Tag Futebol

Following their success against India, Fargana Hoque and Nahida Akter become the highest-ranked batter and bowler ever for Bangladesh in women’s ODIs

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jul-2023Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 271 runs at an average of 135.50 in the three women’s Ashes ODIs has pushed her up to No. 1 – from the second spot – in the ICC rankings.That makes it a double for Sciver-Brunt, who is also the top-ranked ODI allrounder in the world. With Sciver-Brunt moving up, Beth Mooney – 130 runs in three innings – has dropped to No. 3, with Chamari Athapaththu, who hit two centuries in the three-match home ODI series against New Zealand in late June/early July, moving to second place.Sciver-Brunt, who hit 31, 111* and 129 in the three ODIs against Australia as the women’s Ashes ended all square, has now achieved a career-high of 803 rating points. Meg Lanning (878 points) is the only other active woman player to have held a higher batting rating.

Full rankings tables

• Click here for the full team rankings

• Click here for the full player rankings

Following the women’s Ashes, Heather Knight rose two spots to 12th, Danni Wyatt three spots to 18th, and Ashleigh Gardner four spots to 21st on the batter rankings. Gardner also rose three spots on the bowlers’ table to fifth place and two spots among allrounders to third.Sophie Ecclestone continued to top the rankings for ODI bowlers.

Fargana and Nahida prosper after heroics against India

The ODI series between Bangladesh and India ended in a tied decider amid high drama. The key number, though, was 1-1, the scoreline, which most observers might not have expected.Fargana Hoque was one of Bangladesh’s star performers, her sequence of 27, 47 and 107 – the first ODI century by a Bangladesh woman – giving her the Player-of-the-Series award. She jumped 11 spots on the ODI batters’ table as a result, getting to No. 19. She is the first woman from her country to get in the top 20 on the list.Nahida Akter was the big mover among the bowlers, the left-arm spinner going from No. 24 to No. 19 – also the best for a Bangladesh woman cricketer. Nahida picked up six wickets in the three ODIs.

He also hopes to see “exciting prospect” Umran Malik make the T20 World Cup squad

S Sudarshanan25-Jun-2022Former India captain and selector Dilip Vengsarkar believes Hardik Pandya, who is set to lead India for the first time in the T20Is against Ireland, is a captaincy option for the side in the long term. Vengsarkar said he was impressed with Hardik’s leadership skills in the IPL 2022, where he led Gujarat Titans to a title win in their inaugural season. Roger Binny, another former selector, also echoed Vengsarkar’s thoughts but was wary of Hardik potentially under-bowling himself as captain.”He came into bat at the fall of two wickets [in the IPL 2022 final],” Vengsarkar said on the sidelines of the launch of the , a limited edition coffee table book in association with Paymentz, an Indian payment gateway platform. “He led from the front and guided the team very well in his first major tournament as captain. An allrounder plays an important role in the team. He is an option [but] it depends on the selectors, their vision and plans.”Hardik’s career has seen a few swings since his India debut in 2016, from being a dangerous lower-order batter to an injury-prone allrounder and then to an IPL-winning captain. He had also been managing a long-standing back problem and hadn’t played for India since they dropped out in the group stages of the 2021 T20 World Cup, until the five-match home T20I series against South Africa earlier this month.”The way he came back from injury is great,” Vengsarkar said. “He must have worked very hard on his fitness. He did very well in the IPL and as a captain he did well. [He is a] very fine allrounder.”After playing a starring role in Titans’ campaign, scoring 487 runs and returning eight wickets with the ball in the tournament, Hardik impressed with the bat against South Africa. He scored 117 runs in the series at an average of 58.50 and a strike rate close to 154. He also bowled a total of five overs – even though he didn’t pick up a wicket – showing that he is fit to fill in as an allrounder.”He’s got to lead from the front,” Binny said at the same event in Mumbai. “Sometimes you tend to over-bowl or under-bowl yourself – lot of times as a captain you do that. But then you have other players in the side to advice.”You have to keep performing. When you get the post of captain/vice-captain, you have got to lead from the front and got to be consistently playing. He’s got to watch the injuries because he tends to be under the weather. So that’ll be utmost on his mind and also in the minds of the selectors and those watching.”Vengsarkar also termed fast bowler Umran Malik an “exciting prospect” and hoped to see him in the T20 World Cup later this year in Australia.Malik picked up 22 wickets in 14 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2022, after which he was called up to the national side for the home series against South Africa. Although he didn’t make his debut, he was named in the T20I squad for the tour of Ireland.”He is a very exciting talent,” Vengsarkar said. “He did well in IPL and he deserves a chance as he looked the best bowler in the format. I hope he is in the plane [to Australia] and I am sure he will do well if given an opportunity. He is young and raring to go. He is young, keen to play and hungry for success.”Binny seconded Vengsarkar, saying: “He should be given a chance straightaway. He has proved he is quick – if you saw him bowl some of those yorkers in the IPL, that was brute force. You can’t keep a youngster out for so long.”

