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Bangladesh Women’s team captain Salma Khatun has said that the team readily agreed to tour Pakistan after the BCB had asked them for their approval earlier this month

Mohammad Isam27-Sep-2015Bangladesh Women’s team captain Salma Khatun has said that the team had readily agreed to tour Pakistan after the BCB had asked them for their approval earlier this month. She said the team is focused on playing cricket in Pakistan rather than the security concerns off the field.”We were not put under any pressure to play in Pakistan,” Salma said. “We are going according to our wishes. We will be given the highest level of security. We are going there to play cricket, so we are not concerned about what is happening anywhere else in the country.”

Bangladesh Women’s tour of Pakistan schedule

September 30 – 1st T20
October 2 – 2nd T20
October 4 – 1st ODI
October 6 – 2nd ODI

Salma also stressed that they have been assured the highest level of security during the nine-day visit, and that their lack of international cricket in the last 12 months meant they were keen to play the series.”The board wanted to know our decision, whether we want to or don’t want to go. We wanted to tour any country to play cricket, since we haven’t played any matches since the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. There is no fear among us. We know that there won’t be any trouble in the area where we will be playing.”The team will leave Dhaka for Karachi at 1.35pm on Monday afternoon and will stay at the Southend Cricket Club in Karachi. Bangladesh Women will take on Pakistan Women there in two T20s on September 30 and October 2, before playing two one-day matches on October 4 and 6. The team will return home on October 7.In addition to BCB vice-president Mahbubul Anam and women’s wing chairman MA Awal, former Bangladesh captain Shafiq-ul-Haq will accompany the team in what is seen as a high-profile tour.Haq had been the manager on the men’s tour on a number of occasions, most notably their last tour to Pakistan. He said that if the team members want, they can even venture outside the Southend Club with adequate security measures.

Doug Bracewell, the New Zealand seamer, will be added to the New Zealand squad for the final Test in Auckland if he gets through Central Districts’ Ford Trophy game against Canterbury on Wednesday unscathed

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland18-Mar-2013Doug Bracewell could feature in the final Test against England if he comes through his Ford Trophy one-day outing on Wednesday with Mike Hesson, the New Zealand coach, admitting that his bowlers were “hanging by a thread” at one point during the Wellington encounter.By the time England were bowled out for 465 on the second day at the Basin Reserve, New Zealand had spent 317 overs in the field since the beginning of the visitors’ second innings in Dunedin. Although Hesson said they had all come through unscathed, and felt it had worked in New Zealand’s favour that they did not field for the final three days in Wellington, he acknowledged the demands of three Tests in three weeks on his pacemen.”It’s been great for us that we haven’t had to bowl the last three days,” he said. “Our guys were hanging on by a thread there for a while. It’s great to see they’ve had a decent break. I assume they’ll be fine but we need to show some due diligence.”The three we’ve got have done a great job, so we’ve basically brought in Doug and got Ian [Butler] there as cover. We’ll see how guys scrub up in Auckland because to play three Tests on the bounce is hard work for any seam attack.”Neil Wagner has nine wickets in the series, but Trent Boult and Tim Southee have just four and one respectively for their efforts. Bracewell, 22, missed the first two Tests after cutting his foot cleaning up glass after a party at his house the day before linking up with the squad in Dunedin. He had been expected to feature in the first-choice attack for the series having taken 46 in 15 Tests. There was hope he would recover in time for Wellington, but has only recently been able to put his full weight back on the foot.”It’s certainly good to have him back in the mix,” Hesson said. “It was an unfortunate incident. Hopefully he can get through tomorrow, 10 overs under his belt, and we will see how he scrubs up.”Another bowler making a comeback from injury, although much further from a national recall than Bracewell, is Daniel Vettori. He remains hopeful of being available for the England tour in May and, with potentially only one domestic game left in the season, is hoping to use the IPL to gain further match fitness.However, while Hesson said that New Zealand had missed Vettori in recent times – he has not played internationally since the World Twenty20 and his previous Test was in West Indies last July – he was also strong in his praise of Bruce Martin who has filled the spinner role in this series and claimed nine wickets in his first two Tests.”All signs are he’s made good progress so we’ll see how he goes over the next few days,” Hesson said. “We’ve missed him for six months, not only the experience he brings but also the skill he brings. Let’s hope his recovery over the next few weeks goes well. To be fair Bruce Martin hasn’t put a foot wrong…he has certainly shown that he’s a good campaigner.”Two other members already in the Test squad who have not feature in the series, Tom Latham and Ian Butler, will play their Ford Trophy games on Wednesday before joining the national squad for the final Test. The deciding Test in Auckland begins Friday.New Zealand squad for Auckland Test: Brendon McCullum (capt), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell (pending getting through Ford Trophy game on Wednesday), Dean Brownlie, Ian Butler, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham, Bruce Martin, Hamish Rutherford, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (wk), Kane Williamson.

