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On his return to competitive cricket after three months, Arshdeep said he “felt really good” with the number of overs he got in despite bagging only one wicket

Ashish Pant30-Aug-2025Arshdeep Singh is learning how to enjoy the “boring times” in red-ball cricket and has spent the last few months working on his “mindset” as he tunes up for the upcoming season.Arshdeep, 26, is currently playing for North Zone in the Duleep Trophy match against East Zone in Bengaluru, his last competitive game before the 2025 Asia Cup, which begins on September 9 in Abu Dhabi.”In Test cricket or red-ball cricket, there is a time when the day gets boring,” Arshdeep said. “In the session after lunch, mostly the ball doesn’t do anything. So, how can you enjoy that?”I spoke to [Mohammed] Siraj and he told me that when nothing is happening, how you enjoy that phase would tell you how successful you could be in red-ball cricket. He gave me this small tip. I really liked it.”Related

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Before this, Arshdeep last played competitive cricket at IPL 2025, where he finished as Punjab Kings’ highest wicket-taker with 21 wickets in 17 matches. He earned a maiden Test call-up for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and was in contention to make his debut in the fourth Test, but injured his bowling hand and was ruled out.Having gone close to three months without a game, Arshdeep put in a long shift on the second day, bowling 17 overs, the most by any North Zone bowler. While he only got one wicket, he “felt really good” with the number of overs he got in.”In the last couple of months I was with the team, I trained a lot, bowled a lot and worked a lot with the S&C [strength and conditioning],” Arshdeep said. “I worked on fitness as well and that helped me bowl a decent long spell. After 15-17 overs, my body feels well. It’s [the ball] coming out really well. Not many wickets but yes, they will come as well in the future.”India fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Mohammed Shami share a light moment•PTI

Did it get frustrating at any point in England, having to spend almost two months on the sidelines? How did he keep himself motivated?”When you are not playing, you just try to push your limits. The training is almost the same,” he said. “You just put in more work when you are not playing. More overs, more strength work, more training, so that whenever you get the chance, you are ready and fully fit to go.”I don’t know how many thousands of balls I would have bowled in practice. It’s not like there was a lack of bowling. I was properly managing my workload. The aim is to stay ready whenever you get a chance.”Arshdeep will have to make a quick switch to white-ball cricket, with the Indian team slated to reach Dubai for the Asia Cup preparations on September 4. The fast bowler, however, doesn’t feel the switch to T20 cricket will be tough, and insists it is all about adaptability.”Right from the last Test [at The Oval], I had started practising with a white ball,” Arshdeep said. “I didn’t know that there was a Duleep Trophy match in between. At the end of the day, red ball, white ball or pink ball, you have to play cricket and try and enjoy it.”I have got a chance here [at the Duleep Trophy], will play with a white ball next [at the Asia Cup]. So the aim is to put in a lot of overs under your belt and play any format. The mindset is about how quickly you can adapt. In today’s cricket, a batsman can hit against the red ball and he can play conservatively against a white ball.”So, it’s all about how you can adapt according to the situation, according to the wicket, according to the weather, when you have to put in effort, when you have to conserve yourself.”India’s first game at the Asia Cup is against UAE on September 10. They will play Pakistan on September 14 and Oman on September 19 before the Super Four round gets underway from September 20.

