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It will require the services of a cricket historian to determine when Australia last batted as woefully as this. Many Australian supporters will neither know nor care

The Report by David Hopps19-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsGraeme Swann made the most of Australia’s generosity to claim five wickets•Getty ImagesIt will require the services of a cricket historian to determine when Australia last batted as woefully as this. Many Australian supporters will neither know nor care. It will be enough merely to condemn the sheer awfulness of their batting performance in the second Investec Test.England were serviceable in the field, Australia were simply dreadful with the bat. This was an opportunity to bat themselves into a winning position, the occasional sign of sharp turn for Graeme Swann notwithstanding. Instead, they floundered, dismissed in only 53.3 overs. Nothing in their three innings defeats against England in 2010-11 felt as bad as this.Just as bafflingly, presented with a first-innings lead of 233, England then tossed away three wickets of their own, all of them to Peter Siddle with the new ball. This pitch, although dryer than normally seen at Lord’s, has over the first two days essentially been a batsman’s surface. But in 20 overs to the close, Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott both dragged on and Kevin Pietersen gifted a catch to point. England lead by 264.Australia’s dismissals variously revealed frailties of temperament, technique and team ethic. Swann was the chief beneficiary with five wickets and, as ably as he bowled, if he claims he worked hard for it, he will be playing it for laughs. As for Darren Lehmann, Australia’s new coach, he now knows the size of the job.Ryan Harris must have been beside himself with fury. He had bowled with skill and resolve to put himself on the honours board before lunch with his return of 5 for 72, only for Australia’s top order to produce a dishonour board of their own.Harris helped reduce England to 28 for 3 on the first morning with the attributes developed over a decade as he defied a broken body time and again; Australia lost ten wickets for 86 primarily because of their own negligence. Swann confirmed that England felt as much as 450 was par.It would be easy for Australia to hide behind more resentful discussion about the Decision Review System. It is little more than scapegoating. If Australia did not make things any easier with their irrational use of DRS, the dominant story should be one of batting incompetence.Shane Watson’s decision to review his plumb lbw decision against Tim Bresnan will rightly leave him open to accusations that he put his ego ahead of team needs, but the cricketing accent should also be on his desire to plant his front pad and work Bresnan through the leg side in the final over before lunch.Australia’s self-possession in an opening stand of 42 fell apart. The psychological fallout from his twin error was astonishing.Chris Rogers will understandable gain sympathy for his dismissal: firstly for a dreadful lbw decision by Marais Erasmus, who was as caught unawares as the batsman when the ball slipped out of Swann’s hands and arrived as a waistband-high donkey drop; secondly because Watson’s selfishness left him reluctant to risk Australia’s final review.But that should not preclude an examination of why such a wise old hand, a batsman who must have seen everything over a long career, failed to survive the shock of receiving such a stray delivery.Phillip Hughes walked off shaking his head, contending that he had not edged Bresnan to the wicketkeeper. Hot Spot was not clear, leaving the TV umpire Tony Hill with no evidence to overturn umpire Kumar Dharmasena’s decision; Snicko, for what it is worth, indicated that there was a nick and Hughes was just posturing. But that was not the point. The emphasis should have been on why Hughes was hacking so wildly at a wide one.Usman Khawaja, a batsman held by his captain Michael Clarke to be ready for Australia’s No. 3 spot, was badly dropped by Trott at first slip when he pushed defensively forward to a routine offbreak. But if that persuaded him he must be more assertive, it does not formulate a case for why he lofted Swann so weakly down the ground – not much more than a badly timed push shot – to be caught out of the sun by Pietersen, standing at mid-off.At least Australia’s last two batsmen to fall before tea were dismissed in a more approved fashion. Steven Smith was beaten by extra bounce and caught off the glove at short leg – Ian Bell having just been moved by Swann for that very eventuality. Clarke, a captain who repeatedly finds himself lacking support, pulled Stuart Broad dismissively, but fell lbw in the same over to a near yorker.There had to be a run-out. There were indications at Trent Bridge that Brad Haddin and Ashton Agar have no understanding between the wickets, not as much a different approach as much as a generational divide.Agar dashed for a single from the non-striker’s end when the ball bobbled into the leg-side off Haddin’s body, Haddin did not respond, and Matt Prior returned quickly to the bowler’s end. And this was a subdued Agar, hindered by a hip injury.After tea it got no better. Anderson, upon whom England were so reliant at Trent Bridge, took his first wicket when he had Siddle caught at second slip. Haddin heaved at Swann and Trott held on this time.The last-wicket pair clung on for eight overs, but only because Swann dropped a simple return chance from Harris. A good running catch by Pietersen, as Harris went long, gave Swann a five-for.All this mayhem on the pitch where Harris had bowled so gamely, removing Bresnan to the first ball of the day and Anderson for his own five-wicket haul. England were grateful for an ebullient last-wicket stand of 48 from 40 balls between Broad and Swann, a stand which illustrated both the quality of the pitch and the chemistry that can result when they combine in some late-order hitting.James Pattinson, so out of sorts that he bowled his 20 overs in nine spells, finally put an end to it when Broad nicked to the keeper. Broad naturally reviewed it and by the time Hot Spot revealed an edge, Australia, to a man, were stood by the Pavilion gate, having had quite enough for one series of watching Broad remain at the crease under false pretences.Anderson’s appearance as a nightwatchman for Broad, a No. 9 batsman, had caused grumbles. But there were logical reasons to try to protect Broad and Swann from the new ball in the hope they would create havoc later. And they did just that.

