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A round-up of the Dhaka Premier League matches on June 20, 2016

Mohammad Isam20-Jun-2016Abahani Limited took another step towards the Dhaka Premier League title, beating Legends of Rupganj by 60 runs at the BKSP-3 ground in Savar.After being put in, Abahani’s batsmen made solid contributions to lift them to 290 for 8 in 50 overs. Rupganj were bowled out for 230 in 44.4 overs, with Mosaddek Hossain, the offspinner, taking 5 for 43.Both teams are now level on points – 20 each – but Abahani are on top on account of more wins.Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das, the Abahani openers, added 76 runs for the first wicket before left-arm spinner Taijul Islam had Tamim caught at long-on in the 17th over. Then Liton, having made 51 off 69 balls, was caught at short midwicket as Rupganj fought back to reduce Abahani to 112 for 4 in the 28th over.Shakib Al Hasan and Mosaddek Hossain regained the advantage with a 140-run fifth-wicket stand. Shakib, who made 66 off 57 balls, was severe on everything short. The best of his six fours and two sixes came via cuts and pulls. Mosaddek preferred the cover drive and chips over midwicket. He made 73 off only 55 balls, with eight fours and two straight sixes. Both batsmen fell in the space of nine balls between the 45th and 46th overs which prevented Abahani from making 300.Taijul finished with 3 for 45. Asif Ahmed claimed 3 for 57 in nine overs and Alauddin Babu took 2 for 35. Jahurul Islam took four catches, the most by an outfielder in a DPL List-A match, joining Tushar Imran, Hasibul Hossain, Raqibul Hasan and Naeem Islam.The Rupganj chase began horribly. They lost their top three in 8.3 overs. Jahurul and Junaid Siddique were bowled by Shakib and Mosaddek respectively when the batsmen tried to slog across the line. Soumya Sarkar’s stumps sustained damage as well after he was beaten by Taskin Ahmed’s pace.A 59-run fourth wicket stand fanned hopes of a recovery but Nahidul Islam was stumped off Shakib for 36 and his partner Mohammad Mithun was caught at long-on for 55.Asif Ahmed hammered 70 off 54 balls with five sixes and three fours, but with no one else contributing Abahani’s total was never under threat. Asif was the last man out, but he seemed to suggest he wasn’t ready for the Taskin full toss that bowled him in the 44th over.Mosaddek was adjudged Player of the Match for the third time in the DPL having taken a five-for to go with his half-century.In Fatullah, Prime Doleshwar Sporting Club beat Victoria Sporting Club by 91 runs. Despite that, both teams are out of contention for the titlePrime Doleshwar amassed 333 for 5 in their 50 overs thanks to a 96-ball 100 from opener Raqibul Hasan. Victoria were in and excellent position to chase the target down with the openers Abdul Mazid (50) and Jubair Ahmed (56) and their No. 3 Mominul Haque (61) making fifties each. But they collapsed from 201 for 3 to 242 all out. Left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam took 3 for 44, while Al-Amin Hossain and Rahatul Ferdous took two each to secure the victory.Prime Doleshwar were able to post a strong total despite losing an early wicket – Imtiaz Hossain was dismissed for 8 in the first over – thanks to Raqibul and the partnerships he led – 70 runs for the second wicket with Rony Talukdar, then 124 for the third wicket with Sachin Baby, who made 64 off 92 balls. Raqibul raised his first hundred of the season off 94 balls, but was dismissed soon after.With 14 overs left and a foundation of 202 for 3 to work with, Nasir Hossain plundered an unbeaten 74 off 42 balls to push the score well beyond Victoria’s reach.In Mirpur, Ariful Haque’s unbeaten century sealed a thrilling one-wicket win for Mohammedan Sporting Club against Prime Bank Cricket Club.Fast bowler Rubel Hossain, who had his national contract reinstated yesterday, was given the final over with six runs to defend. Mohammedan took singles off the first two balls, but lost three wickets in the next three due to run-outs. The last of those came about in unsavoury fashion.Off the penultimate ball, an appeal was made for lbw that was turned down by the umpire, even as Ariful and Subhasis Roy tried to take two. Prime Bank appealed for a run out on both ends, but the batsmen were ruled not out, prompting the Prime Bank players to go off the field for 15 minutes as protest. They were persuaded to return by the match referee, and Subhashis was declared run out.Ariful took strike for the final ball on 99. With two runs required, he struck a four through third man to seal the win.Prime Bank’s total of 244 had seemed more than enough when Ariful had come to the crease at 76 for 4. But he didn’t give up. He added 61 runs for the fifth wicket with Mushfiqur Rahim (50), added 59 more for the seventh wicket with the Faisal Hossain and finally shepherded the team across the line amid intense pressure.In a game of small margins, Prime back would rue the disappointing returns in the latter overs of their batting innings. Sabbir Rahman’s 77 off 66 balls and opener Unmukt Chand’s 40 off 62 balls had helped them to 196 for 5 in the 41st over, but it ended with Shuvagata Hom’s wicket, and thereafter, Prime Bank lost their way and were bowled out before facing their full quota. Shahidul Islam, Faisal, Enamul Haque jnr and Naeem Islam took two wickets each; Habibur Rahman and Roy took a wicket apiece.

