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Centuries from Glamorgan skipper Mark Wallace and Kent’s Sam Northeast ensured the two sides’ County Championship Division Two clash ended in stalemate.

22-Jul-2012
ScorecardCenturies from Glamorgan skipper Mark Wallace and Kent’s Sam Northeast ensured the two sides’ County Championship Division Two clash ended in stalemate.The hosts posted 168 for 2 in their second innings on a pedestrian final afternoon in Canterbury as former England Under-19 batsman Northeast carried his excellent limited-overs form of late into the four-day game by stroking 11 fours. He made the most of ideal conditions in a rain-ruined match at the St Lawrence Ground as promotion-chasing Kent banked 11 points to Glamorgan’s 9.The outcome of the game, though, rested on the first session of day four when Glamorgan resumed on 264 for 7, needing a further 43 to avoid the follow-on. Kent seamer Charlie Shreck accounted for John Glover leg before in the early exchanges but the turning point came in Shreck’s next over when Wallace, on 49, nicked one behind only to see Kent keeper Geraint Jones down a tough diving chance in front of first slip.Wallace went on to post a 192-ball century and feature in a ninth-wicket stand with Dean Cosker worth 103 in 19 overs that denied Kent their chance to enforce the follow-on.During his four-hour stay Wallace moved beyond the first-class career mark of 8,350 runs, ensuring he surpassed Eifion Jones as Glamorgan’s leading first-class run scorer as a wicketkeeper. Cosker, on 47, finally lost his middle stump to Darren Stevens then Wallace, with his score on 111, attempted an audacious slog-sweep against the same bowler only to be caught at slip off a top edge, ending the Glamorgan innings just before lunch on 389 for a first-innings deficit of 67.Kent lost Rob Key and Ben Harmison early in the response, but it mattered not a jot once Northeast and first-innings century-maker Brendan Nash dug in for the third wicket. Nash batted 71 minutes for his 28 while Northeast timed his run for a century to perfection and was unbeaten on 101 when the sides shook hands on a draw.

