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Seamer Codi Yusuf will also be playing his first Test when South Africa face Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Saturday

Firdose Moonda27-Jun-2025At 22 years old, Dewald Brevis has already experienced the highs of being in the spotlight as a burgeoning superstar, the lows of being labelled not good enough, and the feeling that comes with a fresh start.Brevis was relatively fresh off the 2022 Under-19 World Cup, where he was the leading run-scorer and Shukri Conrad was the coach, when he was picked in South Africa’s T20I squad for a series against Australia in 2023. It was seen as the fast-tracking of a prodigious talent, who may even have parachuted into that year’s ODI World Cup squad. But Brevis was dismissed playing aggressive shots for scores of 5 and 0 in the first two matches against Australia and was dropped for the third game. That was the end of the experiment, and Brevis was not considered for the national side again, until now.”That moment being there, and then being left out for a few years, that was quite tough. But I was young as well,” Brevis said from Bulawayo, where he is set to make his Test debut against Zimbabwe on Saturday. “I’m grateful for how I handled that, and the people I had around me. It made me much more hungry for the game and to perform. I knew what I had to do and I put in the work and I kept believing.Related

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“To be able to return and it being in the Test side, that’s very special. For me, it’s the pinnacle format. You can play all the leagues, you can play T20 and 50-over cricket, but there’s something about Test cricket. That’s really the ultimate.”One of the ways Brevis dealt with things was by accepting that he would have to do the hard yards in the domestic system, away from the glare of expectation. Since 2023-24, in two seasons of the first-class competition, Brevis averaged over 44, quietly collected four hundreds, and proved himself patient enough to play the long game – literally and figuratively.At the same time, Brevis has also shown what he is capable of in the shorter formats – emphatically. He smashed 162 off 57 balls in a T20 against Knights in 2022. He was the third-highest run-scorer in the One-day Challenge in 2023-24, and the second-highest in 2024-25. He was the title-winning finisher at the SA20 earlier this year, scored two fifties in six innings at the IPL, and also got a deal with Hampshire for the T20 Blast.Now Brevis hopes to combine what he has learnt on the largely forgotten fields of the first-class game and the spotlight of T20 leagues to make good the potential he showed three years ago, also under Conrad.”I just want to be the same guy that plays all formats. I’m not really trying to make any big changes,” he said. “It’s all about watching the ball and just being true to myself. The key fact is we all know you have to bat longer. In order to bat longer, you have to take it ball by ball and not change the way you play a ball. So I’m not going to change anything.”Brevis will debut alongside Lhuan-dre Pretorius, another prodigy who was South Africa’s leading run-scorer at the 2024 Under-19 World Cup, and Codi Yusuf, who is at the other end of the spectrum. At 27, Yusuf could be considered a late bloomer who started as a batter and then started bowling spin, until a net session changed his mind.”In high school, one of the guys hit me out of the nets,” he said. “I went to fetch the ball, and I said, ‘Guys, I’m gonna run in and just bowl pace.’ I ran in, bowled pace and hit the guy. I was like, ‘I’m not going to bowl another ball of spin from this day onwards’, and that’s how it happened.”This county season, Codi Yusuf took 17 wickets at 20.94 in four matches for Durham•Getty Images

Yusuf’s career meandered through the semi-professional ranks at Mpumalanga before he moved to Lions. Over the last two seasons, he has been their leading seamer in the first-class competition. Yusuf finished ninth on the wicket-takers’ list in 2023-24 and joint-fifth last summer, along with Lutho Sipamla. The benefits of working with bowling coach Allan Donald were clear to see.”He doesn’t do a lot of technical stuff with me, but he definitely helps the way I think about the game and approach it,” Yusuf said. “This past season, I’ve taken on a little bit more of a leading role. I play with my heart, and try to work as hard as I can and be ready for the opportunity when it comes.”In the last few months, several opportunities have come for Yusuf. He enjoyed a stint in first-class cricket for Durham, for whom he took 17 wickets in four matches at 20.94. “Bowling with the Dukes ball in English conditions is quite different to bowling in South Africa,” he said. “I took a lot of learnings out of that.”He also met one of his heroes, Ben Stokes and, by coincidence, will wear the same number as him – 55 – on his national shirt. “I just gave a few numbers, and I’m quite happy it’s 55,” he said. “I look up to Ben Stokes, and I see he’s number 55 as well. So I’m happy about that.”

