Joe Root leads calls for more sympathetic fixture list after players voice physical wellbeing fears

Vithushan Ehantharajah06-May-2024Joe Root says that a greater focus on player welfare amid an ever more congested fixture list is a “non-negotiable”, after a survey by the Professional Cricketers’ Association revealed a startling 81 per cent of county cricketers have been left fearing for their physical health due to their season-long workloads.The survey, which was conducted in pre-season with all 18 counties, has led the PCA to brand the current playing schedule “not fit for purpose”, in particular due to stark issues around matchday travel that have led to calls for an urgent rethink by the ECB and county chiefs to “pre-empt disaster”.More than eight out of 10 county cricketers admitted they were concerned for their well-being as the result of a packed season, while as many as 76 per cent revealed safety concerns around travelling to and from fixtures during the season, notably during the Vitality Blast when teams finish late and play the next day. This year will see 55 back-to-back T20s, an increase from 34 last year.Perhaps the starkest example is Gloucestershire, who play T20s against Glamorgan in Cardiff on June 20, before returning to Bristol the very next day to host Somerset. They then start a four-day match against Yorkshire at Scarborough after a one-day break on June 23.Related

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While teams usually travel by bus, issues arise when players drive themselves home, often in the early hours of the morning. The PCA revealed they had to intervene when they discovered one county used minibuses driven by players last season. It is understood the county has stopped that practice.”Back-to-back games have gone up considerably, and are only looked at through a commercial lens,” Daryl Mitchell, the PCA chief operating officer, said. “We understand that, but there needs to be a balance.”Over 10 per cent of our membership accessed our mental health services last year. It’s difficult to get away from the pressure of professional but I think the relentless schedule is a factor.”There’s reports of players who have got off the team bus, driven home and forgotten how they got there, almost on autopilot. Switching off while driving has an element of danger. We want to pre-empt it before anything disastrous happens.”Our CEO, Rob [Lynch] is worried about getting the call in the early hours of the morning when someone has driven off the M1. That scares us. Seventy-six per cent of players have concerns about safety when travelling, which is a high number.”In addition to calling for a minimum standard of three days between four-day matches and at least one rest day between T20s, 66 per cent of those surveyed believe the current schedule is not conducive to high performance.That sentiment was echoed by Root, who believes change will bring about “long-lasting benefits for English cricket”. Though protected from the schedule as a centrally contracted England cricketer, Root is playing five matches for Yorkshire in the County Championship.Joe Root, pictured with Harry Brook, has been back in action for Yorkshire this season•Getty Images

“I am fortunate to play a significant part of the season for Yorkshire this year and looking at the fixture list from a physical, wellbeing and high-performance angle does cause me concern,” Root said.”County cricket is the breeding ground for some of the best talent in the game and this requires world leading structures to allow players to reach their full potential. This is a benefit for everybody in the game.”Having space to recover, prepare and improve your game during the season is crucial and the creation of minimum standards to protect travel windows and player welfare is non-negotiable.”The PCA’s findings and call for action come at a pivotal time in English cricket, with the County Partnership Agreement – the agreement binding the ECB, PCA and counties – up for renewal. This week will also likely see the counties and MCC agree on the ECB’s proposals around private investment in the Hundred which could raise around £500 million for the domestic game. All of which leads into the next broadcast cycle, which begins in 2025.The Hundred remains the elephant in the room as far as fixture congestion is concerned, particularly with the Blast. This year’s eight-team competition has ring-fenced July and the first three weeks of August, with no Blast fixtures and just three days of Championship cricket scheduled in this period.While appreciating the value the Hundred and the importance of matchday revenues for clubs at a precarious time for county finances, Mitchell has called on chiefs and stakeholders to collaborate more around their decision-making. A more altruistic approach is required to ensure players, and by extension, the game, are better protected moving forward.”The power constitutionally is with the county chairs. But from our side it needs a really joined-up approach. Our focus is player safety, physical or mental wellbeing. It needs to be collaborative between the ECB, PCA and the counties to come up with solutions.”We saw with the High Performance Review, if you look at the structure from one particular lens without the others, that makes it very tricky to get anything over the line. It has to be joined up.”We could very easily put out a structure that the players think is ideal, but players also understand the need for the commercial side of the game, the passionate members we have in this country, who are the lifeblood of the counties, who are represented by their chairs. All these stakeholders need to have that approach. We need a collaborative solution to some of the problems we’ve got.In a statement released in response to the PCA’s survey, the ECB said: “As the PCA recognises, the men’s domestic schedule is a complex issue. The players have an important voice in discussions around this, and we are committed to working with them and the First Class Counties to discuss the best ways of overcoming some of the challenges.”

