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Former captain weighs in on Australia’s attack for Edgbaston, and Pat Cummins’ no-ball issues at the WTC final

Andrew McGlashan09-Jun-20230:51

Smith: ‘Intrigued to see how Bazball goes against us’

Ricky Ponting believes that Josh Hazlewood will start the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston ahead of Scott Boland if he is fully fit.Hazlewood was withdrawn from Australia’s World Test Championship (WTC) squad after it was decided he was not quite ready following his truncated IPL, from which he returned home with some side soreness although he was later cleared of any injury.He was said to be “very close” to being available and is on track for the first Test against England, but Boland has continued to make a strong case to be selected as one of Australia’s three specialist quicks.He was the pick of the bowlers in the first innings of the WTC final against India with 2 for 59 from 20 overs, removing Shubman Gill with one that nipped back on the second evening then spearing a delivery through KS Bharat with the second ball of the third day.”Nothing changes for me,” Ponting said. “If Hazlewood is fit and they are 100% convinced that he can get through the game, then I think he’ll start, but if he doesn’t you have a pretty good back-up.”Hazlewood has only played four Tests in this WTC cycle through a combination of injury and the balance of the side on the subcontinent. He made an impressive return against South Africa at the SCG in January but picked up an Achillies injury due to the soft run-ups.Over the last 18 months, Boland has made a remarkable start to his Test career, bursting onto the scene with 6 for 7 at the MCG in the previous Ashes, and appears to be a bowler with all the attributes to be successful with the Dukes ball in England.”Scotty is very impressive,” Ponting said. “The thing the selectors might be thinking about is Josh’s injury record over the last few years. When you look at it, with Scotty bowling the way he is, it’s a pretty compelling argument to say is he in their starting XI for the first Test.”Looking ahead, though, with five Test matches in six weeks, don’t think we can expect either bowling group to get through [fully], both teams will probably have to rest a quick or two here and there through the series.”However, Ponting added that he thinks Pat Cummins’ stated ambition to play all six Tests in the condensed schedule is possible because of the presence of Cameron Green in Australia’s line-up.”In series gone by, where there hasn’t’ been that world-class allrounder to throw the ball to for 15 overs an innings, then it would have been less likely,” he said. “But I think if Pat manages himself well enough, with Green there to help out, I think the captain can get through.”Cummins took three wickets in India’s first innings but cost himself three due to no-balls. On the second day he would have removed both Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane lbw, then on the third he pinned Shardul Thakur in front but was marginally over again.In all Cummins was called for six no-balls, the most he has sent down in an international innings, and Ponting said it was a symptom of his lengthy layoff from the game having not played competitively since the end of February when he left the tour of India early for personal reasons. However, there is evidence that he has been called more frequently since the automated front-foot technology was introduced.”Simple, he’s lacking rhythm, he hasn’t played for three months,” Ponting said. “He’s bowled six no-balls in this innings, two [three] of them have cost him wickets…but he’s never been someone that I can remember that’s been plagued by any kind of no-ball issue.”I just think it’s because he’s not back into full game mode, and not back into his full rhythm. As today went on, I did think he looked better and I think he’ll be better in the second innings as well.”

Eliz-mari Marx gets a maiden call-up for the ODI squad

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2023Fast bowler Ayabonga Khaka and allrounder Nadine de Klerk, who had missed the T20I series against Bangladesh with injuries, have recovered to participate in the upcoming ODI series against them.Marizanne Kapp, who had been rested for the T20I series, is also back for the ODIs. Kapp was recently in action for Sydney Thunder in the WBBL, where her team Sydney Thunder made it to the Eliminator. Chloe Tryon, though, remains unavailable for selection as she continues to work her way back from a groin injury.Eliz-mari Marx, 20, earned her maiden ODI call-up, having recently made her T20I debut against Bangladesh earlier this month. Meike De Ridder is the other uncapped player in the ODI side.Related

