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“Test wins never comes easy, you’ve still got to earn it,” says captain Quinton de Kock

Firdose Moonda29-Dec-2020South Africa have won more competitive Test matches against more competitive teams than this Sri Lankan one – albeit that their fight was dimmed through injury and not fault of their own – but they will still savour this victory like it was one of the best ones.”A Test win never comes easy. You’ve still got to earn it,” Quinton de Kock, their temporary Test captain, said. ” We fought hard with the bat. It was very difficult. It still feels good. Our bowlers came back really nicely in the second innings. They showed what proper Test cricket is all about.”ALSO READ: Mulder, Sipamla impress as SA bowlers seal innings winAfter the South African attack conceded the highest score by a Sri Lankan team in this country in the first innings, they rallied to dismiss Sri Lanka for 180 to secure an innings win. But this match was won by the batting line-up, who scored the most runs in an innings at SuperSport Park, and ended 15 months without an individual batsman scoring a hundred.Former captain Faf du Plessis was the player to break the century drought and fell one run short of his first double-ton in what he called a statement innings to disprove the doubters. du Plessis is the most experienced batsman in the team and is showing no signs of slowing down, instead setting as an example for the newcomers in the squad.”It’s important to have senior guys in the team, guys who are experienced. We always talk about youngsters coming through but you need to find that balance between experience and youngsters,” de Kock said. “Faf came out and showed his leadership out there. He has been in a lot of pressure situations in his life and there was no better person to handle it.”Similarly, du Plessis’ was one of the people de Kock turned to when he needed guidance in the field in his first red-ball match as captain.Although de Kock has led South Africa in shorter formats, he had never previously captained a first-class game, but found the experience of the longer format comfortable because he had plenty of support.”It was a little bit easier. You have more time to think than in the other formats,” he said. “It helps that I have good leaders in my team. When I do need help, I can go to them for advice – the likes of Dean [Elgar], Rassie [van der Dussen], Temba [Bavuma], Faf – they are a big help out there when I need them.”I’ve never captained a first-class game but I have been next to Faf most of my Test career and I have learnt a lot of stuff from them so I felt very much at home. It was pretty simple out there.”de Kock did not make any obvious errors, though some may question aspects of his decision-making in the first innings such as giving debutant Lutho Sipamla the new ball. Sipamla conceded heavily in his first spell, with three overs costing 28, but improved as the innings went on and finished with 4 for 76 in the innings and six wickets in the match to show that South Africa’s fast-bowling depth is still there.”It was just Test match debut and nerves. That’s all it came down to. We spoke to him and he came back really nicely. The way he bowled in the game is the way he has been bowling in the nets. That’s what we knew he could do,” de Kock said. “It was a great comeback from him with some great character shown. He’s an opening bowler on his debut Test, obviously there were going to be a bit of nerves but once he came back we saw what he can do.”The same can be said for much of the South African team, who had not played Test cricket since January and have endured one of their toughest winters, shrouded in administrative chaos and cultural wars. When this Test began, South Africa’s biggest opposition was from sections of the public who either objected to them raising a fist to show support for Black Lives Matter or who felt they should rather have taken a knee. By the time the match ended, the race debate had quietened (for now) and the old adage that the results will give people something else to focus on for a while came to the fore.So while South Africa have won more competitive Test matches than this, they had reason to celebrate the same. And they did.”Go have a beer,” was Mark Boucher’s instruction to de Kock as they changed seats for the post-match press conference. About two hours after the final wicket fell the whole team was doing that, with a fines meeting well underway complete with applause and singing. A victory is a victory, and South Africa will most definitely enjoy this one.

