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Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes the size and weight of bats used in Test cricket should be regulated to ensure a greater balance between bat and ball

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jul-2016Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes the size and weight of bats used in Test cricket should be regulated to ensure a greater balance between bat and ball.At present, cricket’s laws only limit the length and width of bats, not the depth or weight. That has led to the development of bats made from lighter material but with extremely thick edges, such as the Gray-Nicolls Kaboom bats used by David Warner.Speaking at a recent Australian Cricket Society function, Ponting said he had no problem with such bats being used in the shorter forms of the game but believed they should be banned from Test cricket. The main issue, Ponting argued, was the lightweight materials used, and he said that players should not be prevented from using big bats as long as they were also heavy.”I don’t know how they are doing it to make the size of bats they are making now,” Ponting said. “The modern day bats and weight in particular — it’s just a completely different game. Full credit to them. If they are there use them, if there’s a better golf club or tennis racquet everyone will use it. It’s nothing against the players.”If you are strong enough to use them that’s fine, but you should not get a bat that’s bigger in size than [MS] Dhoni’s but a whole lot lighter. Chris Gayle’s the same. Everyone talks about Chris Gayle’s bat size, but it’s 3½ lbs. He’s big enough and strong enough to use it. I only get worried when they are really big and really light.”Ponting will be at the next meeting of the MCC’s World Cricket Committee at Lord’s early next week, and he said bat size and weight would be one of the topics discussed.”I think it will happen,” he said. “I am going in a couple of weeks for a World Cricket Committee meeting and that will be one of the topics talked about. I don’t mind it for the shorter versions of the game.”I would actually say you’ve got a bat you can use in Test cricket and a certain type of bat you can use in one-day cricket and T20 cricket. The short forms of the game survive on boundaries – fours and sixes – whereas the Test game is being dominated too much now by batters because the game is a bit easier for them than it was.”

Roston Chase, an uncapped middle-order batsman who can be handy with his offspin, has been named in West Indies’ squad for the four-Test series against India

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Jul-20161:08

West Indies pick uncapped Roston Chase for Tests

Roston Chase, an uncapped middle-order batsman who can be handy with his offspin, has been named in West Indies’ squad for the four-Test series against India. Wicketkeeper and former captain Denesh Ramdin has been left out, in keeping with what he had tweeted last week.

WI squad for India Tests

Jason Holder (capt), Kraigg Brathwaite (vice-capt), Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Rajendra Chandrika, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich (wk), Shannon Gabriel, Leon Johnson, Marlon Samuels
In: Roston Chase, Leon Johnson
Out: Miguel Cummins, Shai Hope, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor, Jomel Warrican

Left-hand batsman Leon Johnson gained a recall, while there was no place for experienced quick Kemar Roach after his poor showing in West Indies’ previous Test assignment, the series in Australia last December.Fast bowler Jerome Taylor also did not feature in the 12-man squad. Taylor, 32, who had played 46 Tests for West Indies since debuting in 2003, had informed the board that he is retiring from the longest format, the WICB said in a release. He will continue to be available in the shorter formats.The WICB also said that Ramdin was “sanctioned” for his outburst in relation to his non-selection. In Ramdin’s absence, Dowrich will take over wicketkeeping duties. He was designated wicketkeeper in the Indians’ first warm-up game, in which Johnson and Chase also featured for the West Indies Cricket Board President’s XI, though none had much success.Both Johnson and Chase had enjoyed a good run in West Indies’ regional first-class tournament in 2015-16. Johnson was a key cog in Guyana’s triumphant campaign, topping the run charts with 807 runs at 57.64, while Chase was fourth on the table, with 710 runs at 59.16 for Barbados.Shannon Gabriel is the only specialist fast bowler in the 12-man squad, with seam-bowling allrounders Carlos Brathwaite and captain Jason Holder being the other pace options. Legspinner Devendra Bishoo is the only specialist slow bowler in the squad.The others to miss out from West Indies’ squad that toured Australia are left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican, fast bowler Miguel Cummins and batsman Shai Hope, who had hit an unbeaten century in the tour game.The first Test against India begins on July 21 in Antigua, followed by Tests in Jamaica, St Lucia and Trinidad.

