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Former Pakistan captain Bismah Maroof experienced issues with her vision before and after the operation but has recovered to play a part for Pakistan at the Women’s World T20

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Nov-2018Bismah Maroof, Pakistan’s former captain, has revealed she had doubts she would ever play cricket again after undergoing surgery for a sinus problem earlier in the year. Maroof experienced issues with her vision before and after the operation, but has recovered to play a part in Pakistan’s Women’s World T20 campaign in the Caribbean.It was after suffering from blurred vision during training in July that Maroof was told she needed an urgent operation. Because the sinus attack was related to her brain, doctors said the problem could be life-threatening; and even after the four-hour operation went to plan, she faced complications.”It was quite challenging,” Maroof told the ICC’s website. “After the surgery, I was on a high dosage of medicines. My eyes got affected, so it took time for me to return to playing.””I was quite depressed. Lying there, at one point I couldn’t imagine that I could get up and play again. But they say that whatever plan is made for you is for the good.”Having been initially told she could not play cricket, Maroof’s condition fortunately improved and she was able to return to the Pakistan set-up during the T20 series against Australia in Kuala Lumpur last month.Although she has been replaced as captain by Javeria Khan, Maroof remains a key part of the set-up. She is her country’s leading run-scorer in women’s T20Is, and the second-most capped player in the format – experience that came to the fore in her innings of 53 in Providence on Sunday, helping Pakistan to their highest T20 total against India. She also took the crucial wicket of opener Smriti Mandhana,It was not enough to set up victory, however, and with Pakistan also beaten in their opening match, against Australia, they face a struggle to qualify from Group B. They have an opportunity to notch a first win against Ireland on Tuesday but, it seems, whatever the game throws at her and her team, Maroof will be ready.”It’s important now to prioritise my health. It has been a stressful time,” she said. “I have learnt that you shouldn’t plan too much. All your life plans can be turned upside down. So I will not plan again!”

Jason Holder has said that while he has heard Chris Gayle’s talk of a Test return he does not believe many of the absent West Indies’ players are interested in the longest format

George Dobell09-Sep-2017Jason Holder has played down the prospect of “big name” West Indies players re-joining the Test team, stating “we have the best of the lot right now.”With Cricket West Indies having recently relaxed their selection criteria and offered an amnesty to those players who have chosen to play in T20 leagues, it had been presumed the likes of Sunil Narine, Darren Bravo, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard (who has never played Test cricket) might come into consideration ahead of series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand.But Holder, West Indies’ captain, suggested that, apart from Bravo and perhaps Gayle, he “didn’t think there’s anybody interested in playing Test cricket that we can call upon.””Darren Bravo is a guy who has done well for us in the recent past,” Holder said. “But apart from Darren I don’t think there’s anybody else who’s interested in playing Test cricket that we can really call upon or the so-called big names people are looking for.”Chris has probably hinted that he would like to play if he’s fit enough. He’s always said he would like to play. I spoke to him a while back. We would love to have a guy like Chris in our side. He brings a lot.”But apart from those two players I don’t think there’s anybody else we can really look to.”While Bravo’s return would appear close to automatic – Kyle Hope failed to take his chance in England, averaging just 6.83 batting at No. 3 in the series – Holder described himself as “extremely proud” of the performance of his young team and hinted that he would be reluctant to see too many of them replaced. Shane Dowrich, who averaged 4.80 and struggled with the gloves, might also come under pressure from the likes of Denesh Ramdin.”I think we’ve got the best of the lot [playing] right now,” he said. “I’m really, really happy with this squad to be honest. I enjoy playing cricket with this squad and I enjoy leading this squad. I wouldn’t trade this squad for the world.”Speaking after being beaten in the deciding Test against England at Lord’s, Holder was encouraged with the way his side had pushed for what would have been a shock series victory.”I’m extremely proud, can’t really fault the guys for effort,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot of room for improvement, still got a long way to go before we can get consistent performances. That said, not a bad tour of England, could have been better, obviously, but I’m still very proud.”The credit must go to the bowlers. After the Headingley Test match we asked for another big effort. The way we came out here first innings and bowled, I think at the start of the match if you said we’d have got England for 190, we’d have taken that.”While the bowling was consistently challenging after the aberration of Edgbaston, West Indies’ win at Headingley in the second Test – their first in England for 17 years – was built on the batting performances of Shai Hope, who scored hundreds in each innings, and Kraigg Brathwaite.Holder said he wanted the team to build on what they had started in their next two tours, in Zimbabwe next month and then New Zealand.”For a first tour here for many of us, I still think it’s a hell of an achievement and fight we put up,” Holder said. “Hopefully we can learn from this, we have New Zealand at the end of the year which could be similar conditions and similar type of bowlers, so it should be good chance to take what we’ve learned here into that series. But first we’ve got Zimbabwe, in a few weeks time, so hopefully we can really kick on from there.”Obviously Shai was outstanding in this entire series and we must not forget Kraigg’s contribution as well, he really did a hell of a job, especially at Headingley. Unfortunately we didn’t get more batsmen to carry on, lots of us got starts but didn’t carry on, and we let ourselves down with our fielding, probably this entire series. We dropped quite a few chances and gave good players two opportunities to bat, and in international cricket they’ll make you pay for it.”I think we’ve shown improvement. When we sit down and critique each series, we just try to look for improvement. We’ve definitely shown that, especially in our bowling, improving our consistency there … But hopefully guys can gain a lot of confidence form this series against a world-class side and top-class bowling unit. To be able to achieve something in this series speaks a lot.”

