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Stevens, 43, joined Kent from Leicestershire in 2005 and has enjoyed an outstanding career with bat and ball

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jul-2019Darren Stevens will leave Kent at the end of the current season after 15 years with the club but has no intention of retiring from the professional game.Stevens, 43, joined Kent from Leicestershire in 2005 and has enjoyed an outstanding career with bat and ball, scoring 11,718 first-class runs and claiming 487 wickets for his second county.He is currently on loan to Derbyshire for the T20 Blast, but had continued to be impressive with the ball in the County Championship with 28 wickets at 24.21 in eight matches although runs had been harder to come by with an average of 20.36.”It’s been an amazing 15 years,” Stevens said. “So many wonderful memories both on and off the pitch and many strong friendships made along the way. This is not retirement for me as I think I still have a lot to offer on the pitch, both as a player and a coach and am excited by the next stage in my career.”I believe I can still do it at the top level, as my recent form shows, and I am looking forward to the remainder of the T20 season with Derbyshire and finishing the season successfully with Kent. I will look back at my time with Kent with nothing but happiness and pride but must now look forward to the next challenge.”Kent have an eye on the future and want to invest in their younger players while also hoping to bring in an overseas fast bowler next season.”When you look at his record, it is a travesty that Darren Stevens did not receive the international call-up he so richly deserved whilst in his prime,” Paul Downton, Kent’s director of cricket, said. “It’s now time for a new chapter at Kent with a number of young bowlers, and hopefully an overseas fast bowler next year, all demanding the new ball as the club seeks to keep raising standards and compete for the Division One Championship title.”

Former Australian fast bowler says heckling Smith after he ‘braved up’ to bat again is beyond the pale

Andrew Miller at Lord's18-Aug-2019Mitchell Johnson, the former Australia fast bowler, has condemned the minority of spectators at Lord’s who booed Steven Smith on his return to the crease after being felled by a Jofra Archer bouncer, telling ESPNcricinfo that they are “not cricket fans”.Smith’s return to Test cricket, after serving a year-long ban for his role in Australia’s ball-tampering scandal, has been spectacular, with matchwinning scores of 144 and 142 at Edgbaston last week, followed by yesterday’s 92 out in Australia’s first-innings total of 250.However, his visits to the crease have been greeted with a chorus of boos from some spectators who still maintain that he ought to be judged by his actions in Cape Town 18 months ago rather than his current exploits. And while Johnson believes they are broadly within their rights to do so, he felt that his reception on Saturday afternoon – as he resumed his innings on 80 not out after receiving treatment for two heavy blows to the neck and the left forearm – was beyond the pale.”One of the biggest disappointments for me was the crowd,” said Johnson. “Not the whole crowd, obviously, but a couple of boos could be heard through the effects mic, and that really disappointed me when he came back out to bat.”I don’t care what people say, they can say ‘yes, he’s a cheat and that’s why we’re booing him’, but that’s a load of rubbish to me. Yes, he’s done what he’s done, and you can boo him at the start of play when he comes onto the field if that’s how you feel. But for me, he’s taken a heavy knock – two heavy knocks – but he’s said ‘I can still bat here’. He’s braved up, he’s come through the concussion tests, and not many people would be able to do that.”Also read: Steven Smith blow brings cricket to a standstillJohnson, one of the few fast bowlers in recent Test history who was capable of bowling at the exceptional speed that Archer generated on day four of the second Test, also recalled the moment at Sydney in 2008-09, when South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith reappeared at No.11 in a bid to save the Test for his team, despite having had his hand broken by Johnson earlier in the match.”I remember in 2008 when Graeme Smith came out to bat, and the crowd were on their feet,” he said. “The majority of the fans here were, but for me, the ones that booed were not cricket fans.”Johnson, who had been commentating on Test Match Special when Smith was struck in the neck, recalled his unease at the incident, and said that he had sympathy with the England players – in particular Archer and Jos Buttler – who attracted some criticism on social media for appearing to laugh while Smith was receiving treatment.”I was on the radio when it happened, and I found it quite difficult to speak at the time because of the way Steve Smith hit the ground and lay there,” he said. “You could see he was moving around, but it obviously hurt him.”But what the England players did well was that Jos Buttler rushed straight up to him, and though Jofra Archer went back to the crease and rubbed his hands in the dirt, he then walked over to make sure he was okay.”In that situation they did everything they could as players. They made sure he was okay as best they could. They are not professionals in the medical world, so they have to leave that up to the professionals to make those decisions and sort that out.””There is a bit of stuff going around in social media about Buttler and Archer laughing and smiling, but you don’t know what they were laughing at, and for me they weren’t laughing at Steve Smith,” he added.”There was a bit of nervousness in the laughter. Archer was a bit shaken by it, he’s a cool character, really calm, but you could tell in his eyes there was a little bit of concern there as well.””But the game is played with the short ball,” Johnson added. “We saw Patty Cummins earlier in the Test going quite hard at Archer, so it’s expected in this game. There was nothing illegal about the delivery, I don’t think there was too much of it.”Speaking to Sky Sports before the start of the final day, Archer insisted that his primary aim had been to get Smith out, with a short leg and leg slip in place to combat his habit of working the short ball off his hip.”I honestly don’t know what I was thinking at the time,” Archer said. “Seeing someone go down, you don’t ever want to see anyone carried off on a stretcher, or you don’t want to see them missing a day, or a game, especially with what happened a few years ago [to Phil Hughes] as well. It’s never a nice sight.”Johnson agreed that England’s tactics were fair and appropriate, given the skill that Smith has displayed in the series to date.”How do you get Steve Smith out? We keep talking about it and England hadn’t tried that tactic of really going after him,” he said. “Unfortunately for Steve it has really rattled him up. He got hit on the arm first and he played a pull not too long after that he would not normally do. It definitely played on his emotions, his head, his skills. It’s part of the game and there’s been a little too much taken out of what’s happened out there today.”As a cricket watcher, I know everyone around the ground enjoyed that [battle], and even as an Australian fan back home, it would have been very exciting to watch a young up-and-coming superstar, going up against the best in the world, and getting the crowd riled up, and right behind him.”

