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ESPNcricinfo previews the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament in the UAE

Peter Della Penna12-Mar-2012Tuesday marks the first day of what is anticipated to be a grueling 12-day ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament in the UAE where 16 Associate and Affiliate teams will be vying for two open spots at the main event in Sri Lanka this September. Rest assured that whoever does make it through will have definitely earned it.The 16 teams are split into two groups of eight and will play seven round-robin group matches in eight days to start off the event. The top three teams in each group will qualify for the knockout phase. The group winners face off against each other in the first qualifying final with the winner going to Sri Lanka and the loser getting a second crack at clinching a berth once the rest of the knockout phase unfolds.The second and third place teams in each group face the possibility of playing four matches in three days during the knockout phase, meaning they may wind up playing 11 matches over 12 days in 30 degree Celsius conditions during the tournament, in order to claim one of the two available places alongside the ten Full Members at the 2012 ICC World Twenty20.The team that successfully runs the gauntlet in the UAE will have the privilege of facing off against Australia and the West Indies in Sri Lanka. The runner-up at the qualifier gets to take on India, as well as reigning World Twenty20 champion England. Here’s a run-down of what to expect over the course of the 72-game event spread across grounds in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

The favorites

Afghanistan enters the event as the defending champion from the qualifier in 2010 and it would take a solid effort from the other seven teams in Group A to keep them out of the top spot in round-robin play. Allrounder Mohammad Nabi took the most wickets at the Asian Twenty20 Cup in December and Mohammad Shahzad drew plaudits with his twin half-centuries in a three-day match in January playing for the ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate XI against England.Netherlands should be confident of finishing in the top three as well with South Australia batsman Tom Cooper providing a lift. The squad is also bolstered by the addition of New South Welshman Timm van der Gugten, one of the few bright spots for the Dutch side at the Caribbean T20 when he took 5 for 21 against Sussex.Group B frontrunners Ireland have two youngsters leading the way in Paul Stirling and George Dockrell. While Kevin O’Brien has been somewhat quiet in an Ireland shirt since his World Cup ambush of England, Stirling enters the tournament as the star. Two of his last four innings have been a 65 not out in a T20 against Kenya and 110 not out in a South Africa tour match against an Eastern Province Invitation XI. Ireland’s recent strategy in the field shows how much faith they have in the spinner Dockrell, 19, with the captain William Porterfield tossing him the ball to open the bowling and choke runs from the start.Namibia has the best chance of any of the non-ODI nations to finish in the top three in their group. Allrounder Louis van der Westhuizen, 23, has been haunting Kenyan bowlers in particular over the last nine months. He hit 159 not out off 70 balls against them in July, then followed that up in November with 145 off 50 balls, reaching his century in just 35 deliveries. He’s consistently one of Namibia’s leading wicket-takers as well.

The battle for the last playoff spots

Geraint Jones takes guard for Papua New Guinea•Getty Images

The third spot in Group A could wind up being a dogfight between Canada, Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea. Canada will need a big contribution from the new captain Rizwan Cheema, who exploded onto the international scene in October 2008 with quick-fire innings of 89 and 61 in back-to-back ODIs against the West Indies as well as 68 in a T20 versus Sri Lanka, but the big hitter hasn’t found the middle of the bat as much recently, failing to reach 50 in his last 24 innings in ODIs and T20s for Canada.Geraint Jones gets a second life in international cricket with Papua New Guinea after his 34-Test career with England ended in the 2006-07 Ashes. Jones qualifies to play for PNG because he was born there and will provide experience to blend with the scrappy tenacity and never-say-die spirit typically associated with the Barramundis.Hong Kong is the youngest squad in the tournament with an average age of 22.61, which isn’t such a bad thing considering the three youngest squads at the same event in 2010 – Afghanistan, Netherlands and Ireland – all advanced to the Super Fours. Even with all the fresh blood, Hong Kong still has room for Munir Dar, 39. A cagey veteran, Dar hit 11 sixes at the Asian Twenty20 Cup in December, and will bowl his full quota of left-arm orthodox spin.Kenya is the most vulnerable of the six ODI nations in this tournament of not reaching the knockout stage as they continue to rebuild following a sorry World Cup campaign last year. Scotland should finish in the top three in Group B, but their confidence may have been dented by back-to-back losses last week to the UAE in the World Cricket League Championship.That might leave the door ajar for Italy or USA to sneak their way into the top three in Group B. Both sides have match winners in their ranks, with former Australian international Michael Di Venuto and Peter Petricola doing the lion’s share of the work for the Italians while USA captain Sushil Nadkarni, a former India U-19 player, is capable of devastating the opposition at the top of the order.Nepal, Denmark and Bermuda are the three teams most likely to be fighting to stay out of the cellar in Group A. As for Group B, Oman and Uganda might spring an upset or two but their overall chances of progressing into the knockout stage are slim.

