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The Pakistan Cricket Board has granted permission for two of its banned players, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, to play in a domestic Twenty20 league in Bangladesh

Cricinfo staff19-Mar-2010The Pakistan Cricket Board has granted permission for two of its banned players, Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan, to play in a domestic Twenty20 league in Bangladesh. This comes just two days after the PCB allowed Mohammad Yousuf to play in the country.”The penalties on these players were for international cricket for the Pakistan team, but they are eligible to play in domestic competitions, so they are cleared to play in Bangladesh,” Wasim Bari, the PCB’s chief operating officer, told .The announcements have come shortly after the PCB banned and fined seven leading players on various charges during the disastrous tour of Australia which ended in February. Pakistan lost all three Tests, five ODIs and the lone Twenty20 match on tour.Former captains Younis Khan and Yousuf were banned indefinitely while Malik, also a former skipper, and allrounder Naved received one-year bans. Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Umar Akmal were fined between Rs 2-3 million [USD24,000-35,000] and put on six-month probations.The bans, however, do not extend to domestic cricket in Pakistan and competitions abroad although the PCB confirmed no player can participate in overseas competitions without prior approval.”Besides Malik and Naved, some other players also applied for permission and we have an open mind on that,” Bari said.Several members of Pakistan’s World Twenty20 squad, including Afridi, Razzaq and Mohammad Hafeez, were scheduled to play in Bangladesh later this month but Cricinfo understands that none of the 20-member contingent (15 plus five reserves) will be allowed to travel as the board wants them to participate in the training camp prior to leaving for the Caribbean late next month.

Superchargers bowled out for 83 – the second-lowest total in the Men’s Hundred

ECB Media06-Aug-2024Birmingham Phoenix gave themselves a healthy boost in their quest for the top three with a fantastic win against Northern Superchargers in The Hundred at Edgbaston on Tuesday.Phoenix dominated with the ball, blowing the visitors away for just 83, before knocking off the fastest chase in the history of the The Hundred men’s competition thanks to Ben Duckett and Moeen Ali.Northern Superchargers won the toss and chose to bat, with much excitement at the return of England Men’s Test captain Ben Stokes.Unfortunately for Stokes, he made an inauspicious start: made to wait 20 deliveries at the non-striker’s end before being bowled first ball by one that nipped back through the gate from Tim Southee.Birmingham’s Kiwi pace attack set the tone for Phoenix’s victory. Southee took a wicket with his first ball to dismiss Matt Short, before Adam Milne got rid of the dangerous Nicholas Pooran.Captain Harry Brook attempted to rebuild from 19 for 3, with Adam Hose, but even Brook found the pitch tough going as he succumbed to Chris Wood with the score at 36 for 4 halfway through the Superchargers’ innings.Superchargers’ cause wasn’t helped by a superb run-out from Duckett to remove Hose 10 balls later. Southee completed his sublime spell with 3 for 15 and his partner Milne 3 for 20 with the visitors bowled out for a meagre 83 – the second-lowest total in the Men’s Hundred competition.Duckett continued from where he left off for Phoenix on Saturday, racing to 43 from 20 balls, alongside opening partner Moeen, who was similarly speedy for his 37 from 21.Phoenix’s 10-wicket win dents Northern Superchargers’ hopes of making The Hundred Eliminator, while Moeen’s team have put themselves in the mix for the latter stages of the tournament as they leapfrogged their opponents into third after five matches.Meerkat Match Hero Southee said: “We assessed conditions reasonably quickly and the seamers hit a good length that proved difficult to play. It was a pretty clinical performance all round.”This is a great team to be a part of and I’m enjoying my time here. That goes a long way, and it is nice to chalk up another win.”A win like that can only do wonders for the confidence going into our next games, but we know we are heading to a different ground and different opposition, so we have to start again. There are no easy teams in this tournament so we should have another good couple of matches coming up.”

