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Jack Leaning resists with unbeaten 47 as Yorkshire lead Warwickshire by 183 going into final day

Paul Edwards at York19-Jun-2019
Even in our secular age of easy loyalties a professional cricketer who leaves Yorkshire is still looked upon within the Ridings as something of an apostate. However understandable his motives, the faith he subsequently follows can never be quite pure. And in time – think Illingworth, think Close – he will probably return to worship at the shrine of St Emmott of Keighley.The problem is that this is no longer a universal truth. Halifax-born Oliver Hannon-Dalby, for example, is in his seventh season at Warwickshire and spends his days of obligation under the Rule of the Bear. In the first innings of this fine game he took 5 for 76 and marked nearly all his successes with a galumphing dance of delight. And on the third afternoon, when summer arrived to the surprised delight of all at Clifton Park, Hannon-Dalby removed both Will Fraine and Gary Ballance in a fine ten-over spell with the new ball.Those wickets left Yorkshire with a lead of 36 and only eight wickets in hand. They rather took the shine off the achievement of Steve Patterson’s team in bowling out Warwickshire for 254 earlier in the day. The dismissals of Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Adam Lyth to balls from Matt Lamb and Craig Miles deepened the home team’s woe but by close of play Yorkshire’s lead was a competitive 183 with three wickets in hand. Jack Leaning was unbeaten on 47 and the efforts of Patterson’s batsmen had been helped by the absence of Liam Norwell, who was forced from the field with a hamstring injury. We have a fine last day before us and York deserves nothing less.As for Hannon-Dalby, one of seven players in this team to have joined Warwickshire from other counties, he had made Jonny Tattersall his eighth victim of the match. This is already a career-best and a pleasant way to mark his 30th birthday on Thursday. The tall seamer is benefiting from the captaincy and example of Jeetan Patel at a time when Edgbaston is plainly in the throes of transition. But Hannon-Dalby is a leader, too, and he showed it with his removal of Fraine and Ballance.The first success owed something to fortune; Fraine and others thought he had inside edged the ball onto his pad. The second was a down to skill, as it needs to be these days to remove Ballance. Last week that skill was shown by Morne Morkel who, on a sopping morning at Guildford steamed in like a battle-cruiser; on Monday it was Patel who beat Ballance in the flight and caught him between a waltz and a tango; this afternoon Hannon-Dalby pitched one on off stump and moved it sufficiently to take the edge and give Will Rhodes – another recreant, may God save his perfidious soul – a simple slip catch.Lyth and Kohler-Cadmore attempted to recover from the departure of their side’s best batsman for only 18 by employing finely judged aggression. Kohler-Cadmore got off the mark with a lovely straight drive off Miles and then belted the same bowler through the covers off the back foot. Lyth, having resisted the temptations of his lesser angels, waited 49 balls before leg glancing his first boundary and celebrated by hooking Hannon-Dalby for six over the high wall adjoining a huge garden. That brought a relaxing break in play as a ladder was hoisted to help someone locate the ball and a young spalpeen was dispatched through a gap in the fence to retrieve it. To fill the time one eristic argued loudly with another about the prorogation of parliament. Most spectators probably wished devoutly they would shove a very big sock in it.Warwickshire’s next successes were not long delayed. Patel has his team chasing down everything and all players appear aware of what they might contribute. That was clear when Lamb’s first ball of the season induced an edge from a dithering Kohler-Cadmore and again when Lyth tried to pull the fifth ball after tea from Miles but only top edged a catch to Tim Ambrose.The long post-tea session stretched deep into a glorious evening with no loss of tension or purpose. Tattersall became Hannon-Dalby’s eighth wicket of the match when he nicked a catch to Ambrose and Patel bowled Jordan Thompson before having David Willey neatly stumped for a duck.It became barely possible to think this might have been a rain-wrecked day and even the fall of Yorkshire’s last five wickets seemed distant events. That was, in its way, a shame because the morning session had featured a rambunctious 27 by Miles and a comparatively surreptitious 37 by Ambrose. The best piece of cricket, though, was kept for the last delivery before tiffin when Patel inside edged the ball off Thompson, only to see Tattersall dive to his right to take a brilliant one-handed catch. The Yorkshire keeper is not finding cricket the easiest of games at the moment so it was good to see him embraced by Kohler-Cadmore and many other colleagues. Before long there were more hugs being exchanged than one might see on Ladies’ Day at Aintree, which generally sets a fearsome yardstick for wanton emotional effusions.We are buried deep in the evening at Clifton Park. Leaning’s fine innings on his old club ground is edging Yorkshire into a lead that will test Warwickshire’s batsmen. Instead of the expected grey, this became a day of dark blue, light blue and gold. The Yorkshire colours were worn proudly by the county’s seven capped players and they were sported in an altogether gaudier fashion by the blazered members of the 1863 Club in the Clifton Park pavilion.Our day’s cricket has been made all the more precious for being unexpected. Instead of rain we have had Philip Larkin’s “high-builded cloud moving at summer’s pace”. And above all, we have been reminded that what was true for Willie Quaife and David Denton holds good a century later for Sam Hain and Lyth.Let cricketers feel the sun’s warmth on their backs and the green fields of England become their playgrounds.

