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Gautam Gambhir, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain, has said that the side’s decision to keep the faith in their “core group” of players, including Yusuf Pathan, is one of the reasons for their strong performance

ESPNcricinfo staff23-May-2012Gautam Gambhir, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain, has said that the side’s decision to keep the faith in their “core group” of players, including Yusuf Pathan, has been a factor in their strong performance this season. Yusuf, who had a series of low scores throughout this IPL, came good in the first qualifier against Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday, his unbeaten 40 off 21 deliveries crucial in taking Knight Riders to the final.”After we lost to Chennai Super Kings, at Eden Gardens, I was asked why I stick to the core group of players… the answer is, because I want them to believe that I have complete faith in them,” Gambhir said after the qualifier. “Only that can boost them to give their best. That only will make them stand up to these tough challenges. I was also asked why I persist with Yusuf Pathan. I have always said that he is a magical player and that he will come good when it would matter the most. I was proved right today.”Mahela Jayawardene, the Daredevils batsman, said that the partnership between Yusuf and Laxmi Shukla – 56 runs in four overs – took the game away from his side. “In a Twenty20 game, it is tough to say anyone is out of form,” Jayawardene said. “I think there was a great platform for him [Yusuf] to come and play his natural game, which is hitting the ball clean. Our guys bowled a few good yorkers. When they did not hit those zones marginally, he hit a few good [shots]. Laxmi batted really well too. I think his cameo gave Yusuf the confidence to go after our guys.”Gambhir said that after their narrow loss to Kings XI Punjab, Knight Riders could have dropped players, which he was not in favour of. “We could have easily chopped and changed when we lost to Kings XI. We could have easily made harsh decisions but it is important [to] stick to the core group of players and make them believe that everyone backs them. Maybe that’s one of the reasons we have done well.Gautam Gambhir on Yusuf Pathan: “I have always said that he will come good when it would matter the most.”•AFP

“The players who are there in the KKR dressing room are there because I have complete faith in them. Whoever sits in the dressing room, I completely back them. That is why they are part of KKR.”Everyone has been talking about Yusuf and Manoj Tiwary, but the way Manoj batted in Mumbai, those 40 [41] runs he made were as important as any runs in the tournament. I have always mentioned that those small contributions make you win games. For me Shukla’s contribution [24 not out off 11] made the difference [in the qualifier]. It is not about someone getting 60 or 70 at the top of the order. It is about someone who comes lower down the order or someone like Rajat Bhatia who can bowl two-three overs at a good economy-rate.”When asked about Brett Lee missing out on the playing XI, Gambhir said that no one was bigger than the team. “It is about the best XI that is going to go out and win the game for us. It is not about Brett Lee. It is not about individuals. From me to Jacques Kallis to no one. If I feel that I am not hitting the ball well and there is someone else who can do the job for KKR, I will be the first one sitting out. It will always be about KKR when I am [in charge].”Brendon McCullum, the Knight Riders wicketkeeper and former captain, called Gambhir an “outstanding” leader, saying that he had led from the front. “He is very soft-spoken in the changing room and around the group, and on the field he leads through performance and through actions,” McCullum told . “Technically, he has been very good and has used Sunil Narine incredibly well and he has got a lot out of the other guys as well. He has been excellent as a captain so far.”Gambhir, McCullum’s opening partner, has been Knight Riders’ best batsman by some distance this season, making six half-centuries compared to the three fifties the rest of his batsmen have scored in all. “He has been hitting the ball as well as anyone in the tournament,” McCullum said. “I, from the other end, try to give him strike – that is probably the reverse of the roles that we thought of at the start of the tournament. I can’t take credit [for] the partnerships where he has played beautifully and made my work easy, and I just try to hang in around and get him on strike.”

