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Jamaica seamer was part of a training camp in St Lucia, ahead of the home season

ESPNcricinfo staff23-May-2021Jamaica seamer Marquino Mindley, who had been picked in West Indies’ 30-man squad for the high-performance training camp in St Lucia, ahead of the home Test series against South Africa, has tested positive for Covid-19. The 26-year old, who is currently asymptomatic, will isolate himself in his hotel room under the supervision of the Cricket West Indies (CWI) medical team until he returns back-to-back negative results.All the other members of the camp, including the coaches, were re-tested and returned negative tests, with training being called off for the weekend. The three-week long camp had gotten underway on May 16 in a bio-secure environment and will now resume on May 24, with the players set to train in smaller groups at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia.”CWI continues to work with all the regional governments and CARPHA (Caribbean Public Health Agency) to encourage and assist all squad members to get vaccinated, the board said in a statement. “To date, 43 members of West Indies Men’s playing and coaching staff have received vaccination doses.”Related

• West Indies return to full training as players test negative for Covid-19

• WI to host SA, Aus and Pak in bumper home season

Mindley, who made his first-class debut in 2014, has played 35 games matches so far, taking 84 wickets to add to scoring 394 runs. More recently in the 2019-20 first-class season, he was the highest wicket-taker for Jamaica, with 24 strikes in six games at an average of 22.66.West Indies’ bumper home season will kick off with the first Test against South Africa at the Daren Sammy Stadium from June 10.

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.”

Aside from a Trent Boult spell and an indifferent slog-overs bowling performance in the first ODI, Pakistan have been on top of the visitors through the series

The Preview by Danyal Rasool10-Nov-2018

Big picture

With Pakistan finally showing how difficult they can be to play when they extend their T20 quality over the length of an ODI, we have a delicious series decider to savour. Pakistan applied the squeeze against New Zealand for the best part of 30 overs on Friday, something they have struggled to do in the middle overs against quality opposition. The visitors never found any momentum, and when they attempted to launch in the final overs, it was too little, too late.The levity with which they approached yesterday’s chase suggests most of the problems Pakistan have had in that department might be mental. While New Zealand didn’t bowl as well up front as they had during the first ODI, Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq’s shot selection was judicious, measured and sensible. They made the bowlers ineffective when the wickets needed early on didn’t materialise. With the sting taken out of the attack, the pair, and then Babar Azam, calmly maneuvered the innings, extending the opening partnership to the point where Pakistan never felt an pressure whatsoever.New Zealand, good as they have been recently, haven’t played great cricket this series, and Pakistan must feel they are there for the taking Sunday. The top order shows no signs of firing yet; George Worker struggled for timing while Munro has been unable to get out of T20 mode so far. That has reduced Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor to rebuilding jobs when they could be lethal if they arrived at the crease with their side in a comfortable position. Indeed, at the moment, the visitors have much to thank Taylor’s grit for, but they will need assistance from the top order if a strokemaker like him is to completely loosen up.Pakistan, meanwhile, must feel they have been on top of New Zealand almost all series. It is one explosive burst by Trent Boult and an indifferent death-overs performance that permitted New Zealand to go into the last game 1-0 up. Shaheen Afridi has been their best bowler and looks like taking the next step in what is still the gestation phase of his cricketing evolution. Shadab Khan has been almost regimental in his middle-overs discipline, with Mohammad Hafeez a more than capable sidekick. Hasan Ali’s form is a bit of a concern, as is the potential fitness of Imam-ul-Haq after a blow to the helmet on Friday, but most of the side is fit and firing, and should feel confident of mounting a stern challenge for the trophy.

