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Recalled paceman expects his experience and ability to reverse swing the ball to stand him in good stead in the UK

Umar Farooq21-May-20193:01

‘Was disheartening to be sidelined for two years’ – Wahab Riaz

A visibly excited Wahab Riaz said he was raring to go and “prove Mickey Arthur wrong”, after being picked against all odds in Pakistan’s World Cup squad.Wahab last played an ODI in June 2017 during Pakistan’s Champions Trophy title run, and was not among the 23 World Cup probables selected last month or the 17 men who were in England recently for the ODI series. Back in April 2018, Arthur, the Pakistan coach, had criticised the paceman’s “work ethic” and brought up the fact that he had not “won us a game in two years”.He did, however, do well in the Pakistan Cup 50-over tournament this year, picking up ten wickets in five games at an average of 20.70 and an economy of 4.60, as his team Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the title.”I can’t explain in words the pain I have gone through, but I don’t want to live in the past. That’s history now,” Wahab said at a press conference before leaving for England. “Now it’s about what we are going to do in the World Cup. Obviously it’s the coach’s duty to get the best results from the players, and he wants players that can win matches for the team. I also wanted to be in the team, the only difference is I missed two years of [international] cricket. Now I am in and want to prove him [Arthur] wrong and justify my opportunity.”You can’t say it was unfair [that I was selected]. I kept on hearing that I might be chosen for the Australia series or the one against England, but it didn’t work out. It was Allah’s will that my selection was meant for the World Cup directly, but I have been praying that whatever happens should happen for good. Being named in the squad and then not being able to perform will be another unfortunate thing as there is a lot of expectation. I hope for the best and want to take this opportunity to move on and perform.”The last two years have seen Pakistan bank on the likes of Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hassan Ali, Faheem Ashraf and Junaid Khan for their fast-bowling needs, with Wahab overlooked. He even signed with Derbyshire in a bid to reboot his international career, but to no avail. Till now.”I was extremely disheartened as I was performing for the past two years,” he said. “But since I couldn’t perform in the Champions Trophy, I had to sit out because you need to do well continuously to be a part of the team. I was trying to push my case for selection by performing wherever I could. I was very disappointed and frustrated too. I felt that I was hard done by, but at the same time the team was doing well. But I never lost hope. Now, I feel I have been rewarded.”I kept myself fully prepared for this World Cup even knowing that I am nowhere near the team. I even had dreams I was meeting Mickey Arthur and Sarfaraz Ahmad, and sometimes they would pick me, and reject me at other times. Around ten days ago, I had a dream that Inzi bhai [Inzamam-ul-Haq, the chief selector] gave me a call and told me that I have been selected and this is my last chance. It was exactly how it happened when I was called and told about the decision. It is nothing less than make or break for a player who gets an opportunity to play in the World Cup.”Can’t catch me: Wahab Riaz was too good for Zimbabwe’s tail•ICC

One of his direct competitors for a slot in the 15, Junaid Khan, was dropped after being part of the preliminary squad. His made his frustration and anger plain after the event, posting a photograph on social media, later deleted, that depicted him with tape over his mouth.”Every player wishes to play for Pakistan and the World Cup is the biggest challenge in your career,” said Wahab. “Obviously, he will be saddened and very frustrated, and must be thinking he had been treated unfairly. But when I was out for two years, I was thinking the same. At the end, this is the Pakistan team and its selectors, coaches and captains make the decision. I am sure this wasn’t meant to hurt someone but it’s for the country, and whatever they think is good for Pakistan.”Wahab’s selection is mainly based on his ability to generate reverse swing in what everyone expects will be batting-friendly conditions. Pakistan had not expected the pitches in the UK to be as flat as they were in the ODI series, as Inzamam pointed out, but on the evidence of those games, they realised the importance of an experienced hand like Wahab.”Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure since Inzi bhai has said that I have been brought back on the basis of my experience,” Wahab said. “I have worked hard and matured as a bowler in the last two years. I have learnt a lot and the results are visible to everyone. You can’t judge anyone on the basis of one match. I am a bowler and there are chances that I may concede 60, 70 or 80 runs, and it has happened in the past as well. But that’s doesn’t mean that I lost my skills and ability.”It is important to keep things simple on batting wickets. Variations and reverse swing are key in the death overs. With the conditions dry and wickets hard in England, there will be reverse swing and the team that does it better will have the advantage. I have expertise in reverse swing so I will try to restrict the flow of runs in the final few overs.”

