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Nepal legspinner to make first appearance in Vitality Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2021Worcestershire have announced the signing of Nepal legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane as one of their overseas players for the Vitality Blast.Lamichhane, 20, first came to attention at the 2016 U19 World Cup and has been a regular on the global T20 circuit since becoming the first Nepali player to be signed for the IPL in 2018. He has taken 125 wickets in 96 T20 appearances, with an economy of 6.79.This will be his first stint in England, having also featured in the Big Bash, Pakistan Super League and Caribbean Premier League, among others.”Sandeep has played in many tournaments and gained a lot of experience in franchise cricket,” Worcestershire’s head coach, Alex Gidman, said. “He’s a legspinner, which is a bit of mystery spin we believe we need in our squad in terms of balance, so we are ecstatic with the signing.”We believe and trust that we have got an excellent squad of players ourselves, and it’s about adding to that squad, rather than getting players to replace players, and add to the balance of the team, which we think we’ve done well.”This is his first taste of playing in England, and I’m sure he will do well and have an enjoyable summer with us.”Worcestershire, Blast winners in 2019, have also recruited Australian left-arm seamer Ben Dwarshuis, with both overseas players set to be available throughout the tournament’s group stage.

After being bowled out for 219, Tasmania opted not to enforce the follow-on

Andrew McGlashan05-Apr-2021So you’re telling me there’s a chance? Western Australia needed to chase 480 to earn a place in the Sheffield Shield after another day where Tasmania dominated at the WACA.It will require the most perfect of batting performances but, other than for professional pride, there is little point playing for a draw. Over in Wollongong, New South Wales and Queensland won’t be worrying themselves.The almost-impossible became even tougher still when Cameron Bancroft was bowled off the last ball of the day aiming a drive at left-armer Sam Rainbird.Once Tasmania put up such a huge first-innings total it become a mammoth task for Western Australia to get the win they needed to jump into the top two. During the third day there were a couple of scenarios that could have played out. Once all the bonus points had been gathered in the NSW-Queensland match one of them was to score 434 in the first 100 overs of their first innings which would have given them enough points to edge ahead of NSW if that match ended in a draw. They got nowhere near.An opening stand of 85 between Bancroft and Sam Whiteman laid a promising foundation but when Beau Webster followed up his hundred with two breakthroughs, finding the edge of Whiteman and Shaun Marsh, the innings never regained a foothold as all ten wickets fell for 134 – the first four being catches to Tim Paine.Lawrence Neil-Smith, playing his first game of the season, claimed the big wicket of Cameron Green who, with likely one innings left, sat 11 runs behind Travis Head at the top of the run-scoring charts with 882.Offspinner Jarrod Freeman went on to collect the best Shield figures by a Tasmania spinner since Xavier Doherty took 5 for 96 against South Australia in November 2013 while Jackson Bird produced an excellent delivery to remove Josh Inglis.The follow-on was not enforced and instead Tasmania went out and batted positively for 34 overs led by captain Matthew Wade’s 42 off 32 balls

Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma give visitors hope before they unravel against the new ball

Firdose Moonda08-Feb-2021Hasan Ali’s ten-wicket match haul topped stubborn resistance from two of South Africa’s Test captaincy candidates, Aiden Markram and Temba Bavuma, to secure Pakistan’s first series win over South Africa since 2003. Hasan triggered a collapse with the second new ball that saw South Africa lose seven wickets for 33 runs and fall 96 runs short of what would have been the highest successful chase in Pakistan. They had lost the first Test, in Karachi, by seven wickets.Related

• Waqar Younis: Hasan Ali's 'comeback is a great message for young bowlers'

• Takeaways: Are Pakistan dark horses for the 2023 World Test Championship?

