Despite having just 227 to defend, Afghanistan’s bowlers used a slow surface to their advantage brilliantly to send the home team packing for 198

The Report by Akshay Gopalakrishnan27-Aug-2018ICC

Once again on their 2018 tour of Ireland, Afghanistan’s bowlers asserted their might over the home team’s batsmen, to leave them stumbling to a 29-run defeat in the opening ODI in Belfast. This is hardly the first time it has happened – both games in the T20I series followed the same script. And yet, this defeat will hurt Ireland, not least because their bowlers had done splendidly to shut the doors on a late surge when Afghanistan had batted. Five wickets for 16 runs in the last seven overs had left Ireland with 228 to get – a chaseable target on most surfaces against most bowling attacks. But throughout this tour, Afghanistan, with the variety and skill in their spin-bowling arsenal, have shown they aren’t like most bowling attacks.Rashid Khan wasn’t even much of a factor for most of the chase – he took the last two wickets, both in the 49th over – and yet, Afghanistan hardly broke a sweat in their defence. By the time Mujeeb Ur Rahman, their best bowler of the day, was done with his quota, the required rate had shot up to eight an over. On a pitch as treacherously slow as this one, it was a done deal.The only period during which Ireland looked like they were on top was in the first over, when Paul Stirling found the boundary twice. And even then, one of them was off an inside edge. Mujeeb came on at the other end and conceded just three, and straightaway the choke was on.It meant Ireland had try and to capitalise on marginal errors, a tough ask on an uncooperative surface for batsmen. The batsmen had to force their shots, and Stirling and William Porterfield both fell caught behind trying to do just that.Those early wickets were just the catalyst Afghanistan needed to choke the opposition out. The avoidable run-out of Niall O’Brien only made things harder for Ireland. At 54 for 3 after 18 overs, Afghanistan were ready to seize control. Rashid hadn’t even come on yet.When he did eventually, in the 23rd over, Ireland were in the middle of their best partnership of the innings, between Andy Balbirnie and Simi Singh.Simi had walked out with the clear plan of upsetting the spinners’ line by taking big strides across and sweeping from well outside off stump. Not only did it give him some cushion against the lbw, it kept Ireland’s score ticking over. But when he fell, it was to a straight-bat shot, Mohammad Nabi’s offbreak bowling him off his inside edge.Balbirnie fought on to compile a gritty half-century before top-edging a sweep off Mujeeb to short fine leg. At the end of that over, the 34th, Ireland’s required rate was 6.12; by the time Mujeeb was done, eight overs later, it had shot up to 8.12.When Afghanistan batted, Ireland alternated between sharp and sloppy. Hazratullah Zazai, who had pulverized Ireland in the T20Is, was dropped by Stirling at second slip off the seventh ball of the innings. But luckily for Ireland, it didn’t cost them much.In extremely windy, almost stormy conditions, their bowlers did superbly to run in and hit the deck hard, causing Afghanistan discomfort with the short ball. One such delivery accounted for Zazai, who failed to get on top of the bounce and sent a leading edge to cover. In an early sign of the two-paced nature of the surface, each of the first three wickets arrived via the leading edge.But after coming out on top of the early exchanges, Ireland slackened, allowing the middle order to settle in. Gulbadin Naib and Rahmat Shah began the repair work with a 53-run third-wicket stand. Naib added a further 77 with Hashmatullah Shahidi on his way to a half-century.Naib fell to a dodgy lbw call in the 36th over, the ball from Boyd Rankin seeming to hit him quite high on the back thigh. Around then, Ireland began pulling things back. Afghanistan seemed all too content to knock the ball around and wait for a loose over. Ireland’s bowlers kept them waiting, and Afghanistan collected just 16 runs between overs 35 and 40.This wasn’t the typical one-day surface that would produce 100 runs in the last 10 overs, even if a team had wickets in hand, and Afghanistan found that out the hard way. Attempts at acceleration were short-lived, lasting no more than a few deliveries. By the time Shahidi had brought up a well-compiled half-century, the slide was well underway, as Afghanistan went from 197 for 4 to 213 for 9. But where Ireland’s bowlers were excellent in the early and closing stages of the innings, Afghanistan’s bowlers were relentless throughout, and it proved the difference.

