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Rangana Herath, the most-successful left-arm bowler in Test history, will retire after the first Test in Galle, having told the selectors that he is reluctant to play through an entire three-Test series.Galle is a sentimental venue for Herath – not only did he make his Test debut there in 1999, he also needs only one more wicket to join Muttiah Muralitharan in having taken 100 wickets at the ground. It was at this venue that Herath also reignited his career at the age of 31, taking five wickets in a Test against Pakistan in 2009, after having been suddenly called up to the Test side while he was playing league cricket in England.Herath, 40, has not played a complete three-Test series since January 2017, having since left two India series early due to injury, before playing no more than one of the three Tests in West Indies in June this year. Herath has had to manage knee injuries for several years now; the strain of carrying Sri Lanka’s spin attack since the retirement of Muralitharan is understood to have caught up to him.His retirement will leave a substantial hole in the Sri Lanka side, with offspinner Dilruwan Perera likeliest to replace him as leader of the spin attack, for the remainder of the England series at least. Sri Lanka also have three other spinners in the squad: all-sorts offspinner Akila Dananjaya, left-arm wristspinner Lakshan Sandakan, and left-arm orthodox bowler Malinda Pushpakumara. Of the remaining spinners only Dilruwan has played more than 10 Tests, however.A beloved figure across the island, Herath’s retirement will also bring to an end one of the most remarkable careers in modern cricket. Not only is he the 10th most successful Test bowler in history with 430 wickets, all but 36 of those dismissals came after he had turned 31, with Herath having struggled to maintain a place in the Test side in the first decade of his career. No bowler has also taken as many as his 230 wickets after turning 35. If he takes five wickets in his final Test, he could move up to seventh on the all-time list, passing Richard Hadlee (431 wickets), Stuart Broad (433) and Kapil Dev (434).Herath is also the last active Test cricketer to have made his debut in the 1990s.The Galle Test begins on November 6.

Taijul Islam about to send one down•AFP

Day three brings another pitch invasion

The BCB has asked law enforcement officers to be “more alert” after a second person invaded the pitch on day three of the Sylhet Test. On the first day, a 13-year-old boy had run onto the field from the eastern galleries.
“We are looking to beef up the security,” the BCB’s chief security officer Hossain Imam told reporters. “There are 20 security personnel from the BCB, who are in charge of overall supervision.
“The security in the galleries and whether someone is breaching it and running into the ground, it is the responsibility of the law enforcement agencies. I think they have to be more alert during their duty.”
After the second pitch invasion, some of the policemen posted around the boundary boards stood facing the stands rather than the field of play.

Having been set 321 to win, Bangladesh were unscathed in the last 10.1 overs of the third day against Zimbabwe in Sylhet. Liton Das and Imrul Kayes took out 26 from that target before bad light caused play to be called off 35 minutes before the scheduled end at 5:00 pm local time.Imrul and Liton were largely safe at the crease, with only the odd play and miss. They remained unbeaten on 12 and 14 respectively. The offspinner Sikandar Raza produced a close call when he struck Liton’s front pad in what turned out to be the last ball of the day. But a review showed it would have spun too much to miss the right-hander’s leg-stump.Bangladesh were brought back into the game by their spinners, chiefly, Taijul Islam, who took 5 for 62, to finish 11 for 170 in the match, his first 10-for. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 181 in the second innings with Mehidy Hasan and Nazmul Islam also providing support with three and two wickets each.Taijul first removed Brendon Taylor, whose four boundaries added energy to Zimbabwe’s innings in the morning, after Mehidy broke Brian Chari’s off stump in the first session.In the second session, Mehidy trapped Hamilton Masakadza lbw trying a reverse sweep, and soon afterwards, Taijul got three wickets in the space of 11 balls. Sean Williams, Peter Moor and Sikandar Raza fell in quick succession, after which Wellington Masakadza and Regis Chakabva stretched out their seventh-wicket stand by 19.1 overs.Masakadza fell in the first over after tea before Nazmul Islam got the wickets of Chakabva and Brandon Mavuta in the same over. Taijul rounded off the Zimbabwe innings with his fifth, taking the wicket of Tendai Chatara.