Jason Roy, England’s Man of the Match in the first ODI against Pakistan, said that his bout of dizziness while batting was down to a low blood-sugar level

Alan Gardner24-Aug-2016Jason Roy, England’s Man of the Match in the first ODI against Pakistan, said that his bout of dizziness while batting was down to a low blood-sugar level. Roy scored a rapid 65 as England eased to a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern victory at the Ageas Bowl but required the assistance of the physio after feeling unwell in the fourth over of the chase.Roy complained of a headache after running two with his opening partner, Alex Hales. He said it was not something he had experienced before but put it down to a hot day in the field and he was able to bat on for another 15 overs after taking on fluids.”Not really, I’m not a doctor but it was a case of not having enough sugar on me, apparently,” he said when asked to explain what had happened. “I got a headache, felt a bit dizzy, got the doctor and physio on. Stayed calm, got my fluids on, got my sugar on, got away.”I’ll just remember in future on a hot day to be mindful of that. I was able to get my bearings, settle and reset myself and just go again.”Roy’s reluctance to come off was understandable given his rich run of form in ODIs this summer, with his average up at 95.25 from six innings. His aggression at the top of the order quickly helped England get on top of the asking rate of just over five an over and although he and Joe Root fell when apparently set for more substantial scores the result was rarely in doubt before the rain set in for good.”It was really pleasing to get a score like that, and it was pleasing too that we could knock off the runs,” Roy said. “Overall it was a great performance from the boys, we kept them below par, shame not to knock off the runs but we’ll take the win. I thought we were outstanding with the ball.”Azhar Ali, Pakistan’s captain, conceded that his side were at least 30 runs short, having failed to summon a more explosive finish to their innings. Azhar ended a run of 12 innings without an ODI fifty but was dismissed for 82 with 14 overs to go and his side could only managed to post 260 for 6 despite a sprightly fifty from Sarfraz Ahmed.”Obviously we always look to score 300, but definitely 280-290 [was needed],” he said. “One of your top order has to score and bat long, triple figures would be nice and you always build a total when the top order perform. I would have loved to continue but we had to make up for a lot of dot balls, especially in the middle part.”

Pakistan, in their first T20 under Sarfraz Ahmed’s captaincy, secured a thumping nine-wicket victory with a massive 31 deliveries to spare

The Report by Andrew McGlashan07-Sep-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSharjeel Khan reached his half-century from 30 balls•Getty Images

