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AB de Villiers is “not picking and choosing” the Tests he plays, according to CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Jan-2017AB de Villiers will not be able to pick and choose the Tests he wishes to play, according to CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat. And once de Villiers does return to the format, Lorgat said, he will not have the luxury of taking time off when he wanted.On Tuesday, de Villiers said he would not be available for selection for the Test series in New Zealand in March, and that limited-overs cricket was a priority for him in order to play the 2019 World Cup. De Villiers said he was not retiring from Test cricket but was not yet ready to return to the format. Having been out of action since August last year because of an elbow injury, he said he was fit again and going to play the third T20I against Sri Lanka on January 25.”This is a plan that we had six months ago. It’s just a case of when he starts or when he returns,” Lorgat said. “Because once he starts, there’s no stopping and no time off. When you play, you play continuously. So he’s not picking and choosing. These are deliberate discussions that we’re having and which will continue.”ODI cricket is the focus because he’s the captain. Test cricket is different. We’ve got a settled team, we’ve got the resources to go through. If he was not the captain of the ODI team it might have been different. Same with T20s – we’ve got enough talent there and he’s not leading the side. But with respect to ODIs, he will play every ODI because he’s the captain.”Lorgat said de Villiers’ decision to not play the Tests in New Zealand was no surprise because of the discussions they had been having in which the 2019 World Cup was a top priority.Under Faf du Plessis’ leadership and in de Villiers’ absence, South Africa won their two most recent series – first in Australia and then at home against Sri Lanka. That form will also shape the nature of de Villiers’ return.”I’m most satisfied by the kind of conversations we’re having with him,” Lorgat said. “He’s clear about when he’s going to be ready and when he’s not ready. His clarity is important because then selectors are aware and we move on. You’ve seen what’s happened in the last few months. We’ve built the team without AB, and that’s a very big positive. The absence of AB has allowed others to step up, and we’ve developed other players. It’s fantastic from my point of view that we have more than 11 that can take the field and be a winning formula.”Lorgat was confident that de Villiers would be ready to play the Tests in the summer in England, but said that his return would be dependent on the form of the players in the squad at the time. “If the selectors and the team feel that they have a winning team going, AB is fully aware that it’s the selectors that will determine whether he comes back into the team or not.”

Indian domestic cricket is not throwing up the finished product as it used to previously, MS Dhoni has said

