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Smriti Mandhana, India’s stand-in T20I captain, says her initiation to leading the side with a thumping loss against England in the first match may help her perform better as a leader and batsman in the second, must-win fixture for India in the three-match series, on Thursday.”It was a really tough game to go out there, and first game as a captain you are really nervous and excited,” Mandhana said of India’s 41-run loss against England in the series opener in Guwahati. “But things did not go the way as I expected it to be. I have to accept that I was a bit nervous.”Definitely, before the second match, now that I have made my captaincy debut, I wouldn’t be nervous and I will be proactive in captaincy and in batting, [I] will be able to give a good start to India.”Mandhana’s 8-ball 2 on Monday was part of a lacklustre performance from India’s batting line-up, whose chronic infirmity in the 20-over format has worsened around relying on her and No. 3 batsman Jemimah Rodrigues for steady starts and, most of the time, squandering that.Most tellingly, the over-reliance came to the fore during India’s 3-0 whitewash in New Zealand, where designated T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who is out of the current series with an ankle injury, also had a lean patch as a middle-order batsman.Mandhana said the focus during an open-wickets session at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Tuesday and a nets session on Wednesday had been on addressing the T20I side’s biggest concern: “get the batting order right and avoid collapse”.On Monday, Mandhana had squarely pinned the blame for India’s defeat on herself, Mithali Raj and Rodrigues, who make up India’s top four, with allrounder Harleen Deol having made her T20I debut in the series opener.”As a batter who is settled, our top four, we are playing for a long time now,” Mandhana had said after the loss. “I, Mithali, Jemi have to take more responsibility, and bat more and take the team through [the finish line]. We have to give a bit of cushion to the youngsters.”On the eve of the second game in the three-match series, Mandhana’s assessment differed little. She did, however, take hope from the lower-middle order’s rearguard, which involved Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy and Shikha Pandey contributing a combined 63 runs in India’s total of 119.”The batting order,” Mandhana said, “even in New Zealand, we didn’t capitalise [on] the good start. The last match we didn’t get a good start. But one positive is how Shikha [Pandey], Aru and Deepti played at the end. That was the big positive for us.”Shikha Pandey celebrates a wicket•Associated Press

Pandey, the leader of India’s pace attack, was also the most economical of the five bowlers used by Mandhana, who was satisfied with the quality of fast bowlers coming into the side, despite left-arm seamer Komal Zanzad not being handed an international debut in the first T20I after running through the England line-up with a blistering three-for as part of the Board President’s XI two weeks ago.”We have really good pace bowlers coming in,” Mandhana said. “Of course, you won’t get someone like Jhulan [Goswami] because she has so much experience. It is wrong to expect a pace bowler coming in to deliver the same as what Jhulu di does for us because she is one of a kind.”I played the Board President XI’s match as well. Even I used to feel that. But seeing the pace bowlers [in that game], I think they did a brilliant job. We got almost four or five wickets in the first 10 overs. And those were all pacers. So I don’t think there is lack of depth. Only that we have to give them enough chances to be a match-winner for India.”Mandhana’s view of the fast-bowling talent on the domestic circuit comes two days after 36-year-old Goswami, the senior-most bowler in the Indian contingent, reclaimed the No. 1 ODI spot on the back of her eight wickets in the preceding series in Mumbai, which India won 2-1.”That is the position where she deserves to be,” Mandhana, the top-ranked batsman in the 50-over format, said of Goswami, while also commending Mithali Raj (No. 4 on the batsmen’s rankings), Pandey and Poonam Yadav (ranked fifth and tenth on the bowlers’ rankings respectively) for figuring in the top 10 from the second-placed Indian side.”It’s an exciting thing,” Mandhana said. “But now our goal is to get the team to the No. 1 ranking. Individuals being up there on No. 1… but it’d be much better if the team is at No. 1 on the ICC rankings.”While Tammy Beaumont, England’s Player of the Match in the first T20I, said after the game losing the toss may have worked in the tourists’ favour, Mandhana defended her decision to chase.”Definitely not [a wrong decision to field first],” Mandhana said. “I think the wicket was really good to bat on. It didn’t change at all. If the wicket changed in the second innings, then we would think that the decision was wrong. But the wicket remained the same.”Only in bowling we thought we gave 10-15 runs extra. One-sixty was quite chaseable, but none of our top-order batters got any start. I think if anyone would’ve batted until the 15th over, it would have been a different game.”

