June 21

For Afghanistan, the World Cup hasn't quite gone the way they would have wanted - five losses in five games so far. For their star legspinner Rashid Khan, it has been especially bad. He has picked up just three wickets, and in the last game, against England, conceded 110 runs from nine wicketless overs, the most expensive spell in World Cup history and second on the list of most expensive ODI spells.

Off the field, there was the controversy around Mohammad Shahzad's exit from the World Cup, and since then, a war of words has broken out between Phil Simmons, the coach, and Dawlat Ahmadzai, their former chief selector.

"I don't think we prepared that well for a tournament like this," Rashid said in an interview with Mid-day. "It is a big stage, there will be ups and downs, but we have learnt a lot so far. We should have won at least one or two games; we had the opportunity to do so, but we lacked experience. Hopefully, we will get that with time."

Controversies for Afghanistan, incidentally, stated well before the World Cup when Asghar Afghan was removed as captain and Gulbadin Naib named in his place. At the time, Rashid had expressed his disgust at the decision.

"I am clear about my role in the team. When the captain was changed, yes we made our anger public. I did not do that to support our previous captain or anybody else. I did it for Afghanistan cricket," Rashid said. "If someone is trying to spoil my Afghanistan cricket, then it does not matter who it is… cricket is the only thing that brings a smile on people's faces. I wanted to say that it was not the right time to take such a big decision - just before the World Cup.

"When I am on the field, I don't think I play for my captain or for my cricket board. I play only for Afghanistan. No one is important than my country."

De Grandhomme's impact similar to McCullum's - Hesson

The former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has lauded the dynamic that Colin de Grandhomme brings to the team, likening it to the impact Brendon McCullum had on the side four years ago.

While Kane Williamson understandably gained much of the focus after the victory against South Africa, de Grandhomme's 60 off 47 balls was crucial in keeping New Zealand in the game while the captain was finding the fielders. It was just his second ODI half-century in 23 innings, but Hesson said he showed why he is such a valued member of the New Zealand unit.

"Kane won't win New Zealand this tournament on his own. To go all the way you also need a player who is capable of snatching victory from nowhere in big games," Hesson wrote in his column for Stuff.co.nz. "That's the beauty of de Grandhomme and what he offers this Black Caps team. When you're in all sorts of trouble, with a 20 percent chance of winning, he is one player who can turn a game on its head.

"In 2015 we had Brendon McCullum who played on instinct and so often got us off to a flyer. This, combined with the craft players in the rest of order, gave us that excellent balance and de Grandhomme can do something similar just from a different place in the order.

"He's going to get out poorly and people will absolutely hammer him, but in our set-up if you play Colin you know exactly what you're going to get, and you either take it or leave it. This was a great reason why you 'take it'."

Hesson also praised de Grandhomme's role with the ball as he took 1 for 33 off his 10 overs as South Africa were rarely able to cut loose.

"The way Kane used him, that slower pace was perfect on that surface. Colin clearly doesn't bowl 140kmh, but he was able to get the most movement of anyone at Edgbaston…He's often got what I call OSP (optimal swinging pace) and he was the only one who really swung the ball all day. It was one of those days where his pace was perfect for the conditions."

June 20

Australia looking forward to England's extra pace

Glenn Maxwell has suggested that the extra pace in England's attack could work in Australia's favour when the two sides meet at Lord's next week.

England are likely to include both Jofra Archer and Mark Wood in their XI with the pair among the quickest bowlers on show at the tournament. But Maxwell said that Australia's batsmen can often find it easier against the quicker bowlers, rather than having to manufacture pace onto the ball against medium pacers as was the case at stages against Bangladesh.

"I think they'll be more excited at that than someone bowling 120, that sort of pace probably suits out batting line-up a bit more with more pace on the ball, something we are a bit more used to," he said. "It's a challenge that we are up for, we certainly get enough practise in the nets for sure against our bowling attack so the guys are pretty used to that."

Australia have only beaten England four times in 16 ODIs since the last World Cup, but Maxwell said that the squad was eagerly awaiting the challenge.

"It's been a pretty long tournament so far but we have a few days to refresh and get ourselves up for England and what better place to get amped for than England at Lord's and we are all looking forward to that."

June 18

Hashmatullah bounces back ... for the sake of his mum

Hashmatullah Shahidi will never forget Old Trafford and Old Trafford can never forget Hashmatullah.

Hit flush on the side of his helmet by a Mark Wood short ball when on 24, Afghanistan's top-scorer ignored his broken helmet and the doctor's advice to walk off the field. He stood his ground he says, for his team and his family.

When the ICC doctor and the team physio attended to him, Hashmatullah said he knew what he had to do. "They told me 'let's go' and I said 'no. I can't leave my team at the moment because my team needed me' and so I carry on."

Hashmatullah said one of the reasons he had got up quickly after being stuck such a fierce blow - the impact made a sound that left the first slip Joe Root visibly distressed - was that he knew his mother and his family back home would be watching.

"My mom is always thinking of me and I lost my father last year and I didn't want her to hurt. I carry on and I get up early because of my mom."

His elder brother was also in the capacity Manchester crowd and saw Hashmatullah survive five balls at top pace from Wood, fending one that fell short of short leg.

"You can see [Jofra] Archer and Mark Wood, they were too quick for me," he laughed, "Mark Wood was consistently bowling too quick for me and I said 'okay, I'm not going out'. He took a short leg, he keep [bowling] bouncers to me and I said 'okay, I will never give up'."

Off the sixth ball from Wood after having his helmet shattered, Hashmatullah smacked him over long on for a six. "I will not give up and I try and hit a six." The crowd roared.

Afghan management plays down restaurant altercation

The Afghanistan team manager has played down an incident that saw the police called to a restaurant in Manchester late on Monday night.

Naweed Sajem insists nobody in the squad was spoken to by police, despite reports of an altercation involving a player at around 11pm, the night before Afghanistan's match against England at Old Trafford.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that "shortly after 11.15pm, police were called to reports of an altercation at a premises on Liverpool Road in Manchester." They said "no one was injured and no arrests have been made" but confirmed that "enquiries are ongoing".

Gulbadin Naib, the Afghanistan captain, denied any knowledge of the incident and threatened to walk out of a press conference if questioned about it further.

One eye-witness claims there was a minor disagreement between Mohammad Nabi and a member of the public, who had suggested the players may be eating too much the night before a game. Another claims players were irritated by a particularly persistent supporter looking to video them as they ate. Neither allege any physical altercation.

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