KKR are hoping for a change of fortunes after finishing seventh in both 2022 and 2023

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2023Gautam Gambhir, who was captain when Kolkata Knight Riders won the IPL in 2012 and 2014, has linked up with the franchise as the team’s mentor, starting with the upcoming season in 2024 with no fixed period decided on yet.”I am not an emotional person and not many things move me. But this is different,” Gambhir said in a statement. “This is back to where it all started. Today, there is a lump in my throat and fire in my heart as I think about slipping into that purple and gold jersey once again.”Gambhir, a T20 (2007) and ODI (2011) World Cup champion, joined Knight Riders in 2011 and was with the team till 2017. During the period, Knight Riders qualified for the IPL playoffs five times (including the two years they won the tournament) and also reached the final of the now-defunct Champions League T20 in 2014.”Gautam has always been part of the family and this is our captain coming back home in a different avatar as a ‘Mentor’,” team co-owner Shah Rukh Khan noted. “He was sorely missed and now we all look forward to Chandu [Chandrakant Pandit] Sir and Gautam in instilling the never-say-die spirit and of sportsmanship they stand for, in creating magic with Team KKR.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The Knight Riders support staff is led by head coach Chandrakant Pandit, with Abhishek Nayar (assistant coach), James Foster (assistant coach), Bharat Arun (bowling coach) and Ryan ten Doeschate (fielding coach) in the line-up.Knight Riders, one of the few teams to have been a part of every edition of the IPL since its inception in 2008, reached the IPL final, where they lost to Chennai Super Kings, in 2021, but have since finished seventh in both 2022 and 2023.In recent years, apart from being a member of parliament and a TV cricket pundit, Gambhir was a part of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL. He joined Lucknow Super Giants, one of two new teams in the 2022 season of the IPL, and was subsequently elevated to the role of “global mentor”, which made him a part of Durban’s Super Giants in the SA20 league in South Africa as well.

The hosts ended the third day on 212 for 3, with a lead of 205 runs

Mohammad Isam30-Nov-2023
Najmul Hossain Shanto’s fifth Test century tilted the Sylhet Test heavily towards Bangladesh at the end of the third day. The home side lead New Zealand by 205 runs with seven wickets in hand, after mostly dominating the day’s play.Shanto added 96 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket stand with Mushfiqur Rahim. This was Shanto’s third Test hundred in the last four innings, after he scored twin tons against Afghanistan back in June. Shanto celebrated in style after he reached the three-figure mark, as Bangladesh breathed a sigh of relief having lost two early wickets in their second innings.Related

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• TV footage shows Phillips appearing to apply saliva on the ball

The day also didn’t begin that well for the home side. New Zealand’s ninth-wicket pair of Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee added 52 runs, but more importantly, they batted out the first hour and a little bit more. Southee and Jamieson struck four boundaries in the partnership, but it was mostly great defensive batting. Bangladesh, too, were guilty of setting deep fields against the two tail-enders.Finally, after they had played out 17 overs, part-timer Mominul Haque trapped Jamieson lbw for 23. Later in the over, Mominul bowled Southee with a full ball. Southee made a polished 35 off 62 balls.The Bangladesh openers Zakir Hasan and Mahmudul Hasan Joy saw off the tricky ten overs before lunch but New Zealand struck shortly after the break. Ajaz Patel got Zakir Hasan lbw to a delivery that turned sharply back into his font pad. Zakir didn’t take the review as he walked back for 17, but it was a similar delivery that Patel got him bowled in the first innings.More bad luck followed for the home side when a Shanto straight drive brushed Southee’s finger and struck the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Joy was slightly outside the crease, and although he tried to get back, he fell inches short. Joy had painstakingly stuck along for 46 balls to make just eight runs.Najmul Hossain Shanto used the sweep and reverse sweep to good effect•AFP/Getty Images