The South Africa Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has refuted Cricket South Africa’s claim that it was consulted about the sweeping changes proposed to restructure domestic cricket in the country.Presenting a united front at its second press conference in a week, CSA insisted that SACA had been brought up to speed with the details of the domestic revamp. Corrie Van Zyl, the head of cricket pathways, even went to the extent of saying, “I sat personally with SACA and consulted on the restructuring.”SACA, however, remains adamant that it had not been adequately consulted, stating further that the cricket board had ignored agreements between the two bodies. It further countered CSA by citing its chief executive Tony Irish’s ban from attending a meeting while the restructuring was being discussed.SACA’s words contradict CSA’s statements to the media. According to van Zyl, SACA has been engaged by CSA in the formulation of the strategies it will implement in the face of massive forecasted financial losses.”I sat personally with SACA and consulted on the restructuring, explained what it would look like, and in principle they supported that and understood where we are going,” van Zyl said. “But they did also say that they need to understand a lot more.”They were also part of other interactions – a joint financial committee, and also a cricket committee which SACA is part of – where we discussed the restructuring again, and at that stage no objection was raised to the restructuring. So we have consulted, and secondly we have been working together to make sure that we come up with a sustainable restructuring exercise.”Irish, however, argued that the Memorandum of Understanding signed by CSA and SACA last year contained clear guidelines on how the consultation process on a matter such as the restructure should happen, but that CSA “has simply ignored that agreement”.”I wish to again confirm that CSA has not properly consulted with SACA on the domestic restructure,” Irish said. “The fact that I was present at certain meetings when the issue of possible restructure was raised does not constitute consultation.”There has been no discussion with us on how any restructure would actually work and I have consistently stated to CSA that SACA cannot make any decision on this at least until we understand the financial position and the ‘human impact’ on the players.”Omphile Ramela, the domestic veteran and president of SACA, also confirmed the body hadn’t received a reply from CSA over concerns raised. “We have addressed our specific, constructive concerns to CSA in writing but have still had no reply,” he said. “The statements made have given us no further clarity on this. SACA has yet to agree to any restructure.”CSA stated yesterday (Friday) that it will continue to engage SACA going forward, yet SACA’s CEO was at the same time banned from a meeting of CSA’s Chief Executives Conference, of which he is a member, when the domestic restructure was being discussed.”While SACA is clearly at loggerheads with CSA, chief executive Thabang Moroe insisted that CSA had the full backing of the key stakeholders for the revamp. Moroe said, “We’ve just had a very successful two-day workshop with our CEOs, and all of the CEOs have asked me to quote them in saying that they are in full support of the plans that Cricket South Africa has put in place.”

Wriddhiman Saha will get a chance to stake his claim for a return to India’s Test team when he tours the Caribbean with the India A team after the World Cup. The tour, which includes five one-day matches (from July 11 to 21) and three four-day matches (from July 24 to August 9) will directly precede the senior India team’s tour of the West Indies, which is set to begin in early August.A spate of injuries has led to Saha not featuring for India since the first Test of their South Africa tour in January 2018. He has been named in the India A squad for all three four-day matches in the West Indies, with KS Bharat as the other wicketkeeping option. Rishabh Pant, the incumbent Test keeper, isn’t in the four-day squad but finds a place in the one-day squad.Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey have been named captains of the three-day and one-day sides respectively.Given that India will tour the West Indies soon after, the India A squad includes a number of players who are likely to be part of the senior team, such as Test batsmen Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal and Hanuma Vihari. Shaw and Agarwal, along with KL Rahul, have established themselves as the three first-choice Test openers in recent months, with the more established pair of M Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan falling out of favour.Neither Vijay nor Dhawan is part of the India A squads in the West Indies, suggesting that the selectors might now be looking beyond them. One of the batsmen who might be in the reckoning for a top-order slot is Shubman Gill, who recently made his ODI debut in New Zealand, and has been picked in both squads for the West Indies games.Along with the squads for the West Indies tour, the senior national selection committee, chaired by MSK Prasad, has also announced the India A squads for a home series against Sri Lanka A, which begins on May 25. This series will include two four-day matches and five one-dayers, all of which will be played in the towns of Belgaum and Hubli in Karnataka.Ishan Kishan will captain the team in the one-day matches, and Priyank Panchal in the four-dayers.

