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After six years as a fringe international player, Adam Voges hopes he can finally earn an extended run in the ODI side after being named in Australia’s Champions Trophy squad

Brydon Coverdale02-May-2013Last November, Adam Voges didn’t know where his next run would come from. His first 12 innings in the domestic season failed to bring a single half-century and not only did an international recall appear far-fetched, even his grasp on a spot in the Western Australia team was becoming tenuous. For a 33-year-old, that’s a scary position to be in. But fast-forward five months and Voges has not only held his state job, he is part of the Australia squad that will defend the Champions Trophy in England.”If you’d asked me if I’d be in a Champions Trophy squad back then I probably would have laughed at you,” Voges told ESPNcricinfo. “But it’s amazing how quickly things can turn around. Having a good Big Bash was a real catalyst for that and I’ve been able to kick on since then.”Another factor in his change of fortunes was the arrival of Justin Langer as the new Western Australia coach, which coincided with Voges being appointed state captain after the resignation of Marcus North. Voges became the sixth-leading run scorer in the BBL and earned a recall to the one-day international side for the series against West Indies in February, and an unbeaten 112 in the last ODI in Melbourne completed a remarkable turnaround.”I started last season really poorly. Myself personally and Western Australia as a team, we really had a horror start to last season,” he said. “I was always playing catch-up in terms of the number of runs that I scored. I’d finished the county season for Nottinghamshire not very well, and then to not start the season with WA well, my confidence was down a fair bit.”I was going through one of those patches where I wasn’t really sure where my next run was coming from. If I didn’t score some runs [being dropped by WA] was a real possibility. But then a lot of things changed with Marcus resigning, [coach] Lachie Stevens resigning and Justin Langer coming in. It gave me a breath of fresh air and I think it gave a lot of people the same thing. It certainly helped turn my season around.”Not that everything went swimmingly for Voges, whose Sheffield Shield run tally for the summer was 388 at 25.86, hardly the kind of season he wanted in a year when Ashes spots were up for grabs. His limited-overs form was good but even so, that February recall, two years after he had last played for Australia, loomed as the last chance for a man who had been on the fringes of Australian international cricket for six years without ever holding down a permanent place.Voges earned central contracts with Cricket Australia in 2007, 2008 and 2010, without ever being more than a backup. He has played 17 ODIs of a possible 164 since his debut, and has never held his position for more than three in a row. He is one of only four men in this Champions Trophy squad that was part of the group that won the tournament in 2009, but again he was no more than a reserve and did not play a game.”I’ve been away on tours and probably got opportunities at the back end of series, perhaps when the result has already occurred, so I’d love to be part of it and get a decent, long run in the team,” Voges said. “Obviously my performances will determine that and the next time I do get that opportunity I certainly have to make the most of it. But I can get those runs.”In the past, while I don’t think I’ve ever let myself down whenever I’ve got the opportunity, I maybe haven’t quite nailed it as well as I would have liked. That’s probably the reason I haven’t been able to play more than two or three games in a row. I realise that at this stage of my career that I’ve really got to make the most of every opportunity because there’s plenty of young guys knocking down the door.”The way Voges finished the international summer – he made 28 and 112 not out in his two ODIs and then 51 in the T20 against West Indies in Brisbane – gives him a good chance of being part of Australia’s line-up for their first Champions Trophy match. After the tournament, he will stay on in England to play T20 cricket with Middlesex and perhaps some first-class cricket as well, given the county’s other Australian signing, Chris Rogers, now has Ashes duties.And if Australia find themselves in need of another experienced batsman to cover for injuries mid-Ashes, Voges wants to make sure he is nearby and scoring heavily. His Shield performances last summer might have been disappointing, but his overall first-class record is solid: 7821 runs at 40.10.”With Chris Rogers being picked in the Ashes squad there could be an opportunity for me to stay on and play a bit of Championship and one-day cricket with Middlesex [after the T20s],” Voges said. “It would be terrific to be over there while the Ashes is on.”You just never know. You never wish injury or anything like that on anybody. But if opportunity arises I’ll certainly be there and hopefully scoring runs. It’s probably a long shot, but I’ll be there and ready to go if need be.”

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.

