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Liton Das may have ended up five runs short of a maiden Test century, but he overcame one mental barrier during his day-one innings in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, according to Bangladesh’s new batting coach Ashwell Prince. Das was among three batters to cross fifty and help Bangladesh recover twice, after they had slipped to 8 for 2 and then 132 for 6.Das added 138 for the seventh wicket with Mahmudullah to move Bangladesh towards a position of respectability, but he missed out on a personal milestone when he holed out to fine leg off Donald Tiripano shortly before the second new ball was due.Prince, who is with the Bangladesh set-up only for this Zimbabwe tour, said Das had taken a step towards fixing an issue that’s dogged him through his career so far – of suffering breaks in concentration when set at the crease.”During some of our conversations during the week, he shared that sometimes he gives his wicket away in the thirties or forties, due to lack of concentration,” Prince said. “I told him, if he can bat for more than three hours, forgetting about the score which is on 30 or 40, he’d be close to a hundred. I would like to see how many hours he batted today. We were all quite disappointed for him that he didn’t get the hundred. I think this is a good learning for him.”Prince said Mahmudullah played a crucial role during the partnership, since Bangladesh needed a calm head with the experience of facing such situations in the past. Mahmudullah and Das came close to surpassing the highest-ever seventh-wicket stand against Zimbabwe, but fell four runs short of the mark achieved by Nicky Boje and Prince himself, back in 2005 at Centurion.”Mahmudullah played a really crucial innings for the team,” Prince said. “He was the perfect person for that job at the time. He and Liton Das really complemented one another really nicely. He was watchful, and Liton maneuvered the ball around. At 132 for 6, it was a big partnership for the team.”Prince also praised captain Mominul Haque for his composure, both mentally and technically as a batter. Mominul made 70 to steady Bangladesh after Blessing Muzarabani had rocked them with two early strikes. “The team had lost some early wickets,” Prince said. “It was a crucial period for us. Mominul’s calmness gives a lot of confidence to the dressing room.”His positions were very strong on the crease. He was comfortable at the crease. He is an experienced player, a very good Test player.”Bangladesh, Prince felt, weren’t out of the woods yet, but hoped the lower order could rally around the still unbeaten Mahmudullah.”Ideal scenario for Bangladesh would be for the No 10 and 11 to provide support to the one out-and-out batsman at the crease, Mahmudullah,” Prince said. “Nobody knows how good a score is, until both teams have batted on the pitch. So we can’t take for granted that anything between 290-320 is a good score. The best situation for Bangladesh would be to get as many runs we can get.”

Teams can take a squad of 33 players to cover 15 starting positions in rugby’s next World Cup, and 23 for 11 spots in football’s, but cricket diverges from the norm. England will take a 15-man squad to the T20 World Cup this winter – albeit with the possibility of a couple of reserves as a Covid precaution – and as a result, the ability of back-up players to cover a range of roles is crucial.With that in mind, Liam Livingstone has done his chances of inclusion no harm at all in the first two games of their T20I series against Sri Lanka in Cardiff. An innings of 29 not out off 26 balls and four tight overs of liquorice-all-sort spin that have cost 19 runs do not demand retention in themselves, but have demonstrated the flexibility that Livingstone would add to a touring party as a utility player.”It’s something that I pride myself on, being as versatile as I can,” he said after the second T20I, in which he won the match award after steering England home from No. 6. “It’s something that’s rolled into my bowling as well, trying to bowl both legspin and offspin to give people different options [and] it’s the same with my batting, trying to make myself a player who can bat all the way from No. 1 to No. 8.”While he has made a reputation for himself as a power-hitter who deals in sixes – in last year’s Big Bash, he scored a higher percentages of his runs in sixes (39.4%) than anyone else in the top 25 run-scorers – Livingstone’s innings on Thursday night demonstrated his willingness to adapt, with a single ramped six standing out alongside a series of clips and pushes into gaps to suit the situation and build a partnership with Sam Billings. Four years on from a pair of frenetic innings in his first two T20Is, he looked a different player.Importantly, given England’s logjam of top-three options, it also demonstrated an ability to bat in the middle order. Twenty-five of Livingstone’s last 26 innings in domestic T20 cricket for Lancashire and Perth Scorchers have come as an opener, with Jos Buttler even moving down to No. 4 in order to accommodate him at the top in this year’s T20 Blast, but there is little chance of him batting there in an England shirt.While he will have limited opportunity to do so before the start of the World Cup, Livingstone should consider shuffling down the order for one of his clubs if he can – potentially for Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred – in order to gain more experience in the role, though batting in the middle order for Peshawar Zalmi and Cape Town Blitz two winters ago meant he had something to lean back on.”I batted at No. 4 and 5 in the PSL and in the South African T20 [MSL],” he said. “I guess that’s the reason I go away and play in these competitions: trying to get experience of batting in different roles, which has obviously helped me coming into an England side, batting in a position I’m not really used to.”But it is with the ball that Livingstone is particularly multi-talented, as he has demonstrated in this series. He generally bowls legbreaks to right-handers and offbreaks to left-handers, and while not a prodigious turner of the ball, he gets enough spin both ways to keep batters guessing and forcing them to watch him carefully out of the hand.Related

