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Tamim Iqbal will undergo tests on Sunday after he fell ill during Fortune Barishal’s Bangabandhu T20 Cup match against Beximco Dhaka on Saturday. Iqbal didn’t take the field during Barishal’s defence of 193, with Mehidy Hasan Miraz deputising.Iqbal later wrote on his official Facebook page that he wasn’t feeling well shortly after he was dismissed for 19 off 17 balls, and upon the advice of the BCB’s medical team, returned to the BCB’s bio-secure hotel in central Dhaka.”I wasn’t feeling well since yesterday (Friday),” he posted. “I felt even worse after I returned to the dressing room upon my dismissal. I was feeling very weak. BCB’s medical team advised me to immediately return to the team hotel, and a few overs after I was out, I left the stadium. I will undergo all the tests tomorrow. I am seeking everyone’s prayers. If I am feeling well, I will play the Eliminator match.”However, it is not clear what exactly happened to Iqbal, but Dhaka – and many parts of Bangladesh – is currently experiencing unusually cold weather.Iqbal, who has made 302 runs at an average of 43.14 in this competition, has led Barishal in all the matches except for the second half of this game against Dhaka, which they lost by two runs. As a result, Barishal will face the same opponents in the Eliminator on Monday.The BCB has so far been stringent with their health protocols due to the pandemic, having secured several areas within the hotel where all five teams participating in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup are based. The board has also not allowed crowds at the Shere Bangla National Stadium since domestic cricket resumed in October.

After a series of postponements, the second ODI between the UAE and Ireland is finally set to go ahead in Abu Dhabi on Monday, January 18 following approval from local health authorities.Four members of the UAE squad have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past two weeks, meaning the whole squad had to enter self-isolation. It remains to be seen if any of them will be available for Monday’s fixture. UAE won the only game of the series to date by six wickets, thanks to hundreds from Chundangapoyil Rizwan and Muhammad Usman.Ireland begin a three-match World Cup Super League series against Afghanistan on Thursday, January 21, meaning that the UAE series has had to be cut from four fixtures to two.Related

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• Shane Getkate called into Ireland squad for UAE, Afghanistan ODIs

While both teams’ preparations have been affected by the uncertainty around scheduling, Ireland played a practice match against Afghanistan on Sunday, with 13 players bowling or batting per side.”We’re delighted that the go ahead has been granted for the rescheduled match, and the squad is looking forward to getting back into competitive action,” said Richard Holdsworth, Cricket Ireland’s performance director.”It has been very disruptive for team planning and player preparation not knowing when the next game will be, but I know that Graham Ford and the squad will adapt and be pleased that there is a confirmed fixture now in place.”As always, we appreciate the work of the Emirates Cricket Board in getting this game on, and look forward to seeing the lads back on the field as they look to square the series.”