The counties who met Lalit Modi in India in March have rubbished the allegations that they were involved in secret talks to set up a parallel IPL in which the existing franchises could bid for nine domestic teams in the UK

Cricinfo staff07-May-2010The counties who met Lalit Modi in India in March have rubbished the allegations that they were involved in secret talks to set up a parallel IPL in which the existing franchises could bid for nine domestic teams in the UK. In a formal complaint to the BCCI, Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman, alleged that Modi was trying to induce the counties into activities that could prove “detrimental to Indian cricket, English cricket and world cricket at large.”Clarke’s accusations forced the BCCI to slap a second show-cause notice notice on Modi in two weeks, after the board suspended him from all BCCI positions including that as the chairman of the IPL and pressed five specific charges ranging from financial impropriety to “behavioral pattern.””This is totally overblown,” Colin Graves, the Yorkshire chairman, told the on the accusation that Modi’s plans had the potential to “hijack” the game. “It was a fact-finding mission. Lalit Modi did not put a proposition on the table. There were no secret proposals, no secret agenda, nothing underhand,” Graves said.Though Graves was not in Delhi at the meeting, Yorkshire’s chief executive Stewart Regan met Modi, along with representatives from two other counties: Colin Povey, the Warwickshire chief executive and the Lancashire committee member David Hodgkiss.”We attended that meeting in an educational capacity, as we wished to learn more about how the IPL has gone from nowhere to being one of the biggest sporting businesses in the world inside two years,” Yorkshire’s chief executive, Stewart Regan, told Cricinfo immediately after the BCCI made public the accusations against Modi. “The success of the IPL proves that cricket is a product that people want to buy and that sponsors want to get involved with, and those were the key learning areas that we were interested in. It would not be appropriate to comment any further.”Graves concurred with Regan on the success of the IPL model, pointing out the ECB could definitely learn a lot from that. He also stressed that the ECB were kept in the loop about the discussions and he had personally sent Clarke the notes of the meeting. “IPL has been extraordinarily successful and we can learn a lot from it. There was a proper business discussion about how things might develop in the future, the sort of discussions that can benefit the whole of English cricket. Stewart Regan took notes of the meeting and forwarded them to all the Test grounds. I then passed those notes to Giles Clarke. Lalit Modi invited all representatives of the Test grounds to be his personal guests at the IPL final. We turned the invitation down as we were not in a position to discuss anything in detail.”According to Clarke, Modi had presented the counties with a commercial proposition wherein if they supported his idea, the IPL would guarantee each county a minimum of $3-5 million per annum plus a staging fee of $1.5 million. “We have not been guaranteed anything, but if anybody puts anything on the table we will discuss it. We have nine Test grounds and only seven Tests a year. We have to find ways to fill these grounds outside the England team. The nine Test grounds are united in the belief we cannot allow the status quo to continue. There is no future in us creating another Twenty20 competition for all 18 counties. It is not attractive enough to fill the Test grounds. We have to create something new and exciting, a tournament with the appeal of IPL, a British version. We will continue to put these ideas to Giles,” Graves said.

Gudakesh Motie, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd have been rested for the Nepal series, while Shimron Hetmyer had made himself unavailable

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2025The West Indies team management is looking to expand the bowlers’ pool ahead of the T20 World Cup early next year in India and Sri Lanka.Their next T20I assignment is against Nepal at the end of this month for which the selectors have picked five uncapped players, including legspinner Zishan Motara, left-arm quick Ramon Simmonds and legspin-bowling allrounder Navin Bidaisee, apart from batters Ackeem Auguste and Karima Gore, who played international cricket for USA until 2021 but is yet to get his West Indies cap.They have also picked a support staff heavily stacked with former bowlers to accompany the 15-man squad to Sharjah, with Rayon Griffith as the head coach, Ottis Gibson as fast-bowling consultant, and Nikita Miller and Jerome Taylor as assistant coaches.Related

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• Five uncapped players in Akeal Hosein-led WI T20I squad against Nepal

“The tour of Nepal is quite strategic for us,” CWI director of cricket Miles Bascombe said in a press meet. “We have recognised that probably over the last few years, our bowling has been a little bit of the Achilles’ heel in our white-ball team. So we have tried to bolster the support for the bowling group.”After touring the UAE, West Indies will tour Bangladesh for six white-ball matches in October and then fly to New Zealand for five T20Is and three ODIs.Full-time head coach Daren Sammy explained that some of the first-choice players like Gudakesh Motie, the second-highest wicket-taker in the ongoing CPL, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd had been rested for the games in Nepal to manage their workloads. Except Shimron Hetmyer, who blew hot and blew cold this CPL and was unavailable for the tour.Ottis Gibson’s presence raises the profile of the West Indies support staff•Getty Images

