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The timing of the injury raises doubts over his place in India A’s squad for the tour of NZ

Shashank Kishore04-Jan-2020Prithvi Shaw has left the Mumbai camp midway through their ongoing Ranji Trophy fixture against Karnataka at Bandra Kurla Complex due to a left rotator cuff injury. He has been rushed to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru to assess the extent of damage.”He underwent an MRI scan last evening in Mumbai, and the reports confirmed a labral tear,” Mumbai coach Vinayak Samant told ESPNcricinfo. “He’s in a lot of pain and is headed to Bangalore to meet the NCA physios. They will assess him and decide the next course.”Shaw picked up the injury on Friday, when he fell on his left shoulder while backing up to stop an overthrow. He left the field immediately and didn’t return.”Initially, it was more a precaution to get him off the field and rest him. I wanted him to bat, I thought he will bat even if it meant just going there, blocking and supporting the other batsman, but he wasn’t entirely comfortable with that.”Then we received an email this morning around 11am from the BCCI to pull him out of the match and send him to the NCA for assessment. Losing him to an injury is disappointing, looking at his own game and from our team’s point of view, because we need to fight for every run if are to set a defend a target against Karnataka.”While the seriousness of Shaw’s injury and expected recovery time will only be known over the coming days, the timing of his injury raises doubts over his place in India A’s touring party to New Zealand on a shadow tour, ahead of the national team’s six-week tour for a full series.As things stand, the players participating in the limited-overs leg of the India A tour are set to leave for Auckland on January 10. The first one-dayer is scheduled to begin on January 22, with a few warm-up games preceding the series.Shaw has been picked across formats following a prolific return to run-scoring ways in November after the completion of an eight-month backdated suspension for a doping offence.He struck form immediately, scoring 240 runs in five innings, including three half-centuries, for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He followed that up with scores of 66 and 202, his maiden first-class double century, in Mumbai’s 309-run win over Baroda in their Ranji Trophy opener in December.The labral tear is the latest in a long list of injuries that have plagued Shaw since his roaring international debut against West Indies in September last year. Picked as a first-choice opener for Australia, Shaw returned midway through the tour after failing to recover from an ankle injury during a warm-up fixture against a Cricket Australia XI.Shaw’s doping violation for “inadvertently ingested a prohibited substance, which can be commonly found in cough syrups”, came to light in July after he wasn’t named in India A’s squad for the tour of the Caribbean.

Fast bowler has learnt to pitch it up at Port Elizabeth but fears reverse swing may be in short supply

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth14-Jan-2020The fastest ball Anrich Nortje has bowled clocked in at “something 150″, but who’s actually counting? Not him. At least not, all of the time.”It [checking the speed gun] is not something I aim to do but once the blood gets flowing it is nice to see it on the big screen, to see where you’re at. It is nice to keep your eye out for it,” Nortje said.The quickest bowler in South Africa’s attack is gearing up to play his fifth Test and first at his home ground, St George’s Park, which carries the reputation for being the slowest and lowest of the country’s premier venues. It’s hardly the place that you would expect to produce a genuine quick, but Nortje has succeeded by learning to work with, and not against, the conditions.”It teaches you to pitch the ball up,” he said. “You have to try and be a bit fuller and hit your area a little bit more consistently. Up-country you might get away with certain things that you can’t get away with here. Pitching it up has helped me.”ALSO READ: Nkwe ‘confident’ in SA role despite effective demotionIf anything, the ability to bowl fuller has helped Nortje to develop the discernment to know when to drop it short. In the first two Tests, he chose his moments to pepper the England line-up with deliveries that fizzed off the surface, sometimes to bounce them out and other times to set them up. The best example of that could be seen in Nortje’s success against the England captain, Joe Root.Nortje has got Root out twice in two matches, in different ways. In the second innings at SuperSport Park, Nortje first bowled a ball back of a length and then drew Root forward to take the outside edge and have him caught behind; in the first innings at Newlands he followed up a length ball with a well-directed bouncers. Root was dropped initially but then gloved through to Quinton de Kock.Asked whether he sees his role in an attack with four frontline quicks as that enforcer or container, Nortje said he hadn’t labeled it. “Any role I can do, I am happy with,” he said. “Just to be playing is a big honour for me. Whatever the team needs, whether it’s containing, striking, I’m happy to do that for now and learn my game at international level.”He is equally thrilled to be able to show off the progress he has made in front of his home crowd, at the place where he toiled to make becoming an international cricketer a reality.”I’m really excited to be playing in Port Elizabeth. I’ve always been sitting on the grass embankments, watching the games. It’s really nice to be out here. It’s a lot of hard work over the years, a lot of sacrifices, a lot of Decembers in South Africa that I’ve had to play cricket rather than go on holiday, so it’s nice to finally get that opportunity and I am really excited just to go out there and give it my best.”The conditions are primed for Nortje to be able to do that, if South Africa have the opportunity to bowl first. The bowling breeze, the easterly, has been blowing in the build-up to this match and is expected to greet the teams on Thursday, which means there will be some swing on offer. By Friday, the wind is expected to change direction, which will make the pitch better for batting.At the time of writing, rain is forecast for the weekend, which may delay or prevent the deterioration required for the surface to take turn and the ability for either attack to generate reverse-swing, which has been a feature of previous Tests at this venue and has only made a small appearance in this series.England found some at Centurion but South Africa have struggled and Nortje is not overly optimistic that will change. “The square is quite green so it’s difficult to bang the ball in,” he said. “We tried a few cross-seam deliveries in Cape Town and didn’t really get it to reverse. Hopefully it’s something we can get here but if not, we will just have to adapt.”So will England. Having had the bulk of the crowd support for the first two matches, thanks to thousands of traveling fans over the festive season, this could be the venue where the balance shifts. The brass band will be attendance to spearhead the South African presence and Nortje said several acquaintances have asked him for tickets for the weekend. To those who have been lucky enough to receive one, he’s promised they will feel as close to the game as it gets.”It’s a nice vibe and atmosphere here, especially in the stands with the band. It’s one of the grounds where you feel like you are on the field. You don’t feel like you are too far back so it feels like you’re in it.”

