Stokes picked up a back problem during the one-day series, which was his return to international cricket, and was unable to bowl in the first Test at Eden Park

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-2018Ben Stokes has been “frustrated” by his back injury in New Zealand but has also been heartened by the pace he has been able to achieve off a shortened run-up.Stokes picked up a back problem during the one-day series, which was his return to international cricket after missing the Ashes and one-day series in Australia, and was unable to bowl in the first Test at Eden Park. In Christchurch he sent down six overs in New Zealand’s first innings and is hopeful he will be back towards full tilt in a couple of weeks.”It’s been frustrating. I had a few injections into an injury I had when I was a kid,” Stokes told . “At the same time it’s getting slowly better. It’s a patience game, a day-to-day thing. Hopefully in a week or two times it will be good to go.”Stokes has been working with Chris Silverwood, England’s bowling coach, on trying and get his delivery stride into a straighter line to ease the pressure on his back.”I’m working alignment…it’s more a long-term plan,” he said. “I think if I can cancel out my dip-in, which obviously loads my lower back where I’ve had the pain recently, that will do me good in the future”When I was looking at my paces off that [short run-up] I was bowling as fast as I normally do. I don’t think I’ll resort to that short of a run-up but it proves to me that I don’t need to over-try. Sometimes I’ve been guilty of that.”Stokes most significant performance so far in the two Tests was his second-innings 66 in Auckland which gave England hope of saving the game before he fell to ill-judged hack at Neil Wagner in the over before dinner. Stokes batted at No. 5 in that match, a position coach Trevor Bayliss sees as a long-term option, though he was back to No. 6 in Christchurch.”I won’t look back on the dismissal with too much pleasure but I had time at the crease which was a pleasing thing,” he said. “Going forward it’s a template I can use, I have the game to push games on but also the patience to survive.”Stokes will head to the IPL at the conclusion of the New Zealand tour to join Rajasthan Royals before returning to England ahead of the Test series against Pakistan which starts on May 24.

The former Australia spinner has criticised the board’s decision to expand the Big Bash League next summer

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2018Former Australia spinner Shane Warne has criticised Cricket Australia, saying that “greed” is the main reason behind the board’s decision to expand the Big Bash League next summer.An extended BBL – with an increase in fixtures from 35 to 43 – is set to stretch into mid-February next year, with games played at four new venues. It has been reported that an expanded BBL, with more focus on the finals, would offer more value to broadcasters. Earlier this month, Channel Seven and Fox Sports clinched the broadcast rights to Australian cricket for the next six years, in a deal worth AUD 1.2 billion with CA.Warne took to Twitter on Saturday to express his displeasure, saying expanding the BBL would “dilute a wonderful product”.”Australian Cricket should be an equal partnership between the players & the board, then everyone would be on the same page, sure they won’t always agree – but if both parties attitude is what’s best for Australian Cricket & not themselves, then Cricket & the fans would b happy,” he tweeted.
The Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), which was involved in a protracted pay dispute with the CA over last season, had also voiced concerns against the expanded season, saying such changes needed to find the right balance to keep all stakeholders happy.CA CEO James Sutherland meanwhile had told ESPNcricinfo that more fixtures had been added not with the intention of expanding the tournament, but to find the “right balance” and build up to the tournament’s climax properly.

India A fired a warning to England Lions and West Indies A ahead of the forthcoming tri-Series with an emphatic victory over an ECB XI

