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Fast bowler backed after injury setbacks, and will stay with club at least until 2023

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-2022Toby Roland-Jones will stay with Middlesex at least until the end of 2023, after signing a contract extension that will take him into his 13th year with the club.Roland-Jones has endured an injury-plagued few years, including a knee cartilage injury that took four months out of his 2021 season, following back and shoulder problems that had limited his involvement since 2018.However, he reaffirmed his importance to Middlesex with a five-wicket haul against Derbyshire on his first-class comeback in September, and with Richard Johnson having been appointed as the club’s new head coach, Roland-Jones will remain a key part of their plans for the coming seasons.”I am absolutely delighted to commit to Middlesex Cricket for the next two years,” Roland-Jones said. “I feel hugely fortunate that my passion for the club and the game continues to grow, as it has since the day I joined, back in 2010.”The excitement and potential in this squad gives us every opportunity to return this club to the level it should be at, and I look forward to playing any part I can to make that happen.”With the appointment of Richard Johnson as First Team Coach yesterday, we have a high-quality coach returning to the club, and someone who has previously worked with and helped so many of our players in the earlier parts of their careers. I know the players can’t wait to get started under him, and I’m sure he returns as eager as we all are to bring the club success.”Related

• Richard Johnson returns to Middlesex as Stuart Law successor

• Middlesex chairman criticised after claiming football 'is more attractive' to Black people

• Stuart Law sacked as Middlesex head coach

• Alan Coleman takes on top coaching role at Middlesex

• Shaheen Shah Afridi joins Middlesex for 2022 season

Roland-Jones has made a total of 224 appearances for Middlesex across all three formats of the game, with a total of 545 wickets. His debut for the club came in 2010, when he picked up two five-wicket hauls in eight appearances, and in 2015, he made his maiden first-class hundred against Yorkshire at Lord’s.His place in club folklore was secured in the final match of the 2016 season, when he claimed a hat-trick against Yorkshire to secure the County Championship title. His final wicket completed a ten-wicket haul, and took his tally for the season to 54 at 28.22.The following year, Roland-Jones made the first of his four Test appearances, claiming five wickets on debut against South Africa at The Oval, but his hopes of starring in that winter’s Ashes were curtailed by the diagnosis of a stress fracture in his back.Alan Coleman, Middlesex’s head of Men’s Performance, said: “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to agree this extension to Toby’s contract. He is a huge character in our dressing room, a great influence to the rest of our group, and a key player for us on the field.”We saw at the back end of last season what he is capable of as a player, just like we have witnessed for many seasons beforehand, and I am certain that we’ll be seeing much more of that over the next two seasons.”

