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Opening stand makes light work of Sussex to extend 100% record

ECB Reporters Network08-Jun-2022Surrey 147 for 3 (Jacks 57, Roy 50) beat Sussex 146 for 7 (Hudson-Prentice 49*) by seven wickets Will Jacks and Jason Roy both hit sparkling half-centuries as South Group leaders Surrey stretched their unbeaten start to the Vitality Blast campaign to six matches by crushing Sussex Sharks by seven wickets at the Kia Oval.A crowd of 15,000 saw Jacks add a 37-ball 57 to an earlier wicket and astonishing boundary catch as Surrey easily chased down Sussex’s 146 for 7, in which Fynn Hudson-Prentice top-scored for the visitors with a 49 not out from 44 balls that anchored the innings but provided no real forward thrust.There were still 3.3 overs remaining when Surrey reached 147 for 3 in reply, completing their total outclassing of a Sharks side who have now lost four of their opening seven Blast fixtures.Surrey’s mastery was summed up by Chris Jordan, their captain, bowling a double-wicket maiden in Sussex’s 18th over, and with five wins only a no result wash-out against Glamorgan at Cardiff denies them a 100 per cent record.Jacks and Roy reeled off a stream of magnificent and powerful strokes in an opening partnership of 110 in just 12.3 overs as the Sharks attack was taken apart in ruthless fashion.Both hit sixes as Delray Rawlins’s left-arm spin was plundered for 19 in the first over of Surrey’s reply, and Jacks then extra cover drove and swung Tymal Mills for four and six in a third over costing 18.Steven Finn’s second over went for 15 and Roy then merely punched Obed McCoy’s left-arm pace straight for a purely-timed four and Jacks thrashed Mills high over extra cover as the six-over powerplay ended with Surrey 72 without loss.Roy eventually sliced McCoy to cover to go for 50 from 41 balls, with two sixes and four fours, and three wickets in six balls momentarily slowed Surrey’s progress as Sam Curran (1) played McCoy on to his stumps and Jacks skied to deep extra cover after hitting two sixes and six fours.Kieron Pollard, though, sauntered in to launch both Archie Lenham and Mills for sixes in an unbeaten cameo of 23 and Laurie Evans also thrashed a cover four off the suffering Mills in his 10 not out.Sunil Narine, meanwhile, again Surrey’s outstanding bowler, conceded no fours off the bat in his 4-0-21-1 and – remarkably – the former West Indies mystery spinner has been struck for just three in the 20 overs he has so far sent down in this season’s competition.It was Narine, indeed, who ended Harrison Ward’s 23-ball 31 after the young left-hander had at least offered some lusty blows, including a six over long off against Worrall, in a fifth-wicket stand of 51 in seven overs with Hudson-Prentice.But the Sussex innings always struggled to get going, despite Tom Alsop clubbing Reece Topley for successive legside sixes in the fourth over – an over that ended, however, with Topley bowling Tim Seifert for 4 through an ugly slog.That left the Sharks 35 for 2 and they had lost their first wicket when Jacks pulled off a sensational, leaping one-handed catch on the deep square leg ropes to dismiss Ravi Bopara for 6 off Dan Worrall.Rawlins, trying to force off the back foot, then succeeded only in edging a simple catch to Topley at short third man off Jacks’ third ball, in the fifth over.Topley dived full length to his right, in the same position, to cling on brilliantly to a reverse slap from Alsop six overs later as the left-hander, who scored 38 off 28 balls, tried in vain to break the shackles imposed by Narine.Jordan’s double-strike in the 18th over removed both Ward, carving to deep point, and Oli Carter, leg-before for a duck, and McCoy was run out for 2 in the final over when Hudson-Prentice attempted to pinch a bye when the tailender heaved and missed at Jordan.Mills did manage to thump Jordan past mid off for four in that last over and the innings ended with four leg byes to fine leg off Hudson-Prentice’s pads – but there had simply not been enough boundaries for the Sharks against a talented and varied Surrey attack.