Mominul and Shanto then added 90 runs for the third wicket to get Bangladesh into the right track after the first two wickets. Mominul nurdled the ball around, with four boundaries interspersed in his 68-ball stay.During this partnership and just before the tea break, offspinner Glenn Philips put saliva on the ball during the 34th over but the incident wasn’t immediately picked up by on-field umpires Ahsan Raza and Paul Reiffel. As per ICC guidelines, once they see the incident on TV, Bangladesh will be rewarded five penalty runs.Mominul, meanwhile, played a superb cut and a classical cover drive, as well as an off-drive and a pull. Compare these assured shots to his run-out, it was quite deflating. As he drove the ball towards mid-on, Mominul watched the ball and ran hard, only to notice Shanto had turned his back at the non-striker’s end. Tom Blundell whipped off the bails with Mominul miles away.Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim took a bit of time to regroup but settled into a slow rhythm, hardly leaving first gear. Shanto had slowed down after he reached 40, while Mushfiqur supported him with an almost similar pace in batting. He refrained from driving for runs, hitting most of his runs square of the wicket on both sides, getting five boundaries in his 71-ball stay.

Australia are as formidable a unit as they come, but India, in familiar conditions and fresh off the win over England, will be tough to best

S Sudarshanan20-Dec-20231:15

India-Australia Test is ‘huge’ for women’s cricket

Big picture – A tough challenge for India

It’s been almost 40 years. Australia Women played a four-Test series in India in 1984, all of which ended in draws, with the last at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. On Thursday, India and Australia will start a one-off Test match, again at Wankhede, to kick off their multi-format series.Tests are rare for women. Which is why this Test possesses a tough challenge for India, who will step out in whites only four days after a historic win over England in Navi Mumbai.India were helped by an extra day off – they wrapped up the win against England in just over two days – in recovering and setting sights on Australia. “When you are playing back-to-back Tests, it is important to recover and feel fresh,” Harmanpreet Kaur said on the eve of the Test. “The more we feel fresh, the better it will be for us because there is hardly time to prepare. If there was a 10-12 day [gap], you can take two-three days off and again prepare yourself. We were lucky we had fourth day off and then just one day off [after that].”Related

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For Australia, it’s a fresh start, too. Meg Lanning, under whose captaincy they reached unimaginable heights, is not around anymore. She retired from international cricket just days before the squads for India were announced. Alyssa Healy was handed the reins, and this is the first tour for her and Tahlia McGrath as full-time captain and vice-captain, although they were in-charge on an interim basis at the Ashes, too.”Unbelievably huge shoes to fill in replacing Meg Lanning,” Healy said. “The success she had as not only a player but as a leader of the Australian cricket team is fairly unmatched right around the men’s and women’s game. Big shoes to fill on my part but one that’s really exciting to me. Bring it on, India is a big challenge!”Healy is returning after a finger injury – she was accidentally bitten by her dog after just one game at the WBBL and required surgery. She said “the finger is all good”. “I didn’t realise how much I’d missed it watching WBBL at home and coming here and getting the opportunity to keep and have a bat.” She also confirmed that she will keep wickets in the Test.

In the spotlight – Smriti Mandhana and Jess Jonassen

Smriti Mandhana was one of the busiest players in India’s training sessions on the two days leading up to the Test. Against England, she looked comfortable and was the more aggressive of the two openers, but she couldn’t convert her fluent starts to anything substantial. The last time India played Australia in a Test match – the pink-ball match in Carrara in 2021 – Mandhana scored her only century in the format. Her form is good, and she would want to score big this time too.4:26

Harmanpreet: ‘Our approach hasn’t changed, we will look to attack and win the game’

Jess Jonassen, who led Brisbane Heat to a runners-up finish at the WBBL, idolised Daniel Vettori growing up, but has been studying Ravindra Jadeja to prepare herself to bowl in Mumbai. She became the first to get to 150 WBBL wickets this season with her season haul of 24 to warm-up for the India tour, and on Wednesday, she began by bowling to Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner and focussed on landing the ball on or just outside off. She varied her pace but attempted to bowl in the fuller-than-good-length region even when Phoebe Litchfield and some others faced her. She is one of the best in the business, and if conditions are favourable, she is certain to be a handful for the India batters.

