The Zimbabwe captain feels four-day Tests could give lower-ranked teams more of a chance of competing against top sides like South Africa

Firdose Moonda19-Dec-2017One of cricket’s most over-used adages is that shorter formats reduce the quality gap between teams, and though it may not always be true, Zimbabwe are hoping it will be apply to them when they take on South Africa in the four-day Test starting on Boxing Day. Though elite cricketers, including two of South Africa’s own, Faf du Plessis and Dean Elgar, have largely turned their noses up at the idea of shorter Test matches, Graeme Cremer believes it could give his team, ranked No. 10, a greater chance to compete with their opponents, ranked No. 2.”I think it’s a good thing, especially when the two teams aren’t ranked that close together,” Cremer said at Zimbabwe’s arrival press conference in Paarl on Tuesday. “The game will move that much quicker because it’s only four days. It will be good to watch and good for the crowd.”Cremer expects the “bigger” teams to aim to bat once and bat quickly. “What a lot of the so-called bigger teams will do is bat the other team right out of the game and they can bat as long as they want, knowing they’ve got the bowlers to bowl a team out twice,” he said. “The bigger teams will have to probably score a bit quicker and give the lesser team a lot more opportunity to get wickets and the game will move quite quickly.”But Zimbabwe’s coach Heath Streak thinks that approach could also create an opening for the “smaller” team to work its way back into the game. “It’s much harder to bat a team out because in doing so you may make it easier for them to save the Test,” Streak said.Zimbabwe have recent experience of saving a game. They drew the second Test against West Indies, in a series they lost 1-0, and showed their ability to compete. Before that, they came close to upsetting Sri Lanka in an epic Test match in Colombo.Now Streak wants his team to take that one step further and not settle for anything less than winning.”It’s about shaking off the underdog mentality and playing to win, not to compete and to not embarrass ourselves,” Streak said. “Our series in Sri Lanka was a watershed moment for us, more mentally than anything else. We are out to play winning cricket and we’d rather lose trying to play a winning brand than to just compete. We’ll have our challenges, especially in the longer format because we don’t play that much, but this team is going places.”An obvious challenge is the lack of game time for Zimbabwe, who play significantly fewer matches than the other Test teams. Streak admitted they would welcome any matches, in any format, just to get better. “It’s less about the type of cricket and more about playing at international level, whether we are playing ODIs or Tests. It’s the gaps in between the international fixtures that are the biggest challenge for us. Our domestic level of cricket isn’t high so for us to step up, that’s the challenge.”However, Zimbabwe could be set to play even less. Earlier this year, ZC’s new MD Faisal Hasnain admitted the country would seek to host fewer Tests in future, once the new Test league comes into place, because they are financially unviable. Instead, they would concentrate on shorter formats at home and hope to play Tests overseas, as they are doing now in South Africa. And that will mean taking fixtures in whatever format the hosts offer, as is the case now.The Boxing Day Test won’t just be the first four-day Test since 1973, but will also be a day-night game, which Zimbabwe are unused to. With no floodlights at either Harare Sports Club or Queens in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe only play day-night games abroad, and now they have to do it with a pink ball.Many teams, especially batsmen, have had problems with the pink ball at twilight and Cremer’s early assessment is that Zimbabwe will experience the same. “We’ve had two sessions under lights with the pink ball. It was good to see how it reacts,” he said. “At that twilight time, a little bit more seems to happen with the ball off the wicket. We’ll be careful of that. It will probably swing.”Zimbabwe are yet to decide on their team combination but will use the upcoming three-day warm-up match, which starts on Wednesday, to decide on the best combination. “We’re very inexperienced at this,” Cremer said. “The warm-up game will give us a good idea of how to go forward in the Test match.”They will also use it to see how they fare against a returning Dale Steyn, who is expected to make his Test comeback this summer. Steyn has not played for South Africa since last November, when he broke a bone in his shoulder in Perth, but has been named in the Test squad and his final availability will be confirmed on the basis of how he comes through the practice match. Rather than fear what is effectively an audition for Steyn, Cremer said Zimbabwe’s line-up was looking forward to it.”It is very exciting,” Cremer said. “Dale brings a lot to cricket in general. He is a good guy and he is one of the better bowlers going around. It will be good to have him back, not only just for this Test match but going forward in his career. He is great to watch and we are excited to see him in the three-day game and hopefully in the Test.”

