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Kian and Michael Blignaut, twins and sons of former Zimbabwe allrounder Andy Blignaut, also feature in the squad

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2025Simbarashe Mudzengerere has been named the captain of Zimbabwe’s 15-member squad for the men’s Under-19 World Cup, which takes place from January 15 to February 6.Mudzengerere, a right-hand batter and medium pacer, has captained the Under-19 national side since making his debut for them against Ireland, in Harare, on April 10 this year. He bowled a tidy spell of 1 for 28, before returning to make 37 from the middle order in a successful chase.Their squad also features Kian and Michael Blignaut, who are twins and the sons of former Zimbabwe allrounder Andy Blignaut.The U-19 coach, Elton Chigumbura, said: “We are going in with a winning mindset. This group can compete with, and beat, the best teams. Success will come from executing our processes, staying disciplined and sticking to our roles. If we do that consistently, we give ourselves a real chance to go all the way.”Zimbabwe are co-hosts of the tournament, alongside Namibia. Harare Sports Club and Takashinga Cricket Club in Bulwayo, and the Queens Sports Club in Harare, will be hosting matches played in the country. On the pressures of playing at familiar venues, Chigumbura said: “Playing at home is an advantage – we understand the conditions and we will have great support behind us.”The tournament features four groups, consisting of four teams each, with each side facing the three others as part of their group stage fixtures. Zimbabwe have been placed in Group C: they will be playing Scotland on 15 January, England on 18 January, and Pakistan on 22 January. After a Super Sixes stage, the top four teams then face off in the semi-finals on February 3 and 4, before the winners play in the final at Harare on February 6.Zimbabwe begin their preparation with warm-up matches against United States of America on January 10, followed by New Zealand at Masvingo Sports Club on January 12.Zimbabwe squad for U-19 World CupSimbarashe Mudzengerere (c), Kian Blignaut, Michael Blignaut, Leeroy Chiwaula, Tatenda Chimugoro, Brendon Senzere, Nathaniel Hlabangana, Takudzwa Makoni, Panashe Mazai, Webster Madhidhi, Shelton Mazvitorera, Kupakwashe Muradzi, Brandon Ndiweni, Dhruv Patel, Benny Zuze

The legspinner will help cover for injuries in the bowling attack

Tristan Lavalette24-Dec-2021Two-time defending BBL champions Sydney Sixers have bolstered their shorthanded attack with the prized signing of Pakistan legspinner Shadab Khan.Shadab will be available for the remainder of the season in a timely addition for the injury-hit Sixers, who have lost offspinner Ben Manenti to a season-ending neck injury while frontliner Steve O’Keefe is currently on the sidelines with a calf strain.They have also been left depleted in the pace ranks with English import Tom Curran returning home due to a back injury while compatriot Chris Jordan’s five-match stint has come to an end. In better news, former Australia Test seamer Jackson Bird is expected to return soon and make his BBL season debut as he recovers from an Achilles injury.Renowned for his ability to wickedly turn the ball, Shadab will add dynamism and class to Sixers’ attack as they chase a historic hat-trick of BBL titles. He returns to the BBL after a brief three-match stint with Brisbane Heat in the 2017-18 season.He starred at the recent T20 World Cup with nine wickets from six games, including 4 for 26 against eventual champion Australia in the semi-finals. Shadab, however, was wicketless in his past two T20Is against West Indies earlier in the month.A handy lower-order batter, Shadab averages 18.33 with a strike rate of 136.81 from 64 T20Is and has also scored three half-centuries in his six-Test career.Shadab is the fifth Pakistani to sign in this season’s BBL and joins Melbourne Stars’ trio Haris Rauf, Syed Faridoun and Ahmad Daniyal, and Sydney Thunder’s Mohammad Hasnain.Sixers coach Greg Shipperd said the squad now boasted a trio of exciting young spinners with Lloyd Pope and Todd Murphy also part of the ranks.”All three young men are still learning their craft but have shown at various levels that they can be world class,” he said. “We welcome Shadab’s skills in all three facets of the game and can’t wait to see him get an opportunity in coming matches.”Even though they have had a horror run of injuries, Sixers sit second on the BBL ladder with their next match against crosstown rival Thunder – dubbed the ‘Sydney Smash’ – on December 26 at Sydney Showgrounds.

