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Shahid Afridi turned back the clock with a brisk 45 not out to take Peshawar Zalmi past Quetta Gladiators by two wickets and into first place on the PSL table

The Report by Danyal Rasool25-Feb-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIn a nutshellFor a large number of people, this was the day the PSL finally fulfilled its purpose: giving Shahid Afridi the platform to win a game for his side once more. In a contest between two teams where it looked like neither wanted to win at times, Afridi scored a 23-ball 45 to give Peshawar Zalmi a last-over, two-wicket win over first-place Quetta Gladiators.The chase of 129 appeared comfortable for Peshawar near the halfway mark, whatever demons the pitch contained. But it was the demons in the mind that really frightened Darren Sammy’s men, and, as has been the theme of the competition over the last few days, Peshawar found a way to complicate a straightforward chase. Five wickets were lost for two runs over 12 balls as Quetta looked like they were about to do to Peshawar what Peshawar had done to Lahore on Friday.Then Afridi – yes, Afridi! – restored some sanity to proceedings in a crucial 37-run partnership with Mohammad Hafeez, before taking charge of the run chase. He threatened to run out of partners, and overs, but finished the match with two fours off the first two balls of the 20th.Peshawar had earlier kept the opposition down to 128 by exploiting the prodigious turn the surface provided, putting Quetta on the back foot immediately when Mohammad Asghar dismissed both openers in the second over. Rilee Rossouw and Kevin Pietersen then consolidated with a mature 86-run partnership, but superb death bowling by Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali meant Peshawar could never build on the good work earlier, and only 16 came off the last four overs as Quetta limped to the end of the innings to a total they couldn’t quite defend.Where the match was wonWhen a collapse of the magnitude that struck Peshawar today happens, it’s not unusual for a side to crumble altogether. So when 50 for 1 became 52 for 6, it was imperative for Peshawar to slow things down and take the sting out of the game so heads could be cleared and brains unscrambled.Hafeez and Afridi played a vital role for the 6.3 overs they were together. They might have added only 37 runs in that period, but in a small chase, the asking rate was never going to be as much of a problem as the wickets in hand. When Hafeez finally nicked Tymal Mills – who in his own right was also sensational – to Sarfraz Ahmed, the asking rate was still under ten. With Afridi there, the game was on.The men that won itThat it was a good pitch for the spinners was fairly obvious, but what most caught the eye were the bowling efforts of Wahab and Hasan, whose combined figures of 8-0-39-4 were testament to their excellence. Hasan was impressive at both top and tail of the innings, varying his pace intelligently and nailing the yorker almost on command, in addition to taking three catches. Wahab’s most impressive attribute was his raw pace and bounce in the death overs, which was simply too good for Peshawar’s middle order as they began to lose wickets in a heap. A perhaps unintentional contribution from Wahab came in the dismissal of Umar Gul, who went off rubbing his hand and didn’t bowl an over during Peshawar’s innings.Moment of the matchIn a game of small margins such as this one, Zulfiqar Babar will look back at his first over and think he might have done better. Defending 128, Quetta would have wanted a good start but Zulfiqar, mildly put, failed to provide them that. The first four balls of the innings all went for wides. One even escaped Sarfraz and cost Quetta a couple of extra runs, and it wasn’t until the fifth ball went down that a legitimate delivery had been bowled. The over included one more wide after that, and despite only four runs coming off the bat, Peshawar had eleven on the board at the end of their first over. It might not have been decisive, but it certainly wasn’t helpful.Where they standPeshawar take Quetta’s place at the top of the table with this win, with the Gladiators slipping to second. Both sides are on nine points, but Sammy’s side has a superior net run rate.

Twitter reactions to West Indies mankading for the final wicket against Zimbabwe at Under-19 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2016When West Indies’ Keemo Paul effected a mankad to claim the last Zimbabwe Under-19 wicket, it divided cricketing opinion. Many current and former players took to Twitter to condemn the act.

There were some voices of support for the mankading as well.

