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Phoebe Litchfield scores unbeaten 42 to see home side to victory in low-scorer

Ciara Fearn03-Aug-2023Northern Superchargers 112 for 3 (Litchfield 42*) beat Birmingham Phoenix 110 for 8 (Devine 46, Davidson-Richards 3-20) by seven wickets England allrounder Alice Davidson-Richards stole the show for Northern Superchargers as they beat Birmingham Phoenix by seven wickets to get their Hundred campaign off to the perfect start.Davidson-Richards took three wickets for just 11 runs from her 20 balls as well as taking two catches and claiming a brilliant run-out in an excellent team display from Superchargers, as they restricted Birmingham Phoenix to a total of 110 for 8 off their 100 balls.Australian Phoebe Litchfield top-scored for the home team with an unbeaten 42 as they eased their way to victory with 22 balls to spare with Marie Kelly also adding a valuable 24 at the top of the order.The visitors had got off to a flying start with New Zealand veteran Sophie Devine hitting England’s Kate Cross for two boundaries from her first set of five balls. But Superchargers quickly pulled things back with Cross claiming the wicket of Eve Jones for 10 before England wicketkeeper Amy Jones became Davidson-Richard’s first victim when she holed out to Leah Dobson on the square leg boundary for 13.Devine took centre stage throughout the Phoenix innings scoring an entertaining 46 runs off 36 balls before she was superbly run out by Davidson-Richards’ direct hit from mid-off. The Phoenix middle-order failed to offer any meaningful support to Devine with Erin Burns, Tess Flintoff and Emily Arlott all falling cheaply with Georgia Wareham’s caught-and-bowled dismissal of Burns a particular highlight.The hosts were brilliant in the field with Phoenix reliant on late-order runs from Abigail Freeborn and Issy Wong to get them up over the 100 mark, Wong hitting a mighty six into the crowd at one point before she became Linsey Smith’s one wicket.Kelly and Jemimah Rodrigues gave Superchargers an ideal start with a partnership of 23 for the first wicket. Rodrigues’ knock of 16 consisted of four boundaries before she was trapped in front by Wong.Kelly was bowled reverse sweeping by Katie Levick for 24 but Litchfield quickly took charge of the innings as she steered Superchargers home with an unbeaten 42 off 29 balls including seven fours. But this was Davidson-Richards’ day and she completed the win with a towering straight six off Hannah Baker to end an excellent showing by Superchargers.

Leicestershire stroll to target for only their second win of the season

ECB Reporters Network09-Jun-2023A maiden T20 century by Rishi Patel powered Leicestershire Foxes to an impressive six-wicket Vitality Blast victory over Durham at the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road.The 24-year-old right-hand bat – dropped on 38 – struck 103 from 49 balls with 12 fours and four sixes as the Foxes cruised home with 14 balls to spare with comfortably their most emphatic performances of an otherwise dismal season to date, Lewis Hill hitting the winning runs to finish on an unbeaten 54 from 41 balls.It was Durham’s second defeat by Leicestershire in six days although the Foxes remain bottom of the North Group table, having lost their other six games.Aussie Ashton Turner’s unbeaten 60 from 38 balls lifted Durham’s total to a challenging 172 for 4 against a makeshift Foxes bowling attack from which key man Naveen ul-Haq was missing though injury. Ollie Robinson made 30 from 31 balls and Graham Clark 27 from just 14 in the powerplay but spinner Callum Parkinson (2 for 21) and teenage pace bowler Josh Hull (1 for 26) made sure that the visitors were never able to dominate.Asked to bat first, Durham posted 59 for 2 from the opening block of six, 35 of those runs coming in two overs after the visitors went hard against the two new faces in the Foxes attack, with Matt Salisbury and Tom Scriven drafted in for their county Blast debuts after injuries to Mikey Finan and Will Davis as well as Afghan international Naveen.Salisbury, who did not play in the Blast during his four years at Durham but made eight appearances for Essex in 2014, took a wicket with his fifth ball against his ex-team-mates when Alex Lees swung optimistically and was bowled, but took some punishment in his second over as Clark and Michael Jones plundered 17 runs, the pair having taken 18 off Scriven in the previous over, although Clark survived a difficult chance to point on four.Hull finished the powerplay well for the Foxes as Jones miscued to mid-on and when left-arm spinner Parkinson produced a fine, full delivery to trap Clark in the crease in the next over, Durham were 61 for 3. At halfway, with Colin Ackermann and Rehan Ahmed applying the squeeze, they were 80 for 3, advancing to 112 for 4 from 15 overs after Parkinson made another big breakthrough, bowling Robinson to register his 100th Blast wicket for the county.The Foxes would have been disappointed not to claim more wickets in the last five, which saw Turner and Bas de Leede swell the total by 62 runs, both clearing the ropes of Rehan’s legspin, but Hull, the 18-year-old left-arm quick of whom they have high hopes, produced an impressive final over costing just eight runs to finish with 1 for 26.Needing to score at 8.65 runs per over, the home side suffered an immediate setback, losing Nick Welch to the fifth ball of their reply as he missed an attempted sweep against left-arm spinner Liam Trevaskis, but recovered well, with Hill pulling and scooping profitably and Patel hitting powerfully down the ground, to be 69 for 1 from six, although the latter had an escape when Ben Raine dropped what should have been a straightforward chance at wide long-on.Back-to-back boundaries off Turner took Patel to a 21-ball half-century and two more off legspinner Nathan Sowter’s next over brought the target down to 70 with 70 balls remaining.And there was no holding the Foxes back on this occasion with Patel in destructive mood, needing just 24 more balls to reach his hundred, getting there his second six in three balls over wide long-on off Sowter, and although it all ended anticlimactically in the next over as an ill-advised decision to go for a second run to de Leede at midwicket off Wayne Parnell saw him run out.Nonetheless, the home side went into the final five overs needing just 21 to win and though Parnell dismissed Colin Ackermann, who chopped on, and Louis Kimber, caught behind, with consecutive balls, to induce a little anxiety in the home crowd, only 14 more were needed, Hill finishing the job by pulling Sowter for his third six before driving the same bowler through extra cover for four next ball.

