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The 18-year old legspinner picked up five wickets in only two overs to ensure Afghanistan beat Ireland by 17 runs in a rain-shortened match and furthered their record-breaking winning streak

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Ireland’s middle order could not handle Rashid Khan’s clever changes of pace•Peter Della Penna

Twelve little balls of legspin. How much damage could it really do? Well, it could change the fate of a T20I, vault the practitioner to the greatest of heights and protect a proud winning streak that seemed all but dead. Before Rashid Khan, no one had ever taken a five-wicket haul in as little time as two overs in Twenty20 international cricket. The record, though, was merely a byproduct of his ability to vary pace, prey on the pressure the Ireland batsmen felt and then toss up the hit-me ball, which invariably turned out to be a googly that bamboozled everyone. The slogs came, the stumps were broken, the rest became history.Afghanistan came into the match with nine straight wins in the shortest format. It was already a world record, but their hopes of pushing it to 10 took a major hit when heavy rain lashed across the Greater Noida Sports Complex. With only the pitch and the bowler’s run-ups under covers, the majority of the outfield took on a lot of water and it was testament to the ground staff that the match even restarted. Ireland had been 65 for 2 in 6.1 overs when the weather intervened, which put them 12 runs ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis par score considering the target was 185. Then the rain stopped.And Rashid went to work. He hoodwinked Kevin O’Brien and Gary Wilson with wrong ‘uns in his first over. His next one was a triple-wicket maiden and it simply trampled upon all the hope Ireland had of levelling the three-match series. Their target was revised to 111 in 11 overs – or 46 runs to win off the remaining 29 balls. It was a tough ask but perhaps some of the senior batsmen should have taken a little time to get themselves set again. Instead, they chose to hit out as wildly as the tailenders who would follow and 65 for 2 became 93 for 9 in what could well have been the blink of an eye.All of that made for excellent viewing for opener Najeeb Tarakai. He had hammered 90 off 58 balls to become the only man not named Mohammad Shahzad among in the list of top six scores by an Afghanistan batsman in T20Is. Spending two hours on the sidelines watching the showers lash across the ground wouldn’t have been pleasant for him after driving his team from the doldrums of 12 for 2 in the third over to 175 for 6 by the time he was dismissed in the 20th. It was his first half-century in the format, including seven fours and five sixes, and most importantly, it turned out to be match-winning effort.

Bangladesh have dropped Taijul Islam and brought in pace bowler Al-Amin Hossain in their 14-man squad for the first two ODIs against England, which will be held in Mirpur on October 7 and 9

Mohammad Isam02-Oct-2016Bangladesh have dropped Taijul Islam and brought in pace bowler Al-Amin Hossain in their 14-man squad for the first two ODIs against England, which will be held in Mirpur on October 7 and 9.Left-arm spinner Taijul bowled decently in the first two ODIs against Afghanistan last week, but he took only one wicket in his 20 overs. He brought control to the Bangladesh attack but was not as penetrating. He was replaced by left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain, in the third ODI, who took three wickets.Al-Amin’s return was slightly predictable after he was not included against Afghanistan despite doing well for Bangladesh earlier this year. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin had said at the time that his fielding was an issue.But with Rubel Hossain being dropped before the third ODI against Afghanistan, there was always the need for a pace bowler who had variation to partner Mashrafe Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed.Squad for first two ODIs: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt)., Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Mosharraf Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed

Craig McDermott has moved to clarify assumptions about James Pattinson’s action, including the contention that Pattinson abandoned two years of adjustments to claim five wickets in the Hobart Test

