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Umpiring great retired in 1996 after officiating in 66 Test matches

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2025Harold “Dickie” Bird, one of the most beloved umpires in cricket’s history, has died at the age of 92.Bird, who officiated in 66 Tests and 69 ODIs, including three World Cup finals, was synonymous with his home county Yorkshire, for who he began his career as a top-order batter in 1956, and later went on to serve as Yorkshire president in 2014.He averaged 20.71 in 93 first-class matches, making two centuries including a best of 181 not out against Glamorgan in 1959. But when, after moving to Leicestershire in 1960, his career was cut short by injury four years later, his switch to umpiring would set him on the path to becoming a household name.Bird’s idiosyncrasies would become part of his appeal, including his famously anxious attitude to timekeeping. Having made his umpiring debut in May 1970, he travelled to London for his second match – Surrey versus Yorkshire at The Oval – arrived at 6am for an 11am start, and was caught by a policeman attempting to scale the wall of the still-locked ground.As an umpire, he was famously reluctant to raise his finger for lbw appeals – several of his decisions would have been quickly over-turned in the age of DRS. In mitigation, he was at least consistent in offering the benefit of the doubt to batters … with one possible exception. On the morning of his final Test, England versus India at Lord’s, he arrived in the middle with tears in his eyes after a guard of honour from the players. And duly gave Mike Atherton out lbw in the first over of the match.Other memorable moments included his decision, during the West Indies Test at Old Trafford in 1995, to call a halt to play for an excess of sunlight, which had been reflecting off a greenhouse behind the bowler’s arm. In that same fixture, as related by Atherton in his autobiography, Bird dropped the pocket-ful of marbles that he used to count the deliveries in an over.”Play was halted momentarily while Dickie scrambled around on his hands and knees looking for his counters,” Atherton wrote. “‘I’ve lost me marbles! I’ve lost me marbles! He cried. Most of us thought he had lost his marbles a long time ago.”He was frequently the victim of practical jokes – particularly at the hands of Ian Botham and Allan Lamb. On one occasion, Lamb arrived at the middle with his 1980s brick-style mobile phone still in his pocket. Bird duly stashed it in his coat, whereupon Botham rang the device from the dressing-room, telling a startled Bird to pass on a message for his team-mate to get a move on.Bird himself had believed his likeliest route to sporting success was football, although as he related in his autobiography, a cartilage operation on his knee at the age of 15 put paid to that ambition. Instead, he became a fixture in Barnsley’s 1st XI cricket team, where his team-mates included Michael Parkinson – who would later become a world-renowned chat-show host – and later, Geoffrey Boycott.”I have known Dickie nearly 70 years as a friend,” Boycott wrote in his tribute to Bird. “When I was 15 I was taken to Barnsley Cricket Club by my Uncle Algy. I was in awe of him because every week Dickie was the star batsman.”Boycott added that Bird was a “very good technical batsman” but added that “nerves got the better of him” during his Yorkshire career. As an umpire, however, he described him as “absolutely brilliant”.”Players all over the world respected and admired him for his firmness, fairness, and he did it with a sense of humour. He was loved by so many and became a legend.”In 2009, Bird was honoured with a bronze statue on Barnsley’s Church Lane, set in his familiar umpiring pose with one finger raised. The council was soon obliged to place it on a higher plinth than had been intended, due to the public’s temptation to hang objects on said finger.He was appointed an MBE in 1986 and an OBE in 2012 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cricket, having stood in his last first-class match in 1998, Yorkshire versus Warwickshire at Headingley.In a statement, Yorkshire confirmed that he had died peacefully at home”He leaves behind a legacy of sportsmanship, humility, and joy — and a legion of admirers across generations,” Yorkshire added.”The thoughts of everyone at the Yorkshire County Cricket Club are with Dickie’s family and friends during this time. He will be truly missed by all at the Club having spent an incredible amount of time in support of everyone here and will be remembered as one the greatest characters in Yorkshire’s history.”

