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Yasir Shah is expected to be fit for the second Test against England in Dubai after recovering from the back spasm which ruled him out of the opening contest

Umar Farooq in Abu Dhabi16-Oct-2015Yasir Shah is expected to be fit for the second Test against England in Dubai after recovering from the back spasm which ruled him out of the opening contest. However, team manager Intikhab Alam hinted there could be a surprise addition to the squad after Pakistan’s attempts to call up Zafar Gohar for this match were thwarted by visa issues.Responding to criticism from Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, over the lack of spin cover in the initial 16-man squad, Alam told ESPNcricinfo. “We don’t want to reveal anything at the moment but we have some plans.”That could throw an intriguing couple of names into the frame. A long shot would be Saeed Ajmal, who tormented England here in 2012, but has had to remodel his action and was not effective for Worcestershire in the County Championship this year, while another option may be offspinner Bilal Asif even though his action is under scrutiny after the one-day series in Zimbabwe.Bilal was reported after taking 5 for 25 in Harare, but the reporting and assessment process laid down by the ICC allows him to continuing bowling until the results of the tests are known. The testing has to take place within 14 days of the report and he is due to travel via Dubai to Chennai, one of the ICC’s approved testing centres, on October 18 and be tested the following day. He would be available for selection until the results come through, a process that takes a further 14 days and means, in theory, he would at least be available for the Dubai Test starting on October 22.Ajmal, meanwhile, who on Friday was traveling from Faisalabad to Lahore, told ESPNcricinfo he was not expecting to be called-up. “Of course everyone might be thinking about me right now but I can confirm that they haven’t asked about my passport,” Ajmal said. “But I am sure in the present scenario they are definitely thinking about me.”At the toss Misbah expressed his frustration at the lack of an extra spinner in the squad, thoughts echoed by the head coach Waqar Younis when he spoke to TV on Friday. Pakistan’s plan was to play two fast bowlers and at least two specialist spinners but they were forced to bring in Imran Khan as part of a three-man seam attack after Yasir and Gohar didn’t make it.Over the last two days Yasir has been seen jogging around the ground during intervals and having a bowl in the nets. “He is fit and will be match fit by the second Test,” Alam said. “We no more require Zafar as he was only named replacement for the first Test but he didn’t make it, so we have plenty of time ahead of the next game to decide.”With Yasir set to be available it would appear unlikely that Pakistan would alter their first-choice spin pairing even though Zulfiqar Babar, by lunch on the fourth day, had bowled 48 wicketless overs. The first Test was still awaiting its first wicket for a spinner.

Sachin Tendulkar has said that he will reassess his cricketing future in November amid growing calls for him to consider retirement

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Oct-2012Sachin Tendulkar has said that he will reassess his cricketing future in November, when he plays the home Tests against England. Tendulkar, who has previously been non-committal on questions about his retirement, also said any decision about ending a 23-year career will depend on both his form and his motivation levels.”I need not take a call right now. When I play in November, I will re-assess things,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying in .”I am 39 and I don’t think I have plenty of cricket left in me. But it depends on my frame of mind and my physical ability to deliver. When I feel that I am not delivering what is needed, and then I will re-look at the scheme of things. I am already 39 and no one expects me to go on playing forever.”In his latest series, the home Tests against New Zealand, he was bowled in each of his three innings for low scores. Sunil Gavaskar was among those concerned by Tendulkar’s poor form. “The gap between the pad and the bat is a worrying sign,” Gavaskar had said. “This is never a good sign for a great batsman.”Tendulkar, however, felt that it was natural for the questions to be asked. “There are two different things – scoring runs and what I feel. For instance, if this three-wicket ordeal had happened when I was 25, no one would have questioned it. Incidentally, it happened when I am 39, so questions were raised. This is natural.”Tendulkar has played 190 Tests and he said he is not chasing any particular mark. India play England in a four-Test series starting November followed by another four-Test series against Australia early next year.”I am looking at it series by series. As long as I feel that I can deliver, I will continue playing. It also depends on what the team feels and whether I am motivated enough to continue being on top of the game.”