The potential cost of reducing the tournament length will mean changes are made in-game

Daniel Brettig10-Jun-2020Next summer’s Big Bash League will be subject to a host of in-game tinkering that does not allow for a wider debate over the tournament’s overall value to broadcasters, and stops short of the macro changes desired by its independent reviewer, the respected television executive Dave Barham.At a time of major upheaval in the game, as Cricket Australia, its state association owners, and the Australian Cricketers Association haggle over cricket’s cost-base and general finances in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 10th edition of the BBL will not depart from the 56-game regular season and five-game finals series that formed the basis of the league’s major increase in rights value to be worth about half the A$1.18 billion total in 2018.Instead, the BBL’s managers, including the tournament head Alistair Dobson and CA’s executive in charge of events, Anthony Everard, are to propose a raft of tweaks to playing conditions to the joint CA-ACA and umpires playing conditions committee that is due to meet in July.These changes are expected to include:

• Bonus points available to teams for their progress at the 10-over point of an innings
• Substitutions also allowed within that same period
• Powerplay split between the first four overs of the innings and two overs floating elsewhere
• Free-hits for the bowling of wides
• The addition of extra breaks for advertisements and player strategy after every five overs.
• A draft for overseas players is also expected to be up for consideration

While Barham has publicly raised the question of the tournament’s size in addition to his findings in a confidential discussion report tabled to CA earlier this year, the governing body is understood to be extremely hesitant about opening up any form of content-level discussion with its broadcasters Fox Sports and Seven, due to the likelihood of any reduction in content meaning a discount in the fees owed. This has certainly been the case for the AFL and NRL, which have had to put on shorter seasons due to the impact of Covid-19 and paid for it in terms of rights fees.CA’s earlier announcement of a full schedule of international cricket for the summer was geared at the same outcome, to calm any fears among domestic and overseas broadcasters about the possibility of reduced amounts of matches – none more vitally than the 10 fixtures to be played between Australia and India in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.Debutant Nathan McSweeney made a spectacular attempt to catch Steven Smith•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