Queensland swept to victory over Western Australia on the final day at the WACA ground to clinch a place in the Sheffield Shield final, where they have the chance to defend last year’s title

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Mar-2013
ScorecardQueensland swept to victory over Western Australia on the final day at the WACA ground to clinch a place in the Sheffield Shield final, where they have the chance to defend last year’s title.James Hopes, Ryan Harris and Nathan Hauritz were the chief wicket-takers for the Bulls as WA never threatened their fourth innings target of 273. Both sides needed an outright win to clamber across a tightly packed Shield table and reach the final, and it was the visitors who were rewarded for fighting hard and well after a poor start to the match.Still catching up from their first innings dismissal for 164, the Bulls began the day with a narrow lead and only four wickets in hand, but half centuries from Michael Neser and Ryan Harris stretched the advantage so effectively that Hopes was granted the luxury of declaring at lunch.The Warriors quickly slipped to 5 for 71 and this time there were to be no late order heroics from the hosts, who had pushed themselves into contention for a spot in the final with a trio of remarkable comeback wins in the three rounds prior to this one.

Channel Nine forked out a colossal sum to retain television rights for Australia’s home international matches, while Channel Ten has promised fresh new faces to front its Big Bash League broadcasts

Brydon Coverdale04-Jun-2013Richie Benaud will not be disappearing from Channel Nine’s cricket coverage after the network forked out a colossal sum to retain television rights for Australia’s home international matches, but Channel Ten has promised fresh new faces to front its Big Bash League broadcasts. The two free-to-air stations will have a share of the cricket schedule this summer after a deal was finalised on Monday to provide a monstrously large boost to Cricket Australia’s broadcasting revenue for the next five years.James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, said the deals were worth a total of A$590 million over five years, an increase of 118% on the previous agreement, which he not surprisingly declared “an outstanding result” for Australian cricket. CA has also agreed to work with Channel Nine on a $60 million digital rights joint venture, for mobile and broadband coverage of international cricket, and the network’s CEO David Gyngell said that was an especially exciting aspect of the deal.However, while Gyngell said there was never any doubt that Nine would retain the rights it has held for more than 30 years, having to pay such a hefty price was “an ouch moment”. The network was forced into outlaying more than it intended due to Channel Ten’s bold bid to poach all of the cricket rights. Gyngell said that ultimately he was comfortable with the decision, which will also eliminate the traditional coverage “blackouts” in the host city.”As long as the management team we have got is at Channel Nine we won’t be losing cricket,” Gyngell said. “It is Australia’s national game. It is wallpaper over summer. It is a much bigger sport than the ratings always say it is because people are at holiday places, campsites, all sorts of things. The exciting thing for us is we’re partnering with Cricket Australia on the digital rights. Digital rights is going to be television everywhere. That’s where the world is going.”Cricket is in our DNA and we’re very proud of it. A lot of people would say we over-invest in it from a broadcasting point of view but it has defined our network … It is wallpaper. You walk in off the beach, off the farm, wherever you are in the summer and you go ‘what’s the score, who’s doing what?’ That is a very deep thing for us. We were never going to not do that.”Part of that “wallpaper” over summer has been the ongoing presence of Benaud, Bill Lawry, Ian Chappell and until his death late last year, Tony Greig, in the Channel Nine commentary box. Gyngell said the network and its commentary team would continue to evolve, but he did not envisage any major changes as a result of the new deal.”I can’t imagine cricket without Richie,” Gyngell said. “Richie will do cricket for as long as he wants to do cricket. We’ll never be telling Richie what he can and can’t do. I’m always honoured to be in his presence as a person and I’m always interested in hearing what he has to say. Bill is in the same space. We’ve got a dozen commentators and they’re all a range of ages and they’ve come through in different periods.”While Test, one-day and Twenty20 international cricket will not be changing stations, the BBL will for the first time be broadcast on free-to-air television instead of Fox Sports on pay TV. Hamish McLennan, the CEO of Channel Ten, said the network was thrilled to be entering the cricket market and to be showing every BBL match live, even though it had missed out on securing the international rights.”We always thought from the beginning that David and Channel Nine had the last right of refusal and they were most likely to exercise that,” McLennan said. “We put a very healthy bid on the table. We saw a great opportunity around the Big Bash and we’re really delighted that we’ve got a format we can do something with and that will grow.”We see that there are some opportunities to bring some fresh, new faces onto the Ten broadcast, but it’s too early to announce what we’re going to do. But we are looking at a range of candidates and we’ll be announcing that in the next months. I’d say the vast majority will be from a cricket background.”Ten will also broadcast the Women’s National Cricket League T20 final as part of a double-header with the BBL finals but it appears to have little interest in the Ryobi Cup or the Sheffield Shield. However, Sutherland said Cricket Australia was still exploring options regarding the Ryobi Cup, which has previously been broadcast on Fox Sports, and one possibility was squeezing the entire tournament into a short period at the start of the season.”We’re certainly considering various possibilities with Ryobi and that may or may not be directly related to broadcasting opportunities,” Sutherland said. “There’s also team performance aspects of it that are an important consideration. There’s no doubt we’ve done a little bit of work on considering a window in October for the Ryobi Cup to launch the season if you like and I think that has been reasonably well received. There’s always pros and cons with this sort of thing but we see it as a good opportunity to get into Shield cricket through the middle part of the summer.”