By this stage of an English summer, Marcus Trescothick customarily has scored around 1500 runs at a rather superior average than any other batsman in the country

Ivo Tennant at Taunton21-Aug-2012
ScorecardBy this stage of an English summer, Marcus Trescothick customarily has scored around 1500 runs at a rather superior average than any other batsman in the country and hence there is highly optimistic talk of a call-up for the final international match. It is axiomatic that he remains the best opener in the County Championship. For no fault of his own, the scenario has been altogether different this year.If Trescothick was going to be severely injured, as he was at Trent Bridge in May, it was best that this should happen this sodden summer. He was out of action for three months. In seven championship innings, which has been all he has managed owing to his ankle problem, he had not made a half century. He had not looked especially out of touch, but his had been a long lay-off and there was an instantaneous requirement to pick up his game, however late in the season and however bowler-friendly the conditions.Such encumbrance fell away now. In making an unbeaten 89, Trescothick rocked backwards and forwards and propelled the ball through to the cover boundary. There were the customary flicks off his legs, dabs to third man, which was not always tenanted, and, since he has managed to keep pretty fit, some good running between the wickets. A couple of winters ago he was offered £1m by his then bat sponsor if he cleared the pavilion at Lord’s. You would not have bet against him in this touch.Statistics can appear skewed and none more so than when the realisation dawned that Trescothick was approaching the 50th first-class century of his career. Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash are more or less contemporaries, are not nearly such successful international batsmen, and yet each has more than double that tally.Anyway, he will be pleased with this innings, for not only did it signal a return to form, but it was not scored on the kind of flat Taunton surface of old.There was appreciable turn before lunch for Monty Panesar, who thought he had had Trescothick caught at short leg on 60, following through as if he was a fast bowler. Umpire Nick Cook had a word with him at the end of the over. That was the one discordant note on a day when the ball constantly seemed to be hitting the sweet spot of his bat and go pinging off towards the boundary.The other Somerset batsmen did not fare so well. Arul Suppiah was soon bowled by Steve Magoffin, playing an indeterminate pushed drive; Chris Jones was caught at cover, not to the pitch of a rare ball that Panesar did not push through; and James Hildreth, going back to the same bowler and trying to square cut, was taken by Ben Brown. That was
131 for 3.Just before 3pm torrential rain began, preventing any further play. Sussex had not looked like dismissing Trescothick, surely still the best opening batsman in England, but they are in need of wickets, lying as they are 11 points behind Warwickshire, the Division One leaders. Last season Trescothick scored 1,673 first-class runs at an average of 79.66. Before his eighth innings of this season, he had mustered just 94 at 13.42. This innings will have brought about a significant improvement on those figures. He has hit 16 fours thus far.

A round-up of the action from the third day of the first round of the Ranji Trophy Plate League 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2011

Group A

Four-wicket hauls by Himachal Pradesh‘s Mohinderraj Sharma and Rishi Dhawan forced Tripura to follow-on on the third day in Agartala. Tripura began the day on a solid 91 for 1, but lost three quick wickets for just two runs. Subhrajit Roy went on to score 75 before he was dismissed by Mohinderraj. The left-arm seamer claimed three more wickets to finish with 4 for 47. Wicketkeeper Vinayak Samant made a fighting 67 but it wasn’t enough to take his team past the follow-on mark. Batting again, Tripura lost Roy to a 26-ball duck.Half-centuries by captain VA Jagadeesh and Abhishek Hegde led Kerala‘s steady reply to Vidarbha‘s 557 in Nagpur. The two openers shared a stand of 156 before Jagadeesh fell 12 short of his century. Hegde made 76 before he was caught off the bowling of legspinner Sairaj Bahutule. Kerala were set back towards the end of the day when they lost two quick wickets. Sachin Baby and Sony Cheruvathur were at the crease at stumps.Gonnabattula Chiranjeevi’s blistering unbeaten century gave Andhra Pradesh control of their game against Services in Delhi. Chiranjeevi made 105 from just 110 balls, smashing nine fours and two sixes along the way, to set up Andhra’s declaration at 307 for 9 and leave Services needing 433 to win. The hosts successfully negotiated the five overs before the close of play, but they still trail by 418 and will be hard pressed to bat out the final day and save the game.

