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Gloucestershire allrounder turns down new offer to return to club where he came through

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2022Benny Howell has agreed a return to Hampshire, after turning down an offer to remain with Gloucestershire. Howell, 33, has signed a three-year white-ball deal with the county where he initially came through before leaving in search of further opportunities a decade ago.The allrounder, who last month won his first England Lions cap, has developed a reputation on the global T20 stage for his “fast spinner” variations, playing in the Bangladesh Premier League, Big Bash League, Pakistan Super League and being signed in this year’s IPL auction.Howell helped Gloucestershire lift the 2015 Royal London Cup and reach T20 Finals Day in 2020. He took more than 300 wickets across the three formats across 11 seasons in Bristol – including 142 in T20, with an economy of 7.17.His short-form skills saw him play a key role in Birmingham Phoenix getting to the final of the inaugural edition of the Hundred, and his arrival will strengthen the hand of Blast champions Hampshire ahead of their title defence in 2023.”Benny is recognised as one of the best T20 allrounders in England and it’s great that he wants to finish his career where it began,” Giles White, Hampshire director of cricket, said. “He adds great depth to our squad and improves both our batting and bowling resources. It will be great to have him back with the group and we are all looking forward to seeing him perform in a Hawks shirt again next season.”Steve Snell, performance director at Gloucestershire, made it clear that the club had hoped to retain Howell’s services.”Benny has been a terrific cricketer for Gloucestershire over the last 10 years,” Snell said. “Not only has he been an exciting and entertaining player to watch, to an extent he has redefined the art of T20 medium-paced bowling and in some respects is a pioneer.”Naturally we are disappointed he is leaving us, especially as we made an extremely competitive offer to try to keep Benny at Gloucestershire. I’d like to thank him for his magnificent contribution to Gloucestershire Cricket; he will be missed by everyone at the Seat Unique Stadium.”Howell has developed a reputation as a cult cricketer on the county circuit, and despite his age could still be an outside bet to win a T20 cap as England search for solutions to their recent slump in the format.”Hampshire is the place where I learnt a great amount during my early career,” Howell said. “It was always an elite environment so I’m extremely excited to rejoin the club after ten years away and hopefully I can help the side compete for more trophies in the future.”

“For me right now, coming off a six-month lay-off with injury, I want to play all formats if I can”

Matt Roller18-Sep-2022Sam Curran was ruled out of last year’s T20 World Cup through injury two weeks before the tournament began, and he is not taking his involvement in the 2022 edition in Australia for granted.Curran was only a peripheral member of the limited-overs set-up when England picked their 50-over squad in 2019 and suffered a lower-back stress fracture while playing in the IPL in the build-up to last year’s tournament in the UAE.Just over a month before their first game of the 2022 edition, against Afghanistan on October 22, he is anxious not to put the mockers on himself. “I don’t actually want to talk about it too much,” he said, laughing, when asked about playing in a World Cup for the first time.Related

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“I missed the last one. I need to get through this series and then hopefully, when I’m in Australia, I can be excited about it. The biggest thing this summer was getting my body through it… the priority now is the World Cup.”Curran spent the English summer focusing on white-ball cricket, working closely with Surrey and England’s medical teams to ease him back from injury. He made five Championship appearances but with restrictions on his workload – he bowled just 41 overs – and decided with the ECB in August to focus on short-form cricket ahead of the World Cup.”I didn’t bowl much for Surrey at all,” he said. “The most I bowled in a game was 20 overs [24] and it felt like the sensible option. The Test team were flying at the time so my focus was purely on the World Cup and trying to have a good Hundred, to keep performing and to get my body right.”Curran has not played Test cricket in over a year but a strong T20I tour to Pakistan would put him in the frame for the three-match series here in December. “I’m still pretty young so I want to play as much as I can,” he said.”You’ve seen guys who are choosing to rest in certain periods because there is quite a lot of cricket. For me right now, coming off a six-month lay-off with injury, I want to play all formats if I can.”He was used up the order in short-form cricket this season, first by Surrey in the Blast and then by Oval Invincibles in the Hundred, but England’s top-order logjam means that he is more likely to come in as a finisher during the World Cup.”I’m trying to be as adaptable as possible. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of rotation: guys coming back from injury, newer guys coming in. My role might vary as guys come back or guys come in. The role I’m given is just to contribute with the ball when I bowl and when I’m batting.”That may be lower down the order here but I guess it’s about adapting to conditions. I don’t think about it too much at Surrey or in the Hundred because I had pretty set roles but with England, naturally I do because we’ve got so many allrounders who can be adaptable.”I might get sent up as a floater to take on different types of bowlers. Whenever I do play for England, I play with an open mind. You don’t just want to be a cricketer whose set for one role which I think is one of my strengths: to be as adaptable [as possible] for the captain and for guys in the team.”It is four-and-a-half years since Curran made his international debut against Pakistan and he is looking forward to playing against some familiar faces on his first trip to the country. “Most of the Pakistan guys I know,” he said. “I played against a few of them at the Under-19 World Cup, like Shadab [Khan]. He’s a fantastic player.”This is a great chance for myself and most of our players – even guys that aren’t in the World Cup squad – to stake a claim, keep knocking down the door; but also just to be here, be involved with a pretty historic trip to Pakistan and take it all in.”

