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Nicholas Pooran has also earned his first call-up to the 50-overs side for the first two matches against England

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-20192:32

Gayle returns for first two ODIs against England

Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis are back in West Indies’ squad for the first two ODIs against England.Gayle last played for West Indies during the home ODI series against Bangladesh in July 2018, and had made himself unavailable for the tours of India and Bangladesh over the 2018-19 winter in order to play the Afghanistan Premier League and the T10 League. Lewis had withdrawn from the India tour for personal reasons, and missed the ODIs in Bangladesh as well, but returned to the squad for the T20Is.Nicholas Pooran, meanwhile, has been called up to the ODI squad for the first time. The left-hand batsman has impressed with his shotmaking ability in the eight T20Is he has played so far, most notably while cracking an unbeaten 53 off 25 balls against India in November.West Indies’ 14-member squad for the first two England ODIs features a number of other changes too. Captain Jason Holder is back, as expected, having made a successful return to the Test side after missing the Bangladesh tour with a shoulder injury. The offspinner Ashley Nurse returns too, having made a comeback to domestic first-class cricket after injuring his shoulder on the India tour.Batsmen Marlon Samuels, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Kieran Powell and Sunil Ambris, and allrounders Roston Chase and Carlos Brathwaite, who were all part of the ODI squad in Bangladesh, have been left out.Samuels, according to chairman of selectors Courtney Browne, is undergoing treatment on a knee injury. He also suggested that the fast bowler Shannon Gabriel could feature in the latter part of the series.”As we continue our Cricket World Cup preparations, the upcoming series against the top ranked ODI side is a great opportunity for us to gauge where we are as a team,” Browne said. “This allows us to identify any areas that need addressing relating to selection and also helps the coaching staff to fine tune their game strategy.”We welcome the return of Chris Gayle who missed the last two series and Ashley Nurse from injury. We are pleased to introduce Nicholas Pooran to the ODI cricket for the first time. He is clearly a young player with undoubted talent and we believe he can add value to our middle order. Shannon Gabriel remains very much in our World Cup plans but with a heavy workload expected in the Test series he will be considered for selection later in the ODI series.”The ODI series against England begins on February 20 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.West Indies squad: Jason Holder (capt), Fabian Allen, Devendra Bishoo, Darren Bravo, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Kemar Roach, Oshane Thomas
In: Jason Holder, Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran
Out: Marlon Samuels, Roston Chase, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Carlos Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Sunil Ambris

Sri Lanka stand at serious risk of going into the World Cup without having won a single match this year

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando15-Mar-2019

Big Picture

They have won the first four games so easily that South Africa might now be thinking whether they can really read that much into these results against Sri Lanka. So weak has their opposition been that it is hardly the pre-World Cup priming that South Africa would have yearned for. Only occasionally have Sri Lanka put South Africa under pressure with the ball, while Sri Lanka’s batting has been consistently brittle – no more so than on Wednesday, when only a No. 9’s 78 prevented them from crashing to a truly embarrassing score.So what can the hosts gain from this deadest of rubbers? South Africa opener Reeza Hendricks, who could get one final chance at the top of the order, needs some big runs to assert his World Cup case (although it is possible that ship has already sailed, given his scores of 1, 29, 4 and 8 so far in the series). Aiden Markram needs a decent score to back up his monstrous domestic form as well, in order to suggest to the selectors he has what it takes to cut it mentally in top-flight limited-overs cricket. Dale Steyn could do with some wickets, while JP Duminy will be hoping to produce a performance of significance as he farewells his home ground in this format.Sri Lanka, as ever, are searching for a victory. Any victory. Their coach may be on the brink of being sacked. Their captain’s job could also be on the line. And seven ODIs into 2019, they are yet to win a match, which means they stand at serious risk of going into the World Cup without having won a single match this year.

Form guide

South Africa WWWWW (completed matches, most recent first)
Sri LankaLLLLL

In the spotlight

Not quite as fast as Kagiso Rabada, nor nearly as decorated as Steyn, Lungi Ngidi is quietly putting together the beginnings of an excellent career. He had just returned from injury, but is the top fast-bowling wicket-taker in the series, with seven wickets at an average of 17.28. He will face tougher opponents in future, but in 17 matches so far, he has 33 wickets at an average of 21.81.Can Lasith Malinga raise himself and his team out of this funk? He has been outspoken about the batsmen not taking the opportunities afforded to them through the course of this series, but has himself, at times, been lackadaisical – both in the field, and with the bat in hand. On Wednesday, he failed to slide his bat in, and got himself run-out by a direct hit. There is no doubt that he is one of the smartest cricketers to ever play for Sri Lanka, but it takes more than strategy to lead a team – particularly one that has been struggling in recent years.

