All posts by n8rngtd.top

The chairman and interim CEO have been sent back to the drawing board

Daniel Brettig17-Jul-2020Australian cricket’s state association owners have knocked back a revised offer for annual grants from Cricket Australia, sending the chairman Earl Eddings and interim chief executive Nick Hockley back to the drawing board in terms of their calculations.Hockley’s predecessor Kevin Roberts was forced to resign due to a range of disputes over the game’s finances amid the Covid-19 pandemic. While an interim arrangement has been reached with the Australian Cricketers Association for revenue calculations outside contract retainers and match fees to be made at a later date, New South Wales and Queensland remain at odds with CA’s proposals for reductions to grants that totalled more than A$127 million in the organisation’s most recent annual report.The latest offer, understood to have been tabled to the objecting associations earlier this week by Hockley – with the implication that their agreement would lock all states into the deal – reverted from forecast figures to actual figures but also called for the states to match grant cuts dollar for dollar with CA revenue downturns, so if the governing body’s revenue was down by 25%, the state associations would also take a 25% cut to their annual grants.ALSO READ: Inside the fall of Kevin RobertsWhile this linking of CA revenue to state grants appeared to offer improved terms, it was actually an inferior offer to that tabled to the states by Roberts and his chief operating officer Scott Grant in April. That proposal suggested that states would face a 25% cut to their grants only if CA suffered a 50% loss of revenue for the forthcoming summer, a scenario made moot by confirmation that India will fulfil its touring obligations and thus ensure a largely uninterrupted flow of broadcast rights cash into the game.Under those terms, had CA lost less than 50% of forecast revenue, the reduction in the states’ annual grants would reduce to less than 25%, likely to around half that percentage in the event that CA’s in-flow of cash was down by 25% for the coming season.CA’s first offer to the states had been for a 40% cut to their annual grants over two years, a level of possible severity that likely helped to trigger cuts amounting to more than 150 staff being made redundant across the country.Though it is unlikely that CA will cling to the most recent terms after the discrepancy was pointed out, its tabling to the states does not reflect well on Eddings’ board, given they have remained present throughout the period and called in Hockley to work as a more agreeable and broadly respected chief executive, after Roberts had ultimately burned too many bridges across cricket. The search for the permanent CEO goes on.However, the goodwill created by the change of chief executive has not been extinguished by this latest offer, with the states preferring to let Hockley and Eddings rework their figures rather than immediately agitating for more change.Irrespective of whether CA’s Board is dramatically recast in future, there will be change this year as a minimum of two board directors – Jacquie Hey and Paul Green – are up for re-election via a nomination committee and AGM process due to conclude in late October.Other positions on the nine-person board may also be discussed, with Eddings due to serve one more year as part of a three-year term. His predecessor David Peever was returned for a second term in October 2018, before being compelled to depart when NSW withdrew its support a handful of days later.

Former Yorkshire allrounder moves south after 19 years at Headingley

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2020Tim Bresnan, the former England and Yorkshire allrounder, has joined Warwickshire on a two-year deal that will keep him at Edgbaston until the end of the 2022 season.Bresnan will join the club initially on a loan deal, subject to ECB clearance, which covers the remainder of the 2020 county season.”I’m thrilled to be joining Warwickshire,” said Bresnan. “It’s a club that I’ve always admired, and I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed playing at Edgbaston with Yorkshire and England.”I’ve had some great conversations with Paul Farbrace about the way that he plans to take the club forwards, and I see this move as a great fit for both of us. I have still got a strong desire to continuing playing at the top level and to win, so hopefully I can pass on a bit of my experience to the young players who are coming through.”I know quite a few of the players well, so I can’t wait to move down and get cracking.”Born in Pontefract, Bresnan enjoyed a 19-year career at Yorkshire, and played a lead role in the side that won back-to-back County Championships in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.At international level, he was part of the England teams that won the ICC men’s World T20 in the Caribbean in 2010 and reached No.1 in the ICC Test world rankings in 2011. He also was part of England’s Ashes-winning squad in 2010-11, playing a key role in the series-sealing wins at Melbourne and Sydney.Paul Farbrace, Sport Director at Warwickshire CCC, said: “With multiple trophies to his name, Tim is a winner and he knows exactly what it takes to perform and to ultimately succeed at the highest level.”He has vast experience of bowling in the powerplays and of closing out games with the ball and bat in both white ball formats. In First Class cricket, he has the ability to bowl long and challenging spells and also produce game-changing innings.”With several young, homegrown players coming through, we also see Tim’s experience as a great asset to help these players understand what is required to reach their potential and be part of a Warwickshire team that can challenge for trophies. Having him on board is a fantastic move for the Club.”Warwickshire announced yesterday that its men’s squad will return to training on July 1 in preparation for the delayed start to the 2020 county season on August 1. Details of the formats and fixture list will be revealed by the England & Wales Cricket Board in the coming weeks.

