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Allrounder Sophie Molineux has been named the new captain of Melbourne Renegades as the club looks to bounce back from a difficult 2020-21 WBBL where they finished seventh.Molineux’s appointment, to replace New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite, means a new captain-coach combination for the Renegades with Simon Helmot having replaced Lachlan Stevens.Last season Molineux scored 221 runs and took 11 wickets as the team secured four wins in 14 matches during the tournament that was played entirely in a Sydney-based hub.”It’s a real honour to be appointed captain of a club I love so much and follow in the footsteps of some high-quality leaders that I look up to,” Molineux said.”Amy Satterthwaite has had a massive influence on the group and on me personally. Her wealth of knowledge and ability to stay composed is what I’ve always admired. Jess Duffin is such a competitor and leads by example and I’ve also had the privilege of playing under Meg Lanning in the Victorian and Australian teams.”I am really excited to be able to take what I’ve learnt from each of them, combine it with how I approach the game and continue to grow and learn along the way.”Molineux is a regular part of Australia squads with 24 T20I caps under her belt alongside six ODIs and one Tests although did not make the side during the tour of New Zealand earlier this year.”Sophie has fantastic relationships within the squad. She’s tactically astute, trusted and highly respected across the playing group,” Helmot said. “She’s had an excellent apprenticeship working under some great captains, including Amy who has helped nurture so much of our young talent.”That grounding under such leadership will have Sophie well prepared, we’re excited to see this next phase in her career and we’ll support her along the way. We look forward to the start of a sustained period of success for the club under Sophie’s leadership.”

To understand why most of the spectators at Headingley enjoyed today’s cricket in all its gourmet and gourmandising glory you probably need to have paid close attention to Yorkshire’s batting performances this season. They have often been bloody awful. Before this match Steve Patterson’s side had been bowled out for 230 or fewer in five of their seven first innings and the skipper acknowledged that last week’s defeat had been on its way for a while. The fact that it was inflicted by Lancashire merely gave the gladius an extra twist. A side rarely prospers if the average score at which its third wicket falls is 85. Watching roobish like that on the live stream may have prompted a few domestic traumas.Now it is three o’clock on this warm Saturday in early June. It is an afternoon out of J L Carr, an afternoon of long moments and great stillness, an afternoon for which to be newly grateful. And Yorkshire are 465 for 6. This is abundance without recent precedent. Having taken nine batting bonus points from their previous seven games – the lowest in the land – the home side have collected a maximum five from this innings. Their effort has been held together by Dawid Malan, who has filled his boots, wellies and slippers with runs. Ten of his 22 fours have been cut or worked backward of square on the off side.Not since Harry Lime had his clogs popped by Holly Martins in a Vienna sewer has the absence of a third man been so noticeable. The only severe disappointment of the day was suffered ten minutes ago: Malan was bowled by Jack Carson for 199 when his attempted angled deflection merely allowed a fine ball, bowled from over the wicket, to turn past the blade and hit the left-hander’s off stump. He needed that single to become the first batsman to score double hundreds in consecutive innings for Yorkshire.Malan’s innings was a triumph of technique, a near-perfect example of a batsman with discriminating knowledge of his particular game and in perfect command of its wristy cuts and gentle glides. Few people this dream-laden hour will recall that he was dropped on only 27 yesterday afternoon when Travis Head spilled a slip catch off Henry Crocombe.

Dawid Malan – In his own words

• On being more fearless in first-class cricket since his last Test in 2018:

• “In international stuff, it was slightly different when you’re playing against good bowlers and your place is under threat all of the time. But I’ve tried to learn from my failures at Test cricket and put that into practice in four-day cricket. Since 2019, I think my record speaks for itself just having that fearless approach in four-day cricket and backing my technique and way of playing.

• On a possible Test return:

• “I wouldn’t be here playing four-day cricket if I didn’t want to play Test cricket again. I still feel like I’ve got a hell of a lot to give. Whether I’m good enough, that’s not my decision. I just have to keep scoring runs. Hopefully, if I keep getting big scores like this, I can put pressure on the people who make decisions.”

• On previous Ashes (2017-18):

• “I think I played well in that Ashes series. I now know my game better. Being back in the T20s and the odd ODI, I’ve learnt what I need to do to perform at that level. But Test cricket is a different mentality and there’s more scrutiny. In my last five Tests, I probably didn’t handle that as well as I could have. Hopefully I’d be in a better position now.”