Australia lost at the Gabba for the first time since 1988 and it was their second consecutive series defeat at home to India

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2021Tim Paine conceded that Australia had been outplayed at key moments throughout the series against India as he was left presiding over a second consecutive series defeat against them and became the first Australia captain to lose at the Gabba since 1988.Having set India 328 for victory, nearly 100 more than had even been successfully chased at the ground before, Australia were favourites heading into the final day but never took wickets in groups as India built the perfect run chase.Pat Cummins gave them hope when he struck with the new ball, but Rishabh Pant brilliantly marshaled the closing stages against a forlorn home side.”Absolutely disappointed, no doubt about that,” Paine said. “[It was] probably a bit of a trend the whole series, in the key moments, whether with bat or in the field we were found wanting and completely outplayed by a disciplined really tough India side who really deserved this series win.””I thought India turned up today, their batting group put their bodies on the line. Wore balls in the hand, arm, chest and just kept soldiering on so full credit to them.”After the final day in Sydney when Paine was left under the spotlight for his on-field behavior – for which he later apologised – this result will add further pressure on him. For the second time in two Tests Australia could not bowl India out on the last day and Nathan Lyon was left on 399 Test wickets.Their next Test cricket is due to be in a few weeks time with a tour to South Africa although details of the trip are still to be confirmed. They now need at least a 2-0 victory in that to earn a spot in the World Test Championship final.”There’s a lot of things we can look back on over the whole series and do better, there’s no doubt,” Paine said. “What’s done is done. We’ll go through it. We’ve got to look forward now, got a big series coming up in South Africa. We’ve been outplayed by a better side in this series. They’ll be some areas we need to improve, no doubt about that.”

Shehzad and Umar have a mercurial past with Pakistan, for various reasons, and the revival of their careers has drawn surprise

Umar Farooq in Lahore06-Oct-2019Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has come out in support of returning batsmen Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal after their loss to Sri Lanka in the first T20I.Shehzad and Umar have had a rocky past with the national team, for various reasons, and the revival of their careers in Lahore at the expense of Fakhar Zaman and Haris Sohail drew surprise in some corners.Umar last played a T20I three years ago, while Shehzad featured in T20Is last year before he was banned for a positive dope test. Both of them made their debuts ten years ago, and though they have made several comebacks, it seemed Pakistan had closed the door on them after they were dropped by not just one head coach but two – Waqar Younis and Mickey Arthur.On Saturday, in the T20I against Sri Lanka, Shehzad had a couple of close calls before he was bowled for 4 off nine balls. Umar bagged a golden duck, his ninth – the most by a Pakistan cricketer.ALSO READ: Should Pakistan worry about Sarfaraz Ahmed’s form?“If you talk about previous two [domestic] seasons, they were performers and they were again performers in the PSL,” Sarfaraz said after Pakistan’s 64-run defeat. “We are trying our fullest to give a complete chance to those who are brought back. There is nothing to worry. Both are experienced players and once they settle in, they will perform. So [I give] my full backing for them as a captain.”Fakhar and Haris both have been part of the team for some time now. When we brought back Ahmed and Umar, we intended to make them play in their own positions. Had we played Fakhar, then Ahmed would have been made to play at one down. Me and Misbah[-ul-Haq, the coach] decided to try Ahmed as an opener. With our eyes on the [T20] World Cup, if Ahmed is able to settle himself at this [opening] number, we can never find a better player than him.”Similar with Umar Akmal. We wanted to play him in his number and hence had to drop Haris, who we have seen and have no doubt about his ability. We played six new players in the side without thinking about winning or losing. We wanted to play them and give them confidence because for any player, making a comeback isn’t really easy. You do come with performance in domestic but at the international level you take a few innings to get going.”In 2018, Pakistan had won 17 of the 19 T20Is they played, including two massive winning streaks – nine matches between July and November and eight matches between January and July. The ICC rates them as the No. 1 side in the shortest format but they haven’t quite shown it in 2019 with four losses in five games, including the latest to a second-string Sri Lankan side.”No team in T20 format is considered weak and we knew that on the day their team is strong and they have potential,” Sarfaraz said. “They played better than us. They should be given credit. But I still back my team. It was a bad day for us and we didn’t play good cricket. We will come back and it’s going to be more exciting for the spectators as they will get to see more tough cricket.”Plus it isn’t really easy to win all games but we did win 11 [nine] games in a row. This is a different time. Some players are making a comeback and it is tough. And there are few who are in the team but trying to get settled. We have all players who are match winners and on their day they can win the game for the team single-handedly.”

