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Imad Wasim signs with Melbourne Renegades for second half of BBL 2020-21

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Pakistan bowling allrounder will join the Renegades from December 26 following Pakistan’s T20I series with New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2020Melbourne Renegades have signed experienced Pakistan bowling allrounder Imad Wasim for the second half of the upcoming BBL season.Imad will join the Renegades from December 26 after the completion of the three-match T20I series between Pakistan and New Zealand in New Zealand. The 31-year-old will be able to play immediately upon arriving in Australia without quarantining due to the Covid travel-bubble agreement between New Zealand and Australia.”Imad is one of the best T20 players in the world with his ability to impact games with the ball and to finish the innings with the bat,” Renegades coach Michael Klinger said.”He’s an experienced player with recent title success, he’s capable of bowling in the powerplay and he’ll strengthen our middle-order batting.”Imad joins South Africans Rilee Rossouw and Imran Tahir, and Afghanistan spin duo Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad on the Renegades roster. The BBL has allowed three overseas to play per game this season and the various international commitments and travel restrictions have meant the Renegades have added five to their roster to give them flexibility.”Given the current landscape we’ve had to be flexible with our international players,” Klinger said. “We’ll have Rilee Rossouw available for the whole season while our other international players will feature at different points throughout the tournament.”It’s a really talented group of international players and they’ll provide us with some great flexibility throughout the season.”

India Green set up title bout with India Red

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India Green qualified for the final of Duleep Trophy on the basis of a superior quotient despite Avesh’s 56-ball 64 from No. 10 denying them a first-innings lead

The Report by Hemant Brar in Alur01-Sep-2019
Points: India Red 3, India Green 1India Green qualified for the final of the Duleep Trophy 2019-20 on the basis of a superior quotient despite Avesh Khan’s 56-ball 64 from No. 10 denying them a first-innings lead against India Red on day four in Alur.India Green had to avoid a collapse in the second innings to make it to the final. Although they lost their openers – Faiz Fazal and Akshath Reddy – with just 24 on the board, Dhruv Shorey’s unbeaten 44 ensured they were always well ahead of India Blue’s quotient. With no result in sight, the captains shook hands at tea.The final, to be played between the same two teams, will start on September 4 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.India Red started the day on 404 for 9, still 36 in arrears. But Avesh’s maiden first-class half-century took them to 441, one run ahead of India Green’s first-innings total. Avesh, who struck two fours and seven sixes in his knock, added 73 for the tenth wicket with Sandeep Warrier, the latter contributing only 5.On the third evening, Avesh had come in with the side on 368 for 8 and saw Akshay Wakhare falling on the same score, with India Red trailing by 72 at that stage. But in one Dharmendrasinh Jadeja over, he smashed four sixes, three off them on successive balls, and took the side past 400. On Sunday morning, he hit two more sixes – both off Rahul Chahar – but the shot that brought the loudest cheer from the dressing room was a reverse hoick off Chahar that almost went for a six. With the legspinner targeting the rough from around the wicket, Avesh hit with the spin and found the deep-cover boundary to level the scores.In the 138th over of India Red’s innings, Priyam Garg was hit on the back of the neck while fielding at silly point. Garg found himself in the line of the ball while taking evasive action against a back foot punch by Avesh Khan. Garg’s helmet had a neck guard, which softened the impact.Garg was conscious but in pain and lay down near the pitch as the team physio applied an ice pack to the injured area. An ambulance was brought on to the field and, as a precautionary measure, he was taken to hospital where he cleared the first concussion test.

