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Unsettled England face back-to-back challenge after losing captain to injury

Andrew Miller28-Jan-2022

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Coming into this five-match series, Eoin Morgan had said that the “development of our game is more important than a series win” … and that caveat may be one that England are keen to cling onto as the climax of the campaign approaches.With a glut of Ashes campaigners already absent for this tour, England’s resources in Barbados have been further hit by illness and injury – the latest being a quadriceps niggle that has forced Morgan himself onto the sidelines. As for the action itself, the understudies on parade have frequently been put through their paces, most emphatically on Wednesday, when West Indies surged back into the series lead on the back of Rovman Powell’s 51-ball century.And so England go into this weekend’s back-to-back fixtures needing consecutive victories to swipe the spoils. As recently as November, you’d have backed them to do just that, after West Indies old guard were put out to pasture in a humiliating 55-all-out display at the T20 World Cup. But Powell’s pyrotechnics, coupled with Nicholas Pooran’s power at No. 3 and an enviable depth of hitters that came to the fore in West Indies’ one-run loss on Sunday, suggests that the mood of the hosts may have shifted a touch this past week.Nevertheless, as DJ Bravo noted in an exasperated tweet on Thursday, it’s never easy to rally round West Indies these days without a few political spanners impeding on the works. A curious row about Odean Smith’s “victimisation” has blown up since he was dropped to make way from Powell’s power-packed return, with Phil Simmons, the head coach, being forced to decry such talk as “foolishness” in his pre-match press conference before Ricky Skerritt, the board chairman, weighed in too.The off-field issues have detracted from a genuinely uplifting series of displays from West Indies – a team that lost an ODI series to Ireland only last week, but which has hit upon a potent balance of youth and experience for England’s visit. In particular, some canny bowling from the veterans Jason Holder and Kieron Pollard has offered a steady foil to a batting line-up that is still prone to over-reaching, but which looks better balanced than it had been at the World Cup.Related

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As for England, they’ve had their moments in between the ignominies. Tom Banton and Phil Salt served up a pair of powerful fifties on Wednesday that fitted the imposing template that England’s absentee World Cup winners have crafted for the white-ball team since 2015, while the spin-twins Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid remain a pre-eminent force as the countdown continues to another T20 World Cup in Australia in barely 10 months’ time.But on the seam-bowling front, there’s obvious room for improvement, particularly at the death, where England’s recent stats make eye-watering reading. Reece Topley has been a notable exception to the theme – his lanky left-arm line and canny variations have confirmed the promise he showed when called up for the 2016 World T20 in India. But Chris Jordan and Saqib Mahmood, at opposite ends of the experience spectrum, have both endured some rough treatment in this series, as have Tymal Mills and the debutant George Garton.As Morgan admitted, it’s better for England’s development to be put under pressure in this build-up period than to experience such setbacks on the main stage in November. But as Moeen prepares to lead England out for these final two games, there are perhaps a few more unknown factors in his ranks that the management would have bargained for at the start of the tour.

Form guide

West Indies WLWLL (most recent first)
England LWLLL

In the spotlight

Consistency has been one of West Indies’ watchwords for this series, and so all eyes will be on Rovman Powell after his startling return to the fray on Wednesday. Expecting him to back up his 51-ball hundred with a similar performance this weekend might be a stretch, but given that West Indies’ top-order collapsed to 65 for 7 in the second match after a serene display in game one, how he resets after that effort could be a microcosm of the team’s mentality at large. Either way, he’s made a phenomenal mark as one of only three West Indies batters to record a men’s T20I century, alongside Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis. It’s illustrious company, and after six years on the team’s periphery, it gives him a golden opportunity to cement that place as his own.It’s been a good problem for England to have down the years, but such has been their glut of explosive white-ball hitters, almost everyone in the line-up has been queuing up for a place in the top three. Phil Salt is a potential exception to that rule, after making his debut at No. 6 on Wednesday, and responding to the challenge with a fine innings of 57 from 24 balls. He prides himself on his ability to strike the ball hard from the get-go, and with Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow among the dead-certs missing this campaign, there’s a more obvious long-term vacancy in the middle-order. Morgan’s absence should guarantee he’ll get the next two games to make his mark, but Moeen has hinted he may get a chance higher up the order in the coming games – much as he did when debuting in the post-Covid ODI line-up last summer.