Team news

Harmanpreet gave little away about the combination, saying, “I have 13 players in my mind, and will take a final call in the evening.” Shubha Satheesh, who fractured a finger during the England Test, was not at training, while the work Harleen Deol and Richa Ghosh were put through suggests it could be a toss-up between the two.India (possible): 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Jemimah Rodrigues, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Harleen Deol/Richa Ghosh, 6 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Sneh Rana, 9 Pooja Vastrakar, 10 Renuka Singh, 11 Rajeshwari GayakwadThe allrounders in Australia’s squad give them great depth, both with the bat and with the ball. Expect them to stick with the XI they played at the Ashes, with a likely toss-up between Kim Garth and Lauren Cheatle for the second seamer’s slot being the only point of contention.Australia (possible): 1 Beth Mooney, 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Ellyse Perry, 4 Tahlia McGrath, 5 Alyssa Healy (capt & wk), 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Jess Jonassen, 8 Annabel Sutherland, 9 Alana King/Georgia Wareham, 10 Lauren Cheatle/Kim Garth, 11 Darcie Brown

Pitch and conditions

Unlike at the DY Patil Stadium, the pitch at the Wankhede had a green look to it around the middle the day before the game. But it was brown and bare towards each end. Healy reckoned it was dry, and the green grass “which is very unusual to you guys looks very bare to us”. She added, “If you get an opportunity to bat first, you need to bat long and bat well and bat the opposition out.”The temperature in Mumbai this week has been in the late 20s and early 30s. The mornings have been cool, and that might help the seamers in the first hour. And, as Healy pointed out, the SG ball used for the Test match “swings a little bit when it’s shiny but if you can keep it in some sort of condition, it swings the whole day”.

Quotes

“When you bat and bowl for three days – the likes of Deepti and Pooja, who didn’t get enough rest [after the England Test] – we try to take care of their loads. They need to feel ready for the game and we made them train accordingly. The ones who had lesser loads, we pushed them hard in the nets to feel more confident.”
“We have been part of a few multi-format series with points system coming into play, and giving the Test match, in particular, a greater context. Being a bit cheeky, I would have thought India would have backed themselves in their home conditions and got off to a 4-0 start. It does surprise me a little bit.”

He has not pondered what it would mean for him, or the team, if the move wasn’t a success

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jan-20240:51

Clarke on Smith: He’ll be the No. 1 Test opener within 12 months

A reinvigorated Steven Smith has not considered what it would mean for his future if the move to Test opener does not pay off for Australia.Three days out from the first Test against the West Indies, Smith’s life at the top of the order began when he faced the new ball in the Adelaide Oval nets on Sunday.One of Australia’s greatest ever batters, Smith revealed he first flagged the idea of replacing the retiring David Warner as opener during last year’s Ashes. He mentioned it again last month, but did not believe the idea was taken seriously until talking with coaches during the SCG Test against Pakistan.Related

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Undecided at first, selectors have been won over by a history of players succeeding when going to the top.”I’ve kind of been pushing it for a few weeks, even before Perth I think, and I might have been floated in England just randomly and said ‘I’ll get up top and I’m happy to play up top’,” he said. “In Perth, I kind of said ‘you know after Davey’s done I’m actually keen to get up there’.”I don’t think they sort of took me seriously until I got to Sydney and I was like ‘I’m actually being genuine here. I’d be keen to get up top and face the new ball.’ And they were like, ‘all right, well, we’ll take that under advisement and see how it all looks.’But the move doesn’t come without risk. And the question remains that if Smith does not succeed and Cameron Green excels at No. 4, what would it mean for the former captain’s place in the side?”I don’t like thinking that way,” Smith said. “I don’t want to think negative thoughts at all. I’m not sure. If someone gets injured in the middle and the next batters in are genuine openers, then maybe they slot back in [at the top] and I go back down. I don’t know the answer. But for right now we’ve got what we believe is our best six batters playing.”Steven Smith hopes to be able to score more freely•Getty Images

