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Former England captain opts to move on as ECB announces boardroom changes

Vithushan Ehantharajah28-Apr-2023The ECB has announced that Andrew Strauss will stand down as a strategic advisor and chair of the performance cricket committee, part of a swathe of boardroom-level changes announced on Friday.Strauss, the former England captain, has fulfilled both duties since September 2020, and has been regarded as a respected figurehead throughout the English game, particularly given his strong links with many of the current players. He previously served as director of England men’s cricket between 2015 and 2018, then again in an interim capacity between February and May 2022.Strauss recently oversaw the men’s High-Performance Review, established after a 4-0 defeat in the 2021-22 Ashes, which set out 17 recommendations for English cricket to consider and implement. But two of the review’s major planks – the proposed reduction of County Championship matches and dedicated windows for domestic limited-overs cricket – were not passed after failing to achieve the minimum backing of at least 12 of the 18 counties.Related

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• Six-team Championship Division One and Blast reduction among recommendations of High-Performance Review

• Strauss' MCC Cowdrey Lecture: T20 franchise era can 'democratise' cricket

Having taken on external responsibilities, Strauss has opted to move on from the ECB. He will officially stand down at the board’s Annual General Meeting next month.In a statement, Strauss said: “I’ve really enjoyed my time at the ECB and am proud of having contributed to a successful period for our England teams. With increasing commitments outside of the organisation, sadly I’ve decided it’s time to step away from my current role. I wish the new board all the very best as it continues in its mission to grow our game.”ECB chief executive Richard Thompson offered his thanks: “Andrew has given outstanding service to English cricket over many years in a number of different roles. I’ve greatly valued the advice and expertise he has provided in my time as chair, and have enjoyed working with him. We are currently implementing the vast majority of recommendations from his impressive High Performance Review, which I believe will help our England men’s teams to sustain their success. I have no doubt he has much more to contribute to the game and hope he will return in the future.”The ECB has also added four new non-executive directors to the board: Penny Avis, Baroness Zahida Manzoor, Jennifer Owen Adams and Gareth Williams.Avis, currently the senior independent director at the PGA European Tour, and Baroness Manzoor, chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service, will become independent non-executive directors. Adams, the current chair of Cricket Wales, and Williams, chair of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, will join as cricket non-executive directors. The appointments of two further cricket non-executive directors will be confirmed in due courseOn the new appointments, Thompson said: “It gives me great pleasure in welcoming Zahida, Jennifer, Penny and Gareth onto our Board. They are all exceptional leaders with demonstrable strategic experience and expertise across a range of different fields, and are all passionate about our sport.”The ECB is privileged to be able to call upon their knowledge, communication skills, integrity, judgement, and independence. We look forward to having all four leading and supporting the growth of cricket in England and Wales at this vital time for our game, as we seek to make cricket the most inclusive sport in the UK.”

Jay Shah to head influential Finance and Commercial Affairs committee

Nagraj Gollapudi and Tristan Lavalette12-Nov-2022Greg Barclay has been re-elected as ICC chairman for another two-year term after his rival, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani, pulled out of the contest late on Friday. Barclay, who served his first stint as ICC chair between 2022 and this November, will now be in the position until 2024.The election assumed intrigue over the last couple of weeks after Mukuhlani decided to enter the fray despite knowing Barclay had potentially more votes in his favour from the 16-strong ballot. The election rules stated that winner would be determined by a simple majority. Mukuhlani, a long-term director on the ICC board, had at least six backers including some of the smaller countries from the Asian bloc. However, it was the BCCI, as always, which carried a lot of influence over the voting process.Despite stating informally that the board was leaning towards supporting Barclay, the BCCI kept everyone guessing which way they would eventually vote in case of an election. Whilst no one at the ICC has officially spoken, more than one director pointed out to ESPNcricinfo that the BCCI wanted to have a prime seat on the influential Finance & Commercial Affairs committee, which not only decides budget allocations for ICC events, but also looks after the distribution of money to member countries from the overall revenue pool.Accordingly, the BCCI camp led by Jay Shah and Arun Dhumal (IPL chairman) landed in Australia more than a week before the ICC Board meetings happening this weekend in Melbourne. Shah replaced former India captain Sourav Ganguly as the BCCI representative (BCCI president between 2019 till October) on the ICC Board while Dhumal will be sitting on the chief executives committee. More importantly, Shah will also be part of the F&CA and is poised to take over as chair of the committee at its next meeting in March 2023 from Ross McCollum, former Cricket Ireland chair, who is due to retire soon.Ever since the Shashank Manohar-lead ICC dismantled the Big Three power structure in 2017, and put in place a new financial model that enhanced the earnings of smaller Full Member countries, the BCCI has publicly said it would strive to get a bigger share of the ICC revenue pool which recently got much bigger this August after Disney Star* bought the broadcast rights for men’s and women’s events between 2024-27. The deal, to broadcast in the India market only, is reportedly worth over US$3 billion, considerably more than what the ICC got in the previous rights cycle (which was for eight years, and globally). That pot will get more bigger once the ICC sells the broadcast rights in the remaining key markets including the USA, Australia and Europe.Both Barclay and Mukuhlani’s manifestos comprised having a re-look at the financial distribution model as well as advocating changes to the ICC governance structure. While Mukuhlani has pulled out of the ICC chair contest, his camp believes they have secured enough assurances that smaller countries will receive a more significant share from the ICC revenues as well as occupying key positions in the ICC committees. Accordingly, Imran Khawaja, the ICC deputy chair, will retain that post and continue to lead the ICC Development Committee. Khwaja had lost to Barclay in 202 ICC chair elections and had thought of running again before deciding to back Mukuhlani.Mukuhlani himself is part of the ICC’s Audit Committee and chair of the Membership Committee. He is also part of the global body’s Olympics working group, which is tasked with pushing for cricket’s entry in the Summer Games. Mukuhlani said in an ICC media release on Saturday that he decided to “withdraw” because he believed Barclay continuing as ICC chair was “in the best interest of the sport.”On his part, Barclay said his aim would now be to “strengthen” cricket and help it grow beyond the “core markets.””Over the last two years we have made significant strides forward with the launch of our global growth strategy that provides clear direction to build a successful and sustainable future for our sport,” Barclay said.

