Cricket set for shot at Olympic glory

Cricket's long Olympic exile could finally come to an end this week when Games chiefs meet in Mumbai to finalise the programme for Los Angeles 2028. Twenty-eight sports are already confirmed on the schedule but cricket was one of five new sports formally proposed for inclusion by organisers for the Games on Monday. The International Cricket Council's proposal is for men's and women's Twenty20 competitions – the shortest form of the international game. "We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics," ICC chairman Greg Barclay said. "Whilst this is not the final decision, it is a very significant landmark towards seeing cricket at the Olympics for the first time in more than a century." If it makes the cut, it would be the first time cricket has featured since 1900, when a team from Britain beat a side representing France in Paris. Since then it has been in the Olympic wilderness, in part because cricket itself was quite happy to stand aside from the Games. But in recent years the ICC has made clear it wants to be part of the global showpiece – a move that could turbo-charge the sport and help it exploit new markets. "Our sport is united behind this bid, and we see the Olympics as a part of cricket's long-term future," Barclay said in 2021. "We have more than a billion fans globally and almost 90 percent of them want to see cricket at the Olympics." The game has had support from the highest places in the Olympic movement. Late ICC president Jacques Rogge said in 2011: "We would welcome an application. It (cricket) is an important, popular sport and very powerful on television." The current president, Thomas Bach, has also backed the inclusion of cricket, which featured at last year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. This week the IOC executive board is meeting in Mumbai, ahead of a full IOC session from October 15 to October 17, which would effectively rubberstamp the decision. Cricket could not have asked for a better city in which to make its case. The IOC session is being held in one of the hotbeds of the sport as India hosts the men's 50-over World Cup. Cricket, with its multiple formats and quirky rules, has long been a source of curiosity in areas of the world where it is not played. But the global language of cold, hard cash is easier to understand. The arguments that Olympic cricket would clash with the English season or that the game takes too long look increasingly outdated. The global calendar is now a mishmash of international cricket, domestic cricket and franchise cricket, with multiple formats jostling for attention. The wildly popular T20 Indian Premier League, which has spawned several other franchise competitions worldwide, means traditional five-day Test cricket, long regarded as the pinnacle of the game, no longer holds sway. The IPL, featuring global superstars, has helped India become the unquestioned economic driving force of cricket, thanks to legions of fans and lucrative broadcasting deals in a nation where the game is almost a religion. Adding cricket to the Olympic programme is an obvious move, financially speaking. It would tap into the lucrative south Asian market, attracting fans in countries such as India and Pakistan that have not traditionally been strong in the core Olympic sports. It would also potentially help cricket access millions of dollars of public and corporate funding currently reserved for Games sports. That would benefit emerging cricket nations but could also help cash-strapped established countries such as South Africa.

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Filed Under: Cricket news | Latest Cricket Updates | The Express Tribune on Tuesday 10 October 2023

