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Delhi Capitals appoint parent brand JSW as principal sponsor after Daikin pulls out

Varun Shetty21-Aug-2020Delhi Capitals have announced that the JSW Group will be their new principal sponsor for IPL 2020 as it emerges that the challenges of retaining sponsorship value in a pandemic-hit economy have not stopped at just the BCCI. Daikin Air-Conditioning, which had been the principal sponsor for the Delhi franchise since 2015, has pulled out. The JSW Group is a conglomerate that owns JSW Sports, which is the joint-owner of Delhi Capitals.In a release, chairman of Delhi Capitals and managing director of JSW Group, Parth Jindal said that the deal will help JSW’s brand visibility and that “there are few properties that garner the viewership of the IPL.”The value of that viewership was reflected in 2017, when Vivo bought the IPL title rights at a 454% bump in value from the previous sponsor. But it had to pull out a couple of weeks ago due to political tensions between India and China and subsequently, the BCCI had to award rights of this IPL edition at nearly half of this year’s INR 440 crore value to Dream11.These discounts to sponsors are seemingly a challenge for franchises as well.In an interview with earlier this week, Jindal had said that the JSW Group got a “slight discount” over Daikin “because of no ticket sales [and] no meet-and-greets” with the players. He said that component of sponsorship value was coming down and re-negotiations were on – anywhere between 15-20%.”From a commercial standpoint, with Vivo going out and no fans coming into the stadium, franchisees are waiting for clarity on how much of that amount will be compensated by BCCI,” Jindal said. “But it’s very likely that a major chunk of each franchise’s losses will get compensated by the BCCI. There will be a slight commercial impact, but I don’t think more than 10% compared to last year. If the BCCI doesn’t compensate, there will be a significant loss to each franchise, about a 30% drop in revenues. But we do believe the BCCI will do something for the franchisees.”ALSO READ: Lasith Malinga set to miss initial part of IPL in UAEThe likelihood of the IPL being played behind closed doors will mean the absence of what brands call stadium activations – interactive experiences for fans at stadiums – and has already forced franchises to rethink and innovate on the digital front.”[Playing behind closed doors means] straightaway the ticket revenues are affected, your food and beverage revenue is affected, the merchandising sales at the stadium is affected. The challenge to us is – how do you activate the sponsors? Are there ways in which you can compensate for this?” Venky Mysore, CEO of Kolkata Knight Riders, said on ESPNcricinfo’s Stump Mic podcast in May.”We are re-imagining our businesses. From that perspective, what I know is already happening is that the world is consuming more content than before. This is a fact. That’s great news. How do we take some of these changes and harness it in a way that would benefit our business? And therefore can we come up with some innovative ideas? I think if we channel our energies the right way, we will. That’s why I’m very optimistic.”Jindal echoed similar sentiments in his interview with , saying that he expected this year’s IPL’s viewership to be the highest ever and there’s “only a limited amount of Netflix and Hotstar one can watch”. The chief executive of Kings XI Punjab, Satish Menon, said they were being pushed to adopt technology to bring value to their sponsors as well, and told ESPNcricinfo that there was no reason to be upset about the business challenges around the tournament.”That is the situation. You’ve got to live with the situation,” Menon said. “We’re still providing entertainment through the television. So I’m sure our spectators and our fans will love this, so I see no reason why anybody should be upset about this.”Menon’s thoughts are along the lines of Royal Challengers Bangalore chairman Sanjeev Churiwala’s, who suggested that the IPL happening itself was an ideal scenario for them.”We have not paid too much attention to the revenue and sponsorship side. At the moment, the discussion is how we can enable the IPL to happen in the first place. We were facing a binary position – IPL versus no IPL. At least now an IPL is happening,” Churiwala said during RCB’s pre-departure conference on Thursday.Even though BCCI has not yet taken any firm decision on whether crowds would be allowed during the IPL in the UAE, the Emirates Cricket Board is optimistic that fans could be present in the second half subject to permission from the UAE government as well as IPL.The change in IPL title sponsorship value is likely to affect the revenue pool that is shared by the eight franchises, but the broad mood around the IPL remains that this version of the tournament is better than not having one at all. At the very least, that seems to be the board’s position, with president Sourav Ganguly saying that Vivo’s dropping out was merely a “blip” for the BCCI that has a strong enough legacy to not be affected.For now, the franchises seem satisfied with that despite battling tensions on their various revenue streams.

