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Rajapaksa had cited “familial obligations” as a key reason behind his resignation in the first week of January

Madushka Balasuriya13-Jan-2022A little over a week after announcing his retirement from international cricket, Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa has withdrawn his resignation and proclaimed his desire to represent the country for “years to come”. His decision comes after his meeting with Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa.”Pursuant to a meeting with the Hon. Namal Rajapaksa – Minister of Youth & Sports and after consulting with the national selectors, Bhanuka Rajapaksa has notified SLC that he wishes to withdraw his resignation which he tendered to SLC on 3rd Jan. 2022, with immediate effect,” an SLC media release stated. “In his letter to SLC withdrawing his resignation, he further states that he wishes to represent his country in the game he loves for the years to come.”In a recent media release, the Sports Minister had warned the 30-year-old batter against coming to hasty decisions but also asked Rajapaksa to come forward and express his grievances if there are any.While Rajapaksa had cited “familial obligations” as a key reason behind his resignation, there was speculation that his decision to resign was prompted by the new fitness requirements.Having fallen out with then head coach Mickey Arthur over his lack of fitness last year, Rajapaksa worked on his fitness and fielding and found his way back into the national side, where he and Arthur eventually patched up their relationship. This month, SLC announced tougher fitness benchmarks starting from 2022.Rajapaksa’s resignation, which had also come alongside similar announcements from Angelo Perera and Danushka Gunathilaka (only from Test cricket), had prompted SLC to put out new guidelines for players choosing to retire from international cricket. It was understood that among the reasons behind the updated guidelines were concerns that several players may potentially be considering their international futures, especially in the context of new mandatory fitness requirements and the fact that franchise cricket tends to be more lucrative.

KKR’s intimidating middle-order hasn’t yet found its groove, while RCB have ticked off a fair few boxes

Sreshth Shah17-Apr-2021

Big picture

The Royal Challengers Bangalore and Virat Kohli are not in this position very often: top of the table, the only unbeaten side after two rounds of games, and with a chance to complete a hat-trick of wins in IPL 2021. But they would be wary of reaching grand conclusions just yet, because the last time they won their first two games (IPL 2014), they crashed and burned to finish the league stage at seventh spot. And therefore, Kohli’s men need to continue doing what’s got them success so far, while ironing out the few flaws they’ve had.Going into the game, what will give them confidence is that it’s their third straight game in Chennai. They’ve won batting first and second on the Chepauk surface. Glenn Maxwell has looked comfortable at No. 4, and the presence of AB de Villiers at No. 5 has given their batting order a new dimension, helping them shed the ‘top heavy’ tag. Their other positive – and it’s a big one when it comes to the Royal Challengers – is that they have taken 18 wickets in two games.Related

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Their opponents, the Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to brush aside the nightmarish defeat they had on Tuesday. Looking comfortable midway through their chase of Mumbai Indians’ 152, they crumbled to a combination of spin and tidy death bowling, with Andre Russell, in particular, looking out of his depth. Mumbai troubled the Knight Riders with legspinner Rahul Chahar and left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya, and the Royal Challengers have Yuzvendra Chahal and Shahbaz Ahmed who can do similar things.However, not everything in the Knight Riders camp is gloomy: The relatively inexperienced top order has been promising, spin and death-overs bowling has been good and even in the Mumbai defeat, they dominated for most of the contest. The issue lies in what is considered their strength – the big-hitting middle order – and if that falls in place, Knight Riders have the ability to play the perfect T20 game.What’s going to be different, though, is that it’s the first afternoon game of the season. It’s going to be hot in Chennai, dew won’t play a role, and the surface will be dryer than usual. It is also the final league game for both teams at Chepauk.

In the news

Royal Challengers allrounder Daniel Sams, traded from Delhi Capitals after last season, has completed his quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 before the season. He has joined the camp and is available for selection.

