LAHORE, July 23(ABC): An England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) team on Saturday termed security arrangements in Pakistan as “satisfactory” after it concluded a crucial visit to the country — a determining factor for England’s tour. Sources told that the security team’s decision was based on visits to match venues in four cities — Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Islamabad. The …

GALLE, July 23(ABC): Pakistani skipper Babar Azam Saturday announced that Shaheen Shah Afridi will be replaced by Nauman Ali in the final Test of the series against Sri Lanka tomorrow. Talking about Shaheen’s replacement, Babar said that the former’s absence will be felt highly but they have included spinner Nauman Ali to fill in his place. On the fourth day …

PORT OF SPAIN, July 23(ABC): India just managed to hold off the challenge of an inspired West Indies team with the under-strength visitors coming away with a three-run victory in the first One-Day International of a three-match series at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad on Friday. Stand-in captain Shikhar Dhawan’s 97 was the foundation of his side’s total of 308 …

MANCHESTER, July 23(ABC): The returning Reece Topley sparked a dramatic collapse as England hammered South Africa by 118 runs in the second one-day international at Old Trafford on Friday to level the three-match series at 1-1. South Africa, chasing 202 for victory in a match reduced by rain to 29 overs per side, were bowled out for just 83. Topley, …

GALLE, July 22(ABC): Dimuth Karunaratnes Sri Lanka will look to bounce back in the second Test starting Sunday against an upbeat Pakistan team that is fresh off a morale-boosting win. But the tourists have been hit by an injury to pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, who played a key part in the teams four-wicket victory on Wednesday. Sri Lanka have …

WEB DESK, July 22(ABC): Australian cricket commentator Erin Holland, who is also a presenter in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), heaped praise over the Men In Green’s top-performing members. Holland was responding to a tweet which mentioned that Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan have been included in the draft for international players of the Big Bash League’s …

DURHAM, July 20(ABC): Authorities should stop treating players like “cars” and fix cricket s “jam-packed” schedule to retain multi-format players, England s Ben Stokes said. Stokes announced his shock retirement from one-day internationals on Monday saying playing all three formats of the game had become “unsustainable” for him. read more He elaborated further on his decision ahead of his 105th …

GALLE, July 20(ABC): Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on Wednesday said that Abdullah Shafique can become one of the world’s best Test openers after his epic century against Sri Lanka in Galle. Shafique hit an unbeaten 160 to steer Pakistan home in a record chase of 342 at the picturesque venue as Pakistan won a tense opening Test in the final …

BREADY, July 20(ABC): Nida Dar’s all-round performance led Pakistan Women to a 13-run win on DLS method over Ireland Women in the third match of the tri-series being played at the Bready Cricket Club, Bready on Tuesday. Earlier, the tournament’s opener was washed out between Pakistan Women and Australia Women at the same venue on Saturday, July 16. Chasing a …

CHESTER-LE-STREET, July 20(ABC): Rassie van der Dussen s century helped South Africa spoil Ben Stokes s farewell to one-day international cricket as the Proteas won by 62 runs on the England star s Durham home ground to go 1-0 up in a three-match series. Van der Dussen s career-best 134 was the cornerstone of South Africa s 335-5, their highest ODI total …

LAHORE, July 20(ABC): Bangladesh’s One Day Internationals (ODI) side’s captain Tamim Iqbal has said that their clean-sweep against the Windies in Carrabin was special but it “should not go into team’s heads”crick as it was in spinning conditions. “Any away series win is always special. Our series win in South Africa was massive [too]. But I told my team that …

SYDNEY, July 20(ABC): Commonwealth Games medal hope Isaac Cooper was Tuesday axed from Australia’s swim team and sent home over “wellbeing challenges, including the use of medication”. The fast-emerging 18-year-old had been favoured to make the podium in the 50m and 100m backstroke events at the Games in Birmingham starting next week. He finished eighth in the 50m backstroke at …

WEB DESK, July 19(ABC): Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi is facing fitness issues, the team’s spokesperson told on the fourth day of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. The left-arm quick underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan in his leg, the spokesperson confirmed. The spokesperson said that Shaheen had felt a pulled muscle in his leg while …

GALLE, July 19(ABC): A Yasir Shah delivery was drawing comparisons with Shane Warne’s “ball of the century” on Tuesday, the day after the Pakistan leg-spinner ripped out Kusal Mendis. Sri Lanka’s Mendis had reached 76 on the third day in Galle when Yasir pitched one outside leg stump only for it to take huge turn and hit the top of …

