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Several leagues ran simultaneously at the start of 2024, and the ICC Champions Trophy is expected to further complicate the picture in February 2025

Matt Roller08-May-2024The Caribbean Premier League (CPL)’s chief executive has described overlaps between franchise leagues as “a nonsense”, and has called for regular meetings among their owners and administrators in an attempt to solve cricket’s global scheduling crisis. The CPL has overlapped with the Hundred in recent years but will avoid a clash this season after holding talks with the ECB earlier this year.And Pete Russell, one of CPL’s co-founders and the league’s CEO since 2021, believes that such collaboration should be commonplace to minimise the frequent clashes between the T20 leagues.”[The ECB] have a defined window that they have to play in, and it happened that we could move everything out to ensure that we didn’t clash [with the Hundred],” Russell told ESPNcricinfo. “It makes absolutely zero sense if you’ve got [Sunil] Narine and [Andre] Russell having to fly back the day before the final of the Hundred. That’s in no one’s interests, and certainly not the Hundred’s.Related

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“I hope that [collaboration] continues. It’s not rocket science; it’s what should happen with all leagues. It’s just a nonsense that we’ve got all this overlap when it just needs to be worked through. Scheduling is a challenge, I know, but it can’t be that you have two leagues going at each other at the same time. To my mind, it doesn’t make any sense.”There is a precedent for leagues negotiating to manage potential clashes as shown by the PSL and ILT20.Several different leagues ran simultaneously at the start of 2024. Australia’s BBL and New Zealand’s Super Smash finished in mid-January; South Africa’s SA20 and the UAE’s ILT20 started in January and ran into February; the Bangladesh Premier League started in January and finished in March; and the Pakistan Super League ran from mid-February to mid-March.The ICC Champions Trophy is expected to further complicate the picture when it returns in February 2025. The ILT20 is expected to confirm its dates for 2025 in the coming days following recent discussions with franchises, while the PCB has stated its intention to stage the PSL alongside the IPL in April-May 2025.There is broad support among players worldwide for global scheduling windows for franchise leagues and international cricket, thus minimising overlap between the two. The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) player survey will be published soon, and as confirmed to ESPNcricinfo by Tom Moffat, FICA’s CEO, will show that 84% of the 330 respondents support introducing windows.The MLC this year is set for a six-day clash with the Hundred•Sportzpics

“Unless the game can come together to find a system in which the domestic leagues and international cricket can co-exist, we will end up with two separate calendars running in parallel,” Moffat told ESPNcricinfo.”That will split the player employment-market, given most of the leagues rely on the inclusion of international players to be successful commercially. We currently don’t think that’s the right thing for the whole sport given it – and most professional players’ employment – is still largely funded by international cricket.”While representatives of national governing bodies meet regularly at ICC level – most of whom control their own leagues – there is no specific forum for the owners and administrators of franchise leagues to discuss scheduling.”It’s the logical way to go – because we’re all maturing, and we’re all getting to a point where we are sustainable,” Russell said. “They are generally regarded now as being part of the domestic calendar, wherever they are played. I think it is a case of, ‘OK, let’s have that group of people and say how do you figure out the schedule to the benefit of everyone?'”I think it’s workable. Others might think it’s not, but I just think the conversations at least need to take place, just to make sure [there’s no clash].”Moffat said: “With the exception of CPL and a couple of others, the controlling stake in most of the major leagues is generally owned by the same national governing bodies who schedule international cricket. That means co-ordinating scheduling between the leagues and international cricket to avoid scheduling overlap is possible – if there is a will to come together and do that.”Russell used the recent release of Major League Cricket (MLC)’s 2024 fixture list – two months before the tournament starts – as evidence of a shortage of “joined-up thinking” among administrators. MLC begins on July 5, and is thus set for a six-day clash with the Hundred.”They’ve only just come out with their schedule,” he said. “Why does it take leagues so long to put a schedule together? We have all year to figure it out.”Russell also encouraged administrators to find a solution to the perverse incentives that emerged for players earlier this year.”It can’t be right: I saw the other day that where leagues were overlapping, a player who got knocked out before the semi-finals or finals could actually make more money by going to another league. That shouldn’t be a thing.”