Nayeem’s inclusion comes as a big surprise since he has played only four first-class matches and hasn’t been mentioned in any selection conversations in the last three months

Mohammad Isam26-Jan-2018Bangladesh have picked Under-19 offspinner Nayeem Hasan in the 14-man squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka. Seventeen-year old Nayeem is currently playing the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. His inclusion comes as a big surprise since Nayeem has played only four first-class matches and hasn’t been mentioned in any selection conversations in the last few months.

Squad for first Test

Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah (vice-capt), Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mosaddek Hossain, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Kamrul Islam, Mehidy Hassan, Rubel Hossain, Nayeem Hasan.
IN: Nayeem Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Kamrul Islam
OUT: Subashis Roy, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Taskin Ahmed

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that Nayeem will be returning from New Zealand to join the Test squad.”Nayeem is a talented bowler and since we wanted an additional offspinner, we picked him,” Minhajul told ESPNcricinfo. “He is a good option. He is coming back from New Zealand since we lost to India today.”The squad sees other major changes too. Shakib Al Hasan returned as captain after he was rested for the South Africa Tests last year while Mosaddek Hossain and Kamrul Islam were also recalled. Mosaddek was recovering slowly from an eye condition but he scored a century in the Bangladesh Cricket League first-class competition last week.The selectors dropped Subashis Roy, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam and Taskin Ahmed. The three pace bowlers hardly made an impact in South Africa or in first-class matches recently. Soumya, too, hasn’t made many runs after being dropped from the ODI squad for poor form in South Africa.Sabbir has also been batting poorly in the ODIs and was guilty of throwing his wickets away in the Tests in South Africa.

Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara added 226 for the third wicket, both scoring centuries, to put India in control on the opening day in Vizag

The Report by Andrew Miller17-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details3:22

Ganguly: Kohli relishes pressure and responsibility

It was a day of firsts at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The first day of the first Test at what is now the 111th such venue in world cricket, and quite possibly the first occasion on which a pitch invasion by a stray dog has brought about an early tea interval.But, notwithstanding a trio of breakthroughs for England’s returning attack leader, James Anderson, who was playing in his first competitive fixture since August, it was also a day dominated by numbers three and four – specifically Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, who compiled a masterful pair of hundreds in a 226-run stand for India’s third wicket that has, for the first time in this series, given their side unequivocal control of the contest.England, emulating their wholehearted efforts in the drawn first match at Rajkot, started the day with a flourish and finished it with a grind, digging deep on all fronts – with seam and spin, new ball and old – to demand that India had to work hard for their runs. But by the close, with Kohli still in situ on 151 not out, his 14th century in his 50th Test appearance, the task awaiting them was already looking formidable.India’s overnight scoreline of 317 for 4 was everything that Kohli could have wished for after winning a vital toss. First-innings runs, on a wicket that neither captain expects to last five days, will be a critical aspect of this contest, and Alastair Cook had cut an almost condemned figure after missing out on the chance to have first use. “Now we’ve got nothing to lose,” he admitted after calling incorrectly. He might wish to revise that assessment now.Ominously for England, there had been glimmers of the assistance that the pitch is likely to offer at every juncture of India’s day, including signs of turn and uneven bounce for the spinners and indications of reverse swing in the evening session. Anderson, in particular, tried desperately to exploit that aspect in a wholehearted five-over spell that yielded the vital scalp of Pujara for 119. And then, with two overs of the day remaining, he struck with his third delivery with the second new ball to unseat a tentative Ajinkya Rahane for 23.But up until those late intercessions, such was the quality of India’s third-wicket stand that England had little option but to cling onto the batsmen’s coat-tails and seek to manage the speed of their progress, rather than the inevitability.England certainly started their day’s work with a flourish. Stuart Broad struck with his fifth ball of the match as KL Rahul, Gautam Gambhir’s replacement at the top of the order, fenced outside off to poke a sharp catch to third slip, before Anderson, fit again after three months out with a fractured shoulder blade, suckered Murali Vijay with a bouncer to leave India perilously placed on 22 for 2 after five overs.But Pujara, fresh from his first-innings century at Rajkot, and Kohli, whose masterful 49 not out had averted calamity on the final afternoon of that match, were precisely the right pair to set aside the scoreline and play the conditions as placidly as they were – at this stage – proving to be.Virat Kohli raises his bat to the crowd after raising his century•Associated Press