India A squads

1st & 2nd four-day matches against West Indies A: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Priyank Panchal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Shivam Dube, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), KS Bharat (wk), K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mayank Markande, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan3rd four-day match against West Indies A: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Shivam Dube, Mayank Markande, K Gowtham, Shahbaz Nadeem, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Avesh KhanOne-day matches against West Indies A: Manish Pandey (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rahul Chahar, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Avesh KhanFour-day matches against Sri Lanka A: Ishan Kishan (capt & wk), Anmolpreet Singh, Rituraj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Ricky Bhui, Shubman Gill, Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Washington Sundar, Mayank Markande, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Warrier, Ishan Porel, Prashant ChopraOne-day matches against Sri Lanka A: Priyank Panchal (capt), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Anmolpreet Singh, Ricky Bhui, Siddhesh Lad, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, KS Bharat (wk), Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Aditya Sarwate, Sandeep Warrier, Ankit Rajpoot, Ishan Porel

Dimuth Karunaratne scored his maiden ODI fifty in just his second ODI, back in 2011 against Scotland at the Grange. After eight years, he finally crossed 50 for the second time in his career, against the same opponent on the same ground in a bit of handy deja vu for Sri Lanka’s new ODI captain to propel them to a 35-run win on the DLS method. The result broke Sri Lanka’s eight-match ODI losing streak.Making the most of a pair of let offs, Karunaratne top-scored with 77 after being sent in. It was one of three half-centuries in the innings for Sri Lanka as his opening partner Avishka Fernando struck his maiden ODI fifty. Both men were spilled during Brad Wheal’s opening spell, Karunaratne at first slip by George Munsey on 13 in the seventh over and Avishka on 22 at mid-off by Alasdair Evans in the ninth, as Scotland paid for some sloppy fielding to see the pair construct a 123-run opening stand.Karunaratne received a third life in the 21st over as well on 36 when Calum MacLeod couldn’t hang on to a sharp chance at midwicket off the bowling of left-arm spinner Mark Watt. It took the intervention of offspinning allrounder Michael Leask to break the stand at 123, striking with his first ball after being introduced in the 23rd to induce a loose flick to Munsey at deep square leg by Avishka for 74.Karunaratne continued to drive Sri Lanka forward, raising his 50 off 65 balls with a reverse paddle sweep for four off Watt in the 26th. After 33 overs, he was on 77 and constructing another ominous stand with Kusal Mendis, as Sri Lanka looked certain to sprint past 300 with their score on 203 for 1.But the reintroduction of Wheal in the 34th over put the brakes on their innings. Karunaratne fell, skying a pull to substitute fielder Gavin Main at mid-on. The decision to promote Thisara Perera to No. 4 with a terrific platform and a free license to swing big backfired spectacularly, as a cross-batted swipe at a back of a length ball angled across by Wheal resulted in an edge behind for a golden duck.Tom Sole made it 3 for 6 in the space of 20 balls when Angelo Mathews charged the offspinner and heaved a catch to Leask at long-on to make it 210 for 4. Kusal focused on stabilising the innings through the 40th over before getting back into attack mode, heaving a six over long-on in an 11-run over. He eventually made 66 and Sri Lanka added 99 off their last 10, including 35 off their last 12 balls, to compensate for the earlier stumble. Wheal took another at the death to end with 3 for 49 as Scotland’s star bowler on the day.Scotland had made 325 on this ground 10 days earlier against Afghanistan, which wound up being below par in a match decided by DLS. Storm clouds were forecast to be on the horizon for the late afternoon, which influenced Scotland’s decision to bowl first at the toss, and sure enough DLS came into play exactly two hours into their chase.The hosts had a flawless Powerplay, reaching 50 for 0 after nine overs behind a sizzling start from captain Kyle Coetzer. He struck four boundaries in the space of 11 balls across the fifth and sixth overs off Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep. But a maiden from Thisara in the 10th over built up pressure leading to his wicket, bounced out by Pradeep as Lahiru Thirmanne ran in at deep square leg for a sharp sliding catch.Pradeep struck again in the 13th over with the ball of the day, getting a fullish length one to jag back to pierce Calum MacLeod’s bat-pad gap to clip the leg stump bail for 1. In the absence of the injured Richie Berrington, who missed this match after breaking a bone in his left pinky during a domestic 50-over match last week, Craig Wallace was promoted to No. 4 and made 18 before Isuru Udana’s around the wicket angle of attack finally dislodged him with one that straightened for an edge behind to make it 95 for 3 in 21.Munsey started to counter-attack from the start of his arrival at No. 5, sweeping Dhananjaya de Silva for four to get off the mark before a pair of reverse sweeps produced two more boundaries. Matthew Cross continued to graft at the other end, reaching his half-century off 64 balls with a pull behind square for his fourth boundary to end the 26th over.But rain had been falling steadily for the previous five overs and only six more balls were bowled before umpires David McLean and Gregory Brathwaite decided it was too thick to continue. After 90 minutes, the skies cleared enough for a restart with Scotland set a fresh target of 235, needing 103 off seven overs.Munsey thrilled the remaining crowd with a stunning assault on Thisara in the 28th, hitting the first ball after the restart over square leg for six followed by two more fours in the over. He brought up a 37-ball fifty with another towering six. But the chase soon ran out of gas. Cross drove Lakmal to long-off for 55 before Munsey was yorked by Pradeep for 61 to snuff out any realistic hope for Scotland of an upset. Pradeep bowled Safyaan Sharif next ball to go on a hat-trick, ending with 4 for 33 and Scotland quickly subsided thereafter as a pair of run outs wiped out the tail.

