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Mike Gatting, the former England captain, has remembered Graham Dilley, who died on Wednesday at the age of 52, as a cricketer who “always had a smile” when he played the game

Andrew McGlashan05-Oct-2011Mike Gatting, the former England captain, has remembered Graham Dilley, who died on Wednesday at the age of 52, as a cricketer who “always had a smile” when he played the game.Gatting played alongside Dilley in the famous 1981 Ashes Test at Headingley where Dilley played a key role with his second-innings 56 in the crucial stand with Ian Botham. Five years later Gatting was the captain of the 1986-87 side that retained the Ashes in Australia where Dilley was again part of the squad and played four Tests including the victory at Brisbane, taking 5 for 68.”He was a quiet guy with a very dry sense of humour,” Gatting told ESPNcricinfo. “He’d have a pint and a fag at the end of the day but he loved playing cricket. He was very happy sitting down and chatting to people about the game while having a beer and he loved passing on information to the kids. He always had a smile and a chuckle. He had his moments when he got a bit cross, but that was more within himself than anyone else.”Dilley’s role in 1981 is not remembered in the same light as Botham or Bob Willis, but England’s stunning victory after following-on wouldn’t have happened without his free-spirited innings after he’d been told by Botham “to have some fun” with the match seemingly lost”Had he not got his 50-odd with Beefy we wouldn’t have got anywhere near enough runs or even gone past Australia to win the match,” Gatting said. “He also took a very good catch in that match from a top edge at fine leg [to remove Rod Marsh].”He was a wonderful bowler throughout his career,” Gatting added. “In Australia in 1986-87 he was a huge cog in the wheel of winning that series and there were many other times when he was our strike bowler. He ran in very quickly and swung it out. He was a fine, fine bowler.”Gatting also remembered fondly the head-to-head battles the two players experienced at county level in an era where England’s players were available for far more domestic cricket. “We always had a bit of fun,” he said. “There were a few times where he got me early and it was a good competition. He was one of those bowlers that you had to see off because he was capable of picking up four or five wickets quickly.”Following his playing career, Dilley moved into coaching and spent time with the full England set-up and also at Loughborough university where he worked alongside Monty Panesar among other players.”We are devastated to hear the news that Graham has passed away,” Chris Earle, the Loughborough director of sport, said. “He has made his mark on the world of cricket, not just through his success as a player, but also for his contribution as our cricket coach over the last 11 years. Graham will be sadly missed, but his legacy at Loughborough will remain thanks to the excellent cricket environment that he played a significant role in creating.”John Stephenson, the MCC’s head of cricket, said: “He was a world-class bowler who I played against many times and he became a very good friend. As a coach, he made a huge impact as part of the MCC Universities programme; he was central to the progress made at Loughborough over the last decade and he will be much missed by all of us at the club.”

Shane Warne has told of his tearful farewell to his spin mentor Terry Jenner, who died on Wednesday, having been in failing health since suffering a massive heart attack in England in April last year