Cricket cracker to hammer blow

The Asian Games wrapped up on Sunday after two weeks of thrilling sporting highs and lows in Hangzhou. AFP Sport highlights five memorable moments from the Olympic-sized event, which features 12,000 athletes in 40 sports across 54 venues: Nepal became the first men's team to score more than 300 runs in T20 international cricket as they rewrote the record books against part-timers Mongolia. They bludgeoned 314-3 in their 20 overs, beating the previous highest of 278-3 by Afghanistan against Ireland in 2019. Teenager Kushal Malla crashed the fastest T20 international century, off 34 balls, and ended up 137 not out off 50. Dipendra Singh Airee finished the innings in ridiculous fashion. He raced to his fifty off nine balls, another T20 world record, with eight sixes. Nepal's 26 sixes were also the most scored in a T20 innings. ESports made its debut as a medal event at the Asian Games -- a key step that could lead to inclusion in the Olympics. Audiences of overwhelmingly young spectators packed out a 4,500-capacity arena in the hope of catching one of their heroes, with the most popular undoubtedly South Korea's Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok. China made history with the first eSports gold, beating Malaysia in the smartphone game Arena of Valor. "The audience who loves eSports and the veterans in the eSports industry have been looking forward to this for a long time," said China's captain Luo Siyuan. South Korea's red-faced rollerskater Jung Cheol-won had nowhere to hide after coasting into an early celebration, a "big mistake" that cost gold. As Jung, the anchor in the 3,000m relay, raised his arms to celebrate, Taiwan's Huang Yu-lin lunged his skate forward to cross the line first by one-hundredth of a second for what he called a "miracle" victory. "While you were celebrating, I was still fighting," said Huang. "I made a rather big mistake," said a sheepish Jung. "I am very sorry. I apologise to my teammates and to our fans who supported us. It's all my fault." China's Wu Yanni went into the women's 100m hurdles final as one of the favourites in front of a packed home stadium on the country's national day. But a false start earned her a red card that she furiously protested, along with India's Jyothi Yarraji, who was also ejected for reacting to Wu and moving before the gun. Both hurdlers were eventually allowed to race, with Wu finishing second behind teammate Lin Yuwei and Yarraji coming third. Wu was then disqualified long after the celebrations in the stadium had ended, with Yarraji upgraded to silver. "It's completely messy," said Yarraji. An athletics official suffered a broken leg after being hit by a hammer hurled during competition by Kuwait's Ali Zankawi. Huang Qinghua was sitting on a chair outside the throwing circle when Zankawi aborted his attempt, with his 7.26kg (16lb) hammer flying into the protective netting and smashing into the official's right leg. Huang was carried out of the arena on a stretcher and had surgery in hospital. Zankawi visited the unfortunate Huang the next day in hospital to apologise. "Thank god the hammer hit the ground before it hit his leg," told AFP.

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Filed Under: Cricket news | Latest Cricket Updates | The Express Tribune on Sunday 8 October 2023

Ashraf honours Blind Cricket Team

Zaka Ashraf, Chairman Management Committee PCB, honoured Pakistan's Blind Cricket team and their officials on Friday at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for winning gold medal at the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games 2023, held in Birmingham.  Pakistan Blind cricket team demonstrated skills and resilience in the IBSA World Games, emerging as the champions beating India twice in the tournament.  In the T20 format, in a five-team tournament, Pakistan remained unbeaten and defeated India, Bangladesh, Australia and England before clinching the medal by defeating India again by eight wickets on 26 August 2023. In recognition of their remarkable success, Mr Zaka Ashraf, presented each player and official with a cheque of Rs 300,000 as a token of appreciation and encouragement for their continued dedication to the sport. 

