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The middle-order anchors believe they have the extra gears needed for putting up totals that will challenge the best ODI teams in the world

Danyal Rasool21-Apr-2019With the World Cup so close Pakistan have named their preliminary squad for the tournament, it is striking to hear a cricketer talk about the event as just another competition organised some distance out into the future. But Haris Sohail, named among the 15 who will attempt to win Pakistan’s second World Cup trophy, approaches the next couple of months in precisely that frame of mind. For now, he is not thinking of the World Cup; his focus lasered in on the series against England prior.”The World Cup is still a little while away,” Haris, one of two Pakistan players who were also part of the 2015 World Cup campaign, told reporters during a press gathering at the Gaddafi Stadium. “Before that, we have a very important series against England. England is a quality side, the number one team. If we win that series, we’ll get a great deal of help in getting used to those conditions. We still have about 10 matches to go before the World Cup if you count all the practice matches. So we’re hopeful of getting acclimatised well and producing good results at the World Cup.”For Haris, that short-term focus makes perfect sense. The left-hander’s career has been blighted by a chronic knee injury for the best part of the last half decade, forcing him to miss several whole seasons over this period. The latest frustrating setback came on the morning of the first Test against South Africa on December 26, forcing him to miss that whole tour and putting his World Cup berth in serious jeopardy. It took scoring two hundreds against Australia, in a series where he was Pakistan’s leading run-scorer, to secure him a plane ticket to England.”Since the Australia series, my confidence and form is in a good place,” Haris said. “Over the past few days, I wasn’t feeling too great, but a match situation is different, and the [practice] match we played today, the ball felt great on the bat.”What happened to me was I was operated on incorrectly, and I struggle because of that. Nobody wants to live through injuries, but as a sportsman, injuries do happen in cricket. Here, the media makes a big deal of injuries. If you look at Australia, every two series, one bowler or another is unfit. I bowl too, so please keep that in mind. I’m trying to complete my rehab properly and put my injury behind me once and for all. But because it was operated upon incorrectly, I do struggle with it sometimes.”Comparison of Pakistan’s 2015 and 2019 World Cup squads•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

With Babar Azam the rock in Pakistan’s upper middle order, how Haris slots in alongside him will be instrumental to Pakistan’s hopes of success at the World Cup. With the team lacking reputable firepower in the batting department, there have been concerns over whether this side can put up totals that challenge the best, most aggressive modern sides. Both Babar and Haris, though, feel those worries are overplayed.”Cricket is a different game nowadays,” Haris said. “Now, when your number three or four plays a big innings or gets a hundred, batsmen play around him. In ODI cricket, a total above 300 is now par. Not in the UAE, where pitches are slower and you need to take more time. But definitely that applies in countries like England. So over there, you’ll see us play more aggressively.”If you talk about the strike rate, conditions differ depending on where you are. Against Australia in the first ODI, it was very important for me to play 50 overs rather than score quickly. Even so, I scored my century in 114 balls, while [Aaron] Finch got his [in the same game] in 119. The second century I scored, my strike rate was over 100.”Babar feels no such need to be defensive about his natural game. “If I can be number one in the world without power hitting, then I don’t need power hitting! But when I need to, I utilise it well. I don’t just play along the ground. I practice hitting the ball big and when needed, I use it. My role is to play out the full overs. My individual role is to take the innings as deep as I can and perform in a way that benefits the team most of all.”Babar Azam brings out a textbook punch•Getty Images

Looming large over the occasion was the news that Shadab Khan’s illness had ruled him out of the series against England, with the legspinner expected to take four weeks to regain full fitness. Although the initial reports are he will be fit in time for the World Cup, his unavailability until just days before the tournament begins invariably raises questions about Pakistan’s back-up spin options.One of the men who will likely bear increased responsibility in that case is Mohammad Hafeez. The 37-year old, for whom the World Cup is likely to be his last tournament, called it “sad news” but said teams couldn’t just rely on individual players.”He is an important player and I am sure he will be back very soon,” Hafeez said. “Until he is back, we have to realise that teams don’t run on one player. A lot of players have to fulfill their roles and there are many who are waiting for their turns.”More generally, Hafeez still said he preferred a position at or around the top order, saying he “was an opener and wanted to play as one”. He specifically rejected the notion that he would be better suited in the lower middle order at number six. That was the position he came in at against India in the Champions Trophy final, where a breezy 37-ball 57 took Pakistan to 338.”I am not a one-dimensional player. I believe I can play every kind of innings. On many occasions in my career, I have delivered in tough and pressure situations. Since I have played as an opener for 16-17 years since the start of my career, it becomes very difficult to go at number six.”

