Liam Dawson sees a lot of promise in Rehan Ahmed but cautioned against expecting too much, too soon from the teenage leg-spinner.
England’s dismal World Cup seems set to usher in a changing of the guard for the ODI side and Ahmed may have more of a role to play, even if Adil Rashid remains the country’s premier white-ball spinner.
Ahmed has impressed in seven appearances in national colours across all formats since last December and joins Rashid in being named in the ODI and T20 squads for next month’s trip to face the West Indies.
The 19-year-old links up with England after a lean domestic summer but Dawson is a huge admirer of his fellow spin bowling all-rounder and is certain he will flourish if England persevere with him.
“Rehan’s very young so you’ve got to give him a bit of time – he’s nowhere near the finished article,” Dawson told the PA news agency.
“I played with him last winter and I think he’s a very good bowler. You’ve just got to be patient with him. Spin bowling isn’t easy in England, you don’t get conditions that suit very often.”
Dawson subscribes to the notion spinners get better as they grow older and he has the numbers to back it up after taking 49 wickets at 20 to go with 840 runs at 40 in this year’s County Championship.
His form for Hampshire – where he was an ever-present for the matches in which he was available – warrants an England recall with a five-match Test series against India to come, starting in January.
Dawson has long since stopped worrying about his fringe status for England in all formats but the 33-year-old believes he is a superior player than when he earned the last of three Test caps in July 2017.
“Without a doubt,” he said. “I was only 27 then. I certainly think I’m a better player now. I’ve played a lot more cricket and in a lot more pressure situations. I understand that side of the game more.
“In red-ball cricket my bowling has improved every single year. I’d say that’s a huge thing that has improved. It’s going to be very hard to beat what I’ve done this season.
“There’s not much more I can do than what I’ve done this year. I’ll keep trying to work hard, keep trying to improve but I’m very realistic that the season I’ve just had doesn’t come around too often.”
A difficult conundrum awaits Dawson if England do make overtures for him as he has already committed to a lucrative stint in South Africa’s SA20, which overlaps with a couple of Tests of the India tour.
The canny slow left-armer would be a valuable inclusion on the turning tracks of India but any England return would likely be brief and he does not have the safety net of a central contract to fall back on.
Dawson is a regular in the high-paying T20 franchise leagues and, with England’s blessing, he was among a group of players to miss a tour of Bangladesh to play in the Pakistan Super League earlier this year.
“Don’t get me wrong, everyone’s desperate to play for their country but it also gets to a point where financially, you have to take that into consideration,” he added.
“As a player, for someone in my situation who hasn’t got a central contract – I certainly didn’t expect one – I’m not getting younger now, you have to make money.
“There’s so many competitions now you can play in. It’s brilliant to be a player now and hopefully I can play for a few more years and try to continue to perform.”
Chase outdone by opposite number Paudel as West Indies A suffer four-wicket loss to Nepal
West Indies A’s tour of Nepal got off to an unfortunate start, after they suffered a four-wicket loss to their host in a high scoring opening fixture of their five-match Twenty20 series at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, on Saturday.
Set a formidable 204 by West Indies A, Nepal’s thrilling victory, which was set up by a captain’s knock from Rohit Paudel, etched their names in the history books, as they successfully got to their target at 206-6 with two balls to spare.
Paudel smashed a 54-ball 112, including 10 fours and two sixes to see his team to a 1-0 lead in the series, which West Indies Head coach Darren Sammy said offers his team a chance to define roles and personnel more clearly for their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup squad.
However, the Caribbean side’s all-round effort was found wanting, as only captain Roston Chase (74), Alick Athanaze (47) and Keacy Carty (38) offered any resistance with the bat, while only Obed McCoy (2-34) and Matthew Forde (2-49) had some semblance of success with the ball.
Scores: West Indies A 204-5 (20 overs); Nepal 206-6 (19.4 overs)
Asked to take first strike, after losing the toss, West Indies A suffered an early blow, as they lost Johnson Charles (zero) off the last ball of the opening over, with 16 runs on the board. Andre Fletcher (13) stuck two sixes off five balls, before he too departed via the run-out route, leaving West Indies A at 43-2 in the fourth over.
However, Athanaze went about business, striking three sixes and five fours in a 25-ball knock, as he put on 43 for the third wicket with Chase, prior to his demise. From there, Chase and Carty added another 60 runs in a fourth-wicket stand that defined the innings.
Carty’s 38 off 26 balls, included two fours and three sixes, while Chase, who anchored the innings with a captain’s knock, struck nine fours and two sixes in his 46-ball 74. Kadeem Alleyne, on 14, and Keemo Paul, one, were left not out.
