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A day after it was announced that Intikhab Alam will not be accompanying the Pakistan side that takes on England in two Twenty20 internationals in Dubai, speculation over the fate of the coach intensifies

Osman Samiuddin09-Feb-2010A day after it was announced that Intikhab Alam will not be accompanying the Pakistan side that takes on England in two Twenty20 internationals in Dubai, speculation over the fate of the coach intensifies.The PCB is refusing to say that Intikhab’s tenure has come to an end after Pakistan’s disastrous tour of Australia, where they failed to win a single game, but Ijaz Ahmed – the Under-19 coach – will be with the senior side in Dubai as a batting and fielding coach. The contribution of Intikhab, appointed in October 2008 to replace Geoff Lawson, in the Australian whitewash has come in for much criticism and increasingly it looks as if his time has come.Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, who himself has been under fire from many quarters, admitted in a recent TV interview that the board was looking abroad for coaching options – a startling revelation in itself, given that Intikhab’s services have not officially been terminated. And now, at least one report says that Greg Chappell, Australian great and former coach of India, is being lined up as a replacement.Senior officials – other than Butt – are more tight-lipped about Intikhab’s future, under whom Pakistan have won the World Twenty20, but not a single ODI or Test series. “One of the considerations to look at will be this after the evaluation committee has done its work,” Wasim Bari, PCB’s chief operating officer, told Cricinfo. Bari heads, in effect, a six-man inquiry committee tasked to look into and analyse the reasons for Pakistan’s defeats. Wasim Akram is also a member of the committee.”We will look at how to solve weak areas in our cricket, but with relevant cricket and business solutions,” Bari said. “If there is a leadership problem, we will provide a leadership solution. If there is a coaching problem, we will provide a coaching solution.”Bari waved aside reports about Chappell, though he did leave open the possibility that Pakistan may look abroad again, having decided after sacking Lawson that they would go local. “The coach, whoever he is, should be the best man for the job,” Bari said. “It doesn’t matter whether he is Pakistani or from abroad. We might be looking at ten names for the job but if Intikhab is the best man for it we will keep him. It has to be the best man.”Cricinfo understands that nothing formal has yet occurred between the PCB and Chappell. Should the position become vacant, others in the running for the post are likely to also include the current assistant coach Aaqib Javed and Ijaz.Lawson, despite the experience which saw him being removed 16 months ago, is still a keen Pakistan supporter and follower and embraced the country in his time here. It is believed he would still be keen for the post, though it is difficult to see it happen under the administration that sacked him. Julien Fountain has already expressed his willingness to work with Pakistan as a fielding coach – and other, broader roles.

Qais’ late cameo wasn’t enough for Dubai Capitals to avoid being knocked out

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2025After beating Hobart Hurricanes by one run, the Global Super League defending champions Rangpur Riders overcame a late scare to register another narrow victory, this time to seal a spot in the final. The loss officially knocked Dubai Capitals out of the competition.Capitals needed 28 in the last two overs with two wickets in hand, but Qais Ahmad – aided by sloppy fielding – brought the equation to 9 off 8 with two sixes and a four. However, the innings ended with four balls to spare. Ibrahim Zadran calmly caught Qais on the long-on boundary and Khaled Ahmed dismissed Dominic Drakes.Chasing 159 on a slow pitch, Capitals were in early trouble as Kadeem Alleyne was bowled by a nip-backer from Kyle Mayers and Gulbadin Naib chopped on to Iftikhar Ahmed, who had an excellent all-round game. Niroshan Dickwella, after surviving two drops and an edge that fell safe, was out caught behind off Saif Hassan, the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 20.Capitals were reeling at 28 for 3 despite Sediqullah Atal hitting four boundaries in his first 15 balls. Sanjay Krishnamurthi joined Atal to stitch the biggest partnership of the innings, 48 runs for the fourth wicket.Iftikhar Ahmed’s 41* gave Rangpur Riders a good finish•GSL/Getty Images

