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

A whole lot of not a lot at Hove, but it’s an improvement on this time last year

Paul Edwards16-May-2021
A match that had once seemed likely to end in a Sussex victory with Jofra Archer displaying his fitness for Test cricket ended in the most sclerotic of draws with Archer not even on the field. The first of these outcomes had always seemed likely once Kent had survived a short session on Saturday, and the second was probable once the England bowler’s sore elbow had prevented him bowling that same evening.Despite their lowly positions in Group C these sides never appeared to contemplate the possibility of setting up a game and the 43 overs we saw this afternoon might not be numbered among the most gripping of the season. Other correspondents could even judge them balls-achingly tedious.But Jack Leaning will take a different view. The former Yorkshire batsman notched only his second first-class century since 2017 and will approach Thursday’s game against Glamorgan in a more confident mood. Likewise, from their different perspectives, Tom Clark, who took his maiden first-class wicket, and Tawanda Muyeye, who batted half an hour for 12 not out on his debut. A drop of red ink is as comforting as a duvet to a young professional making his way. Every solid defensive shot is a moment.And if these slightly aimless sessions were still a disappointment we could scourge no one but ourselves. On Friday, when a 104-over day had heaved itself beyond seven o’clock, we little thought how fortunate we were to see any cricket at all, let alone to be doing so when millions could not.Zak Crawley was batting on that second evening, so such ingratitude required public abasement. But our penance, such as it might have been, was useless. The following evening, when only 24 overs were possible, Crawley was dismissed by the excellent Jack Carson and even that moment was given the elbow by Archer’s inaction, forced or otherwise.Thus to Sunday with the Channel turquoise in its shallows but gravely blue farther out to sea. A pleasant dawn was replaced by an unlucky bag of showers, some of them slight, others heavy with Anabaptist doom. While David Millns and Graham Lloyd made one of their inspections the clouds to the west were grey as an undertaker’s work-suit; to the east they were blue as one of Bryan Ferry’s more exotic two-piece numbers. Birds gathered ravenously on the white pyramidal roofs of the hospitality suites. By the way, the gulls in Hove have clearly been watching Alfred Hitchcock movies; I’ve seen smaller turkeys. The white thugs waited for scraps; we waited for cricket.Related

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At ten past one our patience received its reward when the Sussex team, minus Archer, took the field and Carson bowled the first over from the Cromwell Road End. The cricket soon became good-humoured, gentler in its rhythms and enriched by jokes and encouragement. Neither side could win the game but the practice had value for Leaning, whose back foot drive off George Garton was the stroke of the day. A little while later he swept Delray Rawlins for a single to reach his century and Ollie Robinson was attempting to emulate that feat before he was lbw to Clark for 85 late in the piece.And so concluded a match in which we had been at the mercy of not only the elements but also the endless work of the Sussex groundstaff and the good judgement of Messrs Millns and Lloyd. But umpires are rather fortunate at the County Ground in that they are two of the few officials in this area to whom folk actually pay attention. There are large parts of Brighton and Hove where people pat legislation on its head and send it over to Eastbourne. Visit North Laine and you will find businesses that seem to regard official forms as entertainments to which only other people need pay any attention. One would not be surprised to find a Private Walker or two sidling in the alleyways: “Need any vaccines, guvnor? I can help you there.”(And should Millns and Lloyd ever jack in umpiring they could go into business together selling perfumed unguents and other bathroom aromas. They already have the names for it. “Oh darling, could you be terribly sweet and pop into Millns and Lloyd for a rosewood and peony diffuser?” This would be a tremendous achievement for two lads from Clipstone and Accrington, where, one imagines, no-frills aerosols are produced by firms called something like Broadbottom and Snout.)Such reveries occur to one on these afternoons at Hove, for this place retains its tender hold on the heart, even on days when there is nothing much going on. A year ago at least one of us would have paid twenty quid simply to sit here for half an hour during the perfect weather that taunted us during lockdown. And it is easy to be seduced by the County Ground, to be beguiled by its cricketing families, by the scent of the sea, by the view down Selborne Road and by the writers who have honoured this sacred space. Surely, one thinks, at odd moments, the romance is all too much, too heady…And then one understands that resistance is utterly useless. In dusk’s first fading light a fox and vixen stroll over the outfield as though asserting some ancient right; perhaps they have their den in George Cox’s garden. And so, like the foxes, we go in search of supper and leave a great ground to its kindly ghosts on a spring evening.