South Africa take game down to the final ball but fall three runs short

Firdose Moonda11-Feb-2021Mohammad Rizwan became only the second Pakistan batsmen to score a T20I hundred and contributed more than 60% of his team’s total as they edged out South Africa by three runs in a thrilling first T20I. No one else in the Pakistan line-up scored more than Haider Ali’s 21 and the rest of the line-up combined scored just 59 runs off 56 balls; Rizwan on his own accounted for an unbeaten 104 off 64.South Africa used seven bowlers, only introducing some of their frontline operators such as Junior Dala and Tabraiz Shamsi as the Pakistan innings approached the halfway mark, and all but Shamsi struggled for consistency. The quicks struggled to control a wet ball in the dew and lacked the pace usually associated with a South African pack.It ended up being much tighter than Pakistan fancied, coming down to the final ball, off which Bjorn Fortuin needed six. He could only manage to get it down to square leg for a couple, giving Pakistan the spoils by a narrow margin.Rizwan rewarded

Rizwan is having the best week of his cricketing career. And its only Thursday. On Sunday, he scored his first Test century to set Pakistan up for a series win over South Africa. Here, he topped that up with his first T20 century. This was Rizwan’s second successive score over 80 in T20 internationals and was a particularly well-paced innings.He scored seven runs off the first 11 balls he faced, with no boundaries, ticked along to 31 off 30 and then feasted on Dala’s shorter length to reach 50 off 35 balls. The acceleration came when he smoked three sixes in Dala’s second over including two smashes over backward square leg in consecutive balls and a clean loft over long-off to bring up his half-century. He dominated the rest of the innings, gleefully sweeping Shamsi and punishing full tosses from Andile Phehlukwayo.South Africa used their first review against him when Shamsi appealed for an lbw off a ball that seemed to be spinning past leg stump. Ball-tracking confirmed that Rizwan, on 61 at the time, was safe. In the next over, Dwaine Pretorius thought he had Rizwan caught behind but the sound seemed to come from the thigh-pad. Rizwan swatted Pretorius’ next ball over midwicket for six.He was dropped twice on his way to a hundred and played some risky strokes, including a top edge over fine leg off Lutho Sipamla, but reached three-figures with a glorious shot off a Phehlukwayo slower ball, the 63rd he faced, that Rizwan sent over deep midwicket.South Africa – the fielders – are back. Maybe

South Africa dropped at least seven catches across the two Tests and suffered four run-outs, much to the dismay of head coach Mark Boucher who acknowledged Pakistan’s superiority in the fielding department. The T20 squad knew they needed to do better and it only took two balls before they demonstrated their commitment to an improved showing.Bjorn Fortuin, who was given the new ball, ran to the leg side to collect a Babar Azam nudge and spotted an opportunity to put the Pakistan captain under pressure. Fortuin slid, picked up and threw, aiming at one stump and lying almost flat on the floor. He caught Babar by surprise, well short of his ground, to dismiss him for a first-ball duck.Then, in the last over of the Powerplay, Haider Ali picked a Phehlukwayo slower ball up and attempted to flick it over deep square. Debutant Jacques Snyman took a running catch on the rope with both hands before releasing one to steady himself as he hit the ground. The ball stayed in his other hand and Haider was dismissed for 21.That was not the end of their sharp efforts in the field. Shamsi was brought on to bowl the 10th over and found sharp turn immediately. His second ball spun past Hussain Talat, who came forward to defend, and Heinrich Klaasen whipped off the bails. It looked as though Talat may have got some of his back boot on to the ground as the bails were dislodged but TV umpire Shozab Raza disagreed and Klaasen was rewarded for swift work.It didn’t all go their way, though. In the penultimate over of the match, Dala let a chance off Rizwan slip through his hands at deep midwicket and Reeza Hendricks, who tried to clean up, ended up touching the rope with his foot to give away four runs. The misfields sent Rizwan into the 90s.In the next over, Rizwan hit Phehlukwayo over cover, where Snyman had to jump to take a relatively simple catch. He only managed to palm it up and over, to leave Rizwan two away from his hundred.Janneman is not an Urdu name, but he seems at home in Pakistan