• Hasan resurfaces with threatening zeal from life in the sidelines

• Rizwan learns from Shafiq to make Pakistan No. 6 spot his own

• Straight lines, sharper bursts – Nortje's method for success

Despite the defeat, South Africa would be especially pleased with Markram’s performance. He scored his fifth Test century – his first since March 2018 as well as the first in the subcontinent – to keep hopes of an unlikely upset win alive. Markram and Bavuma, who scored 61, shared a fourth-wicket stand of 106 runs and looked comfortable at the crease against the old ball. But neither could negotiate the fresh ball on a surface that was keeping low, and their dismissals opened up the lower order and allowed Pakistan to seal the series 41 minutes before tea on the final day.South Africa have now lost four of their last five series and ten of their last 13 Tests and are going to have an extended break from the longest format with no games scheduled for the rest of the summer following Australia’s decision to postpone indefinitely a proposed series in March. South Africa had hoped to use this season’s Tests to identify a suitable long-term Test captain after Faf du Plessis stepped down last year. Quinton de Kock, who took over in a temporary capacity, is expected to be relieved from the role after managing just 74 runs in four Tests as captain.Things could hardly have been worse for de Kock, who was dismissed for a first-ball duck chasing a full, wide Hasan delivery that he should have left. De Kock’s dismissal came the ball after Markram was caught at second slip, prodding at a Hasan delivery that kept low. That was in Hasan’s first over with the second new ball, and the second over with it overall, and Pakistan needed just ten more overs to finish South Africa off.The speed of, and shot selection that led to, South Africa’s collapse remains a concern – they had lost five for 37 in the first innings and seven for 87 and nine for 70 in Karachi. While the Rawalpindi pitch got better for batting as the match progressed, it kept low throughout and only Markram and Bavuma were able to adapt to the bounce on the fifth day.Rassie van der Dussen applied himself well on the penultimate day of the match and was on 48 overnight but fell to the third ball of the day. Hasan beat his inside edge with late swing to end a 94-run second-wicket stand with Markram and give Pakistan the breakthrough early on the final morning. Two overs later, Hasan had du Plessis trapped lbw with an incoming delivery that stayed low. Du Plessis reviewed but ball-tracking showed middle and leg stump would have been disturbed.The celebrations were muted as Aiden Markram brought up his first Test century since March 2018•AFP via Getty Images

Instead of sending in de Kock, South Africa opted to stick to the same batting order they had used in the first innings with Bavuma coming in at No. 5. Bavuma batted with more intent than he has come to be known for, and was especially strong on the back foot and the sweep. He played a strong supporting role for Markram, whose confidence grew as his innings developed.Markam was comfortable enough to play the ball late, kept out yorkers from Shaheen Shah Afridi – who took 4 for 51 for the innings – and took on Yasir Shah, cutting him for four and dancing down the track to loft him over long-off for six. His hundred came up the ball before lunch with a single to midwicket to break a century drought that has stretched 26 innings. But his celebrations were subdued, with the knowledge there was still work to do.He only added eight runs to his total after lunch before Hasan had the second new ball in hand and lured Markram into playing a stroke. De Kock’s dismissal off the next ball meant that Bavuma and the lower-order batsmen were left with 129 runs to get. That became far too much when Bavuma played at Afridi outside off and was caught behind.Afridi reaped rewards for his disciplined bowling in the off-stump channel and got the wickets of Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada later on, to go with the scalp of Dean Elgar on the fourth evening. But the day belonged to Hasan, whose five-for came when he had George Linde caught at point and he celebrated his usual bomb-explosion celebration to a baby-cradle one in a nod to his impending fatherhood. The entire squad did the same once victory had been completed, with Babar Azam joining Fazal Mahmood (vs West Indies, 1959), Mushtaq Mohammad (vs New Zealand, 1976), Javed Miandad (vs Australia, 1980) and Saleem Malik (vs New Zealand, 1994) in the list of Pakistan captains to win their maiden Test series at the helm.Shah, who had gone wicketless as the pacers did the damage, finished the game when he beat Wiaan Mulder’s slog to hit timber in the 92nd over. The win, Pakistan’s first against South Africa in over 17 years, means they have recorded series wins over every Test side in the last 15 years. As for South Africa, it was their 21st successive failure to boss a 200-plus (they had been set 370) chase; the last time they managed one was back in 2011 against Australia. They have lost 18 of those matches.