Team news

There are few reasons for West Indies to make wholesale changes to a line-up that performed so impressively in the third T20I, although one tweak may come at the top of the order, where Shai Hope’s haul of 26 runs from 40 balls shows room for improvement. He may make way for Kyle Mayers, which would also give West Indies a left-right opening alliance. Nicholas Pooran would take over as wicketkeeper in that case. The Odean Smith controversy probably means he’s further from a recall now than he might have been had that issue not become headline news, especially in light of Powell’s blistering reintroduction. But it’s feasible that he might also come in at the expense of Darren Bravo.West Indies (possible): 1 Shai Hope / Kyle Mayers, 2 Brandon King, 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Kieron Pollard (capt), 7 Jason Holder, 8 Fabian Allen, 9 Romario Shepherd, 10 Akeal Hosein, 11 Sheldon CottrellThere were so many changes to England’s line-up for the third game that Moeen Ali, the stand-in captain, failed to remember them all – but then, seeing as one of them was the ever-overlooked Liam Dawson (now back on the sidelines after a solitary T20I appearance in four years), perhaps that’s understandable. In theory, there should be fewer changes this time around – assuming Liam Livingstone doesn’t suffer a recurrence of his acid reflux issue, he will be a lock in the middle-order, where Sam Billings may yet rejoin him if he’s got over his understandable jet-lag. Harry Brook, a late inclusion after Eoin Morgan’s quad strain, is the obvious man to make way. Assuming Reece Topley’s fitness holds up, he’s the first-choice quick on the team-sheet. Saqib Mahmood, taken out of the firing line on Wednesday, may be ripe for a return.England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Tom Banton, 3 James Vince, 4 Moeen Ali (capt), 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Sam Billings (wk), 7 Phil Salt, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Saqib Mahmood / Tymal Mills, 11 Reece Topley

Pitch and conditions

There have been a variety of surfaces for this series so far – a bit of a flyer that caught England on the hop in game one, a lop-sided lay-out for Sunday’s second match which played havoc with the quick bowlers’ tactics in particular, then a surprise belter on Wednesday, which served up a total of 428 runs across 40 overs. Another short boundary to the Greenidge-Haynes Stand is in prospect for Saturday, which may once again influence the willingness to bat first.

Stats and trivia

• Kieron Powell needs 22 runs to reach 1500 in his T20I career. This will be his 97th match in the format.
• Nicholas Pooran needs 34 runs to pass 1000 T20I runs. He will be playing in his 53rd match.
• The 428 runs scored in the third match was the third-highest aggregate in a 20-over match involving West Indies. They took part in the highest-scoring T20I ever, a one-run win over India in Lauderhill in 2016, when 487 runs were scored.

Quotes

“If Odean wasn’t in the best team for the day, it is because we thought that Rovman was better suited for yesterday. All those who want to sit out there and preach about victimisation, I think they need to look within themselves.”
“Wednesday happened just before the toss, there were five changes and it just felt there was a lot going on. I didn’t feel like I had time to prepare and think about it too much, which sometimes can help. Hopefully going forward it’ll be a little bit easier and calmer.”

Corey Anderson’s unbeaten 94 off 41 balls, studded with a record 10 sixes, led New Zealand to another whitewash of Bangladesh

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu08-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsCorey Anderson’s 94 not out off 41 balls was a blur of clean hitting•Getty Images