Mir Hamza takes four wickets in second innings but Northamptonshire prove stubborn

Jon Culley at Wantage Road23-May-2019It has been a tough start to the season for Northamptonshire, who had a chastening time in the 50-overs matches and came back to four-day cricket to be beaten effectively in three by Lancashire last week. Apart from the first session of the first day, they were behind in this game throughout, so to emerge with a draw will feel like a triumph of sorts.Sussex led by 346 overnight but did not declare, adding 47 more in a four-over flurry that left a target for the home side of 394 in a round 90 overs minimum, which was a hefty demand but, with batsmen well attuned these days to scoring quickly, not so forbidding that Northamptonshire would not fancy themselves a little bit.But the balance shifted away from them in two major lurches during the afternoon session.After the early loss of Ricardo Vasconcelos, who nicked a textbook away-swinger from Mir Hamza into the hands of Philip Salt at third slip, Josh Cobb and Ben Curran had built a fairly sturdy platform by lunch, one down for 104.Successful fourth-innings targets on the scale of this one rarely happen; indeed, only once in Northamptonshire’s history, on this ground in 2010, when Stephen Peters made what was then a career-best 183 not out and a target of 394 to beat Middlesex was reached.As the players re-emerged into the afternoon sun, there might have been a few home supporters wondering if something similar could happen, but such imaginings were beginning to seem more fanciful when Hamza’s post-lunch spell claimed wickets in its second and fourth overs.These setbacks might have raised fewer groans had they not been somewhat self-inflicted. Curran, who had played with careful application for his 29 before lunch as Cobb led the scoring, undid all that with an airy waft outside off stump, offering Ben Brown a routine catch. Cobb then succumbed to an awful misjudgment, shouldering arms to a ball he plainly believed would pass by only for it to swing back and knock down his exposed off stump.Cobb made 62 and 68 in the game, which was not bad given that he was in the side only because of Alex Wakely’s domestic mishap on the first evening. He knows it could have been more both times.Much seemed to rest now on Temba Bavuma, in the second match of his stay here. He did not make the impact he would have liked on his debut against Lancashire at Old Trafford last week, where Northamptonshire were soundly beaten, but here was a situation in which to make a name for himself. As those before him had demonstrated, there were no demons in the pitch, even after four days of sunshine, and there were runs to be had quickly against a Sussex attack lacking the injured Ollie Robinson, in which only Hamza had been consistently tight.An experienced batsman now, with 36 Tests for South Africa on his CV since his historic debut in 2014, Bavuma’s first scoring shot was a gorgeous cover drive for four off Hamza. Rob Keogh, his new partner after Cobb’s demise, has been in good form. Perhaps there was still room for a little optimism among the fourth-day stalwarts.It was pretty much gone, though, after one over accounted for both of them midway through the session. Unlike Hamza, Chris Jordan had been impressive only occasionally (in his bowling, at any rate) in this match, but came up with something fast and straight for Keogh, who looked to work it to leg but was beaten for pace as the ball thudded into his front pad.The real calamity came three balls later. Bavuma played Jordan back down the pitch. There was not much pace on the shot but Bavuma somehow saw a single in it, even though Adam Rossington, the new batsman, plainly did not.The stand-in skipper anchored his bat behind the crease but Bavuma was halfway down before he knew he had to turn back. By then, David Wiese had swooped in from mid-on and had the ball in his hands, with enough time to pitch his throw on a long-hop length and watch it follow a gentle arc into the off stump with the South African still out of his ground.At 162 for 5, the chance to win the game had gone. Frustratingly, Northamptonshire had scored quickly enough to be well up with the required rate, but the number in the wickets column was a clear message that they needed to change their focus to survival. All afternoon, anyone dozing off in the sunshine was liable to be disturbed regularly by the crash of ball against advertising boards. The five overs before tea, though, allowed for uninterrupted slumber.Thirty-seven overs remained in the final session, with 182 more runs needed. Too many, it seemed, although there was enough of a nagging doubt in Brown’s mind, it appeared, that he was never quite committed to all-out attack.Hamza was the most likely matchwinner. His third spell, immediately after tea, yielded a wicket with his first ball when late movement did for Luke Procter, snaffled by the diving Brown, but he gave way again after only four overs and did not return until the new ball became available with the race virtually run. No one else possessed his consistent threat.Rossington and Brett Hutton, the other concussion sub, ploughed on with a resolution that will have pleased their head coach, David Ripley, who saw too little at Old Trafford. It had been a good contest, one which Sussex, having been in such a strong position after Jordan and Brown’s colossal performance on the first day had swung the game so heavily in their favour, might feel they should have made more of.

