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Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi are the three venues the PCB is planning to host the two-week tournament in

Osman Samiuddin01-May-2024The PCB’s schedule for the 2025 Champions Trophy could have India based in one city for the entire tournament, as the board looks for ways to accommodate a potential first visit by India to Pakistan in nearly 17 years.Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi are the three venues the PCB is planning to host the two-week Champions Trophy in. ESPNcricinfo understands the draft schedule has India based in and playing all their matches in Lahore – where the final is also scheduled to take place.Basing India in one city is thought to have been proposed because it avoids what could be considerable logistical and security headaches around their travel. Additionally, by being based in Lahore, which is close to the Wagah border crossing between the two countries, it allows Indian fans a relatively easier option to visit.PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said earlier this week that the board had sent a draft schedule of the tournament, likely to be staged in mid-February next year, to the ICC. Discussions on it involving the eight participating members will take place, with the major sticking point likely to be whether the India team travels or not.No Indian team has played in Pakistan since the 2008 Asia Cup. Relations between the two governments have deteriorated steadily and often sharply since, especially after the Mumbai terror attacks the same year. Those attacks ended a rare period of bounty in the rivalry, the sides having played each other in four bilateral series in the preceding four years.Last year, when Pakistan hosted the Asia Cup, they were forced to deploy a hybrid model in which India played all their games – including those against Pakistan – in Sri Lanka. The final of the tournament, won by India, was held in Colombo.Though Pakistan had raised the prospect of a hybrid model for their presence in the ODI World Cup in India last year, it was never pursued seriously. They ended up playing all their games in India, across five venues, before they were eliminated in the group stages.The final decision on whether India do visit Pakistan for the Champions Trophy will be in the hands of the Indian government, rather than the BCCI.The craze around India vs Pakistan games, limited as they are, is to be seen to be believed•Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images

On Tuesday evening in Karachi, Naqvi expressed the hope that “all eight teams” will come to Pakistan for the event, though he was not drawn into specifics about India’s position.The Champions Trophy is the first ICC event Pakistan will be hosting since the 1996 World Cup, when they were joint hosts with India and Sri Lanka. Pakistan was due to stage the event in 2008, but it was postponed and then relocated to South Africa because of the security situation in Pakistan at the time. Pakistan also lost out on co-hosting duties for the 2011 ODI World Cup, with the 2009 terror attacks on the Sri Lanka team meaning no international cricket in the country for the next six years.Since the return of international cricket to Pakistan in 2015, however, every single team involved in the Champions Trophy has toured and played in Pakistan, except India.Pakistan are the defending champions of the event, last held in 2017.

Legspinner selected despite being on bail after Cricket Association of Nepal suspension lifted

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Feb-2023Sandeep Lamichhane has been picked in Nepal’s 14-man squad for the tri-series against Scotland and Namibia. The selection was widely expected once the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) had lifted its suspension of the player and included him in a training camp for the series. Lamichhane is currently out on bail, though facing charges of sexual coercion of another person.His impending selection and inclusion in the training camp had led to protests last weekend, with calls for a boycott of the tri-series. Both the visiting sides involved in the tri-series have issues statements that have hinted at – but stopped well short of expressing – unease over the selection.CAN announced the squad on their Twitter feed on Friday. On Wednesday, Cricket Scotland said it was “aware of the reports regarding the legal status of Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane, ahead of the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 Qualifiers. As a governing body, and as a squad, Cricket Scotland stands firmly against all forms of abuse, which have no place in modern society. The player’s availability for these games is a matter for the Cricket Association of Nepal and the ICC to consider.”Their counterparts at Cricket Namibia said only that the board “strongly opposes all forms of gender-based violence, discrimination and abuse.”Related

