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Imran Tahir’s four-wicket haul applied the brakes on Sri Lanka as they fell short by 96 in their chase of 300 at The Oval

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando03-Jun-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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Agarkar: Sri Lanka’s inexperience showed

Sri Lanka had lost five ODIs to South Africa already this year, but had hoped that months later, playing for a different trophy, they could apply the lessons learned during that walloping. It wasn’t to be. The gulf in quality between these teams was borne out by the margin of South Africa’s victory: 96 runs.In fact, South Africa may reflect that despite Hashim Amla’s velvet 103 from 115 balls, and Faf du Plessis’ efficient 75, they were not quite explosive enough during the death.They had begun indifferently with the ball too, allowing a pugnacious Niroshan Dickwella to unsettle them in the Powerplay, but soon, the middle-overs mastery of Imran Tahir took grip, and Sri Lanka’s chase of 300 lay all but scuttled, as they slumped to 155 for 6 in the 30th over. In wiping the remainder of Sri Lanka’s innings out in clinical fashion, South Africa have confirmed, if there was any doubt, that they are serious contenders for the trophy. Tahir’s final figures were 4 for 27, but his effect on the match was even more substantial than those numbers lay out.Meanwhile Sri Lanka, for whom it is now a compliment that only one important catch was dropped, gleaned only minor personal positives from the match. Dickwella set the chase off to a roaring start, Upul Tharanga contributed a half-decent fifty, Kusal Perera stood firm at one end while the lower order crashed around him, and Nuwan Pradeep showcased a slowly burgeoning range of skills with the ball. But these are not the kinds of performances that win matches.The defining periods of play were the middle overs in each innings: having picked the less-aggressive spin option in Seekkuge Prasanna, Sri Lanka allowed Amla and du Plessis to prosper too easily during those overs, and with the bat, lost five wickets for 66 runs from overs 11 to 30.For Amla, who had set South Africa on course for 299 – an imposing score, given the slightly slow nature of the surface – this innings may not rank as one of his best, but it did get him to the milestone of 25 ODI hundreds in 11 fewer innings than any previous batsman had managed it. He now also sits alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara and Ricky Ponting to have 25 hundreds in both Tests and ODIs.He was cautious to begin with, as Sri Lanka delivered some exceptionally tight overs. Initially, he hovered in the crease, dabbing and squeezing his way into the innings. Not until the penultimate ball of the first Powerplay did he venture a boundary: a flick off Pradeep over the leg side. He made only 26 off the first 40 balls he faced.But following the departure of Quinton de Kock, whe nicked off to Pradeep, Amla playd with more ambition. There was a six over long-off, off Asela Gunaratne, in the 19th over, and in the 24th he slunk down the pitch to send Seekkuge Prasanna sailing over the deep midwicket fence. In between those two shots he had reached fifty, and suddenly, was scoring at close to a run a ball.His partnership with du Plessis was the most fruitful of the innings, and the pair hauled South Africa to a position of strength with their quickening 145-run stand. Amla, having provided the innings its thrust during the overs when du Plessis was feeling his way into the game, allowed his partner to make the riskier plays during the middle overs, saving for himself the role of turning the strike over. In fact, between the 24th and 43rd over – when he got out – he hit only one boundary. South Africa scored only 78 runs in the last 10 overs, thanks again to some tight bowling by Pradeep, with support from Lasith Malinga and Suranga Lakmal. Of those runs, JP Duminy contributed 38 in the space of 20 deliveries.Sri Lanka will particularly rule the rate at which their innings crashed and burned, because by the end of the first Powerplay, they had scored 55 more runs than South Africa had managed at that stage of the innings. Dickwella led this charge, flitting about the crease to carve the quicks over the offside, then jumping across to leg to whip them over leg, during his 33-ball 41. With Tharanga also batting confidently through those overs, it seemed inconceivable that Sri Lanka would not at least mount a muscular challenge to South Africa’s total.In the end, Tahir became their downfall, just as he had been during that bilateral series earlier in the year. Dinesh Chandimal got himself run-out trying to get off strike in Tahir’s first over, before Chamara Kapugedara was trapped in front by a googly three balls later. Tharanga then launched a ball into the hands of deep cover, and Asela Gunaratne squirted a catch to square leg, and pretty soon, a rapid start had turned into a procession of wickets. Perera stuck around for 66 balls and hit 44 unbeaten runs, but Sri Lanka were already out of contention for most of his stay. Tahir came back to take the final wicket, and Sri Lanka were all out in the 42nd over.

