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Bangladesh have dropped Taijul Islam and brought in pace bowler Al-Amin Hossain in their 14-man squad for the first two ODIs against England, which will be held in Mirpur on October 7 and 9.Left-arm spinner Taijul bowled decently in the first two ODIs against Afghanistan last week, but he took only one wicket in his 20 overs. He brought control to the Bangladesh attack but was not as penetrating. He was replaced by left-arm spinner Mosharraf Hossain, in the third ODI, who took three wickets.Al-Amin’s return was slightly predictable after he was not included against Afghanistan despite doing well for Bangladesh earlier this year. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin had said at the time that his fielding was an issue.But with Rubel Hossain being dropped before the third ODI against Afghanistan, there was always the need for a pace bowler who had variation to partner Mashrafe Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed.Squad for first two ODIs: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt)., Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Mosharraf Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain, Taskin Ahmed

The BCB intends to extend Thilan Samaraweera’s spell as Bangladesh batting consultant until next year’s Champions Trophy. Cricket operations committee chairman Akram Khan said that Samaraweera is prepared to stay on in his role.”We are keeping him,” Akram told BDnews24.com. “Everyone is positive about him. The coach wants him to stay back, and so does everyone else. He also doesn’t have any reservations about it.”Samaraweera joined Bangladesh ahead of the Afghanistan series for a stint that was initially to run until the end of the England series. But now he will be part of the coaching staff for the tours to New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, Ireland and England in the upcoming seven months.Bangladesh’s coaching staff has been revamped after Heath Streak and Ruwan Kalpage quit as bowling and assistant coach respectively earlier this year. Courtney Walsh replaced Streak while Samaraweera also joined as batting coach, though the BCB has said it is still looking for a spin bowling coach. Richard Halsall, previously the fielding coach, has been promoted to the assistant coach’s position.

ScorecardKeaton Jennings led Durham’s fightback•Getty Images

The day-long defiance of Keaton Jennings spoiled Nottinghamshire’s hopes of the victory which would have given them a lifeline in Division One of the Specsavers County Championship. The opener joined Michael Di Venuto and Paul Collingwood as the only players to score six Championship centuries in a season for Durham and went on to make an unbeaten 171.Durham were 385 for 8, leading by 316, when bad light forced a break, prompting a declaration which may have been influenced by a forecast of rain on Saturday afternoon. The sun re-emerged and Nottinghamshire, with eight overs to bat, reached 17 before Graham Onions trimmed Jake Libby’s off stump with four balls left.Five of Jennings’ six hundreds have come at Emirates Riverside, underlining the improvement in pitches, and this third-day surface had the visitors looking careworn by lunchtime. Despite having a nightwatchman to bowl at, they went through the session wicketless as Graham Onions passed his career-best 41 and went on to contribute 65 to a stand of 162.Jennings, who was on 32 overnight, almost fell to the day’s second and ninth balls. The first edge off Luke Fletcher fell just short of gully and the second, off Harry Gurney, flew straight through where third slip should have been. Gurney beat him a few times, but generally offered a mixed bag, as did the other left-armer, Luke Wood.Onions applied himself studiously to his task and made only eight in the first 45 minutes. He then off drove Gurney for four and lifted Imran Tahir over mid-on as he scored 49 of the 118 runs added in the session. A straight drive off Fletcher took him to his maiden half-century off 119 balls, earning rapturous applause and a hug from Jennings.After Onions fell lbw when trying to hit Samit Patel over midwicket, the best support came from Barry McCarthy with 28 in an unbroken stand of 51. Fletcher took two wickets with the new ball and Tahir went on a celebratory jig through the covers when Stuart Poynter inside-edged a drive into his stumps.Jennings proceeded at the same measured tempo, reaching 50 off 112 balls, his hundred off 204 and 150 off 285. He fiercely put away any short, wide stuff from the left-armers, drove sweetly and carefully nudged ones and twos. He also showed the skill which allowed him to score 88 in the NatWest T20 Blast final with three perfectly executed reverse sweeps.

