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The Pakistan batsman told a news website that he could be open to the idea of extending his Test career if the team management requests him to do so

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Apr-2017Pakistan may not have to suffer the double whammy of Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan exiting at the same time if they do not want to. The latter is open to the idea of extending his international career, but only if the Pakistan board and team needs him to do so. Younis raised the possibility ahead of Pakistan’s Test in Jamaica, having hinted at it during the announcement of his retirement in Karachi two weeks ago.”Yeah, I will think about it,” Younis told before the first Test. “It all depends on if my team needs me. If they request me or people want me then why not? But it all depends on my team.”Given his experience and recent Test form, and given that a tour to Bangladesh this summer will provide a far sterner test of their batting than tours past, a case can be readily made for wanting Younis to stay on. If he scores runs in this Test series, that is likely to increase calls for him to stay on though Younis has said he would prefer to leave with people wanting more from him, rather than overstaying. The selection committee, headed by Inzamam-ul-Haq will also play a role – Inzamam is known to have been keen to move on beyond both Misbah and Younis after the Caribbean tour.Younis announced his decision to retire at the end of the West Indies tour earlier this month, only two days after Misbah did. Together the two batsmen brought close to 190 matches worth of experience to the side, with Younis on the verge of becoming the first Pakistan batsman to score 10,000 Test runs.An example of the influence the pair had on the side came during their tour to England last year, when the side drew the Test series 2-2 and briefly gained the No. 1 ranking. Misbah scored a crucial first-innings hundred at Lord’s in the first Test, while Younis’ 218 in the fourth Test at The Oval, helped Pakistan cling on to the series after two defeats. Their contributions earned them places on list of Five Cricketers of the Year.In a column for ahead of the first Test, Misbah also made public his feeling that the team still needed Younis and that he could continue playing for a year or two.”I talked to him about it in Australia and told him that ‘You can play on’,” Misbah wrote. “Even though we have some very good youngsters in the team, the gap left by Younis’ absence will be difficult to fill.”The Pakistan team will not just miss him as a batsman, they’ll also miss him as a mentor. He has been a terrific role model for everyone and it will be very tough to replace him. Every member of this team, including myself, has learnt a lot from him. He has changed our dressing room culture. If one wants to be successful in professional life, one only needs to regard Younis Khan’s organised and punctual lifestyle from breakfast to bed.”The speculation around Younis’ retirement after the tour of Australia was not as intense as it had been for Misbah, who battled poor form on the tour and came away with a 0-3 series defeat. After scoring an unbeaten 175 in the third Test in Sydney, Younis had said his future plans would depend on what the team needed from him. In April, while announcing his intention to retire, Younis said: “No player always remains fit, the motivation never remains the same, so this is the time when Younis should leave the field after the upcoming series in West Indies.”One of Pakistan’s modern batting greats, Younis’ 17-year-long Test career saw him play 115 Test matches with 9977 runs and 34 Test hundreds, the most by a Pakistan batsman. Younis’ personal best of 313 – against Sri Lanka in 2009 – is the third-highest score by a Pakistan batsman, after Hanif Mohammad’s 337 and Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 329.

Australia have arrived as a force at the World Twenty20, just in time to wave goodbye to Pakistan, as they completed a 21-run win in Mohali

The Report by Daniel Brettig25-Mar-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsJames Faulkner took his maiden five-wicket haul to help Australia to a 21-run win•Getty Images

