Morne Morkel produced a searing opening burst to carve up Bangladesh’s top order and severely dent their chances of saving the first Test in Potchefstroom

The Report by Mohammad Isam01-Oct-2017
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAFP

Morne Morkel produced a searing opening burst to carve up Bangladesh’s top order and severely dent their chances of saving the first Test in Potchefstroom. By tea on the fourth day, Bangladesh had been reduced to 49 for 3, leaving them still requiring an improbable 375 runs to get with four sessions left in the Test. They were saved from batting out some of that time, with the light deteriorating and rain forcing the covers to come on shortly after the break. It refused to let up, washing out the final session and forcing an early stumps.Morkel, however, walked off the field towards the end of the session, and it was later confirmed that he had suffered a side strain which could leave him unlikely to bowl further in the innings. He will be sent for scans on Monday morning.For as long as he was on the field, though, Morkel troubled Bangladesh, getting the new ball to prodigiously swing around. In his first over, he flattened Tamim Iqbal’s off stump by angling one in from wide of the crease. Two balls later, he found movement in the air and pinged the pad of Mominul Haque, who chose not to review the decision despite replays later showing that the ball would have comfortably missed leg stump.Bangladesh’s only consolation is that they still have Mushfiqur Rahim, one of their most experienced batsmen, at the crease, unbeaten on 16. But even that was down to South Africa’s own undoing: Morkel drew the Bangladesh captain forward and burst through the defences but replays indicated that he had oversteppedThree overs after that, Imrul Kayes was thrown a lifeline when Kagiso Rabada swung one across the left-hander and made him reach out to send an outside edge to Faf du Plessis, who put down a regulation catch at second slip. Kayes continued to stand on shaky ground, taking on short balls and getting away often despite timing his shots poorly. Along with Mushfiqur, the two just seemed to be getting a partnership going, but Maharaj broke through before the association could translate into a meaningful recovery.Maharaj had varied his lengths with the first two deliveries of the over, first getting a length ball to kick up off the rough and then drawing Kayes forward with a fuller one. The follow-up was on an in-between length that left Imrul in two minds as he withdrew his bat late to edge to Quinton de Kock behind the stumps.Earlier in the day, South Africa took rapid strides towards establishing a big lead, adding 193 runs to their overnight 54 for 2 in just 241 balls. Du Plessis and Temba Bavuma did the bulk of the scoring, putting together 142 for the fourth wicket. They came together after Hashim Amla edged behind an offcutter from Mustafizur and pushed up the run-rate, punching 149 runs at 5.12 per over in the morning session as Bangladesh’s bowlers created minimal impact.Du Plessis zoomed to a 100-ball 81, while Bavuma benefitted from a reprieve on 8 and ran up 71 off 107 balls. They got out either side of a 48-minute rain break; du Plessis leg-before to Mominul after being beaten on the sweep and Bavuma to a brilliant leg-side catch by Liton Das, who moved before the batsman had even made contact with the ball. Mominul then struck for a third time when he removed Quinton de Kock, courtesy a smart stumping by Liton.

The offspinner, who was left out of the India squad for the limited-overs matches against Sri Lanka and Australia, said he hasn’t done much wrong to remain on the sidelines

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-20174:17

Exclusive: Want to make a difference in 2019 World Cup – Ashwin

Since the 2015 World Cup, R Ashwin has played only 15 of India’s 47 ODIs, taking 17 wickets at an average of 40.58. During the same period, left-arm spinners Axar Patel (23) and Ravindra Jadeja (17) played more ODIs than Ashwin. More recently, when Ashwin was dropped for the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka and the ongoing series at home against Australia, wristspinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal impressed and offered a fresh edge to the attack.Ashwin, however, has said he had not done much wrong to remain on the sidelines of India’s limited-overs team.”I am not desperate at all,” Ashwin, who is currently playing the Ranji Trophy for Tamil Nadu, said .”One day, the opportunity will come knocking on my door because I haven’t done too much wrong. So when I get the opportunity and when I am put in an occasion, I will probably try and raise my game to the best of my ability.”While naming the squad for the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka, chairman of selectors, MSK Prasad stressed that fitness would be a key parameter while picking the 2019 World Cup squad. Later in August, India’s coach Ravi Shastri echoed Prasad’s comments and wanted his side to have the “best fielding XI” at the World Cup.”I am a man for systems and any system put in place, I would strive my level best to try and match up to it,” Ashwin said, when asked about fitness. “Every leader has his own vision of how to bring the team about. This is the vision of the current leadership group and it’s important to respect it.”I have been in great conditioning ever since I missed the IPL. I have trained madly. You have to take the (Yo-Yo test) and decide how it goes. But I am completely in compliance with it.”Since the start of India’s 13-Test home season last year, Ashwin has bagged 99 wickets in 16 Tests, including eight five-wicket hauls at 25.38. With India set to tour South Africa at the end of this year, and later England and Australia – where pitches tend to offer less assistance to spin – Ashwin recognised the need to shift from an attacking role to a supporting role.”For me, its all about bowling well and trying to get into top rhythm,” he said. “It is about constantly revisiting my best. Maybe, I will not be the type of attacking bowler when we tour abroad. I need to do a good holding role.”

