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The refusal of Rodney Marsh, the former Australia wicketkeeper, to sign a cricket bat which already carried Chris Cairns’ autograph was an early sign that players had been “warned off” him by the ICC, the jury at Southwark Crown Court heard today

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2015The refusal of Rod Marsh, the former Australia wicketkeeper, to sign a cricket bat which already carried Chris Cairns’ autograph was an early sign that players had been “warned off” him by the ICC, the jury at Southwark Crown Court heard today.The crown prosecutor, Sasha Wass, QC, cited that incident during her cross-examination of Andrew Fitch-Holland, Cairns’ former attorney and co-defendant, who is the final witness to be called in the four-week trial.”Rod Marsh said I’m not having anything to do with Mr Cairns, he wouldn’t sign a cricket bat,” Wass said to Fitch-Holland.Rumours about Cairns’ involvement in match-fixing had circulated ever since he was removed from the Indian Cricket League in October 2008, under the pretext of an injury.Following Marsh’s action, Fitch-Holland had asked the ICC whether it had any evidence that Cairns was a match-fixer. It turned out that the governing body was not investigating him as the ICL was an unsanctioned tournament.”It seemed that someone was saying something, because of the Rod Marsh incident, and we just thought ‘this can’t be allowed to continue’,” Fitch-Holland told the court.”I took that to be confirmation from the ICC that they weren’t sniffing around Chris,” he added.Marsh’s snub had occurred in 2009, one year before Lalit Modi, the founder of the Indian Premier League, had tweeted about Cairns’ alleged activities, an event which formed the basis of Cairns’ successful libel action against Modi in 2012.Cairns, who denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice, stands accused of having lied under oath to secure that court victory. Fitch-Holland denies one count of perverting the course of justice, after allegedly persuading Lou Vincent, Cairns’ former team-mate, to provide a false witness statement.Wass wanted to know if Fitch-Holland knew any reason why Modi would make a false accusation against Cairns.”I assumed at the time he had misspoken, and he would correct it,” Fitch-Holland said.At the libel trial in 2012, Cairns confirmed that he had “had it out” with Marsh over a drink at his house following the bat-signing incident.Fitch-Holland, whom Ms Wass tried to paint as a “cricket groupie”, admitted to having been “very pissed off” with Cairns in an email exchange in April 2013 following a lengthy delay in payment for his role as “lead adviser” during the legal action.During a heated cross-examination, which involved an intervention from the judge, Fitch-Holland was also asked about an incident in which he had told a group, including Chris Harris: “Oh, he’s guilty, Cairnsy’s guilty”.”I’m not for one second suggesting that Chris Harris is lying, and you know perfectly well that I’m not,” Fitch-Holland told Ms Wass.”It cannot have been about match-fixing, because quite simply that was not in my mind.”Fitch-Holland is expected to continue giving evidence on Tuesday.

The moment Ziaur Rahman hit Brendan Taylor’s pad in front of the stumps and the umpire raised his finger, Bangladesh were closer to a rare Test win

The Report by Mohammad Isam28-Apr-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNasir Hossain stretched the Bangladesh lead•AFP