Form guide

(last five matches, most recent first)Pakistan WLLLW
New Zealand LWLWL

In the spotlight

Hasan Ali was arguably the best limited-overs bowler in the world last year, and the Player of the Tournament in Pakistan’s run to the Champions Trophy title. Across formats, he took 63 wickets in 29 matches at 18.85, with an ODI economy rate of 5.03. For a bowler that was often on during the death overs, this was almost superhuman. This year, though, his ODI numbers are far more sobering. With 19 wickets in 14 matches, his ODI average is a hardly eye-catching 34, with his economy rate up at 5.70. Three ODIs against Zimbabwe still flatter those figures – without them, the economy rate goes up above six and the average over 40 – and thus the general trend is that of a disappointing year. Pakistan will hope it’s a temporary blip for one of the country’s most popular cricketers. A performance on Sunday would be a fantastic way to close up an indifferent limited-overs season with fond memories.These are the sorts of matches that Kane Williamson should thrive upon. On track to becoming New Zealand’s greatest ever batsman, his team increasingly looks up to him for a talismanic role in big games. After a couple of quiet games for the visiting skipper, the stage is set to dust off the off-season cobwebs and get a busy season going with a big score. He was majestic in an ultimately losing cause in the final T20I last week, but hasn’t replicated that performance in the 50-over format yet this series. The right-hander has a fantastic ODI record against Pakistan, with an average 10 runs higher than his career average of 46.28. With Taylor in some of the best form of his career, a leading role from Williamson would go a long way towards ensuring New Zealand’s grip on Pakistan extends to yet another series.

Team news

Imam is in doubt after his helmet blow against a Lockie Ferguson bouncer. With competition for places in the fast bowling ranks fierce, Hasan Ali could pay the price for his recent dip, which could bring Usman Khan into play.Pakistan (possible): 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5, Mohammad Hafeez 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (capt. & wk), 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Shadab Khan, 10 Hasan Ali/Usman Khan, 11 Shaheen AfridiGeorge Worker may be under pressure for his place after an indifferent first two games. Latham would be the option at the top of the order in that case, but without a solid replacement in the middle, Williamson may decide to go with an unchanged side.New Zealand (possible): 1 Colin Munro 2 George Worker 3 Kane Williamson (capt.) 4 Ross Taylor 5 Tom Latham (wk) 6 Henry Nicholls 7 Colin de Grandhomme 8 Tim Southee 9 Trent Boult 10 Lockie Ferguson 11 Ish Sodhi

Pitch and conditions

It continues to remain hot in Dubai this time of year. Both sides have been vocal up to now of their desire to bat first, and that is likely to remain unchanged.

Stats and trivia

• Williamson had three ducks to his name after his first 5 ODI innings. In 118 innings that have followed, he has been dismissed without scoring on only two occasions
• Pakistan’s record in bilateral series deciders since 2003 has been quite poor. In 15 series-deciding final matches, they have lost 12 and won just 3 – two against Zimbabwe and one against West Indies

David Warner scored the slowest hundred of his career in an uncharacteristic manner and says it gave him the confidence to score more runs in Asia

Brydon Coverdale06-Sep-2017If you were told that one of Australia’s openers had spent six hours at the crease for 123 runs, painstakingly accumulated from 234 balls, with only seven boundaries, you would have complete confidence in declaring that the man in question would be Matt Renshaw. But you would be wrong. This was David Warner posting most un-Warner-like numbers in the first innings in Chittagong, where he put Australia into a strong position with two days to play.This was Warner’s 20th Test century – more than were made by Mark Taylor, or Michael Hussey, or Doug Walters, or Bill Lawry, or Ian Chappell, or Michael Slater, or Adam Gilchrist, all of whom played more Tests than Warner’s current tally of 66. It was also the slowest hundred of his Test career, completed from his 209th delivery, and in extreme heat. And his patience has brought Australia back into the series.”You pretty much felt in from ball one with the fields that they set, they didn’t really have any attacking men around the bat compared to last game,” Warner said after the day’s play. “It allowed me just to rotate the strike and not really have any need to leave your crease all the time.”At the end of the day, they try and shut down the scoreboard. They try and cut your boundaries out and play that way, try and get you caught around the crease and obviously look for that lbw dismissal or bowled through the gate. If you can negate that and you can manipulate the field, you’re going to be facing a lot of balls and you’ve got to be prepared to bat long periods of time.”It was also Warner’s second consecutive century, after his fourth-innings 112 in Mirpur last week, which he described at the time as his best innings. But for sheer single-mindedness and adaptability from his usual verve, this hundred must also be up there. “I think from a patience point of view, definitely,” Warner said. “I always talk about trying to bat long periods for time in these conditions and by far that’s the hottest I’ve ever played in. It was quite challenging to be out there. Coming off yesterday, it was every minute that I was out there.”We were out there for 100 overs the day before. A lot of credit has to go to the two fast bowlers as well. The amount of work that they’ve put in, I think they’ve both bowled 20 overs apiece in this heat. It takes someone with some good fitness to bowl through that, definitely.”Warner’s productive tour has boosted his record in Asia – he arrived for this series with only one century from 26 previous Test innings on the continent. Now, Warner believes that he might finally have found a method that can bring him success in Asia more generally.”It’s a tough environment to come out and try to play your shots and play your natural game,” he said. “You have to find a way and for me it’s taken almost 16, 17 Tests in these conditions to work out what my game plan is and stick to it. As I said before, they play on your ego a little bit, they shut down your runs, they shut down your boundary options, and you’ve got to milk the ones.”You’ve got to be prepared to bat time and you’ve got to have the fitness edge as well to do that. That’s probably the thing that’s going to keep motivating me more now to show to myself that I’ve done that, and now moving forward I can achieve the same success that I’ve had so far over here moving down the line.”Warner’s innings helped Australia gain a 72-run lead by stumps on the third day, though with only one wicket in hand they will aim to bump that advantage up a little further on the fourth morning. There remains plenty of work if Australia are to achieve the victory needed to level the series 1-1, but the batting work led by Warner has at least given them hope.”It’s crucial that we try and put as many runs on the board as possible,” he said. “I wouldn’t say the wicket is deteriorating, there’s a little bit of rough out there created from the bowlers. The middle of the wicket is still nice and true. But as the spinners do, they’ll work out what they need to do and hit those rough areas.”

