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Alyssa Healy wary of the Chamari Athapaththu threat; Bangladesh dropped four catches in win over Scotland

Vishal Dikshit04-Oct-20243:19

Who will be the breakout star of this T20 World Cup?

Australia vs Sri Lanka

Sharjah, 2pm local timeAustralia squad: Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Tayla VlaeminckSri Lanka squad: Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilshari, Nilakshika Silva, Hasini Perera, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Sachini Nisansala, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Achini Kulasuriya, Inoka Ranaweera, Shashini Gimhani, Ama Kanchana, Sugandika KumariRelated

• Healy: 'Not here to defend the title, here to win it'

• Wise beyond her years, Alice Capsey is forever learning

• England the heavyweights in Group B

Tournament form guide: After warming up with victories against Bangladesh and Scotland, Asia Cup champions Sri Lanka lost their tournament opener to Pakistan in Sharjah. Australia, not surprisingly, beat England and West Indies in the warm-ups, after batting first in both games.News brief: Sri Lanka are in a spot, having lost their opening match to lower-ranked Pakistan, that too by being restricted to 85 for 9 in a modest chase of 117. They will now play a day game against Australia in the heat of Sharjah – the same as their first game – so team changes may not be no the cards. Sri Lanka will have to pull up their socks on the field after putting down three catches, which cost them heavily on Thursday. Australia might go spin heavy too, like the teams did on the opening day, and they have enough allrounders to do that.Australia have never lost to Sri Lanka in T20Is, the last of which came in the 2023 T20 World Cup that saw Sri Lanka on the receiving end of a ten-wicket drubbing. Australia will, however, not want to be “Atha-ed”, what Alyssa Healy said is being smashed by Chamari Athapaththu.Player to watch: Player of the Tournament in the 2023 edition, Beth Mooney has had a few low scores in the lead up to the tournament, not managing to go past 15 in her five T20I innings. She did score 50 in the England warm-up, but she would want a big score in the main tournament too, along the lines of her unbeaten 99* off 54 balls in the Women’s Hundred not too long ago for Manchester Originals. A strong start with Healy at the top could flatten Sri Lanka early, batting first or second.Bangladesh put down four chances in their tournament opener against Scotland•ICC/Getty Images

Bangladesh vs England

Sharjah, 6pm local time Bangladesh squad: Nigar Sultana (capt, wk), Nahida Akter, Murshida Khatun, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Sobhana Mostary, Rabeya Khan, Sultana Khatun, Fahima Khatun, Marufa Akter, Jahanara Alam, Dilara Akter, Taj Nehar, Shathi Rani, Disha Biswas England squad: Heather Knight (capt), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath, Amy Jones (wk), Freya Kemp, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Linsey Smith, Danni WyattTournament form guide” In what is a ‘home’ World Cup for Bangladesh, they started things off on a positive note, with a 16-run win against Scotland, after they had also beaten Pakistan in the second warm-up. England started their warm-ups with a 33-run loss to Australia, before beating New Zealand by five wickets.News brief: Bangladesh now run into a much stronger side in England, who are more aggressive than their 2023 version, and are carrying spinners aplenty for this edition. England also have a fully fit team to choose from. Left-arm spinner Linsey Smith has returned, and also present are Sophie Ecclestone, Charlie Dean, Sarah Glenn and Alice Capsey, with her handy part-time offbreaks. England are likely to go with three frontline spinners for a pitch that aided turn and didn’t see much bounce.Bangladesh were restricted to 119 for 7 by Scotland in the opener, and scoring bigger or quicker against England will be a lot tougher. Bangladesh were the worst fielding side on the opening day, having put down four chances, and they will have to tighten that aspect if they want to think about beating England for the first time in women’s T20Is. This is an evening game, yet not as much dew is expected in Sharjah compared to Dubai, which might have been the reason why Pakistan opted to bat in the evening game here on Thursday.Player to watch: Ecclestone is, without doubt, England’s best spinner, but don’t take your eyes off legspinner Sarah Glenn. She has been England’s second-highest wicket-taker since the end of the 2023 T20 World Cup, with a tally of 26 just behind Ecclestone’s 29. But Glenn has gone for much fewer runs per over with an economy rate of 5.27, compared to Ecclestone’s 6.25. A handy bat down the order, this will be the third T20 World Cup for Glenn at the age of just 25.

