorian batsman Peter Handscomb, was selected for the Australia A squad.

A round-up of IPL-related news on May 4, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff04-May-2015Allrounder Corey Anderson, who had flown back to New Zealand after fracturing his finger, has rejoined Mumbai Indians squad in Mumbai. Anderson practised along with the rest of the squad at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday, ahead of their key clash against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday.It is understood that Anderson’s finger injury has not yet healed properly. He is still under observation and is unlikely to be considered for Tuesday’s game. With Mumbai’ qualification chances having received a boost with three successive victories over the last week, Anderson was asked to rejoin the squad. He subsequently arrived in Mumbai on Sunday night.In the four matches he played for Mumbai, Anderson scored two fifties. Despite going home earlier, Mumbai had not replaced him with another player in the squad.

Daryl Mitchell hit an unbeaten 80 as Worcestershire consolidated an increasingly powerful position at the end of the second day at the Ageas Bowl

ECB/PA01-Jun-2015
ScorecardDaryll Mtichell led a strong reply•Getty ImagesDaryl Mitchell hit an unbeaten 80 as Worcestershire consolidated an increasingly powerful position at the end of the second day at the Ageas Bowl. At the premature close caused by bad light, Worcestershire were a healthy 221 for 3, just one run behind Hampshire’s first innings total of 222.Hampshire began the day 119 for 4 but lost their remaining six wickets in the morning session for the addition of 103 runs, pace bowler Joe Leach doing a substantial portion of the damage with 5 for 63. This took Leach’s tally for the season to 23 and Worcestershire soon capitalised on his good work on a wicket that offered plenty of assistance to the pace bowlers throughout.Mitchell and Richard Oliver put on 62 for the first Worcestershire wicket, Mitchell and Ton Fell added a further 94 for the second and as Hampshire ran out of ideas, Alex Gidman helped add another 58 for the third.Hampshire struggled in the first session from the moment they lost James Vince to another disappointingly low score in what has so far been a poor season for the 24 year old about whom so much is expected. Vince had made 8 when he mistimed a pull against Leach and played on and apart from the obdurate Will Smith, newly capped by Hampshire, resistance was only spasmodic.Adam Wheater was sixth out at 170 to a catch at the wicket by Ben Cox – his second of four in total – before Smith edged into his own stumps after making 40 to provide New Zealander Colin Munro with a wicket in his first over in first-class cricket in England. Ed Barnard removed Sean Ervine to another Cox catch at 205 and Leach returned to dismiss Danny Briggs and last man Brad Wheal in five balls to wrap up a good morning for Worcestershire.In contrast Worcestershire found batting altogether easier when it was their turn, Hampshire having to wait until the 18th over before Gareth Berg induced an edge from Oliver that Smith pouched at slip.Fell hit six fours in his 48 before Berg found another edge which Liam Dawson snared in the slips and then Gidman fell at 214 to a tumbling catch by Vince as stand-in wicketkeeper following a knee injury sustained by Wheater.Mitchell’s innings has so far occupied 202 balls and included eight fours and it was he who earned the highest praise from bowling hero Leach. “We have got a very high regard for him,” Leach said. “He is the lynchpin of our batting and has not got as many runs this season as he would have liked. You could see by the reception he got when he came off the field how delighted we were for him.”At this level if you bowl out a side for 222 you have to be happy. It vindicated our decision to bowl first. It was a very disciplined performance by our bowling unit. We aimed to keep the run rate down and while the first wicket was a long time coming on the first day, four fell quickly and we were able to maintain the momentum.”Hampshire coach Dale Benkenstein said: “Over the past year we have not played as poorly as this all round. Credit to Worcestershire they have stuck to their game plan, particularly in the field.”We have been really poor and I am not used to that. They did not give us any runs, which was completely the opposite to us.”

