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England are to swap the positions of Joe Denly and Jason Roy in the order for the fourth Test

George Dobell30-Aug-2019Joe Denly is set to open the batting for England in the fourth Test in Manchester. While Denly has opened in first-class cricket just three times in the last four years – two of those occasions coming when he made his Test debut in Antigua earlier this year – he is poised to swap places in England’s Test team with Jason Roy, who is expected to bat at No. 4.Roy has averaged just 8.85 in his four Tests as opener. His one substantial innings, 72 against Ireland, was made when he came in at No. 3.It is likely neither Denly nor Roy relishes the prospect of opening the batting at Test level. Neither fulfil the role at county level – though both have in the not-so-recent past – and stepping up against this Australia attack is fiendishly tough. Indeed, you could argue it’s unreasonable even to ask it of them. You wonder, for example, if Roy’s long-term viability as a Test player has been damaged by the recent experience. It can have done little for his confidence.ALSO READ: Anderson ruled out of Ashes, Craig Overton called upDenly, meanwhile, has made one century at the top of the order in first-class cricket – and that in a Division Two Championship match against Gloucestershire in 2015 – in the last eight years. He hasn’t reached 50 in any of his most recent 14 attempts.You can, to some extent, sympathise with the England selectors. They have tried more than a dozen options at the top of the order over the last few years and could almost be forgiven for reaching the conclusion that the county game simply hasn’t produced any suitable candidates.Almost. For it seems increasingly odd that Dom Sibley remains surplus to requirements by England. He has scored seven first-class centuries in the last 12 months, all of them as an opener, and has many of the old-fashioned skills required for the role. He is patient, he is disciplined and, most of all, he does the job on a regular basis. One hopes he has not missed out due to his aesthetics. He is not a batsman who is especially pleasing on the eye. But nor was Alastair Cook or Gary Kirsten or Graeme Smith. And how England would dearly love a player of such class right now.All of which leaves you wondering if the selectors are not being a little stubborn. Reluctant to admit they were wrong to ask Roy to open – and they were, very clearly, wrong – they are now shuffling their pack in the hope they may chance upon an ace. But there are legitimate concerns over Denly’s suitability to open and Roy’s suitability to bat even as high as No. 4.Perhaps they did not want to make too many changes ahead of such an important game. Such a move could have destabilised the dressing room, it is true – though little more than watching your side bowled out for 67 – and might have also produced a scent of panic for Australia to seize upon. Jos Buttler, now 34 Tests into a career that has produced one century, may count himself especially grateful for that continuity of selection policy. You wonder how many centuries Ollie Pope, for example, may have scored given the same opportunities.With Denly and Roy set the swap positions, it seems the only possible change in the England team might be to see Sam Curran or Craig Overton replace Chris Woakes. While Overton’s bowling average of 42.28 from three Tests is unexceptional, it does not quite reflect the positive impression he made.Not a bad first Test wicket: Craig Overton celebrates removing Steven Smith•Getty Images

