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The PCB is set to incur an estimated loss of PKR 200 million (USD 1.2 million approx) in term of gate revenues alone following the postponement of the PSL’s semi-finals and final, and the matches that were played in empty stadiums, and a loss of a further USD 3 to 4 million from not staging the remainder of Pakistan’s home series against Bangladesh in April. Despite these blows, the PCB’s financial health is still sustainable for the next 12 to 14 months, according to its CEO Wasim Khan.Since March 16, all professional cricket in Pakistan has come to a halt in the light of growing concerns around the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic that is sweeping the globe. After the PSL, Pakistan was set for another month of home domestic and international cricket, with the Pakistan One-Day Cup and the final leg of Bangladesh’s tour of Pakistan. Amid all this, Pakistan’s five-year broadcasting deal and the kit sponsorship were about to end with the PCB preparing to seek out new deals; this means the board will not lose anything financially from their existing commercial deals.Pakistan only had away tours to play in the five months after the scheduled end of their home season, with their next domestic season due to start in October, and their next home international series set for December. This has given the PCB a bit of breathing room. The board has shut down cricketing operations at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore, asking players and coaches to remain at home with all upcoming courses suspended infinitely. The board’s offices are shut as well, with employees working from home.How long this shutdown will continue is uncertain, but the PCB is hopeful that it will have sufficient funds to survive by the start of its next round of home fixtures.”For now our financial grounds are fine, and obviously we just had a PSL, and the losses we incurred were from gate receipts and sponsorships,” Wasim said. “I was roughly calculating that it could be around the 200-million-rupee mark in terms of gate receipts that we actually lost on our revenue. This is something we will have definite numbers for in the next couple of weeks, and we will provide the details of where we made the greatest losses.”So we are in a fortunate position in the fact that the only immediate loss we have is the the Bangladesh series. We lost three to four million dollars because we are not playing the Test and and ODI. Apart from that we have two things: one, our shirt sponsorship is up for taking, so we are not losing money on that, and we are looking for a new sponsor, and secondly, our broadcasting rights are ending and the Bangladesh series was the last of the Ten Sports deal that we currently had.”We are moving on to negotiate and looking for new deals and we are very fortunate in the fact that we don’t have home cricket and international’s cricket until we move on to the Asia Cup and Zimbabwe in October. Our finances are okay but like any other country if this continues for another 12 or 14 months, then we will start to see a real challenge in our finances. So for time being we are absolutely fine.”The next domestic season faces significant changes, with the PCB working to decentralise its domestic stakeholders, forming six independent provincial and city associations. It had already implemented the new structure last year with six teams playing every format in the country, abolishing the old structure with departments playing first-class cricket. The PCB is exploring a plan to squeeze in another tournament, allowing departments to return to the fold.Administratively, the PCB over coming months is likely to implement a constitution for the provincial boards to form their management committee, which will have its own departments – accounts, finance, marketing, HR, audit, selection, coaching staff. The entire model will be detached from the PCB to work independently with the PCB not retaining any direct role in the decision-making of each regional team. Before this, the PCB had been directly involved in funding and running cricket operations in each region, and last season alone had spent over PKR 1 billion (USD 6.3 million approx) in doing so.

Legspinner Tanveer Sangha could make his New South Wales debut in the Marsh Cup final on Sunday having been named in a 14-man squad to face Western Australia.Sangha, 19, took 21 wickets in the BBL for Sydney Thunder – the most by a spinner in the tournament – and was then part of the Australia squad for the T20I tour of New Zealand but has yet to represent his state.”He’s played in some big games and we don’t think the occasion would overawe him if we decided to go down that road of playing an extra spinner,” New South Wales coach Phil Jaques said.New South Wales have been able to name a strong bowling attack including Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood – the latter having pulled out of his IPL deal.Sean Abbott has also been included as he recovers from the split webbing he suffered in the Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania last month. Bowling is not causing Abbott any problems but there are still a few questions over fielding before he is confirmed in the side.”When the Shield game [against Queensland] was on, he had a training run and got through everything that was required of him,” Jaques said. “He still has got a couple of things that he needs to tick off but is looking very good for the game.”Kurtis Patterson will again captain the team in the absence of Pat Cummins.New South Wales will play both domestic finals over the last week of the season with the Sheffield Shield decider against Queensland in Brisbane to follow the one-day competition.Western Australia have made one change from their squad for the game against Tasmania with allrounder Aaron Hardie replacing Hilton Cartwright. Shaun Marsh is again unavailable having remained in Perth for personal reasons.”We have a very consistent one-day squad and we’ve found a way to win at home and on the road we’re finding really good ways to play smart, efficient one-day cricket, make big totals and start to restrict teams with the ball,” Jason Behrendorff, who was Player of the Match against Tasmania, said. “We’ve figured out our blueprint and we’re sticking to it.”New South Wales squad Kurtis Patterson (capt), Sean Abbott, Oliver Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Liam Hatcher, Josh Hazlewood, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Nathan Lyon, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Mitchell StarcWestern Australia squad Mitch Marsh (capt), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green, Liam Guthrie, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, David Moody, Lance Morris, Josh Philippe, D’Arcy Short, Ashton Turner, Sam Whiteman

