All posts by n8rngtd.top

Openers reach close without loss after Gleeson’s 3 for 32 help skittle Durham for 180

ECB Reporters Network08-Aug-2020Lancashire finished on top at the end of day one of their Bob Willis Trophy match against Durham after bowling out the home side for 180 at Emirates Riverside.Richard Gleeson was the standout bowler for the visitors, claiming figures of 3 for 32, while the rest of the wickets were shared around the attack. Alex Lees provided the only meaningful resistance for the hosts with a patient half-century, while Ben Raine was left stranded on 24 not out at the end of the innings.The Red Rose had a tricky spell to negotiate before stumps, but they closed the day 33 for 0, trailing the home side by 147 runs heading into day two.Despite their struggles in the first innings against Yorkshire last week, Durham skipper Ned Eckersley opted to bat first on a glorious summer’s day. However, the home side’s top-order problems continued, with Sean Dickson falling to a fine one-handed catch from Alex Davies behind the stumps from a swinging Tom Bailey delivery.Cameron Steel was then pinned lbw, leaving a straight delivery from Luke Wood. David Bedingham scored an impressive half-century against the White Rose, but on this occasion he gave his wicket away, playing a loose cut shot to a wide delivery from Gleeson and Davies claimed a simple catch behind the stumps.Resistance came from Lees, who displayed the same patience at the crease as he did scoring a century against Yorkshire. The left-hander and Gareth Harte put on 52 for the fourth wicket, which was only ended by a run out. Harte’s hesitation cost him his wicket when George Balderson connected with a direct hit from backward point. Lees maintained his poise and notched his half-century from 151 deliveries.After Lees reached his milestone, a clatter of wickets ensued. Jack Burnham fell lbw to Gleeson after narrowly surviving an outside edge that bounced short of Keaton Jennings. Lees was put down by Jennings on 61 after Wood found his outside edge, but it only cost Lancashire five runs as Lees became the second run-out victim of the session, Dane Vilas and Davies combining for the dismissal.Eckersley then knicked off to Balderson for 8, leaving Durham seven down before the 150-run mark.Raine provided aggression before being penned back by the Lancashire attack. His attempt to cut loose off Liam Hurt resulted in an edge that just looped over Liam Livingstone at second slip. Hurt’s persistence paid off when Brydon Carse pulled a short ball straight into the hands of Vilas at square leg.Gleeson’s return from the Finchale End yielded the wicket of Matt Salisbury lbw for 1 before Livingstone wrapped up the Durham innings by removing Chris Rushworth caught behind.Lancashire enjoyed a solid start to their reply with Jennings and Davies blunting the new-ball attack of Rushworth and Carse, who struggled to find his rhythm following his return from England’s white-ball squad earlier this month. It allowed Jennings and Davies to settle and leave the visitors unscathed from a nine-over burst at the close.

“You repeatedly called me that word over and over again to the point that I was even saying that’s my name”