In the Afrikaans tradition, young men named Jan are often affectionately called Janneman. In Urdu, Janneman means sweetheart. Whichever way you look at it there’s a lot of love for South Africa opener Janneman Malan.He survived first over nerves, when he edged Mohammed Nawaz past Rizwan for four and was found to have inside-edged a delivery that hit his back pad which Pakistan reviewed for lbw, and took South Africa through the Powerplay unscathed.Malan drove anything overpitched elegantly and was equally merciless against short balls. He hit Haris Rauf for four consecutive fours, three of them short and two of those slow, which allowed him to show off the pull shot. He also kept his partner Hendricks from the strike, facing 25 of the first 36 balls.The pleasantries ended when Usman Qadir was brought on in the seventh over and bowled Malan with a googly that beat his defensive prod.Qadir’s spell

Unlike Pakistan, South Africa had made the most use of ther Powerplay while Malan was at the crease, with the visitors bring up 50 without losing a wicket after the first ball of the sixth over. With the asking rate coming down, Babar Azam turned to Qadir, who produced a spell worthy of that surname. After a tight over, he drew Malan forward to a glorious delivery that ripped past his outside edge, taking the off stump and swinging the game Pakistan’s way. He would concede just four off his first two, and deceive Snyman with a sumptuous googly that rattled the stumps once more. South Africa managed just 10 runs in four overs, and from thereon they were always playing catch-up.

Misbah-ul-Haq has been signed by Rangpur to play in the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League which begins from November 22

Umar Farooq09-Nov-2015Misbah-ul-Haq has been signed by Rangpur to play in the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League which begins from November 22. Misbah has not played international T20 cricket since he stepped down as Pakistan captain in 2012, but he has been a consistent feature in domestic T20s and foreign leagues.Misbah, 41, recently led Pakistan to No. 2 in the Test rankings after a 2-0 defeat of England in the UAE. He had hinted at retiring after the series but the PCB had asked him to delay those plans.So that means his next assignment would be a tour of England in July 2016. The remainder of Pakistan’s Test specialists will play plenty of limited-overs cricket, including the Asia Cup and the World T20 next year, but Misbah who has retired from both the shorter formats, is hoping to keep himself match-ready by playing the Quaid-E-Azam trophy, Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, and later the Bangladesh Premier League.”I have signed with BPL,” Misbah told ESPNcricinfo. “I want to carry on and keep myself motivated and maintain my fitness. So whatever cricket comes in I want to play to avoid being complacent.”Pakistan’s domestic season will conclude in February next year. The first Test at Lord’s is in July, four months later. So Misbah is keen to secure a contract with an English county to make sure he doesn’t turn up undercooked.”I love the game and want to play it,” Misbah had said after the England Test series. “It’s really difficult when you have not played any competitive cricket for six, seven, eight months and suddenly you come and play against top players. So this is a period you need to motivate yourself.”I can still play domestic cricket and be ready for that kind of challenge, but that’s not easy. I have mentioned that before because after retiring from ODIs, I can feel that whenever the Tests come the first game is always difficult and the body mechanism is not working. I feel that I am playing after a long time and it takes one or two innings to settle and if you are getting out early it could be horrible for you so these things are there so I am just trying to rethink and work out.”