New captain, new Pakistan? It’s always dangerous to look too far ahead as far as their cricket is concerned, but after one night in Manchester Sarfraz Ahmed has a 100% record as T20 skipper.It can be difficult at the end of a long tour to lift for a one-off T20 – the Super Series, of course, had already been decided lest anyone forget – but, amid the most frenzied atmosphere of the tour, which was marred by late pitch invasions, Pakistan secured a thumping nine-wicket victory with a massive 31 deliveries to spare.They produced their most vibrant bowling and fielding display of the limited-overs leg of the trip to restrict England, who fielded the side which played the World T20 final in April, to 135 for 7: just 58 came off the final ten overs and only three boundaries were struck after the Powerplay.The chase was a canter. Neither Sharjeel Khan nor Khalid Latif needed to bother with much running, by the end of the fourth over they had equalled England’s paltry tally of 10 fours. Both reached their fifties with sixes, Sharjeel off 30 balls and Latif, who only flew in for this match, brought up his maiden half-century off 34 deliveries.With the ball Imad Wasim and Wahab Riaz, the latter smartly held back for the latter half of the innings as he bowled all his overs from the 11th onwards, produced the telling contributions. Imad, who bowled the first over then returned after the Powerplay (and a clonk on the head at point) did not concede a boundary and removed both England openers. Wahab generated fearsome speed, upwards of 95mph on occasion, mixed with smart changes of pace, to leave the middle order in a tangle.After a couple of early overs of assessing conditions, England initially made good progress as Jason Roy and Alex Hales took them to 53 without loss in the Powerplay. Then Roy was lbw trying to reverse sweep Imad and from there England almost went into reverse. Hales fell slog-sweeping at Imad, as he did at Lord’s, and next ball Joe Root uppercut Hasan Ali to third man.Jos Buttler, who missed the final two ODIs with a hamstring niggle, looked in the mood for a rebuilding job, but 9 off four balls became 16 off 14 after two tight overs by Wahab and Hasan. He then carved the first delivery of Wahab’s second over to deep point.Neither Ben Stokes or Eoin Morgan could get going and the harder England tried to hit the ball the worse off they became. England’s batting depth came to their aid in the World T20, most notably against Afghanistan, but there was no late charge on this occasion.When David Willey clubbed Sohail Tanvir through the leg side it was the first boundary for 7.3 overs – and it would be the only one of the final 10 overs, an extraordinary statistic whether you are looking at from an England or Pakistan perspective.Given England’s struggles to find the boundary after the first six overs, it felt a waste to see Liam Plunkett, who has shown this season he can clear the rope from the outset, only come in with three deliveries remaining and end up not facing a ball.Pakistan dealt exclusively in boundaries until the third ball of the third over when Latif, who had taken 20 off Chris Jordan’s first over, tapped a single off Plunkett. The bowler was so shocked, that two balls late he flung a bouncer for five wides down the leg side.After the fours came the sixes. Sharjeel deposited Stokes, playing his first T20I since the World T20 final, over long leg then twice took Adil Rashid over the leg-side boundary. Rashid, at least, had a modicum of revenge when another attempted smite down the ground was skied to cover. He should have had a second wicket, too, but Buttler missed a stumping chance off Babar Azam. It summed up England’s night, as their season ended with a whimper.

Australia’s chairman of selectors, Rod Marsh, will end his tenure in 2017 after telling Cricket Australia he will not continue beyond his current contract

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Oct-2016Australia’s chairman of selectors, Rod Marsh, will end his tenure in 2017 after telling Cricket Australia he will not continue beyond his current contract.Marsh was originally appointed to the selection panel in 2011 under then chairman of selectors John Inverarity, and took over the leadership of the panel when Inverarity departed in 2014.”We can confirm that Rod Marsh has decided not to continue on in his role as national selector once his contract expires in June 2017,” a Cricket Australia spokesperson said. “At this stage no decision has been made on a replacement.”The 2016-17 summer will therefore be the last under the current selection panel of Marsh, Trevor Hohns, Mark Waugh and coach Darren Lehmann.Marsh’s panel oversaw a period during which Australia briefly regained the No.1 Test ranking earlier this year in New Zealand, but there have also been ongoing struggles, especially on tours away from home.The Australians were beaten 2-0 by Pakistan in the UAE in 2014, lost the Ashes in England last year, and were humiliated 3-0 by Sri Lanka this year.In the shorter formats, the 2015 World Cup triumph was the highlight of Marsh’s time at the helm, and Australia continue to be ranked No.1 in the world in ODI cricket despite their 5-0 loss in South Africa this month.

England may be without James Anderson for the first three Tests in India as he continues his recovery from the shoulder problem which has hampered him since midway through the English season

George Dobell25-Oct-20161:29

Anderson’s comeback remains uncertain

England may be without James Anderson for the first three Tests in India as he continues his recovery from the shoulder injury which has hampered him since midway through the English season.Anderson has not been included in the 16-man squad for the five-Test tour which is unchanged from the group currently in Bangladesh.Alastair Cook had already said that Anderson would miss the opening Test in Rajkot and a decision over the involvement of him on the tour will be taken in the coming days, but it is understood that the Mumbai Test which begins on December 8 is now seen as his earliest return date.