ECB Reporters Network17-Jun-20182:25

‘Important to play close to the body in England’ – Shaw

ScorecardIndia A fired a warning to England Lions and West Indies A ahead of the forthcoming tri-Series with an emphatic victory over an ECB XI in the first game of their tour at Headingley.India A, coached by Rahul Dravid, had been due to play Yorkshire, but the ECB put together alternative opposition from county cricket because of Yorkshire’s progress in the Royal London One-Day Cup.India A fielded a team including three players with senior international experience and plenty of others who have made an impact in the IPL, and they quickly adapted to English conditions to post a total of 328 for 8 – then dismissed the ECB XI for 203.Prithvi Shaw, who captained India to victory in the ICC Under-19s World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year, set the tone with a sparkling innings of 70 from 61 balls including seven fours and three sixes.Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, the tour captain who has made 12 white-ball international appearances, added half centuries at quicker than a run a ball, although the ECB XI did slow the run rate for periods with the Gloucestershire allrounder Ryan Higgins the pick of the attack, earning 4 for 50 from his 10 overs.Higgins had Shaw caught behind edging a drive to Alex Davies, the Lancashire wicketkeeper who was captaining the Board XI, and later in the same over bowled Hanuma Vihari off an inside edge.Sussex allrounder Delray Rawlins picked up the wicket of Vijay Shankar, chipping to mid-on where Surrey’s Will Jacks took the second of his three catches, having already snapped up Mayank Agarwal at backward point off Tom Barber.Rawlins then took two catches in consecutive balls to give Higgins his third and fourth wickets, following a simple take at long-off to dismiss Kishan with an acrobatic effort at mid-off to send back Iyer.Ollie Robinson and Jamie Overton each picked up a wicket in the closing overs, although the Mumbai Indians all-rounder Krunal Pandya kept up the attack with 34 from 28 balls including two sixes.The Indians were equally impressive with the ball, with their seamers especially relishing the gloomy conditions as the Headingley floodlights were switched on.Deepak Chahar had Davies flicking to mid-wicket, and a promising innings from the Gloucestershire opener George Hankins ended on 27 when he pulled Khaleel Ahmed to mid-on.Jacks hit two sixes before falling lbw to Axar Patel, a left-arm spinner who has played 38 ODIs for India, and the Derbyshire left-hander Ben Slater played some of the day’s best shots in making 37 from 38 balls before he edged Shankar behind.That turned out to be the second top score of the innings, behind Slater’s county team-mate Matt Critchley, who was ninth out for 40.Rawlins swept two boundaries off Patel but was bowled going for a third, Harry Finch was bowled by a beauty from Prasidh Krishna, and Higgins was run out after a mix-up with Critchley.Chahar, a 25-year-old seamer who was an IPL regular for Chennai Super Kings, polished off the last two wickets to end with 3 for 48.

Bell finished unbeaten on 145 as Warwickshire chased down 300 in a match featuring four individual centuries

ECB Reporters Network01-Jun-2018Warwickshire 300 for 5 (Bell 145*, Trott 100) beat Durham 299 for 8 (Smith 119, Richardson 111, Patel 3-51) by five wickets
ScorecardIan Bell scored a brilliant unbeaten century to guide Warwickshire to a five-wicket win over Durham in their Royal London One-Day Cup match at Emirates Riverside.Bell was outstanding with fellow former England man Jonathan Trott, who also scored a hundred, as the two players shared a stand of 202 to grind down Durham’s total before Bell saw his side through to the victory. Will Smith and Michael Richardson both scored centuries for the home side, but their efforts were in vain as the Bears edged the contest.The visitors won the toss and elected to field. Olly Stone and Keith Barker struck early to remove Paul Collingwood and Graham Clark, while Tom Latham also fell cheaply for 13.Smith joined Richardson with the score at 54 for 3. Richardson found his rhythm, although before his first milestone of the day he was dropped by Sam Hain on 47.Richardson made his half-century off 49 balls, maintaining his solid form in the 50-over game. Smith too relaxed into his innings, and the pair were able to put Warwickshire under pressure. They reached their 100-partnership off 102 balls before Smith brought up his fifty in style with a massive six off Stone.Durham passed 200 with back-to-back boundaries from Richardson, who reached his second List A century. He reached his highest 50-over score of 111 before he was dismissed, ending his partnership of 161 with Smith. Smith upped the ante to reach his hundred off 98 balls, including eight boundaries and a six. He fell in the final over for 119, although the home side were still able to post 299 from their 50 overs.Warwickshire were put on the back foot in their reply as Ed Pollock and Sam Hain were dismissed within the opening three overs. However, Trott and Bell proved their quality to stabilise the innings.Trott played with a fine tempo to his innings and was the first of the experienced pair to reach his half-century off 68 balls, and soon brought up the 100-partnership with Bell from 125 deliveries. Bell took slightly longer than his partner to score his fifty, getting over the mark in 74 deliveries, scoring five boundaries as the visitors continued to grind down the total.The experience of both former England players took the game away from Durham. The two veterans displayed nous to knock the ball around the park and dispatch the ball to the boundary when necessary to keep the required rate down. They continued the imperious nature of their batting, working the ball around the ground, reaching the 200 partnership off 207 deliveries.Trott was the first to three figures, calmly stroking the ball down the ground to reach his 22nd List A century, although he fell drilling a Collingwood delivery straight to Richardson. Bell remained focused and brought up his hundred from 108 balls.The wickets of Adam Hose and Tim Ambrose did not deter Bell as finished his flawless innings with a flurry of late boundaries to secure the vital victory.

