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Wicketkeeper-batsman Ashish Bagai will lead Canada for their last two matches of the World Cricket League Championships against Netherlands

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Aug-2013Wicketkeeper-batsman Ashish Bagai will lead Canada for their last two matches of the World Cricket League Championships against Netherlands. Bagai was recalled to the squad in May this year, after spending some time away from the game pursuing an academic degree.The two matches will be held in King City on August 27 and 28. While Canada, who are placed last on the table with three points, will look to salvage some pride, Netherlands will look to strengthen their case for direct qualification into the 2015 World Cup. The top two teams in the WCL Championship gain direct entry into the World Cup and Ireland have already sealed their place with an unassailable lead. Netherlands, second on the table with 15 points, will look to win both matches to open up a lead ahead of Scotland and Afghanistan, who are also on 15 points. Teams that finish between the third and seventh places will play a second qualifying tournament in 2014The two teams will also play their final league match of the Intercontinental Cup on August 22-25. Canada are placed last with 23 points in six matches, while Netherlands are second from last with 36 points from six matches. Canada’s squad for the Intercontinental Cup match will be led by Amarbir Hansra.Squads for the WCL Championship games
Canada Ashish Bagai (capt), Harvir Baidwan, Damodar Daesrath, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Amarbir Hansra, Kenneth Kamyuka, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Salman Nazar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Raza Rehman, Junaid SiddiquiNetherlands Peter Borren (capt), Wesley Barresi, Mudassar Bukhari, Daan Van Bunge, Ben Cooper, Tim Gruijters, Timm Van Der Gugten, Ahsan Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Michael Rippon, Edgar Schiferli, Pieter Seelaar, Michael Swart, Eric SzwarczynskiSquads for the Intercontinental Cup match
Canada Amarbir Hansra (capt), Ashish Bagai, Harvir Baidwan, Damodar Daesrath, Jeremy Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Nitish Kumar, Usman Limbada, Salman Nazar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Cecil Pervez, Raza Rehman, Junaid SiddiquiNetherlands Peter Borren (capt), Wesley Barresi, Mudassar Bukhari, Daan Van Bunge, Tim Gruijters, Tom Heggelman, Vivian Kingma, Ahsan Malik, Paul Van Meekeren, Stephan Myburgh, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Michael Swart, Eric Szwarczynski

Tamim Iqbal has submitted a letter to the BPL governing council, asking their assistance to clear the rest of his payments from Duronto Rajshahi

Mohammad Isam23-Sep-2013Tamim Iqbal has submitted a letter to the BPL governing council, asking their assistance to clear the rest of his payments from Duronto Rajshahi. So far he has been paid 50 percent of his total amount for BPL 2013, and the franchise owner last month said that Tamim would not be paid anymore because he left during the Twenty20 tournament without prior notice.Tamim heard from his Rajshahi teammates that some of them have been paid a 25 percent installment recently. As a result of this new information and the statement made by Mushfiqur Rahman, the Rajshahi franchise’s owner, Tamim wrote the letter addressed to BPL chairman Afzalur Rahman Sinha on Sunday.Tamim confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he has sent the letter, and was expecting an outcome. “I have said it at the time, and I will say it again, I didn’t leave the team* without seeking permission. I told every relevant person at the time,” he told ESPNcricinfo.In the letter, Tamim mentioned that he played 10 out of the team’s 13 matches. He missed the three matches due to a left wrist injury, but he would not mind if he is not paid for those missed games. He would like to be paid the rest of the amount for the 10 matches in which he appeared.Ahead of Rajshahi’s game against the Rangpur Riders, the BCB had requested the franchise to rest Tamim, as Bangladesh were set to tour Sri Lanka two weeks later. He didn’t play the last two matches, after which he says that he took permission from several people in authoritative positions to leave the team hotel and go to Chittagong to meet his family.Last month however, Mushfiqur told the media that he had asked the board not to pay Tamim. “I have only barred the board from paying Tamim. He did not play some matches due to the board’s request. Also, he went abroad without taking the team management’s permission,” he told reporters on August 30.Tamim rebuffed Mushfiqur’s statement on the same day, saying he talked to everyone in Rajshahi’s management and in the BCB who needed to know, before he left the country.”Immediately after my left wrist was diagnosed with a crack, I informed Mushfiqur and the board president that the BPL is over for me,” Tamim told reporters. “I talked to our coach Khaled Mashud, and later when I went to the Shere Bangla National Stadium, I talked to the team owner once again, telling him that I will leave the team hotel.””I left for Chittagong subsequently, the board president can vouch for me. I went abroad after 4-5 days. BCB’s medical staff has all the written records. That injury prevented me from playing the Galle Test in March. I cannot understand why he [Mushfiqur] has said this.”Meanwhile, Tamim’s teammate Ziaur Rahman has made a similar claim, after he was told by his franchise that he would not receive his full amount.”I am absolutely fine if I am not paid for the matches that I missed due to injury but they still owe me money,” Ziaur told . “They bought me for $137,000 at the auction. I have received 50 percent of it and now they are asking me to compromise $37,000. They said it is because I couldn’t perform [according to their expectations].””I am sorry for [not meeting their expectations] but this is not professional at all. I was a contracted cricketer of that team and my performance should have no effect on the remuneration. Even the contract doesn’t say so.”* 13:11 GMT – Tamim Iqbal’s quote was changed

