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Stuart Thompson, the Ireland allrounder, has confirmed that he is taking an indefinite break from professional cricket to receive treatment for performance anxiety

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2016Stuart Thompson, the Ireland allrounder, has confirmed that he is taking an indefinite break from professional cricket to receive treatment for performance anxiety. Thompson, 24, confirmed the development after withdrawing from a domestic fixture for North-West Warriors.”I have realised it is in my best interests and everyone else involved in the squad and Cricket Ireland to be open and honest about my situation,” said Thompson, who has played 11 ODIs and 17 T20Is. “I have been struggling this season which culminated in needing a complete break from the game.”With the backing of Cricket Ireland, I have received expert help and I now understand a lot more about my condition and how I can overcome it. I am now looking forward to practicing methods to manage my anxiety and hope to return to cricket very soon. I’ve the best team around me to help me through it and looking forward to the challenge ahead.”Thompson is the second international cricketer to take an indefinite break from the game because of anxiety-related issues. Sarah Taylor, the England Women wicketkeeper, announced she was undergoing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in a bid to rid herself of anxiety issues that have resulted in such acute panic attacks that she had to run off the field.Richard Holdsworth, the performance director of Cricket Ireland, said Thompson was in touch with experts to get over his condition. “Stuart is getting expert support which we are confident will get him back in the game soon. Stuart will continue to take a break from the game but hopes to be back very soon. We would again ask that he be allowed to recover in private for the immediate future.”

Fans in Bulawayo have been asked to join a peaceful protest during the second Test between Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Bulawayo as part of the #thisflag demonstrations that havae been held throughout the country in recent weeks

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Aug-2016Fans in Bulawayo have been asked to join a peaceful protest during the second Test between Zimbabwe and New Zealand in Bulawayo as part of the #thisflag demonstrations that have been held throughout the country in recent weeks. The movement, started by Pastor Evans Mawarire, encourages Zimbabweans to take ownership of their flag, and by implication their country, through mass action.In a video posted on YouTube, Mawarire instructed supporters to stand at the start of the 36th over on day one – to coincide with the country’s 36th year of independence – and sing the national anthem in the hope of attracting global media attention to the cause.Mawarire’s statement references the protests by Henry Olonga and Andy Flower in 2003 and says it wants to honour them for starting that first protest. It calls on spectators to go to the ground on Saturday with their flags and, at the start of the 36th over, stand up and sing the national anthem. The 36 refers to the years since Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe came to power.Mawarire is currently in South Africa, where he has been since he was released on bail after being arrested for leading last month’s stay-aways. On July 6 and again on July 13 and 14, Zimbabweans did not go to work for peaceful protests. Following that, there have been several clashes between protestors and police as well as further demonstrations, mostly in Harare. Bulawayo, where both Tests against New Zealand are being played, has remained largely unaffected.Should the action go ahead, this will be another instance that cricket would be used to send a political message in Zimbabwe. The black armband protests by Olonga and Flower to mark what they called the death of democracy resulted in both men leaving the country and marked the end of their playing careers.Since then, Zimbabwean cricket itself has been fairly politicised with events such as the white-player walkout and moves to aggressively transform the national team, aligning it closer to the state. However, interest in cricket has waned as poor results and the economic downturn caused self-imposed exile from Test cricket and fewer fixtures than any other ICC Full Member. Still, cricket remains one of Zimbabweans’ few connections to the outside world and is being used for political aims again, even though coverage of the current series is scant.Television apart, the series has not received a high level of coverage within the local newspapers, often finding itself relegated below football, there are no traveling New Zealand writers and only two other journalists from outside Zimbabwe.Attendance could also be an issue. The first match saw a crowd of a few hundred throughout the game, of which a large percentage was school children being bussed in. With school holidays commencing on Friday, that is unlikely to be the case for the second Test. However, crowd numbers are likely to be bolstered by the weekend start and the fact that four of the five match days take place over a long weekend. Monday is Heroes’ Day and Tuesday National Armed Forces Day.A police presence is also expected at the second Test, as was the case in the first, with no indication of whether the numbers will be greater than before.

