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Glamorgan claim consolation win thanks to unbeaten 50 from Australia international

ECB Reporters Network16-Jul-2024Marnus Labuschagne starred with bat and ball as Glamorgan eased to a 13-run victory over the Kent Spitfires in a rain-shortened dead-rubber at Canterbury.After the weather delayed the start, Glamorgan made 145 for 6 from their 13 overs, with Labuschagne blasting an unbeaten 50 from 26 balls, before claiming an economical 1 for 14 from his two overs.Sam Billings hit 33 from 17 balls but Kent were always struggling to keep up with a run rate of more than 11 an over. Two wickets from Timm van der Gugten in the 11th over extinguished the Spitfires’ already slim hopes and they finished on 132 for 5.Neither side stood a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals and torrential rain delayed the start until 8pm, with the game reduced to 13 overs per side.The visitors were asked to bat and attacked from the outset. Kiran Carlson ramped Tom Rogers for an outrageous six and Will Smale hit a rapid 18 from eight, before a cluster of wickets temporarily slowed the run rate. Smale miscued Nathan Gilchrist to Tom Rogers at mid-off and Tom Bevan was run out for 3 after Carlson was hit amidships by Rogers: he had almost reached the striker’s end before realising his partner was doubled up with pain, allowing the bowler to run him out with a direct hit.Marcus O’Riordan claimed a wicket with his first ball when Carlson went for 18, caught at backward square-leg by Rogers. At that point it was 52 for 3 but Labuschagne and Colin Ingram countered with a stand of 54 that ended when Joey Evison had Ingram caught by Rogers for 26 from 13 balls.Related

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Chris Cooke went for 6, driving Gilchrist to Jack Leaning at long-off and Ben Kellaway was run out by Rogers and an off-balance Billings for 3, but Labuschagne scrambled his way to a half-century in the final over.Kent’s Blast campaign has been so grim that this looked like the sort of target they’d struggle to chase with 20 overs to play with. They took 12 from a promising first over, but lost Tawanda Muyeye for 7, caught behind off Dan Douthwaite.O’Riordan should have gone for a duck in the same over and although Andy Gorvin dropped an absolute dolly at midwicket, he failed to cash in. Mason Crane claimed the prize wicket of Daniel Bell-Drummond for 27, caught by Kellaway at the cow-corner boundary before Labuschagne bowled O’Riordan for 9 off 14.Billings hit Crane for a six that landed on the roof of the Cowdrey Stand and Smale dropped Jack Leaning when he holed out off Labuschagne on 9, but Glamorgan’s economical bowling meant the rate spiralled out of control.Kent needed 54 from the final three overs and the pressure forced Billings into an ugly shot, chipping van der Gugten to Carlson at cover. Van der Gugten then had Leaning caught by Kellaway at deep square for 11 and although Rogers had some fun, his unbeaten 31 from 12 begged the question why he hadn’t batted higher up the order.Kent needed an improbable 29 from Douthwaite’s last over but only managed 15 and the defeat guarantees the 2021 champions will finish bottom of the South Group.

Club will not hire new CEO after decline in profits, stress Hundred not determinant of financial success

Matt Roller04-Mar-2020Worcestershire have confirmed that they will play their first County Championship home game of the season at Kidderminster CC, with “unprecedented” levels of flooding leaving it impossible to stage the fixture at their New Road base.The county played two Championship games at Kidderminster last year after disruption due to floods, and after two more floods since the start of 2020, the first home fixture against Sussex has already been moved to the ground.Confirmation of the switch came in Worcestershire’s annual chairman’s report, in addition to the news that:

• The club is not looking to recruit a new chief executive to replace Matt Rawnsley
• There are “no excuses” for poor recent showings in the County Championship
• “Disappointing” commercial performance had necessitated a restructure
• There is no immediate intention to install floodlights at New Road, which is the only main county ground not to have them
• The club does not expect the £1.3 million guaranteed to each county by the ECB between 2020-24 to be supported by the Hundred alone