Shubman Gill departed for 8 on the fourth morning as Brydon Carse took his second wicket

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jun-2025

KL Rahul reached his fifty on the fourth morning•AFP/Getty Images

Lunch A slow session for India but a successful one. Though they only managed to add 63 runs during day four’s morning session at Headingley, they survived 24.1 overs for the loss of just a single wicket. Even though it was their captain Shubman Gill who fell, a score of 153 for 3 and a lead of 159 has them in good shakes in the midst of a second-innings shootout in this first Test against England.KL Rahul’s dogged 72 not out, his 26th fifty-plus score in Tests, came amid a wave of outstanding bowling from England’s quicks, and a few pings on the top hand administered by Ben Stokes, as this pitch shows further signs of irregular bounce.Brydon Carse set the tone and the standard early with a six-over morning spell (1 for 12) from the Kirkstall Lane End that accounted for Gill. India’s No. 4 skewed on to the base of his off stump after deviation from a length delivery found an inside edge as he attempted to play through gully.That, however, was England’s only success in a session littered with beaten outside edges. It should not have been, of course. Harry Brook, the beneficary of three lives in his innings of 99, repaid the favour with a drop at gully when Rahul, on 55, attempted a second consecutive guide to the deep-third boundary off Josh Tongue.The strike was out of character from Rahul, who had shown great restraint with overcast, cooler conditions stacking the odds against the batters. By contrast, Rishabh Pant was his usual ball of chaos, charging Chris Woakes and skewing over the cordon from his second ball. He had done exactly the same in his first innings – charging Stokes second ball – but had made far better contact then.It was truly a comical start from Pant, who had to be calmed down by Rahul after moving to 15 with a mow across the line for a fortuitous boundary off Carse, with Shoaib Bashir at fine leg, and Joe Root running back from the cordon, desperate to meet it before it hit the ground. Three deliveries later, Pant was subject to a voracious lbw appeal as he fell away to the off side attempting his patented fall-away ramp.Umpire Paul Reiffel gave it not out and England’s review proved him right, with an inside edge. But it was enough of a warning for Pant to control himself a little more. His next 16 runs came from 36 deliveries, as he and Rahul managed to get to the break with their stand intact on 61.

Mooney, part of Heat’s title-winning sides in the last two seasons, signed a two-year deal with Scorchers

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jul-2020Beth Mooney has left the WBBL title-holders Brisbane Heat to take up a two-year deal with the Perth Scorchers on the other side of the continent, filling the top-order hole left by Australia captain Meg Lanning after she chose to return to the Melbourne Stars.As one half of Australia’s formidable Twenty20 opening combination with Alyssa Healy and the world’s top-ranked T20I batter, Mooney, 26, has been an integral part of the Heat side that took out each of the past two titles, against the Sydney Sixers in 2018-19 and at home against Adelaide Strikers last summer. Having been with Heat through all past five seasons of the tournament, she was the Player of the Final in the last two editions, a feat she took a notch higher by claiming the Player-of-the-Tournament award at the T20 World Cup at home earlier this year.”I’m really happy with my decision to join the Scorchers for the next few seasons. I have heard great things about the people and culture at the WACA and I love the way Perth has gone about their cricket over the years,” Mooney said.”The move to the West is a really exciting opportunity for me to work with Christina Matthews [the WACA CEO] and Shelley [Nitschke, the Scorchers head coach], two very highly regarded women and leaders of our great game, and reunite with Nicole Bolton and Heather Graham who have both been part of the Australian set-up.”I can’t wait to be a part of the team, and continue to learn and evolve as a player. I know that they are building for success and I’m looking forward to being part of that and bringing my knowledge and experience to the side.”ALSO READ: WBBL to feature three-week Sydney hub amid Covid-19 contingenciesNitschke was understandably happy to have secured Mooney’s services, off the back of an outstanding run of scores – 81 not-out, 60, 28 and 78 not-out in the final at the MCG – as Australia surged to win the T20 World Cup on home soil, only a few days before Covid-19 threw the game into chaos.”Beth is one of the best T20 batters in the world at the moment and has experienced great success at both the domestic and international levels,” Nitschcke said. “Her T20 statistics over the past 12 months are phenomenal, but what is really impressive is her ability to deliver on the big stage and under pressure.”That sort of character in the team can be inspirational. Beth also has great cricket awareness and I am sure she’ll be able to pass on some of her knowledge and thoughts on the game to the playing group.”

