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Head keeps his head, but Yorkshire lose more ground

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It feels like the business end of the season and from the point of view of Yorkshire supporters, accustomed as they have become to leading from the front, sixth place in the Division One table, 25 points behind the leaders, cannot look especially promisin

Jon Culley at Headingley04-Aug-2016
ScorecardKeith Barker finished the day with 4 for 55•Getty Images

It feels like the business end of the season and from the point of view of Yorkshire supporters, accustomed as they have become to leading from the front, sixth place in the Division One table, 25 points behind the leaders, cannot look especially promising.Yet Yorkshire themselves still think a third consecutive title is within their compass, reasoning that a game in hand on all those ahead of them, bar Durham, is a significant point in their favour. Four wins in their final seven matches, they reason, should be enough.It seems a tall order. They could do with one of those wins being against their current opponents, given their relative points tally. A victory for Warwickshire would mean that Yorkshire have two teams beyond the reach of their game in hand. They are unbeaten in eight four-day matches against Ian Bell’s team and three of their four wins have been by an innings, but there is no prospect of such an outcome this time.It was just as well that Warwickshire, having had Yorkshire on the brink of a cheap dismissal at 204 for 9, have not been able to prise out the last wicket. Another 48 have been added so far, largely thanks to the enterprise of Steve Patterson and his eager accomplice, Ryan Sidebottom.Warwickshire wanted to bat first and were denied when Andrew Gale won the toss but if this was an advantage Yorkshire did not make the most of it. The pitch is not without challenges but there were a few easy dismissals, and some solid starts not built upon.Travis Head, Yorkshire’s overseas player for the remainder of the season, played nicely and his half-century on Championship debut suggested he can be the all-round asset Jason Gillespie has backed him to become, yet even his innings ended disappointingly.Having despatched Warwickshire’s best bowler with some authority for two fours in three deliveries, the first hit with power through extra cover to complete his fifty off 78 balls, he cut the next ball straight to gully.It was the second of four wickets for Keith Barker, the reliable left-armer, who edged ahead of Kyle Jarvis as the leading Division One wicket-taker with 41 dismissals. A feathered edge accounted for Gale, Jack Leaning pushed forward to one slanted across him and was taken at second slip and Jack Brooks, looking to cut, was bowled off the bottom edge.Leaning’s demise was a little tame, too, although in the context of his season his 42 was at least a step in the right direction. The 22-year-old batsman was one of the driving forces of Yorkshire’s 2015 title win, hitting three hundreds and three other fifties and falling just short of a thousand runs in the season, yet he has struggled this year by comparison.His 51 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in April remains his highest score in 14 innings in the Championship, although he has shown some form against the white ball, including an unbeaten 131 – with five sixes – against Leicestershire in the Royal London One-Day Cup and 64 off 29 balls – again with five sixes – against Northants in the NatWest T20 Blast.”Jack’s gone through a period where he has not scored the runs he would have liked but he is a quality cricketer,” Gillespie, Yorkshire’s coach, said. “He’s disappointed today because he did all the hard work and felt he could have gone on to make a really big score but he has great determination and hopefully this augurs well for a strong finish to the season.”Tim Bresnan was another who may reflect ruefully on the way his innings ended, having survived some difficult moments against Jeetan Patel, who bowled 27 overs unchanged and is already getting some turn. Soon after the dismissal of Leaning had ended a partnership of 60 that had seemed to be putting Yorkshire back on track, an airy clip off his legs off Oliver Hannon-Dalby had Bresnan caught at deep square leg.Hannon-Dalby, back in the side for spinner Josh Poysden with Chris Wright replacing the injured Boyd Rankin, took two wickets against his former county, including the key one of Adam Lyth, a double centurion in his last red-ball innings, with a peach of a ball that moved away late.As Yorkshire teetered at nine-down, Warwickshire looked cock-a-hoop, yet walked off the field frustrated. “We need to get the momentum back but I still think we are slightly ahead of the game,” Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Dougie Brown, concluded.”I don’t think we let it get away from us. Patterson and Sidebottom are good players and they batted very well. Patto’s slightly unorthodox but what he does he does very well. Yes, 200 all out would have been better but 250 for 9 is not the end of the world.”Sidebottom is back in the side for the first time since April, having recovered from an ankle injury and with Jack Brooks returning from a torn quad muscle the Yorkshire attack has the look of the one that has proved so effective in the last couple of years. If Yorkshire are to pull off those four wins, they might hold the key.

