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Arsenal are set to bid for Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm in the summer transfer window, according to the Metro.

Wojciech Szczesny has been Arsenal’s number one goalkeeper for most of the season, but after being dropped in recent weeks, it seems Wenger has lost faith in the Polish shot stopper.

With Lukasz Fabianski the next rated goalkeeper at the club, Wenger will be looking to bring in a new number 1 at the club instead of promoting from within.

Vorm conceded two goals on the weekend to Arsenal, but has still impressed the French manager with his performances since he joined the Welsh club in 2011. Despite having three years left on his contract, Wenger is confident he can tempt the Dutch international into moving to the Emirates stadium.

Arsenal have also been linked with Liverpool ‘keeper Pepe Reina over recent months, however the Spaniard has been linked with a return to Barcelona instead, meaning Wenger may have to draw his attention elsewhere.

Vorm, who was an unused substitute in Swansea’s 5-0 win over Bradford to win the Capital One Cup, has also been linked with Manchester United over recent months.

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The 29-year-old is expected to start in Swansea’s home game against Tottenham on Saturday, as Swansea look to try catch up with 8th place West Brom.

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Jack Carson claims three, but late loss of wickets leave hosts with work to do

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay08-Sep-2025Hampshire were bowled out for 226 in just 71.3 overs after being asked to bat first on a challenging Hove pitch on the opening day of their championship match against Sussex. That left Sussex to face 22 overs and by the close they had reached 42 for three as Hampshire fought their way back into the match.Not for the first time the Hampshire innings was held together by their captain Ben Brown, once a very popular player in Sussex colours. But even Brown needed some good fortune on his way to a 129-ball 71, and he was dropped behind by opposite number John Simpson off the bowling of Sean Hunt when he had scored just 18.At the start of the day just 15 points separated the teams between fifth and ninth places. And both Hampshire, in fifth position, and Sussex, just two points behind, started the match in search of reassuring, anti-relegation points.Hampshire, who made four changes, bringing in Ali Orr, Toby Albert, Bjorn Fortuin and Keith Barker, reached a diffident 81 for three at lunch against a rejigged Sussex seam attack which welcomed back Olli Robinson, Jaydev Unadkat and Sean Hunt.Sussex, who had lost their two most recent championship games by an innings, broke through in the sixth over when Fletcha Middleton, driving at a wide delivery from Unadkat, edged behind. It was 47 for two in the 14th over when former Sussex opener Orr clipped Hunt to short leg where Oli Carter took a very sharp catch, low down. And Robinson picked up his first wicket in his livelier second spell when, bowling over the wicket to the left-handed Nick Gubbins, he straightened one to have the batsman lbw.After the break the Hampshire batsmen found the going no easier on a rather sticky surface. The pitch – being used for the first time this season for a championship match – did not encourage strokeplay. Albert pulled left-armer Hunt through midwicket to bring up the hundred in the 35th over but when he attempted a similar stroke against Robinson he gloved the ball to slip.Tom Prest also perished as he attempted to be positive, clipping Fynn Hudson-Prentice to Daniel Hughes at midwicket. Fortuin played himself in but when he jumped down the wicket to drive Jack Carson through the on-side he was through the stroke too soon and chipped it back to the bowler.Hampshire put all their eggs in Brown’s basket, and the batsman gathered his runs with sweeps and nudges, mostly on the leg-side. But when he swept Carson for a single to reach his half-century it had taken him 105 deliveries. From 119 for five Brown led his side to partial recovery, but once he was eighth out at 215, sweeping Carson to square-leg, Hampshire’s resistance was broken.Conditions were no easier when Sussex batted. Tom Haines edged Kyle Abbott waist-high to second slip and Carter was bowled by a nip-backer from Keith Barker. Shortly before the close, James Coles, driving loosely, dragged a delivery from James Fuller onto his stumps.