The PCB has said it will try to retain Aaqib Javed in the national team’s support staff though he has been shortlisted for the job of UAE coach

Umar Farooq12-Feb-2012The PCB has said it will try to retain Aaqib Javed in the national team’s support staff though he has been shortlisted for the job of UAE coach. Javed’s contract with the PCB as Pakistan’s bowling coach ends on February 29.ESPNcricinfo understands that Javed wants to move on from the Pakistan role because of the heftier salary offered by UAE and to give his children more opportunities. Incidentally, the current UAE coach, former Pakistan fast bowler Kabir Khan, wants to shift out of the UAE as he said he was unable to find a suitable school for his children.There has been no official word from Aaqib, but the PCB wants to extend his contract as a specialist bowling coach with the three-man coaching panel likely to be headed by Dav Whatmore. “His name was recommended by the coach committee as a bowling coach for the Pakistan cricket team,” the PCB Chairman, Zaka Ashraf, told ESPNcricinfo. “Though his contract finishes at the end of the England series, we are all set to extend his contract and offer him a long-term role as bowling coach.”He hasn’t informed us or tendered his resignation to the PCB but if he is thinking of it, then we have to sit down and talk to him. He is a qualified coach and a dedicated person. Obviously UAE has offered him a job considering his performance with Pakistan.”I was informed that Javed is keen to take up the UAE job to give his family more opportunities and that is obviously his own choice and we can’t interfere in his personal matters. I definitely won’t stop him for wanting to boost his career but we will obviously want to inform him what we have decided for him about his future with Pakistan. Ultimately the decision is his own.”Aaqib has been involved in coaching for a decade now, working his way up to a national role after starting at the grassroots level. He was earlier in contention for the job of Pakistan head coach but his chances faded as the coach committee wanted a foreigner for the role.”We had to choose a foreign coach – who actually is more qualified than our coaches in Pakistan,” Ashraf said. “His job is not only to coach the player but will also help raise the level of our coaches. That will make our pool of coaches useful not only for Pakistan but for the rest of the world as well.”

The 2011 World Cup’s format was designed keeping in mind the commercial significance of the top teams making it to the knock-out stages