Carson deserved his wicket, though. Four overs before his dismissal, Malan had produced his most atypical shot against the spinner, a gorgeous extra-cover drive for six, but the Ulsterman was the pick of Ben Brown’s attack throughout the innings. Very few young spinners have his ability to adjust their length when they see a batsman advancing down the pitch and there have been times in this innings when Carson has been the only bowler Brown could trust to throttle the run rate. His extra bounce accounted for Gary Ballance, who was caught behind for 77 in the fourth over of the day. Malan received a standing ovation, of course. It was the loudest applause heard here since 12.08, when news reached Leeds, probably at lightning speed, that Lancashire had lost at Cardiff. That was more like it.For yes, there is certainly evidence that folk in these parts are getting worried. At the junction of North Lane and Bennett Road, just a couple of good hits from the cricket ground, the simple graffito “Gooch!” is daubed on a white wall. It is not known whether the exclamation mark was added after Yorkshire’s defeat in last week’s Roses Match; whether, in other words, a polite suggestion had turned into a frantic demand that Martyn Moxon signs a 67-year-old former England opener who last played a County Championship match in 1997. But then losing to that lot across the way can do alarming things to people round this way; they fear a run on their building societies.Malan calmed such worries and Harry Duke’s accomplished fifty reinforced his reputation as a fine player. Yorkshire were bowled out for 558 seven overs after tea; it is their highest score since 2016. Having had Harry Brook strangled for 49 in the morning, Jamie Atkins picked up three quick wickets and finished with 5 for 98, the first five-wicket haul of his three-match career. They are nice figures if you can get ’em. Carson caught and bowled Patterson, who was probably disoriented by having to bat when the scoreboard didn’t read something like130 for 7.Related

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Rather suddenly, though, there was fresh tension in our cricket as Tom Haines and Ali Orr began Sussex’s task of batting most of eight hours to secure the draw. Yet to the surprise of many at Headingley and to the disappointment of even more, the openers batted so coolly for 23 overs that a wicket did not look like falling. Patterson used his five main bowlers but Orr played as diligently as he had when facing the new ball on Thursday morning. This is his first-class debut and he looks a proper batsman.Haines, of course, is in the season of his life but only because he has grafted fresh responsibility onto the rich talent that gave him a century against Durham at Arundel just three summers and many years ago. Between them the openers seemed to tranquilise the home attack. And though there is still so much to do to deny Yorkshire the win they need, we should recall that seven of this Sussex team are 23 years old or under. They will be learning so much, even from four hard days such as these. This is a glad season for them, too. For us all, mayhap, for us all.

Big picture

Less than 48 hours after India put the finishing touches on their thumping of Sri Lanka in the first ODI, the teams have to go again. If you’re a Sri Lanka fan, hold on tight. This might not be pretty.In many senses, we didn’t really learn much from the first match. It was already known that Sri Lanka lack world-class batters. Although the likes of Avishka Fernando and Bhanuka Rajapaksa struck attractive boundaries, there was no one to hold the innings together. But for No. 8 Chamika Karunaratne’s unbeaten 43 off 35 balls, Sri Lanka may have stumbled to a truly sub-par total.There was also no surprise in Shikhar Dhawan – a modern ODI behemoth – ending up the game’s top scorer. And India’s staggering batting depth was suspected too; their top order expected to flex against a Sri Lanka attack that has some talent but is woefully light on experience and direction. Still, the breathtaking confidence and striking ability of Prithvi Shaw, Ishan Kishan, and later, Suryakumar Yadav would have quickened pulses around the world. On its own, this young top order is a reason to tune in.If Sri Lanka want to push India on Tuesday, there are a giant list of things they must correct. Their inability to rotate the strike against the spinners held them back during the middle overs, as batters played laboured block-or-bash innings; their fielding was poor, with two chances going down on the boundary; and while Dushmantha Chameera was good again with the new ball, they need to find a more reliable seam-bowling partner than Isuru Udana, who was taken apart in the powerplay and bowled only two overs.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka LLLWL
India WWLWW

In the spotlight

While wristspinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav went looking for wickets, Krunal Pandya kept things tight through the middle overs – his left-arm spin going for only 26 runs in 10 overs. In four ODI appearances, this was by far his best bowling performance – he had actually been bashed around by England in March. In that series, Krunal had showed off his hitting ability at ODI level. If he can add stability to India’s spin attack too, he makes a strong case for consistent selection.Dushmantha Chameera didn’t get any wickets on Sunday, and yet, made several India batters uncomfortable with his pace. While Kishan was walloping everyone else, Chameera was the one bowler who seriously tested him, peppering him with short balls. Chameera had been one of Sri Lanka’s few positives from the recent tour of England, and has finally built up some rhythm after years of his career being frustrated by injuries. With the quick turnarounds this series though, Sri Lanka run the risk of him picking up niggles. As he is one of the few performing players in this side, they can’t really afford to leave him out either.Dushmantha Chameera was the only bowler who tested Ishan Kishan in the tour opener•SLC

Pitch and conditions

Expect another surface that offers plenty of turn, but remains pretty good for batting. Although showers can occasionally roll through at this time of year, the weather is expected to be good on Tuesday.