That they have chosen to join the squad straight off a flight from the T20I series against New Zealand reinforces their hunger to perform

Akshay Gopalakrishnan in Alur08-Nov-2017Vinay Kumar’s calm exterior didn’t betray a sense of jubilation at the return of KL Rahul and Manish Pandey, Karnataka’s two prolific and senior batsmen, for their Ranji Trophy clash against Delhi in Alur, starting Thursday. That they have chosen to join the squad straight off a flight from the T20I series against New Zealand that concluded in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday night, reinforces their hunger to perform.Individually, this match fulfills important goals for both batsmen. For Pandey, this is another opportunity to score the big runs that brought him into national reckoning in the first place, and somewhat overcome the frustration of missing out on a regular berth in the XI after being shuffled up and down the order. For Rahul, who hasn’t featured in the limited-overs format since Sri Lanka despite being in the squad, this is an opportunity to get some batting time ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Kolkata, starting November 16.”It’s good to have Manish and KL back,” Vinay said. “As I earlier mentioned in the Shimoga game (against Hyderabad), having KL and Karun straight away put the pressure on the opposition. Delhi is a good side, and with them coming in, our batting is going to be very good.”The on-and-off presence of Rahul, Pandey, and more occasionally, Karun Nair, has left Karnataka brittle at times. But, equally, it has pushed them to tap deep into their reserves and give younger players opportunities to impress. Mayank Agarwal, who may have not been a regular had Robin Uthappa not moved states, or Rahul been around at the start of the season, has capitalised, scoring a triple-century in the previous game. Others, like Agarwal, too have stepped up, and the results so far have given the team management no headaches.”Frankly, I’d love three-four guys playing for India from our team, because there are many cricketers who are sitting out,” Vinay said. “If they play here for us, it’s definitely a boost for the team, but if they play there, they are serving for the country and others will get an opportunity to serve Karnataka. And that way we’re very flexible. I’m okay for both.”With three outright wins in as many matches, Karnataka have had a spotless start to their season and flashed glimpses of the dominant force that clinched six domestic titles between 2013-14 and 2014-15. But Delhi are trailing them closely. In fact, the only reason they are placed second is because they have one less outright win, which they claimed to have been denied in controversial circumstances by Assam.In a condensed league format, where teams are vying for outright wins every time they step on the field, marginal differences in the points table can have massive consequences. And it leaves minimal room for errors, especially on the field.”We have dropped a few catches, but it’s improving,” Vinay said. “In Shimoga, there was a bit of a problem in sighting the ball. But we were too good in the previous game against Maharashtra, and hopefully, that’ll continue. They’re all mature and can see for themselves what they were doing wrong. They might have rectified it themselves. As a captain, it’s for me to make sure that it all comes together and everyone has proper team goals.”The upside of fewer league matches, however, has been longer breaks between games. Especially after last year’s punishing travel schedules owing to the BCCI’s neutral-venue policy, the additional rest has been much-needed. But Vinay played down their impact and instead stressed on smart training, and fewer, more quality net sessions.”We are having only one practice session. Most of the times, our seamers are bowling more, so they need that extra break. We used to have two net sessions; now, we have one rigorous session and one optional session. That might help the seamers to come really fresh into the game.”

