BCCI ethics officer “dismissed” the complaint filed against Dravid because it was “bereft of merit”

Nagraj Gollapudi14-Nov-2019Former India captain Rahul Dravid has been cleared of conflict of interest charges by the BCCI ethics officer Justice (retd.) DK Jain. Justice Jain issued the order on Thursday after conducting two hearings in response to a complaint filed by Sanjeev Gupta, a life member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA).Gupta had alleged that Dravid, who was appointed the director of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) this July by the BCCI, was guilty of conflict of interest because he was occupying more than one post at the time, which was not permitted as per the board’s rules. The second post that Dravid was serving, Gupta said in his complaint, was as vice-president of India Cements Pvt. Ltd, which he claimed had ties with the Chennai Super Kings franchise in the IPL.However, in his order, Justice Jain said “a case of conflict” against Dravid could not be made and hence he had “dismissed” the complaint because it was “bereft of merit.”In the order, Justice Jain noted that Dravid had rejected the allegation straightaway, in a written response on August 9. Dravid told Justice Jain that on the “advice” of BCCI and to “avoid any kind of conflict of interest” he had taken “leave of absence” without salary from India Cements during his stint at the NCA. Dravid pointed out that he had been an employee of Indian Cements for two decades, but never had “any connection, relationship or obligation” towards the Super Kings.The BCCI also told Justice Jain that the Super Kings franchise was run by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd., registered in 2013 under the Indian Companies Act. It had nothing to do with India Cements, which was an independent entity. Hence, the BCCI said Dravid could not be an employee of the Super Kings, as Gupta had alleged.”He (Dravid) has asserted that his employment with India Cements Limited, is not and cannot be construed as an employment with the CSK franchisee, regardless of any relationship between the two entities, viz India Cements Limited and Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd.,” the order said. “He has further pleaded that at no point in time, has he been a “Team Official” of CSK.”Gupta, however, did not accept that. At the hearing on September 26 in Mumbai, Gupta told Justice Jain that Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. was a “wholly owned subsidiary” of India Cements with “some” of the directors sitting on boards of both firms. Gupta said “a mere change in nomenclature” could not absolve Dravid of the conflict of interest allegation.The ethics officer was clear about one thing. “The concept of ‘conflict of interest’, is not necessarily a question about something one does or intends to do but a question of what one can possibly or potentially do,” Justice Jain said in his order.Justice Jain even referred to the judgments he had served in the cases concerning two of Dravid’s former India team-mates – Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, both of whom were held guilty of conflict. The complaint against Ganguly had been filed by more than one member of the public, while Gupta had pressed the conflict charge against Laxman.Justice Jain pointed out that Ganguly and Laxman suffered from “tractable conflict” and fell foul of the one-man-one-post rule stated in the BCCI constitution.Dravid’s case allowed him to examine the rules deeper. “For examining an instance of ‘conflict of interest”, mere holding of posts by an individual associated with the BCCI may not per-se be sufficient for arriving at the conclusion of existence of ‘conflict of interest’,” Justice Jain said in the order. “But whether holding of such post(s) gives rise to ‘conflict of interest’ or not must also be tested on the anvil of reasonable apprehensions of, or actual favoritism, lack of objectivity, bias, benefits, etc., as contemplated in the definition of ‘conflict of interest’.”Accordingly, Justice Jain needed to test whether the two posts Dravid held “give rise to an apprehension of, lack of objectivity or bias” in each of those positions. “At least, I am unable to fathom any such circumstance (none has even been pointed out by the Complainant), which would come in the way of Mr. Rahul Dravid in fairly discharging his duties as a ‘Team Official’, without being influenced or influencing, in any manner, as a person who is in governance, management or employment of a franchisee or vice versa.”According to Justice Jain, to avoid any complications at the behest of the BCCI, Dravid had handed a written copy from Indian Cements giving a leave of absence until he was employed by the board.