Team news

South Africa may play the same XI that won the Port Elizabeth ODI.South Africa (possible): 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Aiden Markram, 4 Faf du Plessis (capt), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Andile Phehlukwayo, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Anrich Nortje, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Tabraiz ShamsiSri Lanka might stick with Priyamal Perera in the middle order, despite his having been dismissed for a golden duck on debut. However, they may also think about bringing Angelo Perera into the side.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Avishka Fernando, 3 Oshada Fernando, 4 Kusal Mendis (wk), 5 Priyamal Perera, 6 Kamindu Mendis, 7 Dhananjaya de Silva, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Isuru Udana, 10 Lasith Malinga (capt), 11 Kasun Rajitha

Pitch and conditions

The weather is expected to be good in Cape Town, with temperatures in the mid-20s. This surface is expected to be a little on the slower side, with not a lot of assistance expected for the bowlers. The last two ODIs in Cape Town have yielded first-innings totals in excess of 300.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have lost both previous ODIs against South Africa at Newlands although they did beat West Indies at this venue during the 2003 World Cup.
• Quinton de Kock has 347 runs in the series so far, with an average of 86.75 and a strike rate of 113.02.
• Sri Lanka’s best batsman, Kusal Mendis, has hit 146 runs at an average of 36.5. Only Mendis and Isuru Udana have struck half-centuries for the visitors in the series.

The spinner is expected to return for the final ODI on June 7

ESPNcricinfo staff31-May-2023Rashid Khan has been ruled out of the first two ODIs against Sri Lanka with a lower-back injury. The Afghanistan Cricket Board stated that “he will remain under full medical observation, and is expected to return for the final ODI on June 7”.The three-match series begins on June 2, with the second game to be played two days later at the same ground. Just seven days after the ODI series, Afghanistan are scheduled to play a one-off Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram.Rashid was recently involved in the IPL, where his side Gujarat Titans lost the final to Chennai Super Kings on Monday night. He was the tournament’s joint second-highest wicket-taker with 27 strikes.In Rashid’s absence, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmad will have to shoulder extra responsibility in the spin department.Noor also had a successful IPL stint for Titans, grabbing 16 wickets from 13 games at an economy of 7.82. However, he has played only one ODI and one T20I for Afghanistan.Last month, Afghanistan announced a strong 15-member squad, led by Hashmatullah Shahidi, for the Sri Lanka ODIs.Having sealed direct qualification for the upcoming ODI World Cup, Afghanistan will be looking at this series to get their preparations going for the marquee event. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will treat it as a build-up for the Qualifier tournament in Zimbabwe, starting on June 18.