No Nepal bowler took more than one wicket.
With runs on the board, West Indies A would have felt confident of wrapping up a win, even more so, after Forde and McCoy combined to remove openers Anil Sah (five) and Kushal Bhurtel (16) to have Nepal at 38-2 in the fifth over.
West Indies remained in the ascendancy when Fletcher and Charles combined to run out Kushal Malla (16), leaving their host on the ropes at 82-3 at the halfway mark.
However, Paudel showed class, in not only reviving his team’s innings, but pushed them all the way with some aggressive stroke play, assisted by wayward bowling from West Indies A attack at times. Dipendra Singh Airee (24) offered support to his captain in getting Nepal across the line for a famous victory.
Bairstow hails 'ballistic' Kings after record IPL run chase
Jonny Bairstow saluted "ballistic" Punjab Kings following their historic Indian Premier League victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.
The England batter scored an unbeaten century as the Kings successfully chased down 262 - the highest in T20 history - with eight balls to spare at Eden Gardens.
Bairstow hit a wonderful 108 not out from 48 balls - with nine sixes along the way - while Shashank Singh chipped in with 68 from 28 deliveries as the Kings ended their four-game losing streak.
"We knew that we had to go ballistic after how they batted," said the 34-year-old, who made his second IPL century five years after his first. "We had to take risks, and thankfully they came off.
"I've never been faced with a target like that before. So, we knew the powerplay would be important, and if anything is close to being in your area, you've got to make the most of it."
The performances of Bairstow and Singh contributed towards further history, with the overall tally of 42 sixes the highest recorded in a single T20 match.
"Cricket has turned to baseball, hasn't it?!" Punjab skipper Sam Curran added. "Guys can hit balls for long periods of time, the coaches, training, the dew, dot balls become wide after reviews and you get the extra ball. Stats are going of the window."
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer was left disappointed to see his side's impressive haul overturned, but urged his team-mates to learn from the experience.
"Both teams played tremendously. You have to go back to the drawing board and see where you went wrong," he said. "Not defending hurts, but it's a great lesson for the players."
Mottley renews call for Windies women to be treated equally to male counterparts
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has once again encouraged Cricket West Indies (CWI) to invest and reward the region’s female cricketers in the same manner as the men.
Mottley, who first made the call last year, used the platform on Thursday’s opening day of the CARICOM conference on West Indies cricket themed ‘Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket’, to once again lobby for more attention to be paid to women’s cricket.
“It is the young people and I’m happy that finally it is not just boys, but boys and girls who will become the men and women who can become these global citizens with Caribbean roots. My heart filled with pride this week when Hayley Matthews was heralded by Wisden as the T20 Cricketer of the Year, and it did so because Mr. President, when you and I first met when you took over, it was actually International Women’s Day, March 8, and I asked you then to start the journey of removing the discriminatory practices between men and women,” Mottley said at the event in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Practices that go as far as the quality of the coverage and the camera covering the game, meaning that it becomes less alluring to those who may not be fully engaged purely because when you look at IPL and you look at the women playing cricket in many other jurisdictions it just doesn’t even look the same. That cannot be a metaphor for our own development and the fact and the obligation of removing the discrimination that exists between men and women’s cricket is absolutely critical,” she added.
Mottley declared her belief that the time was right for a historic mixed-gender cricket game to be played in the region.
“I have said to you, and I offer you now publicly again, that Kensington Oval, that iconic ground, could be a location where we break new ground again in history by having a mixed-gender game, recognizing that in the Olympics you’re going to soon have mixed gender relays and we don’t need to wait on others to lead us, but we can resume the leadership in ensuring that as the game has evolved from Test, to 50-over, to T20, to the increase in women’s cricket, that ultimately that will soon be the next step,” she shared.
On that note, the Prime Minister, pointed out that it was also important that opportunities be created for not only male and female cricketers, but for persons who have skills in other areas.
“We have an obligation to be able to level the field by the investments that we have to make in this sport, recognizing that not all may make the team and wear that maroon, but all can participate at different levels to make a living," Mottley noted.
“Whether it is exporting persons to help in coaching across the world…whether it is through the ability of us to have as many of our youngsters play. Whether it is in the creation of the supply of world class and first-class umpires, whether it is in people who are in the business of keeping the field, the outfield and the pitches in good form, or in the ability to sell pitches to the United States of America instead of them buying from Australia. Whatever it is, we must plan now the careful investment that will allow us to see this as a viable productive and economic sector," she ended.
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