October 15, the original date for the match, is the first day of the Hindu festival of Navaratri, so the game could now be played a day before on October 14

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Jul-2023In a move that could impact the overall ODI World Cup schedule, the BCCI is considering moving the most high-profile match of the tournament – India vs Pakistan in Ahmedabad – from October 15 to October 14.The reason for the change, ESPNcricinfo has learned, is that October 15 is also the first day of the Hindu festival of Navaratri, and the local police has told the BCCI that it would find it difficult to take care of security on the day.It is understood that the BCCI has alerted the ICC about the issue, but no concrete decision has been taken yet. The BCCI is expected to have a meeting with all the state associations that are hosting World Cup matches on July 27 before a final call is taken.Related

• Pakistan agree to World Cup schedule change, to play India on October 14

• World Cup schedule will undergo changes, confirms Jay Shah

• Can Indian fans ever expect a good stadium experience?

• 'Not focused on only one team' – Babar plays down hype

• Pakistan PM sets up committee to decide on ODI WC trip

The original World Cup schedule has October 14 down as a double-header day: England play Afghanistan in a day match in Delhi and New Zealand play Bangladesh in day-night game in Chennai. Incidentally, there are no triple-headers scheduled, though there are two matches on six days.India, who open their World Cup campaign on October 8 with a game against Australia in Chennai, would have also played Afghanistan on October 11 in Delhi before the game against Pakistan, while their next fixture is against Bangladesh on October 19 in Pune.As for Pakistan, they play Netherlands in Hyderabad on October 6, the second day of the tournament, and Sri Lanka on October 12, also in Hyderabad, before playing India, followed by their fourth game, against Australia in Bengaluru on October 20.Therefore, in case the game moves to October 14, Pakistan will have just a day between their games in Hyderabad and in Ahmedabad, while India will have two days’ gap.The development comes roughly a month after the BCCI announced the World Cup schedule, which itself was severely delayed. While the BCCI has not yet announced any information on when matches tickets will go on sale, fans and other stakeholders have already booked flights and hotels in Ahmedabad for the match, which has historically been one of the most watched sporting events globally.

Scotland’s improved fielding display can’t save them from second loss in a row

Valkerie Baynes06-Oct-2024A quick rethink after their disappointing tournament opener put West Indies’ T20 World Cup campaign back on track with a comprehensive victory over Scotland.Having lost by 10 wickets to South Africa, West Indies won by six wickets with 50 balls to spare at Dubai International Stadium on Sunday night. That was after Chinelle Henry’s opening four-over burst yielded 1 for 10 and restricted Scotland to 27 for 2 after seven overs. Afy Fletcher, their 37-year-old legspinner, then took 3 for 22 to restrict them to 99 for 8 and it could have been worse for Scotland had West Indies held their catches.Qiana Joseph marshalled the run-chase with 31 off 18 balls while Henry chipped in with 18 off 10 and Deandra Dottin finished it style with 6-4-6 off Abtaha Maqsood, over long-off, reverse-swept through backward point and pummelled over deep midwicket.”The first game didn’t go to plan,” Fletcher said. “No one wants to lose but, at the end of the day, you have to have a winner. It didn’t go the way we wanted so we go back to the drawing board as all teams do, and we look at areas that we really need to work on and execute. We’ve come out with strong plans and I think the team gave a strong performance throughout the game, and the result was really good.Olivia Bell took a fine return catch to dismiss Shemaine Campbelle•Getty Images

