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Name: Ivan Perisic

Country: Croatia

Club: Wolfsburg

Age: 25

International Caps: 31

Position: Attacking Midfielder

After a surprising fifth-placed finish to their Premier League season, Everton are looking to add recruits to a squad which could suffer from the departure of three key loanees from last season. According to newspaper reports, Croatia’s attacking midfielder Ivan Perisic is to be the subject of an £8 million bid from the Toffees.

The Croatian has arguably been his country’s stand-out performer at the World Cup so far, and his eye-catching performances have further alerted Roberto Martinez to his qualities. Perisic only made his move to Wolfsburg last summer, but with the German club preparing to spend in order to boost other areas of the squad, Perisic could make way in order for them to do so.

Perisic netted his first goal of the tournament in Croatia’s 4-0 drubbing of Cameroon in their second game, but it wasn’t just his goal that caught the eye. He assisted Ivica Olic’s opener with a crafty through ball, perfectly weighted to put the ball on a plate for his teammate.

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With the departure of Gerard Deulofeu back to his parent club Barcelona, Everton are in need of players who can fill wider attacking positions. Perisic is the type of player willing to take the ball down and beat his opposite full-back, and he has the end product to make something in promising positions. He scored 10 league goals and contributed a further five assists last season at Wolfsburg, demonstrating his effectiveness in front of goal.

His goals tally is far more impressive than any of Everton’s current options. At £8 million he would cost a significant portion of their £20 million. But there is little doubt he would be a welcome addition to their roster. His goalscoring record and threat from the wing would help make up for the loss of Deulofeu, and add quality to a squad that is looking to progress even further from the success of last season.

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Arsenal are set to expand their scouting network in Germany in an attempt to lure the next crop of talented youngsters to the Emirates.

With the country having produced some of the most skillful and coveted players of recent years not to mention Wenger’s reputation for developing players the club and chief scout Steve Rowley have been spending an increasing amount of time and money in order to further expand the scouting network.

The Daily Mail claim that the plans will be implemented soon, noting that “the Gunners have already found the country a valuable breeding ground for talent,” with Podolski, Mertesacker and youngsters Thomas Eisfeld and Serge Gnabry also at the club. Wenger is a known fan of other German internationals having monitored many of the current German crop including Ozil and Sahin extensively before missing out on their signatures.

With Podolski already making waves in the Premier League, Serge Gnabry is hot on his fellow countryman’s heels with the 17 year old set to make an appearance during the Capitol One Cup match on Tuesday night, with the player himself looking to build on his growing reputation, confiding “I hope I can create some chances of score goals and that will give them more to talk about.”

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The Gunners will however be without Gervinho, who is set to miss the weekend showdown with Manchester United after being ruled out with an ankle injury sustained in the previous game against QPR with the Mirror reporting that a second string will be fielded in the Capital One Cup with “Oxlade-Chamberlain unlikely to be risked even if he is fit.”

Cricket Australia chair says, “the Gabba has a use for life that ends in 2030. We need a solution, and are working on it”

Andrew McGlashan18-Aug-2024The Gabba in Brisbane has played host to plenty of iconic Test moments – the 1960 tie, Ian Botham’s last great Test innings, Shane Warne’s career best, Peter Siddle’s birthday hat-trick, India’s famous 2021 heist and Shamar Joseph’s heroics to pick out a few – but there are now major questions over its future as an international venue.On Sunday it was confirmed that the Queensland government had only signed a two-year hosting agreement with Cricket Australia which means beyond the upcoming India Test and next year’s men’s Ashes fixture there is great uncertainty when, or if, the famous ground will be back on the schedule.The Ashes encounter in 2025-26 will be the 49th consecutive season of Test cricket at the Gabba, but there will be no half-century with it not having one of the four New Zealand Tests the following year. There are, however, discussions ongoing about white-ball internationals with England due to visit that summer for ODIs and T20Is.Related

