Tag Futebol

Peshawar Zalmi’s bowling attack had another fine night as they smothered Lahore Qalandars to 117 for 6 to set up a nine-wicket victory

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Feb-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Junaid Khan dismissed Chris Gayle off the first ball of the match•AFP

Peshawar Zalmi’s bowling attack had another fine night as they smothered Lahore Qalandars to 117 for 6 to set up a nine-wicket victory.With Chris Gayle, Umar Akmal, Azhar Ali and Dwayne Bravo, Lahore have arguably the best batting line-up in the Pakistan Super League. But Peshawar had the upper hand right from the first ball – Junaid Khan went full and straight and Gayle’s stumps went for a toss. Two deliveries later, Cameron Delport was run out for a duck courtesy a direct hit from Shahid Yousuf at mid-on. Azhar (31), Akmal (21) and Bravo (32) helped Lahore last the full quota of overs. Left-arm spinner Mohammad Asghar picked up 2 for 11 and an economy rate of 2.75. Shahid Afridi, the captain, finished with 0 for 18 from his four overs.A required rate less than run-a-ball in the chase was never going to be a problem and it proved so as Peshawar openers Tamim Iqbal (55*) and Mohammad Hafeez (43) knocked off 80% of the target. They added 95 in 68 balls and the remaining 23 runs were secured with ease.

Captain Sami Aslam almost single-handedly set up Pakistan Under-19s’ eight-wicket win over Bangladesh Under-19s in the triangular series at Market Harborough.

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCaptain Sami Aslam almost single-handedly set up Pakistan Under-19s’ eight-wicket win over Bangladesh Under-19s in the triangular series at Market Harborough. His unbeaten century led his side to their second win in the tournament and put them at the top of the points table.Chasing 193 to win, Pakistan got off to a solid start, with Aslam and Imran Butt adding 107 for the first wicket. The game was all but decided by the time Bangladesh ran out Butt in the 29th over. Imam-ul-Haq was the other batsman dismissed, caught and bowled by offspinner Mehedy Hasan, but Aslam remained steady at the other end, his 120 off 142 balls, with 17 fours and a six, spanning the entire Pakistan chase. He added an undefeated 58-run stand with Hussain Talat to secure the match and as in the two previous partnerships, Aslam dominated this one too.After Bangladesh were invited to bat, left-arm seamer Zia-ul-Haq gave Pakistan the first breakthrough with the wicket of Shahriar Sumon in the fifth over. He added two more to his final tally to end up with three for 27, while Mohammad Aftab and left-arm spinner Kamran Ghulam chipped in with two wickets each. Wicketkeeper Jashimuddin top-scored for Bangladesh, his 50 off 67 balls, featuring five fours. He put on Bangladesh’s only fifty-plus partnership with Sadman Islam, who toiled for two hours to make 46 and was run out.The two sides play the next game of the Under-19 tri-series on Sunday at Kibworth.

Increasingly, it is difficult to dismiss the suspicion that Nottinghamshire’s title challenge is on its last legs and that Warwickshire have one hand on the trophy

Jon Culley at Edgbaston28-Aug-2012Warwickshire 298 for 5 (Westwood 81, Ambrose 64*) v Nottinghamshire
ScorecardPaul Franks claimed three wickets but Warwickshire ended the opening day well placed•Getty Images