Squad includes fit-again big-hitting keeper-batsman Tim Seifert and three spin options in Mitchell Santner, Todd Astle and Ish Sodhi

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Aug-2019New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and senior pacer Trent Boult have been rested for the T20 leg of the ongoing Sri Lanka tour. In Williamson’s absence, Tim Southee will lead a squad that includes a fit-again big-hitting keeper-batsman Tim Seifert and three spin options in Mitchell Santner, Todd Astle and Ish Sodhi.”Kane and Trent played an enormous role in our recent World Cup campaign and with a big summer ahead, we see it as a good opportunity to give them a rest,” selector Gavin Larsen said.Wicketkeeper-batsman Seifert, who had suffered a finger injury during the four-day Plunket Shield and later missed the World Cup, returned to the side, as did Tom Bruce. The aggressive Central Districts batsman wasn’t part of New Zealand’s squad for their last T20I series against India, but he was particularly impressive in the Super Smash T20 competition, hitting 353 runs in 11 innings at an average of nearly 40 and strike rate of 157.58.Seam-bowling allrounder Doug Bracewell, who had been included in the squad for those T20Is against India earlier this year – though he did not get into the XI – was left out now. Seth Rance was picked as a like-for-like replacement.Fast bowler Scott Kuggeleijn and allrounder Daryl Mitchell, the son of former All Black John Mitchell, have both retained their places in the squad as New Zealand seek to identify their combination for the T20 World Cup next year.”Following that amazing ride in the ODI World Cup, it’s exciting to begin setting our sights on another world event,” Larsen said. “The series in Sri Lanka will be a challenging one against a team who are tough to beat in their own conditions.”Our T20 team has been pretty consistent over the past couple of years and we’re really happy with the power and versatility we have in this squad.”All three T20Is will be played in Pallekele, with the first game on September 1.Squad: Tim Southee (capt), Todd Astle, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhome, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Seth Rance, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor

Masakadza, 36, was appointed Zimbabwe’s captain across formats in February but with the ICC suspending Zimbabwe in July, things have become uncertain

