Bangladesh Cricket Board’s disciplinary committee has turned down Shahadat Hossain’s appeal to play in this season’s Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League

Mohammad Isam16-Apr-2016The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s disciplinary committee has turned down Shahadat Hossain’s appeal to play in this season’s Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League.Shahadat was temporarily suspended by the BCB in September 2015 after the Dhaka police registered a case against him and his wife on charges of assaulting their housemaid under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. They were arrested on October 5, but were later granted bail in December.ESPNcricinfo has learned from some of the board’s policy-makers that many in the BCB were not keen on revoking Shahadat’s suspension until he was cleared by the court, as they felt that it would set a bad precedent.Shahadat was initially kept in the B+ category in the Dhaka Premier League’s roster subject to BCB’s withdrawal of the suspension. On Saturday, AJM Nasir Uddin, the disciplinary committee chairman, confirmed that Shahadat’s suspension stood unless the court dismissed the case.”Shahadat Hossain had made an appeal, but we couldn’t take it because of some legal complications,” Nasir said. “His appeal stated that he had settled with the plaintiff. He presented to us a court direction which says that charges are pending in this case. It also said that the court’s decision is needless in regard to whether Shahadat should be allowed to play in the Dhaka Premier League or not.”As a result, we can’t consider this matter at this time. If the court had given a more clear-cut directive or it received his settlement with the plaintiff, we could have considered him. So we will wait for court’s further directive in this matter.”On Saturday morning, Shahadat turned up at the National Cricket Academy in Mirpur for training with his club Mohammaden Sporting, and was confident of the BCB withdrawing his suspension.

After being comprehensively beaten by Kolkata Knight Riders on a rank turner in Kolkata, Sunrisers Hyderabad will be hoping for a turn in fortunes in the eliminator in Delhi

The Preview by Deivarayan Muthu24-May-2016

Match facts

Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)4:13

Cullinan: Time for Sunrisers’ middle to back up Warner

Big Picture

Sunrisers Hyderabad had the top spot in the points table with two games left. Kolkata Knight Riders were behind them. One bad game was enough to turn the tables, with both sides losing an opportunity to have a second crack at the final. After being comprehensively beaten by Knight Riders on a rank turner in Kolkata, Sunrisers will be hoping for a turn in fortunes in the eliminator, on what is expected to be another slow Feroz Shah Kotla surface.Sunrisers’ fielding lapses consigned them to a last-ball loss against Delhi Daredevils before they lost to Knight Riders. Knight Riders were thumped by six wickets on a green surface by Gujarat Lions in Kanpur, but banked on home advantage to win their final game and finish fourth.Knight Riders could be buoyed by the return of their MVP, nay T20’s MVP, Andre Russell, who missed the last two games because of a leg injury. He could be rusty, though, and a tad worn out as a part of the Knight Riders squad arrived in Delhi by road from Jaipur on Tuesday morning, after their flight had to be diverted because of bad weather. Having already won the Bangladesh Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Big Bash League and World T20, Russell has an opportunity to lay his hands on a fifth T20 title in six months.But to say Knight Riders are only about Russell would be misleading. In his absence, the middle order had mixed power with smarts. Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey used an off-stump guard to hit against the spin of Karn Sharma and the cutters of Mustafizur Rahman in Kolkata. The Knight Riders spinners then left Sunrisers’ weak middle order in a straightjacket, after David Warner had a rare failure. If Warner fails again in the eliminator, can the middle order find an escape route?

Form guide

Sunrisers Hyderabad LLWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders WLWWL

In the spotlight

Sunil Narine may have been subdued over the last month or so, but is peaking at the business end of the competition for Knight Riders. He dismissed Royal Challengers’ Chris Gayle with a skidder, while the ball he bowled to dismiss Gujarat Lions’ Brendon McCullum – a seam-up inswinger – showed that variations are still a part of his repertoire, even with a remodelled action. Narine’s 3 for 26 on Sunday against Sunrisers was his best figures this season.Yuvraj Singh will be playing his first IPL knockout game since the semi-final in 2008. Apart from two cameos – his 42 not out off 24 balls against Kings XI Punjab has been his biggest contribution – he is yet to strike big.