India vice-captain doesn’t want the two newcomers to put too much pressure on themselves

Hemant Brar10-Mar-20216:12

Rohit: Pant is starting to understand game-situations better now

Rohit Sharma feels it’s important for Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan to relax and enjoy being part of the Indian team rather than thinking too much and putting themselves under pressure ahead of the T20I series against England, which kicks off on March 12 in Ahmedabad.For both Yadav and Kishan, it’s their first call-up to the national side. In 2020, under Sharma, the two had played an important role in helping the Mumbai Indians lift their fifth IPL trophy. In 13 innings, Kishan smashed 516 runs at an average of 57.33 and a strike rate of 145.76, while Yadav had 480 runs in 15 innings with an average of 40.00 and a strike rate of 145.01.Sharma was confident the duo will keep their form going when given an opportunity, but he also had a word of caution for them, saying things won’t be that easy at the international level.”I don’t want them to be thinking about anything,” Sharma, India’s white-ball vice-captain, said on Wednesday. “That’s how they bring their best performance out. Having watched them closely for a few years now, I have realised it’s important for them to be part of this wonderful team, a great set-up, which the team has. So I just want them to have fun and understand what this team is all about.”Keeping in mind that this is their first time in the squad, they will be a little nervous, they will be thinking about performance and all. But it’s important for people like me, other senior members and the coaching staff to tell them that it’s just another team that you got to be part of and they just have to enjoy that moment because thinking about performance and what they need to do when they get an opportunity will only put pressure on them.”So [they should] just have fun, relax and be part of this wonderful set-up first and when the opportunity comes… These guys have done really well in the last few years, especially the last year, and it’s just about carrying that form and putting it out there. It’s not going to be that easy here. They will be challenged every now and then but that’s what international cricket is all about. How you respond to those challenges is crucial. So you need to keep telling them about having the right mindset to counter those challenges.”The five-match T20I series will be a preparatory step for India for the 2021 T20 World Cup, for which they are the hosts as well. Till now, India’s approach to T20I cricket hasn’t been very different from their ODI approach, which is to settle down before playing their shots. Sharma, who is the leading century-maker in T20Is with four tons and has a strike rate of 138.78 in the format, said it’s the match situation that dictates how he bats.Rohit Sharma has captained both Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in the IPL•BCCI

“I have played more than 100 T20Is, so you should know my approach by now, what my approach is, what I do,” he said. “I don’t need to talk about the approach I bring into the game because I have done for many years now but yeah, the situation changes every now and then. So based on the situation of the game, I have to change my game. The approach will always remain the same, which is to have that intent, to have that scoring mindset.”The situation of the game is what I look forward to because that keeps changing every game that you play. So I think it’s very important for me to understand that situation and play accordingly, whether we bat first or bowl first. The situation of the game demands the approach of your batting. So keeping that in mind, I play my game.”In order to have their best possible XI at the World Cup, a big factor will be how much bowling load Hardik Pandya can take. Pandya has hardly bowled after recovering from the back surgery. He was excellent with the bat at the 2020 IPL but didn’t deliver a single ball in the whole tournament. In Australia, he rolled his arm over four overs in the second ODI but then didn’t bowl in the next game, or the following three-match T20I series.Sharma was tight-lipped on whether Pandya will play the first T20I on Friday but said the allrounder was doing “pretty much everything” to be fit and do what the team expected him to.”I cannot reveal who starts and who doesn’t start,” Sharma said. “Of course, he has been with the squad and has been an integral part of the squad. He has been working on his bowling, he has been working on his batting and the particular skillset he has. He has been trying to sharpen those skillsets as well.”It has been a good month-and-a-half that he has been with the team and has done pretty much everything he needed to do to get ready for this limited-overs series. It seems that the time has come for him to get ready and start doing what he does. He has worked hard on his bowling and hard on his batting in the last few weeks. I hope he is ready to do what the team expects him to.”There is a spotlight on Hardik Pandya and on whether he can take on his usual bowling workload•Getty Images

