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Surrey head coach likens move to asking Premier League football team to play with 10 men

Matt Roller13-Jul-2023Gareth Batty, Surrey’s coach, has compared the County Championship’s two-week trial of the Kookaburra ball to telling teams to play with ten men or changing the shape of a football midway through the Premier League season.The experiment, which saw the Kookaburra ball used instead of the standard Dukes over the last two rounds of county fixtures, was recommended by Andrew Strauss’ High Performance Review, commissioned in the aftermath of England’s 4-0 Ashes defeat to Australia in 2021-22.The review said that the trial would give the ECB “a firmer understanding” of the difference between the two balls, suggesting that using the Kookaburra instead of the Dukes could force “the development of a wider range of skills” among English seamers and enhance the role of spinners.Related

• Counties confirm decision to bin Kookaburra ball trial

• English cricket's Kookaburra experiment: 'Fantastic' or 'worst decision ever'?

• Batty warns against 'celebrity cricket' as county restructuring looms over Surrey's title triumph

• Jacks guides cautious Surrey towards draw on tame final day

But Batty described the trial as “very silly” and “a kneejerk reaction” to England’s defeat in Australia. “It’s like saying next week, we’ve got to play with 10 men,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “That seems silly to me. We don’t change the shape of the ball in football halfway through; we don’t mess up what is going on.”Speaking after his Surrey side drew with Nottinghamshire at The Oval, Batty said that the timing of the trial was “illogical”, citing the possibility of players being called up for England and using a different ball to the one they had been using in domestic cricket.”If anybody were to be called up from county cricket, bowling with a Kookaburra ball, it makes no sense that they’re having to change to a Dukes ball,” he said. “There are different characteristics to the two balls. I like them both equally. I’m certainly not criticising the fact that we’re using it but the timing of it is questionable.”Peter Moores, Notts’ coach, suggested that the competitive integrity of the Championship was undermined by the trial. “I don’t like the thought of mixing up balls in a season, because it doesn’t feel right,” he said. “If you start with one ball, I’d like to use it [throughout].”Moores added: “I can see exactly why the ECB want to test it out and have a look at it and how it’s reacted… generally, the Dukes ball is a good ball but over the last couple of seasons, it’s tended to have to be changed a bit too much for me and that’s something we want to try and get away from because as a ball gets older and deteriorates, that’s when spinners come into the game.”I think the [Kookaburra] ball has played pretty well on the pitches we’ve played on. We played at Taunton and we played here. Both pitches had a reasonable covering of grass which I think helped movement and kept carry in the ball. The ball didn’t go out of shape, which I think is a good thing because it brings spinners into the game.”But Batty insisted that he was unclear why the trial had been introduced, and that if the intention was to bring spinners into the game, it hadn’t worked. “I wasn’t privy to those meetings,” he said. “Nobody has asked – from what I understand – anybody that is in a position at counties to evolve and create England players [about it]. That seems strange.”Does it bring spinners into it? I don’t think that it looks like it has done across the counties. There’s a few counties who have made pitches very dry to try and bring spin into it because they feel like the ball won’t move laterally, which is absolutely fine and I totally get that. That’s a positive, both for batters and spinners.”Batty cited the decrease in the number of points available for a draw – from eight to five, compared to 16 for a win – as evidence that English cricket wants a “quick fix” when it comes to creating spinners, rather than clear long-term thinking. “The points system has negated spinners this year,” he said.”Let’s say it as it is: everybody is playing for wins and losses now. A draw means less than it did last year. We have changed as current champions how we think about the game because of the points system. Everybody needs a quick fix because you want to win; unfortunately, you don’t get a quick fix with spin.”