Lancashire seamer takes unexpected opportunity with new-ball strikes in England rout

Alan Gardner08-Jul-2021The message Ben Stokes delivered to England’s hastily-assembled ODI squad ahead of the series with Pakistan, which involved 18 players being called in at barely 48 hours’ notice, was that “everyone deserves to be here”, Saqib Mahmood said after his four-wicket haul helped set up a disarmingly straightforward nine-wicket win over Pakistan in Cardiff.Mahmood picked up two wickets in his first three balls to give England a near-perfect start after their rocky build-up, which saw the original squad go into self-isolation as a result of a number of Covid-19 positives. With the replacements having to meet one another over Zoom while they assembled in their hotel rooms and waited for the obligatory test results, Stokes and Chris Silverwood, England’s head coach, were only able to oversee a single training session before sending out a team featuring 135 caps, 99 of which belonged to Stokes.”I guess the message we’ve had, something Stokes reiterated last night after training was, ‘yes, it is weird circumstances, but at this given time, everyone here deserves their place and everyone here is the best player for that position that they’re in,'” Mahmood said. “I think the message that Stokesy gave the boys should help fill them with a lot of confidence – given it is weird circumstances – that everyone deserves to be here. That’s the message we’ve had.”Related

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Playing in only his fourth ODI, Mahmood was still England’s senior seamer by a distance – Lewis Gregory and Brydon Carse were making their debuts, while Craig Overton had one previous appearance, in 2018, to his name. Mahmood has been on the fringes of England’s white-ball sides since making his T20I debut in New Zealand in 2019, but hadn’t been involved in an ODI XI since the Ireland series last summer.”It’s the number one side in the world and you’ve got to do some pretty special things to take over from some of the guys who have the spots,” he said. “When I’ve played for England I haven’t managed to take that opportunity. I don’t think it’s a side where you’re coming in, you’ve got the time to settle. You’ve got to come in and try and make the most of your opportunity because there’s that many big players around.”I felt in the T20s I haven’t nailed my place yet but in the one-day side I was just starting to make strides last summer and then obviously I haven’t played for 12 months. I’m glad I was able to take that opportunity today, and then hopefully I can just back it up in the rest of the series.”Although several members of the side had not played List A cricket in more than two years, Mahmood said the ongoing Vitality Blast had been good preparation and that “the fact it all happened so quickly… was better”. He duly slipped into gear by trapping Imam-ul-Haq lbw first ball, and then having Babar Azam, Pakistan’s captain, taken at slip.Saqib Mahmood dismissed Babar Azam for a duck in his first over•Getty Images

“Getting a wicket first ball is obviously the best start you can get off to – it just eases the nerves a little bit,” he said. “To get two in the first over was unbelievable, and it was just making sure after that we still kept the intensity up, didn’t go through the motions just because you’ve got a couple of poles early on. I felt we did that and obviously picked up four wickets in the first 10 [overs], which puts the opposition on the back foot straightaway. It was a great start – [we] couldn’t ask for much better.”On removing Azam cheaply, he added: “Especially on a wicket like that, where it was doing a bit up top, you want to get him in as early as possible and try and get him out. The later he comes in, the harder it is to get someone of that quality out. So luckily for us, we got him in early and got him out as well.”After a gentle introduction to captaining the limited-overs side in which he bowled one over and wasn’t required to bat, Stokes praised his untested attack for helping to kill the game early and urged the group to “enjoy the situation we find ourselves in” – as well as warning that Pakistan would be likely to come back stronger at Lord’s on Saturday.”When you get any new group of players together you are always striving for that team performance and something like today is a massive boost,” he told Sky Sports. “But we do need to keep in mind that we weren’t put under any pressure today and I’ve got no doubt that we will [be] at some point. It’s also a great learning curve that sticking to the basics serves us really well but [we have to] remember that not every game of cricket will go that smoothly for us.”I just said to them to go out and do what they had been doing for their counties this season and [in] previous seasons and enjoy the situation that we find ourselves in.”

“I think we can leave a few more balls outside off stump to make them bowl straighter at us.”