Increasingly, it is difficult to dismiss the suspicion that Nottinghamshire’s title challenge is on its last legs and that Warwickshire have one hand on the trophy. Quite apart from the knowledge that Chris Read’s team will be shorn of four of their top six batsmen when these sides meet again at Trent Bridge in the last week of the season, it now looks likely that Andre Adams, the bowler on whom so much of their recent success has rested, will be missing too.Adams, who turned 37 last month, was recalled after missing Nottinghamshire’s match against Durham nearly two weeks ago with a calf injury. However, it was clear during his 10-over opening spell that he was not at his best. He bowled two much shorter spells later and by the end of the second of those he was coming in off a shortened run in clear discomfort. He left the field soon afterwards.Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, confirmed that Adams was still troubled by the calf problem and that he feared his season was over.”He has been struggling since our game at Taunton three weeks ago and it isn’t getting better,” he said. “It was a bit of a gamble playing him here but it is a game we have to win so we felt we had to take that gamble. Unfortunately he has had a recurrence and I think that may be it for the season for him now.”Nottinghamshire are also without their left-arm quick, Harry Gurney, while Ben Phillips was ruled out of this match when he went down with a ‘flu-like virus overnight. With Samit Patel on England duty, Nottinghamshire are left with Luke Fletcher, Andy Carter and Paul Franks to share the seam-bowling duties, with Graeme White in as specialist spinner.However, though Fletcher and Franks – both keen to impress, for different reasons – performed well, with Adams ineffective they lacked enough armoury to contain Warwickshire’s strong batting line-up.A partnership of 102 between Tim Ambrose and Rikki Clarke, spanning 30 overs either side of tea against an ageing ball, built on opener Ian Westwood’s valuable 81 to take Warwickshire close to 300 at the close and with Ian Blackwell still to come it would be no surprise on a good pitch if the final total were closer to 400, even if a full quota of batting points might be out of reach.Westwood might have been out twice. He was dropped on 48 low down at first slip by Alex Hales off Fletcher and again on 62 at second slip by Adam Voges off Adams. In matches as critical as this, chances missed are forgiven less easily than ever and Hales, in particular, has not had the surest hands this season.Hales did hold on to one earlier as Fletcher made the first breakthrough by removing Varun Chopra. Fletcher, 23, is a favourite with Nottinghamshire supporters, who always appreciate a trier. A new-ball bowler with natural aggression, he is a broadly built character who plainly does not find it as easy as some to keep off the pounds yet is a handful for most batsmen when he is on song and this was such a day. He finished with 2 for 49 from 25 overs, proving his stamina when he came back for his fourth spell of the day, with the new ball, and almost immediately had Clarke caught behind.Compared with Fletcher, Franks is at the other end of his career. Like Fletcher, he can seldom be faulted for commitment, not least because he is also a Nottinghamshire man and wears his county allegiance on his sleeve. His motivation now is that he would prefer to finish his career there, after 17 seasons as a senior player, rather than move on. Although he has a year left on his contract, he has become peripheral to Nottinghamshire’s plans as they seek to build a new seam attack and he has been told he can speak to other counties.He had taken only seven first-class wickets before this match yet performed impressively, adding three to his score with swinging deliveries. He bowled William Porterfield with one that came back into the left-hander and persuaded another to move enough to trap Westwood leg before, having had Jim Troughton caught behind off an inside edge for 40 the over before.Those wickets threatened momentarily to shift the balance back towards Nottinghamshire. Had Adams been somewhere near his best, it might have been a turning point. As it is, Ambrose, who has hit 11 fours and looked in control, has taken the initiative back and Nottinghamshire’s chances of taking the win they need to stay in contention already look slim.

India’s difficult preparations ahead of the first Test continued as their big-name batting order stumbled against Charl Willoughby after watching Somerset pile up 425 for 3

The Bulletin by Andrew McGlashan at Taunton16-Jul-2011
Scorecard
Charl Willoughby ripped through the Indian top order•Getty Images

