Category Uncategorized

Cricket Association of Mizoram has sent a formal request to the BCCI to seek affiliation, which could place Mizoram on par with other cricketing states

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jun-2015Cricket Association of Mizoram has sent a formal request to the BCCI to seek affiliation, which could place Mizoram on par with other cricketing states. Jagmohan Dalmiya, the BCCI president, has forwarded the matter to the affiliation committee members for consideration.
If the affiliation committee recommends that Mizoram be admitted as an affiliate member, the lowest rung of BCCI membership, the AGM, will take the decision in September. For a new member to be introduced, the proposal needs to be passed with a 3/4th majority.If Mizoram, the only state in the north-eastern region that is not under the BCCI umbrella, is admitted as an affiliate member, it will receive financial support of up to Rs five million per annum for five years. More importantly, it may benefit from expert advice and help with regards to creating infrastructure and coaching structure in the state. After five years, an affiliate member can apply to be promoted as an associate member.Financial grants may vary depending on the BCCI’s assessment of whether an affiliate is using its funds effectively at grassroot levels. But if the association fails to submit annual accounts by July 31 every year, the financial support may be discontinued.With respect to promotion of cricket in the North-Eastern states, Dalmiya has already sent his recommendations to the New Area Development Committee, which included preparation of more turf wickets, conducting coaching programmes, development of one full-size cricket ground, and one indoor coaching facility per state.Besides its 30 full members, Chhattisgarh State Cricket Sangh, Sikkim Cricket Association, Manipur Cricket Association and Bihar Cricket Association (not Cricket Association of Bihar which has been in litigation with the BCCI) are BCCI’s associate members. Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal, three of the seven north-eastern states, happen to be affiliate members at the moment.The New Area Development Committee, with a specific eye on the north-eastern region, was set up by Dalmiya in 2003 during his first stint as BCCI chief. The idea then was to provide all the support required at grassroots level in neglected regions. It was disbanded by his successor Sharad Pawar, but revived in 2012 by N Srinivasan. However, none of the affiliates have so far been granted promotion as an associate member, which makes them eligible for more financial grants.The BCCI conducted a tournament featuring all the seven associate and affiliate members till 2013. It was cancelled last year when it was learned that some of the associations were importing players from other states instead of promoting talent in their region.

Prasanna Jayawardene will go to hospital for X-rays after he was hit on the thumb by a Mitchell Johnson bouncer during Sri Lanka’s first innings at the MCG

Andrew Fernando at the MCG26-Dec-2012Prasanna Jayawardene has suffered a hairline fracture to the top of his right thumb after being hit by a Mitchell Johnson bouncer during Sri Lanka’s first innings at the MCG. That delivery was the last Jayawardene faced, as the ball caught the shoulder of the bat after hitting his thumb, and ballooned to Phillip Hughes in the slip cordon. Jayawardene made 24.Team management are yet to determine whether Jayawardene will keep wickets on day two, but in the meantime Kumar Sangakkara has taken the gloves in his stead, and will keep for the remainder of day one.Sri Lanka’s 12th man Dinesh Chandimal also keeps wickets, but cannot stand in behind the stumps as he is a substitute. A year ago, he replaced Jayawardene on Sri Lanka’s tour of South Africa as wicketkeeper-batsman.”There was some bruising on his thumb after his innings, so we thought we’d better check,” team manager Charith Senanayake said, before X-rays revealed the extent of the injury.December 26 5.35am GMT This story has been updated to include news of Jayawaradene’s hairline fracture

Brendan Taylor has said his team will continue to play attacking Test cricket, even though chasing a win against New Zealand in Bulawayo may have cost them the match

