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Headed by Aqib Javed, the Qalandars management will take the cricketing decisions for Nationals in the upcoming season

Umar Farooq16-Jun-2023Toronto Nationals have entered into a deal with the two-time PSL champions Lahore Qalandars to outsource their coaching staff headed by director of cricket and head coach Aqib Javed to lead the franchise in the upcoming Global T20 [GT20]. While Aqib’s appointment has been formalised, the rest of the support staff’s appointment awaits a final ratification from Cricket Canada. The team had also picked four Pakistani players – Shahid Afridi, Zaman Khan, Saim Ayub, and Abdullah Shafique – in the recent draft.”We are excited about our association with Lahore Qalandars,” Nationals CEO Manzoor Chaudhry said. “Cricket being a global sport is proliferating and connecting cricketing communities together. They won the PSL title twice and contributed a lot in Pakistan with their player development program and with such credibility, their assistance will be invaluable. So it’s an incredible opportunity for us to rope them into Canada to manage our team. We are looking forward to forging a long-term deal in the future.”The deal will see the Qalandars’ team management taking all cricketing decisions for Nationals. Apart from Aqib, full-time bowling coach Waqas Ahmed, fielding coach Shahzad Butt, and performance analyst Nabeel Edgar Pace will also be involved according to the terms of the contract between Qalandars and Nationals.Related

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Former Australia fast bowler, Geoff Lawson was Nationals’ head coach the last time GT20 was held in 2019. They made it to the playoffs only to crash out in the Eliminator. In 2018, they finished bottom with Phil Simmons as head coach.”We are thrilled to be a part of the GT20 here in Canada and assisting Toronto Nationals with setting up the roster and providing them our full coaching staff in the upcoming season,” Lahore Qalandars owner, Sameen Rana said. “In our responsibility, we will help the franchise to achieve their winning ambitions in the league. The deal is a first of a kind and it is initially for a season and we will see how it goes.”For us, it could also serve as a talent scouting on some unseen players from associates countries. Who knows we could find another Tim David out of another associate country who outshines and become a part of a bigger cricket ecosystem.”The GT20 returns after a four-year gap. The first two seasons took place in 2018 and 2019, but following payment disputes and the Covid pandemic, the league has not been held.The tournament has since undergone a revamp, with the title holders Winnipeg Hawks and Edmonton Royals not part of the competition anymore. Their places have been taken by Surrey Jaguars and Mississauga Panthers. Each team has included two marquee players and three Canadian players from the national side, as well as three emerging Canadian players, and four players from Associate countries in their roster of 16 at a cost of US $579,500.The GT20 will resume on July 20, with the final scheduled for August 6.

Mitchell Santner plays key role as Worcestershire cruise to victory with 2.2 overs to spare