Wise heads around these parts do not give Durham better than an outside chance in the Championship this season, arguing that for all the strength of their seam bowling resources they have a brittle quality to their batting line-up that too often lets them

Jon Culley at Chester-le-Street12-May-2015
ScorecardMark Wood completed a fine match with 66 in Durham’s chase•Getty Images

Wise heads around these parts do not give Durham better than an outside chance in the Championship this season, arguing that for all the strength of their seam bowling resources they have a brittle quality to their batting line-up that too often lets them down.It therefore came as something of a surprise to them when what appeared to be a testing challenge to score the largest total of the match to record a third win in four matches proved to be a relative breeze. Faced with chasing 261 to win on a pitch that had been difficult to bat on for everyone bar Riki Wessels, even their captain, Paul Collingwood, had his doubts. “We’ll set out to be positive but it will be difficult,” he had said on the second evening. “It is probably going to need something special from someone.”Maybe it did, in a way. Half-centuries from Keaton Jennings, Scott Borthwick and Michael Richardson, three of those batsmen under critical scrutiny, eased them home with the best part of four sessions to space, but only after Mark Wood, newly elevated to international status as a bowler and capable but not renowned for his prowess with bat in hand, had delivered a masterclass in the nightwatchman’s art, and a little more.Wood’s job initially had been to mind one end on Monday evening as Durham sought to avoid the early loss of Mark Stoneman triggering one of the wicket clusters that had undermined them in their first innings as the ball seamed and swung.But having done that, he began to unveil a few shots and there were moments during his partnership with Jennings as it evolved during the morning session when it was hard to tell which of them was supposed to feel out of place. Wood hit nine fours and pulled Samit Patel’s left-arm spin for six, not every shot going in the direction he intended but with enough authentic strokes to demonstrate that he is no rabbit. He outstayed Jennings, who was well caught at gully off Luke Wood, and had set a new career high of 66 before Harry Gurney eventually located his off stump.It was Wood’s second half-century, beating his 58 not out, also made against Nottinghamshire, in 2013. It is an oddity of Wood’s career to date that he has played against Nottinghamshire more than any other county and always been successful. In four matches he has taken 21 wickets and scored 240 runs.”It was a big partnership,” Jennings said afterwards. “If we’d lost wickets and they’d got off to a good start, the pressure would have been on but Woody took all pressure off me and the other betters and the partnership held us in good stead, Badge (Scott Borthwick) and Richo to play beautiful knocks.”Not losing wickets here at the Riverside creates pressure on the bowlers. They try to get you out and then things happen.”It left Nottinghamshire feeling somewhat dismayed. Still searching for a first win of the season, they can already see their title prospects receding, even with a squad on paper a match for most of the contenders.Two of their seamers were inexperienced, in 19-year-old Luke Wood and 22-year-old Brett Hutton, with only a handful of first-class matches between them, but director of cricket Mick Newell would not fall back on that as an excuse.”I thought they were our best bowlers in both innings,” he said. “But if you have a lead of 82 on first innings on this ground and lose the game you have played pretty poorly.”There was still a bit in the pitch in terms of seam movement but we didn’t swing the ball. We bowled a bit too short, a slightly shorter length than you need to bowl at Durham. It is not a difficult pitch to bowl on if you bowl well.”It is important now that we get a win quickly. People keep telling me what a great squad we’ve got but we have to win games. We have a very strong batting unit but we are still trying to find the right balance in the bowling attack that is going to get us 20 wickets.”

