All posts by n8rngtd.top

“We will offer our views to PCB in due course,” said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Umar Farooq22-Jun-2023Pakistan’s foreign office has confirmed it is evaluating all aspects of Pakistan’s participation in the upcoming ODI World Cup in India. This is the first public indication from the Pakistan government about taking up an issue that has been pending for a while and has even resulted in a delay in the ICC announcing the tournament’s fixtures list.Pakistan’s involvement in the World Cup is subject to their government’s approval. The PCB had written to the ICC, following the release of a draft schedule to all participating countries a few days ago, to stress that they cannot unilaterally approve the fixture list and the decision will eventually have to come from their government.”We have received the official invitation from the Indian prime minister to our prime minister for the virtual meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that is due to take place on the 4th of July,” a spokesperson for the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said in a weekly media briefing in Islamabad. “Pakistan will be represented at the summit. We will be making an announcement regarding our participation in the coming days.”Regarding cricket, Pakistan is of the view that politics should not be mixed with sports. India’s policy of not playing cricket in Pakistan is disappointing. We are observing and evaluating all aspects relating to our participation in the World Cup including the security situation for Pakistani cricketers and we will offer our views to PCB in due course.”The 2023 World Cup, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, is slated to begin on October 5. The India vs Pakistan fixture is set for ten days later in Ahmedabad. It is one of five venues that Pakistan are scheduled to play at during the league phase.Due to strained political relations between the two countries, Pakistan have not toured India since the 2016 T20 World Cup, and even back then there was uncertainty around Pakistan coming to India. The PCB had threatened to pull out of the tournament unless they had clear and public assurance from the Indian government about the security to be provided to their players. These negotiations eventually resulted in the India-Pakistan match having to be shifted from Dharamsala to Kolkata.The PCB has requested the ICC to swap venues for two of their league matches in the 2023 ODI World Cup based on an internal assessment of the grounds they are due to play at. Pakistan are currently scheduled to play Australia in Bengaluru on October 20, and then Afghanistan in Chennai on October 23 but have asked for a change where they play Afghanistan in Bengaluru and Australia in Chennai. The request has been turned down. Normally, security is the primary reason for a venue change at an ICC event. There was no mention of a security threat in the PCB’s internal assessment.Given the already unprecedented delay – World Cup itineraries usually go out a year in advance – the ICC is hoping to finalise the fixture list and provide it to the public by next week. Pakistan have until then to relay their concerns, if any.

Ryan Burl’s career-best ODI score not enough as Zimbabwe fall short of 235-run target