Shane Watson has declared himself ready to tour India as a non-bowling batsman after a single innings of 30 in Sydney grade cricket, but Moises Henriques’ immediate international prospects have clouded over due to a badly infected right index finger

Daniel Brettig26-Jan-2013Shane Watson has declared himself ready to tour India as a non-bowling batsman after a single innings of 30 in Sydney grade cricket, but Moises Henriques’ immediate international prospects have clouded over due to a badly infected right index finger.It was a contrasting tale for the two New South Wales cricketers on Sunday, Watson returning to the game following a calf strain and facing 50 balls for Sutherland against Campbelltown-Camden while Henriques was invalided out of the Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at Blacktown Oval.If his innings was insubstantial, the sight of Watson merely playing the game will be a help to the national selectors as they sit down to finalise the squad for the subcontinent. While Watson will not play a first-class fixture before the squad is named, making do with a domestic limited-overs match for the Blues against Western Australia on Wednesday, he has continued to covet the opening spot currently occupied by Ed Cowan.”The opportunity to be able to take the first ball and take on the quicks with the new ball is something I do absolutely love,” Watson said, reiterating his desire to open. “A few balls were seaming around a bit [on Saturday] … which hopefully I’m going to have to get used to opening the batting in some form of games anyway.”Hopefully I can get back in the team as soon as I can. In a perfect world I do play in India as a batsman with an eye on slowly building up bowling to hopefully bowl some overs throughout the Ashes. But the world isn’t always perfect so we’ll see how we go.”Less encouraging was the news that Henriques’ finger was in such a bad way that he had to leave the Blues’ Shield match to have surgery on his finger, which had grown increasingly swollen and painful. Watson’s inability to bowl in India has opened the field for all-round options, with Henriques impressing recently during his ODI appearances for Australia against Sri Lanka, and making 71 at Blacktown.However his place in the ODI team to face the West Indies is now open to question, depending on his recovery from the finger problem, which is expected to stop him from playing or training for at least a week. The finger trouble was aggravated during his Shield innings by a couple of precisely-directed balls from Nathan Coulter-Nile, which struck Henriques on the gloves.”Due to concern over increasing swelling and infection Moises was reviewed by a Sydney hand specialist this afternoon and has undergone a minor surgical procedure,” New South Wales team physiotherapist Murray Ryan said. “Moises will be unable to play or train for at least one week. His availability for state and international cricket will be determined as the injury heals.”