Next-highest score is 22 as Middlesex and Robson ride their luck

Matt Roller08-Apr-2021Opening the batting on the first morning on the County Championship season is a mug’s game. In gloomy April conditions, someone is guaranteed the ignominy of being the first man out of the summer; striding out to bat wearing three layers in his first Lord’s innings for 18 months, Sam Robson must have feared that he would be the unfortunate victim.With four slips primed and ready, Craig Overton bowled full, aiming to nip an inswinger through Robson’s defence, but he threaded the ball through the vacant mid-off region for four with a compact drive. It was enough to settle any early-season nerves, and Robson was soon in his groove, clipping mercilessly through midwicket whenever Somerset’s seamers strayed onto his pads.He rode his luck at times. There is no good time to drop a catch in the slips, but there were few worse than this: with Robson on 23, James Hildreth put down a straightforward chance at first slip off Josh Davey; on 47, Lewis Gregory drew an outside edge, only for Overton to shell the opportunity. The bitter North London chill made this a sore day for fielders’ fingers – not least when Robson was in the mood to make them pay for their generosity.Particularly strong through the leg side, Robson waited patiently for half-volleys and short balls as Somerset’s seamers tried to find their early-season rhythm. He was happy to sit in and defend against Jack Leach, who got through 22 overs at an economy rate below two, but pulled, cut, whipped and drove fluently against the quicks.By mid-afternoon, he had become the first centurion of the Championship season, and his innings single-handedly dragged Middlesex to a competitive first-day score: he scored more than half of their runs – bringing up 10,000 first-class career runs in the process – and the second-highest individual total was Stevie Eskinazi’s 22. Jason Kerr, Somerset’s coach, said that it was “even stevens” at the close but after asking Middlesex to bowl first and cloud cover for most of the day, they will see this as an opportunity missed.For Robson, this innings served as a reminder of his talent, and in particular, his ability to cash in after making a start. The Bob Willis Trophy last summer was the first time since 2012 that he had failed to make a single hundred in a first-class season, but at 31, there is no reason why a strong run of scores in the first two months of this campaign should not put him back into England contention, nearly seven years after his last Test appearance.His own fortunes have mirrored the club’s in recent seasons, with his returns dipping somewhat in the years since an excellent 2016. He started that campaign in similar fashion, finishing the first day of the season unbeaten on 175; he could not repeat the feat this time, fending a catch to third slip against the second new ball, but will hope this innings augurs well for the months ahead.”I feel like my best years are ahead of me,” Robson said. “Last year was a funny year, not having much cricket, but I felt pretty good about my game in 2019 and I’m at an age now where hopefully I can put it all together with my experience, and keep the hunger for runs. I’d love to play for England again – as long as I’m playing first-class cricket, that’ll be one of my goals – but there’s a lot of work to be done.”You’re always nervous in a funny way – maybe a little bit more nervous this morning than usual, with everything that’s happened in the past year. This is the first time we’ve been at Lord’s [for a first-class match] for 18 months, and April cricket is always that sort of excitement with the first game of the year. As you get older, you know the vagaries of the game and just turn up and do your best – thankfully today things went my way.”Much as Somerset were left to rue their early profligacy in the slips, they fought they were back into the game admirably under the floodlights in the evening session. Middlesex had lost semi-regular wickets, rarely stringing together any particularly dominant partnerships, and Gregory struck three times with the second new ball to turn 254 for 5 into 281 for 8. Having spent three weeks in quarantine last month after contracting Covid-19 at the Pakistan Super League, Gregory’s pre-season preparations were far from ideal, but his control of line and length was typically impressive.Leach toiled away admirably, picking up the wicket of Robbie White – one of two taken by spinners across the country on the first day of the season – and managing to hold an end down throughout the afternoon session. Marchant de Lange, making his Somerset debut, leaked early runs – “trying too hard to make an impression,” Kerr suggested – but dragged things back, while Overton and Davey were both guilty of straying into Robson’s strong zones more often than they would have liked. As much as anything, Somerset’s first ambition this week is to get out of the red, having started the season on minus eight points following the ECB’s adjustment to their pitch penalty.Both sides had tricky selection dilemmas: Eddie Byrom was the batsman to miss out for Somerset, having made 117 on this ground in the Bob Willis Trophy final last September, while Middlesex left out James Harris and Steven Finn, while opting not to pick a specialist spinner. With the weather set to intervene, neither call is likely to be crucial, but Middlesex’s efforts with the ball on day two could define this game.

Despite lighting up final day, Anderson presumes nothing amid need to rest and rotate bowlers

Andrew Miller09-Feb-2021After lighting up the final day of the Chennai Test with another ageless display of reverse-swing bowling, James Anderson insists he will be ready to put his “name in the hat” for selection in Saturday’s second Test, even though the team management may feel obliged to rest him given the intensity of their four-match series in India.Anderson returned figures of 3 for 17 in 11 overs in India’s second innings, including two in his first over of the final day, as he extracted prodigious late movement with a 26-over-old ball, to set England on their way to a comprehensive 227-run victory.However, with the second Test set to begin at the same venue on Saturday, and with Stuart Broad waiting impatiently in the wings after being rotated out of the side after his own starring role in England’s first Test of the winter against Sri Lanka, Anderson recognises the likelihood that he will need to be benched, even though he’s desperate, at the age of 38, to play as frequently as he possibly can.”Yes, of course [I want to play],” Anderson said at the end of the match. “When a batsman gets in rhythm and form they just want to keep batting and it’s the same for a bowler – you want to keep that going as much as possible.”But I’m very aware we’ve got four Test matches in quick succession here and there will be a need to rest and rotate. I’m not presuming anything. I’ll try and rest and recover from this game as best I can in the next day or two and get back in the nets and try and put my name in the hat for Saturday.”Related

• Joe Root: 'Really important we don't just stand still now' after England seal big win

• Stuart Broad 'frustrated and angry' at being left out of England side for first Test

• James Anderson and Jack Leach consign India to rare home defeat

• How good are Anderson and Broad in India?

