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Khurram Shahzad has not fully recovered from the side injury he picked up during the Bangladesh series

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2024Pakistan have retained Shan Masood as their captain for the first match of their three-Test series against England, which begins in Multan on October 7. Aamer Jamal has found a place in their 15-member squad following his return from a back issue, while Khurram Shahzad, who took a six-wicket haul in the second Test against Bangladesh, misses out having failed to fully recover from an injury to his left side.Left-arm spinner Noman Ali, who didn’t feature in the Bangladesh series, returns to the side as a second frontline spin option alongside Abrar Ahmed.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

There was some scrutiny around Masood’s position in the aftermath of the 2-0 home Test series defeat to Bangladesh earlier this month, but he retains the role for now, with Pakistan looking to overturn a run of poor results in the longest format. They have lost each of their last five Test matches, all with Masood in charge, and they are on a 10-match winless streak in home Tests.One piece of positive news for Pakistan is the return of the fast-bowling allrounder Jamal, their most impressive performer on their 2023-24 tour of Australia. Jamal has been dealing with lower-back issues over recent months, and didn’t take part in the series against Bangladesh. He has since returned to 50-overs action in the Champions Cup.This is counterbalanced, however, by the absence of Shahzad. He picked up the side injury during the second Test against Bangladesh, and was expected to be fit in time for the England series when a fracture was ruled out, but he hasn’t yet staged a complete recovery.Top-order batter Kamran Ghulam and fast bowler Mohammad Ali, who were part of the squad for the Bangladesh series, have been left out. A PCB release said both “remain firmly in the selectors’ plans. However, due to the selection policy’s emphasis on consistency and continuity, and the belief that 15 players are sufficient for a Test, they have been advised and encouraged to continue representing their teams in the Champions One-Day Cup and the President’s Cup, starting on 3 October, to ensure they stay match-ready through competitive cricket.”The players selected in the Test squad have been withdrawn from the Champions Cup playoffs to enable them to rest before the start of the England series. The squad will assemble in Multan on September 30, with their pre-series training camp starting on October 1.

Pakistan squad for first Test against England

Shan Masood (capt), Saud Shakeel (vice-capt), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Bangladesh vice-captain feels the bowling performance was a positive from this T20 World Cup campaign

Mohammad Isam28-Jun-2024Poor form from the batters was the primary reason for Bangladesh’s disappointing T20 World Cup 2024 campaign, according to vice captain Taskin Ahmed. He said that almost everything went according to plan except the batting during Bangladesh’s 47-day tour of the Americas.In a tough environment for batters across the tournament, Bangladesh’s batting unit had the lowest collective average among the Super Eight teams.Bangladesh’s top three failed to give them a start in any of their innings with Litton Das scoring the lone fifty from those positions. Towhid Hridoy’s 153 runs at 128.57 was their best batting performance but Shakib (111 runs at 106.73 SR) and Mahmudullah (95 runs at 94.05 SR) couldn’t provide him with enough support in the middle order.Related