Madushka Balasuriya04-Jul-2023For the second time in two Qualifiers, Zimbabwe have fallen short at the final hurdle, and as a result they won’t be at the 2023 World Cup. They needed to win one of their last two matches, just as in 2018, and they failed to do it, just as in 2018.It’s a fascinating quirk of sport that hindsight can completely colour the view of an event. When Scotland were being strangled by Zimbabwe’s bowlers throughout their innings, barely managing to keep their run rate at above four an over, it looked like Zimbabwe had by far the better of the proceedings.When Scotland somehow clawed together a total of 234, courtesy a burst of 54 runs in the last five overs, it looked like they had got up to a fighting total but not one that would realistically trouble an in-form Zimbabwe batting line-up littered with experience – especially in front of a home crowd that has been electric all tournament.But when Chris Sole’s express pace sent Joylord Gumbie, Craig Ervine and Sean Williams packing inside the first seven overs – the first caught behind, the other two clean bowled – that innings-long strangle began to take on a different sheen, one instead of steely resolve. And when all was said and done it was Zimbabwe that blinked first, falling 31 runs short, as Scotland knocked them out in dramatic fashion.If ever there was a team victory, it was this. Before Sole’s heroics, there were no less than six batters pitching in for 20 runs at least, on a sticky surface in Bulawayo, of which Michael Leask was the pick of the bunch with a 34-ball 48 .Leask aside, only Brandon McMullen (34 off 34) and Mark Watt (21 off 15) scored at even a 70-plus strike rate of the six batters who passed 20. But they ensured that Scotland ticked off the most important box on surfaces like this: they batted through their 50 overs.Then, with the ball, every one of the six bowlers used picked up at least one wicket, driving home the team ethos. Together they weathered a Ryan Burl-led counterattack, which included fifth- and sixth-wicket stands of 54 and 73 with Sikandar Raza and Wesley Madhevere – both partnerships ticking along at nearly a run a ball. The required rate throughout all this was just a touch above four. The pressure was on the Scottish bowlers, but they never lost hope, knowing that a wicket would change the game’s complexion. And so it proved.In an innings filled with wickets falling to good balls, Raza holing out at long-off would go down as an unforced error. It was at this moment that Scotland may have begun to believe.But then Madhevere – a player who hadn’t played an innings of note all tournament – strung together the game’s biggest partnership with Burl, as the pair found the odd boundary and milked the ones and twos. Enter Mark Watt, who had earlier stitched together 21 from 15, and he got one to grip and turn, trapping Madhevere in front to grab his only wicket of the game.This left Burl with just the tail for company. Burl soldiered on to a career best 83 off 84, but it wouldn’t be enough. With 38 needed off the last 11.3 overs, and with only two wickets remaining, he mistimed a slog-sweep to midwicket, having dispatched the previous two deliveries for four and six. In a game with so much on the line, such heartbreaks were inevitable.None more so than for Williams, the standout player of the tournament, with 600 runs at an average of exactly 100. He received a corker from Sole. This was a moment tailor-made for Williams but in life there are things you cannot quite account for – a 149kph thunderbolt nipping back in at your off peg being one of them.On the flip side of heartbreak is euphoria. Scotland had now beaten three Full Member teams in this tournament. Had they lost today, they would not have had the chance to play ODIs for another year at the least.They’ve topped league two on the way to these qualifiers, beaten sides more vaunted than them, and now have to go once more on Thursday against Netherlands. If they do what they need to do, they’ll have a whole lot more cricket to gear up for.

England allrounder expects to bow out of ODIs after World Cup, happy not to play another away Test

Matt Roller18-Jul-2023Chris Woakes has indicated he is unlikely to play 50-over cricket after this year’s World Cup and admitted he would be happy never to play another Test outside of England if it meant prolonging his career as a whole.Woakes played a significant role with bat and ball on his return to England’s Test side in their three-wicket win at Headingley and is among their handful of all-format players. But at 34, he is conscious of trying to extend his playing career and will balance his international commitments with opportunities on the franchise circuit.Fitness permitting, Woakes is a guaranteed selection for England’s defence of the 50-over World Cup in India later this year. But, speaking at a #Funds4Runs session organised by LV= Insurance at Stockport Georgians Cricket Club, he said he would be “amazed” if he played another ODI after that tournament.”I would be amazed if I played 50-over cricket beyond the World Cup,” Woakes said. “It’ll be hard in India but we have a great team and squad that could hopefully do something special. At the end of that, you map out what the future might look like as an all-format player, and the next cycle: I certainly won’t be playing ODI cricket at 38-39 years of age.”Woakes pulled up “extremely sore” after the Headingley Test, which reminded him “how hard Test cricket is on the body” following a 15-month gap between appearances. But he has retained his spot in England’s team for Wednesday’s Test at Emirates Old Trafford, and is confident he will be able to overcome a short turnaround to play at The Oval if selected.Related

• James Anderson nears his End-game with a rare point left to prove

• Whisper it quietly but Zak Crawley is so far nailing this Ashes

• Cummins backs 'good signs' from Warner as Australia look to avoid Ashes decider