Mohammad Hafeez has once again been reported for a suspect action, following the conclusion of the Galle Test, the Pakistan team management has confirmed to ESPNcricinfo

Umar Farooq21-Jun-2015Offspinner Mohammad Hafeez has once again been reported for a suspect action, following the conclusion of the Galle Test, the Pakistan team management has confirmed to ESPNcricinfo. Hafeez bowled 20 overs in the match and contributed two wickets to Pakistan’s ten-wicket victory in the first Test.According to the ICC’s regulations for bowlers reported a second time within a period of a year, if Hafeez’s action is found to be illegal once again he faces a bowling ban for a period of at least a year, only after which he will be eligible to apply for a reassessment of his action. He must undergo testing within 21 days of the receipt of the official report and will be allowed to bowl until the results are out. Hafeez will proceed to India to undergo testing after the second Test, which begins on June 25 in Colombo.Hafeez had been reported for a suspect action after the Abu Dhabi Test against New Zealand in November last year, and in December his action was found to be illegal following tests at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees, far above the permitted limit of 15 degrees.He underwent remedial work at a biomechanics lab in Chennai, but failed an unofficial test on his action on January 3. Later that month the PCB requested the ICC to retest Hafeez’s action in February in Brisbane, so that he could bowl at the World Cup if cleared, but he was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury. Hafeez was finally cleared to bowl again in international cricket on April 21, after more tests on his action in Chennai. Since then, he has bowled in nine matches in Bangladesh, at home against Zimbabwe, and in Sri Lanka.

As well as UAE have played in the Asia Cup so far, winning three of their last four matches, it seems unlikely for them to notch up a fourth win or for Bangladesh to suffer a fourth straight loss

The Preview by Alagappan Muthu25-Feb-2016Match factsFriday, February 26, 2016
Start time 1930 local (1330 GMT)Taskin Ahmed has coped well with the extra responsibility placed on him by Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza•AFPBig PictureCareful when you research recent form with regard to this match. You’ll find Bangladesh have lost three Twenty20 internationals on the bounce, while UAE have won three of their last four T20Is. The condensed nature of T20 cricket may diminish the gap between a Full Member and an Associate – one big over from a batsman or one little over from a bowler can turn the entire match – but as well as UAE have played to get here, a fourth win in the Asia Cup for them and a fourth loss for Bangladesh seems unlikely.But Amjad Javed will ask his men to concentrate on the basics so they can capitalise on the what if’s. What if Bangladesh drop a catch again? Their loss to India can be traced back to the point where Rohit Sharma got his reprieve. What if their top-order doesn’t fire again? Sabbir Rahman benefited from a half-chance going down, but could not capitalise.UAE are also on a proper high; last week they beat Ireland for the first time in over a decade and used that momentum to topple Afghanistan as well. The main round of the Asia Cup brought the high-rollers to their party and Sri Lanka, after a little careless gambling, cleaned them out.Bangladesh are making some bold bets themselves: the occasional green pitch, four fast bowlers, a hitter among the top three in their line-up to suit T20 needs. Their fielding took the shine away from an improved understanding of the shortest format, but luckily for them, changing that is firmly in their hands.Form guide(Last five completed matches)
Bangladesh: LLLWW
UAE: LWWWWWatch out forTall, broad-shouldered and hungry for success, Taskin Ahmed has been one of those outright fast bowlers that teams from the subcontinent go gaga over. Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has been keen to develop a pace attack that can win matches and Taskin is among those who has responded well to being empowered.If he’s not being busy with the bat for UAE on the cricket field, Mohammad Usman would be busy working at UAE Exchange. It’s only been a year since he started playing the game in the local leagues back home and just about a month since his promotion to the national side, but with the confidence of his captain and his support staff, Usman is their designated late-order enforcer.Team newsBangladesh are likely to bench Imrul Kayes and the choice could be between Nurul Hasan, who did reasonably well against Zimbabwe last month, and Nasir Hossain, who was dropped for that series.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Soumya Sarkar, 2 Mohammad Mithun, 3 Sabbir Rahman, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Nurul Hasan (wk), 8 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Al-Amin Hossain, 11 Mustafizur RahmanUAE are trying to rebuild their a new core of players since the retirements of Khurram Khan, Mohammad Tauqir and Saqib Ali. They got through the qualifying tournament without too much shuffling of personnel, but the loss to Sri Lanka may prompt a rethink.UAE (probable) 1 Muhammad Kaleem, 2 Rohan Mustafa, 3 Shaiman Anwar, 4 Mohammad Shahzad, 5 Mohammad Usman, 6 Amjad Javed (capt), 7 Saqlain Haider, 8 Swapnil Patel (wk), 9 Qadeer Ahmed/ Farhan Ahmed, 10 Ahmed Raza, 11 Mohammad NaveedPitch and conditionsThe odd ball has seamed about at Shere Bangla stadium, with the groundsmen keeping some grass on the pitch, mainly to hold it together. The weather is set to be fair in Dhaka on Friday.Stats and trivia Mohammad Naveed is one of only six bowlers to have an economy rate below six with a minimum of 40 overs bowled in T20Is. His 5.92 puts him behind Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine and Daniel Vettori. Sabbir Rahman averages 38.94 at No. 3 in all T20s, as opposed to his overall average of 29.34Quotes”UAE has played the best cricket in their level and come [to the Asia Cup’s main event]. We have to perform professionally and win this match. Yesterday [against India] we played till a certain period but we have to do better tomorrow. We have watched UAE’s video clips we have a good enough idea about them.”
“The bowlers will get a boost [from helpful pitches] and will want to do well and when the batsmen see the bowlers performing and restricting a team like Sri Lanka under 130, they’ll want to perform well to. So definitely they’ll come back tomorrow and I hope they will do well.”