Javeria Khan, Anam Amin and rain deny SA a 3-0 sweep

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2021
After being swept 3-0 in the ODI series and losing the first two T20Is, Pakistan women ended their South Africa tour with a consolation victory in a rain-hit third T20I in Durban. After being put into bat, the visitors made 127 for 6 in their 20 overs, with captain Javeria Khan top-scoring for them with an unbeaten 56 off 50 balls. Rain then interrupted South Africa women’s chase and they were behind the asking rate when a second spell of rain forced an end to the match.Left-arm fingerspinner Anam Amin had jolted South Africa early by getting Anne Bosch (13) and Marizanne Kapp (1). When Lara Goodall fell, they slipped to 45 for 4 in the tenth over and there would be no way back for them. Du Preez who top-scored for South Africa with 24 not out off 23 balls was the only batter to strike at over 100 in the chase.In the first innings, Pakistan went through the powerplay unscathed before losing the wickets of Ayesha Zafar and Muneeba Ali in successive overs. Tumi Sekhukhune and Nondumiso Shangase made further inroads to reduce Pakistan to 66 for 5 in the 13th over. However, Javeria Khan and Kainat Imtiaz propped them up with a 61-run stand off 43 balls.Khan, who had missed the first two T20Is due to a finger injury, batted through the innings in the third while Imtiaz was dismissed off the last ball. Khan was particularly severe on Shabnim Ismail, taking her for 21 off 15 balls. Shangase was the pick of the bowlers for South Africa with 3 for 20.Graeme Smith, CSA director of cricket, praised the South Africa team for their 2-1 series win and Pakistan for visiting the country in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.”All in all we are very proud of head coach Hilton (Moreeng) and his team,” Smith said in a media release. “The women’s game is continuing to make great strides and this is really exciting for all South Africans.”Finally I must also thank the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for undertaking the trip to our country during these difficult times. As we have seen with Covid-19, the sporting landscape has changed dramatically and we feel honoured to have hosted them during an incident-free tour.”

A Lahore Qalandars spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo that there were breaches of the bubble at the team hotels

Osman Samiuddin and Umar Farooq04-Mar-2021The blame game has begun in the aftermath of the abrupt postponement of the PSL, as franchises and league management begin to sift through the wreckage of a sixth season curtailed only 14 games in after a spate of Covid-19 cases among players and support staff. An investigation into what went wrong will take place, at an as-yet unspecified time in the future, conducted independent of the PCB. And though Wasim Khan, the PCB’s CEO, began a press conference by saying “this isn’t about a blame game”, the message by its end – when he spoke of “self-policing” and players needing “to take responsibility” – had subtly but clearly shifted.That is likely to have been in response to the reactions of at least a couple of franchises, who pointed to persistent breaches and loopholes in the bio-secure bubble put in place by the PCB at a hotel in Karachi. And according to at least two officials who were present, the PCB’s public statement was a change from a heated meeting between management and franchises on Thursday morning, in which the board was more accepting of the blame for all this lying at their door.Related

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A couple of options were put forward at that meeting in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the PSL, including implementing a five-day lockdown and pause on the tournament, and going ahead with a local player-only tournament. Both ideas were shot down, the latter especially emphatically.”This isn’t about a blame game, about who’s to blame,” Khan said at a press conference a few hours after the decision to postpone. “This is a collective effort that we all had a responsibility to actually police and self-police that environment. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do it effectively enough. Hence we find ourselves in this situation today.”We had a discussion this morning with the franchise owners and we came to the conclusion that it was best to postpone the event. We entered that meeting with the franchisees with one or two possible solutions, one in terms of looking to halt proceedings for five days until we were able to make sense of what was going on and see whether we could move forward. There was a strong consensus that it was untenable to continue based on the fact that it was outside of ours and others reasonable sort of areas because of what had taken place.”Khan did concede that trust in the PCB’s handling of the event had been broken. “When players are affected and players start to lose confidence…. Bio-secure bubbles are about trust. There has to be trust for players, with all the partners working together. We have to recognise, internationally, this will make news. It is a difficult day, a lot of work and effort went into our last major event of the calendar.”The PCB’s current priority is making sure the players can go back home safely•Pakistan Super League