Board confident that Bay Oval individual has been identified after inquiry

George Dobell in Hamilton03-Dec-2019New Zealand Cricket has lodged a complaint with Tauranga police over the racial abuse directed at Jofra Archer near the end of the first Test against England at Bay Oval.Information gathered from an inquiry which included studying CCTV footage, listening to audio, interviewing bystanders and obtaining material on social media has been incorporated into the complaint. As ESPNcricinfo reported at the time, the alleged culprit contacted Archer on Instagram in the hours after the incident.While NZC describe the information-gathering exercise as “useful” and are confident they have been able to identify the culprit, they lack the authority to conclusively and publically identify the person responsible and therefore feel “unable to comment on public speculation regarding his personal details”.Despite this, NZC chief executive David White said he believed there was enough material to justify lodging a complaint with the police especially, a press release stated, “if the Bay Oval perpetrator was to reoffend”.”What happened to Jofra was reprehensible and has led to a general upscaling of security around the area of racial abuse at all our international venues,” he said.”Should the person responsible ever reoffend, we believe we have enough information to link him to the Bay Oval incident.”White confirmed that, if a conclusive identification was forthcoming, NZC would seek to ban the offender from all its international venues “for a lengthy period”.

After a ‘weird’ start, youngster is keen for a sense of normality in his international career

Valkerie Baynes31-Dec-2019Ollie Pope knows how suddenly opportunity can come knocking… then turn around and slam the door in your face.So, rather than panic when illness robbed him of a fifth Test appearance for England at Centurion last week, he just rolled with it. Pope has learned a lot over the past 18 months or so, you see.Having played two home Tests against India in 2018, Pope was bumped from England’s tour of Sri Lanka to make way for Ben Foakes, who scored a century on debut in the first Test at Galle. Pope was then overlooked for England’s Caribbean campaign at the start of 2019 and a dislocated shoulder injury then curtailed his English summer before he found himself on Ashes standby and playing a further two Tests in New Zealand. All that and he is still just two days shy of his 22nd birthday.Now, having declared himself “pretty much 100 percent back to normal now” ahead of the second Test against South Africa starting in Cape Town on Friday after succumbing on Christmas Day to the illness doing the rounds of the England camp, Pope can be forgiven for yearning for a touch of normality in his burgeoning international career.”Absolutely,” Pope said. “It’s been a bit of a weird start to my career … I think the weirdest time for me was after I got told I was leaving that Sri Lanka tour, which was completely understandable with Foakesy coming in, scoring that hundred just put me one down. I wasn’t going to play.”Hoping I’d be on that West Indies trip, not being on that, not really hearing much and then doing my shoulder. I had no idea how far away from it all I was. That was a pretty frustrating time and I had a lot of time to think, overthink things.”As soon as I found out I was the next batter in for the Ashes, that concussion replacement, that was a massive boost for me. Then coming back – last week sums it up. I’m very rarely ill as well so that was annoying. If I do get a go at Newlands… I don’t overthink it really. I try to just take it in my stride… If I do get a run – brilliant – then hopefully I can take that and make it my own. “Also read: We ‘won’t be afraid’ to leave out Broad or Anderson – SilverwoodPope made his debut batting in the unfamiliar position of No. 4, scoring 54 runs in three innings against India. Initially included as the spare middle-order batsman in Sri Lanka, Foakes’ performance, combined with the presence of Joe Denly in the squad and Jonny Bairstow making his way back from injury, made him surplus to requirements. In a twist, it was Bairstow’s omission that handed Pope a chance in New Zealand – where he scored 29, 6 and 75 – and it is Bairstow who could make way again in Cape Town if Dom Sibley also recovers from illness in time.How things can turn in an instant.”I was looking at the county scores while I wasn’t playing and I was thinking about all these players that are probably ahead of me, in line, just purely because I wasn’t really sure even how I’d come back from the injury,” said Pope of his recovery from shoulder surgery which culminated in a double-hundred for for Surrey against Hampshire and a call-up as a potential, but ultimately unused, concussion substitute for Jason Roy, who was hit on the helmet in the nets in the lead-up to the third Ashes Test at Headingley.”Next thing you know I’m nearly playing a Test in the Ashes. That week was a good way for me to gain my confidence back and know where I’m at with this England side. And, having put a score under the belt, that was a massive boost for me as well. That was a strange week but that week hopefully set it all up.”Making Pope’s illness setback over this past week more frustrating was the fact he had scored 132 off 145 balls in an innings full of the attractive stroke play that is a distinctive feature of his game during the warm-up against South Africa A. But it has him straining at the leash to taste South African Test conditions for which he feels prepared, having faced down county team-mate Morne Morkel in the nets at Surrey.”Obviously these pitches will be a different challenge to what I’m used to,” Pope said. “But we’ve come across some quick bowlers in the county circuit, we’ve faced a lot of Morne in the nets – someone who is tall and gets a lot of bounce like a lot of their bowlers do.”In the warm-up games, felt good with it, they had some nice pace and in the nets when I get them to ramp it up on the bouncier decks, then same really. I feel confident in my game to deal with their pace and bounce.”I’ve gained the confidence in myself and my game over the last, probably – and it sounds stupid because I was injured for so much – but over this season and the back-end of last season. There’s no need to put myself under any more pressure.”I definitely don’t see it as ‘I definitely have to score runs in this game’ because I understand how cricket works. If you just stay pretty level across it all then I’m sure the good will come with the bad.”