AB de Villiers has revealed that he urged current South Africa captain Faf du Plessis not to take up a second stint in county cricket after du Plessis’ Kolpak contract with Lancashire expired in 2010.In an interview on Indian web show Breakfast with Champions, de Villiers explained how he told du Plessis that he was “pretty close” to national selection at the time he was considering taking up a second deal in England.”There was a moment when he was thinking of signing for one of the English counties,” de Villiers said. “He did call me up, and said what do I think about it? I said listen, not a long time from now there will be a few retirements, a few guys will step down, and you’re pretty close. And the coaches and the team are talking about you, so just hang in a little bit longer. And finally the breakthrough came. I’m not taking credit for that, but we did have that conversation. And I’m very happy I was straight up with him.”De Villiers and du Plessis had been childhood rivals, playing for different primary schools, but when they both attended Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool – also known as ‘Affies’ – in Pretoria as teenagers they became team-mates and friends. A prodigious talent, de Villiers made his Test debut against England in December 2004, before his 21st birthday. Du Plessis’ call-up would only come almost seven years later, against India in 2011, after he had topped the domestic one-day run-charts.ALSO READ: We just want to focus on enjoyment – du Plessis“He waited a bit longer,” de Villiers said of du Plessis. “It happened quite quickly for me. A couple of doors opened up, and I put my hand up at the right time. The path he walked was a different one, but it set him up perfectly for international cricket. I think he was mentally in a great space when he finally made his debut.”De Villiers also opened up on his 2018 retirement, which came as a shock to many South African fans – especially as the World Cup was only a year away. De Villiers said that he wanted to play in the World Cup, but he cited a desire to spend more time with his family and a general weariness with international competition as reasons for his decision. He also said that he “felt cornered” by expectation and criticism, and hinted at other, “deeper reasons” for his departure.”I was keen to play in the World Cup, but I left, I retired,” he said. “So it was a very sensitive situation. For the last three years of my career, I was labelled as a guy who is picking and choosing when I was playing and when not. So I got quite a lot of criticism from back home, which also played a role in me retiring. And it was difficult for me to then go ‘hey, but I’ll still play the World Cup’. It’s that picking and choosing thing again, and it’s quite arrogant to do something like that. But as they say, you can’t have your bread buttered on both sides.”I felt cornered. It’s always been about the team, it’s never been about myself. But I found myself in a position where I had to make a decision where it’s going to look like I’m just thinking about myself.”There’s a lot of reasons I had to move on. Family’s definitely a big part of it. And the longevity of my career, I played for 15 years and I was just tired of the whole international scene. It’s quite busy. Very stressful. And the mental game, the doubts you have as a person and as a player, it wears you down. And being captain of the Proteas for a long time also took its toll. And then there are a few deeper issues that might have to be discussed when I’m 50, one day.”There’s a part of me that will always miss it. Everything that goes with it. I wish I could have pushed on longer, but it was time. I had a great run. I had so much fun, I really did, and more dreams came true than I could ever imagine. And there was lots of heartbreaks as well along the way, and that’s the great ride that we all go through.”

