The senior quick bowler lashes out at his team-mates, says they haven’t learnt from their mistakes even as the losses have piled up

Jarrod Kimber in Cardiff03-Jun-2019Sri Lanka quick bowler Lasith Malinga was scathing in his criticism of his team-mates’ attitude, saying that they have moved from one defeat to another in recent times without learning any lessons.Speaking to the Sri Lankan press before their game against Afghanistan in Cardiff on Tuesday, Malinga said, “In the last one-and-a-half years or two years, we have been saying, ‘we have lost one game, move on, do well in the next game’. You can’t play cricket like that. We need to learn lessons from those defeats. There’s no point in forgetting those defeats.”I have played four World Cups and I still feel the pressure for tomorrow’s match. The other players must also feel it. You can’t play cricket anywhere without feeling the pressure. If a player doesn’t feel that pressure, that excitement, the nervousness, then there’s no chance of getting 100% from that player. They must think to themselves that if they don’t deliver, they have not done justice to the team.”In the last three years, Sri Lanka have won just 26% of their ODIs; they have lost to Scotland in a List A match, and Afghanistan beat them in their most recent contest in the Asia Cup.In their opening match of the World Cup, Sri Lanka, who have won just four of their 21 completed ODIs in the past 12 months and lost warm-up matches to South Africa and Australia before the tournament, went down by ten wickets to New Zealand after folding for 136.”All the players must realise their own mistakes first. We can’t repeat the same mistakes over and over,” Malinga said. “As a senior player and as a member of the squad, I hope everyone will have that fear of not doing their duty and feel the shame of losing. Everyone must realise that it’s a must that they perform because if not our cricket will not go forward.”At least from tomorrow, I hope everyone will have that fear because they have been selected as the best 15 to represent the country, not to be passengers. It’s essential that they identify different game situations and support each other in the middle.”I feel players need to get confidence, but we can’t improve our skills at the moment. We need to become mentally tough.”Dimuth Karunaratne, leading Sri Lanka in the World Cup despite not being an ODI regular since March 2015, was the only batsman to show some grit against New Zealand, carrying his bat for 52 runs as wickets fell in a heap around him.”I feel our top-seven batsmen have to take responsibility,” Malinga said. “We need to be patient. Patience is very important.”We know these conditions; we can have someone get 60-70 runs and some balls can still move around. Each bowler has their own method of setting up a batsman and taking wickets. So each bowler has their own ways of bowling those wicket-taking deliveries. I can’t decide that for the others.”

Two impressive performances have taken into the semi-finals with confidence restored but they know this is the bare minimum they needed to do

George Dobell at Chester-le-Street03-Jul-2019Mark Wood admitted he “got lucky” to dismiss Kane Williamson in freakish fashion in Durham.Williamson was well set and averaging over 100 in the tournament when Ross Taylor punched a delivery from Wood down the ground only to see the bowler stick a hand out and, in attempting to stop the ball, gain only the slightest of deflections onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Williamson, backing up in anticipation of a run, was out of his ground and out of the game.And while Williamson generously suggested England’s tight bowling might have played a part in forcing him to back-up so aggressively – “the English bowlers put us under pressure,” he said, “I don’t know whether the run-out came from that” – Wood accepted luck was a more pertinent factor. Especially bearing in mind his “small hands.”WATCH on Hotstar (India only): How England bowled out New Zealand“I got lucky,” Wood said. “He backed-up because he was looking for the run. It was nothing to do with my bowling. And it’s not as if I deliberately palmed it back on the stumps. I was trying to actually stop it and got a little bit fortunate. I am pleased that in such a big game I managed to be so lucky.”He doesn’t know how unlucky he is because I’ve got the smallest hands for a bloke you’ve ever seen. I managed to just get a fingertip to it. The umpire wasn’t sure if I’d tipped it, and I was like ‘I swear to God I did.’ I knew it had flicked the end of my finger.”He is one of the best players I’ve ever bowled at. So to get him out any way you can is pretty important. It saved me bowling at him any more so I was pretty pleased.”Jos Buttler, meanwhile, reckoned that England’s performance in their last couple of games – matches in which they have beaten India and New Zealand at a time they knew defeat could mean elimination from the tournament – should both give the side confidence and remind them to play the “brand of cricket” which works best for them.”It’s a really good sign for us,” Buttler said. “We stood up and played our brand of cricket under that pressure. That breeds a lot of confidence for the group. It reminds us that our way is the best way and gives us a lot of chance of performing. That’s what we have resorted to in the two must-win games and shows that we must continue that.”Both men admit their excitement at reaching the semi-final stage, though Buttler also accepted it had been a “minimum requirement” ahead of the tournament.”We are very excited to be in a semi-final,” he said. “But I think it was the minimum requirement; the first stage we had to get to. We have given ourselves a great chance and we’re really excited for that challenge. We’ve obviously had two tough games to finish to qualify and we showed great character to come through with two very good performances.””We’ve got some great momentum,” Wood agreed. “We’ve had our backs up against the wall so to play with the values we have talked about in the past has showed a lot of courage from the team. Now we are going on to another huge game, but one we’ll be pretty confident in.”

