Category Uncategorized

Cricket Australia approved regulatory changes that will allow dual passport holders to play domestic matches in more than one country

Daniel Brettig16-Aug-2013European football had Bosman transfers, English cricket has Kolpak players, and now Australia has passed the Sam Robson rule. At a board meeting on Friday, Cricket Australia approved regulatory changes that will allow dual passport holders to play domestic matches in more than one country.This has effectively freed Robson from having to choose between New South Wales and Middlesex, allowing him to represent both as England and Australia compete for his international loyalties. The player is not thought to have made any written guarantees to England that he will commit his international future to them.It was not only Robson who had a new future opened up for him by the changes, as numerous cricketers who had given up their first-class careers in Australia to play as locals in England are once more eligible to play in the Sheffield Shield, limited overs and Big Bash League competitions.These include the West Australian seam bowler Michael Hogan the NSW batsman Phil Jaques and the Queensland teenager Sam Hain, who joined Warwickshire this year.”The Board has endorsed changes to the definition of an Overseas Player for Australian domestic competitions,” a CA spokesman said. “The changes are designed to allow Australian players who have dual passports to play in more than one domestic competition. CA wants as many quality cricketers playing in its domestic competitions as possible. These changes will allow Australian players with dual passports to play first-class cricket in more than one country.”A number of Australian-qualified cricketers currently playing in ECB competitions in particular are doing so as a local player, meaning if they play in Australia during the summer they need to do so as an overseas player to retain their ECB eligibility. However, CA’s current overseas player definition prevents someone born in Australia, or holding a valid Australian passport, from qualifying to play here as an overseas player.”Changes approved today will ensure state associations and BBL teams will be able recruit Australian players without them having to give up their eligibility to play overseas as a local player. It will remove the burden on these players to choose which domestic competition to play in.”Robson, whose mother hails from Nottingham, previously could not be chosen for New South Wales as a domestic player because although he was born in Australia he played county cricket on a British passport.While the changes have greatly enhanced Australia’s chances of being able to consider Robson in the future, England may also be able to offer him a chance to play first-class matches during the forthcoming southern summer. An outside chance to be named as a reserve opening batsman in the Ashes squad proper, Robson would be a likely choice for the England Lions squad scheduled to shadow the Test touring party over the course of the series.Alternatively, Robson may now head home to Sydney at the conclusion of the English summer and turn out first for the Blues’ Futures League team, and from there earn selection in the NSW Shield XI for the start of the season. In past seasons he has simply played club cricket while ineligible for first-class duty, but given Australia’s current lack of strong batting stock Robson would need only to replicate his consistent scoring for Middlesex to quickly enter international contention.England’s national team has benefitted considerably from the lure of their professional circuit, particularly to South African players who have gone on to qualify for England. The flood of Kolpak players, who are allowed to play county cricket under European Community free labour regulations, has been reduced, however, after a ruling in 2008 enabled the Home Office to introduce a four-year work-permit qualification on players outside the EU.

Hamza Riazuddin struck the winning runs from the penultimate ball of the match to give Hampshire a dramatic victory in their rain-affected match against Glamorgan.

22-Apr-2012
ScorecardSean Ervine made 75 to lead Hampshire’s drama-filled final evening chase•Getty Images