Warwickshire wicketkeeper Michael Burgess has made a sudden retirement from professional cricket.Burgess had been at Warwickshire since 2019 having initially joined from Sussex on a two-year deal. With his current contract due to run until the end of the 2025 season, the 30-year-old has decided to step away from the game altogether and will pursue other career options in London.Having come through the age-group set-up at Surrey, Burgess took up a three-year Sports and Excercise Science degree at Loughborough, making his first-class debut for the UCCE side in a pre-season fixture against Sussex in April 2014. A year later, he joined Leicestershire and struck an impressive 98 on first-class debut during a tour match against Sri Lanka in 2016 before being released at the end of that season.After considering other options at the time, including a city job in London and at Royal Hospital School in Ipswich, he was able to secure a trial at Sussex which soon evolved into a permanent deal. Two years later, having found his first-team opportunities limited, he swapped Hove for Edgbaston as one of Paul Farbrace’s first signings as Warwickshire’s director of sport.Burgess went on to score exactly 3,000 runs in 65 first-class matches for Warwickshire, including a career-high 178 against Surrey at the start of the 2022 County Championship. In 2021, he helped the club secure the double of a County Championship title and the Bob Willis Trophy. Last summer, he struck 745 runs at 43.82, scoring his sixth and seventh red-ball hundreds.Speaking on his retirement, Burgess said: “It’s been a very difficult decision. I know it will come as a surprise to many people around the club. But I’ve decided the time is right to step away from the game and pursue other opportunities.”I’d like to thank all the members, fans and the wider club for their support over the last six years. Warwickshire is a brilliantly supported club and the members make it a great place to play cricket.”Winning the Championship in 2021 will always be an incredibly special part of my career and something I’ll forever be proud of. It’s been great sharing a dressing room with this group of players, who I know will bring lots of future success to the club.”In a statement released by Warwickshire on Wednesday, performance director Gavin Larsen said: “On one hand it’s extremely disappointing to lose a player of Michael’s experience, but also we recognise all player’s careers come to close at some point and Michael has decided now is the time for ‘life after cricket’.”What I loved about Michael was his combativeness and toughness with the bat when presented with challenging situations. I’ve lost count of the number of times he has rescued a Championship innings, batting superbly with the tail.”He’s a gifted wicketkeeper who always showed the ability to deliver classy performance behind the stumps. There’s no doubt we’ll miss his all-round skills. He’s made the call right at the start of the new season, as the players return to training, so it gives us time to consider options.”We wish Michael all the very the best, and like we say to all our departing players ‘Once a Bear Always a Bear’. Michael will be welcomed back at Edgbaston at any time, and we wish him all the very best for his new career start in London.”The onus is now on Warwickshire to reinforce their squad, with Burgess’ retirement another loss ahead of the 2025 season following the departures of Will Rhodes and Chris Benjamin, to Durham and Kent respectively. Fast bowler Liam Norwell, who was forced to retire through injury this week, was released in August. Their only incoming so far has been seamer Ethan Bamber from Middlesex.

Defending champions Adelaide Strikers have signed India opener Smriti Mandhana for the upcoming WBBL.Mandhana is the club’s pre-draft signing and she will be playing for her fourth WBBL team after previous stints with Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes and Sydney Thunder. During her season for Thunder in 2021 she hit 114 not out off 64 balls against Melbourne Renegades which is the joint second-highest individual score in the tournament’s history.Related