Samiullah Shenwari is back after being rested for the ODIs against Ireland, while Hamid Hassan, who last played international cricket in July 2016, makes a comeback to the T20I squad

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jan-2018Mohammad Shahzad is back in Afghanistan’s ODI and T20I squads for their series against Zimbabwe in the UAE in February. The wicketkeeper-batsman’s retrospective one-year doping ban ends on January 17.The allrounder Samiullah Shenwari is also back in both squads, having been rested during Afghanistan’s ODI series against Ireland in December. Among the fast bowlers, Hamid Hassan, who last played an international match in July 2016, has made a comeback to the T20I squad, while Dawlat Zadran is part of the ODI squad but has missed out on T20I selection.The series against Zimbabwe will be the newly appointed head coach Phil Simmons’ first in charge of Afghanistan.ODI squad: Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Javed Ahmadi, Ihsanullah Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shenwari, Nasir Jamal, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Zadran, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran. Reserves: Noor Ali Zadran, Karim Janat, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Afsar Zazai.T20I squad: Asghar Stanikzai (capt), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Usman Ghani, Karim Sadiq, Najibullah Zadran, Shafiqullah, Samiullah Shenwari, Aftab Alam, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Zadran, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran.

Azhar Ali, who had replaced Shehzad in the ODI squad, did not find a place in the T20 squad

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Jan-2018Opener Ahmed Shehzad, who had been dropped for the ODI leg of the New Zealand tour, has returned to Pakistan’s squad for the three-match T20 series. Azhar Ali, who had replaced Shehzad in the ODI squad, did not find a place in the T20 squad. The only other change from the ODI squad was the inclusion of batsman Umar Amin in place of Imam-ul-Haq.Shehzad’s recent form bodes well for Pakistan: he has scored 403 runs in seven innings in the ongoing Departmental One Day Cup at an average of 67.16 and strike rate of 100.24.With allrounder Imad Wasim yet to recover from the knee injury that had sidelined him from the ODI series, Mohammad Nawaz retained his place in the squad.”Imad Wasim was yet to recover from his knee injury, and was told to continue his rehabilitation at the NCA,” Inzamam ul Haq, the chief selector, said.Pakistan are presently two games into a five-match ODI series, with New Zealand prevailing in both contests via the DLS method. The first of the three T20s will be played on January 22 at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington, three days after the fifth ODI.Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (capt &wk), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shehzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Aamer Yamin, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Rumman Raees, Umar Amin

All three ODIs will take place in Dambulla and will count for the ICC Women’s Championship. The T20 series will shift the action to Colombo for the three matches

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Feb-2018The Sri Lanka women’s team will host their Pakistan counterparts in three ODIs and three T20Is from March 20 to 31, Sri Lanka Cricket has announced.The tour will be Sri Lanka’s first bilateral series since their drubbing in the West Indies last October when they were whitewashed across three ODIs and T20Is. It will also be their first match against Pakistan since the World Cup in England last year.That match saw Sri Lanka come out on top in a 15-run thrilling win to give them their only win of the tournament, a result that also saw Pakistan condemned to a 14th straight defeat in World Cups.Pakistan will be keen to reverse that performance and as such the upcoming series is likely to be a close-fought affair. For Sri Lanka, meanwhile, it will be a chance for the women’s team to get back to winning in the midst of renewed focus on the women’s game by SLC.All three ODIs will take place in Dambulla on March 20, 22, and 24, and will count for the ICC Women’s Championship. The T20 series will shift the action to Colombo with the first match taking place at the SSC on the 28th, the second at the NCC on 30th, and the final game back at the SSC on the 31st.All eight teams have played three ODIs each in the 2017-21 cycle of the Women’s Championship. Sri Lanka are placed at the bottom – the only team without a win yet – while Pakistan are sixth with one win to their name.