Sean Ervine led a dramatic Hampshire chase as they beat Glamorgan with a ball to spare in Cardiff. His 75 got his side close to the winning line before Hamza Riazuddin struck the winning runs to give Hampshire a dramatic victory in a rain-affected match.Riazuddin held his nerve as the match came down to the visitors needing two runs from the final two balls. But much of the credit for the Hampshire win had to go to Ervine, who navigated his side into a winning position with a 92-ball innings before perishing 13 balls from the end.Hampshire won by two wickets to take 19 points from the match to Glamorgan’s three. It was Glamorgan’s third straight defeat to leave them firmly rooted to the bottom of the Division Two table.Play did not resume on the fourth day until 4.15pm because of persistent showers throughout the morning and afternoon sessions. But eventually the rain relented enough to allow for 28 overs to be bowled with Hampshire resuming on 112 for 4 in pursuit of 204.With the ninth ball after the resumption Huw Waters had Michael Bates leg before to leave Hampshire 112 for 5. But just as new batsman Michael Carberry, batting with a runner for a groin injury, arrived on the outfield he had to come off as more rain arrived at the ground.After another loss of 10 overs play resumed again at 5pm with Hampshire needing 92 from 16.3 overs. Despite being injured Carberry cut Jim Allenby for two fours before he was bowled behind his legs by Waters.But Hampshire still had hope of knocking off the runs while Ervine, who reached his half-century from 67 balls with seven fours, was still there along with Chris Wood, who was not shy of a few lusty blows. Wood’s third four ensured Hampshire needed 40 from the remaining eight overs.He was then brilliantly caught by Will Bragg low down on the long-leg boundary off Wagg to leave Hampshire still needing 31 from 5.2 overs. But the pressure was taken off the visitors’ chase when Ervine struck Moises Henriques for three successive fours which included a fortuitous Chinese cut. It left Hampshire needing 16 off the final four overs.There was more drama as wicketkeeper Mark Wallace took a steepling catch to remove dangerman Ervine. But Riazuddin and Danny Briggs held their nerve to knock off the remaining 14 runs from 13 balls.

Ricky Ponting knows it’s a big ask but he hopes Brett Lee and Shaun Tait will be part of his World Cup attack in February

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-2010Ricky Ponting knows it’s a big ask but he hopes Brett Lee and Shaun Tait will be part of his World Cup attack in February. Lee, who has not played for Australia in more than a year, is back in New South Wales’ side following elbow surgery, while Tait was forced to have an operation on his arm following the Champions League Twenty20.Both players are now one-day specialists and Ponting would love them to be at the World Cup. “Brett, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson together could be key bowlers in those subcontinental conditions,” he told the Australian. “It would be pretty exciting as a captain to have them to call on. Hopefully, Tait and Lee can both be right.”Lee, who has 324 victims in 186 ODIs, took two wickets in his first match back with the Blues on Sunday and is aiming for an international recall for the series against Sri Lanka starting on October 31. “Let’s hope he is ready to go,” Ponting said. “He could be a big player for us in the World Cup provided his body holds up between now and then.”Doug Bollinger (stomach), Ryan Harris (knee), Peter Siddle (back), James Pattinson (back) and Josh Hazlewood (back) are all in various stages of recovery, adding to the fast-bowling issues facing the selectors. The last time Lee was with the national side was in the West Indies before the World Twenty20, but he returned home early. Ponting is not concerned by Lee’s long absence.”Brett has always looked after his body well,” he said. “I know he will be fit and strong. He was last time he came back after a layoff, but unfortunately another part of his body gave way. Still, it will be a big effort.”

Says he “did not how to cope” with missing out for India, but having time off because of injury helped him get into a better bowling rhythm