Jammu was supposed to host the game, but the rain there has been a major disruptive influence

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2020Gujarat, Odisha, and Andhra will host their respective quarter-final fixtures in the Ranji Trophy next week but the venue for the fourth match, between Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and Karnataka is up for deliberation after the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) wrote to BCCI and JKCA, requesting to host the match in Bengaluru.

Ranji Trophy quarter-finals

Gujarat (H) v Goa (A)
Odisha(H) v Bengal (A)
Andhra (H) v Saurashtra (A)
Karnataka v Jammu&Kashmir

Tournament rules stipulate that, since Karnataka hosted the last fixture between the two teams, J&K should host this one. However, the KSCA has asked for a change of venue “considering various aspects and the logistics.”Two out of the three matches played in Jammu this season were severely affected due to rain – the teams could only finish one innings each both times. The other game was the recently concluded last-round tie which Haryana won by two wickets. That J&K still made it to the knockouts is on the back of their excellent away form and it is for that reason the JKCA is also understood to be in favour of moving the quarter-final.The BCCI has directed all host associations to pick grounds that can provide broadcast facilities, with all four matches set to be streamed either digitally or on TV. This could also be a factor in taking the game away from Jammu.Gujarat topped the Elite Group cross pool and will take on Goa, who finished with 50 points to top the Plate Group and will be playing their first Ranji quarter-final ever. Odisha, who were eliminated from their only previous quarter-final appearance by Gujarat in 2016, are hosting Bengal, who made it to the semi-final round in 2017. That was also the last time they reached the knockout stages. Andhra will likely host Saurashtra in Ongole, for their first quarter-final fixture since 2015. J&K will be playing their first quarter-final since 2014.All four matches will be five-day fixtures and will not feature the use of the Decision Review System (DRS). It is understood the DRS will only come into effect in the semi-final round and will be “limited DRS with existing technology.”

Pakistan seamer unable to take up deal due to overlap with Pakistan Super League

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jun-2021Kent have signed Adam Milne, the New Zealand pace bowler, as a replacement for Mohammad Amir, whose Pakistan Super League commitments will prevent him from appearing in the Vitality Blast.Amir had been due to play for Kent in the second half of the Blast, after the completion of the PSL – but the shifting dates for the rearranged competition, which begins on Wednesday, and quarantine restrictions for arriving in the UK from Pakistan mean he won’t be taking up his deal.Instead, Milne will arrive for his fourth spell at Kent, having taken 38 wickets in 28 appearances between 2017 and 2019. He is expected to be available for Kent’s ninth group game, against Somerset at Canterbury on June 28, onwards.”We’re delighted that Adam will be coming back to be a Kent Spitfire once more,” Kent’s director of cricket, Paul Downton, said. “He is a world-class T20 bowler who has made a significant difference to our side every time he has played for the Spitfires. I am sure our Members and supporters will be excited to welcome him back for the later stages of the Vitality Blast.”Milne was part of the Kent side that reached the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast in 2018, and narrowly missed out on reaching the knockouts a year later. He has also featured at the IPL and the Big Bash, as well as being capped 23 times in T20Is by New Zealand.Milne said: “I love being a Spitfire and I’m really excited that the opportunity has arisen for me to come back to Kent for a fourth time. It’ll be great to see familiar faces in the dressing room but I’m also looking forward to working with the new talent that has joined since my last stint in 2019.”Kent’s other overseas options include South African batter Heino Kuhn and the Afghanistan legspinner Qais Ahmed, who is expected to be available after quarantine from June 13, when the club face Gloucestershire at Canterbury.