The matches, scheduled during the IPL 2019 playoffs, are likely to feature three teams with international stars from six countries apart from India regulars

Annesha Ghosh08-Apr-2019The women’s T20 exhibition games, scheduled to be held during the IPL 2019 playoffs, are set to involve overseas players from as many as six countries, an improvement on last year’s one-off Women’s T20 Challenge, which saw representation only from Australia, England and New Zealand, apart from current India regulars.Some of the top women’s international players likely to be invited for the three-team tournament include West Indies’ Deandra Dottin and T20 World Cup-winning captain Stafanie Taylor, South Africa captain Dane van Niekerk and fast bowler Marizanne Kapp, and Sri Lanka’s Chamari Atapattu.The overseas players – all prominent names in Australia’s Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and the English Kia Super League (KSL) – are likely to be grouped with players who had participated last year, including Australia’s Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Megan Schutt, New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine, and England’s Danielle Wyatt.ALSO READ: Women’s games during IPL 2019 – what’s the best way forward?ESPNcricinfo understands the three teams will square up against each other in one round-robin league, with all fixtures likely to be held at a single venue for logistical reasons. Chennai, which is likely to host the IPL final on May 12, could stage the final of the women’s tournament, too.The planning around these exhibition matches during the IPL has taken over four months. Staging a full-fledged domestic women’s T20 league in India – in the manner of the eight-team WBBL or the six-team KSL – however, was deemed implausible from the outset given the concerns of the BCCI’s think-tank over the depth of India’s domestic pool of players.Last year, the one-off Women’s T20 Challenge in Mumbai was played as a curtain-raiser to the first IPL 2018 Qualifier, and comprised two teams – the Supernovas and the Trailblazers – that featured Indian and prominent foreign players. The match was conducted as a means to test the feasibility of starting an IPL-style women’s T20 league in the country. Although the game was a last-ball thriller and was telecast by the board’s host broadcaster, the crowd presence at the venue was thin, partly because the game had a 2pm start.

Stand-in captain Alyssa Healy admitted it’s been ‘a rough couple of days’ amid mixed emotions

Alex Malcolm and Andrew McGlashan29-May-20231:39

Alyssa Healy: ‘Grappling with being excited and nervous about captaining in Ashes’

Australia were left rattled by the news of Meg Lanning’s sudden withdrawal from the Ashes tour, and stand-in captain Alyssa Healy admitted it had been an emotional few days, but there is a determination to ensure they do not let it derail their hopes of success in England.The squad gathered in Brisbane on Monday for their latest training camp ahead of their departure but will travel without captain Lanning, who has withdrawn from the series to remain at home to manage an undisclosed medical issue.”I’ve finally probably come to terms with it, it’s been a rough couple of days,” Healy told ESPNcricinfo. “Everyone is a little bit emotional about the whole Meg situation but at the same time I’m grappling with being really excited and nervous about the challenge of captaining an Ashes series.”Australia head coach Shelley Nitschke could not shed any light on what Lanning was dealing with – although it’s understood not to be related to her break from the game last year – but admitted her sudden absence from the tour had rocked the squad as they gathered together for the first time since the announcement was made on Saturday.”I’m sure they were a little bit rattled by the news,” Nitschke said. “But I think Meg is in our thoughts. We also know that she wants us to go over there and get the job done.”We’ve had some time to sort of get our head around it now and having the girls up here this week, it’s really nice to get them together.”Australia have dealt with Lanning’s absence previously during the successful T20I tour of India late last year when Lanning took a break from the game with Healy standing in as captain and vice-captain Tahlia McGrath taking one game when she was injured. Nitschke believes that Healy and the group will be able to handle Lanning’s absence again.Related