Australia have arrived as a force at the World Twenty20, just in time to wave goodbye to Pakistan, as they completed a 21-run win in Mohali. A storming display with the bat was followed by an improved showing with the ball, setting up what will be effectively an elimination match against India in the final match of the Super 10s on Sunday.The captain Steven Smith chose Mohali as the venue where he found his rhythm, in turn modulated then audacious in an innings that controlled the tempo of a strong total. He was helped in large part by Shane Watson, who batted with the air of a man freed of tension by his retirement announcement on match eve. Together, their stand left Pakistan with a total too steep despite friendly batting conditions.In the field, Adam Zampa again bowled with considerable intelligence and character for Australia, winning a duel with Shahid Afridi that Pakistan’s captain could not afford to lose if he wished to stay in contention for the semi-finals. James Faulkner’s over-the-wrist slower balls then cut a swathe through the latter part of the innings as the run rate climbed, leaving him in possession of Australia’s best T20 bowling figures.Pakistan’s chase began firmly, as Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Umar Akmal all played with considerable flair. Nathan Coulter-Nile was subjected to some particularly harsh treatment, and at 85 for 2 in the 11th over the match was overmuch open to Afridi’s men.However, Zampa showed his nerve by finding a way past Akmal, and two overs later followed up by coaxing Afridi down the wicket. The stumping was completed without fuss by Peter Nevill, who has provided a steadying presence behind the stumps in this tournament even though he is not in the batsman-wicketkeeper mode that has become dominant in the 21st century.From there the required rate climbed with increasing steepness, too much even for Shoaib Malik, who hit out firmly at the end. Australia’s lack of a second spin bowler to support Zampa has been a point of some contention, but Faulkner’s past as a left-arm wrist spinner has helped him assemble a strong array of change-ups that flummoxed the lower order. Josh Hazlewood and Glenn Maxwell also contributed tidy overs to the cause.Smith had named another reshuffled Australian side with the soon to retire Watson dropping down the order to make room for the return of Aaron Finch at the expense of Mitchell Marsh, while Hazlewood was included ahead of John Hastings. Pakistan recalled the fit-again Wahab Riaz in place of Mohammad Irfan, who was described as resting by his captain Afridi.On an excellent pitch offering some sort of help for batsmen and bowlers alike, Mohammad Amir fought a fascinating early duel with Usman Khawaja. Amir’s pace and movement unsettled Khawaja in ways seldom seen over the past few months, and while the opener scored swiftly, it was without his customary assurance. When Wahab replaced Mohammad Sami at the other end, Khawaja remained fretful, and was yorked giving himself room – Amir had undoubtedly played a part.Finch and David Warner did not linger, but Maxwell produced one of the strokes of the tournament with a pure off-driven six that left many wondering why he seems compelled to resort to the outlandish so often. Even so, there was still much work to do when Smith was joined by Watson, on a ground where in 2010 he made one of his two Test hundreds.Smith’s concentration had been fierce, with Warner and Maxwell’s blows allowing him to hustle into an innings without trying anything too lateral. Watson’s arrival had Smith taking his tempo up several notches, as they charted a course to a total near 200. Initially, Watson looked a little unused to the middle order, but after scrambling to 10 from 10 balls, he detonated.Watson’s sheer power was shown when he muscled Amir over long-on and underlined once more with a glorious six inside out over cover from Sami. Meanwhile Wahab’s efforts to stop Smith from levering the ball through the leg side reached a memorable extreme when Australia’s captain took guard well outside off stump. Wahab followed him wider, yet Smith was still able to flip a boundary over midwicket that will make all the tournament highlight reels.In all, Watson and Smith added 74 in 38 balls. Amir and Sami conceded 92 between them without taking a wicket, figures that appeared unlikely when Khawaja had been groping unsuccessfully at the left-armer’s new-ball swing. Australia grew in strength from there, much as they have in this tournament. The meeting with India looms large.

Ravi Bopara warmed up for England’s two-match Twenty20 series against Australia later this week, and the NatWest series to follow, with 130 against Lancashire at Old Trafford, his highest List A county score since June 2008

26-Aug-2013Essex 297 for 4 (Bopara 130, Smith 78) beat Lancashire 227 (Smith 97, Phillips 5-42) by 70 runs
ScorecardRavi Bopara found his best form ahead of England’s limited-overs matches against Australia•Getty Images