Team news

With Bhuvneshwar Kumar having been slightly off – particularly at the death – on Sunday, India may bring in Navdeep Saini.India (possible): 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan (capt.), 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Suryakumar Yadav, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalSri Lanka will probably rethink Udana’s presence in the team. Lahiru Kumara or Kasun Rajitha are likeliest to replace him.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Avishka Fernando, 2 Minod Bhanuka (wk), 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 4 Dhananjaya de Silva, 5 Charith Asalanka, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt.), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Chamika Karunaratne, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Lakshan Sandakan, 11 Lahiru Kumara

Stats and trivia

• Dhawan became the second-fastest India batter to 6000 ODI runs, getting there in 140 innings. Only Hashim Amla (123 inns), Virat Kohli (136) and Kane Williamson (139) have been faster to the milestone.
• Sri Lanka have lost all but one of their nine completed ODIs this year.
• Kishan had also hit a half century on T20 international debut. The only other batter to achieve this double is South Africa’s Rassie van der Dussen.

Yorkshire 243 (Bess 54, Abbott 3-47, Wheal 3-47) and 34 for 1 (Kohler-Cadmore 16*, Hill 10*, Wheal 1-16) lead Hampshire 163 (Vince 49, Coad 3-29, Thompson 3-35) by 114 runsYorkshire’s bowlers put their side in full control of the LV = County Championship clash against Hampshire on a day of White Rose dominance at the Ageas Bowl.Victory for either team would greatly enhance a push to be in the title mix, but it was the visitors who seized the initiative as Hampshire were bowled out for 163 having earlier dismissed the visitors for 243 before lunch.Yorkshire closed the day on 34 for 1 in their second innings – an imposing-looking lead of 114 – despite losing Adam Lyth for seven before the close.The visitors added 46 to their overnight total of 197 for 6, missing out on a second batting point by just seven runs, as Mason Crane mopped up the tail.Dom Bess top scored with a potentially priceless 54 before playing on to Keith Barker after Jordan Thompson had departed to the second ball of the morning from Brad Wheal.Crane then trapped Matthew Fisher and Ben Coad lbw to wrap up the innings and leave Hampshire’s batsmen with a tricky 35 minutes to negotiate before lunch.It was a task they failed miserably as the fired-up Yorkshire bowlers ripped through the top order with Ian Holland falling for a first-ball duck to Coad before Joe Weatherley edged Fisher behind to leave Hampshire reeling at 1 for 2.Nick Gubbins looked in decent touch as he unfurled three boundaries only for Coad to find the edge of his bat and Harry Brook pouched the catch at slip as Hampshire limped to lunch on 29 for 3.When play restarted the murky skies that had enveloped the ground since day one lifted as sun briefly broke through the clouds to create the best batting conditions of the match.In an encounter where run-scoring has been at a premium, James Vince showed his class with two boundaries from the first two balls he faced to raise hopes of a Hampshire rebuild.Yorkshire were convinced they had their man on 35 when Vince was struck on the pad by opposite skipper Steve Patterson with a ball that looked destined for middle and off-stumps. But umpire Nigel Llong kept his finger down, much to the dismay of the fielders, who then saw the elegant right-hander crunch the ball to the boundary two deliveries later.Yorkshire finally got the vital breakthrough when Vince, who had played a relatively risk-free innings, changed tack when on 49 only for his attempt to lift a short ball from Fisher over the rope finding the hands of George Hill.Vince’s exit sparked a collapse of 6 for 37 as Tom Alsop, who soaked up 96 balls for 12 runs, saw his torturous vigil ended by a peach of a delivery from Bess that clipped his off-stump.The impressive Thompson picked up the wickets of Liam Dawson, Barker and Crane either side of tea with Bess grabbing his second victim when Lewis McManus was smartly caught off his boot by Harry Duke.Wheal and Kyle Abbott added some valuable runs in a last-wicket stand of 40 before Coad wrapped up the innings to finish with 3 for 29.

South Africa’s former team manager Dr Mohammed Moosajee has called on the national team to take a unified approach when expressing an on-field stance on the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.Moosajee was speaking at the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings where he expressed his disappointment at the divided stance within the team on taking the knee.The men’s national team have given its members the option of taking a knee, raising a fist or standing to attention before matches, Notably, all the players of colour, along with some white players, have opted for taking the knee, while others have selected alternative options. After a decade of culture camps aimed at cultivating inclusion, Moosajee expressed his disappointment that the team could not agree on a single gesture.Related