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2011Shane Warne has told of his tearful farewell to his spin mentor Terry Jenner, who died on Wednesday, having been in failing health since suffering a massive heart attack in England in April last year. Warne has also described how a spray from Jenner back in 1992 helped transform him from an overweight fringe Test player into the world’s greatest legspinner.”When I spoke to TJ on the phone a few weeks ago – we said goodbye to each other – it was a very difficult thing to do and chat as it was so unlike all our others – this was it for the last time after 20 odd years,” Warne wrote in a tribute on his website. “We both didn’t say too much as we both didn’t need too [sic] – we just knew.”I did thank him though for everything he had done for me and tried to express how much his patience, advice, love and above all his friendship has meant to me and my family. We both shed a bit of a tear and said goodbye.”Long phone conversations had become a routine for the pair over the years, ever since they met at the Academy in 1990. Jenner had played only nine Tests for Australia during the 1970s but his understanding of legspin and cricket tactics, and most importantly his no-nonsense attitude, had appealed to Warne.”TJ became my Dr Phil on all matters and levels – wherever I was around the world we would call and chat – we would plan to bring down the opposition batsmen, laugh and I would hang up feeling good,” Warne wrote. “His knowledge of the game, not just spin bowling was amazing.”Throughout his career, Warne was famously dismissive of the role coaches played in the team environment, especially John Buchanan. But the exception was Jenner, who had spent time in prison for stealing from an employer and was trying to rebuild his life as an Academy coach under Rod Marsh when he first encountered a 20-year-old Warne.”TJ, like his fellow players of that era are very straight and also very blunt – the best way to be in all aspects of life – no bull shit or fluffy rubbish,” Warne wrote. “But, you did need a thick skin – mine was luckily – or shall we say had to develop very quickly, which looking back now and reflecting – has held me in good stead for all my life situations not just cricket.”Underneath the ample frame and all that bravado was a very charming, caring, loving family man who was a giver to cricket and life. I think we met at exactly the right time in each other’s lives, we where [sic] good for each other – maybe all the stars and moons where [sic] aligned, because we clicked instantly.”Warne recalled spending many hours bowling on Adelaide Oval’s No. 2 under Jenner’s watchful eye, and he remembered the encouragement Jenner gave after Warne took 1 for 150 on his Test debut against India.However, there was also the occasional reality-check. In the winter after his first Test, Warne, 22, drove from Melbourne to Adelaide, bought a slab of beer and knocked on Jenner’s door. Warne had been picked for Australia’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka, and he wanted to learn more from his mentor.”Well the next 4-5 hours where [sic] life changing – I went to get 2 beers and he said what are you doing? I said as usual a few beers together! He said listen – you are so lucky to be selected to tour again and represent Australia, why don’t you get serious, I said like how? I’m working hard!”Rubbish he bellowed out, your [sic] fat, drink way to much beer and smoke like a chimney and have never had to sacrifice anything – bit rich I thought coming from TJ as he sucked back a beer and took a massive puff on his cigar!!! Ok then – what do I need to do you think? To start with give up drinking excessively every night, get fit, drop weight and at least look like a sportsman. Wow I thought, cop that! I said ok I will, you wait and see.”The rest of the chat was an old fashioned honest heart to heart about life. I woke up feeling energised and started training hard. Every day I ran, did push ups, sit ups, ate properly and bowled for hours. Fast forward 3 to 4 months and I weighed 79kg, I had managed to lose 20kg and was ready for Sri Lanka I thought!”Within a year, Warne was on an Ashes tour and bowled the so-called ball of the century to Mike Gatting, and he went on to amass 708 Test wickets. Even in Warne’s final Test series, the 2006-07 Ashes, by which time he was 37 years old, he still listened to Jenner in the nets as Australia completed their 5-0 whitewash.Jenner’s funeral will be held at Adelaide Oval on Tuesday, May 31.

England’s coach, Andy Flower has hit back at suggestions that Kevin Pietersen is “an outcast” in the England team