The pace bowler has overcome his side strain in time for the BBL finals

Andrew McGlashan29-Jan-2020Timing appears to be in the Sydney Sixers’ favour as the Big Bash reaches the closing stages. After having hit form to secure second spot – and two chances to make the final – along with the return of their Australia players, there is now positive news over the fitness of Sean Abbott, who is set to be available for the Qualifier against the Melbourne Stars on Friday.It is a opportune comeback for Abbott, which should help the Sixers cover for the loss of Tom Curran, their leading wicket-taker in the league stage. Curran has now left for England duty in South Africa having claimed 22 wickets and scored 133 runs to further enhance his standing at the club.Curran signed off with 3 for 27 against the Melbourne Renegades to highlight the hole that will need to be filled in the attack as the Sixers aim to secure their first BBL title since the inaugural competition in 2011-12.

Abbott’s memories of Rauf

Haris Rauf will be a key part of the opposition on Friday, but that did not stop Abbott acknowledging the “inspiring journey” the fast bowler has been on after being hastily signed by the Stars at the start of the BBL.

Rauf has jetted back from Pakistan after making his T20I debut against Bangladesh to bolster the Stars’ attack ahead of the Qualifier final at MCG and Abbott recalled when he faced him in the SCG nets.

“I remember he came and bowled in the nets a couple of years ago and it wasn’t very nice,” Abbott said. “I was one of the batters that day and he was bowling quite fast with a brand new cherry. He’s got to be pretty proud of himself. It’s quite an inspiring journey that he’s been on, to get picked in the Big Bash when there’s heaps of other well-known national bowlers around the world that do quite well.

“The Stars have taken a bit of a punt on a guy who obviously bowls quite fast, but not only has he bowled fast he’s got a lot of wickets bowling slower balls because guys are worried about the height and 150kph stuff.”

Abbott has been sidelined since the end of December, when he suffered a side strain against the Sydney Thunder which also ruled him out of Australia’s one-day tour of India. Having increased his workload in training over the last few days, he is now ready to return providing he comes through a final workout when the squad arrives in Melbourne on Thursday.He had taken 11 wickets in five games prior to his injury and his all-round game means he will also help fill the batting part of Curran’s role, which proved vital at times during the season – not least the game against the Thunder where he earned the Super Over which he then went on to bowl.”Obviously Tommy took my Super Over that I really wanted to bowl against the Thunder,” Abbott joked. “We both bowl at pretty similar times in the game. One or two in the Powerplay, not as many through the middle, then at the death. I can get one spot up the order with the bat, now that he’s left. [We are] pretty similar players with the ball but we each have our own strengths that separate us form each other.”Abbott’s T20 batting is a level below where Curran has been able to take his game over the last two years – scoring 318 runs at a strike rate of 146.54 in the last two BBL campaigns – but he has been eager to learn off the England allrounder.”I’ve been working on that. Been trying to keep it pretty simple, but spending quite a lot of time with Tommy over the last two seasons has been great,” he said. “It’s sort of been pushing me along to strive for better performances with the bat, and really wanting that contest and chance with the bat. Pretty fortunate I’ve been able to spend the last two seasons with a player like Tommy.”Side strains can be particularly troublesome for a pace bowler and Abbott conceded he may not be quite back to bowling at full tilt against the Stars but is confident he will be able to deliver in a high-pressure game, albeit one that comes with a second chance for whoever loses in the Challenger final next Thursday.”I feel like I’ve got enough games under my belt now and enough self-awareness to cope with whatever comes my way on Friday night in terms of getting back from a side strain injury and dealing with that,” he said. “My body might hold me back from bowling 100%, like I might not be able to get the ball down there as quick but today went really well in the nets. I’m assuming tomorrow will go really well in the nets as well. I don’t see why Friday will be any different from when I started the tournament.”