Hafeez banned from bowling for 12 months

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Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez has been banned from bowling for 12 months after his action was found to be illegal a second time since November 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jul-20153:26

‘Pakistan’s team combination will suffer’

Pakistan allrounder Mohammad Hafeez has been banned from bowling in international cricket for 12 months after his action was found to be illegal for a second time since November 2014. He will be able to have his action reassessed by the ICC only after this period is completed.Hafeez, 34, had undergone testing at an ICC-accredited lab in Chennai on July 6, after his action was reported following the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle in June. The tests revealed Hafeez’s action exceeded the permitted 15-degree limit.”As this report has constituted the player’s second report within a two-year period, the first of which led to a suspension, he is now automatically suspended from bowling in international cricket for a 12-month period,” the ICC said. “Hafeez is entitled to appeal any procedural aspect of an independent assessment that has led to this automatic suspension. However, only after the expiry of this one-year period will he be entitled to approach the ICC for a reassessment of his bowling action.”

Hafeez’s troubles

  • November 2014 – Reported for a suspect action after Abu Dhabi Test v New Zealand

  • December 2014 – Suspended from bowling in international cricket

  • December 2014 – Tests reveal flex of elbow was as far as 31 degrees

  • January 2015 – Fails unofficial retest

  • April 2015 – Passes an official retest and is cleared to bowl again

  • June 2015 – Reported again after the Galle Test v Sri Lanka

  • July 2015 – Banned for 12 months

Hafeez had been reported for a suspect action after the Abu Dhabi Test against New Zealand in November last year, and in December his action was found to be illegal following tests at an ICC accredited centre in Loughborough, England. He was found to have an elbow extension up to 31 degrees.He underwent remedial work at a biomechanics lab in Chennai, but failed an unofficial test on his action on January 3. Later that month the PCB requested the ICC to retest Hafeez’s action in February in Brisbane, so that he could bowl at the World Cup if cleared, but he was ruled out of the tournament with a calf injury. Hafeez was finally cleared to bowl again in international cricket on April 21, after more tests on his action in Chennai.After he was reported following the Galle match, Hafeez bowled in the second Test in Colombo, where he took one wicket before travelling to Chennai to have his action tested. He missed the third Test in Pallekele as a result, but returned to play the first two ODIs in Sri Lanka, taking 4 for 41 and 2 for 61.

Services face daunting task on sixth day

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The rain-interrupted semi-final between Services and Mumbai will go into its sixth day on Monday. Services trail Mumbai by 291 runs with seven wickets in hand