ECB Reporters Network20-Jun-2023Jos Buttler hit his highest Vitality Blast score of the summer but it proved in vain as Lancashire Lightning crashed to a seven-wicket setback against Worcestershire Rapids at New Road.England’s white-ball captain rescued his side from 38 for 4 by smashing 74 off 54 balls with two sixes and five fours. He clearly has a liking for the Rapids attack as his only other fifty in the competition this summer came against them at Blackpool.But Lightning were restricted to 164 for 8 with former England T20 player Pat Brown claiming three more wickets to take his tally for the campaign to 19. He received excellent support from Mitchell Santner and the New Zealand allrounder then clubbed his way to 49 off 27 balls as Worcestershire triumphed with 14 balls to spare.Jack Haynes showed his class in helping Santner add 81 in eight overs and he then pressed his foot on the accelerator in making a decisive 63 from 43 balls.The Rapids have now moved level on 12 points with Lancashire and they have a game in hand.Lancashire skipper Liam Livingstone opted to bat after the toss but his side ran into early trouble. Phil Salt smashed the second ball of the innings from Dillon Pennington over the midwicket boundary but it was his only scoring stroke. He went for another legside hit later in the over and skied a catch to Usama Mir at cover.Santner shared the new ball and also made a breakthrough as Luke Wells attempted a reverse sweep and was lbw. Pennington failed to hold onto a return catch from Dane Vilas but it did not prove a costly miss as Pat Brown struck twice in the final over of the powerplay.Vilas pulled Brown straight into the hands of midwicket and the next delivery accounted for Daryl Mitchell as he nicked a ball of extra bounce through to keeper Ben Cox.Lancashire were perched uneasily on 38 for 4 but Buttler and Rob Jones batted sensibly to lead a recovery. At first they were content to work the ball around against the Rapids spinners but gradually accelerated.Butler followed up his half-century in Lancashire’s win over Worcestershire at Southport by completing a 40-ball fifty with his fifth boundary, a delightful late cut at Brown’s expense.Jones opened his shoulder to clear the long off boundary against Brett D’Oliveira. But Santner broke a 98-run stand when Jones attempted a reverse sweep and only found the hands of Ed Pollock on the cover boundary.Josh Tongue then dismissed Buttler and Livingstone in an action-packed penultimate over. Butler’s fine knock ended on 74 when he holed out to cover and then Livingstone, who surprisingly held himself back until there were only 10 balls remaining, smashed his opening two deliveries for maximums.After a no-ball, Livingstone carved the third legitimate ball he faced to cover. And there was time for Brown to pick up his third wicket as Luke Wood found long-on.Jones held onto a diving catch at cover to dismiss D’Oliveira in Jack Blatherwick’s first over but Santner and Haynes took the game away from the Lightning during a stand of 81 in eight overs.Santner was particularly aggressive, striking Livingstone and Wells for maximums and there were also five fours in his 49 before he backed away to try and cut Wood and only feathered through to Buttler.Haynes then took over the mantle of chief aggressor and a regal cover drive off Tom Hartley enabled him to complete his half century. With Adam Hose also in good nick, the Rapids were on the verge of victory when Haynes holed out to backward square leg of Blatherwick.

Fast bowler has reportedly applied for British citizenship but will join initially as an overseas player

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2023Derbyshire have signed former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir as an overseas player for the first half of the 2024 season. He is expected to be available to play in the Championship and T20 Blast.Derbyshire had reportedly been exploring a move to bring in Amir as a local player, with the 31-year-old applying for British citizenship via his marriage. Amir worked with Derbyshire’s head of cricket, Mickey Arthur, when the South African was Pakistan coach, and has previous experience of playing county cricket with Essex and Gloucestershire.”Mohammad is a world-renowned fast bowler and someone who I am delighted to bring to Derbyshire,” Arthur said. “He will lead our attack in red ball and T20 for the first half of next season and I’m so excited to see what he will produce.”I know all about his quality, he has been a big-game player throughout his career and that’s something I’ve seen first-hand. I know the Derbyshire supporters are going to love seeing Mohammad charging in.”Amir retired from international cricket in 2020, having represented Pakistan almost 150 times across the formats. His most-recent first-class appearance was for Gloucestershire in May 2022, but he has an impressive record with 266 wickets at 22.63. He has spent much of the last two years playing on the T20 circuit, featuring in the PSL, BPL, CPL and LPL, as well as the inaugural edition of the Hundred.Amir said: “I’ve enjoyed my experiences of county cricket in the past and joining up with Mickey, who I’ve had so much success with internationally, is something I’m looking forward to.”The County Championship is so special and I’ve always enjoyed playing first-class cricket in England. I’ve spoken to Mickey about the quality in the squad and I want to put in the performances to help Derbyshire challenge in red and white ball cricket next summer.”

Seamer’s six-for echoes opening-round rout as Cook builds on 125-run lead at Chelmsford