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“The seniors’ off-form had an effect on the team but not off the field,” Taskin told reporters at the Dhaka airport, after the Bangladesh team’s arrival on Friday morning. “They are great team men. We stayed as a team for 47 days. Everything was fine off the field. It is quite normal that a team will have problems when important players are not in form. I am hopeful that we can recover from this, and play better soon.”Taskin said that the batters only found better pitches when they reached the West Indies but even then he said that he hadn’t seen such a long batting slump by Bangladesh in his international career.”When you talk about the batting, if you look at the statistics, I think every [teams’] batting department suffered in the USA this time. Bowlers got a lot of help. We got better [batting] wickets in the West Indies.”I haven’t seen such a long bad patch for the batters in my ten years playing for Bangladesh. I hope it goes away quickly.”We never had great numbers in T20s. We are improving slowly. We cannot just look at minus points; we are in the negative already. We are trying to get a ‘plus’. Your frustration is expected. We will give you a good win. You have to keep faith in us. We will give it our best.”Taskin was part of a strong bowling display from Bangladesh. He was returning from injury but Tanzim Hasan and legspinner Rishad Hossain led the bowling charts; Rishad remains in joint-third position among the tournament’s top wicket-takers, ahead of the final. Taskin said that it proved talented cricketers are coming up from Bangladesh.”The bowling unit has been doing well for the last few years. We have been consistent. It will keep getting better.”Tanzim and Rishad are among the tournament’s top wicket-takers. It is a positive. We have some future stars emerging from Bangladesh. It says that we have ability. What has taken place has hurt us and the fans, especially our inability to win certain matches,” he said.Taskin said that they were left disappointed with the last game against Afghanistan especially, when Bangladesh had to chase down their target in 12.1 overs to make it to the semi-finals but couldn’t get the job done.”We could have done a lot better. We were all quite disappointed with the last match. We tried to win it in 12 overs, but when we realised it wasn’t possible, we tried to win the game. We still couldn’t win.”There are positives from the campaign. Our bowlers did very well throughout the tournament. We qualified to the Super Eight. We won three matches in the T20 World Cup for the first time. So there are positives, but there are negatives too. We are disappointed like the rest of you. We didn’t play up to expectations.”

Head coach Jon Lewis says the tool proved crucial in last year’s drawn Ashes series

Valkerie Baynes03-May-2024England Women are using artificial intelligence (AI) to inform selection using a system head coach Jon Lewis says proved crucial in last year’s drawn Ashes series.Lewis was first exposed to the technology, provided by London-based company PSi, while coaching UP Warriorz in the inaugural WPL last year. He has since spoken with the likes of England Rugby Union coach Steve Borthwick about the system, also used by English rugby league side Wigan Warriors and English Football League One side Wigan Athletic, which allows coaching staff to simulate various match-ups and scenarios.”We are able to run simulated teams versus the simulated opposition to give us an idea about how those teams may match up against each other,” Lewis said on Friday after revealing England’s white-ball squads to host Pakistan from next week.”I can send multiple different lineups to the company and they run, I think it’s about 250,000 simulations per team that I send with all the different permutations that could happen through the game.”What I would say is it’s not how we select the side, but it’s one part of selection that we use to help understand what could possibly happen in the future. We used it very successfully in the Ashes last summer with match-ups against the Australian side.”Related

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Lewis said the research methods were impacted somewhat by a gap in the quality of historical data in the women’s game, a situation he believes will improve amid an increasingly packed international schedule and growing franchise scene. And while he said the tool was particularly useful in helping to make borderline selection calls, he would always opt for a people-first approach.”Obviously we’re on the ground with the people and that’s probably the first thing that we look to in terms of selection, which people are playing well, we use our cricketing eye,” he said. “But it’s one small part of what we do and it’s really interesting, and it played out really well last summer against Australia.”I think it will help with borderline decisions in terms of selections and match-ups. Will it ever be at the front, the thing that selects the team? I would say, in my view, no. Other coaches may feel very differently, but it is really interesting.”AI was used throughout last summer’s Ashes and Lewis pointed to the T20 leg, which England won 2-1 to get back into the series after losing the one-off Test, as a moment when it came to his aid in weighing up the merits of two players who were “both in really good form and were both really selectable”.”There was one selection in particular last year,” he said. “We saw a real strength in Australia and we matched up our strength, our best bowlers, to that part of the game against Australia last year. That worked really, really well for us. That helped us win the T20 series in particular and that got us back in the Ashes.”The players were both players that I was thinking about picking. So it did help me with those selections and it turned out that it worked out really well. So yeah, it can help selections, but my go-to would be get your people right first, get them all in the right head space, get their games in order, and then use data to support around selection.”England Women’s squads vs Pakistan•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