Zimbabwe’s cricketers were given a guarantee of $12,500 each by the Pakistan Cricket Board before they agreed to tour that country for a historic series last month, ESPNcricinfo has learned

Firdose Moonda03-Jun-2015Zimbabwe’s cricketers were given a guarantee of US$12,500 each by the Pakistan Cricket Board before they agreed to tour that country for a historic series last month, ESPNcricinfo has learned. The tour, the first by a Full Member team since March 2009, went ahead despite advice to the contrary from the Zimbabwe government’s Sports and Recreation Committee (SRC).The individual payments were part of the US$500,000 the PCB is understood to have paid Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) before the tour. The PCB has not commented on the issue of any financial payments to ZC or the players.The amount paid to the individual players is substantially more than nationally contracted Zimbabwean cricketers’ monthly salaries, which are US$6,500 a month at their maximum and comes with the players still waiting to be paid their World Cup fees.The PCB initially offered Zimbabwe’s players US$10,000 each, which a significant number of players felt was too little given the safety concerns. That was the reason behind ZC issuing a press release on May 14, eight days before the first match, confirming the suspension of the tour on the instructions of the SRC. Less than half an hour later, ZC recanted and said discussions were ongoing between the PCB and ZC. Insiders have revealed this was when the PCB upped their offer to Zimbabwe’s cricketers, offering to pay those that were still wary even more money to make the trip.An agreement was reached on US$12,500 although one source believes some players may have still negotiated more money. The money is understood to have been paid in two amounts, the first on arrival and the second at the conclusion of the series, which could explain why Zimbabwe stayed on despite a suicide attack during their second ODI.ZC is also believed to have benefitted financially from agreeing to be the first Test-playing team to tour Pakistan since 2009. One source revealed that Ozias Bvute, the former managing director of ZC, played a role in securing the deals even though he resigned from his post in July 2012. His resignation followed his implication in the mismanagement of an ICC loan to ZC but he remained an advisor to the board.Bvute traveled with the Zimbabwe team as the head of their delegation, and ZC chairman Wilson Manase said his role was because of his experience in the country. “Because of the terrain, I had to look back at the people we have in the administration who have the experience and I realised that Ozias Bvute has been to Pakistan before,” Manase told . “Bvute was the most suitable candidate…We need someone like him who can understand what to do, what to say to the players among other things.”The Zimbabwean team’s experience in Pakistan was described by several players in favourable terms. Sikandar Raza tweeted that Zimbabwe were”welcomed with open arms, smiles and love,” while Craig Ervine said he was “loving the passion for cricket in Pakistan,” and thanked the PCB for the “hospitality and security over this tour.”Over 3,500 security officials were deployed to look after the Zimbabwe team, whose only movement in Lahore was between the hotel and the Gaddafi stadium. They were due to go shopping the day before their final ODI but the trip was cancelled after the suicide attack.