Daniel Brettig16-Dec-2015James Pattinson’s mentor Craig McDermott has moved to clarify assumptions about his pupil’s bowling action, including the contention that the 25-year-old abandoned two years of adjustments in order to claim five wickets in the second innings of the Hobart Test against the West Indies.While Pattinson did struggle for rhythm in the first innings and found himself delivering the ball from an arm position that reduced his chances of gaining any movement through the air or off the wicket, McDermott said there was still plenty of evidence of the adjustments they had made together during his 5 for 27 on the third and final day.Changes to Pattinson’s action had been devised to ease pressure on his back, which has been the subject of multiple stress fractures over his five years around the Australian team, and were as much about foot position as arm and wrist. McDermott noted that Pattinson’s back foot is now much more side on at the point of delivery and thus in sync with his waist, back and shoulders. The adjustments to his arm path made for a much more rhythmic performance on day three.”In a transition from an old action to a new action, sometimes in competition your body will want to go back a little bit to the way it was,” McDermott told ESPNcricinfo. “That happened in the second innings a little bit, but it was more about Patto jumping in a straight line through the crease and going towards the target with his body and getting his arm path down a little bit below the perpendicular and his wrist behind the ball all the time.”The bottom half is still different. Sometimes his back foot gets a bit more front on down the wicket, but generally he’s travelling pretty well. We tried to get his back foot as far towards 90 degrees as we possibly could to start with, knowing that when you get back into competition mode it’s always going to creep back the other way. He’s anywhere between 30 and 45 degrees at any one stage so it’s not too bad.”Pattinson had stated that he hoped to find a middle ground between his old ways and new ones, with the added benefit of now having an older, more mature body to cope. However, McDermott counselled that given a history of multiple stress injuries, Pattinson needed to be aware of the risks inherent in his former methods – the pair will continue their work together when McDermott travels to Melbourne ahead of the rest of the team on Monday.”Every bowler is different, but Patto’s had a number of stress fractures and even at the age of 25 he’s probably had more than someone like Mitchell Starc who’s had one,” McDermott said. “He’s got to be careful, old stress fractures sometimes don’t heal 100%, a bit like with Pat Cummins at the moment, after about a month his were still not healing that well, so he’s put in a brace just to make sure that does restrict his movement.”Patto’s still got to be careful even at his age, just because of the amount of stress fractures he has had in the past that he may not get a new one but you can always open an old one, which may not have healed as strong as some of the other bone matter has. I don’t think it’s right to compare Patto’s body with Mitchell Johnson’s body or with Mitchell Starc’s body, everybody’s differently made up.”Nevertheless, McDermott agreed that once a player is in the Test team, the last thing they should be doing is thinking too intricately about their bowling action. For this reason, he kept his advice simple and to the point between innings, much as the captain Steven Smith also did.”There were a couple of things I spoke to Patto about the night after the first innings,” McDermott said. “One was ‘don’t think too much about it, just really bowl the ball’, and the other thing was ‘try to get your arm path down a little bit, because if it’s up too high it is very hard to get your wrist behind the ball’. They were the only two things I spoke to him about the night before.”His first wicket in the second innings if you look at the slo-mo, it’s very good as far as the seam position and all of that sort of stuff goes. There’s still some variation in that with him, but everything’s coming along pretty well. There’s still a lot of room for improvement, as we’ve discussed since then. But some wickets will give him confidence.”In the absence of Starc, who underwent his ankle surgery on Tuesday night, McDermott said that Pattinson and Nathan Coulter-Nile were both well equipped to be Australia’s impact bowlers over the next four Tests against the West Indies and New Zealand, with Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle providing the steady counterpoint.”I think Patto’s one of those and Nathan Coulter-Nile’s got the ability to do that as well,” he said. “Josh is really starting to hone his skills with his lengths, Sidds does what Sidds does, nothing changing there. Certainly leading into the next two Test matches and New Zealand, those guys stand us in pretty good stead.”

PK Dharma, a Tamil Nadu cricketer, has died at age 20, in what police say could be a case of suicide