A slide followed as Rakibul Hasan had Krishnamurthi caught at cover in a soft dismissal. Saif Hassan struck twice in the 13th, first having Shakib Al Hasan stumped and then beating Atal’s reverse sweep to have him lbw.Drakes and Jesse Bootan picked up boundaries but a mix-up between them had the latter run out in the 16th over. At 115 for 7, the match seemed effectively done.Earlier in the day, Drakes found swing to beat Ibrahim’s straight drive and trap him lbw. Kaleem Sana was hit for three sixes in the next over with Mayers flat-batting and whipping the ball in style.Mayers continued to chance his arm and had edges land safely before he fell when spin was introduced, miscuing a flick to mid-on off Mustafa.Soumya Sarkar and Mahidul Islam Ankon were kept quiet as Rangpur slowed down from 40 for 1 in four overs to 57 for 1 in eight. Mahidul then skied a drive that Qais ran back to catch at mid-on. In the next over, Sarkar hit Shakib for a six and fell two balls later.Shakib found turn and didn’t offer pace in the middle overs. Azmatullah Omarzai fell for a 13-ball 8 with Rangpur on 104 for 5 in the 15th over.Rangpur scored just 20 runs between overs 14 and 18 before Iftikhar and captain Nurul Hasan got hold of Drakes and Naib. They shared three fours and three sixes to plunder 37 in the last two overs and lift Rangpur to 158.

South Australia lost their first three wickets without a run on the board and the theme continued

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff16-Feb-2024Bowlers held sway on a chaotic 17-wicket first day of the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval. On a decidedly difficult green-tinged pitch, the ball reigned supreme as the home side were routed for 132 and Queensland struggled to 112 for 7, with out-of-form Test No.3 Marnus Labuschagne top-scoring with a 112-ball 38 in his first Shield match as captain.After a disappointing Test summer when his form came under the microscope, Labuschange defended for his life against the Redbacks in his only Shield match before the tour of New Zealand.Related

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Like most batters on day one, Labuschange looked shaky and survived multiple scares during his battling stay at the crease. He fell to Nathan McAndrew late in the day as South Australia closed in on an unlikely first-innings lead.Opener Matt Renshaw endured another failure in his last match before going on the New Zealand tour as a spare batter.Dismissed for 2 in both innings against Tasmania earlier in February, Renshaw was out for 8, caught off the outside edge by Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey off Jordan Buckingham.Renshaw’s best score from his past 12 innings in first-class cricket, domestic one-dayers and T20s is the 40 he made in last month’s BBL final.The day started as it finished – with wickets tumbling. After winning the toss, South Australia were quickly on the ropes at 0 for 3 in the fourth over.In-form Queensland quick Xavier Bartlett carried his sparkling form from the recent ODI series against the West Indies into the Shield, dismissing maverick opener Jake Fraser-McGurk and Nathan McSweeney.But Carey and captain Jake Lehmann saved the Redbacks from complete embarrassment, putting on a crucial 64-run fourth-wicket stand. Lehmann and Carey were the only South Australian batters to reach double figures in the hosts’ 40.3 over innings.In reply, Queensland stumbled to 13 for 3 and 77 for 5 before mounting some late resistance but again lost wickets towards the close.

India’s batting coach says the top order has merely reacted to the conditions

Sidharth Monga29-Oct-20221:11

Rathour: The conditions demanded Kohli to play in a certain way

#NewApproach has been the running joke among Indian fans ever since the new team management of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid took over. Every time India don’t score at breakneck speed, these jokes come up. Some of it is friendly ribbing, some of it wisecracks from the fans of the previous team management.If you take out the first match because India were chasing – the target dictates the approach then – one match against Netherlands is too small a sample size even for jokes, but the one thing that stood out was that only Rohit batted with the new approach, allowing KL Rahul and Virat Kohli to start conservatively.Related

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This #NewNewApproach is not random. India have spent enough time in Australia to know the conditions. The early exchanges have been difficult for the batters. Since the start of the Super 12s, teams have scored at 6.76 in the first ten overs and at 8.61 in the last ten. The new ball has done a bit.India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour said on the eve of the match against South Africa that the top order has merely reacted to the conditions. But he didn’t say whether they have spoken of it as a team or the batters are making the call in the middle.”We are looking to adapt,” Rathour said. “Of course, playing with intent is always the goal. We are looking to score runs whenever we can. But then we need to take into account the conditions that we are playing on, the surfaces we are playing on. I don’t think these are 200, 200-plus wickets, so we’ll need to adapt, and I think we have done pretty well in that regard so far.”When you talk approach, it is shaped by the batter who has batted the most, who in this case is Kohli. Rathour was asked if that was a premeditated approach. “Not really,” Rathour said. “I think that depends on the conditions we are playing in. We pride ourselves to be a team that will take the conditions and situation into account, and that’s what we’ve been looking to do. I think the conditions or the situation demanded him [Kohli] to play in a certain way, and he has done that. He is a good enough player to change his game or adapt his game to whatever the team requires, and he’s done that brilliantly so far, and we know that he’ll carry on doing that.”That brings us to another bone of contention: Rahul’s form. There have been suggestions that India can open with Rishabh Pant, who will also bring a left-hand batter into the mix. However, India are not ready to give up on Rahul.”No, we’re not really thinking that,” Rathour said. “Two games, I don’t think that’s a good enough sample size anyways. He has been batting really well, and he has batted really well in the practice games also, so we’re not looking at any such thing at the moment.”In the hours after Rathour spoke, New Zealand went from 54 for 3 in ten overs to 167 in the end against Sri Lanka. That might suggest you don’t necessarily need wickets in hand because runs are coming in the last ten overs anyway, but then again Rathour didn’t exactly say India would bat similarly all the time. There’s scope for newer hashtags yet.