Andrew Miller in Brisbane22-Nov-2010England’s coach, Andy Flower has hit back at suggestions that Kevin Pietersen is “an outcast” in the England team, a choice of words used by Shane Warne in a newspaper interview on Monday, in which he blamed the selectors for sacking Pietersen as captain in January 2009 and in so doing damaging his previously impenetrable ego.”The way they have treated him is ordinary and he has been made to feel as if he is a bit of an outcast,” said Warne in the Courier-Mail. “KP might be the walking ego with the way he struts around, and sometimes he is unpopular with his own team-mates, and he can rub people up the wrong way. But he has to be made to feel important and like he is the man. If he feels like that, he will give you everything.”Flower gave Warne’s theory short shrift when informed of it during a press conference on Monday morning. “He’s anything but an outcast,” said Flower. “He’s a good guy to have around in the dressing room, a great player to have on your side, a very dangerous player that the opposition worries about. We expect great things from him and we expect him to take part in team dynamics like everyone else does, and that’s what he does.”In keeping with England’s languid approach to Thursday’s first Test at the Gabba, the squad marked their arrival in Brisbane with a day of sight-seeing, with Flower subscribing to the notion that working hard and playing hard is the best blend for creating a happy and dynamic team ethic. And as if to prove a point about Pietersen’s ability to mix it in a dressing-room environment, it was also confirmed that he will be joining Surrey for the 2011 season, having enjoyed a brief stint with them back in September following the severing of ties with his old club, Hampshire.”I think that we do have very good team unity,” said Flower. “Kevin does like the big stage, and I think that’s one of the great things about him as a competitive athlete, he enjoys the pressure situations, the chance to bat brilliantly while everyone’s watching, and that’s part of what makes up a very fine competitor.”Nevertheless, with the cauldron atmosphere of the “Gabbatoir” fast approaching, Pietersen remains the one England player who has yet to make a significant mark during England’s warm-up period, with a top score of 58 in four first-class innings at Perth, Adelaide and Hobart. What is more, his renowned weakness against left-arm spin was once again exposed in the final match against Australia A, when he was bowled for 5 by Steve O’Keefe – a dismissal that may well have influenced the selection of Xavier Doherty over Australia’s incumbent offspinner, Nathan Hauritz, for the first Test.Flower, however, isn’t convinced that such a tactic will pay off on the big day, and put the O’Keefe dismissal down to the bowler’s skill. “I thought he got quite a good ball the other day,” he said. “It drifted and just turned a bit at a reasonable pace. KP’s had a lot of success against left-arm spinners, and against Shane Warne who bowled with a similar trajectory, and I think he’s playing very well. He’s spent some time in the middle over the three first-class games, and though he missed out in Hobart, he’s feeling confident about his game and I expect him to do well. He’s in as good a nick as I could have hoped.”Despite the daunting reputation of the Gabba, a venue at which Australia haven’t lost a Test match in 22 years, Flower brushed aside the notion that the tone of the forthcoming series would be established from the very first ball – as was the case in 1994-95, when a Phil DeFreitas long-hop was carved for four by Michael Slater, and again in 2006-07, when Steve Harmison bowled his infamous wide to second slip.”We all realise the importance of setting the tone, but a five-Test series will not be won or lost over one ball,” he said. “We’ve played some good cricket recently and our guys think we can win this series. Whether or not we’re favourites is by the by, but any of the cricketers taking part in the middle will tell you that has nothing to do with facing up in that first hour or attacking with the new ball. We’re not overly concerned with that sort of judgment.”Australia have got an outstanding record here,” he conceded. “It’s going to be quite a record to turn over, but our side in the last 12-18 months has done a few good things, one of which was turning over that Lord’s record of not having beaten Australia there for 75 years. This is the challenge put in front of us, and we’re looking forward to it.”As for the overall importance of the Ashes, Flower was careful not to overstate their value, just as was the case in 2009 when England’s celebrations involved a low-key night on the tiles and an early flight to Belfast for a one-day game. Such a dismissive attitude to a triumph of that magnitude did raise a few eyebrows, not least from the team itself, but the approach was justified in hindsight, as England went on to build on their performance in a manner they were unable to do in 2005.”The Ashes is an important series, obviously, and the whole history of the competition is interesting, and it’s a real honour for everyone in our squad to be involved in it,” he said. “But we have ambitions to be the No.1 side in the world, and the Ashes being an important series in its own right is an important step along the way.”

Unicorns are still on top of the table, but Freedom now have the same points as them and are only behind on net-run rate

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jun-2025San Francisco Unicorns are not unbeaten in MLC 2025 anymore, and though they are still right up there on the points table, it’s only on net run-rate now, after Mitchell Owen’s five-for helped Washington Freedom hand them a 12-run defeat in Dallas on Saturday.Matthew Short, the captain, had another good day with the bat as Unicorns started their chase of 170, a smallish target looking at the way the games have gone so far. But he had to go it alone at the start, with Unicorns getting to 52 for 1 in the powerplay despite Finn Allen and Jake Fraser-McGurk contributing very little.In Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Short found a slightly more enterprising partner, but when Short became the third man out in the 11th over, he had scored 67 of the 97 on the scoreboard. But with just 73 to get, Short hadn’t left his middle-order batters with a lot to do.That’s when Owen the bowler came to the fore. Short was his first wicket, in his first over, and Owen sent back Hassan Khan and Romario Shepherd off consecutive balls in his next. And in no time, with Jack Edwards and Ian Holland chipping in with wickets, Unicorns were 113 for 7 in the 16th over.Xavier Bartlett ran through the Washington Freedom top order•Sportzpics for MLC