Up to eight top Pakistan players are likely to be in the running to play in the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL)

Osman Samiuddin09-May-2011Up to eight top Pakistan players are likely to be in the running to play in the first edition of the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL), allowing players from that country to finally benefit from some of the riches on offer in lucrative Twenty20 leagues around the world. The SLPL, likely to feature players from around the world, is scheduled to be held at the end of July and beginning of August this year, a window in the FTP where Pakistan has no commitments currently.Both Pakistan captains – Shahid Afridi from the limited overs side and Misbah-ul-Haq from the Test side – have been approached, as have Shoaib Akhtar, Shoaib Malik and Umar Gul.The players were first approached directly by the organisers of the tournament, the Singapore-based Somerset Entertainment, something that the PCB wasn’t pleased about. But eventually the organisers contacted the PCB asking for clearance for the players to participate and they have been given a positive response. “We told them, in theory, we have no issues with our players taking part in the tournament,” a senior board official told ESPNcricinfo. “The first priority of each player of course will be Pakistan’s international commitments and if there is something on in that window and the player concerned is picked for Pakistan, that commitment will take priority.”The participation of Malik will depend on whether he will be cleared by the PCB’s integrity committee, a condition which has kept him out of the national side since last summer.Players from Pakistan are currently the only ones from the Test-playing nations not to be taking part in the richest domestic Twenty20 league of all, the IPL. Though a number of players took part in the inaugural season of the tournament, in 2008, deteriorating political ties between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks later that year have led to them missing out since, much to the chagrin of the players themselves, some of whom can rightly claim to be among the best international players in the format. The players were even put into the auction for the third season of the IPL but no franchise was willing to buy them, given the potentially tricky diplomatic and logistical issues that could have emerged.For similar reasons, no Pakistan domestic side has taken part in the equally lucrative IPL spin-off, the Champions League, which brings together the best domestic Twenty20 sides from around the world. A few Pakistan players, including Afridi, Gul and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan have taken part in the Australian Big Bash but the timing of it generally tends to clash with international commitments and so curtails participation.There is also regular participation in Twenty20 competitions in England, as well as longer-term county contracts but by and large, Pakistan’s players have missed out on the bonanza of the last few years. “We are aware that our players have not benefitted as others around the world have done, though much of this is out of our hands,” the official said. “This will be a good opportunity, if things work out, for them to take part.”Though full financial details of the league are yet to emerge, one estimate suggests that there will be three salary tabs with the highest at US$ 30,000.

It is tempting to look at these matches – two Twenty20 internationals between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, being played in the USA – as precisely the reason why tournaments like IPL prosper

The Preview by Sidharth Monga21-May-2010

Match Facts

Saturday, May 22, Start time 1530 (1930 GMT)
Sunday, May 23, Start time 1200 (1600 GMT)
Can Mahela Jayawardene win new fans with his methods that are far removed from what the USA expects from its baseball hitters?•AFP

The Big Picture

It is tempting to look at these matches – two Twenty20 internationals between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, being played in the USA – as precisely the reason why tournaments like IPL prosper. Twenty20 is the best vehicle for the globalisation of the game, which somehow – rightly or wrongly – seems to be a big concern for the administrators. The ICC sees the USA, with a team full of Asians and a country boasting enough immigrants to constitute a crowd for a match, as a prospective market. Since the two teams had been to the Caribbean, why not have them stop over on their way back.Yet, on another level, there is much to suggest that this series is yet another example of the ICC sanctioning an ill-timed series, one without context. It hasn’t been even a week since the end of the World Twenty20, and the fatigue, even for the slam-bang format, was evident among the audience during the bilateral series earlier this week between West Indies and South Africa. It would have been foolish to expect anything but in the first place: there is only so much Twenty20 people can take.In any event, it is going to be a huge weekend for cricket in the USA, especially as a venue. Already the series has been cut short because of poor floodlighting. It is the first time two Test teams are playing in America, and how the matches go from an organisational point of view will have a bearing on the future of international cricket in the USA.There has also been concern over whether New Zealand and Sri Lanka, small countries with small diaspora, will be able to attract enough supporters, leave alone taking the game to the natives, which should be the real aim. The onus will be on the teams to play attractive cricket; it is not easy to make a pitching-obsessed nation fall in love with bowling. They can’t turn up jaded, like West Indies and South Africa did, three days after the World Twenty20 final.

Form guide (most recent first)

New Zealand LWLWW

Sri Lanka LWLWW

Watch out for…

Mahela Jayawardene and Daniel Vettori are the complete antitheses of hitters and pitchers from baseball. If they are both at their best, who knows the Americans might just see the light.
The pitch and conditions are a complete unknown. “There’s a New Zealand groundsman here looking after it [the pitch] and preparing it,” said Ross Taylor. “To be honest, we don’t really know what to expect.” Isolated thunderstorms are also forecast for the weekend.