Chances to unsettle their progress were few and far between, as is often the way in the subcontinent, and England were left ruing two fleeting moments in particular: first, a crazy over from Adil Rashid midway through the morning session, when Pujara might have run himself out twice in three deliveries – his belated response to Kohli’s clip to midwicket was especially close to curtains.And then, in a moribund passage of play in the first hour after lunch, Kohli was dropped on the hook by Rashid at fine leg when he had 56. Ben Stokes by this stage had settled into an aggressive back-of-a-length line in a bid to slow India’s progress to a crawl and Kohli, who had survived a similar miscue for his second boundary of the day off Anderson, took the bait but Rashid’s fingers couldn’t spring the trap.It would prove to be a costly miss, but it was Pujara who responded most immediately to that sense that England had lost control of the contest. He signalled India’s charge in the final half-an-hour of the afternoon session by lambasting Zafar Ansari for six and four in consecutive deliveries, before making a mockery of Broad’s 8-1 off-side field by picking the solitary gap at backward point for his 11th four of the innings.As Cook fumbled for his options, Moeen Ali, England’s senior spinner, was curiously overlooked until the 40th over of the innings – an inexplicable delay, notwithstanding the early control that Rashid in particular had been able to exert. Instead, armed with a flat ball, he encountered Kohli in full exhibition mode and his seventh over was banished for three fours through cover, third man and mid-on respectively.It was the left-arm spin of Ansari to whom Cook first turned, in the 11th over of the innings, but despite his tendency in his first two Tests to create chances, today his 12 overs were milked for 45 runs. Both Pujara and Kohli had surged into the nineties when the afternoon session was brought to a close four balls early, when a local mutt chose to lead the groundstaff on such a merry dance that the umpires pointed the players to the pavilion.The distraction might well have played into England’s hands – not even the most assured of cricketers like to dwell over their landmarks. But Pujara in particular was not standing on ceremony. A yawning six off Rashid, high over the midwicket boundary, brought up his tenth Test century from 184 deliveries, and his third in succession, following on from his whitewashing-sealing effort against New Zealand at Indore last month.Kohli followed suit three overs later, with a punch through the covers to welcome Anderson back for his third spell, and before the close he had marched past 150 for the fourth time in Tests, with scarcely a shot out of place. He had one last moment of good fortune on the stroke of 80 overs, when he missed a reverse-sweep against Moeen that was shown, on review, to have been clipping leg. England took the second opinion in the knowledge that they would be getting their top-ups one delivery later. It was a shot to nothing, and nothing was the upshot.By the close, England’s worries weren’t limited to the scoreline, or the state of the wicket, which was already showing significant rough in the bowlers’ footmarks. The fitness of Broad was also a significant concern. His morning spell had been prematurely – and inconveniently – halted after three overs when he reopened a cut on his right wrist while diving in the outfield, and though he did front up to bowl a solitary new-ball over before the close, he appeared to be hobbling badly and had already left the field for a change of boots.England will need a change of something if they are to haul their way back to parity in this contest, but not for the first time, it was their application, not their attitude, that had been found wanting. Anderson, armed with the new ball and a good night’s sleep, might be their best hope. But Kohli already has 151 reasons to be supremely satisfied with India’s position.

Offspinner Bilal Asif will join the Pakistan Test squad in the UAE after undergoing a test of his bowling action in Chennai, while Azhar Ali will return home following the death of his mother-in-law