Owen wasn’t done. Returning for the 19th, he sent back tailenders Haris Rauf and Brody Couch too, to finish with 5 for 17, leaving Unicorns with 27 to get from the last over. Despite Jahmar Hamilton’s unbeaten 18-ball 31, Saurabh Netravalkar closed the game out, conceding 14 from his six balls.When Freedom opted to bat, they wouldn’t have expected to be down at 13 for 3 by the end of the third over, all thanks to Xavier Bartlett, who ran through the top three of Owen (a first-ball duck), Rachin Ravindra and Andries Gous.Glenn Maxwell didn’t last long either, but the resistance came from Edwards and Glenn Phillips, who added 71 for the fifth wicket, even though they took 64 balls to do it. Phillips hadn’t really changed gears till that point, but did immediately after as he and Obus Pienaar added 31 in 12 balls, and, after Phillips fell for 58 in 39 balls, Pienaar added 37 in 16 balls in his unbroken seventh-wicket stand with Mukhtar Ahmed.Both teams now have six wins from seven games, but Unicorns still have a big advantage on NRR: 2.016 to 0.603.

Pakistan’s collapse, he suggested, came about because conditions were difficult for batters new to the crease

Umar Farooq23-Mar-2022Pakistan have a long history of collapses in Test cricket, and they added a new chapter on Wednesday, when they lost their last five wickets for just four runs – a new record – to hand Australia a 123-run first-innings lead. Azhar Ali has conceded that the lower-order implosion has “dented Pakistan’s chances” in the Lahore Test, but has not lost hope that they can come back into the game.Related

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Pakistan began the day at 90 for 1, and the overnight pair of Azhar and Abdullah Shafique batted through the first session and stretched their second-wicket stand to 150 to put Pakistan in a solid position at 170 for 1 in response to Australia’s 391. Along the way, Azhar also brought up a major milestone, becoming only the fifth Pakistan batter to score 7000 Test runs.There were no major partnerships thereafter, however, as Pakistan crumbled around Babar Azam’s 67 to be bowled out for 268, with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins running amok in furious spells of pace and reverse-swing.”The collapse we had after tea has dented our chances a little bit in the game but Test cricket is like that – it goes up and down,” Azhar said in his press conference at the end of the day’s play. “That’s the beauty of Test cricket and hopefully we can turn things around tomorrow.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

He was generous in his praise for Starc and Cummins. “We have to give credit to them. We always knew how good they are, especially Starc when it comes to reverse-swing. Cummins, he’s an all-round very good bowler – he is the top bowler in the world right now, and he exploited the conditions really well.”It was hard work for the fast bowlers but there was always a kind of low bounce and reverse-swing was going on since yesterday. They kept on bowling on the right areas and kept asking questions, even to the set batsmen as well, and late in the day there was some good results for them. It was lovely to see good, fast, reverse-swing bowling, and unfortunately we were on the receiving end.”Asked for a possible reason behind Pakistan’s collapse after tea, Azhar suggested the pitch was not an easy one for new batters to settle down on. Knowing this, he said Pakistan’s batters had been conscious of needing to bat long when set, but that didn’t quite happen, with neither he, Shafique nor Babar going on to convert their half-centuries into a hundred.”When you play on these pitches you have to bat long, because runs don’t come very quickly. Our intent was to maximise the partnerships because it becomes a little difficult for the new batsman, because runs don’t come quickly, you don’t become set, and reverse-swing starts very early. So I think against a quality bowling side like Australia who have Cummins and Starc, they can cause problems in these conditions especially for new batsmen.”Our 80s, we wanted to convert them into 150s and 170s because it was difficult for the new batsmen. Once our partnership [Azhar-Shafique] was broken, it wasn’t easy for the new batsmen who came in. Unfortunately the collapse happened very early, and yes, we are in some trouble. But we will try to change [our situation] and in a similar way we have the opportunity to take quick wickets and change things around.”Pat Cummins held a stunning return catch to remove Azhar Ali•AFP

