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The BCB directors will meet on Sunday to shape Bangladesh’s stance on the proposal to divide Test cricket into two tiers, which is set to be discussed at the ICC’s annual conference in Edinburgh later this month

Mohammad Isam18-Jun-2016The BCB directors will meet on Sunday to shape Bangladesh’s stance on the proposal to divide Test cricket into two tiers, which is set to be discussed at the ICC’s annual conference in Edinburgh later this month.Bangladesh are ninth in the Test rankings, above only Zimbabwe, and will most likely be in the second tier if the system is adopted in 2019 according to the ICC’s proposal.ESPNcricinfo has learned that the BCB will try and gauge whether the ICC will have a role in forming the FTP under the two-tier system, or whether schedulling will be left to bilateral negotiations as it is at present. The BCB feels that Bangladesh could be vulnerable to a paucity of Tests in the second tier under the current system of schedulling, and would like a guaranteed number of matches – against top-tier teams too – to ensure they have a chance of promotion.However, not all in the BCB are convinced that those representing the board at the ICC would put up a fight to stop the two-tier system from being implemented.”The pertinent question that has to be asked to the BCB president and CEO is whether the BCB raised any proposals, amendments or suggestions when Shashank Manohar had asked all members to give views on the FTP,” BCB director Ahmed Sajjadul Alam, one of three directors to oppose the Big Three proposal to restructure of the ICC in 2014, told ESPNcricinfo.Alam was of the opinion that public interest in Bangladesh cricket, along with that of broadcasters and sponsors, would dwindle if the ICC adopted the two-tier system. “The future of international cricket for Bangladesh is going to be dreadful,” he said. “Already we now have to qualify for ICC events like the 50-over World Cup and World T20. If we don’t qualify for these two ICC events, and at the same time remain a second-tier [Test] side, interest among the public, media, broadcasters and sponsors will be greatly reduced.”We are facing a huge loss, and we are doing it without even offering a fight. Soon world cricket will go back by several decades to the time when the Imperial Cricket Conference used to run the show, with just six or seven teams playing cricket and teams like Bangladesh waiting in the sidelines for handouts.”Tanjil Chowdhury, another BCB director who opposed the Big Three’s proposal two years ago, said the board should be focused on ensuring more matches rather than gaining more money. “I think the BCB will take a decision that will best serve Bangladesh cricket,” Chowdhury said. “Two years ago when the Big Three came up with the position paper, the BCB accepted it because they calculated that they would get greater revenue stream. Why does the BCB need more money? I think they have more than enough. I would want to get as many matches as possible.”Chowdhury said the two-tier system wouldn’t take cricket forward because he felt expanding the number of teams would dilute Test cricket. “I am against the two-tier system that is being proposed. I think it will pull cricket development backwards. Inclusiveness doesn’t work at the games’ premium level, which is Test cricket.”The two-tiered system was first mooted in January 2014 as part of the Big Three’s proposals – that teams ranked ninth and tenth in Tests would play the Intercontinental Cup. That would have left little room for Bangladesh to play any more Tests against the top-eight countries. Bangladesh’s Test captain Mushfiqur Rahim was the only active player to criticise the proposal.

As the evening shadows lengthened at Lord’s, so ended a riveting day’s cricket. It had contained eleven wickets, and dramatic collapses from both sides, yet was ultimately defined by a partnership that occupied almost half the day

Tim Wigmore at Lord's06-Aug-2016
ScorecardSam Curran showed his skills with bat and ball•Getty Images