Ireland climbed to the top spot on the Intercontinental Cup table with a 70-run win over Hong Kong in Belfast on Friday

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2016
ScorecardTim Murtagh removed the Hong Kong openers and derailed their chase of 310•Middlesex CCC

Ireland climbed to the top spot on the Intercontinental Cup table with a 70-run win over Hong Kong in Belfast on Friday.Having taken a 79-run first-innings lead, Ireland put up 230 in their second innings to leave Hong Kong with a target of 310 to win. They began day four on 199 for 6, but managed to add only 31 as left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed polished off the tail. Fast bowler Tim Murtagh then picked up 4 for 29 as Hong Kong were bowled out for 239.Nearly half of Hong Kong’s 239 came from Nizakat Khan, who was the last man dismissed for 123. The significance of his contribution to Hong Kong’s score was underlined by the fact that no other batsman in the line-up crossed an individual score of 30. The 24-year-old batsman’s maiden first-class century in his third match included 14 fours and a six.”I need to give credit to Mark Wright who has helped me with my batting and to Cambo (Ryan Campbell) and Cooky (Simon Cook),” Nizakat said after the match.”It felt really good to make a hundred – when I came here I just wanted to score a hundred and it was an amazing feeling – it wasn’t easy but I just fought to the end. I’m happy with myself but I know I still have a lot of improvement to make.”Left-arm spinner George Dockrell added to his first-innings haul of three wickets with two more in the second, including Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat for 28, while Kevin O’Brien also picked up two wickets.Nizakat had also contributed a 69 in the first innings, one of two half-centuries as Hong Kong mustered 237 in response to Ireland’s first innings score of 316. In that innings, he shared a 101-run stand for the third wicket with Ninad Shah to help Hong Kong rebuild slightly after stumbling to 3 for 2 in the 10th over. The second fifty of that innings came from Anshuman Rath, who top-scored with 73* off 163 balls.Ireland’s first innings total, after they had opted to bat, was built around William Porterfield’s 88 and Gary Wilson’s 95. Ed Joyce and George Dockrell also got starts – the latter striking 32 lower down the order – but Porterfield and Wilson steered the middle and lower orders respectively, sharing in crucial partnerships. The best stand for Ireland was the one between Wilson and Dockrell for the seventh wicket which yielded 65 runs.Tanwir Afzal and Nadeem were the most successful Hong Kong bowlers, each taking a four-for in Ireland’s first innings and backing it up with three-wicket hauls in the second.The full 20 points for Ireland took them to the maximum 80 points after four rounds, 19 ahead of Afghanistan who now sit in second place. Hong Kong meanwhile remain tied for fourth with Scotland in the Intercontinental Cup table at 30 points, 16 behind third-placed Netherlands.

Dom Bess, Somerset’s 19-year-old offspinner, took another five-wicket haul to bundle out Nottinghamshire and edge his side closer to a first-ever Championship title

Paul Edwards at Taunton21-Sep-2016
ScorecardDom Bess celebrates one of his five wickets•Getty Images

If you hope to make history, it is probably helpful not to be encumbered by the past.Dom Bess is too young to recall the years when Somerset nearly won things. That pain is for old cricketers. Fresh-faced and engaging, the offspinner only left Blundell’s School last year and does not even have a professional contract as yet. All he has is the present and it is glorious. For Bess is 19-years-old and he may be in the first Somerset team to win the County ChampionshipBowling with a high action and getting plenty of bounce albeit not much turn from this Taunton pitch, Bess took 5 for 43 as Chris Rogers’ team dismissed Nottinghamshire for 138. That gave them a first-innings lead of 227 runs, which they had extended to 332 by the close. It would now be a major surprise if they do not complete their sixth four-day win of the season and thereby earn the 23 points that would throw down a challenge to Middlesex and Yorkshire at Lord’s.For if Somerset win this game, they will, indeed, be the County Champions if Middlesex do not beat Yorkshire or if Yorkshire do not beat Middlesex and score 350 runs in their first innings. The prose of the issue may be strangled by conditionals and connectives but for Somerset votaries the poetry has often come first. This could be a wonderful autumn in the West Country.On this second evening, though, home supporters can look back with fondness on a day when the ball had only to hit the pad for all Somerset to appeal for justice. As Bess and Jack Leach probed Nottinghamshire’s batsmen like tyro barristers, they were joined in their merciless inquisition by most of the spectators in the County Ground. Those mighty entreaties could be heard by drinkers in The Ring of Bells and the good news was passed on to the stylish cafés in Bath Place. Cricket matters so much in this town.

