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Mir Hamza and Faheem Ashraf have made comebacks to the squad, which will be led for the first time by Shan Masood

Danyal Rasool20-Nov-2023Opening batter Saim Ayub and fast bowler Khurram Shahzad are in line for Test debuts after being included in Pakistan’s squad for their upcoming tour of Australia.Pakistan, under newly-appointed red-ball captain Shan Masood, will play three Tests on the tour, in Perth (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30) and Sydney (January 3-7).The 21-year-old Ayub has already played eight T20Is for Pakistan, and comes into the Test team with 1069 first-class runs at an average of 46.47, including scores of 203 and 109 in his most recent game in October, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final. Shahzad has also been picked on form, having ended the 2023-24 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as its top wicket-taker with 36 at an average 20.30.Left-arm quick Mir Hamza was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament (32 at 20.87), and this has earned him a recall. The last of his three Tests was against New Zealand in January. Also back in the squad is the seam-bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf, the last of whose 16 Tests was in December 2022.Pakistan Test squad for the tour of Australia•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Apart from Naseem Shah, who continues his recovery from the shoulder injury that kept him out of the recently concluded World Cup in India, Pakistan’s pace attack will also be without Haris Rauf, who has made himself unavailable for selection. Newly appointed chief selector Wahab Riaz made his disappointment clear while announcing the squad: “Haris pulled out at the last moment, and I feel this will hurt Pakistan cricket.”Both wicketkeepers Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan were part of the squad, with Sarfaraz understood to be first choice. He replaced Rizwan in the Test side last year, and has retained his place in the last four Tests across two series.Abrar Ahmed’s selection further cements his place as Pakistan’s premier red-ball spinner, with Noman Ali chosen as his back-up option. Spin options across formats have been a matter of intense scrutiny in Pakistan, with legspinners Shadab Khan and Usama Mir turning in disappointing performances through the World Cup. Abrar went to the World Cup as a reserve player, but was not called up to the main squad.Pakistan have an unenviable record in Australia, having lost their last 14 Test matches on the bounce there.Pakistan squad for Australia Test series: Shan Masood (capt), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi

Australia pick two spinners as Agar returns from injury to partner Zampa. Green to bat at No.4 and Inglis to play as a specialist batter

Alex Malcolm07-Sep-2023Australia have confirmed that David Warner and Travis Head will open in the first ODI against South Africa in Bloemfontein. Mitchell Marsh will bat at No. 3 and Cameron Green at No. 4 in the absence of Steven Smith in a side featuring two spinners in Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar.Australia have named their XI for the first of five matches in South Africa with Marsh to captain in an ODI for the first time while Pat Cummins is still unavailable due to his wrist injury. Marsh made a triumphant debut as Australia’s interim T20I captain with a 3-0 series sweep of South Africa last week.One of the debates surrounding Australia’s ODI side heading towards the World Cup was whether or not Warner and Head would remain together at the top of the order after Marsh’s phenomenal series against India earlier this year when he opened in all three games. Marsh only opened because Warner was recovering from a fractured elbow and missed the first two matches. When Warner returned for game three he was forced to bat at No. 4 for the first time in his ODI career, and not open for just the second time, as Australia stuck with the combination of Head and Marsh who had dominated the series to that point.Related

• Tim David's ODI call-up is not just about filling a gap

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• Agar excited by return to India amid rollercoaster year