India’s players had a lot to celebrate with the latest update in the ICC rankings

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-20216:53

Rohit Sharma – I don’t want anyone get upset when Pant gets out playing shots

The rise of Rishabh Pant continues. He has now secured the highest points tally (747) by any Indian wicketkeeper on the ICC Test batting rankings. That puts him at the joint-seventh place, along with team-mate Rohit Sharma and New Zealand’s Henry Nicholls.Much as he was when India beat Australia in their own backyard, Pant was a central figure in his team’s victory over England last week which sealed their place in the inaugural World Test Championship final. He struck his first century at home, in Ahmedabad, an innings that drew praise from the very best in the business – Adam Gilchrist and Brian Lara to name two. His coach Ravi Shastri was particularly effusive about the way he committed to a sterner fitness regime that is helping him churn out these big runs.Pant has amassed 544 runs from seven Test matches, making him India’s top-scorer in the 2020-21 season and third-highest overall. Among those runs was a 97 that helped India keep an incredible series alive in Sydney and then he sealed it in even more incredible fashion by scoring 89 thrillingly unbeaten runs in Brisbane.Providing equally invaluable contributions, but with the ball, R Ashwin is now ranked second among all bowlers in Test cricket. This comes soon after he set the record for fastest – in terms of balls (21,242) – to 400 Test wickets. The India allrounder had a stellar series against England, scoring a century on his home ground, which he said made him feel like a hero, and he finished it with 32 wickets from four Test matches.Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant are ranked joint-seventh among Test batsmen by the ICC•BCCI

Not far behind him was Axar Patel. The left-arm spinner playing only his first Test series struck 27 times in three matches to average a scarcely believable 10.54. Thanks to that performance, he climbed eight places to 30th, but more notably, he has 552 points. Only two bowlers have ever done better after their first three Tests – former India leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani (564) and Australia fast bowler Charlie Turner (553), who played in the 19th century.Sharma has reached his career-best spot after a string of excellent performances in tough conditions. His 161 in the second Test on a Chennai turner was later hailed as the turning point on which India were able to come back from 0-1 down and beat England 3-1. Overall, he is the team’s second-highest scorer this season – and fourth-highest overall – with 474 runs at an average of 47.40.The latest ICC ranking update also included a couple of blips for India. Their captain Virat Kohli (fifth place with 814) is sitting on his lowest points tally since November 2017 and their No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara has slipped below 700 for the first time since September 2016.England, whose captain Joe Root admitted they didn’t take enough of their chances to trouble India, could take solace from James Anderson moving up to the fourth place in bowlers’ rankings. His burst of reverse swing on the last day of the first Test in Chennai was crucial in giving the visitors a lead that they couldn’t capitalise upon. Also moving up the ranks was batsman Dan Lawrence, who rose 47 places to 93rd. An equally rapid mover was Washington Sundar, who was stranded on 96 in the Ahmedabad Test match. He gained 39 places and is at the 62nd position.