Wicketkeeper unbeaten overnight but Warwickshire turn the screw at Edgbaston

Jon Culley at Edgbaston19-Aug-2019Such is the romance that has come to be associated with Somerset’s quest for their first County Championship in 144 years of history that lovers of cricket are cancelling September holidays in the hope of being at Taunton to witness a doubtless tearful celebration.Whether it will be worth it remains in the balance. As things stand, the side they will meet in the last fixture of the season, the 2017 winners Essex, who beat them at Chelmsford in June, are in pole position. Four matches remain after this isolated, mid-Blast round, yet Somerset could do without losing ground at this moment.They might not find it easy to prevent that happening. Having winkled out two important wickets in the final session of the opening day, when Sam Hain and Adam Hose were dismissed before they were able to inflict too much damage, they picked up an early bonus on day two when Rob Yates, whose maiden century had been the thorn in their flesh on Sunday, was out to only the seventh delivery of the morning.Yet their bowlers failed to build on that, gaining only one extra bonus point and, more importantly in the context of potentially taking the 16 points for a win, allowing Warwickshire, themselves casting anxious glances at the one team behind them in the Division One table, the luxury of passing 400 for only the second time this season.Then came a pretty torrid start to their reply, encompassing three wickets lost for 15 runs between the eighth over and the 11th, including a first-ball duck for Babar Azam, their Vitality Blast star, on his red-ball debut for the county.By the close, they had recovered to a degree, thanks in large part to Steven Davies, who showed his adaptability by opening in a rejigged top order and willingness to graft as necessary in finishing 11 runs short of a hundred. Somerset, though, are still 103 runs away from the follow-on target and lost George Bartlett in the penultimate over, a moment of celebration for 19-year-old debutant George Garrett in claiming his maiden first-class wicket.Jack Brooks had made what they had hoped would be a decisive morning breakthrough as Yates, stretching to drive, edged to gully. When the former Yorkshire seamer followed up by having Tim Ambrose caught behind four overs later to claim the second bowling bonus point in the 102nd over, all looked well.Helped by a remarkable gully catch by Roelof van der Merwe as Henry Brookes somehow offered him a leading edge as he shaped to clip Jamie Overton to the short Hollies Stand boundary on his leg side – which he had already cleared with a square cut off Brookes – Somerset had the seventh wicket at 338 in the 107th over and were into the Warwickshire tail.And it did look more like a tail than is customary in a team that generally bats deep, with Oliver Hannon-Dalby making a rare appearance at No. 10 ahead Garrett.In the event, it was a while before they had a look at either, thanks primarily to Michael Burgess, who made it his business to use the aforementioned short boundary to his advantage whenever the Somerset bowlers gave him the opportunity, hitting 52 off 58 balls in a manner that was very easy on the eye.He and his captain, Jeetan Patel, added 66 in 13 overs to claim a fourth batting point and take the total beyond 400, to which Hannon-Dalby celebrated his promotion by making his first score in double figures since he giddily hit 11 not out and 13 against the same opponents at Taunton in May. At the other end, young Garrett manfully survived 22 deliveries to mark his maiden first-class innings with a red-inker and two runs.As if that were not enough to furrow Somerset brows, a positive response in terms of quick runs on the board was rapidly undermined as Tom Abell was bowled shouldering arms and Hannon-Dalby continued to influence the game by gaining the desired reward for bowling into James Hildreth’s pads. He then reaped an unexpected bonus when Babar, who has been drafted into Somerset’s red-ball team in place of his compatriot Azhar Ali, clipped a legside half-volley direct to midwicket.Azhar’s return to Pakistan for a training camp meant a rejigged top order with Davies opening with Abell. Happily for Somerset, he looked comfortable in the roll from the outset, anchoring a 63-run partnership for the fourth wicket that ended when Tom Banton edged behind off Will Rhodes, who was unlucky during an impressive spell when Tim Ambrose was not quite able to grasp an inside edge offered by Davies on 72.