Andy Gorvin, Ben Kellaway share seven wickets to knock Yorkshire out

ECB Reporters Network14-Aug-2024Glamorgan safely booked a home semi-final slot on Sunday in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup as they made it six wins out of eight to top Group B with a 62-run victory over the Yorkshire Vikings at Sophia Gardens.The champions in 2021, Glamorgan had already booked a play-off spot before the final round of games but now avoid having to play a quarter-final game on Friday.A solid 66 from former Yorkshire player Billy Root against his brother Joe’s county was the centre piece in the Welsh side’s total of 230 for 9 in a game reduced to 47 overs a side after early rain. His 56-run partnership with Timm van der Gugten for the ninth wicket proved crucial in hauling the home side past the 200 run mark.The Yorkshire spin attack of Dom Bess and Dan Moriarty tied down the Glamorgan batters with a spell of 20 overs between them that cost only 94 runs. Moriarty ended up with 3 for 47 from his 10 overs.Van der Gugten ended on an unbeaten 34, which included a six and three fours, and then gave Glamorgan the perfect start with a wicket with the first ball of the Yorkshire reply, trapping Harry Duke lbw. He ended with 2 for 32 from his 10 overs to complete a good all-round day.Yorkshire then lurched to 11 for 3 in seven overs as Noah Kelly and William Luxton were both clean bowled. Skipper Jonny Tattersall provided some much needed stability with his 51, enjoying profitable stands of 46 with Yash Vagadia and 59 with Matt Revis as the Vikings improved to 116 for 5.Then a burst of three wickets in 12 balls by Andy Gorvin in the 27th and 29th overs saw Revis (28), Tattersall (51) and George Hill (2) all depart to turn the game even more in favour of the Welsh county.With the required rate rising to more than six per over, Bess hit out before he was caught by Dan Douthwaite for an enterprising 22. That gave spinner Ben Kellaway his second wicket – one with his left arm and the next with his right.At 152 for 8 the Vikings were still 78 short of their total and needing to score at more than seven an over. Kellaway and Gorvin mopped up the tail as Yorkshire were all out for 168.Tattersall won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Glamorgan to bat on an overcast morning. The start was delayed to 11.30am due to light rain and the match reduced to 47 overs.Will Smale and Asa Tribe got off to a flying start for the home side with Smale taking 10 off Dom Leech’s first over. Tribe then sent Ben Cliff’s first ball crashing to the boundary at the other end.But Cliff got his revenge in the sixth over when he removed both openers with his first and last balls. Smale was caught at mid-on trying to hit him over the top for 16 and then Tribe was trapped lbw for 9.That made it 28 for 2 and in his next over Cliff captured the dangerous Sam Northeast for 7 as he was brilliantly caught one handed at slip by George Hill. That made it 40 for 3 and put the Group B table-toppers under considerable pressure.Skipper Kiran Carlson and Colin Ingram brought up the 50 in the last over of the first powerplay with two off-side boundaries from Ingram. Hill struck in the next over to remove Ingram, caught behind by Tattersall for 18.The partnership between Carlson and Ingram was worth 44 and his departure left Glamorgan on 84 for 4. Carlson was trapped lbw on 31 by Leech just after the 100 came up.

A win is vital for the home side if they are to retain hopes of reaching the final

AAP03-Mar-2024Daniel Hughes and Oliver Davies struck fighting centuries to give New South Wales a chance to secure victory in their Sheffield Shield encounter with South Australia in Sydney.NSW went to stumps on day three with an overall lead of 178. Hughes (114 off 180 balls) and Davies (116 off 166 balls) were the standout performers on Sunday.Related

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Given NSW entered the penultimate round in fourth spot, they will fight tooth and nail to secure an outright win on Monday in order to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Shield final.”I think we’ll look to bat on a little bit in the morning, and try to get that lead upwards of 220ish,” Davies said. “I think it’s a 104-over day tomorrow, so [we will try to] give ourselves 90 to 96 overs to try to rock and roll them.”Hughes started Sunday on 71, and brought up his ninth first-class century during the morning session before his knock was brought undone by a sharp diving catch by Jake Lehmann.When NSW slipped to 213 for 4, the Redbacks had a chance to get themselves back into the contest. But the door was slammed firmly shut as Davies, Moises Henriques and Jack Edwards all dug in.Chris Green and Ryan Hadley made it to stumps, and will look to pile on some quick runs on Monday.Nathan McAndrew was the pick of the Redbacks bowlers with 3 for 63 to lift his season tally to 40 wickets, while Ben Manenti snared 2 for 114.”It was a tough day,” Manenti said.  “I thought we toiled pretty hard all day. Credit to Hughesy and Ollie, they batted well and got nice hundreds, and were chanceless. The wicket flattened out, so I think it will be a good wicket to bat on tomorrow.”For 23-year-old Davies, it was his second Shield century of the summer.”To not be picked at the start of the season to scoring my second century, it’s a very good feeling,” Davies said.  “Hopefully I can keep carrying this on.”I felt really good out there. I waited for bad balls, and thought I batted very well. I thought I was a lot more patient than I am in most other innings.”