Rashid Khan was retained by Adelaide Strikers who also nabbed Hundred player of the tournament Jamie Overton

Alex Malcolm03-Sep-2023Quinton de Kock is set to make his debut in the BBL this season after being selected by Melbourne Renegades in the overseas draft while Melbourne Stars took England star Harry Brook but not before trying to poach Rashid Khan from Adelaide Strikers for the second year running.The second edition of the BBL’s overseas draft was a lot more tactical as clubs tried to fill their needs while also prising out some regulars from other clubs.Ashes stars Brook and Zak Crawley will both return to the BBL but neither with their previous club Hobart Hurricanes, with Crawley heading to Perth Scorchers. But both are likely to be unavailable for the latter stages of the tournament due to England’s Test tour of India, while there is also a white-ball tour of West Indies in December.Renegades were able to snare de Kock at pick four having gone in without a wicketkeeper on their list. He is listed to be available from December 10 to January 5 which would make it seven of Renegades’ first eight games. But that is only the case if de Kock does not play in either of South Africa’s scheduled T20I and ODI series against India which run from December 10 to December 21. Renegades also picked Mujeeb Ur Rahman to get him back for a second year running.Stars selected Rashid with their first pick, this time the first of the draft, for the second year running but Strikers were having none of it, immediately activating their retention to keep the star legspinner in Adelaide. Strikers also took men’s Hundred player of the tournament Jamie Overton in one of the biggest coups of the night and he is likely to be fully available for the 10 home and away matches to add a quality allrounder that they were missing.Zak Crawley was picked up by defending champions Perth Scorchers•ECB via Getty Images

After missing out on Rashid, Stars took Brook despite a clear need to find a high-class spinner having gone into the draft without even a domestic spinner on their list after Adam Zampa was traded to Renegades. But they made up for it later in the draft. They picked Stars favourite Haris Rauf with pick nine but added fellow Pakistan legspinner Usama Mir their last selection having thought the tall legspinner might be taken earlier in the draft.Brook wasn’t the only England Ashes star to get picked. Crawley could have been retained by Hurricanes at any stage in the first two rounds but he slipped all the way to pick 16 which forced Scorchers to make a late decision to take him having not expected him to slip that far. Head coach Adam Voges noted Crawley had the attributes to succeed on bouncy surfaces at Perth Stadium.Hurricanes looked elsewhere with their tactics as they needed a bowling allrounder. Sydney Sixers had the retention rights to both Tom Curran and Chris Jordan but could only take one of them. Hurricanes took Curran with pick three and Sixers retained him immediately. Hurricanes then took Jordan. They also picked middle-order batter Sam Hain who was not retained by Heat. Hurricanes later added another allrounder in Corey Anderson.Heat instead chose Sam Billings to ensure they got both of last year’s high-profile overseas batters back into their line-up, having earlier got Colin Munro, to cover the absences of Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne due to international duty. Munro and Billings are both ILT20 players and should be available until deep into the tournament. Heat also added English allrounder Paul Walter who they believe will be an asset at the Gabba.Sixers had a nervous wait until pick 14 to see if James Vince would be taken by another club having used their retention pick on Curran but Vince got through. They later added young England legspinner Rehan Ahmed in the last round.Sydney Thunder made a predictable selection in the first round calling out Alex Hales. They produced a surprise later, selecting Pakistan quick Zaman Khan. They also only took two overseas like Renegades and Scorchers, with the option to sign another post the draft. Scorchers took Laurie Evans with pick 17.How the draft played outMelbourne Stars Harry Brook, Haris Rauf, Usama Mir
Adelaide Strikers Rashid Khan (retained), Jamie Overton, Adam Hose
Hobart Hurricanes Chris Jordan, Sam Hain, Corey Anderson
Melbourne Renegades Quinton de Kock, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Sydney Thunder Alex Hales, Zaman Khan
Sydney Sixers Tom Curran (retained), James Vince, Rehan Ahmed
Brisbane Heat Colin Munro, Sam Billings, Paul Walter
Perth Scorchers Zak Crawley, Laurie Evans

It’s a strong-looking squad, to be led by Abhimanyu Easwaran, with the likes of B Sai Sudharsan, Sarfaraz Khan and Navdeep Saini in the mix