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jun-2012PK Dharma, a Tamil Nadu cricketer, has died at the age of 20. Police say they suspect it to be a case of suicide.Dharma, who has played two List A matches for Tamil Nadu, was found hanging in his house in Chennai on Sunday afternoon, according to reports. The day before, he’d played a three-day Tamil Nadu Cricketers’ Association first-division final for his club, Globe Trotters, against Vijay CC at the Chidambaram Stadium.”He was a promising youngster who turned into a fine allrounder,” Sridharan Sriram, who has played for India and is captain of the Globe Trotters team, was quoted as saying by . “We [team members] didn’t know much about his personal life, but this was an extreme step. It is a sad moment for us all.””I have seen his development over the past five or six years. In these days of the IPL and the opportunity that it offers to domestic cricketers, I was expecting Dharma to make a mark for himself,” former Tamil Nadu batsman M Senthilnathan, who is the Globe Trotters coach, said.Dharma, who made his List A debut in February 2011, made it to the limited-overs team after an injury to L Balaji. “I was injured and he replaced me,” Balaji, who led Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy last season, said. “I haven’t played alongside him but from whatever I have seen of him, the boy had promise.””He was an upcoming player, this is very unfortunate and a loss to Tamil Nadu cricket,” Kasi Viswanathan, the TNCA secretary, said.

Jonathan Trott has described England’s batting in the Galle Test as “a sin” but struggled to pin down reasons for the slump

Andrew McGlashan in Colombo01-Apr-2012Jonathan Trott has described England’s batting during the first innings in the Galle Test as “a sin” but has struggled to pin down a reason why a batting line-up that was so prolific only a few months ago is now consistently faltering.England, who must now win in Colombo to draw the series, were bowled out for 192 in 46.4 overs to concede a crucial first-innings advantage of 125 to Sri Lanka as their batting failed for the fourth time in a row.Criticised for being too defensive at times during the series against Pakistan in the UAE, this time the strokes of some England batsmen in Galle bordered on the reckless as they continued to struggle to find a suitable tempo for batting in Asia.It has been a rapid fall from grace for a batting line-up that had become accustomed to making 500-plus regularly while the individual batsmen were gaining a reputation for the ‘daddy’ hundreds that Graham Gooch used to have cause to talk about. From the start of the 2010-11 Ashes to end of the home series against India last summer they had scored six double hundreds and another four scores in excess of 150.By comparison in 2012, Trott’s 112 in the second innings in Galle was England’s first hundred of the year. “We’ve lost a lot of wickets in clusters,” Trott said. “In the past if we’ve lost two early wickets then guys have been able to steady the ship and we’ve been able to get through sessions pretty unscathed.”But we’ve had bad sessions with the bat and getting bowled out in 40-odd overs was a bit of a sin. The wicket was pretty good and we should have capitalised. It’s no lack of effort on any par, it just hasn’t worked out for us.”Defeat meant that Trott was not able to savour his hundred – one of the finest of his career – despite him showing England that run-scoring was possible with patience and shrewd shot selection.”To get a hundred is satisfying, but to get one and win always makes it sweeter,” he said. “I was pleased by how I felt, I wasn’t all that tired at the end of the innings, I just wish I could have batted a bit more. If I’d have got 140, 150 who knows what might have happened.”And, according to Trott, there was no magic formula to his success. “I just played normally. I didn’t try going in with any pre-conceived conceptions. I had a bit of luck early on and rode it. You certainly need a bit of luck in these conditions with a lot of catchers round the bat… you need the ball to bounce in the right areas.”Trott also took a swipe at the media for, as he saw it, fuelling an unnecessary debate about Andrew Strauss’ position in the team. Strauss has averaged 25.50 since the start of the previous home season and has just two hundreds since July 2009.”When someone is not scoring as may runs as they would like or expect of themselves it is highlighted by you guys [the media]. I’m sure it will have a similar impact as it did when Alastair Cook came through his little slump. I’m surprised you guys haven’t learned from that.”Steven Finn, Strauss’ Middlesex teammate, hoping for a place in England’s attack in the second Test, was equally supportive on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme.”I don’t think there’s any question that he won’t be in charge throughout the summer and beyond,” he said. “He’s a great captain, everyone here’s backing him and this is something that just hasn’t come up within the team because no one in the team believes it’s valid. Straussy will score runs and that’s that.””Straussy leads from the front. He’s an exceptional leader, he’s a levelling person. When we have our highs we don’t ride them too high and when we have our lows we don’t ride them too low. And that’s what a great captain does, I think.”