• James Anderson's enduring class masks England fears about spin support

Following on from his starring role in the first innings in Galle, where he wrecked Sri Lanka’s match prospects with his best overseas figures of 6 for 40 in 29 overs, Anderson has now claimed 11 wickets at 9.90 in his back-to-back appearances, and after the match he was hailed by his captain, Joe Root, as “England’s GOAT”.However, Broad will be hankering for another opportunity after a string of recent performances every bit as impressive as his team-mate’s. He was England’s outstanding bowler in the course of 2020, claiming 38 wickets at 14.76 all told, even after being rested in favour of Anderson for the opening Test of the summer – a decision that sparked an angry response during a Sky Sports interview. And after setting up England’s first victory in Sri Lanka with match figures of 3 for 34 in 26 overs, his presence will add another wise head to England’s attack.”We have options, that’s the beauty of how we have gone about things this winter,” Joe Root, England’s captain, said. “It is really important that we look after our players and everyone comes into the games fit and fresh and able to deliver their skills at 100 percent. We can look at selection when we know what the wicket looks like and how we think it will behave.”However, an added factor in England’s plans may come when the series shifts to Ahmedabad at the end of the month, for a day-night Test match, played with a pink ball. England have had three previous such Tests, and with 14 wickets at 17.85 – including a five-wicket haul at Adelaide in the 2017-18 Ashes – Anderson’s prowess under lights may well be a crucial factor.Certainly, the balance and deployment of England’s attack at Chepauk proved to be spot-on, in the first innings as well as the second, with Anderson’s versatility as a defensive and attacking option showcased with his different impact in each.”We assessed conditions really well, set the right fields, we tried to keep the run-rate down to a reasonable level and I thought everyone stuck to their gameplan,” Anderson said, after claiming two first-innings wickets at an economy of 2.73, the best of England’s frontline options.”For me in that first innings, I felt I was the bowler to keep the run-rate down, try and dry things up, and let the spinners and Jofra [Archer] attack a little bit more.”In England it might be the other way around, the spinners have to do the drying-up job. I’m very aware that could be my job out here, and then you can attack more in the second innings if you do get reverse swing. It’s just trying to manage that throughout the game and pick the right moment to attack and you know when to sit back and defend a little bit.”And when the time did come to attack, Anderson’s introduction proved devastating with two wickets in his first over. However, he insisted, it hadn’t simply been blind luck that he was thrown the ball at that moment of India’s innings.Ben Stokes, James Anderson and Joe Root talk tactics•BCCI

“We were assessing the ball all the time,” he said. “Jofra started the day and he felt like it was reversing a little bit, but then we gave it a few more overs with the spinners to try and get a bit more wear into the ball to rough it up a little bit more.”We knew it would reverse when I came on to bowl and it’s just a case of trying to get into the right areas as much as possible. The pitch had deteriorated and there were little divots and chunks to aim at, but getting that extra bit of movement through the air makes it that little bit harder for the batsman, and it’s very enjoyable when it happens as well.”Enjoyment, in fact, has been a key factor of England’s recent resurgence as a Test team, which began with a fightback in South Africa last year – sparked by Anderson’s first-innings five-for at Cape Town, even though he missed the rest of the match with injury – and carrying on through to four series wins in a row, prior to this contest.”It really is [enjoyable],” Anderson said. “With the guys that we have got, we are creating something really special. We’re led amazingly well by Joe Root both on and off the field. The way he has batted the last three games has been incredible to watch.”We feel like we are building something, whether it is the fitness side of things, we are trying to push each other. For me, as I get older, I feel like I need to work harder at that and I am trying to keep up with the younger guys which helps me.”We are trying to develop skills to win anywhere in the world which you need to do if you want to get to No.1, which is what our eventual goal is. It is a really fun time to be around this group and we are just trying to keep challenging each other and trying to keep performing on the field as well.”