Nitin Patel, the physiotherapist of the India team, resigned during the IPL citing personal reasons

Amol Karhadkar26-May-2015Besides finalising the new coach of the India team, the BCCI will also have to search for a new chief physiotherapist after Nitin Patel resigned from the post.Patel is understood to have put in his papers during the IPL, citing personal reasons. Though the resignation has not been formally accepted yet, a BCCI insider revealed that Patel had “made up his mind since he wants to spare more time at home”.Patel has been one of the longest-serving support staff members of the national team. Ever since being roped in midway through India’s tour to England in 2007, after John Gloster had been injured, Patel has emerged as one of the key backroom staff for India.For the last couple of years, Patel had been touring with the India team primarily for limited-overs series and used to look after the rehabilitation of BCCI-contracted players at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. He had been instrumental in relocating the injury rehabilitation centre from Bangalore to the Sri Ramachandra Medical College campus in Chennai last year. Besides helping in healing player injuries, Patel also developed the modules for the BCCI’s physiotherapy training courses.

Sri Lanka felt their commanding lead of 376 should provide a straightforward victory, but a combination of the pitch flattening out, an inexperienced spin bowler and Younis Khan pulled the rug from under their feet

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Pallekele07-Jul-2015Sri Lanka did not imagine they could lose the match at lunch on day four, Angelo Mathews admitted after Pakistan strode to a seven-wicket win in Pallekele, to complete a 2-1 series victory. Mathews had been instrumental in Sri Lanka’s third-innings 313, which set up a lead of 376. However, Pakistan chased down this target with ease, inside four sessions of batting.Sri Lanka’s seamers had claimed two early wickets in the Pakistan chase, but could not separate Younis Khan and Shan Masood for 66.4 overs, during which the pair added 242. Offspinner Tharindu Kaushal’s waywardness fetched him figures of 1 for 153 from 31 overs.”I actually thought after we made 376 that we were sitting pretty,” Mathews said. “This will definitely take a lot of time to digest, this defeat. We never expected this sort of performance from our team as well as the Pakistanis. We obviously played three seamers because there was a little grass in the pitch and we had to go with three [of them]. But then on the fourth and fifth day in Sri Lanka, you can’t expect a lot of help from the wicket for the seamers. Unfortunately, Tharindu Kaushal didn’t bowl that well and we couldn’t put the pressure on them. We fought really hard to get to 376 and we never thought we would lose from there.”Pakistan, having made only 215 in the first innings, made the game’s highest total of 382 in their chase. Mathews said the pitch had flattened out by the fourth and fifth day, but added that his attack’s indiscipline remained a key cause for the loss.”The ball didn’t turn that much in the last couple of days,” Mathews said. “It turned a little bit in patches. It turned in the third session yesterday and then settled down. In the first couple of sessions of their innings, it barely turned. For the seamers, there was no hope at all. They bowled their hearts out. Hats off to them, they’ve been brilliant throughout the series. I thought Dhammika Prasad was brilliant, as were Nuwan Pradeep and Suranga Lakmal. Even Dushmantha Chameera was excellent in the last game. I thought there was no help from the wicket.”But you can’t really blame that when you’ve got 376 to get them all out. Kaushal has played a lot of matches in A team cricket, which is why we chose him. But we need to think about the pressure of being the only spinner. He’s not an experienced Test bowler.”In the fourth innings, Sri Lanka appeared to miss the control usually provided by Rangana Herath, who was dropped from the side for the first time since 2010. Herath had taken only two wickets in three innings in the first two Tests and Mathews described his omission as a ‘tactical decision’.”It was a tough call to leave him out and it was just a tactical decision because he is our No. 1 bowler. Unfortunately, we had to leave him out because they [Pakistan] were playing Rangana really well in the first couple of matches and Kaushal was troubling them in the second Test. We thought that’s the way to go in this particular Test. Rangana is our top spinner still.”The third Test also marked the return of two older batsmen for Sri Lanka. Upul Tharanga returned to the Test side after almost a year’s hiatus, and Jehan Mubarak played his first Test since 2007. While neither of them managed a substantial score, Mathews suggested they had both done enough to retain their place in the side.”Upul and Jehan are older cricketers with a bit of experience. Even if they haven’t played many Tests, they have played a lot of domestic cricket. In the second innings they dealt with the pressure they [Pakistan] put us under well. They didn’t go past 50, but the partnerships they put up helped us get to 376. Both of them are playing a Test after a long time. They gave their best to the team according to the context of the game.”Lahiru Thirimanne, meanwhile, had a wretched series with the bat. He had a high-score of 44 not out from six innings at an average of 18.”It does happen as a cricketer. You do run into poor form,” Mathews said. “We are backing Thirimanne because we know that he is a very good player. We can’t really expect the guys to be Kumar Sangakkaras and Mahela Jayawardenes right now because the guys are still finding their way in Test cricket. A lot of them haven’t played much Test cricket. When a batsman is having a rough time you’ve got to deal with it carefully. You can’t blame it on him. But I think he will definitely take responsibility in the future.”Over 15 years we’ve seen Mahela and Kumar play, but we can’t measure the young players on their scale. In the past years, if one misses out, the other scores a hundred most of the time. We have to be patient with this side. We’re all learning.”