India’s difficult preparations ahead of the first Test continued as their big-name batting order stumbled against Charl Willoughby after watching Somerset pile up 425 for 3 at Taunton. Willoughby claimed 5 for 50, including four scalps in his opening spell, and was backed up by his team-mates as the visitors closed on 138 for 8 with the follow-on looming, although the hosts are unlikely to enforce it.Heavy rain then frequent showers delayed play until mid-afternoon and Somerset batted on until shortly before the 100-over allocation of their first innings. It then took the home side less than 18 overs to take more wickets than the visitors managed in 96 as Willoughby, the former South Africa seamer, cut through a star-studded line-up. The home side bowled far better than the Indians, finding a hint of swing, but were aided by some poor shots and not just from players who have been on the sidelines.The Indians began briskly as Gautam Gambhir, returning from the shoulder injury that kept him out of the West Indies tour, collected five confident boundaries. But he seemed in too much of a rush and fell chasing a delivery he could barely reach, edging it to the keeper. Abhinav Mukund, who is set to open the batting in the absence of Virender Sehwag, was more circumspect and didn’t seem happy with his lbw decision which left India 51 for 2 and brought Sachin Tendulkar to the crease.Tendulkar, as with Gambhir and Zaheer Khan, hasn’t played a first-class game since the final Test against South Africa in early January – a gap of more than six months. It showed even from Tendulkar as he had more nervous moments reaching double figures than he would have in getting to a hundred. He survived a close shout for lbw against Alfonso Thomas, then slashed flat-footedly at a wide delivery, but also played a couple of elegant drives.He was beginning to settle and had moved to 26 when he drove at 19-year-old Craig Meschede’s fourth ball and edged through to Jos Buttler. It was Meschede’s maiden first-class wicket and one he’ll be able to regale stories about for years to come. He might be seeking out Tendulkar to sign the match ball.By then, the Indians had already lost other senior batsmen. Rahul Dravid edged an uncharacteristically airy drive to second slip and Willoughby had his fourth wicket when Yuvraj Singh was trapped lbw for a duck. Willoughby’s performance showed the value of a left-arm seamer which is a variation England are missing in their attack after the retirement of Ryan Sidebottom.After Tendulkar’s departure the slide continued as Wriddhiman Saha fell to Peter Trego without scoring. Following a brief recovery Zaheer Khan lost his middle stump when he played back to Thomas and Amit Mishra spooned to point to give Willoughby his five-wicket haul. Suresh Raina at least remained firm until the close but it wasn’t a distinguished performance.Earlier, the Indian bowlers had only managed to add one further scalp as Arul Suppiah was removed for a career-best 156. Zaheer and Sreesanth were both given another bowl, the former to try to find rhythm ahead of the Test and the latter to try and force his way into contention. It was Sreesanth who broke through when Suppiah, having passed his previous best of 151, edged to first slip where Dravid held a low catch.However, the visitor’s intensity was well down and they were happy to wait for Somerset’s declaration. Mishra, back on the field after taking a blow on the finger yesterday, continued to have trouble with no-balls, taking his tally to 12 for the innings. There was was also some friendly part-time spin served up by Raina and Yuvraj.Chris Jones, a 20-year-old batsman starting to force his way into the first eleven, took advantage to register a confident half-century from 69 balls and James Hildreth, the England Lions captain, eased his way to 30 off 28 balls include a huge six over long-on off Mishra. The presumption was that the Indians would also cash in on good batting conditions, but Andrew Strauss will have liked what he saw while standing at first slip.

A career-best 178 by former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones coupled with
three last-session wickets for James Tredwell saw Kent take the initiative on
day three against County Championship title hopefuls Somerset

05-Aug-2010
ScorecardA career-best 178 by former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones coupled with
three last-session wickets for James Tredwell saw Kent take the initiative on
day three against County Championship title hopefuls Somerset.Kent were indebted to Jones for his five-and-a-half-hour stay during which he
added another 114 runs to his overnight total as the hosts finished 372 all
out.Somerset’s second innings got off to a stuttering start and they were on 138
for 3 at stumps, an overall lead of 146.After resuming on their overnight position of 175 for 3, Kent lost Martin
van Jaarsveld (71) in just the second over of the day when he played across the
line to Ben Phillips to depart lbw. Darren Stevens’ 33 came to a spectacular end when Peter Trego went full-length to his left to take a reflex return catch, then Tredwell nicked a bat-pad catch to short leg to become the first of Murali Kartik’s 2 for 50 return.Five runs later Azhar Mahmood fell for a duck, leg before to a Charl Willoughby
inswinger, before Malinga Bandara hung out the bat and clipped to Trego in the
gully to present Phillips with another scalp on his way to 5 for 72 – his
best championship return since 1997.At 260 for 8 Kent were in real danger of missing out on a third batting
bonus point, but thanks to Jones they cut the Somerset lead to only eight by the
time their last wicket fell and took their batting points tally to four.Right-hander Jones intelligently farmed the strike during a ninth-wicket stand
with Amjad Khan that added 90 in 13.5 overs, with Khan contributing just 11. After Jones had manoeuvred his side past 300, he unfurled an array of shots that saw him kick on from his second century of the summer and through the 150 barrier in a further 45 deliveries.Jones lost Khan with the score on 350 when he fell leg before to a full-length
ball from Kartik, but he nevertheless went on to better his previous career-best
total of 156, achieved against Surrey last year. By the time he went lbw, hit on the boot by an Alfonso Thomas yorker, Jones had chalked up 24 fours and three sixes in taking Kent through to 372.Batting again by 2.45pm, Somerset looked sound until tea but then lost three
wickets in the closing session to England’s understudy offspinner Tredwell. First-innings centurion Arul Suppiah missed an attempted pull to go leg before for 28, Zander de Bruyn (14) reverse-swept straight to the man at backward point, and Jos Butler suffered a second-ball duck when he rashly swept high to square leg.Somerset skipper Marcus Trescothick, with an unbeaten 61, and James Hildreth
(27 not out) brought some stability to proceedings to take their side into the
final day without further drama.

