Ireland name ODI and T20 squad for Zimbabwe series, Curtis Campher returns

Ireland have named their squads for the upcoming ODI and T20I tour of Zimbabwe starting from August 27. Cricket Ireland has named a 16-member squad and will name a fifteen-member squad ahead of each game. Curtis Campher has been named in the T20I squad for the five-match series.

Meanwhile, Ireland will be playing the qualifying tournament for the Super 12 stage in the T20 World Cup and has been drawn with Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and Namibia in Group A for the qualifying event. All the fifteen members of the squad which played against South Africa has been retained by the selectors.

Campher who has been named in the T20I squad is yet to make his international debut in this format, having played 10 ODIs. The newcomer has played only 8 T20 games scoring 136 runs and taking five wickets.

"For the T20I series, we have selected a squad of 16 for the five-match T20I series, of which it will be narrowed down to 15 each match day. Given the T20 World Cup starting in two months we want to provide as much playing time for the players in this format as possible," chief selector Andrew White was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz on Thursday. (August 19)

"While we have kept faith with the squad that played in the recent South Africa series, we have additionally brought Curtis Campher in for his first call-up for Ireland in the T20 format. Curtis is back bowling following his injury and will add a dynamic batting and bowling presence to the squad. His inclusion will provide Graham Ford and Andrew Balbirnie with increased flexibility as they look to finalise their plans ahead of the World Cup,” he added.

The T20I series will be followed by three ODIs which will be part of the ODI World Cup Super League. Former skipper William Porterfield has recovered from his injury which he incurred during the series against South Africa.

"As we are all aware, there are no longer any meaningless ODIs when it comes to the World Cup Super League, and we have selected a squad that recognises the good performances put in during the recent South Africa series. Again, we welcome the news that Curtis [Campher] is back bowling, having come through last week's training camp in Somerset with no concerns.

"Uncapped Graham Kennedy continued to impress coaches in Somerset last week, and retains his place in the squad with his all-round ability,” White further added.

T20I squad:

Andrew Balbirnie (Captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Shane Getkate, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, William McClintock, Kevin O'Brien, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.

ODI squad:

Andrew Balbirnie (Captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Graham Kennedy, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, William Porterfield, Neil Rock, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.

Discover more

Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine and Sean Williams return for Ireland and Scotland tour

Zimbabwe will be bolstered by the return of three of their experienced players in the form of Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams and Craig Ervine for the upcoming tour of Ireland and Scotland. Zimbabwe is slated to play five T20Is and three ODIs against England started from 27th August before they travel to Scotland for a three-match T20I series kicking off from 15th September. Taylor who is currently the best batsman in the team was rested for the home T20I series against Bangladesh. Meanwhile, the likes of Craig Ervine and Sean Williams was forced to miss the full series comprising of a one-off Test, three ODIs and three T20Is after coming in close contact with a person who contracted COVID-19. The selectors have decided to retain the rest of their fifteen members who played against Bangladesh. It must also be noted that the three ODIs against Ireland will be part of the ICC ODI Super League. Zimbabwe is currently languishing at the bottom of the points table with just a solitary win from six outings. Zimbabwe needs to start winning on a more consistent basis to harbour hopes of qualifying for the 2023 ODI World Cup. They will be highly reliant on the services of Wesley Madhevere who was the highest run-scorer for them in the Bangladesh series amassing 150 runs in three outings. His knock of 73 played a pivotal role in ensuring that Zimbabwe won their only match of the tour. Meanwhile, the bowling department looks sorted with the likes of Blessing Muzarabani leading the attack. Full Squad: Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Craig Ervine, Luke Jongwe, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Wessely Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tarisai Musakanda, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Donald Tiripano.

Lea Tahuhu named in New Zealand squad for England tour after surviving cancer scare

New Zealand women’s fast bowler Lea Tahuhu overcame a cancer scare to be named in the squad which is currently touring England. She had to remove the potentially dangerous mole via three-foot surgeries in order to make it to the squad. She had discovered the mole on her left foot when it was in a pre-cancerous stage. She shared an Instagram post where she mentioned her surgery and skin graft back in July. "It got me to some low places. It was such a shock, all of it," she told Newsroom on Thursday. "It [the mole] had been there for 18 months. It looked fine to start with and then it started growing slightly bigger and changed colour," Tahuhu said. "I had the mole taken off, and all went well at that point. There's not a lot of skin on the top of your foot that you can actually pull together, so it was left a bit open." Further tests revealed that the wound could have been more serious than expected. "That morning then changed drastically, because it's not often you get words such as 'melanoma' and 'skin cancer' thrown at you, that you certainly weren't expecting," Tahuhu said. "I sat there like a stunned mullet." "What was supposed to be one local surgery and two weeks recovery, ended up being three surgeries and eight weeks later," she said. Tahuhu motivated herself during her time in the hospital hoping to play in the England tour. "There were a few days where I thought, 'How am I going to put ten times my body weight through my foot when I bowl? When at the moment I've just got a hole on the side of it.' But then I thought, 'No, I'm determined to get on that plane', and I'm pretty diligent with what I have to get done to reach goals,” she said. She is currently trying to get back to full fitness with the national team in Derby. She stated that she is careful as she tries to make a return to international cricket after a scare. The tour comprising of three T20Is and five ODIs will be played from September 1-26. The White Ferns, who are without star all-rounder Amelia Kerr, will play begin their tour with three T20Is from September 1-9 followed by five ODIs from September 16-26.