A round-up of the WICB Regional 4 Day Tournament games played between December 7-10, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2017An unbeaten half-century from Denesh Ramdin helped Trinidad and Tobago salvage a draw against Jamaica at Sabina Park after the visitors had been reduced to 123 for 6 on the back of a Reynard Leveridge three-for following Jamaica’s first-innings lead of 292.Ramdin stitched together an unbroken 40-run stand for the seventh wicket with Imran Khan (17*), playing out 26.3 overs to take T&T to 163 for 6 at the close of play on the final day, even as Odean Smith, Damion Jacobs and John Campbell abetted Leveridge’s strikes with one wicket apiece.That T&T found themselves staring at defeat on the fourth day was largely down to the twin centuries from John Campbell and the Jamaica captain Paul Palmer, whose 156 and 136 respectively, contributed to the hosts’ mammoth first-innings tally of 535. The duo pinched a combined 23 fours and eight sixes, and were aided by fifties from Brandon King (63), Smith (54) and wicketkeeper Aldane Thomas, who fell one short of his maiden first-class half-century. Despite a four-for from Daniel St Clair and Khan’s 3 for 180, the 157-run third-wicket stand between King and Campbell and three other fifty stands from the Jamaica batsmen ensured the home side had taken a lead more than double the total T&T had put on the board in their first dig.Having elected to bat, T&T had could only amass 243, despite a 71-run opening stand between Amir Jangoo (39) and Jeremy Solozano (62). A four-wicket haul each from medium-pacer Derval Green and allrounder Campbell meant T&T could put only one more fifty stand – worth 73, for the third wicket – before being bowled out inside 82.5 overs on the opening day.Rahkeem Cornwall took a five-for against the Indians•AFP

Jomel Warrican’s 6 for 89 nearly snared a win for Barbados at St Kitts, but Devon Thomas’ fourth first-class century and some plucky lower-order resistance from Gavin Tonge and Jeremiah Louis ensured Leeward Islands scrambled to a draw in the closing hours of the final day.Barbados’ decision to declare on 163 for 4 – having set Leeward a target of 312 – on the final day found validation as Warrican and Kenroy Williams removed the openers inside 11 overs with only 57 on the scoreboard. Subsequent strikes from Warrican and Hayden Walsh reduced their opponents to 133 for 4, before Thomas’ 103 steered a 108-run fifth-wicket stand with Akeem Saunders (64), to put Leeward 71 runs away from victory. Saunders’ dismissal, however, led to Leewards losing 4 for 47 in the space of 11.5 overs but Tonge and Louis played out 32 balls for their unbroken eight-run stand to stave off any possibilities of a defeat.Earlier, despite having dealt the first blow through Rahkeem Cornwall in the 12th over of the match, Leeward struggled to follow up with regular strikes as Sheyne Moseley anchored a 133-run second-wicket stand with captain Shamarh Brooks (79) with his 303-ball 117. Moseley added another 52 with Jonathan Carter for the third wicket, to take his side to 221 for 2, before Barbados lost five wickets for 36. Justin Greaves’ unbeaten 79 helped lift Barbados from 257 for 7 to 394 as Cornwall completed his 13th first-class five-for 116 runs.Leeward’s response was headlined by a solitary half-century from Montcin Hodge (82) as Hayden Walsh and Kevin Stoute cleaned up the opposition line-up with a six-for and a four-wicket haul respectively. Leeward could only manage 246, with Hodge barely finding any support from the other batsmen – none of whom could notch up a score beyond 31 – and ended up conceding a 148-run first-innings lead.

Captain Dan Christian agreed the Hurricanes had been able to play with clear minds and full hearts given the weight of expectation heaped on the Scorchers by their formidable BBL record and home fixture