Joshua Little shows promise for Ireland with 2 for 20, but home side fall 17 short in first T20I

The Report by Saurabh Somani20-Aug-2018
18 overs a sideTwo young men who had played a combined three T20Is before Monday’s contest between Ireland and Afghanistan at Bready served notice of potentially bright futures. Hazratullah Zazai’s 33-ball 74 had turbo-charged Afghanistan before Joshua Little’s 2 for 20 in four overs reined them in, but the visiting team’s 160 for 7 in a rain-shortened match still proved too many for Ireland.An hour’s delay due to rain had reduced the first T20I of a three-match series to an 18-over affair, but that was enough for Afghanistan to show their superiority. Afghanistan have now won their last six T20Is against Ireland, with the home side’s last win coming in November 2013.The 20-year-old Zazai had been in good form this year, with a List A strike-rate of 160.74 in five games, and he showed that the move to bring him in for just his second T20I – almost two years after an uninspiring international debut – was the right call.After a fairly brisk start in which 28 came off the first three overs, Zazai kicked into a higher gear with three fours off Peter Chase in the fourth over, and exploded for 23 runs in Tyrone Kane’s second over. The hapless Kane couldn’t get his length right, and Zazai deposited him beyond the boundary on the leg side three times in the over, cutting for four too for good measure.Zazai’s almost baseball-style hitting raised a half-century off just 22 balls, and he carried on biffing. After seven overs, Afghanistan had raced to 87 without loss, 74 of those coming off Zazai’s blade.Ireland may have mis-read the pitch, tempted by the combination of steady rain in the lead-up to the match and cloud cover. But they didn’t help their cause with some poor lengths and little variation. Only the introduction of Simi Singh’s offspin brought some respite. Singh made the key strike, getting Zazai caught behind when the ball brushed his glove on an attempted sweep. Captain Gary Wilson did very well to move across and latch on to the ball.Once Zazai had gone, Afghanistan lost momentum drastically. Mohammad Shahzad mixed his customary big hits with dot balls, but his fitness seemingly cost him his wicket. Asghar Afghan had tapped Little to point and set off for a run. Shahzad was slow to respond and slower to make his ground, with Simi’s direct hit catching him short.Little’s three overs between the 10th and 16th then ensured Afghanistan wouldn’t have much left for a finishing kick. Unlike his senior team-mates, Little found the right length, and mixed things up. The batsmen could never line him up, and he was nippy enough that they couldn’t simply hit through the line.While Ireland had done well to concede only 73 runs in the last 13 overs while picking up seven wickets, they wouldn’t have an easy chase, especially against Afghanistan’s spin trio of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan.Mujeeb was handed the new ball, and struck in his first two overs, dismissing Stuart Thompson and William Porterfield. Plenty hinged on Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien, but while O’Brien was done in by Nabi, Stirling had to go when Aftab Alam leapt in the air at the square-leg boundary and plucked out a ball that seemed headed for the maximum.By the time Rashid came on to bowl, Ireland were already 60 for 4 in eight overs and facing a required-rate of more than ten. It was a steep ask against any opposition, leave alone the world’s No. 1 T20I bowler.Wilson delayed the inevitable with a defiant 34 off 23, but Ireland were left with too much to do against a top attack.

Alastair Cook says that he will retire from international cricket knowing that he managed to dredge every ounce out of his ability