Rohit Sharma, the India batsman, has said his team’s victory against Sri Lanka in the tri-series final, despite the pressure of the last over, came as no surprise to the dressing room, as they always had confidence in captain MS Dhoni

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jul-2013India batsman Rohit Sharma has said his team’s victory in the tri-series final against Sri Lanka came as no surprise to the dressing room, despite the pressure of the last over, as it always had confidence in captain MS Dhoni, who has “done it over and over for us”. Dhoni said that he wasn’t panicking either, using his “good cricketing sense” to deal with the situation.”I think I am blessed with a bit of good cricketing sense. I thought 15 runs was something that I could look for [in the final over], the reason being the opposition’s bowler was not someone who is very experienced,” Dhoni said after the match. “So I thought, rather than taking on a Malinga or a Mathews, I’d take it to the end, and it really worked in our favour.”India were on course in their chase of 202 while on 139 for 3 in the 32nd over. But Sri Lanka fought back with a flurry of wickets, mainly through Rangana Herath, leaving India tottering at 167 for 8. Dhoni, returning from a hamstring injury for this match, turned down a few singles, and was content to play out Mathews and Malinga. That left India needing 15 runs off Shaminda Eranga’s final over and Dhoni, after a change of bat, won it with two balls to spare.Dhoni said he was looking for a heavier bat to get those final hits away. “That was a 2kg bat, a very heavy bat, it was needed at that point of time. Apart from it being a very good bat, I think the weight of the bat was perfect also.”Rohit, who set up the innings with a battling 58, said the pitch was quite tricky: “The wicket was not easy to play shots on, so I just wanted to delay my shots [and] bat till the end, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. But it came out really well in the end.”Dhoni has done it over and over for us, so we were all positive in the dressing room. We’ve seen him doing it for many years now. This wasn’t any surprise.”Sri Lanka’s captain, Angelo Mathews, said his team did well to stretch India as much as they did. “Our bowlers showed a lot of character, especially Herath. He brought us back into the game [and] almost helped us defend 200.”Herath had dealt India a double-blow in the 38th over, trapping Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin lbw off consecutive deliveries. But, in the end, it was another loss for Sri Lanka in a one-day tournament final. Mathews said his batsmen should have done better, after being 171 for 2. “To get to the finals, once again we showed heart, played positive cricket, but once again we couldn’t cross the line.”After Sangakkara and Thirimanne got out, we just panicked and kept losing wickets. We didn’t have the momentum to go at the end. We kept taking wrong options. If we had batted through the 50 overs, we would have got to 230-240.”

Patrick Saddler will lead Scotland in the Under-19 World Cup in Australia in August, with Matthew Cross as his deputy

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2012Patrick Sadler will lead Scotland in the Under-19 World Cup in Australia in August. A fast bowler, Sadler had also lead Scotland in the Under-19 World Cup qualifiers, during the course of which Scotland lost only one game in 14, and finished in top spot in the global category.

Scotland’s squad for the U-19 World Cup

Patrick Sadler (capt), Mathew Cross (vice-capt), Aman Bailwal, Freddie Coleman, Henry Edwards, Nick Farrar, Gavin Main, Tom McBride, Scott McElnea, Ross McLean, Sam Page, Peter Ross, Kyle Smith, Ruaidhri Smith, Andrew Umeed

Top-order batsman Mathew Cross was named vice-captain of the 15-man squad announced by Cricket Scotland. Sadler and Cross have both impressed in the MCC Universities programme so far this season, for Cambridge and Loughborough respectively.Freddie Coleman, a batsman who has played in England’s domestic 40-overs tournament this season for Scotland, has also been included.”We are in an extremely fortunate position with this group, in that we have real strength in depth,” Scotland’s coach, Craig Wright, said. “In particular, some of the younger players have made real progress and forced their way into the squad.”The lads have earned the right to test themselves against the best age-group players in the world, and I believe they have the attributes to give a good account of themselves in the competition.”Scotland will fly to Australia on July 24, and have a week’s preparation in the lead-up to the tournament. Their first World Cup match is against New Zealand on August 12.

