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Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, is not getting ahead of himself despite his side’s powerful position in the second Test against West Indies

ESPNcricinfo staff24-May-2011Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, is not getting ahead of himself despite his side’s powerful position in the second Test against West Indies. Pakistan need only five more wickets to beat West Indies and level the series 1-1, while the hosts require 297 runs for an unlikely victory, or to bat all day to salvage a draw.”Until the time you’ve taken the last wicket, the match is still not finished,” Misbah said after stumps on the fourth day in St Kitts. “It’s a game of cricket and you have to finish the game otherwise it’s really half the job done.”Pakistan had Misbah to thank for giving them an excellent chance at victory, after he and Taufeeq Umar both made centuries in the second innings. It was Misbah’s third Test hundred and he was unbeaten on 102 when he declared with a lead of 426, a fine effort for a 36-year-old in his sixth Test as captain.”It’s really, really good to have a hundred, especially when you are captain,” Misbah said. “For your own confidence and for the sake of the team, it’s really important that the captain chips in and perform at all stages in the game.”West Indies made a poor start to their chase, with two of the top four out for ducks, and by stumps they were 130 for 5 and relying heavily on the vice-captain Brendan Nash (30 not out) to salvage something on the final day. Abdur Rehman caused the biggest problems with three wickets, all of which came soon after the tea break and shattered West Indies’ hopes of ending the day in a reasonable position.”At tea, my coach [Waqar Younis] and my captain came to me and said, ‘Go back there and go back to your normal bowling,” Rehman said. “Don’t give them flight, just tight, tight, contain and you’ll get the wickets’.”To rescue West Indies, Nash will need not only a major innings himself but also help from the lower order, including Carlton Baugh (7 not out) and the next man in, the captain Darren Sammy. West Indies won the first Test in the two-match series.

Andrew Miller presents the highlights from the fourth day at Lord’s as Tamim Iqbal captivates the crowd with a brilliant hundred and Jonathan Trott claims a vital first Test wicket

Andrew Miller at Lord's30-May-2010Celebration of the dayIt was Michael Slater who first dispensed with decorum at Lord’s when, in 1993, he punched the air and kissed the crest of his Australia helmet after reaching his maiden Test hundred. Today, Tamim Iqbal carried that exuberance an extra yard or 20. Having cavorted through the nineties in a calculated assault on Tim Bresnan, he secured Bangladesh’s first Test century at the home of cricket with a dismissive smack back over the bowler’s head, whereupon he hurtled almost to within touching distance of the dressing-room balcony, and pointed to the back of his shirt as if to tell his team-mates to get on with the business of sticking his name up on the honours-board. Clearly, in his excitement, Tamim forgot that his name only appears on his back in ODI and Twenty20 contests, but after racking up a sublime century from 94 deliveries, he might as well have been playing limited-overs.Shot of the dayThere were so many to choose from, most of them audacious and nearly all of them impeccably timed, but nothing confirmed the presence of a rare talent quite like the short-arm pull with which Tamim rifled Steven Finn through midwicket for four. The shot was the third of three fours in a row, and whereas the first two were based entirely on bravado – a bludgeoning drive and a streaky edge – this was an emphatic stamp of class. The ball was short and rose steeply, but Tamim rocked back with his weight perched daintily on one leg, a la Brian Lara, and all that remained was for the fielders to whistle in admiration.Acceleration of the dayThroughout their alliances at the top of the Bangladesh order, Tamim and Imrul Kayes have been like the hare and the tortoise – only without the twist to the end of the fable. Until this Test, Kayes’ highest score in 22 Test innings had been a measly 33, and it was to his great credit that the lure of Lord’s brought him out of his shell. After a first-innings 43, Kayes was briefly the pacesetter in the follow-on, as he hustled along to 48 from 71 balls, with Tamim trailing in his wake on 37 not out (albeit from just 44 balls). But then, while Kayes fretted over his landmark, Tamim went into overdrive, adding 40 runs to his total from 27 balls before his partner could notch up his fifty.Over of the dayAs England discovered to their frustration on Friday, their attack was pretty toothless when the sun broke through the clouds. So, when Andrew Strauss turned to his spinner, Graeme Swann, at 102 for 0 in the 22nd over, he did so in the knowledge that he was running short on options. Tamim’s response was to batter England’s Player of the Year into submission from the word go. The first ball was a mistimed charge that telegraphed his intent; the second ball was belted high and handsomely into the Mound Stand for six. A brutal drive for four came next, and then it was down onto one knee once more, for another scintillating slog-sweep over the ropes. Seventeen runs were swiped from the over, as England’s toils continued.Breakthrough of the dayJonathan Trott once claimed career-best bowling figures of 7 for 39 – unfortunately the horse (Kent on that occasion) had already bolted by the time he was called into the attack, with his first wicket coming at 534 for 3. He’d have been forgiven for feeling a similar sense of foreboding when Andrew Strauss threw him the ball as a last resort this afternoon, with Bangladesh cruising on 265 for 2. But in a diligent spell of wicket-to-wicket medium-pace, Trott throttled the run-rate and made the incision, as Jahurul Islam inside-edged into his pads, for the bowler to snaffle a sprawling chance in his followthrough.Cameo of the dayMohammad Ashraful could not have hoped for friendlier conditions as he walked out for his second innings of the match. The ground was lit up by late-evening sunshine, his top-order colleagues had demonstrated beyond any doubt the absence of malice in the pitch (and the opposition, for that matter), and as for the Lord’s faithful, they were bound to be predisposed to a player whom they still recall and revere for his Aussie-toppling innings at Cardiff in 2005. Sure enough, he notched his first boundary from the third delivery he faced, then added three four in the space of eight deliveries, including a sumptuous uppercut to deflect Finn through third man. Alas, it was not to last. Jimmy Anderson, armed with the new ball, tied him down in a tight and threatening over, before inducing a nick through to Matt Prior.