Bess’ dream sequence

Dom Bess, Somerset spinner: “The last couple of weeks have been like a dream for me. To suddenly be involved in a team with a real chance of winning the County Championship has been fantastic. I really enjoy bowling in tandem with Jack Leach and he is always talking to me and offering advice.
“Our director of cricket Matt Maynard made it clear our batting collapse at the end of day one was unacceptable, but we remained positive because we were still in a good position in the game. Today my main focus while batting was to not nick off against Jake Ball and to try to spot Imran Tahir’s googly. I think it was a really important stand with Jack and it gave us a real lift
“With the ball it was a case of putting it in the right place as often as possible and I am looking forward to bowling again in the second innings.”

And as ever with Somerset the local pride was mixed with glorious eccentricity. Dom Bess, a Devonian, sounds more like a character out of than the skilful spinner and useful batsman whose 41 runs secured a fourth bonus point for his side in the first hour of the second day. Leach looks more like a Professor of Palaeography than the high-class left-arm spinner whose 3 for 42 left him with 61 Division One wickets this year.If Leach’s skills were not sufficient to earn him a place on England’s tour to Bangladesh – perhaps the selectors thought the trip would clash with the autumn term at Cambridge – they certainly offered too severe a test for Chris Read’s batsmen.Nottinghamshire’s trials had begun in mid-morning when Steven Mullaney drove Lewis Gregory straight to Tom Abell at backward point. Although Jake Libby and Tom Moores negotiated the remaining overs of the session, Bess’s excellent rhythm – he began with five maidens – boded well for Rogers, whose skilful handling of his attack never allowed the batsmen to settle.Five wickets fell in the afternoon session and the balance of the match shifted, probably for good. Moores was caught at slip by Gregory when driving at Bess and the spinner then had Libby caught off bat and pad by Abell at short leg for 42. None of the other Notts batsmen could match the opener’s concentration.Michael Lumb gave Bess a one-handed return catch off the leading edge and Samit Patel was smartly stumped by Ryan Davies off Leach for 12. By now Nottinghamshire’s resistance was crumbling and that process was accelerated when their skipper, Read, was run out for 4, by Max Waller’s smart throw from point. It might have been a tight call but this has been a month in which those such calls have gone Somerset’s way.Having gone into tea on a grim 120 for 6, the visitors lost their last four wickets in a little more than three overs after the resumption. In the modern fashion Somerset chose not to enforce the follow-on but it will now be a major surprise if that tactic does anything but postpone their victory.The significance of such a win may not become clear until perhaps Friday but the excellence of Somerset’s cricket and the memory of James Hildreth’s hundred on the first day will stay with their supporters far longer.One also knows that it will be a disappointment – yes, another one – if they do not win the title now. For even as Bess took his wickets, news from Lord’s was being passed round Taunton and its significance digested and analysed. “I wouldn’t mind but we’ve got to get through three more days of this stuff,” said a Somerset supporter, his addiction both helpless and endearing.And, in any case, he was only reflecting a widely held loyalty. On Friday evening, maybe sooner, the 2016 table will emerge in full clarity rather like the patchwork of the Quantocks emerging from the morning mist. And if Somerset are still best placed to win the title, you may expect the corpses in St James’s churchyard to be rattling their coffins in excitement.

Batsman Shai Hope and allrounder Rovman Powell have been picked in West Indies’ squad for next month’s tri-series in Zimbabwe, after the selectors decided to drop Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Oct-2016Batsman Shai Hope and allrounder Rovman Powell have been picked in West Indies’ squad for next month’s tri-series in Zimbabwe, after the selectors decided to drop Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin. Pollard and Ramdin’s exclusions are the only changes to the squad that suffered a 3-0 defeat in the ODI series against Pakistan earlier this month.

WI ODI squad for Zimbabwe

Sulieman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder (capt), Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Sunil Narine, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels
In Shai Hope, Rovman Powell
Out Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin

Both Pollard and Ramdin had poor returns in the limited-overs series in the UAE. Pollard managed 43 runs in the three T20s, and bowled two overs, going wicketless. In the three-match ODI series, Pollard scored 42 runs at an average of 14.00. He took one wicket in the 12 overs he bowled across the three matches. Ramdin, who was recalled to the ODI squad, compiled 79 runs at 26.33 in the three ODIs and did not feature in the T20s.Hope, who is a part of the Test side in the UAE, is uncapped in limited-overs internationals, but has played six Tests since May 2015 scoring 171 runs at an average of 15.54. He scored 76 in the three-day tour match against the PCB Patron’s XI, played under lights with the pink ball.Powell, uncapped in international cricket, had been named in the T20 squad for the UAE tour following a promising performance in CPL 2016. His only match on the tour was the practice T20 game against the Emirates Cricket Board XI where he scored 38 and bowled two overs for 14 runs.The Zimbabwe series will begin on November 14 with a match between the hosts and Sri Lanka. West Indies’ first match in the series will be against Sri Lanka on November 16. The final will be played on November 27.