Lancashire and Essex both failed to reach the Yorkshire Bank 40 semi-finals after Essex won a high-scoring contest by 70 runs at Old Trafford, underpinned by a superb 130 by England’s Ravi Bopara ahead of the one-day series against Australia.Tom Smith hit an excellent 84-ball 97 but the home side’s task was too stiff. Tim Phillips nipped in with 5 for 42 from 7.4 overs with his niggardly left-arm slows as Lancashire lost their last eight wickets for 41 runs, slipping from 186 for 2.Bopara warmed up for England’s two-match Twenty20 series against Australia later this week, and the NatWest series to follow, with his highest List A county score since June 2008, including nine fours and three sixes in 102 balls.After James Foster elected to bat, Bopara and Greg Smith ensured an impressive recovery from the early loss of India international Gautam Gambhir as they shared 159 inside 23 overs for the second wicket.Bopara hit Ashes-winning left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan, who was playing in the fifth Test at the Oval 24 hours earlier, for six over long-on in the 18th over before hitting off-spinner Steven Croft straight down the ground for his second maximum. He later hit his third off Kabir Ali over square-leg, taking 22 off the former England man in the 36th over.After Kerrigan had Smith stumped for 78 off 77 balls, Bopara shared 61 in 5.1 overs for the fourth wicket with Ryan ten Doeschate before he top-edged Kyle Hogg to short third-man in the search for quick runs. Ten Doeschate also hit three sixes in 46 not out off 23 balls, helping to take 76 runs off the last six overs.Smith and Stephen Moore gave Lancashire a good platform with an opening stand of 79 in 11 overs for the first wicket, and despite Reece Topley getting Moore caught at long-leg and bowling Ashwell Prince inside four overs, Lancashire had
wickets in hand.An accumulative partnership of 95 inside 15 overs for the third wicket between Smith and Paul Horton kept Lancashire in the hunt. But when Smith was bowled by Topley to leave the score at 186 for 3 after 29 overs, things started to go downhill quickly.Phillips had Horton, Croft, Karl Brown, Arron Lilley and Kerrigan all caught playing expansively. Horton was brilliantly caught by a diving Bopara running towards the sight-screen from long-on to start the run of wickets and add further lustre to his magnificent day.

This time, the rain was kind to Yorkshire, rescuing them from a position which by no means had them staring at a defeat but was not likely to lead them into anything but an anxious final afternoon

Jon Culley at Northampton04-Aug-2012
ScorecardThis time, the rain was kind to Yorkshire, rescuing them from a position which by no means had them staring at a defeat but was not likely to lead them into anything but an anxious final afternoon. Three down in their second innings and still 29 behind when a forecast thunderstorm arrived just after lunch, they were less than downcast at the sight of groundstaff fighting a losing battle to cover the square.It is the 10th draw of their soggy season, of which only four matches remain. The next three are at home, including one at Scarborough, with their pursuit of a top-two finish and an immediate return to Division One concluding against Essex at Chelmsford. Jason Gillespie, their ever-optimistic Australian coach, reckons Yorkshire need to win three of those matches, which would be asking a lot if it did not rain again between now and the middle of next month. In reality, they will probably need some help.Gillespie’s first season has seen Yorkshire advance on one front, reaching their first finals day in Twenty20, but 2013 marks the club’s 150th anniversary and there is a sense of pride to be satisfied. A gallant near-miss in this year’s promotion race may not go down well in the committee room.”Look, everyone is in no doubt that promotion is our big goal for the season,” Gillespie said. “We are confident that we have the game to succeed on that front but we need the weather to allow us to play.”We were outplayed by Northamptonshire here, there’s no doubt about that. Although the weather played a part, we did not play the cricket we know we can play. But I would like to win three of the four remaining games – or all four, preferably – and I think we are good enough to do it.”Yorkshire are where they want to finish as the table stands, in second place, ahead of Kent and Hampshire, but have played a match more than all of their rivals and are obliged to sit out the next round. By the time they take on Derbyshire, the leaders, at Headingley on August 15, the table will give a more realistic picture of their chances.By then, in their favour, they should have Ryan Sidebottom back, provided a run-out with the Second XI confirms his recovery from a calf injury. His return would restore some confidence in the Yorkshire attack’s potency as a wicket-taking force, as would a little more of the promise shown by Adil Rashid in this match.Rashid’s first five-wicket return since the beginning of last season suggested the leg-spinner’s omission from the side since the middle of May, in Championship cricket at least, has had the effect it was hoped it might.”Adil bowled really well,” Gillespie said. “He was disappointed to be left out but his attitude had been spot on and the way he has responded has been brilliant.”He could have gone the other way and been quite negative but he has been positive, gone out and played some second team games and shown a good attitude to training and preparation. He has tinkered with his action a bit and has come back, bowled 31 overs and taken five wickets. We are delighted he has done so well.”Rashid found some encouragement in the pitch here, which was one reason why the final two sessions, had they gone ahead, could have been an ordeal for Yorkshire. James Middlebrook, too, was beginning to enjoy himself.The offspinner had claimed one wicket and was bowling with four fielders around the bat until play was called off. He had dismissed Phil Jaques and there was pressure at the other end, too, mostly exerted by David Willey, who conceded only 10 runs in as many overs from the Wantage Road end following a similarly disciplined spell by Oliver Stone, the 18-year-old, who picked up his second wicket in the match when Adam Lyth sliced him to point. Willey had Joe Root caught at second slip during a sequence of seven consecutive maidens.

