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“The game continues to move and evolve. It’s no point staying stagnant; you’ve got to find ways to continue to improve”

Himanshu Agrawal05-Dec-2023Jason Holder, who had already joined the league of freelance T20 cricketers with stints in the CPL, IPL, BBL and SA20, has now added T10 to the list. The West Indies allrounder, representing Samp Army in the ongoing second edition of the Abu Dhabi T10, is relishing the challenge of cricket’s shortest format.Army started the season with a loss against Northern Warriors, but hit back with four successive wins. Holder played crucial roles in three of those victories. First, he bowled a decisive spell of 1 for 8 in two overs against Chennai Braves. Then, he produced back-to-back defining performances, smashing 29 from ten balls and grabbing 3 for 12 against Team Abu Dhabi, and a Player-of-the-Match contribution of 3 for 15 against Delhi Bulls.Related

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Holder made his feats in the newest format sound quite easy.”You’ve just got to be very clear. Once you’re clear, it’s easier to execute,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “The moment you have a clouded mind, it’s a lot more difficult to execute. Having a clear mind, being clinical and just executing your plans is very much on the precision part of the game, and you’ve got to be precise in terms of executing.”As a bowler, Holder has only two overs to try and make an impact in a T10 game, and yet has delivered the results with the ball this season. He says the pressure in T10 isn’t any different to that of any other format, and has the numbers to show it, too.Holder has bagged eight wickets in five games, bowling at an average of just 10.12 and an incredible economy of 8.10 runs an over. Eventually, he brings it all down to execution and learning, and being keen to work on his skills.”You’ve got to execute on any given day, and make sure you’re hitting your straps,” he said. “You’re always looking to develop your game; you’re never a complete package. The game continues to move and evolve. It’s no point staying stagnant; you’ve got to find ways to continue to improve. You’ve got to keep sharpening your skills, and making yourself better.”West Indies, along with the USA, will be hosting the T20 World Cup in just about six months’ time. They have another 14 T20Is scheduled before the big tournament comes along – five of them against England at home start next week – and being a rare West Indies player who currently plays all three formats for his country, Holder believes T10 is “a good challenge” to have.”It’s still the same skills in cricket. You’re probably under a bit of more pressure in a shortened game, so definitely [T10] challenges your skills, temperament and overall cricket development,” he said. “It’s a wonderful game, and I think it’s here to stay. As cricketers, you’ve just got to adapt – to any given situation and circumstances. As a professional if you can’t adapt, then you’ll always struggle.”

Somerset inch clear of Warwickshire in bid to avoid relegation

ECB Reporters Network08-Sep-2022Gloucestershire 343 and 278 for 7 dec (Charlesworth 64, O. Price 53, Hammond 53) drew Somerset 248 (Imam-ul-Haq 90, Rew 44*, T. Price 5-75) and 11 for 0Gloucestershire’s bid for a first LV= Insurance County Championship win of the season was thwarted by the weather on the final day of the match with Somerset at Taunton.The visitors began the day by extending their second innings total from an overnight 246 for five to 278 for seven before declaring with a lead of 373.But soon the rain that had been forecast for much of the first three days set in and the match was condemned to draw at 3.10pm, with Somerset 11 without loss in their second innings.While Gloucestershire dominated the match from the opening morning, they took only 12 points, having two deducted for a slow over-rate, while their neighbours also picked up 12.That lifted Somerset seven points clear of second-from-bottom Warwickshire, while their arch-rivals are doomed to relegation, 30 points adrift at the bottom of the table with only two games to play.With the weather forecast suggesting showers, Gloucestershire’s decision to bat on at the start of the day was surprising.Skipper Graeme van Buuren skied a catch to fine leg off the first ball of the day, sent down by Josh Davey, and Jack Taylor followed suit in the second over, lofting Jack Brooks to mid-off.David Payne hit a couple of big sixes before the declaration came after 15 minutes, with rain starting to fall.The initial shower delayed the start of Somerset’s innings by 15 minutes. When it got underway the hearts of home supporters in a small crowd were soon in their mouths.Iman-ul-Haq, so solid in the first innings, aimed an expansive back-foot shot off only the third ball, bowled by Payne, and survived a massive appeal for a catch by wicketkeeper James Bracey.More frustration for Gloucestershire followed when, with only 3.5 overs bowled, the rain returned, with Somerset openers Tom Lammonby and Imam on six and five respectively..Umpires Tom Lungley and Nigel Llong decided that an early lunch would be taken at 12.20pm with a view to restarting the game at 1pm.But the rain became heavier and the next announcement was of a 2.15pm pitch inspection, which also proved optimistic.Tea was taken at 2.40pm, by which time the main item of interest appeared to be whether Gloucestershire would have time to correct a minus two over-rate.Half an hour later it was clear that wouldn’t happen and Somerset had by far the greater cause for satisfaction at the outcome.

