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Middlesex have signed Junaid Khan as their latest overseas player

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2015Middlesex have signed Junaid Khan as their latest overseas player. The Pakistan left-armer will be available to play in the Royal London Cup as well as the Championship, if required.Junaid replaces Joe Burns, who was brought in after Adam Voges, initially signed as captain, was selected in Australia’s Ashes squad. Junaid has previously played county cricket with Lancashire, for whom he took 31 T20 wickets at 14.58 during two spells between 2011 and 2014. His first game for Middlesex could come against Lancashire at Blackpool on Wednesday.Junaid has not played since Pakistan’s defeat to Sri Lanka in the Colombo Test last month. A regular in the side since his debut in 2011, he has struggled since returning from a knee injury sustained in late 2014.”We are delighted to have got a bowler of Junaid’s quality at such short notice,” Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said. “I would like to than the Pakistan Cricket Board for their help in getting this deal through. With over 80 international appearances and over 150 international wickets he will bring variety, experience and further quality to our bowling attack.”His time with Lancashire means he has experience of English conditions. His presence will ease the workload on our main seamers too.”

Batsman Tom Cooper has been added to the Netherlands squad for the the World T20 in India, which starts from March 8

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Feb-2016Batsman Tom Cooper has been added to the Netherlands squad for the the World T20 in India, which starts from March 8. Cooper, who last played an international match for Netherlands in 2014 during the previous World T20, replaced 18-year old Sikander Zulfiqar who had made his T20I debut against UAE earlier this month. Zulfiqar, however, will be part of the squad as a reserve player to gain exposure at the international level.Cooper brings with him the experience of 92 T20s, having recently played for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League. Cooper had also turned in impressive performances in the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh, tallying 231 runs in seven matches at an average of 57.75 and strike rate of 137.50. He eventually finished as the second-highest run-getter in the tournament, but hasn’t played for Netherlands since then.

Netherlands squad for World T20

Wesley Barresi, Logan van Beek, Peter Borren, Mudassar Bukhari, Tom Cooper, Ben Cooper, Timm van der Gugten, Vivian Kingma, Ahsan Malik, Paul van Meekeren, Roelof van der Merwe, Stephan Myburgh, Max O’Dowd, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Sikander Zulfiqar

Cooper had not been available for selection at the moment of the ICC deadline, but the squads can be altered up to February 29, and even after that in case of injuries. Anton Roux, the coach, welcomed back Cooper’s “experience”, as did Chairman of Selectors Jeroen Smits.”Tom’s availability certainly adds some more spice to our team,” Roux said. “His Dutch cricket family will welcome him back with open arms, and are looking forward to having massive fun playing together with the men in Orange.””Tom Cooper was part of the hugely successful 2014 World T20 team that progressed to the Super 10 phase as only Associate Member nation, so the current team will certainly benefit from Cooper’s inclusion and experience,” Smits said.Netherlands are placed in Group A of the first round with Bangladesh, Oman, and Ireland and will play one match with each team, in Dharamsala. Their tournament opener is against Bangladesh on March 9. Only if they finish on top of the group will they move on to the main tournament.

Santner is expected to join the squad over the weekend after spending time with his family following the birth of his first child

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2022Quick bowler Blair Tickner has been added to the New Zealand squad for the home T20I triangular series with Pakistan and Bangladesh as cover. Tickner’s addition was necessitated by the absence of Mitchell Santner, NZC said.Santner will be joining the squad late – most likely by the weekend – after being away with his family following the birth of his first child last week. Santner’s absence from New Zealand’s first game of the tri-series – against Pakistan on Saturday – have left New Zealand with just the lone specialist spin option in Ish Sodhi, though Kane Williamson can turn to Michael Bracewell’s part-time offspin if needed too.Related

• Christchurch brings back nostalgic charm of triangular series

Of the 16 players now part of the set-up for the triangular series [including Santner], Tickner is the only one who is not part of the main squad named the T20 World Cup that starts later this month in Australia. New Zealand have stocked their squad with seamers: Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee and Adam Milne are the frontline quicks, with James Neesham as a seam-bowling allrounder.Tickner was part of the New Zealand squad that toured Europe in the summer, taking seven wickets in three T20Is against Ireland and Netherlands. Earlier this year, he also received his maiden NZC central contract.The T20I triangular series kicks off with the two touring teams – Pakistan and Bangladesh – facing off on Friday. The three sides will play each other twice each in the round-robin stage before the final, scheduled for October 14. All the matches will be played in Christchurch.NZ squad for tri-series: Martin Guptill, Finn Allen, Kane Williamson (capt), Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne, Blair Tickner