Shamim Hossain’s unbeaten 15-ball 31 sealed the win after Sarkar’s half-century

Mohammad Isam25-Jul-2021Shamim Hossain gave another glimpse of his talent with a 16-ball unbeaten 31 that helped Bangladesh eclipse Zimbabwe’s 193 with four balls to spare in Harare. The home side, who went down by five wickets in the end, would have felt in control of the game for the first 30 overs of this game.But Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah turned things around in the second half of the Bangladesh innings, with their 63-run third wicket stand, before Shamim, playing only his second T20I, took down the Zimbabwe attack with six fours that were well planned.Shamim’s calculated assaultAfter Sarkar fell in the 14th over following his 49-ball 68, Bangladesh still needed 61 off 39 balls. Afif Hossain struck two sixes in his five-ball stay, before getting bowled by Wellington Masakadza. Mahmudullah played his trademark flick off Tendai Chatara, before Shamim punched back.He played a tennis-like forehand through the covers, before reverse-sweeping and then pulling the part-time seamer Dion Myers, who inexplicably bowled one short ball after another. Regis Chakabva took a superb catch to remove Mahmudullah, who made 34 off 28 balls, in the penultimate over but Shamim and Nurul Hasan ensured they needed just five runs in the last over.Shamim banged Masakadza straight down the ground, before pumping him for a single to complete the win. As Shamim punched the air in triumph, the home side were crest-fallen around him. But when Wessley Madhevere, Chakabva and Ryan Burl were hitting it around the Harare Sports Club, they must have believed something was up for them.Madhevere tees offTadiwanashe Marumani’s swats – two going for fours and one for six – in the first two overs signaled Zimbabwe’s intent. Madhevere then put away Taskin Ahmed with two pull shots, before he drove one straight, for three fours. Taskin pulled back the length again next ball, but Madhevere was equal to the task.He placed the pull-shot between the two fielders. Next ball, he flat-batted another full ball for the fifth boundary in a row. Marumani hammered Saifuddin for his second six before he was bowled off his pads for 27, to round off Zimbabwe’s best Powerplay score, 63 for 1, against Bangladesh. This was also Zimbabwe’s first fifty-plus opening stand since February 2018.Chakabva’s sixer festivalZimbabwe needed some sort of consolidation after such a start, but Chakabva took off in the other direction. He rammed into Bangladesh’s bowling attack with six sixes in 15 balls, particularly his switch-hits going well into the stands. After hitting Nasum Ahmed for a reverse slog-sweep, Chakabva pasted him over midwicket for three consecutive sixes in the eleventh over.He also struck Shakib Al Hasan and Sarkar for a six each, over midwicket and a switch hit over point, respectively. Chakabva threatened to at least equal Malcolm Waller’s fastest T20I fifty for Zimbabwe, as it looked like Bangladesh really had to come up with something special to get rid of him.The Naim-Shamim magic momentIt came immediately after Chakabva’s three-six over. He reached out to a Sarkar delivery way outside off-stump, to play a premeditated and conventional slog-sweep. Mohammad Naim ran hard to his left from fine-leg to take the catch, and parry it back to Shamim who was lurking nearby. Naim’s timing was wonderful, but so was Shamim’s awareness to complete the catch.Sarkar struck again later in the over when he bowled Sikandar Raza, much to Bangladesh’s relief at that stage. He missed a full ball to get out for his second duck in the T20I series.Burl heavy on SaifuddinMadhevere got out shortly after reaching his second successive half-century, leaving the last five overs to Burl. Dion Myers supported him with three fours in his 23, before the left-hander got down to business. He struck three fours and two sixes in his 15-ball unbeaten 31, all of them off Saifuddin, who was again a surprising choice in the death overs, going for 35 runs in the 18th and 20th overs.Bangladesh behind the eight-ballZimbabwe didn’t let Bangladesh get off to a flyer, quickly removing Naim in the third over when the left-handed dragged a Blessing Muzarabani delivery on to his stumps. Sarkar and Shakib tried to keep up to the run-rate but mishit a number of balls, as they looked for boundaries.Shakib struck a four before hitting two sixes off Luke Jongwe, but later in the same over, he holed out to long-off, having made 25 off 13 balls. Zimbabwe dried up the boundaries at this stage, as the visitors reached 90 for 2 at the halfway mark.The turnaround Mahmudullah’s slogged four at the end of the tenth over broke a 15-ball boundary duck. Sarkar, on 37, got a second life in the next ball when Chakabva missed a stumping chance. He had earlier been dropped on 25. But something clicked with Sarkar and Mahmudullah as they took 50 runs in the next four overs.Sarkar smacked Masakadza for two fours before Mahmudullah did the same against Jongwe in the following over. Sarkar repeated the dose on Myers, before he got out trying to clear long-off in the 14th over.The scoring momentum brought down the run-rate to less than nine an over, but it stopped when Muzarabani conceded just two runs in the 15th over. But Shamim and Mahmudullah didn’t let this bother their big-hitting momentum, completing the win in the last over.

Jon Holland took his match haul nine wickets but Victoria could not set up a run chase

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Apr-2021Henry Hunt’s exceptional rearguard innings to conclude a strong season at the top of the order could not prevent South Australia’s ignominious finish at the bottom of the Sheffield Shield table for the fourth consecutive season after Travis Head and his Victorian counterpart Peter Handscomb called off proceedings early at Junction Oval in Melbourne.There were still 43 overs scheduled to be bowled on the final afternoon with the Redbacks nine wickets down and leading Victoria by 297 runs. But the retiring Chadd Sayers did not get a final innings in which to bowl as the two teams preferred a swift finish to a season that was short of expectations for each.When they slipped to 4 for 52, leading by just 20 runs overall, on the third afternoon, SA looked set to slide to yet another defeat in a season that, with one domestic limited-overs match remaining, has so far been completely devoid of victories.Henry Hunt drives during his century•Getty Images

However Hunt stood firm against the spin of Jon Holland – nine victims for the match – and the seam and bounce of Scott Boland for long periods, adding a priceless 122 with Jake Lehmann to frustrate Victoria’s efforts.In an otherwise grim season for SA, Hunt’s emergence as a top order batsman of substance with 628 runs at 44.85 and two centuries has been some consolation after he moved from country New South Wales to Adelaide in search of greater opportunities.