Batsman turns from scapegoat to saviour in the space of 72 hours, as England bounce back from Old Trafford defeat

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2018Alex Hales turned from scapegoat to saviour in the space of 72 hours, as England bounced back from an ignominious batting collapse at Old Trafford to square the T20I series with a hard-fought five-wicket victory at Cardiff.And no-one fought harder than Hales himself, as he clubbed England over the line with 58 not out from 41 balls to atone for his momentum-squandering knock of 8 from 18 in the opening match of the series.”It’s right up there,” Hales said after the match. “The game at Manchester was a very, very bad day at the office personally and as a team, we didn’t quite get going. But today was brilliant, to bounce back in a must-win game shows a lot of character as a team.”One of the keys to England’s success was the negation of Kuldeep Yadav, the left-arm wristspinner whose wiles had bamboozled their batsmen to the tune of five wickets at Old Trafford. After intensive work against their spin-bowling machine, Merlyn, England came up with a plan to combat his angles, much of which involved staying deeper in the crease.”I’d never faced him before and I didn’t know much about him,” said Hales. “Maybe I just went out in Manchester without a plan and couldn’t get going. I watched a bit more footage, worked with Merlyn and looked to play a bit more off the back foot and waited for him to float one up hit a bit straighter, rather than cross bat like my dismissal the other night. It’s about having a bit more of a plan and more composure.”We picked him the other night, but I don’t think we played him very well,” he added. “You can see it out of his hand which way it’s spinning, but the other night we were maybe a bit rusty and had never played against him. Now we have had good look, had a good plan and it’s important to take that into Sunday and keep on top of him.”Asked if England’s success against Kuldeep had dealt him a psychological blow, Hales responded: “I think so. I guess it would do, yeah. It’s good for us to have that momentum heading into a must-win game on Sunday. Everyone collectively had a poor day on Sunday, but we bounced back well and it was brilliant today. Particularly Adil [Rashid], I think the Indians were looking to line him up to that short boundary so to go for under 30 was amazing.”Despite his personal success, Hales is under no illusions that his place in England’s starting XI remains vulnerable, especially with Ben Stokes nearing full fitness and potentially pressing for inclusion in the series decider at Bristol.”I’m doing all I can to score runs and keep putting pressure on the guys who know they’re playing,” he said. “We will have to see what happens. If it’s me that’s left out, you look at the guys who are playing ahead of me and what can you do? It’s up to me to keep training hard, being positive and have a decent mindset. It’s funny how quickly things can change.”It’s what Jonny [Bairstow] did for three years. Every time he got a chance he delivered, and has now made four hundreds in six games. I maybe find myself in that position now and have to see what I can do.”One of the strengths of England’s current white-ball set-up is the adaptability of their line-up, with batsmen moving up and down the order according to the match situation. Hales himself came in at No.4 at Cardiff, having been at 3 at Old Trafford, but he admitted that learning new roles was part of the challenge of playing in this team.”The batting line-up is that strong, you look how well Jos [Buttler] is playing, he’s batting on a different planet. Just to be part of this batting line-up, anywhere in the order is a great effort. Wherever I find myself I have to adapt and keep learning, and that was a different role tonight, it was like me and Jos swapped roles. I have to keep learning going forward if that’s the role I’ll play.”Whatever happens to Hales in the course of the next few games, he believes he has the wherewithal to cope with being left out of the side, which is something that he was forced to learn at a young age in county cricket.”When I was young, 22 or 23, I was dropped from the Notts team and was sent on loan,” he said. “Being on a downer is something I have had to deal with in my career so it’s nothing new to me, so when I face those moments, as I did the other night, I had a poor night, I know how to deal with it and bounce back and know that can happen in cricket. It’s a funny game.”