‘Challenge for me in Test cricket is how many balls I play, not how many runs I score’
Sharma has had a successful Test series in Australia and then against England at home, where the spin-friendly pitches made run-scoring difficult. Talking about his form in red-ball cricket, Sharma said he felt the challenge for him is to stay at the pitch for as long as possible, and the confidence he gained from scoring runs while curbing his natural instincts will help him in the shorter formats too.”The benefit [of the red-ball success] is when you have to keep aside your natural and then play, I feel you have already won a battle,” he said. “I feel whenever you have to go against your nature, and have to do those things you are not used to, that’s a small victory for you. If you keep doing such things again and again, it will only boost your confidence.”I feel in Australia and then in India especially, the way I batted, I really liked the way I batted, especially in the last Test. I made only 49 runs but I played 150 balls. So for me, personally, that was a big victory because I had to play against my natural game. They were bowling me well outside off and I felt like playing my shots but I curbed those instincts and batted. Like people say the batsman played a bad shot and got out, I didn’t play that bad shot. I batted with the required disciplined. Unfortunately, I got out on 49, but I was really happy with my effort.”Right now, the challenge for me in Test cricket is how many balls I play, not how many runs I score. The challenge for me is to play 100 balls, 150 balls, 200 balls, and even more. I think in terms of balls, runs will come automatically. The challenge for me is to play as many balls as possible. And that will be beneficial for me as well as the team.”

Zimbabwe need their experienced hands to show the way, while Pakistan might be tempted to experiment with their XI

Danyal Rasool09-Nov-2020Big picture
After all the promise of a competitive ODI series, the T20Is have been something of a damp squib. Pakistan brought their top form to both weekend games, and illustrated the chasm that evidently exists between a Pakistani side that’s rapidly improving and a Zimbabwean unit that needs improvement desperately. teams As you might expect, if these two teams simply go through the motions, Pakistan will nearly always emerge on top and do so with relative comfort.If anything, the hosts may be slightly disappointed they weren’t challenged further to be able to assess how well some of the youngsters afforded opportunities this series would fare in that scenario. Haider Ali and Usman Qadir have both excelled, but they could have been undergoing net sessions for all the intensity of the contest. Haris Rauf’s pace has been enough to get him a cluster of wickets, but he may have to demonstrate more nuanced skills against more competitive opponents. And while Babar Azam has scored two sumptuous half-centuries, you wouldn’t expect any less of him against the quality of bowling he has faced; if anything, his frustration must centre on a failure to remain at the crease to knock off the winning runs. Pakistan have just turned up and not more, and so far, it’s been more than enough.Much of that is down to Zimbabwe. The visitors haven’t come close to a level of performance they will believe they are capable of. In two of the three ODIs, Zimbabwe pushed themselves to the limit. But in the T20Is, even the in-form batsmen have floundered, while with the ball and in the field, Chamu Chibhabha’s side has been – at best – lacklustre.You could level more scathing criticism at Chibhabha himself, who arguably shouldn’t be anywhere near this side based on his numbers over the past several years. When a frontline batsman who averages 13.24 over the past four years leads the side out on a challenging tour, it is of little surprise if he returns just 34 runs in five innings. It’s a level of performance that’s unacceptable for any international side whatever the ranking, and when the middle order doesn’t bail Zimbabwe out – as on Sunday – they fall apart alarmingly quickly.Form guide

Pakistan WWWLW
Zimbabwe LLLLW
Wesley Madhevere looked good while he was out there•AFP via Getty Images