Smith does see significant upside in the move, having only dropped down from No. 3 to No. 4 in 2017 to juggle the demands of captaincy.The 34-year-old believes he is at his best against the new ball. He averages 106.2 when walking to the wicket in the first two overs.Warner has also said teams would be unlikely to continue to regularly bounce Smith early in the innings, a tactic which has slowed the right-hander’s scoring down in recent years.”It would be pretty game if you’ve got a brand new ball bowling short stuff and wasting it,” Smith added. “It helps the scoring rate when you’re facing the new ball and there’s a bit more attacking going on.”Over the last few years I’ve come in after quite a lot of runs, the ball’s a bit softer. “[They] have a cover in and maybe four on the legside, guys are bowling straight and able to control the scoreboard a little bit more. That’s probably kept me quieter and made me face a lot more balls to score runs.”Perhaps that changes a bit with the new ball. You obviously have a bit more attacking fields and more gaps out there to score runs. I’m looking forward to that.”Sick of watching and waiting to bat, Smith said a desire to move was partly driven by the idea of a new challenge at this point in his career.But he also felt it unfair that Green could be forced to open this early in his career if the selectors’ desire to have the allrounder back in the team landed him there.”It didn’t sit right having him come in and bat up top,” Smith said. “I’ve played for a long time and I’m an experienced player and think it’s something that I should have done. He’s suited to No. 4. Plays there in Shield cricket, does well there.”

Islamabad United scored the lowest first-innings total of PSL 2024 and went down for their second loss in three games

Associated Press23-Feb-2024Quetta Gladiators overcame a late batting collapse to beat Islamabad United by three wickets on Thursday for their third straight win in the Pakistan Super League.Quetta dismantled United’s batting through spinners and restricted them to this season’s lowest total of 138 of 9.United pushed for an unlikely win when they grabbed three late wickets off eight balls. Naseem Shah (2-34) knocked back the off stump of Sherfane Rutherford (29), Akeal Hosein was run-out when he went for a needless third run, and Mohammad Wasim (1) was clean bowled by Shadab Khan (2-24) while attempting a reckless swipe at the Islamabad skipper.Mohammad Amir showed plenty of courage to smash two boundaries with captain Rilee Rossouw scoring an unbeaten 34 as Quetta reached 139-7 with 10 balls to spare.Quetta joined Multan Sultans at the top of the leaderboard with six points from three games. Islamabad has lost back-to-back games and has two points.Jason Roy had provided Gladiators a brisk start of 51 in the powerplay when the Englishman smashed 37 off 18 balls before he played fast bowler Hunain Shah’s PSL debut ball back onto his stumps. Hunain is one of the three brothers picked by Islamabad this season along with Naseem and Ubaid.Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was relieved from the Gladiators captaincy after leading the franchise for eight seasons in a row, could make only one before he was trapped leg before wicket by Shadab before Rutherford and Rossouw combined in a 62-run stand.Earlier, after being sent in to bat, United faltered after cruising along at 69-1 in the first seven overs. Salman Ali Agha (33), who was dropped by Amir early in his knock, Alex Hales (21) and Colin Munro (20) all couldn’t convert good starts and threw away their wickets.Abrar Ahmed (3-18) and Hosein (2-32) dismantled Islamabad’s batting power-house on a slow and dry wicket while Wasim ran through the lower order with 3-20 that included wickets of Faheem Ashraf and Rumman Raees off the last two balls of the innings.Hales smashed Hosein for back-to-back sixes before he went for a needless third big hit against the left-arm spinner and was caught at covers. Munro and Agha both miscued big shots and were caught in the deep as Islamabad lost eight wickets for 69 runs in the last 13 overs.

Duo share fifth-wicket stand of 199 to rescue side from perilous overnight position against Yorkshire