• Kapp to miss T20Is against Bangladesh

“Special mention goes to the promising Eliz-mari Marx, earning her maiden call-up – a testament to her talent and potential,” Clinton du Preez, South Africa women’s convenor of selectors, said in a statement. “We believe this squad is well-equipped to deliver an outstanding performance on the field.””I am very happy that we can continue to bring youngsters in to add to the experience we have,” Hilton Moreeng, South Africa women’s head coach said. “We know what is at stake, with both teams having successful ODI series recently, so for us, it’s to make sure, particularly on home soil and after the way we started the T20Is, we can improve on that.The three-match ODI series, which will run from December 16 to December 23, will be part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 qualification campaign for the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 in India.”It’s a different ball game now; it’s the ODIs and there’s a lot at stake regarding qualification for the World Cup, so with the experience that we brought in now, we as a team feel very confident going into the series,” Moreeng said.”We know what the six points will mean for us because post this tour, we will be finishing the year on a high, especially after the way the year started. We just want to ensure we stay focused, stick to our disciplines and execute on the day.”

South Africa squad for ODIs against Bangladesh

Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Anneke Bosch, Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Mieke De Ridder, Lara Goodall, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Sune Luus, Eliz-mari Marx, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Delmi Tucker

The New Zealand quick crushed it in dry conditions, finishing with three wickets on the first day

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Sep-2024In his first outing as a red-ball bowler in Asia, Will O’Rourke was a menace. In his first spell, when the pitch was at its bounciest, he was rapid – sometimes breaching 140kph, and generated uncomfortable bounce from his six-foot-four-inch frame.His first Test wicket in the continent came from a bouncer, with experienced opener Dimuth Karunaratne so shaken by the deliveries O’Rourke had bowled to him previously, that he fenced at one he could have left, and edged it to the wicketkeeper.Pathum Nissanka, a centurion in the last Test innings he played, barely 10 days ago, was dismissed by an even better ball, a rapid, yorker he brought his bat down too late on, and which ended up rattling his stumps.Related

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Often foreign seamers struggle in their first outings in dry conditions. O’Rourke crushed it.”Me and Tim Southee as the pace bowlers have the role to be aggressive and bowl quick and unsettle people – that’s what we’ve talked about with coach Gary Stead and bowling Jacob Oram,” O’Rourke said.In his first five-over spell, O’Rourke took two wickets for 26.”A lot of the talk going into the game was maybe that the pitch was a little bit flat and a little bit slow. We probably wanted to have a bat first. But we had a bowl, and Tim and I were getting good carry, so the communication was to run in hard and hit the deck hard. I probably scattered it around a bit more than I wanted to, but when I hit the right spot I was lucky enough to get a few edges.”O’Rourke’s third wicket was especially impressive. Not only did he get one to rise sharply to smack Angelo Mathews on the index finger late in the first session, causing Mathews to retire hurt at the time. But when Mathews – frequently a good player of fast bowling – returned to the crease, O’Rourke got his wicket with another short, sharp delivery, one that a seemingly muddled Mathews fended at from a bad position.”It’s very special being this early on in my career bowling to legends like Angelo Mathews,” O’Rourke said. “One ball maybe jumped and caught him on the finger and unsettled him a little bit. It’s special to be able to bowl to greats like him and lucky enough to get his wicket at the end.”O’Rourke, in his third Test, is also reveling in having Southee as a mentor. Southee has bowled several memorable spells in Sri Lanka, including in Galle on the morning of the second day in a 2012 Test. Southee also averages an impressive 18.46 against this opposition.”It’s been awesome having Tim as captain. Having another fast bowler as captain who has done as much for the game as he has – it can only be a good thing for a young guy coming through. Getting him at mid-on, or even third slip when he comes over and gives you a wee pointer – that’s a big part of our team and a big part of helping me out.”

Coming off a big defeat and potentially missing key players, Giants are already facing an uphill task against Alyssa Healy’s side

Abhimanyu Bose05-Mar-2023

UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants

Gujarat Giants will return to the DY Patil Stadium a day after the big defeat they suffered at the hands of Mumbai Indians, hoping for a turn of fortunes when they take on UP Warriorz, who will be playing their first game of the Women’s Premier League. But unfortunately for Giants, the problems extend beyond the pitch.Giants replaced West Indies’ Deandra Dottin with Australia’s Kim Garth in the days leading up to the WPL. The team said Dottin was “recovering from a medical situation” but she took to social media to suggest that she is fine. Then, in the first over of their chase of 208 against Mumbai Indians, Giants’ captain Beth Mooney suffered a knee injury while running between the wickets and was helped off the field.Related

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Warriorz, led by Alyssa Healy, will look to get off to a strong start. They have plenty of firepower in their line-up, such as the big-hitting Grace Harris and Kiran Navgire, while their bowling attack features Shabnim Ismail and Deepti Sharma.