“After the first loss, we were a bit down. But from the night itself, we picked ourselves up and we got together and motivated each other and said, ‘look, we’re here, not just to come on a joyride or anything but we’re here for business, we’re here to play hard and tough cricket’. So we just got our thoughts together to see how we could bring our best game for the other games.”It was Scotland’s second defeat in as many matches after they lost the opening match of the tournament to Bangladesh by 16 runs in Sharjah. There, they struggled with the searing heat and a rash of dropped catches.”We were all quite disappointed in our own way with the Bangladesh game,” said batter Lorna Jack-Brown. “It was a great experience for us to be at a World Cup and a lot of nerves were there in the team but I think tonight we didn’t really have that, we believed that we could come in and really cause an upset. It never went our way tonight but that’s T20 cricket.Related

• October 10 at the World Cup: West Indies eye winning momentum against bruised Bangladesh

• 'I'm still World Boss' – Deandra Dottin is as hungry and competitive as ever

• Australian Deitz is trying to put more West Indies into West Indies cricket

• October 6 at the T20 World Cup: India meet Pakistan; Scotland take on injury-affected West Indies

• Scotland's Aitken-Drummond juggling a three-pronged World Cup dream

“We’ve got a couple more games and we always look to improve, and we’re up against world-class players here. We are here to compete, we are here to play cricket, competitive cricket, but we’re also here to learn. Not a lot of our girls have come up against world-class players and it’s an exciting prospect to be here, and even more exciting if we can take some learnings away from it and put those into our games.”Scotland were very good in the field, holding a number of difficult catches to show that their joint mission to learn and show their skills at this tournament was also on track.Priyanaz Chatterji held onto an excellent diving catch at short fine leg to end Joseph’s innings and Olivia Bell took a sharp caught-and-bowled to remove Shemaine Campbelle cheaply while Hayley Matthews, the West Indies captain, managed just 8 before she was taken by opposite number Kathryn Bryce, running in from mid-on to complete a strong, low catch.”After the last match, where we had a bit of trouble with our catching, a lot of the girls went to training last night and did some catching under the lights because it’s a different ball-game under the lights,” Jack-Brown said. “So they’ve done quite well and taken their learnings from the Bangladesh game.”It’s just about volume. You know how to catch, it’s just different in the lights. Probably in the Bangladesh game, the nerves were there and the conditions and everything, you’ve got to think about quite a lot of things. We just went back to basics, just get under the ball and hopefully your hands will take it.”

Kohli set up India for a semi-final spot and all but crossed out Pakistan from the 2025 Champions Trophy

Alagappan Muthu23-Feb-2025

Virat Kohli brings up his 51st ODI century•Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

In the biggest match of the year, with his mortality showing more than it ever did before, Virat Kohli proved he’s still got it, that maybe, just maybe, the little he’s lost isn’t going to define him. He ticked off 14,000 runs in ODI cricket, brought up his 51st ODI century, set up India for a semi-final spot, and all but crossed out Pakistan from Champions Trophy 2025. The holders and hosts need other results to go their way to stay alive in the tournament now.India went into the game as favourites. They were worthy of that seeding, limiting Pakistan to 241 with Hardik Pandya putting in the kind of performance that should make him illegal. An allrounder capable of dismissing the opposition’s best batter and then coming back to take down their top-scorer isn’t just a name on the sheet. He is the secret sauce.Related

• Urooj Mumtaz: Rizwan's lack of strike rotation 'a massive fault'

• Beating Pakistan not enough for Shreyas Iyer – 'We could have won a bit earlier'

• Pakistan slide feels like a terminal, slow decline

• Rizwan after India loss: 'We can say for now that it is over'

