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Victoria Sporting Club, Prime Bank Cricket Club and Gazi Tank Cricketers all recorded big wins in the Dhaka Premier League

Mohammad Isam02-Oct-2013Prime Doleshwar came crashing down after four big wins, when Victoria Sporting Club handed them a nine-wicket defeat in the Dhaka Premier League.After deciding to bat first at the BKSP-3 ground, Doleshwar were bowled out for just 85 runs in 26 overs. Victoria’s Sri Lankan pace bowler Shalika Karunanayake and seamer Soumya Sarkar took three wickets each, while Sajedul Islam and captain Nasir Hossain picked up one each.Doleshwar were always going to be in trouble when Tillakaratne Sampath, Mominul Haque and Roshen Silva all failed in this game.Anamul Haque and Karunanayake then added 81 runs for the second wicket to take Victoria to an easy win, completed in 14.3 overs. Victoria join Doleshwar in the top of the table with four wins from six matches.Abahani however remain in tenth position, after suffering their fifth defeat. This time, Prime Bank Cricket Club crushed them by 120 runs at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium.Prime Bank batted first after winning the toss, and despite losing an early wicket, they began brightly. Saikat Ali (59) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (69) added 82 for the second wicket, before Lahiru Thirimanne struck a breezy half-century.Abahani lost wickets regularly in their chase, never quite finding a rhythm. They missed the in-form Mosaddek Hossain in the middle-order. He has left for West Indies with the Bangladesh Under-19s squad, having been the joint highest-scorer in the league with 320 runs.Prime Bank captain Enamul Haque jnr picked up four wickets while offspinner Fariduddin Masud took three.There was a heavy defeat for Mohammedan Sporting Club too, who went down by 103 runs to Gazi Tank Cricketers. It was their third loss in a row, after having won the first three games.They inserted Gazi Tank at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra, and had the early momentum. But Mahmudullah and Raqibul Hasan struck fifties to lift Gazi Tank from 95 for four. The pair added 94 runs for the fifth wicket, with Mahmudullah warming up nicely for the upcoming Test series with 68 off 78 balls. Raqibul was the top-scorer, making 75 off 65 balls with six fours and a couple of sixes.Ejaz Ahmed and Upul Tharanga kept Mohammedan in the hunt for a while. Opener Ejaz smashed three sixes in his 43-ball 42, but Tharanga saw wickets tumble at the other end. He made 56 off 72 balls, but by the time he was dismissed, Gazi Tank had the ascendancy.Ashar Zaidi, the 32-year-old left-arm spinner, took three wickets in seven overs while Mahmudullah picked up two.

Two wickets for Luke Fletcher put Durham in trouble on a curtailed first day at Trent Bridge

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge15-Aug-2012
ScorecardLuke Fletcher enabled Notts to cope without Andre Adams•Getty Images

As is the way of things, by the time play would have been ending the clouds were high and the sky was clearing nicely to the west, promising an evening as clear and calm as the morning had been. In between, Nottinghamshire endured the frustration of a promising start thwarted as they seek victory in a match they believe they must win to retain realistic prospects of regaining the County Championship they surrendered to Lancashire last year.Only in the morning session was play possible yet it had been a productive one against expectations for Nottinghamshire, who faced a Durham side apparently on the up while having to deal with the worst absenteeism they have faced all summer. Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad do not really count in that regard, but with James Taylor now in the senior England fold and Samit Patel still involved at Lions level, their batting is clearly undermined. To make matters worse, two of their first-choice bowling attack, Harry Gurney and Andre Adams, are injured. Given that he has taken 54 wickets, more than any bowler in the Championship, the loss of Adams, to a hamstring injury suffered at Taunton last week, is a serious blow.Yet, having won the toss and put Durham in on a wicket that was well grassed in the middle at least, their progress was better than they may have anticipated.Luke Fletcher, who has had injuries and fitness issues and had not played in the Championship since April, was recalled, eager to impress. He did so, too, taking two of the four wickets. Fletcher opened the season with seven in a win over Worcestershire at New Road yet took only one more in 61 overs in the three subsequent matches, hastening his return to the Second XI and allowing Gurney and Andy Carter to overtake him in the pecking order.With Gurney nursing a hip injury, it was always likely Fletcher would return and he ran in with a clear sense of purpose. In a soundly economical opening spell, his first reward came with a ball that swung just enough to make Will Smith look foolish for offering no stroke. When he returned in the half-hour before lunch his fourth delivery was good enough to deny Mark Stoneman a half-century, the opening batsman pushing at one that took the edge and offered Chris Read his second catch.The first by Read had seen off Phil Mustard, who was slow to leave the crease after driving a little loosely at a ball from Carter. Perhaps he was unsure there had been contact, or else it was simply disappointment, after a confident start, that his plan to build on back-to-back centuries in 40-over matches had been denied so soon.All this had taken place to the accompaniment of the drone of a police helicopter and the wailing of sirens as a drama was unfolding barely half a mile away, where armed robbers held up a local Post Office. Happily no one was hurt.Such distractions cannot help a batsman’s concentration, although it ought not to have played a part in Smith’s dismissal. Keaton Jennings, the 20-year-old former South Africa Under-19s captain who is playing in his second Championship match, may have had more of an excuse. He was leg before when he missed a ball from Ben Phillips that appeared not to deviate significantly.It is left to Dale Benkenstein and Paul Collingwood to bring their experience to bear regardless of objects in the sky when play resumes. Nottinghamshire, who are 21 points behind Warwickshire and 10 behind second-placed Sussex, may get Swann or Taylor back, in which case either Graeme White or Steven Mullaney will make way, although it is more likely that Durham will benefit from the release at Lord’s of Graham Onions, for whom Mitch Claydon will stand down.