Once every two years, Bangalore hosts Aero India, the country’s biggest air show held on the outskirts of the city. On Friday night, Chris Gayle took it upon himself to deliver a similar spectacle to the home crowd

The Bulletin by Siddhartha Talya06-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Domination personified•AFP

Once every two years Bangalore hosts Aero India, the country’s biggest air show, on the outskirts of the city. On Friday night, Chris Gayle took it upon himself to deliver a similar spectacle to the home crowd, which went ballistic while watching a flogging of a lifetime inflicted on Kings XI Punjab. As the deflated attack desperately sought mercy, Gayle celebrated his domination with a triumphant smile, propelling his team to a thumping fourth straight win with an unforgettable century that made a backyard out of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.Adam Gilchrist, cheery as ever, decided to field on a pitch that promised assistance to his four-pronged pace attack. While he met Gayle’s onslaught with a look of awe and admiration, his bowlers were what they looked – stunned into submission. The early movement and a spate of hits and misses in the first couple of overs were the few signs of encouragement in an otherwise dispiriting innings.Gayle targeted the straight boundary, rarely attempted any cross-bat heaves or slogs, and relied on brute strength, partly a consequence of what is known to be a fitness regime that’s ever the aspiration of the healthier than normal. Ryan Harris was the first recipient of Gayle’s treatment, as he clobbered two consecutive sixes over long-off and long-on in the fourth over.The Punjab bowlers erred in length, often doling out length deliveries, but most would have been unsettled by Gayle’s ruthless approach. His initial movement was to make room and, depending on the line, have a free swing in the same direction. Praveen Kumar’s skills with variations in pace were conspicuous by their absence as he dished out a series of length deliveries that Gayle was only happy to dig into. After launching him for two straight sixes, he cashed in on some misdirection to pick up two fours in an over that yielded 22.Gilchrist had to turn to spin and he found the expensive Piyush Chawla, whose figures this season took further beating with two monstrous sixes over midwicket off long hops. Virat Kohli, in a fortunate yet largely mature innings, was only too happy to cede floor to his partner. Gayle directed his attention to Love Ablish, whose pain of rejection was felt in three consecutive boundaries, one of which was a streaky edge past the diving Gilchrist.A half-tracker from Abhishek Nayar disappeared over square leg, and the returning Ryan McLaren, who had delivered Punjab their first breakthrough with the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan, was to bear first sight of Gayle’s celebration upon reaching his century. He was hammered over long-on, followed by a disdainful punch through mid-off that brought up the landmark off 46 balls, Gayle’s second this season.Relief came when Gayle holed out to deep midwicket off Chawla, and Kohli was bowled two balls later, but AB de Villiers kept the innings on track with a typically aggressive cameo to leave Punjab with a daunting task. Such was the manner in which Gayle imposed himself, anything else was destined to be a sideshow. Punjab’s innings turned out to be worse – it was a virtual non-event.The signs were there when Gilchrist was brilliantly run out first ball by Asad Pathan while attempting a quick single, and as is the case in games decided by individuals, it wasn’t long before Gayle stepped in. He cast aside his usually calm, sober self and reveled at every Punjab misfortune wrought by his offspin. Paul Valthaty spooned one to square leg, Dinesh Karthik was trapped in front and Chawla yorked. As Punjab limped towards a fourth defeat in a row, Gayle stood out amid the celebrations, fluttering curls, locomotive moves and all.

Western Australia must score the biggest total of the match to overtake Tasmania after they were set 275 for victory at the WACA

Cricinfo staff21-Feb-2010Western Australia 233 and 2 for 40 need 235 runs to beat Tasmania 261 and 246 (Marsh 60, Knowles 3-60)

ScorecardDaniel Marsh’s 60 gave Tasmania a strong lead to set up a tense finish•Getty Images