Higgins, Smith and Dent all reach half-centuries as hosts build strong first innings at Cheltenham

Paul Edwards21-Jul-2019
It is a pleasing paradox that this most time-gilded and treasured of festivals rarely fails to illustrate the wonderful ambition of youth. Supporters arrive from Gloucestershire and far beyond ready to reminisce about Tony Brown or Mike Procter only to find themselves delighted anew by cricketers enjoying Thomas Carlyle’s “glad season of life.” That enjoyment was illustrated, albeit with mixed results, on the first day of this game by Dillon Pennington and Adam Finch, two Worcestershire pace bowlers who were sharing the new ball for England’s Under 19 team 18 months ago. Yet it was best exemplified by 24-year-old Ryan Higgins, whose 76 off 59 balls was surely one of the best short innings played on the College Ground in recent years.Higgins began to bat about 40 minutes after lunch when Gloucestershire skipper Chris Dent, having laboured conscientiously over his 58, nibbled at a good ball from his Worcestershire counterpart, Joe Leach, and gave Ben Cox his 300th dismissal for the county. At that point the visitors were 125 for 4 and Leach was probably content with his decision to forego the toss. Yet when Higgins was dismissed, ten balls after tea when attempting to sweep Brett D’Oliveira but only nicking a catch to Cox, his 96-minute innings had moulded the shape of this day’s cricket. His 128-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Tom Smith had transformed the atmosphere at Cheltenham.Rather more significantly, the stand between Smith and Higgins foreshadowed a productive evening session for the home side in which the dismissals of Jack Taylor and Benny Howell were offset by the collection of three batting bonus points. When bad light ended our cricket four overs early Smith was 79 not out, five runs shy of his career-best score and well placed to extend Gloucestershire’s dominance on the second morning.And home supporters are well aware that those bonus points do far more than help confer respectability on their season. Should their side win this game they will almost certainly move up to second in Division Two with four games left to play. For the first time in many seasons Gloucestershire, Glamorgan and Northamptonshire are all credible promotion candidates. It is an intriguing and rather lovely prospect.Equally fascinating, however, is the idea of Higgins facing First Division attacks. His batting on this opening day at Cheltenham was an utter joy, never more so than when he levied six boundaries in ten balls, two in succession off Finch and four in an over off Ed Barnard. Some of the deliveries offered width but it remains true that most bowlers will lose their line when facing a batsman who hits their blameless deliveries to the boundary and does so with orthodox shots all around the wicket. Yes, Higgins gorged on the loose stuff sent down by the Worcestershire seamers – this was a particularly tough day for Finch – and capitalised on his two escapes when Daryl Mitchell at second slip and Cox put down tough chances. But there was a natural ability and uncoachable freedom about his batting which should stay with spectators even when they cannot recall other details of this match.For their part, Worcestershire’s bowlers can look back on a day in which they took at least two wickets in every session yet came off the field disappointed with their efforts. The morning had begun perfectly for them when Miles Hammond nicked Leach’s fourth ball of the match to Cox. Twenty-five minutes before lunch Gareth Roderick, fresh from his heroic six in last week’s dramatic victory over Leicestershire, had sliced a drive off the impressive Pennington to Callum Ferguson in the gully. Leach’s removal of James Bracey and Dent after lunch had given Worcestershire the advantage, only for Higgins to change the day. Brett D’Oliveira’s fine spell of leg-spin after tea restored some order but the visitors’ pace bowlers were ineffective with the new ball and this in a game Worcestershire need to win if they are to revive their own chances of promotion.And before one accords the efforts of Higgins and Pennington no more than local or even domestic significance it is as well to recall that barely a year ago a young Sussex bowler took eight wickets at the College Ground and helped his side to a marvellous 28-run victory. His name was Jofra Archer.