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-2011The format for the 2011 World Cup was designed to give the top teams the best chance of qualifying for the knockout stage, tournament director Ratnakar Shetty has said.”Economically, we all know that India is the financial powerhouse of cricket,” Shetty said in an interview with . “The exit of India and Pakistan from the 2007 World Cup was a disaster for the tournament. The sponsors, broadcasters, tour operators, West Indies board – all lost a lot of money. The format was changed in such a way that it gives all the top teams a chance to compete. We have gone back to the same format that was used in 1996.”Shetty was satisfied with the improvements at the Wankhede Stadium, one of the four World Cup venues that were running behind schedule. Talking about the Eden Gardens fiasco, he said the BCCI and ICC could not have averted the situation by being more involved. “Unlike in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh where the Boards run the show completely, in India, the BCCI doesn’t run daily cricket. In our case, the stadia are completely managed by the state associations. The ICC has documented the progress of each venue. The BCCI monitored the reports of the venue, but to ensure that the work is completed was the responsibility of the state association.”Apart from security, Shetty identified filling up Indian grounds for non-India matches as the biggest organisational challenge posed by the tournament. “We have directed all the state associations to throw the gates open to the school children to enjoy a good day out. The tickets have been very reasonably priced too. The ICC is running a lot of contests, and free tickets will be issued to the contest winners, so in our capacity we are doing the best to ensure that the stadia will not see empty stands.”Shetty also stressed that the Indian board made a conscious effort to make the Indian grounds more spectator friendly, something that hasn’t been a concern in the past. “To a large extent, the BCCI have taken the spectators for granted, because irrespective of who India plays, the crowds turn up,” he said. “There was a serious discussion in the board to make the stadiums spectator-friendly. We didn’t want to go by just the numbers. Wankhede’s capacity could have been increased, but we have reduced it from 45,000 to 32,000. Similarly the Eden Gardens capacity has been reduced to 65,000. There is more space between the seats.”The toilet facilities, food courts and the media facilities have all been given a massive facelift, so I am sure people will not complain this time. The IPL has brought a lot of female fans to cricket. Female following has tremendously increased, so we have taken all this into account before redeveloping the stadia.”

Ryan ten Doeschate again showed why he is so important to Netherlands as his unbeaten 129, his 15th first-class century, led them out of a tough situation on the opening day against Kenya

Cricinfo staff20-Feb-2010
ScorecardRyan ten Doeschate’s 15th first-class hundred helped Netherlands reach 276 for 6 on the first day•ICC

Ryan ten Doeschate again showed why he is so important to Netherlands as his unbeaten 129, his 15th first-class century, led them out of a tough situation on the opening day against Kenya. The visitors stumbled to 75 for 4, but ten Doeschate turned the innings around alongside useful contributions from captain Peter Borren and wicketkeeper Atse Buurman.Play didn’t start until after lunch due to overnight rain and Kenya’s seamers made use of some early movement to trouble Netherlands’ top order. Elijah Otieno removed Eric Szwarczynski with his second ball and Bas Zuiderent was caught behind for 3 off Nehemiah Odhiambo. Alexei Kervezee played positively for his 42 but when he and Nick Statham fell in quick succession Kenya were in control.However, ten Doeschate changed the complexion of the day as he added 113 for the fifth wicket with Borren (44). ten Doeschate found the boundary regularly and also cleared the ropes four times. Kenya struck two quick blows to leave Netherlands on 193 for 6, but ten Doeschate found valuable support from Buurman.The pair added an unbroken 83 for the seventh wicket to guide Netherlands through o the close as ten Doeschate reached his hundred from 141 balls with a tight contest shaping up between two teams currently in mid-table and needing a victory to make a push for the top.

Match abandoned without a ball bowled to dent teams’ qualification prospects

ECB Reporters Network13-Jun-2024Western Storm vs Thunder – no resultHeavy rain in Cardiff severely dented the prospects of either Western Storm or Thunder qualifying for the latter stages of the Charlotte Edwards Cup.Needing to win if they were to make up lost ground on those above them in the table, the two sides were frustrated by the elements that caused their showdown at Sophia Gardens to be abandoned without a ball being bowled.With no opportunity to remove the covers and Glamorgan and Hampshire Hawks scheduled to contest a Vitality Blast South Group fixture at 6.30pm, umpires Anna Harris and Ant Harris had no choice but to call the women’s game off at 3.25pm.Already trailing runaway leaders The Blaze and South East Stars by a considerable distance, Thunder remain in fifth place, with ground to make up on Southern Vipers and Central Sparks, who have a game in hand. Cast adrift at the wrong end of the table, Storm are effectively out of the running.Thunder will hope for better conditions when they return to action against Central Sparks at Edgbaston tomorrow, while Storm will attempt to secure only their second win of the campaign when they meet fellow strugglers Northern Diamonds at Headingley on Sunday.

