England coach Trevor Bayliss hopes that Alex Hales is brave enough to reverse his decision to pursue a white-ball-only career if it does not work out for him

Andrew McGlashan in Christchurch09-Mar-2018

England coach Trevor Bayliss hopes that Alex Hales is brave enough to reverse his decision to pursue a white-ball-only career if it does not work out for him.Hales and Adil Rashid halted their first-class careers last month in favour of limited-overs contracts with their counties, in the belief it would allow them to improve in those formats both for the benefit of their international careers and also to make them more attractive to T20 leagues around the world.Rashid remains a first-pick for both England’s white-ball sides, but Hales has been sidelined throughout the one-day series in New Zealand following Ben Stokes’ return, with Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy given the opening roles.Bayliss said that he did not have any involvement in the decisions made by Hales and Rashid, saying it was an individual choice, but he believed there could still be an overall benefit to maintaining a red-call career in order to further a players’ limited-overs game.”I said to him [Hales] when it came out, that not playing red-ball cricket, hopefully that doesn’t affect him,” Bayliss said. “If he plays red-ball cricket you get a quantity of balls, and that helps with any form of the game. He had to weigh that up with going away and having the extra time to work on his white-ball skills. Only time will tell. If it doesn’t work, hopefully he is able to make a decision to come back into red-ball cricket.”Bayliss was aware of the possibility of Rashid making his career move from last year, but he was not at the heart of the players’ discussions.”Rash mightn’t have said anything but he might have mentioned it in passing,” Bayliss said. “We didn’t have a long discussion about it if he did. I certainly can’t remember it. But both those guys have their people they speak to at their counties and other coaches here. With Rash we knew it was a possibility from late last season. It’s totally up to them.”Adil Rashid gets a pat on the back from his captain•Getty Images

Although both players indicated they may reassess their decisions after the 2019 World Cup, any realistic chance of resuming a Test career has likely gone. The door had previously not been closed despite Rashid being overlooked for Mason Crane in the Ashes and Hales not featuring since the end of the Pakistan series in 2016. In the last English season, Hales tried to reinvent himself in first-class cricket by moving into Nottinghamshire’s middle and was briefly talked about as a potential option for the Ashes squad.”From that point of view it is a big decision,” Bayliss said. “Basically taking themselves out of the running for Test cricket. That might give us an idea of how they were personally thinking. We can’t do any more – that’s the decision they have to make and we have to move on.”Hales and Rashid will complete their current stint with England with the deciding ODI against New Zealand in Christchurch before the tour switches to Test mode. An important decision needs to made over the vice-captaincy following Stokes’ return. Stokes officially remains the Test vice-captain, having had the role prior to the incident in Bristol last September; when he was forced to miss the Ashes it was handed to James Anderson.Earlier in the tour, Test captain Joe Root said it was a matter that had still to be discussed and those conversations remain on the to-do list once the one-day series is concluded and tour moves to Hamilton for the warm-ups.”To be honest, that hasn’t been discussed as yet. I’m sure it’ll be something Joe and I will speak about very shortly,” Bayliss said. “[Stokes] was vice-captain because of his knowledge of the game and what he means to the team. But I thought Jimmy Anderson did a pretty good job during that Ashes series.”The next stage of Stokes’ legal case takes place on Monday following his plea of not guilty to a charge of affray – with the first hearing at Crown Court which he was given permission to miss because of the ongoing tour.Stokes has made a solid return to the international stage. He took the Player-of-the-Match award in Mount Maunganui, then battled against his natural instincts to score an important 39 off 73 balls on a tough pitch in Wellington, where he also took a super catch to spark New Zealand’s collapse.”We said before, there are always guys around the world who are able to put those things aside and get stuck back into it,” Bayliss said, “and I think we have seen over these games that he has put it aside and got on with it.”In terms of the reception he has received, New Zealand has offered Stokes a soft landing back into the England fold – a boisterous crowd in Dunedin as lively as it has got – but while it has made managing the situation easier, Bayliss believed he would have been able to cope in Australia.”It’s probably been a bit easier for him to sneak back in. With Ben, I don’t think it would have made any difference, it might have encouraged him even more to do well.”

