KARACHI: England cricket team on Wednesday landed in Multan for a three-match Test series against Shan Masood-led Green Shirts.

The visitors are set to lock horns with the national side in the first Test October 7 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

The second match will also be played at the same venue whereas the third match is scheduled from October 24 to 28 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

The Ben Stokes-led side will start practicing for the long-format game from October 4 after two days’ rest on October 2 and 3.

The home series is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.

Pakistan Test team captain Shan Masood has said that he was optimistic for the future ahead of the upcoming Test series against England despite disappointing whitewash against Bangladesh last month.

Pakistan Squad for 1st Test

Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Left-arm spinner Noman Ali, who has taken 47 wickets in 15 Tests, has replaced fast bowler Khurram Shahzad, who is injured.

Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Ali, who were part of the squad for the Bangladesh Tests, remain firmly in the selectors’ plans.

However, due to the selection policy’s emphasis on consistency and continuity, and the belief that 15 players are sufficient for a Test, they have been advised and encouraged to continue representing their teams in the Champions One-Day Cup and the President’s Cup, starting on 3 October, to ensure they stay match-ready through competitive cricket.

Pakistan men’s red-ball head coach Gillespie said: “With a busy domestic and international cricket schedule, it makes sense to give our players some much-needed rest ahead of the Test series against England.”

“We are very much looking forward to the series against England here in Pakistan and cannot wait for it to begin. We are excited about playing in front of our wonderful supporters,” he added.

England Squad

Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Ben Stokes (c), Brydon Carse, Rehan Ahmed, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Matthew Potts, Shoaib Bashir, and Olly Stone.

LAHORE: A day after Babar Azam quit the role of Pakistan team’s captain, right-handed batter and wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan is being named as one of the strongest candidates for the coveted post, Geo News learnt from sources on Wednesday.

Relevant officials, as per the sources, have been asked to consult Rizwan regarding team selection.

A day earlier, former Pakistan captain, Babar, had announced stepping down from leading the white-ball team to now focus on his role as a player and personal growth.

Taking to X, the 29-year-old cricketer wrote: “By stepping down, I will gain clarity moving forward and focus more energy on my game and personal growth.”

The sources said that Babar was not asked to quit captaincy and was asked to continue being captain of the ODI team, as white-ball coach Gary Kirsten wanted him at the top.

Bringing in a new captain for the T20 format was Kirsten’s plan as part of team’s future strategies, the sources maintained, adding that the coach had asked for the change to be made in July.

In July, Kirsten came to Pakistan for meetings and sharing a report on T20 World Cup, said the sources, adding that the coach also met Babar in the same month to discuss captaincy matters.

Kirsten, as per the sources, kept persuading Babar to continue captaincy in ODIs even during the connection camp.

The 29-year-old remained unconvinced about retaining the captaincy following distance with the team and a lack of value for himself, said the sources, adding that he was not in touch with the board after the World Cup.

Babar was also not included in any consultation process. He, however, had informed a top official of the board about his decision before announcing his resignation.

Babar’s resignation from captaincy comes amid severe criticism directed at him, particularly after Pakistan failed to perform in the Asia Cup and continued the same performance into the World Cup — where the team crashed out before reaching the semis.

Georgia defensive lineman Mykel Williams is a “true game-time decision” for the No. 2 Bulldogs at No. 4 Alabama on Saturday night, according to ESPN sources.

Williams has missed the previous two games with a Grade 2 ankle sprain, which he suffered against Clemson in the opener. He’ll be evaluated in pregame warmups and a decision will be made on his status.

Williams has been limited in practice this week, and it’s expected that if he does play it’ll be at less than 100 percent. He’s also unlikely to play a heavy snap count if he does play, as he’s working his way back.

Williams is a marauding defensive end who is the best player in Georgia’s front seven and is a high-end NFL prospect. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has him ranked No. 4 overall player for the 2025 NFL draft.

Williams started the season hot before injuring his ankle against Clemson, as he had two tackles for loss and three quarterback pressures in that game.

They will be an onus on Georgia’s defensive line, especially on the ends, to help slow Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe in Tuscaloosa.

Georgia’s defensive line will benefit from the return of senior Warren Brinson, who is listed as probable after missing the past two games. Sophomore defensive lineman Jordan Hall is questionable for the SEC showdown.

