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“He has put his name up in lights” – Malan also lauds seamer Graham Hume, who grabbed four wickets in the first ODI

Mohammad Isam19-Mar-2023Ireland coach Heinrich Malan wants his side to continue playing with the aggressive mentality that they have shown over the past few months. This, despite their 183-run loss against Bangladesh in the first ODI in Sylhet, where they slipped to 76 for 5 – and eventually 155 all out – despite being 60 without loss in the 12th over in pursuit of 339.”The captain said that we are focusing on the way we play,” Malan said. “Of course, it is about results. We understand international cricket is about winning and losing, but it is the way we go about our business. I think if you look at the last 12 months, the way we have tried to play has got us into opportunities to beat some of the bigger sides. We beat England in the [T20] World Cup.”We look at this series as one of those opportunities as well: to come here in different conditions against a team that just beat the world champions, and show what we [have] got in the bank.”Ireland have achieved mixed results across both limited-overs formats since 2022, having won an away ODI series against West Indies and a home T20I series against Afghanistan, and drawn an ODI series in Zimbabwe and T20I series against South Africa in England along the way. They also came close to beating New Zealand and India several times during their home season last year – margins of defeat included four runs, one wicket, three wickets and one run.Malan said Ireland will still keep fighting their own way, even with Bangladesh having been quite dominant at home since 2015. He even found the funny side of how the Sylhet weather became slightly Irish overnight; there has been non-stop rain in the region, with the temperature also falling. But Malan also acknowledged that this would work to the Bangladesh pace attack’s advantage.”It is a lot more our sort of conditions, isn’t it? Hopefully, it keeps raining and hopefully it [the ball] keeps moving around,” he said. “Look, let’s not look beyond the fact that Bangladesh has three quality seamers too. They highlighted last night that they have become a very good all-round side.Graham Hume took a career-best 4 for 60, including the wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim•AFP/Getty Images

“It is not just about playing spin anymore. They have an accomplished seam attack. If it is a little overcast and rainy, it will be a little more comfortable for us. We have to play on what’s in front of you; we are looking forward to the challenge in Bangladesh.”Malan said his team was working on identifying areas they did well in in the first ODI and rectifying areas they didn’t.”It is not the result that we are obviously after. I think it was a nice little opportunity for us to get a feel for the conditions,” he said. “They were better than what we anticipated. It was a nice surface. It wasn’t as effected as we thought it would be. It is something that we identified and something we will rectify tomorrow.”We are trying to find ways to get wickets in the middle overs of white-ball matches. We picked up some wickets in the powerplay, [but] they built a nice partnership through the middle and allowed them to get a foundation to have a successful death period. We are taking that into account. Looking at tomorrow, we have to come up with one or two creative ways to get some quality players in the opposition under pressure.”Malan praised how right-arm seamer Graham Hume bowled, taking a career-best 4 for 60 in what was only his fifth ODI. Although slightly expensive, Hume dismissed the dangerous-looking Shakib Al Hasan and Towhid Hridoy, as well as Mushfiqur Rahim.”We know what we will get from Hume. He is a very consistent performer,” Malan said. “He has been around for a long time. It has been a great addition to our bowling stocks. He has got a lot of opportunities over the last year with a few injuries. It is exciting that we are building a pace-bowling stock. He has put his name up in lights now through his performance. Hopefully he can keep doing that for us.”Malan also said that they could use the left-arm spin of George Dockrell, who although he didn’t bowl a single over in the first game, is someone who keeps working on his bowling despite changing track as an international cricketer.”Over the last couple of years, he [has] transformed himself into a quality batter after coming into the side as a bowler,” Malan said. “He is always an option as a bowler. He trains diligently and does everything in the nets. I guess it comes down to the match-ups. We were trying to create some match-ups with the lefties yesterday, hence you saw couple of overs from [Harry] Tector as well.”

Bob Willis Trophy shelved, Yorkshire retained in Division One, Blast to be played in single block