The New Zealand captain gives an insight into exactly why his team is sitting pretty when so many of its rivals are in such advance states of funk

Andrew Miller at Lord's28-Jun-20194:02

Vettori: Nicholls will put pressure on Munro

Permutations, permutations… somebody spare us from permutations. Who knows, England might go a long way to doing just that on Sunday, by losing against India and placing their World Cup fate firmly into the hands of the teams around them. But for now, with the sun shining over a pristine Lord’s, and the New Zealand flag flying proudly over the home dressing room, Kane Williamson isn’t about to be tempted into stressing.Of course, it’s not entirely obvious what tempt Williamson into such a course of action.Certainly, last week’s scoreline of 7 for 2 with both openers gone for golden ducks wasn’t enough to rattle his cage – his silken-touched retort, 148 from 154 balls against West Indies, rather proved that point.And certainly not the situation that greeted him on the last occasion that Australia and New Zealand met in the group stages of the World Cup – that cage-fight of a contest in Auckland in 2015, when Williamson responded to the loss of four wickets for seven runs in ten balls by planting the front foot forward against Pat Cummins and stroking him over long-on to seal an epic one-wicket win.So, trying to suggest that New Zealand’s skipper should be overly bothered by a first defeat of the tournament – against a resurgent Pakistan at Edgbaston on Wednesday – was something of an exercise in futility. Even if that setback genuinely has put the squeeze, just a teensy bit, on his team’s final two games of the group stage.In short [deep breath…] if England can find their chill at any time between now and the end of the weekend, and overcome India, and if Pakistan can avoid losing to Afghanistan, the one side that can match them in the hot-and-cold air-blowing stakes… then New Zealand’s fate may yet be ripped from their own hands.For that to happen, they would need to go on to lose to England in Chester-le-Street, and for Pakistan to keep up their own rampant streak in their final game against Bangladesh. And even that match could yet come down to a battle of net run-rates if Shakib Al Hasan can crown his own stunning campaign by inspiring Bangladesh to a knee-trembler of a victory over India in their penultimate fixture…If… if… if. It’s what the tournament wanted, and needed. The sun shining, the tongues wagging, the stakes rising. But… nah! Williamson and his team will not be drawn in like that.”It kind of is what it is, really,” he said. “You come to tournaments and sides beat each other and they climb the ladder, and that’s what everybody sort of desires to do, and who remains is kind of the ones that go through. But, at the end the day, you’re trying to play the best cricket that you can to try and put yourself in one of those top four positions.”Kane Williamson leads his ‘no-stress’ boys out to the middle•Getty Images

Williamson was sitting deep within the bowels of the MCC’s real tennis court – a strangely appropriate setting for such an anachronistically fabulous batsman – and he spoke with the clarity and lack of fluster with which he compiles his best innings. All angles and pointed placement, and next to no recourse to raw power.There are, doubtless, times when it gets grating to be so consistently talked down in the tournament narrative – as if ploughing a very steady path towards an eighth semi-final in 12 World Cups (a tally that no team, not even Australia, will have exceeded) is in any way underwhelming.But there are clearly also times when that relative anonymity is a blessing. Who, at various stages of this campaign, would have wished to be in charge of Sri Lanka or Pakistan’s fates, for instance, let alone an England campaign that, to judge by Jonny Bairstow’s feud with Michael Vaughan, is in danger of borrowing the apocalyptic Brexit stylings of @Coldwar_Steve … all shipwrecks and squabbles as the dream dies before their eyes.Nope, Williamson seems perfectly content with the hand that he has been dealt. A solidly placed side that, in coming through some taut contests against Bangladesh and South Africa, has been arguably been tested more robustly than either India or Australia, the only teams above them in the table. Another subtly different challenge awaits on a used pitch at Lord’s and the hottest day of the year – but in spite of the temptation to play legspinner Ish Sodhi, New Zealand look every bit as likely to name an unchanged team for the seventh match in a row.And, within his measured responses to an admittedly low-key grilling, Williamson gave an insight into exactly why New Zealand are sitting pretty when so many of their likeliest rivals are in such advance states of funk.”At a World Cup, perhaps teams adopt slightly different plans when we’re playing different opposition day-in and day-out on different surfaces,” he said. “[But] the most important thing is adapting to the conditions. Sometimes I think we’ve seen in the last few games, that looking to blast teams out, perhaps with the use of seam movement and these sorts of things, it hasn’t quite been there, and it’s been about playing the long game a little bit.”We haven’t played at Lord’s yet, and we’ll just have to assess those conditions.”If that was meant as a dig at England after the failure of their gung-ho approach on this same pitch last week, then it was delivered with such deftness that it barely made a sound off the bat.”There’s so many games of cricket, so many different things can happen,” he added. “We know in this sport the variables and uncontrollables we can come up against on any given day, and perhaps some sides might be more suited to certain conditions than others on a certain day, and that’s just the nature of the beast.”England are still in a strong position, as are a few other sides. The focus for all of those sides is to keep trying to apply what they know holds themselves in the strongest position with the sort of cricket they want to play, which is equally different to one another.”When the time comes and the round-robin’s finished, if you can hang your hat on that, then at the end of the day, you can either walk away and end up in a semi-final, or know that you’ve done that and it hasn’t quite happened.”Or, more likely, you’ll find that – over the course of nine group-stage fixtures – the fact that you’ve done more right than wrong will get rewarded in the final analysis. And those who have either not been good enough, or have relied on bluster and preconception at times of duress (or both), will be found out.So, what if it’s the Australians tomorrow, was Williamson’s message. We’re pootling along just fine. How about the rest of you?