After dismissing Peshawar for 123, the hosts overcame an early wobble to eventually saunter to victory

The Report by Peter Della Penna26-Feb-2020
How the game played out
Shan Masood’s men gave the home fans a night to remember on PSL 2020’s debut evening in Multan as a rip-roaring bowling performance set up a simple chase iced by Rilee Rossouw’s unbeaten 49 in a six-wicket win against Peshawar Zalmi.Mohammad Irfan had Tom Banton dropped at slip by James Vince on the first ball of the match, but it was just about the only misstep on the night by Multan in the field. Banton fell five balls later driving Irfan to Shahid Afridi at extra cover and the Multan pacers continued to rip through the Peshawar line-up, aided by Sohail Tanvir’s four-wicket haul, to eventually bowl out the visitors for just 123 in 18.3 overs.In a deja vu moment, Darren Sammy dropped the first ball of the Multan chase at slip when James Vince edged a drive off Hasan Ali, only for the bowler to have Vince caught at mid-on by the end of the over. Whereas Peshawar were 41 for 4 at one stage, Multan slipped to a near-identical 47 for 4 in the seventh over when Zeeshan Ashraf cut Wahab Riaz to Banton at backward point.But that was where the similarities between the two innings ceased. Rossouw got Multan back on track before he was slowed down with a hip injury after getting pinged by Wahab to end the 12th over. He was then dropped in the 14th on 46 by Livingstone at deep cover off Mohammad Amir Khan, the last sniff Peshawar had of an unlikely fightback.From there, Khushdil Shah helped send the Multan fans home with happy hearts by smashing a no-ball by Amir Khan through mid-off for four before clubbing a slower ball on the free hit 20 yards over the long-on rope for six to end the 14th. Another six yanked flat over square leg off Wahab in the 15th by Khushdil put Multan one stroke away from victory. It was sealed with a single down the ground by Rossouw, clinching a mostly one-sided contest.Turning point
Superficially, the scorecard might point to Peshawar’s top-scorer Haider Ali heaving Tanvir to Vince on 47 for the fifth wicket to break a 44-run stand with Liam Dawson. But in terms of impact and energy on the field, it had to be the double-strike by Mohammad Ilyas in the sixth over after Peshawar had been sent in to bat.At 41 for 2 in five overs, the powerplay honors were about even before Ilyas decimated Peshawar with two wickets in the space of three balls to identical back-of-a length deliveries edged behind. Shoaib Malik played slightly away from his body to the first to fall for 2, and then Liam Livingstone was completely squared up by one angled into the off-stump line and had no choice but to fend at it for a second-ball duck. At 41 for 4, the Powerplay was decisively won by Multan.Star of the day
Tanvir got the big wickets beginning with Kamran Akmal. Coming off a century in his last match, Akmal was looking ominous early once again with three fours. But hubris got the best of Akmal, who charged at Tanvir only to miscue a full ball to Vince at midwicket for 15 in the fourth over.The left-arm quick struck again in the 11th, having Haider caught at deep midwicket. Haider had played an identical stroke hammering Ilyas over the region for six just moments earlier but could not achieve the same against Tanvir. After the spinners worked through the rest of the middle order, Tanvir came back to claim Hasan Ali and No.11 Rahat Ali.The big miss
Rossouw was actually dropped twice. The latter came on 46 at deep cover but a far more costly chance came off Rahat’s bowling in the sixth over when Rossouw was on 15. The South African checked a drive that resulted in a low chance floating back to the tall Rahat at ankle height. He was able to crouch out and get two hands to it but couldn’t clasp on completely. It opened the door for Rossouw to form a 77-run stand with Khushdil to see Multan across the line.Where the teams stand
Multan are now in first place, level with Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators on four points but way ahead of the other two on net run-rate. Peshawar are equal with Karachi Kings on two points but technically in fifth place way behind Kings on net run-rate.