As the evening shadows lengthened at Lord’s, so ended a riveting day’s cricket. It had contained eleven wickets, and dramatic collapses from both sides, yet was ultimately defined by a partnership that occupied almost half the day.Sam Curran and Ben Foakes are two young players whose futures are brimming with possibility. Yet while they have been noticed more for their other skills – Foakes by his adroit keeping, Curran by his alluring left-arm pace bowling – their batting aptitude is palpable too.They had to summon all their skill after Surrey had stumbled from 47 without to 108 for 6 – at one point losing 4 for 0 – albeit still with a lead of 230, against high-quality bowling. Curran and Foakes recognised the dangers of the situation, and responded assiduously: their first 49 runs took 22.3 overs, and were marked by impeccable defence.But as Surrey’s lead begun to approach, and then cleared, 300, the stand gained impetuous. Foakes pulled a six off Ollie Rayner’s offspin, and added some efficient flicks of his hips; Curran unfurled some sumptuous late cuts and then a reverse sweep. If their batting strengths differ a little – Foakes favours the on-side, Curran the off – the two were united by their sagacious judgement of sharp runs, and haring between the wickets.By the time they walked off, their alliance still unbroken, the two had added 126 in 274 balls, and reshaped the match to Surrey’s will. That Foakes now has a first-class average of just over 40, and Curran one just under, gives notice of the resolve in Surrey’s lower-middle order.How Surrey needed it. After lunch the game seemed to be drifting inexorably away from Middlesex: Surrey’s lead had moved to 169, with all their second innings wickets intact. In such positions prospective champions must show their worth, and Toby Roland-Jones had the look of one here.Bounding in down the slope from the Pavilion End, he forced Rory Burns to play on, attempting to cut. Four balls later Zafar Ansari was caught leaden-footed and snared lbw. In James Harris’ next over, Dominic Sibley’s rather inert innings, 7 from 51 balls, was ended by flashing the ball behind; and then, from the very next delivery, Roland-Jones removed Aaron Finch, playing across the line, lbw. And so in 13 deliveries Middlesex had claimed four Surrey wickets for no run, and Roland-Jones had claimed three of them, enhancing his reputation as a man who can bring chaos out of order.Jason Roy is not the sort to be perturbed by such a situation. He promptly thrashed his first delivery, from Harris, through the covers for four, and then did the same from his third and fourth balls: a distillation of the virtues of a counter-attacking No. 5. But Roy’s dismissal, bowled round his legs attempting to sweep Rayner, just after Steven Davies had chipped the offspinner to cover, showed the risks of such an approach, too.When the day was eventually done – it had been elongated by a sedate over rate, one downside of Roland-Jones bowling with such vim – Surrey could reflect on how, with stealth and skill, they had manoeuvred themselves into a dominant position. In Foakes’ judgement, the wicket is keeping low and showing signs of variable bounce and turn. While his partnership with Curran showed that the pitch to be far from devilish, it is one on which Surrey, with their high-quality pair of spinners, will expect themselves to take ten wickets in a day.A declaration within half an hour in the morning, with a lead of 400, seems probable. How far away such a position looked when, at 108 for 6, Surrey had a lead of 230, and Middlesex had designs of chasing well under 300 to extend their lead at the top of the County Championship.But as grateful as Gareth Batty was to Curran with the bat, he had equal cause to marvel at his dexterity with the second new ball, which earned Surrey a 122-run first innings lead. Curran not only swung the ball considerably from over the wicket, but did so viciously late. The upshot was 4 for 20 from 5.3 overs, and, ably assisted by his brother Tom, a spell that changed the complexion of the match.As Sam ended the day with his highest first-class score, still scampering twos that suggested that his vigour will be undiminished when it comes to bowling at Middlesex again, it seemed remarkable to reflect that he only turned 18 two months ago. Never mind potential; what a cricketer he already is.

Captaining a team is about man management, according to Mahela Jayawardene, who said his style was about allowing individuals space to express themselves within a set of rules

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jul-20164:12

‘Man-management is key to captaincy’ – Jayawardene

Captaining a cricket team is about man management, according to Mahela Jayawardene, who said his style of leadership was about allowing individuals the space to express themselves within a framework of rules. Jayawardene was speaking on , to be aired on July 22 on SONY ESPN, about captaincy and how he grew into the job for Sri Lanka.Jayawardene captained Sri Lanka in 38 Tests (won 18, lost 12), 126 ODIs (won 68, lost 49) and 19 T20Is (won 12, lost 6) between 2004 and 2013. Under his leadership, they made the finals of the 2007 World Cup and the 2012 World T20.During his tenure as captain, Jayawardene said he took pains to understand the players under his charge. “I thing it’s about man management for me number one, because the team will trust you more than a coach or anyone else,” he said. “You need to understand the characters in the team and allow them to showcase what they’ve got, give them that freedom but in a manner that, you know, you don’t treat each and every individual differently because there should be a set of rules to guide all these people.”But at the same time, they have that little bit of freedom to express themselves and to understand who they are, I mean the background, the family backgrounds, what triggers them, how do they react to situations and how can you get the best out of them.”Jayawardene felt that a good way to build a rapport with the players was to be a “friend” rather than “a captain at the top giving orders.””I realised I could get the best out of the guys a different way, where I’d be their friend and then allow them to be leaders in their own right, allow them to make decisions and back those decisions, and tell them that they’ve done a good job. Even when they make mistakes we sit down and have a discussion … and they would like to know that from you rather than someone else or a selector or a coach.”Jayawardene’s career overlapped with that of his close friend Kumar Sangakkara, who captained Sri Lanka in 82 matches across formats between 2009 and 2012. He was a senior player while Jayawardene was captain and vice versa, and Jayawardene said their personal equation had not interfered with team dynamics.”When Kumar was captain, I would always question certain decisions he made and when I was captain he would do the same,” Jayawardene said. “You need that kind of friend and those kind of people in your team. I allowed people to ask questions because that’s when I would make better decisions as a captain. I allowed the younger members of the team to ask questions because they might have a brilliant idea and if you shut them down, you will never know that.”So my theory on teamwork is everyone talks and everyone has to contribute and I will pick things from them, and if nothing comes up then I’ll take the decision but whatever the decision I take out there, it’s my decision, I take responsibility for that. It doesn’t matter that it came from a different person, but it’s my decision once I’ve made that call. So, Kumar was fantastic in the sense that we had very honest, opinionated discussions on certain matters and they were good for both of us.”Watch with Mahela Jayawardene at 9.30 pm (IST) on July 22 (Friday) on SONY ESPN