England Test squad for India tour

Alastair Cook (capt), Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Ben Duckett, Steven Finn, Haseeb Hameed, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes

Speaking after the first Test in Chittagong, England coach Trevor Bayliss gave a positive outlook on Anderson. “The medical staff are very pleased with how he has come on in the last week or so. He has had more scans and is looking good. They haven’t given any indication of when he might be available, but definitely out for the first Test in India.”He was described as “the difference between the sides” by India captain MS Dhoni after England won the 2012 Test series between the teams, but it seems increasingly likely that England will have to learn to live without him.When Anderson spoke to ESPNcricinfo earlier in October, he was confident over his recovery. “I’m not going to miss the entire trip, no,” he said. “I’m very confident I’m going to be involved in the India series, it is a frustrating injury, something I want to get right, but it does happen in cricket, in sport, you get injured, you’ve just got to deal with it, and hopefully I can get as fit as possible as soon as possible.”While there might have been a case for calling up another spin bowler for the India tour – England had two seamers (Steven Finn and Jake Ball) and one spinner (Zafar Ansari) on the side-lines for the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong – the England team management have suggested they are likely to retain faith in a six-man attack involving three seamers and three spinners.Mark Wood, the Durham fast bowler, who was part of the original squad for Bangladesh remains unavailable having required another ankle operation.If England do require reinforcements, they have an 18-man Lions squad a short flight away in the UAE.

Six Rangpur Riders bowlers were among the wickets as they strangled Barisal Bulls’ batting to win by 29 runs in Mirpur

Sreshth Shah03-Dec-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShahid Afridi celebrates with the game’s highest scorer Mohammad Shahzad after taking a wicket•BCB

Six Rangpur Riders bowlers were among the wickets as they strangled Barisal Bulls’ batting to win by 29 runs in Mirpur. Notching up their first win in four matches, Rangpur moved to third while Barisal ended their season in last place.Defending 154, Rangpur’s bowlers never let Barisal settle. Sohag Gazi struck in the first over, removing Rayad Emrit, who had been promoted to open the innings, and dismissing Mushfiqur Rahim in his next over, before Naeem Islam sent back a dangerous-looking Jeevan Mendis, whose five-ball stay included two sixes.Fazle Mahmud added 39 with the opener Dawid Malan before he was dismissed on 21 by Shahid Afridi’s third ball of the match, leaving Barisal 68 for 4. Four balls later, Malan fell for 30 to Anwar Ali with the team’s score unchanged. Rangpur had sent back half of Barisal’s batting within their first ten overs. Thisara Perera looked to hit out, and struck two sixes as he attempted to chase down a now improbable target before Afridi had him caught by Naeem Islam for a 17-ball 24.Liam Dawson then had Shahriar Nafees top-edging to short third-man before pinning Taijul Islam plumb in front with a yorker to finish with figures of 2 for 11. Rubel Hossain, wicketless till then, ended the match with successive, inch-perfect yorkers – the second one a slower version of the first – to rattle the stumps of Monir Hossain and Kamrul Islam Rabbi.In the first innings, Rangpur’s 154 could best be described as a patchy performance. Opener Mohammad Shahzad scored a 40-ball 48 and added 76 for the second wicket with Mohammad Mithun after Soumya Sarkar fell for 17. Shahzad’s innings, which contained four fours and one six, ended in the fifteenth over after he missed a full ball from Emrit that struck him flush on the pad.The 63-ball partnership ended with the team 105 for 2, bringing Afridi to the crease. He played a typical three-ball innings: taking a single, hitting a six – a short ball dispatched straight over the bowler – and holing out to mid-off, off Kamrul. The pacer was expensive – although he took two crucial wickets – going at an economy rate of 9.75 in his four overs.Just as Rangpur seemed set to post a really big total, Mithun, who made a controlled 41-ball 38 attempted a lofted shot off Perera but failed to connect cleanly, only managing to hit it as far as deep midwicket. Perera then removed Anwar Ali as well, before Ziaur Rahman and Dawson added 16 in the last over – including a last-ball six – to take Rangpur to 154.Rangpur Riders have their future in their own hands. A win in their last match against Comilla Victorians assures them of a semi-final spot, while a loss will leave them waiting anxiously on other results to know their fate.