Sidharth Monga11-Jan-20163:41

Still looking for seaming allrounder – Dhoni

Indian domestic cricket is not throwing up the finished product as it used to previously, MS Dhoni has said. On the eve of India’s five-ODI series against Australia, Dhoni was thankful he could use this time to groom the newcomers, but the noises were not very optimistic.A case in point was his mention of the absence of a seaming allrounder in the squad, and then another that there was no point just making up numbers until a really good one was found. Some might wonder if Rishi Dhawan, the allrounder who opens the bowling for Himachal Pradesh and batted at No. 4 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, needs to carry a placard to the nets to be spotted. Others might say Dhoni knows a thing or three about spotting talent, and that he has given Rishi chances in both the warm-up games.It is a time of transition for Indian limited-overs cricket. Dhoni is himself nearing the end. Yuvraj Singh is not there. Suresh Raina has been dropped. There are only five established specialist batsmen in the squad. The lower middle order and the lack of a seaming allrounder remain problems. In analysing the Australian team, Dhoni gave away what he thought India were missing.”If you see what makes life easy for an international team is the kind of domestic cricket… if you see the Australian first-class cricket, it is very good, which means the players who come up from the ranks of domestic cricket or first-class cricket have already got good exposure of playing cricketers who have played international cricket or are playing international cricket at that point of time. I feel that way Australian cricket is blessed.”The corollary came through when Dhoni was asked about how big a loss Mohammed Shami was, and if his replacement Barinder Sran was ready for international cricket. Sran has played only eight List A games, and not even a handful in the IPL. After expectedly praising Shami, Dhoni said: “As far as the newcomers are concerned, we will definitely feature them and see where they stand. Also we have to slightly get ahead of time. If you see Indian cricket, more often than not, we are used to getting the complete product. Right from the late ’80s onwards we have got cricketers who were ready to play international cricket. Once they made their debut they were there for like 10 to 15 years.”I think the trend is changing slowly. Even if you see the batsmen nowadays, they have been part of the side for quite some time and we have had to groom them. I feel the same applies to the bowlers. We may not have the luxury of just picking up the complete product to come into international cricket and start delivering from the very first game. It is important to identify talent and at the same time give them games quite quickly so that they get that exposure of international cricket. And we also see get to see how they handle pressure and the areas where they need to improve.”Rishi’s presence was ignored when Dhoni was asked for a possible combination. “Most likely it will be three-two [quicks-spinners],” he said. “Because we don’t really have a seaming allrounder so most likely it will be a three-two combination. Who are the players, we will wait and watch.” That most likely means R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and a possible debut for Barinder Sran.Australia, on the other hand, have announced their XI, and it includes five quick bowlers. Dhoni again felt they could do so because they had seaming allrounders. “It’s not only about the pitch,” Dhoni said. “That is their strength. When they come to the Test series in India, they actually went in with four proper fast bowlers in the first game. Their strength is fast bowling so no good reason why they will go in with two spinners. One part-time spinner is enough for them. Also not to forget they have got seaming allrounders. We don’t really have… we are still looking for a seaming allrounder that can fit in that slot. Even when we are looking to play with four-fast-bowlers-and-a-spinner combination. Till we don’t find a really good one, there is no point playing somebody for the sake of it.”Another problem Dhoni has is that he wants a flexible batting order, but he can’t really play around with the top four. When Dhoni himself started out, he would bat anywhere between three and six. That was one of his main arguments against a fixed line-up. That you have batsmen ready to go out at any position in the batting order provided the number of overs left calls for their game. Yet the highest he can send a newcomer in is No. 5, which again leaves him playing at No. 6.”Yes I admit a lot of batsmen find it very difficult to do it [move up and down the order] but at the end of the day if everyone becomes very rigid with their batting order it becomes very difficult for the team,” Dhoni said. “If you see the success of the Indian team, a lot of it is down to batsmen who could bat at different numbers. If you see history, we have had batsmen who open in first-class but bat at 3 for us. They used to bat 4 or 5 for their first-class team but they end up being openers for the international side. That flexibility has to be there, and that adaptability has to be there.”I feel it’s very important that youngsters who get a chance get a good opportunity to bat. That’s why I have always been in favour of giving the youngsters a chance to bat at 5 because that’s the only place I have. That’s the only place I can trade. If they consistently bat at 6, on a very good day they will score 30-odd runs. On a bad day they will score 10 runs. After 15 games, the media will be like, ‘He averages only 15, get him out of the side.'”Now is the time, though, to throw all these youngsters into the deep end, for better or for worse, whether they are the finished article or not. For the selectors have not left Dhoni many options. Either Gurkeerat Singh or Manish Pandey will get a taste of what it is like. Sran, and even Rishi, might need to be looked at at some point in the series. When Dhoni spoke glowingly of Australian domestic cricket, he also said the ability to handle pressure mattered more than the talent. He will hope that the raw youngsters he has been given have that quality.

Enterprising innings by Phillip Hughes and Michael Clarke ensured a vast lead for the Australians over Worcestershire at New Road

Daniel Brettig at New Road04-Jul-2013Worcestershire 284 (Compton 79, Mitchell 65, Bird 4-48) and 64 for 1 need 393 to beat Australians 396 for 4 dec and 341 for 5 dec (Clarke 124, Hughes 86)
ScorecardMichael Clarke made an impact on Australia’s Ashes tour with a quick hundred ahead of the first Test•Getty Images