Malhotra will be in charge of game development and operations

PTI12-Feb-2021Delhi Capitals CEO Dhiraj Malhotra will replace Saba Karim as the BCCI’s General Manager. He will be in charge of game development and operations.Malhotra, who has been in the cricket industry for more than two decades, has also held senior positions at the ICC and has been responsible for overseeing cricket operations of various ICC events.”Yes, Dhiraj Malhotra has been formally appointed as GM (Game Development). He will be joining from Monday, February 15,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on Friday.Karim’s three-year stint had ended last month after being on six-month notice period.Malhotra will be responsible for determining and monitoring the match playing regulations, standards of venues, including pitches and outfields, besides the administration of the Domestic Tours Programme. The BCCI brass is confident that Malhotra’s extensive work in ICC operations and as Delhi Capitals chief executive will come in handy.”Dhiraj’s joining Delhi franchise coincided with two of their best seasons, including a playoff and a second-place finish,” the source said. “Also, when he was with DC, he was asked to help out at the ODI World Cup in England due to his vast knowledge.”

Some baffling tactical decisions and a powerful century from M Vijay resulted in Delhi Daredevils elimination

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran25-May-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
M Vijay and the rest of Super Kings’ batsmen ransacked the Daredevils bowling•AFP

The questions everyone was asking after the toss were: why is the virtually unknown offspinner Sunny Gupta making his IPL debut in Delhi Daredevils’ biggest game of the season and why was purple cap holder Morne Morkel dropped? The questions resonated through the game and will haunt the Daredevils management for long, as one of the biggest tactical goof-ups in IPL history meant another season of dominance at the league stage ended without a win in the playoffs.M Vijay clubbed a century and Chennai Super Kings took their toll of the weakened Daredevils attack to run up the highest score of the tournament. The decision to leave out Morkel had been based partly on wanting to strengthen an already intimidating batting line-up but the target was too much to ask even of Daredevils’ superstars.Super Kings came into the competition boasting a batting unit littered with match-winners but they rarely clicked together in the league phase. In the playoffs, though, they have been a transformed side. Two days after mauling Mumbai Indians, their batsmen fired again leaving Daredevils bowlers utterly clueless. Gupta was taken for 47 in his three overs and Varun Aaron conceded 63 in his four, the most expensive figures in IPL history.Much of the punishment came at the hands of Vijay, who hasn’t had the best of tournaments. A poor run at the start of the season left him with the unwanted distinction of being the only retained Indian player to be dropped in 2012. Super Kings backed him after leaving him out for a few games, and he repaid the faith with a big-match innings that has put them in their third final in a row.The hammering started in the first over, as Gupta’s first two deliveries were driven to the long-off boundary by Vijay. Normally a player who favours the leg-side, his lofted drives through the off side were the highlight of the innings. Even with Michael Hussey sensibly pushing the ball around and letting Vijay go for the big hits, Super Kings motored to 68 in eight overs.Hussey fell soon after but by the time Virender Sehwag came on to bowl in the 11th, Vijay was unstoppable. That over kickstarted another phase of heavy scoring: first a six to midwicket that was brilliantly caught by Ross Taylor who stepped on the rope as he landed, then a powerful cut behind backward point for four, followed by a boundary to long-on and a six over cow corner. After that second six, Vijay was at such ease that he was sharing a joke with non-striker Suresh Raina. Two overs of mayhem later, when Vijay safely guided a ball to third man, he was gesticulating in frustration for having taken only a single off the delivery.Daredevils didn’t help matters with their shoddy catching. Sehwag was awfully leaden-footed to a miscue from Raina to cover while David Warner, possibly their best fielder, grassed MS Dhoni at long-on. The bowling from Daredevils wasn’t particularly poor – there weren’t too many hit-me full tosses or gifted-away deliveries down the leg side – but was merely run-of-the-mill length stuff that was no worry to Super Kings’ marauders. Morne Morkel’s control was sorely missed.Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo played mini-versions of their powerhouse efforts against Mumbai Indians while Vijay went on to his century, which he celebrated with gusto pointing to the back of his shirt and showing his relief to put an indifferent run firmly behind him.Facing with a massive target, Daredevils had another surprise in store: for the first time this season, Sehwag didn’t open. Mahela Jayawardene came out at the top of the order and, though he stuck around for a characteristically elegant half-century, the game was virtually done within the fourth over of the chase as both Sehwag and David Warner were dismissed.Super Kings’ batting may grab all the headlines, but their fielding has also been top-class this season, highlighted by Vijay’s sharp catch to dismiss Warner and then the running take by Hussey to send back Sehwag.Ross Taylor slogged a couple of sixes over midwicket but his over-reliance on that stroke cost him as he miscued a wide delivery to mid-on. Jayawardene was left with too much to do, and after he was bowled after missing a reverse-sweep, there was no one to stop Daredevils from sliding to the biggest defeat of the season.