“If you look at the workload of these guys, Rovman for sure, he has been battling a wrist injury that prevented him from playing in the Pakistan series,” Sammy said. “I mean, he pushed it through this CPL. He requested a time off for him to further look at it. Motie and Shepherd, because of their workload over the last few months, we gave them a time off for that. Sherfane was also [rested] because of his workload.”Hetmyer also requested that he was unavailable for that Nepal trip. So again, like I said, it’s not always a bed of roses. Some things we don’t see, but it’s always a challenge. I’ve said that when I call somebody and tell them, ‘you’ve been selected for some of the series’, and I have to ask to everyone, do you accept the selection to play for West Indies? It’s something that I must do because we don’t own the players. We could only select from what’s available to us. Hettie has been one of our promising, talented players from the Under-19 level. However, the scope of things that now… we could only select and hope guys accept this selection. But he’s always available for selection from our side.”Sammy further said that the selectors and coaches also looked at the performers from the inaugural Breakout League – a new T20 league launched earlier this year to spot talent from across the Caribbean – and the CPL to pick fresh players for the upcoming T20Is.Nathan Edward is a rare left-arm quick in West Indies cricket•ICC/Getty Images

“You look at the Breakout [League] and again, I will emphasise the need for continued avenues for us to showcase and unearth talent,” he said. “And the Breakout, maybe some people were against it because it was a T20 format, but if you see this year, the amount of players that came through – Bidaisee was one of them that came through and show his skillset in the Breakout. And, he reminds me of Samuel Badree, who probably could bowl in the powerplay, bowl in the middle, very consistent around that good-length area that brings challenges to batsmen.”And two areas that I’ve spoken about in our bowling department in T20s is the need for a wristspinner. And every single team I could remember in World Cup T20 cricket, has had a left-arm seamer. Just the angle they bring and the difficulty, especially in the back-end of an innings, or whether the ability to swing. I don’t think in the history of West Indies cricket we’ve actually even had two left-arm seamers playing together, much less three. And we also, from the Breakout, you see a young Nathan Edward, who’s been quite quality as well. So again, you put that and you’re hoping that one or two will graduate so quickly that they could be into the senior team.”We gave Jediah [Blades] the exposure, but the way Ramon Simmonds has been bowling in all phases of the game gives me, and I’m pretty sure the selection group, confidence. It makes us excited about the prospects, the promise he’s shown. And then to top that, having somebody like an Ottis Gibson working with them, it’s a win-win situation for us. And hopefully that experience that they will gain or learn from getting the skillsets and the technical aspects of fast bowling or seam bowling from Ottis on that short trip could be a step…”Matthew Forde was still not fit to be considered for selection after he dislocated his shoulder in August, which made him miss the ODIs against Pakistan. CWI is, however, hoping he will be “up and running again” by the Bangladesh series.

Three teams with ten points keep table toppers in check

Mohammad Isam28-Mar-2024

Key takeaways

Abahani Limited are on a hot streak in the Dhaka Premier League after winning their first six matches on the trot. They are on top of the points table while Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, Legends of Rupganj and Mohammedan Sporting Club are behind them with ten points each. Only net run-rate separates the three teams.The veterans stepped up this week with Shakib Al Hasan making important contributions for Sheikh Jamal – including a fifty and three wickets in two games, while Tamim Iqbal struck three fifties in a row for Prime Bank Cricket Club. Mashrafe Mortaza was the biggest surprise taking 5 for 19 bowling offspin against Gazi Group Cricketers on his way to his eighth five-wicket haul in List-A cricket.

Best batters

Parvez Hossain Emon has hit three centuries in this DPL season. He is the first to cross the 400-run mark in the competition, with Mohammedan’s Mahidul Islam Ankon (373 runs) hot on his heels.Related

• DPL week 1: Abahani's flying start, Mahedi's last-over hat-trick, and Tamim gets stuck in traffic

Ankon struck three fifties this week, helping Mohammedan to five wins so far. Tamim too had a productive week with three fifties while Emon and Towhid Hridoy were the only centurions. Hridoy struck an unbeaten 125 off 84 balls for Abahani against Rupganj Tigers Cricket Club, with six sixes and eleven fours. Abahani won that game by 140 runs. Emon’s 110 though came in a losing cause as Mohammedan beat Prime Bank by one wicket at BKSP-4 in Savar.