A year on from an infamous incident in a bar in Perth, Duckett’s recall for the Lions tour is a sign of his second coming

Matt Roller07-Jan-2019Winter can be a strange time for county cricketers. Once a period of rest or temporary work, the off-season has turned into a six-month bonanza of opportunity for many: T20 franchises are desperate to spot hidden gems outside of the international set-up, representative sides tour ever more frequently, and there are chances to learn or to make a point at every turn.But for Ben Duckett, last winter could hardly have been worse. It included a fine and a suspension after pouring a drink over James Anderson during England’s ignominious Ashes tour; omission from the Lions squad to tour the West Indies in the spring, and surgery on his left hand which ruled him out of the North v South series. It was, he reflects, “the lowest point of my career”.Fast forward a year, and there is a chance for redemption. Named in the Lions squad to tour India despite an underwhelming season which he describes as “my worst so far on the pitch”, Duckett has the opportunity to pile on the runs, and make the case that his unquestionable talent rather than his unruly reputation should be what makes him stand out from the crowd.”People have opinions on me,” he admits, “and I completely understand why they do. Getting the call-up when I’ve not necessarily done that well over the last 12 months shows there’s backing from the selectors and the coaches – they want me in there, which is such a positive for me.”I’ve made mistakes in my past and I’d be the first to admit that. Every time I have, I’ve been furious with myself. The management have backed me and shown faith in me. That tells me that the past is in the past, and I’m not going to think about it too much – it’s done now, and there’s nothing I can do about it. But thankfully, I’ve been given a great opportunity to represent the Lions again, so now it’s just down to me to go and perform.”Duckett is in the squad for the duration of the tour, meaning he will have five 50-over games and two unofficial Tests in which to impress. The trip marks Duckett’s first return to the subcontinent since England’s 2016-17 winter tours, during which he won his four Test caps. Despite a fluent fifty in defeat at Mirpur, his method against offspin came under scrutiny in India after R Ashwin dismissed him three times in as many innings, and he was dropped two games into the series.That is not to say that Duckett is overly concerned about the challenge that spinning conditions will present. “I’ve spoken to a few people about it,” he says, “but the offspinner who I was struggling against was probably the best one in the world. Ashwin’s not just an offspinner, either – he’s got all these variations, and a lot of left-handers have struggled against him. I’m trying not to think too much about it. I know now why I struggled when I last went to India, so at least that’s a head start for me going out there this time.”Despite his disappointment at a county season which brought only one hundred across formats, compared to three in 2017 and seven the year before that, Duckett impressed with a match-winning 75 on debut in the Mzansi Super League, and played for a youthful Hobart Hurricanes side in the Abu Dhabi T20 immediately after the season’s end.”Playing in different teams and different conditions is great,” he says. “If I do play at that step above again, and I go and play abroad, then I can now say that I’ve played there and I’ll know the conditions well. You play with different players, different coaches, and feed off them – it’s a great experience.”2018 also saw a move to Nottinghamshire for Duckett, after 12 years at Northamptonshire. There was no shortage of suitors as he approached the end of his contract at Wantage Road – Yorkshire was mooted as another possible destination – but the decision ended up being an easy one.”As soon as Peter Moores came and spoke to me, it was easy. After I chatted to him I said to my agent ‘just get it done, that’s the place I want to be’. I’ve played against Notts a number of times in the past few years, and I get on with a lot of the guys there. I loved my time at Northants, but as soon as I knew Notts were keen and spoke to them, I was dead set.”Alongside the signings of Ben Slater, Zak Chappell, and Joe Clarke, Duckett’s move to Trent Bridge was highlighted by some as evidence of wealthy counties poaching talent from smaller rivals. But from the players’ point of view, the moves are evidence of a long-term vision for the club.”I think it’s great what Notts are doing,” Duckett says. “They’re finding young, English players who can form the core of a side over the next few years; who can step up and be at Notts for the rest of their careers.”I completely understand people having opinions, but we’re just trying to get the most dangerous squad we possibly can. There’s a great balance between the experienced players and the younger guys, and looking forward, we should be contenders for every trophy this year.”For years Duckett has been mentioned as a future England star, although his professionalism has been called into question since he was a teenager. It is clear to him as much as anyone that reputations are hard to shed, and it would surely benefit all parties – Duckett, Notts, and England – if his batting was the only thing to make the headlines in 2019.Yet it is easily forgotten that Duckett is still only 24; easier still to forget that beneath the reputation lies a man with immense talent, who could well become an all-format regular at international level.Of course, Duckett knows that competition for England places is fierce, and has few illusions about the length and quality of the queues he is trying to reach the front of. “In all formats, it’s so tough to break into the set-up at the minute: I’m not going to put any pressure on myself, and I’m not the type of person who thinks too far ahead.”For this year, the main thing is playing for Notts, trying to win games and a couple of trophies. If one day I do get the recall then I’d be chuffed. Whatever the format, if I do play for England again, I’ll be over the moon.”