Canada have announced their squad for the upcoming ICC America’s T20 tournament in Florida

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jul-2011Canada have announced their squad for the upcoming ICC America’s Twenty20 tournament in Florida. Jimmy Hansra will captain the side for the competition in Fort Lauderdale, which starts July 17, after Ashish Bagai resigned as captain following the World Cup. Many of the first-choice players are resting, in preparation for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup game against Afghanistan.Rizwan Cheema, Hiral Patel, Ruvindu Gunasekera, and Parth Desai head the list of players staying in Canada to prepare for Afghanistan while Harvir Baidwan and Khurram Chohan are completing successful stints in England.Vimal Hardat, vice-president of the Canadian board, said he was confident the team would put up a strong showing in the America’s tournament. “Having already qualified for the T20 Cricket World Cup Qualifier [in 2012] we saw this as a good chance to have some of our prospects test themselves as well as to give our more senior players a chance to get ready for Afghanistan,” Hardat said. The four-day match against Afghanistan will be played in Ontario from August 2.Squad: Jimmy Hansra – BC (Captain), Waleed Ahmed (Manitoba), Trevin Bastiampillai (Ontario), Grant Broadhurst (Alberta), Satsimranjit Singh Dhindsa (Ontario), Zahid Hussain(Ontario), Usman Limbada (Ontario), Deepak Pabla (Quebec), Cecil Pervez (Ontario), Parveen Saroye (Alberta), Jason Sandher (BC), Jonathan Snow (BC), Hamza Tariq (Alberta), Khusroo Wadia (Ontario).

New Zealanders endured poor passages of play in the latter stages of either innings, but did enough to seal victory against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI in their first match on tour

Cricinfo staff04-Aug-2010
ScorecardNew Zealanders’ seamers had the home batsmen in trouble early on•AFP

