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Rubel Hossain’s match-winning performance against England may fetch him an unexpected pay-off – a Bangladeshi actress says she will drop the charges under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act against him that saw him spend three nights in jail in January. But Bangladeshi law does not allow such charges to be dropped unilaterally, and the entire legal process is usually drawn-out and complicated.The actress, Naznin Akhtar Happy, told a private TV channel in Bangladesh, in the aftermath of the England match on Monday, that she was moved enough to drop the charges.”I’ve forgiven him. I am not going to continue the case against him,” Happy told Channel 24 television on Tuesday. “I am not going to give any testimony or evidence against him. And if I don’t carry on with the case, then there is no case.”Her statement came a day after her lawyer Cumar Debul Dey said he wouldn’t represent Happy. A few hours after Bangladesh’s win over England, he wrote on his Facebook page: “I am withdrawing myself as Happy’s lawyer in light of Bangladesh and Rubel’s success. In future, if any other lawyer is appointed to deal with this case, I will not have any problems.”On January 8 Rubel was sent to jail by a Dhaka court in a case filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Dhaka Metropolitan magistrate Muhammad Anwar Sadat passed the order after Rubel surrendered before the court and pleaded for bail. Rubel had, on December 15, been granted four weeks of anticipatory bail in the case. This came two days after the complainant, an actress, had filed the case against Rubel with Mirpur police station on charges of making false promises of marriage.Three days later Rubel was granted bail pending the police submission of the charge sheet to the court. He was also allowed to travel abroad, excusing him from appearing before the court for further proceedings.

Former India captain Rahul Dravid believes the lack of “big ticket players and game changers” will hamper Pakistan’s progress at the 2015 World Cup. Dravid was speaking on Contenders, ESPNcricinfo’s build-up show to the tournament in Australia and New Zealand. Dravid’s co-panelist on the show, former South Africa captain Graeme Smith, said Pakistan’s batting was “a real weakness” and the failure of their younger generation of batsmen to perform consistently has been holding the team back.”Other than [Shahid] Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq and maybe Younis Khan, I don’t think any of these players would have played ODIs in Australia,” Dravid said. “This gives me the impression that they lack experience. They have got young exciting players, and players with skill as well, but it lacks those big-ticket players or game-changers which you would associate the Pakistan teams of the past.”The loss of offspinner Saeed Ajmal, who withdrew from the tournament because his remodelled bowling action needed further work before it was re-tested, will also be a huge setback to Pakistan’s chances. Before he was banned, Ajmal was Pakistan’s go-to bowler in all formats. “Every batsman in every team is breathing a sigh of relief that Ajmal is not around anymore,” Smith said. “Believe me, I wish I could go play a Pakistan team without Ajmal in it. They have lost a bowler who bowled in pressure situations, and in games where they didn’t even deserve to win. He had that ability you know, so it’s a big loss for them and how they replace that is extremely challenging for them.”Though the odds are loaded against them after a poor year in limited-overs cricket, Pakistan will be inspired by the fact that their only World Cup win came in Australia and New Zealand in 1992 under the captaincy of Imran Khan. According to Dravid, one of Pakistan’s biggest challenges will be to find the right “balance” in the playing XI.”They don’t have that all-round player, with questions over whether Mohammed Hafeez can bowl or not. That’s a big blow for them,” Dravid said. “They’ll always have a good bowling attack, they have some exciting bowlers. Afridi has become a more dependable legspinner than a batsman. He can’t bat anywhere higher than 8. And then you’ve got a wicketkeeper, so it’s a hard one for them to mix and match. Their batting just looks really light for me at the moment.”The key for them is to try and find their best 11. When you go back to ’92, charismatic captain, who can forget Wasim Akram in the final of the tournament, and they had some x-factor,” Smith said. “That’s what they need to find now, early in the tournament find their best eleven, hopefully get some of the younger players performing well, and who knows as the tournament goes on they may grow in confidence. That’s their challenge.”