Spin-bowling allrounder becomes fifth Pakistan international to sign up for tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2019Imad Wasim, the Pakistan spin-bowling allrounder, has signed for Nottinghamshire as an overseas player for their Vitality Blast campaign. He will be available immediately, going into the squad for Friday night’s game against Derbyshire.Ranked second among T20I bowlers by the ICC, Wasim has been an integral figure in Pakistan’s rise to the top of the team rankings in the format, and has an economy rate of just 6.28 in T20 cricket over the course of his career.”With the nature of the international schedule, it’s a very difficult market in which to sign overseas players – far more difficult than it used to be,” Nottinghamshire director of cricket, Mick Newell, said. “With Imad becoming available on the back of the World Cup, we acted as quickly as possible to secure him.”The paperwork and clearances have taken a little bit of extra time, meaning we’ve had to start the tournament without him. But it’s good to now be welcoming him into the squad ahead of the next fixture against Derbyshire.”He brings an additional spin-bowling option that we think we can benefit from and he’ll strengthen our middle-order batting as well. With the venue we’ve got here at Trent Bridge and with the level of support we get here now, we are an attractive proposition to overseas cricketers.”Imad joins compatriots Faheem Ashraf, Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir and Fakhar Zaman to become the fifth Pakistan international with a contract for the Blast this season, though Zaman’s Glamorgan debut was delayed by visa issues and Amir has still to feature for Essex due to a similar issue.Nottinghamshire, who won the competition in 2017, were the favourites for the title this season, but started their campaign with a defeat against holders Worcestershire and a washout against Yorkshire before getting back on track with victory over Northamptonshire.Imad will fill the club’s second overseas slot, alongside captain Dan Christian. Notts had previously suggested Christian would be their only overseas signing for the Blast, but a serious knee injury to allrounder Steven Mullaney meant they swooped for reinforcement.”I can’t wait to represent the Outlaws in T20 cricket,” Imad said. “Trent Bridge is a wonderful ground with fans who are passionate and knowledgeable.”They were a generous audience during the One-Day International earlier this year and Trent Bridge under floodlights looked amazing.”My aim is to contribute to the Outlaws going all the way. They did it in 2017 and we have an exciting squad with lots of international talent that’s capable of doing it again.”This will be Imad’s first stint in the county game, though he has previously played club cricket for several different teams in England, including Papplewick, Burnley and Bradshaw. He will be available for the whole of the Blast, barring a two-game break at the end of August for his upcoming wedding.He was only picked in six of Pakistan’s eight World Cup games, but ended the tournament with 162 runs at a strike rate of 118.24, and was his team’s most economical bowler.

An unbeaten 85 from discarded England allrounder see Blast holders to nine-wicket win over Midlands rivals