From dropped catches to blinders, from 2 for 2 to completing a record chase; Pakistan were at their most mercurial, but they had a match-winner with an appetite for the big occasion

Liam Brickhill08-Jul-2018″Muscled” is a term that might be applied quite liberally to Australia’s approach to T20 batting. They huff and puff and heave and swing at the ball as if they mean to rip the leather clean off it. Slightly built and a shade under six feet tall, Fakhar Zaman doesn’t have the hardware to follow the same method. Pakistan’s free-wheeling opener’s game instead marries hand and eye and has made him the leading run-scorer in T20I cricket this year, with 516 runs in 13 innings capped by a career-best 91 when it really mattered against Australia in the tri-series final.”I think nowadays he’s in the best form of his life,” reckoned Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed. “The way he’s batted throughout the series has been good for us and good for his career. If he keeps playing like this, he’s only going up and up.”It’s not just how Fakhar’s been scoring his runs, but also when. His century in the Champions Trophy final last year is an obvious case in point for big match temperament, and his innings in the tri-series final will only enhance that reputation.”Yes, he’s definitely [a big-match player],” said Sarfraz. “He performs in big games, consistently. Like the Champions Trophy, in the final, he got that hundred. In New Zealand, he scored a fifty and then a 40-odd (in successive T20Is, to help Pakistan come from 1-0 down to win the three-match series). He’s a big-game player and he’s getting better day by day.”His innings against Australia was all the more remarkable considering the early strife Pakistan were in. Flummoxed by Glenn Maxwell in the first over, they were 2 for 2 needing almost 10 an over pretty much as soon as their innings began. That’s a position most other teams would be unable to rise from, but an hour later Pakistan’s fans at the ground (and a few hundred turned up to support them) were singing “” and “” as their team improbably, inexplicably romped home. Pakistan can drop Aaron Finch first ball, concede 10 an over for the first 10 overs and then surge back into the game with eight wickets in the next 10. They can be 2 for 2, and then complete a record run chase with five balls to spare. It’s become an obvious cliche, but Pakistan remain an absorbingly mercurial team.”We know they’re an emotional team, and they’re a highly skilled team,” Australia captain Finch said. “When they’re on, they’re incredibly good. We let them back into the game with bat and ball today. We had a chance to get up around that 200 mark and almost put the game to bed after that start with the ball. To chase 10 or 11 an over for 18 or 19 overs is incredibly hard. So if we’d had a few more runs, if we’d squeezed a little more with the ball early on and made them take risks. They didn’t have to take too many risks to get boundaries early on.”Fakhar’s batting wasn’t entirely risk free, but his aggressive strokes came in a calculated manner. In that regard, he’s not entirely dissimilar to his current batting coach Grant Flower, who came close to mastering the delicate risk/reward balance with his own batting, particularly towards the end of his career. Flower and Fakhar have certainly spent enough time together in the nets. Flower has been Pakistan’s batting coach for four years now, which is enough time for the famously committed former Zimbabwe batsman to have sent down tens of thousands of throwdowns.”He works really hard with the boys,” Sarfraz said of Flower. “He’s worked very hard for the last four years. He’s always in the nets.” Whatever he’s doing, it’s working for Fakhar, who has also looked to learn from the old heads around him in the playing XI.”In the start in T20 cricket I was hitting every ball in my striking zone, and after playing eight to 10 games I sat with some senior players like Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed, and spoke about my gameplans with them,” Fakhar had said after Pakistan’s previous match. “I realised that I could play proper cricket shots and be successful, and that’s what I’ve been doing recently.”Fakhar has certainly made an impression on the Australians. Finch called him “a thorn in our side” earlier this week, today adding: “We’ve all seen the form that Fakhar has been in. We saw with Shoaib Malik there, towards the end, if you have a batter who’s in, they can control the game, they control the strike.”Capped by Fakhar’s career-best 91 and Malik’s masterclass, Pakistan had veered between ordinary to extraordinary all morning. Shadab Khan dropped a sitter at point and then pulled off a one-handed blinder at mid-off. Hasan Ali’s massive, ballooning no-ball didn’t even bounce before it landed in Sarfraz’ gloves, leaving Pakistan’s captain – finally – lost for words. Two balls later, Hasan shattered Ashton Agar’s stumps, brilliance and farce bookending the over.Whether it’s letting the opposition sprint to 95 for 0, or slipping to 2 for 2 at the start of a record chase, Pakistan are the sort of team who get themselves into these situations. But they’re also the sort of team that can get themselves out of them. “You can’t take anything for granted against the number one team in the world,” said Finch. “Or any international team.” But especially if that team is Pakistan.