Josh Davey half-century barely limits damage of Brett Hutton’s six-wicket haul

David Hopps15-Apr-2023Nottinghamshire 256 and 187 for 6 (Mullaney 29*, Hutton 20*, Siddle 2-26)) lead Somerset 173 (Davey 60, Hutton 6-45) by 270 runsThere is a marvellous Finnish word, ‘kalsarikännit’, which literally means the sort of morbid stay-at-home feeling when you just want to get drunk in your underwear. They may look askance at the suggestion, but aficionados of county cricket are particularly prone to such a mood as they wait for the mental torture of a cricketless winter to end.When the Championship does return, it does so slowly, not as much bursting into life as leaking, the first milky shafts of sunlight taking several weeks to take the chill out of the bones. Outside Trent Bridge, the river was high, the ground squelchy underfoot. Inside, the groundstaff and drainage systems had created miracles (“they’re abandoned at Leicester already,” said a Notts loyalist at 11 o’clock with grim satisfaction).As for the spectators, most could at least now claim to be sober and clad in several protective layers, the period of kalsarikännit once more behind them. “Bring my coat, love, the cricket’s starting again.”Stuart Broad vs Cameron Bancroft was presented as an early skirmish in the Ashes phoney war, but it didn’t really work out like that: Broad bowled 14 balls at Bancroft, conceded five runs, including a filthy long hop that was gratefully cut for four, and then the Australian fell lbw to one from Dane Paterson that swung back. Bancroft second top-scored, but dutiful 27s from 69 balls are not about to ensure his place in Australia’s Ashes party.For all his theatrical oohs and aahs, and for all his white headband flickering behind him with the suggestion that considering such a winning look, artistry was inevitable, Broad finished wicketless after 15 overs. That was despite a bowler’s morning during which Somerset, 28 for 2 overnight, escaped to 173, via the perils of 87 for eight and 117 for nine. They had to thank Josh Davey’s down-to-earth 60 from 66 balls, only his second first-class fifty for Somerset, for keeping the first-innings arrears to 83, but Nottinghamshire tightened their grip in their second innings and their lead of 270 runs with three wickets remaining feels ample.Broad maps out his preparations for an England summer with great deliberation and this is thought to be the first of four matches to get himself in optimum shape. His first excursion since the Wellington Test in late February is best described as exploratory. These days, his careful build-up is a case of needs must. The Ashes series begins a week or so before his 37th birthday, and with James Anderson now 40, England’s opening attack now sounds so venerable that give it a few years and they will have something in common with the crowd. A chat about Grand Theft Auto III is only a few seasons away.Broad will settle for a better outcome than another pre-Ashes match-up involving Bancroft at Sedburgh before the 2019 series when Anderson went in the calf, and only bowled four overs in the series. As for Bancroft, he was dropped after two unproductive Tests.While Broad went unrewarded, the best figures fell to the medium-quick, Brett Hutton, who made the ball talk on an overcast morning and who returned a Nottinghamshire-best six for 45. The mood was set, though, by Dane Paterson, who revels in such responsive Trent Bridge mornings in the way that Andre Adams did before him, and who followed up his successful inswinger to Bancroft by dismissing Tom Abell in the following over with one that seamed away and had him caught, driving, at second slip.Three Somerset batting tyros are missing here, not just Tom Banton, who is recovering from a broken finger, but George Bartlett and Lewis Goldsworthy, who is a bit of a scrapper and, as such, gives their recently brittle line-up a different feel. Steve Davies has also relinquished the gloves to James Rew. Tom Kohler-Cadmore, acquired from Yorkshire, but not steeped in Yorkshire obduracy, is not about to change that nature. He is very much in the adventurous “that’s how I play,” mode, eyes on the shorter formats, and he failed with several forays down the pitch before Hutton had him lbw to straight one.At times, Hutton found prodigious movement, and his dismissal of Lewis Gregory was pure chicanery. There were better balls for Gregory to envisage a lofted blow over long on. What had all the makings of an outswinger suddenly made a hairpin turn and dipped through the gate. It became three wickets in seven balls as another lavish inswinger did for Craig Overton (a touch leg-sideish perhaps) and squeezed one past Rew’s defence to hit off stump.With eight down for 87, the follow-on was still possible, but Somerset righted the ship somewhat, Davey’s resistance ensuring that an extra half-hour was taken before lunch to no avail. Tom Moores also relinquished the gloves – Joe Clarke deputising – after suffering a hand injury collecting a rising delivery from Lyndon James.With a lead of 83, and cloud forecast for Sunday, Nottinghamshire had a sizeable advantage. Peter Siddle took just one ball to silence Ben Duckett at midwicket. Haseeb Hameed’s responsible 34 ended unfortunately at second slip when Gregory forced a deflection of inside edge and pad and the umpires conferred before rightly awarding Kohler-Cadmore a catch. Bancroft’s excellent slip catch removed Ben Slater.When Liam Patterson-White walked out ahead of the injured Moores at No.7, the lead was 209. Somerset had done well to just about stay in the game, although their cause was not helped when Davey limped off with a hamstring injury. There was turn, too, for Jack Leach which will make their fourth innings even harder. Gregory took his ninth wicket of the match when Liam Patterson-White’s thick edge was taken at gully but Hutton and skipper Steven Mullaney batted sensibly through to the close.In an age of instant gratification, Championship over rates get more ponderous. To avoid penalties, official figures are massaged for all sorts of spurious reasons. Somerset are spritelier than many, but by the time, the Grand National began at 5.30pm – 15 minutes late because of a course invasion – there were still 30 overs left. It all drifted to a halt at 7.25pm. If protesters ever glue themselves to the pitch at a county match, nobody will get away before midnight.