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“It’s certainly advantageous isn’t it?” Buttler said after Wednesday night’s game. “It’s a fantastic skill to have, to be able to bowl offspin and legspin to international standard. We will potentially see that come into the game more and more. He’s an exciting package, a great guy to have in your squad and your XI.”Livingstone is not the finished article with the ball. Two of the three most expensive overs of his T20 career have come at crunch moments, confirming Lancashire’s exits in the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the last two Blast seasons when Ravi Bopara and Dan Christian took him down, but he insisted that those experiences have been beneficial in the long run.”[My bowling] has always been well-regarded at Lancashire,” he said. “I’ve obviously had a couple of tough moments with it over the last couple of years, but they are the moments that have made me a better bowler. It’s something I’ve worked hard on for this sort of opportunity, to push my way into a team as someone that can offer something in all three facets of the game.”As an excellent outfielder too, Livingstone’s case for inclusion in the World Cup squad is strong: even if he is unlikely to start once Ben Stokes returns from injury, the fact he offers some overs as a second – or even third – spinner, can cover a number of batting roles and is a good option to come on as a substitute fielder mean that he has quickly become England’s Mr Versatile.

Yorkshire 150 (Garton 3-25) and 305 (Ballance 74, Lyth 66, Carson 5-85) beat Sussex 221 (Haines 86, Patterson 4-26) and 186 (Bess 6-53) by 48 runsYorkshire took just 70 minutes to take the four remaining Sussex wickets and complete their second successive LV= Insurance County Championship win of the season at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.England offspinner Dom Bess took the final wicket to finish with figures of 6 for 53 as Yorkshire won by 48 runs. They collected 19 points against Sussex’s four. It was always an unlikely run chase for Sussex but they – and in particular their captain Ben Brown – made a fight of it.”It was a fantastic win, particularly from where we were on the first day,” Andrew Gale, Yorkshire’s first team coach, said. “We didn’t do ourselves justice in the first innings but we showed great character and resilience after that. We won by a decent margin in the end and I’m really proud of them.Related