• Sandeep Lamichhane joins Nepal in UAE as an injury replacement

• Scotland players refuse to shake hands with Lamichhane

• Lamichhane taken into custody upon landing at Kathmandu airport

• Nepal cricket board lifts suspension on Sandeep Lamichhane

• Lamichhane set to be included in Nepal squad for tri-series

When Lamichhane’s suspension was revoked by CAN, Britant Khanal, the board’s general manager told ESPNcricinfo that it was on the condition that Lamichhane would “respect the limitation prescribed” by the court that granted him bail in January this year. If Nepal were to travel outside the country, Lamichhane’s participation would depend on whether the court gave him permission for it or not. Lamichhane was taken into custody after he landed in Kathmandu in October last year, responding to an arrest warrant issued against him in September. At the time of the warrant, Lamichhane was participating in the Caribbean Premier League for Jamaica Tallawahs.His suspension was revoked after he was granted bail by court, on the condition that he could not leave the country until a verdict had been reached in the case.The tri-series is part of the ICC’s Cricket World Cup League 2 and is set to be played in Kirtipur starting from February 14.Nepal squad: Rohit Paudel (capt), Kushal Bhurtel, Aasif Sheikh, Gyanendra Malla, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Lalit Rajbanshi, Sandeep Lamichhane, Gulshan Jha, Bhim Sharki, Surya TamangTravelling reserves: Aarif Sheikh, Pratish GC, Shyam Dhakal, Arjun Saud

Netherlands allrounder to stay at Taunton for at least two more seasons after contract extension

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2021Roelof van der Merwe, Somerset’s South Africa-born, Netherlands allrounder, will remain with the club at least until the end of the 2023 season after signing a one-year contract extension.Van der Merwe, 36, joined the club in 2011 on a short-term contract before returning in 2016, and has since established himself as an important member of the Somerset squad across all three formats, with his left-arm spin complemented by his hard-hitting lower-order batting.He was awarded with his County Cap after playing a key part in Somerset’s Royal London Cup triumph in 2019, and he also holds the record for the highest score by a Somerset player in a 50-over match, after making a match-winning 165 not out against Surrey at Taunton in 2017. He also featured in the inaugural season of the Hundred, after being signed by London Spirit.”I’m really pleased to have extended my time at Somerset,” van der Merwe said. “We have a great group of guys here and I genuinely feel that we are on the verge of something exceptional.”The club holds a very special place in my heart, and I will be doing everything that I can to make sure that we win games of cricket and claim the silverware that the players and our brilliant Members deserve.”Van der Merwe was recently on national duty with the Netherlands at the T20 World Cup in the UAE, having qualified in 2015. Prior to that, he played 13 ODIs and 13 T20Is for South Africa in 2009-10, including the 2009 T20 World Cup in England.SCCC Director of Cricket, Andy Hurry, added: “Roelof is a quality performer across the three formats of the game. His drive, determination and will to succeed are second to none and he is a genuine team man. He is exceptional both on the field and in the dressing room, and all his domestic and international experience make him an outstanding role model for our aspirational players to learn from.”His passion for the game is infectious and his contributions with the bat, the ball and in the field are of the highest standard. I can confirm that we are once again able to register Roelof as a local player.”

Premises licence could provide clubs with closed-door loophole

George Dobell16-Jul-2020County chiefs remain optimistic spectators will be allowed to attend games in the Bob Willis Trophy.The Trophy, the replacement first-class competition to maximise the last couple of months of a virus-ravaged season, is set to start on August 1.While there are not currently plans to permit spectators, the sport is hopeful it can make an argument to the government as something of a test case before the return of Premier League football in September.Specifically, it will argue that, in comparison to football, county cricket will attract relatively low numbers of socially-distanced spectators, all of whom would be club members and therefore easily traceable should it be required.ALSO READ: Lancashire hopeful spectators could be admitted again in SeptemberAs a result, they hope a couple of games in early August – one at a Test-hosting ground; one at a smaller venue – will be utilised as a trial to demonstrate the sport’s ability to safely welcome back spectators. If those trials are successful, they hope spectators will be allowed to return to all county grounds. The counties are especially keen to see spectators return for the Vitality T20 Blast; a competition which remains key to the cash flow at most clubs.Some counties may also have found a loophole. It is, for example, permissible to show televised cricket from the Test series on the terrace at The Oval to a limited number of spectators thanks to the club’s status as a licensed premises. It could well be that first-class county cricket is played at the ground at the same time.There have been concerns about the welfare of players, too. Most notably, some counties felt their players – and their seam bowlers, in particular – risked injury if they returned to cricket without sufficient preparation. The ICC recently recommended a minimum of eight weeks of training before international players returned to competition but, with most counties not coming off furlough until the start of July, four weeks is having to suffice. As a consequence, some counties have expressed a fear of litigation should players sustain injuries.The counties rejected the idea of 12-a-side games, though, as such a move would rob the competition of its first-class status.Instead, they hope that a raft of measures designed to mitigate the risk of injury will provide protection for the bowlers. Those measures include a reduction in the number of overs in a day (from 98 to 90), limiting the number of overs in an innings to 120 and delaying the availability of a new ball until 90 overs have been bowled. The follow-on mark will also be increased from 150 to 200 to minimise the possibility of bowlers facing successive innings in the field.Concerns have been raised about bowling workloads•Getty Images

