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After his selection in England’s Test team draws controversy, the legspinner says “when your country wants you and asks if you are available, you cannot just say no.”

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2018Adil Rashid has shot back at critics, in particular former England and Yorkshire captain Michael Vaughan and the Yorkshire county, after his selection in England’s Test team drew flak. He thinks Vaughan’s comments are “stupid” and “do not matter”, and he is hurt by Yorkshire’s expression of disappointment, which might lead him “to think about the future in terms of which county I play for”.Most of the criticism, though, has been aimed at the England selectors for giving Rashid a Test comeback in “unique circumstances” even though the legspinner had turned his back on red-ball cricket for Yorkshire. Rashid had a good ODI series against India, including bowling India captain Virat Kohli with a sharp legbreak. Rashid is the second spinner alongside Moeen Ali in the squad for the first Test. Both Dominic Bess and Jack Leach, who played Tests for England after Moeen and Rashid had been dropped, were overlooked.In his column in , Vaughan called Rashid “unprofessional” for not making himself available for Yorkshire when “he knew he had a good chance of being picked” for the Tests.Rashid responded belligerently, saying it was not his fault he was offered a place in the squad. “There has been a lot of hoo-ha. I don’t see what the big deal is, with people talking about me being retired,” Rashid told . “I didn’t say anything about retirement, which some pundits have said. It was not an easy decision, but when your country wants you and asks if you are available, you cannot just say no.”Getty Images

About Vaughan he was much more scathing: “His opinions do not matter to anybody. When I mentioned at the start of the year I will not be playing red-ball cricket, he tweeted something then. He was being controversial and saying his stupid things then too. A lot of people have got no interest in what he says. It is about getting people to like what he says.”I don’t think he has an agenda against me. I played under and with him but sometimes ex-players come out and start talking nonsense about current players. If he wants to carry on talking just because he is bored with nothing better to say, then that is his choice. There will be people out there who are not happy. There will be haters, like the pundits who are saying it is a disgrace. That is not my fault.”Rashid said he expected better from his county Yorkshire. Their CEO Mark Arthur has criticised the selection too because Rashid had not made himself available for red-ball cricket for Yorkshire, who even had to loan a spinner for just one match, the Roses clash.
“They might be disappointed for various reasons, but it would have been nice if the chief executive or head coach could have said, ‘Well done, congratulations on being selected, good on you.’ As opposed to being angry and upset for not playing red-ball cricket for them, even though I told them I would not be doing so.”I did not do anything wrong in that sense. There is no reason for Yorkshire to react like this. It was not something I expected or wanted. It would have been nice to have got the support from your county or the people close to you, but if they do not want to give their support, that is their problem. I don’t need anybody’s support in that situation. I know what I want to do and achieve. If I give 100% and it goes well, it goes well. If it doesn’t then I will still be happy.”If they treat me like they have done, don’t see any value in me and are disrespectful to me, I have to think about the future in terms of which county I play for.”

Glamorgan were on course for a first home Championship win in three years, after their bowlers secured a 227-run first-innings lead

