All posts by n8rngtd.top

An all-round effort from the bowlers restricted Zimbabwe to a below-par score in Sharjah, following which Nabi’s 27-ball blitz ensured Afghanistan chased the target down with more than five overs to spare

The Report by Sreshth Shah05-Feb-2018Mohammad Nabi hits over the top•AFP

Mohammad Nabi’s 27-ball 40 made quick work of the 121 target set by Zimbabwe, helping Afghanistan take a 1-0 lead in the two-match T20I series in Sharjah. Five Afghanistan bowlers were among the wickets, with legspinner Rashid Khan collecting three as Zimbabwe fell away after a rollicking start in the Powerplay to end their 20 overs with a below-par total. Despite the humid conditions, Afghanistan’s batsmen were not made to break a sweat – the chase was completed with 32 balls to spare.Rashid leads from the back
At first, Afghanistan’s decision to field looked like it would come back to bite them. Solomon Mire and Hamilton Masakadza were batting like they’d help Zimbabwe to a big total as 16-year-old Mujeeb Zadran and pacer Sharafuddin Ashraf took some early blows. Yet the captain Asghar Stanikzai held his trump card back.As Zimbabwe’s middle order crumbled in the space of seven balls – falling from 65 for 1 after 8.5 overs to 68 for 4 at the end of the 10th – Stanikzai introduced Rashid in the 12th over. With the lower-middle order exposed, Rashid’s rippers and wrong ‘uns proved too much for Ryan Burl, and then Kyle Jarvis and Tendai Chatara; he eventually finished with 3 for 19.With the other bowlers collecting five wickets among them, Afghanistan’s bowling, after a long time, wasn’t just a one- or two-man show.Mire, Waller save face
If one removes Mire’s 21-ball 34 and Malcolm Waller’s unbeaten 27, then Zimbabwe’s batting paints a sorry picture. From 52 for 0 in 5.4 overs, they finished at 120 for 9 after 20, adding only 68 runs in the final 86 balls.That they even made 120 was courtesy’s Mire’s blitz at the top, which included a 23-run fourth over – that is, three sixes and a four off right-arm pacer Sharafuddin Ashraf. But Mire fell just before the Powerplay ended, and with that Zimbabwe’s flow of runs screeched to a halt.Six wickets and 53 balls later, Waller came to the crease with Zimbabwe reeling at 81 for 7 after 15 overs. He saw the first few balls off by nudging them around for ones and twos, doing enough to ensure the team’s total went past 100. With six balls of Zimbabwe’s innings left, Waller took strike and extracted 17 off the final over – including two fours, and a six muscled over point – to set Afghanistan a target of 121.Afghanistan stumble, but do not crumble
Hard-hitting wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad, who returned after serving a ban for a doping code violation, gave Afghanistan’s chase a flying start after his partner Karim Sadiq perished for five.Shahzad top edged a four and smacked two big sixes in his 11-ball stay of 20 before bottom edging one to the keeper. Stanikzai and Sharafuddin then fell victim to Chatara and Burl respectively as Afghanistan went into the 12th over at 85 for 5, but an unbeaten 36-run sixth-wicket partnership between Mohammad Nabi (40*) and Shafiqullah (14*) ensured Afghanistan chased the target down with more than five overs to spare.Nabi hit four fours and three sixes in his 27-ball innings while Shafiqullah hit one apiece as Afghanistan took a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Australia suffocated England with the ball and hammered them with the bat to register three Twenty20 wins from three games and secure a place in the triangular series final