Graeme Swann and Chris Tremlett bowled England to an extraordinary innings-and-14-run victory as Sri Lanka collapsed in a barely believable 24.4 overs on the final day in Cardiff

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan30-May-2011
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAndrew Strauss took a sharp catch to remove Tharanga Paranavitana and start Sri Lanka’s rapid demise•Getty Images

Graeme Swann and Chris Tremlett bowled England to an extraordinary innings-and-14-run victory as Sri Lanka collapsed in a barely believable 24.4 overs on the final day in Cardiff. The pair shared eight wickets before Stuart Broad bounced out the last two batsmen to secure one of more remarkable wins in recent memory considering the amount of time lost to rain. Sri Lanka were shell-shocked and couldn’t handle the pressure, losing eight wickets in the final session.When Andrew Strauss declared two overs into the day, having given Ian Bell chance to reach his hundred – after play was delayed until 3pm by heavy morning rain – the summit of England’s ambitions appeared to be taking some psychological points to Lord’s on Friday. However, Tremlett removed both openers before tea to set the nerves jangling, and when Mahela Jayawardene became his third at the start of the final session, panic was beginning to set in the Sri Lankan ranks.Only when they were eight down did the visitors try to erase England’s advantage with any haste as Thisara Perera and Ajantha Mendis put bat to ball, but wickets were never far away against a pumped-up bowling attack. It didn’t matter that Strauss only had three frontline options, with James Anderson suffering a side strain. Tremlett preyed on the batsmen’s insecurities against the short ball, Swann found turn to force frazzled minds into playing loose shots, and then Broad hustled through the final resistance with 26 overs still to play.The merits of Strauss allowing Bell to reach three figures would have been hotly debated had England run out of time at the end, but his bowlers ensured he didn’t have to worry. The door was pushed ajar by Tremlett’s new-ball burst, elevated to the role vacated by Anderson and one he’ll be reluctant to relinquish. He struck with the last ball of his first over when Tharanga Paranavitana edged a low chance to first slip that was well held by the captain.Tillakaratne Dilshan is a player who could have quickly erased the deficit and eased the pressure, but he got into a tangle against a shorter delivery from Tremlett and the chance lobbed back to the bowler. Dilshan was given out straight away but he went to the DRS and replays confirmed a glove. Mahela and Kumar Sangakkara survived until tea with Sri Lanka 33 for 2, yet they gave a false sense of security.Although Tremlett changed ends after the interval, he maintained a probing length which left doubt in the batsman’s mind as to whether to play forward to back. Mahela opted to come onto the front foot and Tremlett’s extra carry ensured another edge carried comfortably to Strauss. England began to sense something could happen.Swann then gave another example of why he’s the world’s best spin bowler. Thilan Samaraweera was caught playing back to one that didn’t bounce and dragged onto the stump. Next, from round the wicket, a beautiful piece of bowling lured Sangakkara into an edge and Strauss snaffled his third edge – this time in the unaccustomed position of slip to the spinner.There was no stopping England or Swann as Farveez Maharoof edged his third ball and again the DRS was fruitless as HotSpot showed a clear edge. However, TV evidence was less clear when Prasanna Jayawardene, the first-innings hero with 112, was given out off a gloved pull. This time it was England who called for the review and although HotSpot wasn’t conclusive, Rod Tucker, the third umpire, went on the noise as he had with Sangakkara’s first-innings dismissal. The subsequent use of Snicko proved he was right again.Sri Lanka aided in their own demise, none more so than Rangana Herath who played a horrid sweep at Swann to be caught in front, leaving the visitors 52 for 8. Perera and Mendis quickly worked out the only chance was to get in front of England and the next two overs brought 20 yet, amazingly for a match were 139 overs were lost to rain, there was plenty of time left.Broad was disappointing in the first innings but when Tremlett was rested he responded with a fierce spell to the lower order. He roughed up Perera who lobbed a chance between three fielders before being brilliantly caught, low down, by Bell at short leg. Two balls later Suranga Lakmal fended another short delivery into the slips. England, four months on from Sydney, were back in victory mode. In contrast, Sri Lanka’s dressing room was full of blank faces and this will take some getting over.

Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen believes the series loss in England has provided a silver lining, with the unexpected return of Shaun Tait to the ODI setup a promising sign for the future