The moment Ziaur Rahman hit Brendan Taylor’s pad in front of the stumps and the umpire raised his finger, Bangladesh were closer to a rare Test win. At the end of the fourth day of the second and final Test, Zimbabwe were 138 for 4, chasing a 401-run target set up by Mushfiqur Rahim’s 93.The Zimbabwe captain’s wicket was the one Mushfiqur would have wanted more than the seven runs by which he missed his third Test hundred. After umpire Ian Gould lifted his finger, it was easy to see and hear what it meant to the fielding side which was screaming for joy. Zimbabwe were 96 for 3, with their best batsman and captain out of the equation with a day remaining.Malcolm Waller also fell to Ziaur for 15, missing a straightening delivery as his lack of footwork shackled him to the crease. Shingirai Masakadza was sent in as the nightwatchman at 118 for 4 with more than 15 overs remaining in the day, a strange decision but one which ultimately paid off. His elder brother Hamilton held his own at the other end, unbeaten on 46 off 94 balls.Zimbabwe started the fourth innings positively but in the tenth over, Regis Chakabva played inside the line of a Shakib Al Hasan delivery which spun past to strike off. Vusi Sibanda fell soon after for a 50-ball 32, driving one straight to Sohag Gazi at short cover off Shakib.Mushfiqur would thank his lucky stars that finally bowlers other than Robiul Islam stood up. Ziaur bowled a 10-over spell, mainly focused on being accurate. He hardly has pace like he did a few years ago, but managed to bring in his shoulders to generate speed. Shakib and Gazi bowled tightly too, both using a typical left-arm spinner and offspinner’s line. There was hardly a loose ball.Bangladesh declared about an hour after lunch on 291 for 9, going ahead of the home side by exactly 400 runs. Shakib, Mushfiqur and Nasir Hossain hit their second fifties of the game.Nasir stretched the lead with the tail, making an unbeaten 67 and scoring most of the 40 runs that came after lunch. Apart from his effort, Bangladesh’s dominance was also due to captain Mushfiqur’s attentiveness to the situation.He made 93 before being brilliantly caught at gully by Sibanda off Hamilton Masakadza, and his persistence was crucial to his side’s staying power. Along with Nasir, he had to see off the first half-hour, which has often produced wickets in Harare. Though they hardly found boundaries because the home side had deep fielders on both sides, they played carefully. Zimbabwe bowled wide too, and the batsmen cut out the rash shots.Mushfiqur and Nasir were happy picking up singles until the captain began to open up with a mistimed scoop and a slog-sweep – both off Elton Chigumbura. He had earlier hit a cover drive that sped to the boundary but the wicket had slowed down, and bounce was also on the low side. He and Nasir added 84 for the sixth wicket, back-to-back 80-plus partnerships for Mushfiqur, after his fifth-wicket stand with Shakib on the third evening.Taylor missed the long hours put in by Keegan Meth, who is out with a right knee injury. He was seen sitting on the sidelines with his feet up and knee strapped. Hamilton Masakadza, bowling medium-pace, took three wickets but was never going to be as big a threat to the visitors. Kyle Jarvis did not bowl with the venom of the first Test, but Shingi Masakadza remained steady and picked up four wickets.Had the Zimbabwe bowlers put up a better show even on the fourth morning, the Test match could have remained competitive. Bangladesh got most of what happened on the fourth day their way, though there again was the odd leg-before decision that they were denied. They would still take it, given they are closing in on a Test win for the first time in nearly four years.

Angelo Mathews is determined to play his role as an allrounder for Sri Lanka despite being sidelined by constant leg injuries

Sa'adi Thawfeeq05-Apr-2012Angelo Mathews, touted as the heir apparent to the Sri Lanka captaincy, is determined to play his role as an allrounder in the team despite being sidelined by constant leg injuries.Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka’s chief selector, suggested on the eve of the Test series against England that Mathews faced a potential future as a specialist batsman, saying: “I don’t think we can use Mathews as an allrounder in the future. He has some problem with his legs and it is very unlikely he will bowl much. We have to look at him purely as a batsman.”Mathews himself, who was powerless to intervene as England crawled towards a position of authority on the second day of the second Test in Colombo, disagreed. “Definitely I am not going to give up on my bowling in ODIs and T20 cricket,” he said.”The longer format I need to rethink and manage my workload. I’ve been having a few issues in my legs. I really don’t know why I tend to get injured constantly. I am trying my level best to get rid of those injuries.”Mathews missed the World Cup final against India last year and was ruled out of the Asia Cup last month as well as the first Test of the present series.”If I have a long season I need to readjust and think about my workload because playing in all three formats it takes a lot out of you,” he said. “As an allrounder it’s very demanding. You need to keep yourself fit.Mathews returned to the Sri Lanka side after being forced to miss the first Test at Galle because of an injury to his right calf and scored a cautious 57 from 157 balls to help Sri Lanka to a first innings total of 275.”We were looking at around 300-plus when we went to bat in the morning but the English bowlers bowled really well. The pitch wasn’t easy to bat on as it was getting slower and slower but the bowlers made it even harder for us,” he said.”The English have played really well for the first couple of days and we need to get back into the game by taking a few wickets early on. If we can do that we can push them back. The wicket is not that great to bat on and it’s pretty slow so we need to keep bowling in the right areas and do the right things.”Mathews said that Alastair Cook. who was missed at 20 and remained unbeaten on 77 at the close. was the key batsman to dismiss. “If we had held onto that catch it would have been different, but chances do go begging sometimes. Nevertheless he batted well and he held his nerve. We need to get his wicket early tomorrow.”