Players to watch

For the Warriorz, Healy, Navgire and Harris are the ones who are expected to provide the fireworks with the bat, with able support from Tahlia McGrath, Deepti and Devika Vaidya. They also have Shweta Sehrawat, who was part of India’s U-19 World cup winning team.In the bowling department, Ismail, Lauren Bell and Anjali Sarvani are the pace options, while Sophie Ecclestone and Rajeshwari Gayakwad shore up the spin department on top of the allrounders.For Giants, 25-year-old left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar was among the few bright spots against Mumbai Indians, conceding just 12 runs from her two overs.Dayalan Hemalatha was another, with an unbeaten 29 off 23 deliveries that included two sixes and a four. With Mooney’s availability being uncertain, there will be more of an onus on her to shore up their batting.Ashleigh Gardner, the player of the tournament in the recent Women’s T20 World Cup, picked a wicket but went for 38 and was dismissed for a golden duck against Mumbai, but will be in the spotlight.

Playing XIs

UP Warriorz (possible): 1 Alyssa Healy, 2 Shweta Sehrawat, 3 Kiran Navgire, 4 Tahlia McGrath, 5 Grace Harris, 6 Devika Vaidya, 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Simran Shaikh, 9 Shabnim Ismail, 10 Rajeshwari Gayakwad, 11 Anjali SarvaniGujarat Giants (possible): 1 Sophia Dunkley/Beth Mooney, 2 S Meghana, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Ashleigh Gardner, 5 Sushma Verma, 6 Annabel Sutherland, 7 Dayalan Hemalatha, 8 Georgia Wareham, 9 Sneh Rana, 10 Tanuja Kanwar, 11 Mansi Joshi

Stats and trivia

• Shweta Sehrawat was the top scorer at the inaugural Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup
• Only two players – Hemalatha and Monica Patel – reached double figures against Mumbai Indians for Gujarat Giants

Quotes

“It is an opportunity sure but what I’ll want is that the team does not repeat their mistakes. I will tell the girls to keep their heads high and to learn from today. Definitely we will perform good.””We have a good mix of experience and youth along with ability and look forward to putting on a show for our fans. We are here to win and be ruthless in our brand of cricket.”

Travis Head made a positive 89 but the home side’s hopes were forlorn from the start and it was over shortly after tea

Tristan Lavalette25-Nov-2024Completing a remarkable turnaround, India wrapped up a famous Test victory at Optus Stadium with a 295-run victory over Australia in a one-sided result set to cause aftershocks in the latest tussle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.The result was essentially a formality throughout the fourth day despite counterattacking knocks from Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh. India’s deserved victory was official just after tea when Harshit Rana knocked over Alex Carey as they drew first blood in the five-match series.Related

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It was a memorable performance from India, who drew on a heroic effort from stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah. He claimed eight wickets for the match, while Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli produced outstanding centuries in India’s second innings to decimate a flagging Australia.India had largely been written off after an unprecedented 3-0 home whitewash against New Zealand. They entered the series-opener without having played an official match on tour and were shorthanded without captain Rohit Sharma and injured batter Shubman Gill.Under intense pressure, coach Gautam Gambhir made the right moves and the brave selection calls, which included veteran spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja being left out, were vindicated.Bumrah, particularly, deserves a lot of credit for galvanising a new-look team and he led from the front with a mesmerising spell late on day one to haul India back into the match after they had been bundled out for 150 having won the toss.Usman Khawaja fell to a miscued hook•Getty Images