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Filed Under: Cricket news | Latest Cricket Updates | The Express Tribune on Friday 6 October 2023

Asian Games: India's women win cricket gold on debut

India struck gold on their Asian Games cricket debut when they beat in-form Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the women's final in Hangzhou on Monday. They had declined to enter any teams on the two previous occasions cricket was played at the multisport event, at Guangzhou in 2010 and Incheon in 2014. "It's a gold medal for the whole of India," said batter Richa Ghosh. Batting first India reached 116-7 in their 20 overs with Smriti Mandhana (46) and Jemimah Rodrigues (42) putting on 73 for the second wicket. "Winning a gold medal is something you dream about," said Rodrigues. "It's a reward for all the efforts we have put in over so many years." Sri Lanka's chase started badly when they were reduced to 14-3 in the fifth over by a devastating spell from right-arm seamer Titas Sadhu. She took two wickets in her first four balls and another in her third over to finish with remarkable figures of three wickets for six runs. Sri Lanka, who had beaten England in a white-ball series for the first time earlier this month, were always behind the run rate despite Hasini Perera looking to accelerate, hitting four fours and a six in a rapid 25. When Nilakshi de Silva was out after a battling 23, Sri Lanka were 78-5 needing 39 more with only 23 balls remaining. Two more wickets saw them face a near-impossible 25 off the last over and could only muster five as India began to celebrate. "It's a golden first for us," India assistant coach Rajib Dutta told AFP. "Many more to come I hope. "It's a low-scoring wicket so we thought 110 would be a good score, but when Jemimah and Mandhana were together we thought 130-135 might be possible so we were a little disappointed by 116," he added. Sri Lankan all-rounder Oshadi Ranasinghe said they had missed a good opportunity to win gold. "Looking at the way we batted, we have to get more disciplined," she said. Accumulating runs has not been easy all tournament at the Zhejiang University for Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field, on a flaky wicket affected by rain last week. India won the toss and opted to bat even though both semi-finals and the bronze medal match were won by the team chasing. They lost star opener Shafali Verma with the score on 16, but steadied to 35-1 at the end of the six-over power play where only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-metre circle. When Mandhana fell for 46 with the score on 89 in the 15th over, it sparked a succession of dismissals that stalled India's momentum when a testing total in excess of 130 had looked more likely. Rodrigues, who had been not out 47 and 20 in her two previous Asian Games outings, was finally dismissed in the last over for 42. "We had also struggled while batting on this pitch, so we thought we could defend this total," said Ghosh, who smashed a huge six in her cameo of nine off six balls. "The pitch was turning and holding up a little bit." Bangladesh took the bronze after restricting Pakistan to 64-9 and crawling to their target of 65 in 18.2 overs in their medal playoff. It meant Pakistan, who won the gold on both previous occasions that cricket was played in the Asian Games, return home empty-handed. "It's not a good feeling. We never got enough runs on the board," said Pakistan coach Mohtashim Rasheed. Elsewhere, world 100m breaststroke champion Qin Haiyang added the Asian Games title to his collection with the second-fastest swim this year. The Chinese star, also the 50m and 200m world champion, romped home in a new Games-record time of 57.76secs, with teammate Yan Zibei (59.09) taking silver and South Korea's Choi Dong-yeol (59.28) the bronze. China's Wang Xueer powered to the women's 50m backstroke gold on Monday, hitting the wall in 27.35secs. Wang, who finished seventh at the July world championships, held off teammate Wan Letian (27.41) and Japan's Miki Takahashi (28.21) to win the title.