Sri Lanka coach Marvan Atapattu said Lasith Malinga’s lack of penetration, and the bowlers’ failure to execute plans has paved their path to decline, though the plans themselves remain robust

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo23-Jul-2015Sri Lanka coach Marvan Atapattu said Lasith Malinga’s lack of penetration, and the bowlers’ failure to execute plans has paved their path to decline, though the plans themselves remain robust.Sri Lanka had run hot in the first six months of 2014, winning all of their limited-overs tournaments, including an Asia Cup, a World T20 and an ODI series in England. However, they have been much poorer since January this year, losing bilateral series against New Zealand and now Pakistan, in addition to losing a quarter-final at the World Cup.

‘Shehzad played exceptionally’ – Azhar

Pakistan captain Azhar Ali lauded the consistency of his batsmen, as they chased down 252 with ease, to win their first ODI series in Sri Lanka since 2006. Pakistan’s top order has made runs all through the series. On Wednesday, Ahmed Shehzad hit 95 and Mohammad Hafeez scored 70.
“Shehzad played exceptionally,” Azhar said. “He played very positively and put the bad balls away. When Hafeez came, he played a crucial knock as they were putting a lot of pressure on us. He played like a senior player would play. We had a 100-run stand between them.”
Pakistan’s batsmen have also scored quickly throughout the series, notching run rates higher than six in each of the last two innings. “Once you have confidence that all the batsmen are in good form, you suddenly have a leverage to play fluently and take a few risks as well.”
The victory had been set up by Pakistan’s bowling, which has consistently been menacing through the tour. “When we got wickets we knew they lack a little bit of experience after Mathews – they didn’t have a lot of in form batsmen,” Azhar said. “When the wickets did come we knew that we can keep them to about 250 or 260.”

The team’s strategy has been brought into question through their limited-overs forays in 2015, as they have persisted with a substantial number of allrounders instead of fielding specialist bowlers. In this series, Pakistan’s bowlers have claimed 33 wickets to the Sri Lanka attack’s 15. Malinga, meanwhile, averages 37.50 this year.”I don’t think there’s a hell of a lot of issues with our planning and what we want to do with the ball,” Atapattu said. “Executing under pressure is something that concerns us. Plus we have played on good wickets. We’ve played on really good tracks starting in January this year when we started playing New Zealand in New Zealand.”We got six wickets in Kandy, but we haven’t got the wickets quite regularly as you would expect from Lasith Malinga. That’s something that we have missed. That’s one of the reasons we’ve lost the series.”Sri Lanka hit 252 for 9 batting first in the fourth ODI, but the ease with which Pakistan chased this total down suggested the target was at least 20 runs light. Atapattu said the absence of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara had left a considerable void in the side, but urged the young batsmen to begin converting their chances.”A lot of the batsmen getting starts and not going on to get a big score on basically flat wickets is disappointing. Most of them got starts and we needed a big one off one of them to get a big score or chase a big score. We got one when Kusal Perera got a 50 off 17 balls in Kandy. We haven’t had that frequently, and that is something people have to be responsible at the top of the order.”The exit of the two senior players has not just impacted the team’s batting, Atapattu said. “Missing two knowledgeable experienced players like that is going to be a bit difficult at the start, but life goes on. The young players have to take responsibility. Their capabilities and their thinking only surfaces when players like Mahela and Sanga leave. It’s a learning curve in terms of tactics and so on, but they are the ones who have to take Sri Lankan cricket forward. “Fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep bowled only 2.2 overs on Wednesday, before leaving the field with a hamstring complaint. He will be assessed before the team can decides on whether to draft another player into the squad, Atapattu said.