The hosts need another win to keep the series alive. Both teams might also want to keep an eye on the weather, with showers forecast for the afternoon in Port Elizabeth

The Preview by Firdose Moonda12-Feb-20184:16

Cullinan: Will be surprised if SA play an all-pace attack

Big picture

Suddenly South Africa have something to play for.After three matches of one-way traffic and few answers to India’s wristspinners, South Africa were staring at 6-0. But a change of outfit was as good as a new gameplan for them. In pink, at the Wanderers, South Africa chased a target of 202 inside 28 overs, which required them to score at more than seven runs to the over. They took more than half those runs off Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, giving the pair only three wickets. That will have boosted the hosts’ confidence ahead of two must-win games to share the trophy.Crucially, South Africa’s runs did not come from one person and most of them came from the two people who had a lot to prove. David Miller showed much-needed big-match temperament, Heinrich Klaasen justified his selection and Andile Phehlukwayo put on another fine finishing effort. South Africa’s next challenge will be to prove it was not a one-off. Can they pull back India’s line-up again? And can they tame India’s spinners once again?India were slightly guilty of taking their foot off the gas with the knowledge they cannot lose the series. After Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli gave the team a strong start, the rest of the line-up all but fell away and lost five wickets for 76 runs. They will want more from their middle-order as they aim to close out the series before they get to the final fixture in Centurion.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: WLLLW
India: LWWWW

In the spotlight

The focus on South Africa’s middle-order and India’s spinners has taken some attention off the opening partnership, but Hashim Amla and Aiden Markram will only have two more opportunities to show what they can do together. Neither has managed a score higher than 33 but together shared a stand of 43 in Johannesburg and will want to work towards giving the hosts a more solid platform to launch from. Markram may also want to seek Amla’s advice about a few other things, like how to stay within the stipulated time to meet the over-rate, because another offence will see him suspended.The honours have gone to the India’s spinners who have taken their combined wicket-tally on this tour to 24. Jasprit Bumrah follows them on that list. He has five wickets to his name, one more than Kagiso Rabada and more than double that of any of his non-spinning team-mates. Bumrah has set the tone well and has had the better of Amla twice in the four matches so far. Who will win the head-to-head continues on Tuesday?AFP

Team news

A spinner is likely to be brought back into the South Africa XI and the toss-up will be between Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi. Though Tahir may get in on seniority, South Africa might want to check on his mindset after the incident he had with spectators at the Wanderers, which is being investigated for racial abuse. David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen have done enough to leave Farhaan Behardien fighting for a spot against one of the allrounders.South Africa (probable): 1 Hashim Amla, 2 Aiden Markram (capt), 3 JP Duminy, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 David Miller, 6 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 7 Farhaan Behardien/Chris Morris, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir/Tabraiz ShamsiIndia attended an optional practice session on the eve of the ODI. Shreyas Iyer is set to retain his spot given Kedar Jadhav’s hamstring niggle is unlikely to have healed.India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Ajinkya Rahane, 5 Shreyas Iyer/Kedar Jadhav, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Pitch and conditions

Known for being one of South Africa’s slower surfaces, St George’s Park should suit India’s attack. The average score over the last five matches – batting first – has been 227, and a warm and humid day is forecast in Port Elizabeth. There is also a highly probability of afternoon showers.