Umar Akmal’s brilliant fightback secured a crucial three-wicket win over St Lucia Zouks to draw Trinbago Knight Riders level in third place with the Zouks on eight points

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsUmar Akmal hit seven sixes and three fours during his unbeaten 73 off 35 balls•CPL/Sportsfile

With Trinbago Knight Riders staring at the prospect of heading to the final leg of the CPL season in Florida with their playoff hopes in jeopardy, Umar Akmal’s brilliant fightback secured a crucial three-wicket win over St Lucia Zouks to draw Knight Riders level with the Zouks on eight points in a tie for third. This meant that Barbados Tridents were pushed back to fifth place with two games to play. Akmal struck an unbeaten 73 off 35 balls in Knight Riders’ chase of 168 having dug his side out of a deep hole at 63 for 5 in the 10th over.Zouks were well placed to defend their total after the fall of Anton Devcich for 25 in the 15th to end a 51-run stand, leaving Knight Riders needing 50 off the last five overs with four wickets in hand. Only four runs were scored in the 16th to further tilt the scales in favour of Zouks but Akmal swung things back Trinbago’s way in the 17th when he targetted Jerome Taylor for three straight sixes and a four, bringing up his fifty off 27 balls. Akmal’s fireworks reduced the equation to 23 off 18 balls.Shane Watson then pinned Sunil Narine down for three dots, but could not sustain the pressure and Narine ended the over by bashing two sixes to make it 9 off 12 balls. Narine fell in the 19th over but Kevon Cooper hit the winning runs two balls later to clinch victory with six balls to spare.Having been inserted, Zouks had powered to a strong start with Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher notching 58 in the first seven overs. Charles was fortunate after having been dropped in the first over on 1 off Ronsford Beaton and was reprieved again on 11 in the fourth over when replays showed Devcich had overstepped after having Charles caught by Dwayne Bravo at mid-off.Fletcher was run-out in the eighth over for 25 and Charles’ luck ran out 10 balls later when Bravo claimed him for 27. From there, Zouks struggled to regain the flow to their innings until Darren Sammy’s arrival in the 16th after Grant Elliott was removed for 12. Sammy clubbed Cooper for four and six in the 18th to spur a late surge, and then bashed two more fours and a six off the final seven balls of Zouks’ innings to finish 37 not out off 18 balls. However, his spectacular form the stadium renamed in his honour could not extend the hosts’ winning run, with Akmal halting it at three games.