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“The batting is an issue at the moment but to still be winning games is very pleasing. But we have got to start to put big first-innings scores on the board.”Sussex started the fourth day on 136 for 6, requiring a further 99 runs for victory, with Brown unbeaten on 26 and new batter Ollie Robinson yet to face a ball following George Garton’s dismissal from the final delivery of the previous day.Yorkshire opened up with Steven Patterson from the Cromwell Road End and Bess from the Sea End, and with the second ball of the 59th over – the seventh of the morning – they broke through with the wicket of Robinson. The batter pushed forward to a delivery from Patterson which nipped back and caught him in front of his off stump. Robinson’s 17-ball stay had yielded just six runs.Yorkshire knew they were through to the Sussex tail but Brown and Jack Carson, the offspinner who impressed with a five-for in Yorkshire’s second innings, defied them with a stand of 35. Carson got a thick edge for four off Patterson and repeated the trick when the bowler was replaced by Jordan Thompson.Brown, meanwhile, provided the best stroke of the morning when he drove a full-length delivery from Thompson through the covers for four.But the intervention of England Test captain Joe Root with the ball ended the eighth-wicket stand just when Sussex hopes were beginning to rise again. Root replaced Bess and with his third delivery he made the second breakthrough of the morning as Carson edged to Adam Lyth at first slip for 18, leaving Sussex 180 for 8 and still 55 shy of victory.Sussex lost their ninth in the next over when Thompson plucked out Brown’s middle stump. The Sussex captain had batted for two hours and 21 minutes and faced 111 balls for his 46.And it was all over in the next over when Bess, who had just been hit over mid-on for four by Henry Crocombe, had the batter caught by the leaping David Willey at short midwicket.”It was disappointing to lose but we played some good cricket and came out of this game with a lot of pride,” Brown said. “We were up against a seriously good Yorkshire side with a number of international players and for our young team it was nip and tuck all the way.”Tom Haines looked good again and Jack Carson went toe to toe with the England offspinner Dom Bess. We could have got more runs in the first innings but a few things didn’t go our way.”

Simon Harmer delivered on the threat that he was always expected to pose in the fourth innings at Chelmsford – April conditions notwithstanding – as Essex completed a stunning turnaround victory to extend their home record to 12 wins and a draw in their last 13 games dating back to 2018.In a thrilling denouement to a match that had begun with the champions being rolled aside for 96 on an 18-wicket opening day, Essex overcame a first-innings deficit of 163 to win by 44 runs, completing their defence of a stiff but obtainable target of 168 ten minutes before lunch, as Jamie Porter uprooted Matt Salisbury’s middle stump to complete their first victory of their twin title defence.It was an agonising end for Durham, who had made much of the running throughout the contest, but had been unable to turn their ascendancy into outright dominance, thanks to the champions’ never-say-die knowhow. And no player better epitomised those traits than Harmer, whose final match figures of 10 for 136 included a final surge of five wickets in 39 balls, as Durham were served notice of the quality that sets apart the best red-ball team in the country.Resuming on 60 for 3, with Jack Burnham and Scott Borthwick having steadied the ship after a frantic collapse on the third evening, Durham resumed the same quick-slow tempo that had served them well towards the close, Burnham charged with providing his side some impetus while Borthwick focussed more exclusively on survival.And for the first ten overs of the day, as the pair chipped off a further 23 runs to take the requirement into double figures, Durham’s poise was broadly unruffled, even if three consecutive maidens for Harmer was a quiet reminder that Essex would happily drag this chase out all day if their visitors weren’t minded to make the running.Burnham duly did just that – a scamper to the pitch drawing a scuffed drive through long-on as Harmer conceded his first boundary of the day, but two balls later, his aggression would prove to be his undoing. Harmer served up an apparent drag-down, but the ball skidded onto a back-foot swipe rather faster than the batter had bargained for, and Tom Westley at long-on steadied himself for the skier.At 83 for 4, with Burnham gone for 43, the texture of the contest had altered drastically. Borthwick, now obliged to creep out of his shell while Ned Eckersley got to grips with the contest, climbed into a flowing drive for only the second boundary of his innings, but one ball later, Essex were up in unison for a stumping that, to judge by Adam Wheater’s peeved reaction, was marginal to say the least. It mattered not. Harmer’s juices were now flowing, and his next ball, from round the wicket, straightened to pin Borthwick on the back foot for 24.Durham were now in freefall. Eckersley was dropped at short leg before he had scored, but Sam Cook picked up the mood as, one over later, he angled a pad-thwacker into Stuart Poynter’s motionless feet to pick off the keeper for a six-ball 1. And when Harmer made it three wickets in 11 balls by nailing Ben Raine in front of off stump, again from round the wicket, Durham had slumped to 91 for 7 and the Eagles were circling like vultures.Eckersley’s initial response was an array of panicked swipes at Cook’s waspish line, including a brace of inside-edges past his leg stump, but he showed more poise when Harmer was lining him up, with a thumping sweep and a cultured punch through the covers to exploit the acres of space on the unguarded off side.He had carried the score past 100 in partnership with Brydon Carse, who came out with a runner after turning his ankle on the third afternoon, but Harmer was not to be denied for long. Some extra turn and bounce into the body extracted a gloved strangle to Dan Lawrence at leg slip, and he made it ten for the match when Carse’s uncomplicated thumping gave way to an ambiguous non-stroke on the front foot, and the fourth lbw of the morning.Essex players delight in their victory over Durham•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Eight balls later, Porter had put the seal on a thrilling performance. When Essex last won the Championship (as opposed to the Bob Willis Trophy) in 2019, it was Hampshire who gave them the jolt they required with a first-round innings victory at the Ageas Bowl. It’s not impossible that Durham’s sterling efforts in this contest will have done something similar. To come through a battle royale of that magnitude is the true mark of champions.”It isn’t often we find our backs against the wall like that,” Harmer said afterwards. “What we’ve achieved over the last four years really gave us the belief we could still win from the position we were in.”It shows the character of the boys, and shows that we aren’t only good when we are ahead but we find ways to win. Essex have what money cannot buy. In situations like yesterday morning, it is about the group of guys and you don’t want to let them down.”