“It was a lovely ovation for him today. We certainly felt his presence with us”

Andrew Miller10-May-2024Gareth Roderick said that he felt the spirit of Josh Baker spurring him on during his first-day hundred against Kent at Canterbury, in Worcestershire’s return to cricket after the tragic death of their team-mate, at the age of just 20, last week.Roderick, who opened the batting and made 117 out of Worcestershire’s close-of-play total of 308 for 5, marked the moment of his century with a tap of Baker’s squad number, 33, that has been embroidered onto the team’s shirts for the rest of the season, and a glance to the heavens before saluting the 1000-strong crowd that had gathered at the St Lawrence Ground on the warmest day of the season so far.With the flags above the Frank Woolley Pavilion flying at half-mast, the two teams had lined up on the boundary’s edge before the start of play for a moment of reflection and a minute’s applause, a gesture which Roderick admitted had affected him deeply as he walked out to begin his innings.Related

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“It’s been a very emotional day,” he said at the close. “Obviously the boys are devastated at what’s happened, but we’ve pulled together as a group and that was a lovely ovation for him today in his memory. I think it affected the boys quite deeply and we’re quite moved. We certainly felt his presence with us today.”If I’m being brutally honest, the round of applause had a profound effect on me. I didn’t think it would, maybe naively, but I certainly felt him with me today and I thought about him a lot while we were batting out there. I think the boys can all feel him sitting on our shoulders up in the dressing-room.”Worcestershire have not yet confirmed the circumstances of Baker’s death, which occurred at his flat just hours after he had taken three wickets in a second XI fixture against Somerset at Bromsgrove School, a fixture that was subsequently abandoned on the final afternoon.Worcestershire did not play in last week’s round of County Championship fixtures, but when the grieving players returned to training on Tuesday, five days after the incident, they were subjected to a scheduled round of spot testing by Ukad, the national anti-doping authorities – a development that was unrelated to Baker’s death and was denounced as “at best insensitive and at worst incompetent” by the CEO of the Professional Cricketers’ Association.Roderick, however, channelled all the agonies of the week into a doughty innings of 281 balls and five fours, which was built around two key stands of 136 with Kashif Ali and 102 with Adam Hose, and only ended deep into the evening session when Joey Evison plucked out his off stump.”I was very, very disappointed to get out at the end but it was a nice wicket to bat on, with not a huge amount of pace on it. At times it was tough to score, it was very true, but once you get in on that, you can actually kick on.”We talked about in the morning, sometimes things are a bit bigger than cricket, a bit more important,” Roderick said. “Some guys like the distraction of being able to put their mind elsewhere, other guys like to stay away to digest it individually and come to terms with what’s happened.”But today was just about making sure we pulled together as a unit and remembered him. And that’s what we did. We carried him with us today, and thankfully we put together a decent day.”

Both teams are playing their first T20 World Cup, in a match that has plenty of sub-plots to look forward to if the rain stays away in Dallas

Hemant Brar01-Jun-2024

Match details

United States of America vs Canada
Dallas, 7.30pm local

Big picture – USA start as favourites

In a way, it’s fitting that cricket’s oldest international rivalry will kick off its biggest World Cup, comprising 20 teams. Long before Australia and England played the first-ever Test in 1877, USA and Canada locked horns in a three-day game in 1844. In that match in New York, Canada came out on top by 23 runs.One-hundred-and-eighty years later, the same two teams will come face to face in the T20 World Cup 2024 opener in Dallas. Coincidentally, it is the first T20 World Cup for both sides. USA qualified by virtue of being the co-hosts and Canada by winning the Americas Qualifier.Related

