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ScorecardTom Alsop struck his first professional hundred [file picture]•Getty Images

Tom Alsop scored his first professional century to help Hampshire edge a nervy six win against Surrey in the Royal London One-Day.Alsop continued his excellent List A form after scoring 50 and 83 retired ill in his two previous innings with an effortless and mature knock.His efforts was backed up by Tino Best’s miserly 1 for 47 and Gareth Berg defending 11 in the final over to end with figures of 3 for 64.Berg gave Hampshire the perfect start to their protection of 289 by wonderfully catching and bowling Steven Davies during his first over.Jason Roy and Kumar Sangakkara added 60 for the second wicket, neither looking in much trouble, before the pair fell in quick succession.The Sri Lanka edged through to Lewis McManus off Gareth Andrew, while Roy was tangled into confusion by a Liam Dawson spinner. Arun Harinath departed soon after, teeing a sweep up to Sean Ervine at slip, as Surrey faltered to 72 for 4.But a 130-run partnership between Ben Foakes and Zafar Ansari kept the visitors well in the game. The duo scored at a similar rate to score fifties, in 48 and 72 balls respectively, before Ansari was bowled by Tino Best for 62.Foakes departed soon for 72 after as young wicketkeeper McManus picked Mason Cranes’ googly to stump the out of ground batsman.A Crane delivery hit Tom Curran and rolled back onto his stumps without persuading a bail to nudging off.He took his luck by scoring 55 with his brother Sam before clipping a scoop up to short fine leg.But from a winning position Hampshire pulled it back when Best only concede five from the penultimate over and Berg blasted three wickets in four deliveries to kick start their one-day hopes.Earlier, after being put in, Alsop lost his opening partner in just the second over, Jimmy Adams failing again as he was bowled by Sam Curran.The early wicket did not dissuade Alsop as he carefully accumulated runs with James Vince – although luck was on his side as a skied leading edge was hit into the sun, making Curran’s attempt at a catch fruitless.Vince, who had been allowed to play in this match by England, look in imperious touch with stylish cutting and a textbook perfect cover drive hallmarks of a glorious 41 – in which he went past 3,000 List A runs.But as elegant and free-flowing as his runs came he soon fell when he picked out deep mid-wicket.Alsop, who had added 62 with Vince, continued his innings with Sean Ervine in complete control moving past fifty in 64 balls.Zimbabwean Ervine bagged his second half century in as many days – putting on 116 runs with Alsop from the third wicket – before getting out lbw to Tom Curran the ball after reaching the milestone.Academy product Alsop anchored the innings well and accelerated slightly through his knock – bringing up his first three figure score in 104 balls.Liam Dawson and Will Smith both departed cheaply, both leg before to Gareth Batty, before the lively Lewis McManus and Alsop fell in quick succession.Gareth Andrew and Gareth Berg ran hard in the last ten overs, but just one boundary in that spell curtailed Hampshire’s total, though it was eventually just enough.