Captain toasts success, but calls for an improved performance from his team

Mohammad Isam23-May-2021″Winning is happiness.”Tamim Iqbal’s croaky voice couldn’t hide the fact that he has just led Bangladesh to break a ten-match winless streak. Just how important it was for the team that beat Sri Lanka by 33 runs, was writ large on the captain’s face. But ending a losing streak doesn’t mean everything has changed for his team. Iqbal knows all too well that when he talks about happiness, he has to punctuate the sentence with the exasperation of the difficult streak, and caution for what was needed to be achieved.”We know that the job is not done. There’s two more games to go [in the series]. We hope to put on a better show,” he said.
There were still question marks over Bangladesh’s performance, which the BCB president Nazmul Hassan was very quick to point it out. He held a press conference in the middle of the match to voice his disgust at some of their dismissals.These words may not have reached the team at the time, but they are well aware of the environment they operate in. Hassan’s words often stem from his expectations around the Bangladesh team which had steadily progressed from 2015 to 2019, before hitting a downward spiral in the last two years.Related

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The resilience they showed in the first ODI against Sri Lanka could, however, turn the tide. It was by no means a pretty little win. Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah had to rescue Bangladesh twice. After Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s four wickets almost derailed Sri Lanka’s chase, the home side ran into Wanindu Hasaranga, but they found a way to stave off his late charge.Miraz, who was adjudged Player-of-the-Match for his four-wicket haul, said that the match was a great example of how often a win can be achieved when several players make contributions.”Every contribution was important,” he said. “Tamim gave us a good start but when we lost two quick wickets, Mushfiq and Riyad put together an important partnership. Afif and Saif batted well towards the end.”I tied up one end at the start and although we gave away some runs from the other end, I feel the wickets in the middle overs was crucial. Myself, Mustafiz and Saifuddin bowled well in that period. It all contributed to our win. It wouldn’t have been possible if just one or two of us did well.”Miraz said that having a full-strength team – alluding to the return of Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman – made a big difference. “We weren’t able to win for a long time,” he said. “We won the ODI series against West Indies but we couldn’t convert good performance in the Test series against them. This was an important match, but we have always played well in ODIs. Having everyone around also played a major role in the win.”Miraz said that he stuck to his usual plan of drying up the runs, which often leads to the batters charging at him. “My initial plan, as I have always done in the past, is to contain the runs,” he said. “I try to bowl on good line and length, and contain the runs.”I believe that if I do that, I have a greater chance when the batsman makes a mistake. I just tried to bowl more dot balls.”He also paid tribute to Sohel Islam, the BCB coach under whom he has worked since his Under-14 days, and Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, the veteran coach who oversaw his growth in his early years, for helping him out.”I speak regularly to Sohel sir, my local coach,” Miraz said. “We have been working together for a long time. I recently got a call from Fahim sir. Actually, we have been in touch since we were in Sri Lanka.”We spoke about bowling, but he was mostly boosting me to do better. I tried to follow the guideline from both coaches. They really helped me.”

He smashed seven sixes and four fours in his 38-ball 67

Andrew McGlashan12-Jul-2021So, those questions about Chris Gayle’s form. The opener put on a thunderous display, with his first T20I half-century since 2016, to secure a series victory for West Indies as he pummelled the Australia attack around St Lucia in what became a cakewalk of a chase.Having made 102 runs in nine innings since his recall earlier this year, Gayle launched seven sixes in an innings that took him past 14,000 T20 runs. After he departed, stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran ensured there was no hiccup in the chase he closed it out with more than five overs to spare. It is the first time West Indies have won a bilateral series (or more than one match) against Australia in any format since 1995.Australia had made three changes – two enforced by injury to Ben McDermott and Ashton Agar – and changed tact by opting to bat first when Aaron Finch again won the toss, but it was a laboured effort after some initial momentum in the powerplay. Moises Henriques and the recalled Ashton Turner added 59 but it took almost eight overs.

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West Indies were excellent with the ball despite Obed McCoy being able to bowl only one over. Fabian Allen and Hayden Walsh Jr, who took his series tally to eight wickets, bowled their eight overs for 44. Allen also took a spectacular rebound catch in the deep to remove Finch in a display that further enhanced his fielding credentials.The Wade, Finch contrast
The struggle for the majority of Australia’s innings is highlighted by the fact that they had a useful 41 off the first five overs. That was largely down to Matthew Wade who again struck the ball sweetly as he did in the opening match of the series. However, with some of the issues being faced by other batters, Australia needed him to make the most of those starts and kick on but he departed when he missed a slower ball from McCoy. His opening partner is finding things aren’t quite coming out of the middle at the moment and Finch never got his timing during a run-a-ball stay where he was often losing his shapes on shots. He eventually fell to a worldie of a catch, completed by Allen at deep midwicket who remained magnificently alert when Dwayne Bravo missed the initial chance, and hurled himself low to the ground to grab it.Fabian Allen was brilliantly alert to hold rebound catch•AFP