Daniel Brettig02-Feb-2018″Who’s next? Who cares!” was the headline in Adelaide’s Advertiser newspaper when the South Australian capital’s football team, the Crows, unexpectedly beat Hawthorn in their first AFL final 25 years ago. A similar sentiment pervaded the Hobart Hurricanes after their stunning overthrow of Perth Scorchers’ Big Bash League hegemony on Thursday night.Given the fact the host venue for the final – either Adelaide Oval or Docklands Stadium in Melbourne – will be decided later on Friday, the Hurricanes elected to travel from Perth to Adelaide, getting the long flight out of the way, and wait and see. Though they wobbled into the semis off the back of three consecutive losses and relied on Melbourne Renegades beating Brisbane Heat to qualify, Daniel Christian said the Perth result had quickly raised Hobart’s sights. A first BBL title is one game away.”We might not be [underdogs] now that we’ve flogged the Scorchers,” Christian declared. “Either way we’re pretty confident. We’ve always been pretty confident in what we’ve got as a team. Even though we haven’t played that perfect game we’ve been pretty confident that we’ve got the guys to be able to put it together so whoever we play, the Renegades or the Strikers, I’m sure we’ll be right up for it.”Yesterday I would have said the Renegades [were more likely finalists] but now that Travis Head is back I think it’s probably a bit closer because the Renegades haven’t been affected too much by the Aussie selections, although they’ve lost Kane Richardson I suppose. But they played really well in Brisbane the other night so either way we are really looking forward to it.”Christian agreed the Hurricanes had been able to play with clear minds and full hearts given the weight of expectation heaped on the Scorchers by their formidable BBL record and home fixture in front of 52,960 parochial fans at the new stadium in Burswood. He said they had also been helped by the fact that Perth did not have a spinner, having lost Ashton Agar to Australian duty and then declined to pick James Muirhead.”We were just able to go out and play and not worry about the new stadium and the hoo-ha that came along with it,” Christian said. “Finals are pretty funny. You sort of come into them and you want to play that perfect game but it’s not often you get the opportunity to do it. Everything just fell our way because once the boys got used to the pace of the wicket the Scorchers didn’t have a spinner and Ashton Agar destroyed us in the last game, so once we got used to the pace, they just kept bringing in the same pace at us and once Matty Wade and Ben McDermott got used to that, they were pretty hard to stop.”We’ve been talking all year about putting together a close to perfect performance and that’s probably as close to perfect for us really. To get 210 and then bowl them out for 130-odd, that’s pretty awesome. We’ve batted well in most games this year and bowled well in patches but we haven’t really been able to do it for the full 20 overs of both disciplines so it was really pleasing.”The Scorchers captain Adam Voges, who announced his retirement from the BBL after the game, said the new stadium required the Perth team to learn better how to play it after years at the more open WACA Ground. “This will be our new home from now on,” he said, “but we have to learn to play this ground a lot better than we did tonight.”The Hurricanes, of course, now feel like there is a little patch of Tasmania out west, having made the venue their playground for a night. Christian said the pitch, a new generation drop-in much like that of Adelaide Oval, had been a pleasant surprise. “It is an absolutely fantastic stadium. It’s stunning and the crowd was great, the wicket was great,” he said. “I got the ball caught in the lights a couple of times, that’s the only issue with the footy lights running all the way around rather than the poles that you get at most stadiums, but apart from that it was fantastic.”Being a drop-in we didn’t think the wicket would be as good as it was. We thought it might be slower and a bit lower a bit like your Etihad, MCG kind of wicket. Particularly given that it’s so new, we thought it was going to be not quite as quick. It’s quite a big ground square, we’d heard the dimensions are similar to the MCG, which suits us really, bowling slower balls into the wicket and hard into the wicket and trying to make them hit square so we were pretty confident we had the right attack to be able to slow them down or at least try to get them out.”Like the stadium pitch, the Hurricanes proved far better than expected. The BBL finals come at you fast.

Australia and New Zealand meet in the inaugural final of the Trans-Tasman T20 tri-series at Eden Park