From data to people, England have just completed a bonding trip to the Lake District, which involved a number of team-building exercises including cold-water swimming, designed to see how players responded in situations that, for many, were outside their comfort zones.”We spend a lot of time in the nets and we spend a lot of time thinking and practising about how to improve those parts of our game,” Lewis said. “However, the game of cricket is a real tactical game. It’s a game of chess. You need to be able to be a really clear thinker under pressure and you need to be able to manage the anxieties that are around cricket, not only on the field, but the anxieties that all players face off the field as well.”We worked a lot on how to manage anxiety and how to manage pressure and to do that, sometimes you’ve got to take players out of the environment that they’re normally in. When you do that, you take away, I suppose, the hierarchy of the group a little bit and everyone becomes very even. Then what you start to see is different people voicing opinions, different people giving advice to each other, and I suppose the group connecting on a different level than they would do around cricket.”We did a really powerful session around facing our fears and the girls were really, really honest about what their fears were around being part of an England cricket team. There was some really interesting stuff that came out of that and that will really help us as a coaching group manage our players and help them to become more rounded people first and then better cricketers at the same time.”The players, some of them liked the activities that we were doing and some of them didn’t, and that caused different types of stresses and hopefully we help them with some ways to deal with those things.”

Spinners skittle Lancashire for 149 as visitors establish 231-run lead going into final day

ECB Reporters Network26-May-2024Career-best figures of 4 for 20 from Warwickshire slow left armer Jacob Bethell ensured Lancashire’s first innings collapsed from 66 for 3 overnight to 149 all out before the visitors built a lead of 231 runs with seven wickets in hand after closing on 96 for 3 going into the last day of this Vitality County Championship Division One clash at Emirates Old Trafford.Once Olly Hannon-Dalby had clean bowled Tom Bruce for three early on, it was Bethell and fellow tweaker Jake Lintott who took over, with the latter also producing career-best figures of 3 for 10, as the hosts lost their last six wickets for 36 runs in 19.2 overs.It was a familiar story for Lancashire, who have been dismissed for under 150 in their first innings three times this season. With Bruce’s dismissal followed by George Balderson’s. However, the all-rounder was unlucky after he was given out for 20 after seemingly not connecting with a Bethell delivery, which deflected off the wicketkeeper’s thigh to Will Rhodes at slip.Keaton Jennings could also claim bad luck after he was adjudged lbw to Bethell for 36 to a delivery that looked to be sliding down leg but Lancashire’s brittle tail could have little complaint as Tom Aspinwall, Tom Bailey, Nathan Lyon and Jack Morley all went cheaply with only Matty Hurst showing any kind of resistance to finish unbeaten on 20.Warwickshire commenced their second innings with an unlikely lead of 135 runs meaning the hosts needed quick wickets and Balderston obliged with a beauty to remove Rob Yates for five edging behind.Lyon, who took just one wicket in the first innings, struck next with a turning delivery that was helped on its way by an inside edge from the Warwickshire skipper and first innings centurion, Alex Davies, who departed for 17. When Hartley trapped Will Rhodes in front for five, home hopes were raised once again with the score 34 for 3.But a counterattack from Ed Barnard, who hit 40 from 46 balls, and Dan Mousey, who struck 18 from 20, eased Warwickshire’s worries and took them to 96 for 3 when the much-forecast heavy rain came just after 5 p.m. accompanied by some rumbles of thunder, which even when the showers stopped prevented any further play.

India’s first World Cup-winning captain believes that match situations should dictate who bats at No.4 for the team

Sruthi Ravindranath03-Apr-2019While there have been umpteen suggestions on who should take up India’s No. 4 batting spot at the World Cup, former captain Kapil Dev does not believe the concept of slots applies in modern-day cricket.At the end of nearly every IPL match, a number of names – including the likes of Vijay Shankar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu and Sanju Samson – have been suggested by former players for the much-discussed spot, the only one that India are seemingly still unsure about. While India have tested a few names at the position with varied degree of success in the recent past, players like Hanuma Vihari and Shreyas Iyer have also admitted that they would fit the bill.So, has Kapil put the debate to rest?”There’s a lot of talk going on about No. 4, but you have to see the situation at that moment,” Kapil said, at an event hosted by Britannia that reunited him with Kris Srikkanth, Syed Kirmani and Roger Binny, members of the 1983 World Cup-winning squad.”I don’t think anybody these days have numbers [fixed positions in the line-up] – need of the hour is more important. You can send MS Dhoni, or anybody. No. 1 to 7 are all good enough to play there. One should not get confused. Play like you want to win the match and don’t go by the number. It should depend on the situation of the match.”Though he has been backed by various pundits, Rishabh Pant might not be a certainty to make the XI, but Srikkanth expected the wicketkeeper-batsman to make the cut, pointing to his match-winning abilities.Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni congratulate each other•AFP