Andrew Miller05-Sep-2023Essex 304 (Browne 59, Cook 58, De Caires 8-106) and 104 for 1 (A Cook 44*) lead Middlesex 179 (Porter 6-34) by 229 runsThe harder that Essex toil to keep pace in this title race, the further adrift of Surrey’s rampant frontrunners they seem to end up being. Barely 15 minutes were on the clock at Chelmsford when word drifted up the A12 that Warwickshire had lost their third wicket of the morning to slump to a dismal innings defeat at the Kia Oval – by which stage Essex too were back in the pavilion, courtesy of Josh De Caires’ eighth wicket of their first innings – leaving them all out for 304, and with a net loss of one batting point on their South London rivals.And yet, to Essex’s credit – and Jamie Porter’s in particular – they were still in there fighting for this title by the close of the second day. After a day of harder graft than might have been envisaged after Porter – not for the first time this season – had overseen the obliteration of Middlesex’s top four in the space of his first four overs, Essex strolled through to the close with a lead of 229 and nine wickets intact, courtesy of Alastair Cook’s unbeaten 44, his second substantial knock of the match.With the sun set to blaze for two more days and this used pitch likely to get dustier even if it has eased out for now, there’s no reason to believe that Essex won’t be leaving this contest with a 21-point haul under their belts, to keep their challenge mathematically alive – at least until Surrey have seen off the relegation-bound Northamptonshire in their next home fixture in a fortnight’s time. More’s the pity that the lop-sided scheduling in the top flight has denied us a return clash of the top two, after Surrey were forced to cling on for a feisty draw on this ground back in May.Still, Essex aren’t done with the scrapping just yet. There’s so much residual excellence within this red-ball set-up that, on a rare off-day for Simon Harmer – their most obvious weapon in light of De Caires’ impact, but restricted on this occasion to a solitary wicket in the deep – their standards were maintained instead by their other pair of Old Faithfuls, Porter and Sam Cook, with a combined analysis of 9 for 80 in 22.5 overs.Porter emerged with the lion’s share of that haul – 6 for 34 in 12.5, his best figures of the season … by one run, after his 6 for 35 had routed Middlesex in their previous meeting at Lord’s in April’s season opener. On that occasion, the top four had contributed not a single run to a ghastly scoreline of 4 for 4, and so today’s collapse to 25 for 4 was comparative riches.The division of labour, however, was all too familiar for a put-upon batting line-up – three for Porter, one for Cook, and scarcely a moment’s let-up between them. Mark Stoneman was the first to go, driving loosely on the up to pick out Paul Walter in the covers, whereupon Joe Cracknell – playing his second Championship fixture and his first in two years – was followed by a fourth-ball inducker that Harmer scooped up at second slip.Sam Robson was bowled by Jamie Porter as Middlesex collapsed at Chelmsford•Andrew Miller/ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Three overs later, Porter had his and Essex’s third – and the best of the innings – as Sam Robson played down the wrong line of a perfect seaming delivery that straightened around his outside edge to flatten his off stump. And three balls after that, Cook – aiming full and threatening from round the wicket – pinned a tentative Jack Davies on the shin as he failed to commit fully on the front foot, and the innings was in freefall.The stage was set for Harmer, entering from the River End with licence to rip his offies and invite a catatonic line-up to implode. With India’s Test seamer Umesh Yadav hitting a hard length in his first spell as an Essex cricketer, Middlesex ground out a total of three runs in ten overs, including 35 consecutive dot-balls, until Max Holden denied Harmer a fifth consecutive maiden with a firm sweep through square leg.With Holden and John Simpson just beginning to creep out of their foxholes, back came Porter from the Hayes Close End, and down went Middlesex’s fifth wicket, as Simpson was pinned on the crease for 16, albeit the impact was on the high side of leg-sided. Porter didn’t care how they came, and before his 12th over was done, he’d bagged his own fifth, as Holden’s fighting knock ended with a tame clip back to the bowler for 30. Though Ryan Higgins and De Caires displayed some panache in their respective rearguards – the latter with a ramp for four off Porter than his old man certainly didn’t teach him – Essex would not be denied in their push for a substantive125-run lead.Porter duly delivered it by pinning Ethan Bamber lbw for 0, and in the wake of his back-to-back five-fors against Hampshire in Essex’s last Championship outing in July, he’d rushed past 50 wickets for the season too – quite the bounce-back after a fallow summer in 2022, in which his injury-plagued haul of 19 at 30.89 had left him contemplating his future as he approached his 30th birthday.Instead, after a renewed fitness drive – aided in no small part by a winter in Melbourne alongside Essex’s Australian bowling coach Mick Lewis – Porter’s now racked up 53 at 16.92, by a distance his best season since his annus mirablis in 2017, when he powered Essex’s title charge with 85 wickets at 16.74, and earned himself a 12th-man berth in England’s Test plans against India the following summer.Those England hopes, even Porter might accept, are long gone now – while Cook’s seem destined never to arrive in the first place, even though, at the age of 26 and with a first-class average below 20, his credentials could scarcely be more presentable. But all’s the more reason why this Essex era is of such enduring importance to this squad of players. Given all that they’ve achieved in the past six years and more, they are not quite ready to accept that their mantle of red-ball trendsetters has slipped away to the South-West.