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2019Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza has announced his decision to retire from international cricket after the upcoming T20I tri-series in Bangladesh.”After a great deal of consideration, I have decided to announce my retirement from all formats of international cricket at the end of the upcoming triangular series in Bangladesh,” Masakadza said at a press conference at Harare Sports Club on Tuesday. “It has been an enormous privilege to have played for and captained my country, and this is one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make.”Masakadza, 36, had been Zimbabwe’s captain across formats since taking over from Graeme Cremer in the fallout of Zimbabwe’s failed World Cup qualifying campaign last year – his second stint in charge, having also lead the country in 2016. The ICC’s suspension of Zimbabwe in July meant that his future as well as that of other cricketers in the country became much more uncertain, and Masakadza said that without the lure of a potential place at the T20 World Cup next year to look forward to, he felt the time was right to end his international career.He becomes the second Zimbabwe player – after Solomon Mire – to announce his retirement after the ICC suspension.”I was looking forward to the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in Dubai next month, but with Zimbabwe barred from the event, I feel the time is right to shift the focus to the next generation,” Masakadza explained. “There is some fantastic talent coming through, and with Zimbabwe’s focus now on the 2023 edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup, I believe now is the time for the younger players to rise to the challenge of taking us to the global showpiece.”I was sort of feeling it was coming towards the end of my career. The one thing that was keeping me going was trying to play one more World Cup for the country, in T20, but now that we’re not involved with that, I just thought I might as well call time now. Make way for the next guy coming through. I’d be standing in the way of someone else if I stayed on.”Masakadza’s decision brings to an end one of the most storied careers in Zimbabwean cricket. In February 2000 he was the first black Zimbabwean player to score a first-class hundred, doing so while aged just 16. He made his Test debut in 2001 against West Indies and became the youngest player to score a Test hundred on debut, a record that has since been broken by Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful. In all, he played 38 Tests and scored 2223 runs at 30.04.A veteran of 209 ODIs – only the Flower brothers Andy and Grant and Elton Chigumbura have played more for Zimbabwe – Masakadza scored 5658 runs at 27.73. His best came during the five-match ODI series against Kenya in 2009 when he scored 467 runs, including two scores over 150, a record at that time for the most runs in a bilateral series.He has so far appeared in 62 T20Is, tallying 1529 runs at 25.48 with a strike rate of 115.92. His best in the format, an unbeaten 93, came against Bangladesh in 2016. While it was in the Test arena that he initially made his greatest strides, Masakadza developed into one of Zimbabwe’s most devastating batsmen in the shorter formats and in 2009 entered the top five of the T20I batting rankings, the highest ever by a Zimbabwean in the format.”Throughout my international career, it has always been about giving everything to the team, playing with dignity, and upholding the spirit of the game,” he said. “It has not been an easy road. I failed it at times, but I’ve never stopped trying. That’s what makes it sad for me to leave. But I can do so with pride, and a big smile on my face, knowing I have given everything to the game, and my nation.”Masakadza thanked Zimbabwe Cricket, his coaches and the support staff that helped to prolong his career from his teens into his mid-30s. He mentioned Andy Flower, with whom he played at Takashinga cricket club, as a past mentor and paid tribute to his wife Vimbai as “a remarkable pillar of strength”.”But most of all, I have to thank the teams I played with,” he said. “I know what I’m going to miss the most is being part of a change room. The joy of bonding together and striving to achieve a goal is what made cricket special for me. I learnt a lot from my team-mates, and I leave the game with wonderful memories, and strong friendships.”Finally I would like to thank the Zimbabwe cricket fans. The game is lucky to have you, and I’ve been lucky to play before you. To represent Zimbabwe and thus to represent you has been a privilege, and one which I will always cherish.”Masakadza will continue to play domestic cricket for at least one more season. “It was very big for me, when I started playing, playing with guys like Andy and Grant Flower, guys who had played such a long time at this level. I learned a lot from them. It would only be fair to give another youngster the same opportunity to learn a bit from me, and feed off me as well.””As a bit of advice to the next guy [to captain Zimbabwe], the biggest thing is to put the work in and get the boys working together as a unit, pulling together in one direction. Once you do that, with the amount of talent we have in Zimbabwe, we’re really hard to stop.”