Joe Clarke and Tom Kohler-Cadmore are to face an ECB Cricket Disciplinary Commission (CDC) hearing after being charged with bringing the game into disrepute.Clarke and Kohler-Cadmore were named during the trial of Worcestershire allrounder Alex Hepburn as members of a WhatsApp group that exchanged disrespectful messages about women in what the judge described as a “pathetic sexist game to collect as many sexual encounters as possible”. Hepburn was jailed for five years in April having been found guilty of rape.The pair were dropped from the Lions squad that toured India in January while the outcome of the trial was unknown. Since its conclusion, the ECB has been reviewing the evidence and deciding whether to bring charges. ESPNcricinfo understands they have now decided to proceed and the case will be heard by the CDC, which describes itself as an independent body responsible for discipline across the professional game in England and Wales.The players have been charged with breaching ECB Directive 3.3. The directive states: “No Participant may conduct themself in a manner or do any act or omission at any time which may be prejudicial to the interests of cricket or which may bring the ECB, the game of cricket or any Cricketer or group of Cricketers into disrepute.”The CDC has the power to impose suspensions, heavy fines and the termination of registration. The ECB has previously confirmed that neither man will be considered for representative selection – either England or England Lions – until the investigation and any subsequent hearing is concluded.Clarke’s form has dipped sharply since it became apparent he could be facing a CDC case. He has been dismissed for a duck three times in his last seven innings and has not made a first-class 50 since the first week of April; a run that includes nine innings of 12 or fewer in 11 visits to the crease.He remains a highly rated young player, however, and may well have won a maiden England call-up in recent weeks had this case not arisen. With England resting those players who had been involved in the IPL and without Alex Hales (deselected) and Jason Roy (injured), they were without several first choice top-order batsmen at the start of the international season. Ben Duckett won a recall for the T20I against India in Cardiff in May, while Phil Salt was called up as batting cover. In normal circumstances, Clarke and, perhaps, Kohler-Cadmore might have expected to be ahead of them.The CDC hearing sustains a concerted effort from the ECB to improve the image of the game since the incident in Bristol in September 2017 that led to the trial – and acquittal – of Ben Stokes. The months since have seen much soul-searching within the game – not least around the England teams – and a greater acceptance of players’ roles in inspiring and appealing to a new generation of supporters. The message – that higher standards of behaviour are expected of modern players – is clear.