Andrew Miller05-Sep-2018
Alastair Cook says that he will retire from international cricket at the end of the forthcoming Oval Test knowing that he managed to dredge every ounce out of his ability.Cook, who will retire after an England record 161 Test appearances, said that his decision to stand down had come during a six-month period in which he felt that he had mislaid the mental edge that had carried him to more than 12,000 Test runs over a 12-year career.”It’s hard to put it into words, but over the last six months, there’ve been signs in my mind that this was going to happen,” Cook told reporters at The Oval. “I told Rooty [Joe Root] before the game [at the Ageas Bowl], then told Trevor [Bayliss] during the game.””For me, I’ve always had that mental edge, I’ve always been mentally incredibly tough, and that edge had gone,” he added. “That stuff which I’d found easy before was just wasn’t quite there, and for me that was the biggest sign.”Asked if he had considered asking for a sabbatical to reassess his game after an extraordinary 158 Test appearances in a row, Cook insisted that burn-out was not the issue that he had been contending with, in spite of averaging less than 20 in nine Tests in 2018.”It did cross my mind briefly, as the decision became clear in my mind, but if you are looking over the last two or three years, I haven’t played a huge amounts of games, and I’ve never felt that getting on another plane has been the struggle. You can have six months off and come back, but I still don’t think it would have been there.”You ask people about [retirement] along the way, and they said that when you know, you know. And for me that was so true.”The rest of the team was informed of his decision the aftermath of England’s 60-run victory over India at the Ageas Bowl, a result which ensured a series win against the No.1 Test team and allowed Cook to go public with his decision ahead of a dead rubber in the final match.”In this day and age, it’s very hard to keep anything quiet,” he said. “If it was 2-2 I would have had to keep my mouth shut. But when you do media and are asked questions, it’s hard to constantly lie, to be brutally honest.”I was a couple of beers in and I needed to be, otherwise I’d have cried more than I actually did,” he added. “But I managed to hold it together. At the end of the game, I just said it might be good news for some, but sad for others, but it’s time. I’ve done my bit and, if picked, the next game will be my last game. That was all I said.There was a bit of silence, then Mo said something, and we got on with it and had a nice evening in the changing room.”The confirmation of Cook’s impending retirement was then announced on Monday morning, leading to a wealth of tributes across the cricket media.”It’s a bit surreal,” Cook added. “One of my friends rang to check I was still alive, because everyone had been talking as if I’ve died. It’s obviously nice to hear so many nice words said about you. For the last couple of days I’ve been back at home and hadn’t seen much of it, until I let myself have a look last night.”The eulogies were richly deserved, given how much Cook had given to England’s cause in the course of his record-breaking Test career. Inevitably, he picked out his central role in England’s victories in Australia in 2010-11 and India in 2012-13 as his finest hours.”You can’t really look past those two away series,” he said. “That was the best I could play, and in my career as a whole, I can look back and say I became the best player I could have become. That means quite a lot to me. I’ve never been the most talented cricketer, and I don’t pretend I was, but I definitely got everything out of my ability.”Cook admitted that his lowest ebb had come in the midst of the 2014 summer, when England lost first to Sri Lanka and then went 1-0 down against India, and all against the backdrop of the sacking of Kevin Pietersen, a situation that Cook admitted he wished had been handled differently.”The KP affair was a tough year, absolutely no doubt about that,” he said. “The fallout of that wasn’t good for English cricket or for me, but I was involved in that decision without being the bloke that made the final decision.”I think that’s when it was real tough but I didn’t throw the towel in,” he added. “I still believe I was the best man for the job and the right man to be England captain at that time. I could have taken the easy option and thrown the towel in, but I didn’t, and the team got the reward with the Ashes in 2015.”Asked if he was the last of a dying breed of Test specialists, Cook replied: “I think naturally kids are going to be more attracted by the razzmatazz of T20. I’ve seen it in the youngsters in the Essex team, their attacking game is better than their defensive game, and that is fact.”I’m not sure I’m the last of a dying breed but there are cricketers of my ilk who are naturally suited to the red ball rather than white ball. The kids have the diet of T20. We played T20 when we were younger, but we still built an innings in the first five overs, rather than whack it over the keepers’ head third ball.”As for his ambitions for the final Test of his career, Cook added: “It would be fantastic [to bow out on a high], but it would be great for England to win most importantly – 4-1 sounds better than 3-2. If I can play a good innings, that would be fantastic.”

Yashasvi Jaiswal, the tournament’s highest run-getter, was one of four half-centurions in India’s total of 304 for 3

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2018Compared to the senior men’s and women’s Asia Cup finals this year, this was an anti-climax, as India cruised to their sixth Under-19 Asian title with a 144-run win against Sri Lanka in Dhaka. Fifties from four of the top five batsmen set up India’s total of 304 for 3 after they chose to bat first. Then it was all Harsh Tyagi, the left-arm spinner picking up a six-wicket haul to help bowl Sri Lanka out for 160 in 38.4 overs.Yashasvi Jaiswal and Anuj Rawat added 121 for the first wicket, before Devdutt Padikkal put on another 59 runs for the second wicket with Jaiswal. After Padikkal fell in the 41st over, captain Simran Singh and Ayush Badoni smacked 110 unbroken runs in the remaining 9.1 overs.Simran struck four sixes and three fours in his unbeaten 37-ball 65 while Badoni’s unbeaten 28-ball 52 had five sixes and two fours. Rawat chipped in with 57 off 79 balls, while Jaiswal’s 85 was the top score, coming off 113 balls and including eight fours and a six. Jaiswal finished as the tournament’s run-getter with 318 runs.Sri Lanka hardly put on a substantial partnership in reply, succumbing to Tyagi whose first wicket, in the 16th over, broke a 46-run second-wicket stand between Nishan Madushka and Pasindu Sooriyabandara. Tyagi removed both batsmen in the space of four overs, before taking four more wickets.Fellow left-arm spinner Siddharth Desai took two wickets to take his tournament tally to 18; Tyagi finished second on that list with 14 wickets.
Sri Lanka would rue another missed opportunity at the regional youth level, having lost their fourth Under-19 Asia Cup final.