With August given over almost entirely to red-ball cricket for the first time in many years – the Blast starts on August 27, but four successive weekends before that will feature first-class county cricket – the counties also hope the competition will provide increased opportunities for spin bowlers.ALSO READ: No sanctions for counties who fall under salary collarWith few overseas players expected, either, there is also an expectation the competition will provide opportunities for many of those English-qualified players who are out of contract at the end of the season. There is no ban on overseas players but, with most counties having accepted government money to help them through the last few months, there is an understanding that it may be inappropriate to sign any new faces.Some on existing contracts will return – as will some Kolpak registrations such as Duanne Olivier, Morne Morkel, Hashim Amla if they can reach the UK – but most have seen their contracts cancelled. Even Jeetan Patel, Warwickshire’s overseas player for a decade, has been informed he will only feature in the T20 competition.Draft fixtures for the trophy were shared with counties on Wednesday, with the ECB hoping to publish them at the start of next week. As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the competition will culminate in a Lord’s final that will finish at the start of October.

Mitchell Marsh found a way past Tim Paine on an enthralling final day of the match at Bellerive Oval

Daniel Brettig15-Mar-2019Western Australia’s captain Mitchell Marsh found a way past the Australian Test captain Tim Paine to vault the Warriors into third place on the Sheffield Shield table after an enthralling final day of the match at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.Needing exactly 400 on the final day with all 10 wickets in hand, the Tigers’ pursuit was marshalled by a masterly innings from Matthew Wade as he maintained his push for a place on the Ashes tour with a century.The Warriors had struck early on the final day and at 4 for 136 the game seemed to be headed inevitably for a WA win. However, Wade, who had earlier seemed intent primarily on survival, spread his wings in the company of Ben McDermott in a stand worth 183 for the fifth wicket.At 4 for 319 with plenty of overs and time remaining, the Tasmanian chase appeared well and truly on course. But Wade and McDermott were both accounted for by the second new ball within 16 runs of each other, leaving the hosts scrapping for a draw.This pitted Paine against Marsh, who had been dropped from the Australian side in all formats this summer. It appeared that Paine might be on the way to repeating his rearguard heroics in Dubai late last year, but Marsh coaxed a catch with the first ball of the penultimate over to hand outright points to the Warriors.

Baroda captain Deepak Hooda’s 34-ball 57 helped his team chase down a target of 179 against Maharashtra while Aditya Garhwal’s 51* set up Rajasthan’s six-wicket win over Vidarbha

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2018Baroda captain Deepak Hooda’s 34-ball 57 helped his team chase down a target of 179 with five wickets in hand against Maharashtra in Rajkot. Hooda’s second half-century in the tournament was instrumental in Baroda winning their fourth consecutive game and remain undefeated in the competition.Earlier, Maharashtra put up a strong batting performance after electing to bat first. A 79-run alliance between Ruturaj Gaikwad, who smashed a 37-ball 52, and captain Rahul Tripathi (30 off 24 balls) propelled Maharashtra to a total of 178 for 6 in 20 overs. Baroda seamer Atit Sheth finished with figures of 3 for 21. In reply, Baroda recovered quickly from the loss of three early wickets thanks to Hooda and handy contributions from Vishnu Solanki (42* off 21) and Swapnil Singh, who retired hurt after a 26-ball 36. Seamer Domnic Muthuswami picked up three wickets for Maharashtra.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