Victory over promoted Worcestershire ensures hosts avoid last-placed finish

ECB Reporters Network29-Sep-2023Shan Masood’s brilliant 123 gave Yorkshire a happy ending to another difficult season as they chased a final-day target of 360 to beat promoted Worcestershire at Headingley and avoid finishing bottom of the LV= Insurance County Championship for only the second time in their history.Yorkshire’s fourth-highest ever successful run chase was achieved with comfort, by six wickets with three overs of the allotted 70 remaining.With the game meandering ahead of day four, both sides opted to contrive a finish, with Yorkshire risking the draw which would lift them off the bottom of Division Two. As it was, they were able to achieve that by going for broke as captain Masood hit 15 fours in 131 balls.Worcestershire advanced their second innings – they started it with a lead of 127 late on day three – from 18 for 2 to 262 for 2 declared inside the first 70 minutes of play. Jake Libby benefited against declaration bowling with 109 not out, while Jack Haynes finished unbeaten on 113.James Wharton was one of those bowlers, but he later helped Masood steer the run chase with three sixes in a fine career-best 89. The third-wicket pair shared 164 either side of tea. Jonny Tattersall later hit the winning runs to finish 44 not out.This was just a minor blot on Worcestershire’s copybook having earned promotion on day two, and they should be applauded for their willingness to partake in invention.Yorkshire lost opener Fin Bean sharply caught and bowled by Dillon Pennington for 11 just before lunch as the score slipped to 22 for 1 in the 10th over.Pennington, playing his last game for the Pears before moving to Nottinghamshire, prevented 21-year-old Bean from reaching 1,000 Championship runs in an impressive breakthrough year. He fell only 17 runs short. The consolation for the left-hander was that he was awarded the Yorkshire Members’ Player of the Year award at lunch.Adam Lyth did, however, reach the milestone which Bean missed out on. He needed 32 at the start of this innings to reach 1,000 for the fourth time in his career. And his 51 off 62 balls gave Yorkshire a platform. He shared 88 either side of lunch with second-wicket partner Masood, only to fall caught at midwicket off a miscue against left-arm spinner Josh Baker.Captain Masood batted in dreamy fashion, driving and working particularly well in excellent batting conditions. He reached his fifty off 57 balls before tea – Yorkshire were 175 for 2 after 39 overs, needing 185 more – and his second hundred for the county off 107 balls afterwards.Yorkshire cruised through the final session. At 237 for 2, they took the target to 123 from the final 20 overs. By that time, Wharton had reached his fifty off 71 balls.Baker bowled Wharton and had Masood caught at deep midwicket in quick succession, leaving the score 279 for 4 – 81 needed inside 14 overs.But George Hill and Tattersall maintained the intent and shared an unbroken 84 for the fifth wicket. Hill contributed 38 of them, with both scoring at better than a run-a-ball.This finish was engineered following an hour of forgettable cricket. Worcestershire resumed on 18 for 2, a lead of 145. Yorkshire bowled properly for the opening 20 minutes through Matt Milnes and Ben Coad, but with no breakthrough they turned to declaration bowling from Bean and Wharton. They shared 19.1 overs, conceding more than 100 runs apiece.Libby and Haynes, the latter in his final appearance for Worcestershire ahead of a move to Notts alongside Pennington, were the beneficiaries of an open-goal chance to boost their averages. They both reached centuries as a total of 214 runs were scored in 23.1 overs.”People don’t come to watch draws, so it’s nice to set up a result,” said Bean as he accepted his Player of the Year award at lunch.For Yorkshire, things worked out well as they avoided a bottom-placed finished for the first time since 1983 and gave an early indication they will be promotion favourites next summer with no points penalty.