Nottinghamshire were denied the opportunity to take advantage of Hampshire’s poor four-day form after heavy rain washed out day one at the Rose Bowl

20-Jul-2011
ScorecardNottinghamshire were denied the opportunity to take advantage of Hampshire’s poor four-day form after heavy rain washed out day one of the Championship Division One clash at the Rose Bowl.Nottinghamshire, currently sixth in the table with three wins from nine games, were unable to get on the field after steady rain began in earnest just after 11am.The start of play had already been pushed back to 11.30am to allow the ground to recover from Hampshire’s one-day game with Durham the evening before, but the weather stepped in to further delay proceedings.Umpires Nigel Llong and John Steele made numerous trips to the middle throughout the day in a bid to get the game under way, but after a final inspection at 5pm, the persistent drizzle around the ground forced them to abandon play for the day.The sides did announce their teams, however, with Hampshire – still searching for their first win in the Championship this season – without influential skipper Dominic Cork due to an illness in his family and deciding to bat first. Fellow former England quick bowler Kabir Ali was also rested for the hosts, with Chris Wood and David Griffiths drafted in.Nottinghamshire made three changes, bringing in one-cap England seamer Darren Pattinson, Charlie Shreck and spinner Graeme White. Stuart Broad could yet figure if he is left out of England’s XI for the Test Match with India at Lord’s.

Ireland have been rewarded for their successful WCL Division One defence by having four of their players named in the team of the tournament

Cricinfo staff11-Jul-2010Ireland have been rewarded for their successful WCL Division 1 defence by having four of their players named in the team of the tournament.Ireland defeated Scotland by six wickets to seal the title on Saturday and their leader, Trent Johnston, was chosen as captain of the combined squad. Paul Stirling, Kevin O’Brien, and George Dockrell, the 17-year-old left-arm spinner, were the other members of Ireland’s team chosen. Mark Jonkman, the Netherlands paceman, was also included despite being reported for a suspect bowling bowling action.The side was chosen by a panel of experts that included Adrian Griffith, the former West Indies batsman, and Kumar Dharmasena, the Sri Lankan off-spinner who featured in the 1996 World Cup winning side.Team of the tournament 1 Paul Stirling (Ireland), 2 Ashish Bagai (Canada) (wicketkeeper), 3 Tom Cooper (Netherlands), 4 Nawroz Mangal (Afghanistan), 5 Kevin O’Brien (Ireland), 6 Neil McCallum (Scotland),7 Thomas Odoyo (Kenya), 8 Samiullah Shenwari (Afghanistan), 9 Trent Johnston (Ireland) (captain), 10 George Dockrell (Ireland), 11 Mark Jonkman (Netherlands), 12th man Gordon Drummond (Scotland).

The Australia Test opener will take on the same role for his state in his first season since being replaced as captain having previously batted at No. 4

Alex Malcolm16-Sep-2024Usman Khawaja will open the batting for Queensland in the opening three Sheffield Shield rounds, having previously batted at No. 4 while being the Test opener, as new coach Johan Botha looks to create more stability in the Bulls’ middle-order following a disappointing season last summer.Despite being the Test opener, Khawaja had batted at No.4 in his last eight Shield games since last opening in February 2022 just after he had been elevated to open in the final Test of the 2021-22 Ashes series. Australia’s selectors have not been prescriptive in directing state teams to bat players in their Test positions in Shield cricket and have been happy to let Khawaja and others bat wherever they were needed at domestic level.Related