Group B

An unbeaten century by Vaibhav Naik and a fifty by Saurabh Bandekar helped arrest a middle-order collapse to keep Goa afloat against Maharashtra. Goa slipped from 59 for 2 to 67 for 5 before Bandekar joined Naik to rescue the hosts in Porvorim. Bandekar made 80 before he was bowled by Akshaya Darekar. Naik remained unbeaten on 137 with Robin D’Souza for company. Goa ended the penultimate day trailing by 115 runs with three wickets in hand.Hyderabad held the upper hand in Uppal as they finished with 416 and had Jharkhand trailing by 217 runs with five wickets in hand. Syed Quadri, overnight on 77, went on to make 105 before he was bowled by Shankar Rao. The right-arm seamer Rao finished with 4 for 69. Ishank Jaggi led Jharkhand’s reply with 81. Lalith Mohan, the left-arm spinner, was among the wickets, claiming Jaggi to end the day with figures of 3 for 45.No play was possible on the third day of the Jammu & Kashmir v Assam match in Srinagar.

Australia’s new captain Michael Clarke seemed unreasonably happy to be flying to Bangladesh only a week after returning home

Daniel Brettig05-Apr-2011Like war a veteran grappling to come to terms with life in peacetime, Australia’s new captain Michael Clarke seemed unreasonably happy to be flying to Bangladesh only a week after returning home from a failed World Cup campaign.The captaincy helped, of course, but after more than six months of continuous cricket Clarke knows far more of hotels than of home, where in the space of a few days he was harangued on all sides for interviews about his leadership, then captured on tabloid cameras doing nothing much at all wrong to celebrate his 30th birthday.”I think all the boys were pretty keen to get back on tour,” Clarke said. “We’ve had a week at home and it’s felt like a month at home to be honest with the amount of time we spend away these days, but it’s going to be a tough tour no doubt.”Tough is not a word habitually associated with Bangladeshi cricket, though visitors to the youngest of Test-playing nations require a certain hardiness to learn to enjoy the heat and humidity, particularly as the climate heats up in April.Nevertheless, the task for Clarke and company is vexing enough for an end-of-season assignment, taking in dusty pitches, wily slow bowlers and the start of the new International Cricket Council one-day rankings cycle.Clarke noted quickly that Bangladesh, from their allrounder captain Shakib Al Hasan down, will be seeking to tease the Australians, their bevy of right-handers in particular. “I think the conditions will certainly suit Bangladesh,” he said.”I imagine they’ll prepare pretty slow, turning wickets and they’ve got some very good spinners, especially left-arm orthodox spinners, which with a lot of right-hand batters we have in our line-up they’re going to be quite tough. But it’s going to be a good challenge, we’re looking forward to it.”We’re going to have to learn from our time on the subcontinent recently during the World Cup and then get over there and play some good cricket.”There is much to gain for Clarke over the next week, as he asserts himself as the leader of a group that has only known a world in which Ricky Ponting was king of all he surveyed. Now, Ponting must defer to Clarke, something that will not be as natural in practice as it appeared in theory during last week’s bloodless leadership handover.Similarly, Clarke must take on all the tasks, pleasant and less so, that Ponting has managed. “I really enjoyed being vice-captain for a few years, that was a great experience for me, it showed me a lot of what goes on off the field as a leader in the Australian cricket team and how much it’s not just about how you do on the field,” said Clarke.”Ricky’s had such a huge role to play in Australian cricket not only on the field but off the field, so I guess that probably gave me the chance to see that and to learn from him.”So now I have this chance to be captain of Australia I guess it’s about using all the experiences I’ve had in the past when I’ve had the chance to captain in the one-dayers or Twenty20s, and the knowledge I’ve been able to build up and learn from Ricky. I think it’s now an opportunity for me to go to Bangladesh and to use some of that.”The Australians’ last tour of Bangladesh took place in April 2006, a visit marked by a Jason Gillespie double century in the second Test at Chittagong, an innings that has entered folklore almost solely through the relentless promotional efforts of its maker. But Clarke also remembered the first Test of the series, a match in which the Australians trailed by 158 on the first innings before squeaking home by three wickets.”We’ve seen before in Test cricket in Bangladesh that if you’re not at your best you’re going to be put under a lot of pressure, and we know as individual players we have to get better,” said Clarke. “As a team any opportunity we get to play on the subcontinent and face more spin bowling I think is going to help all of our players.”