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Earlier this year, Mandhana captained Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the WPL title with the side coached by Luke Williams who holds the same role with Strikers.”I always look forward to playing in Australia, and I’m excited about the opportunity to contribute to a team with a history of success like the Strikers,” Mandhana said. “I’m thrilled to continue working with Luke. Our previous experiences together have been so rewarding, and I’m looking forward to building on that.”Strikers have been keen to bring Mandhana to the club for a number of seasons but last year she opted out of the nominating for the draft to manage her workload. She is expected to miss the first couple of matches due to an ODI series against New Zealand straight after the T20 World Cup but will then be available throughout, including finals if Strikers qualify in their bid for a hat-trick of titles.”Smriti is an exceptional talent, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the Strikers,” Williams said. “Her technical skill, experience and strategic insights are a tremendous asset for us. I know firsthand the dedication and energy she brings to the team and on the field. Her expertise and leadership will be invaluable as we drive for success in the upcoming season.”Strikers could further strengthen their top order at the draft on September 1 as they have retention rights for South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt. However, if Mandhana is allocated as their first-round platinum player they would not be able to use their retention in the same round.Strikers have also made a pick trade with Renegades ahead of the draft, handing picks 19 and 30 to Renegades while getting 22 and 27 in return. Strikers have pick 6 in the first round and 14 in the second.

WBBL pre-draft signings

Adelaide Strikers: Smriti Mandhana
Brisbane Heat: Nadine de Klerk
Hobart Hurricanes: Lizelle Lee
Melbourne Renegades: Hayley Matthews
Melbourne Stars: Marizanne Kapp
Perth Scorchers: Sophie Devine
Sydney Sixers: Amelia Kerr
Sydney Thunder: Chamari Athapaththu

Glamorgan 247 for 9 (Douthwaite 55, Ingram 47, Root 46, Barnard 4-34) beat Warwickshire 208 (Burgess 85, McIlroy 3-42) by 39 runsDan Douthwaite turned into a matchwinner with both bat and ball as he guided Glamorgan into the Metro Bank One-Day Cup final at Trent Bridge next month with a 39-run victory over Warwickshire at Sophia Gardens.It was his lusty batting that first caught the eye as he hauled the home side through to a 50-over total of 247 for 9 after they had earlier been floundering at 44 for 4 in the 15th over. He hit four sixes – one out of the ground and into the River Taff – in his sparkling 55, hitting 16 off the final over from Oliver Hannon-Dalby.Prior to that Colin Ingram (47) and Billy Root (46) had steadied the innings. Then Douthwaite got into his bowling rhythm and removed Chris Benjamin and Kai Smith to catches at the wicket by Will Samile as he reduced the visitors to 62 for 6 in reply in the 21st over. They were eventually all out for 208.Timm van der Gugten, who had earlier scored 26 with the bat, picked up the wickets of Rob Yates (4) and Will Rhodes (4), while fellow paceman Jamie McIlroy got rid of the dangerous Ed Barnard (14) and Hamza Shaikh (8).Tight bowling and energetic fielding by the home side turned the screw on Warwickshire as the run-rate climbed to more than seven per over in the 26th over. The 100 came up in the 32nd over as the rate rose to more than eight per over.Michael Burgess was the only batter to provide some solid resistance in the middle order and he reached his half-century with a six off the spin of Ingram. He obviously enjoyed the experience as he hit the next two over the boundary for maximums.His seventh wicket stand with Jake Lintott reaped 87 runs and his 85 contained four sixes and six fours. His departure, caught at mid off by Douthwaite off the bowling of the returning McIlroy, left Warwickshire at 149 for 7 – still 99 short of their target with 11 overs to go.When Lintott was caught off a reverse sweep of the bowling of Ben Kellaway for 26 the game was up. There were a few big hits in defiance at the death – Michael Booth hit three sixes – but Warwickshire ended 40 runs short of the victory target.Warwickshire captain Barnard had no hesitation in asking Glamorgan to bat when he won the toss. Playing on the same Sophia Gardens wicket as used for the home side’s win last week over Yorkshire that earned them a straight semi-final tie, Barnard had obviously taken note of the help the pitch had given the seam bowlers in that match.It proved to be a good choice for the seam attack that he led. Opening the bowling and running straight through his allotted 10 overs, the visiting skipper ripped through Glamorgan’s top order and ended with 4 for 34 in his top-class spell.Three of his victims were caught in the slips by Rob Yates – Asa Tribe (13), Kiran Carlson (2) and Will Smale (13) – and he trapped Sam Northeast (8) lbw. That reduced the home side to 4 for 44 in the 15th over and he could have had a fifth wicket had Yates not put down an easy chance Colin Ingram in the 17th over.At that stage the Ingram had only scored 18 and he went on to notch 47 before he was fifth out, trapped lbw by Michael Rae. Ingram steadied what looked like being a sinking ship in tandem with Billy Root as they put on 46 for the fifth wicket.Building on his midweek half-century in the win over Yorkshire Vikings, Root five fours in his 46, sharing in invaluable stands of 55 with Ben Kellaway and then 22 with Douthwaite before his departure in the 40th over made it 167 for 7.At that stage Warwickshire must have been hoping to mop up the tail quite quickly, but Douthwaite, van der Gugten and Andy Gorvin had other ideas. Between them they conjured up 92 runs as they plundered 79 off the last 10 overs to set the visitors a target of 248.Douthwaite ended on 55 and thumped four enormous sixes and four fours as he took 15 and then 17 off the final two overs. That meant the Welsh side at least had some sort of total to defend – which they managed to do with a few overs to spare.