• Lanning ruled out of the Ashes, Healy to lead Australia

• Healy considers ditching Test match opening role

• Meg Lanning takes indefinite break from cricket for personal reasons

“[Healy] had a big couple of days herself, to find out that she’s captaining for an Ashes series,” Nitschke said. “But I think the fact that she captained the team in India last year and did a fantastic job, the girls got around her, played some really good cricket, so I think she should take a lot of confidence out of that and I think she enjoyed it.”I think we’ve got some really good leaders in the group. We’ve got a lot of experience in the group. I think one thing that we’ve been really good at over the years is just being able to adapt and take some knocks as they come. I’ve got the utmost confidence in our group to head across and hopefully get the job done.”The India tour is an experience Healy is now even more grateful for as she embarks on the pressure and expectation of an Ashes.”I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I’m kind of glad that happened over in India, that I was thrown amongst it and got to do it the way we wanted to,” she said. “It was new for Shell as well so we were both going there and leaving our mark on the group. Grateful to have that experience and hopefully we can carry on from where that left off and get amongst England.”Alyssa Healy is considering not opening in Tests•Getty Images

However, the void Lanning leaves in Australia’s top order might not be as easily covered in the Test match, given there are already holes to fill. Lanning and Healy have occupied a spot in the top three in two of the last three Tests Australia have played dating back to the 2019 Ashes. Healy opened in all three games while the recently retired Rachael Haynes opened in Australia’s last two Tests. Lanning batted at No. 5 in the last women’s Ashes Test in early 2022 in Canberra and made 93 in the first innings, her highest Test score.In Lanning’s absence, Healy is highly likely to step away from the opening role given the captaincy has been added to her wicketkeeping duties.”It’s a lot on her plate,” Nitschke said. “I think it’s a definite conversation that we’ll be having pretty soon to see how that might look for her in the batting order.”Australia did pair Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield together with great success in the ODI series against Pakistan earlier this year when Healy was injured. Mooney has opened in three of her seven Test innings and batted at No.3 in the last Test against England in 2022 and looks set to replace Haynes, while Litchfield made 78 not out and 67 not out in her first two ODIs opening the batting and is well and truly in the frame to make her Test debut in Nottingham.”Phoebe is so talented…so she’s certainly got the attributes,” Nitschke said. “I think when we get over there in the English conditions, we’ve been training here with red balls and we had some overcast conditions in the first camp, but it’s just different again over there.”I think there’s a little bit to play out before we sort of work out who our best XI is for that Test match. But Phoebs is certainly putting her hand up. We’ll see where it lands.”Australia, who have been training with the red Dukes ball in Brisbane ahead of the Test, will play a two day intrasquad game this week involving players from the Australia A squad.

Glamorgan struggle to push home their advantage as Australian defies them for the second time

ECB Reporters Network08-Apr-2023Marcus Harris produced a convincing early audition for a place in Australia’s Ashes side with a brilliant hundred against Glamorgan in Cardiff. Harris, who won an Australia contract this week, struck 148 as Gloucestershire had a near-perfect day with the bat after a poor showing in their first innings.Harris didn’t make any mis-steps on his way to his fourth first-class hundred for Gloucestershire. In the first innings he made 59 but in testing conditions he didn’t hit the ball to the boundary until the 92nd ball he faced. In the second innings he was markedly more expansive and reached his hundred with his 16th boundary from his 131st delivery.Starting their second innings 239 runs behind Glamorgan, a redoubtable display with the bat was essential, and the hundred from Harris and fifties from Chris Dent and Miles Hammond gave them hope of getting something out of a game that remains in the balance.Glamorgan struggled to find the control that they had shown in the first innings of this game on a pitch that appears to be flattening out as the match progresses. When bad light brought the day to a close Gloucestershire had reached 373 for 5, 134 runs in front.Glamorgan began the day on 388 for eight, 223 runs in front of Gloucestershire. They had added just 16 more runs when their last wicket fell with Joe Root not out on 117. This still represented a sizeable lead, and they would have been hopeful of making inroads in the morning session.That wasn’t to be, with Harris and Chris Dent progressing serenely on a pitch that has changed markedly from an opening day where batting demanded great care.There was clear intent from the Gloucestershire openers who made a large dent in Glamorgan’s lead in the opening session of day three. The fifty stand between Dent and Harris look just 53 balls and they had reached 133 without loss at the lunch break.It looked as if the opening pair would surpass Gloucestershire’s first innings effort of 165 but they came up just short. Dent chopped a ball from Timm van der Gugten onto his stumps when he was on 78 to leave Gloucestershire at 161 for one. They erased the first-innings deficit for the loss of just two wickets with Miles Hammond and Harris sharing a partnership of 111 either side of the tea break.Harris was dismissed when he attempted to reserve sweep a Kiran Carlson yorker and was trapped lbw, with Hammond departing 12 runs later when he missed a pull shot and was bowled by Dan Douthwaite.With Australia set to play the World Test Championship and the Ashes in England this summer this was a reminder of what Harris is capable of. Squads have yet to be selected, but with Harris already rewarded with an Australian central contract he is clearly in the selectors’ minds.