The Preview by Andrew Miller20-Feb-2018

Big Picture

England’s coach Trevor Bayliss may be of the opinion that there’s no place for T20 internationals in a crowded calendar, but try telling that to the combatants in Wednesday’s final of the inaugural T20 tri-series in Auckland. Or indeed to the Eden Park crowd, who were treated last Friday to an astonishingly run-laden exhibition from the same two teams. Short boundaries, big hits, finely crafted specialist teams. Not to mention the prospect of NZD50,000 bounties if anyone clings on to a one-handed stunner in the stands. What’s not to like?It’s all a far cry from the permed hair and Frank Zappa moustaches that greeted Australia and New Zealand’s maiden T20 encounter at Auckland 13 years ago. Like the format as a whole, the world’s first T20 international may have been treated as a gimmick by its participants, but the game has got rather more serious in recent times.Australia, rightly, go into the final as favourites, but in the course of a dominant group stage, they have settled upon an astonishingly power-packed line-up. A key priority going into the tournament was to rest the likes of Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and other bankers of the 50-over and Test teams, but with this year’s Big Bash cementing several specialist reputations, the men at Australia’s disposal could hardly be more perfectly crafted to their roles.After a subdued Ashes and a struggle in the opening games, David Warner rediscovered his joie de vivre at Auckland with 59 from 24 balls, where D’Arcy Short’s free-spirited walloping alongside him no doubt reminded him of his own T20 origins. Glenn Maxwell’s Big Show has been in full flow throughout the tournament, not least in his one-man obliteration of England at Hobart, and with Andrew Tye’s illegible slower balls and Billy Stanlake’s cloud-snagging seamers leading the line with the ball, their opponents have often found no place to hide.That said, New Zealand are fully capable of some fireworks of their own. Colin Munro and Martin Guptill will probably still be wondering how they failed to set their side up for victory at Auckland last week, after plundering 132 runs in a 10.3-over opening stand, with Guptill going on to complete a national-record 49-ball hundred.Even so, they come into the match with a record of four defeats in their last five T20Is, after being pipped to the post by a subdued England in their final group game on Sunday. It mattered not in the bigger picture – England had already been edged out of qualification on net run rate by the time Tom Curran closed out the final over. But it sums up the challenge, even on a favoured home ground, of stopping the Australian juggernaut.

Form guide

New Zealand LLWLL(last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWWW

In the spotlight

David Warner has deferred the obvious question to his ranking officer, Steve Smith. But nevertheless, his leadership in Smith’s absence of a dynamic T20 outfit has been eye-catching, and were he to lift the Trans-Tasman Trophy with a perfect five-out-of-five record, it would heighten the suspicion that, for all his stellar achievements in the Test arena this year, Smith’s time in the shortest format has expired. Both as a batsman and a captain, Warner has already been planning for the unique angular challenge of Eden Park’s short boundaries. How he clears them himself, and places his own fielders in turn, will be critical to the outcome.It’s been a feast-and-famine fortnight for Warner’s New Zealand counterpart, Kane Williamson. One stunning performance, 72 from 46 balls against England in their Wellington victory, and three single-figure scores in his remaining games, including a grand total of nine runs from 23 balls for twice out against Australia. Williamson’s class cannot be disputed. But if New Zealand are to post the sort of total that can be defended against Australia’s rampant line-up, he’ll need to find his top gear from the outset.

Teams news

No changes anticipated to the New Zealand side that lost by two runs in their final group game against England. Mitchell Santner, who missed the last Auckland run-fest, will be back in the reckoning ahead of the hapless Ben Wheeler, who was spanked for 64 runs in 3.1 overs against Australia.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Colin Munro, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Mark Chapman, 6 Colin de Grandhomme, 7 Tim Seifert (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Trent BoultA settled and explosive line-up. It says something for Australia’s current depth that a player of the pedigree of Aaron Finch has had to find a niche at No.5 since his return from injury. It also says something that he has pounded 56 not out from 19 balls across his two innings to date.Australia (probable) 1 David Warner (capt), 2 D’Arcy Short, 3 Chris Lynn, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Aaron Finch, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Ashton Agar, 9 Andrew Tye, 10 Kane Richardson, 11 Billy Stanlake

Pitch and conditions

It’s been damp in Auckland recently, but the on-field fireworks haven’t exactly fizzled. Another run-laden batting track is anticipated, while the ground’s short straight boundaries will guarantee more runs – even from top-edges – than might be expected at more conventional venues. “You just have to suck it up a bit,” says Williamson. Not half.

Stats and trivia

• Despite it being their favoured T20 venue, New Zealand haven’t enjoyed their recent visits to Eden Park. They have lost each of their last four T20s in Auckland, with last week’s Australia victory following wins for South Africa and Pakistan (twice).
• Their group-stage clash in Auckland featured a world-record run-chase from Australia, but not a world-record aggregate. That accolade, by one run (489 to 488) remains with West Indies’ victory over India in Lauderhill in 2016.

Quotes

“There was nothing you could do. We tried to execute our yorkers, we did, they still went for four. A short-pitched ball went for six off a top edge. Those sorts of things, you’ve just got to stand there and laugh and smile, because it’s challenging when you’re at these small venues.”
“If we look back at that last game, the difference of half an over – or each ball – can be the deciding moment in a game.”
Kane Williamson takes his own lessons from the same game.