Hira, who was appointed chairman in September 2018, admitted that the increased regularity of floods at New Road was a “concern”, stating that since the end of October 2019, the ground has been under water for 62 days. He also cited the fact that since the start of the 20th century, there have been only three years in which the ground has flooded five times: 2007, 2012 and 2019.”Due to assistance from the ECB and our insurance policies, our results were not negatively impacted by flooding in 2019,” Hira wrote. “That said we cannot continue to rely upon others to assist us.”Our focus in the next year is to mitigate the losses of flooding by making sure our cellars, retail, disability access and museum are all above the flood plain.”The club is also anticipating an extension to the Graeme Hick Pavilion, but does not have plans to install floodlights. New Road is currently the only main county ground not to have floodlights after Taunton installed them ahead of the 2019 season, and their absence led to a farcical exit in the 2015 T20 Blast.ALSO READ: Worcestershire chief executive departs in unclear circumstancesThey had targeted an improved year commercially, but Hira confirmed that “regrettably these improvements did not occur”.Worcestershire recorded a statutory loss (before tax) of £89,000 in 2019, compared to a £124,000 profit in 2018, but after eliminating the impact of flooding, and the positive effects of on-field success in reaching T20 Blast Finals Day to compare like-for-like performance, the club estimated on an underlying basis “that for 2019, the loss increases to £492k which is a very sharp £627k decline in profitability compared to the 2018 results”.Chief executive Matt Rawnsley left the club without explanation in October 2019, and Hira’s “working assumption” is that he will not be replaced, with poor results leading to a decision to restructure with “more focussed, specific roles and responsibilities”.Worcestershire pose for their team photo on the only part of the outfield unaffected by floods in 2018•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

With regards to the Hundred, Hira stressed that he did not believe Worcestershire’s financial status was dependent on the new competition being successful.”One of the key slides I have seen from the ECB is the expectation that all formats of cricket will grow in 2020,” he wrote. “I hope that is the case but this needs to be supported by active marketing and promotion of all formats of the game.”I do not believe the Hundred is the determinant of financial success for cricket as it is portrayed, it is merely a possible contributor. The often sighted laudable aim is to open the sport up to new audiences. The new TV rights deal secured for 2020-24 at vastly higher levels than the previous agreement (a credit to the ECB) shows that the Hundred accounts for a relatively small component of secured TV revenues (<14%) – it is however pleasing that some cricket at least will be shown on terrestrial TV."The justification often mentioned when discussing the impact of the new Hundred competition is the additional income of £1.3m per year between 2020-24 which all first-class counties like ours are guaranteed to receive. The economics of The Hundred over this period (at least) will not support these levels of payments – it is unlikely to generate enough to pay each county £1.3m."Therefore cross-subsidisation is occurring through other income streams secured by the ECB (of which other TV rights accounts for 86% of revenues). My calculations indicate approximately 40% of these additional payments to counties are from other ECB income."The largest and most important component of income for the ECB and therefore for ourselves is currently through red-ball, Test cricket. To the purist, hopefully this supports the need and our desire to preserve this format of the game as well as the ongoing need to invest in county cricket."With regards to on-field performance, the report lauded Worcestershire's achievements in white-ball cricket – the club reached the quarter-finals of the One-Day Cup and only failed to retain their T20 Blast title on the last ball of the final – but stressed disappointment at their County Championship struggles.The club finished ninth in Division Two having targeted promotion, and have won only 23 of 74 games across the last five seasons."There are no excuses for 2019 performance but the path to achieving any goal is rarely linear and not immediate especially in sport," Hira wrote. "The Cricket Steering Group (CSG) led by Paul Pridgeon have reflected and been very self-critical."There have been changes and the expectation and hope is of improvement in the coming year."

“We will do a transparent review of the whole season, starting from the England series”

Umar Farooq11-Jan-2021The PCB’s cricket committee will meet on Tuesday to review Pakistan’s 2020-21 season, including the team’s performance in the recent series against New Zealand. Head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling Waqar Younis will both be debriefed on a tour where Pakistan lost the Tests 2-0 and T20Is 2-1.One of the key agendas in Tuesday’s meeting would be to assess the performances of Misbah and Younis, who have both been under scrutiny for the team’s poor results lately. Batting coach Younis Khan, however, has been exempted. While the PCB had indicated after the New Zealand tour that there may be a shake-up in the coaching staff, the board’s chief executive Wasim Khan only confirmed a “transparent review” was in order.Related