The SLC board has suspended work on indoor nets at Khettarama, Pallekele and Dambulla stadiums, citing the previous board’s failure to obtain government approval

Andrew Fidel Fernando24-Jan-2016The recently elected Sri Lanka Cricket board has suspended work on indoor nets at the Khettarama, Pallekele and Dambulla stadiums, citing the previous board’s failure to obtain government approval for the projects.That claim has since been strongly disputed, however, by former SLC head Sidath Wettimuny, under whose leadership construction had begun.The new board, headed by Thilanga Sumathipala, said in a release that it had decided to “re-assess the projects based on the high cost in construction (Rs.248 million or approx. USD $1.72 million) and the space allocation at the respective venues”. It also said SLC would get “the proper approvals from the relevant authorities” and would request a new proposal from the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau, before deciding on a course of action “which should not be too much of a strain for the finances of SLC”.The suspension drew the ire of Wettimuny, whose interim committee had made the indoor nets a priority of their nine-month tenure. He said space had been made in the board budget for the construction of the nets, and that permission had been sought – and in most cases – received.”I am totally disappointed that such a project has been stopped,” he told . “These are projects which the cricket committee came up with, because we felt it was vital for the overall plan in developing our cricket, and to bring in the youth to train and develop in these areas. It is a huge blow for cricket.”Wettimuny conceded SLC had not received Colombo Municipal Council permission for the Khettarama nets, despite having applied for it. But neither was SLC’s application rejected – the Council, he said, simply did not respond. Applications to previous renovations to the stadium had similarly been ignored by the council, but those projects had gone ahead anyway, in 2010 and 2006, he said.According to Wettimuny, work at Pallekele and Dambulla had received full approval, however. “Pallekele belongs to the Board of Investment (BOI) and we have got BOI approval. It was on a BOI project that the stadium was built – even the BOI board guys came to the foundation ceremony.”Dambulla we had to get permission from the chief monk who owns the land. We obtained permission from him and he was even invited for the opening ceremony. He gave a speech saying that after so many years some good has been done for this area where thousands of children will benefit because they don’t have any place to go and hire and practice.”The sports minister himself came for both opening ceremonies at Pallekele and Dambulla and said virtually the same thing.”Several cricketers have advocated for the development of indoor facilities at the Khettarama ground in particular. Sri Lanka’s major cricket academies are run at that venue, but teams – including touring international sides – must travel to indoor nets at Nondescripts Cricket Club, when the weather is bad.

The captain says players are showing a willingness to learn in a bid to turn around their ODI fortunes

Deivarayan Muthu21-Jul-20223:21

Pooran: ‘The obvious goal is to bat 50 overs’

West Indies’ white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran has called for greater fight and game awareness from his players, irrespective of the conditions, after they were recently swept 3-0 by Bangladesh at the Providence.”As a group we felt like in international cricket 9.30 [am] games, you can’t control certain things. For us I felt the biggest learning is believe that we can fight – doesn’t matter the conditions,” Pooran said on the eve of the ODI series opener against India.”We need to assess as players really quickly and understand that if it’s difficult for us, it’s difficult for the opposition as well. For us as a batting group, we need to hang in there as long as possible in tough conditions and tough times and believe that whatever we got is respectable and gives us a chance in the game.”That’s the most we can ask of ourselves. I think Guyana was challenging for us, but we still learnt a lot being there as a group, coming from Pakistan as well, then into the Bangladesh series…the results wasn’t in our favour, but as a new group this is our challenge.”Related

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The challenge will only get stiffer against India although the visitors are missing several of their frontline players, but Pooran embraced it and lauded his team for their willingness to learn from the errors made against Bangladesh.”As I always tell the guys, no story ever starts well and it has started so for us in ODI cricket,” he said. “But I believe in the guys and believe in the talent that we have here and willingness of the guys to learn. Everyone wants to get better; everyone is asking questions. Everyone is asking how to get better and that’s something I admire from the guys so far coming from the Bangladesh series. We’re just looking forward to some things going our way because the guys have been putting in a lot of work and we’re looking forward to this India series to correct some rights and wrongs.”The forthcoming series against India is not part of the Super League, and West Indies have lurched from one defeat to another in ODI cricket of late, but Pooran insisted that they aren’t lacking any motivation to turn things around.2:14

