Sports Bulletin

Bipin Dani Former Sri Lanka captain and a member of the 1996 World Cup winning team Aravinda de Silva, who is now in Australia on a personal visit, was invited at the launch of the fixtures of the ICC Men's T-20 World Cup to be played there later this year.  This was revealed by Sri Lanka-born Vernon Tissera, who now works as an event photographer with Sports N News channel in Australia. The ceremony which was held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), where the final this year is scheduled to be played on November 13, was also attended by Aaaron Finch, Australia's 2021 T-20 World Cup winning captain, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey and England's Michael Vaughan. Members of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) also discussed with the participants about the possible outcome of this year's final.  While describing his feelings for winning the 50-Over World Cup in 1996, the former captain also expressed confidence in the present young team of Sri Lanka. "This young side has a lot of potential and this World Cup is almost nine months away, it is all to do with momentum and confidence. I think the team can be well prepared with the training in this period and do well", he said in the video, sent by another Sri Lankan Johann Dias Jayasinha, who is a National Operations and Media manager.

Sports Bulletin ISLAMABAD:-As part of the 2021 edition of the ICC Awards, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Pakistani pacer Shaheen Afridi as the recipient of the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year 2021. Afridi has had a fabulous 2021 across all three formats of the game. He took 78 wickets in 36 internationals at an average of 22.20. His contribution in the Test and T20I formats of the game was phenomenal. At the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, Afridi took seven wickets in six matches aiding Pakistan formidably to make it to the semi-finals of the tournament. In the Test format, Afridi remained consistent and claimed 47 wickets in only nine matches at a staggering average of 17.06. His most memorable performance was at the high stakes game against India at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. He claimed three wickets in that match which included the wickets of opening pair Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul and that of India captain Virat Kohli in the death overs. Commenting on receiving the honour Shaheen Afridi, said: “I feel truly honoured and privileged to become the first Pakistan cricketer to win the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year. I had always dreamt of doing something unique and special for Pakistan. In this background, I am elated and thank Almighty for blessing me with this respect. “I also feel humbled to join a galaxy of legends who have previously won the Garfield Sobers Trophy. I have grown up watching the exploits of these cricketers and now to be bracketed with them is a matter of great honour and pride for me, my family, my teammates and my country. “This award is a testament to the high quality of cricket we played as a group during another difficult and challenging year. This required a lot of mental and physical toughness on a consistent basis, and I am glad we all were able to maintain the high standards to live up to the expectations of our fans. “Every performance I gave for Pakistan was enjoyable and memorable and was made possible through the support of my teammates. But to me, the standout performances remained the three wickets against India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, and the 18 wickets I took in the two-Test series against the West Indies in Jamaica. “I look forward to 2022 with optimism and hope I will be able to contribute regularly in Pakistan’s successes as at the end of the day, it all depends how we perform as a team and unit.”

Aamir Ali Janjua DUBAI:-As part of the 2021 edition of the ICC Awards, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced Lizelle Lee of South Africa and Babar Azam of Pakistan as the ICC ODI Cricketers of the Year 2021across women’s and men’s international cricket respectively. Lizelle Lee has had an outstanding year in ODI cricket. She scored 632 runs in 11 matches at an average of 90.28 that included a century and five half-centuries. Lee also finished as the highest run-scorer in 2021 in fifty over format. In South Africa’s tour of India, Lee was unstoppable, contributing with big runs in the 4-1 series win for her team. With 288 runs, including a hundred and two fifties, she ended the series as the highest run-scorer and was also awarded the Player of the Series. Lee scored the highest individual ODI score of her career at 132* in the third match of the series against India. She carried her form over to the series against West Indies and was once again the top run-getter in the series. Commenting on receiving the honour Lizelle Lee, said:  “I am very privileged and honoured to have been awarded the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year. I honestly didn’t expect this. It is a privilege just to be nominated, anyone could have won this award. It is truly an honour! “There are so many that I would like to give credit to not just on the field but off the field too. Firstly, I would like to thank my family which has been my number one support system, my parents and my wife, our coaching staff, and teammates, without whom none of this would have been possible.” In the men’s category, Pakistani skipper Babar Azam has had an impressive 2021 across all formats of the game. He scored a total of 405 runs in six matches at an average of 67.50 which included two centuries. Babar was the second-highest run-scorer with 228 runs and was also the Player of the Match in both matches that Pakistan won against South Africa. Commenting on the honour Babar Azam said: “I feel humbled to have been voted as the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year a few days after being adjudged by the PCB as their ODI Cricketer of 2021. Recognition by the parent and then the world administrative bodies means a lot and gives me tremendous satisfaction and happiness. “It has been an excellent year for Pakistan cricket across all formats and I am delighted to have been part of an outstanding bunch of players who displayed their very best, both on and off the field that, in turn, earned them well deserved respect and acknowledgement from the opponents and fans alike.

