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Muttiah Muralitharan has said he hopes another IPL franchise will sign him now that the BCCI has terminated Kochi Tuskers Kerala

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2011Muttiah Muralitharan has said he hopes another IPL franchise will sign him now that the BCCI has terminated Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Murali, who retired from all forms of international cricket after the 2011 World Cup, was bought by Kochi in the January 2011 auction after he played the first three IPL seasons for Chennai Super Kings.”I am hopeful that if they [Kochi] are not playing, some other franchise will take me as I am fit and playing this format continuously,” Murali told in Colombo. “I want to play two more years in IPL.”The BCCI announced that Kochi were terminated because they had failed to submit a new bank guarantee for 2011, which the board said was an “irremediable breach” of their contract. The players contracted to Kochi have a three-way contract, which includes the BCCI as a party, and N Srinivasan, the new board president, said an arrangement would be made that is viable for the players.”What will be the consequences of the termination and the future of the players, as well as whether to play with nine teams, all these things will be decided by the IPL governing council,” Srinivasan said. “The players’ interest will be safeguarded. BCCI will not leave the players in the lurch. We will find an equitable solution that is viable both for the players and the BCCI.”Muralitharan said he expected the board to make adequate arrangements for the players. “If the BCCI has decided something, then we can’t do anything,” Muralitharan said. “But I hope they will arrange something for the 20 contracted players of the franchise. It’s a three-party agreement and we have our contract with the BCCI too.”While playing for Chennai, Muralitharan took 52 wickets in 46 games across the IPL and Champions League Twenty20. However, he played only five of Kochi’s 14 games in the 2011 IPL. “I think Kochi did not need my services much,” Muralitharan said. “My experience with Chennai Super Kings was far better. Kochi did not play me much.”Steve O’Keefe, a left-arm spinner from New South Wales who was signed on by Kochi last season, said he was disappointed he did not get to play for the franchise at all. “It would be a shame if I were to go home without playing [for them] considering that last year [IPL 2011], I didn`t play a game,” he said. “I was disappointed [for not playing a game] and if they scrap the team I’d be even more disappointed.” O’Keefe is currently in India with the New South Wales side for the CLT20.

Queensland Cricket chairman, Damien Mullins, who had been suffering from cancer, died on Sunday at the age of 49

Cricinfo staff19-Sep-2010Queensland Cricket chairman, Damien Mullins, who had been suffering from cancer, died on Sunday at the age of 49.Mullins had been a director at Queensland Cricket since 1991 and was re-elected in August for his 10th year as either chairman or president. He had also served on the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) and Cricket Australia (CA) for 14 years from 1993 to 2007.”Damien served on CA’s board from 1993 to 2007 and brought a passion for Australian cricket, for Queensland cricket and above all, for the game and what it stands for to the board room table,” CA chairman Jack Clarke said. “He will be sadly missed, including at the ‘Gabba when it hosts the traditional first Test of the summer, the first Ashes Test, in a few short weeks from now.”Queensland Cricket’s deputy chairman, Bryan Phelan, said: “Damien was a man of vision but also a man who had the strategy in place to ensure vision became reality.”

Australia’s captain completed running, fielding and batting just days after being in a moon boot

Alex Malcolm28-Jan-2025Australia captain Alyssa Healy is making a bold bid to play in the historic day-night Ashes Test at the MCG starting on Thursday after completing a full training session two days out despite battling a stress injury in her foot that saw her miss the entire T20I series while wearing a moon boot.Healy participated fully in Australia’s first main session at the MCG and looked impressive with no signs of pain or limitations with her right foot.She began with a running session with six other team-mates, including Ashleigh Gardner who is coming off a calf injury. The pair moved well with other team-mates doing multiple laps of the MCG in intervals at a very solid intensity.Related