Wasim Akram, Pakistan’s legendary left-arm fast bowler, has echoed the concerns voiced by Misbah-ul-Haq on the eve of the Edgbaston Test, that the continuing exile of Pakistan’s cricketers from their homeland is having a devastating effect on the next generation of players coming through the ranks.Wasim, who claimed 414 wickets in 104 Tests, cemented his legendary status by bowling Pakistan to victory in the 1992 World Cup. However, his big break came after being discovered by Javed Miandad as a raw and rapid net bowler in November 1984, and was propelled into the national team at the age of 19, within weeks of claiming 7 for 50 on his first-class debut against the touring New Zealanders.Such a scenario would be virtually unthinkable now, he says, because of the disconnect that has been created between Pakistan’s domestic set-up and the national team, who have been forced, due to security concerns, to play their home matches in the United Arab Emirates for the best part of a decade.”It’s impossible now,” Wasim told ESPNcricinfo. “My fourth first-class game was a Test match [against New Zealand at Auckland], and that won’t happen now. Javed Miandad saw me, then Imran [Khan] met me when I went to play for Pakistan and took me under his wing, then Waqar [Younis] came along and we ruled the world for ten years. But that opportunity isn’t there for youngsters anymore.”Under Misbah’s leadership, Pakistan have risen above their off-field issues to become one of the leading Test teams in the world and they are virtually unbeatable in their home-from-home in the UAE. But, as Misbah pointed out last week, such achievements are hollow if they do not resonate with the fans.”If you are not watching the heroes and the top stars in the world in the grounds and you are not meeting them… without that, it’s really difficult for the Pakistan Cricket Board and it can really hurt them financially also,” he said.Wasim agreed wholeheartedly. “There’s been no cricket in Pakistan for seven or eight years, and cricket is struggling in Pakistan in general,” he said. “Imagine when I was young, I used to go to Lahore’s Gadaffi stadium. I watched England playing there … Bob Willis, Graham Gooch, Mike Gatting … I watched India there in 1978 and 1982, when I was in class ten, with [Sunil] Gavaskar and Kapil Dev … Australia with Allan Border.”They motivated me, but for Pakistan’s budding cricketers, there’s no cricket there. Everything is played in the UAE on bland, placid wickets and nobody is watching cricket there. One-day cricket gets a bit of support, and T20s over three hours, but for Test cricket it is mostly empty stadiums, so it has affected Pakistan cricket big-time.”One potential solution to Pakistan’s disconnect with its fans could lie in the nascent Pakistan Super League, which made a successful debut in the UAE in February 2016, with Wasim’s team, Islamabad United, beating Quetta Gladiators in a sold-out final in Dubai.There have been tentative discussions about introducing some elements of next year’s competition to Pakistan, with potentially the knock-out stages to be held in Karachi or Lahore. However, much would rest with the willingness of the team’s star players to travel to the country. One big name, Andre Russell, recently admitted he would be willing, but “scared” if asked to go.”The PSL was a great success,” said Wasim. “It was the second most watched event in Pakistan television history – 68% of the country watched it, and that is a lot of ratings.”The idea is to gradually take the PSL to Pakistan – maybe the final, or the semi-final – and see what happens. But if the PSL happens in Pakistan, every game you will get 50,000, 80,000 watching from the ground.”Things are better in Pakistan security-wise,” he added. “I live there, and things are better. If teams decide to tour there, then cricket in Pakistan will evolve to a different level.”But the sooner this happens, the better. Not just for Pakistan cricket, but for world cricket, because if Pakistan cricket evolves, it will improve world cricket. The PCB and the Pakistan government are trying, things are getting better, and hopefully soon someone will put their hands up and say ‘let’s tour Pakistan’ and see what happens.”