Glamorgan edge towards first-innings parity despite no batter scoring more than David Lloyd’s 38

ECB Reporters' Network05-Jul-2021Sixteen-year-old Dan Ibrahim scored his second Championship fifty as Sussex fought back well against Glamorgan in their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Hove. The teenager followed up his 55 on debut against Yorkshire last month with a composed 58 – the only half-century in the match so far – as Sussex recovered to make 226.Their understrength attack then chipped away at Glamorgan, who were 205 for 9 when play was halted by rain. Four bowlers took two wickets including legspinner Will Beer, whose scalps were his first in the County Championship since September 2019.Sussex had resumed on 161 for 7 and added two runs before Jack Carson played on to Michael Hogan for a duck in the second over of the day. But Ibrahim, leaving the ball well and accumulating runs in unhurried fashion, helped Stuart Meaker and Mitch Claydon add 63 for the last two wickets. Meaker made 23 and Ibrahim was last out for 58, made from 147 balls with four boundaries before he was stumped off offspinner Andrew Salter.In reply, most of the Glamorgan batsmen got starts but no one could better opener David Lloyd’s 38 as the Sussex attack plugged away. Meaker picked up Joe Cooke with one which straightened and Colin Ingram’s first Championship innings since September 2017 ended when Claydon surprised him with extra bounce and he was caught off the splice for 7.Billy Root and Lloyd put on 54 for the third wicket with few alarms but Meaker returned to bowl Lloyd through the gate and Claydon had Kiran Carlson (17) athletically caught at second slip by the diving Aaron Thomasson. Root played attractively before he was lbw to Stiaan van Zyl to leave Glamorgan 117 for 5. Skipper Chris Cooke and Dan Douthwaite put on 40 either side of tea, although Douthwaite was put down by Carson off his own bowling on 15.Beer broke through after the interval when Douthwaite was caught at slip on the drive and Carson picked up Cooke thanks to an excellent low catch at short leg by Thomason. Beer bowled with impressive control, picking up his second wicket when he defeated James Weighell’s defensive prod. In the next over Timm van der Gugten holed out to deep midwicket to give Carson a second wicket.Hogan and Salter scrambled a batting point before the rain got heavier, but an intriguing final two days are in prospect as both sides try to climb the Group C table.

Smith has indicated that South Africa could make the appointment from left field and take a chance on someone with potential

