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Tier-two teams

Rangpur Division, demoted from tier one

Big Picture
Rangpur Division, champions in 2014-15, were demoted from Tier-1 in the previous season. It was a drastic slide, and had a lot to do with the form of Liton Das, who had scored a lot of runs when they were champions. But he had a tough time in the domestic scene after failing in international cricket.However, Suhrawadi Shuvo, Sajidul Islam and Naeem Islam are good enough to pull the team out of the second tier. They also have allrounders Ariful Haque, Mahmudul Hasan and Tanveer Haider, and wicketkeeper-batsman Dhiman Ghosh, who was their top-scorer in the previous season. Alauddin Babu and Subashis Roy will be in charge of the pace bowling attack, while Sanjit Saha will be invigorated after being cleared by the BCB’s bowling action review committee.Key player
Liton Das needs to be back among the runs to have any chance of making it back into the Bangladesh side in the next 12 months. He showed good form in the latter stages of the Dhaka Premier League, but would need to do a lot more to get back his 2014-15 vibe.Below the radar
Left-arm quick Sajidul Islam has had limited opportunities at every level, despite possessing the ability to bring the ball back into both right and left-handed batsmen. He has had some success at the top level, but in domestic cricket, Sajidul suffers from the lack of pace-friendly pitches.

Rajshahi Division, second place

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Five-time NCL champions Rajshahi Division need to put their act together to get themselves out of the second tier. After winning the title for the last time in 2011-12, their form has disintegrated in the last two years.They will once again rely on Jahurul Islam, Farhad Reza, Farhad Hossain and Junaid Siddique, with help from Saqlain Sajib, Muktar Ali and Delwar Hossain in the bowling department.It is a pity not to have Rajshahi in the top tier of Bangladesh’s first-class competition, but playing as a team will be high in their priority list this season, if they are to return to their best.Key player
Farhad Hossain has been Rajshahi’s top performer for a number of years and always finds a way to finish among the top ten scorers in the competition every season. He will need to have one of those seasons again.Below the radar
Nazmul Hossain Shanto played for Bangladesh Under-19s in the World Cup this year and for Abahani in the Dhaka Premier League. But this competition will give him ample time to score big runs.

Sylhet Division, third place

Big Picture
Sylhet Division have all their stalwarts to pull them out of Tier-2 this year. Rajin Saleh, Alok Kapali, Imtiaz Hossain and Enamul Haque jnr will have to bring their A-game to the NCL this season.They also have a number of youngsters like Abul Hasan, Abu Jayed and wicketkeeper Zakir Hasan to get them out of trouble from time to time. They are one of the least successful first-class teams in the country, but they have all the potential to make it to the next tier at the end of this season.Key player
Imtiaz Hossain has always been a heavy scorer. During this year’s Dhaka Premier League, his run-making, which translated into winning scores, caught everyone’s attention. He will have to keep Sylhet on firm ground throughout the tournament, and it will also help him progress as he heads into the last stretch of his career.Below the radar
Ebadot Hossain is a pace bowler who was discovered during a pace bowling hunt from earlier this year. He works for the Bangladesh navy, for whom he played volleyball for a number of years. But he has been identified as someone who can bowl fast with proper training, and staying with the NCL team would help him immensely.

Chittagong Division, last place

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There are very few good things to be said about Chittagong Division who finished last among all eight teams in the two tiers. The last few years have been quite bad for the country’s second-most affluent division, which also boasts a BPL team and a league of its own.But apart from Mominul Haque, Tasamul Haque, Nazimuddin, Mahbubul Karim and a few others, the Chittagong side has a long way to go. Mohammad Saifuddin, Yasir Ali and Irfan Sukkur are young players who offer a lot of promise, but they need proper fitness and skill development to take them to the next level.Key player
Mominul Haque will once again be the only person of interest when Chittagong plays in the NCL. He is a Test regular, but the Bangladesh team management have left him out of the limited-overs teams for a long time now, and he has all the motivation to do well in the NCL.Below the radar
Mohammad Saifuddin impressed everyone in the Under-19 World Cup, but was reported for a suspected bowling action later and got injured in the Dhaka Premier League. The right-arm medium pacer has remodeled his action and will be looked at with some interest as he is also a capable batsman.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that the board has finalised a bowling coach for the Bangladesh team. The name of the individual cannot be revealed yet due to an obligation but Hassan said that he would arrive in the country at the end of August.

