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“I know the areas of my game I need to get better at and one of them is playing the short ball”

Edited PTI copy17-Dec-2021Two years into international cricket, 17-year-old Shafali Verma is fully aware of the need to improve constantly and her immediate focus is on tweaking her short-ball game against fast bowlers.Having made her India debut as a 15-year-old, Shafali has come a long way over the past 24 months and alongside Smriti Mandhana, forms one of the most explosive opening pairings in women’s cricket. However, on tours of England and Australia this year, Shafali was peppered with short balls and she didn’t look particularly comfortable against them. So, to get better against the rising ball, Shafali is now facing 200-250 balls from Under-25 men’s players, who can clock 125-130 kmph, at Shri Ram Narain Cricket Academy in Gurugram, under the watchful eyes of her coach Ashwani Kumar.”It feels good that I have been able to complete two years in international cricket but there is a long way to go. I know the areas of my game I need to get better at and one of them is playing the short ball,” Shafali told PTI after being named a Hyundai brand ambassador. “The coaches have also told me to play as per the ball and I will continue to do that. I will never change my game.”During the England and Australia series, Shafali was seen backing away to the short balls and the approach fetched her mixed returns. The coaches at the academy are making her play the short ball on cemented, astroturf and normal wickets. And, besides negotiating higher speeds from the men, Shafali is also facing throwdowns.Related

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“I won’t back away that much going forward. You will see me shuffling around the crease a lot more and play as per the merit of the ball,” Shafali, who is also working on her fitness, said.Her coach Kumar feels Shafali will only get better with time and experience. “We must not forget that she is still 17. Her dream Test debut shows that she has got the required technique to succeed at the highest level.”In the shorter formats, where there is scoreboard pressure, you need to be really quick with your thinking and that is where she needs to improve a bit. As she goes along playing for India, you will see her only getting better.”Mandhana targets better consistency for World Cup success
Mandhana, who was named a Hyundai ambassador alongside Shafali, Jemimah Rodrigues and Taniya Bhatia, said she wants to add more consistency to her batting going into the Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand in March.”Post [the] Covid [-enforced break from cricket], it was hard to get the rhythm back as I was playing international cricket after one and a half years,” Mandhana told PTI. “It took a while to get into the groove but the last two series [England and Australia] have been decent but surely there is scope for improvement.”I am really happy with the way I have been timing the ball… [But] as a batter you have to be selfish to be more consistent and that’s something I want to work on, closing games on a regular basis especially the tight finishes.”It is something which we all know that we need to work on as that is going to help us in the World Cup.”India has lost ODI series to South Africa, England and Australia since March, but Mandhana feels the team has got the best possible preparation for the World Cup. India will also play New Zealand before the World Cup.”The last one year has been really important for us and especially playing in England and Australia. We are also playing New Zealand, so playing the top three-four teams in a space of seven-eight months, that is the best preparation for World Cup. We have learnt a lot in the last two series.””The Australia series was a good one though results didn’t go our way. Almost all the matches were decided in the last over and those were matches we could have won or lost. We were able to score 250 plus in two out of three games. Will take take all the positives from that. I also learnt a lot in Australia.”

The men’s team need a new head coach after Langer stepped down despite considerable success

Andrew McGlashan05-Feb-2022May 2018: Rebuilding the team
Amid the fallout to the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, Justin Langer is appointed as head coach. ​​”We look to encourage great cricketers but also great Australians and great citizens,” he says. “I think one of the things that’s really important is that we keep looking to earn respect.”June 2018: Hammered in England
The first tour of the Langer era is a limited-overs trip to England where Australia are thrashed 5-0 in the ODIs and also beaten in the one-off T20I. “I knew it was going to be a big job, knowing where we came from in South Africa,” Langer says at the end of the tour. “On the surface it looks like a complete disaster but we have talked about building a team that’s going to be ready for the World Cup and the Ashes and I think we have unlocked a few answers. But it hurts when you get beaten, particularly in England.”October 2018: Drawing encouragement, then losing it
The Test team comes back together and the opening match against Pakistan provides an early high-point as Usman Khawaja and new captain Tim Paine fashion a superb draw in Dubai. However, things are brought back down to earth with a bump in the second Test which Pakistan win by 373 runs.A heavy Boxing Day defeat decided the 2018-19 series against India•Cricket Australia