India spun out New Zealand, before England edged out Australia in a nail-biter

S Sudarshanan27-Jan-2023It was heartbreak and ecstasy in equal measures in Potchefstroom as India and England made the final of the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup to be played on Sunday. While India comfortably beat New Zealand in the first semi-final, tensions swayed one way and then the other before England edged Australia out by three runs in a low-scoring thriller.Defending 99, England fast bowlers Ellie Anderson and Alexa Stonehouse struck early before legspinner Hannah Baker’s triple-strike crippled Australia. She varied her flight and length to bowl Ella Hayward and then got enough purchase from the surface to have Australia captain Rhys McKenna caught at mid-off and trapped wicketkeeper Paris Hall three balls later to have them at 59 for 7.Ella Wilson and Milly Illingworth, batting at No. 9 and No. 10, managed to hit a four apiece towards the end to get the equation down to Australia needing four with two wickets and just shy of three overs in hand. But the latter was run out via a direct hit from Ryana MacDonald-Gay from mid-off before Grace Scrivens trapped No. 11 Maggie Clark lbw with her offspin to spark off wild celebrations.Milly Illingworth was run out off a direct-hit•ICC/Getty Images

The scene was far removed from the halfway stage when Clark, Hayward and Sianna Ginger walked back with three-fors. The script went awry for England after opting to bat, as they lost wickets at regular intervals to be placed at 29 for 4 at the end of the powerplay.The pace of Illingworth and the nagging lengths of Clark had seen the back of Liberty Heap – who has forged a successful alliance at the top with captain Scrivens – and No. 3 Niamh Holland. Offspinner Hayward inflicted further misery by breaking the back of the middle order.But Scrivens – second at present in the tournament’s list of run-scorers – held one end up even as she saw England slide to 37 for 5 in the ninth over. However, a full length ball from seamer Ginger was hard to resist for her and she holed out to Claire Moore at long-off for 20. It was only because of a 46-run eighth-wicket partnership between Stonehouse (25) and Josie Groves (15) that England had managed to get close to hundred.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

India spin out New Zealand

Earlier in the day, India’s spinners wove a web around New Zealand and kept them to 107 for 9 before a masterclass from opener Shweta Sehrawat helped them cruise to an eight-wicket win. Sehrawat scored an unbeaten 61 off just 45 balls with ten fours and was involved in a second-wicket partnership of 62 with Soumya Tiwari (26). It was her third half-century in the competition, by virtue of which she found herself atop the batting charts.This was after legspinner Parshavi Chopra, who shone with a Player-of-the-Match performance against Sri Lanka, starred with three for 20 to leave New Zealand short of par. She broke the 37-run second-wicket partnership between Georgia Plimmer and Isabella Gaze (26) by trapping the latter lbw.Only Plimmer offered some resistance with the bat with a 32-ball 35 and she was the seventh batter out with the score on 91.

After a poor start to the chase, Fakhar and Khushdil consolidated and Shadab and Nawaz provided the fireworks to take Pakistan home

Danyal Rasool19-Nov-2021Pakistan made it unnecessarily complicated for themselves, but their bowlers had done enough in the first half to ensure they held on for an exciting four-wicket win in the first T20I against Bangladesh in Dhaka. In a gritty, and sometimes ugly, contest where ball didn’t come on to bat much, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Shadab Khan stifled the Bangladesh batters, especially in the first ten overs, to keep them to a below-par 127. Bangladesh managed just three boundaries and seven sixes all innings, with Nurul Hasan and Mahedi Hasan providing a late boost to the innings.

Hasan reprimanded, Bangladesh fined

Hasan Ali has earned himself a reprimand and a demerit point – his first one – for his send-off to Nurul Hasan in the first T20I, while the Bangladesh players were fined 20% of their match fees for maintaining a slow over-rate (one short of the target) in the game.

It was the sort of target Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam tend to knock off with ease, but on these surfaces in front of a raucous home crowd, Bangladesh weren’t going to let go easily. Mustafizur Rahman found movement with the new ball and castled Rizwan with a beauty early, while an off-colour Babar chopped on to Taskin Ahmed. Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik, too, fell cheaply to put Bangladesh on top. So it was left to Fakhar Zaman and Khushdil Shah to grind their way to keep Pakistan in touch with the asking rate, and for Shadab and Mohammad Nawaz to provide the fireworks at the end.Bangladesh off the boil
Coming off a World Cup where they disappointed, this was Bangladesh’s chance of a reset. But, instead of batting with abandon after winning the toss, they appeared to be playing within themselves, preferring caution to bravery as Pakistan’s bowlers applied the squeeze. It wasn’t until the sixth over that the first boundary was struck, and by the halfway stage, they had hobbled to 40 for 4. The lower-middle order led an impressive recovery and 87 off the final ten meant Pakistan had a chase on their hands.Taskin Ahmed sets off on a celebratory run after sending back Babar Azam•AFP/Getty Images