Missing in action

While the pre-tournament buildup has garnered extra attention for the inclusion of Jones and Di Venuto in their respective squads, just as noteworthy are the key players not taking part. Irish wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien was left out of his country’s squad after electing to skip their winter tour to the African continent in favor of a chance to play in the Bangladesh Premier League.Ryan ten Doeschate ditched the Netherlands for a payday at the MiWAY Twenty20 domestic tournament in South Africa while the Afghanistan fast bowler Hamid Hassan hasn’t played since injuring his knee trying to stop a boundary while playing for the ICC Combined Associates and Affiliates XI against England.

Kane Richardson and Joe Burns had impressive debuts to ensure matters are level after the first day of the Sheffield Shield match in Adelaide.

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2011 by 340 runs
ScorecardKane Richardson and Joe Burns put on sterling performances on debut to ensure their sides were on equal footing after the first day. Richardson, who was Man of the Match in the Ryobi One Day Cup against Queensland last week, took a wicket in each of his first three overs to carve up the Queenland top order.Burns’ maiden innings came sooner than he may have expected with the score on 3 for 11 in the eighth over. He combined with the experienced James Hopes to post a fourth-wicket partnership of 149. Hopes clipped a ball back onto his stumps after lunch to depart eight runs short of a century but Burns was unmoved and batted through the rest of the innings. He enjoyed a 52-run stand with another debutant, Jason Floros, and shared an eighth-wicket stand of 51 with Chris Swan, whose run-a-ball 37 took Queensland past the 300 mark.Richardson removed Swan to claim his fourth wicket of the innings, with Christian taking the catch at second slip. Christian then added a run-out to his two wickets to end the Queensland innings.South Australia will resume on 7 without loss on day two.

Otago and Central Districts kept up the push for a spot in the finals by squeezing out tight wins in the seventh round

Cricinfo staff07-Mar-2010Otago and Central Districts kept up the push for a spot in the finals by squeezing out tight wins in the seventh round. Both sides are now tied on 26 points, ten behind leaders Northern Districts and six ahead of fourth-placed Canterbury.Central Districts’ wicketkeeper Bevan Griggs starred in their cliffhanger against Canterbury, slamming an unbeaten 51-ball 53 to power them to a one-wicket victory in New Plymouth with just two balls to spare. Adam Milne, the 17-year-old medium-pacer, had a debut to remember, holding his nerve to hit the winnings runs. The match looked to be heading for a draw after Mathew Sinclair fell for 76, leaving CD the big ask of 139 runs off the final 22 overs with six wickets in hand, but Griggs’ enterprising innings steered them to an improbable win.It had already been a topsy-turvy match, with Canterbury fighting back strongly from a first-innings deficit of 191 runs. They seemed to be hurtling to defeat when they slid to 94 for 4 in the second innings but a double-century from Shanan Stewart and 178 for Kruger van Wyk – the pair were involved in an unbroken 379-run sixth-wicket stand- propelled Canterbury to 551 for 5 dec, which ultimately didn’t prove enough to prevent defeat.Left-arm-spinner Nick Beard was Otago’s hero in their 24-run victory over Auckland at the University Oval, picking a career-best 6 for 107 to spark a late collapse – Auckland losing their final five wickets for 39 runs to stumble to defeat from a winning position. A 149-run opening stand between Jeet Raval and Tim McIntosh and a string of 30 from the middle-order took them to 294 for 5, only 66 away from victory, before Beard removed both set batsmen – Aaron Kitchen and Colin de Grandhomme – to snatch an unexpected win with five overs remaining.Otago had been in control for much of the match, after captain Craig Cummings’ 102 and an 86 from Sam Wells guided them to 387 in the first innings. McIntosh was among the runs in the first-innings as well, making 81, with Reece Young cracking an 80 before Auckland declared towards the end of the third day, despite being 149 behind. Otago motored along at nearly six an over in the second innings, Greg Todd’s 47-ball 66 being the highlight, before they declared on 208 to set Auckland a target of 358.