Prasanna's early arrival is just the job for Northants

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Seekkuge Prasanna made good use of his early arrival in England for the Vitality Blast as he bowled Northants to a second successive Championship win

ECB Reporters Network28-Jun-2018
ScorecardNorthants took the final six Glamorgan wickets for 69 runs on the fourth morning to complete a comprehensive 233-run victory and record their second successive Championship win of the season.They also moved away from bottom place in Division Two, after outplaying a Glamorgan team who, after winning their opening game, have lost four of their last five championship games, and won only one of their eight Royal London 50 over matches.They were again let down by their batting, with only Usman Khawaja scoring over fifty in both innings, while there seven half centuries for Northants, whose batsmen showed far more application on a pitch of irregular bounce.Northants’ decision to bring their Sri Lankan legspinner Seekkuge Prasanna over a week early, ahead of the Vitality Blast, played dividends as he finished with four wickets in the second innings.Glamorgan resumed on 121 for 4 in their second innings, and soon lost their nightwatchman Timm van der Gugten, who fatally played back to Prasanna and was leg before on the back foot.Kiran Carlson meanwhile was fortunate to survive against the Sri Lankan leg spinner, twice edging deliveries wide of the slip cordon. He was joined by Chris Cooke who appeared more comfortable against Prasanna, twice striking him through extra cover for four.The fifth wicket pair had added 48 before Carlson, aiming to drive expansively at a wide ball, edged one in Brett Hutton’s opening over of the morning, to wicketkeeper Adam Rossington after scoring 32.Cooke was the next to go when he was bowled by Hutton; undone by a ball that kept very low, Cooke almost ended up on his knees as he tried unsuccessfully to get his bat down in time.The procession continued as Nathan Buck came on for his first over of the day, and with his first ball, trapped Ruaidhri Smith leg before with his opening. When Prem Sisodiya was caught at silly mid off to give Prasanna his fourth wicket, the players shook hands as Glamorgan captain Michael Hogan was absent and unable to bat.Glamorgan’s head coach, Robert Croft, sounded relieved that T20 cricket was around the corner: “This defeat had a common thread that we need to improve on,” he said. “We are not capitalising on the starts we are having, whether it’s a lack of concentration or inexperience. We are developing a young team that I’m sure will improve, but possibly we might have to bring in a senior player into the team for the next game or two.”

Denly, Parnell help Kent defend 200

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Part-time legspinner Joe Denly was the unlikely bowling hero as Kent opened their Royal London Cup win account with a 46-run victory over South Group rivals Middlesex in Canterbury

ECB Reporters Network07-May-2017
ScorecardSouth Africa’s Wayne Parnell was Man of the Match•AFP