Michael Klinger stayed put when Sussex’s debutant Christian Davies thought he had caught him on 29. The umpires ruled in his favour. He went on to an unbeaten century

Will Macpherson13-Aug-2016
ScorecardMichael Klinger chose not to walk – and finished with an unbeaten century•Getty Images

When Michael Klinger punched Steve Magoffin to backward point, and the Sussex debutant Christian Davis dived forward, appearing to take a very fine low catch, he had 29. But as the fielders celebrated a wicket that would have left Gloucestershire reeling at 92 for five, Klinger was not for moving. He chose to leave the umpires to decide if the ball had carried and, after a lengthy conference, they decided he should stay. Sussex’s fielders initially appeared dumbfounded, but their lips loosened just in time for the exchange of some terse words.Klinger, almost inevitably, was still there at the close with a century to his name, with his team in the ascendancy after a disastrous start on a pitch he had elected to bat first on. On fine margins do such games turn.Sussex were within their rights to grumble (just as Klinger had been within his to stand his ground), but by day’s end they had let their outstanding start go to waste. Steve Magoffin, trotting in from the Sea End, had looked the force of old, picking up the Gloucestershire top three in his first six overs, and Jofra Archer had forced Hamish Marshall to edge to Chris Jordan, who took a fine catch at slip; Gloucestershire were ruinously placed at 34 for four.Magoffin took upwards of 28% of Sussex’s wickets during his first four years at the club, but his influence – on pitches often unkind to his art – has appeared to slightly wane this season, even if he still went into this game with his 25 wickets coming at 29. He was immediately into his work here, however, with his line, length and lots of lift making life uncomfortable for Gloucestershire. Will Tavare was bowled playing across the line, while Graeme van Buuren and Chris Dent pushed and were caught behind; the ball after the latter fell, Danny Briggs parried a very hard chance from Marshall in the gully. Never mind, Archer’s pace did for him shortly after.But then came some vintage Klinger fare; his driving was perfectly precise and his judgment outside off stump perfect, while he was always alive to the possibility of a single. On a day when the outside edge was beaten plenty, it is hard to recall the beaten blade being his. His contentious reprieve was his sole false stroke. He never really needed to put his foot down, but late in the day there was a nonchalant flick for six over midwicket and his cuts had more purpose too.”Given the position he went in on,” reflected his coach, Richard Dawson, “it was a massive achievement to be there at the end. He just took it ball by ball. He’s a soldier, he just carries on going. He’s a consistent person, the way he trains, he’s very honest, he wants to succeed and is hungry and wants to make big runs. If he gets low scores, he doesn’t let it get him down. It’s very simple – he knows his strengths and he sticks to them, and the bottom line is that he’s a quality bloke.”Klinger anchored three vital stands. First, 133 with Phil Mustard, playing his first innings of note for Gloucestershire, a typically roistering affair full of punchy cuts and beautiful off-drives, before he was bowled trying to slog Briggs. Then there was 62 with Jack Taylor, who never fully settled as he looked to open up the offside and, after Taylor and Benny Howell fell in quick succession, an unbeaten 109 with Craig Miles, who had an aggressive half-century by the close of play.It was during the stand with Miles that Sussex seemed to rather drop their bundle. Twice, four overthrows whistled away to the fence and, on a pitch where the new ball is key (as evidenced by Magoffin first thing), their performance with the second one was profligate. As the seamers inexplicably dug the ball in, Ben Brown had to be at his most athletic behind the stumps, and still 18 byes slipped through. Miles, to his credit, batted like a man auditioning for a promotion, accumulating adroitly then feasting on Sussex’s flagging seamers late on.”It was a niggly day, and one of the most difficult to watch this season,” said Sussex’s coach Mark Davis, “because we were in a good position and it didn’t quite go our way on occasions too. We weren’t good enough to make our own luck. The new ball is key on this pitch because the ball is getting soft quickly and when it does get soft it gets harder to get people out. We didn’t bowl well enough with it.”On Klinger’s reprieve, Davis veered on the side of diplomacy. “The umpires are there to make a decision, they made that decision and we have to move on,” he said. “It’s done, it’s massively frustrating – I thought it just went straight to backward point and the umpires conferred and that was that. It’s game-changing, and certainly day-changing. It is what it is, that happens in sport, and we’ve got to move on.”He was right, the umpires had made a game-changing decision. But he also knew that going into day two, his side had plenty to bemoan besides Klinger’s prosperous pardon.