ECB Reporters Network15-Apr-2024Ollie Price’s career-best 147 and a century from James Bracey helped Gloucestershire to an unlikely draw on the final day of the Vitality County Championship match with Yorkshire at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol.The pair shared a fifth-wicket stand of 199, Bracey making 102 as they batted from the start to the brink of tea, rescuing their side from a perilous overnight position of 97 for four, chasing 498 to win.Price’s fourth first-class ton and Bracey’s 10th frustrated the Yorkshire attack on a placid pitch, allowing Gloucestershire to close on 405 for 6. They took 12 points from the game, while Yorkshire claimed 13, having dominated for long periods.The start of play was delayed by half an hour due to heavy overnight rain, with eight overs lost. When the players took the field at 11.30am, the sun was shining, but a biting wind was whipping across the ground.Gloucestershire faced the daunting prospect of being 400 runs in arrears and the only realistic target was to bat through the day for a draw.
Price and Bracey played with a commendable restraint, ready to punish the occasional bad ball, while displaying immaculate defence in battling to save the game.Unbeaten on 44 overnight, Price moved to a 104-ball fifty, with seven fours, while Bracey showed the high degree of patience which marked his early days as a Gloucestershire player.Yorkshire skipper Shan Masood shuffled his bowlers, but not for the first time a final-day pitch at Bristol proved too benign to offer much assistance.Price had one moment of alarm on 54 when edging a turning delivery from Dan Moriarty, only for the ball to ricochet off the gloves of wicketkeeper Jonny Tattersall and out of reach of first slip.By lunch, the Gloucestershire’s pair had taken the score to 166 for 4, with Price unbeaten on 75 and Bracey 38 not out.Masood had tried some imaginative field settings and when left-arm spinner Moriarty bowled to Bracey from the Ashley Down Road end after lunch, he had five players in catching positions on the leg side.It didn’t stop Bracey going to his half-century off 99 deliveries, with eight fours. Price began to go on the attack, hitting three successive fours off short balls from Matt Fisher and taking another boundary off the first ball of his next over. That brought up the century stand.Price stepped back to hammer Moriarty for a boundary through the off-side, which brought up an exemplary hundred off 175 balls. It was his 16th four.Bracey was also blossoming under darkening skies, producing one of the shots of the day when driving Matt Milnes through extra cover for four. It was the last meaningful action before rain, which had been forecast, brought a brief interruption at 224 for 4.Only two overs were lost before normal service was resumed, Price and Bracey continuing to play with ease. Price was occasionally guilty of playing and missing forcing shots off the back foot against the spinners, but in general maintained his composure admirably.A two off Moriarty took Price past his previous highest first-class score of 132, made against Derbyshire at Bristol last September. Yorkshire’s last hope was the second new ball, taken at 293 for 4. The second delivery with it saw Price push forward and edge a catch behind off Ben Coad.Tea was immediately taken and the visitors could approach the final session with renewed heart. It saw Bracey go to three figures off 198 balls with 14 fours in a welcome return to the form which earned him an England Test call-up in 2021. Last season he failed to register 500 first class runs and averaged less than 22.The relief was evident in his celebration, but the very next ball saw him edge Coad through to the diving Tattersall and at 314 for 6 Gloucestershire still had work to do with a minimum of 24 overs remaining.But skipper Graeme van Buuren (51 not out) and Ben Charlesworth (43 not out) batted confidently to secure the draw, the players shaking hands just before 6pm with Yorkshire perhaps pondering whether they should have declared earlier on day three.