New Zealanders endured poor passages of play in the latter stages of either innings, but did enough to seal victory against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI in their first match on tour. The win was easier than suggested by the eventual three-wicket margin, as Ross Taylor and Scott Styris struck fluent fifties before the visitors crossed the line with 72 balls to spare.BP XI elected to bat first, but did not account for their opponents’ inspired fast-bowling pack. Things began to go awry in the third over when Daryl Tuffey breached Mahela Udawatte’s defence with nine runs on the board. Dinesh Chandimal was run out for two in the next over, exposing the middle order. They did not fare too well as three wickets fell for the addition of just one run: Lahiru Thirimanne edged Tuffey behind, while Chamara Silva and Thilina Kandamby did likewise against Tim Southee and Jacob Oram respectively. The score read 34 for 5 in 12 overs and BP XI desperately needed a repair job.Kosala Kulasekara put his head down in the company of Milinda Siriwardana and they steadied the ship, adding 29 in 10.4 overs before Clint McKay got into the flow of things, getting the former to give Gareth Hopkins his fourth catch behind the wickets. With both teams having twelve players to choose from, BP XI were batting fairly deep and it worked in their favour. Farveez Maharoof kept Siriwardana company for a 64-run stand for the seventh wicket, off 93 balls. Just when they looked set to step up, New Zealanders managed to dismiss both batsmen before they could reach fifties.That the hosts had something to bowl at was down to the effort of Thisara Perera who stunned the bowlers with an impressive assault. Southee suffered the most damage, going for 64 while the rest of his colleagues finished with respectable figures. Perera smashed eight fours and two sixes in his unbeaten 39-ball 62, as the last 7.5 overs went for 81 runs. Seekkuge Prasanna gave him good support, lashing a six and two fours in his 18 as BP XI finished with 219.New Zealanders’ chase faced an early setback when Nuwan Pradeep got BJ Watling to nick one behind for four. However, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor made light of his fall, adding 65 at better than a-run-a-ball. Guptill struck three fours in his 33-ball 26 before Prasanna struck him in front of the stumps. Thereafter Scott Styris laced into the bowling in an aggressive partnership with Taylor to put the result beyond doubt.Taylor played some pleasing shots, picking seven fours and a six before Kandamby sent him back after a partnership of 95 in 14.1 overs. Styris smashed two sixes and five fours, racing to 57 off 45 balls before he too fell to Kandamby’s wiles in the 30th over. New Zealanders had a few nervous moments, losing Grant Elliott and Hopkins, with 23 runs still to get. Oram however held one end up while Tuffey lashed four fours to ensure there was no upset.

Guyana, meanwhile, will host the final in 2025, for the fourth straight year

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2024Barbados’ Kensington Oval will host the CPL final for the first ever time, in 2026. Guyana, meanwhile, will host the final in 2025, marking the fourth straight year that the CPL final will be held at the Providence Stadium.In a press release on Friday, the CPL announced that it had agreed one-year deals with the two venues to host the final for the next two years.”I want to take this opportunity to wish Guyana Amazon Warriors all success on behalf of all Guyanese as we try to make it two in a row,” Mohammed Irfan Ali, the president of Guyana, said just before Amazon Warriors, the defending CPL champions, booked their berth in Sunday’s final. “To all the other teams we wish you well as we play together in unity. I am also very delighted to announce that Guyana will be hosting CPL 2025 finals.”Barbados Royals are two-time CPL winners, having last lifted the trophy in 2019.”Guyana and Barbados have been amazing partners for CPL over the last 12 years and it is really exciting to be able to announce that they will be hosts for the finals in 2025 and 2026 respectively,” Pete Russell, the CPL CEO, said. “We would like to thank the governments of both Guyana and Barbados who have agreed to play host to the conclusion of CPL.”Amazon Warriors beat Royals in the second qualifier, as quickfire knocks from Moeen Ali, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Shai Hope helped them chase down 149 inside 15 overs. Warriors will now play St Lucia Kings for the title, on October 6.

Bowler admits to rustiness after injury, but warns he’ll be ‘done’ if conditions are same all series

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2023James Anderson has admitted that the Edgbaston pitch for the first Ashes Test was “like kryptonite” for him, and warns that if the surfaces for the remaining four matches of the series prove to be similarly flat, then he will be “done”.Anderson, who turns 41 next month, returned the disappointing figures of 1 for 109 in 38 overs during Australia’s two-wicket win in the first Test, and was noticeably overlooked for the crucial new ball when England were striving for a breakthrough on the tense final afternoon.He was unlucky in his first spell of the second innings, when Usman Khawaja – Australia’s player of the match – edged at a catchable height past Jonny Bairstow in Anderson’s first over. But overall, he conceded that his body had felt rusty in his first outing since picking up a groin strain while playing for Lancashire in the County Championship last month.Related