Part-time legspinner Joe Denly was the unlikely bowling hero as Kent opened their Royal London Cup win account with a 46-run victory over South Group rivals Middlesex in Canterbury.Having failed to defend 330-plus scores in their previous two games, Kent managed to protect a modest all out total of 200 with Denly bagging 3 for 20 to secure his side’s first win in four starts and inflict a third defeat on Middlesex. Needing to score at a shade over four an over to record their second win of the campaign, Middlesex committed cardinal one-day errors in losing cheap wickets at regular intervals to fall woefully short.The visitors lost Dawid Malan in the third over when the left-hander sparred outside off against Wayne Parnell to nick to second slip. Four balls later, Parnell, in his last home game of his current spell as Kent’s overseas allrounder, ran one back up the Canterbury slope to trap Nick Gubbins lbw for a single.Adam Voges and Nick Compton added 47 before Kent struck through Darren Stevens, who belied his 41 years by taking a stunning return catch from a Voges’ drive to make it 49 for 3. Eleven runs later and Kent were celebrating again when a direct hit from 12th man Will Gidman, substituting for the injured Matt Coles, ran out John Simpson after Nick Compton had called for a sharp single to the cover fielder.Coles returned after treatment for a sore shin to pocket a comfortable catch off the bowling of James Tredwell that ended Compton’s 85-ball stay for a painstaking 37 and left Tredwell with 1 for 29 from his 10 overs.Keeping pace off the ball, Denly struck to have Ryan Higgins caught behind and then, in his next over, he trapped Toby Roland-Jones lbw when working across the line. Middlesex, with only three wickets remaining, still required 78 going into their final 10 overs when Denly, leaping full-length to his left caught a rasping James Franklin drive one-handed to send the visiting skipper packing for 33.Mitch Claydon replaced Denly to have James Fuller caught off a skier leaving Parnell to finish it with another reflex return caught-and-bowled catch that accounted for Ravi Patel and gave Parnell, the Man of the Match, deserved figures of 3 for 33.Kent’s day started badly when they again lost the toss in overcast conditions and were duly invited to bat with the floodlights already on. Their gloom deepened after only two deliveries when Daniel Bell-Drummond, fresh from scoring back-to-back hundreds in losing causes, feathered a defensive push against Roland-Jones into the gloves of Simpson to depart without scoring.Home skipper Sam Northeast and second-wicket partner Denly, batting against his former county, steadied Kent with a stand of 52 that ended in the 13th over when Denly pulled a short one to midwicket where Voges held a stinging overhead chance.Northeast, who enjoyed a life when on 24 after Voges downed a regulation slip chance, posted his 13th List A half-century from 73 balls and with six fours. He and Sean Dickson added 44 before the latter miscued his attempted pull against Franklin to mid-on to go for 29.Northeast followed, sweeping against Patel to give a catch to the keeper for 55, having spent almost two hours at the crease. Alex Blake lasted only five minutes, tamely hanging his bat out to dry against Franklin, the left-hander went for 2 after edging a third catch to Simpson behind the timbers.The procession of Kent batsmen to the pavilion continued when Stevens miscued to extra cover to gift Patel a second scalp, bringing together Adam Rouse and Parnell for a face-saving seventh-wicket stand worth 34. .With little to lose Parnell went for his strokes only to smear Malan’s first ball of the day, a low full-toss, straight into the hands of Tom Helm at deep midwicket.Coles edged an attempted drive against Helm to slip where Voges took off to hold a stunning overhead catch diving to his left, then, to the first ball of the third and final Powerplay, Rouse nicked an attempted cut to his Middlesex counterpart Simpson to give Helm a second wicket.With four of their 50 overs still to be bowled, Kent’s last man Claydon, who had just hooked the only six of his side’s innings, was yorked by Roland-Jones, the pick of the Middlesex attack with 3 for 35 from his 10 overs.

Badree, Fletcher steamroll Sri Lanka

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Samuel Badree struck 3 for 12 to restrict Sri Lanka to 122 for 9 and an Andre Fletcher half-century thereafter sealed a seven-wicket victory for West Indies

The Report by Alagappan Muthu20-Mar-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:46

