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Cricinfo previews the second one-day International between England and Pakistan at Headingley

The Preview by Sahil Dutta and Liam Brickhill11-Sep-2010

Match facts

September 12, 2010, Headingley
Start time 10.15am (9.15am GMT)Despite a disappointing summer with the bat, Umar Akmal has the ability to inject life into the one-day series•Getty Images

Big picture

While it seems that nothing could rid the backdrop of spot-fixing allegations from this series, the lingering hope is that a keen contest between these two sides might at least provide a moment of relief. The abject nature of Pakistan’s pair of defeats in the Twenty20 series, played in front of half-empty stands at Cardiff, left a fear that the one-day series could descend into a more unappetising farce than even the seven-match trudge against Australia at the end of last summer. Thankfully, without really threatening England, Pakistan still demonstrated enough spirit and backbone in the first game to keep their fans hoping.The much-hyped introduction of enormous paceman Mohammad Irfan may have failed to match the billing but the veteran Shoaib Akthar sweated through an impressive opening spell and provided enough of a test to keep England’s batsmen hopping. Saeed Ajmal continued to weave the confusion that has hounded England all summer and most significantly, Pakistan’s fielding was smart and at times – such as Umar Akmal’s direct-hit from the outfield to dismiss Tim Bresnan – positively sharp.The batting too was much improved. Kamran Akmal managed his first decent performance of a chastening summer, while his brother Umar flickered with his abundant talent once again and there were spirited contributions throughout the order. It was enough for Andrew Strauss to unleash that most trite of clichés by declaring after the match that “cricket was the winner”. Though It speaks volumes for how low Pakistan had sunk that a comfortable England win was seen as progress, another improvement at Edgbaston could put the teams on more equal footing.England, for their part, are quietly piecing together a team to challenge for the World Cup in February. Their limited-overs cricket has improved beyond recognition since the 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Australia last summer, and the World Twenty20 champions have now won four ODI series in a row and show no signs of stopping.The demand for continual improvement saw Craig Kieswetter dumped out of the team for Steve Davies as the England management set a clear challenge – perform now and book your place for the World Cup. Davies’ response was perfect, striking the ball sweetly to race to 87 from 67 deliveries and both earn the Man-of-the-Match award and high praise from his captain. Alongside him Ravi Bopara’s international rehabilitation continued with a breezy unbeaten 37 to finish the innings. Both still have plenty to prove and that context alone gives England supporters something to follow.

Form guide (last five completed matches)

England WWLWL

Pakistan LWLLLL

Watch out for…

Such is his style, Paul Collingwood’s contributions in England’s middle-order can often be overshadowed by his more flamboyant team-mates. But since England’s triumph against Australia earlier this summer, his returns have dipped noticeably and he is due a score in one-day cricket. Positive starts in the second Twenty20 and first ODI against Pakistan – including a dismissive flick over the square leg boundary after charging Shoaib Akhtar in Cardiff – gave a hint of his enduring ability in limited-overs cricket.Before his inexplicable brainwrong at Chester-le-Street, Umar Akmal had threatened to take the game away from England singlehandedly with an array of attacking cricket shots. There is no doubt that the younger Akmal oozes talent, but if Pakistan are to reverse their slide this summer they will need more than attractive cameos from him. Though he is only 20 years old, the sooner Akmal finds the level-head to take responsibility for the middle order, the better.

Team news

England rung the changes for this series and after starting on a winning note they are likely to stick with the chosen XI to deliver the goods again.England (probable) 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Steve Davies (wk), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Michael Yardy, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James AndersonPakistan’s improvement was palpable but Umar Gul’s below-par showing at Chester-le-Street could tempt them to recall Abdul Razzaq to bolster the batting as well.Pakistan (possible) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Kamran Akmal (wk), 3 Mohammad Yousuf, 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Shahid Afridi (capt), 6 Fawad Alam, 7 Asad Shafiq, 8 Umar Gul, 9 Mohammad Irfan, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Shoaib Akhtar.