A century from Khurram Shehzad, and nine wickets between seamer Samiullah Khan and spinner Imran Khalid helped Faisalabad clinch the Bottom Six final against Bahawalpur in Multan

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2013
ScorecardA century from Khurram Shehzad, and nine wickets between seamer Samiullah Khan and spinner Imran Khalid helped Faisalabad clinch the Bottom Six final against Bahawalpur in Multan.After conceding a first-innings lead of six runs, Faisalabad put up a solid batting performance in their second dig, led by Shehzad’s 117 and half-centuries from Mohammad Shahid and Ali Waqas, which helped them set their opponents a stiff target of 385. Bahawalpur, besides Rehan Rafiq and Kamran Hussain, both of whom scored fifties, crumbled as Khalid took four wickets, and were bowled out for 262 on the final day.After being put in to bat, Faisalabad had struggled as their top order was destroyed by legspinner Imranullah Aslam. They recovered from 97 for 5; a knock of 69 from Mohammad Salman and 41 from Ali Waqas got them to 273. Bahawalpur, in reply, were in trouble early at 4 for 3, before Bilal Khilji, who ultimately scored a century, and Faisal Mubashir steadied their innings. The rest of the middle order also contributed to help them get past Faisalabad’s total. Seamer Samiullah Khan finished with five wickets.Faisalabad made amends by setting up the base for a strong total on the third day, which led them to a convincing victory.

Phil Mustard’s 97 not out was not enough to see Auckland home against Wellington as his side fell 10 runs short at Eden Park.

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Dec-2012
Scorecard
Phil Mustard’s 97 not out was not enough to see Auckland home against Wellington as his side fell 10 runs short at Eden Park.Mustard, who played 10 ODIs for England, had said regaining his place in the England team was part of his motivation for a winter with Auckland and he showed his strokemaking and ability to accelerate in a 66-ball innings that contained six sixes and six fours.Mustard led from the front after Lou Vincent was run out by Grant Elliot to the first ball of the chase. He initially played carefully, taking 47 balls to reach his half-century before exploding with four sixes and two fours in 19 balls.But the blitz came too late as spells from Mark Houghton, fours overs for just 17, and Dimitri Mascarenhas – another to have played a handful of ODIs for England – left Auckland with too much to do in the second half of the chase.Jesse Ryder had helped post a target above nine-runs-an-over with three sixes in 60 from 37 balls. But the difference in the two innings was further contributions as Michael Papps made 38 in just 21 balls and wicketkeeper Luke Rhonchi 43 in 27 deliveries.

Guyana have missed the WICB’s deadline to submit their squad list for the Caribbean Twenty20 that will be held in January 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2012The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has missed the WICB’s deadline to submit its squad list for the Caribbean Twenty20 that will be held in January 2013. The deadline was November 22, but the West Indies board issued a release stating it would approach the GCB once again and ask it to submit its list of players.”The board has directed the WICB management to again request the GCB to provide a Guyana team to participate in the Caribbean Twenty20 and for WICB Management to set a date by which the Guyana team is to be submitted,” the release said. “The WICB Management will set the date and once finalised will communicate same to the GCB and the public.”The issue is part of an ongoing conflict between the GCB and the Guyana government, which began when the Guyana government dissolved the GCB due to a dispute over its July 2011 elections. The elections were boycotted by some of the board’s constituent members, one of which, the Berbice Cricket Board, took the GCB to court, claiming the new administration was not properly established. The Chief Justice recommended that “there may be immediate need for the minister responsible for sports to impose his executive will in the national interest.”Following that ruling, Guyana’s sports minister Dr Frank Anthony appointed an Interim Management Committee (IMC), headed by ex-West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, to run cricket in Guyana. The WICB, however, refused to acknowledge the IMC, in keeping with the ICC’s stance against government intervention in cricket administration, and said the only authority it would recognise was the GCB.Guyana’s participation in this year’s Caribbean T20 had also been under a cloud due to the problem, but they eventually played.The WICB release also said the board’s directors were very concerned about the lack of a breakthrough in the Guyana impasse, and reiterated their backing of the GCB. “The WICB, at a meeting of the board of directors, on Saturday and Sunday, expressed grave concern at the length of time it is taking for a resolution to be had to the situation in Guyana. The board further implores all parties involved to use their best endeavours to ensure that the situation with regard to cricket in Guyana returns to a level of acceptability in the shortest possible period.”The board reiterates its position that it recognises the Guyana Cricket Board as the sole governing body responsible for the administration, management and development of cricket in Guyana.”