Team news

Kane Williamson has managed only 124 runs in six matches at a strike rate of just a shade over 100. Eoin Morgan’s strike rate of 117.14 in seven games isn’t inspiring either. Deepak’s Hooda’s patchy form has exposed the middle order further. Sunrisers, however, are likely to persist with the same batting line-up. There could be a change on the bowling front, though, with legspinner Karn Sharma likely to make way for way for seam-bowling allrounder Ashish Reddy or left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma.Sunrisers Hyderabad (probable): 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Kane Williamson/Eoin Morgan, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Naman Ojha (wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Barinder Sran, 10 Karn Sharma/Ashish Reddy/Bipul Sharma, 11 Mustafizur RahmanRussell is likely to replace his West Indies team-mate Jason Holder, while Morne Morkel may return in place of Colin Munro. Knight Riders are also likely to persist with left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav over legspinner Piyush Chawla.Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Robin Uthappa (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Andre Russell, 8 Morne Morkel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav/Piyush Chawla, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Ankit Rajpoot

Pitch and conditions

The Feroz Shah Kotla surface has traditionally offered grip and turn for the slow bowlers. Three of five games at this venue have been won by the side batting first. But with Raipur hosting the last leg of Delhi Daredevils’ home games, a fresh surface could offer better value for the batsmen.Wednesday is expected to be a warm day, with chances of showers in the afternoon.

Stats and trivia

• Sunrisers have the lowest economy rate in the Powerplay – 6.73. Knight Riders’ 7.41 is the second lowest
• Russell is the leading wicket-taker in T20s in 2016 with 49 wickets in 35 matches. Mustafizur is fourth on the list with 32 wickets in 22 matches

A second hundred by Adam Lyth in less than 24 hours set up a Roses trouncing for Yorkshire – the 242-run margin being Yorkshire’s best and Lancashire’s worst in one-day cricket

ECB Reporters Network15-Jun-2016
ScorecardAdam Lyth in action during Yorkshire’s previous win against Northants•Getty Images

Adam Lyth became the first Yorkshire batsman to score two List A hundreds in successive days as Lancashire were blown away chasing 327 at Emirates Old Trafford in the Royal London Cup.Lyth posted 125 off 78 balls against Northants at Scarborough on Tuesday before usurping his career best with 136 off 92 at Old Trafford in good batting conditions.His 12 fours and seven sixes were the feature of Yorkshire’s 325 for 7 from 47 overs, with Duckworth Lewis later upping the Lancashire target by one run following earlier rain.The Lightning, who had been 53 for 1, then slumped to 84 inside 18 overs to lose by 242 runs. Martin Guptill was the only batsman to reach double figures with 45.It was Yorkshire’s biggest ever winning margin and Lancashire’s biggest ever losing margin in List A cricket.David Willey, just back from bowling after injury, took three wickets and left-arm spinner Karl Carver finished with 3 for 5 from three overs.Ashley Giles, Lancashire’s coach, said: “It was poor cricket from start to finish – with bat, ball, in the field and from a coaching perspective. If you lose like that, we all have to be accountable for it. There are no excuses, we played bad cricket.”They got too many runs. Lyth played well, but we didn’t bowl enough balls in the right place. Not to get anywhere near and, in the manner we got out, you have to show more application and play better shots. From start to finish, it was not good enough.”Lyth shared a partnership of 111 inside 16 overs for the second wicket with Kane Williamson, whose 40 was Yorkshire’s next best score.Left-handed Lyth reached his century off 60 balls against Northants at 4.22pm and here off 64 balls at 4.10pm. It meant he achieved the notable feat of recording two hundreds inside 24 hours.Lancashire’s bowlers were under the cosh for the vast majority of the innings, while their fielding could have been better.Lyth was dropped on 83, an incredibly tough chance for Guptill at backward point, and again on 121 when Alviro Petersen parried the ball over the ropes for six at deep cover. He should have caught it.Liam Livingstone’s leg-spin accounted for 3 for 51 from eight overs, including the centurion caught at long-off.Guptill helped Lancashire get off to an encouraging start with three sixes in 25 balls, but he was the first of Willey’s wickets when he was bowled, leaving the score at 53 for 2 in the seventh.Then, he saw five more wickets fall for four runs in 16 balls as the score slipped from 64 for 2 to 68 for 7 in the 13th.Spinners Adil Rashid and Carver, with his first ball, struck in that period, as did Willey twice in two balls to get Jos Buttler caught behind for a duck and Steven Croft caught at point for a golden.In all, Lancashire’s last nine wickets fell for 31 runs. Willey’s 3 for 44 from six was also supplemented by two each for Tim Bresnan and Rashid in a remarkable second innings of the match.