At the same time, the inclusion of white-ball fixtures against New Zealand in the back half of January appear to crowd the period in which Barham and others have hoped the BBL will conclude in, free of competition from international matches so as to ensure the likes of David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins join their other Australian counterparts in taking up deals with local clubs. Declining standards of overseas players has been an issue, as the Bangladesh Premier League has been successful in attracting players to earn more money for fewer games.”I hope they’re brave,” Barham told this week. “I hope they actually make some serious change and be brave and be bold because I wouldn’t want the Big Bash continue on the path it’s on. It’ll always be an interesting deal, and I think sports have really got to look at quality over quantity and I always look at the NFL. They’ve got 16 rounds, it’s been 16 rounds for a long time and it’s so easy for sporting administrators to think we need more money, let’s play more, let’s do more.”It’s not necessarily the best answer; the NFL rights have been going through the roof and they haven’t changed the number of rounds ever as far as I can tell. It depends on your ratings. The AFL’s now gone to that format and that’s what it is and has been established, but cricket went from 35 games to 61 in two years. So 35 games to 61 is a massive increase that is way out of proportion.”That’s really tested everybody, and it was a school holidays sport that was doing a million people a night on Channel Ten, that’s a massive audience, averaging more than what AFL and NRL did on a per-game basis. So you go from a million people a night, and I think they’ve dropped 40% in ratings by expanding. You’ve got to look and think carefully before you think that the answer is just putting on more games.”There has been considerable debate between CA, broadcasters and the ACA about the shape of the BBL and its size. While the extra games attracted a greater fee, production costs to cover 61 games, a significant number of them in regional centres, have added to the balance sheet headaches for broadcasters while they have also seen audiences thinning out as a result of the increase in number of matches to watch.

Chris Harris, the former New Zealand spinner, told Southwark Crown Court how Chris Cairns “almost seemed like he was not pleased” when his team, Chandigarh Lions, beat Mumbai Champs in a Indian Cricket League contest in March 2008

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Oct-2015Chris Harris, the former New Zealand allrounder, told Southwark Crown Court how Chris Cairns “almost seemed like he was not pleased” when his team, Chandigarh Lions, beat Mumbai Champs in a Indian Cricket League contest in March 2008 that has since been tainted with allegations of match-fixing.Cairns, who denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice, had worn an “unusual” expression on his face at the moment of victory in Hyderabad, according to Harris, after Chandigarh’s wicketkeeper, Sarabjit Singh, had cracked 41 not out from 22 balls to seal a two-wicket victory in the final over of the match.The match has previously been identified by Lou Vincent, who gave evidence during the first week of the trial, as one of “three or four” fixtures that he had been paid by Cairns to manipulate.Harris, who played in all three ICL tournaments in 2007 and 2008, described Chandigarh’s target of 136 as “modest”, adding that Sarabjit had played a “splendid innings” to rescue his team from 70 for 6 in the 13th over. However, he also recalled “a number of strange incidents” in the course of the contest.In the end, Sarabjit sealed the match with a six, and footage of the winning moment was played by Orlando Pownall, QC, Cairns’ defence lawyer, to the court. In it, Cairns was seen smiling and embracing one of his team-mates.”It’s perfectly plain, that after that six went over the boundary, the Chandigarh Lions appeared to be delighted,” said Mr Pownall. “Do you agree?””I don’t believe that was the footage I saw,” Harris replied. “I would agree with you that was a fair amount of emotion after winning a game.”Harris, who was captain of Hyderabad Heroes, also recalled a match against Chandigarh in which Cairns had won the toss and batted first, despite the fact that 80 percent of the teams that bowled first had won on that particular ground. “It was a bit of a surprise to me,” he recalled.Harris also claimed that Cairns’ co-defendant and former attorney, Andrew Fitch-Holland, who denies perverting the course of justice during his client’s libel action against Lalit Modi in 2012, had admitted Cairns’ guilt even before that case went to court.Cairns successfully sued Modi after he tweeted allegations of match-fixing in 2010. However, Harris claimed that, during a Lashings game at Bromley Cricket Club, Fitch-Holland had conceded Cairns’ guilt in a conversation with a group of players.”Someone asked him a question along the lines of “poor Cairnsy, what’s up with Cairnsy?”, Harris told the court. “Mr Fitch-Holland, to my surprise, replied ‘Cairnsy’s guilty’.”Sasha Wass, QC, the crown prosecutor asked Harris to clarify whether this conversation had taken place before or after the libel action.Harris replied: “I believe it was before.”However, under cross-examination from Mr Pownall, Harris conceded that he may have been mistaken, as his name had not appeared on the records for any Lashings match at Bromley in 2009.”That possibly could be the case,” said Harris.The comment, it was suggested, may have related to Cairns’ marital problems.The trial will continue from 12 noon on Tuesday.