A round-up of the final day of Group C matches in the fifth round of the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Nov-2016

Saxena ruled out of next round with fractured finger

Kerala allrounder Jalaj Saxena will miss his team’s next match, against Goa, after sustaining a double fracture on his left index finger during the Group C game against Haryana in Jaipur. He sustained the injury while fielding in Haryana’s first innings and didn’t come out to bat. Saxena, however, bowled 22 overs in Haryana’s second innings and took two wickets as Kerala, armed with a first-innings lead of 101 runs, pushed for an outright win.
“I had to bowl in the second innings to try and push for quick wickets to give us a chance of an outright win,” Saxena told ESPNcricinfo. “So I taped the finger heavily and took painkillers, and tried to bowl.
“It’s a double fracture and I have been advised rest for at least two weeks. There is considerable swelling on my finger at the moment. The doctors will then take a call on what needs to be done afterwards.”
Saxena is Kerala’s second-highest wicket-taker, behind KS Monish, with 17 wickets from five games. With Kerala in fifth place in a congested Group C points table, Saxena said he hoped to play the game against Andhra, which begins on November 21 in Guwahati. “There is no chance of playing in the next match, but I will tape my finger and take injections to play the one after that,” he said. “Every match is important, especially as we are at a stage where an outright win can change the complexion of the points table.”

Goa spinners Shadab Jakati and Darshan Misal ran through the Chhattisgarh batting line-up before reaching their target of 91 to clinch an eight-wicket victory in Cuttack. In an innings that had as many as seven ducks, the joint-most in a single Ranji Trophy innings, Chhattisgarh slumped from 148 for 3 to 162 all out, with opener Sahil Gupta top-scoring with 82. Samar Dubhashi steered Goa’s chase with an unbeaten 41 to deliver their first win of the season. Chhattisgarh, who started with a victory, slumped to their second successive loss which left them in the bottom half of the pool.At the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi, Robin Bist steered Himachal Pradesh to a five-wicket win over Jammu & Kashmir with an unbeaten half-century. J&K had conceded a first-innings lead of 208, but put up an improved show in their second innings, ending the third day on 337 for 4. Puneet Bisht, who resumed on 33, and Mithun Manhas, unbeaten on 18, scored 41 and 28 respectively, while Samiullah Beigh chipped in with 46 before J&K’s innings ended on 417. Bipul Sharma, the left-arm spinner, took 4 for 97. Set 210, Prashant Chopra (43) and Ankit Kalsi (47) repaired Himachal’s innings after the early loss of Ankush Bains for 8, before Bist, who walked in at 91 for 3, took them over the line with 52 off 67 balls.Andhra squandered a strong start to concede the first-innings lead in their drawn match against Services at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore, owing to offspinner Azaruddin Bloch’s maiden five-wicket haul in his third match. Andhra had ended the third day on 177 for 1 in reply to Services’ 446, with Prasanth Kumar on 90 and KR Sreekanth unbeaten on 24. Sreekanth was dismissed on the same score in the first over of the day. Thereafter, Hanuma Vihari, who had retired hurt on 18, returned and added 57 with Prasanth, before being stumped for 54 off Bloch. Prasanth completed his century, scoring 110, but the rest of Andhra’s batsmen, with the exception of AG Pradeep (76) were dismissed for sin
gle-digit scores. Bloch ended with 5 for 92. Services raced away to 27 for no loss in six overs before stumps were drawn.Nitin Saini’s career-best 152 not out studded Haryana‘s dominant batting display, but they conceded first-innings points to Kerala at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Kerala had responded to Haryana’s first-innings 303 with 404 for 9 declared. Haryana then ended the third day on 6 for no loss. They ended the final day on 315 for 3, with Saini sharing partnerships of 145 for the third wicket with Rajat Paliwal (75) and Mohit Hooda (50 not out).