Corey Anderson ushered in 2014 with the then fastest ODI century off just 36 balls. In the second week of 2017, he threatened to shellack the fastest T20I century. He didn’t quite have the time for that and so had to settle for the record for the most sixes by a New Zealander in the format – as many as 10 in an unbeaten 41-ball 94 that set up a 3-0 clean sweep of Bangladesh in Mount Maunganui.Anderson was involved in another New Zealand record along with his captain Kane Williamson as they added 124 runs for the fourth wicket – one run better than Colin Munro and Tom Bruce’s work on Friday. Williamson completed his second half-century in three innings and helped offset an early wobble – New Zealand were 41 for 3 in 6.1 overs – and Anderson provided the muscle at the end taking the total to 194 for 4. In reply, Bangladesh started brightly with a 44-run opening stand, but they couldn’t sustain it. There was just too many runs to chase.A run fest seemed highly likely when Williamson slapped Shakib with the vertical and horizontal bat for back-to-back boundaries in fourth over. It looked less likely when Rubel Hossain got rid of James Neesham – Williamson’s third opening partner in three matches – and Munro in the space of five balls. When offspinning allrounder Mosaddek Hossain struck with his first delivery to dismiss Bruce for 5, and along with Shakib Al Hasan, conceded only 14 runs between the seventh and 10th overs, it looked like Bangladesh had regained control.With the spinners firing them in on middle stump, Williamson resorted to shuffling across or coming down the track for his runs. He did not always look pretty, and even fell on the floor while attempting a wild slog, but launched a six onto the roof of the ground. He then pushed the team past 100 in the 14th over with a whip to the square leg boundary.Anderson then took charge of the innings from there on, clubbing Mashrafe Mortaza for 17 runs in four balls and smacking part-time seamer Soumya Sarkar for a hat-trick of sixes over midwicket. The second of those blows raised his fifty off 27 balls, but the third – a violent swipe against a full ball – was the pick of the lot. It sailed over the grass banks and landed on a Thai curry stall.Rubel Hossain took three wickets, including two in an over, and staked his claim to lead the Test bowling attack•Getty Images

When Anderson hoisted Taskin Ahmed in the last over of the innings for his ninth six, he snatched the record for most sixes by a New Zealand batsman in a T20I. Brendon McCullum had hit eight against Australia in Christchurch in 2010. Anderson put the seal on the innings with another clean six over long-on and walked back to a rousing reception.About 100 minutes later, he soaked in the applause from the crowd again, this time after claiming a catch to send Shakib back in the last over of the match, by which time New Zealand were certain to win their sixth straight limited-overs match of the series.Bangladesh, despite having to worry over possible injuries, fought hard in the chase. Imrul Kayes left the field after he tripped over the ad boards located beyond the boundary while trying to attempt a catch. Mashrafe joined him in the dressing room not long after when he hurt his right hand while trying to stop a straight drive. Neither man came out to bat.Getting to 69 for 1 in six overs, therefore, was a pretty good start for the visitors. But they couldn’t keep up the tempo when pace was taken off the ball. Sarkar spooned a return catch to Ish Sodhi, and Williamson bowled Sabbir Rahman, but the ball of the day was Sodhi’s ripping googly to Mahmudullah. It pitched outside off and hit the top of leg stump, making a mess of the batsman’s attempt to sneak some runs on the leg side.Shakib and Nurul Hasan connected with late boundaries, but the game was up by then. Bangladesh’s only silver lining in this match was Rubel, who picked up three wickets and staked his claim to lead the inexperienced Test bowling attack.

A round-up of the second day’s play from the seventh round of Ranji Trophy games in Group A