Bangladesh might field three pacers, and Najmul Hossain Shanto is likely to continue batting at No. 3

Mohammad Isam20-Apr-2021Left-arm quick Shoriful Islam has been included in Bangladesh’s 15-member squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka – the announcement came less than 24 hours before the start of the game on Wednesday, midway through the visitors’ only practice session in Pallekele.

Squad for first Test

Mominul Haque (capt), Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Shadman Islam, Abu Jayed, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali, Shoriful Islam

Although it was not clear if Bangladesh would opt for his left-arm pace in the first Test itself, captain Mominul Haque has made it clear that pace would be crucial for Bangladesh in the series opener.”I think our batting and pace bowling will be crucial. The pace bowlers with experience and those who are playing regularly, like [Abu Jayed] Rahi, Ebadot [Hossain], and Taskin [Ahmed] are more dependable,” Haque said. “We will have a pace-dependent bowling attack but it doesn’t mean we will lose the sting in our bowling.”The big-built Islam shot into prominence last year after Bangladesh won the Under-19 World Cup, where he took nine wickets at an average of 15.77. He also did well in the domestic white-ball tournaments last year – 16 wickets in ten games in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup and four wickets in three matches of the 50-over President’s Cup – before being handed a T20I debut in New Zealand last month.Related

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The six players from the 21-member preliminary squad who didn’t make the cut would remain in Sri Lanka, given that Bangladesh have a strict nationwide lockdown in place because of the Covid-19 situation, and no international flights are allowed to land the country until the end of April. In this group of six is offspinner Nayeem Hasan, who played both Tests against West Indies in February.Hasan’s exclusion, though, was on expected lines as Bangladesh already have Mehidy Hasan and Taijul Islam in the squad. Given the greenish tinge on the Pallekele pitch, the visitors may opt for three pace bowlers, with either Shadman Islam or Saif Hassan opening with Tamim Iqbal.The inclusion of Najmul Hossain Shanto suggested that he would continue to get chances at No. 3 despite poor numbers recently against West Indies.Apart from Hasan, Bangladesh have also dropped Mustafizur Rahman, who is away playing in the IPL, and Soumya Sarkar for form, while Hasan Mahmud is out with injury. The others not considered for the first Test, but who are part of the 21-member squad, are Khaled Ahmed, Mukidul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Shohidul Islam, and Nurul Hasan.

All of Pakistan’s top four scored centuries before Naseem Shah took a three-for to put the hosts three wickets shy of victory

The Report by Danyal Rasool22-Dec-2019If yesterday was the most magnificent day of Test cricket Pakistan have enjoyed this year, it was swiftly topped by the proceedings today. All the while Abid Ali and Shan Masood piled up that record partnership and Azhar Ali got in amongst the runs on Saturday, there remained the nagging doubt the pitch was so docile it would be difficult for Pakistan’s bowlers to force a result.But in front of a Sunday crowd that was the biggest of the series, Pakistan rubber-stamped that batting dominance with control in the field, too, and despite a 100-run stand that Pakistan only breached in the final half hour, the hosts are just three wickets away from what looks a routine win. It didn’t mean there were no heroics with the bat, though; Azhar and Babar Azam brought up their hundreds, this becoming only the second instance of the top four all getting to three-figures in Test cricket. Sri Lanka were set an academic 476 to win, Pakistan having amassed an eye-watering 555 for 3.ALSO READ: Tons for top four – Pakistan’s rare feat in KarachiIf the centuries Abid and Masood compiled yesterday were essential, Azhar and Babar’s offerings were simply joyous. There was no scoreboard pressure; with Sri Lanka’s bowlers rendered toothless, the only question was when Pakistan would put the visitors back in to bat. Azhar would end a drought of over a year without a hundred, and having been recently handed the captaincy, he will know how pivotal it may prove to extending his tenure.The half-century yesterday would have both calmed Azhar’s nerves and whetted his appetite. The rut he’s been in extends, in truth, to well beyond this recent patch, with the right-hander averaging a mere 25 since Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan retired in 2017. Three consecutive boundaries off Vishwa Fernando took him to within two runs of three-figures, and when a cut off Lasith Embuldeniya finally got him over the line, the radiant glow on Azhar’s face spoke volumes of the importance he placed on the innings. He would lock Babar into a tight embrace, Pakistan’s Test captain and vice-captain celebrating a partnership that well and truly took the game out of Sri Lanka’s reach.Oshada Fernando gets down for a paddle sweep•AFP