Worcestershire’s batsmen are heading to the 2nd XI for recuperation after a third successive defeat extended a dismal return to Division One

Paul Bolton at New Road30-Apr-2018
ScorecardIt is only seven months these sides were promoted together from Division Two of the County Championship but the gulf in class between them was startling in a one-sided affair that was completed in just five sessions.Worcestershire, who went up as Second Division champions, were routed twice in the equivalent of just two sessions by a high quality attack who made expert use of a slow seaming pitch.Stuart Broad, playing his first match of the season, played his part, surviving a mid-pitch collision with Luke Fletcher along the way, but he was not Worcestershire’s chief tormentor. Instead it was Jake Ball, another member of England’s Ashes attack, who wrecked their second innings by taking his second five wicket haul of the season.Worcestershire have now lost all three matches since they were promoted for the sixth time and with a trip to the Oval this week followed by the visit of reigning champions Essex, things are unlikely to get any easier.Kevin Sharp, who was installed as head coach following the sacking of Steve Rhodes during the winter, had some difficult times during his time as Yorkshire’s batting coach but preventing Worcestershire from being relegated after just a season in the top flight for the fifth time may yet prove to be his biggest challenge.”We know that there are some really top sides in this division. Division One sides are more experienced and they have strength in depth but there lies the challenge. If we didn’t know before we certainly do now about what is expected,” Sharp said.After a lengthy post-match team Sharp announced that five of his punch drunk top six – Travis Head is the exception – will play in a Second XI Trophy match against Warwickshire at New Road on Tuesday in an attempt to find form and confidence..Brett D’Oliveira and George Rhodes have scraped together just 35 runs in 12 innings between them and Worcestershire’s only half centuries have come from Ben Cox and Ed Barnard at seven and eight in the order.”It hurts and it’s not nice. Someone asked me the other day if I was enjoying myself. I said sometimes because it’s not easy to enjoy yourself in such circumstances,” Sharp said.”I have been at this club for four years, I have seen these lads grow up and they are fine players but they have not performed as yet. But I have every confidence and belief they will come through and by September things will have turned round.”Jake Ball showed England form at New Road•Getty Images

Nottinghamshire have yet to play at Trent Bridge this season because of building work but they will return there to face Hampshire on Friday having won twice on the road.”We started this little block of five matches thinking of it like a Test series of five. We are 2-1 up at the minute and everyone is excited at going back to Trent Bridge,” Ball said.Ball already 21 wickets this season and with a new National Selector in Ed Smith, he remains hopeful of reclaiming his England place after he was dropped for the two Tests in New Zealand.”It’s nice to have had this start having had the winter I had. It’s something I wanted to do. Hopefully I can kick on again and see where we go from there,” he said.Ball was given the opportunity to pitch the ball up and attack here thanks to the early aggression of Tom Moores and Broad who accelerated Nottinghamshire towards their declaration. They pulled out after the last wicket pair of Luke Fletcher and Harry Gurney had scrambled the 12 runs they needed for a third batting point and then set about Worcestershire’s feeble batting.Daryl Mitchell, who has made only five of his 26 championship centuries in the First Division, was bowled by a full length ball for the second time in the match and only Tom Fell, who batted 28 overs for his 37, threatened to delay Nottinghamshire.Fell looked distraught when he was bowled shouldering arms to Gurney and Worcestershire’s version of Kwik Cricket meant it was all over long before a party of 150 schoolchildren arrived hoping to see some cricket before a presentation evening.