• England, Australia and a men's Ashes that is locked and reloaded

• 'It might bring more out of us' – Stokes and England hope to beat the weather

Having missed the 2015 series through injury, Woakes has only been part of one Ashes-winning campaign. That came in 2013, when he made his debut in the final Test at The Oval with the urn already secured; a decade later, he is “desperate” to be a bigger part of another England triumph.England’s next Test series after the Ashes is a five-match tour to India in January-February 2024, where conditions are unlikely to be conducive to Woakes’ seam bowling. He has been retained on a lucrative contract with Sharjah Warriors in the ILT20, which is likely to overlap with that tour, and has reluctantly accepted that his qualities are better suited to playing at home (where he has taken 100 Test wickets at 22.69) than away (36 at 51.88).”I’ve not been picked yet, and I’d never say never; never say no,” Woakes said about the prospect of travelling to India. “I don’t know if I’d be selected on a tour like that: my away record speaks for itself. I’ve genuinely not thought about it, and there is a lot to come before that.”When asked if he would accept never playing another Test overseas if it meant playing another two home summers, Woakes said: “I would be happy with that, yeah, for a few different reasons. As much as I’d love to go to India and take 30 wickets in the series, it’s highly unlikely. You get to my age and start thinking, ‘How can I prolong my career?'”Woakes struggled badly in his most recent Test tour, taking five wickets at 48.80 in the Caribbean in March 2022 and sustaining a knee injury which ruled him out of the following summer. “I don’t want to go to India and do what I did in the Caribbean before, and lose a year’s worth of cricket because of it. You learn from your mistakes and learn from past experiences; it’d be daft for me to do that.”Chris Woakes at a #Funds4Runs session at Stockport Georgians Cricket Club•LV= Insurance/#Funds4Runs

The longevity of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, now 40 and 37 respectively, has shifted the goalposts for fast bowlers. “Ten years ago, people thinking of an international cricketer playing until they’re 40, it was not even an option. It definitely makes you realise what’s possible, and what you could achieve.”Yet having opted out of this year’s IPL to give himself a shot at playing in the Ashes, Woakes is conscious of managing his schedule to find a balance between trying to “continue in as many formats as I possibly can, for as long as possible” and maximising his earning potential as he edges towards the later stages of his career.”In the immediate future, I’m trying to play as much as I can,” he said. “[But] it’s common knowledge that you get to this sort of stage in your career and you also want to look after yourself financially. I don’t think any players should be begrudged for that.”If my career finished tomorrow, then I’d still be happy with how it’s gone. I’d snatch your hand off for what I’ve achieved and the amount I’ve played for England.”Chris Woakes was speaking on behalf of LV= Insurance, title sponsors of this summer’s LV= Insurance Ashes Series. Head to https://www.lv.com/gi/cricket to find out more.

England captain draws line under “watershed” Ashes, onus on growing competition for places

Andrew Miller30-Aug-20230:35

How ‘unique’ Mahika Gaur could be the future for England

Heather Knight says that England’s T20I series against Sri Lanka marks the start of the team’s new cycle, in the wake of a transformative Ashes campaign this summer, and that the aim of the coming weeks will be to create competition for places ahead of next year’s T20 Women’s World Cup in Bangladesh.Speaking on the eve of the first T20I at Hove on Thursday, Knight talked enthusiastically about the “freshness” within a youthful squad, from which several notable names will be missing – among them Sophie Ecclestone (who had been due to sit out the series even prior to her shoulder dislocation last week), Sophia Dunkley and Nat Sciver-Brunt.In their place come two uncapped youngsters: Mahika Gaur, the 17-year-old left-arm seamer who impressed for Manchester Originals having made her international bow for the UAE as a 12-year-old, and Bess Heath, Northern Superchargers’ hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batter.Freya Kemp, one of the break-out stars of England’s 2022 season, returns (as a batter only) after a back injury, while Knight promised that one of the main beneficiaries for this series would be Maia Bouchier, the talented 24-year-old whose opportunities at international level have been limited to 19 T20Is since 2021, but whose haul of 268 runs at 38.28 in the Hundred was a key factor in Southern Brave’s maiden title.”We’ve obviously rested a few senior players so that gives us a chance to give opportunities to few youngsters, and try and grow the pool of players that we’re picking from,” Knight said. “Maia deserves an opportunity because we’ve been carrying around for a long time and she’s been amazing in the Hundred as well.Mahika Gaur has been impressive for Manchester Originals•Getty Images

