James Bracey's mantra at start of Test career: Leave outside off, capitalise on balls angled to pads

BAN vs SL: Inspired by series-winning century, Mushfiqur Rahim wants youngsters to contribute more

Mushiqur Rahim has so far been the hero of the Bangladesh team, taking it out of all difficult circumstances while batting in both the games of their series against Sri Lanka so far. In the second match on May 25 at the Shere Bangla Stadium, the wicket-keeper batsman hit a prolific 125 to take his team to a fighting 246, which at the end seemed way too much for a paltry effort by the Lankan batters. "Like every century, this too is a special innings if the team wins," Rahim said at the post-match press conference in Dhaka. "It contributed to our first ODI series win over Sri Lanka, so it will inspire me to do better in the coming days." The 34-year-old was happy with his innings but wished he utilised all the deliveries. “I am happy with the innings, but we missed out on the last eleven balls, and in a close contest, those 10-20 runs become crucial for us. I want to improve my batting more," he said. Saying that his target was to bat throughout the innings, Rahim added that getting 246 after so much rain disruption wasn’t really bad. “The more important thing was that I was mentally prepared to switch on and switch off due to the weather,” he said. A senior statesman of the team now with more than 70 Tests and 200 ODIs under his belt, the Bogra born believes that youngsters need to raise their hands and perform. His analogy that with seven or eight performers, the team will more often than not come out on top is anything but illogical. "After Tamim and Shakib got out early, there was an opportunity for Liton [Das], Afif [Hossain] and Mosaddek [Hossain], who got a chance. They are trying but they have to be more selective. One has to know when to play a low-risk and when to play high-risk shots on this type of wicket,” Rahim said. "I hope they become more mature, but I'd be pleased if they can quickly take a lesson from here. It makes things difficult when the pressure comes upon us in big matches. If they start contributing, Bangladesh will become a stronger one-day team,” added the former skipper who has so far hit 209 runs in two innings.

Dates changed for third T20I between India and England Women

India Women would now play their last game of the tour against hosts England Women on July 14th instead of the originally decided July 15h due to broadcasts reason as confirmed by England and Wales Cricket Board. "For broadcast purposes, the third Vitality IT20 between England Women and India Women at the Cloudfm County Ground will now be played on Wednesday, 14 July," England Cricket tweeted about the news. Currently quarantining in Mumbai the India Women’s team would travel to England along with the Men’s on June 2. On the tour, they would play a one-off Test, three ODIs and three T20Is. The Test begins on June 16 at county ground Bristol. While most of the team would return back home, five members including T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandana, Jemimah Rodriguez, Deepti Sharma and young sensation Shafali Verma will stay put after the tour for The Hundred’s fixtures. These five players are a part of five of the eight franchises in the league that begins on July 21.

BCB confirms Australia’s tour to Bangladesh in August

The Australian team would be touring Bangladesh in August this year to compensate for the postponed Test series according to the FTP of last year. BCB cricket operations chairman Akram Khan told the press about the development. This would also be the Kangaroos’ first tour to the South Asian country post the year 2017. "As you may have known, Australia have agreed to increase their T20I series from three to five matches," Khan was quoted as saying by Espncricinfo. "It will be held over eight or nine days. We are trying to be well prepared for the World Cup T20,” the former Bangladesh captain added. After the cancellation of this year’s Asia Cup, the Bangladesh team has increased a T20I on their Zimbabwe tour and the international players would also participate in the Dhaka Premier league instead of playing any bilateral series. "We have a pretty packed scheduled. We will have club cricket after this (Sri Lanka) series. We will go to Zimbabwe, and afterwards, we have Australia and New Zealand coming up,” Akram said. Stressing on the fact that remaining fresh ahead of the T20 World Cup in October- November this year is equally important, the BCB is in favour of giving players some daily time after so many bio-bubble tours. “We also have to keep the cricketers' bio-bubble and quarantine in mind. It is not always good to play a lot of cricket, so we have to think about our schedule after this series," Akram said.

The Hundred: ECB’s overstretch diluting purpose of county clubs feels Surrey’s outgoing CEO

Right from its inaugural season, or even before it, The Hundred seems to be becoming the marquee tournament for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Surrey’s outgoing Chief Executive Officer, Richard Gould feels that this would dilute the purpose of having county clubs. “I think the ECB could perhaps understand the role and value of county clubs better,” Gould was quoted as saying to The Cricketer. Explaining the role of the national sports body and how it should be different from the clubs, Gould gave the example of the English Football Association and Rugby Football Union. “I also wonder if the ECB are overstretching themselves. Governing bodies like the FA and RFU look at governance, grassroots and the running of the international teams,” he said. “But the ECB organise competitions themselves, and over the last three or four years, we have seen a deepening of that centralisation. The ECB are now running teams – in The Hundred, and women’s cricket (earlier Kia Super League and now The Hundred Women),” added the 61-year-old administrator. Gould conceded that investment on the part of ECB is a great initiative and what it did for counties during the pandemic is equally appreciated, but its role as governing body should not conflict with earning profit from the very sport it governs. “It’s been good to see investment, but it’s diluting the purpose of clubs. Clubs are being given money in lieu of purpose. If you lose purpose you lose the ability to sustain yourselves in the long term,” he said. The Bristol born then attacked the board for introducing something like The Hundred, trying to replicate IPL by having a team for just one month of the year and neglecting counties that have built a tradition of the game for almost 200 years. It’s easy to underestimate the value of the county network. Surrey have developed players for 170 years. Look at the annual cost of setting up new teams for The Hundred. More money per team per year than they are putting individually into Surrey, Somerset, Yorkshire and so on… That’s difficult to understand sometimes,” Gould said. “These new teams will exist for 33 days a year. They have no player pathways. No academy. No age-group teams. No regional community projects. They don’t have international venues. Our domestic clubs do so much: they provide focus and pride.” Gould, who was once touted to become the ECB Chairman said that the ideal situation would have been maintaining a two-division T20 League with promotion and relegation, but the idea was shot down as not being financially viable. “Our preference was for a two-division T20. Six or seven years ago that was also the majority view of the counties. That only changed when the ECB said that there was no terrestrial broadcast interest in county cricket,” said the man who will be joining the English Football Championship side Bristol City as its manager in the upcoming season. “They said they could get £35m a year for a competition with new teams. They said they would get far less – £5m – if it was a county competition. I’m sceptical about that,” he added showing his scepticism for the ECB plan. As far The Hundred is concerned, it will start on July 21 with the women teams of Oval Invincibles taking on Manchester Originals before the men of the same teams collide the next day at the Kia Oval. Surrey are currently in the fourth position in the Group 2 of the County Championship 2021.