A poor finish for Pakistan
An odd statistical quirk of Pakistan’s generally spotless bowling performance was how each of the five bowlers had their figures spoilt somewhat by expensive final overs. The final overs of Nawaz, Shadab, Wasim, Hasan and Haris Rauf went for 15, 13, 12, 11 and 15 respectively. It meant five bowlers who had allowed just 61 in their first three overs collectively had leaked 66 in their fourths.Bowlers give Bangladesh a chance
All the good work the bowlers had done looked to have unravelled in a frenetic first ten overs of the Pakistan chase. The two-paced nature of the pitch had Babar checking many of his shots, while Mustafizur sent Rizwan packing early with a classical inswinger. Babar was fortunate not to fall a few balls earlier than he did, when a nick through to the keeper wasn’t reviewed. An untidy hoick by Haider saw him fall for a duck, but Shoaib Malik’s dismissal was the most unforgivable of all.One of the most experienced men in the game, Malik made the schoolboy error of strolling out of his crease while the ball was alive, and in the hands of Bangladesh keeper Nurul Hasan. He spotted Malik’s brainfade and had a shy at the stumps, catching the veteran out of his crease and reducing Pakistan to 24 for 4 in the powerplay.Fakhar, Khushdil heroics
When you think of Fakhar and Khushdil performing heroics for their side, you probably imagine them teeing off, blasting big runs. Instead, the two men who hit 34 each, got their runs at less than a run-a-ball, their combined 68 coming in 71 balls. The middle order had dug in after the early losses, ensuring the asking rate was within touch. They were aware Pakistan had the firepower to catch up at the death, so even when the two fell within three overs of each other, Shadab and Nawaz had an equation they could work with. The two allrounders will grab the headlines, but without the toil of Fakhar and Khushdil, they wouldn’t have had the opportunity.

Wicketkeeper’s selflessness is admirable quality, but he needs a score in third Test

George Dobell at Emirates Old Trafford23-Jul-2020Jos Buttler remains a “vital” member of the England team, according to his captain, Joe Root, and the national selector, Ed Smith.Buttler’s position has started to come under scrutiny after a year in which he has averaged 21.26 from 12 Tests. But both Root and Smith have defended Buttler’s longer-term record and insisted he contributes more to the team than is represented on the scorecard.”Jos was recalled to the side 27 Tests ago in May 2018,” Smith said. “Jos averages about 31 in that period and has contributed to a lot of wins with his own personal contributions.”Then, of course, there’s the team’s form. The team has, in that time, won 16 games, lost nine and had a couple of draws. The 27 Tests preceding that, exactly the same period of time, England had won 10, lost 14 and drawn 3. In the 27 Tests preceding that, exactly the same period of time, England won 10 [actually nine], lost 14 and drew three 3 [actually four].”So I suppose part of what we’re trying to do in selection is based around the team winning. Every player who has played in this period, even though there have been a number of players who haven’t performed as well as they would have wanted personally, have contributed to that good form as a team.”While Buttler has actually played in 15 winning teams in that period – he missed the Lord’s Test against Ireland – there is no doubt he remains highly respected within the England squad. And Root used the example of the second Test of this series to demonstrate the selfless cricket which so endears Buttler to his team-mates and which is not accurately represented by his career statistics.Twice at Emirates Old Trafford Buttler was required to accelerate the scoring: once, in the first innings, when he was left with the tail and eventually succumbed to a catch on the midwicket boundary and once, in the second innings, when he was promoted to open as England attempted to set-up a declaration. He fell for a duck in the first over after edging an expansive drive onto his stumps.ALSO READ: Root backs Archer to put isolation troubles behind him“If you look at the last game, both times he was left in a situation where he basically gave his wicket up for the good of the group,” Root said. “That’s the sort of player he is and how he goes about his cricket. That’s why he’s so vital to our team: because he’s willing to play in a manner that suits the situation that we need from him at any given point.”It must have been quite hard for him. In the first innings, he got himself in a position where he felt good and he was playing some good cricket. Then we lost a couple of wickets at the other end and he had to get on with it. I thought he could easily have got 70-odd not out and he’s in a different place, feeling on top of the world with his batting again.”In both first innings in this series, he has looked one of our better players in many ways. That’s the thing he’s got to try to look at. I feel a score is just around the corner for him.”There was, however, a first hint from Smith that England do have other options for the position. And while nobody in the team management will suggest Buttler is now playing for his place – “I would never frame things in that way,” Smith said, “as I don’t think that’s a good message for any player” – it does appear time may be running out for him. Another failure in this Test could well see Ben Foakes recalled for the Pakistan series.”What we like to have as a selection panel is depth across every position and that applies to wicketkeeper batting as much as anywhere else,” Smith said. “In the wicketkeeping position and middle-order batting we do have depth. That’s clear.”