Chamu Chibhabha and Graeme Cremer played starring roles as Zimbabwe finally coalesced their different strengths into a functional, all-round performance to trip up India by 10 runs in the second T20 international

The Report by Arun Venugopal19-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsChamu Chibhabha and Graeme Cremer played starring roles as Zimbabwe finally coalesced their different strengths into a functional, all-round performance to trip up India by 10 runs in the second T20 international.After Chibhabha’s 51-ball 67 helped Zimbabwe put up a total of 145 – one that seemed inadequate at the halfway mark – Cremer garotted India’s batsmen with a spell of 4-0-18-3. Zimbabwe seemed to be headed towards another lopsided defeat when Robin Uthappa, who blasted 42 off 25 balls, was in the middle, but Cremer’s introduction in the seventh over saw India slip from 56 for 1 to 61 for 4. India took the equation to 25 off 12 balls, but Taurai Muzarabani conceded only six runs in the penultimate over, before Chris Mpofu, buckled India’s batsmen in the last over to complete Zimbabwe’s first T20 win over India.India’s start had an ominous portent to it when captain Ajinkya Rahane was run-out having been sent back by his opening partner, M
Vijay, who bailed after initially setting off for a run. Uthappa, however, produced an innings that bore no resemblance to his grinding effort in the first T20 international.Uthappa found his bearings with successive boundaries off Muzarabani, a well-timed cover drive followed by a powerful whip through midwicket. Two overs later, he collected three fours off Mpofu with rasping pulls off the front foot and a cheeky nudge behind short fine leg as India galloped to 57 for 1 at the end of six overs.It was the first delivery after the Powerplay, however, that brought Zimbabwe back. Cremer, who troubled India two days ago, slipped one past Vijay, and three balls later, had Manish Pandey out lbw, but the ball appeared headed down the leg side.India lost two more wickets in the next two overs. Uthappa was the prize wicket, as Sean Williams completed a sharp return catch. Kedar Jadhav’s departure in the next over was as much because of his laxity as some sparkling fielding from Muzarabani, who produced a direct hit from deep midwicket.Stuart Binny and debutant Sanju Samson, though, took charge of the restoration job, putting on 36 runs for the sixth wicket. With 41 required off 30 balls, however, India suffered another jolt through Cremer. Binny’s attempted thwack over long-off seemed to dip in front of Chibhabha, but the fielder flung himself forward to grab the chance. Zimbabwe’s seamers then removed Samson and Axar Patel in successive overs, effectively deciding the result.India’s tactics with the ball appeared to be pre-determined, as they persisted with bowling short. The short-ball gambit was particularly puzzling given that their seamers were getting the ball to move appreciably off a fuller length.Hamilton Masakadza and Chibhabha were alert to opportunities, swatting away half-trackers between square leg and midwicket. Masakadza, though, was dismissed by Sandeep Sharma, attempting to dab a short delivery that fizzed off the wicket, one ball after carting the bowler for six.Sikandar Raza, standing in as captain for the first time in international cricket after Elton Chigumbura was injured, showed intent before his slash floated into third man’s hands. India’s spinners – Axar Patel and Vijay – sent down a few tight overs immediately after the Powerplay in which Zimbabwe scored 49.But, Rahane didn’t have the luxury of a second specialist spinner – Harbhajan Singh was rested – and appeared loath to let Vijay complete his quota. Chibhabha and Sean Williams then knitted together a 37-run partnership for the third wicket.India’s bowlers, though, were chipping away, and Chibhabha found himself without much support at the other end. Once Chibhabha was bowled in the 19th over, the innings stagnated further. Zimbabwe eventually managed 69 runs in the last 10 overs, including 33 in the last five.

A wrap of the final day of the ninth round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group B

Sidharth Monga01-Jan-2013
ScorecardFile photo: Abhimanyu Mithun provided Karnataka the inspiration with a double-strike in the final session•AFP