Wahab Riaz has said that England’s middle order is “fragile” ahead of the first Test at Lord’s and believes Pakistan can put pressure on them

Andrew McGlashan10-Jul-2016Wahab Riaz has said that England’s middle order is “fragile”, ahead of the first Test at Lord’s, and believes Pakistan can put pressure on them.Wahab felt much rested on the shoulders of Alastair Cook, and Joe Root, who has been promoted to No. 3, with the next two positions being filled by James Vince and the recalled Gary Ballance.Vince managed just 54 runs in four innings in his debut series against Sri Lanka, while Ballance is set to play his first Test in a year, having earned a surprising call-up as England reshuffle their order.”We know that England is struggling with their middle order, Joe Root is one of their best players and he has to take the responsibility, so that’s why he is at No.3,” Wahab said. “But I think the other batting is fragile. If you get Cook and Root quickly, you can really put pressure on them, but you can’t take things easy against them.”While Wahab, who went a long way in cementing his Test spot with a fiery spell of reverse swing on the second afternoon against Sussex, is correct to pinpoint the uncertainty around the No. 4 and 5 positions heading into the series, England’s lower middle-order has been prolific of late. However, they are likely to be tested more by Pakistan’s attack – sharp left-arm pace complemented by the legspin of Yasir Shah – than they were by the Sri Lankans.Jonny Bairstow, who has been in stellar form, has led the way, while Moeen Ali struck a career-best 155 against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street. Moeen will be followed by Chris Woakes who has made half-centuries in Tests and ODIs this season. Ben Stokes, who was left out of the squad for the first Test as he continues his return from knee surgery, is expected to be back for the second Test at Old Trafford.The statistics back up the recent divide between England’s top order and the security provided by those lower down: since May last year, their average for positions 1-5 is sixth in Test cricket (Pakistan’s batsmen average 14 runs more per wicket, albeit in far fewer Tests, and all of them in Asia) but for positions 6-11, England are top of the pile.Ahead of the squad being named, there was a suggestion that Stokes could be included to play as a batsman while Jos Buttler’s name was also linked to a batting position following his impressive limited-overs form. Buttler subsequently broke a finger playing for Lancashire, so will now not be an option during the Test series, but Pakistan’s coach Mickey Arthur said he had been preparing for that duo to be in the line-up.”We obviously looked at the squad with a lot of interest,” Arthur told ESPNcricinfo. “Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are guys that can take the game away of us, so, though it’s not a relief, we were preparing for an England middle order of Bairstow, Stokes and Buttler. But the guys that have come in have earned their opportunity and must have done something right, so certainly won’t take them lightly.”