He backs the group to suss out Indian conditions with the World Cup around the corner

Deivarayan Muthu17-Jan-20231:52

Latham says NZ have done their homework on Chahal and Kuldeep

Trent Boult is currently in action for MI Emirates in the ILT20 in the UAE, having turned down his New Zealand central contract. And Tim Southee has been wrapped in cotton wool ahead of the home Test series against England in February. The last time New Zealand played an ODI without both Boult and Southee against a top-ranked team was back in 2016 against Australia in Hamilton.Ish Sodhi’s ankle injury, sustained during the third ODI in Karachi, has depleted New Zealand’s attack even further. In the absence of a number of seniors, including regular white-ball captain Kane Williamson, who has also been rested for this India tour, New Zealand are looking to give some of their fringe players a run and find out if they could fit into their ODI World Cup plans.Related

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“Anytime that Tim, Trent and Kane aren’t in the side or aren’t with us, it obviously leaves a massive hole for us,” New Zealand captain Tom Latham said ahead of the first ODI in Hyderabad. “On the other hand, it presents opportunities for the other guys that have been around the squad for a while. I think we’re lucky that pretty much everyone has played international cricket in this side, which is a bonus and over Covid, it presented opportunities to other guys. When guys like that have a break, it’s the other guys’ turn to step up and have an opportunity and we’re lucky enough to have someone like Lockie Ferguson who has played a lot of cricket here in India and I’m sure the guys will be leaning on his experiences as best as possible.”On Tuesday, it was Ferguson, who has had IPL stints with Rising Pune Supergiant, Kolkata Knight Riders and reigning champions Gujarat Titans, who led the bowlers’ meeting. He opened the bowling for New Zealand in their last series – a 2-1 win over Pakistan – and is likely to do so again with two out of Doug Bracewell, Henry Shipley and Jacob Duffy supporting him. This series is an opportunity for them and the rest of the group to suss out the Indian conditions before New Zealand return for the ODI World Cup later this year.

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“This is our last opportunity to play in these conditions before the World Cup in October and November, which you know, isn’t too far away,” Latham said. “So, I guess for us it’s [about] taking as many learnings as we can from these conditions and I said we’re lucky enough that most of the guys have played in these Indian conditions before. I don’t think we’ve played a one-dayer at any of the venues we have been playing at, so for us, it’s getting used to the conditions and familiarising ourselves with different surfaces that we may be faced with during the World Cup.”Latham also drew confidence from New Zealand’s ODI success in Karachi, where they bounced back from being 0-1 down to secure the three-match series. The pitches in Pakistan were slow and grippy, but the ones in India could be much better for batting, as was the case during the recent series against Sri Lanka, where the home side put up two scores of 370-plus in three games.Doug Bracewell is one of three NZ quicks in the running to partner Lockie Ferguson in Hyderabad•Associated Press

“The cricket we played in Pakistan was really good,” Latham said. “It was somewhere we have never toured before for a long time and to come up with a series win where it is difficult to play was really nice. I guess for us coming here, it’s about trying to adapt to conditions the best we can. The surfaces here will potentially be better than what we had in Pakistan; so just trying to stick to our plans as best as we can and I’m sure it’ll be a competitive series. Every time we play India, it’s always a competitive series and we’re looking forward to what’s coming up.”While New Zealand’s bowling attack appears light, they have some excellent players of spin in their batting line-up. During the Test series in Pakistan, Latham and Devon Conway had their eyes locked on mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed’s hand – both from the striker’s end and the non-striker’s end. New Zealand will now come up against Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav though the chances of both the wristspinners playing together are slim. Washington Sundar’s offspin is more likely to be matched up with New Zealand’s left-hander heavy line-up.”As I said before, we’re lucky enough we’ve played these guys and we’ve played India a lot – whether it would be here or back home in recent years,” Latham said. “So, as I said we plan for these guys with our scouting as best as possible and talking to the guys that have played here before – whether it’s in the IPL or different series in terms of trying to read their different deliveries. We will certainly be doing our best to try and negate them [Chahal and Kuldeep]. Obviously spin is quite a big thing over here in India, and we’re really excited about the three games coming up in the one-day series.”