Jayawardene: Controlled West Indies deserved win

Samuel Badree sticks out in this West Indies team. He has a neat little side parting. He does not have rippling muscles. He celebrates a wicket almost out of courtesy. And all of his wickets tonight in Bangalore came as a result of his inviting the batsmen to make a mistake. Sri Lanka rsvp-ed like crazy. Badree’s 3 for 12 laid the foundation to a comfortable victory over the defending champions.Much of Badree’s success comes from his accuracy. So it was almost surprising to see him bowl one wide at the new batsman Lahiru Thirimanne, until Thirimanne sliced it straight to point. Chamara Kapugedera raced down the pitch too early and Badree had him stumped. Three balls later, Milinda Siriwardana nicked a googly to slip. Those were the wickets to his name. In the fifth over, Badree strung three dot balls on the trot to lead Dinesh Chandimal into running himself out.Badree finished his spell in the 10th over and Sri Lanka were 49 for 5 with very little hope of recovery. They only barely avoided getting bowled out, and their 122 for 9 was expertly run down by a man playing his first T20I in three months – Andre Fletcher. He stepped in for an injured Chris Gayle to open the innings, struck an unbeaten 84 off 64 balls and was out in the middle when the winning run was scored.West Indies may be tussling with their board, their Test team’s reputation may be in the doldrums but the shortest format always brings the best out of them. Fletcher, for example, had a T20I average of 19 before today. But he had improved his reputation via the Caribbean Premier League. He was the second-highest run-scorer in the 2015 edition, behind only his mentor Gayle.”Confidence on the field looks high,” tweeted former West Indian captain Brian Lara as the current captain Darren Sammy broke into jigs while his men celebrated each wicket with gusto. The high-fives could have poked someone’s eye out.But Angelo Mathews’ inexperienced team were at the opposite end of the spectrum. They were worried about far too many things, the reputation of a big-hitting West Indian line-up, for example.Chandimal hit straight to cover and ran because he was off put by the 11 dots he consumed. Thirimanne was facing his first ball of spin and he committed to a loft without realising Badree had tossed it too far wide to be timed properly. Kapugedera was promoted to pinch hit and came back with 6 off 10 balls.All that chaos was exploited by Badree, who read a set of nervous batsmen perfectly. Siriwardana was another Sri Lanka batsman itching to hit the ball, but Badree kept feeding him wrong ‘uns that kept turning past the bat and after two hard-handed pokes that missed the ball, the third fell into the lap of the Gayle at first slip. Badree later dedicated his performance to his two daughters, who “I haven’t seen for the better part of two months.”Thisara Perera would have hoped his 40 off 29 balls rescued Sri Lanka, but his fluency only went on to demonstrate how the rest of the line-up simply did not stand up when they needed to.Most would have expected turning pitches in the subcontinent, but perhaps the format – Twenty20s – and the showpiece event of said format – may have tempted people into hoping for batting-friendly surfaces. The M Chinnaswamy crowd has seen many a batathon through eight seasons of the IPL, but on Sunday, they had to contend themselves to a low-scoring match on a pitch that gave the spinners a lot of assistance. Not quite to the levels of Nagpur, though. It was just enough to keep the contest even and exciting.Jeffrey Vandersay, who arrived in the country only on the eve of the match, bowled a fine spell to finish with 1 for 11 off his four overs. For a 26-year old, he coped under the glare of the World T20 excellently and for a young wristspinner, his control was excellent. Rangana Herath was tidy and Siriwardana took his two wickets by deceiving Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin in flight.But as well as the spinners bowled, Sri Lanka had too little on the board and they hurt themselves with a couple of dropped chances. Opener Johnson Charles was given a life when Kapugedera failed to hold on to a dolly at deep midwicket and Andre Russell was shelled by Nuwan Kulasekara in the 18th over.There were other things that went against Sri Lanka too. Their in-form batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan was adjudged lbw by umpire Johan Cloete when the ball seemed to be heading down leg. Siriwardana then fell on the wrong side of an lbw shout with umpire Aleem Dar. And the third umpire Simon Fry might well have let Fletcher off when he was on 71 after a catch behind the stumps was reviewed. The ball was dying on Chandimal even as he dived forward to try and get his gloves underneath. Multiple camera angles, lots of zooming in and several slow-motion replays only seemed to confuse the issue. The on-field call was out, but Fry overruled it.Gayle, who strained his left hamstring while fielding, had been ready to come out to bat at that time, but he was kept to loitering around in his full gear as West Indies cantered to victory without him to further establish their standing as a T20 powerhouse.

Crook four turns Northants day

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Northants will have had better days than this. They were not at their best with the ball. The fact that they are still in a strong position speaks volumes of their season to date

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Northampton28-Aug-2013
ScorecardSteven Crook added four more wickets to the five he took against Glamorgan earlier in the season•Getty Images