Western Australia must score the biggest total of the match to overtake Tasmania after they were set 275 for victory at the WACA. The Tigers were dismissed late on the third day for 246 and the Warriors knocked 40 from their target in 16 overs but lost both openers to Adam Maher.Liam Davis edged to third slip on 13 shortly before stumps and Wes Robinson (20) went lbw in the second last over. The nightwatchman Nathan Coulter-Nile and the captain Marcus North will start again on the final morning.Both teams want a win to keep the pressure on the leaders Victoria and Queensland, but Tasmania were battling in their second innings until Daniel Marsh arrived with a crucial contribution of 60. Marsh lifted the pace after Tim Paine (27) and Xavier Doherty (0) departed quickly and surged them forward from the trouble of 6 for 135.A six came off Steve Magoffin and Marsh also found the boundary eight times before he fell to Luke Pomersbach just before tea. Adam Griffith added 25 before he was bowled by Brad Knowles and Brendan Drew extended the lead with a valuable 39. Knowles led the hosts with 3 for 60 while Coulter-Nile and North chipped in with two victims each.Tasmania, who earned a 28-run lead on first innings, resumed on 1 for 31, and lost Alex Doolan (10) when he offered no shot to Magoffin. George Bailey managed a single in his 37-ball innings and there was further trouble when Ed Cowan left with 41 after chipping a catch back to the bowler North.The Warriors are fifth on 12 points, one behind Tasmania, and eight from the second-placed Bulls. A tense final day on a pitch still being kind to the bowlers will determine which side stays in contention.

Kemar Roach chips in with three as Sri Lanka collapse around Lahiru Thirimanne’s battling 70

Madushka Balasuriya21-Mar-2021Kemar Roach and Jason Holder combined for eight wickets between them as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 169 on the opening day of the first Test in Antigua. Lahiru Thirimanne top scored for the visitors with a hard-fought 70 off 180 balls, but only three other Sri Lankan batsman would get to double digits, as they crumbled against a disciplined bowling performance from the hosts.While it was Roach that was arguably the more impressive of the two, with his impeccable lines and lengths, it was Holder that would reap the benefits of the pressure created, picking up his eighth five-wicket haul in Tests. Roach, meanwhile would finish with figures of 3 for 47. John Campbell and Kraigg Brathwaite saw off an hour without any hassles, with West Indies ending on 13 without loss.While Holder had been tight throughout the day, it was in an uninterrupted spell after tea that he burst into life. He picked up four of his five wickets during this spell, including the wickets of both Dickwella and Thirimanne – Sri Lanka’s last two recognised batsmen – just as the pair would have been harbouring hopes of fashioning an unlikely rearguard salvo, having put on 58 for the sixth wicket.The first to go was Dickwella, who up until that point had played an uncharacteristically reserved innings. Having left several wide outside off alone, and having flayed a couple somewhat fortuitously backward of square on the offside, Dickwella finally produced the edge he had been teasing as Rakheem Cornwell completed a comfortable take at slip.That would put a considerable dampener on an already slow scoring rate, the pressure of which would tell a few overs later as Thirimanne played on to his stumps, to one that was angled in from around the wicket – a tactic that the West Indies had employed across the board to Sri Lanka’s left-hand batsmen.Holder would then have Suranga Lakmal out caught in his next over before trapping Lasith Embuldeniya lbw to close-out the innings, either side of Roach producing an absolute ripper to oust Dushmantha Chameera’s off peg.Roach had undoubtedly been the standout performer until that point, exemplified by his spell after the lunch break, when he picked up the wickets of both Dhananjaya De Silva and Pathum Nissanka.His first victim was De Silva; having got a few to move away past the outside edge of the right-hander, he eventually got his man, luring him into the drive but this time seaming the ball back in past the inside edge to clip the top of off stump. It was a well setup wicket, and one that was just reward for a consummate Test-match spell.And it was more of the same for Roach’s second. Immediately after the drinks break, he would get another good length delivery to move ever-so-slightly away from the batsman – this time Nissanka – whose gentle defensive prod could only find its way to first slip.Much of the damage for the visitors however took place in the morning session when they yet again lost their top-order for barely 50 runs on the board. Cornwall and Holder had picked up a wicket a piece, while Kraigg Brathwaite had effected a splendid runout.