But Australia have returned to their trusted pairing of Head and Warner. The duo have only opened together in seven ODIs, three coming after the retirement of long-time captain Aaron Finch late last year, but have compiled three partnerships of 284, 147, and 269 across those seven games. They also have another century fifth-wicket stand and average 85.07 as a pair in the format overall.Marsh will instead bat at No. 3 where has been dominant in T20Is over the last couple of years but he may slide further when Smith returns for the India series and the World Cup that follows the tour of South Africa, although Australia are hoping to be fluid with their top order depending on their needs with Marsh’s power in the 10-over powerplay keen to be utilised at times if the surfaces require it.”There’ll be potentially a few moving parts with our squad throughout these five games, I’m guessing it’ll be the same as South Africa,” Marsh said on Wednesday. “It’s a heavy schedule, building to the World Cup. So we’ll have certain guys batting in different areas, but I’ll start at three.”Green has been named to bat at No. 4 for the first time in his ODI career in a sign ahead of the World Cup that he could move higher up the order having batted at Nos. 6-8 in 11 of his 12 ODI innings to date. Four is by far his best position in List A cricket having made two centuries in seven innings there including one for Australia A against Sri Lanka A in Colombo last year.There is no room for Tim David in game one despite Australia being keen to use him at some stage in this series with concerns remaining over Glenn Maxwell’s fitness ahead of the World Cup. Josh Inglis is named to bat at No. 5 and could play as a specialist bat at times in the World Cup after being named in the 15-man squad even though Alex Carey is the first-choice wicketkeeper.Australia will play seven batters and four bowlers, including two spinners in Bloemfontein. It is one of three combinations they are likely to use in the World Cup and likely to be the one they need on spinning pitches like Chennai where they will play their opening match against India on October 8. It is the structure they used with success against India in Chennai back in March to close out their last ODI series. Agar is returning from a calf injury but will leave the touring squad at the back end of the South Africa series to return home for the birth of his first child, hence the selectors’ keenness to play the two spinners in combination in game one in Bloemfontein in preparation for the World Cup.Sean Abbott and Josh Hazlewood will play as the lone specialist quicks in the absence of Cummins and Mitchell Starc (groin). Abbott edged out Nathan Ellis for the final spot in the provisional 15-man World Cup squad on the back of some outstanding recent form.Australia’s other team combinations likely include playing seven batters, three quicks and one spinner, or playing eight batters and just three specialist bowlers, with four allrounders batting in the top eight provided Marsh, Green, Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis are all fit to bowl to make up at least 20 overs of bowling.Australia XI for first ODI vs South Africa: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Laurie Evans, who missed last season after a provisional doping suspension, has also put his name in

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Aug-20234:28

WATCH – Pooran’s magnificent 137* takes MI NY to inaugural MLC title

Nicholas Pooran, the West Indies left hander, could return to the BBL after he was announced among six batters who have nominated for the overseas draft next month.Pooran’s one previous stint in the BBL came in the 2020-21 season where he made six appearances for Melbourne Stars, smashing 65 off 26 balls with eight sixes in his second outing against Sydney Sixers although Stars lost a thriller by one wicket.His is an eye-catching inclusion on the draft list given his recent form where he hammered 137 off 55 balls in the MLC final to carry MI New York to the title which has been followed by runs in the T20I series against India.Related

• Thunder and Stars win WBBL and BBL draft lotteries

• When, where, how? All you need to know about the BBL and WBBL overseas players draft

• MLC final week: Nicholas Pooran, and a bit of this and that

• Alex Hales: I would 'do a Will Smeed' if I were 21 again now

English batter Laurie Evans could also head back to the league after he was forced to miss last season with Perth Scorchers after being provisionally suspended following a positive doping test.The suspension was lifted in March and Evans is currently playing in the Hundred for Manchester Originals having also been part of the T20 Blast for Surrey. However, he still faces a hearing later this year.Nicholas Pooran played one spectacular innings during his previous BBL stint•Getty Images

Having been on Scorchers’ original list last season he will be eligible for retention, whereby a club has one opportunity to prevent another team signing a player who was in their squad the previous season. Evans played a starring role in their 2021-22 title success with 76 off 41 balls in the final.Other names heading into the draft, which will take place on September 3 following the inaugural WBBL overseas draft, are Alex Hales, Rilee Rossouw, Faf du Plessis and Colin Munro.Hales, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket, is eligible for retention by Sydney Thunder as is Rossouw. Du Plessis was originally an unpicked platinum player in last year’s draft before getting a replacement deal with Scorchers so he could also be retained.Munro, the New Zealand left hander, was part of Brisbane Heat last season where he made 278 runs at a strike-rate of 150.27, so they would have the option of bringing him back.This year’s BBL, which will start on December 7, has been shortened to a 43-game season although there is still likely to be an overlap with the ILT20 in the UAE and the SA20 which may affect player availability.Overseas players can nominate in three categories for the draft – gold (AUD$300,000), silver (AUD$200,000) and bronze (AUD$100,000) – with the BBL then selecting a group of the biggest names to the platinum picks on AUD$420,000 if they are available for the whole tournament.How retention picks work