• Gabba to be demolished after 2032 Olympics, cricket to get new home in Brisbane

• 'Where does Australian cricket play?' Queensland Cricket renews talks over Gabba future

• Ashes 2025-26: CA schedules Brisbane day-night Test after Perth opener

• 'He can be successful as an opener' – Watson thinks Smith should stay put

• MCG to host one-off Australia-England Test in 2027 to mark 150 years of Test cricket

The Gabba is coming towards the end of its viable working life in 2030. Brisbane will host the 2032 Olympics and initially, there had been plans to completely rebuild the venue, but that was ditched by the Queensland government due to costs and instead, there is expected to be a renovation along with other stadiums in the city.While a complete rebuild would have taken the stadium out of commission for a number of years, there is still uncertainty over whether it will be usable during a renovation.In an open letter, the chair of Queensland Cricket Kirsten Pike and chief executive Terry Svenson outlined the organisation’s frustrations and concerns for cricket in the state.”The State Government’s decision to not progress with its commitment to rebuild the Gabba and downgrade its proposed Olympic role has resulted in direct and indirect changes to how we proceed with our business,” they wrote.”It is deeply disappointing that the 2026-27 Gabba Test has become a casualty of the uncertainty around the infrastructure planning and development ahead of the 2032 Olympic preparations, specifically around the Gabba.”…and while not being unduly alarmist, the potential outcome of this continuing uncertainty could have a significant impact on participation statewide and fan engagement across men’s and women’s cricket.”The future of the Gabba is under threat by new stadiums around the country, including a proposed indoor venue in Hobart•Tasmania Government

Speaking last week, former Australia and Queensland captain Allan Border called for a new multipurpose venue to be built in the city.”It’s sad, but they [Cricket Australia] have got to have some certainty, probably over the next four years, if they can use the Gabba or not,” he told the . “I’d be knocking down the Gabba and building a new venue from scratch at Victoria Park. A brand new 60,000-seat stadium suits rugby, cricket, Aussie rules and the Olympics, and the Gabba becomes housing.”Whatever the future of a major cricket venue in Brisbane, there could be a potential challenger on the horizon with Tasmania having ambitions to host indoor Test cricket in the proposed new Hobart stadium which is set to be ready in 2029. However, Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird said it was hard to envisage a future where Brisbane was not part of the regular Test schedule.”That’s hard to imagine, but we have to have the facilities and a ground that supports it,” he said. “We want the fans to have the best experience as they come and see the world’s best players.”What we do know is the Gabba has a use for life that ends in 2030. We need a solution, and are working with the AFL as well on a long-term solution. We want a great venue in Brisbane, that can support Queensland Cricket and Australian cricket for years to come.”The Queensland Cricket letter added: “We remain hopeful that Test cricket will return to the Gabba after the summer of 2026-27 despite the current lack of detail and uncertainty surrounding the upgrades to the Gabba.”Queensland does have other smaller international venues. Allan Border Field in Brisbane regularly hosts the women’s team and Australia A and the Gold Coast hosted a T20I against West Indies in 2022. In regional Queensland, Mackay is used while Townsville and Cairns hosted the T20I and ODI series respectively against Zimbabwe and New Zealand in 2022.The men’s Future Tours Programme has some winter home cricket on Australia’s schedule in the coming years which could open the door for venues such as Cairns and Townsville. South Africa are due to visit for ODIs and T20Is in August 2025 while Afghanistan have a Test and three T20Is allocated in July 2026 although those would appear unlikely to happen given Cricket Australia’s current stance on bilateral series with Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s hopes slip further after a heartbreaking loss while Bangladesh and Netherlands aim to keep their tournament alive