Rangpur open their account but Barisal remain winless after their nine-run loss to Rajshahi

Mohammad Isam23-Oct-2023Dhaka Division went into a commanding lead in the NCL’s tier-1 points table, following their seven-wicket win against Sylhet Division in Bogra. Batting first, Sylhet were bowled out for 212 with pacer Sumon Khan taking his fourth five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. At one stage, Sylhet were 71 for 6 before their captain Zakir Hasan’s 85 revived them somewhat.Dhaka took a 44-run lead thanks to Rony Talukdar and Shuvagata Hom’s fifties as the team made 256. Sylhet were bowled out for 116 in their second innings, with left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam taking his eighth five-wicket haul in 79 matches. Chasing 73, Dhaka got home comfortably to pick up their second win in the competition.Rangpur Division beat Dhaka Metropolis by 65 runs in Mirpur to open their account this season. Shohidul Islam’s four-wicket haul dented Rangpur, and eventually, they were bowled out for 119 in under 35 overs.Dhaka Metropolis took a 54-run lead with Abdul Gaffar Saqlain taking four wickets for Rangpur. It was the start of Rangpur’s fightback. Anik Sarkar missed out on a debut hundred when he fell on 99, before Nobin Islam, at No. 7, struck 145 – his maiden century – with 19 fours and four sixes. Rangpur were all out for 464.Chasing a mammoth 411, Mohammad Naim replied with his second first-class hundred. He hit 13 fours and four sixes in his knock, but Dhaka Metropolis were bowled out for 345. Asadullah Galib and Gaffar took three wickets each for Rangpur.In the tier-2 match, Khulna Division beat Chattogram Division by one wicket in Sylhet. It is only their second one-wicket win in the NCL history.Chattogram were bowled out for 242, with Shamim Hossain scoring a fifty. Anamul Haque’s 23rd first-class century helped Khulna to a 43-run lead. He made 110 off 166 balls with six fours and three sixes and he added 139 runs with Ziaur Rahman for the seventh wicket. Ziaur struck seven fours and five sixes in his 127-ball 84. For Chattogram, Nayeem Hasan took his 14th five-wicket haul.In reply, Chattogram were bowled out for 175, with Al-Amin Hossain, Abdul Halim, Soumya Sarkar, Aridul Islam Akash and Anamul picking up two wickets each.Khulna needed only 133 to win. At 102 for 3, they seemed to be cruising towards the target but Hasan Murad’s six-for derailed their chase. Afif Hossain, though, held the fort with an unbeaten 34 and took the side to a one-wicket win.In another close game, Rajshahi Division beat Barisal Division by nine runs in Rajshahi. SM Meherob and Sabbir Rahman struck fifties as Rajshahi made 209. Left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam took five wickets while Sohag Gazi grabbed four.Barisal took a 24-run lead after being bowled out for 233. Nahid Rana took four wickets, while Moin Khan scored a fifty. Tanvir then added four more to his kitty to help bowl out Rajshahi for 192. Sabbir Hossain top-scored with 52.Iftakhar Hossain Ifti’s 60 held Barisal in a chase of 169, but when he fell as the seventh wicket, with the team on 130, the lower order failed to take Barisal home. Taijul Islam took four wickets for Rajshahi, while Rana added three more to his wickets column.

The BCB will be talking to Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal about their futures ahead of the New Zealand Tests, and Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy Hasan Miraz are captaincy candidates for that series

Mohammad Isam09-Nov-2023Bangladesh cricket is facing a possible all-round overhaul in the weeks following their forgettable 2023 World Cup campaign, ranging from a new captain for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand to Shakib Al Hasan having to take a call on his future. While Shakib had announced in a pre-World Cup interview that he would quit the ODI captaincy after the World Cup, the BCB isn’t taking it as an official word.”He had not informed us about leaving captaincy before the World Cup. We believed that [the interview] was not an official thing,” Jalal Yunus, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said.Shakib, who is also Bangladesh’s Test captain, was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup due to a fractured finger he sustained while batting against Sri Lanka. As a result of that injury, he will also be missing the two home Tests against New Zealand.Related