While he feels there are a few positives to playing at different venues, he took the example of how England and Australia have fixed Test centres

Alagappan Muthu01-Oct-20243:50

Ashwin: ‘I see Gill and Jaiswal as future pillars of Indian cricket’

In the aftermath of a match that forced India to play an extreme kind of Test cricket – scoring their first-innings runs at almost nine an over and declaring after 34.4 – to secure the result they wanted because of days lost to rain and poor drainage in Kanpur, there has been a heightened focus on whether Test match cricket in India needs to be held at only the major centres. R Ashwin weighed in on that debate on Monday at the end of play.”Firstly, what are the benefits that Indian cricketers has attained by having so many Test centres is you have got cricketers who come and play Test cricket from every nook and corner of this country,” he said. “It is a huge country and it has triggered that sort of urgency and that sort of passion amongst cricketers to be able to come and play for this country. That is a big positive.”The second is there are certain requisite ingredients that goes into making a Test match happen, like for the weather and the kind of drainage that we need to be able to invest on. These are no-brainers.Related

• India beat the weather and the clock to sweep Bangladesh 2-0

• Stats – India extend dominance at home, at breakneck speed

• Rohit: 'We were ready to get bowled out for a low score if it meant forcing a result'

• Bangladesh walked into India's trap and couldn't find a way out

“But having said all this, does it help a player if you have just a few Test centres? Most certainly it does. Because when we go to Australia, they play India only at five Test centres. They don’t play us at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. They don’t play us at any of the other venues where they won’t be very familiar with the conditions. So do England. They have certain select Test centres and that’s where they play. Some of those are only white-ball centres. Can we do it here? That’s above my pay grade. I cannot comment on that.”What Ashwin had strong words on was the quality of India’s bowling attack. No one took more than three wickets in either of the innings, but collectively, they bowled Bangladesh out in just 121.2 overs.”Each one of those bowlers that bowled along with me, alongside me, have the ability to hold on to a game, bowl with discipline and yet produce wicket-taking balls,” he said. “When we talk things like this, we have to be able to understand the finer nuances of the game to get what I am saying. It is not just their ability alone, it is also the belief of the entire team.R Ashwin finished the Test series with 11 wickets•BCCI

“When Rohit [Sharma] says that you make 400 [to the batters], try and make a game out of it, it tells you that the captain believes the bowlers will get the job done. I believe in my bowlers. These bowlers have done it day in and day out. And they have the ability to pick 20 wickets. So, having that as one, you will encounter situations where batters do dominate against our bowling attack as well. It is only given in this game. But the bowling attack is quite special. And I really do hope that this legacy of bowling is taken forward.”India have the comfort of playing both Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in Test matches at home. In less than two months, they’ll be flying to Australia where it is very likely that they’ll have to choose between the two of them. How do they cope with that situation?”It is very simple for me. If he plays, I will bad mouth him all day, all night,” Ashwin joked. “I have repeated this again and again. It doesn’t cross my head anymore at all. If he is the one that has to play, he is the one that has to play. I have complete faith and I have got his back when he goes out there to play. Going to another country, especially a country like Australia or England, and your team putting in an extraordinary performance and you winning a Test match, makes me an incredibly proud Indian. So, for me, [it’s about] putting a larger cause in front.”He is the second left-arm spinner to 300 wickets. I think he has got 3000 runs. These are no mean achievements. It is just that sometimes when you miss out, you feel you are missing out. And nobody likes missing out. But the fact is, India is blessed to have two bowlers who can play in the same spot and are good enough. So, it doesn’t cross my mind. It used to once upon a time. I might be lying if I said I didn’t because we all want to play. But it doesn’t anymore. Because the larger goal is at the forefront of my mind.”

