All posts by n8rngtd.top

Hits out at club for slow appointment process, claiming his candidacy was being treated as a backstop

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jun-2023Colin Graves has withdrawn his offer to refinance Yorkshire’s £14.9 million debt, and will not be returning to his former role of chair at the club after criticising the length of time it has taken to appoint a successor to Lord Patel, who stepped down in March.Graves’ family trust is owed approximately £15 million by Yorkshire following his bail-out in 2002, although the club has been looking at alternative sources of investment, with prospective names in the frame including Mike Ashley, the former owner of Newcastle United, and the Saudi national investment fund.Yorkshire are due to repay £500,000 to the Graves Trust in October, with the remainder of the balance due in October 2024, although Graves himself was understood to have reached an agreement with its independent trustees to extend the repayment terms by a further three years, in exchange for his return as Yorkshire chair.However, in a letter to the interim chair, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, and seen by the Telegraph, Graves has now withdrawn from that agreement in principle, with a broadside at the club for effectively using him as a backstop if they failed to secure the funding elsewhere.”After five months of constant discussions, interviews, exchange of emails, it would appear that your board only require my services as chairman as a last resort. Other excellent candidates have been rejected, in a process that has proven to be arduous and disappointing to all who participated,” he wrote.Yorkshire’s financial position remains parlous in the wake of Azeem Rafiq’s revelations about institutional racism at Headingley, and the subsequent withdrawal of a host of key sponsors at the height of the crisis. In a statement, the club responded that they were “disappointed” with Graves’ pronouncements, adding that his proposal had never been a definitive offer for formal board-level discussion.”We remain at a critical point in the future of Yorkshire County Cricket Club,” the statement read. “The board is squarely focused on securing the financial security of the club and we are continuing the positive conversations around investment from various sources.”We have been notified that Colin Graves has decided to withdraw his application for chair. We are disappointed that he has decided to do so publicly and are obliged to make it absolutely clear that at no point did Colin make a clearly defined, tangible offer that the board was able to consider formally, unlike other interested parties involved in the refinance process.”We have consistently outlined that the new chair would be appointed using a fair, thorough and robust process, which is ongoing. Colin indicated that the terms of his return as chair would require total control of the board and executive. This would run counter to that process, as well as the best practice governance requirements set out in the County Governance Code that were agreed by all counties in 2019.”Colin also makes a number of allegations about the board’s actions in regard to finances which are unfounded and indicate a distinct lack of understanding of the current position of YCCC. The short- and long-term financial wellbeing of the club remains the board’s priority, and we will not be distracted by speculation which is unhelpful to our primary objective of securing the future of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and making it a welcoming club for everyone.”

Fatima five-for restricts Ireland before batters complete comfortable chase

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Nov-2022Ghulam Fatima’s maiden ODI five-wicket haul backed up by half-centuries from Sadaf Shamas and Bismah Maroof helped Pakistan secure a comfortable five-wicket win over Ireland and complete a 3-0 series sweep in Lahore.Batting first, Ireland started strongly with Leah Paul and Gaby Lewis adding 84 runs for the opening wicket. Fatima removed Lewis, but Paul recorded her third ODI fifty to keep Ireland going. She got good support from Amy Hunter with the duo adding a 65-run stand for the second wicket.It was Fatima who once again broke the stand, getting rid of Hunter, whose wicket signalled an Irish collapse. Paul fell soon after for 65 while Orla Prendergast too did not last long as Ireland slipped from 149 for 1 to 161 for 4. There was brief resistance from Eimear Richardson, but once she fell in the 44th over to Fatima, the visitors lost their way again.They lost their last six wickets for 23 runs to be bowled out for 225 in 49.5 overs. Fatima with 5 for 34 was the star of the show with the ball.Pakistan’s chase then got off the wrong foot with both openers falling cheaply. Prendergast castled Muneeba Ali for 12 before Jane Maguire sent back the in-form Sidra Ameen for 10. However, Maroof and Shamas made sure the chase never got out of hand. Shamas, playing just her second ODI innings, recorded her maiden fifty while Maroof too chugged along.The duo added 124 runs for the third wicket in quick time before both fell in quick succession, but their stand had ensured the chase was on solid ground. While Shamas was stumped off Richardson for 72 off 80, Rachel Delaney brought about the downfall of Maroof for 57.There were no alarm bells for Pakistan though as Omaima Sohail, Aliya Riaz and Sidra Nawaz all chipped in to take their team over the line in 47.1 overs.Fatima was named Player of the Match while Ameen, having scored 277 runs in the three-match series, was named Player of the Tournament.