They underwent a second test inside three days on Monday, following a first negative test last week

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2020Pakistan’s touring party in the UK is set to get bigger after six more players who returned two successive negative Covid-19 tests became eligible to join the initial squad of 20 in Worcester.Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and Wahab Riaz all underwent a second test inside three days on Monday, following a first negative test last week. All the players are currently in isolation at a five-star hotel in Lahore and are likely to fly out later this week to England.Currently, the 18 players who returned two negatives as well as two reserve players – Musa Khan and wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir – are part of the group of 20 who flew to Manchester on a chartered plane organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The tour group also consists of 11 support-staff members. While head coach Misbah-ul-Haq flew with the squad from Lahore, bowling coach Waqar Younis and physiotherapist Cliff Deacon arrived in England from Australia and South Africa respectively.Among the players that will now join the squad, Hafeez and Riaz had earlier tested themselves at a private laboratory in the wake of their returning positive results after the first round of testing by the PCB. Although the re-test came back negative, the board didn’t consider the result valid as the tests were conducted outside the testing protocols.Meanwhile, Kashif Bhatti, Haris Rauf, Haider Ali and Imran Khan have tested positive, but are believed to be asymptomatic and are in isolation. They will be tested again in a few days, with players needing to return two negative tests to become eligible for selection.Team masseur Malang Ali has also tested positive twice while his back-up Mohammad Imran has tested positive once. Both will remain in Pakistan to finish another round of testing. The group that reached England late last week also underwent a fresh round of testing on Monday, and are awaiting their test results.The tour comprises three Test matches and three T20Is in August and September. All six games will be played behind closed doors.

A round-up of all the Ranji Trophy Group C matches on October 25, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Oct-2015
ScorecardFile photo: Arindam Das hit an unbeaten 106 and added 194 with Parvinder Singh•Fotocorp

Goa and Himachal Pradesh had to settle for a draw in Dharamsala, but the hosts ended the happier of the two sides, having picked up three points due to a first-innings lead. Goa, who began the day at 182 for 3, were buoyed by a century from Snehal Kauthankar (101), who strung together big stands with Darshan Misal (44) and Dheeraj Jadhav (50*), helping the team to 367 for 6 after which they declared. It set Himachal Pradesh a target of 316, but with less than 40 overs left in the day, the chances of an outright win for either team were slim. Himachal Pradesh managed their way to 125 for 2 in 30 overs before stumps were called, thanks to an opening stand of 107 between Ankush Bains and Prashant Chopra (60).
ScorecardCenturies from Arindam Das and Parvinder Singh ensured Tripura batted throughout the day to secure a draw against Jammu & Kashmir in Agartala. The result meant J&K had to settle for just three first-innings points, rather than the six they would have got from an outright win. Having set a target of 368 after declaring overnight, J&K had more than 90 overs to try and bowl Tripura out. However, after losing Rajib Saha and Udiyan Bose early in the day, Arindam and Parvinder held firm, batting together for 68 overs. Arindam hit 11 fours and a six for his 106, while Parvinder’s 100 featured nine fours. The pair’s unbroken 194-run stand took Tripura to 243 for 2 before stumps were called.
ScorecardKerala’s spinners Karaparambil Monish and Rohan Prem picked up four wickets apiece, helping the team to a three-run innings lead, and as a result, three crucial points from their drawn game against Services in Delhi. Services, who began the day at 281 for 7 still adrift of Kerala’s first-innings total by 41 runs, were pushed forward by a half-century from Muzzaffaruddin Khalid. However, Khalid received little support from the tailenders, as Services were bowled out for 319 and fell just short of an innings lead.Kerala could have settled for just the innings points, but the visitors pressed on for an outright win, as a 72 from Akshay Kodoth led the team to 176 in their second innings, after which they declared. His knock set Services a target of 180, but Kerala had just 18 overs to bowl the hosts out. A three-wicket burst from Sachin Baby reduced Services to 43 for 4, but Kerala ran out time to push on for victory.

The Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) has formed 10 sub-committees that will work under court-appointed observer, former Justice Mukul Mudgal, in regards to the organisation of the fourth Test between India and South Africa

PTI20-Nov-2015The Delhi & Districts Cricket Association (DDCA), during an internal meeting today, has formed 10 sub-committees that will work under court-appointed observer, former Justice Mukul Mudgal, in regards to the organisation of the fourth Test between India and South Africa. Justice Mudgal will be going to the Feroz Shah Kotla at 11am on Saturday morning for his first meeting with senior DDCA officials.”Today we have formed the 10 sub-committees that will be working for the smooth conduct of the Test match. Each committee will have a chairman and also have three-four members,” DDCA treasurer Ravinder Manchanda told PTI. “Tomorrow Justice Mudgal will be coming to Kotla for inspection and first meeting with the officials. We have asked all our executive committee members to be present.”However Manchanda said that they are yet to finalise the names of the members in each committee. “We will fill up the names by tomorrow. We will need to
see what Justice Mudgal advises,” he said. “We will certainly obey and follow his instructions.”

The former Chief Justice of India, the constitution’s main architect, believes a former cricketer like Ganguly would never have been BCCI president had it not been for his reforms

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2019Justice (retd) RM Lodha, who was appointed by the Supreme Court in 2015 to reform the BCCI, has said the board’s move to amend the constitution he had framed was “unfortunate”. The constitution, which provides for sweeping changes to the way in which Indian cricket is run, was approved by the Supreme Court in August 2018.Lodha referred to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and said a former cricketer would never have headed the board if it wasn’t for his reforms in the first place.The most radical amendments include altering the rules concerning the cooling-off period for administrators that currently bars them from office for three years after serving a six-year period in office, relaxing various disqualification criteria and removing the need for any changes to the constitution to be approved by the Supreme Court. Ganguly and BCCI secretary Jay Shah are currently set to serve only till June 2020 since they had been heads of their respective state boards for more than five years before their current roles.Among the other amendments proposed by the BCCI board is watering down the “conflict of interest clauses” that exist in the constitution and giving more power to the board secretary. That is a distinct shift from before where the CEO held more power.”It’s very unfortunate,” Lodha was quoted as saying in an interview by Hindustan Times. “I thought a cricketer at the helm of affairs will understand that it was only our reforms which brought him to this position.”If the earlier system was in vogue, perhaps no cricketer could have ever dreamt of heading a body like the BCCI,” Lodha said. “The way politics is played in cricket administration, I don’t think any cricketer would have been able to get this position but for these reforms.”That’s all the more reason for those in charge now to respect the reforms and try to fully implement them, instead of changing them,” Lodha said. “Let reforms work over a period of time and see how transparency, accountability come into the administration.”Lodha conceded that it was legally impossible to stop family members of former board members from contesting elections. But he hoped that more “independent” people would come to the fore in the long run.Lodha also said he wished that the Committee of Administrators, led by Vinod Rai, implemented the reforms much faster. “They took a lot of time in implementation,” he said. “Their job was to implement the SC order by which our committee’s report was accepted. It should have been done a long time back. They took three years.”As a matter of fact, the second election should have been due by this time because the first order was passed in July, 2016. The first election after reforms has taken place in 2019.”The Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court in 2015, was headed by Lodha, a former Chief Justice of India, along with former Supreme Court Justices RV Raveendran and Ashok Bhan.