But a PCB official tells ESPNcricinfo that the board has emails from BCB and SLC saying they have no issues playing in Pakistan

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2023The PCB presented its “hybrid” solution for hosting the 2023 Asia Cup again to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), believing that this time it had resolved logistical and technical concerns the ACC had raised. Officials from both sides met in Dubai on Tuesday, but it emerged that Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have both objected to holding a part of the tournament in the UAE.The hybrid model was the solution the PCB had proposed to account for the fact that India would not travel to Pakistan for the tournament because of ongoing political tensions between the governments of the two countries. The proposed solution will have India playing all their games in the UAE, with the rest of the tournament played out in Pakistan.But ESPNcricinfo understands that the BCB and SLC cited logistical challenges involved in travelling between Pakistan and a second country during the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to be played in September, a month before the ODI World Cup is held across India. Both boards also pointed out that the extreme heat in the UAE in the first half of September was a deterrent, too.Related

• PCB wants four out of 13 Asia Cup matches to be played in Pakistan

• Pakistan could play their World Cup matches in Bangladesh

“We have written to the ACC to say that we are against the hybrid model,” Mohan de Silva, the SLC secretary, told ESPNcricinfo. “But beyond that, no final decision has been reached. It’s very hot in the UAE at that time of year.”In what is becoming an increasingly vexed issue, a PCB official countered by claiming that the board has emails from both BCB and SLC confirming they have no issues playing in Pakistan. The official also pointed out that last year’s Asia Cup was played from August 27 to September 11 in the UAE – the same window the boards are objecting to this time. In 2018, a 50-over version of the Asia Cup was also played in the UAE, from September 15-28. Both those events moved to the UAE as an alternative; in the first instance the tournament was supposed to be played in India but was moved because of India-Pakistan political tensions; last year it was shifted from Sri Lanka because of the political and economic turmoil the country was going through at the time.One suggestion is for the PCB to follow the example of SLC, which retained the hosting rights for the 2022 edition but host it outside the country. This time, Sri Lanka has been talked about as a probable neutral venue and de Silva said SLC was ready. “If the offer is there to play the tournament in Sri Lanka, we will take it,” he said. “Pakistan will be the official hosts.”But the PCB remains adamant that its solution works for everyone. “The PCB presented a hybrid model that resolves issues of logistics and travel and production,” a PCB official told ESPNcricinfo. “The board reiterated its position that we would not play the Asia Cup if the Pakistan-plus-neutral-venue model is rejected.”Afghanistan, meanwhile, are neutral. “In the previous two ACC meetings, we have strongly emphasised the importance of conducting the event at the scheduled time,” an Afghanistan spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “As for the venue, we are abiding by the decisions made by the ACC and have no interest in favouring or objecting to any particular board’s stance on the matter. Our priority is to ensure a fair and competitive tournament that benefits the growth and development of cricket in the region.”India and Pakistan have been grouped together along with Nepal in the six-nation Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in the 50-over format as preparation for the World Cup. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are in the other group. A total of 13 matches, including the final, will be played across 13 days. Like the format from 2022, the top two teams from each group advance to the Super 4s and the top two teams then contest the final. That leaves open the possibility of India and Pakistan playing three times, should both make it to the final.