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“Committees will recommend whatever it is, good or bad, and after that Ehsan Mani will assess and take a final decision,” Wasim said. “At the moment, we can’t speculate and there should be a transparent evaluation of the performance. We will do the review of the whole season, starting from England series. There will be debate and there will be questions, but it doesn’t mean there will be definitely some changes.”Speculations are always there whenever we lose and new names (to replace the present) come up. It is disrespectful to Waqar and Misbah and nothing has changed as yet but their performances will be reviewed.”The committee had been formed in October 2018 to assist PCB chairman Ehsan Mani, but the responsibilities of the panel were limited to just recommendations. Saleem Yousaf, the new head of the committee, is the fourth incumbent in 26 months.The role of the committee broadly encompasses cricketing affairs, both domestically as well as internationally, but they aren’t allowed to interfere in day-to-day selection matters. While the committee has not been given any decision-making powers, they have been handed a wide remit. The committee meets three times a year; the upcoming meeting is the first of 2021.Ever since Misbah took charge of the team, the PCB has taken several bold decisions, such as removing Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain and dropping him from all three formats. Soon after, Azhar Ali was made the Test captain while Babar Azam was chosen to lead the team in the limited-overs formats. However, after the England series last year, Ali was also stripped off the captaincy, with the role handed to Azam.After another review last October, Misbah stepped down as Pakistan’s chief selector, but agreed to continue as head coach till 2022.When asked why the PCB hands three-year contracts to their coaches if the management is reviewed after every series, Wasim said, “There should be some continuity and security in contracts. We do give contracts in good faith and this cricket committee meeting will not necessarily recommend a change. This is purely a review and assessment of the cricket we have played so far.”The meeting will be chaired by Yousaf, while other members Umar Gul, Urooj Mumtaz and Wasim Akram will join via video. The PCB said the committee’s recommendations would be announced in due course.

Root’s double-wicket burst towards close plus Tongue’s two wickets meant all was not grim for England

Andrew McGlashan28-Jun-2023Steven Smith and Travis Head gave the opening-day honours to Australia at Lord’s, but the scorecard was not quite as bleak for England as appeared likely shortly before the close until Joe Root burgled a double-wicket over after what had been a largely uninspired performance from the home side.It may only have been day six of the series, but as Smith and Head were combining to add 118 in a bit over 20 overs for the fourth wicket, it felt as though Australia were taking a significant step towards having a stranglehold in the Ashes. A close-of-play total of 339 for 5 may yet end up proving decisive but England were clinging on.Head had played in what has become his trademark style as he flayed 77 from 73 balls, catching up with Smith who had a 43-run head start when he joined him at the crease. But having deposited Root down the ground he could not resist trying again and this time he was beaten convincingly, although Nathan Lyon will have noted the turn on offer.Two balls later Cameron Green played a very out-of-character hoick, miscuing Root to mid-off, and Australia’s good work was in danger of unravelling. However, Smith remained immovable and was closing in on Test century No. 32 on the ground where he was felled and concussed by Jofra Archer four years ago. As had been expected, there was not going to be two Tests in a row where he and Marnus Labuschagne did not contribute.David Warner, riding a little bit of luck along the way, had helped lay the early foundation under slate-grey skies which looked tailor-made for bowling although the surface itself was much less green than the days leading into the game. When he departed shortly after lunch, during a terrific over from the recalled Josh Tongue, England threatened to hit back but first Smith and Labuschagne, then Smith and Head shut them out before Root’s late incisions.David Warner already has crossed his tally of Ashes 2019•Getty Images

On an overcast morning where light drizzle and a pitch invasion by Just Stop Oil protesters, which required orange powder to be removed from the square, caused a couple of delays Ben Stokes was happy to insert Australia but England failed to take advantage of conditions. As at Edgbaston, catching – this time from the slip cordon – was one of the key reasons.Usman Khawaja, on 1, survived a low edge to first slip which just reached Root. Then a much more clear-cut chance escaped Ollie Pope at fourth from Warner off Stuart Broad when he had 20. Dismissal No. 16 went begging. Pope later spent much of the day off the field nursing a shoulder injury after diving to intercept a ball.Although Australia did not initially race away with the scoring – they were 39 for 0 after 17 overs – they had weathered the early window, albeit with a little bit of good fortune going their way. Warner had not been afraid to try the unconventional, twice stepping outside off stump to effectively sweep Broad, the first of which brought smiles between the batter and bowler.Warner, who passed his tally from the 2019 Ashes in three innings this time, scored more freely than Khawaja and it appeared the pair would take Australia to lunch without loss. However, Tongue, whose first three overs had cost 24 – including a hooked six by Warner to reach fifty – brought one back down the slope and Khawaja judged poorly as he left it alone.Josh Tongue cleaned up both Usman Khawaja and David Warner on either side of lunch•Getty Images