Ireland are out of the World Cup after losing to South Africa, but their captain William Porterfield says he is proud of the performances his team have put in during the tournament

Firdose Moonda at Eden Gardens15-Mar-2011An Irish journalist, one who has followed the team through their various divisions, arrived at Eden Gardens with hope in his heart, but reality in his head. “It’s not like the last time,” he said. “Then you only had to win one of our three games to get to the next round; now even if you win three games you are not assured of a place in the knockouts.”The “then” he was referring to was the 2007 World Cup, when Ireland’s stunning win over Pakistan, and later Bangladesh, shook the cricketing world. So surprising was their performance that it may have played some part in the 2011 tournament structure. The two groups of seven, with the next round being the quarterfinals, is a format designed to send the Full Members through to the knockouts and the Associates home.By its very foundation, this edition of the World Cup was built to disadvantage the smaller teams. If they wanted to challenge the system, it would require a consistent effort over a month of competition, in which they would face four Test playing nations. It means that they wouldn’t be rewarded for one case of luck; they’d need to show that good fortune is matched with good skills and that they are able sustain their intensity over a period of time.Ireland were the one Associate that stood a chance of doing that. After pushing Bangladesh to within 27 runs of a loss, they beat England, gave a respectable account of themselves against India and lost a by a margin of less than 50 runs against West Indies. Their last chance to qualify for the quarterfinals was to beat South Africa, a task as daunting as they get, and after a crushing 131-run defeat, the sparks they lit at the tournament have been put out. They still have a match to play, but it will have no impact on whether they qualify for the knockouts. The dream is over, but there is time for reflection on the highlights.Porterfield was a proud man despite the weaknesses his side displayed.•Getty Images

“We knew today was a final for us in terms of keeping hopes alive for qualifying,” William Porterfield, the Ireland captain said. “We’ve done a lot of good things in this tournament. The result against England stands out, but the way we bowled and fielded throughout the tournament, especially our ground fielding has been right up there with anyone.”Ireland’s commitment was on display again on Tuesday, when they threw their bodies around Eden Gardens from ball one, when Gary Wilson prevented a run from being scored. The effort they put into cutting off the run flow was undone by the two catches they dropped and it’s that kind of consistency that Ireland lack.They’ve been able to play well for periods of matches, but only once, against England, did the whole package come together. Issues of finishing, both with bat and ball, are some of the concerns they need to address, and Porterfield spoke about wasted opportunities.”We got ourselves into a lot of winning positions. In the game against the West Indies we were right in the game. We should have won the game against Bangladesh in the end too.”
Against South Africa, they had big name opposition with their backs against the wall at 117 for 5 but then let them accumulate 272.Porterfield was not unhappy with the bowling, even though they did not bowl South Africa out, saying that he was satisfied with the effort they made to take more wickets. “Boyd [Rankin] came back; he is our principle wicket-taker. We wouldn’t have done things very differently. We weren’t too distraught at half-time.”Their chase, dented by wickets, is what Porterfield thinks should have gone better. “Throughout the tournament, we formed a few good partnerships but we never backed up one partnership with a second.” Their highest partnership against South Africa was 41 runs, between Kevin O’Brien and Gary Wilson, but they have had two century partnerships, against England and India, in the tournament.Porterfield was a proud man despite the weaknesses his side displayed. He felt his team had played with a lot of heart and that they will benefit from the experience as a whole. “The more we play against [big] teams, the more we are learning as a unit. We are going to take a lot out of this tournament.”Their last match, on Friday against the Netherlands, will be their last hurrah, for this World Cup and possibly for a long time, as the fifty-over tournament will become smaller from the next edition. That match, which is all about playing for pride, will have a much deeper context to it, because the two teams that meet may disappear from the ODI stage for an indefinite period. “It’s not going to be difficult to get the guys up for it,” Porterfield said. “It’s probably the first match we are going into as favourites.”