Pitch and conditions

The Headingley wicket is variable, and – particularly when there is cloud cover – aids seam bowling. Recent matches at the ground have shown that there are runs to be had when the sun shines, however, and Alastair Cook cracked an aggressive unbeaten hundred in a seven-wicket win over Yorkshire in the CB 40 last weekend. With a reasonably sunny day expected tomorrow, this could be a game for the batsmen.

Stats and Trivia

• Shahid Afridi hasn’t looked in particularly good nick since returning to Pakistan’s squad for the limited-overs leg of their tour, which may be an indication of how much of an effect outside events have had on team morale. Afridi has scratched together just 37 runs in three international innings since his return without clearing the ropes once, but he’s still international cricket’s leading six-hitter in ODIs this year, and also still tops the lists for highest strike-rate in an innings. After his hundreds against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Dambulla just over two months ago, much more is expected of Pakistan’s captain.
• Jonathan Trott’s fantastic run of form this summer has brought him 942 runs in home internationals in 2010 at the inflated average of 85.63. He has registered two Test hundreds, one in ODIs, and in matches in which England have won he averages a round 100.

Quotes

The two games I played previously, one was when Matty [Prior] was out and the other was just a one-off Twenty20. But I feel this is now my time. It’s a great chance for me.”

“We all want to go home with respect. We are good cricketers and want to maintain our respect and that is gained by playing good cricket. After a victory the respect will come again.”

New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has announced his retirement from Test cricket due to his recurring battle with injuries during his eight-year international career

Cricinfo staff23-Dec-2009New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond has announced his retirement from Test cricket due to a recurring battle with injury. He will continue to represent his country in one-dayers and Twenty20s.Bond, 34, revived his international career earlier this year after quitting the unofficial Indian Cricket League. He made a comeback to the limited-overs side during the tour of Sri Lanka, before working his way back to the Test squad. Following a match-winning performance in the first Test against Pakistan in Dunedin, he was forced to withdraw from the two remaining games after tearing an abdominal muscle. The injury setback – the latest in a career punctuated by back, feet and soft tissue problems – left him disappointed, prompting him to reassess his future as a Test player.”The hardest thing is that I’ve always considered myself a Test bowler – and it was such a great feeling to be back in the team last month and playing Test match cricket with the Blackcaps,” Bond said.”I’ve worked really hard to get back to Test match fitness – it’s what I’ve been working towards for the past two years – and I feel I gave as much as I could. But looking back, so many of my injuries have come during Test cricket. Unfortunately my body just won’t let me continue to play at that level, given the workload and demands of Test cricket.”I don’t want to end on an injury and I am absolutely committed to playing for the Blackcaps.
This way I hope I’ve got a better chance of continuing to play. I hope I’ll be able to continue to contribute to the team and to New Zealand cricket fans for a while yet.”It’s been a tough call, because Test cricket remains the ultimate form of the game – but I’m comfortable I’ve made the right choice.”Bond said he is targeting the one-dayers against Australia starting February for his comeback. He added that he would start playing club cricket in January before representing Canterbury in one-day games the following month.Justin Vaughan, the CEO of New Zealand Cricket, sympathised with Bond’s decision.”Shane really showed his never-say-die attitude in his comeback this season, especially in the Test Match against Pakistan – and I know how tough this decision has been for him,” Vaughan said. “Of course we’re disappointed that he won’t be part of the Test line-up, but New Zealand Cricket supports his decision to focus on limited-overs cricket and hopes that this decision will prolong his international career.”He remains one of the best fast bowlers in the international game and we’re delighted that he’s doing all he can to keep playing.”One of the fastest bowlers in world cricket since the 2000s, Bond has the distinction of being the quickest New Zealander to 50 wickets in Tests and ODIs. However, since his debut in 2001, he has managed to play only 18 Tests, taking 87 wickets, and 77 ODIs. Stress-fractures to his feet and back forced him to miss numerous games and tours, including the 2004 series in England. After a successful tour of Zimbabwe in 2005, a knee injury ruled him out for nine months. He joined the ICL in 2007, had his New Zealand Cricket contract terminated, but was readmitted to the international ranks earlier this year when the Twenty20 league offered amnesty to its players.He ends his Test career regarded by many as New Zealand’s best fast bowler since Sir Richard Hadlee.