Mohammad Isam10-Jan-2022Bangladesh have to be “decisive” in whatever they do in Christchurch now, according to batting coach Ashwell Prince. The visitors were bowled out for 126, responding to New Zealand’s 521 for 6 declared, a display which didn’t reflect any of their trust in leaving or even playing the swinging ball.The top five all got out in single-figures, a stark contrast to the first eight batters playing at least 50 deliveries in the first Test last week. They went on to bat for 173 overs in Mount Maunganui, as opposed to a mere 41.2 overs on the second day at Hagley Oval.Prince said that Yasir Ali, who reached his maiden Test fifty, top scoring with 55 in this innings, showed that he was confident in what he wanted to do.”Yasir was solid in defence and decisive in attack,” Prince said. “I think it is that type of a pitch. You have to leave the ball with confidence. You have to be decisive playing a defensive or an attacking shot. The keyword is decisive with whatever option you will be taking.”Yasir and Nurul Hasan added 60 runs for the sixth wicket. Nurul struck the ball well during his 41, but their effort fell way short of bailing out Bangladesh from a difficult situation.”At tea time, we identified the pitch was quite good for batting,” Prince said. “There was value for shots off the surface. The outfield was nice. If we could hang in a little bit, we could get a partnership going. The movement happened a bit quicker off the surface today. I was comfortable thinking some of the balls would go past the outside edge. It is normal for these conditions.”Sohan [Nurul] played positively. Came forward nicely at the bowlers. He got his front foot out of the pitch of the ball. He got his weight over the ball. Yasir, only playing his third Test, was unlucky caught down the leg-side at the Mount. He applied himself well in that game, and today as well.”Prince alluded to how New Zealand batted on the first day, led by Tom Latham, who ended up scoring 252.”We learned from the Kiwis that they left a lot more balls outside the off stump. It comes a little bit more naturally for the New Zealand batters. They play on bouncy surfaces. Our guys play a lot more balls. I thought we left really well and played well off the back foot at the Mount.”I thought we could have left a few more balls today. Hopefully tomorrow we can get off to a good start. I think we can leave a few more balls outside off stump to make them bowl straighter at us.”Prince said that they knew New Zealand would hit back after the defeat in the first Test, and that as soon as they did, it became difficult for Bangladesh. He said that it was similar to how Bangladesh ran away with the game having batted big in the first innings in Mount Maunganui.”Of course we are disappointed [with the top five in the first innings]. It was a massive effort last week. We played 173 overs against a quality bowling attack. I think it is fair to say that we expected NZ to come back with a lot more urgency in this game. If you compare the two games, you can see that it is really difficult to fight your way back, even if you are the No. 1 team.”Last week, we managed to get ourselves ahead of the game. In this game so far, they started really well yesterday, continued it this morning. They also started well with the ball. They made it tough for us to get back into the game. We have to live to fight another day.”

Ricky Ponting, Sanjay Manjrekar and Brad Haddin all think so, citing Ashwin’s record against Australia and the nature of The Oval track

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jun-20231:36

Manjrekar ‘surprised’ by Ashwin’s omission

Did India fall into the trap of picking an attack that works only for the first innings at the WTC final? Ricky Ponting, the former Australia captain, certainly thinks so.Ponting said on television commentary that the dryness underneath the surface, which had more than just a sprinkling of live grass, would have brought him into the game, especially with Australia having four left-hand batters in the top seven – Usman Khawaja, David Warner, Travis Head and Alex Carey.”Australia have many left-handers; Ashwin would trouble the left-handers more than Jadeja. I saw the grass, yes there was grass but the deeper I looked, it seemed dry to me,” Ponting said on Star Sports.Former India captain Sachin Tendulkar, meanwhile, felt highly-skilled bowlers like Ashwin had the potential to take pitches out of the equation, so it was worth India taking a punt on him.”It need not be always a turning track as sometimes the spinners rely a lot on the bounce, sometimes that little bit of zip that they get off the pitch, also on the overhead conditions and it depends a lot on the shiny side of the ball,” he said in the build-up to the toss, on his website . “If they are able to get that drift, they can make the ball talk in the air without the pitch coming into play. So, The Oval is going to be good venue for India.”Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar echoed Ponting’s views on the surface, expressing surprise at Ashwin’s omission. Speaking on ESPNcricinfo’s analysis show Match Day, he cited Ashwin’s success against Australia, both in Australia (2020-21) and India (2022-23) and his overall record overseas since 2018.”It seems like they’re convinced this pitch is very seam-friendly, because Ashwin of late in overseas matches has been pretty good,” Manjrekar said. “There’s clearly a green look to it [pitch] but the soil underneath looked white to suggest there’s some dryness as well, and The Oval historically has never been a seaming pitch.”Manjrekar also felt Jasprit Bumrah’s non-availability may have influenced the team management, pushing them towards four seamers and one spinner instead of a 3-2 attack. With Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami picking themselves and India seemingly intent on playing Shardul Thakur for the all-round depth he lends alongside Ravindra Jadeja, it was between Umesh Yadav and Ashwin for the final spot and India went with the former.In Thakur’s favour, his previous performance at The Oval was match turning: twin half-centuries to go with three wickets to help India to a 157-run win and go 2-1 up against England in September 2021.Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, Manjrekar’s co-panelist on Match Day, also felt the absence of a fierce competitor like Ashwin in a contest as big as this may put “massive pressure” on India’s four-pronged pace attack.”It [Ashwin] would’ve been the first name I would’ve looked at [on the team sheet] if I was one of the [opposition’s] left-handers,” he said. “You want a player, especially in a big event like this, who walks towards the fire. And Ashwin’s definitely one of those guys against Australia.”He loves playing against them, gets into the contest. I know he gets under the skin of the Australian batsmen. One of the big successes India have had over Australia has been due to Ashwin’s presence. They’ll miss him out there and the pressure is on four quicks to put pressure on that middle order.”