Pakistan’s scoring rate – 2.29 over their innings – became a talking point too. Other than Babar, who scored his runs at a strike rate of 51.14, no batter even struck in the 40s. Azhar said these scoring rates were an outcome of the slowness of the pitch.”The conditions basically dictate how you play cricket, Azhar said. “If you compare across all three Test matches, both teams have been batting similarly. Even when we used to play in the UAE, one question was always asked, why we score so slowly. When you get slow pitches it’s not easy to score quickly. It’s easier when the ball is new, but when the ball gets old and there are straight fields [more fielders in front of the wicket], and when there are low-bounce pitches, it’s not easy to score quick runs.”Pakistan went into this match with five specialist bowlers, leaving out their allrounder Faheem Ashraf and playing only six specialist batters including the keeper Mohammad Rizwan. Asked if that had left them with a long tail that contributed to their collapse, Azhar backed the decision, saying it was a positive move made with taking 20 wickets at the forefront.”You have to take a chance sometimes,” Azhar said. “I think it was a positive move from the management, they wanted five bowlers because you win Test matches only by taking 20 wickets. Our top six were the ones scoring maximum runs and we wanted to take [extra] responsibility as a batting unit. Unfortunately this collapse happened, but it doesn’t mean the team selection was wrong. Naseem Shah proved that decision to play him as a fifth bowler paid off; he took four wickets and bowled very well. So sometimes, while taking a positive decision, you have to sacrifice something else, and we stand behind the decision as a team and and optimistic that it will pay off.”

England bowler targets comeback for Sri Lanka tour after muscular injury is ruled out

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jan-2020James Anderson says that the injury that forced his withdrawal from England’s tour of South Africa was the “most pain I’ve ever been in on a cricket field”, but insists he may yet be fit to take part in the tour of Sri Lanka in March, after being diagnosed with a broken rib.Anderson, who claimed 5 for 40 in the first innings of last week’s second Test in Cape Town, was restricted to eight overs on the final day of England’s victory push, and just two in the final session, after confiding to his team-mate Stuart Broad that he feared he had “ripped a muscle off the rib”.Speaking on his BBC “Tailenders” podcast, Anderson described how he first suspected he had a problem during an exploratory over with the new ball before lunch, but that it was his two-over burst immediately after tea, with England still needing five wickets to force victory, that confirmed his participation in the tour was about to end.”I felt a bit of side soreness from the first Test,” Anderson said. “I felt fine throughout that second Test, bowled six overs on the final morning and felt pretty good. We took the new ball just before lunch and it didn’t feel right.”I didn’t bowl again until after tea. We needed some wickets and Joe [Root] asked if I was able to have a go.”I was in the most pain I’ve ever been in on a cricket field. I couldn’t pull through properly. It was hurting every time I bowled, so I knew there was something not right.”Anderson’s initial fear was that the injury was a torn muscle, which would have entailed a lay-off of up to four months – and given that he was restricted to just four overs during last summer’s Ashes after aggravating a calf injury, that sort of prognosis could well have jeopardised his preparations for this summer’s home Tests against West Indies and Pakistan.”I was saying to Stuart Broad ‘I think there’s something really wrong here’,” Anderson said. “I thought I’d ripped a muscle off the rib, so a broken rib isn’t the worst outcome. A torn muscle would be anywhere from two, three or four months. A broken rib will hopefully be healed in three or four weeks.”The circumstances of the injury were something of a mystery to England’s medical team, who initially assumed he must have been struck in the ribs while batting.”I’d have remembered if I’d been hit,” said Anderson. “They think it is through the constant force of me bowling. The muscles were strong enough, but the bone wasn’t.”They said it doesn’t look like a stress fracture, it’s actually cracked. They said they’d not seen one like this in a bowler before.”It’s just a case of waiting for the bone to heal. I can do anything that doesn’t hurt, so hopefully my fitness won’t drop off too much. I can still do stuff in the gym.”Once the bone has healed, I can get straight back into it. It might be three weeks before the bone has healed properly, then I can get straight back into it.”Anderson’s optimism confirms his hunger to fight back from this latest set-back and extend his Test career – he is currently 16 wickets shy of becoming the first fast bowler in history to reach 600 Test wickets.ALSO READ: Ollie Pope leading the charge for England’s young gunsAnd despite intimating recently that he would be willing to skip the tour of Sri Lanka in March – where he played a bit-part role last year in England’s 3-0 series win – he is now hopeful of putting his name back in the frame, and dispelling any suggestion that, at the age of 37, his illustrious 17-year England career is about to come to an end.”I’m not ruling out being fit for the Sri Lanka trip,” he said. “Obviously I’m absolutely devastated not to be part of the last two Tests, especially having bowled really well in the second Test.”I know a lot does get talked about as you get older, but it’s more knowing within yourself. I thought I could still do it, but you don’t know unless you do it on the field.”That will help me through the next few weeks, knowing that I want to come back stronger and still play a part in this England side.”Anderson still managed to play an important role in England’s victory push, taking the catch at leg gully to dislodge the obdurate Rassie van der Dussen for 17. And he was able to take pride in the progress of a young team featuring four players under the age of 22.”I feel like we progressed as a team in that week and I’m sure they will continue to do in the next couple of games,” he said. “It was a bit subdued from my point of view, but one of the best wins I’ve been a part of.”Obviously it didn’t end well, but it made all the hard work worthwhile, proving to myself that I can still do it.