Jamie Porter and Shane Snater blasted through a brittle Lancashire batting line-up to give Essex victory by an innings inside three days at Chelmsford. The Essex pace bowlers exploited a pitch playing low by taking three wickets apiece as Lancashire capitulated in just 41 overs for the second time in the match.Porter set the ball rolling with the first of nine Lancashire wickets to fall in the session to finish with 3 for 24 before Snater took his match figures to 7 for 59 with 3 for 17 in the second innings. Essex’s second win of the season, worth 22 points, took them further clear at the top of the Vitality County Championship with only three games played.”We have started the season fantastically well,” Essex captain Tom Westley said. “Even that last game against Kent we were a bit unlucky with the weather so potentially, it could have been three wins from three.”We’ve been successful for a while now as a club so every game is a big game and we look to win every single game. We’ve just played some fantastic cricket and I think this is one of our better, most complete performances.”I thought the bowlers bowled amazingly well and I think our challenge is to maintain this momentum and keep the standards as high as they currently are.”We know what a good side Lancashire are, they are always identified at the start of the year as contenders to win the division. So to control the game and win every session is a huge pat on the back for Essex.”Lancashire had started day three on 10 for 1 and requiring another 221 runs to make Essex bat again. They lost five wickets in the first hour and never recovered with the game wrapped up in extra time before the scheduled lunch interval.Essex were forced to field 19-year-old Ronnie McKenna as substitute behind the stumps when Michael Pepper pulled out with a finger injury suffered the night before. The Basildon-born 2nd XI wicketkeeper, the third to do the job for Essex in three Championship matches this season, had four leg byes sail past him down the leg side in the first over from Cook.However, 11 balls into his first-team appearance, he was celebrating a first significant contribution as nightwatcher Will Williams edged Porter into his gloves having hung around for 36 balls.That precipitated a catastrophic collapse with four wickets falling in 16 balls. Josh Bohannon lasted 25 balls before he walked across a delivery from Cook and was lbw, while Luke Wells was beaten all ends up by Snater to be bowled for a 54-ball 21. In the same Snater over George Balderson saw the umpire’s finger go up as he played down the wrong line before Tom Bruce had his off stump sent cartwheeling by Porter.There was a 10-over hiatus while Matty Hurst and George Bell put on 30 runs before the wicketkeeper scooped Snater into square leg’s hands.Offspinner Simon Harmer had not bowled much on this seamer’s paradise, but in his fourth over of the innings he had Tom Bailey walking down the wicket and patting the ball back for a simple caught and bowled. Next over Jack Blatherwick followed Bailey’s lead and gave Harmer more catching practice by chipping the ball back to the bowler.Bell had hung around for 40 balls and appeared to be heading for a third fifty in four innings at Chelmsford when he nicked Cook to Dean Elgar at first slip to wrap up the match.

Seven matches. Just two wins in those. And Kolkata Knight Riders are seventh on the table of eight in IPL 2021 as the second leg of the tournament begins from September 19 in the UAE. The poor start, according to head coach Brendon McCullum, was because the players were “being paralysed a little bit by fear” at times in those early games, but he feels the two-time champions “can end it right”.”In regards to the tournament which is upcoming [the second part of IPL 2021], we can end it right,” McCullum told . “We can take the game on and we’re in a situation where we need things to go our way. We need to hit the ground running, challenge one another privately, support one another publicly and try and get the best out of one another in the next four-five weeks. Who knows where we can go with this.”The Knight Riders began their campaign with a ten-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, but then lost four games in a row before bouncing back with a dominant five-wicket win over Punjab Kings, before losing one more, to Delhi Capitals.That more-down-than-up run has been down to inconsistent performances. Dinesh Karthik (123 runs at 30.75, strike rate 138.20), Andre Russell (163, 27.16 and 155.23) and Rahul Tripathi (187, 26.71 and 135.50) have been good with the bat, but captain Eoin Morgan has been poor, with just 92 runs in seven innings, and a strike rate of 112.19, while Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill, regulars at the top of the order, haven’t been able to get a move on either. With the ball, Varun Chakravarthy and Pat Cummins – the Australian is unavailable for the remainder of the tournament – have been the star performers, but the rest of the bowlers haven’t been as tough to get away.”There were sometimes throughout the season when I just felt we were being paralysed a little bit by fear,” McCullum said. “I wasn’t able to free the guys up enough to understand that and that’s sort of a challenge for me. But it is also a good challenge for the guys as well that they need to push the envelope of their own thinking as well.Related