Insists Hundred is ‘really important’ for young players called up as replacements from Royal London Cup

Matt Roller03-Aug-2021Sam Billings has insisted that the last-minute withdrawals of a number of players from the Royal London Cup as replacements for teams in the Hundred will leave young cricketers “far better off” than staying with their counties.Kent, where Billings is club captain, have ten Vitality Blast regulars – including overseas players Qais Ahmad and Adam Milne – involved in the Hundred, with Zak Crawley on England Test duty, Jack Leaning (Trent Rockets) and Matt Milnes (Welsh Fire) both called up as late replacements in the last week, and Jordan Cox (Oval Invincibles) and Fred Klaassen (Manchester Originals) picked as wildcards.As a result, their Royal London Cup campaign has started poorly, with three defeats and a no-result, but Billings said that players’ involvement in the competition would serve the club well ahead of their Blast quarter-final against Birmingham Bears later this month and in the longer term.In particular, he highlighted the example of Milnes, who played for Kent in the Royal London Cup on Sunday afternoon and was called into the Fire’s set-up on Monday as an injury replacement for Liam Plunkett. With Jake Ball also sidelined – he had a scan on Monday after leaving the field in Saturday’s fixture against Manchester Originals – Milnes went straight into the side against Billings’ Oval Invincibles and dismissed Jason Roy with his first ball in the Hundred, eventually returning figures of 1 for 28 from 20 balls and capturing the attention of Dale Steyn on Twitter as he was clocked at 87mph/140kph.”What a great opportunity for him,” Billings said. “This is what the Hundred is about. Look, I know that in terms of the 50-over comp, the performances for Kent haven’t quite been there at the moment and of course as a club it’s disappointing.”But the positive is we’ve got nine or ten guys in this Hundred at the moment and this is international cricket. You’ve got a full Oval crowd there and he’s come in for his first game after playing for Kent yesterday. It’s a completely different atmosphere, completely different level, against an international line-up.”What a great experience for a young bloke, getting a wicket with his first ball and riding the emotions of that game. That is what’s going to produce international cricketers. For us as a club – and as Kent fans in general – that’s what we want to do: produce England cricketers and franchise cricketers.Related

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“These young guys, nine or ten of them, for a ‘small county’, that’s really shown the work we’ve done as a club. It’s great for Matt Milnes and other guys like that and going into our T20 quarter-finals as a Kent group, it’s really important that these guys have this experience because they are going to be far better off for it.”The Invincibles won their second game of the men’s Hundred on Monday night, chasing 122 with seven balls to spare against the Fire, and Billings said that it had been a relief to get back to winning ways on the back of a washout against London Spirit and defeat against Northern Superchargers.”It was hard to get into a rhythm so it was nice to get the win on our home ground,” he said. “We weren’t far away at Headingley and considering how badly we played, we did exceptionally well to take that game that deep.”I still think we can play better and that’s the exciting thing for our group. The fielding certainly hasn’t been up to the standards we’ve set and that’s me included, setting the tone with the gloves. That’s the positive thing: I still think there are areas we can make really good strides in, and if we put it together, we know what a quality outfit we are. We don’t fear anyone and can put anyone under pressure on our day.”The Fire, meanwhile, failed to reach 150 for the first time in the competition and have now lost both of their games since Jonny Bairstow joined up with England’s Test squad. Ben Duckett, their stand-in captain and the leading run-scorer in the men’s Hundred, admitted that the loss of Bairstow – as well as Liam Plunkett, Lungi Ngidi and Ball – was “not ideal”.”If you lose big names it’s obviously going to hurt you but we believe we’ve got the squad to come in and cover for that,” he said. “We’ve had guys stepping up, like Milnesy tonight taking a wicket with his first ball to get J-Roy. We were 20 or 30 short of par so obviously nowhere near good enough, but it’s the first time we’ve struggled with the bat and it’s going to happen in this comp at some stage.On his own form, Duckett said: “It’s probably the best I’ve hit the ball – ever, I’d say – but I was probably 10-15 short myself tonight. I really struggled to get going and we kept losing wickets. I’m feeling good but I don’t like scoring runs when you don’t win the game so I’m a bit disappointed.”