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Oct-20150:57

Bilal joins Pakistan squad as cover

Offspinner Bilal Asif will join the Pakistan Test squad in the UAE after undergoing a test of his bowling action in Chennai on Monday. Asif was reported for a suspect action following the third ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare earlier this month, but has been selected to provide spin cover for Pakistan, after legspinner Yasir Shah missed the first Test against England because of a back spasm.With Yasir unavailable, Pakistan were forced to field a three-man pace attack in Abu Dhabi. Zulfiqar Babar was the only specialist spinner and Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq had expressed his disappointment at the absence of adequate spin cover in the squad. Yasir is expected to be fit for the second Test in Dubai, but Asif’s presence will give Pakistan an additional all-round spin option. Asif is allowed to bowl until the result of his test is known, which is likely to take another couple of weeks, making him available for the second Test starting on October 22.Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s general manager – cricket, said there was an effort being made to reduce the time between a bowler being reported and the results of the test on his action being released. “We are trying to get the turnaround times on reports a lot faster. We have shortened the time that the player has to be tested by and that the report has to be presented,” Allardice said. “Yes, it may mean they play a match in between – certainly at an ICC event we can be quick as the players are all in the same place – but it’s a trade-off of having the scientific validity verses the turnaround time. At this stage, in-match testing I don’t think it will happen in a hurry – our testing centres will deal with it in the short to medium term.”Meanwhile, Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali will miss the second Test after leaving the squad to return home because of the death of his mother-in-law. Azhar had missed the first Test after sustaining a toe injury on the Zimbabwe tour but Pakistan hope to have him back for the third match, in Sharjah.

The quick turnaround time of one day was hardly enough for Zimbabwe to get its act together and challenge the hosts, after West Indies had posted a competitive 158

The Report by Kanishkaa Balachandran03-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsKieron Pollard’s big hitting took the initiative away from Zimbabwe•Randy Brooks/WICB Media

The quick turnaround time of one day was hardly enough for Zimbabwe to get its act together and challenge the hosts, after West Indies had posted a competitive 158. West Indies were hardly stretched during the chase and once the Zimbabwe top order succumbed to the spin of Samuel Badree, it was all one-way traffic. West Indies took the T20 series 2-0, adding to their three consecutive wins in the one-dayers, extending their winning run in a one-sided tour.The only time Zimbabwe kept the hosts under check was in the first ten overs of the match. The bowlers followed a plan of containing the batsmen, but they couldn’t maintain that control against a power-packed middle order. Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy blazed 56 together in their fifth-wicket stand to give the innings a push and though Zimbabwe hit back with late wickets, Pollard ensured he stayed till the end, helping West Indies to a match-winning total.After getting pasted in the opening T20 on Saturday, Zimbabwe needed to work out a plan to keep the number of boundaries in check and in general make the batsmen work harder for runs. An obvious change was the way the spinners bowled it flatter and fuller and not allowing the batsmen to go for big hits. Lendl Simmons, who smashed six sixes – mostly slog sweeps – in his unbeaten 63 off 49 balls on Saturday, managed only two big hits in his 41 off 39 today. He found it harder to get under the bounce and slog thanks to the lengths bowled by the spinners.Johnson Charles, Dwayne Bravo and Simmons all perished while trying to push the scoring. The first 12 overs had 29 dot balls, showing the sort of control the Zimbabwe bowlers had.Pollard and Sammy came together at the start of the 15th over and the run rate surged. Sammy launched Christopher Mpofu out of the ground when the bowler overpitched and Pollard was merciless against Chatara, ransacking 23 off an over that included two sixes and two fours. The extra pace worked to West Indies’ advantage, and the seamers erred by not bowling it fuller. As a result, the batsmen helped themselves to some powerful blows down the ground.Zimbabwe conceded only 64 off the first ten overs, but the last five leaked 60. Zimbabwe did hit back towards the end with quick wickets, but Pollard’s was the one they wanted, but never had.Zimbabwe needed a rousing start from their top order but their twin failures in the two T20s will be the biggest concern ahead of the Tests. They were undone by Badree, who nipped out three of the top four. Chamu Chibhabha made too much room to cut against the turn and lost his middle stump; Vusi Sibanda slashed towards point but Bravo’s sharp reflexes had the better of him; Brendan Taylor fell to a leading edge to cover. Taylor’s failures in both games put pressure on the middle order. Hamilton Masakadza played the lone hand with an unbeaten 53, but his knock was overshadowed by what was a sorry response from Zimbabwe.There was no passage of play during which West Indies were challenged – only seven fours were scored in the first 15 overs and there were no sixes. Batting out 20 overs was no consolation.