This might only have been a T20 game, but it felt like an epic by the time Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez chased Quetta Gladiators out of the contest. Ages ago, or so it seemed, Chris Gayle struck his highest PSL score, 68 off 40 balls – aided by several dropped catches along the way – to help Quetta post 178, the highest first innings score this tournament. It looked a match-winning total then, but a stunning onslaught from Hafeez and Zaman helped Lahore Qalandars make short work of the target, and they got there with more than an over to spare.Hafeez was particularly destructive, grabbing a game that had looked like drifting by the scruff, forcing an asking rate that had soared above 11 back below a run-a-ball within the space of three overs. It was like stick cricket by the end; the sixes and fours Hafeez was striking appeared to come as easily as buttons being pushed on a keyboard, with Quetta skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed’s apoplectic rage visible to the world’s cameras. The unbeaten 115-run second wicket partnership came off just 58 balls, with Hafeez responsible for scoring 73 off them in the 33 deliveries he faced.After being put in to bat, Quetta rejigged the batting line-up even if they didn’t make any changes. Banton and Saim Ayub fell early once more, with Lahore Qalandars permitting them just 38 runs in the Powerplay, but Gayle and Sarfaraz would accumulate a 101-run partnership that put Quetta back on track. Sarfaraz appeared to be timing the ball more sweetly than has been in evidence for quite some time, and while Gayle wasn’t at his fluent best, it didn’t stop him from bludgeoning five fours and as many sixes on his way to top-scoring for his side. Mohammad Nawaz put in a cameo at the end and Quetta had all the momentum then, but Hafeez and Fakhar had other ideas.Star of the day
There was some spice in the contest after a terse recent exchange between Hafeez and Sarfaraz on social media. When Hafeez was called upon to bowl with the Quetta captain at the crease, there was added jeopardy in the game. While Sarfaraz got him away for a couple of boundaries off his second over, the 40-year-old would more than get him back with the bat.Hafeez would later tell Gayle he didn’t have the muscles to bat like him, but what Hafeez does possess in his repertoire most could only lust after. With barely a shot looked like it was played in anger, he caressed – that word is used advisedly – his way to his fastest PSL half-century, off just 24 balls, capitalising on some wayward bowling and a fairly straightforward drop on the boundary by the young Saim Ayub. With the asking rate coming down so quickly it might have needed a parachute, he sped up even further, finishing with another 23 off just nine deliveries, the winning sot a disdainful drive over extra cover off the young Mohammad Hasnain.It goes on to illustrate why Hafeez keeps backing himself to be a part of Pakistan’s World T20 plans, and if he’s in this sort of touch, he’ll be pivotal to his franchise’s hopes of finally landing a PSL title.Miss of the day
In a game that was perhaps defined as much by errors as individual brilliance, there were several who vied for this role. Agha Salman was the early frontrunner, dropping Gayle twice at cow corner in what looked like decisive moments, while Tom Banton and Saim Ayub fell early once more and each put Fakhar and Hafeez down once. But Usman Shinwari’s third over, which leaked 19 at a time Lahore needed in excess of 11 an over to seal the win, marked the moment the game finally turned as Quetta capitulated in spectacular fashion.Sarfaraz, perhaps fuelled by the personal ambition to get one over Hafeez, would go on to rebuke Shinwari publicly after that over, and as the fours and sixes rained down, his mood would only grow fouler. The negativity around the fielding side appeared to have doomed them well before the winning runs were struck, and it already seems like Quetta might have an uphill task if they are to turn this campaign around.Honourable mention
Zaman was Man of the Match, by the way, and with 82 off 52, it’s an innings that deserves more than to be overshadowed by Hafeez’s brilliance. He would relieve the pressure superbly as Sohail Akhtar at the other end struggled to get going, ensuring the required rate wouldn’t get out of hand early on. And when Hafeez joined him, he wasn’t second fiddle by any means, continuing to showcase why, even as his international form remains patchy, he remains one of the most sought-after players in the PSL.

A blistering Billy Stanlake spell and another Usman Khawaja masterclass guided Queensland to a four-wicket Marsh Cup win over Tasmania at Bellerive Oval in Hobart.Stanlake took a career-best 4 for 24 ripping through Tasmania’s top four with extreme pace and bounce while Khawaja controlled the chase superbly with a classy 93, following on from his fourth-innings century in the Sheffield Shield clash on Saturday.Stanlake set the game up after Queensland won the toss. He claimed all four wickets with short balls as Tim Paine, Caleb Jewell, and Mac Wright struggled to control hook and pull shots while Jake Doran gloved one through the keeper. When Marnus Labuschagne ran out Tom Andrews with a direct hit, the Tigers had slumped to 7 for 143 with 17.5 overs left in the innings.But Jordan Silk came to the rescue continuing the superb form he showed in the BBL. He made 77 from 88 balls to hold the innings together. He put on 53 with Nathan Ellis who contributed 21. Jackson Bird then clubbed 27 from 25 balls to lift the total up to 237. Matt Kuhnemann took 3 for 47 for the Bulls, including the key wicket of Silk.Khawaja then took charge in the chase. He put on a 53-run opening stand with Sam Heazlett and an 87-run stand with Joe Burns to break the back of the chase. Nathan Ellis returned for the Tigers to cause a few heart murmurs in the Queensland camp. He knocked over Burns and Khawaja in consecutive overs. But Jimmy Peirson steered the visitors home with 14 balls to spare.