St Lucia Zouks will make a return to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), replacing St Lucia Stars for the upcoming season.Zouks was the name of the original franchise from St Lucia when the league was launched in 2013. In 2016, Stars replaced Zouks, but last week the CPL terminated its participation agreement with Royal Sports Club, LLC, the entity that operates the St Lucia franchise.CPL didn’t elaborate on the reasons behind Stars’ termination, but said it was “in the process of establishing and operating a new franchise to be based in St Lucia” for the upcoming season, which begins on September 4.Jay Pandya, the chief executive and owner of Royal Sports Club, LLC, termed the CPL decision “an attempt to bully us”, one which, he said, the franchise would fight legally. “CPL Limited has absolutely no basis, legal or otherwise, to terminate our contractual rights to operate St Lucia Stars,” Pandya told ESPNcricinfo. “We vehemently dispute CPL’s decision and will use all means necessary to vindicate our rights. This is an attempt to bully us, plain and simple. We are confident in our position and look forward to securing justice against CPL’s blatantly illegal act in the appropriate court of law.”

Pakistan will host their longest bilateral series in a decade after Sri Lanka agreed to play three ODIs and three T20s in Karachi and Lahore. This will mark the first international action in the country for 18 months, though it has meant that the two Tests scheduled between the sides for October – and which the PCB wanted to be played in Pakistan – have been postponed to December. Where they will be played is not yet clear, though it appears as if this tour could be a trial run for bringing long-form cricket back to Pakistan.

Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan

27 Sep – 1st ODI, Karachi
29 Sep – 2nd ODI, Karachi
2 Oct – 3rd ODI, Karachi
5 Oct – 1st T20I, Lahore
7 Oct – 2nd T20I, Lahore
9 Oct – 3rd T20I, Lahore

The National Stadium in Karachi will host the three ODIs, while the T20Is will be staged in Lahore. The ODIs will be the first to take place in Pakistan since Zimbabwe toured for a three-match ODI series in 2015; all the international cricket since the 2017 PSL final has been in the form of T20Is.ESPNcricinfo understands discussions on the matter of where the Tests will be played are continuing. The PCB had originally wanted the Test series to be played in Pakistan in October, but the Sri Lankan sports minister has said that players were reluctant for that to happen.The decision to swap formats, according to a PCB press release, was made following a phone discussion between the Pakistan Chairman Ehsan Mani and SLC President Shammi Silva on Friday. The visitors will arrive in Karachi on September 25 and fly home on October 10.Earlier this month, Sri Lanka carried out their security assessment in Lahore and Karachi – the two possible venues for any international cricket in the series – and it threw up “very positive” results. Ultimately, it does not seem to have been positive enough to remove player apprehensions about playing Test cricket in Pakistan. But the limited-overs leg gives Pakistan an opportunity to convince players otherwise and should it go off without a hitch, enable the PCB to make a more convincing case for the Test series to be played in the country, too.ALSO READ: Sri Lanka mull playing Test cricket in PakistanAccording to Sri Lanka sports minister Harin Fernando, the board had conveyed to him that it would prefer “not to take the risk” of playing a Test in Pakistan. He believed “some players were quite apprehensive,” and that Sri Lanka would play only one of the two limited-overs series in Pakistan, and that the Tests would “definitely” be held in the UAE. As it turns out, Sri Lanka will play the entire limited-overs leg in Pakistan, staying in the country for 13 days, with the PCB not yet ruling out the possibility of an actual home Test series.A Sri Lanka team played one T20I in Lahore in October 2017, but did so without a number of its prominent names. Sri Lanka’s then T20I captain, Upul Tharanga, pulled out, along with Lasith Malinga, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal and Akila Dananjaya. But the game went off without incident.A gigantic Pakistani flag engulfs one of the stands•AFP