Cricket Australia’s CEO James Sutherland does not believe a repeat of the Argus review is needed, but concedes that a “closer look” at several issues is necessary

Daniel Brettig16-Nov-2016James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has denied the game down under is in need of another comprehensive review of its operations, structures and philosophies despite what he called a “very significant fall from grace” dating back to the start of the Sri Lanka tour in July.On the day Rod Marsh resigned as selection chairman in the wake of the Test team’s fifth consecutive heavy defeat and second in a row at home, Sutherland stated in the face of questions about his own future that “it’s my responsibility to lead the people to turn this around”.He admitted that the team’s preparation for the summer had to be re-examined, as did succession planning around the retirements that followed the 2015 Ashes. But Sutherland also stressed his belief that the game overall was in far better shape than it had been in 2011, and denied that he and CA had been too commercially focused at the expense of the national team’s progress.That year, the review of the game led by the former BHP chairman Don Argus brought in a raft of changes to Cricket Australia, and Sutherland maintained its principles and outcome had been sound in the face of criticism from the likes of the former captain Ian Chappell.”I don’t think there needs to be another review,” Sutherland said. “I think [the Argus review] provides a pretty good blueprint or at least a strong reference point for us to have a look at where we’ve come from and where we are now.”Some of the issues or challenges are short term in and around the existing team and others are perhaps more long term as we look through the cricketing challenges that we have both internationally but also domestically.”I think that proper process in terms of management tells me that you need to look very closely at your strategy first and what you’re trying to do. You then look at the structure to support that strategy and then you look at the people. This is clearly an opportunity for us to have a closer look.”We’re pretty clear on strategy – we want our teams to be No.1 in the world, men and women in all forms of the game. We need to need to have a look to make sure that we’ve got the right structures to support that and obviously people come after that.”During the Hobart Test, Sutherland had defended the team’s preparation, but now changed tack. “Preparation is something that we’ll definitely have a closer look at,” he said. “The South Africans from memory had one [two-day] pink ball match and one short two-day red-ball match when they came into Australia.”The discussions we had with team performance and the team itself as to what was the ideal preparation, given the circumstances of playing the one-day series in South Africa beforehand. What we arrived at was the Shield cricket that we played. We knew that was a difficult situation with the Test series starting as early as it did and I said in that [ABC Radio] interview there’s nothing ideal and nothing perfect about preparation.”Preparation is not just about the team, it’s actually about the individual. We had that conversation with team management yesterday to try and understand which players we feel did not have the right preparation coming into the series. And the answer to that was very much around those players that were managing injuries were the ones that were most challenged by it.”Asked whether there was any scope for the Australian team and the coach Darren Lehmann to have more input regarding scheduling, Sutherland reflected that he was as much at the mercy of bilateral requirements as the team were. CA are leading a push to change the structure of international cricket to take on league structures and also reduce the overall volume of matches played.”There are things about the schedule that I would like to change but they’re very difficult to change,” he said. “It’s not just from a team performance perspective it’s also about our obligations to deliver content, to our grounds, to our state associations, to media partners and others. On balance we work through that and make decisions on what we think is best.”It may or may not be an issue in terms of the Australian team getting bowled out for [85] in the first innings of a Hobart Test match. No-one can tell me or guarantee that is actually the case because there are plenty of summers gone by where we’ve had a similar preparation to the season and done well. But we haven’t this time and that gives cause for us to challenge ourselves on how we prepare our players.”Plenty of the spotlight has fallen on the Sheffield Shield competition, once the envy of the world but now increasingly marginalised by the growth of the Twenty20 Big Bash League at the heart of the summer. “It’s hard to measure but clearly there is quite a lot of discussion around whether it still is or not,” Sutherland said when asked whether it remained the game’s pre-eminent domestic competition.”I don’t think it’s a matter so much of comparison, it’s a matter of whether Shield cricket is performing the role that Australian cricket needs it to right now. I think that’s part of a discussion that we need to have internally, in regard to how Shield cricket is supported, where it fits in the schedule and the role that it plays in producing Australian Test cricketers in the future.”

Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal shared seven catches as wicketkeeper in South Africa’s first innings

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Jan-2017It is a record that may never see the light of the day.Kusal Mendis and Dinesh Chandimal split the wicketkeeping duties during South Africa’s first innings at Newlands. Chandimal had suffered a fever leading into the match and the Sri Lanka management decided not to overburden him on the opening day. But he was back behind the stumps on the second morning.Between them, Mendis and Chandimal grabbed seven catches as South Africa were bowled out for 392. That created a quirky statistic: seven is the most catches held by a keeper in an innings but, of course, this haul was shared between two men. The record number of dismissals for Sri Lanka is six, held jointly (and aptly) by Chandimal and Amal Silva.The same thing happened in 1977, between West Indies and Pakistan in Jamaica, when Majid Khan spent time behind the stumps in place of Wasim Bari who later returned and the pair took seven catches between them in the second innings.In Cape Town, Mendis took three catches on the opening day – including a sharp leg-side snaffle to remove JP Duminy – then Chandimal had a hand, in every sense, in each of the four wickets to fall on the second morning. He did especially well to get forward for a low catch offered by Quinton de Kock.Sri Lanka are blessed with a stack of wicketkeeping options. There is another in this current XI – opener Kaushal Silva has played three Tests as the designated keeper – and they omitted a fourth gloveman, Kusal Perera, who had played in the opening Test. A case of many hands making light work?

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur admitted to being frustrated at taking “three steps forward and a step and a half back” but insisted results in Australia hadn’t pulled down the team’s spirits

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2017Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, believed the 4-1 ODI series defeat to Australia that was sealed in Adelaide highlighted the gulf between the two teams – the hosts are the top-ranked side in the format while the visitors languished in eighth place. The latest loss, by 57 runs in the final ODI, also brought the curtain down on a long and disappointing tour of New Zealand and Australia, on which Pakistan won just one international match out of ten.”Results-wise obviously it has been disappointing,” Arthur said on Thursday. “We came here thinking we had a real chance, certainly in the Test matches. We [are] still a fledgling ODI side. There are some gaps in our ODI side that we need to work hard to fill for us. We’re ranked eighth at the moment and I think you could see the gap between eight and one. So we’ve got a lot of work to do in that regard.”Arthur was frank in his assessment of Pakistan’s fielding standards and levels of fitness. They have improved, he argued, but not by enough. “Believe it or not, we have worked extremely hard at our fielding,” he said. “Me and my support staff have been around for seven months now. That has been our focus and priority. Fitness levels have improved dramatically in terms of our day-to-day reports but we’re way behind the rest of the pack.”So, fitness and fielding is again going to be total priority before we go to the West Indies (in April). We will have time to have a camp after the PSL (Pakistan Super League) and we will put in a hell of a lot of work into it because we are just not up to the mark in those. With the ball and the bat we compete perfectly well. I think we saw the difference here. Davey Warner gets in and gets 170-odd today and he gets it very very quick. That is the difference between chasing 310 and 370-odd. Warner and our fielding has probably been the key difference between the teams.”Arthur did find silver linings in the Adelaide loss and was effusive in his praise for the batsmen. Sharjeel Khan hit his third successive fifty – a 69-ball 79 that gave Pakistan the trigger in their chase of 370. Babar Azam hit his fourth ODI ton and finished the series with 282 runs; Sharjeel, with 250 runs, was the only other batsman to top 200 runs.The two of them, Arthur said, would be instrumental to the growth of the Pakistan side.Mickey Arthur felt Babar Azam would go on ‘to score a lot of runs. He is only very young at the moment but he is going to be very, very good’•Getty Images

“If you look at a lot of our guys over a period of time, their strike-rates are only mid-70s, upper 70s. So for us to be able to chase down 300, guys have to be able to play above where they have for their career,” he said. “Sharjeel is different. Sharjeel gives us that start, gives us that momentum. I was quite hard on him after the Brisbane ODI. Since then he has played extremely well for us.”Tonight was the best innings he played because the one thing we know is he can hit boundaries and he hits them at will. He didn’t have the strike rotation in his game, which he has now. And with Sharjeel going, it allows young Babar Azam to just play his normal game. I have made a lot of statements about him, I think he will be an outstanding player for Pakistan, he really is. He is going to score a lot of runs. He is only very young at the moment but he is going to be very, very good. Sharjeel takes that pressure off him. In terms of us building an ODI unit they both are pivotal to where we go with our team now.”Arthur did, however, admit to being frustrated at taking “three steps forward and a step and a half back” but insisted results in Australia hadn’t pulled down the team’s spirits. “I can’t fault the guys in terms of their work ethic, the way they have prepared, the way the team has bonded, there’s no factions, no groups, a very, very pleasant bunch of guys to work with,” he said. “We are working extremely hard, we really are. We are taking significant steps. We get three steps forward and take a step and a half back. It is frustrating, it is disappointing, but we will keep working but when the signs are good and we see some good stuff, it is very very rewarding as well.”Pakistan’s schedule has also been demanding. They have been on the road almost non-stop since the tour of England last summer. “Yeah look, and that’s never an excuse, fatigue has played a massive role,” Arthur said. “I can see guys are mentally tired. We finished in England at end of August. We had seven day off, then we had the West Indies series, then straight to New Zealand and then here.”We have been on the road for an extremely long time and it has started to show. Coupled with the fact that our boys never play at home, they are never at home. it is tough, it is not an excuse but it is tough for these guys.”