A disciplined bowling effort followed by Aditya Garhwal’s unbeaten half-century set up Rajasthan‘s six-wicket win over Vidarbha in Raipur. This was their fourth win in as many games even as Vidarbha lost their first game of the tournament.After opting to bat, Vidarbha started reasonably well but lost their way in the middle to slump from 70 for 2 to 127 for 7 before their innings eventually petered out to 131 for 8. Rajasthan seamers Aniket Choudhary, Deepak Chahar (2 for 25) and Khaleel Ahmed (2 for 19) picked up five wickets among them. Rajasthan’s chase was fairly straightforward as they cruised to their target with two overs to spare.

Group A round-up: Uttar Pradesh’s spinners impress, Baroda’s batting fails yet again and Bengal make slow progress

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2016Uttar Pradesh‘s left-arm spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Saurabh Kumar took seven wickets between them as Mumbai were bowled out for 233 on the first day in Mysore.Mumbai lost three wickets for 55 in the first session, including that of Shreyas Iyer for 35, after electing to bat. Suryakumar Yadav held the innings together; he put on consecutive fifty partnerships with captain Aditya Tare (30) and Siddesh Lad (13), followed by another with debutant Aditya Dhumal (34) for the seventh wicket.He was eventually removed for 99, one short of a second-consecutive century, trapped in front to the part-time offspin of Shivam Chaudhary with the score on 223. Saurabh and Kuldeep then cleaned up the tail to finish with three and four wickets, respectively. Medium-pacer Tushar Deshpande took the solitary UP wicket to fall, that of Tanmay Srivastava, as UP finished the day on 22 for 1.Baroda failed to cross 200 for their third innings in a row, as left-arm spinner Avinash Yadav’s first five-wicket haul – on his return to first-class cricket – helped Railways bowl them out for 183 in Nagpur.Baroda’s top-order batsmen all got off to starts. Opener Kedar Devdhar scored 45, Dhiren Mistry scored 50 at No. 3 and Deepak Hooda got 30 at No. 4. They were decently placed at 137 for 2 when Hooda was stumped off Avinash. This triggered a collapse that eventually read 8 for 46, as Baroda folded up for 183. Avinash took five of those wickets, and legspinner Karn Sharma (3-37) took the last two. In response, Railways openers Saurabh Wakaskar (16*) and Shivakant Shukla (23*) took them to 39 for 0 at stumps.Priyank Panchal’s tenth first-class fifty helped Gujarat finish the first day on 224 for 4 against Madhya Pradesh in Nagothane. Panchal put on 75 for the opening wicket with Samit Gohel (34) and 42 for the third with Parthiv Patel, before getting stumped off left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma (2-60) for 62. Parthiv then stitched together 68 with Manpreet Juneja (44*) before falling for 49. Juneja and Chirag Gandhi (9*) batted out the last 11.4 overs to add 17, and take Gujarat to stumps without further damage.Bengal scored at just above two runs per over to reach 190 for 3 at stumps, against Tamil Nadu in Rajkot. Bengal’s 190 was anchored by a 111-run partnership for the third wicket, that began with Sudip Chatterjee (34) and Manoj Tiwary before Chatterjee had to go off retired hurt. Agniv Pan was Tiwary’s other partner during the third-wicket stand, which ended with Tiwary’s dismissal on 56. Pan was unbeaten on 51 at the end of the day, his third first-class fifty in four games, and Shreevats Goswami was with him on 15.