Steven Smith fronted his Australian team-mates to apologise for drawing a dissent charge and fine in the Sheffield Shield as the captain Tim Paine reminded all members of the squad that they need to maintain standards of behaviour “regardless of who we’re playing for”, as they ramped up preparations for the Pakistan Test series.After a period of more than a year in which the Australian team had earned significant respect for improved behaviour, while being lauded by Cricket Australia’s board for making only one ICC code of conduct transgression – an audible obscenity by Adam Zampa during the World Cup – in 18 months since the Newlands scandal, standards have slipped this season with no fewer than eight code of conduct breaches being recorded across state, second XI and under-age tournaments. The pair of breaches in the last Shield around arrived from two of Australia’s most high-profile players.In addition to James Pattinson’s suspension for abusive language while playing for Victoria against Queensland, Smith was fined 25% of his match fee for obvious dissent when given out caught behind while playing for New South Wales against Western Australia at the SCG. At one of the team’s recurring “values” meetings, held at the start of every major assignment since Justin Langer was appointed coach, Smith told his team-mates he was sorry for raising the ire of officials and admitted he needed to improve his body language and conduct when dismissed.ALSO READ: James Pattinson out of first Test after code of conduct suspension“I came in and apologised to the group yesterday for getting a code of conduct,” Smith said in Brisbane. “I don’t think there was a great deal in it but I’ve copped it and I have to look at when I get out and the way I sort of conduct myself. I know lots of kids watch me play and watch all of us play and the way we conduct ourselves when we get out as well as when we’re batting.”So we have to be very mindful of that and sometimes just bite the bullet and just conduct ourselves in, I guess, a better manner at times. Sometimes your emotions can get the better of you out on the field. We’re playing a game [where] everyone is trying to do their best and sometimes that happens.”The transgressions of Smith and Pattinson underline the fact that occasionally, international players are given to dropping their guard in matches not subject to major international broadcast or media attention, even though all domestic matches are streamed online in their entirety. Smith noted that, within reason, the place for letting out frustrations about a dismissal or decision disagreed with is within the dressing room itself, away not only from cameras but also spectators.”When you get behind closed doors, go for your life, do what you need to do to let your frustrations out,” he said. “Within reason – you probably don’t want to punch anything. Mitch Marsh can probably attest to that. We’re Australian players regardless of where we’re playing and what we’re doing. We sign up to values and in our contracts we’ve got a code of conduct there we have to play by. I got pinged and so be it. I felt I should apologise for that.”Paine said that greater consistency in behaviour across all levels of the game was something that all team members were clear about trying to achieve. “I think it’s more just a reminder that we’ve got to set those standards all the time,” Paine said. “Whether we’re playing for Australia or we’re playing club cricket or we’re playing for our states or we’re not playing cricket, there are standards we set ourselves to live by day in and day out so it’s important we do that whether we’re on the field off the field, regardless of who we’re playing for.”We’ve had a couple of instances this week but we always revisit them. We did again last night, just to brush up on what’s expected and what we expect of the group. Both of those guys apologised, they know that they fell a little bit short of what we set ourselves in the Test team. And the fact that it’s important that we maintain that when we go back to state cricket and lead the way there. They’re disappointed with that but we are going to keep on top of it and maintain the level that we’ve set so far in the last couple of years.”Pat Cummins, one of the joint vice-captains, said that more often than not, the knowledge of team-mates that mistakes had been made and values not lived up to provided as stinging a punishment as any fine or ban. “It’s pretty clear how we want to play and go about it and our standards we set ourselves,” he said. “You’re going to get fines, breach notices or whatever it is, but to be honest, the feeling around the group is enough of a punishment. You now when you’ve stepped out of line. He [Pattinson] has owned up to it, he’ll be super remorseful and it’s a good lesson for him to learn.”We’ve identified five key values, and we just want to stay on top of those, so every few months it’s just trying to talk about them and say ‘what does this look like’. We’ll break up in groups, talk about different values and also it gives us something to measure against that at the end of the series to see how we’re tracking. It’s run by the players, we own it, we know what standards we have to uphold, and it’s a good little reminder and it’s no different for the T20, one-day or Test side, if someone comes in, these are the expectations.”

