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A daily guide to football on TV in the UK for the upcoming round of fixtures in the major European leagues. This includes where to watch live football streams, as well as the fixtures and kick-off times. As well as this, all the info on Champions League, Europa League, Europa Conference League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup football can be found here.

Friday 21st November

Bundesliga, Championship, La Liga, Ligue 1

Saturday 22nd November

Bundesliga, Championship, La Liga, Ligue 1, Premier League, Serie A

Sunday 23rd November

Bundesliga, Championship, La Liga, Ligue 1, Premier League, Serie A

Monday 24th November

La Liga, Premier League, Serie A

Chappell, Benaud and Botham were among those who reacted strongly to the controversial no-ball call

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2020 #RetroLive This was the third time – all instances in Australia – that Muttiah Muralitharan was called during a live match for throwing. Things came to a head with Arjuna Ranatunga walking off with his team only to resume playing after a 15-minute interval during which many a discussion happened with the officials. A phone call was made back home to cricket board officials too. This is what the experts and the participants said about the incident at the time.

The observers

This was the first time Umpires Ross Emerson and Tony McQuillan stood in a game involving Murali since they last called him back in 1996. So there was anticipation even before the actual no-ball call was made.”Quite amazing. The two umpires out there know more than the International Cricket Council. I think it’s all rather pathetic. It is a decision that has been made by some very respected people who have played a lot of cricket at international level and first-class level. And yet two people who might make that decision have played no more than a bit of club cricket.””The English batsmen will be sick in the stomach. I feel a little bit upset myself. Regardless of whether his action is legal or not, that should be decided at the end of the series. This is a team standing behind its bowler who has been cleared by 40 umpires across the world, but here he is called in the middle of the series…”I am a bit lost and saddened by the decisions this afternoon. Murali will be feeling sick in the stomach. He will be very confused. He has got 200 Test wickets. He has bowled a lot of overs in this series so far. Then all of a sudden he has been called for having an illegal action at the Adelaide Oval.””I have been through three of these. The first one was Ian Meckiff in Brisbane in 1963, then the second time was Muralitharan when he was called at the MCG [by Umpire Darrell Hair, whom Sri Lanka got barred from standing in their games]. Today the third time has produced the exact same feeling, which is very empty at the pit of the stomach. The ICC, I think now, will be dragged kicking and screaming into the region of solving the mess.”Getty Images”How come he can’t make a decision on that one with the naked eye and yet he can call the flick of an elbow with the naked eye? Miles out of the ground, but he relies on the replay, which is what he should have been doing with respect to the no-ball.””The fact that this has been allowed to interrupt the day’s play the way it did is quite sad. The thing that you have got to ask of the officials is how come it is allowed to happen in the middle of the arena? This is the third time in Murali’s case that it is happening in the middle of the international arena. All three times in Australia. And you would think that if somebody’s got a doubtful action, they would stop before they get to international cricket.”

The official

Doug Insole was member of the ICC committee that cleared Murali, but he explained to Channel 9 the technicalities behind it, and that the on-field umpire had the right to call even a bowler cleared by them. That he said as someone who was called once for throwing, which shocked him too.”Of those that have been seen worldwide as it were, there are one or two who have got perfectly ordinary basic actions, but who stick a bit extra when they try to do a something bit extra. Then there are one or two who have a basic fault in their action. There is no way that ICC can say that that bloke is never going to throw again. You can’t say to an umpire that this bloke is cleared, and he must never be no-balled. What you can say is that as far as the panel is concerned, his basic action, as we have seen it, is okay.”It is a desperate thing to happen to a bowler. I feel sorry for the man himself. You’d be right in saying – and one has to be a bit cagey about this – on the basis of the videotape that we saw, and I can’t remember whether everyone was on the conference call or whether one two were missing or what, but certainly the general opinion at that time was that his action, as seen on that video, was legitimate.”PA Images via Getty Images

The participants

“The question of Umpire Hair standing had to do with him making some comments prior to the tour in a book that he was publishing. It wasn’t in anyway connected with him no-balling Muralitharan before. As for the other two umpires, there was no question that the Sri Lankan cricket board nor any of the players felt his action was unfair. He had been cleared by 40 umpires all over the world, and a committee that had been set up of eminent bowlers. And one might say, umpires in this tournament as well. So there was never a doubt as far as it was concerned.”Arjuna walked off with his team merely to get a clarification as to how they must proceed. It would have seemed they were leaving the ground, but the basic intention was to find how they should proceed. The point was that the Sri Lankan board would have at no stage wanted the match to be abandoned because after all cricket has to continue and the lofty ideals of the game has to continue. Also we didn’t in anyway want to embarrass the Australian cricket board.”That he is different is one of the problems that has created this illusion: the permanently bent arm of his and that rotation of the shoulder and also the profuse use of the wrists, which I think creates this illusion, which umpires and people find something different in it.””I never thought it will happen because he has bowled all over the world and we have never had a problem. Then suddenly one guy comes and calls, I think it is really unfortunate. I think it is really bad on Australian cricket’s part.”Murali has a really bad arm, everyone knows about it. The person who calls, he must be having a really really good eye. I think any batsman would love to have that eye… the batsman will get thousand runs in two months if that eye comes to a batsman. The way Murali bowls, if you can pick that, he must be really amazing [to be calling him with the naked eye].”We knew we had to win the game for Murali, and that’s what happened today. We have the same umpires in a game towards the end of the tour so we have to take a firm decision what to do. We have to consult with the board and then it is up to the board or the government. It is very important. Murali has been a key person for the country and for Sri Lankan cricket.”I think we never had a problem anywhere except Australia. I think most of the cricketers will try to avoid Australia the way it goes now. And the public has been really bad on Murai, and the media has been really bad. I think it is pathetic that a person who has got 200 Test wickets is only called in Australia. I don’t think he should suffer like this. Everyone likes to come to Australia and do well in Australia but it is totally different the image we have now.””I am not allowed to comment unfortunately due to ICC regulations but what I will say is we have been brought up, if an umpire makes a decision, that’s it, you accept it and get on with the game. Today that didn’t happen.””There you are but again it comes down to the umpire, how he sees things. It is the same with lbw decisions or run-outs or whatever.” RetroLive

And what is the highest score by a player in his first innings as captain in a Test?

Steven Lynch14-Jul-2020How often have the rival captains got each other out in the same Test, as Ben Stokes and Jason Holder did at the Rose Bowl? asked Kevin Mills from England

The exciting behind-closed-doors match in Southampton was the 12th Test in which both captains had dismissed each other, but the first to include three such dismissals. It was the second time Jason Holder had been involved in such an occurrence, as he and Zimbabwe’s Graeme Cremer accounted for each other in Bulawayo in 2017-18.Holder’s double dismissal of Ben Stokes was the 19th occasion one captain had disposed of his opposite number in both innings of a Test – and it was the third time Holder had done it: he dismissed Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh twice in Kingston in 2018, and then, in West Indies’ most recent Test before the one at the Rose Bowl, he removed Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan in both innings in Lucknow in November 2019. Shakib dismissed India’s Virender Sehwag twice in Chittagong (now Chattogram) in 2009-10, and in return Sehwag caught Shakib in both innings.The wily Australian Richie Benaud dismissed his opposite number twice in a Test on two occasions, and also claimed the wicket of England’s Ted Dexter once in each of the five matches in the 1962-63 Ashes series.Stuart Broad was dropped after playing 51 successive Tests at home. Was this a record for England (or everyone)? asked Dennis Mitchell from England

There have been two England players with longer unbroken home runs than Stuart Broad’s 51. Since he played 159 successive Tests in all – the record – it’s not surprising to find Alastair Cook top of this list too: he played 89 in succession at home between 2006 and 2018. Cook’s longtime opening partner Andrew Strauss played 61 successive Tests in England.Another similar run came to an end in Southampton, as Joe Root missed the match to be at the birth of his second child. It ended his run of 77 successive Test appearances in all, second only for England behind Cook.There wasn’t a single six hit at the Rose Bowl. When was the last time this happened? asked Dewan Rezwan Rabbi from Bangladesh