There is set to be recriminations for Australia, who underwhelmed in their first Test since March’s New Zealand tour. There will be questions raised over the limited preparations of a number of players.Australia’s misfiring top-order will be particularly under the spotlight, especially No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne who scored 5 runs in the match to continue a lengthy form slump.Having started so well on the opening day, Australia’s bowling wilted in India’s second innings with captain Pat Cummins enduring a rare off match. Cummins had not played a red-ball match since March, preferring his series build-up through three 50-over games in the lead-up, and he finished with the modest match figures of 3 for 153 from 40.4 overs.Australia appeared flummoxed with the changing conditions of the pitch, which was spicy on day one before flattening out for most of day two and three. Cracks did widen as the match wore on and created up-and-down bounce to make batting difficult on the fourth day.Resuming at 12 for 3, after a disastrous start amid the shadows late on day three, Australia confronted an India attack eyeing to finish things off quickly.Australia’s hopes of chasing down a record 534 runs were forlorn but they aimed to at least muster some spirit which had seemingly been broken over the last couple of days.After a golden duck in the first innings, having returned to his favoured No. 4 position, Steven Smith fronted up to his nemesis Bumrah, who on the first ball of the day’s play had a loud lbw appeal turned down although in an anti-climax it was a no-ball.Travis Head edged behind for an excellent 89•Getty Images

Smith was relieved when he got off the mark on his fourth delivery with a trademark drive through the covers. But Australia’s woes reared in the next over after opener Usman Khawaja fell off the first short ball of the day’s play when he top-edged quick Mohammed Siraj and was caught by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant running back.Having had lbw issues recently, Smith made a technical adjustment and his trigger movement was not as pronounced as in the first innings when Bumrah pinned him in front of the stumps. Smith still faced a battle and copped a painful blow in the ribs from debutant quick Rana that left him on his back and in agony.He bravely continued batting and combined well with Head, who backed his aggressive instincts and counterattacked as they produced Australia’s first half-century partnership of the match.India dried up the scoring for Smith with Bumrah packing the legside with fielders as pressure built. Smith’s 60-ball resistance ended when he nicked off a superb back of a length delivery from a pumped-up Siraj that straightened off the seam and caught the edge.After a tough return to bowling, where his modestly-paced seamers were treated with disdain on day three by India’s batters, Marsh hoped to finish his home Test match strongly.He was all at sea before the lunch break and hit on the gloves several times but managed to hang in. Marsh and Head, who both entered the match with a limited build-up having been on paternity leave, made batting look relatively easy after the interval in a time of day that had been the best for batting through the match.Head motored towards a century and as per usual attacked any width and continually flayed through the offside, while Marsh struck several lusty aerial blows in a speedy half-century partnership.But Bumrah returned and he produced a superb back of a length delivery that caught Head’s edge on 89 and prompted impassioned celebrations from Kohli.Marsh also missed a milestone when on 47 he chopped on to allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who capped an impressive debut with his first Test wicket.Mitchell Starc was sharply held at short leg, giving Washington Sundar his first wicket of the match, and it wasn’t long before India claimed a victory they will savour for some time as the pressure starts to intensify on Australia.

Mousley takes T20 best 4 for 19, Alex Davies puts Bears run-chase on course with 42 off 24