Despite the on-message response to their meeting with the Australia squad in Dubai there remains many questions about the banned pair’s return

Daniel Brettig18-Mar-2019″It’s like we didn’t really leave,” gushed David Warner.”It’s almost like we never left, so everything is on the right track,” enthused Steven Smith.”It’s like two brothers coming back home,” intoned Justin Langer.Taking at face value Cricket Australia’s video news release, conveyed by jovial on-camera dialogue between the team media manager to the two banned batsmen and their coach in Dubai, there seemed little need for Warner and Smith to be involved in a “reintegration process” at all.Yet the “nothing’s changed, nothing to see here” bonhomie of all this achieved little in trying to mask the obvious fact that there remains plenty of work to be done to return Warner and Smith to the national team, not least in ensuring that the two former leaders are able to resume in very different roles than those they left behind at the time of the Newlands scandal.For a start, Warner and Smith return not as commanders, but as subordinates to the national captains Aaron Finch, Tim Paine, and Langer as head coach. In the case of Smith, there will be no option of leadership roles for another 12 months; in the case of Warner, never again in his international career.ALSO READ: Smith, Warner welcomed back to Australia set-up with ‘open arms’Some former captains return to the ranks more smoothly than others – Ricky Ponting’s final two seasons after surrendering the leadership to Michael Clarke come to mind as one decent example of getting it right, and Shane Warne was able to function as a bowler separate from the Australian team’s leadership in the years after he was sacked as vice-captain. David Gower’s ill-fated time as a foot soldier under Graham Gooch for England in the early 1990s stands as a high profile instance of getting it wrong.Setting of good examples while acceding to team plans will be vital here, as will the sense among the rest of the team that Warner and Smith make their returns as unconditional supporters of the regime that has followed the collapse of their own, shared as it was with the former coach Darren Lehmann. They will doubtless be sources of advice at times, given vast experience, but should at first be careful to provide it only when asked.Reports that the Australian ODI squad was given the opportunity to ask Warner and Smith any questions they may have had recalled the awkwardness of Wayne Phillips, Graeme Wood and Murray Bennett fronting fellow members of Allan Border’s 1985 Ashes squad after they had changed their minds regarding participation in that year’s South African rebel tour. But whatever was said in that enclosed environment will be less important than how Warner and Smith play out their actions over ensuing weeks, months and years.There were some unsettling moments during the bans that suggested Smith in particular was not quite clear on where he now stood. The timing of a press conference and Fox Cricket interview to coincide with the launching of an overwrought phone commercial was clumsy at best and a major distraction for the Test team at worst, while the pronouncements of his manager about Smith’s plan to play in the World Cup, disregarding his own uncertain fitness and decidedly underwhelming returns in his previous 10 ODIs, sounded something like entitlement.Following his initial difficulties in eliciting the sort of sympathy Smith won from a tearful return home press conference in April last year, Warner has at least managed to keep quiet and score runs wherever he has been permitted to play – 443 at 34.07 and a strike rate of 120.70 across the Caribbean and Bangladesh Premier Leagues, plus a surfeit of runs at club level. He is, however, coming from a lot further back. Even on the day his ban was announced there seemed little question of Smith coming back, but rather more of Warner after he was isolated as the epicentre of both Australia’s ball tampering and the team’s poor behavioural reputation around the world.A related issue is that Warner and Smith, by their very presence, will invite questions about an issue that CA contained last year without ever quite resolving. Undoubtedly they will be asked about how long the ball tampering had been going on for, and with who’s knowledge. Unquestionably the world’s media, particularly that voracious English tabloids, will seek further opportunities to probe the issue – environments as controlled as the Dubai video news release will be nigh on impossible to come by during the World Cup and the Ashes.Winning, of course, will help to write fresh history rather than inviting questions about older events, but here too lies a challenge. Having played precious little top level cricket in the past 12 months, and now recovering from elbow injuries of varying severity, Warner and Smith must demonstrate their quality has not been diminished by the time away. To some it has seemed tantamount to blasphemy to query whether or not Smith in particular, his elbow only recently removed from a brace, will be an automatic selection for the World Cup. Yet no less clear-eyed an observer than Ricky Ponting, soon to assist Langer at the World Cup, has suggested just that ahead of their IPL duties.Fielding will be one major question mark, given the elbow problems they have faced. In India, fast, agile and alert fielding was emblematic of the work Langer and the assistant Brad Haddin have put into ensuring Australia will return to their former reputation for predatory defending. Ashton Turner’s explosive batting obscured the fact that he could not go to the outfield due to his own problematic shoulder, so it will be a poser for all to see how many more sub-par fielders Langer and Finch can accommodate.The Australian team get into a joyous huddle after victory•Getty Images