Was the media at fault for talk of a rift in the Indian team, as MS Dhoni has claimed? ESPNcricinfo has transcripts of the relevant press conferences to let you decide

Sidharth Monga26-Feb-2012MS Dhoni has said the India dressing-room has had a good laugh at the reports of a rift•AFP

MS Dhoni has blamed the media for quoting him selectively to Virender Sehwag, to elicit replies that suggested a grave communication gap in the team. He said no such problem existed, and there was no need to straighten it out. He did, though, say it created an awkward situation because it was possible Sehwag might have actually believed what the press told him. He hadn’t, Dhoni added.However, a reading of the transcripts (below) of the two press conferences in question confirm a variance in statements between the captain and his deputy.”You must have asked him something,” Dhoni said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. “Why don’t you ask yourself the same question?”You have the press conference on tape. It will be interesting if you watch the whole press conference. You will get the answer yourself of what exactly I said. And what exactly I meant. Often what’s important is, you can’t see just that particular answer. Maybe the build-up from the first question as to what you are answering [is important]. Often we don’t answer because the first part of the first question that we answer is actually an answer of the second question or the third question. If you see the whole press conference, it will offer a valid point as to what was said.”Dhoni said the dressing-room had had a good laugh at the reports. Asked if he was happy with the communication flow within the team, Dhoni said, “Yeah, yeah. It has always been there. It is not this series or last series. It has been perfect. And we enjoy it actually when things like this happened. It’s the talk of the dressing room. We try to get the positives out of it. It’s half an hour of good talk in the dressing room, because that’s the best we can get out of it.”Reproduced below are excerpts from the two said press conferences with all relevant questions and the build-up that led to Dhoni and Sehwag saying what they did.The first one is, from February 19, after India had lost to Australia. This is MS Dhoni answering questions.Q: MS, you mentioned that the top order needs to perform, but we are in the second stage of this tournament. Do you reckon the best XI should be playing now? Or do you want to continue…
Dhoni: You have to see what the best XI is. If you talk about the best XI being the players who have scored runs in the tournament then also we may find it difficult to feature the XI. Or if you talk about the number of games we have played or the experienced guys have played, so it’s about everyone going. Everybody needs to contribute. Gautam has done well, he needs to keep on going because he is among the senior guys who will be batting up the order. Then you have Virat who has done well, Rohit who is getting his chances and then Raina also. So we need to contribute as a unit, and that’s what should be the key. You want to field a very good fielding side also. We have seen in these close games that you can’t really afford to score always 20 more runs just because your fielding is not good enough on the big field. We have to be careful and hopefully it will be sorted out.Q: Is this series more about bringing something home after a disastrous Test series or is it about building a team for the 2015 World Cup?
Dhoni: It should be both because you want to do well. As I said you know the opposition team played well, they outplayed you but at the end of the day you feel bad, in the sense if you are not winning games you feel bad. We want to get a bit of both. You want the youngsters to play the games but of course we need to get into the finals first because it’s important to get into the finals. Then it’s a three match series in the finals. You have to be consistent in two games to win the tournament. But you want to see these youngsters, they will be coming here again and again. Maybe for the next World Cup also. They should know how you need to play in these situations or conditions against a bowling attack that is world class, so overall you want to get the best for the side.Q: Coming back to what you say, will there be a scenario – we are at the business end of the tournament, you haven’t made the final yet – will there be a scenario where you play all three – Sachin, Sehwag and Gambhir?
Dhoni: That may happen. It will affect our fielding in a big way, which means there will be more pressure on the batsmen to score those extra 20 runs, but if the middle order does not perform consistently well you may have to go with the experienced guys at the top of the order, and let the scoring do, you know, from the bottom-most batsmen. In the sense, 5, 6 and 7.[A break, and then this question.]Q: You spoke about the fielding in the case you play all the three seniors. Is it really – suppose if Viru [who didn’t play that day] plays instead of either Rohit or Raina, is it worth 20 extra runs in the field?
Dhoni: Definitely. Because people often talk about that one run, but that one run that you save, it changes the strike and if the next ball, the batsman plays a big shot – a six or a four, it can have a big impact. If you see, the last few games that we played, we got two or three run outs and that really had a big impact.Also, what we need to see, it’s not only these three players that we are talking about. We also have quite a few other players who are slow on the field. It will just add on to that and we will be left with just two or three really good fielders. It’s not that these fielders are bad but for this environment and these conditions and big outfields, they are slightly on the slower side. They will be exploited. Once the ball goes to them, the Australians or the Sri Lankans will try to exploit the doubles or three runs. It means it will put more pressure on their body because the throwing needs to be good and the diving needs to be good, so they will be under constant pressure. So ultimately it will be a pressure game.This was reported as it was, and two days later Virender Sehwag took questions.Q: Do you agree with Dhoni when he says that you, Sachin and Gambhir can’t be played together in the same XI because you are slow fielders?
Sehwag: I don’t think so, we played together in the World Cup and we won games. Just because we want to give chances to youngsters and it’s good for every team, just keep rotating players and they will get good … and they will be fresh for next game, so that’s what I think.[A break, and then this question.]Q: Were you surprised when you heard that Dhoni came out and said if you three play together, you will concede 20 runs more. And did you have a chat with him?
Sehwag: No we didn’t know that. I didn’t know what he said and what’s going on in media. But we decided, we had a meeting, he chatted with everyone, with Gautam and myself and Tendulkar. He explained that he wanted to give chances to youngsters, so youngsters can play all the matches here, and the next World Cup is also here, so they’ll get to know the idea of how the wickets behave in Australia, so when they come for next World Cup, so they will prepare themselves.Q: The thrust of Dhoni’s argument the other night was that top three batsmen – you, Gautam and Sachin – could concede 20 runs extra. Good fielders but slow fielders.
Sehwag: We are same for the last 10 years. Nothing has changed.Q: Even if you concede 20 runs extra, Sehwag plays a big knock, you win the match single-handedly. These youngsters are saving 20 runs, but aren’t scoring…
Sehwag: You have to ask Dhoni again. What he told us is, he has to give chances to youngsters. They will come here and play the next World Cup. That’s what he told us.Q: Will you have a chat with him?
Sehwag: Why should I have a chat with him? When he has said he is the captain, he is the leader, if he and coach thinks we should give breaks to the top order, that’s fine, I am okay with that. I don’t have any issues with that.[A break again.]Q: Do you feel you, Tendulkar and Gambhir are liabilities in the field?
Sehwag: Have you seen my catch?Q: You said that the reason given to you three separately was they wanted to give the youngsters more chances. Now, you come to know through us that the other night another reason was given. Will you now have a chat with him?
Sehwag: I am available for all the matches. It depends on the captain and the coach what XI they will pick. If they give me the reason that we want to give chances to youngsters and you take a break, I am happy with that.*07:54 GMT, Feb 26: This article’s introduction has been changed