In those games, two on the Ashes tour of 2017-18 and one in Auckland shortly afterwards, he proved himself a brave and committed all-round cricketer who would not be overawed by the opposition or the situation. He played on gamely in Australia despite a broken rib – well, until he worsened it with a typically whole-hearted dive on the boundary in Perth – and batted as well as anyone in top-scoring in England’s first innings in Adelaide. He is not swift – he has been timed at 85mph in recent days – but he is tall, he hits the seam and he has good control. He won’t let England down.Whether he plays ahead of Woakes – or any of the other seamers in the event of injury – remains to be seen. Woakes endured an off-colour game in Leeds. His worst, perhaps, since the tour to South Africa in 2015-16. He has not been especially sensitively handed by his captain, however – Joe Root has looked as if he’d rather bowl Ben Stokes or Jofra Archer into the ground than trust Woakes with another spell – and you wonder if that apparent lack of confidence has had a knock-on effect into his performance.Either way, James Anderson’s unavailability – though most unfortunate – does solve one problem for the team management. Had he played, England faced the prospect of a diplodocus length tail featuring Archer at No. 8, Stuart Broad at No. 9 and Jack Leach and Anderson at No. 10 and No. 11. The involvement of Woakes or Overton will stiffen that a little.And what of Anderson? Under normal circumstances, you would presume this is the end of the line for him. He is 37, after all, and has nothing more to prove. This winter’s Test tours are to New Zealand – where he might have been rested, anyway, as the series is not part of the World Test Championship – South Africa, where he had a tough time on England’s last tour four years ago, and Sri Lanka, where he claimed one wicket in England’s 2018-19 Test series victory. The following winter England travel to India. None of those tours offer the prospect of much joy for a seamer of reduced pace and with a lot of miles on the clock.But you don’t earn Anderson’s Test record without possessing remarkable levels of resilience and determination. He has come back from stress fractures, poor tours, being dropped and countless other setbacks. And, while the pace maybe reduced, the skills have continued to mitigate. He really has been bowling as well as ever in recent times. He deserves not to be ruled out of contention just yet.

The visitors put behind the horror Test series to begin the limited-overs leg with a resounding win

The Report by Mohammad Isam22-Jul-2018CWI

A 48-run win in the first ODI took Bangladesh out of the hopeless pit they had dug themselves into during the Test series, and it took the combined effort of four senior players to pull them out.Tamim Iqbal’s 10th ODI hundred and his 207-run stand with Shakib Al Hasan (97), and Mushfiqur Rahim’s end-overs sixes raised their highest total on tour, 279 for 4 in 50 overs, after electing to bat.Mashrafe Mortaza, who nearly didn’t tour because of his ill wife, provided the perfect follow-up, taking four wickets and making a statement with his thunderous leadership to give the visitors some joy four weeks into what has been a horror tour.West Indies were in it till the 35th over, but spectacularly unravelled. Needing 140 from the last 15 overs with six wickets in hand, they eventually finished with 231 for 9, with the last wicket pair of Alzarri Joseph and Devendra Bishoo adding an unbroken half-century stand to delay the inevitable. Shimron Hetmyer’s 52 was the highest of the innings.The turning point was the show by Bangladesh’s seniors. Tamim and Shakib, who promoted himself to No. 3, put together their highest-ever partnership, beating their previous best of 144, achieved against Sri Lanka. This helped Bangladesh set up a strong platform, even if there were times where they could have looked to score a touch faster.From the second over till the 35th, Tamim and Shakib batted at a run rate of 4.7 for 33.3 overs. They took almost seven overs to find the first boundary, but then showed awareness of the conditions to play tactfully. During this period, both Tamim and Shakib reached fifties amid four dropped chances. But after Shakib struck Jason Holder for two fours in the 35th over, Bangladesh went through the next 10 overs without a single boundary.They put together Bangladesh’s only second 200-plus ODI partnership, apart from setting the record highest partnership at the Providence Stadium, against West Indies overall. When Mushfiqur carved three fours and two sixes in his 11-ball 30, it gave the innings the end-overs impetus.The West Indies quicks leaked 53 runs in the last three overs. Andre Russell, playing his first ODI after nearly three years, conceded 31 in two of the last three, while Holder went for 22 in the 49th. West Indies, however, would be disappointed with the five dropped chances: Gayle putting down thrice, Ashley Nurse and Hetmyer put down one each.West Indies’ reply kick-started with Evin Lewis’ pulled six in the third over, but he didn’t last long. Gayle was next to go, left stranded by Hetmyer after an uncharacteristic 40 off 60 balls where he surprisingly wasn’t averse to taking singles and rotating the strike. His knock featured a four and couple of straight sixes, but the Bangladesh bowlers held him back. Gayle also survived a plumb lbw shout as Bangladesh decided not to take the review, which would have ended his innings on 18.Jason Mohammed couldn’t withstand the pressure by spin; he was Mehidy Hasan’s only wicket in his impressive 10 overs. Hetmyer, upon reaching fifty, got caught at cover trying to drive Mustafizur Rahman in the 36th over, before Rovman Powell edged an away-swinger for a first-ball duck. This proved to be the gamechanger.

