England to host Pakistan in 2018 Test series

LONDON: England will host Pakistan in a two-match Test series in 2018, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Tuesday.

England´s summer will begin in May with two Tests against Pakistan at Lord´s and Headingley.

They have a one-off one-day game against Scotland in Edinburgh on June 10, followed by five one-day internationals and a T20 match against Australia later that month.

The schedule for the year also includes meeting with India.

COPY CODE SNIPPET England and India will play three Twenty20 matches in July, followed by three one-day internationals and then Tests at Edgbaston, Lord´s, Trent Bridge, the Rose Bowl and The Oval.

"A five-Test series against India is at the heart of next summer´s international programme," said ECB chief executive officer Tom Harrison in a press release.

"This is always a much-anticipated contest which attracts a huge following across the globe for the five-day game.

"Test match cricket has a strong, consistent and passionate following across England and Wales and the seven summer Tests, starting with the Pakistan matches, are sure to attract good crowds.

"Alongside these, England´s white-ball contests against India, Australia and Scotland will give a fascinating guide to form ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup, to be staged here in 2019."

It will be only the second time India, the world´s number one Test side, play a five-Test series in England since 1959.

England schedule 2018

Pakistan

May 24-28: 1st Test, Lord´s

June 1-5: 2nd Test, Headingley

Scotland

June 10: ODI, Edinburgh

Australia

June 13: 1st ODI, The Oval

June 16: 2nd ODI, Sophia Gardens

June 19: 3rd ODI, Trent Bridge

June 21: 4th ODI, Chester-le-Street

June 24: 5th ODI, Old Trafford

June 27: T20, Edgbaston

India

July 3: 1st T20, Old Trafford

July 6: 2nd T20, Sophia Gardens

July 8: 3rd T20, County Ground

July 12: 1st ODI, Trent Bridge

July 14: 2nd ODI, Lord´s

July 17: 3rd ODI, Headingley

August 1-5: 1st Test, Edgbaston

August 9-13: 2nd Test, Lord´s

August 18-22: 3rd Test, Trent Bridge

August 30-September 3: 4th Test, Rose Bowl

September 7-11: 5th Test, The Oval

War-divided Syrians unite over football spot in Asian play-offs

DAMASCUS: Syrian government backers and rebel supporters alike roared with joy on Tuesday when Omar Al Soma scored a 93rd-minute goal, giving their national team a 2-2 draw with Iran.

The goal secured a spot for Syria in the Asian play-offs towards a possible qualification for the World Cup 2018 and sparked rare celebrations at home, where a brutal six-year war has killed hundreds of thousands.

Syria has never yet qualified for the World Cup.

An upbeat mood spread from regime-held Damascus to the nearby rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta and as far as the northwestern town of Binnish in Idlib province, now largely controlled by jihadists.

"I cannot describe my happiness... I hope that peace will prevail across Syria," said Lara Hanna, 35, who watched the game in a Damascus coffee shop with her husband and their daughter.

In Eastern Ghouta, a group of football fans gathered in a farm to watch the game while others followed from home.

"Of course we wanted the national team to win," even if Syria is divided into "the opposition and the regime", said 30-year-old Abu Badr.

"The team represents all of Syria and we hope they will win in the play-offs and go on to qualify for the World Cup," he said.

Both regime backers and their foes said Monday´s equaliser, which placed Syria in third place in Group A, tasted like a victory.

Syrian soldier Saeed Ereiji, 34, who wore the national team´s shirt over his military trousers, could hardly contain his joy.

´Tastes of victory´

COPY CODE SNIPPET "We are so happy with the team´s performance" at the away game in Iran, he said.

"Although we are allies in politics with Iran, this is football and they (Syria) gave the best they had," he added.

In the town of Binnish, Omar Hajj Hamdan, 21, watched the game with his friends in an ice cream shop.

"We are very happy today. The draw tastes of victory," he said.

"There is no link between politics and sports. It´s wrong to say that we should not back the national team because it represents the regime," he said.

"The national team plays for Syria, not for Bashar," he added, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Many had complained online that the team represented the Assad regime, which brutally repressed peaceful anti-government protests at the start of the conflict in March 2011.

Six years on, the conflict has spiralled into a complex civil war that has killed more than 330,000 people and forced millions from their homes.

Hours before the game began, the streets in Damascus went silent, with no cars or passersby in sight.

Most stores were shuttered as football fans flooded to coffee shops and restaurants to watch the game, which state television broadcast live.

At Al-Jalaa stadium in western Damascus, more than 3,000 people gathered to celebrate, many wearing the team´s red and white colours, shouting "Syria... Syria".

Hundreds more fans watched the game on a big screen in the capital´s Ommayad Square, among them university student Amjad al-Hariri.

"The most beautiful thing is to see Syria united and doing well," he said.

Afridi finally decides to attend farewell ceremony

LAHORE: Pakistan's former T20 skipper and star all-rounder Shahid Afridi has finally agreed to attend the farewell ceremony planned by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to honour three former captains of the Pakistan team in September.