The Report by Sharda Ugra in Delhi20-Jan-2013
ScorecardThe Services Ranji Trophy team may not be familiar with a World War I ditty called . They would be well aware though that the road to the Ranji Trophy final is equally distant, with the semi-final having turned into a first-innings shootout against Mumbai. At stumps, in pursuit of Mumbai’s total of 454 for 8, Services were 164 for 3 with captain Soumya Swain batting on 64 and Yashpal Singh on 43. Their unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 92 has given Services the most alluring of sniffs at pulling off, for the second match in a row, one of the biggest upsets in Ranji Trophy history.This rain-interrupted and wet-pitch dominated match will now go into its sixth day on Monday to allow both teams to complete their first innings. Services need 291 runs more to get past Mumbai’s first innings score total, and Mumbai need seven wickets.On Sunday, the entire morning session was again lost due to the effects of the hailstorm and unexpected showers of two nights ago. The covers over the match pitch had been blown away and the track had to face the brunt of a downpour in the early hours of Saturday morning. Then, even after being baked in golden winter sunshine all of Saturday, there was more waiting to be done on Sunday morning. Thanks to early morning cloud cover and poor light, the moisture on the track had not dried up enough to get play started on time.Mumbai had made its intentions clear when play finally began at 12.10 pm. Facing the first ball of the day, Agarkar spanked a four off Shadab Nazar over midwicket and then, in Nishan Singh’s next over, hit the bowler for a six down the ground. Seventy-two overs had been scheduled for the day and the Mumbai batsmen didn’t want to use up too many of them. Thanks to a late dash from Dhawal Kulkarni, Mumbai crossed 450 scoring 74 runs in nine overs before the declaration came 41 minutes into the second session.Services tried to mix up their bowlers and spread the field, but Mumbai were on the move. Kulkarni scored 20 off 12 balls, playing straight but hitting long. His innings included a six and a four off left-arm spinner Avishek Sinha, who was brought on in the fourth over after Nishan Singh went for 13 runs. The change made no difference to Mumbai and Sinha was hit for 23 off three overs in the morning.Mumbai stamped their presence all over the match when they reduced Services to 22 for 2 in the 14th over. Mumbai’s attack against Services was led by Dhawal Kulkarni, who used length and pace to cramp their openers and dry up the runs. At one stage, Services went 46 balls without scoring as Kulkarni gave Pratik Desai a working over, bowling a line that turned him square, produced two lbw appeals and then hit him on the leg. After ten overs of scratching around by the Services openers, Kulkarni had Nakul Verma trapped leg before, trying to work one onto the onside. The introduction of the left-arm spin of Ankeet Chavan at the other end ended Desai’s laborious 73 minutes at the crease, the latter yorking himself and Services sliding to 22 for 2.It took two 50-plus partnerships for the third and fourth wickets to give the Services batting its oxygen. Swain was involved in both, first with Anshul Gupta (for 50 runs) and then with Yashpal Singh.After scoring an unbeaten 118 against Himachal Pradesh in the second match of the season, Swain had largely struggled. His highest score between that match and the semi-final was 33. In Palam today, however, he was like all left-hand batsmen – stylish in strife, batting with a fluid grace and timing. Barring a few anxious end overs, as the light began to drop and the slowness of the clock began to wear his concentration down, Swain endured. An edge off Ajit Agarkar’s bowling fell short of Wasim Jaffer at second slip and Shardul Thakur beat him several times.Yashpal was just the hardy companion Swain needed, as the two men were watched by their team-mates sitting in the plastic chairs around the boundary. A man stood near the scorer, shouting out totals and scores.The odds, however, are still against a Services upset. After a first day in which they lost six first-innings wickets for 169, Mumbai have played like the much stronger team they are reputed to be. A seventh-wicket partnership of 246 runs between captain Agarkar and Aditya Tare took Mumbai to more than respectability. On day five, they were able to press the pedal half-way to maximum.The weather tomorrow promises to be good, the track has dried up and the sixth day’s play is suddenly full of possibilities.

PCB forms task team to study domestic structure

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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formed a task force to advise the board on how to improve domestic cricket in Pakistan