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“Unfortunately, some current players appear to be misinformed and believe taking the knee is supporting the notion that black lives matter more,” he said. “They need to be educated so that they appreciate that taking the knee is all about a stand against racism and discrimination and supporting the notion that Black lives matter as much.”It is a pity that the Proteas Team have not adopted a unified approach to the issue and highlights that even though we have been having discussions for a number of years already, these discussions need to continue, because we still have some way to go to get all our people to fully appreciate the injustices of the past. I would like to see a recommendation from the Ombudsman [Dumisa Ntsebeza] urging the Proteas to adopt a unified approach.”Moosajee was involved with the national team in various roles for 16 years until 2019, first as the doctor and then combining it with the role of team manager.He said he believed greater levels of understanding have been achieved since a camp held in 2010, which he and then-captain Graeme Smith conceptualised. Several allegations of racism during the Smith captaincy era have been made at the SJN.”In 2010, Graeme Smith and I believed that it was necessary to build an inclusive team culture and for members of the squad to have a greater appreciation of people from different backgrounds, races and religions,” Moosajee said.”The objective of building the team culture was to build an authentic, diverse and inclusive sense of identity, with due regard to our fractured past and history. I believed that it was important for the team to talk about race, class and culture, but I was also conscious of the fact that building a team culture would not happen overnight. It required unwavering commitment, strong leadership and continuous reinforcement.”The three-day camp was formed with information gathered from Sporting Edge and Hoko – team culture companies who assisted the New Zealand rugby team – and included expert advice from Ahmed Kathrada, a contemporary of Nelson Mandela. These specialists ran two surveys, including one with members of the public who said they believed the national rugby team, the Springboks, were better ambassadors for the country than the cricket side.Moosajee admitted to being surprised at the survey results, “because at the time even though the Proteas had not won a World Cup, they were the top-ranked Test-playing nation and had more black players (on a percentage basis) than the Springboks.”The outcome of the camp was a four-minute video, which was played at SJN but never released publicly. It featured Smith at the Wanderers, interspersed with a Mandela speech, an interview with rugby world-cup winning captain John Smit, and fans of all races reminding the team: “you represent me.”According to Moosajee, the camp was successful in starting “the journey to get the team more united and in my view had positive outcomes.” Among those were that more players of colour started to be selected for the national side, although Moosajee acknowledged, “the camp was not the sole reason for this.” He credited “more diverse franchise and provincial teams, diversity amongst coaches and administrators in the affiliate members of CSA” and “targets/quotas,” as also playing a role.Kagiso Rabada takes a knee before the start of the warm-up game•ICC via Getty

“In my view, the targets or quotas gave opportunities to people of colour and many of them proved that they could be world-class performers on the international stage. Examples include Makhaya Ntini, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince, Hashim Amla, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi. They were undoubtedly good enough, but they may not have been given the necessary opportunities, if it was not for the quotas or targets.”But he criticised the quota system for having the “unintended consequences,” of relying on elite schools to produce players and leaving underprivileged areas in a state of neglect while also creating a comfort zone for players. “Certain players, who had become “undroppable”, because their inclusion in a team is necessary to meet the quotas / targets. A few of these players allowed their fitness levels to wane and were guilty of disciplinary misdemeanours, but these misdemeanours went unpunished, because there were concerns that the quotas / targets would not be met.”He offered a specific example in Lonwabo Tsotsobe, who has also testified at the SJN, and who Moosajee said had never passed any of the 15 skin-folds tests he had with the national team and failed numerous yo-yo fitness tests. “As opposed to being discriminated against for being black, Mr Tsotsobe benefitted from being black. An example of this is when he was initially left out of the Proteas Squad for the 2013 tour to Sri Lanka. At the time, Russell Domingo was quoted in the media as saying he had massive concerns about Lopsy’s form, fitness and possibly his work ethic. The decision to leave Mr Tsotsobe out of the touring squad was reversed by the CSA Board, as there were no other Black African cricketers in the touring squad.”Although Moosajee stressed that he had no role in selection, he answered questions about whether he thought Khaya Zondo’s exclusion from the ODI team in India in 2015 was a result of racism, specifically by then-captain AB de Villiers. Moosajee said he was not aware of de Villiers’ influence in that selection: “From my understanding the final decision sat with the selection committee, and if we are saying that they are racist, I find it difficult because there were more people of colour on that selection committee than not.”When referred to selector Hussein Manack’s testimony about being pressured by de Villiers on selection and asked about white players’ influence on selection, Moosajee said: “In any team culture and environment, the environment is driven by the senior players and at that time, the senior players happened to be white. It’s different now – you’ve got Kagiso, Temba [Bavuma] as the senior players. Whether they influence actual selection is a separate debate. My understanding is that the captain should not have a vote on selection. On the captain, in my 15 years of working with AB de Villiers, I have never found him to be racist. Whether that was an unconscious bias, we can debate. And if the senior players in any team influence selection then there is a big problem in that.”Moosajee maintained that unconscious bias and ingrained prejudice continues to contribute to divides in South African cricket in all sectors. “Some white players and administrators still need to appreciate the value of diversity, the need to level the playing fields and to break down barriers and some black players and administrators also need to recognise that they have contributed to further divisions in our societies and need to be more inclusive and recognise that good people from all our communities are prepared to be sacrificial leaders and contribute to the desperately needed transformation agenda. A fully transformed and successful team will attract sponsors, contribute to more nations wanting to play series against us and increase earnings through broadcast revenue.”