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Healy also did short sprints thereafter without issue and then took part in Australia’s fielding session. Healy will be in the outfield if she does play and had no trouble during the session which was completed at a good intensity. She then had a solid hit in the nets cycling through pace, spin and throw downs and had no trouble at any stage on her feet.Speaking prior to the training session, coach Shelley Nitschke said no decision had been made on whether Healy would play and that the team management would wait to see how Healy pulled up after testing her foot.”She’s going as well as can be expected,” Nitschke said. “I think you’ve all seen her out in a boot and taking some weight off of that foot.”She will have a test today, and we’ll just sort of see where that lands and have some discussions about that, whether or not we think she’s going to be okay for a four day test.”Nitschke said they would try and leave the decision as late as possible but they were wary of creating problems around role clarity given Healy’s significance as the captain and a senior batter.”We don’t have to actually lock it in until the toss,” Nitschke said. “But obviously there’s repercussions around that with who’s the captain and what our line-up looks like. So I think people sort of want to know their role coming in, so as soon as we can we will, but it certainly doesn’t have to be today.”The coach did admit there was some emotion involved in the decision. It is the first time women will play a Test match at the MCG since 1949 and the occasion will be historic as the two teams celebrate the 90-year anniversary of women’s Test cricket.Australia’s women have not played at the MCG since the 2020 T20 World Cup final where Healy was player of the match. There have been multiple WBBL games at the venue since but Healy has not played in any of those. She has played at the MCG just 12 times in her career.Australia do not play another Test until February-March of 2026 by which time Healy will be nearly 36. There is a possibility, given her recent injury struggles, that this could be the final opportunity she has to play Test cricket and to appear at the MCG although she has not given any hint as to when she may finish her international career.Alyssa Healy is pushing to play in the historic day-night Test at the MCG•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

“I think it’s just about keeping in mind what’s best for the team and making sure we’re putting the best team we can out there to perform,” Nitschke said. “So that’s always been front and foremost. But we don’t play a lot of Tests, so there’s sort of some emotion involved there, but we want to do what’s best for the team and see what happens.”Nitschke confirmed Gardner was fit and would play after overcoming her calf injury. She completed her running, batting and bowling without issue and looms as a key player after her player of the match performance in the third ODI and her player of the match performance in the last Ashes Test in England in 2023.Nitschke added the selectors were unsure of how they would structure the XI for the day-night Test. Spin has been a huge part of Australia’s six victories in the white-ball matches so far but the MCG has been one of the most seam-friendly pitches in long-form men’s cricket since the drop-ins were redone in 2019. The pitch was under cover throughout the evening on Tuesday and neither side were able to look at it.”We certainly look at what the pitch has played like in whether it’s Shield and the Test match, and then considering the pink ball as well and what that brings to the game,” Nitschke said. “So we certainly do look at the results and how the wicket has played in the men’s game, because there’s been no female longer format played here. And then obviously use, what’s happened in the white-ball series as well as some intel to how we’re matching up.”England were equally unsure how the surface would play but seamer Kate Cross looms as an option after completing two full bowling spells on Tuesday without appearing in too much discomfort having missed the ODI series with a back problem. Cross wasn’t part of the T20I squad so has been based in Melbourne preparing for the Test.It has been a forgettable tour for England but there is a chance to end on a high•Getty Images

Nat Sciver-Brunt was unsure whether Cross would be available for selection but she was positive about what she faced from her.”I don’t know,” she said. “You’ll have to ask the physios who will review with her as to whether she got through the net sessions, alright. And I’m sure tomorrow will have a good bearing on that as well. She’s tracking good. It’s nice to see her rocking out a few overs in the nets as well. I think she got through two spells today. It’s great to see her back to being herself.”Sciver-Brunt did not shy away from the fact that the tour had been extremely difficult for the team, stating that it might have been worse than their last trip down under in 2021-22 when they lost the Ashes 12-4 under Covid restrictions, only claiming points from the drawn Test and two washed out T20Is.But she said the incentive of performing well in a historic Test had the team excited to finish the tour on a bright note.”It is difficult,” Sciver-Brunt said. “But I think being a Test match at the end of that at this iconic venue, we love putting on the whites. We love the fact that we get to create new memories with our team-mates, with our close friends, and hopefully put a good showing of ourselves.”Grateful that we’ve got opportunity to do that after six games. But the last few days have been tough. But, we’ve regrouped, and we’ll do our best to stay up.”