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“This is an Ashes series. It is a big deal,” Anderson wrote in his column in The Telegraph. “When you play on a flat pitch like the one at Edgbaston and take a wicket, a bit more emotion does come out because you have worked extra hard for it.”That pitch was like kryptonite for me. There was not much swing, no reverse swing, no seam movement, no bounce and no pace. I’ve tried over the years to hone my skills so I can bowl in any conditions but everything I tried made no difference. I felt like I was fighting an uphill battle. It’s a long series and hopefully, I can contribute at some point, but if all the pitches are like that I’m done in the Ashes series.”With Anderson below his best, England struggled for penetration at key moments at Edgbaston, and having encountered some difficulty in dislodging Ireland on the final day of their recent Test at Lord’s, there will doubtless be some temptation to bring in the extra pace of Mark Wood for next week’s second Test at the same venue.Anderson, however, is confident that he will be better for the game-time, regardless of his disappointing showing.
“There was a bit of rustiness but I gave it everything I could,” he said. “Having played for a long time, I realise you can’t take wickets every game. Sometimes it is not your week. It felt like that for me. I know I wasn’t on top of my game this week. It was not my best performance. I know I have more to offer and contribute to the team.”The body felt quite good. There is some stiffness but I put that down to the unique conditions. We were running in on a very soft outfield then landing on a rock-hard pitch and that takes its toll on the body more than normal. All the bowlers were feeling that a bit.”Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson led the line for England’s quicks at Edgbaston, with Robinson returning the commendable figures of 40.4-12-98-5 across the two innings. However, his performance was equally notable for his on-field run-in with Usman Khawaja, which has since developed into an ongoing feud with Australia’s media as a whole, following more outspoken comments in his column for Wisden.com.Anderson even stepped in to pull Robinson away from a contratemps with Khawaja in the second innings, but insisted in his column that he wouldn’t be encouraging him to tone down his attitude as the series progresses.”I don’t want Ollie to change,” Anderson said. “I like him getting fired up. He bowls better when he is in that mood. From personal experience, I know I bowl better when I am a bit more aggressive and intense.”I stepped in to chat to Ollie when he and Usman were having an exchange of views in the second innings. It was gentle stuff, they were just talking cricket.”Whenever I watched cricket as a kid I wanted to see bowlers fired up. It makes for better theatre and is a lot more enjoyable to watch. Everyone is just encouraged to be themselves in our team. Some people don’t like getting into a verbal battle. Some do. Robbo thrives on it.”

“I now know the pattern of Test cricket, how long I should bat to get big runs”

Mohammad Isam24-May-2022Knowing his responsibility, understanding the pattern of the game, avoiding looking at hard numbers and changing his training method are some of the things that have helped Litton Das become a more consistent Test batter.Litton’s 141 in the first innings against Sri Lanka in Dhaka is his third Test hundred in the last six months when he has averaged 56.15, after spending six years as an underperforming enigma.Litton said that he is enjoying the responsibility put on him by his team-mates, who believe he can get them big scores. For long, Litton has been regarded as the most talented batter of his generation, with most of the senior cricketers often batting away media criticism towards him. Litton is however more interested in biding his time in the lower middle-order, despite his form.Related

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• All the records Mushfiqur and Litton broke during their 272-run stand

“It stays in the back of my mind that my team wants me to play a big innings,” Litton said. “It helps me knowing that the team depends on me. Where did I score my runs this year? There will be more opportunities. When the senior brothers will not play, I will get my chance (higher up the batting order). I don’t see how I can bat up. I am fine with where I am.”Litton said that when Ashwell Prince was Bangladesh’s batting coach, he explained to him the necessity to bat for time in Test cricket. He added that taking his eyes off from his career numbers has also helped him. Litton, however, remained mum about what changes he made in his training method.”I now know the pattern of Test cricket, how long I should bat to get big runs. What he explained to me, really helped me. I still follow those words.”When I used to see (my statistics), I saw that I was on the backfoot. There was a challenge to go forward. I no longer see (my statistics) because I am more focused on going ahead. I don’t know how far I can go.”Litton’s confidence showed in how he kept hitting pull shots whenever the Sri Lankan pace duo of Asitha Fernando and Kasun Rajitha pitched short and bowled bouncers at him. He scored 47 runs off 28 balls square of the wicket and behind square on the leg side, during his innings.”I think I have been playing the pull shot quite well in the last year-and-a-half. The control was with me. I believed that I could get out of the situation if he was bowling short. I can keep scoring. I kept playing the pull shot because I had the confidence to play the pull,” he said.Litton’s 141 was part of a 272-run sixth wicket stand with Mushfiqur Rahim, who was unbeaten on 175 when Bangladesh were bowled out for 365. In an innings where six batters got out for ducks, the partnership created all sorts of records.”Mushy and I batted under pressure. We wanted to put together a big partnership, and whatever we did, it was good for the team. I have had a number of 150-plus stands with (Mushy) . We knew that we had to make 300-plus batting first in Mirpur. We wanted to bat long since our top-order failed.”When I go to bat, even if the team score is 300 runs, I am under pressure. When I am batting at five wickets down (quickly), I am still under pressure. I start from zero. The normal conversation with Mushfiq was to drag the innings as much as possible. Our first target was to play till lunch.”Bangladesh will consider themselves slightly ahead of the curve after they took Kusal Mendis’ wicket late on the second day. “They are still far behind (Bangladesh’s first innings score). We will have a big chance if we can take one or two early wickets tomorrow. We will be in the backfoot if they can get close to our score or even take a lead,” Litton said, warning that the Mirpur pitch is already showing sign of variable bounce.”It was certainly uneven. One of the first two balls I faced today, was uneven. It was slightly better than the typical Mirpur wicket. I think as the Test wears on there will be deliveries that are more uneven.”