Team news

Between the World Twenty20 and now, New Zealand have lost Jesse Ryder to another injury, and Shane Bond for good. Gareth Hopkins has a knee injury so Brendon McCullum is likely to keep wicket, while offspinning allrounder Rob Nicol is set to make his debut.New Zealand (possible): 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Aaron Redmond, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Daniel Vettori (capt.), 8 Rob Nicol , 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Ian Butler, 11 Andy McKay.Sri Lanka should retain their combination from the World Twenty20 before Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya take a break.
Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Mahela Jayawardene 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (capt. & wk), 4 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 5 Chamara Kapugedera, 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Chinthaka Jayasinghe, 8 Thissara Perera, 9 Suraj Randiv, 10 Thilan Thushara, 11 Lasith Malinga.

Stats and trivia

• Brendon McCullum, at 1081, is the highest run-getter in T20Is. Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, with 743 and 711 runs, are numbers four and five on the list.
• New Zealand have won four out of their seven games against Sri Lanka, including their latest victory in the World Twenty20.
  

  Quotes

  “Miami is a new place for all of us. Most of the guys haven’t been to the States. We’ve had a look around, went to a baseball game. It’s something different, going out of your routine of playing against top nations in venues you’re quite familiar with. It will be good fun.”
  
  
  “We’ve been waiting a long time for this. This is part of what we’ve been calling Destination USA. We took, with the board’s help, a view to try and bring in the best teams in the world and show that the United States is open for business as far as cricket is concerned.”

Punjab Kings’ qualification hopes hanging by a thread – they need to win their final game, and then have plenty of results go their way

Peter Della Penna03-Oct-20213:11

What’s behind Glenn Maxwell’s incredible six-hitting ability?

Virat Kohli’s quest for a maiden IPL title before stepping down as captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore at the end of the season is still very much alive after his side became the third team to clinch a playoff berth in IPL 2021, holding on for a six-run win over Punjab Kings in Sharjah. Choosing to bat first, Kohli helped lay a solid foundation in tandem with Devdutt Padikkal by adding 68 for the first wicket before Glenn Maxwell powered on further with a half-century to take RCB to the highest total made by any side in Sharjah since the tournament resumed in September.

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For the first half of the chase Kings looked like they would track it down, reaching 81 for 0 at the 10-over mark. But despite 57 from Mayank Agarwal as part of a 91-run opening partnership alongside orange-cap wearer KL Rahul, the wheels fell off soon after thanks to an inspired spell of legspin from Yuzvendra Chahal who claimed three wickets including Agarwal. By the time the final over came around, 19 runs were needed and purple-cap holder Harshal Patel had little trouble containing Kings lower order to secure victory.Kings luckless in the field, with or without the umpiresDespite a wicketless powerplay, Kohli and Padikkal’s partnership was at times a meandering one, and also had its share of luck. Kohli was dropped twice, on 9 and 10, while Padikkal was allowed to continue batting on 35 in controversial circumstances after Rahul’s use of a DRS was unsuccessful despite UltraEdge showing a clear spike on a failed reverse sweep where the ball appeared to graze Padikkal’s gloves on the way through to the keeper.Moises Henriques finally broke the partnership and then some, taking three wickets in the space of seven balls in the 10th and 12th overs. Kohli was bowled for 25 by one that kept low. Dan Christian bagged a golden duck, mistiming a drive to backward point. And Padikkal was finally sent back for 40. This time there was no need for the third umpire to intervene as an attempted cut produced a thin edge that was well held by Rahul standing up to the stumps. Royal Challengers were under pressure at 73 for 3.Glenn Maxwell got to a fifty off 29 balls•BCCI