A look at security arrangements ahead of Karachi’s biggest cricket event in nearly a decade

Umar Farooq in Karachi24-Mar-2018After nine years with no cricket of comparable magnitude, Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan, is gearing up to host the Pakistan Super League final. This is the second major venue after Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium to host a high-profile game in recent years, and it is considered a crucial step on the long road to reviving international cricket in the country.The final between Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi will be played at the National Stadium and the entire route from the hotel to the stadium will be lined with guards from Pakistan’s paramilitary force, the Rangers, and the Sindh police. A full house (around 33,000) is expected, with tickets sold out hours after they were released. There is a three-tier security layer, heavily guarded by security forces. Deputy Inspector General Traffic Imran Yaqoob Minhas, while addressing a press conference, said a total of 8500 police personnel will be deployed around the stadium for the match.The landscape of the city has changed drastically over the last nine years and the law and order situation has improved significantly. Karachi still remains the venue of the last completed Test match in Pakistan, a few days before the 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore.Karachi is generally viewed as a more challenging city in terms of its law-and-order situation, and providing a complete security plan, what with the nearest hotel being at least 12 km from the National Stadium, is harder than it is in Lahore.The stadium is situated in the centre of the city, and all major routes from all four directions that connect with the stadium will be closed for the general public. The two biggest hospitals of the city, Agha Khan and Liaquat National, are located close to the stadium, but the roads leading to them will be open. A shuttle service will be in place to take fans from the parking area to the stadium gates. The flow of traffic is likely to be reduced, but a strict directive has been issued to follow the day’s plan to avoid congestion. The fact that the game will be held on Sunday will help.”It’s a big occasion for Karachi and the whole country,” said Rashid Latif, the former Pakistan wicketkeeper who is now team director at Karachi Kings. “I am very much thankful to the PCB for making this possible. This was a much-needed step because you cannot revive cricket by playing at one venue. It’s important to involve at least three or four cities to get this going. Otherwise, you cannot have a positive impact. Karachi is a huge city and I cannot explain in words how big this would be for us and for this country.”We have played a month in Dubai and Sharjah but we actually felt the intensity when cricket came to Lahore for the playoffs. We realised how people are hungry for cricket and how desperate they are to have cricket back in their stadiums. This is huge for fans; they are really passionate about the game and during isolation we have suffered a lot in world of cricket.”I think the security is somewhat overdone. I don’t want to be critical but I feel security should be given to the foreigners only, not to us. When we were in Lahore for playoffs, even local players and officials were restricted from going out freely. So this shouldn’t be the case because this will give off a bad impression among the overseas players.”The security protocols are being overseen by international security consultant Reg Dickason who has praised the “remarkably thorough” security arrangements for the final, saying they were “as good as I have seen in all my years”.The PCB plans to bring a major chunk of the next edition of the PSL to Pakistan, with at least three venues hosting more than 15 games in total. “We plan to have half of the PSL next year in Pakistan,” Najam Sethi, the PSL chairman, said on Friday. “But for that, we need four stadiums. As of now, we have Lahore, Karachi and Multan ready to host big matches, so now our focus is on preparing the stadiums of Rawalpindi and Peshawar. We’ve been working day and night to bring international cricket back to the country.”

