All posts by n8rngtd.top

Robinson’s former Sussex coach believes seamer can stake claim for Ashes involvement

Valkerie Baynes07-Apr-2021Jason Gillespie says Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson deserves an England Test berth and believes he could prove more than handy on the Ashes tour at the end of the year.As Robinson prepares to spearhead the Sussex attack in their County Championship opener against Lancashire, starting at Old Trafford on Thursday, he has in mind the importance of a good season kick start for his prospects of earning a maiden Test cap this summer.Having spent time on the fringes of Test selection as part of numerous bio-secure squad bubbles over the past year, Robinson revealed last week that he had been advised by England to aim towards selection for the two Tests against New Zealand in June.Related

• Ollie Robinson senses Test cap is close

• Surrey recruit Sean Abbott for Championship and Blast

• Head, Handscomb turn thoughts to England

• Lancashire, Yorkshire go head-to-head in pursuit of glory

Gillespie, the former Australia quick who played 71 Tests, coached Robinson initially at Yorkshire and more recently at Sussex, and he believes Robinson is ready for higher honours.”He wouldn’t let anyone down. If he was thrown the ball in a Test match, he wouldn’t let England down, he would perform a role very well,” Gillespie told ESPNcricinfo from Adelaide, where he is now head coach of South Australia and Adelaide Strikers. “He’s one of the most researched bowlers that I’ve worked with.”What I mean by that is he comes very prepared to every session, every team meeting, he does his research on the opposition batsmen, he watches a lot of footage, he pores over statistics, which may surprise a few people. And I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t necessarily see that in the short time Ollie was at Yorkshire, but once I got to Sussex I’d seen a lot of growth in Ollie as a player and person.”Having reached this point on the back of two hugely successful Championship seasons in 2018 and 2019 and a match-winning contribution against Australia A on England Lions’ tour of Australia early last year, Robinson knows first-hand how crucial the coming weeks can be.Could Robinson feature during this winter’s Ashes series? Gillespie believes he should.”I think he’s good enough,” Gillespie said. “I certainly believe he could perform a role for England. I think he’s certainly someone England should have in their squad for the Ashes because I think he could have an impact.”England have got some fine bowlers, there’s no doubt about that, and I think he deserves to be in those conversations to be a part of that tour and a part of that squad. Speaking to Australian batsmen who played in that A series, they were very impressed with him.”It wasn’t always this way with Robinson. Some observers may have been surprised by his progress, namely those who remember him as a youngster at Yorkshire with loads of talent but less aptitude for discipline, which ultimately saw him released in 2014 at the age of just 20 for a series of misdemeanours relating to punctuality, training and commitment.Ollie Robinson has been tipped for an England spot•Stu Forster/Getty Images

Gillespie, Yorkshire’s coach at the time, believes Robinson’s problems stemmed from a struggle to settle after moving north from his native Kent.The stepson of Paul Farbrace, who was then Yorkshire’s second-team coach before going on to become England assistant coach and now Warwickshire’s director of cricket, Robinson missed his friends, according to Gillespie, who remembers Robinson driving back and forth four-and-a-half hours each way in an unsustainable attempt to maintain his social life back in Kent. Robinson’s cricket suffered – he would be late for training or not turn up at all and Yorkshire lost patience.But by the time the pair were reunited at Sussex – when Gillespie took over as coach in 2018 – Robinson was thriving, having adopted a truly professional approach to his game.”It’s fair to say Ollie, being from Kent, he didn’t quite settle into the environment at Yorkshire,” Gillespie says. “He was quite young and he missed his life down south so it just didn’t quite work out. Everyone saw that the skills and the talent were there.”He’s a real leader around Sussex. That’s probably something that I think may have surprised a lot of people at Yorkshire.”Full credit to him. Ollie being released by Yorkshire, he had a choice to make – he could either mope around and be disappointed about it and ‘woe is me’ or do something about it.”He sought opportunity elsewhere, he did the hard yards, he got offered an opportunity to trial at Sussex and he did everything he could to make the most of that opportunity. He deserves a lot of respect around the county circuit for how he’s gone about things.”