A 140-run opening stand followed by disciplined bowling enabled Mountaineers to inflict a crushing 111-run defeat on the Mashonaland Eagles in Harare

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2010
ScorecardA 140-run opening stand between Tino Mawoyo and Jonathan Beukes, followed by disciplined bowling enabled Mountaineers to inflict a 111-run defeat on the Mashonaland Eagles in Harare.Mawoyo – who played two ODIs for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in 2006 – hit ten fours in his 73 off 79 deliveries while Beukes hit seven fours and a six in his 69 off 80. After their dismissals, Timycen Maruma, Mark Vermeulen and former South Africa allrounder Lance Klusener kept up the pressure on Eagles as 134 runs came in the last 15 overs.The Eagles’ chase started poorly when they reduced to 8 for 2. Though opener Simbarashe Gupo tried to steady the innings, wickets fell regularly and once they collapsed to 91 for 6, Eagles were out of the game. Seamer Silent Mujaji took 3 for 30 as Eagles were eventually dismissed for 163.Mountaineers earned a bonus point for their huge win. This was Eagles’ second loss to Mountaineers in four days after they had lost a close Logan Cup match by 14 runs.

Broadcaster set to move across from President role in October, following Bruce Carnegie-Brown’s tenure

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Mar-2024Mark Nicholas is set to take over as MCC’s chair when his one-year term as President expires in October, after being recommended as Bruce Carnegie-Brown’s successor in the role.Nicholas, 66, will be recommended as the new chair at the club’s AGM in May, working in conjunction with the chief executive, Guy Lavender. He has been a member of MCC since 1981, and has served on the club’s Cricket, Marketing and Main Committees since the 1990s.In his playing days, Nicholas scored over 25,000 runs and took 173 wickets in a professional career spanning over two decades. As captain of Hampshire, he guided the side to four trophies between 1986 and 1992, including three victories in Lord’s finals, and he also captained England A.The position of MCC chair has existed since 2000, and Nicholas is set to become its seventh incumbent, but the first former professional cricketer in the role. In the course of his presidency, he has expressed the opinion that MCC should take over the ownership of the Lord’s-based Hundred team, London Spirit, and this move may be an indication of the club’s ambition on that front.Nicholas is currently chair of the Hampshire-based Southern Brave team; a non-executive director of the media rights agency, River Media Partners, and co-founder/director of Century Cricket which runs IPL-style T20 tournaments for club and junior cricketers in Australia.In 2005, he co-founded Chance to Shine, the cricket charity that has helped to re-introduce the sport to 4,000 state schools in England and Wales, and given 6 million children a chance to play the game. His long and successful media career is synonymous with the Ashes summer of 2005, for which he anchored Channel 5’s coverage. He has worked extensively with Channel 9 in Australia, Supersport in South Africa, and also writes columns for The Telegraph and ESPNcricinfo.”The role of MCC chair is a huge responsibility and I am honoured to have been named as the Committee’s recommendation to the membership,” Nicholas said. “Amongst many aspects of the club’s immediate future, is the need to engage more with Members. In addition, we are embarking on many new projects and opportunities as we look to embrace this ever-changing game. I hope to ensure that we can play our part in cricket’s development over the coming years.”Chris Rogers, MCC Treasurer, said: “The Nominations committee found that Mark was the outstanding candidate for the role, noting that he has a deep and personal knowledge of the game. In making its recommendation, the MCC Committee feels that his experience, as a player, broadcaster, journalist and administrator, would be of huge benefit to MCC.”