The top four teams on the table will advance to semi-finals; tournament final slated for October 15

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2022Hosts and defending champions Bangladesh will kick off the 2022 Women’s T20 Asia Cup against Thailand on October 1, with India taking on Sri Lanka in the second match of the day, in Sylhet on October 1, Jay Shah, the president of ACC, announced on Twitter on Tuesday. The semi-finals will be played on October 13, with the title clash scheduled for October 15. Pakistan will open their campaign against Malaysia on October 2 and will meet India on October 7.As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the T20 tournament will be played among seven teams with UAE making their debut in the competition. The fourth edition of competition will be played in a round-robin format, with each team playing six matches and the top four sides advancing to the semi-finals. The last two editions saw the teams finishing in the top two in the league stage play the final.Related

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This is also the longest Asia Cup for women, with seven teams – India, the most successful team in the history of the competition, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and UAE apart from the hosts Bangladesh – taking part in it. All the matches will be held at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium and Sylhet Outer Cricket Stadium, with the first match beginning at 9am and the second at 1.30pm local time.No women’s international games have been held in the country since Pakistan’s tour of Bangladesh in October 2018. The 2022 Asia Cup will also be the first time since the 2014 T20 World Cup that Sylhet will host any women’s international fixtures. The Women’s Asia Cup has been played in the T20 format since 2012. In 2018, perennial underdogs Bangladesh emerged victorious in a final-ball thriller over six-time winners India in Kuala Lumpur, winning a major title for the first time. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition, which was slated in Bangladesh and later postponed to 2021, was eventually cancelled.UAE and Malaysia booked their berths through the qualifying route after entering the final of the 10-team ACC Women’s T20 Championship that took place in June. UAE, undefeated and eventual champions in that competition, defeated the hosts Malaysia in the final by five wickets.

The result ensured Ireland’s qualification for the Super 12 round of the T20 World Cup

Shashank Kishore21-Oct-2022
In Hobart, where it was supposed to rain all day, Ireland celebrated one of their most crucial victories in T20 cricket, storming into the Super-12 round of the 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup and dumping two-time champions West Indies out of the tournament.Legspinner Gareth Delany and opening batter Paul Stirling were the heroes of Ireland’s stirring performance, full of confidence and bristling energy. After restricting West Indies to 146 for 5, a potentially nervy chase in a knockout game turned into a cruise as Ireland sprinted to the target in the 18th over, not giving their opponents a whiff of a chance.When Lorcan Tucker stepped out to loft Obed McCoy inside-out over extra cover to score the winning runs, the Ireland fans who had turned up in large numbers broke into trademark song and dance as they waved the Irish flag proudly in blustery Bellerive. It was only the second time that Ireland had qualified for the second round of a T20 World Cup, after the 2009 tournament in England.West Indies’ early struggle
West Indies started poorly, losing Kyle Mayers and Johnson Charles to big shots inside the powerplay. It could have been worse had offspinner Simi Singh clung on to a sharp return chance to dismiss Brandon King for one in the fifth over.Brandon King dug in to consolidate West Indies’ innings•AFP/Getty Images

