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Pakistan captain felt “given the bowlers we have, we should have defended that total” against USA

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-20241:23

Mumtaz: Pakistan seemed to lose their cool

After losing to USA in the Super Over in their opening match of T20 World Cup 2024, Pakistan captain Babar Azam felt that their total of 159 for 7 in the regular time was a defendable one given the conditions and their bowling attack.Sent in after losing the toss, Pakistan lost three early wickets and were 30 for 3 at the end of the powerplay. Babar and Shadab Khan helped them recover with a stand of 72 off 48 for the fourth wicket but USA tied the game and went to win in the Super Over.”Today’s wicket had help for the fast bowlers in the first six overs,” Babar said at the post-match presentation. “But later on, I didn’t feel it was a different wicket. It settled down a bit. Because of the early start – the matches are starting at 10.30am – the fast bowlers will obviously get a little help. There was some juice in the pitch early morning. So they utilised that and executed their plan.”Even in the second innings, I think we also got help, but we were not up to the mark in terms of our bowling areas. We lacked in that in the first ten overs. We came back after that but they had already taken the momentum. But given the bowlers we have, we should have defended that total. On this pitch, I think it was a defendable total for our bowling.Related

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“We are better than that in the bowling. We did not take wickets in the first six overs. In the middle overs, if your spinner is not taking wickets, then the pressure is on you. After ten overs, we did come back but I think the way they finished game in the Super Over, the credit goes to the US team.”For Pakistan, Mohammad Amir conceded 18 in the Super Over. It included three wide deliveries, and seven extras in all as the USA batters, Aaron Jones and Harmeet Singh, kept running for wides too. Pakistan, in response, could manage only 13.”He [Amir] is an experienced bowler,” Babar said. “He knows how to bowl and we were just trying to bowl according to field. But I think the US batsmen were smart. Even when the ball went to the keeper, they were running. So I think that thing was a plus point for them in the Super Over.”Babar Azam never really got going and finished with a 43-ball 44•Associated Press

At the same time, Babar also rued not making use of the platform set by Shadab and him. They had taken Pakistan to 98 for 4 in the 13th over but left-arm spinner Nosthush Kenjige dismissed Shadab and Azam Khan off successive balls to dent them again.”In the first six overs, the ball was holding a bit and seaming around,” Babar said. “So it was important to build a partnership. When Shadab and I had that partnership, we got momentum. I think when we lost the wickets back to back, that was the turning point. The momentum we had was shifted towards the other side.”It was difficult in the beginning, but we covered it up. But as a professional unit, the middle order needs to step up in such situations. This is not an excuse – I don’t think it was that they played well, I think we played badly.”Did Pakistan, the runners-up of the 2022 edition, take first-timers USA lightly?”See, whenever you come to any tournament, you do the best preparation always,” Babar said. “You can say it’s a kind of mindset. When you come up against a team like this, you relax a little. If you don’t execute your plan against any team, then whatever team it is, they will make you pay. So I believe that our execution was not up to the mark. We were doing well in the preparation but in the match, we did not execute our plans as a team.”

NZ batsman could be a handful of overseas players in competition

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2020Worcestershire have announced that Hamish Rutherford will fly to England to play for them in the T20 Blast this year, but have cancelled Ashton Turner’s contract to play in the competition.Rutherford had initially signed to play all formats this summer, but will only play in the Blast after the postponement of so much of the county season. The ECB will announce which formats will be played next week, but it is anticipated that the T20 Blast will start in September and run into early October.”It’s been a bitterly frustrating time for anyone in cricket all around the world and it’s no different for Hamish,” said Alex Gidman, Worcestershire’s head coach.”We are looking forward to him coming back. Hamish and Riki Wessels can cause quite a lot of destruction at the top of the order and it’s important for us as a club and as a group of players that we challenge as much as we can in that competition.”It’s something we’ve been successful in for the past two years and, regardless of how that competition looks this year, we want to try and do as well as possible in it.”Rutherford, the New Zealand opening batsman, is set to be one of only a handful of overseas players in the Blast this season, with most signings cancelled in order to cut costs or due to clashes with revised international fixtures or the start of the Australian domestic season. Northants remain hopeful that Paul Stirling will be available to play for them, while Birmingham Bears are optimistic about their chances of getting Chris Green over, since he does not have a state contract.Paul Pridgeon, the chair of Worcestershire’s cricket steering group, confirmed that Turner’s deal with the county was off. “Because of the change from the original T20 dates, Ashton would not be available for the entire competition because he would be required to return for practice by his state side,” he said.

