All posts by n8rngtd.top

Coach Langer said “it’ll be probably difficult” for Mayank to play in the playoffs

Neeraj Pandey04-May-2024Mayank Yadav, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) quick, is set to miss the remainder of IPL 2024, although there may be a small chance that he could still feature in the playoffs if LSG make it.When asked if Mayank was completely out of the tournament, head coach Justin Langer said: “No, we’ll be praying that he can play, hopefully, in the playoffs, but I’m a realist as well. It’ll be probably difficult for him to get up for the back-end of the tournament.”He’s had a scan. He’s got a small tear in a similar area to where his last one was. So it’s very unfortunate. We saw the impact he had when he came back into the game. But we can all sleep.”There will always be a lot of discussion about fast bowlers, and I know he spoke to [Jasprit] Bumrah after the game and he reassured him that if he’s going to be a fast bowler, part of his journey as a young fast bowler, he’s going to get injuries.”So in my experience, every young fast bowler, probably until they get to 25 or 26, is going to experience different injuries. And it’s the most unfortunate. He’s got huge potential. But his rehabilitation was excellent. He went into the game [against MI], had a couple of bowls before the game. He was completely pain free. So it’s very sad for him and it’s disappointing for LSG as well that he might [not] play the rest of the tournament.”Related

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Mayank, 21, set the tournament alight when he made his debut for LSG on March 30. He was blowing teams away with pace. Generating speeds of 155kph – and consistently at that – he became the first man in IPL history to win the Player-of-the-Match award in his first two matches. But then, after combined figures of 6 for 41 against Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he hit a setback. Mayank bowled only one over in his third game of the season, and sat out the next five that followed as a result of pain in his abdomen.Mayank made his comeback earlier this week, in the win against Mumbai Indians, but had to leave prematurely again. “Looks like he is sore in the same spot,” Langer said at the time.Later, at the post-match presentation, KL Rahul, the LSG captain, said, “He was out in the last game because of a slight pain in his side, not a side strain, but slight pain is there. After the first ball [of his fourth over vs MI], he said the same thing: ‘ [it’s hurting a bit]’. So I said [he] might as well go out and not risk the next five balls. He is still young and precious to us, so we need to look after him.”Rahul had been keen to get Mayank back in the playing XI as quickly as possible. At the toss for the MI game, he said, “[Mayank] has bowled really well in the couple of games that he has played and has a huge impact for us. As a captain, I am always tempted to bring him in the team as quickly as possible,” Rahul said. “So I have been pushing the physios and the medical team to get him ready as quickly as possible. Even if he is about 95[% fit], I keep pushing them to give him the confidence to play the game. But obviously, they know better than I do. I will make emotional decisions, and so will Mayank.”That raised questions about whether Mayank was fielded before he was ready, but that day Langer said, “His rehab has been perfect, he bowled pain-free in the last week and looked in great condition.”Against MI, Mayank had bowled his first three overs – cranking up his pace as he went – for 31 runs before he was given the 19th over. His first ball crashed into Mohammad Nabi’s stumps but Mayank then went off the field, and his over was completed by Naveen-ul-Haq. Mayank did not look in visible discomfort when he went off and was later subbed out as the Impact Player for Arshin Kulkarni.Mayank had started his day in dramatic fashion when he came on after the powerplay and his first delivery, at 144.1kph, struck Nehal Wadhera in the helmet. He also went past the 150kph mark later in the over but largely bowled in the 140-147kph range and pitched most of his deliveries in the short or short-of-good-length area.LSG are currently placed third on the table with six wins from 10 games and will play their next one at home against KKR on Sunday before hitting the road for three away games – against SRH, DC and MI – which will end their league stage on May 17.

Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus felt his team had enough runs but lacked intent in the field

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-20242:15

Leask: No surprise to us Scotland are top of the table

Scotland’s Michael Leask is confident the team can maintain their push for a Super Eights berth at the T20 World Cup 2024 despite still having Australia to play as they sit top after half of their group campaign.Leask was part of the match-winning stand with Richie Berrington which took Scotland over the line against Namibia from a position where it appeared they might struggle. It meant they had three points from their opening two matches following the washout against England where they had been well placed at 90 for 0.Related

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“We’ve got a hell of a squad. It’s no surprise to us [that we top the table]. It might be a surprise to some,” he said. “England will probably say it was a surprise to them the other day that we’re 90 off 10 overs. It doesn’t surprise me. This team’s got great depth. We’ve played together for a number of years, a number of us. We’ve got some new fresh blood so it doesn’t really surprise us that we’re in this position. We’ve got two more huge games and why can’t we top the group at the end of it then?”To maintain hopes of progression they will likely have to beat Oman before facing Australia in their final group match in what could yet be a clash with huge significance over who progresses to the next stage. Leask was well aware that Oman, who lost a Super Over contest against Namibia and had Australia 50 for 3, could cause them problems.”Those two games could put us bottom of the table,” he said. “There’s still 80 overs of cricket to play and there’s still a lot of other teams to do a lot of other things as well. We’ve got Oman on Sunday which is a huge fixture for us and then we go again.”George [Munsey] and Michael [Jones] showed up top that they’ve got the skill and ability to face the best in the world [against England],” he added. “And the rest of us didn’t get that opportunity on the day to show how good we are.”I’m not going to sit here and say Australia is not going to be a difficult game. I’m not going to sit here and say Oman is not going to be a difficult game. Because I know how tough the associate game is, Oman is yet to fire, it could be against us.”Meanwhile, Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus was left to rue a defeat where he felt his team had not been at their best in the field having fought to a total he believed should have been defendable.”I thought we had enough runs,” he said. “It sort of followed that formula that we wanted to win this game by winning the toss and batting [in] a day game. [We] felt it [the pitch] slowed down towards the latter end of our innings. Throughout the innings there was a little bit of turn and a little bit of inconsistency of bounce when you put some energy on the ball, but unfortunately [it was] a bit of an off-colour display with the ball and perhaps an almost lack of intent in the field.”Namibia’s draw means they now face England and Australia in their final two group matches. “We’ve come to play all four games evenly hard,” Erasmus said. “There’s four more points [available], and we’re going to play our best game against the English and the Australians. Two very good white-ball teams…so what a great honour for us to share a field with that and compete with that.”

Unbroken stand of 121 in nine overs with Charlie Allison sees top-two rivals Sussex downed

ECB Reporters Network13-Jul-2024Essex, needing to win their last three games for a home quarter-final spot in the Vitality Blast, got off to a terrific start with an improbable win over the Sussex Sharks by five wickets with nine balls to spare.Essex were inspired by an heroic innings of 120 not out by Michael Pepper, who faced just 53 balls balls and hit nine sixes and nine fours But he was well supported by Charlie Allison, who made an unbeaten 44 from 26 with a six and four fours. The pair stunned a sell-out crowd with a partnership worth 121 in nine overs.Sussex had scored an impressive 207 for 2. And Essex, who had chosen to bowl first, were soon set back on their heels when their turn came to bat. Ollie Robinson broke through with only the second ball of the innings, when he had the dangerous Adam Rossington caught at deep square-leg. And when Tymal Mills brought himself on for the fourth over he immediately bowled Dean Elgar for 11 to make it 30 for 2.Then, when Robinson was switched to the Cromwell Road End, he took wickets with each of his first two deliveries, having Robin Das caught behind and then dismissing Paul Walter, who was caught at extra-cover from a leading edge. Essex looked out of it at 90 for 5 in the tenth over. But Pepper, who had launched his innings with an assault on spinner James Coles, was already well into his innings and managed to take his incredible strike rate to 200 for the competition this season. He has scored 488 runs at an average of 48 and this was his second hundred.Sussex themselves needed two wins out of three to win a home quarter-final spot. And for the second time in two days the their innings was based around a dominant partnership. On Friday it was Tom Alsop and John Simpson, who put on 139 against Kent. And against Essex it was Daniel Hughes and Tom Clark, who added 110 for the second wicket in just 11 overs.Once again Sussex had made a fast start, thanks to Hughes and Harrison Ward, who put on 34 in just 3.2 overs, before Ward was caught at mid-off. But then Hughes in particular powered Sussex to yet another big score, with an innings of 81 off 43 balls, with five sixes and eight fours, striking at a rate of 188 to take his total to 435 runs in the competition this season.Twice in one over Hughes hitting Shane Snater over long leg for six to bring up his fifty off only 26 balls. At the halfway stage Sussex were 94 for 1 and then Hughes raised the hundred by hitting leg-spinner Matt Critchley for a massive six over mid-on.At the other end, on a slightly slow pitch, Clark did not find his timing early on. But after striking Walter over fine leg for six his tempo increased and he finished with an unbeaten 72 from 53 balls, with eight fours and two sixes. The in-form Alsop hit a bright 27 not out off 14, including a magnificent six over midwicket off Snater. But it would not be enough.