Report by Daniel Brettig10-Feb-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAustralia suffocated England with the ball and hammered them with the bat to register three Twenty20 wins from three games and secure a place in the triangular series final as the series moves to New Zealand after the match at the MCG on Saturday night.In front of a crowd of 42,691 for the closing fixture of the international summer, the Australians galloped to their target with 33 balls to spare, as Chris Lynn, D’Arcy Short and Glenn Maxwell all contributed. The fit-again Aaron Finch then put an exclamation mark on the result with a pair of mighty sixes off the bowling of David Willey, after he had been demoted to No. 5 to allow the younger Short to continue his impressive audition alongside the stand-in captain David Warner.Another low score for Warner was just about the only trouble spot for the Australians, with Billy Stanlake, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, AJ Tye and Ashton Agar all bowling exemplary spells with the ball. They were well and truly backed up in the field, epitomised by Warner’s quicksilver running throw to beat Dawid Malan and Agar’s athletic running take to dismiss Jos Buttler at the end of a halting England innings.Buttler had been the only England batsman to make a substantial score, but even he was at less than his best, a rare occasion when he scored below a run a ball. All of the visiting bowlers suffered for the fact they had few runs to defend, while also lacking the advice of their captain Eoin Morgan, ruled out with a muscle strain before play.Though he has led the team expertly and energetically in the field, Warner has found himself mired in a rut with the bat, and Willey’s early away swing proved too much for his minimal footwork, resulting in a thin edge behind in the very first over of the chase. Lynn was once again beaten by the ball moving back into him first up, but this time saw the ball squirt away towards the off side rather than thudding into the stumps.Duly reprieved, Lynn set about clobbering some trademark blows, cutting short balls over the off side field, swinging a leg-side delivery over the rope behind square leg, then arrowing a boundary to wide long-on. His stay was eventful but brief, ending with a top edge from the bowling of Chris Jordan that settled comfortably into the gloves of Buttler.A career opener for Australia, the returned Aaron Finch found himself shuffled down as far as No. 5 with Maxwell coming in at the fall of Lynn’s wicket, and quickly reprising his effective Hobart stand with Short. The pair found the boundary consistently in bringing down the target, taking a particularly heavy toll on Liam Dawson’s flat left-arm spin. Tom Curran was also expensive, while Adil Rashid was unable to claim the rush of wickets England desperately needed to be a chance.Maxwell’s third substantial contribution of the series ended with 22 runs still required, as he swung presumptuously at a slower bouncer from Jordan and skied another catch for Buttler, but this at least afforded Finch the chance to bat for the first time since he was injured last month. He duly accompanied Short to the finish, leaving Australia’s players with three T20 wins from three in this series and a spring in their step ahead of the Allan Border Medal awards ceremony in Melbourne on Monday night.The visitors were shorn of the services of Morgan due to a right groin strain suffered at training on Friday, Dawson and James Vince coming into the team and Buttler standing in as leader. Mark Wood was dropped. In the final international match of the Australian summer, Finch returned for the hosts following a hamstring strain that he suffered during the preceding ODI series, but significantly Short was retained at the top of the order and Travis Head left out of the team that won in Hobart.Stanlake had been harshly dealt with by England’s batsmen in that match, but this time he was able to get into the game early when Alex Hales skied one in the first over and Finch made decent ground running with the flight of the ball towards the boundary from mid-on to hold a juggling catch. Jason Roy’s quiet series continued when he tried to run Richardson towards third man but succeeded only in snicking to Alex Carey – a very 1990s ODI dismissal – and Malan could last only 10 balls for as many runs when he was brilliantly thrown out by Warner from mid-on, the captain picking up and throwing in virtually the same motion.These early blows caused England to pull back on their customary aggression, but the fall of regular wickets meant this policy did not work particularly well either. The recalled Vince was fooled and yorked by a terrific slower ball from Tye, before Sam Billings’ useful union with Buttler was ended by a mistimed swing and a catch for Warner at mid-off. Billings had been fired out earlier for a deflection behind off the bowling of Stoinis, but his use of England’s lone review showed the ball had struck trouser rather than glove.Willey seldom needs an excuse to swing hard, and first ball of the final over he found the boundary with a miscue over Carey’s head, before another top edge skewed into the off side and allowed Warner to claim another catch. The excellent Richardson was to claim his third wicket when Buttler tried to clear the fence from the final ball of the innings, but could not quite reach the sight screen, where Agar, who had also been economical with the ball, made a running chance look far less difficult than it was. Australia’s T20 fortunes have taken a decided turn for the better; Warner and company will hope they stay that way after the flight to New Zealand.