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Saturday’s game will be the first T20I at the Grand Prairie Stadium. But there is hardly any buzz in Dallas, which means the 7000-seater may not be packed to capacity. Moreover, a thunderstorm could play spoilsport, as it did during the warm-ups for both sides at this very venue.Nevertheless, USA will be the favourites on Saturday. While they have played only seven T20Is since the 2022 T20 World Cup – all in the last two months – that was enough to show their pedigree. They first beat Canada 4-0 before stunning Bangladesh 2-1, both times playing at home.If the rain stays away, Corey Anderson, the former New Zealand allrounder who now plays for USA, will become the fifth player to represent two teams at the T20 World Cup. Former India Under-19 World Cup winner Harmeet Singh, once touted as the next Bishan Bedi, is also expected to play a key role with bat and ball.In left-arm seamer Kaleem Sana, Canada have got someone who once dismissed Babar Azam in a first-class game in Pakistan. They also have 37-year-old Jeremy Gordon, one of the fastest bowlers in associate cricket.Among other sub-plots, Canada coach Pubudu Dassanayake was previously with USA in the same role, and batting-allrounder Nitish Kumar, who now plays for USA, was with Canada till 2019.

Form guide

United States of America LWWWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Canada LLLLW

In the spotlight – Corey Anderson and Aaron Johnson

Corey Anderson made his T20I debut for USA in April. He started with scores of 28 and 55, but at the same time, he looked a bit rusty. In five T20Is he has played for USA till now, he has struck at 112.30. Once upon a time, he held the record for the fastest ODI hundred. Can he turn the clock back to those days?Originally from Jamaica, Aaron Johnson is a powerful opening batter who loves playing no-look shots. The 33-year-old made his T20I debut for Canada in 2022. In 16 games so far, he has scored 713 runs at an average of 50.92 and a strike rate of 166.58. He has five fifties, two hundreds and 48 sixes in the format.Aaron Johnson has five fifties and two hundreds in 16 T20I innings•Getty Images

Team news

In Steven Taylor, Monank Patel and Andries Gous, USA have a solid top order. Ali Khan and Saurabh Netravalkar will lead the pace unit. Harmeet, their main spinner, can also provide late-order hitting.United States of America (probable XI): 1 Steven Taylor, 2 Monank Patel (capt, wk), 3 Andries Gous, 4 Aaron Jones, 5 Nitish Kumar, 6 Corey Anderson, 7 Harmeet Singh, 8 Shadley van Schalkwyk, 9 Jasdeep Singh, 10 Ali Khan, 11 Saurabh NetravalkarCanada will rely a lot on their bowlers. Apart from Gordon and Sana, they have Dilon Heyliger in the pace attack. Captain Saad Bin Zafar and Nikhil Dutta know how to keep batters quiet with their spin variations.Canada (probable XI): 1 Aaron Johnson, 2 Navneet Dhaliwal, 3 Rayyan Pathan, 4 Nicholas Kirton, 5 Pargat Singh, 6 Shreyas Movva (wk), 7 Saad Bin Zafar (capt), 8 Nikhil Dutta, 9 Dilon Heyliger, 10 Jeremy Gordon, 11 Kaleem Sana

Stats that matter

• Taylor and Patel have six 50-plus stands in the 12 T20I innings in which they have opened together for USA. Their partnership run rate is 9.65.
• Since the last T20 World Cup in 2022, only two batters have scored 700 or more runs at a 50-plus average and a 150-plus strike rate: India’s Suryakumar Yadav and Canada’s Aaron Johnson.
• Across all T20s, Johnson has taken Netravalkar for 50 runs in 30 balls while getting out only once.
• Aaron Jones has smashed Heyliger for 23 runs in 11 balls for one dismissal. But Saad has had the wood over him: two dismissals in 23 balls for just 15 runs.
• Saad is the only bowler to have registered four maidens in a T20I, a feat he achieved against Panama in 2021 when he finished with figures of 4-4-0-2.
• So far, only four players have represented two different teams at the T20 World Cup: Roelof van der Merwe (South Africa and Netherlands), Dirk Nannes (Netherlands and Australia), David Wiese (South Africa and Namibia) and Mark Chapman (Hong Kong and New Zealand). Anderson could join them on Saturday.

Pitch and conditions

Of the four warm-up games scheduled here, only one saw some action. Batting first in that, Canada posted 183 for 7. In response, Nepal were all out for 120. There is a 40% chance of rain on Saturday, though.

