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Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, has lost his appeal against the level of damages awarded in his libel case defeat against Chris Cairns

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-2012Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, has lost his appeal against the level of damages awarded in his libel case defeat against Chris Cairns. Modi was ordered to pay Cairns £90,000 ($142,000), as well as costs in excess of £1 million ($1.6m), in March over a defamatory tweet sent in January 2010, after a two-week hearing at the High Court.Modi was given leave to appeal the damages but not liability. However, the Lord Chief Justice on Wednesday announced that Modi’s case had been thrown out, saying the amount awarded to Cairns, the former New Zealand allrounder, was “proportionate to the seriousness of the allegation”.A Court of Appeal statement said: “We reject the criticisms of the judge’s reasoning or of the total award based on a starting point of £75,000 with the £15,000 uplift directly linked to the conduct of the hearing. In our judgment they were proportionate to the seriousness of the allegation and its direct impact on Mr Cairns himself and will serve to vindicate his reputation. The appeal is accordingly dismissed.”

Offspinner Shane Shillingford has been added to the West Indies squad for the second Test against Australia, beginning on April 15 at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2012Offspinner Shane Shillingford has been added to the West Indies squad for the second Test against Australia, beginning on April 15 at Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad.Shillingford’s inclusion is the only change to the squad that lost the first Test in Barbados by three wickets. He took 38 wickets in five matches for Windward Islands in this year’s Regional Four-Day tournament.Shillingford played five Test for West Indies, the last of which was against Sri Lanka in November 2010. He underwent remedial work on an action that was deemed illegal after that tour of Sri Lanka and made the squad for the tour of Bangladesh in 2011, although he did not play a match.Squad: Darren Sammy (capt), Kirk Edwards (vc), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh (wk), Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Kieran Powell, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Shane Shillingford

Fast bowler insists Test cricket is “still at the hearts of West Indian cricketers”

Andrew McGlashan23-Jan-2024Kemar Roach has encouraged Shamar Joseph to “build his own legacy” after bursting onto the Test scene last week in Adelaide but knows there will be distractions for him along the way.Joseph struck with his first ball in Test cricket when he removed Steven Smith, then finished with 5 for 94 and also showed his prowess with the bat to suggest he won’t be staying at No. 11 for long.His rise to Test cricket has been remarkable on the back of just five first-class games, having grown up in the village of Baracara in Guyana, which could only be reached by boat. He has now shot to global prominence and is being talked about as part of West Indies’ future as they look to rebuild their Test cricket, but Joseph already has an ILT20 deal and more such offers are unlikely to be far away.Related

• 'I'll take a picture, and post it up' – Shamar Joseph on dream first-ball wicket of Smith

• Brathwaite: Shamar Joseph 'gave a lot of confidence to the team'

• How many players have taken a wicket with their first ball in Tests as Shamar Joseph did?

“The best advice I can give him is to build his own legacy,” Roach said. “Understand what you want from cricket. That’s up to him to determine, if it’s monetary, or if it’s just stats and statistics or whatever. There’s going to be a lot of distractions… he’s a hot commodity right now. So he needs to choose what he really wants and what he thinks is best for his career going forward. So it’s up to him, as a young man, but I definitely give him that advice.”Roach, the senior figure in West Indies’ attack with 80 caps to his name, is happy to take on a mentor role having had similar players to feed off early in his career.”I had that when I started. Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards [were] some guys around to help me when I started my career,” he said. “I took knowledge and learning from it. So obviously for me now, it’s all about passing on the mantle now to the youngsters. He’s got a very good career ahead of him. At this stage, he’s willing to learn. We have a lot of conversations. So, I think once he keeps doing that, not just coming from me but anyone who he thinks can help him in his career, he can take a lot of knowledge on board and become a better cricketer.”Roach himself is towards the latter stages of his career but has put no end point on his Test career. “Day by day,” he said with a smile, “let’s see how it goes.” He made a big impression on his first tour of Australia when he forced Ricky Ponting to retire hurt in Perth but has found the country the toughest place to take wickets with 10 at 77.90 from eight matches.”As a bowler coming to Australia you are bowling against some of the best batters in the world so there is always a good challenge,” he said. “I love a good challenge. I have lived for that my whole career so for me coming here is just about expressing yourself, enjoying and relishing the moment and giving it a good go. Be confident in yourself and your skills and let’s see how the day goes for you.”Kemar Roach has the fifth-most wickets (267) in Tests for West Indies, but averages 77.90 with only ten wickets in Australia•Associated Press