Firdose Moonda07-Nov-2011Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwe captain, has said his team will continue to play attacking, aggressive Test cricket, even though chasing a win instead of playing for the draw against New Zealand in Bulawayo may have cost them the match. New Zealand won by 34 runs after setting Zimbabwe a steep 366 to chase for victory.On a traditionally flat pitch, Zimbabwe decided to bat for a result, despite needing 305 on the final day with eight wickets standing. A century from Taylor and a half-century by Tatenda Taibu kept them in the hunt but a spectacular collapse, in which they lost six wickets for 44 runs, saw them end up on the losing side. Taylor said he had no regrets about thinking positively.”If we want to become better cricketers, we have to play like that,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “If you don’t test yourself, you won’t know how far you can go.”Taylor has only captained Zimbabwe in three Tests, but has already become known for brave decision making. In Zimbabwe’s comeback Test, against Bangladesh in Harare in August, Taylor declared Zimbabwe’s second innings on 291 for 5 early on the fourth day, setting Bangladesh 375 to win. Critics said Zimbabwe should have batted longer to ensure Bangladesh were out of the game but Taylor preferred to dangle the carrot instead. The result was a comprehensive 130-run win for Zimbabwe with two sessions to spare.When Taylor found himself in the opposite situation, with New Zealand leaving Zimbabwe a gettable target, he accepted the challenge. “You have to be realistic and we felt that it was realistic to go for the win.” Even though Zimbabwe have a short batting line-up, which Taylor admits “stops at No. 7,” Taylor felt that with two frontline batsmen occupying the crease for most of the day the target was within reach.
He shared a 108-run fourth-wicket partnership with Taibu and believed one of them would take Zimbabwe over the line. “I wanted us both to spend a session or a session-and-a-half at the crease and thought that if one of us was there at the end, we could win.”It was when the pair were dismissed that the collapse began, which raised questions about Zimbabwe’s lack of stability in the lower-middle order. “We are missing some guys through injury,” Taylor said. “Elton Chigumbura is struggling with a hamstring injury and Graeme Cremer has been out for a while [with a knee injury]. They could really make a difference.”While the cricketing world was touched, disappointed and some even a little heartbroken for Zimbabwe after they lost, Taylor said the team were not overcome by a sense of gloom. “Within 20 minutes afterwards we were ok. We had a meeting and everyone was very praiseworthy of each other. We gave it our all; for five days we played good cricket and to take it late into the fifth day we knew we had done something right.”Since their return to Test cricket, Zimbabwe have won one Test and lost two, won four ODIs, including a record run-chase against New Zealand, but lost seven and been defeated in four Twenty20 internationals. Taylor said it’s not the numbers but the progress that matters.”To have won the third ODI against New Zealand gave us confidence and we came close in the Test. We can hold our heads high. The senior guys have performed and helped the younger guys.”The Test against New Zealand saw contributions from several of the more-experienced players in the team. Vusi Sibanda scored 93 in the first innings and Chris Mpofu showed an understanding of the conditions to take 4 for 92, before Taylor and Taibu shone on the final day. There were also impressive performances from some of the younger players: Kyle Jarvis took 5 for 64 and Malcolm Waller, on debut, scored an undefeated 72 in the first innings. “We can take positives out of all of these things,” Taylor said.Zimbabwe have a break for the next two months, during which the players will play in the local T20 competition. Their first assignment next year is a tour of New Zealand that consists of a one-off Test, three ODIs and two T20s. It will provide a barometer to measure how Zimbabwe cope in foreign conditions.

Ben Hilfenhaus could be next to join Mitchell Johnson on the sidelines for Friday’s second Test after Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting, hinted that Ryan Harris was strongly in contention for a recall alongside Doug Bollinger