Muyeye fifty before startling collapse, as Roderick leads reply for the hosts

ECB Reporters Network22-Aug-2024Worcestershire all-rounder Joe Leach made a successful return to action after injury with a six-wicket haul on day one of the Vitality County Championship encounter with Kent at Visit Worcestershire New Road.Leach finished with 6 for 52 from 11.5 overs – the second-best figures of his career – as Kent were dismissed for 171 in 49.5 overs after being put into bat.It was his first appearance since the Championship match against Nottinghamshire in late May because of a recurrence of a knee problem and he is hanging up his spikes at the end of the campaign.But Leach’s determination to return for the finale of the season paid off handsomely once he had settled into his rhythm in his second spell from the New Road End after conceding 26 runs in his first four overs.Three wickets in 13 balls undermined Kent’s promising start and they subsided from 73 for 0 and lost 10 wickets for 98 in 32.4 overs.There was also an encouraging debut for New Zealand paceman James Hartshorn who bowled a nagging line and length.But the bowlers were also backed up by some fine catching behind the wicket, most notably by Rob Jones who held onto four chances at second slip.Gareth Roderick continued his fine form with a half century to spearhead Worcestershire’s reply and they closed 34 in arrears with eight wickets in hand.Worcestershire handed an opportunity to Hartshorn after fellow Kiwi Nathan Smith was forced to cut short his spell at New Road through injury.Captain Brett D’Oliveira, Kashif Ali, Leach and Adam Finch all returned after lengthy spells on the side-lines. Kent included new signings in pace duo Alfie Ogborne, on loan from Somerset, and West Indian Akeem Jordan.D’Oliveira put Kent into bat and Tawanda Muyeye adopted an aggressive vein with a succession of boundaries. But he was fortunate to edge Hartshorn just short of second slip and twice flashed hard at Finch as the ball flew over the slip cordon.He completed a 62-ball half-century with his 10th boundary but the game turned on its head after Leach switched to the New Road End.
Muyeye (56) pushed forward to a delivery which left him and Jones held onto a fine catch away to his left at second slip.Kent skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond was undone by a similar ball with Ethan Brookes at third slip making no mistake. Leach had settled into a perfect rhythm and Jack Leaning edged through to keeper Gareth Roderick.Worcestershire continued to apply the pressure in the immediate post lunch session with three more quick wickets.Finch, whose first two overs had cost 27 runs, returned and accounted for Joey Evison who drove hard at a ball which nipped away and was caught behind.Hartshorn picked up his first wicket for the county as Harry Finch cut a delivery which swung away to Jake Libby at backward point.It became 103 for 6 when Finch found the inside-edge of Ben Compton’s bat and Roderick did the rest for his third catch.At that point Kent had lost six wickets for 30 runs in the space of 15.4 overs.There was a deserved first breakthrough for Taylor when Matt Parkinson flashed hard and Jones made no mistake at second slip.Leach collected a fourth scalp when Grant Stewart went for a big hit back down the ground and had his off stump knocked back.He polished off the innings in quickfire fashion with Jones holding onto two more sharp opportunities at second slip to dispose of Alfie Ogborne and George Garrett.Roderick and Libby then provided Worcestershire with an assured start to their innings and the 50 came up in only 11.1 overs.The partnership was worth 89 when Libby (30) pushed forward to Ogborne and was caught behind.New batter Kashif Ali quickly brought up the Worcestershire hundred with a cover drive for four off the same bowler but on 17 he fended a delivery of extra bounce from Jordan to first slip.Roderick completed a 107-ball half-century with seven fours.