Play abandoned without a ball being bowled, toss to take place on Thursday

The Report Valkerie Baynes14-Aug-2019Jofra Archer will have to wait a day to make his highly anticipated Test debut after heavy rain forced play to be abandoned without a ball being bowled in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.Archer received his England cap from close friend Chris Jordan during a brief break in the otherwise appalling weather with the toss imminent, only for the covers to come back on and the showers to set in for good.The umpires made the call to abandon play around 4.20pm local time and the match will officially become a four-day fixture with the toss taking place on Thursday and overs added to the end of each day. The follow-on margin, if required, will be reduced to 150 accordingly.Archer shared a warm embrace with Sussex team-mate Jordan, also born in Barbados, after the cap presentation on the Lord’s field. Jordan, who played eight Tests for England in 2014 and 2015, has shared in Archer’s rapid rise through international ranks since he became eligible to represent England earlier this year, with the pair playing a T20I together against Pakistan in May, which remains Archer’s only T20I appearance. That was two days after Archer made his international debut in an ODI against Ireland.With a vastly improved forecast for Thursday, play looks likely with Josh Hazlewood set to line up for Australia at the expense of Mitchell Starc after both were included in a 12-man squad while James Pattinson rests for this Test.England still have a selection call to make on whether they risk not playing spinner Jack Leach, given the shortened match, and pick Sam Curran instead. Should they opt for Leach, there is a possibility Curran could still play ahead of Joe Denly.

‘I think it will be ideal if I didn’t have to be the captain,’ he says

Mohammad Isam09-Sep-2019For the second time in ten days, Shakib Al Hasan has expressed his unwillingness to lead Bangladesh. This time, it was after the 224-run defeat to Afghanistan in the Chattogram Test, although he hinted that he was open to discussions with BCB chief Nazmul Hassan.”I think it will be ideal if I didn’t have to be the captain,” Shakib said. “From a personal point of view, it will be good for my cricket. If I have to take leadership, then we must have discussion about a lot of issues.”Six days before the start of the Afghanistan Test, Shakib shared similar views on his captaincy in an interview to the Bengali daily .ALSO READ: Shakib not ‘mentally prepared to lead in Tests and T20s’“I am not even mentally prepared to lead in Tests and T20s,” Shakib said on August 30. “But the team is not in a good shape, so I understand that I have to lead to get it back on track. Otherwise, I am not really interested in leading in any format. I can focus on myself if I am not captaining, which would help the team.”I want to see the younger lot to take responsibility. We [Mushfiqur Rahim and he, in the main] got captaincy at a very young age, but they [the next bunch] have now turned 26-27. Unless you give them responsibility, you won’t know what they can do. The World Test Championship and T20 World Cup are up ahead, so we should plan for the next four years.”While it is important to prop up the youngsters, there is a general view within the decision-makers in the BCB that the likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das are not prepared to lead Bangladesh in any format yet. Among the seniors, Mashrafe Mortaza is still the ODI captain, while Mahmudullah has led a few times in Shakib’s absence in Tests and T20Is in recent times. Tamim Iqbal led in Sri Lanka in the absence of Shakib and Mashrafe, but it is well known that the BCB doesn’t prefer him in the long term, while Mushfiqur has had a long stint as captain in all formats.Shakib, however, accepted that he would have to shoulder the major blame for Bangladesh’s disintegration on the fifth evening of the Chattogram Test. It was his needless cut shot, which he edged to wicketkeeper Afsar Zazai off Zahir Khan, off the first ball after a rain break that gave Afghanistan their big breakthrough.”I am really disappointed,” Shakib said. “We had four wickets in hand to bat out an hour and ten minutes. My first-ball dismissal made it difficult for the team. The responsibility lies with me. I think it would have been better had I not played that cut shot. It put the team under pressure. I should have taken up the job to spend more time at the crease, which would have made the dressing room more comfortable. Maybe we could have taken it close to a draw.”However, Shakib did say that some of the players displayed a real lack of game awareness, especially Mehidy and Soumya, who made crucial mistakes on the fifth evening. “The result shows we didn’t have the ability [to last 70 minutes]. Taijul [Islam] had inside-edged the ball to his pad, but since [Mehidy] Miraz had taken the review, he couldn’t use it. Even someone who has played cricket for one day would know that this was plumb out. If he hadn’t taken the review, Taijul could have used it. He defended well in the first innings.”When you see Soumya react like that after taking that run [to give No. 11 strike early in the over], you know that he isn’t sure of his role. There’s a lot to learn but I don’t know how long it will take them to learn.”