PTI25-Sep-2022Left-arm wristspinner Kuldeep Yadav “did not know how to cope” when he lost his place in the Indian team, but he is not afraid of failure anymore. He said as much after his hat-trick for India A against New Zealand A in Chennai on Sunday helped the hosts wrap up the one-day series with a game to play.Kuldeep faced a setback last year, injuring his knee at the IPL and undergoing surgery in September. That kept him out of action for several months. He also suffered a hairline fracture in his wrist this year, which forced him out of India’s T20I series against South Africa in June, as the white-ball tours of Ireland and England that followed. The time away from the game helped him work on his rhythm, Kuldeep said, and this helped him come back stronger.”I did not know how to cope with not getting enough game time,” he said after today’s match. “After the [knee] injury layoff of four months, I realised that I need to bowl quicker and began working on it. I am not afraid of failures now. When you fail, you learn. When I came back to the Indian side in January, I was not afraid of failure. I wanted to enjoy the game. My focus is to keep hitting the good lengths. [Getting] wickets is not in my hands, I just want to bowl in good areas.”To be honest, when I got injured, coming back from there, understanding my rhythm was very important. I was a little bit slow. After surgery, I have changed that rhythm, bowling with more effort and more control.”After his post-surgery rehabilitation process, Kuldeep was named in the squad in January for the three-match ODI series against West Indies, and then replaced the injured Washington Sundar for the three T20Is against Sri Lanka in February.He featured in just one ODI against West Indies and one T20I against Sri Lanka, though, before the wrist issue dragged him back again. After that, he played white-ball games for India in the West Indies and Zimbabwe in August, before the New Zealand A challenge.”Coming back, I was bowling well in the IPL [this year] before I got hit in the nets and was out for two months.”[Later] in the West Indies, I bowled really well, and in Zimbabwe as well. Accuracy and speed were phenomenal. Then coming back, I’ve played red ball [against New Zealand A]. I’ve [also] played two [one-day] games here, in the first game also the control was beautiful. I am very happy.”Kuldeep said the injuries and subsequent recovery process made him understand himself and his body better. “When you keep playing, you learn. You want to play more games but that could not happen. I actually didn’t know how to cope with it.”The injury was lucky for me. I could understand my body and on the comeback, began thinking about my rhythm. It is challenging but you have to see the other part as well… It is always tough playing for India.”

Hosts consider playing Mosaddek Hossain as third spinner; visitors remain uncertain about availability of Vishwa Fernando

Mohammad Isam22-May-2022As was the case when Sri Lanka last played a Test match in Dhaka, they have a secret weapon up their sleeve this time too.Back in 2018, it was Chandika Hathurusingha, who switched jobs from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka head coach barely months before the tour. This time, it is Naveed Nawaz, the assistant coach of the touring side, who is in his first job in the senior circuit after serving as Bangladesh’s Under-19 coach for four years. In fact, he was one of the architects of Bangladesh’s Under-19 World Cup triumph in 2020.Chris Silverwood, Sri Lanka’s new head coach, has leant on Nawaz to give him intel on the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch, coincidentally curated by Gamini Silva, the former Sri Lankan umpire who is often maligned in the Bangladesh media for dishing out only raging turners.Related

• Dhananjaya de Silva: SL knew Chattogram Test would end in draw

• Nayeem Hasan to miss Dhaka Test because of finger injury

“I haven’t seen this wicket, but I do have someone who you all know is in my coaching staff, who knows these conditions,” Silverwood said ahead of their training session on the eve of the second Test.”I will speak to my assistant coach so that we fully understand how this wicket will play. We will be using his knowledge from his time in Bangladesh, and the statistics of this ground to make sure the captain has the best possible bowling attack to exploit the conditions.”Sri Lanka hired Nawaz ahead of this tour, having even briefly considered him as head coach; such has his reputation grown from being a development coach since retiring from his playing days.The Dhaka pitch’s characteristics make it a hot topic of discussion ahead of every Test. What has become apparent is that the home side have been beaten by their own strategy of preparing turning pitches in the last 12 months. West Indies in 2021, and Pakistan late last year beat Bangladesh with the help of spin and patient batting, ideas which Sri Lanka will definitely try to apply this week.Silverwood said that the two teams fought a close contest in Chattogram last week – closer than the result showed – but the game will have a faster pace in Dhaka, for which they will have to be prepared to react quickly.”I don’t think this is going to be an easy game at all. Both teams want to win this game,” he said. “I think the last game was a close-fought contest. The momentum swung both ways; rapidly at times. Bangladesh had us on the ropes at times.”We had to fight back hard to make sure that we got back into the game. I think this will be similar. The game will go forward at a quicker pace. We have to be ready for that. I am looking forward to some exciting cricket.”Considered a batting allrounder in red-ball cricket, Mosaddek Hossain may feature in Bangladesh’s XI in Dhaka•Associated Press

Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque has a lot on his plate. Apart from his own poor batting form and attempt to revive his captaincy, he has to pick a bowling attack that is ravaged by injuries to Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Nayeem Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.And while Mominul has two frontline spinners in Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam, Bangladesh have traditionally picked three specialist spinners in Dhaka.Mominul suggested that Mosaddek Hossain, considered a batting allrounder in red-ball cricket, is likely to feature in the XI. However, he also hinted that they might go in with three seamers.”Looking at our spin department, Taijul has been doing well in the last one or two years,” Mominul said. “Shakib bowled well in the last match. If Mosaddek plays, he will have a different role. We have to use him intelligently. But I am confident that with Taijul and Shakib alongside me [as a part-time spinner], we will get over this situation.”I don’t know if I have ever led with one pacer. I don’t think we will just have one seamer. There might be three seamers. Taskin was bowling well, while Shoriful was contributing to the Test team. It is a huge opportunity for those who will replace them. We can have a look at them as well. As a captain, I want a big group of fast bowlers who have healthy competition among them.”Meanwhile, Vishwa Fernando’s availability for Sri Lanka remains uncertain after he missed most of the Chattogram Test due to a blow to the head while batting, giving Sri Lanka a selection headache of their own ahead of the game.Sri Lanka have all the cards close to their chest, but Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando gave a great account of themselves by bowling all-out, hostile spells in the back-end of the Bangladesh innings in Chattogram.”I thought Kasun and Asitha were excellent. I thought the way that they continued, the heart and fight that they showed – in what was a flat wicket – was exceptional,” Silverwood said. “Kasun bowled well. He got movement on a flat deck. He held his line and length beautifully. He got rewarded too. I was really pleased with how the seamers bowled. I thought we got better in all departments as time went on.”There is [the possibility of changing the XI from Chattogram]. Looking at the statistics, we will select a squad that gives us all the options whether that’s picking one seamer or whichever way we decide to go. We will make sure there are plenty of options for the captain in that squad for tomorrow morning.”

Royal Challengers have the smallest squad and could use the option for an injured player’s replacement

Shashank Kishore26-Aug-2020How about a football style mid-season loan transfer at IPL 2020? An option that was first mooted by the IPL Governing Council last year could be exercised by at least Royal Challengers Bangalore this season in the UAE.The Royal Challengers are open to such a possibility due to biosecutirty protocols, quarantine requirements and travel restrictions that could make it difficult to summon late player replacements at a short notice as they have the smallest travelling contingent of 21 players.”Looks if needs must, later on, we are certainly open to it,” team director Mike Hesson said at a virtual media conference on Wednesday. “We’ve got a small squad and we’ve done that for a reason. If something [injuries] was to occur, we’d certainly look at that.”You, however, need both teams to buy into any potential loan. So you need to make sure the other side is happy with the loan and think they’ll get benefit from it later on in the tournament as well. So it’s not a matter of identifying someone you want, they also have to be allowed to be released as well.”ALSO READ: Mike Hesson: ‘Wilful breach of IPL bubble will have strong consequences’Last year, the IPL had opened up a five-day window for uncapped players to be loaned mid-season in the manner of football transfers, subject to the player not having featured in more than two games. It was a move that found support from Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Mahela Jayawardene.This time around, for the first time, the IPL has permitted loans of capped players – Indian or overseas – between teams at the halfway point in the season. Teams could use it should they have injury concerns going into the second half of the tournament.”It will come in at some stage due to the fact that it’s hard to get potential replacements,” Hesson explained. “We are very comfortable with the squad we have, but if we get injuries or so forth then loan opportunities could become an option. It’s certainly something that BCCI are well aware [of] as well.”If teams were to loan players, the arrangement would be between the franchises, with the money paid from outside the auction purse. The player will be entitled to his fixed auction price and won’t benefit from such a transfer. The IPL, however, will be notified about the transaction.