Left-arm spinner more comfortable in set-up after ‘horrible’ experience in Brisbane Test

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2022Jack Leach, England’s left-arm spinner, says he has been studying YouTube videos of Graeme Swann in a bid to hone his attacking instincts, after coming through an extraordinary workload in Barbados with a better understanding of his role within the team.Leach churned through 94.5 overs for his six wickets in last week’s second Test in Bridgetown, the heaviest workload for an England bowler since Tony Lock sent down 115 overs against Pakistan in Dhaka in 1962. However, Leach was ultimately thwarted by the broad blade of Kraigg Brathwaite, who broke a record of his own in facing 673 balls in the match, the most by a West Indian in Test history.Nevertheless, after his demoralising experiences in 2021 – a year which was bookended by a pair of maulings at the hands of Rishabh Pant in Chennai and Australia’s top-order at Brisbane, and encompassed a home Test summer in which he once again didn’t play a single match – Leach is just happy to be in the thick of the action once again.”I’m trying to become the frontline spinner for England and I see the last couple of weeks as really valuable for my development on that road,” Leach said. “It won’t be too long before I turn those three-fors into five-fors, especially in the second innings.”As in the first Test in Antigua, England pressed hard for victory after a final-day declaration but were thwarted by West Indies’ stoic resistance in the final session. But despite the disappointment of another drawn game, Leach admits he is in a far better place than he was back in December, when he was thrashed for 102 runs in 13 overs in the first Test at the Gabba, en route to a bruising nine-wicket defeat.At a venue that has traditionally been tough for fingerspinners, Leach was crashed for five sixes and eight fours by the likes of David Warner and Travis Head – a performance that caused him to miss the second Test at Adelaide on a surface that ought to have suited his methods.Jack Leach struck early on the third morning in Barbados•Getty Images

“Brisbane was…I felt horrible,” he said. “Not a good moment but I think I trained the next day actually after the game, thanks to Jeetan Patel who said ‘let’s do something about it rather than stew’. Australia was a really tough trip for everyone but I did feel like I learned a lot and I came back really motivated and buzzing.”It’s been nice to play back to back games,” he added. “This is what I want to be doing – playing and contributing. I’m trying to offer as much as I can and maybe I wasn’t doing that so much before. I felt I was playing for my spot.”Though the series remains locked at 0-0, there have been signs of a renewed spirit within the England team, with the likes of Dan Lawrence and Saqib Mahmood embracing the new “team first” mantra with wholehearted displays at Bridgetown, to back up a brace of hundreds from Joe Root, and a welcome return to form from Ben Stokes, who made his 11th Test century and his first for 18 months in the first innings.And, Leach said, an effort had also been made to build his self-belief within the squad – a team for which he earned cult status with his crucial part in Stokes’ Headingley miracle in 2019, but for which he admitted to feeling a peripheral figure more recently, having not played a home Test since that same Ashes series three years ago.”That’s been the message to everyone really,” Leach said. “It’s all about the team and we all have a voice. Before I felt a lot of pressure on my own game and you forget you are contributing to something bigger.”It almost takes the pressure off your own game. I said openly to the group here that at Somerset I feel I belong, so I feel more comfortable giving my points of view. Maybe because I felt I belonged in terms of what I offer on the cricket field.Jack Leach grimaces after a chastening day in Brisbane during the Ashes•Getty Images

“We wouldn’t be here if we are not good enough cricketers, but we can offer in different ways. I want to offer with wickets, but if I’m not, I want to be awesome in the field and try to score runs. I think maybe I got it a bit wrong beforehand. Not on purpose but I felt I was playing for my spot.”The next step in Leach’s development will be to trust himself to be more attacking with the ball. He conceded just 154 runs in his 94.5 overs in Bridgetown – a testament to his impressive control. But by his own admission he was guilty at times of firing the ball through too quickly, particularly when it got older. And to that end, he’s looking to Swann’s influence – the most attacking spin bowler in England’s recent history, and a man who claimed 255 wickets in 60 Tests between 2008 and 2013.”A big focus for me now is having that attacking mindset, always looking to take wickets,” he said. “I’ve been guilty of easing into spells, earning the right to bowl and going at two an over. But that’s a negative mindset.Related

• Can Grenada apply the spice as series heads for decider?