Brydon Coverdale in London01-Jul-2010Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen believes the series loss in England has provided a silver lining, with the unexpected return of Shaun Tait to the ODI setup a promising sign for the future. Tait, who hadn’t played an ODI since February 2009, was a late inclusion in the squad and has picked up four wickets in his two games, adding speed and shock value to an attack that has performed well under pressure.Tait decided two years ago that his body was better off if he avoided first-class cricket and concentrated on the shorter formats, where he has been hovering in the high 150kph region. While Tait has been economical and collected wickets, one of the best signs for Australia is that his body is so far standing up to 50-over cricket.”It’s one of the real bonuses for us out of this series that he’s been able to get back in the squad and play so well,” Nielsen said ahead of the final ODI at Lord’s. “The only thing that I find a bit difficult with [not playing first-class cricket] is the fact that unless the schedule works out really well, he can have quite big gaps between games and not get the volume of bowling that keeps him going.”So, while he’s fresh, he needs to find ways of training harder and training well between games, whereas the four-day games used to maintain his regular contact with competitive games. He’s finding a pretty happy medium at the moment with the amount of work he does. His body is responding well to that. He’s getting fitter and maturing as a player as well. He’s feeling better about himself, he’s feeling comfortable in his world, his body’s not hurting every time he bowls.”Tait picked up the important wicket of Andrew Strauss at The Oval on Wednesday but the star of the attack was Ryan Harris, who finished with 5 for 32 in Australia’s first win of the series. It was the third time in his short 16-game career that Harris has taken a five-wicket haul, and it continued the trend of the bowlers sharing the workload.Doug Bollinger’s 3 for 20 at Old Trafford nearly set up a miraculous win, Steven Smith has snared five victims in the series and Harris was also the most impressive in the first game in Southampton. Nielsen was pleased with the progress shown in such a short space of time from a bowling group that entered the tour with limited international experience.”This is the first time this complete bowling attack has bowled in England, so they’re getting better and better as they go on,” he said. “We realise they were very short on experience over here. We’ve seen them improve their length, improve their lines and learn about the conditions we’re playing on over here, slower wickets that don’t bounce as much as at home.”Although the side has been without its leader Mitchell Johnson during the one-day series due to his elbow infection, he has joined the group and is set for a comeback during the two Twenty20s against Pakistan next week. Johnson has been bowling in the nets this week but Australia won’t be tempted to give him a run in Saturday’s final ODI.”The reason for getting him here was to ensure we had him outside and bowling and going as well as we could leading into the Test matches,” Nielsen said. “We were concerned if he stayed in Perth and it happened to be wet and cold he wouldn’t get the bowling outside. He’s been great with our quicks and he’ll be ready to go for the Twenty20s.”

The defending BBL champions have secured Munro on a two-year deal ahead of the overseas draft

AAP02-Jul-2024Brisbane Heat have taken a key step towards defending their BBL title by re-signing former New Zealand batter Colin Munro for a further two seasons.Munro, who announced his international retirement earlier this year after missing New Zealand’s T20 World Cup squad, has played 428 T20 matches in multiple competitions and scored 10,961 runs at a career strike-rate of 141.25, with five centuries and 67 half-centuries.Related

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The 37-year-old lines up for his third season with Heat and is the BBL’s fourth player to be signed under new rules which allow each club to sign one international on a multi-year deal ahead of the overseas player draft.Munro, who was a member of the Perth Scorchers’ 2021-22 BBL title win, has played the past two seasons with the Heat and scored 502 runs with blistering knocks of 98 and 99 not out.In both seasons he left early to join Desert Vipers in the UAE-based ILT20 competition but his new Heat deal will ensure Munro is available for all BBL matches, including finals.England international and former Heat star Sam Billings has joined Sydney Thunder next season while Heat cult hero and last season’s finals hero Josh Brown will link with Melbourne Renegades.Munro will lead a strong Heat line-up, alongside Australia’s Usman Khawaja and Matt Renshaw, and wants to be part of a championship side.”It was pretty poignant being away and watching the boys go one better to win the title, after going through the disappointment of the previous season when we got beaten at the death in the final,'” Munro said.”It’s a strong squad again and I’m looking forward to being part of what we can build together. There are always opportunities to get better and as a group, we should be excited about the new goals we will pursue this summer.”Heat have a new coach for next season with Johan Botha having replaced Wade Seccombe.

The fast bowlers have dominated the series so far but it is likely to be less seam-friendly in the series decider

Alex Malcolm21-Mar-2023

Big picture: Can the batters fight back?