The directive came after Karachi Kings, the Pakistan Super League franchise, sought a stay order against the UAE T10 league’s usage of the name Karachi

Umar Farooq17-Nov-2018The UAE T10 franchise Karchians is working out a new team name after a court in Pakistan ordered against using the word “Karachians” or anything “phonetically deceptive or resembling name”.The Karachians is one of the eight franchises in the tournament, which is due to begin on November 21 and apparently draws its team names from various parts of the subcontinent, for example Kerala Kings, Bengal Tigers and Punjabi Legends. However, last week, its organisers had to suspend their promotional activities after Sindh High Court’s order barred TV and radio organisations in Pakistan from broadcasting or advertising anything from the T10 league related to the Karachians – or any other team using Karachi in their name in Pakistan or abroad.The directive came after Karachi Kings, the Pakistan Super League franchise, sought a stay order from the court against the UAE T10 league’s usage of the name Karachi. Team owner Salman Iqbal, who was also the president of the T10 league until he stepped down in September, filed the writ petition. And in response to it, the court issued its order to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). The Karachians – which is owned by a Pakistani based in the UAE – had been actively involved in the promotion of the league and their team in Karachi and Lahore.Hearing the counter argument, the court observed that the major cause of disagreement was about the use of city’s name or anything related. “Learned counsel for the defendants No 1 and 2 (T10 stakeholders) files a statement and states that the said defendants are the organisers and promoters of second edition of T-10 league and one of the team name in the said league is “Karachians”. However, the said defendants will not use the name “Karachians” or “Karachi” or any name with suffix of “King” nor shall they use any logo etc in the said T-10 league or with any other phonetically deceptive or resembling name. The statement is taken on record,” the court order read.While it is to be noted that a court in Pakistan holds no legal jurisdiction over a business in the UAE, Nawab Shajiul Mulk, the league chairman, said that the franchise would comply with the court order.”We got the high court stay to be fully vacated and we are back to promotions and broadcasting of T10 in Pakistan,” he told ESPNcricinfo.”Due to shortage of time and to avoid the risk of stay being extended for further arguments we agreed to not use the name “Karachians “in the league and will now be changing the name. We are happy that we were able to quickly dispose of the stay order and get back to promotions of the T10 league in Pakistan.”A lawyer representing the T10 league said it still retains the right to use the word “Karachi” and its variations in the future.

The 23-year-old Cape Cobras batsman was rewarded for his consistency over the first-class season, and for his form during a tour of India in 2018