Pakistan will find time to address concerns about their middle order despite the joy of overcoming Sri Lanka to progress to the knockout stage

Andrew McGlashan in Cardiff12-Jun-2017Pakistan have little more than 36 hours before taking the field again in Cardiff for their Champions Trophy semi-final against England, but will find time to address concerns about their middle order despite the joy of overcoming Sri Lanka to progress to the knockout stage.Fakhar Zaman’s explosive entrance to the one-day side, with innings of 31 off 23 balls against South Africa followed by his 35-ball 50 against Sri Lanka, has helped overcome the sluggish starts which have plagued their batting, but there were a series of loose dismissals in the chase which left them needing a rescue mission of dramatic proportions from captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Amir in an unbroken stand of 75 in 15 overs.”If you look at the game we started well but after Fakhar Zaman got out we lost the momentum and then most of our dismissals were soft which definitely is an area of concern for us,” Sarfraz said. “We will sit tomorrow and talk about this and hopefully we will recover from this.”After the way we started we could have finished this game with six or seven wickets in hand but those dismissals really dented us. We should have won by a good margin but a win is a win. Yes, we need to sit and talk about it and realise that if we a settled that we should take the game to the end rather than leaving it for the upcoming batsmen.”On his own innings, an unbeaten 61 off 79 balls, he admitted things went his way especially with the first dropped catch by Thisara Perera but was delighted to see the chase through. “I played the shot in the air, I just said, ooh…as a captain, it’s very important innings for me. After this innings, I’m really boosted.”Before the tournament, Sarfraz spoke about how the team’s No. 8 ODI ranking meant there were no expectations on them – which looked justified after the woeful performance against India, who they have a chance of meeting again in the final – but now they have a semi-final berth he sounded a little more bullish.”Indeed it was very important for us as a team. Obviously nobody was rating us and they were writing us off, but once again I give all the credit to the team management for boosting us after the India game, especially our bowlers. The way Junaid [Khan] and Amir bowled was a turning point. I hope we can carry the momentum ahead and take a lot of confidence.”Sarfraz also promised his side would play “positive” cricket against England, the side they conceded the world record ODI total of 444 for 3 against at Trent Bridge last year. That one-day series ended in a 4-1 drubbing but the lone Pakistan victory did come in Cardiff as they chased down 303 in which Sarfraz made 90.”We chased down 300-plus runs and that is a good memory,” he said. “We have to play positive cricket as England have been playing positive cricket in the last two years. Obviously we have to play hard and we will try to replicate our last year performance to win them again in Cardiff. If you’re playing a world class team you play more positive cricket. So will definitely do that against England.”

Former West Indies pace bowler Tino Best has joined Hampshire as they continue their efforts to address a crippling early-season injury crisis

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Apr-2016Former West Indies fast-bowler Tino Best has joined Hampshire on a short-term deal.Best, who has played 25 Tests and 26 ODIs for the West Indies, joins the club as a Kolpak player on a short-term contract. Best, 34, has a wealth of experience in all formats and he averages 28 with the ball in 115 first-class matches and Hampshire’s director of cricket Giles White challenged him to match the exploits of Fidel Edwards in straitened circumstances last summer.His latest headlines, though, have come not from fast bowling but from his impending autobiography and his claims of an immense sexual proclivity.White said: “Fidel joined us last year under similar circumstances, he never looked back and this is a chance for Tino to emulate him. He trained with us in Barbados during pre-season and looked good. It has come about at short notice, initially on a short term contract. He seems excited about the opportunity and very motivated to do well; we look forward to seeing how things develop.”Hampshire’s current injury crisis includes fast-bowler Fidel Edwards, who suffered a fractured ankle at Headingley last week whilst fellow seamers Reece Topley, Gareth Berg and Ryan Stevenson are all currently not available for selection due to injury.White continued: “Unfortunately Fidel has had a serious break and will have to undergo surgery on Tuesday. It’s a real shame for him, he has been unbelievable since he has been with us and has become an extremely popular member of the club. We will support him through his recovery and look forward to having him back in a Hampshire shirt as soon as possible. He is a class act and the team will miss him.”Hampshire signed Craig Young, the Ireland seamer, on a short-term deal last week.

Sri Lanka Cricket is looking to the expatriate community in Europe for development funds, SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said, after the board appointed a representative in the region on Friday

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Oct-2013Sri Lanka Cricket is looking to the expatriate community in Europe for development funds, SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said, after the board appointed a representative in the region on Friday.United Kingdom resident and textile tycoon Sarath Abeysundara was tasked with raising money for district and school cricket in Europe, and SLC is hopeful he will ease the burden on SLC’s stretched domestic budget.”Mr. Abeysundara’s job is to try and help the board build relationships with the Sri Lankans living in Europe and to raise funds for developments in districts and schools,” Ranatunga said. “We’ve told him to come up with a few options on how he would raise funds for SLC, which he was very keen to do. He has raised funds for SLC before, which we were aware of.”Ranatunga said Abeysundara had links to county team Leicestershire and served on SLC’s foreign committee in the UK – one of several of the board’s outposts abroad. He is also an elected member of SLC’s sponsorship committee, under whose purview the assignment falls.