Captain scores career-best alongside return to form for Lions batsman

ECB Reporters Network16-Sep-2019Nottinghamshire 425 for 6 (Mullaney 179, Clarke 125) v Warwickshire
Centuries from Steven Mullaney and Joe Clarke enabled Nottinghamshire to deliver their best batting performance since early April in their Specsavers County Championship meeting with Warwickshire at Trent Bridge.The pair added 205 for the third wicket as Notts played with the freedom of a side whose fate has already been decided. Their defeat last week to Kent means that they’ll be playing second-tier cricket next season. That, coupled with their qualification for this weekend’s Vitality Blast Finals Day, enabled Notts to ring the changes and pile on the runs.By stumps they had reached 425 for 6 after being invited to bat first, their highest score of the season.Mullaney scored a career-best 179, from 173 deliveries, with 26 fours and five sixes. The Notts’ club captain, who has recently returned to the side after knee surgery, was crestfallen last week as the drop was confirmed. He shrugged off that disappointment to plunder boundaries all around Trent Bridge from a Bears attack that kept offering him the width to pepper the advertising boards at cover.Clarke, who has struggled for runs since the opening week of the season, regained his touch with a sublime innings of 125 – like Mullaney, reaching 100 for the 15th time.Three players were given a first-class debut by Notts, including Joey Evison who, at the age of 17 years 301 days, has become the first player born in the 2000s to represent the county. Evison immediately looked at ease and caressed nine fours in making 45 from only 54 balls before falling lbw to Henry Brookes.The other newcomers are Ben Compton, cousin for former England batsman Nick, who made 14 before being bowled by Will Rhodes and pace bowler Jack Blatherwick, who has made two one-day appearances for the county. Chris Nash, at the other end of his playing career, was bowled by Brookes without scoring.At lunch Mullaney was unbeaten on 90 and he wasted little time in advancing to his hundred soon afterwards, arriving at the landmark from 93 balls with 19 fours. Mullaney pepped up the already-impressive run rate with the first of five huge sixes coming off George Garrett’s bowling. He passed 150 for the fourth time in his career from 140 balls before lofting Jeetan Patel to Oliver Hannon-Dalby at mid-off.Clarke reached his hundred from 153 balls, with 18 fours and then accelerated to 125 before hitting Rhodes out to deep midwicket.Ben Duckett missed out, caught off Hannon-Dalby for eight but Ravi Ashwin and Paul Coughlin took Notts past 400 for only the second time this year.