Josh Davey picks up five-wicket haul on final day as Keith Barker offers some resistance with 52*

ECB Reporters Network09-May-2021A superb all-round display from Craig Overton inspired Somerset to a comprehensive 10-wicket victory over Hampshire as his side wrapped up a fourth LV= County Championship Group Two win at the Ageas Bowl.Paceman Overton, who is the top wicket-taker in the country, took 5 for 66 from 40 overs as Hampshire were dismissed for 258 on Sunday, putting himself firmly in contention for England ahead of next month’s Test series against New Zealand.Overton was also the top scorer in the match with 74 on Friday and finished with overall figures of 7 for 82, with Josh Davey also playing a significant role in the triumph taking 5 for 30 on the final day.Related

• Craig Overton stars with bat and ball to put Somerset in total control at Hampshire

• Craig Overton adds to his wickets tally on rain-hit day at Hampshire

• Ben Sanderson, Gareth Berg share 19 wickets as Northamptonshire thrash Sussex

• Lyndon James at heart of big Nottinghamshire win as Essex's campaign runs aground

The defeat was Hampshire’s second successive heavy loss following last week’s innings and 289-run humbling by Surrey having started the season strongly by winning two and drawing one of their first three matches.Although the hosts batted with much more gumption to pass 200 for the first time in four innings, their pitiful day one effort of 79 all out left them with too much do against their in-form opponents.The visitors looked set to wrap up the win just after lunch when Lewis McManus departed for 17 only for Keith Barker and Felix Organ to frustrate their hosts with a two-hour stay at the crease.Organ batted with great discipline and determination to score just 7 runs from 108 balls before falling to a diving catch by the irrepressible Overton off Davey.Mohammad Abass was the last man out leaving Barker unbeaten on 52 before Eddie Byrom knocked off the two runs needed for the win with rain beginning to fall and the light fading.Josh Davey took a five-for•Getty Images

Hampshire started the day trailing by 147 runs after rain washed out all but nine overs on Saturday, and frustrated Somerset for almost an hour with Joe Weatherley and skipper James Vince scoring just 20 runs in the first 13 overs against some tight bowling.Davey finally got the breakthrough when he found the outside edge of Weatherley’s bat and Steve Davies took a sharp catch behind the stumps to end the opener’s dogged innings of 44 from 209 balls.Davey struck again in his next over as Liam Dawson was trapped lbw to pick up only the second pair of his careerIt was Overton who grabbed the vital wicket of Vince just after lunch when Davies took another fine catch to dismiss him for 42 which firmly put his side on course to an excellent win ahead of next week’s clash with Surrey.

All eight teams have a shot at making the semi-finals. Here’s what they need to do

S Rajesh01-Oct-2012New Zealand and South Africa have both been knocked out of the race for the semi-finals•Getty Images

Group 2

India
Like Pakistan, India too need to win to have any realistic chance of qualification. If India concede 160 and lose by more than three runs, their NRR will slip below that of South Africa. If India and Pakistan both win their matches, the margins of those results will decide which team goes through.: India need to beat South Africa by at least 32 runs if they score 160 (and by at least 31 if they score 140) to finish with an NRR higher than Pakistan’s. If India end up chasing, they need to win with at least 24 balls to spare. If they achieve that, they’ll knock Pakistan out, and the actual margin of victory will determine which of India or Australia finish on top. If they don’t achieve those margins, Pakistan will qualify.Pakistan
Pakistan’s defeat to India – and the margin of that loss – has put their semi-final hopes in danger. Their NRR has dropped to -0.426, which is only marginally better than those of India and South Africa. If Pakistan lose to Australia, an Indian win will knock them out without NRR playing any part. Even if South Africa beat India in this scenario, Pakistan’s chances remain bleak: if they lose their match by five runs (chasing 161), and if South Africa score 160 and beat India by the same margin, then Pakistan’s NRR will be poorer than South Africa’s.Pakistan’s passage is not straightforward even if they beat Australia. Even after winning, they’ll have to hope that India don’t beat South Africa by a bigger margin and sneak past them. If, for example, both Pakistan and India score 160 and win their last matches by ten runs, then Pakistan’s NRR will be marginally lower than India’s.: Pakistan finish with an NRR of 0.273. If India lose to South Africa, or if they beat them by relatively small margins (explained above), then Pakistan will go through as the second team in the group.Australia
With two huge wins in as many matches, Australia are the best-placed team in the tournament. For them to go out, both Pakistan and India will have to win their matches by around 40 runs (if they bat first and score 160).: Though Australia lost to Pakistan, their NRR of 0.464 is higher than that of Pakistan, which means at worst they will finish second in the group. They are thus definitely through to the semi-finals.South Africa
South Africa are the only team that can be knocked out even before their match starts. For the second time in a row, they will be hoping Pakistan lose because if Pakistan win the first match on Tuesday, it will mean curtains for South Africa.However, if Australia do beat Pakistan, South Africa have a fair chance of making it to the next round, thanks to poor NRRs of India and Pakistan. As mentioned above, if South Africa score 160 and win by more than three runs, their NRR will go above India’s, enough to qualify provided Australia have won all their matches. The advantage for South Africa and India is that they play the last game of the group, and will thus have an exact knowledge of what they need to do to qualify.: South Africa are out of contention for a semi-final slot.