Pacy Filer in the wickets, but Sciver-Brunt and Gardner looked to have done enough to win

ECB Media29-Jul-2024Manchester Originals held their nerve with ball in hand to defy a record partnership between Nat Sciver-Brunt and Ash Gardner and take the victory at Emirates Old Trafford in The Hundred.Sciver-Brunt (56 not out) and Australian all-rounder Gardner (36) combined for a record fourth-wicket partnership of 86 and looked primed to take Trent Rockets over the line, but with three balls left and victory in sight Kathryn Bryce dismissed Gardner to drag the game back in the home side’s favour.Ultimately Sciver-Brunt needed a final-ball boundary to win the game, but could only manage two.Bryce’s momentum-swinging intervention rounded off a team performance for Manchester Originals, who would have been happy to post 137 for 6 on a slow pitch after being asked to bat first.Eve Jones (34), Beth Mooney (24) and Bryce (32) herself were the mainstays of their effort – their highest total since 2022 – and once again captain Sophie Ecclestone added late momentum with a powerful five-ball 13.Early wickets in Trent Rockets’ reply from the pacy and impressive Lauren Filer saw the Originals ahead of the ledger as far as WinViz was concerned, but once Sciver-Brunt and Gardner came together the Rockets appeared increasingly comfortable despite the rising run-rate.When Sciver-Brunt hit Ecclestone for two fours within the final 15 deliveries, she appeared to have done enough to make it two wins from two for her team but Bryce and the Originals had the final say to get off the mark in the fourth year of The Hundred.Meerkat Match Hero Filer said: “It was a real team performance today. Everyone did their job and it’s just so good to get over the line.”The pitch is actually a bit slower than last game. We batted very, very well on it and we thought it was a good total.”We talked about doing the simple things for longer and nailing our skills, and I think we did that today.”