Former captain says he’s currently “under home isolation”

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2020Former Nepal captain Paras Khadka has tested positive for Covid-19 and is currently “under home isolation”. The 33-year old was part of the Nepal training camp, at Tribhuvan University Stadium in Kathmandu, which included the BBL-bound Sandeep Lamichhane, Gyanendra Malla and Dipendra Singh Airee who had contracted the coronavirus too.Khadka revealed this on Twitter, saying: “Having got mild symptoms, I isolated myself from the team over last two days and as I lost my smell and taste since yesterday evening, I conducted my PCR test this morning and the report has come out as Covid-19 positive.”I am currently under home isolation and will be following all the guidelines as per the doctors…” As a result, Khadka will miss the Gautam Buddha Cup, which will begin on December 12. He was supposed to captain Team Narayani in the tri-series.Khadka’s last competitive game was a T20I against Thailand in Bangkok in March 2020. Last month he had been shortlisted for the ICC men’s Associate cricketer of the decade award.

The stadium was in danger of losing the iconic fixture against England due to construction and administrative issues

Firdose Moonda03-Oct-2019Cape Town’s Newlands Stadium will host South Africa’s 2020 New Year’s Test against England. The stadium had run the risk of losing the iconic fixture due to potential disruptions stemming from an ongoing construction project, and concerns over the administrative and financial affairs of the Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA). Late last month, CSA CEO Thabang Moroe said Newlands may not be in a position to host the match – which will bring with it big numbers of touring supporters – but ESPNcricinfo has learned that the match will go ahead.The confirmation means major rearrangements for the summer have been avoided and the four-Test series against England will go ahead as originally planned. The venues for the matches are SuperSport Park (Centurion), which will host the Boxing Day Test, Newlands, St George’s Park (Port Elizabeth) and the Wanderers (Johannesburg).”We are currently gearing up to host the New Year’s Test match at Newlands as planned,” Moroe said in a press release by CSA. “The readiness of the stadium is on track and, barring a significant change in circumstances, it is unlikely that the venue for this Test will change from our schedule.”However, this does not bring an end to the difficulties the WPCA are facing as they remain under CSA administration. The WPCA board remain suspended and under CSA administration with former CEO Andre Odendaal at the helm. CSA, who lent WPCA R81 million (US$5.3 million) for the construction of four office blocks and a refurbishment on the existing structures, are looking into WPCA’s finances and governance.”WPCA chief executive Nabeal Dien will be in charge of the smooth running of all cricket operations and will report directly to the CSA administrator, professor Andre Odendaal, until such time as CSA is reasonably of the opinion that the WPCA administrative and financial affairs are being conducted according to best practice,” Moroe concluded.

England have won their last seven T20Is against Sri Lanka, but they will be wary of the threat of Theekshana and Hasaranga on a worn pitch

Andrew Fidel Fernando04-Nov-20223:28

Uthappa: England will want to know the target and chase

Big picture

With Afghanistan going down narrowly to Australia, Sri Lanka have no hope of making the semi-finals. New Zealand are already on seven points following their win against Ireland. Australia have now matched that tally.What Sri Lanka can do, however, is ruin England’s chances of progressing to the knockouts. This is must-win for England, thanks partly to washouts, but also to their having lost to Ireland earlier in the tournament.Related

• England win tactical tussle to prevent repeat of semi-final defeat

• Nawaz puts Sri Lanka's success down to 'losing less wickets during the powerplay'

• England hope to make better SCG World Cup memories, but Sri Lanka won't make it easy for them