After a disappointing season, Karnataka needed a host of things to go their way – not only in their match, but in their group – for them to qualify. They needed Odisha to lose. Odisha lost. If they didn’t win by a bonus point, they needed Delhi to take a first-innings lead but not win their match. That happened too.As Delhi failed to take their opponents’ wickets, Karnataka were running out of time too, but they somehow kept producing the wickets on a flat Pune pitch against a determined Maharashtra side. After they managed to wrap Maharashtra’s second innings up for 561, Karnataka were left with 89 to chase in 13 overs. Not without drama, they did so with eight balls to spare, and progressed into the next round.At the start of the day, Maharashtra were 315 for 2, a deficit of only 158. Ankit Bawne began the day on 80 not out, and would remain undefeated. Karnataka kept pegging away at the other end. In the first session, HS Sharath picked up two wickets.After lunch, Maharashtra looked comfortable, but Syed Moinuddin broke through with the wicket of the dangerous Kedar Jadhav. Another partnership followed, this time between Bawne and Rahul Tripathi, but Sharath got rid of Tripathi before tea.Going into the final session, though, Maharashtra had already taken a lead of 40 runs, and had four wickets in hand. Karnataka’s state was not at all enviable. They had to take the wickets, and then wipe off all the additional runs. The clock kept ticking away.Abhimanyu Mithun, who took six wickets in the first innings, now provided the inspiration with the wickets of Shrikant Mundhe and Stayajit Bachhav in back-to-back overs. Still, Maharashtra had got 62 ahead by then. A little over 20 overs remained in the day’s play.To Karnataka’s annoyance, No. 10 Sachin Chaudhari swung his bat, and scored 14 off 19 balls, taking the lead to 84. It was all getting away from Karnataka, but Stuart Binny’s inspired move to get Amit Verma to bowl worked. The legspinner trapped Chaudhari, and Mithun finished the innings off in the next over.With Robin Uthappa not well, Karnataka opened with Kunal Kapoor and Lokesh Rahul. Kapoor managed just 8 off 12, and his wicket meant Karnataka would not win with a bonus point. That ensured Baroda, seven points adrift of Karnataka, were ensured qualification, but also that Karnataka would need Delhi to draw their game.Delhi fell short by three wickets in Nagpur, and Rahul and Binny hit their way towards a win. Rahul scored an unbeaten 42 off 34. Binny fell for 25 off 17, but fittingly their record-breaking wicketkeeper-batsman CM Gautam finished it off with 16 off eight balls.In the quarter-finals, Karnataka will face Saurashtra in Rajkot, and Baroda will be hosted by Mumbai. Maharashtra were relegated.
ScorecardDelhi needed to win their final game to progress to the next round or hope that Karnataka don’t won theirs, but were disappointed on both counts. On a flat track in Nagpur, having somehow enforced the follow-on on Vidarbha, Delhi could prise out only seven wickets on the final day. And in exceptional circumstances, Karnataka won their game moments after Delhi were denied.Shalabh Shrivastava provided the resistance for Vidarbha, who came into the match with a realistic chance of progressing but were frustrated by the flat pitch. Pradeep Sangwan, Vikas Mushra and Sumit Narwal picked up the wickets, but not fast enough. Delhi even got in 95 overs on the day, but couldn’t get past Shrivastava, who batted for five hours and 11 minutes.Vidarbha’s captain, Sairaj Bahutule, announced his retirement from first-class cricket after the match.
ScorecardIn the rain-affected, inconsequential match in Chennai, even a first-innings result was not possible. Haryana finished with 180 for 3 in response to Tamil Nadu’s 571 for 6 declared.