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay20-Jun-2025Birmingham took the local derby honours against Worcestershire Rapids with a thrilling one-wicket Vitality Blast victory in a low-scoring nerve-shredder at Edgbaston.The Rapids, put in, floundered to 134 all out in 18.4 overs in the face of the experienced Bears spin attack. Dan Mousley took a T20 best 4 for 19, Danny Briggs 2 for 20 and Jake Lintott 2 for 27 as no batter reached 30.Warwickshire then scraped to 135 for 9 with three balls to spare. Alex Davies supplied a violent start and, after Fateh Singh (3 for 18) and Ben Dwarshuis (3 for 32), forced a collapse, last pair Sam Hain (38 not out) and Lintott took the Bears over the line.The Rapids charged to 39 from 21 balls before Mousley struck twice in three balls. Seventeen-year-old Isaac Mohammed, a product of the Edgbaston youth system before joining Worcestershire earlier this year, showed his class with a glorious six over long-off off Ed Barnard but then missed a full toss and was bowled. Jake Libby, off-balance, sliced to extra cover and it was three wickets for four runs from ten balls after Kashif Ali made a porridge of a pull at Briggs and was bowled.Adam Hose struck four fours to restore some momentum but his demise accelerated the collapse. Hose chipped Mousley to deep midwicket, Gareth Roderick swept Lintott’s first ball into the gloves of wicketkeeper Davies and Ethan Brookes drove Briggs to extra cover to supply the bowler’s 300th wicket in all T20 competitions across the world.Mousley’s fourth scalp arrived when Tom Taylor slogged to long-on. Dwarshuis socked Lintott for three successive sixes but, after the sequence was broken by a shrewd off-side wide, hoisted the next ball to long -off.Eight wickets having fallen in 12 overs, the Rapids’ last two wickets found themselves with 26 balls at their disposal. They gathered 15 runs before Jacob Duffy holed out to Barnard to cap the catalogue of carelessness that was the Rapids’ innings.Birmingham soon lost Tom Latham, who skied a slog at Dwarshuis, but were put on course for victory by Davies’ cameo. The captain hit 34 of his 42 runs in fours and sixes before lifting Singh’s first ball to Taylor at long-off.The Bears then emulated the Rapids’ collapse. Taylor took another calm catch in the same position when Mousley attacked Duffy. Warwickshire were still well in control, needing only six per over, but Moeen Ali and Barnard tried to go big and only sent up catches. When Barnard and Kai Smith, pinned lbw, fell to successive balls from Singh, the home side were 86 for 6.The Rapids were on a roll but Hain and George Garton applied some belated intelligence to the batting to add 25 in five overs before the latter was brilliantly caught at point by Mohammed off Duffy. With 21 needed from three overs, the Bears were leaning, as so often, on Hain.Hasan Ali slogged six and glanced four from successive balls in the penultimate over from Dwarshuis to take his side within three of victory. The Pakistan star then skied to deep extra cover but the Bears needed three from the last over, with Hain on strike – and the Bears’ talisman, with mature support from Lintott, saw his side home.

Garth and Gardner help Australia finish their northern summer on a high

AAP28-Jul-2023Phoebe Litchfield became the second youngest Australian woman to hit an ODI century en route to taking her country to a comfortable 10-wicket win over Ireland in Dublin.Chasing 218 for victory, Litchfield hit an unbeaten 106 and Annabel Sutherland hit 109 not out to help Australia reach the target in 35.5 overs.The win wrapped the series up 2-0 for Australia and ended their northern summer tour after drawing the multi-format Ashes series with England to retain the Ashes.Playing without Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Meg Lanning, Rachael Haynes or Megan Schutt in an international for the first time in 14 years, Australia showed a glimpse of the future in the win.Irish-born seamer Kim Garth took 3 for 34 against her old side, while Ashleigh Gardner also claimed 3 for 38.In reply, Sutherland and Litchfield took hold as both struck their maiden white-ball international centuries. Sutherland’s 109 from 101 balls included 11 boundaries, while Litchfield’s 106 from 114 featured 14 fours.At 20 years and 101 days, the NSW prodigy also became the youngest Australian woman other than Meg Lanning to score a century in a 50-over match.”It means a lot,” Litchfield said. “We spoke about trying to have a better start up top, and I have been pretty dry in the runs column. So for Bellsy [Sutherland] and I to go out and win the game, was pretty cool.”The win came after Healy and Perry were both ruled out of the match and withdrawn from The Hundred in England through injury.Perry hurt her knee while batting in Australia’s ODI win over Ireland on Tuesday, and has now been ruled out for up to six weeks with the injury.And after battling through the Ashes with a fracture in her left index finger and right ring finger, Healy suffered a fresh break in her index finger on Tuesday after another blow.Australia expect both to be fit to return for their next international against West Indies in early October, while Litchfield will replace Healy at the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.Healy and Perry’s absences do come as a sizeable blow to The Hundred, given they are two of the biggest names in women’s cricket.Fellow Australian Heather Graham pulled out of the tournament earlier this week due to a calf injury, while Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell will both skip the men’s Hundred to manage their workloads.