Auckland fast bowler Ben Lister has been picked in a New Zealand squad for the first time

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2023Mitchell Santner has been named captain of New Zealand’s T20I squad for the series in India that begins later this month. Kane Williamson and Tim Southee will both be absent, having chosen not to travel after the ongoing series in Pakistan.Ben Lister, the 27-year-old Auckland fast bowler, is a first time inclusion in the New Zealand squad. He had toured India as part of the New Zealand A squad late last year and was named Auckland Cricket’s Men’s Bowler of the Year last season.”Ben has made an exciting impact for Auckland early in his career in red and white-ball cricket,” New Zealand’s chief selector Gavin Larsen said. “Since his debut in late 2017, he is the Aces’ leading wicket-taker in T20 and List A cricket. His ability to swing the ball considerably as a left-armer is particularly exciting.Related

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“We all felt for Ben after his tour ended the way it did last year, and it’s a testament to his work ethic that he’s been able to return to domestic cricket so strongly this season.”Lister’s A-team tour of India had ended abruptly when he came down with pneumonia and had to be hospitalised in Bengaluru before returning home. He’s taken five wickets in three Super Smash matches for Auckland so far this season, and six wickets in six Ford Trophy innings.With Williamson and Southee not travelling to India after the tour of Pakistan, New Zealand will be led by Tom Latham in the ODIs and Santner in the T20Is. Santner has led New Zealand in 11 T20Is – eight of which were in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands last year.”Mitch is a leader in our white-ball teams and has captained the T20 side in India [in Kolkata in 2021] before,” Larsen said. “His experience in Indian conditions will be invaluable leading this group.”NZC said that fast bowlers Kyle Jamieson (back), Matt Henry (abdominal), Adam Milne (side) and Ben Sears (back) were unavailable for selection because they are recovering from injuries.The New Zealand team is presently in Pakistan where they have one match to go in the three-ODI series that is level at 1-1, after having drawn the two-Test series 0-0. They will then travel to India for three ODIs in Hyderabad (January 18), Raipur (January 21) and Indore (January 24), before the three T20Is in Ranchi (January 27), Lucknow (January 29) and Ahmedabad (February 1).New Zealand’s T20I squad for India: Mitchell Santner (capt), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Dane Cleaver, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Lister, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rippon, Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner

The seasoned campaigner trades flamboyance for hard grind and the result is a marked improvement in his batting numbers

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur01-Dec-2018Mahmudullah has become Bangladesh clutch-hitter at crunch moments. Since early 2016, he’s also matured into a batsman who can craft tough runs, the 30-40 extra runs, that often make the difference in limited-overs cricket. This approach hasn’t really helped his poor Test form.Until his two centuries in the last three Tests, he had averaged 24.75 in 26 innings and his place was the only one, among other senior batsman, that was under scrutiny. When he failed twice in Sylhet against Zimbabwe last month, it appeared as if the pressure had consumed him.At the time, he wanted to bring “mental adjustments to his batting.” One way of doing that was “being positive.” In Mirpur against Zimbabwe and now in this series, he’s left the ball as well as he’s played them, an aspect that hasn’t been a hallmark of his game yet.Here, Mahmudullah’s discipline lasted for 242 deliveries, his longest innings in international cricket till date. His previous longest innings was the 177-ball he needed to make his maiden Test century against New Zealand in 2010.”I have been thinking from the second Test against Zimbabwe, I decided to take care of my mentality,” Mahmudullah said. “I wanted to remain positive, nothing more than that. I just wanted to score runs. Having said that, I was quite lucky [today] as well. A few decisions went my way and an edge didn’t carry to the slip. I have a lot of areas to improve, I have to keep working hard.”Against Zimbabwe, his unbeaten 101 revived Bangladesh from 25 for 4, eventually paving way towards setting a huge target. Against West Indies, he had to fight through 19 overs along with Shakib on the opening evening. Then on the second day he survived two lbw reviews, a catch that almost carried to Shimron Hetmyer at slip and another that Shai Hope dropped at slip.Then he saw Shakib and Liton Das tear into the West Indies attack. When he moved to the 90s, he saw No. 10 Taijul Islam batting more comfortably. This must have been humbling for someone used to dominating bowling attacks.”The ball wasn’t coming on to the bat. When Shakib and I were batting on the first day, we had to work hard,” he said of his grind. “I think we hit only a couple of boundaries. I wanted to be positive, but take minimum risks. The new ball was easier to bat against, which gave us more scoring options. It starts reducing as the ball gets older. We were looking to utilize the bad balls.”Ahead of the Test, Shakib spoke in details about his desire to see batsmen stick to their natural game. Shakib was indirectly asked about Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar, and without taking names, he made it clear that his stroke-players had to stick to what they do best.Mahmudullah, though, sees it differently. He isn’t fretting over not hitting fours and sixes anymore. He doesn’t mind playing dot balls and grinding down bowlers. The big-hitter has added another chapter to his batting, and it can only mean good news for Bangladesh.