Rehan Ahmed’s tour of India has been cut short, with the England legspinner returning home for an urgent family matter. In a statement, the ECB also said Rehan will not be returning for the rest of the series, and neither will England seek a squad replacement.Rehan, the 19-year-old, featured in England’s first three Tests against India. He picked up 11 wickets at an average of 44, including a match-haul of 6 for 153 in Visakhapatnam. He was, however, left out of the England XI for the fourth Test beginning in Ranchi. It is understood Ben Stokes’ decision to omit Rehan was not related to him having to return home, which only emerged after the team had been announced at 1pm on Thursday. Rehan was present at England’s final training session that afternoon, helping out with various drills. He flies home on Friday, day one of the fourth Test.Earlier this month, England had to wait on Rehan’s availability for the third Test after learning of “paperwork discrepancies” with him on arrival from the UAE before the third Test. However, it was resolved, and Rehan picked up three wickets in England’s 434-run defeat in Rajkot.For the fourth Test, England are lining up with offspinner Shoaib Bashir replacing Rehan. The other spinner in the England XI is left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, their highest wicket-taker on the tour with 16.

Sydney Sixers secured a home BBL final after seamer Ben Dwarshuis tore into Brisbane Heat on a two-paced Gold Coast surface. Earlier, captain Moises Henriques and Daniel Hughes combined for a valuable partnership to take Sixers to 152 for 8.In the Qualifier between this season’s top two teams, Sixers were set up by a 94-run third-wicket partnership from Henriques and Hughes. The pair had inspired their team’s remarkable three-wicket victory over Perth Scorchers in the previous match that propelled Sixers into second spot.Sixers’ disciplined quicks were excellent in helpful bowling conditions with Dwarshuis claiming 5 for 21 while allrounder Jack Edwards took a stunning one-handed return catch to finish with two wickets. Sixers will host the final at the SCG on January 24 as they seek a fourth BBL title.Heat’s hopes to end an 11-year title drought goes on the line in the Challenger on Monday against the winner of Saturday’s knockout final between Scorchers and in-form Adelaide Strikers.Top-ranked Heat had lost just one regular season match but failed to ease concerns over their batting order which has been gutted after a number of withdrawals.There had been an unknown over the surface in the first match played on the Gold Coast this season after Heat shifted grounds due to the Gabba’s unavailability ahead of the second Test between Australia and West Indies.Heat elected to bowl in humid conditions and spearhead Michael Neser immediately produced menacing movement. Edwards, who made a golden duck against Scorchers, was moved up the order after the departure of opener James Vince to the UAE’s ILT20.Moises Henriques picked up speed after a slow start•Getty Images