While Tanvir’s 20-ball 37* secured victory for the visitors, it was Imran Tahir’s four-wicket haul in the first innings that restricted Patriots to 168 for 7

The Report by Peter Della Penna29-Aug-2018Sohail Tanvir slams one away•CPL via Getty Images

The logjam at the top of the CPL has grown from two to three sides as Guyana Amazon Warriors snuck a four-wicket win at the wire over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots to join Trinbago Knight Riders and Jamaica Tallawahs on eight points in a tie for first place. It was a result of an unbeaten cameo from Sohail Tanvir, who struck two fours and three sixes in his 20-ball 37, and a haul of 4 for 22 from Imran Tahir that vaulted him from ninth to a tie for second on the CPL 2018 wickets chart with 11 scalps in six matches, and helped restrict the Patriots to a manageable total.Y2KChris Gayle and Evin Lewis fired the Patriots to a blistering Powerplay, ending on 62 for no loss. Gayle came into the match already a few hundred runs clear of Andre Fletcher as the leading scorer in CPL history, and on Tuesday night in St Kitts, he also become the first batsman in the six-year history of the league to cross 2000 runs.Gayle did it in the fifth over against Tanvir. Entering the match, the Jamaican had never hit Tanvir for six in a CPL match since the fast bowler arrived in the tournament in season two. But Gayle made up for it, cracking Tanvir for 6, 4, 6, 4, 4 across the last five balls of the over. The middle delivery sailed straight over Tanvir’s head, over the Warner Park roof and took Gayle past 2000. It took Keemo Paul’s arrival in the eighth over to finally dislodge Gayle, who smashed a cut straight to backward point for 40 off 27 balls.Tahir the runaway trainOnce Paul struck, Tahir was unleashed in the ninth over and within four balls he struck for the first of his four wickets. The first blow was fairly innocuous, Lewis slashing at a wide delivery to send a catch to short third man, but Tahir was off and running halfway to the boundary in his customary celebration.Brandon King, who outlasted Mohammad Irfan’s near-flawless opening spell to strike his maiden CPL fifty on Saturday, could not survive Tahir’s first ball after drinks as he played around a skiddy straight ball that knocked back the leg stump. Devon Thomas was then pinned lbw by a googly from Tahir in the 13th over. His final over was saved for the 17th, where he nabbed Mahmudullah with a miscued drive to extra cover. From 71 for 0, Patriots had slipped to 124 for 6 by the time Tahir’s work for the night was done.Emrit misses a trickAmazon Warriors kept Patriots in the match thanks in part to some curious strategic moves by Rayad Emrit, who took over as captain on Tuesday night after Shoaib Malik went back to Pakistan to begin preparations for the Asia Cup. Paul had bowled superbly in the eighth and 10th overs, tying down Patriots after the wicket of Gayle for figures of 1 for 7 in two overs but was mystifyingly absent from the attack for the rest of the innings.Despite Paul’s experience as a death bowler, Emrit then chose to bowl the last over himself with figures of 3-0-32-0 and conceded 24 more runs. The sloppy over included two sixes by Ben Cutting followed by five wides sprayed well down the leg side and another thigh-high full toss that was lucky not to be hit by Cutting for a third six. Carlos Brathwaite muscled Emrit down the ground off the final ball for a four to take the Patriots to 168 for 7.Hanging ChadLast year’s leading scorer and Player of the Tournament continued to struggle at CPL 2018. Chadwick Walton scratched his way to 8 off 17 balls and was trapped lbw by a Sheldon Cottrell slower ball in the fifth over. Walton had 458 runs in 2017, but has just 75 in six innings so far this tournament.Wide berthThe best contribution from the top five of the Amazon Warriors batting order was Jason Mohammed’s 36 off 25 and their