Yorkshire Diamonds defend target in rain-reduced affair despite Fran Wilson salvo

ECB Reporters Network28-Aug-2019Yorkshire Diamonds overseas star Jemimah Rodrigues hit a brilliant half-century as Kia Super League finalists Western Storm finally surrendered their unbeaten record, losing by five runs in a rain-affected contest at the Cooper Associates Ground.Rodrigues struck 60 from 27 balls, accrued 10 fours and two sixes and dominated a match-winning third-wicket stand of 79 in 45 balls with Hollie Armitage as Diamonds posted 104 for 4 in 10 overs after being put into bat.Victorious in their opening nine games and desperate to retain their 100% record, Storm refused to go down without a fight. Fran Wilson and Sophie Luff took the chase down to the final ball in a spirited unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 76, only for experienced seamer Beth Langston to hold her nerve in a thrilling finale.Internationals Lauren Winfield and Alyssa Healy afforded Diamonds’ innings crucial early momentum in a first over which yielded 19 runs, offspinner Claire Nicholas uncharacteristically conceding four boundaries.But England seamer Freya Davies effected a turnaround in fortunes, removing both in the space of five balls in the second over to reduce Diamonds to 21 for 2. England’s Winfield skied a top-edged pull to wicketkeeper Rachel Priest, who then demonstrated safe hands when Australia’s Healy was hurried in the act of driving.New batsmen Rodrigues and Armitage sought to redress the balance, staging a revitalising partnership for the third wicket. They particularly targeted off spinners Heather Knight, Deepti Sharma and Nicholas, advancing the total to a handy 55 for 2 at halfway.Indian teen star Rodrigues timed the ball sweetly, smiting two sixes and eight fours in raising a 21-ball 50, bringing more or less constant pressure to bear on the Storm bowlers. Rodrigues was threatening to carry Diamonds to a truly imposing total when she finally fluffed her lines in the face of nagging line and length from Davies, mistiming a drive and holing out to mid-off in the final over.The only Storm bowler to escape punishment, Davies finished with admirable figures of 3 for 7 off two overs, frustrating Yorkshire’s attempts to accelerate at the death.Prepared to play second fiddle, Armitage proved the perfect foil to the more forthright Rodrigues, contributing 19 from 21 deliveries before being run out off the final ball.Storm’s reply was halted in its tracks as key batters Priest, Smriti Mandhana and Knight all departed inside five overs, Diamonds reducing the hosts to 23 for 3. Priest never looked comfortable under the floodlights, hitting Linsey Smith to deep midwicket for 7 to spark the slide.Mandhana chipped Leigh Kasperek to cover in the next over and Knight followed her back to the pavilion soon afterwards, dismissed in near-identical fashion to afford Diamonds all the encouragement they needed.Charged with the unenviable task of rebuilding an innings that had stalled in it’s infancy, Wilson and Luff made a decent fist of chasing. Throwing caution to the wind, the fourth-wicket pair combined feverish running between the wickets and clean hitting to sow seeds of doubt in Yorkshire minds.Needing 14 runs off the final over, Storm hopes were revived when Langston no-balled twice. But the home side were unable to take advantage of the subsequent free hits and came up agonislingly short at the death. Wilson hit an unbeaten 45 from 20 balls, while Somerset-born Luff finished on 31 not out from 18 deliveries.

“At this time my family responsibilities are such that they need my undivided attention and focus”