Maxwell tortures his former franchiseThe Australian power hitter gave a handy reminder to his old team-mates about why he’s such a valued resource in T20 cricket, hitting 57 off 33 balls. With AB de Villiers struggling to get going at one end, Maxwell dominated their 73-run partnership with a flurry of sixes, mostly off the slog sweep against the spin duo of Harpreet Brar and Ravi Bishnoi.But it wouldn’t have been Maxwell ball without a reverse at some stage and he executed one to perfection against Bishnoi in the 18th over to secure another boundary. He brought up his half-century off 29 balls and was dismissed only in the final over, by which time Royal Challengers had put up a strong total on the board, the best by any team in Sharjah this season.Another excellent Kings platform goes to wasteRahul might well become a chief lobbyist on behalf of the T10 brigade following his team’s contrasting fortunes this season in their first 10 overs compared to their last 10. The Kings captain continued his run as the leading scorer in the IPL with another sharp burst at the top of the order in tandem with Agarwal. But once he fell for 39 off 35, the chase began to flounder.Chahal built off the Rahul breakthrough by inducing a top edged sweep from Nicholas Pooran, dismissing him for 3 in the 13th over. Agarwal was another victim of the extra bounce in Chahal’s legbreaks as a catch swirled over to short third man in the 16th over. Three balls later, Chahal capped his haul by defeating a flummoxed Sarfaraz for a golden duck. At 121 for 4 in 16, the Kings required rate of 11 per over through the last four proved to be a herculean task.Now in addition to needing a victory in their final match, the Kings will need a series of other results to go their way to have any chance of securing the fourth and final playoff berth.

England opener says Bazballers still believe in their method

Andrew Miller28-Mar-2024Zak Crawley says that England will not allow their shortcomings in India to derail their positive approach to Test cricket but admits that a bit of “refinement” is needed to capitalise on their positions of dominance, such as the one that slipped through their fingers in the fourth Test in Ranchi last month.Speaking at the Kia Oval on the eve of the county season, Crawley insisted that England had never lost faith in their attacking methods, even though they were distinctly second-best by the time the series culminated in an innings defeat inside three days in Dharamsala.The 4-1 series scoreline, he added, could have been very different had England seized their opportunity in Ranchi. After two days of the fourth Test, India were facing a 100-plus first-innings deficit having slipped to 177 for 7 in reply to 353, only for Dhruv Jurel’s hard-fought 90 to turn the tide and allow his team’s spinners to put the pressure back on England.Related

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“We never really lost faith and had the same attitude, as you can tell from some of our press!” Crawley said, as he joked about some of the more outlandish expressions of optimism that came out of the England camp in the course of the tour.”We had the same attitude throughout and I don’t think that is arrogance. We genuinely believed in ourselves and thought we could win the series. We were in all the games. We certainly weren’t in the games when I was in India last time, so we gave ourselves a good chance and we weren’t quite clinical enough, like they were, to be fair.”We should have won in Ranchi to make it 2-2 and then you never know how the last one goes, but it is always hard to wrestle the momentum back. Over five days, their skills are always going to come out, and they are a phenomenal team. It was a really enjoyable tour though, we gave it a good crack, and there is a lot to learn from.”On a personal level, Crawley was pleased with his own performances, having been England’s leading performer for the second major series in a row, with 407 runs at 40.70 in the five Tests to go alongside his 480 at 53.33 in the Ashes. Given his struggles in the preceding two years, in which he had averaged 20.57 across 20 Tests between January 2021 and November 2022, that represented a significant uptick in fortunes.”Hopefully I can push on from here but I certainly feel in a better place now than I did at the start of last year,” Crawley said. “Whenever I try to maintain [my form], I think you start getting worse, so I am always looking to improve.”Against spin, I was trying to get forward to smother the ball and it kind of worked for me. My head is a lot further forward than it used to be in my set-up. But mainly it’s just my attitude. I am trying to embrace failure more and accepting it is part of the game. So, I’m trying to stick with that.”Although he made four scores between 60 and 79, Crawley was unable to hit the heights that he reached with his remarkable 189 from 182 balls at Old Trafford during the Ashes. Nevertheless, he was part of seven opening stands of 45 or more in the course of ten innings, as he and Ben Duckett consistently took the attack to India’s new-ball bowlers, including their outstanding quick Jasprit Bumrah.Crawley’s confidence against India’s seamers, particularly on the drive, continued a theme that began with his memorable first-ball four against Pat Cummins in the Ashes. And, in keeping with his role as the first batter in an aggressive line-up, he admitted that going toe-to-toe with the opposition attack leaders was very much part of his gameplan.”I was certainly conscious of that in the summer against the Aussies,” he said. “I just thought, ‘there are a couple of good balls in here, I just need to put them under pressure early’, so that was more of a conscious effort.”I feel like a bit more pace on the ball has always suited my game a little bit more,” he added. “I just think less when they’re bowling fast. You have to calm the brain and calm the mind and just react. That’s always suited me rather than the Tim Murtaghs of the world where you play seven different shots before it comes down and that has never been my forte, but I’ll try and get better at that as well.”Crawley revealed how he had undergone laser surgery at the age of 18 to correct a short-sightedness that had required him to use contact lens, adding that one of his practice techniques when younger had been to crank the bowling machine up to full speed and play the ball from halfway down the pitch. “It was only half-volleys but obviously 90mph would feel very slow by the time you go back,” he said.Crawley believes Bazball needs “a bit of refinement”•Getty Images