best partnership was just 46, summing up a night of fits and starts. But they were aided immensely by some poor Patriots fielding and a total of 15 wides, the joint-most bowled by any team in a match this season.Cutting took a pair of spectacular catches on the long-on boundary, the second of which resulted in the wicket of Roshon Primus off Brathwaite towards the end of the 18th over to make it 149 for 6, but they were lost in the shuffle of the sloppy misses that followed. Tanvir should have been out the very next ball for 20 when he skewed a low full toss high over cover, but Anton Devcich overran the chance haring back from the 30-yard ring only to see the ball land in between the painted markers as Tanvir took a single to keep the strike.Needing 19 from the last two overs, Tanvir clubbed the first ball of Cottrell’s next over flat over square leg for six, and then heaved a slower ball over midwicket for six more for a total of 16 from the over. With only three needed off the final over, Patriots then blew three clear-cut run-out chances on three singles as the Warriors made it home with a ball to spare.

His decision came two matches into a loan deal with Derbyshire after his opportunities at Hampshire dried up and he led the team off at the end of their game with Kent

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2018Sean Ervine, the former Zimbabwe allrounder, has announced his retirement from professional cricket with immediate effect.His decision came two matches into a loan deal with Derbyshire after his opportunities at Hampshire dried up and he led the team off at the end of their game with Kent.”Yesterday I made the biggest decision of my life,” Ervine said. “After 14 years playing county cricket I have decided to hang up my number 7 shirt. I’d like to say a huge thank you to Rod [Bransgrove] & Hampshire for giving me the opportunity to advance my career, after having to retire from international cricket with Zimbabwe prematurely.”I’ve been lucky to play alongside some wonderful people along the way and made some fantastic friends. To the fans who have supported me all these years, I salute you. I’m extremely proud of what I’ve achieved, and I feel honoured that I got to achieve it at Hampshire.”I’ve always put the team first above everything else, and done it wholeheartedly. I’d finally like to thank my family for their phenomenal sacrifices and support over the years, of which my dream couldn’t be possible.”Ervine, 35, finished his international career in 2004 after five Tests and 42 ODIs amid the mass of players leaving Zimbabwe cricket and forged a highly successful career with Hampshire. He finishes with 11,390 first-class runs alongside 280 wickets, 5716 runs and 206 List A wickets and over 3000 T20 runs alongside 68 wickets.Hampshire’s director of cricket, Giles White, said: “Sean has been an outstanding player for the club over many years and will be greatly missed, not only on the pitch but also in the dressing room. He made an immediate impact upon arrival at Hampshire and has gone on to play an important role in one of the most successful periods in the club’s history, with seven major trophies won across all formats.”Billy Godleman, the Derbyshire captain, said: “Sean shared with the group today that he’s had a long hard think about his career and he’s decided to retire as of today from the game.”Although he’s only been with us for a couple of games, we’ve all played against him for many years and he’s been a fantastic performer and most importantly a really good solid cricket man and he’s one of the good guys in professional cricket.”When Ervine joined Derbyshire he said he was looking for an opportunity having not played in the Hampshire first team since June. “The aim now is to be as competitive as possible in the final run of games and see where that can take us.”However, in two Championship matches he made 2, 1, 26 and 22