Did the experience of the previous WTC final play a part in India’s decision?

Ashwin was part of India’s XI when they played the WTC final in 2021 against New Zealand in Southampton. Back then, India fielded three seamers and two spinners, while New Zealand played four specialist seamers and had a fifth option in allrounder Colin de Grandhomme.It’s a decision India rued later, as they lost in conditions where there was plenty for the fast bowlers all through – and rain around. Ashwin didn’t feature in any of the four subsequent Tests India played later in that summer against England.Were India scarred by that decision from 2021?”Maybe,” Manjrekar said. “But conditions were different. It was a venue where seam bowlers had to bowl. New Zealand had five seam options. I believe you have to look at the history of a certain venue and a pitch rather than how a pitch looks on day one.”Ashwin, for many reasons, would’ve been a good selection [here], plus he adds a bit of batting depth as well. The Ashwin we saw against New Zealand in that WTC final and the Ashwin of today, there’s a marked change in the way he bowls. This Ashwin you’d think would’ve done well in these conditions. Having said that, Jadeja against the left-handers isn’t too bad, maybe that is the reason why they felt we can still it do with one spinner.”

Anya Shrubsole took a hat-trick while Natalie Sciver finished with incredible figures of 3 for 4 as England sealed their semi-final berth in the 2018 World T20

The Report by Shashank Kishore16-Nov-2018Another crunch game, another heartburn for South Africa.Two nights after sensationally losing 9 for 28 against West Indies, South Africa collapsed from 55 for 4 to 85 all out, with Anya Shrubsole, Player of the Final at last year’s World Cup, taking a hat-trick to hasten the end. In the absence of Katherine Brunt, Natalie Sciver, who took the new ball, bowled an incredible 20 dot balls and finished with 3 for 4 to set up the game.The pair had a combined contribution of 6 for 15 on the face of South Africa’s block-block-slog approach to hand the advantage on a platter to England. The target hardly caused a flutter, England it chased down in just 14.1 overs to put themselves in an excellent position to make the semi-finals.Anya Shrubsole bagged a hat-trick against South Africa•ICC

England blasted five boundaries in the first four overs, with Danielle Wyatt quickly unsettling the fast bowlers by giving them the charge. She raced to 17 off 14 balls, but shouldn’t have lasted beyond the first over. Chloe Tryon, among the better fielders, let her off by missing a direct hit at the bowler’s end from mid-off. This would repeat itself three more times; Tryon missing on each occasion.With South Africa’s intensity and energy on the field lacking, the game was sealed even before the Powerplay finished. Although England lost a clutch of wickets, the result was never in doubt.England resisted the temptation to play an extra seamer, and continued to persist with left-arm spinners Sophie Ecclestone, Linsey Smith and Kirstie Gordon. All three played a part in choking South Africa at different stages.Lizelle Lee, who has been struggling for timing and form, ate up deliveries and limped to 3 off 15 in the first five overs. After plodding her way, she was out lbw playing all around a full Sciver delivery. The wheels truly came off when Marizanne Kapp and Dane Van Niekerk fell in the space of four deliveries to leave South Africa reeling at 30 for 4 in the ninth over. Van Niekerk’s wicket could count as a lucky break as it deflected off the bowler’s hand after Kapp drilled it straight back.In all, South Africa played out 43 dots in the first 10 overs, lost too many wickets and then got into a tangle because they didn’t have enough batting depth. Tryon tried to provide a late lift by muscling two sixes and a four in her 27, but fell in trying to score runs amid a clutch of lower order wickets.England also lost three quick wickets, but their pulsating start in pursuit of a small target left them with no hiccups, Heather Knight and Amy Jones seeing them through without much fuss.