It wasn’t so much the stand between the two as the rate the runs came that allowed Pakistan to bring their declaration forward. Babar was chiefly responsible for that, and once he’d had an lbw call overturned early on, and then trotting to a half-century, he would spare no bowler from an onslaught that saw him racing towards three-figures himself. Ninety-five came off the first 19 overs before drinks were taken, and when Azhar was stumped dancing down the crease and missing the line, Babar would only press down on the accelerator harder.Lahiru Kumara was tonked for three fours in an over, and as the lead crossed 450, it appeared Babar’s hundred was the only thing keeping Pakistan from calling the batsmen back in. It was a matter of time, and very little time at that. In the final over before lunch, he would cut one away to point and bring up his third century in four Test matches, having taken little over a session to get there.When Sri Lanka batted, the pitch suddenly didn’t look as flat anymore. After a solid first 45 minutes, the visitors lost two wickets in quick succession. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne nicked off to Mohammad Abbas – who was suddenly back to that nagging fourth-stump line from around the wicket – with Mohammad Rizwan taking an excellent catch. The next over, Mendis edged one for Babar at third slip to gobble it up. That put to bed any suggestions Pakistan would be condemned to toiling in the same way as Sri Lanka, and when Angelo Mathews nicked off to Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sri Lanka were staring down the possibility of the game ending with a full day to spare.What will hearten Pakistan is the vastly improved showing from Naseem Shah, perhaps a touch unlucky to finish the first innings wicketless. His pace remained high and he would repeatedly threaten the outside edge, accurate both with the shorter delivery and the fuller one, with the batsmen regularly struggling with their footwork off the teenager.Naseem thought he had Oshada Fernando’s wicket before replays showed there was a thin inside-edge, but DRS would come to his aid the next over, when the umpire turned down a close lbw shout that was revealed to be smashing into Dinesh Chandimal’s middle stump. When Yasir Shah had Dhananjaya de Silva chop on off a straighter one, Sri Lanka had lost half their side with only 97 on the board.In what has been a disastrous two days for Sri Lanka, Oshada’s unbeaten 102 stands out as a bright spot that may continue to benefit the visitors until after this tour is done. Thrust into the opener’s slot in place of an out-of-form Lahiru Thirimanne, the makeshift opener showed glimpses he belonged there in the first innings in Rawalpindi, and confirmed it with an unbeaten hundred even as his side crumbled around him.Oshada expertly got his front foot behind the line of the ball, rarely finding himself out of position, or particularly troubled during any part of the two sessions he was at the crease. With him at the stumps, you might have suspected Pakistan were still batting if it wasn’t for what happened at the other end.Niroshan Dickwella was the only one to give him solid support, his half-century coming in an entertaining partnership where the left-hander repeatedly took on an out-of-form Yasir with the reverse sweep, coming out on top each time. Yasir didn’t quite have an answer to that shot, and such was Dickwella’s control over it, he would find the gap no matter the field placement. Yasir’s figures, very quickly, began to look expensive.It was only when, ironically enough, Dickwella tried the reverse sweep on Haris Sohail, Pakistan’s part-time left-arm spinner, that the shot let him down, with the ball clattering into his stumps. Naseem would add Dilruwan Perera to the contingent already in the pavilion. Although the players will have to come out tomorrow, make no mistake, this game, and Sri Lanka, are done and dusted.

The allrounder aggravated a recurring back injury during the warm-up match against India in Guyana, and left the field after bowling just five balls

