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Fargana Hoque, who became Bangladesh’s first century-maker in women’s ODIs, admits to panicking in the 90s, but says she drew inspiration from the top men’s batters

Mohammad Isam22-Jul-2023Nigar Sultana is hopeful that the 1-1 scoreline in the ODI series against India will give the Bangladesh women’s team more prominence in their country.”We are quite happy with the overall outcome,” Nigar said after the third and final game ended in a tie in Dhaka. “We would have been really happy had we won the series. I feel we have taken a respectable step forward. Many people [at home] didn’t know who plays in the Bangladesh team. Now people will recognise who is Nahida [Akter], who is [Fargana Hoque] Pinky, who is Marufa [Akter]. I think this itself is an achievement. It was nice of the cricket board to say positive things about us too. They came to see our matches. The crowd supported us. The media is promoting us.”Nigar reserved special praise for Fargana, who became the first Bangladesh woman to score a century in women’s ODIs. “We batted really well. It was a real positive,” Nigar said. “Pinky batted superbly. Held up one end. We couldn’t bat the full 50 overs in the previous game, so that was a target for us today.”Related

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Fargana batted at No. 3 in the first two ODIs, but was sent to open the batting in the final game, something which was communicated to her by head coach Hashan Tillakaratne the night before. She repaid the faith by cracking 107, the first ODI century by a Bangladeshi woman, which also earned her the first Player-of-the-Series award for a woman from her country in ODIs.”I always bat in the top order. I played at No. 3, but yesterday the head coach told me to be mentally prepared to open the innings,” Fargana said. “I went to the wicket with a strong mindset. I could adjust to the swing. I believed in myself. We have four or five batters who are capable of getting big scores. You have to be very skilful when playing against big teams. I believed in my skills, my process.”I wanted to capitalise on my good start. We are getting results slowly, so we will keep following the same process. I liked the fact that I tried to bat long, and it paid off. My batting isn’t free of mistakes, so I want to improve more in the future.”Were there any nerves in the nineties?”I hadn’t scored a hundred at this level, but I saw people making centuries. I saw Mushfiq [Mushfiqur Rahim] score a hundred. I saw [Najmul Hasan] Shanto score two hundreds recently. I looked at how they spent time in the middle,” she said. “I didn’t think of scoring a hundred here but it was about batting every ball on its merit.Fargana Hoque finished with 107 as Bangladesh posted a good total•BCB

“When I reached 96, I panicked a bit. I played out a few deliveries. But I told myself that to be a good batter, I have to bat till the end. My friends were disappointed when I got out on 47 in the last game. I tried to stick to the process, which helped me get the big score.”Nigar said that her team should have bowled better to close down the game much earlier but was happy with how it ended, India going from 160 for 3 – and then 191 for 5 – to 225 all out.”I think we could have won the game had we bowled better,” Nigar said. “It wouldn’t have come this far then. We came back well after a poor powerplay with the ball. I think we overcame some of the mistakes from the second game. We should have closed this series in the second game itself. There’s a lot of lessons from this series that we can use in the future.”There cannot be anything more positive than playing well against a top opponent. We have been boosted by this performance. We are going into a break with good feelings. We tied the game, so we didn’t lose. It gives everyone a boost.”

The former India batsman did not travel despite getting clearance from Pakistan’s foreign office

Umar Farooq20-Oct-2020Zimbabwe will be without their head coach Lalchand Rajput for the upcoming tour of Pakistan after he pulled out over travel restrictions. A statement from Zimbabwe Cricket said that the Indian embassy in Harare had sought exemption for Rajput visiting Pakistan, citing travel guidelines issued by the Government of India for its citizens.The statement confirmed that in Rajput’s absence, bowling coach Douglas Hondo would take charge of the team during the tour.Rajput, 58, represented India in six international games – four ODIs and two Tests – between 1985 and 1987. He was appointed as Zimbabwe’s full time coach in August 2018, after the team’s failure to qualify for the 2019 World Cup. Zimbabwe are scheduled to play three ODIs against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, before moving to Lahore to play three T20Is. Earlier this month, ZC had sent a five-person delegation to Pakistan to assess the arrangements for the teams’ bio-secure bubble. The delegation, comprising two health officers, one security in-charge, and two ZC executives began their inter-city travel after returning two negative Covid-19 tests within 48 hours of arrival in Islamabad. The Zimbabwe players, too, were required to undergo two tests: one in Harare prior to their departure yesterday, and another upon their arrival today.This will be Zimbabwe’s first tour of Pakistan since 2015, when they became the first Full Member to visit the country after the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009.