Amid all the backslapping and brotherhood talk in Dubai, Langer also admitted that both Warner and Smith needed time to re-adjust to higher playing demands during the IPL. “It’s like when you have a pre-season you can be Hawaiian Ironman fit, but you get sore when you start playing your first game of cricket,” he said. “For them it’ll just be getting back into the rhythm of high class cricket and I’m sure they’ll get plenty out of that.”One of the more revealing things Langer has said since becoming coach last May tumbled forth at the end of the rousing ODI series victory over India when asked about Usman Khawaja.ALSO READ: Meet Australia’s unlikely ODI heroes“I daresay there’s no way that 10-12 months ago, Usman Khawaja would have two hundreds and a 90 and still be fresh as a daisy in the field,” Langer said. “I remember I was sitting in my driveway at home, probably a few days after I got appointed coach and he was one of the first people I spoke to. He wanted to know where he was at with white-ball cricket.”I just said, ‘the reality is I don’t want you to get fit to tick a box or to please me, or Pat Howard, or Queensland Cricket or Cricket Australia. Do it so you can run harder between the wickets and field better, because we know you’re talented.’ He scores hundreds, and we’ve talked about having batsmen who can score hundreds in our top four. So he was rewarded for it, and he’s paying us back in spades at the moment.”Khawaja’s efforts, as much as anyone else’s, provide the perfect example of how Smith and Warner need to find the best ways to fit into the team and perform, rather than the other way round. There are others too: Adam Zampa developing a better leg-break, Nathan Lyon’s “bowl ugly” mantra, and Pat Cummins adjusting his once-in-a-generation bowling skill to become the ODI force the team needs.Another instance from the recent past that also bears thinking about is the seamless way in which George Bailey slipped from stand-in captain to drinks waiter during the 2015 World Cup once Clarke was fit enough to resume. Bailey has recalled, with much mirth, that in celebrations of that win he inadvertently broke the trophy. Team-mates who saw how he served the team either as leader or a reserve were happy to accept the momentary lapse given the extent of his selflessness beforehand. Beyond the Dubai platitudes, Warner and Smith must aim for similar standing.

“Moving forward, if I’m in such a situation, I’d withdraw the decision to go upstairs,” the West Indies U-19 captain said after his team’s controversial obstructing-the-field call sparked debate

Shashank Kishore17-Jan-2018″The umpires asked me just one question. ‘Did you ask him to throw the ball to you?’ I said I didn’t.”This was West Indies captain Emmanuel Stewart explaining his side of the story after an appeal from his team for obstructing the field was upheld at the Under-19 World Cup. South Africa opener Jiveshan Pillay had got a thick inside edge onto the pad, and the ball rolled wide of the stumps and came to a standstill. As there was a break in play, substitutes ran in with drinks under the assumption that the batsman had taken a break. Even West Indies’ boundary riders seemed taken aback by the appeal initially.”We had the choice to ask the question, which we did so,” Stewart said. “He was given out within the laws of the game. On reflection, I thought our appeal wasn’t in the spirit of the game. Moving forward, if I’m in such a situation, I’d withdraw the decision to go upstairs. My team-mates share the same sentiments.”After the match, Stewart insisted he was aware of the rules, which states a batsman can be given out obstructing the field if he uses the bat or any part of his body to return the ball to the fielder while the ball is in play. “I appealed, not with the intention of going upstairs. There were a couple of appeals on the field and the umpires heard it, so they decided to have a look at it.South Africa’s coach Lawrence Mahatlane didn’t seem to make much of the issue at the innings break when he said his team will hopefully “learn for a long time from it”, but Raynard van Tonder, the captain, admitted to being angered by the turn of events.”As it happened, the team wasn’t really happy. But if you think about it, that is the rule. We made a mistake and we paid for it,” he said. “I think all of us are aware of the rule. But the way we play back home and what we’re used to is different… Like the ball wasn’t even going to hit the stumps. People talk about gentleman’s game. We want to play hard on the field but we still want to be friends off the field. Also, you don’t want to do silly things that aren’t part of the game.”While van Tonder didn’t even explore the possibility of asking West Indies to reverse their appeal, he made his displeasure clear at the post-match press conference. “That is a rule, but there is also the spirit of cricket. There can be instances where a captain can step in and say ‘well, I don’t think that is a good call’. We’ve seen it before. I think it was a great opportunity for their captain to just step in and say maybe that wasn’t right.”South Africa’s wicketkeeper Wandile Makwetu, also their most capped Under-19 player in the squad, explained his take on the matter when he was asked if it would be easier if players didn’t have dual codes to live by: one being the rules and the other being the spirit of the game.”The spirit of cricket is a bit of an unspoken code. The laws are fixed and you can read them and you can see them. Spirit of cricket is just something that the guys know about, that’s how we play the game,” he said. “Today when we were fielding, there was one catch that didn’t carry all the way to me. I could have easily said to the umpires – knowing that it hasn’t carried – to go upstairs and check. But I knew it didn’t carry. So in an instance like that to put your hand up and just say we’re doing the right thing because it’s fair play, that’s the way we should play the game.”This is the second instance a controversial dismissal has been debated this intensely this month. Last week in Brisbane, Brendon McCullum felt George Bailey “missed an opportunity” to uphold the spirit of cricket following an obstructing the field appeal against Alex Ross at a crucial juncture in a BBL game.