Two nights after running Pakistan close, Afghanistan proved their experience on the big stage was a bridge too far for Namibia. Asghar Afghan, Afghanistan’s most successful T20I captain, was given a winning send off into retirement as the team notched up their second win in three games to stay second on the Group 2 table.A robust powerplay
Afghanistan swear by runs on the board template. And their approach so far has been to go hard in the powerplay. That didn’t change on Sunday as they raced to 50 for 0 in the first six. Denied much of the strike early on, Mohammad Shahzad played second fiddle to the burly left-handed Hazratullah Zazai. Namibia were in dire need of wickets as Ruben Trumpelmann, who took three wickets in his very first over in their last game, coming in for some tap from the openers.The slowdown
Overs 7-10 brought just one boundary as legspinner Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton cleverly used angles and deception in flight to spin a web. He troubled Rahmanullah Gurbaz with sharp legbreaks and then snuffed him out lbw with a full ball at the stroke of the 10th over. Shahzad fell soon after for 45, consumed by his own shot selection and heat as a strategically placed fly slip accounted for him in the 13th over.The farewell
An emotional Asghar walked out to a guard of honour from the Namibians, and aware of the need to take the innings deep, like they did the other night, nudged the ball around until Mohammad Nabi came out to bat in the 16th over. While he looked comfortable to pick runs, Asghar couldn’t bring out the big hits, eventually falling to a failed scoop for 31 off 23. Afghanistan managed three fours and a six in the last two overs, all off Nabi, to eventually finish with 160 for 5, Nabi making 32 not out off 17 balls.

Watch highlights on ESPN+

If you are in the USA, watch the Afghanistan vs Namibia highlights on ESPN+ here in English, and here in Hindi

The early strikes
Craig Williams was out fourth ball of the chase, toe-ending a lofted hit to mid-on. Then Michael van Lingen was deceived by a well-disguised back-of-the-hand slower one from Naveen-ul-Haq that he top-edged while attempting a half-hearted pull to short fine. They were 16 for 2 in the third over.The comeback
Ravaged by injuries to his shoulder, back, ankle, knees, Hassan, at 34, is significantly slower in pace but tries and makes up for it with his control. Five years after last featuring in a T20I, he returned to pick up the big wickets of Gerhard Erasmus and JJ Smit, who was instrumental in finishing off their chase against Scotland. The chase had well and truly derailed at the halfway mark.Then Rashid Khan, who came in to bowl in the eighth over, finished a spell in one go, for once not leaving his captain to worry about juggling his trump card, to finish with 4-0-14-1 to leave him one short of 400 T20 wickets. Barring David Wiese, none of the other Namibian batters offered any kind of assuredness. Eventually, he was taken out by Hassan with a superb yorker for a third wicket, by which time the Afghan party had well and truly begun.

Mushfiqur Rahim has become the biggest casualty of Bangladesh’s fallout from the T20 World Cup after being dropped for the three-match T20I series against Pakistan starting Friday. This is the first time Mushfiqur is excluded from a senior side since 2008, when Dhiman Ghosh replaced him for an extended period before going to the ICL.Mushfiqur, who has played 99 T20Is, made 95 runs in five matches in the Super 12s including a half-century against Sri Lanka. Some of his dismissals however, especially his missed scoop and reverse-sweeps, became topic of intense discussion back in Bangladesh.Although chief selector Minhajul Abedin insisted that Mushfiqur was rested for the T20I series keeping in mind Bangladesh’s scheduling for the next two months, Mushfiqur was reportedly willing to play in these three matches.”We have four back-to-back Test matches against Pakistan and New Zealand,” Minhajul said. “He is a key player. He is one of our best players. Tamim Iqbal is already injured. He is in doubt for the Test series. We want our best player to give his best during the Test series, so after consulting extensively with the team management, we have decided to rest him. It is only for the Pakistan series. He will be available later.”Including Shakib Al Hasan’s hamstring injury, Bangladesh only have captain Mahmudullah as one of their much vaunted experienced cricketers left in the 16-man squad announced on Tuesday. Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das and Rubel Hossain are also ousted from the side too.Bangladesh squad for the Pakistan T20Is•Getty Images

