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Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Sport
- Business Recorder
Sajid Khan ruled out of England tour
LAHORE: Test off-spinner Sajid Khan has been ruled out of the Shaheens' tour of England after suffering a fracture to his right thumb during a training session at the Tonbridge School Ground in Kent. Pakistan Shaheens are set to take on the Professional County Club Select XI in the opening match of the three one-day matches, scheduled at the Kent County Cricket Ground in Beckenham. A PCB spokesman said that Sajid will return to Pakistan on the first available flight and will undergo further treatment at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. The team management has not requested Sajid's replacement. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
7 days ago
- Climate
- Express Tribune
Pak Shaheens begin ODI campaign in Eng today
Pakistan Shaheens led by Saud Shakeel are set to take on the Professional County Club Select XI in the first of three One-Day matches scheduled on Tuesday at the Kent County Cricket Ground in Beckenham. The second one-day match will also be played at the same venue on Friday, 25 July, while the third one-day match of the series will take place on Sunday, 27 July at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove. The one-day series will be followed by two three-day matches. The first match will be held from 29 to 31 July at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove against Professional County Club Select XI. The second three-day game is scheduled against the South Asian Cricket Academy & MCC Young Cricketers XI at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence in Canterbury from 3 to 5 August. Pakistan Shaheens held a couple of training sessions at the Tonbridge School Ground in Kent after arriving in England on 17 July. Talking to PCB Digital ahead of the opening game on the tour, Saud Shakeel said: "We are gradually getting used to the conditions. The time we have had for preparation so far has been quite productive. Although the weather did interrupt us with a bit of rain, but we utilised whatever time and facilities we had to the best of our ability. "Getting used to English conditions always takes some time, but if you look at white-ball cricket in England, the pitches are generally good for batting and high-scoring matches are common. We have been practicing accordingly after taking all of this into account. "Our opposition on the tour consist of players who are under consideration for England selection. Our situation is quite similar, we also have some exciting young talent in our squad. I believe it will be a competitive series for everyone to watch. "The players have the opportunity to perform here and impress the selectors to get into the national side. Whenever you are part of such tours, a strong performance gives you a different kind of confidence. These tours are a good sign and these should continue in future as well." Squad: Saud Shakeel (captain), Ali Zaryab, Azan Awais, Faisal Akram, Haider Ali, Maaz Sadaqat, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Suleman, Mubasir Khan, Musa Khan, Mushtaq Ahmed, Omair Bin Yousuf, Rohail Nazir (wicket-keeper), Sajid Khan, Shahid Aziz, Shamyl Hussain and Ubaid Shah Player support personnel: Imran Farhat (head coach), Rehan Riaz (bowling coach), Mohtashim Rasheed (fielding coach), Usman Hashmi (analyst) and Ali Sufyan (physio) Pakistan Shaheens One-Day series fixtures: 22 July – v Professional County Club Select XI, The Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham (11am local time) 25 July – v Professional County Club Select XI, The Kent County Cricket Ground, Beckenham (11am local time) 27 July – v Professional County Club Select XI, The 1st Central County Ground, Hove (11am local time).
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Blast from the past Zimbabwe are finally coming in out of the cold
A biting wind swept across Grace Road on Thursday and though the crowd was thin, there was just enough stardust to keep the autograph hunters happy. Andrew Flintoff was perched on the pavilion balcony, while Mark Wood, trying his hand at coaching during his latest injury layoff, patrolled the boundary's edge with a smile. Out in the middle there were also runs for Josh de Caires, son of Mike Atherton, who compiled a fluent 79 from 93 balls on a green-tinged pitch. De Caires is a player in the modern mould charting his own course but some of the old man's mannerisms were there to see. Mercifully, the lower back appears to be much less creaky. Advertisement Related: Jamie Smith: 'To win an away Ashes would be every England cricketer's dream' But more noteworthy than the Professional County Club Select XI – a team of fresh-faced rookies led by De Caires, coached by Flintoff, and with selector Luke Wright in attendance – was the identity of their opponents. Zimbabwe have arrived for a one-off, four-day Test match against England that gets under way at Trent Bridge next Thursday, their first appearance on these shores for 22 years. Much has changed since a series chiefly remembered for Jimmy Anderson, peroxide highlights in his hair, bursting out of the traps with five wickets on his debut at Lord's. Tour games have largely gone the way of the Nokia 3310 (the must-have mobile phone back then, kids) and Zimbabwe have slipped from feisty overachievers, a team laced with a good deal of quality, to the unofficial second tier of Test cricket. Indeed, after the Test next week (a warmup for England before the five-Test visit of India) Zimbabwe stick around to play South Africa in a four-day game at Arundel. That third and final game on tour is preparation for the Proteas ahead of their World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord's next month – a competition that Zimbabwe, along with Afghanistan and Ireland, are currently excluded from. Advertisement Still, truncated though it is – a far cry from 2003, when they played two Tests and took part in an ODI tri-series along with South Africa – this tour is a welcome development. And in something of a first, the England and Wales Cricket Board is also paying the visitors a tour fee in lieu of a reciprocal trip not sitting in the future tours programme. This apparent benevolence is in part driven by the England and Wales Cricket Board's broadcast deal with Sky, which is predicated on delivering six Test matches every season; in the years that bring India or Australia for their usual five-match series, an early summer opponent is still needed. Ireland fulfilled this role before the 2023 Ashes, now it is Zimbabwe's turn. But while a schedule-filler, it would not have come about had relations between the ECB and Zimbabwe Cricket not thawed considerably in recent times, nor had the green light not come from the British government. After the dark days of Robert Mugabe's brutal regime, and a period of considerable turmoil for cricket in Zimbabwe in which corruption was alleged to be rife, relative stability has returned to the country. How Zimbabwe will fare in Nottingham next week is tricky to call, with their diet of Test cricket so skinny in recent years. There are just 108 caps spread among their 15-man squad (Joe Root, by comparison, has racked up 152 on his own). As the county kids cut loose to post 330 all out inside 72 overs, including half-centuries from tailenders Sebastian Morgan and Jafer Chohan, it did not augur massively well. Advertisement Equally, there was a creditable 1-1 draw in Bangladesh last month, one that featured Zimbabwe's first away victory for seven years, and there are players of some promise in their ranks. Blessing Muzarabani, a towering 6ft 6in quick who claimed nine wickets in Sylhet, could pose some problems for England on the right surface – much as New Zealand's similarly giant Will O'Rourke did during their last outing. As well Muzarabani, who nicked off De Caires with a sharp delivery that climbed, there is Sikandar Raza, the Pakistani-born all-rounder who has been a world-class performer in the white-ball formats. Experience comes from Sean Williams and skipper Craig Ervine, both 39, while Gary Ballance, though retired after a brief return to the country of his birth, is sharing local knowledge as their batting consultant. This short tour may serve to warm up their opponents in the main but for Zimbabwe, out in the cold for more than two decades, there is sunshine breaking through.