He countered swing by effectively taking the aerial route to force Heat captain Nathan McSweeney to remove the lone slip. But Edwards holed out to Neser in the third over after Paul Walter took a fine catch running back.Heat were on top when left-arm quick Spencer Johnson nicked off Josh Philippe in a decision overturned on review to cap a wicket maiden in his first over. Reaching speeds of 147 kph, Johnson was unplayable early as Hughes and Henriques were forced to rebuild.In contrast to his late heroics against Scorchers, Henriques played sedately and scored just nine runs off his first 20 deliveries. But in trademark fashion, he remained calm and made his move just before drinks with a six down the ground off legspinner Mitchell Swepson and went on to add a boundary moments later.Heat were left to rue dropping Henriques twice after the resumption and he made them pay by dominating the power surge across overs 13 and 14. Seamer Xavier Bartlett has enjoyed a breakout BBL season by bowling an accurate hard length, but an adventurous Henriques rattled him by shuffling across his stumps to thump him over the legside. Bartlett leaked 25 runs as Sixers smashed a season-high 38 runs in the power surge. But Hughes was outfoxed by a slower short delivery from Walter in the 15th over to trigger a collapse.Sixers lost 5 for 23 with Henriques struggling to regain his earlier momentum and he fell in the 18th over to a relieved Bartlett, who again showed his death bowling specialty.In reply, Heat were tied up early with big-hitting opener Josh Brown struggling to handle the two-paced pitch. He scored just two off his first 13 balls before skipping down the wicket and smashing seamer Sean Abbott for six over mid-off. But Brown and Jimmy Peirson succumbed to accurate Sixers bowling as the run rate required soared to above 10 an over by the midpoint.The pressure fell on Matt Renshaw, who just two days earlier was released from Australia’s first Test squad to play in this match. Heat sought the power surge in the 12th over and Renshaw tried to turn the game by blasting two sixes.But he fell in the 13th over to Dwarshuis, who with his next delivery removed Walter and it was just a matter of time before Sixers reached their seventh BBL final.

Big picture: Expect swing in Thiruvananthapuram

What did the ODI World Cup not give you? Enough last-ball thrillers? Runs from Suryakumar Yadav and Josh Inglis? Wristspinners being carted around? Well, that’s why we have bilaterals…A mere four days after Australia’s World Cup triumph, a bunch of their players stayed back – and others joined them – for a five-match T20I series, which started with a nail-biting game that ended with a last-ball six that didn’t even find a place in the scoreboard. Line-ups and fortunes changed so much that Steven Smith opened the batting, Ishan Kishan walked in at No. 3, and Inglis hammered Australia’s joint-fastest men’s T20I century. But some other things remained the same. Suryakumar’s domination was back as the format changed, India still had just seven batters, runs continued to flow on an Indian ground, and even though Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins flew home, Australia’s bowlers found a way to bounce back and nearly win after India needed just 14 from 12 and seven from the last over.Related

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The action now moves further south to Thiruvananthapuram, where the last T20I, in September 2022, saw South Africa collapse to 9 for 5 in overcast conditions. It could be overcast again, given it rained on Saturday, and could force the teams to change their plans.If the ball does swing, Smith’s technical expertise will be handy for Australia before the more hard-hitting batters take over. They would, however, want some more runs beyond Smith and Inglis. The pair accounted for over 80% of the runs that were scored by Australia in the series opener, though they faced 91 balls between them. Marcus Stoinis faced just six balls and he will be itching to smash the ball after managing just 87 runs in five World Cup innings. Australia will also rue not scoring more than 208 on a batting track after being 179 for 2 with three overs to go. That had to do with India’s quicks, especially Mukesh Kumar, who sent down a mixed bag of slower ones, bouncers, yorkers and hard lengths to stem the flow of runs, capped by a stunning five-run last over.India were in some trouble at both ends of their chase, especially where they nearly fluffed their lines by slipping from 194 for 4 to 208 for 8 before Rinku Singh’s last-ball six gave the packed house a smile to go back with, even though Sean Abbott’s no-ball robbed Rinku off that six. It is this brittleness in the lower-middle order that India will again be wary of, especially given their batting ends at No. 7, unless they change their combination. Will they bring in an allrounder like Washington Sundar or Shivam Dube (in swinging conditions) for legspinner Ravi Bishnoi, who leaked 54 in four overs, after just one game?Australia have World Cup winners Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa – as well as Travis Head – to pick from•ICC/Getty Images