ScorecardLuke Wood hit a maiden fifty on his List A debut•Getty Images

Director of cricket Mick Newell castigated his top order after Nottinghamshire failed to chase down a target of 280 and left their chances of reaching the quarter-finals of the Royal London Cup depending on results elsewhere”You have to look at the first 30 overs of our innings, not the last 20,” Newell said. “You have to look at the top six or seven batsmen, none made 50, that’s where the match was lost, and that’s really disappointing given the importance of the game.”Needing 95 to win off the last ten overs, a brilliant half-century from debutant Luke Wood, made off just 29 balls, kept Notts in the hunt, but the young allrounder was yorked by Cameron Delport in the final over the match, leaving the last pair of Harry Gurney and Luke Fletcher too much to do.”Luke had a fine game, and it’s good to have him available again after injury, but the senior players left him far too much to do,” Newell said. “Now we need to beat Worcestershire tomorrow and for other results to go our way.”Leicestershire’s innings began badly after Mark Pettini won the toss and chosen to bat. The Foxes’ captain lost his opening partner to only the ninth ball of the innings, left-arm seamer Wood striking in his first over of his first List A match with a swinging delivery which found the edge of Paul Horton’s bat as the experienced former Lancashire man drove at the ball without real conviction.Wood also picked up a wicket in his second over, another swinging delivery beating Kevin O’Brien and knocking out the Ireland international’s off stump, and when Luke Fletcher had Lewis Hill caught behind with a delivery which bounced and left the young right-hander, Leicestershire were struggling on 27 for 3.South Africa international Delport looked in good form, however, hitting eight fours in going to 46 off 45 balls and adding 58 with Pettini before shuffling across his crease to Samit Patel and being given leg before wicket after missing a delivery which turned back into him.Pettini, playing the anchor role, had just reached his 50, from 77 balls, when he tried to turn Steven Mullaney into the leg side and succeeded only in lofting a simple catch to Riki Wessels at midwicket.Niall O’Brien began the acceleration, the left-hander driving the ball sweetly through the off side and hitting nine fours in a run a ball 82, and with Michael Burgess carving 36 from 32 balls and Rob Sayer contributing a useful 26 off 19, Leicestershire reached what they hoped would be a competitive score.The manner in which Michael Lumb started the Notts reply suggested it could be well short of that, the left-hander stroking four powerful boundaries through the off side in the opening overs. Leicestershire seamer Ollie Freckingham adjusted his line, however, and was rewarded when Lumb drove hard at a delivery without getting to the pitch of the ball and edged to Niall O’Brien behind the stumps.Wessels and Brendan Taylor had taken the score past 50 when Wessels thick-edged at attempted drive at the medium pace of Ben Raine high to Rob Sayer at deep point, and Patel came and went quickly, bowled by a Kevin O’Brien delivery which seamed back and hit leg stump.Dan Christian’s arrival at the crease was greeted with a certain amount of dread by Leicestershire supporters, Christian having smashed 54 off just 16 balls in the T20 match between these sides at Trent Bridge on Friday night, but the Australian could not repeat his destructive innings. He did hit a couple of effective blows, but on 12 tried to force a Kevin O’Brien delivery off the back foot into the off side, and saw Delport hold a chest high chance at the second attempt.Taylor’s dismissal by Raine, bowled off the inside edge, ensured the Nottinghamshire innings continued to mirror that of the hosts. Mullaney, very much in form after a List A career best against Yorkshire at Scarborough in Nottinghamshire’s previous match, looked very much in control in going to 30 before missing with an uncharacteristically wild – and unnecessary – heave across the line at Freckingham.Greg Smith’s dismissal, leg before attempting a reverse sweep at the offspin of Sayer, looked to have ended the game, but Wood hit out magnificently to keep his side in the game until the final over.The result means Leicestershire themselves, who went into the game bottom of the north division, could still qualify for the quarter-finals. However they too will need to win their remaining game, against Derbyshire at the County Ground, and hope results elsewhere go in their favour.