Jones’ century trumped Emma Lamb’s 107 as the captain sealed victory with two balls to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2024A brilliant century from Central Sparks skipper Eve Jones proved a match-winning one as she carried her bat in a remarkable last-gasp victory against Lancashire Thunder at Emirates Old Trafford in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Jones’ unbeaten 136 – the highest score by a woman at the ground – steered her side to a thrilling three wicket win that had still looked beyond Sparks as late as the last over, off which they required 11 runs to triumph.Earlier Emma Lamb and fellow opener, Seren Smale, shared an opening partnership of 140 – Thunder’s first ever century stand for the first wicket in the competition – as Lamb scored 107 and the hosts compiled a formidable score of 284 for seven.But the Sparks skipper was the hero of the hour, aided by a crucial knock of 40 from Australian batter Courtney Webb, as she hit the winning runs in the final over to seal a stunning win.With Lamb and Smale looking to build on their opening partnership of 89 in the previous win against The Blaze, the pair set about Sparks’ seamers with both skill and confidence. The 100-run partnership came off just 125 balls, with Lamb bringing up her own half-century off 51 balls, while Smale’s second consecutive 50 was made off 78.It took until the 30th over for Sparks to make the breakthrough when Smale was bowled by Hannah Baker for 67, bringing Australian batter Katie Mack to the middle.Mack has made a good impression at Emirates Old Trafford so far and she and Lamb set about upping the run rate with some frantic running between the wickets as Sparks’ bowlers began to toil in the sun.77 frenetic runs were put on for the second wicket before Lamb eventually fell for 107 off 104 balls after she was well caught at deep midwicket by a tumbling Bethan Ellis off Emily Arlott.Quick runs became the order of the day and after Mack was well caught at mid on by Ria Fackrell to give Baker her second wicket, Fi Morris (29 off 19 balls) and Naomi Dattani (17 off 13) both helped push the score along before the close.Undaunted by the sizeable target, Jones shrugged off the early loss of opening partner, Charis Pavely, bowled by a beauty from Kate Cross for 10, scoring at will on both sides of the ground and down the wicket.Jones lost another partner when Abigail Freeborn hit a full toss to a diving Dattani at mid on for 13 to leave the score 63 for 2, but the skipper finally found a foil in Chloe Brewer as the third wicket pair put on 81 to bring Sparks right into the game before Brewer was caught in the deep by Smale off Tara Norris for 26.If that made the hosts favourites once again, Webb had other ideas, as the Australian joined Jones at the crease and produced a sparkling knock off 44, containing three fours and one six.The next wicket felt crucial and when the impressive Hannah Jones produced a great ball to bowl the advancing Webb, Jones was left with the tough task of finding boundaries and dealing with an increasingly rising run rate.Somehow, she did it, assisted by a crucial cameo from Emily Arlott (15). Sparks went into the last over bowled by Cross, with Jones and Bethan Ellis still requiring double figures to snatch an unlikely victory.Two boundaries off the first two balls from Ellis eased the nerves and fittingly it was left to Jones to strike the winning runs through point to secure a memorable win.

Time in middle for South East Stars is best remedy for out-of-favour batter, says Gareth Breese

Andrew Miller15-May-2024Sophia Dunkley will have to wait in line for a return to international action, according to England Women’s assistant coach Gareth Breese, despite an impressive return to form for South East Stars in the opening rounds of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Dunkley, who is currently leading the tournament run-charts with 293 at 97.66 in five innings, including a century against Northern Diamonds last week, was dropped from the England set-up for the ongoing series against Pakistan after a desperate run of scores on this winter’s multi-format tours of India and New Zealand.In her absence – as well as that of Nat Sciver-Brunt, who is available once again after a minor medical procedure – England’s rejigged top-order endured a torrid start to the summer, collapsing to 11 for 4 in the first T20I at Edgbaston, before a strong middle-order fightback, led by the senior pairing of Heather Knight and Amy Jones, set their side up for a comfortable 53-run victory.Breese, however, insisted that England’s incumbents – including Dunkley’s nominal replacement Maia Bouchier, the stand-out player of the winter just gone – would be afforded the time and space required to grow into their roles, in much the same way that Dunkley herself will now be left to find her form, away from the spotlight, ahead of the final push towards this winter’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.”As batters, it’s one shot, one mistake and you might be back in a pavilion,” Breese said, ahead of Friday’s second match in Northampton. “It’s not an ideal situation to be 11 for 4, but one thing about the set-up here is that we back the girls. After one blip, we’re not just going to make an absolute U-turn on them.”It was the first game, a few people were a bit rusty, we didn’t get off to the start we wanted. Having the experience of Heather and Amy Jones coming in at that stage was brilliant in terms of setting up the recovery. But I’m sure the girls will have learned from seeing the Pakistani attack and will use that experience in a positive frame to go into the next game.”Dunkley, however, remains an integral part of the wider England set-up, as shown by her involvement in a red-ball training session at Loughborough on Tuesday. Breese, who is also her head coach at Welsh Fire, said this was part of a wider effort by the management to “touch base” when it was convenient for those players on the fringes, thereby leaving them more space to find form in their regional set-ups.”What we don’t want to do is bring girls all across the country for three hours, just for a session,” he said. “Every time a player leaves us, we try to support them as much as we can when they’re fairly close to us, while giving them an opportunity to get some more time in the middle. And it’s working exactly how we would want it to work.England’s top order (including Freya Kemp, above) endured a dramatic collapse in the first T20I•Getty Images