“Rishabh Pant almost won a Test match from a no-win situation in England [The Oval Test, 2018],” Srikkanth pointed out. “You need to give him confidence. In my days, Kapil gave me that freedom. Like that Rishabh Pant should be given the freedom to play; he’s capable of winning at least three matches single-handedly.”Kapil, however, felt upcoming wicketkeeper-batsmen have a lot more to prove that they are dependable, especially considering that Dhoni has set high standards playing that role.”Dhoni has set the standard so high. They [other wicketkeeper-batsmen] have the ability and talent. Only the execution over a period of time is needed and it won’t happen overnight,” Kapil said. “Yes, they’ve done a couple of good performances but the standard is really high in today’s team. They have a long way to go.”While speaking of the importance of allrounders in the Indian team, Kapil also said that Dhoni was on top of his list.”Is a batsman-bowler the only allrounder? You can now say even a wicketkeeper is an allrounder. The meaning of allrounder is changed. It’s not just about a batsman who makes runs and takes wickets,” he argued. “Wicketkeeper should also be on this list. That way, Dhoni comes in very high. If you’re good in two departments – any two departments – everyone will come under that if you include fielding.”Former wicketkeeper Kirmani was also of the same view. “In our era, nobody considered a wicketkeeper an allrounder. Dhoni came and proved it. A wicketkeeper has to be an allrounder and since the advent of ODIs, there was more emphasis on a batsman and a wicketkeeper. Now a wicketkeeper is also an allrounder.”On being asked what the difference was between the 1983 World Cup squad and the current Indian squad, Kapil quipped: “They don’t have us, that’s the difference.”

Australia are currently ranked fifth in Test cricket, tied with fourth-placed New Zealand on 102 rating points

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2018Australia could top the ICC Test rankings at the end of their Test series against India – the current No.1 team – if they manage to attain a 4-0 result. Should they achieve that, India will go down to third, fractionally behind England, who are currently in second place with 108 rating points.Australia are currently ranked fifth, tied on 102 rating points with New Zealand, while India have 116. Australia’s position could change once the ongoing third Test between Pakistan and New Zealand concludes, with a draw or a Pakistan win pushing Australia up to fourth.India have been No.1 in Tests since October 2016, when they got the top spot after a victory against New Zealand at Eden Gardens. The 25 months they have spent as No.1 is India’s longest-ever reign at the top. Drawing a solitary Test in the upcoming series will keep India at No.1.A drawn series will mean India lose two rating points to be on 114, but they’ll remain the top-ranked team. India will remain on 116 rating points if they win the series by a one-Test margin, and increase their tally if they win by more. Sweeping the series 4-0 will mean India rise to 120 rating points, with the possibility that Australia could sink to No.6.

Five defeats in six – and only their second by an innings – tests the patience of Yorkshire’s Festival crowds