Big Picture

Cricket is a confidence game. Afghanistan, searching for a spark in the first Test in which they were ambushed in less than two days, found it a week later in the second Test. And they’ve carried that forward into their favourite format, the T20s, breaking little sweat in seeing off Zimbabwe in the series opener.Rashid Khan, a global T20 superstar, one of the architects of their series-levelling second Test win, singlehandedly works magic for them. His presence automatically lifts a young side, many of whom are slowly spreading their wings in leagues like the BBL, CPL and the Abu Dhabi T10. Most times, his four overs are like an insurance policy when they defend or are under sustained aggression from opponents.While he lived up to his reputation on Wednesday too, the star was opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who displayed a ferocity to his batting to make a 45-ball 87 at the top of the order. Asghar Afghan, chipping in with just his fourth T20I fifty in his 64th innings, may have steered away from some of the “is he good enough” debates. Only a week ago, he also became the country’s second Test centurion. And it all bodes well for Afghanistan: the batting not being dependent on just one or two people alone is something they’d want to cultivate as they build up to the T20 World Cup in India in October.Zimbabwe have no immediate requirements of that kind, because they won’t be playing in that showpiece event after failing to qualify for administrative reasons – their board was suspended at the time of the qualifier. But there’s plenty of pride at stake and an opportunity to look a year into the future, when there’s another T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022.For a while now, Zimbabwe’s schedule hasn’t been defined. So having an intense stretch of games such as this in a span of four weeks by itself is a positive sign. Now the next step is for them to overcome the batting dependency on Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza, if they’re to put up tall totals or chase down scores like the 199 were faced with in the first T20I. There’s also a streak to break. They’ve lost each of their last five T20Is, including nine of the last 10 against Afghanistan.

Form guide

Afghanistan: WLWWW (completed T20Is, most recent first)
Zimbabwe: : LLLLL

In the spotlight

Twenty-two-year old Karim Janat, brother of Afghan, is developing into an allrounder. He first showed shades of his brilliance against West Indies in November 2019, after his selection had become somewhat of a talking point because at that stage, he had averaged 31 with the bat, while his bowling numbers weren’t that impressive either. Then, he shredded a power-packed West Indies by first making a freewheeling 18-ball 26 and then taking 5 for 11, Afghanistan’s second-best T20I figures, in a win. Over the past year, while his bowling has come on superbly, he’s fallen behind slightly with the bat. For an opener, he’s yet to hit a T20I half-century. Can he on Friday?Can Karim Janat continue to improve as an allrounder?•AFP

A prodigious batting talent at 16, Wesley Madhevere has found the transition to international cricket tough. A member of two Under-19 World Cup squads and a heavy scorer for Eagles in domestic cricket, Madhevere’s struggled for runs on tour. He’s made two ducks in his first two Test innings and, on Wednesday, managed just 2 before being foxed by Rashid trying to slog. It speaks of the side’s confidence, perhaps, that he’s also batting at a lowly No. 7 currently. He didn’t bowl either in the opening game, so there is much to prove.

Pitch and conditions

It’s likely to be a good surface in Abu Dhabi, but one of the square boundaries will be considerably shorter. The heat at this time of the year isn’t yet intense by UAE standards, but it’ll still test the fitness and endurance of the players nonetheless.