Simmons: We need to win for the Caribbean people

“I think all the players are motivated and everyone wants to do well, which is really fantastic to see,” he said. “I don’t have to do too much to be honest. We just need to have really good conversation and believe in each other and continue to back our skills. I think the guys are gelling really well at the moment.”Pooran echoed head coach Phil Simmons’ comments in saying West Indies’ first goal in ODI cricket is to find a way to bat out 50 overs. He also wanted to hold his judgement on the batters and see how they fare on a Port-of-Spain pitch that is likely to be conducive to run-scoring.”Not only from my side but from a coaching side as well, our focus it to balance ODI cricket between T20 cricket and Test cricket,” Pooran said. “I think we haven’t found the right template yet and everyone can see that. We’re not batting 50 overs and that’s the first box we want to tick.”At the moment, when you ask me what brand of cricket we want to play in ODI cricket it’s difficult to say yet. For example, if you want to play aggressive cricket, it’s difficult to play aggressive cricket in tough conditions. So, for us, it’s all about finding ways to bat 50 overs – it doesn’t matter how we bat 50 overs – but I believe conditions do play a part in how we play our cricket.”For us, it’s ticking one box at a time and one step at a time. I believe that in T20 cricket we’re starting to know what kind of cricket we want to play; in Test cricket same thing, but the more games we play as an ODI unit I think we’re going to get better and a lot of the guys are going to have more games under their belt and they can have more experience and confidence as well. It will be nice if I can answer this question maybe after the New Zealand series, going by conditions and how guys react to certain situations as well.”Hetmyer working on fitness
Batter Shimron Hetmyer has linked up with the West Indies squad in Port-of-Spain, but Pooran made it clear that he isn’t available for selection for the ODI series. He is currently working with the coaching staff on his fitness, having missed out on West Indies’ recent squads on those grounds. Hetmyer last played international cricket for West Indies in November 2021.”Obviously, would love for him to be in this ODI series, but obviously he’s been doing a lot of work on his fitness and he has been putting in a lot of work,” Pooran said. “He wants to play for West Indies; the trainers and the coaches are working with him, so expect him to play sooner or later. I think he has a fitness test to pass shortly and so he’s preparing for that.”

Ashleigh Gardner a big gainer across all three charts after key contributions in both Australia’s games so far

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Aug-2022Smriti Mandhana’s unbeaten 42-ball 63 against Pakistan in the Commonwealth Games has taken her one spot up to third in the women’s T20I rankings for batters.Mandhana’s power-packed half-century helped her go past Sophie Devine into the top three, and within two rating points of Beth Mooney, who is placed second. Meg Lanningis top of the pile.Related

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Mandhana has been No. 3 on the T20I batters’ list previously as well – first in 2019 and more recently in October last year.The rankings were updated after six T20Is at the Commonwealth Games. Suzie Bates, on the back of her 91 not out off 64 balls against South Africa, jumped two slots, leapfrogging Alyssa Healy and Chamari Athapaththu to move to sixth place.Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored a half-century in the CWG opener against Australia, moved four places to 14th position.Ashleigh Gardner, the Australia allrounder, was one of the biggest gainers, moving in all three T20I lists. Her match-winning 52 not out in the opening game against India propelled her five places to 11th on the batters’ list. She then shone with the ball against Barbados, returning 2 for 6 in a crushing nine-wicket win that saw her jump from 45th to 26th on the bowlers’ list. Gardner also moved to a career-best third on the allrounders’ rankings – a jump of four places.On the bowlers’ table, Jess Jonassen, who returned 4 for 22 against India, moved up two spots to fourth position, with Sophie Ecclestone still in the lead.Megan Schutt and Amelia Kerr have moved up one spot each to seventh and eighth respectively. Hayley Matthews is the lone new face in the top ten of the bowlers’ rankings, replacing Ayabonga Khaka.

PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan has said the Pakistan team had the “worst fitness levels” in the world, and hinted at changes after the ongoing Bangladesh tour

Umar Farooq in Mirpur07-May-2015PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan has said the Pakistan team had the “worst fitness levels” in the world, and that only Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan meet the minimum standard in the country. He added that there will not be any immediate remedial steps as fitness culture has to be developed over time.”None of our first-class teams measure up to the minimum domestic standard of fitness, which makes it difficult to select a national team. These things have to be addressed over time, and it cannot be done overnight. Our fitness levels are not up to the international standards. We have to take drastic steps now because we don’t have a culture of fitness and this has to be installed.”After landing in Dhaka on Wednesday, he gave a 10-minute speech to the Pakistan team, hinting at changes after the ongoing series against Bangladesh, and was also critical of their performance so far in the local media.”I have come here to witness the last Test and give my support personally to the team,” he said. “There is disappointment at the result of this tour but I was not surprised because Bangladesh have shown steady improvement over the last few years and cannot be taken lightly anymore.”There are concerns back home with regard to Pakistan’s performance, and I will talk to the coaches, manager and captain to find out the reasons for our unsuccessful tour. But I am not here to take immediate action. We have decided that we will sit down and assess the situation after the tour to see what is to be done with the team and the strategy.”Shaharyar was particularly disappointed with the gulf in the levels of fitness between Pakistan and the other teams. “I think the problem is very deep, our fitness levels are very poor. We are only at grade 10 while teams like Australia and South Africa are at grade 14. You can see the difference in Bangladesh [too], they are fit. Our minimum level of fitness is only met by Misbah and Younis. None of the others meet this level, which is unacceptable.”Pakistan have had a disastrous tour. They were blanked 3-0 in the ODIs and slipped from No. 7 in the rankings to No. 9. Improvement will be necessary to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017. Then they lost the T20 and were on the receiving end of a record-breaking batting performance from Bangladesh in the first Test.”We are not pressing the panic button just yet,” Shaharyar said. “We have lost here and lost it badly, but to a very good Bangladesh team. They are doing very well and playing with a lot of spirit as was evident from the way they recovered from a 300-run deficit in the previous Test in Khulna.”But we will abide by our earlier decision and assess what changes are to be made, both in the short run and the long term. A short-run alteration would mean changing the captain and the selection committee, but I don’t think that is the answer. Tinkering with the team will not make much of a difference. We are looking at remedial actions that will address the issues in the long run.”Shaharyar further said that both Pakistan and Bangladesh are determined to improve their ties in future. “We had a problem in the past as they were supposed to come to Pakistan in 2012 but they had their reasons,” he said. “We want to continue building ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh regularly. I know BCB want to reciprocate by coming to us later on, after two years, but meanwhile they are sending the women’s team and we are happy with that”

Scottish board currently without a chair amid criticism of its response to racism report

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2023Cricket Scotland has announced the appointment of Pete Fitzboyden as interim chief executive. Fitzboyden joins on a six-month contract and replaces Gordon Arthur with immediate effect, after Arthur announced his intention to step down earlier this year.Fitzboyden is a former chief executive of London Sport, and has served in similar interim roles at Badminton England and Cycling UK. His most recent role was as a consultant working on governance standards for the Rugby Football Union.His arrival comes at a time of upheaval at Cricket Scotland, which was last year placed into special measures after a damning report into racism. The board is currently without a chair, following Anjan Luthra’s resignation after just six months in the role, and there has been criticism on both sides over plans to increase diversity in the Scottish game.”I am delighted to be joining Cricket Scotland during this important time for the sport,” Fitzboyden said.”There remains a great deal of work to be done to build on the progress to date and deliver on our commitments to anti-racism and EDI within the sport, whilst continuing to rebuild trust within the Scottish cricketing community. I am also keen to support the ongoing enhancement of Cricket Scotland as an organisation, to ensure it flourishes for years to come.”We are about to begin an exciting domestic cricket season, while our men’s and women’s national squads have crucial World Cup qualifying campaigns on the horizon. It promises to be an extremely busy summer, and I am really looking forward to getting out and about around the country to meet people from all communities who share my love of cricket.”Cricket Scotland has also brought in Kash Taank as its head of EDI, and Declan Ritchie as conduct in sport manager. The governing body said it is close to appointing a head of “Changing the Boundaries”, in a specialised role named after the racism report published in 2022.The process of hiring a permanent chief executive will begin during the summer, with a view to filling the role by December 1, 2023.