What pleased captain Kumar Sangakkara most about Sri Lanka’s win against West Indies in their warm-up match was that they chased a competitive total of 281 batting under lights

Sa'adi Thawfeeq16-Feb-2011Sri Lanka completed their World Cup preparations on a high note defeating West Indies by four wickets at the R Premadasa Stadium on Tuesday. What pleased captain Kumar Sangakkara most about the win was that they chased a competitive total of 281 batting under lights, and won with 15 balls to spare.”Mentally we are slightly better than a couple of years ago. I always maintained it was hard to chase under lights at one time but sides have done it before,” Sangakkara said.”Sometimes you get too caught up with thinking you can’t do things under lights. It’s more about believing that you can. If it doesn’t work out, try to analyse and see what went wrong and how you can do things better.”Sri Lanka have had nine successful run chases out of 13 under lights in the last two years, but the last three times they had to bat second in a day-night match at the Premadasa, they fell short. Though most teams win the toss and bat first in Sri Lanka, as West Indies did on Tuesday, Sangakkara said he wanted to bat second in the warm-up game to prepare for any situation during the World Cup.”We were anyway going to bat second if we had won the toss. The wicket was much better than we expected. It had good bounce, enough turn and all in all was a good track to bat on even chasing.”Even though Sri Lanka have won both their warm up games, against Netherlands and West Indies, Sangakkara said there was still work to do before the World Cup. “Preparation wise there is still a lot of work to be done and we don’t have much time. The first 15 overs [of the match against West Indies] were not good enough for World Cup cricket. We cannot allow 100 runs off the first 11-12 overs. Chasing, we should have finished the game off with one or two wickets less than what it cost us.”Sangakkara stated that his team was pretty settled with their XI although in the two warm-up games they played all 15 players, with the batters getting a bat and the bowlers a bowl.”The guys need to be able to go out there and play. If a few of the players don’t play any warm-up games sometimes they feel left out. It’s nice to be in a group who’s always playing.”

