England frustrated by big stand in final tour match
SYDNEY, Nov 18, (RTRS): England were held to a draw by a Cricket Australia XI in their final tour match ahead of the Ashes after they struggled to break a fourth-wicket partnership of 263 on a lifeless Townsville pitch on Saturday.
Jason Sangha, 18, became the second-youngest batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to score a first-class hundred against England on his way to 133, while his captain Matt Short finished the day unbeaten on 134.
The tourists would have wanted to take the seven wickets they needed to wrap up a victory in the four-day match fairly quickly but coach Trevor Bayliss said a day labouring in the field was also good practice.
“I think over the three games we’ve got everything we wanted to get out of these matches,” he told reporters in Queensland after England’s third tour match.
“Today wasn’t a perfect game of cricket for us but we spent a bit of time out in the dirt and to be realistic, over a five test series, we’ll probably have another one or two of those days.”
Australians would have been encouraged that a bowling attack featuring Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali managed to take just one wicket at a cost of 220 runs on Saturday.
“You’re always disappointed when you don’t take 10 for 90 but the wicket was very flat,” Bayliss added. “You play cricket long enough and those days are going to happen. But the guys stuck at it and that’s all you can ask.”
Bayliss said he was “pretty” certain in his own mind what team he wanted to put out on the first morning of the first test in Brisbane on Thursday and said everyone in the squad was fit.
Bayliss was also taking nothing from the inclusion of thirtysomething wicketkeeper Tim Paine and batsman Shaun Marsh as well as uncapped opener Cameron Bancroft in the Australia team named for the first two tests. Christopher Bell, driver of the #4 JBL Toyota, poses with the trophy after winning the Camping World Truck Series championship during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Ford EcoBoost 200 at HomesteadMiami Speedway on Nov 17, in
Homestead, Florida. (AFP) know that they’re not going to have a job next year and we continued to bring really good trucks, even though we were outside the playoffs, such a testament to how good these Brad Keselowski guys are.
“I know two years ago I was sleeping on couches and now to be a winner in NASCAR ... it’s been a long time coming.”
Briscoe is a Ford Performance development driver, the first driver signed to the new program announced in January. His win was the first by a Ford Performance driver development racer since the program’s inception. The program was launched with Keselowski, who will also race Sunday for a second Cup title.
“I feel that Chase is one of the best young talents ... so it is not a surprise to me to see him win a race and make the playoffs in his rookie year,” said Keselowski. “It has been tremendous to have a role in continuing to develop top-tier talent in NASCAR. Chase is a driver that has that kind of future.”
Johnny Sauter finished third but fell short in his bid to win a second consecutive title. Sauter announced a contract extension earlier Friday to drive for GMS Racing, the team he won the title with last year.
Cindric finished fifth and didn’t have any of the issues others had threatened after his controversial advancement into the finale last week. He had an incident with Ben Rhodes that cost Rhodes a spot in the championship race, and some drivers had claimed there would be retaliation against Cindric at Homestead. Nothing happened, and he was able to take some joy in teammate Briscoe’s victory.
“I’m over the moon for the guys at BKR,” Cindric said. “To get Chase a win after so many seconds, he’s had this year, it’s a dream way to finish it out. Obviously, we wanted the championship, but we’ve come a long way in not a long time, so I’m proud of the effort and proud of how far we’ve come and I’m looking forward to the future.”
Two-time Truck Series champion Matt Crafton finished sixth. Only Bell, Sauter, Cindric and Crafton were racing for the title in a winner-take-all format.
Bell, meanwhile, races Saturday for the owner championship for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series finale. Bell will run full-time for Gibbs in that series in 2018.
Bell had 21 top-10 finishes this year in 23 races, and 15 top-fives.
“A dream come true just doesn’t even describe it,” said Bell.