Roach only briefly dipped his toe into the franchise world of T20 – his last game in the format was in 2018 – although that did include a stint with Brisbane Heat, who will play the BBL final against Sydney Sixers on Wednesday. The last time Heat won the BBL was in 2012-13, when Roach claimed 3 for 18 against Perth Scorchers at the WACA. “I saw my picture on the wall, so good memories,” he said of his return to the Gabba, the home ground of Heat.Test cricket, where he ranks fifth among West Indies’ all-time wicket-takers, has remained his No. 1 priority and Roach firmly believes that is the case among many young players in the Caribbean.”I love Test cricket,” he said. “Honestly, I love the red-ball format. I’ve played one-dayers and the T20 format as well but I think my heart was always a part of the red ball. I just wanted to be a part of those mega cricketers back in the days. The Joel Garners, the Malcolm Marshalls, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, I just want to be a part of those names.”And I think for me, obviously, I didn’t grow up much in the franchise era. So I had Test cricket at heart, and it has stuck with me throughout. I just think it is different times now. So for me, it’s just about these youngsters, what they want to achieve from it. And they make the right decisions and they go forward [in their] careers.”The franchises are a big distraction,” he added. “But guys still want to relish red-ball cricket. Test cricket is still at the hearts of West Indian cricketers at home. It’s just about us to provide support around it. To keep those guys interested in red-ball cricket. Discussions will be had. I’m not part of it. They take Tests very seriously still. They are very proud to be a part of the red-ball team for the West Indies.”

Zafar Gohar stars on spinning deck as rain at Edgbaston provides vital safety net

David Hopps27-Sep-2022Relegation is what many critics wished upon Yorkshire as the Azeem Rafiq racism allegations were at their height a year ago. That sanction never came from the ECB, or at least it hasn’t yet, so it would at least quell the argument if they went down anyway.That relegation still cannot be discounted. The best news on the second day for Yorkshire was that it was raining in Birmingham. They are approaching the end of the season in forlorn mood. If Warwickshire don’t beat Hampshire at Edgbaston, they will remain in Division One. But if Warwickshire somehow manufacture a 18-point win in a rain-hit game, then a Gloucestershire win at Headingley would send them into Division Two.If this Championship summer has been disappointing on the field, it has been a colossal public relations failure off it. What should have been a summer of healing, with the promotion of a united new vision for a confident, multi-racial Yorkshire, has been instead been a taciturn summer that allows resentments to fester. Disrepute charges announced by the ECB against the county and seven individuals in June, and due to be considered this autumn, hang heavily.A new coaching staff has done well to hold body and soul together in a young dressing room. But they will not rest easily with Gloucestershire holding a second-innings lead of 211 with five second-innings remaining. The pitch might be flattening out a shade, but a target beyond 270 will be a stretch, especially considering the frailty of a top six which possesses only two seasoned batters, one of whom, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, is heading to Somerset at the end of the week and whose gung-ho batting approach in the first innings did not give the perception he is mentally attuned to a backs-to-the-wall relegation fight.Koher-Cadmore would contend that that is how he plays and that his 46 from 45 balls represented Yorkshire’s top score in a sub-standard batting display. Jack Taylor’s adventure also served Gloucestershire well as he made 67 from 78 in a sixth-wicket stand of 124 from 34 after Gloucestershire had lost half their side for 74. But Kohler-Cadmore, who came in at No 4, has pretensions as an opening batter. It is safe to assume he does not model his game on Geoffrey Boycott.He did have the decency to sound a little guilty afterwards. “How I got out today, it was annoying. I thought it was a bad ball, but I top-edged it and it went straight up,” he said. “I want to leave the club on a high and finish the season with a good positive result. It’s quite slow and hard to take wickets. We have should have put ourselves in a better position with the bat. It wasn’t a 180 or 190 pitch, or whatever we ended up with. It’s a decent surface.”On a chilly day, the sense among a meagre crowd was that the cricket was to be endured, not enjoyed. There is little conviviality around Headingley, no light-hearted sense of optimism. No wonder romantic souls prefer to finish the season at places like Worcester and Canterbury. For all the constant stream of world-class talent for England, until such ingrained attitudes change, cricket will never be entirely here, unless trophies are being won. Jason Gillespie managed both pleasure and trophies – an extraordinary feat.Positions on the Rafiq affair are entrenched. Stances on both sides are too often based on general prejudices. If anything, Yorkshire have allowed attitudes to harden. Most of the 16 summarily sacked after signing a confidential letter privately questioning Yorkshire’s handling of Rafiq’s allegations have won out-of-court settlements for unfair dismissal, with only Wayne Morton’s medical group still involved in a legal process.All this led the to carry a headline last week advising Yorkshire’s chair, Kamlesh Patel, to “Clear Your Desk”. That would rather assume he has filled his desk in the first place. Patel set the initial tone, and how, but since then he has been an occasional presence and he has hinted that he will stand down soon after Yorkshire finally get round to appointing a chief executive. Meanwhile, those in charge of day-to-day operations – supposedly bearers, however temporary, of the New Yorkshire flame – prefer to remain low key.Zafar Gohar, the Pakistan left-arm spinner, and arguably the best pound-for-pound overseas player in the Championship (not that the pound is worth very much anymore), claimed five of the seven morning wickets as Yorkshire subsided from 80 for three overnight to 183 all out. He now has 43 Championship wickets at 29.44, a shrewd signing whom Gloucestershire would do well to retain.Related