Andrew Miller20-Jan-2022″Lessons have been learnt” from England’s poor Test showing in 2021, according to Neil Snowball, the ECB’s managing director of county cricket, following the announcement of a 2022 domestic schedule which will provide prospective Test players more opportunity for red-ball cricket in the lead-up to their encounters with New Zealand, South Africa and India this summer.In the wake of a disastrous showing in the Ashes, and following a home Test campaign last summer in which England lost 1-0 to New Zealand and were trailing 2-1 to India before the postponement of the decisive fifth Test, the ECB’s tentative pledge to “reset” their red-ball fortunes has been backed up with a block of five County Championship matches in June and July, ahead of the South Africa series in August.Two “County Select XI” fixtures against New Zealand and South Africa, distinct from the England Lions set-up, have been added to the schedule as well, to provide Test candidates with further opportunities to pit themselves against the tourists. This comes after complaints in 2021 that England were undercooked going into their main campaign of the summer, against India in August and September, following just two Championship rounds in early July prior to the launch of the first season of the Hundred.”It’s obviously well documented and acknowledged that recent results were extremely disappointing which again has called for a look at our approach to red-ball cricket,” Snowball said. “Clearly, the men’s domestic game has got a significant role to play in that, in terms of making sure that we can develop the best possible Test players who can then go on to aspire to be the best team in the world. We don’t think that county cricket has all the answers, but it certainly has some of the answers, and it certainly has an important role to play going forward, along with the first-class counties and the PCA and other stakeholders.”Related

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• County Championship comes in from the margins in rejigged 2022 schedule

Yorkshire have been included in the schedule as a Division One team, in spite of the ongoing investigation into the racism scandal that rocked the club in 2021 and may yet lead to further sanctions from the Cricket Discipline Committee (CDC), while both the Bob Willis Trophy final and the traditional Champion County versus MCC fixture, which has been held in the UAE and Barbados in recent seasons, have been shelved.The Bob Willis Trophy, hastily arranged for the delayed 2020 season, was a success in providing context to a condensed first-class programme and culminated in a showpiece final at Lord’s. However, last season’s final was an anti-climax – comfortably won by Warwickshire, for whom it was a distant second to their County Championship triumph.”The Bob Willis Trophy served us very well in 2020 to rescue the season, and of course we played for it last year as well,” Snowball said. “We’re very keen to continue to celebrate Bob’s legacy with a Bob Willis Trophy in some format but we’re not quite sure what that’s going to be yet. We’re in discussions with his family on that.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The format of the season falls along the lines that ESPNcricinfo revealed in November, and includes a tweak for the Vitality Blast, in what is set to be its 20th season. This year, the whole competition will be played in a seven-week block from May 25 through to Finals Day at Edgbaston on July 16, an amendment that should allow more of the counties’ overseas stars to be involved in the knock-out rounds. Luke Wright, Sussex’s captain, was a prominent critic of the previous schedule, which had involved a five-week hiatus after the group stages.In a bid to maximise the counties’ preference for Blast fixtures towards the back end of the working week, 99 of the 126 fixtures have been scheduled for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. And, in an echo of the successful staging of the Hundred, in which the majority of women’s fixtures were played as double-headers alongside the men, ten Charlotte Edwards Cup matches will also feature on the same bill as the Blast, and at their respective county HQs.Alan Fordham, the ECB’s head of cricket operations, said that the counties’ desire to put the women’s game on an equal footing to the men had been a factor in the double-header decision – as had the double bank holiday at the beginning of June, which encompasses half term and will provide an opportunity for more families to attend the matches. At this stage, one of the double-headers is due to be televised on Sky Sports.A further boost for the women’s game will come with the final of the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, which is due to be held at Lord’s for the first time, on Sunday, September 25. The men’s Royal London Cup final will once again be held at Trent Bridge, but has been moved back to a Saturday (September 17), having been held on a Thursday last season.”The women’s game is just going to have a phenomenal year,” Snowball added. “We’ve got the Ashes starting in Adelaide. We’ve got the Women’s World Cup and then the Commonwealth Games In Birmingham as well as the second edition of the Hundred. So it’s a huge year for women’s domestic cricket and international cricket. We look forward to seeing how that unfolds.”

He played one Test for India and also led Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2020Sadashiv Raoji Patil, the allrounder of the 1950s and 1960s who represented India in one Test match in 1955, died in his sleep in the early hours of Tuesday at his residence in Kolhapur. He was 86, and is survived by his wife and two daughters.In a 36-match first-class career – primarily for Maharashtra, a team he also captained in the Ranji Trophy – between 1952 and 1964, Patil scored 866 runs and took 83 wickets.Though he played only one Test, he did well in it, in Mumbai against New Zealand, when he scored 14 not out from No. 10 in India’s only innings and picked up a wicket in either bowling innings, John Reid his victim on both occasions.Mourning Patil’s death, the BCCI said in a statement: “Patil, a medium-pacer, had made an instant impact on his first-class debut for Maharashtra in the 1952-53 season. Playing against Mumbai, he bowled unchanged to skittle the domestic champions for 112 after Maharashtra were bowled out for a mere 167. In the 2nd innings, he took three wickets for 68 as Maharashtra secured a 19-run win.”He earned the prized India Test cap (No. 79) when he made his debut at the Brabourne Stadium against the visiting New Zealand team in 1955 under the captaincy of Polly Umrigar. Bowling with the new ball, he picked up a wicket in each innings in India’s big win by an innings and 27 runs. Patil had impressed the selectors earlier when playing for West Zone against the Kiwis, he returned match figures of 7/74.”Though he never played for India again, Patil continued to play for Maharashtra and also played in the Lancashire League, where he featured in 52 matches, taking 111 wickets in two seasons (1959 and 1961).”