Opening batsman Alviro Petersen has been recalled to South Africa’s 13-man squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Dec-2011Opening batsman Alviro Petersen has been recalled to South Africa’s 13-man squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka. Uncapped Titans seamer Marchant de Lange has also been included although he is unlikely to play because of a dislocated thumb. Lonwabo Tsotsobe, JP Duminy and Paul Harris have been dropped.Petersen lost his place for last month’s two-Test series against Australia after Jacques Rudolph was recalled to open the batting with captain Graeme Smith. Rudolph did not replicate the form he had shown in the SuperSport Series – where he topped the batting charts last season and scored 592 runs in four matches in this season – and only managed a top score of 30 in four innings.While Rudolph has failed to live up to the hype, Petersen has made a strong case for a recall. He is second on the first-class batting rankings, with 441 runs at an average of 55.12 and scored 186 in the opening fixture of the season. He also made a fighting 103, on a seamer-friendly pitch, against the touring Australians in a warm-up match last month in Potchefstroom.Petersen and Smith shared in nine opening stands of at least 50 in the nine Tests they played and there is some suggestion that Petersen will open the batting once again, with Rudolph likely to move down into the middle order, increasing pressure on Ashwell Prince. In his nine Tests Petersen has scored 572 runs at 33.64 with a best of 100.De Lange is fast emerging as South Africa’s Pat Cummins, having been elevated to the Test squad after just 14 first-class matches and while still playing in his first season. He caught the eye with an explosive 5 for 56 against the Australians in Potchefstroom and has impressed with his pace. Batsmen from the Knights, who played against de Lange’s Titans earlier in the season, said he was “faster than Morne Morkel,” after facing them both.His speedy rise to the national squad appears part of a plan to assimilate him with the group. De Lange was also he was also invited to train with the South Africa team in their preparations for the second Test against Australia. Barring injury or unusual circumstances, he will likely not be promoted to the starting XI and will be asked to use the experience as a learning curve.”There is some doubt about whether he will recover in time from his thumb injury but, even if that is the case, he will learn a great deal just from being part of the national squad environment,” Andrew Hudson, convenor of selectors, said.The bowling attack will be the same as the one which played against Australia, spearheaded by Dale Steyn, who will likely share the new ball with Vernon Philander. Morne Morkel will have time to settle into a different role as first change while Imran Tahir is the sole spinner in the squad.Tahir’s debut was much anticipated but he fell short of expectations, save for a spell on the second afternoon of the Wanderers Test when he cleaned up the Australian tail. However, he has been given another opportunity to build on his domestic form.The only other player who was facing pressure for his place was wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, who did not contribute with the bat against Australia with 20 runs in three innings. Boucher remains the country’s top gloveman and the selectors have decided not to include a back-up keeper in the squad. They have the door open to add players for the second and third Test, with Hudson saying the squad is likely to expand over that period.A South African Invitation XI, which includes Thami Tsolekile and Harris, will play a three-day warm-up match against the Sri Lankans in Benoni starting on Friday, with the first Test scheduled to be played in Centurion from December 15.South Africa squad Graeme Smith (capt), AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher (wk), Marchant de Lange, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Alviro Petersen, Vernon Philander, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn

Odean Brown scored 66 and took three wickets to give West Indies A an opportunity to push for a win against Pakistan A

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2010

ScorecardOdean Brown, the Jamaica legspinner, gave West Indies A an opportunity to push for a win against Pakistan A with his all-round performance on the third day at Arnos Vale. Brown first ensured that a couple of quick wickets from seamer Yasir Arafat, who has played three Tests for Pakistan, didn’t derail the West Indies A innings. Brown’s highest first-class score in 51 innings prior to the match was 33, but he doubled that on Friday to help West Indies reach 357 in their first innings. He then took three wickets to put Pakistan under pressure, leaving them at 122 for 3 at stumps, just 26 ahead of the hosts. Khurram Manzoor, who scored a century in Pakistan A’s first innings, was unbeaten on 66 and his captain Faisal Iqbal, who has played 26 Tests for Pakistan, was still at the wicket, batting on 33. The pair’s role will be crucial in trying to save the match on Saturday, as West Indies will fancy their chances of running through Pakistan’s lower-order after they took the visitors’ last seven wickets for 60 runs in the first innings.

A decision on whether the Ashes will return to free-to-air television will be taken before the general election, the Government said on Tuesday