David Hopps23-Aug-2019At least one England batsman was a picture of charm and grace after a desperate Ashes day. The only problem was that it was Moeen Ali, not required at Headingley, but instead refreshed by a bit of an August break and playing with grace and charm to win an engrossing West Midlands derby in the Vitality Blast.Moeen is a World Cup winner, with 186 England appearances to his name, but for all that experience he never appears more at home than in this fixture. His unbeaten 85 from 46 balls, allied to a half-century from Riki Wessels, immaculately judged a difficult run chase as Worcestershire overhauled Birmingham’s 184 for 5 with eight balls to spare.Moeen certainly enjoys facing his former county and last season hit centuries in the Royal London One-Day Cup and Vitality Blast matches at Edgbaston.Worcestershire go second in North Group and, along with Lancashire and Notts, are well placed to reach the quarter-finals by the time the group stages end next Friday: Moeen, unlikely to win an Ashes recall, can concentrate his thoughts on leading them to successive Finals Days. Birmingham, now eighth, are left to scrap with the rest and can console themselves that none of their rivals are posturing with intent.Blast crowds are on the up and around 12,000 at Edgbaston witnessed a match that was in doubt until deep into the contest. With 34 needed off four overs, Alex Thomson conceded 20 – Moeen strking successive sixes over long-on – and that was that.Worcestershire were under pressure when they required 80 off eight overs, but Moeen targeted Will Rhodes’ first over, which went for 19. A conservative over against Henry Brookes seemed too close for comfort, but when the boundaries were essential, Worcestershire found them: Moeen’s straight six off Jeetan Patel with 51 needed from 32, or Wessels’ leg-side drag against Oliver Hannon-Dalby to leave 34 off 24.Moeen stroked six sixes, five of them down the ground, while Wessels, typically, found innumerable ways to deflect and drag the ball square of the wicket. Wessels came close to falling lbw when he failed to reverse sweep Chris Green on 39, and Moeen plopped a ball or two into the open spaces, but for the most part their judgment was impeccable”I always felt we were one big over away from winning it,” Moeen said. “There was a bit of dew around and it wasn’t easy for their spinners. It’s always nice to be back playing for Worcestershire. I’ve just been going back to basics a bit.”Thoughts did not just alight on an England player currently jettisoned, but also on those who might yet be called up to reinforce a frivolous batting line-up. If Jason Roy can make a case for Test inclusion solely because of the splendour of his limited-overs form then with England in an Ashes pickle, Dominic Sibley must have had designs on a persuasive 30-odd in a T20 derby? After all, there is no Championship cricket to be had at the moment, so absurd as it sounds how is he meant to do it?Sibley, uncapped and, compared to Roy, unheralded, is a batsman designed for the long haul. He is leading the chase to 1000 runs in Division One, with 949 runs at 55.82, ahead of Yorkshire’s Gary Ballance and Hampshire’s Sam Northeast, but it’s unclear if anybody is all that interested.He began in such orthodox fashion against Worcestershire that it briefly looked as if he actually thought he on Test debut. Sadly, for collectors of cricketing oddities, he then he awoke to his task in hand and charged down the pitch to swing Pat Brown over midwicket into the Hollies Stand. Then he upped the ante, missed a sweep against Ed Barnard, wandered out his crease in vague expectation of a run and was stumped. Twelve runs off 14, as they say at Headingley, where England’s batting had been vanquished earlier in the day, was “neither nowt nor summat”.If Sibley had a unmemorable night, the Bears’ batting line-up had one of their most productive nights of an up-and-down campaign. Sam Hain, Adam Hose, Matthew Lamb and Mark Burgess all energised the innings in turn.Hain has had an extraordinarily consistent tournament with nine innings between 21 and 85, but although he comfortabley tops Birmingham’s run chart with 382 at 42.44, he is only striking at 119. The impression lingers that he is always driving himself forward, never entirely content with his scoring rate, and when he advanced to Dillon Pennington and popped him into the hands of deep midwicket, he left with another condemnatory shake of the head, one caused primarily by healthy ambition.Hose showed a bigger hitting range. His 48 from 23 included two sixes apiece off Moeen and Barnard. He hit Barnard for two sixes in an over, the second of which struck a spectator in the face at long-on. As if momentarily losing concentration, he changed tack and was caught off extra cover, trying to clear the infield.Lamb hunted out the short leg-side boundary – when he wasn’t threatening to injure the Worcestershire attack with straight drives. Pennington, sensible lad, ducked out of the way of a straight drive. Brown, stopped the next straight drive with his shin, grimaced his way through a third over, and never made the fourth. Birmingham had a score to reckon with, but they didn’t reckon with Moeen.

The first standalone WBBL begins on Friday. Here are how the teams stack up

Alex Malcolm and Andrew McGlashan16-Oct-2019

Adelaide Strikers

Squad Darcie Brown, Tegan McPharlin, Alex Price, Annie O’Neil, Sarah Coyte, Katie Mack, Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates, Bridget Patterson, Ellie Falconer, Megan Schutt, Tahlia McGrath, Stafanie Taylor, Lauren Winfield, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Tabatha Saville2018-19 statsWhat happened last season?They began with victory against eventual champions the Brisbane Heat, but struggled for consistency until the backend if the group stage where they secured three victories in a row – including a Super Over win against the Hobart Hurricanes – but it was too late to make the knockouts. That was despite having two of the five highest run-scorers in Sophie Devine and Suzie BatesPlayer to watchAllrounder Tahlia McGrath was part of Australia’s Test and ODI side but has not featured since 2017 although is a current member of the national performance squad. Last season she was the Strikers’ third-highest run-scorer behind Devine and Bates and if she can increase her output from the 276 runs made in 2018-19 it will help take the pressure off the New Zealand pair.