• 'I have left them in a good space with a good platform' – Donald to sign off as Bangladesh fast-bowling coach

• How Bangladesh became a shadow of themselves at the World Cup

• Hathurusinghe: Our batting let us down with 'high expectations'

• Khaled Mahmud unhappy with role as Bangladesh team director

The BCB is keen for a full-strength squad for those Tests – the series starts Bangladesh’s World Test Championship cycle for 2023-25 – but is not leaning towards naming Litton Das captain. In fact, the board seems unhappy with Litton, who took two breaks while the World Cup was being played.He had first returned home to Dhaka a day after Bangladesh played Pakistan in Kolkata on October 31, before doing the same after the Sri Lanka game in Delhi on November 6. Litton was back in Pune, the venue of Bangladesh’s match against Australia, only three days later.ESPNcricinfo has learned that the general view among influential BCB directors is that Litton lost focus during the World Cup, although he was given both breaks on “humanitarian” grounds.That potentially leaves Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy Hasan Miraz as captaincy candidates. Shanto, who had led Bangladesh when Shakib had missed their World Cup game against India due to a quad injury, is also set to stand-in as captain for their final match against Australia, to be played on November 11.As for Shakib’s future in both Tests and ODIs, the BCB will be discussing it with him soon. Ahead of the World Cup, the comments on the ODI captaincy aside, he had even outlined his retirement plans, saying he would announce his retirement “after the 2025 Champions Trophy”.Meanwhile, there’s also a lack of clarity about Tamim Iqbal’s future in the Test side. He had missed the World Cup due to concerns with his back, and hasn’t played in any of the four rounds of the ongoing National Cricket League, which is Bangladesh’s premier first-class competition.Thus, with Shakib and Tamim potentially absent against New Zealand, it would leave Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque as the only experienced batters, despite the BCB wanting to play a full-strength squad. The bowling unit’s availability will largely depend on their fitness updates after the World Cup.

Andrew McDonald has floated the notion of a batting reshuffle, but the former captain cautioned against it

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2023Ricky Ponting insists Cameron Bancroft should be David Warner’s replacement once the veteran Australia opener bows out of Test cricket in January.WA’s Bancroft is again the Sheffield Shield’s top run-scorer after making 945 runs – almost 300 more than the next best – last summer.Despite the 31-year-old’s domestic success, Bancroft was still overlooked for Marcus Harris for a spare batting spot in Australia’s Ashes squad in June.Related

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• Mitchell Marsh: 'Past battling, I'm here to enjoy my cricket and have fun'

Harris and Queenslander Matt Renshaw loom as the other candidates at the top of the order to partner Usman Khawaja after Warner’s farewell at the SCG.All three will get another chance to impress for the Prime Minister’s XI against Pakistan in Canberra next week.However, Ponting believes Bancroft needed to be recalled for his first Test since 2019 due to his sheer weight of runs.”If you look at those three guys, I think it’s quite clear that Bancroft is the one that’s got the runs on the board and I wouldn’t be surprised if they [selectors] go that way,” he told SEN on Thursday. “If you wind the clock back about six months it might have been a slightly different order than what it is now.”I think they probably had Harris as the one that would come back in a while ago. To me now it sort of feels [there’s] a bit more of a groundswell behind Cameron Bancroft getting first crack.”Australia coach Andrew McDonald has floated the possibility of a change in the batting order to open so allrounder Cameron Green can slot back into the Test XI.But Ponting has cautioned against such a move, saying Green should be forced to earn his spot by finding form in the Shield with WA.But the prodigiously talented 24-year-old was dropped during the Ashes, just months after his maiden Test century, for Mitchell Marsh.”I think Cameron Green might just have to sit back and bide his time and wait for the opportunity to come back,” Ponting said. “He can get a truckload of runs in Shield cricket and sort of force his way back into the side.”[Marnus] Labuschagne has been outstanding at number three for Australia, it’s very much a specialist position.”Ponting also believes enigmatic allrounder Glenn Maxwell should seriously be considered for a Test recall after his stunning white-ball success in India.Maxwell played the last of his seven Tests in 2017, but his three recent international centuries, two in the ODI World Cup and one in a T20, have been irresistible.”I could see him getting back into a Test line-up because of the all round game that he brings in those conditions,” Ponting said. “The [201] not out in that game against Afghanistan, which is the most remarkable one-day innings I’ve ever seen.”I’ve been around a lot of games, watched a lot of games, played a lot of games, I’ve never ever seen anything like that.”Ponting, who captained Australia to World Cup titles in 2003 and 2007, has urged Pat Cummins’ team to maintain the rage in the Test summer when they host Pakistan and the struggling West Indies.”I’d be saying to go as hard as you can and just really try and bury these teams and win as convincingly as you can,” Ponting said.The squad for the first Test in Perth is expected to be named shortly after the conclusion of the ongoing round of Sheffield Shield matches and before the PM’s XI contest.