Stuart Broad returns to the top 10 among Test bowlers after picking up six wickets at Old Trafford

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2020Ben Stokes has replaced Jason Holder as the No. 1 Test allrounder following a match-defining performance in the second Test against West Indies at Old Trafford. Stokes, who slammed a patient 176 in the first innings and followed that up with a rapid 57-ball 78 not out in the second, also went up to a career-best third spot in the rankings for batsmen, only behind Steven Smith and Virat Kohli, joint with Marnus Labuschagne on 827 ranking points.Stokes trailed Holder in the allrounders’ list by 54 points before the second Test, but ended it 38 points in front, after also claiming three wickets as England won by 113 runs to level the series. In the process, Stokes ended Holder’s stay at the top after 18 months, and became the first from England to head the rankings since Andrew Flintoff in May 2006. Stokes’ tally of 497 points was also the highest by a Test allrounder since Jacques Kallis got to 517 in April 2008.In other gains for England, opener Dom Sibley jumped 29 places to a career-high No. 35 after a solid 120 in the first innings, while Stuart Broad returned to the top ten among bowlers after picking up three wickets in each innings, pushing James Anderson, who missed the game, down to No. 11.For West Indies, Shamarh Brooks’ twin half-centuries took him to his career-best of No. 45 in the batsmen’s list, while allrounder Roston Chase gained two places to sit on 31st in the bowlers’ charts.As far as the World Test Championship is concerned, the win took England to the third position on the points table, the 40 points putting them in front of New Zealand and only behind India and Australia.

Next phase of training includes social-distancing exemptions

Matt Roller25-May-2020The path for England’s return to international cricket has become clearer after the UK government published stage two guidelines for the resumption of elite sporting training.Stage two of competitive training sees players given exemptions on social-distancing rules where necessary as part of training, with the decision on when to move from the first to the second stage at the ECB’s discretion.Eighteen bowlers returned to training on a strict individual basis at the end of last week, with players adhering to a precise set of protocols regarding personal hygiene and social distancing under the supervision of a physiotherapist.ALSO READ: West Indies CEO ‘increasingly confident’ on England tourEngland are likely to name an enlarged squad of up to 45 players later this week, with players gradually returning to training as required. Batsmen and wicketkeepers are due to begin training on Monday, June 1, while white-ball players are likely to return later. The first Test against West Indies is pencilled in for July 8, while the first limited-overs internationals are likely to be a three-match ODI series against Ireland at the end of July/start of August.The new guidance says that stage two training is anticipated to “start with smaller ‘clusters’ of 2-3 athletes and eventually progress to larger groups of 4-12 athletes, and ultimately full-team training”. It also stresses that social distancing should be maintained “at all other times aside from technical training”.The guidance differs slightly from that issued by the ICC last week, which encouraged players to maintain social distancing during training.It is highly likely that players will be encouraged to continue practices from individual training, such as bowlers bringing their own set of balls, regular use of disinfectant wipes, and washing hands regularly. The guidance recommends keeping communal areas like changing rooms closed, and re-states that athletes and staff should be made clear on their option to opt out at any point.The ECB should also ensure that coaches and athletes are “briefed on, understand and are able to operate within the risk mitigation strategy associated with stage two training”, the guidance states.”This new guidance marks the latest phase of a carefully phased return to training process for elite athletes, designed to limit the risk of injury and protect the health and safety of all involved,” Nigel Huddleston, the sports minister, said.”We are absolutely clear that individual sports must review whether they have the appropriate carefully controlled medical conditions in place before they can proceed, and secure the confidence of athletes, coaches and support staff.”Given the wide-ranging input we have received from medical experts, we believe these pragmatic measures should provide further reassurance that a safe, competitive training environment can be delivered, as we work towards a restart of professional sport behind closed doors when it is safe to do so.”A Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) statement said: “The elite sport return-to-training guidance intends to minimise the risk to the elite sports community, while also minimising any pressure elite sport places on healthcare workers and the wider community during the resumption of training. Like all changes to current measures it will be kept under review in accordance with the government’s Covid alert system.”

The India captain says touring teams should know which venues they’re going to play at