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2020Former West Indies captain Daren Sammy has questioned possible references to the colour of his skin while he was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad dressing room in IPL 2013 and 2014. He said he wasn’t aware at the time of the racist connotation of the word used, and has asked his former team-mates to clear the air on it.In a video post on Instagram on Monday, Sammy spoke of some of his team-mates calling him a “degrading” name – in an earlier Instagram Story, on June 7, he had said the word used was , a Hindi word with a colour connotation. In Monday’s post, Sammy said he initially thought the word meant something “uplifting” or “funny” as it often caused “laughter in the moment”. Now that he knows the meaning, though, Sammy said he wanted his former team-mates – whom he did not name – to reach out to him and tell him if they had meant it in “any way, shape or form” that was degrading, and if so to apologise.Sammy said the word had been used for both himself and Sri Lanka allrounder Thisara Perera. In his case, Sammy said, team-mates “called me that word over and over again to the point that I was even saying ‘that’s my name'”. He said he thought it meant “strong stallion”, but he came to know of the real meaning when listening to a show by US-based comedian Hasan Minhaj.”I was listening to Hasan Minhaj talking about how some of the people in his culture view or describe black people,” Sammy said in his Instagram post. “Now that doesn’t apply to everybody, but I say this because of something I experienced. [Previously, on the Instagram Stories post on June 7] I said I was angry after listening to him describing a word that they use to describe black people, which he was saying is not in a good way and it was degrading. Instantly I remembered when I played for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 and 2014, I was being called the exact same word that he described.”I will be messaging those people – you guys know who you are. I must admit, at the time in which I was being called that, I did not know what it meant. I thought it meant strong stallion or whatever it is, and I saw no problems with it because I was ignorant to the fact of what it meant, I thought it meant something else, something uplifting.”But, every time I was called it – it was me and Thisara Perera – there was always laughter in the moment. Me being a team man, I thought, hey, team-mates are happy, it must be something funny. You can understand my frustration and my anger when it was pointed out to me that it wasn’t funny at all, it was degrading.”So, I’m going to be texting you guys, and asking you guys, when you repeatedly called me that word over and over again to the point that I was even saying that’s my name, did you all mean it in any way, shape or form as a degrading word to me.A screenshot of Daren Sammy’s Instagram Story from June 7

“I’ve had great memories in all the dressing rooms I’ve been in, as a T20 player, as a leader in a dressing room, as a captain, I’ve always been one to build up a relationship or build up a team, not bring it down. So, all those who used to call me that, you guys know yourselves, some of you have my numbers, you have me on Instagram, on Twitter, wherever. Reach out to me, let’s have a conversation. Because, if it was in any way, shape or form what Minhaj said it meant, I’m very disappointed, and I’ll still be angry, and deserve an apology from you guys, because I saw all of you guys as my brothers.”So, talk to me, reach out to me, please clear the air.”Sammy had played for Sunrisers in both 2013 and 2014, even captaining them in 2014. Perera had played for Sunrisers in 2013.The Sunrisers franchise has been asked for a comment. However, ESPNcricinfo understands that the franchise is unlikely to make any comment as Sammy did not report the matter at the time and also he has not pointed fingers at the franchise. ESPNcricinfo has also asked the BCCI for a comment.Sammy had also spoken out against racism last week, in the wake of the custodial killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a white policeman in Minneapolis. Floyd died in Minneapolis on May 25 after the police officer held him down with his knee on his neck for over eight minutes while he was handcuffed. The incident, captured on video, has sparked angry protests across the globe, with several cricketers speaking out as well. Sammy was among the very first active cricketers to publicly speak out after Floyd’s killing.

Mark Wood picked for back-to-back Tests, with Olly Stone missing out on recall

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jan-2021James Anderson has been recalled by England for Friday’s second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, at the expense of his long-term new-ball partner Stuart Broad, in a solitary change to the side that won the first Test by seven wickets earlier this week.Broad excelled in tricky conditions for fast bowling in the opening match, claiming 3 for 20 in Sri Lanka’s first-innings total of 135, before serving up 11 maidens out of 17 in their second to help restrict England’s eventual target to a manageable 74.However, with England keen to manage their first-bowling resources with four Tests looming against India, Broad has been sidelined for now, with Anderson demonstrating his readiness for action during England’s truncated intra-squad warm-up in Hambantota earlier this month, where he claimed two economical wickets in his eight-over spell.Related

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A second change to the fast-bowling ranks had been anticipated, with Mark Wood earmarked for a break after toiling through 27 wicketless overs at Galle last week.Wood’s fellow 90mph fast bowler, Olly Stone, had been touted for a second Test appearance after impressing in practice in recent days – especially given the concerns over Wood’s workload given his regular injury issues.However, Wood has been inked in for back-to-back Tests – just as he was in South Africa this time last year, where he starred in the second of those contests with a Player-of-the-Match performance. Instead, he looks set to be one of the players rotated out of England’s squad for the first two Tests in India, which is due to be announced later on Thursday.”It’s going to be a big challenge throughout this winter,” Joe Root, England’s captain, told the BBC prior to the team announcement. “As a bowling group in particular, we’re very aware for us to win and do well this winter, it is going to take a squad effort. It’s not going to take two or three players, it will take a real squad effort.”It’s very important that when these guys get their opportunity, they throw absolutely everything into the games that they play. I thought the guys did brilliantly in the first game. Whoever gets the opportunity in the second game has to better that. That’s a really exciting place for us to be as a squad.”England team for second Test: 1 Dom Sibley, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Jonny Bairstow, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Dan Lawrence, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Sam Curran, 8 Dominic Bess, 9 Jack Leach, 10 Mark Wood, 11 James Anderson