On England’s security inspection tour: “We sent the ECB a security proposal. We are guessing that they will visit Bangladesh when they go to India for the security inspection trip, possibly between August 15 to 20.”
On Dhaka Premier League payment delay: “It is very unfortunate that the players had to meet the CEO even after we set the clubs the deadline. The board will pay even if the club doesn’t. It shouldn’t have been delayed. The board will deal with the legal procedure with the clubs later. Players shouldn’t suffer. It was our mistake; we must pay them immediately.”

The board had been looking for a new bowling coach since Heath Streak quit in May. Aaqib Javed had turned down the offer in June, and since then, the BCB had put up a shortlist of candidates.”The good news is that our search is over,” Hassan said. “We know who we will take [as bowling coach]. But, unfortunately, because of some obligations, we cannot announce his name. We are hoping he will come to Dhaka any time in the last week of this month. But since he is working somewhere, we shouldn’t be making any announcements. Once his contract is over, we will announce it together.”Meanwhile, Hassan informed that former India left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju will arrive in Dhaka later this month as a spin consultant for the High Performance programme. He also said that Javed, who is currently in Dhaka for a seven-day stint as the HP’s pace consultant, has been asked to take a look at the progress of the bowling actions of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny, who were suspended by the ICC for illegal bowling actions in March.

Mark Williams, CEO of a financial services company, has been appointed CEO of Eastern Province (EP) Cricket, where the Warriors franchise is based. Williams takes over from Jesse Chellan, who will be the ICC’s regional director for cricket in Africa, from September. Chellan spent 17 months with Eastern Province, during which time they secured new sponsorships and underwent stadium upgrades.Williams has been involved in cricket in the region in the past. He was the lead independent director on the EP Cricket Board when they were placed under administration by Cricket South Africa. As a result, he is familiar with the turbulence at the union, which resulted in former president Graeme Sauls being ousted after allegedly making several decisions without board approval. Since then, cricket in the province has stabilised and under Chellan’s tenure, EP won the most improved affiliate prize CSA’s annual awards in 2016.Williams is a Port Elizabeth local who attended the Bethelsdorp High School and studied at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. He holds an MBA and has worked in banking for 24 years. In 2008, he was awarded the Young Global Leader Award by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Among the challenges facing Williams will be to ensure St George’s Park continues to remain among South Africa’s premier Test grounds. It will host the Boxing Day Test match against Sri Lanka later this year as proof of its prestige. More pressingly, he will want to ensure the franchise, Warriors, add to their trophy cabinet after several seasons without success. Warriors have not won a title in six seasons since the 2009-10 season when Russell Domingo was in charge. In their quest to end the drought, they have some new additions to their squad, most notably international fast bowler Kyle Abbott, who moved from the Durban-based Dolphins.The Dolphins are now the only franchise without a CEO. Pete de Wet had resigned in June to take up a post at New Zealand’s Central Districts and has yet to be replaced.

Tinashe Panyangara, Zimbabwe’s pace spearhead, has been ruled out of the two-Test series against New Zealand after failing to recover from a back injury. Panyangara, who picked up the injury during a training camp ahead of Zimbabwe’s limited-overs series against India in June, is expected to resume bowling in August.That means Zimbabwe will likely look to the recent A series against South Africa at home for a replacement. Shingi Masakadza and Brian Vitori, who played one game each during the series, are the most high-profile bowlers competing for the slot.Masakadza, who took three wickets in the first innings of the first four-day fixture in Harare, also offers a batting option down the order while Vitori’s left-arm action will provide variation, although he is short of match practice.Vitori, who was out of action for six months after being suspended for an illegal action in February, made a comeback in the second match in Bulawayo, but was both expensive and ineffective. He conceded 106 in 21 wicketless overs, and sent down eight no-balls.A wild card would be Victor Nyauchi who opened the bowling with Masakadza in the Harare game and returned figures of 1 for 94 in the first innings and 2 for 26 in the second.The pace department is not Zimbabwe’s only concern, however. With Graeme Cremer likely to captain the Test side as well, after he was given the job for the ODIs and T20Is against India in June, they could find themselves limited to a legspinner, should they go into the Test with just one specialist slow bowler.John Nyumbu could be an alternative if they choose to field a second spinner. With conditions at Queens Sports Club expected to be slow and low, Zimbabwe will also have to call on the all-round ability of the likes of Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams to perform in both disciplines.Although Hamilton Masakadza was relieved of the captaincy duties after the World T20, he is expected to take up his position at No.3, leaving it up to Vusi Sibanda and Tino Mawoyo, who have Test experience, to battle it out with in-form Brian Chari and Prince Masvaure at the top of the order.Chari scored 98 in the first match against South Africa A while Masvaure made 146 in the second, which should give Zimbabwe some much-needed batting depth in Brendan Taylor’s absence.This will be Zimbabwe’s first Test series since November 2014, when they toured Bangladesh. Zimbabwe have not played Tests at home since a one-off fixture against South Africa in August that year.It will also be Makhaya Ntini’s first Test series in charge, after he took over the head coaching duties ahead of the India series. Ntini has not been confirmed as the permanent coach of the team but remains in charge until a decision is made. He will be joined by fellow South African Lance Klusener, who is the batting consultant.