Netravalkar made his captaincy debut in USA’s last match against Belize and has been assigned the role until the tour of Oman for the Division Three Championship in November

Peter Della Penna03-Oct-2018Ibrahim Khaleel, who captained USA to victory over Canada in the 2017 Auty Cup to end a 26-year drought and more recently led USA to the tournament title at the ICC World T20 Subregional Americas Qualifier in North Carolina last week, has been dropped from USA’s 16-man squad for the Cricket West Indies Super50.Former India Under-19 medium pacer Saurabh Netravalkar, who made his captaincy debut in USA’s final match in North Carolina against Belize as a stand-in for the rested Khaleel, has been chosen to take over full-time for the Super50 and USA’s tour to Oman for WCL Division Three in November.

USA squad

Saurabh Netravalkar (capt), Alex Amsterdam, Usman Ashraf, Elmore Hutchinson, Nosthush Kenjige, Jannisar Khan, Jaskaran Malhotra, Monank Patel, Timil Patel, Kyle Phillip, Srini Salver, Roy Silva, Jessy Singh, Sunny Sohal, Steven Taylor, David Wakefield

Khaleel, who turns 36 next week, is one of a handful of USA players who had T20 franchise contracts in the Caribbean Premier League this summer as well as in the Global T20 Canada, but has paid the price for scoring five runs in two innings in North Carolina. He was USA’s third highest scorer with 142 runs on tour and a best of 61 in the CWI Super50 played in February in Barbados, USA’s most recent 50-over tour.But Khaleel’s overall 50-over batting record for USA was modest, with 392 runs in 21 matches at an average of 19.60. He was arguably USA’s best pure gloveman of the past decade, though it wasn’t enough of a benefit in the eyes of USA’s selection panel to justify maintaining his spot. His departure means Jaskaran Malhotra will take over the gloves in the immediate future for USA. Malhotra was USA’s leading scorer this past January at the Super50 with 277 runs. He was named Best Batsman at the Subregional Americas Qualifier after scoring his maiden century for USA against Belize and kept wicket in the match that Netravalkar filled in for Khaleel as captain.”There were some incredibly tough decisions to be made following the tournament in Raleigh, of which the decision regarding Ibrahim was one of them,” said USA selection chairman Ricardo Powell in a press release. “On behalf of the selection committee, I would like to express a sincere and heartful [sic] thanks to Ibrahim for his leadership over the past thirteen months.”Netravalkar, 26, did not have a sharp tournament in North Carolina either, with just two wickets in six matches at an average of 45.50 against weak competition. However, he was USA’s joint-leading wicket taker in February at the last Super50 with 13 wickets in eight games on his USA tournament debut and has been given the captaincy nod ahead of others in a side where few other senior players have managed to make convincing cases for holding down a long-term spot in the team.Fast bowler Ali Khan is the only other player from the T20 squad picked for North Carolina who will be absent from the Super50 tour of Barbados after Khan was drafted by Kabul in the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League which starts this weekend in the UAE. However, Khan is expected to be a member of USA’s WCL Division Three squad in Oman beginning on November 9 where USA will also face Denmark, Kenya, Singapore and Uganda needing a top-two finish to gain promotion to WCL Division Two.Steven Taylor drives over cover for a boundary to move past 1,000 career one-day runs for USA•Peter Della Penna