Lahiru Gamage claimed a second five-wicket haul in as many four-day matches, as the rain-affected second round of the Super Fours Provincial Tournament produced two further draws

Andrew Fidel Fernando12-Apr-2018Lahiru Gamage claimed a second five-wicket haul in as many four-day matches, as the rain-affected second round of the Super Fours Provincial Tournament produced two further draws. The matches at Hambantota and Dambullla were played under lights with the pink ball – SLC’s attempt to prepare the Test players for their forthcoming day-night Test in Barbados, in June. Although the rain ate up too much time for a result to be possible, the bowlers nevertheless returned good figures in this round, with Kandy seamers Kasun Rajitha and Isuru Udana taking four wickets apiece in the first innings against Colombo, and legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga claiming 4 for 40 for Colombo, in the same match.It was Gamage’s figures of 5 for 78 against Galle, however, that stood out from the round, and that his good form will put the national selectors at ease. With Dushmantha Chameera, Nuwan Pradeep and Shehan Madushanka all in doubt for the Tests against West Indies in June, Gamage will likely feature in Sri Lanka’s seam attack there. This performance – during which he took the wickets of Roshen Silva and Galle captain Dasun Shanaka – followed his 5 for 71 against Kandy last week. Led by Gamage, the seamers have continued to outperform the spinners in this tournament – a welcome trend in Sri Lanka’s domestic cricket, which is often overwhelmingly dominated by spinners.On the batting front, the Dambulla team’s Sachithra Serasinghe was the only one to make triple figures in this round, hitting 112 from 208 balls to help set Galle 315 to win. Elsewhere in that match, Kusal Mendis made 89, Chaturanga de Silva hit 54 and Ashan Priyanjan followed his century from the first round with a 95 in the second, putting on a 141-run stand with Serasinghe in the process.In the other match, former Under-19 captain Charith Asalanka, and Priyamal Perera hit half-centuries for Kandy. And, although, thanks to Rajitha and Udana’s four-wicket hauls, they reduced the Colombo side to 138 for 9 dec (in response to their own 270), the extended rain delays had long made a result impossible.

The Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach also suggested his team was well equipped to deal with the absence of Gautam Gambhir as top-order anchor and captain

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Apr-2018Simon Katich, the Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach, is confident that Sunil Narine has put behind him the issues he recently had with his bowling action. Narine was reported for a suspect action during the PSL last month, and while he was able to continue playing that tournament since he was only reported once, he will come into the IPL with a lot of eyes on him, given his long history of trouble with his action.Speaking to the media on Thursday, Katich said Narine had put plenty of work into his action since the PSL, and was in good shape to start in Knight Riders’ season-opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.”Obviously there were some issues recently in the PSL where he was playing for Lahore [Qalandars], but he’s since gone back to Trinidad and spent a lot of time with [spin-bowling consultant] Carl Crowe, working on his action,” Katich said. “Carl’s his coach, last few years he’s been working with him since he first got reported. He’s done a lot of hard work there, we’re pretty confident with where he’s at with the action at the moment, so hopefully we’ll see him back out there on Sunday.”Narine was one of Knight Riders’ standout players last season, not just with the ball. He played a key role as a pinch-hitter at the top of the order as well, ending the season with 224 runs at a strike rate of 172.30. Katich didn’t rule out the possibility of Narine batting up the order this season as well.”Last year, initially, he didn’t open – we had Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn that opened, but then after game 2, when Chris Lynn hurt his shoulder, we had to rejig the team balance-wise,” Katich said. “We felt that Sunny opening was going to give us an advantage with the balance of our team and also free him up to play a role at the top of the order, which he did a very, very good job of.”He’s primarily one of our main spinners, if not our number one spinner, but given the balance of our team, you never know where he’s going to bat, so it all depends on what we feel the best combination is.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Ahead of this year’s player auction, Knight Riders chose not to retain Gambhir, who captained them for seven seasons. He ended up going back to his hometown franchise Delhi Daredevils. Katich suggested his team had the resources to cope with Gambhir’s absence, both as top-order anchor and captain.”Obviously Gautam’s a fantastic player, and made a lot of runs, lot of success here as captain. We feel that we have got some very good experience at the top of the order in that similar role that he played, where he’d bat through the innings,” Katich said. “Obviously we’ve got Robin Uthappa back, and he’s had a magnificent record in IPL, particularly here with KKR.”He’s probably in the top five all-time run-scorers in the IPL, so we feel we’ve already got a player like that at the top of the order, and you combine that with Lynn, and we feel that we’ve got a fair bit of experience at the top of the order. Obviously Chris has had injury concerns over the last couple of years, and we missed him a couple of times last year, but he seems to be fully fit at the moment and judging by his form in the practice games hopefully we’re going to see some fireworks on Sunday.”Katich said Knight Riders had enough experienced players in their squad to help their new captain Dinesh Karthik settle into his job.”First and foremost, his role will be to give guidance to this group, and I think he’s got a lot of experienced players around him, particularly in our overseas group and also with guys like Robin and Piyush Chawla and these sorts of guys and Vinay [Kumar],” Katich said. “So in terms of the experience around him, he’s going to get a lot of help there, and also it’s our role as coaches to feed him with information, take the pressure off on gameday.”So from that point of view, we just want him to go out there and to keep as well as he possibly can and continue that form he’s shown for India recently. And he’s a highly experienced player in the IPL. He’s been playing for ten years, he’s had a lot of success in this format, so from a captaincy point of view he’s at the perfect stage of his career, at 32 years of age, to really grab the opportunity. He’s done it for Tamil Nadu, had a fair bit of success there, and we see that as being a bonus for us.”