Likely XIs

Royal Challengers Bangalore 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Shahbaz Ahmed, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Dan Christian/Daniel Sams, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Mohammad Siraj, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalKolkata Knight Riders: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Nitish Rana, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Strategy punt

• The way Russell struggled against Krunal in the Knight Riders’ last game, Kohli may use Ahmed’s spin for when Russell comes out to bat. The key for Ahmed will be to replicate Krunal’s skiddy pace, otherwise, Russell will have the time to either get under the ball or free his arms.
• The Knight Riders could continue using their spinners in the powerplay. Kohli has a strike-rate of 124 against Harbhajan Singh and 112 against Shakib Al Hasan in T20s. On the other hand, Prasidh Krishna is best kept away from Kohli. He has a strike-rate of 208 against the quick.
  

  Stats that matter

  • Kohli needs 56 to become the first to reach 6000 IPL runs. He also loves facing Knight Riders. Since IPL 2018, they are the only team that Kohli averages 50+ against and his best strike-rate (146) too is against them. However, it’s been six games since Kohli has not got an IPL fifty, his second-worst streak since IPL 2015.
  • Royal Challengers are Russell’s favourite IPL opponents. He has scored 339 runs in 152 balls at an average of 48.4 and a strike-rate of 223 against them. He is also the Knight Riders’ best finisher with the ball since IPL 2018, with 18 wickets and collecting one every 9.7 deliveries in the final four overs.
  • Yuzvendra Chahal has been wicketless this season, conceding 70 runs in eight overs.
    

Sussex stumble to 203 all out despite Fynn Hudson-Prentice’s fifty

ECB Reporters Network 26-Jun-2023Glamorgan’s bowlers fought their way back into this game, dismissing Sussex for 203 as the home side finished with a lead of 85 and 10 second-innings wickets standingA first-innings lead of 39 could be crucial in a low-scoring contest. Australian leg spinner Mitch Swepson took the last two wickets in two balls to wrap things up, finishing with 3 for 52, while seamer James Harris returned figures of 3 for 38.Sussex had started the day in a strong position on 65 for 1, but lost both not-out batters before a run had been added, with Fynn Hudson-Prentice then holding the innings together in scoring only the second half century of the match.When he went for 59, the rest of the Sussex innings folded. Glamorgan openers Zain-ul-Hassan and Andrew Salter went about patiently increasing that lead, as the home side finished the day on 46 without loss.The Australian Kookaburra ball is being used for this match, with Glamorgan’s bowlers using it to good effect to stem the runs for long periods as well as taking regular wickets. Sussex scored at just over two runs an over as they struggled to evade the fielders with their few attacking shots, as the home bowlers maintained a stranglehold.It was the 30th ball of the morning before Sussex added to their overnight score, by which time Timm van der Gugten had added his second wicket of the innings by bowling Tom Alsop for 27, while Jamie McIlroy dismissed Tom Clark lbw for 32.Then it was the turn of Harris to get in on the act, getting the wicket of James Coles with his first ball and then adding that of Danial Ibrahim to leave Sussex struggling on 95 for 5.Hudson-Prentice and Oli Carter were patient in their efforts to rebuild the innings before the wicketkeeper fell caught behind off the bowling of McIlroy. Nathan McAndrew was caught and bowled by fellow Australian Swepson.Offspinner Jack Carson then provided valuable support in a partnership of 61 with Hudson-Prentice which edged their team ever closer to Glamorgan’s first-innings total of 242. Carson was given a life when dropped by Billy Root off Zain, however, the end came suddenly as Glamorgan wrapped the innings up with three wickets in four balls.First Hudson-Prentice’s watchful innings was undone when he skied a short ball from Harris, then Carson fell lbw and Aristides Karvelas caught behind by Chris Cooke, both to Swepson who will be on a hat-trick ball when he next bowls.Zain and Salter found getting runs equally difficult in the early stages of Glamorgan’s second innings, before scoring a little more freely in the last few overs of the day. They will look to build a match-winning lead, while Sussex will take confidence from the way Glamorgan were able to keep taking wickets as the Kookaburra ball got older.