The divide is set to come out in open at the March round of ICC meetings in Dubai

Nagraj Gollapudi18-Feb-2020The BCCI has reacted angrily to the ICC for bypassing the strong objections raised by the Indian board along with the ECB over the future set of events in the 2023-31 rights cycle. The divide is set to come out in open at the March ICC meetings, scheduled in Dubai, which is likely to be attended by the top brass of the BCCI.Last week, the ICC had sent out an email asking all members, including Associates, to tender their expressions of interest for hosting any of the 20 global events in men’s and women’s cricket which form part of the 2023-31 cycle. That email came on the heels of ICC chief executive officer Manu Sawhney visiting several countries – both Full Members and Associates – to explain the details of the process model and the bidding process which would determine the hosts for the events. Although Sawhney visited all the major cricketing countries including England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, missing from that list was India.On its part, the BCCI is annoyed that the ICC opted to overlook the strong reservations the Indian board had expressed last October. Back then, the BCCI’s chief executive officer Rahul Johri had written to Sawhney, saying there would be “wide ranging repercussions on bilateral cricket” in case the ICC went ahead with its decision.ALSO READ: T20 ‘Champions Cup’ part of ICC events for 2023-2031Johri had also pointed out that it would be prudent to wait for an elected BCCI administration to take the final call on the matter.For its part, the ICC has stressed that the proposed set of events had been given the go-ahead from the ICC board in the October meetings. Incidentally, the BCCI representative at that ICC board meeting was Amitabh Choudhury, the acting secretary at the time, who attended the meeting without the approval of the Committee of Administrators, the Indian board’s supervisory authority at the time. The ICC allowed Choudhury to sit at the meeting even though he did not give consent or object to any of the resolutions, saying the appropriate authority would be the elected BCCI administration.The BCCI remains adamant that bilateral series need to be worked out before the ICC events are finalised. “We are very clear on that,” a senior voice in the BCCI said. “Suppose if the important boards don’t file any expression of interest, then… will ICC plan events on its own? By planning ICC event every year, it doesn’t work for world cricket actually. The ICC needs to understand this. Bilaterals are more important. It will affect IPL, Big Bash, bilaterals – there will be no window. And how much can the players play?”Holding a global event every year, this official said, would also potentially reduce the “value” and prestige attached to winning a World Cup.”You lose the charm of winning the World Cup if you are planning to host it every year. Too much of something is not good. When you win a World Cup you look to the next one four years later, but if you host a world event every year then you could lose value of that tournament.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd

As for the argument that smaller boards, which don’t have the luxury of a fat broadcasting revenue that the BCCI enjoys, can benefit from the extra revenues ICC can accrue by hosting eight global events in the next cycle, the BCCI official disagreed. “Look, have these smaller countries got better from the existing ICC revenue model? They are suffering.”This official said that for the BCCI, the majority of its revenues come from bilateral cricket. If that is affected, then it will suffer. “After all, how many broadcasters do you have? How much money can they put into all cricket?”Another senior BCCI official argued that if the ICC does go ahead with the eight events, the World Test Championship would be affected too. “The World Test Championship will become a huge challenge. There will be no time for it.”Nonetheless, the ICC is likely to find support from member boards like Pakistan Cricket Board, Cricket West Indies, Sri Lanka Cricket and Zimbabwe Cricket along with the boards from Ireland and Afghanistan. All these countries have been struggling with their finances in the absence of lucrative broadcast deals. As a chief executive at one of the Full Member boards explained, their challenge has been that while the “costs of the cricket have been going up, the value of bilateral cricket has been going down”. He concurs with the view that smaller boards are struggling to find buyers for their cricket rights.Consequently, a majority of these smaller boards rely on the ICC money that is split from the broadcasting pot. “The ICC have hosted an event year historically with the exception of 2018 when there was no global event,” a senior official from one of the Full Member countries said. “In order for the ICC to give consistent cash flows to the members they need an event every year.”However, not everyone agrees with the ICC locking horns with the BCCI. One of the officials, who sits on the ICC working group on the future events, said the ICC’s hostile approach towards the BCCI was “unnecessary”. “I don’t understand why they seem to be going against the BCCI and also the ECB. The ICC’s whole approach has been unnecessary. I question that approach. The working group was still running through various options when the ICC went immediately to the board of directors with the proposal.”According to this official, no authorised person from the BCCI or Colin Graves, the ECB chairman, were present at the October ICC board meetings. He felt a better approach would have been to have further deliberations, which could have been tabled at the March meetings, before arriving at the final call.The working group member said a full calendar should be agreed on by all parties. “Whether you are playing bilateral or ICC cricket first that doesn’t really matter because until you have looked at the entire calendar. Then you juggle around events and remain flexible to strike the right balance. So to ink in the ICC events without even discussing or considering bilateral cricket is not appropriate.”Despite the BCCI and the ICC not seeing eye-to-eye at the moment, a key person who sits on the ICC board said the two bodies can work out their differences amicably during the March round of meetings in Dubai.This person said that the BCCI has not backed the ICC plan only because it is comfortable with the set of events in the current cycle. He said the same applies to some of other bigger boards like the ECB and CA. “BCCI and few other boards want to stick to six events in an eight-year cycle as was the case in the 2015-23. If the BCCI wants to bring in a resolution to object then they should be able to do that within the framework of the rules at the ICC board meeting.”

Forecast for Thursday in Sydney is bleak, and there are no reserve days for the semi-finals

Alex Malcolm03-Mar-2020Who are in the semi-finals?With both matches in Sydney called off today, India will be facing England at 3pm local time in the first semi-final, while Australia will be taking on South Africa at 7pm in the second match.What is the minimum number of overs for the match to count?
Normally, five overs per side are needed to constitute a T20 match, but the rules are different for ICC tournaments, with ten overs per side required. That means there will need to be at least 40 overs of play – 20 in each game – to get two results. The nature of the double-header will mean there will only be a spare 30 minutes for both games before overs are lost due to rain. The first game is scheduled to finish at 6pm local time, while the second game is scheduled to finish at 10pm.Who play the final if both games are washed out?
If both games are washed out, then the highest-ranked team from the two groups will progress to the final. India finished on top of Group A and South Africa finished on top of Group B. They would progress to play in the final.Is there a reserve day for the semi-finals?
No. The two teams that progress to the final are required to travel from Sydney to Melbourne on Friday, the day after the semi-finals, ahead of Sunday’s final at the MCG.Is there a reserve day for the final?
There is a reserve day available if the final is washed out at the MCG on Sunday with an option available to return on Monday. However, the forecast looks good for Sunday in Melbourne with no rain forecast and pleasant temperatures likely.

Gus Logie will continue in his role as interim coach until the recruitment process is complete

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2020West Indies women will have a new head coach soon, with the board having started the recruitment process to replace the outgoing Gus Logie. The former West Indies batsman had been appointed interim head coach in October 2019 and his last assignment was the T20 World Cup in Australia, where West Indies suffered a premature exit, winning just one of their four league games.”Following the recently concluded Women’s T20 World Cup, we have now begun the recruitment process for finding a permanent Women’s team head coach,” Jimmy Adams, the CWI director of cricket, said. “The successful candidate will be expected to drive our women’s program forward and improve our results across both formats. We are grateful for the efforts of interim head coach, Gus Logie, who has led the squad during this transition period and will continue in his interim role until the process has concluded.”According to a CWI release, the new candidate will primarily be responsible for:

• Producing West Indies Women’s teams which perform consistently with winning performance in ODIs and T20Is through the design and delivery of well-structured and progressive coaching programs.
• Effectively deploying resources and implementing tactical initiatives to ensure the achievement of superior match results and top placement in all ICC competitions.
• Managing the on and off-field development of current and new players through elite player development, health and welfare programmes.
• Managing an elite and dynamic team management unit to get the maximum output from the players.