Chief executive spells out players’ union position as negotiations with ECB

George Dobell13-Jun-2018

Daryl Mitchell, the chairman of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, has warned that a rise in the salary cap is a “non-negotiable” part of any deal with the ECB.Mitchell, the players’ union boss, is one of the team negotiating a new deal for players for the period from 2020 to 2024, as part of both the Team England Player Partnership (TEPP; which effectively decides the value of central contracts for international players) and the County Partnership Agreement (CPA; which decides how much money each county should receive and guidelines over how it should be spent). The PCA are also negotiating the women’s pay deal, both domestically and internationally.And, with the new broadcast deal injecting more money into the game than ever before, Mitchell expects a “fair share” of that revenue to find its way to the players.So he admits he was “very surprised” to read reports that the ECB had told county chief executives that there would be no rise in the salary cap as part of the CPA.”The salary cap has to rise,” Mitchell told ESPNcricinfo. “That is non-negotiable.”You can’t have a situation where a huge amount more money comes into the game and the players do not benefit from it. We have made thatvery clear to the ECB and we are going to be very strong on this issue. It really is non-negotiable.”The salary cap – currently set at around GBP2million a year – dictates the total amount that counties can pay their players. While it is notrelevant to a majority of counties – some spend less than half that amount and it is understood that only one, Surrey, argued for a riseat the chief executives’ meeting – there is an expectation that salaries will rise as more money comes into the game. The ECB hasalready promised the counties an extra GBP1.3million a year each from 2020.The PCA are also insisting upon a rise in the salary collar (the minimum amount paid by a county in salaries to players; the current figure is GBP750,000 a year), a rise in the minimum wage – and the means to force counties to stick to it – and assurances that all current players will benefit in a tangible way from the new broadcast deal. At present the PCA recommend a minimum wage (it starts at GBP17,897 for 18-year-olds and rises to GBP25,354 for 24-year-olds) but found widespread abuse of the system as part of a recent survey.”Those are the four principles,” Mitchell confirmed. “The salary collar figure is very low at present and must rise. Some counties are only just above it. And we’ll also be looking for the CPA to have some teeth to compel counties to ensure they respect the minimum wages requirements.”We also want to make sure that all our members – and we have 420 current players to consider – benefit from the new broadcast deal. Not just the England players; not just those involved in The 100 and not just those on minimum wage: all our members in the middle of those groups.”In any negotiation process, you have some wins and you make some concessions. But these four principles are very simple and we won’t be budging from our stance on them.”News of the ECB’s comments at the chief executives’ meeting come at an awkward time in their relationship with the PCA. A few weeks ago, the ECB chairman, Colin Graves, appeared to contradict his chief executive, Tom Harrison, in insisting plans for the new 100-ball tournament were “set in stone.” A few days earlier, Harrison had told the PCA the competition was only at the conceptual stage.And, while there has been much talk of late of the ECB’s need to tighten the purse strings, their recently-published accounts show that on top of the salaries of top executives (and the highest paid executive at the ECB earns GBP605,000 a year before pension contributions), an incentive plan has been set up that will see up to GBP3.2million extra paid to those executives by the end of 2022.”Our relationship with the ECB is still good,” Mitchell said, “but there are times I think their communication could be better. All the conversations we’ve had with them should have left them in no doubt over our views and at no stage have they led us to believe that there will be no more money. We’re still confident this can be resolved amicably.”

Virat Kohli steered his side to 175 in Bengaluru, but the KKR top order fired collectively to win with five balls to spare

The Report by Nikhil Kalro29-Apr-2018
3:11

Agarkar: KKR doing the basic things better than RCB

Kolkata Knight Riders gained two significant advantages even before a ball was bowled in Bengaluru. First, Dinesh Karthik chose to bowl at a favourable chasing ground. Then, Knight Riders found out that AB de Villiers was out with a viral fever. Both those factors had a decisive impact as Knight Riders chased down a target of 176 with relative ease, with five balls to spare, consigning Royal Challengers to their fifth loss in seven games.Without their highest run-scorer of the season, Royal Challengers had to employ a less attacking approach, aiming for par instead of a 200-plus score, like the one they got in the previous game against Chennai Super Kings after losing the toss. All they could manage was 175 – the par score in day-night games at this ground in the IPL since 2015 has been 172 – even with a terrific, 44-ball 68 from Virat Kohli.Even on a pitch that was turning appreciably, Knight Riders had too much firepower. Led by Chris Lynn’s 62, along with rapid cameos from Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik, Knight Riders cruised home against a bowling attack that lacked penetration and sufficient defensive skill.Sussing out conditionsBrendon McCullum was brought into the XI due to de Villiers’ sickness. Quinton de Kock, despite coming off a half-century in the previous game, hadn’t quite found his fluency. For Royal Challengers’ batting line-up, already weakened significantly, a strong start was imperative.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