Despite Australia’s battery of quicks, the legspinner believes the two slower bowlers can play a vital role together in the World Cup

Melinda Farrell20-May-2019Australia’s attention turned to spin in their build-up to the Men’s World Cup, with Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon the focus of the second training session in London. While Australia’s bowling strength in the 50-over format has undoubtedly been pace in the post-Shane Warne era, legspinner Zampa believes spin will play a key role in their upcoming campaign and revealed how he and Lyon – who were both part of Australia’s recent eight-game undefeated streak against India and Pakistan – have worked closely on their partnership.”I think it was a few months ago where we actually spoke to each other and said, ‘I reckon we can play a huge role coming up in the World Cup together so let’s do everything we can to make sure we’re both there’,” Zampa said. “So we’ve communicated really well over the last few months. We speak a lot in the nets, we speak a lot in the field, just about whatever – anything – spin bowling, field settings or how the ball’s going to come out. Just anything. So we communicate a lot and really well.”Zampa, who averages 35.45 at a strike rate of 38.00, has been the first-choice spinner for Australia in ODIs after a string of options were used with varying success while Lyon, who came to prominence in T20 cricket after a breakout season with South Australia, has been preferred in Test cricket and has often been overlooked in white-ball formats. But while Australia rarely opt for two spinners outside the subcontinent, Zampa believes that could change in England.”It’s definitely going to play a role with the smaller grounds,” Zampa said. “I think the way we have been playing lately, we’ve been loading up a little bit towards the back end, so to have those wickets in hand is really important. So I guess stopping the [opposition] spinners from getting wickets in the middle overs is really important and obviously vice versa for us, for me and Nath to bowl well.”I love playing with Nath. We play two different roles. He’s so accurate, beautiful offspinner. Bowls to his field really well, bowls really tight, and it means I can attack from the other end. So I really, really like bowling with ‘Gaz’. I think it’s going to play a huge role for us sometime throughout the World Cup. I don’t know if it will be every game but I definitely see us playing a huge role together.”Nathan Lyon appeals successfully•Getty Images

Zampa was overlooked for Australia’s ODI tour of England in 2018, which they lost 5-0, but picked up a contract playing T20 cricket in The Blast for Essex, an experience he hopes to draw from in the coming months.”I absolutely loved my time there,” he said. “It was really tough and I think the added pressure of being an overseas player, you’ve got to really perform. So I found playing under those conditions and that pressure really good for me. Small ground. Chelmsford is probably the smallest ground in the world if you’ve ever been there, so yeah, that was enjoyable.”As the role of spin has developed in ODI cricket, so has Australia’s use of spinners. Zampa believes he has more licence to be attacking during the middle overs under captain Aaron Finch, even if it means leaking runs. That’s the kind of confidence he admires in the England camp and he views Adil Rashid as something of a role model.”Adil Rashid is someone that, you know, I could almost base my career around his,” Zampa said. “He’s been in and out of the team when he was a lot younger, he’s probably a little bit of a different bowler than I am but England have really backed him in. From looking from afar they’ve almost said to him, ‘you’re playing every game for the next couple of years until the World Cup is over.’ So he goes 1 for 80, 3 for 80, he’s a genuine wicket-taker for England and he’s probably had some ups and downs in his career too, but he’s someone I’ve really enjoyed watching bowl and he’s had a lot of success in England.”Australia’s first World Cup match is against Afghanistan in Bristol, a match that will likely pit Zampa against another player he admires and has observed closely, Rashid Khan. The pair spent time together during the most recent BBL series in a session that Zampa found both informative and humbling.”I had a bowl with Rash after a [Melbourne] Stars versus [Adelaide] Strikers game this year and I was always intrigued with Rash,” Zampa said. “I was like, ‘I love watching this guy so I’m going to pull him aside and have a bowl with him’ and, to his credit, he spent about 45 minutes with me and at the end of it I was so glad I did that because now I know that I would never ever be able to bowl like Rashid Khan.”Perhaps not, but Australia will undoubtedly hope that bowling like Adam Zampa is good enough to help them win a World Cup.

Who from the PSL’s foreign contingent will travel to Pakistan for the playoffs and final?