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2024Abhimanyu Easwaran will lead India A in the visiting England Lions’ first two fixtures in Ahmedabad later this month. The shadow tour to the five-Test series between India and England starts with a two-day warm-up game on January 12-13, followed by a four-day first-class fixture on January 17-20, both in Ahmedabad.Abhimanyu was reserve opener during India’s recent two-Test tour of South Africa, and is a strong favourite to don a similar role during the home Tests. The squad also has B Sai Sudharsan, who struck back-to-back half-centuries in his first two ODIs against South Africa last month, as Abhimanyu’s likeliest opening partner, with Devdutt Padikkal not included. Padikkal, who featured in the first four-day fixture in South Africa last month, struck 193 against a strong Punjab attack in the opening round of the Ranji Trophy in Hubli on Saturday.The middle order looks formidable, with Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan and Pradosh Ranjan Paul, Tamil Nadu’s highest run-getter from the 2022-23 Ranji season, rewarded for their consistency. Patidar and Sarfaraz could get special attention if the selectors are looking for middle-order options for the Test side – Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul were India’s No. 5 and No. 6 in South Africa behind No. 4 Virat Kohli.KS Bharat, the reserve wicketkeeper on the tour of South Africa, is the first-choice stumper and a likely frontrunner to be in the squad as the second wicketkeeper for the England Tests, with Dhruv Jurel named his understudy. Jurel struck one of three half-centuries for India A in their second four-day fixture in Benoni late last month.Meanwhile, there is a second India A call-up in the spin department for Rajasthan’s Manav Suthar. Whether it is a move aimed at not giving the English exposure to much top-quality spin or Suthar is, indeed, in the selectors’ radar isn’t known at this stage. But Suthar, a left-arm-spinner, enjoyed good returns in the last Ranji season picking up 39 wickets, and subsequently impressed at the Emerging Asia Cup in Sri Lanka in July. Pulkit Narang, who plies his trade for Services, is the second spin option.Navdeep Saini, Vidwath Kaverappa, Tushar Deshpande and Akash Deep, all part of the ‘A’ squad in South Africa, have been rewarded with call-ups as the pace attack remains largely unaltered. While Saini, Deshpande and Akash Deep have been in the India A set-up for a while, Kaverappa forced his way in on the back of a strong showing for South Zone in the season-opening Duleep Trophy.These games will be followed by two more four-day fixtures, also in Ahmedabad.

India A squad against England

Abhimanyu Easwaran (capt), B Sai Sudharsan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Pradosh Ranjan Paul, KS Bharat (wk), Manav Suthar, Pulkit Narang, Navdeep Saini, Tushar Deshpande, Vidwath Kaverappa, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Akash Deep

Despite an unbeaten 44 from Ellyse Perry, RCB could only muster 131 for 6

S Sudarshanan02-Mar-2024Mumbai Indians continued their rich vein of form in WPL 2024, running Royal Challengers Bangalore ragged with both bat and ball to seal a seven-wicket win. This despite missing a couple of their frontline players – Harmanpreet Kaur and Shabnim Ismail.Ismail’s replacement, Issy Wong, set the tone with the new ball, key India allrounder Pooja Vastrakar left her imprints in the middle phase with the ball, Saika Ishaque was back among the wickets after a quiet start to the competition, all while stand-in captain Nat Sciver-Brunt left her stamp on the field, with the ball and later with the bat. All these meant that RCB were kept to a mere 131 – despite an unbeaten 38-ball 44 from Ellyse Perry who returned to the XI – a total which Mumbai overhauled with little fuss.In doing so, Mumbai not just went to the top of the points table, but also maintained a clean slate in run-chases in the competition.Related

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• Ecclestone three-for, Harris blitz hand Gujarat Giants third defeat

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Perry good and the not-so good

Teams batting first have had a tough time in WPL 2024. Even so, RCB are one of the two teams to have a win while defending a score. But on Saturday, they couldn’t get a strong start and lost Smriti Mandhana and S Meghana inside five overs. Which brought Perry, who was ill for the past few days, to the crease. On a brownish surface, where run-scoring was not the easiest, she took time to get going, scoring only three off her first nine balls.A shortish ball from legspinner SB Keerthana in the tenth over allowed her to score her first boundary – a pull through square leg. In fact, all of her five fours came off deliveries that were on a length or short. That the illness had sapped her energy was becoming evident as the innings progressed. Mumbai’s stand-in captain Sciver-Brunt rotated her bowlers such that no bowler bowled back-to-back overs. And they also rarely erred in lines and lengths, which handicapped Perry.Only Georgia Wareham offered a bit of support to Perry – the duo were involved in a 52-run sixth-wicket partnership – which allowed RCB to get to a respectable score. Apart from them, only Meghana and Sophie Molineux entered double digits and RCB finished their innings without a single six.