McCullum and de Kock scored 40 runs in the Powerplay, 11 runs below their average score in the period this season. McCullum soon found his hitting rhythm, though, with two fours and two sixes in two overs after the Powerplay, lifting the scoring rate to over eight.Soon after the time-out, however, Royal Challengers lost their way. De Kock holed out to deep cover. McCullum toe-ended a pull to the keeper. Two balls later, Manan Vohra was bowled off the inside edge. A score of 67 for 0 quickly turned to 75 for 3.Kohli owns the deathDe Villiers’ absence also hampered Kohli’s scoring template. Aware that his presence in the death overs could marginally increase the utility of Royal Challengers’ score, Kohli was cautious early in his innings. He took 18 balls to score 20, but with Royal Challengers at 100 for 3 in 14 overs at that point, Kohli couldn’t wait any longer.Royal Challengers hit nine boundaries in six overs thereon; Kohli hit six of them. Royal Challengers scored 75 from there; Kohli hit 48 of them. His innings included three sixes, two of which were a direct result of a strong bottom hand through the line of the ball, hit in the arc between long-on and deep midwicket. Royal Challengers had 175, a score that seemed below par given the ground dimensions.Theatrics of T20sBefore the start of the chase, Knight Riders’ target of 176 – one less than the score Royal Challengers needed to beat Delhi Daredevils earlier this season and one more than the score Knight Riders needed in the reverse fixture against Royal Challengers at the Eden Gardens – seemed insufficient.Lynn and Narine made a strong start before a rain interruption that lasted 30 minutes. Then, with Knight Riders seemingly in control, the game drifted on with the illusion of control. Royal Challengers made a strong comeback in that period, including having Andre Russell caught for a golden duck on his 30th birthday.The equation by then came down to 43 off 24 balls. But just when the game seemed in the balance, Knight Riders broke the chase open, much like those two previous games Royal Challengers were involved in.

Aston Villa are back in action this afternoon, as Unai Emery’s side look to put matters right after their defeat to Liverpool before the international break.

The Villans will welcome Crystal Palace to Villa Park in what is poised to be a thriller, with both teams showing a host of quality in their fixtures already this season.

The Midlands side have registered two wins and two losses, building some form after their embarrassing opening day thrashing at St James’ Park, as Newcastle United slayed Emery’s side 5-1.

After an encouraging summer in the transfer window, there has been an added influx of quality to the squad, with some new arrivals already showing their worth.

What is the latest Aston Villa team news?

Last time out at Anfield, Villa were shocked in the opening minutes, as Dominik Szoboszlai scored his first Liverpool goal after just three minutes.

Things went from bad to worse, and then worse again for Emery’s side, who lost Diego Carlos to injury in the 19th minute, to then concede their second moments later through a Matty Cash own goal.

There was worry over Carlos’ withdrawal following his lengthy time on the sidelines last season due to an achilles rupture, with the manager confirming that he will miss today’s game against Palace.

Placing the defence aside, after the attacking absence at Anfield, Emery could consider making changes to bring additional threat to the front line, with the Midlands side registering just 0.66 expected goals against Liverpool, via Sofascore.

Should Youri Tielemans start against Crystal Palace?

One player that could provide some added danger to the final third is Youri Tielemans, who was signed this summer on a free transfer from Leicester City.

The Belgian is a seasoned Premier League player with 155 appearances in the league already under his belt, however is yet to start for Villa this season.

During a press-conference while on duty with Belgium, the midfielder described the lack of game time as “not pleasant”, as relayed by Football 365, with him playing just 93 minutes over the four appearances he’s made so far.

Following the performance at Anfield, Emery may be inclined to shuffle his side to impose a better threat on Palace, with Tielemans being the ideal figure to generate chances.

Against the Reds, Villa failed to record a single big chance, which the Belgian could resolve with him creating ten big chances last season for Leicester, despite their relegation form.

Lauded as a “baller” by CBS journalist Aaron West for his pre-season form, the £150k-per-week gem could offer a lot to the squad at Villa Park, even more so with the motive of having a point to prove in order to receive more game time.

There’s a positive for Villa going forward, with Hodgson confirming that prized centre-back Marc Guehi will be out of contention due to injury, giving Emery more of an incentive to go full force on what will be a depleted back line for the visitors.

After going public about his disappointment in relation to his game time, the Belgian may be handed a chance to show his worth, which would be a strong point for Villa, with him recording an average of 1.15 key passes and 6.95 progressive passes last term for Leicester, via FBref.