Reunited with RCB director Mo Bobat after making the switch from Trent Rockets

Matt Roller03-Oct-2025Andy Flower has been appointed men’s coach at London Spirit, reunited with director of cricket Mo Bobat after they took Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their maiden IPL title earlier this year. Flower takes over from Justin Langer after his side finished seventh out of eight in his first – and only – season in charge.Bobat was appointed director of cricket earlier this year by Spirit’s new owners and opted not to renew Langer’s contract. He has instead convinced Flower to leave Trent Rockets after a five-year association – which featured a title-winning season in 2022 – on a multi-year contract ahead of the 2026 season.MCC and the ‘Tech Titans’, a consortium of high net-worth individuals including the chief executives of Google, YouTube, Microsoft and Adobe, took operational control of the Spirit earlier this week. They will run the franchise as a joint-venture, with MCC retaining a controlling 51% stake and four out of seven board seats.”I’m delighted that we’ve been able to secure Andy’s services as our men’s head coach,” Bobat said. “Andy and I have enjoyed a strong working relationship in the past, and I’m looking forward to building something special with him at London Spirit as we enter this new and exciting phase for the franchise.”Related

• Mo Bobat named London Spirit director of cricket

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Flower said he was “deeply grateful” to have spent the last five years at the Rockets and “hugely excited” to join the Spirit. “It’s a real privilege to be part of such an iconic venue and organisation. I’m also thrilled to be working once again with Mo, and for the first time with both MCC and the Tech Titans.”The Spirit were women’s champions in 2024 but have consistently underperformed in the men’s Hundred. They have won just 12 of their 38 completed matches, with five of those coming in 2022 when Eoin Morgan captained them to the knockout stages for the only time in their short history.Langer brought in Kane Williamson as captain this year and recruited David Warner alongside him at the top of the order, but they only won three out of eight matches to finish second-bottom.MCC have also appointed Donna-Maria Cullen to the Spirit’s board, after she stepped down from her role as an executive director at Tottenham Hotspur FC. Cullen joins Julian Metherell, Rob Lawson and Morgan as MCC’s representatives, with Nikesh Arora (Palo Alto Networks), Satyan Gajwani (Times Internet) and Egon Durban (Silver Lake) taking the Tech Titans’ board seats.The franchise have confirmed that they will play under the same name next year, but are planning a major brand refresh over the winter which could see them incorporate MCC’s egg-and-bacon colours into their kit – most likely as detailing, rather than the primary colour.Six of the eight deals in the Hundred’s new ownership structure were signed off in July, with Nottinghamshire (Cain/Ares) and Surrey (Reliance) expected to confirm their respective deals for Trent Rockets and Oval Invincibles next week ahead of a Hundred board meeting later this month.