Jadeja and Shami likely to be in India squad for ODI series against South Africa

Hemant Brar04-Mar-2020Cheteshwar Pujara will be back for Saurashtra for the Ranji Trophy 2019-20 final against Bengal, to be held in Rajkot next week, but it’s not clear if Ravindra Jadeja will be available for the hosts as they take part in their fourth final in last eight seasons.”Cheteshwar will be back for sure, Ravindra I am not sure,” Saurashtra captain Jaydev Unadkat said after his side’s semi-final win over Gujarat. “We [Pujara and I] have been constantly in touch, he cares for the team as much as I do. Right now, he is in the flight back from New Zealand and I am sure he will be quite happy once he lands in Mumbai.”Having Cheteshwar back will play on their [Bengal’s] mind as well. Whenever he is around, our batting unit plays differently, they have this confidence that there is someone of his calibre in our team. Plus, he does take some sort of pressure off me when there are situations like this.”Like Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha will be in the mix for Bengal, who have now reached the Ranji final 14 times – winning the tournament twice – but never since the 2006-07 season. Both Pujara and Saha are the Test specialists and won’t be required for India duty for the ODI series against South Africa starting March 12, where Jadeja is expected to play a part.Similarly Mohammed Shami, who took a blow to the shoulder while batting in the last Test in New Zealand, will not be in the fray for the final. “Saha will play but not Shami as the South Africa series is there,” a Bengal support staffer told ESPNcricinfo.

Left-arm seamer is Hampshire’s all-time leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket but has been plagued by injuries

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2020Chris Wood, Hampshire’s left-arm seamer, has announced his retirement from red-ball cricket at the age of 29 to focus on prolonging his limited-overs career.Wood has taken 105 wickets at 30.22 across a 43-match first-class career, but has regularly been dogged by injuries. He will represent Hampshire in the T20 Blast, and was a £40,000 signing for the Oval Invincibles in the Hundred draft.”I’ve been desperate to play red-ball cricket,” Wood said, “but in recent years every time I get up and running my body seems to hold me back, and this has been the case since having two knee operations over the last few seasons.”When I play red-ball cricket, I feel I’m good enough to contribute to the team but my body just hasn’t allowed me to bowl 30 to 40 overs each week and in consecutive games, so I’ve been mulling it over for some time and now feels like the right time to finally make this decision.”Concentrating solely on white-ball cricket and trying to get the most of my career, playing the formats that I’m more comfortable with and have had more success in, feels like it makes sense and I’m looking forward to being able to focus all my training overs on improving my skills as a white-ball bowler, which will hopefully help me to continue contributing to the club’s limited-overs success in the years to come.”Wood is Hampshire’s all-time leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket, with 131, and was a key part of the club’s limited-overs double in 2012, as well as their sustained period of T20 success from 2010-15. He had his first taste of franchise cricket earlier this winter, playing for Northern Warriors in the Abu Dhabi T10.

‘If players aren’t able get over to Australia, then it makes sense to postpone it’