Prolific Championship run-getter unlikely to find a way into Ashes shake-up

ECB Reporters Network05-May-2023Sam Hain passed fifty for the third time in five innings this season as Warwickshire continued to dominate Hampshire in the LV= Insurance County Championship.Hain began the season with centuries against Kent and Somerset and returned to form after a quiet match against Surrey with a faultless 85.
Hong Kong-born, Australian-raised Hain captained England Lions in Sri Lanka during the winter, but a hamstring injury scuppered his chance to train with the Test squad in the UAE before the tour to Pakistan. He instead busied himself at the Big Bash.A call-up for the Ashes is unlikely, despite his form, with just Josh Bohannon ahead of him in the Division One scoring charts this season. He has 382 runs at an average of 95.5.Hampshire had found hope with three wickets in a truncated morning session to fashion a collapse from 83 without loss to 95 for 3, but half-centuries for Alex Davies, Ed Barnard, and Michael Burgess accompanied Hain. Barnard, in particular, ground the hosts down to end the day on a stylish unbeaten 91.Warwickshire on 364 for five, hold a lead of 135 – although forecast rain on Saturday may thwart their chances of a victory that, if gained, would represent a significant recovery after their defeat against Surrey at Edgbaston last week.Hain’s stock has been rising for several years, having burst onto the scene with a double-century in his debut season in 2015 – where he averaged over 50. He was the third-leading run-scorer in Division One last year, with 1137, and since the start of the 2019 no one has scored more runs in the Championship (and Bob Willis Trophy) than Hain.Against Hampshire’s Keith Barker-less attack, he found a perfect adagio tempo where he carefully went about his work, having arrived at the crease in the middle of a top-order hiccup.Rob Yates and Alex Davies had negotiated the evening session of the first day flawlessly to compile 82 runs but were separated within three legal deliveries of the morning when Yates lobbed a caught and bowled back at Kyle Abbott. Davies reached his 44th first-class fifty with a slap through the covers, but perished three balls later when Mohammad Abbas nipped one back into his pads.Only seven overs were possible before lunch but Will Rhodes becoming the third victim – leg before to Abbott.Hain settled things after lunch. For large periods you wouldn’t notice him, and then he’d force your attention with an impeccably timed shot. His cover drive to take him to a 110-ball fifty was the undoubted highlight.Mousley stuck with him for just over an hour and a half in a 69-run stand before he was lbw, swinging across the line to Ian Holland.
Holland also produced a rare misjudgement from Hain to be caught behind – a decision which appeared to disappoint the batter.Barnard had put on 86 with Hain, as Warwickshire strode into a first-innings lead and to a batting point, and reached his maiden half-century for the county after his winter move from Worcestershire.

Heartbroken batter wants to stay with the team and play their final Ranji Trophy league match on March 3

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Feb-2022Baroda batter Vishnu Solanki has decided to carry on playing the Ranji Trophy despite the heartbreaking loss of his father and his day-old daughter in a span of two weeks.On February 11, while in quarantine in Cuttack with the rest of Baroda squad, Solanki received the news that his wife had given birth to a girl. Being a first-time parent Solanki, 29, was ecstatic. The batter had made headlines in the 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy when he hit 16 runs off the final three balls of the quarter-final to stun Haryana in a photo finish. He was ready for the Ranji Trophy, which had returned after a hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.However, on February 12, Solanki was woken up close to midnight by the Baroda team manager Dharmendra Arothe, who told the player that his day-old daughter had died. The next day, a distraught Solanki packed his bags and flew back home. He missed Baroda’s first match of league phase, against Bengal, which was played between February 16 and 19.Solanki returned to Cuttack on February 17 to prepare for Baroda’s second match, against Chandigarh. Having swallowed the pain of his newborn’s death, Solanki showed even greater powers of resilience by scoring an unbeaten 103 at the end of the second day of the match.”He said he had dedicated the century to his daughter,” team manager Arothe told ESPNcricinfo on February 25. Solanki did not even get to hold his little girl while she was alive.Then, on Sunday morning, Solanki was once again struck by tragedy. Around 8.40am, Arothe received a call that said the player’s father had died. With the match, in its final day, starting at 8.45am, Arothe relayed the information initially to Baroda captain Kedar Devdhar via Ninad Rathwa, the 12th man. Rathwa, who is a good friend of Solanki, then told him the news and watched him leave the field. According to Arothe, Solanki’s dad, who was 75, was ailing for a while and in hospital for about two months.Chandigarh and Baroda wore black arm bands on Sunday. The match referee Amit Pathak also gave Solanki permission to use the phone in the dressing room to talk with his family. “He saw the funeral of his dad virtually from the dressing room,” Arothe said. Both teams along with the match officials also observed two minutes’ silence in the memory of two family members Solanki had lost.The Baroda Cricket Association has promised him all the help he might need, including flying him back home, but Solanki informed the team management he wants to stay and play their last league game of the season, against Hyderabad, starting on March 3.Former Mumbai captain and current BCA chief Shishir Hattangadi paid tribute to Solanki, tweeting, “A story of a cricketer who lost his new born daughter a few days ago. He attends the funeral and gets back to represent his team to get a hundred. His name may not make social media ‘likes’, but for me #vishnoosolanki is a real life hero. An inspiration!”