Graham Napier’s big-hitting exploits have been a feature of a long county career and he have his home Colchester crowd a treat with a big-hitting farewell hundred

Will Macpherson at Colchester07-Aug-2016
ScorecardGraham Napier gave his hometown crowd a treat•Getty Images

This looked, for a long time, looked like being remembered as or maybe even But Graham Napier was among his people, here at Castle Park, his homeground in Colchester, where he was born.The crowd was sparse, and most of them seemed to be discussing their latest bout of gout or their latest round of bets. Even more of them seemed, in tones sterner still, to believe that they were watching the last day of the Colchester Festival, ever.All the more reason, then, for this to be Napier, by the standards of the shires, has always been a cricketer with a touch of Hollywood about him, so after a typically tenacious five-for in Sussex’s innings and – vitally for a fierce competitor – with plenty still worth fighting for, he made a marvellous draw-securing 124, the seventh first-class ton (and first since 2013) of a career that will be long-remembered in these parts.When that draw – which surely felt like a win, and takes Essex top of Division Two by a point – had been declared and he’d had time to ditch his pads and his whites, he wandered over, shaking plenty of hands on the way, hugged his mother and kissed his wife, all the while smiling wearily; the local lad done good.The most impressive aspect of Napier’s innings was his ability to rein in his instincts for some of his trademark tonk. He was patient, reading the match situation, nudging and nurdling his way to seven from his first 40 balls. Having lost Ryan ten Doeschate for a century every bit as good as his own, Napier continued to accumulate in the company of David Masters, who defended as though his life depended on it during a 28-over partnership that put the result beyond doubt.Only after tea, following 20 overs of graft for the pair and with the game safe, did he open those burly shoulders, punching through mid-on, sweeping the spinners and bunting to cow. Having brought up his century with an ugly top-edged sweep that went through the hands of the running square-leg, he nailed wicketkeeper Ben Brown down the ground for three sixes in four balls, before becoming the wicketkeeper’s first professional wicket – caught at long-on.The bearhug Masters was given up on arrival of the ton appeared as if it might never end. Free from the shackles of that embrace, Masters took 30 from ten Brown deliveries, in his old mate Napes’ spirit.”It’s been an emotional game,” Napier, affable as ever, reflected. “To walk off the field with five wickets and a hundred to my name, at what is just a lovely place to come and play cricket, knowing it’s the last time I’ll walk off on this ground: it’s a fairytale. This is my first club, I’ve played here since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, and in the Colchester area generally.”After lunch was a tough session. The longer we batted, the less we had to bowl, so that was on my mind! I get huge amounts of pleasure from playing that way, batting against my instincts. I think it sums up what four-day cricket is about. This is why we play it and love it; it’s my favourite form of the game. Four days of tough cricket, and it’s going down to two hours before the end before we know what the outcome would be. That’s hugely satisfying.”There was nothing certain, of course, about this being such a happy ending for Essex when Ashar Zaidi, moments after being dropped at long-off, slogged to the man at cow. They were 170 ahead, shortly before lunch, and out ambled No. 8 Napier to join ten Doeschate, who had earlier lost James Foster to the first ball of a new Jordan spell after 45 minutes of resistance.This, from ten Doeschate, was not merely a captain’s innings. It was the sort of captain’s innings a captain plays when the team he captains have just signed another potential captain: Varun Chopra in this case. He made 109, across five-and-a-half hours, a triumph of nose-to-the-ground dogged defence, until he was surprisingly bowled round the legs by Luke Wells.He had milked singles, propping miles forward with soft hands and defending with the splice and only playing strokes – cuts, flicks and jabbed drives – when they were absolutely on offer. He had done brilliantly to survive 27 overs on day three, let alone take the game within 55 overs of its conclusion. Napier, fortunately for him, did the rest.Perhaps Chopra won’t captain Essex next season after all. Ten Doeschate’s side, despite all three of their wins having come with Alastair Cook in the XI, remain very well placed for promotion. Before that, they have quarter-finals – starting on Monday in Nottingham – in both white-ball competitions.There was little more Sussex and Luke Wright, who remained cheerful as ever, could have done. By the end, Danny Briggs was bowling medium pace and the wicketkeeper was being sprayed to all parts, and before then Wright had tried leg theory, spin twins and everything in between. A pitch that had looked ready to break up just remained too true, and the batting too good.As the afternoon drifted on Sussex, just like everyone else, realised a win was beyond them, and they might as well just settle for a part in a day that will live long in the memory.