Bipin Dani Death over refers to the final overs in a limited match. Often the batting side would bat aggressively to gain more runs and increase their score. This will take place during the last five to ten overs of a team’s innings in a match. Former India cricketer, who has been a regular commentator has requested commentators all over the world not to use the term "Death Overs" while on air. "Request to all commentators please don't say Death Overs". Either call it slog overs or end overs", he has appealed. Explaining the reason for this appeal, the former googly bowler says, "we are going through a tough time. Death is not a nice word. The last ten overs are definitely important overs but one doesn't die if it doesn't go the team's way". Obviously, the veteran bowler’s words were directed at the ongoing COVID crisis.

Sports Bulletin DUBAHI:-As part of the 2021 edition of the ICC Awards, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced today the first set of the individual awards with the associate cricketers of the year category in men’s and women’s international cricket.  The captain of Oman’s men’s cricket team Zeeshan Maqsood was voted as the ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year for his fantastic performance in 2021, including leading his team at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup last year. The left-arm spinner was consistent with his performance across both ODI and T20I and aided his team to several victories throughout the year.  Leading his side with aplomb, Maqsood also flourished in both batting and bowling roles for Oman in 2021. He played a crucial role as a middle order batter and picked up wickets consistently. Maqsood made fifties against the USA and Namibia, and was at his consistent best as a bowler, controlling the flow of runs in the middle overs and picking up vital wickets. Maqsood particularly thrived against PNG, registering four wickets against them twice this year, one in an ODI and the other one in at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. His most memorable performance in the year was against PNG at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup where he was also named as the Player of the Match for his performance. Commenting on receiving the honour Zeeshan Maqsood said: “I am very delighted to be presented as the ICC Men’s Associate Cricketer of the Year. This award surely is one of the biggest achievements in my career and gives me immense pleasure that my efforts have been recognized by the ICC. I would like to thank the Oman Cricket Management, my teammates, support staff, my family, and my organization to have backed me in all stances to express myself on the field. 2021 has truly been god's blessing to me in terms of my accolades and leading Oman to flourish to the highest level”. In the women’s category, Austrian all-rounder Andrea-Mae Zepeda was voted as the ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year for her stellar performance in 2021. Zepeda was consistent at the top of the order for Austria while scoring her runs at a brisk rate. Out of the eight T20Is she played in 2021, three were against Belgium, while the other five came against Italy. Zepeda was impressive in the series against the Belgians in particular, as she scored over fifty runs, including a century, in all three matches against them. Commenting on her award Andrea-Mae Zepeda said: “It is a great honour and a pleasant surprise for me to receive the ICC Women’s Associate Cricketer of the Year award. Thank you, ICC, for this. I would also like to thank my teammates, my coaches, the Austrian Cricket Association, my home club Austrian Cricket Club Vienna, to my family and friends for always supporting me and encouraging me to play such a wonderful game. “I really enjoyed playing cricket last season despite being surrounded by COVID 19 and working full-time as a medical doctor. Nevertheless, we played some very good cricket, and I was able to perform well. My best innings was probably against Belgium in our home ground when I scored my first century ever. Looking forward, I will try my best to continue my journey and to contribute to my team as much as I can.”