The England quick faces up to eight weeks on the sidelines, having sustained an injury during Hobart Hurricanes’ practice game

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Dec-2018England left-arm quick Tymal Mills faces up to eight weeks on the sidelines after suffering a recurrence of hamstring strain. As a result, he will not be able to play for Hobart Hurricanes in the ongoing Big Bash League.
Mills had sustained the injury during his fourth over in the Hurricanes’ practice match against Auckland Aces at Blundstone Arena on Thursday. Later on Saturday, he missed Hobart Hurricanes’ season opener against Brisbane Heat in Carrara.”This comes at a really unfortunate time for Tymal,” Adam Griffith, the Hurrcanes’ head coach, said. “He was bowling well and feeling really good as a result of playing cricket throughout the year leading up to the Big Bash season.”Mills’ workload has been carefully managed after he had been diagnosed with a congenital back condition in 2015: his spinal cord and vertebrae are unusually close together and bowling fast too often can agitate his spinal cord. The condition has forced him into a T20 specialist. In addition to playing for Sussex in the T20 Blast at home, Mills has played for Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh Premier League, Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes in the BBL, Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League, and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.Mills’ absence further depletes the Hurricanes who are already without Tim Paine, who is captaining Australia in the Test series against India.

England captain Joe Root has urged the top order to focus on turning their form around ahead of the fourth Test at Southampton

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2018England’s misfiring top order will be tasked with turning things around in the week before the fourth Test starts in Southampton, with captain Joe Root highlighting the example shown by Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes at Trent Bridge. Buttler scored his maiden Test hundred during a 169-run partnership but it was not enough to prevent England falling to a heavy defeat on the fifth morning, leaving them 2-1 up against India with two Tests to play.Facing a notional target of 521, England had slipped to 62 for 4, before Buttler and Stokes showed the application to bat through 57 overs and give the scorecard a measure of respectability. However, England’s hopes of winning the Test and taking an unassailable lead in the series had practically disappeared when they were dismissed for 161 in their first innings.”I think it’s fair to say we very much underperformed in that innings,” Root said to Sky Sports in a post-match interview. “You look at the second innings, that partnership between Jos and Ben, I think that’s a real lesson to our side of how to play Test match cricket. Not the fact that they scored at a slow rate or looked slightly more defensively-minded but the way they adapted to the situation, the way they built that partnership and looked very clear about how they were going to score runs.”For us that’s a really nice thing to see and to learn from and we have to look at that, adapt our own games individually and make sure that when we turn up to Southampton we give ourselves the best chance of getting scores over 400, and do it in the first innings, and try and apply that scoreboard pressure that is so important in Test cricket.”After three Tests against India, only Root among the top four has made a half-century, with openers Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings averaging 16.60 and 18.00 respectively; in eight Tests in 2018, England have not had a centurion at higher than No. 6 in the order. Cook could yet miss the Southampton Test to attend the birth of his third child, but Root defended the openers and said it was up to the batting group as a whole to put bigger totals on the board.”If you look at this series and some of the conditions we’ve played in it’s been very challenging for the top order – and that’s on both sides. It’s very easy to look past that, we’ve got to be quite realistic about things, we’ve got two very good players at the top of the order. We have got time now to go away and look at individually how we’re going to play in these conditions, find our own methods – that’s not just those two guys, I think that’s the whole batting group, and I’m sure we’ll come back with a strong response.”Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes share a laugh•Getty Images

England may need to juggle their batting anyway for the fourth Test, with Jonny Bairstow’s fractured finger putting him in doubt – though Root did not rule out the possibility of him relinquishing the wicketkeeping gloves and playing as a specialist batsman.”It’s very early days, we’ll have to see how that swelling goes down, see how he pulls up,” Root said. “We have got time on our side, over the next couple of days we’ll have a clearer idea of where he’s at, I’m sure he’ll be desperate to play, he’s in fine form and you want guys like him in your side, so it would be great if he pulls up well.”Buttler’s hundred, in his 23rd Test, came after taking over behind the stumps following Bairstow’s injury, and Root was full of praise for his performance, which helped push the game into a fifth day.”People’s perception of Jos is someone who can crash the ball to all areas, and play a very expansive game, but one thing he has got is a great cricket brain, he works out situations very well,” he said. “To be able to go out and do everything you’re talking about in the dressing room and have that performance in the bank will give him a huge amount of confidence. It’s great to see what we all know he’s capable of doing and hopefully it’s just a start for him to go on and score many more hundreds in this format.”Root was also asked about his decision to insert India at the toss. Despite having been bowled out for 107 and 130 in testing conditions at Lord’s, India put on a much-improved display, led by Virat Kohli’s 97, to score 329 and set the game up.”At the toss there was some live grass on the wicket, we’ve been performing extremely well with the ball and saw it as an opportunity to try and get ahead of the game, unfortunately it didn’t quite unfold like that,” Root said. “Potentially we could have bowled slightly fuller and a little bit straighter – but that’s nit-picking, I though India played extremely well, made it very difficult for our seamers to make those early inroads and you have to give them credit for doing that.”