December 2018: MCG meltdown proves costly
The series against India stands at 1-1 after Australia respond to a narrow defeat in Adelaide with a resurgent victory in Perth. But that’s as good as it gets for the home side as they collapse against Jasprit Bumrah at the MCG, and at the SCG they are forced to follow on before the rain arrives. Marnus Labuschagne is recalled and bats at No. 3March-April 2019: One-day revival
Australia revive their flagging one-day form with a stunning come-from-behind series win in India followed by a 5-0 victory over Pakistan in the UAE as, at the last moment, their World Cup plans take shape.July 2019: It was all looking so good
David Warner and Steven Smith return to international cricket with the former playing a key role as Australia look one of the strongest sides in the tournament. Aside from an early defeat against India, they canter to the semi-finals with Mitchell Starc in stunning form before a rampaging England exact revenge for a league-stage defeat.Australia secured the 2019 Ashes at Old Trafford•Getty Images

August-September 2019: Ashes retained
Edgbaston is conquered thanks to the remarkable Test return of Smith, then after Ben Stokes pulls off the Miracle of Headingley (Langer kicking a dustbin later becomes a viral clip from documentary) Australia regroup to retain the Ashes with victory at Old Trafford. It is set up by a double-century from Smith who had missed the Leeds defeat due to concussion while Pat Cummins’ second-innings dismissal of Joe Root is a social-media regular. However, Australia can’t ice the cake as they lose at The Oval. “We are a good team, we are a maturing team and we’ve got some great players in it, but we’re aspiring to be a great cricket team,” Langer says.November-January 2020: Summer whitewash
Warner and Labuschagne feast on Pakistan and the latter continues to do the same against New Zealand as Australia reassert home dominance against two visiting sides who significantly underwhelm.September 2020: Covid cricket
Australia’s pandemic-life cricket starts with a return to England, which finishes in spectacular style as centuries from Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey secure a remarkable victory in the decider.Australia’s unbeaten record at the Gabba ended in 2021•Matt Roberts/Getty Images

January 2021: End of an era
India are bowled out for 36 in Adelaide. Rebound with victory in Melbourne. A fraught draw in Sydney. It’s all square going to the Gabba where Australia haven’t lost since 1988. And they lose. India pull off one of their greatest victories with a side badly hit by injury and also missing Virat Kohli. Shortly after, reports begin to come out of discontent in the Australia dressing room – it involves a toasted sandwich – and the cracks start to emerge.July-August 2021: Alarm bells
With a tour to South Africa postponed due to Covid, Australia do not play again for months and the team they take to West Indies and Bangladesh is missing a host of key names. They are heavily beaten in both T20I series but take the ODI series against West Indies. When the squad returns and is in quarantine in Adelaide there are more reports of a major rift in the camp and this time it nearly claims the coach before high-level emergency talks rescue the situation. “We all got a lot off our chests,” Langer tells the . “I think we are all in a better place now.”Mitch Marsh is given a celebratory dowsing by the Australian team•Getty Images

October 2021: Of course they won another World Cup
Would you believe it? Among the least-fancied teams, Australia recover from a crushing defeat against England to secure a semi-final berth. There they overcome Pakistan with Matthew Wade playing the innings of the life. In the final against local rivals New Zealand it’s Warner and Mitchell Marsh who lead them to the title.January 2021: Ashes demolition
It is never a contest. Literally from the first ball, when Starc removes Rory Burns’ leg stump, Australia are never threatened in retaining the Ashes. It takes just 12 days as Scott Boland’s scarcely-believable 6 for 7 grabs the headlines at the MCG. It’s not quite 5-0 as England cling on in Sydney, but despite a suggestion the final game could be a contest it’s another emphatic win in three days. Justin Langer sits among his players on the stage during the presentations. It proves his final match.