R Ashwin put India firmly on the path to winning the Kanpur Test, grabbing three wickets in a 13-over new-ball spell that blew an early hole through New Zealand’s hopes of saving it

The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy25-Sep-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details4:00

Agarkar: New Zealand spinners didn’t create enough pressure

R Ashwin put India firmly on the path to winning the Kanpur Test, grabbing three wickets in a 13-over new-ball spell that blew an early hole through New Zealand’s hopes of saving it. In the process, he also became the second-quickest bowler to 200 Test wickets in the history of the game.Tea was taken as soon as India declared their second innings at 377 for 5, leaving New Zealand the task of surviving four sessions or chasing down 434. A New Zealand win was probably out of the question, and the likelihood of a draw plummeted when Ashwin took out both their openers in the fourth over of their innings. By stumps, they had lost two more wickets, those of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor, their most experienced batsmen.Batting against Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja on a fourth-day pitch was always going to be difficult for New Zealand. A couple of avoidable dismissals made their job even harder. Martin Guptill gave India their first breakthrough with an ill-advised slog-sweep out of the rough. He inside-edged into his front pad, and popped up a catch to silly point.With New Zealand already three down, Taylor was run out going to the non-striker’s end, by a direct hit from Umesh Yadav at deep midwicket. Having already given the throw half a chance by watching the fielder rather than putting his head down and haring as fast as possible, he made the worst possible error as he crossed the crease, getting his bat past the line but failing to ground it.The other two wickets, though, were all about Ashwin’s skill, particularly through the air. First, his flight drew Tom Latham forward but not particularly close to the pitch of the ball. Then, instead of turning away, natural variation kept the ball going with the angle from around the wicket, beating the left-hander’s inside edge and hitting his front pad right in front.Like all good players of spin, Williamson has feet that can quickly adjust to being beaten in the air. But even the quickest feet can’t do much when a ball turns sharply and quickly. He had reached 25 when Ashwin’s trajectory pulled his front leg forward and across, outside off stump. Realising he wouldn’t get close to the pitch, he dragged his foot back, in a bid to give his bat room to work the ball into the leg side, but the ball just turned too far and too quickly, missing the bat entirely and pinging the withdrawn front pad bang in front.On another day, Ashwin might have had a five-for by stumps. Richard Kettleborough turned down close lbw shouts against Taylor, once from over the wicket, once from around, with the sheer amount of turn generated by the bowler working against him. There were also a couple of missed half-chances, as Umesh Yadav, backtracking from square leg, and M Vijay, running from second slip towards point with the ball dropping from behind him, failed to catch Williamson and Luke Ronchi.As it happened, New Zealand went to stumps without further loss, with Ronchi and Mitchell Santner trusting the contrasting methods that had served them well in the first innings. They kept India wicketless for the last 15.3 overs of the fourth day; their task on the fifth will be a whole lot harder.Resuming their second innings on 252 for 1, India batted through the first two sessions, declaring as soon as Ravindra Jadeja completed his second Test half-century. Jadeja and Rohit Sharma – who went past 1000 Test runs while scoring an unbeaten 68 – added an unbroken 100 for the sixth wicket, at 5.40 runs per over, effectively putting the target beyond New Zealand’s reach.Promoted ahead of R Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha, Jadeja struck three sixes and two fours, and Rohit hit eight fours in his innings, and the pace of their scoring was aided by the ones and twos made available by New Zealand’s spread-out fields. It was an understandable tactic given the pair’s six-hitting ability, and given India’s position.Before Rohit and Jadeja came together, New Zealand’s spinners had shown a marked improvement over their display on the third evening, when their frequent loose balls had allowed Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara to extend India’s advantage at a nearly uncontrollable rate.Mitchell Santner, probably the best of the three spinners, dismissed Vijay in the tenth over of the morning, getting one to straighten from an off-stump line to hit his front pad. Then Virat Kohli, who had already got away with a couple of streaky, over-aggressive shots in moving to 18, looked to sweep Mark Craig out of the rough and top-edged to deep midwicket.Either side of lunch, New Zealand took two more wickets, both to sharp catches by Taylor at slip. First, Ish Sodhi went around the wicket and opened up Pujara. Then, Santner picked up a deserved second, getting one to turn further than expected to kiss the edge of Ajinkya Rahane’s defensive bat.