Keaton Jennings produced a superbly hard-working hundred before three late wickets put Durham on top against Somerset

Paul Edwards at Chester-le-Street10-Apr-2016
ScorecardKeaton Jennings salutes the applause after falling for 116•PA Photos

At exactly eleven o’clock on the first day of this game umpire Rob Bailey dropped his arm to his side and, one may assume, called, “Play”. Behind him at the Finchale End, the Somerset seamer Lewis Gregory composed himself and began his run-up. The ball he bowled was of a good length and on middle stump; Durham’s Mark Stoneman played it easily to midwicket. No trouble and no run either, yet such moments matter a great deal. The very many cricket fans who measure their summers by the fluctuations of the County Championship could afford a quiet smile of collective contentment. Another season.By the end of the gorgeous spring day, when an evening chill was settling on the Riverside, Gregory had four wickets in his bag and these will certainly have increased his delight. Yet his satisfaction was far exceeded by that of Keaton Jennings, who had made his first County Championship century since June 2014, and by Durham’s players in general after Chris Rushworth and Graham Onions had removed Somerset’s openers and the nightwatchman Josh Davey in the first ten overs of the visitors’ reply.Chris Rogers, of course, already knew about the potency of Durham’s seamers; he will be in no doubt about the severity of the further examination ahead of himself and James Hildreth on the second morning of this match. The swinging yorker from Onions which bowled Marcus Trescothick off his pads mocked geometry.The second morning may also be the time when the value of Jennings’ hard work becomes even plainer. He lost both Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick, neither of them very culpable, inside twelve overs but that seemed only to stiffen his determination to play within his familiar limits. Pulling and cutting whenever the opportunity presented itself, Jennings was nevertheless content to score just seven runs in the hour before lunch as a Somerset attack lacking both Overtons but including the accurate Peter Trego suddenly forbade liberties.Partnering Jennings in a third-wicket stand of 79 in 33 overs was 19-year-old Jack Burnham, whose talent was recognised by his being promoted above both Michael Richardson and Paul Collingwood in the batting order. Burnham scored three centuries in the Under-19 World Cup and his tight technique was one of the most pleasing sights on offer to home spectators as they watched in the mellow afternoon sunlight. wrote Philip Larkin, and so it is with a young batsman as he becomes accustomed and easy in the crease and becomes ever more certain that this is a professional game he is able to play.But it was also a fine afternoon for Somerset’s bowlers. Davey produced one of the balls of the day to take out Burnham’s off and middle stumps when the he had made 33 in 123 minutes and Gregory then struck twice in two balls, both of which nipped back off the seam. The first had Michael Richardson leg before for nine; the second defeated Collingwood’s slightly tardy defensive push and removed his middle stump. Three overs later Pringle drove Tim Groenewald to Davey and Durham were 172 for 6, at which point this brave new toss-less world must have seemed a pleasant place for Rogers and his bowlers.However, Jennings redoubled his resolve and found an equally obdurate partner in Usman Arshad. The pair put on 72 in 24 overs, during which Jennings reached three figures off 201 balls with 13 fours. He has probably not had to work harder in any of his five other centuries, so perhaps it was simple joy that led him to become almost cavalier for the first time in the day. Whatever the truth of the matter, he perished on one of the few occasions when he took a liberty with the bowling, top edging Davey to Trescothick. It began a clatter of wickets, four of them in 19 balls in fact, as Somerset’s bowlers, Gregory and Groenewald in particular, collected just rewards for their labours.A first-innings total of 256 seemed modest enough, albeit that it allowed Durham to collect a couple of batting bonus points. Yet it soon appeared almost daunting as Rushworth and Onions set to work in the slightly thickening light. They did so in a manner that has won Championships and the home supporters cheered every late breakthrough. They, too, remember the glory days. Suddenly it seemed rather more than six hours since Gregory had stood at the end of his run at the Finchale End, a new cricket ball in his hand and all the summer before him.