Tasmania face a tough task to save the game on the final day after Neser continued his fine start to the season

Andrew McGlashan12-Oct-2020Whether Michael Neser ever earns the Test cap that he surely deserves will probably be less about what he does and more about whether injuries or loss of form afflict those ahead of him. However, he can’t do much more than the last three days against Tasmania, where he followed his 5 for 32 with a maiden first-class century as Queensland pushed for victory.It was the first time since Mitchell Johnson in 2010 that a Sheffield Shield player had taken a five-wicket haul and score a hundred in the same game – and extraordinarily it would be followed an hour later by Ashton Agar in the game on the next-door ground.Neser was first included in a Test squad for the trip to the UAE to face Pakistan in 2018 then was part of the 2019 Ashes party before being ever-present in squads last summer against Pakistan and New Zealand yet he still waits for that debut with Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson in the incumbents.If that changes this summer against India remains to be seen, but more performances like this will provide food for thought for the selectors – and not just for his strongest suit with the ball. A first-class batting average of 24 with 11 fifties (and a List A high score of 122 off 81 balls in 2017) before today showed that he was more than useful – he has a technique and the time to play the ball comparable with top-order players – his century against Tasmania was an innings full of command and control.Neser’s innings started in the final over of the second day and he was soon into his stride on the third morning before Jimmy Peirson became the dominant partner in a seventh-wicket stand of 86 which knocked the stuffing out of Tasmania before ending when Piersen was caught low down in the gully.Mark Steketee (23) provided good support in a stand of 58 but when Neser was joined by No. 11 Mitchell Swepson he was on 88. A boundary off Riley Meredith took him into the 90s then Swepson survived an over from the part-time left-arm seam of Jake Doran to allow Neser a dip at the century.He did not waste any time, swatting consecutive short deliveries from Meredith over midwicket, the second greeted with a loft of the arms and the bat as he reached his hundred from 156 balls comfortably eclipsing his previous first-class best of 77. There was further merriment until he finally slogged one in the air against Beau Webster.Neser could not add to his wicket tally during the final session, but Queensland chipped away at the Tasmania top order. Alex Doolan edged a drive to slip, Charlie Wakim played over a full delivery from Swepson – who bowled an impressive 11-over spell for 15 runs – and Ben McDermott edged behind as they stumbled to 3 for 60.

The PCB has changed the domestic structure of Pakistan cricket once more, but this time really is different

Umar Farooq16-Jul-2019So the domestic structure is being revamped again? Imagine my surprise!Well, yes, but this one might be different? Historically, the PCB has been revamping its domestic circuit every other year. The format of the first-class tournament has been tweaked with regions and departments playing separately one season and together another, like an on-off soap opera relationship. The number of teams participating has been the focus of fierce discussions, with the final number so exotically varied over the years it might as well have been picked randomly; they have ranged from eight in one season to as high as 26 in another.

Domestic cricket structure

• Quaid-e-Azam Trophy first-class for six teams

• Non first-class tournament for six 2nd XI teams

• National T20 Cup for six teams playing first-class cricket

• T20 Cup for six 2nd XI teams playing non first-class cricket

• Pakistan One Day Cup for six teams playing first-class cricket

• One Day Cup for six teams playing non first-class cricket

• Three-day tournament for six provincial U-19 teams

• One-day tournament for six provincial U-19 teams

• National inter-city championship among six champions teams of each champion city of each provincial cricket association

• Intra-city cricket championship within each provincial cricket association

• Club cricket tournaments at each city falling under the domain of each provincial cricket association