Two of the best sides in the world. Two of the deepest batting line-ups in men’s ODI cricket. Yet in the first two matches of this series, the fast bowlers dominated. It is unusual to see back-to-back ODIs in India where the team batting first have failed to reach 200. India were left shell-shocked in Visakhapatnam after a shellacking from Australia to level the series at 1-1. Mitchell Starc tore through India’s top order again taking his 9th ODI five-wicket haul. Sean Abbott and Nathan Ellis also took five between them as India were routed for just 117, before Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head mowed the total down in just 11 overs to hand India their largest-ever ODI defeat in terms of balls remaining.What then is in store in Chennai infront of an expected full house? Both teams will be looking for some runs at a ground that isn’t known as a high-scoring venue. There hasn’t been an ODI played at MA Chidambaram Stadium since 2019. Australia last played here in 2017 but it was a rain-affected match.Related

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For India, it is their last ODI until the tour of the Caribbean in August and they may only have three more at home before the World Cup begins. They experimented with three spinners in the line-up in Vizag but it was their batting that let them down. Whether they reshuffle the top order, particularly to avoid being so right-hand heavy when Starc is swerving missiles into their front pads, remains to be seen. Rohit Sharma noted after the second ODI that India’s batters know what to expect from Starc and simply need to handle it better.Like India, this is one of Australia’s last opportunities on Indian soil before the World Cup although they may play a warm-up series in October. They too don’t play another ODI until a tour of South Africa in late August. Their middle order hasn’t had much of a chance to settle in this series. In game one they tried to be too aggressive following Marsh’s early onslaught and in game two they were not required. The Marsh-Head opening combination has been a roaring success but David Warner’s impending return is likely to reshape the line-up.

Form guide

India LWWWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
Australia WLWWW

In the spotlight: Suryakumar Yadav and David Warner

Two balls, two first-ball ducks. Suryakumar Yadav has had a torrid start to this ODI series with Starc pinning him lbw twice in two deliveries with searing inswingers. Rohit has stated that he wants to give the world’s No.1 T20I batter 7 to 10 games to find his feet at ODI level. Former Australia captain Aaron Finch observed that he needed to be sharper in his first few deliveries. For as good as Suryakumar has been at T20 level, he rarely has to deal with swinging conditions but with two new balls in play in ODIs it is different to T20Is. He has twice entered when the new ball has been less than three overs old in this series and Starc has still been swinging it. He has walked out to bat inside the first three overs in three of his last six T20Is, but twice he has faced a spinner first-up bowling with the new ball. Batting No.4 in ODI cricket when the ball is swinging is a different challenge.David Warner has not played since he was subbed out of the Delhi Test with concussion. He also suffered a hairline fracture of his elbow in the same innings. Marsh has made a strong statement in his absence blasting 81 and 66 not out at the top of the order. Warner and Head have been an equally devastating opening combination sharing stands of 284, 269 and 147 in three of the seven innings they have opened together. While Warner’s Test form over recent years has waned, his white-ball returns have been outstanding during the same period. He remains committed to playing in Australia’s next two World Cups across ODI (2023) and T20I (2024) cricket. He batted for around half an hour in the nets on the eve of the match in Chennai and, if in the XI, will have a point to prove to dispel any hint of a thought that Australia might be better served with Marsh and Head remaining at the top of the order.

Team news: Spin to win

India will consider three spinners again despite the conditions conspiring against them in Vizag. They may go back to the well again with the same team to give the batting group and the three-spin combination another chance in friendlier conditions in Chennai.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav/Washington Sundar, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed SirajAustralia will continue to experiment. If Warner and Glenn Maxwell are fit both are likely to return. Warner would open and Marsh could slide to either No.3 or 4 depending on how they want to structure the middle order. Marnus Labuschagne would likely miss out. Australia could trial an all-rounder-heavy line-up again. Marcus Stoinis did not bowl in the last game which may have been in part due to workloads but also because Nathan Ellis played as a fourth specialist bowler, meaning he was not needed. Ashton Agar could be a chance if the pitch looks like it will take spin with an all-rounder at No.8, two spinners and one quick an option Australia could consider.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Mitchell Marsh, 5 Alex Carey (wk), 6 Cameron Green, 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Marcus Stoinis, 9 Sean Abbott/Ashton Agar/Nathan Ellis, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

It rained in Chennai on Monday which interrupted Chennai Super Kings training but it is expected to clear on Wednesday. It could be hot and humid again though so there is the prospect of more swing and seam movement available, although MA Chidambaram Stadium is known to be far more spin-friendly in limited-overs cricket in recent years, especially in the IPL.