Brisbane Heat

Brisbane Heat became the first non-Sydney team to win the WBBL•Getty Images

Squad Kirby Short (capt), Haidee Birkett, Maddy Green, Grace Harris, Laura Harris, Mikayla Hinkley, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Jess Jonassen, Amelia Kerr, Delissa Kimmince, Charli Knott, Lilly Mills, Beth Mooney, Georgia Prestwidge, Courtney Sippel2018-19 statsWhat happened last season?Ended the Sydney Sixers’ quest for a hat-trick of titles with a three-wicket win in the final where Beth Mooney battled the heat for a matchwinning 65 then they held their nerve amid a late wobble. Their semi-final win over the Sydney Thunder had been a thriller as well with Haidee Birkett holding a stunning catch to secure victory. Mooney had an excellent tournament with the bat, making 486 runs, while Delissa Kimmince was the leading wicket-taker with 22.Player to watchLast season Grace Harris smashed the fastest WBBL hundred off just 42 balls against the Melbourne Stars and overall she was the Heat’s second-highest scorer behind Mooney. Her strike-rate of 148.41 was the highest of the tournament. There were also 16 wickets at an economy rate of under six in a stellar tournament. And that’s before we even mention the times she is on the mic in the field.

Hobart Hurricanes

Heather Knight will be a key figure in the Hobart Hurricanes’ batting•Getty Images

Squad Nicola Carey, Stefanie Daffara, Erin Fazackerley, Katelyn Fryett, Maisy Gibson, Corinne Hall (capt), Brooke Hepburn, Heather Knight, Hayley Matthews, Sasha Moloney, Meg Phillips, Emily Smith, Chloe Tryon, Belinda Vakarewa, Tayla Vlaeminck, Fran Wilson2018-19 statsWhat happened last season?The Hurricanes made the semi-finals in the first two seasons of the WBBL but have been the competition anchors in the last two years. Last season they won just two matches and also lost two Super Overs. West Indies star Hayley Matthews only managed two games before being injured and India’s Smriti Mandhana managed just two half-centuries in 13 games. The Hurricanes did score more runs than any other team but they conceded more runs than any other side as well. They had real trouble containing opposition sides and they have made a concerted effort in the off-season to bolster the bowling stocks.Player to watch Tayla Vlaeminck has made the move to Tasmania alongside fellow Australia player Nicola Carey. Vlaeminck hasn’t shown her best form at WBBL level yet due to a multitude of injury issues but her performances for Australia recently suggest she could have a huge tournament. She has taken wickets in each of her last five international matches and has conceded under six runs an over. She will be the fastest bowler in the tournament and will give the Hurricanes some real strike-power upfront.

Melbourne Renegades

Sophie Molineux celebrates a wicket•Getty Images

Squad Tammy Beaumont, Makinley Blows, Maitlan Brown, Josie Dooley, Jess Duffin (capt), Erica Kershaw, Claire Koski, Carly Leeson, Sophie Molineux, Courtney Neale, Molly Strano, Lea Tahuhu, Georgia Wareham, Courtney Webb, Danni Wyatt2018-19 statsWhat happened last season?The Renegades fell agonisingly short of the final. Sophie Molineux firstly went within millimetres of finding the match-winning boundary off the last ball of the semi-final and then she was inches short of the winning third run after her full stretch dive was just beaten by Alyssa Healy’s direct hit. The Renegades did only just scrape into the semis, though, winning seven games for the season. Their attack was their biggest weapon last year with the spin trio of Molly Strano, Georgia Wareham, and Molineux complemented by the speed of Lea Tahuhu and the consistency of Maitlan Brown. But their batting was too heavily reliant on Molineux, who scored three of the Renegades’ six half-centuries for the season, including her brilliant innings in the semi-final.Player to watchAllrounder Sophie Molineux is again the Renegades key player and with the absence of Amy Satterthwaite her runs will be even more important. She will get more support at the top of the order with the signing of senior England batter Tammy Beaumont. Molineux will be pushing to be part of Australia’s T20 World Cup squad and runs and wickets will put her right in the frame.