Roshan Mahanama, the former Sri Lanka batsman, will step down from the ICC elite match referees panel at the end of the year so that he can spend more time with his family and focus on his business activities in Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Sep-2015Roshan Mahanama, the former Sri Lanka batsman, will step down from the ICC elite match referees panel at the end of the year so that he can spend more time with his family and focus on his business activities in Sri Lanka.Mahanama joined the elite panel in 2004 and has refereed in 58 Tests, 222 ODIs and 35 T20Is till date, including in three World Cups and the Champions Trophy 2009.”This has been an extremely difficult decision as I am very passionate about cricket, which has been an integral part of my life for over 40 years as a cricketer, coach and ICC match referee,” Mahanama said. “However, in life a time comes when one has to keep moving forward based on obligations and priorities. My time has come to devote an uninterrupted focus and attention to my family, who made massive sacrifices over the years to enable me to pursue my career for over three decades.”Geoff Allardice, the ICC general manager – cricket, thanked Mahanama for his contributions. “Roshan has been one of the pioneers of the elite panel and has been an integral component during the phase when the referee’s role was evolving,” Allardice said. “Roshan, very efficiently and intelligently, integrated his cricketing knowledge into match management skills to earn huge respect and appreciation from the entire cricketing fraternity.””Roshan’s hallmark as a match referee has been his meticulous preparation and methodical approach,” Vince Van Der Bijl, the ICC senior umpires & referees manager, said. “His efficiency and dedication to the task in serving cricket has shone through his time with the ICC.”

Pakistan’s lower order wagged impressively, but Mitchell Starc took a six-wicket haul before the follow-on was enforced

The Report by Danyal Rasool01-Dec-2019Pakistan ended the third day needing 248 more runs simply to avoid an innings defeat, with the scorecard reading 3 for 39. However, they arguably won the day, and unarguably enjoyed their best one all tour as Yasir Shah produced one of the more unexpected Test centuries.That there’s no contradiction in those statements tells you much about how the previous two days might have gone. With Pakistan having bowled – and then batted – themselves out of any prospect of winning or probably drawing, they emerged unburdened from expectations and, for the first time, made Australia work for their wickets. Babar Azam agonisingly missed out on back-to-back hundreds by three runs, with the standing ovation the Adelaide Oval gave him suggesting they wouldn’t have begrudged him getting there.Yasir Shah brings up his maiden Test hundred•Getty Images

But for the faithful in Pakistan who rose early on a Sunday morning, the reward would come in the form of a deliciously insouciant maiden first-class century from Yasir, whose assured strokeplay did little to flatter his team-mates already back in the pavilion. Partnerships with Azam and Mohammad Abbas took Pakistan up to 300 in their first innings, before much of that good work was undone by yet another top-order capitulation. Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali and, most damagingly, Azam had all been dismissed in a rain-interrupted final session that keeps Pakistan on life support for one more day.The pitch appeared to have flattened out significantly from the previous evening, any hint of lateral movement having disappeared. Azam and Yasir found themselves more confident when driving on the up with little variable bounce to concern them. There was, perhaps, less intensity in the field from Australia, and an expectation (not exactly unreasonable) that Pakistan would just give up their wickets tamely. But Azam was digging in, as he always does, while Yasir had quickly realised batting here was much more fun than bowling, and determined to be remember in this game for all the right reasons.There was fortuitousness for the legspinner; he was missed on no less than three occasions – on 35 (a stumping), 43 (a dolly of a caught-and-bowled to Marnus Labuschagne) and 106 (another simple chance to Labuschagne at short leg) – while Steven Smith’s position at slip to Nathan Lyon meant a couple of potential chances fell short. But just when Azam began to take on Labuschagne and move inexorably towards three figures, one lapse in concentration would cost him. Mitchell Starc angled one across and Azam drove on the up, only to get an edge that would see Tim Paine take a sharp diving catch. In denying Azam his milestone, Starc got his: a five-wicket haul that would become six the very next delivery when he pinned Shaheen Afridi lbw.Mitchell Starc acknowledges his five-wicket haul•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