Stats and trivia

• MS Dhoni has spent the series inching towards 10,000 ODI runs and he is now just 46 away.
• Results at St George’s Park have been marginally in favour of the chasing team, with 17 of the 32 ODIs won by the team that fields first.

Quotes

“The guys have been specific about their training. They have been doing good analysis and have good game plans. Obviously the conditions were different. So it’s a game plan that we have had in our change room, to be really positive and look to score and get into good positions.”

The India fast bowler, who is set to play his last international on November 1, said he is happy to call time on his career when people are asking ‘why and not why not’

Arun Venugopal12-Oct-2017Ashish Nehra had been thinking about retirement plans for a while, but his non-inclusion in the first XI for the first two T20Is against Australia might have hastened the call. He also said that playing for India was always motivation for him, which is why he has retired from all official cricket. He will end his 18-year international career with the T20I against New Zealand at the Feroz Shah Kotla, his home ground, on November 1.”No particular reason. At one point everyone knows [that it is time to quit]. It’s not an overnight decision,” Nehra said on the eve of the final T20I against Australia. “It’s my own decision. I have given it a good thought. When I came into this series, I had come prepared to bowl. The day I linked up with this squad, I spoke to the captain and coach about my plan because whenever Ashish Nehra is in the side he plays in the XI, he doesn’t sit out. We’ve seen that in the T20s over the last couple of years.”I feel Bhuvneshwar [Kumar] is ready, the way he has been bowling. And there is no big event in the next five or six months, like a World Cup. I think this is the way forward, especially the manner in which Bhuvneshwar has been bowling in the last couple of years, whenever I’ve played with [Jasprit] Bumrah, either of Bhuvi or [Mohammed] Shami have had to sit out. So I think this is the right time [to retire] and I think people are welcoming it. I came prepared to play in this series, but I also put across my point of view. If they ask me to play in the XI, I’m available.”It’s very important to me what people in the dressing room think. Now, they say you can easily play for one more year. I’ve been a believer of the fact that it’s always good to retire when people ask why and not why not. And it can’t get bigger than the fact that I’m retiring at home. I played my first Ranji game there 20 years ago.”Nehra said he had first sounded out captain Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri about his intention to retire before going through with his decision. “Like I said, I put my point of view to them,” he said. “This is how I feel and this is my thought. Obviously, I could still play. But the first thing Virat said was you can still play, then second thing he said you could play IPL. It’s good that people still think I can play. It was a tough decision for me, but they all respect my decision.”While Nehra’s career will be remembered for being ridden with injuries, he also gained a reputation for making stirring comebacks out of nowhere. His most recent comeback in 2016 after being out of the team for five years marked the start of one of the more successful phases of his career. Since the start of 2016, Nehra has picked 21 wickets from 18 T20Is at an average of 21.66. Nehra also enjoyed a successful World T20 campaign where he was India’s joint-highest wicket-taker with five scalps from five games going at less than six runs per over. In the IPL, too, over the last few years, he has been one of the go-to fast bowlers for captains – first for MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings and then David Warner at Sunrisers Hyderabad. Nehra said his ability to bounce back from injuries made a difference to his life off the field as well.”For me the true measure of success is how many times you bounce back from failure,” he said. “When you are always on top, you don’t know how to come back up after a failure. People have always said that you’ve had 11-12 surgeries, how you made a comeback despite that. But they have made me mentally strong. When you make a century or take a five-for, everyone is with you but your character comes when you are not doing well and bounce back from it. It has made a difference even in my normal life, apart from my cricketing life.”[My second coming since 2016] has been great. Like, in between, unfortunately, the problem in India is people count you as playing only when you are playing international cricket or the IPL. In India, only 15 [players] can play at a time, and if you combine all formats maybe 20-25. I was still playing IPL regularly. Last two-three years has been a great journey. I always feel it is not how you start, but how you finish.”Every individual has certain strengths and certain weaknesses. I was always mentally strong. I am that sort of a person who trains day in and day out to play for India. Like I said, I could have played easily one more year of international cricket. People said you are retiring in November, you can still play the next IPL which is just five months away. But it’s my decision that if I leave, I will leave completely, I won’t even play the IPL.”While any highlights reel of Nehra would unfailingly feature his spell of 6 for 23 against England in the 2003 World Cup, the man himself felt he couldn’t point to one standout memory from his career. “When you are playing cricket, every day is a memory,” he said. “This is something you are doing day in and day out. People will always remember you for moments in international cricket. But, for me there are times in domestic cricket or the IPL, when you may not pick up wickets but you still enjoy. When it comes to cricket world or media, people remember Ashish Nehra bowling the last over in Karachi or the six wickets against England. But for me those are not the only memories. Because in cricket you win some, you lose some. I will always go thinking that I must be doing something good so that captain asks me to bowl the last over. Result might not go your way. For me playing for India, winning the World Cup [in 2011], losing the [2003] final, T20I world cup, I have seen all the ups and downs.”Nehra said he hadn’t given his post-retirement life a thought yet and that he had made plans only for November 1. “I haven’t thought of it yet. All those options are open, either coaching or mentoring. I haven’t decided yet. I am always somebody who takes one series at a time,” he said.Nehra, however, ruled out any possibility of a comeback. “I am not playing IPL, so you can judge me from that,” he said. “So many people will play one or two years or IPL [after retiring from international cricket]. Once I’ve decided something then it’s final, there is no going back on that. I always said, never say never, but it’s not applicable in this case.”