ECB reporters network25-Sep-2018
ScorecardGlamorgan have not won a Championship game at their Sophia Gardens headquarters since Leicestershire were beaten three years ago, but they are on course to repeat that success sometime during the final two days of what has been a desperately disappointing season.After 200 supporters had attended a members forum on Monday, when the club announced there would be an independent external review conducted in October, the players responded with a satisfying all-round performance to end the second day in a commanding position.After gaining a first innings lead of 227, Michael Hogan opted not to enforce the follow on. With two-and-a-half days remaining, Glamorgan’s batsmen, who have been short of runs for most of the summer, took the opportunity for some late-season practice.They took Glamorgan’s lead on to 333, Chris Cooke contributing an unbeaten 41, and they are likely to bat for another session on Wednesday. The visitors will then need to show far more dedication and application than they did in the first innings when they were dismissed for 132 in only 48.3 overs.When play resumed on the second morning, the ninth-wicket pair of Timm van der Gugten and Kieiran Bull extended their partnership to 80, with Glamorgan gaining four batting points, the most in an innings this season. Van der Gugten reaching his second half-century in three games.Leicestershire lost Sam Evans in Hogan’s opening over, then the innings began to slide as Colin Ackerman was out to Graham Wagg in the final over before lunch and Mark Cosgrove to the first ball after the interval. Apart from Harry Dearden, who scored 48 from 87 balls with ten fours, no other batsman could cope with an accurate Glamorgan attack, Wagg ending with figures of 10-4-25-3.Stephen Cook,signed by Glamorgan for the final four games, failed again when he was leg before to Tom Taylor for 5 – the South African ending his short stay with only 120 runs from eight innings and a paltry average of 15.00.Glamorgan then wobbled, as three wickets fell for one run. Nick Selman ended a poor season when he was lbw to Dieter Klein, who then had Jack Murphy caught behind, and when Carlson wafted at a wide one from Gavin Griffiths, the home team had stumbled to 39 for 4.They recovered as Cooke and Jeremy Lawlor shared an unbeaten partnership of 67 for the fifth wicket, to leave their team in control on 106 for 4.

Quite a few rare talents from Pakistan have disappeared after record-breaking starts. But Abbas is here to stay

Osman Samiuddin in Abu Dhabi17-Oct-2018Pakistani fans breathe easy. Mohammad Abbas is confident he will not fall off the rails as so many promising Pakistani fast bowlers have before him. Abbas has made a record-breaking start to his Test career, but fans have been down this route before.In men such as Mohammad Zahid, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – to name but three – they have seen rare talents emerge, sizzle all too briefly and then, for various reasons, disappear or fade away.On Wednesday, Abbas completed a five-wicket haul in Abu Dhabi that was instrumental in dismantling Australia for 145. That included a 50th wicket in just his 10th Test, the joint second-fastest Pakistani to the mark. It also means that as his figures stand currently, he has the fourth-lowest bowling average (15.94) for bowlers with at least 50 Test wickets.He has taken wickets against all opponents and in all conditions so far, though his bowling this series, in conditions that don’t traditionally suit fast bowling, has been a revelation still.Better still, he comes across as a fairly straight-laced character.”I have played first-class cricket and a lot of things have happened before my eyes,” he said. “I suffered hardships in my life so my focus is on cricket and that has made me mature.”My focus is only to play cricket and focus on my fitness. I want to keep my feet on the ground. That has been my life. Right or wrong I know where to go.”A number of comparisons have already been thrown up, Asif lead among them, but also similar operators such as Vernon Philander. The South African had 63 wickets in his first ten Tests though they were played in South Africa, New Zealand and England – countries where bowlers will get reasonable assistance.By contrast, Abbas’ career has been a tour of fast bowling graveyards. Seven of his ten Tests have been in West Indies and the UAE. So far, that has not made a difference to his approach. Right lines, right lengths and whatever seam movement is on offer. Most impressively he has been able to extract movement even on this Abu Dhabi surface, to a degree rarely seen.”There are different conditions, different pitches, whatever you get you need to focus on your bowling,” he said. “I mould myself according to that. I see who is the opponent and then focus on my bowling positions.”He is on course to make this series one of the most successful ever for a pace bowler in Asia. His 12 Australian wickets have come at a cost of just 9.83 each, which leaves only Chaminda Vaas’ 2005 series against the West Indies ahead of him.That has drawn praise from his opponents who could be forgiven for preparing for spin before this series and not medium-pace.”The simplicity of his plan to just bowl at the stumps with nice straight fields, limit your scoring, that’s been his real strength,” Aaron Finch said. “He’s just very simple, very good, but nothing we can’t overcome in the second dig.”I think it’s nothing that [we] haven’t seen before. But I suppose just a little bit of seam there, particularly to new batters, is so important. I saw him coming wide on the crease to the left-handers, seaming it across them, then around the wicket, and that’s the most difficult ball to face, if someone’s angling them in at the stumps, and we know that he’s always there or thereabouts on the stumps, he doesn’t go over the stumps, he doesn’t miss them too often, so I think that does have its challenges.”