Bhatia, Matthews swift in chase

Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews began in a manner that would dispel any doubts over the tricky nature of the 132-run chase. They are one of the most prolific pairs in terms of partnership runs in the WPL – 431 runs with four fifty-plus stands – and started off in dominating fashion. Bhatia punched the first ball she faced down the ground, Matthews played a short-arm jab through midwicket off her first – both off Renuka Singh’s opening over. The left-arm spin of Molineux was greeted with a six and a four by Bhatia as Mumbai began their hunt in the fourth gear.Renuka went the distance in her second over too, the third of the innings. Matthews capitalised on an overpitched one and then on the width for two fours. Bhatia played one of the most gorgeous pick-up shots over midwicket for a six in between.Sophie Devine was called upon with Mumbai 37 for 0 in three and she struck on her fifth ball. Bhatia hit successive fours before getting a thick outside edge that was snaffled by a diving Richa Ghosh to her left. Matthews then greeted Wareham’s legspin with a six but soon fell to Shreyanka Patil for a 21-ball 26. Mumbai had already reduced 69 from their target by then.Issy Wong struck early to remove in-form Smriti Mandhana•BCCI

Sciver-Brunt, Kerr apply finish touches

In the absence of Harmanpreet, Kerr continued to bat at No. 4 and proved to be the perfect foil for Sciver-Brunt. She began with a couple of shots through the leg side off medium-pacer Simran Bahadur. The first was a pristinely-timed flick through midwicket while the other was a back-foot clip between deep square leg and deep midwicket. She also feasted of the spin of Patil and Asha Sobhana, even as Sciver-Brunt steadily accumulated the runs. Kerr and Sciver-Brunt added 49 off just 35 runs together for the third wicket.Despite not playing the fancy scoops and reverse sweeps, Kerr finished with a strike rate of 166.66, while staying unbeaten on 40 off 24, and saw Mumbai through.

Fifties for Rob Keogh, Luke Procter but Northants still 170 adrift in second innings

ECB Reporters Network27-Jun-2023Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond became Wantage Road’s first visiting triple-centurion as his side closed in on an innings victory against Northamptonshire in the LV= Insurance County Championship.Bell-Drummond finished unbeaten on exactly 300, registering the fourth-highest individual score in Kent’s history after almost nine hours at the crease as the visitors racked up an imposing total of 621.That left Northamptonshire, for whom legspinner Alex Russell recorded figures of 6 for 175 in only his second first-class game, weighed down by a hefty first-innings deficit of 384 as they went out to bat again. However, spirited half-centuries by Rob Keogh – his second of the match – and skipper Luke Procter maintained their side’s hopes of avoiding defeat as they reached 214 for 5, still 170 adrift, before bad light halted play.Resuming on 271 overnight, Bell-Drummond survived a strong lbw appeal by Ben Sanderson in the second over of the day and made cautious progress while his partners threw the bat at the other end. A delicate late cut for two off Russell propelled him beyond John Freeman’s 286 for Essex more than a century earlier – the previous highest score registered by an opposition player at Wantage Road.However, wickets began to tumble to the young spinner, with Joey Evison lured down the track and stumped for 27 before Hamid Qadri and Wes Agar also perished in pursuit of quick runs.With Jack White trapping Matt Quinn leg before first ball, Bell-Drummond, on 293, suddenly looked in danger of ending up marooned with a personal landmark tantalisingly close as last man Arshdeep Singh arrived at the crease.The India international calmly swung his first delivery over long-on for two before smashing a couple of boundaries as Bell-Drummond inched closer to 300 – eventually pulling Russell for a single and punching the air with delight and relief.Having slammed the next ball into the hands of deep midwicket, Arshdeep raced off to lace up his bowling boots as he and Agar hurtled in for a pre-lunch burst at Northamptonshire’s openers.They removed both before the interval, with Emilio Gay prodding Arshdeep to Jack Leaning at second slip before the skipper’s call for Joe Denly’s legbreaks paid dividends as Ricardo Vasconcelos departed in the same manner to the final ball of the session.Sam Whiteman displayed some resistance after lunch, crunching Agar for successive off-side boundaries to reach 28, but Denly tempted him to sweep and the resulting top edge sailed to backward square. Denly, who remained on throughout most of the afternoon, might have collected a third wicket when Ben Compton was unable to grasp a sharp chance from Keogh at short leg with the right-hander on 18.Keogh gradually got on top of Kent’s all-spin attack, taking advantage of some wayward Denly deliveries to crack three fours in an over and sweeping Qadri to the square leg fence to bring up his half-century on the cusp of tea.There was a scare for Keogh when a ball from Qadri lodged in his back pad and then trickled across to rest against the stumps without dislodging a bail, but the spinner got his man soon afterwards for 57, winning what looked a very marginal lbw decision.That broke the fourth-wicket stand of 80, but Procter progressed to a resolute 50 from 146 balls and, with Saif Zaib going for his shots at the other end, the pair shaved another 51 off the deficit. Leaning brought himself on to bowl and promptly pinned Procter leg before with his second delivery, but murky overhead conditions forced the players from the field just a few overs later.