Australia may be riding an 11-match unbeaten streak, but England believe that won’t count for much in a World Cup final

Vishal Dikshit02-Apr-2022Despite the whitewash in the recent Ashes, despite the loss in the league stage against Australia, and despite their contrasting runs to the World Cup final, England captain Heather Knight believes Sunday afternoon in Christchurch will be a “fresh slate, fresh day and a fresh game,” where both teams “go in as equals” to try and lift the trophy.As opposed to Australia’s domineering and unmatched march to the final with eight wins in the World Cup and 11 unbeaten ODIs this year, England have had to turn their fortunes around – big time – after starting 2022 with a winless tour of Australia across formats where they could not score 180 in any of the three ODIs. Their rut stretched into the World Cup too, where they lost three in a row.Since then, knowing they were facing a virtual knockout every single time, England won five in a row, including a 137-run victory over South Africa in the semi-final. Knight said there was no single moment where things just clicked into gear but it did help when the team realised that a lot of the stuff that was going wrong was within their control. Stuff like “fielding, bowling extras, poor shot selections”. So they could all be fixed, quickly.”The stage is set a little bit for us to write a remarkable story but like I’ve said previously, I think it’s a completely fresh slate,” Knight said a day before the final. “A fresh day, fresh game where both us and Australia will go in as equals and its who performs the most on the day, who deals with the pressure of a World Cup final and knowing what’s at stake. So yeah, it would be a great story [if we win] but we’re going to have to bring our best cricket to beat Australia who obviously are a very good side.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“Yes, it’s obviously brilliant. To be in this position knowing where we were just a couple of weeks ago is remarkable. And it shows how things can change so quickly in sport. And just says a lot about the character in this group that we managed to obviously put ourselves in a position to be in a World Cup final and give us a chance to actually win that trophy. Remarkably proud of the group, proud of the staff that have been in the shift as well. So yeah, hopefully we can pay off all that hard work and all the lows I guess we’ve had over this trip and make winning if we do that even better.”Recalling the league stage loss to Australia, in which England very nearly chased down 311, Knight admitted they had to get better at finishing games off. She was, however, very pleased that her bowling attack has been picking up steam throughout the tournament, helped in part by adopting a “knockout mentality”.”I think, knowing the fact that we push them so close, I think is a really good sign,” Knight said of their rivalry with Australia. “I think in that first group game we pushed really hard, batted remarkably and actually I think our bowling’s starting to peak towards the back-end of the competition. I don’t think our bowling was quite on in that game, and the bowlers as a unit are working much better as a group now. So I don’t think it’s motivation [to do better]. I think it’s just remembering that we’re really not that far away from them. We obviously haven’t got the results against them recently. But on the day we definitely believe that we can beat them.”We’ve had that knockout mentality for a long time. It almost feels a little bit like another game. I’m sure there’d be nerves and dealing with that but the fact that we’ve been able to do that when we’ve been under pressure, it’s been very pleasing and hopefully we can do it against for one more win.”There is one variable in England’s favour on Sunday. Hagley Oval. The last time Australia played an ODI at the venue which is hosting the final, it was the year 2000. England, on the other hand, beat Pakistan here towards the end of the round-robin stage and knocked out South Africa here in the semi-final. They would have fond memories of another ODI victory in Christchurch last year as well, when Knight herself led the chase with an unbeaten 67.”Definitely, I think is a slight advantage, potentially,” Knight said. “We obviously know the conditions, we’ve played a few games here last year as well. We managed to play here before the World Cup. So yeah, we would definitely use that to our advantage, hopefully, it’s obviously going to be a fresh wicket, though. So both team have to assess quite quickly how it’s playing.”