• Jack Leach the major positive as England find lessons in Antiguan adversity

• Phil Simmons hopes for rise in home support after 'playing at Trent Bridge' for first Test

• England's rookies learn the lessons of a hard day in the dirt

• Saqib Mahmood offers England desired point of difference with hard yards on debut

“I’ve watched YouTube videos of Swann and how attacking that looks. I don’t know what he was thinking – in fact I do know, it’s “how am I trying to get this guy out?” and sometimes the first 20 balls against a batter is your chance.””But even if it doesn’t happen and I’m bowling 60 overs, it’s important to keep that mindset. There are times when the pitches here have felt very unresponsive, especially when the ball is older; the newer ball grips and [on some days] the pitches have felt tacky early on and spin.”On the third morning I thought I could drive it into the wicket to get it to spin but as the ball gets older, you have to give it more air. That’s something I’ll take forward, it’s not something you get used to in England. But that’s part of the journey of learning to be a spinner in Test cricket.”

The Australia captain believes England pair Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver will change the dynamic of the Stars

Annesha Ghosh14-Oct-20204:39

Meg Lanning: I’ve always wanted to win at anything that I do’

Australia captain Meg Lanning is hopeful that a maiden WBBL title will cease to elude her this season as she resumes leadership duties at a new-look Melbourne Stars. She believes the recruitment of England’s star allrounders Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver will inject a much-needed “killer instinct” and the “real will to wanting to win” in the club, who couldn’t qualify for the knockouts in any of the past five seasons of the eight-team tournament.Coming off a three-year stint at the Perth Scorchers, Lanning, 28, signed a three-year deal with the Stars, having previously played for them in the first two editions of the WBBL where she scored 1,062 runs and was the team’s leading run-scorer in both campaigns. She then missed her first season with the Scorchers due to a shoulder injury before scoring 920 runs across her next two summers. Although the Scorchers made it to the knockouts last year, eventual runners-up Adelaide Strikers knocked them out with an eight-wicket semi-final defeat at Allan Border Field.ALSO READ: The Lanning interview – ‘I want to be the best in the world’Taking over the captaincy reins from Elyse Villani at the Stars, Lanning was hopeful the inclusion of the English players and the retention of Villani and veteran South Africa batter Mignon du Preez, the side’s highest run-getter with 1,118 runs at a strike rate of 108.43, could add bite to the Stars’ bowling and batting. The up-and-coming Australia allrounder Annabel Sutherland, in Lanning’s view, will further bolster their resources.”The Melbourne Stars, our list is really shaping up nicely,” Lanning told ESPNcricinfo. “We’ve got Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver joining us, Mignon du Preez, Elyse Villani, Annabel Sutherland are the marquee international players. That’s a really good mix of firepower with bat and ball and we’ve got some really good young kids coming through.Meg Lanning will resume the captaincy of the Melbourne Stars•Getty Images

“We targeted really specific skillsets in terms of who we wanted. Just being a good team on paper doesn’t give you any guarantees but looking at our team, I think it’s really strong and the players we brought in are really competitive as well.”That’s perhaps something that the Melbourne Stars have lacked in the first five editions – that real killer instinct and the real will to wanting to win. And I think we’ve been able to address that with our recruits, especially Katherine Brunt. I’m looking forward to her bring some aggression and really taking it to the other teams.”ALSO READ: Lanning resumes reign at top of ODI rankings A five-time World Cup winner, and captain in three of those title triumphs – all in the shortest format – Lanning recently led Australia, alongside Rachael Haynes, to a world-record-equalling 21-ODI winning streak during the 3-0 home series whitewash of New Zealand in Brisbane. Earlier in the year, she captained hosts Australia to a tri-series victory against England and India, and her side trumped the latter in the final of the T20 World Cup at the MCG, with Lanning becoming only the third Australian captain, after Lyn Larsen and Michael Clarke, to win a World Cup on home soil. The WBBL’s top prize remains the only piece of silverware missing in her trophy cabinet, decked with achievements earned over an international career nearing a decade.Lanning, who lives in Melbourne and plays for Victoria in the Women’s National Cricket League, said that the decision to move back to the Stars was primarily dictated by wanting to spend “more time home”. However, with the Covid-19 pandemic necessitating lockdown impositions of varying degrees across Australia, the restriction of the whole of the upcoming WBBL’s sixth season to a Sydney hub has put paid to her original plans.”Chasing a title in the WBBL, everybody would say that [it’s on their mind],” she said. “I’ve enjoyed my three years in Perth, they [the Perth Scorchers] are a great club. They’re really well run. Eventually it came down to being in Melbourne a little bit more and spending more time home.”It’s funny how it’s panned out: we will be in Sydney the whole time this year and we won’t be in Melbourne. But that’s just this year, hopefully, obviously, with the Covid-19 pandemic. There’s only so much that can be done about that. It’s great that we’ve got the tournament up and running.”The Stars will kick off their campaign against the Melbourne Renegades at the Hurstville Oval on October 25 in the last of the four matches on the tournament’s opening day.