Afghanistan have withdrawn from a proposed one-day series against Ireland next month due to a clash with their domestic T20 competition

Danyal Rasool07-Jun-2017Afghanistan have withdrawn from a proposed one-day series against Ireland next month due to a clash with their domestic T20 competition.Ireland, who lost 3-2 in their last ODI encounter with Afghanistan in Greater Noida in March, had hoped to host a three-match return series in Belfast in July.However, the Afghanistan Cricket Board have informed Cricket Ireland that they’re not in a position to approve the tour, due to a clash with preparations for their domestic franchise T20 event.”Of course, our preference is to give as many opportunities as possible to our senior men to play our closest rivals on our home turf, so we are disappointed the matches won’t proceed in July,” said a Cricket Ireland spokesperson.”We have enjoyed two very competitive recent ODI series against Afghanistan in Belfast and India. Hopefully we will continue to work with the ACB to see if there are further opportunities to reschedule the matches at a later date.”Afghanistan Cricket Board CEO Shafiq Stanikzai said the series, which Ireland had proposed, had never been officially approved.”The proposal came from Cricket Ireland, to play them in three ODIs before our MCC game [on July 11],” Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. “We agreed in February or March, and the tour was approved by the ACB. Then it was kept on hold by Cricket Ireland, because they were waiting for the ICC board meeting. About two weeks ago, they approached us again to ask if we could go ahead and play this series. This time, the board didn’t give us permission because the team is busy, plus we have the T20 franchise tournament coming up.”The timing of the series proposal from Ireland was particularly inconvenient for Afghanistan, who are playing a limited-overs series in West Indies, which concludes on June 14.”The team has been playing for three months continuously,” Stanikzai said. “It makes no sense to come back from West Indies to Kabul for ten days, and then go back to Ireland. We need proper preparation for an Ireland series. We can’t have the team in Afghanistan for ten days and go straight back into competition phase. It would have been great if we could go straight from the West Indies to Ireland because then preparation would not be an issue. But since the proposed dates [from Cricket Ireland] were July 1-9, the schedule just didn’t work out for us.”Stanikzai stressed that the cancellation of the tour did not sour relations with Cricket Ireland, at least from the ACB’s point of view.”Ireland are our closest rivals, and we would like to play them more and more. We will be looking in the future for an opportunity to play Ireland. We will draw up a schedule with Ireland when we meet them at the Annual General Meeting in June to see when we can play each other again, hopefully in the latter part of this year. Our relations with Ireland are very friendly, and we want them to remain that way.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Afghanistan’s maiden fixture at Lord’s, when they take on an MCC side led by Brendon McCullum on July 11, is unaffected by this decision.