Replacing leg-spinner Adil Rashid for third ODI, Denly has a chance to prove his worth as a back-up option

George Dobell13-May-2019Why is Joe Denly playing on Tuesday?England are keen to test the bench strength of their World Cup squad. He was named in the 15-man provisional squad but, with him having played only one ODI this decade (though he was named in the side for the rained-off match at The Oval), there is still some doubt as to whether his leg-spin bowling is up to the level required. So England have rested Adil Rashid – who is certain to play in the World Cup – and given Denly this opportunity to see what he can do.So he’s on trial?That’s one interpretation, certainly. Though England might stress that he is simply being given some game time with a view to providing Eoin Morgan more information about how to use him. But, yes, this probably is a big game for him. It’s not as if he’s the first England player to go on trial in Bristol.Wasn’t he a batsman when he first played for England?Yes, he was. He played nine ODIs and five T20Is as an opening batsman in 2009. He did OK, too, with two half-centuries in those ODIs. He made his Test debut as a batsman over the winter, too, making 69 in the final Test against West Indies. It’s still the stronger part of his game and he could well come in at No. 3 in the Ashes. He’s scored more than 11,000 first-class runs and taken just 62 wickets. He does have an unwanted record as a batsman, though: he was out first ball on his first-class debut, T20I debut and IPL debut. He was actually out first ball in both his first two T20I games.So when did he start bowling?He has always bowled a bit. But it was only really in the summer of 2018 – by which time he was 32 – that he bowled the volume of overs to be taken seriously. He claimed 23 first-class wickets that season – his best tally before that was eight – with another 14 in List A cricket. He started to establish himself in T20 leagues, too, and now has valuable experience in the BPL, PSL, BBL and IPL to draw from. He claimed 20 wickets in England’s domestic T20 tournament last summer and claimed 4-19 – the best figures of his career in any form of cricket – when recalled to the England T20I side in Sri Lanka at the end of 2018.Sounds great.Maybe. The concern is that, in his entire career, he has taken just 22 List A wickets in England and Wales. The rest of them have come overseas in conditions which may suit his bowling more and against opposition some way below that anticipated in the World Cup. Denly is, without doubt, a good batsman and fine utility cricketer. There’s just some doubt as to whether is bowling is up to going into an ODI with his captain requiring a minimum of six or so overs from it.So his is a bold selection?Yes. Ed Smith, the head selector, played with him at Kent at the start of Denly’s career and has always rated him. He is clearly the driving force behind the selection, but James Taylor and Trevor Bayliss are full of praise for his all-round virtues, too. And with Smith encouraged by his recall of Jos Buttler to England’s Test team a year ago – it is hard to remember now, but it was a somewhat contentious decision at the time – he may be confident in trusting his instincts more than ever.
How has Denly looked so far?He batted quite nicely in the T20I in Cardiff. He hasn’t bowled that much. But he started his spell in Cardiff with two long-hops that were thrashed for six and was taken off after one over. He did claim a maiden ODI wicket in Dublin, but it came when Ben Foakes completed a stumping off a leg-side wide. But that’s the point, really: he’s in the squad as a spin-bowling all-rounder having delivered just 30 balls in his entire ODI career. England really need to find out far more about his bowling at this level.Who could replace him?The most like-for-like option would probably be Liam Dawson. He’s enjoying a great season in the Royal London One Day Cup – he’s seventh in the wickets tally table and has the best economy rate of bowlers to have delivered a minimum of 40 overs – and, until he suffered a side injury in Sri Lanka was in the squad anyway. Bayliss suggested a few days ago he could yet be called into this series for the last couple of games.Do England need three spinners in their World Cup squad?Good question. The current thinking of the team management is that they don’t require seven seamers (including Ben Stokes) in their squad, so they might as well try and cover a few other bases with the inclusion of a spin-bowling all-rounder. Denly, they argue, doesn’t just offer spin-bowling cover: he offers cover for a variety of batting positions and is a fine fielder almost anywhere. They are also aware that, while sides can call-up replacements in the event of injury, the players released cannot be recalled. So they don’t want to be in the position where they have to release Moeen Ali or Adil Rashid for the entire tournament just because they can’t bowl in a couple of games. For that reason, they seem pretty keen on having that spin-bowling back-up.What about Joe Root?Yes, he does offer another spin-bowling option. Last year he delivered 10 overs for 44 runs in an ODI against Australia and his career economy-rate – 5.80 – is respectable. But he has bowled two overs in England’s 13 most-recent completed ODIs. It doesn’t appear they rate his bowling especially highly.So one of the seamers will have to miss out?That remains the likely scenario, but it’s not absolutely certain. The fact that Jofra Archer has been given time off to spend at home is revealing: you don’t give a man fighting for his place time off. He looks certain to be included in that 15-man squad now. Tom Curran might be the most vulnerable of the seamers now, but he will have a chance to impress on Tuesday and did well with bat and ball in Dublin.
If Dawson is still a selection possibility, shouldn’t he be playing now?Maybe, yes. But that’s why this game is so important. Denly is going to be asked to bowl on a good wicket with short boundaries. If he does well, his place in the squad is probably guaranteed. If he has an absolute shocker, Dawson could be called up before the weekend.That sounds a bit tough on Denly.It does. But the World Cup is going to be played, on the whole, in such demanding, high-pressure circumstances. Bowlers are going to have to find a way to contain batsmen on these fine batting pitches and Denly will have to be able to cope with such pressure. David Willey was put under similar pressure at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday and came through well. International sport is a tough, competitive business.