Quotes

“I will say fearless cricket, positive cricket, smart cricket. I think that’s what we’re really and truly trying to do. We don’t want to regret anything. We want to leave everything out there on the park. And then, obviously, if we come out on top, it’s great. If we don’t come out on top, that’s how cricket goes sometimes. But we don’t want to regret anything.”
“At the national level, we are rivals because we are from the same region. We tend to play against each other a lot. Most of the time it’s in qualifiers where there’s a lot on the line, whether it’s the ODI status or the T20 World Cup qualification. But at the same time, we do play a lot of tournaments and franchise cricket in the North American region. So there’s a lot of friendships between the two countries as well.”

Board is hopeful of creating a demographically-reflective national men’s team by the 2027 ODI World Cup

Firdose Moonda25-Jul-2024Cricket South Africa [CSA] will host a three-day diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) Indaba (conference) from Friday, with the main aim of identifying a roadmap to ensure a demographically-reflective national men’s team by the 2027 ODI World Cup at home.They will also address issues of representation in the game overall but have changed the labelling of the event from Transformation to DEI to reflect an agenda that addresses the cricketing infrastructure in totality and is not entirely focused on a particular race group.”It is not only about black players but about building a diverse structure,” Mudutambi Ravele, CSA board member and DEI Chairperson told ESPNcricinfo. “For example, we have looked at the data from the Kwa-Zulu Natal (KZN) province and seen that the number of players of Indian heritage has got less and less. We want to address that. We have looked at Limpopo and there are no white players. We can’t have that. We want to address the issues holistically.”The cases explained above are important when contextualised against the backdrop of South Africa’s history, demographics, and national representation in cricket. While 84.8% of the population is black African, before readmission in 1992, South Africa fielded all-white national sides. Since then, efforts have been made to reflect the country’s other, and most significantly, majority race group, but there was only one black African player in the T20 World Cup 2024 squad – an issue that raised concerns and makes the timing of this conference important.Related

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While CSA has expressed concerns with the lack of black African international players, they also hope to develop the game holistically, especially in places where they can identify gaps in the talent pool such as in Ravele’s examples. The KZN province is the area in the country with the largest percentage of people of Indian descent – 9.3% compared to 2.7% countrywide – while Limpopo, the northernmost province of the country, has a 97.3% black African population but still around 2% of white citizens. Both those race groups have historically high participation in cricket and CSA will seek to understand why those numbers have dipped.However, even their more wide-reaching approach does not take away from the key problem which is the lack of black African representation, that could set CSA back on the agreed annual targets with the country’s sports ministry. In 2016, failure to meet targets saw CSA, and three other sporting federations, banned from hosting major events and with 2027 in mind, CSA is keen to demonstrate a strong commitment to change.When asked why Kagiso Rabada was the only black African in the T20 World Cup squad, South Africa’s white-ball coach Rob Walter pointed to the domestic system and asked it to “really up the ante”. Broadly, CSA agrees with him. At the time, they recognised that “various initiatives that have been pursued over the years have not yielded the desired results,” and now, Ravele said they continue to look at the domestic system to identify where it is lacking.”We want to look at the pool of players who are available and how we can support them to stay in the pool. There are a number of social issues that affect players from disadvantaged backgrounds.”CSA has also launched a specialised program for black African batters since this is an area of particular need.Walter will be present at the DEI , where he will be part of a panel of a discussion with black African batter Khaya Zondo, women’s international bowler Tumi Sekhukhune and former selector Patrick Moroney, who served on South Africa’s last panel under Victor Mpitsang.The selection committee was done away with when Walter and Test coach Shukri Conrad (who will not be in attendance as he readies the squad to leave for a two-match series in West Indies) were appointed last January. As head coaches, they were given sole decision-making powers over their squad selections. This is likely to change with some inside CSA pushing for the return of a panel, which Ravele supports. “A panel helps a lot because there are different views and people can think more broadly. There are more ideas,” she said.If the re-introduction of a selection panel emerges as one of the recommendations from the , it will still need to be ratified by CSA’s board but will ultimately take away Walter and Conrad’s independence.Kagiso Rabada was the only black African in South Africa’s T20 World Cup squad•ICC/Getty Images