Umar Farooq14-Dec-2011The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formed a task force to advise the board on how to improve domestic cricket in Pakistan. The team will study and review the existing structure of domestic cricket, consider its weaknesses and strengths and will make recommendations within two months. The recommendations of the team, though, will not be binding on the PCB.The team is made up of familiar names in Pakistan administration: former Pakistan captains Javed Miandad, Intikhab Alam, Zaheer Abbas and Moin Khan, and former players Sarfraz Nawaz, Iqbal Qasim, Imtiaz Ahmed and Zakir Khan, who is director of domestic cricket in Pakistan. Alam, who has been both a coach and manager of the national side and is now both the director of international cricket for the PCB and director of academies, will be chairman of the task team. Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, was also approached to be a part of the team but declined because of other commitments.Some of the members of the team have questioned why it has only been given a recommendatory role.Nawaz said the team members would use their experience to determine why Pakistan’s domestic cricket was not producing more world-class cricketers. “The board want our input and we are ready to use the best of our experience to give them that. It is their responsibility to either implement it or not,” Nawaz told ESPNcricinfo.”There is definitely some problem with our existing domestic structure that is hampering the quality of our players. We have to sit down and discuss it right from the start. All the members of the team have rich experience of playing the game. Most of the members have played ample first-class cricket in different eras and understand the structure. I think the quality is missing and that is why we are not producing world-class cricketers. So we have to sit and pen down the differences in the structure of domestic cricket over the years and look for flaws that need to be fixed to get back the quality we had on our circuit.”The structure of domestic cricket in Pakistan has seen several changes over the last six decades. The period from 2001 to now has been the most inconsistent, with changes made every two years. The present structure starts with the inter-district Under-19 tournament, then has the inter-district senior championship followed by the National Under-19 event. After that there is the Patron’s Trophy grade II and then the country’s premier first-class event the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. The format of QEA has remained intact from last season, with 22 first-class teams – both regional and departmental outfits – competing in a two-league structure. The one-day tournament is the next event, followed by the Pentangular Cup: a first-class tournament among provincial teams and sometimes featuring a combination of provincial teams and top teams from QEA – again an inconsistent format. The season ends with the Twenty20 Cup played among all the 13 regional teams.Nawaz said the returns the board were getting from domestic cricket were not equivalent to their spendings. “The PCB has invested a huge amount in domestic cricket but the output isn’t a quality one,” he said. “Most of our current players aren’t in the same class as Wasim [Akram], Javed [Miandad] or Waqar [Younis]; they end up playing a maximum of two years of international cricket. We want to produce players who can play international cricket for at least five to ten years on their own abilities.”We will be studying the structures of most of the successful playing nations and will come up with feasible and the best recommendations for domestic cricket. After that it is the PCB’s responsibility to take up our suggestions and implement them.”Iqbal Qasim, who is now head of sports for the National Bank of Pakistan, also said there were faults in Pakistan’s domestic cricket. “It’s a good sign that the board have at least realised there are flaws and the system requires evaluation,” Qasim told ESPNcricinfo. “Every member in the body has huge experience of domestic cricket and I hope the team can come up with the best recommendations that are helpful for Pakistan.”

McDonald hurt, but Victoria on top

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Andrew McDonald made a terrific comeback from a broken hand, only to pick up a calf strain as Victoria took the advantage on the opening day against South Australia in Adelaide

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Dec-2010
ScorecardAndrew McDonald picked up 3 for 1, and a calf injury•Getty Images

Andrew McDonald made a terrific comeback from a broken hand, only to pick up a calf strain as Victoria took the advantage on the opening day against South Australia in Adelaide. McDonald picked up 3 for 1 as the Redbacks were knocked over for 168, and by the close of play Victoria were within sight of first-innings points.The Bushrangers went to stumps on 3 for 141, with Aaron Finch on 25 and Cameron White on 38, with McDonald set to bat with a runner after his injury struck. He had skittled the middle order of the home team with three wickets, all caught by David Hussey in the slips, before the calf problem ended his spell after 21 deliveries.It was an eventful return for McDonald, who had missed nearly a month after his outstanding start to the summer was cut short when he broke his hand. John Hastings chipped in with 4 for 37, including the last two wickets as South Australia struggled having chosen to bat on a pitch usually renowned for runs.Callum Ferguson did his Test hopes no help by making a second-ball duck, one of the men who edged McDonald, and Tom Cooper (53) was the only man to post a half-century. In reply, Rob Quiney (42) and Michael Hill, who made 34, gave Victoria a solid start before Ben Edmondson picked up two wickets, including David Hussey for a golden duck.

Marsh brothers hand Warriors big win

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A scintillating 53-ball century from big-hitting Shaun Marsh led Western Australia to a convincing win over New South Wales at the WACA

The Bulletin by Andrew Fuss05-Jan-2010
Scorecard
Mitchell Marsh, handed the ball for the first time in Twenty20 cricket, made it a memorable day for the Marsh family•Getty Images