Regular breakthroughs on rain-interrupted day leave Leicestershire needing something special from their No. 3

ECB Reporters Network29-May-2019Derbyshire picked up two key wickets in the afternoon session before rain closed in as their Specsavers County Championship match against Leicestershire continued to hang in the balance at the Fischer County Ground.Chasing a target of 234 to win, Mark Cosgrove and Hasan Azad had added 58 for Leicestershire’s third wicket and on 82 for 2 were beginning to accelerate nicely when Cosgrove, having hit occasional offspinner Wayne Madsen back over his head for four two balls earlier, attempted to repeat the shot and holed out to long-on for 28. As traps go, it was hardly well camouflaged, and there was a disbelieving silence around Grace Road as the Australian left the field.Soon afterwards Colin Ackermann had his off stump knocked back by a fine delivery from left-arm seamer Luis Reece, leaving Leicestershire’s hopes resting on the slim shoulders of Azad, playing in only his fourth Championship match. The 25-year-old, who has just graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Chemical Engineering, made half-centuries in each of his first two games, and has so far made 90 runs and batted for over six hours in this match without being dismissed.Leicestershire had hoped to be chasing less than 200 when the visitors resumed in the morning on 160 for 8, a lead of only 179, but Logan Van Beek and Tony Palladino added another 30 runs before Palladino was leg before to a full delivery from Chris Wright.Last man Ravi Rampaul also made a useful contribution, reaching 14 not out before van Beek was bowled by a Dieter Klein inswinger.Palladino and Rampaul were then similarly influential with the ball, as Leicestershire opener Ateeq Javid edged a Palladino outswinger to wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein before Rampaul induced Leicestershire captain Paul Horton to chop a wide delivery on to his leg stump.

A specialist batter – Renshaw or Handscomb – is expected to be the replacement, with Australia fielding just four specialist bowlers

Alex Malcolm07-Feb-20231:11

Steve O’Keefe: Todd Murphy will be a superstar

Cameron Green is very unlikely to play in the first Test against India, to be played in Nagpur from Thursday, with the fractured finger he suffered during the Boxing Day Test requiring more time to heal.Green did not bat during Australia’s first training session at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. He did do some fitness work and light centre-wicket bowling, but Australia have opted for a cautious approach to his recovery given he had surgery to insert pins in his finger only five weeks ago.He jarred his finger while batting during the training camp in Bengaluru, before travelling to Nagpur, and while it did not cause any damage, it was enough to make the team management cautious.Related

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Australia vice-captain Steven Smith felt Green was unlikely to play given he hasn’t faced fast bowling in the nets. “I don’t think he is [going to play],” Smith said. “I don’t think he’s even faced fast bowlers yet. So I dare say he won’t be playing but who knows. I’m not entirely sure. We’ll wait and see.”But it’s unlikely, I think.”This would mean that Australia pick a specialist batter at No. 6 and just four bowlers for the first Test.Matt Renshaw played in place of Green in the Sydney Test against South Africa at No. 6 but Peter Handscomb is also in the frame, with Australia’s selectors considering the balance of the top six in terms of left and right-hand batters. If Renshaw were to play, Australia would have five left-handers in the top seven.

Matt Renshaw or Peter Handscomb?