Melbourne Stars

Lizelle Lee waits to swat one away on a way to a hundred•Getty Images

Squad Kristen Beams, Lucy Cripps, Mignon du Preez, Nicole Faltum, Holly Ferling, Tess Flintoff, Nicola Hancock, Emma Inglis, Alana King, Lizelle Lee, Katey Martin, Erin Osborne, Angela Reakes, Annabel Sutherland, Elyse Villani (capt)2018-19 statsWhat happened last season?The Stars started the season with a bang thanks to Lizelle Lee’s stunning century on the opening day, and they won their first two matches, but their batting really fell away badly as they struggled to make winning scores. The South African pair of Lee and Mignon du Preez reached 50 just once each which meant their relatively inexperienced attack didn’t have much to work with. Legspinner Kristen Beams, who has announced she will retire after this season, was only available for six games which made their task even harder and they only managed five wins for the season.Player to watchElyse Villani returning home to Melbourne after a stint in Perth is a huge boost for the Stars. She takes over as captain and is very highly regarded as a leader but her batting will be where she can make the biggest impact. She was the sixth leading runscorer in the WBBL last season and only played 11 games. She has also been out of favour at international level and will be looking to push her case for the T20 World Cup having not played a T20I since the 2018 World Cup final in the West Indies.

Perth Scorchers

Perth Scorchers will be able to call on Australia captain Meg Lanning•Getty Images

Squad Jemma Barsby, Samantha Betts, Nicole Bolton, Mathilda Carmichael, Piepa Cleary, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Kath Hempenstall, Amy Jones, Emma King, Meg Lanning (capt), Taneale Peschel, Chloe Piparo, Georgia Redmayne, Nat Sciver2018-19 statsWhat happened last season?The much-vaunted Scorchers were arguably the biggest disappointments of WBBL04. Despite the star power in the top-order, they were unable to make the finals for the first time. Meg Lanning, Elyse Villani and Nicole Bolton missed 13 games between them which did test the Scorchers’ depth from a batting perspective, but they really struggled with the ball. Heather Graham took 22 wickets in a season where she was named domestic player of the year but Bolton’s 12 wickets from 11 games with her part-time offspin was the next best contributor, and she was the only bowler with an economy rate under seven.Player to watchNicole Bolton will be important for the Scorchers. She has taken a step back from international cricket for the time being to focus on her mental health and she has enjoyed the domestic environment with Western Australia, scoring two WNCL half-centuries to start the season. Lanning will be the key wicket for opposition teams and that may allow Bolton to play with some freedom. Her offspin will be useful again, as she is particularly adept at bowling in the powerplay.

Sydney Sixers

Alyssa Healy’s maiden T20I century landed her a world record•Getty Images

Squad Sarah Aley, Alisha Bates, Erin Burns, Stella Campbell, Lauren Cheatle, Maddy Darke, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jodie Hicks, Emma Hughes, Marizanne Kapp, Ellyse Perry, Hayley Silver-Holmes, Dane van Niekerk, Lauren Smith2018-19 statsWhat happened last season?Pipped in the final by the Heat after the semi-final for the ages against the Renegades when the relay run out between Erin Burns, Sarah Aley and Alyssa Healy became one of the moments of the season. A stellar top order produced three individuals hundreds – two from Ellyse Perry and one for Healy – supplemented by further international class in Ashleigh Gardner, Erin Burns and Dane van Niekerk. Perry’s tally of 777 runs was a new WBBL record.Player to watchIt may seem obvious to pick out Ellyse Perry, but the strength of Australia’s top order means she hasn’t been needed much with the bat in recent times. Back on the domestic scene she can expect to be at the top of the order with the chance to set the tone for the innings. The Sixers aren’t short on bowling options, either, but Perry will be looking to increase on her return of 10 wickets in 16 matches at last year’s tournament.

Sydney Thunder

Nida Dar bowls•IDI/Getty Images

Squad Rachael Haynes, Sam Bates, Alex Blackwell, Nida Dar, Hannah Darlington, Rene Farrell, Lisa Griffith, Saskia Horley, Shabnim Ismail, Phoebe Litchfield, Rachel Priest, Kate Peterson, Naomi Stalenberg, Rachel Trenaman, Tahlia Wilson2018-19 statsWhat happened last season?Finished second in the league stage and when Nicole Carey connected with her swing into the leg side off the final ball of the semi-final against the Heat it looked as though they were destined for the final, only for Haidee Birkett to grab the brilliant catch on the boundary. Rachael Haynes led the batting impressively with 376 runs with Stafanie Taylor, who this season will play for the Strikers, taking 19 wickets and contributing 212 runs.Player to watchIt remains to be seen how often she makes the startling XI, but 16-year-old Phoebe Litchfield is an undoubted star of the future. Earlier this year a video posted by the NSW Breakers of her batting in the nets gained considerable attention and over the last 12 months she has scored her maiden first grade century, made her debut for the Breakers and been selected for Australia Under-19s and the Governor General’s XI.