Marnus Labuschagne admits England’s concerns about this summer’s Ashes have merit but he fully expects a resolution will ensure he confronts a full-strength opposition.England wicketkeeper Jos Buttler has made it clear he would likely opt out of touring Australia if his family wasn’t able to be part of the trip, while captain Joe Root noted he is waiting for more information.The issue has been bubbling away in recent months, during which Cricket Australia has been in talks with state and federal governments.Ben Stokes has already taken an indefinite break from the sport, with CA and its English counterpart both worried about the impact of biosecurity bubbles on players’ mental health.Related

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• Tom Harrison says ECB 'working closely with Cricket Australia' to ensure Ashes goes ahead

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• Buttler may miss Ashes tour: 'You have to be open to saying no'

Australia’s strict border policy is unlikely to be drastically eased by the end of this year, while interstate travel also remains clouded by Covid-19.Labuschagne couldn’t recall discussing the issue with Root and veteran paceman Jimmy Anderson, whom he crossed paths with while playing county cricket this year, bhe understood the tourists’ unease.”The welfare of players and making sure families can come out here is important,” Labuschagne told reporters in Brisbane. “You don’t need to be a cricketer to recognise the importance of making sure the mental health of all players is in a good space.”Especially with a T20 World Cup followed by an Ashes, it’s a really long four or five months.”But I have no doubt, between the government and Cricket Australia, we’ll be able to sort it out and get ourselves in a position where we can have a full-strength England against a full-strength Australia.”Injured spearhead Jofra Archer is already a confirmed omission but Labuschagne, steeled for his first home Ashes series, is keen to lock horns with 39-year-old Anderson.”Everyone out here wants to see Jimmy come to Australia,” he said.The future of coach Justin Langer was a topic of intense speculation in recent weeks but disgruntled players have seemingly agreed to move on for now.Labuschagne, who has gone from strength to strength under Langer since being thrust into the 2019 Lord’s Ashes Test as a concussion substitute, said “it’s never nice when it comes out like it has”.”It’s been spoken about, that it comes to a head now. Conversations have been had, we can all move forward,” he said.Labuschagne, speaking at the launch of a community cricket initiative in Brisbane, remained upbeat that Australia’s one-off Test against Afghanistan in Hobart will proceed as planned. It shapes as Australia’s first Test since losing to India in January.”We all want more Test cricket,” he said. “That’s not always possible.”

A Lewis Hill century and 85 from Louis Kimber guided Leicestershire to a six-wicket Royal London Cup win over Somerset at Taunton.Hill cracked 107 off 106 balls, with seven fours and two sixes, sharing a fifth-wicket stand of 158 with Kimber, whose runs came from just 57 deliveries, to set up victory with more than five overs to spare.Somerset made 326 for 7 after losing the toss, George Bartlett hitting seven sixes in his 108, a maiden List A century, and 17-year-old debutant George Thomas contributing a promising 75. But it didn’t prove enough on a flat batting track in increasingly sunny conditions.The hosts were reduced to 104 for 5 in the 22nd over, despite a fluent 57-ball half-century from opener Steve Davies. A 3100 crowd saw Sam Young, Eddie Byrom, James Hildreth and Lewis Goldsworthy fall cheaply, Ben Mike striking with his first delivery of the match in the eighth over.Davies struck six fours and a six in his 61, but when he was caught behind off Will Davis, Somerset had lost half their wickets for modest reward.Thomas walked out with pressure on his young shoulders. But Bartlett began a recovery, reaching his fifty by hitting offspinner George Rhodes back over his head for six.Local product Thomas struck the ball with increasing authority as the pair brought up a hundred stand in 110 balls. The teenager moved confidently to his half-century off 63 deliveries, with five fours and a six.Bartlett was playing some majestic shots and brought up his hundred off 84 balls. Thomas then clouted successive sixes off Mike before losing his middle stump to the next delivery and departing to a standing ovation.When Bartlett was out in the final over, he had made the highest score by a Somerset No. 6 in List A cricket, beating the 106 made by Ian Botham against Hampshire in 1981.George Bartlett scored his maiden List A hundred•Getty Images

Leicestershire began by moving to 49 in the ninth over before Harry Swindells got a leading edge to Sonny Baker and skied a catch to backward point.Rhodes fell lbw to Josh Davey for a duck and Somerset looked to be taking a grip when Rishi Patel fell to Ned Leonard for 40, a first victim for the young seamer. But Arron Lilley signalled his intentions with three sixes, including two in the same Leonard over, and Hill also looked in good touch.Their entertaining stand of 61 in 6.2 overs ended when Lilley, on 39, clipped a catch to deep square off Baker with the total on 146.Hill went to fifty off 53 balls. He greeted the introduction of Thomas into the attack with a six over midwicket. Kimber helped keep the required run-rate at around six and a half an over and the pair brought up a century stand in 14 overs.A big six over deep square off Marchant de Lange took Kimber to a 46-ball fifty and he celebrated by clearing the ropes twice more in the same over, the 39th, which cost 29 runs.It only remained for Hill to reach a chanceless hundred. Kimber fell to a big shot late on and his partner followed, but the outcome had been settled.