Durham seamer included alongside recalled James Anderson and Stuart Broad

Matt Roller01-Jun-2022Matthew Potts, the Durham seamer, has been preferred to Craig Overton and will make his England debut in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s which starts on Thursday.Potts, 23, has been the standout bowler in county cricket this year, taking 35 Championship wickets at 18.57 for Durham. Ben Stokes, England’s new captain, has played alongside him and, like Rob Key, the managing director of men’s cricket, has been impressed.England named a 13-man squad for the first two Tests and signalled that Yorkshire’s Harry Brook would be the spare batter, with a new-look top six of Alex Lees and Zak Crawley opening, Ollie Pope in an unfamiliar role at No. 3, and a middle-order engine room of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Stokes.Ben Foakes will play his first home Test, keeping wicket and batting at No. 7 with James Anderson and Stuart Broad sharing the new ball after their recalls and Jack Leach selected as the frontline spinner.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

By Potts’ own admission, an England debut “wasn’t at all on the radar” at the start of his season but he has benefitted from an injury crisis which has seen at least eight realistic seam-bowling options ruled out of the first Test.Overton is widely considered to be the better batter of the two but struggled on England’s tour of the Caribbean in March and Key said in May that sees Potts as “a point of difference” from Anderson and Broad. He is not a genuine fast bowler but can reach speeds north of 140kph.”I like the look of this Matt Potts,” Key said. “I’m pretty excited by what he offers. We see him as a point of difference. You see the way he runs in, the way that it looks like if you’re facing him, you’re in a proper contest… these are the picks I get really excited about.”Related

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Potts has never played a first-class match at Lord’s, having been rested for Durham’s Championship game against Middlesex two weeks ago on the back of six consecutive games. “I’ve had two chilled-out weeks, bowling a few overs and just fine-tuning everything,” he said on Monday. “I was a bit on simmer but now I’m raring to go and very, very excited.”It would mean everything to make my debut at the Home of Cricket. There is a little difference in the intensity but I’m honestly looking to change nothing about what’s got me here. I’m just going to run in and bowl hard, bowl my areas and see if that works.”Potts is due to bat at No. 8 for England, even though he has spent the vast majority of his first-class career batting at No. 9 or 10. He has regularly been used as a nightwatchman and has two first-class fifties and a hundred in second-team cricket, but has managed only 65 runs in seven Championship innings this season.

Jack Leach finished the series as England’s equal-leading wicket-taker but it was the moment of brilliance in the field that gave him most pleasure.