Umar Farooq17-Mar-2018On March 20, the Pakistan Super League will move from the UAE to Lahore, which will host the two Eliminator matches, and then to Karachi for the final on March 25. This will be the highest-profile match in Pakistan’s most populous city in nearly a decade. Which overseas players, however, will make it to Pakistan for these marquee clashes?

PSL playoff schedule

Qualifier – Islamabad v Karachi, Dubai, March 18
Eliminator 1 – Peshawar v Quetta, Lahore, March 20
Eliminator 2 – Lahore, March 21
Final – Karachi, March 25

The independent security consultant Reg Dickason has briefed the overseas players from the four teams that have made the playoffs – Islamabad United, Karachi Kings, Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators – about security arrangements in the two Pakistani cities. Now it is up to the players themselves. Some have confirmed they will travel, some that they will not, while others remain undecided. Watch this space for further updates.

Quetta Gladiators

ESPNcricinfo understands that Quetta will once again suffer an exodus, as a majority of their overseas players have either said no or remain undecided about making the trip. Their marquee player Kevin Pietersen has already made it clear that his tournament is over.”It’s with a heavy heart that I have to leave Dubai and go back to London,” he said in a video message. “I wish i could travel and unfortunately family is very important and it’s a family decision and I hope you can respect it. But we have an opportunity to win this tournament, we are still in the competition, and please support the purple team. I will keep on supporting and am totally on top of everything we do over the next couple of days.”Quetta were badly hit last year as well, having to make do with a last-minute draft of foreign players, and went on to lose the final to a full-strength Peshawar. Their coach Moin Khan isn’t pleased with the situation.”I blame the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for this sad situation,” Moin said on Saturday. “I know the board will not like my comments. However, in future, only those overseas players should be included in the player draft who commit to also play in Pakistan, if required by their franchises.”Overseas players who refuse to play in Pakistan, Moin said, cannot be seen as supportive of Pakistan cricket. “The franchises pay them well to play in the PSL. However, when they refuse to travel to Pakistan, it upsets the balance of the concerned franchises, and also deprives our people of seeing competitive cricket.”They, however, signed up Yorkshire opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore and West Indies batsman Johnson Charles as late signings for the playoffs. Chris Green and Mahmudullah have also been confirmed as signings to fill the Quetta roster in the absence of the original overseas players. Thisara Perera, meanwhile, will join the team for the Pakistan leg of the tournament, with Sri Lanka now out of the Nidahas Trophy tri-series in Colombo.Kevin Pietersen (OUT), Rilee Rossouw (undecided), Jason Roy (OUT), Shane Watson (undecided), Thisara Perera (IN), Mahmudullah (IN), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (IN), Johnson Charles (IN)

Karachi Kings

There is good news for Karachi fans: the owner Salman Iqbal has confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that other than Eoin Morgan, their entire foreign contingent is ready for the trip.Eoin Morgan (OUT), Colin Ingram (IN), Ravi Bopara (IN), Lendl Simmons (IN), Joe Denly (IN)

Peshawar Zalmi

Just like last year, Peshawar, led by Darren Sammy, are are all set to feature in the first Eliminator in Lahore with a close-to-full-strength squad, with Dwayne Smith the only one of their overseas players not travelling to Pakistan.Darren Sammy (IN), Liam Dawson (IN), Andre Fletcher (IN), Riki Wessels (IN), Dwayne Smith (OUT)

Islamabad United

The table toppers after the group stages have a fair bit of uncertainty surrounding who will travel. JP Duminy was originally denied an NOC by his home board but the batsman has decided to make a trip at his own risk by signing an indemnity form with CSA.Luke Ronchi and Samit Patel are ready to travel while Sam Billings, who was recently appointed Kent captain, and Alex Hales are undecided and are likely to pull out.Sam Billings (undecided), JP Duminy (IN), Alex Hales (undecided), Luke Ronchi (IN), Samit Patel (IN)

Sri Lanka unravelled again, losing 10 for 103 and the series in the third ODI in Johannesburg

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Feb-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAnother day on tour, another collapse – Sri Lanka sank from 60 for no loss to 163 all out at the Wanderers, mis-hitting short balls, hanging their bats out to give catches behind the wicket, and in general committing the same batting mistakes that will have become familiar to their fans during the past six weeks. Of their diminutive target, South Africa made short work. AB de Villiers produced a clinical 60 not out to bring his team home in 32 overs, seven wickets in hand.The hosts were far from their best in their pink gear, dropping catches and attempting needless runs, but they did not need to be at their best. They have won the series now. The two remaining games are dead rubbers.

De Villiers’ hot streak at the Wanderers

• 100.85 Average of AB De Villiers at the Wanderers . He has three hundreds and three fifties from 10 innings.