“We will take domestic cricket to that level too so that we can get international players from it”

Umar Farooq22-Dec-2022Najam Sethi has formally taken charge of the PCB, putting the revival of domestic cricket in the country at the top of his priorities. Following the removal of Ramiz Raja, as PCB chairman, and the current board, Sethi will head a 14-member management committee that will take interim charge of affairs. The committee will have 120 days in which they are expected to change the PCB’s constitution, bringing back the 2014 version to replace the current one (put in place in 2019).”I am back after four years and there is lots of work to do,” Sethi said upon arrival at Gaddafi Stadium, PCB’s HQ, on Thursday. “I am thankful to the Prime Minister because it was his wish to revive the 2014 constitution and revive departmental cricket; regions should be revived and encourage the private sector and take cricket forward. A lot has been done here over the last four years, which I don’t like to comment on. But the way we are seeing the cricket team and the problems of cricket players, we will try to solve them.”There’s been a famine for the last four years. Tell me how many cricketers have come through domestic cricket? It looks like only PSL is supplying players. PSL is a very big international brand and we will take domestic cricket to that level too so that we can get international players from it. My primary duty is to restore the spirit of the 2014 constitution. We will meet in a day or two and then we will discuss the major issues and let you know how we will move forward.”The change in PCB was brought in through a notification issued from the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office and a summary from the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC). The formal approval came in late on Wednesday night/Thursday morning. Sethi and his allies then arrived at PCB headquarters by noon.Related

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Ramiz was in office until Wednesday and he signed off by approving Pakistan’s squad for the upcoming home Test series against New Zealand.The government has now given Sethi’s committee full executive power to work on reviving the department structure, which was abolished in 2019. Departments were removed from domestic cricket during Imran Khan’s premiership – he had been a longtime advocate for Pakistan’s domestic scene to replicate that of Australia’s, with six teams made up of Pakistan’s provinces playing in all tournaments. The committee will be tasked with the responsibility of forming a board of governors and electing a chairman, with Sethi himself in the fray, as stipulated in the 2014 constitution.How well the plan goes for reviving departments is unclear. A number of department sides had shut down their sporting operations even before Imran’s change and, in the current economic climate, there might not be much appetite for such organisations to hire a squad of cricketers. Sharif had already issued a directive in October this year to all 18 government departments/institutes to restore the governance of their sport structure in Pakistan and restore the finance to sports departments. The pick-up on that has been slow – ESPNcricinfo understands that Ramiz Raja as chairman had written to private banks to ask about reviving their teams but they had shown little interest.”Our sports ordinance, according to which the PCB is operated, is completely dependant on the patron – and he has a lot of rights,” Sethi said of the change in the PCB. “They have exercised these rights previously and he will continue to do so in the future too. But I think performance is very important. If you do not perform well then it gives an opportunity to the people to make a change. If your performance is good then there’s no reason to make a change. I thought we did well [during the previous tenure].”We delivered a lot. When the government changed (in 2018) last time I was assured at the highest level that I will not be removed. But I felt it was not the right thing. It’s the right of the patron to bring a man of his own choice and try to implement his own vision. I personally felt Imran Khan’s vision will do more improvement and that’s why I didn’t want to stand in the way. I could have gone to the courts and fought, but I thought to go honorably. I don’t want to go into detail about what happened over the last four years and how much they succeed. I won’t go into details and we will see how we will take things forward.”According to the 2014 constitution, the composition of the BoG is based on ten members as the body will include four regional representations (top-four teams from the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy), four representatives of services organisations (top-four department teams) and two members to be nominated by the patron in his discretion. The federal secretary of the ministry of inter-provincial coordination or any other officer nominated by him shall be an ex-officio, non-voting 11th member. The term of each member of the BoG is three years – equivalent to one term of the chairman in a bid to promote continuity in the set-up.Imran’s model was also implemented by Ehsan Mani but it had drawn resentment in the cricketing circles in the country. A group of former board members and cricketers including Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Gul have been urging the government to revert to the previous domestic structure where departmental teams such as WAPDA, SNGPL and PIA were part of the first-class circuit. Imran’s orders to abolish departmental cricket, eventually stand revoked by Sharif, who succeeded him as premier.