The deadline for interested candidates to apply is May 26, 2020.

The ICC had used the technology to monitor overstepping during the Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year

Osman Samiuddin27-Jul-2020Front-foot no-balls will be monitored exclusively by the third umpire, and teams will be deducted points for slow over-rates in the ICC World Cup Super League, which begins later this week with the three-match ODI series between England and Ireland.The front-foot no-ball regulation will apply in both ODIs and T20Is and is another step towards taking oversight of the front out of the domain of the on-field umpire in all international cricket. The ICC has previously trialed the technology to monitor bowlers overstepping during the ODI series between India and West Indies. Positive results there led to the ICC deciding to leave the adjudication of front-foot no-balls solely with the third umpire during the Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year in Australia.”It is something that will be used on Thursday [between Ireland and England] and for the series to be played,” Geoff Allardice, the ICC’s general manager cricket operations, said. “Certainly there is the importance of the free hit in white-ball cricket, and getting no-balls called accurately. That is considered to be an important feature. The Cricket Committee has recommended that and it’s in the playing conditions for the World Cup Super League.”No-balls for height will continue to be called by the on-field umpires, but their missing line-call no-balls has been a recurring issue in high-profile cricket in recent years. The ICC first trialed the process in 2016, during Pakistan’s tour of England. But it has taken time – as well as growing scrutiny of front-foot calls – to roll it out on a broader scale. On England’s last tour of Sri Lanka, in November 2018, broadcasters counted as many as as many as 12 no-balls missed by the umpires.In March 2019, umpire S Ravi missed a no-ball off the last ball of a tight IPL game between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. At the World Cup last year, umpires missed a no-ball in Australia’s game against West Indies; Chris Gayle was dismissed off the next ball, which should’ve been a free hit. The ongoing Test series between England and West Indies has also seen a number of no-balls not being called.The points system in the Super League awards 10 points for a win and five for a tie, no-result or an abandoned game. But as with Test cricket and the World Test Championship, Allardice confirmed a competition points penalty will apply to sides who fail to keep up with the minimum over rates. In the case of the Super League, one point will be deducted for every full over a side has fallen short of bowling in the time allowed.The league will also, Allardice confirmed, allow two DRS reviews per team per innings. That increase from one was announced in June and applies to T20Is as well. That is part of an interim change to playing conditions – like the ban on using saliva to shine a ball – brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and is due to be reviewed every three months.”Each format got one extra review,” Allardice said. “That was the plan originally [that it was an interim measure]. We will see how it plays out, is it creating extra delays in the game or is allowing to get the right decision more often. I think it’s one that will have more debate as we get to the end of the interim period.”No cut-off date has been finalised at the moment for when the league finishes, though it was envisaged as a two-year league. The top seven sides and India – as hosts – qualify directly to the 2023 World Cup. The ICC has moved that event from a February-March window to October-November, allowing more time for the league to be concluded.”Obviously we start this league in a time when there is a lot of uncertainty around cricket fixtures generally,” Allardice said. “We bought some more time to be able to play or reschedule series but we’re expecting early 2023 as a cut-off. There is a World Cup Qualifier to be played during 2023 to identify the last two teams to go into the World Cup. But that will be finalised once we get more input from our members and their scheduling.”

Crucial partnership revives hopes after Warwickshire seamers built on 37-run lead