• 'Happy with the template' – Kohli and the comfort of the chase

And Kuldeep Yadav was the spice. His left-arm wristspin is so rare and he made it rarer by finding a way to be quick through the air without compromising on turn or accuracy. So that means unless batters pick him out of the hand, they are always going to be guessing. Three Pakistan batters guessed wrong. All three were end-overs wickets. Pakistan were setting up to explode at the death. Kuldeep just wouldn’t let them. The injury hasn’t affected his menace.Pakistan were able to produce moments. Shaheen Shah Afridi sending down a 143kph inswinging yorker to shatter Rohit Sharma’s stumps. Abrar Ahmed conjuring a carrom ball from hell to get rid of a rampaging Shubman Gill. But when it came to capitalising on them, they just couldn’t. The result: a world champion side that was renowned for pulling games out of the fire now seems to do the first part right – they definitely got into trouble in Dubai – but the other part, the important part, is going so very wrong. Pakistan were 151 for 2 in the 34th over before they were bowled out for 241 with the most inexperienced member of the India side dictating terms, Harshit Rana and his slower balls were just impossible to hit.A game in an ICC event and a rivalry with history bursting out of every pore eventually became so one-sided that its last few moments were dominated by an individual pursuit. Axar Patel turned down an easy two so Kohli could get to his hundred. The crowd in Dubai loved that. There were 12 runs to get for India’s victory and 12 runs to get for their hero’s century and they chanted his name over and over. Pakistan were nowhere to be found. Ever since a collapse of 3 for 11 in 19 balls, this game turned pear-shaped for them.1:10

Manjrekar: Hardik always delivers on the big stage

Mohammad Rizwan had banked on the innings going so differently. He came in at 47 for 2 and hit his first ball for four and then decided run-scoring was not for him. He was 24 off 50. He barely hit the ball in anger. He point blank refused to. At the other end, Saud Shakeel was at least making an effort to turn the good balls he was facing into singles. When he got to fifty, he had weathered only 29 dot balls. At the same time, Rizwan at the other end, had racked up 40. India did well by denying him spin to start his innings. But still, this was a better pitch than the opening game in Dubai a few days ago. It wasn’t flat, but it had a little more pace in it, and it got better under lights. Rizwan, though, batted like it was cursed. He was worried bad things would happen if he tried to hit the ball hard.And it kinda did. Rizwan fell trying to hit Axar out of the ground and his wicket triggered a collapse. Shakeel fell in the next over and Tayyab Tahir followed soon after. India, having spent 320 deliveries across two matches searching for a wicket in the middle overs, had found three in the space of four. Pakistan were 165 for 5. Soon they would be 200 for 7, having to negotiate the last 7.1 overs of the innings with their tail exposed.India’s discipline never let Pakistan off the hook and leading the way was Hardik, banging the ball just short of a length on a pitch that was offering a bit of grip and some tennis-ball bounce. He took out Babar Azam at a time when India’s lead fast bowler, Mohammed Shami, was off the field with a shin problem, and he did Shakeel for lack of pace just after the left-hand batter had smacked him for four. He always knew what to do to exploit the conditions and make the batter’s life miserable. On the back of his work, Kuldeep and Rana bowled 6.4 death overs for 28 runs and picked up four wickets.1:54

Urooj: Pakistan have let themselves down again

Gill was the star of India’s chase early on, a conscious effort to keep his front foot from moving too far forward and across leaving him excellently placed to take advantage of Afridi and his full-length deliveries when there was no swing on offer. When he rammed the fast bowler down the ground and then one-upped it by coming down the track and lifting the ball into the sightscreen, it looked like it was going to be his day. Abrar intervened with a ball that drifted in, tempting Gill to close the face of his bat, and turned away to rattle middle and off stump. Gill was stunned.Kohli, too, offered a shrug of his shoulders. He looked vulnerable against Abrar too and was almost bowled playing back to him. But against the quicks, he was vintage. He went past 14,000 runs with a crisp cover drive off Haris Rauf. All of Pakistan’s best bowlers offer pace on the ball. And that is Kohli’s happy place. A batter of his quality needs to be made uncomfortable at the crease when he is new. He had been dismissed five times in his last six ODIs by legspin. Pakistan had one of those and they felt they couldn’t go to him.2:07

Manjrekar: Shreyas now looks comfortable against the short ball

Shreyas Iyer helped himself to a half-century. A little change in his technique where he holds his bat higher and waves it as the bowler approaches, creating momentum into his shots, is helping him deal with an earlier weakness against the short ball. He clubbed Rauf for four in front of square to prove it. But there was no taking the spotlight from his senior partner.Kohli was setting the tempo. Pakistan had allowed him to do so. Though he only hit three of his first 62 balls to the boundary, he already had fifty runs to his name. He knows how to score quickly without looking for big shots. The ball wasn’t stopping on the surface as much under lights. Things were working in his favour again. He almost knew he was going to get a hundred. He demanded an explanation when Axar turned down a second run off a wide in the 42nd over when it was clear to everybody else that all he was doing was make sure Kohli had the best chance to get to three figures with time running out. When he did, off the last ball of the match, Kohli looked to the dressing room and literally said, “I told you. Relax.” That was how easy this was. That was how inevitable he was.