Handscomb has also done a lot of short-leg training in the lead-up to the Test both in Bengaluru and in Nagpur, although Renshaw has also done some close-in fielding work, at silly mid-off. Both men are good close catchers but Handscomb is the more experienced of the two in those roles.Scott Boland is a lock to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood. Lance Morris is the only other quick available but he only did some centre-wicket bowling in Nagpur alongside Green.Australia look set to play two spinners and two quicks with the surface looking extremely dry two days out from the start of the Test.”It’s pretty dry,” Smith said. “Particularly one end that I think will take a bit of spin, particularly the left-arm spinner spinning it back into our left-handers. There’s a section there that’s quite dry. Other than that, I can’t really get a good gauge on it.”I don’t think there will be a heap of bounce in the wicket. I think for the seamers it will be quite skiddy and maybe a bit of up-and-down movement as the game goes on. The cracks felt quite loose. We’ll wait and see when we get out there.”But no decision has been made on who the second spinner would be. If the surface looks like a raging turner, then Ashton Agar could be preferred over Todd Murphy to give Australia a left-arm orthodox option. But Murphy remained a chance to make his Test debut with Australia still considering the option of playing two specialist offspinners, with Nathan Lyon the primary choice.If the surface does look like it will spin big from ball one, Australia might have considered three spinners, but with Green set to be unavailable, that option appeared off the table.”I think if Green was fit it definitely be more of an option,” Smith said. “Without him, maybe. I’m not entirely sure. I think we’ve got a strategy meeting this afternoon where we’ll have a talk about what we think but ultimately it’s down to the selectors to pick the team they think is best for the surface.”

Heinrich Klaasen’s side did enough to be proud of themselves, and had a big positive in the form of Aiden Markram

Firdose Moonda10-Apr-2021At a time when the vast majority of people have not seen others regularly, one person has overstayed his welcome over the last three months from the South African point of view. With two hundreds, two fifties, and two forties in nine innings, and a T20I average of 135.50 in 2021, Mohammad Rizwan has been ever-present, and shows no signs of having had his fill.It was Rizwan, who scored 115* to set South Africa a target of 370 in the Rawalpindi Test, which Pakistan won by 95 runs. It was Rizwan, who blitzed his way to a first T20I hundred to set up a three-run win in the first match in Lahore. And though South Africa kept him quiet in the ODIs, today, it was Rizwan’s 74* off 50 balls that helped Pakistan to their highest successful T20I run chase.This time, he got a little lucky upfront. He was dropped in the second over when he hadn’t yet scored, when George Linde put down a difficult return catch.Related

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• Klaasen hopes to be 'positive' and 'streetwise'

• Rizwan and Faheem complete Pakistan's highest successful chase

Then, he got luckier and was gifted deliveries in his scoring zone. Sisanda Magala, on debut, began by angling the ball down the leg side, where, later, South Africa captain Heinrich Klaasen noted Rizwan likes getting the ball. “He hits in a different angle to a normal power-hitter, so, for us, it’s to stay out of his hitting zone, which is quite a lot on the leg side,” Klaasen said.Rizwan scored 58 of his 74 runs on the leg side, including both his sixes and seven of his nine fours. He took advantage of any delivery that was angled in from off stump and he did not seem to be rushed in his approach at any stage.To start with, though, Rizwan had decided he could give himself a sighter, something he picked up after watching Fakhar Zaman score 193 in the second ODI at this ground. “It was a bit of a tricky track in the second innings. Fakhar’s ODI innings was on my mind today, on how to play on this surface by taking some time early on,” he said.His first eight balls brought just four runs before he cleared the front leg to hit another newcomer, Lizaad Williams, over long-on for four. It was another five balls before he found the rope again and continued to pace his innings to meet the situation. Rizwan stayed calm even when Babar Azam was dismissed in the powerplay, and when the required run-rate climbed to over ten an over. He left Zaman to take on Linde, before doing so himself after the halfway mark. Even when Mohammad Hafeez was stumped off Tabraiz Shamsi, and Pakistan needed 79 runs off 41 balls, Rizwan believed they were still in it. “International cricket is always about pressure,” he said. “The message was coming from the dugout to keep going and I knew that we have power-hitters in the middle order for the last overs.”While South Africa scored just 37 runs off the last five overs. Pakistan needed 57 runs in the same period. Beuran Hendricks started that quarter of the innings with two wickets in two balls. But then, he lost his lengths completely and bowled four full-tosses in a row at the start of the 18th over for Rizwan to crack the chase. From off stump, he drove Hendricks over mid-off, midwicket and behind square to score 14 runs off the first three balls and leave the rest of the death bowlers with too much to do.While there are gaps between the talk and the walk, South Africa need not be too hard on themselves•AFP/Getty Images