Joe Root, England’s Test captain, has said he blames the system, not the individuals, for the growing trend towards specialisation that has tempted the likes of Alex Hales and Adil Rashid to accept white-ball-only county contracts.But, Root added, there could still be a future for such players to help reinvigorate the fortunes of England’s Test team, so long as the game’s authorities can find a way to restructure the international schedule to enable all three formats to co-exist more easily.Hales and Rashid both confirmed earlier this month that they would not be turning out for Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire respectively in this year’s County Championship, effectively putting their Test careers on indefinite hold. Rashid, who was overlooked for the Ashes squad despite being England’s leading wicket-taker in India and Bangladesh last winter, admitted this week that he had lost the “buzz” for playing red-ball cricket.However, Root – who has himself had to sit out of England’s T20 side in recent months in a bid to balance his own priorities in Test and 50-over cricket – believes that the current trends in international cricket suggest that players who stand out in the shorter formats should not be discounted from making an impact in the five-day game.”Players like Alex and Rash, who get pigeon-holed as white-ball specialists, I think there’s a future for them in Test cricket,” Root told Sky Sports. “You look at how the game has changed in the last five years – with scoring rates and the things you now need to do with the ball – the skills you have to have, a lot of them have come from white-ball cricket.”That cross-over, I think, can be there if guys have the attitude and determination to play Test cricket. There’s no reason, if you are suited to the white ball, you can’t tailor yourself into a red-ball cricketer. It’s just about having that want and drive, and to have enough opportunity to play red-ball cricket in the county system and around the world for that to develop.”At present, however, there is very little opportunity for any elite cricketer to excel in all three formats concurrently, with India’s Virat Kohli perhaps the exception that proves the rule. Australia’s Steve Smith, for instance, joined Root in missing the recent T20 tri-series in the wake of a busy winter in which his Test form invited comparison to the great Donald Bradman. He now faces a struggle to regain his place among a team of specialists who took that competition by storm.”It’s very difficult to stop guys doing it,” Root said of the temptation to specialise in white-ball cricket. “You can’t place blame on individuals, there’s an issue higher up than that, and I think schedules will have to be tampered [with] and changed slightly.”If you’re playing all three formats, somewhere down the line you’re going to have to miss some cricket. Personally, mine’s been in T20 series – I’m obviously not going to miss any Test cricket now and, with a 50-over World Cup next year, there’s a big focus on playing that.”So it can feel like a long time until you play that next format, and guys want to be playing everything as much as possible. Maybe there is something that needs to be looked at there. Give guys a chance to play all three formats and not have to make that decision.”As for the long-term viability of Test cricket, Root remained optimistic about its future – even if Eoin Morgan, England’s white-ball captain, believes that the time to save the format may already have been and gone.”I really hope [it will still be played], it’s called Test cricket for a reason,” said Root. “It challenges you, you find yourself in every scenario you can do in cricket. It would be a real shame if it was not there.”I think the challenge is to make sure you keep it current, and make sure people want to turn on the telly, come to grounds, and watch it. Day-night Tests are great ideas, not necessarily in England but around the world, because you’ve seen the impact it’s had. If we can find ways to keep people interested and excited, we need to do it.”

There is growing optimism among Australia’s selectors that captain Pat Cummins will “play a major part” in the Ashes but there is still no decision on his availability with less than five weeks to go before the opening day of the series.Chair of selectors George Bailey was also very confident that Cameron Green would be fully fit and available as an allrounder for the first Test after “conservative” management of his side soreness saw him ruled out of the ODI series against India and he also confirmed that Beau Webster was a lock for the first Test squad after equally careful management of his rolled ankle.Related

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There was no update on Cummins’ progression despite coach Andrew McDonald suggesting late last week that a decision would be made on Friday regarding the skipper’s fitness for the first Test. Cummins then spoke on Monday and said he was “less likely than likely” to be fit for Perth and would need a minimum of four weeks of bowling to be ready.Bailey had no further information on whether Cummins had started bowling, but suggested there were positive signs in his training progression over the past week.”I actually have no further update on that from when I think the last time Pat spoke,” Bailey told reporters in Perth on Saturday. “It’s progressing. He’s building up. He’s optimistic about it. I think actually the more he’s done over the last few days, the more optimistic he’s become but I categorically don’t know if he’s bowled a ball.”We know time is getting short and there’s permutations around that, not just around the back, but other factors as well. It’s positive. [We’re] really confident that he’s going to play a major part. Hopefully it’s the first Test. If not, then we’ll pick it up.”Bailey confirmed that Steven Smith would captain Australia if Cummins were to be unavailable. Smith has arrived in Sydney from his home in New York and is set to play the next two Sheffield Shield games for New South Wales after missing the opening two rounds.Bailey added he would catch up with Smith when Australia’s ODI squad reaches Sydney on Friday but noted that discussions on the batting positions of Smith and Green in the Test XI would be had at a later date.Cameron Green remains on track to play two more rounds of Sheffield Shield cricket•Getty Images