However, instead of folding, Abbas had some scores to settle, too. The sort of unfashionable patience and grit he reserves for his bowling came in handy with the bat as the scoreboard ticked over. Even as the new ball was taken, Abbas held firm, ensuring Yasir would be allowed to complete a remarkably unlikely century in a ninth-wicket stand of 87. Yasir looked for all the world to have scooped one to mid-on when one run short, but the ball went over, and Yasir roared exultantly.Much of the day had been dominated by speculation of when exactly it would rain and whether it would impact Paine’s decision to enforce the follow-on. With Pakistan having hung around longer than anticipated, Australia were expected to bat again, but with the evening session under lights looming Paine put Pakistan back in for a tricky four overs before the dinner break.It was too long for Imam, who failed to keep out a Josh Hazlewood inswinger on his ninth delivery. When Azhar nicked off to second slip soon after, moments before a cloudburst forced everyone off the field, the feel-good factor that had accompanied the wagging of the tail had long since evaporated.The rain came and went for much of that final session, but there was still time to deal the heaviest body blow to the solar plexus of the Pakistan line-up. It takes an exceptionally good delivery to leave Azam flat-footed, but that’s exactly what Hazlewood delivered with his slightly short length around off stump that drew the edge.Azam would be forced to trudge off for 8, the sixth time Hazlewood had dismissed him at the cost of just 69 runs. It might have been the cue for the rest of the side to begin packing their suitcases, but the rain ensured there is at least one more day before another sorry chapter can be added to the miserable book that chronicles Pakistan’s tours to Australia over the past quarter century.

Batty will head the set-up, with Kala and Keightley his assistants, while George will be the fielding coach, like he is with the Capitals men’s side

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Feb-2023Delhi Capitals have roped in former Surrey, Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire wicketkeeper-batter Jonathan Batty as their head coach for the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL).Former India international Hemlata Kala, and Lisa Keightley, the former Australia cricketer with vast coaching experience, have been named the team’s assistant coaches. And Biju George, who has previously worked with the India women’s team, has been named the fielding coach. He is also the fielding coach of the Capitals men’s side.Batty has extensive coaching experience when it comes to women’s cricket. He coached Oval Invincibles to the title at the women’s Hundred in 2021 and 2022, and has also been head coach at Melbourne Stars in the WBBL and the Surrey women’s side.Related

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“It’s an incredible time to be involved in Women’s cricket and the WPL has the potential to transform the landscape of women’s professional sport globally,” Batty said in a statement.Kala played seven Tests, 78 ODIs and one T20I and has also been chief selector for women in the past. “I am looking forward to putting together our squad ahead of the inaugural edition of the tournament, which I am confident will be a gamechanger for women’s cricket,” she said of the player auction.Keightley, the current Sydney Thunder head coach, played nine Tests, 82 ODIs and one T20I in a decade-long career. She was at the helm of the England team when they made the final of the 2022 ODI World Cup, before stepping down in August last year. She has also been head coach of Perth Scorchers in the past.”I’m very excited to be involved with the Delhi Capitals and to be working with so many different players and staff from around the world,” she said. “WPL is a game changer for women’s sports around the world, and we have the opportunity to showcase cricket to a new audience.”The player auction ahead of the inaugural WPL will be held on February 13 in Mumbai, while the tournament will be played between March 4 and 26. All the matches will be held in Mumbai.