Shabnim Ismail was near unplayable, racking up 20 dot balls in a four-over spell, and Marizanne Kapp followed up her economical bowling with a 44-ball 38 to anchor South Africa’s chase

The Report by Varun Shetty13-Nov-2018Marizanne Kapp punches one on the off side•Getty Images

Fast bowlers Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp put up what captain Dane van Niekerk described as a “pace clinic” as South Africa opened their tournament with a seven-wicket win against Sri Lanka. The quick-bowling duo sent down three overs each in the Powerplay after Sri Lanka were put in, conceding only 16 runs during that period and grabbing a wicket each, before Ismail picked up two more in the last over to restrict Sri Lanka to 99 for 8. In all, the pair bowled 37 dot balls and had combined figures of 4 for 23 in eight overs. Kapp then played a stable innings at No. 3 to anchor South Africa’s chase with van Niekerk.South Africa’s decision to bowl was informed by the conditions in the evening. Rain had influenced most of the day at Gros Islet, to the extent that the boundaries had to be brought in – to roughly around 55 metres – at the start of the previous game because large parts out the outfield had been beyond repair. The team that batted first would have had to get through the challenge of a soaked outfield, aside from the uncertainties of the DLS.Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, they were that team, and on a damp pitch, they found it nearly impossible to get runs off Ismail and Kapp. Ismail was fast, clocking close to 120kph on average, and got past opener Yasoda Mendis’ inside edge a few times before finally finding the top of middle stump. That followed a testing previous over from the other end, where Mendis was squared up a few times by Kapp’s outswingers that began from middle stump. The defining moment of that over, however, was Kapp’s inswinger that had trapped the left-handed Chamari Atapattu on the drive.With Atapattu, their captain and most destructive batsman, out early in difficult conditions, Sri Lanka’s top order was trapped between trying to score quickly and laying a foundation. This was evident through the Powerplay and for some time after, with batsmen playing out dot balls as South Africa refused to spread the field, and then running down the pitch and heaving at balls to try and make up. Number 3 Hasini Perera was out this way, getting a thick outside edge to third man as she looked to clear the infield, as was No. 4 Shashikala Siriwardene, the former captain, who simply yorked herself by stepping out against Tumi Sekhukhune.Perera and Siriwardene were Sri Lanka’s most comfortable batsmen from the top order and will have rued their dismissals, considering that South Africa began to gift runs towards in the second half of the innings. Several run-out opportunities were missed, three of them involving stand-in wicketkeeper Lizelle Lee, and fumbles in the field added to Niekerk’s openly visible frustration at the extras that had also started seeping in. By the end of the innings, South Africa had bowled 24. But Sri Lanka didn’t have the resources to double down during that stage, and No. 8 batsman Dilani Manodara’s unbeaten 12-ball 20 was all they could be content with.The conditions were still there for their seamers to mount a challenge, though. Left-armer Udeshika Prabodhani got so much swing into South Africa’s right handers, in fact, that she had to switch to around the wicket in the first over to stop herself from straying down. The reward was instant, as she hooped one past Laura Wolvaardt’s inside edge to knock out her stumps. Off the very next ball, Lee went chasing a full one from Sripali Weerakkody based on a wide-of-the crease release, but was out nicking when the ball swung away late. At 6 for 2, South Africa had to reassess what had seemed like a small chase.It could have been a lot worse. In the fifth over, Prabhodani got Kapp to inside-edge an inswinging yorker, and the ball deflected onto the outside part of the off stump. She had begun celebrating because the bails had lit up, only to see that neither of them had fallen. South Africa had only got 26 at that point.That would be the last chance South Africa offered. Kapp and Niekerk played through the next few overs and as the ball showed less and less assistance for the seamers, they began opening up. Just before the halfway stage, South Africa were managing to stay only marginally ahead of the DLS par, but Kapp’s slogged six over long-on off Oshadi Ranasinghe eased the pressure in the ninth over. From there, it was a game of nudging from the batsmen and using their feet to open up parts of the field, and South Africa did exactly that to finish in calm fashion.