In the spotlightThese are uncertain times for Fakhar Zaman, for whom being the leading run-scorer in the recent National T20 Cup doesn’t seem to have brought international T20 runs. In the format he should be most useful at, at home and against a mediocre attack, Zaman’s lack of confidence has been laid bare by the manner of his dismissal on Sunday. A low-percentage, ill-timed drive straight to mid-on sent him back for 5, the 16th consecutive T20I innings in which he has failed to reach 40. In that time, he has crossed 25 only once, and for all his domestic form, Zaman wouldn’t be able to complain if the Pakistan selectors – who have shown uncharacteristic patience with him – get twitchy fingers after another failure on Tuesday.Despite being the highest run-getter for Zimbabwe in the ODI series, Brendan Taylor’s twin failures in the T20Is may signal a deeper malaise. He, too, has crossed 40 in T20I cricket just once in the past 16 innings, though he has continued to produce cameos fairly regularly. But against Pakistan, he will need to take more leadership at the top of the innings, especially with Chibhabha out of form. If anything, it may relieve some pressure off the young shoulders of Wesley Madhevere, and give his bowlers something to defend if Zimbabwe are to bat first again.Team newsPakistan maybe open to some experimentation in the bowling. Mohammad Musa will be itching to get a game, while even Rohail Nazir could get a call-up with the series sealed.Pakistan (possible): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Haider Ali, 4 Mohammad Hafeez/Abdullah Shafique, 5 Mohammad Rizwan/Rohail Nazir (wk), 6 Khushdil Shah, 7 Imad Wasim/Faheem Ashraf, 8 Haris Rauf, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Musa, 11 Mohammad HasnainZimbawe have been somewhat cautious, never quite ringing the changes this series. It would be a surprise to see that change, though with the series gone, they can afford to experiment.Zimbawe (possible): 1 Chamu Chibhabha (capt), 2 Brendan Taylor (wk), 3 Sean Williams, 4 Wesley Madhevere, 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Elton Chigumbura, 8 Tendai Chisoro, 9 Carl Mumba, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing MuzarabaniPitch and conditions
The pitches prepared for this series have been dry and flat, and expect that to remain unchanged tomorrow. Rain should not be a factor.Stats and trivia

• Sikandar Raza has batted 34 times in T20Is without being dismissed for a duck. The only active internationals with longer streaks are Kusal Perera (46), Faf du Plessis (47) and David Miller (68)
• Azam has scored six half-centuries in his last nine T20I innings
• Taylor needs 99 runs to become just the second Zimbabwe batsman after Hamilton Masakadza to tally 1000 runs in T20I cricket

Cricket’s sole appearance in the Olympic Games will be re-enacted later this month when teams from France and Britain meet to reprise a match that took place in Paris 112 years ago.

David Hopps09-Jun-2012Cricket’s sole appearance in the Olympic Games will be re-enacted later this month when teams from France and Britain meet to reprise a match that took place in Paris 112 years ago. France Cricket (FC), the national governing body for the sport, will field a side against the MCC in Twenty20 and 50-over matches at Chateaux du Thoiry on June 16.The MCC already has its own Olympic connections. Its Lord’s home will stage the archery competition in the London Olympics later this summer.The matches, which have no official Olympic status, are being played to raise awareness of cricket in France, although they will doubtless attract a miniscule amount of attention compared to another France v England clash – in the European football championships on Monday.In an Olympic year, however, the matches will offer a reminder of one of the more unusual episodes in Olympic history when Devon County Wanderers played a mixed France side drawn from Standard Athletic Club and Albion CC in Paris at the Velodrome de Vincennes. The match was 12-a-side and the majority of France’s team were ex-pats. Britain won the game by 156 runs.Although the match was eventually classified as an OIympic event, more than a century passed before cricket was given full recognition as a sport by the International Olympic Committee OC in 2010.The ICC has yet to decide whether to apply to become an Olympic sport – it would presumably play havoc with an already overcrowded international calendar – and the absence of cricket from the London Olympics has meant that an obvious opportunity has already passed the game by.France claims about 4,000 active players and more than 200 qualified coaches. They have already achieved one notable success by getting permission from the French Primary School Sports Association to deliver cricket training to teachers, raising ambitions to spread the word in 200 primary schools by 2015. Because of a shortage of cricket grounds, the plan is to develop short forms of the game indoors.France are among the lowliest nations in world cricket, with ambitious to qualify for Division Eight of the ICC’s World Cricket League in Samoa in September. After indulging in a spot of Olympic history, they will take part in a four-nation qualifying tournament from June 20-23 against Austria, Belgium and Gibraltar.