Alan Gardner02-May-2020England batsman Jason Roy has conceded that it might “make sense” to postpone this year’s men’s T20 World Cup, with the possibility of travel restrictions and biosecurity issues around the spread of the coronavirus set to impact on the viability of Australia hosting the tournament in October and November as scheduled.While Australia has managed to achieve relatively low numbers of infections and deaths related to Covid-19, and guidelines are already being drawn up with a view to allowing the resumption of professional and recreational sport – possibly as early as later this month – there is a great deal of uncertainty over the global cricket calendar.The ECB has put back the start of the English season until July 1 at the earliest, and delayed the introduction of the Hundred by a year. There have been discussions about continuing the season into October or even taking competitions overseas – although it also remains a possibility that no cricket will be played at all. International tournaments face even greater challenges, with many borders currently closed and less than six months to go before the start of the T20 World Cup.ALSO READ: England tour rearranged for January – SLC chief“If players aren’t able to prepare in the right way and are not able to get over to Australia, then it makes sense to postpone it,” Roy said. “But if it goes ahead, it’s our job to play cricket – and if we’re told we have three weeks to prepare to go and play in the World T20, all the boys will be putting the yards in to make sure we’re ready for that. I think all the boys are on edge, waiting for the call saying, ‘Right, we have a month turnaround or a six-week turnaround. Get in the nets and go hit some balls.’ I think the boys will be as ready as they can be.”While Roy said it would be an “incredible feeling” to be able to return to the field of play, he emphasised that safety was paramount, but added that he placed great faith in the ECB and, in particular England’s limited-overs captain, Eoin Morgan, when it came to decisions about cricket’s resumption.”I’ll do what I’m told by [the] bosses,” Roy said. “I won’t be going to my bosses and saying, ‘Put me in the frontline.’ I’ll just get told what to do. I’m just a pawn in the sporting world.”I’ve got a huge amount of trust in the ECB; I think they will look into every single avenue of all the positives, all the negatives. So, I guess I would trust in what they say, probably have a chat with Morgs and see where his head’s at and go with that. I don’t think I’ll have too many questions, especially when it got to the stage of ‘Right, we’re going to play’, because there’ll be a lot of people in those meetings discussing whether it’s the right thing to do or not.Jason Roy works off the pads•AFP/Getty Images

“I just want to play some cricket to be honest. I think for us to be able to go out there and play some cricket would be an incredible feeling. I feel like a kid again. I guess we’re governed by the government here, we don’t really know what is going on or what the safety measures are. There’s way bigger things out there. I’m more than happy to play behind closed doors, it would just be nice to get out there.”The summer of 2019 was a tumultuous one for Roy, who had to battle back from injury during the ODI World Cup at home and then played a key role in England’s success – including fielding the last ball of the Super Over to help pip New Zealand in the final at Lord’s – and made his Test debut before being dropped at The Oval following a torrid time during the Ashes.He will turn 30 this year, and was set to be a key part of England’s back-to-back T20 World Cup planning, as well maintaining hopes of a Test recall. All that is on hold, but while admitting a lost summer would be “a huge chunk out of my international career”, Roy was keen not to dwell on that aspect of the current shutdown.”I try to concentrate on the now, getting as fit and strong as I can now and hopefully reap those rewards coming towards the end of the year,” he said.”I try not to look at it too negatively. It is a huge shame what is happening now and to be missing this amount of cricket is quite a daunting feeling because you don’t quite know how you are going to feel when you get back. You can watch videos and make yourself feel good and train well but, until you’re facing that first ball in the middle, you don’t really know. You worry after three or four months out of the game, are you going to be able to bat, or whatever?”I think mentally over the last year or so has been the best place I’ve been in, barring the end of the summer. Obviously, the Ashes was a very tough time mentally. I think I’ve been in a fantastic place. All I’ve done is just forward on that. Trying to stay as positive as possible, keep a perspective and look at the bigger picture.”

Australia batsman Peter Handscomb had been due to lead side in 2020 and 2021

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2020Middlesex have named Stephen Eskinazi as their captain for this summer’s Bob Willis Trophy, after confirming that Peter Handscomb, the Australia batsman who was set to lead them this summer, will defer his two-year contract until 2021-22.Eskinazi, 26, will take charge of Middlesex’s red-ball team in the competition that has replaced the County Championship this summer due to the impact of Covid-19. England seamer Toby Roland-Jones has been appointed as his vice-captain.ALSO READ: Kent opener Dickson signs for Durham“Steve was the obvious choice for me as the captain of our squad in Pete Handscomb’s absence,” Middlesex coach, Stuart Law, said. “Last year when Steve stood in for us, the team played really well and with a smile on their face and had immediate success. Good signs for sure and I look forward to working with him again this season.”Handscomb had been signed as the club’s overseas player and captain for the Championship and Royal London Cup, but his deal was put “on hold” after the global shutdown cause by Covid-19. The Bob Willis Trophy, named after the former England captain who died last year, will begin on August 1, while the 50-over competition has been dropped this summer.Dawid Malan captained Middlesex during the 2019 season but stepped down from the role after they finished eighth in Division Two, before leaving for Yorkshire over the winter.