Finally, at the twelfth attempt, Surrey have their first win of the 2013 County Championship, and one that keeps their fate in their own hands.

Vithushan Ehantharajah01-Sep-2013Surrey 289 (Solanki 93, Footitt 4-50) and 218-6 (Amla 88) beat Derbyshire 219 (Linley 4-59, Edwards 3-29) and 286 (Madsen 59, Wainwright 54*, Batty 5-71) by four wickets
ScorecardGareth Batty, a captain in crisis, unrecognised by the Surrey Honours Board, finally had reason to celebrate•Getty Images

Finally, at the twelfth attempt, Surrey have their first win of the 2013 County Championship, and one that keeps their fate in their own hands.That they are battling at the foot of the table is purely down to an inability to win games rather than a propensity to lose them. There are only so many crumbs of comfort you can take from draws (eight in total) until you are left with the remnants of a whole biscuit, with none of its consistency.Nothing nourishes quite like a win, and this one that sees Surrey leapfrog Derbyshire, with a game in hand on those around them.Gareth Batty was certainly as satisfied as he has been in a tough season for him, personally. Taking on the captaincy in place of Rory Hamilton-Brown after the Tom Maynard tragedy last year and then again this season after the injury to Graeme Smith, he has lead the side for the best part of two years, yet you won’t see his name on the captain’s honours board in the Pavilion.Given the character he is, he probably could not care less, but he deserves recognition for his work behind the scenes and out in the middle, even if he is reluctant to take it.He finished off the Derbyshire innings this morning, taking all three wickets to give him five in the innings and 500 first-class scalps in his career. Not that it mattered as much as victory.”I think everyone in the changing room know that at some point they are going to have to put their hands up and win a game of cricket. Today was my day; it was just one of those things. The wickets are irrelevant – we got the twenty-odd points and that’s the only thing that matters for me, certainly.”We were the ones forcing the game all the time, so we knew if we batted time, they would have to take it on. We had a plan on how we were going to knock off the runs and it served us well.”We’ve played some very good cricket but we just couldn’t force the wins. We can take a lot of confidence from this win. You can see the look in the boys’ eyes and can see the determination to get the win. We will come out against Middlesex next week and start on the front foot – I truly believe we have the skills to start forcing results.”The difference was Hashim Amla, Surrey’s third overseas reinforcement and the number one ranked Test batsmen in the world. He has taken little time integrating himself into the club, even using a day off to come in and pass on words of wisdom to their young batsmen, who have been spoiled for choice for world-class mentors this season.It certainly wasn’t a classic Amla knock, and it could have been a different story had Alex Hughes not dropped a routine catch at cover that spared him when he had just 24.That was the second of three reprieves. The first came ten minutes before lunch when he was hit on the pads by Footitt without a run to his name. It looked to have a lot going for it, but not according to the standing umpire.He was then nearly run out at the non-strikers end later in the afternoon after some brilliant work from Wayne Madsen, who stopped a straight drive from Zander de Bruyn before managing to get in a throw while sprawled on the floor that just missed the stumps. It was rather sloppy from Amla, who had been dawdling back to his crease on a few occasions after walking in with the bowler. From then on, he was more cautious.It wasn’t so much of a masterclass, more of a taster session enticing you to sign on for more. Those here to witness the powerful shots through cover or the checked straight drives – all powered by those snappy wrists – may now subscribe to the idea that Surrey can avoid the drop. Derbyshire played their part in an engrossing encounter, but the hosts, as Batty said, were superior during vital periods.Every run David Wainwright and Tim Poynton added this morning was valuable and risk free, as their fifty partnership was brought up early on, as they continued their careful accumulation. They ran decisively, picking up a couple of threes on their way to taking Derbyshire’s lead passed 200.Poynton, who was the more fluent of the two, fell one short of a deserved half century when a delivery from Batty ballooned up off his glove, with Zafar Ansari under the helmet at bat-pad diving toward leg slip to take a smart catch. Wainwright survived through to the end of the innings to bring up his third first class fifty for the county.The chase was set – Surrey needed 217 off a minimum of 73 overs. It could not have got off to a worse start when just four runs in, Rory Burns fell in the third over thanks to a brilliant catch from Madsen at cover; Burns met it well, as he does, but the Derbyshire skipper managed to dive to his right and clutch on to the ball with his right hand, before landing safely on his side without losing it. Two balls later, Arun Harinath was also back in the dressing room when he nicked Higginbottom to Chanderpaul at second slip, for a seven-ball duck.A long-form specialist, Harinath played just two games in the YB40 and did not feature at all in Surrey’s FLt20 programme; instead, tiding himself over with 2nd XI cricket. The Championship break has done him no good, as his binary return of 1,0,1,0 in the last four innings indicates.But with Amla bearing the brunt of the run-scoring, all that was required were contributions around him. Vikram Solanki was the first to share the burden with 44 of an 84-run partnership before he was adjudged lbw.De Bruyn played well for 31 before needlessly swiping at a wide ball from Hughes, who was trying desperately to make amends for his costly drop. An 18 for Steven Davies took them to 200 leaving Ansari and Batty to pick off the remaining 17 runs – each greeted with cheers. When Ansari completed the run chase with a boundary off a Burgoyne full toss, cheers turned to song.By Batty’s calculations – he admits he is no mathematician – a win away to Somerset and one from games against Middlesex next week, Warwickshire or Yorkshire should be enough.Derbyshire travel to Taunton first, before meeting Durham who have emerged later as a big threat to Yorkshire at the top of Division One. Having shown immense character to beat Sussex and Middlesex, this defeat is a big setback and leaves them at the mercy of others. The fight-back, as impressive as it was, was probably too late. Surrey might have timed theirs just right.