Newsfile: All the updates in the lead-up to the 2020-21 edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2021
On being asked by the BCCI, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) has released India’s latest pace sensation T Natarajan from the upcoming 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy to keep him fresh for the limited-overs series against England next month. Natarajan had played non-stop cricket from the IPL in September to the Test series in Australia last month, staying in biosecure bubbles throughout for five straight months. He has also been rested for the ongoing Tests against England.”The BCCI and the Indian team management wanted Natarajan to be fresh for the white-ball leg of the series against England. Keeping the Indian team’s interests in mind we said yes,” TNCA secretary RS Ramasaamy told PTI.The India-England limited-overs series begins with the five T20Is from March 12 in Ahmedabad, followed by the three ODIs that will go on until March 28. As India’s white-ball squads have not been announced yet, it remains to be seen if Natarajan will be picked for both formats or if he will be rested for some of the games.Twenty-two-year-old right-arm quick RS Jaganath Sinivas will take Natarajan’s place in the 20-member Tamil Nadu squad which will leave for Indore on February 13. After clearing three Covid-19 Tests, they will be playing their first game against Punjab on February 20, having also been grouped with Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Andhra Pradesh in Group E.Natarajan was earlier included in a 20-man Tamil Nadu squad for the tournament. Tamil Nadu had recently won the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in Ahmedabad.Meanwhile, Hanuma Vihari has passed his fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru and is available to lead Andhra.Vihari had torn his left hamstring on the fifth day of the third Test against Australia in Sydney. However, he kept on batting and helped India salvage a draw in the company of R Ashwin.In case Vihari is selected for the last two Tests against England, A Brahma Teja will replace him in the Andhra squad.
Mumbai will persist with Shreyas Iyer as their captain for the upcoming 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, starting February 20. Iyer, who leads the Delhi Capitals in the IPL, had a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the recent T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where Mumbai, led by Suryakumar Yadav, had a horror run, winning just one of their five group-stage matches to finish bottom of the Elite Group E table.Iyer was the captain when Mumbai won the 2018-19 Vijay Hazare Trophy, beating Delhi in the final by four wickets, though he started the season as deputy to Ajinkya Rahane. He then led Mumbai last season, when they reached the quarter-final stage.Prithvi Shaw, meanwhile, has been named Iyer’s deputy in the 22-man squad, which includes other internationals like Shivam Dube and Dhawal Kulkarni. Mumbai had earlier named Ramesh Powar their coach for the season after Amit Pagnis resigned following the poor show in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.Mumbai are in Elite Group D [all matches in Jaipur] for the tournament, clubbed with Delhi, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Puducherry.Squad: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Prithvi Shaw (vice-capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Akhil Herwadkar, Suryakumar Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, Chinmay Sutar, Aditya Tare (wk), Hardik Tamore, Shivam Dube, Aakash Parkar, Atif Attarwala, Shams Mulani, Atharva Ankolekar, Sairaj Patil, Sujit Nayak, Tanush Kotian, Prashant Solanki, Dhawal Kulkarni, Tushar Deshpande, Siddharth Raut, Mohit Awasthi.Krunal Pandya to lead Baroda
Krunal Pandya is back to take charge of Baroda in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, with Kedar Devdhar, who led them to the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently after Pandya lost his father and left for home, named his deputy.Baroda are placed in Elite Group A, alongside Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Hyderabad, Tripura and Goa, with their opening match on February 20 against Goa – all the matches in the group will be played in Surat.Squad: Krunal Pandya (capt), Kedar Devdhar (vice-capt), Pratyushkumar, Vishnu Solanki, Abhimanyusingh Rajput, Smit Patel (wk), Ninad Rathwa, Atit Sheth, Kartik Kakade, Lukman Meriwala, Babashafi Pathan, Dhruv Patel, Bhargav Bhatt, Bhanu Pania, Chintal Gandhi, Parth Kohli, Jyotsnil Singh, Mitesh Patel (wk), Soeb Sopariya, Shivalik Sharma, Pradeep Yadav, Pratik Ghodedra.