The Lodha Committee has said that it cannot issue any directions regarding the BCCI’s disbursement of funds to its state units until the associations submit an affidavit of compliance, according to the order of the Supreme Court dated October 21.

Nagraj Gollapudi03-Nov-2016The Lodha Committee has refused the BCCI’s request for directions on the release of funds to state associations despite the board’s warning that domestic cricket could come to a “standstill”. The Committee said the only remedy available to the state associations was to comply with the Supreme Court’s order of October 21.The court had asked BCCI to “cease and desist” from disbursement of funds for any purpose to the state units unless they submitted an affidavit stating they would adopt the Lodha Committee recommendations. Only three state associations – Vidarbha, Tripura and Rajasthan [the last not recognised by the board] – have adopted all the recommendations. The other units have been reluctant and have sought the BCCI’s guidance on the matter.”You have sought the Committee’s directions for release of payments to Associations in connection with players’ allowances, hotels, transport, hosting fees, etc.,” the Committee noted in an e-mail sent to BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke on Thursday. “Paragraph 20(i) of the order dated 21st October 2016 the of Hon’ble Supreme Court mandates compliance by the State Associations concerned before disbursement of any funds by the BCCI. Therefore the question of the Committee issuing any directions in that behalf does not arise.”Shirke had written to the Committee on October 28 stating the BCCI was facing issues with the release of payments to state units, and pointed out that allowances to players, match officials, umpires, hosting fees to states for using their cricket infrastructure, payment to hotels, airlines, ground transport agencies could not be carried out as a result. “The Committee may issue suitable direction in this regard failing which the domestic cricket season shall come to a standstill,” he said.According to Shirke, the state associations of Odisha, Hyderabad, Goa, Jammu & Kashmir and Assam had written requesting funds for their daily operations, failing which they would not be “able to operate and cricket in the region shall suffer and come to a standstill.”The Committee told Shirke that no exceptions could be made for these five states and they had no choice but to follow the court order. The Committee also asked Shirke to submit, within the next five days, the Deloitte report on Project Transformation, instituted by former BCCI president Shashank Manohar when he took over the role in October last year. Deloitte, the accounting firm, was appointed to strengthen “organisational and governing structure” related to accounting and “operating practice”.”With regard to the Associations of Orissa, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir and Assam mentioned by you, you are directed to furnish the Report obtained by the BCCI from M/s. Deloitte on State Associations, as well as any undertakings submitted by the State Associations pursuant thereto. This shall be submitted within 5 days from today,” the Committee said.

South Africa’s batting coach was hopeful of emulating their performance in Adelaide from four years ago

Firdose Moonda in Adelaide26-Nov-2016South Africa are not ready to head home just yet, despite having just a lead of 70 with four wickets in hand going into the fourth day of the Adelaide Test. “We’ve got two big days left and tomorrow (Sunday) is one of the biggest ones. There’s a lot of fight. We’re not on the plane yet,” Neil McKenzie, South Africa’s batting coach, said.Those words may be dismissed as fanciful, but Australia would do well to look back to four years ago, when Russell Domingo, South Africa’s assistant coach then, vowed similar and was proved similar right. On that occasion, South Africa were staring at defeat on the final day, having stumbled to 77 for 4 chasing 430. They batted out a draw.Now, they will need to bat with resolve if they are to set Australia a challenging target. “Hopefully Stephen Cook converts, which is what his track record shows he can do,” he said. “And then if Quinton de Kock can produce the Quinton de Kock knock that everyone knows he can do and has been doing, that would push us up past 180 and 200. If we can get there, we know we’ve done it to Australia before, where we’ve knocked them over so that will give us a lot of confidence.”McKenzie was particularly happy for Cook, his former Highveld Lions team-mate, with whom he’s worked closely on footwork throughout this tour. “Cookie is just one of those hard-working cricketers; sort of old-school,” he said. “He does it his way. It doesn’t always look pretty but has a method that has worked for him. He has got nearly 40 first-class hundreds so you can’t mess with technique.”Mentally he is right up there in terms of one of the toughest guys playing cricket at this stage. He has endured a lot of noise about his technique but normally what Cook does well is capitalises on starts and he has a good conversion rate. We hope that follow suit tomorrow.”Even if Cook continues, he has only the tail to keep him company, but Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi have all showed they can contribute. Since it’s them that will have to do the defending, McKenzie believes they have enough motivation.”We’ve got a couple of guys who can do damage at the back end and we have a bowling unit who are ready to go,” he said. “We’ll leave everything out there, whether we get bowled out early or whether we battle into the evening.”He even joked South Africa could get enough runs to declare again. “That will be the best day of Test cricket ever,” he laughed, when asked about Faf du Plessis’ surprise declaration on the opening day. McKenzie explained the decision was based on what South Africa saw in the Sheffield Shield, when teams declared in order to make use of the ball under lights.”It’s our first Test with the pink ball. We can only look at stats. We watched when the state sides played and both declared. You take a lead from what you see,” he said. “Commentators and ex-players were all applauding the decision and we stand by it.”