After the interval, Tongue got the better of Warner during an over where he produced an inside edge that narrowly missed the stumps then sliced him in half with a delivery that went for four byes before bowling one a touch fuller to obliterate the middle and leg stumps. Warner, though, has done enough to ensure he gets the rest of the Ashes, and probably the Sydney farewell he has mapped out.Labuschagne, coming off 0 for 13 at Edgbaston, still did not appear quite at his best but did not have to front up to Broad early – he had faced 29 balls by the time Broad was brought on. Broad’s comeback over involved drama with Smith who began by taking consecutive boundaries and was then given caught behind but the DRS showed daylight between bat and ball.Labuschagne started to find his groove with three boundaries in an over off Broad and another brace off Stokes as the scoreboard rattled along. Then he, too, made use of the DRS when given lbw shouldering arms to Broad against one which nipped down the slope but was shown to be going over off stump. Two overs later, England used a review against Labuschagne, but the ball had been trapped off the inside edge.The partnership had just passed 100 shortly after tea when Ollie Robinson found Labuschagne’s outside edge to give England an opening. But they bowled poorly to Head and he was away to a flying start by dispatched two short, wide deliveries from Robinson through the off side.In the blink of an eye Head was at a run-a-ball and though the ball occasionally flew past his outside edge there was plenty crunched out of the middle – some of his timing through the leg side was exquisite. Smith, as he was during the World Test Championship final against India, was happy to ride in Head’s slip stream as his fifty came in 102 balls during which he became the second-fastest to 9000 Test runs.Tongue, the quickest of England’s attack, was briefly used for a short-pitched plan against Head with the field spread far and wide but he threaded the gap on the leg side to reach fifty from 48 balls. A repeat of the Gabba, where he scored a century in the final session of the day, was on the cards before the spirit of adventure brought his downfall. Smith and Alex Carey negotiated the closing stages, including two overs against the second new ball, but while Australia are not out of sight England are already playing catch up.

Defending champions will start T20 World Cup against Scotland on strip used for Namibia’s low-scoring shoot-out against Oman

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jun-2024England will begin their defence of the T20 World Cup against Scotland on the same Kensington Oval surface which threw up a 218-run shoot-out between Namibia and Oman on Sunday night. They are heavy favourites against their British rivals but were beaten when the teams last met, in a 2018 ODI, and this slow, low surface could make life difficult for their batters.Jos Buttler, England’s captain, said on Monday that he will encourage his players to adapt and judge conditions for themselves and react accordingly, rather than heading into Tuesday’s match with “too many preconceived ideas”. But the evidence from Sunday’s match is that there could be variable bounce on a sticky surface on which wickets fell in clusters.Related

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Namibia emerged as winners, but needed a Super Over to do so after reaching 109 for 6 in pursuit of 110. Their fingerspinners, Bernard Scholtz and Gerhard Erasmus, both trapped batters lbw with balls which kept low, while Oman seamer Mehran Khan bowled Jan Frylinck in the final over with a grubber which deflected off his pad.David Wiese, Namibia’s match-winner in the Super Over, said the pitch was “a difficult wicket to start on the whole time… once you got wickets, you got wickets in clusters.” Zeeshan Maqsood, Oman’s ex-captain, suggested that Saturday’s rain in Barbados had impacted the pitch: “There was a little bit of stopping and coming, because a little wetness was there.”England and Scotland will use the same surface that Namibia and Oman did on Sunday•Getty Images