George Dobell in Colombo26-Nov-2018Jack Leach has described his run-out of Kusal Mendis on the fourth afternoon in Colombo as “the best moment” of his career to date.Leach finished the series as England’s equal-leading wicket-taker – he and Moeen Ali both claimed 18 – but it was the moment of brilliance in the field that gave him most pleasure.That’s probably understandable, too. Leach is a sound fielder but his direct hit from deep backward square leg – every bit of 50 metres from the stumps at the non-striker’s end – was sensational.Leach initially seemed just a little slow to reach the ball played towards him by Roshen Silva. But, alert to the situation and heeding his team-mates’ calls to throw to the other end, Leach threw with admirable power and left Mendis well short with a direct hit.It was an inspired piece of fielding, for sure, and drew comparison with Ben Stokes’ run-out of Dimuth Karunaratne in Pallakele and the excellent work Keaton Jennings has been doing at short leg as key moments that have made the difference between the teams.It was an important moment, too. Mendis, who had made 86, appeared to be batting Sri Lanka back into contention in the third Test, adding 102 for the fifth-wicket with Roshen. England were starting to look just a little flat and just a little nervous.”I would love to say I’ve been working on those long-distance throws but I’d be lying,” Leach admitted. “I’ve never done anything like that and actually think it was the best moment of my career so far.”My towel at the back of my trousers wasn’t quite in properly so, just before the ball came to me, I quickly threw it to the boundary. And then suddenly it looked like they were going to run two and I thought ‘oh no! I’ve conceded two here and I shouldn’t have done that.'”So, I just launched it towards the stumps and thought ‘that’s going to hit’ and luckily it did. So I was a bit lucky, really. It was a big moment.”Leach admitted he was close to exhaustion by the end of the game. The burden of bowling more overs than any other England bowler in the series, in back-to-back Tests and brutally hot conditions, was starting to take its toll, so he confessed his primary emotion upon taking the final wicket was simply relief that he could return to the air-conditioned dressing room.”I’m absolutely knackered,” he said. “I thought it was hot during the first two Tests, but then I got to Colombo and was like ‘maybe it wasn’t that hot [before].’ Because it turns out Colombo is proper sweaty.”Sri Lanka pushed us all the way. After the tea break Joe Root threw me the ball and I had to get the body going again. So I was just happy to get that wicket and get off the pitch.”It has tested me physically, definitely. None of the guys are used to this so it is even more special that we could put in good performances to get the win.”At the moment I just don’t want to play cricket ever again, I’m so tired. But I’ll give it a couple of weeks and then I’ll be keen to get back in the gym and work on some things that I feel I can get better at and get myself ready for the Caribbean if I’m picked.”He needn’t worry about selection. His is certain to be in the tour party and has a decent chance of winning selection even if England play only two spinners in some games in the Caribbean. And, even though he stresses that “everyone contributed” to the team’s success, he does accept he has had “a great trip”.”It is a huge thrill to come out here and take wickets on spinning tracks,” he said. “There have been ups and downs, but to come out on top with a 3-0 result is amazing.”It has been a great trip for me. I feel like I’ve learnt a lot through winning games, which is how you want it. But I also think I need to keep getting better so this tour will really help me.”Everyone has contributed: Stokesy’s run-out in Kandy and his spell of bowling here; Keaton’s fielding at short leg. Little things have made a big difference. And the way the batters have played has been something special. Rooty asked us to be brave with the bat and we’ve done that. It’s special result. I’m just glad to have been able to play my part and be involved.”

Former West Indies star forced to return to Barbados while applying for a visa to live in the UK alongside his British wife