The New Zealand fast bowler arrived and trained with the squad ahead of their match against Delhi Daredevils

Vishal Dikshit14-Apr-2018Mumbai Indians have brought in New Zealand fast bowler Adam Milne as a replacement for the injured Pat Cummins, who was ruled out of the season and did not arrive in India. Milne will join Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman and former New Zealand team-mate Mitchell McClenaghan in Mumbai’s pace attack.Though neither the IPL nor the franchise had announced Milne having joined the team, he has already linked up with the Mumbai squad and trained ahead of the side’s third game, against Delhi Daredevils, at Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. Milne had played five IPL matches across two previous seasons – 2016 and 2017 – for Royal Challengers Bangalore.At Mumbai, Milne will also be working under bowling coach Shane Bond, his idol while growing up and with whom he had worked with when Bond was New Zealand’s bowling coach. Milne has played 70 T20s so far and taken 83 wickets with economy rate of 7.77; he’s also had good form for Central Districts on the domestic circuit in New Zealand.He is Mumbai’s second replacement fast bowler after McClenaghan was drafted in for Australia’s Jason Behrendorff, who was also ruled out with an injury.

To do that, they will have to find a way to counter Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi on what is expected to be another spin-friendly pitch in Dehradun

The Preview by Mohammad Isam06-Jun-2018

Big picture

With the series decided on Tuesday evening, Afghanistan can bask in the glory of overpowering another Test-playing nation. Having won matches against West Indies and a number of ODI and T20 series against Zimbabwe, beating Bangladesh should rank as an important step in their progress in international cricket.But it should not cloud their minds from targeting a 3-0 whitewash. Already they have shown better decision-making and have applied their skills better in the first two games, rendering Bangladesh’s batting and late-over bowling ineffective.Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have strangled an experienced batting line-up, and Mohammad Shahzad, Samiullah Shenwari and Nabi have contributed with the bat. Afghanistan would welcome more runs from Usman Ghani, Asghar Stanikzai and Najibullah Zadran, and might also look at the option of experimenting by bringing in young batsmen like Najeeb Tarakai, Darwish Rasooli and Gulbadin Naib.Bangladesh on the other hand have looked shorn of confidence in their ability, their lack of T20 know-how rudely exposed. Whether the BCB had wanted such a test is anyone’s guess, but the cricketers have to bear most of the responsibility for such a performance.They are a far more experienced side in international cricket than Afghanistan but there have been passages of play when they looked naïve and out of touch with the ever-changing world of T20 cricket.Still, they would hope that the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim can motivate themselves once more to salvage some pride. What will concern them most is the performance of the younger players such as Sabbir Rahman and Mosaddek Hossain, who have struggled in particular to read Rashid’s googly.