Best bowlers

Maruf Mridha, the young left-arm quick who plays for Gazi Tyres Cricket Academy, has risen to the top of the wicket-takers’ chart with 16 scalps. At the other end of the experience scale is Legends of Rupganj’s Mashrafe, with his five-wicket haul. Abahani’s left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam took the other five-for this week, with figures of 6-3-7-5 against Brothers Union.

Best match

Mohammedan’s one-wicket win against Prime Bank could be decisive in the title race. Batting first, Prime Bank raced to 218 for one with openers Emon and Tamim, and No. 3 Sabbir Rahman all firing. They collapsed thereafter, to be 279 all out.Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby is one of the stars to look out for•BCB

Mohammedan were given a revised target of 272 runs in 47 overs after rain interrupted play at the BKSP-4 ground, in the 33rd over. After Ankon’s 78, it was their No. 8 Abu Hider, whose 36-ball 54 took Mohammedan home from 159 for 6.

Points to ponder

Abahani continue to dominate the points table but they could face stiff competition from old rival Mohammedan and a new one in Sheikh Jamal.
Rupganj Tigers and City Club remain winless while Partex Sporting Club, Gazi Tyres and Brothers Union have all opened their accounts.

Players to watch

After allrounder Ariful Islam and left-arm spinner Mahfuzur Rahman Rabby made good starts in the first week, Maruf Mridha shone among the Under-19 graduates this season. Prime Bank opener Emon has also shown consistency with his three centuries while Mohammedan’s Ankon is steadily rising too.

Team-mates told her “go for the hundred because you don’t get opportunities like this very often”

Firdose Moonda15-Feb-2023Muneeba Ali knows that cricketers don’t get days like the one she had against Ireland very often. Only one of them will become the first woman from their country to score a T20I hundred. When more centurions come, they will join an elite club.It’s only once every couple of years that a cricketer can say they’ve scored a century at a World Cup. Before today, across seven editions of the Women’s T20 World Cup, there were five centurions: Deandra Dottin, Meg Lanning, Harmanpreet Kaur, Heather Knight and Lizelle Lee.Muneeba is the first woman from Pakistan to score a T20I hundred and the sixth to achieve the feat at a World Cup, and she did it all without even a T20I fifty to her name. Her previous best in the format was 43.”I enjoyed that,” she said afterwards. “We don’t get these chances in international cricket regularly so I cherish this moment.”And so she should.In what became a stirring riposte to being beaten 2-1 at home to this same Ireland team, Pakistan piled on the second-highest score of the tournament so far and then dismissed Ireland for under 100. The victory was set up by Muneeba, who started gently when she flicked the second ball she faced fine for Pakistan’s first four and steered the fourth past deep third and then brought out a power game that left Ireland out of answers.She pulled Leah Paul behind square, swatted Arlene Kelly down the ground and swept Cara Murray through short fine leg. But she had to survive being dropped on 47, when she heaved Paul to long-on, where Louise Little charged in and then had to pull out of the catch to avoid clashing into mid-on, to bring out her favourite shot: the drive through extra cover. There were four of them, including the hit that saw her reach her century, and it was the result of a mis-field, one of several from an Ireland outfit that had a tough day out but could still admire Muneeba’s effort. “It was difficult to be on the other end but as a spectacle it was outstanding,” Arlene Kelly said.Kelly blamed a bowling performance that saw Ireland spray the ball “two sides of the wicket,” and “string together a couple of dot balls and then give a loosener,” for how heavily they conceded but also acknowledged that Muneeba’s approach put them under pressure. Like many batters at this tournament – England, Australia and India’s line-ups for example – Pakistan “want to take a fearless approach,” Muneeba said, and approach their batting proactively rather than reactively.That reflected in the way Muneeba paced her innings. She knew from about the 12th over, after she’d reached fifty, that a hundred was there for the taking. By the 15th over, she was on 70 and her hundred came in the 19th over, with her second fifty scored in only 26 balls. “There were enough overs and I had enough runs and my team-mates were telling me to go for the hundred because you don’t get opportunities like this very often,” she said.She took on Laura Delany and Kelly, both medium-pacers – evidence that she “enjoys playing pace and is still learning against spin,” but she said she will continue to “work on my boundary options.” Crucially, Muneeba wants to concentrate on batting through the innings and giving Pakistan the ability to end innings on a high note.”There are always some overs which are more productive than others but what is important is how you finish an innings and that is something we could do well today,” she said. “In the first few overs we took our time to settle and that’s how it normally should be. Today was my day and I built a good innings.”Not long after that innings ended, Muneeba had to come out and keep wicket in Pakistan’s defence. Asked if she found it difficult to concentrate on that task after the highs of her hundred, she smiled and replied in the negative. “That wasn’t hard because I got good runs so I was enjoying my time in the middle. I wanted us to win.”And after they did, it all sunk in: days like these don’t come very often at all. “I realised only after the match that I had done something special.”