Kuldeep Yadav talks about how he revamped his bowling after taking 2 for 42 against Australia in India’s opening game of the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-20231:47

Kumble: Kuldeep’s wicket of Warner was crucial

Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav attributes his recent success in white-ball cricket to an increase in the pace of his deliveries and putting a lesser load on his right leg while delivering the ball.His transformation, especially in ODIs over the last couple of years, has been exemplary and he’s taken it up a notch in 2023. Kuldeep has picked up 35 wickets in 17 innings this year at an average of 16.31 and an economy of 4.68. No other Indian bowler has more wickets in 2023, while overall only Nepal’s Sandeep Lamicchane is ahead with 43 scalps.”Everyone told me my deliveries required pace but no one told me how to do it,” Kuldeep, who dismissed David Warner and Glenn Maxwell in India’s ODI World Cup opener against Australia, said after the game. “Important aspect on a turner is the speed at which the ball turns. At times there are slow turners, important is to vary pace.Related

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“It wasn’t a slow turner [in Chennai], but I had to increase the pace of my deliveries. For example, Glenn Maxwell didn’t get time and if you saw how Smith got bowled (to Jadeja). So, along with turn, pace on deliveries also become important.”The turning point in Kuldeep’s career came after he underwent knee surgery in 2021. During the rehab phase, former India team physio Ashish Kaushik advised him to put less pressure on his right leg and the move seems to have done the trick for Kuldeep. He took 2 for 42 in his ten overs against Australia with both wickets coming at a crucial junctures.”Once I was coming back from injury, it was physio Ashish Kaushik who advised that the load on my right leg should be less,” Kuldeep said. “Post rehab, I implemented that in my training and then in match situations and I felt the difference. It didn’t happen overnight though. It took around six months to get the rhythm back.”Kuldeep Yadav has been raking in the wickets in 2023•ICC/Getty Images

India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey was also pleased with Kuldeep’s rise in the ODl format this year. “The credit should be given to Kuldeep for the fact that he’s worked on it. Sometimes when you have a conversation like that with the bowler, you do get a self-realisation of what are the areas I need to work on,” Mhambrey said. “He’s worked on certain things, made those technical changes and you could see that in his bowling. The speeds have gone up, the lengths and areas have become better and in that sense, there are a lot of big ticks for us.”The way he’s played, the way he has bowled in the last few years. It’s not just the numbers, it’s also the way you adapt. He offers a different variety to the team.”While India went with the spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Kuldeep for their opening fixture of the World Cup, Kuldeep was of the opinion that the combination might well change at other venues.”Not sure about the entire tournament, but over the years, we have seen you can play with three spinners in Chennai,” Kuldeep said. “If the other team had three quality spinners, it would have been difficult for us as a batting unit as well. I think Maxwell bowled well but he didn’t have support from the other end.”

He says the freshly-installed selection panel, headed by Tharanga, had him in their T20 World Cup plans

Andrew Fidel Fernando15-Jan-2024Expect to see more of Angelo Mathews in Sri Lanka’s T20 side this year. Expect to see him bowl more frequently. And because this is late-career Mathews, coming back into the white-ball frame after years of being picked only for Tests, expect him also to be driven by grievance to some extent.Following his first T20I outing in almost three years, Mathews seemed to take aim at the previous set of selectors – headed by Pramodya Wickramasinghe – for working to their own “agendas”. He also said the freshly-installed selection panel, headed by Upul Tharanga, had him in their T20 World Cup plans.In any case, in his first international T20 outing since March 2021, Mathews played a critical role in a last-ball win, top-scoring with 46 off 38 balls. This is after he had taken the new ball and bowled two overs for 13 runs. He thinks he shouldn’t have spent so long in the white-ball wilderness.Related