Stumps West Indies and Pakistan’s last Test match four years ago was a classic, and if the events at Sabina Park are anything to go by, we may be in for another one. On an attritional day of Test cricket that didn’t swing as much as it just gently swayed, the two teams continue to be neck-and-neck. Simple math would dictate the hosts have the edge, leading as they do by 34 runs with two wickets still to spare, but with Yasir Shah in the fourth innings a historically significant factor, all bets are off.Kraigg Brathwaite (97) dominated the day, surviving almost through to the end after having to settle nerves after the frenetic finish of last night. He saw off each of Pakistan’s pace bowlers, the first new ball, a dangerous middle order collapse, the introduction of Yasir and two full sessions. But then it all changed as West Indies’ most threatening partnership – 95 between the captain and his predecessor was broken.Jason Holder was playing with delightful fluidity as his side pushed past 150 and bore down on Pakistan’s first innings score ominously. Yasir, not nearly at his best, was dispatched to the boundary repeatedly, and soon enough, a backfoot punch off Hasan Ali got Holder to his 11th half century. Eight runs later, though, he was gone, a victim of Faheem Ashraf’s subtle seam movement.Brathwaite, of course, remained and was even eyeing up a personal three-figure score – ideally before having to face the new ball in darkening conditions. It is hard to say if that played a role in his decision to hare back for a couple down to fine leg, taking on Hasan, whose direct hit caught the opener well short of his ground. He had departed three runs shy of what would have been a splendid hundred, with the wicket coming at a time when West Indies had firm control over the Test.Once Brathwaite fell, the visitors had a real opening, but wayward lines with the new ball, particularly from Shaheen Afridi, saw the lower order continue to eke out runs as Joshua Da Silva manipulated the strike intelligently. By the time the umpires began worrying about the light, West Indies already had a decent lead they will be keen to build on tomorrow.In overcast conditions in the morning, Mohammad Abbas had picked up exactly where he left off the previous day and was the pick of the bowlers, peppering the corridor of uncertainty between a good and full length. Roston Chase and Brathwaite had to be especially sure of their footwork, with the seam movement Abbas was generating an additional challenge.Afridi let his high standards dip somewhat, beginning with two leg-side deliveries that trickled away for four leg-byes each. It settled West Indies’ nerves, and once Chase drove Abbas straight down the ground, the runs off the bat became more frequent. Before long, they had brought up a half-century stand.But just as West Indies looked poised to take control, Pakistan struck. Hasan, who had been testing the pair in his first three overs, especially when they got on the front foot, coaxed an expansive front-foot drive from Chase that wasn’t really on. It produced a tickle through to Mohammad Rizwan, with an anguished look from the batter revealing quite how ordinary the shot was.The second session was a dogged, scrappy affair that – one sensational over from Afridi aside – West Indies negotiated with relative conviction. The problem for them, though, was that this time would be defined by four balls from Afridi more than anything any batter could manage.Just after West Indies brought up their hundred, Pakistan broke through with the wicket they had threatened before lunch. Jermaine Blackwood’s punchy counter-attacking knock might have been evocative of Rizwan’s cameo on the first day but it wasn’t nearly as assured, with all four of his boundaries coming off shots he wasn’t in control of. Afridi landed one in the slot for him to go after, but with the ball wobbling in the air, Blackwood only managed to toe-end it to Abbas at long-on. The very next ball, Kyle Mayers was struck full on the pad, and found himself departing for a golden duck.It might have gotten worse for West Indies. Two balls later, the irrepressible Afridi had Holder trapped in front, with the umpire raising the finger. The allrounder would survive by the barest of margins, with the review showing the ball pitching just outside leg stump.Holder understood the magnitude of the moment, and dug in. He did not score until a straight drive off his 12th delivery, and didn’t score again for 22 more balls. He knew the chance would eventually come, and launched into a wayward Yasir over towards the back-end of the session.Brathwaite, meanwhile, was pretty much batting on a different surface. His patience was exemplary, his shot selection immaculate. When Pakistan appeared to be having one of their purple patches, he had the awareness to retreat completely into his shell and place an even greater value on his wicket, and with Holder keeping the scoring ticking over at the other end, West Indies began to take control.The quick departure of both let Pakistan back in, though, and it feels increasingly as if it might all come down to fine margins again. Just as it did in 2017.