Harry Podmore claimed four wickets on his first County Championship appearance for Middlesex as Somerset were bowled out for 236 on the opening day of the match at Taunton

ECB Reporters Network10-Jul-2016
ScorecardChris Rogers overcame the threat of a lush, green pitch with a fluent fifty•Getty Images

Harry Podmore claimed four wickets on his first County Championship appearance for Middlesex as Somerset were bowled out for 236 on the opening day of the match at Taunton.Having made a late decision to switch from a dry looking strip to a very green one, the hosts were indebted to Chris Rogers, Jim Allenby and Marcus Trescothick for securing a bonus point in testing conditions.Podmore, James Harris and James Fuller profited from excellent seam bowling conditions after the visitors had not surprisingly elected to field.By the close of a rain-affected day, Middlesex had replied with 51 for 1 from 16 overs, losing Sam Robson lbw to the second ball of the innings from Craig Overton. Nick Gubbins was unbeaten on 31.Explaining the late change of pitch, Rogers said: “We were caught off guard because we didn’t know Tim Murtagh was unavailable for Middlesex. That being the case we felt our best chance of winning was to back our seam attack against their inexperienced one.”Middlesex bowled not so well in the morning session, but very well after lunch. We were poor when we bowled at them and I expect us to be a lot better and more patient in the morning. We have played on so many flat pitches that our bowlers probably got excited. But I still feel the change of pitch was a gamble worth taking and that we are in a decent position.”Graham Cowdrey, the Cricket Liaison Officer at the game, said: “At this stage the umpires have found no problem with the pitch and it is Somerset’s call which pitch they play on.”Somerset had put only six runs on the board when Johann Myburgh edged Fuller through to wicketkeeper John Simpson and departed for a duck.But Rogers and Trescothick then produced the most positive strokeplay of the day, punishing anything loose in their second-wicket stand of 71.Trescothick looked at his imperious best as his first eight scoring strokes brought boundaries before he got an inside edge onto his stumps to give Harris his first wicket.The Middlesex bowlers failed to make the most of the conditions in the morning session. James Hildreth hit a six over backward point off Fuller before being adjudged lbw for 19 to a delivery from the same bowler.Rogers moved to an attractive half-century off 68 balls, with ten fours, and was still there at lunch, with his side 125 for 3 off 27 overs.Soon after the interval came the first rain break, with 30 minutes lost. When play resumed Middlesex bowled a better line and length, reaping reward with four wickets.Rogers was caught by the diving Simpson leg-glancing a ball from Podmore, who had played in the competition only while on loan to Glamorgan earlier in the season.He followed up by having Peter Trego caught behind for 4 off a full, swinging delivery. And it was 154 for 6 when Craig Overton fell for a duck, chasing a wide one from Harris and offering Simpson his fourth catch.Alex Barrow contributed 10 before being caught at second slip by Ollie Rayner off Harris and when rain forced an early tea Somerset were 184 for 7.The final session saw 27 runs added before Jamie Overton was caught at first slip aiming a full-blooded drive at Podmore. The players followed him off as rain brought a third interruption.All the time Allenby had been compiling a valuable knock, riding his luck at times and surviving a tough one-handed chance to Rayner at slip off Podmore when on 35.He had battled away for 115 balls when finally getting one with his name on it, edging Podmore behind to give Simpson a fifth victim. Rayner then took a fine diving slip catch to dismiss Jack Leach for 12 as Fuller took a deserved third wicket.

Hardik Pandya, who recently led Gujarat Titans to the IPL title, will be the vice-captain

Hemant Brar08-Jun-20220:49

Rishabh Pant on the added pressures captaincy will bring: ‘I’ll take it on the chin’

KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav have been ruled out of the five-match T20I series against South Africa because of injuries. While Rahul, who was named captain of the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma, has picked up a right groin injury, Kuldeep was hit in his right hand while batting in the nets at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, where the first game will be played on Thursday.In Rahul’s absence, Rishabh Pant, the designated vice-captain, will lead the side, and Hardik Pandya, who recently led debutants Gujarat Titans to the IPL 2022 title, will be the vice-captain.