Trent Boult makes himself unavailable while Matt Henry returns from injury

Deivarayan Muthu06-Nov-2023New Zealand have packed their side with as many as five spin-bowling options, including Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips, for their upcoming two-match Test series in Bangladesh.Ravindra, who was dropped from the Test team after a shock defeat to Bangladesh in Mount Maunganui in January 2022, has been recalled on the back of breakout ODI World Cup. He has rattled off 523 runs in eight innings in the tournament so far, and became the first player to score three hundreds for New Zealand in men’s ODI World Cups.Mitchell Santner also returned to the Test side after having last played the format in June 2021. Santner had a productive 2022-23 Plunket Shield season for Northern Districts, taking 15 wickets and making 312 runs in three games. At his home ground in Hamilton in March, Santner wheeled away for almost 43 overs and picked up four of those wickets in the final innings, including two in two balls to seal a two-run win for Northern Districts.Ajaz Patel, though, will continue to lead the spin attack and brings with him strong long-format form. He recently chalked up his 250th first-class wicket for Central Districts and earlier in May, he had bagged ten wickets in a county game for Durham against Gloucestershire.During the off-season in New Zealand, Ajaz also remodelled his run-up, which he feels has added more fizz to his bowling.”I think the game’s moving forward, and as a spinner you’re always looking for ways to continue to challenge batsmen,” Ajaz told NZC’s in-house media team. “I think the [new] run-up allows things to happen a little bit quicker, from the action as well as off the surface. It’s about creating less time for batters in terms of [their] decision-making. It’s also still a work in progress. It’s something that’s still relatively new for me, so it’s just finding that rhythm, and that balance of getting the pace right.”Phillips and legspinner Ish Sodhi round off the spin attack. The spinners will work with Saqlain Mushtaq, who has been hired as New Zealand’s spin-bowling coach for this tour.”We’ve selected a squad we think can compete and succeed in Bangladesh,” New Zealand selector Sam Wells said. “With Ajaz, Ish, Mitch, Glenn and Rachin, we have a strong spin group that will offer good variety and options during the series.”Mitch had a strong back half of the Plunket Shield campaign last summer and has made good strides in his red-ball bowling. Rachin brings a left-arm orthodox option and has improved considerably over the past 18 months with the ball – and his performances with the bat at the World Cup speak for themselves.”Trent Boult, however, was not considered for selection after he made himself unavailable for the tour. The left-arm seamer, who had stepped away from his central contract last year, will instead be in action for Deccan Gladiators in the Abu Dhabi T10 league post the ODI World Cup.Matt Henry, who hurt his right hamstring during the World Cup fixture against South Africa and returned home from India, was picked in the squad for the two Tests in Bangladesh. Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee are the only frontline seamers in the 15-man squad. Left-arm quick Neil Wagner was not named in the side.Kyle Jamieson is currently with New Zealand’s World Cup squad in India•ICC via Getty Images

Jamieson is set for his first Test since undergoing back surgery in February. He is currently with Black Caps’ ODI World Cup squad in India as Henry’s replacement. Before flying out to India, Jamieson had turned out for Canterbury in the Plunket Shield, scoring an unbeaten 44 and collective five wickets against Otago in Christchurch.Batter Henry Nicholls, who had suffered a mild side strain during Canterbury’s Plunket Shield warm-up has recovered sufficiently to make New Zealand’s Test squad. However, allrounder Michael Bracewell hasn’t recovered fully from an Achilles injury.The two-match Test series in Bangladesh marks the beginning of a new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle for New Zealand. Luke Ronchi will be in charge of the squad in Bangladesh, taking over from Gary Stead, who will get a break following the ODI World Cup.Saqlain, Daniel Flynn (batting coach) and Jacob Oram (fast-bowling coach) will assist Ronchi. Oram will fill in for Shane Jurgensen, who will end his ten-year association with New Zealand after the World Cup. NZC will look to appoint a full-time bowling coach after the T20 World Cup in June 2024.While this will be Flynn’s first coaching stint with New Zealand, Oram and Saqlain had previous worked with the team.This will be New Zealand’s first Test tour of Bangladesh in ten years. They were supposed to visit the country in 2020, but that was cancelled because of Covid-19.Squad: Tim Southee (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Kane Williamson, Will Young