Allrounder questions

Green’s withdrawal from the ODI squad after experiencing side soreness raised concerns, but Bailey said that scans had cleared him of injury and played down any worries about his availability to play as an allrounder in the first Test.”It is minor and it’s conservative, and I think this decision probably ensures that we do have enough time to make sure,” Bailey said. “We put so much time and energy into building out the plan for him to be available for the first Test as an allrounder. So for the sake of, he was only going to play the first two ODIs anyway, the way he swings the cricket bat in white-ball cricket, even if it just sets him back for 24 more hours, we just made the decision to approach this more conservatively.He’ll keep his plan of playing Shield [round] three and Shield four. I’m not across what overs there will be in that, but the plan will remain, and that should provide pretty good time that he’d in a good place to be ready to bowl.”Green’s minor injury aside, his return to bowling and the form of Marnus Labuschagne and Jake Weatherald had led to public conversation about whether Webster could be squeezed out of Australia’s XI for the Ashes.Webster has missed Tasmania’s opening two Shield matches due to a rolled ankle, although he wanted to play in the second game against Western Australia. He was urged not to by Bailey who gave the strongest endorsement yet that Webster would be a key part of Australia’s Ashes plans.”Last time he rolled his ankle, I think about five weeks later, he had a bit of a soft tissue injury,” Bailey said. “[We] just sort of [took] Beau through the journey of let’s work back from Sydney, rather than up to Perth. For the sake of one extra week, get it right, launch yourself into into Shield three.”I think [his] allround package has been really important. He’ll be in Perth. Everyone can relax.”Marnus Labuschagne is primed for a recall but debates over the batting order will continue•Getty Images

Signs positive for Labuschagne

Bailey stopped short of guaranteeing Labuschagne’s return to the Test side but he had seen both his Shield centuries in person this summer and was impressed by what he watched.”I thought out of everything that he’s played, I really liked the innings in Adelaide,” Bailey said. “I liked the intent, I liked the movement, liked the way he built the partnerships. It’s a nice bowling attack South Australia have got, so he’s batting nicely. We know he’s a quality player. We know there’s a hell of a lot of class there.”To see him putting the runs up that has been really pleasing. And long may it continue.”Bailey noted Weatherald’s match-winning innings of 94 on a difficult surface in Hobart as another sign of his quality. He also thought there were positive signs in Sam Konstas’ 53 against Victoria on a tricky pitch at Junction Oval and added that the intense scrutiny on his domestic returns were “probably not helpful” given he’s in a “learning” phase of his career.Bailey also confirmed that Australia’s squad for the last three matches of the T20I series against India was still being finalised but there was a strong possibility that Travis Head, Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott will all be released to play in the fourth Shield round.Josh Inglis looks set to miss the entire ODI series against India after suffering a setback with his calf injury eight days ago as he ramped up his running but there is confidence he will be fit for the entire T20I series. There are no plans at this stage to send him to play Shield cricket despite being in the Ashes frame as a reserve batter and reserve wicketkeeper.The squad for the first Test will be named in early November after the conclusion of the third round of Shield matches.

Zimbabwe and Namibia have sealed their places in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier early next year in Nepal, where ten teams will compete for four spots in the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup in England in June and July. Neither Zimbabwe nor Namibia have ever qualified for a women’s World Cup in any format in the past.They join Bangladesh, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Thailand, Nepal and USA, who have already made it to the global qualifying tournament. The tenth and final team will come from the East Asia-Pacific regional qualifier, which begins in Fiji on September 9.Zimbabwe qualified by beating Uganda in the first semi-final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Region Division One Qualifier in Windhoek on Thursday. Namibia beat Tanzania in the second semi-final to book their spot. They will contest the final of the Africa regional qualifier on September 6.The T20 World Cup qualifier comprises ten teams divided into two groups of five each. The top six teams then make it to the Super Six stage, before the final. The tournament begins on January 12 and ends on February 2. The matches will be held at the Lower Mulpani Cricket Stadium and the Upper Mulpani Cricket Stadium in Kathmandu.The T20 World Cup in 2026 will have 12 teams participating for the first time in the history of the tournament, up from ten teams in 2024. New Zealand are the defending champions, having beaten South Africa in the final in Dubai last year.