Walsh does it again
The Finch wicket was Walsh’s second of the innings as he again did a terrific job, this time also bringing notable economy to his four overs. Pooran had held back his spinners – the match was a rare example of all the powerplay play overs being bowled by seamers of various descriptions – and when they were introduced Australia struggled to up the tempo. Allen removed the in-form Mitchell Marsh when he missed a sweep and Walsh claimed his first by ending a lively start from Alex Carey who had reverse-swept his first ball of the series for four. The spinners, which included one over from Gayle, did not concede a single six as Australia only cleared the boundary twice – both hits coming from Henriques.Gayle’s reminder
Gayle arrived for the fourth ball of the chase after Mitchell Starc, who bowled excellently after two expensive outings, had Andre Fletcher taken at midwicket. He saw out the over from Starc but then things got lively. When he got on strike to Josh Hazlewood’s first over he went 6, 4, 4, 4. There was a look in his eye of a batter on a mission. He was measured too but after a brief period of more sedate play, he deposited Adam Zampa for a straight six and followed it up in the 11th over with three consecutive sixes against the legspinner, the third of which took him to a 33-ball half-century. He saved the biggest for a huge leg-side blow off Riley Meredith that was followed by another the next ball before a top edge ended the show. Five of the last seven deliveries he faced cleared the rope. The match and the series were done and dusted.

After taking a five-for in the morning, No. 11 Seales hung around for his partner Roach to hit the winning runs

Danyal Rasool15-Aug-2021Antigua 2000, Dominica 2017 and now Jamaica 2021. West Indies and Pakistan added another chapter to the list of enthralling, nail-biting Tests between these two sides as the hosts eked out a stunning one-wicket win with Nos. 9 and 11 holding on.As Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales kept batting, the nerves kept building. Finally, it all came down to a fateful Hasan Ali over, as a nick evaded a valiant dive from Mohammad Rizwan to race away for a boundary before Roach pushed two through the off side to guarantee a 1-0 series lead.Pakistan had their chances, but the story, for now, is thoroughly West Indian. The hosts looked like they had been edged out of this match so often towards the death, and yet refused to acknowledge it was game over. But it did look like that when Roston Chase and Kyle Mayers fell in quick succession, when Jason Holder was cleaned up by Hasan and when Joshua Da Silva – the last recognized batter – fell with 26 still to go. However, West Indies kept knocking down the runs, and the scoreboard pressure shifted entirely to Pakistan. The visitors might have been firm favourites after the hosts had been reduced to nine down, but as Pakistan lost their nerve, Roach and the teenager Seales held theirs.For Pakistan, there was historical precedence in perhaps their most famous Test of all. In 1954, a Fazal Mahmood inspired side defended 167 – exactly what they had on the board today – against England at the Oval: the origin story of Pakistan cricket. It might even have been comfortable when Shaheen Afridi blew apart the top order, and when a middle-order West Indian collapse saw Pakistan burrow deep into their tail. But the catching, so sensational up until the final session, let them down in crucial moments.Roach was put down by Rizwan as a partnership with Da Silva flowered, before Hasan dropped him as well in the deep with 19 runs still to get. In the final session, Da Silva was once again dropped by Abbas. Rizwan’s 45-yard sprint to seal Jomel Warrican’s fate looked also to have done it for West Indies, but there was perhaps an opportunity to pluck a diving one-handed catch off the Roach edge that ended up going to the boundary in that final over.It may seem ages ago now, but a dramatic morning session saw more drama than many entire days, spanning eight wickets across two innings. Seales led the charge in the mission to remove the lower order cheaply, and within an hour-and-a-half, Pakistan’s last five had fallen for 35. Of those 35 runs, 28 were added by an enterprising Hasan in just 26 balls with two fours and two sixes. That pushed the lead above 150 for Pakistan, each extra run giving himself and his fellow bowlers precious breathing room.Moreover, Babar Azam’s presence at the crease was always going to be vital, but a Mayers delivery seared up off a crack and looped up to Holder at second slip early in the day. Azam had departed for a valiant 55, and while it brought Pakistan agonizingly close, his side ended up needing just a bit more from him.From there on, it was down to the raw pace of Seales against Pakistan’s lower order. Yasir Shah and Afridi were sent back with little bother, but Hasan rode his luck as Pakistan brought up 200. Seales, though, would not be denied a maiden five-for in just his second Test, and got there when Hasan’s hook went straight to Roach at fine leg. In the process, he became the youngest West Indies bowler to earn a Test five-for as the hosts were set 168 to win.Jayden Seales became the youngest West Indies bowler to a Test five-for•AFP/Getty Images