Punia, the 22-year-old Delhi opener, earned her maiden India call-up, for the T20I squad

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2018India middle-order batsman Veda Krishnamurthy has been dropped from both limited-overs squads for the New Zealand tour in January 2019, following a long run that yielded below-par scores since a reasonably impressive South Africa tour in February. Batsman Mona Meshram has replaced her in the ODI squad, while quick-bowling allrounder Shikha Pandey has returned to the T20I squad after being left out for the World T20 last month.Priya Punia, the 22-year-old Delhi opener, meanwhile, has earned her maiden India call-up, for the T20I squad, on the back of two centuries in the ongoing Senior Women’s One-Day League domestic tournament.Krishnamurthy had five single-digit scores during the World T20, including two unbeaten innings, and despite an 80-run knock for Railways in the One-Day League, her lack of consistency has resulted in exclusion from both sides. That was the only change from the ODI squad that played against Sri Lanka women in September.Pandey returned to the T20I set-up as a like-for-like replacement for Pooja Vastrakar who underwent an ACL surgery last week following a knee injury she sustained during a warm-up game ahead of the World T20. Devika Vaidya, the top-order left-hand batsman who had replaced Vastrakar in the side, has been dropped owing to her poor form for Maharashtra in the ongoing domestic tournament.The squads were announced by chief selector Hemlata Kala, following a meeting in Delhi which also had ODI captain Mithali Raj in attendance, and T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur joining in via Skype.Some of the players included in the two squads will be participating in the three-team senior women’s one-day Challenger Trophy in the first week of January, in Mulapadu. Pandey, Punam Raut and Mona Meshram have been named captains for the India Red, Blue and Green sides respectively.India are scheduled to play three ODIs, starting January 24, and as many T20Is in New Zealand. The ODIs are part of the ICC Women’s Championship 2017-2020, while the three T20Is will be double-headers along with the men’s T20Is in February.The tour will be the team’s first international assignment under newly appointed head coach WV Raman, who got the job in the aftermath of a mudslinging episode involving former interim head coach Ramesh Powar and Raj.ODI squad: Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-capt), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Deepti Sharma, D Hemalatha, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Mona Meshram, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Shikha PandeyT20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Mithali Raj, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anuja Patil, D Hemalatha, Mansi Joshi, Shikha Pandey, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Priya Punia

Focus not on superstars Gayle and de Villiers in team’s quest to replicate success of the previous season

Mohammad Isam03-Jan-2019Tom Moody, the Rangpur Riders head coach, has a battery of superstars – a batting line-up that includes Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers and Alex Hales – at his disposal for BPL 2019, but the Australian is focused on team-building, rather than stressing on individuals.While Hales will be available for the entire tournament, AB de Villiers, whom Moody will be working with for the first time, is available for seven matches in his maiden BPL stint. As a senior cricketer, who has enough subcontinent experience to bank on, Moody hoped to involve him in helping young players develop their game, but insisted the focus won’t be on him alone.”It is going to be a collective effort that will help win the tournament,” Moody said. “We will be relying on all our domestic and international players to step up when their opportunity comes. An individual can influence and win a game from time to time, but it is more of a team effort that wins championships.”I haven’t worked with AB de Villiers one-on-one before. I have worked with Hales and Gayle before. It will be great to work with AB. He is going to add a different presence to this side. He is a world-class player in this format. He can be very dangerous, but the focus won’t be on him as an individual. I think it is important that we all step up in our playing XI to play our roles.”Moody isn’t new to his team starting slowly. In the previous season, Rangpur were in early trouble with three losses in four games, but found their muscle midway through courtesy their domestic players. Once into the knockouts, they saw their trump cards Johnson Charles and Gayle unleash mayhem. The coach doesn’t want to see a similar situation this time, but believes they are prepared for that eventuality.”We had our challenges last year,” he said. “We had a successful win but it wasn’t smooth sailing. Halfway through the tournament we found ourselves in the bottom half of the table. I think you need to remain calm in those situations and it may well happen again. We have to find a rhythm to our game.”Rangpur have secured the services of some of their key players from last year, despite not being retained. Ravi Bopara, Sohag Gazi and Nahidul Islam were all re-acquired at the draft, along with local players Shafiul Islam, Farhad Reza, Mehedi Maruf, Nadif Chowdhury and Abul Hasan, all of whom impressed last season.”We are lucky enough to secure some familiar faces from last year, but I am excited to have a look at our domestic players with whom I haven’t worked before. It is important that they recognise their role in our campaign is as important as anyone else’s in the team.”Rangpur take on Chittagong Vikings in the BPL’s opening fixture on Saturday.