Captain picked up three wickets in the final over but Bangladesh don’t get the fairytale ending

Danyal Rasool22-Nov-2021Bangladesh won the toss, Bangladesh opted to bat, Bangladesh put up a below par total, Bangladesh lost. You’ve seen this movie before in this series but anyone who told you this one was no different would have to be treated with scepticism. Because although it looked like the same script might play out, a sensational final over from Mahmudullah took Bangladesh to the brink of a famous victory. It went down to the final delivery, which Mohammad Nawaz carved over extra cover for a boundary to complete a clean sweep for Pakistan, and a heart-breaking loss for their opponents.Bangladesh got off to a slow start once more, with the top order failing to find enough boundaries in the Powerplay with Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim and Shahnawaz Dahani keeping the pressure up. Both sides had made a number of changes to their XI, with Bangladesh handing out as many as three debuts, and yet they still couldn’t help but fall behind. Despite wickets in hand, Pakistan ensured Bangladesh were never able to achieve the acceleration they will have aimed for, managing just 55 in the final eight overs and finishing with 124 for 7.Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have both found runs much harder to come by this series, and throughout the Powerplay, they preferred conservatism over aggression. That meant this was the highest opening partnership of the series, but when a rank long hop saw Babar hole out, Pakistan had just 32 runs in seven overs.The game entered a holding pattern where both sides were content to take it deep. Haider Ali was the glue holding Pakistan’s innings together – and the asking rate in check – with a 38-ball 45, but when he and Sarfaraz Ahmed fell off successive Mahmudullah deliveries, Pakistan still needed 8 off 4. It took a six from Iftikhar Ahmed and a final-ball boundary from Nawaz to get over the line even as pandemonium threatened to take over.That final overOn the first ball of the sixth over, a drive from Babar hit Taskin Ahmed flush on the hand, causing the Bangladesh fast bowler to go off for medical attention, with Shohidul Islam completing his over. When Taskin returned a little later, it seemed like little more than a footnote in the game. But towards the end it became immediately apparent that Shohidul taking over the sixth over meant Bangladesh were a bowler short for the final six deliveries.Haider Ali played a crucial hand in Pakistan’s chase against Bangladesh•AFP/Getty Images