A scintillating 53-ball century from big-hitting Shaun Marsh led Western Australia to a convincing win over New South Wales at the WACA. Former Australian opener Geoff Marsh watched from the stands as son Shaun hit the Blues attack to all corners, racking up a 168-run Big Bash record-partnership (for any team and any wicket) with fellow-opener Wes Robinson.So swift was Shaun’s second fifty that when he reached his hundred, Robinson was on just 54 – having beaten Shaun to the half-century mark.The Blues bowlers had started steadily through Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc, backed up by some darting offspinners from Dominic Thornely, and had restricted the hosts to 87 off the first 12 overs. However, when Thornely exited the attack, Marsh unleashed fury on Dwayne Smith, Moises Henriques, and the often wayward Aaron Bird.He blasted six fours and the same number of sixes, including several effortless drives over long-off as the Warriors set the Blues an imposing target for victory.The visitors came out swinging with David Warner falling early to a good catch by Luke Pomersbach at cover from a lethal cut shot. Usman Khawaja fell shortly after trying to pull Michael Hogan and when Henriques was bowled trying to loft Brad Knowles, the Blues looked in dire straits.Aaron Heal ended a mini fightback from Steve Smith and Phil Jaques, dismissing them in consecutive balls and when Mitchell Marsh was handed the ball for the first time in Twenty20 cricket, the visitors were in for a tough time. The younger Marsh brother showed he’s got plenty of talent with the ball, regularly hitting the mid-130s kph, and gave father Geoff even more to smile about, taking 4 for 6 in just 2.2 overs to wrap up a comprehensive win.The Warriors moved to third on the table and will host Victoria on Sunday night, while the Blues dropped back to fifth (with a net run-rate of -1.667) with home matches against Queensland and South Australia to come.

'Grow up' – Gambhir takes aim at 'perpetual cribbers'

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India’s head coach dismisses talk of his team having an “undue advantage” in the Champions Trophy

Sidharth Monga04-Mar-2025It comes with the territory that everything around India gets magnified, be it good or bad. Barely a press conference has gone by during this Champions Trophy where India’s supposed advantage has not been spoken about.Because of geopolitical issues, India haven’t travelled to the host nation, Pakistan, and have played all their matches – which will now include the final – in Dubai, while other teams have had to travel within Pakistan and then to Dubai to play India. It has been suggested that India benefited on two fronts: that their squad had fewer bases to cover, and that they had a chance to get used to one square unlike any other team in the competition. Coach Gautam Gambhir must have been really annoyed at such insinuations, and dismissed any such talk emphatically even when not directly asked about it.Gambhir was asked if India knew about the conditions in Dubai when they picked five spinners in their squad, three of them allrounders of varying capability. Gambhir came off the long run in response, taking aim at “perpetual cribbers”.Related

  • Shut up whiners, India had to overcome lots of burdens to win the Champions Trophy

  • Iyer's fire: the point of difference in India's middle order

  • Kumble: There is always undue pressure on Rahul

  • Kohli conquers legspin to add new layer to his mystique

  • Rahul: I'm quite used to going up and down the order

“See, first of all, this is as neutral a venue for us as it is for any other team,” Gambhir said. “We have not played here. I don’t remember when last we played here. And in fact, we didn’t plan anything like that. The plan was that if you pick two frontline spinners in the 15-man squad, then even if we played in Pakistan or anywhere, we would have picked two frontline spinners because this was a competition in the subcontinent.”So it’s not like we wanted to spin a spinners’ web. If you look at it, we only played one frontline spinner in the first two matches. We played two frontline spinners in this match and the previous match.”And there’s a lot of debate about the undue advantage and all that. What undue advantage? We haven’t practised here even for one day. We’re practising at the ICC academy. And the conditions there and here are 180 degrees different. Some people are just perpetual cribbers, man. They’ve got to grow up. I feel that there was nothing like we had any undue advantage.”It is fair to say the vanquished captain Steven Smith is not one of those perpetual cribbers. He played down any advantage for India in the lead-up to the match, and was asked again about it afterwards.2:32

Do India have an unfair advantage at the Champions Trophy?