• Have been in a Big Bash squad for a minimum of two seasons and haven’t been contracted to another team since
• Have been in a Big Bash squad the previous season
• Was in a team squad last season but did not play in the starting 13 and have been approved by the Big Bash Technical Committee
• Is otherwise approved by the Big Bash Technical Committee due to exceptional circumstances

Gilchrist rated Paine as being “on par with anyone in the world as gloveman”

Srinath Sripath07-Nov-2019Adam Gilchrist believes Tim Paine is still the best available wicketkeeper and captain for Australia’s Test team.Paine’s batting form in the Ashes – one fifty from ten innings at an average of 20 – has led to concerns about whether he merits selection in Australia’s first-choice Test XI, with Alex Carey waiting in the wings. Gilchrist’s comments echoed those of Cricket Australia chief Kevin Roberts, who unequivocally backed Paine to “continue leading from the front the way he has done so far”.Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Gilchrist rated Paine as being “on par with anyone in the world as gloveman”, and said he has done a “wonderful job [as captain]” since he took over from Steven Smith after the events in Newlands.”[If you look at] what he took on, when he took it on, he in partnership with [coach] Justin [Langer] and all the players have done a remarkable job over the past 12 months to just get a nice, stable balance back. I can’t see any rush to push him out, as long as he’s still performing, like we all had to, to stay in the team. Like every other player, he’s got a hold of his spot in the team as being selected as the best available option for that player type. I think he’s doing a wonderful job [as captain].”Gilchrist, who works as a Fox Cricket commentator, is also a notable mentor for Carey, who recently spoke to ESPNcricinfo about their relationship: “I’m fortunate enough to have a good relationship with him now and I guess through the Big Bash it probably started with him as a commentator and myself getting into the Strikers team. It developed from that. The funny thing with Gilly and I, we don’t really talk a lot about cricket when we catch up, which I think is a good thing as well. We have a great relationship away from the game, talking about footy, talking about family, rather than the skill sets on the field.”Australia have had an unbeaten start to their home summer, winning all four of their T20Is so far, as they build up to the first-ever T20 World Cup on Australian soil, the only global tournament the men’s side haven’t won yet. Gilchrist is backing them to “start as one of the favourite teams” playing at home, “even though 12 months is a long time [and things can change]”. Asked to stick his neck out and predict a winner, he named “the usual suspects like India, England, Australia and New Zealand”, the same four sides from this year’s 50-over World Cup to make it to the semi-finals.”I think Australia are really well placed seeing how they’ve started the summer. They love the conditions, they play well in the bigger grounds. We’ve got everyone available now and probably for the first time, Australia are looking to pick their best XI regularly [for bilaterals] rather than just for the World Cups. They’re probably still working out whether they should play two spin bowlers or one spinner with a batting allrounder like Mitch Marsh or [Marcus] Stoinis.”Ashton Agar is doing a really good job, and if you look at all the successful bowlers in T20 around the world, they’re all spinners. Nine out of the top ten I think are spinners”. Australia have one of their own spinners, Adam Zampa, among the top ten, and Gilchrist is optimistic of their chances given “they’ve got a really well balanced squad” and “have time to work out” their ideal combination for the World Cup”.

Kagiso Rabada struggled to find form all tournament as South Africa crashed out of the World Cup