Sarfraz Ahmed backed his batsmen to come good as he ruled out changes or the inclusion of an allrounder

Danyal Rasool in Cape Town02-Jan-2019For all the pressure on the Pakistan batsmen, they will get at least two more innings to cement their places in the side after Sarfraz Ahmed confirmed an unchanged top six for the second Test at Newlands.In a week where speculation about a number of changes to the personnel and batting order had been rife, Pakistan have instead opted for stability. And the pressure on the batsmen to score runs increases further after Sarfraz, Pakistan’s captain, also ruled out selecting allrounder Faheem Ashraf, deciding to go instead for four specialist bowlers.”We will go with the same batting line-up,” Sarfraz said. “I’m very hopeful of my batsmen doing well here. They are working really hard in the nets and playing very well, so hopefully we will bounce back in this Test match.”We are going with six specialist batsmen for this match [and not Faheem]. We need to try and score some runs because we know if our batsmen score runs, we have the bowlers to put the pressure on the opposition.”ALSO READ: Knee injury forces Haris Sohail out of South Africa tourThe fallout after the second-innings collapse in Centurion, where Pakistan lost nine wickets after tea to slump from the relative riches of 100 for 1 to 189 all out, was dramatic enough that an unchanged top six was something of a surprise. It began with leaked reports of an outraged Mickey Arthur having harsh words with his senior players, leading to intense scrutiny around the position of Asad Shafiq in particular, and saw strong words from batting coach Grant Flower about Fakhar Zaman’s approach.But with Haris Sohail ruled out of the tour, Pakistan’s reduced options from the bench eased the pressure on the incumbents somewhat, though with Mohammad Rizwan waiting in the wings, batting positions are not exactly nailed on.”When Asian teams come to South Africa, it’s very challenging,” Sarfraz said. “We’re used to playing on low-bounce pitches, but when we come to Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, every Asian player struggles. But those players who are good enough, like many of ours, make it work. Our batting coach talks to the players so hopefully we will get better.”Sarfraz was candid about his team combination, also disclosing they would go in with a combination of three seamers and one spinner. Faf du Plessis, on the other hand, had been much more guarded in how South Africa would line up for the New Year’s Test.”When we looked at the pitch today, it looks a lot different from how it looked yesterday,” Sarfraz said. “The look is completely changed. I believe we’ll go in with three fast bowlers and one spinner.”With Mohammad Abbas coming in and slotting straight into the side, Pakistan will have to drop one of the three who featured in Newlands. Sarfraz wouldn’t be drawn on which one – Hasan Ali is the likeliest to make way – but said any fast bowler would enjoy playing in these conditions.”It’s not just Abbas, every fast bowler will like bowling here because the way they prepare the pitches here at the moment. If you see the Centurion pitch, every fast bowler likes that kind of pitch. I know this is [Vernon] Philander’s home town, so he will enjoy bowling here. Hopefully Abbas will also enjoy himself.”He singled out Shaheen Afridi for particular praise for his performance at Centurion, suggesting if he continued to bowl like that he would “soon become the best fast bowler in Pakistan”, and expressing full belief in his side to bounce back on a tour that has begun somewhat shakily.”If you talk about the third day [in Centurion], if we took one catch or the umpire gave Dean Elgar out, the situation would be very different. Maybe that would have triggered a collapse, so who knows? We are really hopeful and our bowling gives us a lot of confidence. If we have runs on the board we’ll give them a hard time.”