Bottom-of-the-table Warwickshire turned the Royal London Cup North Group table on its head with a five-wicket win over Yorkshire at Edgbaston

ECB Reporters Network14-May-2017
ScorecardIan Bell’s scoring touch has returned•Getty Images

Bottom-of-the-table Warwickshire turned the Royal London Cup North Group table on its head with a five-wicket win over Yorkshire at Edgbaston.The Bears’ defence of the trophy was already over after six successive defeats while The White Rose went into the match top of the group. Yorkshire will still qualify but have ceded top spot in the group to Worcestershire, who defeated Durham at New Road.They built a meaty total thanks to Joe Root’s stylish 83 and a muscular sixth-wicket stand of 116 in 15.1 overs by Tim Bresnan and Matthew Waite, who struck a a List A-best 71 from 58 balls.Warwickshire’s reply was robustly launched by Jonathan Trott and Sam Hain. And after a wobble induced by spinner Azeem Rafiq, they were steered to victory by a cleanly-hit alliance of 111 in 106 balls between Ian Bell, who made 98 from 85 balls, and Rikki Clarke.Warwickshire spinner Jeetan Patel said: “We have come off a run of a few really bad losses and some that were quite tight but credit to the guys for the way they came out today. Grant Thornton bowled really well which is where we need to get to. We are an ageing teams with a lot of experience but we need to be able to trust the younger guys.”After choosing to bat, Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth to the first ball of the match, from Keith Barker, which he edged to wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose.Jonny Bairstow soon miscued Rikki Clarke to mid-on and Peter Handscomb drove expansively and nicked behind off Barker, who bowled his full stint straight off and was unlucky not to harvest better figures than 10-1-39-2.Root and Gary Ballance added 64 in 14 overs before the latter lifted Grant Thornton to long-leg. Root, looking utterly assured, appeared set for his 11th List A century when he feathered an attempted cut at Clarke to the keeper.That left Yorkshire 149 for 5 but Bresnan and Waite joined forces to exploit a short Hollies Stand-side boundary in a century stand. Considering the shortness of that boundary, for Patel (10-0-32-1) to deliver ten overs without conceding a four or six was a remarkable effort.Still, Bresnan’s ninth one-day half-century and Waite’s first had given Warwickshire a stuff target.Trott and Hain gave the Bears’ reply an excellent base but after Trott sent up a skier off Waite, Rafiq struck three times in quick succession. He bowled Hain and Ambrose in the space of three balls and had Ateeq Javid caught at short fine-leg.But Bell and Clarke halted the clatter and then gradually accelerated, Bell ending the group stage in fine form with scores of 93, 104 and 98.

The BCCI ombudsman, Justice AP Shah, has asked India offspinner Harbhajan Singh to respond to an allegation of conflict of interest related to his links to a sports apparel company that sponsors various state teams in domestic cricket