Liam Brickhill06-Dec-2018Zubayr Hamza, the 23-year-old Cape Cobras batsman, could make his Test debut against Pakistan on Boxing Day after being named in the 13-man South African squad for the upcoming three-match Test series. If he gains selection in the final XI he will become the 100th
player to represent South Africa in Test cricket since readmission.”Zubayr has been one of the standout cricketers in domestic cricket over the past year and carried that form into the South Africa A tour to India where he averaged over 50 in the four-day series against tough opposition and under tough conditions,” said CSA National Selection Panel convener Linda Zondi.Hamza also enjoyed an outstanding season in the 2017-18 four-day franchise competition, scoring 828 runs at an average of 69 with three centuries.”His selection is part of our vision for the future as we start to feed new players into the system,” Zondi explained. “It is inevitable that some of our senior players will start thinking of retiring in years to come and it is vital that we have a good succession plan in place.”ALSO READ: One step at a time for level-headed HamzaCricket South Africa’s squad for the series also features the return of seamer Duanne Olivier in place of Lungi Ngidi, who injured his knee during a T20I against Australia last month and has been ruled out until the end of February. Olivier was part of the squad for the home Tests against Australia in 2018 and has represented the South Africa in five Test matches.”As unfortunate as Lungi’s injury is we are blessed to have outstanding depth in our fast bowling resources,” Zondi said. “Duanne has impressed on his previous appearances for the Proteas and has had a good franchise season to date with 20 wickets in his five matches at an average of 22.80.While he has been ruled out of Tshwane Spartans’ ongoing Mzansi Super
League campaign with a back injury, batsman Theunis de Bruyn has also been included in the Test squad, and Tladi Bokako, the 25-year-old Cape Cobras and Durban Heat fast bowler, will join him as a non-playing member to gain experience.”Tladi Bokako will work with the squad as a learning experience during the series in a continuation of the initiative we started with Kagiso Rabada and continued with Matthew Breetzke earlier in the season. He has had a good debut season for the Cape Cobras with 21 wickets at 26.33 to date. “We will continue to identify young players with the potential to become future Proteas,” Zondi concluded.South Africa play three Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is against Pakistan starting on December 26.South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma , Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wk), Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn

Brett D’ Oliveira took four wickets with his legspin as Gloucestershire faded after a brisk start before overseas experience came to the fore

David Hopps25-Aug-2018
ScorecardAnd then there was one. Worcestershire reached a T20 Finals Day for the first time when they made short shrift of Gloucestershire, scraping through by five wickets with seven balls to spare. Now only Derbyshire, among the 18 first-class counties, have never made it to what has become county cricket’s end-of-season knees-up, further emphasis of the competitive nature of England’s professional circuit.Never mind a knees up, without the skill and composure of Callum Ferguson Worcestershire might have gone boomps-a-daisy. Ferguson’s unbeaten 64 from 47 balls babysat the Blast’s youngest squad through to Edgbaston. Adelaide born, and like much in that charming city, relatively undervalued, he has been one of the stars of the county season.Michael Klinger, Gloucestershire’s captain, knew their mediocre 137 for 5 was vulnerable to one quality innings. “We didn’t bat well enough,” he said. “No one took responsibility like Callum Ferguson did for Worcestershire, guys getting 20 and 30 and not going on including myself. We didn’t get a big enough total.”By the time within the first four overs that Worcestershire lost Moeen Ali (like Jos Butter for Lancashire two days earlier, an England player introduced with no magical effect) and Joe Clarke with only 25 on the board, Ferguson was exploring a shrewd drive or two. When they faltered again at 66 for 4 – the 11th over in play, Benny Howell having trapped Brett D’ Oliveira and Ben Cox with unnoticed changes of pace, he had bristled with authority square of the wicket. Whatever met him, he dealt with it.Ferguson’s assessment even included an uplifting message about the value of club cricket. He was asked on about recognising the need to bat through the innings. “I reckon playing league cricket when I was younger helped with that sort of thing,” he said. “We have a lot of talented strikers in the side.” A man who respects the game – at all its levels.The game was broken in the 16th over. David Payne went for 22 in an 11-ball over which included two no balls, two wides and a free hit. Just by standing there, and looking as if he was about to unload against anything in his arc, the dangerous Ross Whiteley caused consternation. During the lifetime of this over, Whiteley struck two sixes, the first of them a remarkable stooping straight flick off a low full toss. A high full toss had hit him in the stomach but only served to sharpen his appetite.A rickety old ground on a flood plain, capable of cramming in around 5,000 spectators: Worcestershire are a world away from the ECB’s future vision of global short-form entertainment on the biggest international grounds. But now they have joined Lancashire and Sussex on what has the makings of a memorable climax at Edgbaston on September 15. Somerset and Notts contest the final place at Taunton on Sunday.The Rapids had another matchwinner. “Some good ones, some bad ones.” So said D’Oliveira about his spell of 4 for 24, becoming the latest legspinner to have a field day in the Blast, and one of the most unsung leggies in the tournament. D’Oliveira, a diminutive figure with an air of cheery innocence, adorned a season where he had taken only four wickets in 12 matches in the group stages.When he took his fourth wicket with a rank long hop, silencing Jack Taylor, Gloucestershire’s last hope of plotting an escape, with a ball that scuttled through at knee high, D’Oliveira held his hands to his face in a similar manner to Stuart Broad when he took eight Australian wickets in a morning session three years ago. Replace Broad’s amazement with a little more good-natured mischief and you get the idea.Alongside D’Oliveira, Daryl Mitchell was an effective sidekick. He did not concede a single boundary in a spell that conceded only 15 and also claimed Gloucestershire’s first wicket, that of Miles Hammond, whose 45 from 31 balls had energised an opening stand of 65 from 7.4 overs.Pat Brown, the 20-year-old seamer who has found himself the Blast’s leading wicket-taker was seen off in one over; Moeen Ali dispensed with his own bowling in two. Klinger was subdued but Hammond’s dash disguised it. Then Mitchell had Hammond lbw, sweeping, and the door was opened for D’Oliveira. Gloucestershire faded like colours under a tropical sun.Klinger, feeling the pressure, shook his head philosophically and drove D’Oliveira down long-on’s throat: Ed Barnard, a safe pair of hands. D’Oliveira trotted back from the stumps to clutch Benny Howell’s slog sweep. Then came two devilish long hops – Ryan Higgins hauling to long on when he might have sixed him over midwicket, Taylor betrayed and bereft.Barnard, an excellent fielder, ran out Ian Cockbain, who had reached 35 amid the chaos, 17 balls from the end, but even on a slightly tacky pitch few imagined that Gloucestershire had enough runs at the interval.