A captain who had led in just five first-class matches before taking charge of the Test team. His overseas form a subject of scrutiny. His best bowler available for only three out of five matches. A batting line-up thin on experience after the retirements of two stalwarts. India arrived in England in early June with several questions to answer.Two months on, Shubman Gill’s India enter the final Test of this highly compelling Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series with the chance to finish 2-2.”Very significant,” Gill said about what it would mean to his team to draw the series after losing the first Test in Leeds, then bouncing back to win in Birmingham without Jasprit Bumrah, nearly pulling off a pulling off a miracle at Lord’s, followed by a hard-fought draw in Manchester.Related

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Every Test going deep into the final day is rare in a five-match series. The hot weather and slow pitches have pushed the players’ limits and caused injuries – most significantly ruling Ben Stokes out of the fifth Test at The Oval.”If you look at the kind of cricket we have played, sometimes the scorecard of the series, as in where we are in the series, doesn’t determine that. Every match that we have played, it was very difficult to decide which team is going to win after four days of cricket,” Gill said. “If we are able to do that for every match for four matches coming outside of India with a relatively young team, it is going to be a big achievement for us if we are able to level the series.”This century, India had won the three-Test series in England 1-0 in 2007 and had drawn the series 2-2 in 2021-22. Both those teams went to England with plenty of senior players and leadership experience. That is not true for this side and, and yet, between June and July, Gill has shown he can compartmentalise captaincy and batting, and not let one impact the other.As batter, he is over 200 runs ahead of the next-most prolific scorer this series, and as captain, he has made debatable decisions on the field but has admitted his mistakes and come out wiser. “The series has been a great learning curve for me,” Gill said. “There are some things that you can only learn from experience, and I’ve learned so much from these four matches that we have played and hopefully we’re going to finish on a high.”One of those decisions was on the third morning at Old Trafford, when Gill delayed giving the ball to offspinner Washington Sundar, who had found sumptuous drift at Lord’s and taken a four-wicket haul in England’s first innings. The dry pitch was favourable for Washington but Gill brought him on only after lunch and the offspinner dismissed Ollie Pope and Harry Brook in quick succession.”It’s very difficult when you are playing six bowlers [because] then one or two bowlers are definitely going to be under-bowled,” he said, explaining that passage of play. “In the last match also, people felt that Washington could have come in earlier, which is a valid point, but sometimes when you are out in the middle you see with this ball [Dukes] when there are two spinners bowling early in the innings, it’s very hard to maintain the ball and the fast bowler goes out of the game for about eight-ten overs because then you need to maintain the ball.3:37

What attack should India pick at The Oval?

“So, in hindsight, there would always be opinions and there would always be thoughts, and you could have done this, would have done that. But what matters is when you are out there in the middle, you want to be able to make a decision that you think would suit the best for that moment. And when you are playing with six bowling options, there would definitely be some opinions where one bowler is going to go under-bowled, but it’s good to have more bowling options rather than not having bowling options for sure.”India will stick to the six-bowler strategy at The Oval too, with Akash Deep set to replace Bumrah and Shardul Thakur retained as bowling allrounder. Washington, Ravindra Jadeja and Dhruv Jurel, who replaces the injured Rishabh Pant, comprise the lower-middle order.While he had not seen the pitch before the media briefing, Gill, perhaps based on the inputs he got from the team management, said it was “good”. By that, he meant it was green and the forecast – overcast conditions – for all five days might bring the fast bowlers into play.Gill, however, did not reveal whether Arshdeep Singh, the solitary left-arm quick in the squad, would make his Test debut, or whether Prasidh Krishna, dropped after the victory at Edgbaston, would make a comeback at The Oval as the third fast bowler in the XI.