For most of his first five weeks in England, Michael Clarke has been defined less by what he was than what he wasn’t.To begin with, Clarke wasn’t fit. He wasn’t in Birmingham for the Walkabout fiasco, then he wasn’t taking part in any of the Champions Trophy. When Mickey Arthur was sacked, Clarke wasn’t a decision-maker nor, it emerged, anymore a member of the selection panel. Throughout Darren Lehmann’s assured first 10 days as coach, Clarke wasn’t even the primary spokesman for the team.On the third day in Worcester, in his final innings before the first Test at Trent Bridge, Clarke was back. Taking advantage of a docile pitch and an amiable attack, he bounded to a century in 90 balls, confirming the return of batting touch and confidence at precisely the right moment before the serious stuff begins.Most importantly of all, Clarke played without any hint of the back trouble that had flared on his arrival, and can now travel to Nottingham with confidence about his ability to play the sorts of innings Australia so desperately need from him.Phillip Hughes was similarly arresting as he helped Clarke set Worcestershire a target of 457 to win, which by the close they had reduced to 393 for the loss of Nick Compton’s wicket. The day after asserting that he had not been given “fair crack of the whip” by England’s selectors, Compton was lured down the pitch by the young spinner Ashton Agar and neatly stumped by Brad Haddin. Agar’s teasing spell in the final session was another sign of promise for the tourists, who have rather less to worry about now than a week ago.That is not to say they are in completely fine fettle. Ed Cowan fell for another of his maddeningly mediocre scores, having been dropped without scoring, though he was unhappy to be given out lbw for 34. In four innings on tour so far his top score is 58, not substantial enough tallies should he occupy the No. 3 berth at Trent Bridge as now appears likely.Ryan Harris and Jackson Bird also failed to harvest any wickets with the new ball. They did better in the morning when Worcestershire were rolled up for 284. Bird claimed the standout innings figures with 4 for 48, while Harris showed decent rhythm and speed.Harris was left very much in Bird’s wake on the second day, but regathered some ground on the third morning. Gareth Andrew snicked behind to Haddin before Jack Shantry was beaten for pace and angle from round the wicket to have his stumps splayed.Bird beat the bat numerous times in his early spell but was relieved by James Faulkner, who bowled the last man Chris Russell. It was Cowan who joined Rogers in sprinting off to open the batting, Watson again being held back in the order following his first innings performance just as he had been against Somerset at Taunton.Cowan was handed an instant reprieve, dropped in the slips by Moeen Ali before he had scored. Rogers was also helped by a few fortunate edges before more full-blooded strokes ensued. The Australians appeared likely to reach lunch without interruption, but a few minutes before the interval Rogers was pinned lbw by Ali’s off break from around the wicket.The order then maintained its elastic and preparatory nature, Hughes moving from No. 6 up to 3 and making a fluent start in sunshine that grew brighter by the minute. Cowan played soundly enough into the 30s, before trying to swish Shantry to leg and being given lbw. He looked pointedly at his bat on the way off the ground, but after the dropped catch on nought there was less reason for sympathy.Entering at No. 4 for the fourth innings in succession, Clarke promptly set about Worcestershire’s bowling with freedom of shots as well as movement, his back appearing to be less restrictive than at any stage of the tour so far. He encouraged a more aggressive posture from Hughes, and the pair entertained another plentiful crowd by cavaliering to a stand of 132 in 123 balls.Hughes forged ahead of his captain, clattering three sixes with a backswing that gained noticeably in extravagance. He was on course for a century in the session when he miscalculated a Russell delivery and was bowled, but had shown pleasing freedom and confidence in his final innings before the first Test.Clarke took over the main aggressor’s role upon Hughes’ exit, driving immaculately at some times and swinging more agriculturally at others. Either way, his eye was sharp, and there can now be little concern that he will walk out to bat in Nottingham without sufficient time in the middle.He delayed his declaration for an hour after tea, partly to allow Steve Smith another hit and partly to ensure his own bowlers did not have too many overs required of them in the fourth innings.With the pitch dry and the clouds sparse, Bird and Harris found little early movement on offer, and it took Agar to confound Compton with the kind of delectable delivery that has hastened his rise to the fringes of Australia’s Test match thinking at the age of 19. A few more wickets on the final afternoon and Agar may be bidding to join Clarke at Trent Bridge.