India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey credited England for being brave but doesn’t believe the hosts have fallen behind

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2024The reverse sweep was England’s second most profitable shot (48 off 30 balls, no dismissals) in the second innings that took them from 190 behind to 126 ahead. Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett in particular were using it repeatedly, throwing India’s spinners off the good length area where most of the danger lurked in this Hyderabad pitch.In all, England made 79 runs off 46 balls using various kinds of sweeps – including a reverse Dilscoop that Pope played late in the day after raising an immense century.India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey credited England for being brave and said the only thing to do when a team comes out with such unorthodox strokeplay is to hold your line and hope for the edge.Related

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“It does happen. If a batsman starts to access different areas, it’s always going to be a challenge,” Mhambrey said. “Someone like Pope who played, he accessed the square, fine leg area as well and the sweep and the reverse sweep and he played it consistently. Credit must go to him. They really played well, took on the attack at the stage where it was needed and sometimes that happens. Someone who plays some shots like these consistently does get the bowlers under pressure in terms of variation in the lines. Credit goes to him.”But as I said, we still have to be patient with the lines, still hit the right areas and hope to get a wicket. Hope to get an edge or something or the other. That can happen. But I think the credit goes to him the way he played.”Joe Root, who spoke in glowing terms about Pope, said the key to playing the sweep and the reverse sweep is to believe you’re going to nail it every single time. This was when he was asked if they might be a better option than a forward defensive on a turning pitch.Ollie Pope reverse sweeps, something he did a lot•BCCI

“It can be if you can play it well,” Root said. “When it’s hardest is when some spin, some don’t. When it’s consistent spin you can work out when to take it on, and which balls from which line you can take a risk on.”The most important thing is you don’t think you are going to miss at all. Have that mindset of committing to the shot and nailing it for four or one, or whatever. Pope did it exceptionally well. It took until 110 to make a small error when he got dropped. There were a couple of balls that ripped past his outside edge but you expect that; it’s part and parcel, almost like in England when it’s swinging and seaming around, and you almost give yourself a pat on the back because you’ve not chased it. It’s exactly the same here. It was a really special knock.”India aren’t bothered that they’ve fallen behind because they believe that the surface in Hyderabad is a little atypical.”If you look at the way the game has progressed over the last three days, looking at the first session, the amount of balls, the pace of the wicket, the pace of the spin, it got better in the second innings and I think it’s only going to get a little better,” Mhambrey said.”It is on the slower side. There’s still turn but it’s not the usual turn that we see on Indian subcontinental wickets where the game progresses and there’s sharp turn. It’s not that. Still a little turn but not as challenging as maybe the other wickets we’ve played on.”

Pujara’s availability will be determined by his other commitments

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2022Cheteshwar Pujara will return to Sussex in 2023 after making a significant impact during his first season with the club this year.”I am glad to be back with Sussex for the 2023 season,” Pujara said in a statement released by the club. “I thoroughly enjoyed my last stint with the club last season, both on and off the field and I’m looking forward to contributing to the team’s growth and success in the coming year.”Pujara made Sussex his fourth county after previous spells with Derbyshire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, and made eight hundreds – including three doubles – for them across formats. He was their leading run-scorer in Division Two of the County Championship, with an aggregate of 1094 at 109.4 across 13 innings, and was the second-highest scorer across the 50-over Royal London Cup, making three hundreds as Sussex reached the semi-finals. He also deputised as captain.Sussex did not specify in their statement which formats Pujara would play, or for how long, but his availability will be dictated by his involvement in India’s Test squad and, possibly, the IPL. The club later clarified that they expect him to play Championship and 50-over cricket for them and added that he is due to arrive in time for the start of the season.Pujara remains an important part of India’s Test plans, top-scoring with 66 in their most recent game in the format against England in July. Their Test schedule is relatively sparse in 2023, but they are due to play a two-match series away against West Indies in July-August.He has not played an IPL game since 2014 but was part of Chennai Super Kings’ squad in 2021, and would miss the first two months of the county season if picked up in December’s auction.Keith Greenfield, Sussex’s performance director, said, “It is fantastic news that Cheteshwar will be returning in 2023. We all saw the class he showed with the bat and his performances, but he was also outstanding in our young dressing room as a world-class role model for them to follow.”Sussex are in the process of recruiting a new coach after Ian Salisbury left at the end of the 2022 season. James Kirtley acted as T20 coach throughout Salisbury’s tenure, but the club will return to a single head coach from 2023.

