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Test cricket is “big-man cricket” and West Indies cannot use their youth and inexperience as a crutch to deflect against poor performances, according to Marlon Samuels

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Kingston29-Jul-2016Test cricket is “big-man cricket” and West Indies cannot use their youth and inexperience as a crutch to deflect against poor performances, according to Marlon Samuels. Two days before the second Test against India at Sabina Park, Samuels said the young players will have to keep earning their places with their performances.”Well, first and foremost, I’m not going to be here to tell you that it’s a young team,” Samuels said. “For me to say that is like finding excuses for the team. It’s a Test team, and Test cricket is big-man cricket, and the players should know that by now.”They are here, playing Test cricket. So we all have to step up to the plate, and put up a very good challenge against the Indians. The Indians are a very good team, a very good unit, so what we want to try and build right now is a team spirit, and build a stronger unit in order [to move forward]. Yes, we have new players coming in, but they still have to deliver. At the end of the day, you have to do that to keep your job here.”A string of impressive limited-overs performances won Samuels West Indies’ Cricketer of the Year award, but his Test form has been poor in recent months. Before scoring a half-century in the second innings of the first Test in Antigua, he had failed to pass 20 in his 10 Test innings.”You make a half-century, it’s a milestone,” he said. “You have to cherish it, but at the end of the day I always want more. I haven’t been getting the runs that I’m looking for in the Test arena, but I’ve been making up in the shorter versions, so it augurs well that I’m doing well for the team as well. It’s just, I need to start focusing more and putting in some big performances, so the team can benefit from my performances.”Samuels looked forward to another Test in front of his home crowd at Sabina Park, and said he wanted to show them “what they have been seeing over the years – me coming out here, playing shots and just enjoying myself in the middle”. But his main aim, he said, was to help West Indies bounce back from their innings defeat in Antigua.”It’s a great opportunity for me,” he said. “Not too many sportsmen get to play in front of their home crowd. I’ve got the opportunity more than one time, so I cherish it, playing in front of a Jamaican crowd. As I said, it’s a great opportunity, not only for me, but for the team to make a turnaround and come here and play some positive cricket and put up, not just a challenge, but a fight.”According to some media reports, Samuels has been considering Test-match retirement, and Jeffrey Dujon, the former West Indies wicketkeeper who is part of the TV commentary team for this series, had suggested on air that this might be his last Test series. Samuels did not reveal his plans, and said his only focus, for now, was to do well in this series.”Jeffrey Dujon can say anything,” Samuels said. “But what I say is, I’m here to focus on the Test series and put my best foot forward, and make a significant contribution, so that whatever I do, the team can benefit from it. So that’s my ultimate goal and that’s my focus at the moment.”

Former allrounder last played an international match in 2012, shortly before turning 28