Form guide

India WWWWW
Australia LWWWW

In the spotlight – Ravi Bishnoi and Marcus Stoinis

Ravi Bishnoi took 13 wickets in eight games and gave away just 6.09 runs an over for Gujarat in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy while the World Cup was on. Among his highlights this year was the four wickets in Ireland in two games. He got just one T20I in the Caribbean, in which he went wicketless. He could, however, draw confidence from the 16 wickets he got in the IPL that played a crucial role in Lucknow Super Giants’ third-place finish. But there, too, he leaked 7.74 runs an over, and how he responds in the second T20I, keeping in mind the race for spots for the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, will be worth watching.A batting average of 21.75 and a bowling average of 35.75 in six World Cup games must have made Marcus Stoinis desperate to show his A game in this series. He struck an unbeaten 37 off 21 to lead Australia’s chase of 191 to whitewash South Africa before the World Cup, but the main tournament saw him getting out in the back end of the innings when the team expected more runs from him than he scored, with a highest of 35 from five innings. The shorter format could free him up, like it did for Suryakumar, and helping the team level the series could give him the lift he needs.

Team news

India may not make many changes since it’s a five-match series. What was a surprise, though, in the first game was slotting Kishan in at No. 3 when it was assumed he would be in a race for the opening slot with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The possibility of swing could make India change their combination, and bringing in Dube for a spinner could be an option, but leaving out Axar Patel would be unfair and replacing Bishnoi with Dube would seriously undermine India’s bowling options. India’s other options outside the XI of the first T20I are Jitesh Sharma, Washington and Avesh Khan.India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Mukesh KumarThere was rain on Saturday, and there is rain forecast for match day too•AFP/Getty Images

Australia don’t have a big reason to tinker with their XI but their World Cup winners Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head and Adam Zampa have stayed back and will be slotted back at some point. Whether Head slots it for Smith or Matthew Short will be the question – whenever it comes up – and Tanveer Sangha’s expensive spell – 47 runs in four overs – wasn’t great for him or the team. The other players in their squad are Aaron Hardie and Kane Richardson.Australia (probable): 1 Steven Smith, 2 Matthew Short, 3 Josh Inglis, 4 Marcus Stoinis, 5 Tim David, 6 Aaron Hardie, 7 Matthew Wade (capt, wk), 8 Sean Abbott, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Jason Behrendorff, 11 Tanveer Sangha

Pitch and conditions

Thiruvananthapuram has hosted just three T20I, and it hasn’t been easy for teams batting first, as the scores reflect: 67 for 5 (eight-over game), 170 for 7 on a slow pitch, and 106 for 8. Barring the rain-truncated first game, teams chasing have won and that might be the better option on Sunday too, with rain around. It will be humid and temperatures will be in the late 20s and early 30s.

Stats and trivia

• The last time Australia beat India in a T20I was in September 2022, just before the T20 World Cup
• Suryakumar and Maxwell are one century away from joining Rohit Sharma at the top for most centuries in T20Is (four)
• Inglis’ 110 was the second time an Australia batter’s T20I century ended on the losing side. Shane Watson’s unbeaten 124 off 71 in Sydney in early 2016 was the first such instance – India were the opponents then too.
• Inglis has smashed three T20 centuries in his career, and all of them have come outside Australia. The other two were for Leicestershire in the Vitality Blast in 2021. All his other five hundreds – four in first-class cricket and one in one-dayers – were scored in Australia

Quotes

“I have played under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy in the IPL, when he captained Mumbai Indians for one match. He is very calm and clear in his thoughts. He is a very good captain. In the last match also he played really well in a tough situation and he managed [the players] well.”
“They are all pretty good players and may be try to keep them guessing, just to stay one step ahead which is hard to do at times. Maybe do what we can in terms of change in pace, line and length.”