Dimuth Karunaratne hit 75 and soaked up 176 deliveries in a century stand with Lahiru Thirimanne, and Oshada Fernando struck an unbeaten half-century of his own later in the day, as Sri Lanka comfortably batted out a draw in Antigua.Missing Shannon Gabriel for part of the day due to a hamstring complaint, West Indies were only able to take two Sri Lanka wickets on a pitch that had become slower and lower for the quicks and yet did not take substantial turn for the spinners. Only the occasional delivery misbehaved, and that was usually out of the rough.Each of the four Sri Lanka batsmen who came to the crease in this innings appeared comfortable. Even if the quicks occasionally took the edge, the ball was likely to die well before it reached the slip cordon, as long as it had been played with soft hands. Rahkeem Cornwall, meanwhile, threatened the inside edge with his straighter deliveries, but none of the thick edges was a viable catch for the fielder at short leg. At no stage was there the dramatic, fast turn – often seen in South Asia on the fifth day – to envenom the slow bowlers.

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It was the 101-run opening stand that laid the platform for Sri Lanka’s successful resistance. Thirimanne was dropped on 17 in the third over of the day when wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva failed to grasp a straightforward leg-side chance off the bowling of Gabriel. But otherwise, the openers were secure right through that session, defending resolutely and finding regular runs into the outfield, mostly square of the wicket.Karunaratne was especially adept at shuffling across the stumps, closing his bat, and hitting into leg-side gaps. In fact, 55 of his runs (73%) came on that side of the pitch, with all but one of his nine boundaries scored there. He completed a half-century shortly before lunch, having hit some memorable on-drives, to go with his leg-side flicks.Thirimanne was more cautious, venturing only two boundaries in the morning, perhaps pushed to reticence by the early chance he gave up. When he was dismissed for 39 off 114 nicking a full Alzarri Joseph delivery to first slip where Cornwall took a sharp, low catch, Karunaratne slowed down too. Although at times in his innings Karunaratne was striking at over 50, his eventual strike rate was 43. Sri Lanka had very clearly decided the target of 377 was going to be too much of a stretch (it always seemed extremely unlikely).Oshada, likewise, did not seem to be overly troubled either by the pitch or West Indies’ depleted attack. He hit out only against the truly wayward balls, picking up frequent singles in between the big shots. He scored more quickly than the openers, reaching his half-century off the 86th ball he faced, but then buckled down soon after. He was 66 not out off 119 when Kraigg Brathwaite decided no result was possible and the match was called off. With Karunaratne having been dismissed by Kyle Mayers late in the second session, Oshada had Dinesh Chandimal for company for the 20 overs that were played in the third session. Chandimal made 10 off 66 deliveries.In the end, this Antigua surface’s refusal to take substantial spin even at the back end of both Tests allowed teams to bat confidently in the fourth innings, greatly reducing the chance of a result. The footmarks did not play a substantial role, and spinners did not become seriously threatening in either Test.The 0-0 result means Sri Lanka failed to win any of their series in the Caribbean, having lost the T20Is 2-1 and the ODIs 3-0. They do maintain their No. 7 ranking in Tests, however, keeping West Indies at eight.