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jun-2020Irfan Pathan burst onto the international scene as a teenager full of promise, swing and runs, but played his last international match just before turning 28, in October 2012. Pathan, who retired from the game only in January this year, finished with 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is. He often had to battle injuries and long spells out of the game, but Pathan held that if he been backed more in the second half of his career, he could have become “the best all-rounder India ever produced” in ODIs.”In terms of achievement, there could have been a lot more. I really believe that in one-day internationals, I could have been the best all-rounder that India ever produced, I could have been,” Pathan said in an interview with . “That didn’t happen because I didn’t play as much cricket as I could have because my last game for India was at the age of 27.”I see people playing till the age of 35 or 37 like England fast bowler [James] Anderson. Obviously the conditions in England are different. I think if you play till 35, things would have been better, but that’s gone, it’s done and dusted.”Whatever matches I played, I played as a match-winner, I played as a guy who made the difference to the team. Even if I took one wicket — the first wicket for the match — that made a big impact on the team. Whatever innings I played with the bat, I played to make a difference. That’s what will stay with me throughout my whole life.”In ODIs, Pathan held that his numbers were used against him even when his role in the team changed from being a strike bowler to being the all-rounder who came on first change.”The one thing I always get disappointed is that a lot of people only see the numbers and numbers don’t always give you the right picture. If you see the first 59 ODI matches that I played, I got to bowl with the new ball,” he said. “And when you are the new ball bowler, you got the opportunity to bowl with the new ball as well as the old ball. Your aim, your mindset, your body language and your responsibility is to take wickets.”When you are bowling first change, when you are a defensive bowler according to your captain and coach, you have to play the role of containing the runs. You have to make sure that you don’t give away too many runs. So if your role becomes different, then your numbers also become different as well.”Pathan largely took the new ball for India in ODIs till the end of the Champions Trophy 2006. In that time, he played 69 ODIs, and didn’t open the bowling on only two occasions. In that period, he took 113 wickets at an average of 24.78 and an economy rate of 4.96.Having played 69 ODIs in under three years, mostly under Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid’s captaincy, he went on to play only 51 more in his next six years, a period that coincided with MS Dhoni taking over the reins. He took the new ball only 19 times in that second half.”I actually feel that people from the team should have spoken about it,” Pathan said. “They should have said that, ‘Yes Irfan used to take wickets, but now we have given him a different role. We have given him the role of first change bowler and someone who can bat at No. 7 or No. 8, which is very much required in one-day cricket right now.’ Now, if an allrounder goes for around six runs per over and takes one wicket per match, you are happy with that, but you were not happy with Irfan Pathan who did the same thing. Why is that?”While Pathan agreed that a player needed to be flexible, he held that a change in role needed to be acknowledged, and supported, by the team management too.”I am not saying that I could only bowl with the new ball. No, I was ready to bowl with the old ball, I was ready to bowl with the new ball as well. But in a team game, when you have a different role, your numbers reflect differently. When Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the captain, he used to be very flexible in his batting order, so his numbers used to be different. Now when he is not flexible, obviously his numbers are getting affected. That is why either his average or strike rate will also get affected. It’s a team game. It’s not only about individuals.”The player has to be flexible, but if his role has been given differently, then it is the team’s responsibility to talk about it, but no one talks about it.”

Bangladesh batsman Soumya Sarkar has been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe with a strain on his left side

Mohammad Isam05-Nov-2015Bangladesh batsman Soumya Sarkar has been ruled out of the three ODIs and two T20s against Zimbabwe with a strain on his left side. He has been replaced by Imrul Kayes for the first two ODIs after Sarkar’s MRI report on Thursday confirmed that he would be out for around two weeks.During Tuesday’s training session at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Sarkar overstretched his left side during a bowling stint in the nets. He immediately withdrew from training and also didn’t bat on Wednesday despite planning to do so.”Such injuries take around 2 to 3 weeks to heal and therefore he will miss the matches against Zimbabwe,” BCB’s senior physician Dr Debashis Chowdhury said. “He will begin his rehab under the BCB’s medical team as soon as the pain subsides.”Since making his ODI debut in December last year, Soumya has been a regular in the Bangladesh side throughout 2015, during which he became the team’s highest scorer in ODIs with 672 runs.His replacement Kayes last played an ODI during this year’s World Cup but he has been consistent in Tests, becoming the highest scorer in the format for Bangladesh this year with 384 runs at an average of 54.85.”It is a huge opportunity for me,” Imrul said. “I haven’t played ODIs since the World Cup. I have been in decent touch since the NCL started in September. I have worked on a few things and I have made some tactical changes to my batting.”I hope to do something good from this chance. I think my Test form will help me in ODIs. Scoring runs in international cricket, regardless of the format, gives a player confidence.”Imrul and Anamul Haque were the leading candidates to replace Sarkar and their 105-run opening stand against the Zimbabweans in the practice match in Fatullah was a duel. Imrul came out on top because, according to the chief selector, of his fluency this season.”I didn’t take this innings as a path into the ODI team. I just tried to bat better in a one-day setting. I worked in the gaps in my game. I am batting well, and if I can continue in this vein, I can bat better,” Imrul said.