Yo-Yo tests back as a selection parameter, Dexa scans introduced following BCCI review meeting attended by Dravid, Rohit, Laxman and others

Shashank Kishore01-Jan-2023The workloads of key India players, particularly those with a history of injuries, will be monitored during IPL 2023 by the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy and the IPL franchises “in tandem”. This is in accordance with the BCCI’s new policy for managing workloads of players in the lead-up to the 50-over World Cup this October and November and the World Test Championship final in June, if India qualify for it.The plan to have the NCA work with the IPL franchises during the 2023 edition of the tournament was among a number of recommendations made by the BCCI following a review meeting in Mumbai on Sunday, convened to discuss the roadmap of the senior men’s team for the World Cup.Among other matters discussed were the team’s performance in 2022, which included the Test series loss in South Africa, the fifth Test loss in England (from the incomplete series the previous year), the semi-final exit – with a ten-wicket loss to England – from the T20 World Cup in Australia, and the ODI series loss in Bangladesh most recently.Related

• IPL teams and international stars in informal contract discussions

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• Rohit frustrated with India's mounting injury list

Head coach Rahul Dravid, regular all-format captain Rohit Sharma, BCCI president Roger Binny, secretary Jay Shah, NCA head VVS Laxman and selection committee chair Chetan Sharma were present at the meeting.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that workload and injury management were discussed at length, especially after several key players missed a significant amount of cricket because of injuries in 2022. It’s something Rohit alluded to after the ODI series loss in Bangladesh, when he expressed displeasure at players pulling up with injuries repeatedly despite being passed fit.”We need to try and get to the bottom of it,” Rohit had said. “I don’t know what exactly it is. Maybe they’re playing too much cricket. We need to try and monitor those guys, because it’s important to understand when they come for India, they need to be a 100%, in fact more than 100%.”The cases of Deepak Chahar, who was injured for much of 2022, Jasprit Bumrah, who is recovering from a stress fracture on his back, and Ravindra Jadeja, who is recovering from an ankle injury, are learnt to have been deliberated upon.2:11

How should India manage Bumrah’s workload going forward?

The NCA’s medical team is understood to have submitted a roadmap on workload and injury management. In accordance with the new plan, a fitness and workload roadmap will be customised for each of the central pool of players, and work has already begun for it.In addition to Yo-Yo tests, the NCA panel also recommended the addition of Dexa scans to add another “scientific layer” – in the words of a BCCI official – of testing before determining if players are fit to play. The Dexa scan is the international standard for measuring body composition and bone health – a ten-minute test that measures total body fat and includes the exact breakdown of bone mass, fat tissue and muscle in the body.One of the other recommendations was that emerging players would “have to play substantial” amount of domestic cricket before becoming eligible for selection to the national team, a BCCI press statement said. The selectors believe this would make the players be available for all formats, and not prioritise one over the others.Another reason for the recommendation is to ensure players are properly conditioned before entering the system. The selectors, in the past, haven’t been averse to picking new players straight after a good IPL season. But with new players – like T Natarajan and Varun Chakravarthy, for example – missing more cricket than they have played in the past couple of years, because of injuries followed by treatment, rehabilitation, etc, have been a cause for concern.

The Rajasthan Royals are now out after fading away in a steep chase

Saurabh Somani01-Nov-20202:10

Bishop: Cummins has kept doing the right things even if he wasn’t getting wickets