When India face South Africa in the ODI series opener in Lucknow on Sunday, they would be taking the field after a 364-day gap in international cricket. South Africa, on the other hand, have had two full limited-overs series – of three ODIs and as many T20Is each, against Pakistan – during this period. Mithali Raj, the India ODI captain who is 85 away from 10,000 runs in international cricket, would herself be turning out in India colours after 487 days. With the next ODI World Cup in 12 months, Raj, 38, is hopeful that both she and the team will be able to get in into “rhythm” quick enough to challenge South Africa, whom they have faced more times than they have any other opponent since the 2017 ODI World Cup.”I am training the same way I do before any international series. But I am really looking forward to getting more runs. I was in rhythm in the last seriesm against West Indies, in 2019. Hope to do the same here,” Raj, senior-most player in the ODI side, said at a virtual press conference on the eve of the first of the ODI in Lucknow.”This series is very important for two reasons. We have young players, and it is the right platform to give them opportunities in the home conditions. At the same time, it is important to see that the core players get enough game-time to get out there and develop their rhythm, come together and set our standards out there and take it from there,” she said.Related

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In the six games between the two sides, played across two-match bilateral series, since the 2017 50-over World Cup, India, runners-up in that edition, lost only once to South Africa, semi-finalists in that competition. But South Africa have the advantage of more game time under their belt since the 2020 T20 World Cup in March last year, several of their players even playing a domestic T20 tournament in December following the Covid-19-enforced cancellation of the national team’s England tour. By contrast, the India cricketers have had the four-match Women’s T20 Challenge in November as their only opportunity of playing any top-flight competitive cricket in the whole past year.Raj believes that India’s preparations in the lead-up to the series, including the three training sessions they’ve had in Lucknow over four days since completing a five-day quarantine on March 2 – would hold them in good stead.”Clearly they’ve had game time, but we are playing after a gap. Having said that we definitely have put in the efforts, trained ourselves, have these short camps, four days of sessions here,” Raj said. “It doesn’t look like we are rusty or anything. I think the girls clearly are quite excited to get on the field and start putting our best performances because it’s time that we start our campaign for the World Cup, and start playing some cricket.”The girls have been training in their respective places before coming here. During the lockdown, we have all kept in touch and kept up with our routines via Zoom and other apps. We are communicating with the staff. It’s no different in that sense. A lot has gone in the mental set-up because it has been a long gap.”This series is very important for two reasons. We have young players, and it is the right platform to give them opportunities in the home conditions. At the same time, it is important to see that the core players get enough game-time to get out there and develop their rhythm, come together and set our standards out there and take it from there.”From the start of 2017 until November 6, 2019, when India last played the format, they scored 240 runs or more only nine times out of 22 instances while batting first. Among the top eight-ranked ODI teams, India’s tally in this regard is only the fifth-best, with South Africa one place above them.India kicked off their 2017 ODI World Cup preparations with a 50-over game on February 7, 2017. Their last appearance in the format was on November 6, 2019•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Raj said that while India would look to put on about 250 runs when batting first on the Ekana pitch, the priority for the home team in the first match would be to regain lost momentum.”Clearly, coming back into the one-dayers after 15 months, we first look forward to developing a rhythm, a momentum,” Raj said. “If it’s a good batting track, we definitely look forward to around 240-250. It’s something we can start aiming at. But if we get a good start may be, you know, push beyond.””But again, it all depends on how we take the first game, the wicket. But as on today, the girls seem to be very confident. We’ve had some very good sessions. So, clearly, I’m looking at a very confident unit to take the field tomorrow.The South Africa assignment is also the first time since July 2015, when they squared off against New Zealand at home, that India would be playing five ODIs in a bilateral series. Raj said that the length of series might allow her to field the four uncapped players – left-hand batter Yastika Bhatia, legspin-bowling allrounder C Prathyusha, left-arm medium pacer Monica Patel, and wicketkeeper Sweta Verma – named in the 17-member ODI squad.”[I am] Definitely [considering the possibility of trying them out], because it’s a five-ODI series. We have some young players in the side. As captain I would like to give them opportunities to show their talent, so yes, we’re definitely looking forward to giving them opportunities in these five ODIs.”She also explained that though 17-year-old Shafali Verma, the batter with the most runs – 163 – for India and the best strike rate – 158 – among those with 50 runs or more across teams in the 2020 T20 World Cup, was picked only for the T20Is against South Africa, a debut in the 50-over format may not be far away.”She definitely is in the scheme of things, she is on the radar. We need to have a little bit of patience and we will see her very soon,” Raj said, smiling.