Form guide

Afghanistan: WWWWL
Bangladesh: LLLWL

In the spotlight

Before all the craze for Rashid Khan, one of Afghanistan’s early stars was Mohammad Nabi, who continues to be an important performer. His steady offspin and big-hitting ability have made him a viable option in T20 leagues worldwide, and his impact is magnified when he plays for Afghanistan. Nabi’s unbeaten 31 and 2 for 19 was the match-winning performance that perfectly complemented Rashid in Tuesday’s game.Liton Das was an improved batsman during Bangladesh’s tour of South Africa last year, as well as in the Nidahas Trophy in March. He promised a little in the first game of this T20 series, but fell to a soft dismissal on Tuesday. With so much going wrong for Bangladesh, some runs from Liton would definitely be welcomed.Peter Della Penna

Team news

Having already sealed the series, Afghanistan could try out the likes of Najeeb Tarakai, Darwish Rasooli, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Aftab Alam. But they would also be tempted to press on with the same XI and push for a whitewash.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2 Usman Ghani, 3 Asghar Stanikzai (capt), 4 Najibullah Zadran, 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Samiullah Shenwari, 7 Shafiqullah, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Karim Janat, 10 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 11 Shapoor ZadranBangladesh’s management could try Ariful Haque and see if he can improve their so far woeful late-overs batting. Another option is Mehdy Hasan Miraz, given the spin-friendly conditions in Dehradun, with the medium-pace of Abul Hasan and Abu Jayed looking ineffective.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Liton Das, 3 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Sabbir Rahman, 7 Mosaddek Hossain, 8 Soumya Sarkar, 9 Abu Hider, 10 Rubel Hossain, 11 Nazmul Islam

Pitch and conditions

Spin is likely to remain hugely influential – so far, Afghanistan have bettered Bangladesh both at bowling it and batting against it. Late showers are forecast for Thursday evening.

Stats and trivia

• Liton Das took first strike in Tuesday’s game, which meant Tamim Iqbal didn’t face the first ball of the innings for the first time in his 68-match T20I career.
• Samiullah Shenwari has struck six sixes in the T20 series so far, the most he has hit in any T20I series or tournament.

It is suspected the fast bowler may have broken his thumb going for a catch at the long-on boundary

Liam Brickhill01-Jul-2018A depleted Zimbabwe suffered a further blow when Kyle Jarvis, their senior seamer, injured his bowling hand while attempting a catch during Pakistan’s innings in the opening game of the T20I tri-series in Harare.The injury occured in the 14th over of the innings, when Fakhar Zaman hoicked a delivery from Ryan Burl into the leg side. Sprinting around the boundary from wide long-on, Jarvis dived to his right attempting to hold onto a low catch. The difficult chance was spilled, and it was immediately apparent that Jarvis had suffered an injury when he collapsed in pain and signalled to the team physio, who rushed onto the field.Jarvis was taken to hospital and X-rayed for a suspected broken bone in his right thumb. He had taken 1 for 9 from two overs and was one of the only bowlers to escape severe punishment. In his absence, Pakistan plundered 61 from the last five overs of their innings, eventually winning the game.

Virat Kohli stood between England and victory for long enough to give his side a dead even chance going into what should be the final day of an absorbing Test