Ben Cox has signed a new four-year contract committing him to Worcestershire until the end of the 2020 season

George Dobell03-Jul-2016Ben Cox has signed a new four-year contract committing him to Worcestershire until the end of the 2020 season.Cox, aged just 24 but already a veteran of seven seasons in the professional game, has developed into an outstanding wicketkeeper over the last few years. He was also the county’s second highest run-scorer in Division One of the County Championship in the 2015 season and is averaging above 40 in this year’s competition.Cox, like most of the Worcestershire side, has developed through the club’s system and joins nine of his first team colleagues in signing a long-term deal that demonstrates obvious commitment from both parties. His current contract was due to expire at the end of this season and he was beginning to attract admiring glances from other counties.”We are delighted Ben has signed the new contract,” Steve Rhodes, Worcestershire’s director of cricket, said. “He is such a club man and team man. He is a Worcestershire man through and through. To have somebody of his loyalty towards the club, and passion for the club, to reward him with a long contract is exactly what we are all about.”He is a terrific cricketer now, as consistent a wicket-keeper in county cricket that I have seen and to do that at a young age is incredibly good. But also he has match-winning experience and ability with the bat in the different formats.

”It is very tricky going into bat towards the end of an innings in one-day cricket and he does it superbly and often is there at the finish and winning games of cricket.”The only complication for Worcestershire comes in attempting to fulfil the ambitions of Cox and Joe Clarke. Clarke, a 20-year-old batsman of rare potential, also has wicketkeeping aspirations – he kept for England Under-19 and also, at times, for Worcestershire in pre-season – and may feel his opportunities are now blocked by the confirmed presence of Cox.While Clarke, currently not in Cox’s class as a keeper, is also secured on a long-term deal until the end of 2018, if he does decide to pursue opportunities elsewhere, he would have no shortage of takers. He was with the England squad during the final ODI against Sri Lanka as a reserve fielder.”I’m just delighted to sign the length of contract I have at Worcestershire,” Cox said. “I want to play my cricket here and for the club to back that up and show they have faith in me for the next four years is tremendous.”I’m a Worcester boy through and through. I’ve been here since I was nine years old and never thought of leaving. To sign for another four years is brilliant.”I see this squad of players winning silverware at some point whether it be this year, the next couple of years or three or four years down the line. We’ve got the players to win trophies.”

Georgia Adams hit 41 as the Southern Vipers produced a flawless display with bat and ball to start their Kia Super League campaign with a six-wicket bonus point win over Surrey Stars

ECB Reporters Network31-Jul-2016
ScorecardNew Zealand’s Suzie Bates scored 25 and took 1 for 20 as Southern Vipers started with a win (file photo)•IDI/Getty Images

Georgia Adams hit 41 as the Southern Vipers produced a flawless display with bat and ball to start their Kia Super League campaign with a six-wicket bonus point win over Surrey Stars.Opening batsman Adams crunched her runs from 43 balls in a stylish knock, helping to put on a 66-run opening stand with New Zealand international Suzie Bates. Despite a mini-wobble with victory in their sights, the Vipers chased down their target with 28 balls to spare following a disciplined bowling performance in front of 2,250 at the Ageas Bowl.The only blemish for the home side came when captain Charlotte Edwards, who recently retired from England duty, suffered a sickening neck injury when she collided with Fi Morris attempting to catch Nat Sciver’s aerial strike, forcing her to sit out the rest of the match.Surrey had elected to bat first but opening bowlers Morna Nielson and Natasha Farrant piled on the pressure from the off, with batsmen Bryony Smith and Tammy Beaumont struggling to pierce the infield. The frustration was typified when England star Beaumont chipped Farrant straight to Edwards at mid-on from the 12th ball of the innings.The squeeze continued into left-armer Farrant’s second over when she had Cordelia Griffith leg before and Bates joined the fun by bowling a slogging Smith.The Stars were then left on 26 for 4 when a stunning catch from Edwards, again at mid-on, gave Nielsen her first wicket with the final ball of her spell – and top figures of 1 for 12 from four overs. It got even worse for the visitors when captain Nat Sciver sent back overseas player Marizanne Kapp, who was well short of making her ground.Naomi Dattani was lbw to Morris but Sciver and Rene Farrell milked as many runs as possible in an unbroken partnership of 37 to help the Stars reach 85 for 6 in their 20 overs.The Vipers boasted a glowing bowling card, with home-grown pacer Katie George a surprise standout, only going for 13 in her four overs, including 17 dot balls, and Farrant taking 2 for 17.In reply, Bates and Adams, promoted to the top of the order with Edwards sidelined although able to bat if required, looked more at ease at the crease than their Surrey counterparts. Adams stroked a glorious cover drive before Bates, the ICC’s No. 2-ranked T20 batsman, copied her at the other end as the pair went through the gears to reach 32 for 0 by the end of the Powerplay.Surrey’s day got worse when Kapp dropped a low chance off Adams, and the Sussex batsman made her pay with a beautiful lofted drive down the ground soon after. The fifty stand came up in 65 deliveries, but Adams drilled a caught and bowled at Alex Hartley to end the partnership.Sara McGlashan fell to Hartley’s next ball and Bates was castled by Lea Tahuhu as three wickets fell for two runs, before Alice Macleod was run out with three still required but the home side managed to ease home three balls later.

Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on Shikhar Dhawan’s 82 and Ashish Nehra’s new-ball burst to thrash Mumbai Indians by 85 runs in Visakhapatnam

The Report by Shashank Kishore08-May-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
1:24

‘We need to forget this game’ – Pollard

It was a ‘home’ game for Mumbai Indians, but it was Sunrisers Hyderabad, whose base is geographically closest to Visakhapatnam, that rode on Shikhar Dhawan’s unbeaten 82 and Ashish Nehra’s new-ball burst that fetched him three wickets, to defend 177 with aplomb. A sixth win in nine matches took them to No. 2 in the points table.Four of Rohit Sharma’s five half-centuries resulted in successful chases for Mumbai this season. Against Sunrisers, he lasted three balls and exposed a middle order that has thrived on Rohit’s holding role. They couldn’t find form against a rampaging Nehra, whose late swing broke Mumbai’s backbone with the strikes of Rohit, Ambati Rayudu and Jos Buttler. At 30 for 4 after four overs, it was a case of trying to limit damage for Mumbai, with Sunrisers’ bowling depth shining through once again in their 85-run win at the ACA-VDCA Stadium.Rohit poked at an inswinger with leaden feet, and a thick inside edge clattered into off stump. Rayudu, Mumbai’s second-highest run-scorer this season, fended a skiddy bouncer to point, while Butter was pouched by Naman Ojha, who stuck out his right hand to pull off a one-handed stunner. The meltdown was complete when Kieron Pollard miscued a slower ball to long-on in the ninth over to leave Mumbai in tatters at 49 for 6.The brisk start was once again provided by David Warner, who dispatched offerings from Mumbai’s pacers as Sunrisers raced to 51 in the Powerplay after being sent in. The effervescence of his strokeplay forced Rohit to pack the off-side field with five fielders at one stage. Still, he pierced the gap as the bowlers continued to offer him width.Warner’s enterprise allowed Shikhar Dhawan to slip into the anchor role, but his sweetly-timed strokes on a fast outfield allowed him to find the boundary regularly. Both batsmen used the depth of the crease to ride the bounce on a fresh surface.After the Powerplay, Dhawan used deft touches and flicks to give Warner as much strike even as Mumbai’s spinners, in an effort to stem the damage, tried to fire the ball in. Warner welcomed Harbhajan with a biff for six over long-on before receiving a succession of darts outside off, which he failed to squeeze through.Warner holed out to Pollard at long-off, off Harbhajan, in the 10th over to give Mumbai some relief. In the next over, Harbhajan set up Kane Williamson by deceiving him in flight, and Rohit completed a low catch at midwicket. The double-strike stalled Sunrisers, who managed just 31 off the five overs following Warner’s dismissal.In the 15th over, Yuvraj Singh signalled the switch in momentum again as he made room and scorched a drive into the cover boundary. Yuvraj followed that with a clean connection that sent a slower delivery soaring over wide long-on for six, as he maximised timing with minimal feet movement.At the other end, Dhawan used his strong wrists to pepper the leg-side field. He accelerated the run-scoring once past his half-century, hitting Jasprit Bumrah for three fours in four balls in the 16th over. Yuvraj and Dhawan’s 85-run stand off 49 balls came to an end when Yuvraj clattered his stumps to be out hit-wicket, but the end-overs carnage gave them the momentum which Nehra rode to derail the chase.Mustafizur Rahman, introduced in the ninth over, struck twice in successive overs to effectively finish Mumbai off. Harbhajan hung around to delay Mumbai’s fifth loss before Barinder Sran closed the game out by dismissing Bumrah in the 17th over. By winning in the manner they did, Sunrisers also boosted their net run-rate, a factor that could come in handy if teams are tied on points.