Steps down to allow independent investigation into alleged anti-semitic social media posts

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2022Azeem Akhtar, the new chair of Essex, has stepped down after just three days in the role, ahead of an independent review into his social media activity.The appointment of Akhtar, Essex’s first minority-ethnic chair, was this week hailed by the club as a “new beginning”, 12 months on from the controversial departure of the former chair, John Faragher, who continues to deny that he used racist language in a board meeting in 2017.Instead, however, the club has been plunged back into turmoil, following revelations in the Jewish Chronicle that Akhtar had ‘liked’ anti-Semitic posts on Twitter, including one that compared Israel to Nazi Germany.He had been due to take over from John Stephenson, the chief executive who has been interim chair since Faragher’s departure last November. However, Sir Stephen O’Brien, Akhtar’s deputy, will now stand in as interim.”I have taken the decision today to voluntarily step aside as chair of Essex County Cricket Club while an independent review takes place into recent matters that have been raised,” Akhtar said in a club statement.”I have made the decision to initiate this review because it is important that I as Chair and Essex County Cricket Club more widely hold ourselves to the highest standards of governance and accountability. By stepping aside, I want to show leadership and ensure the club can focus on the ongoing challenges it is tackling.”I am resolutely committed to ensuring that Essex County Cricket Club is an inclusive and welcoming environment for people of all backgrounds.”It’s a further embarrassment for Essex, who were fined £50,000 by the Cricket Discipline Commission last summer following Faragher’s departure, and were further found to have fallen “significantly short” of the diversity targets set by the ECB, which stipulated that county boards needed to feature 30% female representation and “locally representative ethnicity” by the end of April 2022. Akhtar’s departure exacerbates that shortfall.In the wake of Azeem Rafiq’s whistleblowing testimony about his treatment at Yorkshire, Essex had also been implicated in separate racism allegations, with former players Maurice Chambers, Zoheb Sharif and Jahid Ahmed all stating that they were victims of abuse during their playing days. A report on those claims is expected after the club appointed an independent QC to investigate.

Warner’s farewell speech got emotional and he hopes “the young kids out there can follow in my footsteps”

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jan-2024David Warner ended a glittering Test career on Saturday at his home ground after 112 Tests with an eight-wicket win against Pakistan that culminated in a 3-0 series sweep. An emotional Warner spoke to the host broadcaster after the game in a farewell interview, on his Test career, watching the Australia Tests on the TV going ahead, the role his family played and how he would want to be remembered.Could you have ever dreamed it would finish like this – runs, 3-0 series victory, a Test win in front of your friends and family and an adoring SCG? They talk about fairytales, I can’t imagine it could get much better?
“It’s pretty much a dream come true. Win 3-0 and cap off what’s been a great 18 months to two years for the Australian cricket team. On the back of the World Test Championship win, Ashes series draw and then the World Cup and then to come here and finish 3-0 is an outstanding achievement and I’m just proud to be with a bunch of great cricketers here.”What do these guys mean to you? You’ve spent a lot of time with a lot of them, especially the bowlers, Starc and crew, it’s been a long journey.
“I think their ears are going to get a break in the change room which is great. These guys they work their backsides off. The engine room, the big three quicks plus Mitchell Marsh. They work tirelessly in the nets and in the gym and credit to them to stay in the park, the physios, the staff that are behind that is outstanding. Look at them, they’re amazing. And I don’t have to face them ever again in the nets. Which I don’t do anyway. So that helps.”Tell us about your own day. You woke up this morning. I’m sure your family was surrounding you. What were your thoughts at that stage, David?
“Just a casual walk up to the local cafe and get a cup of coffee with the young one. I just got into the car and packed a wine or two. Shouldn’t say that too loud, I’ll get in trouble. I felt happy and really, really proud. And just to come here in front of your home crowd with the support that they’ve shown me and the Australian cricket team over the my last decade or my career, I can’t thank them enough. Without you guys we aren’t able to do what we do and it’s really really much appreciated.The innings itself, talk us through the innings. You finished like the way you started, full of shots, through midwicket, reverse sweeps, pulled out every trick in the book and I can see you smiling about it.
“We’re in the entertainment business and I’m just happy to come out here and showcase what I try to do all the time. I started with T20 and tried to come out here and tried and emulate that but I tried to play my shots, go out the way that I have played. And yeah, managed to get a win on the board which is great.We saw your girls and your wife Candice up there in the stands, your mum and dad. What does family mean to you? Obviously, it’s an enormous part of your life, David.
“Massive part of your life and without their support you can’t do what you do. I owe credit to my parents for giving me a beautiful and great upbringing. My brother Steve, I followed in his footsteps. And then [my wife] Candice came along and sort of got me in line. We’ve had a beautiful family and I cherish every moment I get with them. I love them to death and I’m not going to keep carrying on because I’ll get too emotional. But thank you, Candice, for what you’ve done. You mean the world to me, and I appreciate it.These boys are up against the West Indies in a few weeks time. What do you think that will be like for you?
“I think it’d be quite emotional to watch the guys go out there and not play and knowing that I was able to come out here and do what I could do. But as I just mentioned you got a great bunch of cricketers here. We are all almost over 30 years of age. So as time goes by, we’re not getting younger, but this team, they’re energetic, they’re world class and they’re a great bunch of guys.How would you like to be remembered? David Warner was …
“[Would like to be remembered as] exciting, entertaining, and I hope I put a smile on everyone’s face with the way that I played and hopefully the young kids out there can follow in my footsteps. White-ball cricket to Test cricket. It’s the pinnacle of our sport. So keep working hard to play the red-ball game because it’s entertaining as well.”