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2016Baroda‘s seamers delivered a thrilling 21-run win by bowling out Bengal out for 133 in their chase of 155 in a low-scoring contest in Lahli that finished inside two days. After a 23-wicket first day, 17 fell on the second. Baroda’s win was their first of the season; it took them to nine points from six matches.Baroda resumed the day 63 for 3 in their second innings, 84 in front, but were quickly reduced to 71 for 6 inside the first seven overs of the morning. Swapnil Singh and Akshay Brahmbhatt contributed 30 and 21 respectively before Mukesh Kumar polished off the innings to finish with 5 for 45, his maiden five-wicket haul. Baroda were bowled out for 133.Atit Sheth took three more wickets in Bengal’s second innings to finish with 10 in the match. Babashafi Pathan and Irfan Pathan took five wickets between them in a Bengal innings that lasted just 46 overs. Manoj Tiwary top-scored with a 48-ball 39, while four other batsmen got into double figures without managing to reach 30.Priyank Kirit Panchal struck his maiden first-class double-century to hand Gujarat the advantage at stumps on the second day against Mumbai in Hubbali. Panchal resumed the second day on 122, and seemed in danger of running out of partners as the day wore on. However, stands of 47 and 42 with No. 9 Karan Patel (14) and No. 10 Hardik Patel (5) pushed Gujarat past 400.Panchal was eventually dismissed for 232 off 434 balls, an innings that featured 28 fours and two sixes. Gujarat were bowled out for 437. Vishal Dabholkar returned figures of 6 for 118 in an innings in which Mumbai used 10 bowlers. In reply, Mumbai were 58 for 3 at stumps, with Jasprit Bumrah picking up two wickets.Left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma’s 6 for 108 helped Madhya Pradesh restrict Railways to 371 in their Group A game in Delhi. Railways began the day placed well, at 249 for 2, but lost a heap of wickets to slip to 269 for 7. Captain Karn Sharma (44) and No. 10 Anureet Singh (40) resurrected a faltering day and helped Railways post 371. Madhya Pradesh began slowly in their reply, posting 71 for 3 in 40 overs. Left-arm spinner Avinash Yadav claimed two of those wickets.Fifties from Kaushik Gandhi and Dinesh Karthik put Tamil Nadu in a commanding position against Punjab at the end of the second day in Nagpur. Gandhi remained unbeaten on a 209-ball 75, while Karthik was out for a 93-ball 54. Tamil Nadu went to stumps trailing Punjab’s first-innings score of 284 by just 66 runs with six wickets in hand.Punjab’s last four wickets only managed to add 43 to their overnight score of 241 for 6, with wicketkeeper Gitansh Khera running out of partners to be left stranded on 40. K Vignesh finished with figures of 4 for 104, and his fellow seamer Aswin Crist with 3 for 73.

Courtney Walsh, the former West Indies captain, has signed on as Bangladesh’s new bowling coach until the 2019 World Cup

Mohammad Isam31-Aug-20161:19

Courtney Walsh succeeded Heath Streak in Bangladesh set-up

Courtney Walsh, the former West Indies captain, has signed on as Bangladesh’s new bowling coach until the 2019 World Cup.Walsh, who is set to arrive in the country in the coming week, replaced Heath Streak, who served as bowling coach for two years until May.This would be Walsh’s first major coaching role in international cricket since retiring in 2001 as the then leading wicket-taker in Tests. He has since worked as a cricket administrator in various roles including West Indies selector, mentor with Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL, and as manager of the West Indies Under-19 team. Most recently, Walsh served as part of the West Indies selection panel.”Having watched Bangladesh cricket from afar over the years, they are a seriously talented bunch of players,” Walsh said. “Chandika Hathurusingha has done a wonderful job thus far as Head Coach so hopefully I can complement his skills and continue the positive progress.”Obviously the West Indies is my home but the chance to go in a new direction in coaching at the international level with a talented group, was one I couldn’t let that opportunity pass.”Walsh was the second high-profile West Indian in a coaching role with Bangladesh following Gordon Greenidge, the former West Indies opener, who had steered Bangladesh to the 1999 World Cup via victory at the 1997 ICC Trophy.”Bangladesh cricket at present is going through the best pace bowling phase in our history,” BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said, “And Courtney’s involvement, I am sure will take it to greater heights.”Bangladesh had had their best year in ODI cricket in 2015, when they won a series each against South Africa, Pakistan and India. The team also reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Live updates from the Cricket Australia press conference explaining the reasons behind Mickey Arthur’s dismissal

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jun-2013

Jack Brooks took 4 for 22 after Somerset were made to follow on but Marcus Trescothick managed to guide the visitors to a draw

Les Smith at Headingley10-May-2013Somerset 252 (Petersen 54, Trescothick 53, Bresnan 4-76) and 61 for 6 (Brooks 4-22) drew with Yorkshire 505 for 9 dec (Rashid 180, Ballance 107)
ScorecardSteven Patterson claimed two second-innings wickets after replacing Jack Brooks•Getty Images