Lancashire have released former England faster bowler Saj Mahmood after ten years at the club

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Sep-2012Lancashire have released former England fast bowler Saj Mahmood after ten years at the club. Mahmood, 30, spent the latter part of the season on loan at Somerset, after losing his place in the Lancashire side, and it has now been confirmed that his contract will not be renewed.Mahmood, who has played in eight Tests and 26 ODIs, was a part of Lancashire’s title-winning team last season, taking 35 wickets, but saw his opportunities this year limited by the arrival of Ajmal Shahzad from Yorkshire. He made just three Championship appearances in 2012 and didn’t play again after conceding 42 from 2.3 overs – and 17 off his last three legitimate deliveries – in Lancashire’s opening Friends Life t20 defeat to Derbyshire.Lancashire’s director of cricket, Mike Watkinson, said: “We would like to thank Saj for his contribution to the club over the last 10 years and we wish him well for the future.”After being spotted playing in the Bolton Leagues, Mahmood joined Lancashire on a scholarship in 2002 and went on to make his international debut at the age of 22. With more than 300 first-class wickets to his name and the ability to bowl at significant pace, Mahmood should be an attractive prospect for many counties, though he recently admitted that “inconsistency” had dogged his career.Although he swapped a relegation battle that saw Lancashire drop into Division Two for a spell with the county that eventually finished second to the champions, Warwickshire, Mahmood was mainly signed as cover by Somerset. In three appearances he claimed eight wickets at 30.12 and they may prefer to rely on the emerging Overton twins and Lewis Gregory as fast-bowling back-up for 2013.

Vusi Sibanda is more comfortable now that he has traded in his spectacles for contact lenses and has also developed a more stable stance

Firdose Moonda in Bulawayo30-Aug-2011A strange thing happened to Vusi Sibanda when he stopped wearing glasses – he could see. Alright, it wasn’t exactly that dramatic, because Sibanda switched to contact lenses instead, but the change resulted in improved vision and, in turn, better form with the bat.The three years between 2008 and 2010 were particularly blurry for Sibanda. He failed to average over 20 in ODIs in any of them, a disappointing effort after the previous two years, where he maintained healthy one-day averages of over 35. Since the start of 2011 though his form has improved remarkably: he averages 44.00 in ODIs this year, and will be one of Zimbabwe’s key players during the upcoming series against Pakistan that starts with a solitary Test on September 1 and will feature three ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals thereafter.Two days before he got called up to Zimbabwe’s World Cup squad, Sibanda made a bold decision to aid his game. “We [Mashonaland Eagles] were playing a four-day game here in Bulawayo against Matabeleland Tuskers and I had to excuse myself to go to the optometrist,” Sibanda told ESPNcricnfo. “I had the tests done, got the lenses and came back to continue playing. I was quite nervous and had to stand outside the 30-yard circle while I got used to them.”The change had an immediate impact. “It became easier to pick the line and length of deliveries and I seemed to have a lot more time than I used to have.” Also, not having to wear glasses made Sibanda more comfortable at the crease. “It sounds a bit weird, but the glasses would start falling off because of the sweat and it would get annoying because I had to keep putting them back on.”The switch to lenses, that he had delayed for years because he did not like the idea of putting something in his eyes, was just the first of several adjustments Sibanda made to his game. Since 2008, Sibanda has spent a few weeks a year in Sydney with Michael Clarke’s mentor Neil D’Costa, where they have worked intensively on a few key areas.”I used to shuffle a lot in the crease and now I don’t have that trigger movement anymore,” Sibanda said. “With a more solid stance I can react faster.” He still is rushed into a shot sometimes though, particularly by the short ball, and calls himself a “compulsive puller.” The shot cost him his wicket four times in the series against Bangladesh. Sibanda dealt well with Bangladesh’s spinners on his way to three half-centuries in the series – one in the Tests, two in the ODIs. Still, he maintains that it is the quicks that he prefers to face. “I’ve always liked pace; spin used to be a bit of a problem for me.”The Bulawayo pitch, where the Test against Pakistan will be played, usually offers the spinners something. Sibanda, though, said he saw a fair bit of grass on the strip when he went to observe it. Even if it does turn, Sibanda’s recent form has made him confident he can deal with any conditions.