Lamchhane had been cleared because of “a lack of evidence”.

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2024 Sandeep Lamichhane has been acquitted of rape by the Patan High Court in Nepal, allowing him to resume playing cricket with immediate effect, including, possibly, at the upcoming T20 World Cup.Soon after the court’s verdict, Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Lamichhane would be considered for Nepal’s T20 World Cup squad subject to clearance from the ICC. The ICC has given all 20 participating teams until May 25 to submit their final 15-man squads for the World Cup, which will be played in the West Indies and the USA between June 1 and 29.”Since the high court has cleared Sandeep Lamichhane from all the allegations, he is now cleared to play all forms of cricket,” a CAN spokesperson said.Related

• Lamichhane denied US visa for T20 World Cup

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Nepal’s provisional squad is already in the Caribbean and has been training in St Vincent. They will travel to the USA closer to the start of the tournament – their first match in the main event is on June 4 against Netherlands in Dallas.Tirtharaj Bhattarai, spokesperson for the Patan High Court, told the that Lamchhane had been cleared because of “a lack of evidence”.A single-judge bench of the Kathmandu court had found Lamichhane guilty of raping an 18-year-old woman, and the sentence was announced on January 10.The bench had also fined Lamichhane approximately US$2255 and ordered him to pay approximately US$1500 in compensation to the victim. On January 11, following the verdict, Lamichhane was suspended by CAN.Earlier this month, Lamichhane had lodged an appeal against his prison sentence, and was granted permission to stay out of jail while the legal proceedings were ongoing.Rights groups had protested the Cricket Association of Nepal decision to revoke the suspension on Sandeep Lamichhane and include him in the national team last year•AFP/Getty Images

In early September 2022, Lamichhane, then the Nepal captain, was suspended by CAN for the first time after an arrest warrant was issued against him in Kathmandu over the matter. It followed the news that a complaint against Lamichhane had been lodged in a Kathmandu police station.At the time, Lamichhane was in the West Indies with Jamaica Tallawahs taking part in CPL 2022. The club announced that Lamichhane would be leaving the tournament with immediate effect. Upon landing at the airport in Kathmandu in early October, he had been taken into custody.He returned to the Nepal side in February last year – amid protests from rights groups at home – for a Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series at home, against Namibia and Scotland, during which opposition players did not greet him before or after the games.Subsequently, he was not considered for Nepal’s squad for the Cricket World Cup League 2 tri-series in Dubai in early 2023, but joined the team later as an injury replacement. He has continued to turn out for Nepal since then, including at the ODI World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe in June-July last year and the ODI Asia Cup in August-September.

The former coach had already been banned for 20 years for inappropriate behaviour towards a female player

AAP15-Nov-2024Cricket Australia has handed former Sri Lanka Test player Dulip Samaraweera with another ban after allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards a second player while coaching.Already suspended from any involvement in Australian cricket for 20 years after being found to have behaved inappropriately towards a female player, Samaraweera has since been accused of further misconduct.The second matter relates to his time when he worked as a private coach, while employed by Cricket Victoria. Samaraweera has denied the claim but chose not to participate in the investigation and has been banned for 10 years for breaching the sport’s code of conduct.The ban will be served concurrently with his initial 20-year suspension, meaning he is still not able to return to any coaching role with Australia or a state or territory body until 2044 when he will be 72.AAP understands neither complainant has so far opted to pursue criminal charges.The seven-time Test representative had been involved in Cricket Victoria’s women’s program for almost 16 years, including as a long-time assistant coach at the WBBL’s Melbourne Stars, before resigning in May.Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins had previously labelled Samaraweera’s conduct “utterly reprehensible” and “a betrayal of everything we stand for” after CA released the findings of its initial investigation in September.”The victim in this case has demonstrated incredible strength of character and courage in speaking up,” Cummins said after the initial charge.  “She will continue to receive our ongoing support to allow her to achieve her goals on and off the field.”From an organisation perspective, the safety and wellbeing of everyone at Cricket Victoria is paramount. We will not tolerate any behaviour which compromises that position, or our people, and will always support our culture of speaking up.”The Colombo-born Samaraweera opened the batting in seven Tests for Sri Lanka between 1993 and 1995, before later moving into coaching. He was an assistant coach with the Stars from the inaugural WBBL season in 2015, and even served as Victoria’s interim head coach for most of last summer.Samaraweera had been due to take over the role full-time, but resigned in May when Cricket Victoria’s conflict of interest policy prevented him from hiring his brother Thilan to the coaching staff.