For all the promising developments in terms of increasing international cricket in Pakistan over the past two years or so, convincing a team to play a Test match in the country has proved difficult. In part, the increased time commitment that a Test match will invariably demand has proven a challenging hurdle to overcome. And with the World Test Championship now having begun, it is unlikely teams would even be willing to send over weakened squads for a one-off Tests, with each game carrying significant points that count towards the eventual standings.”The PCB is pleased with the outcome of its discussions with Sri Lanka Cricket, which has supported Pakistan in its efforts and endeavours for the complete revival of international cricket,” Mani said. “The tour for limited-overs matches will also provide Sri Lanka with an even better understanding of the ground situation before discussing the schedule of the Tests.”The hosting of the ICC World XI, a T20I against Sri Lanka, three-T20I series men’s and women’s series against the West Indies and eight HBL PSL 2019 matches within the past couple of years is a testament to Pakistan’s claim that it is a safe and secure country to play cricket.”We are very grateful to Sri Lanka Cricket President Mr Shammi Silva, his board and players for responding positively to our request to play matches in Pakistan.”Silva said: “The PCB and SLC have a long history of cricket relationship and friendship, and this decision only strengthens that bonding. The SLC is committed to playing its role in the promotion of cricket and looks forward to visiting Karachi and Lahore for three ODIs and three T20Is.”The SLC security experts had visited the two cities earlier this month and had given a positive report, which made our job of decision-making easy. The safety and security of its players is the responsibility of the SLC, which it takes very seriously. If there had been any doubts, the SLC would not have gone ahead with this arrangement that we envisage will improve the players’ confidence and trust level and will also be critical when we start discussions on the schedule of the Test matches.”On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, there were several bomb attacks in churches and hotels all across Sri Lanka, with over 250 people killed and more than 500 injured. Sri Lanka Cricket was particularly apprehensive about what it meant for visiting teams in the future. But just over a month after the attack, Pakistan’s U-19 team visited Sri Lanka for five 50-over matches, a move that created much goodwill between the two boards, and gives Pakistan a slightly better chance of convincing Sri Lanka to play as much as possible of their tour in the country.*

Shakib Al Hasan has set his team’s agenda ahead of their one-off Test against Afghanistan: bring back the good times to Bangladesh cricket, given most of the men’s representative sides have produced poor results over the last few months.The senior team didn’t meet expectations at the World Cup, where they failed to reach the knockouts, and then had a shocker of a tour of Sri Lanka, where they lost all three ODIs. The A team, meanwhile, struggled against Afghanistan A at home, and a BCB XI couldn’t reach the final of a red-ball pre-season domestic tournament in Bengaluru.ALSO READ: Preview – It’s spin v spin and Shakib v RashidIt was only the Under-19 side that made good strides in a tri-nation tournament in England, finishing runners-up, and the under-performance of most of sides is seen as a wider malaise within the country’s cricketing set-up.Shakib, the captain of the T20I and Test sides, said that a win over Afghanistan would act as a balm.”Except the Under-19 side who made it to a tournament final, we haven’t really had a good time of late,” Shakib said. “We [the senior side] didn’t play well recently, and neither did our A team. So if we win this game, things will start becoming normal.”Shakib was critical of those who have questioned the senior team’s all-spin tactic for the Test, but he maintained that the Test match would be won and lost by how the batsmen perform. “We don’t criticise England and Australia for picking four seamers and no spinners,” he argued. “So I am not too bothered about it. We will try to win with one, two or three seamers, but we must stick to our plan.”Whenever our spinners have got their preferred type of pitches, they have done well at home. Having said that, they [Afghanistan] also have quality spinners. I feel the batting of both teams will make the difference.”Rashid Khan catches up with Bangladeshi legspinner Jubair Hossain•BCB