On Wednesday they revealed widespread misgivings about the “future of the game”, ahead of the meeting with the ECB on May 8 to discuss the new 100-ball tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Apr-2018The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) has confirmed reports of disquiet among its members by criticising the “lack of information and clarity” around the new 100-ball tournament that the ECB is set to launch in 2020.PCA representatives have been touring the 18 first-class counties since March, canvassing opinions from 85 percent of its players. And, in a statement on Wednesday, they revealed widespread misgivings about the “future of the game”, ahead of the meeting with the ECB on May 8 in which further details of the new competition will be discussed.Given that the majority of those opinions were voiced ahead of last week’s surprise announcement, the concerns among professional cricketers are likely to have deepened in recent days, although the PCA reiterated that it had not yet had the chance to canvas the views of the “wider playing membership”.The concept of “The Hundred” had been shrouded in such secrecy prior to its announcement last Thursday that only three active professional cricketers had been privy to the details – two England captains in Eoin Morgan and Heather Knight, and Daryl Mitchell, the co-chairman of the PCA, who admitted to ESPNcricinfo last week that he had been “taken aback” by the proposal.Mitchell had also rejected initial claims from the ECB that it had been “enthusiastically received at all of the meetings”, pointing out that he represented 420 players, and until the PCA had canvassed their views, “it’s too early to say”.”The major concern of the players is around the lack of information and clarity regarding the new tournament,” read a PCA statement. “The future of domestic cricket as a whole was a lead topic with a fear the 50-over competition is being devalued with no clear pathway to one-day international cricket while there is apprehension on how the County Championship will fit into the structure. Restrictions on being released to play overseas is also an area the PCA will seek clarification on.”While members are very positive about the new broadcast deal with cricket returning to free-to-air television and the influx of extra money coming into the game, players are concerned about the uncertainty on signing county contracts beyond 2019 and want assurances a fair proportion of the money will be spent on player salaries throughout the professional game.”Mitchell, however, remains optimistic that he can help to allay his members’ fears. “Over the past two months we have had face-to-face discussions with over 85% of the current playing membership and listened to issues that are directly affecting players,” he said.”We have had extremely open conversations and listened to every viewpoint across the counties. These have all been recorded and we will be feeding these concerns into discussions and negotiations with the ECB over the coming months.”There are a lot of questions which remain unanswered and this is becoming a concern to the membership. Along with Non-Executive chairman Matthew Wheeler, I will be heavily involved in making sure these concerns are eased as we aim to secure the future of professional cricketers in England and Wales.”On the broader picture of the landscape for domestic cricket in the future, the ECB has set up a working group under the chairmanship Wasim Khan, the Leicestershire chief executive, to examine the structure of the game from 2020.Wasim will be joined by three county directors of cricket (Keith Greenfield of Sussex, Ashley Giles of Warwickshire, and Yorkshire’s Martyn Moxon); two chief executives (Derek Bowden of Essex and Glamorgan’s Hugh Morris); Mark Wallace and Ian Thomas from the PCA, plus Andrew Strauss, John Carr and Alan Fordham from the ECB.”All of us on the working group are united by our passion for county cricket,” Wasim said. “These are challenging and occasionally unsettling times for some of the game’s most loyal supporters, but there are also huge opportunities. It’s an honour and privilege for all of us to play our part in coming up with the best responses to those challenges to ensure that the county game continues to thrive.”Gordon Hollins, the ECB’s chief operating officer, said: “At such a significant time for the domestic game, it is crucial that we recognise the unique qualities of our existing county structure, ensure it is protected and that it retains the opportunity to thrive within the context of the changes that are coming in a couple of years time.”The cricket landscape is changing rapidly, both domestic and international – and the counties are very much at the sharp end of that change.”A number of subjects and proposals have been raised in various forums over the last few weeks and months, such as a new conference structure for the Specsavers County Championship, and the question of what other cricket should be played during the new ECB tournament later in the summer of 2020.”The working group has been asked to present a report to the ECB’s cricket committee later in the season.