West Indies captain wants his team to take the game by each session against South Africa and not get carried away by “the big picture”

Abhimanyu Bose27-Feb-2023 • Updated on 28-Feb-2023The West Indies Test team arrived in Centurion after a disappointing tour of Australia and then a series win in Zimbabwe, and will now come up against a changed-up South Africa side. But captain Kraigg Brathwaite insists that his team will not be focusing on the past – that of their own or their opponents’ – or look too far ahead into the future, laying emphasis on “controlling every hour”.”I think Australia is obviously history and the Test series in Zimbabwe, obviously a different caliber team, it was good to get a series with them. I think looking here at the South African team, they still have a lot of experience,” Brathwaite said at the press conference before the first Test. “They have got world class bowlers and some quality batsmen, so we have to play some very good Test cricket and it is important that we take control of every hour and we don’t think about the big picture. If we take control of every hour, every session, I think we can do well.”West Indies’ batting was a concern against Australia, but they put up a much better show against Zimbabwe, with Brathwaite himself getting a big century and his new opening partner Tagenarine Chanderpaul notching his maiden Test ton, which he went on to convert to a double.Related

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Raymon Reifer also hit two half-centuries, and there were fifties from Jermaine Blackwood and Roston Chase in the series. And in the practice game in Benoni ahead of the South Africa series, Joshua Da Silva and Jason Holder also hit half-centuries.”We are really looking forward to challenging ourselves. Australia not being the best of tours, so we know what we have to do to improve as batsmen. We look forward to this series,” Brathwaite said.”It’s important obviously as openers to set the foundation for the team. We look forward to doing it. Tage [Chanderpaul] had a fantastic start and we want to continue and make West Indies proud,” he said about West Indies’ new opening partnership.”It is important that we have a team effort in South Africa. So it’s good to see the top order getting some scores in Zimbabwe and the middle-order in the practice games before the first Test. It’s great. It’s important we put all the pieces together in this series.”Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul will want to continue their impressive partnership at the top•Associated Press

He said that Reifer, who is looking to lock down the No. 3 spot in the West Indies team, will be wanting to add more big scores to his name after his success against Zimbabwe.”It is great to have him get some scores and I know he will be hungry for more success. Hope he can get to spend some time at the crease and it is important for him to carry on with those starts.”Brathwaite was optimistic about his bowling attack, but said that maintaining discipline with the ball was imperative, brushing away suggestions that South Africa’s batting line-up is a vulnerability they can expose.”I do think we have some very good bowlers. And I think we look forward to bowling at any batting lineup in the world,” he said. “We won’t be focusing on what the teams have done in the past. It’s important that we hit our straps and discipline is very important. Before we go thinking about too many things in terms of their batting lineup, I think we need to stick to our plans and the results will take care of itself.”Brathwaite was also excited about the two new players in West Indies’ squad — allrounder Alick Athanaze and fast bowler Akeem Jordan.”Very exciting to have two guys who have done well in our first class season. It is great to have them and they are also looking forward to the experience,” he said.In the West Indies Championship, their domestic First Class tournament, Athanaze is second on the run-charts with 244 runs in two games, while Jordan leads the wicket tally with 12 scalps in two games.