Northants will have had better days than this. They were not at their best with the ball and allowed Glamorgan to score 50 more than they should have. The fact that they are still in a strong position speaks volumes of their season to date – one which looks to end in promotion should they capitalise on what, by their standards, was a modest first day.At stumps, Stephen Peters could rest easy knowing his call at the start of the day was vindicated, as a green pitch played honest and true. Both he and James Middlebrook played positively in a 21 over period that saw them score at over four-an-over, with crisp drives and the odd boundary through third man, to leave them unblemished and just 156 runs behind.Northants went into the match with five seamers, inserting the opposition upon winning the toss. But Trent Copeland, in his penultimate game for the county before he heads home for a second and final time this summer, was uncharacteristically wayward, struggling for a consistent line against the left-handed opening pair of Will Bragg and Gareth Rees.Rees looked at ease, particularly against David Willey, as Glamorgan built up a good head of steam, and the only thing the home support had to cheer on was the athleticism of their keeper David Murphy, who was sent tumbling down the leg side on numerous occasions throughout the day; but even he was powerless to stop a wide short-ball from Azharullah that had the members gasping.But Northants showed that when they’re not good they can be lucky, as they demonstrated in an afternoon session that saw six wickets fall.Soon after Murray Goodwin and Chris Cooke brought up their fifty partnership for the third wicket, Cooke looked to have played a short-ball comfortably into the leg-side. Suddenly, Andrew Hall, from first slip, starts cheering and runs up to the stumps at the strikers end, pointing to a grounded bail. It turned out that as Cooke prepared for the back-foot shot, he inadvertently clipped off stump with his bat, much to the bemusement of all in the ground.Just 17 balls later, Willey was the beneficiary of further good fortune. Despite coming around the wicket and swinging the ball into the right-hander, he somehow managed to strangle Goodwin down the leg-side. He then managed to effect the same dismissal with his very next delivery – this time from over the wicket – as Glamorgan’s left-handed skipper Mark Wallace departed for a golden duck. Between the dismissal of Cooke and Wallace, only 17 runs were added.It would be wrong to say that Willey did not deserve his four wickets. His control in his second spell was exceptional and his ability to move the ball in the air and off the seam, at good pace, was exciting to watch.Credit should also go to Steven Crook, who powered through an 11-over spell from the Abington Avenue End to finish with four of his own. Along with Copeland and Azharullah, who recently put pen to paper on a new two-year deal, Crook has been one of the signings of the summer. It is no wonder Middlesex were reluctant to let him leave.You will be hard-pressed to find anyone at Middlesex who would not want him back, and even fewer who begrudge the success he has enjoyed this year.

West Indies and New Zealand qualify for semis

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West Indies and New Zealand qualified for the semi-finals of the women’s World Twenty20 with big wins over South Africa and Sri Lanka respectively

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Sep-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Stafanie Taylor was in fine form with both bat and ball against South Africa•ICC/Getty

Stafanie Taylor led a dominating performance from West Indies in Galle, as they thrashed South Africa and qualified for the semi-finals. Taylor starred in an all-round effort, starting with her offspinners while opening the bowling. She bowled a miserly spell, conceding just 10 runs in four overs and picking up three wickets.South Africa were left reeling at 19 for 6 at one stage, and only a seventh-wicket stand of 46 helped save them from further humiliation. Dane van Niekerk (29) and Shabnim Ismail (16) resisted until they were both run out, and South Africa had to settle for just 70 in their 20 overs.West Indies completed a clinical victory, Taylor remaining unbeaten on 33 with the bat. She was part of an unbroken 71-run opening stand with Juliana Nero, and the pair took just 9.4 overs to seal victory.West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira said the plan was to expose South Africa’s weakness against spin. “We know that they fancy pace on the ball and like the ball coming onto the bat. We decided to change the normal game-plan and force them to go for shots by using our slow bowlers,” Aguilleira said.She also praised Taylor’s contribution: “Stafanie showed today why she is among the best in the world at the moment and rated among the best women who have played international cricket. She led the way with the ball and came back to finish the job with the bat. She’s a class act and always gives her all for the team.”
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
New Zealand sealed their spot in the semi-finals on a day of one-sided contests in the women’s World Twenty20. They beat hosts Sri Lanka by eight wickets, following a collective bowling effort that set up an easy chase. Sri Lanka chose to bat but were jolted early in their innings, losing opener Yasoda Mendis in the third over. The only signs of promise were the second-wicket stand of 28 between Inoka Galagedara and Chamari Atapattu and of 29 between captain Shashikala Siriwardene and Dilani Surangika for the fourth wicket.But the batsmen only managed a highest score of 14 between them, and persistent strikes from the New Zealand bowlers ensured Sri Lanka were bowled out for 89. Sian Ruck, Erin Bermingham and Morna Nielson picked up two wickets each.New Zealand’s win wasn’t quite as comprehensive as what West Indies managed against South Africa, but it was still fairly clinical. Captain Suzie Bates fell early in the chase but Amy Satterthwaite made an unbeaten 32, supported by Sophie Devine’s 23. New Zealand lost just two wickets and completed the win in the 16th over.New Zealand, West Indies, Australia and England are the four semi-finalists, but the line-ups will be decided on October 1 – the last day of the league games.