The oldest bilateral rivalry in international cricket is set to be revived later this year with the resumption of the KA Auty Cup series between USA and Canada, which has been tentatively scheduled in Los Angeles in October.The series was last played in 2013 as a two-day match, a 50-over game and a Twenty20 doubleheader in King City, outside of Toronto. The series was shelved in 2014 and 2015 as the boards of both countries ran into financial difficulties. However, discussions have taken place between Cricket Canada and ICC officials, acting in their caretaker role overseeing USA cricket, to restart it.”One of the advantages of the ICC being intimately involved here is that we care about all the members in the region,” Tim Anderson, ICC head of global development, told ESPNcricinfo. “We understand that Cricket Canada hasn’t had a lot of international exposure recently. So we thought that maybe it’s a good idea to get Canada involved with some preparation that helps them and helps USA.”Though Anderson says the series has not been confirmed, a source in Los Angeles has told ESPNcricinfo that a tentative agreement has been reached to play the Auty Cup at Woodley Park on the weekend prior to ICC WCL Division Four, which is set to be played at the same venue. Media reports out of Jersey – one of the six participants in Division Four along with USA, Bermuda, Oman, Italy and Denmark – state that teams have been informed that the tournament will be played from October 29 to November 5. ESPNcricinfo’s sources have confirmed being notified by ICC officials of the same dates, but the governing body has yet to make a formal announcement. The top two teams will be promoted to Division Three, where Canada currently sits with Uganda, Singapore and Malaysia.The proposed Auty Cup games would be the first fixtures of any kind for both countries since the 2015 ICC World T20 Qualifier in Ireland and Scotland last July. USA finished fifth in Group A with three wins and three losses while Canada went winless to finish last in Group B.The Auty Cup rivalry dates back to 1844 when Canada beat the USA by 23 runs in a three-day match in New York. Canada are the current holders of the Auty Cup, having retained the trophy after claiming first-innings points in a drawn two-day match in 2013. The last time the two teams squared off with the Auty Cup not at stake was in 2015 at the ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 championship in Indianapolis, where Canada won, also by 23 runs.

ScorecardJosh Cobb was instrumental in Northants’ victory•Getty Images

Josh Cobb’s second T20 fifty of the season and a fine debut bowling performance from Moin Ashraf helped Northamptonshire back to the top of the North Group in the NatWest T20 Blast with a 26-run win over Durham.Chasing 162, Durham’s chase was on its knees within four overs as they slumped to 9 for 4. Paul Collingwood and Scott Borthwick attempted a revival but Durham could only limp to 135 for 8 and lost for a fourth time this season.Paul Coughlin had earlier bowled a triple-wicket maiden to finish the Northants innings which included a hat-trick from the final three balls of the innings – the second hat-trick for Durham in T20s and the second against Northants in the shortest format after Collingwood in 2011. It was scant consolation for Durham. Coughlin finished with competition-best figures of 5 for 42Ashraf, signed on a short-team deal as injury cover and given his Northants debut here, found some swing to take two wickets in three balls in his opening over – Jack Burnham drove at an away-swinger and edged to a diving Adam Rossington behind the stumps, then Michael Richardson got a leading edge to mid-off.Ashraf’s third wicket came as Phil Mustard attempted a lofted straight drive and only found Steven Crook running back from mid-on. Richard Gleeson also played his part in the early damage as Mark Stoneman, first wicket to fall, dragged into his middle and leg stumps.”It was tough being released by Yorkshire but I wanted to give it another crack and come back stronger and I’m very grateful for the opportunity,” Ashraf said later.From such an awful position, Collingwood did as Collingwood does, keeping a cool head in a crisis to get the chase moving. He found two boundaries off Gleeson before a delightful in-to-out drive over extra-cover when Graeme White’s left-arm spin was introduced. But when he lifted Cobb to Crook at long-on, his stand of 59 with Borthwick ended and with it Durham’s chances.Borthwick nudged the bowling around carefully for 29 in 25 balls but his only boundary was an extra-cover drive off White. He was eventually run out by Rossington, called through for a leg-bye that proved too sharp.Northants were never put under pressure defending their 161 for 9, build around Cobb’s 68 in 47 balls. He followed up his match-winning unbeaten 56 against Worcestershire with a 34-ball fifty here, sweetly timing the ball throughout and striking five fours and four sixes. It was his 10th T20 half-century and he passed 2,000 T20 runs in the process.He took 14 from the final over of the Powerplay – slapping Coughlin wide of mid-off and midwicket either side of a handsome straight drive for six. His second straight six was timed superbly off Borthwick and when the leg spinner changed ends, Cobb planted him onto the roof of the Lynn Wilson centre.But there was he little he could do to get away the canny seamers of Chris Rushworth, who bowled a nagging length and changed his pace superbly in a spell of four overs that cost only 17 runs – Rossington’s pull for six over deep-backward square the only blot on his figures.Rushworth took the opening wicket after Northants captain Alex Wakely had given the innings some early impetus with 28 in 15 balls – including a well-timed pull over deep midwicket, a shot that brought his downfall, caught in the deep.Rossington didn’t play as urgently as in previous T20s, getting to 17 at a run-a-ball, but found Coughlin trying to lift Borthwick over deep midwicket.