England spinner reflects on cult status after helping seal victory in the final Test of summer

Alan Gardner16-Sep-2019If any confirmation were needed that Jack Leach has become an England cult hero, it came on the third evening at The Oval. Leach had walked out to bat alongside Jofra Archer, with England eight down and sitting on a 374-run lead when people began to rise in their seats and join in with a booming chorus that echoed around the ground: “Stand up if you love Jack Leach!”Only those of a green-and-gold persuasion declined to join the choir. Leach’s fan club has grown steadily since the middle of summer, but largely because of his batting exploits rather than his spin bowling. First came the 92 as nightwatchman opener against Ireland at Lord’s, for which he was named Man of the Match; then the valiant 1 off 17 balls to accompany Ben Stokes into the history books at Headingley. In the first innings at The Oval, he held up his end while helping Jos Buttler to add 68 and lift England from trouble again.Then there is the endearing routine of cleaning his glasses between deliveries. In part it is Leach’s everyman appearance that chimes with the watching public – though the sight of fans at Old Trafford mimicking his bald pate and glasses prompted Kevin Pietersen to wonder in a column for a betting site whether Leach was becoming a “laughing stock”.On the final day of the series at The Oval, Leach made sure the talk would be about his bowling at last. He made key incisions to remove Marnus Labuschagne and Tim Paine before taking the last two wickets to fall for figures of 4 for 49 – his best in home Tests – in the process sharing all ten with Stuart Broad and his captain, Joe Root. “Today I just wanted to be patient and felt if I did my job well then the wickets would come,” he said. “I needed to put the ball in the right area and be patient. I got my rewards at the end, with some good catching from Rooty. Broady set the tone amazingly well earlier on, it was a real team effort. The Aussies fought hard but we did enough.”It was nice to get some wickets on the last day. The support for me has been something I didn’t think I’d ever experience. Maybe it’s because of my batting, but I think it’s mainly because I’m bald and have got glasses. The way the public have warmed to me is something very special and I don’t take for granted. I can’t thank them enough.”England were well on their way to drawing the series on Saturday evening, when Leach was warmly serenaded by the Oval crowd. Looking back, he was happy enough to acknowledge the moment of fortune at Headingley that saw Nathan Lyon drop the ball with a decisive run-out opportunity begging.”Yesterday, when I was batting at the end, over there they were singing ‘Stand up if you love Jack Leach’, and then they started over there as well. I just thought ‘What is going on?’ Nathan Lyon came over and said to me ‘How many beers do you owe me [for the run out]?’ I think I owe him a lot. Sport is fickle and I guess you have to enjoy the good moments and not get too down about the bad moments. I have had some luck as well. Hopefully you earn that luck through hard work, I will continue working hard.”Jack Leach claimed the key scalp of Tim Paine•Getty Images

Leach has been a hit on social media, as well as in the stands, with a video of his re-enactment of the single he scored at Headingley receiving more than 5000 likes on Twitter. After Australia had retained the urn by winning the next Test, at Old Trafford, there were suggestions that Steven Smith had donned a pair of glasses in mock tribute – though it was later clarified to be a joke at the expense of bespectacled former Australia opener Chris Rogers.”Smith came to me to let me know that it wasn’t about me,” Leach said. “I didn’t know whether it was or wasn’t. I was kind of hoping it was, and thought it was a good laugh. I was very embarrassed after Headingley when the video came out of me doing my one. I think I deserved that to be honest! That’s why we got a picture together after the game with him wearing my glasses!”Having made a low-key debut in Christchurch in March 2018, then missing out on the following Test summer through injury, it feels as though Leach has taken 18 months to become an overnight success. However, he does not intend to bask in his new status, and could well find himself involved in a momentous achievement of a different kind over the coming days, with Somerset closing in on the first-ever Championship title in their history.”Somerset-Essex next week, I don’t know if I’ll play yet. I’ve been part of that Somerset season as well so I don’t know. During this series it’s been pretty mentally and physically tiring. But I probably haven’t bowled too many overs, not a silly amount. It will be good to go back and try to win the Championship with Somerset because we’ve never won that.”