Sri Lanka’s quicks picked up all 20 wickets in the first Test in Sylhet, but the conditions are expected to be vastly different for the second Test

Andrew Fidel Fernando29-Mar-2024

Big picture – Chattogram won’t be like Sylhet at all

For the second Test series in a row between these teams, Sri Lanka’s seamers are defining the contest. In 2022, it had been Asitha Fernando and Kasun Rajitha who claimed 24 wickets between them in the two-match series in Bangladesh. This time, Sri Lanka go to Chattogram with their quicks having taken all 20 wickets in Sylhet – the first time a Sri Lanka pace attack has achieved this since 1986.Beyond the big win in Sylhet, Sri Lanka’s having found a lower-middle-order batter who has found immediate success at the top level – Kamindu Mendis – will buoy them further.It seems unlikely, however, that the pitch in Chattogram will much resemble the moist seam-conducive surface that Sri Lanka stomped to a four-day victory on. Pitches in Chattogram tend to be much better for batting, and it is the spinners who tend to prosper there. On that front, Bangladesh will feel they have Sri Lanka covered.Related

• Shakib returns for second Test against Sri Lanka

• Dhananjaya pleased with three-pacers' plan paying off

• Bangladesh's Test credentials in question, again

The return of Shakib Al Hasan from the eye complaint that saw him unavailable for the tour so far will give them the most confidence. Not only is Shakib among their best batters, he is also vastly experienced as a bowler on the Chattogram deck, having claimed 64 wickets across 19 Tests there – by a distance the most for any bowler at this venue. With him are Taijul Islam, who has the second-highest Chattogram wicket tally of 47, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who is third with 34.Sri Lanka’s main spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, meanwhile, will be playing only his fourth Test overseas, and has four career wickets away from home. Offspin-bowling allrounder Ramesh Mendis, who is the likeliest to come in to the XI if Sri Lanka opt for a second frontline spin option, is even more inexperienced overseas, having played just two away from home.Sri Lanka have never lost a Test in Bangladesh, and such was the margin of victory in Sylhet that they will begin the second Test with some confidence. Bangladesh will think of the game in Sylhet as something of an aberration, however. In Chattogram, with Shakib in their ranks, they will feel – and be, possibly – a different team entirely.

Form guide

Sri Lanka WWLLW
Bangladesh LLWWWShakib Al Hasan’s return would have buoyed the Bangladesh side•AFP/Getty Images

In the spotlight – Shakib Al Hasan and Kamindu Mendis

Shakib Al Hasan turns heads wherever he goes of course, but the freshly elected member of parliament from the Magura constituency might be especially worth keeping a close eye on in this match. It’s not only his first international as an MP, it’s also his first game against Sri Lanka since he had appealed for – and earned – a timed-out dismissal against Angelo Mathews in the ODI World Cup. Mathews slammed Shakib and Bangladesh for making that appeal, and echoes of the anger it caused at the time were present through the course of the limited-overs series. If Shakib sees value in pushing Sri Lanka’s buttons again, it seems unlikely that his new status in Bangladesh’s legislature will stop him from stirring more controversy.Three Test innings into his career, Kamindu Mendis has scores of 64, 102, and 164. Though he burst into the international cricket consciousness as a fingerspinner who could operate with either arm, his batting has always been his primary suit. And since he debuted for Sri Lanka in 2018, he has clearly taken his batting up several levels, improving his ability to deal with the moving ball in particular, a skill that served him nicely on the spicy deck in Sylhet. There will be greater tests in store for him, as oppositions study his game and design strategies to exploit his weaknesses. But he seems set now to keep that spot in the lower-middle order during what is a relatively busy Test year.

Pitch and conditions

Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium has Bangladesh’s best batting pitch. Batting first, sides have averaged 380 in the last five Tests here. The weather is likely to be warm, with the odd chance of a shower on days one and five.Asitha Fernando should get into the Sri Lanka XI in place of Kasun Rajitha•AFP/Getty Images