A round-up of the Women’s World Cup Qualifier matches played on February 13, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2017A five-wicket haul from the legspinner Poonam Yadav led India to a nine-wicket win against Zimbabwe, who collapsed to 60 all out after choosing to bat first at the P Sara Oval. Seamers Mansi Joshi and Soni Yadav struck early for India, taking a wicket each to reduce Zimbabwe to 11 for 2, before the spinners took over. Only Mary-Anne Musonda (26) and Precious Marange (12) got into double figures as India bowled Zimbabwe out in 28.5 overs. Poonam finished with figures of 5 for 19 while the left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad took 2 for 18.India rattled through their chase in only nine overs, Veda Krishnamurthy setting the pace with a 16-ball 29. She fell in the fourth over, but that was the only wicket India lost as Mona Meshram (21*) and Harmanpreet Kaur (11*) steered them home with an unbroken 30-run second-wicket partnership.File photo – Sana Mir’s 5 for 14 helped Pakistan bowl Scotland out for 91•Getty Images

At the Mercantile Cricket Association ground, meanwhile, it was Sana Mir’s turn to take a five-wicket haul as Pakistan romped to a six-wicket win after bowling Scotland out for 91. Mir, the offspinner, finished with figures of 5 for 14 as Scotland folded in 39.1 overs. The left-arm spinner Nashra Sandhu also contributed handsomely, with figures of 3 for 13.Pakistan began solidly in their chase, with Nahida Khan and Nain Abidi adding 40 for the first wicket. There was a brief flutter thereafter, as four wickets fell, all to the medium-pacer Kirstie Gordon, for the addition of only 15 runs, but Javeria Khan (35*) and Rabiya Shah (16*) stemmed the collapse and steered Pakistan home with an unbroken stand of 39 for the fifth wicket.File photo – Sune Luus was one of three South Africa bowlers to pick up two wickets•Getty Images and Cricket Australia

South Africa were similarly ruthless in their game at the Nondescripts Cricket Club ground, bowling Papua New Guinea out for 76 on their way to a 10-wicket win. Medium-pacer Shabnim Ismail, offspinner Yolani Fourie and legspinner Suné Luus picked up two wickets each as PNG, having chosen to bat, lasted only 32.4 overs, with only Brenda Tau (30) and Pauke Siaka (17) making double-digit scores.Openers Laura Wolvaardt (43*) and Lara Goodall (28*) took care of the chase all by themselves, completing it in 13.5 overs.File photo – Sri Lanka cruised to a victory against Thailand in Colombo•ICC

Chamari Polgampola’s all-round performance set up Sri Lanka‘s comfortable seven-wicket win over Thailand, helping them finish second in Group A and securing a place in the Super Six alongside India and Ireland.Polgampola, who took 1 for 24 in Thailand’s innings, steered Sri Lanka’s chase of 123 with 49 off 94 balls. She shared a second-wicket partnership of 65 with Nipuni Hansika (38 off 56) and fell in the 35th over with the scores level.Earlier, Thailand got off to a poor start after opting to bat, losing their first wicket in the second over. Nattaya Boochatham and Sirintra Saengsakaorat added the highest partnership of the innings – 46 for the second wicket off 128 balls – with Boochatham top-scoring with a 97-ball 50. However, Boochatham had little support from other batsmen as Thailand slumped from 51 for 1 to 89 for 6 in the 39th over, before finishing at 122 for 8 in their 50 overs.