Shaheen Afridi took four wickets to restrict Bangladesh to 127 in a knockout clash in Adelaide

Alagappan Muthu06-Nov-2022
A team under pressure. A captain refusing to give up. The odds piling up against them. And then one fine day, the stars align.Pakistan cranked up the deja vu in Adelaide on Sunday as they sailed into the T20 World Cup semi-finals. If anyone is still working on time travel, please follow this cricket team. They’ve made it 1992 again.This game wouldn’t even have played out this way if not for Netherlands shocking South Africa. Some people might call that destiny.At the receiving end of this unreal series of events were Bangladesh and Shakib Al Hasan. His wicket turned this game, adjudged lbw on field, and upheld on DRS even though he was absolutely certain he’d nicked the ball.Bangladesh were 70 for 1 after 10 overs. Then they lost their captain and could manage only 127 for 8. Advantage Pakistan.Wasim Akram lite
Shaheen Shah Afridi admitted he’s not 100% at this tournament. Someone should splice that press conference video with the ball he bowled to Mosaddek Hossain. Left-arm. High pace. Around the wicket. Reverse swing. Bowled ‘iiiiimmmmmmm!Growing up, he would have shoved Wasim Akram videos straight into his veins. Now, he’s recreated his idol’s most famous dismissal on the grandest stage with everything on the line. How many people get to do that? How many people are good enough to do that?The good, the bad and the collapse
Najmul Hossain Shanto (54 off 48) was smiling. His leading edge had pretty much bunny-hopped for four over point. That was the first over. Back when Bangladesh had gained a sizeable advantage batting first on a used pitch where shot-making got harder as time went on.Even halfway through, they were sitting pretty. Then it happened.Shadab Khan looped one up over the batter’s eyeline. Shakib accepted the invitation and came charging out of his crease. The legspinner’s dip deceived him. A big hit turned into a scramble to put bat on ball.Shakib thought he did. Umpire Adrian Holdstock on field didn’t. DRS came into play, and everything turned murky. UltraEdge showed a spike, but the third umpire Langton Rusere thought that was bat hitting ground. Only there seemed a fraction of daylight between those two things.The on-field decision was upheld. And Shakib was distraught. He kept standing there, swinging his arms around, wondering what was going on. The Bangladesh captain had to literally be pushed out of the field.That wicket was part of a procession: 6 for 36.Mohammad Haris played a crucial innings of 31 off 18 balls•Associated Press