Group 1

Sri Lanka
With two wins in two matches, Sri Lanka are sitting pretty: not only do they have four points, their net run rate is also a comfortable 1.029. The only way for them to be eliminated is if they lose to England, and if West Indies beat New Zealand, with both matches being decided by big margins. For example, if England score 160 and beat Sri Lanka by 30 runs, and if West Indies score 160 and beat New Zealand by the same margin, then England and West Indies will qualify with better NRRs than Sri Lanka. However, the likelihood of both margins being such large ones is extremely small.: Sri Lanka are through unless they lose very badly. If England score 170 and bowl Sri Lanka out for 110, then Sri Lanka’s NRR will drop below both England and West Indies. Most likely, though, they’ve booked a place in the last four.England
England’s defeat against West Indies pegged them back, but they recovered well to beat New Zealand, and their NRR is the best among all teams after Sri Lanka. A victory against Sri Lanka, and a win for New Zealand against West Indies, will definitely see England through. However, if West Indies win, England will have to make sure they beat Sri Lanka by a sufficient margin to ensure their NRR is above that of West Indies.On the other hand, if England lose and if New Zealand beat West Indies, then three teams will be level on two points. In that scenario, New Zealand will almost certainly sneak ahead of England on NRR: for example, even if New Zealand score 160 and win by five runs, and England, chasing 160, lose by five, New Zealand’s NRR will be higher.England’s advantage is that they’ll be playing the last match of the group, which will give them an exact knowledge of what they need to do to qualify.: England need to win to qualify, as their NRR is already better than that of West Indies. If they lose, they’re out.West Indies
The ideal result for West Indies will be for them to beat New Zealand, and for Sri Lanka to beat England, which will ensure West Indies qualify without run rates coming into play. A defeat will definitely knock West Indies out because of their poor NRR, but even a win may not be enough if England beat Sri Lanka. For instance, if West Indies score 160 and win by 25 runs, England will need to win their match by only eight runs to keep their NRR above West Indies’.: West Indies need England to lose, or to beat Sri Lanka by around 60 runs. If England win by a smaller margin, then West Indies will be knocked out.New Zealand
New Zealand are currently at the bottom of the group, but their NRR is a decent -0.268, thanks to their Super Over defeat against Sri Lanka. As mentioned earlier, if they beat West Indies by as little as five runs, and if Sri Lanka beat England by the same margin (with the winning teams in each game scoring 160), then New Zealand’s NRR will be better than those of England and West Indies. Thus, even though New Zealand haven’t won a match yet in the Super Eights, they have plenty to play for in their last game.: With three losses in the Super Eights, New Zealand have been knocked out.

Tim Wright, the former chief executive of the Deccan Chargers, has won his case for wrongful dismissal by the franchise and been awarded £10.5 million ($16million approx), plus legal costs, by the High Court in London

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jul-2012Tim Wright, the former Deccan Chargers chief executive, has won his case of wrongful dismissal against the franchise and been awarded £10.5 million ($16million approx), plus legal costs, by the High Court in London.Wright, who was formerly with IMG, joined the Chargers management after the first season of the IPL but was dismissed in January 2009 and began legal proceedings against Chargers and its parent company, Deccan Chronicle Holdings, the following month. Chargers had challenged the jurisdiction of the English court but Wright was granted the right for his case to be heard in the UK.At Monday’s trial, Judge Seymour ruled that Chargers had committed several breaches of their contract with Wright, including failing to provide him with his full salary, benefits and pension entitlements, failing to appoint him to the board of directors and failing to transfer to him an agreed equity share in the company. They were ordered to pay him his dues (£10 million) as per his contract, with interest.The judge also called Chargers’ conduct during the litigation ‘disgraceful’; they had not attended the trial, after having submitted their case as defendants.”Today’s judgment is vindication of my decision not to be cowed by the bullying of a large corporation,” Wright was quoted as saying after the trial’s completion.Officials of the Chargers franchise did not respond to ESPNcricinfo’s requests for a comment.