But this time – and don’t we always say that? – it might be different. The entire structure – if you could call it a structure – has been effectively dismantled, on the insistence of the current prime minister Imran Khan. With him also being the patron in chief of the PCB, this newer model, which he had passionately championed, looks set to be given a trial run starting this winter.So you’re saying this time there’s an actual change? I’ve been fooled before – anything I should be remotely interested in?Well, at the risk of sounding drastic – and when have we ever been accused of that in Pakistan cricket? – the entire pathway for a player making his way to the national team has been overhauled. Departments like HBL and Sui Gas – mainstays of the domestic scene and dominant forces in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy – which have been operating since 1972 – have been snipped out of domestic cricket altogether, with regions set to take centre stage, much as they do in domestic cricket across several major Full Member nations. Put simply, there will be six provincial teams It’s more simplified than ever. There will be a model of 6 provincial teams playing every form of cricket on the domestic circuit.Six? Like just half a dozen?Yep, that’s about the size of it. Pakistan is divided into four provinces – Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, along with two autonomous territories (Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan) and one federal territory (Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan).The new cricket domestic structure splits the teams along provincial lines. Punjab is the largest province with over three-fifths of the population residing there. The sheer size of it (Punjab’s population alone is twice that of England’s) means the PCB has decided to split the province itself into two, Central Punjab and South Punjab. Sindh, Balochistan and KPK will have one team each while Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and Islamabad will have one association.There is, in theory anyway, a structured pathway for the players in each region. Players will have to compete and perform at club cricket to get selected for respective city teams in the province. There will be intra-city cricket tournaments in six provincial cricket associations from which six respective provincial teams will be selected by the provincial selection committees based on the performance of players in these tournaments.The intention is to turn provinces into provincial cricket associations. The association will be run by a management committee, with each having its own Chief Executive Officer. All six associations will become legal entities responsible for running all cricket in that province right from the grassroots level, including Under 13, Under 16, Under 19 and club/school cricket.So no role for the departments at all? I can’t imagine they were too happy with that arrangement.Your scepticism is well-placed. There was much resistance to the idea, but after repeated back and forth and Imran Khan’s unwavering insistence that departments had to go, it appears the necessary legislation has finally been passed. All private departments have been disengaged while eleven government departments – SNGPL, WAPDA, PIA, SSGC, State Bank, National Bank, Pakistan Television, Pakistan Railways, Pakistan Customs, ZTBL, Civil Aviation Authority have been asked to support the provincial set up in the form of sponsorship and administrative support from grassroots level to national level. All players signed up by departments will be released back to their regions and eligible for selection in their provincial teams.But wait, wouldn’t this drastic reduction in teams means lots of players who made careers from cricket lose their jobs now?Correct, and this was by far the strongest objection to these changes. But the new model ensures that young, performing players remain in contention. Their livelihood will likely not be impacted as 32 players from each respective province will possess an annual contract. Mind you, these 32 will not include international players, which for the purposes of this article means anyone with a central contract. That adds up to just under 200 non-international cricketers till being retained by the system. Cricketers close to retirements will be afforded opportunities to return into the system as coaches, match referees and umpires.National centrally contracted players will be made available to represent the six provincial teams but will not be eligible for provincial contracts. They will be considered for selection under a set formula that provincial associations must abide by to ensure one side doesn’t become too disproportionately stronger than the other. There will be financial incentives for the players, who earn domestic provincial contracts by way of having monthly retainer-ships, match fees, enhanced prize money and individual prizes for each tournament. A domestic player playing all the matches can potentially earn up to PKR 2.5 (approx $15,600) million per season.And what about the Quaid-e-Azam trophy? How will that be affected by this?
Thirty-two domestically contracted players will be made available for selection in the first-class team and could participate as and when required for their respective provincial teams. But a squad of only 16 players out of 32 will be chosen for Quaid-e-Azam trophy, while the other 16 will form a second-string team playing non-first class (three-day) cricket. Both tournaments will be run simultaneously across the country. This will provide a bigger pool of players to the respective provincial teams to replace players according to their strategic demands and nature of playing conditions, allowing greater flexibility for teams and potentially improving the standards of competitiveness.There will be 31 first-class and 31 non-first-class matches. Each team gets to play ten matches before the final takes place. Matches will be played on a home and away basis and each team will play one home and one away game to allow them to get the experience of playing at different playing conditions and times. However, exceptions could be made depending on the availability and weather conditions at different venues.Presently, the new structure is being laid down in the constitution to give it legal cover. For the first three years, the PCB will provide support to implement the new structure and try to attract potential sponsors in the hope that long-term, domestic cricket can become financially self-reliant. The PCB will spend Rs 1.1 billion of its own in this time on domestic cricket, while from the fourth season onwards, all provincial associations will be expected to generate enough revenue to be self-sustaining.Will this work?Make no mistake, this is not a tweak but a radical overhaul. Whether you think it’ll work or not might depend on how jaded you’ve become by Pakistan’s attempts to have their domestic system catch up to the rest of the professional world.At least, for once, there might be a reason to tune into the domestic season this time, eh?