A heroic rearguard from Peter Trego and Lewis Gregory saw Somerset through to a nervy draw after the team’s propensity to collapse returned on the final afternoon

Jeremy Blackmore at Taunton08-Jul-2015
ScorecardPeter Trego played a sensible knock to help Somserset hold off Sussex’s charge•Getty ImagesA heroic rearguard from Peter Trego and Lewis Gregory saw Somerset through to a nervy draw after the team’s propensity to collapse returned on the final afternoon. Coming together after five wickets had fallen in as many overs, Trego and Gregory survived 42 overs in a stand of 120 runs to secure a draw from a match that looked to be heading Sussex’s way.The pair did well to curb their natural attacking instincts and, with men crowded around the bat, play the way the match situation demanded. They looked increasingly assured as the evening session went on, finding the middle of the bat but importantly keeping the ball down and piercing the gaps.Trego brought up his second half-century of the match, finishing on a magnificent, unbeaten 95, while Gregory, who has struggled with the bat lately, grew in confidence and reached 32 before he was out shortly before the close, his highest score of the summer.Sussex captain Ed Joyce was left to rue his decision not to have declared his side’s second innings closed earlier. After setting Somerset a notional 425 to win in 67 overs, Marcus Trescothick and Tom Abell put on 69 with few causes for alarm. But then as Sussex introduced the part-time spin of Ashar Zaidi and Luke Wells, who only started bowling legbreaks last year, Somerset imploded in a rush of blood.While there was turn to be had, three of the wickets were gifted to airy shots when there were plenty of runs on offer by playing straight and finding the gaps.Trescothick decided to target the spinners, taking no time to get a sighter against Wells before he attempted a slog sweep and was bowled for 33. Clearly not learning his lesson from his captain’s dismissal, Johann Myburgh went to paddle sweep the same bowler and top edged the ball to short-leg.Hildreth was possibly unlucky, coming forward to a full toss from to Zaidi which looped up for a caught and bowled chance. Abell, who played beautifully for his 36, pushed forward to one that turned from Wells and got an outside edge to slip. Finally Allenby was caught playing a loose drive outside off stump.Despite back-to-back wins in Somerset’s last two matches, concerns remain about the frailty of their batting. With Tom Cooper scoring a century for the seconds on Tuesday, there may be pressure on places for the game with Middlesex at the weekend.Matt Maynard, Somerset’s director of cricket, was clearly disappointed with his batsmen. “There were too many soft dismissals, some poor execution and poor shot choice,” he said. “It’s almost like we go through periods where we switch off as a team. It’s something we haven’t seen much of over the last few weeks, but it was apparent in this game and the guys have to be honest with themselves and be switched on for the full match.”There was almost a bit of complacency after the start Trescothick and Abell made. But, you see the way Trego and Gregory played, if you apply yourself, if you get stuck in, and understand that at times that’s how you have to play to save a game, even if it’s not your preferred style necessarily.”Matt Machan and Chris Nash had extended their mammoth stand to 290 in 58 overs, breaking the club’s third-wicket partnership record in matches against Somerset in the process. Machan had also been involved in the previous record, also set on this ground, two years ago in a stand with Michael Yardy.The pair carried on where they left off on Tuesday evening, scoring at exactly five runs an over, but without pushing on as expected towards an early declaration. Machan’s long vigil was finally brought to an end as he was bowled by the spin of Abdur Rehman for a superb 192. Rehman then won an lbw appeal against Craig Cachopa, oddly sent in ahead of Luke Wright, but these were just consolation wickets given the Sussex lead was already 382.Wright tried to expedite things, smashing three sixes off his first five balls from Rehman before rain and bad light brought an early lunch with the lead 402. It was something of a surprise when Sussex re-emerged after the interval to swing the bat for another nine balls, albeit to the tune of 22 runs.Sussex coach Mark Robinson said gauging the declaration had been a tricky decision. “The wicket has got easier to bat on, but there have been some very big run chases here so we were aware of the history,” he said.Craig Overton was absent during the remainder of Sussex’s innings as a result of concussion sustained following the bang on the head he received while batting on Tuesaday. He would have batted again if necessary and Somerset said his absence was purely precautionary.