You’re right to think that this is a rare event these days. The Test in Southampton was the first not to feature a six for about 145 matches, since the Boxing Day Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Port Elizabeth in December 2016. There have been only 28 Tests with no sixes since the turn of the millennium.Virat Kohli made a century in each innings in his first Test as captain, in 2014•Getty ImagesWhat is the highest score by a player in his first innings as captain in a Test? asked Savo Ceprnich

The highest Test score by a captain in his first innings in charge is 239, by New Zealand’s Graham Dowling, against India in Christchurch in 1967-68. Shivnarine Chanderpaul also scored a double-century – 203 not out for West Indies v South Africa in Georgetown in 2004-05. The highest in the second innings of a captain’s debut Test is 163, by Clive Lloyd for West Indies against India in Bangalore in 1974-75.The most runs in total on captaincy debut is 256, by Virat Kohli, with 115 and 141 against Australia in Adelaide in 2014-15. Greg Chappell also scored two centuries in his first Test as captain, for Australia against West Indies in Brisbane in 1975-76.Who conceded 149 runs in his only Test without taking a wicket? asked Gordon Brine from South Africa

This unfortunate bowler was the Australian legspinner Bryce McGain, who won his only cap against South Africa in Cape Town in March 2009, the week before his 37th birthday. McGain nearly took a wicket early on, as Christian Ryan remembered in this evocative piece for ESPNcricinfo, but after that he was caned, finishing with 0 for 149 from just 18 overs as South Africa ran up 651. McGain took 86 first-class wickets for Victoria – and ten in two matches for Essex in 2010.Use our
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How the West Indies allrounder turned up late at IPL 2020 but made an instant impact

Hemant Brar02-Nov-2020Jason Holder wouldn’t have been in the UAE had Mitchell Marsh not hurt his ankle. He might not have featured in the playing XI had Kane Williamson’s thigh injury not forced a rejig of plans.But here he is and, though he may not have taken IPL 2020 by storm, he has made enough important contributions in a short time to keep the Sunrisers Hyderabad alive in the tournament.Over the years, the Sunrisers have been a bowling team. But when Bhuvneshwar Kumar was ruled out because of a thigh injury and Siddarth Kaul failed to step up, their fast bowling resources seemed bereft of experience. Although Sandeep Sharma swung the new ball and T Natarajan nailed the yorkers at the death, the Sunrisers lacked the glue to keep their seam attack together.That aside, the Sunrisers problems were manifold. In the absence of an experienced Indian batsman, their middle order was looking shaky. That meant Williamson could not be dropped. With David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Rashid Khan being shoo-ins for the other overseas spots, Holder had to wait on the sidelines.At the very first opportunity he got – as a replacement for the injured Williamson against the Rajasthan Royals – Holder made an impact. Playing his first IPL game since 2016, Holder picked up three wickets and effected a run-out as the Sunrisers restricted the Royals to a below-par 154 for 6, which Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar helped chase down with ease.Before the IPL, Holder had a successful outing in the Caribbean Premier League where he led the Barbados Tridents. Although the Tridents finished second from last, Holder was their best player with 192 runs at an average of 21.33 with a strike rate of 140.14 and ten wickets at an economy of 6.63. But having not been bought at the IPL auction, Holder had other plans: when he was called up as a replacement for Marsh, he was on a vacation.ESPNcricinfo Ltd”I left a vacation to come here and play, I left the missus,” Holder to the IPL website after the Royals game. “It was hard enough making the decision to come over and play. I am glad I did, and to get the opportunity tonight and making use of it, it is a pleasing feeling.”In the next match, against the Kings XI Punjab, he again made telling contributions. Using the slower ball to good effect, Holder picked up the wickets of Chris Gayle and Chris Jordan and, suddenly, the Sunrisers seemed to have found the leader of their pace attack.Even though the Sunrisers lost that game chasing a paltry 127, the team management quickly understood Holder’s role was important: he provided balance and experience in both the bowling and batting departments.When Williamson returned, the Sunrisers made room for Holder by replacing Bairstow with Wriddhiman Saha. Leaving Bairstow out was a gamble, but Saha’s 87 off 45 balls ensured it paid off as the Sunrisers beat the Delhi Capitals emphatically.Before Holder came into the side, the Sunrisers were forced to save Sandeep Sharma’s two overs for the backend of the innings. But with Holder and Natarajan now sharing the responsibility at the death, Warner could use Sharma and his swing for three overs upfront. That resulted in the Sunrisers picking up the most wickets (41) by any team in the second half of the tournament, with Holder, Sharma and Rashid Khan leading the way with eight scalps each and Natarajan just behind at seven. They also have the best average (21.00) and best economy rate (7.23) in that period.Against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Holder proved his worth with the bat as well after registering figures of 2 for 27. The Sunrisers were playing with only four established batsmen and all of them were back in the hut at 87 for 4 in a chase of 121. The scenes of their botched up chase against the Kings XI would have flashed in front of their eyes but, valuing his experience, the Sunrisers promoted Holder ahead of Abdul Samad.

On November 5, Holder will turn 29. An advance birthday celebration would be helping the Sunrisers make the playoffs by beating defending champions and title favourites Mumbai Indians in the final league match on Tuesday

Holder used his long levers to smash three sixes and a four in an unbeaten 26 off ten balls and, with calmness, took the panic-stricken Sunrisers home.”It has been a while since I played in the IPL,” he said after the victory. “For me, I was just longing for another opportunity and I got an opportunity this time. So just trying to make the most of it.”In the 2020 IPL auction, Holder had listed his reserve price at INR 75 lakh but, despite being consistently ranked among the top two allrounders in Test cricket, a format in which he is the West Indies captain, Holder didn’t attract any bids.This is his second stint with the Sunrisers – he played for them in 2014 as well. But having come in without any expectations this time, he has become an unexpected key performer for them.The pitches in the UAE have offered bounce and pace to seamers, which has worked in Holder’s favour. He has also been tasked with playing cameos in the lower order, which he is more than capable of. With eight wickets in four games and a decisive knock with the bat, Holder has definitely made the most of his chances.On November 5, Holder will turn 29. An advance birthday celebration would be helping the Sunrisers make the playoffs by beating defending champions and title favourites Mumbai Indians in the final league match on Tuesday.

Ahead of board elections, Skerritt on the financial hurdles facing cricket in the Caribbean, being a “player-centric president”, and more