Both the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals had come into this game knowing it was not just must-win, but they needed to win it with a big margin to get some playoff security. Both teams showed the intent to go hard, and maximise their chances, but it was the Knight Riders who came out smiling at the end, having romped to a 60-run victory that vaulted them from last place in the points table to fourth, and knocked the Royals out.The margin of the win meant their net run rate had lifted to -0.214, within touching distance of the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Delhi Capitals, with all three teams on 14 points. A big enough loss for either of those two, when they face off on Monday, could see the losing team slip below the Knight Riders, an important cushion should qualification come down to net run rates. The first game on Sunday had already seen the Kings XI Punjab crash out with a defeat to the Chennai Super Kings, smoothening the way further for the Knight Riders.Intent was shown before the game itself, when the Knight Riders included a still not fully fit Andre Russell for this match. The thinking was evident: with the season on the line, you need one of T20’s best players in the XI.Eoin Morgan led the way with the bat, while Pat Cummins was devastating with the ball, as the Knight Riders won crucial passages of play handsomely. Morgan had come in at 74 for 3, after a double-wicket over, and paced his innings to a nicety. He expertly picked the bowlers to target, and bludgeoned his way to his highest IPL score. The unbeaten 68 off 35 he scored was also his first half-century of IPL 2020. The Morgan blitz took the Knight Riders to 191 for 7, a total well in excess of what they looked like getting more than halfway into the innings.Pat Cummins sent back Ben Stokes and Steven Smith in the same over•BCCI

The Royals innings began at breakneck speed but their unravelling was equally swift. The first five legal balls brought 19 runs, the next 4.1 overs produced 18 for 5 – four of those wickets going to Cummins. It was only the fourth time ever that a bowler had taken four or more wickets in an IPL powerplay. In seven of their last eight games, the Knight Riders had gone wicketless in the powerplay, and as if to revert to the mean, they got five on Sunday. Morgan took the aggressive option and bowled Cummins for three overs in the powerplay, and was amply rewarded for it. Cummins shrugged off those 19 runs he conceded first up to eventually end with 4 for 34.Archer at one end, runs at the otherThe match began in familiar fashion for the Royals. Jofra Archer was quick, hostile, accurate at one end. The runs leaked from the other. Archer’s first spell read 2-0-3-1 but the Knight Riders still had 55 for 1 in the powerplay, with Shubman Gill in his new avatar as an aggressive opener leading the way. Gill carted the other bowlers around as the Knight Riders shrugged off the first-over dismissal of Nitish Rana to continue to hit out against all bowlers save Archer, with the rest offering ample waywardness in line and length.Steven Smith also erred in giving Shreyas Gopal the fourth over, when pace might have been more suited and with the Royals having enough options. Gopal’s over went for 17 runs and the control Archer had given them first up disappeared. Later on, Smith would also call on Gopal when Russell was new to the crease – again with pace options available since the Royals had six frontline bowlers – and that over went for 21 after a middle-overs lull.Tewatia strikesRahul Tewatia continued to enhance his reputation as one of the stars of this tournament with a canny spell in the middle overs that dragged the Royals into the game for a while. He didn’t rip the ball a great deal, but kept it flat and on difficult-to-hit lengths. He also kept it out of the strike zone of the batsmen, denying them room to free their arms. He struck twice in the ninth over to get a fluent Gill and then the promoted Sunil Narine for a duck. Later on, he took the important wicket of Dinesh Karthik, who chipped tamely to short midwicket, finishing with 3 for 25 in his four overs, bowled on the trot. When he was done, the Knight Riders had been reined in to 100 for 5 in 13 overs after a quick start.Eoin Morgan was at his explosive best•BCCI

Morgan’s blitzHe had been busy at the crease since his entry, though he had to temper his aggression against good bowling by Tewatia, while also setting himself up for launching in the death overs. Still, Morgan hadn’t let a scoring opportunity go, looking to attack even through the middle overs. The re-entry of Gopal for the 14th over opened the sluice gates, as Morgan smashed two fours and two sixes. Russell then showed some of his prime hitting form, even taking Archer for a six after an edged four. Though Russell was out for an 11-ball 25, Morgan stayed on, taking down England team-mate Ben Stokes in a massive 19th over that yielded 24 runs.Cummins runs through the top orderThe first ball of the chase was picked up for six over fine leg, the second was a big wide down leg. Stokes hit an audacious ramped six off the fourth and suddenly the Royals were flying. They were brought thudding to earth rapidly though. Cummins ended his first over with Robin Uthappa flicked to deep backward square leg, and from that point on, the Knight Riders stayed on top.Stokes was taken behind when Karthik leapt to his left to pluck the ball out of the air in one of the catches of the season, Smith was bowled off the inside edge and Riyan Parag was too late on a short ball that got big on him to glove it behind. In between, Shivam Mavi moved one off the seam to have Sanju Samson poking it behind.Jos Buttler fought for a while, and Tewatia tried to do what he could, but 37 for 5 in five overs, the Royals needed a miracle, and that didn’t materialise.