They will play three one-day matches and two four-day games in June

Firdose Moonda25-Apr-2023South Africa’s Test coach Shukri Conrad and eight Test players will lead a strong South Africa A squad to Sri Lanka for three one-day matches and two four-day games in June.In the absence of any Test cricket until December, Cricket South Africa’s director of cricket Enoch Nkwe has sought to fill gaps in the calendar with as much A team cricket as possible to ready the red-ball players for the next World Test Championship cycle, while the white-ball matches will help Sri Lanka prepare for the World Cup Qualifiers. South Africa will know if they have avoided that event at the conclusion of Bangladesh’s series against Ireland next month. Should Ireland win 3-nil, South Africa may have to join Sri Lanka at the competition in Zimbabwe as Ireland and South Africa will be level on 98 points on the ODI Super League points table. If Bangladesh win at least one game, South Africa will remain out of action until September, when they host Australia for a white-ball tour.The trip to Sri Lanka to face Sri Lanka A will give game time to new Test batter Tony de Zorzi, who has been picked to captain the side, as well as several players pushing for permanent spots in the Test XI. Gerald Coetzee, who debuted against West Indies, Keegan Petersen, who has been in and out with injuries and Kyle Verreynne, who Conrad dropped as wicketkeeper are among them.It also marks a return to the set-up for Zubayr Hamza, who was banned from cricket for nine months last May for a doping violation but has since returned for Western Province. Hamza moves to the up-country to Lions next season. Other Test caps include spinning allrounder Senuran Muthusamy and bowlers Lutho Sipamla and Lizaad Williams.Related

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South Africa have also included young batters Dewald Brevis, who has only three first-class and six List A games to his name, Tristan Stubbs and Jordan Hermann, all of whom are under the ages of 22. Brevis and Stubbs are currently at the IPL but Brevis has not played a game while Stubbs has appeared once to date.”The squad reflects the next crop of players that are emerging from our pipeline. We also rewarded those who have performed for their respective domestic teams this past summer,” Nkwe said. The tour will provide the opportunity for those players, together with the younger Proteas, to put their skills to the test in highly competitive, international conditions. It will also serve to strengthen the batting depth in the red-ball department, as we build towards the Test series against India later this year.”Test batting coach Justin Sammons and bowling coach Piet Botha will also be on the trip, with matches to be played in Kandy and Dambulla from June 4.

Sultans smash second-highest total in PSL history as Quetta suffer competition’s heaviest defeat

Alan Gardner18-Feb-2022Multan Sultans scorched their way to an eighth victory from nine, racking up the second-highest total and the biggest winning margin in the history of the PSL, as Quetta Gladiators’ chances of progressing to the knockouts were reduced to a mathematical fancy in the first match of Friday’s double-header in Lahore.The reigning champions had already secured a top-two spot and a place in next week’s qualifier, and they opted to flex their muscles by batting first. A century opening stand inside the first ten overs between Shan Masood and Mohammad Rizwan set an imposing platform, allowing Sultans to plunder a further 144 through the second half of the innings. Rilee Rossouw bludgeoned a carefree 71 from just 26 balls as they narrowly failed to eclipse Islamabad United’s PSL high score of 247.Requiring a record run chase, Quetta fired briefly through Jason Roy and Umar Akmal but were unable to sustain such a punishing asking rate while keeping wickets intact. David Willey struck with his first delivery, a full inswinger that removed Will Smeed – who made 99 in his previous outing – for a duck, and then had Roy caught just beyond the cover ring for 38 from 19 as Gladiators reached 66 for 3 at the end of the powerplay.Akmal kept coming, clearing the ropes six times on the way to a 22-ball fifty, but once he holed out off Imran Tahir, the Quetta chase fell away. Willey, Asif Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani and Khushdil Shah each picked up two wickets as Gladiators were dismissed inside 16 overs, having got barely halfway to their target.David Willey struck twice in the powerplay•PSL

Sultans were in ruthless mood from the outset, Masood and Rizwan mixing judicious boundary hitting with hard running; Quetta’s depleted attack only managed 12 dot balls in the first 10 overs. The opening stand had reached 119, both openers scoring half-centuries – Rizwan’s fifth of the season taking 28 balls, Masood getting there from 33 – when Mohammad Irfan trapped the latter in front on review. But that simply provided the perfect stage for Rossouw to make his entrance.Rossouw’s second ball was dispatched over deep backward square leg for six, and he then mixed orthodox power with delicate placement on a brace of reverse-sweeps to take three fours in a row off Noor Ahmad. Another burst of boundaries off Sohail Tanvir saw Rossouw reach a half-century from 20 balls before Noor was on the receiving end again, clattered for 4-4-6 in the 18th over. Rossouw fell at the start of the next, picking out deep midwicket with a flat pull that would have otherwise gone for six.Rizwan had been happy to give up the strike, contributing just 15 to another century stand, but he passed 400 runs for the second PSL running on the way to an unbeaten 83. The only Quetta bowler to go at less than 10 runs per over was Irfan, playing his first match since being called in as a replacement for Mohammad Hasnain – and he was unable to finish his allocation after being taken off in the 16th over for delivering two high full tosses.