County Championship and Bob Willis Trophy will both be up for grabs next season

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2020Essex will have the opportunity to defend two red-ball titles in 2021, after the first-class counties agreed to a revised league-based structure for next season’s County Championship, followed by a separate five-day showpiece final at Lord’s, in which the Bob Willis Trophy will be once again be at stake.Essex are the current holders of both titles, having pipped Somerset to the County Championship in 2019 after securing a draw at Taunton on the final day of the season, before claiming the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy against the same opponents at Lord’s last month, again with a draw in which their first-innings lead proved to be the decisive factor.The announcements follow discussions between the ECB and the chairs of the first-class counties, who are seeking to mitigate against further disruption from Covid-19 in the 2021 season. A full review into the men’s domestic structure is due in 2022, for which the existing split of ten first-division teams and eight in Division Two will be taken as the default position.Unlike this season’s short-term arrangement, in which the 18 counties were split into three regional groups of six and played a single fixture against each opponent before the top two teams progressed to the final, next year’s competition will feature three seeded groups, with 10 home and away fixtures, followed by a further round of games in which the top, middle and bottom two of each group form three new divisions, and play four further games against one another for a total of 14 fixtures.The top team in this newly configured Division One will be crowned winners of the 2021 County Championship, and be awarded the traditional Lord’s Taverners trophy, but the first and second-placed teams will then compete at Lord’s for the Bob Willis Trophy, in a repeat of the showpiece finale that capped the 2020 season. Playing conditions for both competitions will be confirmed by the ECB in due course.Essex were crowned inaugural BWT champions•Getty Images

Seedings for the group stage of the County Championship have been determined based on the 18 teams’ performances in the past two seasons, while a provision for local derby encounters has also been factored in (where it does not cut across the seeding) to enable Surrey and Middlesex, Yorkshire and Lancashire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire, Somerset and Gloucestershire, and Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire to compete in the same initial groups.Ian Watmore, the new chairman of the ECB, explained the reasoning behind the restructuring. “Since starting in my new role last month one of my key priorities, as a huge supporter of red-ball cricket, has been to collaborate with the first-class counties so that we could confirm a structure for next summer’s men’s domestic season,” he said.”I am delighted that the counties have been able to reach this agreement less than three weeks after Essex won the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s.”The success of that competition provides reassurance that this structure can help safeguard against any impact the global pandemic may have on next season while also ensuring the integrity of the County Championship.”It must be stressed that this structure has been agreed for next season only and during 2021 we will review and consult with the counties and other stakeholders to decide the appropriate next steps for the men’s domestic structure in 2022 and beyond.”

2021 County Championship Groups

Group 1: Essex, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Worcestershire, Durham

Group 2: Somerset, Hampshire, Surrey, Gloucestershire, Middlesex, Leicestershire

Group 3: Kent, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Glamorgan, Sussex

A five-wicket haul from Brian Vitori, followed by a half-century from Tino Mawoyo, helped Zimbabwe A consign Sri Lanka A to their second-straight defeat in as many games

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2012
ScorecardA five-wicket haul from Brian Vitori, followed by a half-century from Tino Mawoyo, helped Zimbabwe A consign Sri Lanka A to their second-straight defeat in as many games in the tri-series in Harare.Zimbabwe chose to bowl, and Vitori justified the decision right away, removing Kushal Perera for 2. In the 11th over, he claimed two in two balls, and Sri Lanka – who were already scoring at a far from threatening rate – hardly recovered. Vitori picked up the following two wickets as well, to complete a five-for. The other Zimbabwe bowlers all shared the wickets around, as Sri Lanka were bowled out in 45 overs for 160. Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the only batsman to make much of a difference for the visitors, with 57 from 67 balls.In the chase, Zimbabwe were in a bit of trouble after losing Chamu Chibhabha and Sikandar Raza cheaply, but a 94-run stand between Mawoyo and Stuart Matsikenyeri put them back on course. Though they had the game firmly in their grip, a mini-collapse, in which they lost 3 for 22, meant they couldn’t finish the game in 40 overs to claim a bonus point. The five-wicket win was achieved in 40.3 overs.Zimbabwe play South Africa at the same venue on Sunday.