Simon Kerrigan, the left-arm spinner who played one Test for England during the 2013 Ashes, has been let go by Lancashire

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Sep-2018Simon Kerrigan, the left-arm spinner who played one Test for England during the 2013 Ashes, has been released by Lancashire. Kerrigan made the decision earlier this year to put his playing career on hold and help out with coaching at the club.He did not play at all during the 2018 season and has now been allowed to leave Lancashire at the end of his contract, along with two other homegrown players, batsman Karl Brown and allrounder Arron Lilley.It marks a sad decline for Kerrigan, 29, who played a key role in Lancashire’s 2011 title win – his 9 for 51 sealed a last-gasp victory over Hampshire at Aigburth – and was then handed a Test cap two years later. His appearance at The Oval was wrecked by nerves, however, as his eight wicketless overs went for 53 runs, Shane Watson mercilessly cashing in.Kerrigan’s career seemingly never fully recovered. Having taken 58 wickets at 21.98 in 2013, his returns fell away steadily, and he spent the end of the 2017 season on loan at Northamptonshire. In April this year, he decided to take a break from playing.”My form hasn’t been at the level that it needs to be for a while now and after discussions with head coach Glen Chapple and the cricket management team at the club, we have all agreed that I will remain part of the playing squad and assist with coaching across all areas of Lancashire cricket for the time being,” Kerrigan said at the time.Brown was also a member of the 2011 title-winning team – Lancashire’s first outright for 77 years – contributing 997 runs at 35.60, but he was never able to match those returns in first-class cricket. He did continue to feature regularly as a white-ball batsman, and alongside Lilley helped Lancashire to lift the T20 Blast trophy in 2015.Lilley made his debut in 2013 and featured regularly in the T20 side – 70 of his 96 appearances were in the shortest format. This season, he played in all 15 of Lancashire’s Vitality Blast matches, helping them to Finals Day, but only bowled 13 overs, taking one wicket at 105.00.Lancashire’s director of cricket, Paul Allott, said: “Karl, Simon and Arron have given their absolute all for the club over the years, having come through the age-group and Academy system. The club would like to thank them for their contributions both on and off the field, and we wish them all the best for their futures in whatever paths they take.”

The fixture was significant for the return of two fast bowlers – Deepak Chahar for Chennai Super Kings and Mohsin Khan for Lucknow Super Giants

Sreshth Shah03-May-20232:06

Tait: Badoni has the temperament to take on international bowlers

Match abandonedRain had the final say in Lucknow, where MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings had taken the upper hand against the Super Giants after 19.2 action-packed overs of the first innings. CSK spinners ran through the home team’s line-up, but 23-year-old Ayush Badoni scored a counter-attacking fifty before the game was called off at 6.56 pm local time.The game had started 15 minutes late due to an afternoon shower, and the surface ended up assisting spin big time. Moeen Ali dismissed Kyle Mayers for the second time in the season, and Maheesh Theekshana accounted for Manan Vohra and Krunal Pandya off successive deliveries in the sixth over. Moeen held on to a tough caught-and-bowled chance to remove Karan Sharma, but the best wicket was Ravindra Jadeja bowling Marcus Stoinis with one that pitched outside the right-hander’s leg stump and spun sharply to hit off, leaving the batter dumbfounded.At 44 for 5 in the 10th over, the Super Giants were sinking but Badoni and Nicholas Pooran steadied the innings. They added 59 for the sixth wicket, but Pooran’s contribution was only 14, with Badoni taking charge. He smashed two sixes off Theekshana and reached fifty with another six off Deepak Chahar in the 19th over to give the Super Giants a fighting chance.Rain forced the players off the field in the 20th over of the first innings and did not ease up enough for play to resume, leaving both Super Kings and Super Giants with one point each from the contest. Both teams are on 11 points after ten games.The fixture was also significant for the return of two fast bowlers. Chahar was fit again for CSK after missing six games because of a hamstring injury and returned figures of 0 for 41 in four overs. Mohsin Khan was named in the Super Giants XI for the first time this season, after spending almost the entire year since the previous IPL recovering from injury, but did not get the chance to bowl because of the bad weather.