Domestic cricket in Pakistan will now comprise three first-class tournaments, two List A tournaments and three T20 tournaments

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Aug-2024The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed the introduction of three new competitions for the upcoming domestic season, which will now run for almost a year – starting in September 2024 and ending in August 2025. A five-team Champions tournament – as reported by ESPNcricinfo in June – will be played across formats aiming to “bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket” according to a PCB release.The five teams – Dolphins, Lions, Panthers, Stallions and Wolves – will compete in the Champions One-Day Cup from September 1 to 29, a Champions T20 Cup from December 21 to January 2, and in the Champions Pentagular (first-class cricket) from May 28 to August 5.As a result of these additions, the PCB will now hold three first-class tournaments (the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and President’s Trophy being the others), two List-A tournaments (the President’s Cup being the other) and three T20 competitions (National T20 Cup and the PSL being the others) taking the count of senior men’s matches up from 203 to 261.Related

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“Our current standings – sixth in Tests, fourth in ODIs and seventh in T20Is – do not reflect the true potential and legacy of Pakistan cricket,” PCB chair Mohsin Naqvi said. “To restore our rightful place at the top of world cricket, we must innovate and strategically enhance, expand and strengthen our domestic structure. The introduction of the three Champions tournaments is a bold step in this direction.”The Champions tournaments will bring together our most talented and consistent performers from domestic cricket with our centrally-contracted players, creating an environment that mirrors the intensity of international cricket.”The Champions tournaments will be played by around 150 of the country’s top players, though details of the selection process are yet to be revealed. But the plans have the approval of Waqar Younis, the new advisor to the chair on cricket affairs, who flanked Naqvi during a press conference in Lahore to announce the tournaments. Younis will be in charge of the cricketing side of matters within the board, in a wide-ranging role similar to that of Rob Key’s at the ECB.Each of the five teams will have, potentially an owner, as well as a mentor. That will be aside from regular coaching staff, from a head coach down to an analyst and a media manager. Each team will also have a dedicated high-performance centre in Faisalabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Sialkot.The PCB has also raised the contracts for domestic players with PKR 550,000 for Category 1, PKR 400,000 for Category 2 and PKR 250,000 for Category 3. The contracts in 2023-24 that were offered were PKR 300,000 for Category A+, PKR 200,000 for Category A, PKR 185,000 for Category B, PKR170,000 for Category C, PKR150,000 for Category D, PKR100,000 for Category E, and PKR50,000 for Category F.The match fees for domestic games has also been increased from PKR 40,000 in white-ball format to PKR 125,000 in 50-over cricket, PKR 100,000 in T20 cricket and from PKR 80,000 to PKR 200,000 in red-ball cricket.