Leicestershire's Twenty20 win eases financial woes

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Leicestershire’s Friends Life t20 win on Saturday and subsequent path to the Champions League Twenty20 will provide a huge boost – especially financially – to the county

Richard Sydenham28-Aug-2011Leicestershire have not had much to celebrate over the past year with boardroom unrest, heavy financial losses and defeats on the field. But their Friends Life t20 win on Saturday and subsequent path to the Champions League Twenty20 will provide a huge boost – especially financially.The Foxes condemned Somerset to a third runners-up prize in as many years under the lights at Edgbaston, and the club and players now stand to pocket at least £500,000 in fees and sponsorship if they can progress from an initial six-team qualifying event and enter the main Champions League in India next month.Handouts from the England and Wales Cricket Board – which received a central payment for the English participation – have already been agreed, while commercial opportunities are there for the taking, though Leicestershire will need to be one of the three teams that progress to the main draw to exploit the opportunity substantially.”It’s been a struggle for us,” Mike Siddall, the Leicestershire chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo after the final. “We lost £400,000 last year and are having to claw our way back from that. It’s been really tough but we’ve had a lot of help from our sponsors. We’ve also had donations from other people so we have got the cash flow sorted out but it is still tough for us, especially to hold on to our players. But we are fighting and this triumph shows we can take on the big boys on the field and come out on top.”Winning this tournament has been absolutely brilliant. If we can make some more money from the Champions League it goes a long way to repairing the damage from the loss of last year.”The publicity from Twenty20 is unbelievable with finals day on Sky TV (and around the world also). There is so much to be gained from the publicity, which means so much for a club like us, which is bottom of the Second Division in the County Championship (46 points adrift of the next club).”Siddall said that the ECB has agreed to disperse a participation fee of $200,000 each to both Leicestershire and Somerset. If either side progresses from the qualifiers into to the main Champions League, then a further $200,000 will be paid by the ECB.”We will share that with the players and they will get a larger share than the club,” Siddall said. “The players have also got £140,000 for winning the tournament and that’s just for the players.”We get £60,000 for winning it, plus another £25,000 from the ECB so it’s worth a lot for a county like ourselves.”But the bottom line as far as the Champions League goes is what we make of it and how we tap into the various opportunities out there. We don’t know what the event will bring yet but there are possibilities there. Maybe there will be Indian companies who will want to get on our shirts – and I’m sure there will be – so we will be investigating that over the next few weeks.”We’re new to this. Somerset have been there before so I’ll be picking their brains before we go to see how they maximised their income from it before.One of Leicestershire’s overseas players Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq faces an anxious wait to discover whether he will be granted a visa by the Indian government, which may not be as easy as the player apparently thinks, given the frosty relations between the border nations in recent times. But Siddall is optimistic.”Abdul tells me he won’t have any problem getting a visa, so we’ll put that to the test. He’s going back to Pakistan next week. He will have to sort out his own visa as his passport will be over there, but he’s been to India before and he’s confident he can get a visa so we will put our faith in him.”I’ve not investigated all the possibilities just yet but I would have thought that if there is a player in your squad who can’t get a visa you must be able to bring in another player. We will have to see.”Siddall’s satisfaction at his team’s ‘Passage to India’ and the subsequent financial boost is tempered by his own frustrations at the Champions League’s format which he feels is unfair to the English qualifiers.”I don’t think it’s right at all that we have won our Twenty20 and still have to play a qualifying tournament,” Siddall said. “I think the rules are very much biased to the Indian sides. The Aussies also go straight in so there is clearly a nice, cosy agreement there.”But they have invited us to participate and it’s their tournament. They make the rules and we have to abide by them. All the counties agreed that we would have to go into a qualifying tournament as a way into the Champions League.”I do think the English sides should go straight in though. But it will give us more motivation. Wouldn’t it be great if Somerset and ourselves made it straight into the main tournament?”He would know privately, though, that the fact the ECB are not shareholders of the tournament – unlike the boards of India, Australia and South Africa – is weighted against any English qualifier now or in the foreseeable future.Leicestershire take on Trinidad & Tobago – without Kieron Pollard – and Sri Lankan team Ruhuna in their qualifying group B, while Somerset join Auckland and the Kolkata Knight Riders in group A. The qualifiers will be played from September 19-21.