CSA is working to reassure Sri Lanka Cricket that its bio-bubble arrangements are secure

Andrew Fidel Fernando09-Dec-2020Cricket South Africa (CSA) is working to reassure Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) that its bio-bubble arrangements are secure, as SLC reconsider the forthcoming tour to South Africa over Covid-19 concerns. As things stand, SLC is considering withdrawing from the tour, or offering to host South Africa at home instead of going to South Africa.SLC’s concerns over the tour’s safety were sparked by England’s withdrawal from their tour of South Africa. It is largely the Sri Lanka board, however, rather than the players, for whom CSA’s Covid-19 protocols are a worry. Essentially, SLC cannot afford for players to come back unwell, because Sri Lanka are due to play England in a Test in Galle ten days after their scheduled return from South Africa. The England Test series, which was already postponed once, is vital to the health of SLC’s finances following a tough 2020. SLC is unwilling to risk that home series for the South Africa tour.Sri Lanka’s medical team were in touch with South Africa’s medical officers on Tuesday, in order to ascertain whether the bio-bubble arrangements in South Africa were sufficient. Sri Lanka’s team physician Dr Daminda Attanayake said that SLC’s medical staff were insisting on stricter protocols than CSA had initially planned. Medical officers from both teams spoke on Tuesday.”I have to bring the [Sri Lankan] players back from South Africa without a single positive case,” Dr Attanayake said. “We’ve requested [South Africa’s] protocols be identical to the bio-bubble protocols we have been using for the LPL (Lanka Premier League). We’ve been successful with those. Players have tested positive but they’ve been isolated. We’re requesting these protocols be followed not just by our team, but theirs as well.”In addition, Dr Attanayake said, SLC’s medical staff will ask that even the cleaning staff in the hotels the teams are staying at be placed in the bubble, so that the virus cannot be brought in from outside. In any case, even before England’s withdrawal, SLC had asked for tougher health protocols than the ECB had.SLC’s medical staff will also speak to the ECB’s medical staff on Wednesday afternoon, in order to gain a clearer picture on the nature of CSA’s protocols. SLC’s medical officers will make their recommendations on the South Africa tour to the SLC following that meeting. The board has largely been led by medical opinion during the pandemic, and have been among the more reticent in the world to resume international cricket. If Dr Attanayake and her colleagues are satisfied that CSA’s arrangements are sufficient, the tour is likely to go ahead as scheduled.On Tuesday, CSA’s acting CEO Kugandrie Govender had confirmed the boards were in touch over health arrangements: “I’ve spoken to the SLC CEO today as planned. We are obviously providing them with information to give all their stakeholders, including their health authorities, the reassurances they need,” she said.South Africa are due to host Australia and Pakistan later in the summer, and cannot themselves afford for England’s withdrawal to spiral into a string of cancellations.

They are one of four teams in the running to make the 2023 World Cup

Firdose Moonda01-Jul-2023″Playing to get into a World Cup is as big as it gets,” Richie Berrington, Scotland’s captain, told the host broadcaster after their victory over West Indies in Harare. And it’s the second time he is doing it.Berrington was one of five players who were in the starting XI on March 21, 2018, when their World Cup dream ended with a defeat to West Indies at the same ground. It was Berrington’s wicket that changed the game. With Scotland on 105 for 4 in the 32nd over, chasing 199, Berrington was given out lbw against offspinner Ashley Nurse and with no DRS available, could not request a review. Even to the untrained eye, the delivery appeared to be missing leg stump. Four overs later, the rain came down. Scotland were five runs behind the DLS target of 131 – which would have been fewer had Berrington not been dismissed – and lost the match, and along with it, a chance to appear at the 2019 World Cup.This time, there was not a cloud in the sky as Scotland skittled West Indies for 181 and chased the target with 6.3 overs to spare. Poetically, Berrington played the shot that levelled the scores and was at the other end when the winning runs were scored; runs that will keep West Indies out of the World Cup for the first time in history and gives Scotland another chance of getting to the main event. “Thats’ a blueprint of how we want to play,” Doug Watson, Scotland’s coach, said at the post-match press conference.Scotland used the new ball well in helpful conditions and had West Indies in trouble at 81 of 6 in the 21st over. Although the seventh wicket partnership of 77 went on for longer than Scotland may have liked, West Indies never got away from them. Their chase, dented by the early loss of Christopher McBride, was clinical.Brandon McMullen starred with both bat and ball and is now Scotland’s leading run-scorer and second-highest wicket-taker in the competition. He is quickly becoming the star of the side, after being spotted by former Scotland coach Shane Burger at Durban’s Hilton College and making his debut just seven months ago. McMullen bowled an opening spell of nine overs in this match and has established himself as a go-to player for Berrington and Watson. “He is a lovely team man; gets in and helps everyone,” Watson said. “Just a beautiful human being to be around.”The good vibes coming out of the Scotland camp extend beyond McMullen, with the squad as a whole feeding off their strong string of results in the World Cricket League Division 2, which saw them automatically qualify for this event, and a preparation period that included a training camp and playing in a domestic T20 tournament in West Indies. Against the backdrop of their own reckoning with racism, Scottish cricket has not had a smooth ride over the last few months, but their performance at this campaign has given them reason to believe they can go one step further.They have four points to their name and two matches left to play, which means they could reach eight points. Both Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka could end up on the same number, which will bring net run rate into play in the final calculation. For now, as Berrington said, Scotland just want to acknowledge “the importance of every game,” and be “clear in our plans.”They have already overturned two Full Member sides, Ireland and West Indies, and take on a third in Zimbabwe on Tuesday. Watson is confident that even with the home crowd behind them, Zimbabwe are fallible and that Scotland can give them a run for their money. “It shows that we can compete at this level,” Watson said. “Associate cricket is hard. Games like this are a real highlight for us. We see it as a privilege to play in them.”