West Indies remained firmly on top after three days of attritional cricket in Barbados, where Darren Sammy’s early strikes and Devendra Bishoo’s variations kept Australia’s batsmen from making significant progress

The Report by Brydon Coverdale09-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Sammy had David Warner caught at slip•AFPWest Indies remained firmly on top after three days of attritional cricket in Barbados, where Darren Sammy’s early strikes and Devendra Bishoo’s variations kept Australia’s batsmen from making significant progress. At stumps on day three Australia were 248 for 5, with Michael Hussey on 47 and Matthew Wade on 19, and while they had almost passed the follow-on mark they were not yet safe in the match.The big challenge for West Indies remained finding a way to turn their impressive performance into a victory. Rain again played a part on the third afternoon and their task for the final two days was to run through Australia’s lower order quickly, bat again and set the visitors a target, and then skittle them a second time. The way this match has unfolded so far, that looked like it would be easier said than done.But through Sammy and his colleagues West Indies had at least put themselves in the much stronger position. Last time the two sides met in a Caribbean Test series, the hosts had several days of inspired cricket but were unable to string together enough in one match to take a victory from Australia. This time they had started with two encouraging days, and worked through the third in the same fashion.Michael Clarke provided Australia with a fighting half-century but threw his wicket away, while Shane Watson and David Warner also failed to capitalise on solid starts. Watson was also accountable for the ugly run-out of Ricky Ponting, a calamitous confusion that left Ponting fuming as he walked off the field.The pair had come together after Sammy removed both openers in almost identical fashion, pitching the ball on off stump and nipping it away from the left-handers Warner and Ed Cowan. Cowan was on 14 when his thin edge found the wicketkeeper and Warner had made a promising start and had 42 when he edged to second slip, and Sammy’s accuracy and persistence was impressive.Those strikes were followed by the run-out of Ponting for 4 when Watson turned the ball behind square leg and took a single, and then called for the second, hesitated, and called Ponting through again. The throw from the deep to the wicketkeeper’s end found a confused Ponting out of his ground as Watson loitered halfway down the pitch and Ponting’s frustration was evident.Watson was nearly involved in another run-out later when Clarke was saved only by a wayward throw. That, together with poor use of the review system, were the only real blemishes that could be attached to the West Indies fielding effort. Twice Watson survived lbw appeals that could easily have gone against him, once when he offered no shot to a prodigious inswinger from Sammy, who asked for a review and saw the replays show a perilously close prediction that had the ball hitting off stump, but only in the “umpire’s call” zone.In the next over, Kemar Roach appealed for lbw against Watson and also received a not-out verdict. This time Sammy decided against asking for a review but replays showed the ball would have struck enough of leg stump to have the decision overturned. West Indies wasted their second review after lunch when Sammy was off the ground and the vice-captain Kirk Edwards asked for the third umpire to check another Roach lbw appeal that was clearly sliding down leg.But those errors of judgment didn’t prove too costly. Watson threw his wicket away in the first over after lunch when he flashed impetuously at Roach and was caught behind for 39. It was hardly the innings Australia needed from Watson in his first Test batting at No.3. Clarke and Michael Hussey led a fightback with an 82-run partnership and they had to work hard against Bishoo, whose variations kept them from scoring freely.Clarke used his feet against the legspinner and lofted him straight down the ground for six, but otherwise the Australians typically waited for poor balls from Bishoo and did the best they could to keep the good ones out. Clarke brought up his half-century from his 121st delivery with a fine cover-driven boundary from the part-time offspin of Narsingh Deonarine, and he was fortunate to have got there after a contentious review when he was on 27.Clarke was adjudged caught behind off a Bishoo ball that stayed low and he immediately challenged the out decision from the umpire Tony Hill. Replays did not clearly show that he hit the ball but nor did there seem to be overwhelming evidence to overturn the call, but that was what happened and it was a serious let-off for Clarke.Eventually, Bishoo had his reward when Clarke tried to clear long-off but succeeded only in skying a catch, and it was an unwise shot selection at a time when Clarke and Hussey needed to continue building their partnership. Hussey was more watchful and by stumps was approaching a half-century, and Wade struggled against Bishoo with a packed close-in field, but he was good enough to put away the bad balls when they came.Bishoo’s challenge on the fourth day will be to run through the tail, although with the new ball due Sammy will first turn to his fast men to do that job. And if they can manage it, victory will be a possibility, although a draw remains the more likely outcome.