Formal announcements to be made once tour dates are confirmed by the boards

Mohammad Isam10-Feb-2021Following news that Australia will tour Bangladesh ahead of this year’s T20 World Cup, BCB’s chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury has said that they will also host England and New Zealand. He, however, said that formal announcements will only be made once the tour dates are confirmed by the boards.Chowdhury had said that Australia would play three T20Is as well as a two-match Test series in Bangladesh. But since CA and BCB couldn’t quite fit in the Tests, they have found time for an extra T20I match.”Both boards (CA and BCB) have agreed in principle for Australia’s tour of Bangladesh before the World Cup T20, which is going to be held in October,” Chowdhury said. “It has been scheduled as such. Ahead of the World Cup T20, England, Australia and New Zealand will tour Bangladesh, but a tri-series hasn’t yet been decided.”I think we had a commitment with Australia that they would play two Tests and two T20Is. Since we could fit the T20s we will increase it to three. It is not that it is replacing anything. We would have fit in a Test match if there was enough space. It will be a good preparation for us ahead of the World T20. We have an opportunity to play some high-profile teams.”According to the ICC’s published FTP, England are scheduled to tour Bangladesh in October to play three ODIs (as part of the ICC’s ODI Super League) and three T20Is.Meanwhile, Chowdhury added that all teams can fit in their World Test Championship matches until April after the timeline was extended from March. As such, the BCB is working on a tour of Sri Lanka to play the three-match Test series that was postponed twice last year.”It should be clarified that most of the FTP commitments currently are for the World Test Championships and the ODI competition (ODI Super League). There’s a guideline to complete the WTC matches before the final in June. The guideline to arrange those matches has been extended to April, from March.”To fit in these postponed series, both teams have to be available. At the moment only Sri Lanka is available till April. It is not possible to fit in the rest of the (postponed) matches. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are free in April so we are trying to schedule the two or three Tests of the WTC during that time.”

Potential culprit contacted fast bowler on Instagram followring incident at Bay Oval

George Dobell25-Nov-2019Authorities in New Zealand believe they may have identified the individual who is thought to have shouted racial abuse at Jofra Archer.Archer, the England fast bowler, heard the abuse after he was dismissed in England’s second innings at the Bay Oval. He reported the comments to stewards and team security at the time.While authorities continue to scan CCTV footage and have appealed for other spectators to come forward with more information, it is understood by ESPN that someone believed to be the culprit later contacted Archer by direct message on Instagram. As a result, authorities are confident of being able to identify him.Meanwhile, Ashley Giles, England’s director of cricket, said that the team would rally round after after what he described as a “serious incident” that had left their New Zealand hosts very concerned about spectator behaviour.”It’s really unfortunate,” said Giles. “It’s a shame that sort of thing is still in our society. There was something said from the crowd, from the scoreboard area, which was offensive. Jofra reported this to the steward immediately as he came off. He also reported it to our security as he got back into the changing-rooms. The sense was that it was a racist abuse.”We’re working closely with New Zealand Cricket. They are incredibly concerned that this has happened on their patch. We believe it’s an isolated incident but we’ll know more once the investigation is finished.”The tweet that went out [from Archer] was obviously emotional. It hurts. We fully support Jof – there is no place for racism in the game and Jof is part of our team. Whatever the abuse, we’re right behind him.”Our team will rally round him but it’s a serious incident. He’s a young man making his way in the game and we don’t need this sort of thing. I’m hopeful they [NZC] will find out who did it. They’re working very hard to find the culprit.”It’s a problem in sport still, clearly, and it’s terrible that in this day and age this sort of thing is still happening and when it does happen that person isn’t identified much quicker by the people around him.”It’s a good series and played in the right fashion and one person should not ruin that but it’s a shame that sort of thing is still in society.”