Afghanistan sealed another historic first with a 2-0 Twenty20 series victory over Zimbabwe in the second match at Queens Sports Club

The Report by Liam Brickhill28-Oct-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Usman Ghani struck three sixes in his 45-ball 65•AFP

Afghanistan sealed another historic first with a 2-0 Twenty20 series victory over Zimbabwe in the second match at Queens Sports Club. Opener Usman Ghani and allrounder Gulbadin Naib led Afghanistan’s charge as they hunted down Zimbabwe’s 190 for 7 with one ball to spare. Ghani weathered a fierce short-ball assault from Zimbabwe’s quicks to rush to his first T20 fifty, and after he departed, Naib picked up where he left off, marshaling the second half of the chase and registering a maiden fifty of his own. Their efforts meant that Sean Williams’ quickfire 54, which equalled the Zimbabwean record for the fastest T20 fifty, went in vain.Afghanistan needed a good start to their chase, and it seemed that Mohammad Shahzad would lead it when he rushed out at the very first delivery to slash it over cover point for four. Yet it was the 18-year-old Ghani who did most of the scoring as they rushed to 56 at the end of the Powerplay. All three of Zimbabwe’s seamers targeted him repeatedly with the short ball, and though Ghani was made to look uncomfortable he also frequently managed to find the boundary.He collected three boundaries in Neville Madziva’s first over, all of them off the back foot and one thanks to a top-edged hook that flew high over wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami’s head. Another top-edged bouncer in Madziva’s next over brought four more, and Chris Mpofu’s change of ends was greeted with a straight six down the ground before the bowler responded with a barrage of bouncers, one of which almost knocked the young batsman off his feet.Ghani rushed into the 40s with another six down the ground, this time off left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza, and when he brought up his fifty – from 32 balls in the eighth over – Shahzad had only just reached 20. Ghani added a third six, off Chamu Chibhabha, but the medium-pacer then nipped out two wickets in two balls to bring Zimbabwe back into the game. It took a tumbling catch at long-off by Madziva to remove Ghani and, with the batsmen having crossed, Chibhabha then deceived Shahzad with a slower ball to trap him lbw for a relatively sedate 24.That reduced Afghanistan to 95 for 2 at the end of the 11th over, with the required rate already above ten, and Zimbabwe increased their advantage further when Mpofu’s bullet throw from the deep had Mohammad Nabi run-out for 15. With 58 needed from 30 deliveries, Naib, who had been offered a promotion to No. 3, came to the fore.His strokeplay had more to do with skill and timing than brute force, and he moved into the 30s with a front-foot pull and a delightful paddle-scoop off Madziva, both of which brought fours. Naib added three more of those in one over from Mpofu, again using the scoop shot to great effect, to take the equation down to 23 from the last two overs. Muzarabani’s quick reactions had Karim Sadiq run-out off the final delivery of the penultimate over and Afghanistan needed nine from the last six deliveries, to be bowled by Mpofu.Shafiqullah struck the decisive blow on his third delivery, sweeping past short fine leg, before he handed the strike over to Naib, who duly chipped the winning runs down the ground with one ball to spare.Their efforts put Williams’ innings in the shade, though the knock will be remembered for equalling the record set by Elton Chigumbura in the 2014 World T20. Williams faced the third delivery of Zimbabwe’s innings after Chibhabha was cleaned bowled by Dawlat Zadran, and after playing out a wicket maiden he launched an eye-catching counterattack.Williams was particularly unforgiving on Afghanistan’s spinners, taking 19 runs off Rashid Khan’s first over in an assault that included two reverse sweeps and a slog sweep that put the ball into the trees beyond deep midwicket. Karim Sadiq’s offspin was treated with equal disdain, Williams clobbering two fours and a six in his first over, and Williams reached his fifty from 21 deliveries in the seventh over.Mutumbami kept Zimbabwe cruising with a succession of slog sweeps, even as Chigumbura’s innings started modestly from the other end. But there was no definitive finish from Zimbabwe, with Afghanistan picking up regular wickets at the death, and yet again Zimbabwe’s runs were not enough to defend.