The fourth day of the Rajkot Test ended as it began: with England needing some magic to give them a chance to win the Test

The Report by Sidharth Monga12-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:56

Ganguly: Both batting units have played spin exceptionally

The fourth day of the Rajkot Test ended as it began: with England needing some magic to give them a chance to win the Test. In between it seemed they had hypnotised two main India batsmen into unusual dismissals, but R Ashwin broke the spell with his 11th Test score of 50 or more. Then came a stage where, leading by 49 on first innings with four sessions to go, England seemed like the only side that could lose the Test. By stumps, though, Haseeb Hameed and Alastair Cook had put paid to any such notions, adding 114, to all but rule an England defeat out and leave them with an outside chance of winning on day five.On a day in which so much seemed to have happened, eventually not enough happened off the pitch. However, to put the likely result of draw down to the pitch would be unfair. This match would have looked different had both teams held their catches. Even on the fourth day, England dropped two, taking the match count to nine between the two sides. The first of those proved to be crucial: England had taken two wickets for 12 runs, India were still 176 runs behind and they got a chance to end the sixth-wicket partnership short. Jonny Bairstow, though, dived over a low chance at first slip to reprieve Wriddhiman Saha.Ashwin and Saha went on to add 64, becoming India’s fourth-most prolific association since Saha became a permanent part of India’s Test side late in 2014, and you could feel life going out of the Test momentarily. When Saha finally fell, having messed around with the spinners with cheeky sweeps and a loft for six, India were only 112 behind on a pitch that hadn’t deteriorated as much as an Indian pitch usually does over four days.There was turn, but no natural variation. There was no lateral movement for the quicks, and once again they failed to reverse the ball. There was enough in the surface, though, to make sure batsmen in deficit couldn’t afford to take liberties against disciplined bowlers. Keeping that in mind, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane began the day sedately against Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes. Having seen them off, though, they fell against the run of play to give England a look-in.Rahane saw a ball short from Zafar Ansari, but perhaps it was not short enough, which meant he ended up playing a half-flick and half-pull, missing the line as well. The ball kissed the top of the stumps. Three overs later, Kohli went back deep into the crease to pull a short ball from Adil Rashid. The extra bounce perhaps cramped him, which meant his front foot went back down the line of the stumps, as opposed to wide of them, when he swivelled. He ended up tickling the bottom of leg stump as he finished swivelling. Bairstow noticed the missing bail and appealed.Ajinkya Rahane played a half-flick, half-pull, but missed the ball and was bowled by Zafar Ansari•Associated Press

Ashwin looked just as good as Kohli or Rahane, and he didn’t make any freakish errors. He was hardly ever beaten in the flight against spin. When he moved forward he reached the pitch of the ball thanks to his height. When he went back he did so having picked the shorter length early, and cut handsomely. India might not have a Ben Stokes as their allrounder, but Ashwin is the No. 1 allrounder on ICC ratings for a reason. He brought the temperament of a proper batsman. He didn’t play low-percentage shots even as wickets fell, and farmed the strike with the last man for company, adding 29 runs with Mohammed Shami.That wickets fell was down to Rashid’s earning his captain’s faith and getting extended spells. He drew bounce not out of loose parts of the pitch but through the overspin he imparted. He hit the shoulder of Ravindra Jadeja’s bat and got Umesh Yadav out slogging against the turn. Ashwin and Shami kept them in the field until tea, and India came out buzzing after the break.The buzz ended soon with the pitch not doing much for them. Hameed and Cook looked assured with Hameed taking the attack to the bowlers, lofting Jadeja, who had opened the bowling, for a six over long-off. India’s bowlers have been unplayable on helpful surfaces, but they will have to live with the criticism that on a flatter pitch the visiting side bowled with better plans and discipline. With England bowling you could tell how they were looking to get the batsmen out. If there was a plan to India’s bowling the execution was not spot-on: the seamers bowled loose balls both on line and length, and Amit Mishra continued to struggle for impact in a format where batsmen are not obliged to go after him.Hameed and Cook kept cashing in, the youngster outscoring the veteran, as England reached 70 in 20 overs. India were forced into the defensive in the remaining 17 overs lest they be given about 80 overs to survive on the final day. England didn’t go out of their way looking for runs now. Hameed reached his maiden fifty, in the presence of his family who have roots in Gujarat, with a late cut. By stumps the lead had reached 163, and England were on their way to giving India 70 or so tricky overs to bat out on the final day.