In the end, South Africa might ask themselves if Hendricks was the right choice to use so close to the end of the innings, especially as Klaasen acknowledged there were probably other candidates: “Magala and Lizaad are two probably our two best yorker bowlers.”Magala bowled the penultimate over and Williams the final one, but Magala had an over in hand and Andile Phehlukwayo, who has been used at the death in ODIs, had two. The problem for Klaasen was not the personnel or the plans. “We just need to execute,” he said.While there are gaps between the talk and the walk, South Africa need not be too hard on themselves. They are playing with second – and in some cases, third – choice players thanks to the IPL and injuries, and they still managed to be competitive. There are selection questions – such as why Kyle Verreynne didn’t play in this game – but there are also experiments which are slowly starting to work. Like Aiden Markram.This is only the fourth time in his last 11 international innings that Markram has gone past 39 and he played with a freedom that has been lacking previously, particularly in the one-day series. There, Markram looked like a million dollars but found ways of getting out just as he got in. Here, he got in and made it count. He pierced the off side in front of and behind square with drives off the front and back foot, and would be disappointed that he didn’t bat through the second half of the innings.But he has made a statement about his attempt to belong. “He has been fighting hard to get back into this white-ball side,” Klaasen said. “In the one-day series, he needed a few runs just to kick on and not get out after good starts. Today, he got that.”Similarly, this was Klaasen’s first international score of over 17 this summer, and first since his difficult journey through Covid-19. Klaasen has been burdened with captaining the depleted T20I side in two series and so perhaps it should not be surprising that he hasn’t been able to build on his Player-of-the-Series performances against Australia last year. In this match, Klaasen showed some authority, with 50 off 24 balls, with four sixes, three of them off short balls that he sent over the leg side. Interesting angles, maybe.

Duo put on 311 together in only 53 overs as Sussex, following on, forge ahead without loss

ECB Reporters Network28-Sep-2022Captain Tom Haines completed two unbeaten hundreds in the same day and opening partner Ali Orr thrashed a magnificent 185 not out to transform Sussex’s fortunes and end Glamorgan’s promotion hopes in the LV= County Championship.Haines, who had resumed on 34, became the first Sussex batsman since 2014 to carry his bat with 108 but Sussex were still bowled out for 258 in their first innings and followed on 275 behind at the 1st Central County Ground.At that stage of the third day Glamorgan were firmly on course for the victory that would have kept their hopes of climbing out of Division Two alive.But as it emerged that rivals Middlesex were getting themselves into an unbeatable position against Worcestershire to claim second spot, Glamorgan spirits seemed to sag and after tea and Orr and Haines took full advantage.By stumps they had put on a magnificent 311 together in only 53 overs, with 190 of their runs coming in boundaries. Orr finished 185 not out (163 balls, 18 fours, nine sixes) and Haines will resume on 121 (157 balls, 16 fours) with Sussex now 37 runs in front after a remarkable day produced 481 runs.Earlier, Haines and 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Charlie Tear had provided the only resistance as Sussex twice collapsed, losing three wickets for 18 runs in the first hour before their last four went for six runs in just four overs.James Harris sparked the first collapse when he picked up two wickets in four balls when Tom Clark was caught behind off a flat-footed waft and Dan Ibrahim unwisely tried to pull a ball outside off stump which cannoned into his stumps. Fynn Hudson-Prentice was also guilty of a poor shot as he gave Ajaz Patel an easy return catch before Haines and Tear came together.They added 95 for the seventh wicket with Haines reaching his second hundred of the season, having made 234 against Derbyshire back in April.Tear caught the eye too, and at one stage he hit six successive balls from New Zealand Test spinner Patel to the boundary as he made his maiden half-century in only his second appearance.But when Tear played back to Tim van der Gugten Sussex folded again with the last three batters all out for ducks. Haines, who offered one sharp chance to David Lloyd at slip, walked off to a standing ovation having faced 169 balls and hit 14 fours.Ten minutes later he was walking out to bat again and soon he and Orr were hurtling along at seven runs an over as Glamorgan’s five-man attack toiled for a breakthrough.Orr reached his fifty by hoisting Patel out of the ground for six and he needed just 38 more balls to get to his century, hitting Patel for three successive sixes at one stage. Just 41 deliveries were needed for his next 50 runs and the next milestone ticked off was his career-best 141 which he passed with a reverse sweep to the boundary off Patel, whose eight overs so far have gone for 78.He wasn’t the only bowler to suffer on a pitch offering little assistance. Orr passed 1,000 runs for the season when he got to 153 and shortly afterwards Haines was raising his bat for the second time in the day to acknowledge a standing ovation after reaching his century. He is the first Sussex batter to score two hundreds in the same match since Mike Yardy against Yorkshire in 2011.At stumps the two left-handers had set a record partnership for any wicket against Glamorgan after passing Luke Wells and Ben Brown’s 294 at Hove in 2016 while there have only been three bigger opening stands in the county’s history.