George Dobell26-Mar-2021
How perilous were CWI finances when you took over?
I didn’t even know how perilous they were. And I was on the board. There was a fair amount of delusion about a lot of things at CWI and our policy of being transparent, accountable and open has brought about a wider understanding of the challenges CWI really faced. We have been very open about the real difficulties in taking CWI forward because of the obstacles in place and the battles that went on and on. We’ve tried to bring peace and understanding and partnership to really refocus on, as we call it, cricket first.You said there was “black hole” in the finances. What state are CWI’s finances in now?
The biggest problem we were facing is that all of our future cash was spoken for before we even got it. We were living on borrowed future income. So, we had close to USD 20 million in institutional debt. And we were borrowing to pay back lenders. It was all smoke and mirrors. And that’s understandable on short-term strategies when there are difficult times for cash flow. But it had become endemic.So we’ve been having to tighten belts, focus on cash rather than on profit and loss and get rid of any sort of unnecessary costs. And we’ve cut our debt down by at least a third now after less than two years. And, with some difficulty, we have improved our ability to meet our obligations, we just could not meet most of our obligations [previously].We were borrowing money to pay wages. We did that for the first year that I was in office. Right up until the early summer last year we were literally having to borrow to just pay players and staff.What impact did the pandemic have?
The pandemic made everything more devastating. But it also gave us an opportunity and an excuse to focus on what we really needed to focus on, which was keeping CWI going and getting all stakeholders to understand that it would take sacrifices from all of us, including a 50% pay cut for everybody. We said it would either be that or we would have to lay off a significant number of individuals, which we didn’t want to do. In the first year [of Skerritt’s term], we were just tightening up and reducing staff based on attrition as opposed to cutting too much. We were just trying to keep control. We said we would do more with less.The pandemic forced us to do more with even less. And I think that, in the final analysis, we’re going to come out of the pandemic more informed and better aware of what’s needed going forward.There’s been some criticism from within the Caribbean that you should have placed a higher price on West Indies’ involvement in the series in England in 2020. Some say you should have asked the ECB for several million dollars for agreeing to complete that tour. How do you reflect on that now?
First of all, there’s no higher price than the health and safety of our players. And we did everything to ensure that we had a partnership with the ECB, their medical people and their country’s best medical people working with our medical people and our medical advisors to make sure that we establish a pioneering – and I emphasise it pioneering – bio-safety model, which has become the template for all others that have followed. We are very proud to have been a leader in that.The criticism came from people who were upset that we tried to re-introduce cricket because, for them, no cricket was going to be used as a failure of ours. This was about carrying out our obligations to the ICC Future Tours Programme.Ricky Skerritt, the CWI president, pledged to provide greater accountability when running for office•CWIThose folks wanted me to somehow hold a gun to the head of the ECB and extort money from them because there was this perception that if we didn’t go to England, the ECB would go bankrupt. Therefore, they would be prepared to pay any kind of money.That was ridiculously untrue. There were other teams lined up to go to England and I could bet you that none of them are going to do the distasteful action of seeking to extort money for the trip. It just doesn’t happen in ICC systems. There’s absolutely no record of a visiting team being able to extort money from a host. That’s not how the system works.Just ahead of that Test series in England, some were calling for the dismissal of your head coach. What does that tell us?
It is a very sad reality that across the Caribbean not everybody really, genuinely loves West Indies cricket through thick and thin. Some of the people have given many hours of support for West Indies cricket but, when it comes to certain matters of politics, you almost can’t recognise them.So, Phil Simmons was unjustly released from his job, years ago. And Phil Simmons was allowed to reapply for the same job some years later when I became chairman. And somehow, there are people who feel that Phil Simmons gets preferential treatment. Phil Simmons gets success the old fashioned way. He works for it. He has failures, along with his successes, which he learns from, and what we have tried to do in CWI is to develop a learning environment and Phil Simmons is the right man for that. We went through a process, a very transparent recruitment process, to put him in place. So when there were people calling for his removal, it was not only shocking, it was very distasteful. And very worrying. Because it reminds us how vulnerable West Indies cricket is to those critics only see their own shadows ahead of them.What are the achievements you’re most proud of as president?
Enthusiasm for West Indies cricket regionally and globally. The region and the international environment have begun to look at West Indies as a potential force in world cricket.Is there tangible evidence of that?
Well, I can’t give you the data off the top of my head. But the fan engagement, the social media interactions, the conversations that are taking place in the media and the upsurge in interests. Even in the areas of politics – which I prefer wasn’t the focus – but there is just more dialogue. And the more the dialogue takes place the more constructive it will become.One of the obvious changes is that you seem to have all the players available again.
I would say that is the second biggest achievement: bringing back, confidence, within the system at the player level. Players, generally, don’t trust cricket administrators for all kinds of reasons. History is flooded with confrontation between players and the board. So I certainly can’t tell you that there will be no confrontation in the future.Skerritt: ‘I have no apologies about being a player-centric president. I’ve been accused of being too soft to players’•Philip Spooner/CWIWhat I can tell you is that the partnership that my predecessors had set up with the West Indies Players’ Association was a good partnership that has continued to strengthen. But most importantly, the relations with most of the players including many of whom are not members of WIPA, which was at an all-time low, that has stabilised considerably.We just saw a Super50 tournament where the best players collaborated with us to make themselves available to play whether they were contracted or not. Because the players are beginning to understand that there is goodwill. I have no apologies about being a player-centric president. I’ve been accused of being too soft to players. You let me see a cricket system without players. You could have it without administrators; you cannot have it without players.Ultimately administrators – rightly or wrongly – are probably defined by the results on the pitch. The team has remained a bit inconsistent, hasn’t it?
Yes, very much so. And let me say, at no time did we predict that within two years, we would see the sustainability in improvement. And I certainly understand that, ultimately, we will be measured by improvement on the field. But remember where we started from: we started from the bottom. In every format. So, what we have to ask ourselves is: how did we get there?Then we have to make sure that we eliminate all of the problems that have caused us to be there. And put in place the measures that will help us to climb the ladder again, including selection of the best available players. But more importantly, helping all of the players to improve so that they go from one tournament to the next as an improved player. We haven’t done a very good job of that in the past.How confident are you that you’re putting the blocks in place to build for the future?
We’ve been putting the human infrastructure and the technical and technological networks in place. In fact, since October last year, there is more collaboration taking place between coaches, all across the region, than ever in our history.We have right now, without being able to host tournaments as we would want, been able to identify 45 U-19 players who are already receiving virtual and actual coaching assistance no matter where they live in the Caribbean. It’s part of our development plan to get that U-19 team ready for the World Cup, which we will be hosting in a year’s time.Look at what we did with the women’s programme. Not only did we put Courtney Walsh in charge of it, but we have significantly improved the quality of the coaching team he has around him. And the very first cricket activity of this year, starting early in January and running for three-and-a-half weeks, was a high performance camp for 26 women of all ages and backgrounds helping to get us started on a new wave of preparation for the next Women’s World Cup.Courtney Walsh has joined the West Indies women’s team support staff•CWIIn terms of the Wehby report, while the aim might be to bring in more independence and expertise, some in the territorial boards will say that you’re minimising their voices. Is it realistic to expect them to vote themselves out of existence?
That’s the million-dollar question. How many of us will be big enough to see that West Indies is cricket is bigger than us individually? It’s the most difficult thing.It’s not difficult for me. I could leave West Indies cricket at any time and still have West Indies cricket completely warm in my embrace. I’d still do whatever I can at any level. But there are some people who are so personal about their particular role and position that anything that threatens that, threatens their support for all things West Indies cricket.All of these people are well-intentioned, ultimately. Cricket volunteers are not always easy to find. Cricket, in the past was run primarily by volunteers. By people who have been doing it for decades. And they get threatened by these folks who come in and don’t even know or understand the history. It becomes a potential conflict every time a new person comes in and tries to assert him or herself.They never seem to want to accept people who didn’t come through the belly of West Indies cricket; the local boards and territorial boards. There are some people who are petrified about the possibility of university professors or engineers and doctors who somehow never played enough cricket or didn’t come through the board system, coming on to the board. That’s why we have independent directors. That’s what it’s about: how do you get a balance between the cricket people and those that know how to take that and make it work for cricket.It would appear the CWI relationship with various stakeholders – CARICOM, for example – has improved. And you were close to becoming vice-chair of the ICC board and are now on the MCC Cricket Committee. What do we read into this?
The vice-chairmanship of ICC is an important role, but it’s primarily a ceremonial role. It’s there as a safety net to cover for chairman. I was asked if I was nominated if I would accept the nomination and I said sure. We need to have democracy in these organisations and people need to believe that there are others who are competing. That’s why I welcome competition in this election. But, the fact that, with very little effort, I was beaten by one vote. It said two things: one that the ICC board is clearly divided, which we were not that surprised at, but it also said that in a short time that I have been on the board, a fair number of people believe that I have potential for helping in the leadership of ICC. I’m very honoured by that perception.Could this improved relationship with the ICC lead to West Indies hosting major ICC events?
Very hopefully. Even though there’s still some division and distrust, Greg [Barclay], the new chairman, has come in with a great sense of expectation and I think that there’s a fair amount of goodwill towards his leadership. Once a little time elapses you will see some good possibilities coming out of Greg’s chairmanship at the ICC.Is that revenue model idea – an idea which your chief executive [Johnny Grave] originally devised – whereby the host nation share perhaps 20% of their revenue from a the relevant broadcast deal with the visitors, is that still alive?
Everything is alive right now. Everything is on the table right now. And what I think is happening already, is the ICC chair is ensuring that inputs like this will be given an opportunity to come through to the board. His style is to ensure that we get a sort of bottom-up input into decision-making, so it’s not just the [ICC] board deciding on everything. He is insisting that the chief executives’ committee be allowed to put their recommendations to the ICC executive. So Johnny’s paper, which was done a few years ago, is being updated as we speak.Is there one message you would like to give to people in the region and in particular, those who will be voting in this election?
We are confident that we have helped cricket West Indies onto the right track. And we need to stay on track. We need to move forward. From time to time, we might have to move sideways. But we don’t want to go backwards. We have to be very careful because of the delicate vulnerability of what we have achieved for just a short while, that it can go off track very easily.