Even so, the challenge of facing Bumrah, with his high pace, wide range of skills and idiosyncratic action, is not something that can be easily replicated in training.”I love facing the best bowlers in the world. Him, Cummins, a few others, but he would probably be the best I have faced,” Crawley said. “He bowls fast anyway and lets it go later, so it feels even quicker. Then it is just a weird action, so it is hard to pick up at times and he has got tremendous skill. He swings it both ways, with a slower-ball yorker, so, yeah, he’s a phenomenal bowler. It was tricky but I loved it.”Though he stood out among England’s batters, Crawley’s series record still paled against that of his opposite number Yashasvi Jaiswal, whose 712 runs included back-to-back double-centuries in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot. But, he said, those efforts didn’t necessarily make him more hungry for big scores, because his best cricket invariably comes when he limits his focus to one ball at a time.”Whenever I have looked too far ahead like that, that is how you get out straight away,” Crawley said. “Actually, a couple of those occasions I was thinking, ‘I need to get a big score’ and I wasn’t in the process. That is why – as simple as that – I got out.”At Old Trafford in the summer, I was just trying to bat and bat time, I wasn’t thinking about getting a hundred. I was very present and it’s quite hard to get into that mindset. Whenever I’ve got into that mindset, I’ve managed to get a decent score, and if I got ahead of myself, I haven’t.”England do not play another Test series until the arrival of West Indies in July, and so there is plenty time for the players to absorb the lessons of the India series.”It just needs a bit of refinement,” Crawley said. “We always talk about absorbing pressure and putting pressure back on. The last couple of years we’ve done the putting back on pretty well, and we’ve spoken about maybe picking those moments to absorb at the right times as well. We can certainly refine that.”That’s not to say we’re going to get more negative. We will still try to play the way we have and try to score quickly, but just pick those moments where they’re on top. We need to make sure we stay positive and don’t let a tough result get in the way of what we’re done really well over the last couple of years.”[India] have won 17 home series on the spin, so it would have had to be pretty special for us to turn it over and we will not get too down on ourselves. We’ll still stick to what we know but just be slightly better.”

CA made the decision following consultation with the Australian government citing Taliban’s “further restrictions on women’s and girls’ education”

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Jan-2023Cricket Australia has withdrawn their men’s team from a scheduled three-match ODI series against Afghanistan to be played in the UAE in March following consultation with the Australian government.Australia were scheduled to play Afghanistan as part of the ICC Super League following the tour of India. But CA released a statement on Thursday stating that it had withdrawn from the series following a recent announcement from the Taliban that it was banning university education for girls, which ICC CEO Geoff Allardice described as concerning.”Following extensive consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the Australian Government, Cricket Australia has decided that it is unable to proceed at this time with the upcoming ICC Super League three-match Men’s ODI series between Australia and Afghanistan scheduled for the UAE in March 2023,” the CA statement said.Related

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“This decision follows the recent announcement by the Taliban of further restrictions on women’s and girls’ education and employment opportunities and their ability to access parks and gyms.”CA is committed to supporting growing the game for women and men around the world, including in Afghanistan, and will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of improved conditions for women and girls in the country.”We thank the Australian Government for its support on this matter.”The ICC has also expressed its concern over the situation in Afghanistan. “We want to see men and women safely playing cricket in Afghanistan and have consistently held the view that the best way to achieve this is by supporting our Member, the Afghanistan Cricket Board, in its endeavours to develop the game in the country,” an ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “We are concerned by recent developments in Afghanistan and the ICC board will consider the implications of these developments at its next meeting and we remain in contact with other global sporting organisations who share our aim of seeing men and women playing sport in Afghanistan.”This is the second time in two years CA has cancelled a bilateral fixture with Afghanistan due to the Taliban government’s policies on women following the postponement of the one-off Test that was scheduled to be played in Hobart in November 2021.Australia did play Afghanistan in Adelaide during the recent T20 World Cup. The two sides have met four times in international cricket but never in a Test match and only once in a bilateral match in 2012, with the other three meetings coming in World Cups.Australia are slated to meet Afghanistan twice more in the next Future Tours cycle with three T20Is scheduled for a neutral venue in August 2024 and Afghanistan due to tour Australia in August 2026 to play one Test and three T20Is.