Second ODI shifted to Thursday before series concludes on Sunday in Jamaica

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jan-2022West Indies and Ireland have agreed to reschedule the remaining two fixtures of their three-match ODI series, after a Covid-19 outbreak contributed to the second match being postponed. As a result, the one-off T20I scheduled for Sunday has been cancelled.The second ODI will now be played at Sabina Park on Thursday, with the series concluding on Sunday. West Indies won the opening game by 24 runs, with all three fixtures forming part of the ICC’s World Cup Super League.With three further members of Ireland’s touring party in Jamaica testing positive on Monday, Cricket West Indies and Cricket Ireland had agreed to push back Tuesday’s second ODI. Ireland were already without Simi Singh and Ben White, before Andy Balbirnie, the captain, Lorcan Tucker and David Ripley, the interim head coach, returned positive results.Related

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Ireland’s playing resources were further depleted by concerns over the concussion Andy McBrine suffered in the first ODI, and a foot injury sustained by Mark Adair.The teams were due to play a T20I fixture following the ODI series but that has been scrapped “to allow for this revised schedule and to avoid impact on the West Indies team’s travel plans and subsequent fixtures”, said a joint statement from the two boards. West Indies are due to play England in a five-match T20I series in Barbados, starting on January 22.Ireland’s tour of the USA and the Caribbean has been severely disrupted by Covid-19 infections. The ODI series against USA was cancelled after a number of positive tests among support staff and family members, before Paul Stirling and Shane Getkate were forced to isolate in Florida while the rest of the team travelled on to Jamaica.Both players have now rejoined the squad after testing negative, with Stirling named as stand-in captain in Balbirne’s absence.

Both players described as “conscious and stable” by CWI

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jul-2021The second women’s T20I between West Indies and Pakistan in Antigua was delayed after two of the home side’s players collapsed on the field, in separate incidents. Chinelle Henry and Chedean Nation were taken to hospital, where they were “conscious and stable”, according to a CWI spokesperson.Both the incidents took place during Pakistan’s chase, which was also beset by weather interruptions.”Chinelle Henry and Chedean Nation were taken to hospital for medical attention,” CWI said in a statement. “Both Henry and Nation are conscious and stable at hospital and are being assessed.”West Indies Women brought on two substitutes and the game continued, with the home side eventually declared winners by seven runs on Duckworth-Lewis-Stern after another interruption.”It isn’t very easy in those conditions and situations. I’m just happy that the team was able to go over the line for those two ladies who weren’t with us, and we’re just waiting on all the information that we can get,” Courtney Walsh, the West Indies head coach, said. “They have our full support and we’ll be riding with them as well.”Javeria Khan, the Pakistan captain, wished the pair a quick recovery.”The thoughts and prayers of the whole Pakistan team are with Chinelle Henry and Chedean Nation,” she said in a statement. “We wish them a quick recovery and are hopeful that we will play against them in our next match on Sunday.”Such incidents are tragic and can shake whole dressing rooms. Hats off to the West Indies that they turned up and completed the match despite the grave incident.”