Georgia Elwiss, Emily Windsor add half-centuries to compound Blaze’s late-season struggles

ECB Reporters Network16-Sep-2023Southern Vipers won by 126 runs to send them through to next week’s Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy Final, pipping the Blaze, who had led the table all season in a winner-takes-all final game of the group stages at Loughborough.The South Coast team entered the last game, knowing a bonus point win would carry them through. The Blaze also knew a win would guarantee a place at Northampton next Sunday.The Blaze would have to reach a score of 231 even if they didn’t chase down the 289 they needed to win the game and take all other permutations out of the equation.Half-centuries from Georgia Elwiss (64), Emily Windsor (53) and Maia Bouchier (64), who recently scored 95 at Leicester for England in her first ODI series against Sri Lanka, underpinned Vipers’ total.On an overcast morning with the September dew still fresh on the outfield, it felt important to win the toss and bowl, which is what Kirstie Gordon, the Blaze captain, did and early on it looked like the correct decision. Kathryn Bryce and Grace Ballinger, who both who get a lot of early swing, kept the Vipers top order quiet. Ballinger made the early breakthrough in the second over, trapping Ella McCaughan lbw for a nine-ball duck.The experience of Georgia Adams and Bouchier steadied the innings; the pair added 102 for the second wicket and rarely looked in any bother, but with runs difficult to come by at the beginning, it took Bouchier 25 balls to find her first boundary. Four more fours and two sixes from the in-form international followed and both fell within 24 balls of each other, Bouchier to a fantastic low catch from Ella Claridge at a short midwicket that never rose above ankle height.Runs were flowing more freely, which gave the platform for Elwiss and Emily Windsor to up the scoring rate in a fourth-wicket partnership of 94. When the pair were separated with the score on 220 with 12 overs left, a total of 300 plus was on the cards. The Blaze fought back, howerver, and Ballinger, with two wickets in the 48th over, finished with 4 for 58; with Josie Groves, with 3 for 64, was the pick of the Blaze bowlers, while Kathryn Bryce’s ten overs were an economical 1 for 36.Where the Vipers had relied on two significant partnerships to propel them to their total, the Blaze lost wickets at regular intervals, with their running causing the fall of two wickets, albeit close calls for the umpire. However, a more obvious decision was not given as Kathryn Bryce struggled to reach her ground.Marie Kelly, recently back from the Caribbean Premier League, top-scored for the home side with 56 from 62, and Sarah Bryce added 62 for the second wicket from 85 balls. As Kelly completed her fifty from 52 balls, she pulled up with some discomfort in her back. Kelly was determined to continue, having previously been a thorn in the Vipers’ side. The Blaze needed her to bat deep, and unfortunately for the East Midlands outfit, she soon departed for 56 from Adams’s handy off-spin.
Mary Taylor, the 18-year-old seamer in her second spell, had Kathryn Bryce and Lucy Higham caught behind by Rhianna Southby as the Blaze crumbled to 156 for 8, 75 runs behind their target.It means the Blaze will play in the eliminator on Thursday knowing that they needed just one win from their final three games to qualify for the final, now having to pick themselves up to go again.