Another expensive no-ball
The Adelaide pitch wasn’t great for strokeplay. Batters kept trying to hit out but it just wasn’t happening. On the broadcast, a telling stat came up: the strike rate when pace was on was 122, but it was only 28 when pace was off.That kept Bangladesh in it. That’s the reason this game was even alive. Remember, earlier in the day, on this very surface, South Africa came undone against Netherlands’ slower balls to turn this into a quarter-final.Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan put on their first fifty partnership of this T20 World Cup. But Bangladesh fought back.They were an angry team. A team raging against the way the world was working. At one point, when an lbw didn’t go Bangladesh’s way, Shakib grabbed his cap and flung it into the turf. They could easily have been distracted by these things but they kept at it.They pushed this game into the death – and then unravelled.Taskin Ahmed, who could have had a wicket in his first over if not for a bad fumble from the wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan, who has carried his team on his back in these Super 12s, overstepped.The equation was 30 off 28. They had taken a wicket five balls ago. The pressure was piling on Pakistan.Then – much like in that game against India – a team that desperately needed a free-hit got one. And 21-year old Mohammad Haris whacked it for six.Pakistan are into the knockouts now. They even returned the favour to Netherlands, giving them a great chance of finishing fourth in Group 2 which ensures they will play the next T20 World Cup.Now, if India beat Zimbabwe in the last group game on Sunday, Pakistan will travel to Sydney, where once again conditions have been very helpful to slow bowling. Conditions that could favour Babar and his men if they go up against New Zealand in the first semi-final.

Lynn will play limited-overs matches for Queensland for the first time in five years in his bid to be a part of Australia’s 2019 ODI World Cup campaign following his recovery from a longstanding shoulder problem

Daniel Brettig30-Jul-2018Chris Lynn will play domestic limited-overs matches for Queensland for the first time in five years as part of his bid to play a part in Australia’s 2019 ODI World Cup campaign following his recovery from a longstanding shoulder problem.Not since 2013 has Lynn turned out for the Bulls in the 50-over tournament which is now played as a brief, pre-season affair due to the pre-eminence of the Twenty20 Big Bash League in the prime months of summer. Lynn’s previous selections for Australia in the 50-over format, playing one match in 2017 and then being picked in the ODI squad to face England at home earlier this year then ruled out through injury, have been based on his T20 showings alone.However, the new Australian coach and selector Justin Langer made it clear that performances in state-based competitions will assume renewed importance, and Lynn will duly return to Queensland ranks, having signed a contract for the 2018-19 summer. This contract is also intended to cover the Sheffield Shield, but it is unlikely that Lynn will turn out in the first-class competition.”It’s been a few years since I have been a part of the group for the limited-overs competition so I’m looking forward to getting involved and hopefully help us to play some good cricket,” Lynn said. “I’ve enjoyed training with the boys in the off-season and am keen to get into the playing side of things again, first with the (Trinbago) Knight Riders in the CPL and then the JLT Cup.”Under Australia’s previous regime led by the former captain Steven Smith and the ex-coach Darren Lehmann, Lynn had appeared to be looming as a central part of plans to rejuvenate the ODI team’s top order with his power-hitting, after the fashion now favoured by England as the world’s No. 1 ranked 50-over side. It now appears that he will have to demonstrate his abilities for Queensland before being considered ahead of the limited-overs series against South Africa that will start the home summer.Queensland have also had to deal with the loss of their first-choice wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson due to a hamstring tendon injury that has required surgery, and will rule him out of the 50-over competition and the early part of the Shield schedule. The Bulls coach Wade Seccombe, himself a former gloveman, outlined the numerous options the state team have in Peirson’s absence.”You accept that injuries are a part and parcel of the game but certainly the wicketkeeper fills a pretty specific role in the team and is not easy to replace,” Seccombe said. “Add into the mix Jimmy’s leadership and it does present us with a few challenges; but on the flipside, it also creates some opportunities to work on between now and the start of the season.”We’re fortunate that Lachy Pfeffer has the benefit of coming into his second year as a contracted player so he will get plenty of opportunities to build-up his ‘keeping workload. We also have a core of emerging keepers in Tom Healy and Lewin Malady, who are both former Australian Under-19 players, and Isiah Snell who have been involved with national and state pathway programs in recent years and have performed well at Premier Cricket level.”Another member of the Bulls squad, the 27-year-old allrounder Jason Floros, has chosen to make his exit from the game and pursue another career. Over the past decade, Floros has been a consistent presence in squads with sporadic appearances for Queensland, amounting to 15 first-class appearances and 28 limited-overs matches.”Flo has always been a consummate team man and squad member and his decision to hand back a contract and create a spot in the squad speaks highly of his character,” Seccombe said. “We congratulate him on his career with the Bulls and thank him for his dedication and generosity, especially as a leader within the group.”