Sidharth Monga24-Jun-20193:31

Can’t use Steyn’s injury as an excuse – du Plessis

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has revealed South Africa tried to stop fast bowler Kagiso Rabada from going to this year’s IPL, where he eventually injured his back and was withdrawn towards the end.Rabada, South Africa’s key strike bowler who has six wickets so far in the World Cup at 50.83, confirmed that there had been a plan to have him miss the IPL, but said it had not worked out. He was the IPL season’s second-highest wicket-taker, his 25 wickets one behind compatriot Imran Tahir, despite playing five fewer matches.After South Africa exited the World Cup with another disappointing defeat – this time to Pakistan – du Plessis was asked if he felt Rabada’s workload had been managed well. Since the start of last year, only Nathan Lyon has bowled more overs in international cricket than Rabada. If du Plessis could have had his way, he wouldn’t have had Rabada – playing for Delhi Capitals – bowling the additional IPL overs and instead been working on rehab and recovery.”I don’t think we’ll ever have a perfect answer for that because he’s probably biting on too much,” du Plessis said. “But we did try and get him not to go to the IPL; to try and stay and get fresh. That wasn’t the case of [course] and then when he went there, we were like, let’s try and get him back halfway through the IPL because it’s important, not just for him, but a few other players.”I mean, I spoke about it before the IPL even started, that it’s important that we try and find space to rest our three-format players, because they play all the formats all the time, and then IPL. So I don’t think it’s necessarily just the IPL, but it was important for a few guys to rest; and the fact that they didn’t meant that they came into the tournament not fresh. That’s not an excuse; that’s just a fact.”Rabada himself confirmed that there had been a plan to have him miss the IPL, but said it had not worked out. “That was basically just to rest up prior to the World Cup for obvious reasons like injury and being fresh for an important tournament.” Rabada said, during an interaction with reporters in the mixed zone on Sunday, after South Africa’s defeat to Pakistan.The plan to have Rabada sit out the IPL fell through, and an alternative couldn’t be worked out either – for reasons he did not reveal. “Well, the plan was to leave early but that didn’t work out – don’t ask me about any of that – but eventually I came back earlier as you might know.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Rabada was released by Capitals the moment CSA wanted him back. Scans for a niggle cleared Rabada of injury but CSA didn’t want to take any risks, and Capitals complied.Getty Images

Du Plessis went on to say Rabada’s pace has been down this tournament. The South Africa captain also said he couldn’t have rested Rabada in international series. To do so, you need a second line of bowlers. “That challenge we are going to have as a team all the time,” du Plessis said. “You can’t unfortunately go back with the national side and say to KG: ‘Listen, you’re going to rest for the next two series.’ He’s such a big player for the team; it’s a difficult thing to do.”You know, you need guys that can… you need three or four or five bowlers in the wings waiting, so you can have a bit of a rotation system. I mean, that was the plan with Anrich [Nortje] in the back-up and pipeline, and he got injured as well. So therefore all our pace is gone and there’s so much responsibility on KG to carry that load of being the lone fast bowler.”CSA, however, can’t compensate the players enough for missing the IPL the way Cricket Australia and ECB do. It is tempting to imagine if AB de Villiers would have retired in the first place had there not been an IPL to go to, where he actually said the IPL was “better than the World Cup”. South Africa also lost Dale Steyn for the World Cup as he could not recover in time from the injury he sustained playing the IPL ironically as a last-minute replacement. Steyn’s absence has also hurt South Africa, leaving Rabada to do all the striking work.”KG at the moment is feeling like he needs to do something, but it’s not happening for him; and therefore, you’re not seeing that same intensity when he bowls – or not bowls; or when he celebrates a wicket or when he’s going through after the over back to his mark,” du Plessis said. “Obviously Dale is a special bowler, and the fact that he’s injured, we can’t use that as an excuse. There’s enough good bowlers in our team to still be better than what we did today. There was a lot of bad balls bowled on a wicket that if you just bowled really good lines and lengths, it was tough for the batters to score.”Du Plessis said this is a challenge Rabada will have to find ways to get the better of. “You know, he’s a great bowler. He will be able to fix that. His career has been one that’s been probably just going up and up and up and up and up every time he’s played for us.”So this is probably his first stumbling block as a great fast bowler. So for him now, it will be to see how he responds, how he learns in this period and how he makes sure he gets better. Because he has been great for us, but now he needs to take stock of where his bowling is and then try and get better as a bowler.”Nortje had been ruled out of the World Cup in the first week of May itself with a thumb injury. Once the tournament started, South Africa suffered a blow when Steyn was ruled out too, and Lungi Ngidi hurt his hamstring in the game against Bangladesh which didn’t let him complete his quota of 10 overs. Ngidi further sat out three matches before returning for the clash against New Zealand, which was South Africa’s fourth loss in five completed games.GMT 1400 The story was updated to include Rabada’s quotes.