Sri Lanka disintegrated to 110 all out on the second day in Cape Town as Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander collected eight wickets between them

The Report by David Hopps03-Jan-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details0:52

Fernando: SL troubles at No. 3 continue

The Cape Town monster was more in Sri Lanka’s own mind than the startling nature of the Newlands pitch, but the monster reared its head nevertheless on the second day of the second Test and engulfed them in a trice. South Africa had been candid about their wish for a pitch offering pace and seam, and it was delivered to order effectively enough, but Sri Lanka’s disintegration to 110 all out represented a huge overstatement of the difficulties they faced.Sri Lanka were spared the follow-on – South Africa instead stretched their lead of 282 to 317 by the close – so escaping their fate on their last appearance in Cape Town five years ago. On that occasion Sri Lanka’s batsmen did have an alibi in that they were responding to South Africa’s 580 for 4. On this occasion, as nine wickets went down for 54 in 19.3 overs, their batting often lacked nous and sometimes verged on impulsiveness.The chief instigator of Sri Lanka’s rickety resistance was Kagiso Rabada with three for 10 in 25 balls at the start of the final session. Vernon Philander then swept aside the tail with 4 for 5 in 12 balls as South Africa found things all too easy.For Sri Lanka, it brought back memories of their batting inadequacies on their tour of England last May when they returned 91, 119 and 101 in successive Test innings in a chilly northern spring. It is easy to talk of irresponsibility, and that charge could be levelled against Dinesh Chandimal in particular, but Sri Lanka were never likely to replace giants like Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Dilshan without pain, especially as there is barely an indoor net in the country.From South Africa’s perspective, at least it deflected attention away from Kyle Abbott after ESPNcricinfo revealed that he is agonising over whether to abandon his international career and take up a deal in England with Hampshire as a Kolpak player. CSA was expected to meet Abbott’s agent on Wednesday before making a statement.Abbott, who went into his 11th Test with 39 wickets at 21.30, was given the new ball and a strong breeze at his back, but after tea he had a watching brief, remained wicketless and had much time to muse in the outfield about the meaning of life. For an international of his calibre to be seriously considering a county future at 29, whatever the outcome, is deeply disturbing not just for South Africa but for the future of Test cricket where there are already not enough strong teams to go round.Sri Lanka’s openers survived diligently against the new ball – there was not much swing to be had in a buffeting wind – but such staunch beginnings did not last for long. Kaushal Silva was bowled by Rabada off an inside edge and then Kusal Mendis, who had met the introduction of the left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj by slog-sweeping him for six, envisaged a repeat in his next over and top-edged a simple catch into the off side.As a thrilling accompaniment, Temba Bavuma almost pulled off a repeat of his wonderful run-out in Perth, Dimuth Karunaratne’s dive at the non-striker’s end just beating his pick-up and underarm flick from cover. Having been reminded of Bavuma’s brilliance, Karunaratne cut the third ball after tea, from Rabada, low to the fielder’s left and paid a predictable price.Not all Sri Lanka’s dismissals were down to state of mind. Angelo Mathews pushed at a decent back-of-a-length ball from Rabada to be caught at second slip. But Dhananjaya de Silva was overly hasty as he sought to come down the pitch to Maharaj, got his feet in a muddle as he flicked to leg, and was lbw, despite a review. As for Chandimal’s wanton drive at a wide one from Rabada, that was inexplicable, especially for a vice-captain.Philander was aching to get into the act. Three successive deliveries to Rangana Herath were followed by resounding lbw appeals. The third was given. Herath, who seemed resolutely intent on keeping his legs out of the way as the ball jagged back, understandably reviewed, but the decision was narrowly upheld.Three balls later, Suranga Lakmal was caught at first slip – a knock-on from third – and the job was completed when Lahiru Kumara and Nuwan Pradeep, the latter batting despite a thigh strain that prevented him from bowling, were rounded up in successive balls.The morning had belonged largely to Quinton de Kock, who completed a third Test century as South Africa were dismissed at the end of a slightly extended session for 392. De Kock, who made 101, was one of six wickets for Kumara whose unflinching efforts in only his third Test pronounced himself a combative bowler of genuine promise.De Kock does not spend too much time on reconnaissance: life is for living, and the sooner the better. Resuming on 68, he set the tone by confidently driving Lakmal’s introductory ball of the day to the extra-cover boundary. He secured an entertaining hundred around 40 minutes later, benefiting from a final slice of good fortune as an inside-edge against Kumara skimmed past leg stump.He fell later in the over, jabbing a catch to the wicketkeeper as Kumara seamed a fullish ball away from around the wicket. Chandimal took the catch, back behind the stumps after handing his duties to Mendis on the first day because of illness. Mendis had kept well, so encouraging a rapid recovery. There were seven keeper’s catches in all – plenty to share around.Abbott, perhaps unsurprisingly in the circumstances, fell in the second over of the day without adding to his overnight score of 16, the nightwatchman beaten by turn and bounce from the left-arm spinner Herath. In the absence of Pradeep, Herath conducted a holding operation with the gentle motions of a man philosophically getting up from a sofa to pick up the TV remote.Kumara, as strong as a bullock, produced a delivery of excellent off-stump line to dismiss Philander and lunch was delayed with South Africa nine down. Kumara did not deserve that. He roused himself for a final time to have Rabada caught off an inside edge, finishing with 6 for 122. A bright spot for Sri Lanka on a bleak day.