Stats and trivia

• India and Australia played the first ODI ever at MA Chidambaram Stadium in 1987, which was a World Cup thriller where Marsh’s father Geoff Marsh starred making 110. Australia have played four ODIs in Chennai since but only once against India.
• Batting second has proved very beneficial in the series so far but 13 of the 22 ODIs in Chennai have been won by the side batting first. But West Indies beat India chasing in the last ODI here in 2019.
• KL Rahul has 1954 runs in 50 ODI innings. If he scores another 46 on Sunday, he will be the joint second-fastest Indian behind Shikhar Dhawan (48 innings) to reach the landmark.
• Smith is 61 short of 5000 runs in the format. If he gets there in his next innings, he will be the joint second-fastest for Australia.

Says disruptions during England’s preparation before the series was a big reason for the poor performance, insists Test cricket remains the priority for the team

Matt Roller18-Jan-2022Eoin Morgan, England’s limited-overs captain, has said that it is “laughable to point the finger at the Hundred” for England’s 4-0 Ashes drubbing in Australia, and insisted that Test match cricket has always been the priority for the team.”People that use that as an excuse don’t want cricket,” Morgan told talkSPORT’s Following On podcast. “Test match cricket has always been the priority: it’s the format for our elite players. Obviously times at the moment have been tough down in Australia during the Ashes [but] they always are: we’ve lost the last two series 5-0 [sic] and it’s no surprise that Australia are very, very good at home.”Given the prep the guys have had where since they’ve arrived in Australia, until the first Test match, it has hammered it down with rain… it’s laughable to point the finger at the Hundred. The Hundred is an unbelievable success. Our formats in county cricket and the Hundred, in the way they’re structured, it’s exactly the same as Australia’s.Related

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“People need something to blame so they’ll point at probably the furthest point to reality, because nobody wants to say: ‘you know what, we haven’t had the prep we would have liked, we probably haven’t played as we’d have liked, and we’ve lost’. That happens in all formats, but I stress: Test match cricket has always been the priority.”England’s convincing series defeat in Australia has prompted both Joe Root, the Test captain, and Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, to call for a “red-ball reset” and a shift in priorities within English cricket, with the implication that the balance has tilted too far in favour of the white-ball game since 2015. Some pundits have suggested that the Hundred – and its four-week window at the height of summer – has contributed to the malaise, pushing the County Championship to the start and end of the English season.Morgan arrived in Barbados on Saturday along with England’s T20I squad, which features only one player – Sam Billings, who is yet to arrive after a gruelling journey from Hobart – who was involved in the Ashes. They are scheduled to play five matches against West Indies, starting Saturday.In the aftermath of the Ashes defeat, it has been claimed that Morgan has been given full-strength squads throughout the last two years in preparation for T20 World Cups, but Morgan reiterated that players missing white-ball series has been “a constant theme for a number of years”.England have only played two bilateral T20I series since the start of the pandemic in which all of their available first-choice players were selected – against South Africa and India during the 2020-21 winter – while first-choice players were rested during the Test series against Sri Lanka, India and New Zealand in the first six months of 2021.”As a white-ball group, we’ve gone on tours and played in series at home where we haven’t had our full-strength side available – that’s been a constant theme for a number of years now,” Morgan said. “Obviously Test matches take priority and always do. Going through the exercise of giving younger guys opportunities is a really exciting time for us.”[Players] coming through county cricket, into the Hundred, playing in franchise tournaments around the world, are now going into our team ready to play international cricket. I’m excited about seeing some of the new players coming into the squad potentially get opportunities over the course of the five games, and hopefully winning a series.England’s Ashes defeat has prompted Joe Root to call for a shift in priorities within English cricket•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

“For the majority of my career, white-ball cricket was an afterthought – 95% of the time was spent around planning and prep for Test match cricket and then when we got to a World Cup, it was like, ‘well, if we do well, great, but if we don’t, it’s fine’.”With the skill level that guys are producing now on a consistent basis, proven over a long period of time, we’re considered one of the best in the world. Trust me, I’d much rather be considered that than an afterthought.”Morgan himself struggled with the bat in 2021, averaging 17.71 with a strike rate of 118.61 across 39 innings in all T20 cricket, but has insisted he still had the desire to captain England’s limited-overs sides moving forward, and reiterated that stance.”I’ve had three weeks off now,” he said. “After this trip, there’ll be a couple of months which I’ll be taking off as well to recharge even more to get the run-in to what’s going to be an unbelievably busy six months ahead, with the World Cup right at the back-end. We have a hectic summer and at the back-end of that we go to Pakistan for T20s as well, and then on to Australia, so there’s a lot of cricket.”[I have] a drive to want to leave the team in a far better place with the ambition of them continuing to get better down the line. I’ve really enjoyed playing with this group. I’ve loved captaining and, at this particular time in my career, I couldn’t be having a better time.”Turning up to a World Cup as either favourites or joint-favourites or real strong contenders is something that excites me. It’s something that I always think about because it makes me think about what we can change to get better, or how we can become more consistent as a side. Until that stops, I think things are good.”