Little more than two weeks ago, David Warner was all about patience and batting for long periods of time in Asia. A pair of Test-match thrashings later, Warner and the Australians have changed their tune

Daniel Brettig in Colombo11-Aug-2016Little more than two weeks ago, David Warner was all about patience and batting for long periods of time in Asia.”You’ve got to be patient enough,” he said before the first Test against Sri Lanka. “You’ve got to rotate the strike. Your patience comes with hitting your four-balls, your boundary balls. They’re the ones you’ve got to really wait on. That’s what we’re talking about with patience in this game, especially over here. You’ve got to bite the bullet.”A pair of Test-match thrashings later, and with another bone-dry pitch in prospect at Colombo’s SSC ground, Warner and the Australians have rather changed their tune. Now Warner is all about attack, as he demonstrated in a pair of shot-a-ball cameos on the sharply turning Galle surface. Waiting for the bad ball is not longer an option. He who hesitates is lost, or at least lbw Herath.”You have to think outside the box,” Warner said. “For me to come out of my crease personally it’s something I don’t normally do but you have to do it in these conditions. If you defend, one’s got your name on it, and one’s going to straighten, which happened the other day. For me it’s about thinking on my feet, using my feet when I’m out here and hopefully putting the bowler off some of his rhythm.”You’re sitting ducks when you’re facing six balls in a row – one of them is going to have your name on it. Especially when one turns and one doesn’t turn. It’s a hard game. People don’t realise that you’re going out here day one and day two and it’s turning square, where maybe five or six years ago probably day three, day four was probably when it was turning. So it’s hard from ball one and we really have to work hard and that starts in the nets.”The nets have seen almost as much change in Australian philosophy as Warner’s rhetoric. Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc charged in at their batting compatriots in Pallekele training, but now they are sent to work separately on centre wickets with Allan Donald while the batsmen face an assortment of spinners – including the part-time leggies Warner and Steven Smith trying off breaks.At the team’s main training session on Thursday, Adam Voges warmed up separately from the group due to a tight hamstring, but then trained fully with the team, including his own stint at the bowling crease. The newly arrived apprentice batsman Travis Head whirred down his own offbreaks too, before batting in the canary yellow pads he will use when the ODI series begins after the third Test.As vice-captain, Warner is aware of how this tour may influence planning for the next Asian trip, to India next year. He noted the words of captain Smith about potentially needing to choose a squad even more tailored to the prevailing conditions than this one, with a rather different batting group taken to India. Regardless of what happens at the SSC, questions will need to be asked.”That’s probably the Moneyball theory isn’t it, you pick players for certain conditions,” Warner said. “End of the day we’re all professional athletes and you have to adapt to the conditions. If you don’t adapt to them, your head’s probably on the line. For us as cricketers we have to do the best we can in these conditions and adapt as well as we can.”If the selectors don’t think we fit that area of expertise, whether or not we can play in these conditions or play at home, that’s up to them if they want to go down that path and pick the team based on that. [India] is our next subcontinent tour so I think there will be a few assessments made. I think the selectors may have to reassess a few things and whatever they think is necessary, they’ll take the appropriate action I’m pretty sure.”

Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s Test captain, has expressed confidence in international cricket returning soon to the country