Alastair Cook may sleep slightly uncomfortably in Auckland after sticking New Zealand in and seeing them finish on 250 for 1

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland22-Mar-2013Nasser Hussain has never quite lived down putting the Australians in to bat at the Gabba in 2002 and seeing them end the first day on 364 for 2. Alastair Cook may sleep slightly uncomfortably in Auckland after sticking New Zealand in and seeing them finish on 250 for 1.However, bowling first is becoming the norm in New Zealand; this is the seventh time in a row the team winning the toss has put the opposition in. Brendon McCullum has insisted whatever life is on offer will be there early and Cook followed that belief at Eden Park, but there was no more movement or playing-and-missing than any average Test-match opening day.It is often said not to judge a toss decision after the first session, so when New Zealand lunched on 79 for 1 the next two sessions were awaited. Five down would have been passable. One down is close to putting the series out of reach although England, as they have to, retained belief that the situation could quickly change. They can look to the previous Test where New Zealand took 8 for 198 on the second day after just two wickets on the first.”I don’t think it’s a disastrous day of Test cricket for us,” Steven Finn said. “Yes, obviously we’d have liked to take more than one wicket. But they’ve only got 250 runs on the board, and a crazy session – like we’ve had before – can turn the game on its head.”Finn was pointing out the run-rate was kept under three-an-over, but if that is now classed as a success by England it shows how their expectations in this series have changed. The bowling, to be fair, was not awful and a few of the edges through the slips to the short third-man boundaries could have gone to hand. But it never felt as though England were on the verge of creating sizable inroads into New Zealand’s top order.Barring the first innings in Wellington it has not felt that way at any point in the series, and even that innings took a lot of hard work. Throughout the matches, batsmen willing to get their heads down and cut out risks – as Peter Fulton and Kane Williamson did superbly – have been difficult to shift.England will have come into this series wanting to use the height advantage of their quicks to test the techniques of the New Zealand batsmen who were exposed against South Africa’s pace. However, England’s bowlers have not been consistently as threatening as South Africa’s on recent form and the pitches have negated their plans.The lush outfield at Eden Park, which is no mean feat given that rugby was played on it last weekend and that the country is in drought, also hindered England’s attempts to get the ball to reverse – a tactic they have used with great success in the subcontinent and Australia when traditional methods have been unavailable. The only spell of reverse in the series for England came from James Anderson on the third day in Wellington.Finn, though, despite being a modern sportsman and ‘picking out the positives’ from a tough day, did make a valid point about not allowing the scoreboard to race away. That could easily have happened on this ground and looked as though it may occur when Fulton latched onto Monty Panesar during the afternoon session.”At no stage today did we get despondent. To keep them at three-an-over and not too far out of our sights is good,” Finn said. “It’s important we try to wrestle the momentum from New Zealand – because after a day like that, they do have it.”One more day like this for the home side and it will be very difficult for England to win the series.

Carlton Baugh, the West Indies wicketkeeper, will lead the WICB President’s XI side against Australia in a three-day match starting on Monday, April 2

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Mar-2012Carlton Baugh, the West Indies wicketkeeper, will lead the WICB President’s XI side against Australia in a three-day match starting on Monday, April 2. The 12-member squad includes six players who have played Test cricket.Fidel Edwards, who is back in the West Indies after playing Twenty20 cricket in South Africa, has been included in the team. Edwards spearheaded the pace attack with Ravi Rampaul in West Indies’ last Test series in India. Kieran Powell is another player who played in the Tests in India and gets a chance to play the Australians before the Test series. A surprise inclusion to the squad is opening batsman Devon Smith, who has had a string of low scores in the Regional Four-Day Competition. Smith lost his central contract last year.Spinners have enjoyed considerable success in the West Indies this season and offspinner Ryan Austin, who is joint-top of the wicket-takers’ list in this season’s four-day competition, gets a chance to impress the selectors. Sunil Narine consistently troubled the Australians in the limited-over matches. However, Narine, who doesn’t have a central contract, is yet to confirm his availability for the Test series.The match will be played at 3Ws Oval in Bridgetown and is the only tour game before the start of the three match Test series, which starts on April 7 at the Kensington Oval.WICB President’s XI squad: Carlton Baugh (captain), Ryan Austin, Nkrumah Bonner, Johnson Charles, Kyle Corbin, Fidel Edwards, Jason Holder, Delorn Johnson, Nelon Pascal, Kieran Powell, Devon Smith, Devon ThomasEdited by Devashish Fuloria