England allrounder can still be a role model for the sport, says ECB boss, in spite of Bristol incident

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Dec-2018Ben Stokes remains “a leader in the England team”, according to the ECB’s chief executive, Tom Harrison, who believes it is time to “forgive and move on” after the player’s involvement in a fight outside a Bristol nightclub last year.Speaking to BBC Sport at the end of an eventful 2018, in which Stokes’s exploits generated numerous headlines on and off the field, Harrison conceded that the Bristol incident had been an “incredibly negative episode”.However, he added that he was “giddy with excitement” about the possibilities that await England in 2019, with the twin peaks of a home World Cup and an Ashes campaign – two competitions in which a fit and focused Stokes could be central to his team’s success.Earlier this month, Stokes was fined £30,000 by the Cricket Disciplinary Commission for his part in the events outside Mbargo nightclub in September 2017. He was retrospectively banned for eight games as well – a punishment that he had already served in missing five months of cricket, including last winter’s Ashes.In August, he was found not guilty of affray after appearing at Bristol Crown Court, but since the end of the court proceedings, Stokes has appeared to redouble his commitment to his England career – he was singled out for particular praise by his coach, Trevor Bayliss, after playing a vital role in England’s 3-0 Test series win in Sri Lanka last month.All of which is music to the ears of the ECB hierarchy, who have gone out of their way since the day of Stokes’ arrest last year to ensure that, as far as possible, his rehabilitation takes place on the field. Harrison, for one, is sure that he can be a role model for the sport going forward.”Ben is a leader in the England team,” Harrison said. “I do think he can [be a role model] – he’s been through a year that will serve as a constant reminder of how quickly things can go wrong if you allow them.”He’s got great people around him, he’s got good support structures and I’m sure he’s learnt a lesson.”Ben Stokes suckered Angelo Mathews with the short ball•Associated Press

Stokes’ punishment included being stripped of the England vice-captaincy, while his absence from last winter’s Ashes tour is the sort of career highlight that any sportsman would regret missing.But Harrison defended the timing of the CDC judgement on Stokes, as well as the independence of the panel that had been assembled to rule over both his misdemeanours, and those of his team-mate, Alex Hales, whose role in the fight did not lead to a court appearance.”We have an independent body making these judgements, they are qualified people and this has been a proper process,” Harrison said. “The sanctions handed down are serious, this is not something that’s been brushed under the carpet.”Ben is a key part of the Test and ODI team but I don’t think that’s got anything to do with the sanctions which have been handed down – the processes have been separate and deliberately so.”Hales was fined £17,500 for his role in the Bristol incident, £10,000 of which was suspended for 12 months. He was also banned for six white-ball matches, two of which he missed in the immediate aftermath of Stokes’ arrest, and the remaining four are suspended.All of which means that both players have been cleared to play a full part in the tour of the Caribbean in the new year, and after that the World Cup, which England will enter as favourites, with a golden opportunity to end a 44-year wait for a global ODI trophy.”We’ve got huge plans for making sure the Cricket World Cup is a platform on which we grow the game in England and Wales,” Harrison said.”It is an unbelievable opportunity for English cricket, it’s up to us to make sure we take advantage of that. And for the first time you sense we have this gilt-edged opportunity to take people from the white-ball game directly into the Ashes series which immediately follows the World Cup.”It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity. I’m giddy with excitement about 2019.”

The Australia fast bowler is set to play his first international match on home soil in nearly four years this Sunday, against South Africa

