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Tazmin Brits’ blistering 66-ball hundred headlined South East Stars’ 19-run win over Sunrisers at Beckenham.The South Africa international hit 10 fours and five sixes on her way to an unbeaten 112 off 72 deliveries as the Stars put up 290 for 9.Sunrisers looked well-positioned to chase down the target after an opening stand worth 143 between Cordelia Griffith and Grace Scrivens was followed by some fine hitting from captain Dane van Niekerk. With 10 overs left, 80 runs were required for victory with nine wickets still in tow.But leg-spinner Danielle Gregory, not introduced into the attack until the 37th over, took four wickets in the space of three overs to turn the tide and end the Stars’ three-match losing streak in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.Brits’ blast came after the Stars’ openers had established a fine base, with Alexa Stonehouse and Kira Chathli putting on 111 together.The 19-year-old Stonehouse had some fortune, surviving two dropped chances, but she was the first to fifty, which came off 65 deliveries.A fifty for Chathli arrived in the 23rd over, but Stonehouse departed for 51 from the very next delivery, smacking spinner Jodie Grewcock straight into the safe hands of van Niekerk at mid-off.Chathli impressed with her ball-striking down the ground to spin but saw Bryony Smith dismissed for 2 from the other end; attempting to clip Grewcock through the leg-side, the right-hander lobbed a simple catch to van Niekerk at mid-off.The Grewcock and van Niekerk combination struck again in the 29th over when Chathli also couldn’t beat mid-off, her knock ended on 71.Brits had already entered the fray by this stage and enjoyed some fortune, dropped on 1 by Florence Miller in the deep. She found her flow, though, a pair of boundaries in a Grewcock over followed by a six over long-on off Amu Surenkumar.She was given another reprieve on 44 off the final ball of the 35th over and went on to reach her half-century off 41 balls.The 32-year-old then went on to thump her compatriot van Niekerk for two sixes off consecutive legitimate deliveries, and her century arrived in the 48th over.Wickets tumbled from the other end as the innings came to a close, but Brits reverse-swept the final ball for four to finish with a flourish.Griffith and Scrivens then set about eclipsing the opening partnership that Stonehouse and Chathli had put together. The pair brought up 50 in the 13th over of the innings before two brief interruptions of rain followed, the second one taking two overs off the innings and revising the target to 282.Griffith was the more aggressive of the pair, her half-century taking 64 balls while Scrivens took 87 deliveries to get to her fifty. The latter seemed ready to up her rate, hitting Smith down the ground for four off the first ball of the 32nd over. But an attempted reverse-swat two balls later saw her bowled for 59.Van Niekerk was in next, showing her power down the ground and through cover with four boundaries off one Ryana MacDonald-Gay over.Gregory then arrived to made a crucial breakthrough; Griffith was adjudged lbw on 92 as she missed out on a flick off the pads. The leggie struck again in her next over, with Mady Villiers’ attempted cover drive resulting in a thick edge that lobbed up to Kalea Moore at third man. Grewcock was Gregory’s third, but the most vital delivery was the one to remove van Niekerk, the batter sweeping hard but into the hands of short fine leg for 44.Amara Carr hit a quickfire 29 but Gregory’s intervention was a match-winning one.

Ireland batting coach confident of strong showing, even with ICC qualifiers taking precedence