Essex have recorded an “immensely disappointing” loss of £216,000 for 2009 but are confident they will be able to withstand the tough financial conditions

Cricinfo staff22-Mar-2010Essex have recorded an “immensely disappointing” loss of £216,000 for 2009 but are confident they will be able to withstand the tough financial conditions.Their position is in stark contrast to Surrey, who announced a profit of £752,000 on the same day, and Essex’s sums show the split that is start to appear in the county game – largely between those with Test grounds and the other, smaller, venues.On a positive note for the club was an increase in membership income and strong attendance at Twenty20 games. They are hopeful that their position in Division One of the Championship will provide a boost along with tour matches against Bangladesh and Pakistan.”It is immensely disappointing to announce a six figure loss of 216,000 pounds for 2009 after investment results and a tax rebate,” said Keith Brown, the club treasure. “Cricket is not immune from the recession and this impacted our corporate income, including sponsorship and advertising.”However, our membership income was up and we attracted high attendances at the Twenty20 matches. Our cricket costs were impacted by the absence of exceptional ECB income we received in 2008 and additional contract payments at the end of 2009”.”While other counties have produced similar losses this is no consolation and our 2010 budget process has been very robust with the aim to return to profit.”But Brown took the opportunity to issue a further warning about the potential listing of the Ashes and the subsequent reduction in broadcasting revenue. “However, there is one word of warning. If cricket is forced onto terrestrial television it will have a devastating impact on our income, which will mean we will have to make some very hard decisions.””Promotion achieved one of our objectives for 2009 and it was pleasing to see our home grown players make an impact on the international stage,” added chairman Nigel Hilliard. “Financially the club has had a difficult year, importantly there were no surprises in the accounts the committee were aware that 2009 would be loss making and the final result was a considerable improvement on our budgeted numbers.”

The SRH allrounder said he didn’t know whether his bowling would be needed against RR but he was prepared just in case

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2024Abhishek Sharma said he “didn’t know” whether he would have to bowl for Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals in Chennai but was ready in case the call came. And despite bowling just three overs previously in IPL 2024, Abhishek sent down a match-winning spell of 2 for 24 to put SRH in the IPL final.”To be honest, I didn’t know I will bowl this match but I was very much ready with my bowling because I’ve been working really hard on my bowling,” Abhishek said after the game. “The last two years it’s been really good with my batting so I wanted to work on my bowling with my dad. So special mention to my dad.”Abhishek’s had a blockbuster season with the bat, scoring 482 runs at a strike rate of 207.75 in 15 innings. His 42 sixes are the most this season, and the most for an Indian batter in any IPL season. On Friday night, however, it was his left-arm spin that came to the fore against RR’s middle order. He had Sanju Samson caught at wide long-on with his third ball and bowled Shimron Hetmyer with a carrom ball in his third over to leave RR six down. Abhishek did not concede a boundary in his first three overs.He was the sixth bowler used by SRH in their defence of 175 as the Chennai pitch began to offer lots of turn in the absence of dew. Though he hadn’t bowled much for SRH this season, Abhishek had bowled 20 overs in Punjab’s successful campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy last season.Related

• Abhishek Sharma, a top-order whirlwind India has never seen before

• Shahbaz and Abhishek spin Sunrisers Hyderabad into IPL final

“When I saw the starting XI, I knew he’s [Abhishek] going to bowl today,” Varun Aaron said on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out show. “He’s a really good bowler. I’ve seen a lot of him in domestic cricket. He’s one of those bowlers who tosses it up a little bit, more than the others. He bowls that carrom ball which comes out from the front of the hand, that was a really good ball. That shows he has a lot of tricks up his sleeve and he’s a full-time bowler for Punjab. He’s one of those who likes to bowl and tells the captain, ‘I want to bowl in domestic games, it helps me be in the game more.’ He’s one of those allrounders who look forward to bowling. The other thing is he would have been wanting this chance to bowl for the longest time and he lapped it up really well.”Though he hasn’t bowled much this IPL season, Abhishek is one of only a few Indian batters who can bowl as well in limited-overs cricket, along with the likes of Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag and Nitish Kumar Reddy. That skill-set has been missing in the Indian team for a while – none of the specialist batters in the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup can bowl.”He backs himself 100%,” Tom Moody said on ESPNcricinfo’s Time Out show. “Yes, he doesn’t bowl as much as he needs to bowl in domestic cricket for whatever reasons but for the future of Indian cricket he needs to be bowling because he is a serious package to be reckoned with. [Bats] at the top of the order, someone who can bowl left-arm spin whatever the format, he’s going to be a real asset going forward.”The reason that makes him unique as a spinner is he tosses it up and what he tries to do is get overspin on the ball, so the ball comes down like that (with seam upright and facing the batter, not sideways), Nathan Lyon style, it dips. So he doesn’t bowl side spin, he bowls overspin and he’s got that clever carrom ball he’s been working on which is the one Hetmyer got and was an absolute peach.”