Fidel Edwards’ pace also caught the eye on the opening day at The Oval where almost 3000 spectators soaked up the action

Paul Edwards at Kia Oval20-Apr-2018
ScorecardPosters in tube stations are sometimes weirdly prescient. “We know what we are, but know not what we may be,” asserts a current advert for the Globe’s production of , and Ophelia’s words seemed curiously apt on Friday morning as one exchanged a fetid underland for Kennington’s rather cleaner air. On Thursday the uncertain prospect of hundred-ball cricket in 2020 had been all our rage. Hours later spectators at The Oval – around three thousand of them this Friday stolen from June – watched in perfect absorption, though nothing like content, as Surrey were dismissed for 211 by Hampshire, whose batsmen reached 52 for the loss of both openers and nightwatchman Chris Wood by the close.The Saturday papers may still label it “the visitors’ day” but such an outcome had not seemed at all likely until Surrey squandered their last six wickets for 24 runs immediately after tea. Four of those wickets fell to Liam Dawson in successive overs from the Vauxhall End but the collapse had begun with the first ball of the session when Ollie Pope played across the line to Kyle Abbott and was sent on his way by Steve O’Shaughnessy, the batsman dismissed by a delivery whose only virtue was its straightness. Pope had played well for his 34 but was plainly not infallible, which some may see as letting the side down.But the youngster’s misjudgement was quickly followed by more grievous errors, some of them committed by cricketers who know better. Sam Curran drove Dawson to Wood at mid-off and Rikki Clarke brainlessly lifted the same bowler to the same safe hands at long on. In between these lapses, Ben Foakes, who had stroked the ball with polished ease for 46, was leg before to a quicker arm-ball. Dawson and Fidel Edwards disposed of the tail and the home side’s profligacy was complete.The extent of the wastefulness became plain when one recalled that four of Surrey’s top six had done the groundwork necessary for a major innings and had effected a recovery from a poor start. For in the first six overs of the day the home side had lost Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick, both of whom were pinned leg before by Fidel Edwards’ inswingers. Rory Burns and Dean Elgar viewed those early wickets quite properly as proof that caution was needed and the pair batted with Puritan restraint in taking their side to 83 for 2 at lunch.In the interval hundreds of spectators wandered out and inspected the wicket. They did so in the manner of benevolent landlords returning to demesnes they had not visited for some time.Surrey’s third-wicket pair maintained their vigilance into the afternoon session. Then Burns was dismissed for 46 when an authentic glance off Edwards was neatly pouched by Sam Northeast who had been precisely placed at leg slip. It was a fine piece of cricketing craft, much finer at any rate than the inelegant and uncharacteristic slash which Elgar played to a wide ball from Wood, the edge being taken by McManus. That wicket left Surrey on 114 for 4 but Foakes and Pope’s 73-run stand repaired the innings until Dawson recalled the heyday of Peter Sainsbury and began to wheel away after tea.One’s mind turned briefly from a fine slow left-armer to the more immediate changes about to affect the English game. In two years’ time we shall be assailed by hundreds of balls and who knows what the penalty may be for non-compliance with the ECB’s trend hounds? “They say the owl was a baker’s daughter” muses Ophelia as she reflects upon the penalties for disobedience.For the moment, though, let us enjoy the County Championship. For on the day Surrey banned single-use plastics from The Oval, cricket’s older format again proved yet again that it should not be carelessly discarded. May your God be at your table this season but you had better make haste. Hampshire’s cricketers are already tucking in.

The ECB has secured a new sponsor for T20 cricket, although the deal with health and life insurance group Vitality will not include the proposed new-team competition for 2020