Rohit Sharma will open for India, while Will Pucovski is expected to make a highly anticipated debut for Australia

Karthik Krishnaswamy06-Jan-202110:48

Can Warner and Rohit hit the ground running?

Big Picture

They lost key players before the series, they’ve lost a few more since its start, and they’ve been rolled over for their lowest-ever total. It’s a wonder that India are still holding themselves together, never mind level in the series and looking, by some measures, a better side than Australia in their own conditions.They’ve done this not by becoming more Australian in their approach but by trusting methods that work for them at home: bowling at the stumps rather than in the corridor outside off, and giving themselves insurance by setting strong leg-side fields. Oh, and spin has played as important a role as pace.But for how long can they keep this run going while losing fast bowlers, one after another, to injury? They played the first Test without Ishant Sharma, played the second without Ishant or Mohammed Shami, and now, at the SCG, will be without Ishant, Shami and Umesh Yadav. This would be like Australia losing Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson to injury and being left with Pat Cummins partnering a pair of rookies.In Test cricket, a team is as good as the weakest link in its bowling attack. At the MCG, Mohammed Siraj showed more control and skill than any fast-bowling debutant could reasonably have been expected to, especially away from home, ensuring India didn’t have a weak link that stretched the other bowlers and gave their opposition a pressure-release valve. They will hope Navdeep Saini can pull off something similar at the SCG, even if Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin continue to perform at absurdly high standards.India will need all their parts to work smoothly together, because Australia, for all their flaws, remain a formidable side at home. Thirty-six all out may have been one of the game’s mysterious outliers, a result of the conditions and the planets aligning to turn every error into a dismissal, but it happened primarily because Australia turned in a fast-bowling performance of the highest quality. Their quicks, Cummins in particular, were perhaps just as good with the new ball at the MCG, even if the scorecard didn’t reveal it.Both teams will have rejigged top orders, with David Warner and Rohit Sharma set to return from injury and Will Pucovski making a highly anticipated debut. Both attacks will have new problems to solve, and if either opening combination can survive the first hour-and-a-half, the tone of the series could be transformed. What Steven Smith and Cheteshwar Pujara would give to start their innings against an older ball, against bowlers in their second spells, and with one or two fewer catchers around the bat.Who’ll be the happier captain after the SCG Test?•Getty Images

Form guide

Australia: LWWWW (last five Tests, most recent first)
India WLLLW

In the spotlight

Australia have endured their slowest-scoring home series of the century, and couldn’t be happier to see David Warner back in their side. Warner has a formidable record in home Tests, averaging nearly 66, but Australia are taking a risk by playing him because he hasn’t fully recovered yet from the groin injury he suffered during the ODI series. There’s also the small matter of Jasprit Bumrah to negotiate for the first time in Tests, as well as R Ashwin, who has dismissed Warner more often in Tests than any other bowler bar Stuart Broad.India have an opening batsman to welcome back as well. Rohit Sharma has batted at the top of the order in only five Tests so far, but averages 92.66 there. He hasn’t played Test cricket since November 2019, though, and he’s never opened overseas. If he can see off the first spells of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, though, he could make a huge difference to a side that has only managed opening partnerships of 7, 0, 16 and 0 through the series so far.