Nagraj Gollapudi17-Jan-2016The BCCI ombudsman, Justice AP Shah, has asked India offspinner Harbhajan Singh to respond to an allegation of conflict of interest related to his links to a sports apparel company that sponsors various state teams in domestic cricket. On January 16, Justice Shah forwarded a complaint from Mumbai-based activist Niraj Gunde to Harbhajan and asked the player to respond to the allegation by January 30.”It is widely reported that Mr. Harbhajan Singh had started a company by name of Bhajji sports, which is a sports apparel company,” Gunde wrote in an email to Shah on January 14. The same e-mail, accessed by ESPNcricinfo, was copied to BCCI president Shashank Manohar and Ratnakar Shetty, BCCI manager, game development. “Further, news reports have indicated that this Bhajji sports is sponsoring upto 6 Ranji Teams (Member Associations of the BCCI),” Gunde wrote.According Gunde, Harbhajan has specifically violated the sub-clauses C and D dealing with conflict of interest in the three-page document prepared by Manohar, in which the BCCI president listed various guidelines that would help administrators, match officials, players and board staff avoid involvement in conflict of interest.For the current players, Manohar wrote:A. Current Cricketers shall declare the name and details of his/her Player Agent or the Player Management Company.
B. Current Cricketers shall not have any business interest in a Player Management Company.
C. Current Cricketers shall not have any conflict arising with the BCCI sponsors including the apparel sponsor.
D. Current Cricketers shall not accept any Controlling position in any Commercial Organization having a contract with the BCCI or its State Unit.
“It is very clear from the above context, Mr. Harbhajan Singh is conflicted in C & D of the code,” Gunde concluded in his e-mail to Shah.This is the second complaint that the BCCI ombudsman has received over the last week, with the first one raising an allegation of conflict of interest against former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who has been asked to respond by January 28. The complaint against Ganguly, which was also filed by Gunde, alleged the former India captain has a commercial tie-up with the RP Sanjiv Goenka group, which has a stake in the Atletico de Kolkata football club in Indian Super League (ISL) and, in December, secured the rights to run the Pune franchise in the IPL.

Imran Farhat, the Pakistan batsman, has opted out of the tour to Zimbabwe citing personal reasons. He has been replaced by left-hand batsman Shan Masood in the squad for the two Test matches

Umar Farooq13-Aug-2013Imran Farhat, the Pakistan batsman, has opted out of the tour to Zimbabwe citing personal reasons. Farhat informed the national selection committee about his unavailability due to domestic matters that needed his immediate attention, which, ESPNcricinfo understands, relate to his wife’s health issues. He has been replaced by left-hand batsman Shan Masood in the squad for the two Test matches.Farhat, who was one of the five changes in the Test squad for this tour, was not part Pakistan’s original squad during their previous Test series, in South Africa. He was called in for the third Test of that series as a replacement for the injured Taufeeq Umar, and scored 30 and 43. That was his only Test appearance since featuring in the 2010 Test series in England.Masood, 23, made his first-class debut against Hyderabad in 2007 and has played 56 matches for his 3065 runs. The Kuwait-born Masood has been living in Karachi, and plays as an opening batsman for Habib Bank along with Farhat. He narrowly missed a double-century in his last first-class match, scoring 199, which is his best score in the long format. In the previous two seasons, he scored 846 runs at 33.84 and 1123 at 41.59.A five-day training camp has started at the NCA with only bowlers appearing for the conditioning training sessions. The Pakistan limited-overs squad will depart for Zimbabwe on August 19.

Bangladesh kept themselves in the running for a spot in the final of the Zimbabwe tri-series, just, with a six-wicket win over Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club

Liam Brickhill21-Jun-2012
ScorecardHamilton Masakadza made his fourth consecutive score over 50, but it wasn’t enough for Zimbabwe•AFP