Yorkshire or Worcestershire will make a first appearance at T20 finals day after the two teams were drawn against each other in the last eight of the Friends Life t20

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2012

Friends Life t20 quarter-finals draw

• Nottinghamshire v Hampshire

• Somerset v Essex

• Sussex v Gloucestershire

• Yorkshire v Worcestershire

Yorkshire or Worcestershire will make a first appearance at T20 finals day after the two teams were drawn against each other in the last eight of the Friends Life t20. Worcestershire, who qualified from the Midlands/Wales/West Group despite losing to Somerset, will travel to Headingley on either July 24 or 25, after Yorkshire secured top spot in the North Group. Neither side has previously reached the last four in nine seasons of domestic T20.The final round of group games saw several issues still to be decided, particularly in the Midlands/Wales/West Group, where four teams remained in contention for a quarter-final spot. In the end, Warwickshire’s defeat at home to Glamorgan cost them dear, as Gloucestershire grabbed second place with victory in a rain-ruined game at Wantage Road and Worcestershire’s net run-rate secured them third.Essex secured the other wildcard spot, as one of the two best third-placed sides, and a quarter-final at Somerset, despite not seeing a ball bowled in their game against Hampshire. Rain overnight in Southampton had left the pitch in a soggy, sorry state and the match was eventually abandoned at around 5pm. The point gained by Essex meant Durham had to beat Lancashire in the North Group and secure a turnaround in their net run-rate to progress – but they lost two wickets in the final over, needing six to win, as the match was tied.The West End washout denied Hampshire the chance of securing a home draw as the second-placed side with the best record – that reward went to their quarter-final opponents, Nottinghamshire, who crushed the deposed champions, Leicestershire, to amass 14 points in the North Group. Sussex suffered their first defeat of the tournament, at home to Surrey, but had already won the South Group and will therefore take on Gloucestershire at Hove. Finals day will take place at Cardiff on August 25.