Paul Edwards at North Marine Road22-Aug-2018
Before the start of the morning session on the final day of this game a father was walking round the boundary with his son. They were watching the Yorkshire squad warming up.”Dad, why are they playing football?” asked the lad.”Because they can’t play cricket,” came the reply.Yes, they are stern critics in these parts and a defeat such as this does not warrant the taking of prisoners.Worcestershire needed only 61 balls to become just the second side to beat Yorkshire by an innings at Scarborough. Moeen Ali continued to enjoy the turn offered by the North Marine Road pitch and removed David Willey and Matt Fisher with the 21st and 24th balls of the day. Dillon Pennington then trimmed Jack Brooks’ off bail even before the batsman could dole out some of his famous humpty and the game ended when Daryl Mitchell snaffled Josh Poysden at second slip, also off Pennington.The combination was apposite. Mitchell is a talismanic figure at New Road, revered by his team mates, when they are not ribbing him outrageously, and loved by the spectators. Pennington is a young cricketer of immense promise. His duel with Kane Williamson on the third evening is burned beautifully into the memory.Before long other records were tumbling out like surprise Christmas presents from a sack. For example, Yorkshire have now lost five of their last six championship games at Scarborough. On a happier note, Moeen, who bestrode this game with courteous majesty, is only the second Worcestershire cricketer – after Ted Arnold in 1909 – to score a double hundred and take five wickets in an innings. He finished with match figures of 8 for 89 and, rather remarkably, 1312 spectators watched him bowling on this final morning.But professionals are choosy about statistics. What matters to them is the standard of a performance and where it leaves them in a table. So let it be said clearly that Worcestershire’s cricket in this match has been of a very high quality and their superiority cannot be explained by Yorkshire’s inadequacies. Ed Barnard’s bowling on the first day, Mitchell and Fell’s batting later that evening and Josh Tongue’s spell late on the third day all suggested that Ali’s team are far from relegation favourites. This win takes leaves them five points behind Yorkshire and they play Lancashire at Southport next Wednesday. It is game on.As for Yorkshire, they must take some lessons from their opponents. There were times in this game when Willey’s side were abject and his players out of gas. That is to Worcestershire’s credit, of course, but it also something which the coach, Andrew Gale, must address very quickly. It is no good mewling about injuries or absentees. The championship summers are already a distant memory. Division Two beckons if both the batsmen’s techniques and the bowlers’ lines are not tightened up. But in September it often comes down to how much a team wants it.Worcestershire clearly wanted victory very much this week. Their head coach, Kevin Sharp was fairly bursting with pride as he spoke of his delight at returning to the county where he spent 25 years and showing the folk up here how four-day cricket should be played. “We came here to do a job and I’d say we’ve done it very well,” he said. “We’ve looked a very high-class team over these four days.”So they did. The journey home before Saturday’s T20 quarter-final should be a pleasant affair. And though one doubts they knew it, Worcestershire’s cricketers and their supporters were only the latest group of travellers to arrive on this coast hoping to profit from their visit. In the middle-ages Scarborough hosted a 45-day fair at which luxuries such as spices or fur were sought. By the early 18th century the town’s fame as a spa made it a resort of choice for fashionable Londoners and Sheridan set his play here.But rather than follow the intrigues of Lord Foppington and Sir Tunbelly Clumsy, supporters from Bromsgrove or Evesham have been lauding the young buck, Pennington, or the faithful servant, Mitchell. They have watched in delight – maybe a little disbelief – over the last four days and when the game was done they listened to one of the country’s best victory songs belting out from the away dressing room. Then they applauded the song and put the moment away until it is needed on drear January evenings.

The allrounder struck smashed 15 fours and 10 sixes, six of them in one over, in his assault

Arun Venugopal15-Dec-2017When Ravindra Jadeja was left out of the ODI squad earlier this year, he slammed a double-century in his first Ranji Trophy innings of the season. Now, with the Sri Lanka limited-overs series ongoing, Jadeja – who has struck three first-class triple-centuries, the most by an Indian – stuck to the destructive pattern and struck six sixes in an over en route to a blistering century on the opening day of the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) inter-district T20 tournament.Jadeja smashed a 69-ball 154 as Jamnagar brushed aside Amreli by 121 runs in their opening game at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ‘B’ ground in Rajkot. The win gave last year’s semi-finalists Jamnagar four points.Opening the batting with Divyaraj Chauhan, who has turned out for Saurashtra in seven first-class matches, Jadeja was dismissed only in the 19th over. In the 15th over, Jadeja launched a brutal assault against offspinner Nilam Vamja and carted six sixes in a row. Vamja ended up conceding 48 in two overs.By the time Jadeja was run out in the 19th over, he had unleashed mayhem to propel Jamnagar’s total to 239 for 6. He scored 120 off his 154 runs in boundaries – 15 fours and 10 sixes. Jadeja’s efforts were supplemented by another Jadeja – Vishwaraj – who struck 39 off 23 balls.The SCA inter-district T20 tournament features 16 teams divided into four groups. Jamnagar play their next game against Botad on Saturday.