Usman Khawaja says he has learned plenty from his two underwhelming tours of England as he prepares for what he calls the toughest test for a top-order batter.The 36-year-old opener will be integral to Australia’s chances of retaining the Ashes when the first of five Tests begin in Birmingham on June 16, following the World Test Championship [WTC] final against India at The Oval.Khawaja toured England in 2013 and 2019 for a meagre return of 236 runs in six Tests at an average of 19.66. He was dropped midway through the 2019 Ashes and spent almost three years on the outer before a triumphant return to the Test side that has reaped 1608 runs in 16 Tests at an average of 69.91, including six centuries.Related

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“England is, in my opinion, the toughest place in the world to bat for top-three batsmen,” Khawaja said. “In 2013, I was quite young and it was a pretty s*** tour, if I am being honest. It was tough work. I learned a lot from that tour.””My last series there [in 2019] it was a tough series for batsmen. The whole tour will show you that, other than Steven Smith who was on another planet.”Khawaja said it was a “learning experience” with a couple of key takeaways.”If I’ve learned anything, it is work hard, train hard and [when] going to England, go with low expectations,” he grinned. “You are going to fail as a batsman, but when you do score you try to cash in as much as you can.”It is the challenge against the England pace duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad that has Khawaja enthused.”Anderson and Broad…they are unbelievable bowlers and tough work at the start,” he said. “That’s what makes it so awesome when you do score runs and you contribute to a winning team, which hopefully I’ll do and others will do over there.”When you do it against guys like Broad and Anderson in England, it’s just that much more satisfying.”Khawaja believed that Australia had been too “reactive” in dropping players in the past, including himself, after the odd failure.”I’ve always been big on just picking your best players and sticking with them because they’ll score you the most runs consistently, and I think over the years in selection for Australian cricket, we have chased our tail a little bit trying to pick players in form,” he said.”Form is temporary. Class is not. I think the new selectors, with [coach] Andrew McDonald up the top, understand that part of the game and hence there has been a lot more stability in selecting and picking players and sticking with them.””I’ve been dropped seven times in Test cricket and I’ve come back, and there’s a reason for that…because I’ve always scored runs consistently in first-class cricket and fought my way back.”

An Afghanistan women’s cricket team, consisting of refugees who now live in Australia, will play a game in Melbourne in January, the first time they have been able to come together as a group since leaving their country following the Taliban takeover.The T20 match between an Afghanistan Women’s XI and a Cricket Without Borders XI will take place on January 30 at Junction Oval ahead of the opening day of the floodlit Women’s Ashes Test at the MCG.The players involved fled Afghanistan in 2021 when the Taliban came into power and now live in Canberra and Melbourne. Many play for local cricket clubs but have not been able to form themselves into a representative team.The Australian government has been involved in helping set up the match.”Many people across cricket and the community have come together to provide support for members of the Afghanistan women’s team since their relocation to Australia and this match will be a celebration of that work,” Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley said.”I’m delighted that their ambition to play together will be achieved in this exhibition match which will be a wonderful addition to the many events around the Day/Night Women’s Ashes Test.”Earlier this year, 17 of the players who were contracted to the Afghanistan Cricket Board in 2020 prior to the Taliban takeover wrote to the ICC asking for assistance in setting up a refugee team in Australia.”Our goals in having a refugee team are to develop and showcase our talent, give hope to the women remaining in Afghanistan, and to draw attention to the challenges women of Afghanistan face,” the letter said. “Like the Afghanistan men’s team, we aim to compete at the highest levels. We want to recruit and train girls and women who love cricket to show the world the talent of Afghan women, and to demonstrate the great victories they can achieve if given a chance through the leadership and financial support of the ICC.”On Tuesday, CA announced a partnership with UNICEF Australia as part of the foundation’s “Until Every Girl Can Play” campaign aimed at gender equality.