ECB Reporters Network10-Aug-2020Half-centuries from Graeme van Buuren and Ryan Higgins kept Gloucestershire hopes alive on the third day of the Bob Willis Trophy match against Warwickshire at the Bristol County Ground.The home side looked in deep trouble when slipping to 30 for 3 in the morning session, having conceded a first innings deficit 37 when bowling out their opponents for 247 from an overnight 230 for 8.But van Buuren (72) and Higgins (51) then shared a defiant fourth-wicket stand of 110 either side of lunch, which enabled Gloucestershire to reach 197 for 6 by the time bad light ended play eight overs early, a lead of 160.All results remain possible on day four, but in the end the only winner could be the slow pitch, which has made the match hard work for batsmen and bowlers alike.The day began with all-rounder Higgins completing figures of 4 for 54 by claiming both remaining Warwickshire wickets from the Ashley Down Road End. Tim Bresnan was caught behind for 38 and last man Oliver Hannon-Dalby taken at second slip for a duck.Hannon-Dalby then followed up his career-best figures of 6 for 33 in the first innings by pinning Ben Charlesworth lbw, playing no shot, for 14 and having George Hankins well caught low down at first slip by Bresnan for a duck.Bresnan had already removed Gloucestershire captain Chris Dent, bowled off an inside edge without scoring, and it was tough going for the home side, who were still seven runs behind when van Buuren and Higgins came together.The pair took the score to 51 for 3 at lunch and prospered in the afternoon session, van Buuren moving to a gutsy fifty off 99 balls, with 8 fours.Warwickshire’s bowlers appeared to be getting frustrated when Henry Brookes struck a morale-boosting double blow just before tea.First he picked up the wicket of van Buuren with the total on 140, Sam Hain pouching a low catch at second slip to end an innings occupying 132 balls and featuring 11 crisply-struck fours.Higgins also went on to his half-century and had faced 101 deliveries, hitting nine boundaries, when superbly caught down the leg side by diving wicketkeeper Michael Burgess off Brookes in the final over of the session to make it 155 for five.With two new batsmen at the crease, Gloucestershire needed to be watchful after tea. Gareth Roderick and Jack Taylor took the score to 190 before Roderick, on 13, lost concentration and carelessly drove a low catch to Matt Lamb at cover off the bowling of Craig Miles.There followed a period of nine overs from Bresnan and Miles in which only one run was scored. Taylor, who had taken 32 balls to get off the mark in the first innings, again showed an obdurate side to his normally aggressive game.George Scott, on his Gloucestershire debut, was equally content with survival and the game seemed to be going nowhere when the umpires called a halt, with Taylor unbeaten on 23 and Scott having scored two off 31 balls.Soon it was raining at the end of a day of sultry heat and hopes of a restart were dashed.

Dane Vilas leads the way in fine fielding effort but Leicestershire escape with point

ECB Reporters Network29-Aug-2020Rain forced the match to be abandoned with the points shared after Lancashire had restricted Leicestershire to 150-9 in the North Group Vitality Blast match at Grace Road.It was particularly frustrating for the visitors, who played some fine out-cricket after captain Dane Vilas won the toss and put the Foxes in.Vilas himself led the way with a hat-trick of catches, including a brilliant one-handed effort leaping backwards to dismiss Leicestershire danger man Arron Lilley, and a diving two-handed take after a sprint along along the boundary from long-off to end Ben Mike’s innings and secure Lightning seamer Tom Bailey his best T20 return of 5-17. Lancashire had arrived at Grace Road with confidence taken from the manner in which they beat Durham by a comfortable 27 runs on Thursday. Understandably, they made no changes to the side which started at the Emirates Riverside, 22-year-old left-arm spinner Tom Hartley retaining his place, while Leicestershire gave T20 county debuts to Tom Taylor, George Rhodes and Ireland international Gareth Delany, signed at short notice last week after it was confirmed South African batsman Janneman Malan would be unable to travel due to pandemic restrictions.Delany, opening the innings, did not last long, losing his off stump to Bailey in the second over, but Lilley hit both Hartley and Liam Hurt for straight sixes in going to 26 before Vilas’ athletic leap as he tried to chip a Danny Lamb full-toss over mid-on brought his downfall.It set a pattern for the innings. In the 12th over Bailey took an equally brilliant catch, one-handed low to his left at extra cover, to catch Rhodes off Hurt, and wickets continued to fall as Leicestershire tried to pick up the scoring rate, though Mike hit Lamb for consecutive sixes in the penultimate over.The rain had already begun to fall, however, and after 90 minutes umpires Nick Cook and Rob White decided there was no prospect of play resuming.”I’ve not played white ball cricket in three years, and I didn’t think I was going to play this year either, so it’s nice to have an opportunity and I’ve taken it with both hands,” Bailey said. “We’re such a strong white ball side it’s always going to be tough to get in and I’ve had to wait in the wings.”We were good in the field in our first game but we fielded so well today as a group. My catch was an absolute worldie – I’ll never take one like that again. It was the highlight of my day, better than taking five wickets. And for a 35-year-old [Vilas] to throw himself around the field like that, it’s great to see.”Leicestershire captain Colin Ackermann said: “You want to get on a roll in this format, especially when there’s only ten games, so to lose the first two to the weather is frustrating. Saying that, I thought we were about 15 runs short. They were exceptional in the field and took four outstanding catches and saved 20 runs.”It’s our first chance to bat in the comp, we’ll learn from that display and come back strong against Durham at Headingley on Monday.”

All the buzz from the IPL 2020 game between the Rajasthan Royals and the Royal Challengers Bangalore

Deivarayan Muthu03-Oct-2020