Derbyshire set Durham an unlikely target of 361 to win after half-centuries from Tom Lace, Harvey Hosein and Matt Critchley

ECB Reporters Network07-Apr-2019Durham’s openers stood firm to halt Derbyshire’s victory charge on day three of the Division Two match at the County Ground. Alex Lees and Gareth Harte battled through a testing last session to reach 10 without loss at the close in pursuit of an unlikely victory target of 361.Derbyshire had taken control with Tom Lace making his maiden first-class half-century before Harvey Hosein and Matt Critchley also scored fifties as Derbyshire reached 334, with Matt Salisbury taking 3 for 65. That left Durham an awkward 17 overs to survive and Lees and Harte dug in to deny Derbyshire before bad light ended play early.Although Derbyshire went into the day with an advantage of 133, Durham still had a chance if they could take early wickets but they managed only one in the morning as Lace and Alex Hughes wore down the bowlers.The ball moved around in murky conditions but although the bat was beaten numerous times, Durham had to wait 18 overs for the breakthrough. Lace and Hughes played with discipline and restraint until Lace fenced at a wide one from Harte and was caught at second slip.Hosein provided some acceleration to take the lead past 220 at lunch and after Hughes had been caught behind off Harte for a three-hour 39, Critchley took the game away with some punishing strokes. He reached 50 off 60 balls and Durham’s frustration grew as both Hosein and Critchley survived dropped catches that should have been taken.Both fell before tea but by then, Derbyshire were 320 ahead and they batted on with Ravi Rampaul striking Liam Trevaskis for two big sixes before he was last out pulling Salisbury to midwicket.Durham were set what would be the second-highest successful fourth-innings chase at Derby and although the pitch had flattened out, they faced a tricky period before the close.At least conditions were better for batting but there was some swing with the new ball and Tony Palladino almost found the edge of skipper Lees’ bat in the second over. Lees responded by punching an overpitched delivery down the ground but generally the batsmen were content to leave as many balls as possible with survival until stumps the prime objective.Only nine runs came from the first 11 overs as Lees and Harte concentrated on defence and their application was rewarded when the umpires took the players off the field two balls into the 15th over.

New Zealand have named big-hitter Tom Bruce and allrounder Ben Wheeler in their 14-player squad for the upcoming T20s against Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Dec-2016

New Zealand squad

Kane Williamson (capt), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Ben Wheeler
In:* Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, James Neesham, Ben Wheeler
Out: Grant Elliott, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Henry Nicholls, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor
*

New Zealand have named Central Districts batsman Tom Bruce and allrounder Ben Wheeler in their 14-man squad for the upcoming T20Is against Bangladesh. Allrounder Corey Anderson, who has been plagued by a back injury for the major part of 2016, has been picked as a batsman.Fast bowler Trent Boult was selected but will be rested for the first of the three T20Is. Fellow quick Tim Southee was rested for the entire series in preparation for the two Tests that follow.Batsman Ross Taylor, who had had surgery to remove a benign growth in his left eye after the Hamilton Test against Pakistan in late November, was not picked for this series, but will return to domestic T20 cricket “within the next few days”, according to selector Gavin Larsen.Anderson had played in the World T20 in March, before the back injury ruled him out of the tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa. He then returned for the five-ODI series in India in October, where he was also picked as just a batsman. Anderson scored only 31 runs in four games and tried his hand at bowling in the final match – four overs, 27 runs, no wicket. Subsequently he was left out of the Chappell-Hadlee ODIs in Australia, which Taylor had also missed due to his surgery.Larsen said the uncapped batsman Bruce would boost the squad’s hitting power. “Tom has been one of the leading players in the Super Smash [the domestic T20 competition] the past two years and is one of the cleanest strikers of a cricket ball in the country. He has averaged 76 at a strike-rate of 174 so far this season, so Tom has proven himself to be a very dangerous player,” Larsen said. “Power is a critical element to Twenty20 cricket, so to have him alongside the likes of Martin [Guptill], Corey and the two Colins [Munro and de Grandhomme] is an exciting prospect.”Left arm pace-bowling allrounder Wheeler, also from Central Districts, had played six ODIs between June and August 2015, but is yet to play a T20 international. He has not contributed much with the bat in the Super Smash so far this season, but has six wickets from five games at 27.16.”Ben has put in a lot of hard work to get to this point again, so we’re looking forward to having him back in the mix,” Larsen said. “His ability to swing the ball at a decent clip can trouble any batsman, as he has shown in domestic cricket this season.”We’ve got some really exciting players coming through and it’s important to give them opportunities and introduce them to the international stage. There are a number of players who just missed out – the likes of Mark Chapman, Neil Wagner, George Worker and Seth Rance were all seriously considered.”The three T20s against Bangladesh will be played from January 3 in Napier. This series is New Zealand’s first T20I assignment since the World T20.