It was the second-biggest successful chase in Vijay Hazare Trophy history

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2024Playing only his third List A game, K Shrijith struck an unbeaten 101-ball 150 to lead Karnataka home in the second-highest successful chase in Vijay Hazare Trophy history, as they hauled down a target of 383 with 3.4 overs to spare at the Narendra Modi Stadium’s B ground.Andhra’s successful chase of 384 against Goa in the 2011-12 season continues to hold the tournament record.Related

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Shrijith’s effort meant that Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 114 off just 55 balls went in vain for Mumbai. Iyer hit five fours and as many as ten sixes as he hurried Mumbai to a formidable total following a relatively sedate start. When Iyer walked out, Mumbai were 148 for 2 in the 30th over, following a 141-run second-wicket stand, off 160 balls, between Hardik Tamore (84 off 94) and Ayush Mhatre (78 off 82).Mumbai proceeded to up their scoring rate as Iyer added 30 off 22 with Tamore and 56 off 34 with Suryakumar Yadav (20 off 16). That set the stage for a frenetic finish, as Iyer and Shivam Dube proceeded to put on an unbroken 148 off the last 65 balls of Mumbai’s innings. While Dube scored an unbeaten 63 off 36 (5×4, 5×6), Iyer from the other end smashed 74 off the last 29 balls of his innings.Amid the carnage of Mumbai’s innings, new-ball operator Vasuki Koushik finished with the impressive figures of 0 for 45 from his ten overs.In contrast with Mumbai’s gradual build-up of steam, Karnataka kept pace with the required rate almost throughout their chase. They were 106 for 2 in the 15th over, with openers Nikin Jose (21 off 13) and Mayank Agarwal (47 off 48) having both departed, when Shrijith walked to the crease.The wicketkeeper-batter took charge of the innings thereafter, first putting on 94 with No. 3 KV Aneesh, who made a 66-ball 82 on his List A debut, and then dominating an unbroken stand of 183 off just 119 balls with the legspinning allrounder Praveen Dubey.While Dubey contributed 65 off 50 balls to the partnership, Shrijith smashed 107 off 69, as Karnataka charged towards their target. Mumbai’s bowlers came in for heavy punishment, none worse than Shardul Thakur who went for 72 in six wicketless overs.

“We also want to make sure that Shaheen has made some improvements to his game so that when he comes back into the T20 side, he does well”

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jul-2025Mike Hesson has dismissed speculation that he had asked Babar Azam to consider taking up wicketkeeping in a bid to regain his place in Pakistan’s T20I side.Reports had surfaced in recent days that the new Pakistan coach had told Babar, until recently a captain and mainstay in the T20I side, that he needed another skill to make him a more viable option at the top of the order.Babar has never kept wicket in his career, but Hesson was, in any case, categorical that Pakistan did not view him as a wicketkeeping option. Babar was not part of Pakistan’s last T20I squad for the home series against Bangladesh and is also not part of the squad that travels there for a return series later this month.Related