Umar Farooq in Lahore03-Oct-2019With five months left to the women’s T20 World Cup, Pakistan’s head coach Mark Coles has resigned citing family commitments. The PCB has handed temporary control of the team to Iqbal Imam, the team’s batting coach, and his first assignment will be the home series against Bangladesh starting on October 26 in Lahore.”It is with a very heavy heart that I have decided to step down from my coaching role, something which I had enjoyed tremendously,” Coles said. “However, at this time, my family responsibilities are such that they need my undivided attention and focus. I have been thinking about this for some time and taking into account Pakistan has some critical assignments in the next few months, I thought it was fair to the side I convey my decision to the Pakistan Cricket Board so that they have enough time to find a replacement.”ALSO READ: Indian coaches of Bangladesh women’s team won’t tour PakistanColes was appointed in 2017, ahead of the series against New Zealand in the UAE, as part of the PCB’s efforts to make women’s cricket professional. Until then, they had been content bringing in coaches on a series-by-series basis and had even gone into the last 50-over World Cup with Sabih Azhar only a few weeks into his job.Coles, who is from New Zealand, arrived with the experience of playing only six List A games but he had been a high-performance manager for the women’s teams of Western Australia and Wellington and won a domestic T20 title in 2013 with Wellington Blaze. Coles had been living in Lahore ever since his appointment as the Pakistan coach and he left confident that the players he had coached for the past two years would have success going forward.”I have thoroughly enjoyed my stay in Lahore and working with the women’s team as well as all those who are associated with women’s cricket,” he said. “It has been particularly pleasing to see some of the girls grow in stature and make their team and country proud. I will miss working with all these girls and will always remain their supporter and well-wisher. I have no doubts the Pakistan national women’s team will continue to make upward progress.”Every team in women’s cricket is building towards the T20 World Cup, to be held in Australia in February next year. Pakistan underwhelmed at the previous edition last year, winning only one out of four games, but they are looking ahead to this one with T20Is against Bangladesh and England forming a part of their preparations.Coles was originally appointed on a trial basis and helped Pakistan to nine wins in 28 ODIs, including a first-ever series victory over West Indies in 2019, and 12 wins in 30 T20Is. He is expected to leave the country next week with the PCB getting ready to find his replacement.

Netherlands captain says structured gameplans have helped his team, looks forward to semi-final against Ireland

Peter Della Penna in Dubai29-Oct-2019Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar has hailed his pace bowling unit as the foundation behind their third straight qualification to the T20 World Cup following their rampant performance in an eight-wicket win over UAE. In particular, Seelaar singled out Man of the Match Brandon Glover and Paul van Meekeren as two players who “are there to give us a bit of firepower” with game-changing ability that has consistently disrupted opposition batting units throughout Netherlands’ matches in Dubai.”As in real X-factor, I would say Paul van Meekeren and Brandon Glover, not just by today,” Seelaar said in the post-match press conference when asked who stood out most to him in Dubai. “I think they’ve bowled superbly well throughout the tournament. Timm van der Gugten started off very well just by doing his change-up. But there was more at the Academy when the wickets were a bit slower. But every time, pretty much every time Paul and Brandon had the ball in their hands, whether it was the Powerplay, whether they had to come back, they would always provide us with that breakthrough.”Bowling has definitely been our strong suit throughout the tournament. So I would say those two would be our real X-factors for us in this tournament to date. The other thing is we’ve had five different Man of the Match awards in all our wins. So it’s not one or two blokes, it’s most of the guys. But definitely those two have been match-winning for us.”Glover claimed Man of the Match honours for his career-best 4 for 12. He built off the early carnage unleashed by van Meekeren, who dismissed UAE’s two most threatening batsmen, Rameez Shahzad and Muhammad Usman, off back-to-back balls in the second over. It was another stellar display for van Meekeren who has a habit of turning in his best work in televised tournament matches.”I think it’s more the big occasion rather than the TV games,” Seelaar said of van Meekeren’s penchant for performances in big moments. “But to be honest, he actually forgot his shoes this morning. So I’m not quite sure he was right on it! To be fair, he bowls well, generally, a lot. I think he had a little bit of a tough period last year.”This year, especially later on in the season, he started to bowl with some real gas. I think this whole tournament, whether the games have been [on TV] or not, he’s been fast, he’s been nasty. And to change it up with skills later on in the innings, that is something you don’t come across very often. But I think Paulie has just bowled superbly well throughout the tournament. And yeah, probably the TV brings the best out of him.”Netherlands had entered the tournament winning just two of their previous 11 T20Is. However, many of those losses came with under-strength squads that were hit either by injury or unavailability due to County Cricket commitments. But Seelaar said he was confident his side could produce winning results in Dubai once they got their best XI on the field.”We struggled with keeping 11 fit guys on the park,” Seelaar said. “But in saying that, I think we also probably looked to experiment too much with our bowling and batting rather than sticking to what we do best. After that [Oman pentangular] tournament, we had our plans nailed down properly.”Going back to what I said about having a structured gameplan, that has [been] what we have been doing and executing in this tournament very well. Still not quite the 100 percent game. I mean bowling a team out for 80 and chasing it two-down is close to 100 percent, but we still haven’t hit our full straps. I think we can do a little better and the semi-final is the perfect opportunity.”Netherlands will come up against Group B winners Ireland in that semi-final. Netherlands have historically held the upper hand against Ireland in ICC tournament play. Most fans remember the famous chase in 2014 at Sylhet, but Netherlands also won convincingly in the 2015 T20 World Cup Qualifier semi-final at Malahide as well as at the 2016 T20 World Cup in India. Seelaar is quietly confident that his side can do enough to win against their European rival on Friday.”One advantage is that we’ve played at the [Dubai] stadium quite a bit,” Seelaar said of his side’s matches compared to Ireland playing all of their group games in Abu Dhabi. “I think that counts for something. Ireland-Holland have been very close games in recent times and I’m looking forward to the challenge and I’m sure Ireland will be as well. We’re going to do our analysis work a little bit. Obviously we know them quite well. We’re gonna see how it goes, but semi-finals are always a little different and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Vidarbha or Karnataka? Who will be the India players in action? Who are knocking on the doors of selection? Here’s the Ranji explainer.