Andrew Miller in Adelaide02-Dec-2010Ben Hilfenhaus is set to join Mitchell Johnson on the sidelines for Friday’s second Test after Australia’s captain, Ricky Ponting, hinted that Ryan Harris was strongly in contention for a recall alongside Doug Bollinger. Bollinger is expected to replace Johnson, who was dropped following Australia’s toothless display during England’s 1 for 517 at the Gabba, while Cricinfo understands that the selectors have opted for Harris over Hilfenhaus on a wicket that is not expected to offer much conventional swing beyond the first day.”Hilfy’s strengths are his ability to swing the new ball, he’s very consistent, bowls in good areas and can tie batters down, as we saw at different times during the Brisbane Test,” said Ponting. “Ryan’s strengths are he’s grown up playing all his cricket here, he’s probably slightly quicker through the air, and he hits the wicket a bit harder than Ben does, and he’s probably a better reverse-swing bowler for later in the game, which comes into consideration in Adelaide.”Harris, who has a chronic knee injury, has been in excellent form on the domestic scene since returning from off-season surgery, while Hilfenhaus was Australia’s best bowler in the tour of India in October. Although Hilfenhaus launched Australia’s Ashes campaign in dramatic fashion by capturing Andrew Strauss for a third-ball duck in Brisbane, he failed to claim another wicket in 50.3 overs for the match. He particularly struggled for penetration when the new ball went soft, and is understood to be feeling the effects of a slight hamstring strain.Harris, meanwhile, learned his cricket at the Adelaide Oval before moving to Queensland three years ago, and with his extra pace through the air is a likelier man to exploit any reverse-swing that may be on offer at a venue that can favour the art. “If you put all those things together, it makes that decision a pretty difficult one,” Ponting said.Bollinger, whose tally of 49 in 11 matches to date makes him Australia’s only remaining bowler in the top ten of the ICC World Rankings, seems certain to return after losing out to Peter Siddle at Brisbane. With Johnson already cut from the 13-man squad, the notion of purging two of the three specialist quick bowlers is a drastic one.”Is it unstable [to make two bowling changes]?” Ponting asked. “No, because we have to pick the best team for every condition that we are confronted with in the summer. We didn’t win a Test last week, and so hopefully the team we pick this week will be good enough to win. We wouldn’t make changes if we didn’t think it would make the attack better for this game. We’ve got to pick the best five bowlers we could possibly have to get 20 wickets in each game.”Harris, a bowler whom Ponting rates highly, bowled especially sharply during Australia’s first practice session at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday. However, he did not feature in the nets on Thursday, leading to a suggestion that he was feeling the effects of his knee problem.Ponting denied that this was the case. “We’re not worried about Ryan’s knee at all,” he said. “The reason he didn’t bowl today was nothing to do with his knee. We’ve made one big decision to leave a guy out [Johnson], so we wouldn’t be doing that if we were taking a risk on someone who’s got an injury. We want to keep it up our sleeves for tomorrow morning, and see what the best 11 is.”Harris’ knee is now a case of bone rubbing on bone and he will have to manage the pain throughout the rest of his career, hence the caution during Thursday’s session. He convinced the selectors of his form and fitness by claiming four wickets for Queensland in a one-day game last week, and a further six in the recent Sheffield Shield fixture against Victoria. He impressed Ponting during his only two Tests to date, against New Zealand in March, during which he claimed nine wickets at 23.”Coming out of the game he played the other day, he had a good bowl yesterday and we didn’t expect all of our bowlers bowling every day before the game,” said Ponting. “That’s pretty much what the staff wanted them to do, to get their workload high enough leading into the Test. If you look at both Bollinger and Harris, what they’ve done in state cricket has been pretty impressive. I faced Dougie this morning and he was impressive, while Ryan was on the mark yesterday. They are obviously ready to go so we’ll work things out tomorrow morning.”

Having picked up his first five-wicket haul for Australia, Nathan Hauritz has declared his intentions to make the spinner’s spot his own for a long time to come.