The match, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, has been granted international status, with the proceeds going towards the restoration of the cricket grounds in Dominica and Anguilla

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Feb-2018World T20 champions West Indies will face an ICC Rest of the World XI in a one-off T20I at Lord’s on May 31 later this year, to raise money towards restoration efforts in parts of the Caribbean hit by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September last year. In particular, the proceeds of the match will go towards the restoration of the cricket grounds in Dominica and Anguilla. The match, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports, has been granted international status.”To have two category 5 hurricanes in the space of two weeks was unprecedented and everyone around the world was shocked by the destruction which was caused,” Colin Graves, the ECB chairman, said. “The ECB and CWI have always enjoyed a fantastic relationship and we are keen to support them and the people of the Caribbean in this fundraising initiative.””Hurricanes Irma and Maria have devastated parts of the Eastern Caribbean and we have been considering how CWI can best show support for our region in the most impactful way,” CWI president Dave Cameron said.England’s international summer is set to get underway on May 24, with a Test against Pakistan at Lord’s, while the IPL final is scheduled on May 27, four days ahead of the fundraising T20I.

West Indies coach Stuart Law also said he was impressed by some of the young players despite they 3-0 drubbing they took from Pakistan

Umar Farooq in Karachi04-Apr-2018A three-day cricket feast in Karachi, after nine barren years, came to an end on Tuesday, with over 70,000 spectators having gone through the turnstiles at National Stadium. West Indies – who last toured Pakistan in 2006 – lost all three games heavily, but won lots of goodwill for the part they played in helping return international cricket to the country.”I’m a big fan of Pakistan cricket,” head coach Stuart Law said at a press conference. “The fans here in the subcontinent are pretty passionate. This was the first time I’d been to Karachi and the fans here were outstanding every night. They were very respectful to us. Everywhere we’ve been, we’ve been treated very well. The security has been outstanding, and we haven’t had any problems.”It’s a bit daunting if you’re not used to the set-up. It’s a bit daunting for the people outside but once you get here and see for yourself, you feel more confident. I’m not saying that it will open the floodgates and bring everyone rushing back, but from what I’ve seen here, it’s more than adequate and we should be able to get cricket back to Pakistan. I feel sorry for the Pakistan players who don’t play enough cricket in front of their home fans. Every game for them is an away game so you feel for those boys who can’t play in front of their families week in week out.”West Indies had committed to touring Pakistan last year, but then the series was postponed to April. It suffered another setback with key players including Chris Gayle and captain Carlos Brathwaite pulling out. Their reluctance to tour Pakistan due to safety concerns has been evident with Cricket West Indies even having to offer them USD 25,000 as extra incentive. In the end, a weakened 13-man squad was assembled together, hastily, and they landed in Karachi mere hours before the opening game on Sunday.The difference in quality between the two sides was stark. Pakistan beat West Indies by a record-breaking 143 runs on Sunday. The second T20I was, again, barely a contest and even though the visitors, reduced to 12 men with Veerasammy Permaul’s injury, put up a better fight in the third game, Pakistan romped home in a chase of 153 with eight wickets and three overs to spare.”The positives we can take is that we brought a very young team here with little experience,” Law said. “I’m pretty impressed with Keemo Paul, who I thought stood out. He worked for us in Zimbabwe in the 50 over format too. Another debutant tonight Andre McCarthy showed good intent with the bat. It’s a difficult task coming here and playing in Pakistan. We did lose the series 3-0 but we got better as the series went on and that’s a good sign for us.”West Indies coach Stuart Law addresses the press conference•WICB

West Indies’ schedule was cramped, and they weren’t able to have a conditioning or training session before or during their three days in Karachi. They were driven back to the airport immediately after the final game to fly home and were unable to shrug of the lingering jet lag.When asked if the result of the series could have been different if his side was given enough time to train, Law said, “You never know, we don’t have a crystal ball. But we got better as the tournament went on. The tour was somewhat rushed and the IPL is starting soon. We have a lot of players involved in the IPL and their franchises are pretty ruthless when it comes to player activity. It wasn’t probably ideal timing, but I’m glad for the people here in Karachi. When you look back, yes I’m disappointed with our result, but there’s lot of smiles on faces, and there are lot of people happy out here.”I thought every time we went out we had a more positive attitude towards the game. We probably lacked desire in the first two games whether that was jet lag or whatever, it’s still no excuse playing international cricket and representing your country, your people, your family and yourself. So you shouldn’t have to be up for any contest, it should be automatic. But Pakistan are playing with a lot of confidence at the moment, and playing very good cricket.”