Allrounder Sciver was England’s leading run-scorer at the T20 World Cup earlier this year

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2020England duo Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver have joined the Melbourne Stars for the WBBLSciver previously played for the Stars in the first two seasons of the WBBL before switching to the Perth Scorchers while Brunt also has past experience with the Scorchers.Sciver has scored 952 runs at 24.41 with a strike-rate of 112.52 across 52 WBBL matches alongside claiming 36 wickets. Brunt, who didn’t play in last year’s tournament, has taken 49 wickets at 17.71 and an economy rate of just 5.15 in 44 games.At the T20 World Cup earlier this year Sciver was England’s leading run-scorer with 202 in four innings including three half-centuries.”In Nat and Katherine we’ve got two of England’s most successful cricketers who have been part of the WBBL since the tournament began,” Stars head coach Trent Woodhill said. “We’re pleased to have Nat coming back into green again after a couple of seasons in Perth and Katherine’s experience and bowling pedigree need no introduction. It really enhances what is already a good team coming together.”The England pair will be part of a Stars line-up that includes Australia captain Meg Lanning as she made the journey back from the Scorchers. There is one spot left in the 15-player squad with the Stars due to announce a final signing next week.The WBBL, which will start on October 25, will be played entirely in Sydney this season due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.Current squad Meg Lanning, Katherine Brunt, Nat Sciver, Elyse Villani, Mignon du Preez, Annabel Sutherland, Lucy Cripps, Alana King, Holly Ferling, Erin Osborne, Tess Flintoff, Georgia Gall, Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum.

Director of cricket likens Australian to Michael Hussey as he prepares to take over from Paul Collingwood at Chester-le-Street

David Hopps at Chester-le-Street01-Apr-20190:43

Cameron Bancroft as Durham captain? Marcus North explains

Durham’s new director of cricket Marcus North has expanded on his decision to award the county captaincy to Cameron Bancroft less than three months after his return from a nine-month ball-tampering ban.North, who represented Australia in 21 Tests, even judges that Bancroft will prove himself to be from the same mould as Michael Hussey, another Western Australian who briefly played for Durham in 2005, whose abiding love for the game led to him becoming one of Australian cricket’s most respected figures.Bancroft endured widespread condemnation for his part in a ball-tampering escapade in which he used sandpaper to damage the ball in a Test against South Africa at Cape Town last March, leading to a ban alongside his more senior team-mates Steve Smith and David Warner.

Wood admits surprise at Bancroft role

England quick Mark Wood admitted his initial surprise at Cameron Bancroft’s elevation to the Durham captaincy had turned into the belief that it was “a good appointment”.

“I thought ‘that’s a gutsy call’. I probably wouldn’t have done that but having given it more thought it’s probably the right option.

“We have a young team so there were only two other players I thought could have done it. One would have been Alex Lees, but at this time in his career it’s probably better that he focuses on himself and goes under the radar a little bit. The other one would be Chris Rushworth, but we all know bowlers never become captains because they think that we’re dumb.

Bancroft comes here with a point to prove. Anything that anyone thinks, or anything that’s said to him, will have been thought and said before and he’ll have had worse. He’s gone through a horrible time and that time will have made him a stronger character.”