Auckland’s late surge was in vain as Wellington defended their total of 182 to win off the last ball

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Dec-2016
ScorecardFile photo – Rob Nicol nearly took his side to victory with an innings of 68•Getty Images

Wellington staved off a challenge from Auckland captain Rob Nicol to defend their total of 182 by two runs off the last ball of the Super Smash match in Auckland.Asked to bowl the last over, with Auckland needing 11 runs, Jeetan Patel dismissed Nicol for 68 off the second ball. The pair of SM Solia and Ben Horne brought the equation down to four off the last ball before Solia’s reverse sweep trickled down the ground to a fielder for two runs.Nicol, along with Hong Kong international Mark Chapman, had put Auckland back on track in the chase of 183 from a position of 52 for 3 in the eighth over. Both openers were dismissed in the first two overs for single figures while Jeet Raval scored 26 off 19 balls before falling to Patel. The fourth-wicket stand between Nicol and Chapman yielded 89 runs, after which Nicol and Solia shared a brisk partnership of 43 to bring Auckland closer. Nicol brought up his fifty with a flat six off 43 balls and his innings of 68 came off 52 deliveries, which included six fours.Earlier, fifties from wicketkeeper Tom Blundell and Michael Pollard held up Wellington’s innings. The pair scored a total of 135 runs in Wellington’s 182 even as only one other batsman got into double-figures. The fifth-wicket partnership between Blundell and Pollard – 116 off 61 deliveries – took Wellington past 150 after they had been struggling at 41 for 4 in the seventh over, with Nicol taking two of those wickets. Blundell scored 61 off 41 but Pollard was brutal, smacking eight sixes and two fours in a 36-ball 74.

Cricket South Africa has put out a tender notice inviting bids for eight T20 teams that will make up its new tournament to be played in the last quarter of 2017

Firdose Moonda04-Feb-2017Cricket South Africa has put out a tender inviting bids for eight T20 teams that will make up its new tournament to be played in the last quarter of 2017.The competition will be similar to other major T20 tournaments around the world such as the IPL, BBL and CPL, and will be South Africa’s flagship event in the format. It will be a completely separate event from the current six-team franchise system.CSA is seeking foreign ownership of the teams and advertisements were placed in several international newspapers, including the front pages of some Indian dailies. It is understood CSA has already received interest from several sponsors and will have the funds to lure big name internationals to compete.

‘Kolpak was a major consideration’

The lure of Kolpak deals and the recent defections from South African cricket were on minds when the T20 league was thought up, CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat reportedly told the agencies.
“Yes I must say that when we conceptualised a franchise based T20 league the Kolpak was a major consideration,” Lorgat was quoted as saying by PTI. “Obviously, you want to give opportunity to the South African players to grow and also make a career out of cricket.
“Earlier, the only way to have a good career was to play for South African national team but this league with eight teams will have 88 slots for Proteas players.”

Tentatively, the tournament is set for November-December with a final pencilled in for December 16, a public holiday in South Africa. The dates of the inaugural event may depend on the availability of India for a four-Test, five-ODI and three-T20 tour of South Africa scheduled for the 2017-18 summer. The schedule has not been decided but CSA is hopeful of securing India for the festive season.That will mean South African cricket fans will enjoy their busiest summer yet, with ten home Tests and a flagship T20 tournament.”Our vision is to drive the creation of a new #T20 destination league in South Africa that would energise the sport of cricket in South Africa by creating a global platform for the best-in-class to perform and showcase their talent to a global audience,” Chris Nenzani, CSA president said.Nenzani and CEO Haroon Lorgat informed other member countries of their plans for the tournament at the ICC meetings in Dubai this week and early indications are positive that there will be global support for the event.”We have received a very favourable response to our plans from the ICC and member boards and look to their support in our endeavour,” Nenzani said. “We now look forward to another exciting chapter in the evolution of South African cricket and to the whole game benefitting from our new #T20 Global League.”