The wicketkeeper-batter will join forces with Quinton de Kock at the top of the order

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Oct-2023Melbourne Renegades have pulled off a significant BBL signing by luring English wicketkeeper-batter Joe Clarke from cross-town rivals Stars.Clarke, who briefly played for Perth Scorchers in the 2020-21 season, has been an integral part of Stars over the last two seasons with 800 runs 30.76 and a strike-rate of 136.98.But he now becomes Renegades’ third overseas signing alongside Quinton de Kock and Mujeeb Ur Rahman having not been taken in the draft last month. A mechanism exists which allows clubs to sign their third name after the draft has taken place.Related

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Clarke is set to open the batting alongside de Kock, but it will be the South African who will initially take the gloves before handing them to Clarke when he returns home for the SA20.However, Renegades will need to secure another wicketkeeping option with Clarke due to leave for ILT20 towards the backend of the BBL. They lost Sam Harper when he was traded to Stars in return for Adam Zampa.”Joe was an active part of our overseas draft strategy this year,” Melbourne Renegades general manager James Rosengarten said. “While we were limited in how we could use our picks at the overseas player draft, we had a plan to secure Joe as quickly as we could and it came off which is great for our Club.”To have secured three overseas players that were listed in the platinum overseas player group is a super result for the Renegades and our members and fans.”Whilst Quinton will take the gloves as our primary wicketkeeper, Joe is also a strong keeper who will be able to keep when Quinton is unavailable, giving us greater flexibility with our overseas replacement player options.””We really like the way Joe plays the game,” he added. “He’s an attacking player from the top who can set up a game quickly and we think he’ll a perfect fit with our other top order batters.”Renegades will also lose Mujeeb late in the season as he, too, holds an ILT20 deal.Melbourne Renegades squad Nic Maddinson (capt), Joe Clarke, Quinton de Kock, Harry Dixon, Aaron Finch, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Kane Richardson, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Will Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jon Wells, Adam Zampa

Duckett, Crawley reach fifties as England close in on Ireland’s modest first-innings total

Valkerie Baynes01-Jun-2023 is a TV quiz show in which contestants must guess the most obscure answer to each question, an answer that’s right but which no member of the public surveyed by the show has thought of. But it was Stuart Broad who provided the most obvious solution of all amid the murmurings that there was little point to this Test – as evidenced by Ireland’s undeniable focus on World Cup qualification and England’s understandable caution with their thinning seam-bowling stocks and eagerness to experiment in that department.It would be impossible to argue to Broad that a third five-wicket haul at Lord’s – his first at this ground in a decade – carries zero meaning, just as it would be to tell England that any kind of rehearsal for their upcoming Ashes campaign is pointless. In the same way, it would be futile to tell Ireland that if they are to boost their Test experience – still only seven matches old – that there’s no point turning up. The international season has to start somewhere, so it might as well be here and now, right?Broad’s 5 for 51 restricted Ireland to 172 after they were sent in to bat under overcast skies by a side that loves to chase. The total fell short of Ireland’s first innings the last time these sides met at Lord’s, four summers ago, when they then bowled England out for 85 in their reply before capitulating for just 38 in the fourth innings and the hosts won by 143 runs.Related