Alex Malcolm01-Nov-2018In a bid to avoid yet another stress fracture in his lower back, Australia quick Nathan Coulter-Nile has taken up regular yoga classes led by banned Western Australian team-mate Cameron Bancroft.Coulter-Nile’s smooth rhythmical action has been anything but kind on his lower spine, with stress fractures ruining his last two home summers to the point where Sunday’s first ODI against South Africa in Perth looms as his first international match on home soil in nearly four years.Now he has taken a different approach to his recovery and preparation, opting for less net bowling and more pilates and yoga in order to remain on the park more regularly.”We always do a little bit but I’ve just tried to really rush into it head on this year and do it two to three times a week when I can,” Coulter-Nile said. “Obviously, when I’m away it’s a little bit harder. Just trying to do everything I can.”I’ve got a really good management programme in place. I don’t bowl too much. I don’t do too much. Just really when I can, just play, rest up and play, give my back as much time as it can to recover.”Bancroft, who is currently serving a nine-month suspension in the wake of the Newlands ball-tampering scandal, undertook a yoga teaching course during the Australian winter and has become the instructor for Coulter-Nile and some of his team-mates.”He was good. I think he’s just done a course in Melbourne for the last two or three months,” Coulter-Nile said. “He was really good, really brought us down to earth.”Asked his opinion on whether Bancroft, Steven Smith and David Warner should have their bans overturned, Coulter-Nile gave a typically pragmatic response.”I’ve got an opinion on everything. It doesn’t matter what my opinion is,” Coulter-Nile said. “They’re banned. They’re not here. Of course, we’d like them to play. I’d like everyone to play, but it is what it is.”He did have a blunt opinion on Australia’s batsmen. Following the struggles in the T20I series in the UAE, where Coulter-Nile did more batting than he normally bargains for, he gave an honest appraisal of the net form of team-mates Aaron Finch and Chris Lynn.”Everyone always says it when you’re having a bit of a bad trot they say you’re hitting them well in the nets. I feel they haven’t been,” Coulter-Nile said. “I feel they’ve been struggling in the nets. But then they’ve got here and, I don’t know what it is, but in Australia they seem to fire.”I can personally say I hate bowling to Lynny and Finchy; I hate it, it’s scary in the games. And they should take that confidence into these games. If Hoff [Josh Hazlewood] and Starcy [Mitchell Starc] are scared bowling to them, I’m sure the South Africans are as well.”Both sides enter the series with indifferent form, although Australia’s long-term situation is more dire. South Africa lost their only warm-up match against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Wednesday. Australia have won just two of their last 17 completed ODIs since February 2017, including just one of 10 against England in this calendar year.

Having amassed a commanding total of 445, Northants’ bowling was led by Jason Holder as Middlesex slumped to 134-7

ECB Reporters Network06-Apr-2019If Friday was a very welcome start to the new campaign for Northamptonshire, the second day at Wantage Road was the stuff of pre-season dreams as they totally dominated Middlesex, the 2016 county champions. Having piled up 445, Northants reduced Middlesex to 134 for 7 before bad light ended the day 14 overs early.After showing the resolve to bat for long periods and build a score, Northamptonshire overcame another bad habit by backing up one good day with another. When Jason Holder fell in the sixth over of the morning, a Middlesex fightback looked possible but Luke Procter and Luke Wood ensured the advantage was pressed home, sharing 53 for the eighth wicket.Their stand earned Northants a fourth batting point. It took five matches for Northants to reach the same tally last season.Procter, who endured a lean 2018 in his first full season after joining from Lancashire, worked the bowling around with ease to pass 50 in 111 balls, before taking a liberty or two with the tail – lifting Steven Finn over deep square for six and cleverly guiding Tim Murtagh for boundaries – in making an unbeaten 81, the highest score of the innings.Northants’ total was built with several healthy partnerships, the last of which, a 71 stand for the tenth wicket between Procter and Ben Sanderson, was a sickener for Middlesex as a solid total became a commanding score.With the luxury of scoreboard pressure, the home attack bowled with persistence to chip away at the Middlesex order. After a 39-run opening stand, Holder made the breakthrough having Nick Gubbins caught at first slip before Sam Robson went to cut and edged behind. In between, Nathan Buck produced a delivery that lifted from a length to find Stevie Eskinazi’s edge and with three wickets by tea, Northants had won a fifth session in succession.After tea, the home side took complete control of the game. Dawid Malan fell in the second over the session, caught at the wicket off Wood – a first wicket for the on-loan Nottinghamshire left-armer. Wood’s second wicket saw Max Holden, who rescued Middlesex here last season, mistime a pull to square leg.Eoin Morgan, England’s one-day captain, never settled with various inside and outside edges before Buck finally drew a nick that taken by Adam Rossington and when Sanderson took his first wicket – John Simpson held well, down low by Holder at second slip – Northants were pondering asking Middlesex to follow-on for the second season in a row.