Heather Knight says players want to rebuild momentum for women’s game after long wait

Valkerie Baynes17-Sep-2020England and West Indies Women plan to honour the Black Lives Matter movement when they begin their long-awaited T20I series next week.Heather Knight, the England captain, has been in contact with her West Indies counterpart, Stafanie Taylor, and the pair plan to further discuss how best to mark the movement during the five-game contest starting on Monday.The teams also will also wear the Black Lives Matter logo on their shirts, just as the England and West Indies men’s teams did during their Test series in July. Both teams and their support staff also took a knee before play throughout that series, as did England and Ireland during their three ODIs.But England, Pakistan and Australia opted not to perform the gesture in their subsequent series, drawing criticism in recent days from former West Indies great turned commentator Michael Holding.”We’ve had a chat as players and we definitely want to do something to honour the movement and give our support to it and keep the conversation happening,” Knight said.”We haven’t had a chance to catch up yet, it’s quite hard because we’re in two separate bubbles in one big bubble so I’ll speak to Stafanie over the next few days to work out exactly what that looks like for both teams. But us as players, we want to do something and we’re working to support it.”With India and South Africa cancelling planned tours in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Knight admitted there were times when the prospect of there being no international women’s cricket during the English summer had crossed players’ minds.In May, Clare Connor, the ECB’s managing director of women’s cricket, said she would be “devastated” if there were no international women’s fixtures on English soil this summer.With England’s men having crammed all 18 of their scheduled international fixtures into a truncated summer, Knight said she would have felt “jealous” if the women had not been able to play and she praised the efforts of the ECB and CWI to arrange the tour, something she believed would not have happened just a few years ago.”I think the way the ECB have been, we knew that they were going to do everything in their power to try and get some cricket on,” Knight said.”They’ve done exactly what they would have done for the guys, which is real progress. I don’t think that would have happened sort of three or four years ago. So I think we knew that there was a good possibility that we’re playing and that was great that is locked in.”England Women’s captain Heather Knight returned to individual training in June•Getty Images

With the England men’s season concluding at the end of their ODI series against Australia on Wednesday, the women have the international stage all to themselves.The matches will be broadcast on Sky and the third game – on Saturday, September 26 – will be shown live on the BBC, the first time an international women’s fixture has been on free-to-air TV in the UK since the 1993 World Cup final.That presents an opportunity that is not lost on Knight or her squad, to rebuild some of the momentum of the T20 Women’s World Cup, which culminated more than 86,000 fans watching Australia defeat India in the final at the MCG in March, shortly before the pandemic closed down international sport and prompted many countries around the world to go into lockdown.Joking that the “weather owes us one” after their T20 World Cup semi-final against India was washed out, allowing India to progress on the strength of finishing top of their group, Knight said her players were also keen to expand on the form they had begun to unearth at the tournament.”We’ve got a real opportunity to show what we can do in these five games,” Knight said. “I think so many people are happy to have sport and cricket back on telly and hopefully they’ll tune in.”We’re looking to really push forward now as a side. We started to see a bit of a shift towards the back end of the World Cup in terms of how we want to play as a team. Obviously the weather cut that short a little bit and we weren’t able to really see where we could go but we’ve had a lot of planning time leading into the back end of the summer.”We’ve had a chance to sit down as senior players and coaches and work out where we want to go as a side and try and really push the limit of how good we can be. That’s been quite exciting and hopefully we can show that in the five games.”