The board’s immediate concern and attention is to begin the process of exiting players from the tournament and the hotel now. The seven players and support staff who have tested positive will remain in the hotel until their quarantine periods are over, with some PCB and PSL management officials also staying behind with them. But as that process continues, repercussions with franchises will begin, a few of whom are now offering a picture of the fragility of the bubble that had been put in place.A public precedent was set by Peshawar Zalmi the night before the tournament began, when captain Wahab Riaz and coach Darren Sammy breached the bubble to go and meet franchise owner Javed Afridi. They were later allowed to effectively ignore the league’s own three-day quarantine period – on Thursday, the PCB were at pains again to defend the episode.The bubble was in one hotel in Karachi where all franchise players and officials were staying and which, to some extent, had Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) put in place to keep everyone safe. Teams were cordoned off on separate floors and had designated times in which to use public facilities such as restaurants and gyms. But the hotel had not been taken over in entirety by the PCB and so public functions, such as weddings with guests, were still being staged there – away from the bubble ostensibly but on the premises. Numerous incidents are now being recalled by franchises, of smaller breaches and SOPs not being adhered to, of fans taking selfies with players, trying to high-five players, of lifts in the hotel not being initially cordoned off from public use.”Somebody has to take responsibility for this mismanagement,” the Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal told ESPNcricinfo. “We have worked so hard in the last five years to bring this brand back to Pakistan but due to the PCB’s negligence, me, my team and fans are disappointed.”There were breaches and nobody is accountable for it. The hotel was vulnerable and [I don’t understand] why they can’t they have booked it entirely for the duration of the tournament?”The PSL franchises have been unhappy with breaches of the bio-secure bubble at the Karachi hotel where all the teams were staying at•PCB/PSL

“It’s sad and very unfortunate the way things panned out,” a Lahore Qalandars spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “There were clear breaches and with growing cases we had no option but to agree to postpone it with immediate effect. It was important for the health of our players and support staff and its out duty to protect them.”We came here because we were invited by PCB as they were the host and we had trust in that, but there were loopholes. There were multiple wedding function in the same hotel with the spa and gym area had common use.”It has also emerged that two of the teams – Islamabad United and Multan Sultans – were not placed in the same hotel when they first landed in Karachi on February 14. For three days they were put up in another hotel, meaning that though they had cleared tests when they entered the official bubble – and continued to thereafter – they had spent time at a premises that had not been specifically re-purposed with bio-secure SOPs in mind.”We have to remember there’s a lot of emotions at the moment,” Khan said. “Franchises have invested a lot of money, everybody has invested time in making the PSL work. There was always going to be a lot of emotion in the first 24 hours, we fully expect that. I will say, any environment can only work if everybody is on the same page. Why did our domestic cricket work? Because it was being policed and everything was done. We had 30 matches across two venues, we delivered tournaments with multiple teams involved domestically. Fine, there is a response from franchises but this isn’t about blaming anybody. This is about Pakistan cricket. A lot of work has to be done to get cricket back up and running to get it to where it has.”Though it is correct Pakistan did carry out an entire season’s worth of domestic cricket prior to the PSL, it did not go off without incidents or breaches. Players were reprimanded for breaching protocols. A number of players tested positive after the end of the rescheduled phase of the PSL season five in November.Khan was asked whether he, or other senior officials, would resign but he sidestepped the question to say only that an investigation will take place. “We will do a full investigation. Not one done by PCB staff but we will speak to the Board of Governors and instigate an investigation in to where we went wrong and what did we not fulfil. When such situations come up everybody questions themselves. Now is a time for reflection and we will see what happens after that. Right now this is about making sure players leave and leave safely. And making sure we limit the damage as much as possible for Pakistan cricket. This is far-reaching and we need to make sure we control it, we manage it. so that we can rise again as we have in the past.”