Adam Rossington’s 90 revived Northamptonshire to 259 after a stuttering start on the first day of the warm-up game

Alex Winter in Northampton04-May-2018
Shadab Khan had a successful day•Getty Images

One of Pakistan’s main concerns as they flew to the United Kingdom was how to replace their strike bowler, legspinner Yasir Shah. He was the top wicket-taker in their past two Test series and against England on the previous tour in 2016 but was ruled out of the upcoming Tests with a hip injury. Shadab Khan’s career-best 6 for 77 on the first day of the second tour match at Northampton gave further evidence that the role may be covered.Shadab, just 19 years old, has become a Pakistan prodigy. This is only his ninth first-class match but he already has a Test debut behind him – in Barbados a year ago – having risen to prominence in T20 cricket at the Pakistan Super League and subsequently for the Trinbago Knight Riders and Brisbane Heat.His greatest asset is generating significant turn and on a decent first day Wantage Road pitch, he found plenty of it to plunge Northamptonshire from 104 for 2 to 143 for 6 after lunch before returning to complete just a second first-class five-wicket haul after his 5 for 82 for Pakistan A in 2016.After a series of big-turning legbreaks, two balls that skidded on trapped Richard Levi and Rob Keogh lbw. Rob Newton was caught behind trying to cut a ball not short enough to do so. The most eye-catching of his dismissals, however, was a googly that Josh Cobb simply did not pick, shouldered arms to, and lost his off stump.And after Adam Rossington and Ricardo Vasconcelos compiled a smart stand of 80 for the eighth wicket to revive Northants, a classic legbreak turned sharply inside Vasconcelos’ drive and Rossington was lured down the pitch to be stumped.Pakistan were weighing up whether to include a specialist spinner for the Tests against Ireland and England – where seam-bowling conditions are likely to prevail – but a bowler so alien to UK-based players is a unique weapon and Shadab couldn’t have made a stronger case here.He initially began a little short as Newton and Levi were able to play him off the back foot but in his second over after lunch, he removed Levi to begin a memorable spell and one that could lead to a second Test cap in Malahide next week.Rossington and Vasconcelos – on his Northants debut – were the only batsmen to figure out how to survive against him as Northants – almost certainly – fell short of a par total.Rossington took two calculated risks, skipping down to lift sixes over long-on, but otherwise was content to largely play with the spin to take runs through the covers. He made a spirited fifty in the second innings against Warwickshire in Northants’ previous County Championship match. As he began to pull with authority after passing fifty in 65 balls – there was a notable short-arm jab off Faheem Ashraf – he looked set for a first century of the summer. But he lost his longest partner at a bad time and fell 10 short.Vasconcelos, South African but a Portuguese passport holder, shaped up very smartly on his first appearance for his new club – indeed perhaps an entirely new phase of his career. He was organised in defence, played with confidence to turn runs square of the wicket but undid his graft until that point with a lavish cover drive.Earlier, Pakistan’s seamers were a touch inconsistent. Rahat Ali picked up the opening wicket of the day with a ball that nipped back to trap Ben Duckett lbw. His second wicket was Steven Crook caught at third man top-edging a cut. Fellow left-armer Mohammad Amir, back in the UK after his stint with Essex last season, was used in short bursts without success and Mohammad Abbas, signed by Leicestershire this summer, beat Newton regularly but also went wicketless, leaving Shadab to ensure a good first day for the tourists.