The squad Walter picked for the T20 World Cup 2024 was South Africa’s most successful and reached the final for the first time, but Ravela would not be drawn into conflating their success with the issue of representation. “The squad did really well, but did they do well because they didn’t have black players? I think we should view their performance as a matter of progress, as they have been to the semi-finals several times before.”She stressed that CSA will not revert to stipulating a quota for XIs, as they have done in the past, but remain set on average goals. “For the national teams, we don’t put a number of players per event. We want to develop a plan for the year and ask what combinations of players can be used to make sure we are fielding diverse teams.”As things stand, South Africa’s national teams are required to field, on average over the course of a season, at least six players of colour of which two must be black African. At the provincial level, the same target is expected to be met but at least three of the six players of colour must be black African.The SA20, in which CSA owns the majority share although teams are privately owned, has no transformation target or even expectation imposed on it and will remain untouched. Ravele hoped that the franchise owners would keep South Africa’s segregated history and attempts at redress “in the back of their minds,” but so far, the competition is the least representative domestic event. In 2024, there were 13 black African players listed across the six squads, with one – the Pretoria Capitals – having none at all. Of those, only Rabada (MI Cape Town), Junior Dala, Tony de Zorzi (both Durban’s Super Giants), Lungi Ngidi, Andile Phehlukwayo (both Paarl Royals) and Sibonelo Makhanya (Joburg Super Kings) played more than one match for their team.

He and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who scored 77, added 196 for the seventh wicket, as visitors posted 565

Vishal Dikshit24-Aug-2024Mushfiqur Rahim turned the tables on Pakistan on a hot and humid fourth day in Rawalpindi with an innings of 191 by being a figure of patience, and exhibiting controlled aggression and compact technique. His 11th Test hundred was also his first against Pakistan in the format.Mushfiqur’s two century partnerships poured water on any hopes the hosts had of taking a first-innings lead at the start of the day. Riding on his knock, Bangladesh first took a sizeable lead of 117 runs by putting up 565, and then adding to Pakistan’s jitters by dismissing Saim Ayub late in the day, with the hosts still trailing by 94 runs with three sessions left in the game.Bangladesh’s opening bowlers Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud swung the ball beautifully in the ten overs Pakistan had to see through. They drew multiple edges out of which only one carried, beat the edges of the bat consistently, and bowled stifling lines to create several tense moments for Pakistan to concede only 23 runs.Mushfiqur’s century partnership with Litton Das didn’t last long on Saturday, and when he added another hundred with No. 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, it made Bangladesh only the second team with two century partnerships after the fall of the fifth wicket in a Test innings against Pakistan. Mehidy gave Mushfiqur company in a massive stand of 196 runs for the seventh wicket with his seventh Test half-century – and only his second outside Bangladesh – which first loosened Pakistan’s grip on the game, and then strengthened their own by taking a lead after lunch.Bangladesh were 316 for 5 and trailing by 132 at the start of the day, which will make Pakistan rue the chances they put down to allow a wicketless second session. Seeing that there was nothing in the pitch for the bowlers, and that Pakistan were without any frontline spinner, the visitors changed gears after a slow first hour.The only time Mushfiqur came close to getting dismissed in the first session was when Mohammad Ali trapped him in front, on 59, but a review overturned the on-field decision. Ali jagged one sharply into Mushfiqur with the help of movement off the pitch to hit him in front of leg stump. Mushfiqur, however, reviewed with success, with ball-tracking showing the ball missing leg stump. Bangladesh had started the day with all three reviews intact while Pakistan had none left in the bank.Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored 77•AFP/Getty Images