As of now, India are scheduled to start their Test series in South Africa on December 17

Sidharth Monga02-Dec-20215:11

Kohli: ‘We are not playing in normal times’

India players are confident they will have “absolute clarity” around the South Africa tour in “a day or two or pretty soon”, their captain Virat Kohli has said. Kohli was speaking at the pre-match press conference for the second and deciding Test of the series against New Zealand, which is scheduled to end on December 7. As of now, India are scheduled to start their Test series in South Africa on December 17, for which they will have to leave India pretty much immediately after the Mumbai Test ends.However, the situation in South Africa is dynamic with the new variant of Covid-19, Omicron, bringing a surge in daily positive cases and hospitalisations, especially in the Gauteng province of South Africa where India are scheduled to play the first two of the three Tests before moving south to Cape Town.Last week, the second and third ODIs of Netherlands’ tour of South Africa were called off after several countries, including many in the European Union, imposed travel restrictions on southern Africa. But the India A team has stayed back in South Africa to continue with its shadow tour before the Tests, which gives CSA hope that the senior team will make the journey.”Look, it is pretty natural [for them to wonder and worry and talk about whether the tour will go ahead and what the protocols will be],” Kohli said. “We are not playing in normal times anyway. So there is a lot of planning that is involved, a lot of preparation that is involved in terms of understanding exactly what is going to go on. There are players who are not part of the group right now who will be entering quarantine to join the team bubble to fly in a charter.Virat Kohli: “You want to have clarity and you want to be in a situation where you know exactly what is going on”•Getty Images

“Those kinds of things you want to seek clarity as soon as possible. So we have spoken to all the senior members of the squad. Obviously, Rahul [Dravid, the coach] has initiated a conversation within the group, which is very important.”Our focus from the Test match will not shift regardless, but also you want to have clarity and you want to be in a situation where you know exactly what is going on. We have been talking to the board, and we are pretty confident that within a day or two or pretty soon we will have absolute clarity as to what is going on.”We have to be realistic as well. We cannot just ignore the things that potentially could put you in a confusing place. And no one wants to be there. I am sure everyone is working hard towards finding clarity and giving us the situation as it unfolds as soon as possible. We all are hopeful that that will happen soon. Our prime focus right now is the second Test, and the other things are simultaneously being taken care of.”The BCCI has said the tour is on as of now, but the eventual green signal will have to come from the government of India. However, the board will also have to take the players along. It is worth noting they decided to not play the series-decider at Old Trafford in England when there were positive cases in the Indian support staff. They have been playing practically non-stop and moving from bubble to bubble ever since the IPL started in 2020.CSA nervously awaits India’s decision because losing out on an India tour could really set them back financially. There were reports that India might have asked for the tour to be pushed back by a week so that they can monitor Omicron a little more and then make a decision, but CSA denied any such conversation had happened. “There hasn’t been such request or discussion with the BCCI, hence it is purely speculation unless or until they engage us on this,” CSA’s acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki said. “So as of now, CSA is not aware of this.”

Sussex wrap up emphatic victory with a day to spare in first round of Bob Willis Trophy