• Yorkshire come to grief over Azeem Rafiq affair, but acceptance is a way off yet

• Sacked staff seek legal action after racism crisis prompts Yorkshire purge

• ECB charges Yorkshire and individuals over racism allegations

• Warwickshire sinking in the showers as relegation fears grow

Gohar struck with his first ball of the second day, interrupting Kohler-Cadmore’s shoot-the-breeze approach when he mis-pulled a short ball to midwicket on the way to figures of five for 40 from 14 overs. Thirty-two runs had come in less than four overs, but that was the height of Yorkshire’s success.Gohar then picked off the ingenue, Harry Duke, lbw as he pushed forward. Jonny Tattersall, whom Gloucestershire respect as a fine player of spin after his loan spell last season, edged an excellent delivery to slip off the back foot on 33. Jordan Thompson looks deadbeat after a long season – lacking finesse with bat and ball – and was also caught at slip. Ben Coad was a No.10 out slogging down the ground when a highly capable batter, Matthew Fisher, needed more intelligent support, a criminal abdication of responsibility.At least Steve Patterson, a captain who has not been retained, got a deserved guard of honour from Gloucestershire for a career well lived when he came out at No.11. He is a competitive soul who has drawn every ounce of talent from himself and he had a right to pass through his honour-guard cursing.Coad impressed more with the ball as Yorkshire again took control, removing Chris Dent and Miles Hammond with excellent deliveries. Briefly, Dom Bess’ offspin threatened to do for Yorkshire what Gohar had achieved for Gloucestershire – four wickets falling for 18 in six overs with Bess defeating Ben Charlesworth with turn and James Bracey with flight. But Taylor, in particular, hit Bess from the attack in the post-tea session as both he and Ollie Price reached what could turn out to be vital half-centuries.

Sussex show fight in reply but face a long haul to reach first-innings parity

ECB Reporters Network27-Sep-2022Chris Cooke and Shubman Gill both made impressive hundreds as Glamorgan put themselves into a strong position in their must-win game against Sussex.Gill scored 119 – his first LV= County Championship hundred – and Cooke 141 as they piled up 533 for eight declared on the second day at the 1st Central County Ground.Sussex responded positively and were 86 for one when bad light forced the players off with 13 overs still to be bowled at Hove after there had been two short rain delays earlier in the day.Glamorgan need to win to have any chance of overhauling Middlesex and claiming the second promotion place from Division Two and although Sussex bowled well in the morning session when they took three wickets, their bowlers suffered thereafter with Cooke leading the charge as he made his tenth first-class century.Earlier it had been Gill who went on the offensive. He quickly added the nine runs he’d needed overnight to lodge his seventh first-class hundred before greeting Jack Carson’s arrival by hitting the off-spinner for three boundaries in his first over.But Carson had his revenge in his next over when he tossed another one up and Gill picked out long-on, having faced 139 balls and hit 16 fours and two sixes.Left-armer Sean Hunt had already broken through when he yorked Billy Root and Carson picked up a second wicket when he gave the ball air again and Andrew Salter was also caught at long-on.When Sussex took the new ball Brad Currie soon had James Harris caught behind for 34, after Harris had added 77 with Cooke. Timm van der Gugten helped the South African put on 41 for the eighth wicket before van der Gugten was held at long leg off Tom Clark.Acceleration came either side of tea as Cooke and Ajaz Patel thrashed 96 in 13 overs with Patel hitting an undefeated 51 from 37 balls including three sixes, two of them hit over long-on in an over from Carson.Cooke hardly played a false shot before edging Hunt to wicketkeeper Oli Carter after making his second Championship century of the season. His 141 came off 165 balls with 14 fours and two sixes. Carter was one of two substitutes employed by Sussex after Charlie Tear and Fynn Hudson-Prentice went down with food poisoning overnight. The Glamorgan total was also swelled by 50 extras.Sussex began their reply needing 384 to avoid the follow-on and they made a positive start, Ali Orr and Tom Haines laying into some wayward new-ball bowling from Harris and Mick Hogan.They added 69 in 11.2 overs before Hogan’s nip-backer struck Orr on the back leg and he was lbw for 45. Haines and Tom Alsop saw their side through to the close but Glamorgan will still feel they can claim their first Championship win at Hove since 1975, even though the pitch shows little sign of deterioration.