Tino Best, whose career as a Test batsman was previously best known for Andrew Flintoff’s “mind the windows” jibe at Lord’s eight years ago, struck back with the innings of his life

The Report by David Hopps10-Jun-2012Close
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTino Best fell five short of becoming the first No. 11 to score a Test century•AFP

Tino Best, whose career as a Test batsman was previously encapsulated by Andrew Flintoff’s “mind the windows” jibe at Lord’s eight years ago, struck back with a world record innings by a Test No. 11 on his return to the West Indies Test side, a fantastical affair that shattered England’s faint chances of winning the Edgbaston Test in the process.In the innings of his life, all that was lacking was the first century by a No. 11 batsman in Tests. He fell attempting a wind-up over long-on that he envisaged would clear the ropes and give him that historic hundred, only to be deceived by a slower ball by Graham Onions and edge to England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, running backwards from slip. By then everybody outside the England dressing room must have been willing him to make it.Best scored 95 from 112 balls in a last-wicket stand of 143 – the highest in West Indies Test history and the third best of all time. He is now the proud holder of the highest score by a No. 11 in Test cricket, outdoing Zaheer Khan’s 75 for India against Bangladesh in Dhaka eight years ago.England were lethargic in mind and deed, all talk of a whitewash abruptly silenced as West Indies added another 146 to their overnight 280 for 8. That lack of vigour permeated their batting in turn as West Indies followed up with three wickets by tea. Alastair Cook fell across the crease to be lbw to Ravi Rampaul (a wasted review by England), Jonathan Trott chopped on as he tried to guide to third man and Strauss, who had been struck on the hand earlier by a waist-high full toss by Best, edged him to first slip at the start of his second spell.It was left to Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell to bring some perspective in a fourth-wicket stand of 137 in 30 overs, an untroubled partnership interrupted by two contrary stoppages for bad light and ended by Marlon Samuels, who enticed Pietersen into guiding to slip when he had made 78 from 81 balls.Sunil Narine, an unconventional spinner with a jaunty, rhythmical action and a Tintin quiff, called up for a Test debut after a successful IPL campaign, had Bell, on 20, dropped at short leg on the verge of tea but otherwise was picked off at will. Bell reached 76 not out by the close, but Best, fittingly, had the last word by bowling Jonny Bairstow with a fast, full delivery to add to his troubled introduction to Test cricket.But the pitch still favours the batsmen and even though England face additional pressure from a follow-on figure reduced to 150 runs because of the time lost to rain, leaving them 56 runs short, a draw seems inevitable.Best’s mayhem persisted long enough for the wicketkeeper, Denesh Ramdin, who had battled through the second new ball to be 60 not out overnight, to make a second Test hundred that he could have barely deemed possible after the ninth wicket fell to the third ball of the morning. Ramdin moved from 98 to 99 in unfortunate fashion when he struck a straight drive off Steve Finn against the bowler’s-end stumps but in the next over he flicked Tim Bresnan to long leg to add to the hundred he also made against England in Barbados in 2009.When he reached three figures he yanked a message out of his pocket and shook it meaningfully towards the commentary boxes. “YEH VIV TALK NAH,” it said. The scrawled note appeared to be aimed at criticism made by the great West Indian Viv Richards who had remarked after the second Test at Trent Bridge that Ramdin’s career had deteriorated markedly. Ramdin’s ability to respond when riled rather proved Richards’ point about under achievement.Best, who was called up as a replacement in the Test squad after injury to Shannon Gabriel, embarked upon a series of fulsome lofted offside drives as Onions, in particular, and Steven Finn repeatedly overpitched. When he did edge the ball, it escaped England’s conservative field of two slips and a gully and they suffered for their approach. A defensive mindset has served England well but in their field placings and bowling approach they were tactically wanting.England’s fielding has also been below its best at Edgbaston. They dropped three slip catches on the opening day and Ramdin, who was overshadowed by Best for the first hour, was missed on 69 by Kevin Pietersen at gully, a fast catch and the third time in the match that Finn had seen a chance dropped in the cordon off his bowling.Graeme Swann was introduced with Best on 37 and twice in his first over he rocked back to drive him through the covers with panache. A hearty slog against Tim Bresnan, a former Yorkshire team mate who gazed at the disappearing ball lugubriously, took him to 49 before he brought delight to the West Indies players on the dressing room balcony by scampering a single into the offside, a moment he celebrated in exuberant style.He joined his fellow Barbadian Wes Hall as only the second West Indies No. 11 to pass fifty in Test cricket and was only the third No. 11 to make 50 against England in a Test, following Fred Spofforth of Australia and Bert Vogler, both more than a century ago.It had all seemed straightforward for England when they struck with the third ball of the morning, Finn seaming one away at fullish length against Ravi Rampaul for Matt Prior to take the catch. In the absence of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, both rested, England’s bank of pace bowling resources ahead of the South Africa series later in the summer had been duly confirmed, only for Best to sweep aside any complacency.But to conclude that England’s fast-bowling rotation caused Best’s innings smacks of over-interpretation. It is a fallacy – although sadly for students of such things, considering Best’s involvement, it is not the Broken Windows Fallacy.Having miraculously stuck around long enough for Ramdin to reach 100, Best cast aside what few his inhibitions he had. His first six took him into the 80s, a length ball from Bresnan that he slapped against the sightscreen. “Play for me now,” he shouted at Ramdin, his visions growing of his own extraordinary Test century. On 82 not out, he called for a chest guard, in anticipation of a barrage of short balls from Finn from around the wicket.With nine wickets down, the lunch interval was extended for half an hour, a boon for Best, who was 12 runs short. Onions returned, angular and stern faced; Best’s round face awash with smiles. A leading edge almost lobbed up to Trott on 93, and he survived an lbw appeal against Trott the next ball. Ramdin refused an impossible single on 95 and he dashed back to his crease. But Onions’ slower ball was temptation too much. He was one scythe from glory. Instead, he walked off with his face hidden in his helmet, an emotional man perhaps disguising a tear or two.