The Report by Sidharth Monga03-Aug-2018Virat Kohli just refuses to lose the Edgbaston Test. He stood between England and victory for long enough to give his side a dead even chance going into what should be the final day of an absorbing Test. The third day was not short of drama: R Ashwin started the carnage, Ishant Sharma got on to one of his rolls for a second five-for in England, and then the 20-year-old Sam Curran pulled England out of abyss, with a cavalier 63, from 87 for 7 to set India 194 to get.Kohli saw soft dismissals, Kohli saw high-quality swing bowling, Kohli was mentally and physically alert to every ball, living it to the fullest, enjoying the challenge of trying to drag a team that looks full of out-of-form batsmen across the line. India ended the day needing 84, England five wickets. Prospect of a closer final day could not have been hoped for.England would have hoped for less drama when they began the day, looking to build on a 13-run first-innings lead. They ran into a bowling attack on a roll. Ashwin bowled through the first session, taking out Keaton Jennings and Joe Root, allowing Kohli to bowl only Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma from the other end on an overcast morning. Jennings was again done in by the dip, defending well in front of his body, allowing the ball the time to spin and take his edge. Root made a mental error, looking to play a sharp offbreak around the corner, but around the corner was a leg gully.Ishant is a much-improved bowler from the much-maligned days of “unfortunate Ishant”. You will strain to remember the last time he bowled a freebie. What he doesn’t do is get those numbers in the last column because either his length is still half a metre short or he bowls too wide outside off, which means scoring runs is still a risky proposition but it is easier to leave him. Once in a while, though, he gets on an irresistible roll when every ball looks like it can get a wicket.It began to happen just before lunch. He did so with swing away from left-hand batsmen, against the angle from round the wicket, and the indecision caused by a couple of balls holding their line against the angle into the right-hand batsmen from over the wicket. First he had David Malan caught at gully. Then, in one over, he had Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, lunch and Jos Buttler. England were seven down and only 100 ahead.This is when Curran and Adil Rashid began to throw their bat around. Edges began to fly wide of slips, one fell just short of Shikhar Dhawan at slip, two of those – made difficult by circumstances – were dropped. And when Curran smacked Ashwin for a six and a four, Kohli went on the defensive. It was not uncommon or an outright bad move. The runs were piling with the two throwing their bat around. There is a reason why Test chases are so difficult. You don’t want every edge fetching them four.A bad-light break came at the opportune moment. It gave India that breather, broke the rhythm a little, and brought Rashid’s wicket immediately. Curran, with seemingly no worry or doubt in his head, kept swinging. The edges disappeared now. It is so difficult to plan against such batsmen: he played and missed a whole Umesh Yadav over before making room and smacking Ishant over extra cover.India finally managed to get a wicket at the other end, and then Curran edged trying to steal a single to farm the strike. By now, though, Curran had given voice to the big home crowd. England could hope now. Immediately, it turned to despair with Malan dropping his third catch of the match at second slip. This drop, though, didn’t cost England much with M Vijay padding up to one that seamed in. He had added only three since the reprieve; not counting the effect of the partnerships that ensue, England had still incurred 154 as cost of drops to India’s 86.As soon as Vijay walked back, Kohli put on his helmet and began to concentrate on the game. The mental and physical reserves of the man have been immense. The second wicket fell soon after with Dhawan predictably edging behind, sending out the man who had kept England at bay all this while. James Anderson grew a leg and began to bowl those perfect outswingers with renewed vigour. Five leaves and a play and a miss in the first over.By the time Anderson came around for his second over, Kohli showed he was judging him much better this time. He didn’t drive hard but chose to push with the hands under his eyes. He was quick to pick the straight balls aiming to trap him lbw, and kept picking them into the leg side. Once in a while he unleashed the cover drive, and stood and watched as the ball hurtled to the boundary.At the other end, though, damage continued. Stokes got KL Rahul with a near-unplayable delivery – swinging in and then seaming out – to make it 46 for 3. Ajinkya Rahane played his second soft shot of the Test, just wafting aimlessly at a wide shortish ball from Curran, to make it 63 for 4. Ashwin, promoted ahead of Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya, got a good outswinger from Anderson. At 78 for 5, with close to an hour’s play left, England would have hoped to put the matter to rest on the third day itself.However, they were not going to get past Kohli so easily. It just seemed like they were not meant to. Karthik stuck around with him to raise India’s hope of a glorious win, but everybody probably knew Kohli, who has scored 30% of India’s runs in Tests he has played this year, would have to come back and finish it himself on the fourth morning.

