Three Notts batsmen reach fifties as visitors stroll to win, despite Billy Godleman’s ton

ECB Reporters Network21-Apr-2019Luke Fletcher claimed his first one-day five wicket haul as Notts Outlaws made it two wins in a row in the Royal London Cup with a six-wicket victory over Derbyshire Falcons.Fletcher took 5 for 56 to restrict the Falcons to 297 for 8, which was built around Billy Godleman’s 116 and 88 from Luis Reece.Former Derbyshire opener Ben Slater scored 83 on his return to Derby and, although 18-year-old paceman Alfie Gleadall bagged three wickets, Steven Mullaney – with an unbeaten 68 – and 52 not out from Tom Moores guided the Outlaws to 299 for 4 in the 46th over.The Falcons looked on course for 350 after Godleman and Reece accumulated steadily on a pitch lacking in pace and bounce.Fletcher beat the bat several times in a probing spell but there were few problems for the openers with Reece ending a lean start to the season by reaching his first 50 off 52 balls.Godleman needed 86 balls for his second consecutive half-century and the Outlaws had to wait until the 31st over for the breakthrough which came when Reece top-edged a sweep at Mullaney.Wayne Madsen lifted the scoring rate with 38 from 28 balls until he was deceived by a good slower ball from Jake Ball, who bowled intelligently to check the Falcons’ progress.Godleman drove Fletcher for six but the fact his century came off 131 balls highlighted the slow nature of the pitch and the accuracy of the bowling.Another well disguised slower delivery from Ball removed Matt Critchley and, after Leus du Plooy was bowled advancing at Fletcher, Godleman was caught behind in the 49th over.Alex Hughes pulled Ball for six but Fletcher bowled straight and full to strike three times in the final over to keep the Falcons under 300.It did not look enough as Slater and Joe Clarke plundered 70 from the first 10 overs with Clarke cutting Mark Watt’s left-arm spin for three consecutive fours.But Gleadall tempted Clarke into a skied pull to deep mid-wicket and Ben Duckett played across Reece in the next over.Slater and Jake Libby swung the initiative back towards the Outlaws by working the ball around to add 93 before Gleadall returned to revive the Falcons’ hopes with a double strike in the 30th over. Slater drove loosely to cover and, three balls later, Libby got a top-edge trying to turn it to leg and was caught at mid-wicket for 41 to leave the Outlaws on 173 for 4.Moores responded by driving Gleadall and Watt for sixes, Mullaney twice deposited Watt high over long on before Moores smashed Gleadall for two more sixes to reduce the target to 56 from the last 10 overs. The chase turned into a stroll in the evening sunshine as the pair sealed victory with 29 balls to spare.

‘I don’t think we need to go after Mushfiqur, he was trying hard to get him out’ – Mashrafe

Mohammad Isam at The Oval05-Jun-2019Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza defended Mushfiqur Rahim after he hit the stumps with his elbow when trying to run out Kane Williamson. The incident took place in the 12th over of the New Zealand innings when the Ross Taylor – Williamson partnership was at an embryonic stage.As the two batsmen got involved in a mix-up, Tamim Iqbal threw the ball from mid-on with Williamson still well short of the crease and almost given up. But Mushfiqur took the ball in front of the stumps, with his feet behind, and tried to break the stumps. Straight away Tamim and Shakib reacted in a way that suggested they knew what had happened, while the rest of the stadium were cheering the big wicket.Williamson and Taylor went on to add 105 runs for the third wicket, that set New Zealand in the right path.Mushfiqur Rahim’s error hands Kane Williamson a lifeline•Getty Images

Mashrafe, who was also following the ball closely during that incident, said that he wouldn’t blame Mushfiqur for the mistake and expects him to bounce back from it quickly. He said that with the catches he had taken off Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme, Mushfiqur had already started to make amends.”I don’t think we need to go after Mushfiqur,” Mashrafe said. “He was also trying hard to get him out. That throw was straight, but as a keeper it was hard to know if it was straight or not. Suddenly the stumps hit his elbow, but it happens. Mushfiqur is a professional player. He knows how to handle all of this. It is not as if this was the first mistake in Mushfiqur’s life. Every player makes mistakes.WATCH – Highlights of Mushfiqur’s error on Hotstar (India only)”For example, in the last match Soumya dropped a catch, but he has caught many difficult ones before that. I think that it can happen with Mushfiqur, and that it may happen again is a normal thing. We are not here to blame anyone, we are here to give our best. Even after that, the catches that Mushfiqur took off Ross Taylor and Grandhomme, those could have been turning points.”I don’t think there is a need to create pressure for anyone and neither do I think that he needs to think about this. If everything goes well in the next match, you will see that everything is fine again.”Mashrafe said that falling 30 runs short of their desired total was a bigger problem on the day. He said that Mushfiqur himself getting run out after a mix-up with Shakib, after they had added exactly 50 runs for the third wicket, was also a crucial point in the game.”If you don’t score big, you have to take all those chances. It happens in cricket. No one wants to make mistakes. I think the bigger mistakes was when we batted. If we managed to score 30 more runs, it could have been a different game.”That run out [of Mushfiqur while batting] was the turning point. They both got set in that moment. Again, Shakib and Mithun had their partnership broken when they were putting it together. If any of those two partnerships had gone into eighties or a hundred, things would have been different,” he said.