The good news for them is that bad weather is not forecast for Sydney on Saturday (another washout would rule them out). The better news is that their net run rate is well clear of Australia’s, so all they need to do is win, by any margin. The even better news is that Sri Lanka have not beaten England since 2014. None of the likely Sri Lanka players have any memory of defeating England in a T20I. England have won their last seven encounters, spread over four countries.That England have firepower right through their batting order is well-known, but in this tournament, they’ve also showcased some excellent bowling variety. Despite having played only three matches because of the rain, Sam Curran has nine wickets, with an economy rate of 6.28. Mark Wood, the fastest bowler of this World Cup so far, has six wickets. Ben Stokes has four with an economy rate of 5.04.Although the bad losses to Australia and New Zealand put major dents in Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign, a victory against England to finish will have them heading home upbeat. This is still a young team, and though they perhaps didn’t quite live up to their dark-horse billing, they will have salvaged something out of a rough tournament, in which they lost their best quicks very early, and have been pinballed around Australia more than most other teams.A loss leaves a different flavour; they’d have defeated only teams they were expected to beat (Netherlands, UAE, Ireland, Afghanistan). And that’s all after they lost to Namibia.

Form guide

England WLWWW (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Sri Lanka WLLWWLahiru Kumara’s pace could be a double-edged sword against England’s top order•Getty Images

In the spotlight

In the three matches he’s played at this tournament, Adil Rashid has been wicketless. He hasn’t bowled badly exactly – getting through his four overs nicely, and even going at only a run a ball against Ireland. He’s just not made a breakthrough, when perhaps you’d have expected him to be much more of a threat through the middle overs. He’s playing against one of his favourite opponents now, however. In seven matches against Sri Lanka, Rashid has nine wickets, and an economy rate of 5.91. Sri Lanka’s batters have become better at playing legspin recently, but on a worn Sydney pitch, Rashid may still back himself.Lahiru Kumara has five wickets from five matches in this tournament, and has seemed an improved bowler from the one who played last year’s T20 World Cup. But England’s batters, who enjoy the ball coming on, may prove a serious test, particularly in the death overs. It seems likely that outside the powerplay, England will have plans to put pressure on Kumara.

Pitch and conditions

There is only an outside chance of rain. The surface will be worn – two matches having been played on it already. This should suit the spinners, of whom Sri Lanka have a superior contingent. England’s quicks know how to take the pace off the ball too, though.Will Chamika Karunaratne find a spot in the XI?•Associated Press

Team news

Sri Lanka may go with the same XI that beat Afghanistan, though there may be some thought to bringing back allrounder Chamika Karunaratne.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Mendis (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Charith Asalanka, 5 Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Pramod Madushan, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Kasun Rajitha, 11 Lahiru KumaraEngland are likely to retain the side that beat New Zealand.England (possible): 1 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Harry Brook, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Adil Rashid

Stats and trivia

• Of the bowlers who didn’t play the first round, only Anrich Nortje has more wickets (10) than Curran’s nine. Nortje’s average and economy rates are worse, though.
• But then no one has more wickets than Wanindu Hasaranga, who’s got 13 from the seven games he’s played. He was the last World Cup’s top wicket-taker too. More breakthroughs in Sri Lanka’s final match will put some distance between him and the rest of the field.
• When Sri Lanka last beat England, at the Oval in 2014, TM Dilshan was still opening the innings, and James Tredwell was England’s lead spinner.