Young Surrey spinners seize control as Gloucestershire follow-on at The Kia Oval

Alan Gardner29-May-2021Surrey strutted their way towards what was set to be a crushing win over Group Two leaders Gloucestershire, as 14 wickets fell on day three at the Kia Oval. Dan Moriarty, the left-arm spinner playing in only his third first-class match, was the architect of the visitors’ demise as his career-best 6 for 60 enabled Surrey to enforce the follow on. A parched Saturday-evening crowd then wallowed in the occasion as Gloucestershire tottered to five down in their second dig.Rarely do Surrey have licence to play the underdog card, but having lost to these opponents in the opening round of fixtures there was an added bite to their play here. In the stands, some pinkly glistening patrons attempted to start a “thunder clap”, made famous by Iceland’s football fans during exuberant campaigns at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. Gloucestershire, still 191 runs adrift at the close and having collected just two bowling bonus points from their trip to Kennington, face going home with little more than a pat on the back.Surrey went into this game missing the services of three of their England internationals (Rory Burns and Ollie Pope with the Test squad, Ben Foakes the victim of a freak dressing-room injury), and having seen overseas quick Kemar Roach depart for West Indies duty; but such are the resources available in south London that they have been in charge from the moment stand-in captain Hashim Amla won the toss on Thursday morning.Moriarty’s first appearance of the season brought him a fourth consecutive five-wicket haul in Championship cricket, as he and Amar Virdi took up the gauntlet of spinning their team towards victory. Roach’s replacement, Australia international Sean Abbott, then claimed his first Surrey scalps to rattle Gloucestershire in their second innings.Arguably the most significant absence has been that of James Bracey, Gloucestershire’s leading run-scorer and a man with the methodical minerals to have set the tone for a rearguard effort. Miles Hammond did a passable impression at No. 3, facing 257 balls for 111 runs and once out in the day, but a collapse of 4 for 5 during a chaotic half-hour in the first session effectively scuppered their likeliest escape route here.Amar Virdi was in the wickets as Surrey dominated Gloucestershire•Getty Images

Rarely does the county game provide the stage for two young, English spinners to dictate proceedings in tandem, but with the sun shining down on a dry and dusty Oval, conditions were ripe for Virdi and Moriarty to wheel away. Le tweak, c’est chic, as the French don’t quite say. Certainly they are a complementary pair, having taken 18 wickets together in the victory over Sussex during last season’s Bob Willis Trophy. Virdi, the diminutive offspinner, bounds in and gives the ball a twirl, while the taller, more angular Moriarty sinisterly stalks his quarry.Asked to bat again in the face of a 315-run deficit, Kraigg Brathwaite and Chris Dent walked out to find Moriarty and Virdi waiting for them again. Gloucestershire’s openers survived their unusual new-ball test, only for Brathwaite to chip a return catch to Jamie Overton, before Abbott struck twice in as many overs, pinning Dent in front and then castling Tom Lace to send the former Middlesex man on his way having bagged a pair.Ryan Higgins avoided the same fate, but was stumped off Virdi deep into an extended evening session – Jamie Smith completing the dismissal after a smart take by his left shoulder – after Ian Cockbain had fallen to a ripping offbreak.For the first hour of the day, Gloucestershire seemed capably attuned to the requirements of navigating a way past the follow-on target of 324. While spin was always likely to play the major role, this used pitch was still some way removed from a raging Bunsen. Indeed, after Brathwaite and Hammond had seen off the opening overs of seam – the latter taking advantage of Overton’s pace to pull and drive three boundaries in as many overs – the introduction of Virdi and Moriarty initially did little to change the tenor of the morning.In the end it was a lack of turn, deliberate or otherwise from Virdi, that succeeded in foxing Brathwaite, as the West Indies opener played around an offbreak that went straight on to rap the back pad. Virdi was off and running, haring across the square in celebration, and so were Surrey, as the visitors tumbled from 84 for 1 to 89 for 5 inside five calamitous overs.Related