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-20231:24

Pujara: South Africa seem to lack a clear game plan while chasing

—Fixtures | Squads | Points table | Tournament Index

Top Story: South Africa rise to the top by the barest of margins in thriller

As Keshav Maharaj exploded into celebration, having swung Mohammad Nawaz to the fine-leg boundary for the winning runs with the No. 11 for company, waves of relief washed over his team-mates watching from the dressing room. South Africa had thrown off the yoke of the choke by the barest of margins against Pakistan in Chennai to chase successfully for the first time in their World Cup 2023 campaign.The one-wicket win took them level with India on ten points at the top of the table, but ahead on net run rate, though they have played an extra game.The victory was set up by their bowlers – Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen in particular – who dismissed Pakistan for 270 in 46.4 overs despite them having been well placed at 225 for 5 in the 40th. And when Aiden Markram – who overtook Virat Kohli to become the second-highest run scorer of this World Cup during his innings of 91 – and David Miller were putting together their 70-run stand for the fifth wicket, a South African win looked comfortable. All that changed when Miller edged Shaheen Shah Afridi behind in the 34th over, with the target still 65 runs away.Click here to read the full report

Match reaction: Maharaj caps unlikely World Cup comeback with cathartic winning role

South Africa’s last pair – Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj – rejoices after sealing a one-wicket win•AFP/Getty Images

Keshav Maharaj was just having dinner around the time when Pakistan’s concussion substitute Usama Mir pinned Rassie van der Dussen lbw for 21. South Africa were 121 for 3 at that point, needing a further 150 runs off almost 30 overs. Given South Africa’s gun middle-order – Aiden Markram at No.4, Heinrich Klaasen No.5 and David Miller at No.6 – Maharaj might have felt like he could just put his feet up during the chase, having put in a shift with the ball in Chennai’s oppressive heat.But it eventually came down to him scoring the winning runs for South Africa with No.11 Tabraiz Shamsi at the other end, lifting the lid on what had become a cauldron of immense tension at Chepauk.Read the full piece from Deivarayan Muthu in Chennai

Must Watch: Urooj Mumtaz on Mohammad Rizwan

1:18

Urooj: Rizwan was a massive letdown

News headlines

• Pakistan brought in Usama Mir as a concussion substitute for Shadab Khan during their World Cup match against South Africa in Chennai on Friday
• Pat Cummins has insisted there are no issues with Steven Smith batting at No. 4 despite the batter reiterating his preference for No. 3

Match previews

Australia vs New Zealand, Kolkata (10.30am IST; 6.00am GMT; 4.00pm AEDT)6:06

Bond: Top-order partnerships will prove critical for both NZ and Australia

Attention in New Zealand might currently be focused on another World Cup, with their beloved All Blacks on the cusp of regaining the Webb Ellis Cup. But the cricketers have started this tournament particularly strongly with only another Virat Kohli chasing masterclass denting their unbeaten campaign.Despite that, New Zealand can almost lock in a semi-final berth – defying predictions of many pundits – with a victory over Australia in another intriguing Trans-Tasman contest. But it won’t be easy with a rejuvenated Australia finally looking like the serious title contender expected of them after a shaky start to the tournament.Team newsAustralia (probable) 1 David Warner, 2 Travis Head, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Steve Smith, 5 Josh Inglis (wk), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Marcus Stoinis/Cameron Green, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh HazlewoodNew Zealand (probable) 1 Devon Conway, 2 Will Young, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Tom Latham (capt & wk), 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent BoultBangladesh vs Netherlands, Kolkata (2pm IST; 8.30am GMT; 7.30pm AEDT)The World Cup has arrived in Kolkata, where Bangladesh can expect a fair bit of support at Eden Gardens when they take on Netherlands. There are supposed to be at least 2000 fans on their way from Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh for this match, with the cultural connection with Kolkata and good travel options between the two making it a popular destination for Bangladeshis.Bangladesh come to Kolkata following a 149-run defeat against South Africa in Mumbai. Moreover, Netherlands’ inspiring performances issue a warning.Click here for the full previewTeam newsBangladesh (probable) 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Litton Das, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Nasum Ahmed/Towhid Hridoy, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Shoriful Islam, 11 Mustafizur RahmanNetherlands (probable) 1 Vikramjit Singh, 2 Max O’Dowd, 3 Colin Ackermann, 4 Sybrand Engelbrecht, 5 Bas de Leede, 6 Scott Edwards (capt & wk), 7 Teja Nidamanuru, 8 Logan van Beek, 9 Roelof van der Merwe, 10 Aryan Dutt, 11 Paul van Meekeren