Firdose Moonda17-Apr-2020Quinton de Kock will not be named South Africa’s Test captain even though there is no clear candidate for the position yet. That was confirmed by Graeme Smith, South Africa’s director of cricket, on Friday, who said the risk of overburdening de Kock has resulted in ruling him out of leadership role in all three formats.De Kock was appointed as the country’s white-ball captain in January and succeeded Faf du Plessis, who had been in charge since 2017. Du Plessis also stood down from the Test captaincy but remains available as a player. With South Africa not scheduled to play any Tests before a tour to West Indies in July-August, they have some time before deciding who will lead them in whites but are certain it will not be de Kock.”The one thing I can confirm is that Quinton will be our white-ball captain and he won’t be the Test captain going forward,” Smith said. “We want to keep Quinton fresh and playing well. I’ve always believed, having been in the job myself, that captaining all three formats is challenging. We’ve seen a number of nations trying to figure out what’s best and I think across three formats, it probably doesn’t work.”Among teams competing in the World Test Championship, only India and New Zealand have the same captain across all three formats and although South Africa had the same until this summer, they have also tried multiple captains. When Smith gave up the white-ball captaincy after the 2011 World Cup, AB de Villiers was appointed and during de Villiers’ tenure, he handed first the T20, then the Test and then the ODI reigns to du Plessis. In between, Johan Botha and Hashim Amla had stints as T20 and Test captain, respectively. When du Plessis took over across all formats, consistency was cited as the main reason – not to mention his obvious leadership qualities – but now both the calendar and their own circumstances have forced a change.While the Future Tours Programme has become fluid as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa were set for a fairly busy schedule over the next few months with a white-ball tour of Sri Lanka in June, a tour to West Indies as mentioned, possible white-ball games in Pakistan and a home-series against them, the T20 World Cup and a summer featuring Sri Lanka and Australia in 2020-21. Given that de Kock is also their premier wicket-keeper and has stated his desire to keep the gloves, and that he opens the batting in white-ball cricket, adding the Test captaincy to his load was decided as being too much.ALSO READ: Graeme Smith appointed South Africa’s director of cricket till March 2022“From a workload and mental capacity, we felt that to burden him with all three formats wouldn’t be beneficial for us. And with the style of personality and player that he is, we want to keep him as expressive as possible,” Smith said.But if not de Kock, then who?That’s the question Smith can’t answer just yet with South Africa’s current transition phase meaning that there is no obvious choice. “I can’t tell you who it is going to be. We are in a debate over it,” Smith said. “There’s no one person that you could pinpoint right now and say that’s the guy. There’s still a lot of players that are vying for selection and I think it is the challenge we sit with at the moment. There’s a lot of players on a similar level.”With the retirements of Vernon Philander, Hashim Amla, de Villiers, Dale Steyn (from red-ball cricket), Imran Tahir (from ODIs but not T20s) and JP Duminy in the last year, South Africa have lost a significant part of their senior core. The 2019-20 summer saw them field a total of 33 players across formats and hand out nine new Test caps. Of those, stand-out performers included Rassie van der Dussen and Anrich Nortje, with the former being mentioned as a potential Test captain given his ability to deal with pressure and a relatively consistent run. He was South Africa’s second-highest run-scorer at the 2019 World Cup, behind du Plessis, and fourth-highest in the Test summer after de Kock, Dean Elgar and du Plessis, and has stood out, which is what Smith is looking for. “The challenge for when we do play some cricket is to see who escalates themselves into really consistent performances and who steps up,” he said.But Smith also indicated South Africa could make the appointment from left field and take a chance on someone with potential. “We’ve got to understand the personalities, look at the people and maybe take a risk on someone potentially and back them,” he said. “Coming from a person who a risk was taken on, it is something we would consider.”Smith had played just eight Tests and was 22-years old when he took over from Shaun Pollock and went on to captain for 109 Tests for over 11 years. His own success could prompt South Africa to look for someone who is less secure of his spot in the team than a potential captain might be, which could put Temba Bavuma or Aiden Markram into the frame. Bavuma has experienced captaining the Lions franchise – who have won the first-class title for the past two seasons – but was dropped from the Test side this summer and then recalled after a career-best score of 180 and has massive public support. Markram, on the other hand, led the South Africa under-19 side to the 2014 age-group World Cup title and had been touted as the future senior men’s skipper. He spent most of the summer on the sidelines with a fractured finger, but scored two hundreds in six domestic limited-overs matches on his return and is likely to get his Test spot back.Cricket South Africa have not put a timeline on when they will announce the new Test captain. But with the country on lockdown until the end of April and cricket unlikely to resume for several months, they are in no hurry to hand out the captaincy armband.

Who gained, who lost, what are the indications – making sense of the latest BCCI central contracts

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Mar-2019Like last year, the 25-strong final list of BCCI-contracted male cricketers was prepared by the five-man national selection panel led by MSK Prasad. The selectors have opted to reward players who have taken significant strides over the last year and have been key performers consistently.

Who is the biggest gainer?

Rishabh Pant. He wasn’t part of the 26 contracted players in 2017-18, but has forced his way in, and all the way into the second bracket, following his exploits in international cricket since his Test debut in England last year.

The list of contracts

• Grade A+ (INR 7cr): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

• Grade A (INR 5cr): R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant

• Grade B (INR 3cr): KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya

• Grade C (INR 1cr): Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Hanuma Vihari, Khaleel Ahmed, Wriddhiman Saha

• IN: Rishabh Pant, Ambati Rayudu, Hanuma Vihari, Khaleel Ahmed

• OUT: Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, Jayant Yadav, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, M Vijay

Picked in place of the injured Wriddhiman Saha, Pant cracked a century in his third Test on a debut tour of England. More recently, Pant made 159 against Australia during the New Year’s Test in Sydney, having taken 11 catches in the series opener in Adelaide, the most by an Indian wicketkeeper in Tests.Pant is currently auditioning for India’s World Cup squad. He is part of Grade A, which carries a retainer worth INR 5 crore. Pant aside, the category has R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav.