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Lace was Moriarty’s first victim, sucked into pushing at a flighted delivery from round the wicket that straightened just enough to clip the outside edge. Cockbain attempted to counterattack but only succeeded in cuffing his sweep off Virdi straight to square leg, and Higgins was guilty of an even more glaring misjudgement when he offered his second ball unimpeded passage into off stump. With Jonny Tattersall turning a full delivery straight into the hands of leg slip and Tom Smith snapped up one-handed by Jacks at forward short leg off the face of the bat, Moriarty had four and Gloucestershire were limping to lunch on 113 for 7.Despite the carnage at the other end, Hammond had doggedly held the line throughout, earning praise from a small-but-vocal pocket of Gloucestershire support in the JM Finn Stand. He moved to a sixth first-class fifty – and first for Gloucestershire since 2019 – with a single from his 124th ball, though might have been stumped in the following over when Moriarty turned one inside the bat only for it to elude Smith as well.Surrey’s charge was briefly held up by the eighth-wicket pair, as Matt Taylor dug in for more than an hour. He had just driven Abbott through extra cover for four when he left a delivery from Jacks that spun big to hit off stump and give the Surrey allrounder his maiden first-class wicket. Moriarty claimed the last two, including that of Hammond, who dragged a short delivery to midwicket; the spinner’s name may hint at Machiavellian intent but Gloucestershire were too often complicit in being duped.

Former assistant coach says a player of Buttler’s talent should average ’40-plus’ by this point in his Test career

George Dobell29-Feb-2020Paul Farbrace has admitted he is “worried” about Jos Buttler’s form, but feels England should stick with him as their keeper for the Test series in Sri Lanka.While Farbrace, England’s former assistant coach, regards Buttler as a “brilliant professional” and a “selfless cricketer” he accepts he “needs to score runs” in Sri Lanka or “step aside” from the Test side.ALSO READ: ‘I’m too old now to get picked on potential’ – ButtlerButtler has made just one Test century in his 41 Tests (73 innings) and, since the start of the Ashes, has made one half-century in 10 Tests and averaged 21.31. He hasn’t reached 30 in his most recent eight Test innings.”I am worried about Jos,” Farbrace said. “I think Jos should be England’s keeper and batter but he knows he can’t keep going long periods of time without making contributions.”What should a player of his ability be averaging after 40 games? It should be 40-plus. It is a lot lower than he would want it to be.”I would definitely keep him for the Sri Lanka series but he needs to score runs. If not, then he has to step aside.”Buttler does look set to start the Sri Lanka tour as England’s first-choice keeper. But the recall of Ben Foakes, player of the series when England won in Sri Lanka in late 2018, is sure to increase the pressure on Buttler’s position.And Farbrace feels Foakes has proved his ability and shouldn’t be judged too harshly on a disappointing 2019 Championship season (in which he averaged 26.14) as it may well have been provoked by his being dropped by England. Farbrace retains belief in Jonny Bairstow’s ability, too, though he accepts he “did not score enough runs.”ALSO READ: Foakes refreshed after winter off and ready for second chance“Foakes is England’s best keeper bar none,” Farbrace said. “He is a quality act with the bat. He showed he is up to it in Sri Lanka.”Being dropped in the West Indies had a massive effect on him during the English summer. It kicked the legs from underneath him.”Jonny Bairstow’s keeping improved enormously, too, but he got bowled too often and did not score enough runs. To get the best out of Jonny, he bats at No. 7 and keeps wicket. A lot of us think he can nail down No. 5, but maybe No. 7 suits him.”While Farbrace, now director of sport at Warwickshire, does not have the influence around the England camp he once did, his views remain intriguing. In his role with England, he was a steadfast supporter of Buttler. If even he is losing confidence, it suggests Buttler is running out of chances.Still, Farbrace remains a fan of Buttler and feels he has the talent and technique to make it in Test cricket. Addressing a roomful of young cricketers on the PCA’s recent rookie camp, Farbrace told them how the previous team management had urged Buttler to simply relax and enjoy the game. Then, Farbrace believes, he requires only greater game awareness to enjoy more consistent success.Jos Buttler has endured a tough run in Test cricket•Getty Images