Andrew Miller29-May-2023

Gary Wilson, Ireland’s batting coach, is hopeful that his team’s heightened focus on technique ahead of their one-off Test against England at Lord’s will also aid them in their bid to qualify for the 50-over World Cup in India this winter.The four-day Test, beginning on Thursday, will be Ireland’s first against England since a similarly one-off contest at Lord’s in 2019, in which Tim Murtagh – now retired from international cricket – bowled the hosts out for 85 on a heady opening day.And while Wilson, who also played in that match, recalled the optimism of that initial occasion, and how it had seemed to signify that Ireland “belonged” in Test-match cricket, he conceded that the circumstances are rather different four years on.Ireland have not played red-ball cricket at provincial level since the Covid outbreak in 2020, while their three Tests against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in April were their first outings since that Lord’s Test, and only their sixth in all since being granted Test status in June 2017.And, with Ireland set to fly out to Zimbabwe next month to take part in a tough qualifying tournament also featuring two former World Champion teams in West Indies and Sri Lanka, he echoed the opinion voiced by Richard Holdsworth, Ireland’s high performance director, by saying that “white-ball cricket probably does take precedence”.”We obviously haven’t played any domestic red-ball cricket for a few years now,” Wilson said. “But we identified back in January that we needed to do some red-ball practice, maybe once a week, and really commit to looking to improve our technique as well, because, with white-ball cricket, you play on generally quite flat pitches.”Technique isn’t as important in white-ball cricket as it is in red-ball cricket. But at the end of the day, it’s still a ball, whether it’s white or red. So we started to throw some balls with the Dukes and the Kookaburra balls back in January, and talk about the different scenarios you might face in Test-match cricket – you know, quick bowlers coming round the wicket with the leg side field, aggressive bowling.”Even though white-ball cricket probably does take precedence, just by the nature of the fact that we’ve got two qualifying tournaments and hopefully a World Cup [coming up], red-ball cricket is a really good platform to hone your skills. And those skills are transferable into [ODI] cricket. There’s still room for having a real good solid technique.”Wilson cited the form and fortunes of their young star, Harry Tector, who rose to No.7 in the ICC’s ODI rankings – the highest rating yet for an Ireland player – on the back of a superb run of form across formats, which culminated in a career-best 140 against Bangladesh in Chelmsford earlier this month.Related

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“Harry Tector’s had a phenomenal 18 months, he’s really able to take that confidence into Test cricket as well. The way Harry’s played has been testament to that [focus on technique]. Quite often when he faces 20 balls, he might only be on 10 in a one-day international. So I think the experiences our guys have had in their white-ball international cricket [will help them in the Test].”Aside from their winter Test experience, Ireland’s batters recently took part in a red-ball camp in Spain, and will arrive at Lord’s off the back of a ten-wicket win in their three-day warm-up in Chelmsford, where PJ Moor and James McCollum scored a century apiece in a 232-run fourth-innings run-chase.”That was a really pleasing day,” Wilson said. “I think the whole three days was very pleasing to be honest, we got a lot out of it. Our bowlers got overs under their belts, and the majority of our batters got a hit, bar a couple. So yeah, it was really pleasing for PJ and James. I’m sure they would have put pressure on themselves to get runs and hopefully that will have given them confidence to go into the Test match this week.”As for Ireland’s hopes of causing an upset against Ben Stokes’ high-flying England team, Wilson was phlegmatic but optimistic.”As with any Ireland side that ever takes the pitch, it’s not a case of going there to simply enjoy the fact that it’s the Lord’s Test match, or that we’re playing England,” he said. “We’ll be working as hard as we possibly can to get a favourable result. And with the skill level they’ve shown, I’ve no doubt that they’ll be able to handle even the toughest of opponents, which England will obviously be.”There’s always a chance, 100%. We are going into the Test thinking nothing other than that, we want the win the Test match.”England are obviously a very good side. They’ll be a good side at Lord’s in their own conditions, but we both have bats, we both have balls, it’s a game of cricket.”There’s been a lot of chat about the way they’re playing now, and their so-called Bazball, but if we try and play our game and back our skill level, which the lads have shown, especially individually over the last 18 months, I think that we definitely have a chance to get a favourable result here.”