• 108 Balls remaining in South Africa’s innings. This is their fifth-quickest win against Sri Lanka. Two of these wins have come at the Wanderers.

• 3 Number of lower scores than 163 for Sri Lanka against South Africa while batting first. Incidentally in 2002 they were dismissed for 128 at the Wanderers.

• 7 Consecutive series wins for South Africa at home since 2013. They have won 20 out of the 25 matches played during this period.

The hosts’ bowlers were disciplined – Imran Tahir miserly and menacing in equal measure, as usual – but there was little in the surface to warrant Sri Lanka’s loss of 10 wickets for 103 runs. A little extra bounce – hardly a surprise at the Wanderers – was responsible for the wickets of Upul Tharanga, Niroshan Dickwella, Asela Gunaratne and Suranga Lakmal. Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva were caught behind. Sachith Pathirana left a stock legbreak which turned to hit his off stump. Such was the quality of their batting.If it wasn’t for a 65-minute delay due to the arrival of a swarm of bees, Sri Lanka’s innings would have been even shorter. Plenty noted that the bees had spent more time in the middle than most batsmen. Only Dickwella resisted for any notable length of time, his 74 studded with spunky square-of-the-wicket shots – usually timed impeccably. Of his teammates only three others made more than five, and only Tharanga breached 20.It was Dwaine Pretorius, playing in his fourth ODI after replacing Wayne Parnell in the XI, who took the game’s best figures of 3 for 19. He was tight with the new ball, and although not especially quick, was accurate with his variations. Tahir claimed 2 for 21 in 9.2 overs, and Kagiso Rabada got two scalps as well. South Africa’s fielding was not as effective as usual, but in his 100th ODI, Faf du Plessis nevertheless managed to complete his third spectacular one-handed grab of the series, when he sprang horizontally from second slip to intercept an edge from debutant Lahiru Madushanka.Though the scorecard will suggest Sri Lanka squandered a good foundation – the openers having made 60 together – in truth, their start was inauspicious. The first boundary came off a Dickwella top edge, and Tharanga was dropped on 11 soon after – the one-handed grab at second slip too tough for du Plessis, for once.At the end of the first Powerplay, however, Sri Lanka were well-placed at 54 for no loss, both batsmen having found some fluency. Pretorius bowled tightly from the beginning, but Rabada, who would have been seen as the primary wicket-taking threat in the innings, had even been a little expensive in those early overs.But when the openers both sent catches into the air off their top edges in the 12th over, things began to unravel quickly. The first of those chances – off Dickwella on 25 – was spilled by JP Duminy, who had backtracked from backward point. The second was secured by Pretorius, and the rapid fall of wickets had begun.Dwaine Pretorius, replacing Wayne Parnell, took the game’s best figures of 3 for 19•AFP

Andile Phehlukwayo removed Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal in the space of three overs with two unremarkable deliveries. Chandimal, especially, will be unhappy with this dismissal on what has been a poor tour. Seeing a full, wide delivery, he went down on one knee and nailed it in the air straight to the deep cover sweeper.When de Silva fell, and following the delay, Gunaratne also went, Sri Lanka had slid to 125 for 5. Dickwella attacked for a little while, perhaps knowing there was not much batting to come, and fell by his sword when he gloved a Pretorius bouncer to the keeper. The tail barely resisted. It was all done inside 40 overs.Lahiru Kumara bowled with characteristic spirit on ODI debut, and claimed the wicket of Quinton de Kock in the fourth over with a 142kph short ball. But though he continued to threaten through the remainder of his overs, was wayward between the good balls, and conceded more than six an over.Kumara’s opening partner Suranga Lakmal was unlucky, as he has been through the tour, gleaning an edge off Hashim Amla on 12 only for wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal to grass the diving chance. But with so much batting in South Africa’s line-up, perhaps it wouldn’t have made a major difference to the final score. Amla ran himself out for 34 anyway, though by that stage de Villiers had already begun to take the chase by the collar.Early in his innings, de Villiers dominated Lakshan Sandakan, who had dismissed him in the previous ODI, and after about 20 balls at the crease, there was no bowler that de Villiers didn’t seem capable of dictating to. He was especially active on the legside – each of his five boundaries coming there – but that was more a reflection of the lines Sri Lanka bowled to him. He took clutches of singles out to deep cover as well, and generally made a small chase seem even smaller.Sri Lanka may take heart in the bowling of Madushanka, who swung the ball away, albeit at gentle pace, and seemed a player worth a few more games at least. Apart from him and Dickwella’s innings, there was precious little to salvage from this match.