At a meeting in Mumbai to gather feedback on the 2017-18 season from captains and coaches, a number of voices called for a return to the three-group Ranji Trophy format, which gives each team a minimum of eight matches in a season

Arun Venugopal13-Mar-2018

Other issues discussed

• Rest days between matches during the Vijay Hazare Trophy

• Increasing and standardising boundary sizes across grounds

• Playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in a league-cum-knockout format

• Use of DRS in domestic cricket

• Scheduling matches with weather conditions in mind

Captains and coaches of India’s domestic sides have called for an increase in the number of round-robin matches in the Ranji Trophy and the use of quality balls in domestic tournaments. At a meeting in Mumbai to gather feedback on the 2017-18 domestic season from the captains and coaches, there were discussions on scheduling, umpiring standards, pitches and pay hikes. Sourav Ganguly, the chairman of the BCCI’s technical committee, Saba Karim, the board’s general manager of cricket operations, and MSK Prasad, the chairman of the senior men’s selection committee, were present at the meeting.ESPNcricinfo understands the BCCI had invited teams to offer feedback on the aforementioned issues about a month ago. It is learnt that a number of coaches and captains favoured reverting to the earlier Ranji Trophy format in which the teams, divided into three groups, played a minimum of eight matches each. The new format introduced last season, had 28 teams split into four groups of seven each, meaning each side played six matches in the group stages. Andhra coach Sanath Kumar said an increase in the number of matches played would give players more opportunities to showcase their talent. “After working so hard ahead of the season, almost 80 percent of the teams will only get to play 24 days of first-class cricket [in the existing format],” he told ESPNcricinfo. “They should ideally get to play more cricket.”Mumbai captain Aditya Tare echoed Sanath’s opinion and said the current format made it difficult for teams to come back into the competition after a bad start. “If a team has had a bad game or has missed a game due to the weather, it becomes very difficult for them to get into the groove,” he said. “Take the example of Hyderabad, who missed two games at the start of the last season due to rain, and found it hard to come back into the competition. So going back to the three-group format will be better and players will also have better opportunities.”Both Tare and Sanath said nearly every team welcomed the return to the home-and-away format in the Ranji Trophy after the experiment with neutral venues in 2016-17, and also the concept of neutral curators. The quality of balls used in domestic cricket, however, has been another persistent issue. Balls going out of shape has been a frequent occurrence in the Ranji Trophy over the last few years – there have been instances of balls being changed as many as three or four times in a single session.The players have also urged the BCCI to revisit the use of the SG LE white ball in the shorter formats. The captain of a top state team felt the gulf in the quality between the white Kookaburra ball and the SG Test LE was huge. “I can understand the logic of playing with the SG Test LE if it was used in limited-overs internationals played in India, like the SG Test which is used in Test matches in India and thereby employed in Ranji Trophy cricket as well,” the player said. “When you play with the white Kookaburra in international matches, it would make sense for players to get a hang of it in domestic cricket as well.”Sanath, however, said that while the BCCI had agreed to work on the quality of the balls, it had indicated that the use of the SG Test LE would continue. “The BCCI said it will work with the manufacturers to ensure the quality of the red and white balls get better,” he said. “The board feels the SG Test LE can be used in limited-overs internationals played in India and in the IPL over a period of time, after improvements are made to its quality.”Umpiring was another area that left a lot to be desired, according to Tare, and was a matter of concern for many that attended the meeting. “When players do something wrong they are penalised for that. We are criticised or dropped following a bad performance,” Tare said. “The umpiring has been an issue for many years now and something has to be done to ensure that certain standards are maintained. If someone is consistently having bad games as an umpire, then he could be made to go back to officiating in age-group cricket [to prove his abilities]. That’s what my suggestion was.”A state captain felt it was also time to return to the run-quotient rule instead of net run-rate, which is used as the tie-breaker when teams are level on points. “I have raised this issue several times in the past, but there has been little progress on this front,” he said. “I don’t think the net run-rate is relevant in the longer format. The bowling should also come into play and that’s why the quotient rule works better.”The coaches and captains, though, welcomed the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators’ decision to increase the remuneration of players. The revised pay structure will see a first-class cricketer earn INR 35,000 per day for a four-day match apart from a percentage of the BCCI’s profits. “It is a real boost for the players and will give an incentive to talented cricketers to pursue cricket as a professional option and not drop out in favour of other career options,” Sanath said.