Clarke tips big things from Ponting

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Michael Clarke believes Ricky Ponting’s tendency to fire in the biggest contests will be the spark to overcome a long-term period as a batting mortal

Peter English24-Aug-2010Michael Clarke believes Ricky Ponting’s tendency to fire in the biggest contests will be the spark to overcome a long-term period as a batting mortal. Ponting wants to forget the past year, which included a tenderised elbow courtesy of Kemar Roach, and in his past four series has 681 runs at 40.05, figures inflated by a double-century against Pakistan.Clarke, the vice-captain, has watched his leader closely in the nets and spots encouraging signs before huge Test series against India and England, and next year’s World Cup. “He’s a wonderful leader and been an amazing player for such a long time, and he always plays his best cricket in big tournaments,” he said. “I know he is excited about the next eight months.”It is not unusual for elite players to ease off in intensity during smaller series, but it was strange for Ponting’s standards to slip so much against Pakistan in England (average of 24.5), West Indies (34) and New Zealand (23). The only time he broke free was against Pakistan, with his 209 – he was dropped before he scored – pushing his mean up to 63. Since the 2006-07 Ashes series his overall average has dropped from nudging 60 to 54.66.Ponting, 35, insists he has more to show. “Last year for me Test-wise is one of those years where I look back and almost write it off,” he said. “I think I got run out three times, got caught at bat-pad three times. I am working as hard as I have ever worked, if I am averaging 54 now I have to push that up again, up to a level I know I am capable of playing at. That’s the great challenge for me.”Since Roach roughed up Ponting at the WACA, bowlers around the world have sensed an opportunity with short balls. “They have probably changed the way they bowl at me as a result of the start of last summer in Australia,” he said. “I am probably getting more short bowling than I used to get as a result of getting hit on the elbow.”He has no plans to move from No.3 and said it was nothing to do with ego. “I feel when I am playing well that I am the best person for that role,” he said. “I will work hard, try and take my chances and be the player I want to be.”After Ponting comes Clarke, following his switching of spots with Michael Hussey for the Pakistan series. Now 29, Clarke said his position in the line-up isn’t important, but the move is significant as it puts him closer to the No.3 role that he needs to star in if he is to become one of the game’s best.”When I was younger where I batted was probably more important to me but now it doesn’t bother me,” he said. “It’s about whatever Ricky thinks and best suits the team … I am not really stressed about it. I am pretty carefree about wherever I bat and I am going to play the way I want to play, I am going to try and be as successful as I can.”During Ponting’s tough times Clarke said he has been available to take on extra duties. International captains, even those in charge of only two formats, can be over-loaded easily, stealing concentration from their batting.Clarke is starting to know what that is like with extra glare on his Twenty20 strike-rate when he is in charge of that team. “I make it very clear to [Ponting] that anything he needs I am there for him 24-7,” he said. “Anything he needs off the field, on the field, I will be there for him.”