Meanwhile former CA chairman Bob Merriman has termed the review “absolute bloody nonsense and a disgrace” while endorsing Mark Taylor for the role

Daniel Brettig31-Oct-20181:56

ACA will be ‘relentless’ in aiming to overturn player bans

Australia’s largest cricket state, New South Wales, will not express public support for Cricket Australia’s current chairman David Peever and his board before further consideration of the findings of the cultural review released publicly on Monday.The Cricket NSW board, chaired by the Credit Suisse Australia chief executive John Knox, convened for a regular meeting in Sydney on Tuesday night and discussed the release of the cultural review, which has handed down numerous highly critical findings about the culture of CA. “The CNSW Board is considering the review,” a spokesman said.As owners of CA, the state associations have the constitutional right to sack individual directors by a two thirds vote of state delegates at an extraordinary general meeting. Should each state’s three delegates for such a meeting vote en bloc, four out of the six states would be required to carry any motion to remove a board director.While the CEOs or chairmen of three states – Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania – have expressed support for Peever, NSW carries considerable influence as the largest of the state associations. It is also the home state of the long-serving board director Mark Taylor, who has been suggested by past administrators as the most appropriate man to take CA forward while carrying out the review’s 42 recommendations.Western Australia, home state of the board director Bob Every who resigned in protest at Peever’s intention to continue for another three years, has also declined to say anything beyond the fact that the WACA is considering the findings of the review. Cricket Victoria, meanwhile, released a statement from its chairman Paul Barker expressing support for CA in general but not Peever specifically.”Cricket Victoria will continue to support Cricket Australia in the delivery of the overall strategy for cricket,” Barker said, “and in the effective implementation of the Ethics Centre recommendations – as supported by Cricket Australia.”There is consternation among the states about CA’s decision to withhold the cultural review to stakeholders until after last week’s AGM, at which Peever was re-elected for three years. Internal discussions, in which the role of the outgoing chief executive James Sutherland was placed at the heart of cultural problems, has also left some states unimpressed.This has been underlined by the fact that it was Peever and the then lead negotiator Kevin Roberts who led the adversarial MoU dispute with the Australian Cricketers Association last year, before Sutherland was compelled to intervene and broker a compromise with a looming Test tour of Bangladesh under threat. Similarly, Peever’s public discussion of the review findings, both at a press conference in Melbourne on Monday and an interview with Leigh Sales on that night’s current affairs program, left plenty of questions being asked about his ability to serve as frontman for the organisation.Cricket Australia chairman David Peever•Getty Images