Jon Filby says non-Test grounds will seek independent financial advice over Hundred future

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2024Sussex’s chairman has insisted that the prospect of the biggest counties launching a breakaway league to replace the Hundred is “completely not to be feared” and is not a realistic outcome from discussions over the tournament’s future.The ECB and the 18 first-class counties (plus MCC) have met regularly in recent weeks to discuss the details of proposed changes to the Hundred’s ownership model. There is broad agreement that the eight teams should be opened up to private investment, with 51% of shares being transferred from the ECB to the host county (or MCC) and the other 49% sold, with revenues distributed across the game.But the counties have not yet agreed on the way those revenues should be shared. The ECB initially asked counties to agree on a general direction of travel by May 10, but the 11 non-host counties are collectively seeking independent advice which could delay the process significantly.”The non-host county position is that, as in any financial arrangement of this type – and you’re talking hundreds of millions of pounds – that we would have our own proper, impartial advice and that’s what we’re now seeking,” Jon Filby, Sussex’s chairman, told the BBC’s podcast. “We’ll get that and then I’m sure a deal will very quickly follow.”The published excerpts of a leaked email from Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, to counties on Tuesday in which he warns: “Neither current hosts nor current non-hosts are particularly enamoured with the capital structure of the deal… if we lose momentum now then parties will simply be arguing for a larger percentage of a rapidly shrinking pie.”Related

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Filby added: “I think it’s very important that we’re not rushed into it, but equally, I understand that there is a window of opportunity to get a clear position on this by the time that the Hundred comes around towards the end of this season, and that can then be a shop window for that competition. I get all of that, and I’m sure we’re on track for that.”The prospect of a breakaway by the Hundred-hosting counties has reportedly been raised, with the existing framework agreement expiring at the end of the year. Sean Jarvis, the Leicestershire chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo last week that English cricket was facing “our Premier League moment” and said that “it’s the top six or seven clubs that call the tune”.But Filby said that the non-hosting counties should hold firm. “I think a breakaway’s completely not to be feared,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll happen. Who do the teams think they’d play against, and who do they think would play for them? I don’t think it’ll happen, no.”