Question marks remain over Siraj’s availability for the decider after he picked up a hamstring niggle at the Wanderers

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2022Regular India Test captain Virat Kohli, who missed the second Johannesburg Test with back spasms, should be back for the decider in Cape Town with the series tied 1-1.”Virat is feeling better already, he’s been in the nets last couple of days and he’s been fielding and running around on the field,” stand-in captain KL Rahul said after India’s seven-wicket loss on the fourth day. “I think he should be fine.”Later, at the press conference, head coach Rahul Dravid spoke on similar lines. “From all accounts, he should be fine,” Dravid said. “He’s had the opportunity to run around a little bit, he’s had the opportunity to test it a little bit, I’ll be down only now at the moment in the nets with a few throwdowns and stuff, so hopefully with a few net sessions in Cape Town, he should be good to go.”I haven’t had a detailed discussion with the physio as yet, but from everything I’m hearing and from just having a chat with him, he’s really improving and should be good to go in four days’ time.”If Kohli comes back, it could mean that Hanuma Vihari, who impressed with an unbeaten 40 in India’s second innings, could return to the bench. With India continuing to back their senior batters, the likes of Vihari and Shreyas Iyer – who made a Test century on debut in November, but was out of contention with a stomach bug in Johannesburg – have had to bide their time for playing opportunities.Dravid was full of praise for Vihari – making mention even of his first-innings contribution when he made a solid start before getting caught at short leg off a steep lifter – but said young players have always had to wait their turn in international cricket.”Firstly I think Vihari played really well in this Test match, in both innings in fact,” Dravid said. “I think in the first innings he got a nasty one, unfortunately for him it popped up and the fielder got his fingertips to it and took a really good catch, and he batted beautifully in the second innings, so that gives us a lot of confidence.”Shreyas has also done that two or three Test matches ago, he’s got runs as well, and I think they’ve just got to take heart from the fact that whenever they’re getting the opportunities they are doing well, and hopefully their time will come. You look back on some of our guys who are now considered senior players, they also had to wait their time.”They also had to score a lot of runs, they’ve had, at the start of their careers, it’s probably been a bit stop-start as well. So it happens. It’s just the nature of the sport, it’s the nature of the game, and it will happen, so I think they can take heart [from their performances] and we can take a lot of confidence from the way Vihari batted in this game, he really played well, that should give him a lot of confidence, and it certainly gives us a lot of confidence.”Ahead of the third Test, there remains a question mark over pacer Mohammed Siraj, who went down in this Test with hamstring trouble and could bowl only 15.5 overs out of the 147.2 India sent down. “Siraj, we’ll have to monitor him over the next couple of days,” Rahul said. “He’s been feeling better with each day, he’s starting to get more and more confident with his bowling, especially with what happened on the field with his hamstring, it’s not easy to come back from that and go 100% straightaway.”If Siraj is not fit, India have back-up in the experienced Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav for the match, which starts on January 11.

Marcus Trescothick moved within one hundred of Harold Gimblett and as Peter Trego added his own century, Somerset made Middlesex fight all the way at Taunton

David Hopps at Taunton12-Jul-2016
ScorecardMarcus Trescothick is within one century of Harold Gimblett•Getty Images