Kieron Pollard. A batting coach at Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Apt, seeing that he is 38-plus. But a full-fledged allrounder elsewhere around the world, including at MLC, where he is such a key part of MI New York. Just how key, he showed on Friday night in Dallas, walking out with MINY’s asking rate over 12, smashing 47 not out from 22 balls, and putting his team in the MLC 2025 final at the expense of Texas Super Kings, who must have felt they were going to the title round till Pollard happened.The chase wasn’t massive: 167. But MINY lost Quinton de Kock and Michael Bracewell for single-digit scores by the seventh over. That they had 43 on the board when Bracewell fell was mainly down to Monank Patel, but he was going at a strike rate of just around 120. Nicholas Pooran, who had walked out at the fall of Bracewell, was at just about a run a ball. And when Monank, after trying hard, fell for 49 off 39 in the 13th over, MINY had only reached 83.They needed a shift in gears. Pollard, facing his first ball, off Noor Ahmad, saw the ball in his arc just outside the off stump and went thump – 100 metres down the ground.Akeal Hosein hit a quick half-century to give Texas Super Kings a fighting total•Sportzpics for MLC

Somehow, though, TSK stayed in the game. And after 16 overs, the asking rate was still 12.50. Then Zia-ul-Haq found the ball in his hand, Pollard across the pitch from him second ball onwards, and Pollard went 6, 4, 4, 2, 6. The over went for 23. That was the shift MINY needed, and TSK must have been dreading.It was straightforward after that, till Pooran finished it off with his third six off the last ball of the 19th, walking off with 52 from 36. Pollard walked off with him, 47 off 22. And MINY were in the final, where they will play Washington Freedom, having completed a dramatic switch after finishing the league stage with three wins from ten games and having to go through the Eliminator-Qualifier 2 route, which they have now.To be fair, the chase should have been more comfortable when TSK were kept to 166. Faf du Plessis had to play pretty much a lone hand for the best part of the innings, till the 13th over, with the rest of the batting collapsing like a pack of cards. Smit Patel, Saiteja Mukkamalla, Shubham Ranjane and Marcus Stoinis all fell for single-digit scores, and du Plessis’ 42-ball 59 was the only reason TSK were in the contest.His fall, though, gave TSK their best phase with the bat, as Donovan Ferreira joined Akeal Hosein with the scoreboard reading 85 for 5 with just over seven overs to go. Hosein hit 55 in 32 balls, Ferreira hit 32 in 20, they put together an unbroken stand of 81 in 45 balls, and gave TSK hope. Pollard, in the main, and Pooran dashed it 19 overs later.

The BCCI has decided to scrap the Impact Player rule for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (SMAT). The rule was introduced in SMAT couple of years ago and was later extended to the Indian Premier League (IPL).”Kindly note that the BCCI has decided to do away with the provision of the ‘Impact Player’ for the ongoing season,” the BCCI informed the state associations on Monday.The BCCI’s decision to do away with the Impact Player comes shortly after they decided to retain it in the IPL for the next three seasons, up to 2027. Since its introduction in the 2023 season, the rule has stirred debate over whether it is indeed beneficial to Indian cricket, which was the original motive, or whether it could be hurting the development of allrounders. Several high-profile players such as Rohit Sharma had expressed concerns over the rule saying it could be detrimental to the development of allrounders.Related