Lancashire captain remains unbeaten on 158 after rescuing side from top-order wobble

Paul Edwards09-Apr-2021
Counties nowadays do plenty of research before they invest in overseas players. There is little doubt Lancashire had a good idea what they were getting when they signed Dane Vilas in advance of the 2017 season. Yet even the most painstaking official could scarcely fail to have been surprised by Vilas’s impact on life at Emirates Old Trafford. Time and then time again he has changed games. His influence as captain on the dressing room is deep and abiding. And today, as spring’s impertinent ambition transformed the so recently skeletal trees around this most urban of grounds, Lancashire’s captain performed his familiar trick once more.There are occasions when too much importance is attached to sportsmen’s body language. But as Vilas marched off the ground with an unbeaten 158 to his name and Sussex’s players dragged themselves back to their dressing room after they had suffered the sort of mauling handed out by an irritable lion, it was plain where the balance of this game lay. Although only 64 of his runs had come in boundaries, Vilas had harried Ben Brown’s bowlers at every opportunity, constantly exhorting his partners, Alex Davies, Rob Jones and Luke Wood to sprint harder and increase the pressure on a young attack.But admirable avarice has been one of Vilas’s trademarks at Lancashire and it has only been satisfied because the captain takes pride in his fitness. During the course of his century against Sussex he passed 3000 runs in his 50th first-class match at an average exceeded by only three Lancashire batsmen at similar stages of their careers. Then there is the multi-faceted leadership; Vilas is not simply Lancashire’s skipper; he sets the standard and provides the example for others to follow. Rob Jones, with whom Vilas put on 125 for the fifth wicket against Sussex, is a far better player for having been encouraged to assess situations by his captain and then bat according to his findings.This has been a match of dropped catches. Yet as Vilas took Lancashire into a 38-run first-innings lead late in the evening session, it became clear that the most significant spill will not be those that allowed Tom Haines to make 155 on the first day but the diving chance at slip that George Garton put down off Jack Carson’s off spin when Vilas was a mere 47. It would certainly have improved Carson’s day, albeit the young off-spinner at least claimed the final wicket to fall when Jones reverse-swept a full toss straight to Tom Clark at backward point and departed for 58.Related

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By then, however, Vilas was in full flow. His unbroken stand of 82 with Luke Wood has set Lancashire up for further riches tomorrow and Sussex may well have a tricky task saving this game even though the pitch remains true and blameless. Yet none of these riches had appeared likely to come the home team’s way as they slipped to 41 for 3 just before lunch on what now seems so distant a session that it could have taken place on another day altogether.To forget the morning’s play, though, would do little credit to Ollie Robinson, whose pace and accuracy with the new ball induced Keaton Jennings to edge to Aaron Thomason at fourth slip and Josh Bohannon to nick the ball to Ben Brown. When Steven Croft’s attempted pull off George Garton merely gloved another catch to Brown, Lancashire were 41 for 3 and the home coaches may have been reflecting sombrely on the fact that for something like an hour, 24 hours previously, their side was within two wickets of having their boots on Sussex’s neck.Instead they watched a trifle nervously today as Davies pulled and punched his way to 61 and put on 91 with Vilas before the debutant left-arm seamer Sean Hunt brought one back off the seam to have him leg before wicket. Hunt bowled well on his first appearance and deserved his wicket but Sussex’s other bowlers faded in the face of Vilas’s calibrated attack. Brown’s attack is young and in time his players will learn much from days like today. Yet as the spring sun took command and the day deepened into afternoon, our attention shifted from callow bowlers trying to further their careers and focused instead on the iron will of a Lancashire batsmen intent on preventing them doing so.”Nothing is so beautiful as Spring,” wrote Gerard Manley Hopkins and on afternoons like this it was easy to agree. Even photographers who had talked darkly of their chances of ending this game with a full complement of toes observed that the temperature had gone up a notch or two. So we took details of the snappers’ next of kin, loaded them up with Kendal Mint Cake and sent them out to sunbathe. Then Vilas punched another four through the covers and suddenly we again noticed the lack of a crowd and their warm salutes for one of Lancashire’s finest.