Probable XIs

The status of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Gulbadin Naib is as yet unclear after the two were among a group of five players whose UAE visas were delayed.Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 2 Usman Ghani/Gulbadin Naib, 3 Karim Janat, 4 Asghar Afghan (capt), 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Najibullah Zadran, 7 Afsar Zazai (wk), 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Naveen Ul Haq, 10 Amir Hamza, 11 Fareed Ahmad/Mujeeb Ur RahmanZimbabwe (probable): 1 Tarisai Musakanda, 2 Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, 3 Sean Williams (capt), 4 Sikandar Raza, 5 Ryan Burl, 6 Richmond Mutumbami (wk), 7 Wesley Madhevere, 8 Donald Tiripano, 9 Brandon Mavuta, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Richard Ngarava

Stats and trivia

• Mohammad Nabi, now just a white-ball player, hasn’t picked up a wicket in his last 12 T20I bowling innings. This is the longest streak without a wicket for any player who’s bowled regularly in this format.
• Rashid Khan will make his 50th T20I appearance on Friday.
• Rashid is currently the joint-fourth-highest wicket-taker in men’s T20Is, with Shakib Al Hasan. He needs two more wickets to go past Tim Southee (93 wickets). Lasith Malinga (107) and Shahid Afridi (98) occupy the top two spots

Cricket South Africa has avoided ministerial interference after the Members’ Council – the highest decision-making body in the organisation, made up of 14 provincial presidents – agreed to a majority independent board with an independent chairperson. The composition of the new board will be documented in CSA’s new Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI), which the minister-appointed interim board is overseeing.Related

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Initially, the Members’ Council was resistant to a majority independent board, despite agreeing to one almost a decade ago following the Gerald Majola bonus scandal.Under a majority non-independent board, CSA has since spiralled through crises, which last year resulted in the firing of former CEO Thabang Moroe, the suspension of several senior staff and the resignation of the entire board. South Africa’s sports minister Nathi Mthethwa then stepped in, attempting to force CSA to iron out its governance issues under an interim board, who have been in charge since last November.The Members’ Council resisted several aspects of the interim board involvement, most notably the composition of a new board, prompting Mthethwa to issue an ultimatum that he would use the country’s National Sports and Recreation Act to intervene if needs be, which could have resulted in official recognition being withdrawn from CSA. Mthethwa gave the Members Council until 6pm on Friday to agree on an MOI that stipulates a majority independent board and independent chair, which they eventually accepted.”I take this opportunity to congratulate CSA through the CSA Acting President and Interim Board Chair for this positive act of putting cricket first,” Mthethwa said. “As has been my position since the appointment of the Interim Board, I regard this breakthrough as the end of my involvement in the current process. As the two points of difference were the main obstacles threatening the April 2021 AGM, I have no doubt that the requisite numbers needed to adopt the MOI by the AGM will be achieved. The ball is now in the hands of the two parties.”The details of the MOI will now be outlined and a report prepared for CSA’s AGM, at which point the interim board’s tenure will end. As things stand, their work is due to be complete by April 15, but that may be extended.

Head coach Gary Stead believes New Zealand are in something of a “luxurious position”, with competition for places and just a couple of question marks around their preferred XI to take on England at Lord’s this week. The identity of Tom Latham’s opening partner and how New Zealand choose to balance the side in the absence of Trent Boult are two major selection issues that will be determined between now and Wednesday.Stead also confirmed that Boult, New Zealand’s regular new-ball partner for Tim Southee, was unlikely to feature in the series against England. The left-armer will fly to the UK this week, after being allowed home to spend time with family after the curtailment of the IPL, but New Zealand hope he will be in contention for the World Test Championship final against India, which follows the England Tests.”I don’t think you’ll see Trent in the two Test matches here,” Stead said. “He arrives on Friday, our planning and what we’re looking at doing with Trent is having him ready for the WTC final. He’s been home, he has had a week of bowling over there which has been great after the fair amount of isolation time at the end of the IPL. But our view with Trent right now is it’s unlikely that he will play the Test at Edgbaston. He’s more likely to be just available for the one-off Test.”New Zealand have several pace options available to deputise for Boult in their 19-man squad, and Stead said that the surface rolled out for the first Lord’s Test since August 2019 would influence their thinking.”Within our squad here, Matt Henry, Doug Bracewell, and Jacob Duffy are the other seam-bowling options, so they’re the ones that I think are in contention to come in there,” he said. “Or we look at a rebalancing of the team. The conditions we face here in England are slightly different to New Zealand and looking at the pitch at Lord’s today, you see a pitch that has a green tinge definitely.”We’re still two days out. But it’s cut to about 6mm – we’re used to a lot more grass on wickets than that. So we have to make that decision around that final balance of our team before we go into the match.”With Southee, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson all pencilled on to the team sheet, Colin de Grandhomme, who is returning from ankle surgery and likely to be limited as a bowling option, and Daryl Mitchell are the candidates to provide more all-round depth to the side.Will Devon Conway make his Test debut at Lord’s?•Getty Images