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2018Colin Graves, the chairman of the ECB, has offered to help Collis King in his immigration fight, after it emerged the West Indian has been forced to return to Barbados while applying for a visa to live in the UK alongside his British wife.King, who starred in West Indies’ 1979 World Cup final victory, has spent more than 40 years living and working in the UK, alongside his native Barbados. But now, aged 67, he has been left in limbo after being told he could not submit an application for a spousal visa while still in the country, and given 14 days to return to the Caribbean.King’s story has emerged following a controversial crackdown by the UK Home Office, although it is distinct from the issues affecting members of the Windrush generation who came to live and work in Britain after the Second World War. According to the , King said he had been “treated like a criminal”.Graves was previously chairman of Dunnington CC in Yorkshire, where King has played and coached for 20 years, becoming a popular figure on the club scene. He has offered to act as a referee for King and write a letter of support.”I was staggered that his application was thrown out without any further investigation,” Graves told the newspaper. “Someone just looked at it and said, ‘On your bike’ and he was out. Nobody seemed to bother to look at it. It was cold and that is what upset me. They did not look at the individual, it was just another number on a file.”From a cricket point of view in Yorkshire he has been a colossus. He is known around all the clubs and we will do everything we can from a cricket point of view because he is helping with what we are trying to achieve in the recreational game.”King has been unable to play for Dunnington this summer, and has spent the last four months waiting to hear about his status. Having been told he had to return to Barbados, he also suffered the indignity of having his passport taken away at the airport, and only returned when his flight landed in Bridgetown.”I felt like I was treated like a criminal,” he told the . “It has really shaken me that after all that time that I can’t stay. It really hit me for six.”An attacking batsman who played nine Tests and 18 ODIs, King hit 86 from just 66 balls as he and Viv Richards demolished England in the 1979 World Cup final. Although World Series Cricket and a rebel tour of South Africa ended his international career, he became a much-loved performer in the northern leagues of England, as well as turning out in county cricket for Glamorgan and Worcestershire.Having previously travelled regularly to the UK on a visitor visa, King fell foul of the “hostile environment” cultivated by immigration officials after submitting his application for a spousal visa last year.”We tried to get some help at the embassy in Barbados but it is all done online – there is hardly anybody in Barbados to give you any help,” he said. “I have given all the information they asked for and more. I have waited and waited and nothing has happened.”I have been playing cricket in the UK for many years but I have always come back when my visa stated. I have never stayed longer than I was due to stay. If I had six months to play in the leagues, I would always come back on time. Never once in 44 years have I overstayed my time.”I was not born a British citizen but I have been going to Britain long enough to feel part of the English set-up. You cannot come to a country for so many years without loving the place. I have been coming and going, loving the country and that is the sad thing, really. When I tell people what’s going on, they say: ‘That can’t be right.’ But it is right because here I am, stuck in Barbados not knowing when this will end.”Another West Indies-born former cricketer, Richard Stewart, who played for Middlesex in the 1960s, has faced a similar struggle in his attempts to receive a British passport. Stewart arrived in England in 1955, aged 10, and has lived there ever since, but was only told this week that he had been granted citizenship.

The hosts will also be without a raft of familiar faces as they look to snap a 19-ODI losing streak against their visitors

Mohammad Isam04-Aug-2022

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Zimbabwe have enjoyed a month of rare success. After dominating the T20 World Cup qualification tournament, they registered a maiden T20I series win over Bangladesh. There was a lot of fun and partying at the Harare Sports Club. The focus though now has to quickly shift to the ODIs, a format in which there’s a massive gap between the two teams this year. Bangladesh also come in with a 19-match winning streak against Zimbabwe.This also includes the 3-0 win last year. That series was part of the ICC ODI Super League, but this series isn’t. Still, Tamim Iqbal has made it clear that Bangladesh can’t afford to take any series lightly these days.Related

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• 'Disappointed' Khaled Mahmud slams listless Bangladesh: 'Disgrace'

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Zimbabwe will be without key players Craig Ervine (hamstring and knee injuries) and Sean Williams, who has been given a break due to personal matters. Regis Chakabva is the stand-in captain in Ervine’s absence.Also missing are established seamers Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani. The less experienced Bradley Evans and Victor Nyauchi, who bowled effectively in the third T20I couple of days ago, are in the new-look ODI squad. The pair will combine with Richard Ngarava and Luke Jongwe in the pace-bowling attack, while Wellington Masakadza is the lead spinner. Zimbabwe will have to rely heavily on Sikandar Raza, Wessly Madhevere and Ryan Burl in the batting department, which has a number of inexperienced players.Bangladesh meanwhile will hope that their Zimbabwe tour will improve with Tamim and Mushfiqur Rahim back in the batting line-up. They will expect the likes of Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mosaddek Hossain to shine with the bat, while Tamim may prefer three seamers for the early morning starts in Harare. It would mean Taskin Ahmed returns to the ODI line-up after missing two ODIs in the West Indies.Overall, Bangladesh will remain on high alert after Zimbabwe showed so much heart in the T20Is.