Shashank Kishore07-Dec-2019Into its 86th year, the biggest first-class competition in the world – the Ranji Trophy – gets bigger with a 38th team, Chandigarh, added to the roster for the 2019-20 season. Like every year, it gives around 800 hopefuls a platform to establish themselves. Players aside, it is also a true test for ground staff, curators, logistics personnel, scorers, coaches and, of course, match officials. Here is a look at what the key talking points from this season are likely to be.Vidarbha have won two back-to-back seasons. They must be favourites again?Barring the great Bombay side of the 1960s – they won 15 successive titles from 1958-59 to 1972-73 – no team has won three back-to-back titles. Vidarbha have a rare chance to jump into the pool having successfully defended their crown in 2018-19. But Karnataka are in some serious form, having waltzed their way to the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy titles. They’re going for a treble, and it will need an incredibly good team to stop them.But won’t KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal be away on national duty?The draw is such that Karnataka will have at least one of them right through the campaign, unless of course Agarwal earns a limited-overs call-up. With the New Zealand tour coming up in February, Rahul has the incentive to score big runs to put himself back on the Test selection radar. Then they’ve also got Manish Pandey, Karun Nair and Devdutt Padikkal, this tall 19-year old left-hander who has made heads turn by finishing as the highest run-getter in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Bowlers from other teams – good luck.What about the other Indian players – will they feature in the Ranji?Well, Tamil Nadu, who finished runners-up in the Hazare and Mushtaq Ali, will have M Vijay, R Ashwin and Dinesh Karthik available in the initial rounds. In the early stages, Mumbai will feature Ajinkya Rahane and Prithvi Shaw, who is on a comeback trail after his eight-month backdated suspension for a failed dope test. Cheteshwar Pujara will turn up for Saurashtra like he always does when free of national commitments, while Shubman Gill is set to feature for Punjab, and Hanuma Vihari for Andhra. So, a big part of the cream of India’s Test batting line-up will be available. Shikhar Dhawan, who is recovering the freak knee injury, might also fancy playing the odd match for Delhi.What about the mean fast bowlers?The Indian team management is monitoring workloads carefully. Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma have been asked to skip the first round at least. Mohammed Shami, meanwhile, is with Indian limited-overs squad. Don’t be surprised if you see Jasprit Bumrah return to play a Ranji Trophy game for the first time in three years. He’s on the recovery path and could well feature for Gujarat in the first week of January, to prove his match fitness and get overs under the belt ahead of the Test series in New Zealand. Ditto with Hardik Pandya, who is recovering from a back injury, and could turn up to play for Baroda, who are led by his brother Krunal.What are the rewards for a good Ranji performance?India are playing just one Test series before the Ranji Trophy gets over – the away series in New Zealand in February-March. But immediate rewards are unlikely considering the Indian Test unit is fairly settled. That said, the BCCI has carefully managed to schedule shadow tours for India A, to get their players acclimatised ahead of every big overseas assignment. That is the tour a lot of players should aim to make. After that, it could just be that one X-factor performance or a series of them, like the kind Vijay Shankar came up with in November 2018 in New Zealand – albeit in the shorter formats – to force his way into the World Cup squad.Do any names stand out?Shaw, Gill along with Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran will all be vying for that third opener’s spot. The competition has gotten tougher with Rahul returning to his run-scoring ways, and in some style.With Hardik Pandya still injured, the assumption is that India will go back to Hanuma Vihari at No. 6 to fortify their batting. Partly, the reason for that is the absence of a genuine seam-bowling allrounder. But Vijay Shankar’s improved bowling and his solidity with the bat could just translate into a Test call-up, should the new Tamil Nadu captain churn out runs and pick up wickets. His calmness stood out under pressure in a tense Syed Mushtaq Ali final. Can he replicate that in the long form?What of India’s spin stocks, beyond the three currently in the Test squad?Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja remain the top two spinners, but there are question marks suddenly over Kuldeep Yadav. Shahbaz Nadeem, at 31, proved what years of picking wickets here can do, when he was rewarded with a Test debut against South Africa in Ranchi. There’s Jalaj Saxena, another consistent domestic match-winner, waiting to get noticed while Yuzvendra Chahal and Rahul Chahar are looking to fill the legspinning void.Tell us something about new entrants ChandigarhFor starters, while they are “newbies”, they have a lot of players from Punjab, who have had a solid culture of cricket. So unlike the new sides from the north east that had to build from scratch, Chandigarh had a solid talent pool to choose from. They’ve got former India fast bowler VRV Singh as head coach. Among their key players are Manan Vohra and Barinder Sran. Watch out for the young Under-19 batsman Arjun Azad.What about the format?Like last year, the five teams from Groups A and B combined – consisting nine teams each – will qualify for the knockouts. It is entirely possible that all five teams could qualify from the same group. So topping one’s own group may not be enough, and this will keep teams on their toes because they’ll constantly be watching what is happening in the other group too.Then we’ve got two teams making the cut from the 10-pool Group C and the one entrant from Plate Group, also consisting of 10 teams. Uttarakhand have been promoted to Group C after securing a quarterfinal berth last year, while Goa have been relegated to Plate division.And finally, is there anything interesting from the transfer window?Robin Uthappa is now with Kerala, but won’t lead after their failure to make the knockouts in the limited-overs competitions, with Sachin Baby back as captain. Smit Patel, the India Under-19 World Cup winner from 2012, is now with Goa, after moving in from Tripura to replace CM Gautam. His captain from that U-19 World Cup edition, Unmukt Chand, is leading Uttarakhand. Vinay Kumar, the Karnataka stalwart, has moved to Puducherry, while Stuart Binny, Vinay’s one-time team-mate, is now with Nagaland.