Team news

Australia have not announced their XI yet, but the indications are that David Warner and Will Pucovski will open the batting, with Joe Burns and Travis Head dropping out of the side.Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Will Pucovski, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Matthew Wade, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Tim Paine (capt & wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood.The two main questions facing India were where Rohit Sharma bats, and who comes in for Umesh Yadav. The answers are: at the top of the order, in place of Mayank Agarwal; and Navdeep Saini.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 5 Hanuma Vihari, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Navdeep Saini, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.Related

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Pitch and conditions

Persistent rain in the lead-up to the Test match – and the uncertainty over whether Sydney would host it at all, following a Covid-19 outbreak in the city’s Northern Beaches area – have hampered preparations at the SCG, but its curator Adam Lewis has promised a hard pitch with plenty of grass on it. The traditional turning track at the SCG is now largely a thing of the past, but India’s two spinners will be encouraged by the fact that Kuldeep Yadav picked up a five-for here two years ago, and that Nathan Lyon bagged a ten-wicket match haul against New Zealand last year.Rain has lately bedeviled the SCG at this time of the year, contributing to three draws in the last six Tests at the venue, but the forecast is reasonably encouraging, with mild showers predicted on the first two days and mostly dry weather thereafter.

Stats and trivia

• India have won only one of their 12 Tests in Sydney – an innings win engineered by Bedi, Chandrasekhar and Prasanna over a Packer-depleted Australia side in January 1978 – but they have come close on numerous other occasions, with resolute Australian batting, a lack of penetration in their bowling, and/or rain preventing them from pulling off big New Year’s wins in 1986, 1992, 2004 and 2019.
• India have often looked uncomfortable against Nathan Lyon’s dip, turn and bounce over their last two tours of Australia, but the numbers show their own spinners may have outbowled him. Lyon has taken 25 wickets in six Border-Gavaskar Tests in this period, at an average of 31.36. R Ashwin (20.37), Ravindra Jadeja (24.30) and Kuldeep Yadav (19.80) all have better averages in these games, and Ashwin and Jadeja have achieved better economy rates than Lyon’s 2.67 too.
• Lyon needs six wickets to reach the 400 mark in Test cricket.
• Cheteshwar Pujara is 97 runs short of the 6000 mark in Tests, and Ravindra Jadeja 74 short of 2000.

Quotes

“We’ve got a great record here and for a lot of our guys it’s their home ground so they certainly love playing here, they love being at home and they enjoy the conditions. All of our bowlers are New South Welshmen so they know the wicket very well, they exploit the conditions very well and they bowl really well as a group here. The same with our batting. Our two best batsmen – this is their home ground, this is where they do their best.”
“As a team you have three-four plans and you have to see which plan works on a given day. You have to see the wicket as well. But yes we have got three-four plans. We know if plan A doesn’t work for us, we go to plan B and C. It is important to plan well especially when you come to Australia. We know they are a very good team, a very dangerous team. Depending on the situation, depending on the wicket, conditions, also bounce off the wicket, we plan accordingly.”

Second season of league to be held in 2020 after ACB terminates agreement with Snixer Sports

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2019The second season of the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) has been postponed to 2020 after the league’s commercial partner failed to pay the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) rights money. The ACB has terminated the agreement, also citing concerns about the integrity of people associated with Snixer Sports, the partners. The tournament had been scheduled for October this year.”The failure by Snixer Sports to pay the complete rights fees of the first edition as per the fees and payment schedule of the agreement, and concerns about risks for integrity of the league posed by people connected to Snixer Sports are the reasons for termination that form material breaches of the agreement,” the ACB said in a statement.The allegation around the integrity of the people involved is especially pertinent, given the talk swirling around the league in its first season. Mohammad Shahzad reported an approach and it was one of the leagues the ICC’s ACU was keeping an especially close eye on: there were, it is understood, a number of other approaches made that were reported by players to the anti-corruption body.The ACB has written to the Attorney General’s Office of the Government of Afghanistan to “fully investigate the administrative allegations of corruption in the league” and that it remained committed to “ensuring transparency in all its affairs and is accountable to all stakeholders.”Following the signing of the tournament’s MoU in January last year, the first edition of the league was held between October 5 and 21 in Sharjah, UAE and featured a host of international names. Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Andre Russell, Brendon McCullum and Rashid Khan were picked as icon players by the five franchises, representing Paktia, Kabul, Balkh, Nangarhar and Kandahar.A tender for commercial rights to the second season of the league will be issued in due course.The league is the second T20 league to run into problems in as many months. In August, the inaugural season of the Euro T20 Slam was cancelled, only two weeks prior to its scheduled start. The Euro T20 Slam organisers, led by Gurmeet Singh’s Bombay Sports Limited and Woods Entertainment, the same group in charge of the Global T20 Canada, had run into increasing financial difficulties. The Global T20 Canada, too, faced issues, with player protests over unpaid wages.