ScorecardAdam Lyth continued his good form as Yorkshire sneaked to victory on DLS•Getty Images

Rain helped Yorkshire notch their first NatWest T20 Blast win of the season by just one run against Derbyshire at Headingley. Chasing a modest 154 target, Yorkshire were 67 for 3 in nine overs when light rain swept across the ground, exactly the score they required to win the game under the Duckworth Lewis Stern method.After losing their first three matches in the competition and then having two no-results, this was just the result that bottom-of-the-table Yorkshire needed and it brought some comfort to the 7,114 fans who turned out on a dreary afternoon.Put in to bat, Derbyshire were never able to bring any real momentum to their innings and they were partly held in check by offspinner, Azeem Rafiq, who has been brought back to Yorkshire on contract until the end of the season. Man-of-the-match Rafiq, who was the county’s Twenty20 captain for a spell, was playing his first game in almost exactly two seasons and he was brought back after some impressive performances with the 2nd XI.”It was a brilliant day for me but it was even more important that we got over the line,” Rafiq said. “I really enjoyed myself and it was nice to get a wicket with my fourth ball. Kane had the idea in his mind to bring me on early and he mentioned it to me before the game, so I was ready for it when I came on.”I have been playing for Yorkshire seconds for the last couple of weeks and feel in a good rhythm and I am happy where my cricket is at. I was asked by second team coach Ian Dews if I wanted a game or two and I jumped at the chance.”Rafiq struck with only his fourth delivery having come on at 18 for the loss of Neil Broom’s wicket. His second ball was smacked for four by Chesney Hughes who then sliced him high to Liam Plunkett at cover.It became 35 for 3 in Rafiq’s next over as Hamish Rutherford was caught at deep mid-off by Adam Lyth for 15 and although Rafiq was less successful in a later spell he still finished with figures of 2 for 33 from his four overs and also held on to two good catches. Left-arm spinner Karl Carver also bowled well to claim 1 for 17 from three overs but the best figures were returned by Tim Bresnan who finished with 3 for 22.Too many of Derbyshire’s batsmen got out to miscued shots that sailed into the hands of waiting fielders and although Shiv Thakor reached 30 and James Neesham and Alex Hughes made it into the 20s no one played the big innings that the Falcons were looking for.The best stand was for the fifth wicket, Thakor and Neesham adding 44 together before Neesham skied Plunkett to Gary Ballance at cover, his 23-ball innings containing three fours and a six.Yorkshire’s one-day captain, Alex Lees, dropped himself from the match in order to accommodate the in-form Lyth who blasted centuries on consecutive days in 50-over matches last week, New Zealand skipper, Kane Williamson, taking over the reins.With rain threatening, Yorkshire needed to keep up with the required rate and Lyth made sure that they did, hitting Wayne Madsen just over deep mid-on for four in the first over and driving a straight six off Ben Cotton. David Willey was lbw to Madsen for 8 to make it 26 for 1 in the fourth over but Lyth went on to blast Neesham for four and six while Williamson drove Madsen sweetly for six.Having faced 16 deliveries for his 30 from 16 balls with three fours and two sixes, Lyth attempted to reverse sweep Matt Critchley but missed and was lbw.Yorkshire had two of the best batsmen in the world together with Williamson and Joe Root at the crease. But with the score at 60 Williamson was out to a cruel piece of misfortune, Root driving the ball back to Alex Hughes who brushed it into the stumps with the Kiwi just out of his crease.With their strong batting line-up, Yorkshire would have been favourites to reach their target had not rain intervened but it was still a cruel way for Derbyshire to lose the match.Before the game began Yorkshire president, John Hampshire, and both teams lined up for a minute’s silence in memory of murdered Batley and Spen MP, Jo Cox, after which the crowd burst into spontaneous applause.