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Filed Under: Cricket news | Latest Cricket Updates | The Express Tribune on Monday 25 September 2023

Pakistan’s 15 not a formidable combo for World Cup

With the announcement of Pakistan’s World Cup squad on Friday, it is significantly evident that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the national selectors and skipper Babar Azam have not learned their lessons from the recent Asia Cup debacle. The 2023 World Cup has a very challenging format, indeed, with each of the 10 teams playing each other before the semifinals. So only best of the best will emerge as the winner this time. The mega event that commences in India from October 5 is without a doubt the stiffest test of skipper Babar’s career and he ought to have gone in with the best, most balanced 15-member squad for the extravaganza. Alas, it is not to be. To begin with, Shadab Khan has been retained as the vice captain which defies all logic, especially after his abysmal faring in the Asia Cup matches. The all-rounder, who until 2020 was dubbed as the next best thing for Pakistan after the prolific Babar Azam, is merely a shadow of himself today. Though never a great turner of the ball, nor a front-ranking batsman, Shadab was instrumental in many limited over victories for his team as he broke vital partnerships and scored useful runs at crucial moments to see Pakistan through. Regrettably, he has not displayed any of that flair in the recent matches. And yet, by virtue of his position as the team’s vice captain and his camaraderie with skipper Babar, he has continued to play every game without making any impact of note. Reports coming out of Pakistan camp during the past few days led many to believe that Shadab will surely be replaced by Shaheen Shah Afridi as vice captain. However, for reasons best known to them, the selectors have retained Shadab as Babar’s deputy. Recalling the tried and failed Hasan Ali to fill in the shoes of injured Naseem Shah is another glaring move which reflects poorly on Chief Selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and his band of selectors. Hasan has been in and out of the team in all the three formats during the past few years, mainly due to his checkered performances that have earned the public ire besides scathing criticism from the former players. In his own admission, Hasan has not lived up to the promise he had shown in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and is, at best, an average player whose erratic bowling and sloppy fielding could well prove to be a burden than a boost for the team. Most critics feel that the talented Zaman Khan or hardworking Arshad Iqbal deserved to be selected ahead of Hasan for the World Cup. Opener Fakhar Zaman’s 14 flop games on the trot have not shaken the selectors’ faith in him, which is extremely surprising, given the swift changes they tend to make in every series. No doubt Fakhar is a class player but has clearly struggled to find his feet in the recent games. He was all at sea against the medium pacers as well as the slow bowlers in the Asia Cup and it is a huge gamble to go with him for the mega event in India. Besides, both Wasim Jr and Salman Ali Agha are bits and pieces players who certainly donot possess the kind of firepower to turn a game around on their own. Mohammad Nawaz, too, have struggled to take his game to the next level which is a matter of concern for skipper Babar. In short, Pakistan’s lower middle-order desperately need to put its act together for the competitive extravaganza for Pakistan to fancy its chances of reaching the semifinals, at least. Perhaps, a specialist spinner like Abrar Ahmed would have served the team better as he has the ability to keep the batsmen guessing with his fine range of deliveries. However, one must commend the selectors for keeping faith with opener Abdullah Shafiq, gifted spinner Usama Mir and batsman Saud Shakeel as all of them are specialist players with proven credentials at the international level. In the final analysis, one would say that Pakistan’s is not a formidable combination at the moment, more so because they have not been able to upgrade their ODI cricket style as per the modern times. Given all these factors, Babar's men are certainly not among the favourites to lift the title. But the fact that they will be entering the World Cup as the underdogs augurs well for them. The history has it that whenever Pakistan gets the top billing, they fall short by quite a distance. However, whenever they are written off, they bounce back handsomely to stun the best in the business.