Michael Atherton describes dramatic Rawalpindi victory as “one of England’s finest-ever Test-match wins”

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Dec-2022Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton led the plaudits for Ben Stokes after his England side sealed a dramatic final-day victory against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, a result they described as “one of England’s finest-ever Test-match wins”.Immediately after England’s winning moment, Hussain described the result as “one of the greatest Test-match victories you’ll ever see”, and praised Stokes’ performance as captain.”I do not think I’ve seen a better week of captaincy than what we’ve just seen from that man,” he said. “They had to get everything right to go 1-0 up and they did.Related

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“It was fitting it was [Jack] Leach with the last wicket, because Stokes has backed Leach all the way through since he took over as captain. [With] Brendon McCullum as well off the field, he has changed the culture and the mindset of this England side. Since they took over, eight matches, seven wins, one loss: the Stokes and McCullum era is changing the face of Test-match cricket.”Hussain and Atherton, who are working for the host broadcast and for Sky Sports in the UK, were both involved in England’s last Test victory in Pakistan – the famous win in the dark in Karachi – more than two decades ago in December 2000.Speaking later on Sky, Hussain added: “I can’t remember either in my playing days, watching cricket growing up, or commentating, a better performance. A performance where you have to get everything right, burst every sinew and walk the walk after talking the talk. I would say it is one of their greatest-ever victories away from home.”Atherton told Sky’s studio that Stokes would go down as “one of England’s most significant captains” due to the transformative effect he has had on their style of play since taking over from Joe Root earlier this year, and echoed Hussain in describing the result as one of England’s best Test wins.”Only 13 captains have declared in the third innings and lost,” Atherton said, “and that tells you that captains generally err to the side of caution in Test cricket when it comes to declarations, especially in the first Test of a series. Stokes erred the other way here, and he got his rewards. It was a fantastic declaration; it was still a lot of runs to get, but this was the flattest of flat pitches.”All his moves have paid off – tactically and strategically. It has been a masterclass of a performance from Ben Stokes, the captain. You always felt it was going to happen. You just felt that given England had made all the running, the gods were going to look kindly upon them and give them that final wicket. They certainly deserved it.”I struggle to think of another England team that would have won on this surface, and therefore it’s got to go down as one of the finest of England’s Test-match victories: a brilliant declaration by the captain at tea time. As we said yesterday, even if that had gone against England today, whether Pakistan had sneaked home or if the game had been drawn, I don’t think you’d have found anybody criticising that declaration.”

Quick bowlers on top on grassy tracks, with Sumon Khan picking up cheapest nine-for by a pacer in Bangladesh’s domestic first-class history

Mohammad Isam14-Oct-2022Defending champions Dhaka Division made a solid start to the 2022-23 National Cricket League (NCL) with an innings-and-62-run win over Rangpur Division. The game ended in a day-and-a-half as Rangpur slumped to 92 and 56 [with Naeem Islam retired hurt in the first innings and absent in the second] in the face of some hostile fast bowling, of the sort not seen at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in close to a decade.Elsewhere, Sylhet Division got the better of Chattogram Division, who earned promotion to Tier 1 last season, by nine wickets. Captain Zakir Hasan and veteran Nabil Samad starred for the winning side.In Tier 2, Dhaka Metropolis snuck past Khulna Division by two wickets in another low-scoring contest, while rain forced a draw between Barishal Division and Rajshahi Division in Rajshahi.The NCL is missing many top players, as the Bangladesh senior team is away, currently in New Zealand for the T20I tri-series and then in Australia for the T20 World Cup, while many others are in the BCB XI squad for their tour of Tamil Nadu.Best batters
No centuries in a full round of NCL matches is a rarity, but BCB’s policy of keeping more grass than usual on some of the pitches and introducing the Dukes ball looks like it made batting difficult.Nadif Chowdhury’s 90 for Dhaka Division against Rangpur Division on a spicy Shere Bangla pitch was the highest individual score. After Rangpur finished on 92 in their first innings, Dhaka were early trouble, at 61 for 5. Nadif struck ten fours and three sixes in his innings, with Dhaka stopping at 210 when he was the last wicket to fall.In a hard-fought game in Chattogram, Sylhet Division captain Zakir made a crucial 87 to ensure they led the home side by 171 runs after the first-innings exchanges. Zakir added 154 runs with Amite Hasan, who made 79, for the third wicket. He struck seven fours and a six in his four-hour stay, but as soon as he got out, Sylhet collapsed from 275 for 4 to be bowled out for 312.Sumon Khan picked up nine wickets in Dhaka’s win over Rangpur•BCB