Batsman endured sleepless nights during form slump against India, but comes good at Galle to give England big advantage

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Nov-2018A proud Keaton Jennings admitted that his performances in the English summer “had not been up to scratch” but hoped that his second-innings century at Galle would mark the the start of greater things, both personally and for the England team.Jennings, who finished unbeaten on 146 as England declared with a lead of 461, told Sky Sports at the close: “It’s a very special day for me personally, but very special to be in such a good position in this Test match. Hopefully we can go on and win it.”By his own admission, Jennings had been fortunate to make the cut for England’s Test series in Sri Lanka, having averaged 19.20 in six Tests against Pakistan and India this summer, with a highest score of 42.But, having capitalised on Alastair Cook’s retirement to retain his place as the incumbent at the top of England’s batting order, Jennings reprised the form he had shown on debut against India in December 2016 to produce his second Test hundred.”I suppose all you can do is try and score runs when you get that opportunity,” Jennings said. “At the end of the day, the summer was tough and my performances weren’t up to scratch, I’m happy to admit that. But hopefully I can keep putting in performances that can lead us to matchwinning performances.”Jennings admitted that his lack of form in the summer had led to some sleepless nights, but said that he had learned to block out the critics in his attempt to forge a career at the highest level.”I got myself into quite a state, waking up in the middle of the night and stressing about it. But not anymore, I try to isolate myself and listen to a core group of people who’ve stuck with me for 25-26 years.”On a pitch that was taking spin, albeit not to the extent that is traditional at Galle, Jennings said that his 280-ball innings was all about choosing the right options against Sri Lanka’s slow bowlers.”I suppose it was about taking risks at the right time,” he said. “It felt like there was a ball that could get you out, so I suppose it’s that cat-and mouse-game, trying to get off strike, and put pressure on the bowler to get the bad ball.He shared in a number of key partnerships in the course of his innings, most notably a fourth-wicket stand of 107 with Ben Stokes.”It’s tough, but when you bat with a guy like Stokesy because of his aura and the way he hits the ball and his way of playing, it’s easier. Jos [Buttler] walked in and belted it all over the place as well, and Foakesy struck the ball unbelievably too, so my role was to get off strike and feed it to them.”It’s a really pleasing day from a team perspective.”Jennings’ contribution even won praise from the opposition. “The way he batted, the way he built his innings, it’s a good example for our batsmen as well,” Piyal Wijetunge, Sri Lanka’s spin bowling coach, said. “He had patience and he never played a rash stroke. It’s an example for us.”

The left-arm quick picked up 4 for 54 to help the visitors bowl Pakistan out for 227 and limit their first-innings lead to 74