“We want to see how these girls adapt to international cricket, how they are around the group, how they react to things. I think it’s really exciting. The more players that we can have, knocking down the door and keeping everyone on their toes … I think really good teams have that competition.”The most exciting name on the squad-list, however, is Gaur, whose remarkable physical attributes, allied to her extreme youth, mark her out as a potential superstar of the future.”She’s unique, a left-armer that’s actually six foot three, which is pretty mad,” Knight said. “I think she’s had a growth spurt since the first time I met her a couple months ago. She obviously brings that, and she’s got a pretty good action and swings the ball late.”Knight confirmed that Gaur would be handed her England debut at some stage of the campaign, but acknowledged that, as captain, she would be obliged to ease her new recruit into the action and not expect too much, too soon.”She’s obviously very young, so we’ll have to manage her pretty carefully and make sure we’re looking after her as a person and as a cricketer,” Knight said. “Younger players coming in adds that freshness, and tests my skills as a captain.”She’s certainly exciting, but I don’t know her super well, so I’ll just try to keep her calm, really, and do the things she’s done domestically that have been so impressive.Related

• Teenage quick Mahika Gaur dreams of finishing matches like the other Mahi

• Brave head to third successive final as Wyatt, Bouchier secure victory

• England Women get match fees hike to be equal with England Men

“It always feels different internationally. There’s more pressures, more scrutiny. So it’s about how they cope with that and just trying to play the cricket that we want them to play, that fits in with the team.”The series will be the first in which England’s women will receive equal match fees to their male counterparts, a development which Knight said felt like due “reward” for a remarkable summer in which they matched Australia blow for blow in an 8-8 Ashes campaign, and attracted 110,000 fans across the seven matches.”That [series] felt like a real watershed moment,” Knight said, adding that the challenge for her players now was to keep moving forward, given that Australia’s world-beating team will doubtless be seeking their own improvements ahead of the World Cup, after being run so close this summer.”With the World Cup a year away, Australia and other teams are going to be looking to get better and improve. There’s a lot of areas that we can still get better in, come Bangladesh in October next year, so this is the start of that that post-Ashes cycle.”Despite the absence of some big-name players, Knight insisted that England would not be taking Sri Lanka lightly, especially in light of their impressive display in the last T20 World Cup in February, where they beat the hosts and eventual finalists, South Africa, in their opening match at Newlands.”They’ve just beaten New Zealand for the first time ever too, so they’ll be pretty confident and on a high from that,” Knight added. “They’ve got a world-class better in [Chamari] Athapaththu, who can be really hard to stop when she gets going. And they’ve got some wily spinners in the middle so we’ve certainly been preparing for that as a batting group.”We’ve obviously rested a few players but that’s not because we’re taking Sri Lanka lightly. But that World Cup is our next big focus, and you don’t always get the opportunity to be able to try new players. We saw this, at the back end of a pretty busy summer, as a chance to do that.”

New Zealand’s captain outlines his race against the clock to get ready for this World Cup after rupturing his ACL at the IPL in March, and just how glad he is to be back in action

Deivarayan Muthu12-Oct-20235:38

Kane Williamson on his ACL rehab: ‘A series of really small steps’

“The most important knee in New Zealand”, as Katey Martin, the former New Zealand wicketkeeper and current commentator put it in the lead-up to the World Cup, is finally ready to withstand the load of international cricket.After netting up for almost an hour last evening – and just before hitting Chepauk’s outdoor nets again this afternoon – Kane Williamson confirmed that he will return to action against Bangladesh on Friday. At one point it seemed like Williamson would not make the World Cup at all, after having ruptured his ACL during the IPL opener in March this year, but he has made a remarkable recovery since.”Yeah, definitely. Initially, it [my comeback] was not really considered,” Williamson said on the eve of the Bangladesh game. “And to be honest, it was probably a good thing just to get my head stuck into rehab and each day and not sort of rush it. That was really my focus, and I was fortunate as well I had a really, really good team around me back home.Related