Gary Kirsten’s support staff, Russell Domingo and Allan Donald, have been preparing South Africa’s new season that begins in October

Firdose Moonda01-Aug-2011The first few letters of the latest chapter in Gary Kirsten’s coaching career will be written on Monday when the former India coach officially starts work in his home country, South Africa. Kirsten’s contract, and that of his assistant Russell Domingo, comes in to effect on August 1, but they will have a gentle easing in to their new jobs.The national team, who are in the middle of a seven-month break from the game, will only convene in four weeks’ time, effectively giving Kirsten more time to devise strategies. “We will have a camp towards the end of August where we will be workshopping ideas for the new season,” Allan Donald, South Africa bowling coach told ESPNCricinfo. “There will probably be no cricket played in that time, just a lot of planning.”Donald has not had the same break as Kirsten and Domingo have, and started work a month ago, when he went with the A-team to Zimbabwe. Donald travelled as the assistant to his predecessor Vincent Barnes, who now works as High Performance coach, with a specific view to looking at the next generation of bowlers in the country.The short ODI tour came at an awkward time, in the middle of the South African winter, and many of the players had to shake off the cobwebs before getting back into the groove. Donald was concerned that the team only managed to bowl out their opposition once in five matches. “We restricted sides, but we could not bowl teams out and we never really threatened,” he said. “Everyone was a bit underdone. Australia A spent three weeks together before then, we only had three days, but I fully expect the structures to change now that we have Vinnie and Corrie [van Zyl] at the High Performance Centre.”While Kirsten and Domingo’s views on the way forward for South African cricket will be known over the next few weeks, Donald has already outlined his mission. “We need to find a second wave of bowlers to Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. That will be vital. Those two need to be challenged because that will make them even more potent,” he said. He identified left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell as one of the bowlers who will form a crucial part of the team’s future plans. “He needs to make an impact and stake a Test claim.”Donald has also been working with the bowlers at his home franchise, the Knights, in Bloemfontein and will soon start “going to the other franchises to talk to the bowlers there”. He has been in regular telephonic and email communication with Kirsten, working on compiling reports on some of players who are on the fringes of the national side.Domingo, who is the only one of the three to have coached in the franchise set up, has been working on similar dossiers. “I’ve communicated with Gary about some ideas I’ve got for players around the country,” he said. “I’ve also been in close touch with Vinnie Barnes, and have been following how the players have been doing in the A-side and on the [English] county circuit.”In between compiling the database of players that Kirsten will scrutinise during the course of the next month, Domingo has spent the winter “taking the kids to school and fetching them and fishing a lot.” He will still be able to do that until the end of August, because only then does the real preparation for the future begin. South Africa’s season kicks off with a Twenty20 on October 13 against Australia in Cape Town.

Eoin Morgan and Ajmal Shahzad have retained their places in England’s Test squad for the first match of the four-Test series at Trent Bridge next week

Cricinfo staff25-Jul-2010Eoin Morgan and Ajmal Shahzad have retained their places in England’s Test squad for the first match of the four-Test series at Trent Bridge next week, but there is no place for Ravi Bopara, who has scored back-to-back hundreds for Essex in the County Championship, or Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan.Middlesex seamer Steven Finn returns to the England squad following a successful Test series against Bangladesh, while Shahzad has been given a chance to build on his Test debut from the same series, having overcome an ankle problem that limited him to four overs in his most recent England outing, the third ODI against Bangladesh at Edgbaston two weeks ago.National Selector, Geoff Miller, said: “We have picked a very strong squad for the first Test against a Pakistan side that will be high on confidence following their recent win against Australia.”We’ve been encouraged by the form shown by a number of England players involved in County Championship matches this week and those that are coming back from injury or rest, such as Kevin Pietersen, have been working very hard ahead of the first Test next week.”Shahzad’s selection ahead of Bresnan is an acknowledgment of the role that swing bowling is likely to play in the coming series, especially at Trent Bridge where the ball habitually moves through the air, and against a Pakistan attack that includes the precocious 18-year-old Mohammad Aamer who, along with Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul, devastated Australia’s batting line-up in the recent second Test at Headingley.While Bresnan’s stamina and discipline earned him admirers in tough conditions in Bangladesh earlier in the year, and augur well for a role on unforgiving surfaces such as Adelaide on the fast-approaching Ashes tour, Shahzad’s ability to reverse-swing the ball, which he showcased to excellent effect at Old Trafford on debut, has earned him a chance to press for a permanent role as England’s first-change quick bowler.The attack will be led by the mercurial James Anderson – another man who can swing the ball to devastating effect, when the conditions are right – and Stuart Broad, whose confidence is high after a career-best haul of 8 for 52 against Warwickshire in the County Championship this week.Morgan, meanwhile, has been given another opportunity to state his Test credentials, after indifferent scores of 44 and 37 in his first two outings against Bangladesh. With Paul Collingwood slotting back into the squad after being rested for the last two Tests, Morgan had looked likely to make way, until Ian Bell suffered the broken foot at Bristol that has ruled him out of the full four-Test series.”Bell’s untimely foot injury during the NatWest Series was obviously a disappointing blow but he is now focused on his rehabilitation and should make a full recovery in due course. Ian’s absence provides other batsmen with the chance to impress against a world class Pakistan bowling attack.”England squad Andrew Strauss (capt), James Anderson, Stuart Broad,
Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Steven Finn, Eoin Morgan, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior (wk), Ajmal Shahzad, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott

Dismal forecast in Nottingham raises prospect of shared trophy between Somerset and Glamorgan

Vithushan Ehantharajah22-Sep-2024Somerset vs Glamorgan – no play possibleThe 2024 Metro Bank Final between Somerset and Glamorgan has been forced into a reserve day after no play was possible on Sunday at Trent Bridge.Heavy rains and thunderstorms across the United Kingdom were felt particularly harshly in the Midlands, meaning not even the toss was possible as the pitch and square remained under covers, with consistent showers preventing any attempt at a clean-up.The teams will return on Monday to attempt a full 50-overs contest, but more inclement weather is expected. In the event of a no-result, Somerset (50-over champions in 2019) and Glamorgan (2021 champions) would share the trophy. Fortunately, there will be enough medals for both teams due to a surplus from last year.Previously, in such circumstances, the winner would have been decided in a bowl-out. However, the ECB removed that option ahead of the 2024 season when introducing reserve days across all men’s and women’s limited-overs finals. Speaking in November, ECB operations manager Alan Fordham had hoped they would not be required: “Every knockout match has a reserve day, but it’s remarkable how little reserve days are actually required,” he said. “Hopefully, I’m not leaving myself a hostage to fortune.”It will be the third occurrence of a reserve day being used for a men’s List A final, and the first use of one in men’s domestic cricket since the Vitality Blast Final in 2020. Last summer’s Charlotte Edwards Cup also had to be completed on the reserve day.Play was eventually abandoned without a ball being bowled at 2.33pm – when the rain was at its worst – as the time needed to dry the ground would have exceeded the 4.02 cut-off point. Had any play been possible, the match would have begun as a 50-overs-a-side affair and spilled over into Monday before any reduction in the playing conditions would have been implemented.For Somerset, the wait for silverware goes on – albeit for another 24 hours – with the One-Day Cup now the only trophy standing in a bid for hat-trick of titles that was derailed last week. Last Saturday’s defeat in the Blast final to Gloucestershire was followed by defeat to Lancashire which handed Surrey their third consecutive County Championship with a round to spare.Glamorgan, meanwhile, could do with something to cheer. They failed to make it out of the South Group in the Blast and are currently second-bottom in Division Two heading into the last round.Both teams brought three coaches’ worth of fans along on Sunday. Around 200 Somerset fans set off from Taunton at 6.10am, while Glamorgan had two buses leaving Cardiff at 6am, and one from Swansea which arrived on Saturday and will remain overnight in the hope that Monday’s forecast is a dud.