The Report by Danyal Rasool17-Nov-2018
Trent Boult celebrates a wicket•AFP

There’s a thrilling Test match unfolding in Kandy, and two days in at Abu Dhabi, there’s reason to believe something similar might be brewing here. On a fascinating day of Test cricket, New Zealand kept dragging Pakistan back just when the hosts looked like they might slip away out of reach. They were kept to no more than a modest lead of 74, before a gritty partnership between Kane Williamson and Jeet Raval – 56 off 129 balls – chipped away at it, New Zealand 18 runs from parity with nine wickets still in hand.It was, in the end, New Zealand’s day, the fact they clawed back into the match no mean feat, given how far behind they were after being bowled out for 153 yesterday. Even today, New Zealand’s bowlers were in charge over large periods and could have made inroads earlier. Trent Boult was exceptional throughout the day, and Williamson’s decision not to start the day with him looked like an error. Just the second ball of his spell, he seamed one away from Azhar Ali that very nearly caught the edge, and two balls later, a simple chance was grassed by Raval at short midwicket.All day, Boult was unplayable, mesmeric, even, on a pitch where it looks especially hard to get settled. In the six overs before Boult was brought on for the first time, Pakistan scored 28 without loss. In the nine overs that followed, they managed just six runs and lost two wickets. It could have been several more, the way Boult kept moving the ball outside off stump, long after the ball had ostensibly grown too old to swing. However, it was Ish Sodhi – also introduced somewhat late and clearly the better spinner on the day – who got the first wicket. It wasn’t the best ball, a low full-toss that Haris scooped up to short midwicket. New Zealand deserved their luck, and five balls later, Boult got the wicket he had deserved.Azhar Ali had been at the crease for 95 balls, scoring only 22 and not looking nearly like getting back to form. It was a corker of a delivery that sent Azhar packing, another ball that seamed and swerved outside off stump, but it also required excellent reflexes from BJ Watling to dive sharply to his right and complete a one-handed grab in front of first slip. It was the second of four wickets he would take; his performance good enough to grace any five-for.Pakistan looked like running away with the game again after lunch, having moved into the lead, with Babar Azam and Asad Shafiq striking up the biggest partnership of the match. Neil Wagner bowled with characteristic discipline, at one point bowling four consecutive maidens. However, it was Boult again who penetrated Shafiq’s defences. A lovely late inswinger caught the batsman with his feet trapped in the crease, and all Shafiq could do was drag it back into his off stump. As has been the case all game, one wicket foreshadowed more. Sarfraz Ahmed played an ill-advised sweep into the hands of square leg to give Patel his first wicket, while Bilal Asif was caught out of his crease soon after, and departed thanks to nifty glovework by Watling. Wagner himself found just reward before tea was called, the fast bowler inducing Yasir Shah’s outside edge to claim his 150th Test wicket.Babar might have found it hard to sink his teeth into Test cricket to begin with, but there are finally signs it’s falling into place for Pakistan’s brightest batting talent. He might have been bitterly disappointed after falling for 99 against Australia last time around, but it has appeared to turn a corner for him. In a low-scoring game, he played a chanceless innings that may well win Pakistan this Test match. With 62, he extended Pakistan’s slender lead and cushioned against the possibility of a steep fourth-innings chase.Where Pakistan and New Zealand diverged was the hosts’ ability to strike up more than one significant partnership. Azhar and Haris’s dismissal didn’t herald a collapse as Babar and Shafiq hung in, developing a partnership of their own and dispelling any thoughts of Pakistan being bowled out around the 153 New Zealand had managed. With Boult needing a rest, the pair saw out the initial barrage and then began to chip away at the bowlers, and with Wagner and Patel unable to exert the same pressure as Boult or Sodhi had, batting became easier; it was as if the pitch had flattened out.But a lead of 74 isn’t exactly small in what has been an uncharacteristically low-scoring match in Abu Dhabi, and New Zealand looked like being bowled out of the match again when Hasan Ali sent Tom Latham’s off stump cartwheeling with his first ball. With dark clouds hovering overhead and the new ball in the lethal hands of Mohammad Abbas and Hasan, the visitors needed to dig especially deep to make it through the last 20 overs. That Williamson helped do that wasn’t a surprise, but even Raval, still young in his Test career, showed he had learned from his first-innings dismissal. He played Abbas expertly, both leaving and blocking well, and not worried about his strike-rate.That they can leave for the third day, as New Zealand continue to dig themselves out of the hole of the poor first-innings display. They have already come further than most sides do against Pakistan in the UAE, and whether they continue the good work tomorrow makes for an intriguing day’s cricket on Sunday.