The ACU general manager Alex Marshall on the extensive efforts being taken to clamp down on corruption in cricket

Peter Della Penna17-Mar-2021How do you distinguish between investigating activities such as illegal betting and pitchsiding [relaying info from inside the ground to beat the delay in live televised broadcast], and investigating specific approaches made to players for spot-fixing or match-fixing?All bookies in India are illegal and unregulated, because betting is illegal and the government has not legalised it. But betting in India is widespread and the volumes are absolutely enormous. You’ve been to matches where there’s 12 to 50 people in the ground and yet we know that the betting volumes on that match can be quite substantial.Related

• UAE's Qadeer Ahmed handed five-year ban for corruption

• Corrupters using social media to get to players during lockdown: ICC

• ICC opens anti-corruption investigations after fixers intercepted at Qatar T10 league

• ICC's ACU to collaborate with Interpol to combat corruption in cricket

• ICC announces 15-day amnesty to report corrupt approaches

The Afghanistan Premier League (APL) has significant sums of money being bet on it. What you need to distinguish though is that while all the bookies are illegal and unregulated, most of them are just bookies. All they’re doing is taking bets on cricket and we’re not interested in them. Let’s say there are 1,000 bookies. Of all those bookies, a very small portion are corrupt and they are the ones we are interested in because what they then do is use their wealth to find intermediaries – people who know the players and might trust them – to make approaches in return for a sum of money to underperform in a phase of the match.Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar are really good examples. The [corruptors] wanted to control the opening batting, the opening bowling and the captain. So that is the absolute ideal for them. The opening batsmen both score slowly. Those small number of corrupt bookies take unlimited bets on how many runs will be scored in the opening phase of the match or the powerplay, and they’ll also take unlimited bets on the number of runs conceded by those bowlers because if they manage to corrupt the bowlers, they know they’re going to concede more than 12 or 15 runs in an over.They’ve got no connection to pitchsiders who are feeding information. In some countries it is illegal and therefore the police can take action, but it’s not in the anti-corruption code. It happens in every single sport. They are a nuisance and to the legitimate regulated betting industry, they create a loss problem for them because they’re getting an advantage over the normal punter who is sitting at home and is getting the broadcast. So it’s worth separating the pitchsiders, which is a thing in every sport including cricket.The Afghanistan Premier League (APL) has significant sums of money being bet on it•Afghanistan Cricket BoardThe sums mentioned in the Shaiman Anwar and Mohammad Naveed investigation would have been anywhere from seven to ten years of the annual salary in the UAE central contract structure at the time..What makes the top Associates so attractive to the corruptors is the relatively low cricket income of people from Nepal, UAE, Oman, some of the African cricket nations. They are being paid very little if anything at all. If you look at the bottom end of the Full Members, Zimbabwe would be a good example. They are among the poorest of the Full Member nations and we see players there being offered $30,000 to commit corrupt conduct. We see players in the Associates getting offered $10,000. We see players in European club matches getting offered 3,000 Euros. So that’s the sort of scale of the offers. An offer of $10,000 to someone in some of these places is an awful lot of money. An offer of $30,000 in Zimbabwe would probably buy you a house.So taking that into consideration, including the resources available to the ICC to police events such as the ICC regional ones that are now going to be broadcast, what kind of enhanced strategies do you plan to employ to curb some of these activities? The principle is that we all at the ICC, including the integrity unit, want to see the growth and development of cricket. The idea that the Associates are going to get better and more extensive coverage is absolutely brilliant and we celebrate it along with everyone else. We also recognise that the more popular any form of cricket becomes, the more likely it is that corruptors will target it. So we’re doing a whole load of different things. One of the things is we’re working with all the Associates, but particularly the ones who are higher risk, to provide them with material around education and what they should do in the event of anyone receiving an approach or things for them to look out for in the way they run their matches. We will also risk assess which of those matches are most likely to be targeted and then we put anti-corruption resources into that particular match.We’ve done that for example in matches involving UAE, Oman, Nepal and others recently, particularly where they’ve had three and four-team series events, and we then put an anti-corruption person at the event. But the best protection of all is that anyone in that squad who has any suspicious social media approach, comment, a new sponsor who suddenly comes in…. anything that seems too good to be true, as long as they alert us immediately, we can intervene against the corruptors.We generally know who the corruptors are and who is behind the approaches and then we can disrupt them. The playing group are getting better and better and more confident at sharing with us anything that seems a bit odd or dodgy. In the last couple of years, we’ve gone from 200 pieces of intelligence coming in each year to over 1,000 pieces of intelligence. Most of that comes from people within cricket saying, ‘This slightly odd thing happened’ or ‘My agent had an odd approach’ or the classic line, ‘We can probably get you into this tournament, but you’ll have to do some things for the owners.’ That would be the line you hear a lot. It’s absolutely spot on that for the corruptors, if they can corrupt someone in a small franchise tournament who might then go on and play international Associate member cricket, they’ve then got an investment in that player who is completely compromised and they’ll utilize that when it comes to the international matches.”Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar were late in their careers and about to retire. They were seen as worth approaching”•Peter Della PennaI know there were at least three USA players – according to a USA Cricket official who then forwarded the information on to the ICC ACU – that prior to the Global T20 Canada were approached and told, ‘We will draft you in if you help us fix games. If you don’t want to help us fix games, then we just won’t draft you.’ Those are the classic lines. ‘You come in. We’ll get you a place. Everyone else is doing it.’ They’ll probably throw in a few names that the player has heard of and say, ‘They’re already doing it. All you have to do is do what the owners say in a couple of matches. It won’t affect whether you win or lose and we’ll give you an extra whatever the figure is on top of your tournament fee if you work with us.’ So what you’re describing is absolutely the classic approach by the 10 or 12 corruptors that we know are operating around all these events.Most of the Associate players at the 2019 Global T20 Canada were setting reserve prices for the draft at the $3,000 minimum. A few elite Associate players had reserve prices set at $10,000 or $15,000. Sandeep Lamichhane set his price at $60,000. Shaiman Anwar and Mohammad Naveed had their reserve prices originally set at the minimum and then a few days before the draft, suddenly they were resubmitted into the draft with new reserve prices of $25,000 and $30,000 respectively, and both of them were drafted. When things like that happen, being sold for a much higher value than the market would indicate, does that raise a red flag?Yes. A couple of things raise red flags in those franchise tournaments. One is unusual pricing of the players. The other, which you also mentioned, is late changes just before the draft or someone is brought in who the coach or management weren’t asking about and then suddenly they appear as a player. We’ve covered recent franchise tournaments where you see exactly that type of behavior and in some cases it’s because the owners – who are shown as the official owners – actually are not. They’ve been put forward by corruptors who are behind the scenes. They put forward names of people who when checked won’t cause any problems. But once the activity starts and once the corrupt approaches start, we then normally can work out who these new owners are really connected to, who is behind it, and disrupt it.You also have to remember you get a lot of people prior to tournaments who pretend that they are involved in the tournament for the owners and still try and corrupt the players. So alongside corrupt owners, which does happen sometimes, are people who claim to be connected to the owners but they really are freelance corruptors who are claiming that connection just to get the player who has already been selected to do corrupt activity for them.Payments are offered, compromises are attempted. Even honey traps, which seems like something from the 1970s but very recently we dealt with cases with the use of a prostitute to compromise a player and then the corruptors move in the next day and try to get the person to work for them. I think perhaps reassuringly, the fact that we usually pretty quickly identify who the corruptors are, how they’re operating, which new phone they’ve got, which new name they’re using, means we tend to disrupt them and in recent franchise events we’ve snuffed it out just before the start of the event because we realised what was happening. In the Qualifiers in the UAE, we took that action just before the start of the event and we’re pretty certain we prevented corrupt activity from happening in that tournament.