As the innings progressed it was increasingly clear that some deliveries, especially when dug in, held up a touch more than others and the batters had to recalibrate their approach. It wasn’t until the eight over that West Indies began to get going, when King crashed two boundaries square of the wicket as medium pacer Curtis Campher erred in length.After meandering at a run-a-ball, West Indies slowly regained a bit of momentum. Just as they were beginning to threaten, Delany broke a 44-run stand when he dismissed a struggling Ewin Lewis for the first of his three wickets. At 71 for 3 in the 11th over, Ireland were wresting control again.King fights, Delany strikes
King missed the Zimbabwe game due to an illness but he showed no signs of rust as he seamlessly switched into hitting mode. Right from the moment he lunged out to drill an extra-cover drive to the boundary off the first ball, he meant business.King played the field perfectly, targeting the short boundaries and nudging into gaps to keep turning the strike over, not allowing the bowlers to settle. For a while, with King and Nicholas Pooran around, there was a possibility of a West Indies recovery but Delany’s dismissal of the captain – Pooran reached out and hit one straight to sweeper cover – ended those hopes.Gareth Delany swerved the game away with skill and guile•AFP/Getty Images

In his third over, Delany deceived big-hitting Rovman Powell in the air and off the pitch. In trying to fetch a slog sweep from outside off, towards the longer boundary, he was out to deep midwicket in an over that went for just one. Delany finished with 3 for 16 off four overs, with West Indies struggling at 112 for 5 after 17 overs.King and Odean Smith eventually gave West Indies a late lift, even though there was a sense that they were at least 20 short of a competitive total.The Stirling-Balbirnie blitz
When Ireland came out to chase, their approach was evident. Stirling kept attacking the spin of Akeal Hosein with ferocious sweeps, while Andy Balbirnie took advantage of Pooran’s punt of bowling Odean Smith – and not Jason Holder – in the powerplay.Andy Balbirnie and Paul Stirling set up Ireland’s chase with a 73-run stand at the top•AFP/Getty Images

Smith’s record in this phase – an economy of 11.18 in 11 overs for just three wickets – was far from encouraging, and the Ireland captain hit him for 4,6,4 off his first three deliveries. McCoy’s slower variations proved expensive as well, and before West Indies knew what had hit them, Ireland had raced to 64 without loss in the first six overs.Farewell West Indies
When Hosein had Balbirnie caught at point for a 34-ball 37 in the eighth over, there was a ray of hope for West Indies. They didn’t concede a boundary between overs 7.5 and 10.2 – the only time when they appeared to have any semblance of control.Stirling broke free by carting Alzarri Joseph over the grass banks at deep midwicket and brought up his half-century off just 32 balls when he slashed Smith for four behind point in the 12th over. By now, West Indies were running on fumes.Smith had Lorcan Tucker caught and bowled in the same over, only to find out he had overstepped. It summed up West Indies’ day, as the prospect of an early departure from Australia became a reality.

Lizaad Williams comes in as a replacement, after Stuurman picks up abdominal strain during domestic game

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2022Pace bowler Glenton Stuurman is out of South Africa’s upcoming Test series against Australia with an abdominal muscle strain. He will be replaced by Lizaad Williams in the squad.Stuurman, who has played two Tests for South Africa, away in New Zealand in February and at home against Bangladesh as a Covid-sub in April this year, picked up the injury during a domestic first-class game for Warriors over the weekend. It will keep him sidelined for six weeks.Williams has also played two Tests for South Africa, both against Bangladesh this year, picking up three wickets. In the domestic first-class competition, where he plays for Titans, Williams picked up six wickets to bowl his side to an innings win against Knights last week. Over the English summer, he had played for county Northamptonshire. He was also part of the South Africa white-ball squad that played in England in July, though he didn’t get a game.All South Africa’s Test players, with the exception of Temba Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje will play at least one red-ball domestic match before the series in Australia. Bavuma has been given time off following a torrid T20 World Cup campaign, Rabada’s workload is being managed, and Nortje was given a No-Objection Certificate to participate in the Abu Dhabi T10 competition which runs from November 23 to December 4.South Africa play a tour game in Australia, against a Cricket Australia XI in Brisbane, from December 9 to 12. The first Test kicks off at the Gabba on December 17, before the Boxing Day and New Year Tests in Melbourne and Sydney respectively. The series is key to South Africa’s hopes of making the next World Test Championship final.Updated South Africa squad: Dean Elgar (capt), Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, Theunis de Bruyn, Sarel Erwee, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo.