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“I generally feel that it is going to hold back (development of allrounders) because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. I’m not a big fan of impact player. You are taking out so much from the game just to make it little entertainment for the people around,” Rohit had said on the podcast.In May this year, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah had referred the rule as “a test case” in the IPL and that this “is not permanent [but] I am not saying that it will go.”Saurashtra head coach Niraj Odedra welcomed the BCCI’s decision. “It is nice change. Also the ICC doesn’t have this rule in major tournaments So it would be good for cricketers who want to play for India as they graduate from domestic season,” he said.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny, the Hollywood actors and co-owners of Wrexham AFC, have been in contact with Glamorgan about the prospect of buying a stake in Welsh Fire, the Cardiff-based team in the Hundred.Reynolds and McElhenny, who took ownership of Wrexham in November 2020, have witnessed back-to-back promotions in 2022-23 and 2023-24, with the club now playing in the third tier of English football. The pair are believed to be considering further investment in Welsh sport.The ECB formally started the process for securing private investment in the Hundred earlier this month. Raine, the American investment bank, has distributed prospectuses to interested parties and Vikram Banerjee, who is leading the process as the ECB’s director of business operations, said there has been a “phenomenal level of interest from a diverse mix of investors”.Sophia Gardens, Glamorgan’s home ground, has the smallest capacity of any venue in the Hundred, and Welsh Fire are expected to be the cheapest franchise with an estimated valuation of around £30 million. Revenue from initial investments will be distributed across the counties but Glamorgan will be handed a 51% stake in Welsh Fire which they can control.Related

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Glamorgan have spoken to a number of different interested parties over the past few months, with the owners of Pakistan Super League franchise Multan Sultans understood to be among them. But there has been particular intrigue around the prospect of Reynolds and McElhenny buying a stake which Dan Cherry, the club’s chief executive, believes is “an exciting proposition”.Cherry told ESPNcricinfo: “It is a feasible option. Contact’s been made. There’s not been anything substantial come back yet, but we’re in the process and I know that they’ll certainly be included in any process that we’ve got going forward. All bids and offers that are going to come in are going to be interesting to us, and we’re going to have to evaluate what the best bid is for us.”There’s obvious interest in what Ryan Reynolds and the guys have done at Wrexham, which has been fantastic for football in North Wales. That doesn’t necessarily mean to say that it’ll be the right option for us, but if they’re interested in talking to us, obviously it’s an exciting proposition.”The majority of IPL franchises are expected to bid for stakes in Hundred teams, though the ECB are reluctant to replicate the SA20’s ownership model where every team is IPL-owned. Private equity firms CVC and RedBird Capital are also understood to have an interest in the sale process, though Ineos – who have invested heavily across sports, including latterly Manchester United – are unlikely to bid.Glamorgan believe that the Fire’s relatively low valuation – the London-based franchises could be worth four times more – makes them an attractive investment, given the costs across the Hundred are relatively similar with a salary cap in place and that the majority of revenue will come from an even split of central broadcast money.”We just see the great opportunity here to be part of a nation, not only being great value,” Cherry said. “You’d be representing Wales: Cardiff is a fast-growing city with major events happening here all the time at Principality Stadium, the Castle, and Cardiff City Stadium. It’s a great place to invest, and we believe we’ve got something different to all of the other venues.Welsh Fire’s women reached the Hundred final for the first time this year•ECB/Getty Images