David Hussey and Chris Rogers still harbour ambitions of playing Test cricket for Australia

Daniel Brettig19-Jun-2012Should Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey fail to reach the 2013 Ashes, there are another two Australian thirtysomethings, slightly younger, with enormous experience of how to bat in England. At the age of 34, David Hussey has not played a Test and Chris Rogers has played just one, but both have made themselves very much at home on UK surfaces, and are as familiar with Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann as any participant in the past few Ashes encounters.It would be a move from far left-field by Australia’s selectors to entertain the thought of choosing either Rogers or Hussey for 2013, not to mention a strategy more short-term than long. But they remain in the wings, still holding out the faintest hope that their years of finding the right way to play in England might one day prove useful.Hussey is part of Australia’s ODI squad currently training in Leicester, and said he felt a greater chance of playing Test cricket under the current selection panel led by John Inverarity than he ever had in the days of Andrew Hilditch’s former regime. “I think the new selection committee is going to select the best players available at any one time. I have not given up hope of playing Test cricket,” Hussey said. “If I did not believe I could not play Test cricket I probably would not be playing or probably follow the Twenty20 leagues around the world but that is still a goal for me. Playing Test cricket for your country is still the ultimate.”I just had a very good one-on-one meeting with the coach and it is probably the most comfortable I have felt in the environment. You always try your best to help your team to as many wins as possible. I actually feel that I have a few credits in the bank now. Hopefully I don’t need to use them in the short term.”Since he took over the role of national selector following last year’s Argus review recommendations, Inverarity has repeatedly insisted that Test cricket is closed to no-one. Selection discussions have occasionally thrown up more experienced names – Simon Katich’s name was mentioned as a potential Test opener against India before the panel settled on Ed Cowan, for instance – and there is a greater desire to select the best and most thoughtful team for the task at hand, rather than hoping for younger players to grow into their roles.Instead, potential Test batsman are being tried via the avenue of ODIs, meaning Peter Forrest, George Bailey and Steve Smith are the three with the Ashes most firmly in their minds. However none can call on the years of county batting that Hussey and Rogers have accumulated. Hussey made the county grounds of Nottinghamshire and Sussex his own, while Rogers has prospered for Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and now Middlesex.”I am hoping the Aussie selectors realise that Chris and myself, Phil Hughes is making a lot of runs for Worcester as well, are doing the right things in county cricket and have played a lot of cricket over here as well,” Hussey said of Rogers and himself. “Playing county cricket is a big advantage for Chris and myself and hopefully it is looked upon for future series.
“I would not have got back in the ODI team last summer if they did not pick on form. I had a really good Big Bash and I think that helped getting back in the one-day team and I thought I may as well grab every opportunity because it might well be the last.”Since his brother Michael’s Test debut in 2005, David Hussey has continued to accumulate runs for Victoria at home and a range of county and club sides abroad. He has learned to deal with feeling unwanted at Test match level. Irrespective of his international future, Hussey will do his best as a bulwark of the ODI team on this tour, and pass on as much knowledge to the aforementioned younger batsmen as he can. The bowlers, too, are likely to be offered a few suggestions.”You always get disappointed when selection comes around,” Hussey said. “You sort of sit back and hope you are going to be a on a tour playing for your country. All you have to do is to keep churning out the runs and I was probably at an unfortunate time where Australia had so many good batters.”[But] I have played a lot of county cricket over here, I think it is seven or eight years and playing all over the country and getting used to the conditions. So it is up to me to pass on some knowledge about wickets especially to our younger bowlers and how to bowl and what bowling I didn’t like to face.”21.50pm: This story was amended to correct the fact that Chris Rogers has played one Test

Australia’s new pace bowling coach Craig McDermott believes empathy can be his most valuable addition to the dressing room, after a career he admits had plenty of “bad days at the office”