The Afridi show began in a somewhat surreal over that had three reviews for leg before wicket by Pakistan against Kieran Powell, the third finally resulting in success. Kraigg Brathwaite didn’t last long in the face of a hostile spell from Afridi, his poke at one that jagged away leading to his downfall, but only after a review. Nkrumah Bonner dragged on in Afridi’s following over, and suddenly, the pre-lunch session turned into a damage-limitation exercise for West Indies.After the mad rush of the first session came the relative slow burn of the second. No less absorbing for its slightly slower pace, it carried with it the sensation of a building crescendo. West Indies made the early running as Chase and Jermaine Blackwood, West Indies’ top scorer with 55, threatened to take it away for the hosts with a 68-run fourth wicket partnership.They came out after lunch a much more confident pair, Blackwood continuing to put anything too wide or too full away. Hasan in particular came in for punishment off successive overs as he struggled with his lines; and with a small target to defend, there wasn’t much room for error, every boundary tilting the scales the batters’ way.Chase, Pakistan’s pet peeve in 2017, was looking just as untroubled without quite having as much of an impact on the scoreboard. But all West Indies needed was a partnership, and as long as the pair continued remained at the crease, the danger signs flashed for Pakistan.Faheem Ashraf, Pakistan’s impact allrounder of late, was the man to break the partnership, constantly threatening Chase’s outside edge in a probing over. When the edge came, Imran Butt was never going to drop a low catch; and in Ashraf’s next over, the same combination got rid of Kyle Mayers for a pair.But the moment of the session came in late, when a few Holder boundaries had brought the required runs down under 60. Blackwood hung his bat out at Hasan once too often, sending it straight to first slip; except Butt at second decided only he could be trusted behind the stumps, diving sensationally to his left to hold on to a stunner. On the stroke of tea, Holder found his off peg knocked back with a beauty.It looked like a bridge too far when Da Silva and Roach came out after tea still needing 54, but as in Antigua and Dominica, the West Indies lower order refused to give in. They began to knock off the runs gradually, and suddenly, with the pair looking relatively untroubled, West Indies had less than 30 left to go. Pakistan, to their alarm, found they were still in a game, and with West Indies refusing to roll over, it became a game of shredded nerves as much as exquisite skill.There was the glory of Rizwan’s catch that spanned the length of the ground, the errors like Hasan’s drop at deep square leg, the guts of Roach going for his shots with the ultimate consequence on the line and the heart of Seales seeing off some searing pace bowling from Afridi. Pakistan broke West Indian hearts four years ago, but in a classic that contained shades of Antigua, West Indies have exacted exceptionally sweet revenge in Jamaica.

The availability of Gayle, Russell, Bravo and Pollard makes the hosts a terrifying proposition on paper

Danyal Rasool27-Jul-2021

Big Picture

West Indies’ extended warm-up for the T20 World Cup continues apace, with Pakistan the latest side the defending champions will host ahead of the global event later this year. While there might be legitimate concern around how relevant T20 cricket in the Caribbean is to a T20 World Cup on the other side of the planet in the UAE, you can’t really argue West Indies will go into it undercooked.A slightly below-par series in Grenada saw South Africa give the home side a bloody nose and walk away with the trophy, but Nicholas Pooran’s men bounced back strongly in St Lucia to hammer Australia 4-1 and get themselves back on track. Part of the excitement around West Indies stems from the return of most of their key players that have, for one reason or another, been unavailable to them for the large parts of the previous decade. With Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard all back in the maroon, West Indies are perhaps the most intimidating side on paper, and will be the most closely watched.Certainly more so than Pakistan, who fly to Barbados off the back of a 2-1 series reverse in England. It’s a measure of how much expectations have been managed in Pakistan that that result was viewed as something of an over-performance, so heavily unfancied was Babar Azam’s side against England. Things don’t get much easier, though, even if Pakistan have a perfect series record against West Indies, because the side they face bears little resemblance, both in personnel and intensity, to the one they beat on these shores in 2017.Still, that positive head-to-head means Pakistan are unlikely to fear the hosts going into this Covid-shortened series. Three T20Is in England ensure they don’t come in rusty against a well-oiled West Indian machine, and with the CPL among the more popular overseas T20I competitions for Pakistan players, this land carries little of the unfamiliarity it might have done in previous years. These two sides are very different from each other, both in style and T20 philosophy, and that contrast should make for an absorbing four games over the next week.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies WLWWW
Pakistan LWLWWHasan Ali is shaping up to be one of Pakistan’s most crucial players•Getty Images