England clawed their way back into the ODI series against Australia with a 93-run victory at Old Trafford

The Report by George Dobell at Old Trafford08-Sep-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details1:41

Taylor ton sets up England win

England clawed their way back into the ODI series against Australia with a 93-run victory at Old Trafford.A maiden international century from Man of the Match James Taylor provided the bedrock of England’s total of 300, before their spinners went to work on a dry surface, claiming 5 for 73 between them in 20 overs. Moeen Ali finished with career-best ODI figures while Adil Rashid has never bowled better in an England shirt.It was England’s first win in eight ODIs against Australia and only their second in 13. It means the sides go to Headingley with the series poised at 2-1 with two to play.There are, as ever, some caveats. It was an important toss that England won, with the pitch turning considerably by the end, while Australia were missing seven of the XI that played in the World Cup final a few months ago and are very much a team in transition. But, with a couple of obvious additions – David Warner and James Faulkner in particular – it may not be far from the side that represents them in the 2019 World Cup. Both these teams are in a redevelopment phase.Australia will also reflect that they had opportunities to bowl England out far more cheaply. Eoin Morgan was missed – a relatively simple stumping chance to Matthew Wade off the impressive debutant Ashton Agar – when he had 15 and Taylor would have been given out leg before off Glenn Maxwell for 41 had Australia utilised their DRS referral.It was, in some ways, a slightly old-fashioned performance from England. Taylor, demonstrating the leadership qualities that saw him promoted to the vice-captaincy for this game, faced 47 dot balls in his innings and only managed one boundary in his first 50 runs.But, while he never threatened to score at a run a ball and never threatened to be pretty, he manoeuvred the ball well, scampered 47 singles and, even when his colleagues failed and the innings faltered, kept his head and ensured his side posted a competitive total. It was, for its unruffled calm, its maturity and its judgement, almost Jonathan Trott-esque.James Taylor celebrates his maiden ODI hundred•Getty Images

And, if the total was a little less than seemed probable at one stage, it still required a record run chase. The highest successful chase in an ODI at Old Trafford is 285, but that was in a 55-over a side game. In a 50-over game, it is 242.Still, when England were 205 for 2 with 17 overs to go, it seemed a score of something approaching 350 was possible. But Australia’s new-look attack bowled with impressive control and maturity and England managed only 100 runs for the loss of six wickets in the final 18 overs of their innings. The ball became much more difficult to time as it aged.Perhaps for that reason, the most fluent batting in either innings came from the opening batsmen, Jason Roy and Aaron Finch. At one stage Roy, mixing touch and power in a manner that speaks volumes for his development as a batsman, took a jaded-looking Mitchell Starc for four boundaries in five balls.But batting at the other end appeared far less straightforward. Alex Hales, timing the ball sweetly enough but unable to pierce the field, managed 9 from 31 balls before clipping to midwicket and when Roy was lured down the pitch and drawn into a miscued drive, it seemed England’s momentum would falter.After a torrid start against the hostile Pat Cummins, Morgan helped Taylor add 119 in 18 overs and provide the platform for England’s total. While he looked uncomfortable against Cummins’ short ball – the bowler was clocked at almost 96 mph – he eventually found something approaching fluency.But after he fell, slogging the first ball of a new spell from Maxwell to mid-on, the anticipated acceleration never came. Stokes’ increasingly torturous innings was ended by a top-edged sweep to mid-on, Jonny Bairstow was run out by a brilliant direct hit from Smith, Moeen top-edged an attempted pull and Liam Plunkett was run out after over-committing while backing up to Taylor.While Taylor reached his century in the penultimate over of the innings – fittingly enough, brought up with a scrambled single – it was left to Chris Woakes’ late slogging to help England reach 300.Australia rarely threatened their target. While Finch, recalled after injury, looked in sublime form, Joe Burns horribly mistimed to mid-off and the spinners choked the innings into submission on a surface proving them with plenty of assistance. Smith was brilliantly caught by Steven Finn at midwicket – a full length diving effort – as he attempted to skip down the pitch and flick him through the leg side and Finch, frustrated by Rashid’s turn, control and variations, holed out to long-on.Maxwell flourished briefly but, after two successive reverse-sweeps for four, his attempt at a third resulted only in a top edge to the keeper and George Bailey’s uncomfortable innings ended when he slogged a full toss to deep midwicket.Victory was all but assured by the time Roy, at deep midwicket, appeared to have misjudged a tough chance but then dived backwards to cling on to an outstanding, one-handed, juggling catch.Maybe, in the long term, this is a performance that will confuse the England management. It remains hard to see a place for Taylor in the side once Joe Root returns and the continuing struggles of Stokes with the bat are a concern. But selectors would rather leave out good players than include inadequate ones and, after a couple of chastening defeats, this was a performance that not only kept the series alive, but will encourage a developing side that they are on the right track.