Phil Simmons, the Afghanistan coach, was pleased with the side’s preparation but stressed on channeling white-ball temperament in Test cricket

Shashank Kishore in Bengaluru13-Jun-20182:34

Rashid will come out as the best spinner in this Test – Simmons

Asghar Stanikzai was asked about “nerves” as he arrived for his first official press conference as Test captain. “I’m hearing this for the first time,” he shot back, setting the tone for the next 15 minutes during which he and coach Phil Simmons talked all things Test cricket and the build-up to their inaugural Test.It was in Bengaluru seven years ago that Simmons truly left his imprint as a coach, when Ireland upset England at the 2011 World Cup. Now, he returns to the venue of that famous triumph in charge of another side, who he just helped qualify for the 2019 World Cup two months ago.Having witnessed the turmoil West Indies went through towards the end of his career, Simmons is aware of the immediate challenge to channel Afghanistan’s white-ball temperament to the longest format.”I was with Ireland for a long time, but they haven’t produced the amount of youngsters in the last four-five years like Afghanistan have,” he said. “The batting is a little bit less but the bowling, you will see a young fast bowler in this Test match hopefully. It shows that they have young talent coming up. And exciting prospects for the future.”Preparation wise, Afghanistan picked two vastly different squads for the T20Is against Bangladesh and their inaugural Test. Only Stanikzai, Mohammad Shahzad, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman featured in their 3-0 T20I whitewash of Bangladesh in Dehrarun earlier this month. This decision of allowing players time to prepare for the Test by monitoring their training schedules was a conscious one.”Our preparation has been good. We still had 12-13 players training with red ball,” Simmons said. “Fortunately the three fast bowlers (Wafadar, Sayed Shirzad and Yamin Ahmadzai) were not in T20I squad and they have been concentrating on Test preparation. The two senior spinners Nabi and Rashid am sure will be able to adjust themselves.”Afghanistan are under no illusion about how the pitch will behave and expect India’s three spinners to come hard at them. Having two wristspinners themselves – Rashid and Zahir Khan – along with Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s variations should help cope to an extent.Afghanistan’s players attend the BCCI awards ceremony•BCCI

“You prepare for what you expect. We expected Jadeja, Ashwin, Kuldeep,” Simmons said. “We have had our own Kuldeep in young Zahir. We have bowlers of similar ilk and they have been bowling at the batsmen. My feeling is that I can’t tell you how to prepare for a particular player. When you practice it against a spinner you learn how to play him. So we have put that in front of them and I think they have worked hard enough to be put out there.”Simmons cracked up when asked about “grass on the surface” for this Test. “When I played with them (Afghanistan) in Ireland, it was a little more greener than this and it still turned,” he said. “I think our bowlers are experienced enough to turn on that. It looks a lot darker today than it did two days ago, so I think by the time tomorrow (Thursday) comes it will be dry enough to spin on it.”The surface aside, it was also inevitable Simmons was going to be asked about Stanikzai’s remarks of Afghanistan’s spinners being better than India’s. My captain knows what he is talking about,” Simmons laughed with Stanikzai also grinning beside him. “When you look at it, all spinners in this contest will be excellent.”We know that right now, Rashid is the most difficult spinner to play around. He has not played Test cricket. We have to look and see what happens. but his professionalism will help him to adjust and am sure he will come out well.”Afghanistan have trained in India regularly since making Greater Noida their home base last year. Access to different training wickets and modern facilities has been maximised so much that Simmons downplayed the prospect of being undercooked. He stressed more on the temperament needed to succeed and hoped the team had learnt from experience.”The mental part comes from the way you train, how long you bat and how long you bowl and train in the nets,” Simmons said. “That’s the only way you prepare mentally because when you get out there then you understand what it takes. They have played four-day cricket so they have a fair idea…the good thing about it is that they learn quickly.”The press conference was lit up further when Simmons was asked about Virat Kohli’s unavailability. His answer elicited laughter among those in attendance.”I think there will always be a bit of disappointment in the players not to be on the same field as Virat, but at the same time we look at it as win the Test match and beat India, we don’t beat Virat,” he said. “So we are disappointed he is not playing, but little bit happy that we are not going to bowl to him all the time. We are happy to be here and playing India, Virat is not India.”