Team news

Shakib will likely displace Shahadat Hossain in Bangladesh’s XI. Nahid Rana’s pace is exciting but whether he will be effective on Chattogram’s generally placid surface is a question Bangladesh will consider. Hasan Mahmud could be an option for them.Bangladesh (possible): 1 Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 2 Zakir Hasan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 4 Mominul Haque, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Litton Das (wk), 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Taijul Islam, 9 Shoriful Islam, 10 Khaled Ahmed, 11 Nahid Rana/Hasan MahmudWith Rajitha out with a back injury, Sri Lanka will likely bring Asitha straight into the XI, partnering him with left-arm quick Vishwa Fernando. If one of the seamers from Sylhet has to miss out, Lahiru Kumara is the likeliest to be omitted in favour of another spinner.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Dimuth Karuanaratne, 2 Nishan Madushka, 3 Kusal Mendis (wk), 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Dinesh Chandimal, 6 Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), 7 Kamindu Mendis, 8 Ramesh Mendis, 9 Prabath Jayasuriya, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Vishwa Fernando

Stats and trivia

• The three most recent Tests between these teams in Chattogram have all ended in draws
• Asitha claimed 13 wickets at an average of 16.61 on his last trip to Bangladesh, though his figures in Chattogram were 3 for 72
• Following his 87 not out on day four of the first Test, Mominul Haque needs 25 to complete 4000 career Test runs. He will be the fourth Bangladesh batter to the milestone – behind Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib – if and when he gets there
  

  Quotes – everyone’s talking about Shakib

  “It looks like he has lost weight. He’s been training. He has had a good BPL. He’s had a good start to the Dhaka Premier League. He’s happy and that’s the only place we want Shakib. We want him happy.”
  “Why should I talk about him? He’s not in my team.”

Jack Brooks, Danni Wyatt and Eve Jones also found to have made prejudicial posts

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2022Azeem Rafiq says that his reprimand from the Cricket Discipline Commission (CDC) is “deserved” and that he will “fully accept” the panel’s judgement, after he and four other cricketers were punished for historic and prejudicial social media posts.Rafiq, along with former Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale, Somerset seamer Jack Brooks and prominent women’s players Danni Wyatt and Eve Jones were charged earlier this year for respective breaches of ECB Directive 3.3 which pertains to bringing the game of cricket into disrepute.Brooks, Jones and Wyatt also admitted a breach of ECB Directive 3.4, which requires that all players abide by the ECB Anti-Discrimination Code. However, the CDC Adjudicator, Chris Tickle, decided that a reprimand would suffice in all five cases.Related

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The cases came to light in the midst of the racism scandal that beset English cricket last year, and Rafiq – whose revelations of an institutionally racist culture at Yorkshire ultimately led to him testifying before a parliamentary select committee – reiterated after the CDC’s decision that he was “ashamed and embarrassed” for his own anti-Semitic actions in a social media exchange dating back to 2011.In a Facebook exchange, reproduced in full in the CDC judgement, Rafiq and his former England Under-19 team-mate Ateeq Javid joked about how a third, unnamed, team-mate was a “jew” for failing to pay his share of a bill at a restaurant.The messages were first published in the Times on November 18, 2021, leading to a same-day apology from Rafiq on social media, and confirmation that they had subsequently been deleted from his profile.”This summer, I unequivocally accepted a charge from the ECB regarding my antisemitic social media post from 2011,” Rafiq wrote in the wake of the judgement.”You will hear no complaint from me about the CDC’s decision today. It is deserved and I fully accept this reprimand. I want to repeat my apology to the Jewish community. I remain ashamed and embarrassed.”Rafiq met with Holocaust survivors after the incident, including on this year’s March of the Living at Auschwitz.”I hope I have demonstrated over the past 10-11 months that I am trying to educate myself about the horrors and prejudice the Jewish community has historically – and continues – to face,” he added.”I will keep trying and I thank the Jewish community for the forgiveness and kindness that has been shown to me so far.”Gale, who has said that he is “moving on with his life” and will “not engage” with the ECB’s disciplinary process, after being sacked by Yorkshire at the height of the racism scandal, was found in November 2021 to have used an anti-Semitic slur in a Twitter exchange with Paul Dews, the then-head of media relations at Leeds United.Wyatt and Jones were photographed in “blackface” at a Caribbean-themed party dating back to 2013, while Brooks was found to have used a racially offensive term in two tweets from 2012 during an exchange with the England fast bowler Tymal Mills and Stewart Laudat, who played minor counties cricket for Oxfordshire.Following their disclosure, Brooks confirmed in a statement that he “deeply regretted” using the term and apologised “wholeheartedly”.