Bangladesh ODI captain makes surprise announcement a day after losing to Afghanistan in Chattogram

Mohammad Isam06-Jul-2023In a surprise development, Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s ODI captain, has retired from international cricket, barely three months before the World Cup, and bringing to a sudden end a glittering 16-year international career.Surrounded by a throng of reporters, Tamim was extremely emotional and in tears as he made the announcement at a press conference he arranged in Chattogram on Thursday. It came a day after Bangladesh lost to Afghanistan in the first of three ODIs.”This is the end for me,” he said. “I have given my best. I have tried my best. I am retiring from international cricket from this moment. Yesterday against Afghanistan was my last international game. It was not a sudden decision. I was thinking about the different reasons. I don’t want to mention here. I have spoken to my family members about it. I thought this is the right time for me to retire from international cricket.”I need to thank a few people, which they deserve. I have always said that I played cricket to fulfil my father’s dream. So I am not sure how much I have made him proud throughout these 16 years of my international career.”There are a lot of other people that I need to thank. My youngest (uncle), his name is Akbar Khan. I held his hands to go to my first cricket tournament. I thank him and his family. I thank Tapan , a coach in MA Aziz Stadium, who was my coach in my childhood. I thank all the players I played with from the U-13, U-15, U-17, U-19s, A team, Premier League, NCL and national team. Especially my national-team colleagues. The cricket board gave me the opportunity to represent the country for so long. I have captained Bangladesh too. I thank them as well.”I don’t have much to say. One thing I will definitely say is, I tried my best. I did try my best. Maybe I was not good enough or good enough. I don’t know. But I tried my 100% whenever I was in the field.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“There are a lot of other things I want to say, but as you can see I am almost unable to speak. But I hope you respect the situation. It is not an easy situation to speak. Quitting international cricket is not easy. I hope you understand. I am sorry to call you on such a short notice. I thank you all in the media.”I also want to thank the fans. Your love and faith in me inspired me to give my very best for Bangladesh. I want to ask for your prayers for the next chapter of my life. Please keep me in your prayers.”Whoever has helped me to grow as a cricketer and human being, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. My mother, my brother, my wife and two children. They suffered a lot in my journey. They also had much to cherish. I thank them as well. I have nothing more to say.”Tamim chose not to go into the reasons behind his decision, asking only for focus to stay on the team.”It is the end. At least for international cricket. Let’s not poke too much about it. ‘Why, why, what is it, what else could have happened.’ I have always said that the team is bigger than any individual. Let’s focus on the team. Two more games to go in the series. I think we should win. There are two major trophies.”Tamim, 34, had retired from T20Is around the same time last year. His last Test was Bangladesh’s one-off match against Ireland in April.The BCB hasn’t named a successor for the ODI captaincy – it didn’t name a vice-captain ahead of the series – or responded to Tamim’s announcement. Litton Das was Bangladesh’s ODI captain against India in December last year when Tamim was injured. Shakib Al Hasan is the regular Test and T20I captain, and is the favourite to take over the role in ODIs now.Tamim began his international career as a teenager with his ODI debut in February 2007, and made a match-winning half-century in Bangladesh’s iconic win against India in the World Cup in the West Indies. He finishes with the most ODI runs (8313) and hundreds (14) for his country, and is the third-highest run-scorer among current cricketers, behind Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.As a Test batter, Tamim scored 5134 runs – the second highest for Bangladesh – at an average of 38.89, with ten centuries in 70 matches.As ODI captain, Tamim has a marginally higher win percentage than Mashrafe Mortaza, who is considered Bangladesh’s best leader. Tamim won 21 out of 37 ODIs as captain, and he led Bangladesh to a third-place finish in the ODI Super League, ensuring their direct qualification for the World Cup in India this October and November. He also captained Bangladesh in one Test match, against New Zealand in 2017.

Xavier Marshall, Vatsal Vaghela and Jessy Singh have been left out, while Rusty Theron and Cameron Stevenson make their comebacks

Peter Della Penna15-May-2022Legspin-bowling allrounder Yasir Mohammad, who impressed for USA on his T20I debut in a famous victory over Ireland in December, has parlayed that success into a call-up in USA’s 14-man ODI squad for the back-to-back home ODI tri-series as part of Cricket World Cup League Two starting on May 28 in Texas.Yasir, 19, was not initially part of the USA squad that was named for the two T20Is and three ODIs against Ireland, but was rushed into the T20I squad after a Covid-19 outbreak in the camp on the eve of the series. He made the most of his opportunity by bowling a nerveless, albeit wicketless, spell at the death to clinch a 26-run win for USA. Yasir, the New Jersey teenager, came back a day later to take 2 for 32 in a nine-run loss, and then impressed at an exhibition quadrangular series in April between a USA XI and a trio of Major League Cricket invitational squads at Prairie View, Texas.