In the spotlight

Is the greatest batsman in T20I history now a liability for West Indies? Chris Gayle is difficult to omit whenever he makes himself available, the 41-year old now appears to be a pale shadow of the man who carried his side’s T20I hopes for a decade and a half. No longer a basher of the ball from the outset, Gayle likes to take his time settling in before unleashing, except more often than not, the opposition get rid of him before that actually happens.In 12 T20Is this year he averages under 18 with a strike rate of 120.88, down from a career figure of 140.16. If he’s looking to play himself in, he doesn’t do much of that either; just two of these 12 innings have seen him cross 21. The PSL is the league he’s struggled in more than any other, so it isn’t like Pakistan’s bowlers don’t know how to keep Gayle quiet either. Expect an engaging battle.If there’s one Pakistani player who might feel at home in the West Indies side, it’s Hasan Ali. Not that there aren’t other members of the visiting squad good enough to get into a West Indies team, but there’s something delightfully Caribbean about Hasan’s charismatic personality and outgoing disposition. There’s a swagger about him that should endear him to any crowds allowed to attend.It isn’t just style, though; there’s substance to go with it. He missed the first two T20Is against England, but played crucial parts with both bat and ball in the thriller at Old Trafford. His nascent rise as perhaps Pakistan’s most valuable power hitter down the order is perfectly timed, coming as it does ahead of a series in the nation that has revolutionised the power game in the shortest format.

Team news

Kieron Pollard is slated to captain West Indies, but did not play the T20Is against Australia, with Pooran standing in.West Indies (possible): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Kieron Pollard (capt)/Fabian Allen, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Hayden Walsh, 10 Obed McCoy, 11 Fidel Edwards.Misbah-ul-Haq admitted after the England series Pakistan weren’t making much headway in working out how to resolve their middle-order issues. That, arguably, is what series like these are for, so expect some tinkering over the next few games.Pakistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 2 Babar Azam (capt), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Sohaib Maqsood, 5 Mohammad Hafeez/Sharjeel Khan, 6 Azam Khan, 7 Shadab Khan/Usman Qadir, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Mohammad Hasnain, 11 Shaheen Shah Afridi

Pitch and conditions

Showers are expected for the late morning in Barbados, around the time the game starts. A shortened contest likely benefits the big-hitting West Indies, but there are enough dry spells tomorrow to perhaps get a full contest in.The Kensington Oval isn’t the highest-scoring T20I ground, but with no T20I played here for four years, predicting how the pitch might turn out is something of a fool’s errand.

Stats and trivia

• This will be just the fourth four-match T20I series between two Full Member nations. One of the others also involved these two sides, when Pakistan beat West Indies 3-1 in 2017. The most recent such series took place in April, when Pakistan triumphed 3-1 in South Africa.
• The last T20I in Barbados took place in 2017. It was also a West Indies-Pakistan game, a low-scoring contest with Pakistan chasing 113 and winning by six wickets.

Quotes

“All those bad mistakes we committed in England, we don’t want to repeat them. We discussed them and we are taking forward all the learning curves. Batting and bowling is one thing but we are putting extra, a lot of time into fielding in practice. This is an important series in a way that we will check out different combinations and check our bench strength.”

Australia skipper won’t play in Tasmania’s Shield clash against WA; will instead play club cricket and in Tasmania’s Second XI against South Australia

Alex Malcolm17-Nov-2021Australia captain Tim Paine is set to go into the Ashes series without a first-class fixture under his belt but he is set to play club cricket and second XI cricket for Tasmania over the next week before Australia’s intra-squad clash in Brisbane ahead of the Gabba Test.Paine is recovering from neck surgery he had in September and has not played at all yet this summer. His last competitive game was in April.Related

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He was hopeful of playing up to four full matches, including a Shield game, before the first Ashes Test at the Gabba in December.Rain last week washed out any hopes of playing for his club side University of Tasmania. He is now set to play on the first day of their clash with South Hobart Sandy Bay on Saturday, but he won’t take part in Tasmania’s Shield clash against Western Australia, starting on Sunday.He will instead play in Tasmania’s Second XI team in a four-day game against South Australia which is scheduled to begin on Monday. Paine will also have the chance to play in the intra-squad clash in Brisbane starting on December 1.Australia’s chairman of selectors George Bailey was not concerned about Paine’s preparation.”Just get some cricket under his belt, which we’re really confident he’s going to get back this weekend,” Bailey said on Wednesday. “And I think from all reports, surgery has gone really well. He’s feeling really, really confident. I think they’ve actually had to hold him back a little bit in the last couple of weeks to make sure the actual healing process has gone well and now it’s just a matter of actually getting some game time under his belt, so he’s really confident and really excited to be leading the team come the first day at the Gabba.”Paine will turn 37 on the opening day of the Ashes series and told last week that he has not given any consideration to his future beyond this summer.Alex Carey and Josh Inglis have both been named in the Australia A squad on Wednesday but Alex Carey is expected to be the second wicketkeeper in the intra-squad match and the Australia A wicketkeeper, and possibly captain, for the England Lions game starting in December. Inglis is set to play as a batter given he was part of the group that was required to do 14-day quarantine on the way back from the T20 World Cup in the UAE and is likely to head back to Perth Scorchers for the start of the BBL.