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“Hopefully we will be able to strip away a bit of the angst which had built up in the first part of the season, just go out there and try and enjoy ourselves. That’s the ambition that I have got for the franchise and hence why I am unapologetic and unrelenting in my belief that we need to play a braver style of play.”McCullum, a Knight Riders player when the IPL kicked off in 2008 – remember innings – took charge as chief coach of the Kolkata franchise, as well as at Trinbago Knight Riders, in 2020. While Trinbago went on to win the CPL title in 2020 at the end of a remarkable unbeaten run [they topped the table and are in the semi-finals this season too], the IPL team didn’t have it as good, failing to qualify for the playoffs. This season has not been much better.As far as McCullum is concerned, though, his focus is on the bigger picture. “When we left India [in May], I think everyone understood me as a coach on how I want our team to play,” McCullum said. “I am unapologetic about that as well because my job is to try and build something at KKR that is going to last far longer than I am going to last for the franchise.”

John Stephenson has been appointed as Essex’s new chief executive officer. Stephenson, the former Essex allrounder who has spent the last 17 years working for the MCC, will take charge at Chelmsford in October.Stephenson, who played one Test for England, came through at Essex and had two spells at the club, between 1984-1994 and 2002-2004. His post-playing career began as MCC Head of Cricket, eventually becoming the club’s Assistant Secretary (Cricket). He steps down from the role, to be replaced by Jamie Cox.His appointment follows a lengthy process to find a successor for Derek Bowden at Essex. Bowden announced his intention to retire in October 2020, shortly after the club had lifted the Bob Willis Trophy, and Essex are believed to have been hit hard financially by the effects of the pandemic.Related

• Jamie Cox ready for 'moral and ethical challenges' after being appointed MCC Assistant Secretary

“I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to come back to Essex as the club had a big influence on my professional career,” Stephenson said. “Having spent over a decade with the club as a player, I couldn’t pass up the prospect of taking on this fantastic role.”The club means so much to so many people and has a key role to play in the wider Essex community. One of my main objectives is to continue and build on the recent success that the club have experienced both on and off the field. With the support of the members, fans and the team, I believe we can continue to compete and bring silverware back to Chelmsford.”Having spent more than a decade largely confined to Division Two of the County Championship, Essex claimed their first title in 25 years in 2017, a season after being promoted. They were Division One champions again in 2019, as well as winning the T20 Blast, but failed to qualify for the top tier from this year’s Championship conference stage, meaning they won’t be in the running to defend either red-ball title in September.Essex’s executive chairman John Faragher said: “After an extensive interview process involving some very high-calibre personnel, John was clearly the outstanding candidate for the position at Essex. His exceptional skillset together with his appreciation of the modern game and the challenges facing cricket in the future were key credentials in making our decision.”He will lead the executive team on our journey to the next level in performance both on and off the field. Although we continue to face numerous problems brought about by the pandemic, we continue to be very focused on the future.”These are exciting times for the club and the board looks forward to supporting and working with John.”

South Africa have won successive T20I series, and the second in seven rubbers in the format under Mark Boucher, with a game to spare and under severe pressure. South Africa recovered from 58 for 5 at the halfway stage of their innings to post a more-than-respectable 159, thanks to David Miller and Wiaan Mulder.Miller’s spectacular 44-ball 75 was largely responsible for South Africa scoring 101 runs off the last 10 overs and 68 in the last five to ruin an Irish display that started off miserly. Josh Little’s economy rate shot up after his first spell of 1 for 14 in two overs to 1 for 42 at the end while Mark Adair’s more than doubled from 1 for 8 in his first two overs to 2 for 33 in his final analysis.

Bavuma pulled up for ‘audible obscenity’ in first T20I

Temba Bavuma has been reprimanded for the “use of an audible obscenity” during the first T20I against Ireland, played on Monday.

The Level 1 breach of the ICC’s code of conduct came when the South Africa captain was given out caught behind off Simi Singh for a run-a-ball 13 after opening the innings.

Bavuma received an official reprimand for his act, and had one demerit point added to his disciplinary record (it was his first offence in a 24-month period).