He played an important hand in the second ODI to help build on Steven Smith’s barnstorming hundred

Daniel Brettig30-Nov-20202:46

Moody: Hazlewood, Zampa difference between two attacks

Coming from Test cricket’s first ever concussion substitute, it was perhaps not a surprise to hear Marnus Labuschagne quickly putting up his hand to offer to open in place of the injured David Warner for the third and final ODI against India in Canberra on Wednesday.That said, Labuschagne’s eagerness to slip up to the top of the order from the No. 4 spot he is quickly making his own for Australia in the 50-over game reflected the burgeoning confidence of a home side that have clattered India for scores of 374 and 389 in the opening two games, a product of sound top order platforms to allow Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell to launch themselves from with something approaching abandon.On Sunday they were aided significantly by Labuschagne’s “read the game” innings of 70, in which he afforded Smith and Maxwell plenty of the strike but also delivered a powerful blow or two of his own as Virat Kohli’s tourists lurched to a series defeat in the space of their opening two games of the Australian summer. In that context, it was understandable for any member of the Australian top six to want to move higher up the order, not just for runs now, but also to set down a marker ahead of the Test series.ALSO WATCH: Full match highlights (Indian subcontinent only)“Certainly if I got asked to open the batting absolutely it’s an opportunity that I would enjoy doing. We’ll wait and see how our team shapes up for the next game and see the balance of the side, but yeah I would love doing it,” Labuschagne said. “My role at No.4 is just to read the situation of the game and play my role accordingly.”We had Steve in so when I came to the crease it was just about building a partnership and a bit of momentum with him, and taking a back seat for the start of my innings. When he was dismissed then me and Maxy could play a bit more expansively. It was really nice to be able to do the job at the back of the innings, which is something that I haven’t had too many opportunities at. But I definitely think it’s very important that I read the game and understand the situation of the game and play accordingly.Marnus Labuschagne paddles Jasprit Bumrah•Getty Images

“Cricket’s a massive confidence game and even though it’s a different format, it still gives you a lot of confidence when you’re scoring runs consistently and the way Steve and Davey are batting currently, I’ve got no doubt they’ll be able to transfer that into the Test summer. But right now there’s still a lot of games to be played before that, we’ve just got to make sure we finish this one-day series well and then straight into the T20s where we start really well.”Labuschagne has batted alongside Smith in a range of contrasting scenarios already, from the tough conditions in the 2019 Ashes to the short-ball attacks from New Zealand last summer. But he had never seen Smith attack quite so brutally as he did in the two SCG innings, where the second of his 62-ball centuries was achieved dispute a bout of morning vertigo that had left him momentarily doubting his ability to take the field.ALSO READ: Steven Smith and Australia turn batting masterclass into Groundhog Day“That was one of the best innings I’ve seen in one-day cricket, not only from Steve but from anyone,” Labuschagne said. “I think the way he batted yesterday was superb. It almost felt like he didn’t give an opportunity, didn’t really take any risk, but he got a hundred off 62 balls.”When someone’s doing that, that’s kind of scary. It was really nice to build that partnership with him, 136, it was just nice to keep ticking it over and we were really busy through that middle part when we came together, then towards the back end Steve really took the game on and that’s how we got 390. They’re two very big scores in the last two games, thanks obviously to Steve.”As for the undoubted contrast between Australia’s largely energetic performances and the struggles of India, Labuschagne acknowledged that playing at home and having a portion of the squad present for the early round of the Sheffield Shield was an advantage.”It definitely helps to have a few games under your belt just to get the pace and the timing of the game from T20s to one-dayers to four-day cricket,” he said. “But a lot of these players we’re talking about, they’ve been doing it for a long time, they’re not new to the changes of format. I’d be surprised if they didn’t shift back into gear very quickly. In say that it’s a slight advantage, four out of our top six have been playing Shield cricket and got that rhythm as a batting group.”