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However, New South Wales coach Greg Shipperd has asked for guidance from the national selectors regarding where to bat incumbent Test opener Steven Smith when he returns to play Shield cricket at the start of the summer, with conjecture continuing to swirl around his batting position in the Test team for the India series.Meanwhile, Michael Neser is set to be available for the start of the domestic season after overcoming a calf issue but Xavier Bartlett is expected to miss at least the first month after the side strain he picked up in the first T20I in Southampton. It’s understood there is hope he could be fit for the Pakistan limited-overs series in early November.Khawaja, who was Queensland captain last season, opted to bat at No. 4 in his four Shield games last summer and scored two centuries. But he and new Queensland skipper Marnus Labuschagne are only set to be available for the first three Shield games this summer before leaving to play in the five-Test series against India. Khawaja is unlikely to be available to play Shield cricket again until the end of the Sri Lanka Test tour in February while Labuschagne may not return to Queensland until the end of the Champions Trophy in March.Jack Clayton was Queensland’s leading Shield run-scorer last season and made two centuries at No. 4 when Khawaja was absent but had to bat at No. 5 when the Australian opener returned and finished the season at No. 3. The promising 25-year-old left-hander looks set to settle at No. 4 this season and Botha praised Khawaja for helping create some stability in the Bulls’ middle order.”I know Uzzie has a good record for Queensland at No. 4, but I had a chat to him and he understood what we’re trying to do with giving the younger guys a bit of stability through Nos. 4, 5, 6,” Botha told ESPNcricinfo.Michael Neser is currently on track to start the Shield season•Getty Images

“I think he realized that if he went in at No. 4 then we’ll have to change our line-up around. And he’s been great with that. He said, ‘I’ll do whatever the team needs,’ and we want him to open so he’s going to do that for us to start with. So that’s a nice result for us. We can have a bit of stability through our Nos. 4, 5, 6 when the [Test players] leave after the third game.”Khawaja is already in some fine touch having helped his Queensland premier cricket club Valley claim the T20 Max title last week before smashing 114 off 119 balls in Valley’s first 50-over match of the season against a South Brisbane attack featuring Bulls seamer Gurinder Sandhu.On the bowling front, Neser looks set to be available for the start of the season after recovering from a calf problem. He got through six overs in a practice game for Queensland against South Australia last week and bowled 10 overs for his club side Gold Coast on Saturday.”He’s in a good spot,” Botha said. “You never want to be injured. But I think it came at a good time where he could freshen up a bit. He was over at Hampshire. So in a way, it probably worked out well. If he starts the season and he goes well, then it’s obviously worked perfectly, but we’ll have to see how that start goes and manage that maybe a little bit. But at the moment, he’s in a good space. He’s fresh. He’s good to go and he’ll be a big player for us this summer.”There have been concerns building over Australia’s fast bowling depth ahead of the series against India with Neser’s calf issue among a host of injury worries. Scott Boland is managing a long-term knee complaint while Lance Morris is set for a slow return following a stress fracture in his back.Bartlett’s significant side strain along with injuries to other white-ball quicks Nathan Ellis (hamstring) and Riley Meredith (side) has stretched Australia on the tour of the UK while they try to carefully manage Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc ahead of a huge workload against India.

India’s displeasure with the umpiring extended to their captain smashing the stumps with her bat after being given out

Mohammad Isam22-Jul-2023The final, deciding Women’s ODI between Bangladesh and India should have been about the exciting finish, since it ended in a tie, but instead, Harmanpreet Kaur’s conduct – she smashed the stumps after being given out, and later called the umpiring “pathetic” – has become the talking point.While Smriti Mandhana defended her captain at the post-match press conference, Bangladesh captain Nigar Sultana didn’t hold back, saying Harmanpreet “could have shown better manners”.In the 34th over of India’s chase of 226, Harmanpreet was given out caught at slip off Nahida Akter while attempting a sweep. Did it go off the pads, or was there a bit of glove or bat on the way? Harmanpreet hit the stumps with her bat after being given out, and then had words for the umpires before walking off, giving a thumbs-up to the crowd on her way. Initially, it looked like Harmanpreet was unhappy as she assumed it was a lbw decision, but the umpire made the decision after the catch was completed.Related