It is looking as though Australia will have an unchanged side for the second Test

Andrew McGlashan and Daniel Brettig22-Dec-20202:35

If David Warner is fit, who makes way for him?

David Warner is unlikely to be fit for the Boxing Day Test which means the decision on who will make way when he returns is set to be delayed until the third game of the series in the New Year.Warner, who was swiftly moved to Melbourne earlier this week due to the Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney, has been out of action since injuring his groin in the second ODI at the SCG last month and despite an extensive rehabilitation programme, which has including using an oxygen chamber, the time frame looks too tight for him to be available.In Warner’s absence – and that of Will Pucovski who is also set to miss the second Test as he continues his recovery from concussion – Joe Burns and Matthew Wade formed a new opening partnership. Burns was coming off the back of a horrid run of form while Wade had never done the job previously in first-class cricket, but they added 70 in the second innings after repelling the new ball for 14 overs in the first.Related

• Warner and Abbott fly into Melbourne early

• The one shot that made all the difference for Burns

• Who replaces Kohli and Shami?

• Smith not Australia's only captaincy candidate – Eddings

Speaking earlier this week, Warner was retaining hope that he would be able to get ready for the second Test.”Hopefully I can get up and about and start running at a higher tempo,” he told SEN Radio. “I managed to get up to 14 kilometres an hour so I’ve got to work towards a max of 26 to 30 kilometres an hour by next week.”If I can run between wickets and move laterally and do some ground fielding by the end of next week, I should be ready to go. Fingers are crossed.”When Warner has recovered, the selectors will have to make a call on who makes way for his return. Allrounder Cameron Green was handed a debut in Adelaide and is set to retain his place for Melbourne, but depending on the workloads for the frontline quicks – and perhaps the eventual location of the third Test which remains in doubt due to the Covid-19 situation in Sydney – it could be that the side reverts to the traditional six frontline batsmen with Wade returning to the middle order.Time appears to be against David Warner in the race for Boxing Day•Getty Images

If the selectors did want to retain Green then one of the batsmen would have to make way and that conversation would likely revolve around Wade and Travis Head.For a brief moment ahead of the first Test, it appeared Australia may have to consider another major loss to their batting order when Steven Smith tweaked his back in warm-ups. He was unable to have his traditional net two days out from the game but recovered in time to take his place, although he made minimal contributions with 1 off 29 balls in the first innings before a brief appearance in the chase.It was the first time in six years that Smith had had a back problem and he said there was still a bit of stiffness following the game but remained confident it wouldn’t hamper him ahead of the second Test.”Initially when I did it I did have some fears,” he said. “I’ve had a few back issues in the past and they are generally two or three day things where I do a lot of physio. It’s about getting the physio to push on my back and get that extension and get that range back. It’s still a bit stiff but it didn’t hamper me too much throughout the game, it was all good. It’s something that I need to manage when it goes. I probably haven’t had an episode since 2014 so hopefully they can continue to be six years apart if they come.”It’s just if I sit down for too long, really. If I’m up and about and moving around I’m pretty good, so I might be a bit stiff after this press conference. If I’m moving around or laying down I’m good. But I’m not worried about it, think everything will be fine and will be good to go.”

Aleem Dar has joined the chorus for the mandatory use of the Hot Spot technology for all series to minimise umpiring errors.