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By stumps on the opening day, after the cloud cover had given way to baking sunshine by lunchtime, England had closed the gap to just 20 runs in assertive fashion with nine wickets in hand. Zak Crawley reached fifty off just 39 balls before he perished to a juggled return catch by Fionn Hand, on debut as Ireland’s third seamer, Crawley’s 11 fours comprising some exquisite cover drives interspersed by some streaky inside edges. Ben Duckett reached his own half-century off 53 balls and remained unbeaten on 60 at the close, joined by Ollie Pope on 29.Broad took a flurry of three wickets in the space of eight balls to leave Ireland floundering at 19 for 3 early in the morning session and claimed two more, shortly after lunch and early in the evening session, as James McCollum, Curtis Campher and Paul Stirling all made it into the 30s but failed to press on. McCollum was patient, Campher spirited and Stirling enterprising but the task was too big, and arguably made even bigger by the well-publicised absence of Josh Little, their best bowler who is resting after the IPL and before next month’s 50-over World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe as well as the European T20 World Cup Qualifier in Scotland a month later.With his usual new-ball partner James Anderson sitting out to manage his return from a groin problem ahead of the Ashes, Broad opened the bowling with Matthew Potts and while the latter probed impressively, it was Broad broke through with the second ball of his third over, a fuller one which pitched a fraction outside off stump then angled back beautifully as PJ Moor walked across his stumps and was struck halfway up his front pad in line with middle and leg.Crawley pulled off an excellent dive from second slip to snaffle Andy Balbirnie’s outside edge as the Ireland captain departed for a five-ball duck and Broad claimed his second. Harry Tector followed two balls later, advancing to Broad and tucking the ball straight to Potts at leg slip.Broad thought he had a fourth wicket immediately, as did umpire Paul Wilson, when he struck Stirling flush on the front pad as he played across the line, but Stirling survived on review when ball-tracking showed it to be missing leg stump by a whisker.Debutant Josh Tongue, the Worcestershire seamer originally drafted as injury cover for Anderson and Ollie Robinson, who is also being kept on ice after hurting his ankle playing for Sussex, replaced Broad from the Pavilion End in the 11th over and tested McCollum immediately, sending down twin maidens to begin with. He conceded 40 runs off 13 wicketless overs but he bowled excellent line and length while finding extra bounce and carry.Stuart Broad leads England off the field•Gareth Copley/Getty Images

McCollum survived an England review for caught behind off a Tongue short ball which beat his inside edge, nipped back sharply and just evaded the bat as it sailed over the stumps, brushing his thigh pad instead. By lunch, he had faced 93 deliveries for his 29 not out, whereas Stirling reached 30 off 35 balls, including back-to-back fours off Tongue among his five boundaries, before he shaped to sweep Jack Leach and the ball looped off his glove to a waiting Jonny Bairstow, back behind the stumps after nine months out of international cricket with a broken leg.Broad struck again in the fifth over after lunch as McCollum edged to Joe Root at slip and he bowled Mark Adair with an excellent inswinger that clipped the top of off stump as Ireland lurched to 169 for 8 shortly after tea.Campher fell advancing on Leach and missing as the ball rattled his stumps to give the England spinner his third and Potts claimed his second wicket, having broken a 38-run stand between Campher and Andy McBrine, when he had Hand caught behind to wrap up the innings.

Updates, analysis and colour from the fifth day of the fourth Test

Varun Shetty19-Jan-2021*Most recent entry will appear at the top, please refresh your page for the latest updates. All times are local.

5:38pm: Chuck the scripts out

AFP via Getty Images

There isn’t anything in the world today that will give you better than this. No fables, no mysteries, no fantasy worlds, no rollicking political thrillers will match up to India’s youngest members building around the oldest one, who took bruises, knocks and some amount of intimidation to take this game deep.And then, the patience – yes, the patience – of Pant. Strung along at a strike rate around 40 for the largest part, gave himself time. “Give yourself time,” they’ve been telling him forever. He did at Sydney, it was his best Test innings they said. And then he comes back, and he brings us this. Unbeaten on 89, taking India to win with three overs to spare. At the Gabba. No one does this at the Gabba. A record chase, a loss for Australia for the first time since 1988.A tied series was enough. A draw would do it. That was the talk all day. It was probably the balm that made this Indian line-up so composed today: play time, there’s little to lose. That manifested in a Shubman Gill innings of pure class up front. A 91 that kept Australia humble even as they kept breaching Pujara’s defenses to hit him, multiple times, on the body.This was the last day, this was Starc’s time. Gill tore into him for an over of 20 runs, and Starc never quite returned all day from that. Spare a thought for Pat Cummins – No. 1 in the world, possibly the fittest man in the game. He had to do it all today, carrying that bowling line-up, arguably the best in the world, that has been defied three innings in a row now. And it culminates in a series loss.This series was 0-1, India had been bowled out for 36. They were severely incapacitated. They had no business pulling off their greatest series win of all time, with ten minutes to go. Yet, here we are. What a series. Pure quality in every single session from two brilliantly competitive teams. It will take a while to forget it.

5:15pm: It is on

A hooked six, a spliced four, a ramp and a vicious sweep. Australia are utterly under the pump at the moment. There are no clouds, the cracks themselves are assisting India’s batsmen, and there isn’t a bowler in sight who seems to have an answer right now. India’s swashbuckling young left-handers are setting them up for history.

4.39pm: 69runs, 15 overs, 6 wickets