Colin Carter, joint author of the governance review that brought the current board model into effect, said it was “completely astonishing” that the states found themselves voting for the re-election of the chairman for another three years without having access to the cultural review beforehand.”The one thing I would say is that I am incredibly surprised that the ‘shareholders’ voted on the composition of the board before they had a chance to read the report,” Carter told . “There is a legitimate debate that goes on, to what extent as you move up the chain should senior people be held accountable and even lose their jobs. That’s a debate that goes on in the banks at the moment, in the churches and the Essendon footy club a few years ago. There is a no black-and-white answer to that because the circumstances are all different and stuff like that.”I don’t think it is possible to have a strong view that board members should be re-signed or sacked or whatever. What I do think is completely astonishing is that decisions were made about the composition of the board for the next three years before any of the people who were voting had a chance to read the assessments that were made. From a governance point of view, I think that was not correct.”Bob Merriman, the former CA chairman, has stated bluntly that Taylor should replace Peever as chairman as soon as possible, while also slamming the findings and process of the cultural review. “I believe Mark Taylor should be the chairman tomorrow and the place should get back on its even footing, either Mark Taylor or Earl Eddings. He [Taylor] is one of the greatest captains we’ve had in our time,” Merriman told the . “He’s been on the board for at least 10 years and has experience in what cricket people really want.”We don’t want this kind of crappy, academic bullshit that’s been presented. We want people that know the game and know what to do with the game. I’m concerned for the game, I’m concerned for the leadership of the game. We’ve lost some good people. I don’t know how in the hell we rely upon non-cricket people to make decisions that are so important for the game. I personally think it’s a disgraceful report as to its quality, I’ve read it in detail.”I think the wisest thing that’s happened is James Sutherland has decided to retire rather than put up with this kind of crap. All the actions James Sutherland took to cover and do the right thing in Cape Town were not even mentioned – the fact that he acted so quickly to suspend the captain and the vice-captain – and under his leadership, the administration took every step that was possible. Now we find a situation where, against the better judgment of a number of people, we’ve got people reporting and investigating without the proper quality. To me, the report is an absolute bloody nonsense and a disgrace.”Another former director, the South Australian Ian McLachlan, reiterated his opposition to a fully independent nine-person board, preferring to see a model where six state-appointed delegates mix with three nationally-appointed independents. A former cabinet minister in Federal Parliament, McLachlan led SA’s opposition to CA governance reform in 2011-12, before sitting on the initial nominations committee for the new board that unearthed Peever, Roberts and Jacquie Hey as the first three independents.”Until they let the states elect their own person to the board, the states will simply be told what to do from Jolimont, and that’s exactly not the way to run cricket,” McLachlan told the . “That was the one mistake in the Carter/Crawford report. It says CA is there to represent its owners, and the states are the owners, but it also contradicts that by saying the owners can’t have a direct member on the board. That in my view has led to the owners not knowing anything because they’re not told anything.”

New blow ends realistic hopes of World Cup recall, and raises questions about fast bowler’s future

George Dobell06-Jul-2018Reece Topley has been ruled out of the rest of the season after being diagnosed with a recurrence of a stress fracture in the lower back.Only days after it emerged he had come close to a recall to the England limited-overs squad – the selectors considered him (and Yorkshire’s Matt Fisher) as a replacement for the injured Tom Curran in the T20I squad facing India – the 24-year-old Topley experienced pain in his back while bowling for England Lions on Monday and was sent for a scan. The results show the fracture that he suffered last year has returned.He will see surgeons next week and is expected to undergo an operation shortly afterwards where a titanium pin will be inserted to strengthen the spine.From a personal perspective, the news is catastrophic for Topley. Aged 24, his highly promising career has been plagued by back injuries. Having worked long and hard to come back from the last setback, this new blow not only ends any realistic hopes of earning a recall to the England squad ahead of the World Cup campaign, but raises questions about his future in the game.It is his fifth stress fracture – all in L3 and L4 lumbar vertebra – in six seasons as a professional cricketer. Out of contract at Hampshire at the end of the season, clubs are likely to prove highly cautious over future contract offers.Topley is the third bowler on the fringes of the England squads – Toby Roland-Jones and Mason Crane are the others – to have suffered a recurrence of a stress fracture this season. That’s a situation which is bound to prompt some reflection on the treatment of such injuries at the ECB. Both Roland-Jones and Topley also spent time on the ECB’s recently discontinued pace programme.The news realistically ends a relationship between Hampshire and Topley that never really took off as expected. Signed amid great hope and competition, he managed only three Championship matches in three years and was disappointed to be left out of the side playing in the Royal London Final at Lord’s on Saturday.He impressed the England management as recently as last week, however, in bowling with pace and skill in a Lions match at Northampton – he claimed 4 for 16 – and revived hopes he could add to his tally of 10 ODI and six T20I caps.

Only three West Indies batters passed 30 as the hosts lost the first ODI by 142 runs

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2022England 307 for 7 (Sciver 90, Wyatt 68, Henry 3-59) beat West Indies 165 (Knight 39, Dean 4-35) by 142 runsBrisk half-centuries from Nat Sciver and Danni Wyatt, and a four-for from offspinner Charlie Dean, powered England to a 142-run win and a 1-0 lead in the three-match series against West Indies. England posted 307 for 7 after being put in to bat and bundled out the hosts for just 165 in 40.3 overs as Dean took her fourth four-for in just her 20th ODI.England scored at run a ball in the initial overs but slowed down after Alice Capsey was caught behind for 17 and Sophia Dunkley fell for 8 to Chinelle Henry. Sciver kept the innings on track with partnerships of 42 with Tammy Beaumont, 46 with Heather Knight, and 103 off just 95 balls with Wyatt to propel England to a huge score.