International cricket set to debut here at the USD5.2m cricket-specific facility at Church Street Park in the greater Raleigh area in September

Peter Della Penna19-Aug-2018North Carolina will host international cricket for the first time when the 2020 World T20 sub-regional Americas qualifier is held at the new USD5.2 million cricket-specific facility at Church Street Park in the greater Raleigh area from September 19 to 26. The ICC’s decision confirms news reported by ESPNcricinfo last month that the venue was the preferred choice among ICC Americas officials ahead of Woodley Park in Los Angeles, which hosted ICC WCL Division Four in 2016.The four-team tournament featuring USA, Canada, Panama and Belize was originally announced to be held from September 16 to 23 but the start date clashed with the final of the Caribbean Premier League in Trinidad. Seven USA players and one Canada player are currently part of CPL squads; the ICC accommodated a slight shift in dates to allow any of those players to make it to North Carolina in time should their franchise reach the CPL final.However, the Auty Cup series of 50-over matches between USA and Canada, which was tentatively slated to be held immediately after the T20 qualifiers in North Carolina, is currently in danger of being scrapped. According to a USA Cricket official, their attempts to lock in an agreement on match dates have been hampered by a lack of communication from Cricket Canada officials.”We would be honoured to host the oldest international sporting event of all time given the longstanding tradition,” USA Cricket project officer Wade Edwards told ESPNcricinfo. “We feel it is a great opportunity for our athletes to play more competitive cricket. It is unfortunate we have not received official communication from Cricket Canada regarding this year’s event.”A Cricket Canada official did not respond to ESPNcricinfo when contacted last week about their participation for this year’s Auty Cup. The 2016 edition won 2-1 by Canada was played in Los Angeles, while last year’s series was played in Canada where the USA broke a 26-year drought in a 2-1 series win.This year’s Auty Cup can only be squeezed into a small window at the end of September both for cost and logistics reasons. Both teams already have their flights to North Carolina covered by the ICC for their participation in the T20 qualifiers. The extra hotel costs of an extended stay to contest the Auty Cup are typically covered by the host country, in this case the USA. According to sources, both teams have been invited to play in the Cricket West Indies Regional Super50, which is due to start in the first week of October and continue through the end of the month.After the conclusion of the CWI Regional Super50, USA will then have a few days off at home before flying to Oman for the start of ICC WCL Division Three, which is scheduled to take place from November 7 to 21 according to multiple sources. USA will compete against Denmark, Kenya, Singapore, Uganda and the hosts, with the top two teams promoted to Division Two.This year’s Division Three tournament will stretch longer than the customary eight-day schedule for World Cricket League tournaments because Oman only has two turf wickets available for use, meaning only four of the six teams can play on any match day instead of having the three matches being played simultaneously. A source has informed ESPNcricinfo that Oman Cricket agreed to help subsidise the extra hotel costs in order to allow for the lengthened schedule.

The appointments marks the end of a formal examination that sought to avoid the continuation of a long pattern of failed leadership duos, including the banned Steven Smith and David Warner