Only Mulder and Aiden Markram suffered similarly expensive fates as South Africa defended their total albeit with a new look attack. With Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje rested, Lungi Ngidi was the pace spearhead, assisted by left-arm quick Beuran Hendricks, who made his first appearance in the series. While Ngidi and Bjorn Fortuin held their ends, Hendricks made key incisions but it was the world’s top-ranked T20I bowler who stole the show.Tabraiz Shamsi finished with 3 for 14 to pull six clear on the leading wicket-takers’ list in 2021 and was responsible for dismissals of Ireland’s big players, Paul Stirling, George Dockrell and Shane Getkate. Ireland will be disappointed with their batting effort, though. No Irish batter made more than 24 and no partnership was worth more than 31.Getting their ducks in a row
South Africa endured their worst start in a T20I after they lost their first two wickets in four balls without a run on the board. Temba Bavuma and Janneman Malan were dismissed in identical fashion, playing away from the body and edging to short third man. Little was the man in place and took the first catch low down and the second at shoulder height to dismiss both batters for ducks and add to the many firsts South Africa have already had on this tour. Not only did they lose to Ireland for the first time in an ODI and play them for the first time in a T20I, but they have also now lost two wickets without scoring a run for the first time in a T20I.It’s Miller-Mulder time
While there is still much work for South Africa’s middle order to do, their finishers played their part after coming together at the end of the 10th over, with the score on 58 for 5. Miller and Mulder put on 58 for the sixth wicket, in 43 balls. They started out watchfully with boundary-less overs off Stirling and Little, and Miller should have been out for 19 when he was dropped by wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker. Miller then pulled Simi Singh through deep midwicket for four before Mulder hit him for six over deep midwicket to bowl his exceptional figures. The pair scored a combined 25 runs off the 16th and 17th overs and were well set to end the innings strongly. Mulder didn’t last to the end and was caught at long-on off the first ball of the 18th over but Miller went on to his third 50-plus score batting at No. 6 or lower. He single-handedly scored 32 out of the 36 runs off the last two overs, including five sixes and three in succession of the last three balls that came off Little.0 is still for O’Brien
Things are not getting better for Kevin O’Brien who collected his second duck of the series and third successive in international cricket. On the evidence of his dismissals, O’Brien seems to be struggling with his timing on the drive as he was bowled by Fred Klaasen playing away from his body in an ODI against Netherlands last month, then chipped a ball that moved a touch late back to Kagiso Rabada in the first T20I and then attempted to drive an overpitched Fortuin ball in this match but gave the left-arm spinner a simple return catch. Ireland were 1 for 1 after one over and may need to look at other options in the top two.Drop, drop, catch (again)
South Africa have made a habit of putting down chances in Ireland and, as was the case in the first T20I, they dropped two before they started holding on. Andy Balbirnie was let off in the second over when he steered Ngidi to Fortuin at short third man. The ball hit him in the chest area and he could not clasp it. Five overs later, Dockrell should have been Hendricks’ second wicket when he drove to mid-on where Aiden Markram dived to his left and tumbled, without the ball. But that’s where the fumbles stopped. Shamsi had Stirling caught by Miller at deep midwicket before Fortuin made up for his blunder and held on to a low chance, diving forward at cover, to dismiss Tector, and Markram also redeemed himself with a well-judged catch on the long-on rope to end Dockrell’s knock.

Thirty-two-year-old Sarah Aley has been added to Australia Women’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand on February 17. She was called in as cover for Lauren Cheatle, who sustained an injury to her shoulder during training last week.Aley – who finished as the highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Women’s Big Bash League – would be the fourth-oldest Australian woman to make a T20I debut if she plays, behind Cathryn Fitzpatrick (37), Belinda Clark (34) and Lisa Keightley (34).She was the player of the match during the WBBL final. In 10 matches in the tournament, Aley took 19 wickets with three three-wicket hauls, including 4 for 23 in the final.National selector Shawn Flegler said Aley’s consistent performances in both the 50-over and 20-over versions have earned her a spot in Australia’s squad. “Sarah had yet another consistent season in both the T20 and 50-over competitions this season and there’s no doubt she has earned her selection,” Flegler said. “She has got a wealth of experience and we know that if the opportunity arises she will be able to perform the role she’s given. You always know what you are going to get with Sarah.”Cheatle is expected to be available for the second and third matches of the series. The three-match T20I series starts in Melbourne, before moving to Geelong and finishing in Adelaide on February 22.