Players to honour cricket-playing heroes of the Covid-19 pandemic in build-up to Test

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2020England and West Indies will pay tribute to Britain’s key workers during the forthcoming Test series, which has been named the #raisethebat Test series in recognition of the sacrifices made by doctors, teachers, carers and other vital professions during the Covid-19 pandemic.In the build-up to the first Test, which begins on July 8 at the Ageas Bowl, England’s players will wear the names of selected key workers with cricketing backgrounds on their training shirts, while the #raisethebat initiative – which has already featured on 300 billboards across the country, and featured in a short film narrated by Stephen Fry – will be rolled out to a wider audience from June 29.The decision to dedicate the series to key workers comes after the ECB’s Test sponsorship deal, a two-year agreement with Specsavers, elapsed at the end of the Ashes last summer with no replacement lined up.England’s 30-man squad is due to report to the Ageas Bowl on Tuesday to begin their ‘behind-closed-doors” build-up to the series, just as West Indies begin their first warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, having completed their 14-day isolation period.The England players will be tested for Covid-19 on arrival, then kept in isolation for the first 24 hours before beginning their training sessions on Thursday. The squad will be split into two groups of 15, and will practice morning and evening respectively, ahead of their warm-up match starting July 1.”We’ve waited a long time for this moment, and we wouldn’t be here without the West Indies – we are so grateful to them for making the tour happen,” said Joe Root, England’s captain. “As we get back to playing the game we love, we want to take the time to honour the brave key workers who went into bat for their country under the toughest circumstances. It’s only fitting that we use this series as an opportunity to ‘raise a bat’ in their honour. We’ll wear their names with pride.”The people named on the shirts include Dr Vikas Kumar, a Specialist in Anaesthetics and Critical Care at Darlington Memorial Hospital, who plays for Cowgate Cricket Club in his spare time. All of the names have all been nominated by their local cricket clubs, and their stories will be amplified across the ECB’s digital platforms.ALSO READ: Specsavers confirm end of England Test sponsorship dealEmily Blakemore, a full-time nurse and volunteer at Astwood Bank Cricket Club, is another of the chosen players.”It’s going to be an absolute honour to see one of the England Men’s players come out while wearing my name on the back of their shirt,” she said. “It has been such a difficult time for so many people, and there’s still a lot of hard work ahead, but it’s exciting that we’ll be able to see some cricket again.”The cricket family has really pulled together at a tough time and I can’t wait until we can get playing at my club again. Until then, hopefully Joe Root and the team can give us something to cheer about. Summer isn’t summer without cricket.”Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, said: “As we stage the first international sporting competition in the UK since COVID-19 began, we want to pay tribute to the people who have bravely played their part during this crisis. Through the #raisethebat Test Series, we will show our gratitude to key workers.”It has been a long and challenging journey to cricket’s return and while this pales in comparison to what the country has faced, we hope the #raisethebat Test Series will bring some enjoyment and light relief to people’s lives.”

Izharulhaq Naveed gets a call-up while Naveen, Naib named among backup reserves

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jun-2023Rashid Khan, who was rested for the one-off Test in Mirpur, has been named in Afghanistan’s squad for the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh, which starts July 5.There was no place, however, for Noor Ahmad, who was a part of Afghanistan’s squad in their last 50-over assignment, against Sri Lanka.Izharulhaq Naveed, the legspinner who impressed in the last Big Bash, has been given a maiden ODI call-up. Shahidullah, Zia-ur-Rehman, Wafadar Momand, Mohammad Saleem and Sayed Shirzad are the other new names to be added to the squad that recently toured Sri Lanka.Apart from the squad to face Bangladesh, the Afghanistan Cricket Board also named 10 players who will form the reserves for their future ODIs and the World Cup.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The list of reserves includes the likes of Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Naveen-ul-Haq and Darwish Rasooli.Afghanistan squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Izharulhaq Naveed Shahidullah, Zia-ur-Rehman, Wafadar Momand, Mohammad Saleem, Sayed ShirzadAfghanistan backup reserve: Karim Janat, Zubaid Akbari, Qais Ahmad, Ihsanullah Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Naveen-ul-Haq, Farid Malik, Darwish Rasooli, Ishaq Rahimi