Karthik Krishnaswamy in Ranchi22-Oct-2019Virat Kohli wants India to play their home Tests at only five venues. He did not name them but said Test cricket in India should be distributed across “strong Test centres” as they are in other countries.Kohli said this in response to a question about whether India should restrict the home Tests to the traditional big-city venues – Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bengaluru.India follow a rotation policy to allot their home games in all formats, and South Africa’s just-concluded tour took place at three venues that were each hosting just their second-ever Test matches: Visakhapatnam, Pune and Ranchi.”We’ve been discussing this for a long time now, and in my opinion we should have five Test centres, period,” Kohli said, after the conclusion of the Ranchi Test. “I mean, I agree [with] state associations and rotation and giving games and all that, that is fine for T20 and one-day cricket, but Test cricket, teams coming to India should know, ‘we’re going to play at these five centres, these are the pitches we’re going to expect, these are the kind of people that will come to watch, crowds’.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“So that becomes a challenge already, when you’re leaving your shores, because we go to any place, we know we’re having four Test matches in these venues, this is what the pitch is going to offer, it’s going to be a full stadium, the crowd’s behind the [home] team, and look, you want to keep Test cricket alive and exciting. I totally agree with the fact that we need five Test centres at the max.”It can’t be sporadic and spread over so many places where people turn up or they don’t, so in my opinion, absolutely. You should have five strong Test centres that teams coming to India know that this is where they’re going to play.”England play most of their Test matches at their six traditional venues – the two London grounds, Lord’s and The Oval, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Nottingham. Australia play the bulk of their home Tests in six cities too – Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Hobart. In both these countries – and in South Africa and New Zealand as well – there is usually a set order to which cities host which Tests; The Oval always hosts the last Test of the English summer for instance. Also, in the Southern Hemisphere, traditional dates are fixed for certain venues to host their Tests, such as Boxing Day at the MCG or Durban, and the New Year’s Tests in Cape Town and the SCG.India, in contrast, spread their Tests all over the country. They’ve played home Tests at 27 venues overall, and 18 grounds since the turn of the millennium. The major venues have usually hosted the most Tests in this period, but, as Kohli said, sporadically. Mumbai and Chennai, for instance, haven’t hosted any Tests since late 2016.Crowds for Test cricket at newer venues in smaller cities and towns has been a talking point for quite a few years, though there isn’t a clear pattern to suggest that Tests at all such venues are poorly attended. The three grounds that hosted the series against South Africa are all located at a fair distance from the city centre, and the facilities at some of the grounds aren’t particularly spectator-friendly – three-fourths of the stands in Pune, for instance, don’t have roofs. Still, though there were no full houses, there was a decent turnout on most days in Visakhapatnam and Ranchi, and over the weekend in Pune.

Zafar Ansari has joined Stuart Broad as an injury doubt ahead of the third Test after both players missed training in Mohali on Thursday

George Dobell in Mohali24-Nov-2016Zafar Ansari has joined Stuart Broad as an injury doubt ahead of the third Test after both players missed training in Mohali on Thursday.While the England management have yet to confirm anything, it seems Broad has almost no chance of playing. He sustained a foot injury on the opening day of the Visakhapatnam Test and has been hobbling around in a moon boot in recent days.Ansari’s situation is less clear. He has recovered from the illness that troubled him in Vizag, but is still struggling with a sore back. He will have to prove his fitness in training on Friday if he is to have any chance of playing in the Test that starts on Saturday. Fellow spinner Gareth Batty is therefore likely to come back into the side if Ansari is ruled out.Any thoughts that England may have had of playing an extra seamer were surely scotched by a first look at the Test pitch in Mohali. Dry, cracked and shaved, there is nothing in it to suggest a fourth seamer would be a lot of use.That is not ideal, though. Batty, like Moeen Ali, is an offspinner and, against an India line-up packed with right-handers, the left-arm option that Ansari provided could be missed.There is another option. England could pick an extra batsman, allowing them to retain Ben Duckett – they are keen not to dent his confidence – and find a place for Jos Buttler. Moeen Ali would probably be moved back down to No. 8, with Chris Woakes at nine and Adil Rashid at ten, but it is England’s batting that has let them down and, in the cooler climate of Mohali – think of a pleasant day in England in May – there is less need for a sixth bowler to share the workload.It is unlikely they will adopt such an approach. Alastair Cook likes the balance of an attack that contains three seamers and three spinners and, with a couple of those spinners a little more inconsistent than he would like, the insurance policy of the extra bowler is understandable. It is more likely that Moeen – ultimate utility player that he is – will be asked to fill yet another hole and bat at No. 4.You wonder if Moeen’s low maintenance demeanour and innate modesty sometimes count against him; it is hard to think of a player who has been shunted up and down the order as often. If he bats at No. 4 in Mohali, No. 3 will be the only position in the top nine he has not filled.One man who looks certain to play in Mohali is Woakes. England missed him in Vizag, most notably with the bat, but also with the ball. As well as developing great accuracy – he hardly bowled a poor delivery in Rajkot – he has also developed into England’s quickest bowler with a bouncer than can trouble the best of them; just ask Cheteshwar Pujara. In his absence, it was mainly left to Ben Stokes to test the India batsmen with the short ball.Chris Woakes bowled impressively at Rajkot before being rested for the second Test•AFP