Series of two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is will be played from June 8 to July 12

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Mar-2022Australia will visit Sri Lanka for an all-format series in June-July this year. The tour, Australia’s first to Sri Lanka since mid-2016, will feature two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is, to be played from June 8 to July 12, with the match slotted in Colombo, Kandy and Galle. The series will start with the T20Is and end with the Tests.

Australia tour of Sri Lanka

June 7: 1st T20I, Colombo
June 8: 2nd T20I, Colombo
June 11: 3rd T20I, Colombo
June 14: 1st ODI, Kandy
June 16: 2nd ODI, Kandy
June 19: 3rd ODI, Colombo
June 21: 4th ODI, Colombo
June 24: 5th ODI, Colombo
June 29 to July 3: 1st Test, Galle
July 8 to 12: 2nd Test, Galle

“We played some very competitive T20 internationals against Sri Lanka at home earlier this year and we are excited to tour there for the first time since 2016 in what is sure to be another terrific Test and white ball series,” Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said in a statement. “There is no more challenging place to play cricket than on the subcontinent and this tour offers our players invaluable experience and another great opportunity to excel on the world stage.”Back in July-August 2016, Australia were blanked 3-0 in the Test series, but won the ODIs 4-1 and the T20Is 2-0. It will be a moderately quick turnaround for the players from the two countries who will be engaged in the IPL, which is expected to end on May 29.”We are in for some exciting cricket, especially considering that an Australian tour to Sri Lanka is taking place after five [six] years,” SLC CEO Ashley De Silva said. “The T20 Series will help our preparations for the T20 World Cup, whilst the Test and ODI segments are also competitions of immense value for us, as we aim to move through the ICC World Test Championship rankings and also gearing up for the ICC Men’s World Cup in 2023.”

Pooja Vastrakar, too, continues to impress as India record their third win after beating Bangladesh by 110 runs

Annesha Ghosh22-Mar-2022India kept their semi-final hopes alive by routing Bangladesh in Hamilton. Set up by half-centurion Yastika Bhatia along with Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar’s all-round exploits, India’s 110-run victory at Seddon Park lifted them to the third spot on the table. The win also boosted their net run-rate significantly, and pushed debutants Bangladesh further towards league-stage elimination.Ten of India’s 12 defeats batting first since 2021 had come on the trot heading into this World Cup. That they could add to the victories in that tally despite opting to set a target on Tuesday was down in part to Player of the Match Bhatia’s gritty half-century and cameos from Vastrakar and Rana which rescued them from 108 for 4 to 229 for 7. Rana’s four-for and Vastrakar’s two wickets then broke the back of Bangladesh’s chase, complemented superbly by Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s 10-4-15-1.On a turner, the Bangladeshi attack appeared resolute from the get-go. Ritu Moni and Nahida Akter, who shared five wickets between them, triggered India’s slump from 74 for 0 to 108 for 4. This made it difficult for India to stage a better counterattack with the bat.Bangladesh opened with spin and pace and kept India’s openers on a leash at the start. Smriti Mandhana struggled against offspinner Salma Khatun but carted medium pacer Jahanara Alam for two successive fours in the second over. Shafali Verma scratched her way to a 12-ball 4 but shifted gears when left-arm spinner Akter’s was introduced.Verma deposited Akter in the arc between deep midwicket and long-on for a six and a four in her 12-run opening over before crunching three imperious fours against Alam to finish the powerplay at 52 for 0. By the 16th over, though, Bangladesh had broken through the 74-run opening stand, removed both openers and even had India’s No. 4, Mithali Raj sent back for a golden duck – all in the space of five balls.Akter had Mandhana lose control of a pull that found Fargana Hoque at backward square leg. Three balls later, Verma’s inability to adjust her bat speed against Moni’s change of pace had her stumped for a run-a-ball 42. Then, Raj lobbed a full ball to cover soon after drinks as India slumped to 74 for 3. They were now faced with a herculean rebuild.India scored only 28 for 3 in the second block of 10 overs, with No. 3 Bhatia being more at ease rotating the strike than Harmanpreet Kaur. India reached 100 in 25 overs, but four successive boundary-less overs prompted Harmanpreet to attempt a risky single that ended in her being run out, thanks to a swift pick-up and direct hit from Hoque at mid-on.Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana added useful lower order runs•Getty Images