West Indies coach Phil Simmons lauded the side’s top order for driving their four-wicket win over Australia in the ODI tri-series match in Basseterre

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-20162:36

Top four have been asked to put their dancing shoes on – Simmons

West Indies coach Phil Simmons has credited the side’s top order for driving their four-wicket win over Australia in the ODI tri-series match in Basseterre. Marlon Samuels led the 266-run chase with an aggressive 92, after West Indies benefited from a brisk opening stand of 74 between Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher, and Darren Bravo’s 39 at No. 3.Charles and Fletcher took advantage of the short boundaries at Warner Park to collect six fours and three sixes in the first seven overs. Their swift partnership also allowed Samuels and Bravo to settle and forge an 82-run stand for the third wicket. Once Bravo was dismissed in the 31st over, Samuels opened up to attack the Australian bowlers and helped ensure a comfortable victory for West Indies.”The pressure has been put on the top four to make sure that they set up whatever we have to do at the bottom,” Simmons said. “We know how devastating we can be at the end of an innings with the players we have, so the top four have been asked to put their dancing shoes on and make sure that we are in a position where the latter part of the batting can do what they do, and they’ve done that today and they’ve seen us through.”The 87-ball 92 was Samuels’ second fifty across formats in 2016, after his match-winning 85 not out in the World T20 final against England in April. He had a poor tour of Australia in December-January – scoring only 35 runs in five innings of the three-Test series – and copped heavy criticism, and one of his critics was former Australia legspinner Shane Warne, with whom he had an infamous run-in during the Big Bash in 2013. After his Man-of-the-Match winning knock in the World T20 final, Samuels made a reference to those comments and dedicated his award to Warne. Simmons, however, believed Samuels had left those feelings at the World T20.”I think the fact that he has taken us to victory in the game will be enough for him. I don’t think he’s still worrying about what some people in Australia said,” he said. “I think he answered that in the World T20 final. I think he’s left that there. He’s just happy to score the runs and help the team win.”The West Indies coach stressed the importance of the experience that Samuels and Kieron Pollard brought to the their line-up. Charles and Fletcher have opened in only six ODIs so far and with a young captain in Jason Holder, Simmons believed Samuels and Pollard were important to the side.”In every team you can see there’s experience. You have to have experience all through the team,” he said. “Most of the teams in the world, you have young guys coming in, but only one or two [youngsters] and the rest of the team is experienced veterans, you would call them; after five years, you are a veteran. It’s great to have him, it’s great to have Pollard back because he’s experienced in limited-overs cricket, young Bravo is getting there. So it’s great to have that sort of experience especially where Jason is a young captain and Carlos [Brathwaite] is young.”Despite the victory, Simmons had an area of concern he wanted the side to address, specifically the importance of set batsmen carrying on and finishing the game.”Marlon and Bravo finishing off the game rather than somebody getting out. It’s a case where we have two guys who have put us in a position and they need to carry on. I think there can be a little bit of improvement,” he said. “We are always looking to improve our fielding, which I think today was as good as it has been. And I think we are looking to improve on where we bowl in the first 10 overs and things like that.”