Once Litton edged one behind off Naseem Shah’s short delivery outside off which he failed to get on top of, Mushfiqur hit the pedal – especially against the spinners. Soon after Mehidy, whose technique wasn’t as compact as Mushfiqur’s in the first session, collected fours in consecutive overs off Khurram Shahzad, Mushfiqur raced from 73 to 100 in just 20 balls. He punished Shahzad for two more fours in an over – a deft steer through gully, and a punch through the covers – before also driving Shaheen Shah Afridi straight for four in the next over, to reach 88.With Bangladesh chipping away at the deficit and Pakistan desperate for wickets, Masood brought on spin from both ends with 12 minutes left for lunch, and Mushfiqur cashed in. He smote Ayub for back-to-back fours, first against the turn over midwicket and then to the long-on boundary to reach 96, and in the next over nudged one to the leg side for two to spark off animated celebrations for his hundred.In the second session, the temperature had crossed 35 degrees Celsius, Pakistan had bowled over 100 overs already, and it was going to take something extraordinary to take the remaining four wickets quickly. Mehidy looked a lot more assured after lunch, while Mushfiqur continued to play the ball late and right under his eyes to collect runs. Ali soon resorted to a short-ball plan for Mehidy by placing six fielders on the leg side, but his wayward lines failed to create opportunities, and Pakistan moved away from that tactic a bit too soon.The scant Pakistan crowd at the ground thought Mushfiqur, on 126, was finally gone when he nudged a ball from Agha Salman to square leg, but the ball actually fell just short of Saud Shakeel. Mushfiqur wasn’t deterred though; he then lofted Salman over Shakeel two balls later to bring up the century stand as Bangladesh soon took the lead, and when he reached 140, Mushfiqur had overtaken Tamim Iqbal as Bangladesh’s top-scorer in away Tests.The real chance of dismissing Mushfiqur came after he reached 150, when he tickled the ball down leg where Babar Azam put down a catch at leg slip to his left. Mehidy, meanwhile, moved along to his half-century, and in the last over before tea, Mushfiqur smacked Salman for four over extra cover and then almost for a six to the long-on boundary to further stamp Bangladesh’s authority on the day.Once Mushfiqur fell in the last session by edging Ali behind just before the third new ball was taken, Shoriful gave his side the kind of attacking and late lift Afridi had given Pakistan, with 22 runs off 14 balls, while Afridi took two of the last three wickets with the new ball to help Pakistan take 4 for 37 and wrap Bangladesh’s lower order up.Among the Pakistan bowlers, Salman toiled the most by bowling a spell of 24 overs, split by the tea break, which saw 16 overs on the trot in the second session.

Tom Prest’s century and Kyle Abbott’s wickets has Kent on the verge of relegation from Division One

ECB Reporters Network10-Sep-2024Kent’s Division One status is dangling by a thread after a dismal second day against Hampshire in the Vitality County Championship at Canterbury.The hosts slumped to 64 for 5 for in reply to Hampshire’s first innings total of 403, with Kyle Abbott claiming 3 for 23.What had looked like an even contest at the end of day one tilted drastically in Hampshire’s favour during the morning session. Tom Prest hit a majestic 102, and Brad Wheal chipped in with his highest first-class score of 61 as Hampshire were finally dismissed for 403. Kent could be relegated this week if they lose and results elsewhere go against them. They still trail by 339 at stumps.The visitors began day two on 213 for 7 and looked comfortable for the first hour until Joey Evison came on from the Nackington Road End and removed Abbott for 26, victim of a brilliant slip catch by Jack Leaning.Prest, who only had 15 at the start of play, responded by dumping Matt Parkinson into the Old Dover Road hedges to bring up his fifty and he took 21 from the over.He then reached his 100 from exactly 100 balls by dropping to one knee and smearing Charlie Stobo for six over deep midwicket before he finally fell to the same bowler after a juggling catch from Jas Singh on the deep midwicket boundary.Even the last wicket pair put on 71. Wheal twisted the knife with an aggressive cameo that included a pulled six off Singh, and it was 377 for 9 when rain ushered in the lunch break.Wheal was stuck on 49 for 15 balls before he nudged Parkinson for a single and he then clubbed Stobo for a six over square leg to take Hampshire past 400 before he was bowled playing on to Stobo.Kent’s response was all too predictable. Mohammad Abbas strangled Tawanda Muyeye, who was perhaps unfortunate to be given caught behind for five at the start of Kent’s sixth over.Abbott then took three wickets in five balls. Daniel Bell-Drummond went first in the 11th over, caught for ten by Fletcha Middleton, a ball after he’d been dropped by Prest. Jack Leaning and Joe Denly then both went for second-ball ducks, the former caught by Albert, the latter lbw to a ball that hit him above the knee roll.Joey Evison made 21 before Wheal had him caught behind but the hosts were spared further punishment when play was suspended at 4.34pm due to a combination of bad light and increasingly heavy rain, which persuaded the umpires there was no realistic chance of resuming.