Captain Mahmudullah took on the job himself, with Pakistan needing eight. He began with a dot ball before Sarfaraz sent one straight down cow corner’s throat, and Haider sent the next one down to long-on. Mahmudullah was on a hat-trick, Pakistan needed eight off three, and two new batters were at the crease. Iftikhar met his first delivery with a lovely lofted drive that went all the way for six, but with two to get off the last two balls, he went for the glory shot and was out caught at short third man.This is where things began to tip over in bedlam. Mahmudullah bowled from well behind the umpire, and Nawaz pulled out exceptionally late as the ball clattered into the stumps. The umpires called a dead ball but a brief argument ensued, with Bangladesh clearly unhappy about that call. Next delivery, Mahmudullah stopped in his stride, threatening to run the non-striker out. The build-up over, he finally tossed one up full, and Nawaz backed away to clear extra cover, finding a gap and taking Pakistan through to the narrowest of victories.The immediate squeezeThese three games have felt like clones of each other. Bangladesh, batting first once more, struggled in the Powerplay, with no player personifying their stifled approach more than Mohammad Naim. He top-scored with 47, but took 50 balls to get there. That he needed a sharp acceleration at the end to even manage that strike rate indicates how rough it was in the early stages for the opener, who managed just 10 runs off his first 21 balls. His innings was just one sign of a deeper malaise though, where no one who faced more than three balls was able to get more than a run-a-ball.Wasim and chances grabbedWasim spent the entire T20 World Cup on the bench, even when Hasan Ali’s struggles appeared to hint there might be an opening in the side. He has brushed aside that disappointment emphatically in Bangladesh on pitches that aren’t designed for his kind of game. After two exceptional performances, it was more of the same for the young fast bowler, who was economical up front, and returned to mop up with a couple of wickets at the death. This might have been a low-intensity game but Wasim treated it as anything but, keeping rigidly to an off stump line in the Powerplay, allowing just five runs in two overs, before being called on to bowl the 17th and 19th. Bangladesh would manage just 10 runs in those two, with two wickets in the 19th to take Wasim’s series figures to 11-0-48-5.Haider finally comes goodHaider’s inclusion in the Pakistan side is almost divisive enough to form part of a culture war. There’s the mounting statistical evidence he has failed to raise his game at international level, a slew of low scores in innings that palpably lacked confidence underlining that point. And then there’s the eye test combined with his domestic form, which indicates this precocious 21-year old is a supremely gifted striker of the ball. These might not be the pitches to showcase that, but in a target of 125 where no other Pakistan batter (min. three balls faced) scored at more than six an over, Haider smashed his way through the Bangladesh attack with 45 off 38. It included a courageous pair of sixes in the 16th over, just after Shohidul had Rizwan chopping on to bring the asking rate back under control and set Pakistan on course.

But, he says, the Pakistan board decided to go ahead with the series to do its part for the resumption of cricket

PTI26-Jul-2020The PCB came under intense pressure in deciding whether to send its team to England or not after 10 players tested positive for Covid-19, but eventually went ahead with the tour to help with the resumption of the game amid the pandemic, CEO Wasim Khan has said.Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain and Kashif Bhatti were among those who tested positive in the first round of testing ahead of the tour. Some of these players subsequently cleared a second or later test and joined the rest of the squad in England.Pakistan play a three-match Test series against England starting on August 5, followed by three T20Is.”The Board was under pressure when so many players’ tests came positive. Thus sending the cricket team to England during the coronavirus pandemic was quite a tough decision,” Wasim Khan was quoted as saying by Pakistani channel Geo News. “We kept to our plan to go ahead with the tour because we had in the first place decided to send the team to play our important part in the restoration of world cricket, and to keep it on track it is imperative to continue with matches.”Khan also said that “cricket and Covid-19 will have to co-exist”.He said the PCB also took into account that West Indies proceeded with their tour of England despite the uncertainties. “Whenever we are asked regarding our decision to proceed with the tour to England, the same question should also be posed to the West Indies cricket team, which has also continued with scheduled matches,” he said. “West Indies decided to go to England when the situation was quite worse over there [due to the pandemic].”

In the aftermath of the Christchurch attack, both NZC and BCB decided that sending an age-group side to one of the worst affected countries would be insensitive

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2019New Zealand Cricket (NZC) have cancelled their Under-19 team’s tour to Bangladesh, slated for this month, in the aftermath of the terrorist attack on two Christchurch mosques in which at least 40 people had been killed.NZC chairman Greg Barclay said both the NZC and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) agreed that sending an age-group team to one of the countries worst affected would be insensitive and inappropriate.”We have conveyed our deep sense of regret over the circumstances leading to this mutual decision, and the BCB have been both understanding and generous in response,” Barclay said. NZC have nothing but respect for the BCB and believe this development has only served to bring our countries closer together, and to strengthen our bond through cricket. In reply, the BCB has expressed ‘solidarity with NZC and the peace-loving people of New Zealand’.”However, Barclay said both countries remain committed to playing bilateral series across all levels, including “Developmental” and “A” tours, starting with the Bangladesh Under-19 team’s tour to New Zealand in September.Members of Bangladesh’s senior side were just “about 50 yards from the mosque”, which was the site of one of two terror attacks in Christchurch last month. They managed to escape through Hagley Park and shortly after the tour was called off.The aftermath of the attack had also seen Canterbury pull out of the final round of the Plunket Shield.