West Indies needed five to win from the last over with six wickets in hand but offspinner Anna Peterson took two wickets and added a run-out on the penultimate ball to seal the win

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Mar-2018Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Just the way they had welcomed West Indies on their shores – with a one-run win in the first ODI – New Zealand sealed the T20 series in similar fashion in New Plymouth, and kept the visitors away from their first win of the tour. Chasing 135, West Indies needed five to win from the last over with six wickets in hand but offspinner Anna Peterson took two wickets and added a run-out on the penultimate ball to add to West Indies’ woes. When they needed three off the last ball, Merissa Aguilleira failed to connect to a flat delivery and only managed a leg bye.West Indies showed their intent by making captain Stafanie Taylor open along with Hayley Matthews, and they were scoring at more than run a ball before offspinner Leigh Kasperek trapped Taylor lbw for 14. West Indies wobbled further when Kasperek struck again in her next over and 17-year-old Amelia Kerr – the fifth bowler to bowl by the seventh over – had Matthews caught for 14. Deandra Dottin’s boundaries and Aguilleira’s patience put the chase back on track by taking them past 70 in the 12th over but Kasperek had Dottin also stumped, in the same over.Even as Suzie Bates kept rotating her bowlers, Aguilleira and Kycia Knight scored briskly for the fifth-wicket stand and brought the equation down from 60 off 48 balls to 12 from 12. They collected seven from the penultimate over but Peterson conceded only three in the last over and stole the win. Kasperek finished with 3 for 31 and Peterson ended with 2 for 25.Earlier, West Indies opted to bowl but saw openers Sophie Devine and Bates race past the 50 mark in the sixth over, after Devine collected 18 runs off Shamilia Connell in the third over. Devine was soon bowled for an 18-ball 41 by Matthews and West Indies pulled things back from there.Even though Bates moved along to score her 16th T20I half-century, she didn’t find much support with only two other batsmen – Maddy Green and Amy Satterthwaite – reaching double-figures. Matthews collected two more wickets for her 3 for 24, Dottin took 2 for 23 while Taylor ended with a miserly 4-0-19-0 to restrict New Zealand to 134 for 7. They lost four wickets in the last 16 balls but Bates struck a four on the last ball of the innings to remain unbeaten on 52, which eventually turned out to be useful runs.The remaining two T20s will be played on Thursday and Sunday.

Being the “sole nominee” put forth by the board, there was no need for a subsequent election process

Nagraj Gollapudi15-May-2018Shashank Manohar will continue as the ICC chairman until 2020 after he was elected unopposed for a second two-year term. In a media release, the ICC stated that Manohar was the “sole nominee” put forth by the board. As a result, there was no need for an election process, which originally would have been scheduled during the annual conference in June.In 2016, Manohar had vacated his position as BCCI president to be elected unanimously as the ICC’s inaugural independent chairman. Six months in, Manohar said he would step down for personal reasons, but was persuaded by several ICC board members to stay on in the job. Manohar subsequently said he would leave by the end of the first year, halfway into his term. After the same group asked Manohar to reconsider his decision again, he opted to carry on till June this year.During Manohar’s tenure, the ICC has taken significant strides in overhauling its structure and constitution by becoming a more democratic body. Despite stiff resistance, Manohar managed to persuade bigger boards like the BCCI to adopt the new ICC governance structure as well as a new finance distribution model, which would ensure revenue from commercial deals would be shared evenly by both the major and minor members.Manohar also pushed for reforms in the ICC’s constitution including having an independent woman director. Pepsico chairperson Indra Nooyi was appointed as the ICC’s first independent woman director earlier this year, and will assume the role formally when she attends the ICC annual conference in Dublin.On being re-elected, Manohar said he was happy to continue having “fulfilled” the promise he had made when he took over the job two years ago, and was looking forward to the road ahead. “Over the next two years, we can look forward to launching a global strategy for the sport in partnership with our Members so we can grow the game and ensure more of the world can enjoy cricket,” Manohar said. “The sport is in good health but we are the guardians of the game and we must continue to work hard to maintain that.”