In only fourth match since taking the captaincy, Fatima Sana played a vital role with bat and ball

Valkerie Baynes03-Oct-2024At one point, it looked like Pakistan had no business escaping Sharjah with victory.All out for 116 in a lacklustre innings where no one passed captain Fatima Sana’s ultimately crucial 30 in 20 balls, as she batted down the order at No. 7, and losing opening bowler Diana Baig to injury one ball into their defence, Pakistan looked well out of the match halfway through.But Sri Lanka had no response to their spin attack led by offspinner Omaima Sohail, who proved particularly tricky, keeping the ball low and extracting plenty of turn in taking 2 for 17. Nashra Sandhu also took two wickets and fellow left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal three, while Sana’s medium pace yielded two in a standout all-round performance from the young skipper.Baig took no further part in the match after breaking down during her run-up with what appeared to be an injury to her right calf muscle, which was already heavily taped, and Sana stepped in to complete her over.Related

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Pakistan had already been without Baig at the previous T20 World Cup in South Africa early last year after she fractured her finger shortly before the tournament, but on this occasion Sana said she believed it was just cramp and “she will be okay in the next match”.”When I got the captaincy I decided that I will lead from the front, so that’s the main thing I did today,” Sana said. “Unfortunately we got the early injury, I was under pressure at that time but and Muneeba [Ali] and Nida [Dar] told me that you have to come and do your work and so that’s the main thing because our whole team is banking on it.”At the age of just 22, Sana took over from Dar as captain in August. This was just her fourth T20 match in charge.She may have been quick to credit Dar and Muneeba for their support, but Sana’s captaincy caught the attention of opposite number, Chamari Athapaththu.”I would like to congratulate Pakistan captain, Fatima Sana,” Athapaththu said during the post-match presentation. “She played really good cricket and she is always leading from the front.”Meanwhile, ‘who else besides Athapaththu?’ has been a question following Sri Lanka around for a while now, their skipper enjoying an extended streak of form dating back to mid-2023. Since her unbeaten 80 off 47 balls against New Zealand in Colombo in July last year, Athapaththu has scored 928 runs in T20Is at an average of 44.19 and strike rate of 136.47, compared to her career strike rate of 110.77.And while it looked like it might be asked once more whether she would prove the difference when she took three pivotal wickets for just 18 runs, in truth, Sugandika Kumari had already gone some way to answering it by removing both Pakistan openers inside the first four overs of the match. Sugandika later returned to remove Baig, the eighth wicket to fall.Athapaththu took a wicket in the powerplay and two more in as many balls as Pakistan stared down the prospect of being bowled out inside their 20 overs. They reached the end but only just as Udeshika Prabodhani – who also finished with three wickets – removed Sadia, caught by Gunaratne at mid-off, with the last ball of the innings.When Athapaththu effortlessly scythed Sadia’s third ball to the boundary through point, Sri Lanka fans could have been forgiven for thinking victory would be swift. But that feeling fell away in the third over of the run-chase when Sana struck, luring Athapaththu to attempt a lofted drive which went straight to extra cover.As Sri Lanka wickets steadily tumbled – only Nilakshika Silva (22) and opener Vishmi Gunaratne (20 off 34) reached double figures – the run rate never fired and what might have been had Athapaththu stayed in became a question once more.Vishmi admitted the Sri Lanka batters struggled with the low, slow Sharjah pitch and the lack of pace from Pakistan.”It wasn’t easy to adjust to the conditions,” she said. “It was low pitch and they didn’t give pace to us and it was very difficult after this.”Both sides will expect to face sterner tests in the coming days. Sri Lanka play defending champions Australia next, back in Sharjah on Saturday, and Pakistan will play India in Dubai on Sunday.