“It goes back to the basic principle, which is to recognise that something about this doesn’t feel right. Reject it, if it’s a stranger bearing gifts, just start by rejecting it. Talk to your agent, talk to your manager, and then report it to us.”

You said before that when you identify higher risk players in teams, then you put extra resources in place. How do you define “high risk” or “higher risk”? It’s usually a combination of the interest in that team or those teams, the profile of the match or tournament, and then the susceptibility of the people taking part possibly because of low wages or they haven’t been paid recently. So when I talk about growth and development, which is what we all want, if you look at the women’s game for example, there was very little interest at one point in the women’s game. Clearly, interest has risen significantly recently. As you’ve seen its profile rise and more interest in the matches, that’s always then matched across in the betting market and therefore we finally saw the first proper corrupt approaches made to women’s players. Compared to trying to corrupt a top-level men’s game where the squad is really well-protected, they know everyone, they know what to look out for, you can’t just come in as a bat sponsor offering $10,000 because they’ve already got a bat sponsor offering $200,000.That’s just an example but Under-19 cricket, I’d say the same thing. As Under-19 cricket becomes more popular and the tournament gets more prominence, the corruptors will look for the most vulnerable teams taking part. Within the teams, anyone they might spot that they think will be susceptible to going out for a shopping trip and spending $2,000 on trainers and t-shirts, that might be enough with a 17-year-old who is very poor and its their first time away from home at an international event. It’s the same with Associate level cricket. If there is interest in the match, interest in the profiles of the teams, there will be a decent betting market. They then look for which of those players might be susceptible. In the UAE example, Naveed and Shaiman Anwar fit into that very well. They were late in their career. They’re about to retire. They were seen as worth approaching.Alex Marshall – “We currently have got 42 live investigations. In the last couple of years, we usually have between 40 and 50 live investigations”•Getty ImagesWhen you say ‘interest in a team’ or in a T20 franchise league, comparatively speaking the APL was happening at the same time as an Australia vs Pakistan Test match. Traditional metrics would indicate that interest would be more focused on a match between two highly ranked international sides. Yet, the betting volume for the APL was out of proportion dwarfing the Test match…But if you look at where the interest is in India which is the betting market that we’re talking, the APL was being broadcast in India. It was being done in the short form which is most popular and compared to a Test, with its evening short form matches the APL is a much more attractive option to the viewing audience. Therefore, they’re going to bet on it. Therefore, the bookies have got decent liquidity in the market. Therefore, it was worth approaching people in that tournament, and they did and we’ve still got investigations coming to an end from that event.They would seek broadcasts particularly in the subcontinent because of who they were getting to take part. So it already had a particular exposure on television in the subcontinent. But you then also have to look at…. corruptors like weak governance and they like chaos because it allows them in. They love franchise events where all the teams have not been sold with three weeks to go and the people running the event are desperate to secure the next owner or the next two owners at the last minute. So corruptors look for those opportunities and I’m afraid the APL is a very good example of poor governance, an appalling run event, dreadful accreditation and a whole host of other issues that just meant it was very attractive to corruptors.What kind of factor does that make in terms of it being easier to police or track movements at regional ICC T20 World Cup qualifier events?The qualifier events and regional events will all operate to ICC standards. They’re still much lower key events without the resources you would see in a global event. But nevertheless they will all have the Player and Match Official Area, which will be properly set out. There will be a form of security at the ground. There will be monitoring of those matches closely by us because we get alerts in the legitimate betting markets if anything strange is going on. There will be a proper match manager that we can talk to and understand where everyone is and that they’re all complying with the rules. Of course what you don’t have in these events are the franchise owners, which very often is the route in for the corruptors.What percentage of cases are linked to suspicious franchise owners?We currently have got 42 live investigations. In the last couple of years, we usually have between 40 and 50 live investigations. About half of those will be to do with franchise cricket and very often when it’s to do with franchise cricket, then it’s to do with owners – the real owners behind the front people who are put up as the owners – or people pretending to be a part of the ownership group who actually have nothing to do with the owners but they’re claiming an association to influence people. So quite a significant proportion of our live investigations is from that area.Associates are represented quite heavily across those 40 to 50 cases. But in a way we don’t spend too long saying, ‘This is franchise corruption’ or ‘This is Associate corruption’ because it’s the same corruptors. They just look for the opportunity and the ideal for them is to get a player compromised who is playing in franchise cricket and then two weeks later is playing in an international match. So they don’t make any distinction really. It’s about opportunity and risk for them.”As Under-19 cricket becomes more popular and the tournament gets more prominence, the corruptors will look for the most vulnerable teams taking part”•Afghanistan Cricket BoardFor Associate teams, a disproportionately significant number are made up of expatriates in their mid to late 30s with a prior professional career in their native country. Does that raise a red flag?What I would say is that the corruptors will look at what they believe to be the motivation of the people they are approaching. So if the corruptors think that someone’s sole motivation is money, whatever country they’re in is just to earn money and they have no particular allegiance, then certainly the corruptors think that person is more susceptible than someone who is not just playing. Among the Associates, there are plenty of countries where the players are amateurs, it’s costing them money to play for their country but they’re doing it because they’re very proud and they love the sport. If you look at it from the corruptors point of view, and I keep going back to the UAE players because there are some cases still coming through the system, it’s quite clear that the corruptors felt that they were motivated by money, some of them, and they felt it was worth approaching them.There was a recent article in , which mentioned that approaches have been made via Twitter or Instagram DMs. What kinds of things are key to reducing the risks to players at these ICC qualifying events?The way most players receive some form of approach is that it might start as someone pretends to be a fan, someone wants to be a new sponsor, someone wants to offer them a place in a franchise league. It’s very often via one of the social media channels. So part of the education we do is we play very up-to-date videos showing exactly how the corruptors are operating. An education for some of the top Associate members is not just about telling them what the anti-corruption code says.We show them a very professionally made video showing exactly how the corruptors are approaching people in the previous three to six months. We show them the pictures of those corruptors and we give them their names and aliases. Very often at the end of that session, one or two will come forward and say, ‘I had this strange message on Instagram from this guy who said he wanted to be my agent and you’ve just shown him in the slides.’ I can think of someone who says he’s an agent who has come up frequently, probably more than 20 times now, at those education sessions. By just sharing honestly with them the people who are likely to be approached by them – their pictures, names and aliases – very often someone will pick them out.”About half our investigations in franchise cricket have to do with suspicious owners – the real owners behind the front people who are put up as the owners”•Hindustan TimesSome of the players, particularly at the lower level, they haven’t really had much profile. The idea that they have people contacting them on social media is quite attractive. We build that into the education to help them try to protect themselves a bit more. It goes back to the basic principle, which is to recognise that something about this doesn’t feel right. Reject it, if it’s a stranger bearing gifts, just start by rejecting it. Talk to your agent, talk to your manager, and then report it to us.What else do you think is important for people to understand about these ICC events that comes from an anti-corruption perspective?We absolutely want to see a higher profile for Associate cricket. I think it’s coming and I think some of the pathway and qualifier events are going to be excellent cricket. I think new people will come through. Look at what has happened to some of these Afghan players who then got prominence and then are playing around the world. So I think it’s fantastically exciting that all that is happening. We just have to always remember that every bit of growth and development is also attractive to the corruptors. The integrity unit has to keep upping our game to make sure that we disrupt them from those forms of cricket in the way that I think we are actually pretty successful at disrupting and keeping them away from Full Member cricket.