ECB issues joint statement with PCA ahead of further Ashes discussions

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jul-2021The ECB has issued a joint statement with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) saying it is committed to “putting player and staff welfare as the main priority” in the planning process for this winter’s Ashes tour of Australia.Concerns have been raised about the nature of the touring party England will send, amid suggestions that families may be prevented from joining the group at any stage. With the Ashes set to follow on from a T20 World Cup in the UAE, some of England’s senior, multi-format players with young children, such as Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler, could face months of separation from their loved ones.The ECB held talks this week with the England players and representatives of the Team England Player Partnership. Further discussions are planned with Cricket Australia before tour arrangements are finalised, with the ECB stressing the importance of sending a team “to compete with the best players and at highest possible standard” as England’s men attempt to regain the Ashes.Related

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“This week, several meetings have been held between the England men’s players, ECB and Team England Player Partnership to discuss provisional plans for the tour of Australia later in the year,” the statement said.”All parties are collaborating and will continue to work together to understand protocols around bubble environments, family provision and quarantine rules that will be in place for the tour during the current Covid-19 pandemic.”With player and management’s welfare paramount, the ECB will discuss planning and operational requirements with Cricket Australia in the coming weeks and how they seek to implement their policies in partnership with state and federal governments.”All stakeholders are committed to putting player and staff welfare as the main priority and finding the right solutions that enables the England team to compete with the best players and at the highest possible standard that the Ashes series deserves.”Earlier in the week, after former England captain Michael Vaughan used his column in the to suggest Cricket Australia should consider delaying the Ashes rather than host a weakened touring team, Dom Bess became one of the first England players to speak on the subject, saying he would “never, ever turn down” an Ashes touring spot.Australia’s Covid-19 entry and quarantine rules are among the strictest in the world, with a number of English players pulling out of last year’s Big Bash over concerns around bubble fatigue.Kevin Pietersen, the former England batter, last month described the idea of a four-month trip to Australia without access to families as “utter madness, suggesting that players who withdrew would have his support.

The Eminent Persons Group report, however, noted still-prevalent inequalities, especially at school level

Firdose Moonda11-Jun-2020Cricket South Africa has exceeded its annual transformation target for the 2018-19 season though both the men’s and women’s national teams fell slightly short of their self-assigned percentages for generic black representation. This data was published in the latest Eminent Persons Group (EPG) report, which assesses the level of transformation across South Africa’s sporting codes. CSA has improved on its performance each year since 2016, when it was officially sanctioned by the sports ministry for failing to meet targets.The process of transformation, aimed at addressing the legacy of Apartheid and colonialism in South Africa, is applied across a broad range of sectors in the country and measures the number of people of colour (called generic black) and the number of black Africans represented. CSA has set a target that the national teams must, on average over the course of a season, field six generic black players of which at least two must be black African. At domestic level, the target is applied per match and teams are required to field six generic black players of which at least three must be black African.Out of 374 playing opportunities in the South Africa men’s team in the year 2018, 87 went to black African players and 106 to players of colour. Of the 352 playing opportunities in the women’s team, 85 went to black Africans and 78 to players of colour. The single biggest represented race group was white, with 181 and 189 playing opportunities for the men’s and women’s team respectively. While both the men’s and women’s teams exceeded their target for black Africans, they fell short for generic black players by 2%. There will no sanction imposed for that, especially in light of the other areas that CSA performed well in.The report takes into account other cricket played under CSA’s auspices and its operations, which includes the Under-19 teams, schools and club cricket, coaches, referees and umpires, and the high-performance structures and the demographics of the national teams’ support staff and CSA’s office administrators. CSA scored highly in all categories and also received praise for providing the EPG with consistent and reliable data. It is important to note that these numbers will have changed in the 2019-20 season, during which time CSA underwent major changes.Despite CSA’s strong progress, the EPG noted that cricket still faces challenges as it attempts to right historical wrongs, chiefly at school level where access to sport remains the domain of a privileged few. “The education system continues to reproduce inequalities through large differences in access to quality education that is linked to location and household income,” the report states. “This impacts school sport in that participation opportunities are greatly reduced, thereby encouraging sports administrators to perpetuate and increase the existing gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ by focusing on the more ‘privileged’ segments of the structure.”CSA has therefore been encouraged to extend the existing transformation barometers, subject to review, to 2030.