Cricinfo staff12-Jan-2010A decision on whether the Ashes will return to free-to-air television will be taken before the general election, the Government said on Tuesday.Ben Bradshaw, the culture secretary, provisionally accepted the findings of a review panel led by David Davies, the former chairman of the FA, in November last year, which called for the home Ashes to be added to the list of ‘crown jewel’ sporting events protected from pay-only television.The ECB, however, vehemently opposed the move then, arguing that it would bring a severe loss of revenue and harm grassroots funding for the game. The ECB’s current deal with BSkyB and Five, which is worth a combined £300 million, runs until 2013 and includes the next home Ashes series. Under the recommendations the first series that could possibly be back on terrestrial TV would be the 2016 contest.When the move was announced in November the ECB were frustrated that the review committee did not commission an independent report into the economic impact of the decision, after estimating that some £30 million per year, which amounts to more than a third of their annual turnover, could be slashed from their budget.Yet John Grogan, Labour MP for Selby and a long-standing campaigner for wider access to televised sport, said that if governing bodies receive public money they should expect their major events should be shown for free.”If the governing bodies believe in an entirely free market approach, why are they receiving public money? You can’t have it both ways. If hard-pressed taxpayers and lottery players are funding the sports, should they not be able to see some of the events on free-to-air TV?”Sion Simon, a junior minister, told MPs that the government had provisionally accepted the findings of the review and final decision will be made shortly after the period of consultation ends in March.The ECB, however, have not changed their stance, and are holding out hope that the Government will reconsider its provisional decision. “Our position is that we will put in comprehensive documentation and research to the Government,” an ECB spokesman told Cricinfo. “We expect them to take the appropriate amount of time to consider the full financial considerations of any potential decision.”There is, however, only a short window between the end of the consultation period and the moment that parliament goes into recess ahead of an anticipated May election. The move to terrestrial could be seen as an attempt to woo voters, while sticking the boot into Rupert Murdoch, the owner of BSkyB, after the Murdoch-owned Sun backed the Conservatives for the election.

Alana King takes four wickets as struggling Essex slump to another defeat

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay30-Jul-2025A brilliant century from Lancashire and England’s Emma Lamb helped her side ease to their latest Metro Bank One Day Cup victory by 138 runs over struggling Essex at the beautiful surroundings of Sedbergh.Lamb hit a career best 142 and shared a mammoth opening partnership of 162 with Eve Jones (71) as the Red Rose racked up a total of 306 for 4 off their 50 overs after being put into bat by Essex skipper Grace Scrivens.As for Essex there were few highlights with only Jodi Grewcock’s half-century to take back with them on the long journey home from the South Lakelands.Lamb and Jones have proved a hugely effective opening pair this season with three century partnerships before this game and their fourth never really looked in doubt from the moment they began to stroke Essex’s Kate Coppack and Eve Gray around Sedburgh’s lush outfield.44 runs came off the first powerplay but it was after the introduction of Esmae McGregor and Abtaha Maqsood that the openers really got going with the former going for 25 off her four overs.The century partnership was reached in the 20th over with Jones bringing up he half-century soon after with the landmarks coming regularly thereafter with the opening pair reaching 150 in the 30th over.The long-awaited breakthrough for Essex eventually came when Jones mistimed a drive to Coppack off Sophie Smale but the disruption did little to put off Lamb who brought up her century with a huge six off a waist high full toss from the expensive Maqsood.By the time Lamb was out in the 42nd over most of the damage had been done with her superb knock ending off 109 balls with 15 fours and two sixes.Fi Morris quickly followed for five to a caught and bowled from Scrivens but Lancashire powered on through to the end of their innings with some energetic running from Seren Smale and skipper Ellie Threlkeld putting on 38 for the fourth wicket in just under six overs with Smale’s run out in the penultimate over scant consolation for a tired looking Essex.The early departure of opener Scrivens, who edged Mahika Gaur behind for two in the third over, ensured Essex were on the back foot from the off and in truth Lancashire never allowed their innings to gain any momentum.Cordelia Griffith edged Gace Potts’ first delivery to keeper Threlkeld for 13 and Smale, who had battled well for 38, holed out to mid off and a grateful Potts to give Alana King her first wicket.When King bowled Australian Maddie Penna for 15 it looked like the game was up with the visitors 100-4 and over 200 runs still required with the task getting even tricker when Jo Gardner was brilliantly caught by Kate Cross at mid off for eight off left arm spinner Sophie Morris.Meanwhile the stubborn Grewcock was providing the only solace for Essex as she reached her half-century from 54 balls but that would prove as good as it got as she departed hooking a Gaur slower ball straight to Morris for 52.Gaur suddenly found herself on a hat-trick when Amara Carr hit her first ball straight up in the air to Alisa Lister to leave Essex 142-7 and all hope all but gone.Coppack was run out for two and although Gray hit a flurry of fours that was pretty much it with King picking up a third wicket when MacGregor was stumped for one and then repeating the trick the very next ball when Maqsood departed the same way to leave Lancashire challenging at the top of the table going into the break for The Hundred.