Stevens becomes oldest Championship centurion since 1986

ECB Reporters' Network09-Apr-2021Veteran allrounder Darren Stevens starred with an unbeaten century to put Kent in the driving seat on a rain-affected second day of their LV= County Championship clash against Northamptonshire.Stevens, who will celebrate his 45th birthday later this month, struck 116 not out – his 35th first-class hundred – and became the oldest player since 1986 to register three figures in a County Championship fixture. He shared partnerships of 74 with Harry Podmore and 63 with Miguel Cummins for the last two wickets, shepherding Kent to a first-innings total of 455 at Northampton.Afternoon rain restricted the Northamptonshire response to just 15.2 overs, although a flamboyant undefeated 54 by Ricardo Vasconcelos enabled them to make swift inroads on the deficit, reaching 91 for 1 at the close.”I’m really appreciative of the tail helping me out,” Stevens said. “I was an angry man when Podmore got out because I thought we were going really nicely and I’d not batted with Miguel before! So I said to him ‘do you want to face spin or seam?’ and he said ‘I’m good, man’. Finally getting to 450 was great and we’re pleased with that.”We bowled pretty poorly but Miguel looks like he’s a bit of a handful and I think he’ll be key for us. I think that’s one of these situations where seamers are looking to tie an end up while the quicker bowlers hopefully do the damage.”Northamptonshire’s hopes of wrapping up the visitors’ innings quickly in the morning gained a boost in the fourth over as Tom Taylor removed Matt Milnes, steering him to Alex Wakely at second slip. However, Podmore proved a capable foil for Stevens, who was largely content to keep picking up singles as his partner slammed a string of boundaries off Ben Sanderson to reach 29.Offspinner Rob Keogh finally broke the ninth-wicket stand, tempting Podmore into a swing across the line for Adam Rossington to complete the stumping, but Kent were by no means finished.With debutant Cummins blocking confidently and rotating the strike, Stevens inched towards his hundred, clipping Nathan Buck over square leg for six before pulling the single that raised the landmark from 120 balls. There seemed no end to the home side’s frustration when Vasconcelos, at slip, was unable to cling on to a sharp chance from Cummins, but Taylor eventually dismissed the left-hander for 24, blasting out his middle stump.The players returned after lunch sporting black armbands and lined up on the outfield for a two-minute silence to mark the Duke of Edinburgh’s passing before Northamptonshire began their reply.Podmore took some punishment at the hands of Vasconcelos, his first three overs going for 31 as the opener unleashed a spate of cuts and cover drives to bring up his half-century in 45 deliveries. Vasconcelos put together a brisk opening partnership of 77 with Ben Curran, the only Northamptonshire casualty so far after chopping Cummins’ third ball on to his stumps for 24.

Chris Silverwood assumes responsibility with Joe Root and Eoin Morgan alongside him