The South Africa-born allrounder had been locked out of the 2020-21 season as well

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2021South Africa-born Otago allrounder Dean Foxcroft will miss a second successive domestic season in New Zealand due to Covid-enforced border restrictions.Immigration NZ (IMZ) has not approved an exception to its border restrictions, which means Foxcroft will be cut from Otago’s contracts list. The 23-year old was one of 15 players to be offered contracts last month, pending a border exemption.”We are devastated for Dean,” Otago Cricket Chief Executive Mike Coggan said. “He has made a formal commitment with New Zealand Cricket to make himself available, through the qualifying process, to play for the BlackCaps but due to the current Government restrictions in place he is unable to get back into the country to meet these commitments.””He is absolutely distraught, and we are too. Over the past 18 months we have done everything possible to get him back to Otago and at every turn our applications have been denied. He sees himself as a New Zealander who aspires to play for New Zealand one day. We will not give up on supporting Dean to realise his goals”.Foxcroft’s last competitive game was a Plunket Shield fixture for Otago against Central Districts in March 2020. He is among the most promising youngsters in domestic cricket, with a batting average of 51.15 and 41.46 in List A and T20 cricket respectively.

After scoring 176, Das said he had not thought of reaching a double-hundred in a rain-curtailed match

Mohammad Isam07-Mar-2020When Liton Das crossed 158 in the third ODI against Zimbabwe on Friday with the crowd in Sylhet having a party, Bangladesh’s highest individual score in ODIs was his property now. He got a big hug from Tamim Iqbal, the man who had set the record just two days ago. But it was also Iqbal, according to Das, who reminded him around the 120-run mark that the record was for his taking, and he shouldn’t leave the chance. Das went on to finish on 176 off 143 balls that helped the hosts amass 322.Das said that twice during their record 292-run opening stand, Iqbal’s words motivated him greatly. The first was when they struggled to find singles for a brief period and Iqbal calmed down Das. And then when Das was on 120, Iqbal charged him up.”When I was batting on 80, the bowlers were going through a good time,” Das said after the game. “Neither of us could find the singles. Tamim said that we can overcome this situation. We will get the runs and the boundaries, our batting will become normal. This was before my hundred. When I was around 120-122, I was going after the bowling. Tamim reminded me that this was my chance to cross his highest score. ‘Do something that will last for a long time’, he told me.”Das said that despite the big-hitting finish to his innings, the thought of reaching a double-hundred never crossed his mind. He just reacted to the situations, particularly after the rain break when Bangladesh were 182 for 0 in the 34th over, and the match was reduced to 43 overs a side. Das scored his last 76 runs off just 29 balls, with the help of eight sixes and three fours.”The double-hundred was never on my mind,” Das said. “I wanted to bat till the 30th over but after the century the momentum of the match changed. I had to play my shots, and I was successful. There became a bit of a chance. As a batsman, I have the belief that if I can bat for 30 overs, I can get a hundred.”It is one of my best knocks. I always performed at the domestic level, but there were problems at the international level. My playing style was different. I am working on it, but I am sure that I can do better in the future.”Liton Das and Tamim Iqbal pinch a run•BCB