Unbroken stand leads spirited recovery as defending champions are left rock-bottom

ECB Reporters Network03-Jul-2022Glamorgan have thrashed the Kent Spitfires by 35 runs in their final Vitality Blast game of the season at Canterbury.The death overs proved fatal for Kent, as an unbeaten stand of 95 between Dan Douthwaite and Billy Root turned the game on its head, steering Glamorgan to 190 for five. The visitors had been 95 for five in the 14th over, but Douthwaite smashed 51 not out in and Root ended unbeaten on 38.Qais Ahmad took two for 36, but dropped catches and indifferent bowling that gifted the visitors 20 extras meant the total was at least 30 runs higher than it could have been.James McIlroy then took three for 31 as the Spitfires were bowled out for 155, Darren Stevens the top scorer with 34. The defeat means the reigning champions finish bottom of the South Group just a year after winning the competition.A crowd of around 3000 witnessed the dead rubber at the St Lawrence, with Glamorgan unable to finish higher than sixth and Kent looking to avoid matching their worst-ever Blast season, when they won just three matches in 2013.The visitors chose to bat and were 46 without loss at the end of the powerplay, but lost Tom Bevan for 21, lbw to Qais attempting to reverse sweep, before Matt Milnes bowled Sam Northeast for 33.Qais switched to the Nackington Road End and immediately bowled Chris Cooke for one and Colin Ingram was out for 26 when Grant Stewart sent his off stump flying.Jack Leaning then had Eddie Byrom caught by George Linde at backward point for a second ball duck but Qais’s final over, the 16th, was expensive, going for 16, including a reverse swept six by Root.The indifferent fielding that has dogged Kent throughout their Blast defence continued with two drops in Milnes’ 17th over. Root skied one to Tawanda Muyeye, who seemed blinded by the late evening sun, before Douthwaite was spilled by an inrushing Leaning.The 19th over had a whiff of Stuart Broad’s record-breaking calamity at Edgbaston the previous day. Root hit Milnes’ first ball for six and was then caught by Muyeye off a no-ball. A further no-ball and five wides saw the Welsh side cash in with 22 from the over.Fred Klaassen’s final over was nearly as gruesome, going for 19 and Kent’s chase got off to an equally dismal start when Joe Denly was run out by Root in the first over.Muyeye cracked three elegant boundaries but then swiped McIlroy to Byrom and was out for 13, before Jordan Cox fell for one, pulling James Weighell to Ingram at mid-wicket.Alex Blake hit his 100th Blast six when he hammered Douthwaite over cow corner, but when Leaning chipped a return catch to Salter for 10 Kent, were 46 for four.Stevens’ return after a lengthy injury lay-off produced the biggest cheer of the night but this was a rescue act beyond even him, although he did flick Prem Sisodiya for a six that nearly cleared the flats on the Old Dover Road side.Blake went down swinging for 32, skying a Salter delivery to Northeast and Stevens’ cameo ended when he hit a Douthwaite full toss to Bevan on the boundary.Stewart offered some fight with 23 from 10 before he hit Sisodiya to Bevan and Qais had his stumps splayed by McIlroy for four. McIlroy then had Linde caught by Root for 21 and Glamorgan’s victory was sealed when Milnes hit Douthwaite to long off and Bevan held his third catch of the innings.

Lead selector Desmond Haynes indicated Darren had been left out to give opportunities to younger players keeping the 2027 ODI World Cup in mind