• NZ make it three wins in three, but Williamson goes off hurt

• Bangladesh hoping to bat with 'courage, open-mindedness and freedom'

• NZ look to make it 3/3 in Chennai amid their captain's big return

• Will Young, the New Zealand prodigy who had to wait his turn

“And also fortunate not to have a lot of setbacks during that time, so there were lots of little steps forward, which I guess accumulate to being here now really and getting close and realising that if each week does keep progressing well, ticking off all those sort of milestones along the way, which there are many of them, then there might be a chance. And yeah, grateful that that was something that could be done and getting named in the squad was a really exciting moment.”Williamson subsequently found some game-time during the warm-ups against Pakistan and South Africa. In what was his first innings with the bat in over six months, Williamson went 4, 4, 4 against Haris Rauf’s high pace in the powerplay and pressed on to make 54 off 50 balls before retiring in Hyderabad.Even at the two training sessions at Chepauk, Williamson batted like he was never away from the game. On Wednesday evening, he middled almost everything against New Zealand’s spinners and then when Trent Boult rushed him with an effort ball on Thursday, Williamson coolly rocked his head out of the way.”Yeah, the recovery was … [a] journey really with a series of really small steps and just trying to take small steps forward and it certainly started with strength and range, in terms of the knee,” Williamson said. “And then gradually trying to improve that and control a bit – some of the pain around it as the load increases and we could be here all day talking about it, but I’ll fast-forward a little bit – great to be here and then and get involved in those warm-up games which were really, really enjoyable.”Then you know during those and post that were a lot of sort of return-to-play fitness parts, which were perhaps a little bit more related to fielding, time on feet and looking to try and execute some of those skills. And so, yeah, each week throughout the last period of time since I’ve been rehabbing has been really important and really valuable.”During the T20 World Cup in the UAE in 2021, a niggly elbow restricted his batting, but Williamson managed to work his way around that injury. The nature of the injury and the format is different now, but will the past experience of injury management help him this time?”Quite different injuries but yeah, I suppose speaking of this one you know there were lots of quite clear steps along the way that you were trying to tick off, different milestones in terms of returning to the next phases and those sorts of things,” Williamson said. “So quite different, a lot of data around it, mainly from other sports that was relied on and different strength numbers and heights and jumping and just heaps and heaps of different bits.”So yeah, quite different but just great to be sitting here now and looking forward to the challenges tomorrow.”Williamson’s comeback is a significant boost for New Zealand against spin-heavy Bangladesh at spin-friendly Chepauk. He is arguably New Zealand’s best player of spin along with Devon Conway, who returns to his IPL home base.

The allrounder had suffered an ankle injury while bowling against Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-20233:46

Kumble: Prasidh will be suited for venues where India go next

India allrounder Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of the ODI World Cup due to the ankle injury he suffered against Bangladesh on October 19. Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has replaced him in India’s squad.Pandya had injured himself last month when he appeared to twist his left ankle while trying to stop a shot in his follow-through during his first over against Bangladesh. He played no further part in that match and was taken for scans. ESPNcricinfo understands he suffered ligament damage and has been undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.Related

• Hardik Pandya not fit to play T20Is against Australia

• What short-ball trouble, asks Shreyas after powering India into semi-finals

• Magic in Mumbai – a night of stunning spells

• India's Avengers assemble at the Wankhede

• 'No rocket science, just rhythm' – Shami after becoming India's top World Cup wicket-taker

Prasidh, who has 29 wickets in 17 ODIs, last played for India in two ODIs against Australia during the series just before the World Cup. He took three wickets in those games and also took five wickets in as many matches for Karnataka in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.Prasidh had marked his return from a long layoff due to a stress fracture of the back when India toured Ireland in August and was also part of the Asia Cup squad, though he was largely on the bench and only played one game against Bangladesh.