Buttler said he saw “bits and pieces” of Sunday’s match, but suggested that England should be accustomed to conditions in Barbados. They played a five-match T20I series held entirely at Kensington Oval in early 2022, and also played an ODI and a T20I there when they toured the Caribbean in December last year.”We’ve played some games here, so we know what conditions can be like,” Buttler said. “But it’s important not to have too many preconceived ideas and assume the pitch will play in a certain way. We’ve got to be prepared. That’s where communication and assessing conditions quickly – with bat or ball – will be key to the game.”He told the BBC: “We are trying not to play the game before the game has been played. It’s good to be here and get a feel for conditions, but on each day, you have to be ready to adapt… it is not in the batters’ favour all of the time in T20 cricket. We need to be able to adapt and communicate well as a team, and work out what will be a winning score.”England have been joined in Barbados by Kieron Pollard, who has been enlisted as a consultant coach for this World Cup and has spoken to the players about the impact that stiff crosswinds can have in the Caribbean. “That’s part of selection discussions and team discussions, being aware of the wind and right-hand/left-hand combinations,” Buttler said.”[Pollard] has fitted in really well. Some of the guys have played with him, or played lots of cricket against him, so have a nice relationship to start from. Obviously, he’s got a wealth of T20 knowledge and everyone should have been tapping into that, sponging up any really good information that he’s got for us.”And obviously, [he knows about] local conditions. He knows everything about the Caribbean, and he’s got that winner’s mindset. I think that’s something that we’re really tapping into. He’s won a lot of competitions around the world… it’s great to have guys like that around the group.”Kieron Pollard will assist Matthew Mott during the T20 World Cup•Gareth Copley/Getty

England come into the World Cup after beating Pakistan 2-0 in a rain-affected series, and Buttler said there is “a really good vibe” around their squad. “We had some good performances there, but we’re fully focused on the game tomorrow. We need to make sure we bring 100% intensity to that, first of all.”He acknowledged that England will be expected to beat Scotland comfortably, but said: “It’s a great game: our first of the World Cup. We’re all excited for that and we expect a tough challenge. They’ve come here to try and win games, and they want to beat us; we want to beat them. It’s pretty straightforward.”Buttler also declined to give any clues as to England’s XI for the opening match, saying: “I think we’ve got lots of really good options, from No. 1 to 15. We picked a squad with a lot of different options, and we’ve got to work out what we feel is the best combination for the first game.”

Teams likely to have a purse of INR 100 crore to build their squads for next season

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Oct-2023The IPL player auction ahead of the 2024 season will be held on December 19 in Dubai; it is the first time the auction will be held overseas.The event will coincide with the second ODI of India’s tour of South Africa, which is scheduled for December 19 in Gqeberha.The ten IPL teams have until November 15 to submit the lists of players they are retaining and releasing, after which the auction pool will be finalised by early December.Each team will have a purse of INR 100 crore (USD 12.02 million approximately) to build their squad for the 2024 season, a INR 5 crore increase from last season’s purse of INR 95 crore. How much each team has to spend on auction day depends on the value of players they release, in addition to their unspent purse from the 2023 auction.Punjab Kings have the largest purse at present – INR 12.20 crore (USD 1.47million) – while Mumbai Indians have the smallest at INR 0.05 crore (USD 0.006 million). Of the remaining teams Sunrisers Hyderabad have INR 6.55 crore (USD 0.79 million); Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals both have INR 4.45 crore (USD 0.54 million); Lucknow Super Giants have INR 3.55 crore (USD 0.43 million); Rajasthan Royals have USD 3.35 crore (USD 0.40 million); Royal Challengers Bangalore have INR 1.75 crore (USD 0.21 million); Kolkata Knight Riders have INR 1.65 crore (USD 0.2 million); and defending champions Chennai Super Kings have INR 1.5 crore (USD 0.18 million).Despite being only a day-long event – compared to the two-day mega auction once every four years – mini auctions have produced some of the most expensive buys, especially in the overseas players category. Ahead of the 2023 season, Sam Curran became the most expensive player in IPL history when he was bought by Punjab for INR 18.5 crore in December last year.Several prominent overseas players are likely to enter the upcoming auction, including Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc who recently said he was “definitely” heading back to the IPL after an eight-year hiatus. Pat Cummins is also likely to put his name up for bidding, having skipped the IPL last year. Some of the other key players franchises expect to see at the auction are Travis Head, Chris Woakes, Alex Hales, Sam Billings, and Gerald Coetzee.