For a short while this evening Jack Brooks, the “Headband Warrior”, and Steve Patterson breathed life into what looked like a dead contest, and even hinted at another remarkable Yorkshire victory. Almost repeating his feats from last week against Derbyshire, Brooks took four Somerset wickets in his first four overs as the visitors followed on.In Brooks’ fifth over he injured his left thumb fielding a drive off his own bowling and left the field immediately. Patterson replaced him and wasted no time in adding to the pressure on Somerset by taking two wickets of his own.But Marcus Trescothick stood firm while his side crumbled around him and a match in which 120 overs were lost to rain and bad light ended in the draw that seemed the most likely result at the start of a day in which the first two-and-a-half hours were washed away.When play finally got under way at 2.10pm, Andrew Gale gave the ball to Patterson at the Football Stand End, and he struck with his second ball. Jos Buttler hung his bat outside off stump to give Andy Hodd a simple catch behind the stumps. James Hildreth didn’t last much longer. He looked promising, whacking Rich Pyrah’s first two balls to the off side boundary, but then authored his own demise by flat-batting Pyrah to Adil Rashid at point.Peter Trego stayed for 40 minutes but then tamely steered a Patterson ball to cover. Alfonso Thomas and Steve Kirby set about restoring some order, while Gale set attacking fields for Tim Bresnan and Rashid. The batsmen made it through to tea, but didn’t survive long afterwards. Thomas brought up a second batting bonus point with a top-edged cut to the boundary, but immediately afterwards Bresnan struck. He has bowled excellently throughout this match, and was very quick on Friday. First Kirby edged a fast-rising ball to slip and the next delivery was simply too rapid for Jamie Overton.Yorkshire enforced the follow on with 25 overs left in the day, reduced to 23 by a shower. Brooks’ wicket celebration has already become legendary at Headingley, and the crowd were treated to it four times in a few minutes. He had Nick Compton and Alviro Petersen snaffled by Adam Lyth at second slip – Compton for a duck – then removed the off stumps of Hildreth and Arul Suppiah, who completed a pair.When Brooks retired to the pavilion nursing his thumb, with a wicket-taking spell of 4 for 22 in 25 balls behind him, Patterson proved a more than adequate replacement, finishing with figures of 2 for 4. Buttler played a loose shot and was caught at first slip, then Trego was lbw to a ball that shot through. But throughout the mayhem, Trescothick stood firm, never looking in trouble, and guided his team to safety.Yorkshire’s coach, Jason Gillespie, was full of praise for his side at the end of play. “I thought our seam bowling was excellent all game. Our batting, after being 75 for 4, to finish 505 for nine was brilliant, the way they went about it.” Gillespie is big on positivity and “intent”, telling his players that someone arriving at the ground who hasn’t yet seen the scoreboard should look at them and assume they’re on top.These sides meet again in the YB40 on Saturday. If there is such a thing in sport as momentum, then it’s with Yorkshire but, as Gillespie stressed, Somerset are a very good side, and the one-day game is different to Championship cricket. Brooks will almost certainly not be playing as he was sent to Leeds Royal Infirmary for an X-ray.2200BST, May 10: This story was correct to amend the ends of the ground

Dirk Nannes has signed for Glamorgan as an overseas player in this year’s Friends Life t20 competition.