“I was watching the IPL on television a couple of years ago,” Farbrace said. “Jos’ shoulder were hunched. So I phoned him and asked ‘are you enjoying it?’ He said ‘not really.'”So I said, ‘what would your mum – who coached him when he was a boy – have said?’ And he said ‘try to enjoy it.’ I said, ‘well, there you are then.’ He went on to make 50s in his next five games.”We always told him not to worry about the level of expectation. Just go in and play the game and remember why you play: because you enjoy it.”Jos is a very selfless cricketer. Everything about him as a character and person, you can see why everybody wants him in the team. He has that great knack of saying the right thing at the right time, he is a brilliant professional, he has got a lot of experience and is a team-orientated person like Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Moeen Ali. You want those people in your team.”There are times when he has gone in and played in a way that worked for the team. He got one of England’s best hundreds in recent times against India where he had more dot balls in a hundred than anyone else for ten years [his leave percentage of 24 was actually the highest of England’s most recent 30 Test centuries]. It was a rearguard action at Trent Bridge.”I think it is being able to understand where the game is at and what he needs to do. That is what the best players can do. They work out the situation and play accordingly. That is what Root, Cook and Stokes can do.”I don’t think it is a technique issue. He knows he has the defence. It is a case of trusting that defence and being clear on the situation of the game and playing accordingly. He has to work out what the game needs from him at the given moment. It is what Stokes has done brilliantly.”Over the last 18 months he has worked out how he needs to play for the current situation. The more he does it, the more confidence he has. All Jos is lacking is consistency of being able to bat according to the situation.”England fly to Sri Lanka on Monday and begin their tour with a three-day match against a Board President’s XI starting on Saturday.

The 35-year-old allrounder will continue playing white-ball cricket, he said on Twitter

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2019South African allrounder Ryan McLaren, 35, announced Thursday that he is retiring from first-class cricket. McLaren posted a screengrab on Twitter where he said it was the “right time” and that it was “time for some white ball fun.””I have learned from many to know when it’s the right time. The time has come for me to retire from first-class cricket. I’m grateful to share a changeroom with some of the best our country has produced. Words cannot describe how grateful I am for the support I have had from my wife, family, coaches and teammates both in SA and in county cricket. I have absolutely loved every part of what this game has taught me…time for some white ball fun now,” McLaren’s screengrab read.
The fast-bowling allrounder enjoyed reasonable success in limited-overs cricket for South Africa between 2009 and 2014, before being left out of their 2015 World Cup squad. He played only two Tests, which came four years apart. During his second Test against Australia in 2014, he picked up a mild concussion after being hit by a bouncer, and missed the rest of what would be his last Test series.He is, however, a well-travelled first-class cricketer. He debuted with Easterns in 2003-04 under Allan Donald, played for the Knights from 2005 to 2014, and briefly moved to Dolphins, before returning to finish with Knights, who he represented at the start of the year against Cape Cobras. McClaren also has stints in County cricket, including one as a Kolpak player for Kent between 2007 and 2009. Most recently, he played for Hampshire and Lancashire.In all, McLaren played 154 first-class matches to score 6298 runs at 33.86 and took 459 wickets at 27.61.