The England coach said Mark Stoneman looked “a tough type of player” and Dawid Malan was more settled in the Headingley Test

Alan Gardner30-Aug-20171:55

‘Hope result doesn’t change way Root thinks’ – Bayliss

Despite England’s humbling defeat to West Indies at Headingley, head coach Trevor Bayliss has suggested they may be closer to settling a couple more names for this winter’s Ashes party. Half-centuries from Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan were ultimately in a losing cause but the grit shown by both during England’s second innings earned praise from Bayliss ahead of a final audition in the third Investec Test at Lord’s.England have deployed a revolving cast of characters worthy of a soap opera – old favourites, new faces – in their top order over recent years, although selection for the Test side is a much more sober business than during the 1980s and ’90, as demonstrated by Tom Westley retaining his place in the squad for Lord’s.Since the end of the previous Ashes, 18 different batsmen – excluding the bottom six in this list – have been tried in the top seven, with only Alastair Cook, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow secure in their positions (and Moeen Ali currently fulfilling his auxiliary role at No. 8). Of the others, only Keaton Jennings has managed a century and just two – Haseed Hameed and Ian Bell – averaged more than 30.Stoneman replaced Jennings at the start of the series against West Indies, becoming Cook’s 12th opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012, and made 52 in his third innings – a composed knock in which he batted on after suffering a dislocated finger, leading Bayliss to describe him as a “tough type of player”. Malan, meanwhile, scored his second half-century in consecutive Tests, having grafted against type for 186 deliveries.Bayliss’ admission that he has “fingers crossed for them” is reflective of a patchy track record in Tests since joining the selection panel after his appointment in 2015 and there are still several rounds of the Championship remaining in which players – such as Lancashire’s Liam Livingstone, who scored a career-best double-hundred on Tuesday – could come to the fore. While Westley’s position at No. 3 remains less certain, Bayliss was optimistic Stoneman and Malan would present strong cases to be in Australia.”We hope so. This last Test match will be another opportunity for them to really nail it down,” Bayliss said. “They have started to look comfortable and they can both play off the back foot so the signs are looking good. But, as you know, we’ve said that before and we’ve had a change after a few more matches. I still have fingers crossed for them.Mark Stoneman was struck a painful blow on the finger on 35•Getty Images

“I suppose more than anything, they started to look comfortable at the crease, if that’s possible in a Test match. Certainly, Mark looks like a tough type of player to me. He looks like he’s ready for a scrap the whole time but, when the bad ball comes along, he is able to put it away. That was the impression throughout our second innings, we were very watchful and wanted to bat for a long time but our mind was on the job because, when we got a bad ball, we were able to put it away. Dawid has a couple of 60s now, looked a bit nervous in that first one but, as I said, he was starting to look more comfortable in this Test match.”Like Root, Bayliss pointed to a flaky performance batting first – similar to that which cost them at The Oval against Pakistan last year – as the primary reason for England’s failure to put away a side ranked No. 8 in the world, who had been dismantled by an innings only a few days before. He was more positive about their ability to fight back into the contest, giving them an unexpected (and ultimately unfulfilled) shot at victory after declaring on the fourth evening.”I suppose the same mistakes are being made but they are being made by different players,” he said. “The one thing I was very happy about was the second innings. To a certain degree, they learned their lesson from the first innings. They spoke about maybe not going for the big drives, playing a check-drive.”The wicket on the first day, the thing that surprised us was how slow it was. And I think we found that, with the boys getting their hands out in front and the ball being able to take the inside edge a number of times. But they did speak about that and tried to learn from that. In the second innings, it was about doing the hard yards, making good decisions and batting for a long time. And that’s exactly what they did. I thought they showed a lot of character.”Of the drops in the field that underscored a desultory final day – two at slip by Cook and one in the deep by Ben Stokes with the game almost over – Bayliss was less concerned. “They haven’t dropped too many since I’ve been here. So it was a bit of a one-off. A bit of a sign of our overall thought process in this match. We seemed to be fairly frustrated throughout that first bowling innings [when West Indies scored 427] and I think that held over into the second innings. It looked like we were under a bit of pressure and got frustrated when it wasn’t quite happening for us.”England’s first September Lord’s Test will now take on greater significance as a series decider and could still see changes made to the side. Bayliss said there would be “a temptation, definitely” to include Mason Crane, the Hampshire legspinner, for a Test debut, which would put pressure on Westley’s place if there were to be a reshuffle of the batting order. Toby Roland-Jones’ chances of a recall may also be strong on his home ground.The reaction to Root’s most difficult Test in two long months as captain will be all important – and England could do worse than look to the example of their conquerors as they attempt to assuage the pain of defeat. “They were hurting and to me that’s a good thing,” Bayliss said. “If the team is hurting after a loss, it means something to them. I’m sure they will be fully focused and ready to put things right in the next Test.”