His three wickets make good on decision to bowl first under murky skies

ECB Reporters Network22-Aug-2024Toby Roland-Jones led the hunt for wickets as Middlesex had the better of a rain-affected opening day against Northamptonshire at Merchant Taylors’ School.The Seaxes skipper, Middlesex’s leading red-ball wicket-taker this season in this his benefit year, made good on his decision to bowl first under murky skies, returning 3 for 34.Tom Helm , who produced a fiery opening burst backed up his skipper with 2 for 41 as the visitors struggled to 167 for 7 in the 44.4 overs played.Emilio Gay with 42 provided the chief resistance for Northamptonshire, who gave a debut to seamer Dominic Leech, who joined on loan this week from Yorkshire ahead of starting a three-year contract at Wantage Road next season.Morning rain meant no play before lunch and it was 1:25pm before Middlesex’s bowlers got the chance to profit from winning the toss.Indian Test opener Pritvhi Shaw made a positive start against some friendly offerings from Ethan Bamber and Roland-Jones. Two leg-side half-volleys were suitably despatched while two glorious drives fizzed through the covers. An injudicious attempted pull off Roland-Jones ended his fun, the ball skied to Mark Stoneman at point.Tom Helm was next to strike. The quick had played drinks waiter since appearing for Birmingham Phoenix in the opening game of the Hundred last month, but showed no rustiness, luring Ricardo Vasconcelos into a pull shot which ballooned to Roland-Jones at wide mid-on.The 30-year-old then produced the sort of ball pace bowlers dream off, bringing one back from outside off-stump to bowl Northamptonshire skipper Luke Proctor, the stump careering back almost to wicketkeeper Jack Davies.George Bartlett gave Sam Robson the first of three slip catches and while Rob Keogh briefly launched a counter-offensive, twice striking successive boundaries, he also found the hands of the former England opener with an edge off Henry Brookes.Gay had watched all the carnage from the other end. The opener, who departs for Durham at the end of the season, and who made a career-best 261 against the Seaxes at Wantage Road earlier in the campaign, batted with greater control than his teammates, using his height to defend off the back foot, while getting a good stride in when driving through the extra cover region.It was going to take a good ball to dislodge him and Roland-Jones found a brute on the stroke of tea which lifted from around fourth stump causing Gay to edge to slip, Robson again the catcher.Roland-Jones removed Justin Broad for an eight-ball duck soon after the resumption but Lewis McManus and Ben Sanderson stopped the bleeding before rain drove the players from the field.They returned 90 minutes later and 14 deliveries proved enough for the batters to raise a valuable 50-partnership before bad light intervened.

The former Pakistan batsman also breached quarantine protocols for domestic cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2020The PCB has withdrawn Faisal Iqbal, the Balochistan first XI head coach, from the upcoming National T20 Cup after his NOC was delayed from his parent organisation, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). ESPNcricinfo understands the reason for the delay is becasue he is presently facing an inquiry about discrepancies between his date of birth and his name in the matriculation certificate from the one he had submitted for his employment with PIA in 2003.Iqbal was staying with his team in Muridke in a biosecure environment, a protocol for all teams playing domestic cricket. On the last day of quarantine, he, along with his assistant coach Wasim Haider, violated the protocol only to have their stay extended by five days. They were to be tested twice over and required to return negative both times before being allowed to join the team in Multan. After withdrawing Iqbal from the rest of the squad, the PCB named Haider as interim head coach for the tournament scheduled to start from September 30 in Multan.Unlike last year, all players, support staff and match officials who were offered contracts were asked to fulfill the stipulated term to obtain the NOC from their respective organisations. Unlike Iqbal, PIA has issued an NOC to their regular employees Ghulam Ali (head coach of Sindh Second XI) and Aizaz Cheema (Southern Punjab First XI), while other coaches in the system have understandably submitted their NOCs.ALSO READ: Salman Butt refuses to play National T20 Cup after Central Punjab demotes him“It would be unfair on Faisal Iqbal as well as on his side – and on the tournament – if he competed in a major domestic tournament until he had resolved and settled the matter with his parent organisation,” the PCB said in a statement. “Faisal Iqbal would be reintegrated with his domestic side as soon as PIA gave him a clean chit along with a No Objective Certificate (NOC). Until such time, Wasim Haider will act as the Balochistan cricket team’s interim head coach.”This year, the PCB had made substantial changes to the domestic set-up, bringing in new coaches with Iqbal being handed over the charge of Balochistan’s first XI team. However, there were as many as 16 coaches who lost heir jobs, including Azam Khan, Arshad Khan, Ijaz Ahmed Jnr and Kabir Khan. Abdul Razzaq is supposed to replace Kabir at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Basit Ali, the former SNGPL coach, will take over the reins from Azam at Sindh. Shahid Anwar is in charge of Central Punjab while both Abdur Rehman (Southern Punjab) and Mohammad Wasim (Northern Punjab) were retained. All six domestic coaches will also act as national selection committee members to assist Pakistan national team coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq.Iqbal, 38, had a prolific career at the junior level since making the Under-15 side. But his time with the seniors has, for the most part, been marred by allegations of nepotism. His career coincided with Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam-ul-Haq being at their prime, and thus Iqbal was never able to cement his place in the team.His domestic figures are impressive with 12,685 runs at 39.64 in 225 matches to go along with 5,979 at 42.10 in List A games. Iqbal turned his attention to coaching since he retired from all cricket in 2018, having served as the Karachi Kings’ batting coach for the last two seasons of the PSL.