Durham’s limited-overs captain Mark Stoneman made the county’s second highest Twenty20 score of 89 not out to lead his side to a 38-run NatWest T20 Blast win over Leicestershire

ECB/PA03-Jul-2015
ScorecardMark Stoneman’s unbeaten 89 took his side to a winning score•Getty Images

Durham’s limited-overs captain Mark Stoneman made the county’s second highest Twenty20 score of 89 not out to lead his side to a 38-run NatWest T20 Blast win over Leicestershire.Defeat was a blow to Leicestershire’s hopes of reaching the last eight as they prepare to lose the O’Brien brothers, Niall and Kevin, to Ireland’s ICC World T20 qualification bid. They were also without skipper Mark Cosgrove, as his wife was about to give birth, and acting captain Grant Elliott left himself with too much to do.Elliott went in at 35 for 3 in the seventh over in reply to 163 for 5 and when Ben Raine was run out three overs later 106 were needed off the last ten. After securing a tie against Yorkshire by conceding only five in the last over, it was an unhappy return to his home county for Raine. He took none for 56 and spent 20 balls over 19 runs when sent in at No. 4.When Elliott fell lbw trying to hit Scott Borthwick to leg in the 11th over the remaining batsmen faced a hopeless cause and they were all out for 125 with one ball unused.

Insights

Usman Arshad had an outstanding match. His quickfire 28 – which included just one boundary but plenty of good running between the wickets – in a 65-run partnership with Stoneman saved Durham after a mild middle-overs stumble, then Arshad picked up three wickets with his nagging seam bowling, including in-form Agathangelou and danger man Kevin O’Brien with consecutive deliveries in his first over, and proved very difficult to get away, conceding just one boundary and bowling 12 dots. Arshad’s was an unglamorous but extremely telling contribution.

Stoneman helped Durham recover from 98 for 5 in the 14th over. Only Phil Mustard, with 91 at home to Yorkshire two years ago, has scored more in a T20 innings for Durham. The victory ended a run of three defeats for Durham as they prepare to visit Worcestershire on Sunday.Stoneman survived difficult chances off skied leg-side shots on 27 and 73 and cashed in with two straight sixes in the last three overs off Raine. He also hit seven fours in scoring his runs off 60 balls.Usman Arshad contributed 28 off 19 balls to the unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 65 to make sure Durham reached the sort of total they threatened when racing to 45 after four overs after being put in on a glorious evening.Durham were stifled by the offspin of Rob Sayer, a 20-year-old whose only previous first-team appearance was in a one-day match against New Zealand last month. He wasn’t afraid to pitch the ball up and took both wickets through Gordon Muchall and Ryan Pringle clipping to wide mid-on.Arshad continued his excellent night with two wickets in two balls in the third over of the reply. Andrea Agathangelou was bowled attempting to scoop a straight ball to fine leg then Kevin O’Brien drove at the next ball and got a thick inside edge to midwicket. Tom Wells hit three sixes in his 27, but it was all over when he was brilliantly caught at long-on by Pringle to give Arshad a third wicket.

South Africa struggled with the conditions at the Gabba and they will hope not to be similarly surprised at Adelaide Oval