Bhatia and Richa Ghosh, both relatively inexperienced, then wrested a semblance of control with a 54-run stand. Bhatia resorted to the sweep often to steal singles and boundaries, while Ghosh, who made 26 off 36, relied primarily on the cut. Playing the shot despite the lack of width one time too many, though, cost Ghosh her wicket.India were 165 for 5 entering the final 10 overs. Bhatia persevered for 80-ball fifty but was tied up by Moni’s ingenuity when she took the pace off the ball again The result: Akter, who finished with 2 for 42 after conceding 17 off her first two overs, took an easy catch at short-fine leg and Moni had her maiden ODI three-for.Vastrakar and Rana together then added 48 to India’s tally, with Vastarkar bringing up India’s 200 with a flamboyant four into deep extra cover. She finished unbeaten on 30 while Rana, inventive in accessing the reverse ‘V’ during her 23-ball knock, made a handy 27.Bangladesh’s inexperience against top-drawer oppositions in ODIs showed in their approach to the chase. They scraped to 19 for 2 in the powerplay, the lowest in this World Cup, as India began to tighten the screws around them. Aided by a much-improved fielding performance than their slipshod outing two nights ago against Australia, India’s five-pronged attack kept chipping away at the Bangladeshi line-up, all their bowlers at least picking up one wicket apiece.At no point did Bangladesh appear to realistically challenge the Indian attack. However, Murshida Khatun, who struck Bangladesh’s first six in ODI World Cup history, off Jhulan Goswami, and veteran Salma Khatun oozed plenty of spunk. No. 7 Khatun, the former captain, struck a 35-ball 32 that anchored a 40-run sixth-wicket stand with Lata Mondal.No. 11 Jahanara Alam eked out a run-a-ball 11 before Goswami yorked her. Bangladesh were bowled out for the lowest total of this World Cup so far and India had their third win of the tournament, with a must-win against South Africa coming up on Sunday.

“It’s just a lot of belief in our change room and a lot of fight. We knew that we could come out and put on better performances.”