Left-arm seamer under pressure to make his case in final two matches of England’s tour

George Dobell in St Kitts07-Mar-2019David Willey has appeared to question whether picking Jofra Archer could destabilise England’s World Cup squad.Archer, the Barbados-born fast bowler, is expected to qualify to be eligible to represent England in a few days. But while Trevor Bayliss, the England coach, has already provided a strong hint that he would be given an opportunity in the ODIs against Ireland and Pakistan that precede the final deadline for the World Cup squad, Willey has hinted that bringing in a new player on the eve of a tournament for which England have been preparing for four years might prove unhelpful.”It’s an interesting dilemma for the captain, coaches and selectors,” Willey said. “It’s a group of players that have been together for three or four years now that have got us to No.1.”And there’s a reason for that. Whether someone should just walk in at the drop of a hat because they’re available, whether that’s the right thing, I don’t know.”Willey would appear to be one of those that are particularly vulnerable should Archer win selection. Having not featured in any of the five ODIs played on England’s Caribbean tour, he is probably on the periphery of that 15-man World Cup squad.But he does have an almost unique selling point in the England squad. Not only does he offer some left-arm variation, but he appears to swing the ball – the new ball, anyway – more than any of his team-mates. As a result, he often poses a threat at the start of the innings and, with the World Cup played in familiar conditions and games scheduled to start at 10.30 am, he may gain more than a little help from the conditions.He enjoyed a good 2018, too. He not only produced career-best ODI figures with the bat – he made a fifty against India at Lord’s – but he claimed 4 for 43 against Australia at Chester-le-Street – and conceded just 4.70 runs an over against a strong India line-up in that series.And, as he hinted, his limited-overs record doesn’t compare too badly to Archer’s. Archer has a List A bowling average of 30.71 and concedes, on average, 5.29 runs per over; Willey averages 31.64 and has an economy rate of 5.65. He has played 42 ODIs, however, and 121 List A matches while Archer has played 14 List A games. Willey’s T20 record – a bowling average of 23.42 and economy rate of 7.90 – is also very similar to Archer’s: 22.38 and 8.01.”I don’t know Jofra particularly well,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you if he’s got a particularly good record in white-ball cricket, to be honest. But it [tough selection decisions] is always part of professional sport. You have to accept these things and there’s one way to make sure it’s not you: by performing out in the middle.”I imagine every bowler sat in that dressing room will be trying to do that, to make sure it’s not them that gets left out should that happen. I think I went quite well last summer in English conditions but you never know. There is plenty of competition for places so you don’t quite know where they are going to go in the balance of the squad and bowling attack.”Willey is likely to face a challenge to perform out in the middle over the next few games. The final two games of England’s Caribbean tour take place on a St Kitts ground that might well have the shortest straight boundaries in international cricket. Bowling against Chris Gayle on such a pitch could be demanding. Willey insists, however, that he will continue to pitch the ball up in a bid to generate some swing and catch the edge of Gayle’s bat.”The reason I’ve played as much white-ball cricket around the world as I have done is my ability to swing the ball up front and being a left-armer as well,” he said. “It is a bonus being able to do that and I need to continue to do that and also have an impact in other areas as well.”If you get wickets early on in T20 cricket they have to rebuild and it slows the run-rate. Or they have to take high-risk options and hopefully you can take wickets.”I was very disappointed not to play in the ODIs, but part of professional sport is that you have to accept these things. I was disappointed but I think I’d be in the wrong place if I wasn’t. Hopefully, I’m the first left-armer on the team sheet should there be one.”Willey’s issue could be that, once the white ball stops swinging – and he admits that could be after a handful of overs – he does not have the pace to compensate. As a result, his control has to be immaculate if he is to perform a role later in the innings. But, as he says, he did pretty well in 2018 and has lacked opportunities since.”I’m confident about coming back later in the innings,” he said. “I did quite well back home last summer and I don’t think anything has changed since then apart from opportunities and game time.”