Usman Khawaja will go for a scan on a hamstring strain that was described as “not ideal” by his captain

George Dobell at Old Trafford06-Jul-2019Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh have been called up as cover to join the Australia squad after Usman Khawaja and Marcus Stoinis emerged as fitness doubts ahead of their World Cup semi-final against England*. Khawaja and Stoinis had sustained injuries during Australia’s defeat to South Africa at Old Trafford on Saturday.Wade and Marsh were originally part of the Australia A squad that’s touring the UK and is scheduled to play a four-day game against Sussex starting Sunday. The two players left Brighton on Sunday morning for Birmingham, where Australia play the hosts on Thursday.Both Wade and Marsh come on the back of fine one-day form. While Wade scored centuries – 155 and 117 – before his 42 and 41 in Bristol last week, Marsh has been unbeaten all four times he has batted on the A tour so far, that includes a half-century when he also took 3 for 43 against Gloucestershire.On Saturday, Khawaja retired hurt on 6 with what was subsequently described as a “hamstring strain” by a team spokesperson and will undergo a scan on Sunday. His captain, Aaron Finch, admitted he was not especially optimistic about the outcome.”It doesn’t look ideal for Usman,” Finch said. “He’ll have a scan tomorrow and if we need a replacement – and I think we will – but until you get the definitive scan it’s hard to know. But it’s not looking great for him, in all honesty. He’s done a couple of hamstrings before and he said it feels a bit similar.”Usman Khawaja returned to the field but couldn’t do enough to guide Australia over the line•Getty Images

Australia’s other concern is over Stoinis, who clutched his right side after throwing a ball in from the boundary and only bowled three overs. He then received treatment while batting and was run-out when it appeared he was unwilling – or unable – to stretch and dive when called through for a sharp run by his partner, David Warner.Stoinis had previously suffered an injury to his other side earlier in the tournament. He, too, will undergo scans on both sides on Sunday.”Marcus is just a bit sore in his side,” Finch said. “We’ll have to wait for the scans.”Australia have already lost Shaun Marsh in recent days. Marsh was hit by a delivery from Pat Cummins while batting in the nets and subsequently diagnosed with a broken arm. Peter Handscomb has joined the squad as his replacement.Watch on Hotstar (India only) – David Warner’s 122There was some silver lining in losing to South Africa. Had Australia won, they would have been obliged to play in the first semi-final on Tuesday. As it is, defeat means they have to play in the second semi-final on Thursday, giving their players slightly longer to recover.But it was something of a surprise when Khawaja returned to complete his innings after Australia lost their seventh wicket. Their pursuit seemed almost hopeless at that stage – they required 51 runs off 28 balls – and Khawaja ran the risk of exacerbating the injury. As it was, he added another 12 runs and was unable to pull off an unlikely victory.ALSO READ: Du Plessis leads South Africa to consolation victory“He didn’t aggravate it,” Finch said. “It didn’t work out the way we planned, but he put the team first, which is a great quality to have. He was more than happy to go back out.”The desperation Australia showed in the final moments of the match, however – not least in sending Khawaja back out to bat – and the disappointment they showed in defeat did suggest they would have rather played in the first semi-final. Not only would that have avoided the need to travel – the first semi-final is in Manchester, where Australia have been based for some time – but they would have faced New Zealand who would appear to be, according to the rankings at least, the weakest of the four teams left in the competition.As it is, Australia will face the No. 1-rated hosts at Edgbaston, where England have won their last 10 international games.*0855 GMT: The story was updated after an update from Cricket Australia