Melinda Farrell in Guyana08-Nov-2018England’s senior allrounder Katherine Brunt broke down while bowling her first competitive over since aggravating a recurring back injury, leaving her almost certain to miss England’s opening match of the Women’s World T20. Brunt will be assessed on Thursday and England are desperately hoping the injury won’t rule her out for the entire tournament.Brunt was brought into the attack in the eighth over of England’s final warm-up match against India at Providence Stadium but was able to complete just five deliveries before leaving the field in obvious discomfort.The 33-year-old has been dogged by back problems in recent years but the current issue is a recurrence of the injury she sustained during the Women’s Big Bash League last year. Brunt has been in an uphill race to recover ahead of the World T20 since aggravating her back in September. And while England had only tentative hopes she would be fit for their opening match against Sri Lanka on Saturday they were prepared to give her every chance to prove her fitness.But, bowling off a shortened run-up, Brunt was clearly struggling before she walked off, and while head coach Mark Robinson said he wouldn’t rule her out of the tournament before she was assessed tomorrow, Brunt’s own frustrated and emotional demeanour spoke volumes.”It didn’t look great at that point, did it?” Robinson said. “She hasn’t been able to take any part in the competition so far, she’s been practising, and today was a game to get her up and running. She’s on a reduced run-up. It’s hard for us, she’s an important player.”Two of the players that bat in our top five in the summer are out. We’ve prepared for that as well, something we have to take on the chin, back the other players.”I think it was a bit of a shock in there as well, from her point of work. She’s an emotional girl anyway. She put a lot into trying to get out today and she played, and suddenly she feels like she’s going into spasms as such. And you’ve got NZ watching, you’ve got the press with the cameraman, everything going on, a lot of emotion, so that’s where we need to take stock and see where we are.”England’s plans without Brunt centre around two of three debutants in the squad who are hardly like-for-like replacements for the seaming allrounder. Linsey Smith is a left-arm spinner – although she has bowled seam in the past – while Sophia Dunkley is a middle-order batsman who bowls part-time legspin. Smith has been particularly impressive in the warm-up fixtures and appears to be the most likely replacement for Brunt against Sri Lanka in Saint Lucia.”You can’t replace Katherine because she bats and bowls,” Robinson said. “We haven’t got a genuine allrounder who can do that role so we’re going to have to pick either a bowler or we have to pick a batter. So we’re going to have to go in with four bowlers and your Nat [Sciver] and Heather [Knight] and if Dunks [Sophia Dunkley] is playing and Dani Wyatt to fill in, or we go five specialist bowlers and we play six batsmen and that’s your dilemma. We planned that she might not make it but we had to give her every chance.”England finished 11 runs short of India’s total in the final warm-up for both sides before the tournament begins on Friday. Harmanpreet Kaur was in imperious form for India, smiting 62 off 32 deliveries in setting England 145 for victory. But despite a sprightly half-century from Dani Wyatt, England struggled to get India’s spinners away.”We’ve had three games over here since July,” Robinson said. “Tonight was really, really good. We played West Indies in front of 4000 people, that was really good as well. South Africa was a quite convincing win. Tonight was a great learner for us. Their spinners outbowled us. They bowled into the wicket and protected the short boundary.”We bowled all length and got hit, gave the batter a chance to hit over somebody’s head, which you can’t do in these conditions. It shows here that if you bowl back of a length as a spinner, with leg side back, it’s old-fashioned women’s cricket, it’s hard to clear the boundary.”

Sri Lanka Cricket, who had already named a T20 squad ahead of the ODI series against India, have now announced a new 15 two days ahead of the one-off game

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Sep-2017Although Sri Lanka Cricket had already named a T20 squad ahead of the ODI series, two days out from the one-off match against India, the board has released a new squad, this one featuring legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay and seam-bowling allrounder Dasun Shanaka.

Sri Lanka’s revised T20 squad

Upul Tharanga (capt), Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Dilshan Munaweera, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay, Isuru Udana, Seekkuge Prasanna, Thisara Perera, Lasith Malinga, Suranga Lakmal, Vikum Sanjaya

Also in this side are spinner Akila Dananjaya, who was Sri Lanka’s most penetrative bowler in the ODIs, seamer Suranga Lakmal, who has recovered from a back complaint, and allrounders Wanindu Hasaranga, Thisara Perera and Milinda Siriwardana. Seam bowler Isuru Udana has also been named, while Dushmantha Chameera and Vishwa Fernando have been omitted.Kusal Mendis, whom the management feels is suffering from mental fatigue, has been rested as well.Vandersay has not played a T20 for Sri Lanka since the World T20 last year, which is perhaps surprising, as he had been one of the team’s standout players in that tournament. His return was complicated by injury, but the selectors have tried other spinners ahead of him as well. Notably absent from this 15 is left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan – a more aggressive but expensive option.*On the seam-bowling front Sri Lanka have Lasith Malinga, in addition to Lakmal and Vikum Sanjaya. The most senior batsman is Angelo Mathews, and this will also be Upul Tharanga’s first match as full-time T20 captain.T20s are the one format in which Sri Lanka have a creditable record in 2017. They won both the three-match series against Australia and South Africa, and drew the two-match series against Bangladesh to keep a 5-3 win-loss record. The victories over Australia and South Africa, however, were against substantially depleted teams.The match is scheduled to be played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on September 6.*The story had earlier stated Seekkuge Prasanna had been ommittted. However, he is in the squad.