Organ falls after completing career-best 118, Barker adds half-century

Paul Edwards20-Jul-2022Two things happened on this dark, drizzle-haunted day at Cheltenham. The first was that Hampshire made 457 and then took two prime Gloucestershire wickets, thereby establishing a position from which they will hope to force a vital victory in the second half of this match. The second was that James Vince made 95.Yes, before you say it, the two achievements are intimately bound up with each other. Vince is Hampshire’s skipper, after all, and he had judgements to make about batting points, the shape of the match and other stuff. Yet anyone who has watched him drive through the on side or past point knows that when Vince bats as he did early this afternoon this, his innings transcend their context and become separable from everything else we are watching. So often when he is in this mood, there is a simple alchemy to his batting and a suggestion that however remarkable his gifts might appear to others, they seem terribly straightforward to him. And now that Ian Bell has retired and James Hildreth is not in Somerset’s team, there is no more aesthetically pleasing strokemaker in English cricket than Vince.But this was also a day of four interruptions and they had their impact on Hampshire’s captain. After batting prudently to be unbeaten on six from 35 balls overnight, Vince reached his fifty off a further 68 deliveries with seven fours and a six, the latter being struck straight and clean into corporate hospitality in Zafar Gohar’s first over of the morning. Included in that half-century was a square drive off Tom Price and a back-foot punch off Zak Chappell, and it was difficult to think those strokes could have been played much better.By that time, though, we had lost most of the morning’s play but at least watching any cricket was vastly more pleasurable than it had been 24 hours earlier and parlour games about movie stars had nothing to do with it. The 15 degrees of separation between Tuesday’s play on the College Ground and this morning’s cricket concerned only the thermometer. The folk who filled the small stand opposite the pavilion wanted merely to see whether Gloucestershire could contain a Hampshire side that was clearly intent on rattling up a big total and batting once. A day earlier, one speculated that the people occupying the scalding plastic seats were masochists who liked reminiscing about the Raj, which has often been a topic of conversation in Cheltenham.The weather soon took a role, though, and one didn’t need to be steeped in English cricket to see the irony of it. Seven overs into what was likely to be a long day, mizzle and heavy cloud drifted in from the south-west and soon became sufficiently heavy for the umpires to take the players off the field. We anticipated a brief delay but the bowlers’ run-ups were soon covered and an early lunch was taken. When play resumed at 1.25 it was announced that a further 84 overs would be bowled and the umpires’ determination to squeeze in as much cricket as possible was not greeted with universal rejoicing. correspondent fretted that at this rate he was going to miss his dinner and pointed out with some asperity, that those langoustines weren’t going to eat themselves.The cricket resumed and while Vince batted with perfect precision, wickets were falling at the other end. Felix Organ, who had reached his second century of the season early in the morning’s play, fished rather horribly at Zak Chappell and was caught behind for a career-best 118. Liam Dawson opened with a six and two fours but was well caught at midwicket by Graeme van Buuren off Josh Shaw.Something of a pattern had been established. Ben Brown and Aneurin Donald both made entertaining twenties as Vince sought to recapture his earlier rhythm. There were three more interruptions in late afternoon but none of them trimmed as many overs from our allotment as we had supposed. Keith Barker blasted a half-century in 37 balls and took three-quarters of the strike during his 66-run stand in nine overs with his captain. Eventually, after batting for 263 minutes and facing 162 balls, Vince was bowled by Tom Price with one that squirmed between bat and pad and may even have shaved the inside edge. The last three wickets fell in as many overs and we steadied ourselves for Gloucestershire’s reply.The bad light and rain that had plagued our cricket earlier stayed away during that last hour or so and home supporters must have cursed their absence. Muhammad Abbas’s tenth ball of the innings swung in to Chris Dent, who was pinned without a plea on the back foot for nought. The light closed in a little but only enough to bring on the spinners and that didn’t help Gloucestershire either. In his second over, Dawson turned one out of the rough to the left-handed Marcus Harris and Graham Lloyd raised his finger for the second time in ten minutes. Dawson wheeled away in a celebration that would have done credit to Jack Brooks and there can be no higher praise.Miles Hammond and Ollie Price saw their side to the close amid a cacophony of leg before shouts and a gaggle of near things. The question now is whether van Buuren’s batsmen have the skill and fibre to resist Hampshire’s fine attack for something like two days. We shall see but at least other matters reached a clear conclusion. For example, epicurean correspondent filed his copy and skedaddled. Things were looking bleak for the crustaceans. Some gloomy folk think they are not that much rosier for Gloucestershire.

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.