Kent opener carries his bat as Parkinson leads visitors’ charge at Canterbury

Paul Edwards16-Apr-2022When this Championship season began nine days ago, Ben Compton had played ten first-class matches in his life and had scored two hundreds, both for the Mountaineers in Zimbabwe’s Logan Cup. He was 28 years old. He had been signed on a two-year contract by Kent, whose director of cricket, Paul Downton, praised the new recruit’s tenacity. Fortunately, Downton knew whereof he spoke. Compton had played second-team cricket for Kent in 2019 and had scored 613 Championship runs for Nottinghamshire IIs last season. All the same, he was a bit of a punt and he probably knew he wouldn’t get another chance.Now, if you will, turn your attention to this third afternoon at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence. The weather is pure Arthur Ransome but nobody notices it. Kent are in the toils, just as they will be for the rest of the day. Replying to Lancashire’s 506, the home side are 240 for 7 and Compton is unbeaten on 99. Tom Bailey is bowling to him from the Pavilion End and the Lancastrian’s disciplines never waver. Having made 129 in the draw against Essex last week, Compton searches for the single that will take him to his second successive century. It isn’t there. Lancashire’s fielding is unobtrusively outstanding, the product of hours of practice. The cricket is gripping and, please note, .Suddenly, George Balderson, who is bowling from the Nackington Road End, dismisses Matt Milnes and Nathan Gilchrist with successive deliveries. Jackson Bird, Kent’s last man, scores eight runs from his first four balls but Compton is still facing Bailey and tries to drive the 22nd ball he has received when 99. He misses and berates himself. Then Bird plays out a maiden and Lancashire’s skipper, Dane Vilas, brings on Matt Parkinson. Immediately allowed a little width, Compton works the ball through third man and takes a single. He has batted 395 minutes and was on 99 for 28 minutes, 21 seconds. It has been a triumph of desire, concentration and will, much like the rest of Compton’s cricket career.And almost certainly it will not be enough to save the game for his side. Having become the first Kent batsman to carry his bat since Daniel Bell-Drummond at Trent Bridge in 2017, Compton was out there again some twenty minutes later after Vilas had taken the almost unexpected decision to enforce the follow-on. That decision was immediately justified in the fourth over when Zak Crawley edged Balderson to Phil Salt who completed a superb one-handed diving clutch to his left. Eight overs later Bell-Drummond was caught down the leg side by Salt off Danny Lamb for 9 and Kent were 20 for 2.Related

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• James Bracey rediscovers his focus but Yorkshire eye path to victory

• Jamie Overton presses England claim with five-wicket haul in resounding Surrey win