Paul is uncapped at Test level but has an impressive first-class average of 17.35 across 14 appearances

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jun-2018West Indies have called up 20-year-old seam bowler Keemo Paul into the Test squad, to replace batsman Shimron Hetmyer, who leaves it due to illness.Paul has played four ODIs and four T20s, but is uncapped in Tests. He does, however, have an impressive first-class average of 17.35, across 14 appearances. Although West Indies are unlikely to upset their new-ball combination of Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel, Paul could potentially play in the third Test in Barbados ahead of Miguel Cummins, who went wicketless in the second Test.Cricket West Indies died not specify Hetmyer’s illness, but the board hoped he would be fit for West Indies’ next assignment: Bangladesh’s tour of the Caribbean in July. “Hetmyer will return home to Guyana to recover from a recent illness,” the board release said. “While there, he will continue his preparations to return for the two-day practice match against Bangladesh in Antigua.”Paul perhaps makes it into the team on the strength of his ODI performances for West Indies in the World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe, as well as his T20 figures against Pakistan. His most-recent international match was West Indies’ hurricane fundraiser against the World XI, at Lord’s, on May 31.

Two years ago, Pakistan were able to shield Mohammad Amir on his Test return. Now he is very much at the forefront of their hopes

Osman Samiuddin at Lord's22-May-20181:03

‘I’m a human being, not a machine’ – Amir

Is this the series? Is this the moment, the moment that everyone who remembers the summer of 2010 pre-August 29 has been pining for? The moment finally when Mohammad Amir impacts decisively upon the fate of a Test series?The first news to report is that he is fit. There is no limp and no drag on that right knee. Two days out from his second Test at Lord’s since his return to cricket, Amir bowled in the nets at full pelt, nothing held back: “He’s perfect, 100%, he’s fine, he’s ready to go,” Mickey Arthur said.Yet Arthur’s certainty doesn’t ride entirely comfortably with this strange, uncertain and potentially pivotal moment in Amir’s career. When he first returned to Tests in 2016, also at Lord’s, Pakistan were settled enough as a side – and they handled his return smartly enough – for Amir not to be the main focus of that team.Two years on there is no escaping the fact that he is. Partly it is because he has been a more public presence; Pakistan have relaxed in letting him speak to media. Everyone has moved on.But it is also because he is the head of this attack and by some distance the most experienced. If Rahat Ali plays at Lord’s, the rest of Pakistan’s attack combined has played one Test less than Amir. If Hasan Ali plays, then Amir has played nearly three times as many as the rest combined.All of which is a little disorienting given that Amir has only played 31 Tests. It is a career that can simultaneously feel twice as long as that, as well as one that is still waiting to explode into life, as well as one that could not go on for much longer.He picked up his 100th Test wicket in Malahide last week though more importantly, his spells in the second innings were probably the most incisive he has bowled in a Test since his return.The 16 drops in 17 Tests have taken some of the sheen off not just his numbers, but also spells that may well have turned out different had the opportunity been taken. If, for example, some of those chances had been taken early in his return on the 2016 England tour, how different might the narrative look now?There was something about him in that second innings at Malahide though, something that seemed to be a response to the drops, to those many good but wicketless spells, to those flat no-swing spells. You could even look at it as a response to himself, to the question of how long he is for Test cricket.He played through a troublesome knee, he didn’t allow drops to define his day, he was unafraid to bowl those fuller lengths he has often seemed too ready to pull back from and, not by magic, he swung the ball. Test cricket for Amir looked less a forlorn a pursuit in Malahide than it had for a long time.Perhaps those wickets will finally break the dam. Naturally Arthur and Pakistan hope it. Do they believe it?”I think Mohammad Amir is the finest exponent of pace and swing when he gets it 100% right,” Arthur said, and the qualifier to that assessment is the important bit.They’ve been reinforcing the question of what constitutes 100% right by reminding him of how Trent Boult bowled in Auckland, when England were dismissed for 58.”We believe [Amir] bowls incredibly well at left-handers and there will be three left-handers [Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan] in the England top four,” Arthur said.”He’s ready, I just hope it goes really well for him because he’s been unlucky at times with the amount of dropped catches. He’s ready, he’s determined, he’s fit, he’s strong, he’s excited, he’s in a very good place at the moment so I just hope it goes really well for him.”