A visibly angry Waqar Younis has labelled Pakistan as “not good enough,” after a defeat to New Zealand, which might cost them a shot at making the semi-finals

Sidharth Monga in Mohali22-Mar-2016Four – the number of times a visibly angry Waqar Younis called Pakistan “not good enough” in his eight-minute press conference. It was preceded variously by “simply”, “once again” and “just”.In particular the targets of Waqar’s ire seemed to be – he did not name them, but it was easy to join the dots – young batsmen Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal, whose partnership of 17 runs in four overs, stalled the momentum that Sharjeel Khan’s explosive start gave Pakistan. The two couldn’t pick the singles, tried the big shots, failed, and by the time the partnership broke, the asking rate had risen to 11 from eight when Sharjeel got out.Akmal has reportedly made public comments that he is not getting to bat at his desired positions, higher up in the order. In both of Pakistan’s earlier matches in the tournament, Akmal got to bat after Shahid Afridi. This time he got to bat with time in hand, but managed only 24 off 26 balls with no boundaries.”You have to be able to adjust in T20, you have to be adaptable,” Waqar said. “Still, those who were shouting about not getting to bat in the position they want, this was their perfect opportunity. We were just not good enough. You can cry all you want, you can talk all you want, we are just not good enough. People will have to take a hard look at themselves.”Shehzad was not spared either, and the rebuke came as Waqar tried to explain Afridi’s promotion to No. 5. “I thought logic was right,” Waqar said. “If you see, we didn’t move at all from the eighth to the 15th over. Two of our so-called youngsters, upcoming cricketers, they both batted for a good chunk of time in the middle where we thought we would take the game away. We were always in the hope. But yeah couldn’t really finish it. I thought Afridi’s move to go up the order, I thought it was a good one.”Waqar also asked the selectors to look at this performance. “Of course it hurts,” Waqar said. “I can’t say what injection we need, but the selectors will have to pay attention to this performance. They will have to find out what players this team needs. Once again, not good enough. If I go into detail, there will be a lot of issues. About first-class cricket too. But we will have to start by solving the immediate problems.”Pakistan still have a mathematical chance of making it to the semi-final. If they beat Australia, and if Australia beat India, there is a good chance the three of them might end up with four points each. When reminded of that faint hope, Waqar summed up the state of mind the team was in: “If you say so, we will continue to hope, but the way we have been playing we don’t deserve to go through.”

Ben Stokes was back in action and this time he had the final word as Middlesex reached 358 for 7 on the first day at Chester-le-Street