New Zealand could also have a decision to make over spinner Mitchell Santner, who has only played one Test since the 2019-20 tour of Australia. Santner can provide runs at No. 7 or 8 – he scored a maiden Test hundred against England at Mount Maunganui in 2019 – but suffered a cut to his spinning finger during the intra-squad warm-up last week. Lord’s has not been a spin-friendly venue in first-class cricket so far this season, although temperatures are set to rise ahead of the Test.”Mitchell Santner’s come from the IPL, he’s had I guess a reasonably quiet time there. He actually cut the top of his finger the other day in the warm-up game [while] fielding, which was a bit of a blow to him and he’s only had his first bowl back today. But he came through it really well, and what Mitch does is he provides a little bit of a different balance to our team in that he provides you batting opportunity as well.”So the decision we will have to make is will we go with four frontline seamers, as we have in the past year, when Colin was injured and Kyle came into the team and put that different sort of balance on our team; or do you go with three seniors and then you play the allrounder in De Grandhomme and the allrounder in Santner as well. So they’re the different options that we look at when we are balancing our team, the pitch will ultimately I think determine which way we go.”On the question of who will get the nod at opener, Stead was keeping his cards close to his chest, although he did say “we’ve been pretty consistent around the way that we select our Test teams, and I don’t think that’s going to change too much at this stage”. Tom Blundell has opened in seven of New Zealand’s last eight Tests, while Will Young, who debuted against West Indies in December, comes into the series in good form, having scored two hundreds during his stint in county cricket with Durham.Devon Conway, meanwhile, scored an unbeaten half-century after opening with Latham in the game in Southampton. South Africa-born Conway is yet to be capped in Tests, but has piled on the runs in domestic cricket during his qualification period for New Zealand and comes on tour with averages of 75.00 in ODIs and 59.12 in T20Is after a prolific start to his international career.”We will disclose that when we get to the morning of the game but yeah he [Conway] has been one guy we’ve looked at who is certainly an option at the top for us,” Stead said. “But we’ve also got other guys who have done a great job for us in Tom Blundell and Will Young, as well. So it’s a luxurious position to be in a little bit when you’ve got some of the resources that we’ve got at the moment. But yeah, we’ll hold off naming that till match morning.”

Pakistan Women will travel to the Caribbean for three T20Is and five ODIs, with their A team set to shadow the senior side for an additional six matches. All the matches will be hosted by Antigua after the Pakistan contingent arrives on June 23, exactly a week before the first T20I. The ODI series will be played from July 7 to 18.As for the A teams, they will play three T20s, which will be played on the same day and at the same venues as the T20Is as “double-headers”, followed by three one-dayers from June 30 to July 16. All matches will be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium and the Coolidge Cricket Ground.