The national selectors have instead gone for a youth-heavy side by including Saif Hassan, Shahidul Islam, Yasir Ali and Akbar Ali among the six inclusions. Najmul Hossain Shanto and legspinner Aminul Islam are also in the side.There are first-time call-ups for fast bowler Shahidul and top-order batter Akbar, Bangladesh’s captain when they won the Under-19 World Cup last year. Saif has played Tests but it is his first inclusion in T20Is. Yasir has been in Test squads this year, but hasn’t played international cricket yet.Afif Hossain, however, has kept his place in the squad despite making just 14 runs in five matches in the Super 12s.Liton and Soumya were already playing for Rangpur Division and Khulna Division respectively in the National Cricket League. But they can still make it back into Bangladesh’s T20I plans, according to Minhajul.”We have just come from a disappointing T20 World Cup. It was unexpected,” he said. “We didn’t have a bad team. We won both the T20I series at home this year. Still, we are trying to start afresh. Our planning for the next T20 World Cup begins after this season’s BPL, but we want to start well in this series.”Those who are dropped, they have to do well in the domestic competitions. The BPL is coming up. Nobody will be forgotten. We have to keep them in the system. We have the A team programme. We also have the High Performance Unit. We will keep everyone we need, in these squads.”IN: Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Aminul Islam, Shahidul Islam, Yasir Ali, Akbar AliOUT: Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan (hamstring injury), Mushfiqur Rahim, Rubel Hossain

Sydney Thunder 1 for 140 (Hales 80*, Sangha 35*, Short 1-9) beat Hobart Hurricanes 6 for 139 (McDermott 38, McAndrew 2-31, Sandhu 2-32) by nine wickets Alex Hales continued his resurgence to lead red-hot Sydney Thunder to their sixth straight BBL win after crushing Hobart Hurricanes by nine wickets at an almost empty MCG.The opener smashed an unbeaten 80 off 56 balls in his second straight half-century as Thunder knocked off Hurricanes’ modest 6 for 139 with 16 balls to spare.Second-placed Thunder (30 points) closed the gap on league leaders Perth Scorchers (33 points) in a game played at a neutral venue as part of the tournament shifting to a Melbourne hub to combat the Covid-19 outbreak engulfing the BBL.Hales continues resurgenceThunder made a bright start to their chase with aggressive Matthew Gilkes putting Hurricanes’ strong pace bowling attack to the sword before falling for 19. After a slow start to the season, Hales returned to form last night against Melbourne Renegades with his first half-century of the season, and he was intent here on not doing anything rash.He resisted pressing for the bonus point as Thunder went through a boundary drought much like Hurricanes’ did in their innings. But Hales and stand-in skipper Jason Sangha didn’t panic as they chipped the ball around before making their move in the 13th over,Sangha smashed spinner Tim David down the ground for the first six of the innings and Hales then notched his half-century off 44 balls – the slowest 50 in his BBL career. But it was a mature knock from the Englishman who then put the foot down in trademark fashion as Thunder cruised to victory.The return to form of Hales, who holds the highest ever BBL individual score, is a major boost for Thunder who notched the longest winning streak in their history.Hurricanes’ quicks struggleHurricanes needed early wickets and speedster Riley Meredith almost obliged first delivery with a menacing swinging yorker trapping Gilkes but it was given not out.Their quicks had limited impact in the powerplay but Hurricanes clawed back into the game through spinners D’Arcy Short and Sandeep Lamichhane who dried the runs.Short lured Gilkes out of his crease for a stumping but Hurricanes couldn’t put enough pressure on Hales and Sangha. Hurricanes returned to their ace quicks Meredith and Tom Rogers in the hope for a late twist but to no avail as Hales relished the extra pace.Quite clearly, Hurricanes will need to return to the drawing board before Thursday’s rematch.Disciplined Thunder tie down HurricanesThunder’s impressive bowling attack have swept opponents during this hot streak but faced the biggest challenge in the BBL – halting Ben McDermott. Like most teams this season, they were under siege early but never lost their composure and hit back.Nathan McAndrew got the danger man out in the 10th over before McDermott really got going and Thunder’s accurate bowlers then gained a stranglehold in the middle overs. They couldn’t quite sustain it with Hurricanes providing a late rally but Thunder were satisfied with their efforts overall.Their quicks bowled a nagging length mixed with canny slower balls to frustrate Hurricanes. Pakistani quick Mohammad Hasnain set the tone with electric bowling during the powerplay although it was surprising he didn’t bowl his full quota to finish with 0 for 15 off 3 overs.Legspinner Tanveer Sangha helped tie down Hurricanes in the middle overs and claimed the wicket of stand-in skipper Peter Handscomb.Hurricanes over reliant on McDermottWith Hurricanes skipper Matthew Wade out indefinitely due to personal reasons, the burden has increased on McDermott who again unleashed belligerent strokes early.He pulled out the ramp shot to counter probing seamer McAndrew and then smashed Sangha for a huge six down the ground as he eyed another massive score.But McDermott became tied out and on 38 miscued a slower delivery from McAndrew to deep long-on leaving Hurricanes’ shaky middle-order exposed. Handscomb has been unable to find fluency all season and even a promotion to No.3 failed to the trick with a slow 21 runs off 25 balls.Hurricanes went seven overs without a boundary as the pressure fell again on big-hitter David, who broke the drought to start the power surge in the 17th over but holed out a few balls later. They’ve resisted moving David up the order but they might need to soon to spark a batting order too reliant on McDermott.Hurricanes at least finished strong with struggling Short, who was moved down to No.5, stroking three straight boundaries in the penultimate over but their total was not nearly enough.