Opener shares rapid stands with Cameron Delport and Dan Lawrence to put game out of reach

ECB Reporters Network02-Aug-2019Essex 206 for 3 (Westley 86*, Lawrence 56, Delport 51) beat Gloucestershire 181 for 5 (Higgins 77*, Zampa 2-31) by 25 runsTom Westley scored a brilliant unbeaten half-century as Essex defeated Gloucestershire by 25 runs at the Bristol County Ground to put their Vitality T20 Blast campaign back on track.Westley top-scored with 86 not out and shared in stands of 81 and 105 with Cameron Delport and Dan Lawrence for the first and third wickets respectively as Essex registered their highest score in matches against Gloucestershire, eclipsing the 204 for 4 they made in a winning cause at Chelmsford in 2011.Delport and Lawrence also contributed half-centuries to propel the visitors to an imposing 206 for 3 on a used pitch.Undone by the loss of early wickets, Gloucestershire left themselves with too much to do, their top-order shortcomings rendering a frenetic fifth-wicket stand of 93 in 42 balls between Jack Taylor and Ryan Higgins inconsequential as they came up short at 181 for 5.The decision to restore Westley to the top of the order following a spell at No. 3 paid dividends for Essex as their opening pair staged a boundary-laden stand of 81 inside nine overs.Hard-hitting South African Delport adopted the aerial route and took the eye initially, clubbing five sixes and two fours in harvesting 51 from 31 balls. Dropped at mid-off by Andrew Tye off the bowling of David Payne when on 23, Delport made good his escape as the visitors posted their highest opening partnership of the campaign.Thereafter, Westley took centre stage, striking the ball cleanly, finding the gaps with the aid of adept placement and running furiously between the wickets in raising a 36-ball half-century.Aided and abetted by Lawrence, who proved adept at rotating the strike, Westley launched a violent assault on Tom Smith’s slow left-arm spin as the 14th over yielded 24 runs. But he was denied what would have been a third T20 hundred by Lawrence, who dominated the strike in smashing a 27-ball 50.Promoted up the order for this match, Lawrence raised that landmark in the grand manner, hoisting Tye over long-on for six, one of three maximums in a high-octane innings. The third wicket realised 105 runs from 52 balls and effectively carried the game out of Gloucestershire’s reach.Having set his stall out to carry his bat, Westley finished on 86 not out from 54 balls, having accrued seven fours and three sixes.Under pressure to start fast, Gloucestershire lost Miles Hammond and the talismanic Michael Klinger inside five overs. When James Bracey holed out to long-on two overs later, the hosts were 43 for 3 and up against it.Making his T20 debut, Aaron Beard then accounted for Ian Cockbain, held at mid-off, as Gloucestershire’s top order crumbled under duress. Required to chase down 139 runs from 55 deliveries, Higgins and Taylor traded almost exclusively in boundaries to at least give home supporters something to cheer.Higgins raised a 28-ball 50 with a huge maximum over square leg, but when Taylor holed out in the deep for 42 in the 18th over with 46 stil needed, the game was all but up. Higgins finished on 77 not out from 43 balls, with three sixes and six fours.