“Yeah, look, I’m not buying into it,” Smith said. “I think it is what it is. India obviously played some really good cricket here. The surface kind of suits their style with the spinners that they’ve got and the seamers that they have at their disposal for a wicket like that. They played well, they outplayed us, and they deserve the victory.”However, the tournament’s top wicket-taker, Mohammed Shami, did say the familiarity of playing at the same ground has helped him. It doesn’t mean that what he said directly contradicts what Gambhir said. Gambhir had spoken glowingly about how well Shami prepares for matches. So Shami was asked about his preparations.”Main thing is to know the conditions and the behaviour of the pitch well,” Shami said. “Because you are playing at one venue, you have an opportunity to get used to the conditions properly. So, at practice, I keep things simple, and try to bowl according to the pitches for the match.”When asked if it was a benefit to be playing at the same venue, Shami said, “Definitely. Because you get to know the conditions, the behaviour of the pitch. A lot of things… the way the weather was today – cool – your brain works even more. It can be said that it is a plus point that all your matches have been played at the same venue.””What undue advantage? We haven’t practised here even for one day. We’re practising at the ICC academy. And the conditions there and here are 180 degrees different”•Associated Press

Having said all that, India’s unbeaten run into the final of another ICC event will gladden many a heart. India lost only the final in the 2023 ODI World Cup, won the T20 World Cup in 2024 without dropping a match, and have won all four of their matches in the ongoing Champions Trophy. Having been through some tough times in Test cricket recently, Gambhir rejoiced in the “flawless” performance but was wary of India getting ahead of themselves.”You used a very good word that we played ‘flawlessly’,” Gambhir said in response to a question. “I think yes, we did, but we still have one more game to go. We know that we are a good one-day side, and the most important thing is the way we’ve actually played throughout this competition. The hunger, the commitment, and the eagerness to try and do something special for the country is always there in the dressing room.”In international sport, you want to keep improving. You don’t say that you’ve ticked all the boxes. There’s always room to improve. There’s always something to improve, be it in batting, fielding, or bowling. And we still haven’t played a perfect game. We still have one more game to go. Hopefully we can play a perfect game.”And that is the kind of person I am. I will never be satisfied with the performances. We want to keep improving, we want to stay humble, we want to be ruthless on the cricket field, but absolutely humble off the field as well. That’s the kind of team environment and that’s the kind of culture we want to create in that dressing room, and be absolutely honest. So hopefully we can play one more game and play our best game.”

Steven Smith set for Sydney Sixers' opening BBL match

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He is locked in to face Melbourne Renegades before the Pakistan Test series and could also come up against David Warner

Andrew McGlashan26-Nov-2023Steven Smith will make a brief return to Sydney Sixers for this season’s BBL 2023-24 after being made available for their opening match against Melbourne Renegades on December 8. The club are hopeful he will also feature in the Sydney derby after the Pakistan Test series.Smith had a huge impact for Sixers last season when he scored 346 runs at a strike rate of 174.74 in just five innings including two blistering centuries – the first by a Sixers batter in the BBL. It put him just outside the tournament’s top ten leading run-scorers despite a handful of appearances.The international schedule will limit his outings this summer, but Sixers have signed him onto their list and he is locked in to face Renegades at the SCG before flying to Perth ahead of the opening Test against Pakistan which starts on December 14.Related