Since the 2019 World Cup, poor selection decisions have seen players drift in and out of limited-overs squads, with few sticking around long enough to show results

Mazher Arshad06-Aug-2021Pakistan’s limited-overs squads have gone through numerous changes in the last couple of years. Since the 2019 World Cup, they have tried 27 players in 11 ODIs and 38 players in 34 T20Is (in the first seven of those game alone, there were 25 different players, and a change in captaincy, though the team was No. 1 in the T20I rankings at the time).Related

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A pattern has emerged of too many players being dropped after too few opportunities or despite producing decent results. Much of this has come during the tenures of Misbah-ul-Haq (September 2019 to December 2020) and Mohammad Wasim (since January 2021) as chief selectors.In that time Pakistan have still won more white-ball games than they’ve lost – their win-loss record is 22-18 – but it has been an uneven, unsettled ride.Below are some of the more difficult-to-explain selectorial decisions Misbah, who is also head coach, and Wasim have taken in that time.Khushdil Shah
Pakistan’s issues with finding a middle-order batter and finisher in white-ball cricket are well-known. They looked at Khushdil as someone who could fix those problems, but he was dropped after a single ODI, in which he scored 33 batting at No. 7 against Zimbabwe in 2020.Khushdil Shah played a solitary ODI, against Zimbabwe, and nine T20Is before he was dropped•AFP via Getty ImagesSince making his debut in 2016, Khushdil has scored 2225 runs in List A cricket at an average of 51.74 and a strike-rate 99.19. No middle-order batter in Pakistan’s domestic one-day game has more centuries than his eight in this period, and no batter from Pakistan has hit more sixes than his 94.He scored a 35-ball 100 in the National T20 Cup last year and is one of the most successful power-hitters from Pakistan in the last couple of seasons – since 2020, only Mohammad Hafeez, with 62, has hit more sixes than his 56 – but he was given only nine T20Is to prove his worth – too small a sample size to judge a batter whose role is to play high-risk cricket.ESPNcricinfo LtdUsman Shinwari
Shinwari is one of those players who, because of poor performances in one format, has been dropped from others – a recurring theme in Pakistan over the last few years. He does not have a great record in T20Is, and an economy of 10.37 in the last two PSLs didn’t help. But his ODI numbers are too good to be ignored – in 17 games he has claimed 34 wickets at an average of 18.61 and an economy of 4.94.Usman Shinwari hasn’t played an ODI since picking up a five-for in the series against Sri Lanka in 2019•AFPThat includes ten wickets in his last three ODIs alone, including 4 for 49 against Australia in Dubai in 2019, and a Player-of-the-Match effort of 5 for 51 against Sri Lanka in Karachi. Earlier that year he took four wickets in Pakistan’s win in Johannesburg. Most players doing this in a World Cup year could rightly dream of playing in the tournament, but Shinwari wasn’t considered.Even when Pakistan decided to drop Faheem Ashraf and Junaid Khan, who played against England in the five-match ODI series right before the World Cup, Inzamam-ul-Haq, the chief selector at that time, picked Wahab Riaz over Shinwari. Wahab hadn’t played an ODI in two years, while Shinwari had ten wickets in the last five ODIs before the World Cup, and two four-wicket hauls.ESPNcricinfo LtdHe was selected again by Misbah for Pakistan’s first ODI series after the World Cup and his five wickets in that first game back, against Sri Lanka, proved the selection right. After that, however, he played only one more ODI and then wasn’t considered for the next series, against Zimbabwe. That call was made ostensibly on his PSL 2020 performance, where he went wicketless in four T20s and conceded 11.45 per over.No Pakistan bowler has had a better average in ODIs than Shinwari in the last five years. Why he is hardly even in the conversation for a place in the ODI side is anybody’s guess.Despite an average of 50. 54 and a strike of 121.39 in the last three years, Imad Wasim has played only three ODIs since the 2019 World Cup•AFP/Getty ImagesImad Wasim

Although widely seen as a bowler, it is with the bat that Imad has excelled in ODIs. He has averaged 50.54 in the last three years with a strike rate of 121.39 – the third highest in the world after Jos Buttler and Glenn Maxwell (for batters with a minimum of 500 runs in that period).His average may be boosted by not-outs, but that indicates he is a much better batter than a regular No. 7 or 8, the two positions where he has mostly batted. No other player has averaged more at these two positions in ODIs in the last three years.ESPNcricinfo LtdGiven the evidence of an unbeaten 117 off 78 in a warm-up match against Kent before the England series in 2019 and the 49 not out in the World Cup against Afghanistan, there’s an argument that Pakistan could have promoted him to No. 6, considering they still haven’t found anyone for this role. Yet, after the World Cup, he played only three ODIs before being left out.Shan Masood has averaged over 80 in List A cricket for Pakistan in the last five years but has only made five ODI appearances•Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesShan Masood
The highest run scorer in List A cricket in the last five years in Pakistan – since 2016, Masood has scored 3376 runs at an average of 80.38, at a strike rate of 86.21, and hit 13 centuries – has played only five ODIs. Masood was picked for the series against Australia in the UAE before the World Cup in 2019 and was never considered again after.It is true that Pakistan’s current ODI openers, Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq, are doing a decent job (though the latter’s List A average and strike rate are lower than Masood’s) and their back-up, Abid Ali, has also proven his selection. But before the series against Zimbabwe in 2020, Pakistan picked a new opener, Abdullah Shafique, who had not played a single List A match. An uncapped List A player being selected for ODIs ahead of someone who is still only 31 years old and is averaging over 80 in the last five years? There are few better illustrations of the strange ways in which Pakistani selection operates.Abid Ali made a hundred on ODI debut, against Australia, in 2019 but wasn’t considered for the World Cup that year•Getty ImagesAbid Ali
Abid’s case is similar to Masood’s. Though his Test batting does not hint at it, he earned an ODI cap after good performances in domestic cricket. He scored 789 runs at an average of 65.75 in List A cricket in 2017-18, including a double-century. The next season, he scored 562 runs at 56.20 followed by a century against England Lions. Based on these performances he became a candidate to play in the 2019 World Cup and made his case even stronger with a century on ODI debut against Australia.After that century he played two more ODIs before Pakistan decided to leave him out of the World Cup, though he was supposed to be the back-up wicketkeeper to Sarfaraz Ahmed. He returned after the World Cup and was Player of the Match in his first outing, against Sri Lanka in Karachi. Two ODIs later, he was dropped despite his 234 runs in six innings at an average of 39.00 and a strike rate of 93.60, better than many current Pakistan batters.Danish Aziz played two T20Is and two ODIs before falling out of the reckoning•AFP/Getty ImagesDanish Aziz
While his overall white-ball numbers might not be impressive, Aziz was one of the best finishers in the 2020 National T20 Cup, where, he scored 220 runs for Sindh at an average of 73.33 and a strike rate of 154.92. The highlight was chasing 19 runs in the last over against Khyber Pakhtunwala. In the PSL recently in Abu Dhabi, Aziz was one six away from scoring Pakistan’s fastest fifty in T20s. In between he was given only two T20Is before being discarded from the national squads.It can be argued that it was wrong to pick him in ODIs in the first place but that he was dropped after only two games underlines that players are either getting selected without significant performances in domestic cricket or being dropped after getting too few chances.Muhammad Musa’s performance in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup carried him to the national squad, but he was dropped after two T20Is and two ODIs•Getty ImagesMuhammad Musa
Musa was one of the finest prospects to emerge from the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, where he took four wickets in the semi-final against India. He played two ODIs against Zimbabwe and took a wicket in his very first over. It wasn’t that he was only given an opportunity because Pakistan were testing their bench strength; he played against Australia too in T20Is, another format where he was dropped after two games.You could argue that his selection was premature, but three emerging fast bowlers – Shahnawaz Dahani, Arshad Iqbal and Mohammad Wasim Jr – have now suddenly risen above him in the pecking order. It says a lot about the current selection process, where the selectors seem easily swayed by performances in the most recent games they’ve watched, and go on to pick a new player to replace someone tipped for the same role just the previous season. For instance, it is tough to believe that Abdullah Shafique would have been selected had his hundred on debut in the National T20 Cup not been televised.Mohammad Amir: a victim of politicking?•Getty ImagesMohammad Amir
Amir’s current form in T20s – 22 wickets at an average of 44.54 and an economy of 8.27 in the last year – is poor, but that shouldn’t undermine his ODI record, where, in his last ten games, he has 21 wickets at an average of 20.42 and an economy of 4.76. This stretch includes the 2019 World Cup, where he was Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker, with 17 wickets.After the World Cup, he has only played two ODIs, in the home series against Sri Lanka, taking four wickets at an average of 17.75. Pakistan didn’t play another ODI for nearly a year, though Amir was part of Pakistan’s T20 squads that toured Australia in 2019 and England in 2020. He struggled on those trips and by the time of Pakistan’s next ODI series, against Zimbabwe in 2020, was out of favour.Should a player be dropped from ODIs for not performing well in T20Is? Admittedly, an ongoing spat with current management has also led to his continued exclusion. Amir retired from Tests after the 2019 World Cup. For a while that didn’t matter, as Pakistan continued to select him for T20Is. But a change in the team management’s stance has subsequently led to his exclusion from all Pakistan teams, based – according to Misbah – solely on his form. Not, clearly, his ODI form.