The technology used to create lively pitches at the start of the India series will be brought to Melbourne next year

Daniel Brettig18-Dec-2018Perth Stadium’s highly entertaining pitch for Australia’s second Test victory over India will form the blueprint for a major overhaul of the MCG’s ageing drop-in wicket block, with the old concrete beds and trays to be replaced by higher tech variants at the end of this season.While there is a high degree of interest in how the MCG pitch will play this Boxing Day, given last year’s bore draw during the Ashes and the “poor” rating handed to it by the ICC at the end of the match, ESPNcricinfo has learned a far more significant change will be made in March when the concrete base of the pitches that has been in place since the late 1990s will be removed and traded for the system now favoured by Adelaide Oval and Perth Stadium.Specifically, this involves the replacement of the solid concrete base with pylons to support the pitches in porous trays, rather than the current concrete trays, meaning there can be a greater flow of moisture between the pitches and into the wider sand and earth base around them, allowing for greater variation and deterioration over the course of a match. This development was pioneered largely by Adelaide Oval when its switched to drop-ins in 2013, and was followed, with the addition of a different soil formula to try to replicate the WACA pitches of old, in Perth.The fruits of these developments were clear for all to see in the first two Tests of the summer, as Adelaide and Perth provided a much more even contest between bat and ball than several of those recently provided by the MCG during the biggest traditional five-day fixture of the global calendar. Australia’s coach Justin Langer was unbridled in his praise of the Perth pitch in particular, as it offered steepling bounce and pace in addition to the variation offered by cracks opening up over the course of the match.”A couple did something off the cracks but that’s okay, it’s like if you play on other wickets and it spins every now and then, it might spin out of the rough. But it had everything,” Langer told . “Nathan Lyon was probably the difference, not only Man of the Match but we selected the spinner and India didn’t and we saw what great influence he had on the game so it spun and bounced, it was fast, it bounces, it swung a bit. Anyone who says there’s anything wrong with that wicket, they must’ve been watching a different game.”The MCG’s surface was the source of plenty of consternation throughout last year’s Test culminating in its poor rating by the ICC’s match referee Ranjan Madugalle, who stated: “The bounce of the MCG pitch was medium, but slow in pace and got slower as the match progressed,” Madugalle said. “The nature of the pitch did not change over the five days and there was no natural deterioration. As such, the pitch did not allow an even contest between the bat and the ball as it neither favoured the batsmen too much nor it gave the bowlers sufficient opportunity to take wickets.”Stuart Fox, the Melbourne Cricket Club chief executive, had stated at the end of the match that the pitch and the technology surrounding it would be reviewed. “While this Test pitch did produce a good contest, it has not contained the bounce and pace that we expected. As the game progressed, the surface did not deteriorate nor bring the level of unpredictability that was anticipated,” Fox said. “We review all elements of our performance at the conclusion of every event, and the quality of the pitch is no exception.”To that end new head curator Matthew Page, who was appointed before last year’s highly criticised Ashes surface but started in the job after the match, reviewed the ways pitches were prepared for the MCG and also how its drop-in technology had fallen behind the likes of Adelaide and Perth. Numerous short-term changes have resulted, including a reduction from 10 to seven pitches on the square to allow for more wear and tear; renovation of existing pitches to improve their clay profile, and placement of a layer of sand on the concrete slab in the centre of the MCG to soften the connection between the pitches and the base.Last summer there was not a single outright result in any of the first-class matches scheduled at the MCG. So far this summer, Victoria have beaten New South Wales by an innings thanks largely to Marcus Harris’ unbeaten 250, before fighting out draws with South Australia and Western Australia.