Umar Farooq21-Sep-2016Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s Test captain, has expressed confidence in international cricket returning to the country soon, and said it was ironic his team’s rise to No. 1 in the ICC rankings had to be accomplished without home-crowd support.The ICC chief executive David Richardson presented Misbah with the Test mace at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday, after Pakistan had risen to No. 1 for the first time since the current Test rankings were introduced in 2003, by virtue of their 2-2 draw in England this summer. Pakistan are the fifth side after Australia, England, India and South Africa to top the ICC Test rankings.”There is nothing better than being No. 1 in the Test rankings,” Misbah said. “It’s one of the best days in my life; the happiest day in my cricketing career. And there can’t be a better location to receive the ICC Test Championship mace than this ground where we last played a home Test seven years ago. It is ironic for both the players as well as the fans that the journey to the No. 1 position has been outside Pakistan.”The players have missed on the crowd support, while the spectators have been unable to watch live some magnificent team and individual performances. But I am confident that things will change and international cricket will soon return to Pakistan.”I would like to congratulate everyone who has been part of this achievement and part of this journey; every individual, every coach, every selector who has worked hard for this No. 1 position.”The families of the players have really sacrificed a lot too. We have to spend almost six to seven months out of the country without them and that’s difficult [for both parties]. Credit should be given to the families. It’s a proud moment for all of us and I hope we can go together at the top for a long period.”Apart from a visit by Zimbabwe in 2015, no Full Member country has toured Pakistan since March 2009, when gunmen attacked the bus transporting the Sri Lankan team to Gaddafi Stadium on a morning of the Lahore Test. Since then, Pakistan have had to host their home fixtures at neutral venues, primarily the UAE.”Being part of a team that is ranked No.1 in Test cricket is a pinnacle achievement for any cricketer. Pakistan is a deserving recipient of the mace,” Richardson said. “It is all the more impressive that it has reached the number-one Test ranking despite not being able to play a series in front of its home crowd since March 2009.”Today is all about the team, today it’s all about Misbah. One of the things that makes Pakistan one of the most watchable teams in the world is the fact that they’ve got a man for all occasions. They’ve got batsmen who can deal with a tight situation, and on the bowling side, you can’t prepare seaming wickets against them because they’ve got the seamers to exploit those conditions, left-arm and the right-arm and of course you’ve got a world class legspinner, so you’ve got all the ingredients for a top team and we are looking forward to Pakistan if not staying at No. 1 then certainly challenging for good many years to come. A strong Pakistan side is good for international cricket.”Pakistan face a challenge to hold on to their No. 1 Test ranking. India, presently No. 2, will displace Pakistan if they beat New Zealand in the upcoming three-Test series at home. Pakistan’s next Test series is in October against West Indies in the UAE. The team that is No. 1 on April 1, 2017, will receive $ 1 million from the ICC.”The next target we have set for ourselves is to finish as the No. 1 Test side at the April 1 cut-off date,” Misbah said. “It is not going to be easy as we have series against formidable sides like the West Indies, New Zealand and Australia. But instead of getting overawed by our opponents, we need to trust in our abilities, focus on our strengths and try to be as consistent as possible.”

Chadd Sayers finished with a career-best match tally of 11 for 76 as he bowled South Australia to victory by an innings and 94 runs over Tasmania at Adelaide Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Nov-2016
ScorecardFile photo: Chadd Sayers finished with a career-best match haul of 11 for 76•Associated Press

Chadd Sayers finished with a career-best match tally of 11 for 76 as he bowled South Australia to victory by an innings and 94 runs over Tasmania at Adelaide Oval. Sayers picked up 5 for 44 in the second innings to add to his 6 for 32 from the first innings, and ensured a hefty win for the Redbacks despite a fighting unbeaten century from Tasmania captain George Bailey.The Tigers had resumed on 4 for 57 and a quick finish could have been on the cards, but Bailey had other ideas. He combined in a series of stubborn partnerships to delay the result, first an 86-run stand with Dominic Michael (32), then a 59-run partnership with Jake Doran, and finally a 10th-wicket stand of 93 with Jackson Bird.Bird, who had last month been told by national selector Rod Marsh that his lack of batting ability was a reason for his non-selection in Australia’s Test squad, made his highest first-class score before being the last man out, lbw to Sayers for 39. Bird had lasted for 71 balls – last time a Sheffield Shield No.11 had survived so long was in October 2008, when Tasmania’s Tim Macdonald batted for 73 balls.Bailey was left unbeaten on 142, finally running out of partners as he approached what could have become the fourth 150-plus score of his first-class career. But Tasmania had themselves to blame for their heavy defeat, after stumbling for 98 on the first day.