Root and Harry Brook seal win after Tom Wood impresses for Derbyshire

ECB Reporters Network20-Sep-2020Joe Root and Harry Brook led Yorkshire Vikings to a dramatic six-wicket victory off the final ball against the Derbyshire Falcons in the Vitality Blast at Headingley.Root scored an unbeaten 60 from 50 balls while Brook smashed 50 off 29 to take the Vikings to their target of 168 and end a run of four straight T20 defeats.They looked to be heading for another disappointment when Sam Conners removed Adam Lyth and Dawid Malan in the space of three balls and were well off the pace at 80 for 4.But Root and Brook shared an unbroken stand of 91 to overhaul the Falcons 167 for 6 which was built around a T20 best of 67 from 48 balls by Tom Woodwith Ben Coad taking 3 for 40.The Falcons, who finish bottom of the North Group, looked on course for a bigger total after Wood and skipper Billy Godleman plundered 80 from the first 10 overs.Wood ramped Coad for six and cut the seamer for four as 20 came from the third over and he reached his first T20 50 off 31 balls by pulling Root onto the Western Terrace for another maximum.Godleman swept Root to backward square in the 14th over and although Wayne Madsen marked his 500th innings for Derbyshire by launching Jordan Thompson over long on for six, the Falcons lost momentum in the closing overs.Coad completed an excellent comeback by having Wood caught at deep wicket and Leus du Plooy edged behind swinging at Thompson to give wicketkeeper Ben Birkhead his first Blast victim on debut.Madsen was well caught by Lyth at extra cover and Matt Critchley could only sky his first ball to mid-off.After Alex Hughes pulled Duanne Olivier to deep square, Luis Reece took consecutive fours off the South African but it had been a good recovery by the Vikings bowlers who kept their discipline to restrict the Falcons to 32 from the last four overs.Lyth started the chase with two boundaries from Madsen’s opening over but Conners struck two huge blows in the third.The Vikings skipper top edged a pull and was caught behind and Malan went two balls later when he got an inside edge driving at Conners.Will Fraine responded by pulling Madsen for six and Root pulled and clipped Conners for successive fours but the Vikings suffered another blow in the 6th over; Fraine chipped Dustin Melton to midwicket and at the halfway point, the Vikings were well off the pace, needing another 103 runs.Thompson opened the throttle by pulling Critchley for six as 13 came from the 11th over but he holed out to long-off in the next.Root launched Reece over the long-on boundary as 20 came from the 15th and Brook twice dispatched Conners for two fours to reduce the target to 33 from three.Brook drilled Melton for six over long-off and when it came down to nine off the last, Brook lofted the final ball for four to end a disappointing Blast campaign on a positive note.

No room for Cephas Zhuwao, Wellington Masakadza and Tarisai Musakanda in the group, which will be trimmed for the four-ODI series against the UAE

Liam Brickhill25-Mar-2019Zimbabwe have picked three uncapped players in a squad of 27 to train together in preparation for the home ODI series against the UAE, to be played next month. Star batsman Brendan Taylor, whose stint with Lahore Qalandars in the PSL was cut short by a calf injury, is also part of the squad, suggesting that he will have returned to full fitness ahead of the first ODI on April 10.Two of the uncapped players – left-arm spinner Ainsley Ndlovu and middle-order batsman Charles Kunje – play for Matabeleland Tuskers, while offspinner Tony Munyonga debuted for Rising Stars last season and has since moved to Eagles.

The 27-man training squad

Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Brian Chari, Solomon Mire, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Peter Moor, Sikandar Raza, Timycen Maruma, Regis Chakabva, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Richard Ngarava, Chris Mpofu, Donald Tiripano, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Richmond Mutumbami, Charles Kunje, Natsai M’shangwe, Ryan Burl, Elton Chigumbura, Tendai Chisoro, Roy Kaia, Carl Mumba, Tony Munyonga

Some familiar names from the fringes also returned to the mix: batsmen Roy Kaia and Timycen Maruma, wicketkeepers Richmond Mutumbami and Regis Chakabva, and legspinner Natsai M’shwangwe have all been recalled on the strength of their performances this season in franchise cricket.Kaia, Chakabva and Maruma all scored hundreds in the Pro50 tournament, while Maruma was also the leading runscorer in the Logan Cup, where he guided Mountaineers to the title with 409 runs at 81.80.Also returning to the national frame is fast bowler Carl Mumba. Mumba was on the sidelines for a year after seriously injuring his knee during Zimbabwe’s tour of Sri Lanka in 2017, but marked his return to professional cricket with 8 for 24 in a Logan Cup match at the beginning of the season, and could now force his way back into the national team.The experienced core of the national team is in place: captain Hamilton Masakadza, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Tendai Chatara, Kyle Jarvis, Elton Chigumbura and Craig Ervine, who will head into the training camp in red-hot limited overs form. Ervine stormed through the Pro50 and Domestic T20 competitions, averaging 211 at better than a run a ball as he topped the local fifty-over batting chart, and carried that form into the T20s, during which he was again leading run-scorer as he powered Tuskers to the title with 328 runs at a strike rate of 154.71.There were also a couple of notable absences from the squad, with hard-hitting opener Cephas Zhuwao overlooked and left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza unable to force his way in despite decent domestic limited-overs returns. Batsman Tarisai Musakanda has also fallen out of favour after an unspectacular season, while seamer Daniel Jakiel has not been called upon despite topping the Pro50 bowling table with 13 wickets at 11.84.The ODIs against UAE are scheduled for April 10, 12, 14 and 16, all at Harare Sports Club. Before the series gets underway, UAE will face Zimbabwe A in a 50-over warm-up match at Old Hararians Sports Club on April 8, two days after their arrival in the country.