Third-wicket stand of 159 lifts visitors from 17 for 2 on rain-affected first day

ECB Reporters Network15-Aug-2020A third-wicket partnership of 159 left Durham in a strong position when rain caused an early close of play on the first day of their Bob Willis Trophy match against Leicestershire at the Fischer County Ground.It was an impressive recovery from the visitors, who after being put in to bat under grey skies, might have feared the worst after being reduced to 17 for 2.Opener Sean Dickson poked tentatively at a Dieter Klein delivery pushed across him by the left-arm seamer to edge a simple catch to wicket-keeper Harry Swindells, and Cameron Steel, having scored just one, edged an out-swinger from Gavin Griffiths to Hassan Azad at first slip.Alex Lees and David Bedingham had other ideas, however, taking advantage of the lack of seam movement and a fast outfield to score quickly.Lees looked in good touch, particularly when driving straight, but Bedingham needed two moments of good fortune, firstly when he was dropped on 24, a straightforward edge off Tom Taylor put down by Swindells, and then on 37, when he advanced down the pitch to left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson and was beaten by the turn, only for Swindells to fail to gather the ball.Bedingham was the first to his half-century, made off just 70 balls and reached by lofting Colin Ackermann for a huge six over midwicket, with Lees following in a more circumspect manner soon afterwards, off 103 balls.The occasional ball was turning for the spinners, but slowly, and with runs continuing to flow, Ackermann turned back to his seamers to try and regain control of the scoreboard.Bedingham continued to prosper, but on 96 and looking for the boundary required to bring up his century, edged a drive at a Taylor out-swinger and Ackermann took a neat catch low to his left at second slip.Shortly afterwards a shower saw the umpires take the players off for an early tea, with 38 overs remaining and Lees undefeated on 62. A restart was planned for 4.45pm, but the rain became heavier and play was abandoned for the day shortly before 5.30pm.

The match had been due to take place in Perth during November

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2020Cricket Australia has announced the postponement of the inaugural Test against Afghanistan which was originally scheduled to take place in Perth in November due to the complexities of scheduling amid the Covid-19 pandemic.The confirmation that the Test has not survived the restructuring of the season came a few hours after New Zealand Cricket said they would not be touring for the short limited-overs trip at the end of January.Staging cricket in Perth this season has been given an additional challenge by the hard border imposed by the Western Australian government and very strict quarantine restrictions that do not allow training while in isolation.It leaves the visit of India as the single men’s touring team to Australia the coming summer with CA confirming they will play four Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is although the order of the white-ball cricket remains to be confirmed. The Test series is expected to start in Adelaide on December 17.CA said it will look to reschedule both the Afghanistan Test, which was hopeful of finding a home in early December, and the New Zealand visit before the end of the current FTP cycle in 2023. Earlier, the NZC CEO David White said he was hopeful their tour could take place next season.”Cricket Australia looks forward to working with our good friends at the Afghanistan Cricket Board and New Zealand Cricket to deliver the matches at a time when, hopefully, the restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have eased,” Nick Hockley, the Cricket Australia CEO, said.”We all worked incredibly hard to make the series happen this summer, but the challenges around international travel and quarantine restrictions ultimately convinced all parties that the series would need to be played at a later date.”CA looks forward to welcoming the Indian men’s team for a full schedule of matches this summer in what promises to be an incredible contest across all three formats.”CA would also like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful partners for their understanding and support as we have navigated the complexities of hosting international sport during a pandemic to deliver a thrilling summer across men’s and women’s cricket at international and domestic level.”The WACA said it understood the decision and would continue to work to stage cricket in Perth this season with the hope of getting one of the travelling BBL hubs.”We understand we need to remain agile in this current climate and this decision will not waiver our efforts to bring live cricket to Perth this summer as we continue to work closely with Cricket Australia and both the Australian and WA Government,” WACA CEO Christina Matthews said.”With world-class facilities and the opportunity for cricket fans to attend matches we maintain that WA is well-positioned to host cricket content, including a BBL hub.”