ECB Reporters Network03-Aug-2020Sussex 176 (Salt 68, Garton 54*) and 221 (Salt 80) beat Hampshire 153 (Came 25) and 150 (Robinson 5-29) by 94 runs Ollie Robinson took five wickets, including three in 14 balls, as Sussex beat Hampshire by 94 runs in their Bob Willis Trophy south group opener at Hove.Robinson picked up Joe Weatherley, Felix Organ and Sam Northeast before lunch and claimed Harry Came as his fourth victim early into the afternoon session. He then returned after tea to remove last man Ajeet Singh to finish with 5 for 29 from 13.3 impressive overs.Hampshire lost wickets steadily in their pursuit of a victory target of 245 and were dismissed for 150.Robinson, 26, finished with match figures of 8 for 56 and once again showed the form which brought him 137 Championship wickets in the last two seasons and a place in England’s training squad for the recent Test series against West Indies.He removed both Hampshire openers in near-identical fashion, driving without much foot movement and edging to third slip. George Garton held on at the second attempt to remove Joe Weatherley (2) before taking a low catch offered by Organ for 9.Robinson struck again in his fourth over when Northeast (7), attempting a checked drive, got an inside edge and lost his leg stump and Hampshire had slumped to 38 for four just after lunch when Came was defeated by Robinson’s extra bounce off a good length and edged to Phil Salt at slip for 6. After his new-ball spell Robinson had figures of four for 15 from eight overs.Although Robinson was a handful throughout, there was some poor shot selection by the Hampshire batsmen with no one in either of their innings going past 30.After Robinson had wrecked their top order, debutant off-spinner Jack Carson picked up three wickets as Hampshire’s batsmen continued to show a lack of discipline having seemingly got themselves established.Ian Holland (13) was bowled sweeping as for the second time in the match Carson took a wicket with his second ball before left-hander Tom Alsop, who looked as comfortable as anyone, came down the track and was beaten in the flight, bowled for 27.Lewis McManus was another who got out when seemingly well set, caught off a top-edged pull for 28 the ball after he pulled George Garton over mid-wicket for a flat six.Then James Fuller horribly mis-timed a pull at a short ball from slow left-armer Delray Rawlins which he should have blasted out of the ground and instead gave a catch to Henry Crocombe at wide long-on.Hampshire were 135 for 8 at tea and their resistance lasted for only another 15 minutes after the interval. Mason Crane endured a 14-ball duck, caught off a mis-timed sweep to give Carson his fifth wicket of the match.Fittingly, though, it was left to Robinson – the best bowler on show by some margin – to wrap things up when he had last man Dale caught behind for a duck to claim the 14th five-wicket haul of his first-class career. Keith Barker, who struck some futile blows towards the end, finished unbeaten on 25.Earlier, Sussex had added 66 runs to their overnight 155 for 6 before they were dismissed for 221 in their second innings.Barker made the breakthrough in the second over of the day when Rawlins (11) was caught behind to give the former Warwickshire left-armer his 400th first-class wicket. Off-spinner Organ and leg-spinner Crane combined to finish off the innings.Robinson made a rapid 23 before trying to sweep Organ out of the rough and giving a catch to Holland, running back from slip.Garton (13) was leg before when he missed a sweep off Crane, who finished off the innings when Mitch Claydon (16) slogged across the line after adding 22 runs for the last wicket with Crocombe (10 not out).

Aaron Hardie took his second four-wicket haul on debut after Mitchell Marsh scored a century but everything hinges on New South Wales

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2019Western Australia did all they could to secure a place in the Sheffield Shield final by beating Queensland in three days at the WACA meaning New South Wales have to beat Tasmania if they want to face Victoria next week.When Matthew Kelly had Michael Neser caught at mid-on to complete a 136-run victory, WA were in second place but knew they would have to watch the final day unfold in Hobart to see if they will be travelling to Melbourne for the final.Aaron Hardie, who enjoyed a memorable debut with eight wickets, and Joel Paris shared seven wickets to bundle out Queensland for 175 for the second time in the match. Only Matt Renshaw with 73 provided much resistance and Western Australia took the extra half hour to complete the match on the third evening.Hardie cut through Queensland’s top order removing Marnus Labuschagne, Charlie Hemphrey and Sam Heazlett as they slipped from a promising 1 for 65 to 4 for 81 in the space of four overs.For a little while it appeared the home side may have to come back to finish the job, but Hardie ended Luke Feldman’s first-class career when he speared one through him before Neser fell in the next over.Queensland’s hefty target of 312 in a match where the bowlers had largely held way was based on Mitchell Marsh’s impressive 105.When he fell, given lbw to Mark Steketee when there appeared to be an inside edge, it began something of a slide for Western Australia as their last five wickets fell for 57 – although Hardie provided a very useful 30 to further enhance his credentials – and it always felt as though they would have enough. Now all they could do was wait.