Woakes is about as far from the archetypal image of a raging, snorting fast bowler as you could meet. He modestly admits that his late development of pace has rendered him the fastest bowler in the team for “the first time since I was 12” and said the first thing he thinks when he hits a batsman is wanting to make sure he’s okay. While he claims he was disappointed to be rotated out of the team for the second Test, it is hard to imagine him unleashing much more than a quiet “tut” of disapproval at the decision. Besides, he says he feels fresher for the break.He was asked – inevitably – about England’s method of shining the ball. And, equally inevitably, he steered a diplomatic course between expressing some sympathy for Faf du Plessis and some understanding of the margins that exist between sucking on a sweet to generate saliva and directly applying the sweet to the ball. A future in diplomacy awaits.”If you’re placing a sweet on the ball that is obviously against the rules,” Woakes said. “But everything else seems to be a little bit of a grey area. We won’t be changing anything we do when we go out there this week. There’s always cameras on you, there always have been, so there’s nothing we need to change.”Hashim Amla said he had chewing gum in his mouth pretty much all day. Is that deemed as wrong and as cheating? I think it needs to be clarified exactly what the problem is.”At drinks breaks, guys have sweets or mints just to freshen up and keep the energy going, but nothing from a sweet is allowed to go on a ball so therefore we don’t do that. It’s just a sugar boost really. Gatorade has sugar in it as well. We take those drinks on board and then lick our [finger] and put that on the ball. Is that classed as a sugary substance going on the ball? I don’t know.”Of more concern to England is how to bowl to Virat Kohli. While Pujara has scored heavily in the first two Tests as well, it is Kohli who is keeping England awake at night. He looks magnificent and, in the second innings at Rajkot and Vizag, a class above anyone else from either side. In the past, England have been able to deal with him with lateral movement and good control. But there is little movement here and Kohli looks an improved player. These are still three Tests to play, but he could well prove to be the difference between the sides in this series.”His first 30 balls will be crucial,” Woakes said. “Because once he gets in, it’s hard to get him out. But I feel like the teams are fairly evenly matched. I know they are in their own conditions and they are good in their own conditions but I don’t think they’re out of reach.”

James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has narrowed his focus on high performance failings as a reason for the national team’s dire recent displays in Asian Test matches

Daniel Brettig31-Aug-2016James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, has narrowed his focus on high performance failings as a reason for the national team’s dire recent displays in Asian Test matches, adding scrutiny to the roles of the team performance manager Pat Howard and the selection panel.In response to repeated questioning about Australia’s three-nil hiding at the hands of an unfancied Sri Lanka in their recent Test series – a result that cost Steven Smith’s side their No. 1 ranking in the longest format – Sutherland’s rhetoric has shifted from patience to a more urgent tone.His latest words, on the day CA announced an additional $500,000 in funding for the Growing Cricket for Girls fund, followed a raft of criticism from former players, including the ex-CA Board director Mathew Hayden and the recently retired captain Michael Clarke, about the decision to rest Smith from the latter limited overs portion of the Sri Lanka tour. While Sutherland defended that decision as a matter of necessity, he was more questioning of how Australia’s players did not appear to be adding the requisite adaptability to their games.”Are some of the fundamental things that we are doing to prepare our players to perform well and be highy competitive in subcontinental conditions passing the test?” Sutherland told “I think that’s where the review gets a little bit more meaty and challenging and more fundamental, going right down into questioning our high-performance systems as well.”To be a bonafide international cricketer in this day and age, you need to be able to adapt to conditions in Australia, conditions in England, conditions in the subcontinent … wherever you play,” he said. “And that adaptability is something that needs to be reviewed because some are adapting and some aren’t.”Speaking about the longer term, Sutherland stated that Australian cricket had to reach a point where “in 10 years’ time when we tour India there is a pool of hundreds of players that could be on that tour”. These words will not be lost on Howard, out of contract next year, or the selection chairman Rod Marsh, also with a deal due to expire in 2017. CA recently hired Graham Manou to manage the junior talent pathway.On the subject of Smith, Sutherland described the captain’s imposed rest as a product of the game’s increasingly cluttered schedule. “It’s obviously far more preferable for him to stay and see that through,” he said, “but the nature of international cricket today and the calendar is that at times we need to make decisions that are in the best interests of the individual and the team.”In coming weeks at the next round of ICC meetings, Sutherland will re-embark on a task he has championed for some time – that of changing cricket’s global structures to allow more room between matches, and greater context so each contest has an easily understandable reason for existing, and by extension greater value for fans and broadcasters.