Aamir Ali Janjua DUBHI:-As part of the 2021 edition of the ICC Awards, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced today the T20I cricketers of the year in men’s and women’s international cricket.  Pakistan’s ace wicketkeeper-batter, Mohammad Rizwan was voted the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2021, whilst England’s Tammy Beaumont was voted the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year 2021. Aggregating a staggering 1326 runs in only 29 matches, Rizwan averaged at 73.66 and had a strike-rate of 134.89. Apart from his exploits with the bat, he was as solid as ever behind the stumps, playing a key role in Pakistan's run to the semi-finals during the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021, where he ended up as the third-highest run-scorer. Earlier in the year, Rizwan also scored his maiden T20I century against South Africa in Lahore and ended it continuing his form with a brilliant knock of 87 against West Indies in Karachi. Commenting on receiving the honour Mohammad Rizwan, said: “I had an exceptional year in the shortest format of the game, and I am thankful to all my colleagues and peers for voting me as the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year. This award gives me further motivation and incentive to do even better in 2022 and beyond for Pakistan so that we can collectively achieve our objective of being the top T20I playing side and in the process enhancing our fan-base. “I want to thank all my team-mates and coaching staff who helped me throughout the year by preparing and training me well enough to contribute to Pakistan’s successes. As cricket is a team sport, I would like to dedicate this award to my teammates and fans.” In the women’s category, England’s all-rounder Tammy Beaumont was voted as the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year for her stellar performance in 2021. Beaumont was England's highest run scorer, and third-highest overall in the world in 2021. Earlier in the year, in a low-scoring series against New Zealand away from home, Beaumont was the top scorer and was awarded the Player of the Series for a total of 102 runs in three matches. Her 63 in 53 balls in the second match put England in a winning position after they had lost two wickets in the powerplay. Beaumont continued her form against New Zealand when they visited England for a limited-overs tour. She once again finished as the highest run scorer in the series with 113, which included a stunning 97 in the opening game of the series. Commenting on her award Tammy Beaumont said: “It’s a huge privilege to win the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of the Year Award. I’ve worked incredibly hard on my T20 game in the last few years. My T20I career has had its ups and downs and I don’t think I’ve always been known for my T20 abilities, so this award gives me a huge amount of confidence.” “As a team we had a great year in terms of T20I results and it feels great to have contributed to team wins. We’ve got a big year ahead in all formats - with the Ashes, the ICC Women’s World Cup and the Commonwealth Games, and I look forward to continuing to work hard alongside my teammates to help us win as many games as possible.”

H Shah MANCHESTER:-The England and Wales Cricket Board has confirmed the 2022 fixtures for men’s county and women’s regional domestic competitions. The men’s domestic summer will begin on 7 April with the opening round of the LV= Insurance County Championship. The Vitality Blast, this year marking the 20th edition of the T20 competition, will run over a seven-week period (25 May – 16 July) before the Royal London Cup (2 August – 17 September). The 20-over Charlotte Edwards Cup will open the women’s regional summer from 14 May and will offer the first piece of domestic silverware, with Finals Day at The County Ground, Northampton on 11 June. The 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy starts on 2 July and will conclude with a showpiece final at Lord’s on Sunday, 25 September. With domestic fixtures released, supporters looking to plan their summer of cricket are encouraged to consider the following opportunities: Vitality Blast season tickets – secure your seats at the 20th edition of T20 cricket in England & Wales by purchasing a season ticket for every home group-stage match in the Vitality Blast. Visit ecb.co.uk/blast-tickets for links to every team’s season ticket pass and take advantage of multi-match savings Royal London Cup Final tickets – get access to a priority window to buy tickets before they go on general sale by registering your interest here Membership – visit county websites for details of the different membership packages available and benefits on offer E-calendar – synchronise your team’s fixtures to you r desktop or mobile calendar and don’t miss a match with reminders ahead of every matchday. Download your team’s schedule here LV= Insurance County Championship The LV= Insurance County Championship returns to a two-division structure – for the first time since 2019 – with defending champions Warwickshire to host Surrey in the opening round. The opening seven rounds of the LV= County Championship will be played from Thursday to Sunday on successive weeks. There will be five rounds played during June and July – an increase from the three rounds during the same period last summer. The Division One and Division Two titles are set to be decided in September, with the final round of fixtures to be staged from 26-29 September. Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Lord’s is set to stage the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy on Sunday 25 September to close what promises to be a memorable summer of women’s cricket. Heyhoe Flint was a pioneer of the game leading England to the first-ever Women’s World Cup title in 1973 and challenging convention and fighting for progress as a player, administrator and campaigner throughout her life. MCC announced last year that the North Gate at Lord’s would be named in Heyhoe Flint’s honour and the final bearing her name will conclude a bumper summer for women’s cricket that will also include the Charlotte Edwards Cup, Commonwealth Games, The Hundred in addition to the England Women’s schedule. Southern Vipers will bid to claim a hat-trick of Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy titles when the 50-over competition begins on 2 July. The play-off is to be played four days before the Lord’s final. Royal London Cup The Royal London Cup final will return to a Saturday with Trent Bridge to host the decider on 17 September. The 18 First-Class Counties will each play one warm-up match against a National County – with Somerset and Middlesex to play two games – ahead of the competition, which begins on 2 August. Defending champions Glamorgan are away to Derbyshire on the opening day and the group stage will conclude on 23 August. The competition will visit at least nine outgrounds, from Scarborough to Neath, before the knockout stages will be held on 26 August and 30 August. Charlotte Edwards Cup South East Stars won the first-ever Charlotte Edwards Cup title last summer and open their defence away to Sunrisers at the Cloud County Ground in Chelmsford on Saturday 14 May. The month-long Twenty20 competition will see the eight women’s regional teams split into two groups, and play six group-stage matches, before Finals Day on Saturday, 11 June. There will be 10 double-headers when Charlotte Edwards Cup and Vitality Blast T20 matches are played back-to-back at the same venue. Vitality Blast The 20th edition of domestic T20 cricket will begin on 25 May with champions Kent Spitfires to host Somerset in a re-match of last season’s final. The Vitality Blast group stage will take place over a 40-day period with 99 of the 126 matches to be played on a Thursday, Friday and at the weekend. The quarter-finals will be staged from 6-9 July before the sold-out Finals Day will be staged at Edgbaston a week later.