Pakistan Women’s tour of West Indies schedule

• June 30: 1st T20I and A teams’ T20

• July 2: 2nd T20I and A teams’ T20

• July 4: 3rd T20I and A teams’ T20

• July 7: 1st ODI

• July 9: 2nd ODI

• July 10: 1st A teams’ one-dayer

• July 12: 3rd ODI

• July 13: 2nd A teams’ one-dayer

• July 15: 4th ODI

• July 16: 3rd A teams’ one-dayer

• July 18: 5th ODI

This is the latest step from Cricket West Indies (CWI) in their bid to expand women’s cricket in the Caribbean. It comes soon after rookies Qiana Joseph and Kaysia Schultz were offered their first West Indies central contracts, for the 2021-22 season.”This is a very significant home tour for our women and we are delighted that our counterparts at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have worked with us to arrange these two series despite all the challenges we face with Covid-19,”Jimmy Adams, CWI’s director of cricket, said in a media release. “CWI continues to invest in our international Women’ program by hosting extended High-Performance camps between tours, two of which have already been held this year. In addition, the opportunity to host our first-ever ‘A’ Team Series is brilliant, as it means that our developing players will get the chance to compete against high-quality international opponents and push for selection to the senior team.”This will be West Indies Women’s first international series at home since the pandemic hit. In September last year, they had toured England, where they were blanked 5-0. The upcoming series will also be West Indies Women’s first under Courtney Walsh after he had been appointed to the post in October 2020 following the UK tour. Walsh had also worked with the women’s team during the T20 World Cup held in Australia in February and March last year. The management will look to use the Pakistan ODIs as preparation for the ODI World Cup Qualifier in December in Sri Lanka.Related

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“Our goal post this Pakistan series, is to have our squad play against more international opposition and take part in our Regional Tournament before heading to the Qualifiers in Sri Lanka at the end of the year,” Adams said.Pakistan, meanwhile, have been prepping for the 50-over Women’s World Cup Qualifier by participating in a 25-day camp in the 40-degree heat of Multan from May 29, before moving to Karachi on June 9 when the temperatures soared in Multan. Much like West Indies Women, Pakistan Women haven’t played much cricket since the pandemic struck. Since the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia, Pakistan Women have had just one tour so far – of South Africa, where they lost the ODI series 3-0 and T20Is 2-1. They then visited Zimbabwe, but that tour ended abruptly because of flight restrictions.

Ian Cockbain hit his first half-century of this year’s Vitality Blast to earn Gloucestershire a narrow win over Middlesex after rain at Radlett prevented a nail-biting finish.Cockbain, who top-edged the final ball of the 18th over from Steven Finn for six, did just enough to edge his side ahead by two runs under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculations. Until then, Gloucestershire had been behind the required rate, but Cockbain and Ryan Higgins, with an unbeaten 20, did enough to tilt the contest in their favour, reaching 157 for 5 when a downpour halted play.The run chase was controversial, with both captains questioning the decision to start a fixture at an outground – without floodlights – as late as 5.30pm. Middlesex were told to bowl spin at one stage due to poor light, leading to prolonged delays while Eoin Morgan spoke to the umpires. They brought Finn back in the 18th over, though he conceded two sixes to tilt the game in Gloucestershire’s favour.”The more frustrating thing from my side was that it was so dark, so early,” Morgan said. “The fact that you’re forced to bowl spin, as a captain, when it’s probably not the best option to do so at that time. That happened in about the 12th over and in a game of T20 cricket your hand is forced.”The light was questionable the whole time, but there are two very experienced umpires out there and you have to trust their decision. Given the situation we found ourselves in, the right decision was made. It was dark by the end of the game and when it’s dark, safety comes into it.”Jack Taylor, Gloucestershire’s captain, said: “The umpires were stuck between a rock and a hard place – it did get pretty dark early on. In white-ball cricket, you try and stay out there and they obviously wanted to keep a full game, but I think to be honest a lot of it’s down to the start time.”I don’t think we can play at half past five any more, without lights. Ultimately we all want to play full, good games of cricket and that tarnished some of the good cricket we played in the first half. We had a similar thing at Glamorgan last week – the floodlights weren’t working so we started at 5.30 and the last half-hour of the game was too dark.”Middlesex had posted 179 for 5 after being put in, built around Joe Cracknell’s 41-ball innings of 67 – the youngster’s second successive half-century.Related