David Hopps at Chester-le-Street24-Apr-2016
ScorecardBen Stokes returned for Durham after his World T20 final mauling•Getty ImagesBen Stokes was back in action and this time he had the final word. Three weeks have passed since Stokes suffered Carlos Brathwaite’s last-over assault in the World Twenty20 final. Three weeks since the bang, bang, bang, bang from Brathwaite’s bat clattered around Eden Gardens, raged around his head and forced him to his haunches, eyes welling in despair, as the trophy was torn from England’s grasp at the last.Last balls do not always have to be like that. This time, as bright sunshine cast shadows across the sharpest of spring days in county cricket’s most northerly HQ , the first day finished with an lbw appeal and the dismissal of James Harris. Stokes had 2 for 66 in 21.3 satisfying, blue-collar overs and Durham had held Middlesex at 358 for 7 thanks to four wickets in a productive post-tea session.If anybody could psychologically withstand Brathwaite’s assault it was Stokes, Paul Collingwood, Durham’s captain had suggested. Collingwood was in a shaken England dressing room that night as part of the coaching staff. “He’s such a tough character and you know he will bounce back strongly,” he said. Nobody should doubt it.Little more than a week after that final, Stokes was back at Emirates Riverside to watch Durham’s opening Championship match of the season, his support for his home county impressively evident. Far from wanting to get away from cricket, he was already anticipating getting back into the fray.From the outset, the unity shown by the England cricketing public has been remarkable, the desire for a blame game almost non-existent, the newspaper that blared the headline “Ben Chokes” spectacularly misjudging the public mood. England had dared and almost pulled it off and the fact that Stokes, one of the most combative elements in the side, had suffered such a fearsome knockout blow was somehow an appropriately glorious death, if death there had to be.In the Station Hotel in Hove that evening, even before the final six fell from the night sky, drinks were immediately downed, chairs pushed back from tables and spectators departed looking almost as shellshocked as England. “It’s the hope that kills you,” somebody remarked. The scene must have been replicated in other bars throughout the country. There had been cries of frustration, but outrage there was none. To attract such support at a time of failure says much about the honesty of endeavour communicated by the most valued of our sporting heroes.Now Stokes was back. He missed the pre-match warm-up and was reported, slightly disturbingly, to have a touch of man flu, but he clanked reliably down the steps into the Chester-le-Street chill, observed supportively by Durham supporters wrapped in winter coats and woolly hats as protection against hostile temperatures of 7C. For the tenth over he had the ball in his hands once more.His exploratory first over could not have been further divorced from events in Kolkata if the ECB medical team had insisted on stage-managing an over of spiritual support. Stood before him was Sam Robson, the Middlesex opener, England ambitions sharpened by a record runs haul in his previous Championship match at Lord’s. Robson does not go aerial, certainly not on the first morning of a Championship match; well, not at all really. He is a skilful player, perhaps with a big future ahead, but he was not the sort to revive memories of Brathwaite’s domineering presence. If he asks Stokes to swap shirts, it will be several sizes too big.Six times Stokes ran in, six times he pounded a reliable area, and six times Robson concentrated on survival. His forward pushes ranged from intense to exceptionally intense. He gave the impression that protecting his stumps from Stokes’ missiles was an act of colossal human endeavour. Bang, bang, bang had been replaced by block, block, block. As each delivery travelled only a few metres along the ground, the clamour of Kolkata gave way to the gentler rhythms of a county season still in its infancy.An lbw appeal midway through the over went unanswered, but at least it allowed Stokes to bellow with optimism again. Only against the last ball of the over was Robson’s defensive push confident and relaxed. Stokes was back in action, the stains in his memory already washing out, the battle joined once more.This particular battle has been a good one. Middlesex looked dominant throughout the day, but Durham found ways to hang in there. This will not be an easy season, especially with Mark Wood likely to miss most of it after a second ankle operation and John Hastings, their staunch Australian, another absentee because of injury. Collingwood had said on the eve of the match: “You think ‘Are we going to struggle?’ but someone always seems to put their hand up with big performances.”Stokes’ first contribution was the wicket of Adam Voges shortly after tea, a good slip catch by Scott Borthwick after Voges fenced at one that bounced a bit. The previous over, Dawid Malan’s untroubled 74 had ended wastefully with static footwork and a flirt at a wide one from Chris Rushworth, Middlesex’s commanding position at 267 for 3 suddenly relinquished by the loss of two wickets on the same score.One bowler who has a chance to fill the gap is 20-year-old South African Brydon Carse, a slender quick bowler with a fast arm action and an appetite for an attacking length. It was Carse who bowled Robson, defeating him on the drive after conceding successive fours with his previous two deliveries, but he disappeared at seven an over.The different nature of this season’s pitches suggests the offspin of Ryan Pringle will need to fulfil a more important controlling role and he did that ably until treating Voges to a succession of leg-side long hops, perhaps by then accidentally mistaking a trailing icicle for his spinning finger. Nick Compton was his only wicket, dragging on a pull. Compton cannot afford too many of those if he is to deflect pretenders to his England batting place.