Victoria had South Australia two-down early in reply before Henry Hunt’s debut half-century avoided any further loss before stumps

Alex Malcolm at Junction Oval11-Oct-2019Victoria’s top three batsmen posted centuries as they piled up a huge first innings score to take complete command on day two against South Australia at the Junction Oval.Nic Maddinson reached his maiden first-class double-century and Will Pucovski posted his fourth Sheffield Shield century as Victoria made the highest score by any Shield team since 2015 before declaring in the middle session. It was also just the 12th time in Shield history that the top three batsmen made centuries in the same innings after Marcus Harris posted 116 on day one.South Australia debutant Henry Hunt and skipper Travis Head had to weather an unrelenting Victorian attack in the afternoon after Jake Weatherald and Jake Lehmann both fell cheaply. Hunt reached his maiden Shield half-century and remained unbeaten on 62 to avoid further damage before stumps.Maddinson, who began day two on 195, had to wait until the sixth over of the day to find the fifth run needed for his maiden first-class double-century. He cruised to 224 and Victoria reached 1 for 413 before Maddinson finally fell edging an attempted cut off Kane Richardson.Peter Handscomb came in and made a brisk 30 before skying one straight up trying to hit Tom Andrews against the spin over long-on.Pucovski went about his business calmly and despite getting bogged in the nineties, and nearly running out Aaron Finch for a duck, he eventually sneaked to his fourth century in just 20 Shield innings.”It was a good test early,” Pucovski said after the day’s play. “Obviously, I was quite slow at the start so to sort of mentally get through that and not get frustrated and stick to my process and obviously come out with a positive outcome, in the end, was a big positive.”Starting [on that pitch] is quite tough. It’s quite slow and it’s hard to score freely if you bowl in the right spots and get it reversing a bit. It’s just a patience thing.”Finch then cut loose after lunch as Victoria pressed for a declaration. He smashed six fours and four sixes to reach 57 in just 44 balls before falling caught and bowled to Andrews. But he suffered back spasms during his innings and was unable to field for the remainder of the day as a precaution.Pucovski ran himself out for 123 taking on Weatherald at mid-off. But Glenn Maxwell picked up from where Finch left off clubbing four fours and two sixes in a 30-ball 43 to allow Victoria to declare 30 minutes before tea on 6 for 616. It was the first time any Shield side had passed 600 since February 2017 and the highest score since Western Australia made 633 against South Australia in 2015.The Redbacks’ response started disastrously. After spending 150 overs in the field, Weatherald nicked the first ball of the innings from James Pattinson to Maxwell in the gully. The visitors should have been 2 for 0, but Handscomb dropped Jake Lehmann at second slip off Pattinson in the third over. The Victorian quick bowled two hostile spells down breeze either side of tea.Lehmann battled to 8 off 40 balls before he was caught behind off the inside edge attempting to drive Chris Tremain. Hunt batted beautifully and looked unflustered against the high-quality attack. His defence was sound and his hands soft as he batted comfortably through the last two-and-a-half hours of the day.Head was fortunate that a leading-edge ballooned safely over Scott Boland’s head before he had scored. He had to curb his free-flowing instincts as Victoria stacked his preferred scoring region square on the off-side. But he reached stumps unbeaten on 27 from 80 balls.

The 24-year old held his own even as South Australia’s Chadd Sayers picked up six wickets

Daniel Brettig01-Nov-2019Daniel Solway was forced to work harder than most for a Sheffield Shield debut. The habit he has developed for run-making served him well for New South Wales against South Australia as the 24-year old crafted an outstanding century in conditions friendly to seam bowling at Adelaide Oval to be the backbone of the Blues’ innings.There is no better exponent of moving the ball in Adelaide than Chadd Sayers, and figures of 6 for 55 demonstrated that this was a day ideally suited to his art, but Solway stood firm throughout, demonstrating a tight defence balanced with a strong range of shots, pouncing on anything wide of the off stump and also pulling and hooking the short ball with venom.It was further proof of the ability Solway had shown in piling up runs for the NSW second XI and also Bankstown in club cricket. In his past nine second XI innings, Solway has compiled 751 runs at 83.4, capped with 195 not out against Western Australia’s second XI at the start of this season. Within the prolific scoring lies another tale, of early promotion, failure and then learning, growth and finally success. Having played first grade for Bankstown as far back as 2013-14, Solway hammered 930 runs at 77.5 the following summer to gain a NSW rookie contract for 2015-16. But as bowlers figured him out and he was exposed to the NSW system, Solway struggled for anything like the same returns for the next two years and fell back in the queue.Not until 2017-18 did Solway find his way back to productivity, churning out 880 runs for Bankstown at 73.33 and duly returning to the Blues’ outer fringes. Nonetheless he was compelled to make far more runs for the second chance, and looks to have grown into a top order batsman of substance.Considerable skill was necessary to survive Sayers and company as Adelaide’s drop-in pitch offered generous movement off the seam. Daniel Hughes and Nick Larkin both had a stump sent cartwheeling when Sayers seamed the new ball between bat and pad.Moises Henriques formed a promising stand with Solway before lunch but was pinned lbw by a Sayers nip-backer in the first over after resumption. Neither Matthew Gilkes nor Nick Bertus could last for long, leaving the NSW captain Peter Nevill to provide Solway with vital assistance.They were able to add a studied 108 together, making the Redbacks pine for the second new ball, and allowing Solway to get to his century by bunting a quick single wide of midwicket from the bowling of Tom Andrews. Solway celebrated with great relief, but after Nevill was lbw and Trent Copeland bowled by the second new ball in Sayers’ hands, he knuckled down for another key stand with Nathan Lyon to take the Blues beyond 250.Selection had been a talking point for South Australia too prior to the match. Callum Ferguson was recalled at the expense of Jake Lehmann, who despite his own prolific scores in Adelaide grade cricket, has averaged 10.26 in 10 first-class matches since the start of 2019. Lehmann had made made just eight runs in three Shield innings for the Redbacks this season, albeit batting as high as No. 3 when he has customarily been at Nos. 4 or 5.