A severely rain-affected game fizzled out to a draw with only one of the four possible innings coming to completion – and that too because New Zealand A had declared

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2018
A severely rain-affected game fizzled out to a draw in Hamilton with only one of the four possible innings coming to completion – and that too because New Zealand A had declared.After the second day was washed out and only 17 overs were possible on the third, the weather seemed a little more forthcoming as India A’s openers Mayank Agarwal and Abhimanyu Easwaran put on 71 for the first wicket. And in quick time too. Only 18.4 overs had been bowled.New Zealand A’s bowlers received some respite as another spell of rain lashed the ground and play could only resume after lunch. Blair Tickner, the 25-year old seamer, broke the partnership soon after the break, which brought R Samarth to the crease and he became the game’s third man to score fifty-plus after Will Young’s 123 and Theo van Woerkom’s 54 at No. 8 for the hosts.In all, India A could bat for only 46 overs before the game came to its most likely conclusion. Both teams now head to Whangarei which will host the third unofficial Test on November 30.

The latest news as it happens in the build-up to Vitality Blast Finals Day

Paul Edwards and ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2018Moeen Ali has paid tribute to his England colleague, Jos Buttler, as the pair prepare to go head to head in Worcestershire Rapids’ Vitality Blast semi-final against Lancashire Lightning at Edgbaston.”I’m not sure I want to bowl at him too much, the way he’s been playing this year,” said Moeen, as he looked forward to pitting his off-spin against Buttler’s explosive hitting. “He’s an incredible player but somehow we’ve going to have to get him out early and I hope he makes a mistake. He’s going to be a massive threat tomorrow but it only takes one mistake.”I’ve bowled at him plenty of times before and he’s hit me for many sixes in the nets but I’ve also got him out a few times. He’s played in quite a few of these days and he knows how to cope with the pressure. I can bowl at him but he can’t bowl at me.”Moeen also hopes that the experience of playing in their first Finals Day will inspire his Worcestershire team, many of whom have come through the county’s Academy together.”It’s very exciting obviously, It’s our first appearance and so the lads are pumped and excited and a bit nervous about the game tomorrow. Hopefully everyone will sleep well, turn up tomorrow and we’ll be fine.”Getting to Finals Day is something we’ve been trying to do for a while now but it never managed to happen, we always stumbled at the quarter-finals. Now we’ve got over that I think we’ll be fine, it almost like a monkey off our back and we are only two games away from lifting the trophy.”We have nothing to lose. Sometimes when you haven’t had anything for a while you want it more than anyone else and I’m hoping that’s the attitude we’ll come with tomorrow. We’ve finally got here and now it’s a question of moving Lancashire out of the way.”Moeen also disclosed that Worcestershire had been boosted by the availability of Joe Clarke and Brett D’Oliveira, both of who missed their county’s match against Surrey with back problems.”Both Brett and Joe have had stiff backs this week but they’re trained today and they are fine. Joe was a little bit sore this morning but hopefully the adrenalin will kick in and he’ll be fine.”

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Wright plays down Rashid absenceLuke Wright crunches through the leg side•Getty Images

Sussex captain Luke Wright has sought to downplay the absence of Rashid Khan at Vitality Blast Finals Day at Edgbaston.The Afghan leg-spinner has taken 17 wickets for the Sharks in this year’s competition but Wright praised the way in which Will Beer had filled the gap created by Rashid’s absence in recent games.”Spin’s been a big part of our game and it would have been nice to have Rashid here but Danny Briggs has been unbelievable and Will has stepped in and done a great job, especially in the quarter-final up at Durham. But when you get to this stage you only need a few players to come off and we’ve still got a really good team anyway.”

Finals day schedule

Semi-finals: 1100: Lancashire Lightning v Worcestershire Rapids; 1430: Somerset v Sussex Sharks
Final: 1845.