Despite Ireland’s busy 2021 schedule, Test fixtures are conspicuous by their absence

Matt Roller05-Jan-2021Cricket Ireland is considering staging a home international series in England this summer, with a two-match T20I series against Pakistan the most likely option.Ireland have a packed home schedule in 2021 featuring 16 limited-overs fixtures. They will be unable to use one of their four home venues, with Clontarf unlikely to be ready to host international cricket after the square was re-laid, and while exploring their alternatives, they have been in talks with the ECB about hosting games on English soil.Ireland had intended to stage a T20I series against Bangladesh at four different county venues last summer before the Covid pandemic wiped out their home international season. They have home fixtures lined up against Pakistan (two T20Is), South Africa (three ODIs, three T20Is) and Zimbabwe (three ODIs, five T20Is) in 2021. The Pakistan fixtures – postponed from last summer – are due to be played before their tour of England in July, and are the most likely games to be moved.Related

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• How Ireland can build on memorable England win

“Our international fixtures next summer are all quite compacted,” Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s high performance director, said. “We’re going to use all our international strips at the other venues and we’re not going to have room on those grounds to play every single game at home, so we’re speaking to the ECB about the possibility of [staging games in England].”The only team of the three that is going on to play England as well is Pakistan, so that looks like the most obvious series to play over there. We’re still waiting to hear back about scheduling, availability of grounds, and whether it’s financially viable before our board and match allocation group sign off on it. There’s a bit of way to go, but it looks possible.”Cricket Ireland is yet to discuss the possibility with the PCB, which is expecting at least one warm-up fixture to be arranged against a county in early July. Pakistan will be involved in the Asia Cup in June, with dates yet to be finalised.After a fallow 2020 which saw the men’s international team involved in only 12 games, the most recent of them their seven-wicket win in England on August 4, Ireland’s schedule this year is significantly busier, with seven ODIs – four against UAE, three against Afghanistan – to be played in Abu Dhabi this month. The A team, the Ireland Wolves, will then travel to Bangladesh for a long tour starting in February and set to include a four-day game, five one-day fixtures and two T20s.The postponed tour of Zimbabwe is due to be staged in April, though that looks in some doubt after another national lockdown caused Zimbabwe Cricket to cease all cricket activity earlier this week. A three-match, World Cup Super League ODI series is then scheduled for late May-early June in the Netherlands, leading into the home summer.There is still a possibility that the ill-fated Euro T20 Slam will be resurrected. Cricket Ireland is still confident that the concept of a three-nation franchise tournament involving teams from Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands is viable, but after two postponements already, that may be wishful thinking. The T20 World Cup in India then follows after the end of the home season.While 2021 looks significantly busier in the white-ball formats, it remains unlikely that Ireland will play another Test until December, when they have pencilled in a rearranged one-off fixture in Sri Lanka. Ireland gave England a scare by bowling them out for 85 in their most recent Test, in July 2019, but they have not played in the format since. Cricket Ireland and the ECB have discussed the possibility of a Test in June, but at this stage, New Zealand are more likely to tour in that window.Andy Balbirnie has admitted his frustrations at Ireland’s lack of Test cricket•Getty Images

“Playing home Tests is just incredibly expensive without permanent infrastructure,” Holdsworth said. “We’ve had to look strategically at what we can do with the money that we’ve got and with three white-ball World Cups in the next three years, that’s what we’re focusing on.”We could spend half a million euros on staging a home Test, but what is the purpose? If we were pushing to get into the World Test Championship and there was an opportunity for promotion, there would be a very different rationale, but at the moment there is no context for our Test cricket.”Andy Balbirnie, Ireland’s captain in all formats, admitted that it was “disappointing” not to have had more opportunities since gaining Test status in 2017, having played only three fixtures in those three-and-a-half years.”My last first-class game was the Test at Lord’s, which is staggering,” Balbirnie told ESPNcricinfo in an interview to be published this week. “There’s nothing we can do as players. I’ll look back on my career and maybe be a bit disappointed that when I was close to my peak, I wasn’t getting the opportunity to play at the highest level.”It’d be very handy for touring teams going to England to come over and play a Test like Pakistan did. Stuff like that could be so great for Irish cricket [but] the fact that it costs so much to host is just the way it is. I’m an Irish Test cricketer – it’s the best thing in the world, and I’m very fortunate to be [one]. But once you get a taste for it, you certainly want more of it.”