Having signed off his Big Bash League campaign with a match-winning last-ball six, Eoin Morgan looks forward to taking his form to India, where he will lead England’s limited-overs sides

Will Macpherson in Sydney04-Jan-2017As he leaves for India to captain England in three ODIs and three T20Is, Eoin Morgan could hardly have signed off his five-match spell with the Sydney Thunder in sweeter style. By smoking a straight six off Ben Hilfenhaus, he provided the Thunder with their first win of the defence of their maiden title.Given Morgan missed England’s tour to Bangladesh due to security concerns, the BBL was his first cricket since the English summer and he feels it has set him up well for the tour of India, especially since the pitch at the Spotless Stadium for his final game was slow and low, favouring spin.”I feel in pretty good touch,” Morgan said. “We played on a slow wicket tonight which prepares you well for subcontinental conditions. It hasn’t been too flat, so my preparation has been really good out here.”Morgan, having been 15 off 28, ended unbeaten on 71 off 50, his second half-century of a tournament in which he scored 159 runs at 39.75 to sign off as his team’s top-scorer. He explained that, as he bided his time building his innings, he was waiting to attack the Stars’ seamers.”Predominantly I was looking at the seamers. I thought [Adam] Zampa bowled really well. After watching Fawad Ahmed bowl, I thought pace off would be difficult. That was in the back of our minds. Zampa did pick up a wicket but it we were grateful it was towards the back end of his spell.”It’s an extraordinary feeling when you get one out of the middle like that. It’s a bit like standing on the tee and smashing one straight down the middle. When you hit it, you’re the only person who knows how well you’ve hit it. A very special feeling.”Morgan said he was sad to leave Sydney and reflected on his BBL experience as a whole.”We’ve always known it was happening [leaving early],” he said. “I would have loved to have stayed for the whole tournament, coming over for such a short space of time you never know how much impact you’re going to have. It’s a credit to [Thunder General Manager] Nick Cummins and [Head Coach] Paddy Upton who brought me in and trusted me with their confidence, so it’s unfortunate to go, but England beckons.”This is an unbelievable competition. I haven’t played for two years, and then played the three years before that. If I was to compare it to the first year I was here, it’s just completely different. It has grown three or four times. The fan base, the popularity, the public’s reaction to the tournament as a whole, it’s exceptional. There are people coming up who don’t necessarily watch cricket, and they’re engaging the whole time. That’s a huge strong point. I would love to come back.”

England Under-19s captain Brad Taylor’s four-wicket haul was in vain as his side lost to Sri Lanka Under-19s by 52 runs in their second match of the tri-nation series in Colombo on Monday.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Dec-2015
ScorecardEngland Under-19s captain Brad Taylor’s four-wicket haul was in vain as his side lost to Sri Lanka Under-19s by 52 runs in their second match of the tri-nation series in Colombo on Monday. It is England’s second successive defeat in the tournament and leaves them at the bottom of the table behind India and Sri Lanka.Taylor took 4 for 34, striking with key top and middle order wickets to restrict Sri Lanka to 191 after the hosts had opted to bat. Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka top-scored with 48 and shared a 51-run partnership for the third wicket with Shammu Ashan (38). Taylor struck quickly to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 150 for 7 in the 41st over and England’s bowlers wrapped up the innings for 191 in the final over.England’s chase was rocked by a collapse that saw them stumble from 64 for 1 in the 12th over to 94 for 7 in the 24th over. Taylor and wicketkeeper Ryan Davies resisted with a 43-run partnership for the eighth wicket but once Taylor was out, England’s chase folded within three overs. Left-arm spinner Damitha Silva and legspinner Wanidu Hasaranga ran through England’s middle and lower order, picking two wickets each.