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Feb-2018The ECB has secured a new sponsor for T20 cricket, although the deal with health and life insurance group Vitality will not include the proposed new-team competition for 2020. Vitality takes over from NatWest, who remain the ECB’s “principal partner” with naming rights on England shirts.The new deal will cover the Vitality Blast for the next four years, as well as England men’s and women’s home T20I series for two years. The Blast is set to be overtaken as England’s main T20 competition in two summers’ time, when an eight-team tournament modelled along the lines of the IPL and Big Bash comes into being.NatWest succeeded Friends Life as the domestic T20 sponsor on a four-year contract in 2014, before widening its agreement with the ECB. That led to Investec, a rival financial services provider, ending its sponsorship of Test cricket in England early, with the board still looking for a replacement.The new T20 competition is hoped to lead to a big increase in interest and revenue, forming part of the comprehensive broadcast deal secured by the ECB last summer worth £1.1bn.”We’re excited to be working with a partner who shares our enthusiasm and passion for T20 cricket,” Rob Calder, the ECB’s commercial director, said. “It’s the fastest growing format of the game, an integral part of ECB’s long-term strategy and has a critical role to play in bringing new people to the sport.”Vitality are an established brand in the sports marketplace with a proven track record of using sponsorship successfully to grow fan-bases and improve participation levels. They’re a natural fit for a partnership to drive interest and engagement in all our different T20 competitions at every level.”Vitality has been an official partner of the ECB since 2013 and make use of England Test captain Joe Root as a brand ambassador. The company also has sponsorship arrangements in football, rugby, hockey and netball.Neville Koopowitz, CEO of Vitality, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with the ECB for T20 cricket. T20 is a brilliant innovation that’s revolutionising the sport around the world.”This new sponsorship aligns with our own vibrant brand and fits with our desire to increase awareness and engagement among families and across all levels of the game while at the same time telling more people about Vitality.”

Chief executive Nick Hockley indicated they were keen to enable sanctions to be reviewed “for good behaviour and growth”

AAP13-Oct-2022Cricket Australia is contemplating lifting David Warner’s lifetime leadership ban as soon as Friday, with directors looking at rewriting the organisation’s code of ethics.Warner has had a leadership ban hanging over his head since the 2018 ball-tampering scandal, with him keen to have the punishment reversed. The 35-year-old has been mentioned as a candidate for Australia’s vacant one-day captaincy, but cannot fulfil the role under his sanctions.Under current rules players who accept a sanction under the code of ethics waive their right to have the matter reviewed.It means CA’s code would need to be rewritten for Warner’s ban to be reviewed, something directors will discuss at Friday’s board meeting in Hobart.Related

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“The view within Cricket Australia is that David is doing particularly well on the field and making a great contribution off the field,” chairman Lachlan Henderson said.  “The first step in terms of David’s leadership ban is to review the code and see if those sanctions are able to be reviewed. And the appropriate revisions to that code that would need to be made.”Henderson said the code would be rewritten if deemed necessary before a call on the one-day captaincy is made.”Our intention is to review the code as quick as is practical. It’s not in anyone’s interest for us to delay that,” Henderson said. “It would be in time for any future leadership conversations in relation to David.”There are however hurdles to clear. CA is wary any change made to the code in consultation with ethics commissioner Simon Longstaff could have implications on matters beyond Warner.At the same time, CEO Nick Hockley stressed players had a right to show they had changed since the point of being handed a lifetime ban.”In very simple terms, we are looking at sanctions to be reviewed for good behaviour and growth after a period of time,” Hockley said. “Pending tomorrow’s discussion, there would then need to be a revision of the code and that would need to be approved by the board.”The pair’s comments came after CA reported a $5.1 million loss for the 2021-22 financial year at Thursday’s AGM.CA largely blamed the loss on challenges presented by the pandemic, as well as a drop in media rights from the UK for last summer’s Ashes.Former women’s quick Clea Smith was also unanimously voted onto the CA board as the sole former player serving as director, after Mel Jones’ decision to exit.Smith has previously held roles at the Australian Cricketers’ Association and was influential in the parental leave policy being introduced in 2019.Former Cricket Victoria chair David Maddocks was also voted in as a replacement for the outgoing Michelle Tredenick.Meanwhile CA remain undecided whether to lift a ban on playing Afghanistan in bilateral matches before a three-match ODI series early next year.Australia refused to host the country while under Taliban rule last summer, but have agreed to face off against them in the men’s T20 World Cup on November 4 as it is an ICC event.

Smith, Starc, Henry and Boult have gained at the end of the Australia vs New Zealand ODI series

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-20222:05

Arthur: Hasaranga is reliable, incredible and loves playing on the big stage

Wanindu Hasaranga, Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the big movers in the latest ICC T20I rankings for men, following strong performances at the recent Asia Cup in the UAE.