ScorecardSteven Crook played a defiant innings at No. 7•Getty Images

Rob Newton and Steven Crook hit centuries to bat Northamptonshire to a draw on the final day of the County Championship match with Gloucestershire at Bristol. Newton, unbeaten on 58 overnight, went on to make 108, off 234 balls with 18 fours, while Crook hit 103 not out before Gloucestershire called off their bowlers in the evening session.The visitors closed on 399 for 8, leading by 157, having batted with far more application than in the first innings. Adam Rossington contributed 39, despite clearly feeling discomfort from the finger injury he suffered while wicketkeeping on Monday, and Richard Gleeson a valuable 31.David Payne (3 for 72) was the pick of the Gloucestershire bowlers, but in general they erred on the short side. The hosts took 11 points from a game they had high hopes of winning at the start of the day, while Northants claimed seven.The visitors began the day on 120 for 3, trailing by 122. After the early loss of Richard Levi for 23, caught behind dabbing at a wide ball from Payne, Rossington helped Newton add 60 for the sixth wicket. Rossington,looked in pain against the quicker bowlers, but played well before miscuing the medium-pace of Kieran Noema-Barnett to mid-on where Payne took a good diving catch.Crook appeared to survive a chance to Roderick, standing up to Noema-Barnett, before he had scored and was unbeaten on 7 at lunch, while Newton headed off on 99 with plenty of time to contemplate his century, having looked untroubled.He brought up three figures by pulling the second ball after lunch, a juicy long-hop from left-arm spinner Graham van Buuren, for his 17th boundary. It was a chanceless hundred, but Newton then fell to the second new ball, which was taken with Northants 241 for 5, still one run behind.Five had been added when Payne found a way between Newton’s bat and pad with a full, swinging delivery, which rattled into his stumps. That brought in Seekkuge Prasanna, on his Championship debut. He immediately went on the counter attack, blasting 26 from 23 balls, including four fours and a six, before holing out to deep backward square, top-edging a short delivery from Payne.At that stage Northants led by only 52, but Gleeson then joined Crook in a match-saving stand. Crook was unbeaten on 82 at tea, with his side 357 for 7 and leading by 115.The final session produced more frustration for Gloucestershire on a pitch offering little assistance. Crook reached a brilliant hundred with successive boundaries off Josh Shaw, having faced 127 balls and hit 17 fours. By the time Gleeson fell lbw to van Buuren for a hugely valuable 31, the partnership with Crook was worth 101 and Northants led by 153. Soon afterwards the players shook hands.

A failure to capitalise on a solid foundation in the first innings cost England dearly in their defeat in the first Test against New Zealand, Joe Root has admitted.England were well-placed at 277 for 4 on the game’s second morning, before Ben Stokes’ dismissal set in motion a collapse of four wickets for 18 runs, and an eventual score of 353 all out. Root told Sky Sports afterwards that “getting into the position we did and not kicking on is probably what cost us the game”, but defended his side’s performance, insisting that there was “no need to panic” despite another crushing defeat away from home.”We missed an opportunity, if we’re being brutally honest,” he said. “You look at the two [first] innings in comparison: two of their guys went on and made really big contributions. We had a couple of guys play really well, but could have done with making those big scores – making a score over 450, really.”That was a big opportunity for us that we missed. There were probably a lot of similarities where we had them four or five down for the score where we finished on day one… the difference being they had a guy with a double-hundred and someone support him with a hundred.”We had three guys [Stokes, Joe Denly and Rory Burns] play very well. [I’m] not trying to take anything away from our boys – we played extremely well, we just have to do it for longer, do more of it, and make those nineties, seventies and fifties into two hundreds and hundreds.”ALSO READ: Watling innings reignites questions about England’s gameThe build-up to this series was dominated by Root’s declarations that England would revert to an old-fashioned method in Test cricket, with a batting blueprint that involved occupying the crease for long periods after a couple of years playing “in fast forward”. And England’s captain insisted that there was no need to panic ahead of the second Test at Hamilton, saying that defeat should not be considered “the end of the world”.”It’s not going to happen overnight,” Root admitted. “It’s quite different to the style of cricket we’ve had to play in our own conditions of late, so it is going to take a little bit of time. There are areas that we can address, and get better at, and we’ll have to look at very quickly.”We have to be honest with ourselves, not panic, not think that it’s the end of the world, and make sure that we continue to work really hard. It’s a mentality thing more than a technical thing – it’s a mindset thing. So trying to harness that early and trying to learn from mistakes like this game and move on very quickly from it… if we can do that, then we’ll see rapid improvement.”I can’t fault the effort from the guys. I think we tried extremely hard. It’s very easy to look too in-depth at the things we could have done better and not give credit to the opposition, who played very well.”Root admitted that several dismissals in the second innings had been “soft” – including his own, as he tamely steered a Colin de Grandhomme bouncer to gully – but said that it was important to give credit to New Zealand’s “very disciplined bowling attack”.It was a frustrating day for Jofra Archer•Getty Images