Dravid and stand-in captain Rahul both felt India were short on runs in the first innings, and expect Kohli to return for the decider

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-20227:29

Dravid: As a batting unit, we can look to seize a few key moments

India head coach Rahul Dravid has said the team management will have conversations with Rishabh Pant over his shot selection, even as they continue backing his natural aggression with the bat. Pant was out for a duck in India’s second innings in Johannesburg, edging Kagiso Rabada behind after charging out of his crease.”We know Rishabh plays positively and he plays in a particular manner and that has got him a little bit of success,” Dravid said in his post-match press conference. “But yeah, of course there are times when we’re going to have some level of conversations with him around, just a little bit of maybe just selection of the time to play that [shot].”No one’s ever going to tell Rishabh not to be a positive player, not to be an aggressive player, but sometimes it’s just a question of picking and choosing the time to do that. I think when you just come in, maybe giving yourself a bit more time might be a little bit more advisable, but look, in the end we know what we’re getting with Rishabh – he is a really positive player, he’s someone who can change the course of a game very quickly for us, so you naturally won’t take that away from him and ask him to become something very different. Sometimes it’s just about figuring out what is the right time to maybe attack or maybe play out a slightly difficult period that sets the game up for you or sets the innings up.”He’s learning. He plays in a particular way, so it’s always something that he’s going to keep learning, he’s going to keep improving and keep getting better.”Related

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On a challenging pitch characterised by uneven bounce, India were neck-and-neck with South Africa for three-fourths of the Test match before the hosts pulled away in a fourth-innings chase of 240, their captain Dean Elgar steering them home with an unbeaten 96. Dravid felt the result could have gone differently had India put up a bigger first-innings total after winning the toss.”It’s been challenging wickets for both the teams,” he said. “This fourth innings was probably their best innings as well. The wickets have been a little challenging, I will give that to the batsmen, but yes, honestly we pride ourselves on wanting to do better and wanting to get better, so yes, as a batting unit we can certainly look to maybe seize a few key moments and when we get those partnerships, maybe make them a little bit longer.2:54

Cullinan: ‘I thought India’s batters were too loose’

“There could have been phases in the first innings where it was challenging, the ball was tending to kick up a little bit, but we could have probably got maybe 60-70 runs more, it probably could have made a significant difference in this game.”So yes, certainly we would like to bat a little bit better, maybe some of the guys who got starts could have converted those into, say, hundreds. That was a difference in the first game – we had [KL] Rahul who went on to get a hundred for us and we ended up on the winning side. Second game, they had someone who ended up on 96 at the end of the game and they ended up on the winning side, so it really shows you the importance of, on these kinds of wickets especially, one of your batsmen going on and making a big score.”It’s not easy batting conditions, so if one of your batsmen who gets set can go on and make a significant score, that certainly adds those 60-70 runs to the total, which sometimes prove to be the difference in the end.”‘We had their backs’ – Rahul on Pujara-RahaneIndia’s captain for the Test match, KL Rahul, also felt his team had fallen 60 to 70 short in that first innings.”I think if I have to be really harsh, it’s the first innings, after winning the toss we could have put 60 or 70 more on the board and gone in [to the second innings] with 50-60 lead,” Rahul said at the post-match presentation. “That would have been really crucial for us in the second innings.”Apart from Rahul, no batter managed to get to 50 in that innings, with the second-best score coming from No. 7, R Ashwin, who hit a counterattacking 46 to lift the side to 202. That was to remain the lowest innings total of the match.Dean Elgar solidly carried South Africa past KL Rahul’s India•AFP via Getty Images