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Filed Under: Cricket news | Latest Cricket Updates | The Express Tribune on Friday 22 September 2023

Girls Cup: competition, spirit and talent all in good measure

“I love playing cricket, I am a master when it comes to bowling,” exclaimed Nadia Athar, who is small in stature for a 13-year-old, but her gumption and spirit make her taller than her peers. And she loves to bowl and looks up to Shoaib Akhtar as her favourite cricketer. Nadia is participating in the biggest cricket tournament of her life which was taking place at the National Stadium ground, with her school The Future Academy, even though her team had finished last on their debut in the event. The event featured four schools including the Future Academy, Nasra School, Ismail Academy, and Alpha School. The Australian High Commissioner Neil Hawkins thanked the players, the officials, and the Australian Over-40 team that is visiting Pakistan to compete at the Over-40 World Cup for being a part of the event. “The AHC has been sponsoring girls’ cricket since 2016,” said Hawkins in a press statement. “Our countries share a passion for cricket and a key interest of Australia in Pakistan is to support gender equality, so we are very pleased to support this event.” The one-day tournament was the fourth edition of the Girls Cup Karachi: Empowering Women Through Cricket, held by the Australian High Commission (AHC) in collaboration with Jalaluddin Cricket Academy and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) along with Karachi City Cricket Association. “This was a great event for us, we had trained our girls, especially for a month, in four sessions at the Jalaluddin Academy, these girls had been introduced to the game for the first tie and I am so proud of them to have taken up to the sport so beautiful,” The Future Academy Principal Hafiz Muhammad Zaid told The Express Tribune as he was surrounded by the team of 15 players. “We made sure that the girls prepared well, we had them play matches with our boys B team and they really improved quickly. The difference between them and the boys was not so much towards the end. The boys had been supportive too. “At times it had been a little difficult to convince the families to let them play the sport, because in Korangi, where we have our school the community was a little hesitant, but we made sure that the girls trained separately from the boys, in fact after a while the boys began to complain that we are not focusing on them anymore, but they have been very supportive of the girls as well.” He explained that children like Nadia have shone through over the period of a month that was spent in preparation. “Nadia had been a sickly child, but she is very talented, she is very smart,” said Zaid. While Lubaba and Mariam agreed that the tournament helped them understand the sport better, the ninth graders said that fielding is something they learned more about once they played in a proper tournament. The safeguarding official and teacher for the last seven years Batool Farooq thanked the Australian High Commission, PCB, and Engro for supporting the team. Ismail Academy safeguarding official Uzma Waqas was all too familiar with what the girls of the Future Academy were feeling. Her team won the tournament, defeating Nasra School in the final. “We won, our girls did it,” Uzma, a teacher with Ismail Academy for the last seven years exclaimed, it was also her second time at the Girls Cup. “I know what The Future Academy team is feeling, last time we were the debutants and we finished last, but this year we are the champions,” said Uzma. She added that over a period she had seen the girls from her community in Korangi as well become more confident. “The girls tend to be a little conscious initially but ultimately, they have taken up sports so well. I have seen many of the girls in my school grow up and I can say that sometimes they feel if they can’t do too well academically, they try to excel at sports, and that is a beautiful thing. “We do not judge people but at the end of the day it is about the maturity and the mentality of people, we encourage girls to lay, my daughter played last time, but people tend not to like girls in sports and there are societal restrictions, but the truth is that these girls are amazing, I have never held a bat in my life, but when we had the sports day in our school I played a little and it felt good,” said Uzma. Razia Waseem the mother of Muntaha Waseem was overjoyed when her daughter went up to receive the first prize with her team from His Excellency Hawkins and the legendary Javed Miandad who witnessed the final and distributed prizes at the closing ceremony along with cricket Jalaluddin and other KCCA officials. “I would stop my daughter from playing because, well she is a girl, but her father always encourages her to play, I am just so happy to see her win and play because she loves it,” said Razia. The guest of honour Javed Miandad also encouraged parents to let their girls play. “It is not a difficult thing for the girls to play cricket, everyone in the world is playing cricket now,” Miandad told The Express Tribune exclusively when asked what his impressions of the tournament were and how he saw the growth of cricket among the young girls. “Girls should participate in sports, there is nothing to be embarrassed about in this and this is a healthy activity. There is so much to learn when one goes in the field and plays, just like I experienced personal and professional growth when I travelled the world through sports. Kids should play sports, especially cricket because it teaches them how to strategise, use concentration, and focus, and these skills can benefit them for a lifetime. And now the Pakistan women’s cricket team is doing so well. We are proud of your girls.” Other players from Alpha School like Dua Ismail and Disha Kumari feel that they can see themselves ick sorts as a career in the future, but at the same time, they want to make sure that they study and get their degrees as a backup. What was more impressive was the involvement of the Australian over-40 team that joined the layers to encourage them. The men are here to participate in the Over 40 cricket World Cup that Pakistan is hosting. One of the cricketers, Tim MacDonald was happy to answer all Dua and Disha’s questions as they marveled at him being a medical doctor and a cricketer as well. The over-40 team is that of the amateurs who have a background in playing cricket. MacDonald added that he was happy to be in Pakistan and represent his country at the World Cup. “It is good to be here. I have played cricket growing up but had to give it up because I had to study and professional responsibilities in life, but I have gotten back to the sport thanks to my son. Now I am playing with the Australian team. “Someone asked my son if he is missing his father and he said I do but my father is playing for Australia,” said Mac Donald. Similarly, the captain of the Australian team Justin Poole said that he was happy to be in Pakistan and impressed with the hospitality and he was very happy to see the girls play cricket at the event. “The enthusiasm is amazing, but some of the girls have got great bowling action there, from the batting perspective it must be very hard hitting those bouncy tennis balls there. I am very impressed with the bowling action,” said Poole.