Bangladesh haven’t had a great run in ODIs lately but Shanto believes they are title contenders

Mohammad Isam12-Feb-2025Bangladesh haven’t had a great run in ODIs lately. In addition, they have little to no prep heading into the Champions Trophy 2025. But captain Najmul Hossain Shanto strongly believes Bangladesh are title contenders.”We are going to the Champions Trophy to become champions,” Shanto said. “All eight teams deserve to be champions in this tournament. They are all quality teams. I believe our team has the ability. No one will feel extra pressure. Everyone genuinely wants (to become champions), and believes in their capabilities. We don’t know what Allah has written in our fate. We are working hard and doing our best. I believe we can achieve our goal.”Since 2023, Bangladesh have lost 24 out of the 41 matches they’ve played, which includes series losses against Afghanistan and West Indies. Shanto, too, has not been in great form, as he is coming off an injury and a string of low scores in the Bangladesh Premier League [BPL]. He also hasn’t played international cricket since November after he missed the West Indies tour due to a hamstring injury. Bangladesh last played ODIs at the start of December in 2024, which they lost 3-0.Related

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Bangladesh will also be without senior allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, although his absence was along expected lines. He has been suspended from bowling in top-flight cricket due to an illegal action and recently failed a second independent assessment of his action. When asked whether Bangladesh would miss Shakib’s presence, Shanto said that the team does not linger on hopes of a miraculous Shakib comeback, adding that it was “irrelevant” to discuss the subject before the tournament.”Of course, we will miss him but I don’t know why this question is being asked,” Shanto said. “Everyone already knows the answer, and many players have said it before. Of course, we will miss Shakib . It would have been great if he were here. This question has been answered many times. I don’t think it’s relevant to talk about this before a tournament.”So who will take over Shakib’s role in the team? “Whoever gets the responsibility will have to play Shakib’s role,” Shanto said.There are a few more big names – like Litton Das and Tamim Iqbal – missing from the Bangladesh squad, but Shanto insisted that he was happy with his team. “I am very happy and confident with the 15 players in the squad,” he said. “Anyone who plays has the ability to win a match single-handedly.”Shanto also called for Bangladesh to asses the conditions quickly and raise their game by chasing and defending 320-plus totals. Bangladesh are set to play their first match against India in Dubai before facing New Zealand and Pakistan in Rawalpindi.”I expect the pitches in Pakistan to be 300-plus wickets. If we bat first, we need to put up such scores. Even while defending, we will need to defend such scores. In Dubai, conditions vary at different times. Still, I think scores will be around 260-280. It’s tough to predict exact numbers, but historically, that’s how it has been. We will analyse how many runs are needed on a given day or how many we need to restrict the opposition to.”Shanto also hopes his bowling attack, particularly the pacers, continue to give their best, and believes Bangladesh have a “balanced team”.”Not too long ago, we didn’t have quality pace bowlers, but now we have a strong pace bowling unit,” he said. “We didn’t have wristspinners before, but now we do. Overall, we have a balanced team. If everyone fulfills their responsibilities properly, we can defeat any team at any time.”

Olly Stone and Tom Helm are in contention for debuts with England possibly looking to rejig their attack in a bid to bounce back

Matt Roller23-Sep-20221:11

Moeen: ‘My over lost the game for us, it was a gamble from my part’

England are set to make “a couple of changes” in Friday night’s third T20I against Pakistan in Karachi, as they look to manage their squad through a hectic schedule of seven games in 13 days.They made one forced change for Thursday’s ten-wicket defeat as Liam Dawson replaced Richard Gleeson, who left the field in the first T20I after experiencing “some minor discomfort”, but are likely to shuffle their pack for the third game in the series.Related