Middlesex have announced that chief executive Vinny Codrington has resigned from the position with immediate effect

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jul-2015Middlesex have announced that chief executive Vinny Codrington has resigned from the position with immediate effect. Codrington has been the club’s chief executive since 1997, making him one of the longest-serving administrators in the game.Recent weeks have seen Middlesex caught up in a scheme to sell on Ashes tickets for Lord’s set up by former players Chris Rogers and Tom Scollay. Rogers, the Australia opener, had planned to use tickets granted to him by Middlesex as part of hospitality packages for the second Ashes Test, contrary to the regulations.Codrington denied that the episode was a motivation in him stepping down halfway through the season, however. The MCC, with whom Middlesex have a tenancy agreement at Lord’s, are understood to still be investigating the matter.”Over the past few years, I have become increasingly aware of my desire to seek a new challenge and now is a good time for me to make that move,” Codrington said. “Once I had made that decision, I felt it was in the best interests of both parties for me to move on immediately, so I requested a release from my contract. I am grateful to Middlesex for agreeing to that request.””Being the chief executive of a sporting organisation is emotionally draining in every sense. After 18 years, this does catch up with you and that is why I have been considering my position. People may assume that the Chris Rogers ticket affair was a factor in this. I cannot deny that we, as a club, made mistakes on the issue. However, it is not a factor in my resignation, nor was I asked to resign by the club.”Codrington leaves Middlesex with them re-established in Division One of the Championship. They won the Twenty20 Cup in 2008, as well as the Division Two title in 2011, but silverware was otherwise in short supply.”It is with regret that we have accepted Vinny’s resignation,” Middlesex’s chairman, Ian Lovett, said. “In the modern era, it is almost unheard of for a chief executive to spend 18 years at the same sports club. That achievement is testament itself of Vinny’s great talents and his endless commitment to the club; he has made a quite remarkable contribution to the development of Middlesex cricket, both the professional game and, in many ways more importantly, at recreational level.”

Sana Mir, the Pakistan women’s cricket team captain, has said women’s cricket in Pakistan has developed significantly since the PCB handed contracts to 19 women cricketers

Umar Farooq02-Dec-2011Sana Mir, the Pakistan women’s cricket team captain, has said women’s cricket in Pakistan has developed significantly since the PCB handed contracts to 19 women cricketers. Pakistan recently finished as runners-up in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier in Bangladesh and will take part in the Women’s World Twenty20 next year and the Women’s 50-over World Cup in 2013.”Our approach to the game is entirely professional now,” Mir, who was Pakistan’s second-highest run-scorer during the qualifiers and also took four wickets, told ESPNcricinfo. “It is not just a game but a profession we have chosen to earn a livelihood from.”The Pakistan women’s team only emerged in 1997 and it took them almost four years to register their first win, in a home ODI against Netherlands in 2001. They had to wait till 2004 to beat a top-flight team but victories have become more frequent in the last two years. Earlier this year the PCB offered the players central contracts, after they won the gold medal in the Asian Games in 2010. Mir, who is on a Grade A contract, said women’s cricket is now headed in the right direction.”We have been struggling in many areas but in the last couple of years things have improved significantly. Cricket is very old in our region but among women it is not that popular; it has gained popularity among girls only in the last six-seven years.”But we are heading in the right direction. Technically, we have to do a lot to break into the top three teams but we have gained a lot of ground. We have to work on our bench strength. We have to introduce the game at the grass-root level. In Pakistan there are only a few cricket clubs for women; the number of them has to increase to three figures. We still have nearly 50 girls as backup for the national squad.”Mir was conservative in setting goals for the upcoming World Cups, saying winning was more of a fantasy than an achievable goal. “We have been in the World Twenty20 before and lost our way in the opening round, so this time our target is to at least get through to the second round. As far as the 50-over World Cup is concerned, we have better chances and are targeting at least the semi-finals.”Pakistan have risen to sixth in the women’s ODI rankings this year but Mir said they were still some way off competing with the top teams. “We are still far off from being the best as they are many areas in which we lag behind. The most important things we need to work on are fitness, endurance and mental strength. We need to play more and more quality cricket against better teams to flourish. We are at No. 6 now and our first priority is to hold this spot and not slip back down.”