Andrew Miller18-Jan-2019Liam Livingstone believes that Rajasthan Royals could become the favoured IPL team among England fans, as he gears himself up for his debut in the competition alongside three fellow countrymen in Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and the soon-to-be-qualified Jofra Archer.This year’s IPL gets underway in March with a total of 11 English players in the mix, including Sam Curran, this season’s most expensive overseas signing, who was picked up by King’s XI Punjab for £800,000.And while Livingstone’s £50,000 fee wasn’t quite in the same league, he feels his destination will give him a unique opportunity to thrive in the IPL spotlight, thanks to his longstanding friendships with the star names alongside him.”I’ve played cricket with Ben at Cumbria and Jos at Lancs, so I think that will be the best part of it, some familiar faces,” Livingstone told ESPNcricinfo. “It’s great to be going to a franchise with guys I already know, so hopefully that’ll help me settle into the environment a little quicker.”It’s obviously great to have the English contingent, and that’ll give us a big following back home in England, for people who don’t really support a team in the IPL, they’ll see four English lads in one squad and take a lot of interest in that.”ALSO READ: How the IPL teams stack up for 2019Livingstone’s success at the auction was a welcome boost at the end of a tough year, which began with a call-up to England’s Test squad in New Zealand, but was badly disrupted by a broken thumb, sustained during Lancashire’s championship defeat against Yorkshire in July. That loss would prove a major factor in the club’s relegation and Livingstone subsequently chose to step down from the captaincy.And yet, in T20 cricket, Livingstone enjoyed a fine run of form at the top of Lancashire’s order, blasting 318 runs in seven matches, including a 49-ball century against Derbyshire and a brilliant matchwinning 79 from 37 balls in a one-run Roses thriller at Old Trafford.”It was a disappointing year but there were a few highlights as well, so it wasn’t all doom and gloom,” he said. “To average 45 at a strike-rate of 190 in T20 meant that, going into the winter, I knew there was a chance to be picked up in a few tournaments with that behind me.”So it proved, with a stint with Karachi Kings in the PSL looming large next month, before he heads straight to Jaipur for the start of the IPL on March 23.”It’s going to be a life experience, as well as an experience on the field, because you can’t get that sort of big-game experience anywhere else in the world apart from international cricket. It is going to be a great learning curve.”Liam Livingstone walked out to bat despite a broken thumb•Getty Images

Unsurprisingly, Livingstone’s Lancashire team-mate Buttler was an especially keen advocate of the IPL when Livingstone was weighing up the pros and cons of putting himself forward for this season’s auction.In 2018, Buttler produced one of the storylines of the tournament when, after being promoted to open the Rajasthan innings, he responded with a run of five consecutive half-centuries, a vein of form that led directly to his England recall for the first Test against Pakistan at Lord’s a fortnight later.”Speaking to Jos, he always says it’s one of the best things he’s done in his career,” Livingstone said. “This time last year, if you said that Jos would do what he’s done in Test cricket, people would have said you were crazy, but that shows not only the level of skill Jos has got, but that, so long as your basics are in good order, you can temper what you do in T20, and use it in 50-over and Test cricket as well.”The same is clearly true of Stokes, who was MVP in the 2017 IPL while playing for Rising Pune Supergiant, and was recently singled out for praise by England head coach Trevor Bayliss, following his starring role in England’s 3-0 Test series win in Sri Lanka.None of which came as any surprise to Livingstone, who became accustomed to Stokes’ exploits while playing age-group cricket in his native Cumbria.”Ben was two years older than me so we used to travel around together,” he said. “I was in the U13s and he was U15s. so we didn’t play in the same team much, but we’d be playing our matches on different pitches, usually at a big public school, and if you wandered round, you’d usually find he was on about 140-odd.”ALSO READ: Harry Gurney on IPL deal: My wife said ‘You’ve been sold!’ and my phone went berserkLivingstone is realistic about his chances of breaking straight into a powerful Rajasthan squad, one that will also feature India’s Ajinkya Rahane and Australia’s former captain, Steve Smith, who will be returning to top-level cricket for the first time since his year-long ban for ball-tampering. But even if spends most of his stint warming a bench, he doesn’t believe it will have been a wasted trip.”I think that was one of the reasons I wanted to go into the auction, even though I’ll miss part of the season with Lancs,” he said. “The experience of being in the changing room with some of the best players in the world, and playing against them, and seeing how they operate from day to day, that was one of the attractions of going in.”If I get the chance to play, I hope I can show people what I’m about,” he said. “I would like to see myself as flexible and willing to try a few different positions. I’m just going out there with an open mind and, if I get the chance to do anything, hopefully I’ll be ready to take it.”