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The two series are the first under Hesson, as Pakistan look to reset their T20 batting approach under Salman Agha’s captaincy. But Babar and his longtime opening partner Mohammad Rizwan are both part of a week-long training camp in Karachi with the selected squad. Rizwan is also not part of the squad; as a long-time opening partnership, Babar and Rizwan’s stock has fallen steadily over the last couple of years, with criticism growing around their low-risk approach, apparent lack of intent and low strike rates.”Firstly, Babar Azam is not seen as a wicketkeeping option, no,” Hesson said. “Not sure where that came from, but I have heard that speculation. Babar is competing for one of the opening positions at the moment. But obviously, we have Fakhar [Zaman] and Saim [Ayub] in those two roles at the moment, so he’s competing for that.”Hesson was asked again about Babar, in the context of batting strike rates, and said he wanted Pakistan to catch up with the rest of the world in their approach.”No doubt strike rate is important in T20 cricket but you have to combine it with a volume of runs,” Hesson said. “There’s a good reason why our ranking in T20 cricket is as low as it is, because our strike rates from a batting point of view are not high enough. We certainly made some shifts in that last series to play a more expansive game of cricket and probably catch up with the rest of the world, as that is the way the modern game is.”We have identified some areas that Shaheen needs to work on,” Mike Hesson said•ICC/Getty Images

“Babar is one of many who have the ability to make those improvements. And I’m here to work with them and help them. In the last month or so, he’s made some really good changes. It’s not just a matter of going from 125 to 150, it’s a matter of increasing what you can offer because we’re no doubt often 30-40 runs short with the bat. So, we need to find a way of getting that.”Babar and Rizwan aren’t the only big names on the outer as far as the team is concerned. Shaheen Shah Afridi, another member of the core that led Pakistan successively to last-four and runners-up finishes in the T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022, has also not been picked in recent Pakistan T20I sides. Afridi won a third PSL title in four seasons as captain of Lahore Qalandars in May, bowling well towards the end of the league. He is also at the camp, though not yet back in favour.”Shaheen Shah Afridi is a world-class player,” Hesson said. “There’s no doubt that we’ve identified some areas that Shaheen needs to work on, as does every player at this camp. But there’s a good reason that he, and everybody else, is at this camp. They’re in the wider frame for Pakistan in white-ball cricket and that includes T20 cricket. Players go through good periods and periods where they’re a little bit down in their game. And it’s up to us as coaching staff to try and get our best players on the park and make them better, so when they play for Pakistan, they perform better. We certainly don’t discount quality players, but we try and work with them to help them come back stronger.”Hasan Ali is currently playing the Blast in England•Getty Images

Hesson also clarified that Hasan Ali – the top wicket-taker against Bangladesh in the home series – had not been dropped, but that they had allowed him to continue playing in the Blast in England. Hasan will be back in the side for Pakistan’s T20 series against West Indies in August. Hesson, who is part of the selection panel, took the opportunity to include Salman Mirza, the left-arm pacer who made such an impression late in Qalandars’ winning PSL campaign.”Shaheen is a high-quality player,” Hesson said. “We had Hasan Ali, we had Haris Rauf, we had Abbas Afridi perform really well against Bangladesh. Haris is injured, and with Hasan, we saw an opportunity to bring in Salman Mirza. Shaheen will get his opportunity. But we also want to make sure that Shaheen has made some improvements to his game so that when he comes back into the T20 side, he does well.”The week-long camp is seen as more than just preparation for the Bangladesh tour. Pakistan have a busy T20 schedule as they look to rebuild for the next T20 World Cup in February-March 2026. They failed to make it past the group stages of the 2024 edition, a forgettable campaign which included a loss to USA.”This camp is about identifying key areas where we need to work on,” Hesson said. “And then putting the boys under a bit of pressure. I think we’ve identified even in the short time we’ve had with them, even with the last series, that there are some real fundamentals that we need to work on as a group. And that’s why we have a week with them. The first few days will be around those and then we’ll start to have a more specific focus for Bangladesh.”