Tom Prest, England’s Under-19 captain, praised the character of his team-mates after they collectively held their nerve in an extraordinary World Cup semi-final against Afghanistan in Antigua, to book their place in the final for the first time in 24 years.England’s eventual 15-run victory spanned the full gamut of emotions, not least for the defeated Afghans, who looked to have been handed a lifeline when James Sales’ final over of the night disappeared for 20 runs, including two costly no-balls – the first of which cost England a wicket that might have won the game with room to spare.However, Sales showed massive composure to hold on to a running boundary catch in the penultimate over to tilt the balance once more, as did the bowler Rehan Ahmed, whose first five overs of the afternoon had been expensive, but whose legbreaks and googlies proved the perfect weapon to derail Afghanistan’s lower order, as his sixth over yielded three wickets and a single run.Josh Boyden, England’s left-arm seamer, who had claimed a wicket with his third ball of the innings, then closed the match out with a supreme final over, hitting his wide yorkers with a nerveless resolve that could have taught a thing or two to England’s senior-team seamers, after their struggles at the death over in Barbados last week.”I don’t think we expected it to get that tight at the end, the way things were going,” Prest said during the post-match presentations, after Afghanistan had gone into the final four overs needing 43 more runs to win. “But credit to the lads there, Josh Boyden at the end was unbelievable under pressure.Related

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“That can happen, it’s shown how quickly things can change in a game of cricket. But the way that Salesy came back and took that amazing catch at deep midwicket is testament to his character as a bloke.”England’s victory, however, was set up by their display with the bat in the first innings – most particularly by the player of the match, George Bell, whose hugely composed half-century rescued his team from a sickly 136 for 6, before he and Alex Horton (53 from 36 balls) turned the tide of the innings with an unbroken 95-run stand from 71 balls.”It’s probably quite a brave call, choosing to bat first at the toss,” Prest admitted. “Obviously, we had to get a score on the board and when Belly went in, the way he played and then Horts at the back end as well was something special. That partnership got us to a winning score, those runs at the end were really crucial.”England’s innings was interrupted by a rain delay in the 30th over, which allowed them to regroup in the dressing room at 120 for 5, and reassess their ambitions against an Afghan team with a set of formidable spin bowlers, including their star player, the left-arm wristspinner Noor Ahmad.”We thought 200 would be a great score from the position we were in, and then to get up to 230 with those last few overs, when we targeted their seamers, was amazing from Belly and Horts,” Prest said.Bell, who finished unbeaten on 56 from 67 balls, brought out a succession of expertly played ramp shots to keep England’s innings from stalling, before Horton put the hammer down in the final over of the innings, cracking the seamer Naveed Zadran for a six and two fours from his final three balls.”I just tried to keep it steady for a while, until we could go big in the back end,” Bell said. “Horts batted unbelievably well. When he came in, we were able to put a score on the board. We tried to target their seamers, and it worked quite well.”Their spinners were very, very challenging,” he added. “When you know that they played in the Big Bash [Noor played for Melbourne Renegades], you know they are going to be handy. So you just try and pick them as best you can, and then play to your strengths against them. It seemed to work today.”It nearly went to pieces, however, in a dramatic 44th over, when Noor skied a pull to backward point off Sales, only for replays to show that he had over-stepped. From the resulting free hit, Sales then served up a shoulder-high full toss that skidded away to the rope, and briefly looked to have resulted in him being removed from the attack. Though he was allowed to continue, his third legal delivery was launched over long-on by Abdul Hadi for six, at which point Afghanistan were firm favourites needing 26 more runs from 21 balls.”After the big over they had, I think it was just about staying calm as a team,” Bell said. “I was trying to get people to stay calm but I get quite hyper myself, so it’s quite hard to do that. But the skipper did a great job of keeping everyone calm, and everyone just tried not to panic really.”Afghanistan’s crestfallen captain, Suliman Safi, struggled to find words to explain his emotions at the post-match presentations.”It’s a very difficult time,” he said. “The momentum was with us and now we lose the match. It’s part of the game. We played some great knocks. We have a good team. It’s part of cricket to win or lose. Congratulations to England team. They played well.”Cricket has ups and downs. The momentum shifted to England when we lost the wickets in the [46th over]. We have played good cricket here. Inshallah we will focus on the next game.”