Following his side’s 3-0 defeat to India, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said he is disappointed but was thankful for the experience, which he felt would help the players take their game forward

Sidharth Monga in Indore11-Oct-20163:06

‘Ashwin is best in exposing conditions’ – Williamson

After losing all the Tests in a series they would have been hopeful of doing well in, Kane Williamson managed to retain some humour, but he knew his side was done in by a mix of difficult conditions for them, the quality of their opposition in those conditions, and their own lack of application at times. In packed schedules nowadays, you hardly get time to acclimatise, which means you don’t have too many second chances. The most disappointing aspect for New Zealand will be that when they got a surface in Indore that resembled classic Indian pitches, they couldn’t bat for long enough. It didn’t help that they never won a toss, and India always were in the ascendency.When asked about R Ashwin’s hold on him – the leading wicket-taker of the series took out Williamson all four times he batted – Williamson joked: “He didn’t get me out 27 times. He got a few other blokes out too.”On a serious note, Williamson did make a mention of the conditions. “He’s a good bowler,'” Williamson said of Ashwin. “We’re always learning playing internationals. I guess it’s a new thing, personally as well. Come over here with so much rough, which is nice to bowl into. I suppose I was a victim of it a few times. I guess, when you are put in that situation where you are dismissed in a similar situation, you are able to learn and try to improve from that. The conditions guys are exposed to, and the quality of bowling, in a backhanded way, we can be thankful for those experiences that help move your game forward.”Even before the season began, India had a good chance of going unbeaten through a long season of 13 home Tests. New Zealand, on paper, seemed the team likeliest to challenge India, which will now make India look invincible this season. Williamson, though, felt – and it did bring out some laughs – that the toss can be crucial in these conditions. The previous home season had a shift in the pitches India play on, and they have won all seven tosses since then.”Winning the toss would be helpful, I think,” Williamson said, when asked what advice he could give to the teams that are following him in India’s home season. “Which is a challenge in itself: South Africa lost every toss as well. Certainly have to be at your best. Whether you win the toss, lose the toss, India were far superior in this series. It depends on the surfaces. Every surface has been different in this series, they were different in the South Africa series. Whether it is a good one… it is important to spend time at the crease, creating pressure. Batting first would be nice. It would help, certainly, in being more competitive. This India side is a very good team, and they certainly know these conditions better than anyone.”Williamson said that while the conditions were more difficult when they batted in Indore, this was a pitch where they could have played more assured cricket. Speaking on finding the right balance between defence and attack, Williamson said: “It is a challenge, certainly on wickets very conducive to spin that make attacking tough as well. Sometimes, being positive when it is doing a little bit more is the way forward. It is up to the individual how they want to skin it, but in this Test, which was probably a little bit more like Test matches of old where it’s that war of attrition and you have to play long game like India showed, as opposed to Test matches prior, where 300 was a very good score, where you go out there and play positively and you get them before they get you, here was a little bit different.”They exploited conditions better than us. They played very patiently with the bat, and batting was not easy when it came our time. Not just because conditions had deteriorated, but the very good bowling attack they have. Important that we come away from here, although frustrated, having learnt a huge amount as a young group being exposed in these conditions.”Williamson didn’t shy away from giving India the credit and said he was disappointed his team couldn’t adapt quickly enough, but added that in conditions so challenging he felt the need to send players early for more experience.”The more you can play in these conditions, the better you’ll be,” Williamson said. “That has to be a given. The more experiences you get in any conditions, it is a good thing. People talk a lot about county cricket and then, when you go to England, you certainly are far more aware of what to expect. I suppose this is no different. If guys can have more experience in these conditions, it will certainly be helpful.”When asked if he felt his side had spent enough time here before the series, Williamson brought up the practical issue of the packed schedules. “I suppose there is always those discussions,” Williamson said. “Another tough point as well is that you are playing so much international cricket, it is tricky to get that extra preparation you would like. So, you are having to learn on the job a bit, which is the nature of the beast, but at the same time, it is an important thing. Whether it’s ‘A’ teams where guys are able to get extra time to come over, particularly in these conditions where you are playing more and more cricket. India’s home summer this year is 13 Test matches. So you are playing more and more in these conditions.”New Zealand now have the five-ODI series to look forward to, which will be played on flatter surfaces. Williamson hoped the team doesn’t carry the scars of losing the Tests into that series. “Disappointing to lose the Test series,” he said. “At the same time, the guys are looking forward to the change of format. It will be tough again. We know India are a very good side at that as well. It’s exciting. We know that wickets will more than likely be quite different again.”We have got to adapt. Go out and play with that freedom, knowing that when we do play with that freedom, we play our best cricket. There will be a little bit of scarring coming out of a three-nil Test defeat. Obviously winning is a lot better than losing. Unfortunately we have lost a few on the trot, but nice to have new personnel come in who are fresh and looking forward to the one-day series.”