Former Sri Lanka seamer Chaminda Vaas has been reappointed the men’s team’s fast bowling coach for their upcoming tour to the West Indies. He replaces Australian David Saker, who resigned as the fast bowling coach on Thursday for personal reasons.Vaas has previously coached the Sri Lankan team on three occasions, in 2013, 2015, and temporarily in 2017. In between stints with the national team, he has been a coach within the SLC system, working with bowlers in the academy, as well as the Under-19 and Sri Lanka A teams. He has also previously held coaching roles with Ireland and New Zealand.Vaas, Sri Lanka’s most successful fast bowler with 355 Test wickets 400 ODI wickets, has worked extensively with most of the bowlers expected to be in Sri Lanka’s squad for the forthcoming tour.Sri Lanka’s West Indies tour begins in under two weeks, with a three-match T20I series starting on March 4, followed by three ODIs and two Tests.

A switch of the Sydney and Brisbane Tests, to give New South Wales more time to deal with its current Covid-19 outbreak, is one of two possible scenarios Cricket Australia is being compelled to consider as state governments begin tightening their borders once more.The cricket, broadcasting and media caravan got out of Adelaide in the nick of time on Saturday and Sunday, in some cases a matter of hours before the state’s premier Steven Marshall announced mandatory 14-day quarantine for recent visitors to greater Sydney.Similar complications are at the heart of discussions about how to possibly reframe the remaining Tests between Australia and India, with the strong preference of CA, Cricket NSW and the SCG Trust to find a way of avoiding the outright loss of the Sydney Test.”The third Test is more than two-and-a-half weeks away, which provides us with time to assess the evolving public health situation on the northern beaches of Sydney,” CA’s interim CEO Nick Hockley said in a statement. “We have made no changes to our schedule and our preference remains to play the match at the Sydney Cricket Ground.”Cricket Australia has developed a solid track record of delivery throughout this most challenging of summers and will continue to make appropriate and proportionate decisions in consultation with our biosecurity team, governments, State & Territory Associations, the Australian Cricketers’ Association, our partners and venues”Switching the Gabba Test to the third game of the series, allowing free movement from Melbourne, to Brisbane and then finally to Sydney, would allow the SCG to still host a match, albeit with likely hard restrictions on crowd numbers and also flow on effects for the Big Bash League schedule.The growing Covid-19 outbreak has forced fresh consideration of other contingency plans, such as playing both the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests in Melbourne. Such a scenario would be as much about ensuring the touring caravan can travel freely onwards to Brisbane, the venue for the final Test, rather than being caught up in Sydney.This plan is believed to be favoured by broadcasters for reducing the amount of travel undertaken by production staff and equipment, and consequently achieving a cost saving. However, the preferences of the BCCI and the Indian touring team will also need to be considered.”CA has prepared for the possibility of Covid-19 hotspots and state border closures over the course of the summer and the protocols that we have put in place have been effective in ensuring the safety and success of the men’s and women’s domestic and international programs to date,” Hockley said.”It was less than a month ago that South Australians were contending with an outbreak of the virus in Adelaide and we have just completed a brilliant first Test at the Adelaide Oval. We faced similar issues in relation to the Melbourne Cricket Ground playing host to the Boxing Day Test and we are now less than a week away from welcoming back Victorian crowds after a difficult year for the state.”We will continue to work closely with all relevant parties to make the right decisions in the appropriate timeframes.”Australia’s stunning three-day victory over India in Adelaide played out against the backdrop of the Sydney outbreak, with David