Buttler called on players to be “braver’ after ‘timid’ defeats in opening two games

Matt Roller11-Jul-2022Jos Buttler implored his England team to be “braver” after “timid” performances with the bat in their first two T20 internationals against India, Matthew Mott has revealed.England were bowled out for 148 and 121 in Buttler’s first two matches as their full-time limited-overs captain on Thursday and Saturday, losing by 50 and 49 runs respectively. Mott, their new white-ball coach, admitted they had been taken aback by the “ferocity” of India’s new attacking gameplan.Buttler addressed his squad after the second defeat in Birmingham on Saturday night and told them they should be “prepared to make some mistakes” rather than batting too cautiously. The response was a total of 215 for 7 batting first at Trent Bridge on Sunday, their highest T20I score since February 2020 and one which they defended by a margin of 17 runs despite Suryakumar Yadav’s brilliant 117.”We learned a lot of lessons in the first two games,” Mott said. “India obviously came out with a really attacking mindset and put us under pressure a lot. We expected that, but the ferocity of it took us by surprise a little bit.”After the second loss and the series loss, I thought he [Buttler] spoke exceptionally well in the group about these being the times where you learn about character. It’s easy when you’re dominating teams but we’re going to learn more about ourselves playing great teams like India and South Africa leading into a World Cup – we’re going to learn more about what we need in Australia when we’re put under pressure.”We talked about just being a bit braver. If anything, we could have been accused of being a bit timid with the bat. [On Sunday] we just went out there and thought, ‘it’s a great wicket, let’s put a score out there and hang on.’ We don’t like losing but I think there is plenty that we’ve taken out of this series already and it sets us up well for the summer.”England were without several first-choice players throughout the series including Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, who have been pencilled in at No. 3 and 4 respectively for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. But, if he is available, Stokes could alternatively be used lower down in a finishing role, with Dawid Malan’s 77 off 39 balls on Sunday serving a reminder of his credentials after an early reprieve when Harshal Patel dropped a caught-and-bowled chance.Malan’s innings was his first T20I half-century in a year and came after a scratchy innings of 19 off 25 on Saturday. His attacking intent early in his innings was a notable departure from his usual template: “Malan was unbelievable,” Mott said. “In the last game he wasn’t that happy with the way he got going and he worked really hard this morning. He played a special innings.”Mott expects to have something approaching a full-strength squad available for the three T20Is against South Africa from July 27-31. They will be the final games England play before naming their T20 World Cup squad in mid-September, immediately before they travel to Pakistan for a seven-match series – though some multi-format players will be rested for that tour.Related

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“I don’t think [the World Cup squad] is all locked in yet,” Mott said. “This far out, you’ve got so many things that could happen – whether it’s injuries or form, or whatever. We’ve got a fair idea of what we think the right make-up is, but you want players to come in and perform and really warrant that spot. It’s still open for a lot of players and that’s why we are having looks at different combinations and trying to learn.”Mott also took positives from England’s death bowling, which has been a problem area over the last two years. “It was an unbelievable experience for some of those bowlers,” he said. “[Reece] Topley was magnificent and [Richard] Gleeson has been a real find for us. All the intel that I’ve had is that it’s definitely been an area that we’re looking to improve, so to be under that sort of pressure and hold our nerve gives us a lot of confidence.”England will welcome Stokes, Bairstow, Joe Root and Craig Overton into their squad for this week’s ODI series against India, which starts on Tuesday at the Kia Oval. “They’re obviously world-class players,” Mott said. “As a coach, it’s a great opportunity to learn from probably some of the best players in this format of all-time.”They’ll bring some energy into the group and they’re really excited to be there. I don’t think they’ll have to change a hell of a lot from the way they’ve been playing but it’s a slightly different format. They come in pretty hot and we’re straight into it: that’s the modern game. We’ll see how everyone pulls up.”