BCCI president Anurag Thakur today slammed former selection committee chief Sandeep Patil for revealing confidential details about Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and others

PTI27-Sep-2016BCCI president Anurag Thakur today slammed former selection committee chief Sandeep Patil, saying it was “unethical” on his part to reveal certain confidential details about Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and others after his tenure ended earlier this month.Thakur stopped short of saying that action will be taken against Patil but said “right people in the BCCI” will speak to him soon over the issue which has created a major controversy.Patil, a former international cricketer, recently disclosed that the selection panel would have dropped Sachin Tendulkar before he eventually quit international cricket and that it had also considered removing MS Dhoni from ODI captaincy ahead of the 2015 World Cup.”Let me make it very clear. Sandeep, being a former chairman, should not have made these comments. When he was the chairman, he replied differently to the same questions. But after that [his tenure], it was different. It was totally unethical of him to do that,” Thakur told .”One should refrain from making such unethical and unwanted comments in this area [selection matters]. It is because he has been trusted to become the chairman, because he has played enough cricket. There were four more selectors with him; they did not say anything. He should have avoided that,” the BCCI president said.Asked whether any action was being contemplated by the BCCI against Patil over the breach of confidentiality, he said, “The right people in the BCCI will speak to him soon.”Thakur went to the extent of saying such a breach of confidentiality would make it difficult for any of future employers of Patil to trust him.”Any organisation, if they hire him, will think ten times that after leaving the organisation, he will speak about the organisation,” Thakur said.Patil’s four-year tenure ended when the panel announced the 15-man squad for the ongoing Test series against New Zealand.

Brendon McCullum will lead a 13-man New Zealand squad for the home ODI series against Australia beginning February 3 in Auckland

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jan-20161:18

‘Important McCullum plays if fit’ – Hesson

Brendon McCullum will lead a 13-man New Zealand squad for the home ODI series against Australia beginning February 3 in Auckland. McCullum has been out with a back injury since the second ODI against Sri Lanka on December 28 but is set to return to the side for the third ODI against Pakistan on Sunday. The series against Australia will be McCullum’s last in limited-overs internationals.If McCullum isn’t ready by the start of the three-match ODI series, Tom Latham has been named as cover for the New Zealand captain. Coach Mike Hesson is counting on New Zealand’s depth to come through in their bid to retain the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy as they continue without the services of Ross Taylor, Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan due to injury.Southee is expected to recover from his foot in time for the Tests, and has begun training with the New Zealand team. He may also play a Plunket Shield match against Central Stags, from February 5-8. Taylor’s recovery is more difficult to predict, Hesson said.”Ross is making progress. It’s a little bit hard to put a time-frame on it. He’s still seeing a specialist and making some good progress. We’re hopeful for the first Test, but it’s certainly not guaranteed at this stage.”New Zealand have had several players affected by injury over the past three weeks, but have won four out of five completed ODIs in their home summer so far. The tour against Australia represents the climax of their season.”This is a pinnacle event for us and we’ll look to get our best side out on the park each time we play,” said Hesson. “We’ve been lucky enough to use a big squad over the summer and although we’re missing a few key players, we have guys who can step in and we know are up to the task. The Chappell Hadlee Trophy is something we want to hold on to. The rivalry between these two sides is huge and it’s going to be three intense games in front of some big crowds.”New Zealand ODI squad: Brendon McCullum (capt), Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Colin Munro, Luke Ronchi (wk), Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Adam Milne, Matt Henry

The BCCI has retained a base price of Rs 2 crore (approx. $320,000) per international match while inviting bids for a series-title sponsor for all the major matches played in India