Dwayne Smith, the Mumbai Indians allrounder, has said that he backed himself to score 14 off the last three balls in his first IPL match of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2012″Take a single and give me the strike, I shall do the rest,” is what Mumbai Indians allrounder Dwayne Smith said he told RP Singh when 15 runs were needed off the last four balls against Chennai Super Kings. Smith, who was playing his first match of the season, backed himself to score 14 off the final three deliveries, and he did.Chasing 174, Mumbai Indians were ahead for most of the innings, with Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma putting on a 126-run stand. Following Tendulkar’s dismissal for 74, they needed 40 off 25 balls with eight wickets in hand. Mumbai Indians then lost five wickets for 24, leaving Smith and Lasith Malinga to score 16 off the final over, from Ben Hilfenhaus.Smith managed just a single off Hilfenhaus’ first ball, and then watched Malinga get bowled by a yorker. RP Singh pushed the third ball to cover, and gave Smith what he wanted, the strike. “I just backed myself. I know as long as I can watch the ball I can do it,” Smith said. “I told him to give me the three balls that were left as I knew I could do it from there.”Having been ignored at the 2012 player auction, Smith was signed by Mumbai Indians as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Johnson and only joined the squad on May 3. “I actually thought I was going to be here with one of the teams from the beginning, but that didn’t happen,” he said. “But I am happy to be here now and win some games for Mumbai. I remember winning a game for Barbados in similar fashion. It went into the super over. I got two sixes off the last two balls.”Smith clubbing the last three balls for six and two fours to the straight boundary kept Mumbai Indians at No. 3 in the points table and prevented Chennai Super Kings from progressing from No. 4.The Super Kings coach, Stephen Fleming, said that his team were “favourites going into that last over”. “It was an amazing game of cricket, [we have] mixed emotions really,” Fleming said. “There was phenomenal see-sawing throughout the day. Through their batting innings we were down and out but we fought back with some great fielding.”The challenge, according to Fleming, would be to lift the players’ spirits after such a defeat and get them ready for the final quarter of their league campaign. “We must win three from four games, we played pretty well today and if I get the same performance from my players for the next four games then I think we’ll go close,” he said. “It’s a flat dressing room now but that’s the challenge, we have a few days off which is good. We’re still in the competition and won’t give up.”

Yasir Arafat, the Pakistan medium-pacer, has said the Bangladesh Premier League is not an easy tournament for bowlers, and the hectic schedule is something teams need to manage carefully

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2012Yasir Arafat, the Pakistan medium-pacer, has said the Bangladesh Premier League is not an easy tournament for bowlers, and the hectic schedule is something teams need to manage carefully. Arafat, who plays for Barisal Burners, has taken six wickets in four games in the Twenty20 tournament so far, and has an economy-rate of 7.85.”It’s hard work for the bowlers, as the pitches are very batsman friendly and the boundaries are not the largest,” Arafat told . “Bowlers are thoroughly tested on these sorts of pitches and in this format.”The matches are coming thick and fast and there is very little time to recover from each match and from injuries. We have recently lost bowler Shane Harwood for the rest of the tournament due to a hamstring injury, so that puts extra responsibility on the other bowlers.”Arafat, who has played in the Champions League Twenty20, for Sussex in 2009, as well as domestic Twenty20 competitions in England, South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan, said he was impressed with the organisation of the BPL and the support it has received.”I’m really enjoying playing in Bangladesh; the crowds are fantastic and very enthusiastic about the sport. The passion for cricket in Bangladesh is immense and no doubt such tournaments will raise the profile of the sport further.”The organisers have done a fantastic job given the short amount of time they had to organise the tournament and, on a personal level, it’s great to be playing with and against players from all over the world.”One of the international players who Arafat has had an opportunity to play with is Chris Gayle, who has already made his mark on the BPL with two centuries in four games. “It’s wonderful to be playing on the same team as Chris Gayle,” Arafat said. “It’s also a bit of a relief, as it means I don’t have to bowl to him.”Gayle’s opening partner at Barisal is Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad, who Arafat said has not been overshadowed by Gayle. “Ahmed Shehzad is a fantastic talent, with all the shots. At times he has matched Gayle shot for shot. It’s breathtaking watching the two of them bat together.”Arafat said he saw the BPL succeeding in the long term. “This is the first BPL tournament and I’m sure future tournaments will be even bigger and better.”Barisal Burners have won two of their first four games in the BPL and are fourth in the table. Their next game is against Chittagong Kings on February 16.