Max Holden stole the limelight from Lhuan-dre Pretorius’s exhilarating debut as Hampshire Hawks and Middlesex tied a DLS thriller in the Men’s Vitality Blast.South African wunderkind Pretorius hammered a 22-ball 44 as Hawks struck 63 either side of the rain delays.Middlesex needed 76 to win after DLS recalculated the score, and after Chris Wood began with a maiden, Hawks were heavy favourites. But Holden whacked 38 in 18, before Kane Williamson’s 23 and Ben Geddes’ 10 took Middlesex to the brink but both sides had to share two points.It was Hampshire’s eighth T20 tie, and Middlesex’s fourth.Pretorius only arrived in the UK on Thursday having finished an unofficial Test for South Africa A in Saint Lucia on Wednesday. Jetlag seemingly didn’t have any impact on Pretorius as he rocketed a front-foot pull to the boundary off the first ball of the match, after Middlesex had chosen to bowl first.He continued with a well-timed clip off the pads and a wristy thrash through the covers to take two further boundaries off the opening over.Hawks fans had been made to wait for Pretorius – who arrived with high expectations after leading the scoring charts in the SA20 in his homeland over the winter, including a debut unbeaten 97.Dewald Brevis’ immediate impact only whetted the appetite for the second gun Proteas’ entrance, although it was somewhat dampened by the revelation that the pair would only be available until June 20 after being called up to the Test squad to face Zimbabwe.After striking 15 off the first over, runs continued to flow off Pretorius’ bat to reach 29 off 14 balls – although James Vince was caught at cover point off Zafar Gohar.Persistent rain hit after four overs and begun a two hour and 20-minute delay. Play was almost restarted for an 11 over-a-side match but another shower forced another delay. Eventually, a six-over-a-side game was started and Pretorius got going again.In two overs, Pretorius whizzed to 44 not out from 22 deliveries, including a bullet six over deep midwicket, with Toby Albert happy to just rotate the strike. It took Hampshire to 63 for 1, with DLS turning that into a 76-run target for the visitors.Their hopes of chasing that were dented as Wood begun with a maiden over – with just a leg bye on the total.James Fuller started with another dot and leg bye before Middlesex finally kicked into gear. Holden got away with an inside edge before carting over extra cover for four, over square for six and another inside edge for four boundaries in a row to take 19 off the second over.Another 18 runs off the following over got Middlesex closer to the rate but just as Holden reached 38 off 18 balls he skied straight up in the air.A Williamson blast for six made sure the DLS par was level going into the final over, with 13 required. Scott Currie went one, two, two with a dropped catch, two, a Ben Geddes four down the ground before a final ball bye to the wicketkeeper meant the game was tied.