“One of my goals and dreams the last year was to break into England’s top four”

Valkerie Baynes14-Jul-2022No sooner had Sophia Dunkley established herself in England’s middle order, she set her sights on making a place in the top-four her own. No sooner had England switched focus to the next Women’s World Cup cycle, she is doing just that.In her first international outing at No. 3, Dunkley scored 22 from 24 balls as England convincingly beat South Africa in their first of three ODIs at Northampton. The knock was in keeping with her proactive batting style, which Dunkley said she was reluctant to give up heading into the second match at Bristol on Friday. It was also a key part of England’s bid to shake up their batting line-up, with the successful addition of new opener Emma Lamb and Danni Wyatt shuffling back down into the middle order.”One of my goals and dreams the last year was to break into England’s top four,” Dunkley said. “So the fact that I have an opportunity now to bat at three, it’s an amazing feeling. It’s something I’ve done in regional cricket for the last two years, so not completely new, but obviously a different level in internationals.”Naturally the bowling’s a little bit tighter, you don’t get as many bad balls, and you get a lot of pressure built on you in the powerplay, so it’s about learning how to deal with that and how I want to go about it. It’s probably not going to come overnight, and the next two games might not go as well as I’d like, but it’s about building for the future, how I see myself doing that role in the long term.”Dunkley’s first knock as England’s No. 3 included three powerful fours, driven through cover and twice hammered past long-on before she fell lbw to Nadine de Klerk.”I don’t want to take away too much of my natural aggression and intent because I think that’s still really important to push us on as a team,” she added. “So it’s finding the balance really and just doing the low-risk things for longer. I’ve had some good practice in the nets so I’m feeling good.”Related

• Sophia Dunkley sets sights on top-four batting spot for England

• Danni Wyatt set for return to middle-order despite World Cup semi-final century

• Lamb's maiden ton, all-round Sciver, fiery Brunt help England go 1-0 up

• Emma Lamb seizes England's opening vacancy on 'amazing' day in Northampton

• Nadine de Klerk: Ismail available, South Africa must up intensity

When opener Tammy Beaumont fell in just the third over of the match, Dunkley had the best view in the house as Lamb carved out a maiden century in just her fourth international appearance.Lamb had opened alongside Beaumont in the drawn Test which kicked of the multi-format series between the sides in Taunton last month and took a massive step towards establishing herself at the very top of the order in the ODI format with her knock.”Emma batted outstanding in the last game,” Dunkley said. “I’m so pleased for her. I’ve played a lot of cricket with her growing up, and grown up with her in the academy, so when we were batting together we were joking about how it was like the old times and it was nice that we could do that in an England shirt together.”It was amazing to watch her do her thing and show the world that she deserves to be an England opener, so I’m sure it’s the first of many for Emma.”It will be one day shy of 13 months since Dunkley made her Test debut against India – also in Bristol – where she notched up an unbeaten 74 in a keenly contested draw.She went on to play an important part in the white-ball part of India’s tour before finishing the English summer playing in all five ODIs against New Zealand. A trip to Australia as part of England’s ill-fated Ashes tour was followed by the World Cup, where she made a couple of half-centuries, including in England’s semi-final defeat of South Africa.”Personally it’s been a pretty crazy year and there’s been a lot of different cricket, playing in an Ashes and a World Cup was a surreal experience,” she said. “Now coming in batting at three is something different so yeah, it’s been lots of experiences, ups and downs, but a great year of cricket all round.”And she was expecting South Africa to come back fighting after a muted display in the first ODI, when their batting failed to fire. Katherine Brunt returned to international action with an imposing first spell and figures of 3 for 18 from nine overs before Chloe Tryon’s 88 gave the tourists some hope. Then their bowlers struggled against Lamb’s accomplished display and a brutal 55 off just 36 balls from Nat Sciver, who had also taken four wickets.South Africa’s bowling could be boosted by the return of Shabnim Ismail, who is available for selection in what would be her first appearance of the tour after recovering from a calf strain, with England leading four points to two.”We bowled really well in the first innings last game and it made it really hard for them to get a big score on the board,” Dunkley said. “Credit to our bowlers and Katherine up front bowling in that amazing spell, five overs for five runs.”We’re just really clear as a batting unit that we want to go out and be positive, so it was a great to be able to put that into practice and we definitely put pressure on their bowlers so I’m sure they’re going to come back hard at us in the next game.”