Fastest hundred in Lions history secures useful lead as Sri Lanka reply strongly

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2023Sri Lanka A 332 (Croospulle 128) and 202 for 3 (Madushka 84*, Mendis 67) lead England Lions 405 (Smith 126, Lees 97, Bohannon 54) by 129 runsJamie Smith struck a 71-ball century, the fastest in England Lions history, to give his side an outside chance of a victory push in the second unofficial Test against Sri Lanka A in Galle.Smith’s effort surpassed Luke Wright’s 91-ball hundred against New Zealand A in 2008-09, and featured 13 fours and eight sixes all told. By the time he was dismissed for 126 from 82 balls, he had formed the backbone of the Lions’ 405 in 76.4 overs.Alex Lees, who himself made a 94-ball hundred in the Lions’ warm-up match earlier in the tour, chipped in with 97 from 113 balls, while Josh Bohannon made 54 from 62.Their efforts allowed the Lions to build a first-innings lead of 73, and though Sri Lanka A responded well to reach 202 for 3 by the close, with half-centuries from Nishan Madushka and Kamindu Mendis, they did chip out three wickets in that time, including Mendis for 67 shortly before stumps.”It is certainly the most entertaining and most enjoyable innings that I have ever played,” Smith said afterwards. “I would say it is the best innings that I have ever played.”I didn’t know that it was a record century and I didn’t go out there to achieve that obviously. When you get in that situation and you’re flying along you are just focusing on being positive and trying to hit boundaries – hit the ball as far and as hard as I can.”The Lions team has been noticeably positive in its approach to batting on this tour, and Smith acknowledged that the success of the Test team under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum had been an inspirational factor.”You definitely take on board the style of play that the England team are employing because that’s the style they want to see,” he said. “I always knew I had the talent to play that way but to get out here and to do it is really positive for me.”The coaching staff here give you the freedom to go out and play that way. There are no limits as to what you can do. I’m not focusing on whether I get out, it’s about how you can make runs and being positive. That has certainly helped me to make runs here and play the way I did.”At the age of 22, Smith – who is also keeping wicket on this trip – is very much one of the coming men on the county circuit, and was picked for his first Lions tour after playing his part in Surrey’s County Championship victory last season.”It is the next step in my career and it has been an opportunity to show my skills and test myself against some really good bowlers,” he said. “It’s good to get in this environment and to play against spin and try and adapt my game to that.”The pitch is pretty flat but the beauty of us scoring so quickly is that it gives us an opportunity and time to bowl them out. We’ll aim to do that in the morning and then well hopefully have a chase. We won’t fear chasing any total.”

Batter was rushed to a hospital after complaining of chest pain while playing a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match

Umar Farooq21-Dec-2021Abid Ali was taken to hospital after complaining of chest pain while playing for Central Punjab against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the ongoing last round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in Karachi.According to a PCB statement, he was taken to a specialist hospital immediately, “where he was diagnosed as a case of Acute Coronary Syndrome” or ACS. “He is under the care of Consultant Cardiologist who is liaising with PCB medical team regarding further treatment. He is currently stable.”ACS is often used to describe a range of conditions resulting from a sudden, reduced blood flow to the heart.Abid returned to his domestic side, Central Punjab, following the recent Bangladesh tour, where he was Player of the Series for the Tests after scoring 263 runs at 87.66. He was playing his sixth first-class game this season and had scored 766 runs at an average of 51.89 with three hundreds. On the last day of the ongoing game at UBL Complex in Karachi, he had crossed a half-century when he complained of discomfort around his shoulder and chest area before he was rushed to the hospital.Abid has been the highest run-getter in Tests for Pakistan since his debut in 2019, and in 2021 he is fifth in the world with 695 runs in nine Tests at 48.87, including a double-hundred against Zimbabwe in Harare. He made his debut in Rawalpindi in 2019 after spending 12 years in domestic cricket for 7116 runs in 106 first-class games. He made his Test debut at the age of 31 and began with a century, and also became the only player in history to reach three figures on both Test and ODI debuts.Central Punjab are sitting in fourth place on the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy table at the moment and are out of the finals race, with Northern and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sitting in the top-two spots. They have drawn five games, won two and lost two so far this season.