Trent Boult has a bowl in the nets, but his participation in the first Test remains uncertain

Andrew McGlashan in Perth10-Dec-2019New Zealand are ready to embrace the “most extreme” conditions they could encounter in Australia, but don’t believe the pink ball will be toughest element of their challenge in the Perth Test.The forecast is for temperatures to top 40 degrees Celsius over the weekend, and while that is not unusual for cricketers around the world, New Zealand have only three days to prepare for the opening Test. Add to that the pace and bounce the Perth Stadium pitch is expected to produce, plus a chance of cracks opening up as the heat takes it effect.It doesn’t end there. There is the floodlight element, but with the game starting a 1pm local time there will only be a short window played in darkness, although the lights will start to have an effect around 5pm as shadows come across the ground.ALSO READ: New Zealand’s great chance to defy history in Australia“Coming to Perth is probably the most extreme [conditions] we will face, perhaps if it was Melbourne or Sydney it would be a little more like home, so good on them for bringing us over here first,” New Zealand coach Gary Stead said. “This is a different challenge than we have had for a while, we’ve had a lot of success at home and we play well there generally, but Australia also came and beat us there a few years ago.”We’ve got to be careful that we don’t overstate what the pink ball might do at night. We start an hour earlier than most pink-ball Tests, so that’s an hour less in darkness, so perhaps a bigger factor may be the heat that we are going to face over the next four or five days and making sure we are aware of that. We’ve played in many different conditions so it’s not a surprise.”The Australians are taking the conditions in their stride and coach Justin Langer said they would “hopefully” have an advantage from it, but acknowledged that all players would be tested.”We are talking about elite athletes so they’ll be well prepared for it but there’s no doubt it will have an effect. If you’re a fast bowler or batting in a helmet for hopefully a long period of time being in 40 is like being in a sauna,” Langer said. “It will be a battle of endurance, fitness and skill and, again, that’s why we love Test cricket.”New Zealand are ranked second compared to Australia’s fifth but do not have history on their side as they aim for just their second series win in Australia following the 1985-86 victory. Asked whether he believed New Zealand had earned enough kudos for their climb up the rankings, Stead said the outcome of this series and the one to follow against India were important in making a judgement.”I think after this summer you’ll probably know a lot more,” he said. “When you look at the programme we have – England, Australia and then India – you’d argue they are up there with the best teams in the world. When we get to end of the summer I think it’s probably an easier time for me to answer that.” New Zealand had a daytime training session at Perth Stadium on Tuesday [they will train under lights again on Wednesday] and there was a scare when Ross Taylor took a nasty blow on the right hand from a throwdown. He immediately dropped his bat, ripped off the glove and left the net with the physio but he appeared to have escaped serious damage. An NZC spokesman said initial assessment suggested no fracture and there were no immediate plans to get it x-rayed.There was already a fitness battle going on with Trent Boult having his first bowl since arriving in Australia as he aimed to overcome a side strain. He sent down two spells during the session at decent pace, between them having a lengthy conversation with captain Kane Williamson, Stead and bowling coach Shane Jurgensen.”We’ve got to be really careful how we manage the next couple of days if we do think he’s going to start,” Stead said of Boult. “I don’t think [today] you’ll see him bowling 15 overs or anything, but he does need to be able to prove that he can get the intensity we want.”On some lively net pitches, Lockie Ferguson looked a handful, but he might need Boult to be ruled out in order to make his debut despite the attraction of his pace on the Perth Stadium pitch.”I think most wickets will suit Lockie,” Stead said. “He’s certainly got pace and we are acutely aware of that and he’s got a very good red-ball record. The hard thing for us is how he fits into the team, we’ve had some success with guys who have been consistently there.”The pace would suit him, no doubt about it, people want to see the ball flying around – look at Australia’s attack, they are built around [Mitchell] Starc, [Pat] Cummins and [Josh] Hazlewood – so if he gets a go it will be exciting.”