Morne Morkel has rubbished a story in the South African media which claimed AB de Villiers intends to retire from Test cricket at the end of the England series

Firdose Moonda in Durban27-Dec-2015Morne Morkel has rubbished a story in the South African media which claimed AB de Villiers intends to retire from Test cricket at the end of the England series., an Afrikaans newspaper said several of de Villiers’ current and former team-mates revealed to them “events in recent years have led him to seriously reconsider his Test future,” but Morkel indicated that was not the case.”I think it is a story. He is still very keen to play for South Africa and to break records,” Morkel said.He did not go into any further detail about the newspaper’s claims which cited the selection controversy at the 2015 World Cup – in which Vernon Philander was inserted into the semi-final XI, ahead of in-form Kyle Abbott, despite carrying a hamstring injury for most of the tournament – as one of the incidents which has contributed to what the publication called de Villiers’ “unhappiness,” with the current South African set-up.The extent to which the selection for that game was influenced by a conversation between de Villiers, the coach, Russell Domingo, and Haroon Lorgat, the chief executive of CSA only became clear in the weeks following the tournament. However, sources close to the team revealed de Villiers was reluctant to play in the match because of what was perceived as interference.A similar incident took place in the three months before Graeme Smith retired in March 2014, when CSA denied that the then-captain was considering quitting over transformation pressures.In the time since Smith’s retirement, CSA’s transformation has been enhanced by greater guidelines at franchise level – which now require at least six players of colour in each team, of which three must be black African – and has extended to the national team as well. Since the World Cup semi-final, South Africa have fielded at least one black African in their team in every match in every format.Factor in de Villiers’ workload – he is now keeping wicket as well as batting a place higher in the Test team – and it’s easy to see why the pressures of international cricket may be becoming too much for him. But that did not show on the second day in Kingsmead, when his 49 held together a line-up once again troubled by a misfiring top order.Morkel explained how de Villiers’ role was not limited to what he did on the field and that his behind-the-scenes contributions remain crucial to the South African changeroom. “AB is the ultimate sportsmen. He is the rock of our batting line-up,” Morkel said. “Even though there was a lot of pressure on him, he has seen this movie before and he knows how to play it. The talks he gives in the dressing room give us a lot of hope. It’s very inspiring and every dressing room would love to have him.” also claimed Dale Steyn, who made his debut alongside de Villiers at Port Elizabeth during the England tour in 2004-05 but who has been plagued by eight injuries in the last two-and-a-half years, is considering hanging up his boots, as is Philander, who is currently sitting out the first two Tests against England as he recovers from ankle ligament tears. However, Morkel was not asked about the fates of either of his pace-bowling partners.

The arguments presented by Gurunath Meiyappan’s legal team asking for leniency, which were not accepted by the Supreme Court

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2015The Lodha committee was tasked with fixing the sanctions on Gurunath Meiyappan, Raj Kundra, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Here’s the case made to the committee for a reduced punishment by Raj Kundra‘s advocate Kavin Gulati, and the committee’s responses.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

1. Gurunath Meiyappan

Having rejected all the arguments presented by Raj Kundra’s lawyers, the Lodha Panel imposed the following sanctions on Kundra:(i) He is declared ineligible from participation in the sport of cricket as explained in the Anti Corruption Code for the maximum period of 5 years under Article 2.2.1.(ii) He is suspended for life from the activities as explained in Article 7.5 under Level 4 (first offence) of Article 2.4 of the Code of conduct.(iii) He is suspended for life from being involved with the BCCI in any type of cricket matches under Section 6, rule 4.2(b) read with (j) of the Operational Rules.The above sanctions shall run concurrently and commence from the date of this order.