Josh Hazlewood has been called up for the game in Sydney and Spencer Johnson will join in Canberra

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Feb-2024Xavier Bartlett, who starred on international debut at the MCG, will be rested for Sunday’s second ODI against West Indies but is expected to return in Canberra for the third game.Travis Head has been released from the ODI and T20I squads for the rest of the matches while Josh Hazlewood has been added for the second ODI in Sydney.The management of Bartlett, who claimed 4 for 17 in Melbourne, is understood to be part of a plan to be careful with his workloads amid three ODIs in five days after his back injury last year, and without any one-day or Shield cricket this season.Related

• Smith, Cummins, Starc return for New Zealand T20Is, Marsh to captain

• Short ruled out of final ODI with McDermott called up

• Australia, West Indies look to grow depth with eye on 2027

• Bartlett four-for, Green's all-round effort give Australia 1-0 lead

• Bartlett makes a massive impact on 'almost not real' debut

“I was injured at the start of this year and didn’t have a chance to play any domestic cricket, which was a frustrating time,” he said after his Player-of-the-Match display. “But you can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel and you’ve just got to keep trying to work hard because these days don’t happen very often in the game of cricket.”Left-arm quick Spencer Johnson will join the squad as cover for the third ODI in Canberra on Tuesday.Hazlewood was among Australia’s all-format quicks initially rested for the ODI series following the Test summer but was included for the T20Is.No replacement for Head has been named, which opens the door for Jake Fraser-McGurk to make his ODI debut at the SCG. Head fell in the first over of Australia’s chase in Melbourne when he edged Matthew Forde for 4, following his king pair in the Gabba Test. He is expected to be part of the T20I squad for the tour of New Zealand.

India seamer impressed in short spell in 2023 season and is set to return for final five games

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2024Jaydev Unadkat, the India left-arm seamer, will return to Sussex for the final five games of their 2024 County Championship campaign.Unadkat played the most recent of his three Tests against West Indies in Trinidad in July last year, whereupon he joined Sussex for the final portion of their first-class season. He featured in three of their final four County Championship games, taking 11 wickets at 24.18 to help Sussex to a third-place finish in Division Two.His best performance came against Leicestershire on his home debut at Hove, where he overcame an ankle injury to return figures of 6 for 94 in the second innings to seal Sussex’s third win of the campaign, by just 15 runs.”It was at Hove last season when we won a last-day thriller against Leicestershire, that gave me a sense of belongingness to county cricket, and to Sussex as my home,” Unadkat said.”When Farby [head coach, Paul Farbrace] offered me a contract this season for the last leg of the championship, I was sure I wanted to come back and hopefully win games with the guys.”While my first county season was good, I can’t wait to be back and push for that promotion this summer which everyone at Hove is rooting for!”Farbrace added: “We are all delighted that Jaydev is returning to The 1st Central County Ground for the final five Championship matches of the coming season.”Jaydev lived up to the expectation that not only would he show his class on the field, but he would also be a fantastic person and be part of what we are all trying to achieve.”Jaydev is a lovely guy who did everything he could to help our players and share his fantastic knowledge.”