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England fielded three left-arm seamers and three spinners in the second T20I and may look to change the balance of their attack, with Olly Stone and Tom Helm in contention for debuts. David Willey has struggled in this series, leaking 85 runs in 7.3 wicketless overs, while Luke Wood found his second international appearance significantly tougher than his first.”There will be a couple of changes tomorrow, with guys coming back,” Moeen Ali, the England captain, said. “We’re not sure exactly who yet, but it’s about coming up with ideas and different ways to get wickets. That’s the crucial thing when you get a big score: if you’re taking wickets, most of the time, you’re going to win the game.”I thought we bowled well. Dawson was fantastic today and bowled four really, really good overs. [But] I thought we could have done a lot more. Nobody really bowled a bouncer, and we could have tried a few more things. But we can learn from that.”England’s changes are likely to come in their bowling attack in the first instance, with Moeen suggesting that Will Jacks – one of two fit batters on the sidelines in the first two games, along with his Oval Invincibles team-mate Jordan Cox – would have to wait his turn.”When their chance comes they’ll get a go,” Moeen said. “You don’t want to just give people games because there’s a big reputation. They have to earn their spot. Alex Hales has come in, Phil Salt is opening, Jos Buttler still has to come in. Someone like Will Jacks will wait.”He’s a brilliant player, everybody in England knows that, and I’m sure you guys will see him at some stage on this tour. We’re going to change it up a little bit throughout these next five games because we want to give players some game time and there’s a lot of guys coming back from injuries.”Chris Woakes and Mark Wood are not expected to feature before the Lahore leg of the tour but have both bowled with good pace in training and in pre-match warm-ups, while Reece Topley could also come into contention as England look to ease him back from an ankle niggle.

Chances of a full game are high and Johannesburg typically has plenty for batters and fast bowlers

Firdose Moonda13-Dec-20233:55

Manjrekar: Would like to see Shreyas Iyer at No. 3

Big picture: India, SA and their T20 World Cup gains

And just like that, both teams best chance for T20 World Cup preparation on the international stage will come to an end, two days after it began. What’s been gleaned so far? Only as much as we could from 19.3 overs of India’s batting and 13.5 of South Africa’s, and which we can briefly summarise as this:

• Suryakumar Yadav and his shots over the wicketkeeper are among the most entertaining things in T20 cricket.
• Reeza Hendricks must open the batting for South Africa at the next T20 World Cup, irrespective of who his opening partner is.
• Tabraiz Shamsi has matured into a T20 banker, and
• Rinku Singh is winning the race as India’s finisher so far.

That’s not too bad for a series where the first match was washed out entirely and the second rain-affected.It also means we’ve yet to see a full T20 game and the big hope is that the Wanderers delivers one. Even if it does, neither side is at full strength and South Africa have reduced their stocks even further by releasing Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee to play in the domestic four-day game in preparation for the Tests later in the tour and will field an inexperienced pace attack. India are also without a key player as Deepak Chahar has remained at home for personal reasons. Both sets of seamers struggled for consistency in damp conditions at St George’s Park and will want to get their disciplines right in the decider. They need look no further than Mohammed Siraj, whose lines were exemplary, as an example.While the spinners were all impressive in Gqeberha, they are unlikely to find much assistance in Johannesburg and could end up being the main targets for batting line-ups that both have headline acts. Hendricks’ run of form sees him average 51.50 from his last 12 T20Is while Suryakumar and Rinku give India a powerful middle-order combination. All three of them might have the T20 World Cup in the back of their minds but India’s stand-in captain, for his part, isn’t saying so.”Go out and enjoy yourself,” has been his message to his players and with Thursday being the eve of the public holiday South Africa have declared to celebrate the Springboks Rugby World Cup win, who would dare to argue?

Form guide

South Africa: WLLLL (last five matches, most recent first)
India: LWLWW

In the spotlight: Matthew Breetzke and Yashasvi Jaiswal

In a truncated chase on Tuesday night, Matthew Breetzke was off to a sparkling start with 16 off 7 balls and showed good energy at the crease – almost too good. He was hasty in turning for a second run with his opening partner Hendricks still to leave the non-striker’s end and was visibly furious with himself when he was run out, squandering an opportunity to anchor a chase. He has one more chance to make a solid case for a more regular role at the Wanderers, where he will open for the final time in international cricket this year. Breetzke is not part of the ODI squad.Reeza Hendricks has been excellent for South Africa in T20Is this year•Getty Images

In the other camp, Yashasvi Jaiswal’s immense talent was limited to three balls in the opening match but he will be eager to show more of what he can do. With a reputation for aggression made perfectly clear by an eye-popping strike rate – 161.57 from his 14 T20Is so far – Jaiswal’s next challenge is to test it in South African conditions. Although he won’t be facing South Africa’s first-choice attack, there will still be plenty of pace, bounce and movement on offer and how he counters could make for an interesting contest.