Imminent return of England’s big guns puts spotlight on understudies

Andrew Miller31-Aug-2020

For England in particular, this series has been all about building for the future, broadening their selection base ahead of next year’s postponed T20 World Cup, and ramping up the competition for places that was such an integral aspect of their rise to become last summer’s 50-over champions.But if it has been hard to give the rookies in the current set-up the full bells-and-whistles “Big Match” experience, given the echoing stands at Emirates Old Trafford and that unavoidable vibe of glorified training session, then the timing of today’s squad announcement will serve to heighten the jeopardy as Eoin Morgan’s men prepare for Tuesday’s series decider against Pakistan.The impending return of Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and, fitness pending, Jason Roy, for the upcoming series against Australia means that this final contest of the Pakistan tour could also be the final appearance of the year for many of England’s fringe candidates, some of whom have advanced their cases for long-term inclusion rather better than others.On the batting front, in particular, two players have stood tall and confirmed their intentions to go toe-to-toe with their more vaunted rivals. After taking a few matches to find his feet at this level, Tom Banton announced himself in unambiguous terms during Thursday’s first-match washout, transcending the conditions and his team-mates in a 42-ball 71 that was all the more impressive given England’s stodgy start in tricky batting conditions.And while Banton’s follow-up effort of 20 from 16 balls in the second game wasn’t quite in the same league, it did at least contain the most eye-popping stroke of his career to date, a preposterous switch-slap for six over backward point off Imad Wasim. It showed he is beginning to buy into Morgan’s stated team ethic of backing oneself and one’s ability, and letting the doubts slide into the ether. It’s safe to presume he’s here for the long term, even if, as Graham Thorpe hinted last week, he may yet have to wait for more regular opportunities.But what then of Dawid Malan, England’s eternal T20I understudy? His performance on Saturday was a microcosm of his T20I career to date – a match-winning 54 not out from 36 balls, which mirrored his career average of 54.60 and strike rate of 150.00, and lived up to Morgan’s pre-series acknowledgement that, time and again, he seizes his rare opportunities in the first XI and presses his case for a permanent berth. And if Morgan has been critical of Malan’s attitude in the past, most notably his curious highlighting of a non-run off the final ball of his century in New Zealand, then the man himself seemed to go out of his way to address that on Saturday with a conspicuously low-key acknowledgement of his fifty.All the same, it is surely Malan and Sam Billings, a star in the ODIs against Ireland last month but once again a fringe performer in this series, who have the most at stake in this final outing – certainly among England’s batsmen. Jonny Bairstow, ballistic from the get-go on Saturday, is set to slip to No. 3 when Roy is fit again and may yet fill that role if Banton opens with Buttler against Australia, and with Morgan embracing his floating role in the middle order, it means that specialist batting berths are at a premium – even before we get onto the curious cases of Joe Root and the still-absent Ben Stokes.As Michael Vaughan put it during the BBC’s return to terrestrial broadcasting on Saturday, England used to have about six men who could be considered automatic picks for their white-ball teams. These days, it’s more like 20-25. Disappointment is an inevitable by-product of such unprecedented riches.England’s seam bowling too will have received something of a hurry-up from the inclusions of Wood and Archer, the latter for the first time in white-ball cricket since the World Cup final last summer. While there is promise galore in England’s current bowling stocks, not least in Saqib Mahmood, who is surely a star in the making, there was little about their bowling effort on Saturday that inspired much confidence for the here and now. Chris Jordan and Tom Curran both struggled to hit their lengths while Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez were cutting loose, and if David Willey feels he’s worthy of another chance in this final outing, he’s likely to feel equally miffed at his exclusion from both Australia squads.As for Pakistan, they will doubtless rue their missed opportunity in the rained-off opening game, in which – Banton’s onslaught aside – they dominated with the ball, particularly through their spinners. They had plenty of reasons to believe during the second match as well, at least until Bairstow opened his shoulders from the outset of England’s reply, and if their conservative team selection has raised eyebrows, then at least the incumbents have shown the value of their experience, in particular the ageless Mohammad Hafeez.All the same, youth and regeneration is what Pakistan cricket is famed for, even at the most straitened times in their recent history, and the teenager Haider Ali is waiting in the wings for his chance to seize the stage. Tuesday would be as good a time as any to do so, where a share of the series would be a worthy reward for Pakistan’s efforts in this most curious of summers. They aren’t far away from being a mighty fine side in all formats, but at some stage they’ll need the results to start coming again.

England WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)

Pakistan LWWLL

What is to be done with Moeen Ali? He’s been out of sorts before, and generally come storming back with a sweetly timed mow for six to trigger another torrent of runs. But his slumps in form at England level have rarely been as long and lasting as this current one. Despite a lengthy break from action after the World Cup last summer – during which he lost his starting berth – he’s simply not yet found his mojo with bat or ball alike. Four innings this summer, including the ODIs against Ireland, have yielded 10 runs from 17 balls; and he’s yet to claim a single wicket in 26 overs. At the age of 33, time is not on his side either.It’s not for nothing that Babar Azam is currently ranked as the No. 1 T20I batsman in the world. Pakistan’s captain, opener and general envoy of all things optimistic produced another sweetly timed declaration of his pedigree in the second match, as he caressed the first ball of the match through midwicket for four off Mahmood, and added six further boundaries in his 44-ball 56. But you once again got the sense that he had left a few runs unaccounted for in that performance. Had he and Hafeez been in harness for the remaining seven overs, England would surely have been hunting down something way in excess of 200. And that’s been the tale of his summer all told, with a glut of cameos in the Tests as well but a highest score of 69 on the tour to date. He has got one last chance to put on a show to remember.

There’ll be time enough for changes when the Australia series begins, so it’s hard to see England tinkering excessively with the side that secured a solid victory in Sunday’s second outing. Moeen is likely to be given another chance to find his form, while Lewis Gregory, England’s most economical bowler in a high-scoring contest, hasn’t yet had a chance to display the death-hitting skills for which he has truly been selected. Willey is itching for a chance after his command performances against Ireland and is the obvious candidate for inclusion, perhaps at the expense of Chris Jordan, about whom England already know plenty.England (possible): 1 Tom Banton, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Sam Billings, 7 Lewis Gregory, 8 Tom Curran, 9 Chris Jordan / David Willey, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Saqib MahmoodPakistan are likely to be without Mohammad Amir, who reported soreness in his hamstring during Sunday’s game. The veteran Wahab Riaz is the like-for-like left-arm option on the bench. Despite some criticism of their old-boy-orientated team selection, Hafeez in particular justified his retention at the age of 39 with a power-packed half-century. The rookie Haider – half of Hafeez’s age – may get his first outing of the series, probably at the expense of Shoaib Malik.Pakistan (possible): 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Haider Ali, 5 Shadab Khan, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Iftikhar Ahmed, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Shaheen Afridi

A cloudy but broadly dry evening is in store for the third and final instalment of this Manchester trilogy. The batting conditions for the opening fixture were slow and tacky as England struggled to make consistent headway, but the same strip had turned into a belter two days later once the sun had dried it out.

Stats and trivia

• If England avoid defeat in this final contest, they will secure their sixth consecutive series victory in T20Is, dating back to the visit of India July 2018.
• Pakistan, by contrast, are in danger of losing their fourth series out of five, having won 11 in a row between 2016 and 2018-19, during their rise to No.1 in the ICC rankings.
• During his innings of 69 from 36 balls on Sunday, Hafeez became the second Pakistan batsman after Shoaib Malik to reach 2000 T20I runs, and the ninth overall.
• Both Hafeez and Malik played in Pakistan’s first T20I, against England at Bristol in 2006.

“Before I became captain I didn’t feel that comfortable jumping up and down the order. But now it’s my decision I feel more at ease, say, slipping down to No. 6 and having Jos Buttler ahead of me than I would have beforehand.”
“The total was good but we didn’t go well in the bowling, credit to Malan and Morgan the way they played. We’ll learn a lot, talking to the bowlers under pressure and I will try to learn from this.”

