Month: June 2018

Scotland v England – ODI Preview

Scotland get a rare opportunity to face up to the auld enemy on Sunday, when Eoin Morgan’s England side venture north of Hadrian’s wall for a one-off ODI at the historic Grange ground in Edinburgh.

Above: the picturesque pavilion at Edinburgh’s Grange Cricket Club.

Despite being close neighbours, encounters between the two are as rare as a wild haggis sighting. England have visited Scotland on three occasions only since the sides first played against each other in 2008, with two wins for England and a rain-affected no result the outcomes. Their last encounter was in the 2015 Cricket World Cup in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2015, where defeating the Scots was one of England’s few bright spots in an otherwise disastrous tournament

It is a shame that England have not treated their fellow UK countrymen with more respect by playing them with more frequency,  but it is a situation that is unlikely to improve, with Scotland having missed out on participating in the inaugural 13-team ODI Championship, and with the ICC’s disgraceful decision to limit the World Cup to only ten teams, opportunities for Scotland against the top sides are going to be difficult to come by.

That is unfortunate as it comes at a time when the game north of the border is going from strength to strength. It is a little over twelve months ago since Scotland recorded their first win over a Full member side, beating Zimbabwe, and they followed that up with a win over Afghanistan and a tie with Zimbabwe in the 2019 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament earlier this year. Scotland only narrowly missed out on qualification having fallen at the last hurdle against Ireland and West Indies – thanks in no small part to two appalling LBW decisions by Australian umpire Paul “Blocker” Wilson. Scotland will be happy to learn that Wilson is nowhere near Edinburgh this week, with local umpire Alan Haggo and South Africa’s Marais Erasmus taking charge.

Despite Scotland’s recent form, England will still be strong favourites – they are the number one ranked ODI side in the world, and are coming off series wins over New Zealand, Australia and West Indies in the last year since losing to eventual champions Pakistan in the semi final of the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy. England will use the game as a warm-up for the visit of Australia for a five game ODI series that starts later this week, but have still sent a strong squad north of the border. All rounders Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes are injured, and regular keeper Jos Buttler is rested ahead of the Australia encounters -but other than that England look formidable opponents for the Saltires.

So with Scotland chasing a first ever win over England, there are also a couple of personal milestones to keep a watch for:

Kyle Coetzer (Scotland)

The Saltires’ skipper is already his country’s leading ODI run scorer, with 1911 runs to his name. An opening batsman, he will play his 50th ODI on Sunday and needs just 89 runs on a pitch renowned for being bat-friendly to become the first Scot to notch up 2,000 runs.

Eoin Morgan (England)

For his part, England’s skipper needs 130 runs to overtake Ian Bell as England’s all time leading ODI run scorer.

West Indies v Sri Lanka – Test Series Preview

Test cricket returns to the Caribbean this week, with the arrival of Sri Lanka for a intriguing series which pitches two inconsistent but improving sides together.

At the time of going to press, it is somewhat unclear whether this will be a two or three match series. Originally scheduled for three, with the final match slated to be a day/night affair at Bridgetown’s storied Kensington Oval, there has been much speculation that one Test may be shelved or converted into an ODI in a cost cutting measure aimed at helping the cash-strapped Cricket West Indies governing body.

For now, we’ll assume it stays as planned, with the first Test starting on Wednesday June 6th at Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Oval, and followed up by a visit to the Daren Sammy Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia before the pink ball match up in Barbados finishes things off.

Both sides have shown sparks of recovery in the longest format over the last 12 months or so. The hosts have been in the doldrums for many years in Test cricket, riven by player strikes and at best baffling management by the governing body, but in recent times they have won a series in Zimbabwe and won individual tests against both England and Pakistan away from home under the leadership of young all-rounder captain Jason Holder.

The visitors meanwhile have won series in Bangladesh and in the UAE against Pakistan, with a loss to India in between. The Sri Lankans are the higher-ranked side (6th to the Windies 9th) and may well find the slow wickets in the Caribbean to their taste.

The Sri Lankans have had injury worries ahead of the tour, with opening batsman Dimuth Karunaratane and fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera out injured. Their squad contains as many as four uncapped players as a result – bowlers Asitha Fernando, Kasun Rajitha and Jeffrey Vandersay plus batsman Mahela Udawatte.

The hosts meanwhile have recalled Devon Smith after a Test absence of three years,  and may hand a debut to 20yr old Anguillan keeper-batsman Jahmar Hamilton.

From a personal player perspective there are a few milestones to watch out for as the series unfolds:

Kemar Roach (West Indies)

Fast bowler Roach is enjoyinga bit of a renaissance of late, and needs just three wickets to bring up 150 in Tests.

Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies)

The opening batsman needs just 80 runs to mark 3,000 in Tests.

Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka)

Former captain Mathews currenty has 4,914 career Test runs in his ledger, needing 86 more to reach 5,000. If he can manage 190 runs in the series, he will move past Sri Lankan legend Arjuna Ranatunga into 8th place for his country.

Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka)

The ageless spinner Herath’s 415 Test wickets see him in 12th place in the world all-time – having been overhauled by England’s Stuart Broad this week. Broad and Harbajhan Singh share tenth place on 417, with South Africans Shaun Pollock and Dale Steyn in 8th and 9th on 421 and 419 respectively. Rangana will have all in his sights!