George Dobell01-Mar-2013Dirk Nannes, the Australian left-arm fast bowler, has signed for Glamorgan as an overseas player in this year’s Friends Life t20 competition.Nannes is the world’s leading wicket-taker in Twenty20 and Matthew Mott, the head of elite performance at Glamorgan, has hailed the signing as “gold dust” for the county.”He was on the radar for a number of clubs and we are very happy to have secured his signature,” Mott said. “We were looking for a strike and death bowler because they are like gold dust in T20 cricket. He is still one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket, and I am sure he will excite the public when he comes tearing in for Glamorgan.”Nannes has emerged as the archetypal freelance T20 specialist over the last couple of years. Now aged 36, he has given up first-class and List A cricket in order to specialise and extend his T20 career. He has already represented Middlesex (2008), Nottinghamshire (2010) and Surrey (2011-12) in the county game.But he stands out as one of he few cricketers to regularly appear in nearly all of the T20 tournaments around the world. In the last 12 months he has appeared in the Bangladesh Premier League (for Sylhet Royals), the Big Bash League (for Sydney Thunder), New Zealand’s HRV Cup (for Canterbury), the Sri Lanka Premier League (for Basnahira Cricket Dundee) and in the Champions League (for Lions). He also had an IPL deal with Bangalore but didn’t play a match.”Dirk is vastly experienced in this format and a proven performer,” Mott said. “With his experience of the competitions across the world, he will also provide a great deal of firepower and intimidation to our bowling unit.”Dirk has also expressed he would love to be involved with the club and utilise our facilities throughout the year. This will be invaluable for our bowling group to be able to tap into his vast experience and see how he prepares.”Nannes added: “I’ve enjoyed spells in county cricket and around the world,” Nannes said. “I am looking forward to coming over and playing for Glamorgan this summer. I’d like to think I can share my experience with the lads and be someone who can take crucial wickets for the team.”

The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has adopted a new constitution and, as per the stipulations of the new constitution, elected former assistant secretary Drubahadur as its president

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2013The Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) has adopted a new constitution and, as per the stipulations of the new constitution, elected former assistant secretary Drubahadur as its president. These changes were sanctioned at the GCB’s annual general meeting in Georgetown on January 27, but it is as yet not certain whether this new development would ease the WICB-backed Guyana board’s continuing standoff with the country’s government.Drubahadur, a GCB press release said, was the lone nominee for the post of president. He takes over from Fizul Bacchus, who was named acting president following the resignation of Ramsey Ali in February 2012. Ali had been elected to the post in a contentious election in July 2011, and quit after police and court officials raided his home and the homes of other board officials.Those raids were part of the ongoing conflict between the GCB and the Guyana government, which began when the government dissolved the board due to the dispute over the 2011 elections. The elections were boycotted by some of the board’s constituent members, one of which, the Berbice Cricket Board, took the GCB to court, claiming the new administration was not properly established. The Chief Justice recommended that “there may be immediate need for the minister responsible for sports to impose his executive will in the national interest”.Following that ruling, Guyana’s sports minister Dr Frank Anthony appointed an Interim Management Committee (IMC), headed by ex-West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, to run cricket in Guyana. The WICB, however, refused to acknowledge the IMC, in keeping with the ICC’s stance against government intervention in cricket administration, and said the only authority it would recognise was the GCB.At Sunday’s AGM, Bacchus was elected vice-president, administration, while Anand Sanasie and Anand Kalladeen got the posts of secretary and treasurer respectively. Auditing firm Barcellos Narine was also elected to be auditors of the Guyana board.

The meeting in London between the three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal and senior administrative and diplomatic officials has been pushed back to Thursday