Victoria’s captain David Hussey extended his team’s lead at the top of the Sheffield Shield table to eight points after guiding the Bushrangers to a six-wicket win over New South Wales at the MCG

Cricinfo staff15-Feb-2010Victoria 418 and 4 for 200 (Hussey 79) beat New South Wales 225 and 387 (Hughes 149, S Smith 124, McDonald 3-51) by six wickets

ScorecardDavid Hussey raced the Bushrangers to victory with an aggressive 79•Getty Images

Victoria’s captain David Hussey extended his team’s lead at the top of the Sheffield Shield table to eight points after guiding the Bushrangers to a six-wicket win over New South Wales at the MCG. Steven Smith’s second first-class century helped the Blues reach 387 but they lost their wickets too quickly on the final day, which gave Victoria plenty of time to chase 195.Trent Copeland did his best to restrict the hosts and had Nick Jewell lbw for 2 and Aaron Finch also trapped in front for 26, before Hussey and Lloyd Mash steadied the Bushrangers. It was an important innings for Mash, who has been given the chance to replace Brad Hodge in the first-class line-up but this season had scored 14, 8, 0, 2 and 6.He finished with a handy 40 before edging Josh Hazlewood to slip just after tea, and Hussey (79) and McDonald, who made 39 not out, got them close to the line. The winning runs came via a six from Matthew Wade, who came to the crease for two balls only and cleared the boundary off Steve O’Keefe.The Bushrangers began the day still needing six wickets to finish off the Blues and things began well with the early departure of Dominic Thornely, who was lbw to McDonald for a duck. The Blues looked well-placed to bat for a draw when O’Keefe (43) and Smith (124) put together a 93-run stand and Smith brought up his hundred with a six off Jon Holland.However, both men fell playing attacking strokes and it gave the Victorians the chance to test the tail against the second new ball. McDonald and Damien Wright finished with three wickets each and an extended opening session meant Victoria began their pursuit straight after the lunch break, with plenty of overs in hand.

The series will be tagged onto the tour of South Africa although ZC had also held out hope for a Test match

Tristan Lavalette28-Nov-2025The long Test drought between Australia and Zimbabwe is set to continue, but the countries will contest a three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe next year ahead of the 2027 World Cup in southern Africa.Before their Test and ODI tour of South Africa, earmarked for September-October 2026, Australia will have a brief stopover in Zimbabwe for a trio of ODIs, a development first reported by and likely to be officially announced in the coming weeks.The series is to be played in Harare, and possibly Bulawayo, with the flagship 10,000-seat stadium at Victoria Falls unlikely to be ready by then.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that Zimbabwe Cricket had been pushing for a one-off Test match to be included in what would have been a showpiece of the tour. But it will not eventuate with Australia to undergo a heavy Test schedule, playing at least 19 Tests from mid-2026 to the Ashes tour of 2027. An ODI series also looms as important preparation for Australia with Zimbabwe to co-host the next 50-over World Cup along with South Africa and Namibia.Zimbabwe and Australia have only played three Tests against each other with the last two being in October 2003 in a short series best remembered for Matthew Hayden briefly setting a world record score of 380 in the first Test at the WACA.The only Test in Zimbabwe was played in 1999 when a Steve Waugh-led Australia won by 10 wickets in what proved to be wicketkeeper Ian Healy’s last Test match.The ODI series will end an eight-year absence for Australia in Zimbabwe. Australia were part of a T20 tri-series, also involving Pakistan, in 2018 while they last played the 50-over format there in 2014.While Test cricket between the nations remains on pause, Zimbabwe power brokers are confident that England will visit for a one-off Test match as an extension of their tour to South Africa in late 2026-early ’27. It is hoped the match will be played at Victoria Falls, named the Fale Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium.England and Zimbabwe in May ended a 22-year Test drought with a four-day match at Trent Bridge. The countries have played just seven Test matches against each other, with only two in Zimbabwe – a 0-0 drawn series in December 1996.ZC have been actively trying to encourage countries to stopover en route to neighbouring South Africa and long circled late 2026 as opportunities to negotiate rare fixtures with Australia and England.”We are a Test nation, so playing the top countries like Australia and England at home will go a long way to making this format popular in Zimbabwe,” ZC chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani told ESPNcricinfo.”Playing against the best teams will help our players develop their skills in Test cricket. Understandably Australia wants to prepare for the World Cup, but hopefully we can play them in Test cricket in the future.”As ESPNcricinfo reported earlier this month, the next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle is likely to feature all 12 Full Members in one division.It means teams will have more incentive to play Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland, who aren’t part of the current nine-team WTC. If the 12-team, one division WTC eventuates as expected – a final decision is likely at the ICC meetings in March – it has been widely assumed that those teams will mostly host one-off matches. No extra funding is expected to be available for hosting Tests.But Zimbabwe plans to host longer series in the next WTC, doubling down on their commitment to Test cricket. “Some countries might just play a minimum number of Tests, but we are hoping to play more,” Mukuhlani said. “We will aim to stage two or more Test match series against the likes of Australia and England.”