“Dunks has been working closely with her batting coach Alex Gidman, and she was in for a session with us yesterday, so she’s still in and around the fold. She’s gone back to doing what she’s done over the years, in terms of to getting herself selected, and that’s scoring runs. That’s all you can ask when you are out of favour, you let the runs do the talking, and I think she’s still in a really good place.”Any player who’s played for a while goes through ups and downs. And if they say they haven’t, then you don’t know how truthful they are in sharing.”In addition to the forthcoming ODI series against Pakistan, England have three ODIs and five T20Is coming up against New Zealand in June and July in which to finalise their World Cup plans. And while that does not, on the face of it, offer a huge amount of opportunities for out-of-favour players to make their case, Breese insisted that offering continuity to the squad incumbents was not remotely the same thing presenting a closed shop for selection.Related

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“We’ve seen people that have been selected from just outside our contracted group, and that’s what you want,” he said. “If you can have competition for places, then you’re pushing the girls who are contracted to be better. And that’s a really good environment to be in.”What you don’t want is a clear-cut 15, because if it’s too easy to select them, you probably haven’t got the girls in the right place.”The ultimate difference between the sides in the first T20I came in the bowling, particularly England’s three-prong spin attack. Sarah Glenn – back in the team after suffering concussion in New Zealand – led the line with four wickets, while Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean contributed a wicket apiece. All three bowlers are now in the top five of the ICC’s T20I rankings, with Ecclestone remaining at the top of the pile – a fact that augurs well with favourable conditions looming in Bangladesh.As the team’s spin coach, however, Breese said he wasn’t about to let the players rest on any laurels, describing himself as a bit of a “grumpy dad” when it comes to demanding ever higher standards.”It’s a real credit to the girls for the work they’ve put in over the last few years, to get the recognition in the standings,” he said. “I’m happy with where they are but sometimes, like a bit of a grumpy dad, I keep trying to push them to be better.”I almost don’t try and get flattered by the ratings. I just want to keep improving and then that will happen as a by-product of that. But the three girls complement each other really well, and they also contribute with the bat, which allows you to play all three in the same T20 team.”But I think all of them can get better. Even though Soph’s been top of the rankings, you’ve seen her grow into one of our best death bowlers. Deano has been a real wicket-taker for us, and Glenny’s been stunning since she came in. I’ve been lucky enough to know her since she was on the academy, and her character is probably her stand-out trait. That reflects in how consistent she is with the ball.”

Naveen calls it “a surreal experience” as Afghanistan beat Bangladesh in a dramatic finish in Kingstown

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-20244:14

Rashid: It was hard to stay calm at some points

Rashid Khan has described Afghanistan’s qualification for the T20 World Cup semi-final as an “unbelievable feeling” and that it would be a “massive inspiration” for youngsters back home.”I think the semi-final is going to be a massive, massive inspiration for the youngsters back home in Afghanistan,” Rashid said after Afghanistan beat Bangladesh in St Vincent to secure their place in the final four and knock Australia out. “That Afghanistan team got into the semis for the first time. We have done it at Under-19 level, but this level we haven’t done that. Even Super Eight was first time for us and then in semis. It’s unbelievable feeling … We are capable – but as long we keep things very simple, and I think in the whole competition so far, we kept the thing simple. Yes, there were some tough times but we didn’t let ourselves down and we always try to come back stronger.”After Afghanistan posted 115 for 5, Rashid and Naveen-ul-Haq picked up four wickets each to help bundle out Bangladesh for 105, eight short of their DLS-adjusted target of 114 in 19 overs.”It’s something like a dream for us as a team to be in the semi-final,” Rashid said after the match. “It’s all about the way we had started the tournament. The belief came when we beat New Zealand. So it’s unbelievable. I don’t have any words to describe my feelings. Definitely back home everyone is so, so happy for this.Related

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“I think the only guy who had us in the semi-final was Brian Lara. At the welcome party, I told him, ‘We won’t let you down. We will prove that you are right.'”While Afghanistan needed only a win to qualify for the knockouts, the equation for Bangladesh was much tougher: they needed to chase down the target in 12.1 overs, something Afghanistan took advantage of. With rain in the air, the pendulum swung from one side to another multiple times before Afghanistan sealed the match.Rashid Khan and Jonathan Trott embrace after their semi-final spot was confirmed•ICC/Getty Images