Rashid Khan, who was appointed Afghanistan’s all-format captain last month, agreed that the batsmen would decide the fate of the Test in Chattogram, but, more crucially, he was hoping for more improvement from the side that now has a 50-50 Test record; a loss against India and a win over Ireland in their first two outings.”We are new in this format,” Rashid said. “We cannot be expected to beat Australia in our third or fourth game. I think over time we will get better, like we saw Bangladesh beating Australia. Once we get everything right, we can beat other teams.”But experience-wise, you need to play more matches in this format. We have the experience and knowledge of ODIs and T20Is, but it takes time in Test cricket. The quicker we learn, the better we will become.”ALSO READ: Five challenges for new Afghanistan captain Rashid KhanRashid jogged his mind back to Afghanistan’s underwhelming performance in their inaugural Test last year, against India, but underscored how, against Ireland earlier this year, his side gave a much improved performance.”Our first Test was a bad game, against India,” Rashid said. “To be honest, we didn’t know what was happening in that game. It was surprising for us. It looked like a dream for the players and the country. But we didn’t control our nerves in that game. We improved vastly in the next game, against Ireland. We will get better as we play more.”Rashid made it clear that now, as captain, he would not put himself under any additional pressure. “Captaincy won’t be a burden on me,” he said. “Senior cricketers [Mohammad] Nabi and Asghar [Afghan] are always helping me.”I won’t put myself under extra pressure. I am focused fully on my bowling, and I don’t know who is the captain. I will try to keep enjoying what I do, be relaxed and as cool as possible. If I take pressure, it will affect my performance and put my team under pressure too.”

Ed Joyce, the former Ireland and England batsman, has been named as permanent head coach of Ireland women on a two-year contract. Joyce took over as interim coach in June, but his players were unable to secure a spot at the next T20 World Cup during last month’s qualifier.Cricket Ireland opted to let the previous head coach, Aaron Hamilton, leave before his contract was up, after a poor run of form that saw them lose eight T20Is in a row. Joyce was installed ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in Scotland, but while Ireland managed to reach the semi-finals, defeat to Bangladesh ended their prospects of playing in the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia.Ireland had reached the previous three Women’s World T20s but came second in their group to Thailand, who went on qualify for the final against Bangladesh and reach their first major tournament. Ireland’s next major focus will be in attempting to reach the 50-over Women’s World Cup in 2021, with the qualifier to be held in Sri Lanka next year.Joyce said he had “no hesitation in accepting the role”, pointing to the introduction of Ireland’s first part-time contracts for women earlier this year, Cricket Ireland’s investment in facilities, and “the rise in profile of women’s cricket and women’s sport in general” as reasons for encouragement.”While we were all obviously disappointed to have missed out on qualification for the T20 World Cup, what impressed me about the squad was the players’ commitment to learn and the talent that began to emerge as the games came along,” Joyce said.”It wasn’t just the senior players that stood up, but a number of the newer players to the senior team showed what they can offer. I was particularly happy with the fight the team showed in difficult positions against both Thailand and Bangladesh. Our fielding and bowling in both was outstanding and that character, being shown by a very young team, is going to be very important going forward.”The standard of women’s cricket amongst the top tier nations has grown immensely in the last five years, and we know that to remain competitive that we need to continue to build our domestic structures, and invest in skills and fitness levels. In addition, we will be working over winter on individual game plans for the players. We have experimented a fair bit over the last few months with roles and positions within the squad, and with more time we will start to see the benefits of this come through.”Joyce played 78 ODIs and 18 T20Is, before concluding his international career last year after featuring in Ireland’s maiden Test. His sisters, Isobel and Cecelia, also represented Ireland for almost two decades, retiring after the 2018 Women’s World T20 in the Caribbean.He subsequently moved into coaching, working with the Ireland men’s, women’s and performance pathway teams. His new role will also take in responsibility for the women’s academy – although Ireland are expected to appoint a deputy to help in this area.Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s performance director, said: “We are delighted that Ed has accepted the role on a permanent basis. When he took on the interim head coach role three months ago, I said it was great to have such a world-class cricketer and budding international coach available to call upon. That applies just as much now, and we had no hesitation in offering him the opportunity. The calmness he brings, and the sense of togetherness within the team, was evident to all who saw the side in action in Scotland earlier in the month.”With the home season coming to an end, and the Qualifier completed, Ed will now have the opportunity to further develop the skillset and mindset of the wider squad, and start to focus on 50-over cricket ahead of the World Cup Qualifier in Sri Lanka next July. He will additionally oversee the Shapoorji Pallonji Women’s Academy – and to support this work we hope to soon appoint a new role to work underneath Ed that will focus on those players, the girls under-age talent pathway, and coaching support to the national team.”We wish Ed well in the role, but we know that if he can bring a fraction of the skill, knowledge and personal determination he developed as a player to this role, then we will be very fortunate to have his leadership and influence guiding the women’s squad in coming years.”