Feature: Sitting down with Trent Boult and Tim Southee

2:01

Trent Boult and Tim Southee: ‘We hope that kids want to pick up a ball one day and bowl fast’

New Zealand’s old fast-bowling firm of Southee and Boult amble down memory lane, with the occasional pause to poke each other in the ribs”I remember hitting him for a six when we were about… how old were we then?” Boult has his head down. He’s probably just thinking but it looks like he wants to forget. “That would’ve been 15-16.”Read the full interview from Cricket Monthly

The two will also train at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane and be part of Queensland Bulls’ pre-season preparations

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2022Chetan Sakariya and Mukesh Choudhary will headline the overseas presence at the KFC T20 Max series in Queensland next month. They will also train at Cricket Australia’s National Cricket Centre in Brisbane and be involved in Queensland Bulls’ pre-season preparations, as part of the old exchange programme with the Chennai-based MRF Pace Foundation, which had been paused because of Covid-19.Sakariya, 24, made a name for himself during IPL 2021, playing for Rajasthan Royals, and has turned out in an ODI and two T20Is so far while also playing for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022, while Choudhary was impressive in his debut IPL season, this year, for Chennai Super Kings, picking up 16 wickets in 13 games. The two will be joined by three Papua New Guinea internationals: Norman Vanua, Chad Soper and Charles Amini.Related

• How 'systematic', 'quiet' Choudhary made it from Bhilwara to CSK

• Meet Sakariya – who overcame personal tragedy to make it to the IPL

Sakariya will play for Sunshine Coast, while Wynnum-Manly will have the services of Choudhary. Sandgate-Redcliffe have all the three PNG players – regulars with their national side, which finished third at the recent World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe – in their ranks. Vanua and Soper are medium pacers, while Amini is a legspinning allrounder.There will also be a strong list of current or recent BBL players, some of them internationals, in the mix too: Jordan Silk, Beau Webster, Cameron Boyce, Ben Cutting, Liam Guthrie, Nick Larkin, Clint Hinchliffe, Josh Lalor, Nick Hobson, Jake Lehmann, Arjun Nair, Chris Sabburg, Nick Bertus, Ryan Gibson, Spencer Johnson and Nathan McSweeney.In a note on its website, Queensland Cricket said, “Due to the popularity of the concept and a surge in the number of players expressing interest, Queensland Cricket today updated the competition rules to allow each Premier club to sign an additional interstate or international recruit, moving from three players per club to four.”Several regionally based players have already brokered arrangements with teams, while contracted Queensland Bulls and Brisbane Heat players will be available for selection as part of their pre-season preparations.”The tournament will be played over three weeks, from August 18 to September 4, at the club grounds as well as at the refurbished Allan Border Field, under lights.Exchanges between the MRF Pace Foundation, founded in 1987, and Australia began in 1992, when the academy opened its doors to players from beyond India’s shores.Among the first to come and train under Dennis Lillee, then the director at MRF, was Glenn McGrath, who later took up the directorship once Lillee retired after a 25-year stint in 2012. Fast bowlers from many other countries, including Mohammad Asif (Pakistan), Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka), Heath Streak (Zimbabwe), and premier quicks from Australia like Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson, have all trained at the academy over the years. Similarly, young Indian quicks have been given the opportunity to spend time in Brisbane as part of the programme. The last of these, in 2019, were Prasidh Krishna, who has since played ten ODIs for India, and Mukhtar Hussain, the 23-year-old right-arm quick from Assam.