New Zealand booked their place in Sunday’s tri-series final, and brought England along with them in the process

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-20181:12

I’m just trying to keep up with Suzie Bates – Devine

New Zealand 151 for 2 (Devine 68*, Bates 62) beat South Africa 148 for 6 (Tryon 35) by eight wickets

ScorecardNew Zealand booked their place in Sunday’s tri-series final, and brought England along with them in the process, as they eased to an eight-wicket victory over a lacklustre South Africa in the first of their T20 double-headers at Bristol.It was a must-win encounter for South Africa, who had always been up against it after a pair of record-breaking beatings in the opening round of tri-series fixtures in Taunton. And despite winning the toss and batting first, they struggled to make headway in a stodgy innings of 148 for 6, enlivened only in the latter stages by a breezy 15-ball 35 from Chloe Tryon.It was no sort of score to challenge New Zealand’s hard-hitting top-order, and Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine make sure there would be no recourse in an opening stand of 130 in 13.2 overs.Bates brought up her fifty from 39 balls and Devine from 31, and neither really needed to extend themselves in the process. There were a pair of late consolation wickets as Bates snicked a drive through to Lizelle Lee behind the stumps for 62 before Katey Martin was bowled by Zintle Mali for 10. But two more fours in as many balls from Devine, including a lofted flog over the covers, sealed the contest with 4.4 overs to spare.In the absence of Shabnim Ismail, who withdrew with injury before the toss, South Africa’s bowlers were lacking in its usual depth. With the bat, they had started with cautious intent, adding 40 for the first wicket before Lizelle Lee fell on the pull to square leg, whereupon Sune Luus was run out at the non-striker’s end without addition.Amelia Kerr, the talk of the women’s game after her record-smashing exploits in Ireland, added two wickets in two overs to account for South Africa’s middle order. And though Tryon tried her best, the result was hardly in doubt.

“Started in Johannesburg finished in Birmingham,” his retirement post read on Instagram

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2018Allrounder Grant Elliott, who starred in New Zealand’s historic win in the 2015 World Cup semi-final, has quit all forms of cricket after finishing his stint as the captain of Birmingham Bears in the Vitality Blast in England. After finishing sixth in the North Group in the T20 tournament and not being able to qualify for the quarter-finals, Elliott announced his retirement on his Instagram account on Tuesday evening.”Started in Johannesburg finished in Birmingham,” his post read. “I remember being 12 and writing down my life goals. To play in a World Cup, play international cricket and play county cricket. 27 years on and I have loved every minute of it. Thanks to all the memorable people I have met that have made this journey special. To family and friends who have given me unwavering support despite all the sacrifices I have had to make that have impacted them.”This game is a special one but it doesn’t define us. Looking forward to the future with great excitement and sharing a drink with those selfless players I shared a change room with.”Elliott’s form this year in the Blast was highlighted by his bowling performance, being the leading wicket-taker of his team with 19 scalps from 14 innings with an average of 19.57 and economy rate of 7.91. With the bat, he managed only 80 runs in 10 innings.Elliott, 39, had signed with the Bears last year when he retired from international cricket and signed a Kolpak deal to play in the T20 tournament only. He had earlier retired from ODIs in 2016, two days after New Zealand were knocked out of the World T20 by England in the semi-final.He continued as a T20 specialist to represent Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League, Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh Premier League, Wellington in New Zealand’s domestic T20s (Super Smash), and was part of the World XI squad that toured Pakistan almost a year ago for three T20 internationals.Born in Johannesburg, Elliott began his first-class career more than 20 years ago, in South Africa in 1996-97. He then moved to New Zealand in 2001 in search of new challenges and made his international debut for New Zealand in 2008. He played five Tests, 83 ODIs and 17 T20Is. His six off Dale Steyn in the dying moments of the rain-curtailed 2015 World Cup semi-final will probably be the highlight of his career. He top-scored with 83 in the final too, against Australia, but New Zealand finished runners-up.