His ban ended in December and he played in the Big Bash League before scoring a century on his red-ball return for Western Australia against New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield in Sydney in February.”I know Cameron Bancroft very well,” North said. “There’s a lot of people I trust in Australia cricket and Western Australia cricket who I’ve spoken to over a period of time about Cameron. I’ve spoken to him in depth as well.”This is a guy who is a different person to what he was 13 months ago. He’s had a lot of time to reflect, done a lot of work away from the game, matured a lot. His perspective on the game, on life, on cricket has changed a lot.”He’s always had great intelligence on the tactical side of the game, his work ethic and professionalism as an athlete is second to none. I liken him to a fellow Western Australian is the guy we used to call ‘Mr Cricket’, Michael Hussey. The way he would go about his day-to-day business was exceptional and Cameron is from that mould.”I get there’s been questions, bringing someone in to captain a side when 13 months ago they weren’t really showing great leadership skills in the decisions he made. I get that, but he’s a different person, he’s learned a lot.”North does not believe that the captaincy will be an unwanted burden on Bancroft as he rebuilds his career – and reputation – after a misjudgement that put him under prolonged personal pressure. Australia’s cricketing culture became a topic of conversation throughout the nation, with leading politicians – including the then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull – also passing judgment.”If I didn’t feel Cameron hadn’t learned from that experience or developed as a human being or a person, I wouldn’t have considered him for the role,” said North.”You could argue in the position Cameron is in now, after going through that experience, there’s probably not too many people better to advise younger professionals on the ramifications of making poor decisions.”Cameron Bancroft leans into a drive•Getty Images

North says that he recognises that the decision to give Bancroft the captaincy will “split opinion”, but points out that Durham are short of options having lost recognised leaders such as the veteran Paul Collingwood, who retired at the end of the last county season, and Keaton Jennings, now at Lancashire, whose England career has been propelled in part by the recognition of his captaincy potential.North said: “The club is in a position where there were probably five senior players who were all very much thought about in succession planning – Paul Collingwood, Keaton Jennings, Paul Coughlin, Mark Stoneman and Graham Onions…all guys you would naturally see as captains. Take those players out in a very short period of time and where are we with our leadership team?”Alex Lees, the former Yorkshire batsman, will stand in for Bancroft for the opening Championship match against Derbyshire in Derby, which begins on Friday, but Lees struggled to adapt to the responsibilities of captaincy when he had a taste of leadership in the T20 Blast, becoming one of the youngest captains in Yorkshire’s history in the process, and his priority is to resurrect a faltering batting career.”We’ve got some players with very good leadership qualities but the majority of the squad are still establishing themselves as consistent first-class cricketers,” North said. “To put a burden of captaincy on someone who is not necessarily guaranteed selection in all formats was a choice we weren’t prepared to take.”Alex is one of a few. Definitely someone we had conversations about. He’s had experience of doing it at Yorkshire but he’s in a position where he wants to concentrate on playing good cricket again. If he has a good year he’ll be someone who will be talked about as playing a key role.”A prolific county season, however, could propel Bancroft into Australia’s squad for the Ashes series in England which follows quickly after the World Cup. He has played eight Test matches for Australia, scoring 402 runs at an average of 30.92 and made his debut against England in 2017, scoring a Test-best 82 not out.

Grant Flower says Pakistan’s lack of footwork has been the main reason for their struggles in the New Zealand tour, but it’s still not too late to turn it around

Danyal Rasool14-Jan-2018Grant Flower would be well within his rights to be worried. He’s the batting coach of a side that came dangerously close to posting ODI cricket’s lowest score ever. Against the fire and intensity of New Zealand’s fast bowlers, Pakistan’s top order has crumbled in each of the three games they’ve played. However, the manner of defeat on Saturday, culminating with the side being skittled out for 74 – they were 32 for 8 at their nadir – has sparked criticism from around the world. For many, it is evidence that lingering issues around batting in fast, bouncy conditions are nowhere close to being resolved.Flower accepted that playing in New Zealand was a big challenge for Pakistan, and one they hadn’t risen to till now. “The conditions might have helped New Zealand, but that’s no excuse for some of the shots we played,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “They’re world-class bowlers playing in their home conditions, so they’ll obviously have an advantage on that front. We have players more used to playing on slow, low wickets, and that obviously tells in the way some of the wickets fell.”New Zealand’s conditions are a world away – in more ways than one – from the kind Pakistan are used to playing in, but the University Oval in Dunedin has one of the slower pitches among international grounds in the country, and it had showed in the first innings, with New Zealand’s batsmen struggling to time the ball.When Pakistan batted, however, the pitch looked altogether different, the ball whizzing through to the wicketkeeper around shoulder height, and rising sharply off the surface. It might have been to do with the drizzle that was a constant for much of the Pakistan innings, but with the ball coming on to the bat, that could easily have worked in the batsmen’s favour.”Yeah, well, the ball gets a bit wetter and there’s a bit more zip in the wicket,” Flower said. “But it’s still no excuse, like I said. The guys are good enough to adapt, but at this stage we haven’t been good enough, or smart enough. Against world-class bowlers, you have to be ready from ball one, but in the first ten overs so far, we’ve been blown away.”Grant Flower addresses the media in Lahore•Getty Images/AFP