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-2021Ed Smith is to leave the ECB with almost immediate effect after his role was made redundant.Smith, who was appointed as national selector three years ago to the day, has been squeezed out after a restructure of the selection process by Ashley Giles, the managing director of England’s men’s cricket.Under the new structure, the head coach, Chris Silverwood, will have responsibility for squad selections. He and the team captains, Joe Root in Test cricket and Eoin Morgan in the limited-overs formats, will then decide on the final XI together.How Silverwood can combine his role as coach and selector remains to be seen. England’s relentless schedule provides him with little time to watch county or pathway cricket, though the ECB have previously said he may not need to be with the senior sides at all times.He will, however, have some assistance. James Taylor keeps his job, though its title will change from ‘England selector’ to ‘head scout’, while Mo Bobat, the performance director, will also provide input. Information from performance analysis and scouting is likely to become more important.”I would like to personally thank Ed for his contribution to the England men’s teams over the past three years,” Giles said. “Ed’s input has helped deliver successes for all our England Teams, and he has worked with commitment and professionalism throughout his time as National Selector. I wish him well in his future endeavours.”The new structure also makes lines of accountability much clearer, with Chris Silverwood, as Head Coach, taking ultimate responsibility for picking England senior men’s squads.”On the face of things, Smith is the victim of a restructuring that no longer has the necessity for his role. It may be relevant, however, that the relationship between Smith and some within the England set-up has been on the wane for some time. Some felt he attempted to interfere in team (rather than squad) selection, which has traditionally been the preserve of the captain and coach. Several players were understood to have taken a personal dislike to him.It may be that the turning point for Smith’s tenure came in the Barbados Test of January 2019 when Stuart Broad was left out for Sam Curran and England lost heavily. Some felt Smith has exerted a surprising amount of pressure over the final selection.Related

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There have been successes under Smith’s watch. Jos Buttler’s return to the Test team has, in general, been well received, while his willingness to back young players such as Curran and Dom Bess has refreshed the England side. Negatives include picking Jason Roy as an opener for the Ashes, asking Ollie Pope to bat at No. 4 in his first incarnation in the team and the apparent shunning of Moeen Ali.”It has been a huge privilege to work with great people trying to help England cricket and I am excited about watching England’s continued development,” Smith said. “I’ve been very lucky to work with James Taylor, and I’m delighted that he will remain part of the new structure. My thanks to the dedicated team of scouts and to all the coaches, data analysts, medics and members of the ECB Pathway, who are available every day of the year at all hours to help England’s decision-makers.”England’s two captains, Joe and Eoin, have already completed remarkable achievements in an England shirt. England has two men dedicated to playing cricket in a way that makes the country proud. The role of National Selector has been enjoyable and rewarding, and that is significantly due to my interaction with all of the England players.”At such a high point for England cricket, I wish Ashley Giles, the coaches and all support staff good fortune over the coming months. I know how hard Ashley and his team work for England cricket. In particular, I’d like to wish Chris Silverwood good luck and every success going forward.”

It’s not on the FTP, it’s not part of the WTC, and it won’t feature any of England’s IPL players (bar one)

George Dobell31-May-2021This series between England and New Zealand isn’t on the Future Tours Programme (FTP), is it?
It is not.And it’s not part of the World Test Championship?
It is not. It was added on as an extra series.Related