Nottinghamshire new-ball pair share nine as visitors skittled for 85 on final day

ECB Reporters Network28-Jul-2023Five wickets for Dane Paterson and four for Brett Hutton consigned Kent to a rapid and damaging defeat in their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Trent Bridge, where they were bowled out for 85 to drop into the bottom two in Division One with only three matches to play.Paterson finished with 5 for 41 in 10 overs, while Hutton’s 4 for 44 allowed him to celebrate a 50-wicket season for the first time in his first-class career, giving him 52 so far. Kent skipper Jack Leaning’s 21 was a paltry top score as Kent, theoretically chasing 407 to win from 72 overs, were dismissed in just 21.3 overs.Earlier, Will Young and Ben Slater had both made 87 and Joe Clarke 73 before Nottinghamshire declared their second innings on 372 some 40 minutes or so before lunch.The result gives Nottinghamshire 22 points, which is probably enough to ensure they remain in Division One for another season after being promoted in 2022.Slater, his eyes on a second hundred in the match, fell to the fifth ball of the day, unable to add to his overnight score, but otherwise Nottinghamshire’s plans on how to set up a run chase could not have gone better.If anything, they went too well, the scoreboard turning so rapidly that skipper Steven Mullaney might well have had to think again about when to declare given the overs left in the match. When he did decide the moment was right, some 196 runs had been added in just 78 minutes following Nottinghamshire’s resumption on 176 for 1.Of those, 114 came off just 77 balls in a blistering third-wicket stand between New Zealand’s Young, who made 87 in the last innings of his brief attachment to the county, and Clarke, whose 73 from 40 balls would have felt like the perfect preparation for his upcoming stint with Welsh Fire in the Hundred.Clarke hit three sixes, matching Young’s tally of maximums in half the number of balls, and there were a couple each for Mullaney and Lyndon James, who hammered 42 in 18 balls for the sixth wicket before Mullaney’s dismissal, bowled aiming to inflict more damage in an Arafat Bhuiyan over that had already gone for 20, prompted the declaration.Eventually caught at deep midwicket, Clarke should have gone for 26 but Arshdeep Singh, in his final outing for Kent, dropped a regulation catch at mid-off. Joey Evison, the disappointed bowler and Clarke’s former Trent Bridge team-mate, was only too aware of how costly that mistake might be.Like Clarke, Young and Tom Moores were caught in the deep going for big returns as Nottinghamshire ultimately pushed the Kent target beyond 400, which was never likely to be a realistic ask of a side lacking so many front-line batters through injuries and international calls.Yet draw still looked within their capabilities and the rapid unravelling of that possibility came as a surprise.In the eight overs before lunch, their top three all departed. Toby Albert copped a beauty from Hutton to fall for a fourth-ball duck, Ben Geddes fell victim to a fine, rapid-reaction catch by Slater at short leg off Paterson and Ben Compton was leg before to a swinging ball as the South African celebrated his second success.Lunch did nothing to stiffen Kent’s resolve, with Harry Finch soon leg before as Hutton claimed his 50th of the season, before Leaning was caught behind off a bottom edge to make it 59 for 5.Paterson had Evison caught low down at third slip and Matt Quinn on the boundary as a merrily brief innings ended with a top-edged pull. Alex Blake knew his fate immediately as he saw Mullaney readying himself for the catch as he heaved Hutton over midwicket and Arshdeep, having launched Paterson for six over the leg side, perished next ball, well caught by a diving Hutton at deep backward square attempting a repeat.The two pacemen each took a breather after 10 overs, but Kent’s demise was quickly completed as Bhuiyan gave Haseeb Hameed’s legbreaks a maiden first-class wicket.

Jos Buttler “will bounce back” after disappointing campaign, coach says

Matt Roller11-Nov-2023Matthew Mott insisted that he is “more determined than ever” to coach England’s white-ball teams after their group-stage elimination from the ODI World Cup, and said that he expects to be in charge when they tour the Caribbean next month to play West Indies.Mott is 18 months into a four-year contract and oversaw England’s title-winning T20 World Cup campaign in Australia last year. But England’s disastrous defence of their 50-over title prompted some speculation about his future in the role, not least after six defeats in their first seven matches jeopardised their place at the 2025 Champions Trophy.They confirmed their qualification with convincing victories over Netherlands and Pakistan, but a seventh-place finish was still a significant underachievement. “We’re incredibly disappointed,” Mott said after England wrapped up a 93-run win in Kolkata on Saturday night. “We came here with certain expectations and haven’t delivered on that.”Related