Annesha Ghosh27-Mar-2022England’s spectacular turnaround – four successive wins after three losses on the trot – en route to reaching the semi-finals of the 2022 ODI World Cup reflects the “fight” in the defending champions’ dressing room, believes Sophia Dunkley, the Player of the Match in their must-win game against Bangladesh.”I think it’s been a really good achievement that we’ve been able to qualify now,” Dunkley, who made a fighting 67 against Bangladesh in England’s last league game, said. “From, obviously, where we started, I think all the girls are just really proud of ourselves in the fight we showed to get back into it.”To go one step further would be amazing, just to show how far we’ve come as a group. One game at a time we’re going to take it, but to win from where it was definitely a great achievement for sure.”It’s just a lot of belief in our change room and a lot of fight. We obviously didn’t play our best cricket in the first few games. So, we knew that we could come out and put on better performances.”We had a lot of belief in the group and a lot of positivity to get us through and sometimes, these games of cricket are not just how it goes. But it’s just been a great fight from the girls and to get four wins on the bounce going into the semis, it puts us in a very strong position.”Dunkley’s maiden World Cup fifty couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. With England teetering at 96 for 4 against a Bangladesh attack that tested the most vaunted line-ups in the tournament, Dunkley anchored a 72-run fifth-wicket stand with Amy Jones and one worth 43 with Katherine Brunt for the sixth wicket at the Basin Reserve.Her rearguard effort lifted them to 211 for 6 and was the most significant contribution in their total of 234 for 6. Her innings also made her the player with most runs, 209, batting at No. 6 or lower at a Women’s ODI World Cup.”It’s been great to have a few good starts with the bat and contribute,” she said. “But obviously, [it was] pleasing today to make a good contribution and get a score on the board that we could defend [today]. I’m loving batting with the team and loving being a part of the World Cup.”Going into bat, we were in a little bit of a tricky position and their bowlers bowled outstandingly at the start and really put us under pressure. I’ve watched them throughout this whole competition, and they’ve put teams under the pump which is great to see and just shows the standard of women’s cricket is going up and up. It’s very pleasing. It’s nice to have a lot of competition throughout the tournament.”England captain Heather Knight was effusive in her praise for the 23-year-old Dunkley at the post-match presentation.”She has been a real find for us over the last couple of years,” Knight said. “She has matured. She hits the ball very cleanly; I have had that when playing against her in domestic cricket and [am] really pleased she has got her first fifty in World Cups. Hopefully, [there are] more to come.”Dunkley said England’s resounding 100-run win against Bangladesh and their three prior back-to-back wins, including against India, New Zealand, and Pakistan has given them the momentum they hope to carry into the knockouts. She, however, stressed England wouldn’t let their guard down, knowing how highly competitive this World Cup has been.”Yeah, 100% I think, obviously, starting with three losses, it does really put you on the back foot and every game does become a must-win game. But having those experiences now, those games put us in a really good position,” she said. “Every team is really beating everyone. So, it’s very open. There are a lot of possibilities that could happen. So, keeps it exciting, I guess. Going into next week, we’re very positive and have a lot of confidence now.England’s narrowest win, by one wicket, came against hosts New Zealand in Auckland last week and Dunkley said the significance of the jailbreak was not lost on her team-mates.”It was a very important win and from our eyes, it was definitely a must-win game,” she said. “We needed to win that game to put ourselves in a good position. So it was great that we could hold onto that and get over the line in whatever form and it has put us in good stead now to qualify and get through after winning today.”

Hampshire loanee thumps 65 not out off 30 balls in first T20 innings for Sussex

ECB Reporters Network29-May-2022Vitality Blast holders Kent have now lost three South Group games out of three after Tom Alsop hit a scintillating 65 not out from 30 balls in his first T20 innings for Sussex.Alsop, on loan from Hampshire, hauled the Sharks up to 171 for 5 at the First Central County Ground and the home side then ran out winners by four runs as the Spitfires could only reach 167 for 7 in reply.Kent’s margin of defeat was only as small as it was because George Linde took 22 runs from the final over, bowled by George Garton, including a last-ball six over long-on, to end on a remarkable unbeaten 13-ball 38.But, overall, Sussex were impressive in the field, with captain Ravi Bopara picking up 2 for 23 from his four overs, and ultimately it was Alsop’s earlier surge with the bat that proved decisive.Related