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Yastika Bhatia had earlier protested the lbw decision against her in the fifth over, standing her ground and staring back at the umpire after being given out. Later, in the final over, after Jemimah Rodrigues’ single had tied the scores, Meghna Singh played away from her body to Marufa Akter’s next delivery, and was given out caught behind.Curiously, Meghna appeared to be walking towards the dressing room initially, even as the Bangladesh players celebrated around her, but then stopped and started speaking to the umpire.For the Harmanpreet and Meghna dismissals, the umpire at the bowler’s end was the experienced Tanvir Ahmed, while for the Yastika wicket, it was Muhammad Kamruzzaman.”A lot of learning from this game,” Harmanpreet said at the presentation ceremony. “Even apart from the cricket, the type of umpiring that was happening there, we were very surprised. The next time whenever we are coming to Bangladesh, we’ll have to make sure we have to deal with this kind of umpiring and accordingly, we’ll have to prepare ourselves.”Bangladesh, batting first after winning the toss, rode on Fargana Hoque’s 107 to score 225 for 4. In the chase, when Harmanpreet was dismissed, India were 160 for 4 in 33.4 overs, and well placed to win. But they collapsed to 225 all out.”They [Bangladesh] batted really well, batted according to the situation. They were taking those singles which were very crucial,” Harmanpreet said. “In between, we leaked a few runs but when we were batting, we controlled the game very well. But, as I mentioned earlier, some pathetic umpiring was done, and we are really disappointed about some decisions given by the umpires.”ESPNcricinfo understands that when the end-of-series photograph with both sets of players was being taken, Harmanpreet shouted “bring the umpires too”, suggesting they were a part of the Bangladesh team. Nigar, it is understood, spoke about it to BCB officials, and took her players back to the dressing room soon after.”It is totally her problem. I have nothing to do with it,” Nigar said in the press conference when asked about the incident. “As a player, she could have shown better manners. I can’t tell you what happened, but it didn’t feel right to be there [for the photograph] with my team. It wasn’t the right environment. That’s why we went back. Cricket is a game of discipline and respect.”About the umpiring, Nigar said, “The umpires wouldn’t give her out if she wasn’t out. We had umpires from men’s international cricket, so they were good umpires. What are they [India] going to say about the caught or run-out dismissals [of which there were six excluding the Harmanpreet and Meghna wickets]? We have respected their decisions. The umpire’s decision is the final decision, whether I like it or not. Why didn’t we behave in that way [like the India players]?”Possibly the moment when Harmanpreet Kaur asked for the umpires to be brought for the photograph as well•BCB

At the press conference, Mandhana had said that Harmanpreet was caught in the heat of the moment as she couldn’t accept the umpire’s decision. “When you play for India, you want to win the match, and it happens in the heat of the moment,” Mandhana said. “I think she [Harmanpreet] wasn’t really happy with the decision given and she felt she wasn’t out. That is why that [reaction] came about. It is just the heat of the moment and nothing much.”What happened in the middle is a part and parcel of the game. We’ve seen these incidents so much in the past as well. When you really want that ‘W’ on the board for India, these things happen.”Mandhana did, however, call on the ICC to appoint neutral umpires in the future.”In any match, sometimes it happens that you are really not happy with the [decisions]. Especially when there is no DRS in a match in a series of this kind, we kind of expect a little better level of umpiring in terms of some decisions,” she said. “It was very evident that there was not even a second thought given when the ball was hitting the pad when our batters were batting. There was not even one second of thought given before the finger went up.”I am sure the ICC, BCB and BCCI will have more of a discussion on that and maybe we can have a neutral-umpiring system from maybe next time so that we don’t sit here having these discussions and maybe we can focus more on cricket and cricket-oriented questions.”Separately, Harmanpreet also criticised the BCB for not inviting the Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh, Pranay Kumar Verma, for the presentation ceremony even though he was present at the ground. “Our high commissioner from India is also there – I hope you could have also invited him here, but that’s also fine.”

“It’s pretty rare for a cricketer these days to get three months off, so I’m really going to make the most of it.”

AAP27-Mar-2022Australia legspinner Adam Zampa is confident his upcoming three-month break won’t leave him short of a gallop for this year’s T20 World Cup on home turf.Zampa is currently in Pakistan preparing for Australia’s three-match ODI series and one-off T20 clash. But with his wife due to give birth in June, Zampa is expected to miss the mid-year tour of Sri Lanka, which features three T20s, five ODIs, and two Tests.The T20 World Cup starts on October 16, and Zampa is confident he will have enough cricket under his belt despite the long mid-year break.Related