“We are really proud of the fact that we are the only Welsh first-class county, and that we are hosting England matches here at Sophia Gardens is important to us. Ultimately, that is something which, when we talk to a potential partner or investor, will be something really important to us: maintaining our Welsh interest, heritage and history.”Cherry said that Glamorgan are “very open-minded” and will not rush into a deal. As things stand, they intend to retain their 51% stake in Welsh Fire. “We want to make the right decision for the club and the game: we want to find the right partner, the right investor that’s going to improve what we do and support us along the journey – not take over.”We are keen to build a partnership where people can add value to us as a club… whether it be on the cricket side, around players and coaches and sharing academies, or more on the commercial side. We’re looking for a true partner that can add value – not looking to lose control and sell our soul, as some people would have it.”Glamorgan have had a mixed first year under Grant Bradburn as head coach, with their season resting on Sunday’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup final against Somerset. But Cherry, in his first full season as chief executive, believes the club’s financial position has improved to the point where they can continue to grow the sport in Wales and achieve more of their on-field aims.”It’s pretty well documented that we probably haven’t achieved what we would’ve liked to on the field over the last 15-20 years,” he said. “We haven’t produced players to play for England and we spent all of that time in Division Two. The opportunity to be part of the group of people that can hopefully change that is really exciting.”We’ve had to work through some of the challenges around our finances and the debt profile, but we’re in a much stronger position now financially to be able to now put all of our efforts into trying to improve the cricket side of things. That’s going to be a big focus for me in this role in the coming years.”

Chandika Hathurusinghe is a hard taskmaster. He doesn’t mince his words, not to players, board officials or journalists. It is the sort of outlook that can sometimes rub people the wrong way. On Monday, in Rawalpindi however, the Bangladesh coach showed a different side of himself.After three routine questions, Hathurusinghe was asked about his feelings having been in Dhaka, a city shaken up by political unrest. He had arrived on the evening of August 2 when there was still a curfew and the country was tense. The following three days saw more violence as what began as student protests in July spilled over into something more tumultuous. Hathurusinghe stayed at the Amari hotel in Dhaka’s Gulshan area. It is usually a quiet area but during the protests, every inch of Dhaka, including the posh ones, was in upheaval.Hathurusinghe tried to answer the question with his usual straight-faced calm but was soon overwhelmed. He started to choke on his words and needed a few moments to gather himself. When asked what made him so emotional, he touched upon the losses sustained by the Bangladesh people.Related

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“I mean, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of those who lost their loved ones,” Hathurusinghe said. “It was really hard… I think, I hope the students’ questions will be answered. It was an unprecedented event. I hope that the country will come to normalcy soon. It was very difficult.”It is rare that Bangladesh cricketers and coaches engage in public with subjects outside of the game. They often keep their cards close to the chest. But the unrest back home has been significant. Indeed, Hathurusinghe said that he hopes that the Bangladesh team can bring some good news to a nation battered by political turmoil. “We know that sport has a real power to unite and give hope to the people,” he said.Hathurusinghe also said that he would be keen to continue as Bangladesh’s head coach but would accept the BCB’s decision if they ended his contract. He was appointed in February 2023 and is reportedly set to stay on until the end of the 2025 Champions Trophy. The BCB president Nazmul Hassan, who hasn’t been seen or heard from for the last two weeks, was Hathurusinghe’s biggest backer.”I don’t know what’s happening back home,” he said. “I have signed a contract till whatever the date. I am looking forward to serve the term. If the board changes, and the new people want to make a change, I am okay with that. If they want to continue with me, I am happy to continue.”Bangladesh have five pacers in their squad but Taskin Ahmed will only be available for the second Test•PCB

Hathurusinghe couldn’t join training in Dhaka, which is why the BCB accepted the PCB’s invitation for three extra days of training in Lahore ahead of the Test series. He said that they have brought a good, all-round team but it does look spin-heavy, especially when compared to the Pakistan side who have opted to go in with all-pace.Hathurusinghe said that Bangladesh have enough depth in the pace department to make use of the conditions they will be getting when the first Test begins on Wednesday. “The Rawalpindi pitch looks more favourable for fast bowling and batting,” he said. “They also didn’t pick any spinners. Lately, we have developed a lot of good fast bowlers in our ranks as well. If the condition favours, they will do well. Shakib Al Hasan and [Mehidy Hasan] Miraz are two world-class allrounders. We have all our bases covered for whatever they throw at us.”Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, Khaled Ahmed and Taskin Ahmed are the pacers in Bangladesh’s squad, although Taskin will be available only for the second Test.”The fast bowlers did well in the [T20] World Cup where they had favourable conditions. It hasn’t happened overnight. It developed in the last two years. They have not played 20 Tests altogether, so they are young fast bowlers compared to the Pakistan attack. I am really excited to see how they continue,” Hathurusinghe said.Bangladesh’s main concern is their batting, which has lost its way in the last 12 months. Their latest failure was at the T20 World Cup, in June, but Hathurusinghe believes that Pakistan’s pitches could bring out the best in them.”Batting has been a concern for a while, but not for one reason,” he said. “We play in result-oriented wickets back home. Sometimes 250 is a winning score in those pitches. Obviously when you play on these pitches, the batters have a tough time. I hope the pitches in Pakistan generally favour batting. It is a good contest between bat and ball. We will show better result on these pitches.”