As per details, PCB Chairman Najam Sethi  on Tuesday announced that board has planned to host a special award ceremony to honour  former captains Misbah ul Haq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi, to acknowledge their services to exalt Pakistan’s name in the world of cricket . "They served Pakistan for a long period and deserve appreciation," said Sethi.

Earlier, Shahid Khan Afridi had refused to attend the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) event scheduled on September 14 during the tour of World XI to acknowledge the contribution three former skippers of Pakistan in Lahore.

PCB has also planned to honor national top cricketers and umpires in the same award ceremony to encourage them.

India 600 all out in Galle test against Sri Lanka

GALLE, Sri Lanka: India made 600 all out in their first innings on day two of the first test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International stadium on Thursday.

Shikhar Dhawan top scored for the tourists with a career-best 190, while Cheteshwar Pujara made 153. Ajinkya Rahane (57) and debutant Hardik Pandya (50) scored half-centuries.

Nuwan Pradeep was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, claiming a career-high 6-132, while Lahiru Kumara returned 3-131.

Sri Lanka will play with 10 batsmen after Asela Gunaratne fractured his thumb while fielding on Wednesday, an injury that ruled him out of the three-match series.

Kohli puts India on target for crushing win

GALLE, Sri Lanka: Virat Kohli and Abhinav Mukund fired quick runs off dispirited Sri Lankan bowlers on Friday to power India to a hefty second-innings lead of nearly 500 in the first Test.

Skipper Kohli hit an unbeaten 76 and Mukund was out for 81 on what turned out to be the final ball of the third day´s play in Galle.

It was a crushing day for the home side. After smashing 600 in the first innings and then bowling out Sri Lanka for 291 earlier in the day, India reached 189-3 and a lead of 498.

Kohli will head out again on Saturday looking to make a century before trying to finish the job inside four days.

Even an 84-minute rain break could not dampen India´s determination and Sri Lanka´s stand-in captain Rangana Herath went off for the final hour after hurting a finger trying to stop a Kohli drive.

Kohli and Mukund made 133 for the third wicket. No Sri Lankan bowler made much of an impact until Danushka Gunathilaka claimed Mukund lbw.

Mukund at first stood his ground, but the TV umpire gave part-time spinner Gunathilaka the wicket.

India lost their first-innings batting heroes Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara cheaply.

Kohli and Mukund then hit out, scoring at virtually 4.5 runs an over, with 13 boundaries between them.

Sri Lanka came back from an overnight score of 154-5. Former skipper Angelo Mathews went from 54 to 83 before flashing at a Ravindra Jadeja ball and sending it straight to Kohli at short cover.

Veteran Dilruwan Perera hit a top score of 92 -- with 10 fours and four sixes -- but ran out of partners before he could get a deserved century.

Sri Lanka had only 10 batsmen because Asela Gunaratne broke his thumb on Thursday.

Jadeja picked up three wickets. Kohli decided against enforcing the follow-on but is still on course to make Sri Lanka suffer.

Pakistan in a do-or-die situation against South Africa

BIRMINGHAM: Mickey Arthur has no doubt Pakistan will be "up for the fight" when they face his native South Africa in the Champions Trophy after a humiliating defeat by arch-rivals India.

Pakistan´s crushing 124-run loss to title-holders India in their tournament opener at Edgbaston on Sunday was labelled the "Mother of all mismatches" by the Indian Express newspaper.

Yet, worryingly for Pakistan coach Arthur, there is the potential for an even more lopsided match when they return to Edgbaston on Wednesday -- and that´s not simply because South Africa are top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) one-day international rankings while Pakistan are eighth.

Pakistan were outplayed in every department by an India side who were nowhere near their best.

Having conceded 319 for three as India´s top order ran riot, Pakistan were dismissed for just 164, having never once threatened a rain-adjusted target of 289 in 41 overs.

It led former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, to slam the current team´s "clueless" batting and "abysmal fielding".

Now, in the space of just a few days, Pakistan must somehow raise their game to beat a South Africa side who defeated Sri Lanka by 96 runs at the Oval on Saturday in their opening Group B fixture if they are to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.
- ´Issue is fear´ -

Arthur suggested too many Pakistan players had suffered ´stage fright´ against India in front of a capacity crowd of more than 24,000.

"My issue is fear," he said. "My issue is getting out there and really looking to take the game on.

"The worrying thing for me...is we just do the basics wrong.

"We drop simple catches. We don´t run well enough between wickets. We don´t understand when to bowl our variations."

But Arthur, a former coach of both South Africa and Australia, was adamant all was far from lost.

"We´ll be thinking firmly of coming back and beating South Africa," he said. "Because that´s what I think our players can do.

"So, we´re going to be up for the fight."

Pakistan will be without Wahab Riaz after he was ruled out of the rest of the tournament on Monday with an ankle injury sustained when falling in his delivery stride against India.

But given by that stage the left-arm paceman had conceded a whopping 87 runs in 8.4 wicketless overs, his absence may not be that big a blow.

Pakistan have applied to the ICC for an injury replacement, but they appear to have a stand-in already with them in Junaid Khan, who took four for 73 in a warm-up match against Bangladesh.