It has also been learnt that Ravindra Jadeja will remain with the team as a player

Nagraj Gollapudi20-May-20223:36

Shastri: Dhoni ‘unbelievably fit’, has ‘enjoyed his cricket this year’

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings have not had a happy IPL 2022, but they have a leg-up for the next edition: MS Dhoni will be with the team as a player next season and, importantly, is going to be their captain too. The main reason to play, as Dhoni explained, is to bid adieu to his supporters in Chennai and the rest of India.Asked by Ian Bishop on Star Sports about his future before Super Kings’ match on Friday evening against Rajasthan Royals, Dhoni said, “Definitely [I will play IPL 2023]. It’s a simple reason: it will be unfair to not play in Chennai and say thank you [to the fans]. Mumbai is one place where, as a team and as an individual, I have got a lot of love and affection. But it wouldn’t be nice to the CSK fans.”And also, hopefully next year there will be an opportunity where the teams will be travelling so it will be a like thank you to all the different places where we will be playing games at different venues. Whether it will be my last year or not that’s a big question, because you know we can’t really predict about something two years down the line. But definitely I’ll be working hard to come back strong next year.”Related

• Shastri: Jadeja as captain 'looked a fish out of water'

• Dhoni: Hopefully my last T20 will be in Chennai

As reported by ESPNcricinfo almost an hour before the toss, Dhoni, now almost 41 years old, has told the Super Kings team management that he will be available for the 2023 IPL and will lead the team too. In another shot in the arm for the four-time IPL champions, it has been learnt that Ravindra Jadeja, who left the Super Kings camp following an injury, will also be in the mix for the 2023 season. This debunks the perception that Jadeja had fallen out with Dhoni and the team management after the captaincy swap a little more than halfway into Super Kings’ 2022 season.The developments are significant for Super Kings, whose game against Royals is their final match of the ongoing season. With just four wins so far in 13 matches, Super Kings are ninth on the points table, just above Mumbai Indians.It was on May 1, ahead of Super Kings’ ninth league match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Pune, that Dhoni returned as the team’s captain. This, after Jadeja had decided to step down, having taken the reins from Dhoni at the start of the season.At the toss, when Danny Morrison asked Dhoni whether he would be seen in action in 2023, Dhoni had given a cryptic answer: “You’ll definitely see me in the yellow jersey – whether it’s this yellow jersey or some other yellow jersey you will have to wait and watch.”The issue of the Super Kings’ captaincy has been in the news right from the beginning of the season; when, just two days before the first game of IPL 2022, it was announced that Jadeja would be leading them; when a run of losses kept Super Kings in the bottom two of the points table; when the decision was made to return the captaincy to Dhoni and then Jadeja abruptly exited the competition.5:26

Vettori: ‘Probably comes down to Jadeja not enjoying the captaincy’

After winning the first match on his return to captaincy, Dhoni had spoken about the circumstances that forced him to take back the captaincy. He explained that captaincy was “having an effect” on Jadeja’s game, and that the team management had eventually decided that they needed Jadeja the player more.”What is important is once you become the captain, you have to take care of many things,” Dhoni had told Star Sports after the Sunrisers match. “And that also includes taking care of your own game. And with him, his mind was working a lot.”It’s not easy to control your mind, it’s the strongest feature… body, physiques, all of those things are fine, but once your mind starts working and it wants to contribute more: okay, what’s the combination I can play with; okay, who can bowl at what point of time. It doesn’t really stop. So, what really happens is the individual is not able to relax – even when he closes his eyes and wants to sleep, the mind is still working.”So what I felt was, it was having an effect on his game also. When he was going in to bat, or when it comes to his preparation, is putting this [extra] burden affecting his game? Because I would love to have Jadeja as a bowler and batter and fielder. Captaincy, fair enough. Even if you relieve [him of] captaincy, and if he is at his best [as a player], that’s what we really want because we were also losing a great fielder. We were struggling [to find] a deep-midwicket fielder.”They will be there, in the Super Kings ranks, next year too•BCCI