“In our mind, we felt 130-135 was a good total on this wicket but we were 15-20 runs short,” Rashid said. “But a few games we had watched before, 115 was the best total on this wicket. So it was all about the mindset. We knew they would come hard at us to chase it in 12 overs to get into the semi-final and that’s what we could take advantage of.”If we bowled into the stumps, we had the chance of bowling them out. We didn’t need to do anything extra. We were very clear with our planning. Putting in that 100% effort is always in your hands. Rain, drizzle is not in your hand. And we had to push ourselves for people back home, for their happiness, to make the country proud. That was the discussion we had and everyone did a wonderful job.”Rashid also lauded his fast bowlers – Naveen, who was named Player of the Match, and Fazalhaq Farooqi, who is currently the leading wicket-taker in the tournament. On Monday, they combined to reduce Bangladesh to 23 for 3 inside three overs.”That made our job easy,” Rashid said. “In T20s, if you start well, that gives us spinners to attack the batters in the middle overs. That was something we were missing before. But now with the quality of the fast bowlers we have… they are not as fast but they are skilful. I feel if you have skills in T20s, you are more effective and they have given us great starts so far in the competition. They were very clear in their mind and that’s something very pleasing for me.”Naveen, meanwhile, called it “a surreal experience”. Apart from picking up two wickets at the start, he dismissed Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman off successive balls, punctuated by a rain break, to kick off the celebrations.”I think these are the games where you never know what can happen,” he said. “After conceding one boundary, it felt like the game was gone. Suddenly you picked up a wicket and you were back in the game. So the margin of error is very small. But yeah, we had confidence that these wickets are not high-scoring wickets. As long as we didn’t give away easy runs or bowled easy balls, and picked up wickets, we were in the game. Luckily, that happened.”

Ex-England captain says “timing not right” to consider head coach role

Matt Roller23-Jul-2024Eoin Morgan has categorically denied reports that he could replace Matthew Mott as England men’s white-ball coach after their semi-final exit at last month’s T20 World Cup.Morgan was linked with the job on Tuesday but passed it off as nothing more than “speculation” while commentating on the Hundred for Sky Sports. “This news is actually news to me,” he said. “It’s obviously not nice when a coach comes under fire and there is a lot of speculation about his future, but only time will tell what will happen.”Mott, who is halfway through a four-year contract, won a T20 World Cup only six months after his appointment, but is under scrutiny after England’s underperformance in the last two global tournaments. Both Mott and Jos Buttler came under pressure after England won three out of nine games at the 50-over World Cup last year, two of which came after their elimination.At the T20 World Cup, they reached the semi-finals but were thrashed by India in Guyana, and only won once in their four matches against Test-playing opposition. Rob Key, England’s managing director, said he would review that tournament “in the next few weeks” after their elimination and that process is now underway.Related

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The reported that Mott is likely to leave his role and that Key was sounding out potential candidates. Those include Morgan, who earlier this month backed both Mott and Buttler to continue, and he added on Tuesday that he has no interest in the role due to his young family and his broadcasting work.”I’ve been asked a lot [in the media] over the past couple of months about the role, and if I would take it on,” Morgan said. “My answer has simply been that the timing for everything in my life at the moment is not right. Yes, I want to coach down the line. But I have a young family, and I spend a lot more time at home and watching cricket doing this [commentary]. I’m absolutely loving what I’m doing.”Meanwhile, Buttler is expected to miss the Hundred this year after undergoing scans on Monday, having injured his calf while preparing for the tournament. He has not yet been ruled out definitively but ESPNcricinfo understands Manchester Originals have been lining up potential replacements.”He’s our captain, a huge player for us at the top of the order, England captain as well,” Simon Katich, their coach, told Sky. “If he does happen to be ruled out, it’s a big loss for our team. Fingers crossed, he’s alright… if he isn’t, we’ve got a history of giving young players an opportunity.”