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG31-Dec-2009Nathan Hauritz has played ten Tests over the past year but without a sense of security. There has always been the feeling that he was a temporary solution, filling a gap while Australia’s selectors decided on their next long-term Test spinner. But after a chat with Shane Warne helped him collect his first five-wicket haul for his country, Hauritz has declared his intentions to make the Test spot his own for a long time to come.The timing of Hauritz’s career-best was important. Last week, the chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch challenged him to become a dangerous fourth-innings bowler and said that while Hauritz was very capable, the selectors would “continue to look for that next group of spin bowlers” who would be part of the team in the coming decade.That made Hauritz’s 5 for 101 in the fourth innings of the Boxing Day Test victory over Pakistan extra special. He knows how quickly a spinner can fall out of favour – since Warne’s retirement Australia have used seven slow men in Tests – and has had the legspinner Steven Smith hovering in the shadows over the past two matches.”The most important thing is not to put too much pressure on myself in those situations,” Hauritz said after bowling Australia to a 170-run victory. “I probably have a little bit at times, just trying to get those wickets to try and silence a few people and let people know that I can bowl and I’ve earned this spot and I’m here for a long time.”Smith enjoyed a one-on-one net session with Warne during the Boxing Day Test and it was Warne’s advice that helped Hauritz deliver his best performance. Hauritz said the advice from Warne on the fifth morning was to be patient, alter his lines and force the batsmen to hit the ball where he wanted it to go, not where they wanted to play it.”Since I’ve been part of this squad he has been trying to get me … to get the batsman to hit in areas they don’t want to and being able to have the confidence to put the ball in that area,” Hauritz said. “When I first started I was quite happy to bowl outside off but have a 5-4 field so they wouldn’t play there.”I’m trying to get batsmen out a lot more now. I didn’t bowl as accurately as I normally can at times in this last innings but I definitely bowled more attacking lines and tried to make them hit in areas which they felt uncomfortable. It can be pretty tough at times when you’re getting hit back over your head all the time. In the end it worked in my favour being able to get a stumping and getting batsmen trapped on the crease.”His final breakthrough came with a top-edged swipe that was taken at midwicket, giving him his first five-wicket-haul in first-class cricket, while his previous best in Tests was three in an innings. When he began his state career with Queensland he hadn’t taken a five-for at club level – he has now – so the feeling of pressure to perform was familiar.It’s not unheard of for bowlers to deliver a five-wicket bag in Tests before state cricket; Jason Krejza had never taken five in a first-class match until his eight-for on Test debut in Nagpur last year. Krejza lasted only one more Test before being dropped but Hauritz, who played a one-off Test in 2004 before waiting four years for his second. He is confident that his best performance is a sign of bigger things to come.”It’s pretty significant,” Hauritz said. “It’s my first five-for in first-class and Tests. I am very happy to take that five-wicket haul. I hope it is the start of something good. It has been a pretty tough road. There have been good moments and bad moments and this is definitely one that I will remember.”The next step is to continue delivering Test-quality performances and that challenge begins at the SCG, where the second Test starts on Sunday. Despite the ground’s reputation for favouring spin, Hauritz has only 16 first-class wickets at 55.75 there, and he was anticipating a good batting pitch once again.”I don’t expect it to be too much different to what it normally is,” he said. “It is generally a pretty good batting track for the first few days. The first morning it can offer a little bit, I have seen finger-spinners do well there on the first morning because it is a little bit tacky. I don’t expect it to be too much different.”

Visiting captain finishes off the game himself as South Africa go down heavily in second Youth Test

ECB Reporters Network06-Feb-2025England U19s 353 (Sawant 130, Fonseka 52, Rossouw 5-74) and 25 for 0 beat South Africa U19s 224 (James 84, Hansen 63, Jack 3-42) and 153 (Rowles 71, Vaughan 6-19) by 10 wicketsYoung Lions captain Archie Vaughan put the finishing touches on a comfortable 10-wicket win over South Africa Men U19s in the second Youth Test at Cape Town.Vaughan helped tidy up the home tail on the fourth morning to return 6 for 19 before he and Ben Dawkins knocked off a victory target of 25 in just 3.1 overs.The tourists needed two wickets to end the Young Proteas’ second innings when play resumed and Vaughan, who did the damage on the third evening with five wickets, immediately made an impact bowling Sandiswa Yeni for a duck.Eddie Jack wrapped up the innings when Nqobani Mokoena hit out to Alexander Wade in the deep as the hosts were bowled out for 153.The England Men U19 openers made light work of the chase, with Vaughan lap-sweeping Mokoena for six before Dawkins crunched Nathan Rossouw to the rope to win the game.England Men U19s won the series 1-0, after falling one wicket short of victory in the first Youth Test last week. South Africa Men U19s had won the preceding Youth ODI series 2-1.