James Vince already has a 50-over World Cup winners’ medal in his possession and he is hoping a productive series in New Zealand can firm up his chances of having a crack at another in T20 cricket after being named Man of the Match in the series opener in Christchurch.Vince stroked 59 off 38 balls to set up England’s chase in the first T20I, seizing his opportunity to bat at No. 3 in the absence of several first-choice players. It was his maiden T20I fifty, coming almost four years since his debut, and a reminder of his talents after a summer in which he was part of the World Cup squad but managed a top-score of 43 from seven white-ball innings for England.With England resting Jason Roy, Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, Vince has a window in which to build on a decent, if sporadic, T20I record. He has reached double-figures in all nine of his outings, but has only played five times since the last T20 World Cup, in 2016.ALSO READ: Vince seals victory after young guns impress“The side’s been so successful and dominant over the last three or four years, it’s a tough first XI to break into,” Vince said. “But any opportunities like this to push my case and hopefully try to be part of the squad, as I was this summer for the World Cup, is my aim.”With some of the main guys missing, it would be nice to get a bit of a run in the side, post some scores and make some match-winning contributions.”Capped in all three formats, Vince has yet to fully establish himself in an England side and he only won a recall to the ODI set-up ahead of the World Cup after Alex Hales was dropped for disciplinary issues. He featured three times during the tournament, scoring 26, 14 and 0 while covering for the injured Roy; he also claimed two catches as a substitute during England’s memorable win in the final against New Zealand.”To be honest, since the end of the English summer I’ve not had a huge amount of cricket,” he said. “I had a warm-up game and a bit of time in the nets but I wasn’t quite sure what nick I was in. But I’m pleased with the contribution and for the boys to get off to a winning start.”The wicket was pretty good, I didn’t think it was an absolute belter but there was not much in there, maybe a fraction on the slow side but a pretty true bounce, it came on reasonably well for the majority of it.”Although Vince was unable to seal the chase himself, victory in Christchurch was wrapped up by Eoin Morgan and Sam Billings, as an experimental England side got off to an encouraging start. Despite speculation that Morgan might retire after securing the goal of winning a 50-over World Cup, his decision to continue playing ensures continuity as England switch focus to T20 under a new head coach in Chris Silverwood.Morgan’s presence will also be important as England look to asses a number of young players who might push for inclusion in Australia next year, with Sam Curran and Pat Brown among three debutants at Hagley Oval.”What he’s built over the last four years is incredible,” Vince said of Morgan. “To take the team from where they were to winning the World Cup, I know he’d be a massive loss if he wasn’t here, especially with a tour like this with lots of new guys coming in.”His leadership is outstanding so he’ll be great for the young guys here. Everyone’s hoping that he carries on for as long as possible.”Although he has not been involved in the Test side since England’s last tour of New Zealand, in 2017-18, an ankle injury suffered in training by Joe Denly has opened up the possibility that Vince could be asked to stay on for the two-match series at the end of November.”I think I’ve said it before, although it is a different format, runs in an England shirt are always going to help you,” he said. “It’s a good start and hopefully I can build on it and continue throughout the series and try to make an impact on it myself.”