S Sudarshanan21-Nov-2023Dwayne Bravo has hit out at West Indies selectors, saying that “the system failed again” after his brother Darren Bravo was excluded from the ODI squad against England.”When will the BS [sic] stop?! I’m not surprised by my brother’s non-selection, but with the recent changes in WI cricket management, I held onto a bit of hope for the better,” Dwayne posted on Instagram. “This is NOT acceptable, and I just can’t make sense of it! So here are my burning questions: What’s the criteria for West Indies team selection? Surely, it can’t be solely based on performance?”Darren was the leading run-scorer in the Super50 Cup 2023 that concluded earlier this month and captained Trinidad & Tobago to the title. He scored 416 runs in the competition at an average of 83.20 and a strike rate of 92.03, batting at No. 3, and was one of the two players with over 400 runs in the competition. Bravo also was among the leading run-scorers for Trinidad & Tobago last season in the 50-over competition with 240 runs at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 76.92.Following the squad announcement on Monday, West Indies’ lead selector Desmond Haynes indicated Darren, 34, had been left out to give opportunities to younger players keeping the 2027 ODI World Cup in mind.”It was a very tough decision for us to make as a panel,” Haynes said of Darren’s omission. “Darren has proven, not only this year but last year as well in the Super50 tournament, to be somebody who has performed well at this level. But we have invested in players like Alick Athanaze and Keacy Carty.”We also had to take into consideration that the World Cup 2027 is something that we have got in mind. We believe that we have invested in these players, and we need to give the opportunity to play against a very strong England side. That is the reason why Darren has been omitted.”Dwayne accused the selection panel of “mistreatment” and “disrespect” towards players.”I usually stay away from these discussions, but the mistreatment, disrespect, and dishonesty towards players over the years demand a voice. When will it stop?” he wrote.”To Mr. Desmond Haynes, your statement didn’t surprise me. It feels like another former player singing for his supper. I hoped for trust in the system with figures like you, Sammy, and the new director of cricket, but the system failed again. To my brother, this too shall pass. Keep your head up, stay focused, and trust in the Almighty.”While Darren was excluded, Kjorn Ottley, 33, was picked for the first time since 2021 as a back-up opener after Justin Greaves was ruled out with injury. Ottley made his ODI debut in Bangladesh in January 2021 and scored 25 across two games before being left out. But he put in a strong performance in the Super50 Cup this year with 317 runs while opening the batting. Only Greaves and Darren had scored more runs than Ottley this season.”You got to look at the roles that you want the player to play,” Haynes said. “Kjorn Ottley was included in the team as we had an injury to Justin Greaves. We thought we wanted somebody to bat up front and that’s the reason why Ottley got picked.”It is also important to have people playing in our domestic season and doing well. We keep saying all the time, our pool is not that big. I also mentioned about investing in young players like Athanaze, Keacy Carty. If we do the knee-jerk reaction where we just decided to invest in guys one year and then get rid of them next year, I am not too sure if that’s good for the development.”Hayden Walsh topped the bowling charts in the Super50 Cup 2023•AFP/Getty Images

Haynes: Hayden Walsh was very close to selection

After unimpressive outings in ODIs against India at home and Pakistan away as well as the T20Is against New Zealand at home last year, legspinner Hayden Walsh Jr was left out of the West Indies side and was not selected for the T20 World Cup in Australia. Ahead of the CPL 2023, he switched from Barbados Royals to Jamaica Tallawahs, but played just two matches.After he was dropped last year, Haynes said he had asked him to look at his bowling footage in order to work on his shortcomings.”Last season I was the first to go to Hayden when he lost his confidence and I suggested ‘get a camera to look at you, where you are bowling’,” Haynes said. “I thought at the time he was not bowling well and need some assistance from the outside just to have a look at him.”This year I can tell you that I am very impressed with the way the ball was coming out of Hayden in this competition. We even made the suggestion to the West Indies Cricket Board to have Hayden in the 16 and he is going to be in Antigua for the camp.”Walsh returned to form with both bat and ball in the Super50 Cup bagging 20 wickets – joint-most in the tournament with Sunil Narine – and scoring 222 runs with two fifties and a strike rate of 100.45. Against West Indies Academy, he came in with Leeward Islands at 157 for 6 and scored an unbeaten 60 off 55 to lift them to 239. He then picked up five wickets to help his side win by 66 runs.Related

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His second fifty came in a similarly tough situation in the semi-final against Barbados. Walsh scored 57 off just 45 to help Leeward Islands recover from 179 for 6 to post 290.”We were very impressed with Hayden,” Haynes said. “He used to be a two-dimensional player. He batted very well for Leeward Islands, came in at some crucial times and gave Leeward Islands a really good partnership and get them some good runs. We were very impressed with his batting as well.”Hayden was very close to selection, and I am happy he has got back his form. He is bowling well and is always going to be in our plans.”Haynes also said that he was told Jason Holder “is involved only in T20 and Tests” and is not available for ODIs.

Four wickets for England captain and unbeaten century for batter give hosts slender edge