Returning to Test cricket was not an overwhelming motivation for Shai Hope, but now that he’s back for the first time since 2021, he’s ready to commit to a fresh era under new captain Roston Chase.Hope, who leads West Indies in both white-ball formats, had been approached to be interviewed for the role of Test captain after Kraigg Brathwaite stepped down. But he declined to be included in the process, in part, he said, due to the workload of being a three-format player, which was also in the conversations with head coach Daren Sammy about a return to the Test side.To add to the scrutiny of his recall, Hope has been handed the wicketkeeping gloves for the opening match against Australia in Barbados, just the third time in Tests he’s started as the designated keeper, although he’s a regular in the role in limited-overs cricket.Related

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“Representing West Indies, they always give me a lot of joy and pride,” Hope told ESPNcricinfo in Barbados. “I think that was the main focus, just being able to represent the region and bring my impact on the game and obviously the transfer of that inspiration back into the next generation.”I’m happy to be back. It’s not something I would say I was looking forward to in terms of, ‘I have to play Test cricket again’. But if the opportunity came, I would always be willing to take it.”I believe if I’m doing something, I’m committed to it,” he added. “So if I decided to come back and play Test cricket, my main focus would be to give it my all. If success is there or not, the decision to leave me in or include me, that’s up to the decision makers. But, yes, as long as I’m being committed to the task at hand, I think I’m going to give my all.”With a T20 World Cup early next year and the build towards the 2027 ODI World Cup, where West Indies face a scrap for direct qualification through the rankings after having missed on the 2023 edition, there will be a lot of pressure on Hope in the months and years ahead.”The reality is the best or the most elite players, they don’t play all throughout the year in all three formats,” he said. “So there’s some rest involved, [and] there’s some give or take. But I pride myself on being as fit and being as ready as possible for whatever is thrown at me. And that’s what I’m going to try to do. If I’m playing all three formats, let’s say for the next two, three, five, ten years, however long, I want to make sure I’m doing it the best I can.”The amount of cricket I’ve been playing for the last couple of years, the workload has been pretty intense. It’s just about managing that a little bit better. We understand the magnitude of games that we have over the next cycle.”It’s about seeing what’s best for West Indies cricket. I guess they felt as though I would have been the perfect person to come in at this stage in my career and see what impact I can have. And that’s what I’m trying to do.”In this Test side, alongside Chase, the recalled John Campbell and debutant Brandon King, Hope is part of a reshaped batting order.Pat Cummins and Roston Chase will lead their sides at the Frank Worrell Trophy•AFP/Getty Images

He announced himself to the world with twin centuries against England, at Headingley, in 2017 to help West Indies to victory and followed that with 62 at Lord’s in the final match of the series. His next outing against Zimbabwe brought 90, amid a golden two-month period, but only two more half-centuries followed over a four-year stretch until he was left out after playing Sri Lanka in 2021. Since that series, he has played just four first-class matches – two for Barbados and two for Sussex.”Shai Hope is a class player,” Chase said. “He has a lot of experience in the international arena. He’s also the captain in the white-ball format. I’m just looking for him to lead by example as a senior player and someone that I can lean on in pressure situations and to help me lead the troops in being a competitive Test team.”Hope was wicketkeeper in his most recent red-ball outing, against Trinidad and Tobago in March, where he reportedly struggled with the gloves, but Chase backed him to put in the hard work needed to do the role at Test level.”He’s been in the international arena for some time and, at this level, you have to put those things behind you very fast,” Chase said. “[I know] that he will be able to put that behind him. I’ve seen him working on his keeping a bit more now, too. So, hopefully that should put him in good stead and do a great job for us.”