Sports Bulletin Report DUBAI:-Australia’s Travis Head has reached a career-best fifth position among batters in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings after his Player of the Match performance in the fifth match of their ICC World Test Championship series against England. Head, who scored 101 in the first innings in Hobart to finish with a series topping 357 runs that also got him clinch the Player of the Series award, has advanced seven spots to joint-fifth with Rohit Sharma. Head’s previous best ranking was the 10th position that he occupied last month. All-rounder Cameron Green is another Australia player to gain after the 146-run victory that helped Australia win the series 4-0 and climb to second in the WTC Points Table powered by MRF Tyres. Green is up 23 places to joint-66th after his scores of 74 and 23 and has also moved up 13 places to 62nd in the bowlers’ list. Scott Boland has moved from 49th to 43rd with four wickets in the match. England opener Zak Crawley has progressed nine places to 68th after scores of 18 and 36. Among their bowlers, Stuart Broad has moved up two places to 12th position after finishing with six wickets in the match while Ollie Robinson (up one place to 24th) and Mark Wood (up seven places to 31st) have also advanced. In the latest weekly update that also takes into account the third match of the South Africa-India series in Cape Town that the host side won by seven wickets to clinch the WTC series 2-1, Keegan Petersen has shot up 68 places to 33rd after match-winning scores of 72 and 82. He scored the maximum runs to claim the Player of the Series award, his 276-run aggregate helping him surge up after starting the series in 158th position. Temba Bavuma (up seven places to 28th) and Rassie van der Dussen (up12 places to 43rd) are the other South Africa batters to move up while fast bowlers Kagiso Rabada (up two places to third) and Lungi Ngidi (up six places to 21st) have also made notable progress. Virat Kohli has moved up two places to seventh after scores of 79 and 29 in his last match as Test captain. Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten century in the second innings has lifted him 10 places to14th. Fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah’s six wickets have lifted him back to the top 10. In the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings that considers performances from the last two matches of the West Indies-Ireland series and the first two of the Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe series, Ireland off-spinner Andy McBrine has gained 17 slots to move into the top 10 with two four-wicket hauls. West Indies spinner Akeal Hosein has moved up two places to joint-59th. In other major movements, Zimbabwe’s Sean Williams has advanced eight places to 40th after scores of 100 and 40 and Sri Lanka batter Kariyawasa Asalanka’s knocks of 71 and 23 have helped him move up 16 places to 52nd.

Bipin Dani The father of Zimbabwe's captain Craig Ervine has been following the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka on the internet as there is no live telecast of these matches in his country.  Rory Ervine was disappointed when Craig could not complete the century in the second ODI. "Missing a century is always disappointing but winning the game is rather more important", he said over the telephone from Harare.   He was bowled in Nervous Nineties. "Out is out, whether bowled or caught. It is the same. It was unfortunate. I think the batter has to keep playing the best he can for the sake of the team", he added. Incidentally, Craig is born in a sports loving family. Father played First Class matches, two brothers-Sean and Ryan and uncle Neil also played cricket. "Having family members to play cricket helped Craig to hone his skills", the dad added.         Craig almost had a hand amputated in his early teens following a freak accident where he slipped and fell on broken glass in his family's living room. His mum Judy, who is still a nurse, immediately helped his son from excessive bleeding. The injury required a three-hour reconstructive operation to his right hand.

Bipin Dani Sri Lanka's fast bowler Chamika Gunasekara is out of the ongoing series against Zimbabwe, it is learnt. The 22-year-old right-arm pacer must be considering himself to be the "unlucky" player as he could bowl only one over on his debut match against Zimbabwe on Sunday but had to leave the field following the hamstring injury.  "He has left the team hotel and headed for home", the SLC source said exclusively.     "He has been advised to rest and may be out for about 4-6 weeks". Good news for the visiting Zimbabwe team was that their Indian head coach Lalchand Rajput was given a green signal to join the squad. "Yes, in his last PCR test done on Monday, he was tested negative and headed to Kandy Tuesday morning", one of the sources said from Colombo. The second ODI between the two teams was played on a different pitch and not on the first wicket, where the Sri Lankan team had won.