He was part of Pakistan’s historic 1954 tour of England

Umar Farooq30-Jun-2020Khalid Wazir, part of Pakistan’s historic 1954 tour of England, has died. Wazir had been ill for some time and passed away at the of age 84 in Chester on Saturday.A tall and athletic medium-pace bowler and hard-hitting middle-order batsman, Wazir was the 16th Test cricketer for Pakistan and the second-youngest for his country at the time of his debut against England at Lord’s – only Hanif Mohammad was younger on debut until then.Wazir only played two Tests on that tour but it was a monumental one to be part of, because it announced Pakistan’s arrival as a serious cricketing nation. They drew the series against a strong England side 1-1. Wazir was the son of Wazir Ali, who – and his brother Nazir Ali – played Test cricket for India in the 1930s. After the Partition of the country, the Wazir family moved from Jalandhar to Karachi and their standing was such that one of Pakistan’s earliest, most competitive club tournaments – held during the monsoons in Lahore – was called the Wazir Ali League.Wazir was a surprise pick for Pakistan in the touring party to England with only two first-class games under his belt, and neither had he played in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy in 1953-54, the season leading up to the tour.The tour didn’t go well for him. He played the first and third Tests of the four-match series but managed only 14 runs in three innings and didn’t bowl. He ended the tour with 16 first-class games, scoring 253 runs – including one half-century – at 16.86 and taking nine wickets at 62.66.He was summoned to the Pakistan side on their next tour of England, the more disastrous 1962 visit, after a few pacemen broke down with injury. But he never played on the tour and he was already living in England by then and had become a successful club cricketer in the North Staffordshire and District League.

However, the Cricket West Indies president was personally quite satisfied by security arrangements in Lahore for the final match of the World XI series

Umar Farooq16-Sep-2017Cricket West Indies president Dave Cameron said it was a “challenge” to convince the West Indies players that it was safe to visit Pakistan. Cameron was on a two-day trip to the country to watch the final T20I of the World XI series, an event which the PCB hopes will convince other nations to send their teams for international tours.”I have enjoyed my two days in Pakistan,” Cameron said in a press conference at Gaddafi Stadium on Friday. “As Najam [Sethi, the PCB chairman] said, we’ve been talking about this for some time and have our own challenges back in the West Indies. We’re only 5 million people, and as you heard there was recently a hurricane passing through our islands as well. But my challenge is to convince the players that it’s safe enough. It’s our duty to help as well. I felt that if I came over here to show that it’s safe enough that would go some way in convincing the players. InshAllah [God-willing] in November, we’ll be here.”This is the second time PCB has approached West Indies to tour, after they refused to travel to Pakistan in March upon receiving security advice from the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA). In the report then, FICA warned that the risk level in Pakistan remained “at an extremely elevated state” and that “an acceptable level of participant security and safety cannot be expected or guaranteed”. It had also discouraged players strongly from travelling to Lahore for the Pakistan Super League final.But things have improved since, as ICC’s chief executive officer David Richardson noted at a press conference on Wednesday. The security arrangements were overseen by international security consultants. The ICC bore the cost of the security advisors and have agreed terms to assist the PCB for every series they host in Pakistan from hereon in.But Cameron also explained that the matter may not necessarily be in his hands, with the board not having the final say over whether its players tour a particular nation. “We’ve had the security team here for the final of the PSL and they’ve seen these matches as well,” he said, when asked if FICA could be convinced. “Here, Pakistan’s board makes decisions [regarding where to tour]. My board’s a little bit different, with the WIPA [West Indies Players Association] also having a big say. We have to respect their decision.”We want to ensure that when the players come over, everyone actually wants to come and enjoy the experience, and we don’t want to be seen to be forcing anyone. We’ve had Darren Sammy here and Samuel Badree and they’ve loved it. Sammy’s on his second trip and I think that will also convince the players that it is safe to come.Cameron also gave the security arrangements in Pakistan a personal vote of confidence. “From what I believe I’m very convinced. The hospitality has been great, and the security has been first-class, and from where I stand right now, everything looks good.”