What are the other major changes

The A+ category, worth INR 7 crore, has just three players: Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma. Bhuvneshwar and Dhawan, both in the same bracket last time, have dropped to Grade A. The A bracket has 11 players compared to seven last year, with Ishant, Shami and Kuldeep Yadav moving up from Grade B.ESPNcricinfo understands Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar were not retained in the A+ category because they did not consistently feature in all three formats last season. Dhawan struggled for form in the Test format on the tours of South Africa and England and was eventually dropped for the Australia tour, with the selectors picking Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal as alternatives. Bhuvneshwar was injured at the start of the season, and although he was included in the Test squad for Australia, he did not play in the four-match series that India won 2-1.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Where did M Vijay go?

Out, for now. Having failed to make an impression on comeback, Vijay was left out after the second Test in Perth in December. He lost his Test spot to debutant Agarwal, who was incidentally a replacement for the injured Shaw. Earlier in 2018, Vijay was dropped after the second Test at Lord’s. Shaw struck a hundred on Test debut against West Indies, and followed it up with a half-century in his next outing.

Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal – have they made the cut?

No. The two of them, along with Vijay Shankar, haven’t been included. Shaw was part of the Test squad for the Australia tour, but had to return home after a freak injury while fielding during a tour match. Agarwal made two robust half-centuries in three Test innings in Melbourne and Sydney, after being called-in midway through the tour. Vijay, who clinched India a thrilling last-over victory with the ball in the Nagpur ODI against Australia earlier this week, has given healthy headaches to the selection panel, which has put him in the pool of 18-odd players shortlisted for the World Cup. But no contract for him yet.

What happens to Wriddhiman Saha?

Having missed a lot of cricket through 2018 because of injuries, Saha, who only started playing again a few weeks back, has been moved from Grade A to Grade C. There were some new entrants to C too: Ambati Rayudu, Hanuma Vihari and Khaleel Ahmed.

Who have fallen out of favour?

Along with Vijay, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel and Jayant Yadav – all part of Grade C last time – have been omitted. Among them, Nair and Jayant didn’t feature in a single international game during the contracted period.

What’s the update on Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul?

The two players, who were suspended by the CoA briefly for their alleged misconduct on a TV chat show, will continue to be part of Grade B (INR 3 crore). On Thursday, the CoA asked Justice DK Jain, newly-appointed BCCI ombudsman, to investigate the allegations against Pandya and Rahul.. As per the BCCI constitution, the ombudsman is the final authority to adjudicate on such issues. Pandya is not part of the ongoing ODI series against Australia because of a back injury, but his stock has gradually increased over the last 18 months with the management backing him to play in all three formats as the primary allrounder.

Alex Hales is set to make his return to cricket later this month, after it was confirmed that he is no longer a suspect in relation to the incident in Bristol in September

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2017Alex Hales is set to make his return to cricket later this month, in the inaugural T10 Cricket League in Dubai, after it was confirmed that he is no longer a suspect in relation to the incident in Bristol in September that led to the arrest of his team-mate, Ben Stokes.Hales had been present in Mbargo nightclub on the morning of September 25, in the aftermath of England’s ODI victory over West Indies, when Stokes was arrested following an altercation in which he appeared to swing punches at two men.The pair were made unavailable for selection for the remaining two games of that series, with Hales returning to Bristol voluntarily to help Avon and Somerset Police with their enquiries.Stokes, who had initially been named as England’s vice-captain for the Ashes before being withdrawn from the squad, recently made his comeback to cricket, after flying to New Zealand to play for Canterbury in the 50-over Ford Trophy.Hales has yet to play since the incident. However, the ECB has approved a formal request for a No Objection Certificate to allow him to play in the inaugural T10 Cricket League in Dubai from December 21-24. He could yet be offered a BBL opportunity, too, which could potentially see him play in Australia during England’s Ashes tour.The ECB board convened via conference call to make the decision after being informed that Hales is deemed a witness and will face no charges.It remains possible that Hales, and Stokes, could be named in England’s ODI and T20 squads to face New Zealand and Australia in the New Year. However, the independent Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) has stayed the internal disciplinary process for both Hales and Stokes until the conclusion of any potential criminal proceedings relating to the incident.That means that Hales could still face sanction from the ECB – for being out so later during an ODI series, for example – though it remains possible it could be backdated to include the period he has already missed.It may be relevant, however, that while Hales was out of the side for two ODIs at the end of the English summer, Jonny Bairstow appeared to cement his position as an opening batsman. He scored an unbeaten 141 in Southampton and an unbeaten 100 in Manchester. While Jason Roy came back into the side and scored 84 at The Oval and 96 at Southampton as Bairstow’s opening partner. As a result, the way back for Hales may not be straightforward.