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Wasn’t the schedule already pretty hectic?
It sure was. Particularly given that players (and support staff) have been obliged to live in biosecure bubbles for much of the last year. There really wasn’t a huge clamour for more cricket.So why is it happening?
Well, the 2020 summer was heavily disrupted and the ECB incurred significant financial losses. So the board wanted to give host venues and broadcasters an opportunity to host or show more cricket. One of these Tests is being played at Edgbaston, for example, which doesn’t have a Test during the India series which follows. So the aim was to boost the cricketing economy and give spectators an extra match to enjoy. The hope was it would be something of a celebration. It may well still feel that way, especially by the time they arrive at Edgbaston with 18,000 spectators in the ground.Didn’t England fulfil their entire home international schedule last summer?
They did. And by doing so, albeit in a shortened window, without crowds and at vast expense, they were able to satisfy most of the requirements of their various broadcast deals. But they were not able to play the Hundred, which was a key part of the broadcast deal, and were reliant upon their broadcast partners’ understanding when it proved impossible to stage any cricket before July.So does the ECB gain extra money from broadcast revenue for putting on these games?
No. These games have effectively been put on to reward broadcasters – and Sky in particular – for their goodwill last year. And with capacity for the first Test limited to 25% of capacity, the scope for boosting the coffers is limited, too. You can see what the intention was, though. And much of the other revenues are insured to mitigate for the losses around Covid. So this will bring a boost to the English game and ensure the relationship between the ECB and its key broadcast partner remains very good.What’s in it for New Zealand?
As things stand, they will be able to use the series to prepare for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. And while their place in that final was not assured at the time the tour was arranged, it was always a possibility. So, they will have time to acclimatise to the pitches and, in particular, the Dukes ball which they don’t use at home. At the same time, they are keen to support the ECB and repay them for their visit to New Zealand at the end of 2019. That tour wasn’t part of the FTP or the WTC, either. But if the last year or so has shown us anything, it is that all international teams need one another. They are all, to a greater or lesser extent, in the same boat.Why aren’t England’s IPL players involved?
By the time the Test series was arranged, the ECB had already agreed to allow its top players to appear in the IPL: contracts had been signed and no-objection certificates agreed. At the same time, the ECB has been keen to ensure players exposed to sustained times in bio-bubbles would be given time to refresh and see friends and family. It was accepted they would not be involved in this series. And remember: there are no WTC points available here. This is a chance to take a look at some fringe players and plan for the future.Wasn’t Sam Billings at the IPL?
He was. But he didn’t play. And while he was in England’s limited-overs squads over the winter, he didn’t spend as much time in bio-bubbles as many others. He was also the only one of the England players at the IPL to return to county action in the round of games starting on May 20 and, in Ashley Giles’ words, put forward a “strong case” for inclusion.Would this series have taken place even if England had reached the WTC final?
Yes. The ECB is adamant that, even if both England and New Zealand had reached that final, this series would still have taken place.

Six Associate nations – Malaysia, Namibia, Oman, Scotland, the UAE and the USA – have also submitted proposals

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2021Seventeen member nations have put themselves forward as potential hosts for eight men’s white-ball ICC events – two ODI World Cups, four T20 World Cups and two Champions Trophies – to be held from 2024 to 2031. Especially notable among the candidates is Pakistan, which hasn’t hosted an ICC event since the final of the 1996 World Cup.Security concerns have severely limited the amount of international cricket played in Pakistan for more than a decade now. The country was originally scheduled to host the Champions Trophy in 2008, before the event was pushed back by a year and moved to South Africa. Then, Pakistan only sporadically staged any international cricket for a decade following the 2009 attacks on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore, and during that period lost out on being co-hosts of the 2011 ODI World Cup.Related

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Ten other Full Member nations – Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Zimbabwe – have submitted preliminary technical proposals (individual or joint), as have six Associate nations – Malaysia, Namibia, Oman, Scotland, the UAE and the USA.A separate process to determine the hosts of the World Test Championship finals as well as Women’s and Under-19 events during this cycle will begin later this year.”We are delighted with the response from our Members to hosting ICC men’s white-ball events post 2023,” Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s acting chief executive, said. “This process gives us an opportunity to extend our range of hosts and grow interest in cricket worldwide reaching more fans whilst creating a long-term legacy for the sport.”Cricket has more than a billion fans around the world and ICC events have a proven track record of bringing significant economic and social benefits for host counties. These events provide hosts with a wonderful opportunity to work closely with local communities to grow the game whilst supporting economic and social development public policy goals.”We will now move forward to the second phase of the process where Members will provide a more detailed proposal before the ICC Board takes decisions on our future hosts later this year.”Over the last decade or so, the ICC’s men’s white-ball events have largely been hosted by the so-called Big Three boards. The last three 50-over World Cups have taken place in India (co-hosted with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2011), Australia (co-hosted with New Zealand in 2015) and England (2019), with India set to host the 2023 event as well. India were due to host this year’s T20 World Cup before it was shifted to the UAE due to the Covid-19 pandemic, while Australia are set to host the next T20 World Cup in 2022.It is not yet clear how the next cycle of events will be distributed. Earlier this year, the ICC made a U-turn with regards to the process to pick hosts for global events, returning to a process whereby hosts will be selected by the ICC board rather than determined via open bidding.