Glamorgan have qualified for the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast with a win over Somerset in Cardiff led by a career-best bowling spell and an innings of 54 from Colin Ingram

ECB Reporters Network22-Jul-2016
ScorecardColin Ingram has had a fine white-ball season•Getty Images

Glamorgan have qualified for the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast with a win over Somerset in Cardiff A career-best bowling spell and an innings of 54 from Colin Ingram allowed Glamorgan to make the knockout stages with two games still to play.Ingram has played as a white ball specialist this season as a result of an ongoing knee injury and he has made the most of his chances in the side, leading the run-scoring charts for Glamorgan in T20 and 50-over cricket.With victory enough to secure that prized quarter-final spot Glamorgan would have been pleased to win the toss and chase, their preferred method in Cardiff where they are convinced that the ball comes on to the bat better under the lights.An ugly looking pitch but one with decent pace and carry greeted the players but while the runs flowed for Somerset so the wickets fell. Midway, they were 90 for 5, a tendency begun by Mahela Jayawardene, who looked in supreme touch on his way to 16 from 10 balls, but who he fell when he mistimed a cover drive off the bowling of Timm van der Gugten.The most spectacular of those wickets to fall was that of Peter Trego who missed a rocket from Shaun Tait that knocked his stumps out of the ground. It that same over Tait induced an edge from James Hildreth with an outswinger that should have been caught by Mark Wallace but the Glamorgan ‘keeper could not hang on to it.Hildreth made the most of his life, going on to top score for Somerset with 39 from 28 balls. If Glamorgan had taken that chance they could have been chasing around 120; instead they would need 153 to claim victory.The surprise package of the night was Ingram’s bowling as he picked his best T20 figures of 3 for 20 with his occasional leg breaks. He bowled with real guile, with the ball that had Lewis Gregory out stumped particularly impressive. By adding bowling to his stellar batting form he has further cemented his place as Glamorgan’s star man in this competition.While van der Gugten impressed with his bowling, he was out done by his Dutch colleague Paul van Meerkeren who bowled with real pace and was unlucky not to claim more wickets. He did dismiss Mark Wallace who top edged a catch to long leg but there were a number of other chances that fell just short of a fielder. His figures of 1 for 45 did not accurately reflect how well he bowled.Glamorgan lost David Lloyd in the eighth over to bring together Ingram and Aneurin Donald who registered the fastest ever first-class double hundred against Derbyshire this week.Between them they turned what could have been a difficult chase into a stroll as they put together a stand of 76 from 53 balls. Ingram fell before the job was finished but he had done enough for Glamorgan to win by seven wickets with 12 balls to spare.Somerset captain Jim Allenby expressed his frustration at Somerset failing to perform on what he judged to be a very good Cardiff pitch.”It is disappointing and frustrating,” he said. “In all the years I played at Glamorgan and that his the best pitch that I have seen. That was a fantastic cricket pitch, short boundaries, everything that you want as a batsman and we have been bowled at for 150 on it.”So it’s really frustrated as a team and also individually on missing out on getting a big score out there. These things happened but it has happened all too often this season.”