Ken Higgs, the former England, Lancashire and Leicestershire seam bowler, has died aged 79

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Sep-2016Ken Higgs, the former England, Lancashire and Leicestershire seam bowler, has died aged 79.Remembered for his stamina and angular run-up, Higgs played only 15 Tests for England but claimed 71 wickets at 20.74. For Lancashire, he took more than 1000 first-class wickets and, after retiring in 1969, he was persuaded to return to playing by Leicestershire, for whom his last appearance came at the age of 49.He was renowned for getting out top-order batsmen and his most successful series for England saw him take 24 wickets against West Indies in 1966. Overall, he took 1536 first-class wickets and a further 355 in List A cricket.”We are deeply saddened by the news that Ken has passed away,” Leicestershire chairman, Paul Hayward, said. “I had the great pleasure of playing alongside Ken and he was a truly great bowler who had a wonderful career record. Ken was well-respected by everyone at Leicestershire County Cricket Club and we would like to offer our condolences and best wishes to his family.”Originally from Staffordshire, Higgs made his name at Lancashire, opening the bowling alongside Brian Statham. He took 7 for 36 on his Championship debut and claimed more than 100 wickets in a season on five occasions. He was named one of ‘s Five Cricketers of the Year in 1968.He won his first England cap in 1965, in Statham’s last Test, and took eight wickets against South Africa. Alongside a knack for wicket-taking and a parsimonious economy rate, he produced a memorable contribution with the bat to help England win the final Test at The Oval against West Indies in 1966, putting on 128 – two runs shy of the world record – for the last wicket with John Snow.The flags at Old Trafford were flying at half-mast on Wednesday, ahead of England’s T20 match against Pakistan. A club statement said: “We are very sad to hear of the passing of former Lancashire bowler Ken Higgs. Our thoughts are with his family at this time.”Having left Lancashire in 1969, to be the cricket professional at Rishton and run a boarding house in Blackpool, Higgs was talked out of retirement by Mike Turner and moved to play for Leicestershire from 1972. He took 4 for 10, including a hat-trick, in the 1974 Benson & Hedges Cup final – although Leicestershire lost – and a few years later scored 98 batting a No. 11, during what remains a club record partnership of 228 with Ray Illingworth.Higgs went on to captain and coach the county, as well as making sporadic appearances until he was almost 50. In 1986, his final season, he managed a 50th five-wicket haul.A promising footballer, he was an England Youth international and signed for Port Vale – although he never represented them at senior level. He is survived by two sons, Paul and Terry.

Three of the four teams who contested Finals Day in 2014 will meet again later this month to determine the winner of the NatWest T20 Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2015Three of the four teams who contested Finals Day in 2014 will meet again later this month to determine the winner of the NatWest T20 Blast. Birmingham, the defending champions, will be joined by Lancashire, last year’s losing finalists, and two-time winners Hampshire.The fourth county are 2013 winners Northamptonshire. They have been drawn against Birmingham in the first semi-final, which will start at 11am on August 29. As in 2014, Lancashire will face Hampshire in the second semi-final at 2.30pm.”Hopefully it will be the same result in the semi, and we can go one better this year and win the final,” Steven Croft, Lancashire’s captain, said after his team squeezed past Kent on Saturday, by virtue of losing fewer wickets in their tie.Birmingham are favourites to become the first team to retain the trophy and they will be playing on their home ground, with Edgbaston hosting Finals Day for the third year running. They topped the North Group, ahead of Northamptonshire and Lancashire – third and fourth respectively – while Hampshire finished third in the South Group.Hampshire will be making a sixth consecutive Finals Day appearance, extending their own record, and looking to win for the first time since 2012. Lancashire have won more T20 games than any other county since the format’s introduction but are still searching for a first title.The only other time the same three teams have reached consecutive Finals Days was in 2005, when Leicestershire, Lancashire and Surrey all made it back, only for Somerset to lift what was then the Twenty20 Cup.