Daniel Brettig17-May-2011Australia’s new pace bowling coach Craig McDermott believes empathy can be his most valuable addition to the dressing room, after a career he admits had plenty of “bad days at the office”.Handed a Test debut at 19 in 1984 and then shuffled in and out of the Australian team until he re-emerged at his fittest and most incisive to make a place his own in 1990, McDermott knows very well the range of emotions and anxieties that can grip a young player. He was appointed to replace Troy Cooley as the man to guide the current crop of fast bowlers while preparing the way for the next, and is in a pivotal role for a pace battery that was made to look very ordinary indeed during the Ashes.”Everybody has a bad day at the office and I certainly had my fair share of bad days at the office when I was playing cricket,” McDermott told ESPNcricinfo. “I was dropped a number of times, re-selected a number of times and then stayed in the team for a seven-year period straight towards the end, so I’ve been through all the roller-coaster stuff and you’ve got to have a plan A, plan B and plan C.”We’ve got a number of young players in and around the team now and some young quicks who may get a guernsey over the next one or two years. So I think it’s good to have somebody there who can actually talk them through the nerves and the butterflies in the dressing room where you walk in there for the first time and you’re standing next to Ricky Ponting at 150 Tests. (For them) it’s the opposite end of the scale there by a big margin.”There’s a lot of feelings and emotions to help those younger guys through, and even guys who’ve played 10 or 15 Tests, it’s not a lot of games and they’re still settling in; there are some things off the field that you can give them advice on.”Allan Donald was the most high-profile applicant for the job, but McDermott’s coaching apprenticeship at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence gave him worthwhile knowledge of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and James Pattinson among others, all expected to push for Test spots in the near future. He has also spent time with Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and Ben Hilfenhaus during the Ashes, and has “some ideas of my own” about their faltering progress during that series.”I’ve had a little bit to do with most of the guys during the Test series against England before the first Test and on a couple of other occasions on very short camps and then in Bangladesh,” said McDermott. “I’ve found it quite easy to fit back into the dressing room scene because I’ve been there before myself. It certainly has changed a little bit from when I was playing and it’s all for the positive and I really enjoyed Bangladesh with the new squad and under a new captain.”I think it’s going to be a difficult period for Australia, we’ve got tough series, Sri Lanka, South Africa and then India out here, which all adds up to a tough summer. We’ve got our work cut out, but I’m sure if we do the work and execute correctly I’ve no doubt we can come up trumps.”Truism though it might be, hard work is a key to McDermott’s coaching philosophy, because it was by that route that he pushed himself back into the Australian team and stayed there as the spearhead of the attack before Glenn McGrath emerged from Narromine. He was perhaps the first Australian cricketer to commit himself fully to the fitness regime of a professional athlete, and reaped handsome results whenever he wasn’t struck down by freak injuries: a twisted bowel ended his 1993 Ashes tour, while a badly sprained ankle culled him from Mark Taylor’s 1995 Caribbean triumph. McDermott isn’t sure Australia’s bowlers are as fit as they need to be, in order to avoid the fatigue that can blur the mind and cause the ball to be sprayed around.”That becomes part and parcel of planning, the top of end of the game is actually more in the head than in the body,” he said. “You’ve got to be physically fit no doubt, extremely fit to be a fast bowler for a long period of time, but certainly the mental side of the game, it is very important to be able to think batsmen out and spot their weaknesses, and to be able to execute your skills, being able to pursue those weaknesses in batsmen.”It’s okay putting one ball or two balls in the right spot, but you’ve got to do it 25 times in a row to build up pressure. Execution only comes with hard work and practice and being fit enough to be able to execute for long enough, you don’t want to have fatigue come into it.”I think we’ve got a number of players who can do that, we’ve just got to make sure we do the work and making sure we’re physically fit enough to execute for long enough to create problems for batsmen. Glenn McGrath was strong, fit and bowled a lot of balls in the right spot, there’s no secret to that. It’s been no secret that’s the way to get batsmen out since WG Grace.”

England’s Kevin Pietersen made his first appearance for Hampshire for two years in today’s Friends Provident t20 clash with Surrey but was upstaged by opening batsman Jimmy Adams