UAE’s hopes of a fourth successive win in the Asia Cup were snuffed out by Lasith Malinga, who struck twice in the first over and took 4 for 26 in the match to lead his side to a 14-run win

Mohammad Isam25-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:10

By the numbers – Malinga’s 12th T20 four-for

At the innings break, UAE would have had hopes of a fourth straight win in the tournament, having restricted Sri Lanka to 129 for 8. Those hopes, however, were snuffed out in the first over as Lasith Malinga struck twice to wreck UAE’s chase and ultimately lead his side to a 14-run win. Malinga marked his return to international cricket with a haul of 4 for 26.The UAE bowlers had done well to restrict Sri Lanka for a less than average score of 129 in Mirpur. In fact the 129 for 8 was one run less than what UAE captain Amjad Javed had said he wanted to restrict his opponents to, after he decided to field. But their batsmen were not as inspired as their bowlers and were shut out for 115 for 9 in 20 overs.Malinga, playing his first competitive match since November 2015, trapped Rohan Mustafa leg-before off the first ball of the chase with a fast, straight and full ball that was only destined to hit the stumps. Off the last ball of the first over, Mohammad Shahzad was duped by a 113.7 kph slower ball, and was bowled for 1.Nuwan Kulasekara got into the act, too, removing Muhammad Kaleem and Muhammad Usman in the fourth over. Kaleem lofted one needlessly to mid-off before Usman’s uncharacteristic slog ended in a simple catch to Chamara Kapugedera at first slip. UAE finished the fourth over at 16 for 4.Shaiman Anwar quickly counter-attacked in the next over, striking Angelo Mathews for fours through midwicket before Swapnil Patil played a pull off Mathews for a beautiful six over the same region.UAE, however, had more bad news around the corner. Rangana Herath, playing his first T20 international since the 2014 World T20, was brought into the attack and straightaway removed UAE’s last hope, Anwar, with an arm ball that took a thin outside edge on its way to the keeper.Herath then removed Saqlain Haider in his next over, reducing UAE to 47 for 6 at the halfway mark of their innings. But Patil held firm, hitting Herath for a six, playing a late cut off Milinda Siriwardana for a boundary and taking two fours off Dushmantha Chameera in the 15th over to bring the equation to 53 off the last five overs. Patil kept trying to find the boundaries but he, too, fell to a Malinga slower ball, giving the bowler a simple return catch. Patil top-scored with 37 off 36 balls with the three fours and two sixes, and he added 38 runs for the seventh wicket with Javed, who scored 13 off 18 balls.Malinga completed his four-wicket haul when he removed Mohammad Naveed in his last over. Kulasekara took 3 for 10 while Herath finished with two.The first half of the game, however, was an altogether different picture as Javed took three wickets while Naveed and Shahzad picked up two each. Mustafa also took one wicket as Sri Lanka slumped after a strong start.Sri Lanka had raced to 72 for 1 in the first ten overs but added only 57 in the next ten, for the loss of seven wickets. The first few wickets were down to their eagerness to find the big hits but UAE also curbed the runs at the death, conceding only three fours in the last five overs. They had started well enough with openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Dinesh Chandimal adding 68 runs before the former was easily caught at the deep square leg boundary to give Javed his first wicket.Dilshan was hit on the hand and on the helmet in his usual effort to destabilise the bowlers. Siriwardana, who like Chandimal was given a batting promotion, fell to Javed’s short ball two overs later, with Saqlain Haider taking a great running catch at the deep midwicket boundary.From 79 for 2 in the 12th over, Sri Lanka could have been looking at 200 but Chandimal fell one ball after raising his 50 off 38 deliveries. His knock included seven fours and the only six of Sri Lanka’s innings. Shahzad took a tumbling catch at midwicket on top of the 30-yard ring to send back Chandimal and give Javed his third wicket.Dasun Shanaka gave Anwar a simple catch at mid-off to make it 98 for 4, and Sri Lanka faltered after Mathews fell leg-before to Mustafa and Shehan Jayasuriya was bowled trying to play a second successive scoop. Shahzad snapped up the wickets of Kapugedera and Kulasekara in the last over to give UAE the momentum and confidence they needed to cause an upset.That, however, was a bridge too far for the side, who will now look forward to their match against Bangladesh on Friday.