Afghanistan’s spinners, led by Mujeeb and Rashid, could pose interesting questions to a batting order that’s proven to be brittle

The Preview by Andrew Fidel Fernando16-Sep-2018

Big Picture

It’s debatable how much of an upset an Afghanistan victory would even be, on Monday. ODIs are, without a doubt, Sri Lanka’s worst format. Over the last 18 months, they have lost half the matches they have played against Zimbabwe, for example, on top of which they have comprehensively lost ODI series against India, Pakistan and South Africa. And although they did win one tri-series involving Bangladesh and Zimbabwe early in the year, Sri Lanka are now reeling after the 137-run pummelling by Bangladesh on Saturday – a game in which long-standing fielding and batting inadequacies were emphatically exposed.They now face the possibility of bowing out of the Asia Cup only three days into the tournament. Even if they beat Afghanistan, their progress into the Super Four is not assured, particularly given the woeful run rate they collected in Saturday’s 137-run defeat. They have to win on Monday, and hope that Bangladesh beat Afghanistan in order to cement a Super Four place.What will buoy Afghanistan is that they possess the kind of attack that could make Sri Lanka crumble again. Sri Lanka have not played legspin particularly well over the last two years, and who better to exploit that weakness than Rashid Khan? Having watched the Sri Lanka middle order stall against Bangladesh’s finger spin on Saturday, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi might be licking their lips too.But what makes this game interesting is that Sri Lanka’s bowlers won’t mind the look of Afghanistan’s top order either, which can sometimes be brittle. Importantly for Sri Lanka, all-sorts offspinner Akila Dananjaya will be available for this game, having missed the first match in order to attend the birth of his child, and that is a substantial boon, considering he has been perhaps Sri Lanka’s most consistent player across formats in 2018. Here are two inconsistent batting outfits, and two attacks sprinkled with dynamic bowlers. Perhaps by dint of experience at such tournaments, Sri Lanka have an edge, but it is not much of one.

Form guide

Sri LankaLWWLL (completed matches, most recent first)
Afghanistan WLWWW

In the spotlight

Even by the standards of Lasith Malinga‘s heyday, his returns on Saturday were excellent. He struck twice in his first international over in more than a year, then went on to deliver a full quota of overs without conceding a boundary, while taking two more wickets. For much of the last three years, Malinga has been in the low 130kph range, but although he is still sporting a belly as large as it has been, he somehow was getting his speeds back into the 140kph range on Saturday, which makes him a far more threatening bowler. His challenge will be to maintain that intensity across another 10 overs, in the searing heat of the UAE, only 48 hours later.Right through their victorious ODI and T20 series against Ireland, Afghanistan used young offspinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman as an opening bowler. The results were pretty good – Mujeeb was generally economical with the new ball, and helped ensure that when the team’s primary weapon Rashid came into the attack, the opposition’s top order had not done much damage. Opening with Mujeeb might be a ploy worth trying again, because early on in their innings, the likes of Upul Tharanga and Kusal Perera – who bat in Sri Lanka’s top four – tend to enjoy a little pace on the ball. There are also plenty of left-handers in this Sri Lanka batting order for Mujeeb to bowl at, especially if Niroshan Dickwella replaces a misfiring right-hander.

