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T20 Blast 2021 Middlesex Rope In Paul Stirling As Replacement For Mitchell Marsh

T20 Blast 2021: Middlesex rope in Paul Stirling as replacement for Mitchell Marsh

English county Middlesex have roped in their longtime member Paul Stirling as a replacement for Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh for the first five matches of the T20 blast campaign starting early next month. Stirling has played for Middlesex for nearly a decade and will provide explosive batting at the top of the order in the T20 competition.

Middlesex recognised the ‘huge impression’ the Irish opener had on the team in his previous stint and his ability to strike the ball earned him a place in the squad in place of Marsh, which the MD of Cricket at Middlesex termed a ‘blow.’

"Losing Mitch Marsh is obviously a blow, but if a team is looking for a strong, clean striker of a cricket ball, Paul is highly qualified to fill the role. Paul made a huge impression on Middlesex members and supporters during his initial time with the Club and it will be great to see him once again wearing a Middlesex shirt and representing the club," said Angus Fraser, the MD of Cricket at Middlesex.

Notably, the Middlesex have signed Stirling as a replacement only for the first five games and it means they are relying on Marsh to join the squad at a later stage in the tournament.

For Stirling though, it is an extended opportunity to rejoin with his old mates at Middlesex and open a plethora of opportunities in the near future such as in The Hundred.

"I have such fond memories and many friends within the club and I am excited to entertain the public once more. I am looking to put on my best performances for the world to see, and hopefully, a successful stint will create further opportunities, potentially in the Hundred, and further afield, as I would like to test myself in all competitions globally," Stirling said.

Stirling played for Middlesex in the phase between 2010 to 2019 and scored 2246 runs from 89 appearances in the domestic T20 competition.

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Shakib included in 15-man Bangladesh squad for first two ODIs against Sri Lanka

Shakib al Hasan would be making a comeback to the national side as the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced the squad for the first two ODIs of the Sri Lanka series beginning May 23. Having missed the last Test of the West Indies series at home and then the rest of the Bangladesh assignment including the New Zealand and Sri Lanka tours, this would be Hasan’s second major appearance after the end of his ICC imposed one-year ban post the ODI World Cup in 2019. Najmul Hossain Shanto the centurion from the first Hambantota Test on the Sri Lanka tour is a notable miss from the ODI squad that played in New Zealand in March this year. Tamim Iqbal remains the skipper of the side and youngsters Shoriful Islam and Mahedi Hasan have also retained their spots. Along with Shoriful, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin and coming on the back of a successful IPL stint, Mustafizur Rahman is the four pacers in the squad while the sin department would have the likes of Miraz, Mahedi and Mosaddek Hossain sharing the ball with all-round options of Shakib, Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah. All three matches would be played at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka in empty stands due to Covid-19 second wave hit in the subcontinent.

Shammi Silva elected as SLC president uncontested

Shammi Silva has been elected uncontested as the new president of Sri Lanka Cricket for the next three years. Silva also held the post earlier in 2019 and this would be his second term in office. Jayanta Dharmadasa and Ravin Wickramaratne have retained their positions as vice-president of SLC, the cricket governing body in the island nation. Mohan de Silva will be the honorary secretary while Lasantha Wickremasinghe and Chryshantha Kapuwatte will serve as the Treasurer and Asst. Secretary respectively. Sujeeva Godaliyadda will hold the post of Asst. Treasurer. Silva expressed his delight at being elected as the president. "I am thankful for the membership for electing me uncontested as the President of Sri Lanka Cricket," said the President-Elect, after his victory was confirmed. "This victory also proves the fact that our stakeholders have understood the yeomen service my previous administration rendered for the development of the game," he further added. Sports Minister Namal Rajapakse confirmed virtually that Silva had been elected as the president. "I don't get involved in the election process. I will work with whoever gets elected," he had earlier told Cricbuzz. K Mathivanan and Bandula Warnapurea were also contesting for the posts of president and vice-president respectively. They questioned the authorities over their negligence of serious atters during the election. "A very serious lapse by way of delayed submission of annual accounts and not having obtained the Auditor General's approval as required by the Constitution has been disregarded by the authorities, a major cause of concern is the upholding of trust and impartiality," Nishantha, Mathivana and Bandula alleged in a letter to the Election Committee of the SLC.

PSL 2021 set to resume in Abu Dhabi

The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is set to resume in Abu Dhabi after it received all the approvals. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will announce the fixtures and schedule for the tournament soon. "We are grateful to UAE government, National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, Emirates Cricket Board & Abu Dhabi Sports Council for their support in ensuring all final obstacles were removed, which has firmly put us in a position to complete our marquee event," an official release from the Board said. The tournament was postponed in March after there was a rise in Covid-19 cases within the franchise bubbles. It was later rescheduled and slated to begin on June 1 in Karachi where all the matches including the final had to be played. But the PCB had to consider hosting it in UAE after franchises requested the board for the same citing the Covid-19 issue in the country. The conditions imposed by the Emirates health advisory earlier made it almost impossible for the Pakistan board to hold the tournament in the Gulf nation. The first condition that was put by the UAE government was that all the players and staff members travelling to the country should be vaccinated, which was a difficult task for the PCB considering the amount of time it had. Secondly, most of the TV production crew is from India and the UAE has banned travel from the nation for the time being due to the horrific Covid situation in the South Asian country. The PCB and the franchises held a meeting on May 19 to discuss various possibilities regarding the tournament.

CA announces full schedule for Women's series between India & Australia

Cricket Australia (CA) has announced the full schedule for the Commonwealth Bank Women's series against India. The three-match ODI series will begin on September 19 at North Sydney with the other two matches scheduled to take place at Junction Oval on September 22 and 24 respectively. The ODI series will be followed by the only Test to be played at WACA between September 30-October 3 while the tour will end with a three-match T20I series. All the T20I matches will be held at North Sydney Oval. The first T20I will be played on October 7 while the second and third on October 9 and 11 respectively. The Test match will be the first between the Australian and Indian women’s teams in 15 years while it would be the first time when the two sides will play against each other since the World T20 final in 2020. Australia captain Meg Lanning expressed her delight and said that the side has always wanted to be a part of more Test matches. "As players, we've said for a long time that we'd love to play more Test matches," Australia captain Meg Lanning said on Wednesday. "It's an exciting prospect and I know (India) are heading over to England to play a Test match pretty soon so it shows they're up for the challenge and really willing to play that format."