****

During his recent stint as batting coach, Younis Khan admitted that Pakistan’s selection policy is reactive to criticism on social and mainstream media. Pressure is built through these platforms to select players who are too raw, and expectations of them are so high that when they fail, they are buried. That goes for established players as well, and there are a couple of players who, given Pakistan’s recent selection track record, could be in trouble despite actually not performing that poorly.Despite a recent dip in form, Shadab Khan has been the leading wicket-taker in T20Is among spinners since his debut in 2017•AFP/Getty ImagesShadab Khan
There are two major factors behind Shadab’s dip in bowling form in white-ball cricket. The first is that he has been through a succession of injuries from which he has still not fully recovered. Second, he hasn’t played any international cricket in Pakistan or the UAE in 12 months.Since Shadab has played all his recent international cricket in England, New Zealand and South Africa – arguably the three most difficult places for spinners – he hasn’t been able to meet his initial standards. A case in point is the T20I series in New Zealand last year, where he went wicketless. In that entire series, Pakistan’s and New Zealand’s spinners together took only two wickets, while the seamers took 32. In the 2021 PSL after that, with nine wickets, Shadab was still the leading Pakistani wicket-taking spinner.Someone who is still only 22 and the world’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is among spinners since his debut in 2017, who adds depth to batting, and is the best fielder in the team, deserves some leeway given during a rough patch. Jasprit Bumrah, for instance, has only five wickets in his last nine ODIs at an average of 96.40 in the last couple of years but will still be one of the first names on India’s team sheet.Shadab’s T20I numbers are in line with most of his contemporaries since his debut – Ish Sodhi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adil Rashid and Tabraiz Shamsi. Only Rashid Khan has an exceptional record but he hasn’t played against Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa or Sri Lanka in this period.The same goes for Shadab in ODIs. He had the third best average among spinners in the 2019 World Cup and since then has played only seven ODIs (five of them in England and South Africa) with little success. It’s a small sample size, and because of where he has played, a skewed one, on which to write off a spinner. As an example, check Rashid Khan’s figures in the same World Cup – arguably the greatest spinner of this era, struggling in conditions that didn’t suit him, against a superior quality of opponent.Haris Rauf has 80 T20 wickets since 2020, the most of any fast bowler•Daniel Pockett/Cricket Australia/Getty ImagesHaris Rauf
Haris is the leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers in T20Is and T20s since 2020. In internationals he has 28 wickets at an average of 25.07, while overall in T20s he has 80 wickets at 23.20. That isn’t enough to shield him from severe criticism on Twitter and YouTube.Yes, his economy (8.94) is an issue, but he is only in his second year of international cricket, having been fast-tracked in. Anyone that raw and with the ability to bowl at 90mph is likely to be wayward at the start.ESPNcricinfo LtdHe has also shown that he is among the best bowlers in the death overs in T20Is, and it is the coaches’ job to define his role in the team and work on his areas of weakness, such as his middle-overs effectiveness, where he has only three wickets and an economy of 8.68.Even in ODIs, since the 2019 World Cup, no one has more wickets for Pakistan than him. These are decent numbers for a bowler who started playing professional cricket only three years ago and was picked for international cricket after four List A matches. None among Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan had ten wickets in their first eight ODIs, and Shoaib Akhtar had only 11. Trent Boult, currently the world’s top-ranked ODI bowler, had six wickets at 47.66 in his first eight ODIs.This not to say that Rauf is guaranteed a career like these players have had, but these numbers underscore that success has never come easy, not even for the greatest bowlers, and that you need to back talent to build a successful career.

One is inspirational, well respected, and will grow into a strong leader; the other is an ordinary, and unlucky, captain

Ian Chappell19-Dec-2021Despite the chaos caused by the Australia captain’s Covid close-contact disqualification from playing in the Adelaide Test, good captaincy will eventually be defined as “the job Pat Cummins does”.Imran Khan, a fine leader of the Pakistan side before he became prime minister, says in his book, “A good cricket captain must understand bowling.” Who better than Cummins – a top-class paceman – to understand bowling?He is also by far the most inspirational player in the Australia side, and even when he was replaced as captain this week, the team still played hard with thoughts of his reputation in mind.Related

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Cummins acquired the appropriate nickname Postman Pat before he was appointed captain. He is accorded this handle because he regularly delivers, often providing Australia with a wicket when it’s needed.There is a lot to like about Cummins’ appointment, and he certainly delivered in his first captaincy Test with a five-wicket innings haul at the Gabba.Will Cummins have days where it doesn’t all go exactly to plan? Too right – that is the life of a captain, and of any leader anywhere in the world. However, Cummins will improve as a captain because that is what good leaders do: they learn from their mistakes and try to avoid making them in the future.The one question Cummins can’t answer is how many Tests he’ll miss through injury or Covid regulations. His second-Test hiccup is one he will prefer to have avoided, but having to miss games is something you have to deal with.