Test captain trained in Multan but Zak Crawley said England “don’t know yet” if he will play

Matt Roller04-Oct-2024Ben Stokes has emerged as a doubt to play in the first Test of England’s tour to Pakistan on Monday, though Zak Crawley has declared himself fit. Stokes batted for around half an hour in the nets and very briefly bowled off a short run-up at a training session in Multan on Friday, but is not certain to be included when England name their side on Saturday.Stokes tore his left hamstring while batting during the Hundred in August, ruling him out of England’s Test series against Sri Lanka. He has been targeting this three-match series in his rehabilitation but told ESPNcricinfo last month: “I’d rather take an extra two weeks than run the risk of potentially doing something worse, and then putting myself out of the game for longer.”If Stokes is ruled out, Ollie Pope will continue to deputise as England’s captain after leading them to a 2-1 win against Sri Lanka. Stokes’s potential absence may also open the door to Chris Woakes, who is in contention to play his first overseas Test in two-and-a-half years and would help to balance the side from No. 7.Related

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Crawley, who will return to the side after missing the Sri Lanka series with a broken finger, said England are well placed to cope in the event that Stokes is unavailable. “We’ve got a really deep squad, with plenty of options with the ball and with the bat as well,” he said. “We feel ready. Whatever team comes out, it will be a nice balance either way.”England are expected to name their XI two days before the first Test, as has become customary for them, and Crawley suggested a late call would be made on Stokes’ inclusion. “He seems to be going well, recovering well from his injury,” he said. “We don’t know just yet. I think he’s got to do a few more tests, but he’s been doing some running and stuff.”Crawley himself has not played competitively since England’s third Test against West Indies in July. He fractured his little finger while dropping a catch in the slips on the third day off Jason Holder and his absence highlighted his importance to the side, with Dan Lawrence failing to pass 35 as a makeshift replacement.England trained for the first time in Multan – the venue for the first two Tests of this three-match series – on Friday, having arrived early on Wednesday morning. They will not play any warm-up matches before the first Test, but Crawley said he felt “brand new” and ready to play, 10 weeks after his most recent innings – though he will not field in the slips.”The finger is all right,” Crawley said. “It’s as good as it could be at this stage. I’ve recovered well from it. It was a nasty break at the time, but I’ve recovered well and I don’t feel it at all while I’m batting. In the field, I haven’t done too much. I’m trying to rest it, but I did a few catches there [in training] and it feels fine.Zak Crawley was back in the nets having recovered from a finger break•Getty Images

“I won’t go at slip, just from advice from the doctor. I feel like I could, but I’m just trying to follow the professional advice. It feels back to normal now, so I’m looking forward to cracking on… I feel brand new. I’m looking forward to getting out there. I’ve certainly missed it, so I can’t wait to get out there again with the boys.”Crawley had his hand heavily strapped at the start of his lay-off, to the extent he was unable to pick up a cricket bat until mid-September. “[The break] showed how much this means to me, to play for England, how much I love playing for England,” he said. “I’ve come back with a new hunger, for sure. I feel like I’ve got a lot of energy.”He has been training at Canterbury with Jeetan Patel, England’s spin-bowling coach, and at a net facility in south London, and followed his net on Thursday with several laps of the ground to help him acclimatise to the stifling 38-degree heat. “We’ve all played in heat like this before, so it’s not a concern,” Crawley insisted.Crawley set the tone for England’s clean sweep on their most recent tour to Pakistan with an 86-ball hundred on the first day of the series in Rawalpindi. “That’s my favourite thing about opening: you get to create the tempo, and set it with your innings,” he said. “I take pride in that knock: [it is] one of my favourite days of my career.”But he suggested that he has become a more adaptable player in the two years since. “You’ve got to read the conditions. That’s something I’ve thought about in the past couple of months, being more adaptable, playing the right shots, still being very aggressive – that’s always going to be me – but just playing the right shots.”

Former Australia coach will join up with club in February after signing two-year contract