Mitchell Santner hit the winning runs for the visitors in a dramatic final over

The Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando03-Sep-2019For the second time in succession, a substantial fourth-wicket stand swung a run-chase decidedly in New Zealand’s favour in their T20I series in Sri Lanka. Despite a drama-filled final over, in which two wickets fell, and a third should have had two fielders not collided at wide long-on, fifties from Colin de Grandhomme and Tom Bruce proved sufficient to propel the visitors to victory with two balls and four wickets to spare. New Zealand thus sealed the series, despite not having had the services of their two most prolific T20 batsmen – Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor – for this innings.The chase, which had several similarities with Sunday’s performance, was calculated. Once again, Sri Lanka took three early wickets – Akila Dananjaya striking three times in the space of seven balls. But then de Grandhomme and Bruce came together, and the pair calmly set about building a partnership, picking up the singles and twos on offer first, before taking aim at the boundary only later in their association. Like on Sunday, Sri Lanka should have had New Zealand’s eventual top-scorer dismissed for 36, but substitute fielder Lahiru Madushanka slipped beneath the high chance off de Grandhomme’s bat, and could not even get a hand to the ball. He would go on to make 59 off 46, Bruce would be out in the last over for 53 off 46, and it was their 109-run stand off 88 balls – a record for New Zealand against Sri Lanka – that formed the spine of the innings.Sri Lanka had not bowled particularly well – Lasith Malinga in particular conceded 39 runs in four wicketless overs – but still had one final chance of sneaking a victory, when legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga ran Bruce out first ball of the final over, and then had Daryl Mitchell caught at long-on next ball. New Zealand still needed seven from the last four deliveries, and should then have lost Mitchell Santner to make it three successive wickets. But Shehan Jayasuriya, who took an outstanding running catch at wide long-on, was tripped up in his stride by an oncoming Kusal Mendis, and was sent crashing into the boundary. Both fielders might have sustained substantial injuries, taking several minutes to get up. What was worse was that a ball that should have provided a dismissal had now conceded a six – Jayasuriya unable to jettison the ball in time.Earlier, Guptill had to go off the field with a sharp pain in his abdomen, and was unavailable to bat. Taylor had been ruled out of this game with a hip injury sustained during practice.New Zealand had to shuffle their top order to make up for Guptill’s absence, sending Tim Seifert in to open, and promoting Scott Kuggeleijn to a pinch-hitting No. 3. But Akila quickly sewed up the top three, having Colin Munro caught at long-on in his first over, before nailing Kuggeleijn and Seifert lbw in his second.Thanks to some early boundaries, however, de Grandhomme and Bruce had time to play themselves in. Once the Powerplay ended, they respected the spinners, until in the 12th over, against Hasaranga, they decided to hit out again. Two fours and a six from that over set New Zealand back on track with the asking rate. With regular boundaries coming after that, they would not fall behind again. De Grandhomme completed his fifty in the 15th over, and the pair’s century stand came up in the 18th. The batsmen had given their team such a cushion that even those dramatic late wickets could not sufficiently shake the chase.Sri Lanka’s own innings had been a stuttering effort, in which virtually every batsman who came to the crease appeared to go through a period of struggle. Kusal Mendis did his best to compensate for Kusal Perera’s lack of timing, hitting two memorable leg-side sixes in his 26. Even Mendis could not strike at better than 108, however, and Sri Lanka’s run rate at the end of the Powerplay was only slightly over six. It did improve through the middle period, as Niroshan Dickwella and Avishka Fernando prospered against spin in a third-wicket partnership worth 68 off 44 balls, but after those two batsmen departed – for 39 and 37 respectively – the middle order could not quite provide an explosive innings. Sri Lanka’s 161 for 9 was perhaps 15 runs short.

In a terse press conference, Australia’s head coach reiterated that Maxwell’s continued omission from the Test side had nothing to do with factors outside of cricket

Andrew McGlashan10-Jan-20191:13

Langer’s ‘grumpy’ exchange with reporter on Maxwell question

Another day, another drama around Australian selection. Head coach Justin Langer was involved in a tense exchange, which he later apologized for, as he said he had “zero knowledge” of guidance given to Glenn Maxwell last year for him to not take up a county deal in England on the assumption that he would be selected for Australia A.That Australia A place, for a tour of India, never transpired – the justification given was that enough was known about Maxwell’s ability on the subcontinent – and Maxwell was then not selected for the Test tour of the UAE with the instruction of Langer to go and “score more hundreds” to push his credentials. Due to white-ball commitments he has since played just two first-class matches and was not part of Australia’s revamped Test batting line-up to face Sri Lanka.Speaking on Wednesday, national selector Trevor Hohns said he did not know about any instruction to Maxwell not to spend time in county cricket last year. He added Maxwell was “content” to focus on white-ball cricket ahead of the World Cup, but acknowledged he still had a strong desire to add to his seven Test caps. Maxwell opted against putting his name into the IPL auction this year, instead taking a county stint with Lancashire that will include both first-class and one-day cricket.The guidance to Maxwell to put rest ahead of county cricket last year – following the one-day tours of England and Zimbabwe – was understood to be made before Langer was appointed the new coach in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal. When pressed on the issue he went back and forth with a journalist before saying he had no knowledge of it.Glenn Maxwell walks off in the rain•Getty Images