Warner and Sean Abbott travelling early down to Melbourne to ensure they were not caught up in what are likely to be increasing restrictions on travel out of New South Wales.”Of course been chatting about that, fingers crossed it doesn’t escalate too much,” Cummins said. “I think Davey got his own Lear jet down to Melbourne from all reports, so he’s sorted. But of course CA have been amazing with our medical staff there, they’ve thought of every contingency and red hot on our discipline with mask wearing and isolation before coming into the bubble. So fingers crossed Sydney can look after themselves but I think we’ll see Davey and Sean down in Melbourne.”

A phone call from Brian Lara was the catalyst for Andre Fletcher to burst out of his BBL form slump, but he revealed he may not be available for the finals if the Melbourne Stars progress that far as they also prepare for life without Haris Rauf.Rauf was named in the Pakistan Test squad for a two-Test of South Africa starting on January 26 and left Melbourne today after bowling just one over in the Stars’ thumping win over the Adelaide Strikers at the MCG.Fletcher also said he may not see the tournament out. He has signed to play in the Abu Dhabi T10 League for the Bangla Tigers, with the 10-day tournament starting on January 28, two days after the Stars’ last home and away game and a day prior to the BBL eliminator. The BBL finals run from January 28 to February 6. The Stars have already released Ben Dunk from his contract and he is listed to play for the Qalandars in the T10 competition, which is also his PSL franchise.Related

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Fletcher said he would like to stay in Melbourne if it’s possible after receiving tremendous support from the Stars during his lean run of form.”I signed a T10 deal a few weeks before the BBL so I’ll have a think about it, speak to my agent and hear what he says,” Fletcher said. “I would love to stay to be honest.”Fletcher was Player of the Match for his stunning 89 not out, having not passed 18 in his first nine BBL innings this season, and having not passed 50 in his last 30 T20 innings dating back to December 2019.On Wednesday he received a phone call out of the blue from Lara, who is Australia commentating on the BBL for Australian broadcaster Channel Seven, to give him some advice.”He called me and I was surprised, to be honest,” Fletcher said after his match-winning innings. “He was telling me that, looking from the outside, I’ve been striking the ball cleanly and he just told me to give myself that opportunity. Giving myself that chance and playing each ball on its merits.”I’m an aggressive player so there’s no need to go out there and look to [over] power the ball. To be honest, that’s what I did today.”I’ve met him before. He’s a great guy. I told him over the phone, after what he told me I was like, ‘So Brian, now I understand the reason you were so great’.”He told me, feel free to call him any time I wish to, he’s there, he’s open for anything and willing to give me advice.”Captain Glenn Maxwell gave Fletcher a warm and long embrace after he came off the ground.”You could see what it meant to him after the game,” Maxwell said. “He was obviously pretty emotional. He got the phone call from the Prince during the week. Just to have that support behind the scenes was really crucial for him. We know how hard he’s been working in the nets. He’s a great team man as well.”The Stars vaulted back into finals calculations with their huge win over the Strikers and play their last four matches in Melbourne, including three at the MCG, but losing Rauf is a blow to the balance of their side. Maxwell was hopeful that Nathan Coulter-Nile would return from his calf injury soon to bolster their bowling stocks.”We’re equal third but also equal sixth,” Maxwell said. “It’s nice and tight at the moment. Obviously Haris is a big loss but he gets to play Test cricket for his nation and that’s a big achievement. We wish him all the best.”We’ve got Coults coming back from injury really soon so it’s probably good timing if there is a good time to lose Haris.”Coulter-Nile hasn’t played since he damaged his calf on December 26 in the loss to the Sydney Sixers.