Alyssa Healy: 'Not here to defend the title, here to win it'

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She welcomes stiff competition ahead of captaincy debut at a World Cup

Shashank Kishore02-Oct-2024Since losing the T20 World Cup crown to West Indies in India in 2016, Australia have gone on a bull run to win three titles back-to-back. As they return to Asia to try to hunt down a fourth straight title, questions have been raised about their invincibility.They whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 in the T20I series at home last month, razed down Bangladesh on some tough wickets in Mirpur in April and overturned a ten-wicket hammering to beat India 2-1 at the start of the year. Upon arrival in Dubai for the T20 World Cup, they beat West Indies and England in the warm-ups.But there have been occasional blips too, like the T20I series loss to England, a defeat each against South Africa and West Indies on away tours on either side of the women’s Ashes.Related

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  • FAQs: The first ever women's T20 World Cup at a neutral venue

  • Could this be the closest-ever Women's T20 World Cup?

On Wednesday, at the captains’ pre-tournament media session, Alyssa Healy, the Australia captain, wasn’t going to understate their achievements but also gave a peek into the way the players have trained themselves to think.”You don’t come here to defend the title, that’s not what the World Cup is about, you come here to win it,” she said. “So we are here with that approach. Our pool [Group A with India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka] is quite a tricky one. We’ve got to get past these teams to have a chance of lifting the trophy. So it’s a challenge I’m very excited for.”This will be Alyssa Healy’s first World Cup as a full-time captain•Getty Images

That no team has played a lot of cricket in the UAE – they will all be playing in Dubai for the first time – adds to the allure of what could be the closest-ever women’s T20 World Cup.Healy stressed adaptability, even though it has not all been about training and matches. While Healy had to accommodate media commitments, the rest of the Australian team spent a day at the water park to cool off in conditions that would test the players’ fitness.”The whole tournament, in general, is about adapting the quickest,” Healy said. “That seems to be the way. If you look at the warm-up games, [it showed] you’ve got to adapt pretty quickly to what you’re given. Probably the team that does the best throughout the tournament will get the job done. We feel like we’re well placed to do that and hopefully, we can do it.”This will be Healy’s first T20 World Cup as full-time captain; she was given the role last December after Meg Lanning announced her international retirement. This was preceded by a small period where Healy had filled in for Lanning, including at last year’s Ashes, without fully knowing if Lanning would return.Did that make her feel like she didn’t have full control as captain?”I wouldn’t say I still have full control,” she said, tongue-in-cheek. “I think I approached it like I do every day in life. You take each day as it comes. Obviously, when she [Lanning] decided to step away from the game officially, there was a process in place. I put up my hand for it and got the job, and it’s been really enjoyable so far.””I’m very grateful at this point in my career to have an opportunity to learn more about myself and probably more my team-mates, and as a squad on the whole as well, So it’s been good.”Healy also addressed quite candidly the challenges of matching Lanning’s legacy as a leader. She admitted it wouldn’t be easy to fill the “pretty big shoes” but it was also a matter of not overcomplicating it.”Everyone in this room knows the legacy of Meg Lanning, so there’s pretty big shoes to fill,” Healy said. “But I’m not Meg, I’m Alyssa Healy and I’ve brought that approach into this Australian team.”I’m going to do the job the way that I know how to do it and to the best of my ability and hopefully that does the job for Australia. At the moment, I’m just really enjoying the challenge of that.”In saying she has embraced the challenges of the job, Healy also welcomed stiff competition from the rest of the pack.”It feels like, without being disrespectful, we have been hunted for a long period of time,” she said. “We’re constantly being asked about that, and we’re used to it now. Teams are coming really hard at us to put us under the pump which we love.”This World Cup is going to be no different. We know what the other nine are going to throw at us given the opportunity. We see it as a challenge and an opportunity to showcase a brand of cricket we like playing.”Australia open their campaign on October 6 with an afternoon game against Sri Lanka in Sharjah. They next play New Zealand before meeting Pakistan in Dubai. They round off their league engagements with a high-voltage clash against India in Sharjah on October 13.