India had a wobble the second time around too, going from 155 for 2 to 184 for 6, before Shardul Thakur hit a vital cameo to follow up bowling figures of 7 for 61, the best Test figures for an India bowler against South Africa.Rahul was all praise for Thakur. “Shardul has had a great Test match. In the few Test matches he’s played, he’s really created that sort of impact and won us games. Really happy with the way he’s bowled and with the contribution that he had with the bat as well, it was really crucial for us and gave us a change to win the Test.”Before Thakur, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane did the bulk of the work in India’s second innings, hitting brisk half-centuries in a stand of 111 for the third wicket. The partnership came at a time when the pair’s places in the side were potentially under pressure, with both batters having endured extended periods of poor form.The team’s official stance, however, has always been to back both batters publicly, and Rahul maintained that stance.”They’ve been great players for us, they’ve done the job for the team over the years. They’ve obviously been under the pump a little bit but in the team we really believe Pujara and Ajinkya are our best middle-order batsmen and they prove that time and again,” he said. “So we really had their backs and to go out there and put up a performance like that it really shows the mindset they are in and the fighters they are. We always knew they could do something like that. Hopefully that gives them a lot of confidence and they can do out in the next game and put in an even better performance.”

Young quick disallowed from bowling in the ongoing PSL as well

Umar Farooq04-Feb-2022Mohammad Hasnain’s bowling action has been found to be illegal. The Pakistan fast bowler underwent tests on his action last month at the ICC-accredited biomechanics laboratory at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS); a subsequent report, ESPNcricinfo understands, found that a majority of the deliveries he bowled exceeded the 15-degree tolerance limit for a legal bowling action. Ten out of the 11 deliveries that he bowled in the lab clocked extension ranging from 17 to 24 degrees.Related

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“The PCB today received a formal and detailed report from Cricket Australia on Mohammad Hasnain’s assessment test, which stated his elbow extension for his good length delivery, full length delivery, slow bouncer and bouncer exceeded the 15-degree limits,” the PCB said in a statement. “The PCB has discussed the report with its own bowling experts and is confident that the problem can be resolved. The PCB will now appoint a bowling consultant who will work with Mohammad Hasnain so that he can rectify his bowling action and be ready for a reassessment.”Hasnain was first reported last month by umpires in the Big Bash League, where he was playing for Sydney Thunder. Ordinarily, he would have been tested in Australia. But because he was due to travel back to Pakistan to play in the PSL, it was decided he would undergo the testing in Lahore. Hasnain played for his franchise Quetta Gladiators in their first three games of the season, as regulations allowed him to, but was benched for their loss to Islamabad United on Thursday evening in Karachi.According to the ICC’s regulations on illegal bowling actions, the PCB can allow him to continue bowling in their domestic tournaments. But they have decided against it.”Mohammad Hasnain is an asset for Pakistan and one of the very few bowlers to consistently click 145kmp,” the PCB statement added. “As such, and keeping his future and Pakistan’s interest at the forefront, the PCB, on the recommendation of the HBL PSL 2022 Technical Committee, has decided he will not be allowed to continue to participate in the HBL Pakistan Super League.”Instead, he will use this time to work with the PCB-appointed bowling consultant to modify his bowling action so that he can apply for a reassessment and become eligible to return to international cricket as quickly as practically possible. As per the Illegal Bowling Action Regulations, until Mohammad Hasnain clears his reassessment, he will remain suspended from bowling in international cricket.”Disallowing Hasnain from bowling in the PSL is not without precedent. In 2016, the board prevented Mohammad Hafeez from bowling in the PSL after his action was found to be illegal.The 21-year-old has been a constant presence in and around Pakistan’s white-ball squads and already has a T20I hat-trick to his name. He had impressed in his short stint at the BBL, recruited as a replacement for English quick Saqib Mahmood, and he took 3 for 20 in Thunder’s 28-run win over Adelaide Strikers on his debut.Hasnain had picked up three wickets in the PSL so far, while conceding 8.44 runs per over.

Australia great passes away in Thailand following a suspected heart attack

Andrew Miller04-Mar-2022Shane Warne, one of cricket’s all-time greats, has died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 52 in Koh Samui, Thailand, while on holiday.Warne, who was named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Century, claimed 708 Test wickets in a 15-year career for Australia between 1992 and 2007, and was also an ODI World Cup winner in 1999.According to his manager Michael Cohen, he died of a suspected heart attack.”Shane was found unresponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” Cohen’s statement read. “The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course.”Related