Justin Langer will once again stand in for Darren Lehmann as Australia’s head coach, this time for three T20s against Sri Lanka

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Dec-2016Justin Langer will take charge of coaching Australia for three Twenty20 internationals against Sri Lanka in February, while Darren Lehmann is with the Test squad in India.Langer, the coach of Western Australia, has previously stood in for Lehmann, guiding Australia to victory in the one-day international tri-series against South Africa and West Indies in June while Lehmann took a break.The scheduling of the three T20s against Sri Lanka – in Melbourne on February 17, Geelong on February 19, and Adelaide on February 22 – so close to the first Test against India, which begins in Pune on February 23, means entirely different squads will be required.”We are delighted that Justin has agreed to undertake the role of acting head coach for the Twenty20 international series against Sri Lanka,” Pat Howard, Cricket Australia’s executive general manager of team performance, said. “We would also like to thank WACA for their support in releasing Justin.”He did a terrific job in the Caribbean in June when he stepped in for Darren Lehmann during the successful tri-series and so is already familiar with the working environment around the Australia team.”He brings a wealth of experience as both a player and a coach and his record in helping the Perth Scorchers to a sustained level of success in the KFC Big Bash League means he fits the bill in all ways.”Justin Langer said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of working with the national side in the Caribbean earlier this year and so I am excited and very grateful to get this opportunity to do it again, this time with the Twenty20 International squad against Sri Lanka.”Twenty20 international cricket is the one format in which Australia is yet to win a global tournament so every chance we get to play it and develop our skills is very significant. That means these three matches will be hugely important.”The advantage myself and the players will have is that the series will come just over two weeks after the KFC Big Bash League wraps up so we should all still be in Twenty20 mode.”And with several senior players set to be in India ahead of the Test series, it really will give players an added incentive to perform in the upcoming KFC BBL to put their names forward for selection in the Sri Lanka series.”

BJ Watling felt the pacers’ inconsistency resulted in New Zealand being run ragged on the opening day at the Gabba

Brydon Coverdale at the Gabba05-Nov-2015BJ Watling, the New Zealand wicketkeeper, felt New Zealand’s inability to build pressure with the ball contributed to their dismal opening day at the Gabba, where Australia finished at 2 for 389. That Australia scored at 4.42 per over was indicative of New Zealand’s lack of consistency, and it was a disappointing result for them after Tim Southee started the morning with three maidens with the swinging new ball.”It was a tough day’s cricket,” Watling said. “They played extremely well. There were two very good innings that hurt us. We just didn’t quite manage to control the innings like we would have liked. I thought Tim bowled some outstanding spells today. We just didn’t quite back it up in good partnerships with the ball.”We’ll look to rectify that tomorrow, come back and look to take some early poles in the morning. We just missed our lengths at times. There were some good spells but we didn’t quite hang in there for long enough. It was a tough day but they played well.”Australia’s new opening combination of David Warner and Joe Burns were able to move to 161 before the first wicket fell, and apart from a missed run-out chance, there were no other close calls before Burns edged behind. Warner said he believed the New Zealanders had erred by bowling too short to make the best of the conditions.”We had to try to negate the swing early on and obviously getting through that first session, which we know is always challenging at the Gabba,” Warner said. “As an opening pair I think we found they were bowling a fraction too short. It didn’t allow us to drive many balls early, which is nice as a batsman.”The lopsided scorecard at the end of the first day – Southee and Jimmy Neesham were the only wicket takers and Australia’s first two partnerships both passed 150 – means New Zealand have plenty of work ahead of them to fight their way back into the Test. Watling said they had expected day one to be hard work in the field.”There’s a lot of cricket to be played,” Watling said. “We’re obviously not in the ideal situation. But Test cricket is a long game. If we hang in there for long enough, and take this game deep, we’ll see where it goes. The first hour was good. We asked a lot of questions and then they got through that. Good start, but we didn’t build pressure up for long enough on that wicket.”