Middlesex will anticipate the final day of four at Taunton and reflect that on such days are Championships won and lost. With Warwickshire getting little change from the bottom club Hampshire, there is a chance to extend their lead at the top, but Somerset’s lead of 203 with four wickets remaining makes victory in the balance. A tense day lies in prospect.When Middlesex took a first-innings lead of 145 and then removed four Somerset wickets before conceding the lead, their hopes must have been high that they could be well on the way to their third win of the season which would be quite an achievement for an attack lacking Toby Roland-Jones, Steven Finn and Tim Murtagh: 76 wickets between them.Instead, they ran aground on both sides of tea against familiar foes as centuries from Marcus Trescothick and Peter Trego lifted Taunton spirits. For 40 overs, as they crashed and carved 181 runs, West Country cricket had a smile on its face again. Middlesex’s stand-in seamers have much to commend them, but they deteriorated under pressure and as a green pitch became firm and true their hold over the match weakened.Here are two fine servants of Somerset cricket: the gentle roll of Trescothick, ambling around the crease with the contentment of a jolly sailor reaching dry land after a satisfying day’s fishing in the Bristol Channel, and the piratical figure of Trego, who is more likely to dock with cutlass and eye patch. They offer fine entertainment, even on a day when a chill wind is whistling around the Quantocks.Trescothick’s 48th first-class century for Somerset takes him second in the county’s all-time list, his innings coming to grief on 124 when James Harris had him caught at the wicket with a delivery of tight line. His latest landmark leaves him just one century behind the great Harold Gimblett, a batsman from five centuries of Quantocks farming stock.

Jayawardene stays on

Mahela Jayawardene will now be available to play in the remaining matches in Somerset’s Royal London One-Day Cup campaign.
Originally the Sri Lankan batsman had only signed for the NatWest T20 Blast campaign but this has now been extended to the 50 over competition.

Trego, the great entertainer, only averages about one hundred a year – destructive 40s and 60s are more his metier – but he played with great certainty and remained 115 not out at the close. To reach his first century of the season, he needed a let-off by John Simpson, the wicketkeeper, on 81, a chance high to his right off James Fuller.Trego said; “It was my 200th game and I never thought I would get to this point. But having been around for such a long time, I have had to make sure that my game has evolved. I needed to dig in for the team and I felt I did that today.”Tres and I have got a great rapport, but a lot of our better partnership[s have been in one day cricket. With Marcus not playing one day games anymore, we don’t often get the chance to bat together. So, yes, it was enjoyable.”Fuller, resuming on 84, had failed to achieve his maiden Championship hundred before lunch, falling nine short when he edged Tim Groenewald to first slip. James Harris fell in identical fashion, their ninth-wicket stand stretched to 162 in 46 overs, and the match in Middlesex’s grasp.Peter Trego shows delight at his century•Getty Images

There was talk of a three-day win as Middlesex, led by three wickets for Harry Podmore, worked through Somerset’s second innings. No batsman likes to lose his middle stump because of a leave alone, but Johann Myburgh could at last reflect that he was beaten by a ball that came back sharply and which he might have felt he could fairly leave on length alone.Chris Rogers – the captain who had risked a greentop, knowing that Somerset would have to have first bat on it – had reason to be doubly frustrated about his duck, guiding Podmore to his former Australian team-mate George Bailey at point. Spin has played a minor role on this pitch, but Ollie Raynor chipped in with the wicket of James Hildreth thanks to a sharp catch at slip from James Franklin.Trescothick, as he has so often, welcomed each new partner with equanimity, a figure of certainty while change happened all around hm. Jim Allenby first provided support until he pulled Podmore to mind-on. Then came Trego and Taunton put its gripes and grievances aside and soaked up the entertainment.

Mosaddek Hossain made a comeback after impressive performances in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2021Bangladesh have left out left-arm spinner Taijul Islam from their combined 20-man contingent for three ODIs and as many T20Is on their tour of New Zealand. Meanwhile, allrounder Mosaddek Hossain made a comeback after impressive performances in the 2020 Bangabandhu T20 Cup.Taijul was part of the Bangladesh ODI squad that beat West Indies 3-0 recently but didn’t get a game. Seen more as a red-ball specialist, Islam has played just nine ODIs and two T20Is since making his ODI debut in 2014.Apart from Taijul, the only other absentee from that squad was Shakib Al Hasan, who was granted paternity leave by the BCB. The break will also give him a chance to recover from the thigh injury he suffered during the first Test against West Indies in Chattogram.Mosaddek’s previous appearance for Bangladesh was the second T20I against India in Rajkot in 2019. It was his all-round show in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup that helped him return to the side. In 11 games in the tournament, he picked up ten wickets with his offspin, apart from scoring 148 runs at 21.14.From their last T20I squad, against Zimbabwe in March last year, Bangladesh left out Aminul Islam. However, the selectors retained uncapped left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed. The 26-year-old has picked up 45 wickets from 37 List A games at an average of 29.06. In 27 T20s, he has 12 scalps while going for just under seven an over.Just like the ODI series against West Indies, the 50-over leg in New Zealand will be part of the World Cup Super League. So far, Bangladesh have won their all three games of the league, bagging full 30 points. The T20Is, meanwhile, will serve as a preparatory step for the T20 World Cup, to be held in India later this year.On Thursday, some of the New Zealand-bound squad members, including Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mohammad Naim and Taskin Ahmed, and support staffers were administered Covid-19 vaccines in Dhaka. The remaining members are expected to be inoculated by Sunday.The team will depart for New Zealand on February 23 and will kick off the tour on March 20 with the first ODI in Dunedin.Squad: Tamim Iqbal, Mosaddek Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Naim Sheikh, Taskin Ahmed, Al Amin Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed

Matt Henry is available for the second Test against England; Ish Sodhi and Jacob Duffy have been released from the squad

Vithushan Ehantharajah20-Feb-2023Kyle Jamieson is set to be out for at least “three to four months” after undergoing back surgery this week.Jamieson was originally on a comeback from a stress fracture of the back, sustained in England last June, and was primed for a return to action in New Zealand’s first Test against the same opponents in Mount Maunganui. However, a suspected recurrence of the injury ruled him out of the series, before subsequent MRI scans and consultations with a back surgeon confirmed the need for surgery.No specific timeline has been put on 27-year-old Jamieson’s recovery. Blackcaps head coach Gary Stead hoped the operation and necessary rehabilitation would serve him well in the long term.Related

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“It’s been a challenging and difficult time for Kyle and a big loss for us,” Stead said. “He’s been fantastic around all of our sides when he’s been part of them. We just wish him well and hope we’ll know more in three to four months of what that end prognosis looks for him as well.”A number of world-class players have had surgery in the back and it’s different periods of time they recover. We just want Kyle [to get] the best chance of recovery because we know what a star he’s been for us.”Surgery provides a quicker return to play and that’s the encouraging thing for him.”The loss of the tall and fast Jamieson, who has taken 72 wickets at 19.45 in his 16 Tests so far, was felt profoundly at Bay Oval, where New Zealand suffered their biggest runs loss to England in the first Test. England’s victory by 267 was completed on the morning of day four in the day-night opener, putting them 1-0 up in the two-match series. It was Tim Southee’s first defeat as captain.Southee, however, would be boosted by the return of Matt Henry, availability for the second Test in Wellington. Henry, the 31-year-old, would be rejoining the squad following the birth of his second child. With 55 dismissals at 41.09 in 18 caps, Henry would almost certainly come into the XI for the match, which begins on Friday at Basin Reserve. Jacob Duffy and Ish Sodhi have been released from the squad to play Plunket Shield cricket later this week.Without Jamieson or Henry, the Blackcaps went into the pink-ball Test with an inexperienced attack, featuring debutants Blair Tickner and Scott Kuggeleijn, and found themselves chasing the match from the start despite winning the toss.Though England only posted scores of 325 for 9 and 306, the manner of their scoring – at 5.57 and 5.06, respectively – allowed them to dictate the flow of the match. That in turn gave them two opportunities to bowl at New Zealand’s top order under lights, reducing them to 31 for 3 and 28 for 5 on nights one and three.Matt Henry is likely to slot into the playing XI for the second Test•Getty Images

Reeling England in is easier said than done. This was victory number ten out of 11 under the watch of Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes, carried out in a manner that underlined their ability to overawe their opponents by moving matches along at will. But Stead acknowledged that the focus ahead of the final match of the series was on using cues from the past weeks to somehow apply the brakes on their opponents.”I think there’s a couple of things that stood out to me during the Test. The way England are playing isn’t a surprise to us at all, but they are playing very, very well,” Stead said. “And I guess for us it’s finding ways we can counter that and I guess slow them down and the pace at which they’re playing the game.”Look, they play at a pace that allows them to take key moments of that last match, as well. When I look at the positives, we bowled them out [nine wickets fell] in 58 overs in the first innings, and we bowled them out in the second innings. It’s just how do you slow them down from the run rate they’re going at. They were 230 for 6 in that second innings, so if you take four wickets for the next 40 runs you’re batting for that period in the daylight as well and it could have been very different then as well. But they are the small margins that we work with.”As I said, we don’t try and get too high or too low around our wins or our losses, we just try and keep getting better and keep tuning up our performance.”