Amol Karhadkar19-Sep-2013The BCCI has retained a base price of Rs 2 crore (approx. $320,000) per international match while inviting bids for a series-title sponsor for all the major matches played in India, in place of Bharti Airtel, the telecommunication company that decided not to renew its contract for the same.The board decided to float a tender for the period beginning October 1 to March 31, 2014, which includes at least 13 international matches. The winning bidder, though, will then get the first right to extend the agreement till March 31, 2018.After Bharti Airtel decided not to extend their contract, the BCCI’s marketing committee, which was presided over by president N Srinivasan in the absence of its chairman Farooq Abdullah, finalised the invitation to tender (ITT) document. The ITT will be available to “only corporate entities with a turnover of Rs 100 crore, for performance deposit of Rs 3 crore” at Rs 2 lakh. The bids will be opened in the presence of all the bidders on October 3.While the media statement issued by BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel didn’t specify the base price, a summary of the ITT document that was finalised at the meeting, accessed by ESPNcricinfo, recommended “to have the same base price of Rs 2 crore as the tender done in 2010”.While barring agents from representing corporate houses, the BCCI decided to allow consortia bids. “It is recommended that the consortia is allowed to bid for the title sponsor with consortia members nominating the title sponsor and other associate sponsor during the time of the bid,” the marketing committee suggested.Besides being awarded the title sponsorship of all the senior domestic tournaments barring the Challenger Trophy, which will be played in September, and the domestic Twenty20, the winning bidder will also be able to avail 28 other rights. Some of the prominent ones include: “Integration into the event logo and the use of all official marks; right to put up to 12 advertising boards of standard size (approx. 3ft x 20ft) in the stadium at all matches and the right to nominate the positioning of these 12 boards; exclusive branding on the stumps; and non-exclusive branding on the BCCI’s website”.The marketing committee also took into consideration the current title sponsorship deals of Cricket South Africa, Cricket Australia and the ECB. It noted that CA awards Test sponsorship for $2.4mn and ODI sponsorship for $0.8mn, the ECB awards Tests for $1.07mn and ODIs and T20s for $0.25mn, and CSA’s sponsorship is priced at $0.45mn per Test, $0.5mn per ODI and $0.3mn per T20.

Top cricketers in Bangladesh have threatened to “stay away” from this season’s Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League after the BCB proposed a change in the players’ transfer system

Mohammad Isam17-Jun-2013Top cricketers in Bangladesh have threatened to “stay away” from this season’s Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League after the BCB proposed a change in the players’ transfer system. The Dhaka Premier League is a city-based domestic one-day competition and is the country’s most popular league.Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh, the players’ body, announced the decision after a long discussion with the players on Monday afternoon. They complained about the lack of communication from the BCB, which announced on Sunday that the new system of player transfer – similar to the draft system that is used in American sports – will take place on June 23. The league is slated to begin on July 3.Former Bangladesh player Rajin Saleh read out CWAB’s letter, but Debabbrata Paul, the secretary, said that there was never any official discussion between the two sides, which was one of the reasons for their plan to stay away.”We gave our observations to the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) in a letter, but they never replied,” Paul said. “We got to know of it from the media that they will start a gradation and rotation policy. So today we took a decision after speaking to the players that we will stay away from the competition.”The BCB never sat with us, so we don’t really know where our differences are. There was no official discussion with them. I had a personal talk with Jalal Yunus, the CCDM chairman.”The main reason for the row is the new players’ transfer system, which replaces the traditional way in which the players negotiated a fee for one season with a Dhaka-based club to play in the tournament.Instead, the players were divided into categories according to a pay structure that started from Tk 22 lakh ($28,300 approximately) for the A+ group of players. A lottery would decide which club gets to pick first from the top category, and after all 12 clubs picked players from that particular category, the next pick would go to the club who selected last in the first category. From there it would proceed sequentially in the next categories.According to CWAB, clubs picking players was against the spirit of the competition and also curbed the players’ freedom to choose which club to play for.”The new system was forgoing the traditional way of players’ transfers and replacing it with a new system of grading and rotation,” CWAB’s statement said. “There was not only financial loss for the players, but professional freedom was hampered.”The BCB didn’t take any immediate action, merely saying that they want an official letter from CWAB. It is also not clear what action the BCB are likely to take against their contracted cricketers, including Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, who have effectively opposed the board’s decision.Acting CEO Nizamuddin Ahmed said that they still haven’t received any word from the CWAB regarding their latest action. “We haven’t received the players’ decision formally. We will discuss the situation once we receive it.”Otherwise we have pitched a tentative date for the Premier League to start, which is on July 3. We have spoken to players and the players association informally.”