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Filed Under: Cricket news | Latest Cricket Updates | The Express Tribune on Thursday 21 September 2023

Girls Cup: competition, spirit and talent all in good measure

“I love playing cricket, I am a master when it comes to bowling,” exclaimed Nadia Athar, who is small in stature for a 13-year-old, but her gumption and spirit make her taller than her peers. And she loves to bowl and looks up to Shoaib Akhtar as her favourite cricketer. Nadia is participating in the biggest cricket tournament of her life which was taking place at the National Stadium ground, with her school The Future Academy, even though her team had finished last on their debut in the event. The event featured four schools including the Future Academy, Nasra School, Ismail Academy, and Alpha School. The Australian High Commissioner Neil Hawkins thanked the players, the officials, and the Australian Over-40 team that is visiting Pakistan to compete at the Over-40 World Cup for being a part of the event. “The AHC has been sponsoring girls’ cricket since 2016,” said Hawkins in a press statement. “Our countries share a passion for cricket and a key interest of Australia in Pakistan is to support gender equality, so we are very pleased to support this event.” The one-day tournament was the fourth edition of the Girls Cup Karachi: Empowering Women Through Cricket, held by the Australian High Commission (AHC) in collaboration with Jalaluddin Cricket Academy and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) along with Karachi City Cricket Association. “This was a great event for us, we had trained our girls, especially for a month, in four sessions at the Jalaluddin Academy, these girls had been introduced to the game for the first tie and I am so proud of them to have taken up to the sport so beautiful,” The Future Academy Principal Hafiz Muhammad Zaid told The Express Tribune as he was surrounded by the team of 15 players. “We made sure that the girls prepared well, we had them play matches with our boys B team and they really improved quickly. The difference between them and the boys was not so much towards the end. The boys had been supportive too. “At times it had been a little difficult to convince the families to let them play the sport, because in Korangi, where we have our school the community was a little hesitant, but we made sure that the girls trained separately from the boys, in fact after a while the boys began to complain that we are not focusing on them anymore, but they have been very supportive of the girls as well.” He explained that children like Nadia have shone through over the period of a month that was spent in preparation. “Nadia had been a sickly child, but she is very talented, she is very smart,” said Zaid. While Lubaba and Mariam agreed that the tournament helped them understand the sport better, the ninth graders said that fielding is something they learned more about once they played in a proper tournament. The safeguarding official and teacher for the last seven years Batool Farooq thanked the Australian High Commission, PCB, and Engro for supporting the team. Ismail Academy safeguarding official Uzma Waqas was all too familiar with what the girls of the Future Academy were feeling. Her team won the tournament, defeating Nasra School in the final. “We won, our girls did it,” Uzma, a teacher with Ismail Academy for the last seven years exclaimed, it was also her second time at the Girls Cup. “I know what The Future Academy team is feeling, last time we were the debutants and we finished last, but this year we are the champions,” said Uzma. She added that over a period she had seen the girls from her community in Korangi as well become more confident. “The girls tend to be a little conscious initially but ultimately, they have taken up sports so well. I have seen many of the girls in my school grow up and I can say that sometimes they feel if they can’t do too well academically, they try to excel at sports, and that is a beautiful thing. “We do not judge people but at the end of the day it is about the maturity and the mentality of people, we encourage girls to lay, my daughter played last time, but people tend not to like girls in sports and there are societal restrictions, but the truth is that these girls are amazing, I have never held a bat in my life, but when we had the sports day in our school I played a little and it felt good,” said Uzma. Razia Waseem the mother of Muntaha Waseem was overjoyed when her daughter went up to receive the first prize with her team from His Excellency Hawkins and the legendary Javed Miandad who witnessed the final and distributed prizes at the closing ceremony along with cricket Jalaluddin and other KCCA officials. “I would stop my daughter from playing because, well she is a girl, but her father always encourages her to play, I am just so happy to see her win and play because she loves it,” said Razia. The guest of honour Javed Miandad also encouraged parents to let their girls play. “It is not a difficult thing for the girls to play cricket, everyone in the world is playing cricket now,” Miandad told The Express Tribune exclusively when asked what his impressions of the tournament were and how he saw the growth of cricket among the young girls. “Girls should participate in sports, there is nothing to be embarrassed about in this and this is a healthy activity. There is so much to learn when one goes in the field and plays, just like I experienced personal and professional growth when I travelled the world through sports. Kids should play sports, especially cricket because it teaches them how to strategise, use concentration, and focus, and these skills can benefit them for a lifetime. And now the Pakistan women’s cricket team is doing so well. We are proud of your girls.” Other players from Alpha School like Dua Ismail and Disha Kumari feel that they can see themselves ick sorts as a career in the future, but at the same time, they want to make sure that they study and get their degrees as a backup. What was more impressive was the involvement of the Australian over-40 team that joined the layers to encourage them. The men are here to participate in the Over 40 cricket World Cup that Pakistan is hosting. One of the cricketers, Tim MacDonald was happy to answer all Dua and Disha’s questions as they marveled at him being a medical doctor and a cricketer as well. The over-40 team is that of the amateurs who have a background in playing cricket. MacDonald added that he was happy to be in Pakistan and represent his country at the World Cup. “It is good to be here. I have played cricket growing up but had to give it up because I had to study and professional responsibilities in life, but I have gotten back to the sport thanks to my son. Now I am playing with the Australian team. “Someone asked my son if he is missing his father and he said I do but my father is playing for Australia,” said Mac Donald. Similarly, the captain of the Australian team Justin Poole said that he was happy to be in Pakistan and impressed with the hospitality and he was very happy to see the girls play cricket at the event. “The enthusiasm is amazing, but some of the girls have got great bowling action there, from the batting perspective it must be very hard hitting those bouncy tennis balls there. I am very impressed with the bowling action,” said Poole.

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