Kaushik Gandhi’s career-best 164 helped Tamil Nadu open up a 70-run lead over Punjab in Nagpur. After Tamil Nadu resumed on 218 for 4 in response to Punjab’s first-innings 284, Gandhi built on his overnight 75 not out for his second century this season, to go along with a half-century in the previous game against Bengal, before Siddarth Kaul (3 for 86) took out the lower order as Tamil Nadu were bowled out for 354. Manpreet Gony finished with 4 for 81. Punjab lost their openers Manan Vohra for 41 and Jiwanjot Singh for a duck before they wiped out the deficit. Uday Kaul (43*) and Mandeep Singh (35*) stitched together an unbroken 62-run third-wicket stand as Punjab ended on 121 for 2, ahead by 51 with one full day remaining.At the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh’s batsmen enjoyed a field day against Railways, scoring 285 runs for the loss of two wickets as they closed in on the first-innings lead. MP had ended the second day on 71 for 3 in response to Railways’ 371 with Naman Ojha batting on 9 and Devendra Bundela, the MP captain, on 13. Ojha struck an even 50, while Bundela raised his 26th first-class century, staying not out on 131 with 19 fours and two sixes, as MP finished the day on 356 for 5, trailing by 15 runs. The duo extended their fourth-wicket partnership to 95, before Ojha was bowled by left-arm spinner Avinash Yadav. Harpreet Singh chipped in with 22, but after his dismissal, Railways had to endure close to 58 wicketless overs as Bundela and Shubham Sharma shared an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 192 runs. Shubham was closing in on his maiden first-class century, finishing not out on 91 with the help of 10 fours and two sixes.Shreyas Iyer’s first century this season, an unbeaten 191, kept Mumbai in the hunt for first-innings points against Gujarat in Hubli. They ended on 328 for 6, still trailing by 109 runs. Resuming on 58 for 3 after having bowled out Gujarat for 437, Iyer and nightwatchman Dhawal Kulkarni, who made 61, frustrated Gujarat with a 187-run stand for the fourth wicket. The pair lasted 62.4 overs before Jasprit Bumrah sent back Kulkarni. Axar Patel, leading Gujarat in the absence of Parthiv Patel, who has joined the Indian Test team in place of the injured Wriddhiman Saha, then dismissed Suryakumar Yadav. Then, shortly before stumps, Bumrah returned to trap Abhishek Nayar lbw for 14. He finished with figures of 4 for 49.

The ICC announced on Monday that a revised constitution for USA Cricket Association will be put up for consideration at the next ICC board meeting later this month. Ratifying a revised constitution is one of the key terms and conditions for the USACA to be reinstated as an Associate member of the ICC following their suspension in 2015.The announcement came after an ICC delegation including chief executive David Richardson and chairman Shashank Manohar spent the weekend in New York having meetings with stakeholders, including members of four advisory groups appointed to help carry out the ICC’s strategic framework outline. According to the ICC release, members of the advisory group formulated the revised constitution over the last several months before presenting it to the ICC delegation this weekend. The advisory groups comprises people from across the USA cricket community, including USACA board members and administrators.”We have heard from representatives across the USA cricketing community and there is a clear desire from them to unify under a single umbrella,” Richardson said. “The ICC is here to facilitate that process of building a strong foundation on which the sport can develop. Should the ICC Board consider the new constitution appropriate for the US market then we would look to USACA to adopt that as part of the fulfilment of their reinstatement conditions before full implementation of the constitution in 2017.”USACA board representatives, including president Gladstone Dainty, also met separately with the ICC delegation over the weekend. It is unclear how much input, if any, the Dainty-led board – separate from the USACA administrators who have been appointed to the ICC advisory groups – had in the revised constitution that will be presented to the ICC board.The ICC had given USACA until December 15 to comply with meeting all conditions for reinstatement, including ratifying a new constitution. Failure to meet the deadline may result in a resolution to be put to the ICC board before the end of the year for the expulsion of USACA, which would be put forward at the ICC annual conference in June 2017.

'Nothing less than a dream performance'