In the evening session things got worse for them. Tawanda Muyuye, who sometimes seems to have more shots than his temperament can handle, played a short-arm pull to a barely short ball from Bailey, only to see Steven Croft pull off a superb diving catch to his right. Next over, Jordan Cox gallivanted down the wicket and was bowled when trying to hit Parkinson to Chartham.Compton was joined by his captain, Ollie Robinson, and the pair dug in. The flow of runs, which had been a respectable three-an-over in the first innings, became a gentle rivulet. The bounce got lower, too, which was hardly a pleasant augury for Kent’s slim chances. Half an hour before the close, Robinson was lbw for 11 when he couldn’t jab down on a rapid inswinger from Hasan Ali. Darren Stevens arrived and was greeted by a variety of comments. They will have had no effect; Stevens was probably sledged by the Wife of Bath. What mattered more was the straight ball from Parkinson that rapped Stevens on his front dog and left Neil Bainton with a fairly easy judgement.But at least those late wickets allowed one to reflect the collective will of this Lancashire side and a fine day for Hasan, who had taken his first wicket for his new county in the morning session, when Cox played no shot to a ball that nipped back and ripped out his off stump. The bowler’s reactions were also entertaining. Hasan began with a fist pump to the ground, progressed to an arms-aloft bellow of triumph and concluded with another clenched mitt, this time in the direction of the heavens. He was, we may conclude, quite pleased.Lancashire supporters should enjoy Hasan’s celebrations when he plays at Emirates Old Trafford this summer. Then again, one suspects they might enjoy quite a lot of things about their side’s cricket this season. That will be a strange experience for some of them and one hopes they don’t find the adjustment too upsetting.Compton finished the day on 20 not out. He has so far batted nine hours 42 minutes in this match and faced 421 balls for his 121 runs. Nobody has ever carried his bat for Kent in both innings of a first-class match.”I’m just exhausted, so I’m not quite sure how well I’m coming across here,” he said. “But to follow up my innings at Essex with my first century at Canterbury is very important to me. I was just trying to watch the ball as closely as I can.”They aren’t terrible batting conditions and there’ll be other days when you find yourself on the wrong end of things but I’m just grateful I could spend a long time out there and just try to do my job as well as I can. It was a bit weird being stuck on 99. I don’t think that’s happened to me before and they were quite smart about it. They just put the ball there and I had to try to be patient. Thankfully I got there in the end.”

Opener’s first half-century in two years shows way for West Indies in Southampton

Matt Roller10-Jul-2020Few opening batsmen would keep their place in any Test side in the world after a run of form like the one Kraigg Brathwaite has endured over the last two years. Across his last 21 innings coming into this tour, he had made a paltry 241 runs at an average a shade over 12. Despite his past success in English conditions, few would have raised questions if he had been left out.But Brathwaite’s 65 – the first half-century in international cricket since March – means that he is the top-scorer in this match after its first three days, and has put West Indies into a commanding position. He fought through to stumps under leaden skies against a fresh England attack on the second evening, and set up a platform from which the middle order could build on the third morning.While many would have lost faith in Brathwaite’s ability during his barren run – his most recent half-century came some 729 days ago – his captain, Jason Holder, gave him full support. The pair have always been close: they were born one year apart and grew up playing together in Barbados, while Brathwaite was one of the players that Holder backed with a long run of games in the difficult early days of his captaincy.ALSO READ: Brathwaite, Dowrich steer WI into position of strength“I’ve played all my cricket with Kraigg: we came through youth cricket together, we play at the same club, so I know Kraigg Brathwaite inside out,” Holder said on the second evening. “Obviously he hasn’t got the runs he’d have wanted in the recent past but I know that he’s shaping towards something really special.”I always judge how well he’s playing by how well he’s leaving the ball, and I think his judgment so far on tour has been impeccable. I have no doubts about his ability or what he can produce.”There are times when a close relationship between a captain and a player can be a curse, not least when the player is backed despite a loss of form. Kieran Powell, the opening batsman who was omitted from the touring party entirely despite a strong run in first-class cricket, alluded to that in an Instagram post on Wednesday.Powell posted a screenshot of a table from ESPNcricinfo’s Live Report of West Indies’ Test averages since the 2017 tour, writing alongside: “One is just left to wonder what the numbers would be if I’d have had the same amount of innings as others who continue to be offered opportunity after opportunity… interesting indeed.”But Holder will feel vindicated for his faith in Brathwaite after this start to the series. His determined innings set things up for those lower down, and put miles into the bowlers’ legs, just as Holder had asked.”Me and Jase have been playing [together] from Under-11s,” Brathwaite smiled in his post-match press conference. “I know his game, he knows my game well. Just being around each other, we can obviously share ideas, opinions that we may see. Having him around is always good. And having his support? That’s always a good feeling as well.”Kraigg Brathwaite celebrates his half-century•Getty Images