WI fined for slow over rate

• West Indies have been fined 40% of their match fee for slow over rate during their first ODI against England in Antigua on Sunday. Match referee Denavon Hayles imposed the sanction after ruling that West Indies were two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration. According to Article 2.22 of the ICC code of conduct, players are fined 20% of their match fee for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time.
  West Indies captain Hayley Matthews pled guilty to the offence and accepted the sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
  On-field umpires Jacqueline Williams and Leslie Reifer, and third umpire Nigel Duguid leveled the charge.

Beaumont was the enforcer during the third-wicket stand with three fours, while Sciver relied on ones and twos initially before hitting three boundaries in five balls to push the run rate towards 5.50 again. Medium-pace bowler Aaliyah Alleyne then had Knight caught behind for 16 before Wyatt and Sciver started hitting boundaries regularly from the 33rd over.Sciver fell 10 short of a hundred when Henry came back and had her caught in the 40th over, but Wyatt followed that with two sixes off offspinner Sheneta Grimmond in the next over before she also fell to Henry for a 60-ball 68.Amy Jones, who hit Henry for three fours in the 46th over, and Sophie Ecclestone put on a quick 45-run stand off 41 balls to take England past 300.West Indies were dented early in their chase when Kate Cross broke the opening stand in the third over and Hayley Matthews retired hurt with the score on 21. The 63-run stand between Kycia Knight and Rashada Williams was the only substantial partnership for the hosts and it ended when Williams was run-out by Sciver for 34 in the 20th over. Dean then triggered West Indies’ slide by dismissing Shemaine Campbelle for a duck, and Kycia Knight fell to her namesake for 39 just past the hallway mark. Matthews returned to bat when they were 105 for 4 and struck a quick 34 off 32 with five fours before falling lbw to Lauren Bell. Dean took three of the last five wickets to wipe out the West Indies tail.”Both facets of the game [batting and bowling], we didn’t do what we wanted on a decent pitch and England was able to capitalise on it,” Matthews told CWI Media after the loss. “We’re going back to the drawing board and see what we can improve on in the next game. Our powerplay was pretty good but we let a little too many runs go by in the middle overs. It was good to see the partnership between Kycia and Rashada and I hope we can get a few more of those.”There was a moment of concern in the field for England when Capsey injured her left shoulder. She was taken to hospital for scans.The next game is also at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua on December 6.

The meeting was significant as it suggests that Kirsten is looking for a local coach to be involved in the set-up

Mohammad Isam22-May-2018Gary Kirsten, as part of his internal audit of the Bangladesh team, met with coach Mohammad Salahuddin on Tuesday morning in Dhaka. Salahuddin is a former Bangladesh assistant coach with much domestic success, including a BPL title with underdogs Comilla Victorians in 2015.The meeting was significant as it suggests that Kirsten is looking for a local coach to be involved in the set-up; once he is done with the audit, Kirsten is to offer his recommendations for the appointment of a full-time Bangladesh head coach.Kirsten also had sessions with Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman and the national selectors on the second day of the audit.More than the domestic trophies his teams have won, Salahuddin’s reputation and effectiveness with big-name players that sets him apart. Shakib Al Hasan is one of many Bangladesh cricketers who regularly take inputs from Salahuddin on technical and mental aspects. Once, during an IPL, Shakib returned to Dhaka to work on his batting for two days with Salahuddin. Last year, Mominul Haque took batting sessions with Salahuddin to deal with his struggles against against offspin.It has long been considered that Salahuddin is essential in the Bangladesh senior team’s coaching set-up. Last year, the BCB asked Salahuddin to join as a batting consultant but when he had arrived to complete formalities, he was told that the board had changed its mind.This is the first time since then that Salahuddin has been involved in any senior team matters. He said Kirsten asked him about the game in Bangladesh in general, and a little about himself too.”It was a pleasant experience meeting him but I don’t think he was meeting me as a coach. He was more of an administrator during our meeting,” Salahuddin told reporters at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel. “He had told me to come here today. He asked about Bangladesh cricket, our cricketers and he also asked about me.”