ISLAMABAD, July 19(ABC): Shahzad Qureshi (C) posing with his Gold medal and trophy with Fazal Ilahi (R). In the 54th Asian Bodybuilding Championship, Pakistani bodybuilder Shahzad Qureshi grabbed the gold medal by beating his Indian counterpart Naresh in the master-class 80kg+ category. In a video message, Shahzad said that he is very happy and cannot explain the moment when he …

COLOMBO, July 18(ABC): Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Sunday announced that the Lanka Premier League (LPL) 2022 has been postponed with immediate effect. In a statement, SLC said that the decision was taken following a request made by the Innovative Production Group FZE (IPG), the Rights Holder of the tournament, which cited the current ‘economic situation,’ in the country, as …

LAHORE, July 18(ABC): Former Pakistan cricket team pacer Shoaib Akhtar has termed Pakistan all-format skipper Babar Azam’s century against Sri Lanka as unique. Pakistan cricket fraternity showered their applaud for Babar after he hit a crucial century. Taking to Twitter, Akhtar wrote, “Babar’s 100 yesterday was unique & in exceptional circumstances. Batting with tail for so long being a captain …

GALLE, July 18(ABC): Veteran Pakistan fast-bowler Wasim Akram lauded young pacer Naseem Shah and counseled him to come up strong and change his bouncer strategy, particularly in Sri Lankan conditions. Taking to Twitter, Wasim released a video message after the opening day of the first Test match against Sri Lanka at Galle Stadium, where Pakistani bowlers lost control after taking …

LONDON, July 18(ABC): England’s talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes announced his shock retirement from one-day cricket on Monday citing the “unsustainable” rigour of playing all three formats of the game. Tuesday’s match against South Africa at his home ground in Durham will be Stokes’s 105th and final one-day international, the 31-year-old said in a statement issued by the England and Wales …

SYDNEY, July 18(ABC): Test captain Pat Cummins will miss Australia’s upcoming one-day series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, team bosses announced Monday as they named a strong squad led by Aaron Finch. The pace spearhead has been rested for all six games in August-September at Townsville and Cairns, while batsman Travis Head will be absent for birth of his first …

GALLE, July 18(ABC): Sri Lanka on Sunday moved the second Test against Pakistan from Colombo to Galle due to political unrest in the island nation that forced its president to resign. The Galle International Stadium will host its fourth straight Test in the past few weeks after the two Australia matches and the ongoing Pakistan opener. “SLC arrived at this …

ST. JOHN S, July 18(ABC): West Indies on Sunday recalled star all-rounder Jason Holder for a three-match one-day series against India as they look to bounce back from a humbling loss to Bangladesh. Former skipper Holder missed the 3-0 series defeat against Bangladesh in Guyana as selectors wanted to manage his workload as one of the West Indies  all-format players. …

NEWPORT, July 18(ABC): American Maxime Cressy won his first career ATP title on Sunday by rallying to defeat Kazakhstan s Alexander Bublik 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) in the Hall of Fame Open final. French-born Cressy, who competed for his homeland until becoming an American in 2018, reached his first two ATP finals earlier this year, losing to Rafael Nadal at …

ISLAMABAD, Jul 17 (ABC): Pakistani Skipper Babar Azam, has become the fastest Asian batter to score 10,000 runs in international cricket. The 27-year-old reached the landmark during his knock in the first innings of the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. The right-handed batter took 228 innings to achieve the feat. He has now the eleventh batter overall …

GUYANA, July 17 (ABC): Taijul Islam made a triumphant return to One-Day International cricket with his first five-wicket haul as Bangladesh completed another series sweep of the West Indies, winning the third and final fixture by four wickets at the Guyana National Stadium on Saturday. Playing his first ODI for more than two years, Taijul had a dream start with …

WEB DESK, July 17(ABC): After almost 15 years, Bangladesh batter Tamim Iqbal Sunday decided to draw the curtain on his T20 International career. The 33-year-old, in a Facebook post, made the announcement shortly after leading the ODI side to a 3-0 series win against West Indies. “Consider me retired from T20 international from today,” Tamim wrote on his Facebook page. …

WELLINGTON, July 16(ABC): New Zealand fast bowler Adam Milne has been ruled out of the remainder of the limited-overs tour of Europe with an Achilles injury. Milne felt pain during the team’s first net session in Ireland and after a scan the recovery timeframe was likely to only see him available for the two T20Is against Netherlands in early August …