“We are not worried about it,” he said. “We can plan better for the Asia Cup and World Cup”

Mohammad Isam09-Jul-2023Bangladesh are writing off this ODI series defeat to Afghanistan as “two bad days”, according to Mehidy Hasan Miraz. The hosts were crushed by 142 runs as their recent ODI form deserted them, and Afghanistan went on to amass 331 by breaking a few records and seal their first series against the hosts. Mehidy said Bangladesh were “not worried” about the series loss and will plan better for the two big tournaments later in the year, the Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup.”I think we had two bad days. We are not worried about it,” he said. “We can plan better for the Asia Cup and World Cup. We play to win every game. We will find out where we lack. I said in a press conference a little while ago that losing against Afghanistan won’t make us a bad side. One series can go bad.”We have a good record in the last three-four years. We finished in the top four in the ICC ODI Super League. I think we can overcome these mistakes from the past two games, and play much better in the Asia Cup and World Cup.”Related

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Mehidy rejected the idea that Tamim Iqbal’s retirement and then the U-turn played any part in the defeat in the second ODI on Saturday.”Everyone was shocked with Tamim ‘s decision. Nobody expected it,” Mehidy said after the loss Chattogram. “It was a break that day and we had training yesterday. We prepared for this game. But that bad feeling was temporary.”Mehidy said that Bangladesh had fallen well behind in the match when they couldn’t stop the Afghanistan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who scored 145 and 100 respectively, from adding a massive 256 in 36 overs.”We gave away 30-40 runs more [than we should have],” he said. “We weren’t organised enough as a bowling unit. If our top order also made runs and had a partnership going, we could have taken this game deep. It became hard when the top order fell [quickly]”.However, Bangladesh’s bowlers brought them into the contest despite the visitors being well on track to post even 400. They grabbed nine wickets in the last 14 overs, thus restricting Afghanistan to only 75 runs in the period. That was a significant slowdown, particularly when they were going at above ten runs an over in the six overs before Gurbaz’s dismissal in the 37th over. Mehidy said that Bangladesh’s decision to bowl was to give their batters the best batting conditions under lights at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.”We expected the wicket to play better at night,” he said. “We batted first in the first game [after losing the toss]. The wicket was slow. It kept low. It improved in the evening, so the captain and coach thought that if [on winning the toss in the second ODI] we bowled well up front and then batted in the second innings, things will be easy for us.”Bangladesh were a bit slow in their chase and stumbled to 28 for 3 in the powerplay. The remaining six wickets – Ebadot Hossain didn’t bat due to an injury – fell in clusters of three each, too. And once they were 72 for 6 in the 19th over, the game was all but done.