Fresh from ODI century, batsman scores 63 before hosts bowl Essex out in time to win first leg of double-header

ECB Reporters Network16-Jul-2021Hampshire kept alive their flickering hopes of reaching the Vitality Blast quarter-finals beating Essex by 18 runs to wrap up a third successive victory in the first match of a double-header at the Ageas Bowl.Essex looked on course to chase down the 172-run target after England batsman Dan Lawrence and Tom Westley put on 80 for the second wicket, only for Hampshire’s bowlers to claw back control as the Eagles lost nine wickets for just 68 runs to be bowled out for 153.Hampshire started the match well after winning the toss, with James Vince, fresh from his fine century for England against Pakistan, continuing from where he left off at Edgbaston with a superb 63 that included eight boundaries and a six. Vince and D’Arcy Short put on 69 after eight overs, laying the foundations for a potentially huge target.However, the Eagles fought back well when Aron Nijjar dismissed Short and Liam Dawson inside three balls to slow down the home side’s progress.Vince continued to score freely and put on a 56 with Colin de Grandhomme before the Hampshire skipper mistimed a big shot over mid-off off spinner Simon Harmer and caught in the deep by Jimmy Neesham.De Grandhomme fell for 34 when the veteran Ryan ten Doeschate took a sharp catch off Sam Cook’s bowling in the 16th over as the Hawks’.hopes of passing the 180-mark took a huge dent.The outstanding Harmer and Nijjar continued to slow down the scoring with wickets falling regularly as Joe Weatherley, Chris Wood and James Fuller all exited cheaply.Lewis McManus thumped two huge sixes in the final two overs to help his side to a decent total despite the Hawks losing two wickets in the final over to Cook..Wood struck in the first over of the Essex innings, dismissing former Hampshire wicket-keeper Adam Wheater for a second-ball duck,before Lawrence and Westley steadied the ship. But Westley, who reached 39 almost effortlessly, was then deceived by the flight of a Mason Crane ball and McManus whipped off his bails for a smart stumping.Dawson and Short continued the good work by the spinners with the wickets of the dangerous Neesham and Michael Pepper for single-figure scores.Crane struck again to dismiss ten Doeschate for nine when he holed out to James Fuller after 15 runs had been scored from the first five balls of the leg-spinner’s over.But Essex’s hopes of victory dissipated when Lawrence departed for 60 after he gloved Scott Currie to McManus, who claimed his third victim.
With 31 needed from the last two overs, Essex fell well short with Brad Wheal taking two wickets in as many balls to dismiss Essex with four deliveries to spare.

The T20I double-headers and the three women’s ODIs have also been advanced by a day

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Aug-2021Rawalpindi will host the England men’s and women’s teams for the two T20I double-headers and the three women’s ODIs, instead of Karachi. The two double-headers have been advanced by a day, from October 14 and 15 to 13 and 14, and the women’s ODIs will be played on October 17, 19 and 21, instead of 18, 20 and 22. It will be the first time the England men’s team will tour Pakistan in 16 years.The two visiting sides will arrive in Islamabad on October 9. While the men’s squad will leave for Dubai on October 15 for the T20 World Cup, the women will stay back for the ODIs.The PCB said in a release the matches were rescheduled “due to operational and logistical reasons”. The PCB is yet to announce the timings for the matches.”We are delighted to welcome both the England men’s team for what will be their first tour to Pakistan since 2005, and the England women’s team, who will be touring Pakistan for the first time,” PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said. “Both are additional tours with England men’s side scheduled to return to Pakistan in the last quarter of 2022 for white-ball and ICC World Test Championship fixtures.”England’s men’s squad was originally scheduled to visit Pakistan in January but the two boards could not find space in a crowded itinerary, and moved the T20Is to October as part of the T20 World Cup preparations.The two teams are grouped separately in the T20 World Cup, England in Group 1 and Pakistan in Group 2.