Rookie becomes first graduate of SACA to make an England senior squad

Vithushan Ehantharajah02-Oct-2024Yorkshire legspinner Jafer Chohan has earned his first England call-up for the men’s limited-overs tour of West Indies, which begins at the end of October, becoming the first graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) to earn international recognition.Launched in 2021 by Dr Tom Brown, the scheme aimed to remedy the under-representation of British South Asian players in the professional game. Dr Brown co-founded SACA with former England bowler Kabir Ali, after researching the subject during a four-year PhD at Birmingham City University, in which he found that British Asians represent just 5% of the cricketers at the top level of the men’s game, a sharp drop-off from the 30% that play recreational cricket in England and Wales.Chohan, who was released by Middlesex five years ago, aged 17, is one of 10 players and two coaches to have moved into the professional game from SACA, who showcase their talent in fixtures against county second XIs and sessions open to county scouts. Having joined Yorkshire in 2022, Chohan has established himself in their T20 side, and his England call-up comes off the back of a solid 2024 Vitality Blast campaign, taking 17 wickets at 15.52, with a standout performance of 5 for 14 against Durham – the third-best figures in Yorkshire’s T20 historyDespite that form, and the value of wrist-spin in the shorter formats, Chohan has yet to feature in the men’s Hundred. However, on Tuesday, Yorkshire announced he had signed a three-year contract to remain at Headingley until the end of the 2027 summer. He has also been drafted by Sydney Sixers for the upcoming Big Bash League season.England are keen to explore their spin options following the international retirement of Moeen Ali, who also happens to be president of SACA, while they also need to line up an eventual successor to Adil Rashid, whose international career has entered its 16th year. Although Rashid last month insisted that he has no immediate plans to retire after claiming his 200th ODI wicket during the Australia series, he namechecked Chohan as one of the young players he has been mentoring, both at Yorkshire and at his own cricket centre in Bradford, as part of the SACA programme.Jafer Chohan claimed five wickets for Yorkshire against Durham in this season’s Vitality Blast•Getty Images

“It feels like an absolute dream to be selected,” Chohan said. “It’s what I’ve worked for my whole life.”I’ve had a great week – having it announced about another three years at Yorkshire as well as having a call up now with England.”For me this is a really good opportunity to be around some of the best players in the world, learn as much as I can and just really sharpen up my game as much as possible. Having big England names in the Yorkshire dressing room, it doesn’t get too much better than that in terms of helping me improve.”Warwickshire’s off-spinning allrounder Dan Mousley and Hampshire quick John Turner are the other uncapped members of the 14-man group. Both were part of the limited-overs squads against Australia at the end of the summer but did not feature.Chohan’s selection, despite a professional career of just 23 T20 appearances, is in keeping with an unconventional approach adopted by England’s selectors. Since taking over as managing director at the start of the 2022 summer, Rob Key has put the onus on picking players on attributes rather than solely on domestic averages. That has come to the fore in 2024.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The year began with Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir playing prominent roles in India based on their release points and action on the ball, with little focus on their modest first-class records for Lancashire and Somerset respectively. Hartley had 40 dismissals at 36.57 and Bashir 10 at 67 heading into that five-Test series, with the latter going on to feature across home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka, at the expense of county team-mate Jack Leach, who had been Ben Stokes’ primary spinner for the first two years of his tenure as Test captain.Leicestershire’s Josh Hull was the beneficiary of this radical approach at the end of the summer, debuting in the final Test against Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval. With the 2025-26 Ashes in mind, Hull’s 6ft7in height and left-arm action set him apart as a point of difference and trumped the fact he had taken just two wickets at 182.50 in three Division Two appearances this season. All this after England legend James Anderson was forced into retirement at the start of the summer.With Test head coach Brendon McCullum set to assume the limited-overs job at the start of 2025, it is perhaps no surprise to see this left-field thinking filter into England’s plans as they look to rebuild after disappointing showings at the 2023 ODI and 2024 T20 World Cups. The West Indies tour will be Marcus Trescothick’s last as interim white-ball head coach, ahead of McCullum combining the roles in the new year.Related