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2024Northamptonshire have appointed former Australia coach Darren Lehmann to take charge at Wantage Road on a two-year contract.Lehmann, 54, succeeds John Sadler, who left his position as head coach in September after Northants were beaten in their Vitality Blast quarter-final. Northants were winless in the County Championship at the time, although rallied to finish fourth in Division Two.Lehmann, who had previously stepped back from some of his coaching work after suffering a heart attack in 2020, will join the club in February after working in a commentary role for ABC during the Australian summer.”Northamptonshire has a great history in our game and I am looking forward to meeting the players and learning about the club and its past and create our own history over the coming months and years,” Lehmann said.”The selling point for me is a group that wants to get better and follow their and the club’s dreams, create memories and play at the highest level possible. I will encourage this on and off the field, as well as open door policy. I’m sure we will have success and fun along the way.”Pre-season will search for the high skill levels that the group possess, and the assistant coaches will drive this until I can get there after our summer. We have excellent coaches who want nothing more than for the players to succeed on and off the field.”Lehmann played more than 100 times for Australia, later coaching them to success in the 2013-14 Ashes. He won the Big Bash League with Brisbane Heat in 2012-13, before returning to the team after his time with Australia, fulfilling the role as assistant coach for their 2023-24 title.He has a wealth of experience in England, having had a long and successful playing career with Yorkshire, later coaching the Headingley-based Northern Superchargers in the first season of the Hundred.Northamptonshire’s CEO, Ray Payne, said: “I am delighted we have been able to secure a new head coach with the history, reputation, skills and knowledge that Darren possesses. It is a real marker in the ground and demonstrates once again, the clubs desire to achieve to its highest level on the field.”From our first conversation with Darren it was clear to see his passion and excitement for the opportunity and his coaching philosophy is something that aligns well with the goals of the club.”With this appointment and David Ripley as head coach of Steelbacks Women, we believe we have strong leadership for both the men’s and women’s Northamptonshire teams and that will be the envy of others and well set for success.”I wish Darren all the best in the role and know he will have the support of the whole club and all of the supporters as we strive for promotion back to Division One of the County Championship and success in both white-ball competitions.”

Maharaj was set to be in the XI for the first ODI against Pakistan but limped off just before the toss

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Dec-2024South Africa have been left sweating over the fitness of Keshav Maharaj ahead of their last two Tests of the ongoing World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle. Maharaj was seen limping off during warm-ups ahead of the first ODI against Pakistan on Tuesday because of a groin strain. It is understood that Maharaj was in the XI before he sustained the injury right before the toss and was replaced by Andile Phehlukwayo. He will have a scan on Wednesday.After the three-match ODI series, South Africa face Pakistan in two Tests, needing just one more win to be assured of a top-two finish to qualify for the WTC final next year. Maharaj is a key component of South Africa’s Test side, often their lone specialist spinner in the XI, with Aiden Markram offering support with his part-time offspin. Maharaj bowled them to a win against Sri Lanka in Gqeberha earlier this month, returning 5 for 76 on the last day to trigger a collapse.Related

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• Fractured toe puts Anrich Nortje out of T20Is against Pakistan

While the severity of Maharaj’s injury is yet to be ascertained, this adds to the long list of injured South Africa bowlers. Anrich Nortje was ruled out with a fractured toe ahead of the T20Is against Pakistan; Gerald Coetzee and Lungi Ngidi are out until January with groin and hip issues respectively; Nandre Burger has been ruled out of the summer with a stress fracture of the lower back; Wiaan Mulder is in a race to be fit for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan after breaking a finger against Sri Lanka.Dane Piedt and Senuran Muthusamy are the spinners in contention for the Boxing Day Test, if Maharaj is ruled out. Batting allrounder Neil Brand, who bowls left-arm spin, and legspinner Shaun von Berg also made Test appearances this year for South Africa. Left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who last played first-class cricket in 2021, could be in with an outside chance.

His left knee has minor swelling due to increased joint loading from his bowling workload

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2024Mohammed Shami will not be considered for the fourth and fifth Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to swelling on his left knee.The BCCI press release on Shami’s fitness came days after India captain Rohit Sharma called on the National Cricket Academy to provide an update on the fast bowler’s progress upon being asked once again about it at the end of the Brisbane Test.”Shami bowled 43 overs in the Ranji Trophy match for Bengal against Madhya Pradesh in November,” the BCCI said in a statement. “Following this, he played in all nine games of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he also engaged in additional bowling sessions on the sidelines to build his bowling volume in order to get ready for the Test matches.Related

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“However, his left knee has exhibited minor swelling due to increased joint loading from his bowling workload. The swelling is on the expected lines, owing to the increased bowling after a prolonged period.”Based on the current medical assessment, the BCCI medical team has determined that his knee requires more time for controlled exposure to bowling loads. Consequently, he has not been deemed fit for consideration for the remaining two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.”Shami has not played for India since the ODI World Cup final in November last year, after which he underwent surgery for a heel injury in February. The BCCI said he had “completely recovered” from the heel injury and would “continue to undergo targeted strength and conditioning work under the guidance of the medical staff at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence and build his bowling loads needed to meet the demands of the longest format of the game”.Shami was not included in Bengal’s squad for their first game of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy on December 21 and the BCCI said his participation in the tournament would depend on the state of his knee.