He also echoed Jos Buttler in defending Jofra Archer’s underwhelming performance in his first overseas Test. Archer finished with figures of 1 for 107 in 42 grueling overs, and was repeatedly used as an enforcer.”He’s obviously an extremely exciting talent, and [has] got a huge amount of skill,” Root said. “[But] he’s a young guy at the start of his career. He’s come onto the international scene and taken it by storm, but this is a new ball [the red Kookaburra] that he’s never bowled with before, completely foreign conditions for him, and it might take a little bit of time to adjust to that and get used to that.”Having too much an expectation for him so early in his career is a very dangerous thing for us as a team, and us as guys around him that know what he’s capable of. I think we’ve got to be quite patient and understanding that he’s not going to get it straight away.”

Pakistan and Oman will kick off the Asian Cricket Council’s (ACC) Rising Stars T20 tournament in Doha, Qatar, on November 14, with the showpiece India vs Pakistan match slotted for November 16. On Friday, the organisers announced the two groups: Group A has Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka, while Group B has India, Oman, Pakistan and UAE.The tournament, earlier known as the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup, will be played in the T20 format and pit the ‘A’ teams of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The three Associate teams, Hong Kong, Oman and UAE, will field their main teams. Two games will be played each day from November 14 to November 19, before the semi-finals are played on November 21 and the final on November 23.This will be the first cricketing exchange between the men’s teams of India and Pakistan since the senior Asia Cup in September, though the senior women’s teams faced off at the ODI World Cup earlier this month.

ACC Rising Stars tournament schedule

Nov 14 – Oman vs Pak; Ind vs UAE
Nov 15 – Ban vs HK; Afg vs SL
Nov 16 – Oman vs UAE; Ind vs Pak
Nov 17 – HK vs SL; Afg vs Ban
Nov 18 – Pak vs UAE; Ind vs Oman
Nov 19 – Afg vs HK; Ban vs SL
Nov 21 – Semi-finals: A1 vs B2; B1 vs A2
Nov 23 – Final

When the men played the Asia Cup, there were no handshakes or any other form of greetings between the players of the two countries, and it ended with India, the tournament champions, leaving Dubai without the trophy. It emerged that they had decided not to receive the trophy from the ACC chief, Mohsin Naqvi, who is also a parliamentarian in Pakistan and the chairman of the PCB. An ACC official removed the trophy from the dais after a long delay once it became clear that the victors would not be coming up to collect it.The Emerging Teams tournament began in 2013 and has had six editions so far, having started as an Under-23s tournament before being switched to a competition featuring ‘A’ teams. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won it twice each, while India and Afghanistan have won it once apiece – Afghanistan won the last edition, in 2024 in Oman, beating Sri Lanka in the final by seven wickets.