Joe Root insists he has not put a timeframe on his future as England’s Test captain, but recognises the importance of getting a result on the upcoming tour of the Caribbean – a venue where England have won just one series since 1968.Root was a notable survivor of the cull within England’s ranks in the wake of their desperate display in this winter’s Ashes. The team’s senior management, Ashley Giles, Chris Silverwood and Graham Thorpe, all paid for the 4-0 defeat with their jobs, while eight of the players who featured on the tour have also been sidelined, including two of England’s all-time greats in James Anderson and Stuart Broad.However, Andrew Strauss, the team’s interim director of cricket, chose to back the man who singlehandedly carried England’s batting through a stellar year in 2021, even though he is already into his fifth year in the job and recently overtook his predecessor Alastair Cook as the most-capped man in the role.”Clearly it was a disappointing tour and we massively underperformed,” Root told reporters on the eve of England’s departure for the Caribbean. “Off the back of it we have to use this opportunity for a fresh start. As Straussy’s mentioned, [it’s] a bit of a reset, and a real chance to take things forward. I’m very grateful that I’ve got the opportunity to do that as captain.”Joe Root says he embraces the move back up to No.3•CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Despite his excellent recent returns at No.4, from where he made 1708 runs at 66.00 in 2021, Root will be tasked with an extra level of responsibility against West Indies when he steps up to No.3. It is a position that he has previously been reluctant to embrace, notably when Trevor Bayliss was England’s head coach, but given that England lost a wicket inside the first ten overs in eight of their ten innings in the Ashes, he recognises that his team are in need of a more authoritative figure near the top of the order.”I’ve expressed in the past that I prefer batting at four but I’m ready to take on three now,” Root said. “I feel I’m very comfortable in the way I’ve been playing and performing over the last year or so, and I think it’s the right fit for this team. To go and bat slightly higher up and, if we do lose an early wicket, support the openers, show a bit of leadership and responsibility and take the game on. Hopefully lay a bit of a platform to bat around.”The numbers back up Root’s reticence – No.3 is the only top-six position in which he averages less than 40 (38.66), although he did make his career-best 254 in that role, against Pakistan in 2016. But, he added, after taking stock of England’s shortcomings in the Ashes, he recognised that there was more that even he could give to the team.”I think, naturally, as you come back from a tour, you reflect and you look at how things could [have gone] differently,” he said. “I think that’s the best way I can help us become a better team.”It’s the first time it’s sat comfortably with me,” he added. “It’s the first time I’ve been really excited and not slightly apprehensive about it. I am coming into it having had a really strong year, with a lot more clarity about how I’m going to score my runs. I’m not saying that guarantees success, I’ll have to work really hard to transfer those performances to No.3. But I feel excited about it, I’m very motivated and I feel ready for it now. I’m a lot more experienced, with more cricket under my belt. I feel it’s the right fit for this team.”Related

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Root fell short of his own recent standards during the Ashes, making 322 runs at 32.20 with a best of 89 in the first Test in Brisbane. But, despite overseeing his second 4-0 series loss in Australia – making him the first England captain to lose twice Down Under in more than 100 years – he said he had no doubts about carrying on in the role once it had been made clear that the job was still his.”No, I didn’t waver,” Root said. “I’m very passionate about trying to take this team forward. I’m grateful I’ve got that opportunity, I really am. But it’s now very exciting, with that squad being announced, for us to be on the eve of that tour, to get out there and to really try and put all of the thoughts and all of the ideas and good feelings about it into action, and really put the wheels in motion and enjoy everything about it as well. It’s a really exciting opportunity.”I’ve not put a time limit on it, not at all,” he said of his captaincy shelf-life “I’m very passionate about trying to help take this team forward. I’m excited about what’s right ahead of us.”Of course, the last couple of years in particular have been very difficult for a number of different reasons. Not just on field in the last year or so, but off the field as well. But again, this is a great opportunity to move things on again, and I’m really looking forward to that.”England’s recent record in the Caribbean does not augur well for an immediate upturn in fortunes, however. Since their 3-0 victory in 2004, England have toured three times and emerged with two series losses and a 1-1 draw, including their most recent trip in 2019 when Jason Holder inspired West Indies to a famous win in the first Test in Barbados.Nevertheless, Root says the team’s sights are set on victory in the coming month. “I think it’s important we get a win,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity. I know we need to turn things around and start putting in some great performances.”I’m very passionate, I want England to win, I’m as big a fan as anyone watching. I’m just fortunate to be in this position to affect the games, I know that responsibility and I’m very motivated to come away with what would be a brilliant achievement, having won there once since the 1960s.”There’s some very talented players amongst that squad and they’re the ones in the shirt right now. And they’ve got to take that chance. Collectively we’ve got a chance to do something very special. Historically, it’s been a very difficult place for England to go and win, but what a chance it is for us right now.”