It may not have been pretty, it may not have been assured and it may have owed rather more to fortune than they would have liked, but England’s last pair somehow clung on to seal a draw on the final day of the Test series against New Zealand in Auckland

The Report by George Dobell25-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe last-wicket pair of Matt Prior and Monty Panesar safely negotiated the 19 balls they needed to•Getty Images

It may not have been pretty, it may not have been assured and it may have owed rather more to fortune than they would have liked, but England’s last pair somehow clung on to seal a draw on the final day of the Test series against New Zealand in Auckland. In a thrilling advert for virtues of Test cricket, Matt Prior and Monty Panesar played out the final 19 balls of the game to frustrate a deserving New Zealand.There were several occasions on a wonderfully absorbing final day when it appeared New Zealand’s victory was inevitable. When England lost Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow either side of lunch and when they lost Ian Bell the over before tea, it seemed New Zealand were on the brink of just their second home series victory over England – the first was in 1983-84 – and their first Test series victory over any top eight opposition since they defeated West Indies in 2006.But for all England’s faults – and there have been times in this series when they have looked a very modest outfit – they possess an admirable resilience. They have been outplayed for long tracts of this campaign but remain, as Leonard Cohen put it, as stubborn as those garbage bags that time cannot decay. Surviving for 143 overs might be considered not only a Dunkirk moment for England cricket, but as admirable in its own way as coming from behind to defeat India in India.There were several heroes for England. Stuart Broad, who tempered his attacking instincts so completely that it took him 62 deliveries to get off the mark, produced his longest Test innings since the Lord’s Test against India in July 2011, while Ian Bell resisted for just short of six hours in seeing England to the brink of the tea interval. But most of all there was Matt Prior who may have produced the definitive innings of his career to thwart an excellent New Zealand
seam attack that that threw everything they had at him on a pitch that remained true for batting to the end.Prior’s innings was, in many ways, odd. While his colleagues clung to the crease with the desperation of a climber sliding down a rockface, Prior played with a freedom that seemed to belie the match situation. Despite the fact that runs were irrelevant throughout the last day, he
rarely declined an opportunity to punish the loose delivery and reached his century – his seventh in Tests – from only 148 deliveries with his 18th four. The logic was simple: he reasoned it was better to play his natural, positive game than attempt something unfamiliar. His innings may be remembered alongside Mike Atherton’s unbeaten 185 in Johannesburg, in 1995, and Dennis Amiss’ 262 against West Indies in Kingston, in 1973-74, as one of England’s greatest match-saving contributions.But he, and England, enjoyed much fortune and many nervous moments on the road to safety. Most pertinently, Prior somehow saw the bails remain unmoved after the ball thumped into the stumps when he had scored 28. Struggling to deal with a brute of a bouncer from the wholehearted Neil Wagner, Prior saw the ball bounce, via the bat handle and his neck, onto the stumps but fail to dislodge a bail.Prior was also adjudged leg before to Tim Southee by umpire Rod Tucker when he had 16 – the Decision Review System showed a thick inside edge onto the pads – and on 20 he survived a loose top-edged pull off the same bowler. Neil Wagner, running back from midwicket, was unable to cling on to a desperately tough chance.Perhaps New Zealand may rue some missed chances, too. Both Bell and Jonny Bairstow were dropped in the over before lunch as Trent Boult, swinging the new ball back into the right-hander, brought tentative edges to the slip cordon from deliveries angled across the batsmen.
Bell, feeling for one angled across him that he could have left, was grateful to see Dean Brownlie, at fourth slip, put down a relatively straightforward chance, before, two balls later, Bairstow pushed hard at one some way from him and was fortunate to see Kane Williamson, in the gully, put down a sharp chance.Batting had appeared relatively straightforward for the first 100 minutes or so of the day. With no hope of scoring the further 391 runs they required to win the game when play resumed in the morning, Bell and Joe Root instead concentrated on occupation of the crease. The pair batted without much trouble for 28 overs, settling in as New Zealand used the seamers sparingly ahead of the second new ball.But everything changed once it was taken. New Zealand claimed the second new ball the moment it was available and, with its first delivery, Boult produced a beauty that swung back and struck a half forward Root on the pad in front of the stumps. Root and Bell discussed the worth of utilising a review under the Decision Review System, but decided, quite rightly, that the on-field umpire had made no mistake.Bairstow, with only two first-class innings behind him since August, was fortunate to survive his second delivery. Boult, with an inswinging yorker, appeared to strike Bairstow on the boot before it hit the bat in front of the stumps, but New Zealand did not appeal. Replays suggested that if they had, Bairstow would have been in some trouble.But he did not last long after lunch. Southee, bowling from wide of the crease, managed to make one bounce and straighten from just back of a good length to take Bairstow’s edge on its way to slip.Prior and Bell took England to the brink of tea. Bell, in particular, looked admirably solid and drew the sting out of the attack when they were armed with the new ball but, the over before the interval, he was drawn into feeling for one outside off stump from the wonderfully persistent Wagner and edged to third slip.If New Zealand’s seamers were impressive, their frontline spinner was not. Bruce Martin, perhaps feeling the pressure of expectation, struggled with his length and rarely found the turn that might have been anticipated. For much of the day he was out-bowled by the part-time offspinner, Kane Williamson.With only four overs to go and England seemingly safe, McCullum surprisingly brought Williamson back into the attack, perhaps with an eye to the trio of left-handers at the bottom of the order. It proved a masterstroke: Broad’s worthy defiance was ended when he prodded half forward and edged to slip before, two balls later, James Anderson fell in the same manner.While Panesar endured some nervous moments – he was perilously close to playing-on first ball and, comically, almost ran himself out when diving well short of his ground in attempting a sharp single to get off strike – Prior proved a calming influence, took control and saw his side to safety.A draw is, in many ways, a harsh reflection of New Zealand’s superiority in two of the three matches in the series. Their bowlers found swing, seam and spin that England’s did not and their batsmen displayed a balance between discipline and aggression that England could never manage. While McCullum was inventive and positive as captain, Alastair Cook was increasingly reactive and passive. Few would deny that New Zealand looked the better side.Perhaps McCullum should have declared earlier. But New Zealand can take heart from this performance. Their pursuit of victory may have been frustrated, but they showed themselves at least the equal of the No. 2 rated Test team and showed that, under McCullum’s leadership, they have the materials to rise in the rankings in the months and years ahead.