Zak Crawley back in action for Kent but showers intervene before DLS can take over

ECB Reporters Network27-Aug-2020Kent suffered Vitality Blast agony after being denied an emphatic south group win over Hampshire by rain showers in Canterbury. Seemingly cruising to an opening round win at 52 without loss after only 25 deliveries of their reply, the heavens opened at 4.20pm forcing Kent’s openers off the field with only five more deliveries needing to be bowled to constitute a completed match.Though the hosts were way ahead of the asking rate required under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, the deluge forced the match officials to abandon the match 20 minutes later with the sides sharing a point apiece.Aware of the great risk of further rain, Kent started their pursuit of 140 at an asking rate of seven an over in a hurry as Zak Crawley, fresh from his record-breaking double ton against Pakistan, clubbed 16 off Chris Woods’ opening over. Daniel Bell-Drummond showed James Fuller similar distain by crashing another brace of boundaries as Kent had 25 on the board within two overs.The onslaught continued as Bell-Drummond clattered a four and six over midwicket during Ryan Stevenson’s first over, and then marched down the pitch to Wood to cart two more leg-side boundaries as Spitfires raised their 50 after 4.1 overs with a Crawley leg-glance against Fuller. But, with victory within the sight of five more balls, the rain returned and the players departed to dressing rooms on separate sides of the ground.Batting first after losing the toss, Hampshire’s Joe Weatherley held the innings together with a bright 49-ball knock worth 68 either side of a 20-minute rain breakGeorge Munsey started the boundary count with a slog-swept six in the opening over from Alex Blake, but Matt Milnes struck in his first over having Tom Alsop caught at deep cover off a skied leading edge.Sam Northeast, Hampshire’s acting captain and a former Kent skipper to boot, had only two runs to his name when, having been called through for a sharp single by Munsey, went run out after Fred Klaassen’s direct hit, left-handed from cover point. In the next over Klaassen’s bumper caused Munsey, on 19, to top-edge to midwicket where Jack Leaning took a fine diving catch and help restrict the visitors to 30 for 3 in their Powerplay.Having reached 61 for 6 at the midpoint, Hampshire struggled for boundaries until Weatherley, a Kent loanee in 2017, slog-swept the afternoon’s second six against Calum Haggett. In the next over Lewis McManus pulled another maximum from a short one from Grant Stewart as the fourth-wicket pair posed a 50 stand in 43 balls. The partnership ended for 71 just as drizzle arrived when McManus heaved a Milnes offcutter to long-on.With 17 overs completed, the rain strengthened leaving umpires Mark Newell and Nigel Llong with little option but to take the players off with Weatherley stranded seven runs shy of his 50.The shower abated, allowing Weatherley to resume his knock 20 minutes later and move to a 42-ball 50 with a slog-swept six over midwicket against Stewart. Left-armer Klassen continued to impress when he extracted extra bounce to have James Fuller caught behind then, in the final over, a Milnes slow-ball bouncer brushed Weatherley’s gloves and looped through to the keeper to end the innings on 139 for 6.Imran Qayyum conceded only 22 from his four overs of left-arm spin, but Milnes was the pick of the home seamers after a stint of 4-0-19-3.Describing the side’s heartbreak, Klaassen, the Netherlands ODI left-armer, said: “With only five balls to go it was excruciating to come off really. The batters were going so well, batting beautifully they timed it so well but couldn’t quite get us over the line.”It’s sad times with no one in the ground, it takes away a bit of the buzz, and we had to try and create a bit of it ourselves. There was no crowd, no music and even the electronic scoreboard was struggling to start with, but we were still going nicely as a team. Of course, we all miss the crowds. A full house here under the lights are the best nights I’ve played cricket for Kent.”