13-Jun-2010

ScorecardJimmy Adams overshadowed Kevin Pietersen’s appearance•Getty Images

England’s Kevin Pietersen made his first appearance for Hampshire for two years in today’s Friends Provident t20 clash with Surrey but was upstaged by opening batsman Jimmy Adams.Pietersen, released by the ECB for one match, came in at number three and made 15 from 10 balls before lifting a catch to long-off. Pietersen hit three fours in an over from Surrey pace bowler and former Hampshire colleague Chris Tremlett but then carelessly drove Chris Schofield to Matt Spriegel.Adams went on to make 101 not out, his first century in the competition, and share in a stand of 144 in 12 overs with Sean Ervine for the third wicket. Adams reached his landmark in the final over but needed a bit of luck – he was caught on the long-on boundary off a no-ball when on 99. Hampshire finished with 201 for 2 and Surrey made a reasonable fist of their chase before going down by 10 runs. They made 191 for 9 but were never seriously threatening the Hampshire total.Adams hit four sixes and seven fours and faced 65 balls. Ervine made 54 not out and all the Surrey bowlers took a pasting on an easy-paced wicket. Surrey made a promising start through opener Steven Davies, who hit two sixes in his 24, and their hopes were renewed when Mark Ramprakash and Andrew Symonds were putting on 64 in seven overs for the fourth wicket.Ramprakash was in dominant form as he hit his side’s top score of 61 before pulling Australian pace bowler Dan Christian to square leg, where Adams held a spectacular catch diving forward. Ramprakash struck three sixes and six fours in his 41-ball innings but his dismissal at 139 signalled a rapid Surrey decline.Left-arm pace bowler Chris Wood finished with figures of three for 30 and veteran Dominic Cork took two wickets in an over, those of Younus Khan and Spriegel, as Surrey lost wickets in a vain chase for their second win in two days. Cork took two for 27 from his four overs while Adams completed a remarkable personal day with a superb run-out of tail-ender Andre Nel.

Kent manage only 204 as Middlesex bowlers chip away with regular wickets

ECB Reporters Network04-Aug-2024Joe Cracknell hit 88 as Middlesex coasted to a five-wicket win over the Kent Spitfires in the Metro Bank Cup at Beckenham.Cracknell blitzed the Spitfires with an 82-ball innings included two sixes and ten fours and Robbie White chipped in with 50 as the visitors eased home with 8.4 overs to spare, finishing on 206 for 5.Earlier Kent were bowled out for 204 in 44.4 overs, with Josh de Caires, Henry Brookes and Nathan Fernandes all taking two wickets.Marcus O’Riordan was Kent’s top-scorer with 58, but when he was gone they struggled to put any meaningful partnerships together until Hamid Qadri and Matt Parkinson nudged them over the 200 mark.Kent chose to bat but lost Beyers Swanepoel in the second over, caught behind off Ishaan Kaushal for just 2. Although O’Riordan clouted 20 off the fourth over from Kaushal he was the only Kent batter to score freely.De Caires had Joey Evison lbw for 14 with his second delivery and O’Riordan went in the next over, trapped in front by Luke Hollman trying to reverse sweep. Jaydn Denly tried to slog sweep De Caires and was caught by Cracknell for 10 and Ethan Bamber had Harry Finch lbw for 23.Charlie Stobo had made just 2 when he tried to charge Fernandes and was stumped by Jack Davies and Fernandes then got Jack Leaning for 28 after a sharp diving catch by Sam Robson. Kent’s last realistic hope of a par score went when Grant Stewart edged Henry Brookes behind for 11.Brookes’ next delivery hit Parkinson on the helmet, but after a six-minute delay he was ruled fit to continue. His stand of 40 with Qadri at least gave Kent something to defend, but when the latter went for 25, caught by Fernandes off Brookes, there were still 5.5 overs remaining and as Nathan Gilchrist was run out by a direct hit from de Caires three balls later, Parkinson was stranded on 17 not out.Aside from an early blip when Stewart took two quick wickets, the chase was devoid of any serious drama. Middlesex’s openers had raced to 25 without loss in the third over when Stewart had Fernandes caught by Stobo at first slip for 8.In Stewart’s next over Stobo took another slip catch to remove Sam Robson for 3 but Cracknell responded with an innings of control and aggression that took the game away from the home side. He looked set for a century, only to fall 12 short when he lofted Parkinson to Swanepoel at long-off, but by then Middlesex only needed another 71 for victory.Jack Davies didn’t hang around, cracking 35 before he cut Jaydn Denly to O’Riordan and although Parkinson had White caught behind, a convincing win was sealed when Mark Stoneman drove Parkinson for four in the 32nd over.