Nick Cummins has become the first Big Bash League executive to graduate to a role of shepherding one of Australia’s state associations, moving from the Sydney Thunder to succeed the longtime Tasmania chief executive David Johnston

Daniel Brettig20-Jan-2017Nick Cummins has become the first Big Bash League executive to graduate to a role of shepherding one of Australia’s state associations, moving from the Sydney Thunder to succeed the longtime Tasmania chief executive David Johnston.In a significant generational change to cricket administration in the Apple Isle, Cummins will commence at Bellerive Oval in April after four years at the Thunder, where he oversaw its evolution from the BBL’s major basket case to the dual men’s and women’s champions last season and now a respected organisation in the burgeoning league.He will take over from Johnston, who indicated in October that he would retire at the end of the season after holding the role for no fewer than 19 years.”Cricket Tasmania undertook an extensive recruitment and interview process though national employment consultants and Mr Cummins was the successful candidate in what was a very strong field of local, interstate and international applicants” The Cricket Tasmania chairman Andrew Gaggin said.”Nick will bring to Cricket Tasmania extensive experience in a wide variety of areas and also has an intricate knowledge of the Big Bash. Everyone at Cricket Tasmania looks forward to working with Nick into the future. At the same time we also recognise the outstanding service and commitment over 19 years of departing chief executive David Johnston.”Cummins said he was very happy to have graduated from the Thunder general manager position. “I was attracted to the role by the energy and optimism around the organisation, it’s an exciting time to be involved in cricket with the growth of the Big Bash, women and girls’ cricket and junior participation,” he said.”I’d like to thank Cricket NSW CEO Andrew Jones, chairman John Warn and the Board of Cricket New South Wales for their support during my time at Sydney Thunder. I’m very proud of what we have achieved at the club, none of which would have been possible without their guidance and encouragement.”I’d also like to recognise the contribution of my staff, coaches and playing group in building Thunder into the club it is today – a club with passionate support, packed houses and great standing within our community. Finally, I would like to thank the fans for the energy and positivity they bring to every game, win or lose.”Jones said Cummins had been a major player in the growth of the Thunder over the past four years. “Nick has made an enormous contribution to NSW cricket by taking the Thunder from cellar dwellers who lost 19 games in a row, to a highly respected club that won both the men’s and women’s Big Bash titles last season,” he said.”The Thunder is also now strong off the field, with 6000+ members, a full book of sponsors and every home game sold out at Spotless Stadium this season. The Thunder was also the highest-rating club team in NSW in any sport in 2016. Nick has also built a fantastic community foundation for the Thunder.”We are delighted for Nick that his performance has been recognised by Cricket Tasmania. Like our players, we want our staff to achieve their potential in the game, and Nick has well and truly earned the opportunity to take this next step. We will now advertise inside and outside cricket for a worthy successor.”One of Cummins’ first items of business is likely to be work on solidifying Tasmania’s claims to a regular Test match. Ironically it is NSW, the state from which he is moving, that has made no secret of wanting additional Test fixtures in the nation’s most populous state, either at Canberra’s Manuka Oval in the ACT or a second day/night Test for the SCG.Cricket NSW are expected to advertise the role of Thunder general manager next week.