ECB Reporters Network24-May-2024A late fightback from Somerset left their Vitality County Championship game with Durham finely poised, despite starring roles from Ben Stokes and David Bedingham.Stokes took four wickets to restrict Somerset to 171 all out in their first innings while Bedingham led Durham’s reply with an unbeaten century on day one at an overcast Seat Unique Riverside.Having been put in on a grassy pitch, Somerset had their backs to the wall for most of the day, but Migael Pretorius, who was later replaced by Jake Ball due to concussion, got his second 50 of the season and Craig Overton had the hosts in a spot of bother at 19 for three.Ball took three late wickets including that of Stokes and Ollie Robinson, but Bedingham got his century just before close to leave Durham 177 for 6, six runs ahead with four wickets in tact.Durham skipper Scott Borthwick elected to bowl at the toss and it was justified in the first over, with Ben Raine claiming the scalp of Tom Abell for four with a ball that clipped the top of off-stump.After being restricted to run-scoring rations by Raine at the other end, Tom Lammonby then started to find his groove, with three fours from a Paul Coughlin over.At the other end, Australian international Renshaw was dogged in defence, with just five runs from 39 balls before he was caught behind by Robinson, Stokes’ first wicket of the day.Lammonby was the second victim of Stokes with the left-hander looking to cut one but extra bounce deceived him and he edged behind to the dependable Robinson for 22.Just five balls later, Siddle then joined the party on home debut as Andy Umeed edged to second slip for nine.Banton and James Rew came to the crease and combined nicely, but Raine got his second of the innings on the stroke of lunch when Rew was out LBW for 13 after padding up to one which was plumb.The lunch break didn’t bring better fortune for Somerset as in the first over after the break Siddle struck twice in two balls, removing Gregory and Craig Overton before Pretorius successfully defended the hat-trick ball.Pretorius supported Banton as they combined for a partnership worth 35, but Raine put an end to Banton’s defiance, as he chipped a ball straight to mid-wicket to give Raine his third.Stokes grabbed his third of the day when Josh Davey was LBW for 10, which spurred Pretorius on to attack and reach his half-century.Despite wickets falling at the other end, Pretorius played well for his 50, but the South African did not last much longer as he edged a Stokes delivery to second slip to wrap up the Somerset innings.That was Pretorius’ last action of the match as he was subbed out with concussion after being struck on the helmet prior to his dismissal, with Jake Ball replacing him for the rest of the game.Responding to Somerset’s total of 171, Durham started in the worst possible way as Alex Lees was run out for three while backing up, after Overton got his hand to a Borthwick straight drive and the ball cannoned onto the stumps when Lees was out of his ground.Colin Ackermann was then dismissed for one after he edged an Overton delivery to second slip and the Somerset man struck again to leave Durham 19 for three, after Borthwick was out LBW for nine.The in-form duo of Bedingham and Robinson decided to attack on the bowler-friendly wicket, as they ticked the scoreboard over and went past 100.The pair elegantly chipped away at Somerset’s total, with Bedingham hitting a Jack Leach delivery down the ground for six to reach his half-century from 60 balls.Unlike his partner, Robinson could not make it to the half-century mark as he fell to Ball for 46, which brought Stokes to the crease.The England Test captain then departed for a duck after Ball got him LBW and Ball struck again to remove Graham Clark for one.Just before close Bedingham hit his fourth consecutive County Championship hundred from 103 balls, giving Durham the edge over Somerset going into day two.

Opener makes unbeaten 50 to defeat Worcestershire by DLS method

ECB Reporters Network14-Jun-2024Nottinghamshire 100 for 3 (Hales 50*) beat Worcestershire 141 for 6 (Hose 43) by 1 run – DLSAlex Hales helped Nottinghamshire celebrate their first win of the summer in the Vitality Blast after overcoming Worcestershire Rapids by one run under the Duckworth-Lewis Method at Visit Worcestershire New Road.The Outlaws had lost their opening five matches in the competition including the meeting with the Rapids at Trent Bridge nine days ago. But a disciplined bowling performance by their seamers restricted the home side to 141 for 6 under heavy skies.Then Hales batted responsibly to ensure there was little threat of Notts falling behind the Duckworth-Lewis Method. He scored 50 not out from 37 balls to guide his side to victory by the narrowest of margins.For Worcestershire it was a third successive defeat.Nottinghamshire captain Joe Clarke won the toss and elected to bowl first on a fresh hybrid pitch which was two-paced in nature. He persevered with all-pace during the powerplay and was rewarded with three wickets.Ben Lister made the first breakthrough when Worcestershire Club captain, Brett D’Oliveira, top-edged a catch to third man. Josh Cobb was then trapped lbw by Matt Montgomery working to leg and Matthew Waite pulled Olly Stone into the hands of deep mid wicket.Worcestershire were restricted to 27 for 3 in the first six overs and it became 42 for 4 when Ethan Brookes went to cut and was bowled.The Rapids broke the shackles in the 15th over from Lyndon James which yielded 15 runs with Nathan Smith smashing a six over long off.Adam Hose and Nathan Smith added 69 for the fifth wicket with the latter striking maximums off Lyndon James and Calvin Harrison. But Harrison brome the stand when Smith perished on the deep midwicket boundary.Hose battled away to make 43 off 35 balls before he holed out to long on in the penultimate over from Ben Lister.Worcestershire’s new ball attack of Smith and Tom Taylor bowled accurately and the latter made the breakthrough when Joe Clarke (26) lost his middle stump.Run-scoring was again not a straightforward process on this surface and the increasingly leaden skies meant Nottinghamshire had one eye on Duckworth Lewis.Hales ensured they moved comfortably ahead with two sixes in the opening over from Cobb. But West Indian spinner, Hayden Walsh, struck in his first over when he bowled Will Young to leave the game again in the balance.Walsh made it two wickets in two overs as Haynes went for a reverse-sweep and was lbw.But Hales again wrestled the initiative for his side with two enormous pulls over the midwicket boundary at Walsh’s expense to edge Notts in front.