India did not take part in 2010 and 2014, the two previous times cricket featured at the Games

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Jul-2023India’s men’s and women’s cricket teams are set to compete in the Asian Games for the first time, with the BCCI’s apex council approving their participation in the upcoming Games in Hangzhou in September-October. Cricket has featured twice in the Asian Games before – in 2010 and 2014 – but India didn’t take part either time.As in the 2010 and 2014 editions, T20 will be the format of the cricket event in Hangzhou.”We are going to participate in the Asian Games,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirmed on Friday. “The Apex Council has approved the participation of our men’s and women’s teams.”With the Men’s ODI World Cup, which is scheduled to begin on October 5, two days before the end of the Asian Games cricket competition, the BCCI is expected to send a second-string men’s team to the Games, and a full-strength women’s team.Bangladesh (2010) and Sri Lanka (2014) won the men’s gold medals in the previous editions of the Games, while Pakistan won the women’s gold both times.Related

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BCCI mulls policy to prevent early retirements

Among the other matters discussed by the apex committee was the issue of players retiring from international and domestic cricket in order to participate in overseas leagues. The most recent case of this is Ambati Rayudu, who retired after the final of IPL 2023, following which he signed up with Texas Super Kings for the upcoming inaugural edition of Major League Cricket.As things stand, Indian cricketers can only feature in overseas leagues if they are no longer involved in international cricket or in BCCI-run tournaments including the IPL. While only a handful of Indian players have so far gone on to play in overseas leagues after their retirements, the mushrooming of leagues around the world has raised the concern that players could retire early to play in these new tournaments.”We’ll come out with a policy to prevent the trend of pre-determined retirement,” Shah said. “The office-bearers will make a policy and send it back for approval.”

Test greats become legends in their own lifetimes, even as news of Shane Warne’s death casts launch in strange light

Cameron Ponsonby07-Mar-2022Ian Botham is sitting next to old friend Viv Richards as they unveil the new Richards-Botham Trophy that England and West Indies will now compete for in Test cricket. And with a press conference, a photo-op, and a handshake, they have officially done it. They have been immortalised, not for the first time, in their own lifetimes.After the press conference, Richards is asked if part of his friendship with Botham was down to the fact that took their games to a level that only the other could relate to and understand.No, comes the answer. He was attracted to the person before the cricketer. That there was a magnetism about Botham. And that he, Botham, was like Richards.Yeah, geniuses attract other geniuses.In all, it’s a strange, if nice, event that celebrates the friendship between two men, and honours them as cricketers. It’s easy to roll your eyes at gestures that are meaningless in the greater scheme of things but, on an individual level, there’s no doubt it means a lot to the two men being honoured. An act that rekindles the fires behind two names that are greats of the game, not just among the best.And people love that stuff. In 2016, we named our club’s third XI trophy after a former player. It’s still his WhatsApp profile picture. It’s nice to do nice things.What’s more, Viv and Beefy’s relationship is worth celebrating as two people who found home comforts in someone from the other side of the world. They are each other’s Irish pub on the beachfront in Benidorm.”We made our first-class [County Championship] debuts together in 1974 against Lancashire at Taunton,” Botham says. “And that was really the start of what was, well, it was there already, but to take it to the levels that it did. He is the godfather to my son and you know it’s a special relationship and these things don’t come along very often.”The event celebrated a friendship, but it also mourned the loss of another, with the uncomfortable balance of two men being immortalised while addressing the death of a friend running throughout.Related

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It was the press conference of one man (Botham) who had just lost a close friend and has unsurprisingly spent 48 hours thinking about what those around him really mean to him. And another (Richards) who was sitting next to a friend in mourning and wasn’t quite sure how to pitch it. Who really knows how to react in such circumstances.At one point Richards – who, as fate would have it, turns 70 today – made a joke about how the news about Shane Warne had him “checking my shoulder, you know – what’s coming next”.One person laughs. In fact, they find it hilarious. The rest of the room is trying to work out if they think it’s appropriate, let alone funny, but this guy is deep into a hero-worship laugh. The type your boss gets for saying, “oh, half-day is it?”, when a colleague walks in two minutes late.At one point, Botham is asked about the omission from the Test squad of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. And within an answer that eventually concludes that he thinks they will be back, he says, “Look, you move on. Time moves things on. You’ve got to look forward to the future and we can’t go on forever.”It’s a fine and sensible message. It’s just a bit of a peculiar one to emerge at a ceremony that is commemorating the past with a newly unveiled trophy, while at the same time celebrating a lifelong friendship and the memories of a recently deceased friend.And yet, there is a difference between living in the past and celebrating it. And through doing the latter, things do live on and legends and legacies remain. Otherwise, none of us would be here at the unveiling of the Richards-Botham Trophy. And that guy definitely wouldn’t have been laughing at Richards’ awkward joke.