His appearance for Adelaide Strikers in their heavy defeat against Sydney Sixers was just his seventh outing since the end of the November

Andrew McGlashan29-Jan-2019Being part of Australia’s Test squad this season has been a double-edged sword for Peter Siddle, putting him closer to adding to his 64 caps but also limiting his time actually playing.Siddle’s appearance for Adelaide Strikers in their heavy defeat against Sydney Sixers at the SCG was just his seventh outing since the end of the November – four have come in the Big Bash and three in the ODI series against India as he ended an eight-year absence from the Australia one-day side.Siddle was not lamenting being around the international set-up again, but he admitted it was a challenge remaining in rhythm while flying back and forth for the occasional BBL appearance. He will link back up with the Test squad in Canberra on Wednesday morning and is likely to miss the Strikers’ next match as it is the day before the second Test. Then if, as expected, he isn’t required he will aim to play the final two group matches although the Strikers have all-but seen their title defence come to an end with the defeat in Sydney.”It’s been good to be around the Australian set-up, but think I’ve played my seventh game in white-ball in two months so there’s not a lot of cricket being played,” he said. “It has been hard to fly in and play games, that’s no excuse but not the greatest preparation over the last few weeks.”I’m feeling good, bowling plenty with the red ball just not in games at the moment. It’s feeling good if I get the opportunity in Canberra but it’s probably going to be the same XI so I’ll probably miss out.”Despite being around the Test squad all season, Siddle was leapfrogged by Jhye Richardson for a place in Brisbane after Josh Hazlewood was ruled out. Richardson impressed with five wickets on debut to put himself in prime position for an Ashes berth, but despite his lack of recent cricket Siddle is not concerned about it impacting his chances of going to England.”It was disappointing to miss out last week, but I’m doing all I can,” he said. “It’s not too bad, there’s still four Shield games to go then I go over and play county cricket for two or three months before the Ashes anyway. Think my record over there speaks for itself, I’m not too worried about preparation for that.”It’s just tough at the moment trying to get some game time, flying in and out, specifically for the Strikers the games haven’t lined up well with the Tests so that’s been the hardest part so it has been tough. It is always nice to come back and play these games, get a little bit of cricket under my belt.”Though Siddle talked about a two or three month pre-Ashes spell with Essex that would be significantly reduced if he were part of the World Cup squad. Australia’s final 15, which has to be named by April 23, will have a training camp in Brisbane during early May before heading to the UK for the tournament which runs until mid-July.An in-house warm-up match involving Australia A in late July will be the main Ashes preparation. Those not involved in the World Cup, and on the fringes of the Test squad, will have two other four-day matches as part of the Australia A tour. Justin Langer said they were likely to leave naming the Ashes squad until quite late to assess form in those A-team games.

Ravi Thodge, a retired lieutenant general, joins Rai and Edulji, while Justice DK Jain takes over as board’s final adjudicating authority