The main priority for Villa will be to get back to winning ways, however giving their summer arrival a chance to flex his ability may be a positive route to claiming three points.

Left-arm spinner Alex Hartley, who played an important role in England’s World Cup final victory over India last year, has been left out of the one-day squad for the first two matches against South Africa.Sophie Ecclestone, the 19-year-old left-arm spinner, has been preferred having taken eight wickets in the three-match series against India in April during which Hartley took one wicket in the three games. Hartley claimed 2 for 58 at Lord’s last year, including the key wicket of Harmanpreet Kaur, when England beat India by nine runs to lift the World Cup.England are able to recall the experienced pair of Katherine Brunt and Sarah Taylor who both missed the tour of India. Brunt was recovering from a back injury while Taylor was left out as part of the management of her anxiety condition.Georgia Elwiss, Laura Marsh and Lauren Winfield also return having missed the trip to India. From the squad that travelled to India, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Tash Farrant, Fran Wilson, Bryony Smith and Katie George have been left out.”It should be a really exciting summer against two of the best teams in the world,” Mark Robinson, the head coach, said. “South Africa are an up-and-coming team with some really dangerous players. They pushed us close the last time we met them and we will have to be at our best to beat them.”It’s obviously great to have Katherine and Sarah back, and Lauren and Laura’s recent form has earned them recalls.”The South Africa series forms part of the ICC Women’s Championship and marks England’s first steps on the way to qualification for the 2021 World Cup. After the one-day series there is a triangular T20I tournament also featuring New Zealand before a one-day series against New Zealand in July.Squad Heather Knight (capt), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Jenny Gunn, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Laura Marsh, Anya Shrubsole, Nat Sciver, Sarah Taylor, Lauren Winfield, Danni Wyatt

Ed Barnard claimed four wickets as Worcestershire held their nerve on the final day to secure a first Championship win of the season

Jon Culley at New Road23-Jun-20182:01

Kent squash Warwickshire’s hopes of record chase

ScorecardIn reality, the chances of Lancashire reaching their monumental target of 602 to win here were always extremely remote. The fact that no one in the history of first-class cricket has scored more than 541 to win a match in the fourth innings is because, even when the best part of two days are at a team’s disposal, scoring so many runs before the opposition takes 10 wickets is extraordinarily difficult.Yet Glenn Chapple, who has no doubt seen a few potential records fail to materialise over his career, confessed that even he, for a short time at least, while Keaton Jennings and Dane Vilas were making relatively untroubled progress on the final morning, and six wickets were still in hand, allowed himself to contemplate the possibility that history might be made.”There is no point at the start in saying you are going to score 602, it is a ridiculous thing to contemplate,” he said.”Faced with a run chase like that it is just a case of concentrate on your performance, assess what your best chance is of staying in and scoring runs, and ultimately see where that can lead. And I think everyone realised that had Keaton and Dane been able to sustain their partnership into the afternoon it might eventually have become a reality.”But the truth is that we lost the match not because they could not do that but because of two passages of play on the first day.”After having Worcester 81 for 5, we let them score nigh-on 250, which was too many on that pitch. Then after being 77 for 0 ourselves with six or seven overs to go, we ended up five down.”And though we played very well to score nearly 400 in the last innings, when Keaton Jennings set such a fine example of discipline and professional approach, we should not have been four down overnight. So there are things we need to look at.”This is not a story, though, about a Lancashire failure, but about a Worcestershire victory, their first of a frustrating season, achieved moreover with their two leading wicket-takers sidelined, but whose stand-ins – the latest of whom, 19-year-old Pat Brown, is still a student at Worcester University – showed character and resilience on a durable pitch to make sure the winning chance was not wasted.Seeing Brown claim the prized scalp of Jennings, for 177, and Ed Barnard add four more wickets to his first-innings five, gave Brett D’Oliveira, making a successful debut as stand-in captain for the injured Joe Leach, as much pleasure as Daryl Mitchell’s two hundreds and Martin Guptill’s century on debut.”The conditions got better to bat on,” D’Oliveira said. “It did start to get a bit lower towards the end and we got a couple of lbws but overall it was a good wicket and they have some very good players, so it took everything to get those 11 wickets.”Pat Brown getting Keaton Jennings out was crucial, a moment that stands out among several outstanding performances. And Ed – it was a real challenge for him in that second innings and he really did work hard and deserved the rewards he got.”I’m proud of the players. We have been in good positions in a couple of games and haven’t quite done it so it feels good to have rammed home our advantage this time.”They have shown resilience and fight. A couple of years ago at 81 for 5 we might have crumbled but this time we showed we could fight back.”Vilas and Jennings both fell before lunch, Vilas bowled off an inside edge by Barnard, Jennings by one from Brown that kept a shade low and came with added zip too. Jordan Clark and Danny Lamb, whose historic appearance here as a concussion substitute is a footnote not to be forgotten, hinted at grinding out a draw but a double bowling change changed the dynamic in a flash.Ross Whiteley, whose left-arm seamers are only occasionally required, claimed his first Championship wicket for three years when Ben Cox, standing up, took a sharp catch to remove Clark, opening up the tail for Barnard to see off, the last four wickets falling for one run in four overs.