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Apr-2012Aleem Dar, the ICC Elite umpire, has joined the chorus for the mandatory use of the Hot Spot technology for all series to minimise umpiring errors. Dar said he was fully supportive of the Decision Review System (DRS), and wanted consistency in the use of various technology.”In the recent Sri Lanka-England series the Hot Spot technology was not being used. To have the use of consistent elements of technology at each match would make it easier for players, spectators and umpires alike,” Dar told . “DRS ensures that most decisions can be corrected.”The two Tests in Sri Lanka had its share of controversies, most recently involving Tillakaratne Dilshan’s dismissal on the fourth day at the P Sara Oval. Dilshan was adjudged caught at slip off Graeme Swann by Bruce Oxenford and immediately signalled for a review. The third umpire, Rod Tucker, took an age looking at the images but without the infra-red cameras he ruled that there was no conclusive evidence to advise the on-field umpire if he had made an error.On the first day, England thought they had Thilan Samaraweera caught at short leg and asked for review, but it remained a not out decision. Following that, Steven Finn, who was the bowler involved, said he would like to see Hot Spot available all the time.Series involving India are usually free of DRS, given India’s vocal stance against the system since its inception in 2008. But cash-strapped members like Sri Lanka find it difficult to afford it because the high cost of the cameras has to be shared by the host country and broadcaster.Dar said on-field umpires should view the DRS as a tool to assist them, and not be ashamed to reverse a wrong decision.”I am human, I know I will make mistakes, but I just concentrate on the next delivery. I would say to any umpires out there that if you have made a mistake just concentrate on the next delivery and don’t let that earlier mistake affect your confidence,” Dar said.”I’m fully supportive of the DRS and other technology and don’t see it as interfering with my umpiring or detrimental to my performance. Even the best umpires will make mistakes and if technology highlights those mistakes and gets the right decision made, then that is good for the game of cricket.”Dar said he had made some recommendations to the PCB to improve the standard of umpiring in Pakistan, including using television footage in domestic matches as a review-tool for the officials.”I’ve said that regular fitness tests need to be done for all umpires in Pakistan,” he said. “At the moment the ICC carries out regular eye tests and hearing tests and that should also be done in Pakistan particularly before any major tournament.”I suggested to the PCB that if domestic matches or tournaments aren’t televised then at least get some video coverage of those matches so that umpires can watch the footage and also it will help the selectors and players too. Once you have that recording, it can help everyone including the umpires.”Another suggestion I have made is to ensure that they use the Kookaburra ball in domestic cricket, as whenever our cricketers use this ball in other countries they struggle to cope with it.”Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

President seeks re-election after inheriting organisation that ‘couldn’t pay its bills’

George Dobell09-Mar-2021Ricky Skerritt has urged the territorial boards in the Caribbean not to risk what he sees as the “delicate vulnerability” of the recovery of West Indies cricket in the presidential election at the end of this month.Skerritt, the current Cricket West Indies (CWI) president, is seeking a second term as president as he approaches the end of his initial two-year term. And while he accepts the last couple of years have presented some significant challenges, he insists his regime has “helped CWI onto the right tracks”.In particular, Skerritt claims that, when he ended Dave Cameron’s six-year term as president, he inherited an organisation filled with “chaos and confusion” and burdened by such debt that he says it “could not meet most of our obligations”.But with West Indies currently placed 10th in the ICC’s T20I rankings – one place below Afghanistan – as well as ninth in ODIs and eighth in Test cricket, and the board having had to make 50% pay cuts to all staff, including players, to help them get through the pandemic, Skerritt’s rivals have plenty of material with which to work.The other candidate for CWI president is Anand Sanasie, secretary of the Guyana Cricket Board. Cameron has endorsed Sanasie’s campaign, though Sanasie himself has said he has no plans to offer Cameron an official role if he is elected. The election takes place on March 28. Skerritt won 8-4 in 2019.”We were facing serious cashflow problems from the very beginning,” Skerritt told ESPNcricinfo. “So, I regret that there were many people who we couldn’t pay when the time was there to pay. There were many trade payables that we had to renege on and fortunately the goodwill with our creditors has been so good that we haven’t had any untoward repercussions.”There was a chaos and confusion within CWI which had to be rectified fairly quickly. Some individuals had, for whatever motive, abused the system and not paid attention to certain basic protocols. There was also a tendency from the board to overreach into executive management. We needed to move on from constant battling and petty personnel fighting.”But it’s not pleasant when you take over an organisation that can’t pay its bills. Players had not been paid their basic salaries and, in several cases, their match fees for months.”The debt to players was my biggest concern when I first became president. When you have to decide whether to pay the hotel, or the transport company, or the airlines that they have to try to fly on, it’s a very delicate decision. But now players are our priority, it’s as simple as that.Phil Simmons could come under pressure as head coach if Skerritt loses the election•Raton Gomes/BCB