The series against England in the UAE is shaping as the last for Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq

Umar Farooq01-Oct-2015The series against England in the UAE is shaping as the last for Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq. Although he had initially hoped to continue until next year’s tour of England, the forthcoming contest is looking increasingly likely to be the final chapter of an international career which began in 2001.”I have come to a certain stage of my career where I have started considering [retirement],” Misbah, 41, told ESPNcricinfo. “I was thinking that the upcoming India series would be the point when I will decide what to do. But since I don’t see the India series happening so the next one-and-half months will be important. I am giving second thoughts whether I can extend my career until the 2016 England series.”The series against India, scheduled to take place in the UAE at the end of the year, now appears unlikely to happen due to the tense political landscape which would mean an eight-month gap before the series against England next July. Since Misbah has already retired from ODI and T20 cricket he will have little chance for competitive cricket after the Pakistan domestic season concludes in February.”I have been considering so many factors as it’s a very hard decision, in fact one of the toughest ones to take,” Misbah said. “So in the next one-and-half months I will be analysing myself as to how far I can go. I will see how much I can contribute in for the team, I will see if my passion remains the same or I start losing interest in the game. Sometimes it’s not about fitness, it’s about how much interest you have in the game and I don’t want to be a liability. So whatever the decision you will know soon.”For the upcoming series, starting with the first Test in Abu Dhabi on October 13, Misbah said he will be guarding against the team being over confident after they whitewashed England in 2012. Misbah, along with Azhar Ali, Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq, will form the same middle order which featured in that series. He, along with several other Test players, are currently having a conditioning camp at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, while the one-day side is in Zimbabwe, before leaving for the UAE on October 4.”Within our mind we are confident,” Misbah said. “But at the same time creating a perception about our past victory against them by 3-0 doesn’t make any difference. This is fresh series. England are a much-improved side and are coming after playing their best cricket back home. They are a far better side in terms of playing spin and this is the reason I stand guarded against us being over confident.Misbah-ul-Haq is well aware of the different class of spinner England are bring on this tour compared to 2012•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