Pakistan Under-19s were once again tormented by offspinner Mujeeb Zadran, who took 5 for 13 in the final to bowl them out for a mere 63

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2017
ScorecardACC

Ikram Faizi’s unbeaten 107 and a five-for from offspinner Mujeeb Zadran clinched the maiden Asia Cup title for Afghanistan Under-19s, with a 185-run win over Pakistan Under-19s in the final in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.Mujeeb came into the final having taken six wickets against Nepal Under-19s in the semi-final and a six-for against Pakistan in the side’s first match of the tournament. His domination over the opponents continued – having dismissed Pakistan’s openers by the fourth over, Mujeeb returned in his second spell to pick up three lower-order wickets without conceding a run. His 5 for 13 took his overall wicket tally in the tournament to 20. Mujeeb was well-supported by legspinner Qais Ahmad, whose three wickets included Mohammad Taha – the leading run-getter in the tournament – and wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir. Taha and captain Hasan Khan were the only two Pakistan batsmen to score in double-figures in an innings that lasted 22.1 overs.Earlier, having been put in to bat, Afghanistan’s top three did the bulk of the scoring. The openers, Rahman Gul (40 off 53 balls) and Ibrahim Zadran (36 off 76), began with a 61-run opening partnership before Faizi took charge of the innings, smashing 10 fours and two sixes en route to his 113-ball 107. He anchored two fifty-plus stands with Darwish Rasooli (18) and Qais (14) for the third and sixth wickets respectively, negating much of the impact of the strikes from Muhammad Musa and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who took five wickets between them. Having hit only 14 off his first 50 balls, Faizi accelerated quickly – he brought up his century with a six in the penultimate over, while smashing 18 runs in a 26-run over bowled by Munir Riaz.

England will play their first day-night Test match at home next year, the ECB has confirmed