  • Izharulhaq Naveed returns to Sydney Sixers as Rehan Ahmed withdraws

  • Green, Harris, Renshaw, Bancroft named in PM's XI to face Pakistan

  • Rashid Khan withdraws from BBL 13 with back injury

  • Khawaja, Labuschagne cleared for BBL opening night amid fixture squeeze

Smith could appear at the SCG for a second time, against crosstown rivals Sydney Thunder on January 12, which has the potential to be a head-to-head with David Warner who is set to retire from Test cricket after the Pakistan series and therefore be available for the BBL.It is unlikely Smith will be available for any other matches, including the finals, due to Australia commitments.”The impact that Steve was able to make in such a short time last season is testament to the kind of player he is,” Rachael Haynes, the head coach of Sydney Sixers, said. “We have no doubt Sixers fans can expect the same level of entertainment when he takes to the field again this summer.”Smith opened the batting for Sixers last season and it is a role he is currently taking on in the T20I series against India where he made 52 in the opening game. He had been due to open in South Africa earlier this year before a wrist injury ruled him out of that tour. It is a position he is keen to continue in with an eye on next year’s T20 World Cup in West Indies and the USA although there will be plenty of competition for opening spots in the Australia side alongside Warner, Travis Head and Matt Short.”Anyone would want to open in T20 cricket,” Smith told AAP at the start of the summer. “It was cool to be able to show what I could do in the Big Bash. Hopefully I can replicate that internationally as well.”Confirmation of Smith’s availability for the opening match follows Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne being freed to play for Brisbane Heat on the first night of the competition with an outside chance they could also play a second game before the Tests begin. Heat have been badly hit by call-ups to the Prime Minister’s XI side to face Pakistan in Canberra which will see them lose four players for their opening two matches.Melbourne Stars will also be without Mark Steketee and Beau Webster for the opening-night game against Heat while Sixers won’t have Todd Murphy available against Renegades.Former Sixer Nathan Lyon has indicated his desire to play for his new side Renegades before the Test summer which would pit him against Smith on December 8.Other clubs will also hope there is a chance of briefly seeing their Test players during the eight-day gap between the Sydney Test, which ends on January 7, and the opening game against West Indies from January 17.Australia’s three frontline multiformat quick bowlers – Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – are not yet attached to any BBL teams and are unlikely to play given their workloads.Recent World Cup winners Adam Zampa (Renegades), Glenn Maxwell (Melbourne Stars) and Marcus Stoinis (Melbourne Stars) should be available for the entire tournament.The BBL has been hit by two significant withdrawals from their overseas names in recent days with Harry Brook (England duty) and Rashid Khan (injury) ruled out of the tournament.

Paine returns to training, first-class comeback a possibility

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The former Australia captain will play club cricket first but the Sheffield Shield is on the horizon

AAP22-Aug-2022Tim Paine could be back playing in Tasmania in six weeks as Australia’s former Test captain prepares for his cricket comeback.Paine is training with Tasmania’s state squad as an uncontracted player as he plots a return for the first time since losing the Test captaincy in a text message controversy.The 37-year-old took time away from the sport after standing down as Test skipper in November last year. Paine never retired but wasn’t contracted on Tasmania’s playing roster for this summer.Cricket Tasmania say Paine is back in training. Tasmania’s first outing this summer is a one-dayer on September 28 against South Australia but Paine is aiming to return in club ranks.Related

  • Former Cricket Australia chair hits out handling of Tim Paine scandal

  • Timeline: the twists and turns of Tim Paine's international career

  • Paine involved in Tasmania coaching set-up

Cricket Tasmania’s grade competition, the Premier League, starts in early October. Tasmania’s opening Sheffield Shield game begins on October 6.”We can confirm that Tim has returned to training with the aim at this stage to play in the CTPL this season,” a Cricket Tasmania spokesperson said.The governing body declined further comment but Paine has another powerful ally in fellow Tasmanian and ex-Test skipper Ricky Ponting.
Ponting, recently appointed as head of strategy for Hobart Hurricanes, has openly stated his desire for Paine to again play for the BBL franchise.Paine quit the Test captaincy after admitting involvement in a lewd text exchange with a female former employee of Cricket Tasmania in late 2017.Cricket Australia secretly investigated at the time and exonerated Paine of wrongdoing, but he stepped down on the eve of last year’s Ashes series when made aware the text exchange would become public.Paine’s successor as Test captain, Pat Cummins, said the wicketkeeper hasn’t been forgotten.”Someone like Painey, firstly as a mate you want to make sure he’s okay. We all make mistakes,” Cummins said last week. “He did the wrong thing but he tried to fix the situation as best as he could…I really feel for him.”