The Australia batsman indicated that “training hard” will be a key to his return to the team’s white-ball ranks

Daniel Brettig18-Jun-2018Usman Khawaja was “extremely disappointed” there was no room for him in Australia’s limited-overs set-up despite unavailability of Steven Smith and David Warner, and has indicated that “training hard” will be a key to his return to the team’s white-ball ranks.Despite an outstanding recent record in domestic cricket and a handful of useful displays in sporadic ODI opportunities for Australia, there was no room for Khawaja in the first squad to tour under the coaching of Justin Langer. This has meant greater first-up opportunities for the likes of Shaun Marsh, D’Arcy Short and Travis Head.Khawaja was hesitant to give away too much detail about his omission – after previously being castigated by the selection chairman for his comments – but strongly indicated his disappointment at the decision. “I was extremely disappointed in all honesty,” he told RSN Radio. “I’ve had a lot of chats to the selectors and a couple to JL about it. I was a bit disappointed but some things you can’t control, so hopefully I’ll get a chance over the next year.”I scored a lot of runs in one-day cricket for the last five or six years, especially in domestic cricket, even when I’ve been away, a couple of Aussie A tours, so I’m not sure there is a lot more that I can do other than keep trying to score runs and hopefully I get a chance.”At the moment, I just assume they didn’t want me in the team because they just didn’t want me in the team. There’s not much other than that like … my record in one-day cricket is better than my red-ball record funnily enough and my Big Bash record … sometimes things just don’t align.”I’ve had some really good chats with JL, he’s been really clear about everything, and hopefully if I put my head down, keep training hard, doing all the right things that at some stage if an opportunity comes up then I’m still quite in line, talking to him and talking around. I think the door’s still there, I’ve just got to put my head down and hopefully an opportunity will present itself.”Last year Khawaja had ruffled plenty of feathers by saying that selection policy for Asian Tests, namely his omission from the batting order on the 2017 India tour, had caused “a lot of instability in the team”. He subsequently criticised the media for reporting these comments, in a radio interview with the ABC’s Jim Maxwell. In recent times Khawaja has done little other than to indicate how hard he has been working, posting Instagram videos of interval training before his departure to play county cricket for Glamorgan.Usman Khawaja plays a fine reverse sweep•Getty Images

The past Ashes summer took a considerable physical and mental toll on the Australian side, something that contributed to the environment in which Warner and Cameron Bancroft chose to tamper with the ball using a foreign object while staring at a Test match and series defeat to South Africa in Cape Town. Khawaja said the international treadmill was more draining than many realised.”I found it really draining to be honest after the Ashes, I know a few of the other guys did too,” he sad. “I was really tired. It didn’t hit me until it was all finished and I was like ‘oh boy’ it’s all caught up to me. Going over to South Africa I just knew what I had to do was give it all for another four or five weeks and I’d have a break somewhat. But the amount of cricket we played last year leading into that last series in South Africa, I think I was just pretty tired from that in general and that’s why I had two months off where I wasn’t hitting balls, working on fitness and that sort of stuff, but staying away from the game.”Langer has emphasised a higher level of fitness with the object of having physically and mentally durable players, and Khawaja highlighted some of the things that take a toll.”It’s more about the mind, you just don’t switch off. I don’t think people realise that when you’re playing cricket and away on the tour – even in the middle of a Test series, you play a five Test series and go for about two months – and you just do not switch off the whole time because you’re thinking about the next game, the next innings, what you’ve got to do to prepare. It’s one of those things where it’s sapping after a while. Four and five-day cricket is as tough as it gets.”People don’t realise that we get up early in the morning, if the game’s starting at 10, we’re up by 6.30-7, we’re at the ground about an hour and a half, two hours before the game starts, the game finishes at 5 but sometimes can go to 5.30 or 6, we’re in the changerooms until 7 o’clock, so we’re spending a lot of time at the ground. Those five days, it just feels like literally living in the ground and then it’s very hard to switch off because you’re always thinking about what to do next and how you can do better and everything that goes with it. After a big series it really is quite draining, let alone one Test match.”Despite his absence from the England ODI squad, Khawaja said he was hopeful of an opportunity, and expressed a preference for opening the batting in limited-overs formats. “In white-ball stuff I’ve always opened and I love opening, getting out there amongst it at the start, while the fielders are up I can really take on the game and I really enjoy playing that role,” he said.”In four-day and Test match cricket I prefer to be up in the top order somewhere, I’ve always preferred to bat at three. I batted four last week [for Glamorgan] and it was actually nice to sit down there and just relax and not have to worry about being next in, which was a little bit different, but I think I prefer to be in the top four, where I’ve always batted my whole life.”