The left-arm quick faces an extended period on the sidelines as all options are considered as to the best way to tackle his ongoing back problems

Alex Malcolm21-Sep-2019Australia fast bowler Jason Behrendorff has been ruled out of action indefinitely due to ongoing back issues as he considers all options including the same lower spine surgery that James Pattinson underwent to prolong his career.Behrendorff, the 29-year-old left-armer from Western Australia, was forced home from a short stint with Sussex in the T20 Blast in England in late August after experiencing some back soreness and scans confirmed it was connected to the repeated stress fractures he has suffered in the past. He had been managing his back problems over the past couple of years, which included stepping away from first-class cricket completely to play limited-overs only.He will miss the Marsh One-Day Cup and the Western Australia and Cricket Australia medical staff are considering all options, which includes exploring surgery as well as just an extended rest before the BBL. ESPNcricinfo understands Behrendorff is set to speak to both Pattinson and former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond about the spine surgery both men had to fix similar issues.If surgery is a more viable option Behrendorff could head to New Zealand soon to consult with Christchurch-based surgeon Grahame Inglis, who performed the surgery on both Bond and Pattinson, to see whether he can undergo the procedure that could help prolong his career and potentially get him back playing all three formats. The recovery time for such surgery would be between nine and 12 months and next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia in October 2020 would be factored into the equation as to whether surgery is the correct route.Bond, who was Behrendorff’s bowling coach at the Mumbai Indians during this year’s IPL, first had the surgery in New Zealand in 2004 and it extended his career by six years. The surgery involves fusing screws and a titanium cable into the lower spine to stabilise the stress fracture which would not heal conventionally.Pattinson had the same surgery in New Zealand in 2017, having also consulted with Bond, as a last resort after fears his career might end prematurely aged 27. He has made a remarkable recovery to play Test cricket again for Australia, featuring in the recent Ashes series having last played Test cricket in 2016.New Zealand paceman Matt Henry, who was a key contributor to New Zealand’s World Cup campaign, also had the same surgery in 2012.Behrendorff, who is the same age as Pattinson, has not played a first-class game since November 2017. After a lengthy recovery he made the decision to step away from long-form cricket to manage his workloads. After a successful time in Australia’s ODI and T20 teams last summer he was selected in the World Cup squad and took 5 for 44 against England at Lord’s.Behrendorff does have an excellent first-class record for Western Australia having taken 126 wickets at an average of 23.85. He took 40 wickets in the 2013-14 Sheffield Shield season and was named Australia’s domestic player of the year in January 2015. He claimed a career-best 14 for 89 against Victoria in 2017 including 9 for 37 in the first innings.

The Australian cited “personal reasons” but it is understood that delays in finalising the deal between him and the PCB may have played a part

Umar Farooq14-Aug-2018The Pakistan Cricket Board will have to start their hunt for a fielding coach afresh after Darren Berry withdrew his interest in the role due to personal and professional reasons. Berry, who played 153 first-class matches in Australia from 1989 to 2004, had been in talks with the PCB for more than a month.Pakistan were looking for a replacement for Steve Rixon, the previous fielding coach who chose not to renew his contract after it expired in June. Berry had emerged as a leading candidate for the post after being endorsed by head coach Mickey Arthur, and official talks between the PCB and Berry began in the third week of June.It is understood Berry was originally due to join the Pakistan team on their tour of Zimbabwe in July, but that was delayed because the PCB’s official procedures took time. The date of Berry’s joining was then pushed to August 25, with the Asia Cup in September set to be his first assignment with the Pakistan team.On the understanding that everything in his contract was principally agreed on to save a few minor tweaks, Berry had let go of a coaching job in the Global T20 Canada. But when faced with more unusual delays from the PCB, he decided to pull out of the discussions. While he won’t be taking up the Pakistan job, Berry has renewed his ties with Islamabad United for the next PSL season, and also retains his Bangladesh Premier League contract.”I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity presented by Mickey Arthur and PCB,” Berry told ESPNcricinfo. “After healthy discussions between the PCB and myself, I have decided that at this point in time with a young family (Berry has three children) that full-time international travel was a bridge too far right now. I will continue to work with Islamabad United in the PSL and will keep an open mind in relation to international coaching opportunities in the future.”Rixon, 64, had his last working day with Pakistan on June 13, when they beat Scotland by 84 runs to seal a two-match T20I series 2-0. Since that game, Pakistan have been without a fielding coach. The PCB did confirm that they have been in talks with Berry and that he was on the verge of being selected for the role, but the deal wasn’t penned down formally. “(There was) no delay,” a PCB official said. “Steve Rixon was contracted to us till end June. We gave an ad that had a deadline of June 27 to hire new coach. After that we were negotiating terms and everything was agreed until he withdrew for personal reasons, but on good terms with PCB.”Berry, a respected name in cricket coaching, had spent four years with South Australia until 2015 and guided them to the 2010-11 Big Bash title, the last before the BBL became a franchise tournament. His luck was different in first-class cricket with the Redbacks finishing last in three out of four seasons.