New Zealand eye Bangladesh whitewash to cap off hectic home summer

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With the series in the bag, the only dampener for the hosts in the third and final T20I in Auckland could be rain

Mohammad Isam31-Mar-2021

Big Picture

New Zealand are about to end their all-win home summer that has stretched seven series. They have hosted 21 international matches, the most by any country since the Covid-19 pandemic. It is regarded as an administrative success, particularly given their country’s stringent quarantine protocols. The only dampener is likely to be the rain in the forecast in Auckland for the season finale, the third T20I against Bangladesh.A major strength for New Zealand has been their newcomers turning in superb contributions even after they have been put under pressure. In the second T20I in Napier, it was Glenn Phillips whose unbeaten half-century got them out of trouble and into a total that proved too much for Bangladesh amid confusion over the DLS-determined target. Daryl Mitchell helped Phillips in an unbroken 62-run sixth-wicket stand that came off just 27 balls.In the first match, it was Devon Conway and debutant Will Young who got them into a position of strength. New Zealand will also be pleased with how Ish Sodhi has continued his good form throughout the summer despite playing only T20Is. During the ongoing T20I series in particular, Tim Southee’s captaincy has also stood out.Come the third and final T20I on Thursday, they wouldn’t mind Martin Guptill getting a big score as he has been in threatening form since the ODI series against Bangladesh with his quick starts. Finn Allen, too, would be eyeing a sizeable score having made just 17 across two innings so far in this series. There’s going to be an opportunity to see who among Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson and Hamish Bennett get to pair up in Auckland.Related

  • 'Almost felt like my debut' – Milne relishes NZ comeback

  • DLS drama: Confusion over target reigns as Bangladesh begin chase

Bangladesh have had a few positives during this tour but their players have been somewhat inconsistent. Nasum Ahmed bowled well in both T20Is, particularly opening the bowling, although he has only two wickets to show for so far. Soumya Sarkar’s half-century in the second T20I should help him get out of a trough.Mohammad Naim has shown glimpses of his impressive strokeplay in both games, albeit without a big score. Afif Hossain made 45 in a losing cause in the first game, in Hamilton, while Shoriful bounced back with an economical spell in Napier after a disastrous debut in the series opener.Mohammad Saifuddin has been expensive with the ball in both games, Liton Das has scored only 50 runs on this tour while Mohammad Mithun and Mahedi Hasan haven’t converted their promise from the ODI series.

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
New Zealand WWWLL
Bangladesh LLWWL

In the spotlight

Glenn Phillips has been unbeaten in his last three international matches, with all three being pivotal to New Zealand wins. In the second T20I, his 58 came off 31 balls, his big-hitting prowess on show as much as his diligence in building partnerships during a tricky passage of play.It’s hard to predict which Soumya Sarkar might turn up in Auckland. He averaged 9.5 on the tour until his quickfire 51 in Napier. It contained an array of special shots but his dismissal sparked a batting collapse. Perhaps getting back to form is important but for a batsman with 129 international matches under his belt getting the team to winning positions is his main job.

Team news

Only Todd Astle is yet to get a game in this series while the pace combination of Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne may also come to fruition.New Zealand (probable) 1 Finn Allen, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Devon Conway (wk), 4 Will Young, 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 Mark Chapman, 7 Daryl Mitchell, 8 Tim Southee (capt), 9 Ish Sodhi, 10, Adam Milne, 11 Hamish BennettBangladesh may not want to tweak the starting XI that to some degree tested New Zealand in the previous game unless Mushfiqur Rahim is fit.Bangladesh (probable) 1 Liton Das (wk), 2 Mohammad Naim, 3 Soumya Sarkar, 4 Mohammad Mithun, 5 Mahmudullah (capt), 6 Afif Hossain, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Shoriful Islam, 10 Nasum Ahmed, 11 Taskin Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

The series-ender will be the first day-night T20I at the Eden Park in five years. Short boundaries and an expected flat pitch hint at a high-scoring game in the offing. There’s rain in the forecast, though.

Stats and trivia

  • Martin Guptil’s 582 runs at Eden Park makes him the only player to score 500-plus T20I runs in a single venue.
  • Mahmudullah is set to play his 55th consecutive T20I for Bangladesh, currently the fourth longest in the all-time list. Essentially, he hasn’t missed a T20I since November 2015.

Quotes

“I have been ridden with injuries in the last three years, so I want to be injury-free, firstly. I am just going to try to keep my body in the park and play consistent cricket.””We haven’t done well in all three departments in one particular game. We have bowled well and batted well in separate matches. We need to bring it all together to win a game.”