Failure to ratify the proposed constitution could result in a motion at the next ICC board meeting to expel USACA

Peter Della Penna01-Mar-2017The USA Cricket Association has been given one more chance to avoid possible expulsion as an Associate Member of the ICC if it votes to ratify a newly proposed and ICC-approved constitution by April 1 that would implement sweeping changes to USACA’s governance structure.Ratifying a new constitution was one of 39 terms and conditions laid out by the ICC for USACA to be reinstated from its ICC suspension, which has been in place since June 2015.Failure to ratify the proposed constitution by April 1 may trigger a motion proposing to expel USACA to be tabled at the ICC’s next board meeting later in April, with a vote on expulsion possibly being taken at the ICC Annual Conference in June.The ICC announced on Wednesday that it had approved proposed changes to USACA’s constitution, a process that has been in the works since 2013, when then USACA chief executive commissioned a governance review with TSE consulting.Among the items in that initial governance review which appear in the ICC-approved framework for a new constitution are term limits for all positions, having three independent directors and two player directors – one male and one female – which would make up 50% of a reformatted 10-person board structure.The new board would also include one director representing leagues to be voted on by leagues from around the country, one director representing and voted on by all clubs – thereby opening membership representation to clubs, whether or not the club is a member of a league – and three other individual directors with voting open to any individual member nationwide.Under the current USACA voting structure, only league presidents of USACA member leagues are allowed to vote in general elections held every three years. This meant 38 votes were polled in the most recent USACA general election in 2015 to vote on the executive positions of president, two vice-presidents, treasurer and executive secretary. Eight other board members are elected by their respective regions to represent them to make up the other positions on the 13-man board. There are also currently no term limits, and, as such, Gladstone Dainty has served as president since 2003.An independent chairman would also be appointed in the newly designed governance structure. For the first three years, the board would elect a chairman from among the three independent directors, who are also part of the board. According to the ICC release, the ICC board supported this measure with unanimous approval though it was opposed by the USACA board.USACA had been given a deadline of December 15, 2016 to approve a new constitution. But that stance was softened somewhat by the ICC in December. A few days before that deadline, they issued a statement, following a series of meetings in New York in October and Dallas, Texas in early December between local stakeholders and an ICC delegation – including chairman Shashank Manohar and chief executive Dave Richardson – claiming that a “consensus had been reached” on approving a new governance structure.The ICC-approved outline for the new constitution was formulated in large part by the Sustainable Foundation Advisory Group, one of four advisory groups put together by the ICC last May in an effort to speed up its implementation of a USA development strategy. Input was also provided by officials from the US Olympic Committee, and the proposed constitution meets USOC guidelines – specifically player representation and independent directors – in order for USACA to become a member governing body of the USOC.”This constitution has been driven by the SFAG with the clear goal of developing a governance model that can unify the sport across the U.S. and provide a platform for cricket to grow and flourish at every level and for the benefit of all stakeholders in the USA,” Eric Parthen, USA project manager for the ICC, said in a release. “We have studied best practices for non-profit sports organisations in the U.S. looking in particular at the U.S Olympic National Governing Bodies and have applied those principles to a model that works for cricket. The result is, I believe, the best opportunity for cricket in the USA the sport has ever had, and it is pleasing to have that assessment endorsed unanimously by the ICC Board.”By unifying a diverse group of stakeholders under a single umbrella, we are collectively much stronger and in a better position to grow the game. I would like to thank everyone who has given their time to this project and I now urge USACA members to adopt the constitution so the sport in the USA can collectively move forward and seize the moment.”If the constitution is approved by the April 1 deadline, the proposed timeline laid out by the ICC calls for elections to be conducted by September 20 with an independent chairman to put in place by October 20 to allow for operations to begin under a new board.