The 22-year-old MP batsman has cited ‘severe anxiety related to the sport’ as the reason for his decision

Shashank Kishore20-Dec-2019Aryaman Birla, the Madhya Pradesh batsman, has taken an “indefinite sabbatical from cricket”, citing “severe anxiety related to the sport for a while now”. Birla, 22, has been through a number of injury setbacks and hasn’t played competitive cricket since January this year. Rajasthan Royals, the IPL team he was part of for two seasons, released him in November.”I’ve felt trapped. I’ve pushed myself through all the distress so far, but now I feel the need to put my mental health and wellbeing above all else,” he wrote on Instagram. “We all have our own journeys and I want to take this time to understand myself better, open my mind to new and varied perspectives and seek purpose in my findings.”Birla, the son of the billionaire industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla, left his hometown Mumbai as a 17-year old who was unsure of his immediate future as a cricketer trying to “fight for survival” in the city.Not wanting to lose time, he decided to take the plunge by enrolling for district trials in Madhya Pradesh in 2014. Prior to that, he had a three-month stint in England under former Middlesex cricketer Paul Weekes, playing for West Hampstead Cricket Club and the London Schools Cricket Association.Birla spent four years in the junior circuit in Madhya Pradesh before being handed a Ranji Trophy debut in October 2017. He has so far featured in nine first-class games, eight of which came during the 2018-19 Ranji Trophy. The highlight was his backs-to-the-wall maiden first-class century against Bengal at Eden Gardens in his third first-class game, which helped Madhya Pradesh salvage a hard-fought draw.”When I first came to MP, I was known more by my last name,” he told ESPNcricinfo last year. “I kept hearing ‘I was Birla’s son, Birla’s grandson.’ But through my performances, I changed perceptions, they started seeing me differently. That’s been my biggest achievement so far. Recently someone came and told me ‘you’re so (simple and straightforward), we didn’t even know you’re from the Birla family.’ That to me was a sign of change.”He further wrote on Instagram: “This phase has been difficult, but it has also helped me realise who my real friends and well-wishers are. I truly believe I’ll emerge from this phase even stronger than before.”

Legspinner heads to Nepal for an ODI series while they await confirmation of Haris Rauf’s return