“The biggest problem we were facing is that all of our future cash was spoken for before we even got it. We were living on borrowed future income. So, we had close to $20 million in institutional debt. And we were borrowing to pay back lenders. It was all footwork and mirrors. And that’s understandable on short-term strategies when there are difficult times for cash flow. But it had become endemic.”So, we’ve cut our debt down by at least a third now after less than two years. And, with some difficulty, we have improved our ability to meet our obligations. We just could not meet most of our obligations.”We were borrowing money to pay wages. We did that for the first year that I was in office. Right up until the early summer last year we were literally having to borrow to just pay players and staff.”We are confident that we have helped cricket West Indies onto the right tracks. And we need to stay on track. We have to be very careful because of the delicate vulnerability of what we have achieved for just a short while, that it can go off track very easily.”As well as hoping to bring high-profile ICC events back to the Caribbean – possibly in partnership with USA Cricket and Canada Cricket – Skerritt is standing on a platform promoting governance reform.That would mean a restructuring of the CWI board on the lines of the Wehby report whereby the overall number of board members would be halved and the influence of the territorial boards would be diluted. Instead, the emphasis would be upon independent members with specific expertise. Given it is those same territorial board members voting in the presidential election, there is scope for resistance.”There are those people using the Wehby report to scare people in the territorial board system and to give them the impression that somehow the Wehby report represents an attack on West Indies cricket,” Skerritt said. “It’s actually a substantial review of some of the things we do and how we can do them better.”Will people on the territorial boards be prepared to vote themselves out of a role? That’s the million-dollar question. How many of us will be big enough to see that West Indies cricket is bigger than us individually? It’s the most difficult thing.”A key element in the election might be how West Indies’ tour of England, conducted during the first peak of the pandemic in the UK, is perceived around the territorial boards. Calvin Hope, the vice-president of the Barbados Cricket Board, who is running as Sanasie’s deputy, has previously chastised Skerritt and co. for failing to negotiate a fee for agreeing to the tour.”We had an opportunity to negotiate with England and we went on that tour for not one red cent,” Hope told a radio show in the region. “We refused to negotiate and to pressure and to use our leverage with England. England was saved £350 million and all West Indies got was a pat on the back.”Skerritt, however, believes such a “distasteful action” would have amounted to an attempt to “extort money” for the trip. He also believes the long-term approach conducted by CWI will have been shown to pay a dividend when the ECB announce they are to extend their Caribbean tour in early 2022 from two Tests to three. There will also be a separate T20I tour starting in late January.”Those folks wanted me to somehow hold a gun to the head of ECB and extort money from them,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “There was this perception that if we didn’t go to England, the ECB would go bankrupt and therefore they were prepared to pay any kind of money to make us come.Skerritt hopes that the good relations between CWI and ECB will pay dividends for future home series•Getty Images

“It was ridiculously untrue. There were other teams lined up to go to England. And I could bet you that none of them were attempting the distasteful action of seeking to extort money for the trip. It just doesn’t happen in ICC systems.”The criticism came from people who were upset that we tried to re-introduce cricket because, for them, no cricket was going to be used as a failure of ours.”CWI and the ECB have had good relations for decades. So we’ve been able to continue talking with ECB about the tour that is due next year and how we could even strengthen that tour which gives a huge financial benefit to CWI. We’re very grateful that they have been very open to that discussion. It’s going to mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in terms of broadcast revenue that will be generated.”Related

• Phil Simmons faces calls for sacking after leaving lockdown to attend funeral

• CWI could trim board in response to task force recommendations

It was noticeable that Sanasie’s nomination for president came from the Barbados Cricket Broad, whose chair, Conde Riley, called for the sacking of Phil Simmons, West Indies’ head coach, on the eve of the series against England. That has led to suggestions that, should Skerritt be defeated, Simmons could be among those to go shortly afterwards.”When there were people calling for his removal, it was not only shocking, it was very distasteful,” Skerritt said. “And very worrying. Because it reminds us how vulnerable West Indies cricket is to those critics who only see their own shadows ahead of them.”It is a very sad reality that across the Caribbean not everybody really, genuinely loves West Indies cricket through thick and thin. Some of the people have given many hours of support for West Indies cricket but, when it comes to certain matters of politics, you almost can’t recognise them.”I sincerely hope and pray that the good things we have started will have some level of sustainability. But unfortunately, the culture still needs a lot of work.”ESPNcricinfo has also invited Anand Sanasie to be interviewed.