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“In the last two Lanka Premier League (LPL) seasons I batted and bowled well, but unfortunately I wasn’t selected for the T20 World Cups, and I wasn’t given reasons for that,” he said after the game, having picked up the Player-of-the-Match trophy. “If you take decisions that are driven by agendas, these kinds of things can happen – we haven’t even qualified for the Champions Trophy.”But one thing I believe is that if you train and play wholeheartedly, you can create an environment for yourself where you can perform. I kept my efforts up over the last couple of years. I think I can play for a little while longer.”Mathews’ bowling has been a sticking point over the years. He had been an important member of the attack in arguably Sri Lanka’s best white-ball sides (between 2007 and 2014), where he frequently bowled in the powerplay in T20s. But a growing catalogue of injuries over the years had either prevented him from bowling, or put him in a frame of mind to play only as a specialist batter, depending on who tells the story.More recently, though, he has become a regular contributor of quiet overs again – a role he said he relishes.”The communication with me and the new selectors is quite clear. They asked me what my plans were for the future and [told me] their plans as well. We had a very good discussion. They said that I’m in their plans for the T20 World Cup, and if I could bowl a few overs. I said: ‘Absolutely – if I can help the team in any way’.”I’ve been bowling in the LPL as well, and you saw me bowling in the [domestic] one-dayers as well recently. If I can bowl a few overs that helps the balance of the team and the captain can decide whether he wants to play an extra batter or a bowler.”In this particular match, which he helped Sri Lanka win from a dire position, Mathews said he relied on his experience. Sri Lanka needed 61 off the last six overs, with four wickets in hand, when Mathews and Dasun Shanaka came together at the crease. The pair added 55 runs off 34 balls together, when Mathews was dismissed trying to hit the winning runs (they would come off the bat of Dushmantha Chameera eventually).”When we batted together I talked to Dasun about how if one of us gets out it will be really difficult,” Mathews said. “We thought it would be better if we batted until the 16th or 17th over, and keep the required rate at an achievable level – around 10 runs an over. In the end we had to go after their best bowlers as well. We took some calculated risks.”Dasun played a good innings, and the person who played the most important innings was Dushmantha Chameera who got six off the last two balls, or else everything else we did would have been meaningless.”

The legspinner played an important role in Bangladesh’s 3-0 win over Afghanistan in the recent T20I series

Mohammad Isam07-Oct-2025Rishad Hossain makes regular contributions for Bangladesh. The legspinner’s presence allows Bangladesh to have a varied bowling attack and gives them a fielder who can change the course of the game. Those skills have also raised his stock in franchise cricket. He played for Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2025, after which Hobart Hurricanes drafted him for the upcoming BBL season.Rishad is likely to be available for the full BBL season and is looking forward to link up with Ricky Ponting, the franchise’s head of strategy.”As a legspinner, if I get to play in these foreign leagues, it will be good for me and for my bowling,” Rishad said in an interaction organised by Hurricanes. “I’ll get opportunities to improve my skills.Related

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• Bowlers, Saif hand Bangladesh 3-0 win in T20Is vs Afghanistan

• Saif primed for debut as Afghanistan and Bangladesh do rare ODI battle

“Ponting was one of my favourite players growing up; I used to watch him play. I’m really looking forward to working with him. More than the players, I’m looking forward to working with Ricky Ponting and playing under his coaching.”For Bangladesh, Rishad plays the role of a middle-overs wicket-taker, something he wants to do for the Hurricanes as well.”As a legspinner, my job is to take wickets after the powerplay. I hope to continue that in Hobart,” he said. “My goal is to create doubt in the batter’s mind by using different angles. It’s just another variation. I believe in my strengths, and day by day I’m trying to improve – even if it’s just by one or two percent – without thinking too much about the future.”Rishad also has recent form on his side. He has taken at least one wicket in seven of the last eight T20Is – including five wickets in the recent T20I series against Afghanistan in Sharjah that Bangladesh won 3-0. He will be an important part of Bangladesh’s ODI attack too for the three-match series that begins on Wednesday.”I think it was important to get off to a good start right after the Asia Cup,” Rishad said. “Winning the series is always a good feeling.”What was particularly impressive about the Bangladesh spin attack was how they outbowled the Afghanistan spinners. Bangladesh’s spinners had a much better average and strike rate, even though they took ten wickets compared to 11 by Afghanistan’s spinners. Rishad’s bowling partner Nasum Ahmed was even adjudged the Player of the Series for five wickets at an economy rate of 5.58.”They have a lot of world-class bowlers in their side, so we tried to analyse them as much as we could before every game,” Rishad said about the Afghanistan spinners. “We got success [too].”Bangladesh are also finding out other sides of Rishad. His big-hitting ability became known last year when he cracked seven sixes in his of 30-ball 53 against Sri Lanka. His fielding impact was illustrated by his stunning run-out of Abhishek Sharma in the Asia Cup.”That situation demanded that we take a wicket,” Rishad said. “I was trying to create an opportunity, maybe with a diving catch or a fielding effort – anything to change the momentum of the game since it was on their side at that time, and it happened.”