Best bowlers
Sumon Khan’s match haul of nine wickets played a big part in Dhaka Division’s win over Rangpur Division. His 9 for 41 is the cheapest nine-for by a fast bowler in Bangladesh’s domestic first-class competitions. The only consolation for Rangpur was Musfik Hasan becoming only the third fast bowler to take a five-wicket haul [5 for 48]in first-class debut in Bangladesh.Sylhet Division’s Naeem Ahmed, an offspinner, had a more productive debut as his match figures of 8 for 70 added to Nabil’s nine-wicket haul in their side’s big win over Chattogram Division.Left-arm spinner Hasan Murad took career-best figures of 8 for 119 in the same game for Chattogram.Sharifullah’s seven wickets, including a second-innings five-for, was crucial in Dhaka Metro’s win over Khulna Division. In the rain-affected match in Rajshahi, pacers Nahid Rana and Kamrul Islam took four wickets each.Best match
Dhaka Metro picked up their closest win in the NCL since coming into the competition in the 2011-12 season. Manik Khan’s four-wicket haul helped them bowl out Khulna Division for just 131, but Dhaka Metro only took a 25-run lead. Sharifullah’s 25 was their top score, but when Khulna batted again, his five-for kept them down to 191.Dhaka Metro ran into trouble when they were 139 for 8 in the chase, still 28 runs short. Tailenders Abu Hider and Qazi Onik survived close to an hour to get them home, making 18* and 11* respectively.Points to ponder
Dhaka Division and Sylhet Division have got off to good starts, leaving Rangpur Division and Chattogram Division with a lot to do in Tier 1. Dhaka Metro have also done well to start off with a win in a tight Tier 2 field, which includes former champions Rajshahi Division and Khulna Division.Players to watch
Amite, who was the second-highest scorer in last season’s NCL, made a sound start this time too, with that 79 against Chattogram Division. Dhaka Division’s Sumon taking nine wickets was a good sign, while debutants Musfik and Naeem Ahmed also made impressive forays into the first-class game.

The company’s move aligns well with the PCB’s in-principle decision to scrap departments from the first-class structure

Umar Farooq in Lahore03-Apr-2019Habib Bank Limited (HBL), one of the strongest domestic cricket teams in Pakistan, has scrapped its cricket department after 43 years of being an integral part of the circuit.The bank’s sports division was set up in the early 1970s, and a cricket team emerged in 1975. Since then, HBL has been a mainstay, not missing a single season of domestic cricket. But the bank has decided not to renew contracts with cricketers after they expired on March 31, effectively shutting down the sports division, which had already stopped investing in football, hockey, table tennis, volleyball and badminton earlier, by 2016.The shutdown has been on the cards for a while, though it is not linked to recent moves to remove department sides like HBL from the domestic structure. Over the last six months, especially, the bank has pondered ways to cut costs – the cost of running the cricket team (departments finance their teams, while PCB sponsor the regional teams) was around $ 350,000 annually.HBL has, however, confirmed that though the cricket team will stop existing, the bank will continue to invest in the Pakistan Super League, which it has been the title sponsor of from its inception in 2016; the current deal is pegged at over $ 12 million.”HBL’s title sponsorship of the PSL, over the last four years, reflects our passion for the development of youth and the discovery of cricketing talent,” an HBL spokesperson said. “The PSL has given an opportunity to countless young cricketers to display their talent at a national and international level. This has led to an unprecedented talent pipeline for Pakistan cricket and has played an instrumental role in discovering players like Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Hasan Ali and many more.”With PSL, international cricket has returned to Pakistan. We are also delighted to see cricket facilities being uplifted in Pakistan and fans once again packing the stadiums to enjoy cricket. To continue to invest in PSL, and in the larger interest of cricket in Pakistan, HBL will redeploy its valuable resources from other avenues. This reinvestment will be partially achieved by exiting departmental cricket. HBL has had a long history in departmental cricket and recognises its valuable contributions to Pakistan cricket. Consequent to our enhanced focus on HBL PSL, the HBL cricket team will be demobilised.”Javed Miandad was one of the first major Pakistan stalwarts to play for Habib Bank•Getty Images