An XI with ten batsmen should have given South Africa enough resources to chase 290 but it may have done the opposite, according to AB de Villiers

Firdose Moonda22-Feb-2017An XI with ten batsmen should have given South Africa enough resources to chase 290 but it may have done the opposite, according to AB de Villiers. The captain was irked by the top order leaving too much for their team-mates to do in Christchurch and allowing New Zealand to level the five-match series.”It was always the plan to play a lot of batters and bat nice and deep but the red flag was always that the top order would take it a bit easy and feel like it’s okay to get out a bit early, which unfortunately cost us the game today,” de Villiers said.South Africa made three changes to the team that snuck past New Zealand in Hamilton on Sunday by bringing in the fit-again David Miller to replace Farhaan Behardien and two seam-bowling allrounders, Dwaine Pretorius and Wayne Parnell, for Kagiso Rabada, who is nursing a knee niggle, and Tabraiz Shamsi. That meant only Imran Tahir would be considered a liability in terms of run-scoring and even though they had been set a tall target, it was not impossible to reach it, even with a few early losses.Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis were dismissed but Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy and de Villiers all got in but could not get South Africa ahead of the required run rate. South Africa needed to get more than six of an over in the early stages itself and then required more than seven from the end of the 31st over and more than eight runs an over after de Villiers was dismissed in the 39th over. He blamed himself, along with the other set batsmen – particularly de Kock – for not having more staying power.

“I thought something was broken”

AB de Villiers brushed off concerns of an injury – he had gone down early in the game when fielding. In the sixth over, de Villiers dived in an attempt to stop a single from Kane Williamson and needed some on-field treatment when he did not get back up. But, after continuing to take full part in the game, he has passed himself completely fit.
“It’s not an injury anymore,” he joked. “It was on my intercostals, lower ribs, on the right. My arm got stuck under my body and it was sore for a minute. Slowly but surely [the pain] started fading away which meant that there was nothing serious, not broken. The minute it happened I thought something was broken, but it was just a hard fall. I am getting old.”

“We bat to 10 but the top five and top six still have to take the responsibility to be there at the end and two of us got in – Quinton and myself – and not one of us took it through. If one of us was there at the end, it would have been a different result,” de Villiers said.De Kock was on 57 when he followed a Trent Boult delivery down the leg side and sent it to square leg while de Villiers under-edged a Boult bouncer when he was on 45 to leave South Africa on 199 for 6, needing 91 runs from eleven-and-a-half overs. Having pulled off a heist in Hamilton, and with their allrounders on hand, South Africa would still have believed anything was possible and as Pretorius’ innings developed, that hope strengthened. “We had hope until the last ball,” de Villiers said.Although South Africa lost Pretorius on the final ball of the penultimate over, they could still have won the match with 15 needed from six balls but it quickly became clear that was not going to happen. Andile Phehlukwayo, the hero from Hamilton, turned down singles, perhaps because he did not want to give Tahir the strike, but left the boundary hitting too late. But de Villiers defended Phehlukwayo’s tactics and said the 20-year-old played the situation as he should have.”I felt Andile had the ability to clear twice in that over. That was the plan. Southee bowled a fantastic over there so credit to him and to Boult for those last few overs. They landed their yorkers really well, they had good plans in place so credit to them but that was definitely the plan, for Andile to clear the boundary twice and to take all the strike. He played it perfectly,” de Villiers said.Ultimately, de Villiers could not be too unhappy with the way South Africa fought, especially because their newer players are starting to step up. In the first ODI, Phehlukwayo was on the right side of the plan, in this one, Pretorius’ half-century showed his promise. “It is great to see them play with confidence and with a bit of freedom. It tells a story about our culture within the team – the guys are really freed up and they feel they can just watch the ball and enjoy the cricket out there. They are fully backed by all the older guys and the management so the guys come in, they feel confident and free to do whatever they want and to express their talent,” de Villiers said. “I was pretty impressed with some of the younger guys today. I thought Dwaine also bowled really well for us. I think the depth looks really good and the future looks bright.”But for now, South Africa have been presented with their first proper setback since October last year, when their winning streak began. They racked up 12 ODI wins in a row before being beaten and although they will welcome being challenged ahead of the Champions Trophy, they will not enjoy the reason they were defeated. “They handled the pressure better than us and that’s why they won the game,” de Villiers said.