Hobart will not host a Test or ODI next summer for the first time in 25 years after Cricket Australia confirmed the schedule for its pared-back limited-overs fixtures against England

ESPNcricinfo staff16-May-2013Hobart will not host a Test or ODI next summer for the first time in 25 years after Cricket Australia confirmed the schedule for its pared-back limited-overs fixtures against England. However, Bellerive Oval will hold one of three Twenty20 internationals against England as part of the longest bilateral T20 international series ever held in Australia, a three-match battle that will follow a series of five one-day internationals.The dates for the Ashes Tests were announced in November and at the time Cricket Australia said the number of ODIs would be cut back to five, which would be the fewest one-day games in a home summer in 34 years. On Thursday, Cricket Australia released the fixture for the limited-overs portion of the summer, which will run from January 12 to February 2.Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide will each host a one-day international before the action moves to Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney’s Stadium Australia for the Twenty20s. It will be the first time since Bellerive Oval first hosted an international match in 1988 that the ground has not been given a Test or ODI in a season. It will also be the first time since India visited in 1977-78 that only one side has toured Australia in a summer.Sunday January 12 Australia v England, 1st ODI, MCG
Friday January 17 Australia v England, 2nd ODI, Gabba
Sunday January 19 Australia v England, 3rd ODI, SCG
Friday January 24 Australia v England, 4th ODI, WACA
Sunday January 26 Australia v England, 5th ODI, Adelaide Oval
Wednesday January 29 Australia v England, 1st T20, Bellerive Oval
Friday January 31 Australia v England, 2nd T20, MCG
Sunday February 2 Australia v England, 3rd T20, Stadium Australia