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Rob Key, England’s managing director and Mott’s boss, arrived back in India midweek and while Mott did not seek direct assurances over his position, he has been involved in selection for December’s tour. England will play three ODIs and five T20Is against West Indies, with Mott and Jos Buttler set to continue as coach and captain.”I haven’t even spoken about it,” Mott said, regarding his future as coach. “It hasn’t been a great tournament for everyone, but there’s plenty of teams which are going to go [away] from here very disappointed with their performance as well. There’s only one team that can win it. I’m pretty comfortable in my skin.”When asked if he expects to carry on, Mott told the BBC: “Absolutely, I do. We’ve had a poor tournament, but we’ve got a lot to look forward to. We’ve got a lot of belief within this squad that we can turn this around and we’ll look forward to the West Indies… if anything, I’m more determined than ever.”Mott admitted that he had learned plenty about himself as a coach at the World Cup but did not elaborate further, saying there were “enough strong opinions” from the English press already. “That’s for you guys to work out,” he said. “I’m sure there’s enough public comment out there for you to be able to pick that up and make your own decisions.”On Buttler, Mott said: “He’s got a great future. You judge leadership in times that are tough and he’s continually tried to motivate the boys. He’s clearly disappointed with his own contribution but none of that has affected the way he’s led the team. I’ve been really impressed by the way he’s kept the team together. He’s a player who is immensely talented and will bounce back.”England’s players and management have repeatedly downplayed any suggestion of a rift in the touring party over the past two weeks, and Mott said that winning their final two games highlighted the squad’s “tenacity and resilience”. He added: “I just can’t be prouder of the whole group – staff and players – to find a way of finishing with something to build on.”Their performances have improved significantly in the final week of the World Cup, with a narrow defeat against Australia preceding their consolation wins. England only arrived in India a week before their opening game against New Zealand and packed their preparation into a one-month window at the end of their home summer.”I have no doubt that if we had time to come out here with the schedule, that we would have [performed better],” Mott said. “That’s the ideal preparation. But I’m not sure how that’s possible… we play the cards we’re dealt. We don’t make the schedules, and it’s certainly not an excuse. We could definitely have started the tournament a bit better, but we can’t change that now.”

The India left hander will again link up with coach Luke Williams after the WPL success earlier this year

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Aug-2024Defending champions Adelaide Strikers have signed India opener Smriti Mandhana for the upcoming WBBL.Mandhana is the club’s pre-draft signing and she will be playing for her fourth WBBL team after previous stints with Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Thunder. During her season for Thunder in 2021 she hit 114 not out off 64 balls against Melbourne Renegades which is the joint second-highest individual score in the tournament’s history.Related

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Earlier this year, Mandhana captained Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the WPL title with the side coached by Luke Williams who holds the same role with Strikers.”I always look forward to playing in Australia, and I’m excited about the opportunity to contribute to a team with a history of success like the Strikers,” Mandhana said. “I’m thrilled to continue working with Luke. Our previous experiences together have been so rewarding, and I’m looking forward to building on that.”Strikers have been keen to bring Mandhana to the club for a number of seasons but last year she opted out of the nominating for the draft to manage her workload. She is expected to miss the first couple of matches due to an ODI series against New Zealand straight after the T20 World Cup but will then be available throughout, including finals if Strikers qualify in their bid for a hat-trick of titles.”Smriti is an exceptional talent, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the Strikers,” Williams said. “Her technical skill, experience and strategic insights are a tremendous asset for us. I know firsthand the dedication and energy she brings to the team and on the field. Her expertise and leadership will be invaluable as we drive for success in the upcoming season.”Strikers could further strengthen their top order at the draft on September 1 as they have retention rights for South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt. However, if Mandhana is allocated as their first-round platinum player they would not be able to use their retention in the same round.Strikers have also made a pick trade with Renegades ahead of the draft, handing picks 19 and 30 to Renegades while getting 22 and 27 in return. Strikers have pick 6 in the first round and 14 in the second.

WBBL pre-draft signings

Adelaide Strikers: Smriti Mandhana
Brisbane Heat: Nadine de Klerk
Hobart Hurricanes: Lizelle Lee
Melbourne Renegades: Hayley Matthews
Melbourne Stars: Marizanne Kapp
Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine
Sydney Sixers: Amelia Kerr
Sydney Thunder: Chamari Athapaththu