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There remains no place for Hartley, who has not added to his international caps since the Test tour of India, which he finished as England’s leading wicket-taker with 22 dismissals. He was a non-playing member of the T20 World Cup squad in the Caribbean, but was subsequently overlooked for the T20I and ODI series against Australia.Chohan’s selection also presents a challenge to Rehan Ahmed, who was presumed to be the heir apparent to Rashid. The Leicestershire legspinner has 17 international caps to his name but hopes to add to that this month, having travelled with the Test squad on Tuesday to Pakistan, where he made his debut two years ago.Rehan, 20, could yet challenge Chohan in the Caribbean with that squad due to be supplemented with two players from the Test tour. A decision on who will travel across will be made after selection for the third and final Test in Rawalpindi, which begins on October 24 – a week before the first ODI in Antigua. Hull, who picked up a season-ending quad injury on Test debut, could also be considered if fully recovered.As expected, Jos Buttler will slot back in as captain following a calf injury, and is set to make his first competitive appearance since the T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to India at the end of June. However, a decision on whether he keeps wicket will be made nearer the time. Phil Salt is the only viable stand-in in the original 14-man squad, although both Jordan Cox and Jamie Smith are potential inclusions from the Pakistan Test party.England limited-overs squad: Jos Buttler (capt), Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell, Jafer Chohan, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dan Mousley, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid , Phil Salt, Reece Topley, John TurnerItinerary

1st ODI: Antigua, October 31

2nd ODI: Antigua, November 2

3rd ODI: Barbados, November 6
1st T20I: Barbados, November 9

2nd T20I: Barbados, November 10

3rd T20I: St Lucia, November 14

4th T20I: St Lucia, November 16

5th T20I: St Lucia, November 17

Kuldeep Yadav was unavailable because of a groin injury, while Mohammed Shami had not yet regained full fitness

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-202411:45

‘Bold move to pick two youngsters in Reddy and Harshit’

India have named three uncapped players – opener Abhimanyu Easwaran, fast bowler Harshit Rana and allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy – in their squad of 18 for the five-Test tour of Australia starting on November 22.Fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who hasn’t regained full fitness since his ankle surgery earlier this year, was not included while wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav was also not available for selection because of a “chronic left groin issue” according to a BCCI release. Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini and Khaleel Ahmed are part of the travelling reserves.Rohit Sharma leads the squad with Jasprit Bumrah as his vice-captain. But with Rohit set to miss one of the first two Tests for personal reasons, it’s likely that Abhimanyu, 29, will make his Test debut on the tour. He has been part of India’s Test squad previously – in Bangladesh in 2022 – and has been in superb form this domestic season, scoring two hundreds in the Duleep Trophy, another century in the Irani Trophy, and beginning the Ranji Trophy season with a ton for Bengal.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

India have picked three spin allrounders R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, who marked his return to the Test team after more than three years with a ten-wicket haul against New Zealand in Pune. Reddy, 21, is the only seam-bowling allrounder in the squad for Australia. He will have extra time to acclimatise considering he is part of the India A team that will be playing two four-day games in Mackay and Melbourne. Reddy made his T20I debut against Bangladesh earlier this month and was a reserve player in the Test squad for the home series against New Zealand; he is already in Australia. He is seen by India’s selectors as a promising allrounder who could improve with more experience and exposure.Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Rana are the other fast bowlers in the squad apart from Bumrah. Prasidh, who has played two Tests previously, has just started playing again after recovering from a serious back injury, while 22-year-old Rana has played only nine first-class matches. Rana, who represents Delhi, took two four-wicket hauls for India D in the Duleep Trophy in September and has 36 wickets at an average of 24.75 in first-class cricket. With Khaleel in the reserves and no Yash Dayal, India don’t have a left-arm quick in the main squad.India begin their tour with a warm-up match against India A in Perth from November 15 to 17, after which they play the first Test against Australia at he Perth Stadium from November 22 to 26. They then travel to Canberra for a tour match against the Prime Minister’s XI on November 30 and December 1, before heading to Adelaide for the second Test, a day-night fixture from December 6 to 10. The third Test in Brisbane is from December 14 to 18, followed by the traditional Boxing Day Test in Melbourne starting December 26 and the New Year’s Test in Sydney from January 3.India are the holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and have won their two previous tours of Australia by a 2-1 margin, in 2018-19 and 2020-21.