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According to Reuters, Thai Police said Warne and three other friends were staying in a private villa and one of them went to inquire about him after the former cricketer did not turn up for dinner.”The friend did CPR on him and called an ambulance,” Chatchawin Nakmusik, an officer with the Bo Phut police in Koh Samui, told Reuters by phone.”An emergency response unit then arrived and did another CPR for 10-20 minutes. Then an ambulance from the Thai International Hospital arrived and took him there. They did CPR for five minutes, and then he died.”The police did not know the cause of death but were not treating it as suspicious, Chatchawin said.The shocking news comes hours after the death of another icon of Australian cricket, former wicketkeeper Rod Marsh, who also suffered a heart attack earlier this week at the age of 74.”Warnie”, as he was known throughout the cricketing world, was without question one of the true icons of world cricket, a man who almost singlehandedly revived the art of legspin in the early 1990s.Although luminaries such as Pakistan’s Abdul Qadir had kept the art alive, Warne brought a new glamour and attacking intent to legspin, with his bottle-blond hair allied to a keen tactical brain that he used to outfox a host of unwitting opponents in his pomp.After an underwhelming debut against India in January 1992, where his solitary wicket came at a cost of 150 runs, Warne hinted at his full potential in bowling Australia to an unlikely victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo, before – in his fifth appearance – he ripped out seven match-winning second-innings wickets against West Indies at his home ground of Melbourne in the 1992-93 Boxing Day Test.4:17

Shane Warne’s ball of the century

However, it was the 1993 Ashes tour that truly cemented Warne’s legend. In the opening match of the series at Old Trafford, and having been shielded from England’s batters during the preceding one-day series, Warne’s first delivery left the sport dumbfounded as he served up the so-called “ball of the century” to Mike Gatting – a drifting, dipping, spitting legbreak, that turned a full two feet from outside leg to hit the top of off.Gatting was so confused, he did not initially realise he had been bowled – and in that moment, Warne exerted a hold over England’s batters that was so absolute, they would not come close to reclaiming the Ashes for another 12 years. And even when they did, in the seismic summer of 2005, Warne’s fingers were the last to be prised from the urn, as he carried Australia’s attack with a career-best haul of 40 wickets.Away from the cricket field, Warne could not help but court controversy. He was rarely far from the front pages of the tabloids amid a string of revelations about his personal life. In 1995, both he and his then team-mate Mark Waugh were fined for giving information to an Indian bookmaker during the previous year’s tour of Sri Lanka.In 2003, on the eve of that year’s 50-over World Cup, Warne was suspended from international cricket for a year after a banned diuretic was found during a routine drugs test – he claimed it had been given to him by his mother to help him lose weight.However, though that setback might have ended lesser careers, the year away from the game arguably gave Warne an extra lease of life going into his mid-30s. He returned to action with four five-wicket hauls in a row to lead Australia to a memorable 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka in March 2004, and then played a quietly crucial role in their subsequent “final frontier” victory in India.He retired from international cricket with typical showmanship in the 2006-07 Ashes, leaving the field arm-in-arm with his long-term bowling ally Glenn McGrath – a fellow great in one of the all-time great Test teams – after reclaiming the Ashes with a 5-0 whitewash (the first that Australia had inflicted on England since 1920-21).Even at the age of 37, the Warne legend was not done. In 2008, he was recruited by Rajasthan Royals to captain their franchise in the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and duly delivered the title with 19 wickets at 21.26 in the course of the campaign. Though he went wicketless in the final against Chennai Super Kings, he couldn’t be kept out of the action, as he and Sohail Tanvir sealed the victory with the bat in a thrilling final-over finish.Prior to his IPL involvement, Warne had spent eight seasons (2000-2007) in county cricket with Hampshire, after being recruited by his friend and England rival, Robin Smith. He claimed 276 first-class wickets at 25.59 in his time at the club, and later had a stand at the Ageas Bowl named after him.In retirement, Warne became a trenchant commentator, primarily for Fox Sports in Australia – ever insightful on tactical matters, if at times a touch bombastic. He also dabbled in professional poker, a card game that he said replicated the sort of mind-games that he had revelled in during his playing days. He became a fixture at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne and at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, where in 2009, his deep run into the tournament meant that he arrived late for his commentary duties at that summer’s Ashes.Tributes to Warne have poured in from the cricket world, from team-mates and rivals alike. Brian Lara, arguably the greatest batter to have faced Warne in his pomp, tweeted an image of a broken heart, adding: “Speechless at the moment. I literally don’t know how to sum up this situation. My friend is gone!! We have lost one of the Greatest Sportsmen of all time!! My condolences goes out to his family. RIP Warnie!! You will be missed.”Adam Gilchrist, Warne’s team-mate in one of the greatest Test teams of all time, added: “Numb. The highlight of my cricketing career was to keep wicket to Warnie. Best seat in the house to watch the maestro at work. Have often felt a tad selfish, that Heals [Ian Healy] and I pretty much exclusively are the only ones who had that thrill and pleasure at Test level. Rip Warnie.”