On the flip side, Steven Taylor became available for USA’s squad after he was not included in Jamaica’s playing group for the Super50. Taylor played for Jamaica in February’s Super50 and has had a contract with the Jamaica Scorpions franchise since 2017 but has seen limited playing time in both the four-day and 50-over teams. He was recently named Player of the Tournament after helping USA to the Subregional Americas T20 title in North Carolina, including an unbeaten 96 off 54 balls in a two-wicket win over Canada on September 25 in which he clubbed 22 off the final over.The three players added to USA’s squad for the Super50 to push their case for inclusion in USA’s final 14 that will go to Oman are batsman Alex Amsterdam and medium pacers Jessy Singh and Kyle Phillip. Amsterdam, 27, last played for USA at the previous Division Three tournament in Uganda in May 2017, making 102 runs in four innings with a best of 41.Singh, 25, also has not played since Division Three in Uganda after requiring reconstructive knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus and torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee suffered in the leadup to that tour. Singh played through the injury, taking the clinching wicket against Uganda that saved USA from relegation, before a post-tournament MRI scan revealed the extent of the damage.Phillip, 21, has only recently qualified on residency to play for USA after moving to Florida from Trinidad & Tobago. The towering quick, Phillip stands roughly 6’6″, poses a threat with his sharp height and bounce at 135 kph and was the only other USA player besides Khaleel and Khan to be drafted in this past summer’s Global T20 Canada. He was team-mates with Khan at Winnipeg Hawks and played four matches but is still a very raw prospect and struggles with his accuracy at times.USA’s squad departs Wednesday for Barbados where they will play eight matches in a double round-robin group that includes Barbados, Jamaica, Leeward Islands and Combined Campuses & Colleges. USA’s first match is against CCC on Saturday October 6.

A squad that contains nine players who have played fewer than 20 ODI matches is on the path to find consistency before the World Cup

Varun Shetty in Guwahati20-Oct-20181:31

Chance for new faces to show what they have got – Holder

It’s time for another West Indies series, and that means, once again, it’s time for Jason Holder and the team’s leadership to try and achieve results in the face of forced changes. While opener Evin Lewis’ withdrawal from the limited-overs leg of the India tour for personal reasons isn’t in the same vein as some of the more controversial pulling outs West Indies have seen in recent years, it is a massive setback for a squad that contains nine players who have played fewer than 20 ODIs.

Nobody’s given us a chance. That’s incentive for us – Law

Although the West Indies squad is inexperienced, the head coach Stuart Law insisted that they had more than enough talent to surprise their doubters.
“[This series] is all about opportunity. These kids have been identified throughout T20 tournaments and domestic cricket back home,” he said. “So they’re really green. But sometimes the greener you are, the less fear you have. You don’t know the unknown. I notice in the press that everyone’s given us absolutely no chance to win a game. That’s incentive for us. It’s great for us to also have no expectations from the media and the public. We’re supposed to get our backsides handed to us but it’s great motivation for us to show that we’re not just here to make up the numbers.”