Club chairman signals intention to convert ownership model from members club

ESPNcricinfo staff20-May-2024Colin Graves has given the strongest indication yet that Yorkshire’s traditional member-owned status is no longer viable given their dire financial situation, saying that a process of demutualisation – the conversion of the club to a private structure model, thereby unlocking the potential for outside investment – “appears at this point essential for the club’s future”.Graves, who was re-elected as Yorkshire’s chairman for a second stint in February, helped to save the club from bankruptcy during his original tenure in 2002. As a consequence of that intervention, his family trust – which is managed by independent trustees – is still owed approximately £15 million, or almost three-quarters of the £20million of “long-term borrowing” that he claims is required to keep the club afloat.Now, in a letter circulated to members on Monday, Graves has warned that Yorkshire will be “fighting for its survival” during 2024 unless they take “swift and decisive action”.Related

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According to their latest financial results, the club recorded a trading loss of £2.7 million in 2023, including £1.9 million of “exceptional” expenses, most of which relate to the legal costs and settlements incurred during the racism scandal that had previously caused a raft of high-profile sponsors to sever ties with the club.The picture is all the more concerning for Yorkshire given that they hosted a lucrative Ashes Test in 2023. Their recent accumulated losses now stand at more than £9 million, and that picture is likely to worsen this year given that Headingley has no men’s Test scheduled for 2024, nor in 2027 or 2028, which Graves warned in his letter would amount to “double fallow” years.Despite stating in the run-up to his election as chairman that he had no plans to demutualise the club, Graves subsequently warned that “nothing can be ruled out in the future”.The prospect of private investment within English cricket is already on the table via the ECB’s discussions over the future of the Hundred. Headingley is the host venue for Northern Superchargers, and stands to be awarded a 51% equity share in the team, while Graves’ consortium at Yorkshire includes a number of the tournament’s original architects, including Sanjay Patel, the former tournament director.”As discussed at our AGM in April, the club’s current status as a mutual society continues to prove a blocker to attracting private financing,” Graves wrote in his letter. “A demutualisation – thereby converting the club to a private structure, which unlocks potential private investment – appears at this point essential for the club’s future.”My firm intention is that members’ current rights are protected and that a demutualisation would represent no change to their current interaction with YCCC,” he added. “The club would be better structured to be self-sustaining, still in existence, and to capture maximum value for YCCC from any processes such as the Hundred.”Any move to demutualise the county – a process which has already been undertaken at Hampshire, Northamptonshire and Durham – would need the involvement of at least 50% of Yorkshire’s 6,000 members with voting rights, and a 75% majority therein.

She said it was vital that the domestic competitions were retained in their current structure

Andrew McGlashan19-Jun-2020Ellyse Perry feels “very grateful” that the Australia Women’s team has avoided cuts to their backroom staff amid Cricket Australia’s redundancies while also stressing the importance of domestic competitions being retained in their current structures.CA announced 40 job losses earlier this week – of which men’s batting coach Graeme Hick was among them – but confirmed that the senior domestic tournaments across men’s and women’s cricket would not be cut back after previously being under threat when the financial impact of Covid-19 looked likely to be more severe, although the Under-15 and Under-17 set-ups have been suspended for the 2020-21 season.However, while the women’s national team has not experienced any direct losses to their staffing Perry still expects the game to adapt to a new landscape with the expectation there will be a less centralised high performance set-up.ALSO READ: Interim Cricket Australia chief Nick Hockley calls for unity after redundancies“We’ve been incredibly fortunate to be able to maintain the structure and make-up of our staff within the Australian team albeit maybe with slightly varied roles and hours,” Perry said. “In terms of the resourcing we’ve been able to keep our group together which I know from a player and staff perspective we are very grateful for given everything that’s been going on.”It actually presents a really good opportunity. We are really fortunate to be able to run with some great luxuries around resourcing and high performance, and those things are absolutely great, but I think sometimes paring it back and figuring out what you absolutely need is not a bad thing. I’m sure we’ll look at those different things and highlight what’s best to spend time and resources on and in many ways that could be a positive.”In terms of the domestic competitions, Perry said it was vital that the current level was maintained in the women’s game. “It’s important not just from an Australian players’ perspective but even more so from a domestic players’ point of view. We don’t play a lot of cricket as is so to be able to maintain the number of games is crucial for cricket to keep developing and providing opportunities to everyone who will have a pretty long winter just training, so nice to have something to look forward to at the end of that.”Perry was also confident that the women’s game would continue to thrive as sport emerges from Covid-19 and believes there could even be an upside with people desperate to be able to reconnect with the game.The crowd at the MCG for the Women’s T20 World Cup final broke the record for the most number of people attending a women’s sporting event in Australia•Getty Images