Alan Gardner06-Oct-20161:39

Edgbaston to host day-night Test match

England will play their first day-night Test match at home next year, the ECB has confirmed. The first Test of West Indies’ tour, at Edgbaston on August 17-21, will be contested under lights with a pink ball in a move designed to try and increase attendances and drive interest in the oldest form of the game.Tom Harrison, the ECB’s chief executive, said it was worth experimenting in order to try and “make cricket more accessible to new audiences”. So far, the only Test played under lights with a pink ball was between Australia and New Zealand at Adelaide last November, although a second, between Pakistan and West Indies in the UAE, will take place this month. Another two are scheduled for the forthcoming Australian summer.”It’s a great opportunity to build on a lot of the thinking and the strategy that has been going on for the last 12 months,” Harrison said. “It’s been all about new audiences and doing all we could to make the game more accessible at every level, and this gives us an opportunity to find out if Test cricket played at a different time of day, under certain conditions, in a city centre at a time of year where people possibly don’t get to go to the all day game – we’ll see if that has a dramatic impact on attendance.”It’s also outside London, so there’s more opportunity to see an impact of day-night cricket. England historically love playing at Edgbaston, it’s a great venue. We are taking an open and hopeful view and are expectant that it will have an impact on our market as we look to make cricket more accessible to new audiences.”Harrison added it was important to “embrace opportunities when they come”. Warwickshire held a trial in a 2nd XI game in August, which was deemed a success despite some issues with the deterioration of the pink ball (both Dukes and Kookaburra varieties). The club were unable to hold further tests in a first-class match but, with tickets due to go on sale next week, they have agreed to take the plunge for next summer.”Bringing day-night Test cricket to England is an innovative and very exciting development for the game, and we’re thrilled that Edgbaston will be the first venue to host a match played in this format,” Neil Snowball, Warwickshire’s chief executive, said.”Edgbaston staged the UK’s first day-night domestic match in 1997 and has a great history of hosting and selling out some of the biggest fixtures in the game. In turn, the Edgbaston atmosphere and match-day experience has become iconic, with England having a fantastic record of victories here.”Playing hours for the Test have been provisionally scheduled from 2pm until 9pm, with the final session set to take place under floodlights as the sun goes down. Dukes will continue to supply the ball; those used in the 2nd XI match at Edgbaston, in contrast to the Kookaburra version, featured a dark seam.”I’m sure it will drive some new thinking in the way that tickets are sold and I’m sure it will have an impact on the ability of families to come and watch cricket,” Harrison said. “It’s a sincere drive and strategy to make cricket as accessible as possible, particularly for young people. To create a Test cricket audience among young people.”Cricket Australia has been the board most enthusiastic about day-night Tests and it is likely that the 2017-18 Ashes could feature a pink-ball game – although the current captains, Alastair Cook and Steven Smith, have expressed reservations. “It’s useful to have one before we go to Australia,” Harrison said. “Giving guys the chance to play with a pink ball under lights, before an Ashes Test in similar conditions. It’s a good opportunity to stick a stake in the ground to say we are keen to innovate.”Player concerns about the conditions required to keep the pink ball from deteriorating were a feature of the Adelaide Test, where an unusually grassy surface was prepared and the match was over inside three days. Harrison said the ECB was “comfortable with the development of the ball”, which has been tested extensively by the MCC – who first proposed the idea – notably in the Champion County match at the start of the English season.He added that the England and West Indies players had been assured they will be given opportunities to prepare for playing under lights. West Indies’ third three-day tour match, which takes place in Derby the week before the first Test, will be played as a day-night match.”Players have taken some time to get around this,” Harrison said. “It’s not a new concept in terms of global international cricket and many boards are looking at ways to introduce this and as they have gone down this journey they have looked at all the things that need to come together, like lux levels at grounds, local council approval, public transport. They are all different in the day-night scenario. There is a bit more work to do, but we can start to get excited.”I’m sure we will convert those who are less than convinced about it. We will work hard to make sure we are not treading on traditions here. In London we put a Test match on and it sells out. Outside London it’s not as simple as that. Maybe this helps bring in some of those new communities that haven’t been to Edgbaston before. There will be a lot of marketing about, in a very busy summer for us across all formats.”

Mashrafe Mortaza has said he will play Khulna Division in their next first-class match, against Rangpur on October 10, in the National Cricket League

Mohammad Isam05-Oct-2015Mashrafe Mortaza has said he will play Khulna Division in their next first-class match, against Rangpur on October 10, in the National Cricket League. While his fitness remains a constant worry, Mashrafe is optimistic that a return to Test cricket isn’t far away.His last Test was in July 2009 in which he had been captain as well. Mortaza had taken a tumble in his followthrough after bowling only 6.3 overs and the resulting knee injury kept him out for three months. Thereafter he struggled to meet fitness requirements to play five-day cricket but has been a regular fixture in shorter formats, especially over the last 18 months.”I will play from the NCL’s next round for Khulna against Rangpur from October 10,” Mashrafe said. “I will also play one more game but not two in a row. I will play the other one later. Now my fitness is quite good, so I am getting the courage to play. I am even thinking about Test cricket. Now I have to see how it goes in the NCL.”His last first-class appearances were in January 2014, when he played a game each for East Zone in the Bangladesh Cricket League and for Khulna in the NCL. He usually turns up in first-class cricket to prove match fitness, but this time the urge to play was due to Bangladesh’s long lay-off from international cricket.Mashrafe will join a strong Khulna Division bowling attack that comprises of Abdur Razzak, Al-Amin Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman. His last competitive match was the third ODI against South Africa on July 15 and after the NCL, his next assignment would be the BPL T20 competition in mid-November.