Madeline Penna starred with the bat before Tahlia McGrath finished the job with the ball as Adelaide Strikers posted a 38-run win over Hobart Hurricanes in the WBBL on Saturday.Bottom-placed Strikers made 140 for 7 in the game at Adelaide Oval thanks largely to Penna’s 60 off 40 balls. In reply, Hurricanes were bowled out for 102 in 15.2 overs, with Elyse Villani (44 off 39) the top-scorer in an otherwise horror batting display. Strikers captain McGrath (4 for 13) starred with the ball, while Megan Schutt (2 for 14) and Anesu Mushangwe (2 for 18) were also crucial.Hurricanes opener Lizelle Lee entered the match on the back of scores of 150 not out and 103. But she was out caught behind for just eight in the second over when she attempted to belt Orla Prendergast down the ground.They were, however, on track for victory at 63 for 1 in the ninth over, but a collapse of nine wickets for 39 runs spelt the end for them. The result left third-placed Hurricanes nursing a 4-4 record with just two games remaining before the finals.Strikers (2-6) are still last, but the defending champions were happy after finally snapping their five-match losing run.”It’s been a long time coming, and it’s so good we can get a win,” Penna told . “To get it at home in front of our fans is so nice. We have really loyal fans here. Sometimes when you’re losing, you don’t have those people who back you. But we know our fans here at Adelaide back us in whether we’re winning or losing. It’s really good we could get a win for them.”McGrath was also thrilled with the win. “It’s been a really tough season,” she said. “We haven’t quite been up to our standard, and cricket is a brutal game when you’re not at your standards.”We’re still trying to get something out of this season. It is really tough at times, but it’s easy to smile when you have games like that.”Strikers were in all sorts of trouble at 45 for 4 after eight overs when Penna strolled to the crease. Things were still precariously placed at 109 for 6 in the 16th over when Penna was dropped on 44. She received another life – on the same score – and made the most of it by guiding Strikers to the full 20 overs.Penna’s innings, which featured six fours and two sixes, only came to an end when she was run out on the final ball.

The PCB’s much-trailed ‘connection camp’ ended on Monday with what officials said was a roadmap to bring the game out of the doldrums it finds itself in at the moment.Officials and the team management, including both head coaches Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten, described a day of open and robust conversations, including about the lack of unity within the national side, with the two national captains, Shan Masood and Babar Azam, and a group of other players.The camp was organised as Pakistan stutter through one of the bleakest periods in their history, with administrative tumult begetting a succession of disastrous on-field results. Over the last year, Pakistan have lost to Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup, to USA at the T20 World Cup and most recently 2-0 to Bangladesh in a home Test series.Related

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Speculation has been rife throughout of growing differences in the dressing room, building from last year but propelled this year by the appointment and swift removal of Shaheen Shah Afridi as Pakistan’s T20I captain, and the return of Babar Azam as the T20I captain. Kirsten, the white-ball coach, is said to have been surprised by the degree of it when he first took up the job.Salman Naseer, the PCB’s chief operating officer, acknowledged that a lack of unity had been part of the discussions, not just within the team but between the board and players.”The session was about this, that we openly and candidly accept and identify [issues] and ask for a commitment from each other, demand it, on how we can improve our performances and how we work together as a team,” Naseer said at a press conference in Lahore after the camp ended. “Our unanimous view was that we need to resolve this going forward and need to identify how we do it.”Naseer did not go into the details of the discussions, saying that providing a “safe space” was essential in allowing people to open up. But tension between players and the board has also been building, especially after a number of top stars were denied NOCs to participate in leagues over the summer. Afridi, Babar, Mohammad Rizwan and Naseem Shah were all prevented from playing in leagues before the start of Pakistan’s home season, with workload management the primary reason cited by the board.”Where the talk is of unity, it wasn’t only about the team,” Naseer acknowledged. “It was between the team and management and how we can work together to do things more successfully. These were definitely part of the discussions. We talked about planning, we talked about workload management.”Everyone is feeling that the performances of players, and management, can be better. The idea was to sit together, identify issues and what can be better. What our vision is and how do we get there?”The camp is not believed to have brought up the more immediate questions facing the Pakistan side, in the immediate aftermath of the loss to Bangladesh and with England’s imminent arrival for a three-Test series in October. But Kirsten, who has been in Pakistan for the last 12 days watching the Champions Cup, struck a note of optimism in praising the depth of talent in Pakistan – in contrast to the chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s recent observations on the same.”I’ve been here the last 12 days or so watching the Champions Cup and have been really encouraged at the depth of quality of players in this tournament,” Kirsten said. “It’s been fantastic to see. I’ve really enjoyed the tournament. The quality of the competition has been high. Been great to see a lot of young players showcasing what they are capable of.”The discussions will continue, according to Gillespie. “Because we’re new to the job, our job is to listen and learn and look to implement ways where we can be more effective as players, as a team, and as coaches. What was really clear today was the pride the Pakistan players have in playing for Pakistan and how they want to inspire the country. That was really exciting to hear. The players care and are desperate to do well. We’re on this journey together and we’ll do everything we can to help.”