Alex Malcolm26-Jan-2020The Melbourne Stars have been dealt another major blow on the eve of the BBL finals with legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane unavailable because of international duty while they also face a nervous wait on Haris Rauf’s availability.Lamichhane was believed to be available for the whole season, but he informed the Stars last week that he would not be around for the finals as he heads home to Nepal for a tri-nations ODI series with Oman and the USA which forms part of the qualification pathway for the 2023 50-over World Cup.Rauf is currently playing for Pakistan in a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in Pakistan which concludes on Monday and was expected to be back in Australia for the Stars’ BBL qualifier on Friday at the MCG. He has missed the past four games of which the Stars have lost three. However, the Stars believe there is a chance Rauf could be held back in Pakistan to potentially play in the first Test which starts on February 7 in Rawalpindi although he was not named among the probables for that series.The Stars will also be without opener Hilton Cartwright for the finals due to a broken finger. They won 10 of their first 11 matches of the tournament to guarantee a double chance at reaching the final but have lost three in a row including to the Brisbane Heat on Saturday.The Stars were confident on Friday that Rauf would return but coach David Hussey conceded after the loss to the Heat that it is not guaranteed.”He might get picked to play Test cricket [but it’s] not confirmed as yet. We’d like him back,” Hussey told reporters. “We’ll see what happens there. We’re still working behind the scenes.”It’s great that he started off his journey playing for the Melbourne Stars and now he’s representing his country. I’m rapt for him, great person, and hopefully, we do get him back for the qualifier.”Whatever he does, I hope he actually represents Pakistan for 100 Tests and 400 T20s and 150 one-day internationals. He’s brought a different dynamic to our group, he’s tried every game he’s played, he fields his butt off and he’s just fitted in the group perfectly.”Lamichhane’s loss is an even bigger blow to the dynamic of the Stars attack. He took 1 for 16 from four overs against the Heat and the Stars have bowled more spin than any other team in the BBL. The Stars spinners have bowled 25 more overs and taken 20 more wickets than the Melbourne Renegades who are second on that list but Lamichhane’s exit will force a rethink.”I’m always a big believer that spin is going to your friend throughout the tournament,” Hussey said. “It’s a fantastic strategy that we have that we might have to rejig a little bit. I must admit I didn’t deal with it too well when he told me he was leaving because he’s a quality person, a quality player and a big part of our plans to go deep into the tournament.”But when you get called up to international cricket, it should be celebrated. It was a couple of days of kicking cans about losing a great player but I’m pretty happy for him.”The Stars took a punt on unknown Pakistan quick Dilbar Hussain against the Heat and it backfired with the Lahore Qalandars development player conceding 56 runs from his four overs. But Hussey was prepared to stick with him and he will stay on as Lamichhane’s replacement even if Rauf returns.”It’s his first time at the MCG in front of a decent crowd representing a new team, his English is not great, he’s only arrived with the Stars in the last couple of days,” Hussey said.”Foreign conditions. I thought there was a lot to offer – 145kph away swingers, good slower ball, good fast bouncer, good control, good yorker. I think he’s got a pretty good future in the game. I think he’s going to ruffle a few feathers later on in the tournament.”

Soumya Sarkar, Rubel Hossain and Al-Amin Hossain have also been left out

Mohammad Isam16-Feb-2020Bangladesh have dropped Mahmudullah in one of four changes to the squad for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe next week. Rubel Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain and Soumya Sarkar have been axed, while there were comebacks for Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman. Rookie medium-pacer Hasan Mahmud and batsman Yasir Ali have also earned their first Test call-ups.

One-off Test v Zimbabwe

IN: Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Yasir Ali
OUT: Mahmudullah, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Soumya Sarkar
Squad: Mominul Haque (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed, Nayeem Hasan, Ebadot Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Yasir Ali

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin suggested that senior batsman Mahmudullah needed a break from red-ball cricket, after scoring just one half-century in his last ten Test innings, before which he had hit centuries in back-to-back Tests in Dhaka, against West Indies, and in Hamilton.”We felt that Mahmudullah needed a break from the red ball,” he said. “Al-Amin has niggles and that’s why we thought he should be given the time to be fully ready for the limited-overs matches [three ODIs and two T20Is] where he is more important. Rubel is not part of our red-ball plans for the moment. Soumya had applied for a leave and therefore has not been considered.”I believe we have selected the best possible Test squad under present circumstances. There is a very nice blend of experience and potential. It is unfortunate that some players had to miss out but our priority has been to ensure balance and continuity.”ALSO READ: Can Bangladesh bank on Mahmudullah in Test cricket?About the two newcomers, Minhajul said, “We think Hasan Mahmud and Yasir Ali Chowdhury have tremendous potential and they are very much part of our future plans. Yasir is from our high-performance squad, and he has done well in the BCL recently. We want to develop upon his potential.”Yasir has averaged 60.28 in five first-class matches in the last 12 months, while Mahmud has been picked based on his potential even though his recent form hasn’t been great: he has picked up only six wickets in three matches at an average of 40.83 in the last year.Meanwhile, Mushfiqur has returned after opting out of the Pakistan Tests because of security concerns. Mehidy and Taskin have been recalled after regaining full fitness following injury layoffs, and Mustafizur convinced the selectors of his ability in the long-form game with six wickets in Central Zone’s last Bangladesh Cricket League game.”We picked Taskin as we need a consistently quick bowler,” Minhajul said. “I believe his fitness problem during the BCL is now over.”