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The left-hander smashed three sixes and six fours after coming in at No. 5, and it was a first Blast win of the campaign for Sussex following defeats against Glamorgan and Gloucestershire. Kent’s previous two group losses were against Somerset and Essex.Qais Ahmad was Kent’s best bowler with 2 for 23 with his legspin, but the holders’ reply started badly with Daniel Bell-Drummond bowled for a first-ball duck by a beauty from Delray Rawlins that turned sharply to hit the top of off stump and Zak Crawley out for two from the first ball of the second over, gloving a lifter from Steven Finn to the keeper.Sam Billings, however, took three fours from the next five balls from Finn and also drove Rawlins’ left-arm spin and Tymal Mills’ thunderbolts for boundaries as he raced into the 20s.Kent had rallied to 46 for 2 by the end of the six-over powerplay but Billings was deceived on 31 by a yorker from Bopara that hit him on the boot, and the Sharks’ T20 captain struck again in his next over, the 11th, by having Joe Denly caught at long-off for 33 from a low full toss.A 35-minute rain interruption followed Denly’s demise and, on the resumption, Jack Leaning fell for 15 and Jordan Cox for a 21-ball 29. When Qais, after hitting Finn for six and four, skied a catch off the former England paceman from the last ball of the 19th over, it was left only for Linde to hit out in vain against Garton before the Sharks’ victory was confirmed.Sussex, asked to bat, struggled to get going at first with just 31 coming from the initial six-over powerplay and the scoreboard reading only 66 for two at the halfway point.Mohammad Rizwan swung the first ball of the fifth over, Fred Klaassen’s second, straight to Cox at deep square leg to go for 13 and the Sharks managed only three fours in the powerplay.Luke Wright did his best to get the innings going, lofting Linde’s slow left-arm spin for six over long-off and later adding two more sixes, to long-on off Qais in the next over, the eighth, and heaved again over long-on against the same bowler in the 13th over.But from the next ball Wright hit Qais to long-off, and his dismissal for a 34-ball 43 left Sussex on 90 for 4. Josh Philippe and Rawlins had also gone by then, respectively skying to extra cover off Linde for 9 and bowled by Matt Milnes for 14, and a score above 150 looked unlikely.Bopara soon fell too for 5, mishitting Qais into the off side, but Alsop immediately showed his aggressive intent by reverse-hitting Linde for two fours before targeting Kent’s quicker bowlers as 68 runs were plundered from the last five overs.Matt Quinn was pulled for four and six in the 18th over, Klaassen twice thumped straight for sixes in the 19th while Milnes, after bowling a waist-height no-ball, saw Alsop take advantage of the subsequent free hit to glance to the fine leg ropes – a shot he repeated four balls later as 17 runs came from the final over, which also included a wide.

But fast bowler believes England fightback leaves team in ‘box seat’

Vithushan Ehantharajah25-Jun-2022After falling agonisingly short of a Test century on debut, then returning with a fiery spell in the final session, Jamie Overton was refreshingly philosophical at the end of day three of the third Test at Headingley.Both efforts contributed to England’s cause, ensuring a first innings of 360 for a lead of 31, before cutting New Zealand down to 168 for five late on. The tourists led by 137 at stumps, with in-form batters Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell at the crease.After an initial spell of five overs for 17, Overton came out after tea and immediately took the wicket of Tom Latham, who had looked back in form in reaching 76 before succumbing to a misjudgement outside off stump from round the wicket. Overton then hit Devon Conway in the head with the very next ball, setting the tone for what was a engaging four-wicket session for England.However the pain earlier of falling for 97 earlier in the day was the main point of conversation when it came to Overton’s work on Saturday. He was crestfallen after nervously waving at a wide delivery from Trent Boult which nestled into the hands of Mitchell at first slip. By stumps, however, he had just about made his peace with the three runs he did not get.”Obviously I was very disappointed getting out on 97,” he said. “But me and Jonny put us in a great position [a partnership of 241 – a new record for the seventh wicket]. And that knock from Broady (42) coming in and getting us into a lead has put us in a great place going into the second innings. It was obviously disappointing but I feel I’ve contributed to the team more than enough.”Understandably, Overton did not get the best night’s sleep on Friday, having come in on 89 not out, and that reflected in a quiet start the following morning, in which he only managed eight runs in the 40 minutes before his dismissal.”I was tossing and turning for quite a lot,” he admitted. “I’m always going to be a little bit nervous but I felt like I was in sort of in a great place this morning and just didn’t quite get over the line. The ball was there to hit and I just hit it to the wrong place.”Related

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Bairstow, who was eventually dismissed for 162, accompanied Overton for a portion of his slow walk-off, putting his arm around him and offering some consoling words: “He just said, soak it all up, you played a great knock.”Overton was good by those words come the evening. England’s middle session lacked a little something, allowing New Zealand to move into a strong position of 125 for one at tea, and a lead of 94. With the help of the crowd, they responded with far more urgency and endeavour to take four for 43 in the 18.5 overs they were able to get in before the rain.”We chatted at tea that potentially the afternoon session wasn’t that great for us,” Overton said. “We obviously didn’t go for loads of runs but we didn’t feel like we bowled and fielded the way we wanted to, so coming out after tea it was just trying to enjoy ourselves, put the New Zealand guys under pressure, and that’s what we did. The crowd obviously got involved a little bit and we tried to gee them up because that always helps us as well.”There is still work to be done, especially given how Mitchell and Blundell have performed – in this match alone, never mind the series, with 109 and 55 in the first innings, respectively. Overton, though, feels England are ahead.”I think that last session put us right in the box seat. We would like to go back out there at the end but couldn’t quite get out there with the with the covers needing time to get them off.”But yeah, we’re in a great position going into tomorrow and hopefully we can get the two early wickets, the two key wickets. But we feel like we’re in a good place. And if we can get those two early, then we’re in a great place to win the game.”