Dhoni, the Super Kings captain right through their journey in the IPL – bar the two years the franchise was banned following the spot-fixing scandal of 2013 and the first few matches of the ongoing season – and Jadeja were both part of the quartet retained by Super Kings ahead of the 2022 players’ auction. While Jadeja was retained as the first pick at INR 16 crore, Dhoni was the second player retained at INR 12 crore.Dhoni, who will be close to 42 by the next IPL, is already the oldest player in the tournament. Though he is one of the fittest players around as well as one of the most astute captains, the question about Super Kings’ next captain has been posed often to both Dhoni and the Super Kings management over the past few years.Last October, immediately after Super Kings won the 2021 IPL, N Srinivasan, the Super Kings’ owner, said that Dhoni would always be “part and parcel” of not just the franchise, but also the city of Chennai and the state of Tamil Nadu. “There is no CSK without Dhoni and there is no Dhoni without CSK,” Srinivasan had said.A month later, while felicitating Dhoni and the team for winning their fourth IPL title, Srinivasan had reiterated, “People keep bugging him, ‘are you going to continue?’ , he’s there, I say. He’s not gone anywhere. Why don’t you understand the fact that he’s there. He’s still there. With us.”

Warwickshire allrounder Jacob Bethell named vice-captain in 15-man squad

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2021England Young Lions will be captained by Hampshire’s Tom Prest at the upcoming Under-19s World Cup in the Caribbean next month.Prest made full debuts in all three formats during the summer, having scored a triple-hundred for Hampshire’s 2nd XI, and led the Young Lions in series against West Indies and the recent tour to Sri Lanka. He will be supported by vice-captain Jacob Bethell, the Barbados-born allrounder who signed professional terms with Warwickshire at the start of the year.Also included in the 15-man squad are James Coles, the 17-year-old Sussex allrounder, James Sales, son of former Northamptonshire stalwart David, and Sonny Baker, the Somerset fast bowler who was the Young Lions’ leading wicket-taker in their 4-2 win over West Indies in September.Related

• NZ withdraw from U19 World Cup due to quarantine restrictions

• Delhi batter Yash Dhull to lead India at 2022 Under-19 World Cup

Josh Baker, the Worcesershire offspinner, and Yorkshire seamer Ben Cliff will travel with the group as reserves.”It’s always a hugely exciting moment for any young cricketer to be selected in a representative age-group squad, especially so when it’s for a World Cup,” Young Lions head coach, Richard Dawson, said.”We’re really looking forward to getting out there and testing ourselves against the best young players in the world, and continuing our development as a side and as individuals.”England Young Lions have been in drawn in Group A alongside Bangladesh, winners of the 2020 tournament, Canada and UAE. They will begin their campaign against Bangladesh in St Kitts on January 16.England Young Lions squad: Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Tom Aspinwall (Lancashire), Sonny Baker (Somerset), Nathan Barnwell (Surrey), George Bell (Lancashire), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire, vice-capt), Josh Boyden (Lancashire), James Coles (Sussex), Alex Horton (Glamorgan), Will Luxton (Yorkshire), Tom Prest (Hampshire, capt), James Rew (Somerset), James Sales (Northamptonshire), Fateh Singh (Nottinghamshire), George Thomas (Somerset)Travelling reserves: Josh Baker (Worcestershire), Ben Cliff (Yorkshire)

Arish Ali’s four-for on debut in vain for Quetta Gladiators, who finish season with only four points