Allrounders on either side – Dan Christian and Marcus Stoinis – shape as pivotal figures in the Big Bash final

Preview by Daniel Brettig16-Feb-2019

Big Picture

Sixty days after the eighth edition of the Big Bash League started, it will conclude with the first ever Derby final – the Melbourne Stars and the Melbourne Renegades. Docklands Stadium is the venue by nature of the Renegades finishing higher after the qualifying rounds, despite the best efforts of the Stars and their president Eddie McGuire to have the decider moved across town to the MCG. Just as Cricket Australia are locked into a tournament of at least 59 games over the term of their current broadcast deal, so too are the Renegades obliged to play all their home finals at Docklands.On the evidence of Friday night’s semi-final however, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The pitch on which the Renegades squeaked past the Sydney Sixers was one of the best of the entire tournament, running contrary to the succession of sluggish surfaces prepared at the stadium previously this season. There was pace off the pitch and off the bat, providing the likes of Josh Philippe, Daniel Hughes, Cameron White and Sam Harper with the ability to play their shots. Tellingly, it allowed Dan Christian to strike the blows required to take the Renegades home.That change in conditions, should it remain the same for the final, is significant given the fact that the Stars overcame the Renegades on slowish surfaces in each of their two meetings so far this season. Tight with the ball and then sensible with the bat, they were comfortable winners in a pair of low-scoring contests. Since that time, the Stars have drawn plenty of inspiration from their captain Glenn Maxwell, while also being beautifully served in their Hobart semi-final by Daniel Worrall’s seam and swing. The giant of both previous encounters between the two clubs, though, was undoubtedly Marcus Stoinis, and he looms as a key opponent for the Renegades on Sunday afternoon.

What happened in the group stage

January 1, MCG:
January 19, Docklands:

Run to the final

(last five matches, most recent first)Melbourne Renegades WLWWW
Melbourne Stars WWLLW

In the spotlight

Composure born of experience was critical to the way that Dan Christian took the Renegades home against the Sixers, on a night where at numerous times it looked far more likely that the visitors would win. But not only will Christian’s power and poise with the bat be key, for his medium pacers have been a vital middle overs link for the Renegades alongside the wrist spin of Cameron Boyce. His advice for the rest of the team was typically even-headed: “If you get caught up in the hullabaloo and the extra media that we’re going to have around the game and the bigger crowd and all that stuff I think you get caught up in it and not focus on what got you there in the first place.”Traditional statistics can sometimes be a little misleading in T20, but Marcus Stoinis‘ impact on the Stars’ two wins over the Renegades bears no argument. In those matches he has claimed 5 for 45 from his eight overs before scoring 148 runs without yet being dismissed by a Renegades bowler. At the back end of the Australian international season, Stoinis was flagged as the new preferred allrounder of the national selectors, having moved ahead of Mitchell Marsh. The way he has dominated the Renegades so far demonstrates part of what the national team sees in him, but also why Aaron Finch’s men must find better ways of constraining Stoinis in the tournament final.

Squads

Renegades Aaron Finch (capt), Cameron Boyce, Dan Christian, Tom Cooper, Harry Gurney, Sam Harper (wk), Marcus Harris, Mackenzie Harvey, Jon Holland, Cameron White, Kane Richardson, Chris Tremain, Jack Wildermuth Stars Glenn Maxwell (capt), Jackson Bird, Dwayne Bravo, Jackson Coleman, Ben Dunk, Seb Gotch, Evan Gulbis, Peter Handscomb, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nic Maddinson, Marcus Stoinis, Dan Worrall, Adam Zampa

Stats and trivia

• Melbourne Renegades are playing their first ever BBL final, while the Stars were beaten finalists, at home to the Sydney Thunder, in 2016
• Renegades have only made the finals three times in their history, while last season was the first time the Stars had missed the semi-finals
• The Stars and Renegades have the least half-centuries in this year’s BBL with the Renegades well adrift at the bottom with just three to the Stars’ nine.