Daniel Brettig27-Sep-20180:46

Mitchell. Marsh proud to be Australia vice captain

Australia’s Test captain Tim Paine now has joint lieutenants in Mitchell Marsh and Josh Hazlewood, at the end of a formal examination of the vice-captaincy that sought to avoid the continuation of a long pattern of failed leadership duos that included the banned Steven Smith and David Warner.While Hazlewood has been a consistent member of the Test team since he debuted in Smith’s first Test as captain, in 2014 against India, Marsh’s career has been speckled with injury and bouts of poor form. At the same time, the demands of fast bowling and the management policies of CA will mean that Hazlewood cannot turn out for every match. Nevertheless, their selections represent an evolution in one of Australian cricket’s most contentious roles.Where Smith and Warner were simply recommended by the selectors to the Cricket Australia board in 2015, over the objections of numerous senior figures in Australian cricket, Marsh and Hazlewood had been first put forward by their Australian team-mates. They then made leadership presentations to a seven-person panel, featuring selector Greg Chappell, board director Mark Taylor, coach Justin Langer, chairman David Peever, selection committee chairman Trevor Hohns, team psychologist Michael Lloyd and team performance manager Pat Howard.The process was similar to that used by Langer in Western Australia to reach the decision to name Marsh the state captain last year, although Hohns was at pains to make it clear that it had not been devised to anoint the next captain. Rather, CA senior figures wanted to ensure that the players chosen would be as supportive to the captain Paine as possible, something that could not be said of previous fractious pairings, such as that of Michael Clarke with Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson with Clarke, and Warner with Smith.”Justin Langer and Tim Paine have a clear vision for the Test team, and Josh and Mitch are invested and ready to support the coach and captain on this journey,” Hohns said. “And this was a fundamental part of the process. It was not a process designed to find the next Australian Test captain, but to find two vice-captains who will support and help drive the team’s goals and objectives.”Josh and Mitch display great leadership qualities, and we were extremely impressed by their passion and energy to help guide Australian cricket into this exciting new era. Our vision is to create great cricketers and great people, and we are extremely fortunate to have such terrific young men charged with responsibility of upholding the high standards and values we and Australian cricket fans expect of their Test team.”Josh has shown he is a leader among the playing group, and we felt it was important to have a representative from the bowling group. He’s calm under pressure, communicates well, and leads by example on and off the field. Mitch has successfully captained Australia A, Australia U19 and Western Australia. He is an extremely popular member of the team, he has great humility, and given his lineage, he understands and respects the responsibility which comes with representing Australia and Australians.”Langer is a board director for the West Coast Eagles AFL club, and much of his learning about leadership has been drawn from sports beyond the realm of cricket. “We believe the new leadership model will best support the captain,” Hohns said. “It is a successful model used across various sporting codes around the world, and we see it benefiting the group, not just from a tactical perspective, but also to help drive the team’s values and standards on and off the field.”We also feel the new model provides great balance. There is strong and even representation of both the batting and bowling groups, which is important when making decisions which are in the best interest of the team. The demands on the modern cricketer were also factors we took into account, including the amount of cricket they play in a season, to what happens in the event a member of the leadership group is missing through injury.”We look forward to the first Test against Pakistan, and we’ll watch with great interest as our leaders lead the team into what is going to be a huge summer of cricket.”With Hazlewood currently on a rehabilitation plan to recover from injury in time for the home international season, Marsh is Paine’s deputy on the ground in Dubai, ahead of two Tests against Pakistan. “I had a meeting with Cracker, JL and Michael Lloyd in a room here at the hotel, and they told me the good news,” he said. “I’m very proud, we’ve been through this process over the last couple of months as a team, and to have my team-mates vote myself and Josh into this position, I’m very proud, and hopefully, I’ll do the job justice.”It is something different for cricket, but that’s the world these days, we live in the modern world and modern game of cricket. Josh and I will do everything we can to make Tim Paine’s life easier, that’s how I see the vice-captaincy role. We will, like every other person in this team, lead to the best of our ability in Australian cricket and make Tim Paine’s job as easy as possible.”In his presentation, Marsh said he had stated that all members of the Australian team needed to be leaders, irrespective of whether or not they had a title attached to their name. “The biggest thing we’ve spoken about as a team right now, and I even said it in my presentation to the board, is whether I have a title next to my name or not, it’s actually irrelevant,” he said. “I want to be the best person, best Australian cricketer and leader that I can be for this group and for the whole organisation.”That’s something we want every single cricketer to be in the Australian cricket team, and hopefully, I’ll be able to instill that in young guys coming through, what it means to be an Australian cricketer and what we stand for going forward. Yes it is different, but it’s 2018, and for us as a group, I thought it was a really good process for where we’re at right now, I sit here as the vice-captain and very proud.”We went through the exact same process with WA. I’ve certainly grown as a leader in the past 12 months for WA, found out about myself and about my leadership. But I absolutely love captaining WA, probably my biggest strength is that hasn’t changed me as a person, and I certainly don’t see the vice-captaincy role changing me as a person, I’ll be that same guy around the team that’s got me to the position, and I think that’s really important, that’s leadership in my opinion.”Hazlewood said he would make a virtue of having no personal ambitions to become captain. “It’s probably no secret that the relationships between captain and vice-captain haven’t been great in the last 10 or 12 years,” he said in Sydney. “So maybe having someone as vice-captain who’s not necessarily aspiring to be captain, that’s the position that I find myself in and I can really contribute as a leader and a vice-captain without ever really pushing that next level. Then Mitch and myself can do everything we can to make Painey’s job as easy as possible.”Candidates for leadership in Australia’s ODI and Twenty20 teams also presented to the panel, including Aaron Finch, Alex Carey and Travis Head. CA will delay revealing the leaders of the limited-overs teams until they announce the Twenty20 squad to face Pakistan in a series of matches following the two Tests.