Root is not an inspirational captain and this is indicated by the number of times his team work their way into a decent position but can’t finish the job

Cummins will become a really strong leader and elicit excellent assistance because he’s well respected. Eventually he will be ranked as a good leader for all occasions. A lot of that will be based on his calmness and common-sense thinking.What is the opposite definition of excellent leadership? There’s a good chance it can be summed up by Joe Root’s captaincy.Root is an excellent batter but a poor captain. It would not be unfair to describe him as an ordinary and unlucky captain. Rarely do you find a long-term captain who is lacking in imagination but is also lucky. A fortunate captain is usually lucky because the players believe he is some kind of miracle-worker and things tend to work out because of the team’s belief.It showed again at Adelaide Oval that misfortune follows Root’s team around. The England bowlers beat the bat regularly but had little to show for their honest toil. However, the England selectors’ tolerance of mediocrity was also on view when Jos Buttler, who is far from their best keeper, was again chosen and made yet more inexcusable blunders.No amount of blustering bluff at press conferences can cover up for the selection mistakes that have been made by England.It’s not that Root’s team dislike him – on the contrary – it’s just that he has taken so many poor decisions, they must be thinking, “Oh no, not again.”He is not an inspirational captain and this is indicated by the number of times his team work their way into a decent position but can’t finish the job. This happened again when, where after conceding 425 in Brisbane, England repeated their mistakes in Adelaide to leak 473 for the loss of nine. Another sign of Root’s inadequacy was the number of times he put an English fielder in a catching position following an uppish shot going to that area. A good captain – as Richie Benaud regularly said – is two overs ahead of the game, otherwise he’s behind in the match. A responsible leader has a team of competitors who want to play for their skipper.Root had to find a way to be ahead in the Adelaide Test if England were to surge back into the series. Unfortunately, they again let the opportunity slip with some questionable bowling and even more negative tactics. The dreaded conclusion; “Oh no not again,” is likely to be a regular comment while Root remains in charge.

Australia have qualified already, with South Africa, India, England and West Indies still in contention

S Rajesh22-Mar-2022
India
India’s convincing win against Bangladesh has not only lifted their points tally to six, but also pushed their net run rate (NRR) to a healthy 0.768, which is easily the best among all the teams in contention. That means India’s fortunes now rest in their own hands: if they beat South Africa on Sunday, then they qualify for sure, regardless of other results. Even if India beat South Africa by just one run after scoring 225, their NRR will be 0.656. Neither South Africa nor West Indies can match that if it comes down to NRR.If South Africa beat West Indies on Thursday, India can qualify even if they lose to South Africa and stay on six points. In that case, India, West Indies and New Zealand will all be on six points with England on eight, assuming New Zealand beat Pakistan and England win their last two games. India’s NRR should be enough to see them prevail over West Indies and New Zealand. For instance, if India, chasing 251, lose by 100 runs, and New Zealand score 300 and win by 150, then India’s NRR will be 0.363, and New Zealand’s 0.272.However, if South Africa lose to West Indies but beat India, then Australia, England, South Africa and West Indies could all finish on more than India’s six points.For West Indies to qualify, they will have to beat South Africa, who will in turn have to beat India•ICC via GettySouth Africa
West Indies’ defeat against Pakistan means South Africa should be through unless they suffer big defeats in their last two games. That is because West Indies can only get to a maximum of eight points, and among the five who can get there, their NRR will probably be the worst.For South Africa to be knocked out, they will have to lose their last two games by huge margins. If, say, they lose by a combined margin of 200 runs, with West Indies beating them by 100, then South Africa’s NRR will slip to -0.509, and West Indies’ will lift to -0.417. However, if the margins aren’t so big, then South Africa will still qualify as the fourth team behind Australia, India and England (if England win their last two) despite losing both their remaining matches.West Indies
For West Indies to qualify, they will have to beat South Africa, who will in turn have to beat India. In that case, India get eliminated, and Australia, South Africa, England – assuming they win their last two – and West Indies qualify.West Indies’ NRR is so poor that they will have no chance of qualifying with six points.Two wins for England against Bangladesh and Pakistan will confirm their qualification for the semi-final•Getty ImagesEngland
Two wins for England against the relatively weaker Bangladesh and Pakistan will confirm their qualification for the semi-final, given that their NRR is already impressive at 0.327. If they don’t take the full four points, though, then South Africa, India and West Indies could all finish ahead of them.Even if Bangladesh or Pakistan pull off an upset win, England’s NRR will still give them a good chance of qualifying if West Indies lose to South Africa and stay on six points.New Zealand
As mentioned earlier, even a 150-run win against Pakistan in their last match will only improve New Zealand’s NRR to 0.272, which will almost certainly be below that of India’s even if India lose their last game. With England’s NRR much higher too, New Zealand’s only chance is if South Africa beat West Indies, and England get no more than one point from their last two games. (Or if England get to six points with both their matches rained out, as the number of wins takes precedence over NRR if teams are level on points.) For all practical purposes, New Zealand can consider their home campaign over.Bangladesh and Pakistan have both had their moments in the tournament, but they are languishing on two points with poor NRRs. Given the quality of opposition they are up against, neither team has a realistic chance of going further in the tournament.

After a tepid home summer, the New Zealand seamer is focusing on growing his game further. He talks about being the fourth prong of a highly skilled attack

Alan Gardner30-May-2022Kyle Jamieson is a man of impressive numbers. His 6ft 8in frame, for a start, puts him among the tallest sportsmen who aren’t involved in the NBA. Then there is his Test bowling record. Since making his debut just over two years ago, Jamieson has taken 66 wickets at 18.72 in 14 Tests, striking once every 43.5 balls. Few among those who have taken a minimum of 50 wickets have combined such a low average with such a lethal strike rate in Test cricket since Sydney Barnes more than 100 years ago.You might also throw in the Rs 15 crore – that is 150,000,000 rupees, just over US$2 million – paid by Royal Challengers Bangalore to acquire Jamieson’s services in the 2021 IPL auction. Although nine wickets and an economy of 9.60 for that price tag were eye-catching for the wrong reasons. For now, the IPL remains unfinished business.None of these markers mean too much to Jamieson. “No, I’m not really a stats guy,” he says, long limbs squeezed into one of the white plastic seats in front of the pavilion in Hove. The ICC’s No. 5-ranked bowler, and self-described “fourth prong” of New Zealand’s Test attack, is staring out into the gloom that has descended on Sussex’s tight little ground, rain drumming intermittently on the roof, as he considers a series of questions about just how good he is, and just how good he be.Related

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“For me, that stuff sort of just happens, it comes and goes, and it’ll go up and go down over the course of my career,” he says. “If I’m trying to get better and learn and grow, those things are going to take care of themselves. I think sometimes that [your average] does measure where you are at but sometimes it doesn’t necessarily reflect that. You can be getting better and grow as a person, as a player, but it’s not necessarily reflected in the numbers.”It’s easy to see why people get excited by Jamieson, numbers aside. Despite being more of a batter while growing up, he has taken giant strides – quite literally – since he moved his focus to bowling in his late teens. Able to deliver the ball from a height of 2.3m, and to generate the sort of awkward bounce that makes playing forward an act of folly, Jamieson can also swing it both ways from a fuller length than most, all while generating speeds up to 140kph/87mph. Such a formidable array of attributes has seen him described as pretty much the perfect fast bowler.He chuckles wryly at that. While his height is simply a blessing of the genes – “I can certainly thank my parents for that” – there has been plenty of hard work put in since Dayle Hadlee, older brother of Richard, spotted Jamieson’s potential as a bowler ahead of the 2014 Under-19 World Cup.”I’m just trying to grow my game and I don’t think there’s any sort of perfect fast bowler,” Jamieson says. “There’s a lot of different guys that have done it a lot of different ways and been very successful for a long period of time. I’m just trying to grab little bits from those guys and add to my game, where it’s applicable, and try and get to my definition of perfect.”What would that definition be? “There’s a few little things that I’ll probably keep to myself,” he says with a smile. “But yeah, I have a pretty clear vision in my head around the cricketer I want to be. I’m just trying to chase that as much as I can. That’s what I’ll hang my hat on in the time to come.”