Opener follows Babar Azam and Azhar Ali to Taunton

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2022Somerset have furthered their links with the PCB by signing Imam-ul-Haq as a replacement for Matt Renshaw for the final four games of the County Championship season.Babar Azam and Azhar Ali have been popular overseas signings at Taunton in recent years and Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket, said the club had used their “long-standing relationship” with the PCB to get Imam’s deal over the line, subject to a No-Objection Certificate and visa.”Imam-ul-Haq is an outstanding batter who will bring quality and a wealth of experience to our environment,” Hurry said. “To be able to bring in an established Test match player for the final LV= Insurance County Championship matches of the season is a coup for us with so much international cricket being played during this important period.”We have a long-standing working relationship with the PCB and we are grateful to them for their assistance in helping us to sign a player of this calibre. We are genuinely excited about what he will add to the club both on and off the field.”Related

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Imam is one of Pakistan’s incumbent opening batters alongside Abdullah Shafique, and is part of the squad to play Sri Lanka later this month. He said that he had spoken to his international team-mates about the club and that county cricket is “a challenge that I am relishing”.”I have heard a lot about the quality of Somerset from Babar Azam and Azhar Ali,” he said. “It is a club with a good reputation and great support. I look forward to representing the county and contributing to some good wins in the County Championship.”Somerset have struggled in the Championship this season and are ninth in the 10-team Division One, though have a game in hand on most of the bottom half of the table.Renshaw, the Australian top-order batter, will leave the club at the end of August to begin pre-season training with his state side Queensland ahead of his home summer.

Sri Lanka hit back with Babar’s wicket late in the day but Pakistan need just 120 runs to win

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Jul-2022For so much of the afternoon and the evening sessions, it seemed as if Pakistan were marching non-plussed towards their monumental target. Abdullah Shafique had hit as flawless a hundred as you could hope for on a fourth-day Galle surface. Babar Azam had been solid in partnership with him, and the stand was nearing a hundred.Best of all for Pakistan, Sri Lanka’s bowlers seemed to be getting very little out of a surface that should be a spin-bowling fantasy strip by now. But suddenly, around 75 overs through the innings, the pitch came to life. Shafique and Babar had only played and missed at the occasional delivery since tea, confidently padding plenty away, leaving the ones outside off alone, and getting enough bat to the rest that even half-chances were sparse.In the last 10 overs of the day though, Pakistan’s batters were suddenly under huge pressure. Though they had batted to get themselves within striking distance and put themselves ahead in the chase, the 120 to get at stumps seemed a distance off even with seven wickets in hand.They had batted exceedingly well to even give themselves a chance, however. Shafique led the effort and was unbeaten on 112 by stumps, frequently using his feet to create the single options, using the depth of the crease when the bowlers pitched slightly short, while using all the defensive manoeuvres against spin – padding away balls that pitched outside leg, letting the ones that weren’t threatening the stumps go. All up, he’d hit only 26 runs in boundaries – mostly legside fours and a six into the sightscreen. This was an innings built on patience and supreme confidence in his defence.Abdullah Shafique embraces Babar Azam after reaching his century•AFP/Getty Images