Team news: New faces for South Africa?

With Jansen and Coetzee out, South Africa may find place for one, or both, of Nandre Burger and Ottniel Baartman to debut. Burger may edge ahead as he offers extra pace. Donovan Ferreira could also find his way into the XI, as an extra allrounder.South Africa (probable): 1 Reeza Hendricks, 2 Matthew Breetzke, 3 Aiden Markam (capt), 4 Heinrich Klaasen (wk), 5 David Miller, 6 Tristan Stubbs, 7 Donovan Ferreira, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Lizaad Williams, 10 Ottniel Baartman/Nandre Burger, 11 Tabraiz ShamsiGiven Chahar has not joined the squad in South Africa yet, if India want to make any changes, it’s likely to be in the batting and spin departments, rather than among the seamers. Ruturaj Gaikwad missed Tuesday’s match with illness and could come in for Shubman Gill if he has recovered. Kuldeep Yadav may make way for Ravi Bishnoi, even though conditions are unlikely to offer too much to either of them.India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad/Shubman Gill, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Arshdeep Singh, 9 Kuldeep Yadav/Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Mukesh Kumar

Pitch and conditions: Clear(ish) skies and a great game in the offing

The news everyone wants to hear is that the drizzle has drifted away and they’re mostly in luck. Thursday’s forecast for Johannesburg is clear for the late afternoon with only a 25% chance of evening thunderstorms. That means the chances of a full match are pretty good and the prospect of entertainment, even better.At altitude, expect the ball to reach the boundary quicker but with good pace and bounce, there should be plenty for the quicks as well.

Stats and trivia: Runs, runs and more runs

• Hendricks is South Africa’s leading run-scorer in T20I cricket this year, with 108 runs more than his nearest competitor, Aiden Markram.
• For India, Suryakumar leads the batting charts, and has 363 runs more than the next highest run-scorer Jaiswal. Suryakumar also broke into the all-time top 10 six-hitters’ list in T20Is after Tuesday match. He has 115 sixes to his name.
• The Highveld has been spectacular for T20I run-scoring this year. In March, Centurion’s SuperSport Park hosted the game with the highest match aggregate – 517 – between South Africa and West Indies. And two days later, the Wanderers saw the 16th highest match aggregate of 433 reached in a thriller between the same two sides.
  

  Quotes

  “Rob has made the environment a lot more relaxed. He has made the guys be themselves. We are human beings. He has let us have bad days. He has allowed our families in. A lot of the guys are husbands and fathers, so that’s important. That happiness that the guys have makes us play better.”
  “For every series, I was preparing for the conditions. If you see, West Indies was a bit on the slower side, and if you see Ireland, [the pitches] were similar to South Africa wickets, it was a bit bouncy and seaming a bit. We were preparing according to the [conditions] and we are India. So, it has been a great experience and great learning.”

Revised schedule finally released with less than two months to go before the start of the tournament on October 5