Nagraj Gollapudi in Taunton01-Sep-2010Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, the three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal, have returned to London from Taunton and will meet with PCB officials on Thursday for an internal inquiry. Cricinfo understands that the three men have already had an informal briefing with the chairman of the board, Ijaz Butt, ahead of a more intense round of talks in the wake of last week’s allegations in the News of the World.However, in an interview with the BBC, Ijaz Butt reiterated his stance, first outlined to Cricinfo on Monday, that he would resist all pressure to remove the players from the reckoning for the one-day series that gets underway at Cardiff on Sunday. “They will be free to play immediately,” he said. Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, met with the PCB chairman on Thursday, while the ECB remain firm in their stance that the trio should not be allowed to play.The players’ presence in London effectively rules them out of Pakistan’s warm-up game against Somerset on Thursday, and though they are still expected to rejoin the squad on Friday, it now seems likely that they will have to remain in London for a planned meeting with the Pakistan high commissioner to the United Kingdom, as well as further interviews with the Metropolitan Police.Meanwhile the rest of the squad had another training session at the County Ground and Shahid Afridi, who has resumed the captaincy from Salman Butt, said the players wanted to move on. “All the players are focussed,” he told Sky Sports News. “What has happened has gone.”As the three players left for London a senior English journalist asked Butt “will you be back?”. Butt turned his head, looked the man in the eye and said: “Yes, why not?.” That response only attracted unwanted attention. A tabloid reporter pounced on the opportunity and said “are you guilty?”. Butt started to look towards the journalist but wisely did not react and walked into the cab.Butt’s insistence he will return shed further doubt on whether the three players allegedy involved will be suspended, something the England players are very keen takes place before the Twenty20 internationals.”The feeling among the players is that they are professional cricketers and the matches will go ahead,” Angus Porter, the Professional Cricketers’ Association chief executive, told Cricinfo, “but they don’t want them to become sideshows so there is a preference that it would be beneficial if the three players didn’t appear.”Amir was his usual jovial self at the team hotel on Wednesday morning, with a smile on his face, and was bantering with team-mates. He was later joined by Butt, who looked a little circumspect. Both are understood to have received support from Waqar Younis and Ijaz Ahmed, the head and deputy coach respectively. Asif has largely confined himself to his room since the spot-fixing story broke on Saturday night.The hotel has been the centre of attention since the Pakistan squad checked in on Monday afternoon, a day ahead of schedule. The lobby, a business lounge in normal times, was overnight transformed into a high-security zone with hotel staff keeping a close watch on movement in the area.A couple of unarmed policemen arrived minutes before the three players left for London in a luxury cab, with the team’s security officer Khawaja Najam in their wake. Fears of crowd trouble, of which there has been some in the past few days, proved unfounded.Meanwhile the rest of the squad carried on with their schedules, though the mood was palpably subdued. “It doesn’t feel like practice day, does it,” remarked Alex, the bus-driver who has been driving the team around on this tour. Afridi broke with habit to read the morning papers at the breakfast table. The team had a closed-door nets session at the Somerset County Cricket Club ground on Tuesday afternoon; they held another on Wednesday that was open to the media.

He smacks an unbeaten 62 off just 28 balls to help Hurricanes hunt down 187

AAP05-Jan-2025A brutal unbeaten 62 from 28 balls from Tim David helped Hobart Hurricanes to a fourth straight win and the second-highest run-chase of the BBL 2024-25.David hit six sixes and three fours as Hurricanes chased down Adelaide Strikers’ 186 for 5 with eight deliveries to spare and five wickets in hand at the Bellerive Oval. He hit 40 runs during the power surge in the 14th and 15th overs when the game was on the line.Strikers’ Jamie Overton took most of the punishment and finished with 0 for 54 from three overs after also suffering heavy treatment from opener Mitchell Owen.Owen scored 37 from 16 deliveries, which included three sixes in a row off Overton – one landing on the roof of the members’ stand.David came to the crease at 101 for 4 in the 11th over after Strikers spinners Lloyd Pope and Cameron Boyce (2-23) slowed Hurricanes’ chase. David took some time to get going before notching his fastest BBL half-century.”I’m stoked. It was my turn to put my hand up when they needed me,” David said. “I was like two off eight. I was hitting it pretty badly, but thankfully it changed. We knew the pitch was good … just good cricket shots, hit the ball out of the middle of the bat.”Hurricanes, who are gunning for a maiden title, rose to third on the ladder while Strikers remain second last.It is the first time Hurricanes have won four in a row since 2019 and comes after an impressive 50-run victory over the ladder-leading Sydney Sixers.”We’re building towards a finals crack this year, we’re only halfway through, but we’re in a good spot so far,” David said. “Everyone has contributed so far in our batting order and that’s a great place to be.”Earlier, Chris Lynn top scored for the Strikers with 49 from 27 balls after he was struck on the helmet by a 140kmph bouncer from Riley Meredith in the first over.Lynn, who hit five fours and three sixes, was out in the ninth over, caught in the deep off Waqar Salamkheil trying to clear the rope, leaving the visitors 75 for 3.Skipper Alex Ross steadied the ship with Ollie Pope, before Overton inflicted damage late with an unbeaten 27 from 18.Meredith was the pick of the Hurricanes’ bowlers with 1 for 26 from four overs, including the scalp of Pope in the 16th over.