When he bats somewhere approaching his best, Brathwaite demonstrates old-school Test-match virtues: soaking up balls, playing the ball late under his eyes, and adjusting his technique based on the conditions he faces. Few will need reminding of his success in England on the 2017 tour, when his scores of 134 and 95 set up the famous win at Headingley, while his regular stints in county cricket have helped him devise a method that works against the moving ball.”Playing here in 2017 and playing some county games, [I’ve found] the ball tends to do something throughout the day,” he said. “I think playing the ball as late as possible is always key for me, whether it’s the new ball or the old ball.”[England] is a place where you’re never in, in a sense. I don’t really like not to play the ball late, even outside England, that’s something that I really work hard on, but especially here playing it late is key.”Holder had used Brathwaite’s contribution to the win against England at home 18 months ago as an example of how he had managed to help his side, even when the runs weren’t flowing. In that series, Brathwaite made 138 runs at 27.60, but crucially managed to face more balls than anyone else on either side.”I think he batted as well as I’d seen him bat in a very long time,” Holder said. “He got plenty of starts in that series but just hadn’t been able to convert them.”He’s our highest-capped player at present, and that should tell you the calibre of player he is for West Indies. I just want him to keep in his zone, keep moving well and keep judging the ball well. I know a big score is around the corner for him.”

Cricket Australia have become the first team to apply to the ICC for a concussion substitute under the new protocols

Daniel Brettig at Lord's18-Aug-2019Steven Smith was ruled out of the Lord’s Ashes Test and was highly unlikely to take the field in the next Test at Headingley after he became the first cricketer to be formally substituted out of a Test match with concussion, replaced on the final day of the match by Marnus Labuschagne.While Smith had initially passed concussion testing and returned to complete his innings in the hour after he was struck a sickening blow to the neck by Jofra Archer on the fourth afternoon, mandatory subsequent testing on the fifth morning of the match revealed his condition to have deteriorated.On the official notification by the Australian team to the ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle, Smith’s symptoms were described as “headache, dizziness, feeling slowed down, feeling in a fog, don’t feel right, drowsiness”. He is set to undergo further precautionary scans on his neck to assess whether there is any further damage.”As part of the Cricket Australia concussion protocol, repeat concussion testing of Steve Smith was also performed this morning and demonstrated some deterioration from his testing which is consistent with the emergence of the symptoms he was reporting,” a Cricket Australia spokesman said. “On that basis Steve has been withdrawn from the match by team doctor Richard Saw and the Australia team will lodge an application for a concussion substitute with the ICC match referee in line with the ICC protocol.”Cricket Australia statistics show that 30 percent of concussions in Australian cricket are delayed. It is not uncommon for players to pass their tests and feel well on the day of an injury and then display symptoms 24 – 48 hours later. In terms of Steve’s availability for the third Test, this will be considered over the coming days but the short turnaround to the next Test is not in his favour. Steve’s fitness will be assessed on an ongoing basis.”Steve will undergo a precautionary scan on his neck on Sunday. Despite the unfortunate nature of what has happened, the positive is that the concussion protocol, including the availability of the concussion substitute, which has been recently brought in has served its purpose. A player is no longer under pressure to take the field when he or she displays symptoms of concussion and a side is not disadvantaged having lost a player to a blow to the head or neck.”Each of the ICC, CA and the ECB have their own concussion policies, but all stress the need for caution in dealing with potential or actual concussion cases. CA’s policy, which was used in domestic cricket as a forerunner to the introduction of a concussion protocol for international cricket at the start of this Ashes series, states “in case of uncertainty, the qualified medical officer should always adopt a conservative approach to return to play”.The ECB’s policy is the strongest in terms of fixing a player’s return date: “All symptoms need to be absent for 24 hours before simple cognitive and physical activities can be undertaken. Graded steps of gradual increase in activity must be accompanied by a 24-hour window to check for further symptoms or signs…the player needs a 24-hour window for each level and therefore means no further return to a full training situation for six days.”CA’s policy underlines the fact that a graded return to physical activity is required, and if there is any instance of a deterioration or setback then the process must begin again: “Staged physical activity should be upgraded on a graduated basis with progression through stages and Participants must return to a previous stage if symptoms worsen. A Participant may be required to sit out the duration of a multi-day match and/or further matches if required through the medical review.”Lastly, the ICC’s guidelines make a similar statement but also add that a typical recovery process will take about seven days to complete. The third Ashes Test at Headingley is scheduled to begin on Thursday, as the second of back to back Tests. “If at any of these stages symptoms return the player should drop back an exercise level,” ICC guidelines state. “If the player is a student they may require a couple of days off school to rest.”A player should not return to full training if unable to attend school or work without symptoms returning. A concussed player requires a formal medical clearance to return to training and play and never permitted to return on the day of the injury. Usually a player will recover in about seven days but this can vary from individual to individual.”

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.

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.