With injuries constantly assailing the squad, there may yet be room for the middle-order batter even though he hasn’t featured since March

Mohammad Isam04-Sep-2023Mahmudullah remains in contention for the World Cup, according to BCB president Nazmul Hassan, even though he has not played an ODI since March. Hassan has suggested that the experienced middle-order batter will be among the group that plays in the ODI series against New Zealand later this month.Bangladesh have played 11 ODIs since Mahmudullah’s last appearance. At the time he was first left out, the selectors said he had been “rested”, but they continued to leave him out of subsequent squads, including the one for the ongoing Asia Cup.He averaged 43.8 in 13 innings in the 12 months leading up to his exclusion, but scored his runs at a strike rate of 70.75, well below his career figure of 76.17.Related

• Shakib wants World Cup-bound players to be rested for New Zealand ODIs

• Nazmul Hassan suggests there may still be room for Mahmudullah in World Cup squad

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Towhid Hridoy is recognised as the batter who has effectively taken Mahmudullah’s place, although Bangladesh are still unsure over whom to play at No. 7. The presence of two allrounders in Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz allows them to pick either an extra batter or an extra bowler, and they have gone back and forth between those two options. In their most recent Asia Cup game against Afghanistan, they promoted Mehidy to open – he scored a century before retiring hurt – and picked two frontline batters – Shamim Hossain and Afif Hossain – at Nos. 7 and 8.In May, Hassan had said Mahmudullah remained in Bangladesh’s plans, but the selectors have continued to ignore him so far.”I think he is [in the selectors’ thoughts],” Hassan said on Monday. “I don’t see why not. Our players are injury-prone like [Najmul Hossain] Shanto and Miraz yesterday. Mustafizur [Rahman] suffered in the first game. We need continuous replacements. We won’t be able to cover the World Cup with eleven players. There’s no need to take the standby players lightly.”Hassan said Bangladesh have had to veer from their initial plan of naming the same squads for the Asia Cup and World Cup due to injuries. “The Asia Cup squad was supposed to be the World Cup squad,” he said. “But we have had to make several changes. Ebadot [Hossain] would have been in the squad if he was fit. Tamim [Iqbal] and Litton [Das] would have also been in the squad.”Hassan said Bangladesh would announce their World Cup squad after the New Zealand series, which ends on September 26. September 5 is the deadline for teams to name their squads, but they have some leeway to make changes thereafter.”We have to give them [the ICC] a squad for logistical reasons,” Hassan said. “I think the main squad has to be submitted on September 27. You will all know after we see them in the New Zealand series. I think those who are in Dhaka will get to play against New Zealand.”We haven’t been able to implement our plan. Tamim Iqbal and Litton Das were supposed to open in the Asia Cup but they are not in the team. I don’t know if they have been declared fit. We can’t make a team without them, can we? You have to understand our challenges. We have 17 players in the Asia Cup squad.”The six in Dhaka are also capable players. Tamim and Litton will enter the fray, which makes it 25 players. We have to leave out ten players. Who to leave out? It won’t be easy. Can we leave out those who are performing? We don’t have to leave out anyone now.”