Kane Williamson managed just 1, while Ross Taylor and James Neesham scored half-centuries in their respective games on the opening day of the Plunket Shield

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Oct-2018Fast bowler Trent Boult smashed a 37-ball 61 for Northern Districts against Otago in Mount Maunganui on the opening day of Plunket Shield 2018-19. Coming in at 59 for 8, Boult smashed six fours and five sixes to register his highest first-class score – bettering his unbeaten 52 against Bangladesh in 2013 – on a day where 21 wickets fell.Boult looted 28 from one Mark Craig over, hitting the offspinner for three successive sixes over midwicket off the first three balls. He then steered the next ball past first slip for a boundary before finishing the over with yet another six, this time over long-off. But two overs later, Craig got his revenge when he dismissed Boult to end the innings on 136.Northern Districts had the services of New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, but he managed only 1, while BJ Watling and Colin de Grandhomme were dismissed for ducks.Earlier, Boult, Neil Wagner and de Grandhomme shared eight wickets to bowl Otago out for 108. However, in their second innings, Otago cruised to 88 for 1 to finish the day 60 ahead.Meanwhile, at Saxton Oval, Ross Taylor’s 75 helped Central Districts to 301 for 7 against Canterbury despite Matt Henry’s 4 for 87.At Basin Reserve, James Neesham and Michael Bracewell struck half-centuries, but Wellington could manage only 255 in their first innings. In response, Auckland were 64 for 2 at stumps, with Neesham chipping in with one wicket.

The PCB had acted promptly in issuing a notice of charge and provisionally suspending a different player in a case last year

Umar Farooq 09-Jul-2018Over two months on from the dope test, and three weeks since the results of that test became public, the Pakistan player who tested positive for a prohibited substance is yet to face any action.The player in question underwent a test in Faisalabad during the 50-over Pakistan Cup in the last week of April. News of a positive test only emerged through media reports, even though the adverse analytical finding from the WADA-accredited lab in India had reached the PCB in early June.The PCB was forced to tweet out a confirmation that a player had tested positive, but also said that under the ICC’s rules, it could not name the player until the chemical report was confirmed by their own government’s anti-doping agency. “We should have an answer in a day or two,” the board said in the tweet.That was on June 20, since when there has been no answer. The details of why there has been such a delay in getting the reports confirmed is unusual – one PCB official told ESPNcricinfo that the review board of the government’s anti-doping agency was doing a very thorough check of the lab results, which was causing the delay.A PCB official said that “the review board report will be out within the next two-three days”.The government’s anti-doping agency is regulated by the Pakistan Sports Board, but an official from PSB confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that, as of July 8, the body hadn’t received any request for a review from PCB.The timeline of this particular case stands in stark contrast to the last doping case the PCB handled. On October 5, 2017, Imran Butt tested positive during the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. A positive finding was confirmed by November 6, a review panel was set up the same day, he was provisionally suspended the following day and by November 15, a notice of charge had been issued.In this case, the PCB is yet to confirm the name of the drug or the prohibited substance found in the player’s urine sample. But if the review board confirms that a prohibited substance was indeed present in the sample, then the player will be ineligible to take part in the game for four years, given it’s his first offence. That sanction can be reduced only if the player manages to establish that he had no significant fault, or negligence, about the doping violation.