Attack leader says England are aiming to replicate the one facet of the 2012 series that did go well for them

Andrew McGlashan in Abu Dhabi11-Oct-2015On one hand, England hope history does not repeat itself against Pakistan in the UAE. On the other, they are aiming to replicate the one facet of the 2012 series that did go well for them.England’s bowling was not the problem during their 3-0 defeat on the previous visit. In the second and third Tests James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar combined impressively and looked to have sealed each match in turn. In Abu Dhabi, a chase of 145 was botched spectacularly as England collapsed to 72 all out, then in Dubai England removed Pakistan for 99 in the first innings, only to be thwarted by Azhar Ali and Younis Khan second-time around.Anderson and Broad are among the five surviving players from that tour to make it here again (Cook, Bell and Finn the others) with Anderson set to return as the father-figure of England’s pace attack having missed the final two Ashes Tests due to a side injury. He and Broad shared 22 wickets during the 2012 series and will be delving into their banks of experience over the next few weeks to help an attack that remains raw.”When conditions are this alien to a lot of the younger guys it’s important we try and give them as much information as possible so they can prepare themselves. Passing on advice is crucial,” Anderson said”Last time we were here we had a decent amount of success, myself and Stuart and the two spinners, so we know how to get 20 wickets out here. We know we’ll have to bowl very well to do that. It’s an exciting challenge; the conditions, the heat, if we do perform well it will be very satisfying.”James Anderson bowls in the nets ahead of the first Test•Getty Images

Anderson will resume his Test career on 413 wickets – in a neat twist, given the opposition as well as the Lancashire connection, one wicket will bring him level with Wasim Akram at joint 10th on the all-time list. His preparation has been limited – 12 overs and one wicket, with a catch down the leg side – but he is not alone in that and at least ended the season playing county cricket.There has been the notion floated that, in a horses-for-courses selection, similar to that justifying Moeen Ali opening, Anderson’s place could be under threat as his greatest strengths are likely to be diminished in the prevailing conditions where traditional swing is a rare sight.At 33, his days as the leader of the attack are numbered but you don’t easily shelve 400-plus Test wickets. Even if there is just a modicum of swing for a short period Anderson should still be better than most at finding it.”I’m itching to get going again,” he said. “It was frustrating to miss the last couple of Test of the summer but I’ve played a bit for Lancashire which was good, got some wickets, so felt in good in form and since being out here all of us have acclimatised quite quickly and are raring to go.”Despite the acclimatisation, conditions will remain very tough for England and Anderson knows it is vital, especially for the quicks, that they make every over count. In such searing heat, spells will rarely exceed five overs so they will need to assess very swiftly what tactics should be employed.”We saw Steven Finn bowl seven [in the warm-up], that’s probably pushing it a little bit, but we are aware we’ll have to be used in short spells,” Anderson said. “Me and Broady have brought it up with the lads already, when we came out here last time we bowled four-five overs maximum which means you have to be on the money from ball one and that puts a bit of emphasis on you as a bowler – you can’t just ease into a spell. You have to nail it.”You’ve got to assess the situation very quickly, if the ball isn’t swinging you have to go to Plan B,” he added. “You have to quickly assess if it will reverse-swing, while cutters and little changes in pace are crucial as well. It’s about finding the right skills for the situation, the pace of the pitch is important, whether you bring the slips out and things like that. It’s about being sharp and aware.”Anderson acknowledged that success in this series would rank alongside the away wins in the Ashes in 2010-11 and India in 2012-13, but insisted that the team – in the spirit that carried them through the home season – are not overawed by what is in front of them.”We put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” he said. “We want to improve on the performances from the summer. We know we can play better than we did even though we won that series, we want to continue to improve and show people how exciting we can be.”We are aware of how we performed last time we were here. As we saw in the Ashes, we lost them in 2013 but then won them back, so it’s all about how you prepare and play in that particular series. What happened in the past doesn’t really matter that much.”Except, of course, if you are remembering how to take wickets.