The captain moving up the order is good for the team, but the strike rates of the other top-order batsmen needs quite a lot of work

Osman Samiuddin07-May-2019There was a time before he became captain when it mattered where Sarfaraz Ahmed batted.In the run-up to the last World Cup, it seemed like opening might be a good idea. As opener, he made 34, 65 and 32 in a three-game series against Australia not long before the tournament, but was then shunted down to seven and eight for five ODIs against New Zealand right after it.Then at the World Cup, he didn’t play Pakistan’s initial games. When they did pick him, they made him open (against South Africa’s attack by the way, on a great surface for all kinds of fast bowling). He made 49 and an unbeaten 101 in his first two goes as opener, but then four bats later he was moved down again.Then, in the English summer of 2016, he became Pakistan’s No. 5. He was a good one too: 55, 105, 38, 12 and 90 across five innings. More significantly, in a hopelessly non-vogueish batting line, he made those 300 runs at a strike rate of nearly 92.Three further innings at five – 35, 60* and 24*, strike rate 101.8, thanks – and that was that. The 24* came on October 5, 2016. In the 24 times he has batted in an ODI since, he’s ventured above six just three times.That innings was also the last he played before taking on the captaincy, so it’s not as if he’s been forced by others to not bat five. But such, presumably, is the overwhelming nature of the role that his batting, and where he bats, has become, well, somehow less important.So the fact that he has batted at five and four in Pakistan’s two 50-over warm-up games on this tour so far is significant, if only because it brings his batting finally back into focus. And that is where he plans to stay.”My aim is in England to bat four or five, throughout the World Cup,” Sarfaraz said ahead of their first ODI against England at The Oval. “We’ve come to a World Cup, it’s a long tournament so it’s good to have a stable and set batting order in which everyone knows where they are batting.”We will obviously be flexible so that when there are fewer overs left we might switch around if we need somebody as a hitter and look at sending Imad [Wasim] or Asif [Ali].”Asif Ali tries to go big•AFP

Ordinarily, this would be a good thing. Sarfaraz is not a power-hitter but he is the right side of restless in the middle overs, one of the few who weaponises running, and is innovative enough (bring back that sweep off the fast bowler). Of all the positions he’s batted in, five is, by some distance, his most productive: averaging over 50 and a strike rate of 92.And not that it’s been planned that way, but his sample sizes across the main positions he has played in – opening and then four to seven – are actually similar: ten innings as opener, nine at four, ten at five, 20 at six and 12 at seven. So his record at five really makes it a no-brainer.The only problem now is the strike rates of Pakistan’s batting above him. Fakhar Zaman is fine, but Imam-ul-Haq (80.23), Babar Azam (84.03 at three) and Haris Sohail (85.08 at four) means that Pakistan could really do with plenty more explosiveness before Sarfaraz arrives. Mohammad Hafeez and his very similar strike rate has also to be factored in once he returns from injury (which is soon).The batting has, as Sarfaraz said, become more modern than it was in 2016, but not maybe by a whole lot. “One of the issues then was that our strike rotation was poor and we’ve worked on that,” he said. “Our strike rate was low generally but if you look at Fakhar, he goes at 90-95. Babar plays long innings but when he finishes he is near 85-90. So things are better – it’s been a few years since that series and we’ve been preparing this side for the last 18 months.”What they really, desperately, want is for Asif to bolt into their squad for the World Cup. He is about the only man in or around the squad with the kind of power to really propel the second half of an ODI innings – in theory. If it hasn’t turned out that way in practice it is because opportunities have remained limited. Even then, Pakistan aren’t the kind of side that can easily overlook a strike rate of 130 in eight ODI innings and a career List A one of 109.He has, however, at best, two games to make a case. Shoaib Malik returns from his leave most likely in time for the second or third ODI and he is, for reasons that aren’t always obvious, among the first names in any Pakistan XI.Still, unlike any side other than England, Pakistan have this incredible opportunity to fine-tune their first-choice XI in precisely the conditions they will be playing the World Cup in.”It is definitely a big advantage for us, playing five top-quality ODIs before the World Cup,” Sarfaraz said. “We’re all focusing on the World Cup. But our first target is this ODI series. If we can take some confidence from this series, it will definitely help us in this World Cup.”