CSA will also send a security delegation to Pakistan to assess the feasibility of a tour in early 2021

Firdose Moonda27-Oct-2020A full summer schedule has been announced for South Africa’s men’s team. They will host England, Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan in biosecure bubbles between November 2020 and April 2021, with the possibility of traveling to Pakistan in early 2021. The home season will include five home Tests, six ODIs, and six T20Is, while CSA is in negotiation to play Tests and T20Is in Pakistan. All matches and training sessions will take place behind closed doors.After confirming the England series last week, CSA has announced that Sri Lanka will visit over the festive period for two Tests on the Highveld. SuperSport Park, which hosted England for the Boxing Day Test last year and Pakistan the year before, has been retained as the venue for this fixture, while the new Wanderers Stadium will host the New Year’s Test for the first time. The New Year’s Test has only been played in Johannesburg three times previously, at the old Wanderers stadium, but not for more than a 100 years, with the last instance being 1914. Newlands in Cape Town misses out on what is regarded as the most iconic fixture in the South African cricket calendar.South Africa are set for a packed 2020-21 home summer•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

South Africa hope to spend the rest of January 2021 in Pakistan but a call on the feasibility of that tour will be made after a security team completes a risk assessment. A CSA delegation will depart for Pakistan this weekend. ESPNcricinfo understands that South Africa could play two Tests and a T20I series in Pakistan.The team will then return home to take on Australia in three Tests, with venues yet to be announced, for the first time since the sandpapergate scandal of 2018. Pakistan round out the summer with three ODIs and three T20Is in April.The PCB has also confirmed that this tour will take place.”The Pakistan Cricket Board today confirmed the men’s national team will tour South Africa in April 2021 for three One-Day Internationals, which will be part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, and as many T20 Internationals,” the PCB said in a statement on Tuesday. “Pakistan has now agreed to fulfil its Future Tours Programme (FTP) commitment prior to visiting Zimbabwe for two Tests and three T20Is. The schedule of both the series will be announced in due course.”The up-country venues have been chosen for the Sri Lanka series for two reasons: most obviously that CSA can create a bubble between Centurion and Johannesburg, with teams likely to stay in Sandton, but also for cricketing purposes. It will suit South Africa to play Sri Lanka on the two fastest surfaces in the county, especially after losing the last home series 2-0 against them on slower surfaces on the coast. South Africa have not beaten Sri Lanka in a Test series since the 2016-17 summer, losing to them in 2018 in Sri Lanka and in 2018-19 at home. All those matches were played under the captaincy of Faf du Plessis, who stood down in January, which means the upcoming Sri Lanka series will be the first under a new captain, who has yet to be named, although an announcement is imminent. New convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang begins in the job on Monday, which is also when the first round of domestic first-class matches begins, which should provide insight into red-ball form.Faf du Plessis oversaw a 2-0 series defeat at home against Sri Lanka•Getty Images

“It is an absolute pleasure to deliver more good news for our cricket-loving fans to consume, following last week’s confirmed tour against England and domestic season launch,” Kugandrie Govender, CSA’s acting CEO, said. “The Covid-19 pandemic predictably forced many changes to the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) and the traditional sequencing of scheduling matches in South Africa this season. This is why I am particularly proud of today’s announcement. It comes as a result of many hours of dedication, negotiation and hard work by individuals behind the scenes to ensure that our fans have an exciting line-up of cricket to look forward to throughout the summer.”The announcement of the fixtures comes on the same day when CSA is due to present South Africa’s sports minister, Nathi Mthethwa, with reasons to deter him from intervening in its affairs. Mthethwa was forced to announce his intention to look into CSA after the body refused to comply with the instructions of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), which demanded that the CSA Board and executive temporarily stand down while SASCOC conducts an investigation into CSA. SASCOC also wanted unrestricted access to the forensic report that CSA used to fire former CEO Thabang Moroe.CSA refused on both counts, but its entire board has since resigned. The executive remains in place and it is expected that an interim committee will be put in place in lieu of a board until December’s AGM. For now, those behind-the-scenes activities do not seem to be affecting matters on the field, albeit CSA has hit financially tough times.The organisation is forecasting a loss for the 2019-2022 cycle but no pay cuts have taken place. The South Africa men’s team has been out of action since March, when their white-ball tour of India was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic. They had tours of Sri Lanka and the West Indies and a home T20I series against India postponed. The women’s team, whose fixtures will be announced in the coming weeks, has not played since the T20 World Cup. Their home series against Australia and trips to the West Indies and England could not go ahead.South Africa remains in lockdown, albeit it at the most lenient stage (1 of 5), and most activity has resumed. The country’s borders are open, with only leisure travellers from high-risk countries not allowed in.

MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said Virender Sehwag has the ability to repeat his feat of a double-century in a one-day international

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Dec-2011MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said Virender Sehwag has the ability to repeat his feat of a double-century in a one-day international. Sehwag, who is standing in for Dhoni during the ongoing one-day series against West Indies, broke the record for the highest score in an ODI on December 8, hitting 219 in Indore. Dhoni said he always knew Sehwag was capable of going past 200 in a one-dayer.”I had always believed that on his day, Sehwag has the ability to score 200 because apart from the big shots, he also uses the bowlers’ pace against them and plays calculative innings,” Dhoni told . “It was a pleasure to watch him batting. Given his talent, he can do it again. So, hopefully, it will be done by him again.”Suresh Raina, who shared a 140-run partnership with Sehwag in Indore, said Sehwag was singing songs by famous Indian singer Kishore Kumar during his knock. “He was playing very well with no tension,” Raina said at a youth summit in Chennai, where India will play the fifth and final ODI against West Indies on December 11. “That day, he was singing some Kishore Kumar songs. He was not feeling any kind of tension.”

Lanning achieves No. 1 ODI position for fifth time, spinner Jess Jonassen retains the bowlers’ top spot

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2020Australia captain Meg Lanning vaulted to No. 1 in the ICC rankings for women’s ODI batters for a fifth time on the back of her 163-run tally in her side’s 3-0 whitewash of New Zealand that culminated in a record-equalling 21st ODI win in a row. Left-hand batter Rachael Haynes, the Player of the Series, advanced to a career-best 13th position while left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen retained the top spot in the bowlers’ list.Lanning amassed 163 runs in the first two ODIs, including a series-clinching Player-of-the-Match unbeaten 101 in the second game, before a hamstring strain ruled her out of the third and final fixture on Wednesday. Her move up to No. 1 in the ODI batters’ rankings, displacing West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor, marks her return to the top spot for the first time since October 2018.ALSO READ: Lanning interview – ‘I want to be the best in the world’In an international career nearing its tenth year, Lanning, 28, has been the No. 1-ranked ODI batter for a total of 902 days since the first time she achieved the feat in November 2014. Last week she rose one spot to No. 5 on the T20I batters’ rankings after finishing as the second-highest run-scorer in Australia’s 2-1 series win against New Zealand.Haynes, who led Australia in the final ODI and opened for the hosts, gained seven places after finishing as the leading run-scorer in the series with 222 runs, compiled through knocks of 44, 82 and 96.ALSO READ: Coach Mott praises ‘drummer in the band’ Haynes after record winJonassen, who topped the ODI bowlers’ rankings for the first time in July 2017, took eight wickets in the series, including 4 for 36 in the second ODI. She has been No. 1 for 599 days spread over six spells, including the ongoing streak that began in October last year.Notable gains made by other bowlers include Australia spinners Georgia Wareham (up from 35th to 24th) and New Zealand spin-bowling allrounder Amelia Kerr (up from 18th to 13th) along with pace bowler Rosemary Mair (up 14 places to 49th).Amy Satterthwaite, the New Zealand top-order batter, re-entered the ODI rankings in fifth position after scoring 111 runs in the series, while Suzie Bates exited the top 10 after a shoulder injury sidelined her for the second and third ODIs.Following the T20I rankings update, Satterthwaite, for whom the New Zealand tour marked a return to international cricket post-childbirth, had re-entered the rankings in 35th position after finishing as New Zealand’s leading run-scorer in the three-match T20I series with a 69-run tally.Australia and New Zealand retained their first and fifth positions respectively in the ODI team rankings.