Big Picture

Australia’s win on Friday not only provided a further indicator that the team of Aaron Finch and Justin Langer is now humming nicely as the World Cup draws closer, but also overturned a few preconceptions about the series. A comfortable chase of 281, the second-highest ever in Sharjah, despite the surfeit of ODI matches played there over the years, indicated that high scoring and aggressive batsmanship will be required on surfaces that offer little more than a hint of slow spin and little to nothing for the pacemen.Equally, the expectations of the Australians that Pakistan would seek to take down the spin of Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon was somewhat confounded by the fact that this increasingly confident duo were able to dictate economical terms throughout large chunks of the Pakistan innings. Creating and sustaining tempo will be critical to this series, both with the bat and in the field. Australia were energy personified in the field – if not completely spotless – while Zampa and Lyon were able to control the pace of Pakistan’s scoring in such a way that Finch never looked too perturbed by the the run rate. His confidence was evident in the chase, where once again Australia controlled the tempo of the innings expertly, scoring regular boundaries without ever looking like they were trying too hard to force things.For Pakistan, there will be concerns that despite a serviceable-enough batting performance, the bowlers lacked the incisiveness to defend it while the fielding display bordered at times on the listless. Mohammad Amir was particularly expensive, while Mohammad Abbas was unable to exert quite the same measure of control he enjoyed over Finch and the Australians during the October Test series in the UAE. More, too, will be expected of Yasir Shah, who played only a brief role in the 2015 World Cup, and with more days like game one, he might be in danger of a similar fringe post in 2019.

Form guide

Australia WWWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Pakistan LLWLLShoaib Malik carves a shot through the off side•Getty Images

In the spotlight

As the stand-in captain, Shoaib Malik will be hoping for a more substantial contribution than his seven-ball 11 with the bat and one expensive over with the ball in the series opener. More vitally, Shoaib must find a way to marshal and enliven his team, after they appeared to be lacking verve and direction for much of a chase where the Australians never looked under any serious pressure despite the fact that the chase got over only in the penultimate over. A promotion in the batting order may be one way for Shoaib to dictate terms a little more.With a determined – if not exactly fluent – 91 not-out, Shaun Marsh added further to the selection logjam faced by Australia with Steven Smith and David Warner soon to be eligible for national duty following their Newlands scandal bans. The key to Marsh being able to secure a spot in the World Cup squad after his recent travails will be consistency – making scores in more matches than this one. Seldom has this been a strength for Marsh, meaning he will battle the voices between his ears as much as the threats posed by the Pakistan attack.

Team news

Pakistan are taking the opportunity to experiment ahead of the World Cup. Abid Ali, Mohammad Hasnain and Saad Ali could all be in line for debuts at some point, but when that happens over the course of this series remains to be seen.Pakistan (possible): 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Shan Masood, 3 Umar Akmal, 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Shoaib Malik (capt), 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Faheem Ashraf, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Yasir Shah, 10 Mohammad Amir/Usman Shinwari, 11 Mohammad HasnainPat Cummins was rested for the opening match as his workload is managed ahead of the World Cup and the Ashes, but he could come back into consideration. Most of the players in the squad can expect some game time during the series as Australia firm up their World Cup squad, so room may also be found for Ashton Turner.Australia (possible): 1 Usman Khawaja, 2 Aaron Finch (capt), 3 Peter Handscomb, 4 Shaun Marsh, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Ashton Turner, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Jhye Richardson, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Adam Zampa

Pitch and conditions

As seen in game one, Sharjah’s surface is dry, slow and low, offering little in the way of assistance to bowlers but also posing some challenges to batsmen in terms of timing the ball. The weather forecast is fine.

Stats and trivia

• Australia haven’t won five ODIs in succession since they were victorious in nine in a row in 2015, including their World Cup winning run that year
• Pakistan haven’t beaten Australia in an ODI in Sharjah since the final of the Austral-Asia Cup in Sharjah in May 1990. Australia haven’t lost to any team in Sharjah since India defeated them at the ground in 1998.

Quotes

“It was just nice to do it two down and do it a bit more clinically than what we have over the last few months, when we’ve been in that situation. They’re sometimes the best innings you’ll play as a batsman, when things aren’t going your way. It wasn’t an innings where he [Marsh] hit the middle of the bat and it was free flowing from the start. For him to grind out the first 30 or 40 runs to find his rhythm was really important.”