T20I format comes to fore as England look to maintain attacking white-ball approach

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Oct-2019England’s build-up towards the 2020 T20 World Cup will begin in earnest this week, with the start of their five-match series against New Zealand, and Jonny Bairstow hopes the squad can channel the momentum of 50-over success into next year’s campaign in Australia.England lifted the World Cup for the first time in July, having overhauled their ODI cricket under the captaincy of Eoin Morgan. Although there has been less of a focus on T20 cricket, England did reach the World T20 final in 2016 and the core personnel in the white-ball teams is largely the same.In New Zealand, Morgan will oversee a squad featuring several new faces looking to make a mark. Bairstow is one of the senior batsmen on the tour, with Jason Roy, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali all rested, and after top-scoring in England’s warm-up victory in Lincoln on Sunday, he was excited about the challenge ahead.”I think it does feel like the start of that journey towards the T20 World Cup,” Bairstow said. “It’s going to come around thick and fast. Seeing guys who’ve played county cricket taking the step up to international cricket is going to be fascinating. That, coupled with the guys that are not on this tour but will come back into the team, there’s going to be competition for places.

England XI for 2nd T20 warm-up

Dawid Malan, Tom Banton, James Vince, Eoin Morgan, Joe Denly, Sam Billings (wk), Lewis Gregory, Tom Curran, Saqib Mahmood, Pat Brown, Matt Parkinson

“The cycle for the 50-over World Cup started four years ago. Hopefully we’re fortunate enough that the way we’ve played our 50-over cricket will lead us well into our T20 cricket.”It’s a fascinating period to be playing cricket for England. There’s some very, very talented guys that have played a lot of cricket now
for England that are all together and have the experience of going through the ups, the downs and everything in between.”While the T20I format tends to lose context between major global tournaments – England’s last outing, against Pakistan in May, saw Ben Duckett open the batting and Ben Foakes take the gloves – there is now a clear 12-month run-in for teams to hone their approach. Bairstow is one of a number of England players to have benefited from the ECB hierarchy relaxing its stance on IPL participation, and he suggested the Hundred could also increase Morgan’s options.”You’ve got guys playing T20 in competitions around the world whether that be the Indian Premier League, Big Bash or whatever it may be, so I’m not too sure it’s going to make too much of a difference,” Bairstow said.”Then you’ve got the Hundred that’s starting next year so that’s an even shorter format that will allow people to put their skills on show to potentially push for that squad.”The tour will also bring together many of the same players that contested the 50-over World Cup final during the English summer, on an emotionally draining day at Lord’s. New Zealand’s defeat on boundary countback is likely to gain a mention, even if there are no ODIs scheduled, and Bairstow said they were wary of the hosts’ qualities – despite captain Kane Williamson missing the series through injury.”They’re dangerous no matter what,” he said. “We’ll be expecting a very tough challenge and that’s every time you play against New Zealand because they’ve got quality all the way through. They are a great bunch of fellas but naturally what happened at Lord’s is going to be quite tough for those guys and there will be a fire in their belly and a hunger to put things right.”England could also draw inspiration from watching the rugby team see off the All Blacks in Japan on Saturday morning, setting up the possibility of more World Cup glory at New Zealand’s expense.”We all watched it at the team hotel and it was amazing to see,” Bairstow said. “To say you’ve watched the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand when England were playing New Zealand is pretty cool. Two England World Cup-winning teams in one year would be special, wouldn’t it?”

Hampshire batsman underwent surgery this week following injury

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2019Aneurin Donald is set to miss the whole of the 2020 season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).Donald, the 22-year-old batsman, joined Hampshire from Glamorgan towards the end of the 2018 domestic season, and impressed in his first full season at the club, hitting a 144-ball 173 against Warwickshire in the Championship and regularly scoring quickly at the start of a T20 innings.But after suffering the injury to his ACL last week, Donald underwent an operation this week, and Hampshire physio James Clegg confirmed that his is expected to miss most of the upcoming domestic season.”Thanks to all the doctors/nurses/surgeons who have looked after me the past week or so,” Donald posted on Instagram. “Long road back to recovery starts now.. Appreciate all the love and support I’ve received to date. Will be back stronger.”The news represents a major blow to Donald, whose move to the Ageas Bowl came about in part due to his hopes of an England call-up.He first announced himself as a 19-year-old in the Glamorgan side when he spanked 234 off just 136 balls, equalling the record for the fastest double-century in first-class cricket, in a remarkable maiden Championship ton at Colwyn Bay. He hit Derbyshire’s attack for 15 sixes, and made headlines as a future star.There were flashes of brilliance in his fledgling white-ball career, including a 40-ball 76 at The Oval in 2017, but he failed to make a half-century in 2018, and finished last season with a disappointment when he found no takers in the inaugural draft for the Hundred.