Brett Lee has encouraged Australia to give debutant Brendan Doggett the new ball on his Test debut against England on Friday, after Steven Smith declined to confirm who would open the bowling with Mitchell Starc.Doggett, a fast-medium outswing bowler, has been a prolific wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield and has generally been used as an opening bowler by South Australia. Boland also opens the bowling when he plays in the Shield for Victoria but has built a formidable record as a change bowler across his first 14 Tests, taking 62 wickets at 16.53.Related

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Smith, who will stand in as captain for the first Test in the absence of Pat Cummins, would not confirm who will share the new ball with Starc in Perth. “We’ll see in the morning – or hopefully, maybe two mornings,” he said on Thursday.But Lee, who took 310 Test wickets as an Australia tearaway between 1999 and 2008, suggested that Doggett should open the bowling to help calm any nerves on debut.”Maybe that’s the best thing for his nerves,” Lee said at a Fox Cricket event on Thursday. “If they lose the toss tomorrow and they’ve got to bowl first, then Steve Smith might go, ‘Alright mate, you haven’t got time to get the nerves. Take the brand new ball and shape a few away.'”It’s not like he’s just been picked out of the blue. He’s been around the squad now for a long, long time. He’s trained with the guys, he knows the guys very well personally. He’s had a couple of really good Sheffield Shield seasons back-to-back, so he’s done the work and he’s earned that opportunity.”But when you walk out there tomorrow at 10.20am, it doesn’t matter. All that hard work is now going to be transformed. Take that nervous energy, take that pressure, take that opportunity, and hopefully he gets a bag of wickets.Scott Boland and Brendan Doggett will make history for Australia, the first time they have field two Indigenous cricketers in a Test XI•Getty Images

“The thing with Scott Boland is that he can bowl anywhere: I reckon he’d get the ball to seam off ice, he’s so good.”Smith said that Doggett had impressed in Australia’s training sessions at Perth Stadium this week, earning him selection ahead of Michael Neser: “He gets the ball down at nice pace, stands the seam up,” he said. “Hopefully, whenever we bowl, he can get the ball in the areas we know that he can. If he does that, I’m sure he’s going to create plenty of chances.”Curator Isaac McDonald has promised a pitch with “pace and bounce” for the first-ever Ashes Test at the venue and Lee believes that fast bowlers will be rewarded for “patience” across the five days, encouraging them to settle into a fuller length than normal due to the extra carry.”You’ve got to bowl a lot fuller, that five-metre length, over here in Perth,” he said. “The teams that get excited when the ball flies through [to the keeper] generally get punished, because nothing goes on to hit the stumps. [Aim for the] top of off, and that means a fraction fuller if it’s a wicket that’s quite bouncy.”They have to attack, but you can attack and still be patient…. You’ve got to adjust your length in order to hit the top of off stump, which brings in the slips. We will see a lot of catches go through the slips region if there is pace. As a bowler, my form of wicket and dismissals over here is I want the ball to go behind to the keeper, first or second slip, or gully.”