“People really want it back on our screens and be able to go down to matches,” she said. “Women’s sport is increasingly playing such an important role in that, especially for families, you look at the demographic of our audience, especially at the ground, a lot of it is young families so I don’t see that changing – if anything as we go forward it could be enhanced.”Australia are scheduled to return to action with a series against New Zealand starting late September. Perry remained hopeful that she would be available for those matches as she continues her recovery from hamstring surgery, following the injury she sustained in the T20 World Cup which forced her to miss the knockout stages, but also wants to ensure she is able to perform at her peak.”It’s going pretty well. I caught up with the surgeon a couple of weeks ago and he was really happy with the progress,” she said. “It would be lovely to be fit for the New Zealand series, at this stage it’s tracking that way but there’s a little bit to go. Coming back from injury there’s a clear distinction in my mind between being fit to play and fit to perform. I don’t really mind if I don’t play in those games, it’s more about when I do play again I want to be a position to contribute and perform.”The major event of the season is the 50-over World Cup in New Zealand next February and March although it remains to be confirmed if that will go ahead as scheduled either directly due to the impact of Covid-19 or the knock-on impact to the calendar.”In some ways in the scheme of things a World Cup seems a bit irrelevant given everything else that has gone on, but at the same time everyone will prepare like it will happen,” Perry said. “It’s nice to know that more than likely we’ll be playing this series in September against New Zealand so that’s an immediate focus. Obviously depending on what depends on what happens on the men’s T20 World Cup that could have an impact on the Women’s World Cup.”

New Zealander anchors reply after Surrey post first-innings total of 355

ECB Reporters Network11-Jul-2023Will Young marked his Nottinghamshire debut with an undefeated hundred to anchor the visitors’ response on day two of their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Surrey at the Kia Oval.The New Zealand international, who is on a three-match contract with the county, provided immediate value with a fluent knock of 106 not out that guided them to 248 for 5 at the close, trailing Surrey by 107. Young shared a second-wicket partnership of 134 with Haseeb Hameed, who hit 67, while Surrey’s Jamie Overton took two wickets on his return to bowling action for the first time this summer after recovering from a back injury.The home side had earlier posted 355 all out in their first innings, with Nottinghamshire allrounder Lyndon James picking up the last two wickets to register career-best figures of 6 for 74.Resuming at 339 for 8 in the morning, Surrey increased their total by another 16 – all of those scored by Overton, who bludgeoned a six and two fours off Dane Paterson to finish on 30 not out. Overton’s efforts were enough to secure a third batting bonus point before James quickly wrapped up the innings by claiming the scalps of Tom Lawes and Dan Worrall in successive deliveries.Nottinghamshire’s openers dug in at the start of their reply, with Worrall and Sean Abbott bowling a consistent line and the latter also found some movement to dislodge Ben Slater, snapped up by Tom Latham at second slip.Having survived an early scare when he slashed Abbott just over the slip cordon, Hameed settled down to some crisp strokeplay as he dispatched Jordan Clark twice to the boundary in quick succession. Meanwhile, Young looked unruffled alongside Hameed, consistently punishing any stray deliveries on the leg side and had almost caught up with his partner when Nottinghamshire went to lunch.The New Zealander was first to his half-century with a straight drive for four off Overton and Hameed followed suit, drilling the seamer to the midwicket fence in his next over but, with leaden skies giving way to rain shortly before 3pm, the visitors’ progress was held up at 139 for 1.After a false start, the players eventually returned an hour and a half later, with Worrall looking most likely to unlock the partnership as he repeatedly beat the bat and unleashed a skidding delivery that Young only just dug out.It was Hameed who eventually fell, pouched at first slip after prodding at Worrall outside off stump and there was a close call for Young on 68 when he defended a ball from Abbott that bounced back up off the turf and missed his stumps by a fraction. But the 30-year-old – who registered a Championship century and four fifties during his stint with Northamptonshire last year – went on to reach three figures from 192 balls, crashing Lawes off the back foot for four.Easing his way into a decent rhythm, Overton gained reward for his endeavours, squaring Joe Clarke up for a leading edge that sailed into the hands of Latham at gully before having Tom Moores caught in the slips.Those successes sandwiched another wicket as Surrey deviated from their all-seam tactic by deploying the offbreaks of Will Jacks, a move that paid off as his fifth ball clipped Matthew Montgomery’s bails.