 

Afghanistan v Bangladesh – T20I Series preview

In  two weeks Afghanistan will follow Ireland into the ranks of Test playing nations, when they make their bow in the prestigious format against India in Bengalaru. Ahead of that much anticipated game, the Afghans last assignment as a non-Test team will be a three match Twenty20 International series against Bangladesh, which gets underway on Sunday 3rd June.

All three games, with the second and third matches taking place on Tuesday and Thursday, are being held in Afghanistan’s defacto home in India. These will be the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehardun’s first ever internationals having opened in December 2016. It will become the 51st stadium in India to host official international games.

Above: The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehardun makes its debut international appearance in the series.

The series also marks the first bilateral engagement between the two countires. In fact, they have only ever met once before in a Twenty20 International – Bangladesh running out the winners in a first round game at the 2014 World Twenty20 tournament in Dhaka.

As well as “home” advantage, form in the shortest format would also appear to be on Afghanistan’s side heading into the series. They have won two of their last three series – in Sharjah against Zimbabwe in February this year and against Ireland at Greater Noida in India last year. Sandwiched between those wins was a 3-0 series loss to the West Indies in the Caribbean.

For their part, Bangladesh lost to India in the final of their most recent tournament – the Nidahas Twenty20 Tri-Series held in Sri Lanka – and have in fact only won four of their last twenty T20 Internationals. That poor form sees them ranked a lowly tenth in the format, compared to Afghanistan’s eighth.

So a keenly fought series awaits. There are a few significant milestones in reach for players of both sides:

Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

The Tigers’ captain Shakib is ranked third in the world for T20I all-rounders, and is in sight of a very significant all-round record in this series.

Sitting on 498 international wickets across all formats, he needs just two to bring up 500. If he does, he will join a very exclusive club of just two other players (Shahid Afridi of Pakistan and South Africa legend Jacques Kallis) to notch up both 10,000 international runs and 500 wickets.

Shakib will also be playing his 300th International for Bangladesh across formats in the first game.

Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh)

By strange coincidence, Bangladesh’s opening batsman is also playing his 300th international in the first game -although not all of his have come wearing the green cap/helmet of Bangladesh, having also played a number of times in the last twelve months for the ICC World XI. Indeed he played for the ICC representative side earlier this week as a teammate of Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan who he now lines up against.

For both teams he has scored a total of 1,442 Twenty20 International career runs, so will be looking for just 58 ore to bring up 1,500.

Rashid Khan (Afghanistan)

It’s hard to believe legspinner Rashid Khan is still a teenager, such has been his impact in international cricket since he made his Afghanistan debut as a 16-year old in 2015. Sought after the world over in franchise cricket, Khan has taken 149 international wickets for Afghanistan and the ICC World XI combined, and 49 in Twenty20s – so needs just one more to bring up the 150 / 50 respectively.

Mohammad Shahzad (Afghanistan)

The Afghans’ flamboyant keeper-batsman will be looking to make big strides up the rankings of international Twenty20 cricket’s all time run-scorers.

His 1816 career runs in the format currently have him in eighth place in the world, but 74 runs in the series will see him rocket up to fourth – leaving South African JP Duminy (7th on 1822), India’s Rohit Sharma (6th, 1852), Shoaib Malik of Pakistan (5th, 1887) and Sri Lankan Tilakaratne Dilshan (4th, 1889) in his wake.

Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan)

Allrounder Nabi can make similar moves up the bowling charts. His 61 T20I wickets are enough for 10th place worldwide currently, but six more scalps in Dehardun will see him march up to sixth.

New Zealand’s Tim Southee (9th, 62 wickets), Englishman Stuart Broad (8th, 65) and the Sri Lankan pair Ajantha Mendis and Nuwan Kulasekara (Joint 6th, 66) are the men in his sights.

Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh)

Currently having 893, batsman Sabbir needs 107 runs to become the fourth Bangladeshi (after Shakib, Tamin and Mushfiqur Rahim) to bring up 1,000 Twebty20 international runs.

Potential Debutants

There are two uncapped players in the Afghanistan squad who may make their Twenty20 debuts if chosen – Harzat Zazai and Darwish Rasool could become the 39th and 40th men to represent their country in the shortest format.

England v Pakistan – Second Test – quickfire stats preview

England face Pakistan in the second and final Test of the series at Headingley, with Pakistan having won the first Test by a whopping nine wickets.

I previewed the series in detail here, but ahead of the second Test, keep an eye out for these stats and milestones:

Joe Root (England) – needs 85 runs to bring up 6,000 in Tests

Stuart Broad (England) – after a pair in the first Test, Broad still needs 26 runs to bring up 3,000 in Tests, and become the fifth player of all-time to reach that mark alongside taking 400 Test wickets

Alastair Cook (England) – will break Allan Border’s world record by appearing in his 154th consecutive Test match.

Ben Stokes (England) – needs 2 wickets to bring up 100 career Test wickets, although he faces a fitness battle to be included in the XI having had a scan on his hamstring.