A round-up of the second day’s play of the third-round matches of the Ranji Trophy Plate League 2009-10

Cricinfo staff18-Nov-2009

Group B

Scorecard
The contest between Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala in Jammu has proved a closely-fought one. A four-wicket burst from Abid Nabi helped the hosts bowl out Kerala for 133, and gain a lead of 31. Raiphi Gomez (39) and Sachin Baby (32) provided some resistance but Kerala couldn’t capitalise after having bowled out the opposition for 164 on the first day. Though they fought back well in J&K’s second innings, the hosts still held the edge at stumps. An unbeaten 57 from Hiken Shah steered J&K to 157 for 6 at stumps – Sony Cheruvathur took three wickets an increased his match tally to nine – and took the lead to 188.
Scorecard
There was no play possible as rain played spoilsport on the second day of the game between Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha in Vijaywada.

Group A

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Assam reached a position of advantage against Jharkhand in Guwahati. First, their bowlers, led by Sairaj Bahutule’s 5 for 53, bowled out Jharkhand for 261; then their batsmen responded by notching up 149 at stumps with the loss of just one wicket. Jharkhand will rue the fact that their middle-order batsmen failed to consolidate on starts. Five reached double-figures, while three – Saurabh Tiwary, Rajeev Gupta and Shahbaz Nadeem – reached 30-plus scores but didn’t press on. Assam, in response, were boosted by opener Parvez Aziz’s 85 and an opening stand of 128. Dheeraj Jadhav is still there, unbeaten on 49, and will look to take his team to a substantial lead tomorrow.
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Goa, buoyed by Swapnil Asnodkar’s century, reached a dominant position against Rajasthan in Margao. They began the day on even terms, on 149 for 4, but a 128-run stand between the two overnight batsmen, Asnodkar and Rahul Keni, tilted the balance in Goa’s favour. Fast bowler Pankaj Singh bagged 4 for 92, but Goa had posted a competitive 338. In reply, two quick wickets from Saurabh Bandekar dented Rajasthan in their innings and left the visitors in a precarious situation at stumps.
Scorecard
The first day of the game in Nagpur was washed out, but the hosts were pegged back on the second as Tripura limited them to 217 for 9. The Vidarbha score could have been much worse had it not been for a 59-run sixth-wicket stand between Ravi Jangid (45) and Himanshu Joshi (38). The lower order stepped up with some important contributions but Wilkin Mota, who grabbed 3 for 39, ensured Tripura stayed ahead of the eight-ball. Tripura used nine bowlers in the innings, and Mota was supported well by the rest in keeping the opposition in check.

Falling short of usual standards a “positive sign we can get better” argues Lyon

Daniel Brettig at Lord's15-Aug-2019If there was any doubt as to the high standards Australia’s cricketers were holding themselves to on this Ashes tour, a blunt reminder came in the form of Nathan Lyon’s critique of day one of play at Lord’s following a washout on the Wednesday.While Lyon was glowing in his praise of Josh Hazlewood’s return to the team, and also Pat Cummins’ aggressive use of the bouncer in the afternoon, he indicated that the overall performance was short of expectations despite bowling England out for 258 and peeling 30 of those runs off for the loss of David Warner by the close.Lyon, who in claiming three wickets of his own drew level with Dennis Lillee on 355 Test wickets for Australia, reckoned that the dropping of three catches ad also allowing England to form a pair of pesky stands between Joe Denly and Rory Burns then Chris Woakes and Johnny Bairstow undid much of Hazlewood’s precision work with the Dukes ball.”If you look at today I don’t think we’ve had the best day if I’m being brutally honest,” Lyon said. “I think Josh Hazlewood was absolutely exceptional and the spell from Pat Cummins after tea really set the tone for us. For our standards I don’t think we were good enough for long periods of time.ALSO READ: ‘Cherry ripe’ Josh Hazlewood brings peak precision“But in saying that it’s still a good day for Australia, we’ve won the toss, we’ve created more than 10 chances, we haven’t played catch today. We can get better, and that’s exciting but we still were able to bowl England out for 258 on a day one wicket. There’s still a lot of work to do, we’re happy with the day but we know there’s a lot of improvement to be done.”Asked to explain where he thought he day went wrong, Lyon felt that the period in between Hazlewood’s early work and Cummins’ short pitched assault was a little too generous to the hosts. “I think we can always keep learning about the game, but the Dukes balls tend to go a little bit soft and the wicket’s quite slow as well, which makes … I think the quicks nicked about six and they bounced a good metre in front of our slips,” he said. “That’s generally a sign of the pace in the wicket and how soft the ball is if the nicks aren’t carrying.Tim Paine chats to Peter Siddle as Australia search for another breakthrough•Getty Images