Form guide

Zimbabwe LLLLW (last five completed matches; most recent first)
Bangladesh WWWWL

In the spotlight

Ryan Burl became one of the most talked-about cricketers this week when he struck 34 runs in an over against Bangladesh. It was the joint-second highest runs in a single over in T20Is, as Burl helped Zimbabwe to a 2-1 series win. He doesn’t have great numbers in ODIs this year, but Zimbabwe will hope he carries some of this confidence into the longer format as they start a long ODI run against Bangladesh, India and Australia.Taskin Ahmed was Bangladesh’s Player of the Series against South Africa in March but a shoulder injury has taken the sting out of him. Taskin has been wicketless since the South Africa tour, having played just one ODI in the West Indies, and two T20Is in which he went for 88 runs in seven overs. Tamim Iqbal would expect a stronger showing from Taskin, as a three-man pace attack is warranted at the Harare Sports Club.

Team news

Zimbabwe have to make at least five changes to the side that played their last ODI against Afghanistan in June. Takudzwanashe Kaitano could bat in the top order while Luke Jongwe, Evans and Nyauchi may be the three seamers.Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Innocent Kaia, 2 Wessly Madhevere, 3 Takudzwanashe Kaitano, 4 Sikandar Raza, 5 Regis Chakabva (capt & wk), 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Milton Shumba, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Brad Evans, 10 Wellington Masakadza, 11 Victor NyauchiFor Bangladesh, Mushfiqur Rahim will slip back into the middle order after missing the West Indies tour, but the lack of allrounders means there is likely to be a long tail.Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Litton Das, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Taskin Ahmed, 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful Islam

Pitch and conditions

The pitches at the Harare Sports Club were quite batting-friendly during the T20I series earlier this week, but in ODIs over the last five years, teams batting first have averaged a lowly 225. Probably why 12 out of 21 teams have lost when batting first. The weather is supposed to be dry during the series.

Stats and trivia

• Bangladesh are on a 19-match winning streak in the format against Zimbabwe, dating back to 2014.
• Zimbabwe have won just one bilateral ODI series – against UAE – in the last five years.
• Bangladesh will be playing their 400th ODI during this series.

She scored her first ODI century in nearly eight years and also picked up three wickets

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jul-2021Captain Stafanie Taylor’s all-round brilliance led West Indies Women to a five-wicket win in the first ODI against Pakistan Women in Antigua. Taylor picked three wickets after electing to bowl, to restrict the visitors to 205 for 9 and then slammed a 116-ball unbeaten 105 to chase down the target almost single-handedly.Spinners dominated the day as Taylor combined with offspinner Anisa Mohammed to pick up five wickets. Openers Muneeba Ali and Ayesha Zafar were off to a strong start, posting 70 for no loss, before a run out sent the former back. Anisa then picked up two wickets to hurt Pakistan further. Nida Dar stepped up to steady Pakistan’s innings with a 71-ball 55 but Taylor struck at the other end to leave them on 170 for 6. Thanks to Dar’s efforts – with not much help from the tail – Pakistan crawled to a modest total. Taylor finished as the most economical bowler, picking 3 for 29 from her 10 overs.West Indies’ chase did not get going initially with openers Hayley Matthews and Kyshona Knight falling for 16 and 8 respectively, but Taylor’s entry in the 12th over turned the tide. She kept the boundaries flowing as she hit seven fours to bring up her fifty, off 62 balls. She kept the momentum going even as a couple of wickets fell at the other end, and brought up her century in the next 52 balls; her sixth overall in the format. She shared a 46-run stand with Chedean Nation for the fifth wicket and an unbeaten 42-run partnership with Britney Cooper before hitting a boundary to seal the win in the 48th over.Taylor’s century came after a gap of nearly eight years. Her last hundred in ODIs came in October 2013 when she struck an unbeaten 135 against New Zealand in Kingston. Between then and now, she slammed 21 half-centuries in ODIs.”You know I’ve been dreaming of this day, to finally pass that five hundreds and finally make it six, I’m really happy,” Taylor told CWI media after the match. “I said to myself that I know I’m always in this position (with wickets down) and I like batting in 50-over games so it’s a matter of getting myself in and once I know I get myself in and somebody else on the other end batting, we should get the runs.”