Firdose Moonda in Adelaide19-Nov-2012One of the pillars on which South Africa’s six-year unbeaten run away from home has been built is adaptability. On the sub-continent, they took on spin with all the footwork and flair needed; in England, they had the quicks to take advantage of seamer-friendly and swinging conditions; and the last time they were in Australia, they had the batsmen to negate the home attack.This time, they would have said they have all that and more. The current squad has the potential to field a seven-man batting line-up with two in reserve, includes four frontline seam bowlers, each of whom offers something different, a legspinner and a left-arm slow bowler on the bench. The variety led bowling coach Allan Donald to claim it was the best South African attack he had ever seen but they looked a few shades off that in Brisbane.On a pitch that delivered almost none of what it promised, the much-hyped fast bowlers were reduced to nothing but workhorses. Most of the team, including batsmen Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla and vice-captain AB de Villiers, admitted South Africa expected more from the surface which drove their decision to leave out Imran Tahir and opt for a pace battalion.Quietly, Australia may have been chuckling that their opposition misread conditions, having not played a Test at the Gabba since before isolation. It was an error that proved even in an age where information is easily accessible thanks to technology, there is still great value in experience. Morne Morkel suggested as much ahead of the second match in Adelaide.”There is a lot of talk about the ground and the wicket and that sort of thing,” Morkel said. “For me, it’s important to listen to those sorts of things and to try and learn from them but also to experience those things for myself. As soon as you get caught up in different stories, you could go down the wrong avenue.”No-one in South Africa’s current touring party had ever played a Test at the Gabba before and the coach Gary Kirsten said they were scrambling to get “information from as many sources as possible” in the lead-up. The biggest hint they could have taken was England’s Ashes score in 2010-11, when they piled on 1 for 517 in the second innings, but it seemed that South Africa chose to focus on the “juice,” that Graeme Smith spoke about at the Gabba instead.They will not want to appear similarly ill-informed in Adelaide, where they also have limited first-hand knowledge to draw on. At least Jacques Kallis and Kirsten have played Test cricket at the venue, when South Africa last appeared there in 2001, and Donald took five wickets there in 1994, but neither Morkel nor Steyn have played a Test there, while Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir have not been to Australia as international cricketers before.Philander has already battled to some degree. He is wicket-less on this tour, something that a source close to the team has put down to batsmen starting to play him better by leaving him more rather than any glaring fault of his own. Tahir bowled extensively in the tour match and is expected to make a comeback into the starting XI, which will give the quicks some rest and provide another option.While the team has not been announced, a frontline spinner is expected to play, and it is likely to be Tahir ahead of Robin Peterson. “It will be great to see Imran back, he is a quality guy, quality player and also attacking,” Morkel said. “Imran has been bowling well in nets and working hard on his game.”On a track that is known to deteriorate and offer up inconsistent bounce as the match wears on, both Tahir and Morkel could come into play in the latter stages. With that only being hearsay for Morkel for now, he said he wouldn’t change much about his approach ahead of the match and would concentrate on “creating more pressure” on the Australian line-up and stick to basics like “starting well in that first 20 balls”.One of South Africa’s other goals is to ensure that no more wickets fall off no-balls. They overstepped 23 times in Brisbane and although Morkel was only responsible for two of those, both would have resulted in dismissals.”It’s about having discipline. We’ve been working on it,” Morkel said with shake of the head after being reminded of his no-ball history, most recently at Lord’s in August, when Matt Prior was given a reprieve after being caught off a Morkel no-ball. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow especially because you know the quality of the batsmen and you don’t want to give them another chance. When it happens to me, I try to get on with the job and think that if can get the batsman out once, I can do it twice.”

Ben Hilfenhaus picked up some confidence-boosting wickets after he was axed from the Test team earlier this year, as he helped Tasmania fight back into the match against Queensland

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2011
ScorecardBen Hilfenhaus finished with 4 for 57•Getty Images

Ben Hilfenhaus picked up some confidence-boosting wickets after he was axed from the Test team earlier this year, as he helped Tasmania fight back into the match against Queensland. At tea on the first day, the Bulls were cruising at 2 for 180, but by stumps they had been dismissed for 287, with Hilfenhaus collecting 4 for 57 and Luke Butterworth taking 3 for 54.The openers Wade Townsend and Ryan Broad (57) were in control during the early part of the day, although Townsend had two lives on his way to 82. The wicketkeeper Tom Triffitt put down a simple chance off the bowling of James Faulkner, having earlier watched another of Townsend’s edges sail between himself and the first slip.However, Hilfenhaus ended the 150-run stand and got rid of both openers before tea, Broad edging to slip and Townsend tickling a catch to Triffitt from a ball that swung away and bounced sharply. After the last break, the Bulls struggled, with Hilfenhaus and Butterworth running through the middle order as the Bulls lost 5 for 3 in a four-over period.A last-wicket stand of 41 between Cameron Boyce (26 not out) and Steve Magoffin pushed the Bulls towards the 300-mark, but failing to reach that goal was a disappointing end after such a promising start. Stumps was called after the fall of the final wicket, Magoffin caught for 15 off the bowling of Jason Krejza.