Former Queensland wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe has been appointed as the state’s new coach after his predecessor Phil Jaques last month announced he was returning to New South Wales

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jun-2017Former Queensland wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe has been appointed as the state’s new coach after his predecessor Phil Jaques last month announced he was returning to New South Wales.Seccombe played 115 first-class matches until his retirement in 2005 and was Queensland’s all-time leader for wicketkeeping dismissals across all formats until overtaken last summer by Chris Hartley. He also toured England with Australia’s Ashes squad in 2001 as the backup gloveman to Adam Gilchrist.Since his retirement as a player, Seccombe has served as Queensland Youth coach, as an assistant coach to Darren Lehmann at Queensland and the Brisbane Heat, and was called into national service as Australia’s fielding coach on their 2011 tour of Bangladesh. Last year, Seccombe was appointed to the Queensland Cricket board, a position from which he has stepped down to take on the coaching role.”Wade had an enviable record and gilt-edged reputation as a player, for his skill level as an individual and his dedication to the team environment,” Queensland Cricket CEO Max Walters said. “After his playing career finished, he made the decision to establish himself in business where again, he has been successful.”Phil Jaques and his coaching and support staff have put in a significant amount of work to lay the foundations for the future and I am sure the players will appreciate that effort when Wade takes on the role as head coach in a few weeks.”

Worcestershire extended their 100% start to the NatWest T20 Blast campaign, registering a third straight victory when overcoming Yorkshire by seven wickets in front of 4,000 spectators at New Road

ECB Reporters Network02-Jun-2016
ScorecardAlexei Kervezee’s unbeaten half-century helped Worcestershire to victory•Getty Images

Worcestershire extended their 100% start to the NatWest T20 Blast campaign, registering a third straight victory when overcoming Yorkshire by seven wickets in front of 4,000 spectators at New Road.Yorkshire’s poor form in the competition continued despite a late blitz in which Liam Plunkett and Tim Bresnan took 61 from the last 17 balls to raise a total of 173 for 6. Plunkett smashed 34 not out from 10 deliveries and followed that by dismissing Worcestershire’s openers but in a well-paced reply, Alexei Kervezee made 52 not out in 37 balls as the Rapids reached their target at the start of the last over.Daryl Mitchell and Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit the right note from the outset, and although pegged back by wickets in successive overs from Plunkett, Worcestershire were given new momentum by Joe Clarke’s 34 from 23 balls until the England Lions batsman drove Adil Rashid to long-off.When Kervezee was joined by Brett D’Oliveira in the 12th over, the total was already beyond 100 and with barely a sign of trouble, they saw their team home. With D’Oliveira 34 not out from 20 balls, the matchwinning partnership produced 66 from 7.2 overs.Until Plunkett’s fireworks at the end, Yorkshire’s batting was mostly workaday on a slow surface which enabled the seamers to pick off wickets on a regular basis. The barrel-chested Joe Leach took wickets in three consecutive overs, signing off with 3 for 33, but a straight six by Bresnan three balls from the end of his spell opened the floodgates.The next over from Ed Barnard cost 30 runs as Plunkett embarked on a sequence of 6-4-6-6-4 from five deliveries, one of which was a no-ball. Bresnan then waded into Matt Henry in the final over, striking 14 off three balls as Yorkshire completely transformed the match. From looking at a total in the region of 140, they were in a position to put little more pressure on Worcestershire’s batsmen.The top of the order had been held together by Alex Lees, Yorkshire’s one-day captain going about his business with a minimum of fuss. He never seemed to be in a hurry but with skilful placement and good timing he was able to make 46 from 36 balls.David Wiilley’s return from injury was short-lived when he chopped on a ball from Barnard in the fifth over and Rashid was quickly run out from Kervezee’s slick pick-up and return from deep midwicket. When Lees went in the 11th over, his leg stump knocked sideways in a good containing spell by Mitchell, Jack Leaning and Gary Ballance made 24 apiece and both drove the recalled Chris Russell for six until the intervention by Leach.Leaning was caught behind attempting to pull a bouncer that gripped in the pitch and Ballance was bowled middle stump. In between these wickets, Will Rhodes emulated Wiilley’s dismissal by dragging on.