Mohammad Amir provided rare moments of respite amid the India run-spree with a return of none for 32 in 8.1 overs.

Yet, concerningly, the left-arm fast bowler was unable to complete his full allocation of overs because of cramp, despite being repeatedly on and off the field on what was a cool day.

If Arthur has some ´inside knowledge´ on South Africa, the Proteas´ have a ´spy´ of their own in Pakistan-born Imran Tahir.

The leg-spinner, who changed allegiance after falling in love with his South African wife, played a key role in Saturday´s match.

Despite a fine hundred by South Africa´s Hashim Amla, Sri Lanka were well-placed to chase down a target of 300 at 116 for two.

But man-of-the-match Tahir´s return of four for 27 turned the tide.

"It was close to ten out of ten," said South Africa captain AB de Villiers of Tahir´s performance, which also included a run-out.

"He takes wickets and he is also economical most of the time," added the skipper, who was equally delighted by Amla´s "amazing innings".

The cliche of Pakistani ´unpredictability´ may be wearing thin, at least in ODI cricket.

South Africa, however, have a nasty habit of not playing to their potential in ICC tournaments and de Villiers promised they were not about to "get ahead of ourselves".

New Zealand bowl against England in Champions Trophy

CARDIFF, United Kingdom: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to field against England in the Champions Trophy match at Cardiff on Tuesday.

England made one change from the side that beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in their Group A opener at the Oval last week, with leg-spinner Adil Rashid replacing Chris Woakes after the paceman suffered a tournament-ending side strain.

New Zealand were unchanged from the side that played in a frustrating no result washout against Australia in their first group match.

Victory for England on Tuesday would see them into the semi-finals of a 50-over tournament featuring the world´s top eight one-day international teams.

Teams

England: Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wkt), Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, Jake Ball

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Luke Ronchi (wkt), Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Neil Broom, Jimmy Neesham, Corey Anderson, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Trent Boult

Video: nargis fakhri too falls for peshawar zalmi

Sharjah: simply hours before the 0.33 play off between peshawar zalmi and karachi kings, bollywood famous person nargirfakhri has sent her fine needs to javed afridi-owned peshawar zalmi.

Zalmi has been the maximum loved crew of the pakistan superb league (psl) mainly due to shahid afridi and their fits have witnessed huge crowds inside the stadium.

And now it turned out that fakhri too is a zalmi buddy. In a fb submit shared by means of javed afridi, nargis said zalmi is her favorite team and send good needs for their success.

Peshawar zalmi, karachi kings head to head on friday

Islamabad, mar 2 (app): peshawar zalmi and karachi kings will be schooling on the icc academy, dubai sports activities metropolis these days ahead of the hbl pakistan terrific league (psl) 2017 ‘semi-final’ in dubai on friday (march three).

Zalmi regroup after an agonizing one-run loss towards quetta gladiators who secured a direct berth within the final of the 2017 psl edition set to be played in pakistan, stated a press release issued right here.

Chasing a target of 201, peshawar produced a huge batting overall performance earlier than imploding within the final over in which they wanted seven runs for a historic win inside the first play-off on tuesday.

But, they stay to fight every other day towards kings who sent protecting champions islamabad united packing from the event with a forty four-run win as they defended what looked like a under par 126 run first innings rating in the 2nd play-off on wednesday.

Kings will now take on zalmi within the 1/3 and final play-off on friday as the motion returns to the dubai international stadium with the winner dealing with quetta gladiators in the grand final of the hbl psl set to be played on the gaddafi stadium in lahore on sunday.

Umar akmal struck in any other controversy over fancy range plate

Lahore: pakistan’s middle-order batsman and take a look at cricketer umar akmal has struck in but another controversy after he scuffled with officers of excise, taxation and narcotics manipulate over fancy range plate.

Sources said umar akmal changed into heading to the countrywide cricket academy when he turned into stopped by officials near kulary floor as a part of their drive to weed out unlawful wide variety plates.

Geo news quoted akmal as pronouncing that officers misbehaved with him despite recognizing him as countrywide player.

But, the issue changed into resolved after someday.

Past controversies

This is not the primary time umar akmal has caught within the controversy.

In 2014, the take a look at cricketer umar akmal changed into charged for allegedly assaulting a site visitors warden following a heated argument.

He become jailed for a day after combating a site visitors warden who stopped him for breaking a traffic signal.

The incident came about when umar akmal violated a traffic sign and then no longer handiest had a heated argument with the visitors warden however also threatened him.

Akmal became also accused of fighting with a gate keeper at gaddafi stadium in lahore who refused entry to his vehicle in 2014.

Umar akmal turned into also stuck in hyderabad attending a dance celebration and turned into filmed looking a drama at a theatre in faisalabad.

A few media reviews counseled that umar akmal became involved in a scuffle with the group of the drama that turned into being staged at the theatre.

Akmal become dropped from pakistan´s one-day squad after the arena cup 2015 on the recommendation of then coach waqar younis who labelled him as an undisciplined and a selfish player, though he has due to the fact made a comeback.