India squad for tour of Australia

Rohit Sharma (capt), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington SundarReserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed

The interim white-ball coach said they want to keep a “settled team” in ODIs but there will be “changes” in T20Is

Danyal Rasool20-Nov-2024Newly appointed Pakistan white-ball coach Aaqib Javed’s primary focus during his interim stint will be ODI cricket and the Champions Trophy, and he wants to test the bench strength in the shortest format. Aaqib, who will serve in the role until the end of the Champions Trophy next year, will fly out to Zimbabwe for his first assignment later this week – three ODIs and three T20Is starting November 24.”Our main focus at the moment is on ODI cricket ahead of the Champions Trophy,” Aaqib said. “You’ll see a settled team in this format. You’ll see changes in the T20I format. We plan to give new players chances in the Zimbabwe series. It is a message and opportunity to the new players to take the chances they’ve been given. If you don’t give new players chances, you’ll never get the opportunity to improve your bench strength.”Australia has never been an easy tour. When the team went, if we had said we were going to win the series, people would have thought it impossible. Under the new captain [Mohammad Rizwan], they showed the world they could do it after 22 years [by winning 2-1]. They also had chances in the three T20Is, but if you don’t avail your chances, you won’t win.”Related

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Aaqib’s rise within Pakistan cricket has been meteoric. Earlier this summer, he was Sri Lanka’s fast bowling coach with no involvement at the PCB. Just five weeks ago, he was nominated to Pakistan’s selection committee after its latest revamp. With the PCB’s top brass viewing him as the mastermind behind Pakistan’s Test series turnaround in England, his stock has soared.Shortly after his appointment, the PCB also confirmed he would keep his place on the selection committee during his stint as coach, something that full-time Test coach Jason Gillespie no longer has, and was partly the reason why Aaqib’s predecessor, Gary Kirsten, quit the role.Aaqib, though, sought to portray his selection responsibilities as a collaborative rather than top-down arrangement. “We always consult the coach and captain, and then the selection committee announces the team,” he said. “From Multan until now, there has been consistency in selection. Asad Shafiq was on the Australia tour. His role was to discuss selection with the coach and captain, and present a final team, which would be discussed by the selection committee, who make the final decision. Now, instead of Asad, it’ll be me, but the final XI will still be decided by the committee. The selection committee is not just me; it is a panel of five people.”I’ve been coaching for 20 years. The coach’s role does have a limit. You can create an environment and give out loud, clear messages about the type of cricket you expect them to play, and help prepare them. But in the end, the players and captain provide the results.”Aaqib is aware of the scrutiny and criticism a coaching job entails; indeed, he was a critic of a number of his predecessors, taking particular aim at what he saw as Misbah-ul-Haq’s dual role, when he was the chief selector as well as the head coach. With Aaqib in an uncomfortably similar position; now, though, he believed the cases could not be directly compared.”My case is slightly different from the cases you mentioned,” he said. “I am not the chief selector, but part of a panel. I do not view it as a problem because we all want to select players who do the best for Pakistan.”Criticism is inevitable and can be healthy. It is within a player’s control whether people praise or criticise him. That also goes for the team. Criticism and praise all depends on your performance. I’ll be the first one to accept criticism if merited.”Pakistan’s Zimbabwe tour will starts with the ODIs on November 24, 26 and 28 followed by the T20Is on December 1, 3 and 5. All games will be played in Bulawayo.