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Aug-2023Nine matches in the upcoming ODI World Cup have had their dates or start times changed, the ICC has finally confirmed, including the India-Pakistan fixture in Ahmedabad, which will now be played – as reported earlier by ESPNcricinfo – on October 14 instead of October 15. The changes were confirmed by the ICC with less than two months to go before the start of the game’s showpiece event.Pakistan, Bangladesh and England are the most affected: while three games of Pakistan have been shifted, Bangladesh and England have had two changes each in their schedule, aside from having their originally-planned day-night fixture on October 10 converted to a day game. As a result of the change in the India-Pakistan game, Pakistan’s match against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has been moved from October 12 to October 10, to give them an adequate gap leading into their India match.But the Australia-South Africa match in Lucknow has also been brought forward a day and will take place on October 12 instead of October 13. The England-Afghanistan game in Delhi, which was originally scheduled for October 14, will be played on October 15. New Zealand’s match against Bangladesh in Chennai has been changed from a day game on October 14 to a day-night fixture on October 13.The double-header scheduled for November 12 – Australia vs Bangladesh in Pune and England vs Pakistan in Kolkata – will now be played on November 11, following concerns raised by Kolkata police to the Cricket Association of Bengal about holding a match on the same day as the Hindu festival of Kali Puja.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The league stage of the World Cup will now end with India playing Netherlands in Bengaluru on November 12, instead of November 11.
The World Cup starts on October 5 with defending champions England taking on New Zealand in Ahmedabad, and culminates in the final on November 18, also in Ahmedabad. The semi-finals will be played in Mumbai and Kolkata on November 15 and 16 respectively. The ICC also announced that tickets for the event will go online from August 25.The schedule of the 2023 ODI World Cup was released after a long delay on June 27, just 100 days before the start of the tournament on October 5 in Ahmedabad, whereas the schedules for the last two tournaments in Australia and New Zealand (2015) and England and Wales (2019) were out more than 12 months in advance.It later emerged that the local police in Ahmedabad had raised concerns over providing adequate security on October 15, the original date of the India vs Pakistan game, which is also the first day of Navaratri, a major, nine-day Hindu festival.Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, had, however, dismissed that as the reason. “If security was an issue then why would the match go there [to Ahmedabad] – 14-15 is not the problem,” he had said after a BCCI meeting on July 27. “Two or three boards have written in, asking to change based on the logistical challenges. There are some matches where there is only a two-day gap, so it will be difficult to play and then travel next day [and then play again].”

Jon Filby says non-Test grounds will seek independent financial advice over Hundred future

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2024Sussex’s chairman has insisted that the prospect of the biggest counties launching a breakaway league to replace the Hundred is “completely not to be feared” and is not a realistic outcome from discussions over the tournament’s future.The ECB and the 18 first-class counties (plus MCC) have met regularly in recent weeks to discuss the details of proposed changes to the Hundred’s ownership model. There is broad agreement that the eight teams should be opened up to private investment, with 51% of shares being transferred from the ECB to the host county (or MCC) and the other 49% sold, with revenues distributed across the game.But the counties have not yet agreed on the way those revenues should be shared. The ECB initially asked counties to agree on a general direction of travel by May 10, but the 11 non-host counties are collectively seeking independent advice which could delay the process significantly.”The non-host county position is that, as in any financial arrangement of this type – and you’re talking hundreds of millions of pounds – that we would have our own proper, impartial advice and that’s what we’re now seeking,” Jon Filby, Sussex’s chairman, told the BBC’s podcast. “We’ll get that and then I’m sure a deal will very quickly follow.”The published excerpts of a leaked email from Richard Gould, the ECB’s chief executive, to counties on Tuesday in which he warns: “Neither current hosts nor current non-hosts are particularly enamoured with the capital structure of the deal… if we lose momentum now then parties will simply be arguing for a larger percentage of a rapidly shrinking pie.”Related

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Filby added: “I think it’s very important that we’re not rushed into it, but equally, I understand that there is a window of opportunity to get a clear position on this by the time that the Hundred comes around towards the end of this season, and that can then be a shop window for that competition. I get all of that, and I’m sure we’re on track for that.”The prospect of a breakaway by the Hundred-hosting counties has reportedly been raised, with the existing framework agreement expiring at the end of the year. Sean Jarvis, the Leicestershire chief executive, told ESPNcricinfo last week that English cricket was facing “our Premier League moment” and said that “it’s the top six or seven clubs that call the tune”.But Filby said that the non-hosting counties should hold firm. “I think a breakaway’s completely not to be feared,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll happen. Who do the teams think they’d play against, and who do they think would play for them? I don’t think it’ll happen, no.”