Mohit Sharma also took four wickets to knock Sunrisers out of the playoffs race

Srinidhi Ramanujam15-May-20232:47

Should Gill have paced his innings better?

Gujarat Titans stormed to a top-two finish for the second time in a row with a 34-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Ahmedabad on Monday. With 18 points from 13 matches, the defending champions are the first team to seal a playoff berth, en route knocking Sunrisers out of the contention.Shubman Gill’s maiden IPL hundred and Sai Sudharsan’s 47 propelled Titans to 188 for 9 after being put into bat. That set the stage for Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal and Mohit Sharma to trigger a Sunrisers collapse very early in the chase and that was basically that. Despite Heinrich Klaasen’s fighting fifty, too much was left too late to chase down.It was also a night when pacers called the shots, accounting for 17 of the 18 wickets to fall on the red-soil pitch at Motera Stadium. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was one among them, who shone the brightest by taking a five-wicket haul, however, it wasn’t enough for Sunrisers who now have nothing to play for but their own wounded pride.

Gill and Sudharsan turn it on

Wriddhiman Saha’s stay was short-lived as he nicked an outswinger from Bhuvneshwar to be out for a duck off the third ball of the innings. From there on, it was the Gill-Sudharsan show as the duo put on 149 runs for the second wicket. Barring them, none of the Titans’ batters even touched double-figures.Both Gill and Sudharsan’s innings were filled with fours – 13 to the centurion and six to the almost half-centurion. They hit ten fours in the powerplay with four of them coming back-to-back in the fourth over bowled by left-arm quick Fazalhaq Farooqi. A pull, a short-arm jab, a cover drive, a scoop, you name it, Gill played it.From 65 for 1 after six overs, the total touched 100 in the next four as the Titans kept accelerating. Interestingly, the first six of the innings came only in the 11th over, off Sudharsan’s bat when he scooped left-arm seamer Marco Jansen over fine leg.Having reached his first fifty, with nine fours and no sixes, in 22 balls, Gill slowed down a bit, needing 34 more to bring up his hundred.Sudharsan, who replaced Vijay Shankar to play his first match in almost a month, looked solid in terms of technique, finding gaps and putting away loose balls. He did, however, benefit from two dropped catches.Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up three wickets in the final over•BCCI

Five-star Bhuvneshwar

It all began in the 15th over bowled by Jansen, who had missed Sunrisers’ last few games. By that time, the left-arm pacer had conceded 32 runs in his three overs and had bowled four wides and two no-balls. Yet Aiden Markram backed him and the bowler repaid that faith. He dismissed Sudharsan with his first delivery of the over when Natarajan ran from backward point and took an excellent catch.In the next over, Bhuvneshwar had Hardik Pandya caught at backward point. Natarajan came on for the 17th over and he picked up the wicket of David Miller. It was then Farooqi’s turn to dismiss the IPL debutant Dasun Shanaka.Then came the final over where Bhuvneshwar went W, W, W, 1, W, 1b to close things out. He scalped three wickets and effected a run-out to finish with an excellent figure of 5 for 30.Three four-wicket hauls in GT vs SRH•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Titans strangle SRH upfront

Sunrisers couldn’t handle the pace of Shami, Dayal and Mohit, who combined to take all nine wickets that fell in the chase. In the first over, Anmolpreet Singh top-edged a back-of-the-length ball and was caught by Rashid Khan, running across from deep third. In the second, Dayal induced an outside edge to send Abhishek Sharma back. Then came steaming hot Shami who was too good for both Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram. At that stage, he seemed almost unplayable – three wickets for five runs in 10 balls.Sunrisers’ 29 for 4 became 59 for 7 when Mohit picked up three wickets in his first two overs.

Klaasen, the lone warrior

Losing regular wickets at the other end didn’t stop Klaasen from looking for quick runs. In an otherwise forgettable season for Sunrisers’ batters, the South African was the only one to cross the 300-run mark this season. On Monday, though he started patiently by scoring 23 off his first 18 deliveries, he took the attack against Noor Ahmad, smashing two sixes and a boundary off his bowling to up the ante. He got to his second fifty of the season in 35 balls. The only notable partnership for the visitors was the one for the eighth wicket between Klaasen (64) and Bhuvneshwar (27) as they stitched 68 runs off 47 deliveries.