Rahmat Shah and Hazratullah Zazai left out, with Nijat Masood and Zahir Khan named as reserves

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Mar-2023Allrounder Mohammad Nabi was recalled to Afghanistan’s T20I squad for their upcoming three-match series against Pakistan in Sharjah, for which uncapped opening batter Sediqullah Atal was also named.In other changes from the squad that had faced UAE in three T20Is last month, Afghanistan left out Rahmat Shah and Hazratullah Zazai, while pushing Nijat Masood and Zahir Khan into the reserves.Nabi had last played for Afghanistan in the ODI series against Sri Lanka in November last year – just after he had stepped down as the T20I captain following the T20 World Cup.Related

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“Our team has been working hard in [the] training camp, and selectors have selected the best available players for the series,” Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) CEO Naseeb Khan said. “I am confident that our team will perform at their best and make our nation proud. We wish our team the best of luck for the series and hope to see them emerge victorious.”The T20I series against Pakistan was scheduled in place of the three ODIs that Afghanistan were supposed to play against Australia in the same window; Australia pulled out of that series following an announcement from the ruling Taliban that it was banning university education for girls. The decision was made after Cricket Australia consulted the Australian government.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe PCB is going ahead with the T20Is against Afghanistan, with chairman Najam Sethi saying that “cricket and politics should be kept separate”. Pakistan named their squad for this series last week, resting seniors Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Fakhar Zaman. Allrounder Shadab Khan will be leading Pakistan instead.The three matches take place on March 24, 26 and 27.Afghanistan squad for Pakistan T20Is: Rashid Khan (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Sediqullah Atal, Najibullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-HaqReserves: Nangyal Kharoti, Zahir Khan and Nijat Masood

Fulham have cemented themselves as contenders for continental qualification under Marco Silva and signings could be on their way at Craven Cottage this summer to bolster his talented squad.

Fulham take break from push for European qualification

FA Cup weekend is nearly here and Marco Silva will be feeling optimistic as his side travel to face Manchester United at Old Trafford with a place in the last eight of the competition at stake.

The long-serving boss has done a remarkable job in establishing the Cottagers as a Premier League force once again, leading the West Londoners to 13th last campaign despite losing Aleksandar Mitrovic in attack.

This campaign, Fulham have emerged as contenders to seal European qualifcation. Sitting five points outside the top four, they have won four in five domestically and wouldn’t be a side to count against in the race for European football when evaluating the form of others around them.

Fulham’s next five fixtures – all competitions

Manchester United (A)

FA Cup

Brighton & Hove Albion (A)

Premier League

Tottenham Hotspur (H)

Premier League

Arsenal (A)

Premier League

Liverpool (H)

Premier League

Conceivably, Shahid Khan would be willing to invest in the playing squad should their aspirations turn into reality between now and the end of the campaign. Recently, AC Milan’s Samuel Chukwueze has been profiled as a Fulham replacement for Adama Traore.

Following his burst of form this campaign, the Spain international has interest from several La Liga sides, which could signify the need for a successor during the off-season if he leaves once his contract expires at Craven Cottage.

Following the theme of right-sides stars, Fulham could be set for a new look on that flank following new insight from none other than David Ornstein.

David Ornstein: Fulham have Scottish Premiership star on radar

In a Q & A with subscribers from The Athletic, Ornstein stated Fulham are among Celtic defender Alistair Johnston’s admirers as the Cottagers look to firm up their defensive line this summer.

He explained via transcription from Johnston’s homeland: “I know Celtic right-back Alistair Johnston is generating attention from clubs in England, with Fulham among his admirers.

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“The Canada international recently signed a new contract at Parkhead and isn’t known to be unhappy – but there there was firm interest in January. From what I hear it’s not only Fulham but also Ipswich and others who are looking at him.

“Johnston was named in the Best FIFA Men’s XI last year, so this is probably no surprise and I’d expect more suitors to emerge from the Premier League and across Europe in the summer.”

Enjoying a wonderful campaign north of the border, Johnston has registered four goals and nine assists in 38 appearances as Celtic remain in contention for another domestic clean sweep. The former CF Montreal right-back has also created 36 chances on league duty this term, forming a handy partnership with in-form winger Nicolas Kuhn.

Labelled “fantastic” by Brendan Rodgers, the Canada international signed a new contract last November tying him to the Scottish Premiership champions until 2029. The Bhoys would be in a strong position to negotiate should Fulham follow up on their interest.

However, the lure of Premier League football is something every successful performer in Scotland will have in the back of their mind. Would the 51-cap Canada star trade in Parkhead for Craven Cottage? Only time will tell.