He also showed confidence in Azhar Ali, who he expects to “deliver in the upcoming matches”

Danyal Rasool12-Aug-2020Pakistan fast bowling coach Waqar Younis has dismissed suggestions that Pakistan would feel compelled to rest some of their fast bowlers due to the short turnaround between the first and the second Test. He said Pakistan hadn’t played Test cricket for five months, which meant the bowlers still had plenty of energy to get through the second Test.”We haven’t decided who we’re going to play at the moment, but we haven’t played any cricket for a long period of time,” Waqar said at a video press conference. “It’s been five months since we last played a Test. I don’t think tiredness is an issue with the team. Yes, it’s very hot here, but it’s going to cool down in the next few days, and I’m sure they’ve got plenty of gas left the tank to tackle this Test and we’ll see how it goes after.”Should Pakistan go with the same bowling attack, it will be a departure from the strategy England employed to excellent results during the series against West Indies. Stuart Broad and Sam Curran missed the first Test, only to come back in for the second with James Anderson and Jofra Archer sitting out. Anderson and Archer then returned for the decider, with the fast bowlers claiming 50 of the 56 West Indies wickets that fell during the series. West Indies, meanwhile, made fewer changes, and fatigue was at times apparent as the series progressed.In the first Test, Pakistan opted for three seamers and two spinners in Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan, though the latter only bowled 11.3 overs across the match. Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Abbas shouldered the fast bowling responsibility, and the youth of Naseem – combined with the pace at which the 17-year-old bowls – led to suggestions Pakistan may not want to overwork him. The fast bowling coach admitted Naseem hadn’t bowled as well as they had expected, but backed him to come good.ALSO READ: Misbah-ul-Haq ‘frustrated’ at Pakistan’s lack of fortune on final day“He’s so talented, and he’s so young. He’s still growing, his bones are growing. I don’t think he really bowled as well as we expected in the previous game, but he can really bowl well and take the opposition on at times. Because he’s young and inexperienced, it gets tough sometimes. When he gets fitter, he will bowl more overs and definitely be a force for Pakistan in the next few years.”But when you talk about becoming a great, it’s really difficult to be sure about anyone. Pakistan have produced some really quality fast bowlers in the past few decades, so if he keeps himself fit and strong and keeps bowling, he’s going to get much harder to face.”There’s always room for improvement for the quicks. But if we’d won that Test match, no one would ask questions about it. I don’t think we’ve bowled poorly but because we lost, there will be questions. In the series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, I think the quicks did a wonderful job.”In Australia, which was the first tour for most of the bowlers as well as the management, we struggled. But we’re looking to invest in these players who will be instrumental for Pakistan for a number of years to come.”Waqar sympathised with the under-fire Pakistan captain Azhar Ali, who was heavily criticised for a string of decisions at pivotal moments on the final day as Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes’ partnership inched England closer to victory. Ali, who was given the job only nine months back, has also struggled with the bat of late, particularly in away Test matches, managing just 139 runs in his past 12 innings. Waqar said Ali’s vast experience would tide over across this bad patch, and that the added strains of captaincy could take time to become accustomed to.”Being captain and playing in the top order is not easy. He’s been captain before as well, so he’ll understand that. When you’re in bad form, or have had a bad game, everything gets scrutinised. I’ve been captain myself so I know what he’s going through. You have several more responsibilities, and on top of all that, you have to focus on your batting as well.”Like I said, if we’d won this match, then he’d get a lot more encouragement and confidence. But he’s a seasoned player who has played 80 Tests and scored runs in England before, too. He knows how to come out of these situations and I expect him to deliver in the upcoming two Test matches.”