Matthew Mott backs star to “do what’s right for English cricket” ahead of 2023 tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2022After his starring roles in two gripping World Cup final victories, could Ben Stokes be persuaded to go for the hat-trick by coming out of ODI retirement in time for England’s defence of their 50-over crown in India next year? Matthew Mott, England’s white-ball head coach, is hopeful that he can be tempted.Stokes made a crucial 52 not out in England’s T20 final run-chase against Pakistan in Melbourne, to follow on from his 92 unbeaten runs (84 plus eight more in the Super Over) against New Zealand at Lord’s in 2019, to cement his status as one of the greatest “clutch” players in international history.However, he stepped down from the 50-over format earlier this year, stating that it was “unsustainable” for him to maintain his peak levels of performance across all three formats of international cricket, given that he is also captain of a Test team that has transformed its own reputation in recent months, with six wins in seven memorable performances in the 2022 home season.Mott, who took over as England white-ball coach at the start of the summer after a record-breaking stint in charge of Australia women, told reporters in Melbourne that he had not yet discussed the notion of Stokes reversing his ODI retirement. However, Mott added, he backed Stokes to “do what’s right for English cricket”.”When he spoke to me about his ODI retirement one of the first things I said was that I’d back any decision he made,” Mott said. “But I said to him he didn’t necessarily have to retire – he could just not play 50-overs for a while.”I did say you could always unretire. That’s his decision. It’s going to be a World Cup year and we don’t play much T20 cricket for a while but it will be a decision that’s up to him.”The more we can get him is great. He’s doing an amazing job with the Test captaincy but he is a very big cog in the wheel when he comes back to white-ball.”Speaking at the time, Stokes spelt out in some detail the reasons for his ODI retirement. He admitted that his body was unable to take the strain of staying match-fit across three formats, and added that – with Jos Buttler new in the role of white-ball captain following the retirement of Eoin Morgan – he did not want to feel that “I am taking the place of another player who can give Jos and the rest of the team their all”.”The England shirt deserves nothing less from anyone who wears it,” he concluded.Stokes’ decision is vindicated by the relentless nature of England’s winter schedule, with three ODIs coming up against Australia this week, even as the Test squad gathers in the UAE ahead of their three-match tour of Pakistan.Moeen Ali – who will be involved in those matches only days after the World Cup win – described the prospect as “horrible”, with Mott adding that “it’s not ideal, I can’t lie”. And yet, the sudden switch of emphasis, from 20 overs to 50, reinforces the sense of a change of priority in the white-ball schedule, with the 2023 World Cup looming in India in less than 12 months’ time.Rob Key, the managing director of men’s cricket, was guarded when asked about the prospect of Stokes reversing his retirement in an interview with Sky Sports on Monday. “Nothing is forever, but who knows what will happen,” he said. “At the moment, we’ll just keep thinking about trying to enjoy what we’ve done now and then we’ll be thinking about Test cricket.”Ben Stokes will be thinking about Test cricket and I don’t want him to have to worry about anything else apart from what’s in front of him right now, which is the Test series in Pakistan; and then you’ve got New Zealand and then Australia after that. You don’t have to worry about anything else.”What will be, will be. I don’t think you ever rule anything out but at the moment, we’ll just try and enjoy what we’ve done so far and Ben can enjoy it. I’m sure he’s enjoying it as much as he possibly can.”While Stokes made it clear that he did not wish to treated as an exception in England’s white-ball planning, his record as a World Cup match-winner would seem to make the case for him.Related

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“He’s a three-dimensional player and he has so much to offer,” Mott added. “In this team he was the glue – I think we have a lot of guys who can do extraordinary things but he was the player you knew that if he was in you’d win the game.”I’ll let him dust off today. He’s his own man and he’ll make his own decisions. He’ll do what’s right for English cricket and he always has.”That was part of his decision to retire from ODI cricket. He didn’t think he could give it his all and credit to him for making that decision because he’s such a special commodity for English cricket. We want what’s best for the whole system as well.”In the midst of England’s celebrations – which included a shaved head for Mott after a wager with Sam Curran (whose hair is set to be dyed a colour of the coach’s choice in return) – Mott admitted that his thoughts had turned to those integral members of the squad who had not been present at the moment of victory, most particularly Reece Topley, who suffered an ankle injury after arriving in Australia, and Jonny Bairstow, who is recovering from a freak golfing accident in which he broke his leg.”Reece Topley was a big part of our preparation for here,” Mott said. “I was absolutely gutted for him, such an innocuous injury. Seeing him leave our group was hard.”I must admit he was one of the first blokes I thought of – and Jonny as well.”