Afghanistan continue bring joy back home with fourth victory of World Cup campaign

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2023Hashmatullah Shahidi, the Afghanistan captain, dedicated his side’s seven-wicket win over Netherlands to the thousands of Afghan refugees in Pakistan who are facing the prospect of being deported back to Afghanistan.Shahidi was speaking after a comfortable win in Lucknow, Afghanistan’s third in a row and one which sees them move to eight points and closer to a semi-final spot, albeit with two games left to play against Australia and South Africa.”Right now, a lot of refugee peoples are in struggle so we are watching their videos and we are sad for that and we are with them in this tough time,” Shahidi said after the game. “I dedicate this win to those refugees that are in pain and also to all country peoples back home.”Nearly two million Afghan refugees that Pakistan says are in the country illegally had been told by the government to leave by November 1 or face either deportation or arrest. This week many thousands have rushed to the border between the two countries, trying to beat the deadline but worried about facing an uncertain future in Afghanistan, which has been governed since August 2021 by the Taliban.Related

• Nabi the hustler sends Netherlands spinning

• Nabi, Shahidi, Rahmat boost Afghanistan's semi-final chances with big win

• Netherlands run themselves out of the World Cup

Pakistan has a long history of taking in Afghan refugees, dating back to 1979 when the former Soviet Union came into Afghanistan in a new front of the Cold War with the US. A lot of the players from Afghanistan’s earliest cricket sides had grown up and learnt the game in refugee camps in north-west Pakistan. There has been another sizeable influx of refugees into the country after the Taliban took control two years ago. But the order for the refugees to leave Pakistan comes amid tense political relations between the two countries.The issue has been close to the hearts of the cricket team. Following their eight-wicket triumph over Pakistan in Chennai last week, Ibrahim Zadran also dedicated the win to refugees being forced to leave.”I think the players are attuned with everything that’s going on back home, whether it’s an earthquake and other things,” Jonathan Trott, Afghanistan’s coach, said on Friday after the Netherlands win.”So they realise, and I think they’re enjoying the joy that they’re giving to the Afghan people and the smile that they currently have on their face in the changing room, but also the smiles that’s giving everybody else. That’s the great thing about sport and being able to touch people far further afield than just here in the stadium or in this country, but back home as well.”Afghanistan are now fifth on the points table, outside the top four on net run-rate but with the same points as New Zealand and Australia. They take on an in-form Australia in Mumbai first, on Tuesday, and then a rampaging South Africa in Ahmedabad, among their toughest tests.”I think you’ve got to definitely prepare and have a look at how the opposition are going to play, but the thing is with us, I certainly feel that if we worry, we just focus on how we play and what makes us the side that we are,” Trott said.”We’ve got to make sure that we don’t look at the opposition too much and forget about what we’ve got to do well. So that’ll be it and obviously we’ll prepare for Australia, a very good side along with South Africa but right now we’re focused on Australia and what we can do to beat them.”

