India tour of Sri Lanka | Three-match long ODI, T20I series to start on July 13

Doug Crowell continuing professional cricket at the age of 91

The ball might not be zipping past the bat to thud into the keeper’s gloves or the batsmen might not be able to play those big shots but the 91 year old Doug Crowell might be the oldest Australian cricketer to don the state whites at the Veteran’s level cricket and seem to be enjoying his game just like the way he did seven decades ago. He still takes up the challenge of fielding at first slip or short midwicket and looks so enthusiastic even at this ripe age. Crowell had started cricket just with the hope of passing some time in the aftermath of World War || but after seventy years he still cherishes playing at the state level. "I think I might be the oldest player in Australia; I don't think anyone else would go out there and still do what I do and love it as much as what I do. But I'm 91 ... I think I might have another couple of years left in me yet,” Crowell had said a month ago. In a recent video shared by ABC 730, Crowell is seen enjoying his time with his friends on the cricket field. Speaking on his experience of playing cricket at the twilight of his life, Crowell said that he is still enjoying the game and until he is getting picked, he hopes to continue playing. “I keep saying that a couple of years might pull me up but who knows. The body is good, I still fit enough to enjoy myself and whenever I get picked I will turn up,” Crowell stated in the video posted on ABC 730. Speaking on his age, Crowell felt that he might be the oldest ever cricketer saying that he hasn’t heard any cricketer still playing professional cricketer after passing 90. It’s indeed a great achievement for Bracewell. He also recalled the fact that he has never scored a century but that was never his aim. “I think I could be the oldest cricketer. I don’t guarantee anything but I haven’t heard of anyone thats playing in their 90s, still playing competitive cricket. It’s for the people that gave up their cricketing career when they were in their 30s and then they had an urge to want to keep fit so they joined the Veterans Cricket,” Crowell further added. Not only cricket but Crowell also plays tennis three days a week which keeps him fit even at 91. Moreover, he is still enjoying his time in any sport he plays. “I have got good genes and I play tennis three times a week to keep fit. I just that there’s so much to be gained out of cricket because of the people you still stay friends with over the years. People say you’re, you know, you are playing the wrong shots but its the shots I have played for seventy years so I will stick with them," Crowell signed off.

People will watch football if one-sided matches like Pakistan-Zimbabwe continue in Tests: Ramiz Raja

Former Pakistan opener Ramiz Raja has not liked the idea of a Test series between Pakistan and Zimbabwe one bit. He has refuted the long-standing idea that when a small team play against well-established ones they understand and develop their skills by looking at players and the approach of those teams. He said that the host Zimbabwe showed no signs of learning from the Pakistan team and rather were humiliated in both the Tests of the series. He said there should be no sense of idealism in organising matches between two mismatched teams as it will force people to switch to other sports such as football for lack of competitiveness in the game. “Some people are of the opinion that when a weak team plays a strong one, you need to focus on what you learn from it rather than the outcome of the match. You learn from the stronger team’s process and the way it adapts to the changing situation of a game. But I don’t think Zimbabwe learned anything from this series because they were continuously dominated by Pakistan. Also, there was no difference in their performance in the second Test as compared to the first one,” said Raja on his official YouTube channel. “Such mismatch series should not take place. Test cricket is already under pressure and very few people watch it. If you show them such one-sided matches, then they will switch to watching football or other sports. Three-day Test match is a joke,” he added. Notably, Pakistan handed Zimbabwe innings defeat in both the Tests played in Harare.

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam wins ICC Men’s Player of the Month award for April

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has won the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for April for his consistent and outstanding performances across all formats in the recently concluded series against South Africa. Babar was in superb form with the bat against the Proteas and scored a match-winning 82-ball 94 in the third ODI of the series followed by another match-winning innings of 122 runs from just 59 balls. He defeated his fellow countryman Fakhar Zaman and Nepal’s Kushal Bhurtel to clinch the Player of the Month title for April. The Player of the Month is chosen by fans and the ICC voting academy and former Pakistan batsman Ramiz Raja while representing the academy said that Babar Azam has a different flair of batting and dominating bowling atatcks and he richly deserves the player of the month award. “The world bats in two ways in white ball cricket. One way is to destroy attacks with muscle and force and then there is the Babar Azam way, like conducting a batting symphony with punch, panache and flair, and he deserves to win this award,” Raja said. In the calendar month of April, Babar Azam scored 228 runs across three-match long ODI series with an astounding average of 76 runs per innings. He followed it with another dominating series with the bat in the T20Is and piled on 305 runs across four T20Is at an average fo 43.57.

ZIM vs PAK | 2nd Test: Pakistan thrash African minnows, left-armers bag fifers apiece

Pakistan completed a 2-0 whitewash against Zimbabwe after they thrashed the African minnows by an innings and 147 runs. Right from Day 1, there never came a situation where Zimbabwe got any sort of momentum either in the batting or the bowling front. Eventually, it was a clinical bowling display on the second and third day from Pakistan which resulted in a convincing victory for them. Also for the first time in history, two left-arm pacers from Pakistan took all the ten wickets in the sec0nd innings. The toss turned out to be an important factor for Pakistan. Babar Azam didn’t have any hesitations batting first and there was no way back for them. Riding on a sensational double century from the blade of Abid Ali and a century from Azhar Ali, Pakistan posted a mammoth 510 on the board in their first innings. For Zimbabwe, it was a fiery spell from Blessing Muzarabani which fetched him three wickets. However, he wasn’t quite consistent for longer periods of time. The only blip up for Pakistan remains Babar Azam’s return in this series. He fell after scoring just two but a partnership of 236 runs between Abid Ali and Azhar Ali had already set the tone for Pakistan. To top it off, it was a sensational 8th wicket partnership between Hasan Ali and Nauman Ali which took Pakistan beyond the 500 mark. Zimbabwe was never up to the mark in either of the innings. They were not ready to play the waiting game and kept giving away their wickets cheaply to the Pakistan bowlers. Hasan Ali was the star for Pakistan with the ball in the first innings bagging yet another fifer for his country. He bowled deadly lines and the Zimbabwe batsmen kept succumbing one after the other. Regis Chakabva was the top scorer for Zimbabwe with 33 as they were skittled out for a meagre 132 runs in just a shade over 60 overs. Barring Hasan Ali, Sajid Khan also bagged a couple. There was no hesitation in Babar Azam’s mind on enforcing the follow on. Zimbabwe was a tad better in the second innings but was nowhere close to avoiding the innings defeat. The pair of Shaheen Afridi Nauman Ali was the two wreckers in chief bagging fifers apiece. Chakabva again looked composed in the middle and was the highest scorer again with a knock of 80. A partnership of 80 off runs with Brendan Taylor settled the nerves a bit but from there on, the two left-arm pacers tightened the screws around the Zimbabwe batsmen as wickets kept falling on a consistent basis. Eventually, they were bundled out for 231, handing Pakistan an innings victory.