Andrew Strauss has called for James Anderson to receive a knighthood as the England legend prepares for his 188th and final Test cap at Lord’s this week.As Test cricket’s most productive pace bowler with 700 career dismissals at 26.52, and England’s most capped cricketer, “Sir Jimmy” seems a foregone conclusion.Strauss is one of a number within English cricket to be recently awarded knighthoods, having received the honour in 2019 from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to charity, sport and cricket (his longtime opening partner Alastair Cook is also a Sir). Having captained Anderson for 42 Tests, and also worked above the 41-year-old as the ECB’s director of men’s cricket, Strauss has had a box seat to Anderson’s brilliance. He can also speak to his longevity, having retired from Test cricket 12 years ago, despite making his debut a year after Anderson in 2004.Related

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When asked if Anderson was worthy of being knighted too, Strauss was unequivocal: “Very much so! I think any fast bowler that plays 188 Test matches deserves a knighthood, I’ll put it that way.”Strauss had previously tried and failed to park Anderson and Stuart Broad, who retired at the end of last summer. Off the back of a disastrous 2021-22 Ashes campaign, Strauss, in his guise as interim director of cricket following the departure of Ashley Giles, dropped the pair for a tour of the West Indies.Their absence was short-lived as Ben Stokes restored Anderson and Broad for the home summer with his first act as Test captain. Two years on, Stokes, along with head coach Brendon McCullum and men’s managing director Rob Key, have finally pulled the plug on Anderson.”Jimmy’s still bowling well, as we saw from his performances at Lancashire [for whom he took 7 for 35 last week] but there’s a ticking clock there for the next Ashes, isn’t there?” Strauss said. “I think 18 games until the next Ashes. And at some stage you’ve got to juggle the needs for the future with the needs for the present. So I can understand why they’ve chosen this as the right time to do that.”One thing we know for sure is that to win in Australia, or to win any test match or any Test series, it all comes down to the quality and variety of your bowling attack. And so, to me, the next Ashes is too far away for Jimmy.”People have written him off many times, including probably myself, but that does feel too far down the road. And so at some stage you have got to start planning for that.”I think it’s a tremendous thing that he has the opportunity here this week to feel the love, I suppose, and to get the appreciation he deserves from the cricketing public for those 21 years. It’s going to be a very emotional and poignant Test match and, of course, the boots that need to be filled are immense. But I can understand why this is the right time.”Strauss will be present for Anderson’s farewell with Lord’s set to turn red on day two to support the Ruth Strauss Foundation’s #RedForRuth campaign.It will be the sixth year of the initiative, aiming to raise funds and awareness for the charity set-up in memory of Strauss’ late wife, which supports families facing the death of a parent from cancer, and funds more collaboration and research into non-smoking lung cancers.”Most of what I’ve done in my career, achievement-wise, has been about me but this isn’t,” Strauss said. “This is about a need that we can help fill and I feel very proud we are carrying out Ruth’s wishes to a certain degree. But our work is only just beginning, really.”We would struggle to do what we do without this ‘Red for Ruth’ Test match and we are incredibly grateful to the ECB, to Lord’s and to the cricket community for continuing to support us.”