Watson says the 19-year old’s adaptability to different conditions and India’s plans would be a “good test of his evolution”

Andrew McGlashan02-Jan-20252:11

Clarke: ‘Freakish’ debut for Konstas

Sam Konstas’ mentor Shane Watson has admitted the 19-year-old’s audacious start to Test cricket took even him by surprise, both in terms of the strokeplay and the way he carried himself in the field and with the crowd.Konstas scored 60 off 65 balls on the opening morning at the MCG, regularly scooping Jasprit Bumrah, and had a run-in with Virat Kohli who was fined for a shoulder barge. Later in the game he embraced the crowd when fielding on the boundary and was a vocal presence under the helmet, clearly getting under the skin of Yashasvi Jaiswal during the second innings.”I understood what his game plan was, what plan A was anyway,” Watson said as part of the ICC Champions Trophy tour at the SCG. “So when plan B sort of kicked in quite quickly, within a couple of overs, that was a little surprising. But the one thing that we’ve always talked about is trusting his gut.”Related

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While Watson was aware of the range of strokes Konstas had in his locker, even if showing them so early in Test was unexpected, he admitted the character shown in the field was not something he had seen before.”My experience of dealing and working with Sam has been a very quiet, reserved personality,” he said. “[He’s] a very deep thinker and certainly not an extrovert. But obviously what we saw in the Test match is that he absolutely is a showman. And he certainly rose to the occasion, as in he wasn’t overawed.”I know through my experience of debuting…you just put a lot of pressure on yourself because it’s your dream to be able to represent your country, wear the baggy green. But for Sam, it’s superhuman in a way that he sort of just didn’t have any of that at all. You can see it wasn’t put on. That’s just obviously who he is. And again, I hadn’t seen that side of him. It just shows that he’s built for this stage where most people it takes a bit of time to warm up to sort of get into that. Whereas Sam, he obviously just thrives on that.”Konstas has continued to enjoy the trappings of being a Test cricketer since arriving with the squad in Sydney, having photographs with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon during the annual New Year’s Day gathering at Kirribilli House. He also spent time chatting with Kohli, who his brothers took the opportunity to get a photograph with.Albanese joked about his role in Konstas’ rapid rise to the Test side after the century he scored against the Indians in Canberra. “Of course, he got his break in the Prime Minister’s XI [game],” Albanese said. “I’m claiming some of the credit, which is about my only contribution to national cricket.”Shane Watson on Konstas: ‘He’s certainly got all the gears and all the skills to be able to make adjustments’•Getty Images

On Friday, Konstas will become the youngest Australia men’s player to feature in a Test at his home ground of the SCG followed by the prospect of two Tests in vastly different conditions in Sri Lanka. India had already adjusted their tactics by the second innings in Melbourne where Konstas was kept quiet before being bowled by an inducker from Bumrah.”Look it’s going to be a different challenge for him now,” Watson said. “Because he’s shown what his plan B is. And we already saw in that second innings the field positions certainly changed. It’s going to be a good test of his evolution. To be able to continue to work through how he can take the game on against the best bowlers in the world. But he’s certainly got all the gears and all the skills to be able to make those adjustments quickly.”He is technically very correct and waits for loose balls. But he’s also got the other gears to be able to hit the ball down the ground. But when they do have third man fine and fine leg fine, the ramp shot is probably out. But you know what? I thought the ramp shot wasn’t going to come out in the first couple of overs, and it did. Sam will just trust what he feels and go with it. And that’s something very special that he taps into.”Australia captain Pat Cummins said there had been no instructions given to Konstas about how to go about his innings and believed he would be able to adjust to different scenarios.”Think he showed how adaptable he can be,” Cummins said. “That takes a lot of skill first of all, but we always encourage our players just to read the moment, play it how they see fit. For Sam he sensed the moment was to attack and put pressure back on the bowlers and he did that, it might be different this week; it might be ‘I’m going to play a slow game and kind of score runs that way’. Our message is always just to back yourself, have really clear plans and back your decision making.”