“We haven’t played Test cricket in a while, so there was some worry coming into the Test match about how the bodies would react”

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Dec-20223:34

KL Rahul: You’ll never get an easy win in Test cricket

After five days of hard-fought Test cricket in Chattogram, when India have a nice evening watching the football World Cup final and having a team dinner, the one thing they will experience for the first time since July is the oddly-satisfying soreness from five days of cricket.While the scorecard will show a comprehensive win – and it was one – it took India hard work to achieve. They had to revive their first innings with the bat, and then had to toil for 46 overs for their first wicket in the second. It is just the kind of test you want – stern but not threatening a defeat – as you get back to Test mode. A sterner series against Australia awaits at home, with World Test Championship final qualification implications involved.”That’s Test cricket: you are never going to get a victory that’s going to be easy,” India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul said. “We know that. We have played enough Test cricket to understand that there will be phases where the opposition also plays well. We need to respect that, and keep doing our job. I am very proud of that.Related

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“Throughout the Test match our energy and intensity has been really high, and we have maintained it throughout the day. Throughout the last five days we have shown great commitment towards the team. We haven’t played Test cricket in a while, so there was some worry coming into the Test match about how the bodies would react and how we would be able to manage being on the park for so long, and maintain our focus and intensity. We did that really well, and that is pleasing.”As has been the case with Indian Test cricket in recent years, players who are not regulars grabbed their opportunities. Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav was the Player of the Match, Shubman Gill registered his first Test century, and Mohammed Siraj did well too. Rahul was asked how the team keeps these players in good spirits because they don’t get regular chances.Kuldeep Yadav was the Player of the Match despite not getting regular chances•AFP/Getty Images

“At this level players are naturally very motivated,” he said. “We are playing for our country; we have worked really hard since we were kids to get here. Yes sometimes when you are in and out of the team and you don’t get too many opportunities. It is natural to feel down and feel not confident enough. But as a group, as a team, we always try to make everyone feel comfortable in the group. The talk is always about what the team needs, and not about individuals.”Whether you have played 50 Test matches or whether it is your first or second, it doesn’t matter. We always try to see what the team needs and what we need to win a game of cricket. They play enough cricket. I know they may not have played enough international cricket, but back home, first-class cricket, IPL and India A – there is a lot of cricket happening. So everybody is playing enough cricket.”When they come into Indian team, they come in with enough games behind them. That helps them perform really well. You give them the platform, give them a bit of confidence. They have the quality, and that is why they are here. And they perform really well.”India will have selection headaches now if Rohit Sharma makes it for the second Test in Mirpur, or when Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami return. Rohit has not yet reached Bangladesh, and the status on his availability for the second Test is still awaited. The difference Rohit’s return makes will be nominal because India know well that it was their bowling that set up the win in Chattogram.”The first-innings bowling gave us a lot of time in the Test,” Rahul said. “If Bangladesh had gone on to get 300-350, this game was headed towards a draw. We would have tried to make a game out of it, we would have tried to give ourselves a chance, but it would have been really hard.”Once you bundle a team out for 150, it gives you a lot of time. We could bat another 50-60 overs, score some quick runs, put them into bat again for two days and a bit. That gave us the time to get them out.”

The home side did not enforce the follow-on after stubborn resistance from Tasmania

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff13-Feb-2023Tasmania 236 (Webster 75*, McDermott 50, Abbott 3-40, Zampa 3-41) and 0 for 6 need 281 more runs to beat New South Wales 8 for 417 dec and 1 for 105 dec (Hughes 63*)A desperate and winless New South Wales gambled with a generous declaration late on day three as the Sheffield Shield heavyweights chase a much-needed win over Tasmania at the SCG having declined to enforce the follow-on.Adam Zampa had earlier given a glimpse of what he could achieve in red-ball cricket with three wickets and shaped as a crucial figure on the final day.With some showers predicted on day four in Sydney, NSW declared late in the third session to set the visitors a relatively modest victory target of 287.Daniel Hughes again led the way backing up his career-best 178 in the first innings with 63 not out.Hughes struck six boundaries in his 78-ball knock as the hosts scored at just over four an over.Tasmania successfully held up NSW’s push thanks to some determined defiance from Ben McDermott and Beau Webster.The pair chewed up 148 and 150 balls respectively, with NSW needing 104 overs before dismissing Tasmania for 236 and a 181-run lead on the first innings.Zampa, who has previously spoken about his disappointment at missing the Test squad to tour India and was again overlooked when cover was needed for Mitchell Swepson, took 3 for 41 from 18 overs. He had McDermott well caught at mid-on, trapped Jarrod Freeman on the back foot and pushed a slider through Nathan Ellis.NSW are marooned at the bottom of the table without a victory after six rounds but are only two wins shy of second. Tasmania sit in fifth but are one of four states with two wins this season.