Mujeeb ur Rahman,who has been named among the reserves, will be added to the main squad once he gets his visa sorted

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2022Ibrahim Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Naveen-ul-Haq have been named in Afghanistan’s 16-member squad for the five-match T20I series in Ireland. Spinners Qais Ahmad and Mujeeb ur Rahman, who were not part of Afghanistan’s series against Zimbabwe in June due to T20 Blast commitments, have been added as reserves. ESPNcricinfo understands that Mujeeb will be added to the main squad once he gets his visa sorted. Ihsanullah Janat, who made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe, has been left out.Opening batter Ibrahim was part of the ODI side for the Zimbabwe tour, but his last T20I was in November 2019 against West Indies. He has been in good form in the ongoing Shpageeza Cricket League, where he is currently the third highest run-getter with 283 runs in seven innings at an average of 56.60. Top-order batter Shahidi was also part of the ODI series against Zimbabwe and last played a T20I in March 2021. Fast bowler Naveen, who has not represented Afghanistan in any format since November last year, was the second highest wicket-taker in the T20 Blast this season, taking 24 wickets in 14 matches for Leicestershire.Top-order batter Usman Ghani and seam bowler Nijat Masood, who were part of the side that played against Zimbabwe, will also travel to Ireland as reserves along with Qais and Mujeeb.Mohammad Nabi continues to lead the side, which also includes 17-year-old left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad, who took 4 for 10 on his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in June.Former Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib was left out of the squad once again, after being dropped following the ODI series against Bangladesh in February. He was omitted from the T20I series of that tour and has not represented Afghanistan since.The series against Ireland comprises five T20Is in Belfast and starts on August 9. To avoid visa issues that have plagued Afghanistan of late, the Afghanistan Cricket Board had obtained UAE residency visas for nearly dozen players and officials.Afghanistan squad: Mohammad Nabi (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Najibullah Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sharfuddin Ashraf, Rashid Khan, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Farid Ahmed Malik, Naveen ul Haq, Noor Ahmed

“Very happy to see him enjoy his bowling over the last four-five years and really become that stalwart of the Indian fast-bowling group”

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Feb-2021Virat Kohli kicked his sleeping room-mate, Ishant Sharma, out of the bed to inform him he had been selected for India. That was 15-odd years ago. Things haven’t changed much over time. To Sharma, the Ahmedabad Test starting Wednesday is just another Test; to Kohli, the fast bowler’s 100th is as good as the 150th for a batsman in modern cricket. On the eve of the Test, Kohli paid rich tribute to his “dear friend” and his attack’s spearhead.”I have known Ishant for many years now,” Kohli said. “He started playing state cricket with me from his first season onwards. We have been room-mates for many years in state cricket, in Ranji Trophy cricket. When he got selected for India, he was fast asleep in the afternoon, and I had to kick him off the bed and say you have been selected. And he wouldn’t believe me. That’s how far we go back.Related

• Virat Kohli on 36 all out – These are experiences, not scars

• Ishant Sharma ahead of 100th Test: Winning WTC will be the same feeling as winning the World Cup

• Ishant on Perth, 2008: 'At 19 you don't plan. You just bowl'

• Ishant – from unlucky workhorse to master quick

“I couldn’t be happier for him. Playing 100 Test matches as a fast bowler is no mean feat. Especially in our conditions where things get so difficult. But he persevered, he kept working hard. That’s been his essence from day one. Very hard-working guy, very honest about the game, about his ability, about what he brings to the table. Very self-assured.”Looking at Sharma’s top-notch performances in the last four-five years, it is easy to forget he spent a majority of his career as the workhorse of an incomplete attack with some ordinary figures. Sharma’s turnaround began when he learnt under Jason Gillespie at Sussex how to bowl fuller without sacrificing his pace. It also coincided with India managing a more complete attack, which meant Sharma was not so easy to see off. His best years have also coincided with Kohli’s captaincy.”I was most excited to work with him and really bring the best out of him as an attacking fast bowler,” Kohli said. “Something that clicked immediately [when I took up captaincy]. He knows my mindset. He knows me inside out. There is a big trust factor. I know him inside out. I know he will respond to advice, he knows I am going to listen to his plans as well. I think it has worked really well for both of us. Not just for him as a fast bowler, but for me as a captain to have that kind of experience and the kind of consistency he brings along with the attacking lines and lengths he bowls.”I have just been very, very happy to see him enjoy his bowling over the last four-five years and really become that stalwart of the Indian fast-bowling group. Couldn’t be happier for him. Really, really excited I am going to be present on the field when he plays his 100th game. To see the smile on his face and just run in and bowl will be great to watch for a dear friend of mine.”Kohli said he was in awe of Sharma’s conditioning, motivation and commitment. “To maintain his body so well, to play 100 Tests, this longevity is rare to see among the fast bowlers today. Sometimes you lose motivation too. He has the skill, mind you, to play the shorter formats. If he wanted, he could have improved his four-over and ten-over cricket and could easily be a regular in IPL and present a case for himself in one-day cricket. But he dedicated all his commitment and attention to Test cricket, prioritised it. To play 100 Tests for a fast bowler is as good as 150 Tests for a batsman. I hope he plays for many more years and inspires the next group of fast bowlers too.”Perhaps Sharma’s conditioning is too good for Kohli too, at least when you look at his full head of hair. “If you captain and wear helmets for a long time, you will also lose your hair,” Kohli joked. “If he bats for a long time, he will also lose his hair. Thankfully it doesn’t come down to that, and when it does his role is different.”