Team news

Afghanistan may largely stick to the combination that brought them success in Ireland – though they did switch up their batting order right through that series. They may consider playing a second frontline seamer in Sayed Shirzad, in addition to right-armer Aftab Alam.Afghanistan (possible): 1 Mohammad Shahzad (wk), 2 Ihsanullah, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hasmatullah Shahidi, 5 Gulbadin Naib, 6 Asghar Afghan (capt), 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Najibullah Zadran/Sayed Shirzad, 9 Rashid Khan, 10 Aftab Alam, 11 Mujeeb Ur RahmanSri Lanka will probably swap in Dananjaya for Dilruwan Perera. They might also think about replacing Dhananjaya de Silva with Niroshan Dickwella.Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Kusal Mendis, 2 Upul Tharanga, 3 Dhananjaya de Silva, 4 Kusal Perera (wk), 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Suranga Lakmal, 9 Akila Dananjaya, 10 Amila Aponso, 11 Lasith Malinga

Pitch and conditions

The temperature in Abu Dhabi is forecast to be a shade more forgiving than it has been in Dubai, by which I mean it is supposed to be in the 30 degrees range rather than the low forties. It is possible dew could form after nightfall, perhaps making the ball slightly harder to grip for the team bowling second.

Stats and trivia

• Sri Lanka have won both of their matches against Afghanistan so far, with the second of those wins having been a narrow four-wicket victory at the 2015 World Cup
• Rashid Khan has gone wicketless only once in his last 22 bowling innings in ODIs, picking up three five-wicket hauls in that time
• Kusal Mendis has now gone 19 completed ODI innings without making a half century. His last fifty came against Zimbabwe in June last year

Quotes

“We don’t start off competitions well, and that has been evident in the last seven months. If you take the tour to Bangladesh, we lost the first two games. Then against South Africa in the first ODI we lost something like five wickets for 30 runs. We lost 60 for six yesterday. When they are under pressure, the batsmen lack options and clarity. The decision making becomes poor and they lack confidence. We need to make their mental aspect right.”

Australia’s selectors have added him to the Test squad at the last possible moment to face Sri Lanka after the batsman’s twin centuries in the Hobart tour match made his case undeniable

Daniel Brettig and Andrew McGlashan21-Jan-2019Australia’s selectors have added Kurtis Patterson to the Test squad at the last possible moment, to face Sri Lanka after his twin centuries in the Hobart tour match made his case undeniable.Kurtis Patterson’s recent form•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Originally omitted from the group to play in Brisbane and Canberra, Patterson churned out unbeaten innings of 157 and 102 at Bellerive Oval before being informed on Sunday night he had been added to the squad and would join Tim Paine’s team in Brisbane.”I feel at the top of my game, hitting the ball as well as I ever have, which makes the addition to the squad really happy for me,” Patterson said. “You want to be picked when playing well and I feel I am. Obviously there’s some hard work to be done this week, but if I get that opportunity on Thursday I’ll be really looking forward to it.”ALSO READ: Will Pucovski earns Australia call-up as Marshes and Handscomb droppedIt was 8pm on Sunday evening when the call arrived, which meant an early morning flight to Brisbane on Monday to meet the Test squad for training, little more than 24 hours after it had been indicated there wouldn’t be any eleventh-hour additions to squad except for injury. “I had no expectations coming out of that Sri Lanka game that anything would occur,” he said. “The call came quite late so the entire day had passed and I was getting ready to pack my bags for Thunder [BBL] training.”Patterson’s inclusion means that he along with Joe Burns, Matt Renshaw and Will Pucovski are all vying for two spots in the Australian batting order, fitting in with Marcus Harris, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head after Peter Handscomb and Shaun Marsh were dropped.Trevor Hohns, the selection chairman, stated that Patterson had done all that was asked of him to earn a late call into the Test squad.”Kurtis has been pushing his case for selection for some time, he has been a consistent top-order player for New South Wales, was a member of the Australian A tour of India prior to the commencement of our summer, and was most recently selected to compete in the day-night tour match against Sri Lanka in Hobart,” Hohns said.”We have been asking batters around the country to score hundreds if they want to be considered for selection, and given Kurtis’ consistent performances for NSW and his two unbeaten centuries in last week’s tour match against our upcoming opponent, Sri Lanka, we believe he deserves to be added to the Test squad.”Kurtis has joined the squad in Brisbane today to commence our preparations for the first Test starting on Thursday.”