It isn’t just the wickets that have been the problem for Pakistan in the first Powerplay. The top order has consistently looked uncomfortable against the lethal opening pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, too often sitting on the back foot, looking to survive. It has stood in stark contrast to the way Martin Guptill and Colin Munro have approached the first 10 overs, looking to attack the bowlers and getting ahead of par scoring- rates.”To be honest, it’s apprehension and getting caught on the crease with guys’ lack of foot movement,” Flower said. “The better way is trying to be more positive and try and take on the bowling a bit more. We’ve probably been just a bit apprehensive. I think if you get a few shots away and take the challenge to the bowlers, then all of a sudden they have to think of their lengths a bit, so hopefully we’re going to see a more positive display on our batting side.”With a result like this, particularly in a game that had the series on the line, things can often fall apart very quickly. And it did when Pakistan toured England in 2016. There, too, the low point was a thrashing in the third ODI, where England amassed a record 444 in the first innings, and ended up winning 4-1.”I hope not [that this doesn’t become like the England tour],” Flower said with a laugh. “Mickey [Arthur] was quite measured after the match. He had a few words, but it was more just trying to let the guys know that the tour’s not over and we can turn it around very quickly. It sounds like a cliché, but that’s the thing. One good match or two good matches and it’s 3-2 and then you’re going into the T20s so hopefully the guys are thinking that way, and I suppose time will tell.”There’s always a few things we can work on technically. I spoke to the guys, we had a travelling day today, so I spoke to one or two. Then we’ll take that to the nets tomorrow, we have practice in the morning. But sometimes you don’t want to get too technical, you want to keep trying to be positive. Sometimes too much advice is not the right way to go, you just want the guys to go out and hit the ball. But like I said, it’s a balance that the guys have to find, and hopefully over the next few days we will find that.”But just going out and hitting the ball hasn’t been easy. That isn’t just because of the conditions, but also a New Zealand bowling line-up every bit as dominant in their home conditions as more celebrated attacks like South Africa’s and Australia’s. When pressed about how he reckoned Pakistan could reconcile playing attacking shots without playing the sort of poor shots they have so far, Flower was blunt.”That’s what you get paid for. That’s what you do all the practice for and the hours in the nets. The guys have to find that balance. If they can’t, they’re not worth their place in the team.”

Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill and Adam Voges have been an extended tenure as Australia have opted for the same squad for the second Test, which starts from November 12

Daniel Brettig in Perth06-Nov-2016Australia will not make any changes to the team chosen for the Perth Test against South Africa, irrespective of the result over the final two days at the WACA Ground.The coach Darren Lehmann confirmed an unchanged squad for the Hobart Test, which starts from November 12, meaning guaranteed tenures for Mitchell Marsh, Peter Nevill and Adam Voges. Australia took a similar approach during the tour of Sri Lanka, making only the injury-enforced change of Jon Holland for Steve O’Keefe for the second Test before introducing more drastic changes in the third.Lehmann reflected on how Australia had let the Perth Test get away, having made such a strong start on the first day and the second morning. He believed that the batsmen had not responded well to South Africa’s loss of Dale Steyn to a shoulder injury, which he had seen as an opportunity to take command of the match.”We spoke about that, probably not playing their natural games at times, especially to the left-arm spinner getting the field back,” Lehmann told . “So we probably were a bit too timid at times and not looking to score and rotate the strike. Having said that they did bowl well, and we didn’t counter it well enough.”They do all the prep, they’re great young men, they’re trying to do as well as they can for Australia each and every time, it’s just a case of little mental lapses at times. Collectively we’re always pretty positive, but stats will show we haven’t batted as well as we would have liked the last few Test matches. There’s no hiding the fact we’ve got to bat better.”There’s always pressure when you’re coaching your country or playing for the country, that’s why the guys have got to where they’ve got to. They’ve been brilliant doing all the work behind the scenes and playing at the level below, now they’ve got to do it at this level. There’s always pressure whether you win or lose, a lot less when you’re winning.”