New Zealand overseas signing Tom Bruce notches first Championship fifty

ECB Reporters Network10-May-2024Dillon Pennington was Nottinghamshire’s outstanding performer as Lancashire were denied the prosperity they had been hoping for when they opted to bat on day one of their Vitality County Championship match at Trent Bridge.Skipper Keaton Jennings made 91 and overseas batter Tom Bruce 73 but Lancashire let a good position slip, tumbling from 190 for 2 to close on 306 for 8.Pennington inflicted heavy damage by taking 3 for 15 in an excellent five-over spell with the second new ball before seamer Dane Paterson dealt Lancashire a further blow by removing Bruce in the day’s penultimate over.With Australian spinner Nathan Lyon rested for this round, Lancashire have named England pace bowler Saqib Mahmood in their line-up for the first time in 12 months following a stress fracture.It had looked like evolving as Lancashire’s day until the last half-hour of the middle session, when Jennings and George Balderson, who had shared a third-wicket stand worth 107, were both out in quick succession.The morning session had been theirs until Josh Bohannon’s dismissal by Lyndon James from what would have been the penultimate ball before lunch. Bohannon had picked up four boundaries against the Nottinghamshire allrounder, albeit one off an edge, but was struck on the front pad as he looked for a fifth through the on side and was clearly out.Despite pace bowlers Pennington and the fit-again Olly Stone subjecting Lancashire’s openers to a testing opening passage on a used pitch with a decent covering of grass, Nottinghamshire’s only breakthrough prior to that had come in the 10th over, when Paterson found the edge to have Luke Wells caught at second slip.Encouraged by James’ breakthrough, which had ended what had been a threatening partnership between the aggressive Bohannon and a more measured Jennings, Nottinghamshire emerged from lunch with renewed energy. Yet it was Lancashire’s third-wicket pair who dominated for the next couple of hours.Jennings, having built a painstaking 128-ball half-century, which he completed with his 10th boundary, upped the tempo. A paddle sweep for four and a nicely driven straight six off Calvin Harrison’s legspin signalled growing assuredness and he looked well set for a second hundred of the season.But Nottinghamshire’s bowlers never let their effort levels dip and fought back in the half-hour before tea.Jennings will take the blame for his own demise, going for a reverse sweep against Harrison but able only to top-edge it to slip where Tom Moores – back in the Nottinghamshire side for the first time this season but unable to prise the wicketkeeper’s gloves from Joe Clarke – took an easy catch.But the departure of Balderson was purely down to the skill of the bowler, Stone’s impressive contribution deservedly rewarded when the batter was beaten for pace as he tried to flick across the line, squarely in front as the ball collided with the front pad. The two wickets transformed 190 for 2 into 196 for 4.Lancashire’s double setback meant two new batters at the crease, but with Bruce taking the lead, reaching a half-century off 69 balls, it took the second new ball for Nottinghamshire to restore a measure of parity on the day, Pennington striking twice in the space of nine deliveries as George Bell edged to first slip and Matthew Hurst to third.The ex-Worcestershire quick picked up his third scalp when England spinner Tom Hartley found the safe hands of Harrison at second slip, after which Bruce reined himself in noticeably. Lancashire picked up a second batting point but the loss of Bruce, leg before to Paterson, was another big blow.Before play began, players and spectators observed a minute’s silence in respect for Josh Baker, the Worcestershire spin bowler who died last week at the age of just 20. Baker represented his county against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge only last month.It was a particularly poignant moment for Pennington and Jack Haynes, who now wear Nottinghamshire colours but shared the New Road dressing room with Baker before switching counties at the end of last season.