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Danyal Rasool05-Jul-2019

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.”

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.

Equipment was destroyed in the blaze and graffiti written onto buildings at the ground where Ireland famously bowled out West Indies for 25

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Sep-2019The future of Sion Mills Cricket Club, the scene of Ireland’s famous win over West Indies in 1969, is in doubt following an arson attack.Equipment was destroyed in the blaze and graffiti written onto buildings at the ground.”Our ride-on lawnmowers, our strimmers and things like that have been destroyed. It’s groundskeeping equipment and it’s expensive stuff,” Simon Galloway, the club captain and secretary, told . “We don’t have the money to replace it. It could be a final nail in the coffin for Sion Mills Cricket Club after 155 years.”This building was our equipment store. What they’ve done is brought a ladder from somewhere, who knows where, and they’ve gone in through a hole in the roof. They painted this – HRY – on the roof first of all. Whatever that means, I don’t know. And then they’ve set fire to the shed.”A GoFundMe page has been set up with the target of raising £5000. Police are investigating the incident which follows recent fires at the next door derelict Herdman’s Mill site.Earlier this year marked the 50th anniversary of when Ireland beat West Indies by bowling them out for 25 in their first innings. Douglas Goodwin claimed 5 for 26 in an innings where the top score was 6 by Clyde Walcott.

Jess Jonassen claimed her 100th ODI wicket as Australia won their 17th one-dayer in a row

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Oct-2019A maiden international century from Rachael Haynes was the standout performance in Australia’s 110-run victory in the second ODI against Sri Lanka that put them 2-0 up in the series.Haynes’ 118 off 132 balls formed the cornerstone of Australia’s 8 for 282 although that was a lower total than appeared likely for large parts of the innings, as Sri Lanka fought back at the death. Haynes and Alyssa Healy added 116 in 19.3 overs for the first wicket after which Haynes put on 103 with Meg Lanning (45) but from 1 for 219 the last ten overs brought 6 for 63.Sri Lanka started the chase better than how they did in the opening game. At 1 for 95 in the 23rd over, they had a glimmer of putting some pressure on Australia, but on a slow pitch where it was difficult to force the pace they couldn’t keep up with the required rate. Jess Jonassen took 4 for 31 which included her 100th wicket in ODIs, the fourth Australian to reach that landmark, as Australia secured a record-equalling 17th ODI win on the bounce to match the mark set by Belinda Clark’s team from 1997 to 1999. This win also gave them an unassailable lead in the Women’s Championship.On a surface being used for the second time in three days, Australia batted first and after some early caution were making strong progress through Healy and Haynes. Healy sprinted to her fifty off 44 balls and appeared set for a big score before falling to Sri Lanka captain Shashikala Siriwardene who again bowled her ten overs tidily for 2 for 41.As the pitch continued to wear out Australia weren’t allowed to completely cut loose and Sri Lanka built some pressure as Haynes approached her hundred, which helped account for Lanning when she edged a drive off Achini Kulasuriya. Haynes brought up her century off 120 balls with a cut for four, surpassing her previous highest international score of 98 which she made on Test debut in 2009.However, the last ten overs only brought three further boundaries – a six from Ashleigh Gardner and two fours by Beth Mooney – with Sri Lanka striking regularly.Jonassen provided Australia with the key early breakthrough when Chamari Atapattu top-edged a sweep which was well-judged at deep square by debutant Heather Graham. Anushka Sanjeewani and Harshitha Madavi brought up a second-wicket stand of 70 but it always felt the required rate was out of reach.Nicola Carey broke through and Australia’s spinners kept control of the middle overs. Georgia Wareham was more accurate than the opening match and claimed 2 for 29 from 10 overs. Jonassen’s 100th wicket came trapping Sugandika Kumari lbw sweeping and there was time for Graham to take her first when Kulasuriya chipped up a leading edge.

BCCI president says the finance sub-committee will be asked to put together the details

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2019In a move that could signal a major shift in Indian cricket, newly-elected BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said that the board will bring in “a contract system” for first-class cricketers, and that the new finance sub-committee will be asked to put the process in place for it to happen.”We will bring in a contract system for first-class cricketers,” Ganguly told in an interview. “We (office-bearers) will ask the new finance committee to prepare a contract system.”It’s just been four-five days [since he took charge] and in between there was a Diwali break. It will take about two weeks to assess everything and move forward. There is a lot of work going on.”ALSO READ: Gollapudi – Meet Sourav Ganguly, cricket administratorEven before he had been formally appointed to the position, Ganguly had said that domestic cricket, and cricketers, would be a major area of focus for him in his stint at the BCCI, which will be for a ten-month period before he serves the mandatory three-year cooling-off period for completing six consecutive years at a state association and/or at the BCCI.”My biggest priority will be to look after first-class cricketers,” he had said, adding that he had asked the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to provide financial security for domestic cricketers when the panel was put in place by the Supreme Court to supervise the BCCI. “I have been requesting that to the CoA for three years. That’s the first thing I will do, look after the financial health of our first-class cricketers.”