Two of the players named in court evidence against Chris Cairns have stood by their statements about his involvement in match-fixing during live video link evidence from India

Alan Gardner at the High Court12-Mar-2012Three of the players named in court evidence against Chris Cairns have stood by their statements about the former New Zealand international’s involvement in match-fixing during live video link evidence from India. Their testimony formed part of the sixth day of hearings in Cairns’ libel case against Lalit Modi, the former commissioner of the IPL, at the High Court in London.Cairns is suing Modi for defamation over a 2010 tweet that implicated him in fixing. Cairns denies the reason for his dismissal from the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2008 was in linked to alleged corruption, maintaining that failing to disclose an ankle injury was behind his suspension.Gaurav Gupta, Karanveer Singh and Rajesh Sharma, three of Cairns’ former Chandigarh Lions team-mates who have made separate accusations against him, appeared via a video link-up from Delhi. Gupta, a batsman who played first-class cricket for Punjab, has alleged that Cairns told him to score “no more than five runs” during a match between Chandigarh and Mumbai Champs.Questioned about evidence given by Andrew Hall, the former South Africa international who succeeded Cairns as captain of Chandigarh, Gupta denied telling Hall that the instruction had been given by Dinesh Mongia.”No, Chris Cairns told me between the innings and on the pitch as well,” Gupta said. It has previously been claimed in court that Cairns joined Gupta in the middle, with the latter on 4, and told him to “Get out now”.Karanveer, a legspinner who was 19 at the time, described a meeting in which Mongia, a former India international, allegedly told him and his father that everyone within the ICL, from “top to bottom” knew about fixing. He said that he was “shocked” and “broken from inside” to hear the Mongia’s claims.He described a subsequent conversation with Cairns that took place during training, in which Karanveer was asked if he had spoken to Mongia.”This talk was about match-fixing, I was very much convinced,” Karanveer said, though Cairns did not refer to any specific instructions. Karanveer added that he did not report either Mongia or Cairns to the ICL because he was scared that the blame would be shifted on to him.The court also heard from Rajesh Sharma, another witness for Modi, who required the assistance of a Hindi translator to give evidence. He restated his claim that Cairns told him to “keep quiet” about match-fixing and said that he had concluded from this conversation that Cairns was involved. Cairns denies discussing fixing with Sharma.Sharma, who has admitted to receiving money from spot-fixing, said he did not report Cairns’ name to ICL executives or Hall, when questioned, because it would have become a “bigger problem” for him.The judge, David Bean, has allowed for a break in proceedings on Tuesday before summing up speeches on behalf of the claimant and the defence begin on Wednesday. Bean will then retire to consider his verdict.