Varun Shetty19-Jun-2021Karachi Kings completed the win they needed to make it to the qualifiers, edging Lahore Qalandars on net run-rate after they swept Quetta Gladiators aside by 14 runs on the last day of the group stage. After putting up 176, the Kings needed to defend 32 off the last over with Jack Wildermuth on strike; a delicious bit of symmetry after Danish Aziz had smoked 32 off the bowler during their batting innings – in a 33-run over – to completely change the course of the game. That blitz, a 13-ball 45, propelled the Kings to a total that was too much for the Gladiators, who finished the season with only two wins in ten games.Naseem goes off, Danish goes boom
After taking the ball to start the 19th over, the Gladiators’ Naseem Shah began hobbling immediately. He could barely get a few steps into his run-up, possibly because of cramp on a hot day, and the ball eventually went to Wildermuth, who had struggled early on and struggled once again.Danish, who got an inside edge for four first ball, took complete control – hitting the next four balls for six. The last of them came off a slower-ball-turned-beamer as Danish managed to hoick it over the long leg boundary. It was 29 off four balls at the point, and suddenly there was a very real possibility of six sixes in a row, not to mention an over going for 41 runs. Wildermuth might have been pleased those deliveries ended up going for only four. But the match had swung – 136 for 5 in 18 overs became 176 for 6 in 20.A chase that never took offThe Kings began their defence with captain Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir, who went for a combined seven runs. That seemed to set the tone right at the start, as the Gladiators never looked like challenging the bowling till the very end. Sarfraz Ahmed’s unbeaten 51 off 33 was a good knock, but neither he nor anyone else in the middle order looked capable of breaking the shackles through the middle overs. The Kings’ spinners didn’t extract as much turn or gain as much control as the Gladiators’ spinners had done. Instead, the win was rooted mostly in the performances of their frontline pacers – Amir, with his economy and a second consecutive slog-overs performance of high quality; Mohammad Ilyas, who picked wickets almost every time he came on; and Arshad Iqbal, whose skiddy, back-of-a-length plan that looked unplayable in the early stages of the innings.The wickets always seemed to be around the corner, despite a rather safe approach to the chase. The one instance of a batter being fearless came late, with Hassan Khan swinging his bat around for a 15-ball 24; but even after that injection of momentum, the score was 123 for 5 in 16.5 overs when he fell. That was indicative of the Gladiators pretty much always being behind the rate in chase.All spin and a dream debut for Arish AliA lot of the Kings’ early runs and momentum came with sixes from Sharjeel Khan, even though both he and Babae Azam struggled for fluency during their 71-run stand. The pitch wasn’t one for free-flowing shots, and Sarfraz brought offspinner Abdul Nasir on in the sixth over. Until the 17th over it was only spin, with left-arm spinners Hassan and Arish Ali filling bowling out their overs. Only 83 came in those 12 overs.The Gladiators came into this game with nothing to play for, which allowed them to play a second emerging player in the XI alongside Khurram Shahzad. Arish hadn’t played at senior level before, but went away with an impressive haul and a statement before the next season.Arish came on in the 11th over, after Abdul Nasir had strangled the Kings and dismissed Azam the previous over. Martin Guptill gave him a wicket off his very first ball, lofting a full one straight to long-off. Sharjeel was already in at this point, and was looking to push on against the left-arm spinner. But he only managed a chopped four past short third before playing on attempting the same shot again, the result of a simple plan from Arish – spin it in from outside off against the left-handers on a pitch that was offering grip and turn.With the Kings trying to rebuild, Arish was in his element. In the end, Najibullah Zadran chopped him on trying the late cut as well. With the way he was going, Sarfraz even asked him to come on in the 17th for his last over – and that resulted in the wicket of Imad, caught at long-on. That made it three left-handers dismissed on his first day in senior cricket.

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?”