Mashrafe Mortaza, the outgoing captain who always banked on a good opening stand but had to work hard to find a better partner for Iqbal throughout his captaincy, said that Das is certainly reaching his peak as a batsman.”I always love watching Virat Kohli and Liton Das,” Mortaza said. “There’s a lot of great players but as long as these two are at the wicket…I have told Liton for a long time. I believe that Liton can change the momentum of an innings, he can play an anchor role, and he can also play a big innings.”I think that he has picked the momentum. He understands his game now. He has played for four years, and this is his peak time to score runs. His hundred in the Asia Cup final was his natural game.”Mortaza said that the first time he found confidence speaking to Das was couple of years ago in the West Indies when the young batsman was struggling to break into the playing XI. Mortaza had decided to give Anamul Haque a fair go to open with Iqbal, but Das stuck to his guns, and only wanted to open. It impressed Mortaza.”Liton told me once, in West Indies when Bijoy (Anamul Haque) opened in all three games and he didn’t get a game, that he wanted to bat in his best position. He had made runs in the practice game but we decided to stick with Bijoy in that whole series.”Naturally, Liton was disappointed. But he told me that he if he fails at his preferred batting order, he would take the responsibility. We spoke for about 30 minutes, and it gave me confidence in him.”I saw a young player taking responsibility, so I told him that next time whenever you bat for Bangladesh, I will make sure you open the innings.”A captain perennially worried about his batting line-up, and in particular the opening pair where only Iqbal has been consistent, Mortaza will be satisfied that by the time he finished as captain, Bangladesh at least had an exciting opening pair, and one that comes with a lot of promise.

Fast bowler reported the problem shortly after arriving in Barbados having flown from Australia a few days previously

George Dobell in Barbados16-Jan-2019Olly Stone has been ruled out of England’s tour of the Caribbean after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left lower back.Stone, the fastest bowler in the England squad which has just started its Caribbean tour, was sent for a scan after reporting the problem shortly after arriving in Barbados, having flown from Australia a few days previously.He took a limited part in the first training session of the tour, but was not considered for selection for the first two-day warm-up game. He will now return to the UK to recuperate, with England set to name a replacement in due course. Jamie Overton would be the leading candidate as a like-for-like quick-bowling replacement, with Essex’s Jamie Porter also in the reckoning.Stone’s chances of breaking into the Test side on this tour were limited. But the England management were impressed by his pace and his attitude in Sri Lanka last year, where he claimed a wicket with his seventh ball in international cricket: a bouncer that took the gloves of Niroshan Dickwella as he fended the ball away from his face. He is seen as the sort of bowler who could learn from being in the environment and one day make a difference on an Ashes tour.England’s bowlers enjoyed a good morning on the second day of their warm-up game in Barbados. Sam Curran, given the new ball ahead of Stuart Broad with a view to maximising the swing available, and James Anderson both struck twice in their opening spells with the President’s XI subsiding to 13 for 4 within the first eight overs.Jack Leach also claimed a wicket before lunch, with the President’s XI batsmen paying the price for some loose strokes.

Quarter-finalists of the 2016 Under-19 World Cup handed the defending champions of the Asia Cup a rude shock in Kuala Lumpur

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2017Kaushal Adhikari

Nepal stunned defending champions India on the third day of the Under-19 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur. Playing a key role in the 19-run win was the captain Dipendra Singh Airee. First he made 88 in Nepal’s modest 185 for 8. Then he took 4 for 39 to wrestle India down from 91 for 1 to 166 all out.There were several points in the match when the eventual result looked quite unlikely. Like when Himanshu Rana got the chase off to a brisk start, smacking seven fours and a six in his 38-ball 46. Though he fell to Kamal Singh Airee, India seemed to have things well in hand. At one point, they only needed 96 runs in about 27 overs with nine wickets in hand.The game turned when Dipendra dismissed Atharva Taide. Pawan Sarraf (2-24) and Shalab Alam (2-11) also chipped in with a couple of wickets to ensure India’s middle and lower order felt the pressure of the chase. And eventually the quarter-finalists in the last Under-19 World Cup secured victory.It was perhaps the situation Dipendra had hoped for when he was batting earlier in the day, doing his best to repair the innings after the loss of both openers inside 10 overs. He added 49 for the third wicket with Jitendra Singh, before taking charge with an innings that included six fours and two sixes. Having faced 101 deliveries, he was dismissed only in the penultimate over.Nepal, who were beaten by Bangladesh by two wickets in their tournament opener, play Malaysia next on Tuesday, while India, winners by 202 runs against Malaysia, take on Bangladesh.