Batsman extends contract after playing starring role in club’s T20 Blast triumph

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2020Ben Duckett has committed to Nottinghamshire at least until the end of 2023, after a breakthrough season with the club which culminated in a starring role in their second T20 Blast title in four years.Duckett, 26, was named as Nottinghamshire’s Player of the Year for 2020 after amassing 734 runs across the Bob Willis Trophy and Blast in the truncated English season, averaging 56 and 43 respectively.Having joined the club from Northants midway through 2018, he endured a tough season in 2019 as Notts were relegated from the top flight of the Championship without a single victory in 14 games. But Duckett found his form across formats this year, and finished the season in style, cracking 53 not out from 38 balls to see off Surrey in the Blast final at Edgbaston in October.”Coming to Trent Bridge has been everything I wanted it to be and more,” Duckett said. “We have a group of ambitious cricketers all pulling in the same direction, the support we have from the coaches is second-to-none and I’m hugely excited about what I believe we can achieve in all forms of the game.”We share a determination to challenge for trophies, and we hope lifting the Blast last season can be the start of something special.”Duckett posted two first-class hundreds in the Bob Willis Trophy, cementing his place at No.3 with 116 against Lancashire and 150 against Durham, and he also contributed four half-centuries to the Blast campaign, including that role in the final.”Ben has improved steadily over the past 12 months,” Peter Moores, Notts’ head coach. “He had a clear picture of the sort of player he wanted to become after a tough season in 2019.”He should take a lot of credit for sticking to his guns after getting some good balls in the first few games. He backed what he had worked on and went on to become our leading run-scorer in the Bob Willis Trophy.”He was the glue within the T20 team, scoring at a really good rate, manipulating the ball to all areas of the ground and always scoring when needed.”He gauged the run-chase in the Final brilliantly, which was a credit to all the work he had done before. The fact that he made it look so straightforward is credit to him, and it was fitting that he was there to hit the winning runs and get us over the line.”

PCB chairman says “ICC is crying out for more independent directors”

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Sep-2020Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani doesn’t think the new ICC chairman should come from any of the “Big Three” boards, even as the global governing body is yet to agree on a process to choose Shashank Manohar’s successor.Mani said it would be “healthier” for someone from another board to lead the ICC now because of the “politics introduced” by Cricket Australia, ECB and BCCI earlier.Manohar stepped down more than two months ago but the ICC Board have still not agreed on whether the process to choose the new chairman should be based on a two-thirds majority vote or a simple majority. Imran Khwaja is serving as the interim chairman.”It’s unfortunate it has taken so long,” Mani told about the delay. “The politics introduced by Australia, England and India in 2014 to protect their positions – now they are struggling to unwind it because it doesn’t suit them anymore.”It would be healthier to have someone (the chairperson) not from the ‘big three’.”ALSO READ: FICA calls delay in appointing ICC chairperson ‘unacceptable’Mani ruled himself out as a candidate, having served as ICC chairman from 2003 to 2006. Colin Graves, whose term as ECB chairman ended on August 31, has been touted as a candidate, as has the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, whose future is certain in the Indian board with a hearing pending in the country’s Supreme Court. NZC chairman Greg Barclay and former Cricket West Indies head Dave Cameron have also popped up as names in the running.”There is a huge problem of conflict of interest on the board,” Mani said. “I’ve never seen that before, not in 17 years. This sort of conflict of interest is not transparent. The ICC is crying out for more independent directors.”In 2017, the ICC Board had approved a new finance model that replaced the controversial “Big Three” arrangement chalked out by BCCI, ECB and Cricket Australia in 2014. Under the new agreement, the BCCI was to receive US$ 405 million out of the ICC’s estimated earnings of $2.7 billion for the 2016-23 rights cycle period.Mani backed Graves’ recent statement on reworking that finance model in which the BCCI and ECB (US$ 139 million) get more than the other boards, most of whom – like CA, PCB, CSA, NZC, SLC, CWI and BCB, are set to receive $128 million each (all revenue distributions – which are projections – have been scaled down, however in recent time).”It’s not only the funding model that is wrong and skewered to India and also to some degree England,” Mani said. “They allocated ICC events to themselves, gave themselves generous hosting fees and the benefits from gate money and hospitality.”In 2019 [World Cup, hosts] England would have made what Pakistan, West Indies or South Africa do over an eight-year period. That’s what’s wrong with the system. There are some countries who won’t be able to survive if this funding model continues.”We survived without playing India (who refuse to play bilateral series against their arch-nemesis). Can you imagine if that happened to Cricket Australia if India didn’t come?”Mani was hoping the PCB would get to host a World Cup in the next cycle, from 2023 to 2031.”We want to host a World Cup during this cycle,” Mani said. “There are three-four events we have expressed interest, including some to host jointly with the UAE.”