England have taken a one-nil lead in the T20I series against Sri Lanka with a comfortable eight-wicket victory in Cardiff achieved with 17 deliveries to spare.A much-changed Sri Lanka side – there were six alterations from their previous T20I in March – never really got to grips with the variation and control of the England attack or a slightly sluggish surface that rendered strokeplay tricky. At one stage they went 10 overs (from 4.2 to 14.1) without hitting a four and there were just three sixes in their innings.Eoin Morgan, the England captain, appeared to have an almost endless array of options and variations on hand in the field. And with Adil Rashid producing the third most economical four-over spell of his T20I career (he conceded 17) and Chris Woakes (three overs for 14) and Liam Livingstone (two overs for nine) adding equally miserly support in conceding just one boundary between them, Sri Lanka never looked to be on course for a competitive total.While Dasun Shanaka, with his second T20I half-century, helped Sri Lanka plunder 25 off the final two overs of the innings to drag his side to something approaching respectability, only one of his colleagues, Kusal Perera, made 20 and Sri Lanka only took their run-rate above a run-a-ball in their penultimate over.That left England chasing a modest 130 for victory. And even without the injured Ben Stokes, that was unlikely to test the side ranked No. 1 in the world in this format.Related

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Jos Buttler and Jason Roy, took 61 from the powerplay to all but end the game as a contest. If Buttler, timing the ball beautifully both through and over the off side, was the more pleasing on the eye, Roy was no less effective as he thrashed through the leg side. It was some surprise when he was brilliantly caught attempting to flay one over mid-off.By then, though, the openers had added 80 from 55 balls. And while Dawid Malan (seven off 14) was unable to get into his stride, Buttler brought up a 38-ball half-century by taking 10 off two deliveries from Akila Dananjaya – a pulled six followed by a drive for four – and ensured England cruised over the victory line with quite a bit to spare.Perhaps the one-side nature of the contest was no big surprise: this was the No. 1 ranked T20 side playing at home against the No. 8 ranked side, after all. Spare a thought for Sri Lanka, though. In the age of Covid, we have become accustomed to teams performing without the warm-up matches and acclimatisation we once expected. Here, though, Sri Lanka were up against a side who are in the middle of their domestic T20 tournament – the Vitality Blast – and had only had a couple of inter-squad matches to prepare by comparison. It was hardly ideal and it may well have shown.Buttler’s opening statementButtler came into this game having spent the last couple of weeks batting in Lancashire’s middle-order in T20 cricket. And with the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes also vying for the opening position in this format, he may have felt he had something to prove. If so, he did a fine job of making his point with an innings that was both controlled and brutal. Early on, it was his shots through the off-side – a lofted drive and a back foot punch, in particular – that caught the eye, but as the ball softened and the sluggish pitch made such strokes less productive, he produced some powerful thumps through the leg side. He gave only one chance, from the final ball of the match, when an outside edge was dropped by Kusal Perera. It was Buttler’s second T20I half-century in succession and his third in four innings. For a man who scores at his rates, that is a remarkable level of consistency. He also scored a century in his final IPL innings.Shanaka’s fightShanaka recorded the second half-century of his T20I career to justify his recall to the Sri Lanka side. Shanaka hadn’t played an international match in this format since March 2020 but here, coming in with his side in some trouble (they were 52 for 4 in the ninth over), he provided the resistance. He looked hurried by Mark Wood initially – he was beaten by his first three deliveries and, after 16 balls, had scored just nine – but, as he settled, he unveiled some powerful strokes and accelerated nicely in hitting 23 from the eight deliveries before his dismissal from the final ball of the innings. Twice in succession, Wood was punished for some width by being cut to the boundary, while he also hit two-thirds of the sixes of the innings: a ferocious drive over long-on off Chris Jordan and a pull off Sam Curran. None of it was enough to take Sri Lanka to victory but he did, at least, give his bowlers something to defend.Like a LivingstoneSome were surprised by England’s decision to prefer Livingstone to Moeen Ali as their spin-bowling allrounder. But Livingstone’s ability to bowl both leg and offspin does give him an edge in being able to adapt to left or right-handed batters. He has been in decent form with the bat in domestic T20 cricket, too, scoring an unbeaten 94 a couple of weeks ago and 45 and 65 in his two most recent games. He didn’t have a chance to bat here but impressed with the ball in delivering two well-controlled overs containing both offbreaks and leggies and without conceding a boundary. It was a performance that provided his captain with a buffer should any of his frontline bowlers have an off day and must have done Livingstone’s T20 World Cup chances no harm at all.Hope in HasarangaSri Lanka’s bowlers weren’t given much of a chance by their batters. But at least Wanindu Hasaranga gave Sri Lanka supporters some cheer with a really well controlled spell of leg-spin that saw him concede just 12 runs and deliver 14 dot balls. With just a little luck he could have had a couple of wickets, too, as England’s batters struggled to predict which deliveries would turn and which would skid on. Malan missed one which slid past his outside edge and Bairstow came within an ace of playing on to another which hurried on to him. The impression was that, given a decent target to defend, he could have caused England quite a lot of trouble.The return of ChrisThe last time Chris Woakes played a T20I, Barack Obama was president of the USA and David Cameron was prime minister in the UK. So a lot has changed since November 2015. But with Jofra Archer missing and Woakes having enjoyed a decent IPL, England recalled him for his first international game since September; a remarkably long time for a player with a central contract who spent much of the winter in the squad’s bio-bubbles. While Woakes didn’t take a wicket, he more than justified his recall in conceding just one boundary in three frugal overs which contained 11 dot balls and cost only 14. With his control, his variations and his experience, he may well have put himself back in contention for a place in the T20 World Cup squad.