Bangladesh kept themselves in the running for a spot in the final of the Zimbabwe tri-series, just, with a six-wicket win over Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club. Nasir Hossain held Bangladesh’s pursuit of 150 together, responding to Hamilton Masakadza’s half-century with an unbeaten 41 to guide his side home with 15 balls to spare. The real credit for the win must go to Bangladesh’s bowlers, however, as they scuppered Zimbabwe’s charge at the death of their innings to keep the target within reach.An aggressive start from Zimbabwe’s batsmen had put the home side in a position to reach at least 160 after Brendan Taylor won his third toss in a row and, once again, decided to bat first. Zimbabwe were well-placed at 125 for 3 at the end of the 16th over, with two set batsmen at the crease before Bangladesh clawed their way back into the game.Left-arm spinner Elias Sunny provided the breakthrough by having Stuart Matsikenyeri caught at long on for an industrious 27, and from that point onwards wickets fell regularly. The complexion of the match changed completely as Mashrafe Mortaza returned to have Masakadza caught behind, heaving at a slower ball, for 56. In the same over Elton Chigumbura’s run out reduced Zimbabwe to 132 for 6 before Prosper Utseya was undone by an Abul Hasan slower ball and Graeme Cremer sliced an attempted slog to be caught in the deep off Mortaza, who was named Man of the Match for his efforts.Zimbabwe’s stumble, during which they lost five wickets for just 31 runs in the last five overs of their innings, gave Bangladesh a gettable target at which to aim and their openers, Tamim Iqbal and Mohammad Ashraful, launched the chase with gusto. Taylor opened the bowling with Prosper Utseya, the offspinner promptly being despatched for two crisp boundaries in his first five balls. Chris Mpofu’s first over went for 15, and Bangladesh were flying at 25 without loss.Bangladesh then suffered a stutter, courtesy some needlessly reckless batting from Ashraful, who was bowled attempting a paddle, and some equally casual running from Tamim. Graeme Cremer had Anamul Haque caught behind in his first over to reduce Bangladesh to a wobbly 52 for 3 in the seventh over, but Nasir Hossain then joined captain Mushfiqur Rahim in the middle and the pair set about repairing the innings.Theirs was a watchful partnership, and apart from Mushfiqur’s solitary six, their entire stand of 47 was made up of scampered ones and twos. Zimbabwe’s hopes will have been briefly raised when a superb pick-up and throw from Vusi Sibanda had Mushfiqur run out for 31, but Hossain and Mahmudullah closed out the match in a flurry of boundaries. They put on an unbeaten 54 at almost 13-runs an over to keep Bangladesh’s hopes alive in this series.Earlier, Masakadza had once again provided the backbone of Zimbabwe’s innings and his extraordinary run of form has now extended to a century and three fifties in his last four innings.
After Masakadza lost his opening partner, Vusi Sibanda, to a run out, a partnership of 48 in 32 deliveries with his captain Taylor helped Zimbabwe to weather the early breakthrough and briefly keep the ascendancy. Taylor contributed watchful 38s in Zimbabwe’s previous two wins, holding the middle order together, but with his side seemingly assured of a place in Sunday’s final he chose to take the attack to the bowlers.Taylor raced to 27 from just 12 balls but then played one shot too many, a top-edged hoick ending up in Mahmudullah’s hands at deep midwicket. Taylor’s dismissal meant that Zimbabwe’s middle order, which hasn’t really been tested yet in this series, were offered the chance for some time in the middle. Craig Ervine couldn’t make anything of the opportunity, however, as his dreadful run with the bat continued when he played outside the line of a Mahmudullah straight-break to depart for a golden duck.While Masakadza remained Zimbabwe still looked like passing 160, and he was cheered to a 47-ball fifty in the 15th over. The crowds attending the matches at Harare Sports Club have swelled as Zimbabwe racked up consecutive wins, and a particularly noisy rabble around Castle Corner kept warm on a wintry afternoon with choruses of exuberant and vocal support.
Once Masakadza was prised out by Mortaza, however, they had much less cause to celebrate.

Opener Sam Robson celebrated his first County Championship outing of the season by batting throughout the day to score 136 as Middlesex reached 316 for 6 in their duel against Essex at Chelmsford