Overseas signing grinds out final-day run chase to keep new side in title hunt

David Hopps22-Jul-2022Surrey have not quite disappeared over the horizon as far as the Championship race is concerned. Lancashire are clinging on grimly thanks to a hard-earned four-wicket victory against Northants which was all the more redoubtable considering the disappointment around the club following their extraordinary last-ball defeat in the final of the Vitality Blast a few days earlier.That they saw things through when faced with an uncomfortable chase of 278 was primarily due to four players who were not part of the Edgbaston agony – Josh Bohannon and Tom Bailey with bat and ball respectively, and Washington Sundar – on his Lancashire debut – and Will Williams, who followed up decisive bowling returns with an unlikely alliance with the bat.Washington and Williams ground out an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 69 in 27 overs to secure victory on the stroke of lunch. Washington, the India allrounder, has excellent batting pedigree, but Williams had only appeared at No. 7 as a second nightwatcher the previous evening and he stuck around with impressive obduracy as Lancashire, five down overnight, chipped away the last 86 runs they needed with efficiency and commonsense.Related

• Matt Milnes stars as defending champions Warwickshire slide to heavy defeat

• Surrey consolidate top spot after Overton's 'day-hawk' gambit

• Bohannon rediscovers form to put Lancs within reach

• Vasconcelos steps down as Northants captain after four months

• Williams ends Canterbury career to sign up with Lancs as a local

“It’s been a great start for Washington, superb,” said Lancashire’s head coach Glen Chapple . “I’m really pleased for him. He’s been desperate to come over and play English cricket. He bowled superbly well in the first innings and played with assurance and quality.”The easy way for Lancashire to have won it would have been for Bohannon, 92 not out overnight, to reach his hundred and then embark on a series of confident blows. Bohannon reached his hundred, settling in by steering the first legitimate ball of the day, from Sanderson, to the third man boundary and, on 99, clipping Jack White just wide of the diving Emilio Gay at short midwicket.But he fell two balls later, seeking to run White behind square and picking out the diving Will Young, who pulled off a stunning one-handed catch at gully. He had not seen it through but once victory was secured, he could take pleasure not just in an overdue return to form but the knowledge that he had played the central innings in Lancashire’s victory.At 209 for 6, still 69 short, Lancashire looked vulnerable. Throughout the match, the pitch had offered bowlers of all types assistance and they responded grindingly. Williams was a picture of self-denial. He remained strokeless, on 2 not out, for the first 50 minutes of the day. But Ben Sanderson was more wayward than is his habit and his most stray offering, an inviting half-volley down the legside, finally drew Williams into a glanced boundary.Will Young, the New Zealand batter, has taken over the Championship captaincy after the resignation of Ricardo Vasconcelos after barely four months in charge. Vasconcelos himself was an emergency appointment after Adam Rossington left the club in pre-season in an argument about his fitness levels. Northants’ head coach John Sadler said that he thought “Young captained great this game,” which is a good thing because you wouldn’t want four in one season.Young put his faith in seam, even though the ball was also turning. Lancashire’s target had been trimmed to 53 before Simon Kerrigan’s left-arm spin was introduced, but he rarely looked dangerous, even if he did tempt Williams into a couple of failed square cuts. Rob Keogh soon joined him, but when the offspinner’s first ball turned so sharply that it was given as a wide, he was so mystified that he never looked as dangerous again.Northants took the new ball with 25 needed, but it only quickened Lancashire’s path to victory. Washington twice cut boundaries off Sanderson, so often Northants’ inspiration, but not today. All that was left was for Williams to middle a cut shot against Kerrigan, who had been given the new ball in a final gambit, and he did just that to cries of satisfaction from the Lancashire dressing-room balcony.