Mumbai Indians’ fast bowler dislocated his right arm while fielding in Saturday’s fixture against Rajasthan Royals

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Apr-2019Alzarri Joseph is unlikely to be seen in action for Mumbai Indians for the foreseeable future after picking up an injury during Saturday’s game against Rajasthan Royals. ESPNcricinfo understands that Joseph has a tear in his right arm, which he dislocated while diving on the field, and will miss the remainder of the tournament.Joseph came into the IPL as a replacement for New Zealand’s Adam Milne, who didn’t arrive in India at all because of a swollen heel. Milne had been bought at the December auction for for INR 75 lakh ($104,000 approx), and Joseph was brought in for the same amount in accordance with IPL rules.This has been a difficult year for Joseph already. In February, he lost his mother in the middle of his maiden home Test in Antigua, where he’d dismissed Joe Denly off the first delivery. He opted to play the Test, displaying a lot of character in West Indies’ series win against England.ALSO READ: From 6/12 to 0/53 – a week in the life of Alzarri JosephJoseph’s IPL sojourn lasted a week. He announced himself spectacularly by picking up 6 for 12 – the best-ever figures in the IPL – to deliver an away win against against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Three days later, Joseph hit the winning runs against Kings XI Punjab in his first home game. However, he bowled just two overs in that game, in which he conceded 22 runs, going wicketless.On Friday, before his fall, Joseph had already endured a hard beating, once again going wicketless and leaking 53 runs in three overs.Mumbai play Royal Challengers Bangalore at home on Monday before travelling for four away games.

Regular captain Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza and Rameez Shahzad are back after serving their bans

Peter Della Penna13-Mar-2019Fast bowler Mohammad Naveed will continue as captain of UAE’s T20I side for their two-match series against USA, the first of which will be played on March 15 at the ICC Academy in Dubai.

UAE squad

Mohammad Naveed (capt), Ashfaq Ahmed, Sultan Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammad Boota, Amjad Gul, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, CP Rizwan, Rameez Shahzad, Abdul Shakoor

Naveed had been put in charge for UAE’s 2-1 series defeat to Nepal in January after Rohan Mustafa, the regular captain, was suspended for eight weeks along with Ahmed Raza and Rameez Shahzad, following tweets that were critical of facilities in Pakistan during UAE’s tour there in December for the ACC Emerging Teams Cup.Though all three players have returned for the games against USA, Naveed will remain in charge when they take the field on Friday in the first of two T20Is.The other player recalled to the 14-man squad after a lengthy absence was Amjad Gul, who has played four T20Is, the last of them against Afghanistan in December 2016.ALSO READ: Xavier Marshall recalled for USA’s T20 tour of UAEWicketkeeper Ghulam Shabber and batsmen Muhammad Usman and Chirag Suri were the notable absentees. Shabber made 39 runs in the recent three-match T20I series against Nepal, including a best of 25 off 15 balls opening the batting in the final game. Usman began with 30 off 24 balls in the opening win of the series before making scores of 0 and 2 in the defeats. On all three occasions, Usman fell to legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane. Suri did not feature in any of the Nepal games, as was the case with Fahad Nawaz and Qadeer Ahmed, who were also left out.Following the conclusion of the T20Is, a UAE developmental XI will play USA in a series of 50-over matches. According to sources, USA are expected to play six 50-over matches against local teams in the UAE in March, though it’s unclear whether any of these matches will have List A status.