Ben Stokes sustained a shoulder injury diving for a catch on the opening day of the third Test. He will go for a scan on Monday morning to determine the extent of the damage, but his chances of playing any further part in the match appear slim

Andrew McGlashan in Sharjah01-Nov-20151:37

Stokes injury mars good day for England

England are likely to have to try and push for a series-levelling victory in Sharjah with 10 players, and just two front-line seam bowlers, after Ben Stokes sustained a shoulder injury diving for a catch on the opening day of the third Test. He will go for a scan on Monday morning to determine the extent of the damage, but his chances of playing any further part in the match appear slim.Stokes, fielding at short fine leg, dived full-length to his left in a bid to intercept a sweep by Sarfraz Ahmed off Samit Patel. As he thudded to the ground he jarred the point of his right shoulder and his pain was immediately clear.He was attended to for a few minutes in the middle by the England physio and doctor before walking off using his shirt as a temporary sling. He then received further ice treatment in the dressing room. There was no confirmation of whether the shoulder had popped out of its joint; a dislocation for a fast bowler can have significant long-term consequences given the strain they put on their bowling arms.Stuart Broad, speaking about the incident at the close of play, said that Stokes is not the sort of character to show much pain unless he is really hurting.”We all walked in straightaway to try to find him,” said Broad. “He’s a tough guy. So generally when he shows pain, he’s going to be sore. It was an amazing effort to try to take the catch. The outfield is very soft, so he landed a bit awkwardly on it.Ben Stokes needed treatment after landing on the point of his right shoulder•Getty Images

“I don’t know whether it popped out … but he’s having a scan tomorrow, so it’s hard to speculate what it is. But he’s obviously a bit down. We hope he can play a bit more of a part in this Test match, because he’s obviously a vital cog in our machine. But we also do have cover with bat and ball, a lot of options, if he can’t.”After this series, Stokes is not due to play cricket again until the tour of South Africa in mid-December although if the injury is found to be serious his participation at the start of that trip could be in doubt. In a six-month period since returning to the team after the World Cup, he has played for England in all three formats and had been due a rest during the one-day and T20 legs of the UAE tour.He was singled out last week by the coach, Trevor Bayliss, as one of the young England players who has made strides on this tour, even though his numbers do not reflect it. He has scored 76 runs at 19.00 – with 57 of those coming in the first innings in Abu Dhabi – and taken five wickets at 39.60, with four of those in Pakistan’s first innings of the first Test.”He is a guy who likes to play positive, aggressive cricket,” Bayliss said. “On this tour, as a bowler, he has had to bowl a boring line and length and his batting, he has had to get himself in and try to graft out an innings, and to me it looks like he is trying to do that and he has been quite successful in it. I think the experience of playing this opposition on these pitches will be beneficial for him.”Samit Patel also needed treatment on the opening day, his first in Test cricket since England’s victory at Kolkata on the 2012-13 of India. While diving in his followthrough to field the second delivery of his spell, he briefly dislocated the little finger on his left hand. However, the finger had gone back into place before the physio made it to the middle and he was able to resume with some strapping in place.

Shakib Al Hasan has expressed confidence of being fit and available before Bangladesh’s tour to Zimbabwe in April

Mohammad Isam25-Mar-2013Shakib Al Hasan has expressed confidence of being fit and available before Bangladesh’s tour to Zimbabwe in April. He has been out of international cricket since November last year with a stress fracture on his shin.”Hopefully I will be fit and available before the tour of Zimbabwe,” Shakib said in Dhaka. “I started running from yesterday (Saturday) under the guidance of [National Academy trainer] Stuart Karppinen and did not feel any discomfort.””But as far as my cricketing fitness is concerned, I am still getting there because I haven’t yet started batting or bowling. By next week, I will start with bat and ball to regain the fitness required to play at competitive level.”Shakib underwent an operation on his right calf in Sydney last month as a result of which he missed Bangladesh’s tour to Sri Lanka.Bangladesh have been setback by a spate of injuries. After Shakib was ruled out of Sri Lanka tour, Enamul Haque Jr, Naeem Islam, Shahriar Nafees, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shafiul Islam, Nazmul Hossain and Tamim Iqbal have all pulled out of the tour at some stage.Shakib blamed the cricket schedule for the long list of injuries. “If you look at the calendar, you’ll notice that we have been playing a lot of cricket lately, both domestic and international.”So these kinds of injuries can happen on a regular basis. But at the same time, this helps newer players to get opportunities,” he said.