Ravichandran Ashwin divulges details of Bumrah-Anderson banter at Lord's

Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah had a heated moment with James Anderson during the fag end of the 2nd day’s play of the Lord’s Test after Bumrah started bowling a barrage of short deliveries directed at Anderson. Being a No 11 batsman, Anderson was at sea and could hardly tackle the short barrage of Bumrah. The speedster had also bowled four no-balls during the at course of the particular over. He bowled four short deliveries, followed by a yorker and then again returned to the short stuff. Anderson was eventually dismissed on the final delivery of the day by Mohammed Shami. Anderson was not happy with Bumrah’s short stuff and looked cringy while walking off the field. In a recent episode on Ravichandran Ashwin’s youtube channel, the spinner divulged what really happened during the whole incident during an interaction with Indian fielding coach R Sridhar. “The beauty about that is, looks like Jimmy had told Boom, “all these while, you were bowling in the 80 mphs, suddenly on seeing me, why are you bowling at 90 mph? “ “So, after the innings, the boys were walking back to the dressing room. Then Bumrah walked past Jimmy and just patted at him. So as to tell him that it wasn’t intentional.” We all know Bumrah. He is such a nice guy. So he had gone to talk to him and end the matter, but Jimmy brushed him aside. Brushing him aside, he has told him “You bowl only 85 mph to the other batters, you are bowling 90 mph to me. This is cheating. I won’t accept,” Ashwin said. When Bumrah came out to bat in the second innings with England well on top, the English players went with the emotion and instead of attacking the stumps and trying to take Bumrah’s wicket, they kept bowling short which actually played into the hands of Indian tail-enders. After surviving a couple of hits on the helmet, Bumrah didn’t back away and took on the challenge and went onto score an unbeaten 34 and shared an unbeaten 89 runs stand with Mohammed Shami which ensured India went into the final two sessions with a realistic chance of winning. Eventually, it was an incredible bowling performance from the pace cartel which handed India a famous 151 runs victory to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series with three matches still to go. Bumrah and Shami charged into the field with the ball and sent back the openers in seven deliveries to set up the win for the visiting team.

WI vs PAK | 2nd Test Preview: Windies bank on pacers to deliver series win over battered tourists

When teams are touring countries across the world, the theme and objective of the tours have been the preparation for the upcoming ICC World T20. But, India are touring England for a full-fledge Test series, Pakistan are there in the West Indies for a full series comprising of two Tests as well. There could have been a narrative that the flow and wider reach of the high-profile series between England and India will overshadow the West Indies vs Pakistan series. However, all those concerns and narratives were put down to rest when the Kraigg Brathwaite’s men snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Babar Azam’s men who were equally competent to deserve a Test victory at the iconic Sabina Park in Jamaica. The win by the barest of a margin through the bat of Kemar Roach sparked fans of the game to discuss the flow of that game albeit there was a high-octane clash between India and England were underway at Lord’s. The first Test was dominated by pacers across the sides and the game went in the favour of the side that batted least bad across both innings of the game. Both the skippers were some of the few bright spots with the bat but they did not find ample support from their teammates to bat their sides into a comfortable position. It’s unlikely that the second Test of the series will be any different with the quality of pace attack on both sides and the inconsistency of the batting lineup. The tourists will be hopeful of their star duo Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan to stand up with the bat while the hosts will love to see the likes of Nkrumah Bonner and kyle Mayers regain the touch that made them heroes right at the start of their career. West Indies vs Pakistan: Match Details Match Number- 02 Date and Time: August 20-24, 2021, 08:30 pm IST, 11:00 pm Local, 03:00pm GMT Venue: Sabina Park, Jamaica Live Stream: FanCode Pitch Report The pitch at Sabina Park is expected to give a lot of assistance to pacers and the sides will be looking forward to strong performances from their batsmen. There will be the pace and carry for the pacers and if the bowlers will pitch in the right areas around the off stump line, there will be more and more trouble for batsmen on either side of the fence. Team News West Indies The hosts will be tempted to give Shai Hope a chance at the top of the order after Kieran Powell failed in both in the innings of the last Test. However, there is no certainty that Brathwaite will overlook the difficult batting conditions and the struggles of the other batsmen as well while making that decision. Jomel Warrican produced a subdued performance in the first game and the hosts could be tempted to bring the raw seam bowling option of Alzarri Joseph in his place. Rest nine players select themselves for the Test which the hosts will be desperate to win to clinch the series which will be a happy end of the season for them after suffering massive defeats at the hands of South Africa. Probable XI Kraigg Brathwaite (C), Shai Hope, Nkrumah Bonner, Jermaine Blackwood, Roston Chase, Kyle Mayers, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (WK), Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales Pakistan The visitors were in the game right till the last ball of the game which Kemar Roach hit through the infield to win the game, and in all fairness, they played their best possible playing XI. The result did not go their way but they are unlikely to make any change in their playing XI except for some untoward problems right close to the start of the game. Probable XI Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (C), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Shaheen Afridi Fantasy XI M Rizwan (WK), F Alam, K Brathwaite, J Blackwood, R Chase, K Roach, Hasan Ali, M Abbas, J Seales Captain: Babar Azam Vice-captain: Jason Holder