As Loretta and Todd Benjamin sat in a room full of strangers and watched the Detroit Lions win their first playoff game since the 1991 season on a projector screen, their thoughts returned to their corn maze.

The Benjamins were trying to pick their next design for their autumn corn maze. The theme had to be selected by February, so the Benjamins could pass their GPS coordinates to their designer. However, they couldn’t pinpoint what spoke to them.

Loretta and Todd eventually went on a business trip to Punta Cana in Dominican Republic while the Lions began their 2023 NFL playoff run. The Lions faced the Rams in a wild-card game, where they inched past Los Angeles with a 24-23 victory in January.

“It was like, ‘yeah, we’re legit now. … We’ve got to do a Lions theme for our corn maze,'” Loretta told ESPN.

The Benjamin took the proper steps to get their theme approved by reaching out to the Lions organization. Only one question remained: What design would they use?

Loretta and Todd, owners of Choice Farm Market in Webberville, Michigan, have been die-hard Lions fans for quite some time.

Todd owns a shirt that depicts a lion’s face with a matching hat that says “GRIT.” Detroit adopted the slogan when Dan Campbell became the franchise’s head coach in January 2021 with the intent to rebuild its culture. Campbell said the word means they’ll go a bit longer, push harder, think deeper and sharper. Campbell’s face is in the middle of the lion’s mane.

The design on Todd’s shirt caught Loretta’s eye, and its striking pattern became etched in her mind as the inspiration for the maze’s look. But she second-guessed it until the outline was presented to her.

“At first, I thought, ‘well, that’d be too creepy,’ and I was afraid it might be kind of weird. And then we got the sketch done and it was like, ‘oh, no, this is cool,'” Loretta said.

Selecting the corn for the maze is a process. Todd picks a variety of corn that takes a bit longer to mature so it can last through the end of October without drying out or breaking down. The Benjamins pick seeds that are resistant to certain diseases.

After selecting the corn, Todd cross plants it in rows running in both directions to create denser paths. They’ll then fertilize the crop with the proper nutrients to ensure it lasts through the season.

Loretta estimates the corn maze took about 10 hours to cut.

At the entrance of the maze, Choice Farm Market has a handful of interactive activities, such as 40-yard dashes and games that take up the open space inside. The inspiration came from the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit, where Loretta and Todd took their grandsons.

The maze takes about 15 to 20 minutes to walk through. Visitors can scan a QR code when they enter to time their duration inside the maze and find 10 checkpoints within.

Once the corn maze concludes at the end of October, the corn will be harvested and Todd will donate it to about 100 different customers to use as fuel for heating their homes.

South of Michigan, Indiana has a maze of its own in honor of the Fever’s playoff appearance and WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark.

Dana More, the chief operating officer of County Line Orchard in northwest Indiana, watched the WNBA draft with her nieces. After WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced Clark as the No. 1 pick, More instantly hopped online to purchase four Fever jerseys for herself and nieces before the site eventually sold out in an hour.

Like the Benjamin family, More was searching for ideas about what their fall corn maze theme would be. That was until her nieces advocated for it to be Clark.

“We were all excited and talking, [and] my nieces said, ‘that should be your corn maze this year.’ I was like ,’oh my gosh yes, this is perfect,'” More told ESPN.

More has been at the County Line Orchard for about 15 years and has built a strong relationship with the owners. After her nieces planted the thought of a Clark-themed corn maze, More texted the owner that night with the idea. He loved it.

“Sometimes, you just land on something like, this is just right,” More said. “This is the right move and it aligned with who we are.”

County Line Orchards began scouring the web immediately after the draft to find the perfect image of Clark to turn into the maze. The image came from the Fever’s media day.

The orchard composed the maze in what More describes as “reverse engineering.” They hired a third party in June to cut the maze before the seeds were planted, allowing the corn to grow into its shape.

The maze was ready by Aug. 28.

More says there are checkpoints to visit inside, similar to a scavenger hunt, along with basketball-related activities for customers, such as mini hoops. She estimates customers can spend about an hour in the maze.

Fever president Allison Barber took notice of the masterpiece and presented More and her twin nieces with exclusive tickets to watch the Fever take on the Las Vegas Aces, when A’ja Wilson broke the WNBA’s single-season points record after a 27-point performance earlier this month. Clark and Tamika Catchings signed More’s nieces’ jerseys.