Assam coach Sanath Kumar has slammed the Pune pitch for their ongoing Ranji Trophy game against at Gahunje stadium Maharashtra

Arun Venugopal24-Nov-2015Assam coach Sanath Kumar has slammed the Pune pitch for their ongoing Ranji Trophy game at the Gahunje stadium against Maharashtra, calling it “very dangerous.” He also confirmed Assam were contemplating lodging an official complaint at the end of the match.”Definitely it was a dangerous wicket, at least till lunch,” Sanath told ESPNcricinfo. “Even after lunch a couple of balls did [something] but it was not as bad as it was till lunch. Till lunch I was literally worried that some of my players might get a real knock.””I was struggling to watch the game,” Sanath said. “I really cannot understand why they play on this sort of wicket. So many balls went so dangerously close to the face, flying all over. They had a short leg, leg slip, backward short leg, so imagine [how the pitch would have behaved]. That’s what I am thinking [about lodging a complaint].”However, Pandurang Salgaonkar, the curator at Gahunje, denied Assam’s contention, saying the pitch was “not at all dangerous.” “The wicket was absolutely good, but it was a grassy wicket,” he told ESPNcricinfo.KB Arun Karthik, who spent the most time in the middle to score an unbeaten century, said he informed the umpires that the batsmen were at risk of getting hurt, but they didn’t take the players off the field.Assam had been put in to bat after the first day was rained out and while they went to stumps at a fairly healthy 223 for 4, Arun Karthik said it had been a struggle throughout the day. Their top-three batsmen fell inside six overs to the seam-bowling pair of Samad Fallah and Anupam Sanklecha, but Arun Karthik and Amit Verma steadied things with a 75-run stand. After Verma’s departure, Arun Karthik and captain Gokul Sharma, who remained unbeaten on 59 put on 130 runs.”The pitch was damp today, but they started it regardless,” Arun Karthik said. “The umpires had a look, but they said there was no other go but to play.”The wicket was damp and there was quite a bit of grass as well, so there was uneven bounce and the ball kept cutting off the pitch. Some balls hit me on the glove, some on the elbow and some others on the thigh pad.”A particular ball stopped and bounced over my head, and went on the bounce to the keeper. It was obvious for everyone to see [that the pitch was behaving alarmingly],” Arun Karthik said. “I told them [the umpires] we were at a serious risk of getting hurt. The umpires said, ‘we will look at it after sometime.’ They didn’t take us off the field.”Arun Karthik said there were only a few strokes, such as the flick and the backfoot punch, that could be played on the surface. “There was no chance of playing a cover drive as the ball was bouncing off a length. Even while leaving the ball you will have to be positive on a wicket like this.”Pune is one of the six centres that have been accorded Test status recently. The surface comes under scrutiny – despite allowance being made for the rain the city has received recently – especially because it was made a standby venue for India’s fourth Test against South Africa in the event of Delhi not securing the necessary approvals in time. Had the Test match been played at this venue, the Maharashtra-Assam game, it is understood, would have been shifted to Poona Club.