“Are you certain that’s what happened,” Langer asked of the instructions given to Maxwell, with the journalist responding, “I’m asking”. After two rounds of this, Langer was asked who gave the directive to which he replied: “Did it happen?””Well you’re telling me it did happen, I’m asking did it happen?” Langer repeated. “No, I’ve got zero knowledge of that,” he then said, before calling it “careless whispers”.Before answering the next question, Langer apologised: “Sorry for getting grumpy,” he said. “I don’t like getting grumpy but there’s so many stories that go around about so much stuff. Sorry everyone for getting grumpy. I didn’t mean to get grumpy, but the truth is a beautiful thing.”Before the exchange about the details of the county deal, Langer had reiterated that Maxwell’s continued omission from the Test side had nothing to do with factors outside of cricket.”Glenn is crystal clear from me and the selectors, what he needs to do to get back in the Test team,” he said. “He’s shown he is brilliant around the group in white-ball cricket. There’s been some reports about personality. It is literally false. It’s not true. He’s crystal clear what he has to do and that’s important, that he knows that and I know that as the coach and one of the selectors. All the conjecture about it – that’s all part of the noise. Glenn knows exactly what he has to do.”*Cricket Australia later confirmed Maxwell had in fact been sent a planning email in April discussing his options for the coming year, in which mention was made of resting between the limited-overs tours of England and Zimbabwe and the Australia A tour of India a few weeks later. However a spokesperson denied that the planning email, a common part of discussions between CA and the players, was tantamount to a guarantee of selection.Selection has been a key debate through the Australian season with the absence of David Warner and Steven Smith leaving a threadbare Test batting order. Marnus Labuschagne was the surprise choice to bat No. 3 in the final Test against India while Matt Renshaw, Joe Burns and Will Pucovski have been called up for the series against Sri Lanka. There have also been considerable changes to the one-day team that will face India.Maxwell remains part of the one-day set-up but has been asked to take a role lower down the order in recent times, batting at No. 6 in last year’s series against England and South Africa, having been briefly dropped from the team after a lean run in 2017. He has made one half-century in his last 14 ODI innings.*GMT 0845 The story was amended to include this paragraph.

Hit close to his left ear while ducking a bounce on Thursday, the Pakistan captain woke up with a headache and didn’t take the field

Osman Samiuddin in Abu Dhabi19-Oct-2018Sarfraz Ahmed did not take the field on the fourth morning of the second Test in Abu Dhabi, after he woke up in the morning complaining of a headache. He has been taken to hospital for what management said were precautionary scans.His place behind the stumps was taken by Mohammad Rizwan and on the field as captain by Asad Shafiq.Sarfraz ducked into a back of length delivery from Peter Siddle in the 89th over of Pakistan’s innings on the third afternoon. The ball struck him close to his left ear as he turned his head away. He was on 32 at the time and required treatment. He then batted on for nearly 30 overs without any apparent discomfort, the second last man to be dismissed for 81.Sarfraz has been in the trenches through what has been a redemptive Test. He was hit on his left forearm by a Mitchell Starc short ball on the first day, late in his innings of 94. Rizwan was actually called back into the squad on the basis of that blow and could have kept wickets on the second day under new rules that allow a substitute fielder to take the gloves.In the event, Sarfraz was fit enough to take his place on the field an enjoyed a productive day as Australia were bowled out for 145.It is not yet clear how long Sarfraz will stay off the field.