After finishing with the best-ever figures on ODI debut, Kagiso Rabada said he hadn’t dreamt of a start like this to his ODI career

Firdose Moonda10-Jul-2015Eddie Leie had the best returns by a South African on T20 debut. Kagiso Rabada finished with the best figures by anyone on ODI debut. It’s no wonder, then, that Hashim Amla could joke about the possibility of another fresh face to field on Sunday.”With two debutants doing so well, I think we should fly someone in tomorrow to play on Sunday, so they can also do well,” Amla said, quickly clarifying that he was only having a laugh.South Africa do not have any other uncapped players in the limited-overs’ squad and no obviously promising ones bubbling under, but the youngsters they do have are coming through and doing so well. Apart from Leie and Rabada, Rilee Rossouw is making good after his dodgy start of four ducks in six innings in ODIs and South Africa will have some new players in the Test squad. Simon Harmer and Stiaan van Zyl both impressed on debut and Temba Bavuma and Reeza Hendricks will want to carve a niche for themselves.To all of them, Amla has a simple message. “From the team’s perspective, we don’t have great expectations. We want guys to do well and perform at their best,” he said. And if the results are great, as they have been so far, that’s an added bonus.That’s something Rabada already knows. In little over a year, he has gone from being an Under-19 World Cup winner to an international headliner, but he is not overwhelmed. “Everything has been coming my way but I have just kept it simple, made sure I am ready to play, make sure I live the life an athlete is supposed to live – to a certain extent,” he said. “I didn’t dream of a start like this.”Now that it’s happened, Amla expects Rabada to understand that it won’t happen every time. “It’s not rocket science. When you have expectation like that – you can’t take six wickets every game,” Amla said. “One thing that works in his favour, he works extremely hard and comes from a grounded background and understands you can go from hero to zero in one game. Sunday is another game. The way we look at it is that he has had a great game today. We know the person that he is, it’s not like he is going to rest and say I will live off my six wickets for the rest of my life.”And Rabada has already showed his captain that he knows that. “Every time you represent your country, you have the responsibility to make sure you fulfill your role. Every game, I am going to make sure I am ready and if I play, I am going to try to do well.”But for tonight, Rabada can enjoy his success and he will. The wicket he took the most pleasure in was the first – Tamim Iqbal – because “I thought that was a pretty good ball.” And the hat-trick. “That was a fluke. I went for a yorker and missed it by miles.” Not a bad miss at all.

West Indies Under-19 secured the three-match series against Australia Under-19, after winning the deciding game by 18 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2011
Scorecard
West Indies Under-19 secured the three-match series against Australia Under-19, after winning the deciding game by 18 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.With the previous two games being won comfortably by the team batting first, West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite chose to bat in the decider, but did not follow up well, getting dismissed for a duck. When No. 4 batsman Anthony Alleyne went for a golden duck not too long after, West Indies were in trouble at 19 for 3. The lower-middle order recovered, though, carrying their side to a competitive 229 for 8 on the back of an unbeaten 98 by Kyle Mayers, and cameos from Kavem Hodge and Derone Davis. The last five wickets put on 134 runs in the final 19 overs. The Australian bowlers shared the wickets around, with Taylor Scott, Corey McMahon and Nick Stevens picking up two each.The Australian top-order batsmen got starts in reply, but with none of the top four kicking on to make a big score after getting in and the West Indies attack turning out a disciplined bowling performance, the chase went off track. No. 7 batsman Stevens got his side close with a quickfire 33, but with no support the innings folded for 211 with nine balls going unused.”When I went in we were in some trouble so I knew I had to bat for the team and get a good total on the board. I was not really looking at the score too much. I was looking to bat time, and I knew once I batted to the end of the innings the team would get the score we were looking for,” Mayers said. “Missing out on a hundred was not a big thing to me. I was just happy to do my job and help the side build a winning total.””Everybody in the squad is very happy with today’s victory. It is a great feeling to perform this way and win for the people back home in the West Indies. A win like this in the match and in the series puts us all in a good frame of mind for the upcoming three-day match.”The teams will play a three-day match from April 24.