The seamer was part of Zimbabwe’s preparations ahead of the tri-series, playing for the Zimbabwe Select XI against Kenya and Zimbabwe Chairman’s XI

Liam Brickhill in Harare02-Jul-2018

Seamer Donald Tiripano has replaced the injured Kyle Jarvis in Zimbabwe’s squad for the T20I tri-series, involving Australia and Pakistan. Jarvis, Zimbabwe’s senior seamer, injured his bowling hand while attempting a catch during Pakistan’s innings in the tri-series opener in Harare on Sunday.Tiripano, 30, has played eight T20Is for Zimbabwe, as well as six Tests and 15 ODIs. He last played for Zimbabwe during their successful tour of Sri Lanka last year, and was more recently part of Zimbabwe’s preparations ahead of the tri-series, playing for the Zimbabwe Select XI against Kenya and Zimbabwe Chairman’s XI. He took five wickets in six games in that warm-up series, in addition to chipping in with 49 to help set up a 41-run win in the third match against Kenya.Jarvis was ruled out of the remainder of the tri-series due to the severity of his injury. Jarvis was taken immediately to hospital for scans when the injury occurred on Sunday, and X-rays confirmed a broken bone in his right thumb. He is being treated in Harare, with the help of Manchester-based hand and wrist surgeon Zaf Naqui.

The former Afghanistan coach is on a three-month deal, which might be extended based on results

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2018Former India batsman Lalchand Rajput has been appointed Zimbabwe head coach on a three-month deal, which might be extended based on the results.Rajput replaced Heath Streak, who, along with the entire coaching staff, was sacked in March after the team failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup.Rajput’s first assignment will be a rather challenging one, with Zimbabwe set to play a home T20I tri-series against Australia and Pakistan in July.Rajput had also coached Afghanistan in the last two years. “They [Zimbabwe Cricket] called me up and showed an interest in me. For now, the deal is for three months. After that, if both parties agree, it will be extended,” Rajput told the ICC. “I am really happy with this, because this is what I was looking for after the job with Afghanistan.”Afghanistan did exceptionally well when I was the coach there, so the people in Zimbabwe must have seen something that impressed them. But yes, it’s a challenge. Challenges get the best out of me. I think people know me for that.”Zimbabwean cricket has been marred with crises in the last few years, especially on the financial front. In the current climate, Rajput said he needed to ensure the players playing as a unit.”My first job will be to get the players ready for the triangular series. I have not yet met the players; I will go there and slowly find out everything, meet them, understand them, motivate them,” he said. “There is a lot of talent there, but I need to turn things around quickly and hopefully take them to the next level. The main thing is to get the players together and get them to perform as a unit.”Rajput also coached India U-19s previously, and was the senior team’s manager at the inaugural World T20 in 2007, which they won. He has also coached IPL team Mumbai Indians. Rajput was in the race to become the India coach in 2017, before Ravi Shastri was appointed.