There will be a Trans-Tasman rematch in the tri-series final at Eden Park after the home side did enough to stay ahead of England on net run rate

The Report by Andrew McGlashan18-Feb-2018
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsNew Zealand lost, but they won the bigger prize. There will be a Trans-Tasman rematch in the tri-series final at Eden Park after the home side did enough to stay ahead of England on net run rate. Colin Munro’s 18-ball fifty, his third sub 20-ball half-century, gave New Zealand breathing space as they hunted 175 to ensure their progress, although Tom Curran held his nerve in the final over to earn victory as an enjoyable T20 encounter was decided off the final ball.England, pointless coming into this match and needing to win by a margin of at least 20 runs after being put in, had given themselves a chance with a strong batting performance anchored around Eoin Morgan’s most convincing innings of the tour and another half-century from Dawid Malan. However, the early overs with the ball were horrid – feeding Munro’s strength on his pads – and by the end of the Powerplay, New Zealand had 77 on the board. Martin Guptill’s fine form continued with a 47-ball 62 and Mark Chapman helped ensure New Zealand did the minimum they needed, but 21 off the last two overs proved a little too much despite Chapman being dismissed off a no-ball by Chris Jordan.It was New Zealand’s start that mattered. Munro clobbered seven sixes inside the fielding restrictions as David Willey and Curran were especially guilty of getting their lines wrong. The grass banks from deep backward square round to long-on were well peppered, those fans in sponsor shirts trying to earn NZD50,000 with a catch given a few chances. One punter did win, during England’s innings.Having picked two spinners – recalling Liam Dawson in place of Mark Wood – it was a surprise that one of them wasn’t bowled inside the Powerplay after the seamers had been carted early on. When Adil Rashid, now officially a white-ball specialist, was introduced in the seventh over he struck with his third ball when Munro top-edged to deep square leg.Colin Munro was given play to feed off on his pads•Getty Images

Rashid and Dawson made scoring hard work on a pitch that gripped, bowling their combined eight overs for 49 runs, with 18 of those coming off Dawson’s last as Chapman took him for two leg-side sixes. Dawson had removed Kane Williamson, advancing down the pitch to be bowled, during the period where England squeezed but they couldn’t claim back-to-back wickets.Dawson could have removed Guptill on 30 when a ball was drilled back to him but he didn’t see it in his follow through and ended up jumping over the catch. Guptill did not need to bring out the same pyrotechnics as two days ago, batting in Munro’s slipstream before kicking on to nearly close out the first part of the chase. He became Malan’s first international wicket when he missed a sweep, leaving him with a handsome 237 runs in the tournament.England’s innings lurched along, although the end result was their best batting effort of the tri-series. The openers failed; Malan and Morgan forged a dominant 93-run stand; the innings stalled with a 27-ball period without a boundary; then it finished with a flurry of boundaries from Morgan and the allrounders.Both Jason Roy and Alex Hales picked out mid-off as New Zealand quickly realised pace-off and cutters was the best route on this Seddon Park pitch. Malan, who can’t get in England’s one-day side, continued the prolific start to his T20 career to kick-start the innings and reached a 32-ball half-century.By then Morgan had found his range as he took 18 in four deliveries off Mitchell Santner – his most convincing batting since this limited-overs period started in Australia – to carry England over the hundred mark inside 11 overs.However, Malan’s dismissal, picking out deep midwicket, led to a period that – in the final outcome – proved crucial as Colin de Grandhomme, Ish Sodhi and Tim Southee conceded only singles in more than four overs. Within that there was a moment of rare poor judgement from Jos Buttler who charged at Sodhi’s final delivery and was beaten by a sharp legbreak.With four overs to go, Morgan unleashed again, taking four sixes in nine balls off de Grandhomme and Trent Boult. Sam Billings, who has had chances, albeit in taxing circumstances in this tri-series, to show his talent, scooped into his stumps. When England’s absent players return, Billings will find his spot under pressure.Willey, Dawson and Jordan all struck strongly in the closing stages meaning that though Morgan only faced four balls in the last two overs England’s total did not suffer. However, the maths was against England – deservedly so after three defeats – and the poor start with the ball meant the prospect of squeezing into the final disappeared as rapidly as Munro reached fifty.