GALLE, July 16(ABC): Sri Lanka decided to bat first after winning the toss in the opening game of the two-match Test series against Pakistan played at the Galle International Stadium on Saturday. All-rounder Salman Ali Agha is making his Test debut for Pakistan. Ahead of the toss, Agha has presented the debut cap by batting coach Mohammad Yousuf. Yasir Shah …

KARACHI, July 15(ABC): Pakistan’s olympian javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem has reached the United States to partake in the World Athletics Championship. The championship is scheduled from July 15 to 24 in Oregon. The Pakistani athlete will participate in the qualifying round of the javelin throw event on July 21. Before leaving for America, Arshad trained in Punjab Stadium for six …

GALLE, July 15(ABC): Pakistan skipper Babar Azam Friday expressed confidence in the security arrangements for the national Test squad that is visiting Galle for a Test series, as Sri Lanka goes through countrywide protests against the president and prime minister seeking their resignations. Speaking to the press ahead of the first of the two-match series slated to begin July 16 …

WEB DESK, July 15(ABC): Pakistani skipper Babar Azam late Thursday night came out in support of ex-Indian captain Virat Kohli, who has been going through a rough patch in his career. “This too shall pass. Stay strong,” Babar said, in posts he uploaded on all of his social media platforms. In the posts, he uploaded a picture of him and …

LONDON, July 15(ABC): Reece Topley took 6-24, the best figures by any England bowler in a one-day international, as the world champions bounced back to beat India by 100 runs at Lord’s on Thursday. India, chasing 247 to win, were dismissed for 146 with more than 11 overs to spare as England, two days after a humiliating 10-wicket defeat at …

LAHORE, July 15(ABC): Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has announced an 18-man squad for the upcoming 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. The squad was announced after identifying the top performers in the recently held trials in Lahore. Pakistan’s head coach, Siegfried Aikman, along with four other officials will be a part of the management team while the Men in Green …

WEB DESK, July 15(ABC): Former Pakistan captain and match-fixing witness Aamir Sohail welcomes the deluge of legitimate money into cricket that has seen players make millions in tournaments, saying it reduces the temptation for corruption. Sohail’s playing heyday came between 1990 and 2000, far too early to benefit from the T20 revolution begun by the Indian Premier League. But the …

WEB DESK, July 15(ABC): Pakistan skipper Babar Azam Thursday night asked former Indian captain Virat Kohli to hang in there after the batter lost form and was benched for the upcoming West Indies series. “This too shall pass. Stay strong,” Babar said in posts he uploaded on Twitter and Instagram, signalling support for Kohli who has been under criticism for …

KARACHI, July 15(ABC): A recce team from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) will visit Pakistan later this month to inspect the arrangements ahead of England’s tour to Pakistan for T20Is and Test matches. Reliable sources have confirmed that a four-member team from ECB — comprising two members from its cricket operation departments, a representative of the players’ association …

NEW DELHI, July 14(ABC): India’s out-of-form star batsman Virat Kohli was missing from the 18-member squad announced by selectors Thursday for the upcoming five-match Twenty20 series in West Indies. Former captain Kohli, 33, has been going through a prolonged lean patch and has not hit a century since 2019, with his future now a matter of intense public debate in …

BIRMINGHAM, US, July 14 (ABC): Pakistan’s promising cueist and International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) World Snooker Champion Ahsan Ramzan continued exhibiting his brilliance at the international level as he got off to a flying start in the World Games 2022, outwitting USA’s Ahmed Aly Elsayed 3-1 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA on Thursday. The 11th edition of the multi-sport that …

ISLAMABAD, July 14 (ABC): Australian known pitch curator Damien Hough, head curator of Adelaide Oval, will land in Lahore today (Friday) on a two-week tour during which he will also visit Karachi, Multan and Rawalpindi. Prior to his departure on 28 July, Hough will give lectures to the curators and the coaches of cricket and city cricket associations on pitch …

GALE, July 14 (ABC): Sri Lanka on Thursday announced their 18 men squad for first test against Pakistan. Left-arm spinners Praveen Jayawickrama and Lasith Embuldeniya have been left for the two-match Test series against Pakistan starting tomorrow (Saturday). Inexperienced left-arm spinners, Prabath Jayasuriya, who picked up a record 12 wickets on Test debut against Australia, and uncapped Dunith Wellalage, who …