PCA Young Player of the Year reveals ambition to make impact across all formats

Matt Roller04-Oct-2020Zak Crawley has revealed his intentions to play limited-overs cricket for England after a breakthrough Test summer, but accepts that he will have to bang the door down by scoring heavily over the next few seasons to secure a place in the “phenomenal” white-ball sides.Crawley, voted PCA Young Player of the Year by his peers after racking up 417 Test runs this summer – including a watershed 267 in the third Test against Pakistan – scored his first T20 hundred in September, and his overall white-ball numbers are impressive at this stage of his fledgling career.He is set to be confirmed as London Spirit’s centrally-contracted Test player in the Hundred next week after winning a red-ball England deal for 2020-21, and said that scoring heavily in that competition would help him press his case for inclusion.”I would certainly love to play in the white-ball stuff, but it’s a phenomenal team,” Crawley said. “There are some great players who aren’t in the squad either, who are all trying to get in. It’s going to require a lot of runs on my part, but I am going to do my best to score those runs.”It all depends on how many runs I can score for Kent in white-ball cricket. Hopefully the Hundred goes ahead next year and if I can score some good runs in that over the coming years, who knows down the line?”Crawley insisted that Test cricket remains that “most important” format as far as he was concerned, but conceded that other young players may no longer share that view, with the opportunity to play in short-form tournaments around the world as well as for their counties.With Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and – in T20 – Jos Buttler secure in their roles, and so many talented top-order batsmen waiting in the wings, Crawley also said that he had viewed the Test XI as the easiest one to get into – though that may have changed with Rory Burns and Dom Sibley also securing central contracts last week and nailing down their places.”It was probably the easiest side to get into out of the three,” he said. “It’s still obviously not easy to get into the Test side, but it probably did seem like the most doable at that time. It was always a big goal of mine to play Test cricket as well.”For me, it’s the best format: other people’s opinions change but for me, it’s the most important format and it was definitely something I always wanted to do. When you’re a young kid, you always talk about playing Test cricket; the white-ball stuff comes after that, maybe, in your thought process.”It might have changed [for other players] now, to be honest. Winning the World Cup last year, that looked like a good time to be round the England squad so maybe views have changed now – maybe that might have taken over.”The way T20 has really built the game up again, the IPL – unfortunately we missed out on the Hundred this year [but] these are great things to be part of. Maybe young cricketers might be more enticed by that, and I wouldn’t blame them, but for me, Test cricket is still number one.”Reflecting on his summer – and his award – Crawley said that he felt as though he had been pushed on account of the competition for places within the England side, among young players in particular.”It’s really special,” he said. “If you had asked me in March or April if we were going to have a season, I’d have probably said no. so to get the summer we have had and thankfully to get some runs has been great.”It’s great to have such great young players around – I definitely feel like it pushes me on as a player. You can’t help but try and compare yourself to your peers, but obviously there are some young lads who have been having some unbelievable years.”That’s definitely made me want to work harder, and made me want to catch them up. That’s all I’ve tried to do. Long may it continue that we have a really strong young group of cricketers in the country: it’s good for the whole game in general that we keep pushing each other forward.”

Revised schedule finally released with less than two months to go before the start of the tournament on October 5

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2023Nine matches in the upcoming ODI World Cup have had their dates or start times changed, the ICC has finally confirmed, including the India-Pakistan fixture in Ahmedabad, which will now be played – as reported earlier by ESPNcricinfo – on October 14 instead of October 15. The changes were confirmed by the ICC with less than two months to go before the start of the game’s showpiece event.Pakistan, Bangladesh and England are the most affected: while three games of Pakistan have been shifted, Bangladesh and England have had two changes each in their schedule, aside from having their originally-planned day-night fixture on October 10 converted to a day game. As a result of the change in the India-Pakistan game, Pakistan’s match against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has been moved from October 12 to October 10, to give them an adequate gap leading into their India match.But the Australia-South Africa match in Lucknow has also been brought forward a day and will take place on October 12 instead of October 13. The England-Afghanistan game in Delhi, which was originally scheduled for October 14, will be played on October 15. New Zealand’s match against Bangladesh in Chennai has been changed from a day game on October 14 to a day-night fixture on October 13.The double-header scheduled for November 12 – Australia vs Bangladesh in Pune and England vs Pakistan in Kolkata – will now be played on November 11, following concerns raised by Kolkata police to the Cricket Association of Bengal about holding a match on the same day as the Hindu festival of Kali Puja.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The league stage of the World Cup will now end with India playing Netherlands in Bengaluru on November 12, instead of November 11.
The World Cup starts on October 5 with defending champions England taking on New Zealand in Ahmedabad, and culminates in the final on November 18, also in Ahmedabad. The semi-finals will be played in Mumbai and Kolkata on November 15 and 16 respectively. The ICC also announced that tickets for the event will go online from August 25.The schedule of the 2023 ODI World Cup was released after a long delay on June 27, just 100 days before the start of the tournament on October 5 in Ahmedabad, whereas the schedules for the last two tournaments in Australia and New Zealand (2015) and England and Wales (2019) were out more than 12 months in advance.It later emerged that the local police in Ahmedabad had raised concerns over providing adequate security on October 15, the original date of the India vs Pakistan game, which is also the first day of Navaratri, a major, nine-day Hindu festival.Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, had, however, dismissed that as the reason. “If security was an issue then why would the match go there [to Ahmedabad] – 14-15 is not the problem,” he had said after a BCCI meeting on July 27. “Two or three boards have written in, asking to change based on the logistical challenges. There are some matches where there is only a two-day gap, so it will be difficult to play and then travel next day [and then play again].”