“It’s a complex situation with what’s going on but the biggest positive can be that group of women being talked about,” the England captain said

Valkerie Baynes11-Jan-2025Heather Knight has urged the cricket community to lend its voice to the Afghanistan women’s team amid concerns that the group had been largely “forgotten” until a row broke out last week over the England men’s team playing Afghanistan at the Champions Trophy.England are due to play Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26 in their second match of the tournament and the ECB has faced calls from UK politicians to consider boycotting the match. UK prime minister Keir Starmer and ECB chief executive Richard Gould have called upon the ICC to show leadership on the issue.Women’s cricket in Afghanistan has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Further restrictions have included banning the sound of women’s voices from being heard in public.Related

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Some 22 women contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board before the Taliban took control fled to Australia and are now based in Melbourne and Canberra. A number of them will play for an Afghanistan Women’s XI against a Cricket Without Borders XI in a T20 match at Melbourne’s Junction Oval on January 30, the same day England and Australia begin their Women’s Ashes day-night Test at the MCG.Knight, England Women’s captain, plans to meet a number of exiled players, who are now based in Melbourne, when they attend the second Ashes ODI at Junction Oval on Tuesday.”I think it’s a really good thing that people are talking about it and it’s been in the news again because honestly, I think it’s been forgotten a lot which is a really bad thing,” Knight said. “Obviously, it’s a really complex situation with what’s going on but I think the biggest positive can be that group of women being talked about.”They’re playing a game at Junction the first day of our Test match so I’d love to see that broadcast far and wide. Let’s get that voice out there that those women are playing cricket, which is a really cool thing. I think that could be a really positive message from a pretty heartbreaking situation going on in their home country.”

The left-arm spinner remains hopeful of playing the first Test less than two weeks after suffering the injury in the BBL

AAP27-Jan-20251:01

Clarke: Kuhnemann should tell everyone he’s fully fit

Matt Kuhnemann admitted he briefly feared his thumb injury could have ended his hopes of touring Sri Lanka but both he and Steven Smith completed full training sessions on the squad’s arrival in Galle for the Test series.Australia’s premier left-arm spinner Kuhnemann is now pain-free after wearing a ball on his non-bowling hand playing for Brisbane Heat earlier this month. He reunited with the squad in Sri Lanka at the weekend and completed Sunday afternoon’s first full session since arriving on the island for the two-match series.Related

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Stand-in captain Smith, who suffered a minor elbow injury in the BBL, spent as much time batting in the nets as anyone else and did not appear hampered.Every team member attended the optional session, with conditions so humid that top-order option Sam Konstas removed his helmet to finish batting in the nets.Apparently in preparation for the turning conditions, allrounder Beau Webster bowled the right-arm offspin of earlier in his career rather than the medium pace trotted out on Test debut at the SCG earlier this month.Kuhnemann is continuing to wear a brace on his right thumb and medical staff will monitor him. His injury appeared more serious than Smith’s, but Kuhnemann feels fit ahead of the first Test that begins on January 29.Matt Kuhnemann bowls at training with a protection on his injured thumb•Getty Images

“I had a couple of sessions back home and I was obviously cautious batting and fielding and everything but bowling, I haven’t had a problem whatsoever,” Kuhnemann said prior to the first training session. “I did this same thumb a couple of years ago and it was real painful but this one has been fine from the get-go.”As he awaited surgery, Kuhnemann said he was unsure whether he would have the chance to add to his three Test caps in Sri Lanka. The 28-year-old was a late call-up when Australia toured India in 2023, and the lack of subcontinent visits since had robbed him of further chances.”Definitely there were times when I was disappointed. It’s not great timing,” Kuhnemann said when asked whether he feared for his ability to tour. “There was a couple of hours. But I believe everything happens for a reason and you sort of move on. Obviously you do everything you can because these tours don’t come around very often as a spinner.”Kuhnemann could not attend the squad’s preparatory camp at the ICC Academy in Dubai but managed a hit-out with a Cricket Australia XI against England Lions at Allan Border Field last week.”The boys said I didn’t miss out on too much and what I was bowling on back in Brisbane was an eight-day old wicket so it worked out pretty good,” Kuhnemann said. “If it was the off-season then maybe it would be a blow to miss Dubai but we’re in the middle of summer and the workloads and confidence are high. Everything is all good.”