Quick looks back on ‘toughest day of Test cricket’ after bowling through the day with a fractured toe

Umar Farooq28-Dec-2020Neil Wagner was carrying the pain of fractured toes*, sustained while batting in the first innings of the first Test against Pakistan, but he persevered through that injury and bowled 21 overs in Pakistan’s first innings because it would have ‘taken a stretcher’ to carry him off the field where he would be sitting and watching his team-mates do the hard work.Wagner was struck on his right foot by a Shaheen Afridi yorker on the second morning, but was later cleared to play if he could tolerate the pain.”I do take a lot of pride in something like that,” Wagner said about bowling through the pain. “But it comes down to the team. There’s still a way of contributing for them. I wouldn’t be wanting to sit on the side with my foot up and watching the boys doing the hard work out there, and I can’t be there to help out. I feel I’ll be left out, I have a bit of FOMO. Injuries happen and it’s unlucky, but I can still walk, I can still do things, I can run. It’s not going to stop me. It’s sore and it’s uncomfortable but it’s just one of those things you have to deal with.

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“Test matches don’t come easy. Playing for your country is never anything you can take for granted. I know how bloody hard I had to work to get to where I am now and I’m sure as hell not going to sit on the side and watch other people do it. I want to be part of it and playing my part. Unless they carry me off on a stretcher, I’m going to try and do everything I can, I guess.”Related

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Wagner had continued to bat after being struck on the toe, getting treatment from the physio and eventually being the last man out for 19, to stretch New Zealand’s first-innings total to 431. Wagner then sent down 21 overs – three on the second day and 18 on the third – picking up 2 for 50 to bowl Pakistan out for 239. Wagner’s effort included a long spell of nine overs, during which he dismissed Fawad Alam before going off the field.Play on the third day was interrupted by several rain breaks, and taking a pain-killing injection in the first one helped Wagner soldier through till the end.”Hurts every time I walk, to be fair,” he said, responding to whether the pain was more acute while bowling. “Just walking to fine leg, doing anything, twisting, turning…as soon as you bend the toe a little bit. I guess obviously standing on it hurts. It’s just one of those things, I guess. Try and put it out of your mind and get on with it. Try to get into the battle and try not to think about it too much. Obviously that’s hard because it’s at the back of your mind the whole time. At the start it sort of felt like – not having to change my action but it felt a little bit awkward towards it. It wasn’t until the first rain break where I just went down and said I can’t bear the pain, got a jab done and that sort of took the pain away for a lot of it and it helped. It’s one of those things, you’ve just got to find a way and deal with it.”To focus his mind more on the task at hand than on the pain, Wagner said he didn’t keep track of the number of overs he had bowled either, and expressed confidence in being able to bowl again in the second innings.”I’ve bowled – I don’t even know how many overs – didn’t want to count them and think too much about it,” he said. “So I’m pretty confident I can bowl again. It’s going to be damn sore, no doubt about it, but bowling is always… I’ve never bowled in a game where something doesn’t hurt, so it’s sort of part of it. It’s a different pain but I’ve just got to find a way of still being able to contribute to the team. There’s still a role to play out there and we still have to come back to get ten wickets again and try and win a Test match. So whichever way I can play a role, still going to have to try and do it.”Wagner called the third day one of the toughest he had experienced, harking back to a Test match against India in October 2016 for a comparable experience.”I went back in the change-room and said it was probably one of my toughest days of Test cricket I’ve ever experienced. Took me back to Kolkata against India, probably one of the toughest matches I’ve played. It was pretty hot and dealing with the heat, humidity and going off and changing your clothes after every four-over spell… I went through four sets and was just completely knackered off the exhaustion of the Indian heat. Today was right up there. It was pretty tough.The possibility of Wagner being available to bowl in the fourth innings will be a boost to New Zealand. Pakistan had collapsed to 80 for 6, and seemed in danger of falling well short of the follow-on mark, but fighting half-centuries from Mohammad Rizwan (71) and Faheem Ashram (91) meant they avoided that fate. New Zealand still have a handsome lead of 192, and are likely to press for quick second-innings runs and a declaration when they start batting again on the fourth day.Wagner praised Pakistan’s grit, but also lauded his team-mates for not letting the intensity drop.”The wicket’s deteriorating at the moment and we knew we had a big task to try and bowl them out today. I think today was the best time to bat, but also it was tough in periods because there was a bit of variable bounce and the ball went up and down a fraction,” he said. “Those cracks are starting to come into play a little bit more now, as the game goes on. But they batted really well. They’ve played well this whole Test match. They bowled really well which gave us nothing, and obviously took a lot of time out of the game. The way they batted – I thought we bowled really well and put them under pressure but they still managed to get a really good partnership. We kept throwing everything at them and they kept counter-attacking against us. But credit to all the guys, everybody kept running in and bowling for each other, working really hard. We bowled as a pack and knew rewards would come our way.”The second and final Test of the series starts on January 3, and it’s one Wagner does not intend to miss if he can help it.”Don’t want to look too far ahead, but you’re going to have to try and force me away,” he laughed. “We’ll sum it up after each day and hopefully it gets better. Hopefully we can do the job and get a couple of days rest for the foot, but we’ll see how it goes.”*This copy was updated on Dec 30 at 11.00am GMT to reflect that Wagner had two broken toes and not one.

Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels have been picked in West Indies’ ODI squad for the series in England. Gayle last played an ODI in March 2015, and Samuels in October 2016

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Aug-20170:53

Quick Facts – Gayle makes ODI comeback

Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels are set to play ODI cricket for West Indies after a prolonged absence due to an impasse with the board. Gayle last played an ODI in March 2015, and Samuels in October 2016; both players were selected in West Indies’ squad for the ODI series in England.

The West Indies ODI squad

Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Miguel Cummins, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder (capt), Kyle Hope, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Evin Lewis, Jason Mohammed, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor, Kesrick Williams
In: Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor
Out: Roston Chase

Gayle’s call-up follows a relaxation in Cricket West Indies’ criteria in order to be eligible for selection. Previously, in order to play a particular international format for West Indies, players needed to be available for the corresponding domestic tournament. CWI climbed down from that policy in July and offered an amnesty to its players.Darren Bravo was suspended in November 2016 and sent home from the tour of Zimbabwe following a Twitter condemnation of board president, Dave Cameron. Subsequently, both parties released statements of apology but he is yet to return for West Indies. Dwayne Bravo has spent all of 2017 till date recovering from a hamstring injury – for which he needed surgery – that he picked up during the Big Bash League in December last year.”With regards to the selection of the ODI squad, the panel welcomes back Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who will both add value to our batting and help with the nurturing of the young batsmen in the team,” chairman of selectors Courtney Browne said. “Both Sunil Narine and Darren Bravo have declined to be considered for ODIs in England. Narine has however confirmed his desire to play 50-over cricket again but has asked to play in our Regional Super50 before he is considered and Darren said he was not available for selection. Dwayne Bravo said he is still not 100% fit, but is looking at a possible return to international cricket next year.”Roston Chase was excluded from the squad that played the ODIs against India in June and July – West Indies’ previous 50-over assignment. Fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who last played an ODI in June 2016, was also picked in the squad, having played the one-off T20 international against India.West Indies begin the ODI leg of their tour after the third Test against England at Lord’s from September 7. They play an ODI against Ireland in Stormont on September 13, followed by five matches against England between September 19 and 29.