Lancashire quick keen to make the most of maiden call-up in New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Oct-2019Saqib Mahmood may have landed in New Zealand as part of England’s touring party, but it seems his feet are yet to touch the ground following his maiden senior international call-up.Rewarded for a strong season with Lancashire in 2019, when he was the leading wicket-taker in the Royal London One-Day Cup, Mahmood is hoping to break into the England team during the tour, which starts with a warm-up match in the early hours of Sunday (UK time).”It still feels weird to think that I’ve been picked for England,” Mahmood told PA. “If I get the opportunity I want to go out there and just give it my all. It’s the same at Lancs, where this year we had a very high level of competition in the bowlers.ALSO READ: Root vows not to get ‘swept away’ as he reaffirms T20I ambitions“England will be another step up but I’m used to dealing with that competition where you’re fighting for places, you’re not quite sure who’s going to play or where you’ve got to up your game to get into that XI. It will be the same with England. I think it will be one of those where very quickly I’ll have to learn and see what kind of areas that I’ve got to make sure I’m on top of.”A regular England Under-19s player, having made his first appearance at the age of 17, Mahmood has long been on the international radar and, after overcoming a side strain which ruined his 2018 domestic season, he missed the subsequent Lions tour of India because of visa issues. So there is a sense his senior debut, when it arrives, has been a while coming even though he is still only 22.Having regularly been clocked at 90mph, Mahmood was relishing the prospect of lining up alongside the likes of Jofra Archer in the Test squad, just as he has enjoyed being a team-mate of James Anderson at Lancashire.”If you look at Jofra and the speeds he’s bowling and what he’s achieving, I’m the type of player where that will make me hungrier for more,” Mahmood said.”In training if he’s bowling quick you want to push yourself that little bit further. You’ve got someone who’s doing it at top level and you want to almost try to get to his level as well.”It’s the same when Jimmy’s at Lancs, I’m trying to work on my skill, I see that as the finished article and I want to work my way towards that. The level of skill he has, when you’re surrounded by those types of guys, I think naturally you lift your own standards as well to match them.”James Vince and Eoin Morgan arrive in Christchurch with the England squad•Getty Images

Lancashire legspinner Matt Parkinson is also in line to make his England debut in New Zealand and he would love to do so with Mahmood nearly a decade after they first played together for their county as 13 year olds.Parkinson told the Lancashire website he felt Mahmood was “making up for lost time”.”He had a tough year last year being injured from April onwards,” Parkinson said. “It’s probably come, like myself, a lot quicker than you would have thought but he deserves it completely. He’s had a fantastic season and it shows that if he does stay fit he’s an absolutely fantastic bowler. It would be amazing to play international cricket with Saqib.”England will play a second warm-up match against a New Zealand XI on October 29 before five T20Is starting on November 1 and two Tests from November 20.