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Feb-2019The Committee of Administrators (CoA), which is currently overseeing the functioning of the BCCI, has a new third member: Ravi Thodge, a retired lieutenant general of the Indian army. The Supreme Court made the appointment on Thursday, during a hearing of various issues related to the Justice Lodha Committee’s recommendations.Thodge’s appointment comes after months of heated and public disagreement over several issues between the two existing members of the CoA: Vinod Rai, the former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, and Diana Edulji, the former India women captain.During the hearing, Justice SA Bobde expressed his displeasure at Rai and Edulji airing their differences in public, and asked the amicus curiae PS Narasimha to instruct them not to do so. Narasimha suggested that reconstituting the CoA to an odd number could help solve potential deadlocks, and Bobde wondered aloud if there should be five members. In the end, the court settled on three, making its decision in chambers.It is not yet known if Thodge will be part of the BCCI meeting on Friday, where top-level officials including Rai and Edulji are set to discuss – among other issues – whether to send the ICC a draft letter asking for Pakistan to be banned from the upcoming World Cup.The court has also appointed Justice DK Jain, a retired Supreme Court judge, as the BCCI’s ombudsman, the board’s final adjudicating authority under its new constitution.The post had been vacant since Justice AP Shah finished his term in late 2016 and the Committee of Administrators (CoA) had been asking the court for directions on a new appointment since Justice Shah’s departure.One of the first issues Justice Jain is likely to deal with is the recent suspension of Indian players Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul. The pair had been suspended pending an inquiry into their offensive comments on an television chat show, which the CoA concluded had violated the Code of Conduct. The players were eventually allowed to continue playing, subject to the case reaching its conclusion upon the appointment and adjudication of an ombudsman.When Justice Bodbe asked the amicus what the hurry was to appoint an ombudsman, Narasimha replied that the ombudsman was the dispute resolution mechanism, and there were quite a few issues where he could help. When the judge asked for an example, the amicus pointed to the alleged misconduct of the CEO Rahul Johri, an issue that was settled after an independent panel cleared him of sexual harassment allegations by 2-1 majority.It was a contentious verdict, with Edulji and two of the three BCCI office bearers disagreeing with it. It is likely that Justice Jain would need to study the final report of the independent panel before taking any fresh step.

Young batsman fails frustratingly short of maiden century as Gloucestershire bowlers chip away

ECB Reporters Network11-Apr-2019
Tom Lace top scored with a career-best 83 as Derbyshire posted 256 for seven on the opening day of the County Championship match with Gloucestershire at Bristol.Lace, a 20-year-old playing only his seventh first class match, hit 16 fours in facing 127 deliveries to better the 61 he made in the second innings of the previous game against Durham.Opener Luis Reece contributed 39, batting through the morning session, while Harvey Hosein (41) and Matt Critchley (34) produced a sixth-wicket stand of 71 to assure Derbyshire of a meaningful score.Ryan Higgins was the pick of the home attack with two for 37 from 23 overs, while Josh Shaw claimed two for 61 and Matt Taylor two for 75.A bright, but cold day began with Gloucestershire winning the toss and electing to field. They made a breakthrough with only 16 runs on the board when Higgins bowled Billy Godleman, attempting to drive, for seven.Wayne Madsen helped Reece take the total to 48 before falling lbw to a full delivery from left-armer Taylor, who bowled with little fortune, while Higgins’ opening spell brought him one for eight from seven tight overs.It was 72 for two at lunch, Reece having moved to 27 and Lace on 20. Soon the scoreboard read 95 for three as Reece edged a back foot defensive shot off Shaw through to wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick.Lace reached an 89-ball half-century with his tenth four and was looking increasingly confident as he and Alex Hughes put on 73 for the fourth wicket.It was a surprise and a major disappointment for Lace when, 17 short of a maiden Championship century, he nicked a low catch to the diving Roderick and became a second victim for Taylor. The batsman’s frustration was evident as he walked off with the score on 168 for 4.”It was great to go past my personal best score for the second time in successive innings,” Lace said. “Having played a lot of second team cricket at Middlesex, to be able to take part in and contribute to first class matches is fantastic for me.”I am loving every minute. It was frustrating to get out when I did, but it was a good ball from Matt Taylor, who I thought was their most threatening bowler.”Gloucestershire’s bowlers kept chipping away and struck again with only two runs added at the start of the final session when Hughes, on 26, edged Higgins to first slip where Benny Howell took a low catch.But the busy Hosein had settled in impressively and Critchley helped see off the second new ball.Both looked in good touch until Critchley was lbw to Shaw, moving across his stumps to make it 255 for six. The following over saw Hosein bowled by Benny Howell late on his shot as Gloucestershire finished an evenly contested day strongly.With Dan Worrall, David Payne and Stuart Whittingham missing through injury, the home side gave a Championship debut to 19-year-old seamer Harry Hankins, brother of batsman George Hankins, who was also in the side.The youngster’s first ball was directed wildly at second slip, but he gathered himself to finish the day conceding 50 runs from 15 tidy overs.