The former South Africa quick will replace Chris Jordan and be available from the final regular season match

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jan-2020The Perth Scorchers have signed former South Africa quick Morne Morkel for the closing stages of the Big Bash.Morkel, who retired from international cricket after the series against Australia in early 2018 and now lives in Sydney, will link up with the Scorchers next week as a replacement for Chris Jordan and be available for selection for the final regular season match against the Sydney Thunder on January 26.He would then be available for the finals if the Scorchers, who are currently fourth in the table, make it to the new-look series which includes five of the eight teams.Jordan is leaving the tournament because he is part of the England one-day squad for the series in South Africa.ALSO READ: Travel-weary Perth Scorchers still up for both the fight and flights“Once we knew CJ [Chris Jordan] had been picked in the England side we knew that we would need a replacement for the back end of the tournament and Morne was always at the top of the list,” the Scorchers coach Adam Voges said. “He brings a wealth of experience and has performed really well particularly in the Mzansi Super League in South Africa where he was one of the leading wicket takers.”He was really keen to come on board. Luckily I’ve played a bit with Morne over the years so we’ve got a good relationship and he was super excited to get involved in the Big Bash.The top five teams in the BBL 2019-20 league phase will make it to the Finals•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“I think CJ has been fantastic for us, not only what he’s brought with the ball but just the way that he’s been around the group. His experience has helped the guys out on the field and he’s helping Mitch with his leadership as well. We wanted someone of a similar calibre to come in and I think Morne will do a great job with that and continue the good work that CJ has done.”We’re going to get Morne to Perth next week and he’ll be around the group for a week or so before he plays so that will be great for him to get to know everyone and hopefully make that transition a bit smoother.”Morkel took 12 wickets in nine matches at an economy rate of 6.35 in the MSL for Tshwane Spartans. After moving to Sydney with his wife, sports journalist and presenter Roz Kelly, Morkel had spoken about hoping to gain permanent residency which could see him eligible for future BBL seasons as a local player.