Surrey opener heard of call-up after interrupted phonecall to selector Ed Smith at windy Taunton

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-20182:09

Burns’ consistency across seasons merited Test elevation – Ed Smith

Rory Burns believes he has enough “clarity in his method” to translate his prolific form for Surrey in the County Championship into a potential Test debut on the spinning wickets of Sri Lanka, after being named in his first England Test squad at the age of 28.Burns, who is back in action for Surrey at The Oval, has led the county to their first Championship title since 2002 with a formidable haul of 1319 runs at 69.42 in 13 matches, which is almost 400 runs more than his nearest challenger, Somerset’s James Hildreth.It has been the fifth season in succession that Burns has passed 1000 runs in Championship cricket, and speaking on Friday after confirming his call-up, England’s national selector Ed Smith said that he had impressed everyone with his consistency.”For me personally, it’s been a lot of hard work,” Burns told Sky Sports ahead of Surrey’s match against Essex. “I’ve tried to let my bat do the talking and churn out runs, and it’s satisfying to get the nod in the end and get the opportunity.”I’ve obviously got five seasons of backing in my own head. I’ve got some self-belief, so you’ve got to trust your method and trust the processes that you go through.”Burns heard the news while down at Taunton on Friday, where Surrey’s quest for a tenth consecutive Championship victory was curtailed by high winds. And that adverse weather may have been a factor in his slightly disjointed phonecall.”Ed Smith rung me last week after the Somerset game, but it actually cut out halfway through,” Burns said. “He started to tell me I’d got the nod, but it cut out so I had to run outside quickly and find some phone signal, and give him a call back.”The message got through in the end, however, and if selected for the first Test in Galle on November 6, Burns will be stepping into the shoes of none other than Alastair Cook, England’s all-time leading run-scorer who retired at The Oval earlier this month following a record run of 159 consecutive appearances.”I don’t think it’s [extra pressure], I think it’s exciting,” Burns said. “You probably can’t say enough about Alastair’s career – well I can’t, because I don’t think I’m as good as him at the minute. But it’ll be an exciting time and I hope I get an opportunity to do it.”Despite his success on home soil, Burns is under no illusions about what will await him in Sri Lanka, especially after speaking to his Surrey team-mate Dean Elgar, who toured the country with Sri Lanka back in July and August.Rory Burns and Dean Elgar plot a good day for Surrey•Getty Images

“I’m a decent player of spin, I’ve got a few options that I try to work my way through, but [Elgar’s] just got back from Sri Lanka, and said he didn’t face a ball of seam,” said Burns. “So it’ll be trial by spin and it’ll be interesting to see how I’ll go.”I think it’s about clarity in your method,” he added. “You need to understand what you do well, what your options are at certain times. It’s no different from going from seam to spin, there are different methods to both and you’ve got to cycle through them.”Burns’ batting technique, much like the man he is replacing, is best described as functional rather than beautiful. His backside sticks out to square leg, and he has a habit of looking towards mid-on before each delivery. But there’s no arguing with his body of work in recent seasons.”My method is slightly unorthodox,” Burns admitted. “There’s some nuances to it, let’s put it that way. I got told I was left-eye dominant, so [looking to mid-on] is about me trying to get my left eye on the ball as much as I can. Then it almost became a rhythm thing in terms of little routines at the crease. That’s how that came about.”Burns’ England call-up caps a remarkable year for a player who has only just taken up the reins at Surrey, the County Champions-elect.”You set out at the start of the season to try to win some trophies, we managed to get the biggest one, and then to get the call-up has been pretty special,” he said. “I am fortunate to come off the back of Gareth Batty and the way he stabilised the club in his tenure, so to win it is a special feeling.”We’ve done it with a group of young Surrey lads, a lot of guys in the system that we’ve played with a lot of the way up, through age groups and the academy.”From a playing side of things, we are backing youth, backing guys coming through the system and complementing that with some very good experienced cricketers around them, and off the pitch we seem to be getting people through the gate and making some money.”When we won [the title] at Worcester, most of the boys started celebrating but I was already thinking about next year and trying to do better. Hopefully this will be the first year of many years of success, but a lot of hard work has gone into winning it this year. We’ve got to recognise that, and try to reproduce it next year.”