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The home side struggled to find momentum in the powerplay and lost Paul Stirling for just 8, slamming Josh Shaw into the hands of mid-off. However, Cracknell looked assured at the crease, punching the ball cleanly and finding the boundary regularly as he and Stephen Eskinazi added 59 from 45 balls.Tom Smith broke the partnership, luring Eskinazi down the track for Glenn Phillips to pull off a stumping, but Cracknell advanced past 50 before mistiming his drive off Dan Worrall and picking out the long-off fielder.Higgins squandered a chance to dispose of Morgan early, dropping him at point – and the Middlesex captain made him pay, thrashing 21 off his next over as he raced to 38 from 22 balls. Higgins got his man eventually, caught in the deep after a knock that included three sixes, before a late flurry from Chris Green, who hit 13 not out from six deliveries, lifted Middlesex to 179.Gloucestershire got away to a flying start courtesy of Chris Dent, who took three successive fours off Tim Murtagh and dispatched Blake Cullen for two sixes to reach 32 from just 15 balls.Despite the departure of Dent – tempted by Steven Finn’s short ball – the visitors reached 61 for 1 in the Powerplay and Cockbain maintained the scoring rate with a succession of boundaries. However, spin duo Green and Luke Hollman, who finished with figures of 2 for 30 and 2 for 33 respectively, slowed Gloucestershire down during the middle overs with flight, variation – and a clutch of wickets.The pick of those was Morgan’s grab at short cover to dismiss Benny Howell off Hollman, but Cockbain remained to marshal the chase and ultimately did just enough to secure Gloucestershire’s victory.

George Bailey has been named the new chairman of selectors of the Australia men’s team following the retirement of Trevor Hohns.Bailey, who played 125 times for Australia, joined the panel in 2019 and takes on the top job ahead of selecting squads for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes later this year.Hohns steps down having served collectively on the selection panel for 21 years – 16 as chairman – across two periods from 1991 to 2005 and 2016 to 2021.”Firstly, I would like to thank Trevor for his incredible work which has helped shape the success of Australian cricket over a long period, including during my days as a player and captain,” Bailey said.”In what can be a challenging job Trevor has always been calm, consistent and approachable. Similarly to his journey, he has made my transition from player to selector as smooth as possible. There is a lot I will take from Trevor’s style and very much look forward to the journey ahead.”George Bailey joined the selection panel in 2019•Getty Images

Hohns’ first period as chairman from 1995-2005 involved a period of huge success for the national team which included the 1999 and 2003 World Cup victories plus the record run of 16 Test wins.He stepped down from his first stint after the 2005 Ashes defeat but returned in 2016. The second spell included the dramatic fallout from the Newlands ball-tampering scandal which required the management of the post-ban returns of Steven Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft that happened during the 2019 Ashes were Australia retained the urn in England for the first time in 18 years.”The game has been great to me and I have loved every minute of it, from the good times to the bad,” Hohns said. “I have been extremely fortunate to be involved with some of the greatest Australian teams of all time and many of the best players to have played the game.”The successes of the side over the years have been great but I remember my time just as much for the wonderful people you work with and those you meet along the way. It has been an amazing journey for me, but all things come to an end. I am happy with my decision.”Trevor Hohns’ first period as chairman from 1995-2005 involved a period of huge success•Getty Images

Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia’s head of national teams, paid tribute to Hohns’ service to the game and the qualities of his successor.”The impact Trevor has had on Australian cricket has been unparalleled over a long period of time,” he said. “For someone to have played such an integral part in so many incredible eras is a feat few, if any, ever achieve.”The role of national selector is one of the most scrutinised in Australian sport and Trevor has performed it with great strength, judgement and humility. We will miss his experience but respect his decision to take a step back from the game and are grateful for his stewardship.””George is a highly respected leader who is now well established on the NSP alongside Justin as the head coach,” he added. “He has brought recent playing experience with a deep understanding of the game, an open and collaborative style and a desire to keep improving the selection function.”Oliver also confirmed a third member of the selection panel would be appointed in the coming months.