Full rankings tables

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• Click here for the full player rankings

On the bowlers’ table, Hasaranga has moved up three places to sixth after finishing as the second-highest wicket-taker, behind Bhuvneshwar, in Sri Lanka’s sixth Asia Cup triumph. Hasaranga, who was named Player of the Tournament, picked up nine wickets at an economy rate of 7.39.He also made important contributions with the bat, including a 21-ball 36 in the final, which helped Sri Lanka get to a strong total, which they defended successfully. That helped him move up seven spots to No. 4 on the allrounders’ chart – Shakib Al Hasan is at the top there.Kohli, meanwhile, has risen 14 places to slot in at No. 15 on the batters’ table. His rise came on the back of a good Asia Cup, where he scored 276 runs in five innings – at an average of 92.00 and strike rate of 147.59.Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a good time of it at the Asia cup•Associated Press

He also scored his first T20I century during the tournament, an unbeaten 122 against Afghanistan, which brought an end to a century drought across formats that had run for 1020 days. Kohli’s tally of runs was only behind Mohammad Rizwan’s 281, and Rizwan held on to the top spot on the batters’ table. Babar Azam, who had a forgettable Asia Cup with the bat, lost his No. 2 spot to Aiden Markram.Bhuvneshwar, the highest wicket-taker at the Asia Cup with 11 strikes, also made notable progress, moving into the top ten among bowlers, jumping from 11th to seventh.In ODIs, Steven Smith, after his starring role in Australia’s 3-0 sweep of New Zealand at home, jumped 13 places to move to tenth among batters. Mitchell Starc, after picking up six wickets in three games, broke into the top ten among bowlers, moving up three places to ninth.Matt Henry also jumped one position to take the eighth spot after picking up five wickets in two games, while Trent Boult continued to lead the list after finishing the series as the top wicket-taker, with ten strikes.

The New Zealand batsman appeared to publicly question the legality of the Pakistan offspinner’s action during the first ODI in Abu Dhabi

Danyal Rasool07-Nov-2018Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain, has lashed out at Ross Taylor after the New Zealand batsman appeared to publicly question the legality of Mohammad Hafeez’s bowling action during the first ODI in Abu Dhabi.Taylor made the gesture at the end of Hafeez’s first over, when he seemed to look directly at the umpires – or his partner Tom Latham – and mimicked delivering the ball with a bent arm. Whether or not it was an attempt to call attention to Hafeez’s action, it enraged Sarfraz, who had a lengthy chat with the umpires, and had to be calmed down.
That wasn’t the end of the episode as Sarfraz persisted with Hafeez, and kept exchanging comments with Taylor, looking none too happy with the New Zealand batsman. The umpires Shozab Raza and Joel Wilson eventually got involved and had a chat with Taylor.Later, Sarfraz called Taylor’s gesture “disgraceful”.”I will say that Taylor’s action was not correct,” Sarfraz said in his post-match press conference. “It’s not his job to give (the) action which was shown on TV. It was disgraceful, for me.”His job is to do batting and if he concentrates on that, it’s better. I complained to umpires that his action did not come under sportsmanship.”Ross is a professional cricketer and he should not have done that. He did it two or three times – it’s (the) umpires’ job. Hafeez’s action has no problem and (Taylor) was trying to create an issue without a reason.”As well as how it impacts how the officials view Hafeez’s action, Taylor could face the possibility of sanctions himself. They may not relate to dissent but it could come under on-field behavior. Pakistan are understood to have spoken to the match referee Javagal Srinath about it as well.A similar incident had occurred in 2009 when Saeed Ajmal was called for a suspect action and he felt it had been the result of an opposition batsman – in that case, Australia’s Shane Watson – who had directed the umpire’s attention to the way he bowled his doosra.That this one involves Hafeez makes it particularly uncomfortable for Pakistan. The ICC has ruled his action illegal no fewer than four times in his career; three of them in the last four years.Hafeez was first reported almost 14 years ago during an ODI tri-series in Australia in 2005. Regulations concerning illegal actions were different back then and he soon returned. In 2014, his action was reported during the Champions League T20, and then again following a Test match against New Zealand later that year. He was suspended from bowling after results indicated the flex of his elbow was more than the allowed 15 degrees.Hafeez finally got to bowl again in April 2015, but a month later, he was back under the umpires’ scanner. Since that constituted a second report in the space of two years – with the first one resulting in a suspension – the ICC put his offspin on ice for 12 months.Hafeez returned to bowling after his ban, clearing a test of his action in 2016, but the issue cropped up again leading to his latest suspension in October 2017. He eventually received a clean chit from the ICC in April 2018 and now, after a late call-up to Pakistan’s squad for their ongoing home season, he has bowled 19 overs in one Test and six T20Is against Australia and New Zealand, without drawing any attention to his remodelled action before this.November 8, GMT 0400 The article was updated to include Sarfraz’s post-match quotes