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“It’s pretty rare for a cricketer these days to get three months off, so I’m really going to make the most of it,” Zampa said ahead of Tuesday’s ODI series opener against Pakistan in Lahore.”Potentially the next game of cricket that I’ll have is the 100-ball competition [starting in August], and then we’ve got a lot of cricket after that. I sat down with [selector] George Bailey yesterday and there’s potentially 15 games of cricket for me before the World Cup.”There’s going to be a lot of rest coming up for me, but then definitely enough cricket before it gets real again.”Zampa played a key role in Australia’s T20 World Cup win in November, further cementing his status as one of the team’s most important white-ball players. But the 29-year-old says it felt vastly different earlier in his career.”I feel like I don’t have to look over my shoulder too much with selection,” Zampa said. “When you’re younger, you naturally probably look over your shoulder, you doubt yourself a lot more.”Aaron Finch has helped me massively with my game. He backs me in when I’m out there, and he lets me run my own show with my bowling, and has been really good with his own ideas as well.”I’ve been in this team for six years now. You never want to use the word comfortable, but I definitely back myself in a lot more these days.”I can go out there and maybe experiment and put things on the line for the team to try to do my role.”Australia are brimming with confidence after securing a 1-0 Test series win in Pakistan. But with stars such as David Warner, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Steven Smith all missing from the white-ball component of the tour, Australia face a challenge to come away with victory.”It’s going to be a difficult challenge,” Zampa said. “The plus that comes from that, as it always does when these things happen, is you build depth.”

Former Kent stalwart was member of famous family dynasty

George Dobell11-Nov-2020Graham Cowdrey, the former Kent batsman who was part of one of the sport’s best known family dynasties, has died at the age of 56.Cowdrey enjoyed a long career as an aggressive middle-order batsman for Kent, before going on to work for the ECB as a Cricket Liaison Officer; a role well-suited to his good-natured and gentle bonhomie. Both his father, Lord Cowdrey, and his brother, Chris Cowdrey, captained England, while his grandfather and nephew also played first-class cricket.He was a key part of the Kent side which won AXA Equity & Law League trophy in 1995 – he was the club’s top run-scorer in the competition that year, hitting two centuries and averaging 53.90 – and made it to the final of the Benson & Hedges Cup. He also helped Kent finish second in the 1992 County Championship; a season in which he scored 1,291 runs in the competition at an average of 53.85. His stand of 368 made with Aravinda de Silva against Derbyshire in 1995 remains the club’s highest fourth-wicket stand and was, until broken by Sean Dickson and Joe Denly in 2017, Kent’s highest partnership for any wicket.While he was unable to follow his father and brother into the England side, he represented Young England as a teenager, made his first-class debut aged 20 and was awarded a county cap in 1988. After being awarded a Benefit Year in 1997, he retired from the game in 1998 having played 440 first team games and amassed exactly 14,000 runs for the club. He just missed out on the advent of the T20 format which would, you suspect, have well suited him.”I am numb with shock and sadness that the brilliant, generous, funny and complex friend who lit up so many cricket grounds, on and off the pitch, has slipped away,” said Cowdrey’s former team-mate and captain, Matthew Fleming. “‘Van’ as he was universally known because of his love of all things Van Morrison, was an instinctive cricketer, a game changer, who won matches with his prowess as a batsman and a fielder.”However, it was his deep love of cricket and Kent, his commitment as a team-mate, his integrity and his wicked sense of humour, his loyalty as a friend and the ‘twinkle in his eye’ that shaped almost everything he did that we will also remember with the greatest possible affection.”Kent cricket have released a statement expressing “its deepest sympathies to Graham’s family and friends at this difficult time, especially his children, Michael, Grace and Alexander.” It went on to say the club was “devastated to learn of the passing of our much loved former player… after a short illness.”The statement continued: “More than his facts and figures, Graham will be remembered for the way he played the game: his vibrant personality at the wicket or in the field, with his sense of fun as clear as his competitive passion.”Graham recently appeared on the Club’s ‘Spitfire Sessions’ alongside his brothers Chris and Jeremy earlier this year, where he discussed his “happy memories of all those days down at Canterbury, Maidstone and everywhere we used to play”.”During the live forum, his brother and former Captain Chris, highlighted Graham’s outstanding talent in one-day competitions. Stating that if he were to select his all-time Kent T20 XI, ‘there’s one person that I would pick first, and that would have been Graham Cowdrey. He was the most devastating striker of the ball and could turn a match in four overs.'”