“Having won 3-0 previously doesn’t mean that they are still a soft target and we can wrap them up easily. No, it’s not that simple. We have to understand that setting the expectation level based on the previous series isn’t a fair call. We simply have to work very hard and play at our full potential to win. I don’t think that previous series victory is going to help us and we don’t need to put undue pressure on us with it. It’s not that we can’t win, but I just want to insist that you can’t ride on the past to make your future.”In 2012, England arrived in the UAE following a lengthy lay-off from Test cricket having not played a match in five months after beating India, at The Oval, in August 2011 to go to No. 1 in the world. But this time they have flown in having won the Ashes less than two months ago, although they only have two two-day warm-up matches before the first Test which Alastair Cook has admitted is not much preparation.While Misbah reiterated his belief that England now play spin better than when they previously faced Pakistan, it did not escape him that their spin bowling resources are significantly ‘weaker’ than in 2012 having lost both Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar.”They are in good form, so are we, but we have to play good cricket,” Misbah said. “There is a difference in their squad as many of their players have started to play the spin very well. They have changed their game, as we have seen they are using their feet and sweeping all over so we have to be on our toes to get their wickets.”Their fast bowling is the same but their spinners are weaker this time in the absence of Swann and Panesar. We have answers to their experienced fast bowlers, we understand we have to work hard to negotiate the new ball and later the reverse swing. Their bowling never gave us the chance to score big runs in 2012, but we have plans this time and in the UAE it’s all about scoring big runs.”In the UAE conditions runs on the board are very important and then the spinners play the vital role. When Australia came we had answers so is it’s the same this time. Australia had Nathan Lyon, England have Moeen but what is important is who is going to bat well in these conditions.”England played their cricket very aggressively against Australia, with none of the five Ashes Test going into the fifth day, but Misbah suggested it will very different in this series.”You can’t just go all out aggressively like the cricket England have been playing back home. It’s different in the UAE. You can’t just be defensive either, though. As I said, you need to have big runs on board and that requires patience as pitches here change their behaviour on a daily basis especially on the fourth and fifth day. So there are a lot of factors that mean you need to have a balanced approach. And that is the key.”

Crowd trouble forced two interruptions in play during the second T20I in Cuttack as India slid towards defeat against South Africa

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-20151:19

‘Not nice for cricket’ – Du Plessis

Crowd trouble forced two interruptions in play during the second T20I at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack as India slid to a six-wicket defeat against South Africa. Play was held up for more than 50 minutes during South Africa’s chase after spectators, largely from one section of the stadium, began throwing plastic bottles onto the field.The first bottle-throwing incident came in the break between innings – India were bowled out for 92, their lowest T20I total at home – and did not interrupt play. The second came after 11 overs of South Africa’s chase and stopped play for 27 minutes. The players remained in the middle through the delay and play resumed at 10pm, with security personnel lining the boundaries. However, a third wave of bottle-throwing two overs later forced them off. Play resumed after a 24-minute hold-up once the police had cleared the section of the crowd causing the disruption.South Africa required another 4.1 overs, which passed without further incident, to complete the chase and seal the series 2-0.The incident is the first case for the BCCI’s new president, Shashank Manohar, to handle and there would be several points of concern for the board in how the situation was dealt with on the spot in Cuttack.The matter did not come up at the post-match presentation ceremony, though both captains were interviewed by the broadcasters and could have been asked for their thoughts on it.The issue was raised at the subsequent press conference, however, and prompted this response from India’s captain MS Dhoni: “Frankly, from a safety point of view, I don’t think there was a very serious threat. A few of the powerful people from the crowd were good enough to throw the bottles inside the rope. So the umpires thought it was better that players go off the field for a while. The reaction of the crowd, you know, we didn’t play well, so at times you get reactions like this. It’s only the first bottle. After that they start throwing for fun. We shouldn’t read too much into it. I still remember we played in Vishakhapatnam once, we won the game very easily, and that time also a lot of bottles were thrown. It starts with the first bottle, and after that, you know, it is more fun for the spectators if they start doing it and following it.”The incident also raises questions about safety precautions at grounds in India, especially for high-profile matches like today’s. The standard procedure is for spectators who buy drinks at the ground to be given their liquid refreshments – whether water or soft drinks – in plastic cups, which cannot be used as missiles. How the spectators could carry bottles to their seats on Monday will be a matter for investigation.Also apparent was the lax security; when the match resumed after the break most of the policemen on the boundary could be seen watching the match rather than facing the crowd, as is standard procedure.