He’d set the platform with Imam-ul-Haq, as the openers took Pakistan to 87 for no loss. That partnership was not without its early jitters, however. Shafique could have been out lbw to Prabath Jayasuriya in the third over, but the review showed the ball failed to hit enough of leg stump to overturn the not-out decision. Imam then given out against Kasun Rajitha, but reviewed successfully – the ball projected to have been passing over the stumps. Not long after that, Imam sent a difficult catch over the infield as well, and a diving Dinesh Chandimal could not hold on, sprinting back from cover.That this stand was broken was more down to nifty wicketkeeping and batter error, than sustained pressure from the bowlers. Batting on 35, Imam raised his back foot after leaving a Ramesh Mendis delivery. In the fraction of a second Imam’s boot was in the air, Niroshan Dickwella whipped off a bail. The third umpire’s decision was several minutes and many replays in the making, but there was one angle, from side on, showing the boot to be clearly in the air. Azhar Ali then batted 32 balls but was caught at slip off Jayasuriya’s bowling.Where Shafique was measured through the course of his innings, Babar imposed himself on the opposition early in his knock. He announced his arrival with a whip through mid-on for four, then crashed a six and a four off over midwicket in one Jayasuriya over, to get Pakistan moving again after the loss of the second wicket. He too, though, soon settled into a pattern of accumulation, favouring the legside for his bigger shots. He had a desperate lbw review burned on him shortly before tea. He and Shafique seemed intent on doing it as risk-free as possible – 31 of Babar’s 55 came from singles, and there was a solitary two.Dimuth Karunaratne often likes to make batters face as many balls as possible at Galle, putting fielders on the boundary even early in their innings. The rationale here is that eventually, there will be a delivery that gets the batter out. Shafique and Babar defied this for 237 balls, during which they made 101 runs. Babar was eventually bowled trying to pad away Jayasuriya, who was coming over the wicket to pitch into the rough. He survived plenty that spun sharply from the dark spots, but late in the day, in the middle of that period in which the pitch suddenly started to spit, he didn’t quite get his front foot far enough to leg. Jayasuriya pitched it beyond the reach of his stride and turned it back into leg stump.Early in the day, Chandimal added eight to Sri Lanka’s overnight score, but missed out on a century when Naseem Shah burst through Prabath Jayasuriya’s defences.The match is now set for a tantalising final three hours. Pakistan are close. Sri Lanka have a new ball in hand, which tends to spit and spin more than the older ones. Shafique’s wicket seems like the vital one.

Liam Livingstone adds unbeaten fifty to seal victory after Benny Howell runs through Rockets

Matt Roller15-Aug-2022Moeen Ali’s game-changing flourish led Birmingham Phoenix to their third consecutive win and extended their 100% record at Edgbaston in the men’s Hundred. From 16 off 17, Moeen hit two fours and four sixes in his next nine deliveries to reach a 26-ball half-century, breaking the back of the chase to inflict a first defeat of the season on Trent Rockets, throwing the qualification race wide open.Rockets slid to 53 for 6 after being asked to set a total for the first time this season as Benny Howell ran through their middle order, but an unbroken stand of 92 between Daniel Sams and Lewis Gregory set Phoenix 146 to win in front of a 15,800 crowd in the first Birmingham double-header of the season.Luke Wood bowled a brilliant, hostile new-ball spell for Rockets, cleaning up Will Smeed and pinning Miles Hammond plumb in front, before bursting through Moeen to finish with 3 for 16 to give Rockets a foothold. But Liam Livingstone saw them home, reaching his own half-century in 32 balls when he smeared Gregory for six over square leg to seal the win.Mo’s masterstroke
Alex Hales and Dawid Malan’s last two opening partnerships were worth 86 off 58 balls and 85 off 38, but on Monday night they were both out within the first eight balls of the Rockets’ innings. Having seen them tuck into the seamers against Northern Superchargers and Manchester Originals, Moeen went for spin early on, taking the new ball himself despite a short leg-side boundary for Hales to attack.Hales targeted the short side but top-edged his sweep to deep midwicket and Moeen went for the jugular, giving Imran Tahir a bowl in the powerplay for the first time this season. Malan hammered his second ball over the long boundary for six, but could only skew his third to mid-off to leave Rockets 11 for 2 after eight balls. Tahir celebrated in trademark style, adding a Cristiano Ronaldo-style celebration at the end of his run.