Wagner rocks Zimbabwe, New Zealand take charge
Kiwis bowl hosts out for 164 in first Test
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, July 28, (AFP): Left-arm seamer Neil Wagner’s raw pace and aggression proved too much for an out-of-touch Zimbabwean batting lineup as New Zealand stamped their authority on the first Test on the opening day at Queens Sports Club.
On a surface offering little to the bowlers, Wagner bent his back and used the short ball to good effect to take career-best figures of 6 for 41, bowling Zimbabwe out for just 164 after they had won the toss and elected to bat first.
New Zealand closed the day on 32 without loss, with Tom Latham on 16 and Martin Guptill on 14.
Zimbabwe had not played a Test since November 2014, and the hiatus
Wagner
Zimbabwe’s batsman Michael Chinouya competes during the first day of the first Test match in a series of two Tests
between New Zealand and hosts Zimbabwe at the Queens Sports Club, in Bulawayo on July 28. (AFP) Bates’ again at the Southern Vipers after their pair played alongside other in the WBBL for the Perth Scorchers, added: “I think it’s great that we’ve got stand-alone games here; you’ll probably get a good gauge of where the women’s game’s at from the crowds we’re hopefully going to attract.
Six specially created teams will compete in the Super League from July 30 to Aug 21, with a 50 overs per side element added next year ahead of the Women’s World Cup in England and Wales next year.
But Edwards was in no doubt that Twenty20, the shortest of cricket’s professional formats, was the way to showcase women’s cricket to a new audience.
“We’ve learnt over a period of time that the T20 format is the best way to promote the game and I think this is a great opportunity to do Edwards.
“I think it’s a great way to attract people to watch -- we want it to be an energetic and dynamic game which hopefully attracts young girls to play.
“It’s going to be a 50-over comp before the World Cup next summer and the T20 afterwards, so it’s exciting times,” Edwards added.
England and Australia have been the dominant nations in women’s cricket for most of Bates’ career but the success of the West Indies in winning the World Twenty20 earlier this year was evidence of an increasingly competitive global game.
“New Zealand had six players in the Big Bash League and our team’s gone from strength to strength, with our top players getting exposure to competitive cricket and pressure situations,” Bates said.
“So I think it’ll strengthen South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand and hopefully we can keep competing with England and Australia, who’ve been top dogs for a while now.
“I think everyone agrees if we can have six to eight teams worldwide competing regularly, it’s going to be good for the women’s game.”
Bates
that again,” said role with the tourists in more of a permanent capacity.
Prior to taking up his Pakistan role, former leg-spinner Mushtaq was England’s spin-bowling coach.
Off-spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan, Test cricket’s all-time leading wickettaker, has come under fire for working with Australia in their ongoing series in his native Sri Lanka.
By contrast the atmosphere between English and Pakistani officials has been far more cordial.
That’s partly because, as this is Pakistan’s first tour of England since their infamous 2010 spot-fixing debacle at Lord’s, both sides are desperate to let their cricket do the talking.
It is also a reflection of their multinational backroom staffs, with England head coach Trevor Bayliss an Australian and his Pakistan counterpart, Mickey Arthur, a South African.
Added to all that, Pakistan fielding coach Steve Rixon, the former Australia wicket-keeper, and Bayliss — who made his name internationally as Sri Lanka coach — were once team-mates in the same New South Wales side.
Meanwhile Bayliss was in no doubt about the impact someone like the 39-year-old Saqlain, who took 208 Test wickets at under 30 apiece in 49 matches, could make, even in a parttime role.
“He was here for this Test match. We’ll probably look at something else further down the line as well.