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2011
ScorecardOpener Sam Robson celebrated his first County Championship outing of the season by batting throughout the day to score 136 as Middlesex reached 316 for 6 in their duel against Essex at Chelmsford.The 21-year-old right-hander was brought into the side in the absence of Andrew Strauss, who will be away on England duty on Thursday, and the out-of-form Scott Newman. And he showed his appreciation by once again underlining his liking for the Essex attack, his only other Championship century coming when the sides met at Lord’s two years ago.Robson has so far punctuated his innings with 14 boundaries and kept a cool head when Graham Napier was threatening to destroy the innings. Fresh from his record-breaking 16 sixes in the last match against Surrey, the Essex seamer showed he could also be a destructive force with the ball when he returned for a second spell with Middlesex situated on 82 for one.In the space of 13 deliveries he removed Dan Housego, Dawid Malan and Neil Dexter without conceding a run. But then Robson, who had earlier shared in a half-century opening stand with Chris Rogers – who was to become a victim of Ravi Bopara when he chopped on – was to find a reliable partner in Jamie Dalrymple.They won back the initiative with a partnership of 103 in 29 overs, which finally came to an end when Napier returned for another spell. Napier found enough bounce and hostility to have Dalrymple caught in the slips by Matt Walker to end an entertaining contribution of 52 which contained seven fours and a six and arrived from 81 deliveries.But any hopes Essex might have entertained of making further quick inroads into the innings were thwarted by another century partnership, this time John Simpson providing Robson with support. The pair rarely suffered a moment of anxiety while putting on 122 in 36 overs and it needed the arrival of the second new ball to separate them.Again it was the impressive Napier who made the breakthrough when he breached the defences of Simpson after he had made 65, with eight boundaries. Napier finished the day with the magnificent figures of 5 for 43 from 20 overs, in complete contrast to 17-year-old Reece Topley who finished wicketless after spending the early part of the morning sitting his Business Studies examination at Royal Hospital School in Holbrook, Suffolk.The exam lasted for two hours before he was picked up by his father at 10am and arrived at the ground only minutes before taking the new ball. He has so far sent down 16 overs while conceding 80 runs – and is no doubt feeling that his exam was far easier than his attempts to remove Middlesex batsmen.

Half-centuries from Alex Hales and Samit Patel eclipsed a brilliant hundred from Wes Durston as the Nottinghamshire romped past Derbyshire by five wickets with three overs to spare

11-Jun-2010

ScorecardHalf-centuries from Alex Hales and Samit Patel eclipsed a brilliant hundred from Wes Durston as the Nottinghamshire romped past Derbyshire by five wickets with three overs to spare. Durston hit 111 off 59 balls, with seven sixes and 11 fours for the first century of this season’s Friends Provident t20, as the Trent Bridge visitors amassed an intimidating 192 for six.But Hales smashed 69 from just 25 balls – including three sixes and 11 fours – in partnership with Ali Brown as Nottinghamshire raced to 99 off the first seven overs of their reply before both batsmen fell in consecutive overs. Patel ensured there was no chance of the momentum being lost with a classy innings containing seven fours and three more sixes and was there at the close to complete the victory, finishing on 62 not out.Former Somerset batsman Durston had earned himself a short-term contract with Derbyshire after a terrific hundred for the Unicorns against Sussex in the Clydesdale Bank 40 earlier in the season and the 29-year-old demonstrated all his talents in commendable style.In partnership with South African Loots Bosman, who made 39, Durston got the visitors off to a great start before Bosman was bowled by Steven Mullaney in the eighth over to break the partnership. While the home bowlers kept a tight rein on the other Derbyshire batsmen, Durston continued to find the boundary at will, including a reverse-swept six off Patel before being run out in the 18th over.Despite being asked to chase down their sixth highest total in Twenty20, Notts openers Hales and Brown blitzed the powerplay overs with a stunning display of hitting. Hales, 21, dominated the strike and brought up his fifty with a pulled six off Garry Park in the fifth over off his 16th delivery – the fifth fastest Twenty20 half-century ever – to set the platform for the win.He was eventually bowled by Robin Peterson but Patel showed plenty of class to hit the Derbyshire spinners repeatedly into the gaps over cover, finishing proceedings by taking 15 off the third over from seamer Steffan Jones – who conceded 53 in three overs.