Ireland have recalled George Dockrell and William Porterfield to their ODI squad to play Netherlands next month, with Curtis Campher ruled out of the series through injury.Porterfield last played an international in January 2020 and Dockrell’s most recent ODI cap was in May 2019. Both have won recalls to the 15-man squad after being left out altogether for the 3-0 defeat to Afghanistan and the 1-1 draw with the UAE at the start of this year.Dockrell, who first attracted widespread attention as an 18-year-old left-arm spinner at the 2011 World Cup, has earned his recall after a remarkable run with the bat in domestic cricket, which captain Andy Balbirnie has likened to Steven Smith’s transformation from a legspinning allrounder into one of the world’s top batters.Related

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Generally carded at No. 10 or 11 in his early years as an international cricketer, Dockrell has made 642 runs in 16 one-day innings for Leinster since Ireland’s inter-provincial set-up gained List A status in 2017, averaging 107.00 with a strike rate of 97.86. This season, he has batted at No. 5 for Leinster and in the same position for Ireland’s A team, the Wolves, against Netherlands A this month.Andrew White, the national selector, said: “It has been very pleasing for the selectors to see George being, without doubt, the leading batter in domestic cricket in 2021. During the off season he was challenged to bat more consistently at inter-pro and Wolves level. His natural ability has always been there to see, but the way he has risen to the challenge so far is a great credit to him.”Porterfield – who was recently appointed as a consultant fielding coach for the national team – won a recall despite making 14 runs in three innings in the Wolves series, while Graeme McCarter, whose only ODI cap came in 2014, was the leading wicket-taker in the series with nine at 10.88.”The squad selected not only rewards form, but provides a group of players that offer Graham Ford and Andrew Balbirnie options on any given matchday,” White said. “We have sought to provide continuity with the young players who continue to gain exposure at international level, while still incorporating a number of experienced players whose value around such a squad goes far beyond just their performances on the field.”Graeme has proven time and time again that he bowls with excellent control, and continually hits that line and length that makes batters uncomfortable. His ability to move the ball has led to many of his wickets this season. Given the conditions we will face in Holland may be very similar to those at home, Graeme’s bowling will be a great asset and is reward for the hard work he has put in over a number of years.”Campher, meanwhile, has been ruled out of the series through an ankle injury that requires surgery. David Delany is still rehabbing after suffering a knee injury in Abu Dhabi, while James McCollum, Neil Rock and Shane Getkate were left out and Boyd Rankin and Gary Wilson have recently retired. Peter Chase, Stephen Doheny, Graham Kennedy and David O’Halloran are all reserves and will travel with the squad.The series, which forms part of the World Cup Super League, will be played in Utrecht, with fixtures on June 2, 4 and 7.Ireland squad to play Netherlands: Andy Balbirnie (capt), Mark Adair, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, Barry McCarthy, Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield, Simi Singh, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young
Travelling reserves: Peter Chase, Stephen Doheny, Graham Kennedy, David O’Halloran