Overseas signing grinds out final-day run chase to keep new side in title hunt

David Hopps22-Jul-2022Surrey have not quite disappeared over the horizon as far as the Championship race is concerned. Lancashire are clinging on grimly thanks to a hard-earned four-wicket victory against Northants which was all the more redoubtable considering the disappointment around the club following their extraordinary last-ball defeat in the final of the Vitality Blast a few days earlier.That they saw things through when faced with an uncomfortable chase of 278 was primarily due to four players who were not part of the Edgbaston agony – Josh Bohannon and Tom Bailey with bat and ball respectively, and Washington Sundar – on his Lancashire debut – and Will Williams, who followed up decisive bowling returns with an unlikely alliance with the bat.Washington and Williams ground out an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 69 in 27 overs to secure victory on the stroke of lunch. Washington, the India allrounder, has excellent batting pedigree, but Williams had only appeared at No. 7 as a second nightwatcher the previous evening and he stuck around with impressive obduracy as Lancashire, five down overnight, chipped away the last 86 runs they needed with efficiency and commonsense.Related

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“It’s been a great start for Washington, superb,” said Lancashire’s head coach Glen Chapple . “I’m really pleased for him. He’s been desperate to come over and play English cricket. He bowled superbly well in the first innings and played with assurance and quality.”The easy way for Lancashire to have won it would have been for Bohannon, 92 not out overnight, to reach his hundred and then embark on a series of confident blows. Bohannon reached his hundred, settling in by steering the first legitimate ball of the day, from Sanderson, to the third man boundary and, on 99, clipping Jack White just wide of the diving Emilio Gay at short midwicket.But he fell two balls later, seeking to run White behind square and picking out the diving Will Young, who pulled off a stunning one-handed catch at gully. He had not seen it through but once victory was secured, he could take pleasure not just in an overdue return to form but the knowledge that he had played the central innings in Lancashire’s victory.At 209 for 6, still 69 short, Lancashire looked vulnerable. Throughout the match, the pitch had offered bowlers of all types assistance and they responded grindingly. Williams was a picture of self-denial. He remained strokeless, on 2 not out, for the first 50 minutes of the day. But Ben Sanderson was more wayward than is his habit and his most stray offering, an inviting half-volley down the legside, finally drew Williams into a glanced boundary.Will Young, the New Zealand batter, has taken over the Championship captaincy after the resignation of Ricardo Vasconcelos after barely four months in charge. Vasconcelos himself was an emergency appointment after Adam Rossington left the club in pre-season in an argument about his fitness levels. Northants’ head coach John Sadler said that he thought “Young captained great this game,” which is a good thing because you wouldn’t want four in one season.Young put his faith in seam, even though the ball was also turning. Lancashire’s target had been trimmed to 53 before Simon Kerrigan’s left-arm spin was introduced, but he rarely looked dangerous, even if he did tempt Williams into a couple of failed square cuts. Rob Keogh soon joined him, but when the offspinner’s first ball turned so sharply that it was given as a wide, he was so mystified that he never looked as dangerous again.Northants took the new ball with 25 needed, but it only quickened Lancashire’s path to victory. Washington twice cut boundaries off Sanderson, so often Northants’ inspiration, but not today. All that was left was for Williams to middle a cut shot against Kerrigan, who had been given the new ball in a final gambit, and he did just that to cries of satisfaction from the Lancashire dressing-room balcony.