No head of the committee has been named but it now means that since August 2021, Pakistan have used 26 different selectors

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2024The PCB has reconstituted its selection committee again, the latest on the day of another home Test thumping, this time at the hands of England. Shortly after England completed an ultimately comfortable innings win in Multan, the PCB announced Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, and Azhar Ali as the new members of the panel, joining Asad Shafiq, the analyst Hassan Cheema, and the captain and the coach, who were already part of the committee.All seven members will have a vote on selection. In addition, there are four non-voting members in Azhar Mahmood (the assistant coach), Bilal Afzal (an advisor to the PCB chairman), Nadeem Khan (director – high performance) and Usman Wahla (director – international cricket).The additions came ten days after Mohammad Yousuf’s resignation from the panel. No head of the committee has been named but it now means that since August 2021, Pakistan have used 26 different selectors.The appointments came within an hour of Pakistan’s innings-and-47-run defeat, becoming the first team in Test history to lose a Test by an innings after scoring over 550 in the first attempt. It was Pakistan’s third Test loss at home in a row and their seventh in their last nine home Tests.The immediate task for the new committee will be to pick a squad for the second Test, also in Multan, which starts next Tuesday – the PCB had only announced a squad for the first Test. The members met at the PCB’s National Cricket Academy in Lahore on Friday afternoon, and will travel to Multan on Saturday to meet the head curator, captain Shan Masood and head coach Jason Gillespie, after which they will finalise the squad.Changes are likely with the performances of four to five players under the scanner. And despite scoring a hundred in the first innings, Masood’s captaincy is likely to be a subject of discussion given his longer run of indifferent form and a record that now reads zero wins and six successive losses. Pakistan have now slipped to the bottom of the WTC points table with only 16 points from eight games.When asked at the post-match presentation in Multan if Pakistan could see some new faces for the second Test, Masood said, “Look, we’re in the middle of the series. We’ve talked about a squad mentality. We’ve talked about consistency. Where I’d like the team to improve is no matter what the pitch is like, we must find a way out. And England showed us the way in this Test match, you have to give huge credit to them.”The selection panel had been restructured only earlier this year – with no chief selector – under PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, but has since seen Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq sacked after Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup in June, without any replacements named. Yousuf’s resignation at the end of last month also did not lead to a replacement immediately, which left Shafiq as the only voting member outside of the captains and coaches.Dar’s appointment is bound to attract attention, given how rare it is for umpires to become selectors. Though he stepped down from the ICC’s elite panel last year, he has continued to umpire domestically and in home internationals. He announced recently, however, that this season would be his last as a professional umpire.

While they often played in tandem during the 2019 World Cup cycle, India have tended to use only one at a time in the lead-up to 2023

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jul-2023Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal. For years their names were always part of the same sentences. Between Kuldeep’s ODI debut in June 2017 and the end of the 2019 World Cup, India played 63 ODIs with either one of them in their XI, 34 with both, and none with neither.Since the 2019 World Cup, though, India have become reluctant to use their wristspinners in tandem. While they’ve fielded either Kuldeep or Chahal in 51 ODIs, they’ve unleashed both of them only three times, and picked neither of them on four occasions.Related

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It’s been a challenging situation, but their relationship, according to Kuldeep, hasn’t suffered for it.”We’re very relaxed,” he said after picking up 4 for 6 in the first ODI against West Indies in Bridgetown on Thursday. “We know the combination matters a lot. Sometimes he plays, sometimes I play, and our understanding is very good. We’re very normal.”He helps me a lot when I play, he tells me what I can do, what I can change. He always wants me to do well. When he plays I do the same thing, so that when he plays he performs well for the team. Maybe this is why the Kul-Cha partnership has worked so well over the years. We support and back each other.”Kuldeep has impressive records in all three formats, but such is India’s depth of spin resources that he’s sat out 184 of their 302 matches since his international debut. He says he understands the situation and is used to dealing with it.”You often have to sit outside because of the situation or the combination,” he said. “It’s become a normal thing. I’ve been playing cricket for such a long time – it’s been six, six-and-a-half years [since my debut] and a lot of things have become normal.”I pay more attention to the work I need to put in, and my bowling, [so that I can perform] whenever I get a chance. I’m very relaxed when I don’t play, because there’s no pressure of performing on the ground. When you play there’s pressure, but at the same time it’s the pressure of doing well. You’re playing for a big team, you’re playing for India, you have so many people watching you, following you, so you want to perform at your best.”