Leicestershire are poised for victory on the final day against Glamorgan and, if this all-round performance is an indication of how much they have improved, they are unlikely to finish bottom this season

ECB Reporters Network19-Apr-2016
ScorecardBen Raine struck twice during Glamorgan’s collapse•PA Photos

Leicestershire are poised for victory on the final day against Glamorgan and, if this all-round performance is an indication of how much they have improved, they are unlikely to finish bottom this season – a position they have occupied for the last three years.Glamorgan were 172 for 8 in their second innings at the close, including a collapse of 4 for 3, leaving them a slender lead of 93 on a pitch where there is a little uneven bounce, but that should not create any problems for the batsmen.Clint McKay was signed by Leicestershire last year and he rewarded his new employers by taking 58 wickets in first-class cricket. He recently announced his retirement from Australian cricket but will continue on the county scene and his impact has already been felt.He took 6 for 73 in the first innings, captured another two when Glamorgan batted again, and was instrumental in Leicestershire gaining a lead of 79 on first innings. When he came to the crease, his team were 24 runs behind, but when he was out, he had added a further 97 runs with Ben Raine and Jigar Naik, as Leicestershire gained four batting points and an useful lead.The morning session was important for both teams, with Glamorgan hoping to take early wickets and the visitors eager to establish a sizeable lead. Michael Hogan dismissed Wayne White for 58, but McKay began by striking five boundaries in reaching 20 before settling down to play a responsible innings.There was plenty of playing and missing at the five Glamorgan seamers, but the Leicestershire tailenders frustrated the bowlers by playing every ball on its merit. When McKay eventually struck Graham Wagg’s slower ball to cover, he had played a valuable innings which lasted 89 balls with 12 boundaries.McKay then inflicted more damage when Glamorgan batted, taking two wickets with the third and fifth balls of his fourth over as Glamorgan slipped to 16 for 2. James Kettleborough touched a lifting delivery to the wicketkeeper, then Will Bragg dragged one on to his stumps attempting to cut a short ball.When Chris Cooke was out for 8, Glamorgan were still 50 runs behind, but Jacques Rudolph and Aneurin Donald then settled down to add 60 for the fourth wicket until Rudolph became Niall O’Brien’s third catch behind the wicket.Donald scored 57 with seven fours, but it was his mix-up with David Lloyd which resulted in Lloyd being run out and the start of a collapse where Glamorgan lost four quick wickets, with Raine taking two in an over, before Wagg and Hogan nursed them to the close.

South Australia is fighting to make New South Wales bat again after hundreds to Peter Nevill and Nathan Hauritz put the hosts in a commanding position

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2010
ScorecardCallum Ferguson holds the key for South Australia after finishing unbeaten on 55•Getty Images

South Australia is fighting to make New South Wales bat again after hundreds to Peter Nevill and Nathan Hauritz put the hosts in a commanding position. The Blues declared after lunch at 8 for 461 and had the Redbacks 4 for 178 at stumps, still 95 behind with a day to play.Callum Ferguson delivered a timely reminder to the national selectors with 55 not out while Daniel Christian was unbeaten on 43 as the battling visitors finished with a promising stand of 76. South Australia were in trouble after Tom Moffat finished his first game with 0 and 11 after nicking Trent Copeland, while the captain Michael Klinger (9) was caught behind off Stuart Clark. Steven Smith picked up his first wicket when he had Tom Cooper stumped on 41 and also had Aiden Blizzard lbw for 3.It was much easier batting for New South Wales and Nevill, the wicketkeeper, gained his second Shield century. He collected 12 fours and a six and stormed from his half-century to his hundred in 38 balls.Nevill built on the work of Hauritz, who became the highest scoring nightwatchman in the competition. His 146, which ended when he edged Christian, overtook the 134 of Victoria’s Ray Jordon in 1963-64.