“It’s hard to lose a player who has been around and has some success in the particular format we’re playing in. No doubt, it’s tough,” Holder said. “You obviously set your plans and you formulate your plans around the composition you would have selected. [To have someone pull out at] such a late time is tough.”I’ve got to only cope with what I can, I’ve got to control what I can. I’ve been given a task to marshal the troops that we have here. Know that I’ll be going out on the field trying to give my best with the side. For me, it’s just leading from the front and leading by example with my own personal performances. We’ve set up roles for everyone, so everyone can carry out their roles and make the team’s success a lot easier.”Holder has been on a steep rise over the last 18 months or so, particularly in Tests, where along with a vast improvement in his all-round skills, he has led West Indies to six wins alongside coach Stuart Law. He has emerged with a reputation of being an up-and-coming young leader of a young team, but that is far from the case behind the scenes.”Funnily enough, I’m staring down the barrel of my 27th birthday next month,” Holder said. “I’ve been around for a little, but I’m relatively still young as well. I’m playing the father figure role, trying to mentor and nourish the young talent we have. It’s enjoyable for me. I like things like this. I love challenges. The talent we have in the Caribbean is something that really excites me.””You see young people like Fabian Allen who has come into this team or [Obed] McCoy… he’s done really well for us in domestic cricket, so we’ve got good talent here. This is the future for West Indies cricket. Obviously for anyone coming into international cricket, there’s a bit of nerves and pressure trying to solidify yourself into the side. Hopefully, those guys can put that aside and channel the nervous energy in the right direction.”That direction is next year’s World Cup, for which West Indies qualified with some difficulty earlier this year. And there are spots to be filled. Before pulling out of the tour, Lewis rejected a contract with Cricket West Indies; Chris Gayle, who was part of the team that played in the qualifiers, has been told that he won’t have an automatic place in the World Cup squad, and Andre Russell has been battling his own hamstrings, which are currently incapable of getting him through 50-overs cricket. With that reality, West Indies and their plethora of youngsters have 13 ODI matches between now and the World Cup to emerge as a settled team. And there are specific challenges they are looking to overcome.”Consistency is one of the main things we need to look at,” Holder said. “Particularly in our batting. We haven’t really been able to get consistent scores in excess of 300. A lot of times you’ve got to be able to set your benchmark around 300 or 320. That’s one area that our batters really need to look at. We’ve spoken about it in our dressing room and we need be to hitting that mark more often than not and be consistently doing it.”It’s a big test to play against India in India. This gives us a really good gauge to see where we’re at. This team is fairly competent in terms of one-day cricket. We had a really good time in the World Cup qualifiers, which was a challenge you know, playing in Zimbabwe – turning tracks playing against opponents you know very little about. That was a challenge in itself and we had a Test series against Bangladesh, one we felt we should have done a lot better in but we weren’t able to clinch it with confidence. So, all to play for here. Again, it’s another opportunity for players. No doubt it’ll be very competitive in terms of selection.”

The Surrey batsman will leave the Test party in order for him to get game time with the Lions in the UAE

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2018England will release batsman Ollie Pope from their Test party in Sri Lanka, in order for him to get game time with the Lions, who are embarking on a tour of the UAE to play Pakistan A in all formats.Pope made his Test debut in the summer against India, scoring 54 runs in three innings, but the performance of Ben Foakes on debut in Galle has limited his chances of making further appearances in Sri Lanka. Pope was initially included as the spare middle-order batsman in the squad, but Foakes was called up after an injury to Jonny Bairstow and subsequently scored a century to help set up England’s victory in the first Test.With Bairstow working back to fitness and pushing for a return to the team, and Joe Denly also in the squad, England have a surplus of batting options. The management has therefore decided that Pope would be better served playing than ferrying drinks. He will leave for the UAE on Wednesday, the first day of the second Test in Pallakele.”It is important that Ollie is playing and the selection panel felt that to aid his development the best course of action is for to him to go and play for the Lions in a competitive series against Pakistan A,” Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, said.”Ollie needs some game time before the West Indies Test tour early next year and will get more out of playing competitively for the Lions rather than spending the next three weeks in Sri Lanka on the sidelines. He will get the opportunity of playing up to eight matches across all formats in the UAE.”England Lions play one four-day match in Abu Dhabi, starting on November 18, followed by five unofficial ODIs and two T20s.