Afghanistan’s second innings lasted only 7.1 overs on the third morning

The Report by Hemant Brar29-Nov-2019West Indies took just an hour on the third morning to wrap up the one-off Test against Afghanistan, winning by nine wickets in Lucknow.Resuming the day on 109 for 7 in their second innings – under floodlights due to poor visibility – Afghanistan could last only 7.1 more overs as Jason Holder picked up the remaining three wickets. Rashid Khan fell to Holder’s first ball of the day with Shane Dowrich taking a wobbling catch diving to his right.Next, with Afsar Zazai trying to farm the strike, Holder flattened Yamin Ahmadzai’s off stump when he got the opportunity.In his next over, the West Indies captain dismissed Zazai too as Afghanistan were bowled out for 120. Holder finished with figures of 3 for 20, his unexpected decision to bowl after winning the toss two days ago now just a distant memory.Set 31 to win, West Indies eased to the victory but not before Amir Hamza got Kraigg Brathwaite caught behind for eight. The Barbados batsman now averages 12.26 in his last ten Tests with a highest score of 49.For debutant Hamza, it was a good outing personally as he finished with six wickets in the match, apart from hitting 34 from No. 9 in Afghanistan’s first innings.

The Rajshahi captain credits the Pakistan allrounder for taking the pressure off him and helping the side to the BPL title

Mohammad Isam18-Jan-2020Rajshahi Royals captain Andre Russell has credited Mohammad Nawaz for taking the pressure off him and helping the side to the BPL title on Friday. The pair plundered 71 off 34 balls, with Nawaz surprisingly dominating the partnership with an unbeaten 41 off 20 balls. The stand lifted Rajshahi to 170 for 4, which proved 21 too many for Khulna Tigers.ALSO READ: Nawaz, Russell fire Rajshahi to BPL titleRussell also praised wicketkeeper-batsman Irfan Sukkur for his fifty under pressure in the first half of Rajshahi’s innings. Sukkur became the first uncapped Bangladesh player to hit a half-century in the BPL final.”Once I was there until the end, we could definitely be more aggressive,” Russell said. “[Khulna] bowl well in the death but when two good batters [are] swinging from the hips, anything can happen. Well played to [Mohammad] Nawaz. He took a lot of pressure off me. He gave us the punch that we needed going into bowling. Irfan Sukkur is big-hearted guy. I have been telling him to believe in himself, you can hit the ball. Just be positive. When a big player speaks to these guys, they can move mountains.”Russell, who became the first overseas captain to lift the BPL title, said that he didn’t find it too difficult to deal with domestic cricketers.”It wasn’t that difficult [to be a foreign captain],” he said. “The first week, a few practice sessions and the first two games, was the time to know what each player is about – whether a bowler was better with the new ball, in the middle overs or at the death. It took me a few games but everyone really pulled through when I called on them. Rabbi bowled well tonight. Irfan has been doing well.”Russell said that he wanted to make sure that the domestic cricketers and the helpers around the team get paid, even though there was no prize money in this tournament. In the last BPL, the champions received BDT 2 crore (USD 250,000) while the runners-up side got BDT 85 lakh (USD 106,250).”In franchise cricket, every player looks forward to the prize money,” he said. “But for me, winning the tournament is everything. It might sound like I don’t like money. “I just want to make sure that these local guys who helps us with our bags and always around the team, is taken care of. They get some bonus. I am happy once they and the local players are taken care of. This is what matters the most.”Russell also said that he enjoyed his stint with Rajshahi with whom he had won his first T20 tournament as a captain. “It is actually a good feeling,” he said. “I didn’t really notice [that I was the first foreign captain to win the BPL]. They trusted my ability. I believe in myself as well, to get the job done. I contributed as much as I could. We had a very good unit. Everyone showed up tonight.”My first championship as a captain is really special to me. As a captain, you don’t want to be selfish. At the same time, you have to believe in other bowlers. Everyone answered and came to the party tonight.”