The entry of banks in Pakistan’s domestic cricket began in the early 1970s, with Abdul Hafeez Kardar, Pakistan’s first Test captain and then board chairman, encouraging them to provide employment opportunities for players. AR Wadiwalla, a senior vice-president at HBL in the mid-1970s, was the pioneer of setting up the HBL sports division with the promise that HBL’s name would be on every newspaper’s “sports pages all the time”.Wadiwalla convinced players to choose the bank to further their careers, and helped them secure their future post retirement from the game. Big names such as Javed Miandad, Abdul Qadir, Mohsin Khan, Sultan Rana and others were recruited in the Wadiwalla years, and players like Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul have since been regulars for the team. The last team included Fakhar, Faheem Ashraf, Ahmed Shehzad, Imam-ul-Haq and Abid Ali.Till the end of the last millennium, players were employed with the company, but after the privatisation of the bank in 2004, players were handed contracts, which were renewed ahead of every season. With the latest development, as many as 26 players and six support staffers have lost their contracts.The Habib Bank team played in the Pakistan domestic circuit for 43 years•Getty Images

“HBL will look after the interests of its cricket team members in line with its policies,” a statement said. “It foresees a great future for cricket in Pakistan where PSL will remain a catalyst for bringing international cricket to Pakistan and enabling more matches to be played in the country.”HBL’s move aligns well with the PCB’s in-principle decision to scrap departments from the first-class structure.The PCB recently put together a model in which department teams such as HBL, Water and Power Development Authority and Pakistan International Airlines would remain stakeholders alongside regional sides – although initially even the PCB had decided to strip departments of their playing rights.But this idea was knocked down by Imran Khan, the Pakistan prime minister, who does not want departments in the system in any capacity. He has instead directed the PCB to rework the structure to include just six provisional teams – two from Punjab, and one each from Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan and Gilgit-Baltistan.Imran had been a strong advocate of a domestic structure with only regional sides for much of his playing career, enamoured as he was especially by the Australian structure. There are many now – as there were then – who believe such a model will not work in Pakistan, where the population is nearly nine times that of Australia.

India overcome 110-run deficit to chase down 321 in the fourth innings courtesy half-centuries from Rishabh Pant, Karun Nair and Hanuma Vihari

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jul-2018Getty Images

Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 67 off 71 balls helped India A complete a stirring come-from-behind win in the second four-day Test against West Indies A in Taunton. They chased down 321 with five wickets in hand to clinch the series 1-0.While Pant saw the chase through, the foundation was laid by half-centuries from Hanuma Vihari (68) and captain Karun Nair (55) on Thursday. This allowed India A, who resumed the fourth day needing 107 to win, to rally despite losing two wickets inside the first five overs of play. Jayant Yadav, the offspinner, made 23 not out in an unbroken 100-run stand with Pant for the sixth wicket to seal the win.Two days into the contest though, India A were well behind. They were bowled out for 192 in the first innings, with left-arm seamer Raymon Reifer taking five wickets as West Indies A claimed a 110-run lead. But a sensational fightback led by India’s seamers resulted in West Indies A being bowled out for 210 in their second innings.Half-centuries from John Campbell and Jermaine Blackwood apart, there was little of note in the West Indies second innings; they lost their last nine wickets for 85. Mohammad Siraj picked up four wickets while Rajneesh Gurbani, on India A debut, finished with three. Siraj finished with match figures of 8 for 132.Chasing a huge score, India A openers R Samarth and Abhimanyu Easwaran put on 51. Then Nair, pressing for a middle order berth in India’s Test squad for England, struck eight fours in his 63-ball 55. His 136-run stand with the in-form Vihari put West Indies A on the back foot. Their wickets early on the fourth day threatened to take the game away, but Pant chose to make his mark on the tour with a responsible knock to guide the side home.India A’s final tour game is a one-off Test against England Lions from July 16, one where a number of Test specialists like M Vijay, Mohammed Shami and Wriddhiman Saha are likely to feature ahead of the first Test against England on August 1 at Edgbaston.