And Wright’s also believes that his team is not overly dependent on the batting of Laurie Evans, who has scored over 200 runs more than any other Sussex player in this year’s Blast.”Well, Phil Salt’s had three fifties, two of them very quick ones, and I’ve had four 70 pluses or something. But in any competition you need one batter who can be your glue and Laurie has done that for us. In semi-finals and finals, anyone can have their day out and if it’s Laurie again, then great.”Only Will Beer and Wright know what it is like to win the Blast but the Sussex skipper is encouraging his players to embrace the occasion, along with the ballyhoo.”It’s easy to put too much pressure on the day and I’ve told the lads to enjoy it. Jason Gillespie has helped us to do that and I think that why we’ve had so much success. The quarter-final was the most relaxed game I’ve ever played in really, Dizzy was so chilled in the build-up and he’s the same now.Wright also explained why he had taken back the captaincy having relinquished it last year when Mark Davis was the Sussex coach.”I’ve always enjoyed the on-field stuff but last year under a different coach it just didn’t work between us. We had different ideas and I stopped enjoying my cricket. It was an easy decision to stop being captain but it was also easy to take on the captaincy when Dizzy asked me to take it on again because we have the same ideas about how we set up a team.”That chilled fun side of it exactly how I want to play my cricket and I think when people are happy they seem to play better. In T20 you have to risk a lot and you have be brave enough to go out and have a go.”

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I’ve learned lessons – KerrSomerset’s head coach Jason Kerr believes the lessons learned by Somerset when they reached Finals Day four times in a row between 2009-12 but failed to win once will hold them in good stead at Edgbaston.Kerr, who was part of the coaching staff on all those occasions, told the : “I was involved in a different capacity and I’ve learned lessons in terms of how to approach the day. We’ve got some experienced guys in James Hildreth and Peter Trego who can feed from that.”For the rest it is fresh, they have no emotional baggage and they will be looking forward to making their mark on the day.”What’s been so pleasing through the group stage is how different people have stepped up – we are not relying on one person continually. It may have been Craig Kieswetter in years gone by – relying on that fantastic start he sometimes gave us – whereas here the guys have absolute trust in each other and know that contributions will come from 1-11. That’s the exciting thing about this team.”

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Laurie Evans struck three sixes in his 37•Getty Images

Three players press for Denly’s crownOnly three players in the PCA MVP Blast Rankings Top Ten take part in the Vitality Blast Finals Day and Somerset all-rounder Lewis Gregory, Sussex’s top order batsman Laurie Evans and Lancashire opener Alex Davies all have a chance to hunt down Joe Denly of Kent.Either Evans or Gregory will get at least two matches when Sussex and Somerset face each other in the second semi-final of the day. Davies has the first opportunity to press his claims when Lancashire face Worcestershire.Gregory, the Somerset captain, sits on 154 points, 64 off Denly, but has been instrumental in helping Somerset reach county cricket’s big day out. He smashed 44 off 15 to power his side to Finals Day and has been a consistent performer with bat and ball throughout the tournament, hitting 321 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 217, the highest in the top 50 run-scorers in the competition.Coupled with his 17 wickets, he is the highest placed Somerset player in the Blast MVP Rankings and is in third position in the Overall Rankings, behind Denly and Surrey’s Rikki Clarke, neither of whom are on show.

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Evans has scored 554 runs in the competition and is 35 off Aaron Finch who is the current leading scorer and while it would take a monumental effort for him to pip Denly to the MVP of the Blast, he still has a great chance of overtaking the Australian as the leading run-scorer.Evans has scored his runs at an average of 79.14 and a phenomenal strike-rate of 138.5, a key factor in the MVP formula as players are attributed more points depending on the scenario of the game.Davies is likely to be joined in Lancashire’s top order by England’s Most Valuable Player of the summer, Jos Buttler.As for Worcestershire, their star has been Pat Brown with the 20-year-old going into Finals Day as the top wicket taker. His 27 scalps at an average of 14 only place him 19th however.It could be surprising to see Brown not firmly inside the top 10, but he has never scored a T20 run and has only faced six balls in his entire career – another reason for fast bowlers to grumble that despite all their hard work the world is stacked against them

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Attendances rise again
Taunton fans gather for autographs•Getty Images

Attendances in the Vitality Blast increased by 3% this season – the fifth time in the last six years that the competition has broken its own attendance record.Advance tickets for this season’s Finals Day also sold out in record time. although in controversial fashion as the four finalists were only allowed an allocation of 500 tickets each, forcing many would-be spectators to complain they would have to seek out ticket resale sites or risk travel on the day and hope for the best.