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.

From a base of old-school virtues, KL Rahul has unleashed the white-ball monster in him over the last two years

Deivarayan Muthu in Hyderabad07-Dec-2019″” (See ball, hit ball)Speaking to for the BCCI website, this was how KL Rahul summed up his approach and mindset after getting to a start in India’s pursuit of 208 against West Indies in the T20I series opener in Hyderabad. In stark contrast to his captain Virat Kohli’s early struggles at the other end, Rahul seamlessly built on his start and converted it into a 40-ball 62. It was Rahul’s innings that set the scene for the angry Kohli masterclass in the latter half of the chase.When Rahul had broken into first-class cricket in 2010, he was a proper top-order batsman whose game was founded on the old-school virtues: leaving anything that’s wide of off stump and playing the balls that threaten the stumps with a dead-straight bat.Rahul, however, unlocked the white-ball monster in him during IPL 2018, when he racked up 659 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 158.41. He followed it up with 593 runs in 14 matches in 2019, having expanded his range with a variety of sweeps, scoops and big hits. Some of that funkiness has perhaps seeped into his red-ball game and as a result he has been jettisoned from the Test squad.His white-ball form, though, is reaching a stage where it might be just too hard to ignore. Rahul might not have even started the series had Shikhar Dhawan been fit. This, despite being at the forefront of Karnataka’s 20-overs Syed Mushtaq Ali title defence. Rahul had tallied 313 runs in eight innings at an average of 52.16 and strike rate of 155.72, including some tough runs on spin-friendly tracks in Surat.On the eve of the T20I series against West Indies, Kohli was even asked if the management might consider bumping Rishabh Pant to the top, but the India captain shot that thought down quickly and indicated that Rahul will slot in alongside Rohit Sharma.1:45

Trying to make best use of chance at the top of the order – KL Rahul

Rohit picked out deep midwicket for 8 off 10 balls in India’s steep chase in Hyderabad and Kohli just couldn’t find his bearings early on at the other end. West Indies’ bowlers, particularly Sheldon Cottrell, varied their pace and lengths smartly to make life more difficult for India.After Cottrell had softened Rohit with a length ball that burst off the track and pinged his right glove, left-arm fingerspinner Khary Pierre made the incision for West Indies. However, Rahul continued to pick off runs in risk-free fashion.Having all the shots is one thing and knowing when to use them is another. When Cottrell or Holder found some extra bounce and aimed for the fourth stump, Rahul simply rode it and tapped it behind point, down towards third man.Only when the ball was well short and wide of off did Rahul unleash the full-blooded cut. Hayden Walsh Jr. was the best fielder of CPL 2019, his athletic interventions at backward point turned games as much as his wristspin did for eventual champions Barbados Tridents. Just ask West Indies and Trinbago Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard. It was a moment of brilliance in the field from Walsh Jr. that ran out Pollard in the second qualifier and KO’d Knight Riders.On Friday night, Rahul cracked a brace of square-cuts, beating a sprawling Walsh Jr. – both to his left and right for fours. Then, after bedding in, in the last over of the Powerplay, Rahul brought out his attacking enterprise. He backed away to left-arm fingerspinner Pierre and slog-swept him over square leg for six. See ball, hit ball.In the next over, Rahul used the extra pace of Walsh Jr. to his advantage and dabbed him fine of short third man for four. He also rotated the strike without much fuss and raised his fifty off 37 balls. During the process, Rahul passed 1000 T20I runs in his 29th innings.Just when Rahul was about to hit full tilt, having sent Kesrick Williams and Pierre for sixes over midwicket, he holed out to long-off while attempting a third six. By then, Kohli had found his touch and India eventually sailed to victory.”[It’s] important to lay a solid foundation as an opener because there are power hitters in the back end,” Rahul told after the match. “Playing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy helped a lot. Doesn’t matter how many hours you spend in the nets. Winning games gives me the most confidence. Did that with Karnataka, happy to do it with India. Good that I can carry my confidence across tournaments.”Rahul has two more T20Is in this series to extend his rich white-ball form and give the Indian management another happy headache in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in Australia – the scene of his Test debut – next year.”It’s a long way [away], honestly,” Rahul said of the T20 World Cup, at the post-match press conference. “I’ve got the opportunity to bat at the top of the order again after a couple of series. So [I’m] looking forward to just making the best use of it. Today was a good outing, a good hit in the middle, and hopefully I just continue the same thing and not worry about October next year, there are a lot of games before that.”