Left-arm spinner returns career-best figures to help hosts defend 275

Danyal Rasool10-Jun-2022Pakistan 275 for 8 (Babar 77, Imam 72, Hosein 3-52) beatWest Indies 155 (Brooks 42, Nawaz 4-19, Wasim 3-34) by 120 runs
Mohammad Nawaz allayed any concerns Pakistan might have had about posting a below-par total, producing the best bowling performance of his career to bundle West Indies out for 155. Coming in with Pakistan under pressure after West Indies’ pugnacious start to the chase of 276, Nawaz struck four times to gut the visitors’ middle order, figures of 4 for18 in his allotted ten sealing West Indies fate, and giving Pakistan a 120-run win to wrap up the series 2-0.West Indies’ innings began disastrously, with Shaheen Afridi removing their best batter Shai Hope in the first over, trapping him on his crease as he spooned a catch to cover. But what followed suggested West Indies were giving the chase a serious go, with the powerplay dominated by positive, fearless strokeplay from Kyle Mayers and Shamarh Brooks. Haris Rauf was the man they targeted early on, a gloriously nonchalant pulled six over square leg from Mayers perhaps the shot of the innings.Mayers then smashed Mohammad Wasim for a couple of fours and Shaheen for six straight back over his head as the visitors put on 71 in the powerplay. But off that phase’s final ball, Wasim cleaned him up to open the door for Pakistan’s spinners, and it was time for Nawaz to shine.Nawaz’s fourth ball was a harbinger of what would follow. He flighted it up to Brandon King, drawing him out of his crease before getting the ball to spin away and kiss the edge. The game had swung, despite a brief fourth-wicket stand, and Nawaz soon sent the last set batter, Brooks, on his way for 42, trapping him in front as he horribly miscued a sweep to leave them tottering at 102 for 4.But Nawaz was only halfway through. West Indies’ last hopes, Rovman Powell and Nicholas Pooran were sent back within three balls of each other as Nawaz exercised his full mastery over the opposition, varying the flight and exploiting the dip and turn to penetrate both players’ defences.Shadab Khan, at the other end, sent Romario Shepherd packing; by this time all realistic attempts at a chase were done. West Indies had lost four wickets for 18 runs, and while they limped along for another 35 runs, it was only a matter of time before they were put out of their misery.If you watched that Pakistan innings up first, you’d have seen what was coming, and if you didn’t, you’d know exactly how it panned out. Fakhar Zaman fell early, before Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam put on their customary century stand. It was followed by a stuttering of momentum and a collapse of the middle and lower order, once those two fell, leading Pakistan to stumble to 275. You’ve seen it before, you’ll see it again, you saw it today.West Indies’ left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein also had a good day in Multan•AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan were fortunate enough to win the toss and not have to put their bowlers through another rigorous day out in the heat. Hasan Ali was finally taken out of the side, with Mohammad Wasim Jnr brought in. But at the top, it was a similar pattern for Pakistan, with a struggling Fakhar falling for an unconvincing 28-ball 17 as Pakistan made a slow start in the face of accurate West Indian bowling. It was Anderson Phillip, replacing Jayden Seales in the visitors’ XI, who got the wicket after Zaman top-edged one.Babar and Imam took over from there, steadying the innings for the next fifty runs or so before slowly moving through the gears and nudging the run rate up. It was nothing dramatic, just the usual platform-building, but as so often happens when these two are on song, it looked like there was no breaking that stand. Each of them brought up half-centuries, the sixth consecutive fifties for each of them, and little appeared to stand in the way of them bringing up personal three-figure scores.The only way a wicket would come about was if it were self-inflicted, and that indeed was what happened. In a moment that swung the momentum of the innings around, Imam set off for a run without looking up at his captain, who was busy ball-watching. When Babar looked up, Imam was barely two metres from him, and his fate was sealed. The opener smashed his bat into the turf in frustration while he walked off, but West Indies had been gifted a creek of hope.Babar was undone by some brilliant left arm orthodox bowling from Akeal Hosein, who managed both grip and turn on a surface that had offered up neither in such generous quantities two days ago. Looking to play against the turn saw the Pakistan captain fall 23 short of a hundred Pakistan have come to expect from him almost every game, his leading edge finding a cover fielder.Mohammad Haris came in and sought to inject some pace in the innings without ever looking like he had the ability to, in the face of a couple of quality West Indian bowlers, and promptly nicked off for a run-a-ball six. The final ten overs saw the West Indian bowling at their best, putting pressure on Pakistan with clumps of dot balls thanks to some glorious execution, both in terms of line and length and changes of pace. Alzarri Joseph led the way in that regard, his figures of 10-1-33-2 just rewards for what he produced.Khushdil Shah found batting a struggle, and while Pakistan got away the occasional boundary and big hit, the general trend by this stage all favoured West Indies. The last 15 overs saw just 89 runs scored as six wickets fell, and while Pakistan’s middle-order questions only deepened, West Indies will have sniffed an opportunity. It had seemed like a very realistic possibility until Nawaz came in and snuffed it out emphatically.