Paul Terry, the newly-appointed director of coaching at BCB’s National Cricket Academy, has said his primary goal is to make the High Performance unit a long-term programme

Mohammad Isam14-May-2015Paul Terry, the newly-appointed director of coaching at BCB’s National Cricket Academy, has said his primary goal will be to make the High Performance unit, a so far successful but discontinued training programme for elite cricketers, a long-term agenda. Terry came to Dhaka last week to finalise his deal with the BCB and will be in charge of overall coaching at the academy.”We are hoping that this [High Performance] is going to be a sustainable programme,” Terry said. “It is here to stay. We need to get results from it with people eventually going on to play for Bangladesh. The idea is to give the young guys, possibly coming out of the Under-19s programme, a pathway to the next level. Our idea is to put a plan, structure and training programme to give them the opportunity to do that. If we do that, this will be very sustainable.”In a bid to rejig Bangladesh cricket’s development programme, the BCB has decided to go back to forming the High Performance unit to fuel a players’ pipeline to feed the senior team. The HP unit, set to begin in the first week of June with a head coach to be named sometime next week, is a training programme first established in 2004 under Richard McInnes. Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shahriar Nafees and Mehrab Hossain Jr were in the first batch, but over the last decade the BCB has been unable to restart the programme.The National Cricket Academy, a residential training camp, was formed and run in a separate building and training ground within the premises of the Shere Bangla National Stadium but it has been operational only during the off season with mainly the Under-23 players. The HP unit, under the NCA, will be divided into three parts. The first group will have a group of 22, mostly young cricketers who will train for four months, but it is likely that domestic performers who are older will be included in this group.The second group will be fringe cricketers of the senior team who will be training around the year when they are not picked in a certain format or series. Here the coaches will work according to the instructions of the national team’s coaching staff. Sarwar Imran will work with the pace bowlers, Wahidul Gani with the spinners and Zafrul Ehsan with the batsmen. A few local coaches and foreign specialist coaches will accompany them from time to time. The HP’s overall goal would be to reduce the gap between the national players and the next batch.The third group will be featuring 16-17 pace bowlers, including Mashrafe Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed, as well as domestic performers and raw talents like Nahid Hasan, who is currently in Bangladesh’s Under-17 side but was also tried out for the Under-19s against South Africa in the recent Youth ODI series at home.The Under-19s, however, will be taken out of the HP or academy programmes. They will now be permanently based at the BKSP in Savar.Terry said he would work towards building relations with coaches and players, and not try a certain way of coaching that would be alien to cricket development in Bangladesh.”It will be stupid of me to say we will do it the England or Australian way,” he said. “My role is to build good relationships with the coaches and also the players. There’s obviously a lot of very good things happening in Bangladesh cricket at the moment. So I would be stupid to say I will do it my way because my way may not necessarily work.”I will be obviously blending in and know them very well. Hopefully the combination of different thoughts will improve Bangladesh cricket. A little similar to how the support staff is: a Sri Lankan head coach, a Zimbabwean bowler and English fielding coach plus Bangladeshi staff as well.”

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said that his side would look to extend their Champions Trophy form into the tri-nation series against India and West Indies.

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2013Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said that his side would look to extend their Champions Trophy form into the tri-nation series against India and West Indies.”We have played some really good cricket in the ICC Champions Trophy, beating England and Australia to reach the semi-final and so the confidence is pretty high,” Mathews told the after the side’s arrival in Kingston, Jamaica. “West Indies and India are two very good teams in the shorter format of the game and I think that we really need to play some really good cricket to win against them.”Sri Lanka lost to India by eight wickets in the semi-final and finished second in their group behind England. India beat England by five runs to win the Champions Trophy, while West Indies finished third in Group B, missing out on a spot in the last four after a tied match against South Africa.Sri Lanka play the first match of the series against West Indies at the Sabina Park on June 28 and Mathews admitted that the hosts would be tough to beat, given their familiarity with home conditions and their strength in limited overs cricket.Mathews also said that the absence of Tillakaratne Dilshan, ruled out due to a calf injury, gives youngsters in the side a chance to perform.