This is not the first recent instance of Dhaka Premier League players turning to the board to resolve pay disputes with their clubs

Mohammad Isam13-May-2018Kalabagan Krira Chakra’s players have met the BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury, informing him that they are yet to be paid their dues for playing in this season’s Dhaka Premier League.Following the pre-season players’ draft, the BCB had instructed the clubs to pay the players 25% of their fees before the start of the league, 25% at the end of the league’s first phase, and the remaining 50% six weeks after the end of the Super League. By this time, the players should have been paid their dues in full.Tasamul Haque, who played for Kalabagan in the recently concluded 2017-18 season, said the players were forced to inform the BCB since their club had made it clear it wouldn’t be paying the squad their dues.”Some days back we had written to the BCB who had informed the club,” Tasamul said. “They also replied to the board, based on which the board will now sit with the club, but we are unaware of any decisions. They cannot withhold our payment. We have informed the BCB that we want the remaining 50%. The club has told us that after we give our complaint in writing, only the board can pay us. Not the club.”Chowdhury said the BCB would engage in talks with the Kalabagan club officials to resolve the pay dispute. “Players are important to us while clubs are also stakeholders,” he said. “We will try to end the dispute with the concerned club as soon as possible.”The complaint has come up because the club didn’t pay in the stipulated time. We will talk to the club officials directly, and try to solve it.”This is not the first time DPL players have had to rely on the BCB to get their full payment. BCB had to pay Kalabagan and Cricket Coaching School players in 2016 while Victoria Sporting Club also refused to pay their players in the same year.The link between the two years is the players-by-choice draft system, by which the clubs have to adhere to board instructions in paying players in installments. In the open-market transfer system, the players and the club go into a verbal (and sometimes written) agreement in which case most players are paid at least 80% of their fee in advance.Clubs have successfully arm-twisted the BCB into using the players-by-choice system three times now, mainly because of players’ rising payment demands. Under the players-by-choice system, clubs can be less punctual with payments in the knowledge that the players are tied to playing for them, and cannot negotiate with other clubs. The system restricts players into categories, with most taking a pay cut.Nadif Chowdhury, the Victoria captain in 2016, had said at the time that the player drafts didn’t allow instant payment to the players.
“The conventional players’ transfer system was much better,” Nadif said. “Under that system, we got a large chunk of the agreed amount before the league started. Sometimes we got around 80-90%. Now we are hardly even getting half of that amount. We are sad that nobody is following the instruction given by the board.”