They have an abundance of riches when it comes to spin bowling ahead of their title defence

Andrew McGlashan13-Jan-2024Australia have a focus on their first bilateral tour of Bangladesh as a valuable intelligence-gathering mission ahead of the T20 World Cup later in the year amid what shapes as a squeeze for spin-bowling spots.They will face South Africa in a multi-format series starting at home in late January, with those T20Is also providing valuable preparation for the World Cup in September, but it’s the first-hand experience over in Bangladesh that could be especially important. The ODI and T20I tour will take place at the end of March following the WPL.”We’ve got a couple of venues in Bangladesh that the World Cup will be played at so that will be part of the investigating during the tour, about how wickets are going to play,” Shawn Flegler, the national selector, said.Related

• Amanda-Jade Wellington: 'My heart stopped'

• King remains sidelined from Australia's T20I plans

Australia’s only previous trip to Bangladesh was when they won the 2014 T20 World Cup. Four members of the squad remain: Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney and Jess Jonassen.There will be an open mind as to how conditions will play, but whatever combination Australia take into the final squad there will be no shortage of spin options. Ashleigh Gardner, Georgia Wareham and Jonassen are the three in the T20I squad to face South Africa with Alana King unable to find a space in that group but will return for the ODIs.Adding to the depth has been the return from injury of left-arm spinner and allrounder Sophie Molineux, who will captain the Governor General’s XI against South Africa. She lost her central contract in 2022 and has recently returned from a year-long layoff with an ACL injury. With an all-round skillset that the selectors admire, there is a chance she could put herself back in the reckoning.”She’s been highly-rated by the Australian set-up for a long time and just great to have her back playing,” Flegler said. “It’s pretty clear having a left-arm orthodox spinner playing international cricket is pretty good. We’ve been blessed with the amount of spin options we’ve had; we’ve had a left-arm spinner either Jess Jonassen or Soph involved in our World Cups over the last seven campaigns, so we’ll see that continuing, I’m sure. It’s going to be a tight squeeze over the next few series, but really blessed to have those options available to us.”Sophie Molineux took six wickets and scored a half-century in her second game back in the WNCL•Getty Images

Jonassen, meanwhile, has lost her position as a first-choice pick in Australia’s white-ball sides having been dropped from the T20Is after Hayley Matthews’ onslaught at North Sydney Oval late last year and not playing ODIs since the tour of Ireland after the Ashes, with Gardner taking on the mantle of senior spinner.”Ash’s performances over the last 12, 18, 24 months have been outstanding and she’s taken on the senior spinner role and Georgia Wareham has come back into the team. Thought she bowled better and better as the tour went on in India,” Flegler said. “[Georgia] also adds a pretty powerful lower-order batting option and is outstanding in the field.”I’ve said a few times, we value those three skillsets really highly and if you can do all three that certainly gives you a leg up selection and that’s where Georgia and Ash have got the nod at the moment. Jess is certainly still in discussions and in the squad.”Further highlighting the depth in Australia’s spin stocks is that legspinner Amanda-Jade Wellington continues to be overlooked despite her regular domestic T20 success, which continued with a pivotal role in Adelaide Strikers’ back-to-back WBBL titles.After that tournament, Wellington said she was at peace with where she stood, but revealed that she could apply for a British passport and had not ruled out looking to play for England.”It is in the back on my mind but making that decision would be really hard because there are some risks – for instance, it would make me an international player for the Big Bash,” she told . “Technically the door is still open…I just haven’t really explored it that much.”Flegler said the selectors had been in regular communication with Wellington and that she could continue to push for Australia honours.”It’s a personal decision for Amanda what she wants to do,” he said. “But we certainly haven’t said she’ll never play for Australia again. Can imagine it’s really frustrating for Amanda. If that’s something she does want to pursue, then that’s up to her.”Flegler also indicated he was hopeful of Australia arranging some extra fixtures before the T20 World Cup. Currently, after the tour of Bangladesh they have nothing on their calendar until the tournament.