USA 14-man ODI squad

Monank Patel (capt, wk), Rahul Jariwala (wk), Aaron Jones, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Jaskaran Malhotra, Sushant Modani, Yasir Mohammad, Saurabh Netravalkar, Nisarg Patel, Gajanand Singh, Cameron Stevenson, Steven Taylor, Rusty Theron

Yasir is one of several changes to USA’s squad that was picked for the three-match ODI series against Ireland, which was eventually cancelled before the first match could take place because of logistical issues arising out of the Covid-19 outbreak. California left-arm spinner Vatsal Vaghela, who made his T20I debut in the second T20I against Ireland and was in line for an ODI debut a few days later, has been left out to make room for the wristspin offered by Yasir, with two other left-arm spinners – Nisarg Patel and Nosthush Kenjige – being the incumbents.Right-arm medium pacer Jessy Singh has also been left out along with opening batter Xavier Marshall to make room for the return of the pace duo of Rusty Theron and Cameron Stevenson. The two have not played ODIs for USA since the winless tour of Nepal in February 2020, though Theron has remained a part of USA’s T20I squad through their recent undefeated run at the ICC Americas T20 World Cup Qualifier, played in Antigua in November. Stevenson, a dual citizen based in his native Victoria, made himself unavailable for USA because of work and personal commitments in Australia during the pandemic, but has been lured to Texas for this tour after being offered a short-term central contract, according to multiple sources.USA will host Scotland and the UAE in the first of the consecutive tri-series in Texas before welcoming Nepal and Oman for the latter half of fixtures, which run through to June 15. They will be held in the south Houston suburb of Pearland at Moosa Stadium, which will become the second ODI-accredited facility in America after Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida.

The senior batsman has been given a detailed training programme for his 14 days of quarantine in Sydney

Varun Shetty12-Dec-2020Rohit Sharma has been declared “clinically fit” by the medical team at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru after his three-week rehabilitation stint for a hamstring injury.On Saturday, the BCCI issued a statement clarifying that Sharma had been assessed for his batting, fielding, and running between the wickets, and that the NCA medical staff had found his physical fitness “satisfactory”.As reported by ESPNcricinfo on Friday, Sharma has cleared the NCA’s assessment and is expected to fly to Sydney from Mumbai via Dubai on Sunday to begin a 14-day hard quarantine outside of India’s current bio-secure bubble. The statement also said that Sharma would have to, nonetheless, continue to work on his endurance during his hard quarantine in Sydney – his participation in the final two Tests will depend on the assessment of his “fitness status” by the Indian team’s medical staff.Related

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Sharma has also been given a detailed training programme for the period of quarantine.If all goes well, Sharma will be available for India’s last two Tests – of the four-match series – in Australia in January.While there is the question on whether Sharma will come out match ready after the 14-day quarantine, the eight-day gap between the second and third Tests – which begins on January 7 – is understood to have encouraged the management to have the senior batsman in the mix.This official communication from the BCCI potentially ends a weeks-long saga about Sharma’s fitness and availability for the Australia tour, a subject that had left even India captain Virat Kohli confused last month.Sharma had initially been left out of the tour because of the hamstring injury he picked up during the IPL, with the BCCI saying he would be “monitored”. Sharma sat out four matches for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL at the time, but returned – after being left out of the squads for the Australia tour – to lead his team to the title. At the time, on November 9, the BCCI had sad that the selectors had decided to “rest” Sharma from the white-ball leg in Australia in order for him to get more focused rehabilitation at the NCA and be in contention for the Tests. He was subsequently named in the squad for the last two Tests, subject to how his rehabilitation went.Sharma was the incumbent opener before missing India’s last Test series, in New Zealand earlier this year, also because of injury. India currently have a number of opening options with the squad as they prepare for the start of the Tests, but Sharma is expected to bolster the line-up, particularly after Kohli goes on paternity leave after the first Test in Adelaide.