“It’s one of those ones where the short bowling is used as a tactic, and we saw it in the [2013-14] Ashes when Michael Clarke was captain. They’re totally different wickets but I thought the way Tim and Pat and others came to a plan and I think the way Josh stuck to his nagging length was exceptional.”We’re playing Test cricket, playing against the best players in the world, there’s going to be partnerships here and there, that’s where it comes back to us bowlers hanging int here and doing the basics for long periods of time. I don’t think we did that well enough for Australian standards, our standards we have in our bowling cartel, and in that change room. It’s a positive sign we can get better.”As for Hazlewood, Lyon indicated that his fellow New South Welshman had plenty more days like this one, where he nipped out England’s first three wickets and troubled everyone, lay ahead. “I think Josh has been a world-class bowler for a long period of time and I don’t think he’s got the rewards that he’s deserved as yet,” Lyon said. “I think they’re to come. In my eyes Josh is up in the top three best bowlers in test cricket in my personal eyes. I think his control of hitting that nagging length but having the skill to go both ways in and out.”Then he’s got a pretty strong bouncer as well and it’s always usually on the money. I think Josh has been outstanding, I know he was disappointed to be left out of the first Test but to come back and bowl the way he did today, hats off to Josh, I thought he was the pick of our bowlers.”

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

One of the first things Tim Paine did after finding himself cleaning up the mess post-Newlands was to make it a point for his team to shake hands with the opposition

Osman Samiuddin in Dubai06-Oct-2018To shake hands or not to shake hands is perhaps not the most important conversation Sarfraz Ahmed will have this week. But to Tim Paine and this new Australia, as they move on from that era to this, what Paine called, “bit of a new one”, it is slightly more important.The two teams will shake hands before the Test begins, it was decided in a conversation between the two captains in between their press conferences that lasted about as long as a good, sturdy handshake.Sarfraz was slightly bemused by the request, asking only when and how it would happen (after the team photographs, before play, in case you were anxious to know).”Yes definitely, why not?” Sarfraz said later when asked whether he would take up Paine’s offer. “We have no issues. We actually talked about it just before the press conference. So we have no issues with shaking hands. It’s a very good sign. No issues.”One of the first things Paine did after finding himself cleaning up the mess post-Newlands was to make it a point for his teams to shake hands with the opposition, a practice generally restricted to football.”There’s no doubt this Test series is about winning,” he said. “We’re playing international sport so its the highest level and I think players will be judged on how many games we’ve won,” Paine said. “That’s certainly really important, but on the flip side of that, the image of Australian cricket is also really important to me and Justin and the rest of our team, so we’re going to be going about things in a really professional, really respectful manner and we’ll continue to do that for the foreseeable future.”That practice continued during their ODI series with England, the handshake becoming the clearest sign that this Australia would be better behaved on the field and more respectful towards their opponents than previous sides.But the pre-game handshake was absent from the last time Pakistan met Australia, in a T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe over the summer, where Aaron Finch was leading Australia.In fact, after the final of that series TV cameras clearly captured Glenn Maxwell not shaking Sarfraz’s hand as the Pakistan captain offered it after his side’s win. Maxwell later clarified it had been an oversight and “not the way I play the game”. Sarfraz and Maxwell had been at each other verbally during the game when Sarfraz was batting, and also right after the winning runs had been scored when Sarfraz ran on to celebrate.